Two years ago during the World Cup Germany discovered itself as a friendly, upbeat, hospitable society. I remember the man in his 50’s who was sunbathing along the Spree only wearing tanga bathing shorts, a gold chain and a beer belly. From out of the blue he left his chair and started to chat in his broad Berliner dialect about the superb weather, the World Cup, where we were from, isn’t this fantastic, let me show you where the border was in the times of the Wall, etc. Totally unheard of, this generally good mood, and this June everyone has tried to make the Euro 2008 into a repetition of 2006. Great weather again, great football and the German team blossoming in the quarter final has made that possible, and tonight when Germany meets Turkey in the semifinal Berlin will be boiling over. One of the things that have changed since 2006 is the price of flatscreen TVs and projectors. Now the tiniest Kneipe or bar has at least one huge TV in the window or on wobbly, improvised stands out on the sidewalk. In some areas, such as the one above in Friedrichshain, you can watch games almost without missing a kick while walking slowly down the street. But of course it’s even better to sit down and enjoy the matches and the great atmosphere with a Weizenbier or three. Just be careful tonight, no matter who wins, fireworks will be launched from balconies and happy/sad Turks, Germans and Turks-Germans will be ignoring all traffic rules…