Homeless in Prague for New Years Eve

I arrived in Prague at around 4pm on December 30 and found my way to the hostel where I’d booked my first night (online). The lady at the reception looked through her list of reservations two or three times but couldn’t find my name. No problem, I thought. I had saved the online booking confirmation page when I’d booked it online. I pulled it up on my laptop for her to see.

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“Uhhh… do you see this line right here?” she asked, pointing at some very fine print. I read it silently to myself: You will receive an email confirmation, once this online booking has been confirmed by the hostel you have requested. In other words, this “thank you for your reservation” webpage I'd received and saved was useless… it meant nothing, unless I had received an email which would have been the actual confirmation of my reservation. Arrrghh!
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And thus, I was homeless in Prague. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a major catastrophe, since there are plenty of hostels and hotels catering to Prague’s thriving tourist industry. But this was the night before New Years Eve… and according to one tourist info person, 400,000 tourists were visiting Prague for the New Years festivities. The hostel receptionist called a couple of places where she thought perhaps there might have been available beds… without success. So I was on my own, trudging through Prague – my duffle bag over one shoulder, my laptop bag over the other – looking for someplace I could spend the night. On the way to the first hostel, I had passed a tourist office (i.e. hotel broker), so I headed back to request help. “Do you have any places I can stay tonight?” I asked, as tourist info woman opened the door to her office.
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“No – nothing,” she replied matter-of-factly. Then after I stared at her for a few seconds in disbelief, she said, “Well, I’ve got one place, but you won’t like it. Two different couples I’ve sent there today have turned it down, once they took a look at it.”

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“It’s much too cold to sleep on a park bench tonight, so I don’t really many other choices. I’ll take it.” She went on to tell me that there was a minimum 4-night stay, and it would cost €50 per night. It was an ugly situation, but I really didn’t have options. And I was exhausted and didn’t feel like pounding the pavement looking for other places (which probably wouldn’t be much better). I paid her, and she gave me a map and directions to my new home in Prague.

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This supposedly 15-minute journey by metro, followed by a ten-minute walk... took me three hours (remember that I’m a bit directionally impaired). And once I arrived, I agreed with her that it was, indeed, a gem of a hotel. There was short-pile, industrial carpet on the floor and all four walls… large black, matted-down stains all over the floor carpeting (making barefoot traversal a bit questionable/unpleasant)… a single bed, which was actually couch cushions lying on a bed frame, covered by a sheet... But hey, I was more than exhausted at this point and feeling a little ill, so I was just glad to be able to lie down -- finally.

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The next day, December 31, I headed back into town to check out Prague in the daylight. I saw the famous Wenceslas and Old Town Squares and the iconic Astronomical Clock Orloj; took a tourist bus tour; walked around the castle grounds; and generally wandered all day and evening on foot. Most of the city’s tourist attractions were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with holiday tourists.

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Prague street scene

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Old Town Square

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Old Town Square scene #2

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"Astronomical Clock Orloj" on the Old Town City Hall
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Entrance to Prague Castle

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View of Prague from Prague Castle grounds

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St. Vitus Cathedral on Prague Castle grounds

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Close-up of stained glass window in St. Vitus cathedral

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Once night fell, the partying started up in the city center. There was a large main stage in Wincelas square, and a smaller stage in the Old Town Square. The weather was cold but dry. I spent most of the evening walking back and forth between these two stages and listening to the music – trying not to get bored (but also walking to stay warm). There were a few decent acts on the small stage, such as a Beatles lookalike/sound-alike band. On the large stage were all of the “big name” Czech performers. Although I’d never heard of any of them, the crowd was wildly enthusiastic for them. The music was kind of schmaltzy (Celine Dion-style) pop mixed with chewing-gum pop – mostly pretty dull stuff, in my opinion, but it was interesting to get a taste of pop culture, Czech-style.

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A few hundred yards (meters) from the main stage, there was a large, mostly vacant area, where tens or twenties of individuals were setting off hard-core fireworks. Crowds of people stood on each side of the fireworks area to “ooo” and “ahh” at the lights, bangs, & booms. And I’m not talking about sparklers and snakes… or even bottle-rockets and the smallish fireworks my dad used to buy me in Tennessee (and then smuggle back into Kentucky for July 4)… these were professional quality fireworks… in the hands of amateurs. My sense of reality may have been affected by my worsening cold/flu, but the fireworks scene in this crowded downtown square seemed entirely uncontrolled and unsafe to my prudish American perspective. There were police standing at various locations throughout the square, but all seemed to generally be ignoring the chaos of firepower being set off by anyone and everyone. As red-hot debris and sparks showered the crowd, the police stood and watched, practically as spectators. I stayed in the city center long enough to see midnight turn over, but then I rushed to the metro and headed home to beat the crowds. I wasn’t feeling particularly healthy or lively, so I was anxious to get some serious sleep.

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Night view of Prague Castle & Charles Bridge across the Vtlava (Moldau) River

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Crazy New Year’s Eve scene in Wenceslas Square

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I got back to the hotel feeling dog-tired and a little ill, so I slept until noon the next day. Although I had already paid for one additional evening in my rat-hole of a hotel room, I decided that – given my cold and grouchy humor – returning to Oldenburg and sleeping in my humble but comfy bed sounded more inviting than staying put. When vacation stops becomes less interesting than "home", it's time to head homeward. I caught an afternoon train and was home in Oldenburg by midnight.

Krakow, Poland

On the bus trip from Lithuania, I sat next to a Lithuanian college kid named Justin. He had spent a year working a construction job in England, so he spoke English very well. Justin and his four friends were traveling to Krakow for a chess tournament. They all have chess scholarships at one of the Lithuanian universities and occasionally travel to tournaments in neighboring countries. We had an interesting conversation about Lithuanian culture and their stereotypes of other nationalities.

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A movie – “Along Came Polly” (Jennifer Aniston & Ben Stiller) – was shown during the first half of the bus ride. Something interesting about watching English-language movies in Lithuania: Instead of using subtitles or fully dubbing the language into Lithuanian, they turn the soundtrack down to about half volume and then use just one person to translate everything that’s being said (overlaid with a louder soundtrack). So you hear the English (softly), as well as the translator’s voice over-top. .

The bus stopped every 60-90 minutes throughout the night to let people off or on. And each time the bus stopped, half of the occupants filed off for a smoke break… so due to frequent interruptions and non-reclining seats, I didn’t get a lot of sleep on the bus ride. I arrived in Krakow at around 6am on December 27.

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I had booked a hostel online and (with a map and a little assistance from an info desk) was able to walk there from the bus station. I ate breakfast with several other hostellers before I took a four-hour nap. One of my breakfast companions was an American woman named Silvana, who is currently serving a two-year term in the Peace Corps in Romania. Around ten of her Peace Corps-Romania comrades were also staying in Krakow for a week – most at our hostel and a few at a different place. Since I had the Peace Corps experience in common with them, and since they were nice folks, we hit it off well and chummed around together for much of my Krakow visit.
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On my first evening in Krakow, I joined the Peace Corps crowd to a bar that one of their American friends who currently lives in Krakow recommended. It was great little pub with a back room, where locals played their guitars and sang their favorite folk songs and sea shanties. Some of the music was quite beautiful and haunting. Here’s a pic and a sample clip from the jam session (sorry, the sound quality is poor).

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Krakow musicians having a folk music jam

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On my second day in Krakow, I went with Silvana and a French hostel friend to visit the concentration camps at Auschwitz. It was sobering experience and one that I don’t regret having, but I think I would rather visit at a time when there were not quite so many tourists. There were huge mobs of people trying to see the site, so it was very noisy and bustling with lots of activity… it was, therefore, a little hard for me to feel particularly meditative or emotional about what I was seeing or what it represented. It was also nostril-hairs-bitter-freezing cold that day, so it was a little tough to think about much besides how cold my hands and ears were. But part of the plight of the camp prisoners was getting through the fiercely cold winters... so from that standpoint, I guess I got a more “realistic” taste of the camps than if I’d gone during a more comfortable time of the year.

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Entrance Gate to Auschwitz #1: "Arbeit macht frei" [Work makes one free]

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Bitter cold Auschwitz camp #2

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On my third day in Krakow, I wandered around the town alone, taking pictures, and then went out for dinner with the Peace Corps group. I had to leave early in the morning on a train for Prague, so I didn’t stay out late partying with them. The PC bunch was a really nice group of people, and spending time with them made my Krakow visit very enjoyable. Plus, Krakow is a beautiful city with a lot of charm and plenty to see, so I recommend it as a vacation destination. And the hostel where I stayed -- Flamingo Hostel – was also great, so I highly recommend it as well.

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Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow

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View of the Krakow from the castle wall

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Wistula River from the castle hill

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Indian food dinner with the Peace Corps-Romania crew (photo by Silvana Guberti)

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Krakow's Old Town at night
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Main square and stage where the New Years Eve festivities would take place (a few days later)

Lithuania

Lithuania map (+ marks Klaipeda)

We arrived in Klaipeda, Lithuania, sometime between 3 and 4am. I'm sure that everyone was as exhausted -- due to the late hour and the stress of "the accident" -- as I was, but since it had been a while since Flavio, Aushra (Flavio's wife), and their two boys had seen Brian, Clarice, and Dalia, everyone was more interested in talking, catching up, etc. than sleeping. Aushra prepared a nice meal for us -- beef and potatoes with (optional) locally made horseradish for dipping. I enjoyed the meal and participated in a toast with Lithuanian beer but needed to sleep, so at around 5am, I excused myself and went to my assigned bed (in the room with their now-sleeping boys), while the other adults stay up and talked for another hour or so.
On the next day, most of us slept late, and then there wasn't much left of the day. I tagged along with Flavio when he went to the local fish market, so I could get my first daylight glimpses of Klaipeda.

Klaipeda near Flavio's apartment

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Glimpse of the Baltic Sea from Klaipeda's port

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On Christmas Eve, I went with Clarice and Aushra to the "Akropolis", which is a gigantic American-style mall (including a movie theater, bowling alley, and indoor ice skating rink). It's huge, even by American standards. I was a "mall rat" for a few hours, wandering alone, while Clarice and Aushra did their last-minute Christmas shopping.

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In the evening, we all got gussied up in our best duds (dressed up) to go to Aushra's parents' house for the huge family gathering. This was one of the highlights of my stay in Lithuania -- it was really interesting and enjoyable to participate in the local traditions from within a family. The meal began with a ceremony led by Aushra's father. He passed out communion wafers (the flat disk-shaped, cracker-like things that Christian churches sometimes use for the communion ritual) to each head-of-household (ie. adult male). Then he stood, broke a piece off of his wafer and fed it to his wife, saying approximately: "I hope that you will have a wonderful year, full of happiness, by my side in 2008." Then he went to each of his children and their spouses and wished them individual, wishes of joy and success in the coming year. He also included me in this level of well-wishing, saying (roughly) in English, "I hope you will have a wonderful time in my house tonight and will feel as though this is your home. We all hope that your time in Lithuania will be filled with enjoyment and that you will take with you nice memories of your visit to our home." Each adult then milled around the room giving their children, spouses, and siblings (and me) warm wishes for the coming year (while breaking off and feeding a piece of their wafer to the other person).

Christmas Eve family gathering at Aushra's parents' apartment

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Traditional Lithuanian food (at least in this coastal town) is most composed of fish-related dishes -- pickled herring, caviar, fried fish, salty shrimp jello, fish relishes and casseroles. The other memorable additions to the meal were a thick, red, berry-tasting gelatin-like drink and baked potatoes with -- you won't believe this: cannabis topping. Apparently rope-making (with cannabis) has a long-standing tradition for shipbuilding in Klaipeda... and one day (perhaps hundreds of years ago), someone said: "I wonder what it would taste like if we dry some of this extra cannabis (left over shreds from rope manufacturing) and sprinkle it on our baked potatoes..." And so it became a tradition. Cannabis doesn't have a tremendous amount of taste, but it had a slightly salty, toasted taste that nicely complemented the taters. (And no, I didn't get high as a kite -- or even buzzed -- from eating this delicacy.)

Sample of the spread

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Cannabis is the brown powder in the bowl to the left of the potatoes
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After dinner, we sat around and watched a Lithuanian Christmas mass on the television, while drinking Lithuanian beer. A small group of us -- Flavio, Clarice, Brian, and I discussed various topics related to politics -- comparing and contrasting Lithuanian, Brazilian, German, and American viewpoints on the politicians, the Iraq war, crime, corruption, etc. Then the children of the family gathered the whole family to a back room for a family talent show. Each of the five kids gave four or five performances of some sort -- singing dancing, rhymes, stories (all, of course, in Lithuanian). Occasionally Clarice translated what was being said for me. Lastly, we went back into the dining room and opened presents. I was pleasantly surprised to receive several gifts of locally produced wine and liqueurs.

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On Christmas morning (back at Flavio's and Aushra's apartment), we opened presents again. The children were, of course, wild with excitement of their latest gadget, toy, spiderman-related contraption. And I was again surprised to receive two additional gifts: a calendar/diary book and a Klaipeda T-shirt.

Opening presents on X-mas morn

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At around 10am we rushed off to Christmas mass (Lithuanians are mostly Catholics). The service had a somewhat old-world traditional feel to it (from my American perspective) and reminded me of Orthodox Christrian services I've attended in the past, because the priest sang and chanted much of his text. This old-world feel was mixed, however, with the very modern "praise band" type choir, complete with electric guitars and drums. It was also interesting to see the inclusion of a lit and decorated Christmas tree in the front of the sanctuary -- just next to a nativity scene. And even more surprising: Immediately after the service, the priest left the building briefly and then quickly returned dressed as Santa, beckoning the children to join him for presents at the alter.

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Santa's gathering after the service (Santa is bending down to get presents, so he's not visible)

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After the service, we joined an even larger gathering of Aushra's family at her brother's apartment. There was another huge feast prepared, followed by another talent show from the kids (but this time, the adults were convinced to join in), and a final appearance of Santa with candy and small toys for the kiddies.

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Brian & I singing a rousing rendition of PDQ Bach's "Please, Kind Sir"

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On the 26th, Flavio, Brian, and I drove to Kaunas. The main purpose of the trip was to deliver me to the bus station, where I would catch the night bus for Krakow, Poland. Along the way, however, we stopped to see a holocaust-related mass grave memorial, had traditional Lithuanian food in the Kaunas mall, and walked around a fort/castle at dusk. I boarded my bus at around 11pm.

The Accident...

I spent almost two weeks in eastern Europe during the December holidays. Since I've got pics and tales from each place I visited, I'll segment the trip into four posts -- The Accident, Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

On Dec. 21, I met my friends Brian (former Northwestern Univ. classmate), Clarice (Brian's wife), and Dalia (their 3-year-old daughter) in Braunschweig, a town 130 miles SE of Oldenburg. They live in Heidelberg and had decided to drive to Klaipeda, Lithuania, for Christmas this year. (Clarice and her brother, Flavio, grew up in Brazil, but their heritage -- three generations back -- is Lithuanian. Once the Soviet Union fell and Lithuania became an independent country, Flavio decided to connect with his roots and moved to Lithuania, where he married and has three children).
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Our route from Braunschweig, Germany, to Klaipeda, Lithuania

From my hopping-on point in Braunschweig, the road trip took around 18 hours of driving (not including breaks). We stopped for the night on the German side of the border with Poland on the first night. The hotel was beautifully renovated, grand old building, and each room only cost 45 euros. And the hotel put out an incredible breakfast buffet spread in the morning -- just for us four! Breads, cheeses, eggs, meats, jellies, relishes, fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt.

Much of the long drive time was consumed sitting in traffic jams in Poland. It seemed that everywhere we tried to drive, we encountered stand-stills and VERY slow traffic. Here is a photo I took from Brian's & Clarice's van as we drove along the highway through western Poland on this frosty morning.
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Frosty Polish morning
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At around 11pm, we entered Lithuania. Not long after this, the excitement began...

I was exhausted from weeks of far too little sleep, final exams, and my lingering cold, so I was dozing in the front passenger seat, while Brian drove the van. Clarice and Dalia sat in the back seat and tried to sleep too. At around 12:30, I awoke to a loud "THUMP" on the windshield in front of me and an exclamation from Brian: "Oh, my God! I just hit a man!" Clarice had opened her eyes at precisely the right moment to also catch a glimpse of the ghostly figure that apparently came out of nowhere and somehow collided with our vehicle... so she also became frantic. Brian slowed and pulled the van over into the right shoulder. It was pitch-black outside, as there were no street lamps or signs of civilization nearby -- just a dark highway in the middle of nowhere, Lithuania. Brian slowly backed up the van in the shoulder, but since he couldn't see anything in the rear-view mirror (gifts for Clarice's family were piled floor-to-ceiling in the back), he stopped after 10-15 yards. "What should I do?" Brian asked aloud. "We have to go back," Clarice advised. "Yeah, but you don't wanna run over the guy twice," I chimed in. Eventually, Brian decided to drive to the next exit and take the "cloverleaf" to get back on the highway going the opposite way. Once he was sure we had passed the point where the incident occurred, he exited the highway again and re-entered traveling in the original direction.

By this time, Clarice had called her brother, Flavio, on a cell phone and described the situation to him. Flavio then called the local police to report the incident. "What-if"s were racing in all of our minds. "What was that guy doing walking in the middle of the autobahn?" Brian asked aloud, exasperation starting to show in his voice. "What if Brian killed a man tonight?" I wondered silently. "How will this change Brian's life forever?"... "And what about Clarice's and Dalia's lives?"

Although I'd heard something smack against the windshield, as I awoke from my reverie, something didn't quite seem right about Brian's statement: If we ran over someone, there should've been much more noise (and probably multiple noises, as the person was forced under or over the van). But I only heard one relatively small bang on the right side of the windshield. "What if Brian and Clarice just imagined it? Is there anything else that might have just looked like a person?"

Brian drove slowly and carefully, as we returned toward the dreaded location. We drove for what seemed like an eternity, finding nothing. Then finally... in the distance, we saw a man. He was staggering around in the right shoulder of the highway. Brian pulled over and shined his headlights on the man. As two other cars passed, the man walked out into the road and held out his hand in an apparent attempt to hit the cars (or to stop them). Thanks to Brian's headlights, the cars saw the man and were able to veer to the left to avoid him. "He's trying to get hit," Brian said aloud. "He's either crazy or he's very drunk," Clarice added.

Then the man returned to the shoulder and finally seemed to notice our vehicle. As he approached, we could see that his right hand was covered in blood. He also had what looked like a few minor cuts on his face. "Lock the doors," I warned Brian. Perhaps I've seen a few too many Twilight Zone episodes and/or horror flicks, but it just seemed like a bad idea to give this guy access to the van -- even if we injured his hand. The man yelled through my closed window that we should open the door and take him somewhere (per Clarice's Lithuanian translation). He tried unsuccessfully to open my door and smeared blood across the side window. Clarice scolded him to stay out of the road. He seemed to understand her message and began walking forward, away from us. As another group of cars passed, the man repeated his attempts to stop them. Once again, Brian's headlights were sufficient to warn the other cars.

After around ten minutes, the man got angry with our bright light and began yelling at us. His body language was sufficient to understand what he was saying: "Either take me into town or move on down the road! Your presence is cramping my style and getting in the way of my objectives." When we didn't leave, the man walked across the four-lane highway and vanished into complete darkness on the opposite side. We waited for 45 minutes before the police arrived on the scene (from Flavio's call). Clarice explained to the policeman what had happened, so he and his partner crossed the median and began searching (with a flashlight) on the opposite shoulder. Finding nothing, they said there was nothing more they could do.

A few minutes before the police arrived, we noticed that the passenger side mirror of the van was now missing -- apparently the man's hand had taken it off (the "bang") -- it had apparently already been cracked and unsturdy -- so Clarice asked if the policeman could write a report stating the situation, in order to get the mirror replaced through the insurance company. Since they couldn't confirm that the reported man actually existed (or that he caused the damage), they couldn't help us. So we drove onward toward Klaipeda.

"There he is again!" Brian exclaimed. Sure enough, the same man was 100 feet ahead of us standing in the road with his right hand outstretched. Brian whipped the car around, crossed the median and raced back in the other direction to inform the policemen. He flashed his headlights at them as they exited the highway. Once they stopped, Clarice explained that we had found the man again, a little further ahead. We followed them, as they slowly drove along the highway -- another eternity -- and then finally pulled over into the shoulder. They had found him -- hooray! They discussed the accident with the man, who apparently claimed that Brian drove into the shoulder while he had been peacefully walking along the road, minding his own business. The policeman gave us two choices: (1) Go with them to the nearest hospital, where they would take blood-alcohol measurements for both the man and Brian (as our driver). If the man was determined to be drunk (and Brian not), then we could get a police report; or (2) we were free to go (but without the police report). Since it was now a little past 1:30 in the morning, and we still had 90 minutes to drive, we opted for the second alternative.

Global Warming Advice

A friend sent me a link to this Youtubevideo, and I think it's particularly well done. Clever and funny but provides rational, clear-headed advice for our civilization regarding the "global warming" issue. Is it real, or is it fiction? What if it's just a farce... What it's not? Just check out this video.

www.neutralexistence.com/blog/is-man-made-global-warming-real-or-fiction
(Please note: This link was previously incorrect, but I've corrected it - Apr. 7, '08)

Holiday Concerts

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My a cappella group, Jaco de Musio, gave a joint Christmas concert on Friday evening with another local a cappella group called Vocal Chords (original name, huh?). I was honored to have 17 of my 30 classmates and one professor in attendance at the concert. We will sing another shorter concert at the downtown cathedral, Lambertikirche (St. Lamberti Church), this evening. Then we have two concerts next week and one in the following week. No rest for the weary...

Berlin Trip

Things have been uncomfortably busy lately with schoolwork, so I'm only now finding time to post pics and comments about my sightseeing trip to Berlin (two weeks ago). I went with a group of around 50 international students from Oldenburg University on a bus on Friday, Nov. 23, and returned on Sunday. It was a whirlwind trip, with activities planned throughout, so I returned more exhausted than before I left. But at least I got a glimpse of Berlin. Here are some of the sights I captured on my camera:

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Berlin street scene

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Berlin street scene2

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Front of Kaiser Wilhelm Church. This war-damaged church has been left unrepaired as a reminder/memorial

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Ceiling of Kaiser Wilhelm Church

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Afternoon break for drinks

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Reichstag (Parliament Building)
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Brandenburg Gate

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Jewish Memorial from bus window

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Jewish Memorial from within
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Many signs like this are still place throughout the city

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"Checkpoint Charlie" - the former crossing between East & West Berlin

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A remaining section of the Berlin Wall (through the bus window)

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Avant-garde photo art near Checkpoint Charlie

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Ancient Babylonian edifice in Pergamon Museum
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Berlin dance club in the wee-small hours

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The "TV-Tower" in daylight

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TV-Tower by night

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Berlin at night from the top of the TV-Tower

Wind on the Daily Show

If you're a Daily Show fan, then you may have already seen this clip on TV. I'm generally not a television watcher (even when I own a TV, and I currently don't), so I hadn't seen it. A classmate, Alan, who is a big Daily Show fan, sent this link to me:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=91140&title=jason-jones-180-%E2%80%93-nantucket

One of the philosophical things I decided, during my 3-year stint of working in residential wind energy is that most Americans -- especially those not living on a coast -- are completely oblivious to wind energy (actually to all renewable energy). It's just not a part of their "real" lives. They don't see wind turbines during their drive to work... they don't have neighbors using solar panels, solar water-heating collectors, micro-hydro, or wind generators in their back yards... Renewable energy doesn't enter most people's consciousness, because their exposure level is nearly zero. And when something (like renewable energy equipment) seems extremely rare, it's easy to make an assumption that this is because these technologies don't yet work or are not affordable.

While renewable energy technologies can certainly improve, in terms of reliability and cost-competitiveness, they are currently available (in both large-scale installations and small residential set-ups), are reliable, and are affordable (frequently even money-making).

Hopefully this Daily Show clip is a signal that mainstream media (or at least left-wing mainstream comedy media) is starting to pay attention to renewable energy. And in my opinion, even when no one's preaching about the benefits of clean energy: if America's mainstream media expose everyday folk to renewable energy, it will quickly become a common, everyday part of real life (not just on TV). Media imitates life... and life imitates media.

Lessons in Humility - German Style

Writing Instruments
Around a week ago, I was riding my bike to campus and passed a grocery store. I had recently run out of usable pens, so I decided to stop and buy some more. I went inside the store, thought carefully about my words, and asked where I could find the Schreibtische. I wasn't sure if this word meant pen or pencil, but either way, I figured it would at least get me pointed in the right direction. As I asked the question, I even made a writing gesture with my hand, in case my pronunciation was poor. The two sales clerks looked at me, dumbfounded -- like I had three heads. When they didn't answer, I decided to try a different angle: Haben Sie Papier? [Do you have paper?] I asked. They both looked relieved by this question and responded with confidence that they don't sell paper. I thanked them, left the store, and continued to campus. A little later, I was thinking about the look of bewilderment that the clerks gave me, and it hit me: a Bleistift is a pencil... but a Schreibtisch is a desk.


Clean-up on Aisle 2
A few hours later, I went with some classmates to the campus Mensa [cafeteria] for lunch. I got a tray, silverware, and a plate of the pasta grub-o-the-day. Then I decided to get a small bowl of cheesy cauliflower, but something distracted me (I don't remember what happened exactly), and my tray (and everything on it) landed upside-down on the floor. Oops. I froze for a second -- embarrassed that the long line of people behind me would have to step through (or hop over the gigantic mess I'd made) until the lunchroom staff arrived for the clean-up. Then one of the cafeteria ladies shouted out something I didn't understand in German. She pointed to a certain corner of the lunchroom, so walked in the direction she pointed. "Maybe I'm supposed to inform the back kitchen staff of my spill, so they could clean it up," I thought. I arrived at the designated location and was provided a broom and a dustpan to clean up my own mess. Once I'd scooped up the big stuff, this was traded for a mop and a bucket of soapy water to fully remove my schmutz.


Upon reflection, I think it's very logical (and fair) that I should clean up my own mess... but it was an interesting cultural lesson: in Germany, personal responsibility is taken much more seriously than in America, where the customer is king. (Even though they made me clean up my mess, they didn't make me pay for the wasted plate of pasta and bowl of cauliflower... for which I was thankful.)


Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. I had Chinese food tonight to celebrate the holiday. Tomorrow I'll be joining a large group of international students from my university on a 3-day trip to Berlin. I'll try to post some pics next week.

German Generalizations...

After two months living in small-town Germany, here are some of my impressions of some differences between Germany and the U.S. Some of these jumped out at me immediately, and other observations have taken a while longer to appreciate:

1. Jay-walking is non-existent. I'm not kidding. Even if it's night-time, and there are no cars in sight, Germans will reliably stop at a cross-walk and wait patiently for the "little green man" to give permission to walk across the road.
2. There's a world 'nother world of yoghurt over here. In America, we have: plain, cherry, strawberry, strawberry-banana, blueberry, raspberry, mixed berry, peach, vanilla, chocolate... and that's pretty much it, right? Well, in addition to the American standard fare, the Germans have: peach-passionfruit, strawberry-rhubarb, watermelon-kiwi, grapefuit-apple, pineapple-orange, pear, nectarine-guava, honeydoo melon-peach, walnut, cinnamon-plum... and the list goes on. Sehr gut!
3. Goth is way in right now. You know the died-black hair, black make-up, lots of body piercings & tattoos, black clothes, etc.? Well, this style is very chic here right now among the youth of Oldenburg. I befriended a piercings artist at a bus stop soon after my arrival, and he explained that there's an American reality TV show (I don't know the name) which is very popular here. Apparently, ever since the show began airing here -- 7 or 8 years ago -- the popularity of tats and body piercing has sky-rocketed. I don't know if the goth stylings are part of the same trend... or not.
4. Bikers, bikers everywhere. Bicycling, as a primary means of transportation, is very widespread here in Oldenburg -- not only with university students, but with people of all ages. On weekend evenings, there's an awesome congregation of bikes -- easily two hundred -- parked on one of the main squares (Julius-Mosenplatz) until the wee hours of the morning providing the late-night party animals their return transportation. But beware, police ticket here for bicycling under the influence -- no joke!
5. Smoking... and biking. I realized, even before arriving, that Germans (or more generally, Europeans) are bigger tobacco-smokers than Americans (on average). But it still surprises me how much tobacco smoke I encounter here. There are even cigarette vending machines in my dorm and in the cafeteria. Since smoking and biking are both so ubiquitous here, it's not uncommon to see bikers puffing away on cigarettes.
6. Bladder control is a virtue. Anyone who's vacationed in Europe probably already realizes this, but: (1) restaurant restrooms are generally only for patrons; and (2) even customers are expected to pay for use of restrooms in department stores. So if you're downtown and gotta go... hopefully you're also hungry. At least most restrooms have toilets and toilet paper here!
7. Drinking fountain extinction. Drinking fountain: what's that? You know that metal device, where you push a button and a constant stream of water flows from a nozzle? Well, so far as I've seen, this innovation simply does not exist here. Come to think of it, I don't think I saw them in Sweden either... but an English classmate confirmed for me that England has them, so it must not be a Europe-wide extinction.
8. Weekends are not for shopping. I'm so spoiled by America's anything-you-want anytime-you-want-it mentality. But here, the grocery stores (and most other shops) close at noon on Saturdays (if they're open at all). And other than some restaurants, nearly nothing is open on Sundays. I still forget, sometimes, to stock the frig before the weekend -- it stinks to run out of food and go to bed hungry! I talked a few weeks ago, however, with a guy from Berlin, and he informed me that the stingy store hours are more of a small-town German thing. In contrast, he said, he can find stores open at nearly all hours, every day of the week in Berlin.
9. Oldenburgers are a friendly lot. Somewhere along the way, I picked up an unfortunate stereotype of Germans as cold, stern, unemotional, impatient, and ultra-efficient (to a fault). I have certainly met a few of these exaggerated type-A's here (as with anyplace), but in general, it just isn't so. A few weeks back, when I bought my (first) bike (which was stolen a few days later), I got lost on my way home from the bike store. As many of my long-time friends know, I tend be slightly direction-impaired, in general, but in my defense: I had only ever used the buses to get around town, so this was the first time I actually needed to know where I was going. When I stopped at a street corner and began studying my map, a 60-ish German man (who was driving past the intersection) rolled down the window and asked if he could help me. I told him I was lost and looking for my dorm -- Otto-Suhr Strasse -- and he told me to follow him with my bike. He drove slow enough for me to follow him for the 2-3 miles to my dorm. What a nice gesture! There have been several similar situations, in which I've been pleasantly surprised to be the beneficiary of warm, genuine, selfless acts of kindness.

My Classmates

I study with a great group of people in the renewable energy master's program. We're very diverse mixture of cultures, languages, backgrounds, personalities, experiences, etc., but we get along really well together. We're composed of 31 students from 20 different countries -- Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, and the U.S. Around half of us are mechanical engineers, and the other half are electrical engineers, material scientists, physicists, environmental scientists, or combinations of these specialties. 15 of us are in the EUREC program, which means that we'll move to a different university for the second semester (location depends upon our chosen area of specialization). The other 16 of our classmates are enrolled in a program called PPRE, which entirely takes place at the University of Oldenburg.




All of the students in the two programs are fluent English speakers, but only a few have significant German language skills (and I don't yet count myself as one of these). Since all of our classes are taught in English, and we nearly always speak English to each other as the only common language... it's sometimes easy to forget that I'm living in a non-English-speaking country. I'm planning to sign up for a language exchange program called Sprachtandem soon, which pairs up native German-speakers with international students to exchange language skills. It would be a real shame for me to have lived in Germany for 4+ months without picking up any appreciable German language skills...

To sing, or not to sing...

I've had an internal debate (since before I arrived in Germany) about whether or not to get involved with singing during my studies in Europe. Whenever I'm not singing, I miss it a lot... but I can also tend to get too focused music, to the detriment of other priorities. I had preliminarily planned to participate in a university-sponsored choir, so I could do a little singing each week but without much pressure to spend lots of time on music outside of rehearsals.

There are two choirs sponsored by the university's music department in Oldenburg. One is a classical choir called "Uni-Chor"; and the is called "JazzChor". I attended one rehearsal for each of these groups last week and... it was pretty disappointing. For one thing, it hadn't occurred to me how difficult it would be to get excited about singing not-so-challenging music. But secondly, both groups are singing primarily American show tunes -- "West Side Story" medley, "Let the Sunshine In" (Hair), "Memory" and "Jellicle Cats" (Cats)... And I feel -- how should I say it diplomatically? -- overexposed... to most of this music. Perhaps to Germans, this music is fresh and new... and of course, for them it's "foreign language" music. But for me: BLYECH!

So I did some websurfing and networking over the weekend... I corresponded with a guy from a local group called QuintEssence, and he directed me to another local group -- Jaco de Musio. Last night, I became the tenor for this 5-person (SATBB) jazz vocal group. The group has two arrangers -- the alto and bari (which is nice, since I've promised myself that I won't get involved with arranging during my studies!). They realize that I'm only here in Oldenburg for four months, but they want me to fill in for their tenor (who recently moved away) during the Christmas season. There are several small (2-3 song) performances in the coming weeks, and we're hoping to put on a 30-minute Christmas concert at the local St. Lamberti church in mid-December. In addition to arrangements by two of the members, we are singing several Real Group ditties and one by Take 6 (revoiced slightly for mixed voices). It's fun to be singing again, and it's nice to feel needed (and useful) -- they desperately wanted to continue singing during the holiday season, but when their tenor left them high-n-dry a couple of months ago, they thought it would be impossible. Although the group members all speak English very well -- and talk to me exclusively in English (except when they forget) -- they frequently talk to each other in German during the rehearsal, which will hopefully continue to train/improve my ears for German vocab and grammar (by osmosis, so to speak).