Day 5 – Berlin
By Kristy Jaeckel

Today was our very first (and most likely last) day off. We woke up and ate, then went and practiced. After practice we had 2 hours to do whatever we wanted. Some girls went swimming, some did laundry, but most did what I did: took a nice nap.  

After our “time off” we went and had a nice lunch of mashed potatoes and beef brisket, it was really good. When we were done eating, we walked to the playing facility and prepared for our match against the Czechs. We won in a tough 5 game match. After playing we went and had a dinner of fish with spinach or chicken on skewers, and of course our rolls and nutella. The chicken was pretty good after the first few bites. 

After dinner we showered and had a chance to watch a guy’s volleyball match: Finland vs. Germany. It was really fun to watch guys play, they were really good and the player’s good looks were definitely a bonus that kept us there cheering them on the whole match. The game is way different that women’s volleyball in many ways, especially in the physical aspect. They hit the ball a lot harder and there are less rallies because of the speed. They also all jump serve and hit out of the back row a lot. After watching that match, we headed over to watch Northern Lights play against the Czech team, and they played hard and won also. It was nice to have a chance to relax, thanks Cory!