Highlight of the last week was the group trip to München, aka Munich, which is in the south eastern Bundestaat (state) of Bayern aka Bavaria. As it turns out, Germany is a rather large country, and it took freakin' forever to get there. I'm talking a 7 hour bus ride on the Autobahn, and no one was talking except for our crazy punk-rock bus driver lady who had bright pink hair. She wouldn't be quiet, but I was too far back in the bus to hear anything she said. All I knew was that she was the only one talking the entire ride. The German countryside is also not particularly interesting. Of note are stretches of windmills, and also large fields filled with yellow flowers, which are apparently some kind of alternative energy source. Looking out the window was not exhilarating. We made a stop along the way, however, in a small Bayern town called Regensburg, which was pretty cool. We took a walking tour around the Stadt (city) with a man who had a very thick Bayernisch accent, making him difficult to understand (he spoke completely in German). He also spoke extremely quickly and in technical terms about the architecture of the area. I think I understood more than the majority of the kids in the group, but it was still pretty anstregend (can't think of a direct translation... this word is what it sounds like, I guess). We hopped back on the bus to München, and our first stop upon arrival was the world-renowned Paulaner Beer Garten! It was a little cold to sit outside, so we opted for an inside meal. One can buy a maß, i.e. a full liter of beer, at any Biergarten in München. That is a quite a bit of beer, but the beer is quite delicious. The following day was the highlight of München trip for me: a Fahrradtour (bike tour) through the city. I had an incredible time. The weather was perfect and München is a gorgeous little town. Pics to follow. Highly recommend this if you're in Münich. We biked about 12km, which was a perfect distance, and there aren't many hills in the city, so it's easy-going biking. Afternoon was spent hanging out in the Englische Garten, which is an enormous park with a giant beer garten (of course). Time was a little short, so I'll have to come back. Eine schöne, schöne Stadt (beautiful city).
Other notable Exkursionen in the last zwei Wochen include two sehr wichtige Orte (very important sites) nämlich (namely) Sachsenhausen und Sansoucci. Sachsenhausen was a KZ, Konzentrationslage (Concentration Camp) just north of Berlin, where hundreds of thousands of prisoners passed through. The camp was mainly for political adversaries (not primarily Jews), which was an interesting fact and made one remember that there were also other groups strongly persecuted by the Nazi Regime. I found it very difficult to listen to the information that the tourguide provided; it was brutal. I would rather not repeat it here. The mass-killing mechanisms were disgusting and highly disturbing. You can look them up if you're interested. This was the first time I had visited a concentration camp, and it found it an extremely powerful experience.
Sansoucci was a lighter exkursion, as it was the pleasure palace outside of the city (in the city of Potsdam, south of Berlin) where Frederich the Great resided in the summertime. The grounds were beautiful, and we learned lots about this very enlightened King of Prussia, including his affair with Voltaire. See pics below.
This week was also our Abschlussfest, or closing celebration, which was hosted at a host-parents' house, and which all of the Gasteltern and students attended. For some reason, Klaus (our main professor) hired some art lady for us to create a performance for the parents with.... We had to sing a song, but there was no piano and no one remembered the tune. It was slightly disastrous, but not as bad as it could have been. If you would like the video, you may contact me and ask. I will use discretion in sending it, meaning you may not be privileged enough to hear our angelic voices.
Very excited for Moo, Superdad and Max to come out to Berlin this weekend! The weather isn't supposed to be so great, unfortunately, but I know we are going to have a great time together. Bis dann!
Zak and Emma eat with me at a Sushi restaurant in the nearby Kiez of Steglitz. I always ask my german language professor Gesine about where we should eat. She recommended this Sushi place, and it was pretty good for German sushi.
Forgot to mention that I also payed a brief visit to Charlottenburg, which houses the city palace in Berlin. Currently under major renovation, so didn't see much of the inside, but got to walk around the gardens.
Palace Gardens. I fell on the gravel while spinning in a circle and got a large scrape on my leg. First time I've fallen for a while.
The park was quite lovely.
Regensburg! Cute little German town. Houses a university, so university students make up a large portion of the population.
This river was significant due to something about French and Austrians fighting, but that was somewhat lost in translation during the tour. However, important river!!
Old Regensburg
Gothic church constructed in the 1100s. There was more interesting information about it, but unfortunately I have forgotten. It's a working church still, and that's the major thing.
Cathedral from the front. Catholic. Southern Germany is primarily Catholic.
Paulaner Bier!
Zak and Riley enjoy the beer garden.
First stop was actually not the bike tour, but a stop in BMW Welt (world). The boys loved it. Here Luke (left) and Adam sit in a BMW on the showroom floor. Because apparently that's fun to do?
I try out a BMW Motorrad
A central square in Münich, home to the HB biergarten, very touristy and well-known
Bike tour! Left to right: Andrew, Riley, Olafur, and Emma
This palace was pretty badly bombed out during the war, so they replaced the bombed wings with glass. The people of Munich were not happy about that. It kind of looks like a giant terrarium now, unfortunately.
There are some rivers in Munich that have artificial blocks that cause waves to form... and so surfers use them!! Was definitely not expecting to see that in a German town.
Chinesische Turm (Chinese Tower, not particularly Chinese-looking) in the Englische Garten in München. There were a ridiculous number of extremely attractive individuals in this garden. No one knows why, but everyone noticed. A band (polka of course) was playing in the tower.
Me at the Biergarten with a rather large Brezel.
Took a stop by the (VERY COLD) river. Not sure what river this is. There are a lot of rivers in Munich, it seemed, but maybe we were just crossing over the same one again and again. The boys decided to go play in it. I put my feet in for 5 seconds and was in severe pain, so I did not partake.
The Neue Rathaus (new townhall). Is actually an older building than the old townhall, but the old one was bombed out during the war.
Andrew and Riley in front of the Neue Rathaus.
Some group members purchased traditional Bayernisch wear. Here are Olafur and Emma in their new garb. Lederhosen are fantastic.
Emma and Zak in their newly-purchased garments
St. Peter's Kirche in Munich. Incense filled. Made the lighting very cool and smoky.
Climbed to the top of the Kirche for a beautiful view. Bayern-Munich (the soccer team) had won a big game against Dortmund the previous night, so in the square below, people were partying and blasting music. The team was going to make an appearance on the deck of the new Rathaus later that day, but we didn't stick around for that.
Back in class already???
Host fam has a boat, so we got to go sailing this week with Nico. Luke and I enjoyed it enormously. Very peaceful, though cloudy and a bit chilly, day out on Lake Wannsee. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's house was visible. It is ugly. Looks like a cruise ship.
Lake Wannsee, just about 10 minutes from my host family's home
Luke and I aboard the Mary!
Sails up!
Nico at the wheel.
Sansoucci! Why would you ever paint a palace this color? I guess the Germans like their mustard (Senf) even more than I realized.
Andrew and Luke(forefront) listen intently to their audioguides about the vestibule of the palace.
Frederich the Great died in this chair.
Rokoko style is egregious. Looks like a golden spider had a conniption.
Frederich the Great's pianoforte. I found that very cool. CPE Bach actually played on this piano.
Again with this ridiculous decoration
What even is this room
Andy Warhol's Frederich the Great 1986 piece. I found this quite entertaining.
Apparently it's a thing to put potatoes on the grave of Frederich II, so we followed suit and did so as well. I didn't really grasp the explanation of why we did that.
The palace from the back
A cute duck on the palace grounds
The Chinesische teahouse, which was not Chinese at all. They had no idea what they were doing.
Do these people look at all Chinese to you? This was the German idea of Chinese citizens. They look completely European, except that they wear funny hats, and their eyes are slightly different shapes. Closely look at the nose of the sculpture on the left. Quite comical.
The Neue Palace at Potsdam. This is where Frederich's relatives came to stay for long periods of time. Was used up through 1914 by Willhelm II.
Servants quarters of the palace. Now home to the University of Potsdam.
Interesting interior decoration
Rokokokoko
The Marble Hall. This entire room and completely marble floor was unsupported by beams because Frederich the Great did not want that aesthetic. Therefore, the supportive floor constantly needs to be redone and sounds like a Royal Hassle.
Imagine supporting that floor with no beams!!
Swingin at a local park
Emma and I at Potsdam.
We have to visit 8 museums in Berlin this quarter as an assignment. Today Janel, a friend from Victoria B.C (!) and I tackled a few. I was glad because this one was closed permanently so that means I don't have to go. I would much rather be outside than in a museum.
Ceiling of the Gemäldegalerie, which was mostly filled with paintings of Maria and child. Maria and child. Maria and child. Bad medieval art. No Rafael, as was promised. Bad medieval art. Jesus. Jesus. Maria and child.
I liked this one because it was sparkly.
After, we hit the Deutsche Widerstand museum, which was about all of the people who resisted the National Socialist (Nazi) regime. Extremely interesting. Highly recommend. There were some amazing people (I liked reading about the women, personally) who took stands against Hitler during that era.
Singing our terrible song
Work creates freedom, a Nazi slogan often used on the entrance to concentration camps. This is on the entrance to Sachsenhausen. Before this point in the KZ, there was a zoo, and a beautiful park where S.S. officers enjoyed their lives. Inside was a verschiedene Szene (different scene).
Sachsenhausen. The small path that runs in an oval was a torture device. People would wear an extremely heavy backpack and shoes they were "testing" for soldiers (so low quality that they would never actually be used for soldiers) and walk the path from 6 am until sunset, every day.
This is not the crematorium, as I had guessed, but rather a monument.
More to come as I enter the final week of my journey here in Deutschland. I am going to be extremely sad to go. My Deutsch is just getting to a point of near conversational fluency, and I am sad that I have to leave when improvements are coming so quickly. Then off to Spain, where, as mom says, my brain will melt. I am fairly sure this is true. I tried talking to my good friend from the Dominican Republic Veronica auf Spanisch recently, and it was a disaster. German came out. I could not think in Spanish. We will have to see how this goes. Until then, tschüss!
