revisions and reactions

Woke up feeling excited about getting back to the revision, thanks to awesome suggestions/crit from a friend who has absolutely no time to be critting right now! Thank you! It will take some thought, but I feel positive. Unfortunately, I also need to see the whole thing physically because I have to be able to check how it affects later parts if I change something earlier, I need to mark things all the way through, I need to move a few more things around, etc. I printed out the first few chapters, only to discover that we really, REALLY need more toner. So I'll get to wait for that. In the meantime, I've got a lot to contemplate, though.

Also, it was interesting to go in town today and hear different reactions to the soccer game last night. I've mentioned how bizarre and almost un-German it is to see all these German flags waving and people being proud to be German. Well, not everyone is convinced. The younger people and the people who simply have a more positive outlook on life all agree it was a great game to watch. The first couple I talked to (young grandparents, positive-outlook people) said what great teams both Germany and Turkey had, and "at that point it's just luck who gets the most points first." The next person (woman in her 50s) said, "The Turks went in with nothing to lose because they'd never gotten that far before, so they played in full happiness (voll Freude). But the German team played horribly. They didn't deserve to win. The Turks should have won." Next person, man in 50s, didn't think the German team was all that special, either. Pessimistic on who would win. Also thought the German politikers were awfully restrained during the game, but then again, he hates Angela Merkel (German chancellor), so he'd probably disapprove of whatever she did at the game. So I'm sensing this inability to accept the fact that we have a great team and we can be happy about it. Things are slowly changing, though. I remember when I came here for the first time and people would ask me how I liked Germany. Of course I said I liked it (repeat with me: be positive when visiting another country, even if you're dealing with adjustment issues!). The nearly unanimous response was, "Why? I hate it. Germany is horrible." Which I thought was pretty weird to say about your own country.These days (later date, different place), most people we meet are delighted that our kids identify so heavily with Germany. In a roundabout way they're saying that hey, it's actually a great place to live. But these things change slooooowly.

Anyway, I at any rate hope we do well in the final game, and even if we don't, I'm excited that we've gotten this far! Go Deutschland!