You've heard a lot about the Zeltlager at this point. But if you're any good at math, you may have noticed that the time spent singing songs, baking bread in the campfire, and one night of initiation can't really fill up an entire week. So what did we do with the other 17 hours of the day that we weren't singing, baking or sleeping?
The answer is simple: we played games. After breakfast we played card games. After lunch we played big group games. After dinner we played drinking games certain games you would only legally be allowed to play after the age of 21 in the US.
The morning games were really a come and go as you please sort of deal. You just had to find other people who wanted to play with you. For the first couple days we basically only played Tick, so I was pretty proud to pass that on so successfully! We also played some old favorites like Phase 10, Uno and Yahtzee (called "Kniffel" in German). of course, if we ever got tired of playing card games, we just played with the actual cards themselves...
The afternoon games could really be described as organized activities for the whole group. One day we did a sort of marathon of games including trying to untie a human knot and balloon soccer. Another time we split into about 5 groups and had to go on a little hike stopping at different stations along the way to complete various tasks. One of these stations was to name and stamp as many different body parts as you could that started with the letters N, S, B and A. As you can imagine I was at a slight disadvantage. However, I had learned a new word literally the day before, so I was super excited to contribute Speiseröhre (it means esophagus). I wore my S stamp proudly for the rest of the day. On the last afternoon we split into 4 different groups: one for singing, one for dancing, one for fashion, and one for acting. Each group had the afternoon to create a song, dance, fashion show and play respectively. I was in the dance group. We decided to do a ribbon dance to the Circle of Life. And since I'm, well, me, I had the part of the person who danced like an idiot in the middle of everyone else. Representin' America, what can I say.
The night games, although mostly spontaneous, were probably some of the most fun. The first night we played a simple German game that involved a level of colloquial German that I'm just not at yet. But suffice it to say, I learned a lot of vocab you definitely don't get in school. The next time we happened to start up some night games, I got the chance to teach them an American game. It was one I've actually only played once before, but I have been dying to play again ever since. In English it's called "Cheers, Governor!" (in a British accent, so really more of a "Cheeyas, Govnah!"). I translated it roughly* to "Prost, Oberbürgermeister!" (I know that Oberbürgermeister isn't the exact translation, but it's by far the most fun German political position to say).
The game is very simple: you count around in your group up to 21. The first rule is that 7 and 14 are switched (6, 14, 8, 9... 13, 7, 15, 16, etc.). When you reach 21 instead of saying the number everyone raises their glass, says "Cheers, Governor!" and drinks. The person who was then #21 gets to make up a new rule for a number. Sometimes it's just to say something in place of a number ("Frauen - komma - sind anders - punkt" instead of 9), sometimes it's a direction change, sometimes it's a category (instead of saying 13, you have to name a cocktail), or sometimes you had to do something (at number 4 you have to run around the bench). Each time you reach 21 you add a new rule, but every time there is a mistake, you start back over at 1. Simple, elegant, and so much fun. It was such a hit, we even played this past weekend at a party.
And that was the much longer-winded than I originally intended explanation of how we enjoyed the majority of our time at the Zeltlager
*I later learned that another meaning of the word "Governor" in British English is the barkeep,
more likely the correct meaning in this game. Oops.
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