by Abigail Breckinridge ’11

World Cup fever is in full swing again. After yesterday’s trashing of England in a 4-1 victory for Germany, everyone here is feeling a little more, well, German. Our German friends are convinced that the national team is going to earn it’s fourth title, after winning in ’54, ’74 and ’90. (The reason I know this is that there’s a catchy tune that lists the years of the German team’s victories.) There are lots of public viewings, and during halftimes they usually show the huge crowds gathered in Berlin. I’ve watched games with a collection of Americans and Germans, and everyone who is in the country right now seems to be in high spirits. This World Cup, however, has a different feel than the one four years ago, which was held in Germany. I was lucky enough to be have been here, too, and somehow it seemed more in your face (except that I wasn’t quite old enough to really be caught up in the party culture). But this year, as well as in 2006, there is still a massive amount of spirit: face paint and German flags and those annoying little horns that have become the symbol of South African fan fever. In 2006, I usually watched the games with my host family or with my host brother and his friends or my friends from school. This year, it’s all about being together with the other Dickinson kids and the Bremen kids I’ve met here. Now, as then, we don’t miss a game. Everyone knows Germany’s next opponent (Argentina), and everyone has long since learned to hate Italy (because of Germany’s loss in the semi finals of the ’06 world cup). And of course, England is now a laughingstock thanks to the efforts of the “Nationalelf” (national eleven).

Bremen celebrating the 4:1 win over England at Domshof (Bremen)

In 2006, it was really neat to see Germans being patriotic for the first time since, well, ever. There aren’t as many German flags hanging on front porches as there are American ones in the US, but when it comes to soccer, Germany is a super proud “Fussball-Land”. Even though the games aren’t being played in cities around the country, and rather in the far reaches of South Africa, there is still a definite feeling of soccer mania in the air. It’s great! I even have a German soccer shirt to wear to the games (didn’t really make sense to get a US one… we lost to Ghana… enough said), and sometimes I catch myself saying “we” when referring to the German team. It’s quite an incredible feeling to be caught up in this sports-enthusiastic atmosphere. I think it’s a little more hands on this time around because I’m more on my own and not staying with a family, and I also think that WM 2006 jazzed everyone up and this year is just continuing the celebration. And what a celebration it is. There are loads of songs- some of them general World Cup 2010 South Africa and many, many more German team songs. Everyone dresses up in

Fans at Domshof (Bremen) – Town Hall in the background (by courtesy of Insa Kohler)

full schwarz, rot, gold (black, red, gold) get-up, and the party never stops. Everything here is World Cup-themed, which is certainly no different than four years ago. In fact, I think the only difference is that more Germans were able to go to the games when they were in Germany rather than South Africa, although there is certainly plenty of Team Germany support to be seen when the cameras pan the crowds of this World Cup. So all that’s really left to say is: Schland, oh, Schland, wir sind von dir begeistert – we’re CRAZY ABOUT YOU!!

by Daniel Bussard and Andrew Shuman ’11

Every weekend here in Bremen the same thing happens, everybody goes to their favorite bar or the lucky few that have tickets go to the stadium and watch the almighty Green and White, Werder Bremen. It’s a Bremen tradition, which almost everybody partakes in. If there is one thing every Bremer will talk about it is Werder Bremen and how they are doing right now and how they could do better.

Werder plays in the Weser Stadium, which is perhaps one of the nicest stadiums in the world, only problem is that right now they’re remodeling so right now it’s kinda a mess. It is located in the Östliche Vorstadt section of town east of the Viertel. It is directly next to the Weser and is also the location of many playing fields for different sports. The tickets to go to a game in the stadium are actually dirt cheap with “Stehplatz” (standing place) for a student running around 8 to 10 Euros a game with a season ticket for a student in the same area is 110 Euros. A “Sitzplatz” (seat) is going to run you 30 or more Euros but you always have a good view of the field no matter where you are. The atmosphere in the stadium is electric and awesome to experience. Everybody is dressed in green and white and singing the Werder chants. It’s kinda like American football back in the state but a little bit more extreme as here only soccer has the huge fan base and goes from fall to spring. My personal favorite space at the stadium is the Ostkurve, because this is mainly where all the hardcore fans are and where the atmosphere is explosive. It makes even the worst defeat seem slightly better, thankfully though Werder doesn’t often now defeat, having one of the best offensives in the Bundesliga.

Another great place to watch the game is one of the bars in the Viertel, which is where we normally watch the game when we don’t have tickets, especially at Hegarty’s one of the best bars in Bremen. The bars are always packed with fans due to the fact that you must buy a subscription that is outrageously expensive to watch live soccer games. It is a great substitute atmosphere when you don’t have tickets.

One of the cool distinct features of Werder is their training, it is always public and afterwards you can get autographs and pictures with the players. The players are also extremely friendly and outgoing here and often times we’ll be shopping at REWE and run in to Tim Wiese, Werder’s goalie. It is really awesome to watch the team practice and you come back form it with a new found respect for professional soccer players and the skills they have.