deutscher Nationalismus - german nationalism

well, it's wednesday evening, and we just barely made it home alive. ok, that's an exaggeration. but still, i was scared. taking the s-bahn that goes to all the fan zones and olympic stadium on the day of a germany game was definitely a new and different experience for me.

displays of german nationalism are more prevalent than they have been since world war II. german flag production is at an all time high. on every car, hanging out every shop and apartment window, and on almost every t-shirt is the black, red and yellow theme. the german jersey section of the adidas store was overflowing. there have been newscasts of angela merkel (germany's president) jumping up and down after goals. the nationalism doesn't bother me in theory, but when i saw a somewhat mindless fan sitting on top of the holocaust memorial waving his german flag, it startled me.

just now as the german team got the first and only goal of the evening, in the extra time after regulation play, the entire neighborhood erupted. and this is a really quiet neighborhood. following the brazil game there was so much honking and singing we couldn't sleep until 2am.

yep - there go the horns. there will be no sleep tonight. go deutschland!