To the average American my age, the world cup is an event that occurs every four years about a sport that you only care about every four years. Kind of like the Olympics. But in Beijing, and in most of the world I suspect, the world cup is a month long festival of soccer. If you are from Togo (and I must ask you, where the hell is that, it sounds like a sandwich wrapped in cloth) the goal scored against South Korea was not just a momentary cause for cheer but a life long reminiscence. So what if your German born, aging, playboy looking coach quit the team three days before the match only to return the day before. And a fashion tip to all you old German born playboy looking coaches. If you must wear jeans, go with the lose fit. Prefer a sweater to a button down gold chain hanging silk shirt. And by all means, do not smile in a way that makes you look like a horse with dentures. Anyway, here in Beijing, every bar, every restaurant is showing the world cup. A 600 year old temple near my home shows the world cup on two big screen TVs placed on its altar. The sun god, the reason the temple exists, must not be please. Or perhaps the sun god is a world cup fan. The first game comes on at 9pm, the next at midnight, the last at 3am. Colleagues slept at their desks after the 3am Brazil win the other night. Me, I mostly watch at home during the week. Listening to the Chinese announcers on CCTV channel 5 call the game. The only Chinese I can make out is the word for "beautiful" as in "beautiful shot". On weekends we will go to a bar or a temple to watch. Last Saturday night we went to Browns, the latest mega bar in Beijing. Maybe three hundred people were there and they cheered when England won. England's only goal was scored when the opponent accidentally hit the ball into their own net. Long live the king. The other night a Chinese new reporter was in Germany reporting on the activities. She was talking with a bunch of enthusiastic Mexican fans. She wore a poncho. Hot. I'm hoping the USA puts up a good fight, at least makes it to the quarter finals, but all signs are against it. If they don't make it, well, we have another four years before we have to care about it again.