Fußball!

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Perhaps after their beer, I would say that the thing Germans love second best is their Fußball. Soccer is practically a religion here. My host father generally goes to bed fairly early, but whenever there is a soccer game, he will stay up until 11 oclock to watch every single second of the game. On TV, the games are shown in continuous blocks, without even commercial breaks. It is definitely a passion of the German people.

I was quite excited to attend a game of Berlin’s soccer team, Hertha (which actually means nothing. Hertha is just relatively common Woman’s name). They were playing a Greek team. It was a championship game so security was higher than usual. All of our bags were searched coming into the stadium, and we were all patted down to ensure that we had no bottles, alcohol, weapons, or other disruptive items. Inside, the stadium, it was definitely full (though not packed) and there was a small army of security guards. The entire field was surrounded by about 50 or so security guards, standing maybe 20 feet apart. There were also guards in the stands and another small army of guards outside. They had also gotten the Polizei to come help manage security for the game. I guess that sometimes fans can get a little out of hand at these games!

The game itself was fairly fun, thought not particularly interesting. Berlin beat the greek team soundly - 3 to 0. I understand soccer and enjoy playing it, but I must admit that I do not really understand the German, and, for that matter the rest of the worlds, obsession with it. It is a good sport and fun to watch and all, but I really cannot get into it the same way that I can get into an American football game. I guess I need more experience with it and more ability to really know what is going on and how to watch the game.

There was one section, perhaps a sixth of the total seating that was set aside as the “fan section.” I would say that the fan section was almost as interesting to watch as the game. The entire game, they were singing, and waving their flags, and chanting, and doing the wave and practically dancing! Then when Berlin scored, they would practically explode in a new roar of cheering and flag-waving. I was amazed that so many people could keep so much energy going for so long!

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