despite the language

I got a new phone last night, a small Nokia, a far cry from the luxury and endless possibilies of the Blackberry, but as phones go it does what its supposed to...I guess, no one has called me yet, and to be completely honest I havent the slightest idea what my number is. In essence it is more of a "pocket watch" for the time being, though simply carrying it fills me with a sense of purpose and comfortability. Frued would say it has to do with the Ego, or maybe the Super-ego, I can never keep them straight. speaking of Blackberry, I miss brick breaker, I spent my time in the Copenhagen Airport (all 3 hours) dodging the Flip pills and putting a nice blister across my right thumb. Im sure most people walking by thought i was deep into an important company email, making million dollar deals even as i sat in my Garth Brooks t-shirt in an airport that bares a striking resemblence to a mall with all the high end clothing stores and Porche cars for raffle; little did they know i was shooting Lasers, snagging Life pills.

Today, I found out that despite the language, 20 3rd graders all yelling at once sounds the same all over the world. I had the luxury of experiencing the german version today as I went to a local elementary school in Nenndorf, about 30 km north of Dohren. it was my task to introduce the kids to the game of baseball and i think ultimately to wear them out before nap time. the 1st class was by far the best, throwing and catching were no problem, nor was hitting the ball off the tee...they were actually a lot better than i anticipated when i set up the field for a short 2 inning game. Having no prior knowledge of the game and continually wanting to impress one another (this too is no different than america, though I guess it shouldnt be. but nontheless, it suprised me wheni noticed it) they inched closer and closer to the plate. i think everyone can see where this is going, and youd be right to assume that one of them got hit in the face by a screamer back up the middle. It was a glancing blow, right off the right cheek bone, but at that speed a tennis ball still stings quite a bit. To my astonishment, the little Chinese girl (dont go back and read it, your eyes didnt decieve you, there was a Chinese girl in the class) jumped right back up without shedding a tear... I was impressed.

the next class was 2nd grade and they were a lot less coordinated than the kids one year their senior. nothing exciting happened that class. But the 3rd class of the day, again 3rd graders, was one i will always remember. it wasnt that there was a stud player, a kid im going to bring back to the states and make millions off of as his manager. I'm sad to report that it wasnt a hot teacher walking in with her hair blowing in the wind with halaluya playing in the background like in the movies (though there is a hot young teacher that i saw in the teachers lounge, but i dont think she speaks any english) No my friends, it was on this day, March 19, 2009, that I found Ben Baenen's long lost, slightly younger twin brother. If he had been wearing a polo instead of a t-shirt with his gym shorts, I would have swore Ben Baenen himself had gotten in the Wanka-Vision machine and transported himself (losing a few particles along the way, "i just cant seem to get it quite right.") just in time to get my lesson on pitching and catching. he dominated the class too, another reason he reminded me of Ben. He later asked me for my "autogram" and a part of me wanted to ask him for his in return, but i dont know how to say that in German, so i just signed my name on his paper and smiled, all the while wondering if he ever imagined that his twin brother Ben was in America Supermaning that ho.

German word of the day: "Prost" = cheers


A-Ron