So the other day I went to the open-air market to buy a couple things. The market is only open three days a week and they have a variety of items from meats, vegetables, fruits, to jewelry and clothes. My experience at the vegetable stand really defines the interactions I have with store keepers. So all I needed was a cucumber and I went and grabbed the cucumber and took it to the lady to pay for it. I have figured out how much it was before I bought it so I didn't have to try and figure out how much she tells me. Side note: If I don't know how much something is I usually resort to the biggest bill in my wallet and then I end up with truckloads of change. Back to the story, so the beginning of the interaction goes smoothly. She then starts to speak to me in German. I give her a blank "I have no idea what you are talking about look" and she continues to speak to me in German. She then looks at the guy next to her and he tells her something in German with prompts her to just smile and hand me the cucumber. Mission get cucumber accomplished.
I can honestly say I feel extremely unintelligent in social interactions because all I can do is say a few words and smile. Frustrating at times and also hilarious at others. The beauty of being immersed in a foreign culture.
Game Day vs Muenster. Munster is our big rival and they are looking to move up to a higher league so it will be fun spoiling their hopes tonight.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Game 2 @ Soest
I would first like to apologize for taking so long to put this post up. I was dead tired after the game and our internet is in and out all day everyday here. Hopefully it holds out long enough for me to finish this post.
So this was my first away game. We drive to games, no coach buses here just mercedes and bmws. Matt, Marko and I rode with the president in his Mercedes wagon to the game which was about an hour away. I had no idea what to expect referring to the gym we were playing in. Coach all week had been talking about how small it was but I was thinking like Macalester size for anyone who has been there.
Well, I walked into the gym and it was about the size of Reede Gray Elementary. No bleachers, nothing. Simply a row of chairs on each side of the court and two rows of benches on the baseline. The gym was packed probably with 100-200 people in this tiny space. Literally I would take one step off the court and be on someone's lap. I did actually end up on a few people's laps but I will get into that more later.
Another thing in Germany, there is no rules against what kind of noise makers you can bring to the game. Some of the students had like big drums that they were pounding the whole game. There was this one noise maker that was so annoying that I tried to get the ref to tell the kid to stop but the ref just shrugged (i think he was pretending he didn't understand english).
After a long warm-up (we warm-up for WAY WAY WAY too long) the game finally begun. The whole first quarter was a battle back and forth. They were making a bunch of garbage shots and I didn't really get into the game till at least half way through the quarter. In the second quarter we pulled away a bit and I think we went into halftime with a 9 or 10 point lead.
We simply couldn't put them away at the beginning of the second half and let them back into the game. We had to fight and scramble to keep our lead and it wasn't until the middle of the fourth quarter that we finally pulled away for good. We ended up winning by 13.
Tremaine had 17, Matt had 10, I had 33 (4 or 5 dunks). I think the rims were low in this gym too because everyone was dunking in warm-ups. Another difference about this league is that you can dunk in warm-ups. We have a few kids on our team that can really get up so they just show off during warm-ups.
Coach was still unhappy with the win because he wanted us to beat this team by 30. I guess in the paper they were talking trash about us and calling us 2nd class Americans and all this junk. I guess we just let the game do the talking.
Again after the game we did the crazy celebration with the few fans that traveled (with their drums) to the game. Our fans are really good and funny. I think I heard some USA chants coming from them at points during the game.
The best part of the day might actually have been the ride home. We rode home with one of the major sponsors of the team and he drives an AUDI. We drove 220 kilometers/hour on the autobon on the way home and made it home in like a half and hour. It probably took us about half the time to get home than it took us to get there.
All is pretty good here. During the game the blood blister that I had on my foot opened and the callous covering it tore off leaving about a silver dollar hole on the bottom of my foot. I saw the doc today and he put some stuff on it. I couldn't really walk sunday but I practiced today not really ever getting up to full speed but I should be ready to go by Saturday.
On Saturday we play Munster, which is one of the two teams wanting to move up to a higher league next season barring they win the league. You have to win the league to move up to a higher league. Coach has been talking about this game for about two weeks now and I am excited for it.
Also next weekend is Oktoberfest in Werne, so it will be interesting to see what that is all about.
I just want to thank everyone who leaves comments too. I read them and they are very much appreciated.
Wow that was long now its bedtime for me, its 12.44 in the morning here!
Trevor J.
So this was my first away game. We drive to games, no coach buses here just mercedes and bmws. Matt, Marko and I rode with the president in his Mercedes wagon to the game which was about an hour away. I had no idea what to expect referring to the gym we were playing in. Coach all week had been talking about how small it was but I was thinking like Macalester size for anyone who has been there.
Well, I walked into the gym and it was about the size of Reede Gray Elementary. No bleachers, nothing. Simply a row of chairs on each side of the court and two rows of benches on the baseline. The gym was packed probably with 100-200 people in this tiny space. Literally I would take one step off the court and be on someone's lap. I did actually end up on a few people's laps but I will get into that more later.
Another thing in Germany, there is no rules against what kind of noise makers you can bring to the game. Some of the students had like big drums that they were pounding the whole game. There was this one noise maker that was so annoying that I tried to get the ref to tell the kid to stop but the ref just shrugged (i think he was pretending he didn't understand english).
After a long warm-up (we warm-up for WAY WAY WAY too long) the game finally begun. The whole first quarter was a battle back and forth. They were making a bunch of garbage shots and I didn't really get into the game till at least half way through the quarter. In the second quarter we pulled away a bit and I think we went into halftime with a 9 or 10 point lead.
We simply couldn't put them away at the beginning of the second half and let them back into the game. We had to fight and scramble to keep our lead and it wasn't until the middle of the fourth quarter that we finally pulled away for good. We ended up winning by 13.
Tremaine had 17, Matt had 10, I had 33 (4 or 5 dunks). I think the rims were low in this gym too because everyone was dunking in warm-ups. Another difference about this league is that you can dunk in warm-ups. We have a few kids on our team that can really get up so they just show off during warm-ups.
Coach was still unhappy with the win because he wanted us to beat this team by 30. I guess in the paper they were talking trash about us and calling us 2nd class Americans and all this junk. I guess we just let the game do the talking.
Again after the game we did the crazy celebration with the few fans that traveled (with their drums) to the game. Our fans are really good and funny. I think I heard some USA chants coming from them at points during the game.
The best part of the day might actually have been the ride home. We rode home with one of the major sponsors of the team and he drives an AUDI. We drove 220 kilometers/hour on the autobon on the way home and made it home in like a half and hour. It probably took us about half the time to get home than it took us to get there.
All is pretty good here. During the game the blood blister that I had on my foot opened and the callous covering it tore off leaving about a silver dollar hole on the bottom of my foot. I saw the doc today and he put some stuff on it. I couldn't really walk sunday but I practiced today not really ever getting up to full speed but I should be ready to go by Saturday.
On Saturday we play Munster, which is one of the two teams wanting to move up to a higher league next season barring they win the league. You have to win the league to move up to a higher league. Coach has been talking about this game for about two weeks now and I am excited for it.
Also next weekend is Oktoberfest in Werne, so it will be interesting to see what that is all about.
I just want to thank everyone who leaves comments too. I read them and they are very much appreciated.
Wow that was long now its bedtime for me, its 12.44 in the morning here!
Trevor J.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Post Game Celebration
I almost forgot the post game celebration. This is nothing like I have ever done in basketball. After we shook hands and talked with some of the other players we jog towards the crowd clapping for them. Then we recline on the floor as the crows sings us a song. We then join in with the song and stand up and start dancing (mostly just jumping around). This whole process takes a few minutes. It was a great way to celebrate the win!!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
I almost forgot
I didn't foul out but had two fouls in the first minute! Good thing coach doesn't take me out for fouls!
First "Official" Game
The first official game finally arrived. For a small gym and team they really make a big deal about the games. They set up tents and had a food trailor outside the gym for before and after the game. The stairs were all decorated with balloons and all the fans had little flags and drums. It is definitely a different atmosphere.
I would say there were over 400 people at the game. The stands are elevated above the floor and on floor level they place VIP seating as a row of chairs along the court. Stands are only on one side of the court. Much different than gyms I am used to playing in. The fans were crazy, they had drums and all sorts of noise makers that they played constantly throughout the game.
Now to the actual game. The team we played was much older and bigger in the front court but their guards we small and weak but could shoot as always. The game was close through the first quarter. I believe we were down three or five at the end of the first. When they played us man-to-man we had no trouble scoring. It was when they switched to a zone in the second half that gave us troubles.
We were up ten at halftime and struggled throughout the second half to make shots. This cut our lead way down to two at one point. No one was hitting any shots. When we started attacking the zone we made some progress and were able to hold them off to get the win by six or so.
So far 1-0
link to the article
http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/art945,351969
I would say there were over 400 people at the game. The stands are elevated above the floor and on floor level they place VIP seating as a row of chairs along the court. Stands are only on one side of the court. Much different than gyms I am used to playing in. The fans were crazy, they had drums and all sorts of noise makers that they played constantly throughout the game.
Now to the actual game. The team we played was much older and bigger in the front court but their guards we small and weak but could shoot as always. The game was close through the first quarter. I believe we were down three or five at the end of the first. When they played us man-to-man we had no trouble scoring. It was when they switched to a zone in the second half that gave us troubles.
We were up ten at halftime and struggled throughout the second half to make shots. This cut our lead way down to two at one point. No one was hitting any shots. When we started attacking the zone we made some progress and were able to hold them off to get the win by six or so.
So far 1-0
link to the article
http://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/lokales/welo/wesp/art945,351969
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