Karneval

I have recently survived my most recent German holiday experience. In NRW -my state in Germany- Karneval is celebrated for around six days. The holiday one had actual cultural and historical significance, but has since turned into an extended party, and an excellent excuse to wear costumes and get drunk.

Karneval starts on a Thursday, Fettdonnerstag, when school is either canceled or is let out early. Thus, at around noon, the entire city of Aachen was filled with students. I visited with a friend, and we explored the extent of the celebrations. It seemed like everyone in the city was wearing a costume; from cow suits to sexy police officer uniforms to walking bratwursts. Everyone was partying, and there were alcohol bottles literring the sidewalks up and down the city streets. In the center of Aachen, in the market square, was a large stage from which emanated extremely loud Karneval music (think the Macarena, but in German, and it's an entire genre.) Although alcohol was not permitted in the market square itself, everyone near the stage was already quite drunk. We strolled around, past the hordes of inebriated college students and the moody bunches of police officers, and eventually went our separate ways. I got on a bus at around three in the afternoon, but it seemed like the entire city had already had quite too much to drink -- four o'clock rule or no (there's a saying; kein Bier vor vier -- no beer before four.)
Thus started Karneval - the week of drinking that nearly everyone was looking forward to. I say nearly everyone because I have met a great number of Germans who despise the holiday. Their reasons vary, but the most common I've heard goes along the lines of "I don't need a special holiday to drink; I do that anyways." This doesn't really stop anyone, though. I went to three different parties during the course of Karneval, and also celebrated with everyone else on Karneval Monday; when Aachen had a parade.

Apart from that, I went to a Karneval Sitzung with my host parents on Sunday evening. I'd define Karneval Sitzung, but I have a very hard time even describing the event. It took place in a huge hall, that I assume is used for various concerts and performances. The normal seating had been removed to make way for huge long tables, at which sat a multitude of costumed Germans (everyone at the sitzung had to wear a costume.) Beer and other beverages were served at the tables, and bratwurst was being sold in the lobby. The stage itself had a huge cloth replica of the Aachen Rathaus (city hall.) After we had been seated and served drinks (I stuck with my diet coke) music started up, and one of the most confusing nights of my life started. Soon the stage was full of people in matching brown costumes, and a blonde girl in what appeared to be a cowboy cheerleader getup was dancing around the stage to overly upbeat music. Karneval dancing isn't normal dancing, either. It seems to be entirely composed of cartwheels, high kicks and spins, with the majority of the effort being spent on trying to get your foot to touch your head while grinning insanely. In this opening act I was also introduced to the Karneval tradition of screaming "Alaaf!" I'm not sure what it means, but the audience repeated it after certain things the hosts said, and it was accompanied by two trumpet blasts. Although I can't exactly define the term, it seems to be a general exclamation of happiness and excitement that is only used in Karneval. The host would yell "Oeche!" ('Aachen' in the local dialect) and everyone would repeat "Alaaf!" and wave their right arm over their heads. After "Oeche!" came the names of the various performing groups, each followed with a hearty "Alaaf!" and the same two notes on the trumpet. After the first group came two comedians, a singer, more dancers, a ventriloquist, more dancers, and a comedian who's entire schtick seemed to be standing still and remaining completely monotone throughout his entire act. The only jokes I understood from any of the comedians involved the Greek economy, which garnered a huge laugh from the assembled inebriated Germans. We eventually left for home at around eleven o'clock, which gave me just enough time to sleep before Monday's parade.

The parade is the other great thing about Karneval. As I like to explain to people, the holiday is about wearing costumes, getting drunk, and getting free candy. I'm not sure the purpose of the parade, and I couldn't describe any of the different floats that I saw -- the main focus was the candy. Every group in the parade threw candy at the surrounding crowds. Some floats had small gummies, some had popcorn, some had huge chocolate bars. Everyone who watched the parade brought a bag to fit their catches into, and no one went home empty-handed. I ended up catching multiple chocolate bars, two waffles, a bag of popcorn, a bag of tissues, a circle of printen (the local gingerbread) and various smaller candies. This didn't come without difficulty, though. It was below freezing outside when we lined up along the parade route, and I had completely forgotten to wear gloves. My friend and I would stand huddled together between floats, then bring our hands into the open air only in the presence of candy. We would have to jump, wave our arms and yell "Alaaf!" to get noticed by the candy slingers, and we complied with gusto once we caught on. However, the people on the passing floats were a little overenthusiastic, and large chocolate bars would zip past our faces at frightening speeds, or bounce off of our freezing fingers and onto the ground. I managed to cut and bruise on finger on a king-sized chocolate bar that some kid picked up off the ground while I was busy nursing my wounds. I also attempted to catch a candy that instead bounced off of my hand, and then off of the head of the man in front of me, only to land a few feet away. It was chaos (and this is without mentioning the small alcohol bottles that were too easy to trip over while diving for candy.)
All in all Karneval was an interesting experience, both to observe and attempt to join in on. I enjoyed the fun-loving mentality of the holiday, but I also sympathize with the Germans who can't stand the holiday. A week of partying gets a little old in a city filled with overenthusiastic teenagers, and I think some people will be recovering for days to come. 

An Antifa Demonstration

I know someone who belongs to a group that calls itself 'Antifa', which stands for Anti-Faschismus. They work to oppose the surviving traces of Nazism in Germany, and stand for left-wing values.
Recently I was informed of an anti-Nazi demonstration that would be held in Aachen. It was staged on the fourth of February, which is the anniversary of a local club of reportedly violent neo-Nazis. A couple American friends and I decided to watch, thinking it would be an interesting experience during our year in Germany. I was told that this would be okay, so long as I stayed out of the demonstration itself.
This is how I came to be trailing along after the huge flock of black-clad protesters that wound its way through the streets of Aachen. The main group consisted of youths, dressed mostly in black. They had dark hats and scarves that served to cover their faces from the cold and from recognition, and also to protect against pepper spray. Dotted among these Antifa members, however, were casually-dressed individuals who joined the throng at some point in the march. The protesters marched alongside a van which blasted music when it wasn't being used to project anti-fascist messages. Surrounding this entire chanting, singing and shouting bundle of humanity stood the cops. They were dressed in full uniform, complete with riot helmets and batons.
Police vans had been parked up and down the city for hours; lining the protest route and ready to spring into action if needed. The majority of the police force was put to work escorting the demonstration; keeping both the protesters and the city itself safe.

My attempts at photography were limited and shaky

For the most part, these cops were apparently unnecessary. The protest was peaceful, mostly causing trouble by blocking streets and intersections as the crowd walked by. However, about halfway in someone began lighting fireworks. As I mentioned in my New Year's blog post, fireworks are only legal on very specific days in Germany. These ones, although harmless, caused the police to don their riot helmets and stand at the ready. After a policeman ordered the protesters to stop lighting the fireworks or face arrest, they continued marching on in peace.
After three or so hours of walking in the below-freezing temperatures, the demonstration finally made it back to their starting point. They were using a Antifa-controlled building as a home base, and stood in front of it with their banners and signs. A few protesters lit flares and fireworks, but it appeared that the demonstration was actually coming to an end. Sensing this, and hating the cold, my friend and I decided to leave. I've never been that cold before, and it was nice to finally get inside and away from the frost. However, we judged it incorrectly, and ended up missing the most exciting (albeit possibly dangerous) part of the rally.
Although the demonstration was officialy over, the police refused to leave. They surrounded the building on all sides, and watched the remaining protesters warily. A few people then began to throw fireworks directly at the police, before retreating back into the building. From what I have gathered, this sparked the final conflict with the police, wherein the protesters attempted to get into their building while the police charged in with pepper spray. As I was happily in a warm building by this point, that is the entirety of my knowledge (which might be somewhat faulty.)
Despite the pepper spray and fireworks-filled climax, this was actually quite a peaceful demonstration. 500 or so people marched peacefully and calmly through the major streets of Aachen, spreading their message to all that could see. Many of these sort of protests, on both sides of the issue, involve violent altercations with the police. This is why I was told to stay a good distance away from the protest; an order which I was perfectly fine with obeying. Despite the cold and the long walk, I ended up actually enjoying the experience. It seemed like a singularly German thing to do; to walk alongside a group of people opposed to Nazism, listening as they chanted German slogans for all to hear.

Finally, here is a link to the flickr gallery for the demonstration.
Also, if anything I said is unclear, or if you have any questions about it, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly.

A Winter Post

As I write this blog, it is negative eight degrees Celsius in the village of Roetgen. The snow has fallen, leaving thin blanket upon the fields, the homes, the roads. Now it is too cold for snow, and the sky is clear and blue. The sun is blinding, but does nothing to help warm me up. As a child of the Bay Area, the snow strikes me as equal parts beautiful, cool, exciting, and frightening. I love watching it glisten in the sun, and taking walks (when it isn't too cold,) but I am terrified of the hill that separates my home from the bus stop, where I catch a bus every morning to school. I know that one day I will fall on the shiny patches of snow left on the sidewalks -compacted by footsteps until they're nothing more than treacherous puddles of ice. I only know this because it's happened twice already. I'd like to think that I've developed tactics to prevent ice-related injuries, but one day I'll prove myself wrong. I'll make sure to upload pictures of the resultant bruises.

This wave of snow also marks the first snowfall in the city of Aachen, as well as in Kornelimunster (where my school is located.) The Americans are generally ecstatic about the development, while the Germans are anywhere between mildly disgruntled and utterly furious. I've enjoyed watching the snow fall outside the school windows, as well as seeing the white sheet that has settled on the roof of the otherwise ugly school building. Besides that, however, the news is not so good. As I have already mentioned (I think,) there is a second hill that separates the bus stop near INDA to the actual school building. This, too, is covered in icy patches. My morning routine involves half-sliding down a hill, getting on a bus for around 45 minutes, then getting out to carefully hike up a steep and treacherous snow-covered incline. This all repeats in the afternoons, but backwards. It's definitely an adventure.

To quickly cover other news, I'll mention that I recently finished my German language course. This course was free as part of the CBYX scholarship, so I signed up for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 6:30 to 8:00. I was never given an entrance exam, so the community college where I took the classes had no idea what level I belonged to. I chose the beginner class that was specially designed for fast learners, thinking it would be perfect to improve upon the knowledge I received at language camp. The first few classes were great - I was in a class with a huge blend of students; part American exchange students and part foreign immigrants and travelers. They came from countries including Italy, Serbia, Poland, Spain and Mexico.
We started to learn quickly -- we were going over all the stuff I had learned at language camp, but it seemed like we'd soon get into new territory. However, the class eventually stagnated, leaving me in a class that seemed a little bit slow, and often redundant. In the end, I am thankful that I took the course, and all the more thankful that I am finished with it.

More to come later. Again, I apologize for my reluctance to upload new posts, but it seems like life is on fast forward here. Every time I look up another month has gone by.