Friends in Germany!

(First 2 Weeks)

Well, obviously I did not know a soul here in Germany before I arrived, with the exception of a female friend living in Hannover (4 hour drive from Kiel) but I barely know her, so I knew it would be interesting to see who I would become friends with.  Since I am here primarily to play for the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, I knew that I would naturally make friends with my teammates and more so the other 4 American import players (each team is allowed up to 5 American players only).  All of us import players live in this HUGE 5 story villa.  The other import players include:

 --Free Safety #2, Jacob W (played at Eastern Michigan) who for some odd reason reminds me of one of my brothers Hashim in DC. Haha

-- Wide Receiver #10, Jamal S (played at Millersville University in Pennsylvania) who is the exact same person as Marcus Jones that played with me at Duke Univ.  and if you know Marcus then you basically know Jamal (former Abercrombie & Fitch model) Haha.

--Running Back #1, Trevar (TD), who played at Delta State, a small D-2 school in the heart of Mississppi. He is originally from Stockton, California and since I played in Sacramento (only 30-45 mins away) the past two years I heard a few things about Stockton. It’s a little rough there. Haha.

--Quarterback Jeff #12 (aka ‘J-Dubb’ or ‘Franchise’ haha) who played at Western Michigan years ago and has been the quarterback here and the face of the program for the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

All of us, with the exception of Jeff, are African American (to some extent- Trevar is mixed with “Messican” {Mexican}! Haha) and although Jeff is white, he definitely has his swagg up! Disclaimer: Race has never been a determining factor in how I choose my friends. We all seem to be cool with each other and we all jump in the fire together as we embark on our first night out together in Kiel, one of many to come.  We went to a big popular club called The MAX and we had a ton of fun.  The most interesting thing to me was that they had a separate room upstairs which was entitled “The Black Music Room”. Seriously, that’s what it’s called.  I was a little confused and a bit disappointed that this segregation was as obvious as it was but once we made it to the club and I heard the unfamiliar techno/house music being played on the main dance floor downstairs, I was ecstatic to walk into the “black music” room and hear the likes of DMX, Snoop Dog, and Lil John.  I mean, yea it was all music from the mid-90s but I’ll take that over the techno mix ANY day.  It was a little weird because I literally felt like I was back in middle school listening to all these old songs (no, it was not old skool rap night).  Again, I was still satisfied. We all had a great time and it was clear who I would gravitate towards in terms of friendships while I’m here in Kiel.

“Friends: 1 Month Later: The American Dream”

So after living in Kiel for a month and partying nearly every night for the first 2 weeks and every other night the last two weeks, the “American Dream” has surfaced! “The American Dream” crew: “Big Bawse: Mike T”; “Baby Bawse: Trevar D”; “Franchise: Jeff W”. Haha.  Through various nights of partying, drinking, going out and interacting with the opposite sex, these aliases have seem to fit perfectly to the proper person. Nothing wrong with the other guys Jacob and Jamal but based on personalities and the “I’m with whatever” attitude, the American Dream crew naturally came together! Haha. There are several entertaining stories I could tell that all happened to the “American Dream” within the first month of being here in Germany! But due to the mature content of such stories and the public access to this blog, I will have to withhold those stories! Lets just say there having been mornings where someone has woken up, looked in the mirror, and was missing his front tooth… without a single clue of how it happened! Someone passing out due to the over indulgence of substances which led to everybody having to call it an early night and leave one of the best party towns in Germany after planning to stay the night. Someone having their ass grabbed & caressed (sensually) by another man and then promptly slapping the SHIT out of that random german guy, not once, but twice! These are just a few of many stories from the first month! We have even thrown around the idea of having this experience filmed as a reality show entitled “The American Dream: The real WORLD abroad!”. It would definitely be a hit show and I even went so far as to send a message to the director and producer in Atlanta of a reality show that I was featured on back in 2009 as I prepared for the NFL draft.  This could be a very lucrative project! Only time will tell if this idea will be made into a reality. 

Other German Homies!

 

In addition the “American Dream” crew, there are a few other of my teammates (not Americans) that I have become good friends with, more so than any of my other teammates! 

There is one teammate that I have been hearing about before I even got to Germany.  “Big Aaron”.  During the conversations between my coach and I, he would tell me about certain teammates that also would have a big impact on the football field.  Aaron was a guy that he told me about because he is a huge guy that has played Defensive End for the Hurricanes for the past two years and he plays with a mean streak on the field.  I was looking forward to meeting him and causing some hell on the field for the other teams.  Once I got to Kiel and went to our first team meeting, I immediately noticed the 6’6 275lb man come in with tattoos completely covering his arms and hands…… and his face! Haha.  I immediately thought, “Damn, Im glad this fool is on MY team!”  We talked after the meeting and he already reminded me of some of my friends that I grew up with back in Alief (aka The SWAT)! Over the first couple of weeks we had a few practices where we realized we had a lot of things in common as he spent years in America in California and Arizona.  He speaks fluent German and English and it’s always great when we go out and me and Trevar are trying to communicate with some German girls, he always is able to step in and assist us! Haha. 

Another teammate that I’ve become good friends with is another guy who lives in the house with all the Americans.  Lansana aka “Prince of Zamunda” is from Berlin and his parents are originally from the Sierra Leone and he also speaks fluent German and English.  Recently he assisted me in my solo mission (everybody else chickened out) to travel 5 hours south to Frankfurt, Germany!  He comes up to my “pent house” room to kick with me and my boy trevar and we always tell him about how life is in America and how the “Bawses” handle business! Haha. We show him classic movies like “Martin: You So Crazy” and “Def Comedy Jam”!  He a cool dude and can also ball out at cornerback!