Krefeld
As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to Krefeld this weekend, only from Saturday night to Sunday. Irene and I left from the west train station in Aachen at around 4:15. We had to switch trains once and got to Krefeld Hauptbanhof at 5:45. Maria's family came and picked us up. They were on their way to church. Normally they go on Sunday morning, but her parents were hosting a volleyball tournament this particular Sunday and so they wouldn't have time for church. Church wasn't too crowded. It was in a lovely old building; and it was extremely traditional. People were genuflecting and making signs of the cross left and right. Everything was in German; the only word I understood was "Amen."
Afterward, we went to her house, and she gave us a tour. I liked her home; it was three stories tall, but each floor was fairly small. They have a beautiful garden area in the back and a pool. And, like my home, it has a party basement, good for hosting people. They had a funny little excercise machine down there. It had a small platform for your feet that vibrated. You were supposed to stand on it and it would strengthen your muscles. I tried it; it felt like I had pins and needles. It was so uncomfortable. I didn't like it.
That evening, Krefeld had a town party thing. There were a ton of people, old, young, and in between. Naturally, since this is Germany, there was plenty of beer available. I drank a Dimix, a mix of beer and coke--disgusting. They had a live band. I thought they were good. Maria was "in love" with the guy playing the white guitar. She thought he was so handsome! The band played until like 1:30 in the morning. Some guy danced with me at the end. I guess I'm somewhat exotic, being from the US and all, and it must have attracted him. At least he was a nicer dancer than that dude at the club the other weekend...
I was so tired that night. I mentioned Maria's parents were hosting a volleyball tournament that Sunday. Maria plays on a team from her hometown and they were competing. Her father is their coach. Maria's mom coaches a team of younger girls. Irene and I were going to watch Maria play and possibly help her parents if they needed it. We woke up at 7:00 to go to the tournament. It was an all-day affair; there were three separate tournaments for different age groups, and only three courts. Maria's division, the one with the oldest girls, had seven teams. It was a round-robin style tournament, where each team played all the others; the team with the best record in the end wins. If you do the math, that's 21 matches, one after another. The matches were timed, instead of playing until a certain score, so things could keep moving. Each match was made of two eight-minute games, with teams switching sides between the two.
It was exciting. It all came down to the last match, between Maria's team Huls (an area of Krefeld) and Kempen. Huls had lost twice; Kempen was undefeated. If Huls could win both their last two games, their records would be tied. Then, it would be total points earned during the tournament that determined the victor. But, sadly, Huls had a rough start their first game and couldn't come back in time. They won the last game, but with three losses, they came behind both Kempen (one loss) and another team which only had two losses. Third place isn't so bad though. They had an awards ceremony at the end, played the German national anthem and stuff. Watching all that volleyball made me anxious for my chance; I couldn't wait for Monday night when I could play.
Back at Maria's house, we watched the first German match in the European Football Championship (soccer). It's a big deal around here. The tournament started Saturday; everyone's been talking about it. And there are German flags everywhere. Normally, people don't display the flag. They're not too proud of their country, what with Hitler and WWII and all. The world cup in 2006 was the first time people really went crazy with the flag. I hear stores sold out because it was so unexpected that so many people would buy flags. And now, the flags are coming out again. I got a free little paper one. I totally want to paint my face black, red, and gold at least once. Maybe I'll do it if Deutschland makes it to the championship round. This match was Germany vs. Poland; I wasn't sure who to root for since half my heritage comes from each. But since I'm in Germany now, I decided to be on their side (unless of course, Poland does really well; then I'll jump on that bandwagon.)
Germany won vs. Poland. Yay! Podolski, who's on the German team even though he sounds like he'd be on the Polish side, scored both their goals. I'll be honest; soccer's kinda boring. Maybe if I understood it more, I'd like it better. But I'm not sure I'm missing anything; I think I know all the basic rules. One thing I noticed: the clock never stops, very unlike American football. That was pretty nice; it made it go faster. But then, at the end of 90 minutes, when I thought the game was over, they added more time. The game kept going for another three minutes or so. I guess that's to make up for lost time from penalties and injuries. So why they don't just stop the clock during the game, I don't know. It's Europe; it's not supposed to make sense (more on this later).
After the game, two of Maria's three brothers were driving back to Aachen. They both go to school there also. Irene, Maria, and I all rode with them, crammed in the Volkswagen Beetle. That was a fun ride. We took the Autobahn--my first time! We were going pretty fast, about 140 km/hr. It's pretty sweet that they don't have a speed limit; there were some cars going faster than us. I don't know why I get such a thrill from going fast; I guess there's a little bit of speed demon in all of us.
We didn't get back until 11:30. It had been a long day; I was so tired. I totally didn't feel like waking up for class the next morning. But I was greeted with a gorgeous sunny day! Finally! It was the best weather Aachen's seen in a while. I definitely laid down on a park bench in the sunlight for a few hours after class. The hard board was pretty uncomfortable, but that warm sun made it all okay. And then Tuesday, today, the sun was out all day too! It's a miracle! Cross your fingers for tomorrow!
Afterward, we went to her house, and she gave us a tour. I liked her home; it was three stories tall, but each floor was fairly small. They have a beautiful garden area in the back and a pool. And, like my home, it has a party basement, good for hosting people. They had a funny little excercise machine down there. It had a small platform for your feet that vibrated. You were supposed to stand on it and it would strengthen your muscles. I tried it; it felt like I had pins and needles. It was so uncomfortable. I didn't like it.
That evening, Krefeld had a town party thing. There were a ton of people, old, young, and in between. Naturally, since this is Germany, there was plenty of beer available. I drank a Dimix, a mix of beer and coke--disgusting. They had a live band. I thought they were good. Maria was "in love" with the guy playing the white guitar. She thought he was so handsome! The band played until like 1:30 in the morning. Some guy danced with me at the end. I guess I'm somewhat exotic, being from the US and all, and it must have attracted him. At least he was a nicer dancer than that dude at the club the other weekend...
I was so tired that night. I mentioned Maria's parents were hosting a volleyball tournament that Sunday. Maria plays on a team from her hometown and they were competing. Her father is their coach. Maria's mom coaches a team of younger girls. Irene and I were going to watch Maria play and possibly help her parents if they needed it. We woke up at 7:00 to go to the tournament. It was an all-day affair; there were three separate tournaments for different age groups, and only three courts. Maria's division, the one with the oldest girls, had seven teams. It was a round-robin style tournament, where each team played all the others; the team with the best record in the end wins. If you do the math, that's 21 matches, one after another. The matches were timed, instead of playing until a certain score, so things could keep moving. Each match was made of two eight-minute games, with teams switching sides between the two.
It was exciting. It all came down to the last match, between Maria's team Huls (an area of Krefeld) and Kempen. Huls had lost twice; Kempen was undefeated. If Huls could win both their last two games, their records would be tied. Then, it would be total points earned during the tournament that determined the victor. But, sadly, Huls had a rough start their first game and couldn't come back in time. They won the last game, but with three losses, they came behind both Kempen (one loss) and another team which only had two losses. Third place isn't so bad though. They had an awards ceremony at the end, played the German national anthem and stuff. Watching all that volleyball made me anxious for my chance; I couldn't wait for Monday night when I could play.
Back at Maria's house, we watched the first German match in the European Football Championship (soccer). It's a big deal around here. The tournament started Saturday; everyone's been talking about it. And there are German flags everywhere. Normally, people don't display the flag. They're not too proud of their country, what with Hitler and WWII and all. The world cup in 2006 was the first time people really went crazy with the flag. I hear stores sold out because it was so unexpected that so many people would buy flags. And now, the flags are coming out again. I got a free little paper one. I totally want to paint my face black, red, and gold at least once. Maybe I'll do it if Deutschland makes it to the championship round. This match was Germany vs. Poland; I wasn't sure who to root for since half my heritage comes from each. But since I'm in Germany now, I decided to be on their side (unless of course, Poland does really well; then I'll jump on that bandwagon.)
Germany won vs. Poland. Yay! Podolski, who's on the German team even though he sounds like he'd be on the Polish side, scored both their goals. I'll be honest; soccer's kinda boring. Maybe if I understood it more, I'd like it better. But I'm not sure I'm missing anything; I think I know all the basic rules. One thing I noticed: the clock never stops, very unlike American football. That was pretty nice; it made it go faster. But then, at the end of 90 minutes, when I thought the game was over, they added more time. The game kept going for another three minutes or so. I guess that's to make up for lost time from penalties and injuries. So why they don't just stop the clock during the game, I don't know. It's Europe; it's not supposed to make sense (more on this later).
After the game, two of Maria's three brothers were driving back to Aachen. They both go to school there also. Irene, Maria, and I all rode with them, crammed in the Volkswagen Beetle. That was a fun ride. We took the Autobahn--my first time! We were going pretty fast, about 140 km/hr. It's pretty sweet that they don't have a speed limit; there were some cars going faster than us. I don't know why I get such a thrill from going fast; I guess there's a little bit of speed demon in all of us.
We didn't get back until 11:30. It had been a long day; I was so tired. I totally didn't feel like waking up for class the next morning. But I was greeted with a gorgeous sunny day! Finally! It was the best weather Aachen's seen in a while. I definitely laid down on a park bench in the sunlight for a few hours after class. The hard board was pretty uncomfortable, but that warm sun made it all okay. And then Tuesday, today, the sun was out all day too! It's a miracle! Cross your fingers for tomorrow!
Comments
Uncle John & I have been enjoying your blog, the experience sounds fantastic! I have family in the town of Krefeld; I've never been there, but some of them have been here. Maybe you'll write for a newspaper travel section one day! Aunt Lisa