This last little while in Freiburg ('bout a month) there's been a celebration called Fastnacht. I don't exactly know the origins of this thing; but I'd say it originated around the 1600s. What it involves is parades, alcohol, and costumes. "Costumes?" You ask. Yes, costumes. "What kind of costumes?" Settle down, I'll tell you.
All sorts! You walk through Freiburg and mostly you'll see people in colorful scaled costumes with those things that make clicking noises when you twirl them. They have masks and colorful maces, and everything. They just walk around like that with none of the self-consciousness that you see sometimes in North America with Hallowe'en. Sure, Hallowe'en is a day you dress up in costumes; but unless you're at a party, there's still some awkwardness about walking around with a costume. That's why we do it at night.
However here, it's as natural as anything, and no one bats an eye. Anyways, like I was saying, colorful scaled costumes reminiscent of court jesters or fools. You'll also see many people with tricorne hats who look like they're straight out of the American Revolution, as well as (get ready for this one) Indians. Not the kind that answer Dell customer service, but American Indians. I saw a parade of them. It was fairly questionable. Needless to say that that shit wont fly in North America.
However, here it's okay and people have a good time with it. They even darken their faces a little.
All in all, I think it's cool. I had a good time just walking around during it. Today was Rosa Montag, which may be the biggest part of the festival. Again, I'm not sure as to the specifics of this tradition. The more I learn about these people called Germans the more I like 'em! It'll definitely be bittersweet going home in September.
In other news: The Polizei!
In North America the Police are pretty serious motherfuckers. They hit you with sticks, tase you to death, and shoot you. Now, I'm sure there's some shooting, and hitting going on here with these green-clad coppers (that's right... Green. They also have a very military-style dress going on as opposed to the nice suit and tie thing our coppers have), what I'm about to describe is more of an attitude thing as opposed to a duty thing.
That last paragraph may have made me look like a cop-hater. I'm not, by any means. I just hate people who abuse power. I realize, fully, that not all police officers (or even a majority of them) do abuse power. It's just that they wield alot of power, and so when one or a few
do abuse their power, it's a pretty big deal. It's not like a Tim Horton's employee stealing a penny from everyone's change, or spitting on donuts (pretty gross, though).
Regardless, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, German polizei! The cops here are much more laid back than the cops in North America. For one, I see the police here smile. And not just to their own cop buddies, but to actual civilians. They also have funky hair. I've seen more than one cop with a haircut that wouldn't be allowed in North America at all, such as a bleached fauxhawk. I also see them smoking while on duty. Smoking is a pretty big part of German culture (as evidenced by the smoking ban of 2006 that isn't followed anywhere except on trains), but to have cops smoke in this day and age? It's like seeing a postman with a hip flask.
Speaking of which I bought a hip flask for 9.95€.
Alright, that's enough out of me here. It's good to finally update this thing. Mayhaps I'll do it more often. For now, I'm gonna finish my beer and head on back home to work on this essay due on Sunday.
Tschüß.
P.S. That picture does not want to be formatted properly, for some dumb reason. All apologies.
