We are the Champions

This last weekend we were in Paris, and it was incredible seeing all the sites and buildings we have learned about in school and experiencing the city overall. It was a great weekend with beautiful sites, great food, and good company. On our downtime, we ended up spending quite a bit of time at the bar right next to our hostel.

It’s our first time out at a European bar as a big group, and all of us were excited to experience the atmosphere and meet new people. We walk through the doors, order our drinks, and sit down. After a while, we notice things that really stick out at this bar. We look up at the DJ stand and see a big American flag across the stand and an American flag banner on the bar. The walls were covered with American artist and sports references, and to top it off there were two American themed beer pong tables in the corner.

When you see a pong table you must play pong, so being the stereo-typical Americans that we are, we decided to start up a game of pong. No one looked interested in playing with us, so we decide to play teams, and the first game went well, I only missed my shots a hand full of times, I only ran across the room ten times chasing after the ball, and my team ended up winning the game. The second game we started to attract some attention and another group started up a game on the other table.

To give ourselves some room and to not interfere with the game happening at the table nearby, we moved our table out of the corner. As we started our second game heads started to turn our way when we started making more shots and cheering. There was a man standing at a table near by who took quite an interest in our game. At first, he was just watching us take our shots laughing at us as we chased after the balls, clapping when we made it in to the cups, and then finally started to coach us and celebrating with us when the game got intense.

“No don’t throw too hard!” “You have to AIM!” “YES! GREAT SHOT MAN! GOOD MAN!” He yelled as more and more cups were being removed from the game. You could see that our game of throwing a tiny little white ball in to solo cups full of water across the table just became the world cup in this man’s eyes. It took a while, but we finally were even, one cup on either side. You could tell that our “coach was nervous” who would win? Who would take home bragging rights?

The other team throws the ball it hits the rim and slides in. We hear a shout of excitement as our bystander runs and hugs the other team. But wait, he doesn’t realize that my team can take two more shots to win the game. We get the balls dunk them in water and tap the ball to the table. The bystander looks nervous he gives us the thumbs up as my partner takes her first shot, and it misses. The games over and our new fan goes and celebrates with the other team.

I go get another beer with a friend as more people start to gather around our table to play another game.

THE END