The big garden party and DIE TOTEN HOSEN

As far as I know, you know everything up until Friday night! Saturday was the big garden party that we've been planning the entire time I've been here! 

Everything was set up so well and everyone seemed to come on time. We had a local high school band come play outside and then another local man play jazzy piano for the inside. It was all so nice! Everything started at around 3pm. The weather was a little iffy, but we lucked out and it turned out to be a perfect day. I would have more pictures but I was working the cocktail bar and making sure all of the house guests and their families were okay. However, we did have someone taking photos for the event, so there are pictures somewhere! 

We made something like 250 cocktails in an hour and a half. It was crazy! The bratwursts were almost gone and the keg was empty. All of the families had a great time and so did the staff. We all had a little break and could eat or drink when we didn't have anything to do. I was with my Uncle filling beers and such while bonding with the chef. The chef is a quiet guy, but he is so genuine and really cares about the people he works with. He's one of those people that doesn't have to say much, but when you look at his face, you see his sincerity. 

All in all, the garden party was a success and all of our hard planning was worth it. I've never seen so many families visiting their relatives at the same time. Smiles were everywhere and it was just an amazing place to be! 

Sunday started out like every normal Sunday. I slept in because I knew that the next night, I wouldn't get much sleep, ate my breakfast, showered, and then we decided what we were going to do with our day! While my Uncle picked up Sarah, my Tante Lisa taught me how to make semmel knodel. It's basically little round balls of stuffing that you boil in water. It was considered a poor mans meal because you make it with old bread. Heres the recipe:

• 4 small loaves of bread or a baguette
• 3 eggs
• Salt and Pepper
• Parsley
• 1/2 onion
• 1/3 stick of butter
• 3 tblsp of flour
• 100mL milk

You start by putting the bread in a bowl. Whisk the eggs and then pour them into the bowl of bread. Then put the diced onion in a pan with the butter. Cook it until the onions look a little glazed. Then turn the stove off and pour the milk in the pan. Then pour the buttery onion concoction into the bread and eggs. Add as much as parsley as you'd like. Spoon in about 3 tblsp of flour. Add a little salt and pepper. Then dig your hands in to the mess and mash it up. Eventually you'll get a sticky mixture. Grab a little bowl of water and dip your hands into it before making the small balls. Once the water is boiling but the balls inside and then turn the stove off. Once the knodel rise to the top, you know they're done! If you have leftovers, you can cut them and eat it on bread, or fry them as little cubes. They are phenomenal!

After our wonderful lunch, we got ready and drove to Die Toten Hosen, Ballast Der Republik, open-air tour. Well it's safe to say that the Germans love their punk rock. There was a Hanfbackerei which is a weed bakery. There was a giant cocktail stand, multiple beer stands, and of course water. The food was like what you would get in the city, doner, pommes, bread, fried things, and alcohol. The paper said there were about 25,000 people there and here's the stage! This show was literally in a giant open field and you drove through a farm just to get to the stage. It smelled like fresh cow poop. My fav!

So this is me and Sarah with our first round of cocktails. The pictures get progressively worst, but I'll show you some more of the stage lit up and I'll post a video or two of the show :) If I'm violating any copyrights, my apologies! Right as they were about to do the encore, Sarah and I saw that a lot of people were leaving so I thought hey, maybe we can get up to the next section. So I went to the security guard, batted my eyelashes a little bit and asked, "Excuse me sir, I'm sorry but I'm American. Is it possible that we can go up to the front? I know you need bracelets, but you can help us out right?" He pulled over some random guy and says, "No, you need one of these to get in." It was a bright orange wristband and I sweetly said back to him, "They look really nice but everyone's leaving and two people really aren't going to make a difference. Pretty please?" He looked around quickly and then made a quick hand motion. We got in!!!! It was awesome and the concert was sweet.

This was our first view!

This was our second view!

 

I guess you could say we were a lot closer!

They had something like 8 encores. Nobody complained! We walked out and bought some water and then waited for the crowds to go so the traffic wouldn't be as bad. Sarah and Daniel dropped me off at the house. If you know, then you know that I can sleep practically anywhere. So of course, I slept the entire car ride home. It was about 1 when we got back. I was still a little under the influence and kept waking up. Which was so annoying, but hey I slept until 11 today! 

Today was also pretty cool. We went shopping and I bought a lot of tea for my mom and I. I also bought some really yummy New Orleans Salsa and Bruschetta mix. Then of course, some more funky pants. We also watched Ziemlich Beste Freunde again. Hands down, one of my favorite movies of all time.

It's been a great time here and I'm so sad that I'm headed home in 8 days. It's so funny because when I tell people that, they have one of two reactions. The first is, "That's so sad, but I'm sure everyone back home misses you." The second is my favorite which is more like, "You should find a man here and settle down, so then you don't have to leave." I never now how to react but it's hilarious that so many people have said the same thing to me. But hey, I'm not one to settle down really, so getting married anytime soon just to stay in a country is completely out of the question! My aunt also knows that I don't want to leave so everytime I say that I like some type of food or music, she says, "We have great music, great food, great men, and of course family. You should stay." It's not really helping at all!

AH I DON'T WANT IT TO BE MY LAST WEEK :(