Visiting the Family – How many people can say they puked on the AutoBahn??

So I woke up the next day with an upset stomach. Partially Jet Lagged, partially nervous stomach. I mean, c’mon, this is the first time in a different country and I’m all by myself!

Jochen had a huge breakfast he was getting ready to prepare but there was no way I could eat anything. We got in the car and stopped for gas – which is extremely expensive here by the way. I bought some Sprite to help settle my stomach. The Sprite here is more carbonated than in America so it tasted funny and needless to say did not help.

I fell asleep on the ride there and then woke up to a not so good feeling. I screamed to Jochen to pull over and he said, “What? I can’t pull over on the Auto Bahn!” I said, “You better!” He pulled over quickly and I proceeded to puke on the side of the Auto Bahn. Yes, I am that girl you saw puke on the side of the Auto Bahn. I am famous.

When we reached Clara’s house, they did everything they could to take care of me - tons of water and a huge bed to sleep in. It was the room my mom stayed in when she came to visit about 8 years before. After a long nap I woke up and we went to visit Uncle Willi, my Oma’s brother, and Berget, his daughter. I showed them the video I made and then Berget showed me all of Uncle Willi’s pictures. There were tons of my mom and her siblings that Oma had sent to them. Berget joked that instead of visiting, Oma would send pictures! Jochen took pictures of the pictures so I could show my mom.

Jochen and I then went to Dinkelsbuhl, where my Oma grew up. I made sure to videotape the cobblestone streets and sidewalks to show my friends at school. We always complain about tripping over the uneven bricks in the main part of campus. It took me about 5 minutes of walking to learn how to simply walk in this town without tripping during every single step.

Kinderzeche, a huge festival held every year, was in the main street. There are huge parades and people in costumes. The town is decorated to look like it did when the Swedish invaded in the 17^th Century. More information about the festival is here: http://www.kinderzeche.de/

This town was so beautiful in its old time architecture. I couldn’t believe people actually got to live there! I am so jealous!

We then tried to find the building where my Oma had grown up after the War. I knew it was a bank when my mom first visited 8 years before but I wasn’t sure where. I also knew there was a fountain nearby from the video we made. We asked some locals where an old bank was and if there was a fountain out front. They told us how to get there and sure enough that was the right place! I took tons of pictures and videos!

After we found the place, Jochen said we must celebrate our good fortune. So we had this beer called Radler. It is a mixture of beer and lemonade and is considered a refreshing beer. I guess Germans go for a bike ride then drink a Radler to regenerate. Maybe? I loved the beer glasses so much that we stole one…tell no one! I thought it would be a great souvenir!

When we got back to Clara’s there was a huge meal waiting along with tons of family members! They were all so nice and gave huge hugs! After dinner we watched the film. The scene with me talking to Oma on the phone is still a crowd favorite! They all really loved it and want copies. I am so happy we made a film to show my Oma’s life to people who hadn’t seen her in over 20 years.

Visiting the Family – Arrival and Cook out

I ended my last entry wondering what I was going to do for 5 hours in an airport without benches. Well I walked all around that airport trying out different sleeping positions and eventually found one on the bottom floor. It was a row of 6 chairs. I slept there for about 2 ½ hours waking up constantly to check that my luggage was there and to make sure they weren’t going to kick me out for being homeless or something. Needless to say it was not a restful sleep which did not help for Jet Lag!

Jochen picked me up from Stuttgart and I had never been happier to see someone in my life. I wanted to be far, far away from an airport as soon as possible!

Jochen took me to his hometown of Karlsruhe, an old town where King Karl built a castle so he could have a place to relax. “Ruhe” means relax in German. All the roads lead to that castle. While giving me a tour of the town, I admitted my love for coffee so we went to a fantastic coffee place. Starbucks has nothing on this place!

We went to his apartment complex so I could change and prepare for the cookout of the evening! His furniture was practically all IKEA. I feel like that store is following me. I also saw it from the plane before we took off from Newark!

The cookout was a blast! It was hard in the beginning because I could not speak much German and everyone was talking so fast. Gloria, the owner of the cookout location, had wooden shoes that she used to work in the garden. She let me try them on. They were so comfortable! I really want a pair now!

The food was so good. Jochen was the official griller and he did a fantastic job! The side dishes were also good. There were cucumbers and cheese tomato things with a garlic dip for the meat. So Good!

I finished drinking my bottle of water (which are huge here) and filled up my glass with wine. Yes mom, I did. Jochen let me…

I began to speak a lot more German! Or at least lost the fear to speak! They all lost their fear of speaking English as well, so the languages were flying! My mom told me that Jochen’s friends would probably talk politics and it definitely did not take long for that to happen. I am not too informed with American politics, and I realize how bad it is when people from another country know more than me.

I also realize how bad my English is when I try to talk properly so others can understand!

The sun did not set until about 10:30 p.m. So far – Germany is a gorgeous place where one can never sleep because the sun goes down late…and there are no benches to sleep on!

Arrival in Berlin

Apparently they do not believe in air conditioning here. Or benches.

I have imposed myself upon a café – too afraid to purchase the over priced water. I have a 5 hour layover and will spend most of it sitting here illegally.

I felt like I was 4 again when we touched down in the airport. I was smiling the whole descent. And pointing my toes.

The man checking my passport could not fathom my one month stay to study at a University in Berlin. He gave me a smile, looked at my picture, looked at me, looked at my picture. I had a fever the day that picture was taken! I said “Danke,” my first German word in Germany.

Luckily for my seatmate and I, we didn’t have a middle person so it was a rather comfortable flight, although I did get quite anxious about 7 ½ hours in. Good Luck to my family as they move the 24 hour plane flight to China!! I will be forced to fly that in a few months.

A lot of people smoke here, I’ve noticed in my one hour. I guess they’re not as uptight as us! Or health conscious…

Hopefully I will have internet access soon. It feels weird not being able to dial up at the drop of a hat. These blog entries will probably all show up on the same date when I finally get internet access. So the date is: July 19^th, 2006. 3:33 a.m. Eastern and 9:33 a.m. here.

By the way, I only slept for maybe 3 hours on the flight. Melatonin and Sigur Ros really help one get that needed rest.

Oma's Memory Film

It's 2 days before I leave for Germany! I am already packed - is that a good sign?? I am listening to German tapes to refresh my memory of the language as well as researching all the places I will go. I will be arriving on the last day of Kinderzeche in Dinkelsbuhl. My Oma (German for grandma) grew up in the town of Dinkelsbuhl and has told us many stories. I am excited to see the school house window that she jumped out of to get away from her mean teacher - it's a one story school! And also to see the storks she watched on the rooftop of a building across the street. Her stories were so fascinating, and she had a lot of them!

Yesterday my mom and I spent 14 hours editing a short film about my Oma, who passed away last November from Lung Cancer. She had not seen her German family since the 80's so we thought it would be nice for them to see our old videos and photos of her and put them all together on one film.

I just finished up an internship with a production company, Edit One. Tim McKay, my internship advisor, allowed my mom and I to come in and use his edit suite for our project. Not only did he let us do this, he also had Brian Oliver, a freelance editor, come in and help us. The project would not have been anything like it is now had Brian not helped us!

It was fun looking at old videos of the family, especially the ones of me at age 5. I have been a silly person from birth and those videos proved it!

I can't wait to see the German family's reaction to our film. There will not be a dry eye in the house!

Germany's Blog

I intend to use this blog to keep my friends updated on my trip to Germany! I leave July 18th and return August 19th. I will be visiting my relatives for the first week, and then studying Cinema in Berlin and German Philosophy. Nietzsche and I will be great pals!