I had a great weekend with some friends in Vienna. We went to a public viewing place to watch the game between Germany and Argentina. My roommate and Heike are from Manheim, Germany, so I experienced real German pride. The viewing place was actually at an African fest, so for an hour beforehand we got to listen to an African concert (kind of a montage of African music over the past 40 years) and smell awesome African food. Here's a picture of Heike, Julia and Maxim at the Albertina celebrating after the game:
About half of the people there were for Argentina and the other half for Germany. There's tension between Austrians and Germans - something to do with old world Austria and a new Germany - but it was a really quiet tension. It was so fascinating to me to see the (very) subtle cultural differences. But it's nothing like you would see in the States. Everyone is very civil and although you could tell that they are at odds, it's almost like they have a "gentlemen's agreement" while still acknowledging the differences.
Oh! I almost forgot! Before the game, my roommate (Julia - pronounced Yuliah) and I went to Stephansdom to have a look around and when we were getting ready to leave these security guards pushed us back in and told us we couldn't go out because there was a wedding about to happen. So we waited inside for about ten minutes until the bride and groom came through. They must have been extremely wealthy to have their wedding in Stephansdom. The groom was about 60 years old and the bride couldn't have been more than 25 or 30 ... very interesting. But the detail of the dress and the groom's suit! Everyone was in white and red and it was just beautiful. I caught them on camera as they walked past us, but the lens didn't focus so all you can see is two white blurs. Darn!
I think it would be terribly unromantic to have your wedding at Stephansdom with all of the tourists outside the gate. Really, I felt like paparazzi taking pictures when the bride and groom walked down the aisle. Okay, but this is the worst part - when Julia and I left, there was an Argentinian flash mob prepping for the game right outside of the cathedral. They were shouting and banging on a huge drum. All I could think about was how sorry I felt for the couple getting married. Seriously, how unromatic.
When I first heard the flash mob, I thought there was a tribal war going on. You could hear them all through Vienna. I made Julia wait for me while I filmed them, which was quite insensitive of me since she's German. They don't sound very loud in this video, but they were quite LOUD.
But alas, their celebrating was in vain. And poor Maradona. I don't personally enjoy the man, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him after the game :(
So that's life recently! I'm in Vienna this week and then next week I'm off to Lithuania and then Bratislava the week after that. Until next time, I pray that you're resting in the Lord and rejoicing in His faithfulness and mercy to us. Thanks for reading :)
"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).
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