09-16-2010
Stuttgart/Konstanz/ Heidelberg/Tübingen
CHANGE is never easy. I am starting to realize that. Sometimes it seems exciting and other times it is incredibly intimidating and frightening. My life has flipped upside down, right side up, inside out, and every which way. It has taken so many new directions, sometimes I feel a bit confused, but never lost. Chapters in my life are coming to an end, and new beginnings are ahead. My life in Nordstetten has already come to an end too soon. I am a bit sad to think that again my life will change and I will have to leave my new family. These past six weeks have come and gone so fast I realized that a year is going to fly by. That freaks me out. I want to be ready to leave Germany, and not like I was torn away too soon. I feel that way about my German family. Finally I feel completely and utterly comfortable in every possible way, and now I have to leave them. That saddens me beyond belief. Once something is perfect, it has to end. It’s probably for the best, ending something on a good note. You have to end it before it goes bad. It’s like a great T.V. show, it has to end in a good way, otherwise the following seasons will just suck, and then it will be known as having a shitty ending. Does that make any sense?
I just want to thank my family for giving me the best experience in Germany. When I think of Germany I will always think of the Bok family, and my life in Nordstetten. No matter if I go through some crazy bizarre experiences in Germany, I will always think highly of my family and the time I spent in my Schwäbisch region of Deutschland.
I have been in Germany for seven weeks, and I can say this year is going to fly by. Life is crazy busy, but very fulfilling. I am starting to miss Mexican food and Ruby. Every time I see a little dog, I wish she was with me. I am even starting to like the cheesy American pop songs from Katie Perry to I hate to admit, but Enrique Egalsias. I looked at my friend’s pictures of LA and I am surprised to say that I do miss some parts of my So Cal life. I am starting to miss the Southern Cali culture, and yes, there is a So Cal culture, even though it flashy, extreme, exaggerated, and 95% fake, I do miss it. Some of the CSU students and I were discussing how much we miss the Cali lifestyle. We understand each other’s lives’ so much more and feel at ease. We reminisce of our lives in Cali from the music, humor, clothing, food, TV shows (Flight of the Conchords) classic American movies (Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber) we talk about everything! I am definitely not homesick, just coming to grips with the fact that life is very different here. It’s different, but not hard. It’s Germany! Everything I have done, they basically have spoon fed me. Most things are very organized and precise. I definitely come across as the bubbly, out-going, and sometimes airheaded American, but it seems to be working in my favor. I have met so many great people here. It’s fun being in a classroom of mixed cultures from Thailand to Georgia (not the state in the USA, but the country that is situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia), Italian Swiss and French Swiss students. Since all of us are here to learn German, we only speak to each other in German, and that can be very interesting. I sound like a two year old speaking German, but hey, I am here to learn. You have to start somewhere.
Stuttgart
A few weeks back we traveled to Stuttgart. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden Württemberg, a state within Germany. Germany comprises 16 states “Bundesländer” within the country of Germany. Berlin is the largest city within Germany, and also the country’s capital. Here is a picture to give you a better understanding.
(www.nationsonline.org)
We went to the Fernsehtum. It is a huge tower that overlooks Stuttgart and the rest of Schwäbia. You can see the Black Forest for miles and miles. It was quite beautiful from the top. Right now there is a huge issue in Stuttgart with the Bahnhof (train station) and the citizens of this area. Protests are conducted in the Stuttgart mixed with Fuβball games = a lot of Polizei (Police). Swarms of police bombarded the station as well as protestors and drunk people from the soccer games. It was an interesting scene. I liked watching a drunk guy try to find his train ticket, but was having issues because his hands were full with his sausage and beer. So the man gave the sausage and beer to the police officer for him to hold. The police officer was super cool and laughed at the man, while he was sloppily searching through his pockets for his ticket. The police officer didn’t care. For some reason, I don’t think they would have worked in the states. In the states, the police probably would have arrested him for being drunk in public. The police here have a different mannerism. I don’t think they sweat the small stuff, which is good.
We saw the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart and explored various buildings like the opera house and an art museum. It is lovely city. There are cute parks to lie down and people watch or eat lunch. In Stuttgart we checked out the wine festival. There were loads of tiny little vendors where one could buy typisch=typical Schwäbisch essen (typical Schwäbisch food) wine, and other goods. My friend Heather and I opted for the ½ meter long Fuerwurst=fire sausage. It is a long thin red sausage that is longer than the bun it is placed in. I usually smother mine with Send= mustard and either curry ketchup or regular ketchup depending on the mood I am in. Since living in Germany I decided to declare every Saturday “Sausage Saturday.” Where ever I am, I must find a sausage on Saturdays. It’s a fun concept.
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| Fernsehtum |
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| Sausage Saturday |
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| Sclossplatz |
Stuttgart is the main center where we pick up the train or connect to. So we are often in Stuttgart.
If you would like more information regarding the Stuttgart protest here is a link in English.
This is a pretty big issue right now in Baden Württemberg, so check it out!
Konstanz
You wanna know a place where you can see Austria, Switzerland, and Germany? Konstanz of course! Konstanz is at the southern most tip of Deutschland and is separated by the Bodensee. Don’t mistake the word See for Sea. See auf deutsch is “lake.” The Bodensee is a huge beautiful lake that separates the countries towards the south. In summer, Konstanz is absolutely gorgeous. The weather is nice, people are in the lake doing various water sports, and the town is a chic classy city with chic people. It is quite an international destination. I saw a lot of beautiful people who had some unique Euro style. In Konstanz we went to the Müsterturm in the church. It is a large tower that overlooks the entire city and various areas around Konstanz. Again, one can see Austria, Switzerland, and Germany from this tower. The view was absolutely incredible. The town reminded me a little bit of California. I told a couple of Germans this, and they thought I was crazy. One even said, “don’t ruin my vision of California.” I think he said that, because he envisions California only palm trees and everyone is walking around in their bikinis. But the Bodensee mixed with the various trees that grow along the water reminded me of northern California. I loved it. It was a very relaxing place.
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The view from the Muesterturm
The view from the top was incredible, but the walk up there was another story. Walking up this narrow wooden staircase was an adventure in itself. Take a look of what I am talking about.
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The church where we saw the incredible view from.
On top of the Muesterturm
Die Imperia Statue
The Imperia statue stands at the entrance of the harbor of Konstanz. This sensual woman commemorates the Council of Constance that took place between 1414 and 1418. It was created by Peter Lenk who also created the incredibly voluptuous woman in Horb that I took tons of pictures with. This statue is a satire of the of the Catholic clergy's morals. The Imperia shows a woman holding a man in each hand, Pope Martin V and Emperor Sigismund. The statue refers to the story by Balzac "La belle Imperia" where the Imperia seduces cardinals and princes at the council of Constance and has the power over them all. This seductress knew what she was doing.
Heidelberg
If you want to feel like you are in a period film from the middle ages go to Heidelberg. Walking through the town made me feel like I was walking back in time several centuries ago. This enchanted city has quite the essence that could captivate anyone who enters its quarters. But this town wasn’t always so enchanting, it also had a very dark past throughout several centuries. Heidelberg has gone through many harsh endeavors and many parts of city were destroyed during the 30 Years’ War and the Palatine War of Succession. Even up to WWII, Heidelberg was a stronghold of the NSDAP (Nazi Party). This city played a leading role in the era of Humanism and the Reformation and the conflict between Lutheranism and Calvinism in the 15th and 16th centuries. You can trace this town’s beginnings as far back as the 5th century.
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| Old Town |
The Heidelberg Castle is a mix of styles from Gothic to Renaissance. The interior of the castle is in Gothic style. During the Heidelberg Castle of Festivities in the summer, one can go to the courtyard to experience open air musicals, classical concerts performed by the Heidelberg Philharmonics, and theatre performances. We got to enjoy a real life fairy performance. Although, I thought fairies were supposed to be small. These fairies were quite large, so I don’t think it was a very accurate performanceJ.
Photo by Whitney Stouse
I enjoyed the little shows that were performed in the courtyard by whimsical fairies frolicking around. People dressed in “mittel alter” attire walked around and talked to the tourists. I even took a picture with one. Whoever is in charge of the live performances in the Heidelberg Schloss should get an award. You are literally walking back in time. We visited the “Deutches Apotheke” where we got to see medizin =medicine from the middle ages. I am pretty happy I live in the 21st century, because some of the medicine was BS if you know what I mean.
The University of Heidelberg is the oldest university in Deutschland. It was founded in 1386, and is a prominent research university. A couple of famous thinkers associated with the institution of Heidelberg were Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (a German philosopher- one of the creators of German Idealism) and Karl Jaspers (a German psychiatrist and philosopher).
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part of the university
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Oktoberfest in München
This year was the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest in München, so of course we had to go. It is the quintessential foreigner hot spot when traveling around Europe. One must go and explore the wonders of Bayern and the endless amounts of beer . Since I have a traditional Dirndl I had to wear it to Oktoberfest. I felt like the St. Pauli’s girl, but with alcoholic beer. I didn’t really know what to expect for Oktoberfest, but millions of people wearing Lederhosen and Dirndls and the ever flowing amounts of beer in huge beer steins. The funny thing is, they are not called beer steins in Germany. That is only an American thing, well maybe they do, but every German I have talked to doesn't call it a stein. They call it Maßkrug . “Stein” actually translates to “stone.” Anywho… yes, Oktoberfest did meet my expectations. Millions of foreigners dressed to impress, and 10 Euro beers that taste much better than any other. You are probably thinking, 10 Euros for a beer!! That is incredibly expensive! Well, yes it is, but in that 10 Euro payment, there is a deposit for the glass, so you get like 2 or 3 Euros back when you return the glass. If you don’t return the glass, like me, then you will pay 10 Euros. My older brother Andy insisted on me bringing him a beer “stein” back from Oktoberfest, so I had to carry through with his wishes.
We never got into the tents, but we didn’t really try. There are so many beer stands and areas that sell crazy amounts of beer, so it wasn’t a desire of ours. We were completely content drinking our beer outside and walking around. There were so many vendors and delicious treats for us to explore. The air smelled like baked goods from enormous bigger than my head Bezels (pretzel) cookies, and cotton candy. It was like walking through candy land. I did a lot of random dancing to traditional German folk music, and consumed about 5 beers. My brothers would call me a rookie for only drinking 5 beers, but I am still a girl, and can’t consume as much as those behemoths.
Coming back from Oktoberfest was more than a little stressful. We were traveling in a large group of 10 people, so things got a little hectic. We purchased the cheapest tickets possible. The tickets were called schönes Wochenede tickets. You must have a group of 5 people to purchase these tickets. It cost us 7 Euros each, but a headache at the end. Half the group wanted to make the 5:30 p.m. train home and the others wanted to take the 6:30p.m. home. I didn’t care at this point which time I was leaving. So one half of the group split off to go home. The only problem was they had our tickets with them. So we had no way of getting back, otherwise we would have to purchase another set of tickets but the price increased tremendously…like to 200 Euros. We were not paying that. So we rushed to the train station to meet up with our friends. They missed the 5:30 p.m. train and waited for us so we could all go on the 6:30 p.m. train. The huge problem with the 6:30p.m. train was that this train had many more stops on the way home than the one going to München. Instead of traveling 2 hours we traveled like 7 just to get home. The second to the last train we took was extremely late, so we missed our final train back to Horb. There were no other trains going back to Horb till 5 a.m. It was a very draining adventure. Since the train was so late, it wasn’t our fault that we missed the final train back to Horb. The Bahnhof (train station) paid for us to take a 50 min taxi ride home. So all in all it worked out. We were dropped off at the Bahnhof in Horb and then walked home in the rain and pitch black night. It was kind of scary walking home that late in the dark through the Schwarzwald. Yet, it was an adventure in itself that I am glad I experienced.
