Working at the Car Wash...

Not exactly what I had in mind for my 9 to 5 job four months after graduating from Davidson, but any job is a good job in this economy, right? The Diamonds offered and I accepted an opportunity to wash cars for a big Opel dealership to make some extra money. I've been there for two weeks now and have acquired all the necessary skills to make cars shine like they should.

A few pluses about this job:

1. They're new! I only wash brand new cars (on rare occasion I wash a rental). They come straight from the factory and we rip off the plastic, wipe it down with Windex, and spray a light coat of wax on it. These are how cars are supposed to look--every angle shines, no scratches, a pristine interior with that new car smell.

2. Driving. I park the cars after we finish. Ok, it's probably less than 100 yards and I rarely get out of first gear, but it's still fun to drive the new cars and rev the engine every now and then. Sometimes I get to drive a car with some muscle (see picture).

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3. Co-workers. My partner in tackling the new cars is Ahmed, a Muslim in his early 60's originally from Pakistan and one of the most interesting men I've met in Germany. Besides being an absolute pro at shining cars, he also speaks several languages (including English), is devoutly faithful to his religion, and holds some interesting, sometimes crazy opinions about American politics. We have covered the spectrum of conversation. My favorites have been hearing his objections to the Christian faith and his trouble expressing his own in Germany.

You might think I would never want to leave this job, but you'd be wrong. I have an interview at the Berlitz language school this Wednesday for a teaching position so you can pray this goes well. The car wash is ok, but I'd love to interact more with people and use my English degree.

Yesterday I drove to Frankfurt to watch a Fußball-Spiel (soccer match) with another co-worker, Leelan. Frankfurt has a decent team in Germany's first division and 45,000 very serious fans that were ready to go. My favorite part of experience was seeing the cage they put the crazy fans into. Seriously, the loudest, wildest fans all go inside a fenced in area with probably a dozen security officers who separate them from the field. When a goal scores, the fans scale the fence, shaking it and yelling. I also realized that the stadium never stops singing the whole game. The crowd utters something that fluctuates between song and chant for all 90 minutes. I love it!

Today was our first live scrimmage and although our opponents backed out, we had a very productive innersquad practice. The offense ran over 90 plays and started showing signs of becoming a very capable unit. I'm feeling more comfortable with the starting eleven and the top several receivers. The best part about it for me though, was speaking the only language I know over here. For a few hours every week, I play football. This is a game I know well and I speak its language fluently. Those few hours of familiarity feel very much like home.

God bless!