June 22 - The World Cup in South Africa is truly a global spectacle. Soccer fans from around the world are watching the world's best teams compete. While soccer is not as popular as baseball or basketball in the United States, as a nation of immigrants we have many soccer fans who root for the United States team, even while they also root for the team from their homeland. I know there are many fans of the Japanese team who reside in the United States.

When I called my mother last weekend, she was very happy that the United States had tied the powerful England squad and that Switzerland had defeated Spain. Although Mom has now lived in the United States for over 50 years, she still feels pride when athletes from her home country of Switzerland do well in international competition. She was so happy about the Swiss win that she called her younger brother in Switzerland.

I feel the same way about the Japanese soccer team. Although I did not stay up to watch the Japan-Cameroon game, I was delighted to learn that Japan had defeated Cameroon 1-0. The next evening I watched a replay of the game. I already knew the outcome, but I still enjoyed watching the Japanese team play. When Honda scored his goal, I was thrilled.

I also watched the Japan-Netherlands game, and while the Japanese team played very well against the powerful Dutch squad, I was disappointed when they lost. I will continue to root for both Japan and the United States in this tournament. Go USA! Ganbare Nippon!

Until next time,

Jim