Round Two of Greven, Germany

No one can keep me away from Western Germany--I LOVE it there. What is not to love about lush green land, stone walls, red roofs, bikers everywhere and small-town pubs? Honestly, if I were to move to Germany then I would have to be in the west...well, I do love Berlin...choices, choices, choices. So I decided to revisit Matthi and the Greulich family for Easter weekend, which was also Matthi's 20th birthday weekend as well. Matthi had spent his 17th birthday at my house in Birmingham in 2008, so it was fun to spend another birthday with him...but this time in Germany. I flew in on a Thursday night, and we dropped my luggage and went straight to the local pub. As always, right when I walked in, I was greeted by Bernd (the owner--pictured in top photo with Matthi and Conni) with "AHHH MAGGIE AUS TENNESSEE! DAS IST MAGGIE AUS TENNESSEE). Oh, to be the center of attention--my grandmother would be so proud! We sat at a table with some of Matthi's friends and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. The next day I experienced a side of Germany that only locals see. It was a fußball tournament between small teams of friends who pair themselves up. The games were in short intervals and they played on a dirt "field"--I have never seen dirtier athletes! All the teams and people know each other so it was more like a social gathering than a competitive tournament, and as always in Germany, alcohol was a key component of the day. The players drank beer between each game and then played again and again. Not only were they getting drunk during the games, but I am pretty sure most of them were hungover from the night before (since I had seen quite a few of them the night before at the pub). It was a hilarious, entertaining, and great experience to say the least. We got ice cream afterward and took it pretty easy that night at Jonas' house, who lives close by Matthi. Saturday was Matthi's birthday and the whole day was full of festivities. We began with a morning brunch with his family and then headed to a local pub around 3pm to watch Bundesliga soccer games. Unfortunately, Matthi's favorite team lost their match; however, Matthi stayed in high spirits. We then made our way to the other pub (with Bernd my favorite pub owner) for another one of Matthi's "stammtisch" gatherings (a meeting between close friends). Like at the other one, I was the sole girl in the group of young, strapping German men. The night was long and as always we did not return until early in the morning. Sunday was, of course, a day of rest, and that is exactly what we did--rested!

The "5th Greulich Child" was sad to leave that Monday. Who knows when I will return "home" again to Greven; hopefully, it will be in my near future.

Vienna: Musicals and Music

Oh Vienna, Austria--what a gem of a city! We took a train from Prague to Vienna Friday morning and spent the last few days of our trip in the Austrian capital. Chelsey has a friend who was an exchange student at her high school and who studies in Vienna, so we decided to stay at her place for FREE (a college student's favorite "f-word"). She showed us around the city and took us to some of the major sites like the Opera House, the Hofburg Imperial Palace, St. Stephan's Cathedral, Belvedere Palace, and the Austrian Parliament Building (which looks more like a Gothic cathedral than a governmental building--I guess that is historic Europe for you, though). On the first night we went to a Le Gros Tube concert at a local bar. The band is Parisian and they play brass, percussion, and strings and sing reggae-like songs. We all had a lot of fun swaying to the music, and I got very excited when they played a cover of a Rage Against the Machine song.

We spent the most of Saturday in the famous market, where scarves, jewelry, ceramics, shoes, fruits, vegetables, spices, candies, etc., etc., etc., are sold. Basically, you want it, they got it! After purchasing a few things, we made our way to some other sites in the city. The weather was wonderful--sunny and warm--and we were dying in our jeans in tank tops and wishing we had shorts! Actually, we saw quite a few people with down jackets on with fur collars...maybe they are from Ecuador or the Sahara and found the weather to be chilling? Anyway, we ended our spring break with a trip to an Austrian musical called Der Tanz Vampire (The Dance of the Vampires), and it was wonderful! Although the lyrics and conversation were in German, we had Chelsey's friend with us to translate the important parts. We laughed and said it was like we were playing "Telephone"--sitting in a line repeating what the person before us had said in our ear. The music was very beautiful and we all laughed when they used Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as a part of the music lineup.

Overall, it was a wonderful spring break, and I shared some great experiences with some wonderful friends!

Hey Prague, Czech Me Out!

The five of us (Lauren Ehrler, Chelsey Armstrong, Cara Huntley, Holly Taylor, and I) arrived at the Krakow train station on the night of the 29^th ready for our night train couchette experience. The train left around 21:00 that night and arrived in Prague around 8:00 or so the next morning—I’m glad I was asleep for most of the long ride! While it was not the most comfortable experience, I will say that camping in North Carolina and sleeping on the occasional rock, root, or slanted hill for the past twelve plus years did make the situation easier to adapt to…I felt sorry for the others who did not sleep at all. Upon arrival, we took a tram to our hostel (the “Czech Inn”—I highly recommend it) and got situated. Our eyes grew three sizes when we opened our 8-person suite room door and saw a guy sitting in his whitey-tighties; we were happy to A) see him put some pants on and B) see him packing his stuff for check out.

Prague is probably one of my favorite places that I visited while abroad! I felt like I was in a fairytale dream world as I walked around the city. Every building was so uniquely different, and they were all so beautiful in style and form. (It is amazing to think that the country used to be Communist less than twenty years ago.) All of us traveled by foot from one sight to another hitting all the major places. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the old castle and cathedral, which is built in gothic style. As you exit the “fortress” there is an overlook of the city where you can view all of the red-roofed houses and buildings—so pretty! Next, we made our way to the Charles Bridge, which has numerous religious statues as well as small arts and crafts vendors along the way. This was a great place to take the typical “tourist photo” (which I am always embarrassed to take but still do), because it captures the river, boats and buildings of Prague. We stopped at “Bohemia Bagels” for a delicious lunch break and then made our way to the “John Lennon Wall.” I’m not going to lie, we were all a bit disappointed with the wall; however, what can one expect when we come from Berlin where we constantly see the Wall (namely, the East Side Gallery). Despite the slight feeling of disappointment, we had fun being typical American tourists taking pictures of each other jumping, handstanding, and cartwheeling away. Also, Chelsey and I specifically wore our Beatles shirts (I, in my John and Yoko shirt and Chelsey in one that fashioned the entire band) just for this occasion—such dedication! We ended our day at the famous astronomical clock that supposedly all people of Prague make fun of for being a symbol of their beloved city.

The next day, all of us decided to go to Prague’s “Beer Museum Pub,” which in fact is not a museum but just a pub with a plethora of beers. Surprisingly enough, Prague has the top percentage of beer consumption in the world (not Germany…wow, I know!). Each beer is rated by a degree of alcohol content and not a percentage; therefore, none of us were sure how much we were drinking percentage-wise. The “normal” beer degree is around 13 degrees (I think?), and I ordered a flight of five beers that were between 15-18 degrees. Mind you, I was choosing the beers by their description and not by their alcohol content. Anyway, they were all delicious! The rest of our day was spent wandering, which (in my opinion) is the best way to experience a foreign city.

Throw Some Perogies My Way: Krakow, Poland

What a hectic past month it has been! Unfortunately, I am just now writing about trips and stories from a month ago...so here is what you all have been waiting for (or at least I like to pretend that everyone has been anxiously checking my blog every day for the past month waiting for the next post).

For Spring Break, I traveled around Eastern Europe with four of my friends from the IES program. After returning to Berlin from St. Petersburg on Saturday, all of us unpacked, washed, and repacked for our adventure which began on Monday morning (March 28th). We began our journey in Krakow, Poland, which is the second largest city in Poland and dates back to the 7th Century. Krakow is situated on the Vistula River, and the city has a wide walkway that follows alongside the river. All five of us were amazed by the beautiful weather, the scenic stroll along the river, and the view of the old town and castle fortress. We stayed in a small hostel called "Elephant on the Moon," and all of us were happy to find that we were the only ones staying there that night. The place was quaint and I almost felt like we were living in the owner's house. She sat us down at a table, circled places on the map, and gave us suggestions on where to go. The hostel owner also asked me (after she had copied information from my passport) if I was of Polish decent. I looked at her confused and told her "No, I am of German descent. Why?" She told me that "Ruch" is polish for "movement" and that I would see my last name written all over the city. I called my mom and told her that our relatives may be lying about our ancestry. Once we finished filling out the paperwork and talking with the owner, we started our walk into the "Old Town" of Krakow. We first walked along the river toward the Wawel Castle, which is an historical fortress that dates back to the 12th Century. Actually, people lived on Wawel Hill for as many as 50 thousand years ago in the Paleolithic Age. The castle went through many different renovations up until the 20th Century, and it was made into a national museum post-WWII. The fortress area is beautiful with a variety of differently shaped spires, crosses, and towers that complement one another.

After Wawel, we walked around the Old Town where there was amber jewelry vendors galore! I mean, with every step there was a vendor. We also noticed that there were a plethora of "head shops" and/or hippie-like stores (basically Asheville-type stores). All of us are still unsure on why this was so. From Old Town we walked to the Jewish Quarter where we looked around in some folk-art/jewelry shops and got dinner. We ate at a small restaurant that is tucked away in the Kazimierz area. We all picked off of each others' plates (yet, I was still on my limited diet from my Russian hospitalization, so I was a bit more limited) and ate the traditional red-beet-soup, perogies, and potato pancakes. All of the food was fabulous, to say the least.

The next day we traveled to Oświęcim, where the Auschwitz camps are located. There are three Auschwitz camps: Auschwitz I base camp (which is now the museum), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (which is now a memorial) and Auschwitz III-Monowitz (which has been destroyed). The tour began at Auschwitz I where we met our guide and walked through the infamous "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" ("Work makes you free") gates. Once a military base for the Polish army, the camp is actually aesthetically pretty with the red brick barracks and buildings; therefore, an uncanny feeling devours you as you try to imagine the atrocities that occurred in this location. (I am sure it would have been easier to imagine if we visited in the dead of winter when the temperature drops to an average of -4 degrees Fahrenheit.)

It was difficult to make my way through all of the rooms that displayed the hundreds upon thousands of personal belongings. There were rooms devoted to the victims' shoes, glasses, dishware, shoe shiners, brushes/combs, and (most disturbingly) hair. Yes, the victims' hair was shaved off, saved in bundles, and used as a textile. The gross amount of personal effects was enough to bring tears to your eyes. The faces that stood around me were vacant and tears welled up in most visitors' eyes at some point during our visit. While I found the Washington D.C. Holocaust Museum interesting and grotesquely insightful, my visit to the Auschwitz--the actual location where the heinous crimes of mankind took place--was life-altering. To stand where the crimes took place, to feel the chill of the cool air permeate my clothes, and to see the artifacts of an all-to-horrific past made history come to life in front of me. To truly understand our past, we must visit it; this is a journey that all beings should make during their lifetime.

Welcome to Post-Vommunist Russia

So I was dying to get out of the hospital on Thursday, since Thursday night was the ballet performance at the Mariinsky Theater. The performance we went to was a set of three one act ballets. The first was called "The Serenade" with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra, Op. 48), and this performance included a full stage of dancers. Watching the synchronized movements of the elegant ballerinas was amazing. The second performance was called "In the Night" with music by Chopin, and this ballet was my favorite of the three. The performance was divided into four different parts, with three different ballet couples who danced alone with each other and then all together in the fourth part. The music was beautiful and so was the dancing. The final performance was "Theme and Variations" with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (final movement of Suite No. 3 for orchestra in G major). The costumes were so ornate and colorful in this ballet, which made it so much fun to watch. I was truly taken aback by the artistic talent of the dancers and musicians of the Mariinsky Company. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

On Friday (the final day of our trip), I went to the Church of Spilled Blood market where they sell matryoshka dolls, Faberge eggs, scarves, and other small trinkets. After the market, a few friends and I walked to the Hermitage Museum, which was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great as a palace. The Hermitage now holds over 3 millions pieces of art and has the largest painting selection in the world. The head of IES Berlin has visited the Hermitage over six times and has yet to see every room of the museum. Created in rococo style, the interior rooms of the palace were gorgeous with wooden inlay floors, intricate ceiling designs, and gold accents all around. I believe it is the most beautiful place that I have ever visited, and I am so happy that I was able to get back to health and visit it on my final day. I got to see the art of Henri Matisse, Kandinsky, Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, Monet, and many others. It was a truly wonderful experience to say the least.

☭ Welcome to Vommunist Russia ☭

The whole IES gang traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, during the week of March 20-26. Everyone was extremely excited about the "exotic" (for lack of better words) destination. During our first full day, we took a bus around the city and saw some of the major city center sites like the "Bronze Horseman," St. Isaac's Cathedral, The Church of Spilled Blood, and a few others. We returned to the hotel for lunch, ate, and then walked to University of St. Petersburg after lunch. During the walk, I started to feel really sick, but I tried to suck it up and not complain. After our 45-minute trek, we finally arrived at the University. I walked up to Janka (our IES Student Assistant) and the tears spilled through as I explained that I felt sick. The two of us did a complete turn-around and traveled 45 minutes back to Ibis Hotel, where my feeling sick evolved into being sick. I rested in my hotel room for a few hours, but the sickness only escalated. Janka decided to take me to the American Clinic (thank goodness it was not an actual Russian clinic), and they quickly decided to admit me to the hospital due to my condition. My condition caused me to become severely dehydrated, so they hooked me up to an IV-drip immediately. I had the IV for four days (fluid and antibiotic drips), had two shots in the bottom muscle (ouch), and had my blood taken twice, and ran a few other tests. My two doctors spoke English; however, I had the most interaction with the nurses who did not speak any English. Well, one nurse did and she sat down with me one day and told me about her life as a nurse in New York, how she hates working in Russia, how Russian men are "drunks" and "don't want marriage...only other things," and that she and her boyfriend are having problems. I sort of felt like I was in some Russian Twilight Zone, but it was nice to have the company.

I did not eat for a period of 18 hours, and when the nurses finally brought me my breakfast on Tuesday morning, I was a bit upset to see bland porridge and English Breakfast Tea sitting on a tray. The food did not get much better as the meals passed. I got a plate of rice for most meals (even for breakfast one morning), and one afternoon I got some nasty, mushy grain. On Wednesday (my final night), I received what I like to call "The Last Supper": a plate of rice, cabbage, and ground beef all mixed together...SOO EXTRAVAGANT! Needless to say, I had Katrin (the IES leader) bring me some bland crackers and wafers for in between meal times.

The IES leaders visited me on a daily basis, and my friends also came to visit me during my stay. I was so happy to have visitors and they even brought me flowers--it was very sweet! Otherwise, I think I truly would have gone crazy lying in that room for four days! I was released on Thursday afternoon and rejoined the group for about 1.5 days before we traveled back to Berlin.

Oh Oslo...Bambi Cannot Walk on Ice!

I traveled to Oslo, Norway, during the weekend of March 12-14 to see the place that I have heard my grandmother nostalgically talk about for years. The port city was beautiful with blue skies, thick white blankets of snow, and a vast harbor bay. I traveled there on my own, which my parents and sister were a little distressed about...but I survived in the foreign Scandinavian city. Actually, I have a native friend from Oslo who picked me up from the airport and showed me around the city for my entire stay. Sondre first took me to Vigeland Park, which is filled with magnificent bronze sculptures by the famous Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. This is one of the locations that Peppy (my grandmother) spoke of when she talked about her visit to Oslo when she was younger. The sculpture park has two iron gates: one with figures of women and the other with figures of men. Inside the gates is the famous obelisk that stands a little shy of 56 feet tall! The theme of Vigeland's statues is the "Human Condition," which demonstrates love, rivalry, aggression, admiration, titillation, primal anger, etc. There are 58 bronze sculptures in the park area, and all are magnificently displayed one after another.

After the park, Sondre took me as a guest to his "Bandy" team's end of the season dinner party at the Ullevål club house. Yes, I too did not know the sport "Bandy" until the Norwegians told me about it. The best way to describe it is: "ice hockey with a field hockey ball." Anyway, once again, I was one of the few girls at the party (there were five including myself), and I was the only one who did not speak a lick of Norwegian (which, by the way, is the funniest sounding language I think I have ever heard). The dinner was quite delicious and I had a really good time conversing with Sondre's teammates, since most speak English pretty well. At one point during the dinner, the coach was making a speech and one of Sondre's friends was translating for me. All of a sudden, Marcus (my translator) decided to raise his voice and translate during the coach's pause so that everyone would turn and stare at me "the misfit American girl." It was pretty funny; however, I am pretty sure I buried my face in my hands.

Tip #1 for visiting Oslo in the winter: DO NOT WEAR HIGH HEEL PUMPS! As we were hailing cabs to go back to our respective apartments, houses, and hotels, I hit an ice patch and fell to the ground in front of all of Sondre's friends. No sooner had I gotten back up onto my feet, did I fall once again! Due to my inability to walk on ice, Sondre began to call me "Bambi."

Tip #2: Bring A LOT of money. Oslo is ranked as the 2nd most expensive city in the world!!! I was actually dumbfounded by how much certain items cost. I guess I have also been pretty spoiled living in Berlin, since Berlin is one of the less expensive cities that I have traveled to since the semester began.

On Sunday and Monday, I traveled around on foot to the Oslo harbor, the Royal Palace, the Opera house, the old fortress, and a few other famous sights. Monday's weather was wonderful and the sky was so blue; I could not have asked for better weather! It was a wonderful end to a great weekend adventure.

Dessau and Bauhaus

On Friday my Visual Culture class took a trip to the city of Dessau, which is most well known for the Bauhaus College of Architecture. My professor grew up in Dessau, and his uncle was a Bauhaus artist; therefore, the plethora of knowledge Professor Butter has to offer is dumbfounding. I am not going to lie, modern architecture is not my favorite area of art history, but I really enjoyed a lot of aspects of the trip. For example, the Bauhaus color theory is a very interesting subject. To break it down into simple forms, the Bauhaus scholars grouped colors based on their pigments as well as how they effected each other. Our perception of colors changes depending on how they are presented. A shade of light blue will look gray when put next to a deep blue. It is a really interesting way of thinking about the mind and perception of colors.

We ended the trip with a visit to Professor Butter's mother's house, where she fixed us coffee, tea, and served us cookies. She was such an adorable 88-year-old woman, and she was so excited to have the company. In fact, I was the first person to walk into the apartment and I extended my hand to give her a greeting and she stretched her arms out and said, "Oh come! Welcome!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I then told her "Mein name is Margaret auch," which translates to "My name is also Margaret." I knew this because on the first day of class, our teacher was going through our names and explained that he loved my name because Margaret is his mother's name. It was a really awesome experience in all!

Rodin Museum

Two of my favorite sculptors are Auguste Rodin and his protégé Camille Claudel, so I was enthused to find the Rodin Museum which houses both of these artists. My friend Morgan and I went on a beautiful sunny day, which was wonderful since many of Rodin's most famous sculptures (i.e. The Burghers of Calais) are located outside in the garden courtyard. Both artists worked with bronze and marble mediums, and Rodin's influence on Claudel is clearly evident when viewing the two artists' work together.

Actually, Claudel's "The Waltz" is probably my all-time favorite sculpture and I knew it was housed in Paris somewhere. The first few days of the trip I continuously tried to remind myself to Google search which museum the sculpture belonged to; however, I always absentmindedly forg0t. Luckily, I walked into the "Camille Claudel Room" and what do I instantly see? Oh yes, you guessed it..."THE WALTZ." It was such an amazing moment to be able to get so close to the figure and inspect each crevice and wrinkle in the bronze cast. The most beautiful part about Claudel's "The Waltz" is the twirling movement it captures between the two dancers. Every angle captures a different movement; therefore, the piece is definitely something that one must see in a 360-degree view. As I said earlier, art history textbooks cannot capture the greatness of any one piece!

The museum also housed two Vincent van Gogh works, which are always interesting to view. There is so much detail in his brushwork and the colors seem to pop from the page! I was happy to get a photo of these, since the Musée d'Orsay (which has many of Van Gogh's works) does not allow the public to take photographs.

Overall, I would say that this was my favorite museum. It was not gigantic like the Louvre, so it didn't create a feeling of rush. Furthermore, the pieces are magnificent in detail, form, and content.

All Praise the Sun King

On Tuesday our group traveled to the majestic Palace of Versailles (about 20km outside of Paris), and we spent most of the day there walking around the grounds. First built as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, the building continually went through phases of remodeling in order to stand as it does today. The palace is most well known for the additions made by Louis XIV (or "The Sun King"), which are namely in the Late-Baroque and Rococo styles. The palace shines when the sun strikes the gilded gates, roofs, and facades. The IES group got a private tour of a section of the palace that is usually closed to the public; therefore, we did not have to stand among the hundreds of tourists piling into the main attraction rooms of Versailles (i.e. The Hall of Mirrors). In fact, our group got to go inside the Royal Chapel, which is normally roped off. Our guide told us that the chapel's organ is over 300 years old and consists of over 1,000 pipes! After the tour ended, some friends and I walked around the gardens, which are probably a lot more breathtaking in the spring when the gloom of winter doesn't hang so harshly over the sky. Regardless of the lack of flowers and cool weather, the gardens were impressive in size and beauty. The land and lakes stretch into the distance and there is no telling where the grounds of Versailles end. It is truly a magical place! At one point, I was following three of my guy friends who were all arguing about which way would be the most direct way back to the palace (of course, all three of them were wrong...big surprise). We ended up in a back corner of the gardens where an old well stood. I seized the moment to make a photo opportunity out of the well encounter (as shown in the photo above).

The City of Lights and Love

Aside from a day trip to Amsterdam two years ago, my trip to Paris was my first time in another European country outside of Germany. Paris, to say the least, is gorgeous! Haussmann's architectural style brings beauty and decor to the streets and facades of Paris, and the aesthetic beauty is incomparable to that of Berlin. On the first day, IES went on a bus tour to pass by all the famous sites: Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Royal Palais, Notre Dame Cathedral, Palace de la Concorde, Paris Opera, and so many more! By mid-afternoon, the sun had gone down and the wind picked up (and if you know me at all then you know that I desperately needed to use the restroom), so a few of us got off the bus and walked to a small cafe. We tried to find a reasonably priced place, but failed to do so...big surprise! So we sat down at one place, and I payed 11,50 Euros for a fabulous tiramisu and espresso. At least the bathroom was free. Speaking of free, while we were waiting to place our orders, a man in his mid-thirties approached our table and addressed us with a handsome French accent: "Hello ladies. I must leave, but I still have half a bottle of wine. Would you like the rest of it?" We hesitantly agreed, and he went and told the manager the situation. The waiter brought our table glasses and served us the rest of the wine--it was fantastic (glad I didn't have to pay for it...I bet my father is too!) So that was our first interaction with the "more aggressive/forward men" of Paris that our program had warned us about; I'm not going to lie...if this is "aggressive" then I like it. (I sound like my mother and grandmother...oh God!) After the cafe, my friend and I walked to the Louvre where we spent about 2.5 hours looking around. I think you would have to go about 25 times in order to see everything! I probably saw only a 1/5 of the entire collection! The museum was actually a bit overwhelming at times--so little time and so much to see. But all of the works were fantastic. I got to see the originals of so many pieces that I tirelessly studied in my art history courses over the years (David, Watteau, Rigaud, Cimbue, Leonardo da Vinci, Poussin, Géricault, Delacroix, and the list could go on). In fact, I walked into one room and grabbed Ana by the arm while tears welled up in my eyes. Hanging in front of my eyes was one of my favorite paintings ("Death of Marat" by Jaques Louis David), which I had forgotten was housed in the Louvre. The painting is pretty sepulchral, but for some reason I have always loved it. My favorite part about seeing all the pieces was realizing their actual size--you never know how small or large something is when it is printed in a textbook.

That night Morgan, Ana, and I went to a small bar/lounge that is famous for their sangria. Despite the fact that it was Parisian sangria (sort of oxymoronic), it was quite delicious. The bar was very cramped, and we all huddled in a corner table together. All three of us commented on the difference between Frenchmen and Germans--the Frenchmen usually look more rugged (not shaven), while most Germans look very manicured and clean-cut. We were happy for the aesthetic change in "scenery." In fact, Morgan and I quickly noticed a very attractive Frenchman sitting at a nearby table, and we made it our goal to talk to him before the night was over. Before we could make a move, two other Frenchmen (the unfortunately manicured kind) sparked up conversation with us and offered us drinks. (Don't worry, we watched the bartender open the bottle of wine). While their talk of working for Louis Vuitton and J.P. Morgan was fascinating...NOT...we entertained them with our stories of the "American Life." Finally, we were able to slip away from the conversation, and we conveniently moved closer to the handsome Frenchman and his two friends. A conversation somehow started between our two groups and we ended up spending the rest of the night sitting and talking with our new French friends (Clément, Charles, and Geoffrey). It turns out that Clément is a musician and the three friends had just returned from Berlin where Clément had performed at some clubs/bars. We had such a nice time with our new French friends that Morgan and I met up with them again the next night for dinner and drinks.

Bonjour Paris

The whole IES gang arrived in Paris on Sunday night--giddy, sleepy, and hungry! A private bus drove us to our designated hotels in the 14th sector of Paris, where we quickly dropped our luggage and met up in the lobby. Heather and John (IES leaders) gave the whole group a short tour of where the IES Paris building is and a general tour of the area. We split up after the tour in order to find a place to have a late dinner. Two of my friends and I found a small Crêperie called Crêperie du Manoir Breton (not sure if it is named after Breton the author or Breton the painter..or neither?)
Oh my sweet taste-buds! The crêpes were DELICIOUS! I had a buckwheat crêpe with chicken, cheese, potatoes, and herb cream sauce, while Morgan ordered a buckwheat crêpe with duck, chevre (goat cheese), and plum sauce. It was fantastic, and the Côtes du Rhône wine perfectly accented the flavors! Needless to say, my first meal in Paris was a great success.

Small Town Girl

As I was sitting in the small, smokey pub of SC Greven 09 (Soccer Club) listening to men of all ages drunkenly singing and swaying to victory chants and drinking songs, I turned to Matthi and said, "This is an experience that all the other Americans in my program will never get to have!" So let me back up a little in my story...Matthi plays for the highest division of his soccer club (gets paid to do so...how nice!), and this Sunday was a huge rival match between his team SC Greven 09 and the other Greven club. We drove to the club around 11:00am so we could watch some of the lower divisions and younger teams play, and then Matthi's game commenced at 2:30pm. It was a pretty heated game and yellow cards were being pulled by the referees left and right. In fact, the goal keeper of Matthi's team received two yellow cards and was therefore removed from the game. The coach (scrambling for a back-up plan) had the keeper of the younger division step up and play for the second half of the match. The kid (who still had braces...if you wanted an age estimation) did an amazing job! No one scored on him and the game ended a 2-1 win for SC Greven 09!
After the game, I went up to Matthi and his teammates to congratulate them, and the first thing out of Matthi's mouth was, "Thanks! Woah, you're lips are blue!" Yeah, did I mention that I stood outside for over six hours in 32 degree weather? It was freezing, windy, and if it wasn't for the dimly beaming sun then my whole body probably would have been blue! I was definitely excited when I was informed that we could go into the pub to celebrate the win.

Only in Germany does a team get rewarded 30 free beers for winning a match! Once again, I was basically the only girl in the pub with Matthi's entire team, fans, and SC Greven 09 "alums." But as we have already been over in the previous post, I had no problem with this at all! We celebrated the win, the coach said a few words, and the Bundesliga (Major League) game came on the television. Fußball was EVERYWHERE! One of the club's retired prodigies was in the pub riling up all the players with cheers and chants and telling stories of "the good ole days." He was a hoot; he would yell over everyone in the pub and cheer anyone near him. He also kept on coming up to me and speaking in German...I just smiled and nodded (hope that was an appropriate response..hmm). A few minutes later the singing began at the bar and that is when I turned to Matthi and explained how lucky I am to have a friend in small town Germany. But really, how many times in your life will you be the ONLY American in a private soccer pub in Germany, listening to drunken old men and happy, victorious young men singing together and making victory chants? It was surreal to say the least!

At one point, I got up to use the restroom and I heard, "Hey, American Beauty!" I turned to see Jonas' and Tessa's (two of Matthi's closest friends) father sitting at a table with friends. I made my way over to his table and said, "Hello, Alois!" and gave him a hug. (Mind you I have not seen this man in two years, but I am probably one of the few American girls he has met...twice). He told me that his English is only good after he has had a few drinks, to which I said, "Like father, like son. Jonas tells me the same thing about himself." That gave Alois a good chuckle! The next thing he said was probably the funniest. As he held my hand he told me in broken English, "You look much better than the last time I see you!" Well, I got a good chuckle out of this.

If all of that was not enough, the Greulich family treated me to a traditional German meal at a restaurant in Münster. I had a Jäger Schnitzel with Pommes (fries) and Rotkohl (red cabbage). It was absolutely delicious! All in all it was a fantastic last day of a wonderful weekend in my favorite small town in Germany!

(Pictures: The top is from the night before at Öppe with Jonas and Stephan and the bottom photo is of me with the crazy, old German man at the soccer pub)

Öppe Please and Thank You

On Friday night Matthi and I went to a small pub in Greven called Öppe, which is owned by our mutual friend's parents. If you consider my last trip to Greven, I think think I am the most frequent American customer that Öppe has ever had in the history of its greatness...what an accomplishment on my part! Every other weekend, Matthi meets with his group of guy friends at the pub for a "Stammtisch" (get-together)...so of course I tagged along. We entered the back room of the pub where they all meet, and my eyes became huge as I looked around. I was in a room with fifteen German guys and I was the sole girl in the room--not to mention the sole American in the entire pub. (I included a picture of some of the guys in the room, though not everyone made it in the photo). After awkwardly sitting for a while in the room and listening to all the guys crack jokes and "prost" (cheers) each other, the room got a little quieter. Conni (one of Matthi's good friends) took the quiet moment to LOUDLY turn to me and yell, "SO MAGGIE, WHAT IS UP?!" to which the entire room started cracking up. But let's be honest...how many girls get to be in a room full of 15 attractive German guys? God I love having Asheville School connections!

After about half an hour of getting free drinks from Matthi's Stammtisch pals, I decided to wander out into the main part of the bar to hang out with some of the guys who are not part of the "Stammtisch group." Well, I definitely chose the wrong time to sit down at that table (filled with six German guys..I was still the sole girl), because within the first five minutes I was there, Maik lost the dice game and had to buy a round of shots...Jägermeister shots. For those of you who are unaware, I HATE Jäger...but what is a girl to do when it is put in front of her as a nice German offering? I gulped the nasty, sweet liquor down and was pleased when my stomach chose not to make it reappear on the table (I was a bit worried it would). Anyway, the two crowds converged after a while and we all joined in the main room of Öppe. At one point, a song came on the speakers and the next thing I knew Matthi and his friends were pumping chairs above their heads! I guess the song lyrics call for this sort of behavior; however, I am not exactly sure. Also, Bernd (the owner of Öppe who enjoyed my Tennessean presence two years ago) informed me (through a German translator) that everything was on the house for me since I was the American guest. Ha, you gotta love the foreign attention! Anyway, the night was long (actually, Matthi and I made it home at the wee hours of 4:30am), but I had a great time catching up with old friends, laughing about language barriers, and taking a ton of pictures.

I Wish I Could Study in Greven, Germany!

Soooo, I am back from my long hiatus! This past weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine from Asheville School (Matthias Greulich) in his small town of Greven, Germany. I visited him two years ago for a month and met all of his friends and family, so I was excited for the long-awaited reunion! Matthias and his friend Michi (short for Michael) picked me up from the airport late Thursday night. We chatted in the car and Matthi translated for Michi, who has a little bit of trouble expressing all of his thoughts in English. After dropping Michi off at his house, we drove to another friend's (Jonas') house where we, of course, had a beer and chatted for a few hours.

The next day Matthi took me to the Kalkreise where the Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place. Oook, for all of you who do not know your Germanic or Roman history: this was a pivotal battle that took place in Lower Saxony between the Germanic tribes and the Romans. The Germans were able to strategically trap the Romans in a narrow field, and therefore defeat the enemy. Over the years there have been numerous excavations of this site and an ample amount of archeological discoveries have been made (weapons, bones, coins, armor, bowls, etc). The museum was really interesting especially since I had never heard of this specific battle. After the museum we drove to a nearby town outside of Osnabrück called Tecklenburg. This small town, first documented in the 12th century, exhibits beautiful red-roofed cottages inside the decaying medieval castle walls.

Homemade Pizza

About 15 of the 32 IES Students decided to travel to Stockholm, Sweden this past weekend, while the remainder of us opted to discover more of our new home: Berlin. On Saturday, six of us met up at one of our apartments and cooked a homemade pizza. Lauren and Jake went to the grocery store and bought all the necessary ingredients (including yeast...yes, we even made our own crust) and then we all met to cook the pizza together. The cookbook was in German, so Lauren was assigned to translating the directions. Jake was assigned to mixing the dough ingredients, while the rest of us were assigned to chopping up the toppings.
Once the dough was ready, Lauren and I spread out the dough on the pan. Seeing as though we did not have the proper materials...and throwing pizza dough over your head is for the professionals...we had to "roll" the dough out with our hands. This is much harder than it sounds, and no the pizza did not come out in a perfect little circle. We called our pizza the "tombstone pizza," because that is exactly how it was shaped.
I don't know if you all have ever heard of a "loaded baked potato" but this pizza was a "loaded baked pizza." The toppings included: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, green/yellow/red peppers, onions, pepperoni, prosciutto, italian sausage, and mushrooms! And I will have to admit, it was one damn good pizza!!

Grocery Shopping in Berlin

As many of you may know, my mother is an extremely talented cook; therefore, she gave me a few of her recipes before I left so that I would have some of "my mama's cookin'" while away. Well, let's just say that grocery shopping in a different language is quite a difficult task...even if you have the recipe ingredients. The little things throw me off the most. For example, I was looking for peeled tomatoes in the can during my first grocery outing last month. Well, it is easy to find a can of tomatoes; however, I also have to know the word for peeled and whole. Good thing I found someone who spoke English, because I had picked up a can of "mushed" tomatoes...DEFINITELY not what I wanted. You wouldn't think that the smallest details would make such a difference. I stood for about 5 minutes in front of the juices trying to figure out which orange juice contained pulp (I really don't like orange juice without pulp, so this is kind of a big deal). Well, if any of you wanted to know...the word for pulp is "fruchtfleisch," which translates to "fruit flesh." I also stood in front of the soups for a while trying to figure out if the cream of mushroom soup was concentrated or already mixed with milk/water.

Anyway, it is already hard enough that everything is in a different language, but all the brands are different too! I think I am slowly getting the hang of the shopping, but there is more madness to these necessary outings I make on a bi/tri-weekly basis. Everyone walks in Berlin; therefore, you buy what you can carry. So I walk 5 minutes to the grocery store with empty bags, 5 minutes back to my apartment with heavy bags. Oh and did I mention that I have 88 stairs to walk up at my apartment? I consider grocery shopping both intellectually and physically grueling.
My hosts are impressed by my ability to cook however. They told me that I was the first student that actually prepares her own meals...everyone else just used the microwave. I guess I can thank my mom for that :)

Lange Nacht der Museen

The "Long Night of Museums" is a bi-annual tradition in Berlin, where the almost every museum in the city opens up to the public from 6pm-2am for the price of 10€ (for students). My friends and I began our night at the Altes Museum, which displays ancient Etruscan and Italian pottery, statues, jewelry, sarcophagi, and more. I just studied the period of art this past semester at Sewanee; therefore, I really enjoyed seeing the pieces that are so similar to those that I studied. Oh, and what is not to love about a room devoted to the phallic representations from ancient Italy? This one room was probably the most popular for picture taking--I know I got some great shots! Next, we walked over to the Bode Museum, which is famous for its medieval to 18th century painting and sculpture collection. The interior of this museum is beautiful with a baroque-style dome in the center lobby (See in picture above).

After we finished our tour of the Bode, we took a bus over to the Kulturforum, where we visited the famous Gemäldegalerie. This gallery houses one of the largest collections of European art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Some famous artists include Albrecht Dürer, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, and Johannes Vermeer. I was so excited to visit this gallery; however, the museum's set-up/ organization was very confusing and I could never remember which rooms I had walked through and which I had not. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the Vermeer piece, but maybe I will go back for a second round before my program ends. Our last stop was the Neue Nationalgalerie, which houses works from the modern art of the 20th century. Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff are some of the famous artists featured in this museum. This was one of my favorite galleries and I loved seeing the expressionist paintings by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. His vivid colors and stark brush strokes make his art stand out among the other pieces. At 11pm at night, my friends and I decided to call it quits--we were all pooped from the "long night of museums" and now wanted a long night of sleep.

CLASSES at IES

I began my first week of classes this Monday, and so far I have been very pleased. On Monday, I only have one class, which takes place from 4:15-5:45pm. Therefore, Monday mornings will most likely be devoted to A) grocery shopping, B) laundry, and/or C) traveling back to Berlin from a weekend getaway. Since I only have one of my "Area Studies" courses on Monday/Wednesday, that means my Tuesday/Thursday schedule is pretty grueling. I begin every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with my two hour German 101 lesson at 9:30am. Then on Tues/Thurs I also have class from 12:45-2:15, 2:30-4:00, and 6:00-7:30! I am not used to having classes so late in the day.

The courses IES offers can fit into multiple disciplines, which makes the material both multifaceted and interesting. My courses include:
-Introduction to German Language
-Literature and Film in the Modern Metropolis (English/Art History)
-The Politics of Gender: Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow (Cultural Studies/ History)
-Visual Culture and The Urban Landscape (Art History/ Urban Studies)
-Sex, Drugs, & Rock n' Roll: Pop Culture's Impact on the Metropolis (Cultural Studies/ History)

The German (which I already talked about in a previous post) is coming along slowly...very slowly. While my usage of the subways has become very strong, my lack of knowledge of the German language sometimes hinders my ability to successfully move from place to place. For example, yesterday the S1 line that I take home changed rails ONE stop from my stop. Supposedly the conductor announced this change in line over the loud speaker...hmm? But no worries, my S&U-Bahn expertise allowed me to make it back to my stop...30 minutes after my expected arrival time. Other than my lack of knowledge in the language, I am loving the class. My teacher Kirsten is very nice and has some great stories about growing up within the Wall of East Berlin.

The Literature and Film course is not what I expected, but I have found it interesting thus far. On the first day, the teacher (a Berliner who graduated from UNC Chapel Hill) had us all write about our first impressions of the city. We then read them aloud and analyzed how we would present them if we had the chance (i.e. in film, poetry, literature, etc). The class namely focuses on the city's role, effect, purpose, and meaning in literature and film. For example, today we discussed Henri Lefebvre, who believed space to be divided into three categories: natural, socially produced, and imaginary. Are you confused? Well think of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and how the city and social places are so explicitly and colorfully described. This course analyzes the meaning and reasons behind this use of the city.

My Politics of Gender course is one of the courses that I am most excited about, probably because I enjoyed Professor Berebitsky's Women's Studies courses at Sewanee so much. The teacher seems really interested in what she is teaching and is very approachable. During the course we will talk about gender as a social construction (i.e. cat, dress, flower, pink = female & dog, tie, football, and blue = male) through the Berliner, Parisian, and Russian lenses. We began the first day of class with images that were considered "scandalous" in their time, and briefly discussed the reasons behind the scandal. Tomorrow we will discuss the integration of women into universities of Germany, which did not actually occur until the beginning of the 20th Century!

The Visual Culture and Urban Landscape course also appeals to me greatly, because I will be studying material that I am not as familiar with/ have yet to study. This course is an integration of art history and urban planning; therefore, we will not only study the traditional art forms of painting and architecture but the actual layout and planning of the city as well. For example, we will compare the integration of public transportation (subway, train, and tram lines) in the cities of Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg, while discussing the importance of their existence. Also, one week of this course is dedicated to street art and graffiti, which is a major part of Berlin's history due to The Wall.

As for the Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll course...I think Jay Bonner will be asking me for the syllabus and assigned readings. Hell, he may even talk to Headmaster Montgomery about starting this course as a senior elective at Asheville School! This class is by far the most popular of all the courses; how could it not be with a name like that? In this course we will take a look at...well...basically what the title says and so much more. If you stop and think how much pop-culture affects us as human beings, it blows your mind. I mean, I couldn't sing you one Justin Bieber song but I sure as hell can tell you that the Bieber hair side-swoop is all the rage. Anyway, back to the point. We will not only read literature and watch films on/about pop-culture, but we will also experience it as well. One of our classes is a "Rap & DJing Clinic," where we will have to write and preform our creations with the class. Another class will be spent at the Berlin Stadium watching a soccer game! Basically, I cannot wait for this class to unfold.

Grüne Woche With a Side of Lederhosen

Every year Berlin hosts the "Grüne Woche" (Green Week) as a celebration of both the German and International "green" lifestyle. The event is held in a massive civic center-esque building, where each gigantic room hosts a theme. Most of the "food rooms" are divided by German state, where each state provides traditional food and beer from their region. As the saying goes, "It's all Greek to me." Well...no offense Germany but all the brats, sausages, meats, cheeses, jams, etc at the stations looked the same to me. On the other hand, the beers all looked very different--thank God for marketing designers!
My friends and I then wandered into a specifically Bavarian room and oh my Holy Lederhosen! Who knew there were so many different kinds of lederhosen--colors, fabrics, silver embellishments, etc. I am not going to lie, as an American standing in this room was one of the most surreal things I have experienced while living in Berlin. We all know the lederhosen tradition is more of a American stereotype than anything else; however, the Bavarian folk band playing the accordions and brass instruments combined with the traditionally dressed Southern Germans drinking out of huge beer steins led me to believe that I had somehow been miraculously transported from Berlin to Munich. I mean I was half-expecting Maria and the rest of the von Trapp family to run out on stage with their hands cupped together singing "Do, a deer, a female deer." (Yes, I know the von Trapp family is from Austria and not Southern Germany...but the two areas have similar traditions).
The next room we entered had farm animals of all kinds. Actually, I have never seen a bigger cow, bull, and horse in my life. Not to intentionally bring up another stereotype (sorry to the women of Eastern Germany), but I think those animals may be eating some steroid-spiked hay on the side. At one point my peers and I stood amazed by the enormousness of one bull, when all of a sudden the bull's tail lifted and we all ducked quickly and backed away in fear. You would have thought the bull was about to release a missile from the way we all moved! I guess that bull was only stretching, because his tail swooshed back down and he went on eating his food. We all turned to each other and made some "bullshit" jokes and then walked to the next station.
By the time I finished seeing all the mammoth farm animals, I decided I was exhausted and it was time to head back to the normal world of Berlin. I told my host parents where I had been when I returned home, to which Regina replied, "You went there? It is so bad! I hate it!" She said that it is overpriced, over-crowded, and stinky, but I explained to her that as an American is was truly fascinating!

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

The past two days have been crazy (in a wonderful sense of course). From the Reichstag (German Parliament building) to the Turkish Supermarket to the first day of German class, I am gaining the experiences of a lifetime.

On Tuesday I went to the Reichstag with the rest of the IES group, where we were given a brief history on German politics and the building. After the presentation, we took an elevator up into the glass dome that overlooks the city from all sides. The views were pretty great and the reflective mirrors that decorate the central part of the dome that brings light into the building made for some awesome photos. Due to the recent terror threats, the dome was closed to the public for some time and is now only open to those who pay for a private tour. Our tour-guide told us that the Reichstag is the most frequented parliament in the world! Another interesting fact is that the famous photo of the Russian hoisting up the Communist flag on the Reichstag tower was not only staged but "photo-shopped" as well. The original showed one of the Russian soldiers to be wearing two watches, which was a sign that the soldier had looted the pockets and bodies of the fallen men. You can see the original, un-touched version above.

After the Reichstag, I took the subway back to my neighborhood and decided to go into the Turkish Supermarket to look at the poultry prices. In German grocery stores once you enter, you have to exit through the checkout line after paying (otherwise, a small gate blocks the exit). I did not think about this until after I entered the store; therefore, I was stuck and there was no turning back without setting off the alarm. So I decided I would just buy the chicken breasts as a means to leave the store. Well, I of course only have 5€ with me at the time, which was not enough. I hesitantly approached a worker and asked, "Entschuldigung. Sprechen Sie Englisch?" ("Pardon me. Do you speak English?), to which the worker offered the "so-so" hand gesture. I explained my problem in the most simplified English known to man (caveman talk really) and he understood! WOO! Oh, but it isn't over. Here is the next part of the "conversation":
Worker: "Why you no buy?"
Me: "No money..cash"
Worker: "Plastic? Visa?"
Me: "At home" (I actually had my debit card with me, but I just wanted the hell out of there!)
...long pause...
Me: "I go home. Get money. Come back."

I still have not returned, but the meat did look the most promising there.

Today (Wed. 1/19) I had my first German lesson and when I say we jumped right in, I mean that we dove...headfirst...from 50ft...into a pit of sharks! Did we start with numbers, alphabet, days of the week, and simple hellos and goodbyes? NEIN (no)! Our German 101 lesson began with nouns and articles. Then we learned four tenses (I, you, he/she/it, formal you) of four different verbs (sein, kommen, heißen, and sprechen).
I was sitting in class at one point thinking, "Jeez, I have not taken a class like this since about middle school...And I thought Spanish was difficult!" Well, in my opinion Spanish is much easier to speak than German. The difficult part of German is the odd lump of consonants that must be pronounced in words. For instance, the you form of the verb "sprechen" is "sprichst." There is something about "chst" that just doesn't roll off the tongue very beautifully or easily. Oh, and I don't know how much time I spent learning how not to lisp the English language when I was young, but now I am learning how to lisp...only this time the lisp is more from the back of the tongue and not the front. The good news is that I am picking up phrases and practicing them in real life situations (which I believe is the best way to learn a language). Here are a few phrases:
-Ich habe hunger = I am hungry
-Ich auch = Me too
-Ein Kaffee zum mitnehmen = One coffee to go
...and a few more...