Revenge of the Kellerkinder

Arno took a personal day yesterday, leaving me to my own devices so he could spend the night with Tanja. Which is fine: as I've told Arno before, I'm a guest, not a child.

I decided to spend the night quietly; the party at Domi's (not to mention our get-together at Hannes' the night before) had left me pretty tired. I had a book, a movie, and a computer game standing by.

I was having a typically intellectual dinnertable conversation (the German immigration issue) with Bernd and Arno's mom when the phone ran. Arno had left, so they asked for me.

Thilo stopped by fifteen minutes later to pick up the rules for King's Cup, and invited me along to a mysterious birthday party.

An odd thing about that party was that everyone there was for some reason exempt from the year of civil service Germany requires all male high school graduates to do. It was a good party, but sitting in the basement with a bunch of girls and unhealthy guys, I was amused to think that everyone there was officially considered undesirable.

In America, of course, all the people at that party would be labled "geeks," but the teenage social strata here are much more loosely defined, generally devoid of american self-parody. Last time I was here, I was struck by how normal and functional German "goths" could be; these Kellerkinder exhibited a similar (and surprising) well-roundedness.

Anyways: we played the game twice, talked about German politics, and had a generally good time. Another night in Germany well spent. Today will be quiet: we're going sightseeing with Arno's dad.