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American student in Krakow
- Kent's second semester in Poland 03/30/2008, Sunday |
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Hey everyone! I realize that I practically wrote you a novel last week, and I'm sorry to write again in such a short interval, but I had a really interesting experience this week that I'd like to share! Many of you have already heard or asked about it, and several of you have asked for photos, etc...and because I'm a man of the people, I'll give the people what they want! :-) On Wednesday night, the US Men's National Soccer Team came to Krakow for a friendly against the Polish National Team. Seeing as I only live 5 minutes from the stadium, and well...because I basically go crazy for US soccer, I obviously was itching to witness the match! Wednesday afternoon, I met up in town with 3 other Americans who had flown in to attend the match. In all, there were 5 Americans (my friend Dave came alongl) and one Brit (my adviser Ben) at the match. Everyone else was a Poland supporter. Dressed in all of our US gear (complete with flags, jerseys, scarfs, etc), the "American contingent" headed over to the stadium for the match. On the way to the stadium, we all sang American songs and waved our flags. It's kind of strange... but basically, the time I feel most patriotic and proud of my country is during US soccer matches. haha! At the stadium, we found our seats (which happened to be on the 7th row), and started singing, chanting, etc. To their credit, all of the Polish fans were super nice, and they all just laughed when we were clearly being obnoxious. They are possibly the best supporters I've ever witnessed, as they'll sing their team on until the end of a match - even if they're losing 3-0. The US team won 3-0 (a shocker to many...especially the Poles), and naturally, we were all going nuts! We were close enough that we could yell at the players, and they'd wave back. Also, every time we scored, the TV cameras focused on us going wild. (Thanks to all of you who watched and texted or sent messages!) After the match, as the players were leaving the field, I yelled at my favorite player, Brian Ching. He looked at me, and I showed him I was a Dynamo fan because I had a Dynamo beanie on. He proceeded to take off his jersey, hand it to the equipment manager, and tell him something. Immediately after, the equipment manager called me down to the field, handed me the jersey, and said, "Brian said he wanted you to have this." Basically, I was like a kid on Christmas morning! The glow on my face was probably ridiculous. After we left the stadium, four of us went to the team hotel to hang out with the players. I was lucky enough to see about half of the team, and talk with them a bit. We also got a few photos. For those of you who care to know, I have photos with Tim Howard, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Lewis, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson, Benny Feilhaber, Heath Pearce, and my personal favorite, Ricardo Clark (another Dynamo player)! It was fun getting to ask all of the players about their current club situations, as well (though, a lot of them are in jeopardy of being relegated). The next morning, we were somewhat surprised to discover that our photo was in the national newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, on the 2nd page! Also, we were on a lot of websites around the country. Needless to say, I was beginning to get a big head. :-) In any case... it was a great experience...one which I won't soon forget, I'm sure. I'll attach a few photos, and for those of you who might want to see more, I can send extras individually if you like. Hope everyone is well, and that you are all safe and happy! Cheers, Kent |
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8/31/07 9/11/07 9/20/07 9/27/07 10/5/07 10/14/07 3/22/08 3/30/08 |
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