World Cup Fever

What a crazy game! I watched the latest game between Germany and Argentina at a public viewing area in the city. I proudly wore my ‘Deutschland’ shirt and was hoping for the best for them (Germany was my third team to USA-first, and Sweden-second…) Just imagine: Fans of all ages adorned in wigs, shirts and frantically waving German flags. They have cheers for everything and even now, nearly two hours after the game is over, cars are still honking! They are unbelievably optimistic and I have to admit that after that game tonight, I would not be surprised in the least if they made it to Berlin.

But, with all of this excitement, questions of German patriotism arise such as just how long will this last? Patriotism here in Deutschland is completely different than in the states and also has a different connotation…one of my German friends said that when she hears that word she immediately thinks of nationalism and therefore, Hitler.

But, it has been fun to see people from 3 to 83 wearing Germany shirts and cheering loudly or waving German flags. And if you are wearing anything to do with Germany, you will get enough smiles and friendly nods or greetings to put you in a good mood for days.

The only negative parts I have found are the rowdiness of some…some German fans carelessly throw glass bottles on the ground in the streets and then don’t care when they break and people walk all over them or other fans will say rude cheers to the other teams and then say not the most polite things to people wearing shirts of the other teams. (One of my friends I watched the game with accidentally wore a blue and white striped shirt without fully realizing those were Argentina’s colors…and there were a number of German fans who made comments to her about the loss.)

A few pictures to paint a picture of what it was like where I watched the game this evening….I couldn’t imagine what it was like in Berlin!

P.S. I wasn't able to post this blog right away...it was actually written last Friday.