Winter bonfire and war stories

Tonight, my roommates and a few friends of mine made a bonfire in the grill outside of Europahaus. It was a perfectly snowy night, and we had quite a time getting it lit. WHOOSH! Some hairspray and leftover grill igniter fluid did the trick. Almost burned all of our Handschuhe as we draped them over the fire to dry. Soon we were rummaging around for sticks and cardboard until we had a semi-decent fire going, and my roommate Peter started to tell us a story.

Peter has been in the Bundeswehr (West German military) as a paratrooper. We had all been a bit curious, but too cautious to ask about his time there. Tonight, he decided to share. He began by describing how, as a young man fresh out of the German equivalent of high school, he wanted to do more with life that continue to study. He wanted to live, he stressed to us. He didn't know better than to fight for his country. So he signed up, and left his home, and his long-time girlfriend, for training. His days were spent conducting intense physical drills, and most of all, learning how to fall. When you are a paratrooper, you must jump from a plane at very low altitude, with not much time to spare. Falling hurts, even after you've been trained. He spent all day learning to roll and duck, and try not to break any bones.

Winter in Konstanz

 This year brings a particularly good batch of snow to Southern Germany. Locals are surprised, albeit not shocked, by the continuous out-pour of  fluffy white flakes from the heavens. Being from the Northeast, I am prepared. I have found a new place in my heart for winter- one that has roots in childhood joy, and has been over-looked by years of same old, same old Massachusetts winter, schlepping across the poorly paved campus with my only intent focused on staying warm and not slipping. I forgot how to love the snow.

I am sure that Germany is beautiful in summer- it was quite gorgeous here when I first arrived at the beginning of September, and swimming in the Bodensee is nothing to forget. But, to those who say I came to Konstanz at the wrong time of year, I beg to differ. Konstanz in winter is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Germany was created for winter. Everywhere I go, it looks like a scene painted by Thomas Kinkade.

Walking down the street on the first winter's snow, a group of children smile and shyly toss snowballs in our direction. Challenge accepted. Needless to say we let them win, but it wasn't until after everyone was covered and laughing that we continued on down the road. A spontaneous moment of joy where no words were exchanged, just the joy of a shared moment.

The key to enjoyment, however, has been layers. I wear about three layers of clothing on the average day, two for pants. Long underwear can be purchased cheaply at Aldi or Pennymarkt, and they are lifesavers... or at least joy savers. I also switched from a nice looking pair of fall fashion boots, to some ugly rubber boots lined with fleece (thanks mom!). I haven't been cold since. Winter here is like at home, but more intense. Although, this is supposedly untypically Konstanz, as I assume the lake affords the place more rain than snow. This year you couldn't tell.

rapid language acquisition

Here is an incredible story I've read about a man determined to learn the German language fluently in three months: http://www.fluentin3months.com/first-week-no-english/

 I have to admit that my fluency is not up to his speed, but he has some radical ideas that would have been helpful to heed. The key really is no English.. which has proven itself exceptionally difficult in a tourist spot such as Konstanz.. Well, that is only half-true. Most of the English I speak is with other foreign exchange students, as everyone knows English (which will certainly make you feel bad about yourself at first, but prove to be convenient!)

The best part is that Seeseit manages to stick a few German students in your housing arrangement (well, at least for Europahaus). It is EXTREMELY intimidating to talk to them in German at first (well, if you have very little prior knowledge of German like me, that is), but in time you will learn to trust them and they you, and soon you will find some sort of garbled Dinglish falling out of your mouth. And maybe someday they will understand you :)

I am lucky to have a guy named Peter as my German roommate. He is the kindest, most patient person I've met here, with a twinge of goofiness that allows me to be at ease when stumbling through my words. He also speaks less English than many of the other Germans here, so it is even more convenient to go forward in German acquisition. He never gets impatient with me, though I have no idea how because I often get impatient with myself. The worst that comes from these transactions is a smile from him and a "Was?" as we both stutter to make ourselves understood.

Konstanz fog

 Beware the fog.

When I first decided to travel to Konstanz, I was haphazardly warned that the "fog" causes depression and that suicide rates were higher in Konstanz's winter than other provinces because of it. I took it with a grain of salt, even laughed. How could FOG be that bad?

Wrong.

I still love Konstanz just as much as ever, don't get me wrong. I don't regret coming here at all. But I don't think we've had sun for a week. Maybe even longer. We are all extra exhausted and have begun the wintertime blues that even the best Europahaus parties can't fix (haha..)

I think the best way to remedy this is to travel. Once classes began, I've kept myself holed up in Konstanz. I had some trips planned, but it's quite expensive to travel from here, and no one has the spare cash to accompany me (neither do I.. but it's a priority to go. I can live on noodles if it means seeing Paris).

Keep yourself happy by remembering the small things. A coffee date with friends, a good movie (auf Deutsch, naturlich!), even a good hour counts. The sun will be back before you know it.

Tonight, my American/German roommate and I threw the Halloween party to end Halloweed parties. It wasn't our idea- so many people wanted the "American" Halloween experience, we decided why not?

It was a beautiful sight to see. The Russian girls dressed as men and zombies, the Irish and Englishmen dressed as giant babies, the Spanish girls came as the Spice Girls, and my Australian friend Angus came as a Halloween Mad Lib and made us fill in the story. The best costume was an American guy, Stephen, who came as a beating heart. He wrapped himself in red lights for the arteries, and attached red glowing ventricles. It was fantastic.

It was so rewarding to have friends talk about how lovely their first Halloween was. I can't imagine not having Halloween, and I'm glad we could make it special for others.

We made apple cider, pizza, and lots of American candy. A strobe light materialized at some point in the night, and really added effect to our cobwebbed staircase and fake plastic spiders. We have a blacklight in our kitchen, so ghosts, witches, and axmen were well lit throughout the night.

I'm really looking forward to other cultural celebrations throughout my time here. For now, I'm just really glad we adopted (stole) Halloween from the ancient Celts.

I have the first cold of the year now. It sort of feels like the flu. I'm very achy. There was a random bout of snow the weekend before Halloween, and I was thoroughly unprepared. It was a beautiful sight to see, and walking arm and arm with a handsome German through the Altstadt made it even nicer. But my body did not adjust. Panic set in, as I came to the realization that the weather could be like this from now until the time I leave Konstanz. What would I have done if I had known that it would be winter so quickly? Certainly ride my bike more often.

It's a bit hard to schedule a doctor's appointment here, as everyone appears to be booked up for months. I will baby this cold a bit with some Honig Salbei

it is already snowing here!

ambien dreams of european streets and masks and things

italy

Italian coffe!

farmer's market

i worked at the market all day, and it was pretty great. i'm not very good at german yet, but i met a lot of canadians, and i think my boss was happy that i could speak english with them. he thinks i'm a riot when i try to speak german. he gave me more bread and muscato grapes and the best cheese i've ever had. it's like parmigiana but better. i will not go hungry! the paycheck is small, but dependent on the day. i think i will try my hand at distilling wine at home, because i get lots of grapes that are about to turn, and i can't eat them all (and neither can my roommates!). 

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest was crazy. It was like a UMass party, but with carnival rides and traditional German garb- Liederhosen and Drindls. One beer is equivalent in volume to three (try a half-lemonade, half-beer to keep up stamina and to not throw up!) and say goodbye to at least 50 euro (rides are expensive, but the rollercoaster was at least worth it). There will be lots of people passed out in the street by 4pm, and not just teens and 20year olds. Most of them, actually, were dads. There was this one girl around 18 yelling to people not to step on her "papa".. it would embarrass any American teen, but she stuck by him faithfully as he lay face down on the sidewalk. It's best not to get involved, because the medical teams are everywhere and they will find them quickly.

The beer tents were packed, and it was hard to find a place to sit in a big group, but once we splintered off into groups of three or four, it was easier to manage. I was with an American guy and a girl from Spain, and we went for the tent with the most music coming out of it, as well as one that let us go in with our backpacks (we brought sandwiches and water, which is a good idea because everything is expensive and it is an intense day to go through without snacking and drinking water) we met some really nice German guys who had stayed up all night at a party and then went straight to Oktoberfest. Crazy. I was ready to go by 7pm when our bus came for us. The pretzels there were enormous, and I wish I had one as I write this. I don't know how Germans stay so slim while eating and drinking the way they do. I guess they bike a lot.

We left Oktoberfest before getting more than tipsy, and made our way to the center of Munich. It was German Unity day, so inside Oktoberfest looked pretty much like the rest of the town. The streets were crowded with people and there was lots of traditional music and beer in almost every section of the square. We stopped to gather our bearings, and a little old German lady asked us if we needed help. She explained what a unique day it was, and that if we were lucky we could see the Munich council and parliament. We did, although our German wasn't good enough to understand their speeches. We stuck to the small side streets and sought out the typical German festival desert, a giant frosted cookie that you can wear around your neck for the day.

We watched the parades of people for awhile, and then headed back to Oktoberfest to meet up with the rest of the group from Konstanz. It was then that we noticed those who'd passed out, one man bloodied in front of a Toys 'R' Us.. it seemed wrong but I could see that he was being taken care of. Apparently parents make examples out of these people to their kids, because no one tried to conceal them.

conversions

Here is a really handy kitchen conversion sheet, because reading cooking instructions can sometimes be very tricky:

find original here

Orientation in the Schwarzwald

This weekend was the orientation for the UMass program in Germany. Being the only student to go to Konstanz, I was worried that I would be the only one who didn't know anyone else. I took the bus instead of train, as it was a direct route and much cheaper than the train, and I was bummed to have to leave before the ending ceremony of my Konstanz orientation celebration.

Once getting to Freiburg, I found it hard to find the rest of the group, as I didn't know anyone studying abroad in Germany. It wasn't until I saw Regine that I knew that I was in the right place. Making international friends was incredibly easy, but would I make friends with people from my own university who already knew each other? Americans are known for being cliquey. And I was not the "American girl" anymore.. How would this go?

At first I found it difficult to get to know everyone, as groups of them lived in the same town here or very close. I just kept at it, and talked about how beautiful Konstanz was and how everyone should travel the few hours away to come visit. I told them how much I enjoyed visiting Heidelberg and Tubingen. After awhile, it was clear that these fellow travelers were just as excited to be here as I was, and the comfortable clingyness people exhibit when they know each other faded away. After the first night was over, and a few beers, I knew I had made some new friends from an old place.

The next morning, we went to a farming museum in the hills of the Black Forest. I won't mention how we got there, not to ruin the surprise, but it involves a bit of a hike and a stay in a cabin. The tour was all in German, and there was a mix of people who fully understood and some who understood even less than me. I understood only when the tour lady gestured to what she was talking about. Even then, it was only by common sense that I got any of it. Life was rural and difficult in the mountains up til the present, but most of the houses had electricity and even internet there now- most likely due to the proximity to Freiburg and the services provided by the lower part of town.

It was a weekend of beauty mixed with some boredom, but it was comforting to get away from the cities for awhile. Until then, I had been in mostly rural places, so it was a welcome change (for the few days!). 

Picking classes with the advisors was the best- most (actually, all) of the other exchange students in Konstanz were left to struggle through that process themselves. Many of the EU students even had to travel home to fill out documents because of it, or at least mail away. We are very lucky to have a program that not only helps pick classes, but takes us on a trip while doing so.

The cukoo clock downstairs in the hostel/cabin will most definitely keep you awake/wake you up. Bring earplugs for the nighttime!

The food is good (and free), but be prepared to be surrounded by beer that you have to pay for to touch (UMass being UMass, will not pay for any of these drinks)

Make sure to try a piece of Black Forest cake in the Black Forest! It's nothing like we are told it is when we see the cake mix in the US.

Enjoy, and don't forget to bring thick socks and hiking shoes. Really. You will need them.

Europahaus

It is IMPOSSIBLE to stay in and study when you live in Europahaus. It is Monday, and people are personally offended that I don't want to go out. I hope this dies down next month because I seriously can't keep up with this! I like parties, but not on weekdays! I want to learn German.

German date

 Today I had a date with a German guy I met at Berry's last week. He was such a sweetheart, and a refreshing change from the guys back home. I guess I can't stereotype too much,  because there has definitely been some handsy German guys here, but not this one. He has been nothing but a gentleman, and didn't try to make a move more than a kiss on each cheek. We had so much fun doing nothing but drinking coffee and laughing at the water fowl by the lake. I imagine this is what old fashioned romance feels like. It's a bit weird only because I am startled by his lack of move-making, but somehow I know that he is interested. It is great because nothing has to be serious, and it is best that we take our time. Here, I feel like I have all the time in the world and no time at all at the same time. It is a strange experience.Getting out and feeling less glued to the tv set or the internet is exactly what I needed. I hate to admit how much time I wasted on these things at home. At home, the idea of sitting and watching ducks for hours would seem pointless to me, but somehow wasting time on the internet was ok. I am glad that it is more of the opposite.
 Also, Germans know how to drive. Like really know how to drive. It is impressive to be in a car with a Swiss or German person and watch their fancy handwork. I damn whoever invented the automatic car because we have no idea how to drive because of it. It is really a sight to see. I think after being in some of these cars, I would feel safe to ride with someone on the autobahn.
 Anyway, I hope that we continue to see each other, and that we can stop speaking in English. My  German is still terrible, it sounds like I'm drunk when I speak.. I think that's the only time people understand me, is when they are drunk.. Ah well. Soon enough.