It Begins

What I'm talking about is this.

For those of you that don't know what the word Feuerwerk means, you're a moron, just look at the pictures and think of what it sounds like.  Now, for those of you that are wondering why I'm dedicating an entire post to such a thing, let me educate you.

You see, I have experience of fireworks in 3 separate countries.  America, where they have a giant shitfit of fireworks ballsing into the sky for July 4th.  Its all very organised and controlled by official officials as America mostly is.  Making it limited to a small number of areas, but the result being that those areas seem to contain an inordinate amount of explosives.  ie. big and fooking loud, as America has been known to be.

In the UK, where our giant firework spew is on November 5th, Bonfire night, where we also tend to burn giant effigies of a guy that died hundreds of years ago, which has the effect of making the night quite macabre (picture standing around a giant bonfire, eating sweets with one hand, holding a sparkler in the other, going 'ooo' and 'ahhh' at fireworks exploding over head and at the same time as all this joy and frivolity the representation of a man being burned to death plays itself out slowly off to the side).  As its the UK, things get a little more violent and dangerous, people tend to have their own fireworks which they let off in their gardens and occasionally fuck up and/or purposely fire into the streets.

Now, this may sound a little scary, but in the UK its not really.  You are in little danger of being shot at or hit by fireworks (unless you have a friend who doesn't get that rockets need to go in a tube and not straight into the ground, thus making them explode in said garden).  A little bit more edgy, but all well and good.

Then we get to Germany, and more specifically Berlin.  I don't know what happens to the German psyche for New Year, or what events have happened in the past to generate this social tumour, but basically, a lot of people here go homicidally insane for New Year and start firing fireworks at each other in the street.  Literally.  I'm not exaggerating.  Now, I'm thinking (and hence bringing up the other two countries first) that there isn't really another time for fireworks here, all that pent up rocket firing and exploding joy.  Its like the city has gone without for a year and goes freaking mental jizzing fireworks everywhere without any regard to basic safety.

So, tomorrow night, all over the streets there will be fireworks going off in the streets.  Last year whilst riding on the tram they were being fired at the tram, exploding on the windows.  Walking anywhere is a nightmare of constantly looking for things landing near you and dodging flying rockets.

I don't understand it, and its not fun, but its ok really.  Its just Berlin.