Snow and the Super Bowl: Quick Notes

I'm thrilled to say that it finally feels like Christmas in Tübingen! A couple of months too late, but I try not to complain these days (and anyone but my parents might actually believe me on that score...). The only downside is that the temperature has also been hovering around 10 F, but unlike some of the locals I've seen walking around, I fortunately know how to bundle up appropriately. Yes, confused-looking student, I'm not wearing a hat. Why? Because I'm wearing a scarf up around my ears and a michelin man jacket and am feeling super toasty, that's why. And we're about to get on a bus. Your hat looks nice, but don't think I don't see you shivering in your extremely fashionable cotton coat sans insulation.


Anyway....

I awoke this morning to a lovely dusting of now and flurries in the air!

The view from my bus stop, looking back in the direction of my street (I life just around the corner beyond the car on the left)

This is what the little Neckar tributary looked like a couple of days ago (you can see the main Neckar, flowing perpendicularly in the background)...actually somewhat frozen over. Sections of the whole river are covered in ice and dusted snow now, though certainly not enough that anything more than a duck could sit on it...and maybe not even a duck.  

Finally, Anya and her friend from French class came to an event at the DAI (German-American Institute, where I work as an English teacher) on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl! I don't know what I expected, except that it wasn't this at all. There must have been over 200 people there, and when we arrived all of the seats were full...we finally took some from members of Tübingen's American Footbal Team (yes, we have one. I'm just as shocked as you) who had left their coats on the chairs while they cooked and sold food for people in attendance to purchase. Seriously guys, you're going to be cooking for the whole game and you left your coat to save a seat for yourself? What kinds of co-sponsors are you? People are standing all around the walls and sitting in the aisles! This was definitely an interesting experience...according to what Anya overheard, lots of people had bet on the game and were therefore rooting rather zealously for something they might not have otherwise cared about at all---this resulted in a lot of German Giants' fans. Unclear why. We think because "New York" is a recognizable name? Tired (the game started at 12:30 am here) and somewhat easily irritated, the thoughts that crossed my mind most often were, "You are improperly using football vocabulary," "There is nothing to clap at...why are you clapping?" and "Why do so many Germans care about American Football?". I mean, I'm not a football expert and I don't pretend to be--I know enough to watch and enjoy the game, understand the bulk of what's going on (that matters to the spectator) and what major penalties are for. That and how the course of the game is going for a certain team. But I still found parts of this experience...mildly irritating. The upside is we had a great venue to watch the game--thanks DAI!

The lighting is rather awkward and this is the camera on my phone, but you're looking at a space that was about half of the room in front of us....we were sitting in the back 1/4 of the space, and there were probably 200 people in here and another 50 in the German-telecast room. 

Also, as a sidenote, I really need to figure out what meat is used for German burgers. It tastes like beef, but it's so salty and tough when it's cooked! The local team was grilling and selling things, and it's the second burger I've had that made me wonder how ground beef could turn out that way. Very curious.