Fact: I suck at keeping up on my blog

I've proved my theory right: I'm just not the writing type. Numerous times I've purchased journals with the intention of writing in it regularly, yet I failed to keep it up for more than a week. This blog is kind of like that. Sometimes I think about blogging, but then I just don't feel inspired. So, readers of my blog, I'm sorry for so rarely updating the thing.

Right now is the best time of year to be in Germany, despite the temperature rarely climbing above freezing. Why, then, you ask, is it the best time of the year? Because it's Christmas time! And if there is one thing the Germans know how to do better than anyone, it's spread the Christmas cheer. The German Weihnachtsmarkt - or Austrian Christkindlmarkt - is a thing of wonder, beauty and joy. It brings people together; there's singing, christmas-related trinkets, toys, and all sorts of fun regional specialties for sale. Then there are the tasty drinks: rot oder weiß Glühwein (red or white mulled wine), Punsch (hot rum, wine, sugar, ect.), Jagatee (the deadliest of the drinks consisting of wine, schnapps, rum, and, if you're lucky, a bit of juice or sugar), Heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate with or without alcoholic additon), and the infamous Die Feuerzangenbowle (see: Feuerzangenbowle for more information). As for food, you can't go wrong with a sausage or a spießbraten in a brötchen.

I've visited four different Christmas markets and tried many of the different drink specialties. My favorites have probably been the Feuerzangenbowle with the Weißglühwein + Zimt und Apfel (hot white-wine drink with apple and cinnamon) at a close second. Below are pictures of the various markets, all wonderful in their own way :). 

Other than Christmasy type things, there's good news to report: things at school are getting MUCH better. First, I talked to my supervising teacher to tell her all of the things at school with which I was unhappy. That didn't help - or so it seemed for a week and a half. But things truly are much better now. I've made friends with some of the younger teachers at the school, so I've been spending quite a bit of time with them during the past week. I've gone to the Christmas market with different teachers a few times this week, and today I went with Frank and his friend, Christoph - a teacher at the BBS in Elzay, to a Bach Christmas concert at a church. (There's also over a foot of snow on the ground here now..) This past week was the week of my long-awaited workshop, a tradition started by one of the other assistants two years ago. Although I had worried it wouldn't go over so well, I got really positive feedback. Yesterday on my way to the Rewe (supermarket), one girl even stopped me to tell me how great she found the workshop. Then I talked to her for about 45 minutes - in German, she said she didn't feel comfortable speaking English - about the US and its politics, after which she told me that I'd helped make her impression of the US much better. What an awesome feeling! It's exactly the kind of cultural exchange Fulbright was hoping for when he created the program, and the kind Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, was talking about in her speech to foreign language assistants earlier this year. You feel really proud when someone compliments you like that, proud that you've helped make a better impression of your whole country. Recently, I've also had the chance to teach about things which are important to me: local foods, economics, the US political system, the american dream, ect. Sometimes being direct and assertive does have its advantages. 

Just a few more days, then Christmas break! Maybe I'll write more then, but I can't promise anything...

Also, I'm starting to think if I had a dollar for every time I've heard something like "your German is perfect! seriously, you have a bit of a dialect but it makes you adorable" that I'd be pretty rich. In fact, make that a euro for each time I've heard it.

Fröhliche Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A

Professor Hommel and I made a trip to the Mainzer Weihnachtsmarkt while she was in town!

Post-Thanksgiving dinner trip to the Binger Weihnachtsmarkt - best Glühwein ever (Bingen is in a great Rheinhessen wine area, so naturally the Glühwein was delicious)!

Amsterdam's Winterland - A failed attempt to match the awesomeness of German Christmas markets

Wiesbadener Weihnachtsmarkt.

Typical rotating grill of sausages. 

Quiero aprender español!

Por que no?!

I'm living with someone from Spain. So, I decided yesterday to start learning Spanish. I mean, why not? I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I already speak two languages, therefore I think I have a good chance at dominating Español by the end of the year. Well, with all my free time I may as well learn something new! One hour a day of Spanish from now until I can read it with some amount of comprehension. 

At least one hour of my day will also be dedicated to reading the news. Whether in German or English, or both.

That's all for now. Time to go watch some Mainz 05 soccer at the Porter House with Lauren!

Ashley

Optimism on a rainy Monday

After a long week(end) - well, actually two long weekends and a week - I'm relaxing with a homemade hot chocolate in my WG on a rainy Monday afternoon. You know you're from Oregon when the first good rain of the season makes you happy. It's that rain you've been anxiously awaiting since you decided you were tired of the summer heat. That said, I'll admit that this past rainy summer didn't exactly leave me dying for a bit of that Oregon sunshine AKA rain, but it still made me happy during my fifteen minute walk home from school today. Without an umbrella. Without a rain jacket. With, however, a smile. The rain brought a homey and happy feeling with it. Since I arrived in Germany a short two and a half months ago- and especially after my great trip to Austria- I've been feeling quite reproachful about my whole decision to come to Germany. Spending a good ten days the Austrian Alps, eating Austrian food, and remembering all the things I associated with Austria didn't exactly help make me feel happy and optimistic about my time here in Germany. I started to think about why I turned down the position I was offered by the Austrian government as an ETA in order to take on the position Fulbright offered me (somewhere) in Germany. The answer is a simple yet somehow disconcerting one: it's all in the name. Although I may have better enjoyed living in Bludenz, Vorarlberg, sitting at about 1,600 feet above sea level, I decided to take the ETA position in Germany (at the time I didn't know where), because of its Fulbright title. So, all of these things combined with it being pretty hard to make German friends who aren't friends of my roommates, and not exactly loving my school, left me feeling pretty pessimistic about the decision to spend the year here. Mostly, though, I think that knowing next year I'll start grad school in economics - something I had the opportunity to do this year but turned down, once again, for the Fulbright, as well as something completely unrelated to what I'm doing in Mainz as an ETA - was the source of most of my dissatisfaction with this whole year. Going to Austria was just the cherry on top of the icing on the cake, so to say. But my outlook is changing, keep reading to find out how/why.

Last week I made an exciting trip to Freibrug im Breisgau to celebrate Nelly's 21st birthday with her, something I'd been looking forward to for a while. It was nice to be back in Freiburg (I spent a week there during my stay in Vienna, two years ago), and seeing Nelly is always great. Not to mention the delicious Mexican food she somehow managed to put together...I honestly didn't think it was possible to make good Mexican food in Germany, especially not after I tried that salsa that tasted like sweet and sour sauce! Nelly, her roommates, Zach and I ended up staying up way too late watching funny YouTube videos icluding this gem and this one; the next day we watched the best movie "the little princess" auf deutsch! before going to o'kelly's and agar later for more birthday celebration. Friday I went on a short hike, then spent an hour and a half in an awesome little coffee shop called "Aspekt" while Nelly worked at her internship, then we took a mitfahrgelegenheit - basically pre-planned via the internet hitchhiking and my saving grace (cheap, fun, adventure) - from Freiburg to Mainz. There was a huge party for my roommate, Natalia's, birthday at our apartment on Friday night. Germans definitely know how to throw a birthday party. Here's a picture of some of the aftermath - the aftermath all over our apartment took about 4 hours to clean on Saturday morning. Well, after we woke up and started the party again until 3 pm. 

Ricarda, Natalia, Me, Pedro (roommates)

Good morning, kitchen slash train wreck!

Yep. We woke up to the toilet seat floating in the bathtub...not quite sure how that happened..

 

 

Lust auf etwas.. (insert your favorite adjective her!)

 Saturday morning Nelly and I at some brunch at Nelly's Frühstücklust, a surprisingly Portland-y cafe. I like the place quite a bit; I'll probably start going there to read or plan stuff for school sometimes. I miss the coffee shop scene that McMinnville had going on, and doing my homework in those coffee shops. Also, not having homework is really weird.
All in all, it was an event-filled and fun weekend...one that I really needed.
Back to the main point of this post: optimism. Sometimes you just need a friend to help you realize all the good in something. Nelly helped me remember that I need to focus on all of the good that's coming of this year, and, well, that I'm getting paid to live in Germany! That said: it's time to stop living in the subjunctive and start enjoying the present tense.
Cheers...with a half-full glass,
Ashley


While using stumbleupon! today, I found this fitting little story to accompany my blog post. Check it out!

PS - stay tuned for a post about the rest of my time in Austria and Northern Germany tomorrow or the next day.

Paradise or something like it.

Herbstferien– a fall break for more or less the entire month of October–more or less consisted of a brilliant ten-day stay in Austria.  As you may have already read in my last post, I arrived in Saalfelden (a region in the Austrian state of Salzburg) on the seventh, a sunny afternoon.  I fell back in love with that countryside, with the pace and way of life, and the general atmosphere of rural Austria almost immediately.  Once all of the good apples had been collected from the Herzog apple tree, and the bad ones thrown into the compost container, Heidi and I ate a couple Semmels (bread--type of rolls) then headed for the hills.  By the time we reached the trailhead, we had enough time to swiftly climb to the "spitze" and "gipfelkreuz" (the mountain peak) in time to watch the sunset.  I also got to write my first entry in an ÖAV (Österreichischer Alpenverein) book, something funny and Pinzgauerisch that Heidi told me to write.  Then I laughed thinking of the poor person who would read that sentence followed by the name "Ashley Bennett" and think: hmm...something isn't right about this, Ashley isn't someone I know..?  The next morning we ate some breakfast, hung around a bit - I spent some time reading "The Conscience of A Liberal" by Paul Krugman, a book that paints a depressingly true picture of some American policy fails-, then we hopped in the car, intended destination: Großglockner, Austria's tallest mountain at 3,798 meters (12,460 feet) in Carinthia, by way of the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße. With the sun shining and a warm October day we headed up the Hochalpenstraße, not knowing that the beautiful sunny weather ended with the tunnel from Salzburg into Carinthia. On the Salzburg side of the tunnel there were maybe 5 clouds in the sky, on the Carinthia side there was a high-mountain fog that blocked the view as far as 10 feet in front of the car. So we turned around, headed to an alm, and enjoyed a nice lunch there. I, of course, ordered my favorite alm dish, Kaspressknödelsuppe–cheese dumpling soup? I can't translate or even begin to describe its awesomeness: go to Austria, hike for an hour to an alm, and try it for yourself. I'm convinced it's the best thing ever, but then, it may just be the whole atmosphere that I relate to the meal. That atmosphere being the hike up to a small, [on sunny, fall days] over-crowded hut, wher you're rewarded for your hard work on the hike with a delicious, malty Austrian beer and an out-of-this-world-blow-your-mind Kaspressknödelsuppe. This is the kind of atmosphere you just cannot recreate in your American kitchen, not to mention the cheese issue--a good Austrian/Swiss cheese is hard and/or expensive to find in the US.

*note I was a loser and broke my camera before this trip, thus I have no pictures of my own...*

This should give you an idea of the delicious that is Kaspressknödelsuppe (say that one five times fast...or once, and right.. )

After lunch, we hiked around a bit and had views of some of Austria's remaining glaciers and other scenic Alp areas like the Steinernes Meer and the Hohe Tauern. On the way home we stopped by "Hofer" (known as Aldi-Süd in Germany, well at least in the south), a stop that took longer than expected, and after Heidi's dad went in to see what was taking so long, he came back to report his findings: it's complicated. Buying bread is complicated, this is, in that the need for bread leads to finding other things you need resulting in buying half the Hofer's offerings. Then we all had a laugh about the situation.The rest of the afternoon was spent bumming around the yard, eating dinner, on a walk around the area, and watching a "bergfilm" – a very poor quality and hardly entertaining film.

Freshly pressed apple juice, two and a half kegs to be exact, filled our Saturday morning. Remember how we picked apples Thrusday afternoon? Well, that, of course, wasn't without purpose. A neighbor with a farm down the road had the coolest set up for making fresh apple juice (honestly can't believe I didn't have a camera for this!!!), so we loaded up the apples and three empty kegs, and took the apples to be pressed into fresh äpfisaft. Quite a sight and process it was! First the apples are hacked up into small chunks in a Fargo-esque wood-chipper-looking machine that apparently isn't used to chop people but instead apples. These small bits of apple are then thrown into a pressing machine, which is a big wooden barrel that reminded me of what a moonshine keg might have looked like during prohibition. A button is then pressed to push the wooden piece at the top down, and out the bottom pours the apple juice–pure, 100% apple juice. And boy-oh-boy did that juice taste good! The Bäuerin, with whom I was nervous to speak more than a few words because I wasn't sure how she'd feel about a Hochdeutschspeaking person, told me a little bit about what she was doing, namely making an apple-pear juice that, unlike ours, was heated over an open flame before being bottled. At the end of our conversation, she offered me a glass of the delicious nectar–an offer I gladly accepted. After eating an appetizing lunch of Semmelknödelsuppe and a cabbage salad, Heidi and I set out on bikes for a ride around the area and to stop by a Schnalzen tournament, a long-standing tradition in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Schnalzen (Whipcracking) is a sport that basically consists of Lederhosen wearing young men trying to make the loudest noise with their whips. Here's a video of an old man doing Schnalzen.
One can only watch Schnalzen for so long, so we hopped on our bikes and rode to Maria Alm, the hometown of Heidi's mother. In Maria Alm, there's a beautiful pilgrimage church, fully decked out in Baroque decor with pink marble flooring and epic ceiling paintings. There was a baptism going on when we arrived; we stayed to watch for a bit. I'd never seen a baptism before, which made experiencing one in German that much more interesting. We quietly exited the church, visited the graves of some family members, and the memorial for fallen soldiers of WWI and WWII, all located in the cemetery in front of the church.
Sunday's weather was just as great as the previous days, so we took advantage of it by hiking at the Steinernes Meer. Specifically, to this Alm - Peter-Weichenthaler Hütte, and beyond it. The view from the top was really breathtaking and interesting for many reasons. The name Steinernes Meer translates to something like "sea of stone," a name that fits the topography of the mountain range well. A natural border between Austria and Germany, the view from the Austrian side of the SM provides one with a glimpse of Berchtesgaden, where Hitler's famous Eagle Nest and home were located. It was a stunning view, to say the least; easy to see why Hitler would choose that place as his home with all of its beauty. Another positive thing about this hike was that- despite it being a beautiful sunday- there were few people who hiked farther than the actual alm, so that we only ran into two other people on that part of the trail. However, back at the Alm, it was a hoppin' spot. I'm still trying to decide if the following thing is a positive or a negative occurrence: while ordering a slice of cake, I asked the woman what kinds of cake they were selling (I'd seen two kinds around) to which she responded "Zwetschkekuchen...oder ich meine Pflaumekuchen..." Zwetschke is the Austrian term for Plum, Pflaume is the German term, meaning the woman heard me speaking, assumed I was a German, and switched the term. Good or bad? I'll let you be the judge..

The next afternoon, Heidi and I headed to Innsbruck after a great, adventure-filled weekend in good ol' Pinzgau. Also noteworthy: I saw the actual Von Trapp family home, located on the Zeller See, which made the Sound of Music nerd in me really really happy. To get an idea of the cost of living on the Zeller See, the owner of Porsche is the neighbor of the former Von Trapp family home.

I'll write more soon, including some of what I did in Innsbruck and some thoughts about a few different things.
Carpe diem,
A

Ankunft in Österreich

            As my RegioBahn train connection from Rosenheim to Wörgl crossed the border between Austria and Germany, a border that wasn’t marked by a sign but rather a text message saying something to the effect of “you’ll now pay a lot more for using your phone,” the cloud cover was gone and the sun shining. “Finally, the sun that we were promised for the last few days,” said the nice Münchnerin to whom I’d been talking for a while. Although I didn’t catch her name, we had a really pleasant per-Sie conversation in which she even complimented my German, telling me that aside from a bit of an accent - aber ein bissl akzent ist schön (a bit of accent is pretty) - my German  sounded perfect. Her comment brought two different thoughts to my mind. The first thought: do all native German speakers tell any foreigner who attempts to learn German that s/he speaks impressively? And the second: I was flattered that a random woman from Munich had given me such a respectful comment, and that she even talked to me at all.  After talking to that woman, a woman from Vorarlberg (the part of Austria bordering Switzerland) and I chatted near the door of the train before exiting.

            Our conversation went something like this, with her speaking in a thick Vorarlberger accent: “Saalfelden already?” “Yeah, we’ll be there shortly.” Wow, that was fast, I’ve been traveling from Bregenz since 8 am! (This at 2pm). Isn’t the weather like a dream? And the landscape” “Definitely beautiful, Austria, that is. I can hardly believe that you’ve been traveling for so many hours, Bregenz doesn’t seem too far from here..” “Austria is a big country, eh?” “Yeah, I suppose so. How long are you staying?” “I don’t know, you?” “Not sure. Need help carrying your bags at all?” “Nah, I’ve got it. Thanks, though.” “Then I hope you have a great stay here. Take care.” “Same to you.”  By the end of this conversation, I felt excited and accomplished. Speaking to someone from Vorarlberg can, in some ways, be compared to attempting to speak with a person who grew up in Louisiana on a Bayou–hard. But I was able to do it, probably with the kind words from the Münchnerin to thank for the confidence to reply to her speaking to me. 

            Having spoken with two older German/Austrian women on a train, I realized something about myself that I already knew.  It doesn’t matter where I am, I’m a talker just like my mom.  Nobody sits next to someone on the train for 5 minutes or stands next to the exit door on the train in Europe and just talks to the person next to them, except maybe me.  It’s a character trait that I’m happy to have, so thanks, Mom, for molding me into an outgoing and friendly-to-strangers person.  Some things never change…even in a country where they probably should.

            8 hours later, I arrived in Saalfelden, greeted by the familiar and friendly face of Heidi.  There were apples to be picked and collected when we got to her house, because on Saturday they would take the apples to a neighbors to be pressed and made into apple juice.  Then of course there were Semmels (bread/roll type things), Speck (Bacon type meat), and Pinzgauerkäse (cheese) for a Jause (snack) that needed to be eaten. 

            It feels good to be back in the land of German with an Austrian accent, the Alps (there are really few to none in Germany), good cheese, and, of course, Semmels!!! More about what I’ve been doing in this paradise of a place later.

Pfiatdi! (western Austrian for good-bye)

Ashley

Leidenschaft

After just shy of a month's time, I've finally figured out what this year is about for me. Leidenschaft. Passion. It's a year devoted to finding myself and that about which I'm most passionate. 

As most of my blog posts do, this one stems from one of those 'aha! moments.' In one of my classes yesterday, the students were split into two groups for a debate. One group was arguing that young people influence the media, the other that the media influences young people. A girl from the 'young people influencing the media' group started the debate for her side with this statement: Well I think that the young people influence the media, because I think that demand creates supply - that young people are creating what we see because it's what they want. The opposing group had no response, and in fact, even said they had absolutely no clue what the argument from the other side was. And there I sat, jaw-dropped in awe of what had just occurred. At the end of class I talked to this girl for a minute (I'm feeling slightly bad about forgetting her name..), asking her if she was planning to study economics at University. Her response was something to the effect of "NO WAY! I hate economics ha ha ha ha." So I recommended she revoke her previous statement and take on an econ major, because, well, she'd probably be pretty good at it. Moral of the story: I would have given an answer as economically-laden in terms as this girl did, except contrary to her views, I love the study of economics.

So begins the list of Ashley's Leidenschaften...

- Economics. Studying it, thinking about it, doing the math associated with it..
- Friendship, my friends
- Speaking and reading German
- Family [barbecues]
- German/Austrian/European bread - specifically Semmels and Bauernbrot
- French-press coffee. As I told Natalia, my roommate, Kaffeekochen ist eine Kunst. An art that I'm slowly but surely ingraining in her mind and heart.
- Bikes. I need to get two wheels in Mainz ASAP.
- Running...it used to be a forced love. Times have changed.
- Finding the right song to match my mood
- Mountains. Nature. The Alps.
- Oregon. State pride is a must when you come from Oregon, but sometimes you just don't realize how deep that pride goes until you leave.
- India Pale Ales and NW Pale Ales
- Discussing anything and everything - but mostly economics - over a beer, preferably on a sunny day
- Learning how to become a better cook, right now, being a mediocre cook
- And just learning in general
- Independence. Or trying to be more independent.. 
- Social welfare and equality

Things I'd like to learn/become better at/skills to acquire:

- Knitting, crocheting, or some other old-lady type skill
- Repressing judgments. I used to be good at it, yet this weekend showed me I'm losing my grip on controlling my judgments about things, people, and places.
- Tackle another language or two. Spanish and French are on my list right now.
- Doing a better job of relays thoughts from my mind onto paper or into words.
- Building a bicycle.
- Guitar, piano, or some other instrument.
- Patience.
- Living simply.


We'll see how this list evolves over the course of this year. For now I think I'll finally finish that Paul Krugman book I started back in May...

AB

A bit on [Süd]Deutschland/Oktoberfest, road trips, and friendship

Bahn fahren ist super!...reads a sticker on my coffee mug. I forgot how true this statement is. Everyone likes a good roadtrip with friends, right? Now imagine taking a road trip with 60 complete strangers. It's a thing of beauty, sitting in a crowded train car, where you can hear at least 5 different languages, where movies are being watched, babies are crying, people are sleeping, some reading, and some people are even playing card games. Amid all of this culture, however, I managed to have the one, stereotypical, loud American naval nurse sit next to me. Her first words were "oh thank god! someone who speaks english AND german!!! (insert old lady name that I forgot), this girl can help us!" As nice as ol' Margaret was, it frustrated me that she ended up sitting by me, babbling on about the USA and the health care bill. Margaret did teach me one crucial thing on the train ride: apparently buying 100$ traveler's insurance can sometimes save you approximately 18,000$. Yep, Marge and her friend(s) sure were counting their traveler's insurance blessings 7 years ago when a train stopped suddenly causing one of her friends to fall on a train and a subsequent brain trauma. So, the moral of the story is that considering the relative cheapness of traveler's insurance to the actual amount that was forked out on this woman's behalf makes me really want to see the risk-pool scheme for the insurance. What a smokin' deal for anyone who actually needs this type of insurance for whatever reason!
Watching the forested areas of Baden-Württemberg and Bayern fly by me felt refreshing and familiar. This is why window seats are awesome, because you can see the world fly past you in the few hours it takes you to get from one place to the next. I was also loving listening to the melodic sound of the bayerisch accent belonging to a couple of attractive younger guys sitting diagonally behind me. As we passed through the town of Geislingen near Ulm, I wanted to jump out of the train and stay there. It's that German town that Americans dream of going to, or at least it appeared to be from the train.


Anyway, by the time my train arrived in Munich, about 20 minutes late (where's that deutsche punktlichkeit?!!?) I was excited to be rid of Margaret and to see Nelly! There's definitely something great about seeing a close friend in a foreign country, and speaking the language of that country with this person. With each language you learn, there's a different side and level of your personality that comes with it. Knowing someone in two languages is a cool thing, everyone should try to do so. But yeah, I was really looking forward to spending some quality time with a good friend and one of my favorite people to be around. Sunny days in the city are also a great thing, yet for some reason those seem to be rare in Munich for me. Friday belongs - luckily! - to those rare sunny days. Nelly and I headed to the Augustiner Bräu's Innenhof for a quality first beer amongst the lederhosen-and-dirndl-wearing clientele. Right away I loved the place, because the waiter greeted us with my favorite greeting "Grüß Gott!". It was a great atmosphere, in good company. 

The view of the courtyard from our seat!

Basically, to sum up the weekend, Oktoberfest is nuts. Munich itself almost just gives off this party atmosphere and vibe during this time of year. And it makes me thankful not to live there, one weekend is quite enough time to spend around this crazy festival.

Gut, Besser, Paulaner.

Saturday we didn't make it into one of the tents, but we were fortunate enough to have a few Maßes of beer in the Paulaner Biergarten.

Sunday we spent some time in the Hacker-Pschorr "Himmer über Bayern" tent. These few hours were filled with people standing up on the tables, attempting to chug liters of beer at one time. I felt bad for every person who didn't follow through with the challenge, because they definitely got booo-ed like no other. After eating the lowest quality Käsespätzle I've ever consumed, it was time for me to meet up with my Mitfahrgelegenheit (basically the new form of hitchhiking, cheap arranged via the internet, of course) at the U-Bahn station. 

Here I came to a depressing realization that stems from graduating from college, but that I failed to recognize until now. Saying "good-bye" to Nelly on Sunday made me, for the first time, see that I'll probably only ever be able to spend a weekend at a time with all of the friends I grew to love so much during the past four years. Yet it was the little things and moments at Linfield that I cherished so much about my friends. Sitting on Kyle's couch watching Baby Mama three days in a row, throwing water balloons off of the balcony at C301, random times in the library during finals week, coming home and having "domestic disputes" with Nelly, dancing to the talking heads "Nothing but flowers" at 7:30 am, those are the kinds of things that I think most fondly of, just as they are the things that can't just spontaneously happen anymore. Don't get me wrong, I like growing up and the opportunity to be independent, but I wish growing up didn't have to mean losing that closeness - albeit maybe just even from the proximity - to friends. And naturally this pertains to some more than others, as well as to some professors and family members.

I'll look forward to seeing all of you when the opportunity presents itself. 

Until then, with love,

Ashley

Germany = Austria...?

Austria is not Germany, and Germany is [unforunately] not Austria. While this may seem like a pretty obvious statement lacking depth, for it me it's in fact a quite profound statement and realization - possibly the most profound statement I've made in years. Allow me to elaborate.
When I think about Europe, I think about Austria and the time I spent there during my study abroad. Of course every experience is different, as is every country, culture, and people. Somehow, though, despite everything I've learned about Germany and Austria over the last 4 years at Linfield, I had hoped that the two might be more similar than different. What I've found so far: Germany is the americanized version of what you expect Germany to be, and Austria is more German than Germany. This German guy, Axel, even said the following the other night: Ja, die Österreicher sind deutscher als die Deutschen. He's definitely right. Or maybe, just maybe, I've built up a false image of what Germany is, who Germans are. Only time will tell, I suppose.


Some observations I've made about differences:
-German grocery stores lack Bergkäse and Kaffeeobers. These two facts are kind of devastating.
-Austrian beer > German beer...or at least the beer from the RP/Mainz area. Seriously, I don't enjoy Pilsner beer, so how I ended up in a place with almost exclusively Pilsner beer is beyond my understanding. Maybe it's a call from the wine gods - an attempt to convert me to a wino.
-Words that I miss being able to use/hear on a regular basis include: [brettl]Jause (snack), Topfen (Quark - no, I refuse to use that word!!!), Semmerl (Brötchen or Kaiser) Erdäpfel (potato), and Grüß Gott! (Austrian greeting for hello, which means 'may god greet you' or something like that...), and Deppat (idiot).
-Words I've enjoyed integrating into my vocabulary: Alter (dude), krass (sick/awesome/nasty), bescheuert (stupid/crazy/nuts).  More to come on this list, I'm sure.
-In general, Germans are more surface friendly than Austrians were. On my run the other day, I received a wave and three smiles - a record for a run in Europe! I'm not exactly sure if Germans stay as open and nice, but I'm hoping they do.
-Germans are not as fit looking as Austrians. Many of the teachers at my school are not very fit, which surprised me...most of them also drive a car everywhere. Like one my first day, Claudia, my supervising teacher, picked me up and we literally drove 3 blocks, then parked the car. HOW AMERICAN IS THAT?!?! I was actually kind of appalled.
-The grocery stores here are vastly different from those in Austria. Not only are the stores not the same (Germany=Rewe, Aldi Süd, Netto, Lidl...Austria=Billa, Spar, Hofer, Pennymart), but the offerings within the store are quite different. The German grocery stores offer things closer to what you'd see in Fred Meyer, in my opinion. And WTF Germany, selling beer in plastic bottles is NOT okay. Some stores don't even sell beer in glass bottles. Should a store sell beer in a glass bottle, it's probably a banana beer, cola/beer, or some other nasty mixture of beer with random other beverages. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!!! I'm thinking about starting a petition to amend the Reinheitsgebot of 1516 to include "All beer must come from a bottle, can or a keg." Anyone want to sign it? Great.
-Where is the Almdudler (ginger-ale like delicious beverage), and more importantly, where are the alms!?!?!


And with all of that being said, I like my life in Germany. I appreciate the independence of not living 30 minutes away from home, and of not having a host family (though they were great) - the independence of opening my own bank account at the Deutsche Bank, of registering myself as a Mainzer, and making my schedule the way I want it. I've already learned so much about myself, like that I may be slightly OCD when it comes to having a clean kitchen and bathroom, and that I like organizing things (like my stuff, I mean). Hopefully within the next few months I'll gain a better grasp on how I want to spend the next few years of my life. As strange as this may sound, I'm looking forward to grad school next year. I'd like to figure out exactly what it is I hope to gain from getting a master's degree, though. Maybe this year can help me figure that out, though working for the UN or world bank might be something of interest. 

...yet sometimes I still have to wonder if taking the Fulbright in Germany instead of the Austrian TA position was the right choice. But then, I'll never really know.


Time to get ready for school! 

Servus!
Ashley

In other news...

I found this to be a quite interesting article: Bad Economy Drives Down American Arms Sales

It's short and definitely worth the read if you get a few minutes. And ask yourself this question: do politics drive the economy, or does the economy drive politics? Mull that one over for a while..


Now, off to school!
Ciao,

AB

Fulbright/PAD seminar

This story picks up where I left off with the dead homeless man at the Hauptbahnhof in Köln. Namely because after that incident, it was time to hop on the bus to Altenberg bei Köln, where the conference was to take place. Altenberg is located in a beautiful place, complete with the most simplistic - yet most beautiful - gothic cathedral I've ever seen. This simplicity stems most likely from the fact that this church is an evangelisch (lutheran, I think?) one. It's quite typical of these churches to be less extravagant than their catholic counterparts, but since the protestant reformation came after the gothic period - and I spent most of my time until now in the southern, more catholic part of the german-speaking world - I'd never seen a protestant-style gothic church. We stayed within the gates of the abbey, which has been renovated into a hotel/hostel of sorts. The best part of the conference was that, for once, everything was free, free, free, and not the kind of you-paid-for-this-in-your-study-abroad-fees free, absolutely free to us. (Of course not taking the tax dollars we've spent into consideration.)


Overall, the seminar was actually pretty fun, aside from the whole sitting almost the entire day thing. We broke up into small groups often, because let's face it, you can't get anything done with 140 people. Being at a Berufsschule isn't exactly normal, so I was put in a group with the 16ish other people doing that. That was great because not only was my friend, Brett, in the group but also Barbara, a girl who became quickly my friend. The 3 day seminar sought to accomplish the following three goals: prepare us for teaching, teach us about our Länder (states), and to take care of the bureaucratic stuff. Of course, we had the evenings free, and the PAD (Padagögischer Austausch Dienst)made sure there was a quasi-bar for us to access. This was cool, because it gave all of us a chance to relax and get to know about the other Fulbrighters after extremely long days. Overall, I found the orientation to be fun and exciting, but by the end I felt ready to stop speaking English and start my job.

Altenberger Dom

 

Friday, September 10th, I had my first real day at the BBS3. One might think on the first day at school you introduce yourself, then sit down and observe the main classroom teacher. This was not the case on my first day; in fact, the day went far differently from that. Claudia (my supervising teacher) came out of left field with a request that I explain the American school system to the class.. my first thought: ummmmmm WHAAAAATTTTTT! She gave me 5 minutes to prepare some sort of explanation of our school system, which about as much like the German system as English to German. As easy as this may sound, it's tough due to the differing levels of English that students speak, or rather, don't speak. However, I did it (yay!); and much to my surprise I enjoyed doing it. Teaching is so cool - not to be cliché or anything.  But honestly, it is...the idea that you can impart knowledge on someone - albeit sometimes worthless knowledge like the capital of Oregon or the joke to accompany it (it's not Salem, it's SOlame!) - is absolutely an amazing feeling. The greatest thing about the BBS3 is that it's a vocational school.  I thought this may be a negative quality when I first heard that, again to my surprise, this is its best quality. Instead of teaching the students lessons about English grammar, I get to teach them practical lessons that will be useful for their future careers (i.e. travel office, bank teller, ect.). It's going to be fun teaching them, and I truly think I'll learn a lot from them as well. We'll see where this start takes me, and how I feel about the school. I also found out today (Monday, yes, I suck at blogging and staying up-to-speed) that I may be able to take a beginning level french course at the school!! I'm going to talk to the teacher tomorrow to see what's up, if I can take the class, and what catch-up work is needed. 

The french course is a great segway into this last thought and the topic of my next blog post: the multi-culti apartment I'm living in right now. Tonight I've been surrounded by German, English, Spanish, and Polish.  And deep breath, life's good. 

Tschüs!
Ashley

First impressions of life in Germany

On the plane ride over to I sat next to a few great people; from PDX to Toronto, I talked with a woman who grew up in Mexico City, and from Toronto to Frankfurt I sat across the aisle from a German who teaches English in a Berufskolleg (the type of school where I'll be working). Talking with him about teaching and about Berufskollege initiated this feeling of excitement about and readiness for the task ahead of me.  We exchanged contact information before the flight ended - he even offered me a place to come stay if I felt homesick, needed to get away or anything at all. So far almost all Germans I've met have been friendly and eager to help with whatever I need, despite what I've been told about them in the past. Anyway, more on that later, now back to the point of this post.  (I feel really bad for anyone who reads this blog because my thoughts are always all over the place and tangents aren't exactly a rarity.)

Last Friday I arrived lacking sleep and a bit behind schedule in Frankfurt. Erik, one of the English teachers from the BBS 3, picked me up at the airport, and drove me to my WG (apartment) to drop luggage off before going to the BBS3 for the first time. As for the BBS3, I could tell right away that I would like the school. Erik and I went to the teacher's lounge type area - what a cool change, going to the teacher's lounge instead of hanging out with students on break! - where I met some of the other teachers.  All of them were nice, friendly, and helpful, much like almost every other German with whom I've come into contact. In the evening, Claudia, my Betreuungslehrer (supervising teacher), and her boyfriend Alex took me to dinner at a Weinstube in the downtown area of Mainz.  Upon seeing "Schnitzel auf Wiener Art" on the menu, I didn't really have to think about what I'd be eating for dinner.  I mean, I just love Schnitzel.  After dinner I went to their apartment to watch Deutschland against Belguim, a game that Deutschland dominated!  Then it was time for some sleep, after about 40-something hours with about 1.5 hours of sleep.  

Saturday morning I woke up early-ish, went to the T-mobile store to purchase a SIM card and some minutes for my lovely German cell phone.  Although this handy is better than the one I had in Austria, it's still such a joke of a cellular device compared to the various phones I've purchased over the last few years. Then it was off to buy my BahnCard 50 and train tickets to Cologne. The view of the Rheinland between Mainz and Koblenz is absolutely stunning.  Like woah.  Castles on the top of every hill, vineyards lining the hillsides.  This place is unreal.  

Cologne was basically a wash of a city.  The famous Kölner Dom was about all the city had to offer, well aside from the Kölsch beer, a beer that wasn't at all impressive to me.  It's typical for Kölsch to be sold in 0,2Liter glasses - less than 12oz - and my waiter basically told me that this was a way to make more money off of people.  True to its Gothic architecture, the cathedral was epic...I just love Gothic architecture (thanks to professor Hanreich in Vienna!).  Instead of staying in an expensive hostel in Cologne, I decided to give couchsurfing a try.  It was definitely a great experience...I stayed with two different people, but I enjoyed the second night much better.  Walter and Ina, an aussie and a German, lived on the opposite side of the Rhine from the Dom.  I borrowed a bike from them and explored the city for the day.  That evening we ate dinner together, and I joined Walter and his friend for a nice middle-eastern Jazz pianist's concert in a small bar across town. What an interesting style of music!! If you ever get the chance, definitely check it out! Later I had an interesting conversation with Ina about national pride, the world cup, teaching (they are both teachers), and greenpeace. In the morning I woke up, said thank-you and good-bye to my lovely hosts, and went down to meet up with the other Fulbrighters at the Hauptbahnhof (train station) located right next to the cathedral.  While we were sitting there waiting for the train and making small talk, I noticed a guy lying on the steps up to the cathedral.  Soon there were people pumping his chest, shortly followed by an ambulance and the works.  Unfortunately, they couldn't seem to recesitate him, and he died.  The craziest part about this whole event was how they left him lying on the bricks for about an hour after he was dead, just covering him with a white sheet.  (Side note: when we arrived back in Cologne after the Fulbright conference 3 days later, there were two ambulances (ambuli? ha) near the cathedral yet again. Upon seeing this and thinking about my unimpressedness by Cologne, I came up with a marketing slogan: Köln, eine großartige Stadt, in der ums Leben zu kommen - or - Cologne: a great place to die. Kinda morbid, but from what I witnessed there, eerily true..)

That's all for now.  I'm really terrible at this blogging thing, but I'll try to post one about the Fulbright conference and my first day of teaching soon.

Cheers!

Ashley

**View of Cologne from my first couchsurf there**

*I also thought this was pretty awesome - on the train bridge in Cologne, thousands [maybe even hundreds of thousands] of couples have placed locks on the bridge to show their love for one another.  There was also a spray-painted quote: Liebe ist nur ein Traum (love is just a dream) with a carrot thingy inserted so it would read: Liebe ist NICHT nur ein Traum (love is not only a dream)*

So long, farewell, aufwiedersehen, adieu!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye,
I'm glad to go,
I cannot tell a lie.
I flit, I float,
I fleetly flee, I fly....

Thursday, 8:00am, PDX Int'l airport. 

So begins my 10+ month journey to Mainz, Germany and beyond.  And with my bags packed, I'm ready to go.  It's bittersweet, really, leaving Oregon for the next short while.  Great friends and family will be missed, but new friends, cultures, and experiences await me on another continent.  I'm eager to have the chance to step out on my own, and establish myself in a new place.  Finding the joy in being with the people around you, in the place in which you are living is something to which I feel I've been able to adjust well. Hopefully this transition to life in Germany will go as smoothly as planned.  Having spent 4 months in the lovely city of Vienna should help with this.

3 months after graduation I'm ready for the next step, the next challenge.  This challenge is leading me to Germany to - after 19 years of being a student - try my hand at teaching.  In Mainz, I'll be working as a Fulbright english teaching assistant for a year, at the Hans Böckler Bildungszentrum III (for the German savvy, here is the school's website: http://www.bbs3-mz.de/). Being granted the Fulbright was proof that dreams really do come true, since this was something I started dreaming of my freshman year at Linfield.  From what I understand, the school is a type of vocational school for people who strive to work as salespeople in some capacity.  The age of my students will range from around 16 to 25ish years old; at 22 years, that will leave some of my students as my elders of a few years.  That'll definitely be an interesting experience.  I'm looking forward to everything about this next year and my time at the BBS-III.  It should be a great year of simultaneous learning and teaching between me and my students. 

Another thing I'm really looking forward to: meeting my roommates and moving into my cozy WG in the Neustadt (new city) area of Mainz. WG is a term used for a student housing type of apartment...Wohngemeinschaft (WG) is directly translated as "living community" or "flat share." Luckily enough for me, finding housing in Germany wasn't too hard thanks to a great website <www.wg-gesucht.de>.  I can't wait to see what it's like to live with native speakers close to my own age, since I lived with a 70 year-old couple - which, too, was an amazing experience - in Vienna. Judging by what I know of my future roommates, it's going to be an absoulte blast.

Over the past few days and weeks, I've had the chance to really see how many great people I have in my life.  Saturday night Amy helped me plan a going away dinner/shindig.  I honestly wasn't expecting that much volume, however I also wasn't surprised by any of the guests.  Seeing so many great people that I care about show up really made me very happy and at the same time sad to leave it.  Who in his/her right mind wants to leave a place wher s/he has made so many close connections?!!?!  Then I realized: all of the people you have known aren't going to just disappear from your life completely if the friendship is strong enough, instead you will only add to the number of people and the locations where friends will be awaiting you.  

And friends, please do stay in touch.. contact info:

Skype: smashleybennett

Gmail: bennett.ashley10@gmail.com

Traveling opens doors that would otherwise remain shut - these doors may be to other cultures, new friendships, experiences, adventures, misadventures, or maybe even your future husband/wife.  And I'm ready to start opening these doors.

I plan to update this blog semi regularly with pictures, stories, musings, ect. throughout the course of this next year (and maybe even past that).  Next stops: Toronto, Frankfurt, Mainz, Köln.

Bon Voyage. Stay tuned,

AB