Fall Break Adventure Part III: Dresden and a side trip to Chemnitz and Zwickau

Glück auf! - Gliggauf! - Gauuuf.

Sebastian picked me up from the Hauptbahnhof on Thursday afternoon and my Abenteuer in Sachsen officially began. We headed to Gorbitz, the ghetto of Dresden, where Sebastian and his sister Jule live. I don't really mean ghetto as in East St. Louis ghetto, but most of the residents are, well, a bit interesting. Sebastian and I bought beer (always important), had dinner with Jule and friends, and then went to Neustadt for a Kneipeabend. Neustadt is a very young neighborhood in Dresden, covered in student bars. We went to two - one monster themed, the other film themed. In all, good conversation, good beer, good times.

Friday morning was a tour of the Altstadt - the Hofkirche, the Frauenkirche, the Semper Oper Haus and the Zwinger. The architecture in the Altstadt is quite elegant. The Frauenkirche was recently finished with renovation. The stone exterior is tan with splatters of dark gray. The original Frauenkirche was dark gray before being bombed during World War II. It was left in ruins during the Cold War, with only a couple archways still standing. During restoration, usable parts were sorted, identified, and placed in their original position, mixed with a new light-colored stone. One of my favorite things was the Procession of Dukes, a huge mural depicting every ruler of Sachsen (Saxony) from the middle ages to the Prussian expansion. 

  
After the tour, we took a brief look at the University, ate there for lunch, then met up with Jule after her classes. Jule wanted to go shopping and I decided to join. Sebastian went home (maybe he didn't think he could handle shopping with the two of us?). Jule and I looked at boots, laughed over gaudy jewelry, I convinced her to buy books and we chatted. You know, normal girl stuff. It was decided at some point that we needed wine with dinner (or we just needed wine, and, like beer, always a good decision), and wine was procured. Sebastian made schnitzel for dinner (super lecker) and we watched movies from their childhood, or "East Germany lessons" and then continued the theme with Good Bye Lenin. I also received "lessons" in Sächsisch, the regional dialect. You can learn Sächsisch too! (If you can read/speak German... sorry) I tried really hard to pick up a few words, but mostly I just giggled. Sächsisch sounds pretty silly, if you ask me.  

On Saturday, Sebastian and I went to Chemnitz to watch his friend, Erik, play in a rugby tournament. We were joined by more friends - Tom, Doreen, and Bernhard. We drank beer from plastic bottles and enjoyed cheap Glühwein and Wurst. It rained (so we needed Gewiddorflinde [Regenschirm/Umbrellas]). We attempted to figure out the rules of rugby. After a while (two games, I think), it was decided that we needed to move onwards to Zwickau, so we piled into a car and beat town. I received a grand tour of Zwickau and then we had coffee to escape the cold and rain. Then Sebastian, Bernhard and I went to Sebastian's house to enjoy delightfully delicious Döner for dinner. I met Oma Roscher, who shared a few excellent stories from the days of the DDR. I could only semi-understand her (again, Sächsisch), but Oma Roscher is super cute! Later that night, Tom, Doreen and Bernhard came back over and we enjoyed beer, sang songs and played with audio equipment in the Band Room. ( -- A side note -- I was quite impressed with the political advertisements that had been geklauted to decorate the Band Room. Representation from every political party, some in better shape than others.) 

On Sunday morning I played with Uncle Sam, the cat, and chatted with Sebastian's mom while waiting for Sebastian to get up. Then I had breakfast with the whole fam (minus Jule, who I forgot to mention had to stay home to study). Sebastian and I took a train back to Dresden and Jule met us at the Hauptbahnhof. We went and rode a cable car to an overlook with views of all of Dresden and the Elbe River. It was sunny so the views were great. 

 
We went home, ate leftovers and relaxed. The weekend in Dresden was perfect. It wasn't jammed-packed with excitement, but it didn't need to be. A vacation should be a good mix of fun and relaxation, and my adventures in Sachsen were just that.

Nedde Leude, dolle Sachen. Ein sehr schönes Erlebnis in Saggsen! *giggles*

Fall Break Adventure Part II: Bielefeld

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd return to Bielefeld this soon. A little over a year ago, I was freshly returned from the city, hoping I'd get the Fulbright (actually, hoping I'd get the Watson, but whatever).  Then maybe I could visit Bielefeld at some point in my journey. But as I stepped off the train, it felt like I'd never left. I already knew this place. It was comforting.

I enjoyed visiting with Pam, Michi, and Magda and revisiting my old stomping grounds. It was quite nostalgic. I got to see Tim Pote, a Hendrix Alum, who is interning at some engineering firm (I think). It still blows my mind that Tim is in Bielefeld, of all the places in the world. I guess this shows how Hendrix encourages its students/graduates to get out and see the world. We met up for coffee and dinner, and discussed Hendrix days and life as Americans in Germany. Our meeting made me realize how much I miss Hendrix.

During my visit, German weather quickly changed from the last remnants of summer, to full-on fall. So cold. But as a result, the beginning of excellent fall colors.

Overall, it was a lovely reunion and a nice visit.

Fall Break Adventure Part I: Amsterdam

After one hour of class on Friday, I took the train to Amsterdam to visit Ben Thomas, a Hendrix student who I went to Poland with in May. I arrived around 3:30 and after finding Ben, we trekked to his apartment in Diemen, a quiet suburb south of the city. We settled for a bit, went grocery shopping, then went back to the city, so I could get my first tour of Amsterdam by night. I was shocked at how beautiful the city is. My only perceived image was the Red Light District - grimy and big city lights. The city, however, is quite charming, and with the canals it almost sparkles. The Red Light District looks like the rest of the city - narrow cobblestone streets, leaning buildings - except there are scantly-clad women in the windows at night.

On Saturday morning, Ben had a bit of reading to do, so I ventured to the city on my own. Ben had provided an excellent crash course on navigating a few landmarks, so in addition to a city map, I was ready to go. Ben and I were to meet later in the afternoon at Dam Square, but other than that I had no plans. So I set an alarm and walked. The city is even more beautiful during the day. Canals weave throughout the city and are lined with elegant townhouses and crossed with stone bridges. Boats of every variety are docked, including some pretty awesome house boats.

At 2pm, I met Ben to go the Rijksmuseum, the Museum of Netherlands Art and History. The museum is very well designed with an excellent audio-tour. There was also a great exhibit on Rembrandt. There is construction, so the museum will be even bigger and better in a few years! After the museum, we walked the Vondelpark, one of (if not) the biggest parks in the city. It was great to walk, take in some sun, and people watch.  

On Sunday, I spent a bit of the morning trying to plan out my route for the day. I wanted to hit a few markets and young neighborhoods, so once again I left Ben to read and hit the city. As I wandered I got a bit sidetracked, but when I eventually got to where I wanted to be, I discovered that everything was closed. It's Sunday, what was I thinking. I found many nice benches along the canals to people watch and boat watch, and thoroughly enjoyed wandering the narrow streets, discovering back alleys with stunning architecture.

Everyone rides bikes in Amsterdam. There are bike lanes on every street and special bike stoplights. Navigating traffic in Amsterdam was a bit more difficult, because not only do you have to watch for cars, you have to watch for bikes, too, because unlike cars, they do not stop at pedestrian walks. And they have awesome bikes! Like this one:

That, my friends, is a basket built into the bike. In this basket you can haul groceries, dogs, children, anything! And they make bigger ones with two front wheels, intended to carry up to four children. And no one wears helmets. Crazy!

That pretty much sums up my Amsterdam adventures. I was super lucky and had amazing weather - not a drop of rain the entire time! The city center is very, very touristy, but once you get out a bit, everything is quite lovely.

I lost a very dear friend last Friday. After I get over a bit of the shock, I promise to pull my thoughts together about my Fall Break travels. I think for the first time ever, I want to be home more than anything else. I feel so privileged, now, to have this experience, as I am reminded that our lives are so delicate. Rest in Peace, Nicholas Fender. I miss you. 

Rotweinfest

"The 'Red Wine City' Welcomes Their Guests"

The Rotweinfest is similar to any small town festival or fair in the US, except instead of serving up unlimited varieties of fried food, Ingelheim delivers unlimited varieties of wine. Now, mind you, visitors can snack on schnitzel, curry wurst, and Nutella crepes before spinning themselves into oblivion on carnival rides, but there are definitely no fried Twinkies in sight.

It finally stopped raining and warmed up a bit, so Sally and I visited the famous Rotweinfest on Friday afternoon. There weren't that many people there so we were able to get food and wine in peace. I saw some of my students and received an ample amount of 'What is she doing here, teachers don't have real lives' stares. I greeted one group, which they found to be hilarious. After one glass of wine, Sally and I had enough and decided to head back to Mainz to go to Eisgrub brewery. The beer there tastes better (blasphemy) and is way cheaper. But now I can say that I've been to Rotweinfest, and I have the commemorative wine glass to prove it. We met up with Emily and here friend who is studying abroad in France and had a blast. Eisgrub never disappoints.

On Sunday the weather magically turned into summer again, bringing sunshine and upper 60s to the Rhineland. After wrapping up a few lesson plans, I headed to Wiesbaden to meet up with Sally. We took a walk through a beautiful park behind the theater and casino (really, really pretty casino). The park is HUGE and surrounded by typical Wiesbaden (d.h. stunning) mansions. Sally and I have decided that we need to marry (future) doctors or lawyers from Wiesbaden so we can live in one of these houses. Wiesbaden is just so ritzy. Mainz has got the cultural thing down, but Wiesbaden's architecture cannot be beat.

                                                                The Casino

 

                                                            My future house

Today at school, I learned how to print onto a projector sheet. And teachers that aren't in my department talked to me. And I got my haircut after school (much needed, I was looking pretty shaggy). And the weather was BEAUTIFUL! All-around good day, if you ask me.

I'm looking forward to Teacher's Outing on Thursday night and then Friday begins the FALL BREAK GRAND ADVENTURE! Yessssss!

lg, Lauren

A German Lesson

This makes me laugh every time I read it. 

http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson109.html

Pay day!!

Finally.

Paying rent on time is awesome. Now off to the Rotweinfest to celebrate!

lg, Lauren