During the World Cup, even the rolls have football fever. Photo courtesy Snooker in Berlin

Well, I can finally admit it. I’m a changed person. The move to Germany has made me a “soccer” fan. Yes, Fußball has me. Last Friday night as the UK goalie scored a goal for the USA I giggled madly. Sunday night as the German National Team whooped Australia (come on, would you expect any less?) I had a grin on my face. Yes, I’m hooked.

I had a little gathering on the occasion of Germany’s first match game. Look closely at the colors of the food (pictured below). Black, red, gold! The colors of the German flag. Yes we went crazy! Blueberries and Buletten (basically a meatball) were representing black (well, they really weren’t black… in fact, I got some comments that they were lovely), strawberries and bell peppers were red, and apricots, pineapple and more peppers represented the gold/yellow.

Not really pictured, we had Kostritzer schwarzbier in the line of drinks back there, then red Bionade, and Gold Becks beer… how cute is that?

A World Cup-party spread, German-style. Photo courtesy Snooker in Berlin

The sauces? Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce (actually purchased here in Germany) “kinda black,” ketchup “duh, red,” and a mix of curry sauce and Bautzner mustard, “yellow baby.”

Maybe a little bit overboard, but fun none the less.

Also fun was this morning’s breakfast. Yes, you’re seeing that right, the bread (in this case a bagel) has been scored in such a way before baking so as to pop up with what looks like a soccer ball. Add to that the German flag and hey, you have a gen-u-ine Fanartikel.

While I’m on the subject of the Cup, let me just say… enough with the vuvuzela’s!!! I get it, South Africa loves the horn, they use it for every game. Who knew that a silly plastic horn could be so distracting? Maybe because we didn’t think about thousands of them all playing together sounding like an angry bee swarm.

All I can say is that I’m incredibly happy that I’m not actually trying to see (and hear) the game from the stadium. Can you imagine paying a fortune to get to South Africa, mortgaging your house to buy tickets to watch it live, and then not being able to hear what is going on? Let’s just hope the phenomenon doesn’t catch on in the rest of the world.

This post has been brought to you by guest-blogger Snooker in Berlin, an American ex-pat living in Germany.  On Snooker’s regular blog you can read about what it’s like being an expat, as well as find a good smattering of quotes, videos, and pictures of cats.  Thanks Snooker for the World Cup guest blog!