Good things usually make people happy, right? Well, the last two days that has been the case for me. Good people, good results, good events, good food, all of that wrapped up in a multiple hour package, and I've been able to enjoy it quite thoroughly.
As I hope you know, I kinda like bikes. All throughout college I had my bike with me pretty much constantly. I rode it to class every day, I rode it on single track in Ohio, working on it was a great release from all the stress, it was a pretty integral part of my life.
So naturally, there was no way I was going to go a whole year without having a bike to ride. Not a chance. So I did some research, and it turns out, Germans have a thing called Kalaydo. It's pretty much German Craigslist. The first search I ran I found a pretty good bike, so I sent an email inquiring about it. Kept looking, kept looking, and no better ones really popped out.
Long story short, they replied, I replied, they replied, I replied, then I went and got the bike!!! It was a little expensive, but I was pumped to have a bike. On the ride home though, I noticed quite a few more problems that popped out that didn't show on my test drive. The front wheel was completely warped, the gears were stuck, the disc brakes were poorly aligned, and it just needed a fair amount of work.
Another long story short, I ended up taking the front wheel in to a local Fahrradladen (bike store) to see if they could true it for me. The guy gave me a free part (the old nipple was sheared in half, and gave me the tools to get started. So I didn't have to pay a cent to get my wheel back in order! Nice people make things awesome.
Along with that, and the tools, fenders, lock, and stuff that I got, I got that bike into tolerable working order. I've still got some work to do, and I might get a new saddle. But for right now, I'm a happy boy. It was nice to be able to work on something with my hands and come out with a successful final product. Planning on taking it out this weekend to somewhere away from the city to have an enjoyable ride. Overall, I'm PUMPED to have something to ride. And something nice to ride. :-)
Grad school was quite the drag on me. One of the hardest parts was not being able to play Ultimate due to the workload. After 4 years of 3-5 times a week and numerous weekends every month being consumed by great people and a great sport, it was saddening and really did a number on my body by not having it to turn to.
Well, I finally got a little more settled in, and with the help of my gentle giant friend T-Maack, I located a group to potentially play with! Last week Thursday, I had to go get my computer picked up from the Apple store, so I stopped by this group on the way home. Talked to one of them, and they said it was cool if I played while I was in Köln.
So I went after class yesterday and was incredibly pumped to play. I got there pretty early, so I did some homework beforehand, but people started showing up so I got ready to play! My throws were still pretty good, but holy crap am I out of shape. That was kinda sad, my legs are still ridiculously sore and I feel like I haven't worked out in forever (which is kinda true). Regardless, I got to play, it was awesome, and I can't wait to keep going to this while I'm here!!! Frisbee people are cool the world over.
My host family is leaving on Sunday for two weeks in Italy. Jealous is definitely one emotion that comes to mind when they talk about it. But more importantly, I'm pretty sad they are going. They've been a HUGE help, and an amazing practice ground for me to listen to conversations, and speak the little bit of Deutsch that I do know. I sure hope learning through Osmosis is a real thing, cause they are definitely helping contribute to that process.
But yeah, so they're leaving on Sunday, and we had a big dinner tonight to celebrate, in a way. It was delicious! Homemade lasagna, with some kind of dessert thing afterwards, and they kept pouring me more beer, and sheesh, it was awesome!!! It makes all the difference in the world when you have great people to be around, and they definitely fit the bill for that!!!
In summary, I'm thankful for a bike to ride. I'm thankful that I have a place to play frisbee and hopefully start getting back in shape (and pray I stay healthy!). I'm thankful for a great host family and all of their help and support, whether they realize it or not. And most of all, I'm friggin pumped to be just starting this year out. It's gonna be a crazy journey, but goddamn is it going to be worth every second!!!
Original Publish Date: August 21st, 2013