Four Hours on a Train to Berlin

Four hours is actually not that long of a train ride on the ICE, I'd say. I rather enjoyed it actually.

After taking the ICE (oh, it stands for the InterCity Express), I arrived in Berlin, my home for the next year. The train ride was fun. I spoke with a gentleman from Saarland, one of the 16 federal states in Germany. It's on the border of France, Germany, and Belgium, so students who go to school there learn German, French, and English.

We had a nice conversation, completely in German, of course, and he told me some pretty cool stories. He used to play handball. If you don't know what it is, find out. It's pretty nuts.

In Berlin, I was met at the Hauptbahnhof by my dear friend, Manuela. We've known each other for a few years now, so it was really awesome of her to come greet me when I got off the train. Brandon and I bid each other farewell until next week. We'll see each other when we register and continue our dinner party tradition.

It's nice being back in Berlin, and I'm enjoying my room again. I stayed my two new roommates last year as well, since Ronny was my first German teacher at the UW in 2007. It's pretty awesome that we're now roommates. Dinner was fantastic. Potatoes, fish, eggplant, and salad. I was so happy since I only ate two cheese bread rolls this morning.

As nice as it is to be in Berlin, I certainly will miss Marburg. It was a great place to study for my six-week long language course, and I met many awesome people. We had our celebration dinner last night by the Rathaus, but unfortunately, the restaurant thought we were coming tonight, so they did not have the place reserved for us or the buffet prepared. Schade.

Nevertheless, we had a good time. They set up tables for us outside, and we could order whatever drinks we wanted. Food choices included schnitzel (various kinds) and pasta. I had Wiener Schnitzel, and it was delicious.

Before we ate, we also had a nice musical performance from two of our fellow Fulbrighter friends. 'Twas very nice.

Our class also decided to take a picture together, since both of our teachers (and many of the others) were there as well. Oh, I got a haircut yesterday too. It was definitely more successful than the first one I got a few weeks back as I finally figured out what to say in German.

Earlier in the day, we actually played Pictionary, as I mentioned in my blog yesterday. I had to draw the last word, and one of our two teachers (they alternated days) gave me the name of the other teacher as the word to draw. It was pretty hilarious. Here's a picture of what I drew:

Tomorrow, I really have no plans for what I'm going to do. Probably prep for my research. I'm meeting up with a number of Fulbrighters and friends in Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest, so that will be fun. It's the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, so I picked a good year to come.

I think I'm going to hit the sack soon. Glad to be able to sleep again.

Sam

Fulbright German Class Level 3 Radio Program

As promised, here's the full recording of our radio program in Marburg. I couldn't upload the file directly to my blog, so here's a link to the hour-long program:

Fulbright German Class Level 3 Radio Program

My part of the program starts around minute 37 and goes till roughly the 55th minute. I think...that's based on my radio program schedule. As for the written version, I only have the text for what Keri, Alec, and I spoke about, so here it is (with the English translation below it):

Radio Sending: Migration, Beziehungen und die breitere Gesellschaft

Lied 1: "The Immigrant Song" von Led Zeppelin

Einführung:

ALEC: Guten Tag, Marburg. Das war "The Immigrant Song" von Led Zeppelin. Unser Thema heute ist "Migration, Beziehungen und die breitere Gesellschaft." Dieses Thema ist sehr wichtig. Die geschätzte Zahl der Migranten weltweit beträgt 214 Millionen Menschen, 15,2 Millionen davon sind Flüchtlinge. Es gibt ungefähr 11 Millionen Migranten in Deutschland, 13,1 Prozent der Bevölkerung und in den USA gibt es rund 43 Millionen Migranten, 13,5 Prozent der Bevölkerung. Somit sind die Anteile fast gleich und dieses Thema ist bedeutend für beide Länder. Bei uns haben wir zwei Gäste, Keri Lucas und Sam Lim. Beide haben zahlreiche Erfahrung in diesem Bereich.

Teil 1:

ALEC: Keri, wir beginnen mit dir. Du hast seit neun Jahren mit Migranten gearbeitet, richtig?

KERI: Genau. Ich habe meinen Master in "Englisch als Fremdsprache" in den USA abgeschlossen. Danach war ich für 3 Jahre Englisch Lehrerin an einem "Community College" und danach habe ich für 6 Jahre bei einer Organisation in Chicago gearbeitet, die bietet Soziale Programme vor allem für Flüchtlinge aber auch für Migranten. Natürlich ist dieses Thema mir wichtig und seitdem habe ich so viele Meinungen darüber entwickelt.

ALEC: Kannst du uns erklären, wie deine Organisation den Flüchtlingen geholfen hat?

KERI: Ja. Zuerst ist es wichtig zu sagen, dass die USA das größte "Umsiedlungsprogramm für Flüchtlingen heute in der Welt hat. Jedes Jahr laden wir ungefähr 40,000 bis 80,000 Flüchtlinge ein, in die USA einzuwandern. Die Zahl und Herkunftsländer hängen von Entscheidungen der Regierung ab und verändern sich von Jahr zu Jahr. Wenn die Familien und Individuen ankommen, bekommen sie eine Krankenversicherung und Geld zum Leben, aber nicht auf Dauer, sondern temporär. Das Hauptziel der Regierung ist, dass die Flüchtlinge rasch selbstständig werden, hoffentlich nach 4 bis 8 Monaten. Leider haben wir nicht genug Zeit darüber zu sprechen! Auf jeden Fall gibt die amerikanische Regierung Geld an Organisationen, die den Migranten Hilfsprogramme bieten können. In Chicago hatten wir Kultur Einführungen, Psychotherapie für Individuen und Familien, Englisch Kurse und Arbeits- vorbereitungs Kurse für Erwachsene und viele Programme für Kinder, sowohl in der Schule als auch nach der Schule. Unser Hauptziel war, den Flüchtlinge die Möglichkeit zu geben, erfolgreich in Chicago zu leben.

ALEC: Das scheint eine grosse Herausforderung zu sein. Wie hat die Organisation das Ziel erreicht?

KERI: Genau, du hast recht, es ist eine riesige Herausforderung! Natürlich waren wir nicht immer erfolgreich. Ich würde sagen, die wichtigste Sache war unsere Betonung auf die ganze Familie. Um sich erfolgreich in einem neuen Land einzuleben, muss sich jede Person in der Familie wohl fühlen. Ich war ziemlich stolz auf den Erfolg unserer Programme. Jedoch würde ich sagen, dass die Rolle der Freiwilligen aus der Gemeinschaft auch sehr wichtig war. Wir hatten viele Programme, die versuchten, die Freiwilligen mit Flüchtlingen zu verbinden. Wir haben die Freiwilligen über wichtige Methoden Interkultureller Kommunikation ausgebildet und dann haben wir sie einer Flüchtlingsfamilie, die in der Nähe wohnt, vorgestellt. Dabei sollten die Freiwilligen und die Flüchtlinge ein gutes Verhältnis aufbauen, aus dem beide Parteien positiv wachsen könnten und verändert werden können.

ALEC: So wie ich dich verstehe, bist du fest überzeugt von Programmen, die die Beziehung zwischen Migranten und Nicht-Migranten betonen?

KERI: Ganz genau.

ALEC: Sam, wenden wir uns jetzt an dich. Ich weiss, dass du in den USA mit Schülern mit Migrationshintergrund gearbeitet hast und dass deine persönliche Geschichte dich beeinflusst hat. Könntest du uns bitte erzählen, was du in den USA gemacht hast und wie deine persönliche Geschichte deine Arbeit beeinflusst hat?

SAM: Ja, natürlich, Alec. Naja, ich habe meine Arbeit über das Schulsystem und Chancengleichheit angefangen, weil als ich erst 6 Wochen alt war, sind meine Familie und ich in die USA aus Singapur umgezogen. Deswegen habe ich, als ich ein Kind war, die Schwierigkeiten von Familien mit Migrationshintergrund schon beobachtet. Dazu hat das Schulsystem mich interessiert, weil ich so viel von meinen Lehrern gelernt habe. Ich glaube, sie haben mein Leben wirklich verändert. Deshalb will ich in der Zukunft Politiker werden und im Auftrag von Schülern und Studenten arbeiten.

Also, in Seattle habe ich mit einem besonderen Programm gearbeitet. Das heißt "The University of Washington Dream Project." Die Idee von diesem Programm is zwar ganz einfach, aber ich würde sagen, es ist ziemlich einflussreich. Es gibt zwei Ziele: einerseits treffen sich Universitätstudenten mit Schülern im Gymnasium, um Universitätsbewerbungen zu schreiben. Dann können sie einander kennenlernen und gute Beziehungen entwickeln.

Gleichzeitig besuchen die Universitätstudenten auch einen Kurs an der Uni, in dem sie über das Schulsystem, Chancengleichheit und Schwierigkeiten lernen und diskuterien. Während der letzten drei Jahre habe ich diesen Kurs an der Universität von Washington geleitet. Deswegen habe ich durch dieses Programm die Schwierigkeiten besser verstanden, die die Schüler und besonders Schüler mit Migrationshintergrund erleben.

ALEC: Vielen Dank, Sam! Jetzt machen wir eine Pause um das Lied "Gekommen um zu bleiben" von Wir Sind Helden zu hören.

Leid 2: "Gekommen um zu bleiben" von Wir Sind Helden

Teil 2:

ALEC: Das war "Gekommen um zu bleiben" von Wir Sind Helden. Keri, erklär uns bitte deine persönlichen Erfahrungen mit den Vorteilen dieser Beziehungen.

KERI: Kein Problem. Obwohl das Gebiet der Migration mein Beruf war, war es auch ein grosser Teil von meinem persönlichen Leben. Ich habe in einer Nachbarschaft in Chicago gewohnt, die viele Migranten hatte, so hatte ich natürlich viele Freundschaften mit Migranten. In meinem Etagenhaus gab es eine Familie, die aus Äthoipian kam. Während der fünf Jahre, die wir zusammen wohnten, sind wir gute Freunde geworden. Wir hatten ganz verschiedene Religionen, Kulturen, Traditionen und Sprache, aber es machte nichts. Wegen unserer Freundschaft, hatten wir keine Angst voreinander.

ALEC: Das finde ich toll. Möchtest du etwas dazu sagen?

KERI: Ja, ich habe noch eine kurze Geschichte, die zu dem passt, was Sam schon gesagt hat. Ich habe auch gute Freunde in Chicago, die aus Bhutan kommen. Nachdem die in Chicago ein Jahr gewohnt hatten, hatte ich dem Sohn geholfen Universitäts Bewerbungen vorzubereiten. Wir haben uns viel Mühe gemacht, um die Aufsätze für die Zulassung und das Stipendium zu schreiben. Nach einigen Monaten hat er die gute Nachrichte bekommen. Er hat ein Stipendium von der Universität Illinois bekommen! Jetzt studiert er da und ich bin von seinem Erfolg an der Universität überzeugt und auch darüber hinaus.

ALEC: Warum hilfst du ihm? Warum haben seine Eltern ihm nicht geholfen?

KERI: Ja, das ist eine gute Frage. Weil sie nicht aus den USA kommen, verstanden sie weder den Prozess der Universitätsbewerbungen, noch die Chancen für ein Stipendium. Ihr Sohn ist sehr schlau, aber ohne dass jemand ihn führt, würde er wahrscheinlich nicht die Universität besuchen.

ALEC: Du hast ein ähnliches Projekt wie Sam und das Projekt mit dem Namen "The Dream Project" gemacht haben. Der Erfolg dieses Programms scheint mir klar. Sam, du hast früher gesagt, dass du über das deutsche Schulsystem forschen wirst. Du hast auch erklärt, wie deine persönliche Erfahrung deine Arbeit beeinflusst hat. Könntest du uns bitte erzählen, was du in diesem Jahr in Deutschland lernen willst?

SAM: Ja, klar. Also, in diesem Jahr bleibe ich in Berlin, um mein Forschungsprojekt zu machen. Der Schwerpunkt von meinem Projekt konzentriert sich auf die Chancengleichheit der Schüler. Deswegen wollte ich von verscheidenen Schülern, Lehrern, Administratoren und Politikern wissen, was sie über das deutsche Schulsystem denken.

Also, wenn ich meine Interviews in Berlin mache, hoffe ich von den Deutschen Ansichten über das Thema Migration in Deutschland und die Beziehung zwischen diesem Thema und dem Schulsystem zu erfahren. Ich glaube, die Beziehungen in einem Sozialprogramm sind ziemlich wichtig und ich hoffe einige Programme zu finden und davon zu lernen.

ALEC: Und warum ist das wichtig?

SAM: Ich bin der Meinung, dass alle in einer multikulturellen Gesellschaft voneinander lernen können. Also, für mich, glaube ich, dass die Beziehung zwischen verschiedenen Gruppen der Menschen in einer Gesellschaft sehr wichtig ist. Wie du schon gesagt hast, gibt es in den USA und Deutschland verschiedene Gesetze in Bezug auf Migration in der Gesellschaft. Allerdings glaube ich, dass wir viel voneinander lernen können und Ideen austauschen.

Schluss:

ALEC: Wie Sam und Keri glaube ich auch, dass ihr Recht habt. Von euch habe ich über unser Thema "Migration, Beziehungen und die breitere Gesellschaft" viel gelernt. Ich möchte euch für euere Gedanken und Erfahrungen danken.

We probably still had a few errors in there somewhere. Oh well, here's my rough English translation:

Radio Program: Migration, Relationships and the Broader Society

Song 1: "The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

Introduction:

ALEC: Hello, Marburg. That was "The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin. Our theme today is "Migration, Relationships, and the Broader Society." The estimated number of migrants worldwide is around 214 million people, 15.2 million of whom are refugees. There are roughly 11 million migrants in Germany, who make up 13.1% of the population, and in the US, there is roughly 43 million migrants, who make up 13.5% of the population. Thus, the shared numbers are quite similar and this theme is important for both countries. With us today are two guests, Keri Lucas and Sam Lim. Both of them have extensive experience in this field.

Part 1:

ALEC: Keri, we'll begin with you. You've spent nine years working with a migrant population, correct?

KERI: Exactly. I received my masters in English as a Second Language in the US. After that, I spent 3 years as an English teacher at a community college, following which I worked for 6 years at an organization in Chicago that offers social programs for not only refugees but also for other migrants. Naturally, this theme is important to me, and since then, I have developed many opinions about it.

ALEC: Can you explain to us how your organization helped refugees?

KERI: Yes. First, it's important to say that the US has the largest relocation/resettlement program in the world. Every year, we invite 40,000 to 80,000 refugees to move to the US. The exact number and countries of origin depends on the government's decisions and varies from year to year. When families and individuals arrive, they receive health insurance and money, but this does not last forever, rather it is only temporary. The main goal for the government is to help the refugees become self-dependent after hopefully 4 to 8 months. Unfortunately, we don't have enough time to discuss this right now! The American government most definitely gives money to organizations that can offer resource programs for migrants. In Chicago, we had courses on overviews of cultural differences, psychotherapy for individuals and families, English courses, and preparation for work courses for adults and many programs for kids, both during school and after school. Our main goal was to provide the refugees with as many opportunities as possible to live successfully in Chicago.

ALEC: It seems to be a big challenge. How did your organization achieve this goal?

KERI: You are exactly right. This is a definitely challenge! Of course, we are not always successful though. I would say the most important thing was our emphasis on the whole family. In order for them to successfully live in a new country, each person in the family had to feel comfortable. I was really proud of our program's success. However, I would also say that the role of volunteers from the community was also very important. We had many programs that tried to connect volunteers with refugees. We trained the volunteers to understand important ways to communicate interculturally, and then introduced them to refugee families who lived nearby. That way, the volunteers and refugees could build a good relationship from which both parties can grow positively and be changed.

ALEC: So, if I understand you, you are strongly convinced that programs that emphasize relationships between migrants and non-migrants are good?

KERI: Exactly right.

ALEC: Sam, let's go to you now. I know that you worked in the US with students with migration backgrounds and that your personal story influenced you. Could you please share with us what you did in the US and how your personal story influenced your work?

SAM: Yes, of course, Alec. Well, I began my work with school systems and equal opportunities because, when I was only 6 weeks old, my family and I moved from Singapore to the US. As a result, I observed during my childhood the difficulties that families with migration backgrounds faced. Additionally, school systems interested me because I learned so much from my teachers. I really believe that they changed my life. As such, I aspire toward becoming a politician in the future and working on behalf of students in all levels of education.

In Seattle, I worked with one particular program. It's called the University of Washington Dream Project. The concept of this program is rather simple, but also very impactful, I'd say. It has a dual-focused approach: on one hand, undergraduate students partner with high school students to work with them on completing college applications. From this, they can also get to know each other and develop strong relationships.

At the same time, the undergraduate students also take a class at the university, where they discuss and study the school system, equal opportunity, and challenges students face. During the last three years, I led this course at the University of Washington. As a result of my participation in this program, I understood the challenges students face much better, particularly those experienced by students with migration backgrounds.

ALEC: Thanks a lot, Sam! Now, we will take a quick break to listen to the song "Gekommen um zu bleiben" by Wir Sind Helden (Come to Stay by We are Heroes).

Song 2: "Gekommen um zu bleiben" (Come to Stay) by Wir Sind Helden (We are Heroes)

Part 2:

ALEC: That was "Gekommen um zu bleiben" by Wir Sind Helden. Keri, please explain to us a bit about your personal experiences with the advantages of relationships.

KERI: No problem. Although my job was focused on migration, it was also a large part of my personal life. I lived in a neighborhood in Chicago in which many migrants also lived, so I naturally became friends with many of them. In my building there was a family from Ethiopia. During the five years that we lived together, we became great friends. We had completely different religions, cultures, traditions, and languages, but it didn't matter. Because of our friendship, we weren't afraid of each other.

ALEC: I find that great. Would you like to say more?

KERI: Yes, I have one more short story which relates to what Sam already said. I have good friends in Chicago who came from Bhutan. After they had lived in Chicago for one year, I helped their son complete his college applications. We worked hard on his admissions essay and scholarship applications. After a few months, he received the good news. He received a scholarship from the University of Illinois! Now, he studies there, and I am convinced he will succeed at the university and beyond.

ALEC: Why did you help him? Why didn't his parents help him?

KERI: Yeah, that's a good question. Since they didn't grow up in the US, it was difficult for them to understand the college and scholarship applications process. Their son is extremely smart, but without someone to guide him, he probably wouldn't be attending the university today.

ALEC: Your project is similar to what Sam and his project, The Dream Project, does. The success of these programs is clear to me.

Sam, you said earlier that you will be researching the German school system. You also explained how your personal experiences influenced your work. Could you please tell us what you hope to learn this year in Germany?

SAM: Yes, of course. This year, I will be staying in Berlin to work on my research project. The main purpose of my project focuses on equal opportunities for all students. As such, I would like to know what different students, teachers, administrators, and policy makers think about the German school system.

When I do these interviews in Berlin, I hope to learn what the Germans think about the theme of migration in Germany and the relationship between this theme and the school system. I think relationships in social programs is very important, and I hope to find some programs from which I can learn more.

ALEC: And why is this important?

SAM: In my opinion, everyone in a multicultural society can learn from one another. So for me, I think that the relationship between different groups of people in a given community is very important. As you already said, there are different laws concerning migration in a community in both the US and Germany. However, I believe that we can learn a lot from one another and exchange ideas.

Conclusion:

ALEC: Like Sam and Keri, I also think they are correct. From them, I learned a lot about the theme of "Migration, Relationships, and the Broader Society." I'd like to thank them for their thoughts and experiences.

Hopefully, that makes sense. It's a bit challenging translating text as you don't want to translate things word for word. Rather, I tried to capture the ideas and concepts we tried to describe in German. Clearly, this topic is difficult in English as it is so to do it in German was definitely an ambitious goal. Nevertheless, we have heard only positive feedback from our colleagues, teachers, and friends. Apparently, a teacher thought I was a native German speaker after hearing my segment of the radio show. Glad to know I've gotten better!

Enjoy,

Sam

Radio Program, Offenbach FC, and KFC = A Great Day

As you can probably tell from my blog post title, yesterday was a great day. First, I got my German language test back and found out that, if the test were indeed a language evaluation, I would place into level B 2.1, which was the highest you could place in our class. Besides the B levels (1.1 and 1.2), there are A levels and C levels too. A is for beginners, while C is for the most advanced levels. Maybe by the end of the year, I’ll be somewhere in the C levels?

We spent only a few minutes going over our test, and then we practiced a bit for our radio program. We were scheduled for 2 PM, so we had a good few hours in the morning to practice, but honestly, I didn’t feel like there was much to practice on my part.

Around 1:30 PM, we got to the radio station and prepped by relearning how to use the gadgets in the studio and making sure we had all our stuff. ‘Twas fun. Since my speaking part of our hour-long program wasn’t till the second half, I took pictures.

Everyone did great, even though there were certainly butterflies in our stomachs. The nice thing about radio is no one can see you (except those in the room), so we only had to focus on what we’d prepared in front of us. It also means you can make funny faces, and no one but those in the room can see you.

Overall, the part of the program I did with my two awesome partners was a success. Our theme was about migration and society combined with our personal experiences working in the US. Naturally, I spoke about the Dream Project. ☺

The last time I was did a radio thing was in 2008 when I did an interview with the David Bose Show in Seattle by chatting on my cell phone outside Odegaard Library. It’s quite different actually being at the radio station, I’d say.

I have a CD of our program, and I am going to try and upload the file so I can post it on the blog. I’ll paste the text of our section too, so you can read it—in German and English. Since my CD dirve is kaput though, I’m going to try and get the file from my classmate’s USB stick.

After the radio program ended though (which each of the other three classes all tuned in to listen to, by the way…a bit embarrassing), I booked it to the central train station to meet with Danielle and her German language buddy, David. We had tried to organize a group to go watch a regional soccer match between Hansa Rostock and Offenbach FC, the two top teams in the 3rd German League. Sadly, only the three of us signed up.

Nevertheless, we got to ride the train while simply using our soccer match tickets as our train tickets as well. Pretty nice, huh? It’d be great if the Mariners, Sounders FC, Seahawks, or Storm had some kind of deal like that in Seattle. Anyway, we took the hour-long trip to Frankfurt, where we would have to ride twenty minutes to Offenbach on an S-Bahn (not sure how to best translate…it’s a regional train or tram of sorts, but it can also go long distances, above ground and underground).

When we arrived in Frankfurt though, we were hungry and thirsty, so we decided to find something to eat. Frankfurt’s central train station is full of fast food restaurants (i.e. McDonald’s, Burger King, Asia Gourmet…all of which I ate at last weekend on my trip to Mannheim). But when David suggested KFC, Danielle and I got really excited, so we decided to do it. All I have to say is it was delicious!

After KFC, we headed to the stadium and arrived with plenty of time to walk around the outside a bit and observe all the hard-core fans pre-funking with tons of beer and bratwursts. The stadium itself was rather old and seated about 14,000 people (if I remember correctly). Interestingly, the seats along the long sideline are standing-room only, which is where we would be. By this, I mean there were no seats, only concrete rows for people to stand on and cheer.

And boy, cheer they did. These fans were nuts! I felt a bit out of place wearing my gray sweatshirt (oh, I bought a new one since my last jacket ripped after one week…thank goodness H&M let me return it). But I kept my hood on the whole time and didn’t really smile at or talk to anyone, so all was well. Danielle got a picture of this, so if I get it from her, I'll post it another time.

Apparently, Hansa Rostock has very rough fans. In fact, they weren’t even allowed to sit near our sea of red and white. I guess that’s normal, but they even close down the train station nearby sometimes to allow visiting fans to leave first and avoid any post-game fights. There were so many police and security guards around you would’ve thought we were at a demonstration or something.

The game was excellent though, especially since both teams were virtually tied for first place in the league. Offenbach scored first in the first 25-30 minutes, but Rostock scored their first goal soon after. We entered halftime tied 1-1.

The second half started off quickly as Offenbach scored in the 47th minute. ‘Twas a thing of beauty. The excitement faded quickly as Rostock scored immediately downfield less than a minute later. So tied again, but 2-2.

The rest of the second half was full of yellow cards and chippy play. Lots of pushing, shoving, and angry gesturing going on down on the field. Oh, also the fans were singing, chanting, or whistling at the refs the whole time. Funny how they also sang songs that cursed the other team too…

In the 90th minute though (or in the extra minute really), one of the Offenbach players chipped in a shot from the left side of the goal that sailed so slowly through the air, over the diving goalie, and into the opposite corner that the crowd seemed to hold its breath collectively and then exploded into mad cheering, random hugging, and plastic cups of beer showering down on those seated unfortunately in front.

The game ended in the next minute or two, and the crowd went wild again. The players on both teams went to thank their fans in their respective corners (or in this case, one corner for Rostock and then the entire rest of the stadium for Offenbach).

What happened next was something I’ve never experienced at any soccer game in Europe before (or America). Everyone sat down, including the players on the field, and some random guy (probably not random, just seemed random to me) started yelling chants to which the crowd would respond (players too) and then everyone jumped up and cheered madly again. That marked the real end of the game, after which a rush for the exits ensued.

We couldn’t have picked a better game to go to. Offenbach now goes into first place, while Rostock falls to second. The Sounders FC do a pretty good job of creating a soccer atmosphere in Seattle, but my feeling is that that is an exception. European soccer games though always seem to be nuts. At least, this one was. There were kids climbing fences, older men flipping off fans on the other side, and smokers in every direction you looked.

Anyway, today is our last official day in Marburg. Just finished my last German class. We had a lot of fun playing Pictionary and Taboo in German. We’re having a buffet dinner tonight and then we’ll have to say our goodbyes. Tomorrow, I have a quick check out appointment in the morning where I’ll turn in my keys and say goodbye to Marburg. On the other hand, I will be in Berlin by 4:30 PM, so I’m quite excited. I will have consistent internet at home again!

Until then,

Sam

Day Trip to Mannheim and Exploring Marburg's Casemates

This is our last weekend in Marburg, so I decided to take advantage of our close proximity to southern Germany to visit a good friend yesterday from my HIA days in Berlin. With the special weekend train ticket special for 37€ that allows up to 5 people to travel on one ticket, I tried to recruit four others to come along.

In the end, I only ended up convincing my neighbor, Carissa, and my fellow Fulbrighter, Nick, to come along. Turns out, 10-15 other Fulbrighters decided to take advantage of the special weekend ticket to go to Cologne, so in some respects, it was harder to convince others to come with me.

In the end though, it turned out well, since I honestly had no clue what was in Mannheim other than what I’d heard from my friend, Margot. My main goal was to go see her, since we hadn’t seen each other since being in Berlin together in 2008 for HIA. As a result, I didn’t really do much research beforehand (plus our internet connection no longer exists, so I have to find other networks to mooch off of). I am very thankful that both Nick and Carissa were patient and kind enough to come along even without a very detailed plan.

The train trip to Mannheim lasted about 2:45 including about a 30-minute stop in Frankfurt. By the time we arrived in Mannheim, it was nearly 12:30 PM, so we headed to the tourist information office across from the main train station, since Margot had warned me ahead of time that the office closes at 1 PM. She had to meet us later in the day because of a practice exam for her law degree, so we decided to just walk around and see what cool-looking sites we could find.

Before then though, we stopped by a little Thai “fast food” restaurant called Yam Yam. It was pretty awesome. Since I had already spent 3€ on two cheeseburgers and a chickenburger from McDonald’s, I just got a bowl of wonton soup, which was surprisingly spicy as they had seemingly dumped a ton of black pepper into it. Still good though, and the place just seemed awesome.

Mannheim is in the state of Baden-Würtemmberg, one of the 16 in Germany. Counting yesterday’s visit, I have now been to 8 of the Bundesländer. Mannheim seemed to be a more modern city with newer buildings, but still had a nice share of older buildings/sites. Based on our map and the lone picture I remembered from Wikipedia, we headed toward the Water Tower, which seemed really nice on Mannheim’s Wikipedia page. Along the way, we saw some pretty neat buildings, such as the art gallery.

By the Water Tower, we saw several wedding parties. On a side note, the weather on this particular Saturday was especially nice as it’s been raining incessantly in Germany. We got lucky, I’d say.

The park was called Friedrichsplatz, and it was really quite nice. The cascading waterfalls and ever-flowing fountains in a luscious green park filled with vivid flowers made for a very relaxing atmosphere.

From there, we decided to walk around the “ring,” which is the really long circular street that surrounds the center of Mannheim. Along our walk, I found this elementary school named after Mozart. This was the first of several bits of Mozart’s legacy in Mannheim that we saw around the city. In terms of schools, I also saw a nice Gymnasium (grammar school) earlier by the art gallery.

Since we had already walked half the ring by this time, we decided to just cut through the middle of the circle to reach the Baroque palace. On our way, I got a call from Margot about meeting after her practice exam, so we decided to just meet up in front of the palace. It reminded me of a castle in Berlin.

Margot arrived shortly after we did. It was really great to see her again and actually speak in German with her this time. As she said, when we first met, I could barely speak German, but now I’ve been writing on Facebook in German, emailing in German, sending text messages in German, and talking on the phone in German. Bottom line: my German had vastly improved since we last met up.

As Margot explained, the palace was actually part museum and part library (and part classrooms/offices) for the University of Mannheim.

She gave us a little bit of a tour through the library and showed us all the cool spots, including the areas where she regularly studies. The library itself is rather new, so the architecture, design, and features were all very modern.

She also showed us Ludwigshafen, another city, from a window upstairs. The Rhein River runs through Mannheim (along with the Neckar on the other side) and effectively separates the state of Baden-Württemburg from the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, which you can see across the river in this picture.

As it turns out, another wing of the palace houses several newly renovated lecture halls, so we visited a few of them along one corridor. They are really very nice, and I was surprised that every seat had an electrical outlet if you had a laptop to plug in.

In another wing, we found copies of classical Greek sculptures. Very exciting, especially since I’ve seen most of the “real” versions (Roman copies really) in Italy. The Laocoön Group was one of my favorites—I saw the real one in the Vatican Museum. I also explained the story to Margot in German, which was a bit challenging, but I did it, and she understood. ☺

Next to the palace stood the palace’s Catholic church. It was quite nice inside. The ceiling was quite impressive.

So was the front of the church (check out the eye at the top…Illuminati anyone?)

And of course the giant organ.

Apparently, Mozart played here.

After the palace excursion, we headed to one of Mannheim’s oldest Baroque buildings for a short break. ‘Twas very fancy and actually surprisingly affordable.

All four of us got the same thing—hot chocolate. Yummm.

We honestly had no clue what was even in Mannheim, so we just followed Margot’s suggestions. Next stop on our walk was the largest mosque in Germany. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a mosque before, so I was excited about being able to go in.

We had to leave our shoes by the entrance and then walked upstairs. There was barely anyone there, but one gentleman who was there gave us a bit of history of the mosque (built in 1995 on the spot where a parking garage used to be). I asked if it’d be ok to take pictures, and he said of course. So here are a few photos:

From the mosque, we walked to the second river in Mannheim, the Neckar. Pretty neat that there’s a boat museum there.

The weather was really quite nice yesterday, and I’m very glad we could go visit Margot. Although I’m Facebook friends with nearly all my old HIA buddies, I had only seen two of them in person in the time since. So it was nice to see yet another HIA friend.

Today, we had our last Fulbright group excursion by taking a tour of the castle’s casemates. Honestly, even after the tour, I still have no clue what a casemate is. I think it's just a basement, but I could be wrong.

It was pretty cool, I guess. Certainly wouldn't have killed me to just stay home and work on stuff, but it was neat and interesting. Some impressions:

Things are coming to an end quickly, and I feel like I'm running out of time. Tomorrow, we have our final exam, which should be fine. Not worried. Then on Tuesday, my class is doing the radio program. Looking forward to speaking in German live on the radio. After the radio program, I am joining a few others to go near Frankfurt for a soccer game. Then we have our last day on Wednesday, which will include a buffet dinner downtown.

Brandon and I head to Berlin together on Thursday, where I will only stop for two days and then head to Oktoberfest on Saturday. Can't wait! It's going to be a busy week.

Until next time,

Sam

Ah, Family Dinners...

Tonight, we had another fantastic family dinner. It was essentially our final one since our last day in next Wednesday, but I'm hearing rumors about doing a final final family dinner next Monday. We shall see.

If tonight was our last family dinner, we definitely went out with a bang. Natalie and I teamed up to make schnitzel (or pork cutlet if you prefer). After class today, I went and bought out all of Tegut's most inexpensive pork slices. Since it was more spendy than normal, we had folks help chip in.

It's been a month since we had our first dinner with schnitzel, so it's safe to say we got a lot better at doing this time. I made three pots of rice, one pot of noodles, and Nick made two big bowls of salad. With all the wine, beer, and bread that others brought, we had plenty of good food to go around. Elena also made an awesome cake. 'Twas a great night for a feast.

Some pictures from the fun:

I also watched the third and final film of the Winnetou series last night with James and Brandon. All I have to say is that I am sad that there were only three films. We're going to watch a parody of the series on Friday night. Should be fun.

Saturday, I plan to go to Mannheim for the day to visit a friend. Should be fun. Then we have a tour of the castle casemates on Sunday. They explained what casemates were already, but I've forgotten. Haha. There was also a cooking class available too. We had to choose one of the two. I decided because I didn't want to spend extra money and more time that I'd go on the tour instead. :)

Toodles,

Sam