Germany 1 - USA 0

Thursday night was the Germany vs. USA World Cup game. I wish that I could give you insightful commentary about the battle between Germany, a long-time soccer powerhouse, and the USA, the underdog that managed to squeak its way out of the "group of death" and into the next round. Unfortunately, I don't know much about soccer (or football, as it's generally called). And I can't give you the details of the game. All I can say is that there was only one goal, it was raining really hard, and none of the players bit each other.

I will tell you is that there are a lot of flags flying on our street these days. Of course you can see numerous German flags. There is also a Nigerian flag, a Ghanaian flag, and on game days, an English St. George's Cross.

We rigged up the stars and stripes for the first USA game versus Ghana. We were trying to compete with those guys in the photo above. But when the wind blew, our flag kept getting tangled up and stuck on the windowsill. After a lot of fiddling with wire hangers and weights, Brian broke out the scissors and we defaced the American flag. I am sure that I can never run for office of any kind now. But that will all be ruined anyway once we take a vacation to Cuba. My political career is over before it started. I can't say I've inhaled, but I can say that I cut some holes in the flag to help it fly better while hanging out of our 5th story window in Hannover. This is the same flag that served as Brian's cape in his Captain America costume. It's been through a lot. So rather than defacing, I think it's really a matter of wear and tear. If we hadn't ever used it to show some patriotic spirit, it could still be in mint condition.

On Thursday we got that flag flying out the window and then took off for the international school's year-end staff party. We all watched the game there - a few supporters of each team and a lot of people who weren't cheering for either side. When Germany won there were only a handful of excited fans. It might have been the least excited bunch of spectators in town.

There are a lot of public viewing sites around town for the World Cup - huge screens set up at bars and biergartens. People gather in huge crowds sporting their jerseys and flags. In the U.S. there is nothing that really compares. There is no time that everyone in the country is cheering for one national team that is playing everyone's single favorite sport. I know we all like to watch Olympic table tennis, but it just doesn't compare.

As for our defacing of the flag, it was all with the best of intentions. This display of patriotism should really make up for that upcoming trip to Cuba. The embargo will end someday and it won't be such a big deal then. You can all vote for me with a clear conscience.