Late Entry

Five weeks post-Hamburg, I'm starting the Kassel Marathon tomorrow. Shoot me now. Kassellers can watch along the course (race starts @ 8:30 a.m.), which is two circuits on this 21k loop:



Forecast is 80 and humid. Expect me in just under K x 4min. (so, 30k = 120min or 2hrs, so expect me a couple minutes ahead of that, which is 10:25-10:30 a.m.).

Germany 4 - Wales 0

Today we went to see the German women's national soccer team play at the Auestadion in Kassel. They played Wales in a qualifier for the European Championships. Germany are current world champions. Wales are, to put it kindly, minnows. A capacity crowd of over 17,000 were treated to three early goals. The Germans are famous for rhythmic clapping and bad theme songs. Both are in evidence in the video below. What is also in evidence is that the Welsh national team needs to work on defending free kicks a bit better.






Timm emailed me just now to tell me that he caught us on the German national news...



that's me in the yellow Brazil jersey (thanks, Coach!) in the bottom left... TOOOR!

Kino

To kick the blues and learn some German, lily and I headed to the movies last week. Viel Spass!

Good things about the movies in Germany:
* nobody comes to matinee showings
* no advertisements blaring as you come into the theater
* ASSIGNED SEATING... seats in the front half of the theater are .50c cheaper than in the back
* the seats marked LS (for lily schmalz?) are actually Leibe Sitzen (love seats)
* Robert Downey Jr. can act in any language

A Dream Come True

Ever since I moved to Germany, it has been my dream to go to one of the Community Gardens that you see on the outskirts of every city. The gardens are made up of individual plots, each one with its own miniature house, surrounded by low hedges. Fruit trees, lilacs, children running barefoot, mothers pushing lawnmowers in bikinis, old couples enjoying a beer in the shade, and, yes, those little garden gnomes.

Jens's friend Julia was kind enough to invite us over to her place for the afternoon yesterday. We grilled some food and sat in the sun for hours. It was heaven.

Here's a glimpse into the hidden world behind the hedges......

Marathon - The Fan's Perspective (2)

Hamburg was Fred's 6th marathon as a runner and my 4th as a fan. This means I have watched 1.8% of the number of marathons that Helga, the wife of Friedrich, has watched.

On marathon day, Helga multi-tasked as chauffer, tour guide, language coach, punctuality expert, and picnic packer. The two of us spoke German all day while watching the race together, giving me good reason to complain to Fred in the car on the way home, "I'm just as tired as you are!"


Meanwhile, I fed my obession with multiples:



Picked out my favorite band on the course:


Fell in love with a dog


And gazed admiringly at my super studly husband.

Columbian Night

Cesar's been itching to cook Columbian food for the dancers for a minute. Last night he and Lisa invited everyone over for the tastiest meal I've eaten in ages.

Here, Lisa shows you how it's done, preparing a plate for Cesar.

The Rain