A few days ago, my friend came over for a sleepover, and being the die hard soccer fan she is, insisted on watching the World Cup. Despite physical difficulties, I still managed to keep my eyes open for 90-ish minutes, though I couldn't really see anything. Anyways, I digress...
The game was Ghana vs. Germany, so I figured it was only fitting to root for my host country team. After Germany scored their first goal, my friend said, "Alright Michelle, we can do something else now!" She was positive that Germany would win. While I am not a obsessed soccer fan and probably never will be, I hate only watching a part of the game (I love thoroughness, which may explain the length of my posts), and I think Ghanaian culture is really cool. Above all, I was especially infected by the happiness and a sense of thanksgiving that Ghana simply had, just for simply playing the game. I could feel their personality glow through the TV screen, and though I don't follow soccer, I knew Ghana would put up a very heartfelt fight. Sounds kind of contradictory, but we live in a world of paradoxes, so yes, I think "heartfelt fight" sounds about right. I had the vision that they would tie, although that's when my friend said something along the lines of, "And you only say that because you never watch sports." Well, that is the truth, haha.
Lo and behold, Ghana did put up a good match. But what impressed me more was not how they tied the game 2-2, but their spirit when they did (and didn't) score a goal. Since ESPN would probably get sued for showing only one country's fans, the cameras always showed both countries' reactions equally (as my friend was quick to point out). What I noticed was that the German fans were simply not as excited as the Ghanaian fans when their team scored. And the fans' reactions to a "failed goal" (excuse my layman's terminology) were also pretty different. Unfortunately the ESPN highlights don't show the fans as much, otherwise it would be easier to understand what I'm saying. Note, there are exceptions to every observation, so I am not saying that German fans are "worse" or "less excited." It's just different for every country.
Anyways, what I want to say is that I have found Germans to have a one-track mind, a formulaic method for what they deem success:
hard work + effective methods = what you want.
If you don't get what you want, work harder, and it is pretty much your fault that you didn't succeed, so don't blame anyone but yourself.
Now, not all Germans think this way, but a large portion of them definitely do. I admire the fact that Germans highly value effectiveness, neatness, feasibility, and hard work. In general, they are a very practical people. When things go their way, they think, "Yup. That's how it is--I worked for this, and the hard work paid off." --basically, epitome of the overused "geneau." But the trouble comes when things don't work out as expected--a lot of them become so sad and find it extremely hard to rebound. When they fail, they are so hard on themselves (now, there are the "cool beans" in every country who just don't mind).
On the other hand, I find that Americans tend to be the opposite. When things don't occur their way, they just say, "Well, I guess I wasn't good at this!" And proceed to move on. Gardner's Theory of Intelligence is very popular around here. It's currently the argument I hear most from parents.
I think it is very hard for a large number of Germans to understand that hard work is not the only factor in winning or success. And it is hard for a lot of Americans to admit, that frankly, they didn't put forth their best effort. But success (and luck) is the result of a combination of factors:: opportunity, preparation, hard work, smart work, talent, and time.
So to all the perfectionists out there: don't be too hard on yourself. Learn to balance so that you won't burn.
And to all the relaxed ones out there: you will be surprised what some structure and rhythm can do to your life. You'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish if you believe in yourself (truthfully, I'm talking about actually believing instead of just saying you believe) and put forth all you've got. But maintain that chillax-ness when necessary.
I wonder what the world would be like if everyone could just learn from everyone else in the most beneficial of ways...oh life...it's just hard to, I guess. People don't know how to trust anymore and go with their gut feelings. While I do think the gut is more accurate than most would think, I know for a fact that the gut is also not dependable. Great, now I'm just getting more philosophical, so I'll just stop here and not write more about stereotypical beliefs. But then again, stereotypes are not the same thing as generalizations, just like how "fair" and "equal" are not the same. Ok, I'll stop. I'm just rambling now.
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