World Cup Champions and A Visit to Tubingen

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Take the celebration following Seattle's Super Bowl win and multiply it by the entire country. That is what it was like here after Germany's World Cup win yesterday. I cannot overstate how lucky we are to have been able to be here to witness it all first hand!

Heidi and I attended a public viewing with one of the German teachers just outside of Stuttgart. For hours prior to the match, there was singing, chanting, and an electric excitement in the air. All that was spoken of was the match. Everyone had their own theory, prediction and justification for just why Germany would win. Lahm being back at right back, where he is best suited, the utter decimation of Brazil just a week earlier, Bastian Schweinsteiger owning the midfield in workmanlike order would wear down and frustrate the Argentines. My personal theory was that while Messi is an incredible player, Germany is an incredible team. Teams win championships, not individuals.

Well before the viewing started, the songs and festivities were in full swing. It was a rowdy party and the game hadn't even started! As the match wore on, the crowd became more amped. Every call, good or bad, narrow miss, every build up was recognized by those in attendance with loud cheers, boos, words I cannot repeat (even though they are in German), or a song.

The effervescent joy and utter jubilation unleashed by every person present when Germany scored can be legitimately compared to nothing I have ever before experienced. It was as if someone had popped the cork on a champagne bottle holding back the hopes and dreams of a sporting nation. Seven incredibly tense minutes later, and the party was on!

As we exited the viewing, all we could see were people. Thousands and thousands of enthusiastically celebrating people. The streets were jam packed like the front few rows of a concert at the gorge. It was hard to move. Car horns were honking, music was blaring, flags were waiving and people were jumping, dancing and signing. It was pouring rain, but nobody even noticed, much less cared. The euphoria of victory spurred on the revelry, no matter the meteorological circumstances.

The coolest thing was perhaps that this was all purely genuine patriotic excitement. There was no malicious minority to cause trouble and ruin it for the rest. One felt perfectly safe and free in and amongst the celebrating masses.

Monday was a great day, even though bed didn't come until early this morning. The first lessons at school were preemptively cancelled due to the match. Some were absent, but not an inordinate amount by any means. There was a sharp uptick in the wearing of national team jerseys to school of course.

Some of our students attended English classes to answer questions from German 6th and 7th graders. They did a great job if answering all of the questions and also in keeping the discussion going. When the German questions ran out, the tables were turned and the American's began asking the questions. They have already been invited back later in the week for more classes.

This afternoon we visited the town of Tubingen. The only way that I can describe it is this... It was like being at Disneyland, or Leavenworth, but on steroids, and it was real. Narrow cobblestone streets and even tighter alleys, steeply ascending to the castle on the hilltop through a maze of half timbered houses which often and suddenly opened to a common square holding an ornate flowing fountain. Wandering this town is like opening a story book and reading the stereotypically German sights in real life.

We ate a delicious meal as a group near the now infamous Neckar River and then went on home. It was tough to leave this snapshot of storybook Germany, but there will be more to come!

At school tomorrow, some of our students will teach the 5th and 6th grade PE classes. We will be teaching American Football skills of course! Tomorrow after school we are off to Hohenzollern Castle, which will be an incredible treat! Following this visit, it'll be time to hit the mini links for some mini golf!

It's another week jam packed with goodness here in Germany!

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