And So The Rest Of The Story Begins

My trusty bicycle and I. One last ride.

I need to write a very important post...a post that needs to be written right now while the feelings I am feeling are still fresh within me. You have been officially warned. What I am about to write is worthy of the Lifetime channel and I am about to get a little "Oprah" on you. I am gonna be sappy and emotional and if you don't like it then YOU should probably live in Germany for a year and see how you feel when you are about to leave. A post like this can never really be written after the fact; the feelings one experiences are almost indescribable at the time and almost fully impossible to describe afterwards. I am, of course, talking about the fact that it is my last day here in Magdeburg and my second last day in Germany. Where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday I was in Radolfzell thinking to myself, "Wow, only one month into this journey. I still have almost 11 more months to enjoy in Germany. That is so much time!" Well one month turned into two, two into four, four into ten, and ten into almost twelve. Now I am writing one of my last blog posts in my almost empty room in Magdeburg. All of my things are packed up, save my trusty computer.

When I first arrived in Magdeburg, it seemed I would never reach this place of feeling sadness when leaving it. At the time, that thought was unthinkable. As soon as I arrived in Magdeburg, the weather started to turn cold and all the friends I had made in Radolfzell had somehow been removed from my daily life. I thought that Magdeburg had nothing to offer me...when really it had more to offer me than I could ever imagine. Let me explain...

When I lived in Radolfzell, I lived in an absolute paradise. I lived in a picturesque little town nestled right on the largest lake in Germany. On a clear day, you could see the Alps and in 30 minutes I could set foot in Switzerland. This was the Germany I had dreamt about and wanted to experience. In those two months, I had gotten everything I had expected. When I moved to Magdeburg, I experienced a huge reality check. Magdeburg is a part of former East Germany. It was almost completely destroyed in WWII and was rebuilt under Soviet influence. Because of being rebuilt under Soviet influence, the buildings are all very plain, flat, and industrial looking. The streets are wider than you ever thought a street should be and the land itself is very flat which makes the plain buildings the only thing you can see when you are standing in the city. I found myself almost immediately opposed to living in Magdeburg but told myself, "Clayton, are you really that shallow? Just because Magdeburg isn't 'pretty' it doesn't mean it is a bad place to live." I tried to suck it up and prosper but I always found this sadness creeping into me...at times I even felt envy. I felt envy towards the other people in my program who were placed in, what I considered, attractive, lively places to live like Berlin, Munich, Cologne, or anywhere else really. The one thing Magdeburg had going for it was my awesome host family and my good friend Joe. Magdeburg doesn't have much to do and I found myself getting pretty darn bored. It turns out, however, that I am not the only person in Magdeburg who feels this way. Many of the students who study at the University in Magdeburg leave when they are finished with their studies because they do not want to live in Magdbeurg or Sachsen-Anhalt (the state that Magdeburg is in) for that matter. This is creating a serious problem for Magdeburg. The city has a decreasing population and all those smart, educated kids that get their education in Magdeburg leave and take all of their bright, new ideas with them and benefit other cities in the West. Magdeburg, and most of former East Germany are still recovering from DDR times. Time stood still during DDR time and former East Germany was not able to grow with the rest of Germany when it was separated for all of those years. They need those kids to stay with their education and new ideas. I hope, in time, this difference between East and West Germany will diminish and ALL of Germany can move towards the same future.

So there I was, feeling sorry for myself because I didn't get the Germany that I wanted. I traveled on the weekends to visit other program participants and that made things a little bit better. Traveling reminded me, however, that, even though I was not in my ideal city, I was still in Germany and had so many wonderful things to see. This was probably the beginning of the turning point for me. I started to realize that Magdeburg was not my favorite place in the world but that it was still a part of Germany. Before I left the states I thought to myself, "Get to know Germany Clayton. Experience as much of Germany as you can and embrace it." Well guess what? To embrace something wholeheartedly, you have to embrace the good and the bad. I love Germany and to truly love and embrace this country, I had to embrace all parts of it. The cities I do like and the cities I don't like; it's wonderful present and future but also its dark past. These things all make up Germany and I was beginning to realize that.

As many of you know, my program consists of studying at a Germany University for 5 months and then interning at a German company after the semester portion. During the semester portion, I kind of just went to class and didn't really take much in because I was sad about where I was living. I would travel on the weekends and slowly started to realize that I was still in Germany and that I could still see and experience lots of things while I was in Germany. By the end of my semester at the university I was not quite fully there to totally embracing Magdeburg and still did not like it. My internship search in Magdeburg was turning out little results. In my defense, former East Germany has less dynamic, interesting jobs than the West (for now at least) because of all the kids running away from it. So I was unable to find an ideal internship match for me in Magdeburg. I had met someone whose father was a professor in a city called Aachen some time before my internship search. When I couldn't find anything in Magdeburg, I contacted her and asked if her father had any internship spots available. Long story short, I ended up getting an internship offer in Aachen working with a Biology workgroup at the University in Aachen. After some emails and conversations with some supervisors in my program, I was approved to move to Aachen. I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to experience a new part of Germany. Aachen is as far West as you can get in Germany. It is literally on both the borders of Belgium and Holland. I was of course sad to be leaving Magdeburg, my host family, and Joe but happy to have gotten a good internship in an exciting new city.

Aachen was great. It was hilly with little streets to explore and the city is a University city. 50,000 people out of 250,000 were students. It was a cool vibe and I really liked it. I lived in an apartment with two other guys. They were really cool and it was neat to be able to speak German with them on a daily basis. They were my age so we had some of the same interests. We even made Bloody Marys one night. My internship in Aachen was okay...a bit boring at times. They set me up making Excel spreadsheets of information a lot of times but it was okay. Once, I got to go into the woods for 10 hours and helped look for woodpeckers with a radio that played woodpecker noises. Aachen was great but I did miss my host family and Joe back in Magdeburg and I had this overwhelming feeling that I didn't "belong" in Aachen. I kept thinking to myself, "Clayton, you were placed in Magdeburg not Aachen."

One day in Aachen, I checked my email to see an email from a professor at the University in Magdeburg. Something had panned out with an internship there that didn't pan out before I left for Aachen. I was offered an internship in Magdeburg at the University. It was an internship that was comparable to the one I already had in Aachen. What was I to do? I now lived in a German city that was exactly like the German cities I had envisioned but now had a good internship offer in Magdeburg when the only reason I left Magdeburg in the first place was because I couldn't find a good internship. I could just not tell my program about it and stay in ignorant bliss in Aachen. However, ever since I left Magdeburg, I kept feeling like I had given up on something...that I had ended something too soon. The going got tough so I got going...I quit Magdeburg when I never really gave it a chance. Not to mention that I had a host family back in Magdeburg that signed up for this program just like I did and wanted to experience another culture through me just how I wanted to experience another culture through them. I did not want to cut that experience short for them. I have never considered myself a quitter before and finally realized that Magdeburg was the right place for me to be even if it wasn't the easiest place for me to be. So, after living in Aachen for almost exactly one month, I packed up all of my belongings once more and headed back to Magdeburg to finish what I started.

In the following months, I realized that was the best thing for me to do. My internship was really good for me. I got lots of lab experience. I worked in a lab that studies cow samples (cow poo) and worked towards making methane production more efficient. Methane is a renewable source of energy and can be used to power things instead of using coal or gasoline. Not the most glamorous job I have ever had but working towards a goal like that, that could help the planet, made me feel really good. I gained lots of practical lab skills. I am now a master at using micropipettes and can label even the smallest plastic tube with my hand tied behind my back.

Outside of work, I was beginning to see Magdeburg transform. The weather was getting nicer and Magdeburg was really turning into a beautiful city. The parks in Magdeburg are really great and Magdeburg is a cyclist's paradise. The flat terrain allows you to bike easily through the city and the wide streets allowed for plenty of room for bicycle lanes. I started to ride my bike to and from work everyday and the fresh air and green landscape helped me appreciate Magdeburg. By the near end of my time in Magdbeurg, I actually played hookie at work so that I could ride my bike around the city and take pictures all day. I was also beginning to realize that Magdeburg really had given me everything I wanted to get out of this experience. I wanted to learn more about German culture and I wanted to improve my German. I accomplished both of those things by living in Magdeburg. In fact, I would almost say that my German was better than it would have been had I lived in another city. Since Magdeburg was not what you would call a "tourist hotspot" not that many people know amazing English and there are very very few native English speakers in the city.

During my time in Magdeburg, I got to hear some very interesting stories about how things were in former East Germany and got to have a truly unique experience. There are very few Americans in Magdeburg. It is just not the place that people consider when they decide to study abroad. Because of that, I got to have a German experience that very few people will ever have. I am truly grateful for that. I always considered myself a pretty strong, resilient person before this program but Magdeburg really put that to the test. I experienced untold personal growth during this year. I am still not 100% sure of all the things Magdeburg has taught me that I will be able to use in the future but I am pretty sure even 20 years down the road I will be using what Magdeburg has taught me without even really realizing it. What's really special about Magdeburg is that it is ugly...on the outside. Now hear me out on this one. If you look really closely though and I mean really closely, you realize just how beautiful Magdeburg is. In fact, in order to appreciate Magdeburg's beauty you have to look so closely at and so deeply into it that you end up looking deep inside yourself and discovering things about yourself. I mean honestly. Really what makes you happy? It's not having mountains, old churches, or a beautiful city to look at is it? If it is, then you are a pretty darn shallow person...I must say, however, that I was that person at the beginning of my time in Magdeburg. I was so torn up about what Magdeburg did not have that I did not appreciate what it did have to offer me; a great friend, a wonderful host family, and a truly unique German experience. My first week in Magdeburg, I went on a very small, very short city tour. We came across the statue in the center of the city that basically represents the city. I was not able to fully appreciate it at the time but now can fully appreciate it and even relate to it. The statue is of two horses pulling one ball in opposite directions. The ball is actually a vacuum and the statue represents the experiment that Otto-Von-Guerricke (the university is named after him) conducted during which he discovered and proved the existence of the vacuum. Yes, the vacuum was allegedly discovered in Magdeburg. What is special about this statue is that one side looks like a traditional statue and the other side is open so that you can see the framework inside that supports the statue. This statue represents that  everything has a purpose and that even beneath a seemingly beautiful outer shell, there lies a less beautiful support system but, without this support system, the statue would most likely fall or be quickly damaged. Functionality is not always beautiful but it is needed. You need function AND beauty. In Magdeburg, the functional part is way more apparent than the beauty (wide streets, plain industrial buildings, and a flat landscape that lends itself well to agriculture and wind energy production) BUT the beauty is still there. You just have to look!

The pretty side of the statue.

Other side that shows the functionality.

So, is Magdeburg my favorite city in the world? I would probably say no...BUUUUT because of all the things that Magdeburg represents to me and has given me, it is very special to me. I learned so much about myself and about Germany in Magdeburg and I got to live with the best host family anyone could ever ask for and I got to experience the crazy city of Magdeburg with my very good friend Joe. I think it is safe to say that our 9 months together in Magdeburg has made an unbreakable bond that only people who have lived in Magdeburg can really ever understand. The city makes you go a little crazy...in a good way.

With all that said, I think you can understand why I am sad to be leaving Magdeburg. It has been the definition of a passionate experience. The lows were really low and the highs were pretty darn high. I can safely say that Magdeburg has become a home for me so leaving it will not be easy. Leaving Magdeburg and Germany is almost harder than when I left the states. When I left the states, I knew that in one year's time I would be returning. Sure some things will have changed by the time I return but, for the most part, the life I left in Wisconsin is waiting for me. Leaving Magdeburg is harder because I do not know when I will be able to return and, if I do, it will probably not be for very long. Magdeburg is a dear friend of mine that will probably never again be a part of my everyday life even though it is so meaningful to me. Sure, Magdeburg and I will share the occasional letter or phone call and even the not so occasional visit but it will never again be a part of my daily life as it was for the past 9 months. It is really something that only someone who has sudied abroad for an extended period of time can understand. I have tried to explain it the best I could but I know a website that can do it much better. Recently I saw a Thought Catalog entry going around on the internet that pretty much perfectly explains what it is like. It would be silly for me to try and replicate these thoughts in my own words when they are already explained so well. The entry was written by a woman named Chelsea Fagan who is a writer living in Paris. Here is the link to her entry:
Thought Catalog What Happens When You Live Abroad

Once you have lived away from your home for as long as I have, you can search and search the house you are leaving abroad looking for things you may have forgotten to pack. This attempt is futile...you will never ever be able to pack up all of the things you have in your home away from home. I am not talking about tangible objects or even things you can ascribe a name to...you will always leave something behind that you can't quite put your finger on...a feeling...a piece of your heart...a memory. This is not to say I will walk through the rest of my life feeling like half a person. I will will have many moments of 100% fulfillment, but, as Chelsea's article mentions, with every accomplishment, celebration, or memory I will have in the United States, I will forever wonder what I am missing back in my second home in Germany because a piece of me will always reside there...the piece of me that I looked desperately for while packing but also the piece that was never meant to return home with me. It would have been really easy to title this last post "The End" but that is so out of fashion and entirely too final for me. At the risk of sounding wayyyyy too predictable, I really do need to say that the end of this year is not an end but only the beginning of the rest of my story. When I started this program I thought to myself, "This is 'it' Clayton. This is the most important year of your life. Live it up since you probably won't have a another year like this. Make it count." I realize now that I was partially right. This year will probably remain one of the most important years of my life but this is not "it" whatever that even means. This will not be my last time in Germany and this year has really only opened countless doors for me. The only issue for me now is deciding which one of the wonderful paths before me I want to take.

Zu Familie Dulz, (Sonja, Konrad, Christian, Andreas, Katrin, und Oma Ruth) herzlichen Dank für eure Gastfreundshaft und für die Offnung eures Hauses zu mir. Meine Zeit in Magdeburg war etwas ganz besonderes für mich. Es ist meine deutsche Heimat. Ich bin echt ein Magdeburger Kind.

Euere Spatz,
-Clayton-

To my family back home (Michael, Brooke, Dad, Danni, Lilly, Jolene, Nana, and all the others that are too long to name), thank you for being so supportive of this journey of mine...or should I say ours. You guys have been with me the entire time and thank you for patiently awaiting for my return. It is almost here. Love you guys.

-Clayton-

Birthday in Germany!

As many of you know, I recently celebrated the big 2-4. My birthday in Germany was wonderful. It was one of those days where so many little wonderful things happened that the day just ended up being spectacular. The weather was perfect and every walk signal turned green as I approached it on my bike ride to and from work. Work was great as well. Yes, I worked because I honestly did not see a reason not to. I didn't tell my coworkers that it was my birthday until the day of because I didn't want any commotion. Once they found out it was my birthday though, they dashed off to the university cafeteria and bought me a chocolate muffin as a makeshift birthday cake. That was so nice of them and I really appreciated it. Work was very relaxed that day and I got out early and enjoyed the weather. When I returned home from work, I found a birthday card waiting for me. It was from my grandmother. I don't know how she does it but as long as I can remember, she has always mailed my birthday cards on the exact right day so that I end up getting them on my birthday...and this year was no exception. I don't know how she does it but at over 90 years old, she somehow knew when to send my birthday card so that I would receive it exactly on my birthday even though I am over 4,000 miles away from home. That night my host family and I had Greek food and ate outside because the weather was perfect. My friend Joe also came over and ate with us. My host family got me a German breakfast set as my gift. I got 4 egg cups (to place your egg in while you eat it out of the shell), 4 egg spoons (little spoons to eat your soft-boiled egg out of the shell with), 4 small breakfast boards (these are literally small plastic boards that you eat your breakfast off of), and an egg cracker (a fun device that perfectly cracks the top of the egg shell off). My friend Joe also got me a little something that included my favorite flavored beer in Germany; Birne-Ingwer Schöfferhofer. It's beer that tastes like ginger and pear. The stuff is only 2.5% alcohol so calling it beer is kind of a stretch. I also got to fit in a Skype session with my dad and got other messages from friends and family. As I said, it was just a wonderful day filled with many things that I am still thankful for.

Presents! Side note, "Gift" in German means poison...my host family did not get me any poison.

My host family and I were treated to a beautiful evening sky.

My favorite Bier!

Frankfurt Mid-Year Seminar

So the CBYX program has an orientation, mid-year seminar, and end of year seminar for all the participants. I can't believe the mid-year seminar is already over. It was from the 16th to the 20th of January. That means I am over half done with my year in Germany. Sad face. The mid-year seminar was really fun though. It was in Frankfurt and the program paid for participants' travel expenses so we all basically got to go to Frankfurt for free. I had only ever been to Frankfurt when we landed in Germany but we were all quickly swooped away to our dorm building in the woods for our orientation seminar. So it was nice to be able to really see Frankfurt. It is the only city in Germany with actual high rises even though it only has a couple. Even Berlin does not have high rises. We had to arrange and plan our own arrival but we all had to be at the hostel at 3pm at the latest. We stayed at the Haus der Jugend in Frankfurt. It was a pretty nice hostel and it was probably the only one that could accommodate all 75 of us at once. The building looked like it could hold a lot of people. It was four to a room so not what you would call private but it was clean and we all had our own bed. The hostel was also very close to the nightlife. Haha not sure if the program planned that or not. My guess is not.

Frankfurt is so cool. The Main river runs through it and there is an island in this river that is home to all these geese, ducks, and swans. It was so cool to be in the middle of the city and to be able to fall asleep to the distant honking of the geese on the island.

The seminar takes place so that the employees in charge of our program can touch base with us. The first night consisted of a welcome and an Italian dinner. The Italian dinners in Europe are better...just want to put that out there. The next morning we were split into 3 groups and we basically had a sharing circle where we all shared where we were living, where we were going to school, and if we lived with a guest family. We then got stickers and we got to rank different aspects of the program and then we discussed why certain things were maybe better than others. Overall, we were all having a positive experience with the program. Once were were done with that, we had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. I opted to just walk around a bit. That's what is so nice about going somewhere you have never been before. A simple walk is so interesting and fun...and it's free. This particular hostel was also capable of providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner so we didn't even have to worry about meals.

Wednesday we were split up into 3 predetermined groups. Art and Media, Transportation and Finance, and Politics. I chose Art and Media because I really did not have interest for the other two groups. My group got to go to a museum dedicated to film and photography that was walking distance from the hostel. The museum was really interesting. We got to see all the different developments that the world of film and photography went through. We even got too see one of the original costumes from the Alien movies and a mock up of Darth Vader's helmut that was used in the original Star Wars movies. The museum also had this really cool installation. It consisted of 3 projection screens that all played a different movie clip at a time. All 3 clips had a unifying theme. For instance, if it was a dancing theme, all three different movies had characters that were dancing to the same tempo so if you played appropriate music it would look like they were all dancing to the same music. Super cool. Later that day, the Art and Media group went to the ZDF studios. ZDF is one of the biggest German television stations. They also go by 2DF because ZDF stands for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen which means "2nd German Television" so they have the liberty of swapping the Z and 2 since they stand for the same thing and look so similar. Technically this television station was in Mainz but it was very close to Frankfurt. ZDF has stations all over Germany but they are based out of Mainz so it was a real treat to go the the main station. We got to see some stages and control rooms. ZDF's motto is "Mit dem zweiten sieht man besser" which means "with the 2nd, one sees better". So they are saying you see more with their station. Also, while you are saying this you have to hold your middle and pointer finger over one of your eyes. I know it sounds corny but it was pretty cool. Check out the video below if you want to know what I am talking about.

ZDF is also known for these little people called Mainzelmännchen. Between the commercials and the shows on all ZDF stations, they play a little 5 second clip of these little guys doing silly things. The Mainzelmännchen are named so because they come from Main and "männchen" means "little people". They have been on the television station since 1963 so many Germans remember growing up with them as a child. They have grown and evolved through the years but one thing has still remained the same...they are silly little buggers. It is also worth mentioning that I have NEVER seen a Mainzelmännchen clip twice. Never. Take a look below.

A studio at ZDF.

This is where they draw the lottery numbers. So cool!

Me and Det at ZDF. Yes, the name of this Mainzelmännchen is Det. Mit dem zweiten sieht man besser!

On Thursday, all 75 of us got to see the GIZ tower in Frankfurt. You see, CBYX is the name of the program in America but GIZ handles everything on the German side. GIZ stands for Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and it means Society for International Cooperation. They handle hundreds of foreign relation programs and the CBYX program is just one small part of what they do although they treat it with great importance. While at the GIZ tower we got to see some presentations on what kind of work GIZ does and we also got to hear a member of the American Foreign Service speak. She talked about what her job was like and what she had to do to get a job with the Foreign Service...it does not seem easy at all to get a job with the foreign service. If you don't know at least two languages fluently, you basically have no chance of getting a job. You also need to know an obscure language like Hungarian or something. It sounds so hard to get hired by the Foreign Service.

When we left the GIZ tower we went back to the hostel for a short while. That night GIZ organized for us to see a musical at the Englisch Theater in Frankfurt where all the musicals were in English. It was "The Who's Tommy". If you have never seen it, it is super weird. All the songs are from The Who. It is basically the story of a boy who witnesses a murder and internalizes it but becomes deaf, blind, and mute as a result. It was so strange but I love musicals so I enjoyed it. Here is a clip from the musical where they use the song Pinball Wizard.

As soon as the seminar started it was over. Friday morning we were done and we all headed out. Some people like me headed home and others went on little weekend trips.

Day of Democracy

"Tag der Demokratie" This means "Day of Democracy". It is a day in January that Magdeburg has every year where local organizations and business who support democracy can set up a stand on the street and you can visit them. The day takes on a different role, though. Me and the other Magdeburgers started to call it Nazi day because it is the day that neo-nazis choose to demonstrate. If I learned one thing from this day it is that Germans haaaaaaaaaate nazis. They HATE them. I would to if I was part of a country that was trying to amend its dark past and certain people were ruining that for everyone. Most of the neo-nazis that take part in the demonstration aren't even from Germany. They are foreigners from neighboring countries that are demonstrating in Germany. The town was full of police officers that were there just to make sure nothing happened. I was told that there were over 2,000 police officers and that they were policemen from all over Germany. The neo-nazi demonstrators don't have a very big following so the same neo-nazis have to travel from city to city in Germany if they want to demonstrate there. The policemen follow suit and simply follow them from city to city making sure there is peaceful demonstrating and no violence. I actually had quite a bit of fun this day. It was really cool to see all the interesting ways people advertised against nazis. Some were cool and some were really weird. What I liked most about the day was that the streets of Magdeburg were filled with people. Normally there is not much going on in the city and it was nice to see the city wake up. I personally did not see any neo-nazis that day. I was told that they were all gathered at the university which is the one place I didn't go that day. I was a little disappointed to tell the truth. As someone from a small town in Wisconsin, I have never really seen a neo-nazi and I was curious to see what one looked like. Would they all be skin heads with piercings and tattoos? Maybe not. For all I knew they were all college graduates wearing argyle sweater vests. I have noooooo idea what one looks like. Some people might cringe at the thought of someone wanting to see a neo-nazi but curiosity is a natural human attribute and closing your eyes to a problem like this does not help the situation. My host family is also very open to talking about stuff like that and they had no problem that I was so curious about the events of this day. Some people who live in former east Germany think that all Americans think they are all nazis. I personally did not think this before I arrived in former east Germany and I really hope no one else from the US thinks this. It is not true. There are neo-nazis in the US and there are some in the former east but that does not make everyone there a nazi. I also like how fitting it was that the neo-nazis demonstrated on the day of democracy. Even though I completely disagree with what they stand for, I think it is good that people can openly express their beliefs in Germany no matter how crazy and wrong they are. If the police had prevented the neo-nazis from demonstrating it would have been a step back for progress. Freedom is being allowed to freely express your beliefs no matter what they are and allowing people to make up their own minds as to whether or not they agree...the pictures below show that the German people overwhelmingly disagree with neo-nazis...and how wonderful is it that they were given the opportunity to make that choice.

Someone throwing the swastika away...very nice, very nice.

It reads something like "The risks of the nazi marches; read a history book or ask your grandparents."

It says "Colorful against Brown." Brown is the color that the nazi party identifies with so these people are saying we need a future full of color (many different ideas and beliefs) and not just brown (one set of beliefs like in WWII). This was actually a game where you could win prizes by popping the balloons with a dart. This person was clever and filled the balloons with paint to also make the game an advertisement against nazis.

It is hard to see because of the glare, but the swastika on Hitler's arm has been replaced with a heart and it can clearly be seen that he is wearing pink. His fingernails are also painted on the hand beneath the gloved hand and he is wearing lipstick. This particular sign meant to say that Hitler may have been homosexual. I personally do not know if Hitler was or not and some people might take offense to that. I don't think anyone should take offense to the sign because the greater meaning of the sign meant to say that Hitler was a hypocrite. Hitler also wanted to do away with homosexuals along with many other types of people (handicapped, Jewish, etc.) so this sign was calling him out as a hypocrite. Whether or not he was gay is irrelevant. Hitler was a hypocrite but, more importantly, he was a horrible, evil person.

The streets of Magdeburg full of people!

"Bunt Statt Braun"
"Colorful Instead of Brown"

Even more interesting than the message itself is how they painted it throughout the streets in Magdeburg. They made a special bicycle wheel with the message on it and rigged the bicycle with a bucket of paint to paint this message on the sidewalk as it was wheeled throughout the city. Ingenuity at its best!

Not really sure what this was or what it was trying to say but I simply HAD to take a picture of it. It looks like a hybrid between a turtle, octopus, and praying mantis. So weird.

Return to Radolfzell

A return to Radolfzell was always in the works and I will probably still make one more trip there before I head back to the states. It is just so wonderful and it will always be my first German home. Me and Adam arrived late in Radolfzell Thursday night after our ill-fated Rothaus excursion. We woke up Friday morning and decided we would just wander around Radolfzell for the day. We didn't really have any plans besides making a visit to my old host family to say hello. So we walked around town and passed by all the old familiar places and saw how things were different or the same. I also took pictures of the inside of the Radolfzell church for the first time. I can't believe I didn't take pictures sooner. The church is beautiful. We also got to see that the local Volksbank had been turned into a giant Adventskalender for Advent. We were visiting after Christmas was over but the giant Adventskalender had not yet been taken down. All the windows at the front of this bank were decorated and each was a "door" on the Adventskalender. We, of course also visited the Bodensee to say hello to the water and the swans. After we were done wandering around the town we made our way to my old host family's house. Me, Adam, and the Bottlangs just talked over coffee and cake. My room there had been empty the entire time I was gone and was only going to be occupied with a student that Sunday. It was crazy to think that the best room in all of Radolfzell was unoccupied for so long. It is 2 minutes away from school (walking) and it had its own kitchenette and shower. I guess only very special people like me get to stay there. We, of course, went to the Kaufland where all the CBYXers went during almost every break and lunch we had at Carl-Duisberg Centren. I also visited the restaurant where I had my first Döner. We also went to the market on Saturday like we did almost every Wednesday and Saturday while we were in Radolfzell. We both bought flowers for our host families and dropped them off as a thank you for everything they did for us while we lived with them. Saturday afternoon we headed home. It was sad leaving Radolfzell but it was also a little sad being there without the other original 16 Radolfzellers. It just felt wrong being on the Bodensee without them so, although I am glad I visited, I don't think I could ever live there again because I would just think about all the people that I would be missing.

This is one of the things that I miss most about Radolfzell and southern Germany in general. The natural beauty. The fact that you could just be walking along and stumble across a little creek with a duck in it.

You may recognize this photo as the profile picture for my entire blog. I just couldn't resist taking a similar photo almost 3.5 months later.

Radolfzell church. 

The Radolfzell Volksbank Adventskalender. 

That used to be my front door!!!!   :( 

Friday was Epiphany so that meant the three kings were walking around greeting people. Lots of German cities do this.

My Bodensee with more ducks and swans than I ever saw in summer. 

The Saturday market.

Saturday afternoon me and Adam departed from Radolfzell and headed towards our respected homes. The trip was so loooooong because we were using a special discounted ticket that only allowed us to use regional trains that are slower. The trip was long but we did save a ton of money and I am all about saving those nickels and dimes.

Berlin Trip #4

It seems like only yesterday I was writing the blog entitled "Berlin Trip #1" yet here I am almost 4 months later writing "Berlin Trip #4". Berlin has been my go-to destination if I get antsy to travel but don't want to spend a lot of money or don't want to stay overnight somewhere (although I usually have the offer to overnight it in Berlin from one of my friends) . The train ride to Berlin from Magdeburg is about 1 hour and 45 minutes and 13 Euros. The 13 Euros is not exactly cheap for a 105 minute train ride but it usually ends up being cheaper than my other travel options. So Berlin wins. I decided to go on this particular trip because the other guy in CBYX that lives in Magdeburg was departing to visit family in London. He was leaving from the airport in Berlin so I figured I would ride with and then explore Berlin a little more once he left. This trip was in December so the Christmas markets were still up in Berlin and I wanted to explore them. I really did get much done in the couple of hours I wandered around alone. I visited 3 Christmas markets. One was at the Schloss Charlottenburg, one was at Alexanderplatz, and one was at the Fernsehturm. I got pictures at each one.

Schloss Charlottenburg Christmas market.

Typical stand at a Christmas market...see the sign for Glühwein? If not, it is right under the roof-mounted nativity scene that I just happened to notice as I posted this picture.

Alexanderplatz Christmas market. Can you see the Weltzeituhr (World Time Clock) that Alexanderplatz is famous for?

Fernsehturm. I went on a foggy night so the Fernsehturm looked really cool. It is lit up so it was like a bright beacon in the foggy darkness.

This is the Christmas market that was at the base of the Fernsehturm. 

I walked by this Luis Vuitton store and had to take a picture of their window display. From now on, I am going to say "We are all ignoring the pink and orange, argyle elephant in the room."

I would also like to say that this was the first time that I used Berlin public transportation all alone. I didn't get lost at all. I am becoming a city slicker. Watch out!

Die Fledermaus

No "Die Fledermaus" does not mean that something dies. "Die" is pronounced "dee" auf Deutsch. So anyway, "Die Fledermaus" means "The Bat" and it is a German operetta from Johann Strauß. I had first thought, when my host parents told me we were going to go to "Die Fledermaus", that is was a opera and that it was gonna be all sad and someone was gonna die. Not so. It is an operetta so it was more of a musical comedy. So we made our way to the Magdeburg Opera House this past Saturday on a cold, windy night. The opening scene of "Die Fledermaus" said it all. The curtain came up only to the dancers knees and then, for what seemed like 10 minutes, the dancers continued to move behind the curtain in a way that suggested very naughty things were happening behind the curtain but nothing was said or sung the entire time this happened. For instance, three typical, pink ballerina legs line up in front of one set of male legs. The man then proceeds to drop his pants down to his ankles and walks off stage where the three ballerina legs follow. Now, we all know that no one really exposed anything behind that curtain but just the thought of it was making me blush.

Haha so what is "Die Fledermaus" about? It is kind of complicated and if you really want to know the exact story you can Google it. Basically it is a story of infidelity and revenge with plenty of humor added. Now, the entire operetta was in German so I am not going to pretend for one second that I understood it all...but there were plenty of jokes that were conveyed through body language and sometimes they even talked slow enough for me to understand one or even two sentences in a row!

I will also take this opportunity to let you in on a little secret...YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING IN GERMANY! There was a man walking around with programs for the show. I asked him for one and he told me it cost €2! I said no thank you...but my host dad insisted on getting at least one for the whole group to read. This is very typical for Germany. You have to pay for water, bathrooms, parking spaces, ketchup (even at restaurants), and apparently show programs. It's ridiculous but I guess you have the cash to spare when your government ensures that everyone has health insurance. You learn to adapt though. I have grown very accustomed to filling my water bottle up in the bathroom and not getting anything to drink with a meal. Sometimes the drink costs just as much as your meal and in Germany beer is sometimes cheaper than water. Yes, sometimes beer is CHEAPER than water. How's that for drastically different? Before we left the opera house we got a group photo.

Back Row (left to right): Christian (host sister's BF), Konrad (host dad), and Joe (fellow CBYXer)
Front Row (left to right): Katrin (host sister), Me, Sonja (host mom)
My host brother Andreas was missing this night but he was there in spirit.

Here is a video clip of a bunch of different songs in "Die Fledermaus" just to give you a taste of it.

Dessau

Sachsen-Anhalt (the Bundesland that Magdeburg is in) is very tame. Not a whole lot to do but the other CBYX participant that lives in Magdeburg with me had the idea to go to Dessau for the day. My first questions was "What's in Dessau?" He said he didn't really know but that there must be something since it was one of the other "big" cities in Sachsen-Anhalt. Being a big city in Sachsen-Anhalt really isn't saying too much but I was willing to give it a try. Dessau is only one hour away from Magdeburg but all the other train stations on the way were really creepy looking. I'm talking run down and returning to earth. They all had broken windows and looked like they were no longer being used to contain people seeking warmth. They just looked abandoned. Upon mentioning this to my host sister, she said "Yeah...don't get off at those stops." I was a little scared after hearing this. So we went to this city...and, it turns out, it, indeed, does not have that much to do. We found a nice mall and a pretty neat town square. We also popped our heads into this neat looking restaurant in the town square. The door was open but no one was in it. We yelled "hallo" but no one answered so we left. Haha it was so weird and sketchy all at once. We were told to go to this place called the Bauhaus by people who we told we were going. It turns out this place is kind of a museum for architecture. I have no interest in architecture and neither did the other participant so we quickly left. Feeling pretty defeated we sluggishly made our way back to the main part of the city. On the way, however, we crossed paths with a sign for a Tiergarten (zoo). I immediately became very excited. I love animals and I love them even more when the are contained and can't run away from me. So we had stumbled upon this little gem in this seemingly boring city. I love finding gems. The Tiergarten was actually very beautiful and it was strange to think it was hidden away in this city that seemed so bland at first glance. The pictures below are from the photo shoot that followed the discovery of the Tiergarten.

Oh ya know, just putting some wood on the fire and making a meal. 

Creepiest/most beautiful face ever

"Here lives Teddy and Eika"

I love lichen (symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae) almost as much as I love Kate Winslet and Germany has the largest specimens I have ever seen.

Is this the road to my future? One way to find out.