How To Respond...

I just thought I'd share a funny story from yesterday with you... Maybe you have some insight as to how I should respond the next time. :)

I tutor a little boy (let's call him "T") every Thursday afternoon. T is 7 years old, his native language is German, and he's also completely fluent in English... Must be nice! :) His grandfather is American (from Alabama), and T's family takes a 6-week trip to the U.S. every summer to visit him... So, needless to say, he's been exposed to English and the American culture from a very early age (and, being that his grandpa is from Alabama, I'm sure you can imagine what T's English sounds like... it's like English with a German accent and a southern drawl... Interesting! :))... The only reason he's in tutoring for English is so that he doesn't lose it... Apparently, after starting school last year, T felt awkward about the fact that he knew so much more English than the rest of the children, so he completely stopped speaking it and refused to speak it at home. Poor kid... So, the family enrolled him in tutoring at once... And, that's where I came into the picture. Once they found out that I was an American living in Germany, and that I was a certified elementary teacher in the U.S., and I was out of work at the time, I was contacted and asked to work with T... And, I gladly accepted! :) So, for the past year, T and I have been working together every Thursday. Most of our sessions are spent simply talking... And, it never ceases to amaze me, the things that come out of that child's mouth. :) And, yesterday was no exception...

We were sitting at the table talking about his day at school. He didn't seem to thrilled with the things they had done in school that day, so he asked me if he could change the subject. I said that was ok, and asked him what he wanted to talk about. His response was... "Monster Garage"... Great! For those of you that aren't familiar with "Monster Garage", it was a show on the Discovery Channel, starring Jesse James (the owner of the West Coast Choppers), and the premise of the show was to have teams of five people modify some type of vehicle into what they referred to as a "monster machine"... If the teams failed to make a "monster machine" the car was destroyed in some way by Jesse James. Needless to say, it's not a typical show that a 7-year old would watch. :)

So, T started talking about "Monster Garage"... His dad bought the DVD series the last time they were in the U.S., so they've been watching them recently. T was telling me about his favorite episode, when he looked at me and said, "...and then Jesse James said 'What the hell is going on here?'"... The sentence caught me a little off-guard, so my initial response was, "What?"... To which T repeated, "... and then Jesse James said 'What the hell is going on here?'"... Whoa! My initial thought was, "Did I just hear him correctly"? And then when he repeated the statement, I definitely knew I had heard him right the first time! But, the funniest thing about the whole situation was the fact that I was sitting there slightly shocked by the fact that this 7-year old was swearing and he continued right on talking like it was no big deal, because for him (not being a native English speaker) it isn't a big deal! :)

By the time I had recovered from my initial shock, T had quoted about three more sentences, a couple of which had some type of swear word in it... Lovely! So, the question was, how should I handle that type of situation? I mean, for him, the word isn't exactly a "bad word" being that it's not part of his native language... Add to that the fact that all of the U.S. television shows that air over here do not dub out the inappropriate language... So, for T, he wasn't really doing anything wrong. Meanwhile, for me, I was taken aback by the fact that this little 7-year old was swearing in my language... What to do?? I couldn't lecture him for using the word because he doesn't really know any better, but I didn't want to just let it go and let him think that it was completely ok to say, plus I didn't want to make it sound like it was a REALLY big deal because then it would make the word that much more "endearing" to him and he'd try to use it all of the time for shock value (trust me, I know how T thinks! :))...

So, I handled it the best way I knew how... I explained that he probably heard the word "hell" before in television shows and whatnot, but it wasn't the type of word that he should be using... I told him that in English, that word is not considered a very nice word and that most boys and girls in America don't use it. I then asked him to do a favor for me and not say it anymore... And then we moved on... I didn't lecture, I didn't tell him that he definitely couldn't say it, and I didn't dwell on it... I simply explained the situation and carried on with the rest of the lesson...

I'm not exactly certain if it worked 100% or if he even got the message, but either way, for the remainder of the time that we talked about "Monster Garage", the "hell" word never came up again... So, that's always a good sign. :) I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens now...

This is where I would be interested in your input... What do you think? Do you think I handled it the right way? Or should I have done something different? Any advice in case it happens again (which I'm pretty sure it will considering the amount of kids I'm teaching English to nowadays! :))?

And on that note, I've got to get packing... We're heading to Austria to go skiing for the weekend... yay! There's a group of 8 of us, and we've found a cute little villa to rent for the weekend. I'm super excited to get back on my skis!! It'll be my first time skiing this season, so I'm definitely looking forward to it! Unfortunately, Brian isn't able to ski this year because of his leg... So, he's going with us, but instead of skiing, he's planning on hiking around the area and taking pictures... It's not quite as exciting as skiing for him, but he's looking forward to it as well... Plus, I told him that I would meet him in the lodge every now and then to keep him company. :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, and one more thing... Stacy, if you're reading this, I'm REALLY sorry for teaching Kaden the word "sheisse"! :) It came back to haunt me! :)

Mission (Somewhat) Accomplished...

I left off on Friday claiming that I was going to get to the bottom of the Fasching/Fasnet festival. Well, after a whirlwind weekend of attending all things Fasching/Fasnet related, I did find out some valuable information about the festival. So, I guess my mission was somewhat accomplished. :)

Here are a few of the facts I learned over the weekend...

1) This festival goes by different names depending on where it is being held in Germany. Germany has three locations where this festival is extremely popular... Northern Germany (Cologne, Dusseldorf, and surrounding areas) where the festival is called Carneval, Bavaria (Munich and surrounding areas) where the festival is called Fasching, and Southern Germany (the area where we live, along with certain parts of Austria and Switzerland) where the festival is called Fasnet or Fastnacht. Each area celebrates in its own unique way...

2) The area in which we live in Southern Germany is unique in their celebration of Fasnet in that this is the only place where you can find the costumes and special masks worn in the parades. This is called the Alemannische Fasnet. The festival here begins on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. It's known in this region as Schmotziger Donnerstag(Dirty/Fat/Greasy Thursday).... Basically, it is a day when tradition says that women take control. Hence the reason for the cutting of the neck ties last Thursday... The neck tie symbolizes "man", so the women cut them to show that the male dominance has ended and they are in control. The festival then continues through the weekend until Tuesday (the day before Lent begins)... Typically, Friday - Monday (called Rosenmontag) are the party days and people can get a little crazy! The two weekends before Rosenmontag and the day of Rosenmontag are traditionally when the parades are held. Once Ash Wednesday rolls around, the festival is officially over. So, basically, you can view this whole festival as a way for the Germans to really party it up and totally let lose before they have to crack down and begin fasting for Lent. :)

3) The traditions in the other areas of Germany are quite different than in this area. This area is based on very old traditions, while the northern areas of Germany began celebrating there version as a means of political opposition in the beginning of the 19th century. Many of the people during that time were looking for ways to oppose the counts and dukes of the German states (they did not tolerate any form of opposition at that time), so the people formed clubs. The clubs organized parties and parades with alot of political humor and they gave funny speaches making fun of the government. This resulted in the northern Germany form of Carneval. Today, they still celebrate this and their celebrations consist of parades, political humor, and festive costumes (i.e. princesses, kings, etc...).

4) The masks and costumes worn during Fasnet in this area are a very old tradition in Southern Germany. The masks and costumes (most of them being witches, demons, earthly spirits, and scary animals) basically symbolize the end of winter and beginning of spring. The scary costumes scare away the demons associated with winter, which then leads into Lent (40 days of fasting), and then following that is the "birth" of spring. Interesting.

5) The costumes are viewed as being very special. In order to be a part of the groups of people that wear these costumes, you have to be initiated... This can sometimes take up to five years. You have to earn a certain amount of points (earned by doing social activities and community service) each year in order to walk in the parades with your full costume. The costumes are all handmade and the masks are all hand-carved and they can cost anywhere between 600 to 1,000 euro! Many of the groups that walk in the parade are very "mischevious" and they mess with many of the spectators... Typically if a costumed character picks on you, that is viewed as an honor. :)

I actually found the past weekend to be very interesting! I love learning about all of their traditions here! It's amazing to me to think that many of these traditions have been going on for thousands of years! It's such a special thing... to think that the people here are so involved in this tradition and it's something that is passed down from generation to generation... Coming from the U.S. (being that we're such a young country), it's interesting to see something like this, as we don't really have anything that compares (outside of the 4th of July! :))...

That's definitely one of the great things about being able to live over here... Being able to take part in some of these events has truly helped to open my eyes and mind to the traditions and beliefs of other cultures. I find it absolutely fascinating! :)

And, on that note, I hope you enjoy the rest of the pics from our Fasnet celebration... :)

The streets of Friedrichshafen were lined with people waiting for the parade! :)

Look at all of the people! :)

This was our view of the parade... We were invited to watch it from the language school we go to... It was so nice to watch it from a nice warm building! :)

Watching the parade while drinking a glass of Sekt (champagne)... Not too shabby! :)

Like I said, it's supposed to be an honor to be picked on by the characters... All I know, is that I probably wouldn't be too happy about it! :)

I like how families do this together... :)

They "netted" themselves some spectators! :)

This was interesting... The costumed people would grab spectators and then put them into the round, wooden cage. They would then all run at full speed down the road, and the cage would spin in circles!!

Meanwhile, the cage was spinning pretty fast!

I thought this was an interesting costume... :)

And, of course, I loved the cats! :)

Apples and pears... They represent all of the fruit that is grown around the Bodensee... :)

I would definitely not want to be this poor girl! I can't even imagine how long it's going to take her to get all of that confetti out of her hair and clothes! :)

And, yet another spectator getting picked on...

Yikes!

The Sea Chickens! :)

I think that this costume has to be my favorite! :)

This is the metzger (butcher) that walks behind the chickens... Apparently, on the last day of Fasnet, he "butchers" all but one of the chickens... And, that chicken has to lay the eggs for next year's "parade chickens"... :)

And, towards the end of the parade, came this group... This costume represents the coming of spring... yay! :)

After the parade, some of the hexen came to the language school to visit us... :)

Look at the detail on that mask... wow!

Hanging out with a hexen... :)

They actually let me try on a mask... Very cool! I guess it's not very often that they do that, so I felt quite honored! :) I give them credit for wearing them... They're very heavy! :)

After the Friedrichshafen parade, we headed over to Uberlingen for their Fasnet parade... Their parade is special in that it has much more of a "dark" feel to it... No, bright and cheery costumes can be found here!

The only costume represented in this parade is the Hansele...

This Hansele was showing off his "whipping" skills...

The Hansele costumes are considered to be very special... Apparently, only men are allowed to wear them (and many of the women get very excited when the Hansele walk by... We were told that the women really like the fact that they're so "mysterious"... Hmmm... :))... The costumes are black with colorful swatches of fabric, and their mask consists of a long, black nose that has a soft, scented end... They walk up to spectators (primarily women) and rub their "noses" on the women's faces...

After the parade...

Posing with the Hansele...

Brian and I out and about in Uberlingen, celebrating Fasnet... Oh, what fun we had! :)

Slightly Puzzled...

So I've set a goal for myself this weekend, and I'm determined to accomplish it! :) My goal is to figure out what exactly this whole Fasching/Fasnet business consists of... Now, it may sound like a rather insignificant goal to you... But, trust me, I'm feeling completely puzzled by the goings-on around here!!

Now, from what I was told about Fasching, I assumed that it was a traditional festival which consisted of parades with people dressed up in unusual costumes that were held during a couple of weekends in February... The atmosphere was very festive and colorful and people just drank and had a good time on the weekend. And, I assumed that all of those festivities then culminated with a grand parade in larger cities this coming weekend. And then Fasching is over... Oh, how wrong was I!

I now know that this whole festival carries on through the middle of next week... And, apparently, the next few days are a VERY big deal around here! (So big, in fact, that our gym is actually closing at 2 p.m. most days until next Wednesday... Are you kidding me?! For someone who likes to work out at night, rather than in the morning, this is cause for a MAJOR inconvenience! But, I digress...) What goes on during the next few days is completely beyond me though! I have to admit, that it's times like this where I can really feel that I'm an outsider in their culture... And, as of right now, I feel as if I've entered an alternate reality! :)

Here's a few examples of why I'm feeling so puzzled, and why I want to get to the bottom of this Fasching business...

1) Yesterday, I took the train into town. When I got off the train and began walking through the Stadtbahnhof, I noticed people dressed in rather odd attire... A woman walked by me dressed up as a devil, a couple of teenagers were dressed as rabbits, two children ran by dressed as indians, a guy was dressed as a clown, a group of teenagers were dressed in really bright colors with unmatched clothes and their hair was colored all kinds of shades of pink, green, and red... And they were all dressed like this, heading into work, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do... Very odd!

2) I walked into the language school where I tutor, and the owners were dressed as a prisoner and a 60's go-go girl...

3) There were children running around everywhere yesterday morning, when they should have been in school... Many of them were dressed as princesses, clowns, Pippi Longstocking, knights, and pirates, and they were all over town. When I asked why they weren't in school, I was informed that they had been "freed by the hexen (witches)"... Apparently, a group of witches goes into the school and "kidnap" all of the teachers and then tie them up in a net in the middle of the school... The hexen then go into all of the classrooms and "release" the children and send them home for the day... As a teacher, I'm traumatized just thinking about all of the chaos that would cause! :) From what I gather, the hexen go into all of the schools in the area to do this... Some of the schools were released yesterday and some are going to be released today... Wow, is all I can say to that! :)

4) Many of the storefronts have signs on the windows saying that they will be closed on certain days throughout the week so that they can celebrate Fasching... Must be nice to just close your business so that you can go to parades and party. :)

5) From what I gather, yesterday was a special "women's day" where women are allowed do whatever they want and dress however they want. Also, if (on this special day) they saw a man wearing a tie, they could go up to him with scissors and cut it off... Interesting.

6) Yesterday, random bands were walking through the streets playing music for no particular reason, other than to make alot of noise...

7) I was kind of bullied by a bunch of German mothers into cancelling my English class next Tuesday... I was informed that a big parade was held on that day and that I should not have class. Me, not being familiar with the culture or with the festival (and also the fact that I'm a teacher and I just can't imagine cancelling a lesson for someone to go to a parade...), said that I would have class and if their kids came to it, then that would be great, but if they didn't, it would be perfectly fine as well... I was then informed that no one would be there and I should just cancel the lesson... After about 10 minutes of having them all try to explain why it's such a special day (the parade is a VERY big deal, I guess?), I finally gave in and cancelled class. (And, for the record, a group of German women arguing their cause, can be a little scary for an outsider! :))

My list could probably go on and on with all of the crazy stuff I've seen and heard this week... It feels sort of like a twisted version of Mardi Gras and Halloween on crack around here lately! :)

Now, can you understand why I'm feeling so completely puzzled? I mean, wouldn't you? :) So, wish me luck this weekend, and hopefully I'll get to the bottom of this whole Fasching festival! I'll keep you posted...

Have a great weekend! :)

More Fasching Festivities...

Hey all! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend! We had a great weekend... Between celebrating Fasching, having dinner with friends, planning our spring/summer getaways (more about that in a later post), and rock climbing, we managed to keep ourselves very busy! :)

On Saturday we headed over to Fischbach (a neighboring town) to participate in their Fasching festivities. It was such a fun time! The one thing I love about Fasching is that it is such a bright and colorful celebration! Literally, all of the costumes and decorations consist of bright red, blue, orange, green, yellow, and purple... Everything and everyone is just so festive! It really brightens up those dull, dreary, gray days of winter! Plus, being around so many Germans who are so happy and excited about the festival makes it quite easy to get caught up in all of the excitement too! :)

The parade on Saturday was quite fun. It still amazes me that they can get away with some of the things they do during the parade! I mean, they pick little kids up and run away with them, they take hats off of innocent bystanders and either throw them into the crowd or walk away with them, they come up to people and put handfuls of confetti/straw in your hair and rub it around OR they'll put it down the back of your shirt... It's craziness! The thing that caught my attention during this parade, was not the fact that the people were throwing candy, or bags of popcorn, or even tulips (yep, I had a tulip thrown at me! :)), but the fact that they were tossing out donuts (unwrapped donuts at that)! :) Yes, you read that correctly, they went to the bakery, purchased alot of donuts, and then threw them out to the people watching the parade! That would so not go over well in the U.S.! But, here, it seemed perfectly normal... Definitely a whole different culture! :) I have to admit though, that even with all of the crazy antics that take place during the parade, the parades are actually alot of fun! My favorite part is the fact that each group carries a sign that has their name and special chant on it... As they walk by, they shout the first word in the chant and the crowd has to say the second word... And, you don't want to be the unfortunate bystander that does not know what the second part of their chant is! The people in the parade will sometimes approach you and yell the first half of the chant and you have to reply with the second half. And, if you don't know it, you will most likely end up being pulled out to walk in a portion of the parade, or you will end up with confetti or straw in your hair or down your back! :) Needless to say, as soon as we saw a new group of people coming up in the parade, we quickly memorized the second part of their chant! :) At times, I would just randomly shout it out, in the hopes that they wouldn't come over to me! :)

Apparently, next weekend marks the end of this festival. I guess everyone goes all out on this weekend and it's supposed to be absolutely crazy around the area! :) There are two parades next Saturday, and we're planning on going to both... Friedrichshafen has one in the afternoon, and the city of Uberlingen has one in the evening. We've been invited to watch the parade in Friedrichshafen with a group of friends from our language school, and then we were invited to watch the parade in Uberlingen and partake in some of their festivities with a different group of friends... Brian and I are very much looking forward to it! :)

If you're interested in learning more about Fasching and it's history, click here for some additional information. Also, here's a few of the pictures we captured from this weekend's parade... Enjoy!

Friedrichshafen, because it's a larger city, has a few different Fasching groups, each of which has a different costume style... One of the groups dress up as chickens! :) I love it!

The funniest part of this costume is that when I first returned to Germany in January, I was driving down the road, and I had to stop at a crosswalk to let one of these "chickens" cross the road! :) I had no idea, at the time, why someone would be dressed up as a chicken and crossing the road and I remember being so mad because I didn't have a camera at the time... I mean, how perfect of a picture would that have been?? :) It would have helped to answer that age old question... Why did the chicken cross the road??... I know, I'm a dork! :)

Look at all of the detail in this mask... Pretty amazing!

The hexen (witches) would suddenly start sprinting down the parade route!

Here's an example of one of the group signs... At the bottom of the sign are the words "Sowieso - Allweilno"... As their group walked by, they would shout "Sowieso", and the crowd would respond with "Allweilno"...

I couldn't figure out if he looked kind or creepy! :)

These costumes reminded me of vampires in a way... Very creepy!

Here's where we got bombarded by confetti! This group was pushing this wagon full of confetti and as they walked by, they would grab huge handfuls of it and throw it into the air all over the bystanders... Lovely!

Here it comes...

I swear we spent the rest of the day picking confetti out of our hair and clothes... Ugh! I honestly think that they must save all of the paper from their paper punches throughout the year, just to get such an overabundance of confetti! :)

This hexen (witch) was having fun with Brian and his camera! :)

As did this hexen... :)

Here's the float where they were tossing donuts into the crowd... If you look closely, you can see the one guy getting ready to toss the donut to the child standing by us. :)

These hexen looked like they could be the streetcleaners, with their brooms and all... :)

After the parade... Notice the confetti on my collar? :) It was like fighting a losing battle... No matter how much I brushed off of myself, it would be replaced with new confetti within minutes... Grrr! :) We're still finding it around the apartment! :)

Katrina and Benjamin after the parade... The four of us were participating in the "After Parade Festivities"... :)