Chriseay and I picked up the game and things look ok. We are hurting due to our lack of foreign contacts, and are falling behind in tech. As the last team suggested, we will continue to try for the Colossus and the Great Lighthouse.
The research on writing finished up just as we started our turns, and we had a discussion on what to go for next. We decided that getting caravels as soon as possible was the top priority over several important options, so we started on optics. Code of laws was another strong choice, but not the one we ultimately decided on.
As soon as Berlin finished its forge I started on the colossus, albeit without copper.
And not to much later Chriseay started on the Great Lighthouse.
Chriseay also grabbed the stone city and amazingly didn't take too much of a hit to his economy.
As I scouted around the eastern portion of the German continent, my spearman stumbled upon a barbarian city that was only defended by warriors! Well, you know what they say, fortune favors the bold! I attack! You can see the results below - 3 warriors killed in three turns, resulting in a free city and an extra worker!
Berlin finished up the Colossus, aided a bit by a forest chop. I started a barracks there to get us a few more barbarian defenders.
I founded Cologne on the northern spot with fish and cows. These coastal cities we more important now that we have the colossus. I started an obelisk there and am working one of the plains hills building an obelisk. It needed that border expansion as soon as possible to pull in both of its resources.
I popped a Great Prophet a few turns later and didn't really have much to do with him as the discussion shows. I kept him in Berlin for a future tech rush or a possible Golden Age. The next team can veto that decision. It's early enough that a superspecialist makes a lot of sense.
And two pics of the German and Japanese lands:
The next team should concentrate on spinning up our economy as much as possible and reducing our research times. Also, try to continue on towards Caravels - we need to find the other civs and start trading if we can.
Good luck!