This past weekend was really nice - warm, sunny weather and nice, cool breezes. Tennis lessons began and were a hit (ha ha!) On Sunday, we were able to go hiking high up in the mountains where there was still some snow on the ground and where the snow-topped mountains were very near. Then, we got the pleasure of some good ol' fashioned American football. Our town has a minor league football team, and they did very well - 41-0 was the score!! We finished it with a wonderful evening with a dear friend from America and some grilled brats. It was a very nice Mother's Day for me.
I also got to see my niece and nephew on the computer. He is a big NASCAR fan and loves to say "Gentlemen, start your engines!" He'll even get a chance to say it for real this summer at an official race. We are looking forward to watching that race on TV. But NASCAR over here is not something that many, if any, follow. The big races to watch here are Formula 1, and no one is more famous or associated with Formula 1 than German Michael Schumacher. Translated literally, his last name means "shoe maker" - thus the question for the day posed on Friday.
Michael Schumacher was born in Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany near Cologne in 1969. Schumacher seemed to be destined to race. At age four, he was driving a motorized go-kart. He joined the local Kart club as the youngest member shortly thereafter. He won his first club championship at the tender age of six. Ironically, he won this without a valid license. At age 12, he circumvented the system by getting a valid license in Luxembourg, since Germany does not issue them until age 14. At age 15, he won the German Junior Kart Championship, and from there he went on to win other European Championship Kart races.
He made his move over to car races at the age of 19, joining the German single-passenger car series Formula Ford and Formula König. After winning the König series, he continued through the circuits winning just about everything he took on, always moving his way ever closer to the cream of the racing series in Europe - Formula 1, which he joined in 1991 at age 22. Over the courses of his Formula 1 racing, he has proven his ability to handle a car. He was so in-tuned with the machine he was controlling that even in difficult conditions, he was essentially mistake free. Unlike NASCAR that stops racing in the rain, Formula 1 continues on. Due to his skill in the rain, he gained the nicknames Regenkönig (rain king) and Regenmeister (rain master).
It wasn't until Schumacher was involved in Formula 1, though, that it became a popular sport in Germany. As he continued to perform, more and more Germans took notice and rallied behind him, even though he never drove a German car in the races. Many drivers since have credited Schumacher as being their reason for participating in the sport.
He won his first race as a Formula 1 driver in 1992 and his first Driver's Championship in 1994. He repeated the feat in 1995 as the youngest person to win consecutive years. In 1996, he changed to the car team that would forever dominate his future - Ferrari. Ferrari, at the time, was not doing so well, but Schumacher brought with him key people from his previous success, and the company was willing to do what it would take to have a champion driver and team. The company won the Constructor's cup with him as their driver in 1999, and he won his own championship in 2000 and would remain unbeaten as season champion until 2005 giving him a record total of seven Driver's World Championship titles in all. During the 2001 season, he had another recorded added to his name when he and his brother, Ralf, finished 1st and 2nd in a race in Canada - the first time brothers had taken both the 1st and 2nd positions. This was also the year where he broke the record for most wins by a driver. The 2002 season saw him on the podium in every single race. He finished 1st a record 11 times over the season. In 2004, he bettered his records again winning all but one of the first 13 races that year. He won one more that season taking all but 5 races possible.
Schumacher's dominance cause rule changes of the tires to make the races more interesting. The changes had a decided affect on his driving, and 2005 turned out to be a dismal year for him. The following year, although he did well and had a chance to win the championship again, in the end, he was not able to beat his then rival, Fernando Alonso. Before the last race, he decided to retire at the end of the season.
In addition to his performances in Formula 1 races, Schumacher is also credited with helping to design a special safety helmet that is so sturdy, it was successfully run over by a tank without breaking. He has also been a big supporter of childhood education, preventing childhood poverty and homelessness, and UNESCO. He is now an advisor and test driver for Ferrari and lives with his wife and two children on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
The word for the day is race car driver: der Rennautofahrer (rehn ou toe fahr er).
The question of the day is "What fashion item that is universally associated with America was actually brought to us by a German?"
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
