Coming Home for the Holidays!!!!

Last time most of you heard from me I was in the process of getting my players card and I would probably be playing by now, right???? Well I ran into MORE technical difficulties......you see my card came, but since I played in a league in america (the NPSL in San Jose) less than 6 months ago, I have to wait until January 1st 2009 to play (who would'a thunk it would be so hard to get eligible to play amateur soccer...hehe). The real bummer is if I would have gotten my application into the German Soccer Federation two weeks earlier, I would be eligible to play. Yeah....I Know Right.....It Really Sucks!!! But at least I am going to be 100% eligible to play for the second half of the season. So between now and then I am going to continue to work my booty off.....continue to get into better shape.....and make sure they have no excuse not to play me when the time comes. I have been training 4 times a week with the team here, and am really feeling like I am a part of the team now, and am playing well with them, so I really cannot wait to play with these guys. It has been a lot of fun to this point even considering the fact I am not playing, but shoot the experience has been absolutely priceless and I have learned and actually accomplished quite a lot to this point.

-I have my German Player's Card

-I got my German Residency

-I am eligible to work here in Germany

-Learned a lot of German, yet I am still far from fluent though

-Experienced the Ultimate Beer Fest (Oktoberfest..haha..I sure non of you knew what I meant)

-Have become a DIEHARD Bayern Munich Fan

-Learned that a Weisen just may be the best beer in the World, of course, my Black Butte Porter from the Deschutes Brewery is a close second!!!!

So yeah I really can't complaign, life here has been a pretty sweet experience!!!!!

As for my current financial situation.....AHHHH.......I AM OUT OF MONEY. I have been working at Burger King now for about a month ....WOOOHOOO...... so much fun!!! But they just have not been able to give me very many hours (McDonalds is kind of pushing Burger King out of business here, so they are not busy at all), and nothing else is looking very promising right now in terms of a second job or a better job. So I think I am going to take my chances with the economy and come home for about 2 months and try to find work there. Back home I know a lot more people that might be able to help me find something temporary and with the holidays a lot of the stores are hiring on extra help too. So we will see.......I just think I will have a better chance to make more money at home than here, plus I will be home for my B-day (Nov. 17...I expect a gift from all of you...hehe) and the Holidays......and I really love Central Oregon this time of Year. 

So the plan is I will be home for a little more than 2 months. I will be flying home the 12th of November and then will head back January 20th to begin training again and then season starts up again at the beginning of March. And it is going to be all out from that point on......I have 12 games to prove myself and hopefully get some looks to play at the professional level next year. 

The DREAM is still alive and that is all I can ask for. Nobody said it would be easy and I sure have had to persevere to make it this far, and will certainly have to continue to find strength and guidance from the lord over the next 6 months. I know that if it is meant to be and it is the Lord's Will, the doors will open up. Which is a really comforting thought, makes it easy to relax and not stress about everything.

I miss all of you and can't wait to get home and see everyone. Hope this finds everyone doing well. Take care and God Bless.

OKTOBERFEST!!!!!!!!! Picture Diary.....:)

OK I know everyone knows the stories and I am sure many of you have seen the movie "Beer Fest" but let me tell you there is know way you can have any IDEA how huge Oktoberfest is until you see it for yourself in Person. Wow....it has certainly got to be the only place that you will find upwards of 100,000 people drinking and partying at 11am. Wow....and these are pictures from only one day of Oktoberfest....it is 3 weeks long and everyday is as big as the next. And to make it even better I went to a Bayern Munich game that night, and it was not just any Bayern Munich game is was a German DFB Cup Derby, with their closest rival, FC Nurnberg...one of the biggest games of the year!!!!! My day began at 8am and ended at 3am the next morning.....to say the least I was exhausted. But boy it was worth it!!!!! I tried to find the best pics to highlight everything from the day for you, but like I said...if you like what you see, pictures just do not do it justice...........

.....click on the pic to see it larger.....


Bus To Munich....Note this is the bus that drives the team I play for.....FC Eintracht Bamberg....REPRESENT!!!!

Here we are at the stadium....10am ready to head to oktoberfest!!!!!

We are here....the entrance to the Beer Drinkers Paradise....huh....looks like a Giant Carnival....

Outside the first tent....ok....they are not exactly tents....well the tops look like tents, so I guess it is not totally a lie....but the call them tents none the less....haha

This is inside the first Tent.....yeah this is 11am in the morning....so where are we going to find a seat????

Our first "Mas" that is the only size you can order if you want beer here....haha....That is a Full Liter of BEER!!!!!!

The Haufbrahouse Tent!!!!! Didnt make it in but notice the crowd of people outside...and you cant find a seat inside the tents....there are about 20 of them all seating 5,000 to 10,000 people....You do the math but that is a lot of people....

Inside the Second Tent.............

DINNER TIME......Not even a joke this is all I ate since breakfast....but they have a saying here...."7 beers 1 snitchel now its time to drink".....you see 7 beers have the equivalent nutritional value of 1 snitchel (basically a breaded pork chop) so I guess this is all I needed with all the beer I was drinking....Right????

Hat Lady.....she actually sold hats.....haha.....but her hat was definitely cooler than any she was selling....haha.

Alright.....enough drinking!!!!! Let's go to the Game!!!!! HAHAHA.........Look at my new hat.....:)

Pretty Sweet View huh.....there are not to many things more beautiful than this.....

Wow!!!!!!! I love Germany!!!!!

Good Seats Huh?????? Is that a beautiful sight or what....I would die a happy man just getting to warm up on a pitch like that.....:)

Hahahahaha......NOPE......Actually these are my seats.....well I was not sitting in them though.....boy it doesnt get any better than this....next step would be to be playing out there.

Sold Out......65,000 Strong......boy it was loud!!!

This video is just a taste......and it teaches one of the million chants they have for the team....keep in mind this crowd was not silent for almost 3 hours.......Boy it was intense.......

I can't get over this....these guys are the best in the world!!!!!! (well one of the best in the world) I wouldnt want to affend anyone....heheheh

This is a clip of the game.....from my cell phone mind you.....I really was this close......Still totally pumped.....can't wait till the next game!!!!!!

Luca Toni!!!!!!!!!

2-0 Bayern Munchin........

Well wow I have to say that was def an experience of a lifetime.....could not do that every day.....but I am looking forward to my next Oktoberfest experience.....this definitely will not be the last!!!!!!!!!!!

Take care everyone there is more to come............

The Chase Continues

Shoot I think it has been about 3 weeks since I touched base with everyone last. Wow I still can't believe the time is going by so fast. So I have been here for 5 weeks now, but it honestly feels like it has been so much longer though. 

Well things have been going good, I am chasing my dream....and The Chase Continues....So I cant complain!!! The past couple of weeks I have been trying to pull everything together here to get my residency, well I finally got it....Yaaaaaahhhh!!!!! So now pending the reciept of my players card this next week, I should be 100% eligible to play next weekend. So I am totally stoked for that. 

Boy that was a process though and with all the ups and downs and the language barrier it is a bit frustrating at times. Those of you that know me well might know this but when it comes to anything I am doing I get quite frustrated when things don't go perfectly the way I had planned. Something that I think has been a bit of a crutch of mine that I have been really working on over the past few years of my life. I need to get better at just "letting go, and letting God", like my mother always says to me (I Love You Mom). I mean I knew in the back of my mind that all of this might take time to get rolling but I get my hopes up, and when things don't work out right away I getting frustrated. But the bottom line is now I have my residency and now I finally get to see how I hold up playing soccer here in germany. 

Now here is how it is going work. The team I will be playing with is a 6th division ameuture/semi-pro team, if I do well I might get a little money here and there, but nothing is guaranteed. But the goal is to make the starting 11 by the end of the first half of the season, which ends October 31. The second half of the season I would be looking to get some looks by the 1st team, which is in the 4th division here, where I would be guaranteed a bit more money on the starting 11. But this level is still not professional, they are one step below, 3rd division here in Germany is the first professional level which is my ultimate goal here. So it is just a ladder and if I do well and am consistent in my play I will move up. 

Along the way I my have the opportunity to try out for a couple professional teams in both Sweden and possibly Denmark (they are pending right now). And during the winter offseason, I am trying to get in the "professional combine" in florida, with which will get me many looks from pro teams in the states and in Europe. 

So it is SOCCER SOCCER SOCCER for the next few month (well I am hoping the next couple of years), but I do have to make money, not alot but some to pay the few bill I have here and back in the states (Damn Student Loans). So keep in mind the options are a bit limited here since my German is not very good, but i may be working at Burger King here...haha....yeah I never thought I would be saying that but money is money right, and I have a few other things pending but this is the first thing that came up. So as long as I pass the training I will  also probably be starting that this week as well. 

So that is my life right now.....very unpredictable right now, but I cannot remember the last time my life was anything but.....so I am happy and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me next. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I will take any extra help I can get over here.........:)

Take care and I hope all is well for all of you......

Soccer Update......

Well last time many of you have heard from me, I was getting ready to sign with the reserve team here in Bamberg. Well although my performance has be plenty good enough I found out the day I was supposed to sign that I have to obtain my German residency first, the equivilence of a green card in the US. So that was a bit of a downer. In the past week I have gottin everything together, and have a job lined up and pending approval of the German governement I should be eligible to play in a few weeks to a month. Which for me is much to long, I am here to play soccer and I know that I am capable at playing at a high level here. But patience is a virtue right? Well I hope so, cause I am keeping my cool, well trying to, things do get a bit frustrating when dealing with a new government, and I do not speak the native language so that certainly makes things tuff, but I do believe that everything will work out the way the Lord has planned for me, and if that has me playing soccer here, everything will work out smoothly, if not, you all might be seeing me again a bit sooner that you might have expected. Anyway, of course I will keep the updates coming......ciao.

Sandkerwa 2008!!!!!!

Well here it goes this is my first blogging experience, but hopefully I will keep it all interesting enough to keep you all coming back for more.......:)

Anyway, I have been here in Germany for 3 weeks now and the time here has just flown by. I am currently still training with the reserve team/2nd team here in bamberg, (the team name is FC Eintracht Bamberg you can google it if you want to follow the team). I have been doing well with the team in practice and was going to be signing with them last Wednesday but it turns out I need to have my residency here in Germany first. So that means I have to find a job, which was the plan but I did not know not having one yet would prevent me from playing, but now that is my priority. It only has to be part time, maybe one or 2 days a week, so hopefully something will open up soon and I will be playing in a month or so.

Along with that life here has been great. There is so much history, tradition and culture here there is so much to see, do and learn here. And learning a new language has got to be one of the most challenging things a person can do....what a humbling experience it has been so far.... it seems to be coming along alright. I Think in a couple of months I will be doing a lot better. And all the people I have met have been eager to help me learn. Especially the guys on the team who are closer to my age, they really get a kick out of teaching me the slang phrases and the inside jokes they all have most of which I still can not make much sense of but I do my best....for instance they told me if anyone says something to me and I don't understand what they are saying I should just reply......"Ja, dis ist ya dis." Translated that basically means "Yeah, that is it" So I found myself repeating that phrase all night long.....haha. I am sure it is not hard to tell I am a foreigner. 

The soccer atmosphere is absolutely incredible here, I mean even at the 3rd division there is 10,000 plus fans at every game, hopefully I will be there or higher in next year or two. Then every little town has there own team, usually at a much lower division, but still most of the town comes and the level of play is pretty good, and there is always lots of excitement.   

This past weekend there is a festival here in Bamberg that is called "the Sandkerwa". It is the 2nd largest festival in Germany next to Octoberfest of course which is the largest, but if this is any taste of what octoberfest is like I cannot wait. It is in the old city here which is a maze of really narrow streets around very old buildings. There are tents and tables set up all over the place...of course there is beer stands everyone, bands playing all kinds of music. Then off the streets there are numerous bars and clubs to hang out and dance. This all goes until about 1 or 2 then everybody goes to the clubs afterwards, here they are called "discos", and you dance the night away...haha.... I went with some of the players from the team I have been practicing with here, and man do they love to party and they really showed me a good time too, it was a lot of fun. Very exhausting though, we are out until 4 or 5am and we did that 3 nights in a row. I am glad there is one of these only once a year, cause there is no way I would survive....haha!!!! I do have some great pictures.....but I lost my computer cord somewhere along the way coming here so I have to find one that is compatible that should be an interesting experience in itself, but hopefully by the time I post my next blog I will be able to post some pics as well. 

Stay tuned there is certainly much more to come........