Advice of the Day: Speak before you think.

This come from Professor Salzmann, who is in charge of the international student exchange here at Oberursel. I met him for the first time today and had a nice but short conversation with him after chapel. He encouraged me to always speak in German with those around me (which I do) and to speak before I think; otherwise I'll get bogged down in trying to form my sentences grammatically correct and never actually get to say them, which I've caught myself doing from time to time.

So far it's been wonderful here at Oberursel. I'm not doing as much sight-seeing as I did in Berlin, but I'm also making more friends and spending time with them, playing soccer and volleyball, as well as drinking beer and talking. I've only made it to Frankfurt once, but I hope to visit more this weekend, and maybe see a museum or two. Mathias Hohls, a former exchange student to CTS, told me about a museum that has some ancient papyri of the Bible. And I also see an Icon Museum that would be interesting to visit.

But yeah, I've come to the realization that I'm probably the worst player on the soccer field, though I can run, and have scored one or two goals by happenstance, mostly by being in the right place at the right time, which, you may argue, is a large part of playing soccer. I would agree. Basketball is where I dominate; we've only played once, but it's pretty obvious that I know where to go and how to dribble and how to get by someone (including dribbling the ball through someone's legs to get past them).

In local soccer news, Germany plays Ireland this Friday in a highly anticipated match; there's going to be a gathering on campus to watch Germany cruise to an easy victory. Also, I learned last week what the Champion's League is; apparently the best soccer teams from Europe play throughout the year in different groups, the top two of each group advancing to a 16-team tournament. The two German teams are Borussia Dortmund (who most recently tied against Manchester City FC) and FC Schalke 04 (who tied with Montpellier Herault SC). Both teams were leading late until the last 10 minutes or so of each game, when they were tied. So, Germans weren't too pleased about either game.

It's been a good time here so far. Classes don't start until the 23rd (another 2 weeks!), but I continue to work on German and put it into practice. I might sit in on the Greek class, since I know Greek better than German. But for now, Tschüss!

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