Week 11: Sushi & Karaoke

  Munich, Germany
Monday, August 11, 2008

Hi again! So of course... Now that I'm finally on time with my blog, there's really not much to talk about. This week wasn't very full, but I did do some fun things. Maybe this blog will even be shorter than usual!

Let's start with Monday, as usual. Monday was another long day at the Onkel Tom camp. (By the way, it's named after someone named Tom. I had to ask) We started again at 830, but this day was competition day, so the kids were excited. They were also pretty tired, which worked out for those of us working the camp. I had the bunting station again, so we did pretty much the same thing as the day before. It was pretty boring, but the competition was fun.

After lunch, they played two games to decide winners and what not. This time I "umpired" on the tee ball field with the really tiny kids. They were adorable! Especially this little kid named Yoshi (I especially like his name, as those of you who know my love of Mario would understand.) He just wandered around the field with a little grin on his face, completely clueless to what was going on around him. Until, that is, he got his at bat... which was a grounder which he actually beat out once... But then he forgot to run to 2nd on the next hit and was forced out. The only problem we had was when a kid got hit in the face by the ball... twice. The poor thing didn't even know what was coming. Since the ball was so bouncy (which was supposed to be safer) it bounced right up and hit him in the forehead. Then he missed a pop fly right to the eye. He was ok though, after he was given an ice pack.

The camp ended at about 430, but I wasn't done yet. At about ten o'clock the night before, the coach from the 2nd team texted me and Melissa and asked us to run practice that day. We weren't very happy about being told so late yet again, but practice went well anyway. There were only a few girls there, so we actually got to work a lot with them individually. We even worked on diving, which is one of my favorite things to teach. Afterwards, Missy and I got to the train and it was a very quiet ride home because we were so tired.

On Tuesday, I got to the field at 430 for practice with the under 15 team. Unfortunately, nobody told me that they wouldn't have practice again for 6 weeks. So, I hit by myself for about an hour... then I hit right-handed. By the time Clemens and Missy got there, I was already tired of hitting for the day. As it turns out, the three of us were the only ones who showed up. So, Missy and I did a little bit of running, and then Clemens told me I could head home.

Wednesday was a great, relaxing day. Not that I have much to do usually, but the weekend was pretty busy. The day started with all you can eat sushi...
                    
Yum. Then Ryan and I headed to the English Garden and layed by the stream for a while. There was one odd incident while we were there. A man with his two sons walked up to a guy and asked him in English if he could borrow his bike. This seemed really wierd to me, so of course I had to see what was going on. After the German guy finally figured out what the other guy was asking, he actually let him borrow the bike. And after all of that, the guy got on the bike and rode it down the path and back. I thought maybe he would let his kids ride, but no. He had a huge smile on his face when he put the bike back and just walked away. Odd, but funny. Maybe he was reliving a really good childhood memory. After a while, Ryan and I packed up and went home.

Thursday, I had a lot of time to myself, because Ryan had practice and I didn't. So of course I was on the internet for a good amount of that time. When I wasn't downloading movies, tv shows, and other good stuff, I was actually productive. Get this, Mom... I actually CLEANED! Yep, that's right, I did all the dishes and tidied up the apartment. Yes, it is kind of cheating because the entire apartment is smaller than my bedroom at home, but it's a start. : )

Friday night was a fun night. Another guy from Redlands turned up in Europe this summer: Ryan Hall. He played water polo for Redlands (I met him through lifeguarding) and was supposed to play for a team in Hungary. Unfortunately, when he got there, he found out within three days that he didn't like it. So, he came to Munich for now and has been staying with Cary. Ryan and I met up with them at an Irish pub and had a great time watching Cary (attempt) karaoke:
       
He wanted to sing a song by Journey, but ended up with  "Hit Me Baby One More Time." Figures, right? Aside from the boys swapping stories and enjoying some good German beer, Cary was definitely the entertainment that night. When he was tired of singing, we headed home.

On saturday, Ryan's team had two games at home so I went and watched. Sadly, it wasn't their best performance. They lost the first game 5-4, but the saddest part was that they had the chance to win it. They had

runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, and there was a little bloop hit to shallow right-center. The right fielder made a good catch, then made a perfect throw home to get the third out. It was a heartbreaker. They did win the second game though, so everyone was a little happier on the way home. They still have 8 games left, so they are still good to go.


Sunday was just another lazy day hanging around and watching movies. Ryan and I didn't even leave to go watch some olympic events. I have to say, this is the first time I've really wished we had a tv. I haven't seen one event yet! : ( I hope you all are enjoying the olympics from home. Keep in touch and I will talk to you all in another week!