Purple Aces junior Ryan Sawvell is taking part in the Global Sports Academy and is currently on a 9-day trip through Europe.  He has graciously agreed to share his experiences in an online diary that will be updated throughout his trip and will provide an inside look at his experience!  Below is his summary of the first day of the trip:

Our flight left O'Hare at 7pm central time and we arrived at 8:30am Brussels time. It ended up being an 8 hour flight. We arrived at Brussels Airport and we hopped on a bus and were transported to our hotel where we relaxed for a few hours before going to practice. I've never been out of the country before so this is an interesting experience thus far.
 
A few of my teammates and I went to a deli and the food was great. We walked over to the gym and practiced for about an hour and a half.  After we got done eating as a team, we walked back to the hotel and showered.
 
The rest of the night was ours to explore the city of Belgium which was a great experience. I ate at a sit-down restaurant outside while enjoying the great weather. There was a wide open area off in the distance where you could see the people of Belgium interacting with one another which was very different from what I am used to.
 
While we were eating, we had several people come up to us asking if we were American basketball players. It is great interacting with people who live a different life style and do not speak fluent English.  It's been a great experience so far and I am looking forward to the rest of the trip.
 
We play tonight against a team from Brussels at 8pm (1pm Central) which will be very exciting! To my knowledge, the games are not on the internet but if I find out any information I'll be sure to get it in the hands of the right people. I will write again tomorrow when I have the opportunity. Wish me luck in the game tonight!