Are You Deutschland’s Next Superstar

The first few years of American Idol it was whacko how popular that show was. Even more whacko that there were so many good singers out there. I mean, the people who made it into the top ten of each season were pretty incredible. Heck, even the top twenty five! It produced a few good people like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Carrie Underwood. All the others kind of just flopped to my knowledge. But this show went viral and in many countries around the world started their own version.

There is the Arab Idol:

There is Norway Idol (pay close attention to her pronunciation of English words):

But here is one in their own language:

Thailand with a talented Transgender:

And of course….Deustchland’s Superstar. The only issue is, I think due to regulations on streaming video I can’t find much from the actual show. So, this will have to do. This girl is one of the 2 finalists at the end of the show which was SHOCKING! I’m not exactly sure how many tone deaf people actually reside in Germany, but clearly there are millions if they voted for her to the top. This was a song she sang at the finals and it sounded exactly like this so this is as close I can get it. If you can make it through the whole thing then high five!

My dog could do that better! But anyways…luckily, she didn’t win. Thank my bleeding ears because we all know the German radio is bad already, they don’t need to make it worse.

The winner however, is actually a real German girl singing REAL German music. And by German music I mean what they call “schlager.” This is like Barney on crack but usually the songs are primarily about love and happiness. Nothing really too sad or angry about them. These are also known as their “party songs.”

This girl stuck with her genre the entire show which I thought was true to Deustchland’s Idol. Why force a different language? This is not the show but this is her with her winning song “My heart is burning when I see you.” She’s singing against a recording since that’s just something they have no shame in here, most perform that way on tv. Take a listen:

Moral of the story: Stick to singing your own language! Except if you’re Norwegian, since they somehow have an exceptional ear for learning how to sing in English! I get the reason for singing in English is in hopes that your song makes it big in the world but there is something special about singing something in your own language.

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxo

I Survived Oktoberfest

I’m not totally sure how to put this into words. So, I’m glad I kept it together enough to take pictures for you all! If anyone ever gets the chance to come to Germany at the end of September I HIGHLY reccomend that you stop and check out Oktoberfest. I also reccomend that you wear steel gloves. My hand is so sore from where the handle of the glass rested. Also, you should watch the movie Beerfest 8 times in a row and drink every time they do. It’s a GREAT drinking game and good practice for what is unveiled at this Oktoberfest!

Note: It took approximately 10 minutes pushing, pulling, situating those suckers until they were in my neck…yes, you asked. They were the highlight of the night…I’m sure you’ll see these on someone’s facebook/flickr account at some point. 

I have never seen so many people in one place having that much fun. No drama, just fun, drinking, singing. Germany, one bonus point to you for throwing the best party I’ve ever been to! So, we ended up going to Stuttgart, whereas the original Oktoberfest is in Munich. However, Stuttgart is a little smaller (although, I can’t imagine how large Munich is because the “smaller” Stuttgart was very large) and a lot closer.

We arrived at 3:00pm and went to our reserved table. We were with a group of about 20 or so people so it was pretty crazy. We get off the train and walk into an amusement park practically. There are all sorts of rides and little shops, games, etc. The beer “tents” were more like houses. They must take forever to build up. Then once inside, I was completely shocked. The band was playing and there were THOUSANDS of people smashing their giant mugs together and singing, swaying back and forth arm in arm, standing on the tables. Absolute nut-house! Of course majority of people are wearing the traditional clothing of lederhosen for men and dirndl for women. It felt like Halloween and everyone wore the same thing. All different colors and variations swamped the place. INCREDIBLE!

Note: Check that mother out!! That was number 1….number 2 and 3 did not make an appearance for the camera. 

I had a total of 3 Mass the whole night…Let’s do the math, shall we? 1 Mass is 1 liter of beer…3 Liters = 101.4 Ounces. Let’s face it…I’m amazing and could have kept going! No worries, my kittens, I wasn’t the least bit drunk. I’m Irish….these Germans have NOTHING on me! 🙂 However, I drank slowly and danced like crazy. Plus it’s like 8 million degrees inside the tent so you sweat it out anyway! 🙂

Note: The Toblerone and I 🙂 

Woke up the next morning, felt fantastic, and decided to head back to the festival. We walked around and went on a ride – the scariest one I could find. Had another beer and watched the parade which was so sweet. All different groups rolled by in traditional clothing, some dating back many many years. Hats, dresses, suits, everything! They had animals and cars, and guess what they passed out instead of candy? Yup, glasses of beer and wine. Why helllloooooo there, Heaven! 🙂

Note: Sorry for the blur – all pics were taken with iPhone. This guy is carrying at least 5 Mass in each hand. This is insane to me and I have arthiritis just looking at. 

I think this is a big trend now in the states or something, I keep seeing mustache items everywhere but they had the beard and mustache groups walking down. Not sure what any of that has to do with Oktoberfest other than it’s completely entertaining when you’ve been drinking in the hot sun. The first automobile (125 years old) made an appearance also.

Anywho, I survived my first Oktoberfest with only beer spilled on my dress and can’t WAIT to go back next year….and I think we may go again in the next two weeks 🙂 I just really need to verify that it was really that fun. Second or Third time is always a charm right?  Who’s with me?!? And better yet, they have the same time of festival again in the Spring. You don’t need to ask…already bought my ticket! BAM!

Note: Traditionally the beer was brought to the beer tents by horse and carriage, nowadays it’s by truck but they still do the whole show bit of it all in the parade.

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxo

An American Prisoner in German Integration Hell

Instead of taking notes like I should be during my class I’ve been writing down bullet points of all the things that annoy me about all the people in my class. We’re a class of 15 women. ONLY women which isn’t so bad. I started last week thinking/hoping that at least there would be ONE person from either England, Ireland, or America. Anything familiar would have been wonderful. Of course not…this isn’t heaven. It’s purgatory.

I’m not racist, not at all, but I have absolutely NO patience or sympathy for the stupid! We have women from countries such as Turkey, Tunisia, Serbia, Kosovo, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Mazedonia, and Montenegro. (Note: The girls from Montenegro and from Russia are the only other smart ones in the class.) So on top of trying to figure out where some of these places are in the world and what kind of life they came from I have to juggle their names which are crazy.

For Example:

Nefise, Redife, Habibe, Dragana, Mevlude, Bouthoina, Zehra, Yildiz, Resavjc……. HUH!?!?!?! I’m sure my name isn’t any easier to them but I’m the only one who shortened my name to make it easier for those who have trouble. Not sure how you could have trouble with “Kait” but whatevs.

Our class is every week day for the next nine months – meaning I’m stuck in this hell until July. I spend 4 hours and 15 minutes with these people and I would rather spoon my eyes out. I don’t consider myself “Advanced” but at least I’m TRYING to learn something. These girls have every color pencil, pen, highlighter, eraser you can possibly imagine. Their notebooks look like Lisa Frank folders, however, they don’t have a clue what they wrote in it! Last time I checked people this is NOT an art course…it’s a LANGUAGE course! (Do you remember what Lisa Frank is? Let me remind you……)

Speaking of speaking…everyone mispronounces everything and it makes me want to punch a baby. I mean I’m not perfect either but at least if the word is in front of me, I try to read it correctly. If a word ends in the letter “l”, I’m not going to end the word with a “t.”

So besides the obvious reasons why I can’t stand these people here are the real reasons all these feelings sparked:

1. One younger girl, who is now pregnant, brought in her wedding album. She’s from Tunisia and I was interested to see all about her culture and how they do it. It’s totally different from what I’m used to and not something I would prefer but this is her culture. The rest of the class looks at it and a few of the girls told her she was really fat in her pictures. Um….do you have NO manners?!?!?

2. Then these same girls turned to another one and asked her if she was pregnant. Lets keep in mind she has a great figure, doesn’t look overweight, out of shape..nothing. NOTHING that would make you think she’s pregnant. RUDE. These people are complete scum.

3. The girls all sitting around me literally grab my workbook from me to copy my work. How are you going to learn anything, you morons, if you keep copying my work?!  And how about asking for my help first? And if you seriously don’t understand then I will show you! Seriously….going to punch babies.

So even though I’m stuck with these idiotic people I learned something. The Turkish women specifically all want to learn but they don’t have the confidence. Every single one of them said their hobby was cleaning and having children. That’s not a hobby. That has nothing to do with your personal interests. I felt sad for them. I also realized that maybe in some cultures people don’t have filters (ahem..scum sitting around me)…and some people don’t have support or confidence from those at home. I don’t know if this is true or not (minus the fact about filters) but I do know that people deserve a chance. So, I’ve decided to try a little bit harder every day to be a little bit more patient.

However, I absolutely have NO patience for the completely brainless ones that walk in front of the bathroom line. UM…we are obviously all waiting here! And I’m assuming it’s because of people like this that they were forced to put this sign above the toilet in the bathroom. This concerns me on so many levels. I wasn’t aware that not only are people here to learn how to speak German but also how to use a toilet properly. Does this worry any of you about the type of place I’m in?! HELP!

I have two teachers and one happens to look like my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Witter. Which is scary and comforting at the same time. The second teacher is actually quite funny but she can get upset when someone repeatedly doesn’t know the answer…which happens often. I don’t have it in me to teach this kind of class. There is no way. I’ll stick to my idea of teaching children English or in business where people actually act professional and like adults.

Anywho…I’ll keep trucking on…even though I have to pay 2500 Euro for this class. Crazy right? However…if I was married it would only be 900 Euro. Like that makes a lot of sense! Germany…you’re not impressing me lately!

No stress this week…I’m preparing for my Oktoberfest debut in my Dirndl! If I can remember….I will take pictures to show you guys! And…of course if I’m still alive the next day!

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo