The reason I didn't write this last weekend was because I was visiting Charles in Espelkamp. I left on Thursday after I was supposed to have my trumpet lesson (which got canceled). Espelkamp, a town of about 20 000, is where Charles has been living and working with heating and air. About 50% of the people that live there are Russian and many of those are Russian-Mennonites who came in the last several decades (including Charles' host family). The two main employers there are a cigarette vending machine manufacturer, and a slot machine manufacturer.
On Thursday Charles and I went out to the brewery in Espelkamp (evidently one of the few interesting places to go out to in Espelkamp). That night I stayed at Charles' host's house. It was a duplex, but it was the closest thing to a house that I've been into in the last 5 months. There are apartments everywhere here; people above, below, and on all sides--all the time. This house was still fairly small, but shared only one wall and has a door opening directly to the outside world. What a luxury.
On Friday Charles had to work, and thought he would be off by 12pm or maybe 1pm if his boss forgot that he had asked to leave early. I got up aroung 10am and had some breakfast. (I was just planning on having the cereal that was left out for me on the table, but as I was finishing up, Charles' host mother walked in. She told me that I needed to eat some more, and gave me bread meat and cheese to eat too.) Then I waited, and watched some German television. Eventually it became noon, but no Charles. 1pm and still no Charles. At 2pm the host mother said we would eat, because she didn't know what was taking Charles so long. She asked me if I wanted to pray, and I told her that would be fine. I folded my hands expecting her to begin praying, and then she said "You can pray aloud in English or German, it doesn't matter to me." I was caught off-guard. I had been speaking in German to her this whole time, but I had never prayed aloud in German. I just went with the English. And it was not long after our first bite of food that Charles come through the front door. His boss had evidently lost track of time, or didn't realize how long the project would be.
Later that afternoon we headed off to Muenster. The is a little more than an hour away for Espelkamp by train, and is a university city. There are 50 000 students alone. But in 1533 it wasn't a university city at all. There was a group of anabaptists who took over the whole city and ruled there for only a few years before an unlikely alliance of Lutherans and Catholics drove them back out, and left their leaders' dead bodies hanging in cages off the church steeple. Charles had found someone he thought we could stay with through a couch-surfing website, but he hadn't got a sure answer yet. On our way to the train station we had to stop at the gambling-arcade (not quite a casino) which was the closest place where Charles could get access to the internet. He found a message in his "couch-surfing" account inbox that said the place wouldn't work out after all. We decided we would send messages to as many people as possible to see if they could host us that night still, and we headed out anyway.
When we got there, we went into the nearest internet cafe to see if anyone had replied. Someone had, and said that he would be studying until about 10pm that night, but that we could stay with his friends. It turned out to be a really great experience. The guys we met showed us around the city and took us out that night. When we arrived, they even offered us some noodles (which they said were probably 80% of their diet). The next day we went to the city museum, where there was an exhibit on Low German, as well as the Täuferreich.
Then on Sunday, I came back to Wuppertal, and met up with the Bethel interterm travel group for Supper. There were also several Bethel-Wuppertal exchange alumni from as far back as the 50s. It was interesting to experience this meeting of people from my home school and Wuppertal people, especially here in Germany where I have been fairly isolated from people back home.
This last week I have just been trying to tie up some loose ends, and make an exit strategy. I had my last lessons, and yesterday I played the concerto I had been working in my trumpet lessons with a piano player in Solingen. It wasn't really a recital, more just to get the experience of playing it with accompaniment. Afterwords my trumpet teacher took me to his apartment, and introduced me to his dog and cat. We had some bread with mashed avocado (he has been a vegetarian for several years), and coffee.
Later than night, I went out to eat with many of my friends from the university at a tasty Indian restaurant where my family and I had eaten when we were in Wuppertal. The waitress remembered me, and told me to tell my family hi. (She also suggested that I should come back some time again, maybe after I have kids.) And we went out one last time, as had become somewhat of a tradition for Thursday nights.
And today is Friday, the Friday before the Saturday on which I will be arriving in Kansas. It's been a good experience, and I have made quite a few friends, that I hope I will see again, but I am excited to come home. I don't think the fact that tomorrow I will be home has really sank in, and it probably won't really sink in that I am going home until I am already there.
Well until next time in the USA,
--Austin
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Final Countdown
The extremely small amount of time I have left seems surreal to me. Before I go, however, I have to figure out how I will get credit for the courses I have been taking. I am not sure if I will need to take a test for the literature course I am in, or do some kind of playing exam for the lessons I am taking. It is kind of strange, because I am leaving a one or two weeks before the semester ends for real here. I hope I can get everything figured out. I don't really understand what's up with my German literature course. It is a part of the department that does the German language courses, so it is meant for people who are learning German or at least are not German native speakers. We started out with 2 or 3 people in the course. Then a few weeks later a couple more showed up. We had 5 in December. The last couple of sessions before Christmas break it ended up being me and one other person. One time I was the only one there. The professor doesn't like to have class with so few people, so we either, cancel the class, or wait to see who else might show up and then cancel. The two people who showed up later on in the course haven't been there for over a month now.
This last week the professor didn't unlock the door to the room where we have class. We now have 3 semi-regular attendees and we were all there. It had been 10 or so minutes since class was supposed to start. One of the students went to knock on his office door. He told her that nobody else had showed up for class, which was strange because I got there before the scheduled time and he had never come out of his office. She pointed out that there were three of us waiting on him there. So we ended up having class that day. I can hardly imagine what a final exam would look like in that course. I have barely learned anything. I hoped that we would maybe read a novel, or maybe some short stories. You know, maybe discuss the author and the themes in the work. In a normal class period we usually read a couple of poems and kind of talk about them. We get just a little bit of information about the authors. Nothing is cohesive; the next week=repeat with new poems and authors.
Who would have ever thought that syllabi would be one of the things I miss about home.
Other than that the highlights of my week were:
Sunday I went to the Kölner Philharmonie and heard Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium. The winds were playing what looked to me like period instruments. Natural trumpets, wooden flutes. That is a little too much lip slurring if you ask me. (My brass friends will be the only ones that appreciate that comment.)
Wednesday I went to a jazz club in Dortmund. It was about an hour train ride away. The club was a cute little place. You enter in through a cafe, and the upstairs there is a little stage in a room all painted black with a bar and a few tables and chairs. The group that was playing consisted of a sax, guitar, and drums. The music was okay at times, but it was maybe a little too out there for me. Not a lot of soul. The alto sax player knocked his reed out of place several times throughout the night. This wasn't a big surprise; it seemed like half his goal was to make strange noises with his instrument, forcing it to the extremes of its register and wildly wiggling his fingers over the keys.
And last night, I went to a surprise going-away party for Melanie, one of my German friends. She is flying to Australia on the same day I am flying back home. She will be an exchange student there in Canberra. It was a good time. Her mother made some tasty food, something similar to my aunt Nancy's cheeseburger soup. Very delicious. It was one of probably less than 5 home cooked meals (I won't count the "cooking" I do for myself) I have eaten here. It was a little strange to be going to someone's going away party when I myself will be going away in less than two weeks. Nonetheless it was a good night.
Only one more Sunday in Germany. I will see you all soon back in the US.
--Austin
This last week the professor didn't unlock the door to the room where we have class. We now have 3 semi-regular attendees and we were all there. It had been 10 or so minutes since class was supposed to start. One of the students went to knock on his office door. He told her that nobody else had showed up for class, which was strange because I got there before the scheduled time and he had never come out of his office. She pointed out that there were three of us waiting on him there. So we ended up having class that day. I can hardly imagine what a final exam would look like in that course. I have barely learned anything. I hoped that we would maybe read a novel, or maybe some short stories. You know, maybe discuss the author and the themes in the work. In a normal class period we usually read a couple of poems and kind of talk about them. We get just a little bit of information about the authors. Nothing is cohesive; the next week=repeat with new poems and authors.
Who would have ever thought that syllabi would be one of the things I miss about home.
Other than that the highlights of my week were:
Sunday I went to the Kölner Philharmonie and heard Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium. The winds were playing what looked to me like period instruments. Natural trumpets, wooden flutes. That is a little too much lip slurring if you ask me. (My brass friends will be the only ones that appreciate that comment.)
Wednesday I went to a jazz club in Dortmund. It was about an hour train ride away. The club was a cute little place. You enter in through a cafe, and the upstairs there is a little stage in a room all painted black with a bar and a few tables and chairs. The group that was playing consisted of a sax, guitar, and drums. The music was okay at times, but it was maybe a little too out there for me. Not a lot of soul. The alto sax player knocked his reed out of place several times throughout the night. This wasn't a big surprise; it seemed like half his goal was to make strange noises with his instrument, forcing it to the extremes of its register and wildly wiggling his fingers over the keys.
And last night, I went to a surprise going-away party for Melanie, one of my German friends. She is flying to Australia on the same day I am flying back home. She will be an exchange student there in Canberra. It was a good time. Her mother made some tasty food, something similar to my aunt Nancy's cheeseburger soup. Very delicious. It was one of probably less than 5 home cooked meals (I won't count the "cooking" I do for myself) I have eaten here. It was a little strange to be going to someone's going away party when I myself will be going away in less than two weeks. Nonetheless it was a good night.
Only one more Sunday in Germany. I will see you all soon back in the US.
--Austin
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Munich
It's hard to believe that there are only three weeks left until I am back home. That is less than a month. I feel like I have so many things I still have to do here.
Last Monday my sister was feeling good enough to take off to Munich. We got on the train at 9:14 and about five and a half hours later we were in Munich. We had booked a hostel there, and I had high hopes for meeting some interesting people, maybe speaking some German again. I went to the front desk of the hostel and told the woman there (in German) that we had a reservation. She had to answer the phone at some point in our conversation about the room, and she spoke in perfect English. It was evident that she was an American, so for the rest of the time she spoke English us.
In fact English was a common theme among almost all people at the hostel. Almost nobody was a German. Most were from Australia or from the UK, and throughout our stay I probably heard less than ten people total who were conversing in German at the hostel. English was also the most common language I heard on the streets in Munich. (Granted we were exclusively in the middle of the city, near the main train station and the main sights in Munich.)
On our first night there we ate at a tasty Greek restaurant.
Along with the lack of German, another surprise was that Epiphany, the 6th of January (my only full day in Munich) was a public holiday in Bavaria. All the shops were closed. So instead my sister and I went to the toy museum, which was interesting. (I did have my camera at this point so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.)
Evidently barbie needed a book on how to loose weight. If you look at the scale, it reads 110. A bit hefty for a 6 inch plastic doll if you ask me. . .
Then we walked around a bit.
And went into the Munich Frauenkirche.
This was the church of Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope.
The next day Taylor met up with the rest of the group from Bethel in Munich. I saw them only briefly before I had to catch a train back to Wuppertal.
Three weeks.
--Austin
Last Monday my sister was feeling good enough to take off to Munich. We got on the train at 9:14 and about five and a half hours later we were in Munich. We had booked a hostel there, and I had high hopes for meeting some interesting people, maybe speaking some German again. I went to the front desk of the hostel and told the woman there (in German) that we had a reservation. She had to answer the phone at some point in our conversation about the room, and she spoke in perfect English. It was evident that she was an American, so for the rest of the time she spoke English us.
In fact English was a common theme among almost all people at the hostel. Almost nobody was a German. Most were from Australia or from the UK, and throughout our stay I probably heard less than ten people total who were conversing in German at the hostel. English was also the most common language I heard on the streets in Munich. (Granted we were exclusively in the middle of the city, near the main train station and the main sights in Munich.)
On our first night there we ate at a tasty Greek restaurant.
Along with the lack of German, another surprise was that Epiphany, the 6th of January (my only full day in Munich) was a public holiday in Bavaria. All the shops were closed. So instead my sister and I went to the toy museum, which was interesting. (I did have my camera at this point so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.)
Evidently barbie needed a book on how to loose weight. If you look at the scale, it reads 110. A bit hefty for a 6 inch plastic doll if you ask me. . .
Then we walked around a bit.
And went into the Munich Frauenkirche.
This was the church of Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope.Three weeks.
--Austin
Sunday, January 4, 2009
European Family Fun
Well I kind of took a break from my blog over Christmas, which I spent with my family here in Germany. You've already heard about their arrival and first day here, so I will get right to the Fleisch und Kartoffeln of the visit. Here are some highlights.
(I will apologize in advance that I left the memory card to my camera in my computer for most of the journey. My mother has all the pictures on her camera. If you are If you are a hip under-thirty who has facebook, or an over-thirty still clinging to your youth who has facebook, or an over 40 who got facebook to keep track of your children, you can check out my sisters facebook profile for some pictures.)
Monday Dec. 22:
I gave the grand tour of Uni-Wuppertal to my family. They got to walk a lot of stairs. I gave them a piano concert in the practice room where I normally practice. We made reservations at an Indian food restaurant that we tried to go to the night before, and ate there for supper.
Tuesday Dec. 23:
Off to Cologne. My mother found an apartment to rent by the day there. We went to the Christmas Market in Cologne in the afternoon. Since everything closes on Christmas Eve we also went grocery shopping for a little German culture. That evening I got my family a little lost when we were looking for a brewery, and we ate at a different place instead. It was still a good time.
Wednesday Dec. 24:
Christmas Eve. We went to two Christmas Eve services kind of on accident. First we went to what I thought was more of a Christmas Eve concert, which turned out to be a whole Catholic mass. Then after that we went to a beautiful midnight mass in the Cologne Cathedral. It was kind of interesting to compare the two services. One was in a smaller church and felt a little more homey, the other was in the giant Cathedral packed out with people, many of whom were probably tourists. They both followed the same kind of program though, with a sermon, communion, and much of the same scripture.
Thursday Dec. 25:
We slept in after being at church until past 1am the previous night. After a brunch, we had a mini gift exchange. My mother made meatloaf for Christmas dinner which ended up being kind of in between lunch and supper. We then enjoyed the Christmas day by baking and eating peppernuts, and playing card games.
Friday Dec. 26:
We traveled to Stuttgart, a little more south and east of Cologne. The hotel we stayed in had apples that they left you in your room every day. The 26th is still a holiday in Germany, so shops and some restaurants were closed. We did manage to find a neat beerhouse that was open that day. We tried some of their Christmas brew, and had some late afternoon refreshments. No trip to Germany is complete without eating at a Doener Imbiss, so afterwords we ate at a Turkish restaurant, and made friends with one of the employees who cut us a special deal on his "Doener Plate." It was a lot of food.
Saturday Dec. 27:
We sort of decided that Stuttgart was a little bland. It felt kind of like every midsized American city, so we made a day trip to Esslingen, a small town just a little ways away from Stuttgart. The old part of the city is very cute, and stayed intact even through World War II. There were very small streets that are all now pedestrian zones. Some of the buildings lacked the perfectly square architecture that I had come accustomed to. They were either built that way, or settled into that shape as time went on. We ate at a quaint cafe for brunch, and walked up the hill on the edge of the city where the vineyards were.
Sunday Dec. 28:
We liked our little outing so much the day before, we decided to do it again. This time we went to Ludwigsberg where we saw a palace which some call the Versailles of Germany. It was very large and impressive. We then took a walk through the area that was used for hunting, and saw some kind of deer.
Monday, Dec. 29:
Another travel day. We decided to explore a place called Lorsch before going to Heidelberg (where we had our next hotel). We got off in Bensheim and took the S-Bahn to the little tiny town. Lorsch's train station has two tracks the second of which is only accessible by walking over the first. What we saw there was an old Monastery that was built in the 700s and was functional until the 1200s. It was later destroyed, but in its time it was the center of intellect in Swabia.
Tuesday, Dec. 30:
We explored Heidelberg and did a little walking tour. The old part of Heidelberg is really interesting and pretty. Then we climbed up to the Heidelberg Castle. It seemed so perfect like something one would see in a movie. It had a beautiful terrace with a great view of the city. I could imagine feeling pretty safe from enemies in that location (but it might have just been that I missed my Christmastime tradition of watching all 3 Lord of the Rings).
Wednesday, Dec. 31:
We traveled back to Wuppertal on our way to Duesseldorf. My sister and I did some laundry, then we headed off to Dusseldorf. I was a little afraid that the restaurants would be closed, and that nothing would be going on in Dusseldorf's old town. But after a very friendly middle-to-elderly aged woman who had lipstick on her teeth "helped" us get to the old town, we found a great Restaurant where we had Croatian food. It was quite tasty and meaty. It turned out the the Alt Stadt in Dusseldorf was actually really full. People in Germany just do their fireworks in the middle of the streets, and it seems to be a fun game to throw firecrackers at people or into crowds. So after exiting the warzone and getting back to our hotel, we played games and rang in the new year.
Thursday, Jan. 1 (2009):
This was the final day in Germany for my parents. We went to a bakery for breakfast/lunch, and explored the old town in daylight. It was quite cold, and we took shelter in one of the Alt Bier breweries, and had a couple beers. The manager must have known that we were from the US and gave us Uerige (the brand of beer) 2009 pocket calenders. A little more walking then in the Alt Stadt led us to seek warmth in a coffee shop where we played cards for probably 2 hours. For an early supper we headed to a Thai restaurant and then back to the hotel. We played more games, and prepared to send my Parents off in the morning.
Friday, Jan. 2:
This day was not my day. Here are the things that went wrong:
-I slept really poorly.
-I got my family on the wrong tram line while we were attempting to get to the airport at 7 am. I had to backtrack and walk with my family through the snow. We decided to take a the next cab we saw instead of trying to use public transport.
-After saying goodbye to my parents in the airport, Taylor and I headed back to Wuppertal. We had purchased two twin rail passes one for my parents and one for my sister and I. On our way back I couldn't find ours. Taylor and I had planned to to a little traveling on our own. The pass had two days of travel left on it, and I didn't know where it was. I was almost sure my parents had taken it with them and it was checked in their luggage to Chicago.
-Also on the way back to Wuppertal I couldn't find my key. I had left it in my apartment. When we got to Wuppertal, luckily it was a Friday, and the janitor was on duty who could unlock the door for me. If it had been the weekend or after hours, I would have had to pay someone 31 euro to unlock my door.
-When I got into my apartment both my keys and the train pass were in my room. I was very happy, until. .
-Later that night my sister and I went to the Wuppertal Brewery with a couple of my American friends. On our way out the door, we locked ourselves out. Again. After hours. On a Friday night. If I wanted back into my apartment before Monday, I had to call the key-man. So I did, and gave him his 31 euro. I did however get a very detailed receipt that I am thinking about framing. Other than that, I just like to pretend I never had that money.
Saturday, Jan 3:
This was a day for my sister to recover from our travels, and prepare to go on our own travels. We decided that we would go to Salzburg, Austria for one night, and then to Munich for two. Thereafter my sister would meet up with the Bethel Germany interterm trip. We also did laundry, but didn't have enough credits to dry, and Taylor had to wait until things were dry to pack. She finished about 12:30am, and our plan was to leave at 5:21am to get to Salzburg by 1pm.
Sunday, Jan 4 (Today):
Taylor coughed throughout most of the night at about 5 minute intervals. I know because I was awake hearing it. At 4:10 when I got up, I asked here if she was still up to going to Salzburg; I was happy to cancel our reservations at the hostel if she wasn't feeling well. She said she still wanted to go, but on the way to Cologne she said she felt very sick, so we got out and went back to Wuppertal. Today she has been resting in hopes that tomorrow we will be able to go to Munich.
That's the end of my saga.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you the best in the new year.
--Austin
(I will apologize in advance that I left the memory card to my camera in my computer for most of the journey. My mother has all the pictures on her camera. If you are If you are a hip under-thirty who has facebook, or an over-thirty still clinging to your youth who has facebook, or an over 40 who got facebook to keep track of your children, you can check out my sisters facebook profile for some pictures.)
Monday Dec. 22:
I gave the grand tour of Uni-Wuppertal to my family. They got to walk a lot of stairs. I gave them a piano concert in the practice room where I normally practice. We made reservations at an Indian food restaurant that we tried to go to the night before, and ate there for supper.
Tuesday Dec. 23:
Off to Cologne. My mother found an apartment to rent by the day there. We went to the Christmas Market in Cologne in the afternoon. Since everything closes on Christmas Eve we also went grocery shopping for a little German culture. That evening I got my family a little lost when we were looking for a brewery, and we ate at a different place instead. It was still a good time.
Wednesday Dec. 24:
Christmas Eve. We went to two Christmas Eve services kind of on accident. First we went to what I thought was more of a Christmas Eve concert, which turned out to be a whole Catholic mass. Then after that we went to a beautiful midnight mass in the Cologne Cathedral. It was kind of interesting to compare the two services. One was in a smaller church and felt a little more homey, the other was in the giant Cathedral packed out with people, many of whom were probably tourists. They both followed the same kind of program though, with a sermon, communion, and much of the same scripture.
Thursday Dec. 25:
We slept in after being at church until past 1am the previous night. After a brunch, we had a mini gift exchange. My mother made meatloaf for Christmas dinner which ended up being kind of in between lunch and supper. We then enjoyed the Christmas day by baking and eating peppernuts, and playing card games.
Friday Dec. 26:
We traveled to Stuttgart, a little more south and east of Cologne. The hotel we stayed in had apples that they left you in your room every day. The 26th is still a holiday in Germany, so shops and some restaurants were closed. We did manage to find a neat beerhouse that was open that day. We tried some of their Christmas brew, and had some late afternoon refreshments. No trip to Germany is complete without eating at a Doener Imbiss, so afterwords we ate at a Turkish restaurant, and made friends with one of the employees who cut us a special deal on his "Doener Plate." It was a lot of food.
Saturday Dec. 27:
We sort of decided that Stuttgart was a little bland. It felt kind of like every midsized American city, so we made a day trip to Esslingen, a small town just a little ways away from Stuttgart. The old part of the city is very cute, and stayed intact even through World War II. There were very small streets that are all now pedestrian zones. Some of the buildings lacked the perfectly square architecture that I had come accustomed to. They were either built that way, or settled into that shape as time went on. We ate at a quaint cafe for brunch, and walked up the hill on the edge of the city where the vineyards were.
Sunday Dec. 28:
We liked our little outing so much the day before, we decided to do it again. This time we went to Ludwigsberg where we saw a palace which some call the Versailles of Germany. It was very large and impressive. We then took a walk through the area that was used for hunting, and saw some kind of deer.
Monday, Dec. 29:
Another travel day. We decided to explore a place called Lorsch before going to Heidelberg (where we had our next hotel). We got off in Bensheim and took the S-Bahn to the little tiny town. Lorsch's train station has two tracks the second of which is only accessible by walking over the first. What we saw there was an old Monastery that was built in the 700s and was functional until the 1200s. It was later destroyed, but in its time it was the center of intellect in Swabia.
Tuesday, Dec. 30:
We explored Heidelberg and did a little walking tour. The old part of Heidelberg is really interesting and pretty. Then we climbed up to the Heidelberg Castle. It seemed so perfect like something one would see in a movie. It had a beautiful terrace with a great view of the city. I could imagine feeling pretty safe from enemies in that location (but it might have just been that I missed my Christmastime tradition of watching all 3 Lord of the Rings).
Wednesday, Dec. 31:
We traveled back to Wuppertal on our way to Duesseldorf. My sister and I did some laundry, then we headed off to Dusseldorf. I was a little afraid that the restaurants would be closed, and that nothing would be going on in Dusseldorf's old town. But after a very friendly middle-to-elderly aged woman who had lipstick on her teeth "helped" us get to the old town, we found a great Restaurant where we had Croatian food. It was quite tasty and meaty. It turned out the the Alt Stadt in Dusseldorf was actually really full. People in Germany just do their fireworks in the middle of the streets, and it seems to be a fun game to throw firecrackers at people or into crowds. So after exiting the warzone and getting back to our hotel, we played games and rang in the new year.
Thursday, Jan. 1 (2009):
This was the final day in Germany for my parents. We went to a bakery for breakfast/lunch, and explored the old town in daylight. It was quite cold, and we took shelter in one of the Alt Bier breweries, and had a couple beers. The manager must have known that we were from the US and gave us Uerige (the brand of beer) 2009 pocket calenders. A little more walking then in the Alt Stadt led us to seek warmth in a coffee shop where we played cards for probably 2 hours. For an early supper we headed to a Thai restaurant and then back to the hotel. We played more games, and prepared to send my Parents off in the morning.
Friday, Jan. 2:
This day was not my day. Here are the things that went wrong:
-I slept really poorly.
-I got my family on the wrong tram line while we were attempting to get to the airport at 7 am. I had to backtrack and walk with my family through the snow. We decided to take a the next cab we saw instead of trying to use public transport.
-After saying goodbye to my parents in the airport, Taylor and I headed back to Wuppertal. We had purchased two twin rail passes one for my parents and one for my sister and I. On our way back I couldn't find ours. Taylor and I had planned to to a little traveling on our own. The pass had two days of travel left on it, and I didn't know where it was. I was almost sure my parents had taken it with them and it was checked in their luggage to Chicago.
-Also on the way back to Wuppertal I couldn't find my key. I had left it in my apartment. When we got to Wuppertal, luckily it was a Friday, and the janitor was on duty who could unlock the door for me. If it had been the weekend or after hours, I would have had to pay someone 31 euro to unlock my door.
-When I got into my apartment both my keys and the train pass were in my room. I was very happy, until. .
-Later that night my sister and I went to the Wuppertal Brewery with a couple of my American friends. On our way out the door, we locked ourselves out. Again. After hours. On a Friday night. If I wanted back into my apartment before Monday, I had to call the key-man. So I did, and gave him his 31 euro. I did however get a very detailed receipt that I am thinking about framing. Other than that, I just like to pretend I never had that money.
Saturday, Jan 3:
This was a day for my sister to recover from our travels, and prepare to go on our own travels. We decided that we would go to Salzburg, Austria for one night, and then to Munich for two. Thereafter my sister would meet up with the Bethel Germany interterm trip. We also did laundry, but didn't have enough credits to dry, and Taylor had to wait until things were dry to pack. She finished about 12:30am, and our plan was to leave at 5:21am to get to Salzburg by 1pm.
Sunday, Jan 4 (Today):
Taylor coughed throughout most of the night at about 5 minute intervals. I know because I was awake hearing it. At 4:10 when I got up, I asked here if she was still up to going to Salzburg; I was happy to cancel our reservations at the hostel if she wasn't feeling well. She said she still wanted to go, but on the way to Cologne she said she felt very sick, so we got out and went back to Wuppertal. Today she has been resting in hopes that tomorrow we will be able to go to Munich.
That's the end of my saga.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you the best in the new year.
--Austin
Sunday, December 21, 2008
European Christmas, version .9
Sorry for the brief post today. My family arrived today at the Dusseldorf International Airport at about 7:30am this morning. I woke up at 5am in order to catch a train at 5:59 to Dusseldorf. They made it just fine, despite some concerns about the weather. Luckily the bad weather that had hit the northeastern US hadn't hit Chicago. The only small hitch was on my part when at 5:35 this morning in my doorway, I realized I didn't have my keys in my pocket. They weren't on my desk either. I couldn't find my keys. I looked everywhere, bed dressings, pants I wore 2 days ago, the bathroom, but I couldn't find them. I knew there was no way they weren't in my room; I couldn't have gotten in without them. I was beginning to panic. It would take me about 15 minutes to get to the Wuppertal train station. 5:43. Still no sign. Then somehow, in the panicked randomness that my searching had become, I looked at the other side of my sill opened door. There, evidently left in the keyhole from the day before, were my keys.
I didn't have time to feel relieved. I grabbed my scarf and jacket and power-walked my way to the train station. Luckily through a combination of this extreme walking pace and a slightly fast watch, I made it to the train station in ten minutes leaving about four minutes until my train left.
Other than that we (they) have just been acclimating to Germany, and a new time zone. We stayed awake until 8pm celebrating my mother's birthday (today) by visiting the Wuppertal Weihnachts market, and eating Italian.
So far so good.
May you have a blessed Christmas.
--Austin
I didn't have time to feel relieved. I grabbed my scarf and jacket and power-walked my way to the train station. Luckily through a combination of this extreme walking pace and a slightly fast watch, I made it to the train station in ten minutes leaving about four minutes until my train left.
Other than that we (they) have just been acclimating to Germany, and a new time zone. We stayed awake until 8pm celebrating my mother's birthday (today) by visiting the Wuppertal Weihnachts market, and eating Italian.
So far so good.
May you have a blessed Christmas.
--Austin
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Der dritte Advent
Well it's Sunday again, and I have to do laundry. I am not yet sure if I will in fact do my laundry, or if I will see if I can go another day or two. The problem is, you say, "Oh, I can do one load of essentials to tide me over." Then you say that again the next week. Then some things don't ever get washed. I liked going home on Sunday afternoons and doing my laundry. That was quite convenient. And free.
Another thing that I haven't been good at this week has been shopping. There is a lot of stuff to buy out there, but not much that seems worth anything. So yesterday I ended up looking and looking and scarcely buying. Way too much looking. Granted, some of that can be blamed on the fact that I don't exactly know what kind of stores there are here, and where exactly one can buy everything. My strategy by the end of the afternoon was to go into every store, and see if something struck my fancy.
There was some success this week. On Monday we had an "final exam" in my language course. I got the results on Thursday. I passed the exam. I also received a certificate of course completion. 180 hours of class, it says. Unfortunately only "Austin McCabe" is on the certificate. I will probably go see if I can get it changed.
Another piece of good news, is that I am planing on no longer taking this language course. From here on out, it is only more preparation for the DSH test. Merle, my German professor, is allowing me to do an independent study here instead. I am happy to be able to do something new, and possibly enriching, unlike 4-5 hours a day in the same class room learning increasingly less German and increasingly more about how to pass the DSH. I also hope to have some time to travel here in Germany. There are a lot of people here in Germany that would be ready to host me, and it seems silly not to take the opportunities. And luckily, a combination of my diet, consisting lately of mostly potatoes, apples, and carrots, combined with a "strong" dollar has left me with a little more money in my bank account than I expected to have at this point. I feel like being in only Berlin, the most populous city in Germany, and North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany, is a pretty narrow view of Germany. Maybe not. But I'd like to find out.
Well I hope everybody is having joyous Christmas preparations. Sing a carol for me.
--Austin
Another thing that I haven't been good at this week has been shopping. There is a lot of stuff to buy out there, but not much that seems worth anything. So yesterday I ended up looking and looking and scarcely buying. Way too much looking. Granted, some of that can be blamed on the fact that I don't exactly know what kind of stores there are here, and where exactly one can buy everything. My strategy by the end of the afternoon was to go into every store, and see if something struck my fancy.
There was some success this week. On Monday we had an "final exam" in my language course. I got the results on Thursday. I passed the exam. I also received a certificate of course completion. 180 hours of class, it says. Unfortunately only "Austin McCabe" is on the certificate. I will probably go see if I can get it changed.
Another piece of good news, is that I am planing on no longer taking this language course. From here on out, it is only more preparation for the DSH test. Merle, my German professor, is allowing me to do an independent study here instead. I am happy to be able to do something new, and possibly enriching, unlike 4-5 hours a day in the same class room learning increasingly less German and increasingly more about how to pass the DSH. I also hope to have some time to travel here in Germany. There are a lot of people here in Germany that would be ready to host me, and it seems silly not to take the opportunities. And luckily, a combination of my diet, consisting lately of mostly potatoes, apples, and carrots, combined with a "strong" dollar has left me with a little more money in my bank account than I expected to have at this point. I feel like being in only Berlin, the most populous city in Germany, and North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany, is a pretty narrow view of Germany. Maybe not. But I'd like to find out.
Well I hope everybody is having joyous Christmas preparations. Sing a carol for me.
--Austin
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Deutscher Dezember
It's Sunday again. The second Sunday in advent. It is a little strange not to be in Newton during the holiday season. Christmas time means my home church, my family, my neighborhood, the ever so precisely set garland on the porch bannister, Mannheim Steamroller, the Christmas tree, the once-a-year appearance of the box of ornaments, the nutcracker story advent calender that my sister and I used to fight over. . . These have been synonymous with Christmastime for 20 years, and it doesn't feel like that same Christmas is happening here in Germany.
There is, however, definitely Christmas happening here. On Tuesday this week, a group of international students and I went to the Christmas market in Essen. Essentially a German "Weihnachtsmarkt," in my experience, consists of many many little red booths set up in close proximity in a kind of town square. These booths are usually selling sometimes kitschy but homey Christmas-ware, or Christmas market food. Some of the food that I sampled while I was in Essen included Gluehwein, a spiced sweet wine served hot, and Backfisch, breaded and fried fish in a roll with an herb sauce or a garlic sauce. There was much more to eat and to buy than I had time or money for, but it was fun to share Christmas joy outside with other market-goers.
Tomorrow I have my first test in my German language course. It is a reading comprehension test. I can't really describe how tired I am of reading arbitrary texts and answering comprehension questions over them. Most in the class will be around to take the German proficiency test (the DSH, which allows an international to seek a degree at a German university) in March. That is what this course is supposed to be preparing us for. But for me, the goal of the course seems wrong. I would rather be learning about German culture, history, and literature. But that isn't how the course is designed. Its sole purpose is to prepare people to pass the DSH. Monday will mark the end of the first part of the course, and, assuming I pass the test, I will be in the course classified as "C1." (If you are interested in reading about these levels of German, you can check out the Goethe Institute's website.) I am very happy with the progress that my German has made here in Germany, but wish I had some enriching coursework (like I would if I were at Bethel).
I kind of thought I would have had a chatchy sign off phrase after 13 weeks and 13 posts. Maybe something will come to me. . .
Nope.
--Austin
There is, however, definitely Christmas happening here. On Tuesday this week, a group of international students and I went to the Christmas market in Essen. Essentially a German "Weihnachtsmarkt," in my experience, consists of many many little red booths set up in close proximity in a kind of town square. These booths are usually selling sometimes kitschy but homey Christmas-ware, or Christmas market food. Some of the food that I sampled while I was in Essen included Gluehwein, a spiced sweet wine served hot, and Backfisch, breaded and fried fish in a roll with an herb sauce or a garlic sauce. There was much more to eat and to buy than I had time or money for, but it was fun to share Christmas joy outside with other market-goers.
Tomorrow I have my first test in my German language course. It is a reading comprehension test. I can't really describe how tired I am of reading arbitrary texts and answering comprehension questions over them. Most in the class will be around to take the German proficiency test (the DSH, which allows an international to seek a degree at a German university) in March. That is what this course is supposed to be preparing us for. But for me, the goal of the course seems wrong. I would rather be learning about German culture, history, and literature. But that isn't how the course is designed. Its sole purpose is to prepare people to pass the DSH. Monday will mark the end of the first part of the course, and, assuming I pass the test, I will be in the course classified as "C1." (If you are interested in reading about these levels of German, you can check out the Goethe Institute's website.) I am very happy with the progress that my German has made here in Germany, but wish I had some enriching coursework (like I would if I were at Bethel).
I kind of thought I would have had a chatchy sign off phrase after 13 weeks and 13 posts. Maybe something will come to me. . .
Nope.
--Austin
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