Team Geist!

Team Spirit! I was lucky enough to be in Germany during the 2006 World Cup, and it was in Germany. The Germans show their country pride through their soccer team. It was incredible to see the flag flying out of every other window, people wearing it around them, face paint, and hugging and high fiving people they didn't know (Germans definitely have a personal space thing). And now the Eurocup is in Austria and Switzerland, not as cool, but still, it is great to be here. And the same thing is happening. Since the summer of 2006, some people have kept their flags out, but it is nothing compared to what I have been seeing in the past few weeks.

As an American, showing your patriotism has always come easy, we don't need a special day, or a tournament where our team will do well to prove this. Any day of the week we can hang up our flags, wear a flag on our clothing (as in and Old Navy T-shirt, or something similar), and ok, maybe we do need the fourth of July to paint our faces, but it isn't something that we think twice about. But now I realize that what we have and what the Germans have is something different. Yes, I do believe that a flag can help unite a country, but it seems like this is the moment, right now, where Germans are getting together and celebrating. It is not on Tag der deutschen Einheit (Reunification day, when East and West Germany became Germany again).

And then I realized that in America, we don't have anything like this that we come together for. While we do the parade thing, and the fireworks thing on the fourth of July, I have never stood in a group of people, all watching something, and then cheering loudly together, it isn't about religion, it isn't about politics, but something that is so much more simple, and that seems to make it so much purer. While we do watch the Olympics, we usually watch that in the comfort of our own home, we don't ask, "Oh, where are you going to watch the finals of the 100m?"

Of course sports is a big deal in the states, but to a completely different degree. It makes me realize how apathetic we can really get about the international scene. We have our own sports (football, basketball, and football), but they are sports that we are good at, and other countries don't really care about them. Yes, I have football fever, but hey, I have had it since about the age of five.