EM and Public Viewing

Soccer season is upon us yet again. Last time Michael and I were in Germany for the summer (2010) it was WM (Weltmeisterschaft, World Cup), now it's EM (Europameisterschaft, Euro Cup). Tonight's game was the second Germany game, against the longtime rival the Netherlands, which was more high stakes for Oranje. They had to win to stay in the running, whereas Germany's victory means they're guaranteed a spot in the quarter finals, either June 21st or 22nd. So my parents will get to see at least one Germany game!

from BILD

I have posted before about Germany's soccer craziness, and what soccer means for a country that is otherwise not usually waving flags or saying they're proud to be German. The below picture is from Berlin tonight. The biggest party is by Brandenburg gate, but I would never go to something like that. What is more fun are all the smaller, more impromptu parties and gatherings. I do think it's cool that Germans are so into watching the games together. Rather than all sit in their apartments in front of the TV they go out to bars or cafes or biergardens to watch and cheer together.

on  the "fan mile" in Berlin

  

Does anyone else think the logo is hideous? (above) 

Below, a funny photo that was getting reposted on facebook among all the Germans

things that made me smile

this was a sneaky picture i took of a guy from this bachelor party i mentioned a way back...wearing a burlap sack over his head.

shiny new central train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, with a "beach bar" below. Germans love these fake beaches. They dump some sand down, or make a nice lawn, put up some umbrellas, and they are in business, selling you cocktails and beer.

two female police officers walking along the Spree. just a sight you don't see very often.

little European car and one of the former guard towers from the Berlin Wall in the background.

the sign here reads: "Why don't you burn some calories instead of gas?"

below: hard-boiled eggs sold in the supermarket, dyed to look like soccer balls

below: open-air movie theater in Kreuzberg, which shows a new film every night, mostly in the original language with German subtitles

WM, part IV

headline of the BILD Zeitung (really trashy, but really widely read paper, I always get a kick out of the melodramatic headlines while walking by the newsstands):

So they already start talking about 2014.

A different paper reported on the outbreaks of violence on the "Fan-Meile," where 350,000 German fans gathered to watch the game in front of the Brandenburg Gate. There were 52 people arrested. But what didn't occur (which had happened after every German victory) were the lines of cars driving around with flags and honking through the city.

Other headlines: a 17-year old drunk fan was fished out of the Spree with a blood-alchohol reading of 2,27 Promille...fell from a bar along the water.

WM, part III

So as you probably know as well, Germany has made it one step further, and the game against Spain is tonight. As I write, no idea how that will go. We watched the last game in a packed-to-the-brim Biergarten on a HOT July day. Today's game is an evening game, and the weather turned cooler as well. Viel Glück, Deutschland!
Hope Germany will be in the game on Sunday, too! :)

more WM craziness

So, I am sure you all know by now as well that Germany won against England...but a feeling for the CRAZINESS here is hard to get from abroad. haha, I am standing amongst it and it's hard to describe. EVERY café and bar with a flatscreen TV (and there are increasingly more of them) gathers a CROWD during games. No seating room anywhere, you have to stand if you get anywhere late. Below you can see people right before the game, spilling out into the streets.
Lots of places not only have flatscreen TVs but also screens set up with projectors.

We happened to be walking through the Sternschanze in Hamburg as the national anthems were being sung...a district which is known for being really leftist/alternative, and usually not the kind of extreme soccer fan...But all bars and cafes were full. Below, however, is the evidence that we were in the Schanze...across the street from the bars full of soccer fans we saw a guy burning the German flag. We also heard that during the game (4 pm German time) there was a protest against "Fußball-Nationalism" at the University. You have to remember that waving the German flag, and such blatant displays of patriotism are still kinda extraordinary in Germany. (Not so much since the last WM, and soccer will stay an exception.)
Other examples of the craziness are countless. here is one at the train station. In addition to the normal display of departure time/train number you have the score!

And this picture below is SO typsich deutsch... NO supermarkets are open on Sundays except the one at the central train station (Hauptbahnhof). So look at the line after the game, of people loading up on more food, beer, etc to keep celebrating! Ha! We decided to go out and grab a pizza instead of grabbing groceries...

Fußball und WM-Wahn

WM = Weltmeisterschaft, the long German word for World Cup.

So...Fußball craziness is in full swing, both the US and Germany have made it into the next round, which I'm sure many of you know as well. It would be interesting to compare how it's being covered in the US, and a comparison of the fan culture would probably be the most interesting. :) Everyone is going CRAZY for soccer here, and the atmosphere is really fun and energetic, especially when Germany is playing, but Berlin also has so many immigrants from all over, each little bar has its own Greece or Turkey flag next to the German one.

We ended up watching the game at a semi-sketchy but totally fun little locale last night...improv outside a Getränkemarkt (a shop where you can buy beverages, alcoholic and non, in bulk) in Kreuzberg. Really interesting crowd, a mix of people probably nowhere to be found but in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The owners of the shop just set up a flatscreen TV outside and a few benches, and a crowd of maybe 40-50 people gathered around. We brought down some chairs from a friend's apt, other people sat on stacked beer crates or stood. Some people (like us) maybe didn't have a TV, but I think most people just wanted to be outdoors in public watching the game. Better atmosphere. You couldn't find a spot at ANY café or Biergarten or anything...we tried. :)

Earlier in the day we watched the US game at a bar/Biergarten along the Spree, where they made a beach and also set up a huge screen. (But the phenomenon of the Strandbar is maybe another topic.) Well, "watched" the US game doesn't really do it...the German channel was actually only showing the England game...and so we only got to watch the goal in replay at the end. :( We were a nice little group of about 6-7 Americans.

The display of patriotism is pretty extreme here, especially for Germans who usually NEVER wave flags or sing the anthem (although I haven't heard the anthem yet). Obnoxious black-red-gold outfits, tacky car-flags, unrestrained horn-blowing and screaming...I only expect it to escalate into obscenity if/when Germany progresses. The huge thing is the vuvuzela, this simple horn thing which I guess is popular in South Africa, and which is now for sale at every 1€ store).

i wish you could see this girl's outfit: black dress with red dress underneath, yellow tights...classy, really classy :)