The History of Euro Halloween…through the eyes of my pumpkins...

Say hello to Stuart, the minion pumpkin :) #2013

It all started back in 2010, my first year in Europe. In a small town Maribor, Slovenia. 

The end of October rolled around and so did my expectations of a haunted 31st. I quickly came to the reality that my dreams of candy corn, pumpkins and witches were not going to be taking place on the streets of Europe.

There were many culture shocks and adjustments that year, but this? No Halloween was a tough one to wrap my mind around. 

Lucky for me, I had fellow Americans surrounding me, an American teammate, my brother a few hours away and my best friend in Austria; we brought the holiday to life. Dressing up, carving and all. Going out in our best costumes on Halloween night in Austria and having a ridiculous amount of stares at why our faces were painted was definitely a highlight of my many Halloween experiences. Halloween 2010= Success.

Dressing up for Halloween in Klagenfurt, Austria

Pumpkin Too Cool #2010

When we do things, we do them all out. Face paint and all

2011 I returned to Europe, but this time sans-Americanos. I was going solo this year. And I wasn't about to have a pumpkin-less Halloween. No thanks. 

And so the tradition began. Pitch my crazy American carving pumpkin idea to my current team and all brave enough to take on the adventure of buying a pumpkin and sinking their knives  in to it, would join!

#2011

Dasa's first pumpkin!! Happy happy happy!! :)

And I am happy to report I haven't had a disappointed customer yet. They all end up sharing my love for starting with a lump of orange and turning it into a glowing master piece. 

And no one has disappointed me. In 2012 we even had a one handed carver because her hand was broken and in a cast, no fear; I learned you only need 1 hand and 2 good feet to carve a pumpkin! Awesome!

#2012

The year 2013 has proven to be no different. This year being my biggest carving party yet and the result of 5 beautiful, unique kurbis', German style :) 

I would like to introduce you to:

Moot, Bleh, Helga, Hey Mulina aaaaand Stuart

#2013

Thanks Mama Valentine for the AMAZING decorations that completed our Pumpkin Party :) 

My favorite entry of the 2013 Annual Pumpkin Carve goes to a late entry by a non euro resident. But it was so good, it didn't matter that it was done in America. My brother. We were chatting the day of my pumpkin carving and I told him what we were up to and he mentioned he wanted to take part, I told him he definitely should. My night came to and end, I sent him my pumpkin, Stuart, and he was impressed. Then I went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to a myriad of text messages and Facebook posts from him. This was the first text:

"I have a sweet idea for a pumpkin. Devoting the rest of my Sunday night to it."

And then the pictures ensued. 

And this was the final masterpiece: 

"I see your minion and I raise you one evil minion"

#2013 MVP 

This pretty much just sums up why my brother is so awesome. I don't even have to explain. I just love it...Congratulations on your MVP Pumpkin Award brother, you never cease to amaze me. :)

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There won't be any dressing up this year for us on Halloween but we did get to dress up as 'normal people' and not volleyball players Monday night after training and go to a "Player's Night". An event hosted by one of the newspapers in Hamburg.

The only thing that you need to know from this night was: The. Food. Was. Legit. 

Probably one of the best restaurants in Hamburg. Amazing. 

http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/hamburg_journal/media/hamj30407.html

The favorite of the night: Duck.
It was like Thanksgiving…but wait, isn't it supposed to be Halloween? But, Europe doesn't celebrate either of those…ok, now I am confused and I'm sure you are too. 

Point being, the duck was unreal.

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Our next game is next Wednesday at home, the first round of Cup!
We play in 3 different types of leagues throughout the year. The first being, regular German league, the second being German Cup and the last is European Challenge Cup. 

Wednesday we drew Kopenick at home for the first round. The Cup is a win and advance or lose and go home situation. Therefore, we will be looking to pick up our first win of the year and a very important one at that, because advancing in Cup is a BIG deal. 

And I would say after all of the work we have put in this week and a few days to prepare next week we are going to be more than ready! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgeGqXDLlGI