Week Four in Hamburg

It's been a little longer then usual since my last post, but I have to say the reason is that the last post took a bit out of me. Its hard work, but I think it’s worth it.

Again, where was I...?

Wednesday.

I woke up this morning and checked my mail. Normally checking my e-mails in the morning before I go to work is a nice distraction from the day that lies ahead. Don't get me wrong, I really do not mind work, it is just that I am not a morning person. Anyway, I got a mail that I didn't need to come in because my boss was away for the day at a meeting. Woo hoo! However, I did want to at least be a little productive, so I went down to the technical library at the Technical University of Harburg to get some reading done. With a combination of having extreme problems finding what I was looking for and the fact that it was a boiling day outside- meaning, with no air conditioning, it was also a boiling day inside- I left after an hour. I know, very productive...

In the evening I met some IAESTE people for our weekly meeting at this place called The Pony Bar. Very student-like and artsy. Quite nice actually. I met a new local member who was great to talk to, which does not happen everyday. No beer for me this time though. I am not used to having, even a small alcoholic beverage, each day. It is very new for me. It is just the way the people do it around here. And I do not think that is such a bad thing either. Compared to many youth drinking cultures- Norway, Canada, US, etc.- it seems to make a lot more sense to relax with your friends with a drink throughout the week then completely binge and get trashed on the weekend. It is probably not accurate to say this, but maybe the livers of many a youth would be happier this way.

Thursday.

I have to say that today started off like an ordinary day, meaning I had nothing planned at all. I went to work and had a long break in between experiments, which was very, very boring. However, when I walked out of the lab at the end of the day I was astonished to see, right in front of me, a long marching brigade. It was really impressive. There was the army, navy, and air force, all marching along to the beat of a single drum. The army had their guns with them, which to me, even if it is only marching, is very unsettling. I found out the next day that this is a special day during the summer that the whole school marches to celebrate the lieutenants’ promotion to being officers. Now, after the initial shock of seeing rows and rows of soldiers, lets just say all the cute Germans and their uniform was not a bad sight. As a side note, the number of women was, as I expected, unbelievably small.

I guess I should mention, since it makes me smile, that I had a good talk with Jan and Jan from the lab. One is an Air Force engineer and very nice on the eyes, the other is a Navy engineer. It was nice to talk at work for a change. The week before, for example, I was alone in the lab for days.

In the afternoon I came home exhausted, but was immediately cheered up when I ran into Hanneke, a Dutch PHD student who lives in my Studentenwohnheim. She was so excited about her research proposal receiving praise, and she definitely transferred some good vibes my way as well. Coming back we met Gwen (Gwendolyn), from Italy on the same PHD summer school as Hanneke), Jérémy, and his young Mexican exchange student friend. We all shared beer, fondue (ahh the Swiss), and cheesecake! It was really great.

Friday.

Today, after a relatively long day in the lab, I headed out to meet Yik, Miguel, and Ebru (a new IAESTE trainee from Turkey). I did not just plan to meet them without a goal...and that goal was to watch the quarterfinal match between Argentina and Germany. After arriving late to the first place, which was packed, we headed off at halftime to a Biergarten in Stadtpark, a beautiful park just north of the city. As we should have expected, the place was maxed out. Actually, the four Beirgartens next to each other were all maxed out. Treating me to a nice after-work beer, Miguel, I, and the group found a nice bench to stand on and try to catch a glimpse of the game. Mind you, it is just as fun, if not more, to watch all the crazy German fans. I have definitely watched more football this month then the sum of the games I have watched in my entire life. I find it pretty exciting. I think, just think, I might have caught a video on my camera of some on-duty cops drinking a few beers...then again, it might have been sparkling apple juice or something.

I was disappointed when I found out that the Turkish trainee spoke German, but no English. I would have really liked to talk to her because she seemed like a very nice gal. It really sucks for her because the other trainees, for the most part, don't speak much German at all. I am worried she might feel a little isolated.

So, Germany won! Sorry Ana, Argentina did play a hell of a game, but the sun was not shining on them when it came to the shoot out. It was then pretty apparent who the winners were afterwards by the reaction of the people all around the city (and all of Germany too). Cars honking their horns, people hanging out of apartment and car windows waving the German flag, people running in the streets with the flag, people throwing beer in the air, etc. On the radio they also got into it, playing songs like "We are the champions" and "Don't cry for me Argentina". It was just a really amazing sight.

Here is a picture of the excitement following the game-tieing goal from the Germans:

After that we dropped off the Turkish girl at her place. Though she is much closer to Altona, a really cool area of town, I think my flat is much homier. I do like it.

Next we headed off to watch the Ukraine-Italy slaughter match. I met the new trainee, Filip from Macedonia. He seemed very friendly, but very tired. I then played table foosball with the IAESTE guys. Now, most of my life I have not had that many guy friends or guys that I just hang out with. I don't know why, really, I just haven't. This night it was me and seven IAESTE guys. They did teach me the fundamentals of foosball, which, believe it or not, is tricky to play. At first I was aimlessly spinning my players, but in the end I made a goal or two (it wasn’t even a self goal, so not too bad). Hanging out with men is maybe a bit more relaxing then hanging out with women, but I can't describe in more detail because I can't.

Sleep. (Just in case you were wondering. Too much information, eh? It’s just a bit of fun).

Saturday.

The day of Christina's arrival!

After some housework I arrived that the main train station to pick up Christina and her two friends. All three of them were arriving from Danmark after their study abroad program. I was so happy to see Christina, but it was also so surreal. I mean, really surreal. After helping the gang with their transport pass, Christina and I headed back to my place in Rahlstedt to bring over her luggage and relax a bit.

Ahh relaxation...Then off to Sternschanze, a Portuguese/eclectic area of town to meet up with Deran, and I forget her name (this is explained later. I am not just being very rude). I did find it odd that they said that when they went to their hostel and were told to give their passport numbers they decided to check if the hostel had the right to ask for it. They went to the American embassy, but it was closed. Hmm. Maybe a tad over the top, or maybe they were smart to question it, I am not sure.

The low-down: Deran is sweet, very motivated, Copenhagen-loving, and organized (to a sometimes annoying level, according to Christina) pre-med student from UT. The girl whose name I forgot seemed initially sweet, but then became unbelievably passive aggressive and a mood-spoiler. I tried, Christina tried, and Daren tried... there was no getting the life out of her. Though throughout the night Christina and I worked to make the most of it, she was a tad of a dead weight. Why you would act so negatively and without any regard to the feelings to the people around you is beyond me.

Back to Sternschanze: We came there just in time to see the end of the England-Portugal game and watched the fight to the death kick off. We happened to be in a Portuguese area when the Portuguese had such a stunning victory. The shop keepers were jumping, music playing, people drumming, it was cool.

Here's a picture of the the Portugal celebration:

Finding a place to sit posed a small problem, and after eating, finding a place to watch Brazil vs. France was damned-near impossible. Luckily, we found a place inside a pub.

It was here where I will remember two things well. The first was that Brazil lost to France. The second, and much larger event that I will remember, was when Christina ordered an "Alsterwasser," or beer and lemonade, and then exclaimed after trying it "I'm more of a beer person." It took a second for the full weight of this exclamation to sink in..."Really Christina, I am so surprised you said that" I said. I guess I should give you a quick background on why think was a big thing for Christina and me. Last October Christina's dad got us a six-pack of beer. In May, there were still four beers left, and we gave those to our neighbours. So, after Christina had tried a German beer I had bought, there was no beer-lemonade substitute for her. And I agree. German beer is very good.

After the game it was off to Reeperbahn. I took them to some small places, and just wondered around a bit. I tried to ignore some of the comments from the girl whose name I forget, like "Why are we walking? Why do we need to walk? Why are we going here?" etc.

Here is a pic of Christina and I on the Reeperbahn:

Christina and I also walked along the Harbour and sat on some crowded steps for a while. We looked at the ocean and chilled.

Sleep.

Sunday.

Today Christina and I had a chance to sleep in before heading out. Today it was happily just Christina and I on a date with Hamburg.

Before getting to the day of sight seeing, I have to describe a man that was waiting for the first bus with us. It was shocking. He was standing with presumably his daughter and his wife, and he was wearing incredibly short shorts. I said before that many Germans have shorts a bit shorter then the way American's would typically wear them, but these were short- shorts for men. When we were sitting almost opposite to him on the bus, I glanced his way and noticed that has inched up as he sat down. Scary sight, I tell you.

Christina made the true observation that Hamburg is much more heterogeneous in population then Danmark and the fashion is much less trendy.

Back to the story: Coming to the Rathhaus, we first headed to the Frida Kahlo exhibit. The exhibit comprised of a small, private collection that included a few very famous pieces, as well as some beautiful photographs taken of the artist. I did not know that Frida was half German, ahh; it makes sense why it is on display in Germany. The size was perfect. Big enough to feel satisfied, yet not too big as to feel overstuffed. Since I did not see the film or read anything really about her personal life before going, it was really amazing and terrible to learn about the pain in her life. From a life-changing bus accident, to affairs, to divorce and to miscarriages, she had so much sadness. There was one piece in particular that struck me. It is self-portrait of the artist with pins stuck all over her body. She is cut down the center of her chest, and instead of her spine, a broken ancient column rests. Her body is then held together by white cloth straps wrapped horizontally parallel across her chest. It is beautiful and very moving. See picture below. I also became mesmerized by the eyes of her portrait subjects. At first you looked at them and they were just eyes, but after a while they seemed to morph and become so expressive.

Frida and I:


This is a pic on the way to the lake. We passed a square where the city airs operas on a large public screen. There is a weird wavey cement area, which, in this pic, Christina just jumped off of:

After, we headed to the Alster (lake next to the Rathaus area) and walked along the many stalls set up, serving food and drinks from all over the world. I love the World Cup. Christina and I, for the price of a beer, had sparkling wine and strawberries by the lake. This sounds really decadent, and I guess it was. Also, there was this giant Haribo carte. Another timbit I did not know was that the Haribo gummies come from Germany. Christina fell in love with licorice and a special mix in Damark and loved it. With my love of gummies, it was great too!

Christina's cup (she took the pic, pretty, eh?):

Haribo candy heaven:

After filling up on candy and wine (Perhaps this means we are adults, but we indulge the child inside us everyone and a while) we headed off for a long walk of the city. Over bridges, around in circles, and over more bridges, we finally made it to St. Michaels church. Christina and I work well as sight seeing buddies. I tend not to like to use a map once I have been in a place for a while, so I take a laid back wondering approach to getting places, even if it means going in a few circles. We both had a few goals to see, but none in a particular order. I am happy that Christina has a lot of patience, I don't think too many people would keep their cool so well while "wondering" with me. Anyway, we decided not to take the elevator to the top of this massive church tower, but walk the steps instead. We saw no one walking. At some points we thought we were getting close, but no, it just kept going and going and going.

Christina starting the climb:

Once at the top, the view was spectacular. It was a clear day, so we could see far into the distance. The nice part is about sight seeing in a city I already sort of know is that I could point out all these little parts of the town to Christina.

Christina's pic (she's got a gift with the camera, though this may not demonstrate the more artsy side. As she said "the scene is already set for you") of the top:

Me at the top:

We again walked besides the harbour and some of the places, including the steps that we had seen the night before. It is really interesting how things change from day to night and night to day. The place was nearly unrecognizable. The same with Reeperbahn. We saw families walking past sex shops...just a regular Sunday after noon family stroll.

Here is a pic of the German carte of food along the harbour:

Here is a pic of the club "Onkel Otto" by the steps we sat at the night before:

Here is a corner Irish pub by the harbour:

In the evening we shared some Portuguese seafood (very good!) and tried, tried, to find this Turkish coffee that Christina had heard was so delicious. In the end we found a Turkish place, but it served regular coffee, to our disappointment. Also, since they were pretty busy and we found a nice table outside, they seemed very eager for us to hurry our coffee and get out. Not the most relaxing coffee drinking experience, but not as bad as I think I made it sound.

The last trip of the night was to Planten en Bloomen to watch the fountain light show. I described this partly in the last blog, but seeing the whole thing and seeing it with Christina was wonderful. We arrived a little early (after playing in the wicked kids park... see picture below) and sat on the side of the fountain that was not the main viewing side, but was less crowded.

This one's for Ana. It is the big Radisson beside the garden. On the whole building is a pic of one hot Argentinian footballer. I think he is the young superstar:

Me in the garden:

Flowers and bee, by Christina:

The wicked park- me on a long slide:

Christina on the twirly-whirl. Only Christina and I will really remember the crazy amuzement we felt with that thing:~>

One thing I should quickly mention. Christina is allergic to Hamburg. I guess in a similar way to how I am allergic to Austin. Even lying on the grass, red itchy marks appeared on her skin. Lian, from China, who lives in my flat, said that she was amazed that when first coming to Germany she found that after two days her face and eyes were extremely red and puffy. She was initially allergic to the water and it took her a week or two to get used to it. Our body certainly reacts differently to new environments.

Back to the fountains: The movement of the fountains and light are controlled manually by two musicians who use a special key-board. Today's theme was music from movies. Some of the songs were unbelievably touching, made even more so by the hypnotic display, such as the theme song of Schindler's List. Others were playful, like the theme tune to Mission Impossible and The Pink Panther. The Pink Panther theme song in particular made me nostalgic for Emma.
Christina and I in the grass by the fountains:

Feet, we match!:

Fountains:

We then went home, after a long day out, and took a rest. What a wonderful day.

Monday.

Work and work. While I was at work, Christina had met up with Daren and I forget her name. I was surprised when I came home that Christina was chilling out at the flat. She said she had had an exhausting day. They saw some new sights, had a decent lunch, but bitch-girl made not effort to disguise her passive-aggressive behavior. Again, she was a mood-killer. The allergies she was suffering from and the long, but exciting day before, probably did not help her feeling tired. I made a nice supper of pasta, roasted tomatoes, and salad (not too bad for me), and we made an excursion out to Stadtpark, where we enjoyed a beer and good people watching and to the Rathaus. We enjoyed some more gummies while we watched the crowds and fountain display by the Alster Lake.
Beer and water:

Me and the moon:

Tuesday.

Goodbye Christina! She left early in the morning, before I got up. I will miss her. I love having guests over.

Today was the day of the World Cup semi-final match between Germany and Italy. I will first begin my story by going back to last Friday at the quarter-final match between Germany and Argentina. Since I had this strong feeling that Argentina would win, I made this stupid bet with Miguel saying that if Argentina lost, I would become the ultimate German-looking supporter for the semi-final match. Ana is right; I suck at making bets, I always loose. That brings me back to today. After work I headed to a shopping area and for 4 € I bought a German scarf, a large flag, a flimsy "Deutschland" tank top, face paint, and a German-flag coloured lay for the big game. When I got home, I painted my face, braided my hair, tied the flag around my waist (I had on football shorts underneath, which, luck have it, happened to look like the German teams shorts), put on a bikini top with the tank top over it (it was so cheap that the shoulder strap almost broke while putting it on), and left for the game. I also put on bright red lip-stick to top it off.

Germanized me:

I felt a little bit silly as I went to the train platform and there wasn't anyone really dressed up. Oh, well, I thought. When I got to the central station I was relieved to see a lot of crazy German fans in fan ware. It was weird to walk and have people bellowing "Deutschland!" at me as I passed. There were also a few tourists who I heard were saying thinks like "look at the German girl," fooled them didn't I? So the IAESTE crew laughed at me. It was cool, though. Since we arrived a bit late, most of the places that we wanted to go to were full. We eventually found a spot on a bench at a place that was a little too fancy for what I had in mind, but it worked. I really got into the game. Even Tehri, the Finnish girl, who had barely watched any of the matches and who, frankly, didn't care about football, was very into it as well.

So the goal towards the last few minutes by the Italians was hard to bear. I think the German team lost its spirit and the second goal by the Italian's was therefore accomplished. There were a few Italians around watching the game. They were extremely quiet during the game, but when it finished they celebrated. The atmosphere was fine, not aggressive towards the Italians or anything, but if I were in their position, surrounded by German fans, I might not have been as free with my emotions during the game either. That is what football is, especially the World Cup, emotional to watch.

I felt disappointed after the match. I also felt sad. On the bus ride back, everything was so quiet and the mood hard to describe. Quiet and dejected I think is a good description. No honking in the street either. There were perhaps a very few Italians beeping their horns. Miguel said that it was probably my fault they lost because this is the only time I dressed up. I am no jinx, am I? Just kidding.

Well, that’s all folks. Until next time!