Adam is our little athlete, but he has never had the chance to play baseball in an organized league. Most Little League seasons are in the summer months, which is when we like to go home to Utah to visit family. But, our friends told us about this league here in Berlin that happens all in the Spring, so this year Adam gets to play!
The league is affiliated with JFK International School, which is a German public school somewhat sponsored by America (I don't really get the details, except that it bears the name of a U.S. president and lots of Americans go there). It is really the only opportunity for kids to play baseball in Berlin, as this is NOT a German sport. We had to order Adam's mitt online because none of the sporting goods stores here carry anything related to baseball. The coaches are all American, either with the military or the embassy.
Saturday was Adam's first game. His team is the Astros, and he was excited to get all outfitted up in his official uniform. The pants are pretty big on him, but oh well.
Adam played second base when his team was in the field.
Adam at bat. The coaches pitch to their own team, and I could have kissed Adam's coach on the lips when Adam was up. Adam doesn't have a lot of experience, but after every pitch, his coach would call out an encouraging comment like "I like what I'm seeing" or "You're doing great".
Adam did get a hit, and there was much cheering!
Proud to be on first. When he makes the majors, I'm going to bribe the baseball card makers to put this photo on his rookie card.
On a side note, I had an interesting experience while at Adam's baseball game. Like I said, the majority of participants are American, so there is a lot of English speaking going on. I realized as I sat watching the game that I was able to understand all the conversations going on around me, whether they involved me or not.
Because I don't really understand much German, it has been a long time since I've been able to understand the random background noise of life. This has put me in kind of a bubble - and I think I like it. Lately, the only people who I talk to are the English-speaking members of my ward and the few English-speaking parents I've met at the kids' school. At church, I communicate with the German-speakers by hit-and-miss German/English improvisation and lots of mime. So, my interaction with people is pretty selective; I really only mingle with church members and other moms who talk about their kids.
Well, it was a bit of a shock for me to hear people around me at the baseball game talking about drinking parties and telling the occasional off-color joke. Maybe because it was a military-heavy crowd, but there was much more rough talk than I've heard in a long time. I'm sure the German people around me have been having similar conversations, but I don't understand them. I just see the Germans in their tailored clothes, with their hard-soled shoes clicking on the sidewalk, and I assume that they are all highly-cultured and refined. In my world, all people are educated, moral, and "of good report and praiseworthy".
It took my bubble being burst a bit at the baseball game for me to realize how much I like my little rose-colored world. Sometimes being a dumb American has its advantages.
