I Know More Spanish Than I Thought

After Christmas I headed to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with my dad and sister to get away from the bitter New England cold for a while and enjoy the tropical sunshine. This trip was unlike any other I've taken in the past year...laying on the beach and doing nothing all day isn't really my idea of fun. It was especially hard for me knowing what kind of life people in the Dominican were living outside of our all-inclusive resort and how they probably could never afford even a day in the place we were staying. I tried to twist it around in my head and thought of it as us helping their tourism economy thus increasing their GDP, but I dunno...still felt guilty.

Anyway, I digress. As you probably know, in middle school when we had to fill out the forms in 6th grade saying which language we would start learning the next year, instead of choosing Spanish like everyone else, I marked German. Why? I have no idea. But I can safely that that decision I made as a 12 year old completely changed the course of the rest of my life. But I am digressing again! Jeez I guess this is what happens when you don't write for a while. Even though I have been speaking German for the past 10 years, I still knew a LOT more Spanish in the Dominican Republic than I thought I would (and I've never even watched Dora the Explorer!) I knew how to count to 10, which was useful when telling hostesses how many people would be eating dinner, or how many bottles of water you wanted (I knew the word for water too!). I knew "please" and "thank you." I knew how to ask someone how they were, and I knew how to respond. I knew how to say my name. When the guy who was driving us from the airport to the resort came across a huge puddle in the middle of the road, he said to my dad, "mucha agua amigo!" and all of us laughed. Totally understood that. One waiter told another waiter that my sister was "loco" thinking that we wouldn't be able to understand. Oh, we understood and it was probably the funniest moment of my life.

The first few days in a new country it's always hard for me to use the language because I get nervous, but after a while, it's just fun. The only scary part was when the people thought you ACTUALLY spoke Spanish and would say a whole big thing and you'd have no idea what was going on! It was fun though, I miss communicating in a different language on a daily basis!

Culture Shock in the Midwest

Ok so maybe I haven't updated this in a while, but I feel like it just keeps going on and on, and I'm not in Germany any more (which was the main purpose of this blog anyhow) and my day to day life back in the US just isn't as exciting. But since so many people have asked me about this recently, I thought I'd write something up.

I've been so lucky to have been able to see my Freiburg friends on an almost regular basis, considering we're in 5 different states in 3 different time zones. Since the majority of my friends are now from the midwest, I have traveled there twice; first to Madison, Wisconsin for Halloween and then I split my time between Crown Point, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois for Christmas.

I was completely shocked by the culture in the midwest, I had no idea that life could be so different a thousand miles away (ok, that's a lie. I just traveled all over the world. Of COURSE I knew that life could be totally different a thousand miles away). The first thing I noticed was generally how much nicer people were. People were calmer, in less of a rush to do things, and always greeted you with a smile (especially in airports, who knew?). Everything there is FLAT! Flat flat flat! I didn't know that anything could be that flat until I saw it for myself! Many ATMs were advertised as fee free! You can buy alcohol in grocery stores. There are billboards for adult superstores everywhere. Cracker Barrel to the Midwest is like Dunkin Donuts to Boston, they are EVERYWHERE!

A huge shocker about the midwest for me and Jon (who's from California) in Madison was that every time we went out to dinner, they would ask us beforehand if we wanted the check separate or together. This was such a foreign concept to us coasties (a midwest term for someone that lives on the coast!) that we almost didn't believe it the first time it happened. If you ask for separate checks around here, you will be met with an evil eye, and your food will probably be tampered with. There, it's just common practice. Imagine how many awkward dates that would eliminate if you knew right off the bat whether the guy was going to pay for you or not? Sometimes, when we went out to eat with a large group, we wouldn't even be asked if the checks were together or separate, they would just bring them out separately! I dunno how many hours of my life I've wasted in restaurants trying to itemize every last Coke and french fry to the appropriate person, and arguing over who is going to pay with their $20 and who gets how much change from where, but I kind of like the midwest style a lot better.

I thought I saw it all during my first trip to the Midwest, but I was wrong! For Christmas I spent time with my friend Katie's family in Indiana, and after she picked me up from the airport with Emily, we went to the grocery store to get dinner for that night. As we were checking out, a guy started loading the groceries onto a weird cart and then began pushing him away. "Hey," I whispered, "where is he going with our stuff??" Katie and Emily laughed. "He's bringing it out to the car for us," they replied.
"Whaaaat??" I said, "they do that here??"
"Yes of course!" they were laughing even harder now, "Usually you have to tell them when you don't want your stuff brought out to the car, because if they do bring it out, you gotta tip them." It was the craziest thing I ever saw!

Varanasi

I'm currently writing a paper on Varanasi, which said to be the most holy city in all of Hinduism. Varanasi was the first city I visited in India. It was unbelievably, indescribably hot and stressful! I had a love/hate relationship with it. However, there was something about it that I can't quite put my finger on, and it's the city I think about the most. After doing this research, it turns out I'm not alone! I want so badly to go back there now!

Varanasi was discovered by the Hindu God Shiva when he was looking for a place to live with his wife Pavarti. He stood at the top of the Himalayas and chose the spot where Varanasi is. He created the city when there was nothing else in the world, and now it is said that the universe will also end in Varanasi. It is the center of the universe in Hinduism and the city itself is said to float above the rest of the world.

Every year, millions of Hindus visit the city and some feel such a strong sense of attachment there, that they can never live anywhere else ever again. Along with Shiva, the 330 million other Hindu gods also live in the city, and there are religious depictions of them all over the place. The religion is clearly an important aspect of the every day life in Varanasi, and there are thousands of temples located all over the city.

The most significant part of the city is that the Ganges River runs through it, which is worshiped as a goddess. Every morning there are people at the banks of the river bathing, washing clothes, washing their animals, and swimming. People come to Varanasi to die, be cremated, and have their ashes thrown in the river because here it is promised that they will be liberated by the Lord Shiva, no matter what religion or caste they are, where they come from, or how they have sinned. There are cremation ceremonies taking place twenty-four hours a day at the river. Foreigners are allowed to watch, but pictures are strictly forbidden.

The picture I put with this blog entry is one of my favorites. I took it at 5 in the morning when we went on a sunrise boat tour of the Ganges. Even though it was so early, you can already see how many people there are bathing and beginning their day. To the right, you can see the religious artwork painted on those pink things, but in the center there are ads for Vodafone. It's interesting how old mixes with new in Varanasi, the hub of the universe.

Check out what my German professor had to say about being an East German when the wall came down in 1989!

PS
his response to the last question is what makes him one of my favorite professors ever.

Oh Freiburg, Freiburg, how I miss you so. This semester, while I am struggling in two of my economics classes, I like to think about last semester, when I had the greatest economics professor of my life. Dr. Klaus Kammerer vas totally crazy. He took us on a wine tasting field trip in Kaiserstuhl, a city just outside of Freiburg so we could see what a real German business was like for our Business Cultures class.
After dinner, consisting of a pig that "vas alive two veeks ago" Klaus decided to share a story about his experience in a nudist camp in the south of France during the 1970s. The story was so good in fact, that I spent hours adding subtitles to it the other night. Completely worth it.
Mom and Dad, this is what you sent me to Germany for.
This video is rated PG-13 for doggie related material.

Judging Books by their Covers

As part of my job as a DJ at WMHC, I have to complete committee hours every semester in order to get a show for the following semester. For the first time, this semester I'm on the reviewing committee, meaning I have to review 6 hours of CDs between now and the end of the semester. This means I listen to the CD in its entirety, check the lyrics for swear words, then type up a short blurb about the band and the music so it can be placed on the required shelf, which contains all the albums that the DJs have to play.

Yesterday I went and picked up 10 CDs from the station to write reviews. They opened up a huge bin full of them and told me to pick whatever I liked. Since it's all new bands, I had never heard of any of them, so I judged the albums completely by their covers. So far I've listened to 8 CDs and I've discovered that it's actually really really fun because every time I pop a new one into my computer, I have no clue what I'm going to get. After I listen to a song or two, I Google the band to find out some background information and I've been learning a lot. Five of the CDs I've listened to have been awesome, 2 have been terrible, and one I was completely indifferent about, but burned on to my laptop anyway in case I change my mind later.

Some German Thangs

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was very exciting, and I especially felt some pride as a German major. As a treat, one of my favorite professors of all time came to visit my German seminar last night and showed us a powerpoint of her experience as an American visiting East Germany for a teacher's conference in 1987. It was really interesting. My favorite picture was one that she showed of a sign on a restaurant taken on July 14th saying that the next Pizza dinner would be served on August 31st. My German professor, an East German, explained that this happened because there were never enough fresh ingredients to make pizzas in East Germany, so they only had "Pizza Parties" once a month. Unbelievable!

She also complained about how everywhere in the news (in both Germany and America) they talk about the Berlin Wall falling. The wall did not, however, fall on November 9, 1989, it simply opened up. Very good point.

I also had my last (!!!) academic advising appointment yesterday with my economics advisor, also a German man. It was the first time I had seen him since I returned back from Freiburg and he asked me about the classes I took. I told him that both of my economics classes were in English because they don't really offer economics classes in German at the Uni anymore. He was very excited by this and told me he thought it was wonderful that German universities are becoming so globalized and seeing the importance of being active in the world market. I thought it was very interesting to get a German's opinion about more classes being taught in English. Personally, I think it's sad that German students can no longer really take any classes in business or economics in their own language, but I guess my advisor had a good point as well. It will be interesting to see what role language plays in the future as the world becomes even more globalized.

Freiburg Reunion I

The first Freiburg reunion in Madison, Wisconsin was a major success and more fun than I've had since I've gotten back to the United States. We drove/flew in from 5 different states all over the country and it didn't seem like 3 months had passed at all.

Halloween was a blast and it's hard to believe it was a whole week ago. Spending so much time outside in chilly Wisconsin, along with a combination of too many flights and lack of sleep has caused me to become a little bit sick (no swine, though, I think) and this weekend I'm locked inside my room trying to get through a 3 page paper (done!), a 5 page paper (not started), and a 20 page paper (7 pages in).

I had so much fun in the midwest that I've already booked a ticket for my next big adventure: Freiburg reunion II in Chicago!

Oh, By the Way...

This was taken at the gym at Mt. Holyoke College

Two Mt. Holyoke Thoughts...

1. I always get a little sad on the day that they take away all the green Adirondack chairs all over campus and store them for the winter. That means snow is coming soon. Also, who has time to sit out on the green anymore?

2. Why can't they cut all the delicious and tempting desserts out of the budget???