This was my first world cup, so I would like to give my impressions of it.

The Good
* I got to meet up with so many of you that I play on fumbbl. Special shout out to Strider84 for introducing me to so many of the guys I have played on here
* My team: They played great and are great people. We were put forth as the 2nd "A" team going to Dornbirn "Real American Heroes". Only some of us knew each other, but we got along great and played well on the big stage finishing with a respectable 5-2-2 overall record.
* Loved playing against playing against new competition, in the Americas the competition rarely gets spiced up with foreign players. Hearing all the languages, seeing the different styles of play in person, pretty awesome!
* BANANA!!! I got a GFI dice, with a banana and a snowflake on it, it will forever be my go for it die!
* Vendors: Lots of great vendors, to many good products to mention
* The NAF officers: They did a good job of setting things right after a rough start.
* The people in general: The native Austrians and Swiss I dealt with were some of the friendliest people I have dealt with. I missed a train stop, and the help of just the random citizens to get me to the airport in the nick of time was amazing. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

The Bad
* Planning by the host: Technical issues marred what could have been an overwhelmingly positive experience, especially for the people like me new to the World Cup. These technical issues are carrying over to even today, as the final results have yet to be posted. Also the fiasco with the skill rings needing to be sorted and handed out by hand really slowed down the process. Game 1 started 3 hours late, that coupled with technical issues caused just 2 games on day 1, resulting in making up the extra game on day 2. I heard so many times during the tournament, that if this team ever got another bid for world cup that many said outright, they wouldn't show up (voiced by mostly people I didn't know, but more Europeans than I would have thought). I think that is a bit unfair, yet I understand it. For me, for the money it takes to make the trip, I would have to think twice about it, especially after day 1s rough start.
* Dornbirn's amenities: Maybe this is just my american bias coming to the forefront, but the Dornbirn area really had little to offer in the way of food and entertainment. I am used to having a few cheaper options available for eating and more selection late into the days. I realize that the hours of operation are typical of European businesses but it was difficult for my team to get used to.
* The Band: I think it was interesting to play a few sets, but they were overused, in the opening ceremony as well as the closing one. Nothing against some good music but if this was part of the price of admission I could certainly do without.


OVERALL: I think the experience was largely positive and I hope to make future World Cup trips, finances allowing. If I had to give a rating to everything together it would be probably 4 out of 5 stars. The positives outweighed the negatives, and I hope to do it again sometime. It will be difficult for me to make another because of fiances, but if that weren't the case I don't have any reason not to try it again. Thank you to all of the people I came in contact with, the vast majority made this a positive experience.