Hey!

I'M HOME!! It was a long and hard journey, but I'm safely home in Kentucky! Send me an email if you'd like to get together!

Love,
Elizabeth

Comin' Home

Hey Everyone,

I am sorry things have been quiet on my end. Since Thanksgiving, things have been absolutely chaotic. There was an excellent trip to Sweden & Denmark, a really nasty cold, a huge presentation to give, and final papers to write. I also had a really wonderful birthday - one of the best I've had. I promise to update once I'm home in the States again. I leave early Wednesday morning and get back to Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati Wednesday night.

There has been some confusion with my German voicemail and I apologize for that. The voicemail does not work. I have no way of knowing if I have messages and no way of checking it. Please DO NOT use the voicemail. I miss out on your calls completely and I feel terrible about it later.

I've been missing home like crazy these past two weeks and am so looking forward to seeing you all!

Love,
Elizabeth

Sweden & Denmark

As some of you heard about, I took a trip to Helsingborg, Sweden to stay with some friends, Håkan and Malou, who were the best hosts a person could ask for. My friend Kyllikki married Håkan’s brother, Fredrik, and I met Fredrik’s family at the wedding festivities.

The trip to Sweden was an adventure in and of itself. I bought tickets to go by train and my cousin Mary asked me, “How is the train going to get there? The North Sea is in between the countries.” I thought about this and had no answers. If my train ticket said I was going to Sweden, then I was going to Sweden.

I left very early the morning after Thanksgiving and boarded the trains my tickets instructed me to: from Bremen to Hamburg, Hamburg to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Malmö. The train from Hamburg to Copenhagen was the most interesting because the whole train drove into a ferry boat. The people on the train were instructed to go upstairs where we could exchange money, get food, and, of course, buy things duty free. I took this opportunity to exchange money because I hadn’t realized that Sweden and Denmark each use their own currency (both of which are called crowns which added to my confusion). After about 40 minutes, we were called back to the train and drove off the ferry onto dry land. It is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen: a whole train going onto a boat.

The first night in Sweden, Håkan picked me up from the train station and drove me to Helsingborg where he and Malou live. Malou had cooked a really good dinner which we enjoyed. We then took a walk and I got to see some Swedish architecture. Then we watched Mamma Mia!, the musical based on songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA. We watched it in English. Malou and I enjoyed it very much – I thought it was hysterical, but Håkan fell asleep during it so I am not sure how much he enjoyed it.

Saturday was a great day. Håkan, Malou, and I saw the Kärnan, a medieval fort, when I told them I was interested in history then walked around the town and hit up a souvenir shop (for me, obviously).

We had lunch at Håkan’s parent’s house which was DELICIOUS. Some of the best mashed potatoes I have ever had. Apparently, Kyllikki also asked if I could call her from their house so I had the chance to call her. I hadn’t talked to her since August so it was great to hear her voice. I deeply appreciate Inger and Roland letting me make that phone call.

After lunch, Håkan, Malou, and I went to meet up with some of their friend Björn and took a ferry and train to Copenhagen to go to the Tivoli Christmas Market. At the Christmas Market (which was just absolutely amazing), we met up with Matts, another friend of Håkan and Malou’s. The Christmas Market had lots of food and drink and even a Cold Stone Creamery (which was just bizarre to see). There was also all the shopping a girl could dream of. I got stackable Santa Clauses and several ornaments. After we saw all that we could see at Tivoli, all five of us walked a couple of blocks down to the Hard Rock Café, one of my favorite restaurants. We got fancy drinks, ate delicious food, and then I bought half the gift shop (or just about). I can now proudly say that I have a Hard Rock Café Copenhagen shirt in my collection.

After the Hard Rock Café, it was time to head back to Sweden via the train and ferry again. We got home late and crashed almost immediately.

Sunday, I had to head back to Bremen which was sad. I said goodby to Malou at the house then Håkan drove me back to the Malmö train station where I started my journey back to Deutschland.

I had a really good time and cannot thank Malou, Håkan, Inger, and Roland enough for being such gracious hosts. I sincerely appreciate everything they did for me.

The Kärnan, a medieval fort

The entrance to the steps in Helsingborg

Malou & I in downtown Helsingborg

Christmas in Tivoli!

Malou and I in the fabulous Hard Rock Cafe

Thanksgiving 2008

Hey Everybody!

Thanksgiving 2008 was a good time with really excellent food, but also caused me some stress believe it or not.

Kate, Alissa, and I (all Americans) planned a pretty large potluck Thanksgiving at the Blue House. Warren, our brave Hall Director (or Resident Supervisor if you’re in Germany), was a professional chef at one time and made two really good turkeys. We also had three kinds of dressing (I made vegetarian), corn, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn bread, rolls, salad, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple pie, and pumpkin pie (which Kate made from a pumpkin that she bought that morning at a farmers she and I went to together. It was fun preparing everything together and teaching people from India, Trinidad, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Pakistan, and several other countries about the good parts of American Thanksgiving. We even went around the table and said what we were thankful for.

I really missed Thanksgiving with my family in Kentucky because it is usually my holiday, but this was nice. My family and I talked via Skype web cam and I got to see all of them, but it wasn’t quite the same.

It was really good food though and good company so that’s what matters.

Love,
Elizabeth

Link to lots of Thanksgiving pictures >>
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31808493&l=80ebe&id=164002077

Steffi and Alissa cooking something yummy!

Our prettily decorated table. I was sad I couldn't do placecards and menus here, but it would have been too much

There was so much good food it wouldn't fit on one plate!

Maria and Lyazzat enjoyed their first American Thanksgiving!

Mobashir and I happily enjoyed the great food!

It's Skyline Time!

Hey Everyone!

Friday night my friends and I continued our cultural explorations of food. This time I made Cincinnati Style Chili for them – with some help from my Grandma who shipped me the Cincinnati Chili seasonings.

I cooked spaghetti, chopped onions, grated Irish cheddar cheese (it is almost impossible to get cheddar cheese here for some reason – it’s strange), and cooked the chili. My gosh the chili smelled so wonderful! It smelled like home! It also made the whole floor of the building smell like chili, but that was okay. No one was upset by it. When it was all ready I showed everyone how to make 3-ways or 4-ways depending on their preferences. We finished off the meal with mints since you can’t eat Skyline without a York Peppermint Patty afterwards (or a close substitute since there are no Yorks here).

After dinner some of us stayed around and watched the classic movie “Muppet Treasure Island” that someone happened to have. We also baked cookies and sang along with a guitar (or hummed along in my case). It was a really great night – very relaxed.

While I enjoyed my Cincinnati chili very much I’m looking forward to the real stuff in 22 days!

Love,
Elizabeth






Alissa, Steffi, Maria, and Kate learned how to compile 3 and 4 ways!














A 3 Way in Bremen, Germany













Lyazzat, Maria, and Alissa with full and happy tummies

Steffi, Me, and Kate with her mint!

Hard at work on Thrilling Schillings

First Snow!

I don't have a lot to write about just yet. It snowed here though which is a big deal. Apparently we don't get snow that sticks because we are on the North Sea, but yesterday it snowed and stuck so I thought I'd share some pictures of it! It really looks like a fairy tale.

Love,
Elizabeth

Deutsches Auswanderer Haus & Salome

Hi Everyone!

Things continue to move along here in Bremen. Last week my classes were particularly interesting (which makes a nice change).

My History class (History – Writing Beyond the Nation State) went on a field trip to the Deutsches Auswanderer Haus (German Emigration Museum) in Bremerhaven. I was extremely excited about the trip because my great-grandmother left from Bremerhaven to go to America. The day of the trip I actually wore a scarf that belonged to her.

The museum was very interesting. I learned that over 7 million people left from Bremerhaven – 90% going to America, 10% going to other destinations, particularly South America. The museum is designed to show what emigrants experienced as they left Germany and to help personalize it for visitors the museum gives each an ID card of an actual emigrant and so they could track their story through the museum. Ironically I got the ID card of a 17 year old young women, Martha, who left the year after my great-grandmother and for similar reasons. Listening to Martha’s story choked me up at different parts of the tour, particularly the area designed to look like the ship’s docks and the Ellis Island area. I also saw different examples of life on the ship, heard about the examinations at Ellis Island, and saw example of what emigrants packed in luggage. The last thing at the museum was an area for people to look up ancestors or other family members. I did a search for several family names and found my grandma’s record of birth, my sisters’ birth certificates, and several other documents with family names on them. It was a really awesome experience.

The very next day I gave a presentation on Oscar Wilde’s play Salome in my Literary History class and the next evening the class went to see Richard Strauss’s opera Salome. Salome is the story of the girl who asks for John the Baptist’s head on a silver platter. The opera was done very post modernly and rather peculiar in my opinion (I really know nothing about opera though). Still, getting dressed up and going to the opera was a fun experience.

Plans are underway for an American style Thanksgiving here – I’m looking forward to that, but sad to miss my family’s Thanksgiving at home. It’ll be okay though – we’ll skype so I won’t be left out completely.

I hope things are well with each and every one of you. I’d love to hear from you if you have any time!

Love,
Elizabeth






Found my Grandma's Record of Birth!














Me, Blake, and Maria freezing in Bremerhaven












Outside of the German Emigration Museum there are these stones with people's names, the year they left Germany, and where they went to.











The Deutsches Auswanderer Haus or German Emigration Museum

Halloween - Election Night - Deepawali

Hey everyone!

It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated and lots of exciting things have happened so I thought I should probably update y’all.

Halloween, to everyone who isn’t from the States, is not a big deal. It was definitely an insistence of culture shock for me. Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but I’m used to pumpkins and costumes everywhere, candy, and lots of black and orange. No one dressed up on campus or anything. There were scary stories being told in one of the residence halls (or colleges as they’re called at Jacobs) and a costume party the day after Halloween, but nothing on Halloween night. Fortunately the Blue House came through with pumpkin carving (apparently the Resident Supervisor had to travel way out into the country and buy the pumpkins from a farmer because they aren’t sold in stores here) and a scary movie so old that it was funny. I was feeling pretty awful Halloween night so I carved a pumpkin then went to bed around 11. It was rather odd. For those of you in the States, I’m still waiting for pictures of a good, old fashioned Halloween. ;)

The next big thing here was Election Night. The US elections were a huge deal on the Jacobs campus and in Germany in general. There were several parties I heard about and considered going to, but in the end I decided to go to a party at the Yellow House (another university owned house). My friends Kate, Alissa, and I were the only two Americans there and at one point someone said how exciting it was that there were “real Americans” there. I got there about 8:30 pm (2:30 pm Kentucky time). We watched internet videos of things related to the election like “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and JibJab’s “Time for Some Campaignin’”.

At midnight here the first polls started to close in the US so we switched to CNN. Incredibly, Kentucky was the first state reported on, so that was pretty darn cool. However it was a red state which didn’t make any of us at the party happy. We spent the next 5 hours glued to CNN, impressed with the holograms (that was just cool), the graphics, and that map that allows you to see what each state was called. We were all thrilled when Obama was declared the President Elect. Around 5 am the buses started running again so my friend Kate and I ended up getting home around 5:15 in the morning. I went to bed around 6 am after watching part of McCain’s concession speech. It was just an incredible night. I’m still sad I wasn’t able to get my absentee ballot to vote properly and to be in the States for this historic election, but it was pretty darn cool to be in Germany for this. Everyone here loves Obama. People I don’t know are still coming up to me and congratulating me on Obama’s victory. It’s a bit surreal.

Election night was Tuesday and Sunday the Jacobs campus celebrated Deepawali, or the Hindu Festival of Lights. Deepawali is a Hindu festival that celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil and the goddess Loxmi. To celebrate the Indian and Nepali students had a day where they taught anyone who wanted to learn some yoga-mediatation, pottery, painted henna on people, made rangoli designs (colorful, symmetric designs made out of colored sand or rice), gave a presentation on why they celebrate Deepawali, performed Indian and Nepali folk dances and songs, and finished it by cooking huge amounts of traditional food for everyone. It was the first time that I tried curry and liked it. I also really like the dahl surprisingly (a kind of spicy soup). I did not like the coconut chutney. Oh well. I think that’s an acquired taste. I did get henna painted on my hand and arm and am loving it. It’s way better than the henna you can get on vacations.

I’ll put some more of my adventures in another post. I hope that everything is going well with yall and that your Halloweens and Election nights were happy.

Love,
Bits







My friends Alina from Romania, Maria from Trinidad, and I at a restaurant













My friend Maria and I dressed up for a concert for Gambia

My freshly henna-ed arm - don't worry it'll fade in 2 - 3 weeks

Saturday and Sunday in Berlin

Saturday I woke up early and had breakfast with people from Ecuador and Peru who were studying in Barcelona and had come to Berlin for the weekend – this is when I realized how international my life had become.

The Three Little Pigs hostel is part of the New Berlin Tours. New Berlin (or New whatever city you happen to be staying in) is a really great program where guide pick people up from the hostels and take them to a central meeting spot. From the meeting spot there are free tours around the city in either Spanish or English. It’s a three and half hour walking tour and pretty darn amazing. The program believes everyone deserves a tour of the city regardless of their financial status so the tour guides only work on tips.

My tour guide, Colin, was from Scotland and excellent at his job. He was able to be funny at times and somber at others which is completely appropriate for the city of Berlin.

We started at the Brandenburg Gate where I learned about the history of the statue on top of the gate. It was first a symbol of peace with the goddess on top holding an olive branch. When Napoleon conquered Berlin he took the statue back to France with him as a spoil of war. Once the Germans got her back they changed the olive branch to a spear, tilted her head so she’s looking at the French Embassy, and changed her name to Victoria, making her the goddess of victory. To add insult to injury the Germans renamed the square “Pariser Platz” – and who says those Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

From the Brandenburg Gate we headed to the Reichstag, the German Parliament Building, where I learned how the building was set on fire under suspicious circumstances during Hitler’s early reign. We also saw the memorial to the politicians who had been killed by the Nazis.

We walked through the Tiergarten (a large park) to the Jewish Memorial. This time instead of just wandering around I was able to hear analysis of the blocks and learned how the memorial was purposely left open to interpretation. They varying sizes of the blocks from flat to 2.6 meters high (8.5 feet) can represent a graveyard, the rise and fall of anti-Semitism, the train cars that took the Jews away, or anything else. My initial impression was of a mountain. We took some time at the memorial for reflection.

After the memorial we moved to the spot where Hitler’s secret bunker (obviously not so secret anymore). This is the place where Hitler and his wife, Eva, committed suicide. The actual bunker is not open and probably will never be open for visitors. The German government is afraid that the neo-Nazis or a similar group will turn it into a shrine or rallying point. Today there is just a sign over the spot marking it.

From the bunker we moved on to the last Nazi building standing. This building is massive, dark, and designed to make people feel insignificant. It was originally used as Luftwaffe Headquarters by the Nazis. When the communists took over it became their Ministry of Ministries (they approved of the looking, dark architecture). During the communist era a huge mural was painted on the side of building showing the joys of communism. Today the mural is still there and mirroring it is a memorial to those who protested communism in the East Germany the exact same size of the mural. It is very thought provoking. Today the building the is German tax building – clearly this building will always be used for evil purposes.

Next we looked at a section of the Berlin Wall that was next to the evil building and learned that there were actually two walls – an inner and an outer wall with the “death strip” in between them. The walls had sewage pipe along the top which was apparently more effective than barbed wife for deterring people from escaping. The death strip had sand or gravel to slow people down, land mines, and armed guard towers every 150 meters that held guards with shoot-to-kill orders. Friendly place to say the least.

We moved on to Checkpoint Charlie again and heard about a couple of successful escape stories, but also the story of a young man who bled to death in the death strip. He was shot by the communists and the people on the West Berliners were unable to reach him.

After a brief lunch we headed to Gendarmenmarkt to see the French Cathedral, the German Cathedal, the Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), and a statue of Schiller, the guy who wrote lyrics to Ode to Joy. It was lovely.

From there we walked to Bebelplatz where the Nazis burned over 20,000 books from the Humboldt University library. They burned books by Jewish, Gypsy, homosexuals as well as any books that had ideas that the Nazis considered inflammatory. This is where I cried. I cannot imagine people suppressing ideas and knowledge just because it is contradictory to what they believe. There is a memorial to the books, some of them centuries old and completely irreplaceable. There is also a plaque with an 1820 quote from Heinrich Heine, “Where they burn books, they also burn people”. It was very moving for me.

We passed by Humboldt University and headed to Neue Wache, the memorial to all those killed in the name of fascism and tyranny which is also moving. Inside the building there is a pieta, a mother holding her dying son by artist Käthe Kollwitz.

The last stop on our tour was the Museum Island – obviously lots of museums there and the Berlin Cathedral. Colin, the tour guide, told us the dramatic story of how the Berlin Wall came down and pointed out his favorite museum. The group split up and I ended up going up and down a street fair, doing some shopping. It was really nice just to wander a little bit.

After picking out some Christmas gifts I went to the German History Museum which was really cool. There were lots of early Catholic artifacts that featured women on them which was sort of unusual, but I loved looking and learning.

I decided to make my way to the East Side Gallery which is part of the Berlin Wall that has political art painted on the sides. It took me a little while to get there and by the time I did it was getting dark, threatening to rain, and not in the best area of town, so I looked briefly then decided I would move on to the Hard Rock Café of the far, far side of town.

Getting to the Hard Rock Café turned out to be quite the adventure. First it involved me figuring out Berlin’s public transportation system which is never a strong point for me. I managed to get off at the right stop, but took a wrong turn and ended up in Berlin’s Red Light District. Managed to find my from there to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and another street fair, which was very interesting, but not the Hard Rock Café. After asking about 4 times for directions I managed to get there and was so happy to be there. I got an American Cheeseburger, onion rings, and a virgin daiquiri. It was delightful. After that I got my Berlin Hard Rock Café souvenir shirt and very happily headed back to my hostel. It was about 10:30 by the time I got back there and I collapsed from tiredness.


Sunday was a quieter day. I woke up late and went back to see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church during the day. The KWMC is a church that was bombed during World War II and never rebuilt. Instead it was preserved as a memorial to loss. I picked the one day of the week to go when it was closed, but it was very pretty look at from the outside and I am glad I got to see it.

My next big adventure was getting home – it involved four trains and took about 6 hours. By the time I got home to Vegesack, my little area of Bremen, I was completely exhausted.

Over all I have some great memories of Berlin and am so impressed by the town. I learned so much and was overwhelmed by the amount of history crammed into one town. I’d like to go back some day.

Much love you all.
Ebits


PS - I took over a hundred pictures and the best ones you can see by clicking these links:


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059239&l=64870&id=164002077

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059286&l=3da9c&id=164002077

Berlin: Friday

This is going to be a really long post and I’m tempted to break it up and post it as different posts for different days. There’s just a lot to cover.

Friday I started out and successfully made it via three trains and a bus to my hostel, the Three Little Pigs Hostel (found via hostelbookers.com – a good website). It was my first time staying in a hostel and this one was very nice. It used to be a convent or monastery and the private room I stayed it looked exactly like the St. Joseph Heights, where the Sister of Notre Dame live at home.

After dumping my stuff I asked the guy at the reception desk to pint me in the direction of something interesting. He pointed me in the direction of the Brandenburg Gate and I started walking. Along the way I found the Potsdamer Platz, an exhibition on the Berlin Wall, the memorial to gays and lesbians killed by the Nazis, and the memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Then I reached the Brandenburg gate which was pretty incredible to see something in person that I’ve seen in pictures, TV, and on stickers. It was a “wow” moment. I went into a souvenir shop by the Brandenburg Gate and found a brochure on the Kennedy Museum that looked pretty cool. I went outside and there the Kennedy Museum was so I went through it. And it was cool – lots of Kennedy family photographs, memorabilia, artifacts, and magazine covers.

From the Kennedy Museum I decided I needed a snack and got a “Berliner küchen” which is apple-y, icing-y, and not as good as you would expect. A bit of a let down actually.

Then it was time to march on – this time to Checkpoint Charlie with a side trip to a bookstore that sells English books. (I had finished the book I brought with me on the train ride to Berlin.). Checkpoint Charlie was pretty darn cool. There were displays explaining about the Berlin Wall, attempted escapes, etc.

Right now a Festival of Lights is going on in Berlin. Many famous or important buildings are lit up during the nights. I decided to go on a bus tour of these which was pretty darn cool. I saw lots of landmarks including the Reichstag, Alexanderplatz, the TV tower, Brandenburg Gate, and other fun sites.

After this I was exhausted, so I headed back the Three Little Pigs and crashed for the night.









The Brandenburg Gate



















Checkpoint Charlie

The Memorial to Jews who were killed by the Nazis





























An exhibition of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz.

The Wall is covered with graffitti.




























My nun-like room at the Three Little Pigs Hostel

Good housewives, IKEA, and an 80s party all rolled into one

Hey Everybody!

I’m sorry I haven’t updated sooner – things have been kind of quiet here.

Two weekends ago I visited some of my German cousins including Irmgard and Alois, Christian and his daughter, Sophie, and Marcos and his wife, Melanie. Günther and Annmarie were also there. We had coffee and cake at Irmgard and Alois’s. Everyone says that Irmgard is a good housewife and by that I thought they meant her house was clean, etc. I was mistaken. What they meant is that Irmgard served apfelkuchen that she had made from scratch with apples she picked from her garden. There was also a homemade mocha torte thing that was to die for and homemade bread with supper. She even made the lace that was sewn on the tablecloth. My socks were blown off I was so impressed.

Last week during the week I was pretty homesick, but I don’t think anyone wants to hear about the hard stuff. The homesickness was combated with Skype calls to my family and Lanie. If any of you have Skype and want to contact me that would be wonderful. I really do miss hearing about what’s going on.

I did discover the Paper Studio last week. It’s this little place on campus that is only open for a couple of hours a week where students can do art for free. There’s all these one of a kind rubber stamps, paints, stencils. There is also Norah Jones music (one of my favorites) and tea. It’s warm, inviting, and relaxing. I can’t wait for it to be open again!

This past week had a lot of shopping going on. I found an electronics store and was able to get a better power cord for my laptop so I don’t have to worry about it sparking anymore. I am not a computer person, but I was pretty sure sparking was bad for everything involved. I also got a battery charger for my camera and a second converter. Small things, but things that make life so much easier!

Friday I made another trip to IKEA. This time it was Maria and Lyazzat. I got a duvet cover for my blanket, pillowcases, and a couple of kitchen-y type things. I am still loving IKEA. It’s a wonderful, magical place.

Friday night was a birthday party for my friend Kate. The party had an 80s theme to it, so a few people (myself included) dressed for the occasion. Outrageous make and large hair were all the rage Friday night. There was 80s music, Tom & Jerry cartoons in Japanese (which was sort of baffling), and lots of people. It was a fun night.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, but I am planning a trip to Berlin for this upcoming weekend. I’ve planned my trains and booked a bed in a youth hostel. I’m really looking forward to it and will be sure to post when I get back!

Love,
Elizabeth







Günther, Alois, me, Irmgard













All the 80s people! There were lots more people there, but these are the costumed people. I'm sporting a fashionable Punky Brewster look!

Saskia (from Costa Rica), me, and Maria having a blast at Kate's party!

International Food

Hey Everyone,

I think I’m finally settling into a routine here which is nice. My life revolves around classes and spending time with friends. I had a presentation on Thursday on contemporary Turkish children’s literature that went surprisingly well considering I didn’t know anything about the topic till two days before the presentation. I think the fact the presentation was on 5 – 10 minutes had something to do with it’s success.

This coming Tuesday I have a presentation on American media – something I know about (at least a little anyway). This presentation is an hour and fifteen minutes long though.

This week has sort of been a week for international food, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about the food I’m encountering since I don’t have any cool trips to talk about.

I usually eat yogurt with müsli for breakfast. Sometimes I vary it with bread and cheese or a peanut butter and honey sandwich. It’s not that different from my American breakfasts.

Lunch I try to eat something “good” (which usually means hot). There is a café on campus called “Die Friseur” and my friends and I usually eat there. I’ve tried gulasch with pork there and really liked it a lot. I also tried kartoffelgulash which is like vegetable soup only with better spices. It is so good! If the special isn’t something I like I usually get pasta – it’s a safe fall back.

Dinner is a something different every night. If I’m not in the mood to go out or do anything it’s bread and cheese. I love döners which are good for lunch or supper. Pizza is also cheap and good here. There is a place up the road that makes it when you order it and bakes it in a fire oven – it’s cool.

Last night, Saturday, Maria cooked us Trinidadian (Trini) food which was AMAZING. Stewed chicken, homemade potato salad, macaroni pie (baked mac’n’cheese with carrots),“peas” (veggie mix), and salad. It was really, really incredible. I’m going to have to get the recipes from her.

Tonight, for the first time, I tried blinis which are little Russian pancakes. We put different toppings on them (ham, cheese, onions, sour cream, etc.) and ate them for dinner and then put sweet toppings (honey, nutella, fruit, jam, etc.) on them and ate it for dessert. It was pretty amazing.

I also snack on a lot of fruit and have discovered spekulatius, a kind of ginger Christmas cookie. I love them. I also like kasastanger – crispy cheese sticks, but I don’t buy those as often – they disappear to quick. I've also had the opportunity to eat crepes twice - once filled with bananas and nutella - what a treat!

My friend Maria’s host parents have invited me to tea twice (and I actually drank the tea) and they had really good homemade pastries. I can’t figure out why the pastries here are so much better than the ones in the States. There has to be some trick to it.

I’ll keep you update on my gastronomical experiences and the other more exciting ones as well.

Love, Elizabeth





Donnerstag (Thursday) is Doner-Tag!
My favorite doner place sells doners for cheap on Thursdays




















Embracing local culture with pretzels and beer at GSA Oktoberfest













Trini food night at the Blue House
From Left: Lyazzat, Maria, Ben, Kate
and whole lot of good food!












A plate of good Trini food!









Maria, me, Lyazzat, Ben

Zimmer at the Blue House

Hey!

It's been busy as usual here in Bremen.

Saturday I went to the neighborhood castle - die Schloss Schönebeck which was interesting, but not what I thought it would be. It was more mansion than castle by today's standards, but for early generations it was castle. The basement and first floor had lots of general interest history exhibits, but the second floor was dedicated to fishing/whaling/sailing - generally not my cup of tea. To top it off, our tour guide was a retired sailor so we spent more time looking at the sailing stuff than anywhere else.

Saturday afternoon I took a load of stuff to my new room at the Blue House (more on that later). After that I headed to the University for a presentation/discussion on the upcoming US elections. Jacobs University invited the US consulate to speak, someone who could help the US citizens register for an absentee ballot, and had the CNN Candidates Revealed film. It was really cool. It was mostly US and German citizens in the audience, but there were some people from other countries as well. After the presentation there was a reception with "American" cookies (chips ahoy and homemade chocolate chip) and a mock election - Nader in 3rd with 1 vote, McCain 2nd with 7 votes, and Obama won with 20 votes.

Sunday was dedicated to moving and settling in. Maria's host mother, Renate, graciously drove me from Herr Hammer's to Blue House with the last of my stuff. Since then I've hung things on the walls, washed almost all of my clothing/bedding to get the nasty smell from Herr Hammer's out, gone grocery shopping, and just generally settled in. I have a landline now if you would like my number please email me at bits1212@yahoo.com .

I really feel like I've found a home here in the Blue House. I like living with other students. My roommate, Maaheen, is nice, quiet, and considerate. I think my balcony is pretty darn cool and I love the fact I live about my favorite eatery - a döner place. Döners are this Turkish food that is bread, gyro meat, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and two kinds of sauce which I can pronounce but not spell. They are wonderful.

Okay it's 1 am and I'm exhausted.

Love you,
Bits










My pretty bed!















All settled into my new zimmer!















Closet space isn't valued here













Window and door that leads to my balcony













Bathroom

Oldenburg

Hey Everyone!

Today I did something pretty big for me: I went to Oldenburg by myself. This may not seem like a huge deal, but it was really a big accomplishment for me.

What started this adventure was these signs around advertising an Expressionist art exhibit in Oldenburg. I was pretty curious about it and asked my friends if they wanted to go to Oldenburg with me today. As luck would have it none of them could go. I went back and forth on if I should go by myself, but I reminded myself that this Europe thing is a once in a lifetime experience and I should get the most out of it as I can. Then I looked up train schedules from Bremen to Oldenburg.

I managed to get to Oldenburg no problem and even ate this pastry thing during the train ride. I really have no idea what this pastry was - it was apply, crumbly, and this pudding type thing in it. It was good.

So I got to Oldenburg and after wandering around the hauptbahnhof (train station) for about 10 minutes I found the tourism office. A girl spoke some English and pointed me outside. Once I got outside I sort of cheated and asked a taxi to take me the Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte (roughly translated: art museum). Something got confused though and I ended up at the Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch (roughly translated: Natural History & People Museum). It was not what I was expecting, but I did wander around. Every single thing was in German so I couldn't really read the signs, but it was good none the less. There was an exhibit on early Christian artifacts that was pretty cool, but, once again, would have been way cooler if I knew what I was looking at.

After I left the nature & people museum I decided to walk in the direction of die Schloss Oldenburg (the Oldenburg Castle). Along the way to the castle I found the art museum I had wanted to go to! It was awesome. The person at the desk spoke English and I was able to walk around. The nice thing about art is that it is open to translation and you don't have to read signs describing it. I really enjoyed it.

After the art museum I made it to the castle, but just looked it from the outside. I wandered around and found a really cool church as well, but it had construction going on inside and outside so I wasn't able to go in and explore.

Overall it was a good day and I'm proud of myself for taking on a new city by myself when I don't speak the language.

Love,
Elizabeth







Pretty street scene from Oldenburg
















Signs for die Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch















This was on the ceiling of the art museum and I may or may not have been allowed to take it. Never the less it depicts a female as queen of heaven - email me if you are interested in some more of my observations of this painting.






One view of die Schloss Oldenburg























One of the better photographs I've taken - a park in Oldenburg. The water is actually part of this moat thing that was originally set up to protect the city from invaders. The city has expanded well beyond this boundary of course and now it's just a pretty park.