However, what I have been enjoying is the joyous reactions of one of the traveling Germans to things he's been finding across the South. These things are well-known to me, and it's nice to see how much fun he is having.
For example, here he is attending one of these games at a Southern-style university stadium (Auburn, as it happens). He is astonished by this experience.
Before that, the hotel receptionist gave them a ride to the stadium because it was raining.
Before that Chattanooga; dinner at Chili's; visiting the beautiful mountain lakes.
Before that Georgia; Brasstown Bald (it is in fact an alpine rainforest around here, by the way); American fast food; tubing on the Chattahoochee; Helen; Waffle House; Stone Mountain.
Interspersed among them, scenes driving down the long American highways listening to country radio.
Last night they visited Buc-ee's and ate dinner on stacks of deer feed corn.
It's nice to see someone taking such evident pleasure in visiting the South.
UPDATE: Apparently there's a Swedish player having a similar experience in the Mid-West.
8 comments:
Soccer is not an American game -- it is the least interesting and exciting of the many variations....
Adults in shorts playing kickball. [/snark]
Eric Hines
...while screaming and acting dramatic if they are slightly brushed.
Well, they're nice kids anyway.
Many years ago I gave a ride to French guy hitchhiking around the south. Alabama. He did not have a specific place to stay that night, so I had him stay with me, at my brothers. Things I remember- He was flat out amazed that we would offer that sort of hospitality- he said "in France, that would never happen." I don't know where in France he was from. The other thing was he was amazed we were going to replace the spark plugs in the car, instead of clean and re-gap them. "too expensive!"
Fair! Re-gapping spark plugs is a lost art.
Well, they're nice kids anyway.
Certainly better behaved than their parents, in youth soccer.
Eric Hines
Freddy is going to become a commercial item in America. He's a lot of fun.
BTW, also lacrosse as a back-and-forth continuous game.
During my backpacking trip to South America, I spent several weeks w some French tourists. Got along pretty well. Having Spanish, a neutral language, to communicate probably helped.
I will never forget what Marie said about the US. She told me that some French paisans of hers had hitched around the US. Like your French guy, her paisans got invited to spend the night w people who gave them rides. I would add that in my hitching around the US, I also occasionally was invited to spend the night w people who had picked me up hitching.
Marie told me that there was something SICK about the US, if they would be so friendly to strangers. I made no response. Just shows that French and Americans are different.
I worked in Latin America with two of European background. One a Peruvian son of Italian immigrants. The other a German national who spent nearly his entire life in South America due to an expat father. The Peruvian went to work for Volkswagen in Germany. The German expat went to university in Germany. Both told me that in Germany they had difficulty making social contacts. The German attitude was that if your family hadn't been in town for generations, they didn't want to have a thing to do with you.
The difference is not just US-France. It is US-Europe. Moreover, it is not just US-Europe. The difference is Americas (N&S)-Europe. In my time in Latin America, I was also invited to spend the night.
Gringo
He spent some time in my town:
https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2064892499504574580
Even my never-Twitter friend had heard about him.
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