NYC Part 1: The Drive Up

At 4:30 in the afternoon, our vagabond shoes were ready to stray…right through the very heart of it. New York, New York. However, our transportation had different ideas. As my group of students (TMD = too many dudes) sat and waited anxiously, we received word that our original bus had broken down; the original “luxury” bus that had 30 seats for 30 people and no bathroom. That would have been extra special for our 6 hour ride through rush hour traffic.

So while our other classmates remained in class learning, we sat just a floor below them twiddling our thumbs (and wondering why more girls didn’t go). The bus finally arrived, an hour late, and luckily they sent us a bigger bus (with a bathroom). We were off



The bus was on the road, however the temperature inside the bus was slowly climbing. Soon it became unbearable and the lack of air conditioning was beginning to be quite annoying. People were struggling, and as the bus pulled off the highway I realized we were not heading towards New York City. The bus was driving through a wonderful neighborhood, lined with porn shops and “repair shops” aka chop shops. The drug deal going down on the corner was an added touch, and a foreshadowing of NYC.

The bus pulled into an old abandoned warehouse, which apparently was the transportation company offices. Looking out the window you could see our original bus. A tiny antiquated charter bus that was spray painted black, most likely to hide the original paint job of the company which the bus was stolen from.

Students purchased “bottled water” aka gross city waters for a buck on the corner from some bums (just so you know the water was probably taken from a disgusting tap and the seal of the bottle was melted back to the top using a lighter…what…that is possible? Yep) Meanwhile the bus company worked on fixing the air conditioning. We sat the depot for 45 minutes, and waited as our chances to arrive in the city with time to have fun dissappeared.

That’s when the president of our group decided to take matters into her own hands. With no regard for her fellow students she took the wheel of the bus and slammed her foot on the gas pedal. She was out of control and drove straight into a group of students, splattering them against the windshield. As their bodies were dragged under the wheel wells of the bus … wait… this didn’t really happen…

Back in real life, the bus finally back on the road, now a deathly 60 degrees, and everyone was happy/freezing to death. We stopped for “half an hour” to eat, and we found out the initial sign that our bus driver was not going to make this trip any easier.

After everyone finished eating, they went back to get on the bus. However the driver informed us that he had not gotten gas, and would be doing that now. Also, in order to get gas he had to borrow someone’s cell phone and make 10 long distance calls. Fifteen minutes of waiting on the curb and the bus was back, as we all filed on the bus driver filed off. Apparently he decided that now was a good time for him to eat at Burger King. What the hell was he doing the 30 minutes we were eating!?!

So once again late we were on the road and eventually taking a ridiculous shortcut through a back alley in Chinatown. But finally we arrived in the NYC and it was only 1am. Plenty of time to do stuff before waking up at 8am in the morning…

To be continued…

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Chris' Bio

This is what I attempted to send in to the school as my picture and bio for our business trip to New York. Sadly, it was rejected...

Sexy. A word that describes many people, yet none embody the term more than current business student and aspiring business mogul known only as "Chris". Things have always come easy for the 5 foot 9 inch tall Adonis who’s pale skin and bulging chest convey the looks of a comic book super hero. Girls gawk on the streets, many too intimidated by his looks to go up to give him their phone numbers. Scholars listen in awe at his theories and wait eagerly for a chance intellectual conversation with the genius. His enemies give up at just the thought of taking on the powerful business mind in a game of business strategy. So what else is there for the man who has everything? A chance to defeat the stock market, take over Wall Street, and make Gordon Gecko look like a snake-oil salesman. Sexy is right!

Prague & Germany: Party All The Time

If this video doesn't get you pumped up to read this, you have problems...

Saturday, May 22nd: The Flight

The first beers of the trip...

As the plane took off from Dulles, the chaperone of the trip informed us that following the yearly tradition, two students had missed the flight. Meanwhile somewhere on 495 those unfortunate students watched the sky above as the plane flew overhead. Their chance for the journey of a lifetime had come to an end…or had it! (Foreshadowing).

Being a shy person, when I arrived at my seat on the plane I never introduced myself or talked to the people next to me. Instead I sat in silence while one liners that were sure to be classic died in the silence of my head. As the plane drove on the runway for what seemed like an eternity I struggled to keep in gems like “what are we driving to Germany”.

And when the video showed the computer animated dad securing his mask very slowly, then pausing for 10 seconds, then deciding to help his most likely already deceased daughter, I could not believe that nobody else was laughing. (See the 1:50 mark) As you see the mask comes down and the dad secures his. He then realizes "Oh shit my daughter" then puts the mask on her slowly. Sorry dad, she is already dead.



The flight attendants were very friendly, and although I’m pretty sure the one woman was crying the entire flight, they offered great service and a smile. And the fact that I had a beer in my hand within one hour of flying, I was pretty happy. After a few Warsteiners I was feelin it (like blink 182) and was starting to get exited for the trip ahead. I brushed up on my German, learning key phrases like “Would you like to go for a walk with me”, “May I buy you a drink”, and “not so much teeth”.

Luftanza offered some of the finest new release movies, with genres such as romantic comedy, romantic comedy, and even romantic comedy! After reviewing and watching 20 minutes of each of these available films I was beginning to think to myself “It’s complicated”. (I’ll take that joke back to the lab and work on it)

As an anonymous student sipped on his 10th Baileys, the flight was headed towards the descent and we were all about to experience the joys of Germany. And by joys of Germany I mean waiting in an airport for 3 hours. My classmates were very tired at this point and jokes like “you know who has a lot of patience?...Doctors” were not amusing them.

On the second flight we were given a light lunch, which was a sandwich with Rick Moranis style sunflower seeds. (anyone?) Crickets? Anyways, upon arrival in Prague, we realized that we were going to be in for some good fun…

Sunday, May 23rd: The Erotic City

Our first order of business in Prague was to get there from the airport. While waiting for the bus the 1 other Vietnamese person in the country, found a Vietnamese person in our class with the same last name to ask a question. It was quite the coincidence...or was it!!! (chipmunk dramatic head turn)



The bus ride was not much fun as outside of Prague it is pretty bland. I saw a car dealership that had only 4 cars on the lot, and we passed about 35 Erotic Citys on the way. There are more Erotic Cities in the Czech Republic than 7-11's in Northern Virginia. And the best part about Erotic City is that they aren't allowed to have clear windows. So instead they photographed the inside of the store, and put them on the outside of the windows. Brilliant!

In non-Erotic City news, we were soon crossing the river and entering the wonderful city of Prague. The insane bus driver tried to maneuver the narrow cobblestone streets, and upon arrival to our hotel decided to just park in the middle of the road. As the traffic built up behind him, and furious motorists honked, a large group of slow people unloaded from the bus. The fun was really about to begin!

Sunday, May 23rd: Walking Tour

It was not time to check in to our hotel yet, so we all loaded our luggage into the highly guarded, steel wall enforced, laser protected conference room. AKA a room that had everyone's important valuables in it with a door that remained open and unwatched. Some of the girls were already putting on their 7th outfit of the trip so far, and everyone else headed to the bar to start drinking some delicious Pilsners...well delicious for the first one, not so much after the 20th.

Our tour guide met up with us and began to take us through the historic streets of Prague. The first sight we saw was a three year old with his pants down, and a mother aiming his urination into a sewer grate located in the middle of the road. This was about right.

Our tour continued and we saw several churches we could not enter, graveyards we had to try to catch a glimpse of over a high wall, and synagogues that we should "tour later". Um aren't we on a tour!? Several tourists were purchasing Yamakas that had different messages on them and wearing them laughing at how fun they were. Keep it classy Prague!

Our tour group of females who couldn't control their bladder led us to our first annoying European experience; the pay toilet. I actually had to go really bad, and ended up borrowing money from the tour guide whom I never paid back. When I returned to the group, we noticed there were free porta-potties set up right next door. BAH!

After some Prague food and not walking across the most famous attraction in the city we headed back to check into our hotels. The rooms weren't terrible, but the tiny little beds 2 feet away from my male roommate made me slightly uncomfortable.
I took a shower, which consisted of some kind of half glass panel that kept 0 water in the shower. The showerhead was at my stomach level and I had to get on my knees to wash my hair. I fell twice and the bathroom floor looked like it was about to be mopped, covered in soap & water. One group of ladies who were three to a room, had 2 beds and a cot, and their shower was just a showerhead aimed at the bathroom floor which had a drain on it.

So that was a fun little walking tour, and much more fun to come!

Sunday, May 23rd: River Boat Cruise

The next event lined up for the exciting first day was the Dessert River Cruise. Half the people who bought tickets decided to take a nap instead of going, which meant I got to go for free! Our tour guide Gretchen (no clue what her real name was) took us on the metro, which apparently follows the honor system. She brought us down to the dock with 1 minute to spare before missing the boat.

Unfortunately at our dock there was no boat, and nobody on the dock knew how to read our printed out tickets. So we missed the boat. Eventually we see a boat do a U-Turn, and realize that the GMU MBA program of business professionals, was the cause of this very embarrassing event.

As our bright red faces entered the boat, the crew collected our tickets and we took a seat on top of the boat in the hot sun. The waiter took everyone's order and then hit our table. Instead of taking our order however, he decided to go below deck instead. We waited an hour, watching him bring beers and desserts for everyone on the boat, before he even took our order.
Billed as a 2 hour cruise on the most beautiful river in the world, offering beers & soft drinks, and a dessert, the River cruise, it turned out to actually be a long boat ride looking at the same stuff over and over again, offering 7 ounces of beer and a cookie.

The highlight of the trip was the flood gates where our boat just sat for 30 minutes each way while we baked in the hot sun. The view of a giant wall was breathtaking (sarcasm). Aside from that portion of the trip the cruise was nice. Prague looks very cool from the water and the weather was quite nice. Although most of us could barely keep our eyes open, and many fell asleep, the boat cruise was somewhat of a success. But the real fun was about to start!

Sunday, May 23rd: Hockey (The Game)

Still on the first night of our trip and the excitement was far from over. Tonight the Czech hockey team would be playing the hated arch rival Russians for the championship. Hoards and hoards of crazy fans headed towards the city center where bands played and giant low definition televisions were set up. Thousands of people packed into the square in Czech colors.

The beer was flowing and a woman with a mustache was singing American songs on stage, and soon the hockey game had begun. Before we even knew what was happening the crowd went insane. Fireballs burst into the air, giant smoke rings billowed out of the center of the crowd. Something was on fire. Everyone jumped up and down and cheered. Apparently the Czech team had scored a goal within 10 seconds of the start. It was something I will never experience or ever see in American sports.

During the game I constantly went up to purchase beers. 5 22oz Beers for 200 Crowns. ($10) While they did not card or ID anyone, at one point some 10 year olds were trying to get me to buy them some beers. I guess maybe they were just a bit too young, but I was sure they could have just ordered their own. (I did not buy them by the way).
The Czech team was led by Czech hero and God Jaromar Jagr. Hundreds of people with Jagr jerseys everywhere. On the Russian team was Ovetchkin and Varlamov from the local Washington Chokitals (Capitals). It was very interesting to watch people boo Ovetchkin with a hatred in their eyes, much stronger than Penguins fans. The chants were not nice either and made "you suck" look not so classless. Interestingly enough we were watching with a Russian, who watched his team losing while fans chanted "Russian Pigs!" for 3 hours.

As Ovie normally does, he did nothing to help the favored Russians win, and the Czech Republic was now world champions. Flags flew, fires were lit, kisses & hugs all around..But again, things were not over yet...

Sunday, May 23rd: Hockey (The Aftermath)

Click on the play button to see these low quality, terrible videos...Seriously they suck...

When the celebration downtown ended, the people took to the streets and marched up to another center square, right next to our hotel. Everyone was screaming, chanting, and flying flags on the 8 block march to the statue at the square.



On the roads people were driving by and honking horns, screaming out windows, riding on car hoods, and going absolutely insane. I quickly got my camera ready and joined in on the celebration.



At first it was somewhat calm. Whenever the light would turn red, everyone would run in the streets and chant and dance. When it turned green, the street cleared and a car or 2 passed by honking. Eventually the people stopped clearing out after the green light, and instead began shaking cars to the point of almost flipping over.



People driving by had their cars dented, roof racks broken, and suspensions most likely destroyed. Many cars wanted to get through and drove faster, which was quite dangerous. People would put their car in neutral and rev the engines with people standing on the roof. One accidental shift and big trouble. However the police didn't even care. They just stood and watched and laughed. (Yes I'm being the Czech Republic's dad)

At one point things got really real. Everyone shook a car back and forth and the driver wanted to get out. A girl next to the car dropped her cell phone, and as she bent to pick it up the car drove into her head. It knocked her to the ground, and when we tried to help her up we realized that she was pinned underneath the car. We banged on the car, but it had the cry wolf effect (kind of?) and she was under there for a good 15 seconds. Finally the car drove on but it had run over her arm. Her arm was surely broken, but the girl was very drunk and just said "it hurts" and walked away crying holding her broken arm.



A few minutes later the riot police showed up marching in like Storm Troopers. However unlike in America or at JMU, they did not immediately start firing tear gas or shooting people with rubber bullets. They simply barricaded the road, and told people not to run in the street. I didn't see one arrest, one tazer, on punch, or anything.

I went back to the hotel and picked up some more people and we celebrated until the sun came up. And that was the end of Day 1 of the trip! Many more to go...

Monday, May 24th: Dinner With Jagr

The painful sound of my alarm woke me up and I realized that the first day of business stuff was about to begin. There were two business meetings on the agenda for the day, but that's not what you want to hear about right? Well here is a recap.

Visit 1: Some company: "blah blah blah"
Visit 2: Some other company: "blah blah blah"

Somewhere in between the blahs was a cool Czech lunch at an awesome looking restaurant. And of course beer! The beer loosened everyone up a bit, and one guy asked the tour guide if she "comes here often" about the restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Nice work!

We got back to the hotel and everyone went to another Czech restaurant by the hotel. Our party of 20 took up the entire bottom level except for a walled off section which had security outside. That is when Jaromir Jagr walked by...

Being from DC some of us recognised him and we asked the waitress. She pointed beyond the blocked off area where then entire Czech Hockey team from the night before was celebrating with the world championship trophy! (Also some famous Czech tennis chick that I never heard of but was hoooooot)
One obsessed fan from our group kept trying to sneak past the barrier, and just waited staring at Jagr. Jagr told the waitress he would come out to meet us soon, and when obsessed fan went to the bathroom, we took a picture of Jagr from the placemat at the restaurant, and told him that he missed him. (tricking a guy fail!)





Side note on Jagr: This guy played on the Washington Capitals, was paid millions of dollars and sucked. If he was on the streets at home, nobody would recognize him and they would boo him...
Eventually Jagr comes out limping and probably on beer 10. He talks a bit, takes some photos, and goes back to his private area. Wow exciting!
Soon the bill came and it was $10,000. Holy F! What the H! MFER! Oh wait it wasn't dollars, it was crowns. But still, that is $500! After a 20 minute money collecting banking operation, and several people chipping in way too much, we finally had enough money to pay and we all headed out to the street.

Outside Jagr was talking on his cell phone, and where only 1 night before the entire city of Prague was marching in his honor just 30 feet away, nobody walking by even recognized him.

The rest of the evening I wandered the streets avoiding drug dealers, and ended up trying to get a good night of sleep...

Tuesday, May 25th: Passport Gone

The last day in Prague we had one business meeting. It was with a company that makes busses. The only thing memorable about this trip was the tour guide who was a nutty old man. This was followed by lunch at a pizza place, where once again I got to drink more beers.

When we got back two groups decided to check out one of the main attractions in Prague, the giant castle on top of the hill. It was kind of a hassle to get there and involved a lot of walking but it was quite amazing. It offered several great photo ops, including an overlook of the entire city.

After the overlook some people made wishes in a fountain. They were very superstitious and were really concentrating on their wishes. A few minutes later two seedy looking people came by and stole all the wishes from the water. Sorry ladies, your wishes are not gonna come true.

When the group arrived back at the train station by the hotel, one of the students realized that her purse was gone. Not only was it gone, but inside it was her passport, ID's, credit cards, cash, and her whole life. Everyone's hearts dropped and we frantically tried to remember where this bag could be. Reviewing camera photos we determined that the purse must be at the scenic overlook.

So the girl and her friend got back on the train and the rest of us headed to the hotel to call some embassies! The girl was not a US citizen and was there on a spousal visa and we had no idea what was going to happen to her if she didn't find her passport.


Our group was on fire, as another person didn't have a Visa to get back into the United States. He had to leave Prague days earlier to get to Germany and figure out a way back to the US...

At the hotel we waited and counted the minutes, making assumptions about what happened and playing out worst case scenarios. The plan of the day pre castle was to go crazy for the final night, but we were all severely depressed. We waited and waited and waited and finally the girl returned purse in hand.

Also in hand were 3 shopping bags, and apparently while we sat there worrying she was out shopping! Grrrrrrrrrrr. But at least all was good, the mood brightened up, and we were ready to have a great final night on the town.

Tuesday, May 25th: Absinthe Minded

The drama from earlier in the day subsided it and it was about time to "get it started in here." I went to the liquor store and looked at all the different varieties of Absinthe, wondering which one was the real thing. I spent the remainder of my budget and headed back to the hotel to start taking shots.

Our destination for the evening was the "biggest club in all of Europe" or some other insanely false billing from the tour guide. We went in and there were like 20 people there, and it was midnight. 5 floors of empty, should be the new name. As we walked in the door we all made a pact to make sure we didn't leave a man behind...

The club was pretty boring for a while, and the DJ was awful. Men In Black? Really? At a dance club?

So eventually crowds start to show and our group of 10 is dancing and having a good time. That is when we decide to start taking shots of absinthe. The bartenders do a whole act with the stuff as they light it on fire, throw brown sugar on it to caramelize it and make it go up in sparks, then after you drink it you suck air from a straw or something bizarre.



Sadly, I did not see any green fairies, but I did go crazy on the dance floor. Everyone was going nuts, dancing on stage, and some people even got ovations from the crowd for their dance moves. It was a hell of a time!
I never wanted the night to end but as I saw one of my classmates on the floor, I realized that it was about to end fast. Plan "Never Leave A Man Behind" was in effect, and we dragged the girl out to a taxi on the street as she fell several times.

Back at the hotel we dragged her inside where she refused to go to her room. Instead she was on a mission to find more absinthe. She was going nuts and was like an uncaged animal and there was only one way to stop her. I tackled her on a bed and laid on top of her legs so she couldn't get up, a technique a doctor once told my mother to use on me as a child. Just lay on them til they shut up and calm down.

Things were working out well, and I was napping on her legs when the other classmates came in and dragged me off of her. Big mistake. She made a run for it. We didn't know where she was going, and neither did she, she just wanted to escape.

As all this was going on, she left her passport on the street, lost her phone, took out all her money and things were everywhere. Eventually we confiscated all the important things from her so she couldn't lose them, but we couldn't calm her down.

At this point she was getting pretty mean. Telling everyone in the group that she hated them and the reasons. She then saw the guy she sat next to on the plane. He said "Hi my name is ..." and she interrupted and said "You are a f**king ass hole!" Nicely done!

In order to calm down I suggested that the girl put on a makeup clinic, using me as the dummy. That worked very well, and she was calming down, and I looked pretty damn hot. It calmed her enough to where she laid on bed, someone gave her a massage, and it was almost lights out. Then out of nowhere she yelled "I HATE (my name)!" Crap! She busted out of bed and headed back for the streets...

This continued all night into morning, and the three people watching her got 0 sleep. That was the end of Prague, and with no sleep I boarded the bus to Germany...

Wednesday, May 26th: Goody Goody Goody!

It was quite a far bus ride to Munich and upon arrival most people were very tired. A small group decided to take advantage of the free bus/walking tour. This is where we met the most insane man in the whole world, our tour guide Mikael.



Mikael looked similar to Stephen Merchant from Ricky Gervais shows. He was tall with thick rimmed glasses, big eyes and weird facial expressions. Different personality but this clip is funny so I'll put it here. I'm finding it hard to write about how he talked, so instead see the impressions above. This guy would always say "he was a homosexual" in such a strange way...(wow he looks somewhat normal in that photo)



So crazy tour guide told us stories as we took pictures out a bus window and had 2 seconds to take in these amazing sights. After the bus was the walking portion of the tour. It was here where we learned that in order to get prizes for his trivia questions, the tour guide would steal coasters from bars when the staff wasn't looking.

We toured Munich walking 100 mph with 0 times for pictures. The best part of the tour was learning that Michael Jackson lived in a hotel at Munich for some time, and outside on a random statue of someone else is a giant shrine for MJ. People wrote letters, brought flowers, lit candles, in the middle of Munich for Michael. WTF!

We went back to eat dinner at our first beer of Munich, Augustiner and the beginning of a sausage diet (insert joke here). We enjoyed the nice night, and went back to the room to drink some more beers before I fell asleep on the couch for some reason...

Thursday, May 27th: Bier Crawl!

The next day, after only one nice company visit with a great after visit meal, we decided that this would be the day to collect some more of the beers of Munich.

We started off at the Hoffbrau House, had a Liter there and got the day started off right. Next we hit up the Hacker Pschoor place for Liter #2. Next was Paulener and only half a liter there. At this point the insanity began. The loudness, the screaming, the laughing, the embarrassing ourselves.
I decided it would be a good idea to hit on the bathroom attendant. She did not speak a word of English but I think she got my hilarious jokes. Luckily I can't recall off the top of my head what was said, so we will just assume that I was on my game.

After the Paulener place we headed back to the hotel to change and find out where to get our next beer. We had a beer or two in the room and headed to our next destination, Spaten. A liter of Spaten and a half liter of Franziskaner. Only one beer to go!

However at this point of the evening we reach a problem. This is the point where our memories start to fade. From what I was told we did not go to the next destination and instead back to the hotel room.

The highlight of the evening was realizing that we were drinking the beer from the mini-bar instead of the beer from the grocery store. Quite upsetting (until the bill came and they were only $1 each). Some horseplay ensued and other tomfoolery and soon it was morning.

We used group sessions and photographs to help remember the night, but from what I recall it was one great time!

Friday, May 28th: The Buicks & The Benz

After a boring company visit in the morning, we hit up a Beer Garden for lunch. The beer garden was interesting since it was a weekday and there were hundreds of people there, all with a beer in hand. Including the 90 year old woman enjoying her liter of helles.

Germany does not believe in plastic cups, and every time you get a beer you are handed a glass. You make a deposit, and they expect you to return the glass for your money back. But because the glasses there, sold at Hoffbrau House for $10, were only a $2 deposit, everyone decided that we would keep the mugs. Not exactly sure if we were supposed to or allowed to, but did it none the less. I can only imagine how funny it must have been for a German to see 20 people stealing the glasses.

I had a half liter of Beer mixed with Lemonade, which tasted like watered down beer with a hint of lemon. Blah...

Next we were off the the BMW factory for a two hour tour (a two hour tour). We checked out a bunch of cars that are far more terrible than my 1992 Buick LeSabre, and I laughed as I saw that the front seats in these cars could only hold 2 people. And they were 80 times more expensive. SUCKERS!

And guess what the girl who lost her passport did as soon as the tour started! She handed her purse to the tour guide who was not going to be on the tour and who was instead hanging out in a bar with 10 purses. Think McFly! Dash-Koooow!



The tour was neat, but there was no beer, and I was starting to experience withdrawal. The best part of the tour was the random strange guy that was lumped in with our group. He was strange because we wondered how he got into the tour, and why he had boobs. We actually saw the same guy later that night at the Hoffbrau House...eerie...

Friday, May 28th: Farewell!

The night before our last night was our farewell dinner at another beer house. They had beer samples and free beers, and a nice buffet. The whole group was there and we toasted to everyone for having such a fun trip.

As the professor & trip leader sipped on his beer sample, I took down mine and half the tables like they were shots. This was obviously a good impression, and is good foreshadowing for the rest of the night.

I was wearing my nice Washington Nationals free white t-shirt and headed up to the buffet. I got some big pieces of duck and decided that some sauce on top would be quiet a delicious idea. I did not however realize that pouring a cup of sauce onto a flat plate would be such a terrible idea. Well, I spilled and needless to say the sauce left a nice brown line stain from my neck all the way down the shirt.




I started to panic. Nobody saw me, but in order to get back to the table I had to walk by everyone. And it was obvious enough where Mr. Magoo could have seen it across the room without his glasses.

For some reason I actually had a spare shirt, and a girl in my crew thankfully brought it to me. So in the buffet line I am changing shirts, and trying to do it quick. However I put it on inside out at first, taking up more time. I'm not sure if anyone else saw this...hopefully not...

FYI travelling with non-beer drinkers when every meal includes beer is great. I was collecting beer tickets and converting them into giant Liter beers. I was pretty much finished by the end of the night. We had several group photos and lots of fun, and our next stop was the clubs, or so we thought...

Friday, May 28th: Club Fail Featuring Discrimination

After the farewell dinner we went back home to get ready to hit the clubs. Everyone got all dolled up and we walked (I think) down to the club area. We passed by several other people in the group who had been denied entry.

Apparently all the clubs were empty. However they all had long lines outside. For a large cover, you could enter the club, if you waited in line for them to let people in 1 by 1. It at least 2 cases, people of two different ethnicities tried to get in, and they would let one in but not the other. I don't remember any more details on this besides word of mouth.



So we headed home dejected and went to play some arcades. A little mini-basketball contest never did no wrong. We headed back to the hotel and saw all the club rejects were in a bar right outside the hotel. We went in and joined the group and soon enough someone was passing around shot after shot.

By this point I am barely coherent. We head home and I go to my room with somebody and we begin to talk. Every time I would start a statement, or ask a question, I would forget the beginning. I knew I forgot the beginning but was embarrassed, so I made up an ending. I believe I was half asleep and at one point mid sentence I ended with "sausages".

That's it for me! Time for bed. Goodnight!!!!

Saturday, May 29th: The Final Day

My roommate decided that he would not wake me up in the morning and I missed out on the trip to Austria to visit Mozart. Instead I slept til 2pm and we headed out to collect the final beer. Lowenbrau!

We went to a fun outdoor cafe and I took down a Liter, while we saw all the people sitting on the same sides of tables looking at the sun. Weirdos!

After that we went out in search of a bicycle to rent, and after no luck we just decided to walk around town. Soon we came across an outdoor concert in a square, with beers and live music. We grabbed a half liter and enjoyed the German version of Achy-Braky Heart while old people danced and people went crazy.



Soon the rains came and washed away the concert and we went to get more beer elsewhere. Eventually we ended up back at the Hoffbrau house, and the group was divided among many tables.

My favorite part of this night was when a guy named Tex, who was wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, and boots, and had a shirt that said Texican on it was asked by an American where he was from. I could hardly stop laughing when he said "Pennsylvania"

After Hoffbrau the ladies wanted to hit up the club and I wanted none of it. I tried to delay them by going back to the arcade and showing them my raw power on the punching bag game. I tried 6 times to break 900, and as people on the streets watched the meter they all cheered when it hit 898 and stopped. Why was everyone against me...dragged to the club now...

Saturday, May 29th: The Final Countdown!

It was the final night, and everyone was sad. One more night out and we would never see each other outside a classroom again (maybe). We got in a cab and had him take us to a club called (Blah). However the sign on the building did not say Blah it said Whatever. We refused to believe that we were at the right place and wouldn't exit the cab. He said it was the place and said "what are you gonna sleep with me here".



The guy was right (he did drive a cab there! and wasn't from the USA) and after passing the simple sobriety test at the door we were in. (we heard later that others were tossed out before they got in)

This club made the one in Prague look like that club in Centreville that you had to be like 14-17 to get into. The place was insane and the stripper poles on the dance floor was a nice touch. The free samples of red bull cola and vodka were nice as well.

As I showed off my dance moves and my rapping sing along skills we took shot after shot of vodka (which tasted and felt like water). The highlight of the night was when that Gloria Estefan song was played and we started a huge conga line (if only my aunts and uncles and grandparents were there to see me) And if you have never started a conga line at a club before, its the f**kin s**t!

By 3:30 am I had to be dragged off of the dance floor and back home to the hotel where nobody would join me for a beer. I sadly went to sleep, but luckily for the maids they now have 6 beers as a tip (<$6).
The trip was over, and all that remained was a flight back home...

Sunday, May 30th: Back to Reality...

...Please don't f'ing smile at me...

The flight home kinda looked like this...



The trip had some highs, some lows, and some really really really lows. We laughed and cried, but most importantly we did those things together. We developed stories and friendships that would last an entire lifetime, and after getting to know some of the crazy people on the trip, a lifetime didn't mean a long time. But the question is, do we regret anything we did.

NEIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Long Prague, Farewell Germany...