Not many people get a chance to experience competing for the World Cup with the U.S. Women’s National Team, but Marci Jobson got that opportunity this past summer.

The NIU head women’s soccer coach returned last week from her stay in Shanghai, China, where the U.S. placed third in the World Cup.

The Northern Star got a chance to catch up with Jobson as she was getting back in tune with coaching her team. She reflected on her different experiences in China.

Northern Star: What is something people might not know about playing for a national team?

Marci Jobson: A lot of people don’t always understand the process of being chosen for a national team. They think you go through one tryout and you either make it or you don’t.

It’s usually a series of tons of different training camps, tons of different competitions and games, fitness sessions and all these different types of practices, and finally, at the end of those, which for us is about a two-and-a-half year series, you either make the World Cup team or not make the World Cup team.

It’s a constant, everyday stress of ‘Can I maintain this and can I stay on this team?’ Not just, ‘Can I make a camp?,’ but ‘Can I stay on it?’

NS: What is your most memorable moment while playing for the World Cup?

MJ: The most memorable moment is before each game when our anthem plays. There are about 50,000 fans in the stands. Standing there listening to your national anthem and knowing you’re representing your country is the most memorable time.

NS: Who is the most interesting teammate?

MJ: Probably Abby Wambach. She was one of the leading scorers of the World Cup. She’s very serious and intense on the field but she’s very light-hearted off the field.

She’s really funny and has a great sense of humor. She’s probably the most interesting teammate, because she’s so intense in one aspect of her life and so light in the other.

NS: What is the strangest thing you ate in China?

MJ: We didn’t eat anything that exotic because they were very careful about what we were allowed to eat. A couple of times we went out to American restaurants and I got nachos and pizza.

I didn’t really go out of my comfort zone that much. I just tried to stick with what I was comfortable with so I didn’t get sick.

NS: What was the funniest thing you watched on TV?

MJ: The Chinese soap operas. I would just turn them on and they were just funny. They’re so different from our soap operas. The people always talked really loud. We didn’t get many stations. CNN was the one English channel we had, but that wasn’t funny.

NS: What is the most interesting thing you noticed while exploring?

MJ: The most different thing I saw was just walking around on the street. First of all, the driving is crazy. When it says you can walk, you really can’t walk because people are just zooming past. Also, just walking down the street and being hit up like every five steps to buy something.

They know you’re American and they want to try to sell you something. But I bought a lot of purses and pearls and stuff like that. They’re fake, but who cares? I bought all my Christmas stuff.

NS: Did you learn any Chinese?

MJ: Not much. ‘Ni hao.’ That means, ‘Hello.’