Julie Forster Blog Spot #4: Thanksgiving in Denmark

COPENHAGEN – Former Great Dane standout Julie Forster is playing for Stevnsgade BBK in Denmark in her first professional season. After ten games, she is leading her team with 21.5 points and 18.2 rebounds a contest, earning double doubles in all ten games thus far.  She is keeping track of her time overseas with a blog, and she checks in with UAlbany about celebrating Thanksgiving in Denmark and coaching.

“We celebrated Thanksgiving last week by cooking a Thanksgiving meal for our team.  For many it was their first Thanksgiving, and they were excited to see how it would compare to what they’ve seen in the movies.  We were able to find many of the foods here but had to get a few things sent in for the occasion.  Thankfully, they have frozen turkeys in Denmark around Thanksgiving time. That said, they were a little smaller than the ones we are used to in the states, and we ended up buying two to make sure we had enough.  The menu included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.  The team really seemed to enjoy the meal although you could tell it was the first time for many of them as they were overwhelmed with the amount of food.  Overall, it was fun to share an American tradition with them.

Coaching the younger players continues to be entertaining. It’s nice to see the girls are improving, but just as important to see they are enjoying it.  One of the girls even came to practice recently wearing basketball shoes, a first for our team.  Just to remind me we are still in Denmark, her teammate took off her sneakers in the middle of practice and started playing barefoot!  Despite the communication barrier, we often can share a laugh at the funny things that happen at practice.  I’ve been told my Danish has been improving by the parents and many of the players are getting better at their English as well.  One of our ten-year-old players was particularly excited to state that there were “five” players on her team.

Basketball has been going well. We have now played every team in our league once and are just beginning our second round.  It is similar to the league schedule of the America East in that you play every team twice, once at home and once away.  We’re currently fourth in the league and have two more games until Christmas break.

I’ve enjoyed watching a number of the UAlbany women’s basketball games online and it’s exciting to see them having so much success.  With a six-hour time difference, I prefer the afternoon games but I watch them either way when I can.”