To start things off, I suppose I owe you readers an apology for not posting any updates these last three weeks or so. Shortly after my last post, I received a whole bunch of college decisions.
6 acceptances for 8 applications. Not too shabby.
Anyway, seeing as my family and I were going to be away for spring break, I HAD to get all the college stuff sorted out before we left.
Spring break is two weeks long here guys. That’s half of April. I was already half a week into April when I got all the admissions decisions.
Case in point? I had a week and a half to iron out all the tiny details of the next 4 (possibly 5) years of my life.
That alone was a bit stressful, and when combined with the immersion program, school, friends, and packing for break… I was kinda swamped.
Anyway, the important thing here is that it all worked out. I decided on a college, the lable “bilingual” no longer seems completely unreasonable, and I had an absolute BLAST over spring break.
This is the blog of a former Pennsbury High School student, a current Caecaelienschule student, and a future Georgia Institute of Technology student.
Oh I’m a ramblin’ reck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an…. International Affairs and Modern Language major?
I may have followed in my parents (and uncles’, and aunts’ and cousins’, and half my family tree’s) footsteps, but that doesn’t mean I’m marching to the same drummer.
I told you, my sister’s the one who got all the music genes.
As for the second point: while I’m still hesitant to call myself “bilingual”, I don't hesitate (as much) to jump into a conversation. I’m still making mistakes, people are still laughing as a result of my mistakes, but there are significantly fewer mistakes now, in May, than when I first arrived in February. School is still tough going, but I’m following the material fairly well in almost every subject except Math.
I’ve even got a handle on Physics (a small one, though. I’ll give you that).
And please keep in mind that following something and understanding something are not always the same thing…
So long as the group I’m with is four people or less, I can follow, understand, and participate in the entire conversation. Add a fifth person and some music though, and in no time at all I’ll be comfortably lost again.
That being said, it’s only May. Early May. I’ve still got this month, all of June, and a bit of July as well before I head back home. When I look at how far I’ve come since February, and I look at the time that I have left… I can still learn a lot.
As for Spring Break here, it was FANTASTIC. Our last day of school before break was Friday, the 15th of April. On Saturday, my host family and I left for Hamburg, where we met up with some relatives.
Hamburg was fantastic! It was a relatively easy train ride there (we had to change trains once in Bremen), and once we got there and left the train station, we were greeted by the lovely green-haired-lady of Starbucks.
First picture from Hamburg? The Starbucks building.
After Starbucks, we wandered around a bit before heading off to meet up with the family (their train came in an hour later than ours) at a French café/restaurant. I tried a very interesting concoction of meat, egg, and some kind of herb that one of the people we met up with had ordered.
All of it was raw. Delicious, but raw. Delicacy or not, one bite was enough to satisfy my curiosity.
Did I mention it was raw? As in uncooked?
After breakfast, we went to our hotel to drop off our bags before really delving into the city. I was impressed with the first few glimpses of Hamburg, and I was astounded by this hotel. The reason being? It was formerly a water tower.
Old, interesting history, quiet and comfortable. What more can you ask for?
After checking in, dropping of our bags, and picking my jaw up off the ground, we headed out into the city. We went everywhere.
Schanzenviertel, Chilehaus, Rathaus, Haven…
Speaking of which, the Haven (harbor) in Hamburg is pretty enourmous. And important. And awesome.
So, after hiking half the city, we went to a beach (a beach! In the city!), grabbed a table and something to drink, and watched the Harbor at work. There was a HUGE orange ship that came by while we were there. Man was that impressive; watching those tiny tugboats turn that giant around…
On Sunday, like every Sunday, all the shops and such were closed, so we went to the Hamburg Kunsthalle (an art museum) and looked at an exhibit of photographs that concentrated on blurriness. Most “good” photographs are sharp, clear-cut, brilliantly colored images. These photographs were often brilliantly colored, but were by no means sharp or clear cut.
The exhibit is called “unsharf”—unsharp—if that gives you any clue.
The idea was that, by making photos less focused, it forces the brain to think more, and put more of the puzzle together on its own; to more of the puzzle together period. Photography has, for over a century, focused on focus; on clearer, brighter, images. The exhibit at the Hamburger Kunsthalle was the antithesis of that, and all the more interesting because of it.
After the Art Museum and some more wandering (looking at more of that awesome architecture I mentioned earlier), we went to the Miniature Wonderland.
Also very cool.
This place was intense. There were multiple different models of multiple different cities. All of which were to scale, and incredibly detailed.
The cars moved. They had blinkers. The people had concerts. With music. And Stage lights. The Alps had hot air balloons. Cape Canaveral had a launch pad.
With a rocket that actually got launched.
And the lighting for the entire place was set on a timer. There were sunrises, sunsets, and all the little moments in between.
After the miniature wonderland, we took one more ride on the water taxi in Hamburg’s Haven before heading to the train station, and back here to Oldenburg. We walked pretty much the entire city. It’s a wonder I didn’t fall asleep on the train platform. Luckily, my manners were good enough to wait until we actually got on the train.
Well. Almost…
About 2 hours later, we were back at home. Of the next four days, which were supposed to be time to rest, recuperate, get a little work done, I think I rested maybe two.
Monday: recuperate.
Tuesday: head to the beach for half a day.
Wednesday: Birthday party.
Thursday: off to the Zoo and Dangast with another friend.
Friday: Off to Stuttgart!
That would be Dad’s genes coming through there I think; Neither of us really fully understand the whole concept of “rest and relaxation”…
Thursday was LOADS of fun. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but my school in the US and my school here in Germany have a long-standing partnership. This summer will be the 23rd anniversary I think. Anyway, every spring a group of kids from CaeCae (my school here) travel to Pennsbury (my school in the US) for three weeks. They live with host families and alternate days shadowing their host siblings and traveling to some of the more interesting places in our area.
New York, Philadelphia, Temple, Princeton; you get the idea.
Of my 3 springs at Pennsbury, I hosted three times. Thursday, I met up with one of the girls I had hosted for one of those three week exchanges. We went to the Zoo, saw all kinds of awesome animals, learned the word for “humidity” (Luftfeuchtigkeit) and enjoyed some deliciously sugary snacks that were yellow and pink and whose name absolutely escapes me right now.
On the subject of candy: I was recently informed that I made a mistake in one of my previous posts. The offending line?
“Another Side note: Although Germany is fairly famous for its chocolate, most of the Germans I have met eat more gummy bears and such. I mean, they enjoy chocolate too, but most times, if they’ve a craving for something sweet, they chomp on a handful of gummy bears, not Milche or Rittersport”.
So, to clarify: German people do love their chocolate. I promise. There are tons of chocolate shops around here, and there have been weeks where I’ve eaten more chocolate in 7 days in Germany than I have in 2 months in the US.
That being said, I have never seen so many shops devoted entirely to various flavors, shapes, sizes, and sorts of gummi-things as I have here in Oldenburg. There are at least two within a 5 minute walk of each other.
But there is also at least one delicious chocolate shop that you have to pass on the way.
Case in point: when you come to Germany? Eat chocolate, but definitely save room for the gummi bears (and Marzipan, if you’re heading to Lübeck).
Anyway, that was Thursday (and the gummibear vs. chocolate argument was from Wednesday), now on to Friday.
We drove to Stuttgart. I think, all said and done, it was on the order of a eight hour drive. Many many many many thanks to my host mom, who drove the whoooooole way.
Friday afternoon/evening we arrived in Stuttgart, and met our hosts: my host mom’s cousin, and the cousin’s husband (I’m just going to call them Mr. and Mrs. Cousin for simplicity’s sake). We talked and chatted and my host mom caught up with her family and it was all really just a blast. Dinner was an assortment pure deliciousness.
And no, I’m not exaggerating. It really was that yummy.
Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast (more deliciousness), and planned out the day. We decided that, for the first half of the day, my host mom, Mrs. Cousin, and I would head to the Wilhelma Zoo, and my host brother and Mr. Cousin would to go to the Mercedes museum. At some point in the afternoon, we’d catch up with each other and go out to see the city a bit.
I loved the Wilhelma Zoo. It was formerly a palace, and, as such, had not only some pretty awesome gardens and buildings, but also a fantastic view of the city and the mountains.
Forgot to mention this: Stuttgart is in the mountains. The city’s Strassenbahn has a specially designed track so that it can better (and more safely) navigate the ups and downs of Stuttgart’s streets. You know how when a rollercoaster climbs a hill, you hear that clicking sound? It’s got these… teeth that click into place and prevent the coaster from sliding back down the hill. That’s how Stuttgart’s Strassenbahn works.
Anyway, the Wilhelma had an enormous greenhouse (several, actually), and there were all kinds of new and interesting plants, flowers, vines, and cacti that I’d never seen before, and a few that I had seen before as well.
I must admit, I did get a little overexcited when I saw some cacti from Mexico. I spent a good deal of time in Puebla, Mexico a few years ago, and really just fell in love with the landscape and culture. I was positively fascinated that something from so far away, but something that I had seen quite often, and was fairly familiar with, had wound up in the middle of a greenhouse in a zoo in Stuttgart, Germany.
Sometimes the world isn’t such a big place after all.
We did the greenhouses first, but then took some time to hike up towards the top of the Zoo (and yes, I mean hike) to see the owls and birds and elephants and some absolutely giant redwood trees from California.
Holy moly. Those guys were freaking HUGE.
We also saw the polar bears, black bears, monkeys, ostriches, goats, deer, and an adorable baby vulture.
What is it about lanky, awkward creatures that we find so wonderful? I mean really, the bird was still in the eat, sleep, poop phase of life, and was totally scraggly looking but still totally adorable.
How the heck does that work?
The Zoo, like many of the animals inside it, was freaking huge, so we didn’t have time to see all of it. We did a really big chunk though, and even took a brief tour of the aquarium before nipping into the gift shop for a minute to grab a few postcards, and heading out to meet my host brother and Mr. Cousin.
We all piled back into the car and drove to the city center. We spent the afternoon wandering around, taking in the enormous pedestrian zone, the old palace, the new palace, the town hall, and the art museum. We went into the art museum and took an elevator to the top floor (only about 4 stories, I think) and had a great view of all the things I just mentioned. I’m not normally one for heights, but even I have to admit: there’s something different about a city when you see it all laid out before you like that (and with that, I mean any city, not just Stuttgart).
Back to Stuttgart specifically though: as a whole, it is one incredible place. It’s flat out… mesmerizing. I mean, you’re in the middle of a metropolis, with all the hustle-bustle that that entails, but you can see the mountains from just about anywhere. For Pete’s sake, you’re on a mountain.
Remember everything we did in Hamburg? Take that and shove it all into one day. That was Saturday in Stuttgart. As such, it should come as absolutely no surprise that we slept in a bit before getting up and putting together a big Easter breakfast on Sunday. There was every type of meat, marmalade, bread, and toast imaginable. Including rabbit shaped rolls.
Which I hadn’t imagined.
Easter here is a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaally big deal! Not that it isn't important, just... well... you don't see Easter trees in the US very often. If ever. Christmas trees are decorated with angels and Christmas balls. Easter Trees are decorated with eggs of various colors. It is not at all uncommon in Germany to see trees branches laden with green, red, blue, purple, pink, or orange eggs right around easter.
Don’t you just love Germany?
Moving on, after breakfast on Sunday we went to Burg Hohenneuffen, which had a beautiful view of the Swebische Albs (more on that in a minute), and an awesome Falconry show presented by a guy with a moderately thick Swebisch accent.
Moderately thick accent= mostly incomprehensible.
For me at least.
Accents here in Germany are kind of a big deal. When people talk about an accent, they may also be referring to a dialect, which really is another language. A number of people had tried to explain this concept to me before, in the US and here in Germany, but I didn’t really understand what they meant until I heard this guy talk. The way he spoke… the words had almost a ompletely different pronunciation, and some words were altogether totally different.
I wasn’t completely lost, but neither was I altogether found, if you know what I mean.
The presentation was more of a theatrical show, so, based on movements and the intonation of the words, I was able to follow the general gist of things.
And even if I had been completely lost, the birds were incredible, and it was really quite something to feel them swooping over you like that, just inches above your head…
Above, I wrote "Swebische Albs". The "b" rather than "p" is very, very important. The Alps (with "p") are what you typically think of; giant, jutting mountains with the pointy tops. The Albs (with b) are still freaking huge, but have flat tops. Which means that you can build a lot more there, seeing as there's a lot more space to build. The whole countryside is like a leopard print; every where you look there's another spot, another town.
That's kind of a bizarre similie, looking back at that now...
Anyway, after we were finished with the castle, we headed out to the next stop of the “Deutschland tour”: Badueberking, where Tante lives.
Tante is my host mom’s aunt. “Tante” means “Aunt” in German. The entire 2 days we were there, we called her “Tante”.
I love how nice and simple life is sometimes.
Anyway, we got to Tante’s place late in the afternoon, and had homemade Rhabarber Pie and coffee. Soooooo tasty…
We chatted some more and laughed some more, then ate some more (again, totally delicious and mouth watering). Desert was strawberries with ice cream. Need I say more?
After the meal Mrs. Cousin, my host mom, and I took a walk around Badueberking. It was too dark to see much other than the stars, but, you know, we don’t get to see them often enough, so it was nice to catch up with them too.
We got back from our walk to find dinner cleared and cleaned up already, so we said our goodbyes, and Mr. and Mrs. Cousin headed back to Stuttgart. We all headed straight to bed.
The next morning we woke up, ate another delicious breakfast, complete with homemade bread, then headed out and took a tour of the countryside. We stopped and wandered around a town that was celebrating its 1150th birthday.
To be clear, yes. It’s 1150th birthday.
One. One. Five. Zero.
I still can’t really fathom that.
As if that weren’t enough, we stopped by the ruins of Burg Reusstein.
Really should have mentioned this earlier, sorry: Burg=Castle
For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been interested in Castles since I was four years old. No joke. Other girls had Barbie dolls. I had a playmobile model castle, complete with knights and a battering ram.
Other girls had tea parties with a lovely pink tea set. I had mock battles with my lovely plastic castle.
Back to the point though: at Burg Hoheneuffen, we got to wander around and look at the history of the castle a bit. But at Burg Reusstein, since so much of it was in ruins, there was a lot more left to the imagination.
Who precisely lived here? Where was the great hall? The wall? The kitchen? Barracks? Was it a square keep? Why is it in ruins?
I attempted to get a picture of me at the castle (which offered another fantastic view of the area; militarily a must-have), but I kept blinking. Here’s the picture anyway:
Well, I would if Blogger and my computer would stop arguing. I'll have to have a chat with them again later...
After we were done clambering around the castle, we headed off to Blautopf, another old, old, oooooooooooooooold town in the Albs. What makes this one different though, is that there’s a lake/pond thing with a series of caves in, under, and around it. The minerals that make up these caves turns the water in the lake/pond thing a brilliant blue color:
Mega beautiful there. Also: I was able to successfully purchase postcards and have a conversation with the cashier despite the swebisch accent/dialect. I ended up getting a few extra papers with information on Blautopf for my efforts.
Success!
After Blautopf, we headed home to take a rest before dinner. We were all tired, and there was another day of driving ahead of us.
Our last dinner with Tante consisted of a series of Southwestern German specialties: the most entertaining of the evening though, was “Spaetzle”.
I think that’s how you spell it.
Spaetzle is a type of really deliscous noodle, but it’s much bread-ier than the Italian noodles you typically think of. The others asked what I thought of it and I attempted to say that the texture was similar to that of calamari.
The texture. Not the taste.
It took about 10 minutes for them to spot laughing, 5 to explain why they were laughing, 5 for me to attempt to clarify what I meant, then another 20 minutes of laughter from all of us before we finally continued eating.
Desert was eaten a bit later than normal, let’s put it that way…
The next morning after breakfast (do I even need to mention how delicious it was? Cause it was really tasty), we headed off to visit my host mom’s mom in Neuss. Along the way, we stopped in Koeln, where me and my host mom went to the Koelner Dom (cathedral), and my host brother went to the largest Music Store in Europe.
I have yet to see a grin broader than his when he headed into that building. And with good reason.
Apparently, this place has 200 different types of bass guitars. Bass guitars. They have some thing like 500 types of regular guitars. And they have rooms where you can try all of the stuff out.
Amps.
Guitars.
Drums.
Whatever it is your looking for.
The stor is already huge, and there moving to a new location. Which is even bigger.
I have no musical ability whatsoever, and I was still mega-impressed, so you can imagine how my host brother, who plays bass really well, reacted!
As for the Koelner Dom, it was beautiful. I had been there once before with my school, three years ago, and I was just as astounded this time around as I had been then. The Cathedral is enourmous. Some people don’t like Cathedrals because they make you feel so small, but that’s precisely what I love about them. You feel so tiny, and it makes you wonder: how in the world did they build this?
And then you see the stained glass windows. All the shades of color. All the tiny little pieces, so meticulously fitted together.
And you can't help but wonder again: how in the world did they do that?
Writing this, I tried to sit back and picture again exactly how it all looked; exactly the feeling I got when I was there. I couldn’t do it. I brought out the book I bought, closed the window, closed the door. When that didn’t work I put the book down and closed my eyes. Total silence. Total darkness.
And I still couldn’t imagine it. I still couldn’t bring it back to life.
That’s how spectacular this place is. You really have to see it to believe it.
Were it not for the fact that my neck started to hurt after a while (and we really did have to get going), I could have spent the whole day there. Heck, I could’ve spent a week there.
After our detour to Koeln, we finished off the last half hour to Neuss, and I met my host mom’s mom. We spent the evening catching up, trading stories, eating more delicious food, and discussing some history.
I learned more from my host Grandmom in one evening than I have in entire history courses.
The next morning (after another deliscious breakfast) my host mom’s brother came and picked us up, and took the day to show us around Dusseldorf. Unfortunately, this was the only day of spring break that it rained, so, although I still think Dusseldorf is one fantastic city, I didn’t quite get to see it in all its glory.
But my host uncle made sure that we stopped and looked at some postcards of the city in sunlight, so I can put a pretty good picture together in my head. As if I didn’t take enough while we were there. It rained, I’ve sorted through the pictures, and I’ve still got 42 pictures from a half a rainy day in the city. Among them are some pretty awesome buildings designed by the same guy who made the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Now those are some cool buildings. At some point over the course of the day, I learned that Duesseldorf is home to world’s largest spectator cross-country skiing race. 200,000 people will line up along the streets to watch people go cross-country skiing in the middle of a city.
Skiing. In a city. Am I the only one that finds that ridiculously cool?
After our half day in Dusseldorf, we headed back to Neuss and went out for Chinese with my host grandmom, where we talked and chatted some more.
The next morning, we ate breakfast (I was so tired by that point that, sadly, I can’t remember how it tasted), piled into the car, and drove home.
We got home, we piled out of the car, and I, for one, fell promptly asleep. I met up with friends a few more times before break ended, and then… break ended.
Which brings me, finally, to this past week.
Sadly though, I have absolutely zero energy left. Which means that “this week” is going to have to wait until next week.
Over and out,
Shannon
