These days I'm feeling much more comfortable with my German. In fact I speak it all the time (save for my English and IB history classes which are taught in English). I can fairly easily hold a conversation in German with friends and family, speaking to new people no longer frightens me, and German has replaced English as the common language amongst the exchange students. I will admit, I don't speak perfectly. There are still grammatical errors and mispronunciations galore, and I occasionally have to ask for a translation of a word. But hey, I'm getting there. What's most important is that I'm understood.
After speaking and reading mostly German for the past few weeks, tonight I got the opportunity to speak only in English for a few hours. A neighbor and friend of my host family, attends a weekly English conversation group and she invited me to come with her tonight.
Before and after the lesson I spoke German with the neighbor, but she warned me that the teacher had a strict policy of speaking English only inside the classroom. I was absolutely fine with that. It was a bit strange at first speaking English with these people, and I often caught myself about to say a German phrase every-now-and-then, as it has almost become second nature.
Once I got used to the switch though, it was quite exhilarating. I'd almost forgotten that I do have a native language, and given the opportunity, I can and will talk someone's ear off.
The teacher told me to introduce myself and tell the people about where I come from and she let the class ask me questions. I ended up talking a lot about Vermont. I'd brought a map, a few postcards, and some brochures for Ben & Jerry's, Cabot Creamery, and so on. I shared a bag of maple candy too.
And so I talked and I talked. I talked until my mouth and throat were dry from talking too much. I was completely thrilled with my ability to simply think of what I wanted to say and then say it. This is a luxury I don't often get with German, when I have to worry about how to translate something first. I would compare the feeling to running with weights for a long time, and then finally getting to take the weights off and remembering how easy it is to run with nothing restraining you.
Finally we moved on to the next part of the lesson where each of us was given a prompt that we would then transform into a short anecdote to present to the class. The others had received their prompts the week before and had prepared some notes to help them. Despite my neighbor giving me my prompt a few days prior, I didn't bother to prepare anything. I only read it once and then left it at home. And why not? I speak English. I could just make up what ever I wanted right then and there. That's the beauty of having a native language.
When it was my turn, I took the seat at the front of the class and began to speak. My prompt was about the last time I bought a gift for someone. So I told them all about the Christmas present I'd bought for my host sister. When I was finished, the teacher said it was so good that she wished she'd taped it to use with other classes. No big deal, guys, but it turns out that I'm pretty good at speaking the language I've been speaking all my life. Who knew?
After the lesson, things switched back to German again. Before driving home, my neighbor treated me to some ice cream. There's always a large selection of sundaes you can order in an ice cream cafe in Germany. I couldn't resist ordering one sundae called Kartoffel (potato). Germany known for its ice cream made to look like spaghetti or pizza, but this was a new one for me. The sundae did look quite like a baked potato. It was made of hazelnut and chocolate ice cream rolled into a potato shape and the covered in a fine chocolate dust to give it the look of potato skin. The whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top were made to look like sour cream and gravy. Oh Germany, you never cease to amuse me.
Before I wrap up this post, I would just like to give a special birthday shout out to my friend and fellow exchange student Adriana. Happy Birthday! Alles gute zum Geburtstag! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Blog Marathon- Day Three: Harry Potter
I almost forgot to post today. Oops. For a moment when my laptop said that there was no WiFi connection, I considered not posting today, and instead I'd maybe post twice tomorrow and beg your forgiveness, but anyone who knows me well knows that I'm wicked competitive, especially with myself. That is why I will be posting today, however short this post may be, because I'd really like to go to bed now.
I knew that when I started this blog marathon, I'd have to finish it because I put my goal out there for the whole word to see. Once I say I'm going to do something, I do it. Which is why tonight, I'm going to tell you all about another goal I have.
On the second day of living with my new host family, told them that one day I'd like to read Harry Potter in German. I've loved the Harry Potter series ever since I was little. So I figured I'd love it equally as much in German. When I told my host family about this goal, I imagined it as something I'd accomplish towards the end of my stay, when my German was better. Instead my host mom told me that they owned the first book in the series and I could start reading immediately.
That kind of fought me off guard. My German wasn't nearly good enough to read such a long book filled with tons of words I didn't know. Nevertheless I took the book and began to read the first few pages. I didn't understand all of what I read. I had to skim over large chunks of the text. I could have used a translator or dictionary for when I came across an unknown word, but I knew that attempting to translate a 300+ page book would drive be insane and take forever. So I simply read. Some parts made no sense to me, but I'd read the book before so I know what happens.
I started out slow. The first night I read maybe five pages. But I forgot how captivating Harry Potter can be, even in a foreign language. I was amazed at how quickly the first 50 pages went by, then 100, then 200, then suddenly I had less than 50 pages to go.
Today I finished the first book. I was so proud showing my host parents how quickly I finished it. So this evening my host mom and I rode our bikes to the library so I could check out the next book. There they had the entire series, and my host mom explained that I could check them out anytime I wanted. She told me that she had learned Portugese by reading Harry Potter.
So here's my goal. I'm going to share it with you all, so you can hold me to it. I'm going to read the entire Harry Potter series in German. There. I said it. I mean, I have the second half of my exchange still ahead of me. That should give me plenty of time. And I'll be damned if I'm not nearly fluent in German after reading the entire Harry Potter series. Who knows, when I'm done, maybe I'll read the Hunger Games series too.
I knew that when I started this blog marathon, I'd have to finish it because I put my goal out there for the whole word to see. Once I say I'm going to do something, I do it. Which is why tonight, I'm going to tell you all about another goal I have.
On the second day of living with my new host family, told them that one day I'd like to read Harry Potter in German. I've loved the Harry Potter series ever since I was little. So I figured I'd love it equally as much in German. When I told my host family about this goal, I imagined it as something I'd accomplish towards the end of my stay, when my German was better. Instead my host mom told me that they owned the first book in the series and I could start reading immediately.
That kind of fought me off guard. My German wasn't nearly good enough to read such a long book filled with tons of words I didn't know. Nevertheless I took the book and began to read the first few pages. I didn't understand all of what I read. I had to skim over large chunks of the text. I could have used a translator or dictionary for when I came across an unknown word, but I knew that attempting to translate a 300+ page book would drive be insane and take forever. So I simply read. Some parts made no sense to me, but I'd read the book before so I know what happens.
I started out slow. The first night I read maybe five pages. But I forgot how captivating Harry Potter can be, even in a foreign language. I was amazed at how quickly the first 50 pages went by, then 100, then 200, then suddenly I had less than 50 pages to go.
Today I finished the first book. I was so proud showing my host parents how quickly I finished it. So this evening my host mom and I rode our bikes to the library so I could check out the next book. There they had the entire series, and my host mom explained that I could check them out anytime I wanted. She told me that she had learned Portugese by reading Harry Potter.
So here's my goal. I'm going to share it with you all, so you can hold me to it. I'm going to read the entire Harry Potter series in German. There. I said it. I mean, I have the second half of my exchange still ahead of me. That should give me plenty of time. And I'll be damned if I'm not nearly fluent in German after reading the entire Harry Potter series. Who knows, when I'm done, maybe I'll read the Hunger Games series too.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Blog Marathon- Day Two: Meine Neue Gastfamilie
I guess it's about damn time I wrote a post about my new host family. I mean, I've been living with them for ten days now.
My new host family consists of a mom, a dad, two brothers, more or less two sisters (I'll explain the "more or less in a moment"), and a dog. My host dad is an engineer and my host mom is a primary school teacher. The oldest child is Swenja, she is 17 years old and in her final year of Gymnasium. Next comes Hannah, she is 15. The reason why I said I had more or less two sisters is because she's currently in Brazil for an exchange year. I'll get to meet her shortly before I go home. The oldest of the boys is named Justus; He is 13 years old. Hans, at 11 years, is the youngest. And of course there's our lovely dog, Cadela, a yellow lab.
My host mom teaches at, and my host brothers attend a school nearby our home in Großen Buseck. Swenja goes to school in Gießen, although it's a different one than mine. Despite moving to a new town, I don't have to switch schools.
Fun facts about my family:
My new host family consists of a mom, a dad, two brothers, more or less two sisters (I'll explain the "more or less in a moment"), and a dog. My host dad is an engineer and my host mom is a primary school teacher. The oldest child is Swenja, she is 17 years old and in her final year of Gymnasium. Next comes Hannah, she is 15. The reason why I said I had more or less two sisters is because she's currently in Brazil for an exchange year. I'll get to meet her shortly before I go home. The oldest of the boys is named Justus; He is 13 years old. Hans, at 11 years, is the youngest. And of course there's our lovely dog, Cadela, a yellow lab.
My host mom teaches at, and my host brothers attend a school nearby our home in Großen Buseck. Swenja goes to school in Gießen, although it's a different one than mine. Despite moving to a new town, I don't have to switch schools.
Fun facts about my family:
- My host family has lived abroad in both China and Portugal for many years.
- They are very musical. Every child plays at least one instrument.
- They bake their own bread, and it is delicious.
- The dog's name, Cadela, means "dog" in Portugese.
- My host sister bikes 10 kilometers to school everyday (and back). I take the train.
As I mention earlier, we live in a town/village named Großen Buseck. Großen Buseck is much smaller than Wezlar, but still has almost three times the population of my home town in Vermont. There's a train station where the train comes twice per an hour in each direction on weekdays, and once per an hour or less on weekends.
Things have been going swimmingly since I've moved in with my new host family. They're all very nice and welcoming. I think I'm going to enjoy my time with them.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Blog Marathon- Day One: My Sports Teacher
Hey everyone! I've been slacking a little on the posting recently, haven't I? Well, I'd like to make it up to you. This week I'm going to try to write something everyday. That's right, EVERYDAY. Now, I'm not 100% sure that I'll meet this goal, but I guess I have to try my best now that I've put it out on the Internet for the world to read.
Well, here goes, day one of the blog marathon. I'm going to start you off small anecdote, because I don't want to overwhelm you with so much reading after such a long dry spell… Just kidding, that's not why. It's because I've waited until 11:16pm to write this and I want to go to bed. See? It's the first day and I'm already procrastinating.
So this is just a little story about a small thing that brightened my day today:
Today in my sports class—which was just a theory class, we weren't actually playing any sports—Nina brought in Mettbrötchen. Mettbrötchen is a typical German food consisting of Mett, a type of raw ground meat with spices, and Brötchen, bread rolls. Eat together as a sandwich with some onions, this is a strange yet tasty snack. She brought the meat and rolls into class and left them on a desk for us to assemble for ourselves. I let the other students go before for me as I was content reading Harry Potter (in German) as I waited. When I got up to get my Mettbrötchen, I saw that there was only Mett left, and no Brötchen. My sports teacher also noticed this and suggested that I just eat the Mett alone. I assume he meant that as a joke; eat plain, raw meat? No thanks.
So then my teacher called another student up to his desk, took out a euro from his wallet, and told the student to go buy me a roll from the cafeteria.
When the student got back with the roll I cut it open and began putting meat on it. I must have looked like I was struggling, because then my teacher came over, took the roll and knife from me and spread the meat on himself. He even sprinkled on some onions for me. He handed me the Mettbrötchen and I said, "Vielen Dank!" (Many thanks).
I was so touched that he'd gone to so much trouble to make sure that I got some Mettbrötchen. It was especially nice because I never really understand what's happening in his class and I end up just sitting there most of the time. This teacher always makes me feel like a part of the class. He's just a pretty awesome person in general. He often buys coffee for all of the students in our class. And even though he speaks hardly any English, he will occasionally say a few words in English, which always causes me to giggle.
So, many thanks to my sport teacher; I hereby dedicate this post to him. And here's to a successful blog marathon!
Well, here goes, day one of the blog marathon. I'm going to start you off small anecdote, because I don't want to overwhelm you with so much reading after such a long dry spell… Just kidding, that's not why. It's because I've waited until 11:16pm to write this and I want to go to bed. See? It's the first day and I'm already procrastinating.
So this is just a little story about a small thing that brightened my day today:
Today in my sports class—which was just a theory class, we weren't actually playing any sports—Nina brought in Mettbrötchen. Mettbrötchen is a typical German food consisting of Mett, a type of raw ground meat with spices, and Brötchen, bread rolls. Eat together as a sandwich with some onions, this is a strange yet tasty snack. She brought the meat and rolls into class and left them on a desk for us to assemble for ourselves. I let the other students go before for me as I was content reading Harry Potter (in German) as I waited. When I got up to get my Mettbrötchen, I saw that there was only Mett left, and no Brötchen. My sports teacher also noticed this and suggested that I just eat the Mett alone. I assume he meant that as a joke; eat plain, raw meat? No thanks.
So then my teacher called another student up to his desk, took out a euro from his wallet, and told the student to go buy me a roll from the cafeteria.
When the student got back with the roll I cut it open and began putting meat on it. I must have looked like I was struggling, because then my teacher came over, took the roll and knife from me and spread the meat on himself. He even sprinkled on some onions for me. He handed me the Mettbrötchen and I said, "Vielen Dank!" (Many thanks).
I was so touched that he'd gone to so much trouble to make sure that I got some Mettbrötchen. It was especially nice because I never really understand what's happening in his class and I end up just sitting there most of the time. This teacher always makes me feel like a part of the class. He's just a pretty awesome person in general. He often buys coffee for all of the students in our class. And even though he speaks hardly any English, he will occasionally say a few words in English, which always causes me to giggle.
So, many thanks to my sport teacher; I hereby dedicate this post to him. And here's to a successful blog marathon!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Frohe Weihnachten!
I know I'm a little bit late with this, but I wanted to write a post about celebrating Christmas in Germany.
**Disclaimer: this is simply how I've experienced Christmas in Germany. Traditions may vary from family to family. Also, not everything was fully explained to me, I simply observed and went along with what everyone else was doing, so I apologize for any gaps in my explanations or understanding.**
Christmas on the 24th?
German Christmas, or Weihnachten, is a bit different that American Christmas. The most importance difference would be the fact that in Germany, Christmas is celebrated over the course of three days, with the most important being December 24th. That's right, German Christmas isn't even on the same day as American Christmas.
December 24th is a day called Heiligabend (Heilig= holy, abend= evening). Basically, Germans celebrate Christmas Eve, the night of Christ's birth, rather than the following morning. Since Germans just celebrate in the evening on the 24th, some people still have to go to work that day. My host parents were quite busy in the butchery that day filling everyone's orders for Christmas.
So how do Germans celebrate on this day exactly? Some go to church services the way that some Americans go to a service on Christmas Eve, some just stay at home with family, there's usually a big meal involved, and this is the time for exchanging presents.
December 24th started for me by returning back to my host family's house after celebrating a friend's 18th birthday the night before. I wished by host parents a merry Christmas as I went up to the apartment above the butchery. I spent some time just relaxing, knowing that not much would be happening until that evening. I also took this time to finish wrapping Christmas presents for my host family. After my host parents closed the butchery, they rested for the afternoon (it was very well deserved, I might add, as things had been quite hectic in the butchery in the days/weeks leading up to Christmas).
In the evening I joined my host family in the living room. Some extended family came to celebrate with us. First we had our Christmas meal, which consisted of duck, red cabbage, knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), gravy, basically just some all-around good German food. I understand that this is a very typically meal to have on German Christmas.
After dinner we opened gifts. The adults joked that the children would have to sing before opening presents (or at least that was my interpretation. I'm still not to strong with the German), this didn't actually happen. In Germany, the children take turns passing out the presents (or maybe that's just how my host family does it?), that night all of the "children" were over eighteen or older. Nina, Sarah, their two cousins, and I took turns handing out the present. We went in order of age and we were required to announce whom the present is for, and who gave the present. After all the presents were opened we spent sometime talking, eating desert, and enjoying each other's company.
O Tannenbaum!
Like Americans, Germans typically have a Christmas tree in their home, hence the famous carol "O Tannenbaum" However, unlike Americans, Germans wait until just a few days before Christmas to get a tree. My host family didn't set up their tree until the day of. Mistaking this custom for having no tree at all, I told one of my friends how sad I was that my host family didn't have tree for Christmas. So this friend gave me a small plastic tree as a Christmas present and I keep it on my desk.
My host family did have a Christmas tree. It was small, plastic, and silver. It was cute, but not quite what I'm used to. It was a pretty stark contrast to the year my brother insisted we cut down a giant tree which took up half of our living room.
On the Second day of Christmas…
When I woke up on the morning of the 25th, I took a few minutes to open some of the presents sent to me by my lovely family; this was my own little way of honoring American Christmas. I'd opened a few of the other presents the night before. Then I had breakfast with my host family. When we'd finished eating my host mom told me that AFS had found a new host family for me and that they wanted to meet with me sometime after Christmas
**Sorry, if this is the first time you're hearing that I'm switching host families. I think that most people that read my blog know. Everything's okay. I'll write more about it later**
Anyway, that was kind of a nice Christmas present from AFS!
After breakfast I went for a run with my host dad, host sister (Sarah), and Fee. It was a perfect day for a run. The weather was 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). This was my first Christmas without snow.
That afternoon I skyped with my mom. I think we talked for almost two hours. I saved one of the presents she sent me so that I could open it in front of her.
That evening we went to my host grandparent's house for more present opening and more Christmas dinner. Some other family was there too, including two adorable little boy cousins that remind me of my cousins. Before opening presents the boys performed a little magic show for us (I'm guessing this was their alternative to singing for their presents), then the two of them handed out everyone's presents like we'd done the night before.
And then we had dinner, which, like the night before, was delicious. Also, I just wanted to include a small anecdote from that night: We were having desert and everyone was just sort of chit chatting when the younger of the two boys (who is seven, I believe) takes a sip from his mother's glass because he thinks it's apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling water, Germans LOVE it). Then all of a sudden he gets this horrible look on his face and shouts, "Ugggghhhh! Was war das?!" It was not apfelshorle that he drank. It was, in fact, his mother's beer. We all had a good laugh. (Clarification: was war das?= what was that?)
After dinner I played some games with the boys, including German Battleship. It's always fun to practice my German with kids because they don't really care how bad it is.
On the Second Day of Christmas…
The 26th was pretty low key. We had breakfast together, went to the gym, had a nice meal in the evening, and so on. And that night I got to skype my dad.
Random Christmas Facts:
Frohe Weinachten= Merry Christmas
Weihnachtsmann= Santa Claus
I'm not really sure what role Santa plays in German Christmas since no one in my host family is young enough to believe in him. There is a holiday earlier in December called Nikolaus. On the morning of this day children find small gifts in their shoes from Nikolaus. These gifts typically consist of sweets, clementines, and nuts.
The time leading up to Christmas is clued Advent. You probably already knew this, but I have to mention it because Germans really celebrate Advent. Advent calendars with a small present inside for each day is really common, especially for children. Some people will make an Advent calendar, some will buy one. Every Sunday during Advent, Germans will light candles on their Advent wreath.
**Disclaimer: this is simply how I've experienced Christmas in Germany. Traditions may vary from family to family. Also, not everything was fully explained to me, I simply observed and went along with what everyone else was doing, so I apologize for any gaps in my explanations or understanding.**
Christmas on the 24th?
German Christmas, or Weihnachten, is a bit different that American Christmas. The most importance difference would be the fact that in Germany, Christmas is celebrated over the course of three days, with the most important being December 24th. That's right, German Christmas isn't even on the same day as American Christmas.
December 24th is a day called Heiligabend (Heilig= holy, abend= evening). Basically, Germans celebrate Christmas Eve, the night of Christ's birth, rather than the following morning. Since Germans just celebrate in the evening on the 24th, some people still have to go to work that day. My host parents were quite busy in the butchery that day filling everyone's orders for Christmas.
So how do Germans celebrate on this day exactly? Some go to church services the way that some Americans go to a service on Christmas Eve, some just stay at home with family, there's usually a big meal involved, and this is the time for exchanging presents.
December 24th started for me by returning back to my host family's house after celebrating a friend's 18th birthday the night before. I wished by host parents a merry Christmas as I went up to the apartment above the butchery. I spent some time just relaxing, knowing that not much would be happening until that evening. I also took this time to finish wrapping Christmas presents for my host family. After my host parents closed the butchery, they rested for the afternoon (it was very well deserved, I might add, as things had been quite hectic in the butchery in the days/weeks leading up to Christmas).
In the evening I joined my host family in the living room. Some extended family came to celebrate with us. First we had our Christmas meal, which consisted of duck, red cabbage, knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), gravy, basically just some all-around good German food. I understand that this is a very typically meal to have on German Christmas.
After dinner we opened gifts. The adults joked that the children would have to sing before opening presents (or at least that was my interpretation. I'm still not to strong with the German), this didn't actually happen. In Germany, the children take turns passing out the presents (or maybe that's just how my host family does it?), that night all of the "children" were over eighteen or older. Nina, Sarah, their two cousins, and I took turns handing out the present. We went in order of age and we were required to announce whom the present is for, and who gave the present. After all the presents were opened we spent sometime talking, eating desert, and enjoying each other's company.
O Tannenbaum!
Like Americans, Germans typically have a Christmas tree in their home, hence the famous carol "O Tannenbaum" However, unlike Americans, Germans wait until just a few days before Christmas to get a tree. My host family didn't set up their tree until the day of. Mistaking this custom for having no tree at all, I told one of my friends how sad I was that my host family didn't have tree for Christmas. So this friend gave me a small plastic tree as a Christmas present and I keep it on my desk.
 |
| My little tree. Yes, it's sitting in a coffee mug. |
My host family did have a Christmas tree. It was small, plastic, and silver. It was cute, but not quite what I'm used to. It was a pretty stark contrast to the year my brother insisted we cut down a giant tree which took up half of our living room.
 |
| My host family's tree. |
On the Second day of Christmas…
When I woke up on the morning of the 25th, I took a few minutes to open some of the presents sent to me by my lovely family; this was my own little way of honoring American Christmas. I'd opened a few of the other presents the night before. Then I had breakfast with my host family. When we'd finished eating my host mom told me that AFS had found a new host family for me and that they wanted to meet with me sometime after Christmas
**Sorry, if this is the first time you're hearing that I'm switching host families. I think that most people that read my blog know. Everything's okay. I'll write more about it later**
Anyway, that was kind of a nice Christmas present from AFS!
After breakfast I went for a run with my host dad, host sister (Sarah), and Fee. It was a perfect day for a run. The weather was 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). This was my first Christmas without snow.
That afternoon I skyped with my mom. I think we talked for almost two hours. I saved one of the presents she sent me so that I could open it in front of her.
That evening we went to my host grandparent's house for more present opening and more Christmas dinner. Some other family was there too, including two adorable little boy cousins that remind me of my cousins. Before opening presents the boys performed a little magic show for us (I'm guessing this was their alternative to singing for their presents), then the two of them handed out everyone's presents like we'd done the night before.
And then we had dinner, which, like the night before, was delicious. Also, I just wanted to include a small anecdote from that night: We were having desert and everyone was just sort of chit chatting when the younger of the two boys (who is seven, I believe) takes a sip from his mother's glass because he thinks it's apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling water, Germans LOVE it). Then all of a sudden he gets this horrible look on his face and shouts, "Ugggghhhh! Was war das?!" It was not apfelshorle that he drank. It was, in fact, his mother's beer. We all had a good laugh. (Clarification: was war das?= what was that?)
After dinner I played some games with the boys, including German Battleship. It's always fun to practice my German with kids because they don't really care how bad it is.
On the Second Day of Christmas…
The 26th was pretty low key. We had breakfast together, went to the gym, had a nice meal in the evening, and so on. And that night I got to skype my dad.
Random Christmas Facts:
Frohe Weinachten= Merry Christmas
Weihnachtsmann= Santa Claus
I'm not really sure what role Santa plays in German Christmas since no one in my host family is young enough to believe in him. There is a holiday earlier in December called Nikolaus. On the morning of this day children find small gifts in their shoes from Nikolaus. These gifts typically consist of sweets, clementines, and nuts.
 |
| My Advent calendar |
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Why are we always running? (Köln)
Last Saturday, Adriana, Lara, Taisy, and I went to Köln. As a mentioned in my last post, you can get a good deal on train tickets when you buy them for a group of five. For 46 Euros, a group of five people can travel anywhere in Germany for one day with unlimited use of public transportation. We only had four people, but that only meant that we each had to chip in 11.5 euros rather than 9.2.
Lara and Adriana met at the Gießen Bahnhof and bought the ticket, and when the train came through Wetzlar, Taisy and I got on. We were on our way a little after 10 and we got to Köln at about 12:30. The train ride was pretty uneventful. We had to make a pretty tight connection in Siegen, but we made it thanks to a flat out sprint from one train to the next. Which begged the question Taisy and I ask our selves nearly every time we're together, why are we always running?
After arriving in Köln, the first thing we did was visit the Kölner Dom because it is literally right next to the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station). The Dom was so breathtakingly beautiful; I have no idea how humans are actually capable of building such things. All of the pictures I took don't seem to do it justice. I could never even manage to capture the whole thing in my lens anyway… so I bought a nice postcard.
Fun facts:
*Note: With the exception of the photo of the South tower and the photo of mine and my brother's names, all photos here have been shamelessly stolen from the lovely Taisy. I left my cell phone containing all my pictures at a friends house this weekend. I will add some of my own photos when I get a chance.*
After we made our way back down, we met up with Lara again and went to the Weihnactsmarkt for lunch. There was a ridiculous amount of people there. It was pretty unpleasant having to push through the huge crowd of people. That being said, it's one of the best known Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany, the food was good, and I did a little bit of Christmas shopping for my Americans.
Around four o'clock, Adriana and Lara met up with a plethora of other Latin American exchange students. Taisy and I hung around for a bit, but due to my Spanish being out of practice and Taisy's nonexistent, we decided to split and go to the Schokoladenmuseum Köln.
With a vague idea of where it's located, the GPS in my phone, and the help of some strangers, it didn't take us too long to find the museum. Although it may have been quicker if we just followed the strong, heavenly scent of German chocolate wafting through the air.
Upon paying our entrance fee, we were each given a tiny chocolate bar which was made right there in the museum. We learned just about everything one could learn about chocolate. There were exhibits on everything from the origin of chocolate, to the plant it comes from, modern production, and everything in between. The museum was complete with a tropicarium filled with cocoa plants, a small scale versions of machines used to produce chocolate, and chocolate fountain. Taisy said it reminded her of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I have to say that I agree. The only thing I could have possibly wished for was more time to experience the whole thing… well that and more free chocolate.
Eventually we had to leave to meet up with the others. But not until I spent eleven something Euros in the chocolate shop, not for me, but to send back to America. Mom, if you're reading this, I guess you might have a clue what is coming to you in that package I sent.
We were running a little bit late for our designated meeting time with Lara and Adriana, so yet again, we found ourselves running (and pushing through large crowds of people).
Before we had to leave, we wanted to try the local specialty beer of Köln called Kölsch. Luckily there was a grocery store right in the train station where you could buy it. As we were looking around for something to open the beer with, I happened to see the time on my watch. "Umm, hey guys, our train leaves in four minutes and we don't even know what platform to be on." You guessed, this comment sparked another sprint to catch our train. At this point, I can't say I'm not used to it.
Once we got to our platform, we saw that the train was completely full. People were reluctant to let us on since they were already packed in like sardines. One of the others suggested that we just get the next train, but we knew that wouldn't get us home until almost midnight. We ended up just kind of forcing our way onto the train. We had to stand most of the way back to Siegen, which my tired feet didn't agree with, but it was an awful lot better than hanging around in a train station for a few hours.
This time our connection in Siegen was even closer because our train from Köln was running late. We arrived at the station at the time that our second train was supposed to be leaving. On a wing and a prayer and a good healthy sprint, we managed to catch our train. The remainder of our trip was much more relaxed, save for some rowdy soccer fans that boarded the train for a few stops.
We finally reached Wetzlar, and by the time I walked home I was just ready for sleep.
Lara and Adriana met at the Gießen Bahnhof and bought the ticket, and when the train came through Wetzlar, Taisy and I got on. We were on our way a little after 10 and we got to Köln at about 12:30. The train ride was pretty uneventful. We had to make a pretty tight connection in Siegen, but we made it thanks to a flat out sprint from one train to the next. Which begged the question Taisy and I ask our selves nearly every time we're together, why are we always running?
After arriving in Köln, the first thing we did was visit the Kölner Dom because it is literally right next to the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station). The Dom was so breathtakingly beautiful; I have no idea how humans are actually capable of building such things. All of the pictures I took don't seem to do it justice. I could never even manage to capture the whole thing in my lens anyway… so I bought a nice postcard.
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| A group photo in front of the Dom. |
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| A photo of one tower taken from the South side. |
Fun facts:
- There is a shrine behind the alter of the Kölner Dom witch holds the bones of the Three Wise Men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.
- The Kölner Dom is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting about 20,000 people a day.
- It is the largest Gothic Church in Northern Europe and has the second tallest spires.
- Its two large spires give it the largest facade of any other church in the world.
- It is 157m (515ft) tall and I climbed 100 of those meters.
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| On our way up. |
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| Finally made it! I'm pointing to where we are standing in the Dom |
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| Must be fate. |
After we made our way back down, we met up with Lara again and went to the Weihnactsmarkt for lunch. There was a ridiculous amount of people there. It was pretty unpleasant having to push through the huge crowd of people. That being said, it's one of the best known Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany, the food was good, and I did a little bit of Christmas shopping for my Americans.
Around four o'clock, Adriana and Lara met up with a plethora of other Latin American exchange students. Taisy and I hung around for a bit, but due to my Spanish being out of practice and Taisy's nonexistent, we decided to split and go to the Schokoladenmuseum Köln.
With a vague idea of where it's located, the GPS in my phone, and the help of some strangers, it didn't take us too long to find the museum. Although it may have been quicker if we just followed the strong, heavenly scent of German chocolate wafting through the air.
Upon paying our entrance fee, we were each given a tiny chocolate bar which was made right there in the museum. We learned just about everything one could learn about chocolate. There were exhibits on everything from the origin of chocolate, to the plant it comes from, modern production, and everything in between. The museum was complete with a tropicarium filled with cocoa plants, a small scale versions of machines used to produce chocolate, and chocolate fountain. Taisy said it reminded her of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I have to say that I agree. The only thing I could have possibly wished for was more time to experience the whole thing… well that and more free chocolate.
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| The glorious chocolate fountain |
We were running a little bit late for our designated meeting time with Lara and Adriana, so yet again, we found ourselves running (and pushing through large crowds of people).
Before we had to leave, we wanted to try the local specialty beer of Köln called Kölsch. Luckily there was a grocery store right in the train station where you could buy it. As we were looking around for something to open the beer with, I happened to see the time on my watch. "Umm, hey guys, our train leaves in four minutes and we don't even know what platform to be on." You guessed, this comment sparked another sprint to catch our train. At this point, I can't say I'm not used to it.
Once we got to our platform, we saw that the train was completely full. People were reluctant to let us on since they were already packed in like sardines. One of the others suggested that we just get the next train, but we knew that wouldn't get us home until almost midnight. We ended up just kind of forcing our way onto the train. We had to stand most of the way back to Siegen, which my tired feet didn't agree with, but it was an awful lot better than hanging around in a train station for a few hours.
This time our connection in Siegen was even closer because our train from Köln was running late. We arrived at the station at the time that our second train was supposed to be leaving. On a wing and a prayer and a good healthy sprint, we managed to catch our train. The remainder of our trip was much more relaxed, save for some rowdy soccer fans that boarded the train for a few stops.
We finally reached Wetzlar, and by the time I walked home I was just ready for sleep.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Fun in Frankfurt
On Monday I went to Frankfurt for the afternoon/evening with Adriana, an exchange student from Venezuela. Adriana had to visit the Venezuelan Embassy and invited me to come along with her so after she'd finished what she needed to do at the embassy, we could explore Frankfurt and definitely check out the Weihnachtsmarkt there (Weihnachtsmakt = Christmas market). So Sunday night I asked my host parents if I could go and they said it was alright, but first I should call Uta (our AFS coordinator) to make sure that it was okay for the two of us to go alone. And so, I had my first phone call completely in German. The phone call went a well, except I was really nervous and I made Sarah stand with me while I called, just in case. Uta said that of course it was fine that we go to Frankfurt and wished us "viel Spaß!"
So Monday after school (I only had school until 1pm!), I met Adriana at the train station. We were just about to buy our train tickets when a woman asked us if we're going to Frankfurt because she had two extra tickets (in Germany you can get special discounts on tickets when you buy them in groups of five). She asked us to pay seven euros for each ticket, which is about half of their normal price.
Taking a train from Gießen to Frankfurt takes about a half an hour, and there are at least two trains per an hour going to Frankfurt. It was kind of mind boggling for me that I could be in a city the size of Boston in just a half hour; whereas from where I live in America, it takes an hour by car to get to a "city" of 42,282 people. Also, I really appreciated the freedom of being able to go Frankfurt with just one other exchange student when just three months ago I had no idea how to speak German or use the train system. And three months ago, if I'd found myself in a large city of which I could hardly speak the language and I had no idea how to navigate, I would probably have a mental break down.
After arriving in Frankfurt at about 2 o'clock, we decided that our first order of business would be to find the Venezuelan Embassy. Equipped with the address of the embassy and Google maps in my phone, we still managed to get a bit lost. We ended up asking for directions about three times. Eventually we found the embassy, spotting the Venezuelan flag from down the street and running gleefully in its direction.
Upon arriving at the embassy, much to our dismay, we discovered that it had closed at 10 o'clock that morning. After a few minutes of wallowing in our self-pity and trying to decide what we should do next, we noticed two men exiting the embassy. Adriana had a short conversation with them in Spanish, most of which I did not understand (unfortunately, it seems that as I learn German, I'm forgetting my Spanish). Then the men let us into the embassy where Adriana talked to some more people in Spanish and was able to do whatever she needed to do there.
Next, we decided to go to the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt. I had already been to the Weihnachtsmarkt once with my host family, but only briefly, so I was happy to go back. We simply asked someone on the street in which direction the Weihnachtsmarkt is, and we were on our way.
Once at the Weihnachtsmarkt, we bought the obligatory Currywurst, crepe, and hot Apfelwein. When you get something to drink at a Weihnachtsmarkt, the vendors give it to you in a mug that you're required to return (or else you won't get your extra euro or two back), so there are some tables for people to stand around while they drink their Glühwein, or what have you.
We spent the rest of the evening walking around the Weihnachtsmarkt; we even took a ride on the carousel. Navigating the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt, especially at night when there are more people, can be really tricky. There are huge crowds everywhere. As a small-town girl, I'm not used to having to push my way through tons of people just to make it down the sidewalk.
When we finally decided that it was time to go home, we asked a man for directions. He told us that the Bahnhof was quite a distance away from the market and that it'd probably be best to take the U-bahn back. But we thought, whatever, we've walked this far, we can walk back. On that note, thank the Lord for smart phones with GPS!
The train ride back was pretty uneventful, with the exception of the fact that a rather large woman with a huge backpack sat next to me (practically on top of me), squishing me against the wall of the train for the whole ride. But not even that could take away from the fun night I had with Adriana in Frankfurt.
Taking a train from Gießen to Frankfurt takes about a half an hour, and there are at least two trains per an hour going to Frankfurt. It was kind of mind boggling for me that I could be in a city the size of Boston in just a half hour; whereas from where I live in America, it takes an hour by car to get to a "city" of 42,282 people. Also, I really appreciated the freedom of being able to go Frankfurt with just one other exchange student when just three months ago I had no idea how to speak German or use the train system. And three months ago, if I'd found myself in a large city of which I could hardly speak the language and I had no idea how to navigate, I would probably have a mental break down.
After arriving in Frankfurt at about 2 o'clock, we decided that our first order of business would be to find the Venezuelan Embassy. Equipped with the address of the embassy and Google maps in my phone, we still managed to get a bit lost. We ended up asking for directions about three times. Eventually we found the embassy, spotting the Venezuelan flag from down the street and running gleefully in its direction.
Next, we decided to go to the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt. I had already been to the Weihnachtsmarkt once with my host family, but only briefly, so I was happy to go back. We simply asked someone on the street in which direction the Weihnachtsmarkt is, and we were on our way.
Once at the Weihnachtsmarkt, we bought the obligatory Currywurst, crepe, and hot Apfelwein. When you get something to drink at a Weihnachtsmarkt, the vendors give it to you in a mug that you're required to return (or else you won't get your extra euro or two back), so there are some tables for people to stand around while they drink their Glühwein, or what have you.
The train ride back was pretty uneventful, with the exception of the fact that a rather large woman with a huge backpack sat next to me (practically on top of me), squishing me against the wall of the train for the whole ride. But not even that could take away from the fun night I had with Adriana in Frankfurt.
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