Weeks 25–26 · July 8, 2014 · Home · Munich, Germany
Weeks 25–26 —
Home for the Fourth of July, then re-routed to Germany for the 7-1 Brazil game, locked out of a remote B&B at 1am in the rain with 3% phone battery, the Hofbräuhaus with no TVs, and a walk around Munich old town before a 12-hour flight back to Mexico.
After I left Mexico, I headed off to a wonderful vacation spot — home. Great week in the neighbourhood with various events topped off with the Fourth of July celebrations.
For this last week, I was re-routed to Germany for a couple of days before coming back to Mexico. So — I was there for the Germany-Brazil game but in a very remote area. Because of a conference, the one hotel in the small village was full and I had to stay at a bed and breakfast type hotel in a park 10 miles from anywhere else. So — after I ate a late dinner and figured out this place didn’t even have a public TV, I contacted my co-workers who were in town and “encouraged” them to pick me up and head to the one pub back in the village. The pub had about 20 people and it was quite exciting as Germany ran the score up. So afterward, I took a cab back to my remote hotel, was focused on figuring out what to pay and got out of the car and the taxi sped off. The hotel was completely dark and locked up at 1am local time, it was raining and I could barely see my hand in front of my face — and 3% on my phone with 1 bar.
I could not believe I did this to myself…my co-workers didn’t answer the phone, I couldn’t Google a cab, banging on the door got nothing. So I called a contact from the company that I was visiting (business card in wallet) — who was having the best celebration of his life but offered to come get me and I could stay at his house but first he suggested to go around the back and usually there is a separate night entrance in these types of places. And as luck would have it — it did have one and my room key opened the main door. So — made it to my room just in time for a conference call back to Korea…
I did get back to Munich and civilisation about 8pm the night before my flight back to Mexico — Munich has improved since Sharon and I were last there 15 years ago. Walked around the old town while waiting for the Holland-Argentina game to start. After a late night watching penalties, off to the airport early and was happy to have a 12-hour flight ahead of me to sleep.
Two interesting interactions regarding U.S. politics — both were relatively long conversations. Illegal Immigration: the company driver in Mexico asked me why Americans hated Mexicans. I said that they didn’t hate Mexicans but there was frustration with the illegals and issues like benefits and not speaking English (pretty hypocritical of me given I was there working and know no Spanish). He said “if they could speak English, they would not have to go to America…they could easily get better paying jobs in Mexico.” Quite a different view. Guns: our German hosts at lunch asked how many guns I owned and had I shot anyone. When I explained where I grew up most people have guns (but don’t shoot people) but where I live now very few have guns, they were even more confused.
The semi-final match between Germany and Brazil on July 8, 2014 at Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte is widely considered the most shocking result in World Cup history. Germany scored five goals in an extraordinary 18-minute first-half period, with the final score 7–1 being Brazil’s heaviest-ever defeat. The match was held in Brazil during a home World Cup, making the result particularly devastating. The game has been referred to in Brazilian Portuguese as the “Mineirazo” (after the stadium) — a play on the “Maracanazo” of 1950 when Brazil lost the World Cup final at home. Germany went on to win the tournament, defeating Argentina in the final on a Mario Götze goal in extra time — the game watched from Munich described here.