Getting Cozy with the Locals

Happy Halloween!

I hope that tonight's festivities are warm and full of joy!

A Local Cheers of My Own

This week was a blast as I got cozy with some locals and have somehow fooled them into accepting me as one of their own.

It all started out when I discovered that the local döner place that's just down the street has a bar attached to it.  They serve cheap beer and it feels like my own personal Cheers.  Whenever I walk in, it's always the same people night after night in the same seats drinking the same drinks.  This is the beer that I've taken a likening to the most: Karlsberg Pilsner (apparently I'm terrible at taking pictures of beer)

After a few nights of being there, I introduced myself to the owner Sascha and his son Mathew.  We chatted for awhile and then I started chatting with some other locals who have been going to that same bar for ~20 years.  They are the true heroes of this week's blog and they are Frank and Melanie.

They both work for the local post office and have been friends for several years.  They like coming to Sascha's and putting a few beers down after work while playing cards, dice or the slot machines in the bar.  They are HILARIOUS and are like two peas in a pod.

After introducing myself, I continually bothered them to teach me simple things in German such as how to count to 20 or the days of the week. It might have seemed a little up front but in return, they get to laugh hysterically at my TERRIBLE pronunciation.

I would like to consider myself a bit of a linguist but it's always tough when there is a sound in a language that I have never physically made before.  I particularly have a hard time with the 'ü' sound which feels like I need to push with my diaphragm when I say it.  I also have trouble with the 'r' sound which is very guttural and almost comes from the throat.  Either way, I always try my best and I ask them to open their mouths when they make the sounds so I can see the physiological way they position their tongue and it's bizarre but always a good time!

When I first met Frank and Melanie, they invited me to hang out with them on the upcoming Sunday to watch a local soccer match.  Our town of Steinwenden was to be represented and it's a big local event since it's a small town.  In return, I invited them out to my gig at the Red Lion the Saturday night before and they were excited to come see me play.  Frank requested I play Hotel California by the Eagles and Melanie requested Time of Your Life by Green Day and I told them I would be happy to play those songs.

Third Gig at the Red Lion

Saturday night came and I was rockn' and rollin' at the Red Lion by the time they showed up.  They grabbed some beers and sat down to listen and when I played Hotel California, Frank was singing along at the top of his lungs and it was SO much fun.  In fact, I'm laughing as I'm writing this as I picture him singing along.

As a musician, I don't care what size of an audience I play to as long as they're engaged.  I would much rather play to 1 person who is singing along than 100 people who are just staring or on their phones.  It's always so much more engaging when I play for audiences that sing along and it really makes me fall in love with being a musician again every single time it happens.

As the night came to a close, I packed up my gear, met some of my cousin Mandy's friends who had showed up to watch me play and then headed back home.  I knew the next day was going to be a good one and I needed my rest!

Local Soccer Match

When Sunday came, I met up with Frank and Melanie at Sascha's for a pre-game beer and then we walked about 10 minutes to get to the local soccer field.  The league is essentially club level for young adults and it's nowhere near the level of the higher leagues in Germany, but a local soccer match is a great time to come together for the town.  There were about 200 locals that showed up and I got to meet several of them.

Having experiences like these always make me feel the most proud when I travel. It's not an experience that can be bought or picked out of the "Top 10 Things to Do in Germany." It's a local experience with local people and that means the world to me.

We had a couple more pils while we were there and I tried a frikadelle which is kind of like a mix between a hamburger and a meatball.  It's meat (in this case beef) that's seasoned and mixed with onions and other assorted good stuff and then pressed into a patty and cooked.  It was delicious and I'll be having another one when I get the chance!

We stood at the end of the field at the opponent's goal so we could watch the scoring action up close and personal.  We saw a great goal near the end of the first half and at half time we headed for the bleachers.

In the second half, the opposing team scored a goal to tie it up but then Steinwenden pulled ahead with only 15 minutes to go and held on to their lead for the victory.  Everyone was excited that we won and we walked to the local sports bar for another quick beer before returning to Sascha's so that Frank and Melanie could teach me a fun dice game called, "16 or Dead"...

16 or Dead

It turns out that you don't really have to die so that's a relief! The point of the game is to take turns rolling a die one person at a time and add up the numbers as you go.  If someone gets to a point where they can roll a 16 or higher, they have a chance to either risk it or restart at 0.

You see, everyone has five, 10c pieces in front of them and if you want to, you can pitch in a dime and restart the count at 0.  If you decide to chance it and then roll over 16, you lose all of your money and you're out of the game until someone has won all the money.  It's a really fun game and since the stakes are low, it's fun to gamble sometimes.  It also helped me with my numbers in German as we were doing all of the counting in German.  Much to Frank's delight, I still couldn't pronounce many of the numbers right which gave him endless chuckles.

As the night came to a close, I bid them all a farewell and was greeted with many well wishes for the evening in return.  It feels good to be part of a community and I'm very happy to have found a little piece of home here in Steinwenden.

Next Week's Blog

I'm currently traveling to Norway to hang out with another cousin of mine so the antics will of course continue!  I hope you have a fantastic week and a wonderful Halloween!

Until then,

Tony G

It's Going Down in Mainz!

Hello hello! How are you doing today?

This week was a delight as I got to see one of my uncles who was visiting a nearby city for work and I also got to experience a local carnival.  The cherry on top was that we got a couple days of fantastic weather so I got a nice dose of vitamin D which I desperately needed.

Second Gig at the Red Lion Pub

On Saturday night I had my second gig at the Red Lion Pub.  It was a good show and I had some friends come out which was really cool.  I'm definitely happy that I've been working on my social circle here in town.

At one point in the night, one table sent someone over to drop off some money in my tip jar.  He had both of his hands full of coins and dumped it into my tip jar.  In America, this probably wouldn't be considered as a good thing but in Europe, many of their coins are worth €1 or €2 so I estimated that they probably dropped about €20 in my tip jar which was a lot!  

After the show, the owner of the bar told me she would count it up because they always need coins for the till.  After she counted it all up, it turns out it was more than €50!  It was a fantastic night and I'm looking forward to my next gig there in a couple weeks as well.

Hanging Out with Uncle Paul

I couldn't go too crazy on Saturday night because I had to get up early and catch a train to a city called Mainz which is near Frankfurt.  My uncle Paul was getting into town for a work trip so I was excited to a see a new city with someone who knows the city very well.

We met up at his hotel which has a killer view of the Rhine River and then we took a stroll along the river itself.  We went out for a quick bite of lunch and a beer and got to hang out with the locals outside since it was so sunny.

It was a perfect day for a nice beer so we ordered a round and sat back enjoying the view of this really nice city.  There were people out and about walking, riding bikes and even riding a small train to make the best of the weather.

After lunch we took a nice long stroll along the boardwalk watching boats and enjoying the amazing weather.  It was a much needed change since it's been about 55 degrees and raining every single day.  It was probably the last good weather we're going to see before winter sets in so I was soaking up every second of it.

We decided to post up at the hotel and have a couple more pints and I can't stress enough how lovely of a day it was! I had a great time catching up with uncle Paul and we had a really nice chat about other places in the world to go see so I'll have to add them to my list.

We ended the day by going to a steak house and eating some delicious Argentinian-style steak with some decent red wine finished off with a delicious bread pudding.  After dinner I left to catch a train back to Steinwenden.  It was a great train ride as I got to enjoy a nice wine buzz and listen to an interesting pod cast.  

As I got off the train, I heard music and shouting so I walked up the road. I saw a tent with some people and a bunch of beer in it and it turns out it was a local festival.  Everything was winding down as it was the tail end of the night but I saw signs saying that it would continue on the next day. I headed home with a plan to check it out the following day.

Local Beer Fest

The next day I got a bunch of work done and then took a stroll over to the festival to see what was going on.  There were carnival rides and some food stands but I have to stress that it was the tiniest carnival I've ever seen.  I bought a bratwurst from one of the food stands and it was delicious.  Here's a photo of the whole thing:

I walked over to the beer tent (not pictured above) and got in line for a beer.  I saw the beer prices and it was cool because there were only two types of beer:  Pilsner or Weizen.  I did what I saw others doing and ordered a Masse of pilsner.  A masse is the big mug that you picture whenever you hear the word "Oktoberfest."  They handed me a mug and I found an empty table to sit and enjoy.

Here is a blurry picture of my beer (I swear it was my first drink! I just didn't want to be THAT guy taking a picture of my beer....)

About halfway through my beer, I realized I had been holding it wrong when I drank from it.  I was holding it like this:

But I saw many, many other people holding it like this:

So I switched up my grip and put down the rest of the beer.  I headed back for a Weizen beer (a smaller one this time), went back to my seat and enjoyed some nice German music that was being played.  The crowd absolutely loved it and was really getting into it!  I didn't recognize the songs but the energy was high and people were all smiles.

I took off after the second beer and went home for the evening but in hindsight, I should have stayed the whole time and soaked it all in.

However, I took a look at the event calendar of the surrounding towns over the next couple weekends and it looks like we're going to have some fun events coming up, mostly revolving around food and beer.  It's a rough life!!  

Otherwise...

Otherwise, I've just been putting in some hard work for the business and have been enjoying some time with my cousin.  I also bought some tickets to go to Norway to visit another cousin so I'm really looking forward to that at the end of October!

I thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

Tony G

It's a Small World After All!

Hello ladies and gents!

Thanks for tuning into this week's blog.  Today we're going to jump into the exciting world of being in a small German town by taking a look at how small the world really is. 

We'll take a look at:

• An on-the-spot performance to get booked
• Knowing everyone in town
• Running into someone from Denver who runs in the same circles
• A new perspective

Shall we? Let's!

Booking a New Gig in an Irish Pub

Lately one of my new friends in town has been showing me around and they know EVERYONE. They know the owner of every bar and constantly runs into people they know.  It has been one of the most amazing things having someone introduce me to the townsfolk.  Because of this, it's been a delight to meet so many people and so many bar owners.  It has that small-town feel which I enjoy and boy does news travel fast!

When I met the owners of an Irish pub called the Blarney Stone (whiskey selection pictured above), they had heard about my performance over at the Red Lion and they were interested in booking me.  

As we were talking about my abilities and the music I play, karaoke night started and people were hopping up on stage to belt it out.  The bar owners asked me if I would sing a song so they could get an idea of what I sound like.  "Well, this may sound silly" I said "but I feel naked on stage without a guitar in my hands." (stage with karaoke singers pictured below)

Own of the owners promptly went to the back and came out with a guitar and told me to get on up there.  I tuned the guitar, hopped up on stage and ripped "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters.  Everyone in the bar was singing along at the choruses and I finished to a roaring applause.

Needless to say, they hired me on the spot!  I'm greatly looking forward to my performance there in November and will keep you all updated on how it goes.

Familiar Faces

Because of the small town feel, it's really easy to see familiar faces of people that you've run into before.  I happened to run into some folks that had attended my last performance at the Red Lion so I went up to them and chatted with them awhile.  This turned into a lovely afternoon (read: late night) of hanging out and drinking a couple pints.  It's nice to know people in a town where you're new and I can already see that it's an everyone-knows-everyone sort of deal.

For those of you that know me well, I'm quite the gregarious spirit so I love to meet and hang out with new people.  This town is wonderful because I'm already forming a bit of a social circle which is usually one of the hardest parts about being in a new town.  It helps when you're feeling home sick to hang out with people you enjoy and they can also impart their knowledge of the local scene to you.  It's been a great experience.

Speaking of people I know...

This Shouldn't Surprise You...

The world is tiny.  I'm 5,000 miles away from Denver and it turns out that one of the more prominent locals here is a Denverite.  He and I met through various new local friends and we friended each other on Facebook.  We took a look at our mutual friends and it was INSANE at not just how many friends we had in common, but which close friends we had in common.

We had a couple video chats with said friends and they answered the call from either he or I and just stood there in disbelief when the other one of us popped into the frame.  Most of them said, "What the F*ck?!" and we just laughed and laughed.  It's been a fun time over here no doubt!!

I'm really looking forward to spending more time with these new friends in the future and most likely meeting a lot more.

Last but not least, I want to talk about a huge self-improvement activity I've been undertaking.

Waking Up

At the suggestion of some great friends, I've been meditating almost every day and listening to various lessons on consciousness.  It's been a really fascinating path that arouses new questions about life at every turn.  I've meditated 28 times in the last 28 days and it's really been such an improvement to my overall outlook on life, daily mood and how I deal with emotions in the moment.  

I personally have been using Sam Harris' Waking Up app which I thoroughly enjoy, but there are plenty of free guided meditations out there to help you focus on what needs the most attention in your life.  I strongly recommend having discussions with others who are also meditating because it really helps bring out new perspectives in life.  We can ALL use more perspective.

I will leave you with this lovely photo from the train station and I sincerely hope you have a wonderful day!

Tony G

My First Gig!

Playing My First Gig In (this part of) Germany

Hello hello!

First off, I have played a gig in Germany before.  It happened over 4 years ago in Berlin with some friends I was staying with.  We basically were at a bar and asked the bartenders if there was ever any live music. They said there was but not tonight. My friends asked them if I could play and they said... "SURE!" 

I grabbed my guitar jumped up on a table and just started playing.  It was my first gig in Germany, but this week I had the pleasure of playing a formal gig at a lovely pub called the Red Lion in Landstuhl.

How Does One Get a Gig in Germany?

I basically just sent out a bunch of emails to pubs/bars that I saw were close to where I'm staying and the lovely owners at the Red Lion responded almost immediately.  I am so grateful to them for booking me and so I made sure to bring my "A game" this past Saturday.

I got there a bit early to setup and make sure the sound system was working.  Everything was good to go and I had this perfect space to rock out:

It reminded me of just about any bar gig I've played in Denver so I felt like I was at home.

Fast forward another hour of anxiously waiting, the crowd started rolling in and I got my groove on.  I started out by testing the waters to see what would go over well and what I should stay away from.  Turns out, they loved everything! The crowd was mostly Americans and they offered up requests, most of which I could play! 

I am always myself, but I'm never more myself than when I have my guitar in front of me and there's a crowd to entertain.  It was a beautiful experience and I made new friends and contacts to reach out to for more gigs in town.  One very nice woman reached out to me after and offered to connect me to a couple bar owners and musicians she knows in town which was very flattering.

Although I'm hoping to get gigs around town where I can, I was very delighted that the owners of the Red Lion immediately booked me for two more dates in October.  There's nothing in this world like good people so I always try to latch on to good ones when I find them. These are good people.

After the gig I stayed and chatted with some of the patrons and was on cloud 9! 

As the night wore down, I was exhausted and ready to get home so I hopped in a cab and away I went into the night.  When I got home, I was greeted by the ominous, yet ever-present sight of the moon peeking through clouds and it's really cool.

I am quite infatuated with this part of Germany that I am currently residing in and the change in scenery is quite enlightening to be honest.

What's the weather been like?

Every now and then we get some AMAZING sunshine that rivals Colorado's own:

However, as of late, the weather has mostly been like this:

It hasn't been cold which is nice and the rain is usually not coming down this hard but I wouldn't mind a little more sunshine.  Good thing I brought some vitamin D!

Dinner with a local

I had the great pleasure of being entertained by one of my awesome neighbors, Mike.  He's a fascinating gentleman in his early 60s who took me to his golf clubhouse where we met up with some of his friends.  We all got some drinks and chatted about anything and everything Germany.  He explained a lot of the geopolitics that are going on, the attitude of most of his countrymen and even what different regions in the country were like.

We ordered some exquisite food and I tried a Schnitzel for the first time since I've been in the country (I've mostly just been eating döner) and it was delicious.  For those of you who don't know, it's kind of like chicken fried chicken but can be made with various meats.  I think mine was either chicken or pork but it had a lovely dark gravy on top of it and came with mushrooms (which I'm not usually a fan of but they were amazing) and a side of fried potatoes.

Combined with some soup, salad, and bread, it was a great meal and Mike and I stayed there for 5 hours chatting the night away.  It was a lovely experience to hang with him and he wants to have myself and my cousin over for dinner this week so we can cook together and meet his girlfriend. I'm looking forward to it!

Meeting locals is one of my goals anywhere I go because I want to understand how others view the world.  There is no right way to approach life on this world so I think it's fascinating to see how culture shapes beliefs, habits and attitudes of everyone on this planet.  If we could all be so open to these different mindsets, there would be a lot more compassion and a lot less hate.

What else has been going on?

My business team is getting SUPER close to launching our first guitar course and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of results we get moving forward.  It's been the culmination of over 1000 hours of work this year so it's really great to see it come to fruition.

Otherwise, I've been teaching skype lessons, chatting with friends and heading into town whenever I can to meet people at the pubs and make contacts.

It's been the most wonderful of adventures so far and I feel like it's just getting started!  This weekend there is a local Oktoberfest going on and I'm pretty excited about checking that out.  I can't read the signs but there's pictures of steins upon steins of beer so I get the gist.

I truly hope that you have a wonderful rest of the week and that October will bring you joy, clarity and a little cooler weather.

Until next time,

Tony G