In the final weeks of Fasching, Taryn's German kindergarten gave the kids the option to have their faces painted. Taryn chose to participate on a couple of occasions. This is what she looked like when I picked her up from school.
On Weiberfastnacht, which is the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, women in many of the towns will storm the Rathaus (city hall) and "take over" the town. They will also cut the tie off of any man seen to be wearing one. So, it was on this day that Taryn's kindergarten held their big Fasching party. All the kids came to school dressed in a costume of their choice (much like Halloween) and all the kids walked down and "stormed" the local Rathaus. Once there, the director of the kindergarten cut the tie off the mayor. The kids then sang songs and ate traditional German Fasching treats.
Taryn's class on the way to "storm" the Rathaus.
The kids take over the Rathaus (Taryn in purple jacket in front).
As the final weekend of Fasching approached, the festive atmosphere in our small town became more apparent. At 9:30 on Friday morning, I went into a small clothing/household goods store near our house. There were only two customers in the store... me and a woman dressed as an Indian, complete with war paint, shopping for household items. Later that night, Greg went to a local Gasthaus (family owned restaurant/pub) to watch a German soccer game. When he walked in, he felt all activity stop with all eyes on him. He scanned the room to see every one else dressed in costume as they watched the game, drank or played pool. Seeming to be the only one not wearing a costume, he immediately felt even more out of place than normal. As the weekend went on, it was quite common to see adults and children alike dressed in any kind of costume all over town no matter what time of the day or night.
Over the weekend, the real fun began. You could throw a rock in almost any direction and be sure to hit a Faschingsumzug (Fasching parade) or celebration. Silke and her family invited us to go with them to a Faschingsumzug in a town near our house. They informed us that EVERYONE dresses up to watch the parade. Sensing that I was not overly enthusiastic about dressing up, Silke brought me an old costume of hers. I was to be Krankenschwester (aka nurse). Along with the costume, she also brought over some freshly baked Berliners from our local Bäckerei (bakery). She said that this is what all the Germans indulge in during Fasching. We were more than happy to indulge ourselves! As it turns out, Berliners are basically powdered jelly doughnuts with raspberry filling and are very delicious.
Berliners aka jelly doughnuts
On Sunday, we all got dressed up and went with Silke and her family to the Faschingsumzug in the neighboring village. On the way to the parade, we saw people everywhere who were dressed in various types of costume. It genuinely felt like Halloween. When we lined up on the street to wait for the parade to begin, the atmosphere was electric. Of course, that might have had something to do with the alcohol consumption by most but nevertheless, excitement was in the air. I have to admit that I am usually not a parade person (especially in February with temperatures just above freezing). In my opinion, they tend to all be the same and can be boring. But as soon as this one started, I knew I was sure not to be bored.
Greg, Stefan, Silke, Leena and myself all wait for the parade to begin.
Leena, Taryn, Sarah, and Tom patiently wait.
These witches opened the parade. The girls were not thrilled with this and both hid behind the adults. This witch approached us and seemed harmless enough until....
.... he took his hand out of his pocket and bombed us with two fist-fulls of confetti!
Four days later and I am still finding small, white confetti circles in my house.
In order to fully appreciate the parade, children are to bring bags which they can fill with candy and adults are to bring an empty cup which they can have filled (and re-filled) by parade participants with Sekt (aka champagne) or beer. If you weren't fortunate enough to have someone fill your cup, then some floats came equipped with a "kegerator" attached to the side and you could just walk up and pour your own drink!
Ah, is that a float??? Maybe now would be a good time to have my empty cup filled!
More witches riding brooms on the front float followed by some Indiana Jones drinking clowns.
There were many bands in the parade and each one was dressed more livlier than the one before. I think these are marching elves?
All during the parade, the participants would wave their hand in the air and yell what sounded like "hallo!", which simply means "hello" in German. Silke told us that we needed to respond "hallo!" and wave back at them. So, all day long we yelled "hallo!" and waved to everyone. But something just didn't seem right. Well, talking with Silke and Stefan after the parade, we discovered that we were yelling the wrong thing. The people in the parade were actually saying "helau!" which, it turns out, doesn't mean anything. It is just a word the locals made up to yell at each other during Fashing parades. Oh well, this isn't the first and certainly won't be the last thing we screw up. Hallo or Helau, what's the difference??? They sound the same to me!
These stumbling Pippi Longstockings yell "helau!!!!"..... NOT "hallo"!
A Christmas tree band?
I promise you that the rabbit on the top of his hat was once alive not too long ago. Eeewwww!
A care bear "float".
Fresh, huge, brezels (pretzels) for sale before the parade.
Here comes trouble! Fortunately, we were spared the confetti bomb this time around!
Chewbacca!
On this float, there was a live band belting out "Johnny Be Good"!
It was not unusual to see a parade participant pushing a baby stroller in the parade.
These blue "birds" seeming harmless until...
....they painted mine and Greg's nose with blue paint!
A digger float!
This was clearly the cool party float!
A bunch of jammin' Fred Flinstones.
Wilma in an interesting position.
Family shot post parade! The girls were really bothered by the blue paint on mine and Greg's noses. Taryn said "I liked the first parade better because that blue paint on your nose is gross".
Now that we got our first taste of Fasching, we can't wait for next year!! Helau!!!
