"You should speak German here..."

Ever imagine what the Tower of Babel was like? Let me introduce you to the Goethe-Institut, my university for the next 3 weeks here in Freiburg. Students from all over the world come to this school to study the German language and culture. Today I met/heard only a select few people speaking English. Just sitting at my desk at the window I could hear at least 5 different languages. Others in our group met students from Uganda, Michigan, Chile and I’ve seen several Asian and Indian students as well. From about 7PM on, there was a massive social event. It was someone’s birthday (the only reason I knew was the off key singing of happy birthday, in English mind you) and there was music and loud talking for several hours. Then like clockwork, at 10PM, quiet hours started and it has been oddly still ever since.

I’m sitting in my own dorm room at the “Guest House” of Goethe-Institut. I’m on the first floor in a corner room. We each have our own bathroom and fridge, but since I’m on the corner I am close to the wireless internet, a perk! It was so nice to completely unpack my bag and store it in a CLOSET! Pretty basic furnishings but a desk and a bed are pretty much all I need. I’m feeling pretty comfortable with all the mod IKEA accessories and lamps.

We travelled to and arrived in Freiburg as a small group of 7 without the aid of our professor, who is attending each of the groups individually over the next couple weeks. We asked for directions and began a short, but tiring walk with our belongings on our back to the Institut, about 5 minutes away. It is rather hot here, going to be 84 tomorrow, but will cool off through the rest of the week, down to the low 60’s, perfect sweatshirt weather. At the Institut, we were placed into our classes and got our room keys and were settled in. By this time it was 4PM and we were all very hungry as we didn’t eat anything after Breakfast. So we explored an area our taxi driver from the Institut to the “Guest House” called ‘Food Paradise’. We found a pizza place and woofed down some food quick. We stopped in to buy groceries for breakfast food (milk, frosted flakes, juice, bananas, cookies J) and basically settled into our rooms. We were all a little exhausted from our 4 hour train trek today, plus about 2 hours of orientation and first day stuff at the Institut. We zoned out by getting on the internet, facebook, email and blogging. I started to look at some options for free travel coming up in a few weeks. It was just nice to read the small town newspaper online for a change and get reconnected to the world.

Tomorrow is the first day of class for our German Intensive program. We have class Monday-Friday 1:30-6 with a few breaks. Otherwise, it’s all German. I’m excited to sleep in and have mornings free, but by 6 tomorrow I’m sure I’ll be wiped out and hungry. We’re on our own for food for the next 3 weeks (we can spend as little or as much as we want, it’s coming out of our own pocket, not budgeted by the trip) so we’re looking up some low cost options. We’ve also eyed an interesting spot. There is an Afghani restaurant literally 5 feet from the door to the Guesthouse, and peeking in the windows it looks like a pretty sweet place.

My friend that fell is in good spirits. She had surgery yesterday and is recovering. She should be out of the hospital on Saturday and fully recovered in 3-4 weeks.

Yesterday, we had a tour of the city from some of the ‘Zivis’ (basically an RA/TA) from Goethe. They showed us some of the important sites, including several historic city gates, the giant Munster church (funded completely by citizens) and took us on a brief hike up the mountain to where an old castle stood. Here, there are breathtaking views of the city, the Black Forest, and one can even see the French border in the distance.

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I have now had about 18 hours of German Instruction. It is amazing the progress we are able to make by only taking this one course. The professor speaks only in German (the occasional English to explain something we are clearly not getting) so it forces your brain to figure out what he is saying in some fashion. We are conjugating verbs now and writing full paragraphs in German. I never thought I would be taking a German course, and here I am learning and speaking it in Germany. I think that is one of the advantages to studying here: there is a big opportunity to practice right outside your school. Ordering food, talking with people, reading signs and papers, etc.

This weekend we talked about travelling to France, but I think we are just going to explore our own city a little more. We have planned to go next weekend into Switzerland and meet up with some other Bethel people and have some fun there. Thanks for all your comments and emails, It’s been just a week and a half and it feels as if I’ve been here for ages now.

20 interesting things about Germany

1. Drinking in public is absolutely ok.

2. Putting feet on the opposite seat in the trains is strictly prohibited.

3. The countryside from a train window is breathtaking.

4. You have to pay to use a public toilet, but said public toilets are luxurious and spotless.

5. The food is hearty and delicious; bread, meat and cheese are served even at breakfast.

6. Waiters are paid very well and their tip is figured into the price of the food already (Value Added Tax) so a tip of about 5% is customary. 10% is considered extremely generous.

7. The price of a beer is cheaper than the price of a Coke.

8. Most Germany youth speak English and love hip hop music, McDonald’s and American clothes.

9. There is a giant church in every city. Guaranteed.

10. In a grocery store, there are two prices for bottled drinks. The first price is for the price of the liquid, and then there is an additional price for the bottle. You get that money back when you bring the bottle back.

11. No ice is served in drinks at restaurants. Ever.

12. If you ask for water at a restaurant, it is sparkling mineral water. You have to ask for it “still”.

13. You can bring your dog anywhere, anytime, even in a building.

14. Every car is tiny. I haven’t seen anything bigger than a station wagon. It is a parallel parking dream.

15. Men do their hair. Euro-hawks and Mullets abound.

16. Everybody smokes.

17. The bread is hard. Like rock hard.

18. Did I mention the countryside is beautiful?

19. Carts at the grocery store cost 1 euro. Suddenly your arms seem able to do the job.

20. Every kebab is different.

I am now located in Freiburg for 3 weeks. I will be taking intensive German courses for about 4 hours Monday through Friday. Class starts tomorrow!

"work sets you free"

The sky is clear blue with enough thick gray clouds to make everything seem dark. It is unusually cool, a brisk breeze cutting across the open land. The ground, littered with rocks all shades of gray, crunches uncomfortably under my feet. People are all around, but thick silence makes it hard to breathe. Green trees try to bring forgetfulness, yet the longer I walk, the more difficult it is to ignore my grief. Empty rooms, once filled with prisoners under SS control, are cold reminders of the horrors of the Nazi concentration ‘work’ camps.

I knew that this would be a powerful experience, having read several accounts of the Holocaust in school and watching plays and movies. Nothing compares to actually walking the grounds where the prisoners walked every day. Dachau was the model for all future concentration camps, and was used for the holding of political opponents. These people stood against the Nazi party and were shipped here, instead of most of the Jewish residents who were sent to be literally ‘exterrminated’. Dachau’s prisoners were not sent to die, they were sent to suffer. Extreme rules were enforced, such as a spotless bed and ceramic drinking cup in order to avoid being hung at the stake for an hour. People died more from exhaustion here than from mass extermination. Only two barracks that housed prisoners remain, however, they stretched for almost a mile down and a half mile wide across the camp. All that is left is a cement footing where the structure was set upon.

There is a large building in the very back corner of the walls of Dachau that seems harmless, almost like a small school. There are several windows and glass doors leading inside. Once inside however, one would never see sunlight. Although no other camp matches the efficiency attained by Auschwitz (which could easily exterminate several thousand a day), it is estimated 30,000 people died by gas chamber at Dachau. I walked through each room in the creamatorium, starting with the holding rooms where prisoners would wait until it was their group’s turn to enter the ‘showers’. Inside, a 6.5 foot ceiling contained multiple shower heads, disguising the room’s true use, several vents of gas that would be released. It took 20 minutes for the gas to work, and the room would be vented before the bodies could be hauled into the next room. 4 furnaces still stand with large iron stretchers where bodies would be burned one at a time. If there was overflow, bodies would be stored in the next room over until the SS could catch up. The ashes were dumped outside in 3 shallow pits, where memorials currently stand. Walking past the ash graves, one sees a large cement wall with barbed wire and vines growing over most of it. A sign says “firing range” where some prisoners were lined up and shot by firing squad. No wonder no one was able to speak. It took all of my strength to force myself to keep looking, to keep experiencing and to ultimately break down from sadness.

I walked through a room where people innocently thought they were going to have the luxury of a clean shower. I stood where they stood, saw the last light they saw and past where their bodies were stored and burned. I saw where their ashes were piled, where prisoners were executed and how their blood ran down a ditch into the woods. All I could do was pray, then cry. So many lies and so much anger.

The pain of the Holocaust lives. That’s why the German government doesn’t charge admission to the camp memorial sites. It is why German military are required to walk through the camp before they are enlisted, so they understand the fair trial and treatment of prisoners. It is why every world leader, every person in power, every human who has ever hated so much based on religion or sexual orientation or color should see where hate has gotten us. The pain of the Holocaust lives, and I don’t think that pain should ever be fully healed. We should experience the pain so we can say “never again”.

Gelnhausen - a Nazi free zone

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Sleeping on a plane is not one of my most favorite activities. But either way, 8 hours to Amsterdam comes soon enough, even though a screaming child decided to have his or her way for about an hour in the middle of the night. After arriving in Amsterdam with little sleep we trekked across the airport for our connecting flight to Frankfurt. Once in Frankfurt, we collected our bags from the oddly quiet airport (akin to library silence) and transferred on a tram to the bahnhoff in downtown Frankfurt. This glass-walled hanger-like structure had several tracks on which various local and regional trains depart from. Europe's rail system is further advanced than the U.S., with massive regional lines connecting much of the continent.

A roughly one hour train ride landed us in the small town of Gelnhausen. Set against the backdrop of wooded mountains, it makes for quite the postcard photograph.

pictures will be coming in the next few days! Look for them!

We walked for 10 minutes through the small streets and up a small hill to the Hotel Grimmelshausen, our home for 3 nights here. Further up the hill is the untermarkt or the lower square, with restaurants, shopping, cafes and a huge cathedral. A sudden downpour on the way to dinner in the untermarkt had us scrambling for rain jackets and umbrellas but it quickly subsided, leaving a thick humidity and warm, yet tolerable evening exploring this city. Much of the buildings here are very old, and each one is unique. The neighborhoods wind around narrow cobblestone streets and the church bells ring every fifteen minutes. After getting some euros out of the ATM (took a few tries) we crashed early, getting adjusted to the 7 hour time difference.

Breakfast in Germany was as I had heard: hard breads, jams and spreads, room temperature milk and juice – but I did find fresh fruit and cereal, some kind of cocoa corn flakes. A friend had introduced me to Nutella in America and they had some here, which is amazing. Nutella is a kind of hazelnut/chocolate peanut butter and it is super tasty. We had our first class of the day today as well for business writing. We talked about a few assignments that will be due in addition to getting to know each other and our next few days. Our first assignment was to go to restaurants in Gelnhausen to ask what was on the menu and to ask if they accepted credit cards. While we were exploring for about an hour we took lots of pictures and saw children on their way to the first day of school. Lunch was from a Kabob stand (basically a pita sandwich with lamb or pork) and it was delicious. According to our professor, water isn't really ordered as a drink at restaurants as it is in America, because Europeans don't drink nearly the amount of water that we do. But after 2 days without more than a glassful, I purchased a liter and a half of bottled “still” water (non mineral) from Norma, kind of like a mini supermarket. I also had a German chocolate bar and thought it would have melted after being in my bag, but surprisingly held together perfectly. A few of us went exploring into a huge grassy area next to a river after Norma, took some pictures and ended up climbing this steep stairway that connected two streets together to bring us back toward the big church in the untermarkt.

The doors were finally open so we peeked inside and ended up tagging behind this Japanese tour group. We climbed up this steep circular stairwell to the top of the organ pipes and saw the towering spires from the inside. The organ was playing while we were checking everything out.

So far, I can tell Europe is built for walking or biking. The streets are horribly tiny, but there are sidewalks and pedestrian only areas for bikes and walkers all over. Plus, the town is so compact that we can get pretty much anywhere I described above in about 15 minutes or less.

Our second day in Gelnhausen was the first class – Business Writing. We climbed up to a medieval castle wall that overlooked the entire city. Pretty sweet way to start the semester! We traveled today to Russelheim, about an hour and a half from Gelnhausen. This city is home to the giant European car maker Opel. We toured the Opel factory and saw how parts were pressed and fitted into place, entirely by robot. The factory buildings were enormous, some stretching for more than a mile in length. All over Europe are Kebab stands that sell Doner sandwiches – kind of like a gyro. I had 2 of them and every stand sells a different We traveled a little bit further after our site visit down to the next town, Mainz. We got to split up in smaller groups and visited some old churches (including the church Gutenburg was baptized in) and walked down to the Rhine river. We had Italian food and sat out on the sidewalk. Our waiter spoke in Italian, we ordered in English, and he confirmed with some of our German speakers in German. It was an early night as we got back about 10 PM.

There is beginning to be a resurgence of the Nazi party in some parts of Germany. In Gelnhausen, there are posters and signs to promote the Nazi party, but there are also posters that declare Gelnhausen a “Nazi-free zone” as local residents and shop owners are hanging them in their windows.

Our last day in Gelnhausen started with a quick class and a little shopping and time killing. Unfortunately one of my friends tripped on the last few stairs coming down in the hotel and she hurt her foot. We helped her on the bus and started the 2.5 hour journey to Nuremburg and she was definitely in pain. While we were getting settled and exploring, we found out our friend has to get surgery for her broken foot. She will be not be able to put any weight on it for 2 weeks so pray for her and a quick and healthy recovery.

That's all for right now. I will have internet almost daily now as we are going to places that have it for free or ridiculously cheap so I'll try to update at least a couple times a week, or whenever we move to a new city.