brothersberlin-blog - Tumblr blog

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

Aloha, Berlin! Aloha, Izmir!

Aloha means hello, aloha means goodbye, and aloha means I love you. This famous Hawaiian word is the perfect way to quickly encapsulate my message here. It’s been a crazy last week. It’s been sad, happy, tired, exciting; it’s been emotional. After we lost a very close finals series to Friedrichshafen on Sunday, on Monday I had to say good bye to a city, fans, friends, coaches, volunteers, management, and teammates. I had to say good bye, or maybe ‘see you later’ is a better term here, to all of the relationships I have developed over the last four years, and I shed some tears because of it.

In short, I have loved every second of my time in Berlin. I wanted to send a quick thank you to all of the fans for supporting and loving our team and me. You have made Berlin one of the best places in the world to play volleyball. You have made Berlin easy to adjust to and live in for a foreigner. You have made it easy for us players to give everything we have, to sacrifice. And that’s exactly what I did. I gave maximum effort and energy, both physically and mentally, for the BR Volleys. We all did. We wanted to produce a product on the court and in the community that our city and our fans were proud of. And we did just that. When I arrived in Berlin, the goal of the club was to make the finals. Now, the goal is to win championships and more. I am proud to say that the BR Volleys is now in a better place. Even though the team will be different next year, the club now will move on to bigger and better things. The project will continue, and the team will succeed. I promise. If not, blame Erik! Just kidding. He is the best!

The decision to leave Berlin was extremely difficult, but now that I have made that decision, I have to say that I am so so excited to move forward in my career, face new challenges, have new experiences, learn new cultures, and build new relationships. I am excited to now join the Arkas Spor family in Izmir, Turkey. I look forward to getting to work, giving my everything there, and helping bring the club to new heights and new successes. It’s going to be a fun adventure!

Until that time though, I turn my attention to the summer season with Team USA. This season brings its own fun adventures and challenges. Erik and I are ready to don the red, white, and blue! Stay tuned…

Aloha, Kawika

13 notes · View notes

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

Super Bowl XLIX

On February 1, Americans all over the world celebrated the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl for those of you who don’t know is the NFL’s championship game, but for Americans, it’s more than that. It’s a holiday, an iconic mark on the calendar. Of course, the game itself is pretty important, but so are the parties, commercials, and half time show. Every family has their own Super Bowl traditions. Growing up, mine included family, friends, games, and a whole lot of food and drink! Some of the famous party dishes included sashimi, spam musubi, nachos, and burgers. One year we even had a sushi stand with our own private chef!

After realizing that we have some American football fans and a few others that will use any excuse to join in food and drink festivities within our circle of friends, Megan and I decided three years ago that we would bring one of our favorite party holidays to Berlin. We would host the Super Bowl party and make it a tradition. It’s been a great decision and one of our favorite nights of the year. There are a few tricky things about hosting the party in Germany. One is that the game starts every year at 12:30 am here. Late start time means finding appropriate late night snacks, preparing the neighbors for potential loud, late night raucous (we had a problem with noise complaints for the first two years), and of course making sure nobody falls asleep until the game finishes at 4:00! The other tricky technical issue we have to figure out each year is finding a good Internet stream. Thankfully, my wife bought me sling box for Christmas, which was the best gift a guy could ask for by the way, so our connection was great, and we were able to watch all of the game and even each commercial. You may be wondering why we would want to watch commercials? Well, the Super Bowl commercials are special. Companies paid $4.5 million dollars for thirty-seconds of air space this year, and the majority of ads are entertaining. They are notorious for being funny, but it really depends on the year. This year’s bunch had their moments, but tended to be a bit too melancholy for our group. Here is the site if you want to watch a few.

I think an appropriate summary of this year’s party was that it was simply the best in Europe. I challenged someone to show me a better one on Instagram, and no one did, so I guess we will take the gold medal! Not only was the game exciting, but we were also able to enjoy it with twelve great friends and AMAZING food. Some of the food the chefs, Megan, Erin, Erik, and Jenna, prepared included kalua pork sliders with guava butter, nachos, tuna sandwiches, seven layer dip with chips, spinach artichoke dip with bread, oreo balls, and coconut chocolate chip cookies. Yes, we had way too much food. And yes, this was the best smorgasbord in our three-year tradition to date. Other highlights included: the stream was glitch-free for 98% of the game. The picture was in high definition and practically covered the entire wall! It was big, thanks to Tobi’s cool beamer, and it felt like we were in a movie theater. And…we had no noise complaints from any neighbors, a big sigh of relief. Only regret is wishing I had taken more pictures to give you a better feeling for the wonderful party. I was too engrossed in the viewing of the game. And in the food. I guess you just have to watch the Insta video linked above.

Finally, the most important part of the night is always the people. We had a great time together discussing American football rules, Katy Perry, commercials, food, and of course our annual questions game. Here is an example of the game we always play. This year, Robert Kromm dethroned two-time champion Sebastian Kuhner by answering the most number of questions correctly. I am still scratching my head searching for answers as to why the Germans, who know very little about the actual game, keep winning MY game! For example, Robert won, despite picking Tom Brady to win the MVP (which was correct), and the Seahawks to win the game (which was incorrect). For those of you who do not know, the MVP has only been from the losing team one time in the Super Bowl’s 49 year history. Nice pick, Robert! Just kidding, you got the last laugh and took home our money :(

On a lighter note, my wife lost the award for first to fall asleep. Although Paul, Ricci, Erik, and Jenna came dangerously close to closing their eyes, they managed to avoid a bit of shuteye. Megan, on the other hand, tapped out early in the fourth quarter, but for only about 45 seconds. In her defense, she had been sick all week and spent the day slaving away in the kitchen for the rest of us. Thanks, babe. Can’t wait for next year!

And of course, Pete Carroll, give the ball to Beast Mode next time!

1 note · View note

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

Goodies and The Grind

Goodies

One of the coolest things about living in the city of Berlin is how multicultural the city is. Not only will you find people from all over Europe living in the city, but you'll also come across Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean people on a daily basis. On the trains, in the grocery stores, and in the malls you will often hear foreign languages (including English) more than you hear the German language. And people wonder why I can't seem to learn German very easily….ok actually I'm really lazy when it comes to learning the language but honestly the fact that most people in this city speak English doesn't help.

What I'm trying to get at with all of this multicultural-ness (definitely not a word but you get the point) is that Berlin is home to every kind of cultural cuisine you can imagine. In my time here since September I've eaten German, Italian, Persian, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and American food and there are even more options out there! Coming from Hawaii, Kawika and I both greatly appreciate all the different types of Asian cuisine in Berlin. Let me try and put this appreciation into perspective. At home I eat rice probably at two meals a day, sushi for lunch 3-4 times a week, Korean bbq for lunch or dinner twice a week, Chinese food for dinner once a week, and Thai food for lunch twice very two weeks. To say that I love Asian food is probably an understatement. Fortunately for me most of these foods are relatively healthy as I do really love to eat. The fact that Berlin offers such a wide variety of amazing food is such a blessing while living overseas. Being away from your home country is always made a little easier (actually more like a lot easier if you love food as much as I do) when you can get a taste of home in the form of amazing food on a regular basis. Just another reason why I love living in Berlin!

Here are three of my favorite Asian food restaurants in Berlin:

Cocolo Ramen: Sydney and I just discovered this incredible Ramen place in Mitte in Berlin. CocoLo offers a variety of authentic Japanese ramen with a great selection of appetizers to help fill you up. We ordered Gyoza (potstickers), a shoyu ramen, and a wonton ramen. If you're looking for a long, sit-down dinner, this isn't the place for you. Because it's so small they have a system of getting people in and out as fast as possible. Oh and you'll probably be sitting at a table with complete strangers. It's all part of the dining experience.

Sakorn: Thai place in located Charlottenburg. Sakorn is a small, simple Thai place with incredible food. There is nothing fancy about this place, but you'll be in and out with an awesome meal in about 45 minutes. It's great if you need a quick meal. My go to is the shrimp pad Thai with a Thai iced tea. Delicious, filling, and for an awesome price.

Shiso Burger: Again, a small burger place located in Mitte in Berlin. What's cool about this place is that it is a Korean burger fusion restaurant that combines the best of both Korean and American worlds. Korean food plus burgers? Not sure you can beat that. I literally get the Korean beef burger (bulgogi burger) with sweet potato fries every time I go, but I also hear the chili lemon burger and shrimp burger are great as well.

Okay that's enough about food. Again, one of the hardest parts about living overseas can be not eating your favorite foods for months on end, but in Berlin Kawika and I are lucky to have such a variety of foods to choose from every day!

The Grind

The grind is a hard thing to describe. But our team, like most teams around Europe at this point are, is currently on the grind. I'm going to try and explain why.

January 18: game at home against Freidrichshafen. January 21: game at home against Budva. January 24: game away at Herrsching in the south of Germany. January 27: game away against Ljubljana in Slovenia. January 31: game away at Netzhoppers about 30 minutes from Berlin. As you can see, its a tough schedule…all with maybe 1 day off. Traveling is a huge part of the grind. Different flights, buses, and hotels all contribute to feeling a little more uncomfortable than if you were just at home. It's never easy traveling by plane or hours by bus!

At this point I feel like I have to put a disclaimer in here. I've debated whether or not to write this post in fear of sounding like I'm just complaining. I love this job, but sometimes it's not as easy as it seems. So for people reading this blog I hope you don't think that I'm this whiney, spoiled brat who doesn't appreciate traveling around Europe playing volleyball. Trust me, I appreciate it very much.

The grind is that portion of season where nothing seems to be easy. It's when you used to pop out of bed at 8:30, but now you need 2 snoozes to finally wake up. It's when you don't want to go for that short ball in that early morning serve and pass. It's when that third set of cleans used to be easy, but now the aches and pains make it hard to finish even the second set. It's when all you want to do is sit and relax in your apartment before practice because you're too lazy to do anything else. When you're on the grind the easy things become more difficult and the little things become big.

When you're on the grind it's a true test of character. It tests your passion for the game and the job. You start asking yourself questions like, "How bad do I really want this?" or "Can't I just take today off?" or "What could my life be like if I were home right now?" The grind makes you question your passion and desire for the goals you've set that in this moment seem to be out of reach. It's that tough portion of season that happens every year. Every athlete is at some point on the grind and knows that you have to battle through it.

Fortunately for Kawika and I we have each other to deal with these tough portions of season. Whether it's just hanging out in our off time or just talking about our goals and aspirations we help keep each other motivated through the year. Don't get me wrong the grind will always be there, but with a brother by your side it makes it seem that much easier to deal with.

2 notes · View notes

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

Holiday Adventures

Happy New Year! As the first week of 2015 comes to a close, I think it is an appropriate time for a new post, one centering on the holiday season. I tried to stay away from my computer for most of my vacation, and now that the hustle and bustle is finished, I am delighted to take some time to reflect and to write.

I believe that the greatest result of the holiday season, for Americans the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s (obviously including Christmas!), is the opportunities it gives people to really think about what they have in life and to really be thankful. Let’s just go back and scroll down our social media newsfeeds and read posts from these special days…Having said that, as I get older, I am beginning to understand the importance of gratitude on a daily basis. This human quality, that often times goes unnoticed, is essential for all of us to pay attention to in order to reach our potential. Not only do we get to express how much we appreciate others when we are grateful, but we also remain grounded, humble, happy, and hungry ourselves moving forward. So…in 2015, don’t wait until Thanksgiving (or your birthday) to inspire gratitude! Remain thankful for what you have daily!

If you have gotten to know Erik and me over the years, you probably know how family oriented we are. If you haven’t, you will by reading this blog! The hardest part about playing volleyball overseas is being away from family, and this is why Christmas time together is so special. (This is also why playing together with my brother is so special!) We don’t get to see each other very often throughout the year, so when we do come together we cherish the time and enjoy each other’s company. This year we were fortunate to spend a few days together at Christmas in Paris and at New Year’s in Berlin!

Mom, Dad, Erik, his girlfriend Sydney, Megan, and I spent the first 3 days walking around Paris until we could no longer move. I think we probably walked about 8-10 kilometers for three consecutive days up, down, and through its beautiful streets and neighborhoods. It was absolutely wonderful to walk and experience the culture of Paris together, but I think everyone would agree, especially Sydney, that it’s an understatement to say we were ecstatic (and thankful) to use the metro for the final two days of sight seeing! The stairs up to Sacré Coeur and even in the Louvre were not easy at the end of the trip!

Paris is an amazing city with so many sights, culture, and diversity. We loved the Louvre and Orsay Museums, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, and Cathédrale Notre Dame, but I think the time spent in the backstreets of Monmartre, Mouffetard, and St. Germaine were almost more illuminating (and fun). On Christmas day, we even found the best deal in Paris on the cute Rue Mouffetard: two crepes and a drink for 5 euros! I also cherished the time we spent at our flat together. We made it a point to partake in some traditional Christmas activities at home like gingerbread house decorating, watching movies, singing songs, playing games, and cooking massive Christmas meals. With French pastries of course! The time at home was perfect. Christmas is meant to be spent at home with family. And time in the flat also meant rest from walking, warmth, and saving money! Paris is expensive!

We ended our time together in Berlin for the New Year’s celebration. My dad wanted to brave the madness at the Brandenburger Tor, but then he fell asleep on the couch at 9 pm, and we decided on a more relaxed evening. We played card games, watched American football, had some snacks and drinks with Paul, Erin, and some of their friends, and then went into the streets as a family to experience the midnight fireworks together. I once thought that the firework displays in Honolulu were some of the craziest in the world, but my experiences in Berlin have told me otherwise. There are absolutely no laws, rules, or regulations when it comes to the rockets flying between apartment buildings, under moving cars (even Police cars), over pedestrian heads, and once in a while into the night’s sky. If there are some, they aren’t apparent. I stand my by text to one of my buddies now studying to be a Police officer in Berlin, “I hope you never have to work New Year’s eve here! It’s too crazy!” Although a bit unnerving, it was fun to be in the middle of it. Together. I couldn’t help but appreciate the occasion. Erik and I are fortunate to be able to make a living playing a sport that we love, a sport that has really contributed to the closeness and uniqueness of our family, and we are also fortunate that our parents are able to join us in special times all the way over here in Europe. Thank you, mom and dad, for coming to spend time with us!

Finally, we both wanted to send another special thank you to our family, friends, and fans for the support in 2014. It was a special year, and we look forward to sharing 2015 with you all. Aloha…

*As I finished this post, the news of the attacks in Paris came across the news. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and Parisians everywhere.

4 notes · View notes

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

8 Reasons Brothers Shouldn't Live Together for More Than a Month

Erik writing again. Upon arriving in Berlin Kawika and I were notified that Kawika's apartment here in Berlin wasn't ready. That meant him living in my apartment until his was ready to move into. That was fine and all, but what we didn't know was that us being roommates was going to last for over a month. So here are 8 reasons why brother should never live together for more a month:

1. Phrases like "You're such an idiot" and "Shut up" are used far too often.

Unfortunately we look like this a lot...

And this...

2. Sharing beds is fine when you're young, but is a little more uncomfortable when you're 25 and 27, and fully grown. Plus if I woke Kawika I'm scared this might happen:

So I sleep on the couch and wake up like this due to back pain:

3. Asking nicely doesn't work.

My response when Kawika ASKS me to please do the dishes:

My response when Kawika TELLS me to get up off the couch do the dishes:

4. We should be responding to each other's gross, bad habits like this:

Or like this...

But usually we just end up responding like this:

Or like this:

5. Card and other mini games start nice... but we pretty much always end up looking like this...

Or this...just a little too intense

And sometimes we may even have a little fight...

6. Sometimes you end up just doing dumb things like this...

Or this...

Ok maybe not that dumb but you get the point

7. Cleaning and organizing is never a top priority. So this could potentially happen...

But if there is time for cleaning, you know it's gonna look like this.

8. The occasional singing and dancing...even if we think it looks like this

But really looks more like this...

can cause the other brother to go just a little insane...

7 notes · View notes

brothersberlin-blog · 9 years

Text

25 Years...

Before I begin, I must send out a big thank you to all of our friends, family, and fans for the positive feedback after our first blog post. The support that has followed from around the world has been tremendous, and we are excited to continue to share our experiences. Having said that, I must admit that now the task has become a bit daunting to entertain the public. Erik has set the bar quite high not only for me, but for him as well, after his creative, witty, and amusing start. I hope we are up for the challenge!

I was struggling to find a topic for this week, but then the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall happened. It would be foolish to not write about this historic event. Before I dive into this special experience, however, I must respond to Erik’s original post. I have a feeling a lot of my writing will be centered on reacting to and probably defending myself against my younger brother’s cute, humorous attacks.

One thing Erik mentioned was the differences in our university concentrations. I will admit that Human Biology students are required to memorize a ton and think critically as well, and Political Science students, among other things, learn how to write. Fortunately for me, this blog is a space generally for WRITTEN thoughts. Erik, you did well in creatively using gifs and memes to hook our audience, but you can’t rely on those forever! Gifs and memes are limited. The written word is not! I have few doubts that you will find a way to answer that challenge with more creative ways to express yourself, but I challenge you to do it minimizing the grammatical errors! I wanted to post a picture of every edit I could have made to your first post, but instead I will let my writing do the talking. I guess I will embrace my role within our blog as the more serious and wise contributor (and grammar gatekeeper), and Erik can continue his funny, quirky, and cliff note versioned posts. After all, these roles reflect our personalities quite appropriately.

That’s enough bagging on my little brother for today. Another theme from Erik’s original post was his laziness and my incredible work ethic (just kidding) and focus. While his post is amazingly accurate, he does fail to mention his own deliberate, focused work. Now, I am speaking as a proud big brother. Even though at times he is lazy, and he plays this card a lot, he also has practiced potentially more than anyone I know. We both, but Erik in particular, has spent hours at home and in the gym honing his volleyball skills. Perhaps I constantly sent the primal cue to my little brother, “you’re behind, so keep up,” that Daniel Coyle mentions in his The Talent Code, that inspired his motivation, or perhaps he has simply always loved the sport, but Erik spent a mindboggling amount of time peppering in the gym, bumping the ball up and down the stairs at home, and spiking against the side of the house. (For my ego’s sake, I will accept the former explanation and take the credit) This is what people don’t get to see or really understand. Erik has put in a lot of work, but more importantly smart work. This, however, does not exempt him from continuing this effort to improve in the future :)

The funny thing is that this deliberate practice did not only apply to volleyball. It also applied to table tennis. Erik mentions his ping-pong prowess here in this question and answer session with USAV. I can remember when we would start a best of 7 series in our garage on Saturday mornings and finish a best of 23 series late in the afternoon. One of us, unfortunately most times me, would ask the other to continue the series to best of 9, 11, and so on after losing. I wanted another shot at winning, so increasing the amount of games was the only way! Not only did this practice help develop our table tennis skills, but it also contributed to the hand eye coordination, anticipation, footwork, ability to read your opponent, and competitive fire that play large roles in our sport today. So yes, for all you parents out there, ping-pong is a great training tool for kids!

It would be a shame to not discuss the 25th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling because of its significance and the fact that this blog is not only to give the public a glimpse into our relationship as brothers, but also the experiences we share this season. Last week, 8,000 balloons were placed as a light border along the 15 km path of the old wall that ran right through the city, and large screens were erected in some areas to show actual video footage from November 9, 1989. Berlin has roughly 3.75 million people, and supposedly 3 more came to the city from all over the world to celebrate. Perhaps, you saw some international coverage of the event online or on your own television at home. If you don’t know anything about the Berlin Wall, one of the symbols of Soviet communism, please take 15 minutes now and educate yourself. Wikipedia is a fine start!

I was privileged to be chosen as one of the 8,000 people to release a balloon into the air, a very humbling calling, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially because of the people I was able to experience the event with. I joined Sebastian and Felix, both born in East Germany, Egor, a junior player who is Russian/German, and a few representatives from our club as the official balloon sponsors, and Erik, my wife Megan, Paul Carroll, his wife Erin, and some other German friends and family members joined the festivities as well, making the night extra special and extra fun. We drank Champaign, shared stories, and mingled with thousands of others in Mauerpark, all there to celebrate Berlin’s unity, freedom, and progress. One of the experiences I have really cherished in my time here is simply talking to my Berliner friends about each of their family’s history, especially concerning East and West Germany and the wall. It is amazing because each and every one of them have incredible stories like these told here. Families were split, people lost their jobs, and hardships were created overnight with the erection of the wall in 1961, and then reunification and freedom triumphed 25 years ago. This triumph and sense of pride stands strong today. It is palpable in this city.

The night ended with each balloon releasing into the air one by one, accompanied by music and fireworks in the background. It was spectacular and beautiful and a wonderful reminder for the brothers of how blessed we are to play in this city. We will continue to learn and continue to be thankful.

Thank you for taking the time to read my first post. I know it is a novel! Thank you for also being patient in your wait for it. This one took way too long to write and edit. Because I am more careful than Erik, I tend to take a little bit longer … I assure you he will have his next one ready within the next week.

Aloha from Berlin!

5 notes · View notes

brothersberlin-blog · 10 years

Text

Erik vs. Kawika

Erik writing here. Most of you reading already know that Kawika and I will be spending a year together playing professional volleyball in Berlin, Germany. I decided to start this joint blog (Kawika and I will both be posting) so we can share our experiences as brothers here in Europe. Playing here on the same team as brothers is pretty unique, so hopefully through this blog you guys will learn more about us and our adventures overseas.

Over the years Kawika and I have gotten a lot of questions regarding our similarities and differences. Who's more competitive..who's smarter...who's more social...etc etc etc...all the way to even "Are you twins?" or "Who's older?" So I decided to write my first post highlighting some similarities and differences between Kawika and I so you guys can get to know us better. Here are 10 similarities and differences between Kawika and I.

1. Kawika- 6'3"....with long legs and a short torso. Age 26

Erik- 6'0"...all torso with short, Japanese legs. Age 25

2. Kawika- 3.7 GPA with a degree in Political Science (A bunch of open ended papers with no right or wrong answer. Argue your point and you'll get an A.)

Erik- 3.24 GPA with a degree in Human Biology (Basically memorizing every aspect about the body...a lot of right or wrong answers. Unfortunately for me, a lot of wrong answers...)

3. Kawika's reaction when Erik messes up on the court: stink eye