We are being invaded by the NAZIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day started out ordinarily enough. It was partly cloudy as we looked out our window at the buildings of Weimar, anticipating our day of sightseeing. We had no idea what sights we would actually see that day. Upon stepping out onto the street, we saw the first signs of what would soon take place. The streets were the same as the night before with one exception. . . they were covered with Police. Police in blue cars, police in green cars, police in black uniforms, police in green uniforms. Before long Chris and Greg were stopped by a group of police and asked for their identification. (By the way, you must know that Chris and Greg looked very suspicious with their black coats, dark pants, and full black beards.) Fortunately, Frau Lazda and Frau Thaens came to the rescue and explained to the police that we were a harmless group of students on a class excursion in Weimar. We soon found out that there was supposed to be a huge Nazi demonstration later that day. There would also be an Anti-Nazi protest with the intent of not letting the Nazis march through the historically and culturally important city of Weimar.

As soon as we heard about the demonstration, we had the typical stupid tourist reaction. . . "Ooooh, a Nazi demonstration let's go watch it!" At one o'clock we headed down to the demonstration sight. We watched as hords of police in their riot gear prepared for the demonstration. Hundreds of people filled the streets, a drum chor all dressed in white roused the people. The energy filled the air as the anti-Nazis filled the streets and decorated each other with "No Nazis" stickers. Naturally, we joined in the excitement. After all, protesting the Nazis was definitely a worthy endeavor. We waited, clapped along, and marched with the protestors. However, the Nazis had given a four hour window for when they would be demonstrating. After about an hour, we got bored. I guess we weren't die hard anti-Nazis. We wanted to see more of Weimar and do some shopping. I know, pretty lame. It was a really cool experience anyway. I can definitely see how people can get caught up in riots and demonstrations without really knowing what they are demonstrating about. The energy and emotion is overwhelming!

Later in the evening, when we needed to catch our train back to Wittenberg, we discovered that the entire train station was blockaded by three solid lines of Police and dogs. They didn't want anything to happen in the train station. We weren't really sure what to do, but Frau Thaens wasn't afraid! She marched right up to the first line of Police. You must picture for a moment a tiny 5'2" blond who maybe weighs 100 lbs marching up to the big burly, stern police clothed in black riot gear. Apparently, she explained that we were harmless students from Wisconsin in Weimar only for a class excusion. Meanwhile, Greg borrowed Laura's colorful scarf that she had just bought and wrapped it around his beard. (He had been stopped two times that day and asked for ID and asked what he was doing in Weimar and we didn't have time for him to be stopped again.) Soon a tiny gap in the police wall opened up and we were permitted to squeeze through. The same thing happened at the next line of police. Finally, we made it to the last line of police. A police in the last line told Chelsea to do something, but she didn't understand it. He then proceded to yell the same word at her, but the yelling really didn't clarify what the word meant. Luckily, Frau Lazda heard it and told her that she needed to remove the "No Nazis" sticker from her jacket. Upon hearing this, I quickly removed my sticker as well. Once we were through the last line the dogs started barking at us. Oohh, I am sure glad that the police were holding those dogs. Finally, we were able to board the train. One more sweep of the train by the police and we were on our way. And so concludes my adventure with the Nazis!

Moral: Don't take the trains on Easter Monday!

Picture this - one German on my left, one German on my right, a German directly across from me, and another German literally squeezing his way through to get to the bathroom. Keep in mind that Germans eat lots of cheese, sausage, and garlic and they usually don't shower daily. That was the scene for six hours on Easter Monday!

The first train was the worst. The only place to stand was by the bathrooms and there was a constant steam of people trying to squeeze through to get to the bathroom. While we were enroute, one bathroom got plugged. Mmmmm, that was pleasant. Let me tell you, the air was laden with all kinds of smells and the sound of "Entschuldigung, Entschuldigung" (excuse me) every where, as people fell all over each other whenever the train stopped, sped up, slowed down, turned a corner, etc.

The next train started out not so bad. There were still lots of people standing and sitting in the aisles, but at least we had a place where we could sit on the floor with our backpacks in our laps - pretty posh! Well, that luxury only lasted for about 30 minutes. After that, we no longer had space to sit, but had to stand once again. Every time the train stopped more people piled in, and no one ever seemed to get off! Before long, the second train was almost as packed as the first. After six hours of being jammed between people and luggage, all the while trying to stay upright, we finally arrived in Leipzig. Unfortunately, our train was 40 minutes late. Therefore, we had missed our connection in Wittenberg. Hmmm, that's lovely.

After standing in the solid, unmoving wall of people for awhile, we finally found a train schedule. We found a train that went to Halle. It was a little out of the way, but from there we could catch a train to Wittenberg. We looked at the platform number. . . 15. Then we looked at the time. . . the train left in two minutes. We darted as quickly as we could through the mobs of people over to platform 15. The train was still there! We frantically pushed the button to open the door, found a seat, and breathed a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long, as we soon realized that we were the only people on the train. Ummm? We did find a lady in another car and asked her if this train went to Halle. She said, "No, but the train that just left from platform 14 was going to Halle." So, there we were, sitting on an empty train, while our train pulled away! O.K. on to plan C. As we were going back to look at the train schedule we saw a strassenbahn that was going to Halle. We ran over there and stepped on just as it was pulling away. Whew! The only problem with the strassenbahn is that it is very slow and stops at every single little dinky train stop. Because of the snail like pace, we missed the train that we were planning on taking from Halle to Wittenberg. When we got to Halle we found yet another train schedule and found a train that was leaving . . . in 30 seconds!!!! Fortunately, the Halle train station was not nearly as crowed, so we were able to break into a full run towards platform 4. As we ran up the stairs to the platform we were excited to see that the train was still there. I pushed the button to open the door and . . . the train pulled away! Nooooo!!!

O.K. back to the train schedule. The next train to Wittenberg left in one hour, so we decided to get some supper and chill in Halle. Three hours after our expected arrival, we finally arrived in Wittenberg. That is why you should never take the trains on Easter Monday!

Religion

This blog is going to make several generalizations about Germans. Not all Germans are like the people that I am about to portray. However, I have found the following to be true more often than not.

Religion is a very interesting topic to talk about in Germany. Germans tend to be very oppinionated, they think their oppinion is always correct, and they love to debate! Sometimes this fact can get irritating. However, it makes it possible and easy to talk to Germans about religion. In general, Germans love to debate about religion and politics, so they will not be offended if you bring up the topic. Whether they actually take what I say to heart is a whole different matter, but that's up to the Holy Spirit. I have discovered through many discussions with Germans that the German attitute toward religion tends to be very superficial. Many people will tell you that they are evangelical or catholic because they have been baptized and confirmed. However, they will go on to say things like, "God is in everything, It doesn't matter which God you believe in, or Jesus was just a good example, not a Savior" My host mom has both said that she is Evangelical and an Athiest. She is not sure what will happen after she dies, but she thinks that maybe she will be reincarnated. It is really sad to talk to so many people who claim to be "Evangelical," but who have no clue. At the same time, I am thankful for the opportunity to share the wonderful reason for my hope.

I think that the government might have something to do with the superficiality of religion. Everyone in Germany has to have a religion. When we applied for our temporary residence permits we had to list our religion right along side our nationality and date of birth. Apparently, everyone has to pay a church tax to the religion of their choice. Those who don't pay the church tax can't have their babies baptized, can't get married in the church, and can't have a funeral service in the church.

I have also had several Germans tell me that their beliefs are in their hearts. Their belief is their private business. Therefore, they see no need for churches. This attitute explains the empty churches with the majority of attendence by people over 60.

Ärgerliche Wörter! (Annoying Words)

It annoys me to no end when I have to use multiple words to say one word. For example:

• Es kommt darauf an = It depends
• Tut mir leid = sorry
• Ich kann mich nicht daran erinnere = I don't remember.

Lieblings Wörter! (Favorite Words)

• Stimmt! - True
  This word is especially fun when Adam says it in his low boisterously convincing voice, or when one Americanizes it and says, "Stimmt das!" (True that!)
• Genau - Exactly
  People use this word all the time! Particularly one of our professors.
• Heimsprachiger - a male whose first language is the native language of the country.
• Hauptfacher - a daragatory term we made up for anyone who has a German major. Hauptfach = Major
• Schicki Miki - A female who is very high maintenance.
  A personal favorite of mine just because it sounds cool.
  
• English words that the German's use because they honestly think we use them.
• For example - Beamer for Projector and Handy for Cell phone.

Americans

It is always interesting to me to find out what the German people think of Americans. Most of what I have discovered is very sad!!!!! Here's a list of the things that many Germans think about when they think about Americans.

Americans

• Are overweight
• Go out in limos every night and party
• Meet famous people regularly
• Drive pick-up trucks
• Are loud and abnoxious

Blood Anyone?

Germany has provided many new experiences for me, including Blood Sausage!!!! Yeah, that was my experience for the week. Every evening we have bread, meat, and cheese for supper. There are always many different types of meats and cheeses to try and I love trying new things. The other night I saw this new meat type thing on the plate and decided to try it. It tasted pretty good. When I was half way done with the meat and bread I asked my host family what kind of meat it was. My host mom just smirked and said, "Ah, das ist blutwurst. (Oh, that is Bloodsausage). Then she proceeded to tell me that it was made out of pigs blood, and it had chunks of pigs fat and ham in the blood. I really wished that I would have asked after I was finished eating the sausage. After I knew that I was eating pigs blood and chunks of pigs fat, it really did not slide down my throat all that well. Mmmm Mmmm. I can't wait to see what's on the plate tomorrow night :-)

Making Cookies in Germany

Making cookies in Germany! Oh what fun! Yesterday, Laura and I decided that we needed to make some good old American Chocolate Chip cookies for our host families. The cookie adventure started at the grocery store. We are constantly being told to blend in because Americans can be targets for terrorism. Well, I don't think we blended in very well standing in the grocery eisle with our German-English Dictionary trying to figure out what little package was baking soda. It turns out that the dictionary didn't help us, but the package that said something about baking, cleaning, and other household uses looked promising. We ended up getting that one and it was indeed baking soda. Yes!!!!! We were also not able to find chocolate chips, but the Germans have plenty of amazing Chocolate bars that can be cut up into small chunks for some pretty delectible cookies. Then back to Frau Roming's house. Our next task was to convert our recipe into mililiters, grams, and degrees centegrade. As we were working on the conversions, Frau Roming dug out some U.S. measuring cups that a previous student had brought. Whew! That task was just made a whole lot easier!

Now for the making of the cookies. Lisa, Erik, and Frau Roming were all eager to help. The fact that they all washed their hands by rinsing them under water made me feel a little uneasy, especially when Erik started stirring the cookie dough with his hands! However, I was soon able to forget about how gross it was and just enjoy the experience.

You should have seen it - five people all talking German and excitedly reaching in the bowl to taste the different stages of the dough and eating the chocolate as fast as I could cut it up. It was a blast! Frau Roming was hilarious. She kept saying how unhealthy the cookies were because she saw how much butter and sugar we put in them, but she kept eating the dough. Even when she said she had a somach ache she kept eating the freshly baked cookies.

While the cookies were baking we all played UNO. The Romings learned how to play UNO and Laura and I learned the German words for reverse, skip, draw three, and wild. Much fun was had by all. So, next time you make chocolate chip cookies, you should really talk German, eat lots and lots of cookie dough and chocolate chunks, and end the day happily - with a stomach ache maybe, but happily none-the-less.

Oh the Things I've Learned!

• It is entirely possible to take German for three and half years and still not understand a word of German when real Germans speak.
• At German parades, almost everyone on the floats is drinking beer.
• At German parades, they not only throw candy. They also cover the crowd in shredded paper, hand out liquor, and pass out sausage.
• Do NOT dry to hop on and off trains with lots of luggage unless you intend to provide much entertainment.
• If you want an abundance of dirty looks, use two paper towels to dry your hands in a public restroom.
• Since all of the doors are always shut, a closed bathroom door means nothing. If you don't want someone to barg in on you, lock the door! Yeah.
• Every time I turn around, it is time to eat again. Good thing I have a 30 minute bike ride to and from school every day.
• Aldis is not a place to buy bulk food, rather it is a specialty grocery store where all the wealthy Germans can buy small amounts of food for a high price.
• Germans don't pass food unless they absolutely can not reach what they want.
• It is perfectly acceptable to reach across the table, stab an olive with your fork, and eat it.
• It is not polite to put either of your hands under the table during a meal.
• Germans spend the entire meal with their fork in their left hand and their knife in their right hand.
• I get along really well with 18 mo. olds. They can't speak very much and neither can I. When adults talk to 18 mo. olds, I can actually understand what they are saying because they speak slowly and clearly an use simle words.
• I am learning to question everything that I did without thinking in America.
• In spite of a little culture shock, I love Wittenberg.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, KINDNESS CAN EASILY BE COMMUNICATED WITHOUT SPOKEN LANGUAGE!

Germany Experiences

Wow! Germany. This has been a week of new experiences! On the plane we tried to understand the announcements, and we "read" a German newspaper (actually it consisted more of looking at the pictures and trying to guess what the headlines said.) Karen Gallaher and her adorable daughter, Kirsten picked us up at the airport and took us to their home in Kindsbach. On the way we saw the commonplace sights of cute little houses on the rolling country side and a few castels. Amazing! Today Laura and I walked around Kindsbach feeling rather blatantly American. I also said my first word to a German in Germany. Yup you should pretty amazed with my skill. I whipped out the word "Hallo" Pretty cool huh! Yeah, I'm going to die this semester, but it will be fun :-)