1. 2 years ago 

   Rückblende: Hamburg, Deutschland
   SLIDESHOW

   We’re going back to Hamburg, Germany! I realize I’ve never posted these pictures and I think they are definitely something worth sharing.

   The nation of Germany, as the world knows it today, is only 20 years old - that is something that we can never, and no German will ever, forget. The notion of a unified Germany was lost on a number of generations throughout the 20th century, and only the youth of today know things only as they are.

   To be proud of German unity, to fly the German flag: these were things that used to be almost taboo, too much of a painful recollection of the Third Reich and the trials and tragedies of the Second World War - even 60 years later. However most people talk about the 2006 World Cup - the World Cup Germany successfully hosted and in which claimed a 3rd place finish - as a turning point for national identity, a new age when every German could be proud to wear the national colors.

   A strong national football (soccer) team demonstrates the strength of a unified Deutschland.

   Germany’s final World Cup qualifier against Finland (for the record Germany had already qualified by that point) was to be played at the HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg, the home of the local football club HSV (pronounced “Ha-Es-Fao”). Prior to the match the team was to be hosting an open and free training session for the German public to come, watch, and support the team.

   My host-brother Daniel and I had just returned from Berlin the previous day, and of course decided this was something we could not miss. So we joined the thousands of Hamburg-ers heading down to the arena on a cold and clear Monday afternoon. Germans of all ages - lots of young kids, adults, the elderly, women - came out to share in their country’s footballing tradition.

   The Germans love their football, and really the passion showed by everyone to support the team they were so proud of was incredible. And of course it was a lot of fun to see these guys in person after watching them on the TV for so long. We eventually moved down and snagged some pretty good seats, so we could see the players goofing around during the shooting session.

   A humorous side-note: Tim Wiese, the goalkeeper for Werder Bremen, is the 3rd choice German ‘keeper and thus was out training with the rest of the ‘keepers. Now, Bremen is another city in the north of Germany and that means that their is a footballing rivalry between the cities’ two clubs: HSV & Werder Bremen. That means each time Tim Wiese was scored on during practice the whole crowd would laugh and shout at him. So yes, German unity and support and love of football and pride, but really any chance to let him know they don’t like him.

   On this topic there might be a lot to be said about the German sense of people identifying themselves as the city or district in which they were born: such as those from Munich identifying as Bavarians or Hamburgers likewise. That might explain their heckling of a German goalkeeper during a showing of national pride. Or maybe they were just having a laugh, who knows.

   After the training session, since Daniel happened to know at which hotel the team was staying we decided we would go ahead and try to get a closer look. We ended up following the team bus through the streets, and were there to greet the players as they got off the bus. Daniel got the little souvenir ball that he had caught which the players had kicked into the the stands signed by Michael Ballack, and I got pictures of the aforementioned, as well as Lucas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, and a couple of other notables. I was at one point standing right next to Michael Ballack in view of Daniel and his camera, but apparently his aim is utterly tragic because he missed. Tragic. Painful.

   All in all it was an unbelievably cool day, a cool experience, and the perfect ending to a weekend in Berlin as we settled back into life in Hamburg.

2. Notes

So I, Sean Kesluk, left Los Angeles for a 6 month adventure abroad in Europe and South America. After a few weeks studying the Deutsch in Freiburg, Germany, it's two months up north in Hamburg working for the city's Jewish community center. After a brief foray into Sweden, I'll head South to Buenos Aires for some Spanish classes and volunteer work in a La Boca soup kitchen. After that it's back home to the States and national service with AmeriCorps NCCC. With a month of training at the VA medical campus in Perry Point, MD, it 's off to Baltimore for my first project, two months working for The Samaritan Women, a non-profit renovating a hundred-year-old mansion to use as a transitional home for women in recovery from heroin addiction and human trafficking, in addition to expanding a farm/urban garden to distribute produce to soup kitchens, shelters, and those in nutritional poverty. The second project will see us down in New Orleans, LA doing post-Katrina work with The Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit which renovates homes for Lower Mid-City homeowners who can't afford to do so.

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