World Cup in Switzerland

Geneva is one of those international melting pot kind of places.  There are people from here, but there are many that have come here.  There’s a huge immigrant (legal and illegal) presence.  You see it on the streets, and you hear it in the voices.

But you also see it hanging from windows:

Pick a Bandwaggon, Any Bandwaggon

Can't Lose the First Game Match Up

Going by Number of Flags the Portuguese are a Favorite

Like the Country Where You Are, and Another

The number of flags hanging from windows is really incredible.  Rarely, though do you just see a Swiss flag hanging solo, it’s usually in conjunction with another country’s flag.  In the area of my hotel, there are dozens of Portuguese flags.  Brazil is everywhere, I couldn’t get out to watch Brazil beat North Korea, but while working with the TV on, you could hear the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD oooh and ahh with every Brazilian chance, with loud roars for the goals, and folks taking to the streets and blasting horns (auto and vevuzela) through the night.  Spain’s big, which is curious considering that Switzerland’s first game is against the mighty Spanish.  Italy and French are equally big in popularity, which isn’t surprising considering  the proximity to both of those nations.

TV wise, the Swiss broadcast live from a soccer festival along Lac Leman (Lake Geneva to us) in Laussanne, Switzerland, they do the pre-game, halftime and post-game from there.  All the games are live, with the convenience of Johannesburg being in the same time zone.  Though it’s a because of the difference in latitude and time of year, it’s kind of weird to have something on TV at the same time of day, but it’s dark in South Africa while there’s still plenty of light in Switzerland.  The Swiss also play replays of the early games into the night for those that work.