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.