Legalism, Piano Playing and Drinks on the House

It's interesting... the majority of German Christians don't see drinking an occasional alcoholic beverage as negatively as American Christians see it. Ironically, legalism is culture-dependent. For example, at the international church in Augsburg that my family and I used to attend, the Christian women absolutely did not wear make-up. They'd drink hard liquor on a daily basis, but a touch of mascara? EVIL! Then there's the other extreme. Although Texas and other-southern-state Christians are notorious for caking their make-up on, you'll never find them within a mile from a drop of Federweisser.*

Anyway. All that to say... Helmut, Christiana and I have started a new tradition of going out for drinks after either Choir or a monthly Praise and Worship Service. This week, Beatrice was there as well. :)

A couple of weeks ago, we had a rather amusing evening. It all took place on a dark, rainy night, in a little pub in Neukirchen, which happened to have a piano right near our table. Throughout the evening I kept glancing at it, debating whether or not to play... until Helmut finally coaxed the bartender to let me try it out. After messing around and playing bits and pieces of various songs, I returned to the table, to see that she'd given us a round of drinks on the house. :)


Hehe. 10 minutes of piano playing for two red wines and an Amaretto. Not bad, hmm?

I would have never done that in the States. Some things change (or are changeable) with time, though, I've discovered...


Here are Helmut and Christiana...


And here I am with Beatrice.**

So, that's our little group. :)



*a deliciously sweet, slightly bubbly, perfectly innocent, mild wine

**Beatrice, if you seriously have a problem with my posting of this picture, let me know and I'll remove it. Just please don't sue me until I've at least found a new job.