Orange Fever

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As you know, from our previous posts, the World Cup was this year in South Africa. Happening once every four years, we were happy that it landed on a year when we were living here. It was nice to be in Holland and feel the enthusiasm they have for their team. It’s not just a city or university team, it’s their national team. Almost every business, pub and neighborhood street hung up orange flags and banners, and it was all that people talked about for an entire month.

For the first two weeks of the tournament, Chad and I happened to be in Barcelona & Mallorca. During the first round, there are three games a day, so there was almost always a game on the TV. We stopped in countless pubs to catch some or all of the interesting matches. It was cool to see how people from different countries came out to watch their teams.

For the first Dutch game, we were in a bar on La Princesa in Barcalona. A group of 8 Dutch men, all dressed in orange, came into the pub just before game time, and proceeded to hang up strings of orange flags all over the walls, across the ceiling, and around the door. They didn’t really ask, they just grabbed chairs, stood on them and hung up the flags. It was great (and the Dutch won, thankfully).

As we previously posted, we had some good luck with Chris & Brandi visiting us during the Quarter Final game between Netherlands & Brazil. We watched the game at Coco’s Outback in Amsterdam, and were able to celebrate with the orange crowd when they beat the odds and won the game.

For the Semi Final game against Uruguay, we went to a pub in the Old Harbor to watch the game with Erin, Jake & Hanna. All of the bars around the harbor were packed, inside and out. When the Dutch won, people were singing and dancing and blowing those dreaded vuvuzela’s. Other, more daring (or stupid) fans jumped in the harbor water to celebrate. I hope they’ve had their vaccinations!

For the World Cup Final, Chad wanted to go to Gouda to watch the game with Arjen and Linda. They are big football fans, and they know the players well and follow them team all year, so he thought it would be fun to experience that with them. Plus, while it’s fun to be in the big crowd to watch the game, like we had for the previous two games, it is also sometimes annoying because you cannot always see the screen or get a drink because there are just too many people.

We went to Gouda and first had a delicious barbeque. Then we put on our orange gear and got pumped up to watch the game. Unfortunately, the game did not go as hoped, and the Netherlands lost to Spain in extra time.

Nevertheless, the Dutch still greeted their team like heroes upon their return to the Netherlands. Two orange F16 fighter jets escorted the team plane from the Dutch border to Schipol, and were then welcomed by the Queen. The next day, in true Dutch fashion, they had a boat parade on the canals in Amsterdam, with tens of thousands of fans lining the canals and standing on boats to cheer for the players. They finished off the festivities with a huge celebration in Museumplein, where the team went onstage to say a few words, drink some beer, and dance to the music.

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In the end, it was nice to see that the fans were still so happy for their team. Even though they lost the final game, they still came in second in the world, and received a silver medal. And with that, all of the Dutch hung up their orange gear until the next event (which will probably be Queen’s Day).

As for us, Chad and I learned a lot about football by watching so many games. It is much more interesting when you understand the rules & strategies. I think we’ll enjoy watching it more in the future, because of this experience.

Hup Holland Hup!

-S