Das war’s

Happy July 4th!

I wanted to have some people over and BBQ tonight but I couldn’t get it together. One reason is that I waited until the last minute. The other reason is that people are more concerned about where to watch the game. Since I don’t have a big screen TV, people are worried that they might drink too much and not get a good seat in a bar, thereby possibly missing the kickoff. Another reason is that their stomachs are too nervous and don’t want to eat.

I hung this flag in my window because I’m punk rock like that.

I have been back from Rome for a week now actually. It was a great trip. It was wonderful to see the family. The history and ruins in Rome were very interesting. Saw St. Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel. I saw a lot of amazing art and architecture. The weather was a bit too hot but manageable. The food and drink were expensive. The women were beautiful. We all went out to Pompeii for a day trip. That was incredible. The artifacts are amazing.

While we were there Rome was in the hot and sweaty grip of World Cup Fever. It seemed that every bar/shop had a TV with the games going. There are so many tourists from so many different countries, that every team had support from their fans when they played.

While flying back to Germany, our flight coincided with the Germany-Sweden match. The pilot was giving updates during the flight:
“The score is 1-0 Germany. Podolski just shot it in!”
“2-0, Another goal from Podolski!”

When he came on and gave the final score and said that Germany won, the passengers erupted with yelling and screaming. From the way people were flipping out, you would have thought he just said, “The plane is gonna crash and we are all gonna die!!” Just imagine if you were one of those passengers that falls asleep on the plane as soon as you strap yourself in and don’t wake up until you land. I bet they woke up with more than just a startle.

During the last couple of weeks as the World Cup Championship has been going on, I have noticed that the overall mood in Germany seems to have improved. I’m not the only one to notice. The New York Times and Der Spiegel noticed as well. This was very interesting to see as Germans are generally not prone to outbursts of flag-waving and national pride

Last night, as soon as Germany won the World Cup Quarter-Final against Argentina, I went outside to the Marktplatz in Lüneburg to gauge the local reaction. Lüneburg was going nuts. According to the local paper this was the longest Autokorso in the city’s history. Click the video below to see.

If they keep winning, it will only get better. But if they lose, how long will the good vibes last?

If you can understand German, you might be interested in seeing the German Chancellor’s first video podcast. Don’t expect any random personal insight. Apparently, she forgot to turn her emotion chip on. Maybe she’ll loosen up some day and do one without her media-handlers. It could be something like this.

There have been a few interesting articles published recently concerning how the fans from neighboring countries are going to behave in Germany during the World Cup. Are the English football hooligans going to cause trouble? Are the Dutch going to take it too far with their headgear? Will the Germans laugh along?

What ever you do, don’t mention the war.

The World Cup starts next week in Germany. Everywhere you look these days you see the official World Cup logo. It is all everybody is talking about. Tickets are a hot commodity and extremely hard to come by. They are also non-transferable unless you want to pay a 10? transfer fee for each ticket. Say you spent hundreds of Euros on tickets and you for some reason can’t make it. Tough. You can’t hand them off to your buddy. It is all very bureaucratic, which for Germany is fitting.

I remember the last one 4 years ago and people in Germany were flipping way out. Every time Germany won there were large groups of drunk people roaming the streets, shouting, singing and waving the German flag. More than usual I mean. Like when the Dallas Cowboys won the Superbowl x10. I found that interesting. Because of Germany’s history, many of her citizens have an ambivalent attitude towards patriotism. They may claim that it is not a German character trait and that they don’t understand this national pride that Americans have. Why should they be proud? It doesn’t make sense. Ohhh, but just you wait buddy until their team makes it to the World Cup Final. You’ll see all kinds of patriotism. Flag waving, National anthem singing (just the tune, because nobody knows the words, nobody), etc, etc. I can only imagine how insane it could get if Germany hosts the games AND makes it to the final.

Somebody also found it necessary to dra up a set of rules for wives and partners.

Me? I might watch a few games and cheer my team on but I won’t be getting into it that much. This is why I am somewhat relieved that I will be out of the country for the first half of the tournament. Of course I’ll be in Rome and the Italians are not known for their calm demeanor when it comes to Calcio, so it doesn’t matter. Some bloggers will be right in the thick of it though.

Last night was a warm-up game between Germany and Japan. Jens and I went to watch it in a local bar. There was a very international crowd there. I ate a very poor German attempt at a burrito. It ended up 2:2.

There is also some controversy here about what would happen if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decides to attend one of his national team’s games. German Chancellor Merkel has extended an invitation to him to attend. In Germany there is freedom of speech and expression with very few exceptions and, as far as I know, almost all of them have to do with Germany’s nazi past and the Holocaust. For example, it is a crime here to deny that the Holocaust happened. Ahmadinejad has done just that on more than one occasion and has called for the destruction of Israel. As you can imagine, this is a touchy subject in Germany. Now a diplomatic problem could arise if Ahmadinejad decides to express these opinions while on German soil. A foreign dignitary knowingly commits a crime in his host country. Should he have diplomatic immunity? Should he be arrested? Should he be charged and or fined? Would he be that stupid in the first place? What if (and here is a long stretch of the imagination, I know) Iran and the USA make it to the final? Ahmadinejad and George Dumbass Bush would have to sit next to each other. That would be rich.

Update: Apparently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not coming. Crisis averted. Whew!

I went to the cardiologist today for a follow up meeting. He says I have something called tako-tsubo syndrome. WTF? I still can’t get a satisfactory answer about what it is. Google isn’t much help. The doctor’s advice was to live each day like it is your last. Gee, thanks. Oh, and he put me back on the meds. Well, all except the beta-blockers. I’ll get a second opinion and hopefully try to get some information in plain English. At least I’m getting some answers. This was the first doctor who didn’t shrug his shoulders and say, “I dunno”. We’ll see.

Went to Josh Ritter last night at the Stage Club in Hamburg. It was a good show in an intimate surrounding. This is the third time I saw him in Hamburg. After the show he always comes out of the dressing room and talks to the fans and signs autographs. He is a genuinely nice guy with a good sense of humor. I mentioned him previously. Here he is on NPR.

One of the things that most Germans love about this time of year is Spargel, white asparagus. I mentioned it here before. There is a restaurant in NYC called Zum Schneider that will occasionally have a Spargel menu among many other traditional German dishes.

I found this genetically modified mega-spargel in Lüneburg during the weekend market.

I went to a cardiologist the other day to have a meeting. I just gave him a report of my recent medical problems and talked about how things were going. The first thing he did was take me off the medication I was taking. That was a relief. Those side effects like weight gain, lethargy, mood swings, forgetfulness and rashes were cramping my style. Now I can just concentrate on the mood swings. I have another appointment next week. In the meantime he’s going to hit the books and figure out what, if anything, is going on. We’ll see.

Today is a holiday in Germany. It is Christi Himmelfahrt/Father’s Day. I may have discussed that on this blog already but I couldn’t find the entry. Some celebrate this holiday in a special German tradition. Like most German traditions, this one also includes drinking a lot of alcohol. What better way to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus than walking around all day with your buddies dragging a wagon around full of beer and other assorted alcoholic beverages while creating a public nuisance?

Most Americans may not know this, but once a year in Europe there is a contest on television called the Eurovision Song Contest. It grabs some of the biggest ratings of the entire year. Every participating country sends their selection to the previous year’s winners and TV viewers call in and vote on their favorite. It’s been going on forever and it’s a big deal over here. Anyway, Finland just won with their submission, Hard Rock Hallelujah, by the band Lordi, Finland’s answer to Gwar.

I actually thought Germany had a chance with their country-styled entry No No Never by Texas Lightning, but they didn’t even make it into the top half. I’ve heard more than one German complain that Germany consistently scores low “because of our history“. Whether or not this is true, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this: all the music sucks. I know it may sound snobbish or elitist to say, but it is true. It all sucks. Period. It’s like Up With People* on Prozac and cocaine. Not a good combo. Don’t argue with me on this one. Although I’m nursing my third glass of wine, I really know what I’m talking about here.

*Full disclosure: UWP Alum Cast D 1995, but let’s keep that between us, okay?