When you learn German in England (or at least when you learn it at my school) one of the first things you learn is 'Ich will in die Disko gehen'. This is my eighth visit to Germany and..
I finally got to go to the Disko!!
Tanbay didn't want to go and he had a cold. So it was up to his sister to take me. I like Sam a lot, she is definitely my German sister (Schwester). She's also too popular for her own good. Last weekend we went with her and her friends to the Nordsee, but today we went with a completely different group of friends to the Disko!
I was getting ready when Tanbay's other sister (Shira Lee) came into the room. She took one look at me, shook her head and proceeded to pick out a new outfit, jewellery, hairstyle and make up colour for me. I complied just to humour her. Of course when she was done I looked 12 times better than before.. She's nine. A nine year old has better style than me:
Now anyone who knows me, knows that I don't really like clubbing. I'm more a 'stay at home and cuddle up to Tanbay and whatever dog we're looking after' kind of young lady (granny). So I don't have much 'clubbing in England' experience to compare it to, but even I know that there were a few things that were definitely different:
Everyone smokes inside the clubs
Okay, this was really weird for me. Smoking has been banned inside public buildings in England since 2007, so I only have vague memories of it in pubs. It was weird seeing it being done inside the club, and when I asked about it they said that it wasn't allowed but everyone does it. Once I was back home and sober I looked it up. Apparently in Germany clubs and discos have to by law have a separate smoking room, but as the enforcers don't work past 10pm, it's not observed!
Whilst I'm on the subject, smoking doesn't seem to have the same 'taboo' in Germany as it does in England. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always found in England that smokers are generally looked down on, and seen as 'fair game' as they are 'knowingly giving themselves cancer and being a burden on the NHS'. In Germany most people seem to smoke and those that don't, don't hate the smokers.
There were waiters and they had OCD
Again, dunno how common this is in England, but in Germany there were waiters everywhere. When we got in at 23.30 there were more waiters than customers. As soon as you set your drink down, they ran at you and grabbed it, even if you weren't finished! They also didn't say 'bitte' when we said 'danke'. How rude.
When they weren't trying to steal your drinks, they were busy trying to shove coasters down your throat. There were coasters everywhere!
Yes that pile of coasters is bigger than my drink.
You can get in even if you're under 18
Okay from my experience, I know how strict bouncers are in England about you being over 18. It can all be summed up with one example: my friend went clubbing at 23.00 on a Thursday, and she wasn't going to be 18 until the Friday. She didn't get in.. The bouncer wouldn't let her in 1 hour before she was 18. I wonder if she's reading this and feels famous now, probably not. HI CHLOË
Anyway, in Germany you can get into the club if you are under 18 and someone who is 18 or above signs a piece of paper saying that they are responsible for you. Even though you just met them right in front of the bouncer and you'll never see them again.
As much as I love rules and regulations, I think this lapse is a good one. Again going back to Chloë, we were in the same year at school but born nearly a year apart, it's sad that she had to wait a year to go clubbing with me. Actually I still don't think we ever have been.. My point is, I think once one person in the year turns 18, everyone should get to go clubbing. That solves the problem of 'where do you draw the line' and the problem of friends missing out/ having to borrow other peoples IDs, because let's face it in England and Germany, no one checks ID photos properly.
Everyone spoke German
Okay that's pretty obvious, but it's worth noting. When I'm in Germany I'm always with Tanbay, so when I don't know a word in German (which is about 30% of the time), Tanbay's always there to point and laugh at me, then take pity on me and translate. As he wasn't there, Tanbay couldn't help. Sam was really great at repeating things slower when I looked lost, and her friends were good too. But even so I swear my German excelled by like a million times that evening. The next day I was going to say things in English and they were coming out in German. Or I was doing the Frau Dores (teacher from school) thing of saying sentences half in German and half in English. Or (probably the worst of all) I was speaking English but in the German order 'I really like cheese, because it yummy is'.
Anyway, the two words that stuck out for me were:
Streichholzschachtel
Sam's (and now my) friend Sina made me say this, it's impossible to say, three days later and I still can't say it, it's too hard. If English is your native tongue/ the language you're communicating and a German tries to make you say Streichholzschachtel DON'T
Maracuja
Vodka mit Maracuja was the choice of drink for the evening. Maracuja is passionfruit juice. Lecker. The drinks were only 50 cents! I dunno if that's the same in England on a Friday night? You can comment and tell me, go on.
I'll soften that serious, deep thought with some pictures of the disko. I apologise that they are not fantastic quality, I was using my iPhone and it doesn't do very well in the dark (it gets scared).
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ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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