Having a drink with friends and colleagues in Cologne is very similar to London; it's just a common thing to do. It's funny how when something isn't taboo how it sort of regulates itself. For example, drinking in the states isn't allowed until you are 21, can only be done indoors, and involves complex planning with transportation (rightfully so). If you go to the bar, you'll often see young adults drinking in excess and acting belligerent.
Cologne is not completely free of individuals that like to go above and beyond when it comes to consuming their drink of choice, but I would argue that the percentage is drastically lower. Here, I believe the drinking age is 18. There may be an age limit for when you can start drinking beer, and when you can start drinking alcohol, but I am unsure of that. I never get carded anywhere, I can buy alcohol at the grocery store, and I can walk down the street drinking a beer.
The interesting thing about many of the kiosks (small convenience stores) is that they have a bottle opener hanging from the door knob of the entrance. This is so you can crack your beer on the way out of the store. Unbelievable, yet pretty cool at the same time. It is not uncommon to see two people standing on the street corner at 5 o'clock drinking a beer and talking. It's like a mobile happy hour.
I'm not saying the states should be like this (I'm afraid that would have a negative impact), but I'm pointing out how interesting it is that cultural norms can completely change the way we look at something, like consuming alcohol. One thing to analyze though is that the structure of American cities is vastly different then the structure of European cities. European cities are generally constructed around a city center, with many people living in apartment style housing (flats). There is an extensive construct of public transportation, trains and busses, that is very cheap. Also, if you need to take a taxi, you are not traveling very far, so they tend to be pretty affordable.
In the states, we love space, so our lives generally do not function around a city center, but specialty stores spread throughout suburbs. There is no convenient mode of public transport, so we depend on cars to get us from point A to point B. Therefore, if you plan a social night out on the town, it is logical to more closely regulate drinking to prevent the negative aspects of the activity. So there, you have just been introduced to the Nick Curtis theory of social behavior of consuming alcohol in Europe as compared to the United States. I'm sure there are many scholars that could poke holes in my analysis, but that is my perception of it at least.
Like most of Europe, Cologne has its fair share of smokers. It's the one part of the social life here I can't stand. You go into a bar, and you walk out feeling (and smelling) like death. An interesting note for all you Minnesotans, Cologne will officially ban smoking indoors in July. This is similar to what many other large European cities are doing, and it is the wave of the future. I'm just sad that they will finally change it when I have to leave.
It's very common here to stay out until 5-6 in the morning. I have yet to attempt such a feat, but many of my classmates partake. I had another interesting conversation with one of my Swedish classmates about this phenomenon. I believe his statement went something like this:
"In Sweden, it is not uncommon for us to stay out until 5-6 o'clock as well. We don't go out though until 11-12 at night. Germans go out at 9 o'clock at night and still stay out until 5-6 in the morning. I don't get it, I don't know how long I am going to last!"
I'm content with enjoying a night on the town and heading home at typical MN closing time to get my beauty sleep and actually have a Saturday afternoon to enjoy. As long as I have enough time to have good conversation, and make friends, I'm fine with that.
To change gears slightly, the last couple of days have proven that the sun DOES shine on Cologne for more then 10 minutes at a time, and that a jacket is not always required to function here. I was excited to find out that Colonians love to BBQ, which I assumed was a strictly American thing to do. My American friend Stasha and I already told his roommate that we would chip in and purchase a small grill for her so that we can enjoy the outdoors a little more.
Next to the university, there is a large grassy knoll (no JFK jokes please) that leads to a beautiful pond. I've been told that when the weather is nice, the entire thing is packed with students grilling and enjoying their favorite refreshment. I can't WAIT to experience that, and I have already started to see groups of students here and there gather on it. Very fun.
To close the social portion of my blog, our first week in Cologne was dubbed welcome week for all international students. There is a group at the university comprised of German students who have studied abroad during their time at Uni Koln. The idea is that they can sympathize with our experience and help us assimilate a little easier. To help the group get to know each other, each of the first nights revolved around us drinking the local beer Kolsch at some establishment.
The highlight of the week was the Saturday pub crawl. The entire group was separated into groups of roughly six people (my team pictured). Each member of the group had to be from a different country, which was a great idea. I believe I got to know more people that night, then any other night here in Cologne.At first, I was nervous that we would have to partake in numerous drinking games, but it was the complete opposite. Each "station" had a different goofy game we had to participate in. The first station involved two volunteers blindfolding themselves, slipping a garbage bag over their body (with holes cut out for the head and arms) and trying to feed pudding to each other. I volunteered for my group, and ended up with pudding all over my face.
In the second station, the group was given various scenarios, all of which didn't match, and were asked to create a mini play. Think of "Who's Line is it Anyway?". I'd like to say our artistic performance was top-notch. I have always secretly dreamed of performing on stage, but to a story that actually made sense.
For the third station, we had to walk to a bar about four blocks away. The catch was, on our way we had to stop people on the street and ask them for the words to various Colonian songs. In Cologne, they have a song for about every kind of activity you can think of. During nights when there are soccer games, you can't get on a tram without hearing at least three different songs sung by almost every person on the train. And this is public transportation! Very cool. Anyways, we had to get at least one verse to four different Colonian songs, and sing them to a group of girls at the bar. Now imagine trying to do this and not knowing the language (ME!). It wasn't quite Maverick singing "You've Lost that Lovin Feelin", but I thought I had a good show. The third station also involved us holding a clothes pin in our mouth and using it to pass around a playing card. Each successful pass was a point for our team.
The fourth station involved us playing a little game called suck and blow. To cut to the chase, and keep this blog conservative, that is a game where you take a playing card, and pass it to the partner standing next to you only using your mouth. The person passing the card obviously has to blow on it to pass it, and the one receiving the card has to suck to receive it (I hope this explanation goes over well with my mother and boss). I quickly situated myself between the Chinese girl and Japanese girl. Nothing like watching two girls from extremely conservative cultures participate in this game. I was dying laughing. The main goal was to earn points for each successful pass.
The last station was a night of dancing and conversation at a club called Das Ding. For those of you that don't sprechen Deutsch, Das Ding is German for.........the Ding. Overall, it was a very playful and fun night. All the crazy and awkward games brought us closer together. Ironically, it is probably the most important thing we have done so far on the trip.
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