Rimini: Wednesday and Thursday

As my last post ended, I was taking a flight to Venice. Everything went as planned, and getting to the bus was really easy. I am really glad I looked into all of that before I left for Berlin. But the bus was about 20 minutes late, which got me to the train station later than I had hoped. I then attempted to purchase a train ticket with my debit card, and it kept rejecting it. Well, the machine didn't even say it was rejecting it, it would just go back to the original screen. Which meant I had to stand in line for a ticket, which was fine, but that forced me to miss the train that would have gotten me into Rimini an hour earlier.

In the end it all worked out, got to my hotel safe and sound, and then walked to the beach to check it out while the people I was meeting up with were having dinner. Two years ago I met a guy from London named Mathias. He did not play at paga last year, but this year his mixed team got a spot! As I was waiting for him and his girlfriend at the bar, some other ultimate players came down, and we started chatting. It was a nice night of just meeting people (mostly British players), but I also met a kiwi girl living in Mainz, and of course recruited her for Mother Tongue. Around 3am we decided it was a good idea to throw a disc around on the beach, and it was a good idea.

The next morning most of us checked out of the hostel because we were staying at hotels with our teams. A few of us walked into town to check it out a bit, we also went to the beach, and I met up with some other people I had met two years prior, which is always fun. And then finally I met up with my team! I only knew one person on the team before the tournament, so it was really fun to see him and then meet everyone else. When I first met them, they were throwing a disc (of course) and for about the first five minutes, all throws that were thrown to me, I dropped. But it takes me about ten minutes to warm up my hands. After that, I was throwing with only one person, and was making layout catches, so I felt a lot better.

We then headed to The Barge, the Irish pub that is right next to the beach. One of the players (mike or Chunk, whatever you want to call him) asked if they could call me The Hoff, and I ecstatically agreed, because I have wanted a good nickname for a while, and Hoff is the obvious choice, but it was only this summer when people seemed to have recognized that.

The team had split up and were in a bunch of different hotels. I took the cheap option and was sometimes wishing I hadn't, but in the end it all worked out (since there was a team from Chicago on our floor, which is awesome). Back at the hotel, I met some of our other players, and then we all went to the Thursday party. We all got food (since we got there earlier than most) and everyone else had some of the terrible wine they serve. I had decided to not have any this year. I met up with two other Christian guys and we watched guys on stilts fight each other, it was intense. The team ended up at the barge again, played some pool, watched people get drunk, and were back in our hotels around 1am, which is pretty early for Paga, but we were getting ready for the ultimate!

Retrospective posts- Berlin

A lot has happened over the past two weeks, so instead of blogging it all on one post, I have decided to separate what happened on different posts. This first post is going to be when I was in Berlin between March 15-19:

I took a noon train into Berlin, which was really great, because it meant that I wasn't rushing around, trying to get things done, I had time to make myself breakfast and take out my garbage, yes! The train ride was quite uneventful, which is always nice. I only started chatting with the girls who I rode with once we got off the train. Rob and I hung out for a bit, then went food shopping. It is always tricky to go food shopping on a Saturday, because if you forget something, that is it, no going out on Sunday. After making dinner, we headed out to get some karaoke, but the place was a real club, not a little bar that is tucked away, so instead we went to what looked like a very private bar. It was really small, and everyone looked at us when we entered. Then, one of the guys started singing with the help of a cd, weird.

I went to church on Sunday, and it was packed again. I really like that church, it has a really good feel to it, there is definate spirit in the church, unlike many churches I have been to in Germany. It was palm Sunday, and they had the kids come up and help pass out the palms, then they also had the kids parade around the church praising with all their might, it was both adorable and moving, if that can happen. Rob and I met up for brunch and we went to the vegetarian/vegan breakfast buffet place. This is something I would never have looked into had I not become a vegetarian during Lent. It was both delicious and inexpensive because they don't have a set price for the brunch. They say to pay between 4-8 euros, but not what you think it is worth, but what you can pay. So when I come back to Berlin and have a real job, I will then leave the 8 euros for the brunch. And then of course we took a walk through the flee market, and I got Mark's christmas present! It is awesome.

On Monday, we decided to have a little get together. Since we are all adults, we now like to do adult things and had a wine and cheese party. There were seven of us all together, lots of cheese and some wine. Out of the seven of us, five of us are Americans and five of us play ultimate (although not the same five).

After sleeping in on Tuesday, running some more errands (I went on a search to get a basic halter top, and didn't find it, walked around for a few hours on both monday and Tuesday looking for it). Came back to the apartment, watched a movie, and then went out to dinner with Ben (Fulbighter and Ultimate player) and his parents. It was really nice to meet them. Ben has been playing Ultimate since high school, so his parents know all about the game, which is really great. I think this is something I will be educating my parents in this coming summer (are you reading this Mom and Dad?). Then Rob met up with the two of us for a drink later that night.

And Wednesday, Wednesday I showered, had breakfast, and then flew to Venice!

Come on

Train scheduled has been checked, bag is mostly packed, extra credit put on phone, all right, let's do this!

Always a happy end

Last night we at Frisbee practice, we had three teams of four play. One of the teams was white, the other was black, and the other was the colored shirts together. Someone started chearing for them, saying, "Go Jamaica!" And then we all started to cheer "Cool Runnings" and Kirsten suggested that we call our team that, because even though there were struggles, it was always a happy ending. Live the Dream! I just finished watching Cool Runnings online, and I have never seen it before. It was good, your basic come out of nowhere with no chance story. The East Germans made fun of the team the whole time, but in the end, when the Jamaicans proved to have more dignity and determination than the other teams, the captain from East Germany said, "We'll see you in four years." Unfortunately, it was the 1988 Olympics, so he would not be seeing them again in four years.

I will be packing soon, because it is officially Easter break! I am leaving for Berlin tomorrow, and will be spending a few days hanging out there, hopefully picking up some stuff I couldn't find in Grefiswald (like a medium sized moleskin notebook, is it really that hard to find?) and then on Wednesday will be flying into Venice and then taking the train on to Rimini.

like a mongoose

Only nine days until I fly out to Italy and only four days until I go to Berlin. Easter Break is starting, and I have been looking forward to it all year. In fact, the goal of this past weekend was to not get injured, because of the upcoming tournament on the sand. Unfortunately, I could not manage that one thing. But don't worry, it isn't bad.

This weekend was another ultimate Frisbee tournament and it was in Goettingen, which is in the middle of Germany. I ended up leaving on Thursday night and getting in after midnight. But two Mother Tongue players picked me up from the train station (Lanna and Garrett). We didn't really do much that night which was fine. We spent most of Friday baking bread, well, Lanna did at least. She made bread for the tournament, so while we were out getting some ingredients we met up with two other players, Adam and Ben. The bread took a while to make, but I didn't have anything to do in the process, just sitting and talking and laughing. Although, I did "ask the internet" how to grate a zucchini, without that, it could have been a travesty. Ben, Adam and I left Lanna to the bread and nap and went to find a park the throw a Frisbee in. The first place we headed ended up being a cemetary, the second place was a botanical garden, and we finally just threw it around in a little playground. On the walk we also climbed a tree and found a hippopotamus. Pictures were taken, but Adam warned me that we would never see them again, since Ben's computer is broken.

That night we met up with Meike and I also met up with the Dresden women's team. We spent much of the evening at a going away party for a girl I just met, but we were told we were very welcome to come. Meike and I left earlier, but I stayed up until the boys made it back it back to the gym. Although I had other Frisbee players plus the 2006 women's ultimate national game to keep me entertained. We ended up going to sleep around 3.30am.

The rest of the team (Wayne, April, Matt, Julia, Robin and Katy) showed up on Saturday morning because they were celebrating Julia's birthday the night before. The ultimate was great! I played for two teams, and loved them both. I spent most of my downtime with Mother Tongue as well as meeting new people. By the time I leave Germany, I will probably know pretty much everyone who plays ultimate frisbee. Neither team did very well playing wise, but it was the first Dresden women's tournament and Mother Tongue didn't have as much experience as normal. However, there was really great chili and a great atmosphere.

I would have to say that the best part of the weekend was at dinner. We went a delicious Indian restaurant, props to April for getting us the reservation. Our reservation was 8.30pm, and entered the place at 8.32, although we did give ourselves about two hours from our last game to getting there. So at dinner, somehow or another, we started telling really silly jokes. And even though they were bad jokes, and actually got worse during the conversation, somehow that made it all the better.

And the party was also really amazing. We did a Fulbright beer race (there were four of on the team this weekend), also played beer pong and flippy cup. I switched to pop pretty quickly because I just don't like the taste of beer. It was fun bringing out American culture to the table. After staying up ridiculously late, we realized we were never going to win the party (the last people there), and finally crawled into our sleeping bags around 5.30am.

Both of my teams ended up in the "Chumpionship" bracket, MT won both of their games on Sunday, and Dresden lost. The teams played each other in our last game, but I had decided that I was a tongue before going to the tourney.

some other highlights:

• we had another player join us who had contacted me a few weeks ago, he is also from the Chicago area, and a few weeks ago met some girls from my university in Mexico playing frisbee
• favorite line of the weekend: "she is short but aggressive." "like a mongoose."
• I decided to have a really great game on Saturday, and then went on to do that, with the help of the team, and Ben who assisted at least 2/3 of my points
• my injury was getting a blow to the outside of my right quad from a girl's knee. No bruise yet, but I might get one in a few days/weeks lower down on a joint, so either the knee or the ankle
• Wayne and April are and always have been awesome
• Matt injured his foot because he kicked a wall. He was mad at himself after a play and then was out for the rest of the tournament.
• Garrett (who didn't play with us, but is a MT player) broke his write playing flippy cup. He slipped on some beer on the floor and tried to break his fall.
  
• Katy got her first MT score, and cheered louder than she did, but that is to be expected, right?
• I left the gym for the train station at 3pm and finally opened my door to my room at 10.45pm
  

Saying good-bye was no fun, and I was almost on the verge of tears even though there will be at least one more MT tournament before I go (right, Wayne?). But it is just thinking, these experiences are now numbered. And now I am going to nap so I don't get sick.

Oh, don't try to flirt with me now

There are a few months were snow is expected, anticipated and even looked forward to. Yeah, everyone at home was complaining about snow for quite a few months, and I was complaining that we didn't really get any. Just on Sunday my dad told me the amount of snow fall for the winter thus far, and then I said that we maybe got about an inch here. One inch! But you know what? I dealt with it, and got over it. Once it turned March, that is when the snow season, in my mind, is officially over. However, Mother Nature has her very own sense of humor and right now it is snowing, and not just a little, but a lot. But hey, two years ago, the day before I headed to Italy we got snow (in April), and then the weather was perfect for the whole trip, maybe it will be similar to that.

Unplanned can be great

Wow, right now I feel great! I thought this weekend was going to be completely boring. Everyone I know is pretty much not around. I don't stay in Greifswald very often, which is one reason I haven't really built many close friendships, but when I am here, it seems like no one is here. But, like I said, so far, it has been great.

Friday is the first day of the weekend, since I don't work on Fridays. It started with me sleeping in, then I met up with Carsta, we talked about what we were going to be doing with the 11th grade class, and then just basic chatting. Afterwards, I came back to my place and watched the entire season of Beauty and the Geek from last Fall. Yes, the entire thing, and it was awesome! That show is too incredible for words. After doing that, I went out to a student club and met up with an acquaintance, who had a final exam that day. We hadn't seen each other in about a month in a half, so I was pretty excited to see him. But he decided to get pretty drunk before arriving. But he somewhat introduced me to his other friends, and I danced/chatted the rest of the night with them, which I was more than fine with.

And yesterday I got a call from Carsta inviting me to a little birthday celebration for her husband. It was just going to be a small thing at their house with a few friends. Since I didn't have anything else going on, and it is always really nice to visit with them, I gladly accepted. Therefore, most of the day was spent at their place, I took a much needed nap since I stayed up quite late the night before, and dinner was good fun. I didn't talk as much as I normally do, but it was good to sit and watch and listen.

And now I am sitting here, planning on cleaning up my room. Today I got a very nice email from the captain of an Ultimate frisbee team I played with last summer. The beach tournament in Chicago was officially announced!

Things I am looking forward to:
Next weekend is another Mother Tongue tournament, love it!
In two weekends, I am heading back to Berlin, which is always great fun. Then, the Wednesday after that I fly to Italy! Yes, the tournament I have been looking forward to for about two years will be happening.
As week after that, Katy and her friend, Rachel, are coming to visit, and then we are all going to Berlin because there is a Fulbright conference. And that means we get to hang out with all the great people we met at the beginning of the year.

Yeah, things are looking good, plus, I booked my flight home, but that is incredibly bittersweet. Part of me wants to stay here, but the other part is looking forward to all the things that are to come next year and thereafter.