Europa Meister der Herzen

Well, the EM hubbub is over and the last few straggling flags have been taken down from cars and balconies. Those of you who paid attention on Sunday will know that Germany fans came away less than elated. Everyone concedes that Spain simply played better and deserves its new title as "Europa Meister." (As one kid put it, Germany's just the "Europe Champion of our hearts.")

For Germany's match against Turkey, my co-workers and I sat in the cafeteria and watched it projected on a screen. Technical difficulties interrupted the program a few times, causing groans(stupid Swiss technology, as everyone muttered!) but overall, the mood was pretty low-key. It was fun having 2 enthusiastic Turkey fans there, including Ebru, who oversees most of my work. She promised to root for whichever team was losing, since she likes Germany too. She started out in a Turkey T-shirt and jumped and yelled with Hassad when Turkey scored early on. (We all clapped and were happy for them too - Turkey didn't seem like a real threat, so nobody minded that they scored first.) Then she ran to change into her Germany jersey, maintaining her promise to support the underdogs. When Germany scored later, she switched back to the Turkey T-shirt, knowing they'd have a tough time getting ahead again. Overall, nobody was impressed by Germany's playing, but the last 5 minutes provided some serious drama - Turkey scored to tie, but Germany scored again with barely a minute left.

For the Finale, I went to a barbeque hosted by the same students that joined me on the Isar. I expected the normal 15 to 20 students, but instead there were over 100 - I guess everyone brought a lot of friends! It was a very fun atmosphere...a little more enthusiastic than my sleep-deprived co-workers after 12 hours in the office. They taught me the cheers and songs with gusto, which I much prefer over Germany's cheesy official EM 2008 Theme Song. I found myself surprisingly engaged in the actual game toward the end, and I was genuinely sad when Germany lost. Still, we were proud of our boys for making it this far.