Getting to know the Germans

So, after 3 months of being here (today marked the anniversary), I have a new perspective on not only the culture, but also the people of Germany. In some ways they defy the stereotype, while in other ways, I think they may actually contribute to it…

Before living here, I thought most Germans were extremely organized, punctual, and most of the times more serious than not. Like with any culture, I think it really depends on the individual. But, I can also say from experience, that Germans are very private people…for example, doors are always shut (I have a funny memory of waiting outside my ISEP coordinator’s office because I thought the door being closed meant that he was too busy to talk, instead I found out that the doors are always closed and all I had to do was knock.) and also they rarely will start up a conversation (it is so funny how it can be dead silent on a bus full of people), but they have always been so helpful and friendly to me whenever I initiated a conversation.

Two experiences recently shaped my perspective on the ‘stereotype’ of Germans….

I was heading back from Frankfurt on the train a week ago from this past Monday. I switched trains in the town, Koblenz and right before the train left the station, a girl about my age jumped on and took a seat right across from me. She asked me what number the train was and after that we really didn’t talk until right before we got to Trier. I asked her first what she was studying and she said law, so on and so forth. Well, after only visiting for about 10 minutes, she was happy to give me her handy (cell) number and she asked for mine. I was so surprised by this because it was the first time I had met a stranger here and we become friends so quickly. I met her two nights ago to watch the Ukraine/Switzerland game and to just visit…we talked for over 3 hours! I always considered the Germans to be very sincere, friendly people, but also very private and leery to start a friendship (most stick to a very close-knit group of friends)…so it was a nice surprise for me because I had been wanting to meet more Germans and we hit it off really well.

Another not so positive experience happened here in Trier when Ben was still here. We went into a small shoe store (so small that there weren’t even shoes being displayed except in the store window) and I wanted to ask the older, salesman if Ben could try on a pair of shoes. I didn’t know the word for ‘clogs’ and therefore described it and then pointed to it in the store front window (which I had to pull the small curtain back a bit, but I really didn’t think anything of it because I thought he would understand me better if I pointed to it)….well, I accidentally knocked over the shoe, but nothing else happened and I quickly apologized. All of a sudden, he raised his voice and all I kept hearing was ‘furchtbar’, furchtbar, furchtbar (which means ‘horrible)…It is funny how my mind stop comprehending what he was saying as soon as I got upset. He walked away and I didn’t know what to do….there was another couple there and explained to me what he said: He said that he wouldn’t go into my kitchen and open up my refigerator if I felt like it and that I should have gone OUTSIDE the store and pointed into the window instead of what I did. The lady said that it is a typical older German for you…everything always has to be in order and you don’t want to do anything to disturb them or their sense of organization.

On another note, I can’t believe I only have another month left! Where did the time go? I feel like I could see and do so much more here! I guess I am going through mixed emotions…I am excited to see everyone that I miss, but I am sad to leave this experience behind. I’ll just soak up the time I have left.



This is Alwina and me.

My travels with the Petersons

I had a vacation period the first week of this month, so it turned out to be a good week for Ben and his family to come visit. I met them in Frankfurt at the airport and we stayed there for the day so they could get over their jet lag. We saw the old part of the city and just strolled around….they had their first bratwurst and yes, even I had a bite!

From Frankfurt, we drove to Wuerzburg, where we were told the Romantic Road began. After over an hour and a half of driving around within the city, asking four different people in separate gas stations, and even ending up in a small town of probably about 5, we found the road. The romantic road is a series of small, off-the-beat-and-track roads that head south toward Austria through Bavaria. We were able to see a lot of small towns and countryside.

The next evening we stayed in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which remarkably still has the complete wall around like in the medieval times. In fact, we were lucky enough to be there when the medieval festival was going on! We were woken up the next morning with more medieval music just below our hotel window. Also, they have a specialty there called, “Snowballs”, which we tried. It is a type of dough they roll up into a ball and there are so many different flavors that it was hard to choose. (But, as far as I know, they are only made there.)

We made our way south to Innsbruck the next day with a stop just outside of Munich at Dachau, a former concentration camp. That was my second visit there and was still as touching as the first. We saw an almost too graphic film on what occurred there and walked through the same quarters as where people were tortured. We saw the firing wall where people killed and the bullet holes were still intact. It is unbelievable that such an awful history existed not too far from our reality now.

That night, we stayed in Innsbruck, Austria, which is one of my favorite places. It is beautiful with the Alps as a backdrop and it has such a charming city center. The hotel where we stayed was a couple hundred years old and Mozart and his father stayed there on their way to Italy. Also, the golden roof was less than a kilometer away, which was built by a king literally out of pure gold.

The next morning (Monday, June 5) we drove toward Fuessen, where the famous Castle Neuschwanstein is. On our way there, we passed the Zugspitze on the border with Austria and Germany….Germany’s highest mountain peak. The castle just didn’t seem real because it is just what you would expect in a fairy tale. Ironically, it is only a little over a 100 years old and the King was diagnosed as being mentally ill and mysteriously died in a lake by it soon after it was built. We hiked around it too get a better view of it…

From there, we drove to Lake Constance (Bodensee), which is the biggest lake in Germany. We walked through the town of Meersburg for a couple hours and enjoyed the views, people, and ice cream.

That night, we were going to stay in Freiburg in the black forest, but were surprised by our first impression of the city; we found it to be somewhat rundown with graffiti even near the main part of the city center around the cathedral. I am positive that there most be prettier parts of the city and maybe we just drove through the wrong parts. But, we chose to stay in the small town of Staufen, which isn’t even on my big Germany map!

The hotel was family-owned and it reminded me of a German version of the Calamus Lodge. The family was so kind to us and even let us eat dinner when we arrived, which is right when the kitchen was closing. We enjoyed the company of the locals and ate some spaetzle…a type of pasta with onions and cheese, which is famous in the south. (One of my favorites!) I think it was probably my favorite hotel we stayed at.

From there, we drove north to Baden, Baden, which is another city in the black forest, but right on the edge. It was actually pretty posh/ritzy, which I have heard is because of all their spas they are famous for (they is an excellent water source nearby). That is where we made one of our funniest memories…Mike, Ben’s dad, drove through the city center, where normally only pedestrians are allowed! (In his defense, we could have done a better job of navigating☺

Our journey ended by driving through the most eastern part of France (but, they have toll roads unlike Germany) toward Luxembourg, where we walked around for a couple hours before heading to Trier. We drove nearly 900 kilometers and then at the very last leg of our journey right before we reached the hotel in Trier, a man rear-eneded us! The only positive out of the situation was that I was able to practice a lot of my German with the police officers, as they did not speak any English.

Trier was fun with Ben, Mike, Cheryl, and Nic: we walked all around the city and I showed them all of the roman ruins. I think they were most impressed by the Dom, which is the oldest church in Germany (built in 325 CE, I think). Just behind the altar, they have the robe that Jesus wore on the way to the cross. You could not see the robe, as it is only shown every 30 or so years, but there was a beautiful viewing room made for the case in which it is held. (The Roman Emperor, Constantine’s mother St. Helena brought it from Jerusalem)

We all took the train back to Frankfurt and on Saturday, Mike and Cheryl flew back to Denver and Ben, Nic and I found a great traveling deal that within the price, a round-trip train ticket and four star hotel with breakfast was included for virtually the same price we would have paid for just the train ticket…so we traveled to Kiel for the weekend. I fell in love with the city.

I had never been that far north before and it was especially cool because the Denker side of my family comes from the state that Kiel is the capital for: Schleswig-Holstein. The area actually looked a lot like Nebraska with farms sprinkled everywhere and a very flat countryside. But, the Baltic Sea was beautiful with the sailboats, sunsets, and jelly fish! Our hotel was close to the water and it was fun just strolling along it. They had also what would be compared to a boardwalk…there was a tent there with a big screen hotel where we watched nearly all of the World-Cup games that weekend.

Needless to say, I was sad to leave.

Nic left from Frankfurt that next week and Ben came back to Trier with me for the weekend. He was able to meet a lot of my friends (we made pancakes with my best German friend, Angie because she had never had them before!), watched the world cup games, he saw my university (I had my first test!), and just strolled around the city.

I had a really nice time with Ben, Mike, Cheryl, and Nic and I could probably write a couple more novels about the trip, but I should probably end this entry.

Happy summer friends!

Travels with Ben and fam

Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein: This is my new favorite city in Germany. It was my first time in the state, Schleswig-Holstein where the Denker side of the family comes from. It was flat like Nebraska (lots of farms) until we reached the Baltic Sea, which was just beautiful...there were even jelly fish! It definitely felt like a vacation spot for Germans, the Danish, and Swedes (not a lot of other tourists like us.)



Rothenburg ob der Tauber: We stayed in this charming, little city the second night of the journey....this was by far one of the more interesting cities I have seen because it still has the complete city wall intact from medievel times. It is a city on the romantic road in Bavaria.



Castle Neuschwanstein: This castle is in the very southern part of Germany, near a small town--Fuessen, and right by the Austrian border. We actually drove from Innsbruck that morning to visit it. This is the castle that Walt Disney modeled his castles at the amusement parks after.



Rothenburg ob der Tauber: We were lucky enough to visit this city the same weekend they were having their annual medievel festival. This were some of the guys who were riding horses through the city. Luckily, we were able to find a hotel because literally every one was nearly full. But, we were woken up the next morning with medievel music from another parade! :)



Innsbruck, Austria: This is right outside our hotel (Mozart stayed there once!) and the roof behind us is really very famous...it is made of pure gold and one of the Kings had it made; he would sit underneath and be entertained by jestures, etc. The alps are right behind it (2 Winter olympics were held here in Innsbruck).