I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures and video. I've been having difficulty tracking them all down. I'll post them when I can find them.
So, October has been quite the month for unusual events.
One of J's close friends,S, from JA school happened to be in Germany on short break from deployment in Afghanistan. We made adjustments and visited her in Nuernberg. It was good to see her again, and she told us how things were going in Afghanistan and with her current duty station. There are very few women where she is located "downrange" as they say, so we mostly all talked during our visit. We had a very easygoing and fun time.
None of us had ever been in Nuernberg, so we took it upon ourselves to see the castle, several of the old churches, and sample some of the local food and chocolates. We also had one dinner in a Chinese restaurant which was actually really good! We stayed up late chatting and ultimately said our goodbyes.
Nuernberg Castle is worth the visit. I would equate it to a smaller version of Heidelberg with less pomp and circumstance, but a little bit more going on. It has castle gardens that are more actively being used and maintained and a pretty extensive medieval armory.
The churches were unique in their artwork as Nuernberg is known for its crossover Roman and Franco-Period artwork. J and I noticed it immediately in the sculptures' facial features. The artwork was also far more vast than any other German churches we had visited thus far.
Switching gears, I played my first legit German soccer game a few weeks ago. It was with the "old guys" team of 32+ year olds. The majority of them are probably in their 50's, but all are still in good shape. They provided full uniforms, have a team roster with player passes, and had positions all set to go and a designated uniform number and position for me as well.
The game started with me and one of the team organizers on the sideline, and everyone else on the field. They started with a very formal march to the center of the field with the starting players and the referee. Once all lined up to face the audience of about 6 people, they proceeded to shake hands. I later found that this is a newer thing that is done that has to do with respect and sportsmanship. They did still shake hands after the game was over.
After about 30 minutes of game time, we were losing 0-3. I got subbed in for forward at around the 35 minute mark, where both teams exchanged goals before the end of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, things really turned around. I got one goal and aided with at least two other goals and by the end of the game we won 5-4. It was quite a moral boost and everyone was happy that I was on the team. The next game is next weekend, and I think it is the last game of the season. Hopefully, I'll be able to play more games over the winter, but if not then I'll plan on the Spring.
With the dropping temperatures, I managed to put together a cheap "winter garden" of sorts. I simply took the equivalent of furring strips and two plastic drops with some bricks from the backyard. It sadly appears that the tomatoes are not too happy with the arrangement, but the peppers seems to be doing ok. I'll be checking daily or every other day now to see when would be a good time to pick them.
Finally, in continuing preparation for taking the MCAT, I am now shadowing doctors on post and am taking an 8 week intensive Human Anatomy course through UMUC. So far, it's been good all around. The shadowing is giving me good exposure to different types and styles of medical practice, what I would like to strive for and not strive for, and the course is conveniently doubling for my MCAT studies and common prerequisites for many medical schools. Both take a very substantial amount of time, but thus far it has all been very helpful all round in my quest for becoming a doctor.
I'll let you all know how the next soccer game goes when it happens. We also plan on visiting our friends in Ulm again very soon.
