Taking Sides

Last night, I went to see the Lake House with my sister-in-law Julie, her sister Gloria, and two Italian sisters named Simona and Katerina. Simona and Katerina emigrated from Italy to Canada only six years ago. Of course, conversation turned to the World Cup. We had all watched the US - Italy match. Gloria, who is obsessed with Italian culture, was commiserating with Simona and Katerina about Italian's non-win and bashing the American team. After sitting quietly for about five minutes (after all, I didn't know if I wanted to get into this, being the only American in a carful of Italians/Canadians), I decided I needed to speak up for the Americans and point out that they played almost half the game with only nine players against the Italians who had ten and that the Italians still couldn't score another goal against the Americans. Simona and Katerina were appalled that I dare imply that the Italian team did not play as well as the American. Simona reminded me that the Americans didn't even get their own goal, but that an Italian player had put the ball into his own net. Of course, I responded by saying that just goes to show how stupid and uncoordinated the Italian team is. Simona and Katerina glared daggers at me for that comment. Gloria almost put me out of the car. No one talked to me for the rest of the ride, except Julie, who is married to my brother, an American also, and therefore has some American loyalties. She leaned over to whisper, sotto voce, that she had been secretly rooting for the Americans too.

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Today is South Korea against France. Apparently the entire Korean population of Toronto has rented out some convention center downtown and will be watching together. It sounds like a lot of fun and if I didn't have to study and if I knew some people who were going I would have loved to go. *sigh* What a horrible summer. Studying for the bar exam. Getting over a break up. Being stuck in Toronto and homesick for New York. Oh well. Self-pity will get me nowhere.