Word of the Week: das Tor

The German word, das Tor, refers to several things. Firstly, a gate.

clockwise from left: Rödertor in Rothenburg ob der Tauber; castle gate in Cochem, the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin,
and an old gate into Bacharach

Secondly, das Tor refers to a soccer goal.

source

There are some jokes about this dual meaning, but it (sort of) makes sense.

source

We finally went to a Bundesliga soccer (aka, Fußball) game the other day. We watched Bayer Leverkusen (owned by the Bayer aspirin company) beat Hannover 96, 2:0. Going to a big soccer game has been on our 'must do' list, and we had a great time. My favorite part was watching the home team super-fan section led by the Ultras.

huge flags, an incredible giant banner (aka, tifo), and perfectly synchronized chants (click for a better view)

Another fun tradition: when the home team players are announced at the beginning, the announcer says only the first name and the fans yell the last name. And when someone on the home team makes a goal, the entire stadium chants his last name! I wonder how the player feels when he hears 25,000 people chanting his name?

My next goal is to get to an FC Köln game--I want to see the mascot, Hennes the Goat, in person!

P.S. This video made me laugh, and I bet you'll get the joke, too :)