Hup Holland Hoorah!

Ok, it's time for another World Cup Post!
First, let's get this part out of the way...yes I watched the US vs. England game.  I watched alone on my couch with a beer and some pasta.  I'm sad we didn't win, but I'm happy with a tie.  Let's be honest, it's not like Soccer is the U.S. strongest sport...I mean, we call it soccer for goodness sake.  Don't get me wrong, we're still awesome, and I'm still proud of the team, and still root for them, but I'm also acknowledging that tying with England is a pretty good accomplishment.
Anyway...today was the first game in which Holland played.  And it was insane here.  At 1:30, the entire country stopped what they were doing to watch the Dutch take on the Danes.  If there was ever a time to get ALL your errands done, it was at that time.  Except I don't know if the shops were even open...no seriously.  There was even a website where you could register your workplace and head of office if they weren't allowing you to watch/listen to the game at work.  And then people involved in the soccer association (like official people!) would email them and request that their workers be allowed to watch the game!  It resulted in over half of the 2000 registered workplaces having the game turned on!  I mean...that's commitment. 
Everywhere you looked there were banners on buildings, flags on cars, and orange displays...

We were getting ready for the game all morning.  First I put on my super awesome flip flops...

And Fien got her Orange Football shirt.  Then we walked to the Vomar and the baker.  She loved these breads so we got them just for today...

She was looking adorable in her shirt and enjoying all the compliments she was getting.  And then, we got the Nederlands jersey pin to add to our collection!  Fien said (in Dutch) "today is our lucky day!"
Well I guess so, because we WON!  The score was 2-0.  Fien was pretty good for the first half of the game, enjoying it with Rogier...

She fell asleep in the second half.  Which was fine by me.  However the second half is when it got interesting.  Rogier went upsatairs and I called to him "The game is starting."  Then one minute later i got to call "And we just scored!"  He thought I was joking.  Technically I wasn't really telling the truth becaue we hadn't scored...Denmark had scored...for us.  Yep, it was a head-butt gone wrong.  But that's how it goes.  We earned ourselves another one later, so no one can say we can't win our own battles.
After the game it seemed that the entire town came alive.  Airhorns were sounding, car horns were honking, and "We are the Champions" was playing on the radio.  I mean...this is just a pre-lim game!  No cuts will be made, no titles have been won.  But Suzan just says..."Yea well, that's Holland."
I can't wait for the next game.  Or even better...ones where the outcome matters a little more!
GO ORANJE!

(this picture was not posed...Fien was actually trying to turn it off because she wanted to watch Dora.)

P.S. As I type this my sister is on the plane here!!!  So excited!!!  Look for a very special Top Ten tomorrow!

Word of the Day: oranje - orange