This English article is the translation of my Japanese article dated August 21, 2020.
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It has been more than 30 degrees these days, and I have been thinking about finally
buying an electric fan.
It is common not to own an air conditioner at home in Germany, and it is usual not
to have one at small shops, restaurants, or even at firms.
(It is cold in the winter, so there is heating.)
On such a hot day, I remembered having gone to watch a football match with my
husband and our friend who loves football on a scorching hot day in 2018.
The match was SSV Ulm 1846 against Eintracht Frankfurt at Ulm’s home stadium
called Donaustadion.
This match was one of the German Cup fixtures called DFB Pokal.
Ulm was in the fourth division, and Frankfurt was in the 1. Bundesliga, the first
division, so they usually didn’t play against each other. However, the teams in the different divisions can play in this cup.
The capacity of the stadium was 19,000, and the tickets were sold out.
We arrived at the stadium and tried to buy some drinks before going to our standing
area, but the queue for the drinks was surprisingly long. Therefore we gave up for now and headed to our standing section.
However, I thought that there wouldn’t be any more space for us to stand up, for the standing area was packed, and it looked like we couldn’t find any gap between the spectators.
Although we entered the stadium with the valid tickets, I felt heartbroken as I thought we were not able to watch the match.
Nevertheless, we kept looking for some space in the crowded, standing area, and finally, we found some space and got in there although our shoulders were touching each other.
We gave up the idea of buying some drinks.
Soon it was 15:30, and the match began.
A Japanese player called Makoto Hasebe was one of the line-ups for Frankfurt.
Again, Ulm was in the fourth division, and Frankfurt was in the 1. Bundesliga and won the German Cup (DFB Pokal) the previous season.
I wanted to support Ulm, but looking at the Japanese player who belonged to Frankfurt, playing hard outside Japan, I also wanted to cheer up his team as well.
Eventually, I couldn’t make up my mind and wanted both teams to do their best.
I was able to watch the match by finding my view between the shoulders of the tall German spectators in front of me, but the heat almost defeated me.
Compared with the heat and humidity in Japan, it was dry. However, the intense sunlight was
as if sticking into my skin, and I felt the sun was just over my head, which made me feel weak. Nevertheless, I was excited about the game, and the match ended with a shout of joy in the stadium.
Surprisingly, Ulm won 2-1, and they proceeded to the next round.
After the match, we walked back to the train station.
Since we had some time before catching the train, we got into a book shop at the station. Our friend and my husband got out of the shop first. As I left the shop a few minutes later, I saw them talking with two German people I didn’t know.
They said that they came to support Frankfurt. They were quite drunk, and they said that they wanted to buy us a drink. Since the time to catch the train was approaching, we declined their offer with gratitude.
One of them suddenly looked at me and asked me, ‘Where are you originally from?’ in English.
I was thinking, ‘hmm he is drunk, and he may say something strange.’
But anyway, I answered. ‘I’m from Japan.’
Then he said ‘Wakarimashita.’
(It means “I’ve got it” or ”I understood” in Japanese.)
I didn’t see that coming at all, and I was just astonished at his word.
He said, ‘ This is correct, isn’t it?’
The only thing I could do was to nod, for I was too surprised to utter something.
It seemed that he was delighted he spoke Japanese correctly, and his face lit up.
He told me that he had learned the word by watching anime, and he repeated ‘Wakarimashita’.
Looking at how pleased he was, I felt guilty, for I had judged him only because he was drunk.
We headed for the platform after saying goodbye to these happily drunk people.
By the way, Fortuna Düsseldorf, in the 1. Bundesliga then beat Ulm in the next round.
FC Bayern München won the German Cup (DFB Pokal) in the 2018/19 Season.
