The Interesting Party

So, I believe a proper update is in order rather then a bunch of photos.

Well too bad, you’re not going to get one. But here is a story about a party in Berlin we went to…

Basically Anke and Hermann knew a lady who’s boyfriend was turning 40 and having a big party. Neither of them knew the boyfriend, nor anyone who would be at the party but nevertheless, when the invitation was received they couldn’t refuse and so it was agreed upon that we go. Having no idea what kinda party it was we typed the address we were given into the GPS system and off we went.

Winding through the streets of Berlin, we ventured deep into the “not so good” zone. In Germany, that means the area that the police don’t have any control over and don’t bother to patrol. Really, the police themselves are scared to walk these streets but fearlessly we drove on, with all windows up tight and all doors locked. With one hand on the shotgun and one hand on the baton, I did my best not too look scared. (Its not so bad, I think every town has a place like this, for example in Whangarei we have O.T. :-P)

So we find the place and are fortunate enough to find a park right outside of the venue. The venue being a skungy little pub filled with massive bikers and clouds of smoke. That’s one thing that really sucks about Germany, (or one thing that rocks about NZ) smoking is allowed inside restaurants and stuff so if you go out anywhere, you come back reaking of smoke, its not that cool. But back to the bikers…they really were massive! All in their big black jackets and knarly beards. Each had his (or her) fair share of tattoos and one guy had this big face on the back of his head…it was kinda creepy. Every time another bikie arrived they would all jump up and yell and hug and shake hands and cry out for another beer. Would have been ok if the venue was a bit bigger but it really was quite tiny and so if you weren’t seated at the time of the greeting, there was about a 93% chance you would be bowled over.

For the party, they hired a band to play covers and stuff like that. It was a very interesting band; they didn’t seem to have much stamina. Between songs they would all take a quick gulp of beer and then after 2 or 3 songs (depending on the beer supply) they would take a break and stock up. And their song choices were very, well, random. One second they’d be playing slipknot and the next they’d be trying their hand at the Calling or Savage Garden. And after that, well they’d stop playing because they’d run outta booze.

Hermann Anke and I all agree that we were thoroughly bored that night. So why didn’t we just leave you ask yourselves? Well now that is another story in itself. This place wanted to make it easier for its customers to buy and consume drinks from where they sat, so they wouldn’t have to keep going to the bar and paying. So they had a 10 euro card which you paid 10 euro for (duh) and got like 12 stamps on the card. Everytime you ordered something, the waitress would just stamp 2 or 3 places. It was very convenient except for the fact we went through our first one relatively easily so Hermann bought another. That was when the band began. Anke and I found our thirst’s fully quenched and really didn’t want anymore drinks. But we had to use the card up!! So I relented and had an orange juice, Anke a water (water cost the same as beer, it was crazy) and Hermann another beer. But we still had half a dozen stamps left. Anke and I tried to egg Hermann on but he was quite content sipping away at his beer. Then it started getting cold and we decided we’d had enough. So we gave the card to the lady A+H knew and headed back to the car, hoping it was still there.


The next installment will be a detailed recount of my first few days of school, the teachers and the students.

Chao

~Becks~