Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Germans Know How To PARTY!

If you had any doubts in your mind, rest assured that Germans do in fact, know how to party... hard. Haha! This past weekend I stayed in Darmstadt for a church YSA Convention involving young adults from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I was a bit nervous because of the language barrier I have, but true to most Germans I have met so far, many of the others there could speak English, and were understanding that my German is... struggling. Haha! In fact, one boy I met this weekend told me, "No one is going to punch you or laugh at you if you mess up." Not true. When we experienced the laughter over my incorrect pronunciations and awkward sentence structures, I turned to him and said, "You said no one would laugh at me!" He smiled and said, "No one punched you." Thanks. Haha!

So, let me back up... I got there Friday night after a LONG trip there. Dana and I caught a train to Koblenz and met up with Mathias, a guy from our ward in Bonn, who offered to drive us the rest of the way. We were grateful and headed on our way as soon as we got there... Koblenz is a cool lookin' city though... It's just got a nice feel. I might head back up there before I leave here - why not?

After a small drive through the city to the autobahn, we were on our way... for awhile. Then, out of nowhere the car started smoking a bit and driving funny. We pulled over to see oil was leaking everywhere and the car wasn't exactly drive-able. We waited for around a half hour for someone to come tow the car and hook us up with a rental to finish our journey. They were actually really fast - I was impressed. So, after we got a new car, we headed the final stretch to Darmstadt. We arrived as the dance was "suppose to begin," but of course it took some time for it to get really started.

While we were waiting for the dance to really get kickin', Mathias and some others showed me Disco Fox - aka: German partner dancing. People dance to fast, slow, and anything in between with this basic triple-step system of dance that's really fun! I was into it, but my only complaint was waiting for the boys to ask me on fast songs... I just wanted to go out there and jam. So, Dana and I found others and we did JUST that. Haha! I have to say, the music at this dance was some of the best I've heard at a church dance. It was also the first time that I heard some swear words dropped in a church cultural hall - haha! They're European... they don't get the language completely... I think they missed a few of the words... maybe. Haha! It was also the first church dance I have been to that lasted past 1am! Europeans party HARD and we were in that cultural hall till around 3am! I was SO tired from dancing... but it was FABULOUS!

After only a few hours of sleep, I was back awake and heading to the church for classes and a four hour relay-race over a 4K distance. Haha! I was SO tired, but just kept myself going. In the morning I signed up for a Hip-Hop class... I loved that when they announced it they said, "Don't worry. The teacher is black." Haha! The teacher was excellent and SUCH a sick dancer... and really hot. Haha! I thought it was funny though, because some of the moves he was teaching were so basic to my dancing. I mean, he taught the running man and I was thinking, "Doesn't every kid learn this at age 5?" The other American girls I met there said similar things... I think hip-hop is just so embedded in our culture in America now, we assume it's ingrained into everyone else's culture, but it's not. I couldn't help but think, "This is why black guys say white men can't dance," when I was in that cultural watching people do the moves he was teaching... Haha! It was a lot of fun!

Afterward, I hung out with some Swiss girls I had met that morning and got to know them. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and I just loved these girls! They were hilarious and so sweet... I like the Swiss.

After lunch (Tacos - Mexican in Germany! Haha...), we were split into groups to compete in the "Space Race," which was four hours of little stations spread out over a 4K area through the woods and around the lake. We had row boat challenges, pyramid building, water balloon passes, tug-a-war, and mind games... but my favorite thing was the rope and Sumo suit challenge. There was a rope tied about five feet high and we had to get everyone over the rope and back as many times as we could in seven minutes... Sounds exhausting, right? Yea. Now, add in the factor of two individuals having to wear Sumo suits. YEA. It was fairly classic! The boys were great though... I had no desire to take part because I was a bit worried I would be heavy and they already had to lift to Sumo girls. However, the team leader convinced me to do it, and the boys would just pick me up and chuck me over. It was amazing... It was pretty great team work!

We headed back to the church EXHAUSTED and hungry, grabbed sandwiches, and went back to the schools we were sleeping at (a popular trend in Europe - renting schools for sleeping in at conferences for YSAs) to take showers, change, and sneak in a power nap. It was perfect because the dance that followed, though this one ended at 12am (the Sabbath day), was intense and crazy. I haven't had that much fun at a dance in a long time! The music was hip-hop and house music, and it was perfection. I found my Swiss girls and just jammed out... I took some breaks to visit with people and because I was fairly exhausted. Haha! I haven't had such little sleep and so much physical activity in a weekend since EFY - haha!

The next morning was an early rise to get out of the school by a certain time and get over to the church for Relief Society and Abenmahl - Sacrament Meeting. I was fading a little during the talks because it took not only the effort to stay awake, but also the effort to listen and translate what was being said... It's not such an easy task on a dead mind. Just sayin'. Haha!

After sacrament meeting we all met outside for a group picture (Dana and I were totally unserious during all of them - haha!) and lunch. Let me tell you, we had a fun little group for our lunch meeting... Good times right there. "How does your throat not hurt?" - Haha!
We headed into the church when lunch was through to find seats for the fireside and were REALLY lucky to squeeze onto the second row... because Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife were definitely there to speak to us, in the flesh. Haha! It was SO cool! They had great things to say and changed my perspective on a few things in my life for the better... and it made me SO excited for General Conference. It's only about two weeks away and I could not be more excited. I know that we have a living prophet today on this earth, and that man is President Thomas S. Monson... and I am so thankful that I will be able to hear from him and the apostles, so that I can know how to make the right changes in my life. I am a blessed girl.

Dana, Mathias, and I headed home pretty quick after the fireside and I was glad because I was SO tired! Haha... I fell asleep for a little while in car, but it was hard to sleep on the autobahn. I can't explain it, but I get a bit nervous sometimes driving where the speed limit ceases to exist. Haha!

I am so glad that I went and really glad that I had to chance to get to know Dana and Mathias a bit more. They are two really chill, good people... Overall, it was a FABULOUS weekend! Germans know how to dance and party hardcore, and I'm just sad I didn't hit up more of these things throughout my time here. Live and learn! :)
*muah*

Song of the Day: This is a song that is played at dances here a lot and I'm in LOVE with it - SO fun! Here's Yolanda Be Cool and DCup, with We No Speak Americano. Haha! Creative music video too - Enjoy!

1 comment:

C&C said...

sounds like a blast--i love your new header picture, soooo cute!