It's raining beer in Karlsruhe Stadium!

Guten Abend Freunden und Familie! Good evening family and friends!

This weekend marked an awesome turn in my love of German culture and all things European. On Friday evening, I joined a few of my Singaporean friends for a Southeast Asian food night at a church on the American military base in Heidelberg. It was strange going onto the base (which I didn't really realize we were visiting), as it was like I'd fallen off the edge of Germany into a hidden pit of über-American culture. The people I met there were extremely nice, however, and it was a good learning experience, I guess.

Saturday followed with perhaps my most "Euro" experience so far...German soccer! A German friend I met in one of my classes hooked me up with an awesome last-minute ticket to see the Karlsruhe versus Hoffenheim game. Karlsruhe, the team for which I was instructed to cheer, apparently had been going through more than a dry spell (no goals in 2 months), but lucky for me, they broke their spell on Saturday! The game concluded with a 2:2 tie and an almost-game-winning shot that bounced off the goal post with less than 2 minutes to go, but the fans were still thrilled. There was lots of singing, shouting, hugging strangers, and beer raining from the upper levels when Karlsruhe scored its first goal. I was still wiping dried-up beer off my face when the game ended.

I also got to see a good bit of Karlsruhe (a beautiful city, by the way), ate a delicious bratwurst-like sandwich, and really got to practice my German. There were definitely some fans shouting words and phrases that were not included in my textbook vocabulary...(ehem).

I now love Euro soccer and would love to do it again!! Fantastic experience!!

My parents are coming in just 6 days now, so I'll send out another update then!

Love to all,

Lizzie

Rachel, Rachel, and Fiona (all from my other study abroad home, the Nat'l University of Singapore) at our SE Asia night

Sandra (Uni Karlsruhe) and Dirk (Uni Heidelberg) before the game

Video of the awesome pre-game song: "Baden: Das schönste Land in Deutschlands Gau'n." Basically a bragging song about the greatness of Baden-Württemburg (the state that Karlsruhe and Heidelberg are in). The video isn't very good, but it's cool to listen.