When in Germany- don't wear a dirndl for Halloween

We learn from experience, right?  Haha I'm making this sound so terrible- don't worry, wearing a dirndl on Halloween in Germany is really not the end of the world, just not recommended.  In the States, if I wore my dirndl, it would be a perfectly acceptable Halloween costume.  Well, in Germany- everyone still holds on to the idea that you're supposed to dress scarily for Halloween.  Some of the other ETAs and I arrived at a German house party in Osnabrück, and I felt a little out of place in my purple checkered dirndl amidst myriad Germans dressed all in black with zombie faces and fake blood and whatnot. 

Tom and Jon at least had a zombie theme going on- I just look weird

Regardless though, the house party was a good time, and the couple hours at the club in the wee hours of the morning proved a good time as well- despite being completely and utterly exhausted from whatever we were doing in Düsseldorf for three days.

Speaking of Düsseldorf- I was there!  Münster is in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North-Rhein-Westphalia, in English) which encompasses literally, the region of the North-Rhine and Westphalia in Germany.  (Anyone remember the Treaty of Westphalia?  Bingo.)  Anyways, Germany, like the United States, has a federal system, so this is one of the 16 federal states of the country.  It is the most populous state in Germany, largely due to the densely populated industrial Ruhr region located right between the northern Rhine cities of Düsseldorf and Köln and the Westphalian region where Münsterland is.  There's your geography lesson of the day.

All the FSAs (Fremdsprachenassistenten...including English, Spanish, French, and Italian) of our area met in Düsseldorf for three days this past week for what was called a "Studienkompaktkurs"....or something.  I don't even remember what it was called at this point.  There were probably around 100 of us- and since we all came from different countries, everything we did was conducted in German....duh.  The first day we went on a tour of the Landestag, which is the German equivalent of a state government house.  We learned about the building itself, and how the architecture is conducive to democracy and equality, and learned about what the governing body is in charge of- the big component being education.  Ohhhhh, so that's why we're here!  Because we are literally working for them! Lol.

Inside the Landestag

The Landestag building- note the circular architecture

 
We also went to Essen to take a tour of the Ruhr Museum.  I don't live in the Ruhrgebiet, so I didn't particularly care too much about it- but it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so I guess that's cool.  The region is so incredibly industrial that it is investing a heck of a lot of time and energy to prove to the world that is has culture and art as well.  To its credit though, the Dortmund team of the Bundesliga has been number one for the past two years I think?  Or something impressive like that...

The Ruhrgebiet- you can see Münster way at the top!

We then went to an art museum but could only see on exhibit which was rather disappointing.  Tuesday night we went out and experienced some of the Düsseldorf nightlife.  Wednesday consisted of a Stadtrundfahrt (city tour) which actually was pretty interesting, because I had traveled to Düsseldorf for the day back when I was abroad but we didn't know anything about that city or where anything was, so this time around, I actually learned something!

Then we had to sit through a two plus hour Marionettentheater play- the German version of "The Never Ending Story."  The theater was impressive, no doubt, but everyone's attention span was so far gone and we were all ready to get home, especially it being Halloween and all, that I'd say 70% of the FSAs fell asleep during the show.

Trained back to Münster and proceeded to prepare for Halloween!  It is at this point that I'm realizing that I'm not writing quite chronologically...oh wells.

Yesterday evening I joined my 11th grade class and their teacher at an Irish pub for some drinks.  Yep.  Pretty weird.  I guess the class gets together about once a month or so to do some kind of activity, whether it be a show or travel or in this case, drinks!  So, my night consisted of sitting in a bar with about twenty sixteen year-olds drinking beer.  They thought it was hilarious that I couldn't get over how weird this was.  But in Germany, the drinking age for beer and wine is 16, and for liquor is 18- although even some clubs will require you to be 21 to get in.

Despite all the weirdness though, it was a good time!  As much as I love Irish pubs, I don't think there was really a possibility for a bad time- but it was nice to socialize with my students in a casual setting, and I was able to speak some German with them and actually get to know them as teenagers, rather than just in a classroom setting.  I was absolutely exhausted all day- still recovering from Düsseldorf and Halloween, so I called it a night just after 11, and I was actually being peer-pressured by 16 year-olds to stay out.  I don't think I've ever felt so old in my life!  I am a bit sick though today, and haven't left the flat nor changed out of my pj's- so I guess it was good I didn't stay out too late.  I think part of it has to do with the drastic weather changes we've been having- this week has been dreary and rainy and cold, and the clocks turned back last weekend, so it's now dark around 5:30 (To all my beloveds back home though- you're next!)  Luckily I've got the rest of the weekend to recover, and then it's back to normal school on Monday and then no more breaks or weird FSA get together things until the Christmas holidays!

I'll end with a beautiful sunset on the Aasee :)