Zhang Danhong thought she was prepared for your Germany adventure. Not in the least. From the carnival, she learned in China, anything. Since her German friend to a carnival muffle, the fool’s Feast, out of the blue.
After 30 years, the author has become a Kölsch’ girl
The Saint Severin lived in the fifth century, and was the third Bishop of Cologne. Today he perched in the South of Cologne, and watches over the Church named after him, as well as a former monastery, which was converted to a women’s home and the beginning of 1989, Spanish and Italian Guest workers, plus a Chinese student hosted. With the spirited Carmen and I shared a room there. She was 50 and worked in a tailor shop for professional clothing. Every evening she taught me a few Spanish words.
Since the beginning of February, something Unusual was in the air. Increasingly I saw people dressed on the street: Clowns, beggars, knights or witches. And the Funny thing: no one was bothered by the fact. Until I was eyeing, one day, be suspicious because I was the only one who ran in normal clothes through the area. At ten o’clock in the evening, I was just ready for bed, as stormed three gackernde women in all three thanks to a disguise and make-up hardly recognize the place. Carmen held me tightly: “no. You can’t go now to bed. Today is women’s carnival. Today, it is celebrated.”
Bützen allowed
The three scattered to me Golden glitter to hair, and painted with the lipstick heart on my face. In front of a pub in the old town they gave me a quick course on the customs of the women of the night almost. The most Important thing at the end: “If men kiss You on the cheek, You can’t be evil.” Well, this small sacrifice can I bring”, I thought.
Not Gebützt to each other, but also in the camera
As soon as we entered, I was of the Geruchsmix from nicotine, alcohol and sweat, almost fainted. We four women were immediately seized by two men: “Come to our table. We move closer together.” One of the two looked at me as if I was an alien: “You can on my lap to take a seat.” I overheard the offer, and squeezed myself between Carmen and another man. He called the waiter and ordered, without consultation with us, two of Kölsch.
They all seemed to know the according to playing the songs well and sang the choruses with fervor. As a Song came with a bit of moderate rhythm to the series, hooked and moving the torso as arranged to the left and to the right. My seat neighbor was not enough apparently. He dragged me to the dance floor and tried to was it a slow dance (in Chinese cheeks dance, tie mian wu, 贴面舞) with me. It was a tug-of-war: he gave me two inches closer, I struggled to free myself a centimeter. In order to be his heavy breathing from all sorts of alcohol and Ausdunst not delivered, I stopped breathing. After one and a half minutes felt the lack of oxygen got me into the head. I threw Carmen a pleading look and she took pity on the carnival novice. On that evening, I extended sway my German vocabulary to the word “the”.
Longing for Sex – but with other
On Saturday evening, strolled Christian and I, both dressed unprocessed, through the old town. Through the open door of a restaurant we saw a Couple at the counter seats, just passionate saliva being exchanged. “I bet the two end up in a hotel bed and that she did not knew each other before this evening,” said Christian with a wink. Then the headline, which I wore on the same day on a Cologne-based tabloid are true: “90 percent of Cologne’s want to Sex with Strangers”. Partner swapping, using alcohol to eliminate the Shame – is the carnival?
Christian felt obliged to show me the rose Monday parade. We got a strategically good place – at the beginning of the turn, if the people in the cars are still Packed fresh and full; on the right side of the train, since most of the right-handed and the sweets tend in this direction; and in the vicinity of a pub, we order a Kölsch and whose toilet we can use free of charge. The place had just one catch: He was not quite in the front. The great German undercover to me, not only the look, they also started all the sweets and bunch of flowers in front of me. All of this would not have been so bad if this feeling of the would not have had belonging to me.
The imaginative rose Monday to leave your car in front of the TV in the living room, much better to admire
Disaster on Tuesday
This feeling culminated on fat Tuesday during a tram ride. I was just glad to have the Worst of this first carnival survived, as heard in the track a chaotic drumming, or its volume, the threshold of pain exceeded my ears. Then I committed the cardinal sin: With both hands I held the ears. One of the seven or eight inspired men of a carnival club knocked with his rattles in my head: “Hey buddy, are we too loud for You?” It hurt – both physically and emotionally.
All the frustration was about the last days of melting, breaking his train. Tears welled up in my eyes and fins on the cheeks. When the young man realized that he had kept the Person in a denim jacket and with her short hair in front of him mistaken for a boy, he mumbled a quiet “sorry”. In the path of the dead, it was silent. Hastily, I got off at the next stop and went on foot under the protection of St. Severin. My first carnival culture shock was pure, and it ended in Disaster.
After I had recovered, I drew Parallels between the Chinese spring festival and the Rhenish carnival. “Day-long drunken Orgy” would also be an apt description of the Chinese new year celebrations – only without the erotic component. The Kölsche songs reminded me of the eight model pieces of the Beijing Opera during the cultural revolution. The manageable Repertoire makes it in both cases, the General sing-along. So I bought titles me a CD with Carnival and practiced for the next season. And I swore to myself never again to cover her ears, even if my drum should burst fur. So much willingness to make sacrifices for the Integration have to be.