Saturday, June 25, 2011

Kjelsås IL


I have some very good news to report today. I signed with Kjelsås this week, the team that I have been training with since I arrived. The team plays in the Norwegian Second Division. I'm very excited about this opportunity and really happy to be joining the club. Since arriving I've been impressed with the quality of training and the way everyone at the club has treated me. All the players have made me very welcome and I'm hoping to play a lot of games for the club this season. It was my goal to sign with Second Division team this season, so I'm thrilled that I have done that and I'm looking forward to playing my first game for the club. I'm also really happy to be in Oslo, it's definitely a great place for me to be. Overall it's just a fantastic feeling to be signed with a Norwegian club again and to be back in Norway. I'm hoping to make the most of this opportunity.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Day in the city

I had the day off training today and decided to go into the city centre to have a look around and check things out. It was a really nice day today and I ended up going all over the city. I have the transit system all figured out now I think, but having said that next time I go into town, I’ll probably get lost! Anyways it was a good day, nice to relax and enjoy the beautiful city of Oslo. I walked around all the main shopping area and went in some of my favorite stores and FINALLY got my phone sorted out. For some reason my phone stopped working when I arrived in Norway and it’s been a huge hassle trying to get it sorted out. So I’m very happy to have it finally working again. After lunch, I walked up to the Royal Palace. It’s always exciting to see the Royal Palace and walk around that area. Then I went to a few random places I’ve never been to before and just walked around to try and find something exciting. In the summer in Norway, they have ski races on the streets, where the skiers have wheels on the skis. Not sure what this is called, but I randomly came across one of these races and watched for a bit. Looks fun, but like a lot of hard work. After that, I went to the Opera House. It was really nice there today, the weather was great and there were a lot of people walking around. I was hoping to get to Vigeland Park today, but I didn’t have time, so that will be my next day trip I think. Check out my photos from today below…









Monday, June 20, 2011

Vålerenga Vs Sarpsborg 08

Last night I went to a Tippeligaen (Premier League) game in the city, Vålerenga Vs Sarpsborg 08. It was at Ullevaal Stadion, home of Vålerenga and the Norwegian National team. It was a fun game to watch and it was nice to sit at pitch level behind the goal. Vålerenga won the match 2-0, it probably should have been more though. I really enjoyed watching Vålerenga play, the way they passed the ball around was great to watch. Lots of short passes and good movement from all the players, they rarely played a long ball in the air the entire game. Although the stadium was pretty far from full, the atmosphere was fantastic (I was sitting with the Vålerenga supporters). It was a good night overall and I'm sure I'll go to watch them play again soon. Check out my photos from the game below.




Sunday, June 19, 2011

Oslo

I’ve arrived back in Norway and it feels great to be back. Hard to believe I’ve already been gone for a week, it’s flown by. Right now I’m in Oslo (Capital city of Norway) and I really like it here. Anyways, I guess I will start from the beginning of my trip. I flew from Vancouver to Manchester and had a pretty good flight. Over the years I’ve had many LONG trips with lots of flight connections, so it’s always a treat to fly directly to Europe. I flew Air Transat and there wasn’t a great deal of room and unfortunately my TV screen didn’t work, but those are my only complaints. Luckily I had some DVD’s with me and I watched Braveheart, one of my favorite movies. I hardly slept, maybe 45 minutes all together, so I was pretty tired when I arrived in England. Of course as soon as I landed it started to rain and I hopped on a train to Crewe. I lived in Crewe for around a year and have also spent a lot of time there over the years. I used to spend most of my summer holidays training with Crewe Alexandra FC, so it was nice to be back there. I stayed with one of my friends and former teammates and it was great to see him and catch up a bit. It was a short visit though, as I was heading back to Manchester airport early on Tuesday morning, to catch my flight to Oslo.

It was a really nice feeling to get back to Norway. I got dropped off where I’m staying and was told I had about 45 minutes until I would be picked up for my first training. I was exhausted and fell asleep for about 20 minutes, before going to train. My legs were heavy and I felt pretty jet jagged, but it was good having my first training session with the team. Throughout the week I started to feel better and better, and I think its safe to say I’m over the jet lag now. Training has been good and everyone at the club has been very welcoming, I really like it here. I remember last year, when I arrived for my first session with a Norwegian club, I felt so foreign and I had no idea what was being said on the field. Of course, I still feel like a foreigner and I don’t know much Norwegian, but I noticed right away this time I knew exactly what was going on during training and for the most part what the players/coaches were saying. This was definitely a good feeling for me, because it can be very hard when you're trying to translate in the middle of a training session.

In my spare time this week, I’ve been doing a lot of resting. I have gone into the city centre a few times. Oslo is a beautiful city and I really like it here. I visited here for a weekend last year, so I know my way around a little bit. I haven’t gotten very lost yet and luckily the city centre is only about 6 train stops away from where I’m staying. It’s very easy to get around with trains, busses and trams all over the place. One thing about Oslo, that has been very nice for me is the amount English is spoken everywhere. When I was up North in Bodø last year, it was a much smaller town and everyone spoke good English for the most part when they needed to. But it was rare to see anyone speaking English, unless they were talking to me. But with Oslo being a bigger city, people seem to be speaking English everywhere, which is really helpful for me. I really hope to learn more Norwegian this time around though. I can understand a lot of the very basic things and most things on the soccer field. But it would definitely be nice to be able to speak some more of the language and get a better understanding of it. So I’m going to have to work hard at it. I’ll write another update in the next couple of days & try to get some pictures up at some point.

Robbie

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Returning to Norway!

Okay, so its been a while since I've updated this... But I finally have some exciting news to report. I'm heading back to Norway this weekend! I'm flying to Manchester on Saturday and will spend a few days in Crewe (Where I used to live), before flying to Oslo on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Europe and especially returning to Norway. I have some great friends there and really enjoyed playing there last year, so I think its going to be a fun summer. I can't wait to get to on the field there again, will write again soon with an update.