Seriously?

The Californian in me is flabbergasted that the refs did not call yesterday's game on account of weather. It was like no game I had ever experienced. Perhaps I am a baby when it comes to cold weather, but a snow capped field transforms soccer into some mutant sport that is more like a combination of ice skating, snow wrestling, and football than soccer.

Yesterday, our teams drove up to one of the base schools near Seoul just in time for a relatively heavy (unanticipated) snow storm. Their turf field, one lacking the rubber gravel necessary for traction (even with fair weather), was under about one and a half inches of snow at the start of the game and several by the end. Heavy snow reduced visibility and drenched everyone/everything. Not exactly the dream turf we were hoping to finally get to play on.

Kick off sounded about 2 hours into the storm. With each revolution the soccer ball made, it gathered snow and expanded into giant snow mounds, only to shatter into powder in the faces of receiving players. The damp snow collected into solid masses between the spikes of cleats, forming slick blocks of ice for the girls to tediously balance on. Bodies were flying everywhere! It became common for both opponents to run in the general direction of the ball and miss it altogether as they tumbled together in a giant snow-wrestling mass. At half time, our talk consisted of strategies for sprint and sliding, getting up off the ground, and persistence.

We tied the game 1-1. I am looking forward to seeing what real soccer looks like the next time we play them.

I couldn't feel my feet for about an hour after we got back to Daejeon. Thailand in 3 days is continuing to look better and better! So is the weather in Uganda!