I've had a very fun-filled if unproductive weekend so far, but I'm working on balancing it out with more work today.
Friday evening, I went to the Cum Laude restaurant in Mitte to meet up with the 2011 HIA Fellows. It was really mainly to see my old research buddy, Anton, who is back in Berlin as this year's Program Coordinator, helping our fantastic Program Director, Antje. Ok, it was nice to meet the new Fellows and other Senior Fellows too.
I sat at Anton's table and met two German and two American Fellows from this year's group. They all seemed extremely nice, and I felt like the group was again a good one (though I am still convinced no group will ever come close to the amazingness of the group that was HIA Germany 2008).
After good food and a lot of really intense discussions (such is life with HIA), we headed to the Beach Bar on the Spree River for a few drinks and more catching up. Anton and I had a blast catching up. I asked him if he remembered the first bottle of beer I ever opened (with another beer bottle) and finished by myself (0.5 L German beer), and without skipping a beat, he said, "On the grass across from Potsdamer Platz." Haha. Yup. Pretty sure I have a picture of that empty Warsteiner bottle somewhere.
We stayed out quite late, such that I didn't make it home till about 2:30 AM. Then I woke up around 10 AM and got ready for a day of grilling and sports with James and Dan, two of my Fulbright buddies. Our plan for the day: grill and toss a football around in Mauerpark and then go to the Berlin Adler vs. Düsseldorf Panther American football game. More on that in a second.
Finding a one-time grill was considerably more challenging than I had expected. Not every grocery store sells them, so we had to go to a second store to look for it. We finally picked one up along with some flavored chicken drumsticks, bratwursts, and bread plus BBQ sauce. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
We finished eating around 3 PM, and because it was so hot, we decided to go get ice cream. Oh man, it was good. It's been so hot in Berlin this week, and I've been missing air conditioning like crazy.
After ice cream and chilling for a while, we headed to the stadium across the street, where the first league Berlin Adler would take on the Düsseldorf Panther. Apparently, there are at least three different leagues in Germany, and we went to the best one available. I checked online and only three of the Berlin players are from the U.S.
The tickets were only 9€ each for general seating, and we entered the stadium about 45 minutes early. The sun was shining directly on the general seating section, and no one was allowed to sit in the shaded section (even though a few folks were sitting there...who knows, maybe they were special). We were definitely sweating in the sun.
To be honest, my initial feeling upon entering the stadium was, "Oh hey look, a high school football game." Haha. The attendance for the entire game was something like 870 people for the first-league professional team in Berlin. There were a number of things that cracked me (us) up:
Friday evening, I went to the Cum Laude restaurant in Mitte to meet up with the 2011 HIA Fellows. It was really mainly to see my old research buddy, Anton, who is back in Berlin as this year's Program Coordinator, helping our fantastic Program Director, Antje. Ok, it was nice to meet the new Fellows and other Senior Fellows too.
I sat at Anton's table and met two German and two American Fellows from this year's group. They all seemed extremely nice, and I felt like the group was again a good one (though I am still convinced no group will ever come close to the amazingness of the group that was HIA Germany 2008).
After good food and a lot of really intense discussions (such is life with HIA), we headed to the Beach Bar on the Spree River for a few drinks and more catching up. Anton and I had a blast catching up. I asked him if he remembered the first bottle of beer I ever opened (with another beer bottle) and finished by myself (0.5 L German beer), and without skipping a beat, he said, "On the grass across from Potsdamer Platz." Haha. Yup. Pretty sure I have a picture of that empty Warsteiner bottle somewhere.
We stayed out quite late, such that I didn't make it home till about 2:30 AM. Then I woke up around 10 AM and got ready for a day of grilling and sports with James and Dan, two of my Fulbright buddies. Our plan for the day: grill and toss a football around in Mauerpark and then go to the Berlin Adler vs. Düsseldorf Panther American football game. More on that in a second.
Finding a one-time grill was considerably more challenging than I had expected. Not every grocery store sells them, so we had to go to a second store to look for it. We finally picked one up along with some flavored chicken drumsticks, bratwursts, and bread plus BBQ sauce. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
We finished eating around 3 PM, and because it was so hot, we decided to go get ice cream. Oh man, it was good. It's been so hot in Berlin this week, and I've been missing air conditioning like crazy.
After ice cream and chilling for a while, we headed to the stadium across the street, where the first league Berlin Adler would take on the Düsseldorf Panther. Apparently, there are at least three different leagues in Germany, and we went to the best one available. I checked online and only three of the Berlin players are from the U.S.
The tickets were only 9€ each for general seating, and we entered the stadium about 45 minutes early. The sun was shining directly on the general seating section, and no one was allowed to sit in the shaded section (even though a few folks were sitting there...who knows, maybe they were special). We were definitely sweating in the sun.
To be honest, my initial feeling upon entering the stadium was, "Oh hey look, a high school football game." Haha. The attendance for the entire game was something like 870 people for the first-league professional team in Berlin. There were a number of things that cracked me (us) up:
- The cheerleaders. 8 of them, but one of them kept having to take breaks 'cause of the heat or something. They would dance to all the songs, but by the time they decided on which routine to do, the song clip was nearly over. Also, during intros, all they were missing was a "homecoming" banner or something to really make it feel like a high school game. Haha.
- The chants were awful. I get the DE-FENSE chant, but really? OF-FENSE? Someone needs to correct that...it's downright embarrassing.
- Whoever was operating the songs should be reassigned. After an incomplete pass, in true German sports fashion, the announcer would say, "This pass was...?!" And everyone was supposed to respond with, "INCOMPLETE!" That'd happen two times, and then the announcer would say, "Thanks!" to which the crowd would respond, "You're welcome!" Of course, all in German. The worst part: immediately after that, they played "Incomplete" by the Backstreet Boys.
- The two giant whiteboards on the sideline, where the coaches would be teaching x's and o's to the defense while the offense was on the field and vice versa. Um...aren't you supposed to do that before the game?
- The total of 5 or so different plays that Berlin kept calling. Honestly, their offense was completely predictable after their first full possession. No surprise that their first three possessions also resulted in three turnovers. Ha!
- One of the refs had a pony tail. I don't think I've ever seen a football ref with a pony tail before. (Picture below).
- My personal favorite: with less than two minutes left in the first half, Berlin had the ball and was down 21-7 or something like that. I told James that if I were the coach I'd call a play to let the QB just air it out and see what happens. Although I had intended it for Berlin, the Panther ended up doing that on their first possession after that: 65-yard touchdown pass. Hilarious. Again, regarding questionable play-calling: there were another 3 or 4 more hail Mary passes after that (combined between both teams) that resulted in touchdowns.
I have to confess that I was quite the smug American while watching this game. I know, I shouldn't do that. But it really made me miss professional sports in Seattle. I can't wait to get back to Safeco Field and Qwest Field.
One major prop for the Adler though: they played Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow." But they played it about 5 times...in the second half. Haha. The Adler's colors are black and yellow...like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Wiz Khalifa is from Pittsburgh, so you can assume he wasn't singing about the Berlin Adler, as much as they might want to think so.
All in all, Dan was really (I mean, really) into the game. He did us proud with all his whooping and hollering. I was my usual stoic sports self (I like to just watch and analyze in my head)—the lone exception is my favorite sports teams like the Blazers and Mariners, when I will occasionally exhibit some wild display of passion for a superb play. And James was, of course, rooting for the other team just for fun.
I realize for those who are fans of the Berlin Adler that my account here may be overly harsh. I do apologize for any hurt feelings. I just wanted to share my candid thoughts on a professional football game in Berlin (in comparison to big college and professional football games in the U.S.). :) Dan, James, and I all had a blast. Crazy fun, really.
After the game and after a long detour as I got sort of lost, I met up with Anton and one of this year's HIA Fellows, Arnhild. Anton had found this place for all-you-can-eat schnitzel for 5 Euros! 5 Euros! So, we pigged out. 'Twas delicious. I wish I could've eaten another plate of schnitzel, but man, it's filling.
Today, after sleeping in, I went and taught English. I'm getting the hang of making my lesson plans, and the good news is that my students are liking our sessions. Apparently, their last teacher (also an American) was quite lazy—and he was a teacher in real life too. Hmm...
This week should be fairly busy too as I have a few school visits, including one with the HIA group. But I also have lots of work to do ahead of a trip next week. Lots to look forward to...now if I could just get this report done...
Till next time,
Sam
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