In this section: Fashion, Traditions, Politics, and Food

Hi! Today Pika, Mom, and I met up with Kara downtown after she was done with school. Can I just say that I love shopping in Europe! While the warm weather delicately lingers, food stands, clothes sales racks, and other street vendors selling any goods you can imagine, flower the streets, along with accordion players. Kara and I bought a gorgeous skirt, a scarf, and some awesome print tights- I had no idea there was such a variety of colors and patterns of tights in the universe. For lunch we grabbed some bratwurst und broetchen, while Mom ordered some "Wonton Suppe" from the German-ized Vietnamese food stand all by herself. Kara and I also discovered the "Charlotte Russe" equivalent here- cheap, trendy clothing with dance music and all :)

We also visited the local landmark of the Gaenselisl ("goose girl") fountain (see picture below). The local tradition is for all newly graduated PhD students to kiss the cheek of the goose girl statue. Gottingen is a very intellectual center in Germany because of the very old and prestigious university. In fact, Heidelberg and Gottingen are the two intellectual hearts of Germany that England had an agreement with Germany during WWII that they would not bomb if Germany wouldn't bomb Cambridge or Oxford. Because of this, Gottingen has several buildings dating back to the 1300's.

When we got home, Kara and I turned on the TV and were reassured in our realization of how obsessed Germans are with American politics when the first 3 channels we flipped through had Sarah Palin, Bush, and Obama on respectively. Kara asked a classmate why this is and she replied that U.S. politics affect them more so than probably any other country, besides their own. She then proceeded to ask Kara if she even knew, as an American, who the German Chancellor was. Kara thankfully could answer her correctly, though I wouldn't have been able to... Kara's classmates have a whole class devoted to politics, where they spend most of their time discussing American politics. This is probably why Kara was bombarded with questions like " Who would you vote for if you were old enough" or "You would vote for Obama, right?" when she first got to her school, or by anyone she meets who finds out she is American.

For Abendessen (light evening meal), Pika had gone to the day-old bakery and purchased a cornucopia of Kuechen (pastry-like cake), ranging from raspberry to rhubarb to a lime-cheesecake-tasting one. They were all delicious and surprisingly light- everything is less sweet here it seems.

Well, I will sign out for the day, but I love and miss you all at home with a "veritable cornucopia of sincerities" (thanks for that one, Michael- it is my favorite phrase you have ever said to me).

My Big Fat Greek Restaurant Experience

Hello Again! Today was pretty laid back for all of us, but for Mittagessen when Dad and Kara came home, we went to this fabulous Greek restaurant basically right across the street from our apartment. It was just a little family that owned and ran it and it was so cute- the wife is the cook, the dad the host and the son the waiter. They had retired 3 years ago but after a year, the dad decided that he missed being able to interact with the people and regular customers so they opened it back up. And we were the only ones there right then because we kinda came in between lunch and dinner and so the dad and son were pretty much out there just talking with us the whole time, mostly about his Christian-orthodox views in comparison to our Mormon ways, which came up after he tried to serve us alcoholic drinks and we told him we didn't drink. Anyway, it made me so happy- people are so friendly and not in a hurry here. And the food was delicious- we had lamb and gyros and rice and this amazing salad with goat cheese.

We also chatted with our upstairs neighbor for a while. When Pika mentioned we were from Utah and we were Mormon, but not affiliated with the Mormons who had multiple wives, he got kinda confused and said he had never heard of the polygamist thing, but that he had learned how to play basketball from Mormons 30 years ago! It was back when basketball was not a well-known sport at all in Germany and apparently some Mormons wanted people to play basketball with so they taught a bunch of people how to play. I thought that was kind of funny that that was his connection and pretty much all he knew of Mormons.

I think that's all I will say for today, tschuss!

Day 2 in Gottingen

Gutentag! Today after Kara and Dad left for school and work, Pika, Mom, and I set out to see the city. All I can say is... no, there aren't words. Gottingen is a magical place. It has all the elements of a small and safe cozy town, but with all the advantages of big city life as well- the shopping is amazing, ranging from big department stores, to small boutiques or thrift shops. The whole downtown is enclosed in a circle where there is only foot traffic, bikes, delivery trucks, and buses allowed. The variety of bread shops and flower shops are so fun and European. And ice cream here, is an art. There are countless cafes devoted entirely to dessert and ice cream and the presentation and design is as good as the taste. We tried this amazing pistachio ice cream today.

I also visited the Goethe Institute, which is where I will be going to school come October. It is this beautiful and was built in like 1900 and is completely in its original state. There are students there from all over the world, including Chile and South Africa, who are trying to learn German, most of them to try to pass the German language test you have to pass to enroll in any German university.

I have so much more to say and not enough time to say it in, but I will put some pictures up from today and I will be in touch tomorrow. Thanks for those who are following this now- I feel so loved!

Auf wiedersehen!

September 8, 2008

Hallo! This is my first attempt at having a blog, so hopefully besides just as a means of personally journaling my experiences here in Germany, it can be somewhat entertaining and informative to all my fans out there... haha hopefully SOMEone will read this.
Mom and I got to the Frankfurt airport at 7AM Monday (11PM Sunday MST) German time after an 8 hour flight. Despite our eye-masks, ear-plugs, and sleeping pills :) Mom only could sleep a couple hours, while I can't claim more than an hour of sleep. I think I was just too darn excited (or maybe the fact that I had slept a collective amount of 13 hours the day before...). But thankfully, everything went very smoothly upon arriving at the airport. We found our luggage immediately, and waited only 5 minutes before finding Dad and the driver from Max-Planck. We then were on our way, after a slight game of "fit our ridiculous amount of luggage in the European car Tetris," to our apartment in Gottingen.
While at first trying to get myself up-to-date on American politics by finishing the article on Sarah Palin in the copy of Newsweek that Mom and I had bought at the Atlanta airport using the last of our U.S. money (and a 20 cents financial backing from the vendor) during the 2 1/2 hour drive through the hilly German countryside, the gorgeous green trees and charming towns, each with houses all surrounding a central church, demanded my eyes to be glued to the window (along with the feeling of carsickness that trying to read in the car over hills and fast curves on the Autobahn caused...) until I fell asleep. Next thing I knew was driving up to the handsome apartment building we were to call home for the next four months. The willow tree and green green grass in the courtyard caught my eye and I knew it was going to be... magical. Ahem. Sorry, cutting the dramatics.
Anyway, Pika welcomed us with open arms and joyous laughter-- oops sorry again, wait no, that was really what it was like. No uberstridung (over-exagerration) there. She helped us get unpacked, and then Kara got home from school around 11:30AM and there was much rejoicing, once again.
Since then, Mom and I took a nap, and then Kara and Pika and I went to the grocery store (just a block or two away) while Dad and Mom hit a floral shop and bakery. We reconvened for a delicious Austrian dinner (Quark-knuddel) served by the amazing Pika, and now I am writing on here, while Kara does her homework. I guess that's enough for today. Probably too much... but essentially, it is beautiful here and it is so good to be reunited with Dad and Pika and Kara again, though I miss you all at home terribly.
Mit viele liebe grusse!
Emily