Hi everybody, Whassuuupp on your side of the globe?

I think it's time again to give you all an update on what's happening in Bernd's life.

First of all, I'm almost done with student teaching. So far, I've passed all exams and I'm very happy that there's only one final exam left, which will take place on Oct. 25. It's truly a long way to get a teaching certificate in Germany... But for now, I don't want to write about school anymore, as the summer break has just begun and I'm facing six weeks off. Yeah! ;-)

Two weeks ago, me and Andreas my German-TA-successor at Wabash travelled to Freiburg in southern Germany, where our former student Brock Johnson studies abroad for a semester. Freiburg is a really beautiful city, very scenic. We crashed at his place for three days in which we went sightseeing and, of course, watched lots of soccer on large screens for public viewing. Those things are set up all over the place, for Germany is hosting the soccer World Cup, as you all have probably noticed. ;-) One of the highlights on our trip to Brock was watching the match USA vs. Italy, in which the US boys performed pretty well. As you can see from the attached picture, we had a great time at this Wabash reunion!

Speaking of soccer, Germany is going soccer-crazy these days! There's almost nothing else on TV, and hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters from all over the world are staying in Germany for experiencing this unique event. I must say that I'm really overwhelmed by the effect the World Cup has on people. It's really thrilling, standing amidst 15,000 people on a public place, watching a match on these huge screens and rooting for the German team. I've learned that over 500,000 people watch every match on the so-called "fan mile" in Berlin. There, they have closed a large stretch of a six-lane road for providing enough space for people to celebrate and watch soccer. I've attached a pic from the Internet. For the finals, they expect about 750.000 people just in that location. Really amazing, that is, especially as the crowd celebrates very peacefully and there's almost no trouble with hooligans and people like that. After the final match, which will take place on July 9, me and a pal are going to head down south for travelling the area around the Adriatic Sea for about three weeks: Slovenia, Croatia, Italy,... As we will travel by car, we will decide on the spur of the moment where to go and what to see next. The only thing we will have book in advance is tickets for the ferry from Croatia to Italy.

The last thing that is newsworthy is that I celebrated my 30th birthday last Monday. Now, I'm officially an "old fart". ;-) Well, I'm bearing it with dignity. Tradition in Germany has it that bachelors have to sweep the stairs of the city hall or the market place until they are released by the kiss of a virgin. Usually, the bachelors are being dressed up in ridiculous outfits on that occasion. My friends made me wear a genuine knight's armour, which weighed about 60 lbs. Man, it was about 90°F that day, and I sweated like hell. I have also attached a pic of that.

I hope you guys are all doing well? I hope to hear from you soon and I'm very anxious to hear how life is treating you! :-)

Alles Gute,

Bernd PS: GERMANY WILL WIN THE CUP!!!!!