The blog isn't dead

Hi guys

As much as it seems like I've given up on this thing, I actually haven't. I promise that over the next month I will be cranking out new entries while I am on the Deutschland tour, and am sitting on a bus with not much to do. These entries will cover a soccer game, exams in Germany, all of the special days associated with Easter, and of course, summaries of as many of the cities I visit in Germany as I can (although with the plan being to visit 28 cities, I won't be able to write about all of them). If there is a city that you really want me to write about, feel free to mention it in the comments section below. I figured that I would post this so that you guys know what'll be happening over the next few weeks, and hopefully I'll talk to you all again real soon. Thank you for your patience, and I am sorry that it has been so long.

Weinachten Part 2

Weinachtsmarkt

I’m not going to lie, this has been one of my favorite parts about Germany so far 

The München Weihnachtsmarkt surrounding the old Rathaus, or city hall

Every year, in the month (or sometimes more) leading up to christmas, communities all across Germany begin setting up Weinachtsmarkts, or Christmas Markets. These markets are unlike anything that we typically have in Canada around the holiday season. Each wooden stand is decorated for the holiday season, and there are for the most part three different types of stalls. 

The first type sells christmas themed decorations or handmade crafts. This is typically where people purchase the figurines for Krippen (nativity scenes). You can also purchase ornaments, stars, and more traditional items such as a nutcracker or a weinachtspyramide. a weinachtspyramide is a carved wooden structure with carved figurines standing on a pyramid with a propeller at the top Christmas candles and woolly apparel can be bought from special small businesses that make the trip to a Weinachtsmarkt to set up a stall.

A very Revelstokian nutcracker

 The second type of stall sells gluhwein, the staple drink of the Weinachtsmarkt. Gluhwein is a special kind of mulled wine that is heated in a massive bout directly on site. When a person buys a cup, the mug can be either kept as a souvenir, or returned to the stand for a partial refund (often around 3-4 dollars or so). At some gluhwein stands, or at their own special stands are feuerzangenböhle (hopefully the spelling is right). These more alcoholic beverages are concocted by taking a pyramid of raw sugar and then, in spectacular fashion, dousing the sugar in alcohol, lighting the sugar on fire and letting the melted drops that result from this process fall into a cup of gluhwein, which is then sold.

A decorative gluhwein stall in the München Weinachtsmarkt modelled

 after the symbolic church not fat away from the Weinachtsmarkt

Finally come the food stands. Depending on the Weinachtsmarkt, you can buy many different kinds of traditional german foods. Many different kinds of sausages being sold from a stand are the most common kind of food to find, from meter-long bratwurst to weisswurst to rot bratwurst (red bratwurst). almost as common as the sausage stands are the stands selling nothing except huge containers of french fries (XXL Pommes Frites), and döner (which will be discussed in another entry, all you have to know for now is that it is a german version of a donair wrap. Many other types of traditional german food can often be purchased, such as Flamkuchen (kind of an onion cake) schnitzel and steak semmeln (seperately a schnitzel sandwich and steak sandwich), Mandeln (roast chestnuts) raeberdatschi (potato cakes), and many other things. some objects have permeated Weinachtsmarkts from other cultures, such as crepes from france, and occasionally hot dogs and hamburgers from the USA (although not often, and only in the Weinachtsmarkts frequented by tourists). Of course, Lebkuchen (gingerbread) is always on sale as well.

The Weinachtsmarkt in Regensburg, a few hours

 before it opens in early December

The amazing thing about Weinachtsmarkts is the way in which they permeate german culture on every level. The Weinachtsmarkts in cities such as Munich and and Nurnberg are very large and commercial, taking place in the tourist district of the city with large commercial stores such as fashion outlets taking advantage of the special event to host late opening hours and special christmas sales. These markets are typically open for 5-6 weeks and end typically on Christmas Eve (or possibly later). However, every small town has their own Weinachtsmarkts, and these take on their own unique shape. At the Weinachtsmarkt in Allershausen (my home town) many of the stands are run by local clubs, such as the soccer team or the woman's group. There will be a small stage where local artists will perform, and it is a sort of community wide get together, sort of like the farmers market back home in Revelstoke. Weinachts markets are a really special occasion and, big or small, are a fantastic part of the German christmas experience.

So, once again, if you have any questions or suggestions, please post them in the comments below, and I’ll be back again in a little bit with the third and final part of my now very late segments on Christmas in Germany. 

All of the rotary exchange students in the district just outside

 a Weinachtsmarkt in a small community outside Augsburg.

Just in time to be late for Christmas: Weinachten

Hey there everyone,

Sorry I’m late on the Christmas entry. I’m currently in the middle of the alps, and internet is difficult to come by at the moment, so my entries may be coming out in bunches at least until January the 6th.

I should say that this will probably be the first of three christmas entries, the other two of which will follow as soon as I am able to write them all down. This one is focusing more on the buildup to christmas, as opposed to the actual day(s).

In the buildup to Weinachten, the first thing you notice is that Christmas here is not as commercialized as Christmas in North America. Many of the traditions are old, and many are based in religion. For example, every house has, and displays, a Krippe (nativity scene) although you can find this in some houses in Canada, it is most definitely not to the degree that it is practiced here. The entire scene (except for the figurines) must be constructed by the owner. Therefore, it is very typical to have a shingle roof made out of bark or wood chips and a wall made out of wood splinters. Even the ground must be hand made, although there is a variety of techniques used to construct the ground. Also prevalent, even in public buildings, are a series of 4 candles. Every week in the buildup to christmas, another candle is lit. This means that early in December in many places are four identical candles, with only one burning.

A Krippe 

Santa Claus is also very different here. A recent arrival on the european christmas scene, he is known in Germany as the Weinachtsmann (or sometimes the Christkind [Christchild] who comes on christmas eve and delivers presents; although these presents are all of the presents from the family. Another christmas character is Saint Nicholas, who comes on the 5th of the December. On the night of the fourth, children lay out their shoes, and in the morning, they are full of chocolate, fruit, and nuts. Since I am in Bavaria, it is possible that Krampus also appears on the fifth of December, depending on the house and how close to the Austrian border the house lies. It is a legend in Austria (I am not making this up) that with Saint Nicholas, who brings fruit, nuts and chocolate to the good children, comes Krampus, a demon who beats the bad children with a stick. Nowadays, many youth in Austria dress in Krampus costumes on the fifth of December and parade down the street trying to scare people.

Finally, although advent calendars are fairly common in Canada, they are religiously followed here. From the afore mentioned advents calendar on the side of the Mercedes Benz building in Munich to every house, advent calendars are absolutely atypical here. However, unlike most of the advent calendars in North America, advent calendars here do not necessarily need to have chocolate or candy inside them. It is also possible for each advent day to contain a picture or a toy. Many Germans travel to early Weinachtsmarkts in November to purchase them.

Thats where I leave off for now, the next entry will be all about Weinachtsmarkts. Again, thank you for your patience, I hope that all of your holidays are going very well, and if you have any questions, please post it in the comments below.

Getting into a rhythm

So that was a two month blackout or so.

Sorry about that guys. I really have no excises for that, other than everything just kind of settled into a very busy rhythm. It's not that new stuff hasn't been happening, there's been plenty of new stuff which I can share here and now, its just that I'm adjusting to the rhythm of life here. A couple weeks ago I was thinking about writing a couple entries, but then all of the chaos associated with the holidays rose up, and I have had no time from one day to the next. Before the holidays, most of my time outside of school had been taken up by soccer training with the local soccer team.

The backup field of TSV Allershausen, used for training and youth games

Because of complications obtaining a players, I have been unable to make an appearance for any team here yet, but I can reveal that as of yesterday the license has arrived, and I will be able to play games in the spring. 

If there's one thing I've learned at my school, it's that music is a SERIOUS business at this school. I'm going to try and get a video of some of the students plying and put it up here, but at the moment I have nothing. Just suffice it to say that I have seen and heard some amazing things here at school. More to follow on this.

I also visited Tierpark München (the zoo) on a day off and got to spend some time in Munich. With the holiday season well in swing now, the Mercedes-Benz company has set up their multi floor display building with a curtain covering 25 windows. Every day starting December the first, one of these curtains is lifted, revealing a new luxury car, in a sort of fancy car advent calendar. That is the full extent of what I know about it, and I didn't get a chance to take a photo, but if you want to see a photo, I'm sure one is available on their website. 

A pair of Galapagos turtles

I also got a chance to visit a former nazi airfield on the outside of Munich. After the war, the US used it as an airbase for their own purposes until eventually turning it back over to the West Germans. The airfield remained largely abandoned until purchased by the Deutsch Museum. The Deutsch Museum, based in Munich, is a museum devoted to technological advances, particularly in machinery. The airfield has been converted into a home for all of the aircraft that the Deutsch Museum owns. Many of the planes are still fully licensed and able to fly, and there really is an extraordinary number of planes in the museum. I got to sit in a fighter jet cockpit...

good luck figuring these out

The museum is really amazing, and I highly recommend it.

Finally (for now), I visited the city of Regensburg, about an hour north of Allershausen. First off, Regensburg should not be confused with Ravensburg (where the jigsaw puzzles come from). I got them confused, which is why I'm saying this. Regensburg is famous for its big church, lying on the meeting place of two rivers, and the 1000 year old bridge that crosses these two rivers. I was not able to see the bridge because it was being restored, but I was able to get a picture by the church. 

That's all for now, I'll be back soon with some holiday stuff for you guys. Again, sorry about the long absence, but there'll be quite a few coming over the next couple of weeks, including a trip to Austria.

Berlin

Hello Everyone,

Sorry that I didn't get my post from the weekend in the alps out to you guys yet. I am still waiting on a couple of videos to complete the entry and, once I get them, it will be posted. In the meantime, here is the entry from the Berlin Tour I went on with my fellow exchange students.

Some of you may know that I'm kind of crazy about history. One of the key reasons for my coming here was so that I could experience some of the history that I so often read about in books and in school. However, I was not prepared for the feelings that come with experiencing the places where this history happened. nowhere on earth are these feelings more powerful than in the city of Berlin, which has been the centre for so much of the political history of the 20th century.

This church, almost completely destroyed during allied bombing at the end

of the second world war, has remained in the centre of West Berlin as a monument ever since.

One of the facts that shows how involved Berlin is in the past century of history lies in the fact that there are still 13 operational nuclear bunkers scattered throughout the city. Although (hopefully) after the end of the USSR the need for these bunkers has been significantly reduced, many remain in operation. In a 5 star hotel near near the Brandenburg Gate (you may recognize it as the hotel from which Michael Jackson dangled the baby out of the window), there is an elevator leading from the penthouse suite to the bunker below the hotel, for the private use of whoever happens to be spending 13, 000 euros for the use of that room on that particular night. 

In the city, although much of the legacy was removed, you can still feel the ghosts of Nazi Germany in the city, and the relics of a time gone past. However, credit must be given to the city of Berlin, and to all of Germany, for the way that the people here deal with the past. All Germans will admit that what happened in the past was a truly horrible event that destroyed millions and millions of innocent people. But to put this history on display for people to come and visit and see and learn about what happened here in the hopes that such an event may never again occur takes a kind of strength that I have neither seen nor heard of in any other circumstance ever. 

Of special note is the Holocaust memorial located about a kilometre from the Brandenburg gate. Although controversial, it is a very significant monument and a must visit in the city. Below is a panorama of the view from outside the monument, while above is a view from inside.

The other significant, even more recent historical event that has shaped the city is the division of the city into East and West sectors and the separation of those sectors by the famous Berlin Wall. In fact, 

The Berlin Wall today at the East Gallery, still in its original place. 

Scattered throughout the city are several museums about what life was like in East Berlin, and it really is incredible. Of special note are the Berin Wall museum at Checkpoint Charlie and the DDR Museum, which shows off artifacts from everyday life. One of the main features of the museum was the standard car of that time, made out of plastic due to metal shortages. These cars had to be ordered and often took about 13 (no typo) years to be delivered to the family that ordered them.

Of course, there are other relics in the city, which was the capital of the influential Prussian empire until 1871, when Germany became a nation. If you are not that interested in history, or if you have a short time in Berlin, you have to visit the Story of Berlin exhibit, which covers all of the topics of the history of Berlin in one place. It is a fantastic exhibition that I truly enjoyed going through. 

My fellow Canadian exchange student Christina, myself, and Lukas, who went

 on exchange to Canada, in front of the Brandenburg gate, the symbol of not just

 old Prussia, but of the reunified Berlin.

All of the exchange students with our walking tour guide (to whom I have to credit much of the information used in this entry) outside Humboldt university, a prestigious university with former alumni including Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.

However, if you are a big fan of history and want to see what the past looked and felt like, there are two places you need to go to. The first is Stalin's office in the chateau at Potsdam, where the treaty dividing Germany was drawn up and signed. Although very little of the chateau is open for exhibition, standing in the red office where Joseph Stalin once devised how to split up the German nation is a powerful and intimidating feeling.

although photos are not allowed in side the chateau, I got a 

picture of the red star flowers growing in the garden.

The second place you need to stand is this parking lot:

Underneath this parking lot is the buried bunker in which Adolf Hitler killed himself when the Soviet Army invaded Berlin. To this day some of the vandalism scrawled by Soviet soldiers remains on the pillars of the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. The symbolism is unmistakeable. Unlike some of the other remnants of the Nazi regime (the headquarters of the Luftwaffe was turned into a tax office) this part was destroyed in order to deprive potential pro-nazi supporters of a rallying point in the days and years after the war ended. 

In the end, the relevance of Berlin in the 20th century cannot be understated, and it is an amazing place to travel to both for the tourist experience and for the deeper feeling of history on seemingly every street you walk past.

I'll leave you today with a photo from the roof of the Reichstag. I'm sorry if this entry was a bit history centric, but that was really the best way to approach my trip in Berlin. I know I enjoyed it very much and I have to give credit to my fellow students, who supplied many of the pictures. If you have any questions about the city, my exchange or a quick point, post them in the comments and will get to them as soon as I can.

More Schule

Hello again,

So, there are only two more entries left before I am back in the present, and I have to admit that it feels pretty good the out of the woods there. Apologies again for not writing on time, but I was pretty busy over the past couple of weeks with soccer, rotary trips, and a few school things. In fact, I can tell you guys in advance that i will be going dark again for the last week of October because i will be on a Berlin tour with my fellow exchange students here in District 1841 (Bavaria). So, for the first time, here is some advance warning that there is no point in checking the blog for that week, because I will probably not be writing.

Now, as promised, a couple of things about school has begun for me. I think that the best way to do this is to go through each of my classes in order of how they appear in the week and then describe essentially any differences between them and the Canadian courses.

First thing on Monday, I have Grade 11 art class (Kunzt). Those of you who know me can stop laughing now. It is true that I have not taken an art class since Grade 7, when I wrote on my grade 8 electives selection form "Please do not put me in art" no less than 6 times. However, it is a good opportunity for me to meet students, and it also has the added bonuses of not being an academic course and fitting into my timetable, so there you have it; I am in Art Class. I am also in a Grade 10 Chemistry (Chemie), and French (Französich). Unlike in Canada, the division of Subjects begins mud earlier, so by Grade 10 the students have been taking separate Chemistry, Biology, and Physics classes. French begins in Grade 10 here, so I am taking French from the very beginning. However, the pace of learning has been so fast that I think that we will have caught up to my French level by Christmas. It is like this with all classes here, since the school is a Gymnasium. I am also in Grade 11 English, grade 9 and 12 History (Geschichte) and grade 10 Geography. Here, History from grade 9 to 11 focuses entirely on the 20th century, while Grade 12 focuses on the Abiteur (which I will get to later). Geography is a very technical course, even in Grade 10, requiring a lot of thought and memorization which you do not see in a geography class in Canada (I really enjoy geography if and when I know whats going on). I am also in a Math 11 class and two PE classes, one of which is a soccer class, the other of which is a swimming class. However, although these classes have specific topics, no more training occurs in these classes than you would have in a normal PE class in Canada.

Finally, I have the Seminars. These are massive projects, which take a year and a half to complete. beginning in Grade 11, students can choose a school subject and perform a project related to that topic. This takes two different forms, an a practical real life application of a project (for example, in my math based seminar, the class is constructing a math app for use on smartphones) or a theoretical massive research paper (for example, in my geography centric seminar, the students have to write a paper on the sustainability of a city of their choosing). these projects change every year, so there is no guarantee of exactly what you will doing from year to year. However, these projects result in you gaining important life skills for the future, such as how to properly write an informative paper and/or organization, resource management, and team cooperation. I'm sure no student in Canada wants more work to do, but I think that these courses should be introduced to the British Columbian education system.

Thirdly, and finally, the Abiteur. This is the Gigantic pre-graduation final exam that all students in grade 12 must take to graduate. This test covers all curriculum that you have learned in the Gymnasium and is controlled and administered by the state of Bavaria. For those of you from Revelstoke, imagine a challenging provincial exam on everything you learned in High School that you are required to pass to graduate. For the most part, the entire Grade 12 year is spent preparing for this exam, and after the exam, much like Graduation in Canada, the class will sometimes go on an "Abi-Trip" which is typically a vacation to a sunny resort somewhere in the Mediterranean. There are brochures for two different trips available to look at in the school, and at some point in the year the Grade 12's decide which they would rather go on.

That is all for my school description this time. Once again, if you guys have any questions about the education system in Germany or recommendations for future articles, please post them in the comments below and I will get working on them right away. My pile of draft ideas for blogs is dwindling, and I would very much like to fill it up with new ideas. Again, thank you for reading, and I'll be back with some mountain adventures very soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen.... Oktoberfest

Its been a week since it ended, and I still can't quite believe that this is a real event,

Oktoberfest is considered to be one of the most stereotypical German events, and while this may not necessarily be true, it is still one of the must see and do events here in Germany.

This article will be mostly about a trip that I took with the other rotary exchange students, if for no other reason than because that is the trip that I have a couple of pictures of (my phone is still not up and running, so no camera for me).

Helen, Mikayla (two American exchange students), and I at an entrance to Oktoberfest.

So, obviously, the stand out expectation of Oktoberfest is the beer tents, and yes, they are absolutely insane. There are about 12 to 15 gigantic beer tents arranged in the centre of the festival, where most of the participants spend their time. However, other than the beer tents, there are many things in Oktoberfest that I wash't expecting to see. First of all, the gigantic roller coasters. every year, Oktoberfest has two or three temporary roller coasters set up for the event. The traditional olympia coaster features a track that includes, among other things, the shape of the olympic rings. In fact, the entire oktoberfest is set up like a carnival, with lights, games, and rides everywhere.

the Hollenblitz, a gigantic indoor roller coaster complete with 

a waterfall and flashing lights in the shape of a giant tree

There are carnival games, food stands, and small beer tents littering the sides of the wide avenues that people have to walk (or stumble, depending on how your night is progressing) down to get from ride to beer tent to carnival game and back again. Shout out to the police that are monitoring the entire event, from providing directions in the subway to organizing lineups and admission into beer tents. Its a massive project that they run consistently at a very high standard, so well done to you guys.

Oh, yeah, another couple of stereotypes I have to shoot down; Oktoberfest doesn't run for the duration of October. It runs in the last week of September and the first week of October. Secondly, The festival is a Bavarian festival, not a German festival. Although it is the biggest party that is held in Germany, there are carnivals in some of the western cities (such as Köln (Cologne)) that are comparable. Finally, Lederhosen are traditional bavarian clothing, and often they are some of the highest selling products in the souvenir shops that can be found throughout the city during Oktoberfest. However, many people who are going will buy one of these imitation pairs and wear it to the festival. Apparently this commercial side of Oktoberfest has only emerged recently, and, at the moment, if you go to Oktoberfest in ordinarily clothing you will not stand out from the crowd. however, while you are there, try and find a Bavarian in the very traditional pairs of lederhosen, down to a feather sicking of out of the hat. It is a very impressive thing to see, and a real glimpse into a very old culture.

Anyways, obviously go to Oktoberfest, it is one of the landmark German events of the year, and I'm sure at some point I will come back to it. If you have any questions about Oktoberfest, I may be able to answer them, but only if you post them in the comments below.

Thanks guys for all of your support and reading, I'll be back in a couple days with more blog for you guys (and maybe, I dare to hope, a working phone)