Belgian Waffels and Brussel Sprouts

To live within Europe is to vacation exotically.
 It is far too simple to jump a plane to Spain from Germany or a train to France and have a lovely little holiday. Being from Michigan, the best we've got is Indiana or Ohio on our borders. On my first trip to Ohio, people at a bus stop threw rocks at our passing car windows. Quaint little state, isn't it?

This might exist in the states, but I've never heard of it if it does; there's a way to buy a plane ticket in Germany very very cheaply. The catch is you don't know where you're going when you buy the ticket. Pick your days, pay something like forty dollars and you could be going to Vienna or London, or maybe Kiel or Helsinki.

I got Brussels.  Capital of the European Union, home of the waffle and praline, and monument to a statue of a little boy urinating in a fountain.

I would never lie to you, readers. 

It was an incredibly impromptu trip. Bought the tickets the night before with so little knowledge of Belgium, it's insane.
National languages? French and Flemish. ...Balls.
Currency? Euro. ..Good, good. But found out in disappointment that everything is incredibly expensive. Can't enjoy that Belgium beer when it costs the equivalent of ten dollars a glass.
Known for? Techno music. *face palm*

In Tuebingen there is currently a chocolate festival. Feels good to be back where I really belong.

The Round Thing Goes into The Square Thing

I've finally attended a football game! Sure, it wasn't America football, but tomato, tomato. (That phrase is much easier to get across verbally...Let's try again: To-may-to, to-mah-to.)

Weder Bremen, a northern Germany team, played Hoffenheim at home. This happens to be rather close to Tuebingen so we snagged some tickets and drove out there for the game. Took me a while to really understand what was going on, but the easiest metaphor was to think of it as basketball with your feet and then I started to get into the swing of things.

Right you are, Flula, right you are.

I was cheering for Bremen, the team wearing green and white (Because my allegiance to Michigan State runs deep.) but we were amongst the Hoffenheim fans.

In the end they tied, which was glorious because the opposing side was sort of harassing us and we made a quick comeback to even it out.

(For those of you wondering how a professional sports team can tie. I direct you to this blog post by the lovely Katie who attempts to contemplate Europe's lax views on competition).

So we were all pretty content. Bremen tied and they all seemed happy. ...Well not everyone seemed happy.

As we filed out, you could see the Hoffenheim team walking toward their fan-section to celebrate.

The Hoffenheim fans booed and hissed their own team for drawing. I saw some guy chuck a half-full beer at them. That was just sort of unfathomable. Why? They didn't even lose. Sure, they didn't win per se, but they surely didn't lose.

Then I learned that the Bremen fans still celebrate with the team afterward in this weird little victory dance. But what's more so, they, the fans, will bring the team gift baskets and bake them cookies after a great loss. The fans leave the goodies on the players' cars after practices.

Win or lose, soccer is taken to a hyperbole in either direction.

How do I feel about this? I'm not sure, still wrapping my head around it. Honestly, after Michigan's little show in the Ohio State game (yeah, we get internet here and Michigan football is staying classy as ever...) I think sports are taken a little too seriously here. And there. And everywhere.