Current mood:

thoughtful

Que sera sera...
Yeah well... that's it. Germany 0, Italy 2... the dream of the world cup championship, bursted in the last two minutes of a 120 minutes game... and what a great game. It was very exciting, two vey strong teams, but the Italian team simply had more resources in the end. They deserve their success just like Germany would have had. It's kinda depressing, sorry if it might sound exaggerated to some people here who don't like or don't know much about soccer, but it means a lot over here. During the last three weeks this team, this whole world cup has caused changes in the people around here in the way Germans look at their own country...
I've seen... people hanging German flags out of their windows, they drive around with little German flags on their cars, they put black-red-gold makeup into their faces, decorate their homes, their neighbourhood, they sing the national anthem, they are proud to be German... and that is something you do not see very much over here.
While many of my friends in the US probably observe a behavior like that at least once a year, on this day, on their Independance Day (or in some cases throughout the whole year), Germans pretty much never showed any pride in their country. "Good remember what that led to in the past?" some might say... and some actually said, but it's not that easy of a subject. After the terrible crimes committed in our past, Germans saw that they had no reason to be proud of their country... where so many terrible things happened. This feeling is transfered from generation to generation... my own grandfather's were still kids when the Second World Wat ended, still the feeling of guilt weighs heavy even on our generation... and that is good... at least I think it is. Shame is the best way never to forget or repeat a mistake one comitted. Unlike the common thought that Germans never dealt with their past, that this past is actually hidden from children (Yeah I've talked to people in the US who actually claim that or even report it on TV) Germany has come quite far concerning that. From the 8 years I had history classes back in school, 3 alone were reserved for the time from 1910 to 1945. Like I said there is nothing wrong with remembering the past and a good deal of guilt does not hurt either.. but what about the good things? What about the psoitive effects Germany and Germans had on this world... Pride... that was something nobody here even wanted to claim, fearing to be branded as a right wing idiot or a nazi. But this world cup so far changed things... people take pride in what Germany has achhieved... I'm not only talking here about the German team, but also about organizing all this, working together, having people come to this country and say "Hey, those guys are actually pretty nice." (not to mention: "You mean you guys eat and drink stuff BESIDES sauerkraut, sausage and beer? wow!")... I hope this process continues... I hope Germans can be a bit proud to be Germans again.

... now... I was talking about soccer wasnt I? <..< Sorry about that. Maybe the lost game just threw me a bit too deep into thoughts. ;P Well the games go on. Now that Italy is inthe final, I hope they win, so we can at least claim having lost against the champions. XP Go Italy!