Happy Mettenschicht!

Well, unfortunately, it was not really feasible for me to make the trip back to America for Christmas, but luckily this allowed me to celebrate a new and wonderful holiday. Mettenschicht is a tradition particular to this region of Germany- Die Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains. When this was still a mining area, the last shift in the mines before Christmas was celebrated with a big party, something like an office Christmas party, only more hardcore. As you can imagine, those miners knew how to get down. So today the last Friday before Christmas is Mettenschicht and everyone rages...traditionally. Katy and I were invited to a party at someone's house, and were picked up with our friend Nico, who I know from the tennis team.
Upon arriving, I was impressed by the wide variety of people in attendance. There were middle aged alcoholics who looked, as Katy put it, like cartoon depictions of alcoholics. There were hardcore punx with leather jackets and crazy hair, and there were some normal people. There was some accordion playing and singing-along going on, but the younger party-goers seemed just as ready to mock this outdated tomfoolery as we were. In the garage, people stood around chain smoking and crushing beers, so we set up shop there. As usual, we were a huge source of interest for these small-town folk, and we were questioned vigorously about all sorts of topics from Rage Against the Machine to feminine hair waxing issues. The young people we hang out with at these avents are very friendly and enormously entertaining. One young man boasted that his English was very good, which it was. Marcel, another fellow tennis player, conceded but added that "his penis is very small."
After a couple hours, I found some heady bros who were going to spark a "doobie." Foolishly we joined them, and this sent our level of intoxication through the roof. Nico pointed out that I might be stoned, and suggested that we leave, which we did. After vomitting for a while at home, we passed out, and spent a very hung over Saturday reliving the wonderful memories of Mettenschicht. I propose that we begin celebrating this in America, as I think the spirit accurately captures how we feel after work ends before Christmas.
Tomorrow Katy and I fly to England, where we will spend a week with her Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins there for Christmas. We will be in Brighton and Hastings, south of London on the English channel. It should be lovely. On the 30th we fly back to Germany to celebrate New Years in Berlin. An associate and fellow German scholar of mine, Colin Adams, will be joining us on the 31st to ring in the New Year in typical German fashion--tight pants, trance, and hair gel. It should be a rousing time. I'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Festivus. (By the way, I taught my 8th grade class that Festivus is a real holiday that people celebrate in America). And I will write again in the New Year, or perhaps before if I get nostalgic and want to do a "2008 in Retrospect" entry. We'll see.

Tchuu tchuu (choo choo, like a train, or slang for goodbye in Germany).