Spring Break

If you've been wondering where I've been for so long, I'll have you know that spring break is a blessed two weeks in Germany. Nordrhein-Westfallen had its break from the 10th of April to the 23rd.

Many German students, if you ask them what they did with themselves over the two weeks, will tell you, "Ich hab' zu Haus gesessen und langeweilt." In other words, I bored myself sitting at home.

Other Germans will say they didn't even have time to sit. Such was my case. From the day we got out of school there was chess, directly followed by a big Abi Party, and, after 6 hours of sleep, Kölner Zoo. And that's all in the first 36 hours.

Abi Parties are like mini-discos, directed for German students in the 10th-13th grades (and then some crust to that). They're fun, if you have a group of people with you or you know a lot of people there you can hang out with. The great thing about this particular Abi Party was that it was specifically for KDG and AVG, the two Gymnasiums in Wesel (to celebrate the last day of school for the 13th graders). So virtually everyone from my class was there. There was a large dance floor with disco lights in the Niederrheinhalle. There were two live bands, from AVG and KDG. I had a great time with my friends and the exchange students from AVG, and wished I could have stayed longer. But the zoo would probably have been unbearable after an all-nighter.

Claudia, her mom and I went to the zoo mainly to see the new baby elephant. It was 11 days old or so when we went to visit. The zoo also had an attatched terranium, aquarium (with all the fish native to the Rhein) and insectarium. It was fun.

Sunday was finally a day of respite. And packing. Monday I left to visit Gabi, a Brasilien with whom I made friends in Midstay, and after four days there would be going directly to the Eifel with the Kaluses without stopping back in Hamminkeln.

Gabi lives in a Dorf (aka a small town) called Weeren about 45 minutes from Magdeburg in Sachsen Anhalt. Four days was not enough to explore the surrounding towns, visit with exchange students, and see Magdeburg. We spent a lot of time looking at pictures from her home, school, and friends in Brasil. Guess which country is next up on my list of places to go. We had a movie night with some exchange students from Argentina, Columbia, and Brasil (chick flicks with two guys, fun, no?) . They were just there to eat the Ernadas.

The train from Stendal to Remagen to meet up with the Kaluses was long. It should have been only 6 hours, but it took 10. Bonn central train station was closed off to all trains for hours because someone threw themself in front of a train. The train I was on took me to Bonn Beuel, which is practically on the other side of the world from Bonn Hbf (ie, the other side of the Rhein). Somehow Judith and I managed to meet up there and get ourselves to Bonn Hbf where we met with Peter. Trains still weren't moving for the next 2 hours or so. But in the end we managed to reach Remagen and drive safely to the Kaluses' vacation home in Wehr, a small town in the Eifel.

We spent the first few days relaxing. The weather wasn't exactly warm, but we went for walks every day in the hills. The Eifel was once a volcanic region.

Then Easter rolled around, with an Easter egg hunt (not quite as complex as Aunt Kathyrn and Aunt Susan's) and more chocolate than you could eat in a week. I got some 4 chocolate easter bunnies from Judith, Peter and Regina, my host Oma and Opa, and Regina's cousin. Judith, Peter and Regina also got some 6 easter bunnies altogether. But the Kaluses don't eat much chocolate, because it's "too sweet" (they say that about a lot of foods which I think could actually use more sugar). So who gets to eat all the chocolate? I must have gained another 7 Kilos over spring break.

On Easter Judith and I went to a Jugend Gesellschaft Verein (JGV, youth society club) party on the edge of another small Dorf with one of her Eifel friends. There were also two live bands there. But Judith was the only person I knew, and Judith didn't know many other people there either. After we got back, I called home at my grandma's to wish everybody a happy Easter. It's good to speak to everyone again.

During the week we visited a few castles, Mayen, and Koblenz. Mostly we stayed at home reading books or going for walks. It was a good week.

It ended on earth day. The Kaluses woke me up singing "Happy Birthday" in English holding candles. Then we all went downstairs to eat cake for breakfast (again, too sweet. all the more for me) and they gave me a T-shirt with their picture printed on the front. We drove back to Hamminkeln a few hours later, after cleaning up the house and closing everything up.

That afternoon we went bowling together, which I haven't done since leaving the US. It was fun. Then I got to talk with my mom and David on the telephone, and open a pair of packages from home. Jenn and I talked on Sunday for an hour and a half, because Saturday night I didn't have time. Judith and I went over to her friend Andreas with Natascha and talked and played games.

Now we're back in school again. 2 Weeks almost seems too short for a break. From now 'til summer break, however, is practically every other weekend three or four days long. That will make it more bearable.

Springtime in Germany

This is what Spring looks like.

The Kaluses (my new host family) and I have been keeping busy for the past two weeks. The weekend before last, on the 25th, Judith and I went to an Abi Party with her friends. Okay, so the poster says WM party, and they had a few flags up and played “Love Generation” twice, but otherwise, you couldn’t tell it apart from any other small town wannabe disco.

I started to give Erika, from the Czech Republic, a bit of English help on Thursdays. Basically, it’s just a half hour or so speaking in English (Describe your hometown, you family, etc.). We tried having the sessions in the Wesel library, but we were a little too loud, and because we’re only talking and not working in books so much, we decided to meet up in a café somewhere each week. This week we’re going down to CentrO in Oberhausen, because both of us have afternoons free of school.

The week passed in a breeze of German radio music and class test returns (1+ in both English and Math! That made my week a lot better). Then it hit Friday with a jolt of busy-ness.

Friday was chess in the yellow house, again. I managed to get there on time by running from the bus. The last couple times I had been a few minutes late for various reasons (and in Germany, punctuality is key). Chess has been going a lot better these days. I’ve improved a lot this year. I even beat Moritz at Tannen (chess involving 4 players, in which you can stick extra pieces on the board which the person next to you has captured) yesterday. Moritz is maybe 14, and he’s really good at chess. He often plays two chess boards at once, when someone’s missing, on a 5 minute timer…and wins! No idea how he does it. When I’m not playing Tannen with the boys, I’m usually playing against one of the few girls in the chess club, Marie. She’s shy, and doesn’t talk much, but we play a lot together, especially when all the guys run off to play Magic in the corner during the last half hour.

Moritz on the left, playing chess with another one of the guys.

Marie gets ready to win another chess game.

Saturday I visited the Preussen Wochenende in Wesel with Erika. It was a historical weekend about when Wesel was under Prussian or French occupancy. Wesel is home to a Preussen Museum, so they celebrated it by offering entrance into the musem for 1€, for students free. We were going to go there, but I needed to leave shortly for a concert, plus we couldn’t find the place. And it was pouring the whole afternoon. Even with an umbrella we were soaked.

The guy behind him was making imitations behind his back.

The funniest part of the dreary afternoon (the weather kept most of the people in costume away) was a drink stand with a pair of singers with a stringed lute-like instrument. They sang us “love songs” which we couldn’t understand at all because they kept on using phrases and talk from the time period of the occupation. But that didn’t make it any less amusing.

Saturday night the Bislich Blasorchester played at a benefits concert in the Niederrheinhalle. The money is to benefit the construction of a façade on the Marktplatz which looks like the historical Rathaus, which was destroyed in WWII along with 98% of Wesel. The move is controversial, because many people think that the money could be used in more beneficial ways. The city is extremely tight on money these days, and schools or other organizations could make better use of it. However, the other side is completely understandable, too. Wesel is missing a large chunk of its old, visible culture which is normally in every European city. A large memorial of the past would bring moral, pride, and history back to the citizens of Wesel. The whole concert, the case “This House Would Rebuild the Rathaus” was running through my head. There was lots of time to think it over. The concert was over 3 hours long.

The girls in uniform.

Sunday I was back in Wesel at the historical weekend with Regina and Peter this time. The weather was much better, and they knew the way to the Preussen Museum, so we went there. On the lawn in front of the building were tents where a group dressed up in costume performed a small act every hour about how life the Prussian quarters in Wesel were, and life in Wesel in general. Then I visited the museum for free. It was only one room, and rather dry. There were some good portraits of the Prussian kings and Bismarck there, though. We also went to a pair of small chambers in an adjointed building which was dedicated to 11 men who were sentenced to death in Wesel by the Prussians, though they were innocent.

Peter and I

The Prussians, or Napoleon's Grande Armee, not sure which (note the French flag the construction workers put up in the background).

Wesel also had shops open on Sunday, so we could do a bit of shopping while we were walking among the huts in the Innenstadt. In Germany all stores are closed on Sundays, normally. During the week shops close at 6, too, which is starting to feel early now that sunset is nearing 9 at night. Germany has a big problem with loss of jobs (there’s a notorious commericial going around about it), and I wonder why they wouldn’t try extending the open hours and include Sundays, which would give them more work places. And it’s not like people wouldn’t buy anything on Sundays. Germans don’t have a lot of time to buy things. If you work during the week, you only have Saturdays left, and even then that’s not long.

Claudia and Sarah came over on Tuesday and I made hamburgers for them. The first good hamburgers I’ve had for over 7 months (McDonalds and Burger King are NOT good hamburgers). It was great, and they liked them. Sarah and Claudia and Hamburgers

Sarah’s last day at KDG was yesterday. She flies today to New Jersey for a 3-week exchange. For the most part it sounds like she’ll be with Germans, though, touring NYC and Washington D.C. Her itinerary includes a family stay and school visit, but that won’t be very long. Not nearly long enough to get as much as possible out of the experience. 10 ½ months is better. Apparently she was thinking of doing a year-long exchange before, but since in Germany when you miss a year you have to redo it, she and her family didn’t think it was a good option. Imagine being in high school until you were 21!

The last week for the 13th graders is this week before Spring break. On Monday they dressed up in pjs and baby suckers, Tuesday as preppy students, Wednesday as punks and hip hopers, and today presumably in business suits. Supposedly tomorrow they’re going to have a “Chaos Tag,” in which they go crazy all over the school, though they’re not supposed to.

They make me miss spirit weeks at Pacifica. German schools don’t have the same school pride and enthusiasm as in the US. They have a more formal pride, ie, “KDG is one of the best schools in NRW, and you need to keep up the name, blah blah.” But that doesn’t let the students have much fun, just more pressure.

Today is my 216th day in Germany.

Claudia, Sarah, mich, Christian, and Marvin, my school buddies.