Unearthing my Scholar Programm Portfolio

After stumbling upon my Scholar Programm portfolio, I decided it was time to put them in a place where they cannot be lost to posterity. Later I will translate them when I have some time but for now here they are. In the next days and weeks I will recount some of the highlights from my München experience that I didn't get to in the last few months I was there. I'll also reflect on the reassimilation process that I am now experiencing.


30.April.2008

Als das Scholar Programm auf ihre erste Aktion gingen, war ich in Wegberg, eine kleine Stadt in der Nähe von Düsseldorf und Köln in Nordrhein-Westfalen, für den Christi Himmelfahrt Feiertag. Ich war da in Wegberg, um meine ehemalige Gastfamilie und andere Freunde zu sehen. Natürlich auch ein Grund für meine Reise war diese Ecke von Norddeutschland noch ein Mal zu erleben. Wegberg ist eine interessante Stadt sehr ähnlich wie meine Heimatstadt, Concord, New Hampshire. Es gibt circa 30,000 Menschen in Wegberg, ungefähr das gleiche Bevölkerung wie Concord, mit vielen von den Leuten in kleinen Dörfern außerhalb des Stadtzentrums. Die Stadt liegt direkt an der Grenze mit den Niederlanden und Concord ist nur Stunden Weg von Kanada. Also, noch eine Ähnlichkeit ist die Konservierung der Kultur. In Wegberg gibt es ein Flachmuseum, das die landwirtschaftliche Herkunft zeigt. Das Flachmuseum hat funktionierende Maschinen und Demonstrationen von dem Prozess des Flachs. In meiner Heimstadt haben wir auch ein Museum für die Concord Coach, ein Fahrwagen, dass half die Wirtschaft Concords im 19. Jahrhundert. Noch eine interessante Sache über Wegberg ist die alte funktionierende Windmühlen überall der Innenstadt. Sie sehen schön aus und geben noch Strom zu der Stadt. Ich finde es sehr nett, dass heutzutage in kleinen Dörfer Kultur noch konserviert könnte. Überall der Welt spielt Globalisierung eine zu große Rolle meiner Meinung nach. Wegberg ist eine kleine Hoffnung für mich, dass in der Zukunft ähnliche deutsche Städte und ausländische Städte weiter ihre Kultur festhalten können.

Translation: As the Scholar Program was on their first outing, I was in Wegberg, a small town in near Düsseldorf and Cologne in Nordrhein-Westfalen, for the Christi Himmelfahrt holiday. I was there in Wegberg in order to see my former host family and other friends. Naturally, another reason for visiting was to experience this corner of Northern Germany again. Wegberg is an interesting city, similar to my hometown, Concord, NH. There are about 30,000 people living in Wegberg, approximately the same population as Concord, with most of the people living in small areas outside the main town center. Wegberg is directly on the Dutch border while Concord is only a few hours away from Canada. Another similarity is the conservation of culture. In Wegberg there is a Flach Museum that displays the origins of the land economy. It has functioning machines and demonstrations of the process of the flach. In my hometown we have a museum for the Concord Coach, a car driven by horses, that helped Concord's economy in the 19th Century. Another interesting thing about Wegberg is the old functioning windmills all over the town center. They look good and provide more electricity to the town. I find it nice that in today's small towns culture can still be conserved. Throughout the world, globalization plays too great of a role. Wegberg is a small hope for me that in the future similar German towns and foreign towns can hold onto their culture.

20.May.2008

Am 20. Mai gingen wir ins Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, um das Tanzstück „Körpersprachen“ zu anschauen. Ich habe niemals richtiges professionelles Tanzen gesehen, so dieses Erlebnis war komplett neu für mich. Ich erwartete etwas ähnlich wie Ballett, weil ich das nur im Fernsehen erlebt habe. Zu meiner Überraschung war das Tanzen schnell und rasch mit allen Körperbewegungen möglich. Ich fühlte mich wie diese Aufführung aus der Zukunft kam und mein Job als Zuschauer war eine Interpretierung zu schaffen. Trotzdem fiel es mir sehr und die verschiedene Auswahl in den verschiedenen Stücken war besonders interessant für mich. Die Musik und Requisiten auf der Bühne formte mein Verständnis mehr als die Bewegungen des Körpers. Das Teil von „Körpersprachen“ mit den Ballonen dachte ich an Wolken im Himmel mit den ab und zu rapiden Bewegungen der Ballonen. Der Musikwahl von klassischer Musik im ersten Teil schien wie ihre Rolle war Irreal. Meine erste Eindruck war dieses Stück irgendwie eine betrunkene Szene zeigte, aber nicht im Realität. Die Bewegungen und Musik waren nicht parallel in meinem Kopf und vielleicht war das der geplante Zweck des Stücks. Das Gespräch nachher mit dem Tanzenleiter war ganz interessant, besonders war die Kenntnis, dass es keine Improvisation gab!


30.May. 2008

Am 30. Mai fuhren wir nach Murnau, um die Stadt, Kunst im Schloßmuseum und das Haus von berühmten Blauen Reiter Künstler (Kandinsky und Gabrielle Münter). Meine Eindrücke der Stadt waren wirklich gut, weil das Wetter nett war (nur für einige Stunde) und ich fühlte mich wie ich in einer künstlerischen altmodischen Stadt. Die Fassade der Gebäude auf der Hauptstraße war original renoviert. Als ich an die schöne Landschaft schaute, dachte ich, dass die großen Berge im Hintergrund von einem Künstler gemalt wurden. Auch war die Stimmung in der Innenstadt ziemlich gut. Ich habe bemerkt, dass die Menschen in Murnau ganz freundlich waren und genoss ihr wunderschönes kleines Dorf.
Also im Schlossmuseum Murnau gefällt mir das Teil von der blauen Reiter am besten. Besonders waren die Malereien von Murnau, wobei die expressionistischen Elemente am schönsten waren. Es war interessant für mich zu herausfinden, dass in Murnau gab es die meisten Nazis. Ich war total überrascht über diese Tatsache und besonders wieso viele Künstlern in Murnau wohnten. Die Geschichte über den Schriftsteller Ödön von Horvath in der Murnau Kneipe war sehr interessant, tatsächlich wie er mit den behauptet und dann später zog nach Wien um. Also, das Haus war richtig schön für die Blaue Reiter Künstlern. Obwohl wir nicht wandern könnten, waren meine Erfahrungen in Murnau klasse.

31.May.2008

Den 31. Mai war ein Tag, dass ich für fast eine Monat erwartete. Am diesen Tag war natürlich „Die Lange Nacht der Musik.“ Ab 20 Uhr bis 3 Uhr morgens gab es 400 Konzerte überall München für nur einen gesamten Eintritt. Mein erster Stopp war beim Hotel Prinzessin Elisabeth für „The Foundation.“ Sie spielten viele Funk und Soul Hits populär in Amerika und auch einige deutsche Lieder. Die Bühne war ganz klein für einen Band mit neun Musiker und Musikerin und deswegen war es ein viel besseres Erlebnis, da ich war ziemlich nah zu der Bühne. Es gaben ein Sänger, Sängerin, ein paar Saxophonen und Trompeten, ein Schlagzeug und Gitarren. Für mich war es wirklich spannend, weil Funk- und Soulmusik einige meine Lieblingsmusikstile sind. Also, der nächste Stopp war wieder in dem Sendlinger Tor Stadtviertel für „Fuckuall.“ Der komische Name und Beschreibung im Festbuch allein brachte mir und meine Freunde zu diesem Cafe. Es gab einfach ein DJ, aber auch eine Frau, die über die Musik sang. Es war ziemlich experimental, aber hatte mir trotzdem gern. Nächste war eine schnelle Fahrt mit der Party-Tram zu Gasteig für den Cello-Band von Jens. Auf die Party-Tram gab es ein brasilianischer Gitarrist sogar! Der Cello-Band war das Highlight meiner Musiknacht. Fünf Cellos spielten Coverversionen von berühmten Heavymetal Lieder und auch klassische Leider. Der Gegensatz dieses Bands war etwas, die ich vorher niemals erlebt.

4.June.2008

Am 4. Juni war die nächste Aktion mit dem Scholar Programm in BMW-Welt. Vor der Aktion freute ich sehr auf diese Aktion, weil ich neue Architektur und Technologie mag. Als ich in den Museum hinein gingen bin, habe ich sofort das Dach von drinnen bemerkt. Es war etwas, dass ich niemals im Leben sah. Man könnte durch das Dach ein bisschen hinein anschauen und die Klimaanlage und Heizung sehen. Das Dach war auch besonders, weil es so hin und her war. Keine zwei Teile des Daches hatten eine ähnliche Ecke. Es war wirklich eine Süßigkeit für meine Augen zu erleben.
Also, die Architekturfürung war völlig mit Tatsachen, dass ich mich nicht wirklich umfassen könnte. Das Gebäude kostete circa 500 Millionen Euro! Es war vielleicht zu groß für nur ein Museum nur für BMW, aber wenn man viel Geld hat, könnte man wie er willst ausgeben. Wie die Patricia sagte, ich war auch enttäuscht, dass BMW nicht ein Umweltfreundliches Gebäude in 2007 bauen könnte. Es gab Solarzelle auf das Dach, aber sie versorgten weniger als die Hälfte der Energie vom Gebäude. Wenn man viel Geld und lebt im 21. Jahrhundert, in dem nur die Schützung der Umwelt unsere Welt sparen könnte, BMW schafft ein riesiges Gebäude, das nicht umweltverträglich ist. Allerdings, war die super moderne Architektur das Highlight für mich.

22.June.2008

Weil ich das romantische Guitarrenmusik Konzert mit der Gruppe verpasste, versuchte ich ein ähnliches Konzert zu finden. Glücklicherweise am 22. Juni fand ich ein Konzert von einem klassischen Jazzgitarristen, Philipp Stauber, beim „Unterfahrt“, eine der beste Jazzklubs in München. Auf dem Programm sagte es, dass es ein „Jam Session“ sein würde, aber als ich an dem Jazzklub hinein kam, war es noch nicht ein „Jam Session“. Es gab ein Klavier, Schlagzeug, Bass und natürlich die Gitarre. Die Musiker waren schon Profis. Ich hörte keine Fehler und die Solos waren wahnsinnig gut. Der Philipp Stauber auf klassische Jazzgitarre erinnerte ich mich an amerikanische Surfgitarre. Vielleicht war es die Benutzung von Akkorde in einer Reihenfolge. Die meisten seiner Spielzeit hatte er seine Augen nicht auf; das zeigt einen guter Musiker mit einem Gefühl auf seinem Instrument.
Die Beziehungen zwischen die vier Musiker waren sehr gut, weil die Solos fehlerlos waren und die Gruppe immer in Kontrolle in der Jam Session war. Mehrere Musiker kamen von den Sitzplätzen auf der Bühne, aber sie waren trotzdem immer in der richtigen Zeit. Das Konzert lief ganz schnell vorbei, weil ich viele Spaß hatte. Es ist immer eine Freude für mich ein Live Konzert zu anschauen, wenn die Musiker komplett gut spielen. Es gibt eine Zauberhaft auf der Bühne und diese Abend fühlte ich mich diese Gefühl.

28.June.2008

Am 28. Juni fuhr ich mit einem Freund zum Deutschen Museum. Ich hörte von jemand, dass es das größte Museum für Technik und Naturwissenschaft in der Welt ist. Das war ein Grund für meine Lust auf diese Museum zu besichtigen und auch denn ich sah immer das Museum, als ich in dieser Stadtviertel war. Es ist wirklich ein riesiges Gebäude, das man von überall der Nähe sehen kann. Mit drei Obergeschosse und eine Erdgeschoss war es unmöglich für mich die Hälfe der Ausstellung zu anschauen. Zuerst gab es eine große Schiff Ausstellung, als wir die Türe eintraten. Alles Mögliches war dabei. Es gab alte Paddelboote, wahre Schiffe, Fotos von riesigen Kreuzfahrtschiffen und Information über die wirkliche Boottechnik. Es war ganz interessant zu lernen, wie eine Motorzimmer funktioniert und die verschiedene Teile von einem Boot. Später sah ich Flugzeugtechnik, Radar und andere Instrumententechnik und eben Drucktechnik. Ich fand es interessant, dass Zeitungen heutzutage wurden mit dem gleichen Prozess als vorher gedruckt. Heute ist die Technologie viel besser mit dem Computer und so weiter, aber beim Druck der Zeitungen ist nichts verändert. Noch etwas über das Museum zu erwähnen ist das Alter der Ausstellungen. Es sah wie es 20 Jahren alt war aus. Ist das schlecht für ein Technik und Naturwissenschaft Museum? Vielleicht. Meiner Meinung nach sollen alle Museen wichtige Technologie präservieren, aber auch ganz neue Sachen haben. Wenn die altmodische Museenstücke eine Reflexion auf die Gegenwart erregt, dann erreicht das Museum ihr Ziel.

4.July.2008

Am 4. Juli, der Tag der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeit, gab es Uni-Sommerfest 2008 im Hauptgebäude. Das Fest überraschte mir völlig. Ich erwartete nur einige Bühne mit Bands, aber auf dem Programm stand Bands, Swing Tanz, Komödie, Poetry Slam, Discos und mehr! Also zuerst schaute ich an eine brasilianische Trommelgruppe. Die Trommler waren perfekt im Takt, weil sie einen pfeifenden Trommelleiter hatten. Ich bin eine große Fan von brasilianischer Musik, so deshalb gefällte es mir sehr. Mein nächster Stopp war bei Poetry Slam und es war das Highlight meiner Nacht. Der Raum für Poetry Slam war überfüllt und war deswegen sehr heiß, aber ich vergaß gleich diese Unbequemlichkeiten, als die Poetry Slam begann. Die Themen waren nicht gleiche, sondern verschiedene Themen, die von dem Schriftsteller entschieden wurde. Der Wettbewerb war zwischen Schweizer Schriftsteller und Münchener Schriftsteller und es gab viele Runde, bis eine Seite gewann. Die Themen waren wirklich interessant für mich. Ein paar Beispiele sind die 68er (in Deutschland und Amerika) und eine Banane in einer schweizerischen Supermarkt. Die Emotionen in jedem Gespräch und die Gefühle in der Stimme gab die Leistungen eine besondere Meinung. Ich wurde gerne empfehlen Poetry Slam mindestens einmal im Leben persönlich zu erleben.

11.July.2008

Letzten Freitag am 11. Juli 2008 fuhren wir zu der Pasinger Fabrik, direkt an der S-Bahn, um Cosi Fan Tutte zu anschauen. Es war aufregend für mich, weil das meine erste Erfahrung in der Oper war. Und hier in München meine erste Oper zu erleben! Wahnsinn! Ich wusste, dass diese Oper ursprünglich auf Italienisch war, so ich überlegte mir eine italienischsprachige Oper. Zu meiner Überraschung war diese Oper auf Deutsch und Italienisch. Noch eine Überraschung war die „Oper Spielhaus“ sehr klein. Es sah aus wie es nicht ursprünglich für Opern gebaut wurde. Meine erste Eindruck war, dass die ganze Ton im Haus wurde schlecht sein. Glücklicherweise war der Ton super. Die Orchestra spielte wunderbar mit den Sängern auf die Bühne und ab und zu in der Mitte der Zuschauer. Obwohl ich nicht alle die Wörter verstehen könnte, verstand ich den wichtigsten Inhalt der Geschichte. Meiner Meinung nach wären andere Opern besser als diese Oper. Die Geschichte war für mich nicht so interessant, weil ich normalerweise Liebesgeschichte nicht gern habe. Trotzdem diese Oper hatte viele lustige Teile und war wirklich spannend. Nun muss ich zu anderen Opern im Amerika gehen. Es wäre auch interessant Opern in riesigen Staatsopern zu anschauen.

*** Translations of these entries: coming soon! Sorry these are coming 4 months late but it's always better late than never.

Warum München so porno ist (Why Munich is so awesome)

Yes the title of this post you are reading is real. Porno in the Umgangsprache (slang) these days means awesome. How do words such as these come about in language? I'm going to think about that question for a while. Well here goes the list for München moments (which incidentally I made for Beijing back on July 12th of last year. Again I will update this later in the semester:

1. The ridiculous amount of cafes - They are literally everywhere and filled from opening to closing. It makes you question if people actually work in this city. Leopoldstraße in Schwabing is a good place to go if you want to find a cafe as the sidewalks are barely wide enough for people to pass through. I think München is one of the few places in the world that has extra wide sidewalks so that cafes can set up on it.


2. Schick Haarschnitte (Stylish Haircuts) - Well I had first hand experience with this the other day when I got a hair cut. My hair was transformed for a moment into a jell-infused rock star. For some reason the guy cutting my hair would not let me tell him how to cut my hair. He went on about how it can only be this way to look good. Haha. Other than this first-hand experience, München is a pretty good place to go if you want to see some crazy haircuts. I have seen thus far anything from mohawks to spiked hair to everything else really.


3. Bier everywhere and anytime, including in the StuSta - Although this is true througout Germany, München takes it to another level. In the StuStadt there are bars in every building and everyday for one hour the Getränkverkauf (drink store) opens and sells kiste (crates) of bier. In the Innenstadt (downtown), all of the München Beers are represented and have there own Biergarten and restaurant. In the Englisher Garten there are at least 5, one about 10 minutes from the StuStadt. Otherwise, Biergärten are everywhere in the city, in every part.


4. FKK - Oh FKK. This acronym stands for Freie Körper Kultur or in Englisch something like Freeing Your Body Culture which really means loving to be naked all the time. This peculiar "kultur" is readily found in the English Garden. Yes people just walk around in the nude...it is a good thing that I haven't seen this yet (I guess I must be walking through the safe areas.)


5. Bayerisch! - Servus! Oh Bayerisch. This is an unintelligible dialect only spoken in Bayern. There is a reason why people say that Bayern is not really Germany! Haha. It is amazing that the German language can be spoken in such a crazy accent that people from northern Germany can't understand it. I certainly never will.


6. Echte Schallplatten Läden + Cool Music Venues - There are real record stores in München, some with lots of turntables in the middle of the store so that you can preview any record you like. I feel like you just can't find places like that in the US. And the music venues here in München are definitely above average. My favorite place so far is a place called "Die Registrateur" which is inside a huge building with lots of offices. The venue itself seems to be in a former conference room, but the stage is tiny and the atmosphere is great. Bands actually have to walk through the crowd to get to the stage.



7. Wearing around Tracht in Everyday Life - I'm sure you have seen the bayerische "tracht" before (traditional clothing), for example Lederhosen, Dirndls, and hunting gear. Common sense would say that tracht is just for holidays and tourists, but in reality they are not...tracht is worn all the time. I see people all the time in the English Garden walking around in Lederhosen and Dirndls, and the other day while I was walking on the U-Bahn platform I saw a man coming off the train dressed in a full hunter's uniform, complete with a long feather sticking out of his green hat. Also no ones stares at you if you happen to be wearing Tracht because it is so common.



8. Fleich + Auszogne + Viktualienmarkt (Meat+"Undressed pastries"+Victuals Market) - The Viktualienmarkt is the butcher mecca of München. Müncheners sure love there Fleich here and go to the market to find their favorite butcher shop. Then they can go and grab a Auszogne, which is a doughnut but more flat with less substance. The Auszognes can also be found at certain cafes and the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Pagoda). Although its touristy, the Viktualienmarkt that is, it's nice to walk around and take in the scene.



9. Teuer, Teuer, Teuer (Expensive x 3) - München is really really expensive. There's really no way around it with the Euro and all, but München is definitely one, if not the most expensive place in Germany. After a while, you start to think that certain things are cheap when you know that in the US it would be half the price. It's scary. But there are things to do here without spending money or very little, that would be relaxing in the Englischer Garten and going to museums on Sundays.



10. Fußball Fans on the U-Bahn (Soccer Fans) - I love Fußball Fans. My first day here I ran into a bunch on the U-Bahn and they were singing songs and throwing out insults of the other team's players.



11. Millions of restaurants that are always filled - Whenever you walk into a restaurant it is filled with people! And there are restaurants everywhere. So this logic doesn't make much sense or people just go out a lot.



12. Meeting people from Tunisia and Georgia - München is an international city. There are people here from South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, everywhere. And what allows us to communicate? German more often than not.



13. Super efficient transport system and Olympiapark - The U-Bahn and S-Bahn system in München is flawless. It is usually on time and the cars are always clean. They are also putting in more and more brand-new cars that actually automate the voice that says: Bitte zurück bleiben! (Please stay back!). That has to be the one thing missing from the new trains...the authenticity of the Münchener U-Bahn drivers talking in their thick Bayerisch accent. Sometimes they even greet you as you come on the train! Where else does that happen? One more thing to add here is the 2 Way Escalator! Yes, you read that correctly. The escalators go both ways depending on who reaches the escalator first. A motion sensor determines this.



14. Hearing old 80s songs in Kneipen that I almost forgot (more of Germany thing) paired with traditional bayerische Lieder - Most Kneipen (bars) love playing those classic bayerische Hits that everyone knows. Then they bust into Michael Jackson and everyone knows the lyrics...but then they don't know what they mean. What a shame.


15. Dogs can ride the U-Bahn without a leash - The dogs here are unbelievably tame. I see them all the time ride without making any noise. In the states, dogs would definitely misbehave. It would just have to happen that way.



16. XXXXL Me Please! (Everything is big here) - You start with 0.5 Liter beer in your neck of the woods? Here we start with 1.0 Liter. You start with a regular-sized pretzel? Here you start with a gigantic pretzel. It's just taken for granted that everything is super-sized here. München is definitely great for those with big appetites and someone who appreciates hearty portions of whatever they please. No food experience will be quite the same, or drinking experience for that matter.



17. Is China following me? The Chinese are everywhere! - After I arrived here, I noticed immidietely that there are a lot of Chinese people here! I was amazed to hear it on the U-Bahn, in the middle of the city and even in Studentenstadt. Definitely reassuring to know that I haven't lost much, since I can understand what is being said. Ha I guess I'm not losing everything I've learned!



18. Kultur, Kultur, Kultur (Culture x 3) - It's hard to live in München without noticing the crazy amounts of culture around you. For starters, big "Kultur Kultur" round announcement boards are all over the city. They are at every park, outside every subway stop. These boards are covered with posters announcing every cultural event in the city. I don't know what I'm going to do without them back home.

Catching Up On Blog Posts...Wie Immer

But this time I mean it. There's so much to say and so little time but I am pledging to make a commitment to write here more often. I will get to my Wegberg trip (to see my friends and host family from my exchange program in high school) but for now I am going to write a bit about the Uni and my classes over here because that is after all why I am here (or perhaps Biergärten? haha, no that's not completely true). My two classes at the LMU are actually on the Englischer Garten, a beautiful park that spans from the northern part of the city (where I live in Studentenstadt) all the way to Marienplatz (where the famous Rathaus stands). My first class on Tuesday, "Transnational Networks and the Dynamics of Conflict Resolution", taught in English by a Greek professor, is one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken. It deals with illigitamate actors who get in the way of peace agreements and stall them for their own advantage (spoilers) and new states (countries) that have formed within recognized countries. A lot of the stuff we talk about is on the cutting-edge of the field that not a lot of people have written about. We also talk about criminal and terrorist networks and how they carry their operations underground. I have never studied anything about the topics brought up in the course so it's all fascinating. The other course is "Der politische Islam in Internationale Beziehungen" (The political islam in IR). It is in German but all of the texts are in Englisch except a few. It is challenging to translate the texts in my head into German, especially talking about IR theory in German but it is a good challenge and the professor is really accomadating. Well that is it for classes at the University. Other than my German class, I am taking a Modern German Literature class, in which we read a lot of modern poems and discuss them. My professor is an older gentleman with a white mustasche, who is a very traditional German professor and loves talking about poetry! He gets really into the poems that we discuss and makes the class interesting. Herr Kunisch types up class papers on his typewriter and then makes copies of them for us. It is refreshing to have a traditional, "old-school" professor for a change. And that is about it on the academic side (excluding German of course).

Next up: Wegberg!

The Week Long Trip to Austria and Slovenia

So a few weeks back myself and 5 others from my program took part in the brand new Wien-Graz Seminar. The first part was led by one of the professors in our program who leads the JY Scholars program (leading cultural excursions through Munich, especially theatre). She was born in Wien (Vienna), so she knew the city inside and out. The first day we were there she took us around the city on essentially a walking tour. We passed through the museum district, saw the Kaiser Franz Josef's official residence and offices (of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and part of the Habsburg family). Then we walked by the towering Stephansdom (Stephan Cathedral) and looked around the architecture of the Innenstadt (Inner City). Later on we took a tour focused just on the architecture of Wien. I have to say Wien architecture blows München away. Walking around the Innenstadt every building seemed to have a different, unique style. The Jugendstil (Art-Neuvo) style was especially prominent throughout the city. The details around window frames and in small hidden courtyards were incredible. It was clear that Wien was a grand city back in the time of the Kaiser although it still is today. Another highlight of Wien was Schloss Schönbrunn, one of Wien's cultural relics. The rooms inside were decedant and full of minute details. One interesting story that I learned on the tour was about one painting of the kaiserly family with guests in the great hall. The painting included Mozart as a child, who stands out because he is the only child in the painting...but it turns out that Mozart was never there. The painter was ordered to include him because he became so famous and they wanted to make it up to Mozart. Another thing I found interesting there was all of the Chinese paintings. Apparently Elisabeth, Franz Josef's wife, loved Chinese art so they bought Chinese paintings on rice paper from China and brought them all the way to Austria. I guess it wasn't too much of a financial hit since they had the money. Other highlights of Wien were going into old-fashion cafes that seemed to have not changed since the turn of the century, finding a small brewery that had Chili Beer, having real Wiener Schnitzel (which lives up to its reputation and is the best Schnitzel in the world...although I only had it once and it was massive, going over the edges of a large-size plate), drinking "Apfelsaft gespritzt" instead of Apfelschorle, and saying the word "Beisl" instead of Kneipe. Wien was a lot of fun, and much more that what I had seen in a day years ago.

Next we were on our way to Fürstenfeld by way of Graz. The second part of the tour was led by our advisor HP Söder, who is pretty much the coolest guy in the world. So the time we had in Fürstenfeld/Graz/Maribor was a great time and much more than it looked on paper. We were the guinea pigs for going to Fürstenfeld because JYM was thinking of starting an intercultural program with an institute there. Fürstenfeld has a unique location, being on the eastern border of Austria, within driving distance of Hungary and Slovenia. It was a beautiful town, buried away in the Austrian countryside far away from any sort of tourists. One of the highlights of this part of the trip was definitely going to the Zotter chocolate factory in the Austrian countryside. Over the course of the tour we tried pure cocoa, pure chocolate, the entire range of chocolate from white to dark to 100% cocoa, chocolate covered nuts containing various flavors, flavors of chocolate mixed into hot milk such as curry and peppermint, and then finally the entire catalogue of chocolate offerings. Another highlight was going to a farm/winery that made the meat and cheese and all of the wine themselves. We had a great dinner consisting of platters of cheeses, various meats, and wine. Driving around the windy, hilly, roads around Fürstenfeld was also really enjoyable. The weather was beautiful and the landscape picturesque. Small towns in the distance surrounded by mountains and a magnificent castle towering over the edge of a cliff over the horizon. After spending a few days in Fürstenfeld I felt as though I could live out in the countryside for a while. Life just seemed so peaceful, without any worries or concerns about the world. Before we came back to München, we made a day trip to Graz, the third largest city in Austria. Graz was a really pretty city, reminding me of a smaller Wien, with the similar architectural style, and a feeling of a tightly nit community. We went up to the clock tower that looks down at the city and could see into Hungary and Slovenia. The flowers were starting to bloom and Spring definitely felt like it had finally arrived. For our last night in Fürstenfeld we all went to a Kneipe (bar) that had a biker band playing by the name of Aliens. Of course, HP, the student advisor of JYM, went out the night before to find out what was happening in town that night. In his words, "Oh my God! It's the Aliens! In Concert! AHHH!" (imagine this in a German accent). He really made the trip one to remember. Oh, so I guess I skipped over Slovenia (Maribor was the only city we went to there). It was interesting but the tour was not too great. You could immediately see the differences between Slovenia and Austria. Slovenia, only being part of the EU for a few years still felt as though it wasn't part of the EU. You could tell that their economy and especially tourism was just not up to par. A lot of buildings had not been rebuilt and it was clear that they are in a crossroads between past and future. The trip was a great end to my orientation period and I was able to see a lot that I otherwise would probably have never seen.

Blog Updates...Statt Posts

So now you can see a bunch of pictures from Germany and my week long excursion through Austria and Slowenia (click the first link in the link section). I also put up a brand new YouTube bar featuring the best indie band in Deutschland: Tomte. Enjoy...lots of posts on the way in the coming days.

Auf Geht's Bayern Kämpfen Und Siegen!

TSV 1860 München Cheers:

SECHSZIG (palms out over head facing the field), clap clap clap, SECHSZIG, clap clap clap (TRANSLATION: 60, 60)

Weiß Blau, Weiß Blau TSV! Weiß Blau, Weiß Blau TSV! (sung before the game to an epic song in order to get the crowd energized) (TRANSLATION: White, Blue, White Blue TSV)

Auf Geht's Löwen, Kämpfen und Siegen! (series of handclaps) Auf Geht's Löwen, Kämpfen und Siegen! (along with the shortened version which is just Auf Geht's Löwen, Auf Geht's! (to the rhythm and sound of the traditional DEFENSE cheer in basketball) (TRANSLATION: Let's Go Lions, Fight and Conquer)

***special for the game I watched...Dritte Liga, Jena ist Dabei! Dritte Liga, Jena ist Dabei! (Jena, the opponent was in 2nd to last place in the 2nd league, so the crowd was saying they should be in the 3rd league) (TRANSLATION: 3rd League, Jena is there!)


FC Bayern München Cheers:

Auf Geht's Bayern, Kämpfen und Siegen! (series of claps...) Auf Geht's Bayern, Kämpfen und Siegen! (Translation: Let's Go Bayern, Fight and Win...or Conquer)

BAYYYYYYEEEEERRRRN! (one side of stands) BAAAYYYYYEEERRRN (other side answers...this repeats for a while). This cheer caused shivers to jolt up my back. Imagine 60,000 people yelling all at once. Incredible.

STEH AUF WENN IHR BAYERN SEID! (Translation: Stand Up If You Are For Bayern) (yelled by the small and dedicated group of super-fans) Response: The entire crowd in the non-standing seats raises to its feet in unison and begins to clap faster and faster. At the same time the crowd sings "SHEH AUF WENN IHR BAYERN SEID!" Another goosebump moment that cannot be described unless one experiences this.




At some point I will make the appropriate Fußball post that this blog so deserves and needs. This is a taste for now since some of you out there in the Internets have said the posts aren't coming as soon as you would like. For your knowledge, I was gone for the past week in Austria and Slovenia on a trip before classes start this week. There is a lot to write about that trip so hopefully I will have some time in the next few days to write about it. Ciao from Bayern.

Abstecher ins Abenteuer und Döner

That title translates to something like this: Walk on the Wild Side and Döner. Yes, Döner cannot be translated into Englisch. It is an inalienable part of German culture (yes, the Declaration of Independence just came to mind). I decided today that Döner is my favorite food in this world: a amazing combination of salat, lots of veggies, strange dressings, käse (cheese), and a kind of meat that is indescribable and varies from Döner-Shop to Döner-Shop. I have heard rumors that the meat is a hybrid of lamb and chicken, other places have said beef...all that really matters is that it is LECKER (tastes so so good). Usually the meat is placed at strategic places in the pita-like toasted bread, some on top and some at the bottom with all of the tasty goodness in the middle. Today, I had only my second Döner in my 2 weeks or so of being here in München thus far. And I decided that I have not had the proper amount of Döner one must eat if one lives here.

So lots of Abenteuer (adventure) happened this past week. After the mighty Eagles fell to Tennessee by a close margin (we were tied with 5 minutes left!) the adventures began. I have to say I'm proud of my school and my team for coming up so big and almost pulling off one of the greatest upsets in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Over the weekend I went out to Schloss Nymphenburg and had my first ever castle experience in Deutschland. This Schloss was gigantic, actually it is so big that it is a majority of the area of München by the same name. So I walked around with a friend for a few hours through the grounds, taking in the beautiful grounds. Later in the week, a friend and I went to see "Der Herr der Ringe" (the first Lord of the Rings film) with the entire Münchener Philharmonie and two choirs, the University Chor and a Children's Chor. But before we got in to the show, we had to get tickets. It was sold out, so we ended up writing a sign (Wir brauchen Karten...We need tickets!). Most people that walked past us and saw the sign laughed with their buddy and made jokes about it. It was definitely interesting to see people's reactions...I almost felt part of a pyschology experiment. About half of the concert-goers pointed out that people were selling tickets 5 feet away from us! Did they really think we didn't see people selling tickets?!? We needed 2 to go to the show, so 1 would not be good enough (which is what we told them). So one woman finally had 2 tickets she wanted to sell for a bit less than face value, but really far away from the stage. We decided to pass and see if we could get something better. Our luck seemed to fade away quickly when a couple rushed up to the woman and bought them off of her. I honestly thought it was the end and there was no hope left....until 5-10 minutes before show-time. A guy came up to us and offered his one ticket and we told him we needed two, but THEN one guy said he had 2 and they were great seats. We ended up getting them for less than half of the face value. These seats were dead center, one section back, just perfect seats. And the performance was beyond epic. I have never experienced anything like this and probably will not again. I had chills running down my spine for the whole film. I literally felt part of the movie and the music was really incredible. I had never sat down and listened to the LOTR soundtrack but in this setting I appreciated it so much more. The soloists were right on and the music matched and exceeded the epicness of an already epic film. All I can say is 2009 = The Two Towers in München.

The First Week+ in München

Ahh it really is great to be back in Germany. And München has so far lived up to the hype of being the most liveable city in the world. The first week was a lot of work and a bunch of information thrown at us all at once but now I feel like I am beginning to settle in. When I landed in München and got through customs and such, my friend Allyson was there to pick me up. We went straight to the Studentenstadt where we would be living this semester. At first I was in a bit of shock to be back in Germany again. I was really excited but for some reason nerves were crawling around in my stomach. I guess all of the anticipation was just coming to a head after I got off the plane.

Well, the first week was busy to say the least. But to start it off, my friend from AU and I walked through the Englischer Garten. It is one of the largest urban parks in the world, and it was beautiful. The park extends from our dorms all the way to Marienplazt, where the Rathaus is. We walked along the Isar River, eating some apples, enjoying the great weather (all of the other days have been either cold and cloudy or cold and rainy/snowy). It was packed with tours around different parts of the city and the Studentenstadt. The first of the tours was led by the program advisor, Hans-Peter Söder (a great guy), who brought us through the "downtown" area around the famous Rathaus. He took us into small markets, the Viktualienmarkt, which is an open pedestrian-only area that has lots of stalls, and lots of random places. The next day we went through the process of obtaining a permit to live in München (Anmeldung auf Deutsch) and filled out lots of paperwork for a variety of things. We learned about how to pick out classes and apply. In the early part of the week we went on a tour of the StuStadt by a student at the Uni. We all didn't understand much of what he said with a thick Bayrisch accent and lots of local slang. I guess I did learn a bit better about the services in our little town. The big news of the first few days I was in München was American University making the NCAA Tournament! I listened to the game with my friend from AU and we were both amazed this was the year we finally did it.

Over the weekend my friend Pete from high school came to visit with a friend from his school (they were traveling through Europe after a program in the Middle East). They came on the day of the big St. Patty's Day Parade and Celebration, which incidentely came on the day before the real St. Patty's Day for some reason. Anyway, it was a great time, complete with Irish bands and dance troupes. Odeonsplatz was packed with people and beer tents. We met some Germans there and went with them to an Irish pub later on. It was quite the day. They stayed for a few days so we went out a few times for dinner and hung out a bit. It was nice having company the first week or so, even though it was a bit stressful. I had not seen him for a while so it was great to see him again, especially in München. Earlier this week we went on a tour of the University and saw the Weiße Rose Memorial Museum inside the main building of the University. It was incredible to think that we were in the same building where one of the biggest student uprisings against the Nazi regime took place. Other than all of the homework and projects over this past week, we also had a night tour of München that was great. Our guide, Michael, told us of the history of München as a small village and then the boom it saw when salt was found in large quantities. We saw the residence of Ludwig I and a few churches along the way but it was mainly about the hip clubs and bars around the area. He showed us lots of great, cheap restaurants and other neat places. One place was a bar that only was lit by red light and had rows of fans running on the far wall. I guess it was used as a public bathing place in the old days. Haha. He also brought us to one of the most expensive hotels in München and we went to the rooftop which gave us a great view of the city by night. Well, this Easter weekend a friend and I tried to find some of the places on the tour and we were not too successful. The roads are all so similar and really confusing to navigate. Oh well, it was an adventure at least and we ended up having a good night after all. The rest of the weekend was a bunch of relaxing, seeing the AU NCAA tournament game and going to the Zoo (where we thought there was a big easter egg hunt but it turned out to be inside a small hut).

So the first week has been great so far! There have been a lot of adjustments, such as buying groceries and cooking (in China I didn't need to do any of this), getting to know the people in my program, and settling into the Studentenstadt. My German is improving every day and I'm confident I will be ready for when classes start.

Somewhere Over the Atlantic in Seat 31C

So here I am, as the great duo Simon and Garfunkel once said in a song called “The Only Living Boy in New York”. There are about 10 more hours until I arrive in München, but I will first be stopping in London for a long layover. Well, all my stuff ended up fitting in two compact bags and I should have everything I need. So this entry is about expectations and my general thoughts going into my program in München.
1. Food and Drink– namely Döner (a Turkish Gyro-type sandwich), Knappers (a German snack with a waffle outer layer and chocolate inner layer), Wurst, Schnitzel, Brotchen (German bread that is best for breakfast with various cold cuts on top), the great street food, Bier, Apfelschorle (think sparkling apple juice), and fresh milk. Also you can add pretty much every food and drink to this list. To put it simply, German food is the best and there are no arguments against that.
2. Speaking German everyday and improving my German – This is something that I have missed for some time. In China I could not practice my German with other people, excluding some rare instances (to be expected). Now I will be in Germany for the longest stretch of time yet, so I expect to improve my German a lot. Taking all of my classes in German will help toward this end and being with other students who are motivated to improve their own German.
3. Living in München – This will be great because I have thought of perhaps living in Germany in the future. I almost positive almost 5 months living in München will do nothing to dampen this dream of mine. I hope to explore southern Germany, as I have not been there before, excluding München. I guess München will be alright, it was just named the most livable city in the world for the second year in a row.
4. Meeting other Germans and reconnecting with past friends – I still keep in touch with my friends from GAPP (German American Partnership Program), an exchange program in high school, so I hope to see them during my time in Germany. I definitely want to visit my host family again and see how they are doing. At the Uni I want to meet as many people as I can and hang out with Germans. This is the way I can improve my German a lot and Germans are just cool.
5. Not looking forward to the Euro – At this point the Euro is at an all-time high against the dollar, $1.537 = 1 Euro right now. So this will be a harsh reality after the past six months I spent in China where everything was so cheap. I hope to limit expenses where I can and not buy/eat out too much.
6. Looking forward to a Semester full of challenges and adventures – This semester is going to be difficult. I knew that when I decided on this program. Most likely, all of my classes will be in German and I will be taking regular Uni classes with other Germans. The language program is challenging, as I have heard and will push me to improve my German quickly. This semester will be one of adventure as well. I will undoubtedly be going on lots of adventures in Bavaria and having many new experiences. This is the fun part really. Every day will be an experience and challenge me to do things I have never done before. And that is why I am excited most about this Semester.
One other thing before I get some sleep before we land…the Brits use strange words and seem to not like Scotland too much if British Airways is any indicatation.

Countdown to München

The Voyage (Part 3)

Day 9: From Chengdu to Yangshuo

Although I was running on fumes from the flight from Tibet, I did manage to stay awake for enough time to see the incredible landscape outside the windows of our bus. It really looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Giant hills/mountains rising out of the ground everywhere in magnificent fashion. It was a sight that I was completely unlike anything I have seen before. In the afternoon, after we arrived, I walked around town and next to the Li River. The surroundings were gorgeous. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, be it on TV, in the media, or in film. Words can't really describe the beauty of Yangshuo. The weather was Florida-esce in December and the scenery was out of a beautiful Chinese landscape painting. I couldn't ask for more. But there was more. As I strolled alongside the Li River I spotted rafts in the distance and wild horses running in the grass on the water's edge. Everything seemed to be in slow motion after living in Beijing for so long. 

Day 10: Another Biking Adventure

In the morning, we all took a raft trip down the Li River. The trip was nice and relaxing, and the beauty of the area was really accentuated through riding along the river. Hills towered all around us as we slowly drifted along. Later on in the day, a few friends and I decided to rent some bikes and go on an adventure in the countryside. We rented really nice mountain bikes for a dollar or two for the day. These bikes were incredible to ride out in the countryside...we were all used to the crappy Beijing bikes that broke every time we rode them. Now we were speeding along the one-lane highway in the Yangshuo countryside with crop fields and giant hills all around us. We passed lots of farmers and one such farmer (most likely con-artist which we would say in the US but just another sly businesswoman) told us that she could take us to the "Assembling Dragon Caves", where we wanted to go to. So we let her lead us, and then the adventure really started. We ended up going into this town past where we wanted to go and our teacher, Xiao Laoshi, had his tire go on him. So we eventually found a biker (of the motorcycle type) who took Xiao back to Yangshuo with the bike attached to the back. It was pretty hilarious seeing our teacher with a little kiddy helmet riding on the back of a biker's back. We pressed on and Xiao came along to see the caves. The "Assembling Dragon Caves" was more of a marvel at modern Chinese tourism than anything else. The cave consisted of hundreds of neon lights creating a sort of psychedelic experience. Haha and that is not far from the truth. There was more electricity inside the caves than in the hostel in Yangshuo. Our "tour" also included two boat rides along the "canals" inside the caves. I have never heard of canals in caves, but it was humoress nonetheless. Most of the tour tried to create symbolic meaning out of the stalagtites. It was an incredible experience and worth everyone's ten dollars. 

Day 11: On top of the hill

Some of our group did what I hoped to do ever since we arrived in Yangshuo, which was hiking one of the hundreds of "hills". We did that and had an amazing view from the top. As far as the eye could see it was hills and more hills, with farmland and small villages far below. Earlier in the day, a small group of us went to the area pictured on the back of the 50 kuai bill, which was much like the views from all over Yangshuo. 

Day 12-end

The end of the trip was in Wuhan, of Hubei Province, which wasn't all that exciting. We went to a lecture on the current state of China's economy, but the lecturer did not have the best English. We did find a solid snack street with some tasty yangrou chuanr and mantou chuanr (lamb on a stick and bread on a stick). That chuanr is something I will always miss about China and the friendly chuanr workers who always strike up a great conversation. 

The Journey (Part 2)

Day 4 (continued)

So, after lots of waiting we finally boarded the train for Tibet. We were told the trip was going to last about 28 hours in all. In other words, we were ready to embark on a marathon journey on the highest elevated train in the world. The train to Lhasa, the largest city in Tibet and religious capital, was actually the nicest I encountered in my travels around China. Perhaps it was the simple fact that it was constructed in the past few years, thus everything was clean and new. The train actually had power outlets, which made everyone happy, as they could watch all of their bootleg movies and catch up on blog entries (I needed to do this pretty desperately). Another amazing thing about this train was the BATHROOMS. They were relatively clean compared to other trains where you would not dare enter. However everything inside the train was overshadowed by what was outside. The landscape was from another world, probably most reminiscent of the moon. I will probably see nothing that compares with the sheer beauty I experienced on that train. At points along the way the land became as flat as desert plains with paper mache mountains towering over us in the distance. At other times along the journey the landscape morphed into a lunar surface. Craters filled the landscape outside our train windows. Some of my friends told me that later on the train ride they saw the highest freshwater lake in the world. From the pictures they took of it, it was an incredible sight. Through the night our train covered the greatest incline in elevation, so everyone’s body naturally adjusted to the elevation. 

Day 5

The next night we made it into Lhasa, at around 9:30pm (China only has one time zone even though it covers about the entire width of Europe). As we got onto our buses to get to the hotel, our tour guide put a white cloth around our necks, which is a symbol of welcoming and good luck in Tibetan culture. 

Day 6

We all woke up early to go to the Potala Palace, the Dali Lama’s Winter Palace (when he was still allowed to freely live in Tibet). The Palace is elevated on the side of large hill overlooking all of Lhasa. It really is an incredible sight…check out my pictures of it in the links section where I link to all of my pictures. It is amazing that this Palace has stood for centuries and looks the way it does today. The Potala Palace was used as a governmental and religious center and continues to be used this way today. It is especially a place for Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims to visit. Some travel hundreds of miles, cowtowing by foot to get here. When we approached the Palace hundreds of pilgrams were cowtowing around it and spinning a wheel filed with religious scripture. Inside the Palace we saw the many rooms where past Dali Lama’s have used to pray and lots of Buddhas that were used for different purposes. We also were able to see the sarcophaguses of past Buddhas, which were covered in gold and money. The people of Tibet donated a lot of money for the burials of the past Buddhas. After the visit, I went with a few people to a traditional Tibetan restaurant. At the restaurant we had some delicious Yak Butter Tea along with other traditional fare such as food that had some sort of Yak product in it. Let me just tell you Tibetan food does not mix well with the Western taste. I did hear that the Yak burgers were tasty though. After lunch I walked around the bazaar surrounding the most important temple for Tibetan Buddhists. Everything and anything you can imagine was selling in this bazaar. Most of stuff for sale at the hundreds of stalls spread out over a wide area mostly around this temple and consisted of traditional Tibetan crafts and Buddhist souvenirs for the most part. Bargaining here was difficult since no one really spoke Chinese (Mandarin) or English. Somehow I was able to get across what I wanted in Chinese although most people had no idea what I was saying. Haha. Well after the bazaar experience a few friends and I decided to go into the temple although it had a steep 100-150 kuai fee. It turned out that I was really glad I decided to go! Inside were some of the most sacred relics of Tibetan Buddhism and we witnessed a ceremony that none of us will soon forget. We later discovered (with a little help from our tour guide) that the ceremony we saw was one in which people would pay to repaint and change the clothes of the Buddhas for the purpose of raising money. A procession of monks chanted prayers during the ceremony and we just looked on in awe. Later we went to roof of the temple and were able to see all of Lhasa, including the Potala Palace in the distance. At night we had a group dinner at a traditional Tibetan restaurant and watched traditional performances, including one that featured a yak composed of 2-3 people that proceeded to devour most of the people in the restaurant. Oh that meal involved a contest at our table of who could drink the most Yak Butter Tea. Yes, it was that bad. That night was a lot of wondering around the area, which turned into a ghost town excluding some kids playing soccer in the streets and pickup billiards games emerging from closed shop fronts. There were pool tables everywhere! And small pool halls that didn’t exist during the day suddenly emerged all around us. That night we stopped by a bar to try Tibetan beer (which turned out to be ridiculously strong since we were so high in elevation and our bodies weren’t yet adjusted) and I found a small CD shop to buy a few Tibetan records. The one I bought featured a man on the cover holding a guitar over his shoulder in front of the Potola Palace. Incredible.

Day 7

On the final morning in Lhasa I bargained for some last minute gifts and the grabbed lunch at a restaurant where one of the Dali Lamas famously stopped at to have a drink and met his lover at (which was a big controversy at the time as a Dali Lama is not supposed to do this sort of thing).  In the afternoon we were off to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, known for its spicy food. But before we arrived we had to fly there. In the airport in Lhasa, some passengers were ready to board when suddenly they announced the flight was cancelled for some reason. I really thought a brawl was going to break out. Angry passengers were screaming at the airlines personnel and a huge crowd formed around them (This always happens when some sort of altercation takes place in China. Everyone forms a circle around the situation and start to take pictures/video and stare.). On the plane, we had a couple sitting near us that must have had a lot of phlegm in their throats because they were spitting on the floor of the plane. I thought it was hilarious while everyone else was disgusted by it. It was amazing to me that Chinese people will really spit anywhere. I had thought that this was limited to land environments but I was proved wrong yet again. I should have known by now that if you need to do your business, you do it no matter where you are. Hahaha. Well, we finally did make it to Chengdu and had a great dinner that featured about 20 different kinds of jiaozi (dumplings). It was one of the best dinners I had during my time in China. Then it was out on the town to a street called Jieli Jie. Oh by the way, close to our hotel was a giant statue of Mao that must have been fifty feet tall. Anyway, Jieli Jie was pretty neat because it was made to look like it was from the 3 Kingdoms period but actually was really new. That night we met a Chinese kid who was in a freestyle rap competition and was obsessed with American rap music. I told him that if he ever came to the US I would DJ for him and make him famous. I think he believed me. 

Day 8: Pandas and more Pandas

Today we took a trip to the Panda Research Center. What did we see? You guessed it, lots and lots of pandas. I learned that there are red pandas that are much smaller than the pandas we think of and look really similar to raccoons. After seeing the pandas we went to a shrine in honor of three famous brothers in the Three Kingdoms period. The grounds were well kept and nicely restored. Later on we went to a different part of town to find a teahouse. At the teahouse we rented out a room with a TV (I have no clue why we did this) and watched The Monkey King, a famous Chinese TV show that is about the famous Monkey King legend. As with most Chinese TV shows the plot was absurd, as were the shots and camera effects. Luckily our professors found the show to be funny as well. Then we wondered outside (at night now) and came upon a stage with performers of all ages. One featured a few girls on roller skates doing tricks all while balancing on a small round platform. We then went out to dinner with Xiao Laoshi and had one of the best meals yet. I forget what we had that night but we talked about that meal for a long time afterwards. That dinner featured the famous “Talking Behind the Fuwuyuanrs Back Conversation” that was recorded by Xiao Laoshi. Even later that night, I witnessed a Chinese man play a basketball shootaround game for over 5 minutes and score over 500 points, while my best was around 100. I have to this day not seen a human being shoot a basketball as quick and accurately as that man on this day in Chengdu, China. 

***Part 3, the final and last part of the journey around China is on the way.

And now we come to the Epic Trip Around China (Part 1)

Finally, months after the actual trip took place I have a chance to put this trip on record. This is most definitely a concise version of what I wanted to write, but I will add to this later. For now I want to write basically what happened and what I was able to see in only a few weeks time. Before I leave for Germany, I'll post on expectations, worries, excitement and all the thoughts that come to mind before leaving the US for an extended period of time. For now, we'll go back in time to the Epic Adventure that was our end-of-program-trip. 

Day 1: We started the journey with a night train to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors (Bing Ma Yong). After not a lot of sleep we arrived in Xi'an, checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then we were off to see the T. Warriors. After all of the buildup and seeing lots of pictures of them before actually seeing the real deal, I was not as amazed as I probably would have been. Still it was an incredible sight, if only because the area was so huge. Imagine giant warehouses filled with formations of warriors individually, uniquely crafted. The lunch on the grounds was yang rou with man tou which is a speciallty of the region. It was just right for the windy, chilly, raw day. Next we had some free time in the afternoon so I ended up exploring the Muslim Quarter with Andrew and we ended up running into a man who spent a lot of time in the US. He actually knew more about US culture than we did (I don't know how this was possible, but he did). So this worker at his little shop brought us to his studio to show his artwork and other students in his class. Later in the day we had a group dinner, which turned out to be another banquet since we were traveling with such a huge group, around 72 kids in addition to the office staff. After dinner, we explored the Muslim Quarter in greater detail, eating lots of chanr along the way (meat cooked on a stick) and other muslim specialties of the region like a piece of mantou doused in lots of sesame seeds and sugar-like stuff that made it really sweet. I also picked up a Jianzi that night (a Chinese hacky-sack that implements five or so multicolored feathers and tin to give the hacky-sack some sort of "substance". The street food in Xi'an was incredible (actually it was great everywhere really because in the US we don't really have "street food" per se and this street food was QUALITY). 

Day 2: Waking up early, morning flight to Xining, which was the pit stop for Tibet (ie. If you can adjust to the altitude increase you go to Tibet, if not then you go ahead to Chengdu, as some in our group were forced to do). Our first day there was spent going to a mosque and hiking up Nanshan to a Daoist Temple. The temple was on the side of a mountain and really was an incredible scene. We could see all of Xining (mainly an industrial town, not that pretty) under us and lots of mountains in the distance. At night we spent some time at the big night snack/market in Xining that had lots of wild stuff. Ok, right now think of the wildest piece of meat that can be cooked and fried on a stick. What you are thinking of WAS at this snack street. The scene was incredible. Smoke billowing up into the air around us while the vendors stare at our small group, the vendors throwing in nuts into huge pots feet deep, fifty sticks with lamp skewered upon them over hot coals perpetually burning. The lamp chanr was definitley the best I had had up to that day. 

Day 3: After a group breakfast we were off to the Tibetan monastery which was an eye opening experience...seeing so many Chinese minority groups and religious people that were not to be found in Beijing...but more on that later in Tibet since this was a Tibetan Buddhist Monestary. Later on we had a lecture fom a Tibetan professor at Xining U. Everyone was so tired from the day, most took a nap during this time although he was fairely captivating, providing an intro to Tibetan culture and the like. After the lecture, we were off to Tibet! To the train station! For a 24 hour+ ride on the highest train in the world!

Day 4: In the train station we saw lots of minority groups carying satchels of stuff and Buddhist monks waiting for the moment the train would board. While we were waiting around, we heard English from a foreignor at of nowhere. It was one of the most unexpected occurances in a place so far removed from the Western world. A man probably in his late 20s practically yelled at us, "I HAVEN'T SEEN WHITE PEOPLE IN OVER A YEAR! WHO ARE YOU GUYS AND WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!?" Wow. We all cracked up when he told us this. Other then our group, I and some of my friends from the summer had not seen too many white people for 6 months. We could understand where this man was coming from. It is truely hard to imagine what it is like to be the minority group until you step out of your comfort zone into a country exclusively populated by a different race. The man seemed so relieved to find someone who looked like him and could relate to his life. We understood what this man was thinking. It is not easy assimilating with a completely different culture for an extended period of time.

The Weekend Before the 2.5 Week Trip (cont.)

The same day as the Underground City my pengyou men (friends) and I took a trip to Tiananmen Square, where we decided to try to visit some of the museums in the area. It turned out most were closed since we left later in the afternoon, so we went over to the People's Congress. This of course is where the CCP meets to implement laws and such for the party. It appeared that tourists like us (albeit Chinese ones, which I didn't notice at the time because when you are in China for a while you begin to forget that you look different from everyone else) were strolling into the Soviet-style architectural building with no trouble whatsoever. We took this sign as a green light to walk right in and see the inside of the mammoth building in front of us. There was a small, one foot high white fence around the entrance but we decided to ignore it and walk up to the steps. After walking past the parked cars inside the compound and passing lots of tourists without getting any stranger than normal looks (which are stares but not prolonged stares I have to say), we made it to the entrance. At this point, our friend Xiaomai (who is an American) was drinking tea and had to finish it, we were told by the friendly baoan (security guard). After he finished the tea, our baoan asked us if we were on the LIST. We told him (in Chinese of course) we had no idea there was a list. Uhh Ohh. This meant lots of mafan (TROUBLE). He got on his walkie-talkie and talked to his superiors. Now he started to lead us back to the entrance! He said that there was no way we could have made it to the doors without a permit of some kind. The head security guard then started the questioning. "How did you get to the doors? Did you pass this guard here by the opening of the gate or did you jump over the fence?!?" Our answer: "Of course we went through the opening and saw the guard right there. We didn't jump the fence. No, we didn't jump the fence." We said this of course to cover our backs because we had no idea what would happen if we said otherwise. The guard: "Did you fly over the fence then? Hahahahaha." We didn't think this was too funny although we were probably laughing inside. Our response: "No, no we didn't." After a long pause, he told us to run along and we said that we were sorry if we had done anything wrong (We honestly did not know we had done anything wrong before the baoan went on his walkie. There were no signs anywhere! How were we supposed to know?). So we walked quickly out of the entrance and went back to Beida. After the security guard told us to run along, I did spot security guards in both of the "entrances". Somehow when we walked over the short fence, there were no guards in sight and no one told us to stop what we were doing. Well, the rest of the weekend did not exceed the drama that we experienced at Tiananamen Square that day. In a few days, though, we would embark on an epic journey through the mountains and plains of China.

Before the 2.5 Week Adventure Around China

This blog post is much delayed but here it goes anyway. Before I get started, note all the changes. Lots of things are added to this here blog and as you can see, I'm preparing for München. Actually I only have a little over a week left...March 11th is the day. I'll get to all of that later but here is the China wrap-up. Very long overdue. Again, please keep your faith in me. I promise to update this more frequently than I did in China. Haha, thanks readers/friends. Oh and let me know if you have any suggestions of what I should add or what you would like to see in this space I have. 

 On the day before the end of the semester trip, some of my friends and I trekked across Beijing to find the Underground City built by Mao in the 60s/70s in case of a nuclear attack. Approximitely 40% of Beijingers were estimated to fit inside the Underground City upon its completion. Actually, underneath Beijing an exact replica of Tiananmen Square exists, but it was closed off to us as we later learned. After walking around the Hutongs (alleyways where most Beijingers traditionally live) and getting a bit lost we came upon the entrance to the Underground City which was faded and difficult to tell where the entrance was. After we paid the overpriced 25 kuai entrance fee. Man, 25 kuai is over 3 whole dollars! Ha, well, 25 kuai goes a long way in Zhongguo. So my first impression of the City was "this is a huge propoganda campaign". Plastered on the walls were tanks, RVs, fighter jets, past leaders, and more military portraits. However, all of these pictures were in terrible condition...blotches galore, faded corners, and even holes ripped through the center. THEN, we came upon what seemed to be wax manakins dressed up in revolutionary clothing. Let me tell you, we were scared for our lives! These were not just normal manakins, they appeared everywhere. In areas of the Underground City that were not lit, these manakins came out of nowhere. Other than the manakins, revolutionary pictures hanging in frames everywhere, water dripping on us from the many leaks in the City that had obviously not been repaired for ages, one aspect of the City definitely showed us that we were still in the year 2007. At the end of the long maze of strangely shaped hallways, we entered......a SILK SHOP. And Chinese people were taking tours of the City and then buying lots of silk at the end of the tour! How did I not consider this "tourist attraction" as not another "tourist trap"? I should have known. 

(To be continued...)

Looking Back at Some Semester Happenings

Well here we are. It is already January 6th, 2008, a solid two weeks since I have returned to the USA. For a few weeks now I have done nothing much, but listing to "Tommy" by the Who at this moment has somehow changed my thoughts. I am now ready to write about some things I skipped over this Semester and the epic voyage/end of the year trip. Alright, here we go:

I'll start off with 中秋节(Zhongqiu jie or the Mid-Autumn Festival). The Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday that involves the whole family going out under the moon, eating moon cakes, and celebrating the end of the summer harvest season. Leading up to 中秋节 moon cakes started turning up in the grocery store on campus and shops starting selling them. Moon cakes are not just made in one variety; there are actually lots of variations and in different areas of Southeast Asia you can find different kinds. A moon cake, or at least the ones that I had, had the substance of a small cake with a unique filling. The week of the Festival my Arts and Culture professor gave us a bunch of varieties to try out. I tried one that had Peking Duck inside it, another with a big egg inside. Our program went to 圆明园 (Yuan Ming Gardens) close to Beida to see a lantern show and eat moon cakes under the stars and bright moon. Walking around lakes and gardens, we saw lots of families walking around the area gazing at the large lantern displays. Some were huge sprawling scenes depicting old tales and myths. The pathways throughout the park were lined with endless rows of lanterns. Interspersed along the paths were rows of red lanterns coming at us as we walked forward. Lanterns were everywhere. It was a pretty incredible sight. 

Later on in the Semester Charlie and I went along with 绿色生命 (Green Life) to the Natural History Museum. There were about 8 kids from the club that came and we were the only two foreigners. They weren't too chatty so we didn't talk too much. It was still an interesting trip though. The museum looked as if it hadn't been touched in three decades. The exhibitions were sorely in need of renovation. In the reptile exhibit we spotted a boy of about 5 years old giving a tour to a group of people. I think he was being fed the information about the plants and animals through a hidden microphone. It was ridiculous how many facts he knew about the exhibit. Anyway, the real highlight of the museum had to be the Human Body Exhibit. As we walked in we were greeted with various body parts pickled in jars. It was rather disturbing but had a sort of comedic effect at the same time. Later on we saw a head split in two parts filled with phamaldahide. Later on we saw fetuses pickled in jars and entire bodies stuffed into glass containers. One particularly disturbing one was a man with a burlap bag over his head. Needless to say I had nightmares for days after this sighting. I had second thoughts on whether I should have exposed myself to such a terrible thing. 

Another thing I forgot to write about is the karaoke (or Ka-La-OK as the Chinese pronounce it) experience. Ka-La-OK is quite the popular endeavor for a late night out on the town with the pengyous (friends) so I went to the karaoke bars a few times during my time in China. 17 Miles was the closest to campus so that was where I went. One time I went to KTV (the major chain of karaoke bars in China which Charlie explained to me). Another perk of 17 Miles in particular was the 80% discount. A friend of the program, actually one of the Chinese kids on the program staff had a discount card that we borrowed when we went. The place consisted of a bunch of private rooms of various sizes and luxuries. We always went to one which had free access to a buffet room. Inside on a touch screen console we could select the songs we wanted and they would go automatically to a playlist. Another thing the room had was different percussion instruments, so people that weren't singing were beating drums, bongos, and shakers. One of my favorite parts of the KTV experience was the music videos. In place of a majority of the videos were homemade equestrian tapes showing middle aged women rub horses. Others showed scantily clad women walk along the beach. One of the most disturbing videos I can remember was the one for "The Thong Song". The video consisted of little kids running through sprinklers. What could KTV have been thinking when they produced this video? We can only hope they didn't understand the lyrics. At the time I admit it was pretty hilarious. 

Lastly before I get to the epic trip, which I'll post next, I never got to write about my teaching job. During the fall semester I had the opportunity to teach once a week to a first grade class. Each week I prepared for my lesson before class and then biked over to the school. The school was actually close by in a neighborhood just behind the university. I tried to start out each class with a game so that all of the kids could ease into the class. Throughout the semester, I taught them how to play Simon Says, sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, how to play Duck Duck Goose, and Telephone, among others. As I got to know the kids better they seemed to like me more and by the end of my time there all of the kids were sad to see me go. I learned a lot from teaching in English to Chinese kids. Ha, I had a lot more patients at the end compared to when I first started. I learned to mix in explanations in Chinese so that they could understand the English grammar. It was interesting teaching English because it made me realize how difficult the English language is for foreigners. Chinese is really the opposite of English, instead of complicated grammar structures, Chinese doesn't use much grammar but does have a lot of words with multiple meanings. The kids were great and I got a lot of laughs from them. One day a kid came up to me and said "My name is Panda. What is yours?" It was hilarious just hearing what they had to say in class everyday. 

UPDATE: So, all of my pictures from the Semester and The Great Voyage/End of the Program Trip are up on the my pictures link. Soon or when I find some time in the next few weeks I will try to put up some captions so you know what is in the picture. Another quick thing, this page will soon be transforming into a Germany blog since I will be studying in München, Deutschland from March through July 2008. More is on the way...