Munchen I

Sorry guys, I meant to post Monday about my weekend in Munich, but it just didn't happen. Sorry.

Anyways.  I'm not going to lie, Munich was pretty sweet.  South Germany has a totally different character than the North.  Based on my short and sweet three-day visit there, I'd say it's more like the US.

We stayed with Anke's sister, Ina, and her husband, Christian, and her children, Oskar and Olivia.  They live right in the city, in the student district.  I really liked their neighborhood- filled with small niche shops and cafes, and just a few blocks away from the university, it had a very cool character.

The first day Ina treated Lotta and I to a traditional Munich breakfast, and it was fantastic.  White Wurst with sweet mustard, Brezeln (pretzles), a cheese dip, meats, and vegetables.  I was surprised to learn that the White Wurst is traditionally only eaten for breakfast, and even more surprised to hear that breakfast is served with beer.  Go figure.

Ina made it very clear that food is very important in Munich.  It seems like every ten minutes is Brot Zeit (bread time), and it's time to stop and get a snack.  Sounds like a good way of living for me.  Anyway, Ina showed us some of the city, and we got a brief tour of some of the most important things.  We were treated to a beautiful blue sky, and it was warm and sunny almost the whole weekend.  There's a goofy picture of me below, when we stopped for a drink after a little sightseeing.  My hair isn't red, that's just glare.

The Rathaus

I thought the poster above was funny... everything you need, right?  Upper left is Lotta, with Oskar, and left is just hilarious.

Okay!  I'll make another post for the rest.  Ciao!

Hey guys, I'm going to Munich.  Be back Monday.

Tim

Que pasa?

I think it's really funny- in the US, I think just about everyone would know what you mean when you say "Que pasa?".   Here, though, I say that and people look at me in wide-eyed horror.

Okay, that's a slight exaggeration.  But it really goes to show that the US is a veritable mischmasch (our German word of the day) of cultures and languages.  Here, only Jochen has any idea what I'm talking about.

Today I finished my suesses klienes schaechtelchen!  It's ganz pupsiges.  Maybe tomorrow you can have a picture.

I was thinking about New England the other day- I don't really think that our leaves are brighter than anywhere else, I think that it's just the quality of light that makes them so famous.  The leaves here in Germany get very bright, but because it's a perpetual fog they don't appear so.  New England's unique indian summers are why we're famous for foliage, I think- we have sun!  Or, at least, a little more than some other places.

That being said, all the leaves are gone here, now.  We've had snow, too, but it only lasted for a day, thank goodness.

German weather this time of year is a little depressing.  It rains almost every day and gets dark around 4.30, if not earlier.  I just need to keep in mind that it's always dark this time of year, though, regardless of whether I'm in Germany or Boston. And it's not too too kalt yet, so that's good!

Anyway.  I can't find the song of the day!  It's Desengano, by Los Panchos... maybe you can find it on iTunes or something.  Sorry folks.  In the meantime, this is pretty cool.

Okay.  Bis Morgen!

Was ist eine Zicke?

Zicke ist eine woman-goat.

Song of the day is Wonderful World, by Sam Cooke.   I oughta say though, that I haven't been watching the music videos that I've been posting- Anke thought that the video with the fat man was hysterical, and I had no idea what she was talking about... anyway, I only know that I like the music, the videos may or may not be terrible.

Speaking of videos, here's one for you that I have seen: Wurstfachverkaeuferin, by Helge Schneider. 

You know what's richtig schrecklich?  I have school tomorrow.  And it's a Saturday.

Lame.

Oh!  The word of the day can be Wurstfachverkaeuferin- it means Specialized Sausage Shop Assistant.

Hokay, so here's the plan...

Word of the day is Streichholzschachtel- it means matchbox.  I think it should be a minus point for Deutsch, but Anke likes it.  We're keeping track of which words are better and English and which are better in Deutsch.  So far it's tied 7-7, with a -1 for the Netherlands.  Streichholzschachtel didn't score, but Schaechtelchen was a point for Deutsch.  Another good one is Blümchen- a small flower.  But it's not bloom-chen- it's a brighter oo and not a ch like chop but a ch like Blümchen.  Get it?

I said I would talk about my school, so here goes:


Rather than a quarter, semester, or trimester school calendar, the Waldorfschule has an epoch system; one academic concentration and one handcraft or technical concentration is taught for two and one half hours daily for four to six weeks, twice a year. Core classes, which are listed below, are taught throughout the year. At the end of the year, Timothy will have a three-week work-study with a local industry.

Freie Waldorfschule Lübeck Core Classes:

French
German
English
Math
Music
Eurythmie
Religion
Sport


Freie Waldorfshule Lübeck Epoch Classes:

(4 weeks/year)

Ceramics
Kartonage (paper/box making)
Political Economics
Web Design
Carpentry
Microscope Science
Art
Drama

(8-9 weeks/year)
German
Geography
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
History
Math (12 weeks)

Mmmkay.  Song of the day is Slam, by Pendulum.  It's a fantastic song to work out to, to run to, to bike to, or to drive to, but it's no good for just sitting down and listening to.  Anyway... you can find it here.

Le Petit Prince

I just realized that I forgot to talk about Le Petit Prince!  For some reason I thought I had already written something, but I guess not.

Anyway, it was very, very good.  It was done in a very modern sort of style, with a minimalistic set.  There were four actors, three from France.  I was very proud of myself, because I understood most all of it- of course, it helps that I've read it before.

Le Petit Prince especially did a very good job, I think.  It must be a terribly hard part to play, considering that the Prince isn't a human.  He's not even a child.  He's a symbol- he must represent innocence, trust, and at the same time wisdom.  That's a tough role to play.  Nonetheless, the actor did a great job.

Throughout the play there were little musical bits, oftentimes accentuating pantomime.  In the beginning, for instance, when the Prince asks Saint-Exupery to draw a mouton, Saint-Exupery responded by drawing with his finger in the air.  Another player was backstage, and as Saint-Exupery drew, he mimicked his penstrokes with the violin- as Saint-Exupery drew a line up, the violin got higher, and vice verca.  I suppose it's hard to explain.  Anyway, it was very effective.

All in all, a fantastic play!

While we're at it, you can have a second song of the day: Le Vent Nous Portera, from Noir Désir.  You can find it here.  I should add that if you do listen to it, don't watch the music video- I like the music, but the video is pretty doof.

Lotta ist zuruck!

It doesn't really make sense for me to say "Lotta is zuruck" because I had never met her  before,  but nonetheless, Lotta is back home.  We haven't talked too much yet, but I'm sure we will and I'm sure she's a perfectly lovely girl because all of this Baake family is pretty fantastic and it would be very strange if there was just one terrible child among a crop of good ones.  So, that being said, it's nice that she's home!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- I've been trying to finish up my Stanford applications, and I've been really busy... anyway.  All is submitted now!  Fertig! Hoorah!

Song of the day is In the Cold, Cold Night, by the White Stripes (you can hear it here, wenn du willst) I love this song, and I love the White stripes.  Most of their stuff is so simple, but very nice.

Anyway.  On Halloween I went with Anke, Mia, and Friederike into Hamburg where we saw Mendelssohn's oratory "Elias" performed by quartet, choir, and orchestra.  It was really fantastic- a very good piece.  I ended up scrapping one of my Stanford essays and rewriting it, talking about Mr. Mendelssohn.  Or at least mentioning him, anyway.

Today I split some wood.  I kind of like splitting wood, though- it's a very rewarding thing to do.  It's nice to feel self-sufficient.  Besides, splitting wood is just about one of the manliest things that a guy can do.  Maybe splitting wood with an axe shirtless would be manlier, but it's too cold to be shirtless and after a few logs with an axe I'm sure that I would really rather have the wood splitter than those last few manliness-points.

Anyway.  Tomorrow I'll tell you about my school schedule.  I was going to tell you today, but this post is finished now, so that won't be possible.

Bis bald!
Tim