WM? MS? WC!!!

We've learned a few new acronyms in the past month.
WM: Weltmeisterschaft MS: Mistrovstvi Sveta WC: World Cup

Back in January of 2000, Kristina and I were in Germany and saw a sign advertising the 2006 World Cup. We joked about how we'd love to return to Germany in six years to watch a game. Fast forward: six years later, and we're living about 2 hours by car or train from the German border. That's the good news. The bad news: despite our best efforts we couldn't get a ticket to any of the games. But that hasn't stopped us from enjoying World Cup Madness.

Every World Cup game has been shown on a giant screen in Old Town Square, which makes for some massive crowds and an electric atmosphere. Almost every team seems to pull fans from the woodwork, and even if the two teams were from small countries, there would be a group of fans proudly waving flags, wearing jerseys, and cheering through the whole game.

Sunshine, Tyn Church, and the World Cup. It doesn't get any better. One of the two slogans for the World Cup is "A Time to Make Friends" and although we have made many new friends while watching games, we've also had the pleasure of being visited by friends from home during this crazy month of football.

The party doesn't stop: In the early rounds, with three games per day, the screen was on from 3:00 until 11:00 every day.

Another group of smiling visitors! We were glad to see friends from PLU for a weekend.

A huge crowd watches the game:

The big day: Italy - Czech Republic and USA - Ghana. You can see the thousands who were hoping for a different outcome...

It was bitter watching the Czech's World Cup end, because we knew that all our students and friends would be depressed. We still tried to put on a happy face in our Czech jerseys.

Preview: Look who we found at a train station in Brussels!

Take me to le Tour de France!