The Netherlands is "The Best"

We're in the midst of the final seminar which takes us through The Netherlands and Belgium. In addition to lectures at the International Criminal Court and the EU, we have had time for a decent amount of frivolity.

Saturday was a free day for the fellows, which meant I didn't need to spend the day taking pictures of myself in various tourist destinations (although I've grown quite fond of the tradition). We started the day by taking a stroll through the Voorburg (Netherlands) Saturday market. While admiring the beautiful children and making attempts at mimicking the Dutch accent, we noticed that every kid we passed was hysterically repeating the word "kicker". What was this thing, we wondered, that stirred up such excitement in Dutch children? We turned a corner on a charming cobbled-stoned street and came face to face with a man in a life-size frog costume. Turns out "Kikker" is a beloved children's book character. This was photo worthy, of course, but when his handler saw me framing the scene from afar, she urged me to step closer and get in the picture. This was followed by about 3 additional sentences of Dutch, to which we responded with energetic nodding and laughter. Even more so than in German, this tended to work quite effectively (and would serve us well later in the day).

I didn't even feel tall in The Netherlands - lots of 6" + women! (Kikker helped, too)

We managed a thank you (in Dutch, it sounds approximately like "Dank-you well!") and wound our way through the market - full of flowers, cheese, and bread.

Tons of free samples - Bob Marcellino would be proud!

From there we took the streetcar to the little town of Delft - a charming Dutch village that was reminiscent of Amsterdam (minus the drugs and prostitutes). In terms of tourist attractions, beyond the blue and white Delft pottery there is very little on the "must-see" list. This allowed us to experience the city in a way I didn't allow myself in Amsterdam. We simply wandered - through cozy sidestreets, past countless bicycles, stopping to sip coffee and eat pancakes in cafe windows.

The one attraction we did visit, however, was an old church that is literally "sinking". After marveling at just how tilted it was, Dominic leaned over and asked in a hushed and quite serious tone, "Liz - have you ever heard of those pictures where you hold up your hands to pretend like you're pushing something up?" Um - yeah, Dom. "I, too, attended 8th grade," I replied, and the photo shoot commenced.

He needed a bit of coaching, but who doesn't to achieve this result! Bravo!

It was at that moment that a pair of joyful Dutch women stumbled upon us. Before they turned the corner onto our street, all they saw was Dominic making indiscernible hand motions in the air. When they discovered what we were actually attempting to do, their laughter reached decibel levels I haven't heard in quite some time. They cackled with approval, shouting Dutch phrases that we concluded were something like "hilarious idea!" and "tilting church makes funny photo!". At this point in the day we'd nearly mastered the art of the laugh and smile, but they went on for so long I motioned to Dominic to start walking. At some point they would surely expect a response. Dominic left them with a great attempt at "Good day!" and we scurried along, off to take just a few more pictures before hopping in our wooden shoe to head home.

So Gross

"Skiing" (falling) in the Alps

So many interesting things happen in Berlin every day. I participate in some of them, trying new and weird things all the time, but the things that really end up staying with me are the little experiences I have in my German class.

Today we were learning about Karneval (Germany's incredible take on Mardi Gras) and all of the fun and frivolity that accompanies this annual celebration. Our textbook included a drawing of people in various costumes at a Karneval celebration. We learned exciting new German words - from "Seeräuber" (pirate) to "Bauchtänzerin" (belly dancer) that I am thrilled to incorporate into my regular vocabulary. ("Hello, Herr Seeräuber, I'll take two croissants please.") After discussing costumes we liked and why, we went around the room and declared which of the featured costumes we'd wear if attending a celebration ourselves. The first student went, picking "Vampire", an old stand-by. Another followed, relying on the classic, if scary, "Clown". My only female classmate went with the predictable "Queen", and then the choice fell on my nervous shoulders.

I quickly scanned my options, mentally writing and re-writing the sentence in my head with the appropriate case and gender. The Mouse costume certainly looked cozy, so I declared, "If I were attending Karneval, I would go as a Mouse." Silence. Then the shortest guy in our class shot me an incredulous look and blurted out - "Aber Liz...du bist sehr GROSS!" It's not every day you can be called "gross" - especially in a situation where you've paid money to be there. Everyone looked to the teacher - lacking the words to ask, but silently pleading to understand how someone so big (i.e. gross) could ever convincingly portray a Mouse. She hesitated, understanding the gravity of the moment. She appeared to think of a perfect explanation and excitedly shouted, (auf Deutsch, of course) "Well....Liz....she could be....the "King Kong" of mice!" She actually made ape like gestures and sounds to accompany her proclamation. While hearing animal sounds in class is not abnormal, today was the first time I'd heard them in my honor. I nearly considered it a compliment.

I laughed along - (I mean, why not?) - and wished I could let them know by goal had been to make it to 6'. Alas, I'm stuck here at 5'11", as gross as I'll ever be.

Liz Gets in Trouble

So the whole scenario began innocently enough. We were spending a dark, rainy Berlin morning practicing letter writing last week in German class. It was one of those days where I stop and think, "This is so civilized! This is such a very civilized way to spend a day!" (and haven't even had coffee yet to give me an artificial boost). We'd practiced writing a letter to our roommates, our secretaries (in our book, the boss - "chef" - was a woman and the secretary a man - wunderbar!) and had moved onto writing notes for our neighbors. In the example we were given, Franz stops by to say hello to Tomas. Tomas isn't home, so Franz leaves a letter that begins with, "You're not home" and is then followed with the German expression "schade"!

As our eyes fell upon this word in our book, my tablemate became visibly shocked. His eyes darted up to our teacher, silently begging her for an explanation. She asked if anyone knew the meaning of the word, and when I muttered "unfortunately", she confirmed this definition. My classmate maintained his reaction, however, and then looked to me for an explanation. I knew what'd he been thinking - he mistook "schade" for "scheisse" (that's s#*& for us), which you would certainly not leave in a note with your name on it for your neighbor. Well, most people wouldn't. I was excited that I understood why he might be confused and figured I may as well explain the distinction to him. I learned over to whisper, "you're thinking of scheisse, not schade!", and at the exact moment I formed the word "scheisse", the entire room fell silent. Turns out I got to share my teaching moment with everyone.

It was the first time my teacher (whom I adore) looked at me with disappointment, but I swear she was laughing on the inside. It's just her job to look disappointed, and she did it well. That's why I like her. My last teacher used to say things like "Liz, if you don't have colored pencils, you can't learn German". (I didn't, and I clearly wasn't.) Somehow I'd rather get in trouble for swearing.

Schaufensterbummel - Window Shopping German-style

We spent the last two weeks on a whirlwind tour of Germany - visiting Cologne, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Munich, Augsburg, and Hamburg. Amazing sights - from the famous (and gigantic) Cologne Dom (Cathedral) to the new mosque in Duisburg that is the largest in Germany. Delicious new foods and drinks - from Cologne's delightful Kölsch beer to traditional food prepared by us at a cooking class in Munich. I also spent a lot of time just walking through the charming pedestrian zones of each city. Here are some of my favorite store windows from my walks:

A store 100% devoted to the sale of felt- only in Germany

An amazing assortment of dried fruits in every color of the rainbow.

Not quite sure what's being sold here, but it's on sale!

A bakery chain that has really gotten into its advertising images - just look at the enthusiasm with which these women feed both themselves and each other!

And my favorite: an eyeglass store that used bottles of Jägermeister in its window display.
(Wear these glasses today and you'll have a headache tomorrow?)

In addition to photographing store windows, I also worked on perfecting the art of the self-pic on this trip. While Dominic spent mornings in seminars, I explored the many incredible museums of Germany and attempted to photo-document my adventures. Here is one of my better efforts:

Liz and Goethe pondering philosophy at the Goethe Haus in Frankfurt
(Notice no evidence of the outstretched hand...I practiced for quite awhile on this one)

We're back in Berlin now and I'm back in class. Next time I'll tell you how I got busted this week for accidentally swearing in class. For now, I'm going to make some tea and spend my Sunday evening relaxing - German-style!

Frohes Neues Jahr!

Winter in Berlin

Hallo und Frohes Neues Jahr! I got so preoccupied with my Christmas market obsession, GRE studying, and Christmas visitors that I have neglected my blog. In these past few weeks I've managed to do the following:
- Visit 29 different Christmas markets
- Return to at least 8 of them
- Eat 12 Belgian waffles
- Eat 10 bratwursts
- Drink 15 mugs of gluhwein, but only keep one as a souvenir (hey, there's a recession over here, too)
- Snap multiple pictures of hilarious children and only get caught once
- Convince Dominic something horrible had happened when he came home to find my crying, only for him to discover I was worried about hitting my personal Christmas market quota for the day.
- Gain at least 5 pounds.
- Secretly weigh myself at a friend's house to confirm this, and then delight in the fact that I don't know the conversion from kilograms to pounds. Whatever it is, my weight in kilograms makes me sound downright skinny.
- Purchase all my Christmas gifts and find out exactly how much postage to the US costs. (Okay, Mom, you were right.)
- Master the art of timing my arrival to each market to optimize the likelihood of free samples
- Remember what it feels like to nearly lose your toes in the cold

I spent a lot of time watching kids enjoy the markets. Many of the markets cater specifically to kids and families, and include descriptions of their child-friendly activities in their online descriptions. The master Berlin Christmas Market website was only in German, however, so I relied (a little too heavily) on Google Translate to assist me as I mapped out my month. One of my favorite "translated" description of child-friendly activities follows - and I don't believe anything I could add would make this any more hilarious:

"In addition to the Ferris wheel there for the kids to touch an animal. Pedro the donkey and two sheep Dolly and Molly are happy to stroke. Comfortably have it in her crib with plenty of straw and hay. And if you're lucky, makes donkeys Pedro loudly his anticipation of the Christmas declared. Of course, also the Ponyreitbahn right next door is not missing."

While I don't know if he got to meet the famous Pedro, (let alone stroke/be stroked by him) I snapped a picture of my favorite kid while he was watching some fire-eaters (normal entertainment) on his wooden bike with a perfect crown. Where did you come from, adorable little boy? I asked my bike shop friend (oh yes, I've been back three time since I bought my bike - I have bike stories to fill every entry in this blog) why kids ride these funny wooden bikes with no pedals. He claims (and I believe him because he fixes my bike every time for free) that this is actually a better way than training wheels for kids to learn to ride bikes. They learn to balance first, and then the rest is cake.

Yes, some Germans even remain naturally blond...into adulthood

Many of the markets also had rides for kids. On the rainiest, darkest of days, parents seemed compelled to show their kids a good time and pay for a ride for them. I always wondered how much fun you'd have as the lone kid on a ride - twirling round and round in the rain. In the picture below the ride is practically full by these standards - I almost count four kids. Plus the sun is "shining".

But Ma, it's freezing

Finally, I snapped this pic of a toddler inhaling a croissant at the airport yesterday. If I could show you a video, I would. It was that entertaining. I didn't know there was anyone that liked pastry as much as I do. In fact, I seem to be known for this love - specifically, my love of the ultimate combination of pastry and meat that is the pig-in-a-blanket. In one of our most homesickness-inducing conversations yet, we were talking to our friend Chad in December about a Christmas party he and our friends were having. Our friend (and his wife) Christina had made pigs-in-a-blanket earlier that day, and he said as they began eating them he proclaimed that somewhere, somehow he was sure I was aware of that glorious moment. I feel so lucky to have friends that know me so well! So here's to all of our wonderful friends and family - Frohes Neues Jahr! I can't wait to begin the second half of our year in Germany and continue to share it with you. Special thoughts go out to our friends Brian and Jess as they begin a similar adventure - a year in Costa Rice - today. Wunderbar! Auf wiedersehen for now, Liz

Make sure to eat those crumbs, kid

Christmas Markets + Christmas Parties + GRE Prep = A Great Week

My friend and I stumbled upon this empty church while on a walk in a small village outside of Berlin. Except for the tree, every light was from an actual candle, burning all alone in this magical little place. Take that, Rick Steves!

Lest you think all I do is drink mulled wine and eat desserts, I have to let you know that I have been studying like crazy for the GRE the last 6 weeks. Reviewing algebraic equations I learned in the 9th grade actually doesn't help me learn German, in fact, it seems to really confuse my brain, so I'm taking a brief hiatus from my German class until the test is over next Monday. In the meantime, though, I've upped the cultural experiences (which may be more helpful anyway) in the name of education.

Last week I attended two Weihnachtskaekse Backen (Christmas cookie baking) parties. The first one was with one of the American fellows, Emily, who can speak the hell out of some German and has German friends to boot. Another reason why Emily is fun? Not only is Jewish and still planned a Christmas cookie baking party, but she is from the West Coast and says things like "rad." I don't know how it's possible to remain type A when you're not even working, but when I'm hanging out in "A" land I like to hang out with Emily and her husband to get me at least down to type B. So, we got cracking on that dough (we're all low-tech here in Germany - no "mixers", no "stoves that don't light themselves") and had a great evening speaking Denglish with each other.

Turns out that was an incredible preparatory experience for Friday, which was my ultimate day of Deutsch. My tandem partner invited me to go with her to an amazing village outside of Berlin to spend the day baking cookies with two of her friends. I've been telling her I really need to spend more time attempting to speak - not just listening - so she put the smack down on me. We had 8 hours of Deutsch. Eight. The beauty of doing manual labor while socializing is that you can take a time-out from speaking in the name of "concentrating on the dough kneading" or to focus on separating the gelb (yolk) from the ei (egg). On the way home, though, I nearly waved the white flag and shouted "Mein Kopf ist voll!" because my brain literally could not take in any more sprach-in'. Speaking is how I will get the job done, though, and I am thankful for the opportunity.

Leave it to the Germans to make a cookie in the shape of a pretzel! My favorite kind are the stars ("zimtsterne") - delicious! We bought our Advent "wreath" at a local market.

You're wondering how I'm doing on the Christmas markets. I've just hit the 15 mark, with hopes of hitting 25 by Christmas. FYI - Berlin is a lot bigger than DC. Back in DC, it seemed like a big commitment to go to Northern Virginia on a Saturday night, but now we're used to most trips taking nearly an hour with multiple modes of transportation.

I'll declare a mid-season market favorite: Domäne Dahlem (http://www.domaene-dahlem.de/). If you're from Michigan you've undoubtedly been to Greenfield Village - an outdoor living history museum. While this is on a much smaller scale, it had the same feel and we had the most amazing afternoon browsing beautiful arts & crafts, playing with chickens, and watching kids climb on tractors. This was the first market I've been to that still had a magical quality to it in the daytime. Most aren't worth going to until the sun is down (luckily, you only need to wait until 4pm) and the lights are lit.

In the past week I've seen another live nativity scene, countless small bands and musical acts, and various Santa figures. Here are some favorites:

A band made up of guys who work for the BVG (public transportation system) - their name was "Die Picolos"

It wouldn't be Christmas in Germany if you couldn't tell someone you loved them
with a heart-shaped gingerbread cookie.

LIVE DONKEYS

Busted by the accordion player while taking this picture. She was amazing.

Transatlantic Relations

While I may not be the one here on a fellowship, I'm trying to do my part to promote positive transatlantic relations. When I discovered that my nephew and my tandem partner's son share the exact same birthday, I knew they must meet. The twins really took to each other - lots of hand-holding (they would reach out to each other without even looking - undoubtedly a cosmic connection). Daniel's German twin did also try to eat Daniel's hand, which may not be a typical approach to international relations, but there was no crying, so "kein problem."

Daniel loved celebrating his first Thanksgiving German-style