Homecoming in Germany isn't quite the same as in the states.
1. First of all, it's not on your first official game at home (you know, your Home coming!) Ya, but I think that's mostly true in the states as well, now, because someone has to have their first game at home, right? And who wants to have Homecoming the first weekend of the football season. No one!
2. Also, there are no parades. I tried to get one going, as I was the cheerleading coach at this time, but with the approval we would need from the Garrison commander and the need for the MP's to block traffic and on and on they said "maybe next year." Well thanks- I won't be here next year! I personally think the Garrison commander would have been fine with it, but sometimes getting a meeting with the commander to discuss something is not so easy!
3. The king/queen, and court are announced at the pep rally and only the pep rally and there is no running them around the field in fancy cars during half time.
4. The games are played on Saturdays, because of the travel time involved in getting to your opponent and so the Homecoming game is played Saturday afternoon, so that the players have time to get to the dance that evening. Even then, it's a pretty quick turn around!
5. Most of the kids can't drive (you have to be at least 17 and have a valid stateside license to drive in Germany. Since the majority of people have a 3 year rotation here and most parents try to keep their child from having to only do their senior year here, the kids are generally here from 15-18 years or 13-16 years old. That equals= not a whole lot of kids with driving ability), so going to and from the dance are a constant stream of parents, dropping off, picking up.
6. Germans don't make corsages well, so there is always someone making extra money by making them- different clubs, random individuals, etc. Some kids just don't even bother with them and then there are people like me that find it on Youtube and DIY it!
Other than that it is still the usual display of raging teenage hormones and loud, obnoxious music that very few people actually enjoy.
I got to go to the pep rally the day before, because I was also on the homecoming committee for the football team. We had 12 Varsity and 12 JV players hand out flowers to the 12 Varsity and 12 JV cheerleaders and thank them for all they did for the players. Sam forgot his jersey, like he seemed to do all the time this year, so he quickly borrowed someones, so he could be one of the guys giving out the flowers. Afterwards the girls kept asking me who it was that gave them their flower- but of course I wasn't paying attention to who was giving whom a flower. I was just trying to make sure it all went off smoothly. The girls really liked it though and that was what was important. Afterward the cheerleaders did their performance, the Juniors and Seniors gave their powder puff performances- meaning the boys dressed up in the cheerleading uniforms and did a dance to a song. Some of them took the girls flowers to use in their dance and never gave them back. The performances were hilarious and the Juniors definitely, hands down won, but of course the whole thing is rigged and the Seniors walked away with the trophy. The pep rally was the most fun part of the whole thing. I have got to make sure I am on that committee again!
The JV lost their game and the Varsity won theirs. I helped pin flowers onto all the dads of seniors for football, cheerleading and the band. I did a horrible job. I only learned how to pin a flower onto a lapel afterwards, when I pinned the boutonnière I had made on Sam. Guess I should have Youtubed it!
Sam got face masked in the game and came out with a scratched eye. That kid messed up my Homecoming pictures- which one was it, which one. I will kick him in the neck!
And I can do it too. You know how I know? I kicked Sam in the neck in front of the school! He would not ask Sara out.
He kept avoiding it. He said she kept getting away from him, or he couldn't find a convenient time. I wasn't convinced though, because they go to church together and are in seminary every morning together. I told him it wasn't nice to make a girl wait until the last minute, because she had to buy a dress. So I told him if he didn't ask her that day I was going to kick him. As I was picking him up from football, I asked, "Did you ask her today?" He said, "no, she disappeared." So I kicked him- right in the neck. He knew the consequences!! His friends just died! At home I laid down the law. "No asking tomorrow, no wrestling!" He knows I don't like wrestling, so he knew I was serious. Plus, I just proved that I would kick him in the neck with all his friends watching if he didn't do what I told him to do. The next day she disappeared again on him. So he found her at lunch and had to ask her in front of all of her friends. I had scared him enough that he was willing to do it.
Of course she said yes, because I had already texted her mom and asked if she would say yes if Sam asked. I didn't want to pressure him too much if there was a chance she would say no. That really would have been mean! He had a cute little football that said, "want to tackle Homecoming with me" on it, but he lost it, so he just asked- lame!
As far as I know they all had a great time and had lots of fun!
When Sam got home, though, he said, "That was a lot of work. I don't think I am going to do that again." Yep- that was a whole lot of work to get dressed up and dance a couple dances with a girl. Crazy kid!! He just doesn't understand the power of a throat kicking mom!
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