A Swede, a Brit and an American walk into a bar...

Okay, not yet but it might happen and I'm sure there will be a joke in there somewhere when it does.

The people...

My landlady is an interesting character but I'm not sure I can do her justice so I'll tell you a little bit about my flatmates and classmates.

First, let me say that the Goethe Institut is exclusively a language school so it is very small and many, if not most, of the students here are not really students but professionals who are learning the language for work related reasons.

I have two flatmates and two classmates, of the four there is one Swede, one Brit, one Kuwaiti, and one Italian all of whom speak English. We, of course, are supposed to speak only in German but to each other we can't help but speak in English because the desire to have meaningful communication is there and by meaningful communication I mean...any, really.

My flatmates are the Swede and the Brit. The Swede is a salesman here to learn German because he has primarily German customers and travels in Germany at least 12 weeks a year. I think he's actually younger than me though he seems to be closer to my age than anyone I've met here yet. In some ways it's harder for me to relate to people my own age because of the place I'm at in life. For example the Swede, who is at least very close to my age, is done with University, he's working, he's married, he's past me basically.

I find it easier to relate to my other flat mate, the Brit. She is about 18 years old and she is here as part of her "gap" year. If I understand it the British system gives them a year off either between their equivalent of High School and Uni or the first year after Uni and she chose to take it before Uni rather than after. Her brother told her that Byern Munchen is playing Milan while she's here and apparently won't forgive her if she doesn't go to the game so I think the three of us (her, the Swede and I) will go together.

My classmates, the Kuwaiti and the Italian, are also older. The Kuwaiti is a doctor but is getting another degree, or doing his post-doc, here in Germany. The Italian is a banker with JP Morgan in London. He's married to a German woman and they are both trying to learn each other's languages. He says so far her Italian is better than his German but, in any event, they speak to each other mostly in English.

The only other people I've met here so far are friends of my family. My step-mother was into the rockabilly scene when she lived here in Munich (she still is but in Seattle now), she published a magazine much like my dad's magazine back home and I met a couple of friends of hers from back then. Also, I met a friend of my dad's (a musician who, I believe, played with him at his gigs here on at least one of his trips over) and his son who's studying Physics at the University. The son was pretty stoked on the new football stadium (that's soccer for you non-Euros) and said I had to see it.

So, that's two recommendations, nay, demands, to see soccer. I guess it would be way out of line for me not to. Perhaps seeing it live will turn me into a fan. I think it's funny how insistent the Europeans are that live soccer will convert me but when I say the same thing about baseball they laugh in my face.

So, I'll leave you with this quote:

"I'm over soccer...I just think it's a mind numbing bore and anyone with sense would rather be playing it than watching it" - Dan Rydell (Sports Night)