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Olympic Etiquette: Supporting Your Home Team When Studying Abroad
Vickie Chiu
Updated Jun 26, 2015Save
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Just a few hours until the opening of the biggest show on earth! (No, the Spice Girls are not coming back - yet, but I have just been told it is international tequila week!), it’s a little thing called the Olympic opening ceremony!
With national pride at stake, millions around the world will be pouring their hearts and souls into supporting their national team with fellow countrymen/women. When big groups of people are all supporting the same team, there will be tears, cheers and probably a lot of beers (see what I did there? 10 rhyming points please).
But what if you’re studying abroad and it seems like everyone else is supporting another team? Or worse, what if you’re studying in a country where there are/has been political tension between your home and your host country? How are you supposed to behave?
Luckily, having lived in the UK for eight years, I have picked up a few things on etiquette and polite conversation (“Gosh, don’t you hate it when people don’t form an orderly line?”, “Tut tut…”, “Yes I completely agree, I wanted it to be warm but this is just TOO warm!”)
Here are five tips for maximum national pride and minimum bruises:
1) Find your allies
Find and lock down some fellow allies and go watch the games with them if you can. There’s safety and numbers, plus, it’ll be more fun than shouting at the television by yourself.
2) Keep the obnoxiousness under wraps
If your country is full of sporting super stars, great for you! But do spare a moment for your your host country. Are they happy they managed to even put a team together and qualify? If so, it probably isn’t a good idea to sing your country’s most annoyingly patriotic songs and talk about how much better your team is to theirs.
However, there is an exception to the obnoxiousness rule. If you’re in a country where the national passtime is to complain about how bad their athletes are, then go right ahead, you’ll probably make a few life-long friends this way.
3) Pick your time and place to display your pride
If your host country has just lost in its favorite national sport and people are crying on the streets, I would generally not suggest parading in front of these supporters with a marching band ( especially if your country just kicked their asses).
Too much flaunting here might result in your own ass-kicking. While I’m not saying you need to be ashamed and hide, a bit of courtesy here will go a long way so keep wearing that shirt with the national flag on, just don’t take it off and throw it in a crying person’s face.
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4) Take an interest in the performance of your host country’s athletes
Of course it’s natural to be more interested in your team’s performance than any others’, but try and watch some events where your host country’s athletes are competing in, especially the high-profile ones. No doubt the local people/media will follow their events closely; you don’t want to be the one looking completely ignorant if anyone asks what you thought of the game.
5) When your beloved nation isn’t playing, support your host country’s team
Nothing winds people up more than the one lone person who just chooses to support the opposition for no reason other than for controversy. So be a good sport and support your host country, after all, they are supporting you (sort of) by allowing you to study there.