by Heather Diers, Cal Berkeley (’03)
This morning began with a large procession of luggage being dragged and hauled down many flights of stairs in order to get on the bus and drive to Munich. Prague was a great city filled with many interesting facts and historical tidbits, as are all European cities. One of the great parts of this exposure tour is the chance to experience and see many different cities and cultures within a short period of time. All of the girls have their favorite spots from the tour but none can be compared exactly to each other since each city is so different. That’s the great thing about Europe.
After the bus ride into Munich, we dropped our luggage off, quickly showered and headed into the city. We got dropped off and walked a few blocks, many of us stopping into stores on our way to the famous Hoffbrauhaus. The Hoffbrauhaus is a very large restaurant where tourists and locals can get good food and very large mugs of beer. Most of the girls took advantage of the first free beer and the mugs are so big that two hands are needed to hold it. Everyone had a good time eating, chatting and drinking but the night had to end with a bus ride back to the Sports Regatta. All of us have relatively early flights home in the morning so sleep is important.
Going on this exposure tour opened my eyes to many different cultures, lifestyles and ways of playing volleyball. The way teams are so relaxed and quiet during games was very different for me, coming straight off of an intense senior season in the Pac-10 conference. For all of us, it took a few days to adjust to the different playing level of other teams and the fact that we were playing girls who were much younger than us but could hit a ball in the ten foot line just the same. After speaking to American players on European teams and European coaches, I would like to come back and play this August. It is a great opportunity to experience a different life and have the chance to be as independent as one desires. As a once in a lifetime opportunity, it seems hard to turn down.
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