Life: Idiotropic

Carnival parties are the biggest of the entire year and even at the kindergarten, they like to celebrate big. Frau Gisbertz told me that adults wore costumes too, so I knew about that and my friend, Holly, had gone last year and told me that the mothers did shots, so nothing today really shocked me. It is good to be prepared.

Elise was a princess - not a big shock - wearing her "fancy" dress like she does 2-3 times a week at home for play. I put a little color on her lips and cheeks to make her fancier, but she didn't like it much. The other children were completely decked out in full costumes - some with their faces covered in makeup and some with painted hair as well. The most popular costumes this year among the boys were cowboys and Indians. Even one mother wore an Native American costume.

I wore my pink hair and dress that I'd worn the week before. About 80% of the parents were dressed up at least a little. Many were witches and then the "homeroom moms" all had green viney costumes. I'm still not sure what they were supposed to be.

The tables were set up in the common area with a potluck of sweets and snacks brought by all the parents. Sodas and juices sat at one end near the cups and near a 6+ gallon pot of what they called "bowle," a type of white wine sangria. That's where the majority of the mom's gathered with their cups drinking - not shots this year, but cup after cup of their fruity wine.

The tuernhalle was set up as the stage area, so throughout the 2 hour party, we were ushered in and out of this crowded room again and again (6 times) as one group would perform, then the other groups would get ready while we ate and talked, then again we'd go in while they performed... over and over. All three classes did something. The Katzengruppe went first - that's Elise' class, but Elise clung to me and wouldn't join them. Since they've studied Hansel and Gretel, they had their cardboard house there and a bunch of paper trees. All the children were dressed up in costumes - a Hansel, a Gretel, a bunch of dancing trees, and a small group of red mushrooms with big white spots - a traditional symbol of luck here. The song was sung and they acted out the story. The Froschgruppe and Schmetterlingsgruppe both danced for their turns - with some small hat, but nothing as elaborate as Elise' class. The parents did a puppet show and the Gillrath Carnival committee did an appearance bringing two young dance troupes and presenting awards. One group of girls wore witches costumes and danced with brooms. The other wore a more uniform-like costume and also danced. It was all really interesting.

The head teacher of the school is a large lady and quite a character. She's scary, really. Not horribly, but she is that stereotypical serious German lady who you just don't want to mess with. She doesn't smile much either. Today - wow. She LOVES the microphone. She had the speakers turned up REALLY loud and she had the microphone so close to her mouth, the sound was quite fuzzy. And she was yelling. Gillrath -- ALAAF! Carnival -- ALAAF! Kindergarten -- ALAAF!! Even the kids were plugging their ears. She had a safari hat and a large animal print batik print shift on and held a cup of that bowle in her hand much of the time. Even the other parents were shaking their heads at her - she certainly was comical today and not her normal serious self.

All in all, it was ok. There was no shortage of entertainment, food, or drink. The people were nice. The kids had fun. Candy and popcorn were thrown liberally between each group of dancers, so the kids all went home with pocket and bagfuls of treats. Most parents brought bags - I had no idea. Elise was ok, but the entire experience was LOUD and overwhelming. She did uncling and play with friends some, but she still isn't completely comfortable there and this was a pretty crazy party.

Definitely not anything we'd experience in the states. Alcohol at a school event??? And, this is a church sponsored preschool with ages 3-5. They go to the church for children's services occasionally. They pray before meals. And, the mothers drink at the class parties. In their defense, they were all having a good time and there was absolutely no sign of drunkenness of obnoxious behavior. It is just a part of the culture and this time of year especially. They look at alcohol in a very different way than we do as Americans.