Lots 'o Soccer!

Salut!

This post should be the last one needed to get up to date, and after this I will be working diligently to keep from getting behind.

The weather has been improving here in Rennes, though it has generally been far better than in the states even at its worst (about 30 degrees). As a result, I've been able to get out and play a lot more soccer. I've played a few pick-up games on Saturdays and Sundays in addition to playing with the team at the IEP. It has been a lot of fun and very relaxing to get out and get some exercise and have something familiar to do; I've even started learning the terminology! We've only had one game with the IEP team so far, but it went very well. We played a team from INSA, a part of the larger university in Rennes. We won 2-1 off of two great goals, one of which I assisted! I nearly had a goal as well after beating the last defender, but the goalkeeper made a great save and robbed me of my glory. I anticipate we will have a lot more great games with that team and I will have many more opportunities to score playing at center forward. I've been getting a lot of compliments about my play which has been exciting, particularly because they do not have the highest opinion of Americans as soccer players here. Although, were I slightly more confrontational I might cite the French performance in the previous world cup, which was generally abysmal. Nevertheless, many of the students I play pick-up with have taken to calling me "The Brazilian" because aside from Landon Donovan they apparently do not believe it is possible for Americans to be good at soccer. I will admit that, while a bit annoying, it makes it all the more fun to beat them :-).

On another note, we took advantage of the nice weather by going to a famous park in Rennes called the Parc Thabor. It was absolutely beautiful and I plan to visit many more times before I leave since the fountains were not yet filled with water and some of the trees were still barren. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day and a truly amazing park. We stopped and had a picnic with some of the other international students and enjoyed the weather. I also managed to get some shopping done since it was nearly the end of "Les Soldes", the month long sale of subsequent mark-downs up to nearly 70%. I picked up a great new pair of soccer shoes that are normally 45 euros for only 15! I plan to make us of the ones I have as long as I can and save these for the new season in the fall.

More on the soccer front, we went to a professional game last Sunday for the local team, called Stade Rennais. It was a bit rainy, but our seats only cost 9 euros and were under an awning so we didn't really have to deal with the bad weather. It was an exciting game and Stade Rennais won 2-0 off a great header and a penalty kick. After all of this excitement, I am planning to do my French expose on the differences between sports, mainly soccer, in the United States and France. So, if you have any good information and helpful hints, they would be much appreciated!

Tomorrow, we will be leaving bright and early (4:30 am!) for our weekend trip to Chateaux de la Loire. It promises to be very exciting and the pictures make it look awesome. I will have a post up with the details as soon as possible upon my return.

Pictures following soon!

Tom