A Weekend of Fun in the Sun

April and I had yet another action-packed weekend! This weekend was Bürgerfest in Bayreuth – meaning a festival for the people – NOT a party for hamburgers (as we wrongly thought). We walked around town and enjoyed the music and other festivities. I have never seen so many people out in Bayreuth at once!

A girl that I work with named Connie told me that her soccer team was having a tournament on Fourth of July in a town calledRegensburg. She asked me and April if we would like to play and I, of course, said yes. So, at 8:45am on Saturday morning, I rode my bike to the Geo building, where everyone on the team was gathered. They had rented a red university van, and we all threw our bags into the back.

The drive to Regensburg was about two hours, and we arrived by 10:00am. The tournament was sponsored by a network called Elite, and all the teams participating were different departments from various universities in Bavaria. My team was Global Change Ecology (GCE) from Uni Bayreuth. The winner of last year’s tournament was Uni Regensburg, and this is the reason that they were hosting the tournament.

The whole tournament was beautifully organized. There were three soccer fields, and each team played with seven players (plus substitutes). Our team wore navy blue shirts that read “350 ppm” and “Global Change Ecology.” (The number 350 represents the ideal carbon emissions level. Right now, scientists estimate that the number is about 389 ppm, so to reduce global warming, we need to cut down on our carbon emissions!) The back of our shirts said “Komm in die Gänge!” or “Get in the Game!”

In total, we played three games, and we were the only team out of twelve that was made up of mostly girls. In between games, we snacked on soft pretzels (so Bavarian!) and bottled water (with gas). It was fun to meet some of the other players! After our three games were over, we joined up with some of them and had one giant friendly soccer match.

When it came time for the awards, we may not have won the first place trophy, but we did win the award for the “Team with the Best Spirit.” Along with a certificate, we were given two bottles of champagne! Spirits for having spirit! Everyone also received a brown polo shirt with the name of the tournament on the back.

Following the tournament was a large barbeque. I ate bratwurst with bread and potato salad. The food was incredibly Bavarian and incredibly delicious. After dinner, my team set up our camp site (we had decided to camp at Uni Regensburg overnight). In all, there were six tents and plenty of sleeping bags. Some players from other teams also joined us.

As it was only 8:00pm, some of my teammates and I decided to explore Regensburg. We walked to the town center, which was full of people. We sat on the edge of the Danube River for a good hour just talking and watching the moon come out. The scenery was breathtaking, and the flow of the river made everything seem so peaceful. Continuing on our walk, we found the Dom, which was the main church of Regensburg. The church was having a light show, and huge colorful lights lit up specific parts of the outer part of the church as a voice on a loudspeaker narrated the history of how the church was built; it took six hundred years to complete! The colorful lights were reminiscent of the fireworks that I would (unfortunately) not be seeing on this Fourth of July. I even tried some of the Radler, which is a mixture of beer and lemonade.

We all got back to our camping site around midnight. Instead of going right to sleep, we sat and talked. Fortunately for me and April, everyone was gracious enough to speak in English. We finally ended up going to bed around 2:00am.

The next morning, we got coffee and ate some breakfast. By noon, we had packed up all of the tents and loaded the van. We arrived back at Uni Bayreuth around 2:00pm, and everyone was exhausted from all of the excitement of the previous day. I had such a great time. Never had I imagined that I would have the chance to play in a soccer tournament in Germany. After the tournament was over, one of the players from another team came over to me and April and told us that he had never seen girls play soccer so well – what a compliment!

Later in the afternoon, April and I went swimming with some of our friends in Kreuzsteinbad. We went in the wave pool and down the water slide and then sunbathed for a little while.

After dinner, we went to church with our Italian friends, Katia and Valentina. Even though the mass was in German, I was able to understand a fair amount of it. The church itself is beautiful, and the organ sounds wonderful.

Overall, my time here in Germany is flying by. I am just about at the halfway point of my stay, and I feel as though I have so much to do in so little time! Tomorrow, April and I will depart for Heidelberg, and we cannot be more excited to meet the other RISE participants. Heidelberg – here we come!