Keepin it Live!: Congratulations to Zee Germans..

Upon first arriving here in Germany, I was very surprised by many aspects of the German culture. On my first day here, however, one of the livest things I have ever witnessed occurred... by a 6 year old. Right after arriving at my host family's house, I was chatting with the father about the typical things when Finn, the 6 year old boy, came running towards his dad with a half liter bottle of hefeweizen. I thought to myself, wow, these Germans really know how to train their children. This guy did not even ask for a beer and his kid is running towards him with a beautiful, locally brewed hefe in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. I was impressed to say the least.

What happened next baffled me. The father opens the beer and hands it right back to his son Finn, who proceeds to run into the kitchen. By this point, I had no focus on what the dad was saying anymore, instead, curiously watching his son reach in the cabinet for a perfect looking glass mug and begin pouring the beer. Now, rather than doing the typical splashy, young, hyper-kid pour (surprising, considering this particular child was hyper as all hell) this 6 year old calmly proceeded to do something I am still learning to do myself - the Perfect Pour. I was in absolute awe as Finn tilted his glass to a 45 degree angle while slowly pouring in the beer to obtain the necessary amount of foam, all while confidently tilting his glass back into the upright position. Keep in mind, Finn is 6 years old. I turned back to his old man and decided that this guy was a damn legend and I was lucky to have him as a host dad considering his son gets him a beer and pours it perfectly at the age of six.

I glanced back at Finn to give him one last congratulatory look only to see him straight downing this monstrous beer. He looked up at me with the most ginormous foam ring I have ever seen around his mouth and gave a smile that spanned his entire face. By this point, the dad noticed my shock and coolly stated, "Non-alcoholic beer... Beer for kids!" WOWWY, if that aint Keepin It Live than nothing is.