Bbq again

I have written about the German love for barbecue before and today I just have to write about it again.

Every year, an attempt is made to organise a department-bbq (with family). A nice tradition, you would think. That's also how I thought about it before. But for some reason, the organisation of this event goes together with a lot of stress every year. Last year, it even came so far that the event was canceled in the end. And it seems we are moving in that direction this year as well.

Why???
I am not sure, but I think two typically German characteristics are coliding here:
-bbq as the ultimiate off-duty-activity and
-the tendency towards perfect time planning.
The event (to be held in September) was anounced in the middle of winter (who is thinking about bbq then???), and we were asked to fill out our names in an excel sheet if we would join the event, with how many people, and what we would like to eat. Date, time, and place had already been fixed. Now, in June, the department management is getting nervous because only half of the colleagues filled out their names yet .... stress!! This week, the whole thing escalated, and was discussed during a meeting of the management team, with the result that the event might be canceled due to a lack of interest ... with another two months to go.
And don't know about you, but I usually plan a bbq a few days in advance, at most.

I have observed this phenomenon already several times now, and not only around a bbq evening. It seems to be very hard for Germans to plan off-duty-activities with colleagues in an off-duty-way. That in this case, the result will be that there will be no bbq, is for my German colleagues of course very very sad. Although ... I am sure, many of them will probably bbq that night, just not together with the department :-)

Couleur Locale - Fifa World Championship

Also on local level, the FIFA World Championship is dominating life during this month. Of course, the streets are empty every day from 15:00 - 23:00 (3 games per day, the first starts at 15:00) and the majority of the population is watching the games. But also besides the watching the games, the FIFA is keeping the people in and around Warburg busy these days.

The Volksbank Warburg, for example, is using the world championship as a theme for a charity donation of €30.000,- to support local football clubs in the region. Not a bad idea for good publicity, I must say. At least they made it into the "Warburg zum Sonntag".

In the same newspaper, a report can be read about the activities of the local police during this world championship. Apparently, the police is extremely busy, even though there is not a world championship stadium anywhere near Warburg. It is because of the fact that in and around Warburg, there are several big open air screens that show the matches, and the police officers have to make sure that the cheers will remains peaceful. To be honest, I have to say that I don't feel sorry for them: what is better than being able to watch the games during working hours! After all, what can happen here, in this peacefull town :-)

News of the week - Fifa World Championship

Of course, football is the news of the week. And it is also because of the football that I haven't spent time for a while already, updating this blog.

There is no way to avoid the fifa world championship, so the best you can do is join the crowd and let yourself be infected by the nation wide football fever.

The tournement started very well for the Germans, with a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica. Tonight, the German "Mannschaft" will play its second match against Poland. Almost everyone here is expecting a clear victory.

I am also happy to see that the Dutch also won their first match; and I am not the only one here. Many Germans are hoping for a showdown between the Netherlands and the Germans, just like in 1974. Realistically, though, very few believe that either the Dutch or the Germans will make it that far. But, as they say in Germany, "hope is the last to die", so who knows!

By the way, even though the Chinese did not qualify this time, they are doing everything to participate in their own way, as these pictures show.



Football stars in Beijing & National flags on Chinese bikinis