My name is Ryan McDonald and I'm a candy addict

So Globalites, I must first apologize for taking so long to write this next blog entry.  I've just gotten into such a routine now and I doubt you're all interested in reading things like "Today I woke up early, then I went to a school, then to another school, then I had practice....."  But there have been some things of interest that have gone on.  For example, my car rebelled against me and I had to take a taxi to all of my schools for the 2 weeks it took for it to get fixed.  I was driving out to Canterbury to run a practice with their university team when I noticed that my car was no longer accelerating.  Peculiar, I thought.  I was in the far right lane of what was pretty heavy London traffic on the highway and had to get three lanes over to the left without the ability to accelerate at all.  After a barrage of honks and a middle finger from a fellow driver (drivers can be pretty rude over here at times), I made it into the breakdown lane.  I had no idea what the problem was with the car, but when I would try to turn it back on it wouldn't turn over whatsoever.  Now I'm no mechanic, but I think that's generally a pretty bad sign.  So I called up the roadside assistance service, and was told to expect someone to be out to me in a half hour.  Well a half hour passed and nobody came.  Then an hour, then an hour and a half, then two hours, and finally after two and a half hours help arrived.  That was terrible.  So the guy towed me and my car back to Orpington (he actually lived on the street over from me, small world) and I was left to overpriced taxi transportation until I was able to my wheels back Saturday.  It turns out the cylinder head was cracked, and after replacing that as well as doing some other tune-ups, this whole ordeal has cost the club 1,200 pounds with an extra 200 or so paid for cab fare.  Thank goodness I don't have to pay for these things.

On to lacrosse.  Wins continue to be hard to come by for us over here at Purley.  We dropped our last two games, both in frustrating fashion.  First against Blues, 12-6.  We had a tough time getting things going offensively and let them get on a 5-0 run in the third quarter.  The following weekend we dropped a heartbreaker by a goal vs. Reading.  Again, the thing that did us in was letting them get on a run.   We battled back at the end to tie it up in the final minute, but gave up a tough transition goal which ended up doing us in.  If we can eliminate these runs during different parts of the game we should be able to get a bunch of wins, but until that happens its going to be tough.  

Outside of our lax woes (which sounds a lot like lax bros) things have been good for me.  I've made some good friends over here and its great to spend time with them all, but I really can't wait to come home for Christmas.  It has been tough being away from you guys for so long but I'm home in four weeks and it will be glorious.  In unrelated news, I think I have a candy problem.  I've always had a sweet tooth, but I've been eating so much candy its ridiculous.  Top culprits are Snickers, Peanut M&M's, Haribo Gummies and Skittles.  I fear I'm reverting to the 5 year old kid that was caught by Buckeye stuffing his face full of fudge only to turn, mouth full, and exclaim "shut the door."  Other than the candy vice, I've been eating pretty healthy.  I've really started to love Indian food and have it for dinner a couple times a week.  Other than that, I've just been crushing eggs.  I go through about 15 eggs a week.  

I'm trying to work out a way to get together with Erin for Thanksgiving.  It's tough that I wont be home, and its the 2nd year in a row I've had to be away for one of my favorite holidays.  (I was in Florence last year visiting sweet Josephine).  I have a game on Saturday though and am not so sure I'm going to be able to get up to Manchester.  But we shall see, I'd really love to spend it with her and Ryan.

So thats it for now Globalites.  Four more weeks till I'll be able to see you guys and it will be great.  For now, I must go get some sleep.  7 am always comes too soon.  Happy Thanksgiving, go Bruins, go Patriots and see you all before you know it.

Go Amsterdam, Go Purley, Go Bruins

Hello to all you crazy Globalites out there. The 28th marked two full months of my stay here in London-town. Boy oh boy how the time does fly. Top news stories since my last post include a big win on the lacrosse field, and a trip to Amsterdam. I'll begin with the latter.

Last week was my first vacation since I arrived here and I joined some of the other Americans here for what turned out to be an incredibly interesting and entertaining vacation. We boarded a plane on Tuesday for a shockingly short flight (only 45 minutes) over to Amsterdam. We arrived late Tuesday night and checked into our hostel around 11. First thought: I've never seen so many bikes in my life. Second thought: Its cold, I wish I brought warmer clothing. Third thought: David Krejci is a fantastic hockey player. We then went out for a couple drinks and attempted to situate ourselves in this strange city. Wednesday brought buckets of rain but we soldiered on and were able to do some solid sightseeing. My favorite part of the day, and what turned out to be my favorite part of the trip, was the Van Gogh Museum. I splurged for the audio tour and spent a lot of time learning about all the incredible artwork. Now I've never pretended to have an eye for art, but these paintings were amazing. With the audio tour providing me with, for lack of better words, an Idiot's Guide to Vincent Van Gogh, I was able to have a very interesting, fulfilling and educational experience. Next stop was The Heineken Experience, which was a tour of the Heineken Brewery. All in all the tour was entertaining, but in retrospct, I would have liked to have substituted it for something else. There was so much to see there and with only two full days to do so a big part of me wishes The Heineken Experience didn't make the cut. But what can ya do? I had fun regardless. After some dinner, we wandered into the infamous Red Light District. I will not go into full detail about the debauchery that goes on in that place, but I remember asking myself 'Is this real life?' I promise you though Globalites, no window shopping for this guy. My dignity remains in the hands of you Ungy. But it was a strange place indeed, and I'm glad I got to see it with my own two squinty eyes. Thursday ushered in some much better weather and a chance to walk around more and do some exploring. We started by going to the Rijksmuseum, which is a museum dedicated to Dutch life in the 16th century. Unfortunately. a good portion of the place was closed for renovations, but the parts that were open were definitely worth the visit. There were all sorts of weapons, artwork, clothing and treasures on display and I had a great time taking it all in. From there we walked around for a while taking in the beauty of the city and attempting to avoid the thousands of cyclists flying down the streets (don't need a repeat of the events that transpired in Croydon a couple weeks ago). I then made the solo-trek down to the city centre for a canal cruise that lasted about an hour. The boat took us through most of the city's canals while we were told about it's unique history. I later met up with the rest of the group and we went out for some drinks and had a jolly ole time Thursday night. After a 5 am alarm Friday morning, it was time to make the journey home. Looking back, I'm really glad I went. Its a unique opportunity I've been presented here with so many amazing places in such a close proximity. I can't wait until I get the chance to ramble on to the next one.

On to our glorious lacrosse victory. Saturday we played a team called Hampstead, which consists of American players that are living here in London. They had loads of talent and, from what I am told, really had a field day with Purley last year. But our team is slowly building and improving and I felt confident going into the game. The game went back and forth and towards the end of the fourth, after a knee injury to our goalie, they battled back from a 4 goal deficit to tie the game. Visions of losses I'd suffered through at St. A's were slowly creeping into my mind as we tried to get the momentum back. But we won a timely faceoff and were able to get a big goal with 30 seconds left to regain the lead. After withstanding a barrage of shots towards the end of the game, the final whistle blew and sweet sweet victory was ours. It was a huge win for the club and hopefully we can build on it going forward.

A comment must be made about the Boston Bruins, number 7 on ESPN.com's Power Rankings, number one in our hearts. I've only been lucky enough to watch 3 or 4 games in their entirity, but these boys sure are playing some great hockey. If you're not on the black and gold train yet, hop on, theres always room.

Thats it for the real newsworthy events in the life of old csbs here. This week I'm back to work for another 6 week period before I get to come home to all you great people for Christmas. Happy November to all, I really wish I could spend Thanksgiving with you. And bundle up Globalites, the cold is a-comin.

Greetings Globalites.  It seems its been a couple weeks since I last checked in, so I'll start off with the most interesting news and work from there. 

First and foremost, I received an email from Craig Dufour the other day that was beyond terrific.  It appears as if Craig will be planning a visit here during November, most likely Thanksgiving time.  After a tough battle with mono, Craig is back to his old self and I couldn't be happier to hear he'll be coming over here.  Craig if you're reading this, get ready for a wonderful stay here in London.  I hereby pledge to show you a great time.  

Next, I must report that I next week is my first vacation and I will be using it to visit Amsterdam.  I picked up a travel guide at the library today and am looking forward to taking in all the city has to offer.  

Last weekend I was lucky enough to make my second trip to Wales in as many weeks.  I left around 10 AM with two of my teammates to make the 3 1/2 hour trek to Cardiff for a league game.  Unfortunately, many of the players on my team were not able to do the same.  We arrived with 10 players including a goalie.  In our lovely game of lacrosse that means you are without subs for your 60 minute marathon of a tilt.  Needless to say, it was exhausting.  We had a really slow start and found ourselves down 3-0 after the first quarter.  Quite the hole to dig yourselves in with such small numbers.  But we battled back and controlled the rest of the game and were able to cut their lead to 1 towards the end of the 4th quarter.  Unfortunately it was too little too late and we lost 6-5.  In happier news, my ankle felt alright and I played the whole game, chipping in on 4 of our 5 goals.  We then loaded up for the trek home, and adventure that saw me finally reaching home at 10 pm.  I was in bed by 10:30.  It was a tough Saturday, but I got through it in one piece.  Speaking of getting through things in one piece....

I was recently on the receiving end of an unfortunate exchange that turned into one of the most utterly preposterous experiences of my life.  Before I tell this story, I must offer a disclaimer, some Globalites will think this is quite funny, others will be slightly horrified by it.  So to set the scene, a bunch of my fellow Local Development Officers were in town this weekend for a youth tournament.  We went out for a couple drinks in Clapham Saturday night, and after a good old time with these friends of mine, a couple of us were making the trip to some of my friends house in Croydon.  We'd had our fun and we were ready to call it a night.  What happened next can only be described with one sentence: Some people are freaking crazy.  I was walking next to my friend Nick on the sidewalk, minding our own business when a lunatic riding a bike comes flying into Nick's back.  An accident (the bikers fault) but an accident nonetheless.  Well the biker went flying over his handlebars and hit the ground.  Nick was laying on the ground next to him, I imagine because getting hit with a bike doesn't feel too good.  I approached the two of them, and before I knew it, this mysterious evil prick of a biker jumped up, punched Nick in the side of the head and suckered me right in the forehead.  And as mysteriously as he arrived, he was gone.  This kid literally made the quickest escape I'd ever seen or heard of.  So me and nick are left there first, wondering what the hell just happened, and second, nursing our respective wounds.  The cut to my pride was bad, but the cut to my forehead was much worse.  I suspect he was wearing a ring or something because my cut required hospital attention.  My friend Lauren was nice enough to accompany me to the hospital where I did not receive stitches (and as someone who knows stitches quite well, I feel that they would have been the best route to take).  Regardless, we were there until four.  I didn't get to bed till five and had to wake up at 7:30 to go pick a bunch of kids up for this all day lacrosse tournament.  So I coached a team until 4, didn't win a game, and dropped all of the kids off to finally see home by 6.  I was banged up and exhausted, but no worse for the wear.  In the words of Charlie, the hero of the animated movie "All Dogs Go To Heaven", you can't keep a good dog down.

So here I am, bandaged forehead, flu-like symptoms, almost 8 weeks in, and loving every minute of it.  I wont complain about the freak punch to the head, because hey, shit happens.  I won't complain about the fact that my lax team hasn't had a league win yet, because I'm having a great time playing and our first W is on its way.  And I can't complain about anything else really, because I have a great job and am happy over here.  Well I do miss you guys, but you don't want to hear me complain about that.

PS -  Jen and Jordan, I watched handball on TV today, it was fantastic.

I still can't believe I was in Wales for the Ryder Cup

This last week could have only been capped off in one better way -- If our American team hadn't gotten demolished Sunday at the Ryder Cup.  Sure they made a valiant attempt at a comeback Monday, but I didn't get to witness that, instead I saw six matches with 5 American losses and 1 tie.  But all is well, I experienced what was definitely the best day since I've arrived here in the UK.  But I'll get to that later faithful Globalites, to keep things chronological I'll update you on everything else thats been happening first.

First comes the worst of the news, Kaeden did not make the top 10 in the Sunbeam contest.  A big thanks to all who voted and don't worry, he doesn't seem too worked up about it.  And hey, 40 out of 25,000 aint bad.  I like to think he placed 11th anyways.  

I've started getting some kids together for a tournament at a nearby club on the 17th.  I'm aiming to have 2-3 teams to compete in the u-12, u-14 and u-16 age groups.  Its been difficult getting commitments out of the kids, but they have really started to enjoy playing and I think some of them are really excited.  I brought my helmet and stick in to my last couple sessions and the kids absolutely loved them.  They thought they were just the coolest things they'd ever seen and all took turns passing them around.  Its nice to see them getting so excited about it all and it definitely makes my job 10 times easier.  

On to this weekend, and what a hectic but terrific one it turned out to be.  I laid low Friday night and just hung out with my friend Nick, who is the LDO at a nearby club.  Saturday we had a game at 2:30 against Hillcroft.  We would have been the favorite going in but most of our players were in Prague for a big annual box tournament.  As it was, we played with two subs.  It didn't take long for me to twist my ankle again and I was done for the day.  We lost 11-4 and it was a frustrating game top to bottom.  We played way too much defense and had a tough time getting things going offensively when we did get the ball.  At the end of the day we had a lot of shots sail wide and a lot into the goalies stick.  But we're back in action next Saturday out in Wales against Cardiff and hopefully will be able to right the ship and get to winning some lacrosse games.  Post-game I ran home and after a quick shower and some take away fish n' chips, I was on a train bound for Reading.  I stayed in Reading with some of my LDO friends Saturday night to cut off a good portion of the journey to Wales for Sunday's Ryder Cup action.  My friends Pete and Scott had two of their buddies visiting from Manchester (one of which is actually the LDO at Erin's club) and we all had a fun night together out in Reading.  I woke up Sunday and hopped on a train for Newport, Wales and began one hell of an adventure.  

The train ride to Wales was about an hour and twenty minutes.  From the train station, I jumped on a shuttle bus over to the course.  As I'm sure many of you saw on TV, Celtic Manor is absolutely gorgeous.  It's surrounded by rolling hills covered with big green patches of farm plots and little country homes.  It was almost as enjoyable taking in the scenery itself as it was watching the incredible caliber of golf being played.  I posted up for a while at the 12th hole where I was able to watch each group come through.  12 Is a shortish par 4 with a hazard in front of the green.  I was able to see the tee shots in the distance but the real excitement was watching these guys hit their approach shots.  It was incredible, out of the 6 groups I think I saw two guys miss the green.  I was standing right behind the pin on the back of the green and was about 15 feet away from the players when they were closest to me.  I watched them scientifically line up their putts, always conferring with their teammates and taking no less than five minutes on each one.  When a European would sink one, the place erupted.  When an American would sink one, myself and about five others could be heard cheering.  But I did get a head nod out of Dustin Johnson.  After the last group had come through 12 (Mickelson and Folwer), I hiked up to 17.  17 is a 200 yard par 3 that the European team completed dominated.  I saw Rory McIlroy and Grahame McDowell lock up a win against Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan on a big birdie put by McIlroy, as well as Ross Fisher and Paddy Harrington complete a win over Dustin Johnson and Jim Furyk.  After all the remaining groups had finished up on 17 I watched the end of the day's action behind the 18th green.  All in all it was a tough day for the Americans, but a great day for me nonetheless.  As I hiked back up to the Bus pickup, Celtic Manor sitting in my rearview, I thought about how lucky I was, and how I'd never forget my day spent at the Ryder Cup.  

Then came the difficult part -- getting home.  The mad rush was on at the train station as hundreds and hundreds tried to board the train back to London.  It reminded me of a video I once saw of an unfathomable amount of people cramming into a Japanese Subway train (here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FQsg12hoY&feature=related ).  I had to stand shoulder to shoulder with people for the next two hours until I finally arrived at Paddington Station in London.  From there I hopped on the Tube (underground) to London Charing Cross where I boarded a 15 minute train to Orpington.  Once I was back in Orpington it was only a quick taxi ride home.  After a 3 hour journey, my bed has never been so comfortable.

So that basically brings me back to now.  Very tired (I stayed up last night for most of the Pat's game, great win by the way), and ready for bed.  A special thanks to Mom and Dad for making this weekend possible with the best early Christmas present of all time.  Also a shout out to the one and only Josephine Unger, the girl has been an absolute champ since I've been here.  Hope you're all well out there Globalites, wherever you may be, and I'll check back in soon.  Chainsaw Bonesaw, over and out.

Breaking News: Kaeden voted in top 40 cutest babies in Sunbeam contest

As a testament to Kaeden's pure cuteness he has been picked by The Sun into the top 40 out of about 25,000 entries.  He needs your vote to make it into the top 10 Globalites.  Lets get this adorable little cherub in there.  I've included the link below, click on the link to view slideshow.  He is the 3rd one in the slideshow.  I know, I know, he's adorable.  You can go back to the main page and clink the link that says click here to vote then vote Kaeden Kordiak and vault him to superstardom.  Here is the link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/2519316/The-Suns-Sunbeam-competitionSunbeamsThe-Suns-cute-baby-competition.html

A great week capped by a visit from Greg Acone

Hello to all, sorry for the delay but things have been pretty busy over here.  I'm into the thick of it with all of my sessions and really enjoying my work.  Sometimes I can't believe I'm being paid for this stuff, it really is a lot of fun teaching the kids how to play.  In unrelated news, I have developed a moniker for all of you followers of my blog.  From this point forward I will refer to you as Ryan Goes Globalites, or just Globalites for short.  On to what I have been up to:

I was able to get into the city Friday for a day of solo sightseeing and had a lot of fun.  I started out at the British Museum, where I was able to see thousands of artifacts from all over the world.  Most had been "rescued" and "salvaged" (more like stolen) from their original homes during the height of British Imperialism.  I spent about 2 hours in there walking around and seeing the different exhibits, my favorite were Ancient Egypt (complete with the Rosetta Stone), Rome and Greece.  After I left the museum I went and checked out Leicester Square then on to Trafalgar Square.  Trafalgar Square was really cool and I've included some photos in an album I've added on Facebook (yes I'm finally back on it).  From there I made the short walk over to the river and went and saw the London Eye as well as Parliament and Big Ben.  I ended my day of exploration with a pint of Guinness at a nearby pub and a train ride home.

Saturday night I enjoyed a visit from Mr. Acone.  He was in London and we met up in Leicester Square for dinner and a couple drinks.  It was great to see him and seeing such a familiar face lessened the sting of homesickness substantially.  The good food, good beer and good conversation was also a big plus.  We ate at a place called Steak & Co.  then made way to a pub for a couple pints before we had to catch our trains back.  We ended the night with a solid man-hug and took our respective trains in opposite directions.  Thanks for the visit Greg, it really was a great night.

To end this entry I will make brief comments on unfortunate events that took place this weekend in the American sporting world.  First, the brutal and repulsive display of football put on by the New England Patriots in the 2nd half of Sundays tilt vs. doughboy Rex Ryan's New York Jets.  I was beside myself while watching that mockery of offense and defense.  The only team that had a worse performance was Gryffindor House, my own fantasy football squad.  After a dynamic week one performance, my team laid an egg this weekend.  They really let me down Globalites, they really did.  But its a long season and I look forward with confidence. I will chalk this one up as an anomaly, a complete and total aberration, a perfect storm of underperformance that will never be repeated.  After all, they say lightning never strikes more than once in the same place.

So thats all for this week Globalites, I'll check back in soon.  In the meantime, I wish you all the best.

Settled In

I'd say its starting to feel like home. I've finally made the big mental move from visitor to resident. I know this through a couple key signs: I've only attempted to get into the passenger seat of my car twice this week, I have a constant hankering for curry, I haven't thought about Dunkin Donuts in over four days (until now) and I even went so far as to call a pound a quid the other day. Yes, I'd say its starting to feel like home. But there are some things I really miss, like watching college football on Saturdays, my mother's cooking, dinners out on the back porch with my family, friends being only a phone call away, fall ball, Sportscenter, watching HBO's terrific Sunday night lineup with Josie, Pokes and Molly, dinner parties and most importantly, all of you. I've been so busy the last couple days that I haven't really gotten the chance to be lonely. Its only hit me in bed at night when I'm alone in the dark. But darkness is the same no matter what continent you're on.

On a happier note, I was able to watch the Patriots dismantling of the Bengals online Sunday. Boy oh boy was that first half something to see. Furthermore, my fantasy football team, Gryffindor House, destroyed Tyler Steinetz's New Jersey Fluffers 206-77. This first victory makes me feel a little better about the low salary I'm receiving from English Lacrosse because all signs point to a big payday for me after I lock up my 2nd fantasy championship. Ben Severance if you are reading this, don't step on the tracks when the pain train is coming through.

On to what I've actually been doing since I last wrote. I had a light week last week, only coaching two sessions of 14-15 year old boys. I was happy with both of my sessions and the kids really seemed to enjoy the game. I was also able to get out for a couple rounds of golf at a nearby course and put up an 84 with 2 triple bogeys and 3 doubles. Classic Ryan. On Saturday we had a scrimmage against another nearby club and I was playing some pretty good lacrosse before I aggravated my ankle injury again and had to sit out the 2nd half. I'll be fine I just need to stay on the sideline for a couple weeks to make sure I don't have a problem that lingers all season. I was back to work on Monday and had my best day yet. I had the same group of 14-15 year olds in the morning then had two sessions with 9-10 year olds in the afternoon. Those were definitely my favorite. The kids had as much fun playing lacrosse as they did asking me questions about America. One girl even asked me if I knew Justin Bieber. Ha. He wishes.

So that brings me back to today, one class then the day is my oyster. I can't believe I've already been here for 15 days. Only about 90 more till I come home for Christmas. I'll keep you posted in the meantime gumshoes.

Week one

So I finally feel like I'm settled enough to start this blog. Hectic wouldn't even come close to describing the last week or so, I supposed I'll just start from the beginning.

I arrived last Sunday morning and was picked up at the airport by three members from my club named Steve, Dave and Andy. They were really nice and fed me before getting me settled in my new digs. My new place is a small and a little crowded but I can't complain because its a roof over my head. As I look out the window at the pounding rain that is falling right now I realized I am lucky to have that. In our little home here are Steph (mother), Kevin (father) and Kaeden (8 month old baby). Steph and Kevin are really nice and Kaeden is as cute and content as a baby can be. Kind of like the stories I've heard of yours truly in his wonder years.

On Monday I got out early for a round of golf at a course about 2 miles from my place. The course was nothing to write home about (funny how I'm writing home about it right now) but it was a cheap round and I played well. So I was happy. Later Dave picked me up and I went into Notting Hill in the city and we had one whale of a day. The event was the Notting Hill Carnival and it was pure madness. Thousands of people flooded the streets and there were excessive amounts of music, dancing, boozing and yelling. There was also a parade celebrating London's Caribbean population and culture, which was very interesting. I can't forgive myself for forgetting my camera, but it was one hell of a way to start out my stay here in London.

I woke up early the next morning and was driven by my program manage Mike Barrett to 2 other LDO's place in Croydon. We then made a 2 hour drive to Reading for our induction course. We spent the next 4 days learning about our jobs, responsibilities, English lax as a whole and developed some coaching skills. There were about 14 of us in the course and we all took to each other pretty quickly. Thrown into the mix was a pretty wild night out in Reading including about 6 icings and many other good times with some new friends.

After the course ended we headed east to the city of Bath for a big tournament. I was able to play all day Saturday and was playing pretty well until a rendezvous with Lady Luck left me with a sprained ankle. But I didn't let it spoil my good time and we enjoyed the rest of our stay in Bath. On Sunday we were able to see some sights including Bath Abbey which is a beautiful church built in the 1400s. Another notable were the ancient Roman baths. We then piled back into the car and made the long drive back to London where I licked my wounds and caught up on some sleep.

Yesterday I had my first day of work. It was just a short one with a session in the morning with a bunch of 14-15 year old boys. It went well, but I realized how hard it is to teach a game you've been playing for almost 15 years to a bunch of kids who have never heard of it. It was an eye opener but left me excited for the work I have ahead. Which leaves me here, sitting in my room with a full day ahead of me. I think I'll go enjoy it.

I hope I've been able to give you a good picture of my experience so far and I wasn't too longwinded. It's been the experience of a lifetime so far and I can't wait to find what lies ahead and tell you all about it. So goodbye for now, old friends, I'll talk to you again soon.