Opinion: Keep Smiling Germany, Now That It's Over

Early this morning I pulled up to a stoplight on my bike next to two workmen in a big white van. The driver rolled down his window and said one word, Urlaubsstimmung, which means something like "vacation mood."

If it was meant as a pickup line it was a poor one, but more likely he meant it literally. And his enthusiasm is contagious.

Why all the frowns?

It's been a depressing summer in some ways: Dreams of World Cup victory were disappointed; Jan Ulrich was banned from the Tour de France for alleged doping; Bruno the bear is dead.

The start of the Bundesliga soccer season in August will be a yawner after the World Cup and the German EU presidency starting in January isn't exactly something to do cartwheels over. So what else do the Germans have to get excited about?

Plenty, actually.

Get away -- or not

First of all, the workman in the white van is definitely on to something. Germans have a minimum of 24 vacation days a year -- many have more -- and now is the perfect time to use them, whether that means hopping on an inexpensive flight to Mallorca, taking a car trip to the North Sea or just sipping coffee and reading the newspaper on the balcony every morning until noon.

Those who spend some of their many free days at home will likely make the most of high temperatures and extra long days (it doesn't get dark until after 10 p.m.) by doing something really German: Barbequing. The ingredients are easy: sausage, steaks, a baguette, some salad -- and lots of curry catsup.

Vanilla is just the beginning

Speaking of food: summer has just begun, really, and that means that the ice cream shops will be open for several more months. Ice cream can count as a meal here, and it's a little known fact that Germany has the best in the world. Actually, a lot of German ice cream comes from Italy, but we don't want to talk about that after Tuesday's game.

Korbach, a town of only 20,000 in central Germany, has six (!) ice cream parlors in the city center (four of which are owned by the same Italian family), but that's no anomaly. It's not uncommon to find multiple Eiscafes on the same block -- nor is it a rarity to see every second adult with a cone in their hand on hot days. In some countries, the creamy dessert is considered kids' food. I'm glad I don't live there!

Come to think of it, maybe the Germans' love of ice cream (and pizza) will contribute to the rebuilding of Italian-German relations following their crushing last-minute 0-2 loss.

More black, red and gold

Two days after Germany qualified for the losers' game, the Bild newspaper offered its readers 50 reasons why their country is still the best: forward Miroslav Klose is this World Cup's top scorer, so many German women (including the chancellor) now know what off-sides is, and Klinsmann's Eleven made it further than Brazil, just to name a few.

The list also reminded readers that now Germans all know their national anthem by heart and everyone's got a flag at home. Patriotism in the form of painted faces, German flag bikinis, or black-red-and-gold-striped wigs hasn't surprised anyone during this marathon soccer month.

However, the national pride that has been worn on every sleeve this month seems to have taken root and the stereotypical national pessimism that Germans tend to harbor is the real World Cup loser. Germans have typically been far more cynical about their own country than others looking in, but there's never been a better time to change that.

Even President Horst Köhler encouraged his countrymen and women in an interview with Bild to hang on to the patriotism that has been so conspicuous recently.

Bye-bye summer blues

Whether it's the Love Parade in July, cheap last-minute plane tickets to a sandy beach in August or Oktoberfest in September, Germans -- and visitors to Germany -- have plenty to pull them out of the doldrums in the coming months.

So, grab a cold German beer, a black-red-and-gold flag -- and several scoops of Italian ice cream -- and say "Prost!" to Germany.