vailian

This week I am judging a national music competition in a German city on the French border.. it is much harder work than I thought it would be.
There are 2000 participants (OK, I don't have to judge all of them!) and I am one of a tiny handful of non-Germans on the juries; I am trying to keep my grammar problems hidden. It is very nerve-wracking not only for the young competitors (they are all between the ages of 10 and 19) but for us because the decisions we make can affect their whole life directions. these are the final rounds of a big national contest that started in January. We listen to the performances and then award points and prizes, and do some councelling.

On the first evening a group of us went out and I was confronted with a local custom that I have not seen before: a group of girls in odd costumes confronted us, one wearing fairy glitter and antennae and holding a cardboard tray filled with small items-- candies, lipstick, drugstore type things-- and she asked me if I wanted to buy something. I was startled but she was cute, so I said why not. She explained that it is a custom here that on the night before her wedding, the bride goes out with her girlfriends for a last night on the town, and has to sell some things to complete strangers. I don't know what this custom is called, and am wondering what it signifies. Selling her soul?