Yes so on this day my dreams were crushed. Bayern Munich lost to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals. They played an amazing game and Cristiano Renaldo played even better, scoring 3 goals and assisting the fourth. It was overall a very exciting experience to sit here in Frankfurt and enjoy the game. In the pic I am sitting with two of my fellow Goethe Institut Colleagues and friends. The man to the left of me was actually a stranger. He is from France and we invited him to come sit with us because at the time there were no other people there besides us 4. This was definitely a diverse table. The man all the way to the left, he is from Saudi Arabia. The women in the middle is from Romania. The stranger who became our great friend is from France. I am of course from the United States of America with a little German and Native American lineage. I cannot forget there was a local German man who joined us later halfway through the game. He was from Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt Germany. He wanted to join the squad and we all had a wonderful time talking, shouting, falling on the ground crying etc. Maybe that was all me. I’m not really sure but who is keeping track right ? The older German gentleman shared his experiences in the USA. He talked about how he was in California and Michigan in 1967. He also spoke over the differences between then and now. The French gentleman talked about the methods he used with learning the language. He clarified he takes a phrase or a sentence. Then he goes out in real life situations and uses these sentences. He does this because he believes your experiences helps assist with the new language sticking in your memory. We all talked about how we try to take our own vocabulary from our first languages and we attempt to find direct translations. This of course more often than not results in utter failure. My teacher at Goethe Institut always says “You must think like a German to speak like one, and forget everything you know in your language. When you’ve done this you will truly become immersed in the language.” This are the things that truly stuck with me. I have nothing but positive things to say about the German people. I’m loving the culture and social and work life. Later in the night, the atmosphere became very tense during the final minutes. Renaldo really did play like a champion, stealing my boy’s championship. The people around us were very excited. Joining in on my shinnanigans. I was the only person in the sports bar and probably even the city of Frankfurt who wore Bayern Munich apparel. Most of the crowd was cheering for Bayern Munich. Even a Spaniard was cheering for Bayern. The waitresses and waiters were jumping around in excitement. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive German fan base in this moment. Bayern was losing 2-1 in aggregate scoring. They gave up two goals at home which means pretty much for every goal scored by Real Madrid in Bayern’s Home, Bayern must score two in Bayern. But rather on the contrary, Bayern can score in Real Madrid to make up for the home goals scored. That is exactly what they did. They equalized the score at 2-1 in Real Madrid. Then of course Renaldo scored 3 goals. As long as Bayern fought hard and put themselves in the best decision to win then that is all that matters. Mia San Mia. Go Bayern!!! Next year boys !
Auslander 