Oh My Yikes!

Most Interesting Things I Saw this Weekend:

1.       A large man dressed up as an Indian, with a foldable bike, kissing with tongue his dog (Rottweiler)

2.       A girl wearing a net shirt with nothing underneath

3.       A man carrying two handfuls of change (Euro cents) onto the train and kneeling down in middle of the train on the floor and started laying them out and stacking strategically.

4.       Riots on Saturday, so the Tram was not running and I met a man named Oliver that wanted to meet up again. So I got his number, with no intention of really texting him, assuming I would never see him again. Low and behold, who do I run into the following day out of the 3.5 million that live in Berlin? Oliver.

5.       Standing on a crammed Tram, with a sixteen year old couple making out five inches from my chest. I didn’t know what to do.



Me, Leah, and the Twins going to the bball game.



This is exactly what I love about this city. Many times the only words that come to mind are, "OH MY YIKES!" Each day you will see something unique that makes you look twice. What do most of these interesting things have in common? PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Seriously, every ride is an adventure, whether that’s awkward eye contact or men making out with their dog. You just never know. It is great though; everyone just does what they want and wears what they want. It’s like some mornings when I don’t feel like getting ready I just put on all my “half” dirty clothes (the clothes that need one more wear before they can be washed, but not clean enough to go back in the closet, and don’t act like you don’t do this) and leave. I mean honestly I blend in more just putting random clothes on that I do wearing sweatpants. At times I have to ask myself; maybe I am the not interesting one. I would say weird, but I decided I need to not call things weird because it has a bad connotation. Therefore, I say things are interesting. Like a girl wearing a see through shirt is no longer weird, it is interesting. I do enjoy just admiring the culture and what people are wearing or doing. I guess I never realized how popular PDA is over here. Everyone has a lover, whether that’s opposite sex, same sex, or a dog. Always a variety.

Leah and I

All in all, it was a good and fairly busy weekend. We went to a grill out on Saturday with one of Leah’s friends at a park and played some volleyball. Then we went to a basketball game of one of our staff members, which was fun. On Sunday, my director, Kevin, (overuse of commas?) and I went to a women’s soccer match in the afternoon to scout them out. It was a good game and in the program they announced that there were tryouts this coming Saturday. Right when Kevin said that my stomach curled into a ball and I got nervous. But I figured I could train all week and I would be golden. We decided to stay after and talk to the coaches so they would know that I don’t know German and who this random American is showing up on Saturday. So after the game we stood awkwardly on the side of the field and waited for a chance. Kevin made his move and I waited about ten feet away and he talked to them for a bit. As they pointed and chatted about me, which was super awkward, because do I pretend I don’t know what’s going on or do I wave and smile, or pull the cell phone act (Because we all know it wasn’t actually ringing). After a bit, Kevin calls me over and I meet the coaches, who are really nice, but don’t speak any English. They inform me that I am going to training on Tuesday. I almost fainted on the spot. Tuesday, as in like two days from then. Let me remind you, I haven’t played in a soccer game since my senior fall season at Drake. What better way to jump in and just go play with a good professional team right at the peak of their season. Perfect. So all in all, tomorrow is the day, I am going to practice. I am just scoping it out and seeing how it goes. I don’t have to sign a contract with a club for a while, so I can at least see what team is the right fit.

All these questions are running through my head though. What do I wear? They probably will all match so I will for sure stand out. Not to mention I am a monster compared to these girls. The one thing the coach said while I was awkwardly standing from a distance was, “Well, she is nice and tall”. Also, do I wear nice clothes to practice and change like most teams do? Or do I shower with all of them after? I have no idea. I figure I am going to prepare for all options. So we will see. If you could say a prayer for me that would be great, because I am pretty nervous, but I keep reminding myself that it is not the end of the world. The girls will know English and can direct me in the drills. We will see how it goes.