Que haja muitos carros com bandeiras portuguesas a apitar no Domingo à noite. Oops, sorry David!
Football is not my sport
Posted by David Rennie at 22 Jun 06 20:59
Football is not my sport, to put it politely, so I had expected to spend the World Cup in a state of near-total ignorance, with no idea about day-to-day results. I underestimated the effects of living in a melting pot like Brussels, where nearly half the inhabitants are non-native.International residents in Berlin also show their colours I always knew I was one of many foreigners in my commune – scruffy, lovable Saint-Gilles. But in the last few days of football madness, flags of all nations have sprouted on shop fronts. More flags hang from the art nouveau balconies of the crumbling mansions that line each boulevard. Suddenly, the nationalities of my neighbours have been magically revealed. Looking up at a large apartment block, it is as if someone has waved a wand, or pulled aside a curtain – oh, there’s a Turkish family, next to Brazilians, and Italians on the other side. And look at all those Portuguese. I knew this had once been a Portuguese and Spanish area, but thought they had moved on, replaced by the North Africans and Poles I meet each morning on the streets. I had no idea how many remained. Cycling to the next-door commune of Anderlecht, I began idly counting Portuguese flags, and gave up after I reached 30. And that is how I have been learning the results of matches, too. Whenever I hear cars whizzing up and down the main streets, tooting their horns in triumph, I just check the flags. Tonight, giant Italian flags are flapping from car windows, beneath my office windows. So I assume Italy won a match this afternoon. If you are not following the World Cup closely either, I can post more results tomorrow… if you can wait a few hours for me to check the flags, and you don’t mind not knowing the losing team.
Posted by David Rennie at 22 Jun 06 20:59
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