Super Bowl 43

So the main reason we drove to Langen last weekend was to watch the Super Bowl and hang out with some of the guys from TV Langen basketball team whom we had met in November. It was a spur of the moment trip as we decided on the Thursday night that we were going to head up there after our game in Umkirch. Luckily we were able to get the car from the club after our game so we loaded it up with ridiculously amounts of clothing and bedding and headed up on the 2.5 hour drive.

After a very fun Saturday night we were ready to go on Sunday for the big game. Everyone woke up around 2pm and started drinking again. Keep in mind that the game didn’t start in Germany until midnight.....it was going to be a long day!! I decided instead of drinking to go for a running tour of Langen. It is a fairly small town of around 30 000 so what are the chances that I wouldn’t be able to figure out where I was going. While unfortunately they were pretty high!! I was able to successfully navigate over half of the town but when I got to the Banhof I got very lost. Luckily I kept running and came across a street that was actually one we were supposed to drive down the previous day but because we had gotten lost we took a different way into the city. I was very grateful to find this street as I was about 30 minutes into my run and was unsure of how much longer I was going to be able to run for and it was starting to rain heavily. So after 40 minutes I found my way back to the guy’s house on dieburger strasse! I was a happy girl to get back inside!!

It was then time to prepare the food for the game!! We provided a vegetable platter which I did all the chopping and assembly for and I helped prepare the devilled eggs Jeremy was making. But by far the best part of the food was the amazing chili that Jeremy made! He had to do some major improvisations in his recipe because of different food products that were available here in Germany and the size of his pot was rather small so it was hilarious to watch him stuff all the ingredients into the pot and praying each time that it wouldn’t overflow all over the stove!

Look for the pot on the right it was the perfect combination of spice, vegetables and pork fat!

Eventually the guests for the party began to trickle in and we started the night off with a few games of beer pong and flip cup. Again we dominated in flip cup beating the boys every time we played. Not bad for 4 girls!

Getting the beer's ready for flip cup

Michele and Brynn getting their game faces on for beer pong

Beer pong however was another story....we did end up getting a few victories but it took us a lot longer than was necessary but nevertheless we still won the majority of the games! As for the Super Bowl itself most people didn’t make it until 4am when the game finished. For the few who did it was a treat to watch as the last 5 minutes or so were the best 5 minutes of the game!

My favourite part of the entire weekend was the ride home. Michele had been doing most of the driving but was getting tired and needed a break so she enlisted my help with the driving duties. As I have written previously I just learned to drive manual about 3 months ago and have only practiced twice since the New Year. So this was going to be an adventure, especially since we were on the auto bahn and there is no speed limit! I managed to start and get going without stalling but we missed our exit and had to take a detour to get back on the right track. We seem to be pretty good at not making our exits but it always works out for the best. Once we were back on the auto bahn it was smooth sailing into Villingen! I was so excited that we made it home safe and sound while driving at a leisurely 160km/h. Maybe I’ll get to drive a bit more on our next trip!

Victory 12 in Umkirch

On Saturday night we drove through the black forest to play against a team who we beat 3-1 last time we played them, Umkirch. Probably the best part of the night was the drive to get to the game. Although Umkirch is only 80 or so kilometers from Villingen we had to drive through the heart of the Black Forest on smaller highways to get there. I was amazed at how much snow there was compared to where we are and compared to when we got to Umkirch. Throughout the mountains there was beautiful little town all having a gasthaus (local hotel), restaurant, tiny church and local store. There were so adorable and I can’t believe how many tiny towns there was on our drive. There was also many stops for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, something I would love to do while I am here!

Once we finally arrived in Umkirch it was time to prepare for the game. We arrived 2 hours early like normal and had some time to socialize with the girls whom we hadn’t seen in practice this week because of injuries, sickness or school. Now onto the match which would be another victory for our team in 3 sets. This time we didn’t allow them to get back into the game in the 3^rd set like we did in our first meeting.

Game one took us a little time to get comfortable. We struggled a bit in passing but we were still able to get side out conversions quite easily from our outside attackers. We eventually closed out the first game with a couple small serving runs winning the set 25-22.

The second game was a whole different story as we dominated this set from start to finish. We had an early serving run from one of our middle blockers Lisa. This gave us a comfortable lead that we just coasted on for the rest of our game. In this game our middle attack was very good as our two outside hitters weren’t able to convert on as many attacks easily like game 1. The final point ended on a setter dump by our 16 year old back up setter Ramona with the score being 25-13 in our favour.

The third game I finally got involved in the action offensively getting a few more opportunities to put the ball away. In the first 2 games I was mostly digging balls, blocking and serving well. It was also nice to get a chance to contribute offensively. We won the third game easily 25-17 to secure our 12^th victory of the season in just over an hour!

The four of us were very happy that the match ended so promptly as we were headed to Sebastian’s birthday near Frankfurt, but more importantly Super Bowl Weekend!! I have never seen 4 girls get ready so fast in my entire life. I’m talking shower, hair and makeup all in just over an hour. It was a good thing we were so prompt because we had a 2.5 hour drive to Langen before we could go out.

We arrived in Langen around 12:30 am about 15 minutes after I thought we would get there because of a little detour. What I’m trying to say is I got us lost by missing the exit but luckily I had been there a few times before and knew that there wasn’t just one way to get into the city! One we arrived at the guy’s basketball house we changed to head to the club in Darmstadt, a city about 15 kilometers away. Next time we take a cab I will remember to get the exact address of where we are going.

Michele and I in the cab

All we knew is that the party was at the Nacht Cafe, a place our cabby thought he knew......while he didn’t and we ended up taking a driving tour of Darmstadt costing us and extra 15 euro until he finally found the place and asked 5 or so random people on the side of the road if they knew where it was too!

Once we finally made it there Happy Birthday’s were exchanged with Sebastian on his 24^th birthday and we hit the dance floor like we normally do!!

Sebastian, Brandon and Kai

Janna, Brynn and Brandon dancing up a storm!

By far my favourite part of the night was when I first broke my camera and then lost it at the end of the night when I was getting everyone’s coats. All in all not one of my favourite nights so I was hoping the Super Bowl party would be better the next day!!