Calm before the storm
- 6 Jun 06, 11:48 PM
FRANKFURT - Arrived Tuesday evening and headed straight for the city centre, where it took me two hours to find any England fans.
Lee Hayes, John Bays and Mark Cove (pictured left to right), from Cambridgeshire, had driven from Calais and were looking for a) a campsite b) match tickets c) anyone English. 
Although they'd like more of their compatriots to be here, they are full of compliments for the German hosts.
"We thought they were going to be miserable and not like us, but we are well impressed," said John. "They're really friendly."
With only a handful of supporters here early, it's quite a low-key build-up so far, but the due to happen on the banks of the River Main will be quite a spectacle.
A huge stand of seats faces the screen erected on the river and there are dozens of foodstalls and beer tents along the banks.
So if you don't have a ticket, don’t worry, there's going to be a great atmosphere. Now all we need are some people….
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What time is it?
2006
"What the *** is going on?" as the KLF would say.
Of course Germany is different. The world is different, we are all different. All the change in the world right now has never before occured.
It's a new world, and we, today, here and now face new issues and challenges.
What is clear is that we do live in a global village, the World Cup's pervasiveness itself is a product of such a mentality come about from increased technology, a exponential technologizing now today that can allow us to better understand each other, and figure out how to best live with each other. Or to also get between us and well, you know...
A joke: maybe we should make the World cup year round, all the time, maybe more peace would come between us.
I'm from New York, (my team is Colombia), and in 2002 the World Cup was an osasis of friendly peace amidst so much hateful talk by those in charge in America, those clueless fools. Proof that the World Cup can outshine even the darkest of moments. Be it the earthquake in Mexico in '86 or anything else, we do know how to come together, let's do it more often-- here in the present, not stuck in the past.
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Let all the reporters know that the German-American Society supports Germany at the World Cup this year!
I know, you'd think we'd be more for America, but most Americans don't care for soccer. I mean Football. Anyway, we support Germany, the land of most of our grandparents and where we have family!
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John,
the place most likely to find Englishmen (and Irish, Canadians and other expats) is Mac Gowan's pub on Berger Strasse in Frankfurt-Bornheim. It's like an English oasis in the middle of the world's financial capital, Frankfurt ;-)... well, definitely the world's cider capital (Γ„ppelwoi
Andreas
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