This is my third day in Griesheim, Germany, a small town a few miles west of Darmstadt. My host family, the Gade's, live in a tidy four-story home connected to a string of homes on either side. My teammate, Nico, lives on the same floor as me. Andrea and Matthius live above us in the master bedroom. Thankfully, the family speaks wonderful English and go out of their way to include me in conversation.
I arrived here around noon on Tuesday and found out immediately, that we had practice that evening. After unpacking and taking a quick nap, I drove to the practice field with three other teammates.
We arrived at the field around 7:40 for an 8:00 practice. It was already dark and the Junior team was finishing up. One of the guys pointed to an abandoned set of shoulder pads and helmet for me sitting in the middle of the small locker room. The helmet doesn't really fit, but the shoulder pads and red jersey feel familiar.
When I got to the field, the head coach handed me the install sheet for that day. It diagramed the four passing plays that we were putting in that night. I thanked him and without instruction, he took off towards the defense. The receivers, running backs and a handful of lineman loosely gathered around me and looked to me like they expected me to start practice. "Ummm, alright" I said, "I guess let's run through them?" So I pretended like I knew what I was doing and started calling plays, lining people up, and barking signals at the line. Before long, we had a nice rhythm working through the four plays with the first and second offenses.
As you can see, the program is a bit unorganized, but the team seems full of great guys. I have no doubt that great friendships will result because of this trip. Besides the jetlag I was fighting all evening, the rest of practice went well.
After practice, the team manager gave me a cell phone, television, and keys to the car I'll use while I'm here. It's the smallest car I've ever seen in my life. I love it. I've posted a picture of it.
Days will be slow before I start my job next week. I'll wash cars for a local dealership. If they're all as small as mine, it should be easy work.
Take care and God bless!
Ryan
I arrived here around noon on Tuesday and found out immediately, that we had practice that evening. After unpacking and taking a quick nap, I drove to the practice field with three other teammates.
We arrived at the field around 7:40 for an 8:00 practice. It was already dark and the Junior team was finishing up. One of the guys pointed to an abandoned set of shoulder pads and helmet for me sitting in the middle of the small locker room. The helmet doesn't really fit, but the shoulder pads and red jersey feel familiar.
When I got to the field, the head coach handed me the install sheet for that day. It diagramed the four passing plays that we were putting in that night. I thanked him and without instruction, he took off towards the defense. The receivers, running backs and a handful of lineman loosely gathered around me and looked to me like they expected me to start practice. "Ummm, alright" I said, "I guess let's run through them?" So I pretended like I knew what I was doing and started calling plays, lining people up, and barking signals at the line. Before long, we had a nice rhythm working through the four plays with the first and second offenses.
As you can see, the program is a bit unorganized, but the team seems full of great guys. I have no doubt that great friendships will result because of this trip. Besides the jetlag I was fighting all evening, the rest of practice went well.
After practice, the team manager gave me a cell phone, television, and keys to the car I'll use while I'm here. It's the smallest car I've ever seen in my life. I love it. I've posted a picture of it.
Days will be slow before I start my job next week. I'll wash cars for a local dealership. If they're all as small as mine, it should be easy work.
Take care and God bless!
Ryan
I feel for you buddy...I'm driving a Prius...we should start a club.
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