That's the background, in case you didn't know?
Anyway! I went to the Revierderby!!!!! For those who have not sold their souls to football, the Revierderby is the game between Schalke 04 and their rivals, BVB Dortmund. It's one of the MOST heated games in all of football. If you know about El Clasico, it's like that but not as commercial and even more intense, imho.
So, how did I end up going to a Revierderby when it's like impossible to get tickets? WELL!
I have this awesome Schalke!famous friend, Noam!
Aren't we fabulous???
That's the head of the fanclub (IGE) that got us the tickets. They were all really nice.
So Schalke made another video of both of us. You can check it out if you haven't already. I speak in German and look fly as hell. Like, seriously. So fly, I will blow your mind.
So we got a tour of the stadium since we shot the video inside. We got to stand on the pitch, as you can see in the photo before. It was awesome. SO AWESOME!
We were in the locker room! I got to see the Schalke urinals~! I have no idea why that is so exciting to me, but it was. I forgot to take a picture. Though maybe that's for the best.
And that's the room where they shoot their interviews with the players for Schalke TV and some other stuff. Cute right?
I got to sit in a plush VIP seat. Haha! It was comfy, I guess, but nothing too special, in my opinion.
Before the game, we went to the Glückauf-Kampfbahn which was Schalke's first stadium. There was a kids footy game going on. I don't like kids, but footy kids are adorable. I was squeeing so you KNOW it was really cute. But anyway, before derbies, the fans from the Nordkurve (which is the standing part of the stadium where the "die-hard" fans stand and sing and jump and stuff) go there to sing and put on the fireworks that are illegal in the real stadium. It was pretty cool. There were SO many people and it was loud and beautiful.
THEN, we went to the stadium. Noam specifically asked for Nordkurve tickets because standing and singing with the fans is an absolutely amazing experience that we had to have. Nordkurve tickets are actually really hard to come-by so we had lots of luck!
If you don't know by now, I am the Schalke Unicorn. I was really depressed over the summer and I was about to give up on Germany, when Noam said that if I came, we'd go to the derby. So I pulled myself together and applied for the Dickey funding to do my internship. When I applied, I said that if I got the money, I would go to the derby as the Schalke Unicorn. So guess what?
I was the Schalke Unicorn! I had unicorn earrings and a unicorn necklace and I was just SO UNICORN.
We were in block N3. Because it's standing and there are no assigned places, they stamp you before you go in, so if you go out you can get back in.
As you would expect, there were
And lots of middle fingers because #much intense #wow #very hate #so rival
So the Dortmund fans were awful and put on fireworks in the stadium at the start of the match. That wasn't all though, they also had flares that they threw into our stands and also on the field (and at their own players when they tried to tell them to stop). As Noam put it elegantly, I'd rather lose (which we did crying tears etc) than be a D*rtmunder.
So, like I said, we lost, but we sang so much that I lost my voice and it was BEAUTIFUL. SO VERY BEAUTIFUL. I can hardly believe it happened by I have pics so . . .
After the game, because of the video and stuff, we got to meet the players and get autographs and pictures! My camera was actually up, so I don't have a picture with Atsuto. It's actually the most sad, but I got pictures with pretty much everyone else important who was playing.
Except Sead. All the players came up the stairs and then took the elevator. Sead too the escalator, which goes and extra floor up. Sneaky, sneaky child.
KEVIN! My hero baby standing up to racism in football perfect midfield god Afro-german~ He had an interview to go to so I was lucky to get a picture. Right after, they were like, "He has an interview. He has an interview" and shoved him in the elevator.
One of my two children! OH JULE! I'm so happy he still managed a sorta smile for me even though we lost. He's a super cutie in real life. I was expecting it, but still.
Lars, of course, didn't play. (My poor baby. I'm still #teamUnnerstall even if he's only been on the bench like once this season.) Heehee. Of course I'd look that happy.
Der Bene! He's a super sweetie and, even if it was only like three words, his English is cute~ (But I think everyone's English is cute. Haha.) The guy who shot the video did an interview with him before this, and he told us that Bene was so sad, he wasn't going home to his own place, but he was going home to his parents to try and forget everything. He such a Schalker and such a honey.
So Joel and Roman did a tag team attack. They came upstairs at the same time and while I was getting Roman's autograph, Joel tried to run away, but I was like "Joel! Please wait!" and he came back and took a double picture with Roman. These sweetie boys~
I seriously can't get over Ádám's face, to be honest. The poor baby~
And finally!
DENNIS! I'm so extra proud of this picture. Dennis is like SO good looking. I really wasn't ready for it. Like, I've always thought he was and I've been forever amazed at his ability to have chemistry with EVERYBODY but WOWWOWWOW! Much handsome. So face. Such pretty.
I even made a book because I am so in love with this picture.
Gonna try to give it to Dennis when I'm n Gelsenkirchen this weekend. Or at least, give it to somebody who can give it to Dennis.
After, the game and photos, we went to a Schalke fanclub house and drank and ate with other Schalke fans. Unsurprisingly, there were some drunk Jungs being racist and homophobic, but I had Noam and some other people who weren't awful to talk to. Mainly Noam.
All in all, an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. 10/10 Would recommend.
(I'll do a work-related update some time soon.)
:-)
ReplyDelete