For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Avin Assomull, and I work at the front office of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. How did I get here? Well, I hail from the gorgeous archipelagic nation of Indonesia. Born and raised a true Indonesian? Not quite. Though I hold an Indonesian passport my heritage is actually Indian. My life has taken me many places and when I was 10 years old my parents shipped me off to boarding school in Australia. Once I graduated from High School, and before I went to College here in the United States I had a brief stint in Nigeria. As you can see I am quite the diverse individual, some call me confused.
My extensive backgrounds have led me to experience various cultures our planet has to offer and in all the different areas I have been soccer has played a major role; In some places more so than others. There is no doubt though that soccer truly is a global game, past time, interest or whatever you want to distinguish it as. That is why I am extremely thrilled about the next adventure I am about to partake in, The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. A nation with so much history of its own, but one that will for the next month open its broad arms to so many other people around the world who will bring their own traditions with them; soccer included.
I am also looking forward to sharing these experiences with you over the course of my 2 week stay in South Africa. I will be visiting 2 main cities; Durban and Cape Town, and in these two coastal cities I will be taking in 5 games: Germany vs. Australia, Spain vs. Switzerland, England vs. Algeria, Portugal vs. North Korea, and Netherlands vs. Cameroon. Yes I know, 5 great games with 10 different teams from 4 Continents – See what I mean about the diversity? I am also going to experience South Africa in isolation from soccer and the World Cup. I already have a 2 day Safari in Kruger Park booked and I will be going diving with the Great White Sharks off the coast of Cape Town. Yes Yes I am scared – It seemed like a great idea when I organized it 2 months ago, but as the days draw closer I continuously hear murmurs from my mum questioning my sanity. Despite the impending fear of those adventures I am also going to visit Robben Island. For those of you unaware of its significance, it is the Prison where Nelson Mandela was held captive for 30 years. Keep checking back in to this blog and I will share those stories and pictures.
I write this now on route from JFK to Dubai and the World Cup is everywhere. I have shared conversations with many at the airport and on flight who are also attending games in South Africa; I watched the first game at the Emirates boarding gate with over 100 people and continued to watch more on the 8 channels dedicated to the World Cup on my flight. In my overnight stay in New York City, I was calming my excitement own with a beer at a bar when a Division III college player come up to me to claim he was jealous that I was going. After attempting to be suave with my 2 friends he then proceeded to tell me the games I am attending are rubbish because each game has a clear favorite (Kon, I argued that Australia would not be the whipping boys of the Germans) and that he wanted to fight me because I knew nothing about soccer. I am sure I don’t have to mention how many drinks he had been on that night. Regardless of the good and bad it is quite clear that this 4 year wait for the biggest sporting even has galvanized us all, and I for one am looking forward to every minute of it.
Cheers,
Avin
June 13th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Avin, great stuff so far. Haven’t missed a game yet. Wish I had known you would be hangin’ in NYC, I would have stopped in to by you a drink. Al P.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Avi, I am watching the Spain vs Switzerland game right now - scanning the crowds for ya! have a blast and come back safe! GO USA!