Too much fun

Damn it. I had it all planned out. I was going to give you a bunch of pictures and let them speak for themselves about what I did this weekend and how much fun it was. I had already thought out in my head what kind of shots I was going to take and I had a blog post pre-written in my head. But then, well, then I completely forgot about the camera in my bag and that I should have taken it out to document my weekend. Talk about having too much fun!

So this is just the boring written out version and I have to rely on your imagination to come up with some fun and colorful pictures in your head while you’re reading along.

My friend S and I went to a BBQ organized by my German Group last Saturday. The organizer was so kind to make the pool area (with a deck and BBQ grills) of her apartment complex available for our group and it just turned out to be so much fun. There were about 20 people, at least half of them all Germans!, I didn’t even know there were that many Germans in our group.
It was a potluck BBQ, everybody brought something to eat or drink. I contributed a German Macaroni Salad, vegetable skewers and a few slices of pork belly (that I still had in the freezer – and which, not surprisingly, were pretty popular, especially with the other Germans! You would hear things like “Oh, Bauchfleisch! Das ist ja wie in Deutschland!” (Oh, pork belly! This is like being in Germany for a German BBQ!) or “Das habe ich ja schon ewig nicht mehr gegessen!” (I haven’t eaten this in forever!)). Instead of sausages, we also had the obligatory American burgers on the grill and overall it was a nice German-American mix of food and conversation.

The most interesting discussions unfolded why we were gathering around a table, the obvious topic being “differences about the US and Germany”. Of course, we all had good and bad things to say about each country and it was a very interesting exchange.
First question from me: Who in the world would “tie down” chairs and tables in a gated apartment complex in Germany? NOBODY! But apparently, that’s what needs to be done in the US, because alas, otherwise somebody is going to steal the furniture. (Owing to my comment, somebody jokingly suspected that they tied the furniture down, because I was just that kind of person who would walk off with it at the end of the day! ;) Yeah, right!)

Other favorites included “Why do you think Americans are so obsessed with putting out at least ONE ‘World War II movie every year?” (Any thoughts on this?), “What are the differences between German and American elementary schools?” (as 9-year old Marvyn explained to us, “In Germany, you’re allowed to run on the concrete playground, in the US you’re not” (think:  “law suit potential”?!) and “Should little girls be allowed to run around topless?”.
It was very entertaining, to say the least :)

Later in the afternoon, we went for a quick jump in the pool and oh, what a treat! I really miss living in an apartment complex with a pool (not that I would really use it on a regular basis, but the option of being able to cool yourself off at the end of a hot day is just compelling.)

So, just the fact that I was able to ramble on and on about the BBQ on Saturday is a pretty good sign that it was a real blast and that I am bummed that I have no pictures whatsoever to prove it.