A Very German Thanksgiving

Alright, I'll admit it. For the first time since I have been here I got homesick. Not the "aw gee, I really miss sleeping in my own bed" homesick but the ugly crying "WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" homesick. It wasn't pretty. Why might you ask? Because Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holiday celebrations and the reality of not celebrating it with those nearest and dearest to my heart really hit me hard. I had been mentally preparing myself for this moment since the beginning of the month of November but ah I missed my Hoosier Home. 

BUT there is a happy ending to this story:  those tears were replaced by smiles and laughter due to the most joyous Friendsgiving I have ever celebrated. Oh yes, and I got to eat not one but TWO Thanksgiving dinners. Win. 

It all started on Thanksgiving Day: I worked all day at school with the kiddos and even though Germans do not celebrate Thanksgiving (they have a similar holiday in October but it's not as nationally recognized), my 7th grade class was completely entranced by this holiday.  After explaining the significance of it and sharing some of my own family traditions, I taught them all how to make "Turkey Hands" by tracing their own hand on a sheet of paper and then writing what they are thankful inside of the "turkey."  The responses were adorable.  They were thankful for everything from "french fries" to "living in a land where there is no war."  I was a bit nervous before doing this activity because I didn't know if they would fully understand it but I was absolutely blown away. 7th graders are the best. 

After I got out of school, I ran home, packed up my stuff and jumped on the train to Frankfurt!  On the way there, I bumped into a fellow Fulbrighter who was also on her way to Frankfurt to celebrate Thanksgiving as well! Small world :)  I was greeted at the train station in Frankfurt by my friend who is not only a Fulbrighter but is ALSO an IU Alum AND was in the sorority that was across the street from mine!  Even smaller world.  We spent the evening at a beautiful dinner hosted by our American friend and her German boyfriend (she's also a Fulbrighter, duh).  It was a fabulous evening meeting new German friends, sharing Thanksgiving traditions with them and sipping on delicious wine! Yum. 

The next day my IU friend and I had planned on waking up early in order to check out the Frankfurt Christmas Market before going grocery shopping and preparing our OWN Thanksgiving dinner. We overslept. No Christmas Market BUT we did get all of the grocery shopping done.  With the help of some tasty champagne mixed with elder plant and raspberries, we spent the rest of the afternoon chopping, mashing, and basting. The end result----> the most delicious Friendsgiving dinner. Ever. Mmmm I am still dreaming about that gravy. 

Our feast 

There was a quick moment of panic during the baking of the turkey (who we named Prince George William Charles II or something like that lolz) -- German ovens aren't exactly equipped for roasting 13+ lb. birds and at one point when we were basting the turkey, the baking rack crumbled under the weight sending the bird flying toward the ground. NOOOO!!! Luckily, there were 4 of us huddled around the oven and one of us had a towel so we pushed that baby back into the oven. Whew! Crisis averted.

Moments before the almost Turkey catastrophe 

Our second Friendsgiving was even more international than the first one with friends from Germany, America AND Great Britain, with everyone bringing their own dish. It was lovely! 

Before we dug in to the feast, keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, we went around the table and, one by one, said what we were especially thankful for this year.  I couldn't help but tear up when it was my turn -- the amount of blessings I have had this year is sometimes overwhelming.  My heart is full.

We spent the rest of the evening laughing, sharing stories, eating turkey and drinking Apfelwein to our hearts content: a very Frankfurt Thanksgiving. I will cherish those memories for my entire life, I know it!

The next morning we woke up to the Thanksgiving aftermath: SO MANY DISHES. Seriously, Thanksgiving is hard work!  So much strategic planning and timing. So much respect for my dear Mom who has orchestrated this production for the past years.  You da woman! After tidying up a bit, we hit the road and finally made it to the Christmas Market!  I met up with one of my buddies who I studied abroad with in Freiburg who is now living in Frankfurt and then caught the afternoon train back to Kasselfornia. 

My friend Chuck who I studied in Freiburg with! 

All in all, Friendsgiving 2013, although not the same as an Indy Thanksgiving, was everything Thanksgiving should be: a warm celebration filled with good friends, laughter, and tasty food. 

My fellow IU alum! 

Party in the DEU

I thought I would shed some light on my extracurricular activities: one of them being a look into the German party scene. Is it like in the movies? Does everyone drink beer out of Das Boot? Do they party in Lederhosen and Dirndls 24/7? Is every day like Oktoberfest?  I will answer all of these questions and more… ja, prosst! 

First stop---> Halloween Parties

Being as Halloween is mostly an American holiday, one would think that Germans don't partake in the yearly festivities. WRONG. Trick or treating? No way. Partying 'til the wee hours of the morning in crazy/ridiculous get-ups? YES.  And they take it very, very seriously.  This Halloween, I was invited to a pre-game with some German friends and was told that we would be going to a party hosted by the University in our town a bit later.  After a few solid hours of pre-gaming, we made our way to the Halloween party.  On the way there, I found out that we all needed a "ticket" to this party -- kind of like a cover charge (they cost 4Euros) -- but my friends assured me that I could buy one at the door, no problem. After a crazy tram ride packed to the gills with fellow party goers singing German drinking songs and passing around bottles of mysterious colored liquor, we got to the party. Whew. Aaaaand then we saw the line.  The crowd of people waiting outside of the building almost reached the tram stop station which was 50 yards or so away. Yikes!  We made our way through the crowd and overheard annoyed voices saying that the party was already at capacity… umm wut?! It was true.  SO many students had bought tickets to this party that it had actually sold out a day beforehand and there were no more tickets to be had -- if you wanted to go inside, you had to wait for someone to leave -- "one out, one in" if you will. Realizing my chances of getting into this party before it was over were dwindling, my friends grabbed me and told me to just get into the middle of them (there was a group of about 10 of us) and keep walking through the security check-point….  And thus began attempt #1 of getting into this Halloween party:

1. "Force your way in"

Spoiler alert: it didn't work.  First of all, this party was inside a huge building which is actually used by the university.  There was a chain-link fence set-up around the building with an opening on the side for people leaving the party manned by 2-4 rotating security guards.  The main entrance was manned by 8. As soon as my friends huddled around me and tried to push me through, we realized we would all have to walk in between the gauntlet of security guards armed with flashlights, checking our purses and our tickets.  The guards pulled me out immediately and asked for my ticket. Ugh. 

2. "But I bought one, seriously!"

At this point, I figured pretending I had bought a ticket and just misplaced it was my best option.  I kept repeating that I had it somewhere, I just knew it! One of the security guards was nice enough to help me look in my purse with his flash light but the entire time my mind was racing because this "lost ticket" we were searching for didn't exist. Ahhhh!  Suddenly, my friend bumps me, walks in front of me, shows the security guards her ticket, then quickly does a pass-back and voila! I suddenly found my ticket! It was in my pocket the entire time! Gee! (WHEW)

3. "Someone already took it."

Our celebrations of sneaking me into the party were short-lived: there was a SECOND security check-point.  This time manned with 3 students, 2 of which were ripping tickets/stamping wrists, 1 who was handing out shots to those wearing costumes, and additionally 1 security guard checking for those precious stamps.  I could feel all of the color draining from my face. What did I get myself into? My friends pushed me to the front of the line and once again, said to just KEEP WALKING.  And I did, until I was almost clothes-lined by the security guard checking for stamps.  I turned around immediately and stuck my wrist out, hoping that the girls taking tickets and stamping wrists were just blindly doing so: they weren't.  They snapped their heads to me and asked me where my ticket was? Uhhh what do you mean where's my ticket? I made it through the first check-point didn't I? I HAD one… Oh… that's right…. one of the security guards at the front entrance already took it! Yeah!…. They didn't buy it. The student (who was male) who was pouring shots took me outside to the first check-point and asked me to point out WHO exactly had taken my ticket. Gulp. At this point, I was in too deep. I had to keep going with my story. 

4. "I lost it on the path!"

Now- the distance from the first check-point to the second one was about 50 yards give or take. It was also outside, among a few trees and as soon as you got inside to the ticket-taking/stamping station, it was packed with people. So definitely an opportunity for someone to lose their ticket, right? WRONG.  No one believed me.  The nice security guard who helped me look for my ticket earlier assured the guy who took me outside that I did indeed have a ticket, he had helped me find it and I should be allowed to go inside. ENTER mean neck-tattoo security guard. He walked up and told the guy from inside that he remembered me and that he didn't believe my story for a second, that it was my friends who probably passed back a ticket to me and that I should be thrown out of the party. Uhhh, excuse me Mr. Neck-tattoo Guy but what? The one and only female security guard piped in, saying that I was a foreigner (I was corresponding with them the entire time auf Deutsch and have an accent) and should be allowed to go in and party with my friends. YES! Thank you! Girl power! Women need to stick together! Neck-tat wasn't having it. His response? "Foreigner or not, she's not getting into that party." Hmpf. 

5. The "great" disguise

After officially begin banished to the sea of people waiting for a chance to get into the party, two of my friends came out and came up with yet ANOTHER plan to get me in.  This time we tried to recreate the stamp they had gotten on their wrists. By the time we finished, my wrist was wet from saliva and raw from scribbling what didn't initially transfer with a very dull ballpoint pen. I then took my hair down, switched coats and scarves with my friend and made my way to the side-entrance BUT Neck-tat was there. NOOOOOO. To the front-entrance it was.  My friends told me, once again, JUST KEEP WALKING. Don't make eye-contact. Hold your wrist up. Go. It didn't work. I walked through the first security guard and then Neck-tat miraculously appeared, grabbed me and personally made sure that I was thrown out of the party once and for all. 

Moral of the story: don't mess with German party security (especially when said security is decked out in neck tattoos) and always buy a party ticket. Oh and my German friends are the sweetest for trying all of those crazy different ways to get me into the Halloween party. Haha! 

Knock, knock. Who's there? DIE POLIZEI.

A few weeks ago, one of my American friends was visiting me for the weekend and I wanted to show her a bit of Kassel night-life.  We met up with some of my german friends to pre-game before we headed out to the party. There were about 10-12 people at the pre-game and we were at my friend's apartment. She lives on the 4th floor of her complex and most of her neighbors are NOT college kids… anyway, so we're having a great time. Singing and dancing and enjoying the evening when all of a sudden we hear a knock… At first we think we're just imagining it but there it is again and this time a bit louder. Oh dear.  Last time I was at her apartment we got a similar knock but it was from her middle-aged neighbor in his boxers (only) telling us to quiet down because he had to work in the morning.  We expected it to be the same person…. it wasn't.  I go to the door with her, we open it and are face-to-face with two very tall police officers: one male, one female. (Sheiße!) The officers tell us that they are responding to a noise complaint from one of the neighbors.  My friend immediately says that she told all of her neighbors she was having people over and they all said that would be fine -- the officers say that we must have forgotten about one of the neighbors. Ha!  The officers peak their heads into the apartment and ask what we are doing anyway? We say that we are just celebrating the weekend and will be leaving soon to go to another party.  The female officer says, "See? They even have their windows open! Partying and getting some fresh air at the same time! Looks harmless to me!" Germans (by the way) LOVE fresh air. One of my friends invites the officers to join us for a drink, which they think is hysterical -- the female one says the male officer will gladly accept the invitation but has to work until 7am. HA!  They ended up taking down my friend's information but were generally amused by the whole situation and told us that as long as they didn't get called back we wouldn't get fined. They wished us a good evening and left a few minutes later. Whaaaaaaaat! 

I'm on a TRAM

Two weeks ago I was invited to party on a tram -- those little mini trains that drive through town, similar to streetcars in San Fran. Yeah, so anyway- the way this party worked was tons of students bought tickets (learned my lesson), boarded the tram and drove around the city for a few hours ending in front of a club. Sounds pretty tame, right? WRONG. Since there was no way to construct a make-shift bar on the tram and Germany has no open-container laws, it was pretty much BYOB. My friends and I stocked up for the evening and waited for the festivities to begin. As soon as we hopped onto the tram and reserved a few seats we realized how cramped this was going to be. It was wall-to-wall packed with students, streamers and balloons flying all over the place, and party organizers trying to sell mini-schnapps bottles. We ended the evening in a typical Euro-Discothek with so many high-powered fog machines you could barely see your hand when you put it in front of your face. Good times! 

So to answer the questions at the beginning of the blog: is it like in the movies? Better. Do they drink out of Das Boot? Unfortunately, not as often as one would think. Lederhosen? Dirndls? Only at Oktoberfest/Volksfests :'( Is every day like Oktoberfest? Meaning awesome? YES. With all of the binge-drinking? Thankfully, no. 

Prossit, my friends! 

England, Mate!

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to go to England with a group of teenagers and two teachers from the school I am working with-- the whole process of adding me to this trip went like this:
(my mentor)-"Ulrike, do you have any plans for project week?  We need to find something for Emily to do."
(Ulrike)- "Oh no, I'll be in England for the school trip. Want to join me, Emily?"
(me, completely freaking out but trying to act like I get offered free trips to the UK all the time) "Sure!"

And that's how I got to go on an all expenses paid school trip to England!

The morning of my trip was a bit... overwhelming.  I had to be at the school at 5:45AM to help load up the bus of students so that we could hit the road at 6AM. The only problem was that I am now living in the city next to Rotenburg (Kassel) so I have to commute and the only train that early in the morning arrives in Rotenburg at 5:48AM and then it's a 20 minute walk to the school... uhhh.... I told this to Ulrike (the teacher who organized the trip) and she assured me it wouldn't be a problem. (sigh of relief)
So I wake up at 3:45AM Monday morning to shower, finish packing and walk to the train station to catch what I thought was the 5:07AM train to Rotenburg.  I ended up leaving my apartment 10 minutes later than I wanted to but knew that I would still have a few minutes in order to buy some breakfast/snacks for the long day. And then I realized that I had dropped my scarf and it was at the other end of the block... ugggghhh... I ran to the end of the block, grabbed my scarf and picked up my pace. At this point I still had 15 minutes to get to the strain station- I can do this.  Then there was a creepy hobo having a yelling match... with himself. So I decided to walk on the other side of the street which delayed me a few minutes - okay so now I wouldn't have 5 minutes to peruse the bakery for some treats but maybe 2.  As I'm walking through the train station doors I look down at my watch and see that it is exactly 5:05AM -- do I risk it and run to the bakery right next to my track or do I go straight to the train? I check the train times one more time and see that my train doesn't leave at 5:07AM but at 5:06AM! AHHHHHH! I break out in a dead sprint to my platform, push the button to the train doors, hop on, and no sooner do the doors close than the train starts moving. Whew. It's safe to say that if I would've missed that train, I would've spent the week in Kassel.  There were no other trains, a taxi would've been outrageously expensive and I would've had no way of contacting the teacher to let her know I would be late (she doesn't own a cellphone).

By the time the train arrives in Rotenburg, my heart rate is finally beating at a normal pace, I'm no longer panting and feel a bit more relaxed.  As soon as I walk off the train I notice this guy staring at me- I try to ignore his gaze but he starts walking up to me and says in a thick German accent, "Hello. I'm waiting for you." Ummmm.... what?  He then explains that Ulrike sent him to pick me up so that I wouldn't be late. Yay! When we get to the school I notice that there are TONS of students... and not so many teachers. In fact, there were 44 students (45 signed up but one got sick last minute) to Ulrike, the man who picked me up at the train station and myself. No chaperones. Oh dear, this was going to be an interesting week.

We leave promptly at 6AM and make our way through northern Germany, Belgium, and France.  We finally arrive at our ferry in Calais, France about 10 hours later, settle in on the ferry and enjoy the beautiful weather.  It was the smoothest ferry ride!  The sea was like glass. It took about an hour and a half to make it to the Dover Port in England.  It's incredible to think that people swim that distance!

The place we were staying was like a Chuckie Cheese's on steroids. Very kitschy, but the kids LOVED it!  The staff was so friendly and I ended up getting my very own apartment for the week- YES.

Our first full day in England was spent in Battle, England.  We visited the old battlefield and Abbey- so much history!  The town of Battle was so charming, too!  After touring the grounds, the teachers and I found an adorable cafe and indulged in some tea and crumpets- YUM.  Wednesday was spent in London. WOW.  I am already planning my trip back.  It felt so much like the States which was comforting to me-- it really made me realize how foreign Germany is.  Everyone there was dressed so nicely and had such great accents, too!  It was also nice to experience friendliness and conversations with random strangers again-- Germans aren't unfriendly per se, but they are very reserved and independent. Walking through Covent Garden, seeing Big Ben and going to the Globe Theatre was definitely a dream come true. It was also the perfect London day: chilly and cloudy.

Thursday was spent in Dover, England.  The day was spent exploring the town and in the afternoon we separated into three groups to tour the castle on top of the hill. Incredible!  The English Heritage Society has worked hard to restore the castle to its former brilliance, decoration and all!  I was very impressed.

Thursday night we settled in for the loooong drive back to Germany.  All was well until we got to the ferry-- the weather was so terrible that we ended up coasting around the channel for THREE hours.  I am so thankful I remembered my seasickness pills.  Many of our poor students didn't fare as well. We were all happy when we were finally on solid ground again.

I think the most surprising part of the trip for me was the relationship between the teachers and the students.  The students were given so much free/unsupervised time.  For example, when we were in London, they were given FOUR hours of completely free time and were just told to meet back at the bus at 7PM. Umm, seriously?  44 German teenagers (ages 14-15) in a foreign country?  Not to mention none of them had the phone number of the one teacher who actually owned a cell phone.  I asked Ulrike if she was worried about them and she said "Let's just say it's part of their project for the week-- to make it back to the bus on time!" Well, I guess that's one way to think of it.  I felt kind of like the dad from Finding Nemo when he finds out the teacher is taking his kid to the drop-off. I guess you gotta let them grow up sooner or later?  Definitely a cultural difference there I think.

Regardless, it was a fantastic albeit exhausting week!  Now I have fall break from school but University classes start this week... eeeeh!  And the adventure continues...

September Recap

So not having a regular internet connection is really cramping my blog style. My apologies!  In order to bring you all up to speed on what has been happening during my last few weeks in Germany I'm going to list the highlights -- otherwise this would be a novella. Not kidding.

FREISING VOLKSFEST!
Another awesome weekend of Bavarian songs, beer, food, family and friends!  I ended up meeting up with a friend I studied in Freiburg with along with her boyfriend and uncle who lives right by my German relatives (small world). The worst part of the weekend was lugging the rest of my luggage (50lb+ suitcase plus huge duffel bag) back to Rotenburg.  I found tons of tiny bruises that looked like spider veins on my shoulders and neck the next day.  Needless to say, I wore a huge scarf to school all week. I know how the mind of a student works and I had a feeling they wouldn't buy the "I had to carry heavy luggage home" story. Moral of the story: taxis were invented for a reason.

OKTOBERFEST
INSANE.  This was one of the craziest weekends of my German adventure so far.  I met up with two of my friends who I studied abroad with (the one from the Freising Volksfest and the other one who is also an English teaching assistant) on Friday to do touristy things in Munich.  We ended up eating at the Hofbräuhaus and sat at the same table as some Swiss guys who were celebrating their friend's 40th birthday.  One of them ended up falling asleep at the table... while sitting up... with his chin resting on his hand as if he were just in deep contemplative thought.  Hilarious!

After we ate, we helped my friend pick out an adorable dirndl for the Oktoberfest festivities and then headed back to Attenkirchen where my cousin was putting us up for the weekend.  One of my friend's sorority sister's also came into town for the weekend. The next day was the opening day for the Oktoberfest and complete madness. After watching the parade my three girlfriends and I surprisingly made it into the Paulaner tent and settled in for hours of beer drinking, singing and partying! Around about 4pm you could not move in the tent. SO MANY PEOPLE.  I ended up meeting someone from Indiana and every time I saw him in the tent he would fist pound me and yell "HOOSIERS!" hahaha gotta love Hoosier pride.

Around 5pm we left the overcrowded tent to find my friend's cousin who was in town for the weekend too!  Luckily we found a table at the other Paulaner beer garden right away.  I ended up meeting a super nice couple from Indiana there as well!  Only at Oktoberfest will you make these unbelievable connections.

We left Oktoberfest relatively early -- drinking + cultures from all over the world = recipe for (sometimes) disaster.  Lots of fighting.  A fight broke out RIGHT where my friends and I were sitting literally 30 seconds after we stood up. Once again: craziness. We were happy to get back to peaceful Attenkirchen.

The next morning my cousin made us the traditional Bavarian breakfast: weißwurst and pretzels and weißbier. YUM.
Great weekend!

THE BIG MOVE
The rumors are true: I moved to Kassel!  It's about a 40 minute commute to Rotenburg but it's the closest university city and has a lot more going on than good ole' R-Burg.  I'm staying in a Studentenwohnheim which is basically a dorm.  My floormates come from all over the world: Italy, Hungary, Spain, Brazil etc. So far so good! Classes start on Monday so now I just have to figure out what I am going to take. Ahh college life, I have missed you.

HAMBURG
A few weeks ago I spent the weekend visiting some German friends I made in NYC two years ago. Hamburg was beautiful but COLD.  I definitely did not pack well.  I want to go back when it gets warmer.  It was so great catching up with all of my friends though!  I feel so blessed to have kept in contact with them over the past years. Definitely friendships that will last for life!

FREIBURG
Ahhhh home sweet Freiburg.  I spent last weekend there with my 3 friends who I studied abroad with who are also Fulbrighters.  Being there was like putting on your favorite old sweater: so comfortable and cozy. That city will always have a special place in my heart.  The funniest part of the weekend was our living situation: my friend found us a super cheap apartment to stay in for the weekend right in the middle of the city.  We all were stoked about saving some money and being right by everything, what we didn't expect was for the guy who was renting us his apartment to be so.... interesting.  His name was Phillip and he was definitely a character.  He was maybe in his 50s or 60s and LOVED calling us all by our first names.  I think sometimes he just did it to hear himself speak.  The weirdest part of the weekend was when we were eating breakfast and he asked my friend and I to cut and then butter/put jelly on his bread... umm... okay?  I mean, granted he did have one hand that was crippled but it was still a bit odd. He also asked me to tell him a bedtime story on our last night there... Needless to say, we did not spend a lot of time in the apartment.

Regardless of his quirks, it was an incredible weekend catching up with my friends in one of my favorite cities! It was so comforting to hear that they are encountering the same challenges I am in the classroom as well as in terms of just adjusting to German life. Having them as a support system has meant the world to me.

Alright I think that's enough for now... Enjoy! Stay tuned for my blog on my trip to England with 44 German teenagers and only 2 German teachers. Eeeeh!
Cheerio, mate!

Welcome Mrs. Krauter!

Rotenburg I finally made it!  I will be teaching for the year at the Jakob-Grimm-Schule in Rotenburg an der Fulda, located about an hour and a half northeast of Frankfurt in Hessen.  I arrived on Thursday after finishing up orientation and was greeted at the teeny tiny "hauptbahnhof" (main train station... with 2 tracks! so cute!) by my mentor teacher, Sara.  She immediately took me to my apartment for the month, an adorable studio apartment with a little porch out the back door. We dropped off my luggage and went straight to the school and grocery store.  After a whirlwind tour of the grounds as well as stocking up on Nutella from the local Rewe, I settled into my very own apartment for my first taste of "adulthood." This is so weird.

I started class bright and early the next morning with Sara. I worked with her 9th grade English classes for the day. As soon as I introduced myself as an American, they all freaked out.  There was one boy in particular in the front row who just stared at me... for 45 minutes straight.  I must say, his eye contact was impressive! Something I noticed as I went from class to class was that at least one student in each class, if not more, was wearing something with the American flag on it -- be it an American flag scarf, t-shirt or even shoes.  It always surprises me how ubiquitous the American culture is. The school is much larger than I originally thought -- it is the only school in the area so it has between 1500-2000 students with 120 teachers.  My mentor told me that many of the teachers are young -- so much so that 8 of them were pregnant last year! Whoa!

The school is comprised of students in Gymnasium, Hauptschule and Realschule.  Germany divides their schools differently than in America-- sorting the students into programs best suited to their strengths. They start this process very early on in Germany so that by the time they reach high school they are either on track to go to university or to go into vocational training.

One thing I noticed throughout my first day was that all of the teachers were either referring to me as Frau or Mrs. Krauter.  At first I thought I was just misunderstanding their accent and then I thought maybe this was because I wear a gold band on my right ring-finger (many Europeans wear wedding rings on their right ring-fingers instead of left).  After the third or fourth time this happened, I told them that actually, even though I'm wearing a gold band (which is actually a rosary ring I bought from a nun in the Vatican) I am not married so that means I am "Miss" not "Mrs." Krauter-- as MRS implies marriage.  Of course, this is a huge difference in Germany where they have almost completely gotten rid of their term for Miss (fräulein) so as to be more politically correct.  Even women who are single are still referred to as Frau/Mrs.  Oh cultural differences! Always a source for entertainment!

After working at the school for two days, it is obvious that the students will need a bit of time to get used to my presence.  I tend to make every one nervous because I am a native speaker and they are all learning a foreign language which can be very intimidating and scary at times -- especially when you have an expert in the room!  The funniest thing that has happened so far was in one of the 8th grade classes-- a student asked me if I had ever seen any "stars."  I had to think for a second and then remembered that during the Super Bowl in Indy I saw Neil Patrick Harris.  As soon as I said this, you would have thought I had just offered them all free front row tickets/VIP passes to the next Justin Bieber concert. Who knew German middle schoolers were such huge fans of Neil Patrick Harris?!

On a different note, Rotenburg an der Fulda is beautiful!  All of the buildings in the innenstadt look like a set from Disney World -- the fact that some of the foundations are crooked just add to its charm! I feel like if I were to walk up to one of them and push they would all collapse.  The river that runs through the town, the Fulda, adds even more to this town's charm.  I am a bit sad I will be moving to Kassel to live with fellow college students in a month, but take comfort in the fact that I will still be working here every day. Oh life! How exciting you are! Feeling especially blessed on this chilly fall night.

ps... my apartment is located in the "suburb" area, surrounded by families and is right next door to a little park that is always full of very, very energetic children... who enjoy ding-dong ditching.  I'm more impressed that this is an international pass-time!  Once again, who knew?

Regensburg & Austria & Orientation Oh My!

I'm baaaaack!  The lack of blog posts is certainly not due to my lack of adventures (duh), but rather, internet connection. I finally gave in and bought an internet USB stick because it looks like the next time I will have the luxury of WIFI won't be until I move into my dorm in October... Small German towns and internet cafes don't really go hand in hand... who knew?

Back to the stories! SO- before I left for orientation I took the train from Freising to meet up with my cousin Daniel in Regensburg for the Regensburg Volksfest (similar to an Oktoberfest but just for the town... think State Fair in comparison to County Fair).  First of all: I LOVE VOLKSFESTS!  To me, they are the such a wonderful example of Bavarian joy and culture.  If you ever have the opportunity to go to a Volksfest- GO. Daniel & I started off the night with maß biers (duh) and traditional Bavarian roasted chicken with some bread. YUM.

After dinner we walked to the music tent where a Bavarian cover band was having a concert.  Daniel warned me at the beginning of the night that not a lot of his friends were coming out because they were busy with studies, work, etc. So I expected it to be a pretty chill night... NOT the case at all! Those Bavarians know how to party!  We ended up at a random table of Engineers whose company had reserved the table for their employees.  They had a few extra seats and said we could sit there until their colleagues showed up (spoiler alert: they never did. Yesss!). The highlight of the night was definitely when the band started singing "Amadeus" -- I'm pretty sure I was the ONLY one in the tent who did not know every single word.  At one point in the evening, Daniel had to excuse himself to answer his phone. When he got up to leave, the guys on the other side of the table asked me (in German) where "my boyfriend" had gone?  I quickly responded that he had to answer his phone and that actually, he was my cousin, not my boyfriend.  They both looked at each other and then back at me and said "Gut zu wissen!" (Good to know!) Ha! Those German boys are flirts.  The rest of the evening was jam packed with singing, dancing, drinking and celebrating this awesome event: The Regensburg Volksfest.  If any of you remember Aquafina's campaign a few years ago that showcased people all over the world drinking and enjoying water -- especially highlighting a group of Germans wearing dirndls and lederhosen and "cheers"-ing with liter sized mugs of water -- just replace the water with beer and that was the Regensburg Volksfest.  Everywhere you looked people were wearing dirndls and lederhosen, smiling and laughing and saying "PROST!" What a night. 

The next morning, I took the train back to Freising where Annerl and Rupert were waiting for me to go to Austria for the weekend!  Moments before they arrived at the train station, an ambulance and a set of paramedics pulled up to the front of the train station talking excitedly in German.  From what I could gather-- a woman had jumped in front of the train I had just gotten off of.  Luckily, the train had not gained much speed and the woman more or less fine, just a bit in shock.  "Pray-able" situation, as my Mother would say.  Anyway-- back to the good part. So Annerl, Rupert & I get to Austria around 4pm and the place we are staying at is absolutely idyllic!  The town is called Waidhofen and it is the sister city to Freising (the town in which Rupert works).  Here is the view from my hotel room.

As soon as we got there, we freshened up, changed into our lederhosen and dirndls and went to the city hall where we met the Waidhofen sister city representatives and got ready to go on our night tour of the city with the "Night Watchmen."  The picturesque town, surrounded by rolling mountains,  was breathtaking and for as small of a town as it was, there was so much going on!  They had an Italian market selling delicious wines, cheeses and pastries as well as several street performers (including a group of teenage Austrian boys decked out in Lederhosen performing a traditional line dance).  As we were walking on the cobblestone streets taking it all in among hundreds of people, a woman points to me and asks me in German (with a thick Austrian accent) if I have time for an interview.  I quickly responded that we were on a tour and I didn't think we had time to stop to which she responded (once again in Austrian-German), "it will take 20 seconds." Uhh... okay?  And that's how I ended up on an Austrian TV show. Here's the link... I start talking around the 3 minute mark --> http://www.m4tv.at/news/Einkaufsnacht_in_Waidhofen-2534.html 

If you're wondering what I'm saying-- the reporter asked me how I liked the evening market in Waidhofen and I responded that I liked it a lot and that I'm from America which is very different from Austria.  The differences are the buildings, the colors, the food, everything!  

Annerl, Rupert and I ended our tour of Waidhofen the next day after we drove up to the church on top of the nearest mountain.  What beauty God has created in this region!  I definitely want to go back to Waidhofen someday.  It was a dream.

Now on to the REAL reason I came to Germany-- to teach! Before going to orientation, I met up with 3 of my friends who I studied abroad with in Freiburg who are also in Germany for the year as Fulbright scholars!  We had a blast catching up and walking around Köln.  The dome there was unreal!  SO big and almost intimidating, definitely a sight to see. The rest of the city was different from any German city I've ever been in before- definitely a lot more grey and monotoned.  The overcast weather probably had a bit to do with that as well.  After our night in the "grey city" we met up with over 100 Fulbrighters in the Köln train station and loaded up in the double decker buses to a small town called Maria in der Aue. WOW! Another absolutely beautiful German hotel tucked away in a farming community.  The week was filled with lectures, simulated lesson plans and advice from previous Fulbrighters.  The best part was definitely the last night when we had a talent show.  Everything from Opera performances to Smeagol impersonations. Hilarious! One thing I loved about orientation was discovering all of the connections we had with one another and how small this world truly is.  My roommate for the week was a fellow AOII from Samford University in Alabama and I also met some fellow Hoosiers! We reminisced about IU tailgates and basketball. Ahh sweet Hoosier Nation I do miss you! 

Stay tuned for my first days in Rotenburg an der Fulda as Frau Krauter! 

A day in LA

I feel like I am finally getting over my jetlag... weeee!  On Tuesday, Annerl took me to Freising, an adorable town about 15 minutes away to get my cell phone taken care of as well as eat at the oldest brewery in the world: Weihenstephan!  It was built in 1040. Needless to say, they've had a bit of time to perfect their beer recipe and it shows. Hands down the best weißbier I've ever had! Yum.  I ordered the weißwurst (a traditional Bavarian breakfast dish, "white sausage") with sweet Bavarian mustard and, of course, a pretzel. Delish!  The brewery has been turned into a restaurant/dining hall and is quite charming.  All of the servers wear traditional Bavarian lederhosen and dirndls.  Perfect!

After we ate, we walked around the garden surrounding the brewery and also went back into Freising to look at the rose garden.  Very quant and charming!  We then stopped in the innenstadt for a cappuccino.. Mmm... I could get used to this...

Yesterday Annerl and I decided to drive to LA for the day!!! Alright, we weren't in the Los Angeles, California, but the town, Landshut (its abbreviation is LA) which is one of my most favorite towns I've ever visited!  Beautiful cobblestone streets, a castle on the hill, and home to the highest brick tower in the world as well as the highest church tower in Bavaria. It ended up being an absolutely gorgeous afternoon of shopping, sipping on espresso in the innenstadt, accidentally running into a quite vocal public demonstration against racism and finally ending in a walk around the Landshut Volksfest with a pretzel (duh) and cheese for dinner.

The first time I experienced Landshut was during my very first trip to Germany as an 18 year old.  Ever since then, it has

been a favorite destination of mine.  (As soon as you see the pictures, you will see why)  It truly looks like a fairytale.

And the adventure begins!

GERMANY.  I can't believe I am already back!  What an exhilarating feeling!  The flight over was the smoothest flight I've ever been on, domestic/international.  I had a window seat (score) and sat next to a a hottie from Mexico named Mario who was moving to Germany to be with his wife (bummer) who is German.  Before I go much further, I'll answer the question that you are all DYING to know: what movies did I watch on the plane??!  Breakfast at Tiffany's, Identity Thief and The Lion King.  Needless to say, it was a great flight.

We landed in a rainy and cold Munich but customs was a breeze!  I greeted the official working in the booth by saying "Grüß Gott" (a traditional Bavarian greeting) and he immediately asked why I handed him my American passport instead of my German one. Ha!  Definitely a nice confidence boost to start off my trip.  My luggage was one of the first ones off the ramp and I walked out of the airport, immediately spotting my family who had come to pick me up.  Annerl (my grandmother's cousin who is the same age as my parents) saw me immediately and waved me over.  I walked as fast as I could dragging 2 large suitcases plus a duffle bag and tote bag and collapsed into her arms!  Rupert, her husband, was there too and greeted me just as merrily.  It was a good thing Annerl was there though because Rupert said he hardly recognized me.  He joked that he was about to just grab the next blonde girl who walked out and take her back to Attenkirchen. Haha!

We drove home to their adorable Bavarian village right outside Munich called Attenkirchen (my grandmother also lived here for a time when she was growing up).  Their children, Daniel and Vroni (both in their twenties), had prepared a beautiful Bavarian breakfast for us, complete with giant pretzels (YUM).  We didn't lose any time catching up and planning things to do for the week I'm with them before I depart for orientation.... all auf Deutsch.  Whew! Good thing I had my Dad and Grandmother to practice German with this past summer.

After breakfast and a yummy lunch prepared by Annerl, I decided to turn in early... very early... 5:30pm to be exact.  I was jetlagged, okay?!  It turned out I was extremely jetlagged because I slept until 9:30am... lolz I guess my body needed it.  Today was a gorgeous sunny day.  Feeling refreshed (especially after the cappuccino Annerl made me from her brand spanking new coffee machine) I decided to go for a run.  Attached is a picture of the serene Bavarian country side.  I feel God's presence so strongly here and am especially feeling my great-grandmother's presence.  We called her Schatzi (German for sweetheart) and she was the epitome of the name.  What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to live in the place she and so many of other my relatives called Home.  My heart is at peace.