Soccer Saturday

I am several days behind, so I will start with last Saturday and move forward from there.

It was a lovely, sunny day!  We were able to sleep until 8am (practically sleeping in these days).  Z's soccer practice started at 9am.  He seems to be enjoying soccer here, and thanks to rigorous training in the U.S., he is able to keep up with the German kids (all of whom are born with little soccer balls attached via a string to one of their ankles - the balls grow with the children).

After Z's practice, one of J's friends invited him over to play, and then to join him for soccer training (his friend's dad is the coach, so it was uncomplicated).  I talked to the dad briefly, to find out the plan.  He would drive over to the soccer place (he had to bring all the balls and other equipment), and J and his friend would walk.  "Uh... OK, I guess...", I said.  I made him take my cell number and then I made him call me, so I would have his.  He seemed to think this was silly...

Now, Z and I were left with several hours and a sunny day.  The woman we are renting the house from was having a birthday party in the evening, and I just happened to know her favorite shop was a little pottery store downtown.  We took the bus, which is much easier when you go with a kid who speaks German and takes the bus daily.

At the bus stop, we ran into none other than J and his friend.  The friend muttered something in German that sounded like "We don't know where the field is", and I said "WHAT?".  Z observed, "That doesn't sound good".  So, there they were, two seven-year-old kids with no idea where there were supposed to go.  I took out the phone and dialed the friend's dad.  I explained that I had both kids there at the bus stop, and they did not know which field to go to (there are about 10 places in the neighborhood where soccer training occurs).  The dad said, "In die grosse Halle", or "in the big hall", which is thankfully 1) where Z had been that morning and 2) straight down the block from the bus stop.  Crisis thereby averted, but I had to wonder, "What if I hadn't been standing at the bus stop?  Where would they have gone?".  I asked J later, and he just shrugged and said "I dunno".

Z and I were off to shop.  I forgot the directions at home, but as this is a common occurrence, I had committed them to memory, so we managed to find the place, buy a "Gutschein", and then had some time to walk through Kiel.

We passed by "Occupy Kiel", and I said, "I wish I had the camera!  Wait, maybe with my phone...".  Z, who has the very same phone said, "Mom, when you buy a phone for 5 Euro, it doesn't come with a camera".  Yes, the statement was accompanied by an eyeroll. Doh!  They have a lovely tent village set up, and they were busy grilling sausages for lunch as we passed.  Apparently, Kiel does not have an anti-tent ordinance.  Go 99%!

We arrived back at the bus stop just in time to find J and his friend coming back from soccer.  Whew.  I had been trying to figure out how to "check in" on him, without anyone knowing I was checking in...

Later in the evening, we went to the birthday party, where there were many friendly people (and I found an Australian.  Normally, I would not say we speak the same language, but...)  I hung out a bit with our 'house neighbors' (we live in a townhouse), and the kids ran off to play with matches or something.  All things considered, it went quite well.  It was my first social event in Germany without M.