HAFNARFJORDUR, Iceland — When people speak to Jence Rhoads in her new home about six miles south of Reykjavik, Iceland, she smiles and nods.

She's a long way from mastering a new language.

“(Icelandic) is one of the most difficult languages to learn and speak,” Rhoads said. “Needless to say, I have no idea what people are saying around me half the time.”

Rhoads is a stranger in a strange land. Just about everything around her is foreign compared to Slippery Rock, the town where she grew up, and Nashville, the city where she starred for the Vanderbilt University women's basketball team.

The only comforts of home are a KFC, Taco Bell and Subway nestled in a plaza across the street from her apartment in Hafnarfjordur.

Lucky for Rhoads, the language of basketball is universal.

Rhoads landed in Iceland thanks to a professional basketball contract she signed with Haukar, a team in the Iceland Express League, in August.

Rhoads is the starting point guard and led Haukar to a season-opening 80-54 win Monday.

“It has been an adjustment living in another country,” Rhoads said. “The weather mostly — I've had to break out my winter jackets already. A big difference from Nashville.”

Not long after she graduated from Vanderbilt, Rhoads began looking for a place to play.

Rhoads became the first player in the program's history with 1,100 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds.

Still, the WNBA passed on her in the draft. Rhoads hired an agent who searched for leagues overseas.

Iceland became the best destination.

“I am very happy with where I am now,” Rhoads said. “I think I made a good choice for a first-year contract. The country is beautiful and the people are very nice and very helpful. I am thankful for this opportunity.

“But, I also see it as a stepping stone because I would like to move up to a better league and explore different countries.”

Rhoads isn't just playing basketball. She's also coaching the sport.

Rhoads is an assistant with an 11- and 12-year-old girls team that is affiliated with Haukar. She's also helping out with a team made up of sophomores in high school.

Before she signed to play overseas, Rhoads was an instructor with the nationally known Point Guard College.

“It has been a good experience so far,” Rhoads said. “The younger girls have only just started learning English, so that's been very interesting. They have been helping me with my Icelandic, and I've been helping them with their English.”

About the only worry Rhoads' has these days is about her annual rite of winter.

“I am still trying to figure out how I'm going to watch college basketball,” Rhoads said.

Her mother, Melinda, is planning on making a trip to Iceland in November.

“Of course I miss my family and friends and get lonely every once in a while, but I haven't gotten homesick yet,” Rhoads said.

Rhoads hasn't had time for much other than basketball.

But since she was a little girl, dribbling courtside at Slippery Rock University while her father, Robert “Posey” Rhoads coached The Rock men's hoops team, her dream has been to play basketball for a living.

“It's been awesome. Like a dream,” Rhoads said. “I wake up every day with one thing to do — play basketball. My day consists of eating, sleeping and playing, so I have nothing to complain about.

“I am blessed to have this opportunity, and I intend to enjoy every minute of the experience.”