Flags and Patriotism

Interesting discussions often arise in my weekly English grammar and conversation classes at my husband's company. In this week's class we discussed (of course!) the World Cup, the welcome home celebration in Berlin, the various players and their antics, and the spirit of pride felt around Germany because of our team's victory, evidenced by the enthusiastic display of German flags all over. During the World Cup Germans (and German team fans) fly the flag out their windows, attach flags to their cars, trailers, semis, bikes, and motorcycles, wear team shirts, paint their faces, and put on all kinds of accessories like bracelets, earrings, hats, scarves, wristbands, and t-shirts.

But when the World Cup is over, even this year though the German team won, the flags disappear. The final match was on Sunday, July 13th, and when I went to the local store the next day I thought I could pick up a few extra trinkets with the German flag to keep as gifts or to give to my kids. The display of items that took up a whole corner of the housewares section had disappeared. That's it - World Cup over, German flags gone.* They'll come out again for the European Championship in 2 years.

Photo Credit: M. Hejl & J. Keckonen

In the English class we talked about this difference between Germans and their flag and Americans and theirs. One of the guys said he heard from a friend that in the U.S. the flag cannot be just thrown in the trash when it's old, tattered, or no longer needed, and he wondered if that is true. Yep. I went on to explain the parts of the flag code I could remember:

• The flag should never touch the ground.
• The flag should never be used to wrap, carry, or deliver anything.
• The flag should never be worn as a scarf, shawl, or blanket.
• The flag should only be flown in fair weather.
• The flag should be lighted at all times and should be taken down at night if there is no spotlight.
• The flag should be mended or cleaned as needed. 
• The flag should not be flown if it is tattered. If it cannot be repaired and is no longer a fitting symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. There are organizations who will do this for you.
• The flag should never have any mark, figure, symbol, or drawing on it.
• The flag should never be used to cover a speaker's table, draped over a podium, or used as decoration.

They were quite surprised about those very specific rules, though I explained it's an honor code, not a law. There is another long list of rules for displaying the flag outside or inside and how it should be hoisted, lowered, folded, and stored.

I said that the flag is flown on or at every city, county, state, and national government building in the U.S., at all schools, most public libraries and other public buildings, at many grocery stores, restaurants (Perkins is known for flying a huge flag), businesses and banks, and in many people's yards or on their houses. This is all year 'round, but people really go nuts with the flag for the 4th of July. On that day and during the few weeks before and after it, you can't turn your head anywhere without seeing red, white, and blue. Those who don't display the flag are often seen as unpatriotic.

In contrast, in Germany private citizens who display the national flag may be considered overly patriotic. Few public or government buildings in Germany fly the German flag. Of course the main buildings of the national government display the flag (the Reichstag in Berlin, for instance), and perhaps the state government buildings in the state capitals as well. 

In our little town there are three tall flagpoles in front of the town hall. The two end ones usually display the Horb flag and the village flag. The middle pole sometimes displays a green flag advertising Horb as a Neckarstadt (city on the Neckar River), and sometimes it's empty. But during the World Cup, the German flag flew on the middle pole.

flag on left = Horb (the red and white shield)
flag on right = village flag with town crest (a plowshare and 2 roses)

One of the guys wondered during our class if the flag will remain there now, which in many ways makes sense! It's the town hall, after all - why not fly the national flag as well? 

The answer came today in our weekly local newsletter. There was actually a paragraph explaining almost sheepishly to the residents of our village why on earth the German flag is still up. My translation of the notice follows:

Display of Flag

During the World Cup the national flag was displayed to show support for our team. On Sunday, July 20th, 2014 is the [70th] anniversary of the July 20th Plot (the attempt to assassinate Hitler), and therefore the displaying of the national flag will be extended until this date.

Clearly, by Monday morning the national flag will be removed from the town hall.

Most Americans will find strange the way Germans handle flag flying, displaying, etc. (and vise versa). All during the welcome home festivities for the national soccer team, Sebastian Schweinsteiger had a German flag draped around his shoulders and tied like a cape, and no one had a problem with it. He even sat on it while he ate a snack. 

© APAweb / EPA, Daniel Naupold

This following picture appeared on social media before the Germany-Brazil walloping, and most thought it was clever. Anyone doing this to the American flag would have been shouted down by his neighbors, various local organizations, veterans, and the media, and probably the authorities would have gotten involved.

There are no rules that we know of regarding the handling of the German flag, except in military ceremonies. Germans don't salute their flag, they don't have patriotic parades, and private citizens do not generally fly the flag at their homes. We do have two neighbors who do, and the flags are usually tattered from the wind, rain, and hail. The flag is just a symbol here. It's not treated like an idol or a relic, but I've also never heard of it being burned by German citizens in protest of something. In fact I just read that burning or attempting to burn the German national flag is a punishable offense, unlike in the U.S. where that odd act is protected under the freedom of speech.

I don't mean to imply with this post that either the German way or the American way of handling the national flag is better - simply that it's different. If a German visits the U.S. and mishandles the flag, it's not out of disrespect but rather because Germans don't have the same flag code that Americans do. An American visiting Germany should not assume that Germans disrespect their country because they don't treat their flag with reverence.

*You will always be able to find trinkets, mugs, beer glasses, t-shirts, keychains, etc. with the German flag on them in cities and towns that are popular with tourists, such as Berlin, Munich, Heidelberg, Rothenburg o.d.Tauber, and Rüdesheim am Rhein.

This is (WM-) Madness!

Right, so all of us expat bloggers in Germany are writing about the WM (Weltmeisterschaft, or World Cup). How could we not? The energy in Germany during the whole thing was just insane, and so much fun! I have never been a sports fan, but finally I have found a sport I can like!

Why?  What's to like about soccer?

There's just enough violence contact that players sometimes have to get dragged or carried off the field, bloody or broken, but not so much as in hockey, where I have to watch with my hands over my eyes, peeking through my fingers. 

There are NO TIME OUTS. The clock keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Therefore... 

There are also NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS! Before and after the game the host channel loads you up with ads for shampoo, razors, and fancy cars, but during game time, no interruptions. Therefore... 

If you know when the game starts, you know within minutes of when it will end. Yes, there's overtime which could possibly lead to Elfmeterschießen (penalty shoot-out), but it doesn't happen terribly often at this level and I've lost interest by then anyway.

The guys are fit as hell because they have to be ready to run their fool asses off for 90+ minutes with nary a water break. Because it's blazing hot in southern Brazil, I did see one game in which the players were given a "cooling break" in each half, but that was only to prevent them from dying on the field.

The coach of the U.S. national team - Jürgen Klinsmann - is a German, from Swabia, whom I first became familiar with during the 2006 World Cup. 

The coach of the German national team - Joachim Löw - is a Swabian. See a pattern here? We can do more than Kehrwoche and Spätzle...

Klose. Yep. 36-year-old Miroslav "Opa" Klose. Love him. When asked if he is starting to feel too old for this, he replied, "Noch habe ich keine Ermüdungserscheinungen, und deswegen schleppe ich meinen Kadaver ein bisschen durch." ("So far I have no signs of fatigue, so therefore I'll drag my corpse across the field a little longer.")

And Manuel Neuer, our goalie. He is a BEAST! There are seriously no words for how insanely impressive that guy is in (and out of) his goalie territory.

We watched all the games at home and alone (well, with each other) as well. My younger fellow expat bloggers tried out public viewings, bars with TVs, and Biergartens, and even though we live within a 45-minute walk of "Deutschlands beliebtester Biergarten" overlooking the Neckar valley, we prefer the quiet of our living room for soccer viewing. It's not just that we're in our 40s and too old for that much excitement, but also it's easier for me to ask all the questions I need to ask and make the comments I need to make during a match.

"Wait, why didn't that goal count?"

"Ahhh...Offsides again. Right. And what is that again?"

"Ha, here comes Götze. He's a little cutie, isn't he?"

"Oh God! All that blood!  Müller's face is covered with blood!"

"The little boy accompanying Lahm onto the field is nearly as tall as LAHM is!" 

"What the hell is happening?!? Is this a replay, or did he score again?" 

"Well, that's a strange trophy, don't you think? It looks like a couple fruit bats holding up a shot put ball."

When my husband steps outside to check the weather, I suspect it may be more a break from the frequent chatter. But he doesn't complain, and he patiently answers my questions. Sadly, he stepped out for five minutes during the game against Brazil, and he missed two goals!

I even enthusiastically watched games Germany wasn't even playing in. I finally understood how and why other games in the tournament are important. Ok, if I totally didn't care about either team, I read a book while glancing up when the announcer got excited, but still I learned a lot about soccer during these last few weeks. I was even actually able to successfully explain offside/offsides to my parents, who had never watched a soccer game until this year. I still can't see offsides as it's occurring or in slow-motion replays, but in still shots with the fancy lines drawn showing where everyone was at the moment the ball was kicked, then I can see it if they leave it on the screen long enough.

If you didn't watch the match against Brazil, you missed a game that will go down in history. There were at least ten records shattered that day and no one in Germany (or Brazil, for that matter) could believe what was happening. Your kids or grandkids will be answering Trivial Pursuit questions about that game in future editions.

I could not re-cap the individual games nearly as well as a fellow expat blogger did, so if you want to read more about an American's thoroughly entertaining impression of this year's thrilling WM, read this blog post. Even Martin laughed while reading!

Now we all have to figure out what to do with ourselves after 31 days of almost non-stop soccer. But for now, I just heard that the team plane is going to do an Ehrenrunde (victory fly-over) over the fan mile in Berlin at a relatively low altitude before it lands, which sounds like a really cool but somewhat unwise idea, and I don't want to miss that.

'Til next time...

It's just not realistic

We're in the midst of WM-Fieber (World Cup Fever) over here in Europe, and the energy is fun, exciting, over-the-top at times, and after Germany's resounding win on Monday against Christiano Ronaldo Portugal, even cautiously optimistic. Only during the WM and EM (European Championship) can one buy German flag items just about anywhere, because it's during those few weeks that it is acceptable to show patriotism. Except for soccer championships and the olympics, Germans do not get into nationalistic displays of pride. Although one of our neighbors flies the German flag on a pole outside his house all year 'round, that is very unusual.

Optimism isn't really a German thing, either. A fellow blogger described the spring weather in Germany as "gray with hints of darker gray and a general hue of hopelessness." Spring in America is a season of hope, beauty, new life, bright happy colors, warming winds, and a general sense of looking forward to the joy and fun of summer. On a warm sunny day Americans look blissfully to the heavens, inhale the spring scents, and dream of lying on the beach sipping a summer cocktail. Germans go about their daily business, briefly notice the sun, and comment, "Yeah, it's nice today. But it's gonna be cold and gray again soon."

And this is where the German head coach of the American national soccer team went wrong recently. Jürgen Klinsmann (who is a Swabian, by the way) has been the head coach of the U.S. men's national team since 2011. Prior to that he was the head coach of the German national team, and led the lads to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup.  He's been living in California for quite a few years, though, and so he should have known better than to be publically realistic.

Here's what he said when asked by a reporter about the U.S. team's chances in the Brazilian World Cup: "You have to be realistic. Every year we're getting stronger...We're going to take the game to Ghana and they will take it to us, and it will be an exciting game and then we go from there. For us now talking about winning a World Cup, it's just not realistic."

Frankly, I find nothing wrong with his statement. He made this comment last December - before the World Cup had even started! To talk at all about winning a competition that doesn't even start for another six months is ridiculous, isn't it? How about focusing on the job at hand - training, working out, practicing, talking strategy, and watching the competition - rather than jumping way ahead to make superfluous predictions about who will or can win? But that's what American sports fans expect. Crazed and painted fans of any sport are filmed in the stands with beer in hand before the kick-off, first pitch, tip off, etc. shouting, "YEAHHHHH!!  WE'RE GOING ALL THE WAY, MAN! WE'RE GONNA WIN THIS THING!!"  Has the U.S. team ever won a World Cup? No, but that doesn't matter. We Americans want to hear our coaches and players say pretty, optimstic, and team-building things like this. In the world of American sports there is no room for realism because blind optimism fills the bench. Klinsi probably should have said something along the lines of "We're going for it, we're going to give 110%, and God-willing, we'll take home that trophy."

But he's German, and he couldn't choke out a statement like that if you fed it to him on a cue card. A German knows there's no such thing as 110%. "If it's God's will, then we'll win this championship"? A German is definitely not going there. And a German keeps his dreams in check and focuses on reality. Is it possible? Of course it is. Klinsi and his lads are there to play soccer, and they're going to play their best. They'll take it as far as they can go. I would imagine that's what every team in Brazil is going to do.

According to ESPN, Klinsi has been saying this privately and publically for several months - that it's just not realistic for the U.S. team to talk about winning the World Cup. Then why, for the love of all that's holy, do reporters keep asking him the same question?!? I picture these reporters saying, "Oh look, there's Klinsmann! Let's go ask him if he thinks the U.S. team can win the World Cup!" and then giggling like little schoolgirls. In the recent interview Klinsi added, "First we have to get through the group we're in, so let's stay with our feet on the ground and get that group first. And then the sky is the limit." Right, but that bit isn't what gets everyone's attention - it's only the "It's not realistic" which gets everyone's boxers in a bind.

Clearly, if one listens to everything Klinsi said, he was and is not saying the U.S. can't win. Before Game 1 he said it was not realistic to talk right then about the U.S. winning the whole thing. Don't do that to a German! Don't ask him if something that has never happened before can happen in the next several weeks. If the reporters had asked him if the U.S. had a chance against Ghana in their first game, he might have been able to produce the sought-after optimism or at least "Yes, it's possible." But don't even ask him if they are going to win their group. He doesn't know, and Germans do not confidently declare favorable outcomes of sporting events weeks or even days before the events actually occur.

I think that's one of the reasons I feel comfortable around Germans. Pep talks and pep rallies always pissed me off:
"This is going to be our best year ever!" or "This is OUR year! We're going to win this thing!"
"Really?" I'd think. "How do you know that? Stop wasting my time with your fantasies and tell me what needs to be accomplished so I can get to work."

"All things are possible with Christ." (I taught at a Catholic school.) No, all things are not possible. Even if I pray real hard, it is not possible for me to, for instance, swim across the Atlantic Ocean and survive, or learn Italian within a week.

Optimism works for Americans, and it can be charming. Much has been written about the American Dream and the idea that serious hard work can lead to success and open unimaginable doors. "Don't fence me in!" "Don't hold me back!" "Work with me or get out of my way!" Americans set goals and throw their effort and energy into achieving them. When they come to a roadblock, they find a detour and keep going. These are the values we admire.

Germans tend to want to figure out what is possible and realistic, and go for that. "Wouldn't it be great if..." is met in Germany with, "You're losing focus." Germans admire someone who does what he can do and does it well while keeping his head out of the clouds and his feet on solid ground.

Both ways of thinking are valuable and appropriate. The awkwardness arises when we come together in politics, in business, or in sports and try to lead the others to our mindset or world view. Don't try to get Klinsi to be optimistic, and he won't try to get you to be realistic.

Let's just enjoy the WM!

Graphic: wikipedia