End of the World Cup and Chillin in Frankfurt

So after my trip to Gelsenkirchen, the last week of the world cup was upon us. Which seemed crazy as the last 3 weeks had seemed to completely revolve around this. So on Tuesday we all got together and headed to the river (right in the middle of all the action), decked out in our Germany gear to watch what we thought would be an easy Germany win over Italy.

It was actually a pretty slow game as no one scored for the entire first 90 minutes. Then it went into overtime and all Germany had to do was get the game to go into 11 meter shots as their goalee was definitely better than the Italian goalee. Then, with 2 minutes left before the end of the overtime, Italy scored. And then scored again. Ouch. So since we had assumed that Germany was in for the final, it was a pretty shocking result. Some of my friends said that soccer was now dead to them. Others simply sat there in disbelief. Then others were too drunk to realize what was going on and starting dancing on the chairs to the loud music they played to try and cover up the tragedy that had just occured. I headed home and took a picture of Frankfurt's largest skyscraper that they had put up a sweet WM poster onto just in case they took it down now that Germany was out.
It was also Doug's last night with us as he was going back early for a family emergency. So we had our sad good-byes and were glad for all the good times we had with him.

After deciding that the world hadn't actually ended, some of us met up for the France/Portugal game the next night at "Sam's," an American bar with good ol' 1/2 lb. burgers. Yumm. And we watched as Portugal proved that they really only had one decent player on their team, whom, that night, couldn't quite seem to get anything done. So France easily won and we had our line up of Germany/Portugal for 3rd/4th and France/Italy for 1st/2nd.
Meanwhile, in my non-soccer life, I was working on the same nanotech assignment at work, but actually had some other stuff to do, too. My boss wanted me to check out their analytical lab, so I spent about half of my week doing titrations and similar stuff. But it was actually kinda cool as Zimmer has really nice, automated equipment for all of this. So unlike the labs back at the U where you had to prepare the samples, labor over the machine to make everything run right, and then actually have to think and calculate the results, all you had to do here is take the sample, put it in the slot, type a couple of things in the computer, and then watch it go. So it wasn't too bad and was kinda nice for a change of pace.
That weekend, Kim was working at Frankfurt's "Museum Festival" where all the museums opened their doors for those who cared and also sponsored tons of bands, clubs, and food on the river for those who didn't. So Friday night we wandered down to the river, found Kim, got some free drinks from her boss Mario (man that guy rocks) and danced to some sweet group called Hotel Ost which played music that reminded me of the wedding scene in Fiddler on the Roof. I didn't quite try the bottle dance they did in the movie, but we found some way to grove (or just watched the funny Germans try and dance to the slightly odd music) and enjoyed ourselves.
Then on Saturday, it was time for German's last game which we decided we might as well watch even though it was not for 1st or 2nd place :( But we headed back to Sam's (actually randomly this time) to watch Germany's easy dominance over Portugal. And we got to watch Germany's Neanderthal looking older goalee play who was pretty cool. After the satisfactory victory we headed back over to the festival. This time we decided to skip the interesting world music they had on Kim's side of the river and instead head to the bumping other side of the river. So after grabbing some food and drink, we danced the night away with a bunch of Frankfurters. Here's a pic of Michelle and Chris Stucko (who I don't think I ever introduced. Which I should clarify really quick, there's now a bunch of people that I've been hanging out with. Still mostly people in my similar program. Well, maybe all. We have hung out with some Germans though!)
The next day, Amy had a great idea and suggested going hiking around on some of the trails that surround Frankfurt. So we started out the day playing frisbee in a park and getting free Red Bulls (it was kinda like a dream. Really cute girls come out of nowhere and ask if you'd like a free Red Bull. After staring for a couple seconds I managed a "sure" and then next I got a free Red Bull.) We then headed up and around Frankfurt and enjoyed the greener side of Frankfurt area.
Here's a pic of this crazy tree we found.
And then a bunch of trees that weren't quite as alive as that last one.
After spending a couple quality hours trekking around, we headed back into the city to find a place to watch the WM final.
It was a really good game. I thought that France had it won after they got the first goal. But then Italy came back and got one, too. And then with only minutes left until the overtime was done and 11 meter kicks began, some Portugal jerk insulted Zidane's (probably France's best player) mother and sister in the same breath. Naturally then, like any good Frenchman would do, Zidane smashed the guy's stomach with his head and fists. I thought he should have gotten style points for the takeout, but the refs decided a red card was more in line. Then in the 11 meter kicks that followed minutes later, France didn't have one of their best players anymore and thus lost in penalty kicks. Kinda sad. By the way I was cheering for France. Just in case you didn't figure that one out.
So we then headed back to catch the end of the Museum Festival which mainly consisted of some decent fireworks.After that, it was slowly making our way back to our trains through the sea of crazy Italians.But eh, I guess after winning the WM they're allowed to be a bit crazy.
So then, the weekend was over as well as the WM, and we were all really confused. For the last month it was basically given what we would do during the week nights. Go to a bar, get some beers, watch the game. But now this easy plan would no longer work. So we started out the week watching "Over the Hedge", which is actually an amazingly funny movie.
Then later on in the week we decided to head to Odeon which is an awesome club that has student nights on Thursday nights with a 3 Euro cover, half price drinks until 12, and then after the half price drinks are over, a free buffet! And not just your typical throw some crap together free buffet, but a really nice one (and actually, we had gone their the week before, too. Sorry I forget things sometime). So we pre-partied with some 1.60 Euro good ol Aldi wine and then enjoyed a great night of techno, other dance stuff and free food. That was Kim's last night with us as she was heading over to Greece for some island hoping and then down to Uganda to work for an NGO before heading back to the States. Unfortunately I was pretty out of it when we quickly said goodbyes from the back of the cab, but we had a more formal farewell later.
Oh, and that week at work was about the same as the last. Nothing new to report.
But the following weekend was something sweet that I will report soon. Love Parade in Berlin :) Largest techno concert in the world......