Where Has the Time Gone!?

The best education you will ever get is travelling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences

Wow, I can’t believe I have less than 100 days left in Germany! Time has truly gone by fast. But instead of counting time, let me share some of my highlights since my last post.

One Week Winter

Not to brag or anything, but my city basically only had one week of winter this year. It was great! Throughout December and January it snowed a little bit, but then it always melted the next day. Around the end of January beginning of February, we received our first (pretty much only) real snow. (Lucky for me, it wasn’t a real Wisconsin snow.) The weekend with snow was absolutely gorgeous. My host family and I decided to go sledding. Now the sledding that I’m used to is climbing up a big hill and then sledding down. My host family goes sledding a different way. We drove down some back roads (that were on a slight hill) close to our house. Instead of walking to the top, my host sisters and I hooked our sleds behind the car and we drove to the top of the hill. It was so much fun! After sledding, we went back to the house and we decided to build a snowman. Being a Wisconsinite and all, I am proud to say I have some pretty decent snowman building skills. I had a blast sharing my skills with my host family to create a 9-foot snowman. We named him Rufus. At the end of the day, I noticed something: I couldn’t remember the last time I spent the whole day playing in the snow having fun sledding and building snowmen. I absolutely loved feeling like a kid again!

Having Fun in Hamburg

Part of my CBYX/YFU exchange program includes a week-long middle seminar in Hamburg. It was so great to see all of the exchange students again! Hearing about their experiences and meeting some of their host siblings was so much fun. I think the best part was talking to each other in both English and German. It was funny when we would speak in English and then switch to German and not notice. We just automatically understood each other.

During the week we had sessions about our exchange as well as other group activities. For our first adventure in Hamburg, a group of us went to the Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall. The outside of the building is absolutely gorgeous, but the view of the city from the Elbphilharmonie Plaza is even better! After enjoying the view, we went to a cute little restaurant and ate some delicious crepes.

The next day we had the opportunity to choose a museum to go to. I decided to go to the Emigration Museum. The museum was very interesting. It consists of three different buildings that used to be emigration halls- where many immigrants lived before starting their journey to the New World. This museum was particularly exciting for me because, during my family tree research, I found a passenger record of my 4th great grandfather from Bohemia. It said he sailed to America from Hamburg. It is very likely that he could have stayed in one of the emigration halls! (However, I still have a lot more family research to do!) The first building (or hall) of the museum called “Port of Dreams” showcases the history of Albert Ballin, the creator of the emigration halls. The second hall called “World in Transit” takes you through the different stages of emigration through several centuries. The third hall shows real stories and has a family research center. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do any family research, but that just means I’ll have to come back! (Here’s a link to the BallinStadt website for more information about the museum: https://www.ballinstadt.de/home/ )

The next day we went to the Hamburger Rathaus (City Hall). The tour was very interesting and the building is so pretty! After our tour, we paired off in groups and participated in a scavenger hunt throughout the city. We had a blast! (My group also won the scavenger hunt!) During our scavenger hunt, we had a task to find another foreign exchange student. To our surprise, we randomly ran into two exchange students from Brazil and Spain. They are in Germany through the organization AFS. It was so cool to meet them! To end the day, we ate delicious burgers (that’s right, we had hamburgers in Hamburg) and had lots of fun ice skating.

Our last full day in Hamburg was a busy one. We went to a Fridays For Future Demo. Fridays For Future is a movement calling for action against climate change. We participated in a march throughout the city and then listened to Greta Thunberg (who is now nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize) speak in front of the Rathaus. The whole experience was really cool and I am proud that YFU allowed us to take part in it. I think the best part was that one of the other exchange students suggested we, as youth ambassadors, participate in the Demo. We were 50 out of over 10,000 people that came together for the Demo. (For more information about Fridays For Future and Greta Thunberg, here’s a link: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/greta-thunberg-fridays-for-future-climate-change-800675/ )

Our middle seminar was really great. It was the perfect opportunity to reflect on our exchange so far and set goals for the few months we have left. I have to say my favorite part was seeing everyone. It was exciting to see how much our German has improved!

Fastnacht    

After a busy week in Hamburg, I had a great time experiencing Fastnacht. Fastnacht is also known as Fasching or Karneval, depending upon what region you are in. Fastnacht may sound more familiar if I mention Mardi Gras. No matter what name is used, the celebrations are pre-Lenten festivities that take place normally between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. (To learn more about Fastnacht, Fasching, and Karneval in depth here’s another link: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/ )

I had a lot of fun celebrating Fastnacht. During the celebrations, there is live music to dance to and performances to watch. My favorite part was watching my friend in the Gardetanz (guard dance). Gardetanz is a special show dance that is performed during the Fastnacht season. A lot of towns have Gardetanz clubs where they travel around to the different Fastnacht celebrations to perform. (here’s a video of a Gardetanz group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0WzuZ3-ESQ ) Another very common part of Fastnacht are the parades. Everyone is dressed up in costumes and on elaborate floats, passing out candy, chips, popcorn etc. After the parade, we went to the hall to continue the celebration with a live band and dancing. I must say my first Fastnacht was a success!

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