one more miracle

There's four hours left until the Epic Clash begins.

Germany vs Spain. Two beloved teams, one World Cup semifinal.

Oh man.

I've been hoping for a Germany-Spain semi since the Group of 16 was settled. Now that we're here, I couldn't be more nervous and excited. I have many friends who are Spain girls, and I really can't blame them - Spain is a team of sweethearts, pretty faces, and lots of talent. In any other game, I would (and did!) root for them happily.

But now they're up against Die Mannschaft, and there is no question where my loyalties lie. I first became enchanted with this team of upstarts in 2006, when I managed to catch a handful of their games in the World Cup. I was a casual viewer, rooting for whoever I thought was playing the nicest football - I liked Germany and France, for goodness sake. But Germany's the team that stayed in my heart. Even though I didn't follow them in the Bundesliga or the Euro 2008, I still remembered tiny Philipp Lahm, the fast and deadly defender/attacker of my heart. I remembered Poldi and Schweini and their adorable antics. I remembered Mom and Dad (Frings and Ballack) and how all the little ones looked up to them. I remembered Klose and his awesome flips.

So when we geared up for this World Cup, I knew exactly where my heart belonged. I started reacquainting myself with names and faces, orienting myself to the fact that Micha was no longer around and introducing myself to the new generation - Mueller, Oezil, Khedira, Neuer, Badstuber, Boateng. I became fond very quickly. I eagerly found a perfect place to watch the Germany-Australia game, and could not stop the screams of glee as each goal found the back of the net - 1, 2, 3, 4. Four goals! In an opening round of lackluster games and low goal counts, Germany dazzled the world, and suddenly everyone was touting my boys as favorites for the Cup. I was elated.

Fast forward through a mildly rocky campaign (but only mildly - even playing with 10 men and Klose on the bench, Germany stood their ground admirably against Serbia and really should have scored), and Die Mannschaft has completely dazzled everyone again. With two more four-goal thrashings, against much more formidable opponents, these boys have truly shown everyone what they are made of. They have redefined teamgeist with flair and heart. Even the numbers show how much the entire team is involved - goals and assists by at least half of the team, and even our center back, the beloved Friedrich, coming up to pop in a goal off of Schweinsteiger's dazzling run. We have new faces wowing the world; we have "old" faces maturing into leaders, on and off the pitch. (Though on this team, age 25 counts as old!) The whole team has gelled in a way that not even the team itself expected. This is even more impressive considering what the run up to the tournament looked like for these boys - they lost their goalkeeper to a shocking and tragic suicide, and they lost their captain and other players to injury. But each blow only seemed to make them stronger. Jogi Loew, a lovely case of continuity for the team in that he was their assistant coach in 2006, has shown real intelligence and instinct in putting together this team, placing his trust in players whose self-confidence was waning (Klose, Podolski) and bringing up boatloads of new talent. His contribution cannot be understated.

In conclusion, I love this team. So many people, once neutral, love this team. How can you not? Their play has been intelligent, fun, cooperative, clean, and downright astonishing.

While I'm here, a link: Schweinsteiger: Spain are the World's Best. A phenomenal interview with my personal favorite, Bastian Schweinsteiger (just saying his name gives me a thrill!), in which he demonstrates maturity, class, humility, and sweetness. I love him so much.

And one more: A letter from Die Mannschaft to the fans. Their sweetness and gratitude makes my heart swell ten sizes. They are so proud to be representing their country, and I love them for it!

If Die Mannschaft keeps up its incredible form and teamgeist, I have every confidence that they can win today. But I know that no matter what it's going to be an epic clash between two teams that respect each other highly. Good luck to both, and may the best team win!

♥

I am currently in New York City having the TIME OF MY LIFE with fangirls. I met STARK SANDS and he has the most sweet, earnest face everrrr. I saw AMERICAN IDIOT and it blew my miiiiind.

But this morning's focus is this: DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND.

I'm very nervous, worried, anxious, hopeful.

I hope Basti will be able to play, but even if he doesn't I just hope we play the beautiful game I know we're capable of.

Good luck, boys. We're pulling for you! ♥

Eeeee! *jumps up and down*

I just got an email telling me I've been awarded the Cellular Biotechnology Training Grant that I applied for a few weeks ago! :DDDDD Yaaaaay! I totally didn't expect this. It's quite competitive, with only a handful of spots for all the grad students here at Michigan, and I got one! It covers full tuition and most of my stipend for at least 2 years and most likely 3.

This is such a huge relief. I feel suddenly like Jason made the right decision when he chose me for his lab, and I'm so glad that I have relieved a big financial burden from his shoulders! It also means that I don't have to write any more grant applications, YAY. \o/ And it's an awesome thing to put on my CV - the money for this comes directly from the NIH, which is obviously quite prestigious.

Oh I am so happy!!! *giddy twirls*

Very brief note to say I AM ALIVE! I have not drunk myself into a coma, as Irish as that would be!

In summary, those first two nights were by far the wildest my time here has gotten. I started off with a bang, basically. Since then it's just been hanging with friends, mostly Niall because he's the only one without a job/PhD (though also because he's my favorite in the whole woooorld, I'd marry him, no lie!), and some very low key nights out. It's been lovely staying at Paddy's. The weather has been fucking GORGEOUS - high 60s to low 70s, sunny/partially cloudy, essentially my ideal weather. I spent too much money, but that's okay because I have money to spend. My time here is a little bittersweet because *fuck* do I want to live here, and knowing that my time is slipping through my fingers is just hard, but it has been a wonderful holiday. Tomorrow we head to Kilkenny for a comedy festival, which should be a brilliant time!

I hope you're all grand! ♥

( Sniffle. Spoilers! )

On a different note, I'm not sure how much I'm going to be around in the near future. I'm leaving for Dublin in a week, and in the meantime I'm trying to get a set of experiments done in my lab so I can have the results for Jason before I leave. At the same time, I'm trying to have more healthy sleeping habits - I went to bed at 12:30 on Monday because I had received an upsetting email at 11, shut off my computer and didn't open it again, and as a result I was happy and rested all day yesterday. It was a really nice feeling and made me realize that I really do need to cut down on the internet if I hope to be successful in my work, at least right out of the gate. I've already been falling behind on my flist, so here's the official heads up that that's likely to continue. I've pretty much quit Tumblr already. I'll still be around, just likely with less frequency. Perhaps no one would notice? But maybe putting it down in writing will actually encourage me and I'll start getting 7 hours of sleep a night instead of 5. And obviously while I'm in Dublin I'm not going to be on the internet all the time! So... yes. Play nice, kids! ♥