A friend of ours has a company that builds homes and he recently acquired a large house that he's planning to tear down and build apartments instead. Until this time, however, it's a perfectly good empty house with electicity. Just right for a party.
This friend of ours always has some house like this available but somehow we never actually get around to having a party. Enter Frank. You may recall Frank as the plastic surgeon who got us into the Hacker-Pschorr tent at Oktoberfest last year - more about that here. Frank's a nice guy whose wife left him and it was his idea to have a Fasching party.
A little side note: Why anyone would leave Frank is a complete mystery to me. Not only is he really nice, but he now works in one of the few specialized areas of German medicine that isn't totally screwed by the new cap on fees that the bankrupt public insurance has finagled into law. So, for example, a cardiologist will only get EUR 72 per quarter for each publicly insured patient, not matter how many times they visit the doctor or what treatment they require. This means that if you're publicly insured in Germany these days, best not to have a heart attack because the cardiologists can't afford to see you any more. But Frank isn't impacted by this because even German insurance doesn't pay for boob jobs.
Some quality costumes made the scene last night. A girl I've never seen before showed up in a light house costume that totally rocked. Another friend came as a she-devil and since she's almmost as tall as Ralf and beautiful to boot she cut quite a figure. And another friend came as a dryad, with plastic leaves entwined all the way through her hair and wrapped around her cosume.
Charlotte recently wrote about Germany's Top Husband but I think the dryad's husband is a viable contender - all night he fondly referred to his wife as 'du Umkraut' (which means 'you weed') and as we all know, nothing says, 'I love you,' like calling someone a weed.
Ralf tried to go as Elvis but ended up looking more like a gay biker - the earrings didn't help. I put on a sparkly silver dress and was told I sort of looked like the blond girl from Abba if she had been a librarian instead of
a world-famous pop star.
a world-famous pop star.
And with that, my friends, Fasching season is officially set to rest until next year.
Actually, I think you looked like a Fasch-ionista.
ReplyDeleteSo, I told my German coworker that you said that Germans love to dress up, but I didn't quite get the concept, and I told her dressing up fancy, not in costumes. I will have to discuss this with her. But, she grew up in a small town, so maybe this isn't as prevalent? Or is it everywhere?
ReplyDeleteFashing & Germans is a study in contrast! The rest of the year they are so proper, and then they "let their hair down" and break loose at Fasching. It's hard for the rest of the world to understand that these are the same people!!!
ReplyDeleteAs a kid living in the Philippines, I remember meeting a German Roman Catholic missionary priest who LOVED Fasching so much that he got everybody in his little island village to celebrate it -- it was a sight to behold!
I think the Germans do have higher dress standards than Americans but what I was referring to (and how I interpreted Charlotte's interview question) was dressing up in costumes. I think Fasching is known everywhere but I don't know to what extent it is celebrated in small towns.
ReplyDeleteDoes everyone wear udders or is it a special man thing?
ReplyDeleteThere is seriously nothing more sweet than being called "weed" in the morning....
ReplyDeleteBTW--I'm so glad I don't live in Germany. I hate dressing up! How do you survive all the costume parties???
A couple of years ago I visited Germany and loved how the Germans celebrated with these great costume parties. While I was there (about 3 months) I collected several costume wigs that I brought home with me to the states. Ever since, I've been planning to have a flasching party here. What a good time!
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