Such as...
- Sitting at an outdoor cafe with friends, enjoying a Weinschorle (Riesling with a splash of sparkling mineral water) in the market square. Behind us is the sun-sparkling fountain; looming over us is the historic Stiftskirche; and a dog naps on the cobblestones at my feet.
- Walking home at 8 o'clock in the evening and it's still light outside. Kids whiz by on their bikes; laughter filters from some back garden where a family is grilling; roses scent the sides of the sidewalk; and as I pass the Pauluskirche (Paul's Church), the choir is practicing.
- Going for a long hike in the hills around Neustadt. (Here are some pictures!)
- Meeting friends at a Biergarten across from the Cathedral square in Speyer. The blooming chestnut trees overhead are hung with lights, the evening breeze is cool, the company and conversation are stellar, and the food is good.
I love Germany.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Amis off the port bow!
Last Wednesday, I got to take the first school field trip since 10th grade.
See, the Käthe-Kollwitz Gymnasium has an exchange program with a high school in Manchester, New Hampshire, to which we send a dozen or so 11th graders every fall. This means that in the spring, we then get to entertain their American counterparts here in Neustadt for a couple of weeks: a group of ten or so fun and energetic 16-to-17-year-olds who have been studying German for a couple years and figured it was time to see what this country was all about. I had forgotten all about their coming until last Monday, when I was walking up the stairs to the school and heard the jarringly out-of-context sound of American English being spoken on the porch. It was like hearing my own voice echoed back at me -- I'd gotten so used to the fact that the only English ever spoken around here is as British as British can be, that I'd forgotten I wasn't a lone animal in a land of German and German-accented Queen's English. "Americans!" I called happily as I approached them, hearing my own Yankee pronunciation get even more nasal in the proximity to my countrymen. We stood and talked for a while, and they said they were enjoying the fairytale-like beauty of Neustadt and the friendliness of all the folks around here.
So on Wednesday, all the Ami kids, their two teachers -- a feisty, small, and adorable (if it's not disrespectful to call your elders adorable) lady named Noreen and a California-surfer-type guy named Brett -- plus five German students, me, and Timo, another of the English teachers at Käthe-Kollwitz, piled into a bus and drove two gorgeous hours through the springtime countryside to check out Timo's university town: Trier.
The main square
Trier is the oldest city in Germany. It's also one of the most fascinating: 2000 years ago, Augustus Caesar established it on the site of a Germanic settlement on the edge of the Mosel River as the capitol of the Roman Empire's northern branch. The city was laid out in a practical, gridlike fashion, and surrounded by massive brick walls with a huge city gate in each of the four cardinal directions. The Porta Nigra is the only remaining one of these gates; and according to our tour guide, it's the best-preserved Roman structure of its kind in the world.
The city also boasts Roman baths, historic churches, a Romanesque Basilica, and a claim to fame as the residence of Constantine the Great for about 15 years. It's the resting place of the famous Holy Robe, brought to the city by Constantine's mother, Helena; the site of the start of the Crusades in Germany; and the birthplace of Karl Marx. It has been constantly fought over, and repeatedly occupied by the French -- whether by Napoleon or by soldiers after World War Two. In short, there's (as our tour guide in London would say) bags to see... including numerous lovely outdoor cafes and shops in the pedestrian-only, cobblestoned Innenstadt.
So what was the first thing that captured the kids' attention? A spinning playground object set up on the side of a fountain on our way into town from the train station. (Though to be fair, I wanted to play on it, too. In the end, however, I opted to maintain a pretense of dignity.)
The weather was hot and sunny, but there was a cool breeze and plenty of shade from the bushy green trees all around the city, so we enjoyed a long and in-depth walking tour of some of the sites. (You can check out some pictures here!) There is so much to see, though, that we didn't even get to the baths or any museums; I guess I'll just have to see if I can drag Gallucci with me when he comes in July! :)
After we let the kids go to explore on their own, Noreen, Timo, and I found Spaghetti Eis at one of the numerous ice cream cafes and took it easy until we all caught the bus back to Neustadt. Then all us teachers drove directly to Brigitte Griesemer's place for a delicious and summery dinner of salad, potatoes, and white asparagus in cheese sauce (a famous local springtime specialty), followed by fruit and mascarpone for dessert... and, of course, a couple glasses of the local sparkling wine.
All in all, it was a gorgeous day. Yay! I like fieldtrips!
See, the Käthe-Kollwitz Gymnasium has an exchange program with a high school in Manchester, New Hampshire, to which we send a dozen or so 11th graders every fall. This means that in the spring, we then get to entertain their American counterparts here in Neustadt for a couple of weeks: a group of ten or so fun and energetic 16-to-17-year-olds who have been studying German for a couple years and figured it was time to see what this country was all about. I had forgotten all about their coming until last Monday, when I was walking up the stairs to the school and heard the jarringly out-of-context sound of American English being spoken on the porch. It was like hearing my own voice echoed back at me -- I'd gotten so used to the fact that the only English ever spoken around here is as British as British can be, that I'd forgotten I wasn't a lone animal in a land of German and German-accented Queen's English. "Americans!" I called happily as I approached them, hearing my own Yankee pronunciation get even more nasal in the proximity to my countrymen. We stood and talked for a while, and they said they were enjoying the fairytale-like beauty of Neustadt and the friendliness of all the folks around here.
So on Wednesday, all the Ami kids, their two teachers -- a feisty, small, and adorable (if it's not disrespectful to call your elders adorable) lady named Noreen and a California-surfer-type guy named Brett -- plus five German students, me, and Timo, another of the English teachers at Käthe-Kollwitz, piled into a bus and drove two gorgeous hours through the springtime countryside to check out Timo's university town: Trier.
The main squareTrier is the oldest city in Germany. It's also one of the most fascinating: 2000 years ago, Augustus Caesar established it on the site of a Germanic settlement on the edge of the Mosel River as the capitol of the Roman Empire's northern branch. The city was laid out in a practical, gridlike fashion, and surrounded by massive brick walls with a huge city gate in each of the four cardinal directions. The Porta Nigra is the only remaining one of these gates; and according to our tour guide, it's the best-preserved Roman structure of its kind in the world.
The city also boasts Roman baths, historic churches, a Romanesque Basilica, and a claim to fame as the residence of Constantine the Great for about 15 years. It's the resting place of the famous Holy Robe, brought to the city by Constantine's mother, Helena; the site of the start of the Crusades in Germany; and the birthplace of Karl Marx. It has been constantly fought over, and repeatedly occupied by the French -- whether by Napoleon or by soldiers after World War Two. In short, there's (as our tour guide in London would say) bags to see... including numerous lovely outdoor cafes and shops in the pedestrian-only, cobblestoned Innenstadt.
So what was the first thing that captured the kids' attention? A spinning playground object set up on the side of a fountain on our way into town from the train station. (Though to be fair, I wanted to play on it, too. In the end, however, I opted to maintain a pretense of dignity.)
The weather was hot and sunny, but there was a cool breeze and plenty of shade from the bushy green trees all around the city, so we enjoyed a long and in-depth walking tour of some of the sites. (You can check out some pictures here!) There is so much to see, though, that we didn't even get to the baths or any museums; I guess I'll just have to see if I can drag Gallucci with me when he comes in July! :)
After we let the kids go to explore on their own, Noreen, Timo, and I found Spaghetti Eis at one of the numerous ice cream cafes and took it easy until we all caught the bus back to Neustadt. Then all us teachers drove directly to Brigitte Griesemer's place for a delicious and summery dinner of salad, potatoes, and white asparagus in cheese sauce (a famous local springtime specialty), followed by fruit and mascarpone for dessert... and, of course, a couple glasses of the local sparkling wine.
All in all, it was a gorgeous day. Yay! I like fieldtrips!
The Oregon Trail
Well! It's now around noon on a Friday, and for the first time in longer than I can remember do I finally have a minute or two to jot down a post about Spring Break, and What Then Ensued.
It was, in a word, ausgezeichnetollariffic. Being the hopelessly emotionally co-dependent twins that we are, Shauna bought me a ticket to come spend 11 days with her in Seattle. It was just what we needed. Although we all -- she, Amy, Steve, and I -- started off with these grandiose designs to go out and conquer the Pacific Northwest, we actually ended up spending the majority of our evenings just sitting around on the floor with various open packets of German chocolate and glasses of wine, and spraying crumbs as we guffawed and told stories until the tyrannical clock finally drove us off to our respective futons. Sometimes we'd even get downright daring, and move the whole operation -- gasp! -- out of the house. The bartenders at Big Time Brewery have gotten to know Shauna and Steve so well that a trip or two down to enjoy their delicious ales always proves worthwhile, wink wink! ;)
For Easter weekend, Mom flew up from Tucson, laden with travel books about Scotland and Ireland, and we did pretty much the same: sprawled on the sunny living room floor, surrounded by books and web addresses, and finalizing our plans for The Big Trip this July. Occasionally, someone would glance out the enormous sparkling windows that cover one half of the studio's wall and remark that a plane was landing on Lake Union -- the edge of which is two blocks down from the house -- and we'd all crowd around on the balcony to watch the maritime traffic.
The view from Shauna and Steve's place
I also got to go visit the Department of Germanics at the University of Washington one Friday while everyone was at work; and had such a great time, I spent all morning and part of the afternoon there! They're all very sweet: from the administrative assistant/academic advisor to the head of the department to the individual grad students. Dr. Bansleben, the department head, remembered my application -- in suprising detail! -- and advised me that it had simply been too focused on applied linguistics, and not enough on straight literary theory (which is the department's strength). He said that, once I figure out in which direction I want to go, if it happens to be the straight German Studies route (and not so much emphasis in language pedagogy), then I should give them a call. Aw! We had a great conversation, and then I got to meet the other grad students, who were so fun and funny that we all went out to lunch later.
The next day was Saturday, and we all put on our Brave Goodbye Faces to drop me off at the airport. Now, this next part is a bit of a long story, and some of you know it already... so suffice to say, that after I departed for a connection in Portland, Oregon, there turned out to be some complications with Lufthansa that resulted in Amy, Shauna, and Steve driving down to join me once again for a day of fun in Portland! We poked around downtown and got coffees, snooped through Powell's Books -- the country's largest bookstore -- and then drove down the scenic Columbia River Gorge to check out the beautiful Multnomah Falls and the clifftop Vista House. By the time I eventually made it back to Frankfurt, I was exhausted and jetlagged... and completely spiritually recharged. :)
Thank you, everybody, for a wonderful time!
It was, in a word, ausgezeichnetollariffic. Being the hopelessly emotionally co-dependent twins that we are, Shauna bought me a ticket to come spend 11 days with her in Seattle. It was just what we needed. Although we all -- she, Amy, Steve, and I -- started off with these grandiose designs to go out and conquer the Pacific Northwest, we actually ended up spending the majority of our evenings just sitting around on the floor with various open packets of German chocolate and glasses of wine, and spraying crumbs as we guffawed and told stories until the tyrannical clock finally drove us off to our respective futons. Sometimes we'd even get downright daring, and move the whole operation -- gasp! -- out of the house. The bartenders at Big Time Brewery have gotten to know Shauna and Steve so well that a trip or two down to enjoy their delicious ales always proves worthwhile, wink wink! ;)
For Easter weekend, Mom flew up from Tucson, laden with travel books about Scotland and Ireland, and we did pretty much the same: sprawled on the sunny living room floor, surrounded by books and web addresses, and finalizing our plans for The Big Trip this July. Occasionally, someone would glance out the enormous sparkling windows that cover one half of the studio's wall and remark that a plane was landing on Lake Union -- the edge of which is two blocks down from the house -- and we'd all crowd around on the balcony to watch the maritime traffic.
The view from Shauna and Steve's placeI also got to go visit the Department of Germanics at the University of Washington one Friday while everyone was at work; and had such a great time, I spent all morning and part of the afternoon there! They're all very sweet: from the administrative assistant/academic advisor to the head of the department to the individual grad students. Dr. Bansleben, the department head, remembered my application -- in suprising detail! -- and advised me that it had simply been too focused on applied linguistics, and not enough on straight literary theory (which is the department's strength). He said that, once I figure out in which direction I want to go, if it happens to be the straight German Studies route (and not so much emphasis in language pedagogy), then I should give them a call. Aw! We had a great conversation, and then I got to meet the other grad students, who were so fun and funny that we all went out to lunch later.
The next day was Saturday, and we all put on our Brave Goodbye Faces to drop me off at the airport. Now, this next part is a bit of a long story, and some of you know it already... so suffice to say, that after I departed for a connection in Portland, Oregon, there turned out to be some complications with Lufthansa that resulted in Amy, Shauna, and Steve driving down to join me once again for a day of fun in Portland! We poked around downtown and got coffees, snooped through Powell's Books -- the country's largest bookstore -- and then drove down the scenic Columbia River Gorge to check out the beautiful Multnomah Falls and the clifftop Vista House. By the time I eventually made it back to Frankfurt, I was exhausted and jetlagged... and completely spiritually recharged. :)
Thank you, everybody, for a wonderful time!
French Toast Girl and other online charms
A tree in front of the University of MannheimHi everybody! Welcome back to the Weinstraße. Sorry I've been away a while... there's just so much beautiful springing going on outside, I haven't had the heart to sit in front of the computer for the requisite time it would take to update everything since the last post! But it's time, so I thought I'd start with some warm-ups. :)
Check out blogspot's "1000th Blog of Note", kept by the delightful French Toast Girl. She's a mom and a painter, and radiates such a fun and sweet perspective on the world that her blog is irresistable. I especially like its outward, community orientation (as opposed to some of our blogs, which are more personally introspective).
Also, don't miss Stephen Colbert's graduation speech at Knox College.
And finally, some piano-playing cats! (Thanks to my brother's alert eye on internet cuteness.)
Enjoy the ensuing good mood! :D
Monday, April 02, 2007
Fish and coffee, ho!
Packing my stuff today to fly to Seattle tomorrow... YIPPEEE!!! Can't wait to see you guys!!! :o)
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