my private translator

Today is my last morning in Kharkiv. train to Donetsk and then a flight home to Zurich via Munich.

while in Ukraine, I saw that many foreign visitors hire a personal translator. and for some, the translators looked like a fashion model.

I did not hire a personal translator.

but I got one by chance.

in the train to Donetsk one day to see France vs England, I met a Vietnamese boy who has been living in Ukraine for 16 years. He speaks perfectly russian and ukranian. and of course Vietnamese.

He told me there is a large Vietnamese community in Ukraine, about 6,000 persons.

He is crazy about soccer but this is his first tournament. It is not easy for him to visit other countries with
a Vietnamese passport.

He offered to help me with any translation. In return, I helped him getting tickets for his friends.

Minh is nice and polite.

the only negative thing about Minh is he called me 'chu'

In Vietnam culture, one has to address another person not just with the name but also the ranking.

I am used to be called 'anh', meaning older brother.

'chu' means uncle

I am getting old!!!

Sebastian

PS: the second photo is for my Swiss friends. I met this famous TV Swiss sports reporter
outside the stadium before Holland-Portugal.

What a fun tournament so far. I think only one  penalty and still no 0-0 game.

a little personal challenge

Dear friends,

I am back in Kharkiv.

Kharkiv and Nurnberg of Germany are twin cities.

This is an irony because tonight Holland faces Portugal in a crucial match here.

and 8 years ago in Nurnberg during WC 2006, the same 2 teams met in a match known as the Battle of Nurnberg.

something like 12 or 14 yellow cards and 4 red cards. the most in a WC game!!!

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well I have a little personal challenge today.

My friend from Kharkiv asked to find 3 cheap tickets for his friends.

also Pierre, my hostel roommate in Donetsk, has decided at the last minute to come with me to Kharkiv.

and he needs one ticket too.

He had been getting bored in Donetsk for one week, following his French team. He did not dare to go to other cities without tickets. so over a late lunch yesterday in Donetsk, he asked me

'do you think I can find a ticket for Holland-Portugal? I really like to see that game'

he is asking me if I can get a soccer ticket. too funny.

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during our train ride last night, the first half of the 2 Group A matches were on.

When Greece scored, most of the media people in my wagon said 'oh no, not again!!!'

Greece is not popular with neutral fans.

when the Czechs scored in early second half, a thought crossed my mind.

Poland had to win the game but once they were behind the Czechs, their goal to tie the game was not enough.

but that goal would help Russia. um um.

I am sure there were Polish authorities who did not want to see Poland scored the equalizer as this would mean Russia plays QF and/or SF in Poland. so much troubles so far with the Russian matches.

for the Russian fans, what a big blow. They have been talking about how they would finish first, play QF in Warsaw and then SF in Donetsk. They were all looking forward to Russia playing in Ukraine.

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for UEFA, the elimination of Russia is a VERY BIG blow, financially. Russian fans were the biggest buyers of hospitality packages (i.e. expensive tickets). Now they are gone and we have Greece.

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the other match tonight is Germany vs Denmark.

German fans dream of first place so they can play QF in Gdansk and SF in Warsaw,

both much closer to Germany.

but be careful to think too far ahead. Denmark can ruin anyone's dream. they have no pressure.

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and so I will be in stadium for Holland vs Portugal. I hope this will not be remembered as the Battle of Kharkiv or the second Battle of Nurnberg.

tomorrow I go home....

Sebastian

PS: here are some of the retro shirts on sale at Adidas shop plus shirts with the newest slogan '... all together'

do you like my new shirt?

Dear Marta,

I just went to the Adidas store and bought this shirt. for me Poland 74 is Robert Gadocha. what a winger!!!

the man in the photo below is the vice chairman of the UEFA Medical Committee. We just had short chat and he was happy with the Dutch referee's decision to delay the game last night. He was the Danish team doctor for 20 years so I asked if he was there in 1992. Of course he was.

He was on the way to Kiev so we made plans to meet again next week before the semifinal here in Donetsk.

(I got a room at the UEFA hotel then)

well before last night game, I learned that there are VIP and then there are VIP.

for a few thousdands Euros, you can be a VIP. special parking, special entrance, foods and drinks, gifts, and a good seat. but you do not go on the red carpet.

normal VIP entrance

that is reserved for the super VIP. these super VIP got escorted by a greeter in UEFA white jacket to the red carpet and all of them were filmed by UEFA TV crew so the footages can be shown on the news later.

 entrance for super VIP

I met one super VIP who stopped and chatted with me when I called out 'Michel'

He told me Hitzfeld is at home and may come to the Final in Kiev. when I saw him again after the game, he told me his prediction for the Final is Germany-France. ui ui ui

imagine. Merkel and Hollande. or Mer(kel-Hollan)de. MERDE!!!!

France put on a clinic last night. oh la la.

after the game, along with my hostel roommates Pierre from Brest and Nikita from Moscow, we went to the media hotel across from the stadium to see the second half of England-Sweden.

what a match... I cannot remember the last competitive game where England came from behind. and Andy Carroll scored an absolute beauty. I could have been there. to sing a song for Andy...may be in a quarterfinal

the football has been wonderful for me at this EURO. after 16 games, no match ended 0-0.

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I hope Poland wins tonight.

about the other game in Warsaw, Greece will go to the polls tomorrow. it is a good chance that the election result will mean Greece being kicked out of the Euro monetary union.

one country that is happy to see Greece moving away from the EU and more towards the east is Russia. I read that as more western tourists stay away from Greece, they have been replaced by russian tourists.

Russia-Greece in Warsaw will be very interesting.

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going back to Kharkiv tonight to get ready for Christiano Ronaldo.

preview of today's matches June 15

have you heard of Halmstads BL soccer team???

this is a Swedish club that hired a 29 year old unknown English coach  in 1976. They were fighting relegation the few previous years and in his first season, Halmstads won the Swedish championship.

that was Roy Hodgson. He had more successes with them and Malmo and also with the Swiss National team.

when England plays Sweden today, boy the Swedish wish he was their coach. England, on the other hand,
especially the media, is not behind Hodgson at all.

but I have a good feeling England will win.

I have been going to the business center of the 5 star hotel in Kharkiv so often to write my reports, I became
friendly with Katarina, a very attractive receptionist.

after giving her some chocolates, I asked her which is her favorite team. She said Ukraine. Since I ran out
of Panini trading cards of Ukranian players, I asked her for another favorite.

She said Shakhtar. I said no no pick a country.

She said Brasil. I said no no a team from the EURO

She said England. what a relief. I looked through my cards and gave her Stevie G.

I told her to take good care of the  England captain

come on Steve G!!!

I have a ticket in Kiev for ENG-SWE
I also have a ticket in Donetsk or UKR-FRA
Both games are on today

I would need a private jet to go to both games.

Kharkiv is in the middle so I have to choose

left for Kiev or right for Donetsk

I go right. to see France again.

when I chatted a French fan the day after ENG-FRA, he told me the press had interviewed him
and asked if he has forgiven the team after the debacle in South Africa.

He told them, as a true fan, you do not abandon your team, even in difficult times.

there are not many french fans coming to Ukraine. He was one of the few. one of the true fans.

in Ukraine, the fans who are here are usually the crazy ones or the true fans.

I will reunite with Ross, a Scot fan, on the train at 6.25 AM from Kharkiv to Donetsk.

We met last year at Copa America in Argentina.

I guess we are both crazy soccer fans.

Here is a photo of of how some crazy french fans traveled to Ukraine for the EURO!

photo of the day June 14

Hello Jonas,

I took this photo for you.
This is the Swedish referee Ericksson from last night's Germany-Holland game.

He told me he has visited Vietnam and he likes it very much.

All I could think about was this is the man who shook hand with Rafa van der Vaart. and Sylvie van der Vaart is in town. ui ui ui.

It is another hot day here in Kharkiv so I decided to stay indoor. I saw the highlights of last night game in hotel lobby. On both German goals, Schweini had so much space to make the passes.

I did not see well in the stadium as all the goals took place on the other side of the field. Also my eye glasses malfunctioned so I had to rely on the fans around me to know when there was a goal.

with my bad eyes, I probably have already passed Sylvie on the street and did not see her

well Mr. A was in the lobby today with his sons. He saw me, he recognized me, and he smiled at me.

Unfortunately, I was wearing a Betis shirt.

I have to buy some more Chelsea shirts.

may be I can get a job as the asian promoter for Chelsea.

I will make Chelsea the most popular club in Asia. more than Liverpool and MANU.

tonight is Spain vs Ireland. I asked my Portuguese friend in the office if she thinks the Portuguese referee can be neutral tonight. Sandra said no.

put money on Ireland for a draw.

finally thanks for asking your boss in Asset Managment about investing in Siberian soccer.

Regards,

Sebastian

do you know...???

a) Despite winning 2 games, Germany can still be eliminated from first round. Next Sunday, if Denmark beat Germany 1-0 and Portugal- Holland 1-0. Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland.

Because Ger, Por, and Den all have 6 points so we look only at the games among these 3 teams. Points are the same, 3. Goal difference is the same, 0. Goals scored, Por and  Den have 3 and Ger has only 1.

b) Despite losing both games so far, Holland can still advance. Next Monday if Hol beat Por 2-0 and Ger- Den 1-0, Hol and Por and Den all have 3 points. Using only the scores from matches between these 3 teams, points are the same 3. Goal difference Hol +1 Den 0 and Por -1. Bye bye Portugal.

c) there could be penalty shootout in the first round. Oh yes. And both teams want to lose the shoot-out!!!! Can happen.

GROUP C tonight. SPA- IRE 3-1, ITA-CRO 1-1.
Then next Monday, ITA-IRE 0-0

then Spain- Croatia decides who is first and second and both teams will go to next round.

But if Spain-Croatia ends in a tie after 90 minutes. Hello penalty.

Suppose the team who is first in Group C has to face the mighty English in QUARTERFINAL. Both may want to lose the game or miss the penalty.

d) many Dutch flew in yesterday for the game and will fly out this morning. And some told me they did not book a hotel room. Are the Dutch so cheap?

sleeping at the train station in Kharkiv

I heard some Dutch fans booked this one day tip but cancelled after the first game vs Denmark.

e) the Dutch fans behaved well after the game. Many acknowledged the Germans were better.

inside metro after the match

subway train in Kharkiv

f) in the stadium, the Dutch outnumbered the Germans but the Germans were louder and sang all the time. Ua ua ua die Deutsche sind da.

g) originally my ticket was with Dutch fans, behind the goal of all 3 goals. Then I got an invitation at the last minute from a German fan. He is the brother in law of a friend at work. He works with the fan club of the DFB.

I wore this white/orange t-shirt to be neutral

h) bruederlich zusammenhaelt!!!! 

i) view from my seat. unfortunately the goals were on the other side.

j) at every match, I met many fans dressed up in the colors of one ofthe two teams. some are from those countries, many are locals. many are foreigners who support a team. even the professional ticket sellers dressed up as football fans.

the ones who are not real supporters will choose the team based on coolness.

Holland is cool. Germany nyet.

Here is a proof of Holland being cool. 

k) the football has been quite good so far. let the excitement continues....

from rags to riches in Ukraine

my life just got crazier.

last night on the train from Donetsk to Kharkiv, I sat next to a fan of Dinamo Moscou. He took a bus from Moscou to the border of Ukraine for 15 hours and then another bus to Donetsk for 5 hours. He had no match tickets but he came for fun. We exchanged gifts. I think he is a hard core fan.



since I was not a big drinker, he left me alone after an hour in search of more heavy drinking companions.

so I started talking to another fan across the aisle. Rami is from Lebanon and works in Saudi Arabia. We became friends. He had 3 extra tickets for GER-HOL so I called my friend in Kharkiv and after some negotiations, a deal was reached.

We all agreed to meet at noon the next day in the hotel of the Wizard.

At noon today, we met and the deal was concluded. My Kharkiv friend was ecstatic. Rami was happy too.



Rami and I were hungry so we decided to go look for foods. the first restaurant we came in had a table for us but the kitchen was too busy to cook for us. in the second restaurant, we saw many fans waiting for their orders.

so I said to Rami, let's go back to the fancy hotel and spend some money but for sure we get a good meal.

when we got inside, I saw the Wizard and asked him which of the many restaurants in the hotel he would recommend to us. He said second floor, Pacific Restaurant.

when we got there, I saw the turkish guy from the sauna. He was with a group of people.

Rami said to me, that guy over there looks familiar.

I looked over and saw the former coach of Chelsea in the same table as the turkish man.

I said to Rami, let's make a photo together.

He said no. Mr Grant is Jewish and I am Arab. No way.

fine, I said. I got us a table by the entrance door for obvious reasons.

right after we finished our appetizers, Mr Grant and his group got up from their table.

I  got a photo with him.



but before I asked Mr Grant for a photo, Rami spotted another person in that group.

Rami asked for a photo which I took and then he took a photo for me with this man. The man was corteous and a bit shy.

He asked me where I came from and we shook hands.

I was so excited that I forgot to say Congratulations to him.

one moment I was drinking with a hard core russian fan, the next moment I shook hand with one of the richest man in the world.

and my decision to put on the Zola shirt today.

how crazy is this???