(Over) Half Way Home

I glanced at the calendar yesterday, and realized that I am well past the half way point of my trip. Ten weeks in the bag with about seven to go. For the first time, I'm starting to feel a little stressed. Class is beginning to bear down on me, and every Euro is becoming well analyzed before it is spent.

Still, the weather in Cologne has been fabulous. Mother Nature has finally given us a bit of a rest with the rain, although it still manages to pour now and then. For example, on Saturday I spent the entire day lounging in my flat. The ten minutes I stepped outside to buy food from the supermarket, it decided to pour. I was left defenseless, wearing flip flops and sans an umbrella.

I've been longing over the past couple weeks to sit on a couch and watch an American sporting event. I missed the hockey playoffs, and the Twins are limping through the regular season without my support. All I have is my computer and the crappy highlights on ESPN.com.

I've found that I've resorted to soccer or Fussball as it is called here. Actually, soccer is quite fun to watch in Europe. Since the sport is so popular, the athletes are much better then what we see in the states. The game moves a lot quicker, and it is exciting to watch. Also, the fans get into it, which makes any event a whole lot better. Even for games that don't involve German teams, the bars are packed, and people go crazy.

The Euro Cup just started yesterday. It's a tournament that occurs every four years (like the Olympics or World Cup). It involves only European teams, and is a much anticipated event throughout Europe. For the last week, people have draped German flags over just about anything you can think of, which is fun to see as you rarely see the German flag waving in this country.

Germany's first game is tonight, and as I took an afternoon stroll around town, I saw groups of people here and there dressed up in black, red, and gold, singing songs and leading cheers. If you travel to Germany, you'll find that to be commonplace. People are always walking around singing, chanting, and cheering on game days. It could be the local club team in last place, it doesn't matter.

I'm looking forward to watching the game, although I have a feeling it could be a little bit of a mad house. They are opening up the local arena and showing it on the big screen for free. We are heading to one of the main drags though to catch the game in a bar. If yesterday's match between Turkey and Portugal is any indication of what the crowd is going to be like, we better get there early, or else there won't be a seat available from here to Berlin!