i've been a bit scarce around here and i appologize, its been a crazy couple of weeks since I've been in schools during the days, working at henrik's, running practices all week, playing on weekends, and trying to hangout with there crazy party animals. i guess i could get up earlier and write these things in the mornings...but we all know that wont happen, so im not even going to act like thats an option. i'm just going to keep squeezing writing in when i get a bit of free time.
Speaking of crazy party animals, me (23) Johst (30) Hassi (32) and Bernie (36) had a crazy adventure through tostedt last night. It all started 2 weeks ago when Hassi, (Hassi and Stephan are one in the same person by the way) asked me if i had been out to the bars in Tostedt, and i told him that i thought there was only one, called Decaf. we then set a day, tuesday because its my night off, to take a tour to see all the pubs in tostedt...there are 3 unless you count restaurants, which we didnt. Yesterday was that fabled day. the excitement was high when i got to Johst's at 7:00 (PM, they arent that crazy). we were to meet Hassi and Bernie at Decaf in 15 minutes to kick this thing off. since this town is not big enough to have 4 bars on the same street, the bars are spread out a bit and the choosen mode of transportation for such an occasion is bike. so we set off from Johst's pedaling East, away from a setting sun. I didnt know at the time that it would be enough; I only found out at the end of the night that the 7 euros i had in my pocket at the beginning would have been enough to get me through this tour, so we stopped at the bar first...Yesterday was payday and (mark this one in your calendars: 28/4/2009) now i'm officially a PRO ballplayer. Johst almost went turkish bowling through a crowd that had gathered in the playground of a local school on our way to the bank. its a good thing i was there to talk some sense into him and keep him from doing anything brash, i mean he at least had to make it to the first bar. so finally all gathered at Decaf, we had two beers before jumping on the pedals and heading to the next location, which happened to be a place called Relax. Relax is apparently a new place in town, before it was little dive bar that was described by Hassi as "darker, dirtier, and a lot more greasy if you know what i mean." now it is a nice little place with a few tables and two video slot machines that we saw a guy win a few bucks on. it was a bit strange however when after ordering our drinks the bartender left the place out of the front door and came back with 3 clean glasses. where he got them or why they werent in the bar is still a mystery to me, but nonetheless, the glass we clean when i got it. about half way through the 0.4 liter of frothy goodness, a couple of turkish guys walked in and johst began to get uncomfortable, so we had to split after just one beer. which was fine, because the atmosphere in there needed some spicing up anyway, i probably wont be going back there anytime soon. the next pub we went to was in a hotel and the bartender there is nortorious for being drunk at work. I was excited to catch a glimpse of this man and he wasnt what i had pictured. As we were riding over to the bar and they were telling me about him, i had pictured a big fat guy with a beer gut. but Ingl is a man in his forties or fifties in damn good shape, i later was told that as much as he likes drinking, he likes riding his bike, and im not talking just casually riding for fun or to and from work, i mean he bikes like 100km a day. I guess thats one way to sweat out all the toxins you put in your body the night before. I was also told that this guy loves giving out shots and he has a ton of off the wall alcohols that he likes to use. so between sips of beer, we took a shot of some alcohol from Jamaica, a shot out of an unmarked bottle that was very strong(i thought is was moonshine of some sort but they swore that it was a special clear german whiskey), red absinth, something like jager, a shot that i didnt take that was really spicey (glad i didnt do that one) and then a final shot for the road right before we left. thats all i can think of right now, but Johst, if there is any that i'm forgetting feel free to write a comment and correct me. it would have been okay if these shots were spaced out along an hour period, but the guys told Ingl that i had to get up and go to work tomorrow and his response was, "well, i guess we're going to have to get him drunk early then so he can sober up by the end of the night." so all those shots i was just talking about took up the the 20 minutes.it was also at this bar that Hassi took the title for drunkest man of the night, he claims it is because his wife doesnt let him drink anymore. and he also made friends with a random goth teenager and invited him over to join our table. that guy fell out of his chair while he was trying to light a cigarette, haha. not "full" -the literal german translation for drunk- we decided to go to one last bar before calling it a night. the last bar is actually right across the street from the Decaf so we made a big circle around the town on our tour. but when we pulled up, the workers were locking up and leaving for the night. Not letting this drain our spirits, we went back to decaf and had one last beer with the owners. It was here that i got roped into a long conversation with two older ladies about baseball and why and how and what i was doing there. they had a lot of questions and i had a hard time, in my drunken state, coming up with simple answers that they could understand. the best part of this last stop was the 3-4 handfuls of peanuts i had. it was a little after midnight at this point and a good time to head home since we were all getting full...some of us (Hassi) past full. walking into the house, i thought about getting on the computer and leaving a few drunk facebook messages, but surprising i made a good decision to just go to bed. It was a great adventure and one that i hope to have again...minus a few of those shots.
7:00 rolled around pretty early. I had to go back to the schools this morning in Wistedt at 8. I got up at 7 to take a shower and get some of the alcohol smell off of me, I dont know if it worked but no one mentioned it or asked about what i did the night before, so it must have worked at least a little bit. looking outside, i could see a fog/slight mist in the air and puddles on the ground. my first thought was of the dirt road that i have to go on and that it was going to be even tougher going this morning...just what i needed. i hopped on the bike, head still spinning, and began the laborious trek to school. I got there at 8:01 and didnt have a chance to go into the teachers lounge and grab a cup of coffee...i dont like it, but i needed some kind of caffine in a bad way. the day dragged on the way it always does when i drink the night before and wake up early to do something. that is until the last class of the day...by that point i had had some coffee and was feeling a bit better and a girl was in this class that i couldnt keep from laughing at. she was a spitting image of Vicky Vallencourt from The Waterboy. when i first looked at her, i started chuckling to myself, which caused the whole class to cease their conversations and look at me to see what i was laughing at, a bit embarrassing but i couldnt help it. I've actually found a few German counterparts in the schools; little Ben Baenen in Nenndorf and Vicky in Wistedt today are the most note worthy, but there have been a few other that remind me of kids i played baseball with when i was younger and kids i went to gradeschool with. its really what keeps me going through the day, finding german look-a-likes amongst the kids, its a fun little game i like to play to pass the time while they are chasing tennis balls all over the gym instead of catching them.
thats about the gist of whats been going on, ill try to write more next time, but again it is time for practice.
A-Ron
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
the junior team is made up of kids from 13-18 and the range of talent is just as big as with the age. a few 12 year olds round out the lineup as well, though they are more or less there to hold down positions. Daniel, a 15 year old that pitches and plays for the 1st man's team as well, has a cannon for an arm and pumps it at close to 80 with a decent curve and change-piece as well. It really wasnt fair that he was throwing to 12-13 yr olds who were more concerned about not getting hit than actually swinging the bat. he was a bit wild, something we can work on in practice if he ever shows up...that is the standard procedure with the Thieben boys, Kevin (18), Daniel (15), and Ollie (12), they have a hard time making it the 800 feet from their front door to the field for practices. But despite a few errant pitches, Daniel pitched a hell of a game and gave me more than enough chances to use my strike 3 punch outs. before the game, i was talking to Rene and Thies about these patented moves and it was hard for me not to laugh when i heard them on the ground laughing after my first strike out. the bow and arrow and pigeon toss to shotgun were crowd favorites as well. while our pitchers handled themselves pretty well, the pitchers for Luneburg were a bit off. they walked at least 4 an inning and through the first 4 innings only managed to get 3 total out. In the German youth divisions there is a 5 run per inning max so the scores are run up into the hundreds...which would have happened if not for this rule. there isnt, however, a 10 run mercy rule or anything like that, they play a full 7 innings, which was just dreadful.
after the junior's game it was time for our practice, and then out to to the woods again to party at Reaper. This time there was only one of those nasty liquiorish shots, but plenty of Korn and Bacardi to be had. Korn is like vodka only not as strong, its a pretty popular drink here with the youth of Germany. I was supposed to get up at 9 to help henrik put the roof on his house but when i rolled over and looked at my phone saturday 'morning' it read 12:30. i immediately jumped up and threw clothes on but was stopped by timo and he told me that there were enough people there and they finished already. oops! Saturday night was low key, we just went to Hassi's place and watched the Red Sox beat up on the Yankees in game two of the series. The grandslam by Veritek was a highlight for eveyone but Johst, who is a Yankees fan.
Waking up at 730 on Sunday morning was not nearly as fun as i was hoping it would be. I had to help beefy coach the youth team in their game before our double header against Luneburg later in the afternoon. I was beat, after umpiring and practice on friday, followed by Reaper that night and not really relaxing saturday, my body was just tired. and sitting through another youth game only made me more exhausted. eating between games helped and so did the coca-cola out of a god ol glass bottle. I was in relief the first game so i sat until the 5th. then i came in, gave up one hit, no walks and the best part is that i found my curveball again. Until today I couldnt throw a curve for a strike and i had no clue why, but somehow, somewhere i found it and "Reunited and it feels so good." and the 2nd game i started at 2nd base and was moved to Short when Igl's arm decided to give out on him...its the craziest thing, he can throw hard and it doesnt hurt but if he tosses the ball, his elbow kills. but at the plate i was 2-3 with 2 singles and i reached on an error by the shortstop. and speaking of stats, here is the link to all of our stats-http://stats.baseball-softball.de/2bln/?y=9&f=team77 this is only for the 1st team.
The bed is calling my name,
A-Ron
after the junior's game it was time for our practice, and then out to to the woods again to party at Reaper. This time there was only one of those nasty liquiorish shots, but plenty of Korn and Bacardi to be had. Korn is like vodka only not as strong, its a pretty popular drink here with the youth of Germany. I was supposed to get up at 9 to help henrik put the roof on his house but when i rolled over and looked at my phone saturday 'morning' it read 12:30. i immediately jumped up and threw clothes on but was stopped by timo and he told me that there were enough people there and they finished already. oops! Saturday night was low key, we just went to Hassi's place and watched the Red Sox beat up on the Yankees in game two of the series. The grandslam by Veritek was a highlight for eveyone but Johst, who is a Yankees fan.
Waking up at 730 on Sunday morning was not nearly as fun as i was hoping it would be. I had to help beefy coach the youth team in their game before our double header against Luneburg later in the afternoon. I was beat, after umpiring and practice on friday, followed by Reaper that night and not really relaxing saturday, my body was just tired. and sitting through another youth game only made me more exhausted. eating between games helped and so did the coca-cola out of a god ol glass bottle. I was in relief the first game so i sat until the 5th. then i came in, gave up one hit, no walks and the best part is that i found my curveball again. Until today I couldnt throw a curve for a strike and i had no clue why, but somehow, somewhere i found it and "Reunited and it feels so good." and the 2nd game i started at 2nd base and was moved to Short when Igl's arm decided to give out on him...its the craziest thing, he can throw hard and it doesnt hurt but if he tosses the ball, his elbow kills. but at the plate i was 2-3 with 2 singles and i reached on an error by the shortstop. and speaking of stats, here is the link to all of our stats-http://stats.baseball-softball.de/2bln/?y=9&f=team77 this is only for the 1st team.
The bed is calling my name,
A-Ron
Thursday, April 23, 2009
kids and Punchouts
Jesus, this week disappeared faster than our 5 run lead last sunday. I dont know where it went; monday i was painting, and tuesday and wednesday I was at a new school, and tomorrow is friday already. I really need to stop and smell the roses before its september and this is all over. On the other hand, i'm glad that i'm not sitting here at the house all day staring at the clock, waiting for practice.
So the school gig was fun again this time around, it was in Wistedt this time though with Thies's Mom. TUesday morning we (me and Antje) left at 740 to make it for the start of the day at 8:00. So hopping on the bike with sleep still in my eyes, i was ready for a leisurely jawnt through town making it to school with plenty of time to spare. that was until Antje started pedaling...she is a bat out of hell on two wheels. Being a guy in my early 20s and being a professional athlete and all, i figured I'd have to slow down so this 5'3" 100lb 50 year old woman could keep up and show me the way. little did i know that she was super woman, I was in the fastest gear possible and still struggling to keep up with her. she kept looking back over her shoulder to make sure i was still there i guess, but there were a few times when we were climbing gradual inclines that i had to down shift because my legs were burning so bad. Now i've done a bit of biking in my day, enough to know what a shifting gear sounds like, and i didnt hear it once from her bike, NOT ONCE. Not only was i out of breath and ready for a nap when we got to the school 5 km away, but also impressed that she was able to talk in full, complete sentences without breaking to take breaths like me. My ego was also a tad bruised because she tore me a new one without even trying, i think she was rolling along on her usual pace or possible slower, and i was huffing and puffing the entire way barely able to keep up. you wouldnt believe the words i was using when i saw that a big chunk of the route was a dirt road up hill both ways. needless to say, the pace on the way home was a lot slower and more how i had envisioned it-leisurely. the kids were very excited to have me there, or at least it seemed that way, maybe it was just that they were in gym class...that always made me happy when i was in the 3rd grade regardless of what we were doing. and when it came time for me to sign autograms, I had them all give me theirs. Its funny how they used the same write-the-1st-letter-of-your-name-then-squiggly-line-the-rest manuever they saw me use 30 seconds before hand. and they didnt forget the cross-back-over-everything-you-just-wrote-to-cross-a-"t"-or-an-"A-to-make-your-signature-look-important move either...these guys were pros. but I had them sign a boring sheet of paper instead of having them all write on my arm like they wanted me to do...what is with these German kids and wanting to have tattoos of my name?!
Wednesday was exactly the same as tuesday except for the big soccer match that night. Hamburg and Bremen both have soccer teams that play in the 1st league here in germany and have a rivalry comparable to Yankees-Red Sox. they are also very close together, about 2 hours by train I guess, i dont know, i've never been to bremen. but like the yankess-red sox rivalry, you are for one or the other, never both. Hamburg Blue runs deep here in Dohren, flags flown and decals displayed, scarves and jerseys worn with pride. they are by far the favorite, but Bremen green dots the landscape here in the City and their fans were not dissappointed on Wednesday. going into Halftime it was 1-0 Bremen but Hamburg answered back with a goal of their own late in the 2nd. overtime was a defensive affair so it came down the penalty kicks in the end. it was a great game, and over the next 18 days, the teams play 3 more times...I'm sure their will be riots in the streets if Bremen can hold on for the sweep.
today, thursday was back to henriks. i used up all the paint on monday and he hasnt gotten any more so today i got to mud drywall. tomorrow morning will be more of the same. but tomorrow afternoon, i am umpiring the juniors' game here in Dohren. I worked on my strike three punch out today at practice, but after talking to Mr Punchout himself, John Tschantz, i was reminded of a few more moves I could pull from my sleeve. I think i will probably go with the bow and arrow but maybe ill throw in a BOOM call, or the ninja, or possibly the one-man-pigeon-toss-to-shotgun. its really all up in the air at this point but im excited either way. I told the guys today at practice that they better bring their swinging shoes because I have a wide pitchers' zone and im quick to pull the trigger with two strikes so i can use these punchouts we worked so hard on perfecting during dpu intersquads.
a word of advice: when mudding in a ceiling, keep your mouth closed.
A-Ron
So the school gig was fun again this time around, it was in Wistedt this time though with Thies's Mom. TUesday morning we (me and Antje) left at 740 to make it for the start of the day at 8:00. So hopping on the bike with sleep still in my eyes, i was ready for a leisurely jawnt through town making it to school with plenty of time to spare. that was until Antje started pedaling...she is a bat out of hell on two wheels. Being a guy in my early 20s and being a professional athlete and all, i figured I'd have to slow down so this 5'3" 100lb 50 year old woman could keep up and show me the way. little did i know that she was super woman, I was in the fastest gear possible and still struggling to keep up with her. she kept looking back over her shoulder to make sure i was still there i guess, but there were a few times when we were climbing gradual inclines that i had to down shift because my legs were burning so bad. Now i've done a bit of biking in my day, enough to know what a shifting gear sounds like, and i didnt hear it once from her bike, NOT ONCE. Not only was i out of breath and ready for a nap when we got to the school 5 km away, but also impressed that she was able to talk in full, complete sentences without breaking to take breaths like me. My ego was also a tad bruised because she tore me a new one without even trying, i think she was rolling along on her usual pace or possible slower, and i was huffing and puffing the entire way barely able to keep up. you wouldnt believe the words i was using when i saw that a big chunk of the route was a dirt road up hill both ways. needless to say, the pace on the way home was a lot slower and more how i had envisioned it-leisurely. the kids were very excited to have me there, or at least it seemed that way, maybe it was just that they were in gym class...that always made me happy when i was in the 3rd grade regardless of what we were doing. and when it came time for me to sign autograms, I had them all give me theirs. Its funny how they used the same write-the-1st-letter-of-your-name-then-squiggly-line-the-rest manuever they saw me use 30 seconds before hand. and they didnt forget the cross-back-over-everything-you-just-wrote-to-cross-a-"t"-or-an-"A-to-make-your-signature-look-important move either...these guys were pros. but I had them sign a boring sheet of paper instead of having them all write on my arm like they wanted me to do...what is with these German kids and wanting to have tattoos of my name?!
Wednesday was exactly the same as tuesday except for the big soccer match that night. Hamburg and Bremen both have soccer teams that play in the 1st league here in germany and have a rivalry comparable to Yankees-Red Sox. they are also very close together, about 2 hours by train I guess, i dont know, i've never been to bremen. but like the yankess-red sox rivalry, you are for one or the other, never both. Hamburg Blue runs deep here in Dohren, flags flown and decals displayed, scarves and jerseys worn with pride. they are by far the favorite, but Bremen green dots the landscape here in the City and their fans were not dissappointed on Wednesday. going into Halftime it was 1-0 Bremen but Hamburg answered back with a goal of their own late in the 2nd. overtime was a defensive affair so it came down the penalty kicks in the end. it was a great game, and over the next 18 days, the teams play 3 more times...I'm sure their will be riots in the streets if Bremen can hold on for the sweep.
today, thursday was back to henriks. i used up all the paint on monday and he hasnt gotten any more so today i got to mud drywall. tomorrow morning will be more of the same. but tomorrow afternoon, i am umpiring the juniors' game here in Dohren. I worked on my strike three punch out today at practice, but after talking to Mr Punchout himself, John Tschantz, i was reminded of a few more moves I could pull from my sleeve. I think i will probably go with the bow and arrow but maybe ill throw in a BOOM call, or the ninja, or possibly the one-man-pigeon-toss-to-shotgun. its really all up in the air at this point but im excited either way. I told the guys today at practice that they better bring their swinging shoes because I have a wide pitchers' zone and im quick to pull the trigger with two strikes so i can use these punchouts we worked so hard on perfecting during dpu intersquads.
a word of advice: when mudding in a ceiling, keep your mouth closed.
A-Ron
Monday, April 20, 2009
Season Openers Cont.
so where was I, ah yes, I had just coached Beefy to a remarkable pitching performance that will go down in the 2nd man's league history books. and after consuming a couple of alcoholic beverages from the concession stand, we headed to the showers. this was a journey in itself. walking along the left field fence we took a left through a clearing in the trees and hit a concrete road, now one might think that you would take this around to a sporthouse of some kind to the right toward where we parked, but one would be wrong. about 100 feet to the right was another, smaller, more camoflaged path cut through the branches that only went up about chest high. So ducking under the trees, careful not to take a stick in the eye and watching where i'm going at the same time, we follow this around until it opens up to what used to be an RC car track. the lines have faded drastically and weeds cut through the concrete and someone had even taken the time to move a homemade skateboard mini vert spine into one corner, though this looked long abandoned as well. on the far end of this slab of old concrete was a small building with a set of double doors, this was the shower. the inside very much resembled the out in the rundown, outdated sort of way but there was hot running water and thats what we were after. taking one look at the floor in the showers made me think twice about how much i really wanted to bathe. there was mold or fungus, or hell i dont know, it was green and shouldnt have been there. (boy, if i had a dollar for every time i've said that) but then i figured that i'd made it through 4 years of ATO and nasty college lockerrooms without Gangrene so why should germany be any different. If anything it would give me something to write about in my blog. I let the other guys go first...you know, get all the bad stuff stirred up and down the drain before taking my turn under the showerhead. I've been monitoring the situation closely and am happy to report no irregularities in smell or appearance of my feet.
Sunday morning was a pleasant one in the upper 50's, with a breeze out of the east and straight in from left. good for pitchers, bad for hitters. which pissed me off a bit because i'm looking to hit my first homerun pretty soon. Hasse told me that Im the gay spainiard until i hit a HR then i can go back to being an american. what this means, i dont know, i've never heard of being a gay from Spain before...i always thought they were french...but all i know is I dont want to be one and i have to drop a bomb before i can regain my true citizenship. it felt like opening day, we were setting up the speakers and the scoreboard, testing the music and lining the field. we took batting practice first and as i was taking my hacks, i heard in a very familiar dialect, "yeah dude, this looks just like Indiana, with the farms in the background and everything." I looked over, more in shock of hearing English than anything, and said the first thing that came to mind, "I said the same thing when I first saw this place. This looks exactly like Indiana." "are you from Indiana too? Wait does your cousin work at Fast Eddy's?" haha no effing way, i mean i knew April said that she knew a guy that was going to Germany to play baseball but i didnt actually think i'd meet the guy, i sure wasnt going to go looking for him. "Yeah man, you're from Evansville too?!" "well really im from mount vernon but i go to fast eddy's all the time, I'm Mike." at this point i had forgone the remaining 3 swings i had left and walked out of the cage and over to this guy who suddenly seemed more like a long lost friend than a random guy i just met while playing baseball in Germany that just happens to be from the same town and knows my cousin. "hey I'm Aaron, April said she knew a guy that was coming over here but she didnt know where you were going or anything like that. I never thought I'd actually meet the guy. This is just crazy." we talked for about 20 minutes about his experience thus far and mine, we talked about playing against each other in highschool and guys we played with. we bullshitted about pretty much everything you can think of that pertains to our given situation. but he was only coaching that day, not on the field like me.
the opening day lineup read like this:
1.Hinzy 3B
2.Jan SS
3.Aaron RF
4.Rene "the big Cat" DH
5.Hasse C
6.Timo CF
7.Johst 1B
8.Mike 2B
9.Thomas "Tiger" LF
Thies "Nuke LaLoosh" P
now if it was only that easy to write out the lineup card. Germany has their own lineup cards that have more boxes and lines to fill in than an insurance application. I had to write down jersey numbers and exact spellings of names as well as player license numbers and weather or not they were under 21, played on more than just the first man's team, or were non-european foreigners. not only did i have to do this for all the starters but the reserves as well. and once i got done with that i had to fill in when, where and who we were playing, in what league, the forecast for the day, and my prediction for the score of the game...ok so i made those last two up but the rest is true and tedious work just to fill out a lineup. and when i presented my lineup cards to the umpires, they inspected it thoroughly to make sure i did everything just right. this was not fun and it took me at least 10 minutes to fill everyhting out.
i wont give you a play by play of the whole game but heres the jist of it. we scored then they scored, then we scored again, then it was the 6th inning and Thies still hadnt given up a hit. (remember we only play 7 innings) now you may be asking, how could they score if our pitcher hadnt given up a hit, but there were walks and errors and they had 2 runs and we had 3. so when Thies walked a guy and allowed his first ball to leave the infield, i ran in from right, shook his hand and took the ball. Now I hadnt warmed up at all prior to my John Rocker run in through the outfield, so you can imagine my worry when after the 8th warm up pitch, the umpire said "play ball." "wait i'm not warm yet. I need a few more." "nope you only get 8 throws. now batter up." I hadnt thrown a curve or changeup yet and my arm was still getting lubed up with lactic acid and whatever else makes it feel good when i'm throwing. Well shit, here goes nothing, i got men on 2nd and 1st with 2 away. Luckily i was able to get a ground ball and out of the inning. instead of running to the dugout, i went straight for the bullpen to get loose. I felt great in there and even better after we scored 4 runs to go up 7-2. I got this in the bag, this will be a great win for Thies, he deserves it after only giving up 1 hit to these guys through 5 2/3. I was confident going out to the mound, just like another day at the office, no pressure. thats about the time the wheels started wobbling off the axels. The first hitter hit a grounder to 3rd- Yes, 1 out...ah shit, Hinzy booted it. Ok not a problem, get another one and get the doubleplay. another ground ball to Hinzy at third- yeah baby, double play, a pitchers best frien...damnit, we threw it away at 2nd. ok stay cool, we're still turning 2 and letting that run score, we'll still be up 4. the stolen base put the doubleplay out of order, and a pass ball let the run from 3rd score. 7-3. ok, i know they told me that this guy is a damn good hitter, but thies kept him off base all day and i've got better stuff than thies, throw the fastball to get ahead. 370 ft later my fastball landed on the road behind right center. 7-5. ok still up two and bases empty, just like a new inning and thies is still in line for the win, get this one for thies. the next guy got a hit and thats when the wheels completely fell off and the umpire took over. a nice sizable zone began to shrink with every pitch and not wanting to throw cockshots to these guys, I continued throwing on the outside corner. this umpire, who i'm told is the worst in the league, began to see the plate as round and without corners, because he wasnt giving me anything and i walked 4 guys making the score tied at 7-7. still no one out. but the clouds separated and the heavens shined down because now the zone magically expanded and i could throw a ball 4 inches off the plate and it was a strike! this was bittersweet, I was glad that this guy somehow remembered that a ball over the plate is a strike but bitter that he didnt realize this 5 F^&*ING RUNS AGO! maybe it was all the cussing and namecalling i was doing under my breath on the mound, i dont know, but with this new and improved zone i K'ed 2 and got a groundball for 3 outs in a row. So much for Thies getting the win, now we just had to worry about the Farmers getting a win. in our half of the 7th no one scored and in their half of the eighth no one got on. it was 9-1-2 for us in our half and Tiger started it out by getting on base. Hinzy got out but was able to move the runner. jan was able to get on and i came up with guys on 1st and 3rd and one out. all i wanted to do was hit a ball over the infield who was playing in. but with 2 strikes i rolled over an outside curveball to the 3rd baseman. Jan was able to move up but tiger was held at 3rd and i was out at 1st. Laser came up after me and with a 0-2 count, tiger jumped off 3rd and the pitcher just stopped his motion...he was going out of the windup and he just stopped...BALK! we won the game on a Balk! 8-7. Meyers is credited with the win.
the 2nd game was a bit different, they jumped out to an early lead when with 2 guys on, one of their players sent a ball out to right over my head. I was running back and thought i was going to ba able to make the play...but i forgot that the fence is only 320 feet away in right center and ran fullspeed right into the fence. now our chainlink fence is a bit bigger than normal, balls go through it quite easily and this ball did just that. it went through the fence rather than over it but the umpire is a moron (actually i've never met one that wasnt) and he called it a homerun anyway. they got a few more runs in the later innings and we really didnt mount any offense until the 6th when i drove in a run on a sac fly to right. then with timo on first and Johst at the plate, I called for a hit and run. Timo took off, and johst swung and hit a ball in the air. shit johst anything but in the air. "back, back!" timo was almost to 2nd as i watched the centerfielder run further and further back towards the fence, stopped, and watched as the ball landed over the fence for a home dinger Kyle Davis style. 7-3 bad guys. in the bottom of the 7th they brought in their closer who happens to be the closer for their first league's team too, a hard throwing lefty without much control. with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd, we found out why he is the closer. i watched as he lifted his leg to fire home, turned my head to watch the pitch but it never came, i heard a ball hit leather, but it wasnt the cathers mit, it was the 1st baseman's glove and apparently Timo didnt see it either because he didnt even make an attempt to slide back to 1st. he was dead where he stood and come to find out thats this guy's MO. last weekend he walked 2 guys and picked them off to end the game.
The games ended with a Balk and a pickoff...not something you see everyday but hey thats german baseball. Henrik was telling me today that he once threw a no hitter and lost the game. but thats the kind of stuff that happens here, nothing is out of the realm of possibility and i cant wait to see what else the season holds for me and the Wild Farmers (1-1)
A-Ron
Sunday morning was a pleasant one in the upper 50's, with a breeze out of the east and straight in from left. good for pitchers, bad for hitters. which pissed me off a bit because i'm looking to hit my first homerun pretty soon. Hasse told me that Im the gay spainiard until i hit a HR then i can go back to being an american. what this means, i dont know, i've never heard of being a gay from Spain before...i always thought they were french...but all i know is I dont want to be one and i have to drop a bomb before i can regain my true citizenship. it felt like opening day, we were setting up the speakers and the scoreboard, testing the music and lining the field. we took batting practice first and as i was taking my hacks, i heard in a very familiar dialect, "yeah dude, this looks just like Indiana, with the farms in the background and everything." I looked over, more in shock of hearing English than anything, and said the first thing that came to mind, "I said the same thing when I first saw this place. This looks exactly like Indiana." "are you from Indiana too? Wait does your cousin work at Fast Eddy's?" haha no effing way, i mean i knew April said that she knew a guy that was going to Germany to play baseball but i didnt actually think i'd meet the guy, i sure wasnt going to go looking for him. "Yeah man, you're from Evansville too?!" "well really im from mount vernon but i go to fast eddy's all the time, I'm Mike." at this point i had forgone the remaining 3 swings i had left and walked out of the cage and over to this guy who suddenly seemed more like a long lost friend than a random guy i just met while playing baseball in Germany that just happens to be from the same town and knows my cousin. "hey I'm Aaron, April said she knew a guy that was coming over here but she didnt know where you were going or anything like that. I never thought I'd actually meet the guy. This is just crazy." we talked for about 20 minutes about his experience thus far and mine, we talked about playing against each other in highschool and guys we played with. we bullshitted about pretty much everything you can think of that pertains to our given situation. but he was only coaching that day, not on the field like me.
the opening day lineup read like this:
1.Hinzy 3B
2.Jan SS
3.Aaron RF
4.Rene "the big Cat" DH
5.Hasse C
6.Timo CF
7.Johst 1B
8.Mike 2B
9.Thomas "Tiger" LF
Thies "Nuke LaLoosh" P
now if it was only that easy to write out the lineup card. Germany has their own lineup cards that have more boxes and lines to fill in than an insurance application. I had to write down jersey numbers and exact spellings of names as well as player license numbers and weather or not they were under 21, played on more than just the first man's team, or were non-european foreigners. not only did i have to do this for all the starters but the reserves as well. and once i got done with that i had to fill in when, where and who we were playing, in what league, the forecast for the day, and my prediction for the score of the game...ok so i made those last two up but the rest is true and tedious work just to fill out a lineup. and when i presented my lineup cards to the umpires, they inspected it thoroughly to make sure i did everything just right. this was not fun and it took me at least 10 minutes to fill everyhting out.
i wont give you a play by play of the whole game but heres the jist of it. we scored then they scored, then we scored again, then it was the 6th inning and Thies still hadnt given up a hit. (remember we only play 7 innings) now you may be asking, how could they score if our pitcher hadnt given up a hit, but there were walks and errors and they had 2 runs and we had 3. so when Thies walked a guy and allowed his first ball to leave the infield, i ran in from right, shook his hand and took the ball. Now I hadnt warmed up at all prior to my John Rocker run in through the outfield, so you can imagine my worry when after the 8th warm up pitch, the umpire said "play ball." "wait i'm not warm yet. I need a few more." "nope you only get 8 throws. now batter up." I hadnt thrown a curve or changeup yet and my arm was still getting lubed up with lactic acid and whatever else makes it feel good when i'm throwing. Well shit, here goes nothing, i got men on 2nd and 1st with 2 away. Luckily i was able to get a ground ball and out of the inning. instead of running to the dugout, i went straight for the bullpen to get loose. I felt great in there and even better after we scored 4 runs to go up 7-2. I got this in the bag, this will be a great win for Thies, he deserves it after only giving up 1 hit to these guys through 5 2/3. I was confident going out to the mound, just like another day at the office, no pressure. thats about the time the wheels started wobbling off the axels. The first hitter hit a grounder to 3rd- Yes, 1 out...ah shit, Hinzy booted it. Ok not a problem, get another one and get the doubleplay. another ground ball to Hinzy at third- yeah baby, double play, a pitchers best frien...damnit, we threw it away at 2nd. ok stay cool, we're still turning 2 and letting that run score, we'll still be up 4. the stolen base put the doubleplay out of order, and a pass ball let the run from 3rd score. 7-3. ok, i know they told me that this guy is a damn good hitter, but thies kept him off base all day and i've got better stuff than thies, throw the fastball to get ahead. 370 ft later my fastball landed on the road behind right center. 7-5. ok still up two and bases empty, just like a new inning and thies is still in line for the win, get this one for thies. the next guy got a hit and thats when the wheels completely fell off and the umpire took over. a nice sizable zone began to shrink with every pitch and not wanting to throw cockshots to these guys, I continued throwing on the outside corner. this umpire, who i'm told is the worst in the league, began to see the plate as round and without corners, because he wasnt giving me anything and i walked 4 guys making the score tied at 7-7. still no one out. but the clouds separated and the heavens shined down because now the zone magically expanded and i could throw a ball 4 inches off the plate and it was a strike! this was bittersweet, I was glad that this guy somehow remembered that a ball over the plate is a strike but bitter that he didnt realize this 5 F^&*ING RUNS AGO! maybe it was all the cussing and namecalling i was doing under my breath on the mound, i dont know, but with this new and improved zone i K'ed 2 and got a groundball for 3 outs in a row. So much for Thies getting the win, now we just had to worry about the Farmers getting a win. in our half of the 7th no one scored and in their half of the eighth no one got on. it was 9-1-2 for us in our half and Tiger started it out by getting on base. Hinzy got out but was able to move the runner. jan was able to get on and i came up with guys on 1st and 3rd and one out. all i wanted to do was hit a ball over the infield who was playing in. but with 2 strikes i rolled over an outside curveball to the 3rd baseman. Jan was able to move up but tiger was held at 3rd and i was out at 1st. Laser came up after me and with a 0-2 count, tiger jumped off 3rd and the pitcher just stopped his motion...he was going out of the windup and he just stopped...BALK! we won the game on a Balk! 8-7. Meyers is credited with the win.
the 2nd game was a bit different, they jumped out to an early lead when with 2 guys on, one of their players sent a ball out to right over my head. I was running back and thought i was going to ba able to make the play...but i forgot that the fence is only 320 feet away in right center and ran fullspeed right into the fence. now our chainlink fence is a bit bigger than normal, balls go through it quite easily and this ball did just that. it went through the fence rather than over it but the umpire is a moron (actually i've never met one that wasnt) and he called it a homerun anyway. they got a few more runs in the later innings and we really didnt mount any offense until the 6th when i drove in a run on a sac fly to right. then with timo on first and Johst at the plate, I called for a hit and run. Timo took off, and johst swung and hit a ball in the air. shit johst anything but in the air. "back, back!" timo was almost to 2nd as i watched the centerfielder run further and further back towards the fence, stopped, and watched as the ball landed over the fence for a home dinger Kyle Davis style. 7-3 bad guys. in the bottom of the 7th they brought in their closer who happens to be the closer for their first league's team too, a hard throwing lefty without much control. with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd, we found out why he is the closer. i watched as he lifted his leg to fire home, turned my head to watch the pitch but it never came, i heard a ball hit leather, but it wasnt the cathers mit, it was the 1st baseman's glove and apparently Timo didnt see it either because he didnt even make an attempt to slide back to 1st. he was dead where he stood and come to find out thats this guy's MO. last weekend he walked 2 guys and picked them off to end the game.
The games ended with a Balk and a pickoff...not something you see everyday but hey thats german baseball. Henrik was telling me today that he once threw a no hitter and lost the game. but thats the kind of stuff that happens here, nothing is out of the realm of possibility and i cant wait to see what else the season holds for me and the Wild Farmers (1-1)
A-Ron
Season Openers
This past weekend marked the beginning of all of the teams' regular season. It was time to see if the off season training and hard, long hours had paid off. Traveling to Berlin, about a 3 hour trip, on saturday with the 2nd man's team, i could help but get a little nervous. No matter what league, or what level you play at, opening day is always filled with a bit of nervous excitement. excited to get back out there and play games that count for something again; nervous to get back out there and play games that count for something again. its a fine line really, one that i teetered on the whole way there. constantly wondering if i had prepared the team well enough, if what we did in practice would come to fruition in the games. excited to get out there and get my uniform dirty diving for balls roaming the field again after 5 years of only being on the mound. I've found that its kind of like riding a bike, playing the field that is. Though i havent taken fly balls or hit cutoff men, havent seen curveballs or swung a bat in 5 years, it all just came rushing back to me fairly quickly. and on this day, my first true meaningfull game in Germany, I was where i started my highschool career...2nd base. little known fact: Aaron Meyers' first highschool game was started at 2nd base...and i never got a ball hit to me thank god. I was using an outfielder's glove and had no business playing the infield. I dont know why but i never played the infield again. But now, 8 years and 50 pounds later, i was back to my roots, manning the 4 spot. and again the skills came rushing back. turning doubleplays, cutting off balls to the outfield, covering first on bunts, it was like i never left. Maybe its because i'm like a chamillion, or maybe it was because i was all juco'ed out, but i played a mean 2nd base. My hat was flatbilled and cocked just a tad to the right, pants pulled down over the spikes, batting gloves flapping in the back pockets. The JuCo allstar Ronny Timbers was out in full force. its a shame i didnt have wrist bands because i would have rocked those too. the icing on the cake was the 13 year old Mexican mustache i had going. we talked about growing staches last weekend at the easter fire so i hadnt shaved for a week but everybody know the hair on my upperlip needs way more time than that to be visible beyond 10 feet. suffice it to say that i looked like a stud out there on the field.
when we got to Berlin, the Roadrunners were already taking batting practice and hitting bombs with wood bats...there were a few black guys on the team and i heard them speaking spanish...a deadly combination in baseball, so i wasnt surprised to see them hitting well. But everybody hits well in batting practice and if they were really that good, they wouldnt be playing in the 2nd man's league...throw them curveballs i thought to myself. Everyone knows black guys cant hit curveballs--remember this, this comes into play later in the narrative.
their pitcher was a cocky little SOB that threw pretty hard for his size and had a decent curveball to go with it. He reminded me a lot of Derek Bryant but with less talent. He was good as long as things were going his way, but as soon as we started getting hits or there was a bad call or something, he blew up. Igl threw for us and got hit around a bit...actually thats a bit of an understatement, he got hit around for 17 runs, but what can you expect throwing to grown-ass black spanish speaking black guys with metal bats...yeah, thats right, in BP they all were hitting bombs with wood, but once the game started they switched to metal. the shortstop for them was a black guy and a pretty good hitter anyway, his stance was good and he swung a good stick, but he swung out of his shoes everytime, trying to put one over the 95 sign in left. (thats Meters remember) so when Igl threw this guy a curveball in the 3rd, i thought for sure he would be out on his front foot and miss horribly...I was wrong...kind of. He was out on his front foot but he didnt miss. he flicked the bat out there at the last second and shot an outside laces high curveball out to left...I had a feeling it might get out, 95 meters is only about 300 feet, but from this guys WALK down to 1st you would have thought he smashed a hanger 500 ft over the green monster in Fenway. Bush league is the best way i can describe the roadrunners, and i should have known, i have been warned many times that most teams are new to the sport and dont understand the unwritten rules of the game...like not stealing or bunting when youre up 8 runs...also happening in the first match of the day. we lost that game 17-7. i was 3-4 in this game.
so between games, we were all sititng there eating and laughing about the game and Johst, who is also the coach of the 2nd team, looks around and asks who is going to throw the 2nd game. I look at Beefy, a 15 year old kid that just smiles from under a mop of tangled hair and agrees with anything you ask him, and ask if he wants to pitch. Obviously he says yes and Johst shrugs his shoulders, chuckles, and says, "ok Beefy's pitching." ok sidenote, Beefy actually can pitch, its not like i was asking him to step on a mound for the first time to throw against grown black men with metal bats (a scarey thing for any pitcher now that i think about it) that just dropped 17 on us, he actually threw last week to live hitters and throws pretty hard (low 70)...he just only throws fastballs. this is what poses the problem. so i said, "Beefy, we need to teach you a 2nd pitch, lets go." we ran down along the side of the dugout (no bullpen here in Berlin) and i showed him the grip on a curveball and how to throw it. the 1st couple didnt look bad and i was hopefull he had just picked it up that quick but then it got worse when he was throwing them 10 feet over the catchers head 5 times in a row. so we moved on from that one and went with a change up. he told me that he already knew how to throw a change and showed me his grip...he was holding it with 3 fingers, index-ring. i said no lets hold it with these three, middle-pinky. 4 throws later he had a 2nd pitch to go along with that fastball of his. the game was getting ready to start so we went back to the dugout to tell eveyone the good news...Beefy was now a bonafide pitcher! to be honest i didnt think we would be in this game either, I thought they were going to tear the kid apart but he was an arm that could throw and thats what we needed. running in from my spot in right, i was astonished when he went 3 up 3 down in the first inning and made those same guys that gave Igl so much trouble look stupid with his new change up. He only gave up 1 in the 2nd inning; the kid was looking good and i looked like a genius for suggesting him. in the 4th inning he got into a bit of a jam by giving up a hit or two and walking the bases loaded. with two outs a guy came to the plate by the nickname of GiantBaby...he had a bit of a babyface but his broad shoulders and 6' 4" frame were more suggestive of the first part of the moniker. going to a full count, with bases loaded and the go ahead run on third is a tight spot for any pitcher and i got goosebumps when Giantbaby swung through the 3rd strike and we came off the field with no harm done. When i got back to the bench, Beefy was still shaking with a look of horror in his eyes, "I dont ever want to do that again." "Dude, you showed that you have quite a big swinging pair of you-know-whats you have right there Beefy." we came up a run short in this game, we had bases loaded with two outs in our half of the 7th and down by a run, but couldnt get one across. we lost 3-4. but when the other team is swinging metal bats and we have only wood, and a 15 year old kid is on the mound, I'd say we played some damn good baseball. The kid threw a hell of a game and impressed everyone. he was the talk of the bleachers sunday at the 1st man's game. I was 2-3 in this game with 2 pissrods for doubles in the gaps off of their lefty that went the whole game.
ok i have to go to practice, but stay tuned to hear how one of our pitchers blew a 5 run lead in one inning!
A-Ron
when we got to Berlin, the Roadrunners were already taking batting practice and hitting bombs with wood bats...there were a few black guys on the team and i heard them speaking spanish...a deadly combination in baseball, so i wasnt surprised to see them hitting well. But everybody hits well in batting practice and if they were really that good, they wouldnt be playing in the 2nd man's league...throw them curveballs i thought to myself. Everyone knows black guys cant hit curveballs--remember this, this comes into play later in the narrative.
their pitcher was a cocky little SOB that threw pretty hard for his size and had a decent curveball to go with it. He reminded me a lot of Derek Bryant but with less talent. He was good as long as things were going his way, but as soon as we started getting hits or there was a bad call or something, he blew up. Igl threw for us and got hit around a bit...actually thats a bit of an understatement, he got hit around for 17 runs, but what can you expect throwing to grown-ass black spanish speaking black guys with metal bats...yeah, thats right, in BP they all were hitting bombs with wood, but once the game started they switched to metal. the shortstop for them was a black guy and a pretty good hitter anyway, his stance was good and he swung a good stick, but he swung out of his shoes everytime, trying to put one over the 95 sign in left. (thats Meters remember) so when Igl threw this guy a curveball in the 3rd, i thought for sure he would be out on his front foot and miss horribly...I was wrong...kind of. He was out on his front foot but he didnt miss. he flicked the bat out there at the last second and shot an outside laces high curveball out to left...I had a feeling it might get out, 95 meters is only about 300 feet, but from this guys WALK down to 1st you would have thought he smashed a hanger 500 ft over the green monster in Fenway. Bush league is the best way i can describe the roadrunners, and i should have known, i have been warned many times that most teams are new to the sport and dont understand the unwritten rules of the game...like not stealing or bunting when youre up 8 runs...also happening in the first match of the day. we lost that game 17-7. i was 3-4 in this game.
so between games, we were all sititng there eating and laughing about the game and Johst, who is also the coach of the 2nd team, looks around and asks who is going to throw the 2nd game. I look at Beefy, a 15 year old kid that just smiles from under a mop of tangled hair and agrees with anything you ask him, and ask if he wants to pitch. Obviously he says yes and Johst shrugs his shoulders, chuckles, and says, "ok Beefy's pitching." ok sidenote, Beefy actually can pitch, its not like i was asking him to step on a mound for the first time to throw against grown black men with metal bats (a scarey thing for any pitcher now that i think about it) that just dropped 17 on us, he actually threw last week to live hitters and throws pretty hard (low 70)...he just only throws fastballs. this is what poses the problem. so i said, "Beefy, we need to teach you a 2nd pitch, lets go." we ran down along the side of the dugout (no bullpen here in Berlin) and i showed him the grip on a curveball and how to throw it. the 1st couple didnt look bad and i was hopefull he had just picked it up that quick but then it got worse when he was throwing them 10 feet over the catchers head 5 times in a row. so we moved on from that one and went with a change up. he told me that he already knew how to throw a change and showed me his grip...he was holding it with 3 fingers, index-ring. i said no lets hold it with these three, middle-pinky. 4 throws later he had a 2nd pitch to go along with that fastball of his. the game was getting ready to start so we went back to the dugout to tell eveyone the good news...Beefy was now a bonafide pitcher! to be honest i didnt think we would be in this game either, I thought they were going to tear the kid apart but he was an arm that could throw and thats what we needed. running in from my spot in right, i was astonished when he went 3 up 3 down in the first inning and made those same guys that gave Igl so much trouble look stupid with his new change up. He only gave up 1 in the 2nd inning; the kid was looking good and i looked like a genius for suggesting him. in the 4th inning he got into a bit of a jam by giving up a hit or two and walking the bases loaded. with two outs a guy came to the plate by the nickname of GiantBaby...he had a bit of a babyface but his broad shoulders and 6' 4" frame were more suggestive of the first part of the moniker. going to a full count, with bases loaded and the go ahead run on third is a tight spot for any pitcher and i got goosebumps when Giantbaby swung through the 3rd strike and we came off the field with no harm done. When i got back to the bench, Beefy was still shaking with a look of horror in his eyes, "I dont ever want to do that again." "Dude, you showed that you have quite a big swinging pair of you-know-whats you have right there Beefy." we came up a run short in this game, we had bases loaded with two outs in our half of the 7th and down by a run, but couldnt get one across. we lost 3-4. but when the other team is swinging metal bats and we have only wood, and a 15 year old kid is on the mound, I'd say we played some damn good baseball. The kid threw a hell of a game and impressed everyone. he was the talk of the bleachers sunday at the 1st man's game. I was 2-3 in this game with 2 pissrods for doubles in the gaps off of their lefty that went the whole game.
ok i have to go to practice, but stay tuned to hear how one of our pitchers blew a 5 run lead in one inning!
A-Ron
Thursday, April 16, 2009
the classics
so i've been busy working at henrik's doing odd jobs like cleaning up rooms so the carpet guys can work and tearing out a stair case in the entryway. but today i got the brush back out and slapped some paint around. instead of painting in the house or somehting like that, hes got me out in the barn. I dont know if maybe i should take this as a hint at my painting abilities or what...but im coating the raw wood before they cut it and take it in. tomorrow i have to go back and finish up before i take off and finish up the work at the field. I still have to string the rest of the net to the fence on the backstop before our home opener Sunday; im hoping that will only take about 2 hours but i cant be sure because people keep showing up and i get sidetracked. the field also needs water bad but i think they are calling for rain tomorrow (friday) so that will help. i learned earlier today that setting up the sprinklers on the field is a pain in the ass. First you have to connect a huge hose to the valve at one sideline of the soccer field (conviniently on the opposite side of the baseball field) and drag it across as far as it will reach. having a hose that made it all the way across would be the smart thing to do, but nope that would be way too easy. so to the end of the huge hose connects a run-of-the-mill firemans hose which must be put through a hole cut in the fence because it is JUST long enough to make it to the water pump we have at our field. so once that is connected, you must go down to the metal container and drag 5 awkward sprinklers and attached hoses back the length of the 2 soccer fields to the baseball field and set them up around the field...are you sensing a pattern developing here? the soccer guys that built and maintain this place "arent fans of baseball and make everything as much of a bitch as possbile." (Stephan Hassenpflug 2009) so now you are ready to go back across the soccer field to where you connected the first hose and turn on the water...oh and did i mention that after the watering the field for two hours, i have to drag all that stuff back so the soccer guys can have their practices. i hate rain just as much as the next guy but i hope it rains a little bit all week so i never have to water the field.
so yesterday me and thies were throwing before practice and we've been working on his curveball for awhile now and i told him that i was going to start calling him Nuke LaLoosh. Now being a baseball player (even if he is in Germany) I would have expected this to be an understood joke. so i was astounded when he replied with, "whats that?" "what's that, what do you mean whats that? dont tell me youve never seen Bull Durham?" the first thought that went through my head was that i was in the Sandlot (Another classic baseball movie) and he was Smalls not knowing who the Great Bambino was. so as the conversation went on i came to find out that he has in fact never even heard of Crash, Annie, or breathing through your eyelids like the lizards of the Galapagos. Thankfully i have a copy here with me (thanks Mom) and i'm introducing him in the future. Later last night at our practice, when Thies was up to bat, I yelled "Noonun" right before he swung. this time is was Rene "the Big Cat" Schmidt who was thoroughly confuzled. "What the [hell] is Noonun?" you've never seen Caddy Shack, the golf movie? you guys are way out of the loop on great comedic sports movies. I'm going to have to do something about this." A new goal has been set for teaching these young ball players the ins and outs of Classic American Cinema and i'm open to suggestions on titles... I was even thinking about opening their world to Bolton's Bombers and the finer points of playing better softball.
In other news, I have made a huge discovery that i think any young broke kid my age would appreciate. There is another knock off of Captain Morgan making its way into cheap cocktails all over Deutchland. Admiral Vernon...not to be confused with his American counterpart Admiral Nelson, is the poor mans Morgan here in Germany. Seeing as how me and...well i cant call him the admiral anymore since i found out there is more than one...me and Nelson had some damn good times together back in college, I couldnt help but laugh at finding Vernon. and as a tribute I will drink with Vern and any other Admirals i find along the way, and i can only hope they are as good as the original.
thats a big 10-4, over and out
A-Ron
so yesterday me and thies were throwing before practice and we've been working on his curveball for awhile now and i told him that i was going to start calling him Nuke LaLoosh. Now being a baseball player (even if he is in Germany) I would have expected this to be an understood joke. so i was astounded when he replied with, "whats that?" "what's that, what do you mean whats that? dont tell me youve never seen Bull Durham?" the first thought that went through my head was that i was in the Sandlot (Another classic baseball movie) and he was Smalls not knowing who the Great Bambino was. so as the conversation went on i came to find out that he has in fact never even heard of Crash, Annie, or breathing through your eyelids like the lizards of the Galapagos. Thankfully i have a copy here with me (thanks Mom) and i'm introducing him in the future. Later last night at our practice, when Thies was up to bat, I yelled "Noonun" right before he swung. this time is was Rene "the Big Cat" Schmidt who was thoroughly confuzled. "What the [hell] is Noonun?" you've never seen Caddy Shack, the golf movie? you guys are way out of the loop on great comedic sports movies. I'm going to have to do something about this." A new goal has been set for teaching these young ball players the ins and outs of Classic American Cinema and i'm open to suggestions on titles... I was even thinking about opening their world to Bolton's Bombers and the finer points of playing better softball.
In other news, I have made a huge discovery that i think any young broke kid my age would appreciate. There is another knock off of Captain Morgan making its way into cheap cocktails all over Deutchland. Admiral Vernon...not to be confused with his American counterpart Admiral Nelson, is the poor mans Morgan here in Germany. Seeing as how me and...well i cant call him the admiral anymore since i found out there is more than one...me and Nelson had some damn good times together back in college, I couldnt help but laugh at finding Vernon. and as a tribute I will drink with Vern and any other Admirals i find along the way, and i can only hope they are as good as the original.
thats a big 10-4, over and out
A-Ron
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter Weekend Cont.
So the traveling gypsies were pretty good and you play better on one foot...ok back to Hamburg. continuing the walk through the Magnificent Mile...actually it was a lot longer than a mile but you get my drift, toward the end of the street there was a man made lake with a fountain and boats and a bunch of people sitting around on the steps. We got an icecream and sat there and people watched for a bit. Stephan told me that at the other end of the lake there was something he wanted to show me so we went out on the dock and waited for the ferry to come. There are a few different companies running tours off this dock and we waited and searched and couldnt find the boat that took us down to the other end of the lake and dropped us off; we only saw the tour boats. We asked a guy where they were and he was like, "oh yeah, I know exactly where that comes in at, its either right here (pointing to where we were standing) or over there (pointing to another dock 100 yards away) but im not sure which one." so much for knowing exactly where it was at. so we waited a little bit longer before giving up and just walking around the shopping district some more. we walked down the street and into a sporting good store, that just so happened to have a restaurant on the top (4th) floor. once we got to the top we got beers and took them out on the patio to relax and draw out our route for the 2nd half of our trip. we decided to go to portuguese place for a late lunch before hopping the train back to tostedt. stephan and martina had to go to the bathroom before we continued so i made my way down to the 3rd floor to the golf section to check out their selection of clubs. prices are pretty much the same on everything and i looked at the new R9 driver by taylormade and i dont see anything better about it. i wanted to take a few swings with it but there was some guy hacking it up with a 6 iron in the video range. on the way out i saw something im going to go back and get though, i think it will make a great present. St Georg is a part of town that is very diverse and cultural. we started our tour with a walk down the "strip" where there were sex shops and strip joints lining the street. haha there is this one club called the Slut Club that i thought was rather funny and i got my picture taken in front of it. Im not sure if Slut means something else in turkish, but i thought it was pretty funny. many of the signs were written in Turkish and even Stephan and Martina didnt know what they said. but then just after the strip, we got into a really nice part of St Georg that Stephan told me is getting more and more expensive because the people are trying like mad to change the stigma of the neighborhood. St Georg also is the gay part of town and was littered with rainbows in windows and on cars everywhere. so after that experience, we went to where gays are not welcome...church. haha just kidding, but the St. Michaelis Church, more commonly called the Michel, is the biggest church in Hamburg and a huge tourist attraction. there were a lot of people there looking at the church even though its main room is under construction and looking at the city atop its 132meter tower. we left the michel and headed toward Portuguese town...like china town in america. the steak i had was phenomenal and a good capper to a great day. the train ride home was packed full of people and i ended up sleeping the entire way.
Once we got back to dohren, it was 8 and the party had already started at the easter fire. i walked the km to the field because i didnt want to risk leaving my bike there or something. here in germany, the bars pay you to bring back your glasses and the bar at the easter fire was no different. each glass you brought back was 50 cents and a beer was a 1.20 euros. so there were a few times i took back 3 glasses, got a beer, and they actually paid me money! I got paid to drink! add pro drinker to the resume now. the party lasted until 5:30 when the sun was coming up and there was a good crowd still there when we finally shut her down.
the crowd was not so big however on sunday when we went back to clean up and tear down the bar and dj booth. the youth group here in dohren takes care of putting the easter fire on and the booze and everything and it was a fairly young crowd there tearing everything apart. but we got it all taken care of pretty easily and started drinking again. once it got to be about 7 oclock, we left, went home and changed and started for Vistedt to join them at their easter fire. their fire is much bigger and with more people. and instead of lasting the entire night, it ends prompty at 1 am. it was at this point that we ventured into a local bar for a couple more drinks.
I took a cab home and woke up monday afternoon at 1 for the family lunch with Hans Georg, Antje, and her parents and brother. needless to say i reeked of bar smoke and booze and didnt say a word the entire meal. it was great lamb though. I went straight back to bed after lunch and only woke up at 4 because Thies called me to go throw. Monday was a pretty worthless day for me all around. Monon Weekends dont compare to Easter Weekend in Dohren.
today i felt a lot better, though trying to sleep last night was next to impossible because my body was so used to passing out because of alcohol for 4 straight days. but i went to henriks and helped tear out carpet and get a couple of rooms ready for the floor guys. we also tore out 2 windows that are going to be replaced at some point. After we were done, i went out in the barn and worked on my bat on Johsts lathe. I've never turned a bat before or anything that big really, i've only made candlestick holders and bowls which dont really compare to turning a 33" bat and trying to make it playable. its going to be an interesting project and im going to be pissed if i break it on the first swing since ive already got like 4 hours into it.
I think that pretty much catches me up to date with whats going on in Dohren City through my first month. One month ago today i was sitting on a plane somewhere over Europe watching Madagascar 2 with no clue as to what i was in store for, who i would meet, or where i would go. Looking back over the first in a long line of posts, I feel i've done a lot already and its just getting started. there will be many more trips to foreign cities for baseball and leisure, there will be stories about people i havent met yet, and undoubtably more inebriated nights with these wonderful people. Happy reading
Once we got back to dohren, it was 8 and the party had already started at the easter fire. i walked the km to the field because i didnt want to risk leaving my bike there or something. here in germany, the bars pay you to bring back your glasses and the bar at the easter fire was no different. each glass you brought back was 50 cents and a beer was a 1.20 euros. so there were a few times i took back 3 glasses, got a beer, and they actually paid me money! I got paid to drink! add pro drinker to the resume now. the party lasted until 5:30 when the sun was coming up and there was a good crowd still there when we finally shut her down.
the crowd was not so big however on sunday when we went back to clean up and tear down the bar and dj booth. the youth group here in dohren takes care of putting the easter fire on and the booze and everything and it was a fairly young crowd there tearing everything apart. but we got it all taken care of pretty easily and started drinking again. once it got to be about 7 oclock, we left, went home and changed and started for Vistedt to join them at their easter fire. their fire is much bigger and with more people. and instead of lasting the entire night, it ends prompty at 1 am. it was at this point that we ventured into a local bar for a couple more drinks.
I took a cab home and woke up monday afternoon at 1 for the family lunch with Hans Georg, Antje, and her parents and brother. needless to say i reeked of bar smoke and booze and didnt say a word the entire meal. it was great lamb though. I went straight back to bed after lunch and only woke up at 4 because Thies called me to go throw. Monday was a pretty worthless day for me all around. Monon Weekends dont compare to Easter Weekend in Dohren.
today i felt a lot better, though trying to sleep last night was next to impossible because my body was so used to passing out because of alcohol for 4 straight days. but i went to henriks and helped tear out carpet and get a couple of rooms ready for the floor guys. we also tore out 2 windows that are going to be replaced at some point. After we were done, i went out in the barn and worked on my bat on Johsts lathe. I've never turned a bat before or anything that big really, i've only made candlestick holders and bowls which dont really compare to turning a 33" bat and trying to make it playable. its going to be an interesting project and im going to be pissed if i break it on the first swing since ive already got like 4 hours into it.
I think that pretty much catches me up to date with whats going on in Dohren City through my first month. One month ago today i was sitting on a plane somewhere over Europe watching Madagascar 2 with no clue as to what i was in store for, who i would meet, or where i would go. Looking back over the first in a long line of posts, I feel i've done a lot already and its just getting started. there will be many more trips to foreign cities for baseball and leisure, there will be stories about people i havent met yet, and undoubtably more inebriated nights with these wonderful people. Happy reading
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Weekend
I survived the weekend. it was tough and i was worried a few times but i made it to a new week with all my fingers and toes still intact. The fun started thursday night when we went to the bar in Tostedt. Hubi brought the Americans from his team to the bar and we had a few beers with them. Johst drove to the bar and drank...the legal limit here in germany is .05 so if you have one beer you're pretty much too drunk to drive...and everyone else had been drinking too, so we had to walk home. Tostedt is about 2 km away so it wasnt that bad of a walk. Tine was also on our midnight stroll. we talked about accents and how i could tell that the Americans there at the bar were from the south because they talked with a slow southern twang. they tell me its the same in germany too, people from bravaria speak differently than the people in northern germany. then i was trying to explain ebonics to them and how even though its english its like its own language. I'm going to show them the leprechauns video on youtube so they can experience ebonics-i want da gold, give me da gold, i wanna know where da gold at.
Friday i went to the field and worked on the stringing the net to the fence on the backstop. its about half way done now and the net is rediculously tight. you could play longtoss with your self against this net. im hoping that it will loosen up a bit once it gets wet a few times and balls hit it. it wont affect the game any because the only balls that will hit it are foul tips...if a player throws home and hits the net part, we have much worse issues than worrying about how the ball flys off the net. the pulheim Gophers practiced at our field on friday so i got to watch them work out while i was working on the net. Their coach is an American named Ben and if i didnt know any better, i would have swore it was matt kliene out there. the same general build as well and the way he ran, threw, and just his demeanor is the same. I laughed when i saw him pull out his arm gaurd for hitting in the cage. Friday night there was a birthday party/BBQ...they love barbeques here. We ate and drank and laughed and Igl was really drunk because they were setting up for the Easter fire all day and like i said before, if there are more than one person with the same general goal in the same place its a reason to drink. so they drank. After the party, me, Johannes, and Toby all came back to my place and drank another beer. and they were trying to teach me german because they saw my German for Dummies book. (Mom i got the package and everything was fine, but it cost another 60 euros to get it. and how long have you known me, a long time right, and when was the last time youve seen me eat a jelly bean? but the rest of the candy is gone and i thank you.) needless to say that lessen went right in one ear and out the other, because i was drunk and dont remember what they told me.
Saturday was my trip to Hamburg with Stephan and Martina. we started out at 7:50 with an hour train ride...suffice it to say that i was a little hungover and stephan recognized this and thankfully changed our itenerary a tad so there was less walking in the beginning. so first we went and saw the harbor and the big container ships and lifts and stuff. that was all pretty cool. we then hopped on a ferry and rode back into town where we walked around and saw some of the older parts of town. Martina wanted a coffee so we stopped at a cafe and i had a hot chocolate...and a damn fine one at that. at that point i was pretty sluggish and in dire need of some caffine or somehting to wake me up. i felt a lot better after my drink and it added a little pep in my step. we then took the train to the shopping district which reminded me a lot of Michigan Ave in Chicago. retail stores lined the street and there was a shitload of people out. it was a beautiful day though, 70 and sunny all day. there were street performers there too playing music for change. and i learned from one lady that standing on one foot makes you a better flute player. She was singing while the other three guys played the bass, guitar, and percussion and when it was her turn to play the flute, she would always pick up her right foot and put it on the inside of her left knee- making a 4 with her legs. they were pretty good though.
well i just got off the phone with Mom and now its 1:30 in the morning and im tired. I'm going to bed and i'll finish the 2nd half of the weekend tomorrow. the suspence is killing you i can tell.
Friday i went to the field and worked on the stringing the net to the fence on the backstop. its about half way done now and the net is rediculously tight. you could play longtoss with your self against this net. im hoping that it will loosen up a bit once it gets wet a few times and balls hit it. it wont affect the game any because the only balls that will hit it are foul tips...if a player throws home and hits the net part, we have much worse issues than worrying about how the ball flys off the net. the pulheim Gophers practiced at our field on friday so i got to watch them work out while i was working on the net. Their coach is an American named Ben and if i didnt know any better, i would have swore it was matt kliene out there. the same general build as well and the way he ran, threw, and just his demeanor is the same. I laughed when i saw him pull out his arm gaurd for hitting in the cage. Friday night there was a birthday party/BBQ...they love barbeques here. We ate and drank and laughed and Igl was really drunk because they were setting up for the Easter fire all day and like i said before, if there are more than one person with the same general goal in the same place its a reason to drink. so they drank. After the party, me, Johannes, and Toby all came back to my place and drank another beer. and they were trying to teach me german because they saw my German for Dummies book. (Mom i got the package and everything was fine, but it cost another 60 euros to get it. and how long have you known me, a long time right, and when was the last time youve seen me eat a jelly bean? but the rest of the candy is gone and i thank you.) needless to say that lessen went right in one ear and out the other, because i was drunk and dont remember what they told me.
Saturday was my trip to Hamburg with Stephan and Martina. we started out at 7:50 with an hour train ride...suffice it to say that i was a little hungover and stephan recognized this and thankfully changed our itenerary a tad so there was less walking in the beginning. so first we went and saw the harbor and the big container ships and lifts and stuff. that was all pretty cool. we then hopped on a ferry and rode back into town where we walked around and saw some of the older parts of town. Martina wanted a coffee so we stopped at a cafe and i had a hot chocolate...and a damn fine one at that. at that point i was pretty sluggish and in dire need of some caffine or somehting to wake me up. i felt a lot better after my drink and it added a little pep in my step. we then took the train to the shopping district which reminded me a lot of Michigan Ave in Chicago. retail stores lined the street and there was a shitload of people out. it was a beautiful day though, 70 and sunny all day. there were street performers there too playing music for change. and i learned from one lady that standing on one foot makes you a better flute player. She was singing while the other three guys played the bass, guitar, and percussion and when it was her turn to play the flute, she would always pick up her right foot and put it on the inside of her left knee- making a 4 with her legs. they were pretty good though.
well i just got off the phone with Mom and now its 1:30 in the morning and im tired. I'm going to bed and i'll finish the 2nd half of the weekend tomorrow. the suspence is killing you i can tell.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
well, well, well
It looks as though my popularity is on the rise. since the last time i wrote on monday, i now have 3, count 'em 3, followers. A big thanks goes out to Zach "Dad" Barnes and Johnny Buchta for their support. Love you guys. I went looking thru the setting on this thing and found that i can send email updates to up to 8 people...actually its 10 but i reserved 2 spots for Mom and Grandma because i know that you check 8 million times a day to see if ive written anything and this will save you some time. since Paul was the first to be in my posse, he gets a spot as well as Johnny and Barnes. that leaves 5. Ive yet to find out if being a follower actually has perks or not, so im making my own. the next 5 people get the email. Also I've allowed you to send posts to friends and family via the little envelope at the bottom of each post and now anyone can write a comment. Let the games begin.
Yesterday and today i woke up early, 9 and 10 respectively, to go over to Henriks and lend a hand where ever i can. Tuesday morning we tore the roof off of one side of the house. i've found that chucking clay shingles from 40 ft up and 40 ft away into a a trailer twice the size of a normal sized dumpster is a bit more tricky that it may appear. Its all about getting the right spin and tragectory...as well and making sure your glove doesnt take off with it. On the day i would say i carried about a 90% field goal percentage but considering the target it should have been much higher. I'm going to chaulk my performance up to the wind...
after we picked up all the pieces from the shingles we missed, we took a break for lunch. this is as good a time as any to introduce Charley. Charley is Henrik's dog and possibly the most apprehensive dog in the world. Running up, tail wagging, you'd think Charley was the friendliest dog in town, but bend down to pet him and he's jumping out of his skin to get out of reach. He's like that with everyone (that ive seen) except Henrik and Elisabeth, Henrik's baby momma (due in June), who he often runs and hides behind when someone gets aggresive about petting him. while we were eating sandwiches in the front yard, Charley was there waiting for someone to toss him a proverbial bone. I tried to sieze this opportunity to get him to trust me by giving him half my sandwich...lets just say i left lunch hungry and disappointed. and to top it off the dog speaks german so i'm kind of shit outta luck at this point with Charley. there really is no point or moral to this story, I'm trying to come up with interesting things to say at this point and I thought it might be a good time to introduce another character...Maybe he will come back into the story line later, and in that case, youll already have a bit of an insight into our relationship.
after throwing all the pieces of clay into the trailer, it was time to get out the bucket and brush ans sling some paint. The paint here is a lot thicker than at home, it covered raw wood in pretty much only one coat..i had to go back and touch up a few spots that were a bit light, but all in all i think it looks pretty good. Once the carpenters get done with the other side of the roof I will go back around and paint on that side of the house. I was there hitting a few spots today, but tomrrow I dont have to go back. The carpenters call what i'm doing "black work" and not because black people do it...which was my first thought when i was told this...to which i responded, we would call it "Mexican work" back home. but i guess black work to them is stuff that they dont do, or at least thats how i understand it.
Since i was done with my black work early today, I went with Henrik on his shipment to Hamburg. He delivers milk to a handfull of customers there once a week. They mostly get the yogurt and the expensive "special" milk that only 60 farms in all of Germany are allowed to produce...Mmm now thats good badger milk! many of his customers are old widows that he said he thinks, "just order milk because they like me." Ive never had the special sauce but the regular milk is damn good and i can only imagine the expensive milk is worth every penny. he delivers to the richest part of town, which reminds me a lot of chicago. the houses are tall and close together with very little yard to speak of. Hamburg is Chitown's sister city by the way.
Tomorrow Hubi, a guy that used to play for the Wild Farmers but this year moved up to the 1st league (we are in the 2nd), and David (also in the same position) are bringing 2 of their american teammates with them to Dohren before their game in Hamburg on saturday. we are going to go out and have some beers tomorrow night, this will be the first american english ive heard in a month...i hope i still remember that v's sound like v's and not w's and j's dont sound like y's.
speaking of j's sounding like y's, baseball season has started and everyone is a buzz. we watched the mets take on the reds on monday night, followed by 6 innings of the Orioles smashing C.C. and the Yankees before it was time for bed. in other baseball news, i'm getting destoyed in fantasy and i need a corner infielder and a pitcher if anyone wants to look at a trade. Tox, I dont need anymore outfielders or middle infielders, and if you take Adam Dunn I dont have a 1st baseman.
that is all for today, I must see if i can salvage my fantasy season,
A-Ron
Yesterday and today i woke up early, 9 and 10 respectively, to go over to Henriks and lend a hand where ever i can. Tuesday morning we tore the roof off of one side of the house. i've found that chucking clay shingles from 40 ft up and 40 ft away into a a trailer twice the size of a normal sized dumpster is a bit more tricky that it may appear. Its all about getting the right spin and tragectory...as well and making sure your glove doesnt take off with it. On the day i would say i carried about a 90% field goal percentage but considering the target it should have been much higher. I'm going to chaulk my performance up to the wind...
after we picked up all the pieces from the shingles we missed, we took a break for lunch. this is as good a time as any to introduce Charley. Charley is Henrik's dog and possibly the most apprehensive dog in the world. Running up, tail wagging, you'd think Charley was the friendliest dog in town, but bend down to pet him and he's jumping out of his skin to get out of reach. He's like that with everyone (that ive seen) except Henrik and Elisabeth, Henrik's baby momma (due in June), who he often runs and hides behind when someone gets aggresive about petting him. while we were eating sandwiches in the front yard, Charley was there waiting for someone to toss him a proverbial bone. I tried to sieze this opportunity to get him to trust me by giving him half my sandwich...lets just say i left lunch hungry and disappointed. and to top it off the dog speaks german so i'm kind of shit outta luck at this point with Charley. there really is no point or moral to this story, I'm trying to come up with interesting things to say at this point and I thought it might be a good time to introduce another character...Maybe he will come back into the story line later, and in that case, youll already have a bit of an insight into our relationship.
after throwing all the pieces of clay into the trailer, it was time to get out the bucket and brush ans sling some paint. The paint here is a lot thicker than at home, it covered raw wood in pretty much only one coat..i had to go back and touch up a few spots that were a bit light, but all in all i think it looks pretty good. Once the carpenters get done with the other side of the roof I will go back around and paint on that side of the house. I was there hitting a few spots today, but tomrrow I dont have to go back. The carpenters call what i'm doing "black work" and not because black people do it...which was my first thought when i was told this...to which i responded, we would call it "Mexican work" back home. but i guess black work to them is stuff that they dont do, or at least thats how i understand it.
Since i was done with my black work early today, I went with Henrik on his shipment to Hamburg. He delivers milk to a handfull of customers there once a week. They mostly get the yogurt and the expensive "special" milk that only 60 farms in all of Germany are allowed to produce...Mmm now thats good badger milk! many of his customers are old widows that he said he thinks, "just order milk because they like me." Ive never had the special sauce but the regular milk is damn good and i can only imagine the expensive milk is worth every penny. he delivers to the richest part of town, which reminds me a lot of chicago. the houses are tall and close together with very little yard to speak of. Hamburg is Chitown's sister city by the way.
Tomorrow Hubi, a guy that used to play for the Wild Farmers but this year moved up to the 1st league (we are in the 2nd), and David (also in the same position) are bringing 2 of their american teammates with them to Dohren before their game in Hamburg on saturday. we are going to go out and have some beers tomorrow night, this will be the first american english ive heard in a month...i hope i still remember that v's sound like v's and not w's and j's dont sound like y's.
speaking of j's sounding like y's, baseball season has started and everyone is a buzz. we watched the mets take on the reds on monday night, followed by 6 innings of the Orioles smashing C.C. and the Yankees before it was time for bed. in other baseball news, i'm getting destoyed in fantasy and i need a corner infielder and a pitcher if anyone wants to look at a trade. Tox, I dont need anymore outfielders or middle infielders, and if you take Adam Dunn I dont have a 1st baseman.
that is all for today, I must see if i can salvage my fantasy season,
A-Ron
Monday, April 6, 2009
Big Day
Today is a historic day in my journey, not because of anything baseball, language, or life in Germany related, but I have my first follower. Paul/Chet Rodenhouse has become the first person to "follow" the life and times of A-Ron in Germany. Paul I guess this means you are my number 1 fan...behind my mom of course, and i appreciate your commitment. I dont know what being a follower intitles you to, maybe an email whenever i update this thing or something, I dont know. Paul, I hope you are a trend setter and more people follow suit.
So this is a short week here in Germany, everyone gets Friday off so the celebrating of Easter can begin. And they do it in grand fashion here in Dohren. there is a town wide party with food and drink and a huge fire. I dont know when they start doing this, but there is what looks like a year's worth of tree branches and bush trimmings piled up in a field just outside of town. Its 15 feet high, 40 feet wide, and 100 feet long...an impressive pile of wood to say the least and on saturday it will be set a blaze. Friday is spent out at the field, reconfiguring the wood and setting up for the next day...beer is always involved when more than 1 German is occupying the same general vacinity with relativly the same goal, so they use this as reason enough to make friday a party. saturday morning is welcomed by returning to the field to clean what got dirty the night before and pick up where they left off when they got drunk on Friday. then the entire town gathers in the evening to share in the Easter celebration with food, fire, dance, and of course alcohol. Sunday morning is yet another time Germans get together so it is imperative that beer be involved while they clean up from the bash the night before. but the fun doesnt stop here, oh no, it continues with a ride to the neighboring town to join in their Easter fun which is just as crazy i hear. the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend so everyone is real excited about this year's party. Last year it snowed, which only served to push the people into the drink tent causing early exits and casualties of the night. My goal for this weekend is to take a bunch of pictures to document this historic event and also to make it out alive. Even the Germans are worried about it, so i know im in for a world of hurt if i try to keep up with them. slow and steady wins the race. Monday is a day off too and taken to lick the proverbial wounds of the weekend.
It wont be a complete 96 hour drunkfest for me however. On saturday, i will forego the 2nd in the line of parties and head to Hamburg with Hasi for the day. We are using all modes of public transportation to get to, around, and home from Germany's 2nd largest city. we will see the sights and hear the sounds as we wind through the streets on our tour by train, subway, bus, and taxi. we will visit cathedrals, castles, the capitol buildings, modern districts with shopping, and of course the local breweries. our trip will end at a cocktail bar for happy hour and free all-you-can-eat wings before hopping the train back to Dohren just in time to light the fire. its shaping up to be a great weekend full of adventure and drinken stories. I will also have my camera so next week's blog will be one you dont want to miss.
A-Ron
So this is a short week here in Germany, everyone gets Friday off so the celebrating of Easter can begin. And they do it in grand fashion here in Dohren. there is a town wide party with food and drink and a huge fire. I dont know when they start doing this, but there is what looks like a year's worth of tree branches and bush trimmings piled up in a field just outside of town. Its 15 feet high, 40 feet wide, and 100 feet long...an impressive pile of wood to say the least and on saturday it will be set a blaze. Friday is spent out at the field, reconfiguring the wood and setting up for the next day...beer is always involved when more than 1 German is occupying the same general vacinity with relativly the same goal, so they use this as reason enough to make friday a party. saturday morning is welcomed by returning to the field to clean what got dirty the night before and pick up where they left off when they got drunk on Friday. then the entire town gathers in the evening to share in the Easter celebration with food, fire, dance, and of course alcohol. Sunday morning is yet another time Germans get together so it is imperative that beer be involved while they clean up from the bash the night before. but the fun doesnt stop here, oh no, it continues with a ride to the neighboring town to join in their Easter fun which is just as crazy i hear. the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend so everyone is real excited about this year's party. Last year it snowed, which only served to push the people into the drink tent causing early exits and casualties of the night. My goal for this weekend is to take a bunch of pictures to document this historic event and also to make it out alive. Even the Germans are worried about it, so i know im in for a world of hurt if i try to keep up with them. slow and steady wins the race. Monday is a day off too and taken to lick the proverbial wounds of the weekend.
It wont be a complete 96 hour drunkfest for me however. On saturday, i will forego the 2nd in the line of parties and head to Hamburg with Hasi for the day. We are using all modes of public transportation to get to, around, and home from Germany's 2nd largest city. we will see the sights and hear the sounds as we wind through the streets on our tour by train, subway, bus, and taxi. we will visit cathedrals, castles, the capitol buildings, modern districts with shopping, and of course the local breweries. our trip will end at a cocktail bar for happy hour and free all-you-can-eat wings before hopping the train back to Dohren just in time to light the fire. its shaping up to be a great weekend full of adventure and drinken stories. I will also have my camera so next week's blog will be one you dont want to miss.
A-Ron
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Mr. Baseball is the Star
The pressure is rising thanks to a fantastic article written in the local paper. Not only am i making headlines here in Dohren for my display of american drunken stupidity, I'm front page news (no joke) for my work with the Nenndorf students. The Saturday morning headline reads, "Mr. Baseball ist der Star" above a photo of me signing a tshirt for a group of girls. there is another picture on page 12, with the rest of the article, of me with a group of 4th graders. the article talks about me coming to Germany to play baseball and spotlights my work with the schools and how the kids "love having me there." I'm getting the article scanned so i can email it out and you can see for yourself how much of a stud I am--granted it wont be translated. Mom, dont worry, im sending an actual copy home. Maybe Dad can finally replace the stupid picture in the office of me striking out. I hate that damn picture.
yesterday we finally got the backstop completely put up and now Dohren Field is ready to host the home opener on April 19th. it was a long day of manuevering the tracker, raising and lowering the bucket, and Burger King Big King XXLs. I was tired despite the fact that i was the foreman of the job. I had no idea how the tracker worked anyway, so i stuck to something a little more up my alley, I made and maintained the fire. when we decided to call it a day, i rode home only to discover that i had forgotten my king that morning and no one was home. I checked the logical places like under the matt, potted plants, and i picked up and shook every rock looking for a key...nothing. So i decided to post up on the bench and take a nap. An hour passed before Antje and Hans Georg came home so i was well rested but my back hurt. Steak and sausage were on the menu last night and what a fine feast of meat it was. Germans know their meat, I cant deny that one.
when the cab came to take us to the bar, I couldnt help but be reminded of our cab ride in Indy on our way home from Hooters when we played Cash Cab except WE were asking our African driver all kinds of crazy questions. (he wasnt very good, we should have kicked him out but he was the only one in the car sober enough to drive) walking up to the bar i could see cowboy hats and boots sprinkled throughout the crowd outside. I know American Country Music isnt big in Germany so i was a bit confused about what was going on. Apparently someone was having a theme night inside which also explained the mechanical bull in the middle of the dancefloor. I thought seriously about trying it but decided that the last thing i need to do is get hurt 2 weeks before the season starts...or at least thats what i told everybody when they asked me why i wasnt doing it. (but that didnt stop me from critiquing everyones impression of Chris Ledoux-- a famous bareback bull rider turned country singer) As with Reipe, (the bar from last weekend) the Wild Farmers have a reputation at Kempen of being a bunch of guys that like to drink and stand next to the bar instead playing nicely with the other boys and girls. the drink of choice on last night was Korn and Coke, (korn is like vodka only not as strong) but the bartenders were making them so weak that I was just feeling hopped up on caffine and not drunk at all. looking back, that was probably for the best since we had games today. and despite the attire of many there, there was no country music to be heard, it was a mix of pop, hiphop and classic rock but that seemed to suit everyone just fine. All night i was bombarded with stares and long glances, and i couldnt figure out why, i just figured I stuck out like a sore thumb since i am American...either that or because im so damn good looking. (I think most people can tell right away that I'm not from around these parts and I cant figure out what it is about my appearance that makes it so easy to pick me out.) But on the car ride home, someone said something about me being Mr Baseball and a girl turned to me and goes, "thats why you look so familiar, I read your article today." so im guessing that is why everyone at the bar was staring at me. Granted, I was wearing a DePauw baseball jacket (from junior year) over a baseball shirt and a DPU baseball game hat, covered in dirt.
after a week off of games, we got back to friendly competition today against Elmshorn Alligators and the Seahawks of Seattle...ok actually i dont know where they are from but they did have a guy with long hair that looked a bit like TJ Whosyourmomma. I penciled in the lineup like this:
1 tiger SS
2 Sthulle 3B
3 Aaron CF
4 Rene DH
5 Igl 1B
6 Laser LF
7 Martin RF
8 Mikey 2B
9 Hasi C
P Thies
showing that the Jet may have lost a step or two but there are still some fireworks in these legs, I dropped a perfect bunt-for-a-hit down the third baseline in my first AB. 1 for 1. I laughed when they asked if i use sunglasses in the outfield, which must have upset the baseball gods because in the 2nd inning a pop fly was hit right at me and it went right in the sun...E8. I got glasses after that. in my 2nd at bat, i flew out to my counterpart in center, who too had trouble with the sun but managed to pluck the ball out of the sky for a not so easy out. 1-2. My 3rd trip to the dish was a successful one, i hit the first pitch i saw through the hole on the left side for an easy single. 2-3. I would come around to score our first run by going 1st to 3rd on a bloop hit by Rene and a sac by Laser. since these games dont count and we want to keep them moving, there is a 2 hour and one inning time limit. when our two hours were up, the game was tied at 2. Thies, who had thrown a gem of a game thus far...minus the 3rd inning when the Seahawks scored their 2 runs, was getting a bit tired and leaving the ball up a bit. After he let the leadoff man get on, I ran in from center, took the ball, shook his hand, and traded places with him. Time to put out the fire! Keep in mind I havent come straight from the outfield to the mound since high school and even then Rice at least told me an inning before to get loose and ready just in case. This was my first time on a mound all day and i was praying that my shoulder would hold up and that i wouldnt give up a bunch of runs because I wasnt ready and i was trying to be the hero. after quickly throwing 12 pitches to get a feel for the mound, i called time-in and held my breath. surprisingly enough, I struck out the first guy on 4 fastballs, the 2nd guy hit a slow comebacker and we werent able to turn it up the middle, and the 3rd batter i faced battled to a full count before striking out to end the threat. 8-9-1 was who we had up in our half of the last inning. The bottom of our lineup had faired pretty well today so i was optomistic that we could scratch a run across. Mike managed to get on, followed by Hasi who was the 1st out. Tiger drew a walk moving Mike into scoring position and Sthulle K'ed bringing up the 3rd man in the line-up. Coaching 3rd, i wasnt able to get in any practice swings or even put on my gloves before it was my turn at the plate. they were still using the same starting pitcher and I hadnt seen anything but fastballs all day...or maybe those were curveballs...either way i was confident digging in. Scanning the outfield, looking at the defensive alignment, i glanced at the 279 ft sign on the left field fence. I really wanted to end this in dramatic fashion and a bomb would pretty much solidify my new moniker. But thinking back to every other time i've TRIED to hit a HR and the dismal .000 batting avg that accompanies that effort, I refocused on hitting it hard to the right center gap that was wide open...with 2 outs and in scoring position, Mikey would be off with the crack of the bat anyway, all we needed was a base hit. the first pitch sailed high for ball one. the second was an overcompensation low and away for ball two. The third pitch came in thigh high on the inner half...not the pitch for my approach of taking it the other way, but thats MY pitch. Every homerun ive ever hit (7 lifetime) has been thigh high on the inner half... I cant let MY pitch go by, Im running out of opportunities to add to my HR total as it is. muscles pulling and firing on all cyliders, like i've done so many times throughout my life, i throw the bat head through the zone....and pull my back out because my hands just arent as fast as they used to be and i failed miserably at hitting MY pitch...haha just kidding! Do you really think Mr. Baseball misses HIS pitch?! the answer is no. I connected and sent the ball soaring. out of the box, i watched as the leather-wrapped twine grew smaller and smaller towards left center; i watched as the centerfielder turned and gave chase; and i watched as the ball i crushed landed 20 ft short of the the 360 ft sign...what the hell??? I hit a ball like that and it only goes 340 ft to the power alley. yeah yeah Mike scored and we won the game but I was astounded. that same hit with a metal bat flies out of the park, and i know it from the moment it leaves the bat. thats about as solidly as i could have hit it and i cant even put it on the warning track? looks like ill be hitting for avg and not power this season. i was 3-4 for the game and i felt damn good at the plate. i'm comfortable up there again, im seeing the ball well and jumping on good pitches when i get them. this strategy of going hard the other way is paying off and i wish i would have discovered it and stuck to it in high school. but hindsight is 20/20 and chicks dug the long ball in high school, I mean i guess they still do, but i've come to learn they also like the guy that gets his uniform dirty because he plays every day.
during the season, I will be closing the first game and starting the 2nd game of a double header since i can only throw 3 innings per game. So today was my test to see how my arm responds to a 30 minute break between innings. coming back on the mound for the 2nd game, i felt a bit tired. my pitches werent as sharp as in the 1st game but i figured it was just because i hadnt really gotten completely loose throwing in the outfield. the 2 innings i threw were shakey at best, lots of deep counts and a couple walks. I'm really going to have to work on this in the next 2 weeks at practice if its going to be my role during the season. I took myself out after my pitching performance, so i only got one at bat and it was a sac so i was 0-0 with an RBI.
on the way home from the field we stopped at Subway...they dont have my beloved seafood here. I was a little disappointed but I went with the Italian BMT as a substitute. I also found out (since this is my first time out of America) that Sam L Jackson wasnt bullshitting..they really do call it a Royale with cheese.
Mr. Baseball
yesterday we finally got the backstop completely put up and now Dohren Field is ready to host the home opener on April 19th. it was a long day of manuevering the tracker, raising and lowering the bucket, and Burger King Big King XXLs. I was tired despite the fact that i was the foreman of the job. I had no idea how the tracker worked anyway, so i stuck to something a little more up my alley, I made and maintained the fire. when we decided to call it a day, i rode home only to discover that i had forgotten my king that morning and no one was home. I checked the logical places like under the matt, potted plants, and i picked up and shook every rock looking for a key...nothing. So i decided to post up on the bench and take a nap. An hour passed before Antje and Hans Georg came home so i was well rested but my back hurt. Steak and sausage were on the menu last night and what a fine feast of meat it was. Germans know their meat, I cant deny that one.
when the cab came to take us to the bar, I couldnt help but be reminded of our cab ride in Indy on our way home from Hooters when we played Cash Cab except WE were asking our African driver all kinds of crazy questions. (he wasnt very good, we should have kicked him out but he was the only one in the car sober enough to drive) walking up to the bar i could see cowboy hats and boots sprinkled throughout the crowd outside. I know American Country Music isnt big in Germany so i was a bit confused about what was going on. Apparently someone was having a theme night inside which also explained the mechanical bull in the middle of the dancefloor. I thought seriously about trying it but decided that the last thing i need to do is get hurt 2 weeks before the season starts...or at least thats what i told everybody when they asked me why i wasnt doing it. (but that didnt stop me from critiquing everyones impression of Chris Ledoux-- a famous bareback bull rider turned country singer) As with Reipe, (the bar from last weekend) the Wild Farmers have a reputation at Kempen of being a bunch of guys that like to drink and stand next to the bar instead playing nicely with the other boys and girls. the drink of choice on last night was Korn and Coke, (korn is like vodka only not as strong) but the bartenders were making them so weak that I was just feeling hopped up on caffine and not drunk at all. looking back, that was probably for the best since we had games today. and despite the attire of many there, there was no country music to be heard, it was a mix of pop, hiphop and classic rock but that seemed to suit everyone just fine. All night i was bombarded with stares and long glances, and i couldnt figure out why, i just figured I stuck out like a sore thumb since i am American...either that or because im so damn good looking. (I think most people can tell right away that I'm not from around these parts and I cant figure out what it is about my appearance that makes it so easy to pick me out.) But on the car ride home, someone said something about me being Mr Baseball and a girl turned to me and goes, "thats why you look so familiar, I read your article today." so im guessing that is why everyone at the bar was staring at me. Granted, I was wearing a DePauw baseball jacket (from junior year) over a baseball shirt and a DPU baseball game hat, covered in dirt.
after a week off of games, we got back to friendly competition today against Elmshorn Alligators and the Seahawks of Seattle...ok actually i dont know where they are from but they did have a guy with long hair that looked a bit like TJ Whosyourmomma. I penciled in the lineup like this:
1 tiger SS
2 Sthulle 3B
3 Aaron CF
4 Rene DH
5 Igl 1B
6 Laser LF
7 Martin RF
8 Mikey 2B
9 Hasi C
P Thies
showing that the Jet may have lost a step or two but there are still some fireworks in these legs, I dropped a perfect bunt-for-a-hit down the third baseline in my first AB. 1 for 1. I laughed when they asked if i use sunglasses in the outfield, which must have upset the baseball gods because in the 2nd inning a pop fly was hit right at me and it went right in the sun...E8. I got glasses after that. in my 2nd at bat, i flew out to my counterpart in center, who too had trouble with the sun but managed to pluck the ball out of the sky for a not so easy out. 1-2. My 3rd trip to the dish was a successful one, i hit the first pitch i saw through the hole on the left side for an easy single. 2-3. I would come around to score our first run by going 1st to 3rd on a bloop hit by Rene and a sac by Laser. since these games dont count and we want to keep them moving, there is a 2 hour and one inning time limit. when our two hours were up, the game was tied at 2. Thies, who had thrown a gem of a game thus far...minus the 3rd inning when the Seahawks scored their 2 runs, was getting a bit tired and leaving the ball up a bit. After he let the leadoff man get on, I ran in from center, took the ball, shook his hand, and traded places with him. Time to put out the fire! Keep in mind I havent come straight from the outfield to the mound since high school and even then Rice at least told me an inning before to get loose and ready just in case. This was my first time on a mound all day and i was praying that my shoulder would hold up and that i wouldnt give up a bunch of runs because I wasnt ready and i was trying to be the hero. after quickly throwing 12 pitches to get a feel for the mound, i called time-in and held my breath. surprisingly enough, I struck out the first guy on 4 fastballs, the 2nd guy hit a slow comebacker and we werent able to turn it up the middle, and the 3rd batter i faced battled to a full count before striking out to end the threat. 8-9-1 was who we had up in our half of the last inning. The bottom of our lineup had faired pretty well today so i was optomistic that we could scratch a run across. Mike managed to get on, followed by Hasi who was the 1st out. Tiger drew a walk moving Mike into scoring position and Sthulle K'ed bringing up the 3rd man in the line-up. Coaching 3rd, i wasnt able to get in any practice swings or even put on my gloves before it was my turn at the plate. they were still using the same starting pitcher and I hadnt seen anything but fastballs all day...or maybe those were curveballs...either way i was confident digging in. Scanning the outfield, looking at the defensive alignment, i glanced at the 279 ft sign on the left field fence. I really wanted to end this in dramatic fashion and a bomb would pretty much solidify my new moniker. But thinking back to every other time i've TRIED to hit a HR and the dismal .000 batting avg that accompanies that effort, I refocused on hitting it hard to the right center gap that was wide open...with 2 outs and in scoring position, Mikey would be off with the crack of the bat anyway, all we needed was a base hit. the first pitch sailed high for ball one. the second was an overcompensation low and away for ball two. The third pitch came in thigh high on the inner half...not the pitch for my approach of taking it the other way, but thats MY pitch. Every homerun ive ever hit (7 lifetime) has been thigh high on the inner half... I cant let MY pitch go by, Im running out of opportunities to add to my HR total as it is. muscles pulling and firing on all cyliders, like i've done so many times throughout my life, i throw the bat head through the zone....and pull my back out because my hands just arent as fast as they used to be and i failed miserably at hitting MY pitch...haha just kidding! Do you really think Mr. Baseball misses HIS pitch?! the answer is no. I connected and sent the ball soaring. out of the box, i watched as the leather-wrapped twine grew smaller and smaller towards left center; i watched as the centerfielder turned and gave chase; and i watched as the ball i crushed landed 20 ft short of the the 360 ft sign...what the hell??? I hit a ball like that and it only goes 340 ft to the power alley. yeah yeah Mike scored and we won the game but I was astounded. that same hit with a metal bat flies out of the park, and i know it from the moment it leaves the bat. thats about as solidly as i could have hit it and i cant even put it on the warning track? looks like ill be hitting for avg and not power this season. i was 3-4 for the game and i felt damn good at the plate. i'm comfortable up there again, im seeing the ball well and jumping on good pitches when i get them. this strategy of going hard the other way is paying off and i wish i would have discovered it and stuck to it in high school. but hindsight is 20/20 and chicks dug the long ball in high school, I mean i guess they still do, but i've come to learn they also like the guy that gets his uniform dirty because he plays every day.
during the season, I will be closing the first game and starting the 2nd game of a double header since i can only throw 3 innings per game. So today was my test to see how my arm responds to a 30 minute break between innings. coming back on the mound for the 2nd game, i felt a bit tired. my pitches werent as sharp as in the 1st game but i figured it was just because i hadnt really gotten completely loose throwing in the outfield. the 2 innings i threw were shakey at best, lots of deep counts and a couple walks. I'm really going to have to work on this in the next 2 weeks at practice if its going to be my role during the season. I took myself out after my pitching performance, so i only got one at bat and it was a sac so i was 0-0 with an RBI.
on the way home from the field we stopped at Subway...they dont have my beloved seafood here. I was a little disappointed but I went with the Italian BMT as a substitute. I also found out (since this is my first time out of America) that Sam L Jackson wasnt bullshitting..they really do call it a Royale with cheese.
Mr. Baseball
Thursday, April 2, 2009
well again it seems there just arent enough hours in the day for me to write on this thing everyday. Yesterday again started at noon with scraping wallpaper and lasted well into the night. Wednesdays are Pizza day after practice and Germany faced off against Whales on the soccer field last night so those added up to be a late one. Plus I had to get in my weekly fix of Jack Bauer and the gang so that took priority over writing yesterday.
I am in my normal spot, on the couch in front of the tv in the basement, writing this today but it has never felt so good. Its never felt so good to sit down and put up my aching feet for the night. even though today was my day off from baseball and all other manditory obligations, I worked more today than ever before. It all began 4 hours after going to bed last night, at 5:30 am when i rolled out of bed. Today Hans Georg, my host father who is the CEO of a major agriculture company in Hannover, took me to work with him today. while he was hob-nobbing with bigwigs about seeds and whatever else, I was busy exploring Hannover via the most popular mode of transportation, bipedal locomotion (walking for the layperson). i set out at 8:30, map in hand, still wet behind the ears to the german language, the rituals of buying goods and services, customs of traffic both auto and bipedal, how they take to Americans that cant speak the language, basically i had no real idea what I was doing or how to go about doing it without offending some unwritten rule of the land. (i found out that Germans will not cross the street if the crosswalk light is red, it doesnt matter how clear the street is. I, on the other hand, got strange looks when i jaywalked in front of a car.) I'm not one to stand out in a foreign place, I like to read the people for a while, get a feel for the flow of things, then mimic exactly what i've seen in order to seem as "local" as possible. I'm sure this made me stick out like a sore thumb to the natives, but on that note, i am proud to say that a guy with a map came up and asked me, in german, for directions...at least thats what i could make out from the nonverbal communication he was trying to get out of me. I politely told him that i am not from here and i dont speak any german, all this was relayed in English of course, but i could tell he at least understood what i was saying. I could see his hopes shatter with the slumping of the shoulders and the glance to the ground, I had taken the wind out of his sails and I couldnt help but feel bad for the poor guy. He was just another shmuck like me trying not to get lost in a new city.
the center of the city is offlimits to all motor traffic, though the streets are wide enough to allow for it. and here too stores line both sides. There were a few recognizable signs like McDonalds, T-Mobile, Foot Locker, and Polo. but most are German boutiques and stores I cant prounouce the names of. You can imagine my delight when i ran across a pub called Heny's. there was a jack daniels sign out front and the door read, "American bar and grill." there was also a menu outside where all the names of the dishes were written in english. I couldnt understnad the descriptions, but I knew what comes on a cheeseburger so i didnt need to be able to read about it. My stomach already longed for the grease of a good burger and beer even though it was 9 in the morning. Now i just had to make sure i could find the place again in 4 hours when it was open. this proved to be a tough task that origianaly anticipated...Walking around in circles, trying to get my bearings in this brick jungle turned into quite a daunting task. the streets of Hannover couldnt be in a grid style like every logical city planner would have it. No, there are streets that turn one way, then the other, interweaving with other streets that do the same. there are dead end streets that go half a block then reappear on the other side of the center and do the same thing. they branch off every which way like the twigs of a thick bush. after 4 hours of meandering around the city, I was sweating, blistered, beat, and too be honest i wasnt quite sure where i was. I'd given up on the map because...well I'm a Meyers and we dont need them. I looked at it last night and got a mental imagine of everything... so i was relying on my own internal TomTom (recently updated with MajorInternationalCities 1.0). I think there is a missing patch that I need to download because it took me an hour to find the American burger joint. Maybe it was me being hungry and tired of 4 straight hours of one-foot-infront-of-the-other, or maybe it was just the food, but that was one of the best burgers i've ever had. A thick hunch of meat, grilled to perfection over an open flame. the warm pink center oozing flavor in every bite. Topping it off with a nice frosty Coca-Cola was a bit of American heaven in a foreign land.
since i still had an hour left and somewhere around that town i saw a sign that said 'english books', i ventured out on a quest to buy something; see if i could handle that without knowing any of the language...looking back now, its really not that hard, you see how much it is on the screen, then hand them the money, but at the time it seemed an insurmountable challenge...but hell the mexicans do it all the time. By dumb luck more than anything, i walked into the back entrance of the first book store i found and it happened to be the right one. the smallest section by far 150 titles at most, the english books are shoved way in the back and i took my time to read all the titles, (not the history ones though, I hate history in any language) I was just glad to finally see something i could understand. I settled on one that the Irish Times said was "one of the best reads of the year (2007)." and some newspaper in Britian claimed was "so funny you wont read it in public for fear of snorting." there was also another reason for buying something on my trip to Hannover, I've yet to use my credit card over here even though I told Chase i was going to Germany 3 weeks ago. I wasnt sure if there would be anything different about using my American card overseas but Mom, youll be happy to know (or maybe you wont since your footing the bill while im gone) that my credit card works.
I wish i knew exactly how far i walked today but i would venture it guess it was close to 12 miles. Then after sleeping/drooling all over myself in the car on the ride, Thies called me and wanted to go throw with him at the field. Changing my socks, boxers, and tshirt (because i sweated through all of them) I rode my bike to the field and threw and took batting practice for an hour and a half...the life of a German baseball player.
Its been a long day and i need to watch tv...not read the book i bought, i hate reading, i just felt like buying something.
A-Ron
American tv is calling my name,
A-Ron
I am in my normal spot, on the couch in front of the tv in the basement, writing this today but it has never felt so good. Its never felt so good to sit down and put up my aching feet for the night. even though today was my day off from baseball and all other manditory obligations, I worked more today than ever before. It all began 4 hours after going to bed last night, at 5:30 am when i rolled out of bed. Today Hans Georg, my host father who is the CEO of a major agriculture company in Hannover, took me to work with him today. while he was hob-nobbing with bigwigs about seeds and whatever else, I was busy exploring Hannover via the most popular mode of transportation, bipedal locomotion (walking for the layperson). i set out at 8:30, map in hand, still wet behind the ears to the german language, the rituals of buying goods and services, customs of traffic both auto and bipedal, how they take to Americans that cant speak the language, basically i had no real idea what I was doing or how to go about doing it without offending some unwritten rule of the land. (i found out that Germans will not cross the street if the crosswalk light is red, it doesnt matter how clear the street is. I, on the other hand, got strange looks when i jaywalked in front of a car.) I'm not one to stand out in a foreign place, I like to read the people for a while, get a feel for the flow of things, then mimic exactly what i've seen in order to seem as "local" as possible. I'm sure this made me stick out like a sore thumb to the natives, but on that note, i am proud to say that a guy with a map came up and asked me, in german, for directions...at least thats what i could make out from the nonverbal communication he was trying to get out of me. I politely told him that i am not from here and i dont speak any german, all this was relayed in English of course, but i could tell he at least understood what i was saying. I could see his hopes shatter with the slumping of the shoulders and the glance to the ground, I had taken the wind out of his sails and I couldnt help but feel bad for the poor guy. He was just another shmuck like me trying not to get lost in a new city.
the center of the city is offlimits to all motor traffic, though the streets are wide enough to allow for it. and here too stores line both sides. There were a few recognizable signs like McDonalds, T-Mobile, Foot Locker, and Polo. but most are German boutiques and stores I cant prounouce the names of. You can imagine my delight when i ran across a pub called Heny's. there was a jack daniels sign out front and the door read, "American bar and grill." there was also a menu outside where all the names of the dishes were written in english. I couldnt understnad the descriptions, but I knew what comes on a cheeseburger so i didnt need to be able to read about it. My stomach already longed for the grease of a good burger and beer even though it was 9 in the morning. Now i just had to make sure i could find the place again in 4 hours when it was open. this proved to be a tough task that origianaly anticipated...Walking around in circles, trying to get my bearings in this brick jungle turned into quite a daunting task. the streets of Hannover couldnt be in a grid style like every logical city planner would have it. No, there are streets that turn one way, then the other, interweaving with other streets that do the same. there are dead end streets that go half a block then reappear on the other side of the center and do the same thing. they branch off every which way like the twigs of a thick bush. after 4 hours of meandering around the city, I was sweating, blistered, beat, and too be honest i wasnt quite sure where i was. I'd given up on the map because...well I'm a Meyers and we dont need them. I looked at it last night and got a mental imagine of everything... so i was relying on my own internal TomTom (recently updated with MajorInternationalCities 1.0). I think there is a missing patch that I need to download because it took me an hour to find the American burger joint. Maybe it was me being hungry and tired of 4 straight hours of one-foot-infront-of-the-other, or maybe it was just the food, but that was one of the best burgers i've ever had. A thick hunch of meat, grilled to perfection over an open flame. the warm pink center oozing flavor in every bite. Topping it off with a nice frosty Coca-Cola was a bit of American heaven in a foreign land.
since i still had an hour left and somewhere around that town i saw a sign that said 'english books', i ventured out on a quest to buy something; see if i could handle that without knowing any of the language...looking back now, its really not that hard, you see how much it is on the screen, then hand them the money, but at the time it seemed an insurmountable challenge...but hell the mexicans do it all the time. By dumb luck more than anything, i walked into the back entrance of the first book store i found and it happened to be the right one. the smallest section by far 150 titles at most, the english books are shoved way in the back and i took my time to read all the titles, (not the history ones though, I hate history in any language) I was just glad to finally see something i could understand. I settled on one that the Irish Times said was "one of the best reads of the year (2007)." and some newspaper in Britian claimed was "so funny you wont read it in public for fear of snorting." there was also another reason for buying something on my trip to Hannover, I've yet to use my credit card over here even though I told Chase i was going to Germany 3 weeks ago. I wasnt sure if there would be anything different about using my American card overseas but Mom, youll be happy to know (or maybe you wont since your footing the bill while im gone) that my credit card works.
I wish i knew exactly how far i walked today but i would venture it guess it was close to 12 miles. Then after sleeping/drooling all over myself in the car on the ride, Thies called me and wanted to go throw with him at the field. Changing my socks, boxers, and tshirt (because i sweated through all of them) I rode my bike to the field and threw and took batting practice for an hour and a half...the life of a German baseball player.
Its been a long day and i need to watch tv...not read the book i bought, i hate reading, i just felt like buying something.
A-Ron
American tv is calling my name,
A-Ron
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