Bitte Schön

Imagine (just imagine) you don't know any German, except "thank you", "danke." You move to Germany and order some food. You get it and you say, "danke." They reply, "bitte." It's a good assumption that this means, "you're welcome."

Great, now you know two German words.

Next, you try "danke schön" (thank you very much). You get back, "bitte schön". You figure that means "you're very welcome." Aw, that's cute. You start to hear it all the time. "Very welcome, very welcome, very welcome."

Only, the next time you order your Döner, you forget to say anything. You still hear "bitte schön"." Is he being smart with you? They start to say "bitte schön" before you have time to say anything "thank you"s at all. What's with these people? Are they being spitful? Imagine hearing "you're welcome" without saying "thank you".

Turns out, this is one of many phrases that doesn't translate between cultures. From what I've experienced, it's something like, "glad to have helped you." "Bitte schön" is just one of many endearing things about this culture that I'm going to miss. I'm already nostalgic.

The Luckiest Unlucky Day of my Life

15 July 2011. Scheduled to leave Frankfurt Airport at 17:20 for Madrid, Spain. Everything’s planned the night before. When I get out of school, several options for catching the train to the airport, when my plane leaves, when it arrives, and when and where I find my hostel. I get out of school at 13:00. I have the option of catching a train at 13:04 (too early), 14:04 (too late), or 13:34 (just perfect). 13:34 was so perfect, in fact, that I had time to run by the bookstore and pick up a special order (a French-German picture dictionary – what? Don’t give an aspiring polyglot access to pretty reference books.)

So I parked my bike outside the Hauptbahnhof and strolled inside, contemplating whether I had time to grab something to eat or if I should wait for the train. I stayed put and the train ride went smoothly. I arrived at Frankfurt Flughaven at 14:45. I boarded my plane… oh, wait, no I didn’t. Because there are two Frankfurt airports. The other one was only accessible by a 13 euro bus.

I wasn’t even in the right terminal to catch the bus to go to the right airport. So I hopped a shuttle to the other terminal and went inside to look for a red-shirted employee to ask for directions. Couldn’t find one. Minutes go by. Go back outside. Ask a man. Says, “yeah it’s the N-25 and it blah blah blah, oh that’s it, right there! (Points to one of many white buses). It’s the white bus.” Guh. I get in line for the bus he pointed at. Wait a few minutes. Not the right bus. Head to the correct bus; walking not running. If I miss it, no big deal, right? Buses come every 10 minutes, and I have two hours. Only, the sign says this bus ride is 1.5 hours. That can’t be right? Read it again. It’s right.

So I get to the Frankfurt Hahn Airport (the most liberal use of the word “airport” that was ever blogged) five minutes after my gate closed. Found the German TSA-inspection. Hand over my boarding pass. “You must go through Passport check.”

I hate planes.

17:07. Gate closed seventeen minutes ago. Thirteen minutes to departure. Line for passport check hasn’t moved in five minutes. Stop an employee. Explain to him my situation, and he expedites the check. Run to the TSA. Run to the gate. The “closed” gate is still open with 20 people in line. I made it. I made my plane. I cannot explain how unhopeful I was. For a good 30 minutes, I really thought I was going to have to catch a bus back to Frankfurt and a thirteen hour train to Madrid or not go at all. I made it.

So. Much. Win.

Weekend 6: Amsterdam Part II

Amsterdam was a blast the second time around, despite being a shorter trip. We left Saturday morning (I and two friends, Kelley and Shelby) by train. One of them didn't have a train pass for the second leg of the trip, so there was some sneaking around, but I won't go in to detail about it. It was thrilling, though. Looking for some playing cards, we met three German guys, all around 20, and started playing Circle of Death, explaining the rules in broken German and slow English, at about 10 in the morning with warm Jäger. They got a little too rowdy and starting yelling German obscenities at the top of their lungs, but bless the little train people, they didn't bat an eye. We dodged them as we got off the train.

We walked around the city. I was quite cocky, as I had been there before. We made a point to the I AMsterdam sign and we got lost on the way. It was a short day, as Kelley left that night, and Shelby and I had a hotel outside of the city. All in all, we had a good time. I really like the city.

Amsterdam Part II Pictures

Amsterdam Part II BGs

Spaghetti-Eis

This is spaghetti-eis, a typical treat here in Germany, from what I gather. It is vanilla ice cream, run through a spaghetti maker, with raspberry topping and shaved white chocolate as the parmesan cheese. As it is quite a novelty, I wasn't expecting it to taste that great, but I was so wrong. The best part was the secret stash of homemade, not-too-sweet whipped cream under the ice cream. Going back? You bet.

Taking Pictures

When I take or crop pictures, Professor Oak's voice pops in my head with advice about the placement of subjects. Also, how many birds are in the background and if there are any Pokémon-shaped smoke clouds in the background.

Die Noodle Sind Grün Noch

I love being able to have remedial conversations in German.

My host brother, Yasin (age 3): I'm making noodles. (points to a pot of rainwater and grass in the backyard).

Me: Oh cool! May I have some?

Yasin: No. They aren't done yet. They're still green.

Me: When will they be done?

Yasin: Four minutes.

Me: (begin making ticking sound)

Yasin: No, you are not the clock! That is the clock! (points to a Spongebob ball)

Bananasaft

Banana juice is delicious. Banana juice and hefeweisen is even better.

Commissary!

Taking a German to the American Commissary is some of the most fun I've had all year.

Things Hasan (age 20, German-born and raised) had never heard of include:

- Red Mountain Dew

- Cheese in a can

- Double Stuffed Oreos (or Peanut Butter Oreos, Low Fat Oreos, Mint Chocolate Oreos, Mini Oreos, Oreo Crackers)

- Pizza Pringles (or any of our 20 flavors besides BBQ, Regular, and Sour Cream)

- Hot Cheetos, hot Funyuns

- Marshmallow fluff

- Fruit Gushers

- Toast Strudels

- Graham cracker pie crust

- Pumpkin pie

- Carrot cake

- Cake icing in a can

- STARBURSTS (seriously?)

- Fruit juice concentrate in a can

- Cookie Crisps

- Twizzlers

And I thought he was going to collapse at the sight of our ice cream. Edy's Mint Chocolate Brownie, Edy's Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Edy's SAMOAS Ice Cream. We don't have room for it, but he got it anyway.

Also, he eats Halal, so he's never had ribs or bacon, so I got Morningstar Veggie bacon and ribs so he can at least have an idea. And he tried his first Bud Light. Yes, it tastes like water. Yes, I love it anyway.

My Hair

This has been my theme song the entire trip. Featured almost every time I bike home at night or paint on the walls at Messplatz.

Hair - Lady Gaga

Extra Credit

So, because I was placed in a class higher than my competence (because I am between two levels and I'd rather stay higher than go lower), my test grades are all Bs. Or their equivalent of Bs. I think. The system's complicated, and it doesn't help that I can't convince anyone to explain it to me in English. That's not how we do things here.

Because I aim for higher than Bs, I started asking what I could do to help my grade. Apparently, I can do a presentation every day until I leave. Done. Tomorrow, 15 minute lecture on Japanese. So that's what I'm up to.

Wer braucht Küchen? (Who needs cake?)

It was our neighbor's birthday.

Wallpapers cont.

My best pictures.

Heidelberg Wallpapers.

Munich Wallpapers.

Berlin Wallpapers.

Amsterdam Wallpapers.

Paris Wallpapers.

The Fourth in Germany

DSCF1973 a video by Abiogenic on Flickr.

Celebrated Independence Day on the American military base in Heidelberg. I couldn't stop smiling. (Profanity at the end - so you know, keep it down or turn it off a few seconds before the end.)

4th of July auf Deutsch

4th of July Meal:

Deviled eggs

Green bean casserole

Mashed sweet potatoes with pecans

Corn on the cob

Trains

One of my favorite things about travelling to a different city every weekend is the train ride. I know this doesn’t seem like it is much fun, but if you like TV and organizing files on your computer as much as I do, it’s a good time. Best of all, I just recently figured out that I don’t need to spend 4.5 euros per trip for a seat reservation. I just get on whatever train I want (with my 15 day pass, it doesn’t matter where I go or what train I take) and sit in the floor by the door. If you sit on the correct side, you don’t have to get up when the train makes a stop. The floor is more comfortable and I have more room. So much win.

Also, the train I caught to go back to Heidelberg from Munich – I caught it 4 minutes before it left, 40 minutes after I decided to leave. That is so satisfying – to just jump on a train and travel somewhere, not needing directions or help deciding which train to take.

Weekend 5: München (Munich)

After school on Friday, I rushed to the Hauptbahnhof (HBF – main train station) on my bike and grabbed a train to Munich. I got in to the city early that night and found my hostel. I planned my Saturday over a pizza in my hostel bar. My room had 6 beds, and as I’m used to rooms with 30-60 beds, I found it a little foreign.

I woke up early on Saturday and caught a bus to the Munich HBF, where I joined a Dachau Concentration Camp tour. It was 20 minutes away by train. The train station that we traveled to was the same building that many prisoners arrived in. The original building is still there, and very representative of Nazi architecture. Dachau was… I can’t describe it. The tour was very interesting, but it’s hard to say that I had a good time. I’m glad I saw it. I walked in a gas chamber (it is disputed as to whether this one was ever used), which says “shower” in German above the door. I saw the ovens, crematorium, and the wall where most of the prisoners were murdered if they didn’t die of starvation or disease. Needless to say, my weekend wasn’t one of cupcakes and puppy dogs and smiles.

Something you maybe wouldn’t know unless you visited the site: the surrounding areas are residential. Some houses even overlook the camp from their top floors. Many of the houses in the town were built for camp refugees after the war.

After that, I walked another tour of downtown Munich, one called the Hitler and the Third Reich Tour. We saw the first headquarters of the Nazi Party, which now has an Apple store in the ground floor. We walked in the beer hall where Hitler had the first meeting of the Nazi Party (it has huge chandeliers and flags hanging from poles off the walls; see pictures). I walked by Hitler’s offices (now a very prestigious music school), and I saw a lot of rally points made famous by photographs and newsreels. My guide also pointed out the café where Hitler drank coffee or tea or something and plotted his rise to power every afternoon.

After the tours, I got dinner at an Italian joint. Met up with Beth who was also in town and we had drinks at a place I learned about on the tour – an old after-work pub for Nazi Bureaucrats. I went back to my hostel. Woke up on Sunday late and made my way to the Nymphenburg Schloß (castle), in front of which was a large pond with some very greedy swans. They thought the trash I had was food and barked at me for a while. They almost bit someone. Located in the castle was the Museum of Nature and Men, which was very interesting.

Munich General Pictures
Dachau Pictures
Museum of Nature and Men Pictures

Commissary

Going to the Commissary after being in Germany for 5 weeks is really strange. I was bombarded by Lay's and Nabisco and Kraft and Kellogg's. OMG, I have to go back. Also, for Taco Bell. I'm working on getting a pass so I can bring people with me. While I was there, I got Vlassic Sweet Relish, Cambell's Cream of Mushroom, and *wait for it* pecans! A whole delicious bag of pecans!