FBA TRAVELS FROM ABROAD: SPENSER MITCHELL – Blog Week 2 – Sept. 23, 2014

Just a little glimpse of my campus for the year. #GCD #gopro

Had to post this.. Destroys any sand castle I’ve ever made! #ireland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend the Thunder had a tournament held at UCD, one of the larger colleges out in Dublin. We finished second, as we lost by 1 in the championship, but overall I felt even better about the way we all played together. We lost by 1 to a team who’s been together all summer and our team has only been together (completely) for about 2 weeks. I’d say we held our own, but we certainly should’ve done better. You could see spurts of greatness and chemistry both on and off the court. Whether it was a perfect extra pass for a better shot, or even a player volunteering to pick us up to go out to the game, I really can see a lot of potential in this team. Those little things go a long way!

Yesterday was my first day of class for my Master’s degree in international business; I had two of them actually. The bad part about having it at 9am, means having to catch the 7am bus into the city and walk the rest of the way or catch another bus. It was great because I was with my teammates Marcus and Sam (the Americans) and Juan (from Spain) in the first one, so we all could share that awkward “first day of school” feeling together. Unfortunately, the class itself was 3 hours long and not exactly the way you want to start your Monday morning: Management Accounting and Control. Lucky for us, it was just the first day so it wasn’t too bad.

After the first class, my teammates, who are studying Global Brand Management, and I parted ways. They went home and I went back to class. I was the only American in this one and it was fascinating to hear all the different accents and find out about all the different backgrounds in the school. Apparently there’s about 80 (I believe) different nationalities being represented on our campus, so that’s pretty cool to be apart of. You get to see so many different perspectives and insights based off other cultures. It’s also funny to see what other countries think of Americans.

I’m currently writing this blog on the bus ride to the city center, it definitely makes for some entertainment on this long bus ride but it’s kinda nice being able to think back about all that I’ve done so far. Today, my schedule gets worse; I go from 9am and finish around 6pm with 5 different courses through the day. Let’s hope they’re at least interesting! And then I have to rush back to make it to practice in time tonight to prepare for a game tomorrow. We have another set of games this weekend too, so wish us luck!

I’ll keep you guys posted on the outcomes of the games and how the rest of my school week pans out. This pretty much sums up my second week in Ireland! Until next time.=

FBA TRAVELS FROM ABROAD: SPENSER MITCHELL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Week 1 – Sept. 15, 2014

First week completed in Ireland. I’ve scrimmaged with the team, successfully moved into a house in Swords with two imports (one from Spain and the other the US), visited my college I’ll be attending and I’ve gotten to know the team pretty well. The coach and the team were all very welcoming from the beginning, both on and off the court, and the people around here are pretty nice as well. Public transportation is my new best friend, specifically bus number 41C. This would technically be my first time living on my own and it’s certainly a wake up call but I guess you’ve got to learn one way or another.

So to fill you all in, I’m playing for the professional team the Swords Thunder in Dublin’s Premier league, which is the top league out here; and I will be attending Griffith College in about a week to begin my Masters provided by the team, and I will play for the college team out there as well. There’s only a few imports, one guy from Poland, one from Spain, and three from the US, myself included. The rest of the guys are all Irish natives and ages range from about 19-34. Our first game is October 4, and in the meantime we are just playing in preseason tournaments and practicing, so I’ll keep you guys posted on games when that time comes.

So, living on my own was definitely a shock to get used to, but on top of that there are a few others that i am trying to balance. I have to adjust to using the Euro and realizing that the US Dollar really isn’t worth as much here unfortunately. The accents are another thing, I’m doing pretty well so far but every once in a while, especially the ones with thicker accents lose me mid-conversation. That’s an acquired thing, though, so I’ll give it time. And the whole driving on the wrong (left) side of the road and the wrong (right) side of the car is really throwing me off. But like I said, I’ll give it time and hope it becomes natural.

I’m writing this blog as I sit in Immigration with my American teammates trying to get our student visas approved. And let me tell you, this is an awful experience when you don’t know what to expect. We got here this morning at 7:30am to find a line wrapped completely around the building that took about 2 or so hours to find our way inside for 30 seconds; only to find that we have to come back, or wait around for 6 hours when our number was called. Not the most enjoyable wait, but luckily once it’s done we won’t have to be back here any time soon.

So, that about sums up my first week in Ireland. I’ll be sure to keep this as updated as I can on my journey playing professional ball and completing my masters. Until next time.