Thank you, Jan. Anyhow, I remembered when I was in China last year, I was secretly jealous of what I saw on the TV news from the hotel room. I was visiting my relatives in southern China (this was around the Christmas week) for the first time and the TV news then reported on the snow in the north of China (I remembered Beijing was mentioned and the Chinese capital is based in the north of the country). I then learned that you cannot really get any snow in the southern part of China.

The ‘unfortunate’ part, my grandparents came from there. But then again, for many Singaporeans (like me) who trace their ancestry back to China, many came from the southern part of the country.

Luke: at least in the first division the Hertha match was the only one featuring some snow.

JK-Good post

As someone who comes from a country which has no four seasons (to the extent that there is a joke that Singapore only has one season – summer) given of our geographical position, I always get the feeling of Christmas whenever I watch like what you posted, Jan. It’s either rain or shine at where I am. Seeing real snow has always been on my list of what to do before kicking the bucket. There’s a reason why on my blog, I have a photo of snow-covered trees.

Anyhow, I like what the Sporting Life website has to report on reviving the Ligapokal – ‘And the DFL may look at England for more ideas in reviving the Liga-Pokal competition, as the Carling Cup is seen as a model which could make the German equivalent more attractive.’

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/germany/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/09/12/SOCCER_Ger-Bundesliga_Changes.html&TEAMHD=germany