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Mike war 4 Saisons beim SV Bayer Wuppertal -> 1996/97 (da gab es meine homepage noch nicht) und 1997/98 und 1998/99 und 1999/2000

Auf meine Mail, wie es ihm geht und was er "nach dem SV Bayer" macht, kam am 7.März 2003 folgende Antwort:

SCHRANNI!!!
How are you?? I am fine and thank you for thinking of me for this interview, many things are happening for me here in colCanada but I will start by answering some of the questions you asked me........

What do I do now?? Well, right now I am in school learning to become a police officer.... that's right I am now Mike "einze-zwei-polizei" Chaloupka!! I am almost finished my scooling and then will start to be on the road arresting people very soon (in April-May). But I am working for the Peel Regional Police , it is and area/province right beside Toronto and it is the area that I grew up in. I am very excited about my new career and hope to be as good of a police man as Olaf Becker!! Ha!

What do I remember from Wuppertal?? First of all I remember the weather ..... YUCK!! But here in Canada it has been terrible. But I do remember of course the club, the management, the players and the fans. I REALLY miss LOLA and the Laurentious-Platz (my spelling is terrible!!) When I think of Germany I have so many great memories and all of my friends here like to hear the stories of the people and the volleyball and the experiences that I had there. I also miss the beach volleyball.......even after playing two years in Canada on the beach it still is not the same as it was in Germany. I reallly miss the players on the tour because it was a really big family.

My favorite german word? What else!?!? Scheize!! I say it all the time!!

What do I do in volleyball now?? Well, lately I have not played so much volleyball because of my school and training to be a police officer, but I do play with a team of friends and we win almost every tournament that we play in. I wish that I could play more but when I came back to Canada the doctor told me that my knee was "fertig" and that I could not play professional any more without hurting myself badly. I can play on the weekends but that is about it. I have no more cartelidge in my knee ( I forgot the german word for it......kneurbeln, I think!??) but thats OK, I have the memories form my time there to make me happy!!

What do I miss about Germany? Easy to answer that one.......Weizen bier!! and my appartment in Elberfeld. I don't miss the german girls because I was with a wonderful german girl for most of the time that I was there.....Uli Schmidt. Thanks to Uli, I learned to speak a little bit of German, so I thank her for that!!

Other than that I have nothing much to add .... I did buy a VW Passat, because I drove one in Berlin with Wolfgang Kuck!! I would like to send out a huge hello to everyone that I met in the time that I was in Wuppertal, like Udo and Barbel and Julchien...... soon I will be getting a dog too!! Udo was a great help in everything that I did in Wuppertal and I miss him. I also have a new house in a town called Brampton, I am living with a girl named Sonja (her family is from Austria so I speak german with her family too!!) we have been together for almost 3 years and she is great. My little buddy Christopher who was always at our games and a good kid, I don't know where he is now but I hope he is OK. And of course my super-fan.... Annika I hope that I have her name spelled right?? She was always my biggest fan and always so nice to me. Makes me smile every time that I think of her. Oliver Preuss, a true friend from the first minute that I arrived in Germany, I hope all is well with him and his new marriage. I really do miss playing in Wuppertal, it was easily the best experience of my life and I can not thank all of the people there enough for the friendships and patience everyone had for me as I learned to speak a little german and live my life there. Makes me want to come back and play!!

Much love to all, I miss ya!

Mike Chaloupka