Hallo! Sorry it's been a few days since I last posted- the weekend was crazy. It was Mom and my first Sunday here and so when we went to our branch, although Kara had told me already, I was still surprised to find only about 20 people there on the third floor of a downtown office building - which is our meeting house. We had Sunday School first, which was taught by a lady who was from Colombia and therefore had a really interesting accent with her German. But it was a good lesson. She showed a portion of a church video of Christ healing the sick and speaking with the Nephite children, surrounded by angels. There was no dialogue, just music and I felt the Spirit very strongly in the room. I was again hit with a strong re-realization of how universal the gospel is for God's children all around the world. I am grateful for the commandments and the scriptures and for the prophets and revelation that keep the church consistent all over the world. There was no Relief Society/Priesthood because they have that on the first and third Sunday, and Sunday School on the second and fourth Sunday. I think they do this because there are just so few people to be able to facilitate all the organizations and auxiliaries and activities that I so take for granted in Utah. Anyway, then we had Sacrament Meeting and they read off our names (Dad had asked them to wait until Mom and I got here). I also got to meet Heidi, who is Kara's seminary teacher who just got married.
After Church, Pika, Mom, Kara, and I went with 4 other ladies from the branch to a yearly stake women's conference, which was in Hannover. We took the train there, which took about an hour and a half. We had a lot of fun getting to know the ladies better, and one, Rose Marie, took a special liking to Mom and talked to her and insisted on translating for her for the whole time. The theme of the actual conference was "Men are that they might have joy" and the talks focused on how we are responsible for our own happiness and attitude. On the first part of the train ride home, Pika talked to the sister missionaries, and then the last hour, talked to this German dude who had just graduated from the Goettingen University in archaeology and was pretty much like Indiana Jones. Anyway, he seemed pretty cool.
Wow this is going to be really long. Ok so today I had my first day of classes- I am doing a 2-week program through a community German-learning program as a refresher course before I have to jump into the rigorous Goethe Institut program. It was really cool- I am in a class with 10 other girls who are all from Italy (from a small town near Venice) and they are here for two weeks and staying with host families to work on their German. They are mostly 16 and 17 years old and have been taking German for 3 or 4 years in high school, so it is a good challenge for me to keep up with them, but I am pretty close to their level. They are really nice and wanted to know everything about me (including if I watched The OC, which when I told them I wasn't very familiar with it they were disappointed), as well as vice versa.We conversed outside of class in a German and English mixture- their English is about as good as my German. We have class from 9 AM until 12:30 PM with a half hour break in the middle. And after I was done, my brain felt fried from trying to remember all the German I have ever learned and thinking purely in German for 3 hours. I think after having these 3 hour classes everyday for 2 weeks, I will hopefully start to not feel so inadequate when it comes to the language and trying to communicate, as it has been for me the past week.
I have been here a week. I can't believe it has only been that long. I miss you and hope you are all surviving everything you have going on in your lives.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
I gave this a really dumb title, but luckily Kara erased it for me and replaced it with this
Well Sharolee, I don't think I am quite ready to write a complete entry auf Deutsh, but I will keep that as a goal for a couple of weeks down the road...
Kara and I ventured off on our own this morning because she wanted to show me the graveyard, which dates back to 1700 (I have this weird fetish for graveyards...). We found the gravestone for the Burgermeister (Mayor) of Goettingen, for which Georg-August University was named (see picture).
We then meandered downtown to do some window shopping, where we saw this amazing pastry and candy shop (see picture). We also bought some amazing hazelnut ice cream at an Eiscafe. As we walked past the Jacobi Kirche, the doors were open with organ music streaming out. Kara freaked out because apparently the cathedral has never been open the whole time they have been here. We went inside to find beautiful stained-glass windows and striking orange and blue pillars. After listening to the music for a bit, we saw a sign pointing to the tower. After each paying a Euro, we climbed 13 flights of intensely steep and narrow wooden stairs to the top of the bell tower. The view from the top was incredible.
After Dad got home from work, we decided to go to the circus. We had seen signs all over Goettingen for a traveling circus that was performing tonight, and we didn't have anything else to do on a Friday night...
I was quite impressed with it- the acrobatics, trained animals, tight-rope, and other acts were all very entertaining and impressive. We were on the very front row too, which was a plus... until PomPom the clown (see picture) picked on me from the audience to be his assistant for his jokes and acts intermittently throughout the whole program. As nerve-wracking for me as being in the spotlight would have been in any other situation, not really being fluent in German made it even more scary. Luckily, PomPom was very nice and when I couldn't quite follow what he was saying in German or from his pantomiming, he whispered some English. I even kissed him at the end (sorry Michael...). We found out at the end that he was from Hungary and had performed in England for 7 years, which is why his English was so good. Anyway, It was a little scary, but really fun and makes a pretty good story. Oh but don't bring up the part about when Kara almost got mauled by the horse at one point-- she might start hyperventilating...
That's enough adventures for one day I think...
Kara and I ventured off on our own this morning because she wanted to show me the graveyard, which dates back to 1700 (I have this weird fetish for graveyards...). We found the gravestone for the Burgermeister (Mayor) of Goettingen, for which Georg-August University was named (see picture).
We then meandered downtown to do some window shopping, where we saw this amazing pastry and candy shop (see picture). We also bought some amazing hazelnut ice cream at an Eiscafe. As we walked past the Jacobi Kirche, the doors were open with organ music streaming out. Kara freaked out because apparently the cathedral has never been open the whole time they have been here. We went inside to find beautiful stained-glass windows and striking orange and blue pillars. After listening to the music for a bit, we saw a sign pointing to the tower. After each paying a Euro, we climbed 13 flights of intensely steep and narrow wooden stairs to the top of the bell tower. The view from the top was incredible.
After Dad got home from work, we decided to go to the circus. We had seen signs all over Goettingen for a traveling circus that was performing tonight, and we didn't have anything else to do on a Friday night...
I was quite impressed with it- the acrobatics, trained animals, tight-rope, and other acts were all very entertaining and impressive. We were on the very front row too, which was a plus... until PomPom the clown (see picture) picked on me from the audience to be his assistant for his jokes and acts intermittently throughout the whole program. As nerve-wracking for me as being in the spotlight would have been in any other situation, not really being fluent in German made it even more scary. Luckily, PomPom was very nice and when I couldn't quite follow what he was saying in German or from his pantomiming, he whispered some English. I even kissed him at the end (sorry Michael...). We found out at the end that he was from Hungary and had performed in England for 7 years, which is why his English was so good. Anyway, It was a little scary, but really fun and makes a pretty good story. Oh but don't bring up the part about when Kara almost got mauled by the horse at one point-- she might start hyperventilating...
That's enough adventures for one day I think...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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).
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).
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, September 8, 2008
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
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
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