A Hamburg Willkom

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  Hamburg, Germany
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Yesterday I was slow to get out of the house and had to do some grocery shopping, so I didn't hit the town until late afternoon. Out and about, I found that the people of Hamburg seem very outgoing and friendly. As I embarked on my self guided city tour, I was looking at my map deciding in which direction I wanted start and a lady stopped and asked if she could help and spent the next five minutes showing me the best route and walking me part of the way there, then complimented me on the uncharacteristic understandability of my American accent. I followed the ladies directions to the new museum in town and there met up with a boy who was at first scared off by the fact I spoke english, then came running back and asked me in broken english if I wanted to watch him climb the slanted walls of the museum patio. I watched him and applauded and then he escorted me to the museum doors, where we parted ways. Can I just say that these things have NEVER happened in Seattle!

Not that Americans aren't friendly, sure their friendly!...at work; the superficial, forced, I'm-always-having-a-great-day-and-would-LOOOVE-to-help-you-n o-matter
-how-much-I-resent-it sort of friendly. Big city American's tend to be suspicious of strangers; their first thought when approached by one is along the lines of 'how is this person going to try to take advantage of me?' Seattle people, because if the chilly climate I have always thought, usually keep their eyes down and their noses in their own business, to the detriment of strangers in need. Though, during the summer, Seattleites tend to be much friendlier and have been known to randomly chat up a stranger, the usual topic being 'What beautiful weather we're having.' This is a topic Seattleites never tire of in the 3 months it is apropos.

Anyway, I spent the rest of the day touring some of the city center, taking lots of pictures, browsing mp3 players and shoes, and, in the end, buying some cheep dance clothing (a black dress with tiny red flowers for 5€, a pink silky silky shirt for 5€ and a red dress for 3€ a steal if you ask me.)

When it got dark and I got hungry I returned home and fixed dinner while Fabian worked on email, then we took the tube to juggling club. Fabian let me borrow his clubs so I spent much of my time working on juggling 1 then 2 then, finally, 3 clubs. I wouldn't say that I can officially juggle 3 clubs now, but give me another hour and I'll show you some three club juggling! Compared with the previous evening's dancing, it was difficult participating in a social activity that I wasn't very good at, a humbling experience to be sure. But everyone there was very nice and a number of members helped show me proper technique and engaged me in friendly conversation, so it didn't take long before I felt one of the group. By the end of the evening, my Lindy Hopping hosts and I could no longer resist the tempting combination of jazz music a decent wood floor so we collapsed into dancing, while the rest of the club either melted into a cuddle puddle on a mat in the corner or refreshed themselves in the bar with an ale.

We took the last tube home at midnight or half past and treated ourselves to a midnight snack of crackers and cheese and Vienetta. Then Fabian and I spent some time trading blues music and watching lindy clips. If you are interested here some great sites for Lindy clips both old and new

Poy.no
-seems to be an endless library of old and new dance clips it has the three series of "The Original Jitterbug" that I played for you and much more. To browse through all of the clip titles search for public. To find "The Original Jitterbug 1, 2 & 3" and other old clips search under vintage.

Grenobleswing.com
- Lots of contemporary lindy competition, class material and jam sessions there.

Lindylibrary.com
- My contribution to the list an American version of what grenobleswing has to offer.
Check them out!

Then we all headed to bed I snuggled up with Aldous Huxley, read "A Brave New World," until I fell asleep.

Today doesn't look bad, there is a foreboading grey sky that slightly threatens rain, but for some reason I feel sure that there will be no rain, so I think it will be a good day to see Hamburg. We'll see if I'm right.

Tonight I will meet Fabian at a predetermined bus stop and we will go to another birthday party but this time of a Lindy Hopper. (wow I just realized that my typing has adapted to the switch of the Z and the Y now. It will be SO confusing to return to the US.)

I think, perhaps, I will leave tomorrow for Berlin so I can spend the weekend there with my quantum physicist, Isreali Lindy Hoppin' buddy Nadav.

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