Germany Summer 2009

A German Barbecue

2009-07-13T07:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Benny and I slept in a bit and then got up to go to church. Colleen wanted to join us, so we met at Marienplatz under the golden statue of Mary at 10:15. We chose to go to St. Peter's Catholic, as it was right near the central square and seemed rather welcoming. We scooted past the tourist crowd in the back and took a seat in an empty pew. Of course the service was all in German and some Latin, but we still had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful architecture, stained glass, frescoes, and of course, the music. The choir was amazing and the organ was beautiful as it filled the huge space. As people went up for communion, we slipped out the side door and wandered for a bit.

We made our way to one of the gates at the end of the old city and took a few pictures there. Benny and I had discussed going to the Residenz Museum, but decided that we'd rather go to the main square, watch the glockenspiel and go back to Grafelfing. So, we watched the glockenspiel, which Benny had not yet seen, and left Colleen with a walking tour group in Marienplatz, and went back to Grafelfing. We managed to time it so that we arrived back in our neighborhood right when the annual wine festival was beginning for the afternoon, so we stopped in to sample the wine, have a bratwurst sandwich, and listen to the band warm up. After taking our glass back for the deposit, Benny and I headed back to the house for an afternoon nap and listened to a RadioLab podcast. The cat joined us for the afternoon nap, so that was kind of fun. After our naps, we put our shoes on and got the soda out of the fridge downstairs so that we could meet Petra (from the library), since she had agreed to take us to the barbecue.

So, we met Petra just outside of her car and rode with her to pick up Dr. Veltze and were then on our way to Lyme, Amanda, Colleen, and Mary's place, where their landlord had graciously agreed to host a German style barbecue for us. What an amazing spread of food! He cooked pork chops, chicken legs, and lots of sausage and pork belly on the grill. His wife had made huge bowls of potato salad, green salad, sauerkraut, tziki (sp) sauce (the Greek yogurt sauce for dipping), and roasted red peppers. Petra had brought lots of freshly baked bread, including pretzels, for us to share. And we all contributed drinks, although the landlord had a case of beer that he provided, which several people enjoyed. The family dog, Popalina, was a lot of fun and thoroughly seemed to enjoy the extra attention.

The weather was nice and warm for most of the afternoon, although the rain started to fall just as we were finishing dinner. So, we moved to the covered patio where we enjoyed coffee, espresso, and lots of dessert until almost 10:00. The conversation and cultural exchange was wonderful, as the landlord, Herr Igenher, had lived in Canada for several years and traveled quite a bit, and Dr. Veltze relayed some of her stories of traveling in South America. There were lots of laughs and jokes, and we discovered that despite some cultural differences, food seems to be the great equalizer and icebreaker.

When all of us seemed to be winding down, we went home, with Petra dropping Dr. Veltze off before going back to Grafelfing. We got home around 10:30 and headed straight to bed. Our last Sunday in Munich was a wonderful mix of relaxation and experiencing the culture in a way that most tourists never get to.

A Day in Prien am Chimsee

2009-07-13T04:18:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, we woke up early to catch the train to the Hauptbanhof, so we left the house a little after 7:00. When we arrived at the Hauptbanhof, we met the group and before the train was scheduled to leave, picked up a pastry and two cups of coffee. We were still waiting for Dr. Veltze at 8:30 and the train was scheduled to leave at 8:45. So, Colleen called her landlady and found out that she had left. Dr. Veltze arrived at 8:40, but there was not enough time to get to the platform before the train left. Apparently, all of the clocks in her house had stopped for some reason, so she didn't realize what time it was until it was too late. So, we waited around the train station for an hour for the next train.

After riding the train for about an hour, we arrived at Chimsee. From there, we took a small older train to the ferry landing and took the ferry to Frauen Islen, the women's island, where the convent was located. The island was on the lake and the ride was beautiful with the mountains that surrounded the lake. We all enjoyed watching the sailboats on the water and the birds flying and swimming around.

When we arrived at the island, we decided to eat lunch first, since we were eating as a group and the money we had paid ahead of time was paying for our meals.
The restaurant had a beautiful view of the lake and mountains and we sat out on the patio. Everyone got wonderful food and most people shared. Mary had a yummy homemade pasta with cheese, bacon, and cabbage that came in an iron skillet that was beautifully hand forged. I ordered a spinach pasta with roasted veggies and a cream sauce, which I shared with Benny. Amanda ordered fish and a salad, and she shared the potatoes that came with her meal with Benny. Tiffany and Shea ordered a penne pasta with tomato cream sauce and side salads. Since Tiffany didn't like the salad dressing, she shared that with Benny also. So, Benny ended up sampling a bit of everyone's meal and shared my dessert, a wonderful iced coffee. Some of the others ordered fantastic looking cakes and Shea ordered a banana split, that was beautiful with berries and whipped cream.

After lunch, we walked around the island and Benny and I poked in some little pottery shops along the coastline. We also explored the exterior of the convent, that has been on the island for almost 500 years. When we were tired of walking, Benny and I found a bench along the water and watched the ducks and boats go by. We wrote the last of the postcards that needed to be written and mailed and sat there until it started to sprinkle rain. We found a little alcove beside the ferry landing where we stood until the rest of the group gathered for the ferry back to the mainland. Despite the rain, we enjoyed our time on the island and had a fantastic day.

We took the ferry back and a few of us decided to walk back to the main station instead of waiting on the small train. So, we got to see a little of the town and visit while we waited for the others to arrive. We took the train back to Munich and arrived back at the Hauptbanhof around 7:30. Lyme, Amanda, and some others wanted to go to Marienplatz, so Benny and I joined them for a little while and visited at a restaurant, but we left earlier than the others since we were tired. We got back to the house around 10:00, spent some time with Alegra and the cat, and went to bed.

A Day at the English Gardens

2009-07-12T02:58:00.003-04:00

On Friday morning, Benny and I got up about our usual time, but took our time getting ready, checking email, and catching up on reading we'd both been wanting to do. When we were ready, we took the train to Pasing to pick up some breakfast pastries (I had an apple cinnamon pastry and Benny got a strawberry one, which we shared, and he got an apricot filled doughnut)and coffee and headed back to the train to go to the English Gardens.

We took our breakfast to the English Gardens and found a nice spot on the lake to eat and watch the ducks and swans. It turned out to be a beautiful day with a nice breeze, so we walked around all different areas of the gardens, finding some waterfalls, grassy areas where kids were playing, and a nice path along the river. We ended up heading over to the Residenz Museum area, mostly to see what was over there and decided that we'd come back and do the museum on Sunday. When we started getting hungry for lunch, we walked back to the English Gardens and got food at the Chinese Tower area. Benny ordered Bavarian meatloaf and I had potatoes and sausage, and we split an order of cabbage. You can see the meatloaf pictured here; it's actually more like bologna and most people, we've discovered, eat it on a sandwich.

After lunch, it started to sprinkle rain a bit, so we walked back to the station and went to Marienplatz, instead of going to Olympia Park as originally planned. We did a bit of shopping in Marienplatz, and stopped to pick up the tea infuser we'd seen before at the JA Henckles store. We went back home after that, since we had a little bit of grocery shopping and some other errands to do on the way. We picked up some more bread, lunch meat for picnic lunches, cheese, and a few snack items, like crackers and cookies, at the grocery store. We also had to get some razor blades for Benny's razor, which we found at the grocery store. We did a snack supper of cheese, salami, and some other items, and had a few hours of down time before going to bed.

A Day in Wasserburg

2009-07-10T14:41:00.011-04:00

Yesterday we got up and ready early so that we had time to make breakfast before we headed to the train. We left the house about 7:50 to catch the 8:10 train, only for me to realize part way there that I’d left my train pass at the house (yes, again!). This time, I turned around and went back for it, none too happy with myself. When we were off again, this meant catching the 8:30 train, with no time in between at Pasing to stop at the ATM and get some fruit, which we had originally planned to do. When we arrived at Pasing, we literally had to run to catch the bus to the library so that we would be there at the appointed 9:00 to ride with the group and library faculty to Wasserburg.

When we arrived at Wasserburg after an hour or so charter bus ride through the country and past the soccer arena, we did a group tour of the historic medieval city, with some of the group doing the English tour and most of the library faculty doing the German tour. Petra and Ursula joined us for the English tour, as well as Carolina, so it was fun to get to know them a bit better. (Pictured here is Petra and Lyme.)We saw several inner courtyards, some sights along the river, and some historic buildings with frescoes. We also saw the guest house where Mozart stayed a few times on his trips to and from Salzburg. Since Wasserburg is located on a peninsula, we had some incredible views of the town and river at higher points along the trip.

When the tour was over, we all gathered at a traditional German restaurant where I had schnitzel and Benny had sauerkraut and sausages. We forgot to take pictures, as we were enjoying the company so much, but they were both delicious! Ursula and Carolina both ordered a strawberry and basil cream parfait for dessert, which they let us sample, and it was very tasty. I’ve heard of people using basil in desserts, but will now have to try it myself after tasting this!

Many in the group went on a boat ride after lunch, but Benny and I opted for the walk along the sculpture path along the river. The pathway goes most of the way around the peninsula and has a variety of modern and post-modern sculptures installed, so that’s what you see pictured here. There were many more pictures of the sculptures than I could post here. We also found a small antique/flea market in a little corner of town, a few tea and coffee shops, and some gelato. We both ordered a scoop of gelato on a cone, Benny getting lemon soda flavor and me with cappuccino, and headed back to the river to enjoy the cool treat and a beautiful view. After finishing our gelato, we met up with a few others from the group and sat by the river to wait for the rest of the group to gather before leaving.

We left Wasserburg around 5:00 and returned to the library around 6:00. Petra offered to give us a ride back to Grafelfing, as she lives a few houses over from our home away from home. So, we took her up on that and were back at the house in no time. After fixing dinner of bread, tomato, cheese and salami, we did a few things online and I wrote the abstract for my paper. We visited a little with Petra and her mom, gave her the tea we’d picked up for her during the day, and went to bed. All in all, a lovely day!

Bavaria travels and a great anniversary!

2009-07-10T13:34:00.015-04:00

So here it is…the one and probably only guest blog entry by Benny McFalls. Allyson with a strange sense of unworried anticipation has given me access to the blog for the posting of what went down on Wednesday July 8th.

We both got up and got ready for the day. I, of course, shaved that morning because it was our anniversary and I could think of no better present for my wonderful wife than a clean shaven husband. Allyson did the school thing, and I decided I would spend my day visiting Neuschwanstein and the other Ludwig castles in Bavaria. I looked into traveling out on my own or going with one of the various tour groups and finally decided tour group was a better idea. With simplicity being the main reason I chose a tour group, so I was able to go with a group and not have to worry about train connections, tickets, or really anything other than having a good time. I meet the group around 9ish at the München Hauptbahnhof station. I got there a little early, so I snagged some additions to my lunch I would have for the day. Forgot to take a picture, but imagine a really good cheese roll and you will get the idea.

After leaving the station, we had a 50 min train to our first connection and then a hour train ride to end of the line in Fussen. In Fussen, we took a bus for another 15 minutes to the base of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Enter the fun walking part of the tour. Our group walked for about 30ish minutes to the top before the castle and saw Mary’s bridge (this is the popular photo spot of the side of the castle). The official tour began around 2:30 and lasted about 40 minutes. What surprised me the most about the castle was the level of opulence and level of modernization evident in the castle. No section of wall, floor, or any other part was not handcrafted or adorned with some fancy something. In terms of modernization it was built in the late 1800s and had running water, central heat, and during building the used steam power to operate most building equipment. The one downside to this trip, I had been told, was you spend all day to get out there and then have maybe an hour or so of time to see things before you begin the return trip. While this was true, it was still a very worthwhile trip and I would do it again. Our guide was a great addition in his ability to add information to the back-story on who King Ludwig II was.

Started back on the trains, and everything was pretty uneventful aside from conversations with other people on the tour and my loaning of art supplies to another tour guide leader who was on our train. The kicker of the tour was on our last train back when I decided to sit in one of car rooms with a Germany family going to Munich. They spoke about as much English as I spoke German, but we somehow managed to make pretty descent conversation. Of all the car rooms to pick and all the Germans I could get...guess who I got to sit with…that’s right…the Jehovah Witnesses. Apparently, there is a big international Jehovah Witnesses convention in Munich at Olympia Park Thursday through Sunday and they were on their way there. The couple and their two kids were quite funny though and I got my very own JW track in German. They did mention watchtower.org or something but I just said I was American and didn’t understand.

Got back home about 7:45ish, cleaned up, and left the house to do what a McFalls does best…eat. It was our anniversary dinner and we were hungry, so we went a around the block to a very cute pizza/Italian place. We split a green salad in a neat curved bowl and a pizza (prosecuttio, artichoke, mushroom).

Allyson had prosecco and I had a weisbeer with the meal. We finished everything off with a very yummy tiramisu. Claudio, our waiter, was awesome, as Petra had told us he would be.

Came back home tired and crawled in the bed. Overall, it was an awesome day with lots of history, food, and little to no rain.

All of that works in my book.

Benny

Finishing touches at the library

2009-07-08T08:27:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Benny and I got up and ready. We had breakfast of Nutella sandwiches and apples and Petra dropped us off at her shop, from which we walked the rest of the way to the train. When we arrived in Pasing, I left Benny there to explore and I went on to the library, with the understanding that he would meet me later for lunch.

When I arrived at the library, I had about an hour to put some finishing touches on my rough draft of the paper before we went on a tour of the library at 11:00. Our tour was directed by a former director of the library who was instrumental in helping to develop the historical collection of the library, with some of the holdings dating back to the 1800s. He showed us the museum upstairs, which we had all seen, but he pointed out some of the interesting pieces, such as one of the first printings of the Robinson Crusoe books, and also told us a bit more about some of the illustrators highlighted in the exhibit. After that, he took us to the stacks, in the basement of the castle, where they hold approximately 580,000 books in over 130 different languages. The shelves are rather intriguing, as they move at the push of a button, so that they are stored essentially spine to spine, so that there is not a lot of room taken up between shelves for walking room. He shared with us several interesting facts about the library collection, including the fact that the collection is entirely dependent upon donations, primarily from publishers, and private donors.

Additionally, most of the historical collection was made up of the donations of a few private donors who had an interest in childrens books, such as fairy tales or adventure stories. Some of the books are popular titles, such as Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. He also shared with us some titles which were popular in other countries, but when an attempt was made to publish them outside the country of origin, the popularity did not continue to the outside countries. Some of the most interesting books in the historical collection were those that were novel (pardon the pun) for their time, including one of the first interactive books with sound (made with a series of bellows, pipes, and strings) and those with movable parts. There were also some of the first color illustrated books, which he explained were done by hand by primarily women in a small publishing house.

When we left the stacks, we went upstairs to a small room that housed the table where Jella Leppman, the founder of the International Youth Library, sat with colleagues to orchestrate the beginnings of the library. There was also a series of books by Eric Kastner, a very popular childrens book author, as well as posters from the movies that were based on his books.

When we finished the tour, it was time for lunch, so I found Benny outside and we went to the cafe. Lunch was calamari stuffed with rice, parsley, and covered in a creamy tomato sauce, or gnocchi with fresh Parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. I ordered one of each for us, and both were very tasty. I forgot to take pictures, though, so no photos of the food.

After lunch, we went back to the library, where Benny took some pictures of some of the exhibits and did a bit of reading before I was ready to leave. We left the library and went to Marienplatz, where we found the botanical gardens again (which Petra has since informed us are the old ones, she says the new ones are much more impressive) and I had hoped to take Benny to the beer garden there. However, due to the slight rain, it was closed, so we walked through Marienplatz and explored some of the stores, a church, and saw the glockenspiel, although it was not going off at the time we saw it. We did find the JA Henkles store, which was a lot of fun, since we have some of their kitchen tools at home. We discovered a whole array of items we hadn't seen at home, and before we leave, we may pick up a few things from there.

Leaving Marienplatz around 6:00, we went home by the S6 and had dinner of salami, tomato, and brie sandwiches on some crusty and yummy rolls that we'd picked up at the discount bakery. Benny had also chosen what we thought was a cheese pretzel, but we discovered that it also had salami and pineapple, so it was a wonderful addition to the meal also. (The great thing about being here is that we can walk off all of the carbs we eat during the day, so I don't feel badly at all for eating all that bread!) We visited with Petra and the girls a bit in the evening (they were all watching the Michael Jackson funeral), and put together a tentative itinerary for Benny for his time here. At about 10:30, we finally went to bed, knowing that it would be another early morning.

Benny's Arrival

2009-07-07T08:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I got up early and put some finishing touches on the rough draft of my paper before getting ready. I emailed that with the bibliography to Dr. Veltze and then took a shower and got dressed. I left the house a little before 9:00 and went to the Pasing station. I had to pick up an extension ticket to add to my regular ticket to get to the airport and back again, which cost 9 E (way cheaper than a cab). I picked up some breakfast, a raisin sticky bun from the discount bakery and a cup of coffee, and a pretzel as a treat for Benny. I went back to the station and caught the S8 train to the airport around 10:00.

On the way to the airport, I started reading the book from Andrew Fusek Peters that I purchased at the poetry conference. It's about a group of skateboarding detective kids and is very well done. There's a definite British flair to the conversation and some of the word choice, but it just makes it that much more interesting. I think that my students are sure to enjoy this series of his, especially some of the boys.

I arrived at the airport around 11:00 and found my way to the terminal where Benny's flight was due. I spent the next hour or so reading some more of the book and watching the arrivals board, looking for updates on Benny's flight. It arrived a few minutes after the scheduled arrival time of 12:25, but soon, Benny was coming through the gates. It was great to see him after so many days apart and we spent a lot of time walking to the ticket booth for the S-bahn and catching up. After purchasing the tickets for him to ride the train and bus for the time that he's here, we found our train back to Pasing. About midway through the train ride, the driver came over the intercom and said something in German and everyone got off at the next stop, so we piled off as well. It seemed that there was something wrong with the train. So, we regrouped and found another train going to Pasing and got on that one. When we arrived at Pasing, we went down to the station floor and I showed Benny some of the stores and we picked up an S-bahn map for him. Then we got back on the train to go to Grafelfing.

When we got off at Grafelfing, we took Benny's things to the house and were greeted by a wary Alegra. She was not at all sure about Benny, although she remembered me. Once we got Benny's things upstairs, he unpacked a bit and dozed on the couch some. Later, we went on a walk to the grocery store and bought a few things for breakfast and dinner; tomatoes, salami, bread, mozzarella and brie, apples and a soda that looked interesting. When we finished at the grocery store, we stopped by Petra's shop, where we chatted and offered our approval of the new window decorations. On the way home, we stopped by the park and looked at a few restaurant menus. Once back at the house, we unpacked the groceries, fixed some dinner, and enjoyed eating together again.

When Petra got home later that evening, we went downstairs and visited with her for an hour or so, chatting about what Benny would do and sharing funny stories about the dogs and our lives. It was 9:30 when we finished talking to Petra, and since Benny hadn't slept much on the plane, he went to bed and I stayed up a bit longer to finish up some blog postings. I didn't really take pictures yesterday, but I will have more to post.

Augsburg

2009-07-06T02:39:00.005-04:00

I got up and dressed early yesterday and arrived at the station in time to get breakfast before the train arrived. I had a wonderful pastry and a cafe latte, a bit of a splurge for breakfast, but tasty none the less. Our train ride to Augsburg took about 40 minutes, so it gave me time to plan what was important to see, one being the Jewish Cultural Museum, since it might be valuable to my paper.

When we arrived, we picked up some maps from the information desk (which turned out to be less than helpful since not all of the streets were marked) and I headed to the Jewish Cultural Museum with Dr. Veltze and Tara, our Iranian friend who is a scholarship student at the library. No one else seemed interested in this museum, so it was just the three of us. When we arrived at the museum, we discovered that there was a huge translation barrier between the gatekeeper (there was literally a gate), and us. Eventually, we managed to explain that we wanted to see the museum, which is housed in part of the synagogue, and were allowed in. There was no cost to enter the museum, but we soon discovered that we were going to learn very little unless we paid 1 E for the printed English guide. The museum had information about the presence of Jews in Augsburg from the middle ages through WWII, and up to the present day. The artifacts were beautiful, many of them done by hand, and the synagogue itself was incredible, with many ornately decorated alcoves. We were not allowed to take pictures in the synagogue, so I picked up a postcard for 1 E.

We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, which appealed to Tara, who has had trouble finding food that agreed with her stomach and sense of taste, as the food is vastly different from Iranian food. I had a salad with some seasoned meat and a piece of bread that was sliced perfectly to make a sandwich. It was quite tasty and reminded me a bit of Greek food with the yogurt sauce.

After leaving the Jewish Museum, we made our way to the Fuggeri, by way of a Catholic cemetary, which was very elaborate and appeared to be for the wealthy members of the community. What surprised me most were the miniature gardens that were at each grave site, including shrubbery and vines. When we arrived at the Fuggeri, we were pleasantly surprised that they offered a student rate of 3 E, and went inside. The Fuggeri was a family that was extremely influential in Augsburg during the 1500s, as they were wealthy from the spice trade and served many of the popes in providing capital for certain things. The amazing thing that the brothers did in Augsburg was to create the first (in the world) form of housing for people on a low income. Their idea was to create an area where people could live in reasonable housing at affordable rates, in hopes that this would enable them to save enough to start their own business or purchase their own property. This complex is still open today, and is incredible shape. The family still owns and operates the endowment which helps to finance it. Rent is still 0.88 E per month, as it originally was, but now tenants have to pay outside fees for water, sewer, and garbage. There were two model apartments open to the public, one being furnished as it might have been originally, and the other has been renovated and furnished as it might be today. Today, the primary residents are elderly people on fixed incomes. (The picture here is of Tara and a cardboard cut-out of the tour guide, who dresses as the Fuggeri brothers likely would have.)

After visiting the Fuggeri apartments, we walked to find a cafe so that Tara and Dr. Veltze could have a drink to cool off. Tara had some Turkish tea and Dr. Veltze had a Coke. I sipped from my water bottle and we chatted about Tara's home, her family, and her lifestlye. After this, we went to St. Anna's Lutheran Church, where Martin Luther spent some time, and I had the chance to discuss some of the basic tenants of the Christian religion with Tara, and explain the similarities and differences between the Protestant church, the Catholic church, and Judaism. She was very intrigued and shared with me a bit about her own Muslim faith.

We also visited the Maximillian Museum, which houses great collections of Renaissance and Baroque artifacts, including silver services, china, frescoes on ceilings, and many statues. We didn't spend as much time here as I could have, but it was more a function of the fact that I had kind of reached my saturation point for the day with artifacts and history, rather than the group pushing me on. Dr. Veltze wasn't feeling well due to a cold, so the two of us sat in a beautiful little courtyard here and she had a cappuccino, which she said gave her the energy to get through the rest of the day.

After visiting all these places, we headed back to the train station and on the way found a snack for me for dinner, a salami sandwich, and Dr. Veltze and Tara found a little table at a beer garden to have a look at some of the books that they had purchased throughout the day. When the group was gathered, we all headed for the train and ended up back at Pasing around 8:30. I was home by 9:00 and ready to fall into bed. If I had the opportunity to go back to Augsburg, I certainly would, since it sounded like the others saw so many things that we didn't get to see.

Fourth of July

2009-07-04T16:28:00.004-04:00

I woke up around 7:00 this morning, but laid in the bed until about 7:30. Once I was up, showered, and dressed, I enjoyed my regular breakfast of Nutella on toast and a banana. After breakfast, I did a bit more reading for my paper and then took a little break to listen to the news and check email. After some more work on my paper, adding to the math unit, and a little break to chat with Benny online, I had 34 pages. Overall, my paper is pretty much done, it just needs some polishing and I need to tie up some loose ends with the handouts and rubrics for the unit itself. I also need to add a few more resources to the bibliography, but I should be able to get that done tomorrow evening and Monday morning early.

I got ready to leave the house around 4:00, but almost as soon as I closed the door behind me, the rain began to come. It rained for most of my walk to the train, and then abruptly stopped. Thankfully, I had my umbrella and rain coat, so I didn't get too wet. I stopped in Pasing to get a pretzel as a snack, but when I got to the bakery, I discovered that they were out of pretzels, so I settled for a peach filled doughnut instead. (I know, real bummer.) I hopped on a train at the Pasing station to go to Marienplatz, where I met the group for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Not my first choice, but after working on the paper all day, I needed a social outlet.)

I arrived early, so we would be sure to have a table, not knowing how crowded it might be on a Saturday night. I ordered a hamburger with fries and an orange soda that was reminiscent of Fresca. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy the live music, and it was fun getting to know our new colleague from the library, Tara, from Iran. She is primarily a translator, but she also teaches some language courses at her university, including Prussian. We left Hard Rock around 9:00 and took the trains our separate ways to get home, since we've got an early day tomorrow.

The walk home was beautiful as the sun set and the moon came out. It wasn't as dark as the picture here makes it seem and it was still dusk when I arrived back at the house. Petra and Petra were both here when I arrived, so I visited with them and played ball with Alegra some. They were watching boxing on TV, and it was kind of nice to watch something on TV that I could make sense of without having to understand all of the commentary, although I'm no boxing fan. But for now, I'm in my pajamas and ready for bed, knowing that tomorrow will be a long day in Augsburg, but a beautiful one.

Another day at the library

2009-07-03T13:09:00.006-04:00

I woke up this morning to a slight breeze blowing through the window and the sun shining. After getting cleaned up for the day, I put on capris and a white shirt and headed downstairs for breakfast of toast with Nutella and a banana. Alegra came in and greedily attacked her water bowl while Petra changed for work. We were off with time to spare and Petra and I discussed 4th of July plans in the car. She had offered to do a barbecue, but it seemed that no one else in the group wanted to do that, so we decided to postpone that until some evening next week when Benny is here. Petra dropped me off at her shop and I walked to catch the train. After taking the bus from Pasing, I arrived at the library with a few minutes to spare, so I watched the ducks around the lake.

I spent the morning working on writing up the last bit of the science unit and fine tuning some other sections of my paper. I also had a few minutes to do a bit of job research; nothing promising, but at least I'm trying. I found some new resources to use in my math unit, as well as some information to add to the rationale of my paper, so that was helpful. We went to lunch at 12:30 and again were able to sit on the patio. Lunch today was a German version of macaroni and cheese with homemade french fried onions on top, and a side salad. Tiffany did not want her salad, so I ate hers as well as mine. (It made me feel better about not having any veggies to speak of yesterday.) Lyme and Shea ordered alfredos after lunch, but I just enjoyed the conversation. Petra and Johahn joined us for lunch today, so that was fun. Johahn leaves tomorrow for his family holiday to Spain for two weeks. Since he is the Spanish language expert at the library, he prefers to take his vacations to Spanish speaking countries. I was hoping that he would be here when Benny arrived, since Benny would enjoy his perspective on history, but no such luck. After lunch, Mary and I went to the locker area to refill our water bottles and chat for a few minutes before getting back to work.

I spent the afternoon narrowing down pages I wanted to copy (it's .20 E a page to copy, so I'm trying not to copy too much) and reading some more of the books that I can't take out of the library. I continued finding some online secondary literature sources using some of the online journals through ASU, as well as filling in some holes in my math unit outline. I made my to do list for tomorrow, since I'm going to spend tomorrow morning working on my paper. My goal is to finish and submit the rough draft of my paper by Sunday evening, so that I can spend Monday picking up Benny from the airport, getting settled at the house and acquainted with the neighborhood, etc. The rain began falling around 3:00 at the library (the picture here is before the rain came) and continued all the way until I got back to the house (so I didn't get to take a picture of the bakery).

The cat is currently lounging on my bed as I listen to NPR and browse some various other blogs. I'll spend the rest of the evening working on draft one of my math unit and perhaps visiting with Petra and Petra during girls night before getting into bed.

Bavarian State Library

2009-07-02T11:51:00.006-04:00

I got up early enough today to get my shower and get ready, and then make my blog posting from yesterday. Breakfast today was toast with Nutella and a banana, which were quite tasty. Petra and I had a nice visit in the car this morning, discussing our tour with Johahn and Alegra's impromtu swim in the pond during their walk this morning. She also shared with me that children here learn to ride a bike by age 3-4 and are quite adept at it (as I've seen around town). However, they are not allowed to ride to school (usually only 1-1.5 km from where they live) on their bikes until they reach 4th grade, where they have to take a bike test of sorts and get a "license" from the state, which gives them the authorization to ride on their own, without the supervision of a parent. After Petra dropped me off, I caught the train, the bus in Pasing, and was at the library a few minutes before 10:00 to visit with Mary under the linden tree before our work began.

During my work time this morning, I managed to write the bulk of the science unit into the paper, so I've only got two more major sections to complete tomorrow and Saturday morning before turning in the rough draft on Monday. I had enough additional time this morning to organize the pictures for the blog and eventual Movie Maker project. We went to lunch a few minutes early today so that we could be on time for our 2:00 appointment for a tour at the Bavarian State Library.

Lunch today was again on the patio, which was gorgeous. We enjoyed cordon bleu, which seemed to be made with a boneless pork cutlet, rather than chicken, but was very tasty. There was also a portion of roasted potatoes with chives and bacon. The waiter brought us all some tap water today, which was a nice treat. During lunch, we discussed our plans to take Petra, our host from the library, out to dinner the night before we leave. After eating lunch, we gathered our belongings from the locker area and headed to the bus.

A bus, train, and U-bahn ride later, we were at the Bavarian State Library, which is one of the oldest libraries in Germany. The collection began with a vision from Duke Albrecht V in 1558, and expanded in 1803 with donations from monestaries throughout the area, as well as a donation from a court library of the Electors Palatine. Currently, the library has over 10 million holdings. Much of the building was burned or bombed during WWII, so most of what we saw was a reconstruction of the original. We had the amazing opportunity to see what remains of a collection of books that were salvaged from the Nazi book burnings during WWII; an incredible commentary on censorship. One thing that struck me while visiting the library was the vast cultural difference between this European setting and our libraries at home in terms of rules and regulations. There are several rooms in which personal laptops are not allowed and the reading rooms, even one with seats for over 550 people, is absolutely silent. The area for the reference librarians is in a more separate area with half walls, so that patrons can ask their questions without having to feel rushed by other patrons in line behind them. Unlike many of our libraries, this library has a cafeteria in the basement and a beer garden in the courtyard, a true reflection of how much this culture values time outside and good food. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the library, so I've included a link to their website here: http://www.bsb-muenchen.de/The-library-in-brief.263+M57d0acf4f16.0.html. The building is beautiful and the catalog is incredible! You can also find a chronology of the library through the homepage.

Our tour of the library was over around 4:00, so I decided to come home, since I still had my laptop and it was getting heavy. So, I came home and changed clothes and spent the evening working on my paper and blog postings. After listening to a bit of NPR and Radiolab podcasts, I'll turn in for the night.

Another Beautiful Day

2009-07-02T02:10:00.003-04:00

When I got up yesterday, it was beautiful once again, so after my shower, I put on a brown skirt with a green shirt. I thought I might be able to wear my sandals, but they just weren't as comfortable as my tennis shoes, so I put those on instead. I had my breakfast of toast and jam, but it wasn't enough to fill me up, so I stopped at the discount bakery when I got to Pasing. I found a yummy apple pastry that was made of puffed pastry and brushed with a glaze and nuts for .95 E. I arrived at the library a few minutes early, so I had time to enjoy the beautiful morning under the shade of the linden tree.

I forgot to mention in an earlier post the solar panels we saw on the way back from Salzburg. There were whole neighborhoods that had at least a portion of each roof covered in the panels. Ula, the landlady for Tiffany and Shea, said that by the end of next year, it is required for all homeowners in Bavaria to have solar panels, triple paned windows, and make an effort to reduce water usage. The government is not putting forth any money to fund this initiative, so I don't know what those individuals who cannot afford to make these changes will do. I have not yet done any research on my own on this current event topic, but will try to do so and share with you what I learn.

I spent the morning yesterday working on the science portion of my unit, weaving some of the Holocaust history into the sixth grade study of population dynamics. I also created a reflection and comparison activity where students could compare the science used during the Holocaust with some events today, as well as creating a forum for them to share their thoughts regarding the ethics of the history versus today's events. After spending a few hours working on that, it was time for lunch.

We ate outside again and enjoyed the views of the pond and the ducks. Junko joined us for lunch, so we had the chance to discuss some of the things she's written and hear a bit about her life story. Lunch was a lovely roasted chicken with a very yummy sauce and potato salad. Colleen didn't want any of her potato salad, so I had two portions. After lunch, we all went back to work in the library for the afternoon. I managed to finalize my science unit enough so that I only need to create a few rubrics for some of the activities.

After leaving the library, I stopped by the discount bakery again in Pasing to grab a snack, a pretzel. (I'll try to insert a picture of the bakery tomorrow since I've written so much about it.) I managed to catch the train with a minute to spare and rode back to Grafelfing. On my way back to the house, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some crackers, cheese, bananas, and Nutella. (I have been getting a little tired of the jam with the toast in the morning and thought this would be a good alternative... and I can take home the leftovers.) Just after arriving home and greeting Alegra and the cat, the afternoon showers came, so I was glad that I'd come home when I did. After a light snack of cheese and a pretzel, I worked on my paper a bit more, listened to a few Radiolab podcasts (a production out of NYC through NPR), and called it a night at 11:15. All in all, a very nice day.

A lesson in socialist history

2009-07-01T11:31:00.010-04:00

Yesterday, I got up early, took my shower, and put on a denim skirt and a polo shirt. It was warm and I was ready to greet the day! I had my breakfast of toast with raspberry jam and visited with Petra about our trip to Salzburg on our way in to town. I arrived at the library a bit early and had a chance to visit with Ursula a bit. She shared with me the success of their children’s festival on Sunday, despite the rain, and said that they had almost 400 people in attendance. I’m hoping to get some pictures from the staff to share. (Pictured here is Johahn; I mention him later in the post.)

I spent the morning working on my paper, taking occasional breaks to check email and look up websites and other resources to add to my bibliography. I managed to get the bulk of the social studies unit written into my paper before lunch. For lunch yesterday, we had fish with a creamy mustardy dill sauce served with mashed potatoes. It was pretty enough that we could sit outside, so we enjoyed the weather and the ducks on the water. Amanda got an iced coffee for dessert, that was served with fresh whipped cream, which she shared with me… delicious! After lunch, we went back to work.

For the rest of the afternoon, I worked on an outline for the science unit and finished up the social studies portion of my unit. When we finished our work, we had a short meeting about some upcoming events, and then a few of us went to Pasing to do a little shopping and pick up a snack. We left Pasing around 5:00 and took the S-bahn and the U-bahn to go to Odienzplatz, where we were meeting Johahn, who had offered to give us a tour of some of the Socialist Party historical sites.

We met Johahan at the yellow church just outside the U-bahn exit and visited for a few minutes while we waited for the others to join us. Carolina, the editor studying at the library from Columbia, and Junko, the professor from Chicago, both joined us for this excursion, so it was nice to visit with them some too. What struck me the most about Johahn’s tour was the German perspective he presented of the period leading up to the war and the war itself. He gave us some prehistory on the rise of the party and the political climate that enabled this party to come to power. The building pictured here is in the center of the old part of the city of Munich and was the area of the city where the party first met and where the Nazi flag was flown in the middle of the square in front of this building. After the party’s rise to power, anyone who passed this place was required to salute the flag. As a form of passive resistance, there was a path behind the building where people chose to walk who did not want to salute the flag. The path is marked today only by the presence of the copper cobble stones, which stay shiny whenever someone walks over them. As an aside, he said that his mother, who was very young during this time, actually liked what the party did for the young people, because they organized camps and swimming classes and the like for children. The goal of the party was to provide these kinds of programs for kids so that they would have them hooked from a young age, so that when they were old enough to “think for themselves” they would not have cause to question the actions of the party.

Johahn then took us to a memorial site for the White Rose resistance group, which began on the campus of the university with a group of students and professors. This memorial site is outside of one of the old buildings that was bombed, which you can see here. We also saw a piece of the Berlin wall, which is outside the US Consulate in Munich. The question that Johahn posed to us at the end of the tour, after visiting a few other sites, was the question that the German people ask themselves now, which is what would we have done in the same situation? I don’t know that I can answer that question, given the times and the stress of the economy prior to WWII. I’d like to think that I’d be a part of some form of resistance, but it’s so difficult to say that not living during those times. But then we can look around us today; around the world, there are similar situations, and so often, we are content to turn our heads and look the other way. So, I’m beginning to ask myself, what can I do with a group of students to bring this question to the forefront and perhaps give them a forum to do something.

After leaving our tour with Johahn, I went back home, hoping that I could pick up a bratwurst or something for dinner. I got back to Grafelfing at 8:30, only to realize that all of the grocery stores and cafes closed at 8:00. Only the restaurants were open, but I didn’t want to wait that long, so I ended up eating a few cookies and some bread with jam for dinner. After dinner, I did a bit of research online, and then went to bed.

Our Last Day in Salzburg

2009-06-30T15:33:00.011-04:00

Yesterday we got up around 7:00 and got ready and packed up our things. After checking our items at the desk, since we were checking out before we were leaving Salzburg, we went around the corner to a little bakery and Mary picked up my breakfast, since I had paid for her water the night before. So, I chose a yummy apricot pastry and Mary picked a chocolate cinnamon roll. We went back to the hotel lounge and had some complimentary espresso and juice to go with our breakfast. Mary and I ended up splitting the pastries so that we could each have a bit of both.

After breakfast, the whole group went to Hellbrun Castle, just outside the city of Salzburg. We took a bus to get there and had enough time before the tour started to explore a bit of the grounds. Our tour included many outdoor statues, fountains, and entertaining areas. Apparently the archbishop who created the castle was a bit of a trickster, so he installed trick fountains in several seats, along walkways, and in the corners of some outdoor buildings. The thing that amazed me most was the mosaic work on many paths and floors outside that used river stones. The castle interior was also quite beautiful, and had several interesting paintings. One of the things that I learned while listening to the audio guide in the castle was that during the time that the archbishop was ruling in this area of Austria, it was common practice to bring rare specimens of living things to the residence and surrounding ground. As a result, there were several exotic birds, plants, and mammals, especially deer-like ones, living on the grounds. Several of the paintings in the castle were of some of these creatures. This raised for the question of what may have happened to the grounds when these were introduced. For example, did it introduce new invasive species?

After leaving the castle, Dr. Veltze invited Lyme and me to join her for lunch at a typical Austrian café along the river. She had been given her breakfast for both days free, since her TV did not work, so she offered to pay for our lunch with that money. Lyme and I took her up on the gracious offer and had a wonderful lunch and a nice time to get to know Dr. Veltze better. Lyme ordered breakfast food, eggs, toast, yogurt, and fruit, and I ordered a mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil. Dr. Veltze ordered a very fancy version of mac and cheese that was seasoned with some sage, which she let us both sample. After a wonderful cup of coffee, Lyme and I left and went to find our way to the fortress.

We wandered our way through the streets, grateful for the beautiful weather, and Lyme picked up some wonderfully illustrated children’s books. After leaving the bookstore, we found some street artists, so I found a piece that I purchased for 10 E that is quite lovely. After leaving the street artist, we stumbled upon a large chess board marked off in the square and a few people playing with these almost two feet high pieces. As we stood there taking pictures, we heard a marching band coming, so we stayed to watch the Austrian band play. When we finally left the square, we wandered toward the fortress, taking in the views along the way. The trail was very steep, but the views were worth it. When we got to the gate, we turned around and headed back into town in search of a WC (restroom). Once we found one, we both realized that we didn’t have any change between us, since we’d spent it on the bus earlier in the day, so we couldn’t use the WC. So, we headed back to the hotel to use the one in the lobby there. It was fun getting to know Lyme better in our ramblings around Salzburg, learning her story and what she enjoys. It's been nice to be able to bounce from person to person throughout this trip to get to know each person individually.

When we got back to the hotel, we met a few others and decided to go grab a bite to eat with them. Mary and Amanda split a wonderful cheeseburger and fries at the river café they found, while Matt ordered fried chicken and potato salad. Lyme just ordered a drink. I have learned with this group that it’s better just to be on “clean up duty” if you’re not that hungry, so Lyme and I enjoyed some fries, olives, potato salad, and fried chicken when the others were all finished. Then we all went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and went to the train station to go back to Munich. When we got to our platform at the station, we ran into a group of high school students who were from the Charlotte area, so we visited with a few of them. We boarded the train at 5:45 and were back in Munich by 8:30. I arrived back at the house at 9:30, after a wonderful walk home enjoying the sunset. After chatting a bit with Benny and unpacking, I fell into bed at 11:15 for a restful night’s sleep. Overall, Salzburg was wonderful and I’d go back again if I had the chance.

Day Two in Salzburg

2009-06-29T15:53:00.011-04:00

Yesterday, I woke up around 7:00, took a shower, and got dressed in jeans, a sleeveless shirt, tennis shoes, and a raincoat. Yet another rainy day greeted us, but we’ve been told that that is typical Austrian weather, so I suppose we’re experiencing Salzburg as the locals do. After getting ready, Mary and I headed downstairs for our breakfast buffet. Although it cost 13 E, we got our fill of eggs, melted cheese on tomato slices, a variety of bakery breads and pastries, various hams and salami, as well as fruit and yogurt. There were several types of spreads to go with the bread and fruit, including Nutella (which was fantastic on pear slices and as a substitute for peanut butter on a piece of toast with orange marmalade). There was also champagne and juice, of which I didn’t partake this morning, but Dr. Veltze said that once she had poured what she thought was sparkling white grape juice, she couldn't let it go to waste! I had several small cups of coffee and thoroughly enjoyed the variety of cheeses as well. I would say that I certainly got my money’s worth on that breakfast!

After breakfast, we headed out to Mozart’s residence and birthplace, which were just a few blocks from the hotel. The first museum was quite well done, with an audio guide and several markers throughout each room explaining the items. We were not allowed to take photographs here, so I’ve included the link here for you to peruse.

http://www.mozarteum.at/02_Museen/02_Museen_WohnHaus.asp?SID=168244122101443. (You may need to switch it to English using the links at the top, or you can try your hand at deciphering the German if you'd prefer. There is more text here than pictures, but it does have some more detail about the Mozart and Hayden exhibit that was housed at the Residence.) It was rather interesting to learn that although Mozart had a rather successful career, all of the family’s furnishings, etc. were sold at an estate sale after his death. This museum housed many reproductions of instruments that Mozart would have played, and the audio guide had samples of some of his works being played on the instruments. The second museum, housed in a small apartment, was not as well done, but still interesting. There were items we wish had been explained more, such as the room that had a relief map of Salzburg on the ceiling and all of the pictures were hung upside down. There was another room with German and Italian words written around the room on the wall paper, but there was no explanation as to what was said or why this room was decorated in such a way. We did get to see the family kitchen, a family tree of the Mozart family, and some of Mozart’s personal effects that individuals had donated to the museum. Overall, this to these museums was worth the 8 euros that it cost, especially since we were given a student discount off the original 10 E price.

From there, we went to a few souvenir shops, where I picked up a tea towel to take home and the others picked up a few items. After that, we went to the craft fair held along the street by the river that we had seen the night before. Although I did not find any original drawings, prints, watercolors, etc., I did find some handmade jewelry that I purchased, and Mary picked up a few things for friends and relatives. At this point, we were all so completely soaked through (even with our umbrellas and raincoats), that we decided to come back to the hotel to dry off. So, we took a few hours to rest and dried our socks and pants with the hairdryer.

After hanging out and drying off, we got ready for our Mozart Dinner Concert. Most of the girls wore cute black dresses, I wore my brown flowered dress, and Mary had a very nice blue dress to wear. Lyme wore a blue button down shirt with some sparkly cuff links and nicely pressed black pants. We took a taxi to the dinner concert, which was held in St. Peters Abby at the restaurant called the Stiffskeller. The concert began promptly at 8:00, with the orchestra dressed in period costumes. After the opening piece, the opera singers came out a performed a few pieces from Don Giovanni. Then we had a lovely appetizer of a cream based soup with a dumpling in it, seasoned with sage and lemon. After the first course, we heard a few selections from Le nozze di Figaro, which were beautifully performed. The main course was served after these selections, and consisted of a roasted capon breast, steamed veggies, and a wonderful sauce seasoned with sage and truffles. A tad on the salty side, it was wonderfully filling. Die Zauberflote was the next piece performed. This popular opera from Mozart combines farce and drama into an exciting piece. Dessert was a fantastic finish to this unique experience, consisting of a honey flavored frozen dessert on a graham cracker-like crust, served with two fruit sauces. I’ve included a picture of the dessert here (so that you can adequately picture this luscious thing).

We left the concert a little after 11:00 and walked back to the hotel, enjoying the sights of Salzburg at night, with the lights along the river. I was very glad to have my new shoes, which kept my feet nice and dry on this walk and were comfortable enough to walk back to the hotel. When we finally arrived back at the hotel, I made myself a cup of hot peppermint tea in the lounge and then headed up to bed. It was after midnight when I finally fell into bed, after an enjoyable, but exhausting day.

First Day in Salzburg

2009-06-28T07:53:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was we began our trip to Salzburg. I got up early, took a shower, finished my last minute packing, and walked to the s-bahn. I just barely missed the 7:10 train, but still met the group on time by catching the 7:30 line. When I arrived at the Hoptbahnhof station, I picked up a pastry for breakfast and we were off on our two hour ride to Salzburg, Austria. The sights were beautiful as we rode across the countryside and the mountains came into view through the mist. There were so many church steeples and Bavarian style homes with steep roofs covered in red tile.

When we arrived at the Salzburg station, we picked up some information at the information desk (maps, guide books, etc.) and walked to our hotel. Our hotel is a very old hotel with smaller rooms, but very high ceilings. Here's a link if you want to see more pictures of the hotel: http://www.austrotel.at/en/hotel_salzburg.html. We weren’t able to check into our rooms until 2:00, so we left our things behind the desk and found a place for lunch, another tasty little Italian place. I had a margherita pizza (cheese and sauce), and shared bits of the others’ pasta dishes. After lunch, a group went to do the Sound of Music tour, but I opted to stay around town and explore the shops and old buildings. I found this cute church with nice architecture, so I’ve included some of those pictures here.

When the group returned from the Sound of Music tour, a few of us went to a rooftop café for a bite of dinner around 8:00 at another hotel. The views were spectacular since it was right next to the river and you could see the bridge that’s featured in The Sound of Music. The food service left a little to be desired, as they seemed to be out of quite a few items on the menu, but the views made up for it. After leaving here, we found a street music festival and an art fair that was packing up for the day, but we decided to come back to the art show today. After a leisurely walk along the river and pushing our way through the crowds at the music festival, we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. Overall, a nice beginning to our jaunt in Salzburg!

Day Two of the Poetry Conference

2009-06-26T14:27:00.012-04:00

Today, I got up early and had my shower and was ready with about 40 minutes to spare, so I posted my blog entry for yesterday and worked a bit on reworking some parts of my paper. When I started to come downstairs, I saw that Petra had put a new pair of pantyhose on the top step for me. (I had asked her where I could pick up some for relatively cheap during our chat last night, and she ended up having an extra pair in her drawer that was the size and color I needed, which I didn't know.) I was downstairs by 8:30 for my breakfast of toast and raspberry jam, and left with Petra by 8:55. She was able to get a "VIP" spot right next to her shop today, with no chance of a parking ticket! So, I was off to the library (with my camera today).

I arrived early at the library and had some time to take pictures around the grounds. It was beautiful today (no rain!), and I got some nice pictures of the ducks, the patio where we can eat lunch during the week, and some pictures of the outside of the castle. When some of the others arrived, we toured some of the new exhibits that were opened last night. A castle makes an incredible museum, it turns out, with all of it's towers, nooks for reading and pictures, and multiple levels that enable people to spread out in a relatively small space. I've posted some pictures here of the exhibit designed to honor and remember a famous German author and illustrator.

At 10:00, the conference began, so we went upstairs to hear a discussion on the topic of whether children's poetry is worth publishing today, in terms of the possibility of a poet being able to make a living writing children's poetry. This discussion was with a German publisher and a German editor, so we listened to the translation through our headphones. The next presentation was another series of short biographies of poets around the world, with a few of their poems being read. Perhaps the most interesting was the poem presented from poet Shintaro Tanikawa, of Japan. The presenter was Japanese and discussed the use of word play and double meanings of some of the characters within the poem. The poem was also projected on the screen, so it was interesting to see the Japanese characters while the speaker read the poem in Japanese. Other poets mentioned in this session were Douglas Florian, a US poet, and Maurine Mahy, of New Zealand (her style is similar to Shel Silverstein). There is a picture here of Johan presenting his poem.

We then had a coffee break, with cookies and cappuccino, espresso, and alfredo again today. I have a picture here for you to see the alfredo that I had today. If you look closely, you might be able to see the pretzel on the side of the mug.

After our coffee break, there was a presentation by a phenomenal Dutch children's poet and illustrator, Ted van Lieshout. His work is more surreal and abstract, which seems to be a theme among European illustrators. One of the things that I've noticed during this conference is that the European culture as a whole is less afraid to present less than cheerful, and sometimes downright gloomy, images and text to children in poetry. This seems largely dissimilar to the US culture as a whole, although these certainly exist in the US in certain segments of the literary and artistic culture. Van Lieshout presented the idea of not creating illustrations for the text, but of writing the text and then finding images to go with it, as he did with one of his works. He simply went through his portfolio and found images that he felt went with the overall rhythm, theme, or mood of the text. He uses all manner of techniques, including collage and computer generated or altered images.

For lunch today, we had peppers stuffed with couscous and chopped veggies with a creamy tomato sauce. There was also red cabbage that was spiced with cloves and cinnamon, multiple salads, pasta, German dumplings, and bread. There was not dessert with today's lunch, but I suppose the cookies during the coffee break sufficed.

After lunch, there was a presentation from the Austrian collaborative group, Gerda Anger-Schmidt (poet) and Renate Habinger (illustrator). This pair was quite dynamic and has worked together for over 25 years. They seem to compliment each other well and were thoroughly entertaining to listen to, even with the English translation by headphones. There are some images of Habinger here illustrating some of her techniques. After their presentation, there was another presentation by the library staff on more poets from around the world. At the end of this presentation, there was another short coffee break with yummy chocolate and orange filled cookies, and then back for the last few sessions of the day.

The most interesting presentation of this last session was from Lionel Le Neouanic, a French poet and artist. He primarily uses mixed media for his illustrations, and often reworks famous pieces from artists such as Picasso, Degas, Monet, and others. He typically creates the images first and then develops the story from those, saying, (in rough translation) "I am almost the translator who translates the picture into text." The last discussion of the day was a sort of debate regarding illustrating classical poetry and presenting classically adult poetry to children. This raised a lively question and answer portion with the audience at the end of the day.

I left the library shortly after six to come home. I picked up a yummy cream cheese pastry as a snack for dinner, since lunch was so filling, and discovered that the bakery in Grafelfing puts pastries on sale after 5:00, so I purchased it for .65 E instead of the regular 1.25 E. I love finding new deals! When I got home, I chatted with Petra a bit about the weather in Salzburg for the weekend (mostly more rain), and asked her to put a few things in the laundry with her laundry this weekend. Currently, the cat is sleeping on my bed while I pack my bag for Salzburg. I'll leave early in the morning to catch the 7:10 train to be at the Haptbanhof station by 7:45ish. We'll be in Salzburg until Monday evening.

First Day at the Poetry Conference

2009-06-26T01:35:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, I got up a little later than usual, but still managed to have breakfast before Petra came back from her walk with Alegra. I was surprised that the rain had let up a bit, but in spite of that, Petra told me that there has been flooding all over Germany recently due to the amount of rain we've had. She dropped me off at her shop, and I walked to the train without an umbrella for the first time in about a week. At my stop at Pasing to pick up the bus, I realized that I had forgotten my camera in my rush to get ready.

I arrived at the library early to help with whatever last minute preparations needed to be made, but everything seemed to be taken care of for the poetry conference. So, I stowed my things in a locker and got set up to work before the politicians arrived. None of them asked me any questions, although they did speak with some of the other professors who have been there working. I was able to add a few more pages to my paper before lunch, as well as finish reading one of the novels I'd been working on for the unit.

Lunch was outside in the courtyard in a large tent and it seemed to be quite the event. There were servers carrying drinks to people and cheese and bread as appetizers. The food was fantastic; an bountiful buffet of roasted vegetables, salads, caprise salad (one of my favorites with mozzarella and sliced tomatoes), and so many varieties of potatoes. There was salmon, beef, and pasta as a main course. And dessert... mmmm... chocolate mousse with bits of dark chocolate mixed in, as well as a vanilla mousse that was heavenly. After lunch, coffee, cappuccino, and alfredo (espresso with lots of steamed milk) was served, and the conference began at 3:00.

The first portion of the conference was a bit boring, as there were lots of German folks in the literary and publishing world who seem to be rather "high society" who had a few moments to speak. Fortunately, there were some language students from the university who were there to translate, using a sound system that went to headphones for those people who needed to hear the speeches in English. After the introductions were made, there was a children's poet from Germany who spoke and shared a few of her poems in German, and we were provided with a rough translation in English. After she spoke, there was a series of poems presented from poets around the world, many of these being presented by the library staff. Each presentation included some biographical information about the poet and then a poem or two by that particular poet. I suppose I should mention that the topic for the conference is children's poetry and illustrations. It seems that some of the discussion has been surrounding the use of word play, alliteration, imagery, etc. and the choice of images used to illustrate these poems, whether they inhibit or encourage the imagination of a child when hearing or reading the poems.

At this point, we took a short coffee break and had coffee and cookies (of the Danish variety, the ones in the blue tin, although these were served on very fancy silver platters). I had an alfredo at this point and enjoyed some conversation with one of the professors who is studying here who is from a university in Texas.

After the coffee break, we had the opportunity to hear the most exciting speaker so far, a poet from England named Andrew Peters. He has written numerous poems, some on his own and some in collaboration with his wife, Polly Peters. He is more of a performance poet, so many of his poems were read with great expression, hand motions, etc. and were very engaging and honest. He has recently begun writing for young adults and these were some of my most favorite pieces. He and his wife have been very honest about their own experiences as teens in these poems, so they are the type of literature that is very popular with teen audiences. Unfortunately, only some of his childrens books have made it to the US publishers. It seems that most publishers aren't interested in publishing poetry, since it seems to be the thing that doesn't sell as much. He has also written some novels with his wife, and a poetic novel (I think that's the correct term) that tells a story through a series of poems. I would love to see some of his work published in the US and see him perform some of his poems for US students (although some parents might object to his frankness with regards to teen experience). Here's his website if you'd like to check him out: http://www.tallpoet.com/. At the end of his presentation, he gave the chance for people to ask questions and to purchase some of the books he'd brought with him, and he signed them. I purchased one of the novels he's written, although I would have preferred to have a copy of his book Poems with Attitude. He only was able to bring what would fit in his carry on luggage, so he only had a small selection from which to choose.

After Andrew's presentation, we had dinner, which was again lovely. Quiche, potatoes, steamed kohlrabi, salads, more caprise salad, and fish of some kind, all of which was very good. I was coming away from the buffet table and saw Andrew and asked him about videos of his performances that I could share with my students. He said that he didn't have any on his website, as people tend to just pull stuff from the web without giving credit where it's due. He then surprised me by offerring to come sit with our group, since he was sitting by himself previously. So, we had the chance to chat with him, share our experiences in American schools, hear from him some of his experiences and desires with regards to being published in the US, etc. After dinner, he had to leave to catch a flight back to England, and I left to come back to the house, as it was getting toward 8:00.

When I arrived at the house, Alegra greeted me as usual, and Laura and I had a nice chat about her school, my students, and some other general getting to know you discussion. When Petra came home, I found the pictures of Lavender that she had been asking about (she has had dachshunds in the past) and some pictures of the house. We stayed up and chatted about all manner of things, including some of her trips to the states when she was younger to visit a cousin in Colorado. We chatted about hikes in the mountains and she shared some places that I might want to go hiking here when it gets a little prettier. She made some hot tea with honey and shared it with me, and it was a wonderful way to wind down from a long day.

I will post pictures of the library staff in their traditional dress, the buffet tables, etc. when I can get copies of pictures from someone else in the group. I am taking my camera today, though!

Preparations for the Poetry Conference

2009-06-24T12:57:00.007-04:00

I woke up today to yet more rain, so I wore my jeans today, with my cardigan and sweater tank, and put on a scarf. My breakfast of cereal and currants was quite tasty while I waited for Petra to return from her morning walk with Alegra. As soon as she was ready, we were off and had our morning chat on the way to her shop. She told me that she had gotten a parking ticket yesterday and a speeding ticket the day before, but she didn't mind too much, since the police officer was cute. She explained to me that parking and minor speeding tickets don't require much paperwork on the part of the driver, just pay the fee and you're off again. However, if it's excessive speeding or drinking and driving, then the fines are much steeper, and sometimes a license is revoked.

When I got to the library, I had to wait outside, since it wasn't quite 10:00 and the doors weren't open yet. When the doors were opened, I got settled in and began typing more of my paper. I was able to add some more resources today and solidify the criteria I need to use to evaluate the literature from an international perspective. Instead of eating at the library today, I opted to go with most of the group to McDonald's just down the street. The choice today for lunch was dumplings again, and I thought a salad would be better, since I haven't had as many veggies as I'm used to lately.

After lunch, I returned to my work and got some helpful feedback from Dr. Veltze. I'm hoping to use tomorrow morning to work on the science part of my unit and rough that out reasonably well. At the end of the workday, we all collected our things from the locker area and met outside for a group meeting. It seems that the library staff is convinced that our presence here at the library researching will show the politicians, who are coming for the morning portion of the conference tomorrow, that the funding that the government contributors provide for the library is well spent, since we are an international presence. We also met to find out what meals we'll have tomorrow and Friday as a part of the poetry conference and what some of our duties might be. Thankfully, we will have tomorrow morning, at least, to continue working on our papers (and I'll work on my unit plan). It will be exciting to see how this conference is run, to see the staff all dressed up (most of them will come in the traditional durndles (sp) and leiterhosen (sp)), and to experience the "fair-like" atmosphere that the staff has tried so hard to arrange in the courtyard of the castle. I should have some exciting pictures to post of the events tomorrow and Friday.

We left the library and traveled to Hoptbanhof, where the central station is for regional trains. We will leave from this station on Saturday morning to go to Salzburg for the weekend, and we'll return on Monday evening. (I realized another "green" feature of Germany--escalators. They don't run continually, but are triggered by someone stepping on the metal landing before the first step. Also, the revolving doors are not electronic, they are regular pus turn-style doors.) After we figured out how to get to this station and our meeting area, some of us went shopping. I tried to find a pair of tights to go with the shoes I found yesterday so that I could wear my skirts, but could only find pantyhose and leggings. So, Mary and I decided that we would go out tomorrow afternoon and try to find some things at H&M, since we didn't get there today.

After Mary and I left department store, we went back to the Hoptbanhof station, had a bratwurst on a baguette, and caught the S6 train back toward Tutzing. Mary got off at Pasing to catch her bus, and I came the rest of the way to Grafelfing. I walked home in the misty rain and was greeted by Alegra at the door. After putting my things down, I went downstairs to get a few things from the fridge and saw that the rabbits were in the livingroom (in their cage). So, I took their picture to post here. One is named Jimmy and I don't remember the other's name, but Petra said that they've lived longer than they have expected them to. I'm planning to work a bit more on my paper tonight and then just relax with a book and the radio. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will remember to take pictures of the lake, ducks, etc. at the library and can post those here.

By the way, I'm missing your comments! Please post any questions you have so that I can answer them for everyone. I'd like for this to be as interactive as possible.

Another rainy day

2009-06-23T13:37:00.004-04:00

Today, I woke up to more rain. It almost feels like Boone it's rained so much here lately. So, I dressed as warmly as I could for my day today, and had my breakfast of cereal and the currants that I brought back yesterday. Petra came in a little later than usual from her morning walk with Alegra. Apparently, Alegra had gotten away from her and had found some yummy bit of leftover in the woods that someone had left, so Petra had to take off after her in the rain through the field. Petra was none too happy with Alegra, and was a little late for work as a result, but I still made it to the train on time. There was a group of middle schoolers on the train today, obviously on a field trip from the presence of ipods and the teacher's roll sheet, and it made me miss that part of my job (a bit--I can't imagine packing a whole class onto public transit, but it would certainly be an experience!)

Once at the library, we had a short meeting about the upcoming week, and then went to work. Junko shared a book with me today that is a wonderful fit for my project and has an annotated bibliography to boot, so I'm excited about that. I finished the social studies part of my unit, at least the rough draft, so I had some sense of accomplishment before lunch. Lunch today was a Mediterranean fish dish with olives and tomatoes. I posted a picture here so you can see the yummy lunch from today. (I'm hoping to get out to the patio at the library cafe tomorrow to post those pictures. The ducks have been very happy in the rain on the patio, though!)

After lunch, I read some more of one of the novels that I cannot take home from the library, probably over 100 pages of it. It's a remarkable book called In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer and the life story of this Polish woman is incredible. It is one that I highly recommend, if you're in the market for a good, but serious, read.

When I left the library, it was still raining, but I needed to get some close-toed dress shoes so that I could wear the skirts that I brought (since it's continually raining, the sandals just make my toes cold and wet.) So, Dr. Veltze and I went to a few shoe stores in Pasing to find some shoes, since she is in the same predicament. (I never thought I'd go shoe shopping with my professor, but I suppose Dr. Veltze was probably more fun than Rob might have been. ;)) I posted a picture of them here, mostly because there wasn't much else to take pictures of today. After finding the shoes, which are very comfortable, I went to the discount bakery, picked up a pretzel, and headed for the house.

When I got home, I ate the rest of the pretzel that I hadn't eaten on the train, and had a few more currants and a piece of chocolate for dinner. I also worked on my paper a bit more and have listened to NPR. It seems that this is becoming my daily routine, but it's been a nice way to wind down from the day. (And the rain limits the amount of walking that I want to do around town.) This weekend is our Salzburg trip, so I'm sure that I'll have more to post then.

Library Research

2009-06-22T15:11:00.006-04:00

This morning, I got up and dressed as warmly as I could for what I packed. I came prepared for a few rainy, cool days, not a week, so I've been layering as much as possible. I had breakfast here at the house and then walked to the train in the rain. Petra's shop is not open on Mondays, so she did not take me part way, so I got a little more exercise today. Thankfully, I had allowed enough time to still arrive at the library on time. At the station, I saw a school group of what looked to be 8-9 year olds trekking out on a field trip. It has been fun seeing students around town and at the library.

I managed to get a rough outline of the social studies portion of my unit completed today and hope to complete that in the morning. I plan to get the entire unit roughed out by Wednesday, but that will depend entirely upon whether or not I can find the secondary resources I need from journals, etc. I did quite a bit of reading in one of the novels I found to supplement my unit, since I cannot take that out of the library. I'm hoping that after the poetry conference is over at the end of this week, I'll be able to get a little more help from Claudia, the English language specialist, as well as the others. The poetry conference is a really big deal, they're having politicians and funding groups from around the country to come in, so I understand their stress.

For lunch today, we had a "dumpling" in a creamy mushroom sauce with cheese. It was sort of like a stuffing meatball with cheese melted on top in a heavy cream sauce with mushrooms; very good, but very rich. It was so filling; it reminded me of trying to eat a whole dish of pasta alfredo at Olive Garden. Shea didn't care for hers, so she gave it to some of the staff at the library. I've included a picture here. I'm hoping tomorrow will be something with a few more veggies.

After lunch, I continued my reading and went over to the lending library to pick up a book about propaganda. I also found a few more resources from the web, including a website from Illinois, which requires that the Holocaust be taught in all public schools, as well as current instances of genocide. Thanks to Junka, the professor from Chicago, for cluing me in on that bit of information. After cleaning out the locker, I picked up the currants I left over the weekend and munched on those on the bus.

After leaving the library, it was so dreary and rainy, I just wanted to come back to the house. So, I stopped in Pasing, picked up a pretzel as a snack and took the train home. The picture here is a pretzel from yesterday... I didn't eat one that large today!I was greeted by Alegra at the door, who thankfully didn't bark, as Petra was taking a nap in the living room. After eating my snack and changing into comfy clothes, I went downstairs to put my currants in the fridge and visited a bit with Laura. I haven't gotten to know the girls as much as I'd like, simply because they seem to be typical teenage girls and are busy with their social lives.

We've had quite a few thunder storms this afternoon and evening, including some hail, so it's been a nice afternoon to sit and research, read, and listen the the internet radio. I've included a few more pictures here from the Botanical Gardens from yesterday. Enjoy!

Yesterday in the English Gardens

2009-06-22T04:13:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, I slept in a bit and met Mary in Pasing to pick up some breakfast at the discount bakery (yes, I can find a deal while traveling as well) before heading to meet the group in Marienplatz. I had a wonderful apple pastry and a coffee while we walked around the square, window shopping. (Since Bavaria is largely Catholic, many of the shops close on Sundays, including the grocery stores. Only the bakeries and restaurants are open on Sundays.)

At 12:00, we met the group at the golden statue in the middle of the square. When I take the walking tour one day, I'll hopefully find out more of the history of this area and how so much of the architecture was preserved during WWII.

When the group was gathered, we took the U-bahn (subway, not train) to the English Gardens, which are one of the largest park areas in the world. This area is larger than Central Park in NYC, and quite beautiful. There is live music on Sundays, which was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We listened to the music at the Chinese tower while we ate lunch, which was in a large area served kind of cafeteria style, where you stood in a long line and made your selections at the counter(s) of your choice. Mary and I split up, she purchased drinks while I bought lunch, and it came out to be an even split. We had several types of sausage mixed with our potatoes (which was fantastic) and red cabbage cooked with apples, very similar to what I make at home, which was also tasty. I decided that some of you would probably like to see the food, so I'll begin posting pictures as space allows.

After leaving the English Gardens, a few of us went back to Marienplatz and toured the Botanical Gardens, an area which Mary, Amanda, and I visited on our first day, but several of the others had not seen. Then I made my way home, but just as the rain was coming. So, I schlepped my way through the rain from the train to the house, which is about a fifteen minute walk. Thankfully, I had both my raincoat and an umbrella. When I got home, I found that my jeans were soaked at the bottom, so I went ahead and put on my comfy cotton lounge pants. I have come to enjoy internet radio even more than I did at home, now that I am away. So, I sat for the rest of the evening in my comfy clothes, listened to NPR and the rain, and read a bit for my project and just for me. Overall, a wonderful Sunday.

A Day in Dachau

2009-06-20T15:40:00.013-04:00

This morning, I got up earlier than usual, left by 7:15, took my train to Pasing, and met Dr. Veltze by 8:00. After grabbing a very yummy pastry and caffe latte for breakfast, the rest of the group was there and we were off to Dachau, after some deliberation about which train to take.

We arrived in Dachau and then took a bus to the camp, using the same road that the prisoners would have been forced to walk. When we got off the bus, we visited the visitor's center, purchased an audio guide for the student price and were able to share those with the group, so not everyone needed to purchase one. As we approached the camp, we entered through the same gates that the prisoners would have come through for selection. Forged into the gate are the words, "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work shall set you free." This was the beginning of the Nazi propaganda that we saw throughout the camp and museum.

We saw the roll call area, where 40,000 to 50,000 prisoners were forced to stand for roll call each day. Often times, those who were too weak to stand would be supported by other prisoners as a sign of solidarity and as a means of saving that person's life for at least another day. We also visited the barracks, which changed in floor plan and structure from the beginning to the end of the camp. The picture here of the gravel areas show outlines of where the barracks once were. The barracks actually pictured are reconstructions. The fences that surrounded the camp were largely made of wire, some electric trip wires, and some barbed wire. Stationed throughout the camp were watch towers, which I've pictured here. The grassy area around the camp was known as the "killing zone", where the guards in the watch towers were allowed to shoot at will any prisoner who stepped into the grassy area. The closer to the wall a prisoner made it and was shot, the more extra pay the guard who shot him received, so it behooved the guard to allow the prisoner to get as close to escaping as possible.

Perhaps the most trying area to visit was the crematorium and the gas chamber. There is an earlier crematorium, and later ones were added toward the end of the war as more and more bodies were needing to be disposed. There is no evidence to prove that the gas chamber that was installed in the Dachau camp was ever used, although there are records to show that prisoners were sent to other camps to be gassed.

On a more positive note were the monuments and memorials that were placed throughout the camp. The main monument in the camp is a sculpture that is created by a survivor of the camp. Other monuments have been added over time to this installation. There are also several religious monuments and memorials at the end of the camp, including a Christian monument and a Jewish memorial.

In the museum portion of the camp, there developers have done an excellent job of highlighting the resistance and solidarity movements among the prisoners and within the community, while showing the reality and tragedy of the situation.

After spending several hours at the camp, we all felt the need to leave and find some lunch, and some rejuvenation (as Lyme said, she needed to "scour and bleach her soul") so we went into the old part of the city of Dachau and had Italian. It seems that Italian is very popular here, and we ordered several pizzas to share and a few salads. The salami pizza was wonderful, but the view from the windows was even more incredible. I've included a picture here of the outside of the restaurant.

From there, we went to Schloss Dachau (Dachau Castle). The fee was two euros, and I paid with a 10, and received three back. When I questioned the woman behind the counter, she insisted that I paid with a five. I decided it wasn't worth making a scene, and kept going, but I am beginning to feel some empathy for those immigrants and travelers who are unsure about the currency. The gardens and views were the best part of the castle. We all assumed that there would be signs, etc. to explain each room and important statues etc., but found that this was not the case. So, if you're ever in Dachau, I would not recommend paying for a visit to Dachau Castle, unless there's nothing else you can do with two (or more) euros.

After visiting the castle, we were headed for the s-bahn, and saw a street fair, so we hopped off the bus and headed down the square. We found that the street fair was being set up for a cover band of ABBA, but the show didn't start until the bus stopped running, so we just browsed the food stands and watched the kids on the rides, etc. It was also fun seeing all of the dogs that were out (we saw several dachshunds today). Oh, and did I mention the fish on a stick? Yep, scales, tail, fins and all, smoked or roasted on a stick and very popular as street food here.

From there, we took the bus back to the station, took the s-bahn to Marienplatz and browsed the shops. We eventually found our way to a beer garden where several people found a beer they liked, a sausage or brat on a roll, and Mary and I split an order of pomme fritze (sp) (french fries), which were very good. Then, after an interesting encounter with some gentlemen at the table beside us, we took the s-bahn back to our respective homes.

I am exhausted today, after so much walking around the camp and towns (even though I wasn't hauling the laptop around). So, it's off to bed for me for some reading a a day tomorrow touring some of the palaces in the Munich area with the group.

Library Research and Family Time

2009-06-19T13:32:00.008-04:00

This morning I got up in time for Petra to drop me off at her shop to walk to the S-bahn station. It was raining, so I took a raincoat and Petra insisted that I take an umbrella. At my stop in Pasing, I picked up some currants (I think that's what they are) to go with the cereal I had for breakfast, and realized that I had left my transit card at home. Thankfully, no inspectors came to check my card today, but lesson learned!

I arrived at the library a few minutes early and had time to unload things in my locker and gather my thoughts for the day before hitting the books. I spent most of the day today reading a few other novels I found at the library, as well as browsing some of the resources that I found as nonfiction sources. I am a bit disappointed that I can't check out more books to bring home, but I understand their need to keep the collection there for others to use it and to lend to public schools. Thankfully, I did bookmark a few websites that will supplement my research for the unit plan and paper, so I'll be able to use those this week. You can see the desk that I've chosen here.

For lunch today, I had what they call ravioli, but it was more like the meat you find in wantons, finely ground, and layered between layers of fresh pasta, but pressed into triangles. It had a broth-y sauce and some veggies on the side. I took a note from Dr. Veltze today and didn't order a drink, but made sure to take a break before lunch to get some water from my water bottle. There is no free service for water with your meal, so you either have to get a soda or sparkling water, if you don't want an alcoholic beverage. If I save on beverages, then I have more money for meals and souvenirs.

After lunch, I continued my research, took a few pictures of the Eric Carle exhibit that I mentioned in yesterday's post, and then left with the group to discuss tomorrow's plans. After we had laid plans for tomorrow, a few of us went to Pasing to pick up a light dinner, and then went home. Several folks are still very tired from the trip and are adjusting to the time change. Since Shea was going home by herself a different way, I was able to show her which train to take and where to catch it, which was nice. (I feel like I'm really getting some confidence with the public transit.) I decided that I wanted to browse some of the shops in Grafelfing (the community where I live) on my way home. I found a cute little stationary shop that sells art supplies, which I may purchase a few tomorrow. There is also a very nice bakery and deli, as well as a nice Italian restaurant with an outdoor seating area and what looks to be a reasonable menu.

When I arrived home, Alegra and the cat followed me upstairs, which was fun. So I spent some time with them and then went downstairs when I heard Petra come home. Her mother is here for the weekend, as she comes to stay every weekend. Laura was baking brownies and offered me one (very tasty), and Petra offered me some of the olives she had set out. She, her mother, and Petra Wershing from the library have a girls night each Friday where they just chat around the table and eat munchie foods (like olives and cheese) and have wine or prosecco. It's nice to know that some of those social things are really cross cultural. We shared dog stories and I heard about some of the trouble Alegra got into as a puppy (she ate a bag full of brand new expensive underwear!), and I told her about Lavender's latest escapades.

Tonight, my plan is to read a bit for my unit and then go to bed early. Our trip to Dachau is tomorrow and we're heading out early, so I want to get to bed early. It's supposed to be raining, which I think is a fitting mood for the visit to the camp. We're also going to visit the city Dachau, which is a few miles from the camp (or the camp is a few km from the city). The German culture still seems to be carrying around a sense of guilt regarding the events of WWII, even though the large majority of them were not around during that time, and the ones who were were not directly involved. It makes for an interesting discussion, for sure. It sounds like Dachau (the city) has some historic sites to see and is an area that is attractive to artists, which is exciting to me. Perhaps I'll find my first piece of street art this trip!

Introduction to the International Youth Library

2009-06-18T15:02:00.011-04:00

Today was my first real working day at the International Youth Library, or Internationale Jugendbibliothek in German. Here's the link if you want to check out the virtual tour: http://www.ijb.de/files/Seite00.htm When we all arrived, Dr. Veltze gave us a rough idea of the schedule for the day and then we were off to the lockers to deposit our belongings. In the study library, which is primarily where we will work, patrons are not allowed to have any bags, since resources are to stay in the study library. So, we have been allowed to use the lockers that are reserved for staff and scholarship students. Similar to other instances, you must deposit one euro in the lock, which may be retrieved at the end of the day. The library opens promptly at 10 am and closes promptly at 4 pm. The staff, and culture as a whole, seems to very clearly define the lines of work and play, so this strict adherence to the schedule helps to reinforce that.

We then went to the study library, where silence is mandated so that all scholars who are using materials may have the quiet and respect they deserve when working on projects. There are a few other scholars at the library including our group, one student from Columbia, a Japanese-American professor from Chicago, and another Japanese student. The reference librarian in charge of the study library gave us a cursory preview of the catalog and explained how resources are arranged. In addition to the study library, the IJB, as they call the International Youth Library, has a small public library and a wealth of resources which they share with scholars around the world through their lending program. There are several librarians at the IJB, many of whom are responsible for specific language areas, such as English (including those African countries that speak English as a primary language), Spanish, Asian languages, etc.

The library also has several rotating exhibits which tour the world to highlight authors, illustrators, or special collections. They often have school groups come through the library to view the museum areas and use the lending library, as the public schools do not have the caliber of school libraries that we do in the States. Instead, the Bavarian government chooses to put their funding into public libraries that are easily accessible to students within the public school system. Currently, one of their main exhibits is an exhibit of Eric Carle's works, which have been translated into several languages, including German, Japanese, and Norwegian. It's quite fascinating to see works with which I am so familiar in so many different languages. I'll try to take some pictures of this exhibit tomorrow to post.

Lunch at the library is wonderful! We ate outside by the lake and rose garden today and I feasted on the "fleisch" option (meat) of pork cutlets, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. There is a kitchen at the library if I choose to bring my lunch, but for the staff price of 3.50 euro, I think it's worth it to have the experience. They also offer a daily vegetarian option, which was pasta today with arugula and Parmesan cheese.

I feel like I got quite a bit of work done today on my paper, almost six pages of the rough draft, and have found a nice desk in the study library by a window where I can set up my laptop and look out at the trees that surround the castle. (Still can't believe I have a desk in a castle for a month!) I'll try to post a picture of that tomorrow also, if I'm allowed to take pictures in the study library.

After work today, several in the group went to Marienplatz, but I decided with Mary that we'd go to Pasing, find a snack (yummy pretzel), and head home. By the time we chatted, walked around, and headed for home, I made it here by 7:30ish. With staying here with no other students, I want to be sure that I'm home before dark, mostly just so I'm more aware of my bearings. Munich is one of the safest cities in the world and my little neighborhood is wonderful, although it's a longer walk with the laptop in the bookbag than I had expected. Did I mention all of the cobblestone streets? Very beautiful, but hard on these American feet!

I'm taking the opportunity here to post some of my garden photos from yesterday, taken both at the library and at Marienplatz. I've also updated the past two days with photos, so you may want to look back. I'll try to post more photos from the library tomorrow.

Mass Transit Master

2009-06-17T18:23:00.004-04:00

Today, I started out with a shower in a very short shower. I'll post a picture later to show you how short (yes, even I had some trouble with it, as short as I am). Benny may be taking bird baths when he arrives. (Well, this picture doesn't quite do it justice, since I couldn't zoom any farther out and my back was to the radiator.) But I am completely grateful for the new experience. Breakfast was raspberry jam on bread and a banana. Then, off to the S-bahn (the train) to go to the library, Schloss Blutenburg.

I found my way to S6 and went the correct direction, then I found bus 56 in Pasing and took it to the Schloss Blutenburg stop (the last one, so thankfully I didn't have to decipher too much German from the automated lady speaking). I made it there, and then circled the block around the library for probably 20 minutes before finding the entrance. (Did I mention I had to ask two people before I could get directions to the entrance? The first was a sweet old lady who tried her best, but between her not speaking English and my not speaking German, we left it at "Danka" (sp), and I found a nice gentleman who spoke perfect English who guided me in the right direction.)

I waited an hour and a half for my friends to show up... they had a bit more difficulty with the transit system and ended up going the wrong way on the bus... twice. In the meantime, Petra relayed the history of the castle to me, we discussed the public and private education systems in the States and Germany, and she showed me around the castle and her office. (She also seemed to be enjoying the time in the sunshine and putting off her work a bit :)) Once Mary and Amanda arrived, we were off to Pasing to tour the little town outside the center city, and then on to Marienplatz. Marienplatz is full of beautiful fountains, green spaces, old buildings that somehow seem to have survived WWII, and beer gardens (I had a Coke). I spent much of my time here indulging my passion for photography, which has gone ignored for far too long, with the new digital camera. I also spent some time sketching today, so it was nice to have this time before the serious studying begins tomorrow.

A side note about the "green" features of the city. They are not too unlike those that are becoming acknowledged in the States, just more prevalent and it seems that the government has done a better job of stating and enforcing the importance of these. For example, in our house, the organic material is separated in the trash from refuse. Also, all plastics are recycled or returned to the store for some cents back. Glass is the same. Paper is recycled as well. Almost all toilets have a two flush system, where one flush starts the water and another stops it, so as to not waste more water than is needed. Recycling containers are in all train stations and are spaced throughout the sidewalks, etc. Additionally, you must pay for a plastic bag at most stores, so you often see people with tote bags or collapsible baskets for grocery shopping, etc. Since most Europeans grocery shop as needed, this is easy to handle with the public transit system (they're not lugging 10 bags onto the train). I did see a wind turbine on the way in from the airport (flughafen is the German word), but have not yet had the opportunity to ask about this.

I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow. Thankfully, Amanda loaned me her adapter, and it fits my laptop cord, so no worries about the adapter now. Long day and my legs are tired from walking, so off to bed.

Finally Arrived

2009-06-16T15:22:00.003-04:00

I arrived in Munich a few minutes earlier than expected today. But before I get into that, I should explain a bit about the trip.

I met Mary at RDU after Matt and Mandy dropped me off. We breezed through security and were able to do the self check-in for the flights to print our boarding passes. I was rather impressed with myself being able to fit all of my belongings into carry-on luggage, and Mary was even more impressed. (Although the bookbag did take up some valuable real estate on the floor under my feet.) When we arrived in London, my times were all mixed up, as I’d had dinner and breakfast in the span of about six hours, and it still felt like about 2 am for me. I had a few toiletry items confiscated in London, due to them being oversized for carry on luggage (oops, didn’t know). But overall, the flights went smoothly and we arrived safely ahead of schedule.

Dr. Veltze met us after Mary picked up her luggage from baggage claim and from there we went to pick up our public transit cards for the month. The line was exceptionally long, so Dr. Veltze waited in line to get the cards for the whole group while I dozed and Mary read her book. Then, we followed the S signs to the “city train” (as Petra calls it) or “subway” (as Dr. Veltze calls it). (I’ve decided to simplify things and just call it the train). We rode for almost an hour on a very clean train with wonderfully friendly people to Pasing, a suburb of Munich. While on the train, I noticed some red poppies that reminded me of Italy and a few wind turbines, which I’ll have to inquire about later. From there, Petra (the library director) met us at the station to take us to our respective homes. Petra is incredibly friendly and even took me grocery shopping with her this evening, since her house is just one street over from where I am staying. She also showed me the way to the bus station to ride to Schloss Blutenburg, the castle which houses the International Youth Library.

The family I’m staying with seems quite wonderful. They’ve given me the “penthouse” at the top of the apartment with a small attached bath. The landlady (also named Petra) is fun and spunky. I’ve only met her briefly, as she was on her way out to her workout class as I arrived. The family dog, Alegra, has become my new buddy. She’s huge, but very gentle and craves attention. The cat (whose name I can’t yet pronounce or spell) is fun too, although she’s almost deaf, so you have to be careful about petting her without her seeing you. There is a wonderful little courtyard garden out back that I’m sure I’ll enjoy some during breakfasts.

The only real bit of trouble I’ve run into is that my laptop cord doesn’t fit the adapter I borrowed… so I’ll have to see what I can work out with classmates. I made sure that it fit my other appliances, but didn’t think about the laptop before I left home. Oh well… I’m sure I’ll be able to work it out.

En Route

2009-06-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

I left Boone yesterday with Benny and Lavender (our dog) to meet our family in the Hillsborough area. Before leaving, we took a few pictures. We spent some time with my mom and will spend today with Benny's family. The plan is for Mandy, Benny's sister, to take me to Raleigh tomorrow to fly out. I've already realized there's one item I left, but I'll be able to take care of that today.

My flight leaves tomorrow evening and I'll be flying with a classmate, which will be fun. It's an overnight flight to London and then on to Munich. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some sleep on the plane. I packed a travel pillow in my bookbag for the trip.

Even in the midst of this employment turmoil, I'm beginning to get excited about the trip. I found a gift for my host family, which is small enough to fit in my carry on bags, so that's fortunate. I was able to pack in only carry-ons, so I won't need to mess with checking luggage, which will be nice. I've been burned once by misplaced luggage, and would rather not deal with that again. Thankfully, I will be able to do laundry at the house in Germany for a nominal fee. I'm hoping that this trip will help to provide a bit more perspective and peace about my next steps with regards to my plan in the fall. In the meantime, I am becoming more and more grateful for the support of family and friends, and for all of those intangible things that I already have.

Preparing to Leave Home

2009-06-09T18:23:00.001-04:00

Today I finished up tying up the loose ends at school and am beginning to pack up my things for a month in Germany. I've been continually working on my outline for the paper and unit plan and have been reading most of the American literature and nonfiction works I can get my hands on that would be appropriate for my topic. I'm hoping that my time at the International Youth Library will be spent seeking out the information that I need to fill in the gaps in the science and math portions of the unit.

While I'm in Munich, I will stay with a host family, a mother and two teenage daughters (and a cat and dog:)). I'm looking forward to this more intimate perspective on the culture. I'll have my own room and bathroom, and will also have kitchen privileges. It will take me approximately 30 minutes to walk to the library from the house, and I'll have about a fifteen minute walk to the subway station.

There are several outings planned for our group, including a Mozart Dinner Concert during our time in Saltzburg, and a visit to Dachau. I also hope to visit Eagle's Nest and the Jewish Museum in Munich to help provide a greater context for my unit. I'm sure that during our time there, I'll find more places I'm interested in visiting outside of the library.

I'll post pictures here as I can during my trip. I'll also post a few pictures of my preparation (exciting pics of packing, laundry, the dog, etc.). More to come later!