A Weekend in Hamburg

I flew into Hamburg at 9 pm at night, and where I come from the sky would be dark and things would start to slow down around this time. Not so here in Hamburg. Not only was I thrown off from jet-lag and a very uncomfortable sleep hours before, when I stepped out of the Hamburg airport the sky was still light blue. I mean, there weren't puffy white clouds everywhere but it was by no means pitch black either. I was really confused. "Yeah it doesn't get dark until 10ish here" is the statement I assumed for my first few days. Naturally, my fun began within an hour of leaving the airport. Timo, Nic, Elliot and I went out to get some food near the apartment. I was excited to use my German for the first time, because although the group I was with could speak German, English was so much more convenient. So here I am, ready to make my first German appearance in the local restaurant and I freeze up. I am looking at the menu and I have absolutely no idea what I am reading. The waiter is ready to take the order though, so I just abruptly say "I'll have what [Nic] is having." I have no idea what I am about to eat for dinner. You'd think your first meal in a foreign country would be of your choosing, of some local delicacy or something. You'd think I would order the most German meal available to make a statement..."I'm here in Germany now, and I will eat the most German thing I can!" So what ended up coming out on my plate? Bruschetta. It was very tasty, but it wasn't the idyllic German sausage with a pint of beer kind of meal I projected myself having. No complaints though because it was all an experience! Now, when I ordered my drink I definitely slipped up. Here in Germany, carbonated water is very popular. In fact if you order water at a restaurant you will be given 1)carbonated water with 2) no ice. Luckily I knew this going in (+1 for Nathan) so when I ordered my drink I asked "Do you have water without carbonation?" They did, and so I was then asked which one I wanted. You know when you are at a restaurant and you might say "I want this entree without _____?" The German words for "with" and "without" must have been fused together in my brain somehow because I ended up telling the waiter the equivalent of "I want water with, without carbonation. Thanks." I goofed up man! It was a great learning experience though, going out to dinner, and although I might have struck out twice, it provided some good laughs at the table. 

The next day Nic and his friend Tomma, along with Elliot, showed me around an area of Hamburg. We started off the morning with a trip to the corner bakery where fresh pastries had been made the hour before. What a treat! The prevalence of bakeries and cafes in Hamburg really astounded me. To equate, think about how many Starbucks and gas stations litter the streets. Except now, without them being chain locations, picture a multitude of bakeries all owned by different chefs. All of the pastries are nicely priced, too, so convenience and prices combined, these were always pretty busy places to be. After the bakery we spent a few hours walking around the fountains and bridges. We then took an S-Bahn (street train) to another area of the city, the port. Hamburg is the 3rd largest port in the world (according to my German textbook), and the area around the harbor is very clean, well designed, and hip. It was an awesome side trip in Hamburg. Later that night Elliot, Nic, and I met Tomma and some of her friends from school for dinner. Tomma's friend lives in the top apartment in her complex with her family, and it comes with a balcony. Luckily, we arrived just in time for me to snap the below picture from the rooftop (this was at 10 pm).

We ate around 11 pm and drank some champagne, wine, and beer as we listened to various techno music groups. The 20 year olds here in Germany are all into techno music, and in fact, two people out of the group of 10 or so actually DJ in and around the Hamburg area. One of them was actually a drummer for Nic’s dad a few months back…small world! I got to practice my German on a few of the guests—all of them were very encouraging and excited for me to be here for a year to study. Perhaps later this year I will get to go back and visit Hamburg where I can rely on my German a bit more.

My last day in Hamburg consisted of attending an Open Air Festival. Nic told me that they are very popular in Hamburg and in other areas of Germany. These festivals, to my understanding, are usually a one-day event (a jam packed day, albeit). Musicians and DJs congregate in open fields by connecting long lengths of electrical cord together for heavy bass speakers and light shows.

The one that we attended, Die Vögelball [dee foe-gull-ball], consisted of many techno artists. It was really cool to experience! Tomma, her brother Josef, and friends Nika and Pia knew of one of the bands playing. We went to the show and got up on the first row and danced a lot. Some of you reading this might be familiar with large American camping festivals such as Bonnaroo or Wakarusa. Think of the same crowd and same atmosphere just jam packed into one 12 hour period. The nice thing about this festival was that, although it was out in a field, the city still had free public transportation for all back into the heart of the city.

My time in Hamburg went by very quickly, but I had a great time seeing the sights, meeting Tomma and her friends, eating at bakeries, and acclimating to German life. I hope that I can go back and visit some other time this year!