Crazy/Funny Things that have happened to me in Germany

*I got locked out on my birthday night and almost had to sleep outside in the freezing cold. That was not fun.

*I was stuck on the Bahn (train) for over 45 minutes one night because some drunk people were on the gleis (the tracks). The police were trying to talk them out of getting them off the tracks. I thought--if we were in Texas, they would have been tasered by now and thrown in jail.

*I was full body checked by an old lady the other day. ( I am not joking. People here don’t really care if you are walking, if you are in their way, they will move you. In grocery stores if you take to long checking out, or really are just standing in line, the person behind you nudges you oh so kindly in the back with their buggy.)

*I quite often see people drinking on the bahn--the craziest is when it is 8 in the morning!! How bad is your life if you are downing a couple of beers before you go to work/school. (They don’t have open container laws here in Germany, people walk around with bottles of vodka and drink from the container. Sometimes it’s a little scary at night when you are the only one on the train and it smells like alcohol before you get inside and there is only one other person….but this is Germany)

*The weather is totally nuts here! One minute rain, then sun, the hail, the sun, the sun and hail, then darkness, then sun and snow. This happened one day in March, it was totally nuts!! When this happens, everyone always says “Ah das ist Hamburg wetter. Komisch” and everyone knows exactly what they mean. I always expect too much out of the weather when it suns, it always disappoints and starts raining when I go outside. Sometimes I think a rain cloud follows me, lol.

*I went to a classical concert the other day with two friends. We saw the Cicinnatti Symphony Orchestra with world renowed pianist Nikolai Lugansky. He played one of the hardest concertos. It was incredible!! He played at the first half and played the most beautiful solo encore. The second half was the orchestra and they played three encores because Hamburgers are known for clapping forever long (yes, they are called Hamburgers J .) We clapped for like 10 minutes straight, my hand hurt so bad!

*The same day Adena and I were coming by train downtown to the Hauptbahnhof (central station) and everywhere we went we were getting hit on left and right. Men in our faces and chasing after us on the station. It was crazy. One pair of guys didn’t get the hint. They asked if we wanted to go dancing (in german of course) I said “Es tut mir leid, wir sprechen kein deutsch.” (Sorry, we don’t speak any German.) (I usually say this when I don’t want to talk to people J .) He kept persisting, saying really I don’t believe you ,come dancing with us. He would leave us be, so I told him “Bitter schon, gehe weg!” (Please, get away!) This is what you tell dogs and animals.

*When we were coming home it was worse, we were getting hit on in every language. I think it was because we were dressed really nice and they all were totally drunk. The soccer game was playing that day, fussball to be correct, and it is a big deal here. People get really drunk and violent… So my words of wisdom, when soccer is playing don’t leave your house.

*On a more fun note, I went to my first German barbecue a few weeks ago. My family has a second house in Jarnsen (small town on the way to Hannover) and there were hunters celebrating their hunting season and we were invited to the party. Adena was spending the weekend with my family and I at their house so we went. It was actually a lot of fun. A bunch of crazy woodsmen, who are actually really well off (financially and educationally), but they looked like the typical small country town German. They were very down to earth and very kind and friendly. They served wild schwein (wild boar) and deer, fabulous potatoe salad (different than our, but OOOhhh soo good!) There was plenty of beer to drink, which I really like German beer, and their were people going around with bottles of fruit liquor and shot glasses. There was a bonfire cooking, what else, but bread. Bread and butter are a staple here, Germans would die without it! The whole party was a lot of fun and the people were so nice to us. It felt like back home when I was a kid when my family used to barbecue all the time.

*Oh, I bought a Justin Timberlake cd for €5! Which is unheard of. I think it was a mistake because most of them were like €17, which is $25, but I grabbed the one from the €5 stack and it is the exact same cd. I thought what a great deal. So Adena and I have been jamming out in the pool to Justin.