Sports - German style

Interest in sports here can be narrowed down pretty rapidly...it is all about the Fußball!  When we sport our Clemson orange during the week on the street, people assume we are fans of the Dutch national team.  If we attempt to explain about the joys of college football in the southern USA, well, let's just say we meet with a lot of blank stares!  


When we got here, I wasn't sure if Luke would pick basketball or soccer to play (no baseball really, and both sports are year-round commitments).  But I knew Silas would be ALL ABOUT THE SOCCER.  And he has been.  Luke stuck with soccer, too, because that is what most of the kids here play.  He went to the basketball activity for the first time this past week and was reminded why he liked it so much.  So I don't know how permanent his time with soccer is, but for now, we are all about the soccer, too!


I am posting my soccer shots and videos in this blog especially so the grandparents can see.  They are desperately missing going to baseball, soccer and basketball games.  So I wanted to give them a taste of it.  Also, there are some interesting ways they start and end matches here.  So even you, my average reader, may want to check that out!  Enjoy!

Luke is #5 in this picture.  They turn in their unis after every match to be washed.  They call it the kit.  Anyway, we moms take turns washing the kit after each game.  I haven't had my turn yet - I'm sure it is coming!

SOOOO close - but just didn't make it!

Corner Kick!

Fighting for it!

In the thick of it.

Post game cheer/yell.  See video below.

It was a little bright out there and the photographer told them to keep their eyes closed until he said to open them.

Silas on the throw-in.  He has 3 girls on his 12 and under team who are quite good!

Man on the run!

I think he looks really old in these pictures - where did my baby go??

Love the arm pushing!  Be aggressive!

They cheer like this before the match begins and after the match ends.  Silas's team is saying "ISD...LIONS! ISD...LIONS! ISD...LIONS!  The other team is speaking German, so I have no idea what they are saying!

Luke's team after the game - this was a friendly against the 8&under team.  Luke is on one of the 3 10&under teams the school has.  After their cheer above, the ISD team gathers in a circle and usually ends up dancing around and around in the circle.  It was shorter this day, but still cute.


Wow - 2 posts in 2 days!  That is something for me.  I guess I need to get back to all the things I am neglecting, like cleaning, laundry, calling the repair center.  (That last one I am dreading - they have had my dryer for a week, they only speak German, and we muddle through in person.  But on the phone??  So yes, I have been very German this week and line-drying all our clothes.  After they wash for 2 hours in the washing machine.  Can you say a little behind on the laundry?)

Some things I like...and a little Berlin

I thought I would start my series of things I like and don't like about Germany, just so you could get a taste of the differences between Deutschland and the USA.  True to form, I decided to start with the glass half full.  (I am writing this post just after learning of Clemson's loss to Georgia Tech, so I am in need of a glass half full!  Although, for the record, our season is already BETTER than I expected.  So, there's your glass half full for that!)  Things I like, in no particular order:


1.  Recycling system.  Sure, it's a pain to separate my trash into 5 different groups (compost, paper, plastic/green dot, trash, bottles for $$).  But we really have significantly less trash than in the States.  In addition, everyone here recycles those plastic bottles because they pay a deposit on them.  They have 2 kinds of plastic bottles - ones they reuse and wash (15 cents back) and ones they shred in these machines in the groceries stores (25 cents back).  Oh, and we haven't returned our glass bottles yet - but we get money back on those, too.  Let's face it, when you have paid that extra money, you are more likely to recycle to get it back.  Also, apparently, if you don't sort your house trash appropriately, they will let you know with a little pink slip and a fine eventually.  Money really is incentive at times to do the right thing.  


2.  Rule Following.  So, the Germans like to follow the rules.  They walk when the sign says to walk, they don't when it doesn't say it.  Even if no cars are coming.  They really yield to bicycles and pedestrians, they recycle appropriately, they don't cut in line (for the most part), etc.  This is mostly good.  If you know the rules, you know the expectations, and how to avoid being yelled at, doing the wrong thing, etc.  Most crime involves petty theft or graffiti (which, let's face it, is sometimes good art - so then it doesn't seem as bad - but still against the rules!)  However...(the remainder of this thought will fit more appropriately in what I don't like)


3.  No stores open on Sunday.  I thought I wouldn't like this.  How inconvenient, I need eggs!  Oh no, I don't have the appropriate stuff for Luke to finish his project - to Wal-Mart! Wait.  Turns out, if you plan well (for dinner on Sunday - whether that is eating out or cooking in), for school projects, for spontaneous baking, etc, it is nice to spend Sunday as a true Sabbath.  To really have nothing to do except attend services and AWANA, spend time with the family (no sports on Sunday, either, at least at the younger ages), chilling at home.  It is nice.  It is a day to breathe.  


4.  Public transportation.  It is actually easier to go into town via the tram than it is with the car and attempt to find parking.  And I like not driving and stressing out about parking here, or side-swiping the car (not that anything like that has happened yet, I mean, well, maybe) in the impossibly tiny parking spots.  And it is affordable.  YEAH!


5.  Bakeries.  Fresh yummy bread - sweet, savory, nutty, you name it, every day.  


I am stopping at 5, because I don't want this post to be all words.  But there are more thing I like (and of course, don't like).  I will share more at a later date.  On to the pictures!!

Fresh-squeezed orange juice stand in Berlin.  We stayed in what was formerly East Berlin.  Pretty cool.

Berliner Dom - held by a Protestant congregation at this time.

On the bus tour - they look thrilled. :)

Mesmerized.  He enjoyed listening to the tour in English.

Reichstag building.  The quote "Dem Deutscher Volke" means "to the German people" or "for the German people."  On this day, the German people were on the lawn, sprawled out, sunbathing, eating, making out, you name it.  

These are some of the "donut" choices at Dunkin' Donuts in Berlin.

Siegessäule - Berlin Victory Column
It has a pretty neat story, how each war added height to the column, the cannons are captured from the enemy, and how there are no cannons at the top portion - because they didn't win that war.  Hitler added the final column prematurely, confident of a victory.  The French wanted to destroy it (too many bad memories and wars lost - Franco-Prussian being one of them), but the British-American contention fought to keep it.  

Top of the Victory Column

Zechariah gives the organ grinder some coins.  They outlawed the use of real monkeys here, but Stuart says they have them in Prague!

So cute - both of them!

At the Brandenburg Gate.  Especially crowded this weekend because it was the weekend of the Day of German Unity Holiday.  It commemorates the anniversary of German Reunification that occurred in 1990.  Do you feel old yet?  I am older than the reunited country of Germany.

With the Original Tiger Rag

Zee is getting bored with the picture taking.

View of Berlin and the Reichstag from the Ferris Wheel.

Handsome men - everyone thought we were Dutch with all our orange!

Silas framed this shot with the Reichstag in the background while we were moving - nice work!

Per usual - hamming it up!

I have a LOT more pictures of Berlin, and of course, haven't even touched on Amsterdam, things I don't like, or our shiny red minivan!  But I will get to those soon enough!  By the time I have time for another post, we will be only a month away from seeing everyone in the States!  A definite cause for rejoicing!  :)

Sight-seeing in Germany

I know, I know.  Long time, no post.  But I have realized now what a commitment blogs are.  So thank you, thank you, to those of you I read regularly.  I recognize now what a a great deal it is to keep up with it.  How did I think I would have MORE time in Europe, a place I have never been and am eager to explore??  And where I have had a basement flood and not been able to be settled and moved in still?  And I still have 2 kids in soccer Mon-Thurs, with games on Saturday, church on Sunday followed by AWANA's on Sunday evenings?  Exactly.  But I LOVE staying in touch with people this way, so I have to assume my 14 or so followers have been awaiting and update. 
 ;-)  Not to mention the eager grandparents (who haven't learned how to follow anyone unless we are driving or in a line).  


We spent a weekend in September exploring our tiny neck of the woods.  We live in Wittlaer-Einbrungen, which is part of Düsseldorf.  But the kids attend school in the next tiny annexed town, called Kaiserswerth.  This town is full of history, of which I only know a small part.  But it has exchanged hands many times, and is located on the Rhein.  Thus it has its own castle ruins.  From the 1100's.  Quite frankly, this is the oldest man-made building I have ever seen.  And I love history, so I really enjoyed reading about this town moving from Spanish occupation, to Prussian, to French, back to Prussian, etc. 

 The ruins of the Kaiserswerth Castle.

 Silas looks out over the Rhein

 Here is the Wiki link if you want to learn the history of the castle.  Look via Google Chrome so it will translate it for you.

 Cobblestone street to the castle - for cars, cyclists, walkers, etc.

Our touring for the weekend continued that evening with a typical Biergarten dinner and a trip to the castle just across the street from that.  We visited Schloss Kalkum (Schloss is the German word for palace, manorhouse, chateau).  We just happened upon this pink moated castle after dinner exploring.  The grounds were very nice, and people were fishing in the moat!  

 Playground at the Biergarten for the kids.  Love eating outdoors when the weather is nice.

 Typical meal - Kartoffel (potato) and salmon.  More typical would be sausage, but the kids had that.

 Zee had chicken nuggets!

 Schloss Kalkum - moated and people fishing in it!  

Another bonus to this Saturday night - the next day was Germany's Heritage day, and all the castles in the country were open to the public.  So we made a plan to come back the next day and explore some more after church and before AWANA's.  It was actually a really great event.  They had a tent with games for the kids, also activities where the kids molded the official town emblems used by Kaiserswerth through the years out of melted wax.  One of the things I really appreciated about the grounds were the statues and other art on the grounds.  That seems to be pretty common to castles and just the country in general - public art, I mean.  And I love that.  Bravo to free public art!!

We enjoyed exploring our little section of town as a family.  It is amazing that we could bike or even walk to all of these places.  But I think all of our little corners of the world have spots like this.  I think my daily prayer is that I don't walk through life with blinders on, that I truly see what God has given us, gifted us with - what blessings flow.  I also have to pray against the urge to pull on my cranky pants (coffee helps with this!)  When I quiet my anxious, fretting spirit before the Lord, and allow His Spirit to move, to breathe life into me, it is amazing the stores of patience I have with the kids, with my circumstances, with my husband :) - it is supernatural.  And right along with that comes the ability to appreciate, to even LOVE what is around me.  People, places, time, situation.   

This is the day the Lord has made;  I will rejoice and be glad in it.  

 The view from my bedroom window on a beautiful, sunny morning.

A Day in the Life

So yes, finally getting around to this.  Except it is going to be a short post.  Because a day in our life is still so frantic and hectic, I don't have time for a long post.  I spend my mornings packing lunches, helping dress children, running to catch the tram, take them to school, come home, clean house for a bit and watch an episode of FNL! :), run to my language lesson, back to school, off to soccer practice, back home, run to the market, back to pick up at practice, back to cook dinner, showers, ready for bed, bed time stories and prayers, bed, a little me time, bed.  That is it in a nutshell.  SUPER similar to the states, except everything not involving school is in GERMAN.  :)  Tricky.  Here are some photos to do the talking for me!

The Hayes' town house

Fixing breakfast & lunches first thing in the morning.

Waking up Zee!

A little Netflix time before school for Luke.

Waiting on the tram.

Riding the tram.

International School of Düsseldorf - Elementary school side

This upside down cartwheeler is a symbol of Düsseldorf - this is in the school yard at ISD.  This cartwheeler incorporates the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate program.

To the Market for me - they have a 1 Euro spot at the local Real!

I will add some pictures from the soccer pitch today if I can snag some.  I haven't even gotten out my good camera, yet.  Although I do know where it is!  :)  Hope you all are having a most excellent day!  (okay - i just previewed this post - it is so boring.  But I am not changing it.  Because I don't have time.  I will attempt to make the next post more interesting.  But if I was going to be a really good, consistent, highly informed and entertaining blogger, I think I would need fewer kids.  Or maybe not learning a foreign language.  Or really, just not as spaced out all the time.  Or something.)

One of my dearest friends

       I know I said I hoped to cover a day in our life here in Düsseldorf in the next blog, but something has been consuming my thought life since we have arrived here.  And in the whirlwind of unpacking, getting organized, getting clean (nice to have a washer/dryer finally!), getting settled (still not finished with all of that, for sure), I have had little time to reflect on how I feel about it. 
        Most of you know about my dear sweet best friend from my Clemson days, Amy.  She passed away literally as I was on the plane heading over here.  (She had ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.)  So I was unable to mourn with her friends and family - really with anyone besides Stuart.  I have been so busy keeping a positive attitude for the kids, focusing on the good, etc., that any sorrow I feel I immediately squash.  I just have not allowed myself to really move through the grief.  So this blog post is really a way I have of acknowledging that grief, and recognizing that there has not been an hour since I have been here that I have not thought of her.  
         Stuart was the one who first hung out with her.  He knew we would hit it off, and hit it off we did.  Our first time hanging out together was actually going with Perry Noble to a home for pregnant teens.  I led the worship music, she sang with me, Perry spoke, and then we all hung out with the girls for a bit.  On the drive home, a song came on the radio - and she just started singing at the top of her lungs.  And I joined in - and that was it.  Have you ever had one of those moments when you just know, with every fiber in your being, you are going to really connect with this person?  Now, I am all about the work of friendship, too.  And to this day, some of my most valuable friendships are with women who I really had to work to get to know.  But it was never like that with Amy - there wasn't work.  We were just able to BE with each other.  

Here we are on a birthday trip to New York City, March 2009.

         We roomed together the next year at Clemson, we were in each other's weddings, we spent time at games together with our husbands, and we tried, every year, to get together on our birthdays (hers was March 31st, mine is April 2nd).  One year, on our birthday trip (which inevitably was a shopping excursion), she shared with me a concern about her hand and its function.  Sometimes a little knowledge is a scary thing, and my Masters in Rehabilitation gave me enough info to know that what she was showing me was serious.  At that time, I was already thinking something like ALS, but was praying with all fervor that it was not.  We were only 33 that year - much too young to be thinking about this.  But apparently not, and sickness and disease are still ravaging this world being redeemed, and we are not immune just because we hold to the Truth.
           Still, the beautiful way the Lord redeemed all of this was to give Amy a testimony, a message, a preaching and divining spiritual gift that she shared with countless others during this time.  She did not crawl under a rock, she did not ever give up the fight or the faith, although she most certainly embraced the arms of our Savior.  She rested in the Truth, and her unwavering knowledge that He was healing her, redeeming her, mind, spirit, soul, body at all moments, at all times.  And even now, I know He is about that work.

Clemson vs. Florida State, Fall 2009 (GREAT GAME!)

        So many things have happened since I have been here that I would love to call her about, to share with her.  But I cannot reach her here, in this earthly realm.  And that just makes me sad.  Really, really sad.  I miss her with an ache that is palpable.  It is time I acknowledge that, acknowledge that I will always miss her.  In time, I will learn to live around the hole that her absence creates.  But right now, I just truly need to grieve.  To cry a cathartic river of tears that will leave my face messy, but my heart unburdened.  She really was a special lady, a dear friend, and I am sorry I didn't get to say a real goodbye.   So I suppose this is the best way I know of saying it now.  I love you so much, Amy.  And I will miss you always.