On Vacation

Hi all!  I just thought I would give my excuses beforehand instead of waiting until later.. staying prepared. 

I'm off to Innsbruck and Wien for a week as of tomorrow morning.  I'll post again upon returning home.  In the meantime have a great week!

This is Klaus die Ortnungsmaus (Klaus the orderly mouse).  He checks to make sure all the classrooms are in order. Every month he "lives" in one classroom.  The classroom that has done the best job gets the honor of having him live in their classroom and also a new playground toy! 

I've been experimenting a little with night city shooting lately.  I really need to do more and have some good ideas but this is one of my light metering test shots.  My place is on the bottom left by the upper of the two dark windows (although I live on the other side of the building).

Running Around Dresden

My by the Basti bridge.. it is a very well know bridge down south of Dresden that used to lead to a castle situated on top of the rock outcropping.

So Ive been taking up running again because Ive just gotten tired of not being active.  A friend here mentioned the Oberelbe Marathon in May, which I think I might run in, or the half that goes with it.  I think it would be a good goal and help my activity level too!  Part of my not being active definitely was coupled with just eating a fair bit because I get to be home most of the afternoon.  Christmas time is another time where eating was a fun and great activity.  Well, and I just like eating… But the German diet, I think, takes a little different approach for me, because Im not used to it.  I think it may be that way when someone switches to another cuisine.  The typical german diet has a lot of salt, fat, pork, potatoes, etc.  Which is all well and good but when one eats as much as I do its a little more unfortunate.  I was making granola the other day (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=390  Great bread book btdubs. . Really easy and great results-- makes Pizza dough really easy too!) and one of my housemates told me that it was "too healthy."  I laughed and realized that I wouldn't have to make such healthy things if I didn't enjoy my food in quantity.

My other accomplishment has been Teriyaki chicken.. which really is about the simplest thing to make but quite delicious.  I've been trying to keep under 50 Euro a week on spending so its nice to have meals that are both good and last for a couple dinners.  I plan to try to do Pita bread soon (capitalized? I must be excited about it or something) but Im afraid my oven might not get hot enough to make it work.  We'll see though.  I was tipped off by Stephan that a local shop sells hummus so I figured that I would have to try to make pita bread work.  I definitely have the time on my hands too. 

I am finding that using my time to cook over here is both fun and rewarding.  Additionally, I have been able to find a lot more ingredients than the grocery store has to offer.  German grocery stores are typically smaller, with some exceptions, and stock about the same items.  Although there is variety the selection mirrors what Germans like, naturally. 

One of the castle(ettes) along the Elbe. It's also a winery :)

I finally was able to find black beans and several other types of oil.  The beans were hidden in an awesome underground asian market by the main train station.  After a helpful hint on where to look I found the little wonderland of Asian food.. including black beans, corn starch, pop corn, and different kinds of rice!  It was quite the excitement, let me tell you.  I also finally explored the "von Fass" (from tap) store where you can by assorted oils, wines, and even scotch by the milliliter!   I held myself back to just getting some s. . sesame oil (might have to try the scotch sometime though!). 

My final triumph of the last couple weeks was finding a Coffee Roster here in Dresden.  There is one not too far away, perhaps a ten minute walk from my front door.  They roast some pretty good coffee and I was able to have my first Oregon-quality cappuccino there.  The lady even did coffee art! 

Schloss Morlitzburg--on one of my several walks recently-No snow!

Its a little place tucked between a photo studio and a old (1820ish) Dresdener Café/milkery.. I walked past it at first and could smell the roasting coffee a block away (which mostly smells like burnt chaff but oddly good at the same time.  When I entered the café and saw that they offered French press coffee I felt a twitter of excitement: they must be legit.  I ordered the French press only to have the lady ask me if I was sure because it was a lot of coffee (280ml).  I "realized" my error and got a cappuccino instead.  As I was taking off my jacket and pulling myself up on the bar stool I thought about it.  My cup at home is .25l which equals 250ml, so 280ml is just a little bit more (about 1.25cups).  Which means they probably use the same size press I use at home… yet another reminder of how different cultures view things differently, but next time Im getting the French press.

The happy group at Morlitzburg. .

10 Reasons Why Hang-drying in Winter Stinks

1.  It stinks.  Clothes often don't dry quickly enough so they, well, stink.

2.  It takes a l  o  n  g time to dry anything. 

3.  When clothing finally does dry it's crinkly instead of soft.

4.  It takes up space--in small apartments hanging racks are half (or more of) your room.

5.  Jeans take forever to dry and don't shrink at all.

6.  You must alternate airing and heating your room--just cumbersome.

7.  You have to do small loads of laundry.

8.  It allows you only to do laundry a certain period after anyone in the house has done laundry in order to secure a place to dry your laundry.  Or, consequently, ignoring this forces you to hang laundry throughout your room.

9.  Can't put on warm clothes fresh out of the dryer.

10.  And I finish with a question: Why is it called drying when it isn't actually drying?

Not Spring Yet

I was in the newspaper.. funny story--the kid in the red in the back was the ONLY kid in class not allowed to be in the photo.

Made in the DDR.

Hi again!  The winter came in a huge way to Germany this year.  From November till shortly after Christmas it has been cold, snowy, and icy.  It was cold on the playground at school, it was cold on the Straßenbahn, it was cold on runs, it was cold in the stairwell, and it was so cold even the laundry wouldn't dry well (hang dry here). I can tell that I've gotten used to it because what used to feel like an arctic blast is now a pleasant breeze. 

Salzburg at Christmas time.

For the first few warm days (30's to low 40's) I would bundle up and brace myself to jump out onto the street in the morning.  I would then pause as if something had caught me as I would say (out loud), "oh, why its quite warm out." (I promise I usually don't talk like I live in the 30s).  My time waiting for the Straßenbahn would then consist of loosening my scarf and jackets and removing one of my two pairs of gloves.  Needless to say, though, this heat wave, if I dare call it that, has been wonderful.  Not bundling up to run or just live is great.  I realized today that, perhaps, why I like it so much is it feels like winter at home in Oregon.  It also makes me feel a little weak for thinking it was cold in winter.  Oh, well!

Runnin' in the forest by my place.

A little thing I have noticed (and therefore retains the possibility of being completely incorrect) about Germany is that as it gets colder clothing becomes more earth toned.  Dresden in the spring was quite colorful (mostly a brand called Jack Wolfskin--more on that later) but as it gets colder the jackets get darker and the scarves cover up any kind of colorful collar. Walking around recently and seeing the Jack Wolfskin appearing again has also been a welcome surprise.  Im sure the heavy wool coats will come back in a week or so but Im going to enjoy this while it lasts.


My last few days have been spent looking at plane tickets and trying to figure out my plans for Winter break (yes, I get a winter break too.. this really is the best after graduation job ever).  The hard thing about having two weeks off in February is that it is in February.  Not exactly prime travel season.  I am hoping to escape the winter a little, so we'll see what turns up but Im not crossing my fingers. 

Ive included some pictures from my classes.  Note the backpacks--or are the jet-packs?--The pictures are all from one of the third grade classes.

Another side-note:  I went to Mass at the Cathedral last Sunday because I missed it in the morning.. Im accustomed to not catching every nuance (meaning word.. I don't catch every word) but this was particularly bad.  So bad I couldn't even place the language until I looked at the board outside: Polish. Touché, Germany, touché.

It's All English to Me

At the Christmas Market in Dresden

I just realized that I have almost been here for more than three months.  Furthermore, I am averaging a whopping one blog per month. Lame!  So here's another :)

The last couple weeks have been great--feeling a lot more settled at school, traveling for a couple weekends before that (prompting my housemate to call me a Travel Maniac), and just feeling more settled in general.  The kids seem to be enjoying having me around as well, which is always a moral (ego) boost.  I was even cheered for in the third grade class the other day!  One of the local newspapers came into one of the classes yesterday to interview me because they are running sections on the local schools.  The article turned out really nicely and they ran a picture of me "teaching" with some of the kids.  Most definitely staged.  The kids were all trying to get into the picture for a little, but in the behaved German way they ended up staying back far enough for the photographer.  The one kid who ended up (not on purpose) being in the background was the one kid whose parents said that he wasn't allowed in the picture.  I guess some people are just destined for greatness no matter what stands in their way.  Sometimes not even your parents can keep you out of page F27 in the newspaper.        (ok, the number was a little exaggerated). 

At my favorite Dresdener Weinachtsmark: Neumarkt

We've been learning about Christmas for the last couple weeks as well as finishing up our time unit. . the two units together have introduced more Britishisms than I thought would run into in Germany.  It has been incredibly difficult to remember it's half past 10 instead of ten-thirty.  I still seldom "have got" anything nor have I ever taken "maths" in my life.  If my American accent wasn't hard enough for the kids to understand I don't know how my confusion helps my explanations either.  I have found that there is an interesting amount of pride in American English among the Fulbright students.  I think being around someone else's dialect brings what you like about your own into sharp perspective.  There are more differences than you would think as well.  Last week while teaching the second-graders i took the stack of cards and held up the first one.  I love the second grade because they provide a counterpoint to the big fourth graders.  They are small and get to play a lot of games in class as opposed to having a little more constructed work.  Now, most times the cards have the words on the back: picture of a pair of shoes = shoes, etc.  These didn't but what could be the big deal?  I started out strong with "these are socks" and then quickly plummeted to a point where I should have just sat down with the kids.  Before the children could repeat, "this is a hat" we were informed that it was, in fact, a WOLLY hat.  Ah, no big deal, that makes sense.  But it had planted a seed of doubt.  After success with "t-shirt" we moved on to "these are shoes." But they weren't, they were "trainers." After a further failure with "cappie" I tentatively checked with the teacher, "jacket?"--It could definitely have been a jacket masquerading as an "anorak"--it was and I was finally more confident wearing my trainers, socks, trousers, and pullover.  Its all English but I have never got any maths.

Neumarkt again, with the Frauenkirsche in the background. After taking this
we had to run to a store to warm up.. it was a balmy 15 degrees or something.

On another partially related note, I have been enjoying Christmas time in Sachsen.  I seem to have landed in two of the best places to experience Christmas in the Germanic world with Salzburg and Dresden.  People absolutely love Christmas time here and are extremely proud of their traditions, their markets, and their handmade works.  There are many many different Christmas markets in Dresden besides the main market, the Stielzelmarkt, which claims to be the oldest in Germany and has the largest Erzgebirge step pyramid.  I am yet to find one for myself (miniature sized) but am hoping to get a handmade one this week before I leave for Salzburg for Christmas.  I did get myself a really neat Räuchermannchen that was carved down in the Erzgebirge and resembles Gandalf a little.  I think he and the Pyramid would be a fitting Christmas adornment together.  

Räuchermannchen

 Thats all for now but I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas from here in Germany :)

I have some more pictures on my camera but cannot find the cord.  ONce I find it I will for sure post some more!

Denise and I on a snowy hike south of Dresden

A Beginners Guide to Making a Busy 12hr Work Week

Fall in Dresden--This is at the Straßenbahn stop outside my place

This is near the TU-Dresden (the University)

We live in a society and world that calls us to efficiency.  This fits me, I like being busy--working, exercising, going to school, writing papers, socializing. During my time at UP it was simple: take 15-17hrs of classes, work two jobs, and overcommit in general.  Vwuaaaa-la, mission accomplished.  I came into this year thinking my 12hrs of work a. . .wait for it. . . week would be good for me.  I couldn't be overcommitted or at least would have to find several hobbies to make it passable.  I have found through some trial and error that I, indeed, can make a 12hr work week busy.  I want to share my tips an pointers so if any of you are stuck in this same fortuitous  position than you'll know exactly what to do with yourself.  I will not claim that the following list exclusive in any way but a good start toward making one's self busy while enduring the hardships of 12 hrs in primary school classrooms.

The key to accomplishing the goal of being "busy" is always having something else on the list.  This means that you can NEVER finish your list.  Sub-tip 1: If you don't make lists start--the "to-do" list is your key to measuring how busy you are. As you see slashes creeping through the words nearing the end of the page quickly jot down something that you inevitably forgot.  This leads us to TIP NUMBER ONE:  its alright to forget non-vital things. If you forget some of the trivialities, the small things you don't need to do but really should accomplish, two productive things can happen.  Suddenly, the trivialities will become important and often, urgent.

Before we get too far into sweeping tips we need to remember that the start of the day is one of the most important parts of the day.  Remember TIP NUMBER TWO when your alarm goes off: Snooze like you mean it.  Not just lazily hitting the button because you're so comfortable rolling out of bed would just be a cumbersome task.  If you're not rushing in the morning you're not starting your day with the sense of urgency that you had when you looked at your "to do" list the night before.


TIP NUMBER THREE: Make your commute productive. . but not all the time.  By doing something while commuting than you fill a couple seemingly empty hours with productivity.  Furthermore, make sure you are not productive during your commute a couple times a week. This will make you miss the normal productivity of your commute and thus enhancing its ability to feel like you accomplish something everyday and that you are working toward your goals (overall productivity).  Not doing something on the commute a couple times a week is a reminder of what you could be doing.  That brings us to TIP NUMBER FOUR: Wasting time is a platform to make everything else you do seem more important.  Without wasting some time your achievements, however small, will seem less important and your small achievements will be the forgotten little brother at the rest stop.  (consequently, my family has only forgotten my mom at a rest stop. . I honestly don't know how this ever could have happened as all of us kids always had a bead on where she was).  TIP NUMBER FIVE: Rejoice in the small things.  You remembered to use "abholen" instead of "bekommen"? Great.  You helped (or at least tried to help) the old lady on the Straßenbahn? Great.  You answered a question correctly without really knowing what it meant? Great.  You understand (almost) everything in the 4th grade German class? Great. 

Now, you don't want to waste too much time because you don't want to slip into being lazy. . that being said you don't have to be efficient.  TIP NUMBER SIX:  Why go to once when you can go twice?  Really,  Getting outside is always good and going to the store takes time AND is productive.  Two birds pigeons with one stone.  The more time you spend in transit places than the better off you are.  Therefore, two trips to the store is definitely better than one.  You can even mix it up and go to two different stores--one will assuredly be farther away.

TIP NUMBER SEVEN follows tip number six: Struggle with bureaucracy. 

These are the official guidelines for pictures..
Note five lines from the top

A move to a new country or situation cannot avoid some bureaucracy.  You have to deal with bureaucracy in some way.  Make sure you deal with it as often as possible while also making sure you construct your own barriers and red tape to parallel their barriers.  In this way you can make a seemingly impossible maze of red tape into something truly foreboding.  For example, get all the documents you need in order but take a horrible passfoto at a random kiosk.  To really do this right find the kiosk that is in the grungyist hidden corner of the train station.  If it looks like nobody uses it its what you're going for.  The pictures may look alright, but do not fear! They will most likely fade yellow if you wait (wait the couple of days just to make sure they are the proper yellowish tint).  Here are some quick things that you can do if you find yourself settling in in Germany to prolong your struggles with Bureaucracy: give the railway a non-residential address for your bahn card--it just wont get delivered and you'll have to go into the station and then finally call and attempt to get them to send another, sublet--it will take a while to get a good enough looking rental contract for your Aufenhaltserlaubnis, make sure you use electronic means of communication to matriculate at the University--basically, only communicate in a way that can be ignored.. if you go in they have to deal with you. Now if you do go in make sure you go in at a time when the office is closed, preferably right after it closes. In this way you maximize your effort to productivity ratio such that you use as much effort as possible without falling into feeling like you are, in fact, wasting time.

TIP NUMBER EIGHT: Deal with the unexpected.  Now this isn't as much as a tip as much as something to remember.  Things will happen and you'll have to deal with them.  By doing this you'll actually get better at them and, if you happen to be in Germany, get to practice your German.  When my bike was stolen I got to use a lot of time figuring out what I could do about it, talking to the police, meeting the police to take pictures of the basement cage, and looking for my bike on the internet.  It sucks but there is nothing else to do but deal with it and, hopefully, by dealing with it I'll at least increase some sort of understanding of German.  At least I'll know what "pedals" are auf Deutsch, probably forever.

TIP NUMBER NINE: Find a hobby. . or two.  One key is finding a hobby to use your time.  Doing actual productive things during free time is essential to using free time.  Who would've thought?  I always have things I want to do or get into but have not had the time or they were not high enough of the priority list to make the time.  Now you don't even have to make the time as much as use it.  Some may ask if this is the case why have I not kept up on my blogging. . . uh, anyways, find something productive and fun to do.. something that you might not get to do otherwise.  Oh, and stay (or get back) in shape.  Think of the weather beckoning you out to work out; or challenging you to, as the case may be.

TIP NUMBER TEN:  Make Friends and have a social life.  This means something different for everyone but when working such a schedule why not get to know people and experience the world though someone else's glasses?

Denise and me in Nürnberg at the castle wall.

TIP NUMBER ELEVEN:  Make sure you work towards your goals that you came with.  This one is a no brainer.. for me it means getting my German better.

I hope that these tips will help you at some point and if not, I hope they help you understand my day-to-day life a little better!  Its been great and I haven't yet had a problem keeping busy. . perhaps I'll refine my technique and publish a refined and updated guide but until then, keep busy!

October 10, 2010

So I wrote this a while ago, didn't like it too much, decided to change it, didnt end up doing that, decided to post it, had to deal with my bike being stolen, and now I'm finally getting around to it.  Thanks for your patience (if it required any ;-p )!

At Oktoberfest. . I think all of Italy and a lot of Bayern were there.

I think I am forming quite the habit of writing while on the train. . I guess I need to start taking books with me to avoid this.  I am traveling back home to Dresden after half of our Fall break, in which I traveled to Salzburg, München (Oktoberfest), Nürnberg, and Bamberg. Although there were a lot of locations wrapped up in that last sentence they are all situated in such close proximity to each other that I was actually able to achieve relaxation!  I spent four and a half days spending time in Salzburg (exculding the one day at Oktoberfest) and then the other days in Nürnberg with the last overnight in Bamberg.  The weather, in a surprisingly unusual move, decided to welcome the break with sun and clear sky (minus one day).  We have some Russian air currents, meaning cold air, moving in but it has also kept the clouds away.  That is one reason that this trip has been such a success.. hopefully I'll be able to impart some other reasons in at the next paragraphs.  I have settled on a couple overarching reasons for the trip being so relaxing and fun, they are as follows: Spending time with friends, gracious hosts, and Fulbright connections.

On the train to München

I met up with Denise and Liz, Liz is a college friend that went on the Salzburg program with us and is participating in a Fulbright grant in Mainz, and returned to our old stomping ground of Salzburg.  I left Salzburg with a plethora of experiences but a convincing feeling that I had not stomped the ground to its fullest extent.  A few days of doing "Salzburg things," with the exception of Oktoberfest, did a little to abate this feeling and reminded me how easy it is to pick up something that has been left off.  We stayed with one of our former professors in Salzburg, who owns an extra little apartment right next to her own.  She would have us for tea and coffee in the evening and set a time for us every morning for breakfast.  We would knock on her door to find fresh break and tea or coffee cup, according to our preference.  I was battling a little of a throat cold and, therefore, consumed about a liter or two of tea a day. 

I forgot how gorgeous Fall was in Salzburg

On Untersberg. . Im getting better at self-shot photos. :)

We went to Mass on Sunday morning at the main Dom, which is actually not under renovation at the moment.  So many of the old churches and buildings maintain an almost constant external skeleton of scaffolding over part of their exterior.  It is very rare to see a large old building that does not have at least a partial shell.  We then wandered through the city, had coffee/hot chocolate at the café Fürst, Later in the day we had dinner at our favorite local restaurant (Knüsperschnitzel--breaded with cornflakes, mmm, mmm mm, so good), and commenced to run the food off on the way to getting Denise and Liz to the train station.  Apparently our sense of how long the journey took was a little underestimated.  In end result Denise and Liz reached the train clutching full bellies of Schnitzel and Weißbier. 

The most quintessential Austrian hiker.. Note the Nordic walking sticks

My last few day in Salzburg brought me to the top of Untersberg, a small mountain just South of Salzburg, and the the UP-Salzburg Center.  I made it to Untersberg without problem but with worry I was on the wrong bus. When I asked the ticket booth if they had a student price for the Gondola to the top of Untersberg he asked if I lived in Europe. Yes, I live in Dresden.. oh and here is my international student card.  His response:  This card is bad. . . but I will give you the discount.  I guess there are some tangible benefits to trying to speak German all the time.  Untersberg was wonderful. . I spent a couple hours just enjoying the clean air and un on top.  The only polluting element was an annoying American tourist that knew everything about anything.  I think if I could have had dinner with him I would have been lucky if I only escaped with a couple pearls of knowledge or at best understanding the progression of philosophical thought throughout time.  On the gondola he explained to some other American tourists some of Salzburgs history and that it seemed amazingly small for having 300,000 to 400,000 people. . the Austrian next to him corrected his impression by informing the group the total was close to 100,000.  Go big or go home I guess.

Aloe Blacc on tour in Munich. Denise's cousin plays keyboard for Aloe.  It was awesome hanging with them and being at the concert.  One of the sweetest connections I've been able to use.  Ever.  If you like soul music at all look him up!

After making sure that I utilized my week bus pass to the full extent and a short stop in München for a Aloe Blacc concert I could I met Denise in Nürnberg to spend some time with her and do Nürberger touristy things.  It was wonderful being able to wander around Nürnberg and enjoy the sun with her.  My favorite part of our wanderings was stopping at a cafe on the castle wall called the Wanderer for a couple glasses of wine and just watching people and chatting.  Our time in general we did many things that I would have done on my own as well but it reminded me that traveling is much more fun with a companion or group.  I would have had a hard time justifying staying at the café so long (we outlasted everyone who was sitting when we first sat down) or been so content walking around for so long.  We met up with two different groups of Fulbright people in Nürnberg which most definitely gave us a slice of America.  Sitting at a table of 6 Americans who are all excited to speak English is quite comforting. We are also certainly all German-nerds. . we're a small percentage of American college students who really wanted to learn German and come over here for a year.  Fairly homogeneous really.


Tschüssie!!