Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Patience and Frühling

So upon recent reflections of my blog, I realized I don't write about my actual Marburg life very often.  This is kind of a shame, since I do have a ton going on in my life here and it's just such a cute little town...

Spring is in full bloom here.  It has been actually, for about the last month.  But I am definitely not complaining.  The only minor complaint is the allergies it is producing with my lungs, thus hindering my morning runs.  But whatever.  I'd rather be coughing a little and feeling sun on my shoulders than shaking in my boots and bummed due to winter solstace.   When I had left for Amsterdam about oh, two weeks ago, I knew spring was here but hadn't really seen any response from nature other than the warming of the climate.  Well, on the train back to Marburg, I remember sitting in my train seat thinking "why the heck is everything so beautiful?  It's just so.. green!!!!"  Yep.  Basically over the course of one weekend, the trees came alive, flowers sprung from the ground and Spring officially began!  My backyard here at my new house is thriving with the new season.  Here.. check it out.

 
 

That last photo is of the 100 kajillion steps I have to take to reach my apartment... sad thing, that is the photo from only the 1/2 way point (or possibly even a little less..) but hey.  At least my bum will be nicely toned by the time I pack up and head home. 

Lately I've been choosing to walk everywhere in town due to the awesome weather, such as the grocery store, class, post office, restaurants etc.  Clearly the Europeans are a walking culture, so there are sidewalks and paths galore for one to choose from, making it highly convenient to stay active.  Looooving it.

I'm starting to get back into the running swing-of-things, now that the weather is warmer and my lungs can handle it (minus spring allergies.. dang them).  The new challange is overcoming the mountainous hills in which I reside.. seriously they're buggars.  The air is also thinner here than at home, adding to the list of challenges.  But oh well, it's at least still moderately fun.  A part of me is yearning for my running route around the block at home and the local YMCA, but then I come to realize that I'm running past a castle on my daily route here, bringing the yearning to a miraculous stop.  Imagine that.  huh.  Also, I seem to be burning/tanning way faster here than at home.  I was wondering why I have been getting scortched from merely walking out the back door, and then my German friend filled me in on the fact that apparently a hole in the ozone layer has conveniently shifted itself to over central Europe.  How handy.  And to think I thought I would be way behind on the tanning scale when I got back to Wisconsin.  ha.

While out on my morning run today, I began to ponder life, like usual (dangerous, I know...) and came to a random conclusion about European life.  Europe is all about patience.  Seriously.  Ok so here goes my budding theory.

Patience is a virtue in which apparently Europeans have grasped hold of.  Everything here requires patience, whether it's waiting for a bus, ordering internet, waiting for your food in a restaurant, drying your clothes out on laundry lines (I had a much longer list while I was running, which is naturally fleeing my memory when I need it..) but still.  So much patience!! It definitely isn't a bad thing; it's no secret that patient people usually do well in life, but holy man.  Sure, patience is practiced daily all over the world, even when we are not conscious of taking part in the act.  But Europeans are an entirely new breed of patience-holders.  For example, Europeans can wait up to an hour sometimes at a restaurant without getting their food before they complain.  In America, we'd complain after 20 minutes, sometimes less.  Dryers are a hot comodity in the US and used sometimes when we only need one item of clothing dryed.  Here in Germany, while many may have dryers, laundry lines are the most common practice (environment friendly) and here in my WG we don't even have one.  I guess I just didn't realize how much daily patience I have been learning/practicing since I got here, but I felt the need to share this phenomena with all of you, even though it probably bored you all to tears.   Eh, my bad.

Well, I am off to go finish reading a feminism article for my literature class, and then off to class at 2.  Nothing against feminism or feminists, but gosh darnet.  Their articles would be so much easier to read if they weren't so aggressive and whiny.  I feel like I'm just reading some woman's rant about how her life didn't turn out perfectly, and therefore it must be men's fault.  Ick.  We'll just assume it's only this one book, to avoid upsetting any feminists who may be reading this :)

Oh and I must remind myself to get my laundry out of the washing machine.  Our machine kind of.. gets stuck.. at some point during the cycle and just keeps washing itself over and over if you don't switch it to the next cycle.  Kind of like a small tempremental child in our basement, only I feel the child reference isn't necessarily good since it's concerning labor.  Hmm.  Kind of like a crotchety-old-woman-washing-machine-with-an-attitude who no matter how many times you make sure not to put too many items in and sweet talk, always ends up resulting in the loss of a sock.  Stupid thing.  I'm starting to look like pippy long stalkings or whatever her name is with all these different color sock combinations.  Hmpf.

Alright, so that's Marburg for today.  Tschauuuu 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Deux Cent Six

Well Menschen,  I'm back from Strasbourg.

The trip was pretty great, despite the lack of huge entertainment or large numbers of attractions to be seen.  However in that regard it was quite relaxing and gave me time to "smell the roses" or just enjoy the scenery; a thing I rarely get to do on my extremely short weekend glimpses of famous European cities.
Strasbourg is located in the part of France called the Alsace; basically the north-ish corner of France, next to Germany.  The area has been relocated and traded as German or French land four times, last time being after the Second World War.  The region is known for a high number of beautiful churches, castles, villages and vineyards.  The main city of the Alsace region is where I went: Strasbourg.  Strasbourg is the home of the European Union's Parliament building and is a city with very international roots.  Due to the changing of German/French ownership of the region, the city is somehow confusing upon first glance.  The houses and most things about the city appear to be an older German style, such as those seen in the south around Munich.  However, sitting down at a cafe' or entering the shops, you'll be greeted with a full on French welcome.  Or if not a greeting, at least a bit of French language upon asking questions.  But anyways.   It's amazing they even have a language, because after switching who owned them so many times (yes, I googled this.. wikipedia is my best friend..) they spoke all the following through the ages..
  • Old Frankish
  • Old High German
  • Latin
  • Gallic
  • Alsatian
  • Modern French
  • Modern German
Ok, maybe not that huge of a list, but still.  I think personally I would find myself extremely annoyed if what felt like every year my mother language was being switched out on me.  That generally is supposed to be a staple in one's life, but apparently those of the Alsace region are just special.  And may possibly have needed mucho therapy.  Hey now, hey now.  Just a possibility, not a fact.

Anywhooooo

So as mentioned, my trip was pretty relaxed.  My friend and I discovered that the city of Strasbourg really doesn't have that much for tourists to see, meaning prime tourist destinations.  My whole point of choosing the city was to go see the EU Parliament, but they were in session so access to the inside of the building/ guided tours were restricted.  Bummmmmer.  Fortunately you can still walk around the building, so we guided ourselves over the bridges and through the woods, which turned out to be a pretty gorgeous walk.  Especially considering the Orangerie Botanical Gardens, which provided a variety of gorgeous flowers, lawns, and a lake.  But back to the EU building.  Whoever designed it knows their stuff (I guess this is kind of obvious, since they chose him to design a building for the EU..).  Other events of the trip included a boat tour through the canals/river of the city (was really not that much to write home about.. ), some good food, great walks through the town, the Orangerie botanical garden and a little bit of French shopping.  But before we go further, can I please emphasize the amazing-ness of the French cuisine?  Clearly it is world renowned for being absolutely, mouth-wateringly delicious while also being eye-poppingly georgeous upon presentation.  But even their simple breakfast baguettes melt in your mouth! There are pastry shops everywhere! Chocolate confesseries by the dozens! BAKERIES WITH FRENCH STUFF WAFTING BEAUTIFUL FRENCH SMELLS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ok.  Deep breath.

Another deep breath.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it was SOOO good.  Ok, the baked goods were.  Especially my favorites: the baguettes & Macaroons.  But when it comes to actual food, the french aren't bad either, just well, available at strange times.  My friend and I ended up having to snack at cafe's two days in a row because we somehow missed the "lunch" time (both days we were there around 2 pm..).  It is like the food industry takes an afternoon nap, leaving the tourists with their mouths drooling over lucious menus on cafe' tables, only to be told the kitchens are closed.  However, darndest thing, the so called "nap time" is not easy to predict and it seemed as though any time after 11 am to 7 pm was "nap time."  It became so frustrating!! Perhaps it is only Strasbourg that is this way, but man.  I was getting so sick of eating only flamkuchen (a thiner version of a pizza..) due to the kitchens only having that available during this mid-day break.  Seriously.  No. more.  But Oh well.  Minor mishap.  I guess due to their amazing baked goods and confesseries, I'll forgive and forget.  (Well, forgetting isn't hard since while I was there I couldn't even remember to eat lunch "on time..")  At least now we know how the French stay so skinny.  Mystery solved people! Ok, now for some photos of the beloved baked goods :)
 
 

Ok, now that you're all drooling.. lets get to the things which won't make you contemplate ruining your spring diets (and thank god for mine that I was only there 3.5 days..).

Here are the photos from me wandering around the city and from the EU parliament...

 
 
 
 
 
 


So yes, that is Strasbourg.  I definitely recommend it to those who are looking for a laid-back, relaxed vacation with yet some definite culture to be absorbed and some great scenery.  I also recommend it to those in the older age groups, such as 60 and above, due to the variety of special shops and events which are geared towards their age group.  For my age group it was still a pretty great destination; there are bars and clubs to be experienced if one wants to find them :)  Strasbourg is really a great, unique location for a weekend getaway.. sooo.. do it! Oh and stay at hotel Dauphine :)  They're great!
Ok and one last random thought.. the ducks of Strasbourg (and swans) are vicious cookie ducks!

Cookie Duck- noun. a duck which has no fear of the human race due to often feeding of bread, cookies, crackers and other human-like food items.  Most often located in large cities or parks with small children found in the masses.  Term coined by my mother.

Anyways.. These ducks/swans would not stop at anything to get their hands on some lovely baguette.  Evidence?

There.  Caught in the act.  Duck helping himself to sandwhich.  Oh it is a brutal duck eat baguette world out there folks.

Ok so.  Quick update on the Marburg life.  Classes are going well.. can't report back too much.  I received the topic for my term paper for my class on the European Union today: The problems with the European Union and the addition of Turkey.  Should be interesting.  Here in Germany the Universities give usually one big paper, exam, or project for the final grade, not assignments throughout the semester which then accumulate to a grade.  It's an awkward system for me personally to adjust to, but I wouldn't say it's a bad system.  Just terrible for those who even slightly procrastinate, such as myself :)

Update on the reading schedule..  the book 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs isn't actually too bad.  Turns out she is the writer for the hit US television show "Bones."  Surprising? Not so much.  But hey.  At least it is surprisingly keeping my interests :)  I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a slightly gory, scientific, mystery which is an easy read.  Next book on the list is A Mercy  by Toni Morrison.  Apparently Toni Morrison is an extremely famous American author who specializes in African American stories.  Should be interesting.  I'm kind of thrilled that this book is somewhat smaller than the others.. hopefully it will be a quick and enjoyable read.. but we will see.. I dare those of you who are reading this blog and are fond of reading to read the books I'm reading for this class.. so far none have been disappointments.. especially Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and then let me know what you think :)  Another perspective which is American and not German could be interesting.

In other news, all of you college kids in the States should be finishing up soon.  I'm clearly a month behind all of you, and jealous of the sunshine you will be enjoying (that is, if Wisconsin ever thaws out..).

Ok well enough rambling for today.  I've got a class to get to.  And then some quiche to conquer.  Peace out homieeees.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I AM-sterdam

Ok so before we get to my brief adventures in the Netherlands, I would like to point out a few minor things.  First off, yay for new blog designs! Hope you all like it- I was going for a "Spring is here!" theme.  Hope it isn't too much of an eyesore.. 

Secondly, I am not entirely sure why, but apparently my blog has jumped to getting about 100 readers a day.  And that's everyday, including the days which I'm not writing.  According to my blog stats, many of you are logging in from Slovenia...?  It's pretty exciting to see the numbers jump so high so randomly, but I am also kind of wondering why.  Just a random thought I suppose.  But if you're one of the daily one hundred who randomly stumbled upon me, shoot me a comment to let me know how this maddness is happening.  I'm fascinatined. 

Thirdly..People.. take my poll! It's right over there ----->

Fourth, University has started!  My language and culture courses have now finished and my free time at the end of the weeks to travel has been returned.  I received an A in my language course, which made me extremely excited.  Germans don't really give As; perfection is not as easily attained/believed in here.  It isn't a bad thing, it's just truly a different system.  Often, in university, it is said that if you receive an A, you are to be on the same level of knowledge as the professor.  So, as you can imagine, not many As are given.  My language course was slightly different; it wasn't true University.  But still, I was proud of my little A, or should I say "1".  The German grading scale is on a number system 1-5, 1 being excellent, 5 being failure.  It basically is the same as our A-F scale.  1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D, 5=F.  However, in the elementary system, you can go as low as a 6, so like basically "super" fail.  What a harsh beginning.  Tough love I suppose.  Ohhh Germans.  How they crack me up.  (actually, their whole grading scale changes depending on which level of school you're at.. but seriously, we're not going to go into all of that right now.  Clearly one system from beginning to end isn't sensible enough... hmm..) But yes. University started.  I only have three courses at the moment (such a hard life, I know!).  Currently I'm taking American 21st century novels, Project Europe: Social, political, and economical aspects of European integration from the early Modern Age until today, and a German conversation course.  Each class (except the conversation course) are 6 hours per week, and for me all on Monday through Wednesday.  It sounds like I have way less than at home, but keep in mind I just finished 130 hours of German language course and then culture course as well.  Don't worry, I'm doing the same if not a little more than at home.  So far the courses don't seem too bad.. the Project Europe class was actually cancelled on the first day, so can't complain there.  The novels class seems interesting enough, however just like all other english lit classes, slightly boring at the same time.  I'm craming books into my brain for the course left and right, but at least the novels are enjoyable.  I just finished thenovel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonnathan Foer.. READ IT! It was awesome.  The author really has a way with words which I've never seen before, and the book is full of random little facts about the world which are seriously fascinating.  Just.. read it.  Ok thanks :)  The next book on the list is 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs.  To be
totally honest, I'm not excited to read it at all.  But maybe on my next blog I'll be ranting and raving about that book and begging you all to read it.  You never know.  But yay for book recommendations?

Ok enough of that.

I went to the Netherlands!  Friday at around 4 pm my friends and I boarded a train to the Netherlands with about five stops inbetween.  Well, turns out we arrived to the most vital of those 5 stops a little late and missed our main train to Amsterdam by about 30 seconds.  Due to a policy that if the train system makes you late and it is THEIR fault, they MUST give you a new train route to get you to wherever you're going.  Well, by the time we arrived in Cologne and missed our train it was already 9 pm, so finding a direct train was out of the question until the next morning.  So, we got a new route with about 4 new in between stops.  Ughhhh.  That sucked so bad.  We ended up traveling for approximately 9 hours for a trip that with a car should only have taken four hours tops.  We got to our hostel around 3 in the morning, and found that it was basically a total dive.  In a way, I can't complain completely.  It was the cheapest by far and we were the penny pinchers who weren't willing to shell out for a better place, but hot damn.  Our hostel room had 20 people in it, and naturally since it was the Netherlands, half of them were smelling skunky and in their own little worlds.. and we'll leave it at that.  Aka, I slept only about four hours the first night and we didn't go back until late Saturday night; avoidance of the hostel was key.  It was also about 30 minutes south of the city of Amsterdam on the coast of the North sea.  The beach was only about 100 meters from the hostel front door.. but it's cold out still, so it wasn't that great of a perk.  But oh well.  It worked, and I didn't have to sleep in a train station.  This alone makes me consider it a success.

Saturday, after the crazy night of travels, we hazily climbed down from our full-sized matress bunk bed (lovingly known as the death trap) and scooted out of the hostel to the Keukenhof gardens.  Ok now let's back up a year or so to room 521 in North Bergstrom dorms at my home university where my roommate and I were going through my "1,000 Places to see Before you Die" calendar.  We came across a picture of the Keukenhof gardens and both were immediately engrossed in the idea of wandering through the tulip fields, frolicking a tad if the mood found us.  I had always wanted to see the tulip fields even before I found the calendar photo, but this alone instilled a further drive in me.  And now, flashing back to last weekend, it was fulfilled.  I quite honestly am not entirely sure how to portray the garden in words, but I felt as though every sense in my body was alive and over whelmed.  Maybe I was in a tulip a-coma?  I'm not sure.  Hold on, let me find a thesaurus to further assist me on this description.
They were..

alluring, beauteous, exquisite, fascinating, magnificent, marvelous, ravishing, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, taking, impressive, lavish, drop-dead, pleasing

Hmm.  Well.  Still not efficient to describe how I feel about them, but maybe the photos will help. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ok, so I know that was a TON of photos.. but I couldn't resist.  Here are the rest..

https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/StephInAmsterdam?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSDts2ZisC05AE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110410?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrO9ZuoiomNYg&feat=directlink

(they're divided into two different albums this time)

But yeah! Those are the gardens.  The one set of pictures is from the "inside" garden where there are thousands of different types of tulips and other flowers all growing in this huge glass hall.  It was excellent.  The park also had a windmill and petting zoo as you can see.. so it was a good time in many aspects.  I added to my charm collection on my necklace there with a charm of a dutch clog..
Home is where the heart is, Sweden = horse, France = Eiffel tower, Netherlands = Dutch Clog

Yep.  So after taking a short nap on the lawns of the gardens (totally allowed, don't worry..) we headed into the city of Amsterdam via bus and train.  It was already 3 pm so we didn't have a ton of time to spend in the city, but we still managed to make a tour of Anne Frank's house.  The museum there is really well set up and totally worth the 8 euro entrance fee.  It was really quite gripping to stand in the place which they lived in hiding for months upon months with no sunlight, no chance to witness life going on around them, and the feeling of their lost hope.  I really enjoyed the fact that musuem emphasized the life of her sister, Margot, as well.  She is often forgotten in the story of Anne Frank, but she also wrote a journal and was just as great of a person as Anne; only difference, her journal was never found.  The walls inside the museum are also filled with quotes from the diary which are so deep and profound.  The fact that such a young girl could write and feel such extreme and heavy sentances that most adults could not put together after 40 years of knowledgable life made me really understand the extent to which she was suffering.  Granted, she wasn't physically tortured or hurt until she reached the concentration camps, however, she was mentally suffering months before her capture.  She actually died only one month before the ending of the camps and the release of the prisoners.  She gave up on life after losing both her mother and sister to the camp.  It really was a tragic story.  I'm glad I went to the museum, depressing as it ended up being.  I learned a lot; not necessarily facts, but I gained an insight on the situation.  I definitely must say, if you're going to Amsterdam, you must go to the Anne Frank Museum.  And also, stand in the line.  It may seem like hours long, but it moves faster than one would think, and it also is worth the wait.


So yes.  Unfortunately, due to my extremely short experience of Amsterdam, I can't really give you all that much of a cultural synopsis or insight.  I was literally in the netherlands for 29 hours due to the train mix up.  However, from what I saw, there are a ton of canals, row houses, and bikes.  There are literally bikes everywhere.  Never have I ever seen so many bikes in my entire life.  I really would have loved to have rented a bike (popular opportunity) if we hadn't been so short on time.  It literally has to be the biker's capital of the world.  Heck, my tourist tshirt has a bike on it.  So clearly its a big deal.  In Amsterdam if you don't have a bike, you're nothing.  Nothiiiiing!! (Ok, I may be slightly dramatic, but seriously people.  It's a cultural must..)

They also have a lot of canal boats, or like mini yacht things to go down the canals.  It was mostly men I saw driving them, which made me wonder if there is an underlying "my boat is bigger than your boat" personality complex with the Dutch.  Hmm.  I did see some coffee shops throughout the city (this is were the famous legalized marijuana is sold in the Netherlands).  I did not embrace that part of the culture because as we all know, drug free is the way to be! Alright! Yeah!  Anyway. But hey.  I saw them, so I can at least say I witnessed the culture from afar.  The only thing I did not see of the typical "Amsterdam Experience" was the red light district due to me being there during the daylight hours.. but ok, let's be real.. I do not believe that the red light district would necessarily be something there to meet my, 20 year old American girl's, entertainment needs.  Enough said!  Ok so now that we're done with all that awkward crap.. here are the photos!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well, there you have it folks.  The update for the Netherlands.  Tomorrow I'm headed off to Strasbourg, France to see the EU Parliament and whatever else there is in the near by surroundings.  Until next time..

Wherever you go, go with all your heart
                                             -Confucius