OT: The brand is strong...even in South America
I'm currently in Santiago, Chile for work and for some play. (No, not banished to Bolivia).
Today, while walking around town, I twice saw people wearing Michigan gear. One guy had on an authentic basketball jersey and when I said "Go Blue" to him, he gave me a funny look. I'm fluent in Spanish and after talking briefly with him, he is a fan of the Fab Five, which is why he wears the jersey. I also saw a girl with a Michigan sweatshirt and she appeared to be a local, although it wasn't licensed apparel. I saw no other college stuff today.
Santiago is 5275 miles from Ann Arbor. Pretty good distance.
It seems to me that the brand is still pretty strong if you see it at the other end of the world.
Anyone else seen Michigan apparel a long way from home? Where?
January 26th, 2016 at 4:13 AM ^
There used to be a dude in Amsterdam with a Michigan coat. But I'm pretty sure he had no idea what the logo on the coat was. He was certainly confused when I gave him a "go blue!" one day. (I also used to see a lot of White Sox baseball caps in Amsterdam. Their wearers never knew what the logo was. They just liked how it looked.)
I haven't seen any in Belgium, unless you count stuff on my family members, and I've even been to towns where the basketball team played back in 2010.
I did see a guy wander by my window in an MSU hoodie once. First European sighting of MSU gear ever for me. Super gross.
January 26th, 2016 at 4:19 AM ^
Maybe they are rap fans...Ice Cube and Eazy-E wore White Sox hats a lot.
MSU I can never understand...ever. Fans of burning couches?
January 26th, 2016 at 5:07 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 7:30 AM ^
Yes they do
January 26th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^
ha those are up there with the game brand south carolina gamecocks lids
January 26th, 2016 at 9:15 AM ^
Cuase of swensson and weaver prolly.
January 26th, 2016 at 9:33 AM ^
When I did my study abroad in Italy, a lot of the Italian kids would wear Yankees hats....they honest-to-god thought it was a fashion company like Gucci or Prada. On more than one occasion I heard "I really like that 'NY' brand".
This was also at the height of the David Beckham craze and he used to wear that damn Yankees hat everywhere.
January 26th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^
The daily circle jerk thread.
January 26th, 2016 at 4:33 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 4:37 AM ^
Saw a guy wearing a "Michigan" t-shirt today in San Clemente, CA.
Asked if it was just a shirt or if he went to school there. Turned out he got his law degree from Michigan.
Oaky, not that far away. But it's always good to share a "Go Blue"with a fellow Wolverine.
January 26th, 2016 at 4:36 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 4:49 AM ^
Buenos Aires (mostly on me, but not exclusively)
Brazil
Prague
Budapest
Various places in Italy
Various places in Switzerland
January 26th, 2016 at 4:56 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 5:17 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 6:33 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 8:08 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 9:10 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 9:46 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 6:12 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 7:06 AM ^
I love the goofy bastards too.
January 26th, 2016 at 5:19 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 7:32 AM ^
Was this the place? And, was he after your lucky charms?
January 26th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 5:33 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 6:40 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 5:36 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 5:38 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 7:39 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 7:47 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 11:56 AM ^
hair gel?
January 26th, 2016 at 5:53 AM ^
Turkmenistan, and I lived there for two years. And Armenia--just a few days.
January 26th, 2016 at 6:01 AM ^
But why would anyone want to live in Turkmenistan?
January 26th, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 9:31 AM ^
Do you know of a better place to practice your conversational Turkmen?
January 26th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 6:03 AM ^
While I was at Michigan, IIRC, quite a few members of the Spanish department were from Chile.
January 26th, 2016 at 8:44 AM ^
Nobody can understand Chileans. Even my Argentinean wife can rarely undrestand what they're saying on business calls.
January 26th, 2016 at 4:34 PM ^
January 28th, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^
I recall my first trip to some LatAm regional meetings in 2002, and my colleagues asked me "Hey Andrew, how is the Spanish going?" I said I was doing OK, but felt bad because I could not undersatnd our Chilean team member veyr well. They all laughed and said in near unison "He's Chilean, none of us can understand him!" Good for you to be able to manage it well!
Argentinean is definitely a unique challenge, but after living there I quickly came to love it. The y/ll is fun and the "vos" makes the verbs more aggresive which, though at first offputting, becomes simply spirited after a while.
January 26th, 2016 at 4:34 PM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 4:34 PM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 6:15 AM ^
I lived in the deep south for quite some time. I never expected to see any UM gear whatsoever. As it turns out, a lot of people down there like Michigan and wear jerseys, sweatshirts, hats, etc... It feels nice when I can go into a grocery store and say Go Blue to somebody and they answer right back with another Go Blue.
January 26th, 2016 at 6:29 AM ^
and some guy was wearing a hoodie with "I Decommitted from Michigan" on it.
January 26th, 2016 at 6:46 AM ^
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January 26th, 2016 at 6:40 AM ^
January 26th, 2016 at 7:59 AM ^
I didn't see any in central China, but there were also groups of schoolchildren who had never actually seen an American in person before, so I guess that makes sense.
January 26th, 2016 at 6:40 AM ^
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