Soccer...football....whatever you call it.

I will start by saying that I don't play soccer.

Or football. 

Or whatever you want to call it. 

No, my foot-eye coordination has never been the best, regardless of whether it's from a lack of practice or lack of motor skill. But you know what, that doesn't mean that I can't have fun and play soccer....or football. 

Tonight I finally had the opportunity to go to the local soccer field with a couple of friends, and I must say that I had a much better time than I thought that I would. We went right around nightfall, but the soccer field was busier than I'd ever seen it during the day. Local kids played soccer, adults ran around the track, old ladies did yoga in the grass, and others sat on the bleachers and talked. Like most things in Greece, it seemed like yet another way of socializing and spending time with peers. If you ever have the chance to go to Greece you will quickly realize that everything is pretty social, and as an outsider I think that's pretty awesome. 

We, the Americans, played ultimate Frisbee for about half an hour before we were approached by a group of Greeks who asked us if we wanted to play soccer with them. Somehow they knew that we were Americans (they spoke to us in English), and I suppose that maybe the fact that we were playing anything but soccer on the soccer field is what gave it away. The group was composed of three teenagers of about 15 years and a middle-aged man who appeared to be one of their fathers. Upon them asking if we wanted to play with them, I didn't really know what to say. Unlike the rest of the people in the group, I had no experience at all with soccer besides the week that we played in middle school (which consisted of me running back and forth and never getting the ball), so I was slightly apprehensive to play with Europeans who had probably been playing soccer since they could walk. Nonetheless, I am not one to shy away from new experiences, so I agreed to try it out. 

To make a long story short, I performed poorly. It may have been close to dismal....I don't know. But regardless of my lack of scoring a single goal, I still had fun. The kids that we played with were also very cool about it, and I could tell that they were going easy on me. Even once they had started going easy on me, I still couldn't score a goal! But I had to come to accept this and just keep playing to play. The game wasn't about winning, it was about sweating and spending time with friends. 

Afterwards they were very kind so us and asked us about ourselves. They didn't belittle us for our lack of soccer skills (at least not in English) or try to showboat, in fact, they asked us if we would play with them again the next time we came to the field, an idea that none of us were opposed to. 

Now I am making it my goal to score a goal. I don't care if they go easy on me, or if it's a really sloppy unintentional goal, but all I want is to kick the ball into the net. That's it. I have a few weeks left, so I suppose I'll just have to keep practicing and playing. I suppose if I don't score the goal then worse things could happen. I have to learn to live in the moment and enjoy running back in forth, chasing the ball. I may not be good, but I can live with that.

Little by little I will get better at soccer....or football.