Without doubt, part of the Macalester experience is participating in the Study-Abroad program. The soccer programs at Macalester strongly encourage student-athletes to take advantage of the program and if possible learn about and participate in the soccer of their host country.

The following are brief updates from four varsity players spending the spring semester overseas.

Carson Gorecki, New Zealand
Everything is going great down here. The weather was great when I first arrived, but since then it has become a bit temperamental. I think I will need to invest in a rain coat soon. I've been to Wellington and the Otago Peninsula so far, and I will be traveling to Queenstown with the local amateur soccer team I have joined. It is going well. We have 3 more weeks left in preseason. Our first game is this weekend. I seem to have landed on the best club in the bottom half of the south island, Caversham. Apparently there was a shortage of strikers (weird, I know) so I fit right in. Seriously though, being on a team really made the transition into another culture much easier. I have a shared interest with people around the world and this has turned out to be very useful, especially while studying abroad. I essentially knew 20 guys within a week of arriving. I really appreciate yours and Nathan's (alum Nathan Knox) help in getting me connected down here.

David Hanold, Senegal
Being in Senegal is fantastic. The ability to use soccer as a way to meet people can't be underestimated. Every day after school there is street soccer among the teenagers and young men in the neighborhood, where we use a deflated ball and rocks for goals to mark a 3v3 space. Since my language skills are far from perfect, soccer's given me something to find common ground in when I might not be able to otherwise. It's been great for learning vocabulary and making friends, and I've been able to represent the neighborhood in the 11v11 games at left back. They love seeing a toubab (white guy) who can play with them, and it's given me a chance to learn a totally different style, very unpredictable and often physical!

Mike Samuelson, South Africa
Studying abroad in Cape Town has been an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. The University of Cape Town is located a short distance from the downtown, and I have been able to see a lot of what the city has to offer. Physically, Cape Town has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The combination of mountains and ocean in nearly every direction makes for some stunning landscape, and everywhere I go seems to be more impressive than where I have just been.

I have been pretty lucky in that my classes at UCT are very small (10-15 people) relative to most at the university. The classes allow me to use what I have learned at Mac and apply it to a different setting. I am currently taking classes that relate to South Africa's urban history and current problems.

While South Africa may be best known internationally for Rugby, soccer is definitely the most popular sport in terms of participants. I have been able to play quite a bit here, both in outdoor pick up games and in an indoor league. I have seen my fair share of games here too. Nearly everyone seems to support either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates (two teams from Johannesburg) despite the fact that Ajax Cape Town, the local team, is currently in first place in the league.

Studying abroad in Cape Town has been one of the better decisions that I have made since coming to Mac. Studying in South Africa has given me a different perspective on the United States and things that I take for granted when I am at home.

Nate Van Wylen, Denmark
Denmark has been going really well for me so far. I am doing the pre-architecture program here and I have been learning a lot of new things about architecture. We have been doing a lot of architectural drawing and modeling of different buildings. Today I just got back from a study tour to Sweden and Finland where we tried investigated different buildings in those areas.

As far as soccer goes I have been able to find a nice club to play with here. The team is made up of Danes and they practice twice a week and play games on the weekend. Soccer is big here so there are lots of clubs and opportunities to play. Soccer is also shown on TV and I have gotten to watch a lot of more soccer games. In the spring Kobenhavn FC starts to play and my host family usually goes to several games.