Once in a Life Time Experience | Luke Moreau

Today was the start of our free weekend, and we were given the freedom to decide what we were going to do with it. A nice fresh cup of coffee is always the first thing for me; therefore, I ventured out to a gourmet coffee shop in central Berlin. Walking into these coffee shops is unlike walking into a coffee shop that I am used to because they brew coffee in multiple different ways with multiple types of coffee bean. The smell is strong but kind of fruity in nature, in my opinion one of the best smells in the world. Next, a few of us went to walk around and tour the huge city of Berlin. We found many amazing shopping centers, flea markets, and chocolate.

The day can’t get better can it? That’s exactly what I was thinking, because it started with coffee and incredibly fun things back to back, but there is no way I could’ve expected what happened next. Every time Germany plays a FIFA world cup game the cities in Germany have what they call public viewings of the game, which are completely free to anyone who wants to go. It seems like the entire city of Berlin was at this game between Germany and Sweden because everywhere was completely packed. This game was extraordinarily important for Germany. If they would have lost or tied, they would have not moved on to the elimination stage in the world cup. The game didn’t start off very well because Sweden

scored on Germany in the first half, but not long after that Germany answered with a goal of their own. Sadly, the rest of the game was very uneventful because neither team scored. As the clock approached the 90th minute and the game seemed to be ending in a tie, the referees decided to add five minutes to the clock as stoppage time. These last minutes of extra time are always incredibly suspenseful and nerve racking. On top of this, during the entire game it had been raining, which only added to the dramatic affect. Once the clock hit ninety-four minutes, and nothing happen, everyone got a little disappointed, but Sweden fouled Germany right outside the eighteen-yard box, resulting in a free kick. Obviously, everyone at the public viewing was now watching with the utmost concentration. Sure enough, Germany had an incredible shot that hit in the top right corner of the goal. The entire city of Germany was in an uproar of excitement! This was the last play of the game and Germany had won over Sweden. Being at this game in Germany was an amazing experience, and it will be one of my, and many others, best experiences in Germany.