Geburtstag (Birthday) in Germany

The strawberry looks
like a gummi bear :-D

I turned 23 yesterday and I got to get a little taste of how Germans celebrate birthdays. Back home, I'm used to celebrating birthdays on whichever day is convenient for the family to get together. That could mean we celebrate the weekend before or after the actual date. Sometimes our family even plans the birthday celebration for months before or even after because that's when everyone can be together. In Germany, that doesn't happen. A birthday is not celebrated before or after the birth date. It's considered bad luck to even wish someone a "Happy Birthday" before their birthday.

Ben asked me before my birthday, "So, are we celebrating your birthday the German style or the American style?" We ended up doing kind of a mixture. (Surprising, huh?)

Strawberry lemon cake
My favorite kind of cake. Reminds me of home.
<3
(3 year streak now. Grandma
made my first one, then Mom made it last year
and now I make it.)

I got to Skype my family Sunday night before my birthday and it was so great to be able to see my mom, Shan, (and Flash). It's during family get-together times like birthdays (& graduations) that make me homesick. I also got to eat the yummy birthday cake. No worries, we didn't eat the whole thing ourselves. We're sharing with some friends. But I have to say, that's definitely another benefit of having family around--don't have to go hunting for people to help you eat cake. :-D

He's goofy. Think he was pretty
excited too.

I had German class Monday morning. I just love the people I learn German with~ so much diversity and we're just plain goofy sometimes. On my birthday, we learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" in German. Seems there are two versions of it. It was sweet to listen to everyone sing a bit off-key with their morning voices.

The fun really began after class. Ben surprised me with tickets to see an orchestra concert at the famous Gewandhaus in Leipzig. We had talked about it when we first visited Leipzig, but I kind of forgot about looking into tickets. Can I just say that I was excited? REALLY excited :-D

We took the train in the afternoon. We've discovered that we can get day train tickets for 15 Euros each with which we can ride anywhere within Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It was only an hour train ride. We arrived early and checked out an Asian market in town. Why doesn't Jena have an Asian market that awesome? Then we wandered around to find a place for dinner.

We found an Indian restaurant. I wonder if maybe I should've gone with something more traditional German, but I was really feeling Indian. Plus it reminded me of the good Indian restaurant we often ate at together with my cousins. Such a different dining atmosphere!

And the concert...I can't even express how amazing I thought it was. I don't know much about orchestral instruments and I've always thought that they must be so hard to play. I was so in awe. My mouth was open for most of the 2 hours...Ben confirms that. And I think I may have drooled.

It was a wonderful day. I missed being with family, but that's the only thing that would've made the day any better. :-D

Until my next post!

Exploring Dresden

We had another 3-day holiday. Did I just say holiday? ...I mean break/vacation because today, Monday, is Pentecost. Ben and I decided to take another little trip to the famous city of Dresden.

I've heard many people--Germans and Americans alike--praise the city, saying that it is beautiful and full of wonderful sites to see. I have to say that I agree, although I did find downtown a bit too touristy for my liking.

Someone was already tired
of taking selfies with me.

Dresden is the capital city of the state of Saxony. This is a different state than where Ben and I live, which is Thuringia. So far, I've understood (although my info source is a bit one sided) that Thuringia is famous for its special Rostbratwurst (Bratwurst with caraway seasoning in it) and Saxony is famous for its unique dialect of German (a.k.a. Germans from other states make fun of their accent)

Dresden specifically is known for its culture and history. The city-center was bombed during WWII and since then, the city has been re-building itself. It was interesting to see the mixture of old and new architecture. Most of it has much significance and symbolizes how Germany acknowledges its past but looks to a better future. For instance, this church was rebuilt using part of its ruins. It was actually re-built quite recently; it took 11 years to build and opened to the public in 2005.

Ben and I weren't sure exactly sure about everything we wanted to see. We had done some research before going, but the city was a lot bigger than Jena and I'm not much help when it comes to directions. We had some  unexpected adventures (which I think might actually be the best kinds of adventures).

Opera House

First of all, what's with the weather lately? The Saturday we were in Dresden was mid-80 degree weather and the Sunday was low-60 degree weather with rain. It made packing a bit complicated.

Zwinger: where Augustus II held big parties

So on the first day, Ben and I eventually found the tourist information center and decided to sign up for a walking tour (in English. My German's not that good yet :-/). It turned out to be some of the best €12 I've ever spent. Our tour guide had lived and worked abroad. I'm not exactly sure where, but her English was very good. And she made a lot of Trump and America jokes...it's ok. I've gotten used to it by now.

Largest Porcelain Mural in the World
Depicts the rulers of Saxony.

We learned lots about Dresden history. Fun fact: Augustus II, also known as Augustus the Strong, secretly converted to Catholicism during the time of the reformation so that he could be King of Poland--being Catholic was a criteria of being King in Poland, besides having lots of money. (He was only the ruler of Saxony and was not a king, so becoming King of Poland fixed his king-fetish) Boys will be boys...

I couldn't help it. I made Ben go back
with me so that we could take this picture.
:-D

After the tour, we wanted to climb up somewhere so that we could have a view of the city. We heard that there was an observation tower at one of the churches and it only charged a couple of Euros. Instead, we accidentally attended a church service/boys choir concert. It was actually really impressive and the pipe organ was amazing. :-O

The second day, we took a boat tour down the Elbe. We saw many castles and learned more about different architecture. Unfortunately, it rained--big time--while we were on the boat. We were really chugging along on the way back. We got back 20 minutes before we were scheduled to.

We decided to head home early since it was raining, but we can't wait to bring my mother here!

The home of Augustus II

View of Dresden Old Town from the water

German Food Etiquette

I can’t say that I have the best table manners, but I don’t think that I’m awful to eat with. (Unless you ask my brother) I try not to talk with my mouth full or chomp too loudly. There’s the occasional burp, but I don’t make it loud or obnoxious. Well all of that seems like it’s not enough here in Germany.

Earlier when Ben and I started dating, I learned that burping of any kind is not acceptable—not even a small barely audible burp. When Ben first mentioned it, my first response was, “I don’t burp that much!” But as I started paying more attention, I noticed that, in fact, I did burp quite a bit. (Not a lot by American standards) I don’t mean the loud obnoxious kind, but the slightly bubbly kind. It didn’t matter because Ben could hear it. Not surprisingly, I became extra self-conscious about my burping habits. I worried that when I visited his parents and his grandma, I would accidentally burp and it would be the deal breaker. Ahhh, what to do? What to do?? :-O

Well, I’ve managed to keep the burping to a minimum, at least as far as I can tell. No one has mentioned it to me yet... But I’m still a little confused about the social customs surrounding food. Ben and I went to a Scottish dancing event at the university last week. It was definitely a contrast to school events in the States. 

Aren't their kilts great? The one professor
also played bagpipes.

First of all, there was beer and wine being served. It was completely natural. Most of the students were standing around socializing with a beer or plastic cup of wine in their hands. There were also cups of snack pretzels. --Side note: I have a very low alcohol tolerance. Very. Very. Low. But I thought that I could handle a small cup of wine since everyone else was doing the same.-- It didn’t take very long for me to feel the effects. I saw the pretzels and

asked if I could have them. The lady said that they were free. I wasn’t sure if I was just supposed to take a couple or just grab the little plastic cup they were in, so I took the whole cup…I felt better, but I noticed that some people were kind of giving me weird looks. Guess it’s not acceptable to eat the free pretzels, at least not a cup of them if you’re not completely wasted. I’m thinking that drinking a small cup of wine at a school function, did not fall under that category.

I learned from the pretzel incident and when I went out with some girls one night, although there was a cup of pretzels in the middle of the table, I did not embarrass myself. :-) Nibbling is the name of the game. :-P

Overall, I’ve just noticed more formality when it comes to etiquette. Ben and I were invited to have brunch at his friend’s house, and I noticed that it was still kind of formal even though Ben and his friend were close. Back in the States, if I invited close friends over to eat, I would want them to grab anything they wanted (if they actually wanted to the food I had) and it’d be pretty relaxed. The conversation was easy flowing but I got the sense that I was supposed to nibble more than eat. It seemed that the “brunch” was more for the purpose of socializing, not for both eating and socializing. All in all, even though we were all young and (at least Ben) knew them well, it a lot more formal than I was expecting for Sunday morning brunch.

So, I've learned a couple of things: any kind of burping is rude, the pretzels at a gathering are not to be eaten except in the case of an emergency (alcohol related), and eat a snack (or meal) before going on any sort of group-social outing. The foodie inside of me is a tad sad. I really like being able to enjoy food when I'm with different people. The German culture I've experienced so far is the opposite of a lot of Asian cultures (at least Chinese culture) in the sense that social gatherings are not so much centered around food. It's hard for me not to get excited and zealous about food, but I will try to keep it from being too obvious.

Foodie Pic:

Am I Being Stereotypical?

It's almost a month since I moved to Germany and it's still quite the adjustment, not gonna lie. There have been several bouts of homesickness-- friends, family, food...and through it all, Ben has been wonderful and supportive.

German people are not unfriendly or stand-offish like people sometimes stereotype. The people that I've met have been very friendly, considerate, and accommodating. I still feel like an awful American stereotype walking around because I can pretty much only introduce myself, ask where you're from, and answer yes/no questions: ja...nein...danke. Not exactly ideal for creating deep meaningful conversations.

Through Ben's friends, I've met and hung out with more Germans. When they can, they usually speak in English, just for me. There can be a group of 4 Germans plus me and they will all speak English just to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I feel so spoiled and a bit awful at times. My German can't improve fast enough. I feel self-conscious about fulfilling American stereotypes. Do I talk too much? Maybe too loudly? Use my hands too much? Am I too energetic? Do I come off as fake? I think I will feel more comfortable as my German improves and I will feel more at home. Although, I am amazed at how well many Germans can speak English.

And when it comes to food, to be honest, I miss eating Chinese food more than I miss "American" food. Ok, all with the exception of peanut butter. I was so excited about the German bakeries, but that has long worn off. I just want some good old peanut butter and honey on toast. I still haven't found a good Chinese restaurant, but I've heard that there are good Indian restaurants around. Also, I found it amusing that Italian restaurants are considered the more low-key restaurants here. Such a contrast to the States where they're considered more "fine dining." Ben and I have found a couple of small Asian stores. They're small and don't carry everything, but I can get some basic sauces. None carry giant 20lb bags of rice though... (not that I really want to carry that all the way to our apartment from downtown)

It's an adventure and I continue to learn. It can be embarrassing at times, but it makes for good stories. :-D

Ok, so I realized that I've only been taking photos of food lately. So here's my compilation:

Döner: Turkish immigrant influence.
Kind of like a Gyro. We had ours with
chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and
a choice of sauce. SO DELICIOUS and
now I want one every week.

Ben made bread dumplings for dinner one night.
What a great way to use up stale bread!

Found a "French-inspired" German bakery in downtown.
Ben loves croissants so we had to try the French-German
style ones. They were pretty good.

I have officially experienced the German cafe/coffee culture.
Sat outside a cafe for hours chatting with a new friend
and sipping milk-coffee.

More German baking: Donauwelle, standard
German cake. (Marble cake with cherries,
pudding on top and chocolate ganache)

Famous fries by the University. A.k.a. fries
flavored mayo. Hung out with some girls
Saturday night and had to try the curry-mango mayo.

Maifest

Monday marked the first day of May. In Germany, it was also Labor Day and a holiday. That means that nothing is open (besides some bakeries), just like on Sundays. I'm not going to lie. Knowing that I don't have access to the grocery store for two whole days kind of stresses me out. I need my food. Anyway, I survived. However, Ben and I did do some crazy grocery shopping on Tuesday.

But we did get some good food on Monday.

As you can see~ very smiley faces

There was a Maifest gathering near our apartment on Monday. It kind of reminded me of our small town celebrations like Onamia Days, Isle Days, Wahkon Days, etc. Lots of families come with their children, grab some burgers and brats from the food stands and of course, drink beer. However, the most important activity was: putting up the Maibaum (a.k.a. Maypole). Let me tell you, this was quite the ordeal.

The guy in the blue jacket was the MC.
And some conservative politicians stopped
by to say a few words.

I wanted to add some videos that I took of the Maibaum, but I can't seem to upload them. There were two ceremonies--one at the start of the festival and one that lasted the remainder of the festival. The picture below is from the first ceremony. This Maibaum was much smaller than the second one.

I always pictured Maypoles as tall poles with long streamers hanging down from the top, but these were actual trees decorated with short colorful streamers. There was a committee that was formed (this one had only men) that was created for the sole purpose of putting up the Maibaum. Ben said that the group was formed so that they could be insured... I suppose it makes sense :-D The Maibaum committee members each wore a pointed grey felt hat; stylish but don't do too much for protection against falling trees.

There were nineteen men carrying the Maibaum and the whole thing took about two and a half hours. I think putting up the tree was physically straining, but I think that it took that long was more because of the all the beer breaks the committee took during the event. :-P

But no worries. There was plenty of beer for the observers to buy, plus coffee and cake for sale. It was definitely an exciting event to witness, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Happy May everyone!

Labor Day Weekend

This one's kind of late, but I've been slacking...

Ben and I took a day trip to Leipzig this past Saturday. It was a long weekend because Monday was a holiday here. (Labor Day) We originally wanted to take a weekend trip to Prague but alas we were a little too late in planning it. Turns out Leipzig was a great choice. It is such a music hub and kind of has a hippie-ish feel~ I was a huge fan. :-D

I am an enthusiastic thrift shopper--thanks to my mother--and I was kind of disappointed when I learned that Germans aren't really into buying second-hand clothing. That's why I was SO EXCITED when I saw this in downtown Leipzig. Ben and I think that it was a clothing exchange (grab clothing and leave clothing). I thought about exchanging my jacket...The only thing that kept me from really looking was the fact that I would have to carry it for the rest of the day. :-/ (plus it was kind of cold and rainy)

I've also been slowly learning more about the German beer drinking culture. Ben rode the train Saturday morning to Leipzig. It's only about an hour by train. The train was pretty full for early Saturday morning. A lot of people must've decided the long weekend was a good time for a trip. Just as we found some empty seats, a train conductor comes by and tells us that we should move to the front of the train because there was going to be about 100 soccer fans boarding soon. I found that amusing (obviously I know nothing about soccer).

Anyway, Ben and I ended up in the first class cabin. It was pretty nice. That is, until five soccer fans made their way into the cabin. There weren't really any seats left and the cabin was pretty small. We were grateful they didn't sit/stand by us, but the gentleman they sat by looked very amused (not). I thought that they were coming back from a game since it was only about 8:30am and they looked like they had already drank quite a bit. Oh no...they were on their way TO the game. Can't say it didn't make me miss being in the U.S. where public drinking is not allowed. We somehow ended up riding with the soccer fans on the train back from Leipzig too. Not sure how that happened. I discovered Saturday that many Germans don't just transport a couple of bottles of beer with them to an event. It's more like this:

This photo is from Google

I'm going to have to work on my beer drinking...

Friends, Film Festival, Glühwein

Ben and I went to an outdoor film festival last night with a friend of his and his girlfriend. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what it was when I agreed to going. However, from the name I did think that it would be indoors in a theater or a classroom. And two, I thought it would just be that: a film festival. Wrong and wrong again.

As you can see, it was outside. It's definitely colder than I was expecting Germany to be at the end of April. We were told that the festival started at 7:30pm but nothing started at 7:30pm. We were a bit late because we had just come from dinner, but there were already a ton of university students standing around socializing.

Oh and drinking beer and Glühwein... That seems to be what started at 7:30pm.

And so we had to get some Glühwein too. Did I mention that I ordered my first thing in German? "vier Glühwein, bitte." :-D

Ben's friend, Michael, and his girlfriend Alessia

I don't think this one needs a caption...

So, the film festival consisted of 1.5 hours of socializing, drinking some Glühwein and hopping around to music that a band was playing on stage, plus about one hour of watching short films on a projected screen. The films were interesting although slightly weird. ("komisch" as I learned). All in all, a fun and interesting night.