Dangerball. It is as legendary as it sounds.

I am sweating. Not from sex, mind you. No. The reason for this sweat is as a result of the most epic duel between a Badger and a Moose this world has or probably ever will see. This duel is Dangerball.

Dangerball can take place in any setting, indoors or outdoors. Time of day, race, sex, and or religious affiliation do not change the rules, or prevent any from playing. Irish people may be more apt at this game due to the amount of physical abuse they normally can take on. I am basing this solely on the antics I have witnessed in Boondock Saints.

So, obviously, you are now interested in playing your very own game of Dangerball. Here's how.

Step One. Strap on your big boy pants. This game is not for the weak.

Step Two. Locate a place in your house/yard that will be your arena. This place should have two flat(ish) surfaces that are to be used as your base. Neutral platforms may be added for an interesting twist.

Step Three. FIND A FUCKING EXERCISE BALL. I only had one, if any of you experiment with multiple sized/number of exercise ball(s) please let me know your results.

Step Four. Somewhere adjacent to your platforms, set up a "goal" This must be jut about the size of the exercise ball(s), and not easy to have them land in.

Step five. Place the exercise ball in the center of the two platforms, and take your platform. a race to the ball determines first possession.

You are now ready to play. Here is how to win.

A win may be achieved by scoring 21 points. Using the exercise ball to knock your opponent's ass off of his platform earns you a point. Obviously, you must be in control of the ball to do so. Gain control of the ball by catching it. If you catch it, you earn a point. Alternatively, if you dodge COMPLETELY, you also earn a point. You may pin the ball to gain control of it, but no points are awarded.

The game automatically ends if and when:

1.) an opponent yields in pain, exhaustion, or due to the need to change their drawers from laughing so much.

2.) whenever the ball enters the goal after ricocheting off of your opponents body. This also awards you 10 points. Much like Quidditch, when the Snitch is caught, the game ends, but it does not necessarily declare you the winner. If you are behind by more than ten, you do not want to score the goal.

Obviously, if you die, the game is also over. Try not to die.

Bases. These are important. Taking over the opponents base may be done while the opponent is occupying a neutral platform. However, if your opponent takes control of your base while you are moving to occupy his base, he occupies your base. If, however you reach you opponents base while he/she is occupying a neutral zone, that player forfeits his base. He must now stay upon that neutral platform until game end. Your opponent may now go from base to base as he pleases, and shots can be taken at any time.

This game was invented by Badger and Moose, June 28 2010 at 1:45 A.M. Please, unlike all those lame TV game show games, TRY THIS AT HOME.

Clubbing

I cannot truthfully say this for sure due to my age, but I believe that clubbing is extremely different in Europe, more specifically Germany, than it is in the States.

For example, in the States, it is my general opinion that girls go there to dance, and guys go there to (try to) get girls. Girls stand in a small circle of her friends, sometimes surrounding their personal belongings and shoes, and they dance. Guys spend the rest of their night trying to find a way "in" that circle. Not literally. Just maybe right behind. Ha. But it is difficult to do this. Again, I have never actually been to a "real" American club. The one I have been to was one of maybe 7 in Wisconsin that allow people under 21 in. Obviously they cannot drink, but they can go about doing the aforementioned activities. Actually I just remembered that in this particular club there were like 6 or 7 guys that could dance. Like really well... so the roles were kind of reversed. Was interesting to see all the girls I went with trying their best moves to get the guys attention.. anyway I digress.

Germany's clubs, at least the two I got to see, are more about having a fucking good time. For everyone. There were like 4 or 5 different dance floors at the one in Berlin.. all playing different music. So for the people who didn't want to bleed from the ears to heavy techno could go all the way across the club and hear all of the latest rap and R&B, passing by the karaoke area and folk song/stripper rooms. No, they weren't really strippers, I guess. They wouldn't accept money at any rate, like more of a professional dancer. I must admit, there is something fun and yet frightening about having a half naked woman pour Jagermeister down your throat. MY favorite ares was the folk songs area. In both clubs... there was a floor and several bars devoted to songs that everyone (except me) knew the lyrics to. So I'd be out on the floor with a bunch of people I did not necessarily know, shouting "YA"! when they did as we all drank excessively. It was fantastic. I don't know what most of the words were, but they made everyone else happy as hell, and so I was also happy.

I did not party EVERY night, but I did go out three times. I had a blast every time. Except maybe the end of the last night in Berlin, when I had to act as a shepherd for a whole herd of drunken and disgruntled people and get them back home safe at 6 in the morning. Yes. I partied right through the night and came out of the club with the sun in my eyes. I scratched that one off my bucket list. I have never actually seen that movie, but I think that I have the concept right. Even the fact that a member of our group peed right in the middle of the street in the rising daylight cannot make me feel less proud of myself for that.

Germany

Today has been amazingly uneventful, yet for some reason I feel like I have been busy all day and need to go on vacation. This is probably due to the fact that I just came back from a two week trip to Germany. It was a fast, very eventful two weeks. In fact, getting picked up from the Frankfurt airport by Jan and being told by the same that the Autobahn was "Like war" seems decades ago. I do not think that I have the ability to culminate all of my experiences there into one blog post, it would be ungodly long. I will try to keep it at least decently readable.

I have never before flown for more than 3 hours. Actually I think the only time prior to this trip the furthest I have gone by plane was Florida. I was six, and my mom was like "Just go to sleep." And I did. I slept the whole way there, apparently... I do not remember it really... was a long time ago after all. Actually the only thing I truthfully do remember form that trip was hugging Micky Mouse, who in all probability was a guy sweating his balls off in a giant mouse suit, constantly teetering on the edge of madness. But, he did his job. I was happy. I think.

The flight over the Atlantic in and of itself is only eight hours. Due to the time changes though, my human body was awake from 7:30 on Wednesday morning and arrived to the school at roughly 9:00 the following morning in Darmstadt, Hesse. That is the federal state where Darmstadt is located in Germany. We were served what in America we would not really consider breakfast. But it was definitely breakfast. Sandwiches, Chili con carne, and assorted beverages. This was one of my realizations, breakfast does not need to consist of what in America we call "breakfast foods." Don't get me wrong, I love a good bacon and eggs on a Sunday morning as much as the next guy, but I just had a preconceived notion that this was a universal thing. Not always true. Just letting you know that, so when you do travel, it won't rock your reality of the world to the core.

I wanted to sleep, but they mentioned drinking beer, and I perked up immediately. So we went to a beer garden. So my host, and good friend, Christian took us there. Sort of. We wound up walking around looking for this place for like an hour. It was with good company, however, and the time was well spent anyway. Christian went to a different school that the rest of the students, So he was not familiar with the area where we were going, specifically. It was fun anyway, and made the beer even more enjoyable.

Beer deserves its own paragraph, and I am giving it one. I feel that my experiences with what I called good beer in Wisconsin cannot even be compared to the stuff that is in Germany. It is so rich and flavorful. It has a different consistency and a totally different effect on your body than beer here does. It is also very filling. The thought of drinking light beer, I think, makes them either laugh or cry. It is a heritage of Germany. Christian was telling me that most cities have their own breweries. And if you owned a bar in that city, you served that brewery's beer. It is a thing of pride. And I very much so enjoyed getting to know that part of their culture. Beer tastes, looks, and even smells better over there than almost anything I have found in Wisconsin. It was jut great. Also, at the beer garden I met Vivian. She was probably the person who helped me adjust to being away from home the most and also easily. We immediately got along like we'd known each other for a long time, at least I feel this way. We liked a lot of the same things, and I have many of inside jokes with her from just this one week. I am happy I got to know her through this program. It is also because of a bet I made with her that I will be learning German in less than or around 3 months and 25 days. Anyone who can aid me in this task, please do.

I have just realized that I want to tell every detail that my mind can retain and grasp from this trip. This may be an insanely long post, and I will have to definitely divide it into parts. Due to my jet lag, I have very little energy to continue telling about this trip, and this is only the first half of day one. I will continue after I find some energy.

After the beer garden, Christian took me back to his home to introduce me to