Titan arum and Papa Joe's Jazz Club

A lot has happened since my last post about Maastricht. I'll do my best to cover all that has happened, but I will inevitably leave something out! The days have been going by so fast, but I've been enjoying every minute of it. It's hard to believe I've already been in Germany for a month now.

The week that started after the trip to Maastricht was the last week for one of my classmates, Barış, who would be going back to his home in Istanbul. At the end of the week on Friday our whole class had a potluck breakfast as a going-away party for him. Some of my classmates brought foods that were typical in their home country. My friend Manuel (from Spain) brought Tumaca, a classic Spanish spread for bread. He prepared it the night before and it was really delicious. My classmates from Iraq brought a very sweet pastry for breakfast. I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I forgot to ask! It was really delicious, and luckily, there was enough to go around for seconds! Here's a picture of my class during our potluck breakfast.

After the party ended, a small group of us traveled to Cologne's Botanical Garden. Our teacher had told us that there was a special exhibit there, something that only happens every two or three years. Upon arrival, we were all blown away by the number of different plants, trees, and flowers represented at the Garden (come to find out, the Garden boasts 10,000 different species of plants). There were three separate greenhouses representing two different biomes. One of the greenhouses was a 'desert' biome and had hundreds of different cacti from all over the world. Some of the cacti were short, some were soccer ball shaped, and some were brushing the ceiling 15 feet up! The other two greenhouses contained thousands of different forest plants; this greenhouse had many plants originating from Central and South America (and all were expertly labeled). It was actually kind of interesting walking into this greenhouse because the conditions were so much different from the outside weather in Germany--stepping foot into this 'forest' greenhouse reminded me instantly of the climate back home. It was so warm and humid I actually found it hard to breathe. I had never really thought the humidity in Louisiana was so bad, but that wasn't until I had such a stark example to compare it to! It was in the 'forest' greenhouse that we all saw "the special exhibit."

We walked through a maze of ferns and bushes until we found the BIG flower. No wait, scratch that...the BIGGEST flower. Seriously, the botanical garden had the largest flower in the world. It's called the titan arum and originates from Sumatra. It can grow 3 meters tall, but here's the catch: the flower only blooms once every 2-7 years (this flower in Cologne is on a 2-3 yearly cycle, but some can be on a 7 year cycle). It takes so much energy to produce the flower that it goes into long periods of 'hibernation' until it is ready to bloom.

We got to the garden a little prematurely for the bloom, but the plant was still impressive nonetheless.

At this time the titan arum is about 8 feet tall

 After seeing the titan arum we all went our separate ways for the day. Once I got back to the house my host brother, Jannik, told me that he was going out with some friends to Cologne's "c/o Pop Music Festival." He invited me along and I met some of his friends from school. I found the concept of the festival to be pretty cool. The festival took place over four nights in various venues all across the city. Some venues were actual concert halls and bars while others were clothing stores and make-shift businesses. Some, but not all, of the concerts were free and sponsored predominantly by the city. It so happens that one of the venues we went to during the night was a high-end clothing boutique for women. The concert was extremely crowded, but they had free gummy bears so I couldn't complain. It was a fun night in all.

Two days later, on Sunday, my host mother showed me an advertisement in the newspaper for a party downtown celebrating a local jazz club's 40 years of success. The club is called "Papa Joe's" and has had upwards of 15,000 concerts since its inception. The advertisement promised a free concert and street parade, so naturally I went! I showed up about 30 minutes late, but really that meant I was perfectly on time. I walked in to the already crowded club, found a few inches of standing room and made camp. Within minutes one of the waitresses came up holding 12 fully filled glasses of beer and asked if anyone wanted the "40th anniversary special." I dug in my pocket for 2 euros and tried it. It was really good! I ordered a second for the heck of it. The band that was playing was quite good also. Notable was the song "Route 66," sung all in English by the German band. Then, when the party moved into the street......

Yeah, they played a New Orleans classic! They made a few nods to New Orleans during the anniversary, and although I didn't stay until the end, I'm sure I would have heard some more references to the Big Easy. The street parade was really nice because, when I closed my eyes, I thought I was back in New Orleans. The atmosphere was just really great the whole time. And, come to find out, Papa Joe's has a jazz concert every night....for free! I am definitely going again in the future. I'm going to try to make it to a few of their "New Orleans Nights." Yeah, they actually have a few bands which play New Orleans classics exclusively. I nabbed one of the programs, and come to find out, one of the New Orleans bands is named "Red Beans and Rice!" 

Next post I'll talk about the international dinner with the immersion program, playing tourist in Cologne (I finally saw the Cologne Cathedral), and my purchasing of a road bike.

Visiting Maastricht

This past weekend I visited Maastricht, Netherlands with a group of students from the immersion program. We took a train from Cologne, made two connecting stops, and then arrived around noon in Maastricht. The train ride went by quickly on account of having met a few Americans who also happened to be a part of the immersion program. I met a guy named Nic who was from Seattle and we got to talking about our university studies; Nic graduated a few months ago in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Renewable Energy. We passed the time talking about our states' energy infrastructures, the renewable energy outlook for the US, and energy comparisons between the US and Germany. The conversation was a bit ironic; while we were talking about the natural gas boom in the US we were seeing wind farms in the distance and solar panels right outside our window.

When we arrived to the station in Maastricht, everyone just kind of went their own way. Our coordinator, Stefan, gave us all one hour to get some lunch before meeting back up for a city tour. What better way to kill an hour than to grab a bite to eat? The group of Americans (me included) went to a small cafe across the street. Funny enough, we all ordered chocolate milk and waffles. It ended up being one of the most delicious meals I've had in Europe. The chocolate milk came out in a mug with whipped cream overflowing, and the waffles were smothered in fresh peaches, pineapples, blueberries, powered sugar, and whipped cream. It was awesome.

The tour began shortly after we finished our meal. We walked all through the city center and visited a few churches. I was blown away by the architecture of the churches. Just viewing the churches from outside, on the street, was amazing, but once I stepped into them....wow. I was especially blown away with the stained glass in the churches. The colors were so vivid in person, and the attention to detail was perfect.

We continued after visiting the churches and took a snack break in the city center. I was craving another waffle, so I went and found a stand selling "specialty" waffles. I wasn't really sure what "specialty" warranted, but I went anyway in search of a delicious snack. That's exactly what I found: a fresh waffle with melted chocolate inside and vanilla ice cream piled on top. The waffle didn't exist long enough for me to take a picture of it...but it was amazing.

The next stop we made on the tour was some type of important building; I never did catch the significance of it...but here's a picture my friend Tamila from Uzbekistan  (center) snapped and gave me. She called the picture a "Tamila Sandwich" since we've got two Nathans on the outside. I'm on the right, and the other Nathan is actually a Mathematics graduate from Ohio who likes to play ping pong. Go figure. We talked about math...and ping pong, for a while.

We spent a good 7 hours in Maastricht before it was time to head back to Cologne. On the walk back to the train station, I met a guy from Kenya who also was part of the immersion program. He is here in Germany working on his PhD. in Pharmacology with the intent to go back to Kenya in a few years and conduct drug research. We talked all the way back to Cologne--in German--about all different kinds of topics. We talked about our favorite music, movies, and tv shows, but also talked about our cultures and where we come from. I asked him about the Kalenjin tribe in Kenya, the famous Kenyan tribe which consistently produces the world's best long distance runners (look them up on Google if you haven't heard of them--really interesting history). He told me his friend, Sammi, is actually a member of the tribe and is taking part in the immersion program too, so we got to meet before departing at the station.

The trip to Maastricht went by fast but was great nonetheless. I ate some delicious food, took in some great sights, and met some really interesting people. Now I can cross off "Visiting the Netherlands" on my "To-Do while in Europe" list!

Moving into Cologne with the Host Family

I stepped off the train into the vast station of Cologne. Uli and I navigated the maze of escalators, shops, and tourists until I met my host family in the train station. I was greeted by the father, Herr Klaus, and out we stepped into the plaza of the Cologne Cathedral. Here is a picture of my first impression of Cologne. I found this picture on the Internet because my pictures just couldn't capture the vastness of it.

History lesson remark: The Cologne Cathedral started its first phase of construction in the year 1248 and ended construction in 1880. This makes the cathedral older than many current monuments, historical markers, and well obviously, America! My German teacher tried to put it into perspective by saying "Chris Columbus didn't even sail to the New World until 1492, meaning that this cathedral had already been started for nearly 250 years!" It was crazy and exciting to be in the presence of this piece of history. Definitely check out more information online about the cathedral if you're interested, but I'm going to get back to the stories.

It was just Herr Klaus and I in the car on the way back to the house. It was about a 30 minute car ride, but we talked nearly the entire time about university studies, family background, America culture, and German culture. We arrived at the house and I was shown my room, which is actually the 4th floor of the house! All of the houses that I've seen so far in Germany have a really interesting floor plan; generally what I've seen is a very tall house (3 or 4 stories) where every story only has 2 or 3 rooms. For instance in my house the entry floor has the kitchen and living room, and the next floor has only two bedrooms. I like my position in the house because I also get a private bathroom and roof windows for pretty sunrises. Here is a picture of the view out of my window.

I've been blown away by the sky and weather here in Cologne. The weather that I've had for my entire time here has been absolutely perfect: frequent breezes, relatively low humidity, shining sun (but not too hot), and really pretty skies. Where I'm from, we get days like these maybe 4 times a year in Spring before it gets hot again. The weather also facilitates reading outside, leaving windows open, eating dinner out on the patio, and more.

Aside from Herr Klaus I also live with Frau Birgit and their son Jannik. Jannik is my age and we actually have a lot in common. I venture to say that Jannik is a carbon copy of one of my roommates from last year. We listen to the same music, played the same video games growing up, and have similar sport interests. Everything has been great so far and I still have so much more time here in Cologne!

Before I continue, I suppose I need to clarify one thing about my stay here in Cologne. I haven't yet explained through my blog the breakdown of my time here in Germany. I am here to study for two semesters in the university system, but that doesn't start until October, and I won't be studying at a university in Cologne. So what exactly am I doing here for a month and half before my university starts? I was offered the opportunity to participate in a 2 month long language immersion program in Cologne and the offer came through one of the scholarships that I received to study here in Germany, this organization being DAAD (translates into the 'German Academic Exchange Service'). I am very grateful for this opportunity to live in Cologne with a host family preceding my university studies.

My immersion program is offered through the Carl Duisberg Center, a nonprofit whose goal is to assimilate students into German culture with language training. The Center also does an excellent job of cultivating friendships within the individual language courses; I take a language course daily (for about 5 hours) with people from all over the world. In fact, I am the only American (but not the only English speaker!). In my group of 12 I've become friends with students from Serbia, Spain, Mexico, Pakistan, Brasil, Indonesia, Georgia, Iraq, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.  Once class is over around noon, many of us stick together to grab lunch or participate in the daily Freizeitprogram (free-time activity: each day the Center hosts an event for the students). So far we've had a ping-pong tournament, trip to a local lake, and soccer game, to name a few. When we are all together we almost always speak in German. It's been really interesting, funny at times, to hear German spoken with impressions from other languages. German with a Spanish accent is really cool, as well as German with a Russian accent!

Everything has been a lot of fun and each new day is an adventure here in Cologne! There is so much to explore in this city that sometimes I feel lazy when I'm just content with reading a book on the weekend. I've got a lot of time though! I think coming up next is a trip to Holland! I'll keep y'all posted!

Look Who I Found! Frau Dagmar and her family!

My time in Hamburg had been fantastic, however I had a rendezvous with my host family in Cologne in the mid afternoon later on Sunday. I parted ways with Nic, Timo, and Elliot in the morning and got on a train which carried me 4 hours southwest of Hamburg to Cologne. Along the way I made a 2 hour pit stop to meet with Frau Dagmar and her family for lunch. I had befriended Frau Dagmar over Facebook at the suggestion of a close family friend, Ms. Annalee, who had met Frau Dagmar while on vacation several years ago. Through Facebook everyone had been able to keep in touch over the years and still remain in connection, up to the point that I was able to make my second friend in Germany...without having actually met!

I pulled into the train station in Frau Dagmar's city and did a little bit of searching until I saw who I thought was Frau Dagmar. My guess was confirmed when I was enveloped in a huge hug! Her husband, Herr Bernhard and children Pascal and Janet, were there to greet me too. We went to a nearby restaurant for lunch and spoke in German for the better part of 2 hours. We busted some of each other's cultural myths (Fact: Germans do not actually prefer warm beer to cold beer) and had a lot of fun! I told Frau Dagmar and Herr Bernhard that I am from New Orleans (for convenience), at which point I was asked about Hurricane Katrina (Orkan Katarina). In the US, when you tell someone you are from New Orleans, most people ask about Mardi Gras or Bourbon Street. Here in Germany the more frequent question is about Hurricane Katrina. Kind of interesting, huh? I told them over lunch what it was like to experience a hurricane. They were very interested in learning about preparations and recovery efforts during hurricane season. It was nice for me to share something about my culture, while also learning a lot about theirs. Here is a picture after lunch, when we were on our way back to the train station.

I am extremely grateful for their hospitality and open arms. Frau Dagmar, thank you for everything! It was a pleasure meeting you and your family! I look forward to visiting their city again in the future and blogging about it.

When I got back on my train, I had a two hour ride ahead of me and all of my luggage to keep an eye on. Unfortunately for me, the cab that I happened to walk in on was completely full with no extra space for luggage. So here I was in the train dragging two pieces of luggage behind me, kicking two pieces of luggage in front of me in the very narrow aisles of the train. Each time I passed a row of people, my bulky luggage would hit them in the shoulder or chest (when I say narrow aisles I mean narrow). I did a lot of apologizing. A line started to form behind me of people I was holding up....first it started with one guy, then it grew to three.....and then it was suddenly 10 people strong and I wasn't even halfway through the cab where I could take a resting point. When I say I was probably the most hated guy on the train, I mean it. I finally pushed through, got to the end of the cab, kicked all of my luggage to an empty space and let the line of people behind me through. At this point I am out of breath , sweating, and not in the best mood. But I guess things have a funny way of changing direction sometimes. Where I have settled seems to be an okay spot. Sure, I'm standing, and I might have to stand for the next two hours, but at least I'm on the train! I notice a girl opposite me who appears to be in the same situation--she is here in the back of the cab with all of her luggage, standing. I decide to strike up a conversation (in German, of course). We exchange names and then get to the point in the conversation where I say "I'm from America, I've been in Germany for 3 days, and I know some German, but am still learning". Her eyes light up. "Do you have any German study material with you," she asks. I take out my 500 handwritten flashcards out of my backpack and say "yeah!" She takes them from me and starts quizzing me! Within 10 minutes of this happening, our train makes a stop at a big hub, where about a third of the people get up and leave. Uli and I scramble up the front of the cab to see if any seats had been vacated, and sure enough two seats side-by-side became available. We run to the back of the cab to grab our backpacks and then sit down in our newly claimed seats. For the rest of the train ride Uli and I talk back-and-forth about university studies, jobs, German culture, American culture, and the World Cup in both German and English. I wouldn't have guessed that the train ride would have taken a turn for the better if you had asked me when I stepped foot in it, but I am sure glad it did! The time passed very quickly after meeting Uli.

When the train arrived in Cologne, Uli too had to get off. She helped me find my host family in the train station before she headed out to grab a bus. I met my host father there in the station and then said bye to Uli. It was one of those friendships that started and ended all in a brief time period. It's weird how things like that go--just when I needed someone on the train to not hate me I find someone willing and able to help! 

Next post I'll talk about moving in with my host family and the start of my immersion course. So much has already happened I can hardly believe it! 

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!

I've made it!

I'd like to start this post off with a big "thank-you" to all of my friends who saw me off the night before my flight. I'll get to my airplane stories in a second. On Tuesday night, the night before my flight out to Germany, several of my friends had a going-away party for me with drinks, snacks, and music. It was the first time that I really thought back and said "Wow, two years of college are done....and I'm about to fly out to Germany for a year." I guess I hadn't really  thought about leaving for a year until I was surrounded by all of my university friends. It was good having one last hurrah. Several of my friends will be studying abroad in Europe in the springtime, so it won't be so long until I see them. Here is a picture from the party. Pictured from left, are Fasil, Miranda, Mariel, myself, and Julie. In fact, we've been friends since high school! Time seems to be going by so fast sometimes, but so slow other times.

Okay, so flight stories! After a long 22 hours of traveling, I finally made it into Hamburg, Germany!! The flights were not so bad, although I had reserved window seats for all of my flights (an 11 hour flight into Istanbul, and then a 3 hour flight into Hamburg) under the impression that I was going to want to lean my head up against something to sleep. Turns out in both of these flights I switched with somebody in the plane for their aisle seat--although I didn't know this until it happened. I guess I kind of nodded my head through it because on the flight to Istanbul these girls were speaking in Turkish to me and pointing at my seat with authority, and I had absolutely no idea what they were saying, so when this third girl came up to me (I presumed she was their friend) I guess I just left my seat and went to find the one that she vacated. Not the worst decision because I got to stretch my legs out during the flight and sit next to two Americans. Although, the majority of that flight consisted of watching 1.5 Godfather movies and a documentary about the Space Station. With the flight to Hamburg, I started off in the window seat but was then asked by a little German boy and his father if I wouldn't mind switching seats. I said "Why not, he must want to look out of the window. How cool that must be!" (that's what I wanted to do!) So I switched. Within minutes this kid was asleep and was definitely not appreciating the beauty that the window seat had to offer. Okay, maybe it isn't the worst thing if this kid sleeps the whole way there, I thought. Alas, when it was time to eat dinner the kid complained about all of the food, so he sent it back. They brought back some white rice for him, but he said he didn't like the taste! I guess you can't please everybody.

I was greeted in the Hamburg airport by Nicolas, a childhood friend from elementary school, and his dad Timo. It was really nice to be in the company of friends and be able to speak a little English for once! We drove back to the house where I was informed that Nic's brother, Elliot, was also here in Germany! Here is a picture from my first night in Germany. From left: Elliot, myself, and Nic.

You might notice the tv screen in the back. Super Smash Bros. Brawl baby! We played a good bit of video games in Hamburg. We traded first place trophies a few times, but I was definitely not the best out of the three, so Nic, I'm up for a rematch anytime dude! Anywho, Nic and Elliot showed me around Hamburg, and I've got some stories about this too, but I'll save it for the next post!