United Nations: Germany

Argentina Dept: In 2001, I was teaching in Chicago. My main break from work was frequent participation in a daily pickup soccer game that I stumbled onto soon after arriving in town. It was a virtual United Nations, with players from Argentina, Russia, Germany, Iran, Italy, Turkey, Georgia, Brazil, Poland, Korea, China and Mexico, according to Winnipeg Free Press. In our normal routine, we would warm up and chat in small groups until, at the appointed time, the best players present -- usually a middle-age Argentine and a younger Pole -- would quickly point out teams and we were off and who does not remember where they were on Sept. 11 when they heard the twin towers had come down? But terrible times also can provide insight that might otherwise never come. I was the only non-immigrant who was a regular, and each group had its own style. Most of the South Americans and southern Europeans were finesse players. The eastern Europeans were brawlers. You not only didn't intentionally foul them, no matter what the game situation, you played them loose to avoid even risking an unintentional foul, and in the space that created lay their tactical advantage. The Arabs had a nicely balanced game. The Asians had a balanced game and doggedness. I had only doggedness. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.