A Castle and a German Milkshake, 29 May 2010

So, yesterday I did not go to Freiburg. I didn’t know that was the plan, but I asked to delay it, on account of not being able to meet up with Dan, who’s living in the area. I’d told him I would be coming eventually, but didn’t have enough time to communicate to him that yesterday would have been the day. So, after breakfast we discussed where we could possible go. And went over the brief list of places that we’d eventually go to, including the Bodensee, or Lake Constance as we English speakers call it.

Since I don’t know much about the region, I’m pretty open to going anywhere. I should probably look some things up to get ideas next time I’m online. But, I said I did really like history, architecture and castles. We researched the Bodensee, but that was too far to go to (its in Switzerland) for just the afternoon, which I totally understand. After not immediately coming up with some ideas, we went to the recycling center and then Market.

I got ready quickly (I come to breakfast in my pj’s on the weekends) and we were off. The recycling center was a bit chaotic to say the least and its size didn’t help at all. But, you could bring almost anything to be recycled. We brought some cardboard and garden clippings. For us, that would be the yard waste. But other people were bringing old refrigerators, lumber, plastics (not bottles). And of course there were the glass and plastic and paper containers. I was glad to be rid of the yard waste, because on the way over a weed kept sticking me in the ear.

From there, we drove up to their market is really small, but there’s still a lot to see and learn. For example, I didn’t know that asparagus has a hard shell or skin on it. But I learned, because at the Market on Saturdays, you can have you asparagus shelled or de-skinned for free. Its quite the machine. And its white asparagus, for that matter. I wonder now if the asparagus we have at home is already de-skinned, or if we just eat it anyway. I don’t eat it, so I wouldn’t know off hand.

We also sampled some local strawberries, and bought some. They tasted a bit better than the ones Frau Brause had bought the other day, though she still sprinkled some sugar on them for dessert later. Asparagus, strawberries, eggs, potatoes, and honey all went into the basket (which we had brought). Herr Brause carried it, which I found funny, just because Frau Brause just handed it to him without really asking. She also bought some flowers and fresh herbs (still packaged in dirt). The shopping process also took longer because we kept running into people the Brauses knew.

The basket being full, we went back to the car and then while Frau Brause and I walked to the butcher, Herr Brause met us there with the car. The butcher’s was interesting. And much different than our meat section at Schnucks. There’s a lot more pork, and all kinds of cuts. Like the leg and stomach meat (is there meat in a pigs belly?). And very little cow, which I find disappointing. And the only kind of chicken, was the wings. But there was tons of Wurst. And a lot of it had things stuck through it, like cheese or green things. I’m not sure. But I saw garlic, beer, and cheese Wurst, to say the least. Frau Brause bought some pork cutlets, which we ate for lunch.

Upon coming home, we unloaded the car and stacked everything on the kitchen counter. Then Herr Brause started searching for a book they had on the Bodensee. I paged through that for a while. Then Frau Brause came in and handed me a piece of paper she’d just printed off the computer and said that’s where we were going. It was a picture of the Schloss Ortenberg, which I have more pictures of. Hopefully they turned out, I haven’t looked yet and it was really bright outside yesterday. But for about an hour, I read some LOTR and stared off into space thinking. Then it was time for lunch, even though I wasn’t really hungry.

We had the pork cutlets, mixed peas and carrots, rice, salad (which I didn’t eat) and then the strawberries for dessert. Herr Brause leaves the table once he’s done eating, and then Frau Brause and I talk for a while longer. This is how it goes for almost every meal. Yesterday, he went and took a nap. After lunch, I went to read some more LOTR downstairs, with the intention of being ready to go at quarter past two. I looked at the clock at some point, and it read 14:22 (I’m on military time). I quickly bookmarked my page, and put in my contacts.

My contacts have been acting a little funny since I’ve been here. I’m not sure if my eye makeup gets in them, or if it’s the drier climate, but usually in the evening, even if I waited a long time to put them in in the morning, my eyes start hurting. Sometimes if I blink a lot and cry it helps, but usually not. So I just take them out and then it’s better. I’ll probably put in a new pair soon, though, and see if that makes any difference. And attempt to up my water intake (which is hard, because I never know where I’ll be if I need to go, because there are no such things as public toilets in Germany, you have to pay).

Anyways, I grabbed my purse, trench coat and camera, and got in the car. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get there, but it was about 70 km away, I think. We listened to the radio in the car, which blessed my ears with some lovely American music. No really, I’m not being sarcastic this time. It’s a truly magical experience to be driving through pine tree covered mountains and singing “Country Roads” by John Denver. Then on the way back I also heard “The Rose” before we drove into a long tunnel, which then cut the radio signal.

The best way I can describe the drive, is to say, imagine a miniature Appalachia, with pine trees. You drive up and down, come out into these gorgeous valleys with rivers sometimes, and then there are fields on the sides of the mountains with cows and grape vines. And sprinkled throughout it all are the traditional German houses and cottages. And the clouds are the perfect cumulus ones. The roads here are also uncomfortably (for me) narrow. And a lot of entrance/exit ramps are two lanes, which means, one lane for exit and one for entrance. Seems a bit dangerous, but the drivers here seem to know what they’re doing.

After winding our way through town up to the castle, we got out and walked around. The castle had been converted into a youth hostel, which is very cool. But what is uncool, is that unless you’re staying there, you can’t go inside. But the grounds were lovely, and we still got to climb up to the highest tower, which was separate from the castle. The view was also crazy; I almost couldn’t take it in. I think the castle was made of sandstone, there were some chips loose and I put them in my purse.

The way up to the tallest tower was a little nuts. Frau Brause actually didn’t go, so it was just Herr Brause and I. The way started with a very wide tower, which I could see had been rebuilt at some point. The first staircase was a wide modern circular one. Then we got out and we were on a kind of rampart and garden. Then there was a straight staircase to the right of the next tower, which led to a narrow landing and a very small circular staircase the rest of the way up. If you are taller than 5 foot 10, you will have to duck into this doorway. This staircase made me a little uncomfortable, because it was so narrow, and the steps were uneven from years of being trod upon. And you couldn’t tell how much farther you had to go. But finally, there was the door out and we were on top.

The roof or floor was concave, and there were railings put up between the spaces in the battlements, so kids don’t fall out. All around the edge, were signs that told you how far away you were from other cities, like Munich and New York. There was a nice breeze, too, which was a relief in the sun and from the stairs. After about ten minutes, we began the walk down. I tried to go a little slower so Herr Brause wouldn’t be too far behind me. I also had to warn people who wanted to come up, that he was still coming down, because there is no way two people can fit side by side on that staircase.

Frau Brause met us in the garden and I got some quick pictures of the flowers. Then we all went back down through the big tower and onto the car. I wasn’t entirely sure where we were going next, only that it wasn’t home (since we’d driven so far to get here) and that it had a toilet. Like I said before, there is no such thing as a public toilet, even in a park. If there is, then you have to pay, usually 50 euro cents to even get in. Or there’s a person watching the toilets and you have to pay them. This applies to restaurants, too, so you can’t sneak in.

We drove about ten or fifteen minutes to another small town, called Gegenbach. It’s specialty was that most of the buildings were very old. It was very pretty and even retained some of its old city wall and towers. Lucky for me, our first stop was an ice cream parlor and after ordering, I found the bathroom. I really wanted, finally, some chocolate ice cream. After perusing the menu, I thought I’d found something good, it said it was chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. This sounded great.

When it was brought, I was a little confused, but it was all good. It looked like a chocolate shake, which I was fine with. Well, I’m not entirely sure what either I missed, or the Germans in Gegenbach were thinking, but this shake was not really a shake. They’d put three scoops of icy (textured) no so chocolate ice cream in the glass, filled it the rest of the way with water, and then put whipped cream and cocoa powder on top. It wasn’t really that bad tasting, but I’m wondering what happened. Water? What? As I complained on Facebook last night, Bjoern (a German and the official Gemran tutor at Webster this past year) quickly reminded me not to judge and that Germans do in fact know how to make shakes. I countered with the fact that I’m in the country here and maybe they don’t know. I mean, maybe it’s like going to Jerseyville, IL, and looking for chex mix and the teenager at Walmart has never heard of it. True Story.

After the ice cream, we walked around the town for a while. The houses were all great examples of traditional German architecture and they really like their flowers. We also found a weird fountain. Basically, there’s a witch hanging on a lamp post, hitting a jester or clown with a stick, and this jester is tripping over a man on the ground who’s cowering from a kid who’s about to hit him with a brick. And then next to them is another jester grinning and watching it all. Very odd. And then we saw a giant stork’s next on top of someone’s chimney.

There was also a craft fair in front of the city hall. Before I get to the craft fair, let me say something about the city hall. During Advent, they use the windows as Advent calendar windows. Each night they open up another window and there’s some scene behind it. This made me want a chocolate Advents calendar, and reminded me that I own Gavin one.

Anyways, the craft fair was also quite small, but pretty cool. There were a lot of glass bead jewelry stands. And several with wool hats, or woolen jewelry. One of the cooler ones, had toy mice that rolled around on a spool type contraption, which was directed by a string attatched to a stick. Frau Brause bought one for one of her grandkids. Another stand had a younger guy (he looked around my age) who drew. He had portraits of celebrities (two for Johnny Depp, one for Cate Blanchett, and one for George Clooney), which seriously looked like black and white photographs.

Once Frau Brause had bought the mouse, we headed back to the car. It was somewhere around six o’clock I think. We walked back on a path which had on the right side, the city wall (covered in vines and ivy and jasmine) and on the left, had a busy creak. Or small rive, I’m not sure which. But it had a good force to it. We came out at a playground, which beyond that was a soccer field. There were a bunch of adult guys playing, and I tried to watch and walk the opposite direction at the same time. I didn’t fall or tip, but I didn’t try for very long.

Speaking of tripping, most of the doorways at the Brause house have small steps to them. They’re small enough to be comfortable, but big enough to hurt you if you trip. I had some difficulties with these the first few days, but now I don’t even notice them.

The way back home was the same. I felt a little drowsy from being full of ice cream still and the warm sun. Once back I got on the computer to write everyone. And up date the blog. About halfway through an email I was called to dinner. Just sandwiches, which is the German typical dinner. And they’re open-faced. I don’t mind. Once he was done eating, Herr Brause asked really loudly, “Can I go now?” The soccer game was on.

He went and Frau Brause and I finished eating. Then I went back to quickly, or not so quickly (I write a lot, can you tell?), finish my emails to then watch the game. By the time I was done, it was just past halftime. Oopes. But I watched the game, Germany vs. Hungry. We won 3-0, easily. Have I mentioned there are no commercials during most German tv shows and sports games? How about we import that idea to the states? Who’s with me? Of course this makes leaving to get food and going to the bathroom more difficult.

After the game was over, we turned to the EuroVision Song Contest. This was actually pretty cool, and I think I might buy the CD. But, basically, it’s an original song contest for European, or nearly European countries. Some obviously European countries didn’t participate, but countries like Israel, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey participated. Oh well. All the contestants (soloists, bands, duets) had to perform live an original song, though it didn’t have to be written by them. This show made me observe some interesting musical and political dynamics.

The native countries of the contestants often played a large role in their song style. For example, the Russian song was very sad, tragic, and operatic. The announcer mentioned something about the Russian soul (dramatic tragedy), which I think was definitely evident in the song. If anyone out there has ever read any Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, or the like, it’ll make sense. However, almost all the songs were in English. The only exceptions were, France (who also had an black performers, first time people of African descent had performed in this competition), Israel (performed in Hebrew), and Iceland (one line of the song was in French).

The performers were also able to use back up dancers, back up singers, live or recorded music, lights, pyrotechnic stuff, fog machines, and some even danced themselves. I thought the French group was one of the best, apparently no one else in Europe did. My top for favourites were Germany, Turkey, Armenia, and France. Israel, Iceland, and Russia all had great voices, but their songs weren’t really winners. So, 39 countries performed, back to back. No commercials. I think we started watching around number 20.

During the performances and for fifteen minutes after, people could call or send in a vote via SMS. However, you couldn’t vote for your own country. Which makes sense, because then a large country like Germany would trounce a smaller one like Albania based on sheer population, even if the Albanian performer was better. Which they weren’t. But, once the voting was over, we then saw the break down of the votes.

They went through every one of the thirty-nine voting countries and tallied the votes. There would be an anchor in each of the countries that would appear live on the screen and tell us as a CG showed us where the votes went. 39 times. This was a very long program. Here’s where it got interesting, though. You could see which countries were friends (traditionally and non-traditionally). For example, the countries in the former USSR all voted for each other. Greece voted for Spain (who had some very scary dancers dressed as children’s toys). Turkey voted for Azerbaijan and Georgia. And Israel did not give any votes to Germany. None at all.

But, by the end of it, the German girl, Lena, won, with Turkey in second place. I thought they both deserved it. You should look up Lena’s song, “Satellite” on YouTube. Then you’ll know why she won and what I’m hearing on the radio all the time. You know what time this show ended? At twelve thirty in the morning. Really. And there were no commercial breaks. And I’m not sure what time it started. But I was soooo ready for bed. Which came rather quickly.

TGIF, 28 Mai 2010

Of all days to be the busiest, I think this was it. Not that I really mind, but usually Fridays are reserved for more relaxation.

Woke up at 6:27, wishing it wasn’t so close to the time of the alarm going off. Got ready, breakfast (I had some roobios tea this morning and strawberries), etc. Frau Brause dropped me off at the train station at 7:48. A little later than usual, but it meant less time I had to wait for the train while doing nothing. No more nausea on the train, either.

I wore my rain boots today, because the sky looked rather threatening. It looked Bi-Polar, too, so, I couldn’t decide if it would be okay to leave the house in just tennis shoes. I opted to be safe, which made the butt of several comments throughout the day. Everyone was like, “Why do you have those?” And I’m like, “In case it rains and I don’t want to get my pants and shoes and socks wet.” Everyone questioned me, and that makes me question if Germans are as practical as I thought they were.

I went straight to Frau Contenz’s and Ruediger’s room. I figured I might as well start there (there’d also be more distractions from my reading) and the secretary wasn’t sick anymore, and I didn’t want to meet her quite yet. Ruediger was already there, and we talked for a bit. Then Frau Contenz came and did the same. Then Ruediger went off about something being missing, and they were talking really fast and mumbling and rushing around the room looking for it. This all happened barely after eight thirty, and I was trying to delay my reading, so I just sat there with nothing on the desk watching.

Ruediger had also said that Frau Auer might not be in today. And that she won’t be there next Tuesday or Wednesday. This being the case, I began to wonder if I was ever going to get to do anything aside from read. As people were worrying around the room, Frau Auer came in.

After saying hello, she asked, “Don’t you have anything to read?”

I said that I did, pulled out the magazine, and tried to say I had only been lacking a few moments reading.

She said she’d be back soon. So I began reading. Almost immediately, she brought some loose papers to me for me to read. They turned out to be about how to give proper and interesting tours. Advice such as making eye contact, knowing your subject, not having a monotonous voice and not walking too fast were all part of the package. While most of that information was common sense, and things I’d learned about speaking in general in public and designing lesson plans, it was a nice break from the magazine, which I returned to in case she get mad if I wasn’t when she came back.

The next time she came for me, we went back to her office. Which is one door over. At this time, she handed me a packet of the tour I’m to translate, described it to me, and then had me watch her write an advertisement for the newspaper. She asked me what piqued my interest when I read something or what would make me want to come to the tour. I said that she should mention something about dragons, which is totally related to the tour. She did, and added a lot of other sentences, too. I’m not sure what is acceptable for German advertisements, but maybe boring is in vogue.

Then, after she figured out how to make the computer send the advertisement to the newspaper on Tuesday, she took me downstairs to meet the secretary, Frau Haas. In the office, she asked Frau Haas to fax the advertisement on Tuesday, and then had her show me how to log onto the computers. This was very useful, but also annoying. Their communications system is based on using Microsoft Outlook, and something tells me it’s not a very good program. I really don’t know anything about it, but it’s a gut feeling. The secretary doesn’t know any English (aside from yes, no, and how to count to ten), which is fine with me.

She did tell me, after commenting on my German skills, that the last intern they had didn’t really speak German. Everyone just spoke to her in English the entire time and she didn’t learn anything. Frau Haas said it was very difficult for her, because she couldn’t communicate with the last student. And that after her, it was decided that the next one would have good German speaking skills. I had not yet heard this, and nor do I know the last Webster student that was here. Though apparently it was last summer.

After learning the computer stuff, I turned off the computer, to be sent back up to Frau Auer, who sent me back down to start translating. So the computer went on again. Speaking of me being sent back downstairs, there’s one thing that did make me irritably wonder.

In the morning, Frau Auer had told me that at 12 30 I would go over to the Kultur Amt to stuff envelopes. I didn’t mind at all, because it was something to do. Then Frau Auer turned to Frau Contenz and told her to make sure I was there. Like I’m five or something. And I was right there. Then when she left while I was learning the computer stuff, she told Frau Haas to send me back up when I was done. Not addressing me at all. Can any of the Frau’s back home clarify this? I’m hoping there’s some logical, cultural, difference in business technique, reason for this. Not that I’m just being treated like a child for no reason.

Anyways, having access to the computer is nice, because I can actually look up words now. So that was my first step in translating. At this point, I had about an hour and a half before I needed to go stuff envelopes. This included my lunch break, which is totally unregulated. I ate my sandwich right then, because my stomach had been growling for almost an hour. Plus I knew I’d have time for a snack later; Frau Auer had said that once I was done stuffing envelopes, that I could go home.

When I got to the Kultur Amt, the door was locked. Luckily someone had seen me come up and knew what I was there for. I’ve been lucky with that all week, which is good, because I don’t think its in good decorum to bang on the doors. She let me in and then showed me what to do. I had to stick the addresses on the envelopes, stamp the Kultur Amt address above that, then stuff and seal them. Not bad and there weren’t as many to do. The longest part was stamping (with a rubber stamp) the Kultur Amt address on all of them. I stuffed for about an hour and a half, until I had no more flyers. And apparently there really weren’t any more, so I was done.

I wished I had gotten done about ten or fifteen minutes earlier, because then I could have caught the two o’clock train home. But, as it was, I had one minute to make it to the station, which did not happen. So, I wandered around Villingen downtown for a bit and took some pictures. Mainly of the cathedral and the fountain next to it. Then my camera battery died, so that was the end of that. I also paid a visit to the city library in the church square, to see if they had WiFi. I don’t think they do. But they do have board games.

I went to the train station from there and then spent about five minutes wandering around like an idiot looking for the bathrooms. They were not marked well. And then I paid 50 Euro cents to use the toilet. Oh well, I shouldn’t have to do that too often. Upon coming out, I watched a boy hit the men’s WC door really hard when he realized he had to pay. And then he walked away. I made my way to my platform to wait.

I think it was about a fifteen minute wait. During this time two old ladies talked about the shoes they bought, the pigeons displayed a gigantic lack of fear towards humans (I probably could have kicked one if I’d wanted), and a freight train booked it through the station (it must have been empty to go that fast). The train finally came, the ride was fine, and the girl who sat across from me looked freakishly like Anne Castagno. It must have been one of those long-lost-twin deals.

The walk home was fine, the only interesting thing I saw was a man using an electric lawn mower. At least that must have been what it was, since it had an extension cord. And I briefly watched a guy play basketball by himself, using all his sweet moves. That behind-the-back-dribble is really awesome. But I think he took one extra step during his lay-up approach.

So, now I’m home just amusing myself until Frau Brause comes home. I believe she went to a quilting class somewhere today with a friend. Soon after she comes home, we’re going to a pizzeria for dinner, because I’m guessing she doesn’t want to cook. I wouldn’t either. So, that’s about all I have for right now.

Herr Brause and I went to the pizzeria about 7, and waited a long time for Melanie and Frau Brause to come. In the mean time I described the process for getting one’s license in the States. Everyone seems to say we get them too young. But, everyone finally came and we ordered. I ordered a mushroom pizza and enjoyed it very much. I ate rather fastly upon getting it, but oh well. It’d been awhile since I’d eaten.

At one point, a woman came in and said she’d be right back. She and her husband are friends of my host family, and then sat and ate with us, even though we were almost done. They’d just gotten back from Brazil, to see their first grandchild. The husband looked like a cross between Gavin’s dad and Christopher Plummer. He also said I looked Argentinean, but I corrected him (nicely). It was after ten by the time we left, and I was very tired. During the goodbyes outside the pizzeria, the husband led me by the hand to see his car.

It’s a Land Rover Defender. A very big car for here, and apparently a proper one. He’s very proud of it. The couple actually has a second LandRover, and this one has five cameras to help the driver see better. Anyways, we finally got home and I put my two slices of pizza in the fridge and went to bed. And slept till quarter to eight, when I woke up panicking that I was late for work. Then I remembered it was Saturday and went back to sleep until almost nine-thirty. It was a wonderful sleep.

Another converstaion between the Brauses

FB: Eckie, do you want some ketchup with your noodle casserole?
HB: No.
FB: You can have it.
HB: No.
FB: It's free!
HB: (pauses, then mumbles) Noodle casserole.

note: noodle casserole auf Deutsch = nudelauflauf. Say it out loud.

Seond Day of Work, 27 Mai 2010

My day was off to a good start, even if I had to wake up at half past six. I finally slept well, even if it wasn’t enough, but what else is new? I got ready more or so less on time. Had some pineapple for breakfast along with my customary slice of bread and butter. I think it helped carry me through till almost eleven.

Got to the train all right, but it was beginning to rain. It actually poured last night and stopped for a bit, then rained again sometime this morning. The clouds looked rather threatening, but it’d been sunny just ten minutes ago. So, I had my umbrella, but not my rainboots. I really hoped it wouldn’t open up on me from the Vilingen train station to the museum.

It didn’t and I made the walk to work in about seven minutes. I didn’t dawdle this morning to take pictures. I let myself in the door, with my own key, then I went up to my work space. I didn’t see or hear anyone, so I just sort of hung out, staring out the window and daydreaming. After a bit I decided I might as well look busy if Frau Auer or anyone else came down. So I started reading the last of the magazines she gave me yesterday. I think it took me about two hours to read seven or eight pages. Partially because I was incredibly bored, and partially because I don’t have a dictionary to look up words when I don’t know them. Which is sadly often.

Let me fill you in on my reading material. I mentioned yesterday that they’re all scholarly articles. Still true. Written in very elevated language that I haven’t really been exposed to, ever. I think I’ve been understanding the main point of these readings, but as for details, forget it. One, the information is not obtainable for me right now. Two, I have no solutions to remedy that. Third, I am not motivated to read these any more, because I have spent almost two days reading them, I am pretty sure I will never be questioned about these articles, and therefore, they are all useless to me right now. I know that’s not a very good attitude, but really, its just busy work so I’m not sitting there doing nothing. I have been trained as a teacher, and still have the mindset of a student, so I think I know what’s going on. If I know what I’m doing is mostly pointless, then why should I have motivation?

Anyways, around nine o’clock I went upstairs to Frau Auer’s office to see if she was there. I figured someone would have checked in with me by then. I knocked on the door, and she told me to come in.

I said, “Uh, I’m here” which was also code for, “What am I supposed to be doing?”

She replied, (literal translation, which is why it may sound harsh) “I have no time for you right now. Do you have something to read?”

“Yes.”

“OK, later I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay, till then”

Needless to say, I was a little hurt. I want to be doing something, not just reading for hours on end. I want to be useful. And the way she said it was a little blunt. I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be, and there is the difference in languages (their meaning, that is). But I still felt like a little kid who just wants to help their mom or dad, or play with them, and the parent tells them to go watch tv or something. And she didn’t give me a time when she’d come and get me.

Well, after maybe reading some more (I don’t remember) and daydreaming a lot, it was ten o’clock and Frau Auer came. She first told me about the mail box key, and showed me the mail box (how to open it which isn’t difficult) and said that while their secretary was gone, I should get the mail, file it in the correct individual mailboxes, and put the newspapers in one of the break rooms upstairs. There was oddly an issue of Vogue in with the mail; I do wonder who that belonged to, but Frau Auer didn’t put it in a mailbox. Then, she said she forgot to show me something yesterday.

So down the stairs we went, through all the doors and hallways, to the cloisters of the Museum. Up between two of the windows on the corner was a monster. She said it was part man, monkey and wolf (because of the large canine teeth). They don’t know why the monks built it in, but maybe to remind themselves to be good and pray to God. I personally thought it might go along with the theme of gargoyles, which are ugly to scare away the real devils and demons. But I kept this to myself.

On we went, upwards to the part of the museum she didn’t show me yesterday. She, so far, doesn’t tell me why or where we’re going till we get there. I do kind of like knowing, not that I fear I’ll get an unwelcome surprise, but that’s my personality. And I think she maybe forgets to tell me. But, basically, she showed me the four interpretations the Museum owns of St. George slaying the dragon. Her next tour that she’ll write and I’ll translate, is partially about dragons, and heroes, and fables.

She also told me the story of one of the town legends, Romaeus. Apparently he’s just famous for escaping a prison tower (by digging into the mortar with a smuggled knife, then placing pig bones into the holes to make a ladder) and stealing another town’s door. Maybe we have more exciting legends in the US (Paul Bunyan and Willie the Kid), but I thought that what Romaeus did wasn’t that cool. Creative, but people have done crazier things to get out of jail. Like swim across an ocean bay to get away from Alcatraz, for example.

Frau Auer also showed me all the mystical creatures. I think she was under the impression that Americans only know what Griffins are because we’ve seen Harry Potter. Which, they’re not even really in there, except mentioned as the mascot for Gryffindor. It’s not like the Hippogryphs, who played a major animal role. I was going to tell her that I also just like mythology and that’s why I knew what a Griffin was, but she kept talking so I didn’t have a chance to tell her.

The whole time I was away from my desk was about thirty minutes. I wish it had been longer. She told me that her next tour she’d be writing would be about plants and if I wanted, I could go back to the Museum when it was open (at one o’ clock) and look around more slowly and look for plants. And take pictures, which was nice. I said I would want to, and so that was that.

I “read” until lunchtime, which for me was about eleven-thirty. After spending some time with Frau Contenz and Ruediger (Matthias was off today and again tomorrow), it was one-thirty and I went off to the museum. I carried my purse with me (it’s weird to leave it in still new and strange places), a notebook for recording where plants were, and my camera. Once in the museum, I was approached by a woman who asked if I had my entrance card. I told her I was a Prakticum student of Frau Auers and that she had said I could come and look around. That was fine, so I didn’t have to pay or leave.

The woman also asked if I was acquainted with the Museum, and gave me a very small tour of the storey (which Frau Auer already had done). Then she left me alone, after confirming that I could indeed take pictures of whatever I wanted. So, I wandered very slowly as to see everything at my own pace this time.

I did a lot of pictures; the displays have everything from reliquaries, lanterns, paintings, torture devices, wagon wheels, gigantic grinding stones, shoe soles, pottery shards, costumes, toys, and old tv’s. The modern stuff did not interest me at all, but I did get some good pictures of the Narrenshopf costumes they wear around Carnival time. The ones I went to the museum for in Triburg, but couldn’t take pictures. Well, now I have some examples and you can see how ugly and scary they are. I had no idea if Frau Auer would be looking for me this afternoon, so when I saw that it was quarter to three, I booked it out of there. Well, I tried.

As I was leaving the woman who’d met me when I’d arrived, stopped me to ask a few questions. She asked what exactly I was doing, so I told her I was going to help Frau Auer write a tour, and I was looking for plants. I gave her a few examples I found, and then she took me over to look at some more. I had missed some, but that’s more because I didn’t know there were drawers that opened. So added “palms” to my list. After a few more minutes, I was able to leave, thanking her for the help.

So, I went back to my workspace, gathered my things and went to sit up in the room where Frau Contenz’s and the other’s desks are. Frau Auer had said yesterday that I could also sit with them if I want, but I had initially thought that was only for yesterday. Which was why I sat alone the entire morning. But tomorrow I think I’ll just go up. The company is nice and maybe I’ll have access to an online dictionary. I started reading again, and Frau Auer never came looking for me. Which means I could have gone by the cloisters on the way and taken some photographs. But, I have another six weeks to do that, so there’s no rush.

No one was in the room, because they were all working on a project. I probably could have gone and helped, but I wasn’t sure if I’d get in trouble if Frau Auer went looking for me to, maybe, tell me something. Nope. So, at about four pm, I packed my things, stopped by her room to say goodbye (she looked surprised and like she was wondering why I was there) and was on my way.

Part of on my way was stopping by the T-Mobile store to get a European sim card. This was successful. The store clerk didn’t start speaking to me in English, for one. And two, because I figured out how to put it in my phone. First, he had to make sure one of their cards would work (which I knew it would) and then he asked to see my passport. Or some form of identification. I initially pulled out my driver’s license and student ID. But I think he didn’t want to figure those out. So I got out a copy of my passport, and watched very carefully that he didn’t try to copy down the number or anything. He didn’t; he just wanted my name and date of birth. I’m not sure why he couldn’t look at my license, but I’m quite sure my passport information is safe.

The entire time I was in the store, I could hear people singing on the street. It became apparent, when I paused to receive a pamphlet from a woman who was with the choir (whom I figured out was singing something about Jesus saving everything). Boy am I never doing that again. I paused, to receive the flyer, thinking she would just hand it to me and that would be that. That’s what all the groups did in Vienna. Oh no, she started talking to me. About Jesus. I kept slowly walking away, to see how far she would walk with me (about forty feet) and I kept saying, “OK, uh-huh” the entire time to be polite. She rattled on about Jesus being the savoir and saving us and being the meaning of life and stuff. I was sooooo tempted to say to her, “God is Dead!” and walk away, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Anyways, she finally shut up and I walked on. I still have that leaflet, but I don’t think I’ll be calling her like she wants me to.

I got to the train station after all that with ten minutes to spare, which I spent putting in the new sim card and then deleting all the bad pictures I’d take today. The train ride was fine, and the walk home was, too. Though, I did manage to get behind two rambunctious youths during the walk. Actually, they were just dumb. They were either Italian or Yugoslavian, I’m guessing. As we passed by a small soccer field where some kids where playing, they started singing the Italian soccer theme song (Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole) and some “Sha-la-la’s,” taunting the kids. Then they started saying, in English, “Bayern stinks!” This was really all quite stupid, because they were much older than the kids they were taunting and the kids didn’t even say anything first. And I was stuck behind them and their stupidness.

Dinner’s a bit later tonight, because Herr Brause just got home (it’s seven before seven pm). I think Frau Brause said she made a noodle casserole with ham and broccoli. Oh boy. We’ll see how that tastes. After dinner, I’ll get on the internet as usual, write back all the lovely people who write me, and upload what I’m writing at this exact moment.

First Day at the Museum, really. 26 Mai 2010

So, I didn't sleep well for whatever reason. Woke up at five-thirty this morning and had to go back to sleep only to hear my alarm at six-thirty. Got ready and ate breakfast (juice with a pice of bread and butter). Then Frau Brause dropped me off at the train station at twenty to eight on her way to pick up the kids she's driving to kindergarten. The train came, and I sat facing backwards because that ususally doesn't bother me. I felt a little naseous this time.
Walking through town that early in the morning is nice. There are hardly any people out and its nice and cool. I took some pictures on the way in, without feeling too conspicuous. Upon arriving at the museum, I tried opening the doors. Locked. They didn't tell me about this part; I assumed they'd be open to let the employees in. Luckily a girl with a key came and let me in. Then after figuring out what I needed, she directed me back outside, around the corner, to a door where she said I could get in to find Frau Auer, my boss.
Around the corner I went, to find a big old fashioned door that looked like something from the Middle Ages. Locked. I looked around to make sure I had the right door, because this looked like one of those, look but don't touch doors. But, next to it was a buzzer, like on an apartment, to let one in. I tried it about three times, to avail. Right about then, a woman came riding up on a bicycle and asked if I was Kathryn. I was, and she let me in with her key. Apparently their secretary was sick and so no one was there to open the door for me when I buzzed.
She said she would get my key for me, so I followed her through two doors to the janitors station, which yielded no key. Then we went to the Tourist Information center to ask, and they said it was on the secretary's desk. back upstairs. So there we went, up one of the loudest and oldest staircases I have ever seen. Turns out its (or at least the building) about 500 years old. No wonder it makes noise. We finally found the key and then she showed me where I'd work (in a room next to the secretary's office. Then she took me around to introduce me to everzone and then on a small and incomplete tour of the museum.
She couldn't remember everything, and didn't give me much time to read the signs, but its a very cool place. Some of the frescoes date back to teh Middle Ages, some statues to the Baroque era, and then there's the excavated tomb of a prince who lived either 200 or 400 years before Christ. There's a lot of old stuff here, all its all very interesting.
After the tour, she said she had an appiontment with someone, and for me to pass the time while she was gone, I could read some stuff. She handed me a stack of stuff, some scholarly articles about museums (I'm not sure if they were really relavent; I felt like I was given busy work) and some about the acutal museum. So I read for almost two and a half hours before she came back.
In the mean time, a lot of people kept coming in and out of the room getting random things or using the copier. It provided me with some break and distraction. I had a conversation with the Hausmeister and a guy named...Mathias. He's a couple years younger than me, and is taking a year to work between high school and university. He's really nice and it's even nicer to have someone here closer to my own age.
When Frau Auer finally came back, she said she had to go somewhere, and the others had invited me to lunch and then at 2pm she had to go to another museum and I could go with her. So, after waiting a while, Frau Contenz found me and I went to lunch with her, Mathias, and Rüdlig, another person who works for the museum. We went to a pizzaria about 20 feet away from the museum and it was very good. The converstation was better, I've felt a little starved for it the past couple of days.
When lunch was over, I still had about an hour, so Frau Contenz and Rüdlig took me to the "Depo", which is the attic and storage space for everything that isn't on display. It was amazing. There was so much stuff, furniture, paintings, clocks, spinning wheels, you name it. And to know that every single piece is valuable, has a story and all, is crazy. I wandered around open mouthed and felt like this would have been heaven for "America Pickers" or "Pawn Stars." There wer also a lot of old guns.
Basically what we had to do, was find some stuff, load it on a cart, take it across the musem and put it back on display. The display area had been recently cleaned for a terrible mold ifestation. I helped out until about five till two, then dashed off, back to my work area, to supposedly meet Frau Auer.
She wasn't there. So, I ran upstairs to look in her office. Nope. Back down. Waited. Decided to run downstairs, just in case. Nope. Upon trying to return, I found out that my first key didn't work for one of the doors. Luckily the HausMeister, Herr Paul, was there and gave me a second one to get back in. So, I ran back upstairs and found no one. At this point it was twenty after two, and I knew that whereever Frau Auer was, she was no longer at the museum. So, feeling stupid and helpless, I went back to the third floor to find Frau Contenz and Rüdig. I told them what happened and then helped them a bit more.
Around three we were done, and in taking the cart back downstairs, we found Frau Auer. I told her what happened and was very very apologetic. Which I genuinely was. It turned out I was supposed to meet her downstairs, but she did not say that specifically, I'm pretty sure. And by the time I'd checked there, she was gone. She said not to worry about it. But I still felt bad. Then she asked if I still had more reading to do, which I did, technically, so then I could do that until the end of the day.
I only read for about another hour more, and I doubt much of any of it sank in today, but that last hour was brutal. My eyes kept closing. Mathias gave me a booklet about the museum, which was more interesting than the magazines she gave me, so I read that. At ten past four, when Mathias had already left, she came and told me I could leave everyday at four. So I packed up and walked to the train station to catch the five o clock train.
Frau Auer did tell me what I'd be doing the next week and a half or so. She's putting together a family tour with a bit of a fantasy theme, and would like me to translate it. I'm not sure if I'll really be giving it in English, but she mentioned it would be good for people to hear a native speaker. So that sounds very cool. In the mean time, I hope I'll get to help Frau Contenz and Rüdig with their projekts, too, since they're very nice and friendly people.
And, for the record, I did not get lost on the way home today in St. Georgan. I paid close attention this morning on the way to the trainstation to avoid walking an extra twenty minutes this evening. I got home around five-thirty.
When I came home, Herr Brause was finishing putting in a new cat door. His converstation with Frau Brause went something like this:
FB: It looks great!
HB: No.
FB: It does!
HB: No.
FB: It looks classy!
HB: No.
FB: Can you say anything besides 'no?'
HB: No, no, no. Shit.
FB: Leave it alone!
HB: No.
And that's pretty much how they talk to each other all the time. It's great. But dinner was good, I'm still full, quite tired, and wrote a lot. So there.

Tuesday after "Work"

After writing that last Blog, I wandered out of my room to see what the Brauses were doing. Herr Brause was trying to fix the cat door. It wasn't working out so well, and he kept muttering "shit" in English, which is funny. Then Frau Brause asked me if I wanted to go with her to buy some flowers for her garden. I did, and got my shoes.
I don't know why we don't have such varieties, but the flowers here are much better than ours. They have mostly geraniums, but about 8 different varieties, that they don't even look like geraniums in the end. Very cool. I've been slowly learning the names of some flowers here. And a lot of people stick (real) orchids in their windows, which is completely gorgeous. Makes me wish I had a green thumb, though the last time I tried I was probablly seven. We fed those puny carrots to the bunnies.
We ate dinner outside, and I helped prepare it. Preparing, meaning, I cut up a bunch of stuff (including a raw pork tenderloin, without gloves! and a pineapple) and carried it all outside. I think I mentioned earlier that Herr Brause has a sweet tooth. Last night we had the pineapple for dessert, and when he found out he says, loudly, "No Ice Cream?!?!??" but then he ate probabbly half the pineapple.
After dinner I got on the computer to write, as usual, then I watched a tv movie with them until it was over and I got ready for bed. The movie was about a newly rich family, who were really from the lower classes, learning the manners of the genteel class and being adopted by a Count to help save his castle. It was kind of stupid, but I was understanding it and I did want to find out what happened. Damn curiosity.

First Day on the Job, 25 Mai 2010

Oh my god, the first day of work what I’m here for, finally! If only it had been that exciting.

I woke up at 7 20am, got ready in good time, which means a mixture of rushing and taking my time. I missed the American concept of a breakfast today, where I can just eat very fast (for me) and not worry about talking to anyone. But I am here to learn about other cultures. Frau Brause takes some children to kindergarten every morning, so she was gone for about half an hour than picked me up to go to the train station to buy my ticket. We got there about eight-twenty and the ticket counter was not yet open. So we waited for ten minutes.

After waiting, we learned there was a discount I could get, at least for the monthly ticket. But for now I would pay for a weekly ticket, even though I’ll only use it today through Friday. But that’s all right, though it was surprisingly more expensive than the ones in Vienna. Compare 16.20 Euros to 14.00 or something. Oh well, that student discount should be nice once we get it.

I guess I hadn’t paid very close attention at some point, but I did not end up taking the train on the first day of work. The train to Villingen only comes every hour, which means I’d get to the city and then have to walk ten minutes and be late to work. But, Frau Brause drove me, which was very very nice of her. But I’m taking the train tomorrow, and I did take it home today.

I found my work place, which was across from the museum, and not my actual work place. I told the secretary what I was here for, and then I was introduced to Helen. I don’t think I saw anyone older than 25 at that office. Helen explained to me that I was to stuff envelopes with informational pamphlets about Villingen. I think I used up almost 800 pamphlets to fill those envelopes. Some envelopes only had one pamphlet, and others five, ten or even twenty (one had thirty). A lot of these were being sent to hair dressers. But, I finished it all, with some help at the end which I did not ask for, by 11:15 am.

The girl who helped me at the end and had said, (“you work too fast”) I could now go to Frau Auer. When she realized I didn’t know where she was, she called her for me. With no answer, she called someone else and learned that today Frau Auer (my boss at the museum) was at home. So I should also go home. So there ends my first day of work. Though, I did figure out why I wasn’t at the museum for the first day, well, sort of. The office I was at, the Kulturamt, needed some extra help with those envelopes and had asked the museum if they had anyone to spare. So it was prearranged that I was to be sent there on my first day, and then be with Frau Auer. But that second part obviously didn’t happen.

With 6 extra hours on my hands, I decided to explore the inner city a bit more and take some pictures. It was very hot and my most black outfit was not the best choice, but I had anticipated being inside for most of the day in my defense. But I walked around for a bit, honestly in search of some WiFi. But to no avail. Which is a little frustrating, because I want to be able to use my computer sometimes for accessing the internet. I did however visit two book stores and buy two books.

I figured I’d do myself a better service by reading a German book, instead of my English ones. I couldn’t find the first Harry Potter book (I will by the time I leave), but I did find a copy of “Lord of the Rings,” with all three books, and a children’s copy of “1001 Nights” at a secondhand book shop. This book shop also featured a small section of English books, which seemed to be mostly romance novels. Unfortunately I could not find any of my German/English dictionaries before I came, so I might have to buy one here. I had found one for quite cheap, but it was humongous. I was tempted, but I do need to keep in mind the baggage weight limit for going home.

After the book shops, I found a Mueller, which is like a very cool Walgreens. I still had yet to buy conditioner. And I picked up a loofah, since washrags don’t really work for me. Once out of Mueller I located an ATM, which I made my second withdrawl. I figured it was best to do it while the exchange rate was more in my favor and because I’ll have to buy a monatskarte next week. All my purchasing done, I walked around for a little longer, then decided I might as well find the train station.

I did, then waited for about 20 minutes for the train to come. I had to figure out first, which platform to get on, and then I triple checked it during my wait time. I didn’t really want to end up in the wrong town, or miss my train. Especially since then I’d have to wait another hour. While waiting, I drank some water and began reading the introduction of “Lord of the Rings.” I’m doing pretty well so far, I’d say. Finally the train came, which it was actually a passenger train, not like a metrolink.

Something was funny with the train, I couldn’t catch what exactly, but we sat there for about fifteen extra minute before it left. I didn’t mind so much, because it had AC. And there were two guys behind me from Argentina talking in English, so I was nosy and paid attention. I believe they were talking about music, especially one artist who was actually born in Peru, and had released some album about living in a 3^rd world country.

The ride to St. Georgan was very short, less than ten minutes. However, once in the city, I had some difficulty. I apparently had overestimated my attention to how to get from the house to the train station and back. I was pretty confidant, but suddenly I found myself in the middle of town, which is opposite the house and up the other hill. So I went back down (sweaty by now, those hills are steep!) and went up the street next to the one I’d originally gone up.

To better explain my mistake, There are two roads that V out from a cross road across from the train station. I needed to take the further right one, and instead took the more left one. The streets curve so much, that even though I originally thought my direction was all right, they end up going in opposite directions. So, I went up the other one, climbing a hill again. These hills are like the one from Rock Hill to Webster on North Rock Hill rode, but steeper, windier, and about three times as long. And mostly in full sun.

Once I was a little more than half way up, I did stop a man who was walking to ask for directions, just in case I was really lost. He gave me some, first in German and then in English, and I went on my way again. So, I finally got home and met Frau Brause outside (she was gardening). I was very hot, had to pee, and needed more water. But after changing, taking care of myself, napping for 25 minutes, eating ¾ of a chocolate bar, I feel pretty refreshed. So, I end this with one question and one conclusion:

What will I be doing tomorrow at my Internship?

These hills are a workout.

Pfingst Feiertag!, 24 Mai 2010

Pfingst is the German word for Pentacost, which is not only a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, but a National Holiday in Germany. That’s right, Monday was a free day. Most if not all of the holidays in Germany are holy days, even though they do have a separation of church and state.

Anyways, I’ve been doing my best to wake up earlier. I think I woke up yesterday at ten. Then at breakfast, I learned that the Reinls (my second host family) were going on a hike and I was invited. I was game, for lack of anything else to do. Well, I could have read my Dostoevsky, watched television and been more or so less a bum. But, I figured why not? Being active is good. And it wasn’t to be a hike like Sundays (15 km), and we would have a more specific destination, a Muehle.

I did honestly not figure out what a Muehle was until we got there, even though Frau Brause probably told me. But whatever.

Before Melonie picked me up, I got ready pretty quickly (jeans and tennis shoes and my packed backpack) and then the Brauses and I sat on their patio to wait and talked. Apparently, one of their daughters works with handicapped children and went to school for it. This is good news for me, because I’m writing my final German Major Paper on the Handicapped in Germany.

Melonie, my host sister, picked me up at about 12. We then went to her house for about a hour before we actually left on the hike. She actually couldn’t go, because she has a hurt foot from an accident a while ago. But Frau Reinl and Rolf were to go. The Reinl house is, again, one of the coolest German houses I’ve ever seen. There are three floors, and on each floor, is basically an apartment. Bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom. So, yes, when I move there in three weeks or so, I will have an apartment to myself on the top floor.

But their house gets a lot of light, which is nice, and they have two balconies and a nice patio area. Scattered around the house are ceramic figurines Melonie painted, which I found very cool. She said if I wanted, we could go somewhere and paint (yes, please!). They also have a cat, Lissy, which has these enormous green eyes. She’s either too fat for her size, or has a really small head. But she’s sweet. Melonie showed me the entire house (which is near the center of St. Georgan) and then it was time for the hike.

We would actually only be walking there; Melonie would pick us up at the Muehle. I’ll be honest, I did not really like this hike. It was mostly up hill, or should I say, up mountain. It was very steep and pretty hot in the sun. Which, my jeans did not help. And I don’t think I’m used to this thin mountain air yet. Does anyone know if there’s an adaptation time?

Once we finally got to the Muehle, I figured out what it was and why we walked to it. It’s an old flour mill, complete with a waterwheel. Apparently it was totally restored. I did not understand, or remember, what the man said about the mill once we were inside. But it was pretty cool. Everything was still made out of wood, and it still worked. So, when water came tumbling over the wheel, it all started groaning and creaking and moving. It was quite loud, and made the floor vibrate. I believe the flour it was making was a whole grain kind…either way it was pretty gritty. They said I could buy some and mix it with milk for breakfast, but I declined.

Melonie was waiting for us once we got out of the mill. We got in the car and drove to another smaller town down the road that had a bigger Mill. This one was about twice as big, but we didn’t stay very long. The town was having some sort of party, complete with the Oompa band, so there were a lot of people. And there were children swimming bottomless in a kiddie pool. Yes, their parents were right there.

Initially we were going to have Kaffee und Kuchen, but there were too many people there for comfort. But I did get to watch an old women spin on an old spinning wheel before we left. There were also a lot of straw shoes, which are famous and traditional to this area, in her stall. I have a picture somewhere.

On we went back to St. Georgan to eat something at the Café by the Natur Schwimmbad. Or Natural swimming pool as we would call it. Or a lake. It was very pretty, though no one was swimming (it opens this weekend with Polar Bear Plunge like activities). There were a few paddle boats and toy boats out, though. Since this Café had run out of cake (the Reinls were not very happy about this), we all had ice cream instead.

Most of the ice cream here is Italian. So, here I actually eat the strawberry ice cream. We ordered “gemischtes Eis” or mixed ice cream, literally, and ended up with a scoop of Zitrone, Vanilla, and Erdbeeren. Zitrone Eis is like eating a weird sort of lemon drop. Which, I had not really wanted at all, but it proved better than I thought. And I had wanted chocolate (of course) but oh well. The strawberry was the best. After Rolf and Melonie finished their coffees, we went back to the house.

I ended up there for dinner, which was quite good. Rolf grilled some pork, and there were carrot sticks, little salami slices, bread, carrot sticks, and what turned out to be an oddly spiced hashbrown mix. I was thankful to have a cut of meat, finally, even if it was pork. Melonie told me they only eat meat about once a week (oh no), but when its nice, they try to grill. Which, by the way, their “grilling” is using basically a George Foreman. Which, it works, but isn’t quite like the charcoal or gas grills we have. Not that I can really cook on those, but whatever.

Before and after dinner, we just hung out and talked. Melonie asked me some questions about our eating styles at home. Then I couldn’t remember the word for vinegar, when I listed the ingredients for adobo. They took me home about 8 pm. The sun had not yet begun to set. After getting home, I checked my (lack of) emails, wrote some other stuff, looked at the Euro to Dollar ratio and read about a British doctor whose license has been taken away because he conducted an unethical study about autism being linked to vaccines.

By 10 pm, I was showered and in bed. I spent the next hour successfully downloading all my pictures from my camera and organizing 384 of the 450 I had. It did take awhile, because I was learning most of it along the way, but I did it. Then I went to bed.

Note on my Current German Skills

1. I’m scarily at the point, at least today, that when I go to write something, the German words are coming first. Even though I’ve spent a lot of time today writing in English.
2. When I converse in German and I know what’s going on, I just respond, I don’t have to think about what to say, or what they just said. I’m not translating anything in my head.
3. Everyone says my German is really good, but I don’t believe them at all.
4. After spending over an hour writing on a German keyboard with slow progress, I am having some difficulty adapting to the English one.
5. Unfortunately, in the evening, if I don’t understand what’s being said, I get a little ADD and start daydreaming.

The Superlong Hike, 23 May 2010

I did wake up a littler earlier today, around 10:30. Went up to have some breakfast, a broetchen with butter and a few cups of rooibus tea. There Herr and Frau Brause figured out what we would do today. One option, was to drive to nearby Switzerland. The other was an invitation from Uwe to go on a hike. This hike was easy, but would last several hours. We'd walk up to a restaurant and then back down. This sounded good to me, so I quickly finished my tea and got ready.
Uwe and his wife, Heike, picked us up at 11 30 and we were on our way. I brought along my backpack to carry a sweatshirt, waterbottle, and a few granola bars I had yet to eat. The drive took about 20 minutes and we were all very crammed in the car, but oh well. We parked at Schonach, I believe, and started out. Uwe made fun of Heike and Frau Brause for taking so long to look at the map.
The hike was gorgeous, to say the least. We're up in the mountains, alternating between fields (full of dandelions) or forest. Some was a bit hilly, but there was a lot of flat road and trail, too. The trail was either part road and paved, dirt, or a boardwalk to raise us above the swamp. I did take plenty of pictures, they're of course, not yet to be had. First we hiked up to Blindsee, which was actually rather small. But the water was black and reflected the trees and clouds perfectly. Retracing our steps for a bit, we continued towards lunch.
Along the way are hotels and cafes for hikers, bikers, or travelers who get hungry. This we took advantage of. I had "Toast Hawii," toast with ham and pineapple covered in cheese. It was quite good, but there was far too much. I felt kind of bad, but I didn't want to make myself sick. Unfortunately, it isn't custom in Europe to have to-go-boxes, so if you don't finish your plate, too bad. And I'm not sure how it would have faired on the hike back down.
Uwe and Heike and Herr Brause all had either mixed drinks or a beer with lunch. And when we'd taken a short break before, they'd had some then, too. This I don't quite understand, because I had been under the impression that drinking while exercising wasn't a good idea. When hiking you want to stay hydrated, but alcohol is dehydrating, right? Oh well.
The temperature was mostly perfect during the hike. Not too warm and just cool enough I was fine in jeans and a long-sleeved tshirt. On the final descent, it got a little warm, but maybe this was due to the lack of shade. We walked through the other side of town from where we had parked, including the little city park. By the time we got to the car, it was estimated that we had walked around 15 km. I'm not going to convert that right now, but it was fun and now I'm rather tired.
One of the cool things about the hike, was that whereever we were, we were always in sight of a giant wind mill. The kind they've been putting up for green energy. They're completely massive. A lot of the houses, farm or in the cities, have solar panels on the roofs. I find this very cool and wish we could have more like these in the States. I also saw cows, chickens, a bee hive and two paddocks of ponies. There are also a lot of wildflowers here, but you're not allowed to pick them. One last interesting aspect of the flora I saw, were rasberry bushes with tiny, tiny, red unriped rasberries.
Well, I'm at the house now, after looking at my email and facebook. We're all just having some downtime right now. I think there was a hockey game on between Germany and Sweden, but it's probably over right now. I'm sure I'll find something to do with myself.

Family Brause/Saturday, 22 May 2010

This is really one of the coolest houses I’ve ever been in. And I think my host father, Eckhardt might have designed it (he’s a retired architect). But, my room is in the basement, alone. One wall is a lovely red color and my sheets are orange and red. There’s a super big window that faces west-ish and there are about twelve different pieces of artwork all painted by Herr Brause. The house is actually filled almost to the brim, but tastefully, with his artwork. He paints as a hobby and has done different styles and even some mixed media. One piece I initially thought had been used as a dart board, but there are actually nails driven into it when I looked closer.

But, there are sooo many windows. The upstairs living room has a wall of windows, basically, which look over St. Georgan. There’s also a small loft above the living room. Then the kitchen and dining room are also upstairs. You’ll just have to look at the pictures, once I take them, to see how awesome this house is. I also have my own bathroom right next to my room. Right now, the only downside to the house is that it’s quite cold. This is mostly problematic, because I feel like I can’t walk around in a sweatshirt all day, because I’m trying to blend in with the Germans and they don’t really even have sweatshirts.

A bit about my host parents now. This is their second marriage and have all together six kids, who are all grown. Herr Brause is a former architect and paints for a hobby. He also acts in the local theater. Frau Brause worked in Hamburg when she was younger and makes hand-sewn quilts. They’re constantly asking me if I’m hungry or thirsty, which I know is just being hospitable. They’re also very eager to take me everywhere, which we had an excursion Saturday afternoon.

I slept in, accidently, till eleven am on Saturday. I’d woken up around nine-thirty, but decided to sleep a little longer. I ate breakfast and glanced at the newspaper. Herr Brause had the radio on, which was funny since all they play is American music. I heard some U-2, Blondie and Billy Idol today. The Billy Idol was the best. Herr Brause also asked me if we had Crossword puzzles in America, which I said we did, but smaller. Theirs took up half the newspaper page, without the hints.

After breakfast, I got dressed and completely unpacked my suitcase. I don’t have a dresser, but just a hanging closet type of thing. Which is fine, since I have a good bit to hang up. Then I started writing the continuation of this blog. I did that until about one thirty, when I was called for lunch. Frau Brause had made a hot lunch, some meat patties (I have no idea which kind of meet, but I don’t think it was beef), a potato and cheese casserole, and some mixed peas and carrots. It was all quite good. For dessert, which Herr Brause insisted upon (apparently he has a sweet tooth, which might be more than mine), we had some stracciatella ice cream. Unfortunately, it was the brand I got sick off in Vienna, but I had just a little bit and was okay.

Then, in Spanish form, we all took a siesta. I didn’t really need a nap, since I’d slept in so late, so I just wrote more. We had already decided to go see the Schoenwald Waterfall after the siesta, so I got ready for that a little before three pm. The drive there was really pretty, because it’s basically a bunch of mountains and valleys with villages that we drive through. Of course these are interspersed with fields of green, green grass, cows (they must be very happy cows) and dandelions. I don’t think dandelions are considered weeds here…no one seems to weed them from their yards.

The waterfall cost to see it, but we took a hike down to an Upper Ropes course. For those who don’t know or can’t remember, URC are those things with the monkey bridges and zip lines I did at camp and that the family did at Trout Lodge that one year. But this one is crazy. There were five different courses up there, very high in the trees, and five was the hardest. While safety was an issue, they took it fairly lightly.

At camp, you have a buddy on the ground who talks you through everything and repeats after you every step of hooking your carabineers on another line. For example, you’d yell as you “Hooked, Locked, Checked and Flipped” each of your two carabineers onto a new wire and your ground partner would echo you. This is to make sure you don’t forget a step and then die. But here, I had a two minute instructional on how to use the carabineers and the rules (always have one hooked in, don’t hold the wire you’re sliding down on the zip line). Two minutes to learn it all and no ground partner. Good thing I already knew what I was doing.

Up I went and I chose #3; I figured it would be a good warm up for #5. It was pretty easy…nothing too crazy. The first zip line I had was a little challenging to do. I had to remind myself that propelling myself off a platform in the trees was a good idea. But once I was “zipping (?)” I was fine. Herr Brause followed my progress on the ground and every once in a while I’d heard a noise like he couldn’t believe I was doing it without fear.

After number three, I went on to number five. I wanted a challenge, and I knew I’d never hear the end of it if I came home and hadn’t done the hardest one. It started out easy, but did get harder. This was because the bridges were easily twice or three times as long as the other course. And there was a lot more balancing to do. And I have a disadvantage because I’m short, so my legs didn’t comfortably reach to all of the foot holds on the bridges. But I survived, albeit, with red palms (no gloves either). And that was that. Definitely an odd but awesome find in the middle of the Black Forest.

On the way home, we stopped and saw the largest cuckoo clock in the world. It’s the size of a small house. And all the cogs and weights and bird were hand-carved out of wood. Sadly, my hands must have been shaky from the climbing that my pictures turned out shitty.

Once at home, I finally sat down to look at my emails. Thank you all who write, I feel very loved. And when I respond, it takes a while because I write so much, so I was on the computer for a while. I also have very slow progress because of the difference in keyboards I’ve mentioned before. I wrote people back for over an hour and then it was about time to go out again.

A friend of the Brauses’ had invited us to watch a soccer game this evening. I told them I did like soccer, so we went. The hockey game was also on, but sadly I witnessed Germany’s fall to Russia, 2-1. The Russians scored their last goal with two minutes to go and the German’s couldn’t quite finish it.

We ate some hors’d vours type food during the game. Once again I refused alcohol, though the friend of the family, Uwe, did offer more than once and said I ought to at least try some Uzzo, whatever that it. I said no and was content with my bubbly water. The game was good…I have to recall my patience for soccer watching since it’s a very long game and not quite as fast paced as volleyball. I’m still not sure who everyone was rooting for…the game was between Bayern and I think, Innenmailand. But I’ll have to check that second team name. However, it was clear that Germans do not like the Italians.

Every time a member of the non-Bayern team fell over in “Pain” Uwe would yell something at them with having to be Italian Sometimes it would just be “Italian!” or “Spaghetti Eaters!” and every time he’d also gesture like a stereotypical Italian. If this is unclear why the Germans hate the Italian soccer players, they are gigantic rivals for the World Cup. It was quite funny every time he yelled, because he actually looks exactly like Dustion Hoffman, with maybe a skinnier head. Freaky, really.

Later he made fun of me for not knowing who the Steve Miller band was. Or Chris Rea. But he and I did have a great conversation about all the bands we like and all the concerts he’s gone to. He’s seen U-2 and Snow Patrol, Paul McCartney, REM, Foreigner, Paul Simon just to name a few. He also had a pretty sizable collection of American music, including the Eagle’s last CD (Long Road Out of Eden, which I do own, courtesy of Gavin Martin). He’d even heard of Ska and Don McClean and likes heavy metal. Pretty cool. Every time he wanted to emphasize how much he liked a band, he’d kiss his fingers like the chefs do sometimes and say, “Fantastic.”

I’m beginning to think my host family likes partying more than I do. We didn’t get back home till almost midnight. So, that concludes today and I really must go to bed. And, I’m even all caught up with my blogging for this week, even though it’s not yet on line. So there.