Friday, 2/28

We leave for Germany two months from today. We're keeping our fingers crossed they'll actually let us in.

Actually, I'm (fairly) sure they'll let us in, but the outbreak of the Coronavirus has lent a slight air of uncertainty to the whole situation. Airlines are canceling flights to the places most engulfed in the pandemic, like China and Korea, and just yesterday Germany reported its first case of the disease. Admittedly, that case is in Dusseldorf, which is all the way across the country from Leipzig, but the German government is taking precautions to make sure it doesn't spread, much like it has in northern Italy, where they've shut down entire towns and canceled many events, including soccer matches.

And why are we going to Germany two months from today? If you said “a soccer match”, you either read these on a daily basis or you have a very fine sense of foreshadowing. Either way, I salute you.

Thankfully, things have not yet gotten that bad in Germany. Unlike some countries, they have their top scientists leading the fight against the disease spreading, and unlike some countries, they've taken proactive measures to make sure any outbreak doesn't spread. And while I'm confident that Coronavirus will go the way of SARS & Ebola, I'm also scientifically literate enough to know that it might not. While I would hope that it doesn't hit the planet like the Spanish Flu of 1918 or (gulp) the Black Death of medieval times, you never know. Because while science has advanced a lot in the past 100 years, so has Mother Nature.

But still, I'm confident.

Like I said, for now things are proceeding as usual. With the exception of actual tickets to the match, which don't go on sale for a few weeks yet, we have everything we need, and there has been no indication that anything else has changed. Hopefully, the virus will run its course. Hopefully, Germany (& Britain, where we have to change planes) will impose no restrictions whatsoever on travel into or out of the the country. And hopefully, no one else from Dusseldorf gets sick.

Why, you ask? Well, I answer, the match we're going to see has Leipzig playing a team from Dusseldorf. Now you see why we're just a little uncertain??

8-)

Have a great weekend. And enjoy your Leap Day tomorrow!

(jim@wmqt.com)