Poland's interest in Halloween is growing

10 years ago any mention of Halloween in Poland would have been strongly condemned as Paganism, and would not go very far in conversation other than scoffing at the children having fun. I am very glad to see that today we are met with the same outrage but we also have a lot more people celebrating Halloween :) Religious extremism pops up at times here in Poland, this time it is for Halloween, which is largely just a day for kids to have fun. The reality is that this world has many different people from many different religious and geographical backgrounds, and by condemning holidays and beliefs we are not bringing this world any closer to peace. Now I am not saying that you should like Halloween or even participate in it if you are living in Poland but for us parents and grandparents we should not teach our children to hate it. You see, this world could actually be a Utopian society, if as parents and leaders, and respected members of society we did not teach hatred. Children will absorb everything that you do and say in life, and if you preach about hatred of certain individuals, or groups, or ideals then those children will do the same when they are older. If you go into a diverse kindergarten or preschool environment, with kids from different backgrounds and countries the kids will not care about the color of other kids' skin. All kids know is how to have fun and that maybe some of their friends look a little bit different than they do. Take a high school sports team, for example, the players don't care about where people come from, they just want to get out there and win as a team. So as more people in Poland learn how to check their passions at the gate and welcome a little fun for the kids, this country can open up a little bit and be a little more peaceful. My family still plans on celebrating All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day this year, as well. I do enjoy the positive side of religion, which in my mind is about bringing people together to live life in an honest and peaceful way. So when we talk about holidays, why should we have the right to tell people which ones they can celebrate and which ones they cannot while still believing this is right? Who are we to say that because you are not a part of our religion that you cannot celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? I chose to promote peace, prosperity, and respect among people I meet, and I hope that their beliefs do the same without looking down upon other groups of people, or individuals, who were not born into a good life. I often ponder what was my past life, was it in poverty or abundance, and how did I chose to live? And if you ask my wife what do I ask for as gift for my birthday, or Christmas, she would roll her eyes and repeat for you "peace on Earth, and goodwill towards man." So lighten up a little bit, laugh at the kids costumes or pretend to have as much enthusiasm and imagination as they did putting them together, and throw some candy at them if they come :) And most of all just choose to be happy and don't just promote more hatred through Facebook posts.

This is by the way my pumpkin, which is supposed to by inside of an American football helmet :). Well goodnight everyone or to some good morning :)

Warsaw Eagles holding tryouts this weekend!

The Warsaw Eagles are the oldest American Football club here in Poland. They had a club and a group of people playing football long before it was popular in Poland, at a time when if you said football it was related to kicking that black and white ball around on the ground. Well American football continues to grow every year in Poland expanding the group of players and fans that admire them, and the teams and organization of the Warsaw Eagles has seen the same huge jumps. Every year teams in the same regions tend to merge and forge better teams and new teams join the leagues bringing in new talent and new joy to the sport. Polish people are big and strong and when they really learn to embrace the kind of lifting they need for football the excitement will grow further. I have only been living in Poland full time since March but I have noticed the older learned methods of weightlifting are really geared towards bodybuilding or the national Olympic lifting team. I have seen this start to change and the players and starting to lift in a way to really improve their athletic ability with football specific training, which is really exciting. The gyms here in Poland need to get better too though so that they can provide the right environment for the athletes to train in. I really love American football, wasn't that obvious already? When I was a much younger kid playing HS football in the US all that I could think about was the NFL. I grew up watching movies like 'Rudy' which is ok, but later I discovered 'The Program'. 'The Program' IS football to anyone who knows the sport and for anyone interested in the sport should watch the movie. Great set of characters in the movie, great set of ideals and great head coach played by James Caan. I think that if you want to know what goes on in the head of an American football player you should watch how the movie plays out. For the hopeful kids wanting to make something out of themselves there is Alvin Mack played by Duane Davis, who is just an awesome and brutal defensive back. Steve Lattimer played by Andrew Bryniarski is a great representation of what can happen to you when taking steroids and how addicting that can be. And Darnell Jefferson played by Omar Epps, who is a troubled youth who turns his life around and gets some amazing opportunities in life largely because of his ability as a football player. I have already spoken about the life long friendships you build by playing football but I have not spoken much about the coaches. I just want to say that the coaches I have met in life in playing football or weightlifting have been the most encouraging and motivating people that I know. Coaches are teachers of their discipline and guide students and players with their knowledge and experience, and there is no way that I would be anywhere near the athlete or respectful individual I have been in the past or future without good help along the way. Coaches also sacrifice a lot in the way of personal time and often low pay to help guide the younger kids in the right path, so try to show some respect and listen when you are on the field or in the gym. I still stay in touch with my high school football coach, who is a mentor, continuing lifting and football coach, but more importantly he is a life-long friend and I think he would help me out in any way he could. Be passionate about whatever you choose to do in life, respect those who deserve it and for those trying to help you say thank you. Well friends good night or to some good morning :)

The Football season is over, now the serious weightlifting begins!

The PLFA 8 American football ball season has come to an end and our Warsaw Eagles ended up in fourth place. We started the day off in pouring rain and promise of a mud bowl wetting our appetite for destruction. In the championship tournament we played two different teams, and we lost to each team in tough battles that saw the winning team change hands several times. Football is a team sport filled with an immense level of strategy, and it is a group effort, and it comes down to every person out on the field giving it their all to try to outwit and out battle the opponent. Sometimes out on the field you might think that the smallest block and pass route on offense doesn't matter, and you might not be important in that play, but you actually end up being the difference between a gain of two yards and a 40 yard touchdown run. Football is a way of life, a passion, some people even call it their religion. Football is a sport that teaches leadership, self improvement, discipline, and comradery all in the guise of having fun. Football is also a sport that teaches you about loosing. The only way you can really learn to better yourself in life is if you learn how to deal with loosing and what you make of it. With the sudden reality of the end of a football season it is not uncommon to see a grown man cry and yes real men do cry. I cry as it is the end of something special, something shared with a great group of people. With the season over I hope to put a lot of time in the weight room, fields and woods and anywhere else I can train to make myself a better athlete. We are not all going to be recognized as winners and get our names posted in the papers and media. We are not all going to sign contracts with the NFL and manufacturers of sports drinks and protein powders. We are however going to better ourselves as human beings, and relish in the lasting friendships we have made doing battle out on the field. There is no better gift in life than friendship. Being an American and playing football here in Poland, I hope that some of my experience and advice and love for this game has rubbed off on some of the people here. I also hope that this sport continues to build in the country, much more than what it has already become. I also hope that all of the Polish players reading this translate it well and take my lessons to heart, and also take themselves into the weight room :) This week I will wash my gear, lick my wounds, and plan on how to better myself. What is on your to do list this week? Mila the Destroyer and Lydia are out playing in the yard with Mama, and tomorrow night is finally the arrival of my lovely wife after three weeks apart :) So to all have a good evening or good morning :) Oh and yes Mila is enjoying her new battle equipment since daddy won't be needing it for a while.

3 Weeks no wife, 2 girls, 5 days left :)

Mila the Destroyer has qualities that are often demonstrated by my fellow American football players. You see before a game you tend to get pumped up and ready for battle, and some call that "Beast Mode" or "Hulk Mode" and Mila likes to get jacked up in the same way. This morning she got up shortly after 5 and refused to go back into her crib. I tried getting her to sleep in the bed next to me, and that worked for a little while before it started getting brighter outside, and the cats meowed. So as it was just about time for her older sister Lydia to get ready for school I told her to go wake her up. Well Mila refers to Lydia as 'Wawa' so I said go wake up wawa, and the mess above is what happened in about ten minutes :) I was sure that Beast mode was activated when her sister started screaming. When I came to separate the two, and make sure Lydia would start the arduous journey of avoiding getting ready for school I found the carnage. At times I feel like I am repeating the same day over and over again. Yell or beg for Lydia to get up and ready for school, try to figure out what the Destroyer wants and make her happy, and try to keep the house in some sort of order. Magda refers to me as the 'house henny' I think that would be the polite Polish translation at least. So I dealt with this mess as usual and went about my day. Lydia has now come home from School, and is laying on the bed behind me watching one of the Shrek movies. All was good for about five minutes before I heard her crying. I turned around and found her laying down on top of Mila looking at the ceiling, and Mila had a fist full of her hair braid. I know that the blood lust with eventually subside in Mila, but it is really like watching to see if something is going to upset the little Bruce Banner. Tonight is my last football practice before the PLFA 8 final tournament this weekend. I must say that playing football again has been fantastic, and has filled an empty spot in the heart of this old athlete, that has been missing for the last 12 years. And American football, what a sport to be privileged enough to play. A preview of the game can be found here http://plfa.pl/news/1025/ and for my American friends just copy and paste to Google translate like I do because it is in Polish :) Read up on the Eagles, we will battling the Steelers in the first match. There is like a 20% chance of rain on Sunday, so it could be a fun rainy game too :) Magda and I are really going to owe mama Ewa a lot after this weekend as I will be gone the whole time for this final, and she will have the girls alone :) If we play in the final game of the tournament which we should, then we will not get back to Warsaw until like 12 am or later after a very long bus ride. Well I handed the girls over to mom and I have to get my gear together for practice.  Good night all or Good morning :)

3 weeks no wife, 2 girls, 10 days and counting

The cold fall weather is starting to push it's way across Poland and I can only begin to wonder when the first snow will fall. This is a picture from the temperature visor in my truck after I got home from football practice last night. 

We have started using the wood burning stove in the downstairs to keep us warm.  

The wood shed is full and we have a reserve pile stacked up against the side of the house to last us into the spring and what you can't see about the wood pile is that it is actually triple deep with chopped wood. All I can think about other than missing my wife is the snow shoveling season ahead :) Being American and growing up with Rocky I just naturally think about the montage of Rocky 4 and training in the bitter cold of Russia with random farm equipment and chopping wood.  Like I said we are good on wood but shoveling will keep me warm :) Football practice was cold last night despite the fact that we run around in pads. I don't practice or play with gloves on but I was sure second guessing that decision last night, and you don't have pockets on a football outfit when you are not involves in a play or drill to put your hands into. I know you could use the argument don't be a wuss this is how it is in Poland but you guys also dress well and are prepared for the cold unlike us Northern California people. Here is where I contradict myself, you see I don't like to practice in bad weather but I love to play a football game in bad weather.  I would thoroughly enjoy a battle out on the field in the pouring rain and mud or the ground covered in deep snow.  Battling out on the field where everyone is at some sort of disadvantage forcing better strategy, guts, and teammates to come together against our opponents is really what football is all about. Mila was with me yesterday before my evening practice and unfortunately do to the cold I decided to keep her indoors rather than take her on the usual hour long stroller walk.  I really don't wish to have her catch a cold right now so I am going to have figure out some other indoor destinations to keep her occupied other than just trashing our house.  

Here are two pictures of my little Destroyer in one of the chairs in the living room. She is chewing on a very soft bristled brush she stole from the kitchen and I think it helps with her teeth that are constantly coming in. She will climb on anything that she can get onto and will sometimes use other objects to boost herself onto something taller.  To give an example that little table in the background of the first picture was next to the chair and I found her on top of it one day kicking her feet back and forth, so needless to say I moved the two objects apart :) Well got to get a few things picked up around here while the Destroyer is still asleep and I have to remember to charge the battery for the camera. Bye for now :)

3 weeks no wife, 2 girls, week 1 over :)

Well being apart from my wife is draining besides missing her so much.  My girls can be awesome but also quite a handful.  Lydia my older daughter has a way of trying to be too cleaver with what is going on, and tries to manipulate the situation in hope that I am not paying attention to what she is doing in the moment.  For instance when there is a bang sound coming from where the two girls are playing together, and Mila starts crying, Lydia knows that I would be mad if she caused the pain, so she will quickly tell me that Mila tripped and hit her head on the wall.  What Lydia will not volunteer in a situation like that is that she was spinning circles in front of Mila, and encouraging her to do the same and young Mila just can't do all of the fun moves without banging into things. I know that Mila the Destroyer is built like a tank and can take the abuse, but I still get sad when the poor girl bangs into something and starts crying. Lydia on the other hand is totally a princess and her favorite Disney princess is Rapunzel so she thinks that is who she is.  Lydia will even go so far to be afraid that if she cuts her beautiful blond hair, that it will turn brown and will not grow anymore :) So despite their age difference I will still hear Lydia screaming at times because Mila has her pinned on the ground and it pulling her hair or suffocating her. Yesterday was a typical day, Lydia to school and Mila to destroying the house and our afternoon stroller walk and mushroom hunt.  It has not rained in a few days so new mushrooms are not growing in the woods so fast, and most of the experts have already been out fiercely picking. I am usually lucky and bring home a few birch boletes like I did yesterday.

I also come across many of the poisonous amanita mushrooms like this one while I am out searching for edible mushrooms.

but today I was just blessed with the beautiful scenery of the Polish forests and a few animals greeting us along the way. At one point on the walk a pheasant floor almost over us crossing the road and honking as he did. I took out the camera hoping to get a picture but it unfortunately hid in the tall grass on the other side of the street.  I also come across many frogs and the occasional toad as I walk through the woods.  Here is a picture of one of the many common frogs :)

Before I could go on my morning stroller walk with Mila today we went about our normal daily routines. We have both been suffering from a lack of sleep at night so I decided to use one of the old single parent tricks which I will share with you.  The trick is to sleep when your baby is sleeping! So this isn't a new lesson to teach people, and I hope it is common sense, but when you are feeling sleep deprived because of your little one and your day will allow it, then do it :)  I slept for about an hour mid-day. Well football practice was good tonight and I think we will be well prepared for the championship tournament on the 13th. I have to get used to the fact that practicing football in the fall in Poland is much colder than practicing football in the fall in Northern California it was cold on the field tonight :) Well I should get to sleep now, goodnight all.

American Football in Poland

This picture was taken by Ada Iniarska on the 20th of September and it is of my buddy Oskar and I getting ready for our second football game of the day.  We are currently playing in the PLFA 8 and our final games will be in the championship tournament on the 12th of October. I think that I will be making many posts about American football here in Poland :) .  When I first started coming here to Poland in 2003 there was no league and any mention of football would bring up a soccer discussion.  Information about the football leagues in Poland can be found on the PLFA website www.plfa.pl which has all of the team stats, upcoming matches and rankings.  There are a total of five different football leagues here in Poland as follows: Topliga, PLFA I, PLFA II, PLFA 8 and PLFA J.  Topliga or Top League is a league that consists of the countries top 8 national teams.  PLFA I is a league of 8 teams which hope to play well enough to gain entry into the Top League.  PLFA II is a league of 21 different teams and it consists of teams that either hope to play well enough to gain entry into the Top League or they are the second teams for football organizations that already have a team that plays in the Top League.  PLFA 8 is a league of 19 different teams that consist of amateur players that have just played in Poland for their first season.  PLFA 8 is 8 on 8 football instead of the traditional 11 on 11,  This league is also a series of 13 different 4 game tournaments that determine an overall champion.  PLFA J is a league consisting of Junior players that are ages 12-17.  So my first season of playing football here in Poland I played for the "B" Eagles in PLFA II or the "Beagles" as we are called we went 4-2 overall and I am still playing for the Eagles in the PLFA 8.  I really enjoy the enthusiasm and the comradery the players have that are playing the game.  After a game I would say that at least fifty percent of the time the two teams will get together for a photo and share a laugh.  For anyone who has played the game, you should know how much fun it is and in Poland you will get the opportunity to relive some of that former glory you had playing in the USA.  There are many different levels to this sport as I have highlighted above in my post so there is a lot of opportunity to find a spot on one of the many teams.  This is a very exciting time in Poland and I am working out on the field and in the weight room and trying my best to share my love for the sport with all of my new friends in Poland :) .