Wir bleiben wach, bis die Wolken wieder lila sind: Köln 2013

We're staying awake till the clouds turn purple.
(A famous German song, and one that was stuck in all of our heads the entire seminar)

Thursday, January 17^th, after a long and arduous day of staring at the clock, I boarded a train to Köln (Or to the English speaking world- Cologne,) to meet up with the 49 other American exchange students half a year after our time in language camp together.  I must say, this was probably one of the single best weekends in my entire lifetime. Not only is Köln an amazing city that sits right along the Rhine and is packed full of amazing culture, but the people I was there to share it with have truly became my family and understand me like no one else at this time point in my life. When we all got in late Thursday evening, the feeling was just about as close to coming home as it could get. Sharing hugs with the people I haven’t seen for half a year is indescribable. We all have seen so many beautiful things, endured a few struggles, and overcame them all smiling and always ready for more. I am so lucky to have such an awesome support group.

We stayed in a youth hostel a short U-Bahn ride from downtown Köln. It is actually quite nice to write this blog and not to have to orientate it, because I have had quite the difficult time pronouncing the German “ö.” Any of my German friends reading this are probably chuckling from me making a fool of myself during my many attempts at unsuccessfully manipulating my mouth to form whatever sound it requires.

A lot of the Seminar was filled with, you guessed it, seminars. We would meet up a few times a day and discuss topics ranging from our experiences so far, to advice we want to give to future CBYX’ers, to our plans with meeting the Bundestag in Berlin. These were 100% in German, and it was really fun to finally be able to speak with our language camp teachers and show them how much we’ve learned.

Group photo in Bonn. My language camp teacher, Rolf, is throwing snowballs at us from the bottom ;)

Friday all 50 of us and a few of our teachers loaded the train for the nearby city, Bonn. Bonn is a very famous German city that has played a significant role in the history and German culture. We began our day by visiting Beethoven’s house. It was quite the extraordinary feeling to be standing in the same rooms where the famous composer was born, raised, and wrote so many amazing pieces.

            While searching for lunch we found a restaurant titled “Tacos.” So naturally, we were all pretty excited to satisfy our Mexican food craving. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not have any tacos on the menu. I had an extremely “Mexican Style” quesadilla that consisted of potatoes and corn, and somehow, no cheese. Nevertheless we all had a pretty good meal. J

            The second half of the day we went to a German history museum that turned out to be surprisingly cool. It covered a lot of the history between the GDR and FRG, and reunification of Germany. I’ve been learning about all of this in my history class and it was fun to see all of the elements in a more hands on environment. We also had the tour in German, and I understood the entire thing.

From the top, absolutely gorgeous

            The second day we had the morning to explore Köln.  We started by climbing up to the top of the Kölner Dom, the highest Cathedral in Europe. After a long, long, climb we reached the top to discover an absolutely amazing view from the top of the city and the Rhine. After that we went to the chocolate factory museum. At this point we were all pretty pooped and quite honestly a bit over filled with information. We may be student ambassadors, but everybody has to chill right? Well, we know how to do it. In the cafe of the museum, which was filled with glass windows displaying the unusually sunny day along the river, around 10 of us sat down and ordered 10 different cakes, passed around assembly line style. It was like we enjoyed the variety of 10 different cakes, with the calorie content of one. We’ve all became a little chubbier than we were in language camp over the last six months. ;)

            Sunday a group of us began our day by going to the church service at the dome. I’m not religious, however I have a tremendous respect for the service they put on and am 100% open to seeing the beliefs of others. It was a really classy, catholic service, and it was such a cool experience to view a service in such an old and historically famous church.  There was a huge choir, with boys draped in long black and white cloaks, who followed three men swinging a lantern-like device with smoking incense. They were singing in some twisted and beautiful language, presumably Latin. The way it echoed through the huge stone church was absolutely memorizing and wonderful.

"Fantastic Four-" Outside the theatre after Pitch Perfect

            The rest of day was filled with seminars, but afterwards we were let off early to cherish the short amount of time we had left together. After eating dinner, a group of us went to go see “Pitch Perfect” in German. Funniest movie of my entire life. I think it was just that we understood all the jokes in German, and they were 10000x better than they would have been in English. We laughed SO hard. And provided a high quality surround sound for the entire theatre ;).  When we got back to the hostel, a huge group of us went out to go for a midnight walk along the Rhine. We all huddled together and embraced the chilly temperatures, really wanting to embrace the moment; knowing that tomorrow we would get on the trains and not see the majority of each other till we meet up again in Berlin in June. We walked to a bridge that illuminated all the city lights from the top. With snow lightly falling over our heads from the top of the city skyline, we all threw snowballs into the river together and made wishes. The feeling was simply magical. After hearing one loud “plop,” we began to head back to the hostel. Along the way, we got in just about the longest and most epic snow ball fight of all time. Wet and freezing, we got back to  the hostel and after using my hair dryer to warm up, dragged nearly all of our mattresses into one room for a movie night. We were pulling an all nighter. Well, at least that was the plan. We all fell asleep within the first 5 minutes, actually. It led to quite the rude and unexpected awaking in the morning. Monday. The melancholy day we all boarded the trains for another half a year of full on German integration. After a 2-inch snowstorm, nearly every train at the station was late. Finally, I was on my own for the return home reminiscing the weekend. A mix of happy and sad hit me, these people are my family and despite the fact that we stay in contact, I miss them all like crazy.  I got to see so many historical and beautiful things over the weekend, but the best part was reuniting with the people that know exactly what I’m going through. It was an absolutely spectacular weekend.

The Downhill Side of the Mountain

I woke up this morning to learn that today I reached the official halfway point in my exchange. On Thursday I will take a train to a city called Köln, a.k.a Cologne, where I will have a seminar with the other exchange students and we’ll discuss our experiences so far. It’s crazy for me to think that I’ve been away from home and all the familiars for five months now. I know it probably looks like I am living a fairy tale dream from all my blogs and pictures, and in a way, I am. I have a lot to be grateful for, a wonderful family, new and accepting friends that have gotten me through a lot of sticky situations, and a million stories and memories that I’ll keep in my memory for the rest of my life.

However, at the same time, not everything has been rainbows and fairies. I’ve gone through a lot here, between changing myself, being isolated from the people that mean everything to me, and having to fit into a new and very different culture. I remember when I started German school, and I thought to myself, “How am I ever going to do this?” I was so confused, and even the little things, like having small talk or asking where I needed to be were tiring and challenging. I have come so far from then, and gained so much independence and valuable lessons. A very wise friend of my family’s told me during my first few days here, “you are still like a baby in diapers learning first to crawl and then walk and soon enough you will be thinking in German…on the first of the year you will not believe how far you’ve came.” This now has so much relevance. I’m now watching movies in German, understanding school, and having completely capable and intelligent conversations. I still get a little lost in the language and make mistakes sometimes (well, lets face it, often, German grammer is not my best friend...) but to think that I started with virtually nothing just a few months ago is unbelievable.

I can’t say this is typical of every exchange, but I’ve really grown up here. I don’t feel dependent on anyone anymore, I know that I can do things on my own; from figuring out a subject in a foreign language, to navigating transportation maps, to just being able to sit by myself and take some contemplation time. I’ve also let go of control and stress, I accept a situation the way it is, and take the necessary measures. Sometimes as an exchange student, or really just a human being, you just have to throw your hands up and say, “I’m letting go.” I know how to just let loose more so than ever.

Somedays it feels like I’m living in warp speed, and I can’t believe it’s already January. Other days it feels like June will never come and I will forever be in German limbo. It’s weird for me to think that this exchange won’t last forever. In June I will be right back in America for a full out American summer and senior year. That only means that I need to continue to live every day like it’s my last, keep jumping on every opportunity for adventure, and see new ways of life without losing who I am.

Carpe Diem, y’all.

Fröliche Weihnachten!

Christmas time in Germany has been a world wind of emotions. It’s the sour sweet feeling between missing the familiars and discovering absolutely beautiful and wonderful new things. I never realized just how special it was to drive around a neighborhood completely decorated with colorful lights, or hearing Christmas music on every radio and in every store you walk into. Nevertheless, Christmas in Germany has been a unique experience and one that I will always remember.

The entire month of December leading up to Christmas is “Adventszeit.” It is traditional and very typical to have an Advents Kalendar. They come in all sorts of verities, from 3-D boxes with little chocolates to homemade “sock mobiles” hung on a string. Every calendar has little doors that you open up every Advents day for a pre-Christmas surprise. We also have a candle decoration, where you light one candle for every week leading up to Christmas.

December 6^th is a day called St. Nikolaous Tag. On December 5^th, we leave stockings out (though I’ve heard some families do clean shoes) and St. Nikolaous comes in the middle of the night and stuffs them with nuts, fruit, and candy.  By textbook definition, St. Nikolaous is a historical figure, who teaches children someone will always be there for them, and to live out their hopes and dreams.

Out of everything I saw, the most unique and special German Christmas traditions are the Weinachtsmarkts translated as “Christmas Markets.” Every little town usually has a market, and differ depending on the size of the city. Little wooden booths are set up around the town with enormous Christmas trees, bright white lights dancing above the seas of people, and delicious smells permeating your senses. I went to a Christmas market virtually every weekend in December with friends or family. My favorite treats were fresh-baked crepes with Nutella or “Zimt und Zucker” a.k.a. cinnamon and sugar. People warm up from the cold drinking “Gluewein,” a warm sweet alcoholic drink or “Kinderpunch,” which is warm fruit punch. (Tastes a million times better than it sounds!) Every Christmas Market was unique to the town, based on size and location. For example, the Monschau Weinachtsmarkt was small, cute, and traditional; to accompany the feeling of the town. The Munich Market was large and international, to match the big city vibe.

Having a sunny lunch "auf der Piste" 

I don’t have a lot to report on a typical German Christmas, apparently there is 3 different days filled with visiting the Church and several extravagant feasts. They also open presents the night of the 24^th instead of in the morning. Instead, my family and I took a trip to Austria and spent Christmas “Skii Fahren” a.k.a skiing! It was breath-takingly beautiful, and a truly challenging and rewarding trip. I can now say I learned how to ski in the Alps. Austria was also really interesting and fun. Instead of having a Ski Lodge like we have in Colorado, there are several huts you can ski to to have lunch. The huts always consisted of very traditional Austrian food, from “wienerschnitzel” to a baked full cake concoction called “Kaiserschmarrn” usually served with jam or apple mouse. (And for a laugh, I couldn’t remember how to spell apple just then, I kept spelling it in German!)

Typical Kaiserschmarrn

We brought in the New Years a little unconventionally as well. We had a typical family “feast” of very traditional German food (Knödel-little potato balls, meat, and red cabbage.) Followed by gift exchanging! A lot easier than trying to fit them in the car skiing with the size of our family. Gesa and I continued the night by going to a friend's house for a party, where we watched “Dinner for One” (An English skit about a lady with a bunch of dead friends, and a very, very drunk butler.) This is a tradition carried out every year by many Germans. We toasted at midnight and stepped outside. The entire night sky was lit with fireworks coming from every direction. It was my first expirence getting to play with fire works, because it’s always way too dry in Colorado. Overall, a really good night to top off an amazing Christmas season with the perfect combination of family and friends.

 

Wait.. Is that English?

Last weekend I took a trip with my English class to London. It was a pretty big trip (7 hours on a bus both ways and a ferry ride,) but so much fun! I didn’t really feel like getting led on tours the entire day (I was already in London Summer 2011 with People to People.) So I ended up having a shopping spree in London! Doesn’t get much better for the shopping scene, the entire vibe of the city is so modern cool, I may perhaps want to live one day in London, I just love it. They also had a really amazing and efficient transportation system which we all took advantage of. We went out again at night and looked at all the Christmas lights, and the entire thing felt pretty magical. The whole trip is pretty much reflected in the song “Good Life” by One Republic. Booya ;)

You've been in Germany for a while when...

·     -You wouldn’t dare leave the house without your big, blanket infinity scarf.

·     -You eat all your meals with both a fork and a knife.

·     -When you do have the chance to speak English, it’s completely broken and your sentences are formed with German grammar.

·     -You’ve forgotten what it tastes like to have normal water with ice cubes.

·     -If you’re going to wear a skirt, you wear tights under it. Even skin colored. 

·     -You still fold your pillows into odd contorted shapes at night to add more density.

·     -If your lounging around the house, you make sure to see your house shoes on. Don’t want any cold feet, right?

·     -If you’re going to eat bread or toast, you’re going to eat it with butter.

·     -Every meal is an elaborate feast with all the options you would want in your meal already on the table, especially at breakfast.

·     -You stop ignoring all the annoying differences between German and English and accept that it’s just going to be a pain in the butt to learn, and start studying.

·     -You’ve accepted that it’s totally normal for you, you little Aüslander, to walk into the wrong classroom on a regular basis or find out you just didn’t have class that day. Take a seat and practice some German with other people that have off. Life is full of surprises. 

-   -You would never disobey the little green man that says you can walk before you cross the street. 

-  -You finally figure out what that song means that you've had stuck in your head this entire time, and boy is it weird!

Thanksgiving in Germany

It was a bit odd walking into school on Thursday the 22^nd and realizing that I would usually be waking up to the smell of Turkey in the house and the Macy’s Day Parade on TV. It was also my sisters 18^th Birthday, so the day was extremely busy with presents, family, and lots of cake. In a way I still got my Thanksgiving feast, just completely German style. I also went all out and baked a pumpkin pie for my host family which we later enjoyed on Sunday when all the birthday partying had died down a bit. I’m pretty sure my host mom thought her kitchen would never look the same (I make quite the mess everytime I cook anything,) but everything turned out well and the pumpkin pie was delicious! And… turkey wasn’t completely lost. I have a friend here in Herne from Michigan that works as an O’Pair, and she was fortunately brave enough to throw together an entire Thanksgiving meal. I went over by her house on the weekend and it was a great time enjoying a good old turkey and mashed potatoes meal. Thanksgiving also gave me a chance to think about all the things I have to be “dankbar” for here. Two great families, truly great friends across the globe, and an amazingly, challenging, life-changing opportunity at hand. I was happy to be able to bring a part of Thanksgiving to Germany and share a special part American culture with my host family and friends.