Sunday 28 August 2011

narcolepsy & 9 hour bus rides;

I can't say I enjoyed waking up at 5am in order to get on a bus that drove 9 hours to get to a different state in order to play one game. I can't say I hated it though, the 8 hours I slept on the bus were much needed. Narcolepsy had caught up to me by Thursday/Friday, I wasn't paying as close of attention as possibly I could/should have. I did not notice how exhausted I was until the moment came when I woke up not quite realizing when I had fallen asleep. Thankfully this did not happen during class, but it was a bit of a wake up call that I haven't been doing the best I can in the department of taking care of my body.
First week of classes and the die hard need/want to still remain social can be blamed for my lack of care for my body. Classes were stressful/fun/nerve racking. I was getting assignments left right and centre, new information on how to do certain things like using the darkroom properly. My mind was just loaded and on top of all this I had practice everyday, homework every night and the desire to keep up with that social life I have created here. Not like I was doing wild things each night, but my bedtime became non existent because I knew the weekend was coming up. Stupid idea, I will be making sure my 8 hours are achieved every night with the exception if I have homework that needs to be attended too, not a social life.
So far I love my classes. I finally got my schedule sorted out. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I have one class at 10am. Tuesday and Thursday's though I have quite a morning. Two classes that last a total of 5 hours together. They are practically back to back, I have half an hour in between the two, just enough time to eat and if I am lucky I can maybe squeeze in a nap! I love the classes and they are interesting enough that staying awake is not really a problem but it's only been a week. The two classes on Tuesday/Thursday are my two photography classes, so a lot of art work and a lot of darkroom activities! I am also taking a course online, a health class on Drug Use and Abuse. It sounded interesting, I have always been curious of people involved with drugs and addiction. I chose to take it online just because of all the travelling the soccer team does and the fact that the less time I spend being lectured in a class the happier my narcolepsy is!
Anyways our game in Bismarck, North Dakota was a success and we came out with a win of 2-0! I played the entire game and was quite pleased with my performance. I am now on the bus ride back home, catching up on reading material for my one business class and catching up on sleep.
Talk soon.

Wednesday 24 August 2011

the best thing about knowing nobody;

This may sound stupid, or may sound weird but I absolutely love not knowing anyone. I love that I moved here not knowing anyone and I love that everyone has to get to know me to judge me. Not one person can talk to someone I knew back home and get a pre judgement about me. I love that, I love not being judged for what one person thought of me back home. I am not saying people have bad opinions of me, but these people have seen me at my best and at my worst, or others have just judged me because of the people I have been friends with. Here they have no information to go off of so they are forced to get to know me and make a judgement of me off their OWN opinion. It's awesome, and I am happy I moved here by myself and did it not knowing nobody on any personal level.
School started on Monday and with it now being Wednesday I am still trying to figure it all out. The awesome part about school starting is the fact that the two practices a day have turned into one. No more running everyday twice a day!!!
I have yet to fall asleep in class, which is a huge plus. Although I do go home every day from practice and I run straight for my bedroom, turn on my iPod and drift asleep. I don't even set my alarm, I just know I will wake up within the next 2 hours. Sometimes I sleep for ten minutes, sometimes I sleep for 2 hours. Either way I earned the huge nap, and after my nap I get to do homework and make myself dinner. Occasionally I get to see friends and occasionally I get to go out with my friends.
Every teacher has been understanding about my narcolepsy and so far I really am quite fond of my teachers. They all seem super nice, I would worry to get on a few of their bad sides but for the most part they have a good sense of humour and they seemed understanding about my narcolepsy. I simply told them... "I have narcolepsy, it may cause me to fall asleep randomly. I have my fingers crossed it wont but their is a chance. If you seem me scribbling or playing with a pen or piece of paper it is not because I am day dreaming, it is simply out of habit to keep me awake." They all seemed pretty good about it. I can't see them being more lenient about any of my assignments, but that is not what I want. I want to be treated like any other students, no special privileges but with the knowledge that I have a disorder which could affect my ability to learn all things in a class if I should fall asleep.
Anyways, I am waiting to talk to my councillor about switching my class to another time, the website wont let me do it myself so I have gone to seek out some help! I will post soon, I have my first game this weekend in Bismarck. It's a 9 hour drive I am looking forward to sleeping through! =)
Wish me luck

Sarah

Wednesday 10 August 2011

it's only the first week;

I've been here one week, I've had a lot of fun within only one week but now that the tough stuff has started i have found that these two a day work outs/training are tiring! In between the two sessions I barely have enough time to sleep and eat. Practice ends at 10:15 if we're lucky. What i mean by lucky is if everyone finishes the sprints or drills in the allotted time given. If not, we stay for extras until we make up for what we don't make. So far it has been pretty good, stayed later a few times. I then have just enough time to walk home, grab a bite and set my alarm for 10 minutes to nap. After this all i have to hustle back to the locker room, get my back stretched out (still injured from car accident! =( ) then we are on for practice at 12:30. If you're late you force your team to do some major running! No one has been late.... yet.
After the afternoon practice which has been lasting on average 3 hours is over we get our ice baths, and our stretch on because Oh Lord do we ever need it! I have been SO sore, waking up in the morning is a shock, mostly a jumble of me trying to get my legs to walk properly and to keep me balanced. My calves have never hurt this bad every step for three consecutive days. I'll tell you one thing though, all this conditioning is making me a skinny girl! I honestly think it'll all be worth the tired moments! Haha.
I have been keeping my schedule the exact same every day, sure I'll do different activities but my naps are at the same time everyday (within reason). I've got my nap between my two sessions in the day and then when i come home and shower around 4:00 i get some comfy clothes on and sleep for a good 30 minutes. It has been working and it has allowed me to be somewhat active in the evening with meeting people in my building and around my apartment complex. Most of my new friends either play football or basketball. They are all so much fun, their accents are so great! We've got people from Louisiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota (obviously), Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Everywhere! It is awesome listening to all of their slang terms or just the way they express things so differently! I am really enjoying my time, although exhausted I am getting through the day and getting my 8 hours sleep minimum every night!!
With the accent difference I've ran into a few interesting moments! And with me being the only one from Canada i have been given the name "Canada". I quite like it, Sarah is a generic and common name these days so their is no confusion with Canada.. I am the only Canadian down here! =)
Here are a few things i have said that have caused a big "ruckus" or being called weird or crazy!
"Yeah I'll phone you" - I said this to a teammate and everyone froze, stared at me and asked "You'll phone her? You mean you'll call her?". Its insane, they never use the word phone unless you're referring the object. I learned this quick and people get a kick out of it!
"I don't snowboard or ski, I toboggan!" - They were shocked that me being a Canadian that i should probably ski or snowboard or both! I don't, i have before, and i don't mind it... It just isn't something that i loved. Anyways they thought the word Toboggan was the best thing ever. They killed themselves laughing, said it over and over, and often found ways to use it in a sentence. It was a good laugh, I'll be sure to use the word sledding next time!
Their are probably more but i need to have my shower and nap now! I'll keep you posted after preseason is over on the 22nd, and school starts on the 23rd!


Canada