Called To Serve

Friday night, May 4th, was Tanz Night in Hamburg. The Annual Stake affair was billed as the place to be, and draws many from far away lands, for food and entertainment for the Stake members of the Hamburg Stake. So naturally, if that is where it is happening, then Dave and Marie have got to be there.

So, we get our Young Adult group to gather ´round and buckle up our dance shoes and off we go to Hamburg and the Mai Tanz.

We discover that Germans like a good excuse to celebrate and when they do a dance or any event, and because of the distances many have to travel, they do it up big.
The cultural hall was ablaze with colored lights and decorated tables with little chocolate beetles and ladybugs focusing on the Spring Theme and music, albeit 70s and 80s dance tunes, filling the air.

We appreciate a good dance like any other and got our Young Adults into it early, after all, the 4 single young men we brought with us were there for the young maidens of Hamburg. Never waste an opportunity, especially when there is a 2-1 ratio of eligible females to every aspiring troubadour.

There are some quirky items we will mention about the dance, however, that you just don´t see in the States: Germans don´t use plastic or paper goods for their activities much and that goes double for special dances. Bring out the silverware, the glasses, the dinnerware(even for light refreshments) for we only do this from time to time. So stacked high on the tables and serving stations is the church´s best. Only George, the High Council Adviser for these events, and an American working in the Embassy in Hamburg for the next three years, seemed concerned with "who" was going to wash all these plates and glasses (without a dishwasher) later into the evening. We would have loved to help, but had to leave early? Those thoughts were running through his head while he was bringing out the plates of canopies and trays of vegetables and dips.

Light refreshments means: little french bread rounds with smoked salmon, shrimp with dill sauce, rémoulade dipped ham, Italian salami, Gouda and Ementaller cheese squares and quails eggs on toast points with red and black caviar. (I made the last one up...but there really was hard boiled chicken egg slices with a dollop of caviar--really!)

The dancing, well a delight to behold. But the young people like to have a scripted dance routine and many have learned ballroom and bee-bop routines that were a pleasure to watch.
Well, the clock stuck midnight and the our gang had to return to the country confines of of our little city. Mission accomplished as the young knights of Bremen returned with some new names, telephone numbers and future contacts of those fair maidens of Hamburg. Can´t wait for the next event. Hey, that`s this coming Friday in Oldenburg!