Article #3 for Kleine Zeitung

Flip-Flops in the Ice Rinks, on the Road

"I consider myself to be a summer girl.  My hometown, Chesapeake, Va., is nearly 20 minutes from the beach and the Athlantic Ocean.  The weather in Virginia can get hotter than 100 °F, or about 38 °C, in the summer.  I am a warm weather kind of person and Austrian weather is something I need to adjust to, especially when winter comes.  It doesn’t even snow back home, so walking around in flip flops during winter is not considered that crazy in Virginia.  In Austria, people still stare at me when I walk into the ice rink in Kapfenberg wearing flip flops.  One of my teammates’ parents said he never sees me without flip flops on my feet and a beer in my hand.  As winter approaches, I need to learn how to put away my summer shoes and wear some real Austrian footwear.

I even wore flip flops to our last game in Slovenia on Sunday, but once I got there, I knew I made the right choice of wearing flip flops.  Some teammates were complaining about how hot it was when we went walking around Marburg before the game.  After the walk, we got ready for the game.  This team was more talented and skilled than our last opponent, but we pulled out a 5:2 win on the road.  I can’t wait for our next road trip as we play DEC Dragons Klagenfurt on Sunday.  Hopefully, it is warm enough to travel in flip flops!"