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Euro 2012

Euro 2012 Day 9

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An American soccer player in Poznan

Euro continues. All of the teams have played twice. We now have both matches happening at the same time, 8:45 PM. This scheduling seemed fan-unfriendly, but a friend (actually, it was Kasia) pointed out, that it’s to keep things aboveboard. I guess a team might not play all out if they knew they were going to the next round no matter what; this way, they don’t know the outcome of the other match

One of the fun things about writing this blog is getting to know a lot of new people. I’ve written about having coffee with Chris, Misiu, Lizzie, and Rosie of Kielbasa Stories when we were in Wroclaw. Kasia from Houston (originally from Poznan) will often comment on my posts, frequently answering my questions about something I’ve seen. We first got together when I was in Houston a few months ago. This week, I got to meet her husband and her son (that’s him in the photo above, sporting the checkerboard pattern from the Croatian flag for the Croatia – Italy match).

with Kasia at the Museum Cafe

I read in the New Poland Express (Polish news in English) that someone was so disgusted by the Russian goal in Poland’s recent match that he threw his television out of his third floor apartment window. He didn’t get to see Poland tie it up because he was on his way to jail. One minute left and Poland is losing to the Czechs 1 – 0 . I wonder what will happen tonight.

I was interviewed by a TV crew in the fan zone a couple of days ago. They asked all the usual questions, where do I live, where am I from, why did I want to volunteer for the Euro. Then they wanted to know if I had any funny stories from the fan zone. I was really at a loss to come up with anything. It’s been interesting to watch from behind the scenes, so VERY many people in Poznan (and the other host cities) have worked long and hard to make sure everything goes well this month. They even had one of the universities do a study to determine the best location for the fan zone. One of the most surprising things for me has been on my morning bike rides around Malta Lake; I’m amazed by the dedicated fans that are sleeping in pup tents and in their cars just to be here and be part of this experience.

We met an Irish guy at The Dubiner the other day, who reminded us that it had been 10 years since Ireland had qualified for one of the big tournaments such as the Euro Cup or World Cup. He and his buddies had been saying for ages that the next time Ireland got in they were going. They were just thrilled to be here.

Euro 2012 Day 5

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Poland – Russia a 1:1 tie.  Hopefully a peaceful night in Poland.  I witnessed my first skirmishes between fans and fan zone security today – nothing major.   Between the language barrier and culturally different management styles/police tactics, I’m still kind of wondering what happened and why.  🙁  I was so hoping for a win tonight.

A day off from the fan zone tomorrow – maybe some lounging in the steam room.

 

Euro 2012 Day 4

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The matches are always at 6 PM and 8:45 PM.  I must confess that I have a hard time staying awake until the end of the last pairing.  It was also the first “real weekday” in the fan zone.  We began on Friday, but since it was the first day and Thursday had been a holiday, the crowd was much heavier than today.

We started today at 3 PM, I was early for my shift, so I popped into the news stand and bought a WSJ to read.  That was a lifesaver.  The fan zone was pretty empty until game time – just a few people wandering through to see what it was like.  They did show a movie on the big screen in the afternoon: Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson in English with Polish subtitles.

In addition to my newspaper and the movie, I watched the Carlsberg crew swap out beer kegs, about 60 of them.

The first match of the evening was England and France.  I noticed that the many Irish fans in Poznan were cheering for France, go figure!  It’s like people in Tucson who say I root for the University of Arizona and whoever is playing Arizona State University.

The final match of the evening is still in progress and tied.  Tomorrow is a big match for us – Poland and Russia.

Euro 2012 Day 3

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Let me share a few quick thoughts before I meet Caroline for a bike ride.  The football is progressing, the remaining four teams play tonight in Ukraine.  Day 3, last night, included the first match at the Poznan stadium.

Now on to the human interest side.  Night before last, Ed heard a lot of sirens during the night.  There was a fight in the old square in the wee hours of the morning.  Apparently, some Polish hooligans were harassing a Croatian fan (or possibly a small number of fans).  Irish fans came to the aid of the outnumbered Croatian, and the Polish police put and end to it and carted the whole lot off to jail.  They were released in time for yesterday’s match between Ireland and Croatia.

That explains why I kept seeing Irish and Croatian strangers on the street stopping to pose for photos together and exchanging jerseys and scarves.  Very nice.

One of my friends from volunteer training is working backstage in the Fan Zone.  She tells me that Jarzebina will be performing tomorrow.  They are folk singers, a group of older ladies that surprised everyone by winning the competition to choose Poland’s official song for the Euro.

Their song, Koko Koko Euro Spoko, translates to Cluck Cluck Euro’s Cool.  Yes, that’s right.  Cluck like a chicken.  According to the Krakow Post, the group and the song appealed to conservative church-going Poland and inspired (tongue-in-cheek) hand waving from sophisticated urbanites.

The problem is that Poles are happy to sing along with Koko Koko Euro Spoko in private, but they not pleased about having what some call a cheesy, homespun number represent Poland to the rest of the world.  Poland wants to be seen as gentrified and polished.  Some might even say a little too buttoned-up and stuffy.  So relax, Poland, the appearance of Jarzebina is generating a lot of buzz among my Western European volunteer friends; they’re one act we’re all planning to see.  It’s a fun catchy, tune and that’s all it’s meant to be.

The spirit of the song reminds me of the original Pittsburgh Steeler Polka.

Koko Koko Euro Spoko lyrics in Polish and English:

Cieszą się Polacy, cieszy Ukraina,
Że tu dla nas wszystkich Euro się zaczyna,
Że tu dla nas wszystkich Euro się zaczyna.
(Chorus)
Koko koko Euro spoko,
Piłka leci hen wysoko,
Wszyscy razem zaśpiewajmy, naszym doping dajmy. (x2)
Nasi dzielni chłopcy to biało-czerwoni,
Wygrać im się uda,
Ucieszy się Smuda,
Wygrać im się uda,
Ucieszy się Smuda,
(Chorus)
Orzełki biegajcie żwawo po murawie,
Zdobywajcie gole i będzie po sprawie,
Zdobywajcie gole i będzie po sprawie.
(Chorus)
Nie myśl sobie bracie, że rady nie damy,
Nie kłopocz się siostro,
My Euro wygramy!

In English (roughly):
Poles are happy, Ukrainians are happy,
Because here for all of us, Euro begins.
(Chorus)
Cluck cluck Euro cool,
The ball flies mighty high,
Let’s all sing together, and support our (boys).
Our brave boys, are white and red,
They will make it,
Smuda will be happy.
Run eagles, joyfully over the grass,
Score goals and it will be done.
Don’t think my brother, that we can’t do it,
Don’t worry my sister,
We will win Euro!

Euro 2012 Day 2

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The Poland – Ukraine twins, Slavek and Slavko

As play on day 2 wraps up, we’ve seen low scoring matches today between some of the highest ranked teams, with the Netherlands losing to Denmark and Germany beating Portugal.

We didn’t make it into the fan zone.  I made the mistake of having my camera in my purse.  Apparently they’re forbidden.  I didn’t want to leave my DSLR camera in the “deposit” room, kind of like a coat check, so we walked down to the old square for a cold one and tapas.  We used to joke about telling someone, “I’m in the old square by the fountain.”  It’s funny because there are four fountains, one in each corner.  The equivalent joke now could be, “I’m in the old square, sitting by the Irish fans.”  They’re everywhere!  We saw a few Croatians.  The Italians, the third team playing in Poznan, have yet to make an appearance.

Tomorrow, Ireland and Croatia play the first match in Poznan, and I’m in the fan zone grandstands or tribune as they call them here.

It’s ironic that with all of the bad press Poland and Ukraine received before the Euro that the only incidents thus far have been a string of fights in both countries with Russian fans beating Polish stadium stewards and Ukrainian fans. . . no surprise there.  I’ll leave it at that.

 

Euro 2012 First Day

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The English speaking Euro 2012 volunteers; we range in age from 21 to 62 and from left to right are from Sweden, Italy, France, USA, Hong Kong, France, USA, Costa Rica (we were missing our Turkish cohorts)

We finished off our English only training with a dinner at our place the night before Euro 2012 was to begin and our volunteer group would be on different schedules and sent off to different areas – the stadium, the fan zone, or serving as translators in the media center and police station.

The first day was exciting to see.  Janet and I, who were working the in the disabled area of the fan zone (an elevated platform shared with the media, a lovely spot shaded by a large tree), were able to see the crowd without being in it.

My friend, Jan, took is shot from the bleachers; great view of the crowd and the VIP seats.  See the tree in the top left?  That’s where Janet and I were working.

They closed the gates when the crowd reached 30,000.  Ed was number 50 in line when that happened, so he had to watch the first match at The Dubliner with a lot of new Irish friends.  I caught up with him there after my shift.  The brave Irish souls who journeyed to Poznan were pleasantly surprised to find it to be a safe and welcoming city.  They said their local media had been imploring people not to go to Poland because it was full of neo-Nazi skinheads who would like nothing more than to beat up on Irish fans who had had one too many.

It’s good advise to stop long before you reach the point when you can’t take care of yourself; otherwise,  you might as well tattoo victim on your forehead no matter where you are.  The Irish thought it was a hoot to run into Americans in Poland and they wondered what we made of this media scare tactic after living here for years.  It would be naive of me to say there is no prejudice in Poland; they are human after all.  This is also a very homogenous population without a lot of opportunity to get to know people who are different from oneself, but that is changing.  I don’t think  white supremacists have a bigger presence in Poland than in any other country, a VERY small fringe group that usually gets no attention at all.  Let face it, if the news isn’t sensational  enough, the media, in any country, will try to make something sensational.

I’m not working today, day 2.  So I’d like to visit the fan zone, to scout it out a little better than we were able to do in training (that part was all in Polish).  Sunday I will be working the bleachers and I know they got a lot of questions there, about where is. . . the WC, the ATM, the snack bar.

Curious about the schedule of matches and the outcomes?  You can find it all here.

Euro 2012 Volunteer Training

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I just noticed the F-16 flying over Poznan on my map

I need to sort through photos and tell you about the traveling we did with Ed’s brother and our sister-in-law last month, but it will have to wait a few days. I’ve been busy with volunteer training since they left and still have a few days to go.

I suspect there are hundreds of volunteers in Poznan. Most are Polish, but there are about 20 foreigners who have signed up for training in English.

So far I’ve met young men from Turkey, Costa Rica, and France and a young woman from Sweden. We also have a young woman from Hong Kong who is working in Poznan training with us. To add a little age diversity, we have two of my American friends and an Italian gentleman.

We, Americans, were surprised to see that we were the only over 30 volunteers. I think of the many folks my age and older in the US that volunteer at sporting events, in museums, at churches, and in the local schools. I guess if I were Polish, I’d be busy taking care of grandchildren – a worthwhile pastime.

Some of the Polish volunteers are from places other than Poznan. Volunteers who requested lodging are staying in a hostel or in a college dormitory. Our volunteer badge serves as a free pass on public transportation, and we are provided with a meal on days that we are training or working. So with just the cost of getting here, they can see a new city (or country).

This is my Swedish colleague in the photo she submitted for her volunteer badge; it was in the latest volunteer newsletter. 🙂  She’s a student in London and quite the Arsenal fan!

As for our actual work, I’m part of a 12 member group that will be staffing the disabled section of the grandstands in the Fan Zone. Other than my friend Janet, the rest of our group are college-aged Poles, all women, except for our group leader.

It may be different after we’ve worked together, but at this point, I feel much more of a bond with the foreigners with whom I’ve been training. Maybe it’s because our group members only speak English when addressing one of the Americans, otherwise, it’s all in Polish.

As for the Fan Zone, it’s not in the Old Square, as we had anticipated. It’s just a few blocks away in Freedom Square. They expect to host 18,000 fans on an average day, with a maximum capacity of 30,000. I believe there will be three large screens showing all of the matches from all eight (four in Poland and four in Ukraine) locations.

The Fan Zone will open in the early afternoon and close between midnight and 2 AM, with the shift change always at 7 PM. Janet and I have requested the early shift. There are bleachers that will seat 1,000. There will also be folding chairs available. Of course, there will be booths selling food and Carlsberg (the official beer).

UEFA Euro Cup 2012 Volunteer Interview

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After completing an application months ago, I had an interview last week to volunteer during the Euro Cup in Poznan this June. It remains to be seen if I’ll be selected and in what position. I’m happy to say that I passed my Spanish test. Profesora would be pleased.

PS – Let me add a few interesting Euro Cup facts.

We’re expecting a tent city of Irish fans at Lake Malta- wondering if this impact my bike riding.

Irish fans are planning to have dental work done while while they’re here for the matches. Dental care is much less expensive in Poland than in Ireland, and cheaper than in the US for that matter. Local dentists have reported a big increase in June appointments with Irish patients. I think they’ll be pleased. Ed has had to have dental work done here and it seemed to be state of the art.

The many infrastructure improvements continue – roadways, tram lines, the stadium grounds itself. Will they all be finished by June? OMG, I hope so. I’m also glad that after putting up with temporary tram lines, construction related traffic jams, and a stadium that could be outdone refreshment-wise by American high school sporting events, that we’ll be here long enough to enjoy the improvements.

VI Annual Ice Sculpture Festival

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 What do they say – better late than never?

For several years now, the old square has hosted an International Ice Carving Championship in December, the only one of its kind in Europe.  I’ve enjoyed the photos and hearing about it second hand, but last December, I got to take it in myself.  I liked that many of the carvings related to soccer and the upcoming Euro Cup 2012 – very timely!  We had an unusually mild December with temperatures well above freezing, so the carvings only lasted a few days.  They could have been semi-permanent this time of year.

It was interesting to see the variety of tools used: chain saws, electric sanders and grinding tools. irons, and kettles of hot water.

Twenty-four competitors representing eight different countries participated.  First place went to a team from the USA and Philippines, with second place going to a team from Alaska, and third to the Canadian team.

Our friends, Bill and Janet, got to chat with one of the American ice carvers.  He is a chef who had done ice carvings for special events in his restaurants.  Now, rather than cooking, he travels the world competing in competitions like this one.  After Poznan, the next competition was slated for Canada, with the largest competitions in Alaska.