for the Journey

who knew that Chicago would offer such a rich cultural exchange?

it all started at Wrigley Field.  we were enjoying all the food and beer we could handle (which turned out to be quite a bit) on the rooftop seats in right field.  i’m not sure why anyone would give me unlimited access to a bratwurst stand, but so be it.  somewhere in the third or fourth inning we noticed that there were about a dozen spectators running around in full lederhosen gear.  some theories were passed around- maybe the visiting Brewers fans had a tradition that we weren’t aware of?  or possibly a publicity stunt of some sort?  at any rate, the obvious thing was that we would be avoiding these Bavarian fools at all costs.

fast forward a few hours: so we’re hanging out after the game with our new buddies, the guys in lederhosen.  turns out they are visiting Germans and actually just wearing what they felt comfortable in.  we all marched down Addison to a bar where they proceeded to buy all of our beer and teach us German drinking songs.  laughter, drinking, yelling, and general mayhem ensued.  and that was BEFORE the New Zealand rugby team walked in…

as if this wasn’t cultural enough of an exchange, i was also a guest at a Slovenian polka party in Joliet a few nights later.  this party was actually the main reason for my trip to Chicago, as it was a celebration of my cousin’s 10th wedding anniversary.  the place (the local Croatian Cultural Club hall) was packed with aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends.  the musicians on the bandstand had two accordions, a banjo, and a bass.  one fellow was playing the drums with a wooden spoon he found in the kitchen.  people were three-stepping everywhere.

my family and i drank Croatian beer and periodically raised our glasses to shout “Karlovačko!” - a phrase which we have absolutely no translation for.  we cut into the accordion-shaped cake (yep, these people really know how to party).  they took turns telling stories about ways i had embarrassed myself at my cousin’s wedding ten years ago in Cleveland, and i gave them several new stories to tell for the next ten years.  it was great to spend time with the people who have shared so many important moments with me for so long, even if we didn’t know what we were yelling out.

when midnight crept up, the band played their final waltz and raised a toast to the happy couple.  the dance floor cleared and everyone went to the bar to finish up his drink before heading home.  i was just wishing to myself that it didn’t have to end so soon when a lone banjo started plucking a simple tune somewhere near the bar.  an accordion jumped in from across the hall.  before you knew it, a whole new set of musicians were up on stage playing polkas with an even greater fervor than the group before.  it was madness- you just can’t kill a good polka.

my uncle and i looked at each other, then over to my cousin.  an aunt shrugged her shoulders, raised a beer and shouted out “Karlovačko!!”

which in any language means “Hell yeah.”

for the Journey,
-louie-

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm and is filed under Life, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.