London's Calling

The 3 week winter break for football in Germany has arrived. We trained with Schalke on Monday and Tuesday, but now we are off to London for the holidays. Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary Poppins... LONDON. We will be staying with friends of Andrew in Highbury London, a 4 minute's walk from the Arsenal stadium. Come on, you Reds!

Weihnachtsmarkt ('Vye-nox-markt')

They have the feel of a flea market with a variety of booths selling small goods. But with the added bonus of traditional Christmas foods from Germany, Holland, and France. Every German city has their own Christmas market and typically the bigger the city, the better the market. People seem to like Weihnachtsmarkt over here because it's the one place Germans are friendly and outgoing.


They have these big chocolate hearts with love messages on them that seem a bit out of place without Valentines day...


But not so much out of place than this guy I found at a tent selling french fries and corn dogs. Creepy, right?


And you can buy this stuff called Glühwein which is kinda like warm sangria. But a little better.


They sell the wine in these little boot mugs labeled with which city they are from.


Here is me with Andrew and the Dutch kids that have British accents in front of a tree of lights (L to R: Jovanna, Janiero, and Jazz).


We really liked the tree...


We also caught a live performance by the choir. Not too shabby, for German eunuchs.

High Fives and Stage Dives

Andrew's cousin is the lead singer in a pseudo-metal-core-christian-screamo band from the States called Bless the Fall. Tonight, we headed up to Cologne to watch them play. Despite the large amount of tats and eyeliner and facial accessories these guys were really polite and welcoming.


We got to hang out with the guys before the show, watch them do a sound check, and see them warm up back stage (which was basically a small dungeon that reeked of BO). When the show began we stood on the back of the stage and witnessed the mayhem. They played a game called high fives and stage dives where the member of the audience who could come on stage, give a high five to the tour manager, and then stage dive the most amount of times won a free band tee shirt. Pretty funny.

Archived Quote

Hey, let's cross the sea
and get some culture.
Red wine with every meal
and absinthe after dinner.

-Minus the Bear, "Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse"

[art by Broken Crow]

Der Schloss

The apartment we are staying in has an awesome view of a mansion from 18th century called The Schloss. The mansion consists 3 stately buildings which present themselves like life-sized doll houses.


Back in the day, it belonged to German Prince and the Schloss supposedly hosted Napoleon at one point. But this was during the 7 Year's War and I don't think he and his troops were welcome guests (I have done my homework).


Behind the main building is a hunting ground with some rare shrubberies.


The property ends at the Rhein, a large river that cuts through Europe North-South. Not bad, Benrath. Not bad at all.

More Schalke, Less Talke

I am back training with Schalke II, not a bad fall back. German football is known for taking 5 weeks off in the middle of the season, but with the World Cup this summer the time off has been cut down to 3 weeks. With the winter break approaching, I plan train at Schalke for the rest of the week and then head to London for Christmas and New Years.

Archived Quote

"Do what you were born to do."
-Hr. William Garza

My Day in the Swiss Super League

After frühstück (breakfast) next morning, the rep drove me to the training grounds and I saw that the pitch was blanketed in snow (nothing new for the club and something I expected). Despite the conditions, my test went by smoothly. I was formerly introduced to the team by the trainer, Rolf Fringer (I have to admit I didn't know much about him until I wikipedia'd his name). We headed out to an artificial grass field, warmed up, played 9v9, then cooled down. A pretty standard training session.

Mr. Fringer spoke to me after the session and told me that I possessed all of the tools to be a great player, and that he expected to see me in the top league in the next 1-2 years. At the moment, though, I needed some more experience because I still had some tendencies of a college player. Given one day of training and an unsettled performance, I thought this was a fair assessment. I appreciated this feedback from Lucerne, and I realize that the trainer's evaluation carries weight and can help me find a team elsewhere - Switzerland, Germany or Bahrain.

I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity, if only for one day. I have seen a new level that I am confident I can excel at. And now, I know a little bit more about what I need to be (and show) to be a "complete" player. Experience is what you get..., right?

I write to you from pizza shop in Lucerne, on internet that is costing me 5 francs (5 USD) every 30 minutes, waiting for word of my next move. Until then, my friends.

Off to Switzerland

I arrived in Switzerland early, a new experience for me. For those of you who aren't familiar with 'Kyle Time' it is common for me to seem as if I'm in another time zone (and sometimes on another planet). Anywho, I arrived in Luzern by train and listening to Beirut's Gulag Orkestar (no worries if you are unfamiliar with this one, there is a brief introductory course above).

At the station I changed all the euros in my pocket to Francs -- they are sort of like the Disney Dollars of Europe. I was picked up at the train station by a representative from the Lucerne (or Luzern in German). I learned from him that my trial had only been set for a single day. I was a bit surprised when I heard this because a typical trial lasts for about 6 weeks. This is when I realized that I was being assessed by Luzern and not being assessed for Luzern. Of course, anything is possible, but the odds are not in a player's favor when he has only one training session to prove himself.

Either way, big up to Luzern for making me feel comfortable in a strange, new land. The team rep gave me a tour of the city, then took me to a local restaurant. I met the chef, a supporter of the club, and he asked me what I wanted. I told him that I would eat anything he made. The rep left me in the restaurant to eat alone and it got a bit awkward between courses. So, I used my best broken German to have a conversation with the waitress. The food was amazing. I thanked the chef and the rep took me back to the hotel. I got back to my room with a stomach full of pasta and slept with anticipation of the training in the morning.

Schalke II ("Shall-kah S-vai")

(Andrew took this picture of me in the dressing room before the rest of the team arrived. We would have got a proper one of us in Schalke gear but we didn't want to seem like rookies this early in the game.)

We spent Monday and Tuesday training with the reserves of Schalke 04. The level was not as high as I expected, so I went in there and did my business. After the second day the coach talked to us in his office. This in and of itself is a big thing because a coach can just as easily give a euphemistic excuse on the training pitch like "thanks for coming, but: we are only looking for a forward and keeper, the club doesn't have enough money right now, it will be too difficult to get a working visa for you..." We received positive feedback from the Trainer (Germans call their Coaches 'Trainers') and he invited us back to for their next training session. We were both happy to know that we had done enough during our 2 days that the door to Schalke was still open.

Have you ever had a day that was already going well and then something happened to push it over the top? Well that happened to me when I went to the local Turkish internet cafe to tell my managers and parents about the news from Schalke. I found an email in my inbox that I had a trial in Switzerland and that I was to leave immediately. This new opportunity is something I can not pass up, even for additional trainings with the Schalke reserves (now if it was with the Schalke first team, my decision would be difficult). I must excuse myself now because I need to find a plane flight before I run out of money at the internet shop - credit, check, and money orders not accepted.

Do-sell-dorf

At the end of the week of training with F-S-Fow, the coach felt we had done well and we were welcomed to keep training with the reserves. Unfortunately, since it was only training that was offered and not a contract we headed to the north west in search of something more permanent.


(Andrew is trying to get us the Man U-Tottenham Carling Cup semi-final on the tele - with no success.)

For the past 3 nights I have been staying in Duesseldorf with friends of Andrew's - A Dutch pastor, his wife, their 3 children, and 2-4 family friends (depending on the night). The house had the feel of the backpacker's hostel in Nuremberg because of the mixture of the people (5 Dutch, 1 Pole, 2 Brits, 1 German, 3 Americans).

As you probably already guessed the Pastor's family was very welcoming. Within 30 minutes of arriving the kids were already comfortable enough to start rough housing with Andrew and I. The kids (5,7, and 9) spent most of their lives in the UK and were already fluent in British, Dutch, and German. (On a side note, my kids will have an English accent and speak 3 languages. Minimum.)

Archived Quote of the Day

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. It is the doer that makes mistakes.
- John Wooden

It's pronounced 'F-S-Fow'

So, I have spent the last week training with the Frankfurt FSV reserves. The level was not all that great, and the weather was even worse. All of the training sessions were accompanied with heavy wind and rain. Despite the conditions, it was sweet being out there.

I didn't have my best start the first session, but I settled in and played better with each new session. I can't really afford to do this, because to make it over here as an American you must show that you are 2x as good as the players they have to warrant being picked up. Either way it felt good to be training with a team again.


Since we were training with the club we came up on some courtside tickets for the 1st team's match that Saturday against Hansa Rostock. The Hansa fans were nuts (see above video) - they took up only a corner of the stadium, but they dominated everything within earshot. After watching a few games in Germany at different levels I am still unable to figure something out. How is it that the quality of training can seem so high and yet when these teams get on the field the level is terrible? It's like everyone crapped their pants and can't play when the whistle is blown. German games often come down to a defensive battle.

I am staying at my buddy's place again in Freebird. He spent all day today (Saturday) cooking a massive Thanksgiving spread. It turned out awesome. I am pretty fortunate to be able to spend the holiday with some good company.

I get by with a little help from my friends

A few days after my last post in Freebird (Friedberg) I came back to the states. After a 3 week stint with the Earthquakes, 4 weeks of solid training in Santa Barbara, 1 fly fishing trip (zero fly fish caught), 2 new parents, 5 new friends (and countless old ones), 2 Halloweens, 3 birthday dinners, and an early Thanksgiving, I came to the following realization:

I have awesome friends and an amazing family. Without you guys I would not be able to have the opportunities and the life that I have. Thank you for all the love and support.

Anyhow, I am back in Germany to play and ready to crush it. Stay tuned, there is more to come.

Archived Quote of the Month

I think the real world is what people call giving up on their dream(s). But I can't be sure.

e.g. "Kyle is avoiding the real world for as long as possible."

Milosh

I know how this guy feels.

Friedberg, not Free Bird

The transfer window closed without any success. The plan now is to train here until the transfer window re-opens on November 31. I will be staying in Friedberg (Hessen, not Bavaria) with one of my closest friends Billy G (see above pic; taken in Frankfurt) and his girl. He has been living here for just over a year and they have been cool enough to let me stay with them. Ideally, I will find a local team to train with consistently and then go on trials or probe ("pro-ba") trainings with various clubs across Germany. Probe translates to 'rehearsal' and I am told it is common for even the most ingrained player (i.e. a captain) in a club to probe train with a different clubs during a season.


In the meantime, Billy has been training with me at the local training grounds (background of picture). I think they are in the 9th division (but of course, the facilities are still ridiculous). Things change pretty quickly over here, so don't be too surprised if I am on a plane to Bahrain for an opportunity with Al-Muharraq in my next post.