Grüne Woche With a Side of Lederhosen

Every year Berlin hosts the "Grüne Woche" (Green Week) as a celebration of both the German and International "green" lifestyle. The event is held in a massive civic center-esque building, where each gigantic room hosts a theme. Most of the "food rooms" are divided by German state, where each state provides traditional food and beer from their region. As the saying goes, "It's all Greek to me." Well...no offense Germany but all the brats, sausages, meats, cheeses, jams, etc at the stations looked the same to me. On the other hand, the beers all looked very different--thank God for marketing designers!
My friends and I then wandered into a specifically Bavarian room and oh my Holy Lederhosen! Who knew there were so many different kinds of lederhosen--colors, fabrics, silver embellishments, etc. I am not going to lie, as an American standing in this room was one of the most surreal things I have experienced while living in Berlin. We all know the lederhosen tradition is more of a American stereotype than anything else; however, the Bavarian folk band playing the accordions and brass instruments combined with the traditionally dressed Southern Germans drinking out of huge beer steins led me to believe that I had somehow been miraculously transported from Berlin to Munich. I mean I was half-expecting Maria and the rest of the von Trapp family to run out on stage with their hands cupped together singing "Do, a deer, a female deer." (Yes, I know the von Trapp family is from Austria and not Southern Germany...but the two areas have similar traditions).
The next room we entered had farm animals of all kinds. Actually, I have never seen a bigger cow, bull, and horse in my life. Not to intentionally bring up another stereotype (sorry to the women of Eastern Germany), but I think those animals may be eating some steroid-spiked hay on the side. At one point my peers and I stood amazed by the enormousness of one bull, when all of a sudden the bull's tail lifted and we all ducked quickly and backed away in fear. You would have thought the bull was about to release a missile from the way we all moved! I guess that bull was only stretching, because his tail swooshed back down and he went on eating his food. We all turned to each other and made some "bullshit" jokes and then walked to the next station.
By the time I finished seeing all the mammoth farm animals, I decided I was exhausted and it was time to head back to the normal world of Berlin. I told my host parents where I had been when I returned home, to which Regina replied, "You went there? It is so bad! I hate it!" She said that it is overpriced, over-crowded, and stinky, but I explained to her that as an American is was truly fascinating!