Weihnachten in Wien

Hallo everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a restful weekend. I’ve been in Vienna for one week now, and it’s been a week of up and down emotions.

I arrived late Saturday night, and it was snowing when I landed. I don’t think I have ever flown in the snow, and it was a really amazing experience. Aside from the nagging terror that the runway was covered in ice and snow, it was beautiful. It was nighttime too, so the swirl of snowflakes was only lit up intermittently by the lights on the wings of our plane. As we started our decent, I could see the small towns around Vienna and the houses and trees all covered in snow. It was really quite beautiful. And also quite cold. Lisa was waiting for me outside the baggage area, and we hopped in her sporty little car to head for her apartment. Lisa lives in the town of Baden, about 20 minutes outside of Vienna. I had visited Baden last year when I was in Vienna for work, and Lisa’s parents invited me for dinner. They were so kind and friendly, and that was the spark that led to me spending Christmas with them this year. Baden is a beautiful town, and very different from summer to winter, and it is especially transformed at Christmas. Lisa had to work a few days last week so I was free to explore Baden and the Christmas markets, and have lunch with her parents who live just 10 minutes away. Her parents speak a bit of English, about the same level as my German, so while we struggle a bit, we are able to communicate quite well. It helps that they are very patient and encouraging, so I’m not as tense when speaking with them. They also have a dog, a Doberman, who is less than a year old and full of energy. I went to the park with Lisa’s parents and the dog so she could run. Dogs act the same in every country, and I love it.

I’ve really enjoyed exploring Baden, and Vienna as well. As I said, Lisa has been working but I’ve gone into the city a few times to look around on my own, and then met her after work. We went to some of the Christmas markets in Vienna with her colleagues, drank pünsch and glüwein, and walked around to look at the beautiful Christmas decorations. It was wonderful to be there, and I know how lucky I am to be here. When I visited Vienna last fall, Lisa and her colleagues told me all about Christmas in Vienna, and I said that I hoped I would be able to come back and spend Christmas there someday. One year later, here I am. Funny how things work out like that.

Of course, it hasn’t all been fabulous Christmas markets and charming colleagues. I’ve had some pangs of homesickness too, and it’s difficult. I love preparing for Christmas at home- buying gifts and sending Christmas cards, decorating my apartment and attending Christmas parties. I haven’t been able to do any of those things, and it felt like Christmas was passing me by. And as much as I usually adore cultural differences and new traditions, it was hard knowing that I was missing out on traditions at home and not understanding the Austrian Christmas traditions. And so many things reminded me over and over that I am an outsider. Lisa and I went to a Christmas gathering at the home of a friend of hers , and while Lisa told me that none of them spoke very good English I didn’t mind because I wanted to practice my German. As I said, Lisa’s family is very patient and understanding, and they try very hard to include me in conversation which makes me feel much more at home. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case at this Christmas party. After introductions were made, no one acknowledged me at all. I didn’t expect them to strike up a conversation in English, but German would have been nice, or at least someone looking me in the eye. I sat for 35 uncomfortable minutes unable to get anyone’s attention to even pass the bottle of cola. Eventually, one girl said to me that they should be speaking in English so I could understand. I told her in German that they didn’t have to speak English, but it was hard for me to follow their conversation because it was so fast. She said, “well we should speak English then!” Another girl at the table replied in German (which I understood) that no, they should not speak English, they should speak German. When the first girl said “langsam!” (slowly!) the second girl looked at me and said very condescendingly, “ha….llo.” I felt like she was talking to a child. I wanted to reply that I wasn’t an idiot, but it was Lisa’s friend’s party so I just kept my mouth shut.

Christmas itself was a little odd. In many European countries, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas eve. I was prepared for that, and it was really wonderful. We went to a children’s mass with Lisa’s friend Maria and her family. Two of Maria’s children were in the Christmas pageant, in fact her son was playing Joseph. It was probably one of the most adorable things I’ve ever not understood. It was neat though, because the story is the same. Even if I only understood half of the words they were saying, I knew how the story went and it was fun to see it acted out by Austrian children. Afterwards we came back to Lisa’s parents for a delicious roast beef dinner and then we gathered in the living room to open presents. It was much more low-key than I’m used to, but still very warm and intimate. The next day we went to Lisa’s grandparents house for dinner with her extended family, and it was a bit more chaotic- like I’m used to. On Saturday evening, Lisa’s parents had a whole mess of friends and relatives to their house for dinner, and we were treated to an impromptu concert. Lisa’s brother Sebastian plays the piano, and her aunt and cousin both play the cello. These happen to be two of my favorite instruments, so when you combine them, well! It was wonderful.

Today was spent working on my paper, and then Sebastian and I went for a walk and I bought him some pizza for his birthday. Lisa is sick with swine flu or something, so her time has been spent shuffling from the kitchen to the bedroom to the bathroom. I hope she’ll feel better soon, because we’ve got to make some New Years plans! I’m sure whatever we end up doing will be great.

I hope all of your New Years festivities are fun filled and loads of fun. Bis dann, und ein gutes neues Jahr!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Hallo Everyone!

It's been a while since I last updated, and I apologize for that. I've been a very busy student so you'll have to excuse me. Today is Friday the 18th, and it was the last day of my third module. This module was on the subject of Internationalization, a topic very near to my heart. I had high expectations of this class, and it did not disappoint. We had a good number of group discussions and I'm continually amazed by the differences in higher education systems all over the world. I've got to begin this paper right away, but fortunately I'm super interested in it.

In case you were wondering, I did manage to finish my last paper before this class began. It turned out to be a totally fascinating subject, and I really enjoyed writing the paper. I can only hope that my Professor enjoys reading it. I wasn't sure if I had a good grasp, but I got my grade for my first paper, and now I feel as though I am on the right track. My grade was a 1.3, which essentially translates to an "A". 1.0 is the highest, followed by 1.3, 1.7 and then 2.0, 2.3, 2.7 etc etc so I suppose I did pretty well. Hooray!

I'm headed to Vienna for Christmas tomorrow, and I still have much to do before I leave so I apologize if this post is a bit short. But I do want to share some pictures of the Weinnachtsmarkt in Kassel. It's such an incredible experience and I couldn't get enough of it. I hope my photos convey just a bit of that. There are also some pictures of the rain from my window and the town of Warburg (very old town).

Please click here to see the entire slideshow.

Enjoy, and I hope your holidays are warm and wonderful.

A Blue Christmas

Time has been rolling along here in Kassel, and it's been difficult for me to keep up sometimes. I start my next module in ten days, and I've barely started my paper for the last module. It was so difficult to settle on a topic and find resources, I ended up changing my topic yesterday. I have a good idea of how this paper will go so I'm not terribly concerned, but it's daunting to have just one week to write it.

I'm also a little bummed about the structure of my program in general. It was advertised on the website that the modules could be completed in one year or one and a half. I was ambitious and I hoped to complete all the modules in one year, but ever since I've been here, anytime I mention that to any of the professors or administrators they tell me that it is not a good idea and I should not do it. Why do they advertise that it's possible then? I had a plan, based on one year of classes, and I'm realizing that I may not be able to do that. I didn't anticipate being here for a year and a half (or more), and I don't know if I can. Not just financially or logistically, but mentally either. I'm doing OK here, in fact better than OK. But I won't be able to visit home at all, and it's hard. I miss my family and my friends and my dog and my boyfriend and oreos and CVS and chocolate chip cookies. I can certainly survive, and thrive, without those things for a year or so, but I had a plan and now I don't know when I'll be able to go home. It's a hard pill to swallow.

I should be getting excited about the holidays, and I am a little bit. The Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market) opened here in Kassel last week. It's an incredible sight, and I've been watching them build it for weeks. There are two main squares in the City Centre, right next to each other, and the market fills up both of the squares. Everything you could possibly imagine is there: huts for beer, roasted nuts, bratwurst, coffee, chocolate, cakes, popcorn, candy, sweaters, ornaments, slippers, mugs, toys, wood carvings, candles and honey. Plus ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, petting zoos and miniature trains. The market opens in the evening, and it is filled with people. There are couples and families and groups of young teenagers wandering through the aisles, and musicians playing traditional Christmas music. It's really beautiful, and incredibly festive. I walked through part of the market on my own last night, and it had a strange effect on me. I love the Christmas season more than any time of year, and it was so nice to be surrounded by all the merriment. But at the same time, it felt so out of reach and so foreign. I have bought a few small decorations for my room, but it's not practical to buy very much since I can't really bring it all home. I miss having a space to decorate with MY decorations, and I miss the anticipation and preparation with my family and friends. As I walked around the Christmas market, surrounded by so many happy German revelers, I felt incredibly alone. I do have friends in Kassel and I will continue to make friends, but I have a lot of time on my own. Mostly it is nice alone time, but sometimes it is lonely. I love being here and I'm so grateful for all the new opportunities, but I am in a foreign country where I know very few people, I don't speak the language and my surroundings are often unfamiliar. That can wear on a person sometimes and for me, the Christmas season is a time when I feel just a little out of place and the pangs of homesickness hit.

I think though, that sadness, loneliness and a feeling of disconnectedness are part of the whole experience. It's important to have these feelings, as long as it isn't constant. Being abroad isn't all lollipops, bunnies and sunflowers. It's hard, it's stressful, and it's wonderful because of that, not despite that. I might be lonely and sad now, and I didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to be away from home for the holidays. But it's part of this episode that is my graduate studies in Germany. I know that in the end, I'll be a better person for it, but it sure is tough right now.

That said, I sure would love to get some Christmas cards and cookies in the mail.

Die Junggesellinnenabschied and a Franco-American Thanksgiving

Hallloooooo Freunden! It's been a fun few weeks for me, albiet very busy and totally devoid of any work.

As I mentioned, I attended a German bachelorette party last week, and though my expectations were high, it did not disappoint. My landlord, Maria, had no idea what was in store, but the ladies assured her that she was in for a good time. We drove to a nearby town, and went for a hike in a really beautiful forest. There were about seven girls as we started out, but right from the start we were joined by Sepe, a guy in a wig. Sepe is a dear friend of Maria’s, and is going to be her “maid of honor”. Because of this distinction, he was allowed to join us. As we hiked through the forest, she was given special tasks along the way. Sewing a button on a pair of pants, memorizing the names of trees, wedding charades, etc. And of course with every stop, we all downed a little bottle of Shnapps. This worked out well for me, because as I’ve said, my German gets better with every drink I have. We started off in daylight, but it got very dark very quickly. Thankfully we had flashlights, and the trek continued. It was important to end in the dark, because Sepe had hidden a treasure chest of sorts, and marked it with a glow stick. We traipsed through the brush when Maria spotted the treasure, or “schatz” among the trees, and she retrieved her prize. There was candy of course, a photo cube with pictures of her and Knauffi, money and other goodies.

After we emerged from the woods, we walked to the Königs Alm, a Bavarian-themed restaurant, and had dinner. It was a beautiful building, and the staff was dressed to impress in Dirndls and Lederhosen. Christine had arranged somehow for various men to come by ourtable throughout the evening to present a rose to Maria and congratulate her. By the end of the night, she had a dozen. We played games, decided on which strangers Maria should present one of her roses to, and ordered a ski full of shots. What’s a ski full of shots? Well, have a look:

There was also a guy playing the accordion and he had gotten wind of Maria's impending nuptuals, so he played a waltz and made her dance with a stranger from another table. As the music continued, I guess we had the right mix of people there, because everyone started dancing. The waiters and waitresses had their cameras out to capture the ridiculousness. There were conga lines, kicklines and dancing circles. The high point for me was when I had a line of 25 Germans doing a dance that my friend created in college. Ben Brisson wasn’t much of a dancer, so he came up with a simple dance that goes with any song. My friends and I have performed this dance at weddings, in bars, on the street… anywhere we can. I was incredibly proud to have brought it to Germany.

My German got quite a boost as well, because many of the others on our outing didn’t speak much English. It was difficult at times, but fortunately I spoke with enough different people that I could say the same sentences over and over. I had a really great time, and I'm glad they invited me to come along. It was nice that we didn't do anything obnoxious to Maria, we just had a lot of fun surprises for her. Oh, and we made her take most of the shots.

I only had a little bit of downtime after that, as last Wednesday I hopped a train towards France on my way to a unique kind of Thanksgiving. While I lived in Providence I worked for the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, and I'm still working for them part time while I'm here. My boss, Gwen, invited me to come to the campus for Thanksgiving, since they have a big party every year. I took the train the whole way, which ended up taking 12 hours. It was not a fun experience, but I survived, and I was really hoping it would be worth it. Pont Aven is located in Brittany, in the far north-west corner of France. It's a tiny town, very beautiful and idyllic and French, but I can understand how students might go crazy after living there for 15 weeks. Still, it's an incredible place, and the students all seemed extremely happy. I had never met any Pont Aven students before, which was hard since I worked so closely with them as they prepared for their semester abroad, so being able to spend time with them was a treat. It was fun for me to see them interacting because I had known them all separately, some a bit timid and others a bit annoying. Now they are all (mostly) the best of friends, some are dating, and they are distraught to be leaving each other in just two weeks. Ah yes, this is what study abroad is all about.

The Thanksgiving party was a ton of fun. There was excellent food, an excellent band, and not-so-excellent dancing. (What do you expect from art students?) Gwen had made homemade cranberry sauce which was absolutely delicious, and she had also ordered two huge turkeys. I heard that the turkey was good, but I didn't have any. There was so much else to eat, cous cous, sausage, vegetables, salads, potatoes etc etc etc, that I didn't have space for turkey.

I stayed at the party until the very end, taking photos and talking with a few of the students and their host families. After the party was cleaned up we walked to the only pub in Pont Aven. We sat outside overlooking the river and had a lively discussion. I understand now what Gwen means when she says that each semester is a new set of characters. After we were kicked out of the pub at closing time our group dwindled in size, but we continued to wander the streets in search of adventure. I don't know if we found adventure, but there was an artists show at a small gallery in town, so we went inside. It was a motley crew of artists from all over the area, and I managed to find probably the only guy in Pont Aven who spoke German. This was actually a blessing, as I am completely incapable of forming a sentence in French. I studied French for almost 6 years, and I managed to understand a LOT of what my hosts were saying, but when I open my mouth to speak, there is only German. When I told the folks in Pont Aven this, they looked sympathetic and told me to keep at it and I would remember. I would smile and nod, but what I didn't tell them that I was glad that I am babbling in German and I couldn't care less if I ever speak French. My conversation with Mr. German Pont Aven was going great, since neither of us were native German speakers, and while I'm sure we both made plenty of mistakes, neither of us noticed. Actually, that's not true. I noticed mistakes that he made, and I was able to help when he was struggling for a word. My German was actually better than someone elses! I can't tell you how pleased with myself I felt.

We spent a good chunk of time at the artists party, but we left after Mr. German Pont Aven got upset that I wasn't staying in town longer. "But why are you leaving? You have such pretty eyes!" Right, it's time to go. I truly enjoyed my time in Pont Aven, but it didn't feel much like Thanksgiving. I'm not sad about missing it though, because I don't feel like I "missed" Thanksgiving, I just feel like it didn't happen this year.

I spent the weekend in Duarnanez, at Gwen's home. Her house is literally steps from the beach, and I could hear the ocean from my room. It was probably beautiful, but it rained almost the whole time. I didn't mind though, it's still a lovely place with a fascinating culture and very friendly people. We did have a few hours of sun on Sunday, so Gwen drove me to some of the interesting places in the area. One of the places we stopped was the village of Locronan, a renaissance village that looks completely unchaged over thousands of years. The main reason for this is that absolutely everything electrical is buried underground, with no trace of anything modern in sight. The movie "Tess" was filmed in Locronan, so the directors had everything buried. The result is incredibly cool.

On Saturday evening Gwen and her husband Herves (Her-vay) brought me along to a housewarming party at one of their friends new lofts. I enjoyed myself for the most part, but there weren't many English speakers and even fewer German speakers. I did learn a lot about Bretton culture though. The people of Brittany are extremely proud of their culture, and prefer to think of themselves as Bretton rather than French. The Bretton language is still spoken, and the music is everywhere. The language is more than a dialect of French, it is a legitimately separate language, with grammer and vocabulary. It is actually very close to Gaelic. This surprised me at first, but it turns out that the Celtic culture in Ireland comes from the same tribes of people who settled in Brittany. There is actually a stone sculpture in the town of Carnac that was erected by the same tribe of people who built Stonehenge. And the ones at Carnac came first.

I also got to witness, and participate in, Bretton dancing. As far as I can tell, it involves standing in a circle of people, linking your pinkies, and dancing around and bumping into each other. It wasn't quite the "Ben Brisson" dance, but it was still a ton of fun.

I took the train back from Brittany yesterday, it took 14 hours. It was long and tiring and annoying, but you know, it was totally worth it.

I'm in a German State of Mind

When you move to a new place, it can take some time to feel at home. I've moved to a lot of different places, and I often feel like a visitor for a while, even after I have unpacked and gotten into a routine. For the past seven weeks I have lived in Kassel, but I still felt like I was "new in town". But recently, I've started to feel like a resident and that's not just because I have an appointment to get my residence permit. Yesterday, on my way home from the library, I ran into someone I know on the street. This is kind of a big deal because a) Kassel has about 200,000 people living here, and b) I don't know very many people. But sure enough, Guillaume, a very sweet boy from my German class called out to me on the street. Guillaume and I had actually met only the day before in class, and we talked about France. He is from a small town in Brittany, in Northwestern France, called Lorient. Coincidentally, I'm going to Brittany next week for Thanksgiving, to the town of Pont Aven, about one hour from Lorient. The reason for my trip is to visit the campus of the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art. I worked for the school when I lived in Providence, and my boss invited me to visit. Guillaume was very familiar with Pont Aven, and told me some other areas in the region that I should visit. He is part of an international masters program, in which the students study in four different countries for six months each. (Part of me wishes I had know about that one...) Another coincidence is that the town where the group studied in France was the tiny town of Annecy, where I spent two weeks on vacation in 2004. Small world. Seeing him yesterday may have just been another Amy-Guillaume coincidence, but it was nice to run into someone unplanned on the street. That has always been my signal that I've arrived. I live here now, and I know people and I run into them out on the town. Perhaps that seems a little obvious, but it made me feel good.

Another sign that I'm a resident is that I am getting invited places by people other than the administrators of my program. Tonight I am joining a group of women who I have never met for a bachelorette party. My landlords, Maria and Knauffi, are getting married next week and tonight is the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Christine organized the bachelorette party so that's how I got the invite, but this will be a totally new experience for me. I don't know what German traditions there are for these kinds of things, but I'm excited to find out. All the e mails have been in German, but I know that we are going for a hike, and there will be several stops with clues for a treasure hunt, tasks for Maria to accomplish, and a big to-do at the end. I'll be sure to let you know what other surprises come up. It's going to be fun to spend time with Germans, and work on improving mein deutsch. It's been a sobering realization how much I don't know, but I won't get any better if I don't practice. And I've found that Bier helps me speak German more easily. Maybe I should start bringing beer to my German class...

It's a difficult language, and there's a saying that I find to be appropriate: Life is too short to learn German. There are just too many cases and rules and exceptions and endings... it's exhausting. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I'm not going to stop trying. I have a year to improve, and dangit, I'm going to improve. It is tough though, since my classes and readings are all in English. I have tried to practice with Christian and Christine, but my German is so limited that we would not be able to talk about very much. They are my friends and I want to talk to them for that reason, not just to practice deutsch. But, we have decided that we will try to speak in German for a little bit every time I see them, and since they are both teachers they can answer my questions as they arise. I've already learned a lot from them, although not all of it is fit for polite company.

I've also learned a lot about German baking, or rather, how it is completely different from baking in the US. Last Friday C&C and I attempted to make chocolate chip cookies. I had my mom's recipe (which is the best on the planet, by the way) and we set out to convert it to German. We converted the measurements and the temperature, bought the ingredients and went to town. During our three attempts, we made some cultural discoveries. 1) Germany does not sell brown sugar as it is known in the US. 2) Germans don't realize there is a difference between baking powder and baking soda. 3) German ovens are different from US ovens in more ways than just centigrade and fahrenheit. 4) Measurements in baking are exact; you can't add a tablespoon when the recipe calls for half a teaspoon.

I think we're getting closer, and we certainly aren't going to give up, but MAN, some of our cookies turned out... well, eww. Have a look:


















































There's not much more to say. It was a disaster, but also the most fun I've had in a long time.

Well, I'm going to start preparing myself for this party. Ahh, love. The best way to celebrate is to embarass the bride as much as possible.

Bis später!

Brussels, Beer, Belgium... Bad.

Greetings, all. I'm back from a long weekend in Brussels, and I am so so glad to be home. I'm sure that Brussels has a lot to offer, but I found it to be kind of depressing. It was expensive, dirty, rude, overpriced, pushy, and extremely complicated. My bitter taste probably comes from having one of my rings stolen out of my room by the cleaning staff, and I realize that isn't really Belgium's fault, but it didn't make my time any better. But let's start from the beginning.

I left on Friday afternoon from Kassel, and took five trains to arrive in Brussels at 9:30 PM on Friday night. While on the last of the trains, I met a lovely American family who are living in Germany. They were really interesting to talk to, and they helped me find the taxi stand. I took a cab from the train station to my hotel, and I'm glad that I did because a) Brussels is not a user-friendly city, and b) my hotel was in a disgusting alley that I never would have seen or voluntarily walked down. On Saturday morning I made my way up to the Sheraton to meet Heidi, a dear friend from DC who was in Brussels for work. I will say that the Metro system in Brussels is fairly well laid out and easy to understand, although from the street level the stations are rarely well marked. Heidi and I spent the day wandering around the city, taking pictures of old buildings, and eating. On Sunday we did more of the same, and even though we stayed in the same general vicinity, I frequently found myself turned around and my sense of direction was totally out of whack. The problem is a combination of windy streets, similar looking buildings at every turn, and the Belgian distaste for marking any street names. It was ridiculous.

On Monday I took a hop on/hop off sightseeing tour which was fairly interesting. They promised to tell us all the interesting and important facts about Belgium. Let's just say there was a lot of silence. I'm sure there is fascinating history, but I didn't hear much of it on this tour. I got off the bus at the Atomium, the centerpiece of the 1958 Brussels Worlds Fair. Much like the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Worlds Fair and intended to be demolished afterward, the Atomium was also set to be dismantled. But like the Eiffel Tower, it too is still here. It's a neat structure, and the view from the top was fairly OK. The exhibits inside about the 1958 Worlds Fair were the most interesting part, so I didn't mind paying the 6 Euro ticket price, but the 2 Euro audio tour was a waste of time and money.

Another spot near the Atomium that I visited was "Mini Europe", an area filled with 1/25 size replicas of historic and important buildings from across the European Union. It was a steep ticket price, but I really enjoyed wandering through Europe. The brochure gave a history of all the areas and buildings, and I was floored by the impeccable detail. I had been to a few of the sights in person, and seeing it all in miniature was a delight. For example, I had been to the Grand Place in Brussels the day before, and then I visited the replica. Can you see the difference?
















In the afternoon on Monday I had lunch with a favorite former professor and his wife. They are both retired, but Drew University needed someone to run the Brussels semester this year, so he came out of retirement for one last (maybe?) hurrah. They had just returned from 10 days in London and were very busy, so I'm glad they were able to set some time aside for me. It was nice to see them, and Heidi, and I'm quite sure that my time in Brussels would have been exponentially less fun had I not had that company.

I had changed hotels on Saturday, and I was now closer to civilization at the "Royal Rent-a-Room". It was kind of a dump, but good enough and cheap enough for me. I returned on Monday evening to find that a ring that I had inherited was no longer on the desk in my room. My other ring was there, but its' little opal partner was gone. I went down to the desk to speak to someone, and even though his English had been great earlier, as soon as I said that something had been stolen the clerk no longer spoke any English at all. I did eventually get the ring back, but only after 2 hours of literally tearing my room apart with the clerk, emptying every bag so he could look through them, calling the managers, and calling the cleaning woman. The clerk told me that I was crazy and wrong, and "this is Belgium, it's cool here". When the cleaning woman arrived, I was told to stay in my room until they called me. I was asked to come down 15 minutes later to see them standing with a bag of laundry, holding my ring. "Looks like it got put in with the sheets," they told me. "See? You were wrong." Aside from the fact that nothing in my room was laundered, I'm sure that's what happened. My ring migrated off the desk over to the other side of the room and hopped into the laundry bag. I didn't care, I was just glad to have the ring back. I know it's just a possession, it's not like it was my passport or something vital, but I felt violated and insulted.

I was exhausted, but Heidi and I still needed dinner, so we went off in search of a light meal for a good price. We should have forgotten about that, because light meals and fair prices do not exist in Brussels. When you are there, you have to assume that you will overpay for everything. We wandered through some narrow streets lined with Italian restaurants which, during the day were quaint and sweet. After dark however, waiters will stand outside and harass you as you walk by, holding up their menu and following you down the street trying to get you to come inside. If you ignore them, they will just make crude comments about your rear end. I suppose the restaurants have to do something to get customers to come in, since there are seemingly hundreds of restaurants that all serve the same delicacies: Mussels and pomme-frites. These are the foods that Brussels is known for, and I have to say that they are terrible. The pomme-frites are steak fries. Exactly the same as you would get from a frozen bag of Ore-Ida fries. I am allergic to mussels so I didn't eat any, but Heidi did and she seemed totally unimpressed. I had a steak while she ate mussels, and it was disgusting. I have never sent food back before, but I had to say something about this so-called "steak". It was overcooked and chewy at the center, and cold and rare at the edges. None of it was edible. I'm sure there are high quality restaurants in Brussels that serve incredible dishes, but we couldn't afford to go into any of those places. We ate sub-par meals the entire time, and only once did we have a waiter who wasn't extremely rude.

I was glad to finally leave on Tuesday, but my train wasn't until 12:30, and I had to be out of my hotel at 10. It was raining, so I hoped to find a cafe or restaurant to sit in for a bit. That's also a pipe dream because nothing in Brussels is open before noon. I ended up sitting in the train station on the floor because none of the train station cafes would let me sit at their tables for more than 15 minutes.

I took my five trains back to Kassel, and I was never so glad to be back in a place that seemed friendly and organized. I could finally understand (mostly) what people were saying, and I didn't feel out of place anymore. I'm sure that Belgium has a lot of wonderful attributes, but in the few times I have visited I have never been impressed. I am glad that I went though, because now I know. I have the same approach to travel that I have to cooking. I will take a chance and give it a try, and if it turns out to be a disaster, at least now I know. So now I know that Belgium and I don't get along, and in the future I think we'll just leave each other alone.

Sometimes that's the thing with some of those things

Hallo Freunden!

It's been a good week here in Kassel- the weather has been less rainy, there are beautiful parks to walk through, plenty of nice people around, and most of all, I'm finished with my paper. It's a relief to be done with this first paper, because it was so difficult to start. I was a bit rusty in the research department, so now that I have completed one full cycle of a research paper, I'm less nervous about the other 14 papers I have to write.

As a treat to myself, I'm going to Brussels this weekend. I hemmed and hawed a bit at first, but a good friend who I haven't seen in ages is going to be there for work, so I just couldn't say no. It's kismet, or something. I'll be there for four days, and I've already got a tremendous list of things to do and see. At the top of the list of course is sampling fine Belgian beers. Next on the list is chocolate. I'll let you know if I manage to see anything else...


Apart from preparing for my little excursion, I've been busy here. Last weekend I went to a Fußbal game of the local team, KSV Hessen Kassel (I haven't the slightest idea what the KSV stands for... I'll find out and let you know). It was chilly and clear, the perfect weather for a game. We drank beer and glüwein, ate pretzels and bratwurst, and had a merry time. Oh, and some sport happened too. The team was terrible, but it didn't really matter. I enjoy yelling at sporting events, regardless if I know who I'm yelling at. It was good fun, and I think the next sporting event will be the local hockey team, the Huskies. I'll let you know if the beer is good there too.

Qingqing and I have spent a lot more time together, and I'm pleased to say that we get along well. She made dinner for herself last week and had far too much food, so she invited me to join her. It was a delicious stir-fry of sorts, with potatoes, chili peppers, chicken, and of course rice. It was delicious even though just the smell of the chili peppers made me cough. (I did not eat them, I'm sure that's obvious.) After we ate she told me that she had never cooked before. It makes sense, she has been at home or in school her entire life, but I was surprised that she'd never made even a small dish at home. I was also surprised because it was so well prepared. I don't recall the first time I cooked for myself, but if my first attempt at pancakes is any indication, I'm sure it was not a pretty sight. We talked a lot while we ate, and she told me about her work here in Kassel. She has a PhD in Physics from the University of Beijing, and she is here on a Marie Curie grant. She applied to go to either MIT in Massachusettes, Northwestern in Illinois or Kassel in.. never mind. All good places to go, but she didn't find out until a few weeks before she left where she was going! I guess all those places are cold so she knew she had to bring a coat, but other logistics, such as getting a visa and a flight, must have been quite an ordeal. She was originally supposed to stay for one year, but again, a few days before she left she was informed that she was staying for two years. She seems to be pretty happy about it, as doing a research project in physics takes at least a year and a half, but I would imagine it would have been nice to know all the details much earlier. On top of all this uncertainty, she'd never left China before. This is her first trip away from her home country, and it's to an unknown destination for an unknown period of time? Talk about guts.

Aside from sharing some meals, we also had a laundry adventure this past weekend. We set out towards a laundromat in our neighborhood that google maps swore existed. In reality, that address belongs to a dentist, and there isn't a Waschsalon anywhere nearby. We trekked to the nearest stop of the Straßenbahn, and I managed not to garble my German too badly while I asked for a place where we could wash our clothes. It turns out that there is anothe Waschsalon just a few tram stops away, so we lugged our dirty underthings onto the tram and off we went. When we reached the Waschsalon, Qingqing looked to me for directions, but it was unlike anything I'd seen before. I've never had to do my laundry at a laundromat before, but I worked in one in high school, so I've got a fair amount of experience. I remember working at the Laundry Club, and shaking my head at all the intelligent Brown University students who couldn't figure out how to operate a washing machine to save their lives. Well, I take it back. But to be fair, these machines and I do not speak the same language, and they are all controlled from a large central panel. It was complicated. Still, I'm a smart köchen, so I figured it out and we came away with clean and dry clothes. We walked to a Milchbar to have a coffee while the clothes washed, and Qingqing told me that she'd never had coffee before. I was shocked once again. A life without coffee? It's just too horrible to imagine. She wanted to try one at the Milchbar, so for her very first coffee experience I ordered her a cappucino. Boy, her eyes opened up wide, and she loved it. I think we have a convert.

Of course I've spent a lot of time with Christian and Christine too. We went for a walk in the Bergpark which is at the base of the Herkules monument, and surrounds the Wilhelmshöher Schloss (Castle). I didn't have my camera with me on Sunday (dangit!) but here is a picture I took two years ago. It captures only a tiny piece of how beautiful this park is, but I promise I'll go back very soon and take some updated photos.

For some reason, we've recently been digging up tounge-twisters in both English and Deutsch. Last weekend at Olli's concert a bunch of them tried to teach me to pronounce "Streichholzschachtelchen", which means matchbox. I've actually gotten very good at saying it, but I have to concentrate. This led to us looking up tounge-twisters on the internet, and it's funny how the German's are able to pronounce the English tounge twisters fairly well, and I do OK with the German ones. I guess it's all about concentration, and you tend to concentrate a little bit harder anyway when it isn't your native language. Still, I was feeling a little silly for not being able to pronounce "Streichholzschachtelchen", so I came up with a sentence that foils the Germans every time. You see, the "s", "th", "v" and "w" sounds can be troublesome for German speakers, so when you put them into one quick sentence, they can't make the jump between sounds. So if you ever meet a German and you want to give them a challenge, ask them to say "Sometimes that's the thing with some of those things". Because well, sometimes that is the thing with some of those things.

Bis dann!

Bookends

Hello everyone (all four of you)!


I apologize for not posting last week, I've been very very busy. Actually, I haven't been any busier than normal, I just just a little lazier.


To date, I've had four weekends in Germany (already?) and they have all been smashing. My very first weekend brought me to a fantastic jazz concert with Christian und Christine, I don't recall a single thing about my second weekend which means it must have been great, and now I will tell you about three and four.


The weekend of Oktober 17 and 18 was spent in Göttingen, about one hour north of Kassel. Christine grew up in Göttingen and her parents still live there. They kindly invited me to come with them for the weekend to celebrate her father's birthday. It was so nice to be with people, which I sure wouldn't have been if I had stayed in Kassel. That week, Maria und Knauffi were on vacation, and my roommate Qingqing hadn't arrived yet. So I would have sat in my apartment, thought about working on my paper, and felt a general malaise. Instead I spent two days with nine members of the Svenson family, played board games and legos with two German speaking kids, ate delicious food, discovered a new brand of Heffeweißen, learned a new card game, and saw a bit of Göttingen too.


Göttingen is famous for it's statue of the "goose girl" in the city center. Christine's mum told me that when students finish all their papers and graduate they walk from the Universität to the goose girl, drinking during the entire walk. When they arrive they are considerably less sober than when they began, so someone is charged with climbing up to the girl, putting flowers in her hand, and kissing her. Oh, did I mention that it's not just a little statue, it's high atop a large fountain? Right. As you can see from the photo, there were some drunk new graduates there very recently. I wish I had been able to see it.


Also, she is holding two geese. You may not be able to see that with the flowers wedged into her arms. I just wanted to clarify that; she's not called the goose girl as a commentary on her looks or disposition. As far as I know, she's never bitten any of those inebriated students, although I can't say none of them have never goosed her. (hey oh!)








Moving on, this past weekend I was invited to a show that Christian's brother Olli was playing. He is in a band that plays a lot of covers of punk and rock songs, but also punk and rock-like covers of pop songs. They played a few Britney songs, and I enjoyed them more than I ever had. The bar was called Fiasko, and it was packed. Christian and I were standing towards the back, but we had a little corner of the bar, so we were pleased. During intermission we got to go backstage since we are incredibly special and important. I met the members of the band and I asked Olli if I could play photographer at their next gig. He said sure, but he had no idea when the next gig would be. Well, I'll be waiting by the phone. After the show was over, we went backstage again and I talked a lot with Olli's girlfriend Kathi and her friend Daisy. I did my best to speak German, and they would answer me in English. It was good practice for all of us.


We all stayed backstage talking, and before I knew it, it was 5:00. IN THE MORNING. I don't think I have ever stayed out that late in my life. I got a little lucky because Saturday-Sunday was actually the day to fall back for daylight savings, so when I got home it was only 4:22, not 5:22. Yeah, that helped.


On Sunday I slept. It was great. I got up in the afternoon and got in the shower. However, I had forgotten that Sunday was the day my roommate Qingqing was arriving. Maria und Knauffi brought her in while I was in the shower, and so I had to dash around them in the hall in my towel saying "just a second! just a second!" while Qingqing looked confused and tried to shake my hand. Awkward.


Bizarre introductions aside, I think that she is very nice. She brought me a little gift, which was really kind. I had bought an ice cream cake for when she arrived, but I'm not sure if she liked it. It was cappuccino flavored ice cream, and if you don't like coffee, you might not enjoy it. She brought a lot of stuff with her, but she's staying here for two years, so I'm amazed she was able to bring it all without help. She got herself settled into her room, and I showed her our little flat. I introduced her to the vacuum, which she'd never used before. She asked if she could use it to clean her sheets, but I don't think it would work too well.


She started work right away, so I haven't seen her much. Her English isn't great, but I'm sure she'll improve, and I can imagine how exhausted and overwhelmed she must be. Plus, her English is way better than my Mandarin.


That's all the news from Lake Workbegon. I've been remarkably productive in my work on my paper. I'm not done yet, but I'm hoping to be done by the end of this week. I've got a lot of reading to do for my next class, and I don't want to be doing both.


Bis später!