Germans, Georgetown, Duke Ellington, Hyper Tour of DC and Georgetown.

That pretty much sums up my weekend, in that order too.

A couple weeks ago, my friend Jenn Peters (Vocal Performance Major at Mason) called me up and said "Emily, I have to ask you something really serious, promise not to laugh...Would you be able to let one or two Germans sleep in your living room for a weekend?"

What else could I say, other than "Of course." The original plan was for me to house two German girls, however, at the last minute all plans flew up in the air and I was assigned two German boys. I have to admit I was a little timid of meeting them, and even more so when I realized that I would have boys instead.

I thought, "What could be more awkward than having two German choir members sleeping in my living room for four days." Looking back on it, all I can think is "How could that weekend have been more fun?"

As we were leaving the Metro station Simon, Sven, Annette and I immediately began making jokes and laughing about the differences between America and Germany--but most of all Simon and I found an incredibly strong connection: We are both moderately, if not completely, obsessed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and specifically with John Frusciante's solo work.

Just to let you guys know, I have met very few (one, maybe two) people before Simon who listened to Frusciante's solo work. And--I have never, never met anyone else who prefers to listen to Frusciante's acoustics or demos rather than his marketed albums. That is how incredible the--or as I said all weekend, my--Germans are.

We were barely in my apartment before Simon and I pulled out my dad's old Martin acoustic guitar and started singing one of our favorites, "The Past Recedes." Followed by a rendition of "Wet Sand," "Slow Cheetah," etc...

Of course a group of Germans didn't fly all the way here to play an acoustic guitar and highlight the differences between our cultures. They are members of a jazz/pop choir group called Fabulous Fridays.

Fabulous Fridays is a group that was founded in 2003 by Micheal Betzner in the hopes of completing one main goal: "singing and grooving." The choir group consists of 30-70 members with ranging disciplines and nationalities. Due to the different disciplines the choir group is able to bridge a gap between classical and jazz performances. (And incredibly well, might I add.)

On Friday, the group kicked off a lively concert in the Johnson Center, featuring John Lennon's "Imagine" (with a composition from a member of the choir), Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," and closing their performance with Mozart's "Joyful," which had Fabulous Fridays and nearly the entire audience singing and grooving along.

During their downtime, my friend Natalie and I showed my Germans the sites. Thankfully, the two boys agreed that they were bored with monuments and Washington DC and would much rather see shops and American sites--such as Georgetown.

I planned a trip to some shopping place on Saturday, which consisted of getting to the Vienna Metro station in one piece. I figured, we could figure the rest from the Metro station. Maybe, just maybe I should have planned a little better. The trip included walking a good distance from Rosslyn to Georgetown (and back again). And for me the trip included the scariest escalator that I have ever had to encounter. (I'm seriously deathly afraid of escalators.)

Still, with the lack of planning we managed to pull off a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon in Georgetown. We took Sven and Simon to Five Guys, which was also a first for Natalie and me. Five Guys may well have been the biggest hit of the weekend--the two boys were telling anyone who would listen about their trip to Five Guys.

Sunday was the big day for the Germans and Mason choir members--it was the Duke Ellington, the Sacred Concert. Which featured not one, not two, but three wonderful student ensembles--and even a tap dancer! The three groups (Soundcheque and Chamber Vocal Ensemble [Stan Engebreston, director--Mason], University Jazz Ensemble [James Carroll, director--Mason], and our honored guests Fabulous Fridays! Jazz-Pop Choir [Michael Betzner, director--University of the Arts, Berlin]) wove together many years of music history and oppression into a beautiful hour and a half performances.

The only bad aspect to the weekend was the Germans leaving, and how quickly they had to leave after their concert. We seriously had to change as quickly as possible and jet set it to Arlington to drop them off at their bus in a timely manner. All weekend I had been pulling off destination after destination without any issues what so ever. Maybe it's because I had a definite deadline--who really knows.

All I know is that when I tried to get to Arlington, I ended up beside the Washington Monument the first time. The second time I ended up on M Street in Maryland--where my Germans had to help me find my way back to Arlington, only for me to get turned around again, again...again. Before I finally caved and went into a gas station to ask for directions. Finally, I found my way to the bus and the three arrived only slightly late.