M:

This is Suzhou. We just had cheap local dinner on the street, where motorbikes and cars drove by our sides. We were on this tiny little motor taxi (imagine a tiny little motobike pulling a big box in the back), heading to the pub streets where we could watch the game. Then we rode by this huge plaza, with giantic plastic beers standing around it. It’s the Suzhou Lobster Fest! Hurray! We jumped off the bike immediately and ran towards the entrance. The screen is enormous, so as the crowd! They have a waiting list for people trying to get it! Grrrrrr! We found the manager who can speak English and told her that we’ve come a long way to Suzhou and how much we wanna watch the game and that we could simply sit on the grass and dun need any table or chairs. She thought for a second and said ‘wait’. We could see her talking to different people, pointing at different directions, giving out orders blablabla, and we just put up this ‘pleeeeeease let us in’ face for all these times. When she came back she said, ‘this way please’, and we all went like WOOHOOOOO!

Despite having cheap cool beers and surrounded by local people who shout as hard as they could and treat us free ice-cream, the game sucks. The first goal was scored at some 7 minutes after the game started and that’s it. Others were probably bored too and decided to add spice to the game. It was in the 2nd half, when we heard ‘Bang’ all of the sudden, and felt beer splashed on my face. Turned out the nice Suzhou people could be very angry - they just smacked a half-full beer on the ground. ‘Bang!’ Second bottle on the ground by the next table. ‘Bang!’ ‘Bang!’ People from the two tables got up and started pushing. We never really knew why they did that, I doubt if there’s even a cause. Anyway they just kept pushing and shouting at each other like 8 year-old for a few minutes. Since they were all standing up and blocking the screen we had to move. The game ended at 1:0, and I almost fell asleep in the last 10 minutes.