Weeks 6 & 7: Ryan's here!
Trip Start
May 26, 2008
1
8
14
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Munich,
Germany
Monday, July 14, 2008
At the beginning of the week, two weeks ago, I did the same thing as usual: I hung out by myself watching episodes of House, M.D. Online and reading. After practice on Tuesday, I was paid for the month, and I was VERY happy. So Missy, her boyfriend Andi, Sonni, her boyfriend Eddie, Caren, Ingo and I went to a beer garden to hang out. We had a good time, enjoying a beer or two and eating the delicious Bavarian pretzels. Then at the end of the night I was invited by Sonni's boyfriend Eddie to go to the English Garden the next day to experience the Eisbach.
I've heard about the Eisbach and its shenanigans before. It's a very cold river (hence the name) that runs through the English Garden. At one point there are rapids that you can even surf on! I don't think I'll ever be able to do it, but it will be fun to watch. Just below that is where the ride begins. This is what I would be experiencing that warm, beautiful Wednesday afternoon.
Before we headed to the river, I met up with Eddie and his friend who he calls Beastie. I don't know why he's called that, but it makes me laugh. We met up at the Chinisischer Turm for a drink and some food. Here I learned that Eddie and Beastie played together in Haar the year before. Eddie, by the way, is American. He's come over to Germany to play for the past three years. He started with Gauting, the team Ryan's coaching. Then he went to Haar, and now he plays for Mannheim. In Haar, he met Sonni, which is why he came back for his third year in a row.
Anyhoo, after a beer, we headed towards the Eisbach. As it turns out, we parked out towels right across a small stream from the nudist colony. Interesting. But we weren't there for long. About two minutes after putting out towels down, we headed for the icy waters. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive because two Australians had died in the Eisbach the year before. But I was assured, they died because they were REALLY drunk and REALLY stupid. With coaching from Eddie, who'd been down the river many times, I would be fine.
Here's how it worked. First you jump into the water and immediately are shocked by how cold it is. The current is pretty strong, but nothing scary. In no time, you're at the first stop: a wall on the side of the river. I won't tell you what this wall is for... After that's done with, you jump back in again and head for the first bridge. Once you get there, you go feet first and right before you pass under it, you have to try to reach up and grab onto it. I missed the first two times. BUT, on the third try the boys bet me a liter beer that I wouldn't do it again, and I did.
After you hang on for a while, your bottoms feel like they're about to come off because of the current. So we let go and floated on our backs to bridge #2. This one was easier to catch. After that bridge, it's time to get out. But not for long. After making sure the river's clear, we jumped off the bridge into the river once again. This was fun except when I got water up my nose. Ouch. By the way, the bridges aren't very high... they're maybe five feet above the river.
The next part was the last and best part: the rapids. This is where the Aussie's died because they probably put their feet down and got pulled under by the current. Here, you're supposed to go head first and flatten out your body. This way, the water does all the work. It was really scary at first, but I went head-first like Super Man, ducked my head into the water and was zoomed through the rapids. It was awesome! Then we floated on our backs a little longer and got out. We did this three times before the end of the day. I'm definitely doing it again!
After the Eisbach, we went back to the Chinese Tower to eat and get my giant beer that the boys owed me. Soon after, Beastie had to go to practice, so Eddie and I went to an Irish pub near my place to meet up with Sonni. That's where I had my first Guinness since I'd been back. We hung out there for a little bit, then I headed home.
On Thursday, I was supposed to have practice, but it wasn't until I was all the way there that I saw the lightning and pouring rain. Nobody even bothered to call me to say practice was cancelled... thanks guys. So I went back home and just hung out again. Later that night, I was invited to go to a pool hall with Sonni, Eddie, Missy, Andi, Beastie and Keti (one of our older girls on the team... the Greek one). Unfortunately, I missed my train by 30 seconds, so by the time I got there I only had time to play two games. I am very sad to report to the potluck dads that I was terrible. I'll have to practice at the Thatcher's place the next time I'm there.
Friday and Saturday were more House days, because it rained. Then Sunday we played Mannheim. I don't want to talk about these games because we were terrible, but I'll give you one hint. We got mercied in FOUR innings the first game. So, we sucked and then had to drive home 3 hours. Not a fun day. Luckily, I wouldn't mope about it for long because Ryan would be here the next day!
Monday was a great day. I got up early Monday morning, got ready and headed out to the airport. Ryan's flight was supposed to arrive at 8:10am and for the first time in a LONG time, I was actually early! It was great. I found where I could wait for him, found out his flight was delayed, and spent a couple hours after that just walking around the Munich airport. When he finally arrived, I couldn't help myself... I ran straight past the line you're supposed to wait behind and jumped into his arms. It was so so good to see him again. The rest of that day, we unpacked, hung out, ate dinner, then walked around the English Garden. It was nice to actually have someone around during the day again.
The next couple of days were awesome just hanging out with Ryan again. The best part was his cooking. I haven't had good food since I left home. If you somehow don't know, I'm a terrible cook. So I've been living off pasta with olive oil and salt and pepper. The first meal I had with Ryan: fried rice with chicken, scrambled eggs, and fresh, grilled veggies. MMMMMM!!!
On Thursday, I had one of two make-up games against Freising. They're in 3rd place and we're in 2nd, so we needed to beat them. The game started out with them leading 4-0, so it wasn't looking good. Fortunately, we figured it out in the end and won 15-8. The scored here are always bizarre. I was just glad we won, because by the time we finished, it was dark out and nobody could see.
Friday was a nice day off for me, so I went with Ryan to his first practice with Gauting. The team seemed excited to finally have a coach that wasn't a player. They took some fielding practice and hit some BP, but were cut short by a storm. It rolled in so fast, it was amazing. Within five minutes of the guys in the outfield sprinting in saying the rain was coming, it was absolutely pouring. So Ryan's first practice went well, if not short.
After we left Gauting, pretty soaked, we headed into the city to hang out with Cary, Ryan's friend and my new friend. We met him at his place and enjoyed a beer while the boys caught up. Ryan told Cary all about the fireworks show, because that's where they met two years before. Then, of course, Melanie got hungry. So, we headed out to an "ex-pat" bar that Cary liked. (Ex-pat stands for ex-patriot, the name for anyone who leaves their country to live in Germany.) The pub was a lot of fun. We had a couple beers, I had some delicious bar food (chicken and fries,) and we enjoyed some interesting karaoke performances. That night was a lot of fun. I think both Ryan and Cary are happy that they're both here. When Cary's girlfriend gets here in mid-August to teach English, they might need their boys' nights. : )
Saturday was a long day, but it was pretty fun. We had games at home against the Augsburg Dirty Slugs. I'm not kidding, their mascot really is a dirty slug. Their colors are even brown and yellow. My old teammate from Redlands, Maritza Padilla, played for them a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, they weren't very good. Even though we beat them by quite a bit, the day took forever. That was because we had a rain delay of about an hour and a half. It was a downpour, and I was sure the games would be cancelled. Then the girls went out with small buckets and dixie cups to remove the water from around the bases. It was really a funny sight, and I was mad that I didn't have my camera with me. When the field was playable again, we played out the rest of our games and finally went home around 8pm.
Sunday was not much better for the rain. Ryan's team was supposed to play two games, but the rain never let up. Instead, they went to a restaurant and enjoyed a brunch of Bavarian sausages, pretzels and beer. Thus is the life of a German baseball/softball player. Tough life, huh?
That's about it for the past two weeks. This week might not be very interesting, except for games with the second team on Friday and our games on Saturday. Maybe something exciting will happen. : ) Talk at you soon!
