July 6, 2011
A Venezuelan, an Afghani, and a man from Uganda walk into a bar.
There's no punch line.
That's kind of my life right now.
I am in class right now during a break and I have Yumi on my left and Anna from Poland on my right. She just asked me how to prounounce "obese."
That's one word I do know due to the culture of home, sweet,home.
The sunshine is out and the mood is lifted! No more red, blue, and grey.
Yesterday, I had my first class of German and Civic Engagement.
Let's just say the German class was just one big game of German charades. Our professor spoke zero English to us. None. Nein. Instead, she just fully submerged us. And I give her an Oscar for her acting talents! Through extravagant motions and lots of pointing, my class was a teeny tiny bit able to follow her. The poor woman has her doctorate and is having to dance around just to get us to understand how to say book and pen in German. Bless her.
I now know how to ask for your name, introduce myself, and give farewells and greetings. Yes, I know. I can now speak for 5 seconds to the locals.
Yesterday, Monday, we went to dinner at a very authentic German restaurant that also was a brewery. The entire group clinked glasses and enjoyed hearty food of the Deutch. Have I mentioned how much the like potatoes?
I am pretty sure somewhere, on some street corner, they sell potato ice cream. Because everything in this sweet little town is potatoes! Potato pasta, soup, entrees, side, etc.. etc….How the Germans stay so fit and skinny, I do not know. Because they have pastries for breakfast and potatoes for every other meal and snack…schooo….clearly Dr. Atkins is not really hero here. Note to future tourist: Don’t mention Hasselhoff. It will be followed by an eye rolling and “Americarins” muttered under the breath. (And yes, I know I misspelled it, but that’s how they prenounce it. I am not losing the American way that fast I promise).
After that, we went to quite possibly the weirdest bar I have ever been to. It had neon, glowing toilets for seats and then they had them for tables with glass over them. Headless barbies were tied to a rotator to act like a ceiling fan. And fur covered the walls. Naked manequins were posted up everywhere too.
Do you feel this vibe I am giving you?
It was freakier than any Friday Lindsay Lohan has ever experienced.
But, one cool thing about it was that they had phones on the tables, like old fashioned ones that have the swirly thing to dial the numbes. You used the phones to dial the bartender and to tell him what you wanted.
We actually had a good time despite the décor.
Next stop was a blues bar that tried to fashion itself after dear old home. I felt very comfortable and clapped to the music. The Germans looked at me as if I had just done a handstand with a monkey on my back. They. Are. So. Stoic.
But they really got into the music…you could tell by their head nodding. Which my experience so far with the locals is that that is a lot of emotion. The band actually sang in English which was a pleasant change. We could sing along and just have a great time. It felt good to do that on the 4th of July while of all of you were playing Alan Jackson, Reba, and every other country star who had an America song sensation.
But probably the most American thing that we did was to stop for McDonalds on the way home.
And let me just say this---German McDonalds DO NOT play around with McFlurrys.
They can be stoic and eat potatoes all they want to if they can keep putting whatever toppings and sauces they put on my ice cream. It was GUT!
After that, my fourth of July was done. And yours was for the most part just happening. My midnight is your 5:00 p.m.
As you were firing up your grill and gathering your fireworks, this little patriot hit the sack. She missed America, but was loving the world.
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