Seepark und mehr Fußball - Lebewohl


 


When I first arrived Freiburg, one of the first things that I did was signing up to "das Fitnessstudio". Little I knew that after an entire semester, I never realized there was an amazing park just a couple meters behind it. I always heard people mentioning Seepark, but I never went there. Not until a little before my last week here in Freiburg. Through the contact my professor of Finance gave to me to play Fußball at the "schule sporthalle" on Mondays, the same group of players invited me to play in Seepark. 

Seepark, located in district Betzenhausen is a big park with an artificial lake were people go to have picnics, walk, bike, or any relaxing activity with friends or mascots. When I first arrived to the park, I was really happy because that day was supposed to rain. To my surprise, the day was beautiful and I had the chance to see a full park mit viele Leute. For a second I remembered meine Lieblingsfilm "The pursuit of happiness" when William Smith is walking down the stock market where all people are happy but instead, this was on a sunny day in nature. 

It was also my first time I was going to play in a big fake grass field since Hobart's dome. I was really excited to play, so excited that the first ball I touched, I scored. I know my readers will not believe this but it actually happened. By then, I could see the Germans defenders' fear in their eyes as they were marking me... ok, that was a lie. We shared the field with some Women that where using the other half and then we used the rest of the field since they left. The level wasn't really good but this was the perfect environment to play and have some laughs. The players were mostly in their 30s but there were a couple younger guys my age. I couldn't avoid comparing this game with the ones I have had in Chile with unknown people. I thought that in Chile, the quality was better but then I understood that I was being a little bit biased since these guys were a little bit older and I usually play with younger folks back home. Besides... Germany has 4 world cups, what are we talking about here. The culture was the same as everywhere though, it was a great chance to meet a lot of new people, have some laughs, and share with each other after the game was over. 

If I could take back time, maybe one of the first thing I would have done is using maps on my phone so I would see that I had a really big attracting park a couple meters from my gym. Then, I might have seen this beautiful park more and also potentially play Fußball more times. I think everything happens for a reason though. Maybe I was destined to see this park a little bit before I left Freiburg so I knew where to go once I am back. As the semester comes to an end, it has been tough to assimilate that a lot of great people that I have met here will not be a part of my life anymore. It has also made me appreciate even more the good things I have when I head back home. I am grateful for my program IES which allowed me to learn more about the European Union, get to know new amazing places in Europe for my first time, and all the memories with great people. Freiburg was an amazing city to get to know other European students and German friends. I will miss how cute and "Green" this city is.  I am sad to leave here but ready to enjoy my last summer before my senior year.  Lastly, I want to thank the HWS study abroad program for making this possible and professor Klaus for giving an excellent preparation in order to understand and live German culture everyday. Bis bald Deutschland. 

Photo 1: Seepark and schön Tag
Photo 2: Seepark Stadion 
Photo 3: Me and friends after Fußball
Photo 4: Seepark from the air 











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