The civil version of football

0045 hours
Uppsala, Sweden

I dunno, maybe it's the bright yellow jersey, but again I can't sleep. Maybe it was the nail-biting 2-2 tie between England and Sweden tonight. Mayyyybe it was that amaaaazingly strong cup of coffee at the modern art museum. Did you ever hear of such a thing: they have small, medium, and large coffee, but it just refers to the size of French press they give you?! Holey moley, that's called death by strong coffee.

Anyhow, as my friend Michael says, especially in Sweden, when you're watching soccer in a bar, everybody's your friend, and sure enough, in the waning minutes where our Svenskes pulled through, a woman did in fact grab my arm with unbridled affection and relief.

Traveling has always been an interesting exercise in music, that is, how it plays into train announcements, cell phone rings, commercials...so it is no surprise that tonight I realized that "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes", and "If you're happy and you know it, are much the same song". And wouldn't you know it that those Brits came out at the beginning of the game and sang "My country tis of thee"?!? (Okay, kidding, I already knew about that one.)

Anyhow, yes, pub game watching is replete with "If you're happy and you know it", only as a gesture of team animosity:

"If you hate Sheff United clap your hands“clap clap”if you hate Sheff United clap your hands“clap clap”If you hate Sheff UnitedHate Sheff UnitedHate Sheff United clap your hands“clap clap clap clap etc.”

That's what Google said they were singing, only we're pretty sure "Sheff United" was replaced by "Team Sweden" or something similar.

The saving grace is that Trevor and I watched the game with Roy, a loyal Englishman, and the best outcome for Roy and I to continue to talk to each other is a tie. Only thing now, is the Sweden -Germany game is on Saturday at 8 am. Besides that being the weekend, it is a mere two hours in advance of Syd and Lily's wedding. I guess I'll have to install a TV in my shower too!