July 29, 2001
Day 5
Maja Pachale #5
Today is the 5th day of our Germany tour. So far it had been a great trip and today we had a little bit more free time in the morning because there was not any sightseeing scheduled. Some of us slept in right until they stopped serving breakfast while a couple of people went to the shops right next to the hotel. Right before lunch we started packing up the bus because today is our last day in Hamburg.
After lunch we took off for our 4:00 match in the suburbs of Hamburg. On the way to the match, Shannon, who had been playing a computer solitaire game since we boarded the plane, finally won her first game of solitaire. The whole bus was so excited for her and cheered when she made the announcement that she had won. (And, now that she was finally won, she’s been kind enough to let other people on the trip play her game.)
Today we played the German Youth National team. They are our first match after they have returned from the Junior Olympic European Games as gold medal winners, and before they head to Sweden for a tournament with 8 European teams. So, the level of play we had to face was definitely higher than the first match. We ended up winning in five games and there was great competition during the match. However, at times we struggled, and we hope to play better and beat them worse when we face this same team again later in the trip.
After the match we went to dinner at a nearby hotel with the team we had just played and got to interact with them. Some of them knew English better than others, but it was quite fun to see how my team communicated with theirs. There were 5 tables set-up and everyone was spread out and so it was neat to see two cultures compare stories and interact.
Now we are on our way to Schwerin (my hometown – YEAH!!) where we will be staying for the next two days. Here we will visit a castle, take a boat ride on a lake, and have a team bar-b-que at my house.
After 5 beautiful days of weather, it has now started to rain. Let’s just hope the rain stops and tomorrow is another beautiful day filled with sunshine.
