May 1st was a big holiday here in Germany. Thankfully we met our neighbors before the big festival so that we could get all the details and register that we wanted to participate. Ben described May 1st as American Labour Day. The tradition where we are living here in northern Germany is that you walk into the forest, cut down a tree, carry it back to your street, decorate it with paper streamers, and then put the tree up and grill bratwurst and drink beer after it is standing. Our street has around 12 families that got together to participate in the afternoon event. As you can see in the pictures it was not a small sapling that they chopped down, but instead a good 15 footer.
As of today, May 15th, the tree is still standing along with all of the neighboring street's trees, however I think at the end of May it comes down. The afternoon and evening of celebration was really a great opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors and learn a bit more about each of them. I was honestly surprised how friendly and inviting all of them were towards the lone American. The main reason I believe they accept me is because I can speak German and they can understand me. If my skills were not at the level they are it would make living in Germany ten thousand times worse. The first month would have been miserable instead of wonderful.
The unique twist on May Day is that you are suppose to stand under your tree all night to protect it. Instead we were in a garage down the street as it was cool outside. The town youth make it a sport of stealing neighboring streets trees and hiding them just for fun. During the evening I think our tree went down 3-4 times, but every time the men went out and put it back up. A really great evening!
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