Happy 4th of July (kinda)

Yeah, yeah, I'm 6 days late, blah blah blah. I just have to comment on my first true American holiday since moving to 'ze Fahzahland'. I spent most of the day lounging around the house. It was too hot to do anything else, as Europeans haven’t discovered the American invention called AIR CONDITIONING. They don’t think they “need” it when it’s 90 degrees outside because “it’s really not hot for that long”. Um, ten minutes was too long, but I’ll quit my whining.

There were fireworks somewhere on post, but I didn't go. Instead I watched the Germany/Italy game. Should I feel bad for skipping fireworks for a Germany game while sporting a Germany shirt and England bracelet? (At that point I still didn't believe that England had lost--denial. I was very angry that Portugal stole another Stuttgart weekend from me.) I'm pretty sure it's sacrilegious to be wearing England flair on the holiday that celebrates us telling them to kiss it. But... that's how I roll. :) The game lasted forever just to spite me. The ending made up for it, even though I was sad to see Germany lose. It was hilarious to hear the sudden silence in the neighborhood when Italy scored, only to be broken by a solitary, delayed NEIN! I guess you had to be there.

Happy Birthday, Scarlett and the Blog with no name!

I just realized that I started my blog one year ago today... and Scarlett hit 10,000 miles! If you're into numbers, here's a good one for you: I hit 10,000 miles, it was 100 degrees on my thermometer at the time, and I hit 110 on the autobahn. 0s and 10s will win you millions! I swear. If that's true, I get a cut!

One more lifelong dream accomplished...

My backlog of blogs is getting out of control. I still haven’t talked about Toby Keith, Belgium, or the many World Cup situations that I have encountered. I’ll go ahead and knock out the big one here: TARA WITH 50,000 HOOLIGANS!

I went to Stuttgart the weekend that England played Ecuador (yes, I know that was over 10 days ago). What a blast! At least it was until I started to speak… and then I got clever questions like: are you from America or something? I love throwing people into mass confusion—there aren’t a whole lot of American females out there that can list off England’s players and their corresponding Premiership team. (I do have to admit that I did occasionally whip out the fake British accent to avoid too much harassment… though really they do like Americans most of the time—we both speak English and that’s a big plus.)

Some fun chants that I enjoyed:

1. You can shove your f$#*%g Ballack up your ass. (Ballack plays for Germany and scored the goal that beat the US in 2002. He’s the reason my brother hates Germany. Well, among other things. Also an amusing song considering they weren’t even playing Germany.)
2. There were 5 German bombers in the air… and the RAF from England shot them down. (This song starts at 10 and works down like 99 Bottles of Beer. Yep, still not playing Germany.)
3. If you’re for England, shoes off. (Very amusing to see drunks attempt. – See photo below.)

Fun situations that improved my love of the Brits:

1. Getting called luv at least 3 times. I still laugh at that.
2. Getting compliments on my “suntan.” (Maybe that’s one of the corny pickup lines they teach in schools there?) Apparently the Brits love white girls with some color (I have photographic proof, but Jebus my hair looks scary) .… I got multiple comments in Stuttgart and Frankfurt about it or I would have thought it was a fluke.
   
3. Cutie (though obviously not bright) after 10 minutes of conversation: Where are you from? Me: The States Cutie: You’re American? Me: Um, yeah. That’s why I talk this way. Cutie: F%$&! All the pretty ones are.
4. “No really, I like Americans. Vegas is great!”

I met more fun Brits on the train, just as I did coming back from Kaiserslautern the weekend before. These guys were crazy—they stopped the Polizei every time they walked by on patrol to tell them that I was American. Luckily we had a calm train and they actually laughed about it. I had never seen before, and will likely never see again, a polizei laughing on duty. They might give me a hard time about being American (all in good fun, of course), but I could give it right back. Examples:

1. “Shouldn’t you be off starting a war?” My response: Sure. Grab a gun and let’s go. – Primarily is response to their larger distaste of Britain going to Iraq than the US starting it all.
2. A spider was crawling across the table. The Spanish chick tried to save it and the Brits tried to ignore it. They commented that I as an American would smash it. My response: “Actually, I’d grab a gun and shoot it.” They loved that one... Too bad I’m one of the four Americans that doesn’t own a gun… Too bad I didn’t blog before or I could have remember more than this.
   

I must not have been too “American” for them since they were trying to talk me into going to Hannover (or somewhere else far away?) with them instead of going to work. Well, I didn’t go to Hannover, but I didn’t go to work either. ;) I didn’t get home until 2am! Give me a break!

Overall the "hooligans" (none of the hardcore hooligans were there so I don't know that these peeps would count) were everything I hoped they would be. I have the videos to prove it--too bad I can't post them here. I missed out on all the riots that allegedly happened. I'll definitely be hitting up some games in the UK this fall. :) The night ended in such a typical way... There was another game on and they shut down the fan area because of thunderstorms. Basically they told 40,000 people to go find cover somewhere else. It was brilliant. Though I guess it was pretty dark... as you can see in this pic with Beckham. *tear*