Oh My God Please Stop Singing
When my friends and I first went up onstage at Das Nyx as a part of a student worker led event, all that was going through my mind was “oh my god what am I doing to these poor Germans”. To my surprise however they welcomed us with open arms, singing along and encouraging us to belt the chorus of Brandy by Looking Glass. My singing leaves much to be desired but I quickly got over the fear of holding a microphone with spotlights shining, staring out at a crowd of Germans. To our surprise, most of the music they listen to is in english, typically 2010’s pop, which often brought me back to a time when I was a little kid singing in the car. For some reason Germans absolutely love Amy Winehouse (rightfully so) and every Thursday night at karaoke you’ll hear at least three of her songs. Of course I don’t believe there’s any such thing as too much Amy Winehouse and the crowd has certainly influenced me to listen to her music more often.
Our Thursday Night Home
Our main goal when visiting Germany was to travel as much as possible. When deciding where we wanted to study abroad, we were faced with a choice between Bonn and Madrid. Although we figured on a day to day basis Madrid would be more fun (and a whole lot warmer), we settled on Bonn due to its central location in Europe allowing for cheap, painless travel. Almost every single weekend we’ve been traveling which, if not for Nyx, would have severely impacted our connection with the place we chose to study. The popularity with the locals, coupled with a young crowd, and karaoke taking place every Thursday allowed us to connect with the city we live in despite leaving it every weekend. We quickly came to love our Thursday karaoke nights with the bearded Swiss man who, every night, would yell into the microphone “Ryan und Ryan” before adopting a dramatic tone and announcing our song choice of the evening.
Our German Friends
Das Nyx has not only been very important to us for connecting with the city, but also the people who call it home. At the bar we’ve met countless friends who we now see quite often who have been instrumental in making Bonn feel like home. From the med student that loves to prescribe tequila shots and late night trips to Cologne, to the eccentric group of guys that love to ask us how German beer is and have the same excited reaction every time we say “absolutely phenomenal”, and of course the often shy but always kind girls they’re friends with, they’ve made us feel accepted and at comfortable at every turn. Always going to great lengths to spend their nights speaking english so we can understand, occasionally translating for us when needed, and showing us around their favorite spots, I couldn’t be more grateful. As someone who was missing my friends and family back home and would often think that they wouldn’t mind going home early, our new friends have all made leaving Germany bittersweet. I’ll miss them all dearly and as we spend more time with them they make it harder and harder to leave this beautiful country. Because of them I’m already looking into coming back as soon as possible and sincerely hope that my time away from this place is short.
-Ryan C
