Tales from Wiesbaden

Last weekend, we traveled to the Hessian Capital, Wiesbaden to play against their highly respected men’s team. We managed to play very consistently and beat them 3-1 in an exciting away match. The core of the TV Bühl fans, which totaled 30 in number supported us loudly and made our away match feel like a home match, once again!

What made this victory extra special was that Dante, our new Opposite, had unsuccessfully tried out for the team two weeks ago. He had been sent directly from them to us and managed to get nine kills, get 3 blocks and serve 2 aces after being subbed into the match. Also, after the match we were able to go out with the setter from their team, Alex. Alex went on the Bring It USA tour that Dante played on (the same tour I went on two years ago). Joining Dante and me were Matty and Lucas (Matty’s friend visiting us from British Colombia).

This photo is of us (from left) Dante, Lucas's hat, me, and Matty at a small resturaunt, where we ate after the match. That night we went to the “American Sports Bar” in downtown Wiesbaden. We were able to watch American football. This was the first football I have watched in two years. Alex Smith is getting better! Perhaps this year the 49ers can win 1/3 as many games as they lose! And although Randy Moss has no idea “What the hell $10,000” is, the Raiders really suck… oh well.

So, we were at this sports bar, and we realized that the crowd was incredibly diverse. In fact, it was the first time that I have ever gone into a place in Germany where white people were in the minority. The bar was packed and the music was good and we were all having a great time and I struck up a conversation with a young guy that was sitting at the adjacent table. He told me that he was originally from Cameroon, but he had been a student in Germany in Mainz for the last few years. I asked him what brought him out to Wiesbaden. He looked me in the eye and said, “well, to be honest, none of the clubs in Mainz allow black people in so we have to come here or one other place in Wiesbaden”. I was shocked and gaped at him speechless for a long 10 seconds. “How far away is Mainz?” "15 or 20 kilometers”, he answered. We continued our conversation about being a student living abroad for a few minutes before he decided to go hit up the dance floor. He was very frank about the issue and seemed amused by my flabbergasted response.

I guess what really hit me about the situation was that most of the native German people I have met have been SUPER politically correct. They really tiptoe around issues of race, typically avoiding the topic entirely (especially when it comes to questions about Nazism and military history). There are a individuals that I have met who do harbor some issues, but these days frustration is primarily focused on the immigrant Turkish population who are blamed for not fully ingratiating into German culture. This is perhaps replacement of the Black African or Jewish minorities with a fresh scapegoat, but I guess in my rather banal village life here, we are protected from the big city issues. Furthermore, none of the establishments in our area to my knowledge are so well off that they would refuse service to anyone – let alone systematically exclude patrons. But again, I am pretty ignorant on this topic.

Interestingly, Dante took this photograph in a music store while he was hanging out in Wiesbaden. I doubt that this is much more then a coincidence, but I am pretty sure that this section would not fly in the US and especially not in the Bay Area.