Hallo! That's the way they say "Hello" over here in Hannover, Germany. It's kind of cool the way you can say that to anyone and they think you speak German. The tricky part is right after you say that to them they go off on a complete rant in German and it just baffles myself, Jay Nolly, and Kenny Cutler EVERY TIME.
Anyway, as you guys know, we are over here for the next two weeks training with Hannover 96, and so far, three days into our trip we have had a complete blast. You have heard the stories of getting lost, hockey games, and our first impressions of Germany, so I'm going to give you guys a little insight as to how our weekend went.
Basically we started Saturday off with a morning training session with the physio coach, which is basically like a strength and conditioning coach. This coach is hard. He had us in the weight room lifting, stretching, and doing stuff I had never seen before. We were in there for about 30 to 45 minutes before we even put on our cleats and started training. Since it was the day of the game we only trained with guys who were hurt and couldn't play in that night's game. It was a hard workout but a very good one to get under our belts.
After the training we headed back to the hotel, got ready, and left for the first team's game against FC Mainz. This is what all three of us were looking forward to the most. To be in that atmosphere was absolutely sick! The crowd chanted and yelled and screamed the entire game. It was like having 50,000 RCB and Loyalists in one stadium! Anyways, Hannover fell behind 2-0 in the second half but were able to stage a late comeback with two late goals and the teams shared the points.
Steve Cherundolo hooked us up with some business class tickets so we got to sit in the plush cushions seats at the arena with free food and drinks all game long. That was so unexpected and it was so nice to be treated like class while enjoying a Bundesliga soccer match. Basically the game and training was the highlight so far and we can't wait for the rest of the two weeks to unfold.
It has been hard being away from home and we all miss our family, friends and girlfriends very much, but we are making it just fine here despite the language barriers and other minor obstacles. We will be continuing these updates regularly while we are here so check back in to www.realsaltlake.com for more updates from Hannover. As they say in Germany, "danke" (which means "thanks") for reading everyone!
