If you decide to study abroad (and I highly recommend that you do), you might find yourself participating in activities and situations that, were you not in a foreign country, you would not normally engage in.
For example, I almost never go to dance clubs in Atlanta. I am the worst dancer who still has the ability to use both his legs in the history of all time. I lack whatever internal metronome people have that allows them to understand and move in sync with what I’m told is called “rhythm.”
But here in Germany I find myself in a dance club nearly every weekend simply because that’s what the German students do for fun. While I’m still not a good dancer, alcohol helps reduce any insecurity about it. And, luckily, Germans aren’t very good dancers either.
The typical German male dance consists of a very slight shifting of the shoulders back and forth in tandem with a similar hip motion. Hands must remain below the hips except when raising a drink for a toast or a sip. There aren’t any rules against bumping and grinding, but if you do that kind of thing in a German club, you’ll be the only one.
People often ask me if the Germans only listen to techno and Rammstein, but the music in the clubs over here is the same as you’d find in an American club: American pop hits from the past few years, often with dance beats thrown in for extra incentive to shake it.
So do I like going to German clubs? Sure. It’s what my friends like to do, and it’s hard to complain when I have a drink in my hand. But will I continue the practice once I return home? Probably not. I think that’s the thing about studying abroad: You get to try things you wouldn’t normally try. That said, I think my dancing is something better left in Germany.
