Deutschfreunde für November u. Dezember: Amazon.de, Fußballfreunde, Ihre Anregungen

Dear Victoria German speakers!

I will be returning to Victoria Tuesday after six months in Germany and I'm looking forward to seeing you again at the events I will organize. Also, with Christmas coming up, I'm once again providing others with an opportunity to join a group purchase from Amazon.de (see below).

I would like your input in scheduling events: if you've been inclined to come, but have found Friday evenings to not be suitable for you, I'd love to hear from you.

For November and December, I've only scheduled two evenings of German football. Once I've received some feedback, I will schedule some other activities, including German Games Night and Flimmerkiste.

German will indeed be spoken, great for anyone who'd like to improve or keep up their German, or just to make new friends through the German language. German speakers of all levels are welcome!

To view a calendar with these events directly, please visit Deutschfreunde.

Note that refreshments are now available at all events. Please RSVP if you intend to attend any events. Thank you!

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch!

Amazon.de Order
Products from Germany!

Amazon.de sells thousands of products and ships to Canada at a flat rate of 14 Euros per shipment. I will be coordinating an order again this year in order--it really is quite economical to order as a group! Anything that Amazon.de will ship to Canada, that is in stock, may be ordered, so browse away!

Feel free to ask me to help you make a selection! E.g. a page-a-day Tagesabreißkalender from publisher Harenberg is a great way to have daily exposure to a language you're learning!

Please contact me no later than Sunday, November 20 if you are interested in ordering something.

Fußballfreunde!
UEFA Champions League
Hubertus Klause Pub (Edelweiss Club, 2nd Floor)

Wednesday, November 23 ••• 18:30
Wednesday, December 7 ••• 18:30

UEFA Champions League action and highlights. Can Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen beat Europe's best? Coverage is from German TV, recorded earlier in the day.

Also worth knowing about...

Deutscher Abend an der Uni
<http://www.uvic.ca/humanities/germanicslavic/news/home/abend/index.php>

Facebook German-Canadian Cultural Society of Victoria - Edelweiss Club
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Edelweiss-Club-German-Canadian-Cultural-Society/306479895964?ref=ts#!/group.php?gid=155487772723&ref=ts>

The Victoria German Language Meetup Group
http://www.meetup.com/The-Victoria-German-Language-Meetup-Group/

Please have a look at what these groups have to offer, and be a part of the German-Canadian community in Victoria!

Mit freundlichen Grüßen Michael Poplawski michael.poplawski@gmail.com http://deutschfreunde.blogspot.com

Deutschfreunde für Dezember: German Games Night, Flimmerkiste (Das Wunder von Bern)

Grüße an alle!

This note is to advise you of the activities I'll be hosting at the German Canadian Cultural Association-Edelweiss Club (108 Niagara Street in James Bay) during the month of December.

German will indeed be spoken, whether you've come to improve or keep up your German, or just to make new friends through the German language.

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch!

NB: A note to that you are attending is appreciated--it helps with arranging for refreshments.

German Games Night
Friday, December 11 ••• 7:00 PM until late
Friday, December 18 ••• 7:00 PM until late

Join us for some board games. New this month are Team Work and Gambit 7, and they join other modern classics like Die Siedler von Catan, Auf Achse, Zug um Zug Märklin, Bohnanza, Scrabble, Tabu, Thurn und Taxis and 6 Nimmt!

Play a favourite, or try something new! A great way to socialize!



Flimmerkiste

Wednesday, December 9 ••• 8:00 - 10:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00)

Das Wunder von Bern (2003)
German with German subtitles

Come down to the club to watch German-language TV, films, documentaries and other programming. You'll find us upstairs in the Hubertus Klause pub in front of the big screen.

This month's presentation is Das Wunder von Bern, an award-winning film which tells the post-war story of a German family and the surprise victory of West Germany in the 1954 World Cup final held in Switzerland.

Other programming will continue with the football theme including the 2010 World Cup Draw show of December 4 from Germany's ZDF and an episode of WDR's Zeiglers Wunderbare Welt des Fußballs. Current news programming will also be on hand, as always.

Come to watch, come to socialize!

--

Mit freundlichen Grüßen Michael Poplawski Victoria, BC Canada http://deutschfreunde.blogspot.com

250-882-1239

Fußballfreunde Deutschland

As a fan of football and the game in Germany, I'm interested in getting together pretty much anywhere to talk and watch anything about the Bundesliga, Nationalelf, DFB-Pokal and the UEFA competitions.

I have been following German football since 1982 and have quite a collection of books, magazines and football films and videos from Germany.

While the Fußballfreunde Deutschland program is currently on hiatus, my plan is to organize a week of programming at the Edelweiss Club, or elsewhere, around the time of 2010 World Cup, including video and audio from German football history.

If you're a fan of German football, too, or want to learn more about German football and the amazing culture of the sport in Germany and Europe, I'd love to hear from you!

Deutschfreunde for June & July 2009

Grüße an alle!

This is a reminder of the activities I'll be hosting at the Edelweiss Club (108 Niagara Street in James Bay) during the month of June. German will indeed be spoken!

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch!

A note that you are attending is appreciated--it helps with arranging for refreshments.

Please note that between July 4-30, I will not be hosting any events at the Club. My schedule will return in August.

German Games Night
Wednesday, June 17 ••• 7:00 PM until late
Friday, June 19 ••• 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Friday, July 3 ••• 7:00 PM until late

Join us for some board games, including modern classics like Die Siedler von Catan, Auf Achse, Zug um Zug Märklin, Bohnanza, Scrabble and others. New this month: Tabu, Thurn und Taxis and 6 Nimmt!

Play a favourite, or try something new!

Fußballfreunde Deutschland
Wednesday, June 24 ••• 7:00 PM until late

This presentation about Germanfootball will include a look back at the recently completed Bundesliga season and UEFA tournament, a selection from the D:SF series "Bundesliga Hits", as well as the feature film: Der Triumph von München, a documentary about the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Skandalen, "Total Football", Die Wasserschlacht, und nicht nur die fußballerischen Höhepunkte, auch die wichtige politische und kulturelle Ereignisse des Sommers 1974.

Fußballfreude pur!

TV Aktuell
Wednesday, June 17 ••• 8:00 - 10:00 PM

The TV in the pub will be showing short German-language TV documentaries and other programming. For June, expect, among other programming, a selection of German quiz shows and news programs, along with more episodes of ARD's Jahresschau, a special series of documentaries featuring 60-year history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Come to watch, come to talk!

--
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Michael Poplawski
Victoria, BC Canada
http://deutschfreunde.blogspot.com
250-882-1239

Activities Report for the 2009 Edelweiss Club Annual General Meeting

As you may know, I have been coordinating activities at the Club and have had challenges having my activities promoted by the club on the web site and in the newsletter. I'm happy to say that things are improving in these areas, and those who have been attending have had a good time, but I would like to see more people give the activities a try--they just might be surprised to learn what the activities really are about.

German Games Night

This activity has been successful in bringing a diverse group of people together three times a month throughout the winter and early spring, with German speakers both native and learners. Everybody who has come has made new friends!

A typical evening includes playing two games--usually a board game which takes 2-3 hours, and then a shorter game to wind things down.

I've been pleased that Germans visiting Victoria have discovered this activity. A little disappointing is that attendance by German learners has been low, meaning that there is indeed room for growth. I would like to see more German students from UVic and the German school give game playing a try as means of using the language they are learning and have fun doing it.

I plan to continue organizing this activity throughout the year, and I would like to see more people give the activity a try--there is more to German board games than "Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht"!

Fußballfreunde Deutschland & Football Friends Germany

Participation in this event has been low and I've reduced the frequency to once per month, down from two. I am continuing presentations on the bar's screen from my significant library of football-related films and I've also recently been able to present current football programming from German television. Fußballfreunde Deutschland is a great opportunity to watch and discuss current and past events in German football!

TV German Aktuell

This program has seen little participation but I plan to continue it once a month on Wednesdays. I present entertaining and informative documentaries and news programs, and occasionally a short film, giving us a chance to hear German spoken and also to discuss the program during and afterwards. Something I have in mind for the future is to show movies which have been dubbed into German, with German subtitles, in order to give people more opportunities to practice their German in the company of other speakers.

Amazon.de Ordering Group

During the year, sometime in advance of Christmas, I will be placing an order from Amazon.de for books, CDs, DVDs, calendars, board games and other things Amazon.de sells, and anyone interested is welcome to take part in an order. This is not a business venture--the aim of making the order larger is to save money on shipping, and ordering via Amazon.de is quite economical once an order gets over 100 € or so. This is a great opportunity for people to get a nice item from Germany who aren't able to find it via other means. Amazon.de has a huge selection--have a look!

Fußballfreunde Deutschland 10. März

Tonight's feature presentation was the documentary Im Westen ging die Sonne auf, featuring interviews and footage about football in the Ruhr region of Germany. At 84 minutes, I found it a little overlong, but it definitely described the passion that Germans and Ruhr residents in particular have for football.

Interesting, of course is the contrast between the pre-Bundesliga 1950s and today, with the 1950s being the glory days, and how the sport reflects social and economic conditions of the times. Interesting to learn was how the Währungsreform in the early days of the Bundesrepublik may have helped lead to the decline of football in the Ruhr region.

Im Westen ging die Sonne auf is part of a series of football films I'm presenting at Fußballfreunde Deutschland, I hope you'll make an effort to attend a film in the future.

Fußballfreunde Deutschland 19. Dezember

The last Deutschfreunde before Christmas will be Fußballfreunde Deutschland, where I will give a German-language roundup of German football as it enters its six-week winter hibernation. The action begins again with the German Cup, and Round 18 of the Bundesliga, in the last week of January.

A film will be presented, one of Deutschland, ein Sommermärchen, Aus der Tiefe des Raumes--mitten ins Netz!, or The Other Final, depending on our mood.

A mood, which will be good...I will bring seasonal Lebkuchen and mandarins to enjoy during the presentation.

Season's Greetings! Alles Gute zu Weihnachten!

Diashow

Breaking news: the draws have been made for the Round of 16 of the Champions League and for the Round 0f 32 in the UEFA Cup:

Champions League:
Sporting Lissabon (Portugal)-Bayern München 25. 02./10. 03.

UEFA-Pokal:
Paris St. Germain (Frankreich)-VfL Wolfsburg
NEC Nijmegen (Niederlande)-Hamburger SV
Werder Bremen-AC Milan (Italien)
Zenit St. Petersburg (Russland)-VfB Stuttgart

Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen

Tonight's Fußballfreunde Deutschland presentation was Deutschland: Ein Sommermärchen.

This documentary from Sönke Wortmann (Das Wunder von Bern) provides a well-edited insightful look at the German national football team preparing and playing in the 2006 World Cup, held at home in Germany.

The camera gives us a unique look at the team's management and players working through the challenges, stresses and huge opportunity of the situation presented to them: only once in their lives would they have a chance to win a World Cup on home soil.

The in-game action sequences emphasized the duels on the field between the Germans and their opponents perhaps more so than the offensively-oriented game the team was playing. Also providing an excellent atmosphere was the attention paid to the phenomenon that the team became during the month: a young team with a dynamic coach playing exciting football and exceeding everyone's expectations. A team who the German public could love as much as they love the game.

Ginga, die Seele des Brasilianischen Fußballs

Tonight's feature at Fußballfreunde Deutschland was Ginga-die Seele des Brasilianischen Fußballs, a documentary film from 2005 produced by Nike to coincide with their marketing campaign in Brazil.

The Portuguese-language film was dubbed quite successfully into German and showed the stories of seven Brazilians and their relationship with football in their lives. The movie is several short sequences put together beautifully with slides of graffiti artwork from a pair of brothers.

A co-producer of the film was Fernando Meirelles, director and producer of City of God, possibly the most exhausting and exhilarating films I've ever seen. The scenes in Ginga were an interesting counterpoint to City of God in that they painted a picture of life and rhythm (the "ginga") of Brazilian life.

This is not a deep documentary, but instead is inspiring and uplifting with music, football tricks, dancing, and of course, the undefinable ginga of Brazil. I would be happy to present it again.

Football Films

Something I'm excited about doing at the Edelweiss Club during Football Friends Germany and Fußballfreunde Deutschland is presenting videos about German football--I have a modest collection which I enjoy and would like to share. (Of course, if other films are in our community and others would like to share them, too, I would like to hear about it!)

Just recently, I was able to get my hands on a boxed set of films put out by 11FREUNDE, the 11FREUNDE-Edition DVD Collection, and I will be showing these movies during both the Football Friends Germany and Fußballfreunde Deutschland presentations.

Also as a subscriber to 11FREUNDE, I was sent the DVD "Kicken für die Krone", a documentary about the national football team of Liechtenstein in their efforts to qualify for EURO 2008, the tournament hosted by the countries that surround Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland.

A complete listing of videos I have available to present is below. And as long as our gatherings are informal, I can play them upon request. Please let me know what you would like to see!

Das Wunder von Bern (Language: Deutsch/English Subtitles: Deutsch/English)

2003 movie with several story lines, brought to its miraculous conclusion at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. One of the most popular German films ever!











Kicken für die Krone (Language: Deutsch/Schweizerdeutsch Subtitles: Deutsch/English)

A behind-the-scenes look at Liechtenstein's national football team as it plays David to each opponent's Goliath during Euro 2008 qualifying. Learn a little about what life is like in Liechtenstein!









11 Freunde DVD Edition

01. Der Triumph von München (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)

The story of Helmut Schön and his men: their preparation, and how strong Franz Beckenbauer's leadership was.

02. The Football Factory (Language: Deutsch/English Subtitles: Deutsch)

The film focuses on a football hooligan in his mid 20's who has begun to question his morals and the morals of those around him. Tommy's major conflict in the film stems from his inevitable ageing. Although he loves his weekend 'meets', he knows he cannot possibly play forever.










03. Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: Deutsch)

Sönke Wortmann's renowned intimate diary of the German national team during the 2006 World Cup.












04. Peladao - Elf Freunde und eine Königin (Language: Deutsch & Englisch & Spanisch Subtitles: Deutsch)

Soccer teams and beauty queens!

05. Zidane - Ein Porträt im 21. Jahrhundert (Language: French Subtitles: Deutsch)

Biography of French legend Zinedine Zidane.

06. Nordkurve (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)

Moments from the lives of a large number of people who have nothing much in common except a strong desire to achieve their various personal goals and their attendance at a soccer match form the body of this film. It is unclear whether the director intended this as a political allegory or as a slice-of-life film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide








07. Fußball wie noch nie (Language: Subtitles: none)

Concept piece by a German director following the moves of the legendary George Best during a match. The camera never leaves Best even as the action moves around the arena.











08. The Other Final (Language: English/Bhutan Subtitles: Deutsch)

One of my favourites! A Dutch football fan, depressed about the Netherlands not qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, realizes it could be worse and looks at the bottom of FIFA's world standings. Watch the unlikely meeting between two football teams and two cultures and their common love of football.

09. Ginga (Language: Deutsch & Portugiesisch Subtitles: Deutsch)

Well-shot documentary detailing the soccer dreams and aspirations of seven young footballers, ranging in age from 13-20.












10. Im Westen ging die Sonne auf (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)

Documentary and tribute to the dreams of young footballers trying to make it into the professional game in Germany's Ruhr region.










11. Aus der Tiefe des Raumes ... Mitten ins Netz! (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: English)

This high-concept piece revolves around a romantic story and German football icon Günter Netzer as a Kick-Tipp player come to life!












Euro 1996 Finale: Deutschland-Tschechien (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)

This video is part of a collection currently published by Bild am Sonntag and the Euro 2006 final is a game that no German football fan will soon forget. Commentary is by Bela Rethy from the original German TV broadcast.

The Art of Football (Language: English Subtitles: none)

John Cleese stars in this witty and perceptive German-produced documentary about the beautiful game.

2007/08 Bundesliga Saison-Highlights (Sport Bild) (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)
2006/07 Bundesliga Saison-Highlights (Sport Bild) (Language: Deutsch Subtitles: none)

Sport Bild magazine includes this little treasure in their magazine right after the season's end. On the disc are about 2 hours of highlights of the past season in the form of featured games and selected post-game interviews.

2006 World Cup Draw Program (Language: German & English Subtitles: none)

For anyone interested in German culture and football, this show broadcast worldwide from Leipzig in December 2005 is sublime. Features hosts Reinhold Beckmann and Heidi Klum, magician Hans Klok, singer Juanes, football legends Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Horst Eckel, Cobi Jones, Christian Karembeu, Jürgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthäus, Roger Milla, Masashi Nakayama, Pelé, Lucas Radebe, and Markus Siegler, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and German politicians Horst Köhler and Angela Merkel.

German National Football Team Games
World Cup & Euro games since 1990 featuring Germany (Language: English Subtitles: none)

From my large collection of VHS tapes: I have every game the German national team has played in a European Championship or World Cup since 1990. I'm happy to dust them off!

Deutschland-Wales im Rückblick

Ein Paar Berichte über das WM-Qualifikation-Spiel von gestern (gesehen im GolTV Canada):

• Der unterhaltsame Ticker von 11Freunde
• Und auch Kompetenz im Spiel von der Kicker-Redaktion

Ein Zitterspiel, das endlich von einer Solo-Leistung entschieden war, und wieder hatte Deutschland (wie gegen Russland) Glück den Sieg zu bewahren.

Na, Ende gut, Alles gut, Deutschland ist nach 4 Spielen Tabellenführer mit nur dem Auswärts-Remis gegen Finnland auf dem Konto.

Piotr Trochowski kurz nach der Erlösung