...Elephant...Party??

So upon much request (ahem brother...), I have finally gotten around to this lovely post about my recent visit to my friend Mary in Germany.

The journey started with me waking up at 6 am, dead tired after an awesome night with some of my friends, and heading home only to climb into a car for about 6 hours. Super fun... luckily for me, sleeping in the car has never been an issue for me, so I was able to catch up on some z's on the way. My host family dropped me off at Mary's host house in Bremerhaven, Germany, which is close to Bremer, Germany. Now Mary had told me that the first night I was there, we would be going to an "elephant party". Me being the proper exchange student, went into the situation with a completely open mind and didn't ask any questions, I was willing to roll with whatever social gathering I was thrown into. 

So after meeting some of the other nearby exchange students (which is always a fun experience), and making some real mexican tacos (delicious!), we headed out to catch a train to this mysterious party. Once we reached Bremer, we had a short walk and I started to notice a fairly large group blocking the sidewalk ahead of us. As we got closer, I heard the crazy mix of languages and intense latin music that seems to accompany exchange students where ever they go. That was when I saw the giant elephant statue with white writing all over it. This was the elephant part of the party. Mary later explained to me that the writing on the elephant is from past exchange students, both rotary and other organizations. She also told me, that the elephant was a perfect spot for a chill get together, where people can talk, dance, and listen to music without having to spend any money, which is always a touchy subject for exchange students. 

That night was one of the best nights of 2014 so far, I met so many people, a lot of whom knew some exchange student that was in Denmark. I was asked numerous times if I was a newbie, but even though I wasn't I was still treated with the same excitement as an actual newbie. For some reason, being surrounded by a bunch of people who have been through the same things that you have, including stumbling through a language, trying to make friends with the natives, and leaving your home for the unknown, is strangely comforting. Being there with the most outgoing and interesting people made me forget about the cold and being tired. Instead I was surrounded by my own little culture of exchange students, a group of people that will accept whoever you are and go with whatever you throw at them and make it some hilarious and amazing experience. 

So I thought that this elephant party was going to be some weird german thing that was somehow fun at the same time, but instead it was the most wonderful heartwarming night that I could have the opportunity to be apart of. One of these days I'll write some super heart-felt post about what it's like to be an exchange student, but for right now, I'll leave you'll with a picture of the statue that was host to this awesome night. 

Vi ses!