I Love Chipotle

If you didn't figure it out from the title I safely landed in the United States and made it to Chipotle. If you don't know what it is you are missing out on a small piece of heaven here on earth. But seriously if you still haven't heard of Chipotle climb out of your cave. You don't have to take it personally its not your fault, but it is your fault now if you don't go check it out now. Nothing like giving a free plug to a company. If you need someone to go with I will be more than welcome to explain the intricacies of this fine restaurant establishment to you.

My Thoughts Right Now

Kane, my college housemate, picked me up from the airport a few hours ago and now he is off at work. Perfect time for me to do a little writing. For starters if you have never taken a flight on Air India you must do it at least once in your life. It is definitely a culture shock. I was clearly in the severe minority on this flight. I found it very interesting to look around the aircraft and see the cultural evolution. I saw the very old traditional Indian people and then the new more modern dressed ones. I had a nice highly curry laden lamb dish for my meal and I noticed that most were getting vegetarian dishes. Definitely an interesting plane ride. Nothing like one more cultural experience to finish off the first year.

Basketball Update
First off, its good to be back in the States where a gym is readily available to me. I will probably go put up a bunch of shots tonight simply because I can. Its nice to be able to get in a gym whenever I want. I might kiss the first wood floor I see.

I think the last time I talked about basketball I hadn't been to any try-outs yet. I am extremely happy to announce that I did get a couple looks after the last blog. I traveled to Langen (near Frankfurt) for a two-day try-out there. It was a great experience. The guys on that team were very nice. I actually spent one of the evenings relaxing at the Americans' house just watching tv. Basketball wise I think the try-out went really well. My shot was a little rusty because of not being in a gym for a couple weeks but what can you do. I played solid, not outstanding but not poorly. Since this was a Pro A team, 3 leagues higher than where I played, I didn't know what to expect right away. This level of basketball is a much better fit for me and is where I need to be to really improve. Langen as a team is very team orientated. They only have a few foreign players and they have a strong focus on developing their younger players. Very nice management and okay facilities.

I had another try-out last night before I left with Essen, a city near Dusseldorf. Marko and Goran accompanied me to the try-out which was really nice. This try-out was much different than Langen. Essen has a bunch of Americans who were extremely athletic. The style of play here was more 1 v 1 and breaking down one's defender then kicking to open shooters. Even with the added athleticism I felt I fit right in. Again I played solid and speaking with the coaches afterward they liked how I played. Hopefully this will lead to some opportunity in the future.

Overall, I think the try-outs were very successful and I am happy I spent the extra three weeks in Germany to do it. The more I am in this business the more I find out how important networking is. I also have found how important character is to coaches. The game can be taught to someone who is willing to learn but the game is hard to teach to someone who already knows it all. The player is only part of the equation, character can many times be a deciding factor.

The Rest of My Life

I will be back in MN this Sunday around 2 pm. We are planning on heading to the cheesecake factory after I land. Anyone and everyone is welcome. If you would like to join us shoot me an email or give my mom a call. I cant wait to see everyone again in MN. First things first though -- college house reunion in Chicago.

I would also like to make a public thanks to Marko and his father for putting me up in their apartment for three weeks.

Also thanks to Marc, Timo, Jana, and Maggie for stopping Dusseldorf to give us a final farewell

The Windy City Awaits
TJW

p.s. I wrote this yesterday but forgot to post it so pretend you read this yesterday