Field Trip, European Style (Or What I Learned With My Students)

I have been on a lot of field trips in Texas. They usually involve going to a museum or the zoo, then having a sack lunch and time to play in the park.  Not here. When your fifth-grade class is studying the Middle Ages, what could be better than to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nuremberg? 

the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

view of Nuremberg from the castle

I like history, but I have never been that interested in the Middle Ages.  It's probably because back home it just seemed so foreign to me--it was a long time ago in a faraway land; I had no connection to it. Here, though, you are surrounded by it.  I knew I was in for some good lessons on this trip when, the week before we went, my students were explaining to me where to find the nave and the transepts in the cathedral.

So, what did I learn on the three-day trip (yes, three days and two nights!) with fifth graders?

1.  The difference between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Direct quote from one of my students: "If it is circular, then it is Romanesque, and if it has the pointy thingy it is Gothic."

Chapel inside the Nuremberg castle







St. Lorenzkirche in Nuremberg

2. Crime and punishment were up close and personal.

My students took this picture of me in front of the Criminal Museum in Rothenburg...the stocks were better than some of the other medieval instruments of torture we saw inside (and, thankfully, no one threw anything at me like they would have in medieval times), but now I think I would have preferred the Shame Mask.

I had heard of swords, shields, and even lances, but now that I have been to the Criminal Museum, I can add maces, flails, halberds, pollaxes and spikes to the list. Yikes!  There was even a small exhibit of a classroom in the (late) Middle Ages, complete with a wooden donkey for misbehaving students to sit on.  A couple of students thought that was very funny, and asked if we could get one.

You see the mask above the entry?  In medieval times the people of the town would stop attackers by pouring hot tar on them through the mouth of the mask. 

3.  The skies were golden in the Middle Ages. Artists had to paint the skies gold as a symbol of God's kingdom. If you see a painting with a blue sky, chances are it is not from the Middle Ages.



the altar at St. Wolfgang's Church in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

4.  In the Middle Ages, walls were built around the city for protection, but now they are good for walking, and even for having picnics.



Playtime along the wall in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Quedlinburg

My friend Sarah (also an expat teacher from  the U.S.) told me once that when her friends back home saw her pictures of Germany, they told her they kept looking for the gingerbread man...I was reminded of that when I was in Quedlinburg, a small town that escaped bombing in World War II. It seemed like something from a fairy tale, or at least a step back in time. 

Many of the cities' buildings date back as far as the 1400s (our hotel was relatively new, having been built in the 1650's).  Most of the time I felt like we should all be riding horses on those cobblestone streets, and that might have been easier than driving--the town is a maze of Einbahnstrassen.

view of the St. Nikolaikirche

view of the castle and St. Servatius church from the downtown area

It seems to me that some places in the former East Germany have a marketing problem.  This place is amazing, but it could use some good signs...at first I felt like the typical American tourist who couldn't figure out where she was going, but then I saw that the German tourists were just as lost!  We took a trolley tour of the town (though it wasn't anywhere close to the scheduled time); the tour was all in German, but that didn't stop us from understanding when the tour guide used the words "Amerikaner" and "Texas", and the collective gasp from the Germans when the sum of 6 million Deutsch Marks was mentioned was enough to make me sink a little lower in my seat. You see, the town's oldest church, St. Servatius, has an infamous Texas connection. 

St. Servatius Church, built in 1075

In 1945, Army officer and Texas native Joe T. Meador stole priceless artifacts from the church, and kept them in a safe deposit box in his hometown of Whitewright, Texas. After Joe's death, his siblings managed to sell some of the pieces, even after they had been warned that it was illegal to deal in stolen goods. The church recovered most of the pieces, but it had to pay over $3 million for them. I had never heard of this story, but it eventually became a book...I would read it if the story didn't make me so disgusted and embarassed.  Fortunately, most of the pieces were recovered and are now on display in a safe place in the church.

This Samuhel Gospel from the 13th century was stolen by Meador; it is now on display (minus a few precious stones) at St. Servatius (the picture is from a brochure--you cannot take photos!)

walkway to St. Servatius

a look at the rooftops from the "Burgberg"

Ahhh...a weekend in Holland

Texas is a big state, and I am from the middle of it. That means I can drive four hours in any direction and I will still be in Texas. Here, after four hours of driving, I can be in Holland! 

Recently I went to the Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse in the Netherlands.  The Gardens are only open for about two months, and it's almost the end of the season. You wouldn't know it by looking at the flowers, though:

I was in Amsterdam, too, but not for nearly enough time. I want to go back! 

I love the canals!

Next time I will go to the Anne Frank house...this is the church whose bells Anne could hear from her hiding place.

double-decker parking lot for bicycles

More canals, more bicycles

Cheap Gas

I've been hearing a lot in the American news lately about the surge in gas prices. The prices have gone up in Germany, too:

Before you think that is cheap, those prices are per liter, not per gallon. What this means in "American" is this:

One liter is close to a quart, and there are four quarts in a gallon:  1.69 x 4 = 6.76 Euros a gallon
= 8.84 dollars a gallon...and that's the cheap gas.

It was the same in Turkey:

There, your regular gas is 3.85 Turkish Lira a liter, which is about $2.15, times that by 4, and a gallon of gas is about $8.60. I know it's different in the U.S., because in most places you really need a car to get around, but it makes $4 a gallon seem not nearly as bad.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last Saturday the bells of all the churches in downtown Frankfurt were ringing, and it was my birthday. Coincidence?

Well, yes. The "Pealing of the Bells" takes place only a few times a year, right before a religious celebration. In this case, it was the day before Easter.  Frankfurt Walking Tours described the 50 bells as ringing "in harmony"...I don't know if I would say it was particularly harmonious, but being downtown for it was an event.

The bells were louder in the Roemerplatz, but I liked the view better from the Eisener Steg.

ISTANBUL

During ski week I went to Istanbul! The flight is only about three hours, and I took full advantage of the fact that I have cousins living there.  Not only did I stay with them, but they gave me the grand tour.  I loved it! My pictures can't begin to do this place justice, but I'll show you anyway.

My favorite: the Haghia Sophia; originally a church, then a mosque, now a museum

inside the Haghia Sophia

Field trip to the Haghia Sophia: one teacher (not shown), a couple of moms, and at least forty students...We ran into them again at the cistern. I wished so badly that I spoke Turkish; I wanted to tell the teacher how impressed I was with how well her students behaved.

It doesn't look anything like any cistern I'd ever seen!  Thanks to my cousin Lee, I saw it again that night in the James Bond movie From Russia, With Love.

Sultanahmet Mosque ("The Blue Mosque") 

inside the Blue Mosque

Turkey has so much history, it doesn't know what to do with all of it! These pieces were in an alley behind the Archaeological Museum and the Topkapi Palace with a sign that said "Please don't touch the artifacts!"

Inside the Chora Church; it was built in the 11th century and decorated in the 14th

How's this for a family tree?  24 of Jesus' ancestors are depicted in this mosaic "The Genealogy of Christ" (Chora Church)

I forgot to mention the fabulous food!

Spice Bazaar

a look inside the thick walls of Constantinople

 

Rumeli Fortress, built on the Bosphorus in 1452

There weren't any handrails in the 15th century!

Schönes Wochenende

Last week we were off for "ski week".  I don't ski, but I did travel to a fabulous location where there was some snow (more on that later!).  I didn't leave right away, though.  The Saturday before I left, I decided to get on a train and just ride. The Germans have just the thing for that; it's called the "Schönes Wochenende Ticket": on Saturday or Sunday up to five people can ride anywhere on the regional trains for just 40 Euro.  The regional trains are slower than the ICE trains, so it's perfect for just sitting and staring out the window...which is what I did on the way to Koblenz.

The train took about two hours to get there from Frankfurt, and the train followed the Rhein...I was able to see many of the castles I saw on the Rhein River cruise.  Once I arrived, I made my way to the Deutsches Eck, where the Rhein and Mosul rivers meet.  There Kaiser Wilhelm II had a massive monument made to honor his namesake, Kaiser Wilhelm I.   

 

The Kaiser was knocked off his pedestal during WWII. When he was returned to the top of the monument in 1993, a memorial was erected behind him:

The memorial is dedicated to those who suffered from the partition of the country; June 17, 1953 was the date of uprisings in East Germany, and November 9, 1989 was the day the Wall came down. It seemed to me to be an odd place for that memorial, but then I thought better of it...Germans have a thoughtful sense of history--perhaps they feel they have to counterbalance this massive memorial's show of might with some mitgefühl, or maybe it serves as a warning of what that might could lead to when left unchecked.

Coventry

This past weekend I was sent to Coventry for a conference.  My American friends who are reading this are no doubt thinking, "Jan is so lucky! She gets to do all of the cool stuff!"...while those of you from the UK are chuckling to yourself and wondering what I did to deserve it. You see, in the UK if you say someone is being "sent to Coventry", it means he is being punished or ostracized.

Whatever may be said about Coventry, the people were the friendliest.  It seems to me that Coventry got a bum rap, but what do I know? I only spent a few hours outside of Warwick University, where the conference was held.  That conference was work; when we finished each day I just wanted to sleep, and I stayed in a dorm room that made the Jester dorms at UT look large and even slightly luxurious. (Maybe I was sent to Coventry?!) 

Valentinstag

It's refreshing to be in a country where Valentine's Day isn't such a big deal. I think the only commercial I've seen about the holiday was an advertisement for the movie Valentine's Day, which will be showing on German TV on Sunday.  Most of my fifth grade students seemed blissfully oblivious. When a student's mom (who is a fabulous baker, and, by the way, is also from Texas) brought in delicious pink cupcakes with red sprinkles this morning, some of my students asked, "Whose birthday is it?"

A few of my students knew, of course, and I did get some Valentine's Day cards. They were the best kind, too: the homemade kind. :)

some of my Valentine's Day treats...and snow, too!

It Can't Be All Smooth Sailing

Next week I will have been living in Germany for six months, at which point my driver's license is no longer valid.  Since I plan to live here for more than a year, and at some point I'd like to rent a car, I need to get a German license.  I am one of the lucky ones whose state has a reciprocity agreement with Germany, so I can get a German license without taking any classes, or even a driving exam. All I need is:

• my Texas driver's license  + a photocopy
• an official translation of my license
• copy of my passport
• copy of my registration from the local city hall (yes, you have to register when you move here!)
• application, completed and signed
• 35 Euros

...or so I thought, until I went to the driver's license office Tuesday. Co-workers of mine from other states with reciprocity agreements left the office without a hitch, and then I went in. "Hmmm, Texas. Sie brauchen einen Sehtest".   I need an eye exam, because I am from Texas.  I didn't see that coming (ha), but okay. I wasn't that disappointed or surprised, really. When you live in another country, you come to expect these things.  What I didn't expect was that somewhere between that office and my classroom (in a span of about 20 minutes) I would lose my driver's license.  I've NEVER lost my license; the only time I had to replace one was when it was stolen.  How is it that I managed to lose it at this critical moment?

I felt physically ill.  By the next day, though, I was resigned to the fact that I wouldn't have a license--any license--until July, when I would go home again.  Then I would have to start the whole process all over again, except it would be longer (more paperwork!) and more expensive, because it would be after the first six months.

Today my license appeared. Someone had found it and turned it in. I never actually doubted someone would turn it in--I have found people here to be very honest.  My concern was, to whom would they turn it in? If it were to the reception desk of a different office, how would I know? How would they let me know? They can't just drop it in the mail; it's from Texas.  A super-nice lady from the HR department at my school called another office in the same building as the driver's license office, and there it was!

It turned out to be my lucky day.  I passed my eye exam, picked up my old driver's license, and turned in all the paperwork for my new Führerschein.  It should arrive in about two weeks, at which time I have to give up my old one.  Until then, I'll be keeping my license in a safe place. :-)

Sag's auf Deutsch!

I'm trying to get back into learning German, and so lately I have been watching more TV.  I was recently watching an afternoon soap, Alles was zählt, when I saw this commercial featuring celebrities in Germany who are not of German descent:

It's a great public service announcement that encourages people to learn German.  At least, that's what I gathered from my limited language ability.  You see, the problem with this commercial is that it's ALL IN GERMAN.  The people this announcement is trying to reach aren't going to understand it.

Thank goodness for YouTube. Someone thought to add German and English subtitles*! It's too bad this version is not the one you'll see on the RTL channel.

   *You may have to watch it on YouTube to see the subtitles.

Seasons

It finally snowed this morning! It's not much by German standards, but it's enough to cover the ground and to make me feel that winter has arrived.

Seeing true changes in seasons is a new thing for this Texas girl.

view from the balcony in August

November

January

I love fresh snow!  I quickly took some pictures this morning because I knew the snow wouldn't last.  On my walk to the grocery store, it started raining.  On the way back, then, I carried groceries uphill for half a mile in the snow while it rained. Jealous? ;)

New Year's Resolutions

Exactly one month ago today I flew home for Christmas.  During those two weeks at home I reverted back to my old self--you know, the one that never remembers to take her camera anywhere. So, I did a lot in those two weeks, but I don't have a lot to show for it (except for maybe a couple of extra pounds!).

I usually make new year's resolutions, but I like mine to be fun--they are more likely to be accomplished that way. I think I am also more likely to accomplish them if I tell everyone my resolutions, so here they are:

1. Learn more German!  (Specifically, by the end of 2012 I want to be at or surpass a B2 level.)
2. Visit at least 10 cities/towns on my list of "German Places I Haven't Been Yet".

What cities/towns are on the list?

1. Aachen
2.  Bamberg
3.  Berchtesgaden
4.  Eisenach
5.  Freiburg
6.  Garmisch
7.  Köln
8.  Nuremberg
9.  Quedlinburg
10.  Rüdesheim
11.  Sylt
12. Trier

If you are wondering why Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, and Oldenburg (among others) aren't on the list, it's because they used to be on it. :)  I am sure the list will grow as the year goes on. Are there any others that need to be on there?