The Party’s Over

The World Cup is over for 4 more years. Germany made a respectable showing by beating Uruguay for third place. I had hoped The Netherlands would have won it, but alas, Spain took the Cup.

As I've mentioned before, I never really followed soccer. I had to ask my husband why the neighbors cheered when the ball went out of bounds. If we end up staying here in Germany, I'll definitely have to bone up on the soccer. It's a national pastime here.

Yes, I mentioned IF we stay here. As some of you may know, hubby is a government contractor here. His contract is up in November and his company elected to not rebid the follow-on contract. That kind of leaves us up in the air.

We have options, but it's the uncertainty that is a bummer. Hopefully we'll know something by the end of the month.

On a positive note, I will be flying out next Wednesday to head back to the States. I'll be flying in to Ohio to spend some time with the fam before heading down to Orlando for the RWA national conference. I'm really looking forward to the trip, and I'll have to remain focused. I will be taking the week of conference off from writing, but I need to keep going during the rest of my vacation. I may take that time to plot out an idea that's been brewing lately.

So what did you do this weekend? How do you feel about Spain winning the World Cup? Do you care? LOL

Germany is finished

So sad, but Germany's bid for the World Cup this year is over. Last night they played Spain.

We got together with the same bunch of folks as before. As vocal and excitable as they were about the goals, they let the players and refs know when they weren't doing as well.

I don't know much about soccer. It was not a popular sport as I was growing up and no one that I've ever hung out with before was big into it. But last night, the boys just didn't seem to be playing as well as they had played the last time I watched them. They did make Spain work for that one goal though, so they didn't do too badly.

Germany does play one more game. On Saturday, they'll be playing Uruguay to determine third place. Then on Sunday, The Netherlands and Spain will duke it out to see who's taking home the World Cup.

It should be pretty interesting. I'm not sure if the neighbors will gather to watch the two final games or not. I imagine they will, but we'll see.

Are you a soccer fan? Out of the two contenders, who are you rooting for?

More Soccer

Yes, more soccer. As you probably already know, our guys didn't win against Ghana this past Saturday, so we're knocked out. That leaves Germany for me to root for. And boy, did I root yesterday.

Germany played England and it was the first time I went over to the neighbors' to watch. They had their garage set up like a mini sports bar, with a projector broadcasting the game on their blank wall. Chairs and tables, beer and snacks. Of course, yesterday was a hot day here. We haven't had too many this year yet and the doors to the garage had to be kept shut or you couldn't see the game. Needless to say, I was a sweaty mess by the time the game was over.

I wished I had brought my camera though. When I mentioned in a previous post that Germans take their soccer seriously, I wasn't kidding. The first goal, our host had just gotten himself a new bottle of beer. Germany scores and several of the men start jumping up and down. You can see where I'm going with this, right? You got it. The beer started foaming over so he shook it some more and put his thumb over it to direct the spray.

Then the chanting and clapping started. After they settled back into their seats, they starting chanting the player's name who scored followed by a series of hand claps. And this happened after goal. They also sang a little song at point. It was all a lot of fun.

Saturday I was in Bamberg. We were just walking around the aldtstadt and checking out stores. Got some lace to put across my sideboard, got some dried fruit and fresh cherries. And then we found a bakery.

Bakeries are all over the place but this one in particular caught my eye. They had the cutest display. A soccer match complete with spectators made out of bread. Below are some pictures. I took them through the glass so sorry about the glare, but I thought it was the cutest thing and wanted to share with all of you.

Did you see any of the games this weekend? Who are you rooting for now that the U.S. is out of the running?

World Cup Soccer

In case you weren't aware, Germans love their fußball. Actually all Europeans do. Fußball, or soccer, is as popular here as football is in the States. By the way, the funny looking B sounds like 'ss' and the word literally means football. But you knew that. I'm also sure you're aware that the World Cup games have started.


I was in Schweinfurt this past weekend with hubby. He had to work so Peanut and I explored the altestadt on our own. We came back yesterday evening, arriving just in time for the game between Germany and Australia. Our neighbors that live behind us set up their garage on the nights that Germany plays.


Big screen TV, beer, snacks. All the men congregate there and watch the game. So, once we unload the car, hubby heads over. I was at home because 1) it was a man thing and 2) I had work to do. But I could tell when the game was over.

Cars honking their horns through town, people yelling in the neighborhood. I'm sure that if anyone had them, firecrackers would have been going off. Yes, Germany won. 4-0.


It was neat to see (hear) because Germans are generally stoic and don't really show much emotion.


As I understand it, right now the teams are playing for points to determine their standing or something. You can tell I'm not a sports fan. So, the next time Germany plays is Friday afternoon. Hopefully I'll hear cheering again. And if I know my neighbor upstairs who always "knows a guy", I won't be surprised to hear firecrackers the next time they win.