Greenservations 3: Biomüll

Sure composting exists in the US, but it is not practiced as widely or strictly as it is here in Germany.  Biomüll is all organic waste; fruits, veggies, and some napkins for example.  It’s essentially compost.  Wikipedia say that “From 1990 to 2004, the collection of organic waste in Germany has increased tenfold to 10 million tons / year”.  Man I love Wikipedia, and the Germans.  People in Germany have such a heightened sense of environmental responsibility.  It is just inherently a part of how they live their lives; I wish we had this widespread collective mentality in the states. 

I’m amazed by how seriously the Germans take their waste separations (a post dedicated to that will come later).  In my apartment, we have separate “garbage” cans for plastics, paper, regular waste, and Biomüll.  Those receptacles were listed by order of size, largest to smallest.  That’s right, our largest receptacle is for plastic recyclables, then paper recyclables, and then regular waste and Biomüll are about the same size.  Can you believe that?! Nearly EVERYTHING is recycled or composted here.  And the “garbage men” pick up all of the separated items on a building to building basis. It’s a fantastic system. 

Biomüll separation isn’t just something that you do at your household, waste bins in public places have places for Biomüll disposal also.  At work, we have waste separation bins too!  I was truly astounded by how commonplace and accepted composting is here in Germany.  I mean, I got scolded for tossing my apple core in the regular waste bin (in my defense, it was before I knew where our work Biomüll container was located).  I wonder when composting is going to become this widely practiced in the states?  Is curbside compost pick-up in our near future?  I sure hope so, because it’s a truly brilliant and sustainable concept.  What do you guys think?

Stuttgart!

“Tiki-taki, tiki-taki! Oi! Oi! Oi!”

That was the war cry of this past weekend at the Stuttgart Frühlingsfest.  This past Friday, I hopped on a train and headed down to Stuttgart to visit my Frauen-counterpart Josi.  I had bought the ticket nearly three weeks ago, during my super homesick phase.  I probably over paid, but I was a little distraught, and needed something to look forward to, so I booked a trip to see Josi in Stuttgart.  Homesickness is always eased by having something fun to look forward to. 

I left work after lunch on Friday, headed back to my apartment, threw some necessities in my backpack (I’m terrible at packing), and headed to the Wuppertal Hbf.  From there I took a swanky ICE train to Köln, and from Köln I took a not as swanky intra-city train to Stuttgart.  This was my first experience with a “long” train ride.  The ride from Köln to Stuttgart was about 3.5 hours, with stops about every 45 minutes or so.  Being the champion sleeper that I am, I obviously was able to fall asleep on the train.  It was a slightly paranoid sleep though since Stuttgart was not the final stop of the train.  I had to make sure I was awake in order to get off at my stop.  The train stops at each station for no longer than 5 minutes, so one could easily sleep through where they are supposed to get off the train.  I simply set an alarm on my phone to ensure I would not miss my stop, I'll do anything to get a nap.  

A side note about my train ride.  For this trip, I reserved myself an assigned seat on the train for 4€ each way.  I’m really glad that I did this, because it guaranteed that I had a place to sit (sleep) for my 3.5 hour journey.  Other people who don’t reserve themselves a seat might not be so lucky, and might have to stand for the entire journey.  Of course if a seat is empty you can sit there, but the Germans take the seat reservations very seriously and they will kick you out of their seat. 

I arrived to the Stuttgart Hbf around 7:00 and was greeted by Josi.  Die Frauen were reunited!  We rode the elevator to the top of the Hbf where we were treated to a great view of Stuttgart.  Stuttgart is the 6^th largest city in Germany, and is the home to the European headquarters of Porsche, Bosch, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.  Also, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Maybach are all produced in Stuttgart and nearby towns.  So basically, this city has A BIT more going for them than little old Wuppertal.  I don’t want to admit that I have city envy, but I do… of every city that I visit. 

The Frauen are reunited!

Josi and I left the Hbf and went on a mission to get me a Dirndl, a type of traditional dress worn in Germany (think Sound of Music, or Beerfest).  We found a store, and I fell in love with the first Dirndl that I tried on.  It was destiny.  I will not admit how much I paid, but it is the one big souvenir that I had been planning on getting, so I’m telling myself it’s justified.  I plan on getting a lot of wear out of it, and since it’s UC colored I will most definitely wear it to a football game or two.  After the Dirndl shopping, we headed back to Josi’s place.  She essentially lives in a dorm and has met a lot of international students through living there.  We had dinner with her Mexican friends; it wasn’t Chipotle, but it was still pretty darn delicious.  After dinner we were both extremely tired, so we went back to Josi’s room and chatted and got some good sleep for Frühlingsfest the next day.

On Saturday we woke up, had some Frühstück, and headed to the Hbf to pick up our other Bearcat counterpart Ian.  For those of you that know a little something about my personal life, you know that I was extremely excited to see this man.  The three of us headed back to where Josi and I bought Dirndls so Ian could get some Lederhosen.  We’re such tourists.  After Ian got a pair of Lederhosen that coordinate quite nicely with my Dirndl, we went to a little market to get our haggle on.  Then we had lunch at a traditional German restaurant.  I had Käsespätzel and Bier. Typisch Deutsch.  After lunch, we headed back to Josi’s to get dressed for Frühlingsfest. 

Me with a lion statue. These things are everywhere in Germany, and I love it.

Let me take a moment to explain Frühlingsfest.  Its basically a carnival and a beerfest mixed together to celebrate the coming of spring.  There are carnival rides, food stands, and of course, beer tents.  We were lucky enough to get tickets through an Expats group that Josi has been going to.  Our tickets got us entry into one of the tents, 3 liters of beer, and half a chicken.  Here’s the website to Stuttgart Frühlingsfest if anyone is interested http://www.stuttgarter-fruehlingsfest.de/

I could write forever about how awesome Frühlingsfest was.  It was such an amazing experience.  Everything from the atmosphere, the food, the music, the beer, and the people we met were all spectacular.  We ate, we drank, we danced on tables, we yelled, we laughed, we sang, and most importantly we shared this experience with people we love.  There was an awesome band that played everything from traditional German songs, to popular hits of today.  My favourite was when the band played a mash-up of American 80’s hits such as “Come on Eileen” and “Angel in the Centerfold”.  They even played “Hang on Sloopy”, which we couldn’t believe, and of course we filled in the ever-important “O-H-I-O”.  And of course I took embarrassing pictures and videos.  German festivals are so fantastic.  I hope to attend many more before my time here in Germany is up.

Our tent!

Our group!

My Dirndl!

On Sunday, we lounged around, found a Hamburger stand, and schemed up some more European adventures.  I haven’t really planned that far ahead… but here is what I have so far:

April 27^th – May 1^st : Amsterdam with Josi! Hosted by the lovely Barynia

May 4^th – May 6^th : Munich/Freising to visit Ian and perhaps attend another festival

May 11^th – May 13^th : Chillin’ in Wuppertal

May 16^th – May 20^th : I’m trying to get to London this weekend… but we shall see…

That’s about as far ahead as I can plan.  I really should be more diligent about planning adventures as good as this past weekend in Stuttgart.  Until next time, I leave you with this ever important song:

" Ein Prosit"

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit 
Der Gemütlichkeit 
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit 
Der Gemütlichkeit.

Wuppertal: Meine eigenen Platz!

Two MIA updates in one day?! I bet you all feel precious. 

You are all being treated to another blog post because I’m just absolutely bursting to tell you all about my apartment!  Yes, it’s true, after many weeks of fruitless searching, I have finally found my own place!  I’m already all moved in, and I’m pleased to report that so far, it is perfect.  My apartment is in the Nordstadt of Wuppertal, which is filled with historic buildings and is only a short walk from the Hauptbahnhof, main shopping area, and many bars and restaurants.  My building itself is very old, but it has been newly renovated and has a brand spanking new kitchen and bathroom.  My room was unfurnished, but again, thanks to the kindness of others, I have procured enough to suit my needs.  Inka tracked down a bed, and Franzi (one of my new roomies) had a bedside table and Kleiderschrank (wardrobe) for me to use.  Again, I just want to take a moment to thank Inka for her hospitality for the past 2 weeks, and for helping me find everything I need to get settled in to Wuppertal.  I don’t know what I would have done without her!

Speaking of awesome people, my two new roomies are just that.  I have the pleasure of living with two lovely ladies; Franzi and Anna, both in their mid-twenties, and both studying… get this… ENGLISH!  Even though it is a relief to be able to easily communicate with people in English again, I am trying to stay adamant about speaking as much German as possible.  They both understand the process of living and learning a new language abroad because they have both spent time in the US.  They have already been so helpful and patient with my German.  It’s such an awesome situation because they both know all about grammar, gender, cases, and tenses, and they really know how to teach a language.  It’s better than I could have dreamed of!  And I didn’t even mention the best part about my new place yet… I live with a cat again!  For those of you that know me well, you know what a big deal this is.  Sookie (dangerously close to Snooki…) is Franzi’s little princess, and she is also fantastic.  She and I cuddled last night.  I’m already in love. 

I’m so happy with the way everything has worked out.  I already know that this apartment and these roomies are INFINATELY better than my first option.  Franzi, Anna, Sookie, and I are already getting along fabulously.  Last night we took a trip to Köln and had dinner at a super trendy Italian place Vapiano (it’s also in the States but hasn’t made its way to Ohio yet http://www.vapianointernational.com/vapiano/about/concept/list.html).  We stuffed ourselves full of deliciousness and then retreated back to our apartment where we spent the rest of the evening watching trashy German reality TV.  Yes, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship. 

Pics coming soon!

p.s. My address is Heinrichstraße 9, 42105 Wuppertal, Deutschland if you want to send me goodies or Google Earth stalk me.

Greenservations 2: Pfand Zurück

I know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting another Greenservations post… and I’m sorry it has taken me this long to deliver!  This Greenservations post focuses on the policy of ‘Pfand Zurück’ which literally translates to ‘deposit back’.  Here in Germany, the Government has put in place container-deposit legislation which requires collection of a monetary deposit on soft-drink, juice, milk, water, alcoholic-beverage, and other containers at the point of sale. When the bottle or container is returned to an authorized redemption center, the deposit is refunded to the redeemer.  Deposits can range anywhere from € 0.08 for small plastic bottles to € 0.25 for large, reusable glass bottles.  Remember when I told you all about ‘Kastens’ of beer?  Well a Kasten is a plastic crate of twenty 0.50 liter glass bottles of beer.  An average Kasten of beer costs about 18 euros, and that’s INCLUDING a Pfand of anywhere from 4 to 6 euros! Yes, beer really IS that cheap here.  Unglaublich.

We have a similar policy in the United States, but it is not as widely used and accepted as the Pfand here in Germany.  In the US, we have what are called ‘Bottle Bills’ where in certain states where a bill has been passed, people can get back a deposit for their containers.  There are currently 11 states in the U.S. with container deposit legislation; California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont.  The deposit amount for bottles and containers in the States is no where near as high as in Germany, which might be why not as many people take advantage of it.  The only people you ever see returning cans are the kind, shopping cart pushing bums who clean up the streets of Clifton after a raucous weekend of partying.  The deposits in the states are only 5¢ to 15¢, far less than in Germany when you take the exchange rate into account.  People always see it on their cans, “this can has a 5¢ cash value” or something like that, but they don’t care, or don’t know how to take advantage of the deposit legislation. 

I see many great benefits to Pfand or container deposit legislation.  For one, it truly encourages recycling and serves as a good complement to curbside recycling programs.  Most noticeably in Germany, Pfand reduces beverage container litter along streets, in lakes and rivers, and on other public or private properties.  That is one thing I have noticed about Germany, no where NEAR as much litter as in the US.  Along with that point, places with container deposit legislation in place are less likely to have broken glass on the roads and sidewalks.  It is unarguable that people are going to be less likely to litter when there is monetary incentive to return bottles and containers to appropriate places.  I wonder if deposit legislation will ever become as widely accepted in the US as it is here in Germany…  What do you guys think?

Aachen Adventures!

Hello faithful readers! When I left you last, I was feeling a little bit discouraged about still not having an apartment, but I was excited for my upcoming visit to Aachen.  Well, I’m pleased to report that not only did I have a lovely weekend in Aachen, but I also found a place to live upon returning to Wuppertal! I like to do things chronologically, so first I’ll recap my trip to Aachen.

This past weekend was Easter weekend, or Osternwochenende.  The Germans take their Catholic holidays very seriously, even though hardly anyone is Catholic anymore, so I had both Friday and Monday off work.  Since Inka was going to Berlin to see her family, and I still don’t really have any friends in Wuppertal yet, I decided to hop on a train and head to Aachen.  Both Steve and Shane are co-oping in Aachen, but what’s even more exciting (sorry guys) is that my long lost Norwegian friend Helge is going to med school in Aachen and he lives there as well!  Yay for having friends!

I slept in on Friday, woke up, and made my half hour walk to the Wuppertal Hbf.  I bought my ticket to Aachen for the weekend, as well as my Bahncard 25 and a ticket to visit Josi in Stuttgart in two weekends.  I was especially proud of this because I conducted the entire transaction auf Deutsch, even though it probably sounded awful.  Deutschebahn has very kind and patient employees.  When I arrived in Aachen, I was greeted at the Hbf by Shane and Zach Kramer, who was also staying for a weekend visit.  We headed back to Shane’s place where we were eventually tracked down by a Viking.  That’s right, Helge Rustenberg the Norwegian wonder and I were reunited! We spent the rest of that evening catching up, eating, tossing a couple back, and feeling some much needed friendship.   

Look who I found!

On Saturday, we decided to take a day trip to The Netherlands.  That still sounds so crazy to me, a “day trip” to a different country.  Oh Europe.  Aachen happens to be located right near where Germany borders both The Netherland and Belgium.  We hopped on a bus and went across to Vaals, Netherlands.  There isn’t that much going on in Vaals, but we spotted a crazy looking tower on top of a hill in the distance, so naturally we decided to hike towards it.  When we finally reached the tower, we realized that we had found the Drielandenpunt – the spot where the borders of Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands all meet!  Usually I don’t get scared of heights, but this tower had a cantilever type platform and the floor was SEE THROUGH.  The tower is about 300m high, so it was pretty freaky.

The brave boys.

The Tower!

Sunday, we were invited to have Easter brunch with Susan, an intercultural training expert from the Carl Duisberg Center.  It was so awesome to see a familiar face and talk with her and her family about our German experiences so far.  The food was delicious, but the company was even better.  It’s very nice to know that there are people out there that want us to have the best experience possible.  The rest of Sunday was spent wandering around Aachen.  We went to a cool old house turned museum that was filled with beautiful antiques, and then visited the Aachener Dom. After a day full of walking, we headed back to Helge’s place where we got a Kasten and watched Lord of the Rings Return of the King (extended version, of course).

The Aachener Dom from the outside.

Such an elaborate, tiled ceiling! 

Me and some beautiful stained glass windows.

I headed back to Wuppertal on Monday with only one goal in mind: find myself an apartment.  I had gotten a couple of responses from WG-gesucht over the weekend, so I contacted the most promising.  I went and met with the potential roomies (and potential roomie cat), and they turned out to be fantastic!  The apartment is beautiful; it’s in an old building, but the interior has been newly redone.  The two other girls that live there are both awesome.  They are a tad older than me, but are still studying at the University.  Both of their majors are… get this… English! How perfect!?  So, I will have no problem communicating with these lovely ladies, and hopefully I can really improve my German through living with them.  Meeting Franzi and Anna (and Sookie) was the prefect way to end a great weekend!  You can look forward to a post about my new place after move in this weekend! 

Wupperverband: First Impressions

Today marks the end of my first week of work for the Wupperverbandgesellschaft für integrale Wasserwirtschaft mbH, a Tochtergesellschaft (subsidiary) of Wupperverband. Seeing as that name is A BIT of a mouthful, I’m going to refer to my place of work as ‘Wupperverband’ or ‘WiW’, sound good?  So far, my impression of the company is really wonderful, which is such a relief! I know that this is still just a first impression, but I’m going to be working on some pretty cool projects and I’m very excited! 

My place of work is located on top of a hill, where I have a beautiful view of the Wupper valley!  The building is nice and new with big bright windows so that an entire days work can be done by natural light.  That’s assuming that you have a bright sunny day, which today was not. The office set-up is quite nice.  Each floor basically consists of a long, wide hallway with offices on either side.  Each office has either one or two desks (you get your own desk if you’re important) and the door can be closed, but most people leave them open.  I really like that I’m not stuck in a cube all day!  However I still don’t have a permanent desk yet… so a dingier office might be in my future.  Everything is nice, neat, spacious, and like I said before, very bright!  I think it’s a great atmosphere.  I’ll try to sneak some pictures soon…

The main project that I’m going to be working on is an EU funded project called INNERS which stands for INNovative Energy Recovery Strategies in the urban water cycle.  A full description can be found on the website: http://inners.eu/.  Basically, the project looks at the urban water cycle, and optimizes energy usage in waste water treatment plants.  The goal of Wupperverband is to have an energy neutral (or even energy producing!) waste water treatment plant by 2020!  I had a tour of Wupperverband's largest waste water treatment plant today, and believe it or not it was actually kind of beautiful.  The WWTP is set back in the forest and beside the occasional smell of decomposing organic material, it was really cool to explore.  I’m going to be learning about things like biogas, heat exchangers, and activated sludge.  It’s going to be really challenging because most of the material is fairly new to me, and I’m also learning it in a foreign language.  At least I’ll always be busy at work!

So far everyone that I have met at work has been incredibly nice.  Everyone is very impressed that I am trying to learn German, and they even tell me that I speak it really well (which I KNOW is an exaggeration).  I think that everyone will be very patient with my language learning, I just need to not get frustrated with myself.  I still haven’t met my “real” boss yet as he has been away on holiday.  These Germans love their holidays. I’m looking at a four day weekend because of the Easter holiday – I’m not complaining!

So I bet you’re wondering how I get to my pretty office atop the hill… well, in true German fashion, Inka and I have been biking to work together!  Inka bikes to work pretty much year-round, rain or shine, and since I don’t really know how to say “I’m kinda lazy” yet auf Deutsch, I’ve been biking with her!  I have been borrowing a bike from her neighbors until I can borrow one of my own.  Inka helped me send out an email to all our co-workers asking if anyone has a bike I can borrow for five months.  Within minutes we already had three responses, so I think I will be all set in the bike department! And I was only half kidding about the lazy thing… I actually enjoy biking to work, even though I’m a hot sweaty mess by the time we get to the top of the hill.  But hey, it’s a much needed workout to counteract all the cheese I’ve been eating lately. 

I’m very happy that I found a co-op that fits me so well.  It is truly a relief!  I do have some unfortunate news however.  Remember the WG that I found, and visited, and thought I was all set to move into?  Well it turns out that the other roommates decided they wanted to find someone that will be staying for longer, so I still don’t have a place to live.  Back to the search!  Again, I’d just like to thank my lucky stars that I have Inka who has been ridiculously helpful and welcoming and kind.  I would be in a heap of trouble without her! 

I’m trying not to get too discouraged about things.  I feel like my language is improving little by little, but it is still incredibly frustrating to have the language skills of a 3 year old.  Speaking of 3 year olds… Inka and I went over to our co-worker Catrin’s house for dinner last night and she has perhaps the cutest son in all of Germany.  He’s probably around 4 or 5 years old (and of course can speak better German than me) and he was so loud and funny.  Seeing him hang all over his parents made me really miss mine.  I’ve still been feeling really homesick, but it’s getting better now that I’ve got some concrete things to look forward to.  I am also seriously bummed out that my apartment situation fell through, and that I’m basically back to the start of my search.  Ah, such is life.  So for now, I’m very lucky that I have Inka hosting me at her house, and I will try calling people about WGs throughout the next couple of days.  I’m looking forward to a trip to Aachen this weekend to visit Steve and Shane (other ICP students) and I’m EXTREMELY excited to see my friend Helge!  Helge is from Norway and he was a foreign exchange student at my high school.  He now goes to medical school in Aachen, so I’m going to hopefully meet up with him this weekend!  Also, the UC DAAP students are arriving in the coming week, so I’ve got that to look forward to as well!  And what do you, my faithful readers, have to look forward to?  I’ll be posting about my trip to Aachen, as well as some new Greenservations soon!  Until then, Tschüss!

Wuppertal: First Impressions

After a sleepless night at the backpacker’s hostel, I set off for my new home: Wuppertal. Wuppertal is only a short distance from both Köln and Dusseldorf. The three cities kind of form an upside-down triangle, where Köln is at the bottom, Dusseldorf is top left, and Wuppertal is top right. It only took me about half an hour by train to reach the Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof, where I was greeted by one of my co-workers Inka. I’d like to take a moment and really give a hearty thank you to Inka. If it weren’t for her kindness I’d be even more alone and even more freaked out right now. Inka is letting me stay with her for a week or so until I find a permanent apartment of my own. I seriously don’t know what I would do without this woman. She’s been so nice. And she’s also been speaking only German to me, which, as difficult as it is, is exactly what I need.

My first impressions of Wuppertal have been mixed. It’s very different from Köln in many ways. Köln is the 4^th largest city in Germany with a little over 1 million people whereas Wuppertal has about 350,000 inhabitants. Also, the terrain and layout of the cities are very different. Köln is relatively flat and the city has a nucleus (the Dom, obviously) and it sprawls out in a circular fashion. Wuppertal on the other hand is in a valley, so it is very hilly and the city spreads longwise along the bottom of the valley. I arrived to Wuppertal Hbf on a rainy morning, which made it look even more dreary in comparison to the Köln Hbf. Other differences I noticed right away were not the greatest. Wuppertal appears to be dirtier and less biker friendly than Köln, but this can be attributed to the fact it is less tourist oriented and the terrain is quite different. I’m very intrigued to learn more about Wuppertal, and to form deeper opinions other than just my first impressions.

I’m also very excited to make some German friends my age! I think my first step in achieving this will be moving into a permanent apartment. I think I found an apartment through WG-Gesucht with two German students, a 21 year old girl and 27 year old guy. I visited their apartment on Friday shortly after arriving to Wuppertal. Luckily for my sleep deprived self it was only a short walk from Inka’s house. They both seem really nice and willing to help me with my German. I’m hoping to hear back from them within the next few days! I’ve been feeling pretty lonely ever since I left everyone in Köln, and I’m really excited to make new friends!

Speaking of new friends… I suppose I’ve already made a couple acquaintances. Inka plays volleyball on Fridays with a mixed group of men and women from their late 20’s to 50’s and she was nice enough to invite me along. I was truly amazed at how athletic everyone was. Not only was everyone in really great shape, but they all really knew how to play volleyball. Everyone was setting up plays and having great rallies! We played for a little over 2 hours, changing up teams and taking water breaks in between sets. After playing for that long my forearms were KILLING me. Then, after everyone was all volleyball-ed out, we went to a cool Irish pub and I had myself a Guinness.

Saturday Inka’s brother Jens was coming for a visit, so we had to go to the grocery store. Remember how I said Wuppertal isn’t really that bike friendly? Well Inka defies that statement! I borrowed a bike from a neighbor and yes, Inka and I biked through the hills of Wuppertal to a sweet little organic grocery. I told you this lady was cool. Then Inka, Jens, and I went to an old coal mine that has been re-vamped into an architecture museum. Very cool. After that, we went home and cooked dinner together. Both Inka and Jens are vegetarians and I was really excited to eat some healthy, home-cooked food after all the bread and meat-heavy take-out I’d been eating.

Today, I slept in then wandered by myself around the city a little bit. I tried to find the University… but I got lost. I really had a rough time being alone today. I’m feeling very homesick and I had a big “what-have-I-got-myself-into” freak out. I’m also really nervous about starting work tomorrow because I still don’t really know what I’m going to be doing. I know that things are only going to get better from here. Soon I’ll be in an apartment of my own, making new friends, and my German is only going to get better with practice. I actually just learned that three UC DAAP students are going to be studying abroad in Wuppertal as well! So we can be Bearcat transplants together and maybe form some sort of support system. I just have to keep practicing my German and just keep smiling.

Köln: Part 2

Hello avid readers! I can’t believe that my time in Köln is already over, and that I’ve already been in Germany for 2 weeks! Time seems to be flying by already. Where did I leave off… Ahh yes, the bloodwurst story. Well I’m happy to report that I haven’t eaten any more nastiness, just deliciousness. When I last blogged my classmates and I were about to go to the EL DE house; an old Gestapo station that has been transformed into a museum. It was a really creepy and cool place. Creepy because of the history of the building and the horrible things that took place there, but cool because of the style and presentation of the information in the modern day museum. There was a lot of information about the rise of the Nazis, the Hitler youth, and propaganda. Very eerie and interesting stuff…

Old Gestapo station, turned museum

The basement where the Gestapo would keep prisoners

Like I said... creepy, but cool

On Friday my classmates and I took part in a scavenger hunt around the important historical monuments in Köln. We were all a little reluctant to participate seeing as it was Friday and all, but after we realized all the cool things to see we were more willing. Köln was founded by the Romans in 50 AD or something so there is a lot of really old really cool stuff all throughout the city. It blows my mind! After the scavenging we all took a nap and then headed to the part of the city near the University for dinner and drinks. Beers were drank, food was eaten, fun was had!

Me in front of a legendary statue!

On Saturday we slept in a little and then Josi, Nick, and I rode the train to the Kölner Zoo. I know, I know, a zoo is a zoo is a zoo. But hey, I like zoos so I wanted to go to one in Germany! And the Kölner Zoo is a really cool one. Is has a HUGE elephant exhibit and it also had a ton of tigers and gorillas. It also had lions, which as many of you know, are my favorite animal, so I was a happy camper. There was also a Raccoon exhibit, which we all found quite humorous. Also, it was really cute to hear all the adorable German kids yelling the animal names auf Deutsch… but then I would get jealous of them because they speak better German than me and they’re like four years old. It’ll get there Morgen, it’ll get there. After the zoo we grabbed some eats and headed to a German Kino (movie theater) to see The Hunger Games. We found a theater that plays movies in their original language, so the movie was in English, but it had German subtitles. I think the funniest thing about the Kino was that every 10 minutes or so you would hear a beer bottle being knocked over on the ground. Did I mention that you can drink pretty much anywhere in Germany? In the Kino, on the streets, on the train… I haven’t really taken advantage of it yet because I feel like I’m breaking the law. But I’m sure I’ll get over that cultural speed-bump in no time…

Kölner Zoo!

Sunday I really slept in and then hung out with some classmates at the Hauptbahnhof. In the evening we decided that we wanted to try and go to the Köln vs Dortmund Fußballspiele… little did we know that Dortmund is first place in the league and that the game was sold out. Even though we didn’t get into the game, it was still CRAZY to ride the train to the stadium with all the fanatics. Yelling, singing, chanting, booing, and of course, drinking all took place during the jam-packed half hour train ride. We ended up finding a bar to eat some dinner and watch the game. At half time the score was 1-1 and we headed back to Brauhaus Ohne Namen near the Jugendherberge to watch the rest. To our dismay, Köln ended up losing 6-1… ouch. Needless to say, the bar emptied out pretty quickly, so we followed suit.

The next week was filled with more language and cultural learning. On Monday afternoon we all travelled to Dusseldorf (only a half and hour train ride… if you go the right way…) and visited Fachhochschule Dusseldorf http://www.fh-duesseldorf.de/a_fh, a university for applied sciences. We learned about higher education in Germany, and about some of the engineering research going on there. I think that trip intimidated me more than anything… I could only understand about 15% of what the professor was saying. I had been feeling fairly confident in my conversational German, but technical speaking is a whole different animal, and it was pretty demoralizing. I know that with practice comes proficiency, so I shouldn’t get too discouraged! That evening we got dinner in Dusseldorf and tried their Uerige beir. I personally liked it better… but I would never tell that to anyone in Köln. A rivalry exists between Köln and Dusseldorf… kind of like the rivalry between Cincinnati and Cleveland. People from one place just kind of turn up their noses at the other. It’s just kind of funny to observe.

"Genie" means genius ;)

We got to Dusseldorf from the main Köln Hauptbahnhof and used 5 person tickets. So, we had to go back in two groups of five. I was in the group that hung around in Dusseldorf for a while longer. When it came time to head back to Köln, we accidentally went to the platform that said Köln/Messe Deutz instead of Köln Hbf. It wasn’t until we had stopped about three times that we realized the mistake we had made. The train we took to Dusseldorf was a nonstop express train, and took about 30 minutes… well, the train we took back was neither of those things. It putted along throughout the German countryside and stopped every 15 minutes. It would have been cool and scenic, except it was already dark out so we really couldn’t see anything. A little over 2 hours later we finally made it back to Köln. Ahh you live and you learn.

On Tuesday we took our “final exams”. Believe it or not, I think we actually get some course credit for this class we took. Everyone got “Basic User” proficiency. Hooray! That afternoon, we went over all the important details about getting registered in the cities we’re living in, opening a German bank account, and just other “nice-to-knows”. That evening, we went to a very traditional German brauhaus. I got some delicious goulash, ‘twas essentially like eating gravy with meat chunks. Wondrous.

Wednesday morning we went on a tour of the Deutz engine plant. It was cool, but engines aren’t really my thing. Wednesday night Josi, Nick, and I went to a restaurant RIGHT across from the jugendherberge. They are known for their pork chops, so naturally I got one of those. Ladies and gentleman, this pork chop was the best piece of meat that I have ever eaten. Better than filet mignon. I am serious. And it was ENORMOUS. A heaping slab of pork, and a generous side of potato salad, all for 11 euros… which is about $14.70. Such a deal. When I couldn’t finish all of my food, the German waiter laughed at me, took my silverware, cut off a hunk of meat, and fed it to me. Everyone in the restaurant was entertained, including myself. See below right for the post force-feeding picture.

I forgot to mention the glazed onions... my mouth is watering.

Josi and I decided to stay the night in Köln again on Thursday night before we went off to our respective cities. Unfortunately the jugendherberge we had been staying at was all booked, so we were forced to move ourselves and all out luggage to a backpacking hostel. The experience would have been lovely if it weren’t for the large man in our room who snored the ENTIRE night (see video on facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2992325653465). So Josi and I didn’t sleep at all, and in the morning said goodbye to Köln and parted ways. It was reall weird saying good bye to everyone and not really knowing when we’re going to see each other again. Hopefully soon, because I’m already feeling a little homesick. I’m glad my introduction to Germany was in such a beautiful city with great people. Stay tuned for a post about my new home: Wuppertal!

Tschüs Köln! Bis später!