Holly Mikulas, 17, is one of eight youth athletes spending the semester in Iceland. She plays for the Hauker club team. The following is an excerpt from her blog, which can be found at http://hollymikulas.blogspot.com/

So I have been biking around this lake that is right on the other side of the road that is behind my house. The trail is on the way to my club where I practice, so really close. I have only gone around that three or four times, but it's beautiful. I ride my bike around it usually, but I like to get off, leave it on the trial, and hike up the "mountain" next to it. It's fun cause I'm hiking on moss and rough rocks. Feels like the moon with carpet. Love it! I went climbing with Halli and Gunnar the other day. Just went to an indoor facility. My arms are really tired, haven't been climbing like that in a long time. All the walls but one were overhang type things, so it was really hard for me. Need lots and lots of upper body strength to get over the edge; forearms are KILLING me! But it was really fun and cool place.

More handball answers... I'm learning so much. Each practice just gets better and better. I'm doing much better in defense. Attack is.... eh, its getting better. I have been playing center back. Actually that is all I play. I can run a total of 5 plays left and right side. So that is good. Still need to learn more, but coach did give me a few of them on paper so that's good. On a scale from 1-10, I think that I have moved from a 2 to a 6 or so. That is pretty good I'd say. Still need lots of improvement, but definitely getting some things down. Footwork is much, much better. League officially starts on Sunday. Hoping for maybe 10 min in each half, if I'm lucky. That will probably only be in the easier games though. But watching it up close and personal is just as good to me.

I think it'd be easier if I could CONFIDENTLY say everyone's name correctly. I don't really know the exactly way to pronounce the names, only what I have picked up from hearing them, and let me tell you what... it's a HARD LANGO!!! I went for about an hour-long walk with Erla (lil sis) and she was teaching me a few things... I bet nearly 20 minutes was spent on just one saying...it's really hard to pronounce things. They use a totally different type of sound stuff... difficult for me. But I can say lots now.... thanks, sorry, excuse me, good day, good night, hello, my name is Holly, light, dark, handball, line, here, there, food....some cool stuff. I'm getting personal lessons from Erla. We go on walks together so it's been really fun. I also have been knitting with Anna and Erla. I actually picked it up pretty quickly. I was surprised. I have about 6 rows finished on a 40 line. That probably makes no sense, but oh well.

I have been hanging out with a bunch of people. Elizabeth has probably been the bestesteset for me. She is really fun and nice and lets me tag along with her a lot. Also, I have been chilling with Fridrik, Steinar, Andri, and Elsa a lot. They are really funny kids... doing stupid stuff all the time. It's a good time.

Ok, well that's enough. :)