England v Europe

I went out with Gabriella on Tuesday night to support Spain in their world cup football match against France. Now I’ve watched a lot of football lately, and a lot of it in the company of England supporters. And I have to say that although they are neighbours, there seems to be a world of difference between England fans and their European counterparts. A lot of the England fans just get so aggressive, swearing and hurling abuse at their own players, the refs, the commentators – anyone they feel like really. They can be so negative and so rude it’s really not fun to be round them when the game is on. This is in total contrast to our experience on Tuesday night. The pub was packed with both French and Spanish, but they were so good natured, cheering on their teams whole heartedly, and supporting their players, not abusing them for missing a free kick or whatever. There was no aggression or negativity, it was just one big party! And then when Spain lost, the Spanish fans applauded the efforts of the French, and stuck around at the pub afterwards to have a dance with them all!
I know this is a generalisation - there are certainly some mild mannered England fans out there as well as some agro Europeans. But on the whole the attitude of the Europeans - which is something I've also noticed alot in my travels through Europe - tends to be so much more happy, positive and embracing, with them living and loving life to the fullest. They are definatley 'glass half full' type people!