European Tour

Man. For some reason this blog is like homework to me even though I truly do enjoy writing and it is for my own benefit so that one day I'll be able to go back and look at it and remember all the cool and crazy things I was a part of. I'm going to put the blame on the fact that my laptop was stolen in March and typing without keys just isn't the same...enough procrastination talk, I'll get on with the story. I left the US May 16 for my best friend's wedding in Cancun. I had a glorious time and the wedding was beautiful. I returned back to Phoenix for less than 24 hours to pack and prepare for a 5 week golf adventure in Europe. I was stressed to say the least. I don't remember crying that much in all my life. I just wanted to sit still for a few days and instead my schedule was asking me to be in too many places at once. Qualifying for the European Tour in January was such a huge accomplishment and since I earned my full card I better make sure I played in as many events as I could. I signed up for 5 events in a row without giving it a whole heck of a lot of thought. Miss the boyfriend. Miss home. Miss family. Miss USA. That's a crap ton of golf. Tons of travel. Puts a lot of stress on this old body of mine. Anywho, I signed up for it all and I'm committed to it by golly!! I've got so much to be thankful for and I know that. It was my goal before leaving my country not to take a day in Europe for granted. I left the States and arrived in Munich where I was picked up in a €160,000 Audi. Not too shabby. It was on day one where I felt like death. So exhausted and just didn't feel like my normal, healthy self. I played 18 holes of a practice round immediately following my transatlantic flight and hadn't had much to eat in the past few days. I love my food and without it, I'm a different person. I played with Heather Bowie-Young and Carin Koch who are both Ping players and both have Oklahoma connections. I roomed with two Americans Hannah and Jennie who are Asian so I was able to make a ton of Asian jokes with them all week...loved that. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast that this lovely German lady ran who spoke hardly any English. My local volunteer caddy for the week was a cute 15 year old German girl named Natalie. She didn't speak much English either but it worked out perfectly. The course was in fantastic shape. The crowds were huge. The weather was perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more except better health. I didn't eat all week due to severe cramping in my tummy and finally saw a doctor on Sunday who threw me in an ambulance at the course and stuck an iv in me. I made him write down what he was putting in me so I could look it up...after the fact. What he put in me is banned in most of all countries including the US and it is something that vets use in animals. I'd be okay if I were to start barking. Whatever it was, it helped and I felt great from that point on. My roommates for the week and I did a lot of site seeing. We took the train into the city three times and saw tons of cool things. One train ride I actually ran into a group of OU students who were studying abroad. I got my picture with them. I love small world stories! They even knew my sister-in-law's family. I'm not too sad I missed out on the German food by not eating. Not offense but it's just not my cup of tea. Renting bikes and riding through the city and English Garden however was amazing, I felt like I was on a movie. My bike was made in the 1700s and me pedaling my body weight didn't work out too well... One other highlight to the week was I test drove a €220,000 Audi R7. Ridiculous. Loved every minute of it. I had to drive this auto review blogger German man who was talking nonstop in my ear as I'm trying to listen to the gps lady and enjoy the beautiful countryside of Munich which was a bit of a downfall but I didn't wreck the car so I consider it a great success! I flew out the next Monday to Oslo, Norway back down to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Oslo was a place I wanted to stay. It looked gorgeous!!! Maybe one day... I took a train from Amsterdam down to Rotterdam with more of my Asian friends Esther and Steph. This tournament town was completely different from the previous week. We stayed in the heart of downtown Rotterdam. Lots and lots of people with all sorts of shopping and restaurants around the hotel. A group of friends and I found a Mexican restaurant which was the best meal I've had since being gone. I decided to enjoy a nice frozen strawberry margarita with my fajitas that came out on a normal plate, no sizzling required...they were still great. When we were finished the waiter brought us all free tequila shots. My Asian friends freaked out a little bit but pulled through and took one for the team. It was actually the best tequila shot I've ever had...pain free. I'm American and so proud to be one. I love our food and it's all my body knows and wants. One night I had to go get me some McDonald's. When I went in the McFlurry machine got crazy and flung ice cream all over the place. I love it when I get to experience things like that. The girls working behind the counter had it thrown right in their faces and hair. They were freaking out and laughing and yelling all this Dutch talk. 20 minutes later I got my quarter pounder and fries and was a happy American! I had another volunteer caddy for the week...actually two and I didn't even fire the first one. A father and a son. Both nice guys and very similar in personalities. The father had a previous engagement on my second round so his son graciously carried my bag. Such a sweet family and I played well until my final round when my dang health went south again. Woke up Sunday morning feeling dreadful. Tried to get some flu-like meds but anything our physio had was against our drug policy so I tried to play through it and just played poorly. Made a cut, made a check but definitely planned on forgetting about that final round and move forward to the next week. I hopped on a charter bus that left the course in Rotterdam and took us up to Amsterdam's airport. I found a train that led me to Amsterdam Central then hopped on a tram that led me to the area where I had booked a hotel for the night. I was regretting my decision while I waited 30 minutes for the hotel girl to come get me at a restaurant and lead me to my hotel...in an alleyway with bones and trash and nasty stuff all around. Looking back on it now, I've got a great experience and vision of what Amsterdam is like. Hotels in Europe appear veeeerrryyy differently online as they do in person. They're never as nice. The place was sketch but I dealt with it for just a night. I had needed to do laundry for days now and had a night in Amsterdam to do so but heck, I was in Amsterdam. Laundry could wait. I headed out to grab dinner around 10pm to the local McDonalds. I walk up: "Can I get a cheeseburger?" "We're all out." "Can I get a hamburger?" "We're all out." "Can I get some nuggets?" "We're all out." Keep in mind I'm not in some small quaint southern town that goes to bed at 7pm. This city never sleeps! I left and grabbed a Subway down the street. I kept asking people where's the Red Light District and slowly but surely I found the red lights! You kind of just stumble upon it. So here I am, solo 25 year old girl, munching on a subway, ball cap on walking through the paths of the the Red Light District. I saw what I went to see, more than what I went to see actually. I couldn't look them in the eye. It felt like a dream. I had to get out of there. I went and found Anne Frank's house just for a nice history pic. I walked miles that night! Got back to the alleyway hotel and tried to sleep for 4 hours but the pot smoking cafe down below did not get quiet until 4am. My taxi man got me at 5:30am. Great experience though. That's what Amsterdam is all about! Took a taxi to Amsterdam Central, trained to Amsterdam airport, flew to Warsaw, Poland with an American and Australian friend then down to Vienna. On my way from Warsaw to Vienna you could say I was a little tired. I sleep on planes. Like a champ actually. Invest in Bose headphones anyone who travels a lot! So here I am, holding a hot tea in my right hand on the tray, sitting in seat f, right side plane, window. Dozing. My left hand shoots straight up. No biggie, just a little reflex. I go back to sleep. Time goes by. My right hand gets a reflex. Straight right. I threw hot tea directly onto my neighbor lady who spoke 0 English. I woke right up in a panic and started rubbing her down with my napkin all over her pants and almost private area. I felt so bad but now looking back on it, it's one of the funnier things I've ever done. She's ok in case anyone was wondering, the tea wasn't thhhaattt hot. We arrived in Vienna and hopped on a huge charter bus that went east to Bratislava and picked up more players then much more east to Brezno, Slovakia. Home of lamb? Not much going on in this town. Beautiful, beautiful part of the world but I cannot imagine living here but I guess if this is all you know, it's all you know. The bus ride really kicked my butt and I began feeling even worse. Tuesday I didn't even get out of bed. I haven't slept that much since I was a kid! Wednesday I made it out for a quick 9 hole practice round and a mandatory party then back to bed. Today is Thursday and I made it out for a quick back 9 practice round and found the doctor and am back in bed. He thinks it's the flu but gave me some Slovak pills and wants me to come back and get some chest X-rays. Lovely. The great thing is its all free. I hope? In Germany I didn't sign for anything when I was iv'd up so European healthcare is a pretty sweet thing. I'm really ready to start feeling better. Being sick sucks and it just isn't who I am. I actually hit the ball the best I've hit it in a long time this morning and I was in my worst condition of having absolutely nothing in me with a sleepless night but back in my balling' days I played my best when I was sick so that's what I'm leaning on for this weekend. I've never WD from a tournament in my life and my goodness I want to keep that streak going. Some other notes: Thunder brings tears to my eyes. Dream come true for me and I'm missing all of it but am their number one fan. I'm a much pickier eater than I thought. I am drawn to funny foreigners and am making funny friends from all sorts of countries. I'm losing my tan. This is scary but I'm getting used to not watching tv. I don't like it. Different languages give me a headache. Shhhhh I didn't say that! I miss ice in drinks. I'm going to gain 15 pounds the first week I'm back in the States. See you soon Chick Fil A! I'm a champ at sudoku now. Hard level style! I learned how to eat the English proper way with utensils. It'll take me three hours to eat dinner but that's ok, I'll be proper. These folks say "Kendall is ccuuunnttrryyy." The LET Tour is a wonderful tour and I wish we could adopt a lot of their ideas back in the States. I've got amazing friends who have helped me get through being a little homesick and pushed me to staying positive. I need to still find some skinny pants so I can come back to the US looking all European. (won't happen) Thank goodness for FaceTime and iMessage! I got to see my first unborn niece's face last night and she is going to be here before I know it! Sparkling water is just not a good invention. I might have gone through 2 sleeves of balls in 3 weeks of golf. Crazy. I think I'm going to be in culture shock when I get back home. Europe is something everyone should experience.