What a weird dream… something about Lord of the Rings. I don’t even like that series, but it seemed to be a slight combination of Myst. There were five books, I believe, each its own color. Everyone, about two people, stood in a large gothic-style room filled with an eerie dark green and blue light. I turned to someone and asked where his father was.

"He’s fine," the boy said. He looked curiously similar to someone I knew in real life. Someone on this tour, but it doesn’t matter who.

"I didn’t ask how he was, I asked where he was." The boy’s father turned out to be standing on a very tall platform in the room. I realized now we were probably in St. Stephen’s cathedral, but all the columns were missing. The man waved. He also looked like the father of someone I knew. I don’t remember who.

Everything after I used to remember, but it’s gone from memory now. It doesn’t matter so much. It was a pretty neat dream all the same. I do remember traveling across fields and such with the books. Some scenery was very much from Lord of the Rings.

At any rate, that dream ended up costing me my awakeness. I heard Piros call my name to wake me up. "Jason. Jason, your alarm never fucking went off."

It was 8:53am, and we’d missed our loading duty. Everyone was probably furious at us, since the bus was supposed to leave at 8:45 and now we were holding everyone up. I was equally upset that I’d missed breakfast and would now be very hungry. I quickly packed, not having time to brush my teeth or shower or put on deodorant. Mr. Owens made his way up to the room and said he’d check the room. He left after a bit, and I was sure I had everything, so I rushed downstairs. Piros had already gone, but Owens discovered he’d forgotten his belt. Silly Piros.

As soon as I got outside the hotel Casey walked up to me and grabbed my suitcase while I ran towards the door of the bus, the directors chanting, "Run, run!" I shouted "42!" and stepped onto the bus, but was stopped.

Retz looked at me. "You know you’ll be doing MINIMUM double duty, right?" I nodded and went onto the bus, and sat next to the nurse, which was the only seat available. The nurse was this middle-aged woman, very thin, with off white hair. She looked pretty good for her age, actually, and obviously knew how to have fun. We ended up sharing photographs. She’s a pretty good photographer. I just take a lot of photos.

Throughout the ride I was constantly worried because I had thought I’d left my keyboard at the hotel in Vienna. Later on I remembered where I put it – in the bag with the Rosenberger mug so that I wouldn’t forget to bring it along.

Salzburg was our destination – a four hour drive. It is the home of Mozart, the famous musician and composer. There is also a castle which towers above all other buildings. We were let off at an absolutely beautiful garden, and it’s a shame I forget the name of it. Myself and the rest of the Ridge Crew posed for a picture – a particularly painful one because the boys at the bottom had to kneel on the gravel. When I stood up (every other photo, and eventually every photo) rocks clung to my knee. It was a good photo, though.

The garden itself was intricately designed and full of fountains and statues, each made with meticulous craftsmanship. The ridge crew ended breaking up and scattering, which led to some problems when everyone had to gather at the front. Wyatt and Kaitlyn were missing, as well as Elizabeth and Elise. Wyatt eventually came back due to the "Wyatt call" and we left. We were then free to disperse bout the city once we knew the meeting spot, which was a football (soccer) field. It wasn’t really a field more than it was a bunch of bleachers set up in front of a HUGE screen, probably made to watch the final round of the World Cup. France vs. Italy.

Next to that was a large fountain, and a helicopter turned upside down. I wonder why it was upside down, Journal. I asked, and people just assumed it was something that had crashed in the town. Or that Austrians are weird at making tourist attractions.

EVERYTHING was Mozart. The whole town was Mozart crazy, especially the chocolate makers. Who made the original Mozart chocolate ball? Nobody really knew, but one store was found that is assumed to be the original. However, there is a company that mass-produces theirs. I didn’t buy anything until later.

We all traveled together at first, but once we wanted to buy lunch we all split up. Wyatt, Jen, Casey, Kaitlyn, and I went to get pizza, while everyone else got seafood. It turned out to be a big mess, and we never found each other until near the end.

It was decided after lunch that we would walk around trying to find a way to reach the castle above. So we did. It was a pretty messy path – we were pretty much just wandering around without a clue. We went up some cool stairs by a huge mountain wall, which a picture was taken of with Casey in it for size comparison.

Jen and I kept getting scared of the heights up at the top of the wall, which was where the stairs led. The stairs had had cool sculptures woven into them, which looked Mayan.

The castle was still nowhere to be found. We kept walking until we finally found a path that said "Castle." Took us long enough! Even when we got there, the castle was so massive and huge; it was almost degrading to stand in front of a single tower. There ended up being a path up to the top of the castle, where we ended up seeing the rest of the group, which had gone to the castle apparently. We waved to them and told them to come down. They said it was €6.90 to enter the thing, so all you could do until then was walk up the path to the arch entrance. It was nothing impressive, and nobody wanted to pay. Casey was about to, since he was dead set on it, but it turned out people had said it wasn’t worth the money and that it took too long. We didn’t have all the tie in the world anyway.

Walking down with everyone was interesting. There as a beautiful path surrounded by trees, and Wyatt jumped down part of it. There’s a short video of him doing it.

Oh, and I hate European stairs. Corson said I’m judging them, and that only European stairs can say that they hate each other, but I truly hate them. Every last European stair. They make each step so short. It’s awful – it wakes a million steps to go down two feet.

Everyone found side stands after that and we shopped. I bought a green bookmark. Corson heard a Shakira song playing and asked if the American artists were popular in Austria. The store clerk said that ALL American music is extremely popular. She also told me that if I break the little squeaky cow thing, she gets business.

I wanted to go to the chocolate shop. Corson had come back with Mozart balls approved by Mr. Dachau, the so-called "original" ones. They were supposedly very good, so I wanted to get some. Eventually, after the shopping, Corson led me to the shop: Cafe Furst. Interesting name for the cafe that supposedly created the first Mozart ball. People lined up inside for Mozart chocolate. It was €0.90 for one ball. I bought €10.00 worth, which came out to 11 balls. They were actually very good!

I bet the other brand wasn’t nearly as good as these.

It started to rain soon after, so as we walked along we enjoyed the drizzle and cooled off. Corson held my Mozart balls in his little thermo bag he got at the store. I didn’t get one because I didn’t buy any plastic wrapped balls.

In the rain everyone met back at the football stadium. I assumed it would be time for the walking tour, but we ended up visiting a beautiful church instead. Everyone began to sit, and I snapped photos. I kept trying to get a good photo of the big organ in back, and I had to take it tons of times over, and never got the photo right. When I turned around, everyone was on risers, and Mrs. Brinkman was raising her arm to start Esto Les Digo. I ran over to Retz and the others with my mouth hanging open, asking what was going on and when they had gotten on the risers. Retz said to sit down, and she said it was alright that I was having "a day." I don’t think I was having a day.

I don’t want them to start thinking I’m some sort of mentally unstable kid just because my father died. I was taking a photo, and I’m naturally flaky. If they start thinking I need help and sympathy because they think I’m in some sort of depression, they need to learn where I stand. And for that moment it was in front of a giant organ snapping photos.

I jumped in at the next song, but I ended up getting my leg caught in the rood of the bench. It made a huge crashing sound that was amplified by the church’s acoustics. Everyone looked at me and laughed, and I made my way to the choir.

Afterwards, we were split into groups by bus. It was time for the walking tour of the city, and I was so thirsty I thought my tongue would dry up and fall off. I couldn’t get a drink now, since were all together, so I had to tough it out for the whole walking tour.

First we toured the church, which had a great history to it and many amazing photos to take. I particularly like the -photos of the church candles. We left the church after not too long. I did have the chance to get he photo of the giant organ during the tour. I used Burst, a setting which allows you to take photos in succession by holding the Shoot button down. That caught a nice, still photo.

During the tour it began raining heavily. Everyone ran while we weren’t in an area with a roof. A select few enjoyed the rain and used it to cool off. Me, holding a camera, ran. I was still shooting tons of photos. The entire tour basically led us though the town we already knew, so I didn’t pay attention at times when she was talking about stuff I’d seen.

It turns out that the giant wall had a history to it. The wall was carved out and used as bomb shelters during the war, and eventually those weren’t needed so it became a large underground parking lot. Go figure.

It turns out that the three balls stuck between two buildings I saw earlier in the day WERE balloons! I’d had a debate with Hannah about what they were. When the tour guide said they were balloons for a modern art festival, Hannah snickered at me in triumph.

Dinner was chicken once again. The restaurant we went to was a very normal place. We were served soup, and then chicken with rice and soggy vegetables. For dessert was – you’ll never guess it, Journal – apple strudel. During the dinner we all learned what a prankster Brent is, and how creative and funny he can be. He’s absolutely amazing at coming up with pranks. He can take it, but he’ll dish it right back ten times worse.

On the bus to the new hotel, we learned that some people would be put in rooms with three people. Luckily this was not me, and Piros and were able to stay in a room by ourselves. We were room 26. Also on the way Retz announced the loading crew: Four people, "plus the first of two guest appearances by Matt Piros and Jason Rappaport!" For the morning loading crew, we received our second appearance.

The hotel looked as if you’d play pool and smoke inside of it. I don’t doubt people were smoking, like everyone seems to do in Europe (young or old), but there turned out to be no pool table.

I was sent to get Retz’s room key with the nurse, but the rooms weren’t ready. They said it would be a while, since they hadn’t done any of the girl’s rooms. I went back to the bus and informed her.

Once rooms were closer to being prepared, I unloaded all of the bags with Corson, Wyatt, Matt, and two others. We were fast an efficient, probably the quickest out of all of the loading crews so far. Tomorrow morning would probably be just as much so, even if the other four people wouldn’t be there.

I couldn’t find my bag, so I looked around. It turns out they had gone in e trailer hooked onto the back to the bus, because they were late baggage. As soon as we were allowed in we got our key, which was a real key hooked to a large and heavy brass weight. The weight had a strip of rubber around a mushroom-shaped top. I put my stuff in the room, which was far away from Corson and Wyatt’s room. They were put in room 310, on the third floor. I wanted to unload my photos, considering I had filled up the memory card.

Everyone gathered around their TV sets to watch the final World Cup match. When we arrived at the hotel it was already 70 minutes into the 90 minute game. The bar man asked if we wanted drinks, and I asked for Almdudler, but he didn’t have any. He was surprised I knew what it as, though. He asked if it was around in the states, and we all said it wasn’t. The "dudler" as I called it had become an epidemic around the tour. People were trying it and liking it.

Anyways, nobody ended up scoring. I spent a lot of the time in Wyatt and Corson’s room. Their room was much smaller than ours, and they had to accommodate a third person as well named Ian. I felt bad for them, having such a small room. Matt and I were so damn lucky.

The prospect of internet came up. John, the tour’s European know-it-all, said he had a CompactFlash 56k modem. However, the phone jacks in the walls of the hotel were different, so the voltage may overload the modem. He handed me a tester and the modem, and I set off to Wyatt to test it.

I wasn’t able to use it before room check, but I did have time to transfer my photos. After transferring the photos into the Salzburg folder, I headed out because of room check. Overtime was boring, and I told Corson why I don’t like watching sports on TV. We had a small debate about that. Corson said it’s fun to watch something you’ve done before. He used to play soccer, and that’s why he likes to watch other people play it amazingly.

I left and went back to our room. I would have used the public internet, but there was a HUGE line. I feel bad, because I really need to get to a computer to let my mom know that I’m okay. I will do this as soon as humanly possible.

Italy won the world cup, finally. The TV went nuts. It sounded like they’d won the King of the World championships. However, I suppose I wanted Italy to win more than France. I shut the TV off later the celebration of Italy’s victory went on for about fifteen minutes with no signs of stopping. I took th opportunity to shower and then use th incredibly nice desk in the room to write my journal for the night.

July 10 – 11, 2006: Westendorf.
Song of the Day, 10th: Fortunate Son
Song of the Day, 11th: Ice Worms

Another weird dream I had, but this one had nothing to do with Dad. I was doing a presentation on The Colbert Report, and I basically ended up being Stephen Colbert. I remember saying, "I like my immigrants the way I like my bacon: stir fried." The whole show ended up being done on a projector screen, as if it were a school powerpoint presentation.

I woke up a minute before the alarm was set to go off, and shut it off. Matt was already awake by that time, and had probably been up since around 7:10am. Jet lag still held me by the heels, so I couldn’t wake up quite as fast. I did tell him about the immigrants thing, though.

I didn’t need to shower, since I’d done it the night before. In fact, I was pretty much ready to go. I got up, brushed my teeth, and finished packing my suitcase.

Breakfast was continental, but this time there was grape juice. The bacon was kind of uncooked, so I didn’t eat it. I did eat eggs and a banana, as well as a glass of grape juice. Then I left because it was time for loading duty.

I almost was able to catch internet in the morning, but there ended up being a line. Which sucked. I really wanted to email my mom, or post on my blog. Some way of letting her know I’m okay.

Myself, Piros and the loading crew loaded the bags onto the bus with the help of Francis. Francis did most of the loading work, we just brought the bags over. The girls and boys bags needed to be separated for Westendorf because girls would be staying in one hotel and boys another.

Westendorf, they said, is a very small town. And that when we got there, we’d see it and realize why we needed two hotels for one bus.

Since I was loading crew, I was the last on the bus, so I sat with the nurse again, who is still a cool person. John in an announcement said that the scenery would be beautiful during the trip to Westendorf. The nurse and I exchanged looks and prepared our cameras.

The scenery was indeed spectacular. As soon as the mountains rolled in, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was as if one minute you’re on a highway, and a mountain jumps out of nowhere.

Cameras snapped left and right, as well as forward because a huge mountain range was in front of us. Eventually the big city atmosphere disappeared and everything was mountain. Small villages began to appear, all at the foot of the mountain and colored in oldy-time red and cream and brown colors. Photos continues to snap and the gorgeous mountains that surrounded everyone.

We passed several small villages over a long period of time, and as went further into the mountains things just became more and more beautiful. Eventually, later going through several of the small villages, we arrived at an odd turn in the road, which brought us to Westendorf.

I was glad to see one of the comfortable little mountain towns up close. The flowers on the windows of the houses really finished it off. We drove passed both hotels, which were pointed out to us, and then we went to a parking lot that was located near a ski lift.

Apparently we’d be able to go up the mountain if we wanted to. Awesome.

I didn’t get to go up the mountain immediately. First the Ridge Crew decided that we needed to go to the grocery store and get lunch. We did so at a place called SPAR, which also had batteries. The regular kind were really expensive, so I got the cheapest kind in the store.

I was the last one out, because I don’t really like shopping for food to make lunch myself. I came out with a small loaf of raisin bread, two bottles of Almdudler, some Mozart chocolate coins, and Hubba Bubba gum. Oh, and four packs of the cheap batteries. It cost me twelve Euro.

The group wanted to go horseback riding. The rest of the group didn’t. I noticed that, in front of the tourist information center, people were getting agitated for one reason or another. If I made a comment, I was lashed back at by Kaitlyn or someone else. I don’t know why they were angry, but I intend to find out.

The inside of the tourist information had internet for twelve minutes per Euro. I did not do it because the group decided to get angry and leave. But had they not, I would have been able to email you, mom.

I never did see that internet stand again. Such a shame.

Since we couldn’t go horseback riding, and Corson and Hannah and gone off to find a pool and swim in it despite the fact that nobody had bathing suits, Casey and I attempted to convince everyone to hike up the mountain. Unfortunately, everyone was far to angry to agree upon anything, and some people even walked of. It was a shame that such a beautiful little town had to have this kind of attitude.

Everything we were walking in and out of, just to make a note, was in a small central area with roads that never had cars on them. Nobody owned an SUV here. They’re all very conservative about using energy, Mrs. Brinkman says, because they’re not rich or anything. They live and die in that small town.

We finally decided to go up the mountain. As we walked people took pictures of the flowers on the walls of the small houses. As we got further from the central square of Westendorf, houses dispersed into the mountains and onto the sides of the road at greater distances from each other, until it as just a field an the parking lot. There was a small road that led up to the parking lot very far from where we had began, and I knew that we had taken a different road and that this was the long way to the parking lot. Nobody cared, and they kept going.

We crossed the street and walked along the road, watching for cars. There was a small stream that Wyatt decided to act childish in. He touched the water and threw it around, saying he was cooling off. Eventually everyone else began to touch the water, and even take off their shoes and step in it. It felt so nice, they said, that I decided to try it out myself.

It was really cool and nice! I’m glad I touched the stream. Everyone decided to walk in the stream to the parking lot, since that’s where it went. I would have, but I was carrying a grocery bag with stuff in it.

I ended up carrying the grocery bag and my shoes and my passport bag and my camera/palm bag up the stream. It felt really nice, and was a ton of fun. The rocks in the small stream were really slippery, so I almost fell a few times. One time I slipped and my entire grocery bag got wet, including the batteries.

The girls separated from the boys in the stream, but this was a natural split. They were moving so much slower.

When we got to the end of the stream I put my shoes on and went to the bus to check and see if I could put my groceries in it. Nope, it was locked. I walked back to the ski lift area and asked if there were lockers. The lady at the desk didn’t know what a locker was, so I said "safe." She said there was nothing like that there. It seems I would be carrying it up the mountain.

Which I did. We all bought tickets up the mountain, which had a very weird photo on them. The cable car was up the stairs, so we got on it after scanning out card into the machine. It read the card oddly, moving it in and out of the slot. It reminded me of something dirty, but it was kind of funny.

The cable car only held eight, I believe, so some had to stay behind and wait for the next car. We split it up into boys and girls, so I was on with Wyatt, Buckley, and Corson. The views from the cable cars were incredible. You could see the entire town, and below the view of the mountain surface was equally as amazing. I love Westendorf, I really do.

Wyatt was videotaping the whole thing rather stupidly, but funnily. He kept calling his camera "Mr. Camera." We spoke about pot and stuff, or at least they did and I added in my disgust for it all. Wyatt stuck his head out the window, "Hey Mr. Camera, I’m being stupid!" he said. He said that he used to smoke, but doesn’t anymore.

As soon as we got off the cable car and walked outside, it was WOW. What a view! You could seethe tops of mountains that went on and on! How often do you see that in the US? NEVER! This was incredible! I took videos, photos, the whole deal. We even found mountain goats. And a donkey.

There was a path to go even further up the mountain. Casey and the other boys took it not accounting for time, which was only about an hour left. People had said it took a half an hour to walk up to the top of the mountain and half an hour down, so if they go to the top in that time the would not get to the bus. I ended up going a while later, but not all the way up.

Kaitlyn thought we were all being stupid. She’s really irritable, Journal. I don’t get her a lot of the time – why she has to be so serious. Or why she hates the questions I ask. When the group is doing something silly, she’ll go along with it and not accept any objections. Or even a suggestion.

The mountain path wound like a snake, which made it silly to climb, and this is why it took so long to get to the top. Casey had been wondering, I remembered, if you could go straight up the mountain. I wonder if he’d don that. I didn’t, though, I just walked up, taking more photos of the amazing view as I climbed. I got to one area where everything became steep, but the view was more incredible than ever. I snapped a few photos and decided I was too scared to go up anymore. And the giant bugs flying and buzzing around me were getting annoying.

I made it down long before Casey and the others. The girls and I didn’t bother waiting for them, since we assumed they would never be back on time. We all went to the bathroom and travelled down the cable car to the bus.

It was really hot by the bus, but even more hot inside the bus. I saw people putting their chocolates into the refrigerator at the front of the bus, and planned to take it out at the hotel. I did so.

Mr. Owens said I couldn’t do it after a minute or so, since it was Francis’s personal fridge. Francis later told us about a freezer in the back that’s for everyone, so we all shoved our chocolates in there. I don’t know where it is, though, since I had someone else do it for me. Hey, they were going back there anyway. ;)

We were driven to the hotels; girls were dropped off first. When it was the boys’ turns, we were informed that people really do live there with children and such, so we must be incredibly respectful. I doubt we would be that, at least a few of us would definitely never respect a person who lives in a house where we’d be staying.

Piros and I were in room 4, which was on the first floor. It was a very nice and cozy room, better than everyone else’s. Some people were in quads for this hotel, and Piros and I were just us two together still, so I was happy. In the other rooms two people had to sleep in one bed, but outs was roomy, had a desk, and had two separate beds. Our bathroom was nice as well.

We were supposed to get into concert attire, and I realized I had left my backpack  on the bus. When everyone met outside, I told this to Mr. Dachau, who said I was out of luck since the busses might not even be in town until tomorrow.

He came back after talking to Mr. Owens and said I was very lucky. Bus 1 would be staying next to the concert area because it held all of the instruments. I would pick it up before the concert started. The concert was taking place a short walk away from the hotel, in a concert hall where we would also be experiencing a Tyrolean Folk Party. John made it seem quite funny at dinner. By the way, dinner tonight was the first different dinner we’ve had so far. It’s been chicken with french fries and mushy vegetables every night. Tonight was lasagna.

"Just a little bit about the Tyrolean Folk Party… now, it’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be fun. It’s a bunch of happy Austrians dancing around. First, there may be a bit of profanity. If you are offended by this, you do not need to participate. Okay? Now, there may be a bit of what they call ‘audience participation’… should you not want to go up and have a god time, when one of the dancers comes and takes your hand, DON’T GET UP! There may be butt slapping… there may be girls. There may be girls."

Everyone started laughing and cheering, but he had one more note to make.

"As a last statement, there just might be some special spring water… yes, Austrian Spring Water, served tonight. If you do not like Austrian Spring Water, you are free to refuse it."

Everyone knew he meant they’d be passing out shots of vodka.

Dachau made people upset by saying that ONE girl would be offered a single shot of the stuff. I didn’t care; it’s not like I would accept it anyway.

After dinner we made our way to the concert. I waited there early for Francis, so that I could get my backpack. He never came, so I went inside. They said he was probably still eating dinner. I went outside and continued to wait, since it was incredibly hot and boring inside the concert hall. Everyone in the choir was waiting in the mezzanine area for the band to finish setting up. Charlie, the "jabberwalk," broke his clarinet. You could see him disappointed from the balcony.

Eventually Francis came and I was able to got my backpack in bring it into the room. The concert began soon after. A bunch of seniors who definitely didn’t speak English were gathered around – it was the biggest audience we’d had so far. The room was filled with chattering seniors drinking and smoking, and smoking and smoking.

The concert went very well, even though the audience was incredibly rude. Dachau was ready to kill the Bass II section because they left a measure out of Stand By Me like they always do. After the choir section of the concert was over, the basses went behind the building and messed up their cloths and hair, and came out all beat up. It was hilarious. Wyatt had part of hi hair dropping, and he dropped his music folder in mid-limp. I didn’t get a photo or video of it, but I wish I had. It was great.

We all went in through the front door for Let There be Peace on Earth, and I accidentally tripped over an old woman’s foot. I apologized many times, and the sang, looking at her happily as if this was my gift to her to make up for my clumsiness. Once that was over, everyone dispersed and packed up. I gathered my things and grabbed a seat to wait for the Folk Party to begin.

I forgot to say this, but the Gold Tour had been watching us perform the entire time. Apparently they had been stopping by in Westendorf. The different colored tours mean that the performing students come from different areas of the US. I believe the Gold Tour was still majorly Northeastern students.

The Tirolean Folk Party began while I went to the bathroom. I came back and it was dark, lights were flashing, and people were clapping. I started clapping and jumping up and down as I walked to my chair. I got out my glasses and my camera, snapped photos of the person who walked onstage, and listened to what he said. He said it in both German and English. It was basically a welcome.

The first act were two senior woman who sang a polka song. The crowd went wild, however, as if it were a rock concert. The next act was a slap dance performed by five men in lederhosen. Again, people went wild. When the girls came out again, some people went up in front of the long tables and danced as couples. These numbers grew with each act, until there was an instrumental dance number what had everyone gathering to the front and dancing wildly, me included. After that, I just stayed at the front.

There was a wood chopping dance where the five slap dancers chopped wood and slapped the asses and thighs and feet. It was funny to watch, and wood flew everywhere. I grabbed two piece for myself. Casey got a HUGE branch, which I took a photo of. He can’t take it into the US, though, since it’s not allowed. I’ll sneak my little piece of wood in, though. I don’t think there’s anything harmful in it.

After the wood chopping dance the one girl was selected. She was given a broom and was told to sweep the stage with Michael, the youngest slap dancing group member. She didn’t do a good job, but the crowd was so wild that they were chanting, "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!"

After she had finished sweeping, she was sent offstage. Michael felt down, and the announcer said he needed a kiss to wake up. The girl went back up and kissed him. Cameras flashed all over – I got a perfect picture. Afterwards, she was offered the shot of vodka, which so definitely didn’t want to drink. I noticed how powerful peer pressure was that night, when everyone bean chanting to her to drink it, and Michael downed his shot… it was as if she had no choice. She held her breath and gulped it down, making a sour face. She wiped her tongue afterward and made "blech" noises.

After that it was all dancing. The crowd had turned into a mash pit, with everyone including myself jumping up and down shouting "HOY, HOY, HOY!" It was a ton of fun, and made me very tired.

As the acts went on, some people moved back to the tables, while others stayed up front for the conga lines and the good view of the slap dancers. One time while I had gone back to the table for a rest, they called up eight to ten boys (two of them were Corson and Casey) and an equal amount of girls for each of them. They then did the butt-slapping dance, and taught everyone else how to do it! It was great.

Everyone on stage was offered a shot of "Spring Water." Casey took three shots because many smart people refused the liquor.

Michael played accordion alone for one act, which was really the last time people were incredibly energetic and jumping off the stage being carried by a mash pit. There were also two other slap dancers playing the "yodeling bells," which were basically cow bells made different sizes for different notes. They really did make the chords, and the crowd cheered loud whenever the chorus ending chord struck.

The final act was done in the dark, and was called the Mining Dance. The slap dancers walked out with stakes, lanterns, and a rock with gun powder on a holster. They also had hammers for to hit with the stakes.

Everyone was asked to be quiet. The polka music began after much "shhh"ing. The slap dancers held up their stakes and hit them with the hammers – they made notes! Much like chimes, the stakes played music. One person also had a bell.

They put the stakes on the rock and banged them to the beat of the polka, which still made notes. Then they lit the center of the rock on fire. It must have been perfectly timed, because right when the song ended the fire in the middle was at it’s end.

They said good night, played one last exciting polka song, and then it was over. We all gathered outside by our respective coach directors. Out coach had a condom blown up like a balloon. "Hey, that’s not a balloon!" someone said.