German Carnival and Everyday Life

The long awaited update!

In this blog update I will be writing about the following: German carnival.
1. German carnival

When I think 'carnival' I imagine a with too many people compressed together in an area usually outside, expensive games that hardly anyone ever wins, and unhealthy food. This is not what German carnival is. There are too many people crammed together in a tent, no games but performances, and in place of unhealthy food there is beer.... lots and lots and lots of smoking and beer. It is an experience.

My host family is a 'carnival family.' My host sister, Julia, her sister, Verena, and I all danced in the red guard. Her other sister, Sabrina, was our trainer. We made a 'show dance' which means that it was more like telling a story; our theme was 'circus.' My host mother was in the sewing group that made our show costumes. We performed four times but we had training every Tuesday and Sunday for three months.

Every performance began with a parade into the large show tent (I was not in the parade because I don't have a guard costume) and then there was a series of performances (the red guard is always toward the end because they are the older group.

On Rosensonntag (the Sunday before Ash Wednesday) there was a special church service for carnival and about carnival.
On Rosenmontag (the Monday before ash Wednesday) the red guard came over for soup and then there was a parade (I chose to stay at home for that because I was waiting for friends). Then some friends came over (we all dressed like hippies) and we went to the carnival tent where there was a DJ and we danced (it was realy crowded and someone kept stepping  on my heels and elbowing me). It ended up that there were a lot of girls n my grade there so we all just stuck together.

That's pretty much carnival. It's a little bit like Halloween because there are costumes. There are late nights, crowded places, and lots of alcohol (I still did not drink any though, I think my host family was a little disappointed that I didn't even try any). And now.... some pictures:

The red guard in our show costumes

My friends and I dressed as hippies on Rosenmontag
From left to right: Lydia, Mara, Sophie, Eva, Me, Sarah 

There isn't much else to report on... My host father celebrated his 60th birthday:

Julia is reading a poem that my host mother wrote and then the whole family gave him his present (a new bike).

 

We created a circle around my host parents when they had their alone dance.

 

There was A LOT of food. This is just some.... I peeled all the eggs for deviled eggs... also, we have been eating leftovers from it the entire week (the birthday was last Saturday)

 

Kristina and I (Kristina is my host sister, Julia's, sister.

The party was good, I called it a night at 12:30 but my host parents didn't go to bed until 5 am... It was a good time and everyone enjoyed themselves

Other than carnival and the birthday celebration, school has been normal except for my having to write an 8 to 12 page essay. I wrote it in English and my topic was 'Stereotypes: With Focus on Germans and United States' Americans.' My mom edited for me (my actual mom not my host mom). I think it ended up pretty good however, I did wait until last minute so, I'll just hve to wait and see what me English teacher thinks about it.

Nothing else to report right now. I have very little school on Monday and Tuesday because I don't have to write the tests and I am going to a birthday celebration next friday. I may also go see 'Les Miserables' with some friends next Saturday... apparently it's in English here with German subtitles because everything is sung.... I'm kind of excited to hear a little bit of English outside of my English class in school.

If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Greetings and love from Germany,
                      Madison Jeannine Wallace