Well as some of you may or may not know, on the comeback tour to Sweden Mario Donato accompanied me to vacation and to share his O-line knowledge with some of our guys on the team.  We scheduled our flights to leave on the same day, but weren't able to fly on the same planes.  So Mario flew out earlier than I did and went through Newark and I flew out 7 hours later and went through Memphis.  We both went through Amsterdam and Mario got to Sweden 3 hours before I did because he had a long layover and I didn't.  Mario met Conny, the team man manager, and they got some lunch and waited on me to land.  While in Amsterdam I saw a serious Euromullet and I mean serious.  On the flight from Amsterdam to Stockholm some girl was getting sick towards the end of the flight so that was nice, but all in all I made it and all of my luggage made it too so that was a relief.  Upon entering Stockholm they didn't even stamp my passport so I hope this won't pose a problem when I try to exit or else they may ban me from Scandinavia.  I think there is a new rule that states that you only have to get your passport stamped when you enter into the EU which I did in Amsterdam.

When we first got to the clubhouse Rauge came over and we went directly to lift weights and this is when Mario got his first Scandinavian sauna experience.  After that we went to the Centrum and got some food, which I did order in Swedish.  You thought I had forgotten huh...don't trip.  Then we just came back and hung out for a bit and went to sleep as we were and still are jet lagging a bit.  It does get dark here now, but doesn't stay dark for long as the sun comes up very early and sets at like 11.

On the next day we went early and ran on the trails here in the forests.  Mario is making me run like 3 miles everyday and trying to kill me with it.  The cooler air over here made it tough to adjust to at first.  By the way it's not half as humid over here for all you people sweating while you read this.  They have really nice paved trails that go on for ever so we run everyday.  We went back and lifted again and need I write that, yes, we threw loylu in the sauna.  Around mid-day we went to the lake that has a beach over here.  The sun was out and so were the people.  Rauge said that had been raining here a lot so that everyone would be out and excited about the sun.  Yes, we did throw football out there and did a few " accidental " overthrows that always seem to occur when you throw football on the beach.  I did happen to notice a few different things while at the beach.  I saw a man wearing a thong, which was an unpleasant site as well as some females laying out topless.  They just let all the little kids run around naked on the beach as well.

After that we went downtown and met with Kimi, my center from last year in Turku.  He was visiting Stockholm and he also brought the 2 Americans that are playing with the Trojans this year.  I guess if they would have brought Marlon and I last year then we wouldn't have been banned from the country now.  Go figure, but the guys said that there was no passport control on the boats so maybe I'll dip back over to Finland to roam the streets of Turku again.  The guys said that they are undefeated and looking to go back to back again this year so hopefully they will.  The guys seemed nice and I believe they were from Ohio and Indiana.  The Qb over there this year has a web page that's pretty similar to mine from last year, at least format wise.  His page is www.qbdietz.com if you care to compare it with my old one.  I stole a picture off his site of him, myself, and Kimi.  You can see Kimi checking out a female passing by just look at his eyes.

Yes you see the arms have gotten a little bigger.  That picture is taken in downtown Stockholm right outside of a Burger King that is kind of underground.  There is usually a Michael Jackson impersonator back there dancing near the windows that you see behind us.  One day this guy dance for like 3 straight hours.  So after going downtown we headed back to Tyreso.

When we got back to Tyreso we got in touch with Hasse, my center here, and he invited us to go barbeque by this lake.  Well we made one stop at the grocery store and then that was it.  We headed out to the lake and we ended up grilling out on these huge rocks right by this beautiful lake.  I mean it looked like one of those post cards.  The lake was surrounded by these really green trees which made for a good reflection and a pretty scenery.  We stayed out there forever and it was cool and pleasant.  Mario was getting to know Hasse and they did the lineman bonding thing.

On Friday we did the running and lifting and then just chilled out because the first two days were so packed.  Up until Saturday I didn't have my phone so it was tough contacting  people other than the guys on the internet.  We were on the list to get in VIP at this one place, but we didn't go because it was too much of a hassle and because we are too tight with our dinero.

Now Saturday was a totally different story. We woke up and ran...(again) and then came back and hung out some more.  We went big time grocery shopping and Mario was getting all hype about all the different spices and all that they have here that you can't find at home.  We messed around until it was time to go out and Ilija came and picked us up and we headed downtown.  We went by his dad's restaurant and got hook ups while 2 drunk guys were doing some USA hating in my ear, but it was funny because I was just speaking slang English so they would have to keep asking me what I was saying.  They got so drunk that the bar tender wouldn't serve them anymore.  We picked up Ilija's cousin and then headed down to Cafe Opera which is the most hype, high roller, spot in Stockholm.  I don't know if there are words to describe how much fun we had out that night so I won't even try to elaborate.  Of course I acted the fool and Mario and Ilija got a good laugh out of it, but it was Mario's first time in Stockholm and we rolled up big timing so we had to represent right.  It's a good thing I didn't have my camera with me in there because if I did I would have pictures of hotties on this page until it filled up my server. Digits.

So on Sunday we had 2 practices.  The guys have been off for around 3 to 4 weeks so it was good to get back in the swing of things.  It started raining so that sucked.  We had the first practice then we all went to the Centrum to eat lunch.  When we got to the Centrum and the guy saw my face I didn't even have to speak because he knew what I always order......thats right...en baconburagare inge lök och pomfrites med cola light....can you guess it.  Then we all came back to the clubhouse for a bit and watched some film on teams and stuff.  We then went back for the second practice and it was a bit longer, but I feel that we got a lot done.  Mario was helping the lineman out.  I think they like that he's here because he can show them a thing or two.  After practice we came up showered, ate, and are now currently chillin.

This whole weekend there has been something strange going on in Stockholm.  They have been having a gay pride festival.  They had a parade and all.  I didn't see this spectacle, but I heard it was crazy and that even the cops at the event were gay.  So yes I am getting cultured if you want to call it that...haha.  So for now things are ok.  Mario is making me run a lot and he is also cooking a pretty good bit too so its good to have him around.  We play Stockholm next week in an away game.  Stockholm is like the #2 team in the league so it will be a tough game and will be played in downtown Stockholm.

I have included some random pictures for you to look at.  I would have more pics, but my cousin Daivd ( App State grad ) can't figure out how to resize photos so that they can be emailed and until he does we won't have pictures of the terrible field at Bergshamra that we played on.

My bus stop where I live

Regards,

Clint