Berlin Pics

The Berlin Wall and the only place where it still stands in tact. This is the east side of the wall. Before the wall was taken down, no one could paint graffiti on this side and it was strictly gray, but now it is called the 'East Side Gallery' and has since been painted full of pictures...some include Batman while others are simply abstract.




I was a bit disappointed that this picture didn't turn out clearer since it is THE picture to take while in Berlin...the Brandenburg Tor; for nearly 30 years, it marked the distinction between east and west Berlin because the wall was just behind it marking it off to all of those living in the west. This is also the backdrop of the infamous broadcasts of the Berlin wall coming down took place. I think it was actually built in the 1700s.




To put it simply, this sight shocked me. This is a column in front of the art museum near the Berlin Cathedral in the center of the city. These are bullet holes from WWII.




Checkpoint Charlie: The sign behind me marks the end of the American sector and looks onto the former east side of Berlin. There were two American 'soldiers' with the U.S. flag standing by the little building by the point and I refuse to post that picture because I realized after I took the photo with them that they were posers and not actually true soldiers. (My instinct tells me that since I had to pay for the photo.)





Berlin is really getting ready for the World-Cup...there are souveniour shops everywhere and even more soccer balls. But, I thought, who couldn't resist hugging this bear?

****Also, for some reason my email account has not been working, so I am sorry if you have wrote me and not got a response back. Hopefully, it will start working again soon...

Berlin—A must see; 24-28 May

The city itself was a contradiction in many ways—not particularly pretty, but its culture made it beautiful; dilapidated and ugly buildings in certain areas and state of the art architecture in others; a victorious history with its Prussian past and it’s very drastic and saddening past with World War II…There was too much to see in not enough time. In fact, I think I could have stayed a month and still not have seen it all.

But, what we did see and do was pretty incredible. Some highlights:

-Checkpoint Charlie (and museum): It was pretty cool to be in that exact spot where so many people crossed between the east and west. The museum was a bit crowded for my taste, but stories and pieces of people’s escape from the East to the West were fascinating.

-A tour of the city by a ferry on the Spree River... we saw the museum insel (island), which is a UNESCO site (one of the museums has the door from Babylon), the new train station, the Fernsehenturm (which has a huge soccer ball for the World Cup), and many other cool sights.

-The memorial to the murdered Jews during WWII: This memorial sits just north of the Brandenburg Tor and near the American embassy (still in the process of being built) and is enormous. We had a tour guide, which may seem odd for a memorial, but it certainly helped to make sense of it all. He explained the process of choosing a design and what it actually means...they want people to know that it was not a fight between the Jews and Germans rather an unbelievable gruesome act of hatred from one group of people to another and the Jews were not only from Germany, rather across Europe.

It was symbolic and well-done. Just below the memorial is something which can be compared to that of a museum, but not quite. It serves the purpose of helping people relate to those that were murdered instead of just thinking of a statistic. One room was dark except for portions of the floor with writings of the victims that were lit up. One 12-year old girl wrote a postcard to her father telling him good bye because she was about to die and was so afraid. Nothing can put anything in perspective as well as that. There are really no words.

-We also took a city tour by bus and saw the entire city—the east (where our hostel was), the only part of the Berlin wall that is still standing, the Brandenburg Tor, Reichstag (government building for parliament), Schloss Bellevue, and Schloss Charlottenberg (where the king of Prussia once lived), and a trabi (a car that was really popular during the time of the Berlin wall…from East Berlin), Hotel Aldon (where Michael Jackson was famously photographed with a baby out the window), and all of the town ‘hotspots’, and the Kaiser Wilhem Kirche (church) which was destroyed in WWII and was left as it looked after the bombing…So many things to list!

-Saturday, we traveled to Potsdam (capital of the German state, Brandenburg) and only about a 30 min. drive from Berlin near the Wannasee (a big, beautiful lake) and through a heavily wooded area. The city itself was not very pretty, but in it’s own way, it was charming and rich with history. This is where the infamous Potsdam conference took place and where the Prussian royalty ruled (Germany was once a country called Prussia that was much larger than the current area)….The Castles—New Palace and Sanscocci were fascinating to see with a beautiful park/garden in between. Since Sanscocci is a UNESCO site, only 2000 visitors are allowed to go inside each day and we unfortunately didn’t make the cut. But, we did see Kaiser Wilhem II’s grave near it and we also went into the New Palace where he died and we saw the room where the signature was made declaring Germany was going to war for WWI.

**The most amazing experience in Berlin was actually Friday night…we were there for the opening ceremony of the new and now biggest train station in all of Europe. It looked as if it were made all of glass and sits on a big green hill near the Spree River and the Reichstag. It was the most amazing firework/laser show I have seen complete with a video to go along with the music of the live symphony. The first two trains slowly took off with lights streaming from their roofs as the show began. Before the light show, the popular music group, Reamon, held a concert. So cool!

Well, we left as soon as the ceremony was over along with all the other ten thousand people and made our way along the river toward the subway station. Well, we were crowded like sardines with everyone else and thought it would be smarter to slip away from the crowd and take a different path (but much longer) to another subway station. Only five minutes after we had started to go down this other street, a stream of police cars and ambulances came screeching toward us and then toward the crowd. My heart leaped knowing that something must be terribly wrong. Deep down, I prayed for an accident of some sort where no was really hurt. But, I was wrong.

The next morning, we found out at breakfast (after someone watched CNN in their room) that a 16-year old boy, who was drunk and had recently gotten into a fight with his friends, pulled out a knife on more than 30 people in the same spot we would have been had we not taken the other street. The saddest news is the first victim is possibly infected with HIV. I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, no one is dead because of it, but the lives of so many were affected. Now a night that could have been remembered as such a remarkable event will only be remembered as a day marked my tragedy.

Besides that event, I really had a memorable time. I wish we would have had more time to see more museums, but I was blessed to see what I did. It was amazing.

Fun pictures from Frankfurt-20. Mai, Saturday

We took these in the film museum in Frankfurt and just around the city...

Pictures from Frankfurt--20. May 2006

Here is the view from the top of the tallest building in Frankfurt and Europe. The cathdral and Main river is just below. (I zoomed in a bit to see better, so we weren't this close.)







The building in the middle with the 'pointy' thing is the building we went to the top of just before we took this picture. We went 54 stories up in an elevator.








This is a perfect example of why Frankfurt reminded me more of an American city than of a German one.









This is Lauren (Boston), Renate (Latvia), and me at the film museum.




This is the cathedral in Frankfurt along the Main river, which was the sity of coronations of Roman Empires for a couple hundred years. We didn't have enough time to go inside; maybe another visit. (If you look carefully in the picture taken from the top of the building, you can see the dom there too...here we were on the bridge on the way to the museum.)

The most non-German, German city: Frankfurt...Sat. 20. Mai

I traveled to Frankfurt with two of my friends, Renate (Latvia) and Lauren (Boston) via train on Saturday. It was 4 hours by train, but would have been only 3 with the faster train.

Why Frankfurt? Well, we thought, why not? We had nothing planned and thought we should take some time to explore the city that is a crossroads for traveling in Europe and also suppose to be quite a metropolis. My friend Renate was most excited to see the skyline. (She studies in Riga, Latvia, which is the capital, but still only has a couple ‘tall’ buildings.)

I only spent a day there, well really an afternoon, but I came to the conclusion that Frankfurt is the city (so far in my travels) that is most unlike every other city here in Germany. It actually reminded more of an American city than a German one with its skyline, wider streets, and not so friendly walking area. For the first time since I have been in Europe, I actually felt like pedestrians didn’t have the right of way.

With about six hours to kill before we had to catch our train, we walked from the main train station into the main city area with shops, cafes, etc. That was a nice thing…it was really easy to find our way around the main attractions, which was impressive for its large size.

We first went to the top of the largest building not only in Frankfurt, but also in Europe. For only 3 euros, we could all of Frankfurt and we probably would have seen more if the weather would not have been so horrible. We were literally being pushed around by the heavy wind gusts and pouring rain.

After our ‘top of the world’ experience, we walked around the city a bit and looked for a doner restaurant. (Doner is really popular in Germany…it is a type of food from Turkey that is normally with lamb meat, but I have mine with lots of yummy veggies. The bread looks like a clam and the rest inside. It is a bit hard to eat, but very good…)

Following lunch, we crossed a bridge over the Main river and headed to a museum. We found it was difficult to decide which one to go to because there are so many here! The film and photography museum was our choice…after a tour of Wicke’s photographs, we had fun with all of the stuff in Film museum because it focused more on the history of film and the inventions made to get to the point that movies are at now.

We braved the weather (lightning, thunder, and all) to go back to the train station. We actually took the U-bahn for a small portion of the way because the weather was so bad.

I was pleased with the visit and could see myself going back for another afternoon to at least see the Museum of Communication (I was so excited when I saw that…what could be more perfect for my two majors—a museum about communication, which will more than likely be all in German) and I would also like to see Goethe’s house because he was born here….other than that and possibly the dom/cathedral, I think I might have had my fill of Frankfurt. A pleasant place to visit for a day or two.

Brunch and Fussball-Sunday, May 14

Sunday afternoons, I play soccer with this group of people. This is right after we were done playing and some of our 'fans' are in the picture...okay, so not so much fans, as just 'friends who thought they would come and watch'. There are Germans and other international students like myself...but as you can, the majority are men besides me, my friend Renate from Latvia, and a couple gals from Denmark. The German guys were so surprised after the first time we played, because according to them, there are hardly any women who are good soccer players or in the very least, even play. (This past game, I skinned my knee pretty bad, but I also made a goal...so the good and bad balanced out.)



Before the soccer game, I went with my German friend, Angie, for brunch at this restaurant and met four of her other friends. We had so much fun! And it was particulary good for me to speak and listen to them in German...I feel like this is when I learn the most German.



Close up! This is me, Angie, and her friend, Josephine. Josephine is actually from Stuttgart, which was particularly interesting for me because they speak a different dialect there called "Schwabisch".

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg--Sat, May 13

By far, the best day trip!

I love, love, love Luxembourg...the city itself is on top of a hill/mountain, but parts of the city are also is in the valley, which is surrounded by green trees, flowers, and small rivers. You can see the lower parts of the city from various places in the city and the bridges are amazing too! (I actually read that the city has the prettiest balcony in all of Europe...not sure who decides, but I would probably agree with them!)

The city is as old as 963 A.D., according to the timeline in the cathedral. And its history is oozing out of every part of the city...from the architecture to the museums. I think I could have spent another day or two there just soaking it all in.

It only took us about 50 minutes and 8 euros from Trier to get to Luxembourg. From the main train station, it was a nice walk across the bridge that overlooks another neighborhood way below and into the main city. The city itself, looked more French than German to me...but, it has influences of both. The country has belonged to Spain, Austria and Prussia during its history...

Which, I learned in an amazing museum! The name was French, but I can't remember off the top of my head...something like Museum of Art and history. The building itself is a bit hidden (but thanks to the guide book Andy and Syd gave me, it was easy to find!)...and it was so cool because it is right in the location of where houses from the middle ages once stood. You actually walk through the same stone hallways and stairs to see the museum as people long ago once walked through to probably get to their bedroom! Crazy.

I kept gawking at everything I saw...it was just so unbelievable:

-A painting of Luxembourg king from the middle ages and on his clothing was a gold brotch; that same brotch in the painting was in a glass case below.
-A wooden, huge, and very heavy looking gun from the 14th century
-Armor from the 1600s
-models of the city from 1000 A.D. to just 50 years ago.
-A helmet that a man in the Prussian army wore
-a special exhibit on the misconception of photos...how the media alters them. For example, Stalin and Hitler would both do this a lot if there were people in the pictures that they did not want to be shown.
-Also, a beautiful exhibit of photographs with the topic being simply, "Life".
-Many paintings, artifacts, and so just so much!

I also saw the "Casemates", which were first built in 1755 by the Spainards, but have since been used for bakeries, slaughterhouses, and as bunkers in the 2 world wars. They were at the top of the bridge and went all the way down to the river, which is a very long way down. Just incredible.

We also went into the Cathedral Notre Dame, which was another amazing church with its high ceilings and beautiful stained windows. Pope John Paul II went there in 1985. Also, there is a famous statue there (from the 1600s) of Mary and Jesus...the entire altar is adorned with silver and gold. A bit gawdy, in my opinion.

What else? Hmmmm...I had really good coffee at a cafe and for dinner, we had mexican food. Yes, not very Luxembourgish...but, it tasted delicious because I had a big craving after so long without it :)

Also, it was very interesting to hear not only German, but also French, and Luxembourgish...which, is a mix between German and French.



This used to be a residence of the king of Luxembourg, but now it is just an office for the government. I found the female guard more intriguing than the building though because I don't think she was able to speak with us or make eye contact.




This is where the museum was...it was 3 stories high full of art and artifacts in the exact location where houses from the middle ages were.






These are all the people that I traveled with....Yjork, Arielle, me, Katie, and Aldo.




Most of the area around the city looked like this and this was not the only bridge similar to this. I found this view incredible.

Grill-out at the university--Friday, May 12

Other international students and Germans all met at a dorm on campus for a grill-out. They are really popular here...everybody brings their own meat (veggie kebaps for me) and then we all share bread, salads, etc. Lots of fun and even more food.

For me, it was most interesting visiting with people that I otherwise would have never known or been able to communicate with if I had not studied German. I met people from Iran, Japan, Italy, and out of all places...Kansas City! Most of the conversations were enjoyable, but I did have one culturally bad experience:

One man from Uzbekistan (who had been nice to me beforehand because we play soccer on Sundays together with others) in a sense, cornered me and decided to explain all the reasons why he doesn't care for the way Americans act. He kept saying that he didn't blame me for the way I am because that was just the way I was raised...he said such things like, "you laugh and it makes you sound stupid, just like all Americans" and he made fun of the way I crossed my arms, the way I stood, just about everything. I tried to walk away, but he would just follow me. I got so upset, I actually got a bit teary-eyed (okay...so, I am a bit sensitive). He told me start being honest with myself, and so on. Finally, my friend from Minnesota came and relieved me. We left soon after.

I guess you could say that was a bit of a culture shock and I learned that there is really nothing you can say in a situation like this. In fact, I tried and he wouldn't let me talk...

Besides that, I actually did have a nice time!

Some highlights:

-listening to a man, Tony, from Finland teach other Americans how to sing "The itsy bitsy spider" in Finnish
-Laughing with my friend from Latvia...her name is Renate and she is really good friend. It is so crazy to think that without both of us knowing German, we would not be friends.
-Eating a bite of fish my norwegian friends grilled to their amusement (Way too 'fishy' of a taste for me and my face expressed that!)

All in all, it was a good time and my veggie kebaps were a hit!



A typical German grill...full of bratwurst and other meat! (My kebaps are on the smaller grill to the left)





This is my good friend, Renate, and me. She is from Latvia and we are in the same classes...she is honest, sincere, and great for a laugh!





This is another friend and I...she is from Japan and also in some of my classes.

Konz--Day trip on Thursday, May 11

With Konz only being a 15 minute train ride away just a bit southwest, we decided to catch a train before our class at 4 p.m. to have lunch and stroll around. It was much smaller than Trier and was along the Saar river, which made for a pretty walk on such a nice day.

We had lunch at a chinese restaurant along their main street. One thing that I miss most about eating Chinese in the States is crab ragoon...I have yet to see that on the menu here at asian restaurants. But, my rice and veggie lunch was good AND even better with my ice cream to top it off! (There was an ice cream cafe just down the street...how could we resist on such a beautiful day?)

It was refreshing to be in a small German town without at any museums or huge sightseeing attractions. I am, of course, always intrigued by both...but, it just felt more genuine in Konz that day. A simple day in a simple town.



A perfect day for ice cream in Konz! (Straticella is my second favorite to butterkeks!)



Here we are along the Saar River in Konz...Arielle and her boyfriend, Yjork (he speaks German fluently), Aldo (from Nicaragua), and Katie



The sign at their very old, dilapidated train station.

So...it's Friday!

This city skipped over spring and jumped right into summer. It is beautiful, but hot and humid with the river nearby. I have been keeping busy with classes (German mainly, but also two lecture classes in Media Studies), playing soccer with other international and German students, and also a new project...

My isep (international student exchange program) coordinator asked a few international students to help with creating a new brochure that they hand out to the students. I was one student asked, which means I will be working with the coordinator, a German student, and four other international students to create a better (meaning more interesting and with better info) to send to the students prior to coming to Trier. And I am also really excited because my tutor asked me to write an article about the DAAD soccer tournament" for the student newspaper!

What else? I am about to head out for yet another grill-out, aka..."bbq". They are really popular here! I made veggie kebaps and am actually bringing Pringle BBQ chips! Should be fun. And tomorrow...we are taking a day trip to Luxembourg!

Also, just realized that I have yet to post a pic of the university. Here is one, but it doesn't do justice to the lego-lookalike buildings. It was built in the 70's, so I guess that makes sense. Regardless, here is the path I take to go to my classes everyday!

Schoenes Wochenende!

Pictures from Metz, France--Saturday, May 6

The Dom, or Cathedral, in Metz is shown here. It is well-known because it is the second largest cathedral in France and also has the largest stain windows. Each of the windows within the church tell a story and you can tell from which era, they are from. From example, there is a window filled with mostly the color yellow, and our guide said that it was made during the Renaissance because that is when the color first became so popular for the windows.



This is a good example of the French archiecture with the yellow coloring...most of the buildings actually had this same tint. This is a theatre building near the Moselle River. (It took a while to build, the tour guide said, because the first architect made a mistake by placing a column in direct view of the stage...)



The cathedral was simply amazing. We have nothing really to compare it too in the U.S. For me, it is unbelievable to think about how long it took to build the cathedrals here in Europe (a couple hundred years), all the planning involved, and especially since everything within the church has a meaning of some kind. Simply amazing...it astounds me each time I walk into a church such as this. And the ceilings are so high! (When we were here, there was beautiful choir music being played...I assumed it was from a recording until I saw an actual choir up high belting out for the tourists!)



This is the Moselle River (same river that flows by my dorm)...this is the protestant church that Kaiser Wilhelm II had built (when Metz was a part of Germany) because he thought it looked more like German architecture. I couldn't get over how many swans there were here...




This is also the Moselle River shown here...and just some random houses.

Metz, France

We left early in the morning on Saturday for a day trip to Metz, France, which is close to the border with Germany. It took only about 2 and a half hours with the bus to get there. It was amazing that even though it is so close, and had at one time belonged to Germany, it looked and felt so different. Maybe it was the language difference, the different architecture, or hey, just the fact we were in a different country!

Being my first time in France, it was weird to hear “Bon Jour” when I headed into a store instead of “Guten Tag” or “Hallo”. When we had lunch at a sidewalk café, I actually mixed my German and English because it was so weird for me to not speak German with the waitress. I also learned that it is custom for the salesperson to come directly to you in a bakery or store in France. At first, I found it kind of weird for someone to make a bee-line for me as soon as I walked into a store…but, once I learned that it was a custom there, I guess you could say that I began to appreciate it more.

We only had the day….but, we were able to see a lot for the time we had. We took a city tour in German and was able to see the Cathedral (second largest in France, and the largest stain glass windows in the world), the old German wall when the city once belonged to Germany, the Protestant church that Kaiser Wilhelm II had built, and the city center. Most of the buildings had a yellowish tint to them and there were French flags and sidewalk cafes everywhere (and yes even a three-story tall McDonalds).

The Moselle River also flows through Metz (the same river that is right behind my dorm) and I have never seen as many swans in one place as I saw by the bridge there. The other international students that went and I had a really great time and it helped that the weather was so great!

P.S. I had the best croissant of my life there! Mmmm....

Gymnasium Klasse (visiting a high school class)

My friend Angie invited me to her English class in her Gymnasium (like our high school, but it lasts a year or two longer) because she and her partner had a presentation about American fast food. I was happy she asked me to go because it gave me the chance to 1.) see what a German gymnasium class is really like, 2.) compare their foreign language class to the ones I have experienced in the U.S. and 3.) it was nice to set a few things straight about American’s eating habits since I get the impression that most Germans think Americans are all obese.

They found it very interesting that Morgan Spurlock, director of ‘Super Size Me’, actually came to Nebraska Wesleyan to talk about the film. During their presentation, I talked about that and my impression of Germans compared to Americans. I explained to them that everything is so much faster in America. Here, people take their time more…when they eat, walk, or even visit with friends.

Needless to say, it was a good experience. I found it interesting that the teacher mostly spoke British English and I wondered if it was a bit difficult to understand me with my American dialect. All in all, it seemed as though they understood me well.

After their class, Angie and her partner, invited me to lunch as a way to thank you…a nice gesture. I am lucky to have found Angie because she has been a really good friend and we have both been able to learn a lot from one another. (I met her the very first time that I came to the dorm and I had to wait an hour outside for the landlord to let me in and she saw me and invited me inside, helped me with my luggage and also fed me lunch.)

Pictures from Day trip to Cologne

This is just one of the many stained glassses found within the Koelner Dom.












It was swarming with tourists that day, but here I am after we had already explored the inside of the cathedral.















It was magnificent to say the least. The tower to the right is the one we climbed to the very top.










This is the view right when we walked out of the train station...and yes, that is a starbucks just to the left. It was the first one I had seen while being here. (The prices are really high compared to the U.S...nearly $4 for a small regular latte.)

Day trip to Cologne- Saturday, April 29

Last Saturday, three of my friends and I traveled to Cologne, Germany via train. It took us a little over 3 hours before we got to the main train station there. Along the way, we enjoyed a scenic route by the Moselle River and through many small towns and not so small (Bonn).

As soon as we walked through the doors of the train station and into the outside world of Cologne, we were taken back by the size and grandeur of the Dom, or Cathedral. Being Germany’s largest cathedral you can probably imagine what it was like to be on the steps of this church looking up. It was amazing and even more so inside.

Supposedly the ashes of the three wise men are kept just behind the high altar of the church. Also, the stained glass windows (gifts from such people as King Ludwig) are so intricate that it is unbelievable to think just how much work was put into the construction and design of the Dom. I guess that makes sense that it took nearly 600 years to finish.

And for only a Euro, we were able to climb the eastern tower’s winding staircase to the very top. The view was incredible from up there and we could literally see in all directions. I have never been one to be scared of heights, but being that high up and looking down upon the specks of people, almost made be ‘height-o-phobic’ (and yes, in my dictionary, that is a real word.)

Beyond seeing the Dom and countless tourists (price you get for going on a Saturday), we were able to see the altstadt (where the infamous, ‘Karneval’, begins each year), the Rhein River, and the chocolate museum.

Before catching the last train to Trier for the day (9pm), we relaxed in a nice café…’Café Elefant’. It seemed more French than German, but I still found the atmosphere charming. Their specialty was Russian crepes, but we didn’t have enough time to eat.

I was exhausted by the time we got back to Trier at about 1am…

Sunday, I went to a Lutheran church service in the Roman Basilika (first used in 300 AD as a throne room to Constantine) on Sunday morning. It is actually the only Lutheran church in Trier now because this region is predominantly Catholic.

Monday was a holiday here (I believe it is kinda like our labor day), and therefore, neither the University nor any stores were open. It was relaxing to say the least.

Also….I have seen two movies recently in German: Good Night, Good Luck and Ice Age 2. The latter was hilarious and the first was just a bit difficult to understand in German, but still glad I went.

CLASSES, by the way, are going good. I am taking one lecture in Media Studies and then primarily German classes to improve my grammar and such.

Will update soon.

Exploring Trier-Roman ruins and all

Friday, I had no classes and decided to explore the parts of the city that I had not seen yet. I was blessed with beautiful weather and was able to walk around quite a bit. Here are some pictures from my day...



During the Roman days, there was an entire wall built around the city of Trier. There are still remnants of the wall scattered throughout the city. This particular piece of the city wall is by the Roman baths and 17th century Palace.



Just like in the movie, Gladiator, this Roman ampitheatre was used as a form of entertainment to civilians. Both men and animals (bears, leopards, etc) would fight to the death while about 18,000 people watched in the stands. Two kings were killed here. This is just southwest of the city a bit.



This palace was built in the 1700s and is a perfect example of Rococco architecture...very gawdy! The Roman basilika (protestant church now) is directly behind it.



These are coins found in Trier and date back to the Roman times. Also, in the museum there were complete mosaics found beneath the earth that were around during Roman times.



This was particularly creepy...this is one of the cages where the animals and prisoners were kept beneath the ampitheatre before their fight began. Tourists can walk around there, but I found it too eery because you can only imagine too well what used to take place there.

Pictures from the Mini World Cup in Cologne

We painted the Georgian flags on our faces for team spirit! This is Katie and I right before we got to Cologne!




It was a small, but mighty group of fans! We had a blast waving the flags, playing soccer in between the games, and even yelling Georgian cheers!



Initially, I thought the games were INSIDE of this stadium behind us (The Rhein Energie Stadion, where some of the world cup games will be played). I was wrong...they were played on the fields next to it. But, we still had a good time!

‘Mini’ World Cup in Cologne

Thursday was devoted entirely to soccer and we all had a blast.

Let me explain: Germany’s international student exchange office thought it would be cool to have a ‘mini world cup’, only with all international students studying in Germany this semester. So a lot of teams were formed with a certain nationality and they all met in Cologne on Thursday to play in the tournament. University of Trier sponsored the Georgian team and all the international students from Trier were invited to make the road trip and support them. I didn’t have any classes that day, I enjoy watching soccer, and who needs a reason to take a road trip to Cologne? So I thought…why not?

Well, it was mainly other Georgian international students and a tricklesome of others such as myself, 2 other Americans, my Italian friend-Maria Grazi, a Polish guy-Gregor, and some students from Romania. There were three games total throughout the day and sadly our Georgian team lost all three. But, they sure had the most supportive and loud fans!

Although, there was a few disappointments (ex: I thought the tournament was going to be held in the actual ‘Rhein Energie Stadion’ in Cologne where some of the world cup games are actually going to be held at, but we were on the fields NEXT to the stadium.) Also, there weren’t a ton of other fans there, so our flags and face paint were quite the talk. Reporters from Deutsche Welle were quite intrigued and they even took quite a few pics of us cheering on the team!

It was a really fun day…in between the games, we had our own soccer matches. It was good to run around because it actually turned out to be a pretty cold day.

We made it back about 9 p.m. (it took a little over 2 hours to get there by bus.) I also learned how to say “Georgia” in their native language…The spelling is wrong, but this is how it is pronounced…

“SO-CAH-TEL-UH”!!!!