Sunday, 13 July 2014, was the HAPPIEST day of my life. The second happiest day of my life was when Canada won the men’s gold medal hockey game in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The third was when Bayern München won their fourth European Championship League title in 2013. I was so happy, I cried all three times (though certainly more so on Sunday and in 2010).
This was the first time that a reunited Germany had won the World Cup. The last three titles in 1954, 1974, and 1990 were won by West Germany. Many had waited 24 years for this day. As for me, it was only 8 years because 2006 was the first time I’d become interested in the World Cup. It was in 2006 that I bought my first German shirt from Roots which I proudly showed my Oma:

I believe [2006] was the first time she realised that there was one member in the family who was also proud to be German. It was the only time I recall watching her sit in front of the telly, proudly cheering on Die Mannschaft. By the way, for those of you who don’t know, 2006 was probably the first time many Germans were ‘allowed’ to be proud of their country, of their team. In fact, it may have been the first time for many to sing the national anthem (which is not Deutschland über alles, by the way). Sadly, Germany did not win the World Cup that year and my Oma passed away the following year. In 2010, Germany reached the semis only to play the 3rd place match once again. This year, I was afraid that Germany would go so far only to be let down once more. Yet who could have imagined that Spain and Italy would be eliminated early on. Or that Brazil would lose 7-1 to Germany in the semi. Or that the Netherlands would lose to Argentina during penalties in the semi. Even during the final match on Sunday, I sat at the Vancouver Alpen Club (Vancouver’s Little Germany or better known as the ‘Real German House’) praying that this would be the year Germany would win the 4th star. The one thing I was missing was my Oma’s necklace, which I always wear and hold onto every match.

‘Please God, please let Germany win. I know there are more important things but it would mean so much…’

The crowd jumped into the air in jubilee when Mario Götze‘s goal in the 113th minute came on screen. I had been so tense that the tears started coming out but I willed myself not to cry too much lest it blur my vision.

When the final whistle blew three minutes after the end of extra time, the crowd once more jumped up and down the ballroom floor, and I burst into tears once more. Der vierte Stern ist unser! The fourth star is ours!

(I later found out that Mario Götze is a devout Christian and that many players on the German team are too. So it certainly felt like a miracle, a God-given gift to Germany.)

‘Dear Oma, wish you were here to witness this joyous day but you must have had the best seats in heaven.’ 🙂

THANK YOU, THANK YOU GOD!

http://twitter.com/Leoromen/status/488442241803776000
Read: Germany’s World Cup win is a victory for reality over fairytales (dw.de)
I’ve collected hundreds of tweets from the World Cup Final, as well as the German celebrations post-World Cup, as a virtual scrapbook for myself and for fellow German fans. Enjoy and relive those glorious days! :’)

World Champions!

http://twitter.com/MiMotivacionF/status/488449891270926337

http://twitter.com/WorldCupPosts/status/488454933675405312

Best goalie 🙂 Sorry, Iker!

Kiss, kiss!

Mertesacker’s tweet (WordPress won’t let me embed it for some reason)

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js^ The cutest photo of Poldi and Schweini!

Selfies & Photos in the Changeroom

Poldi went for another selfie with the Kanzellerin 🙂

instagram.com/p/qafhtxvQ-B/ (Jerome Boateng)

The Flight Back to Germany

http://twitter.com/lufthansa/status/488437053131329537

Welcome Back to Germany!

Fan Love

http://twitter.com/Orangenmousse/status/488732304068845568

World Fashion

Angela Merkel is a football fashionista. #WorldCup #GoogleTrends http://t.co/oo8gV8ezuR pic.twitter.com/s49074Z8IX — A Googler (@google) July 14, 2014

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Would someone like to send this stamp-collector (me) a postcard from Germany? 😉

Update from your bloggerina

It feels good to blog again! This past month has been unbelievably busy but full of excitement with three vintage fashion shows and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. If you were wondering why there’s been a 3 week hiatus, I’ve just returned from my vacation last week. Now that the World Cup is over, I finally have more time for blogging. In fact, I am planning on blogging more regularly now that my Duke of Ed Award was finally submitted at the end of June 2014 (this is why I’ve been very busy, scrambling to get everything ready). Fingers crossed that I will receive the award! 🙂