Welcome to the Easter installment of Trewin News. It's been a quiet month in Erlangen, our hometown abroad. In spite of that this is a long newsletter with lots of pictures. Please bear with our inexpertise at placing photos in a blog. And a disclaimer: I took advantage of a pre-designed template for our blog; I can't take credit for the nice layout and pretty colors.
Current Events: "Alles in Ordnung"
We went to see a film at the English-language theater in Nuremberg. Kathy had popcorn and Richard had a beer. (What a country!)
Afterwards, as we waited at the Street-car stop, a teenage boy asked us for a Kleenex. Richard couldn't believe it, and had to ask the teenager to repeat himself twice before Kathy gave him a pack of tissues. (What a country?)
We are both taking a German course two evenings a week. This course includes grammar and the usual reading and listening exercises, but also a lot of German culture. The other night we went over a list of ten of the greatest Germans, including Martin Luther, Goethe, Gutenberg, Karl Marx. This course happens to be required for the integration of immigrants, so there is the usual wide spectrum of national origins among the course participants. In particular, there are two young Russians, around 20 years old, who moved here with their German-descended parents a couple years ago. When we got to talking about Karl Marx, the teacher asked if they knew anything about him. They didn't have any idea!
Aside from that, Kathy is tutoring an 11-year-old boy who's in the fifth grade, in English. He's the son of one of our former German course classmates, who comes from Russia. He's comfortable in German, but he's having a hard time with English and doesn't understand why he has to learn it, when he doesn't see it in his daily life. For Kathy's part it is difficult. Just 'cause you speak the language doesn't mean you can teach it. She does her best with help from Richard's sister Kate, who is an English Language Learner coordinator for her district's elementary schools in Texas.
Kathy continues to work with a German tutor once a week and gets lots of valuable practice in speaking and writing. She also just finished a weekend course in HTML at the Adult Education center (Volkshochschule) in town, to update her computer skills.
We are both reading “young adult novels” in German to improve our vocabulary and kill time until the next Harry Potter book comes out. Some novels originally written in English are better read in German. These I wouldn't read in English, where I'd be disappointed by the prose and derivative story elements of the author (Paolini's Dragon Rider is a prime example – though certainly an accomplishment for a teenager/young adult). On the other hand, I've found Isabel Allende's young adult novels to be compelling and satisfying reading. I had a vague notion that Allende is Someone Whose Books I Should Read In My Lifetime, but now I am enjoying her compact youth novels in German. They are translated from Spanish. Cornelia Funke's Inkheart series are good reads in the original German. We have read the first two in the series of three.
Local Color
We went to the Easter Egg Market in Erlangen. Easter eggs decorate the ubiquitous fountains and wells too. Here in Bavaria people are known for maintaining traditions. Decorating the fountains is a centuries-old custom to honor the water that comes from the limestone formations underground in the Fränkische Schweiz area. This geological formation is historically water-poor, so the springs and fountains were well cared for. They were cleaned every spring of the dirt from fall and winter, sometimes by the virgins of the town. No men could be present. The cleaning had to be finished by sundown, and then the fountain was decorated with evergreen twigs and ribbons. Making the decorated eggs is a winter-time activity for the women of the area.
To Baby, or not to Baby
The news is dry; the topics include a proposal to increase the number of day-care centers, the controversy of sending German surveillance planes to Afghanistan, etc. Not nearly as lively as the "sex, fires and freaks show", also known as Fox News.
The Minister for Family, Ursula van der Leyen who herself has 4 children still in school, is coming under fire from the Catholic Bishops in Germany for her proposal to increase the number of daycare slots for children 0 to 3 years by three times. There are at the moment 250,000 slots, and a great need for more. For reasons I don't understand, it's the government who arranges for day care slots for children. There are no privately-run daycare centers here in Germany that can respond to the market demand by simply proliferating. The traditional outlook on family persists as an ideal, similar to the idea of the "nuclear family" in the US. The traditional ideal of German family consists of a bread-winning husband and a mother whose fulfillment consists in raising the children. A working mother automatically gets a year off after the birth of a child, with assurance that her job will be there when she returns. (This applies to teachers as well. There are schools that are understaffed because of the numbers of teachers out on maternal or sick leave. There are also not enough substitute teachers, but that's another topic...) This of course is an ideal, and doesn't take into account the single mothers who must earn a wage no matter how young their children are. So a Catholic Bishop here in Bavaria, bastion of tradition, has called the Minister's idea hostile to families, predicting dire devaluation of the mother's role. When the idea was first suggested, there were predictions that it would turn mothers into “baby-making machines.” The idea of a mother who leaves young children in the care of someone else in order to work raises very negative feelings, and even metaphorical epithets.
Now, there is a baby shortage here in Germany. The population is aging, and the birthrate is not high enough to keep up with the death rate. Germany is also designated, by Germans, half-seriously, as a child-unfriendly country. German friends and acquaintances have described how well children are indulged in Italy (“il Bambino!”), for example, but how they are more often just tolerated and expected to display manners and restraint in Germany. In the former East Germany there is a long-standing tradition of working mothers, and thus plenty of daycare possibilities. In France, there are also plenty of daycare possibilities, and French women have more babies. Hmmm...
A funny thing happened on the way from the grocery store...
The nicest thing happened on the last Thursday in March. I walked to the grocery store and was less than a block away from the store on my return trip when a young woman in a gray station wagon pulled over on the other side of the street and asked if I wanted a ride! I did not recognize her, but in Germany random people don't just stop on the side of the road to be friendly. I thought maybe she had mistaken me for someone else, but when I got to the car, she said she was my neighbor from across the street, Susanne. They moved in last fall. We had met once briefly. So good, I got in the car, and she asked if I would like to speak German or English. I said that I was doing alright in German that day, and she said in German, I'm an English teacher and I like to take every opportunity to practice! "Well," I said, "we can speak English!" So the whole way home we chatted about her experience in the German school system, and my experience tutoring the Russian boy, and we sat in the car in her driveway for about a half hour chatting. She has a perfect British accent. Learned French and spent time in France, too.
She even asked if we had found a church community yet. Now in the US that would be an implied invitation to come to someone's Baptist/Fundamentalist church in order to be "say-ivd bah Jay-sus!", but she knew how reserved the Franks can be and she belongs to a Protestant congregation that is a little more welcoming to people from other countries and who are new to town. The Germans think of religion as a private matter, and don't go around proselytizing, not even with bumper-stickers ( there are a few, though). When she asked that question, I asked if she had talked to R already. (They hadn't met). I launched into how we miss the UU's in Saratoga. She recognized the German name for Unitarians, and said, "They're Christian, right?" Upon which I tried to explain the embracing of all faiths, and no doctrine, and many different views on God... She listened very politely and patiently, as Germans do. She said she needed more fixed ideas about God and Jesus, and as a relative newcomer to Erlangen, she found her Protestant congregation just right. Anyway, she went into the house and got a postcard describing a once-monthly service with modern music and addressing modern topics, such as the Internet. I said we might try it.
R had met her husband, Thomas, who was very friendly and her older daughter. The younger daughter is 7 and they go to the Montessori school in the northern part of Erlangen. Susanne is not enamored of the German school system either.
I found it so nice that she recognized me on the street and gave me a ride. I have since seen her in the grocery store and she offered to bring anything that was too heavy home for me in her car.
Interesting cultural issues here in Bavaria
On the news recently were jubilant reports of a new Jewish synagogue having been built in the middle of Munich on the site of one that was demolished by the Nazis. It is accompanied by a new Jewish cultural center/museum, and both were opened with ceremony by the President of the German Jewish community, Charlotte Knobloch. Germany is with good reason very conscious of supporting Jewish culture (Jews are still less than 1% of the population, even though more Jews per year immigrate to Germany than to any other country in the world, even Israel), even to the extent of it being politically incorrect to criticize Israel when it bombs Lebanese civilians. I think as an American, though, I have no need to be politically correct when I say the new synagogue in the middle of Munich is an ugly, squat, monolithic block, with significantly less grace than I.M. Pei's controversial glass pyramids at the Louvre! I have only seen pictures of the building so far, not the site itself. (Click on the BBC link below).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6132796.stm
At the same time that the Munich Jewish community was celebrating its reestablishment in Munich, the Muslim community (4% of the population) was not faring as well. I heard rumors of opposition to mosques being built in towns north and south of us. One newspaper article quoted negative sentiments such as: “Before long our daughters are going to be required to wear head scarves to walk down the street!” When a group of third-generation Turkish Muslims, already well-integrated, wanted to build their own mosque in a small town just north of us, a petition against it was circulated around town which gathered many signatures. Now, from a purely aesthetic point of view, a new mosque, designed in a traditional (Byzantine or Ottoman) style, can't possibly be uglier than the new synagogue in the middle of Munich!
In defense of the new synagogue and complex, I have read that its design represents the Wailing Wall, i.e. the remains of the temple in Jerusalem, and that the bronzed-glass skylight cube on top makes the light inside spectacular. From inside the sky is visible, symbolizing the direct ties between Jews and their God. In designing the buildings to fit the square, once an eyesore adjacent to the Old Part of Munich, the architects apparently did a good job creating interestingly shaped spaces between the three new buildings, enhancing the "traffic" flow through the square.
In Memoriam
We found a little monument to the people in our little village who died in war. The oak leaf symbol was the only decoration among the names of the dead. Germans have a strong connection to trees and forests, and the oak is a symbol of eternal life. One of the ancient Germanic Gods was Wotan, who was crucified on Yggdrasil (the world tree) and received the gift of writing (runes) for his sacrifice.
Easter Monday Excursion
On Monday, we went to a little town north of us, where they have a little church surrounded by a fortress wall. In old times, the church acted as a safe haven for the locals, who could bring their families and livestock inside the fortress in case of attack. Today there is no room for anything but a sidewalk, as most of the land is used for graves. The church is called St. Georg, and much of the town's businesses have included the patron's name. This was a special day, Easter Monday, and the local women were selling a type of fried dough called Georgsküchla (George's cake). Of course, we sampled the local goods, and were not disappointed. (But then, I haven't met a German pastry I haven't liked.)
The locals celebrate Easter Monday with a parade. The statue of St. Georg, patron saint of horses, is carried out at the end of mass, accompanied by a procession of flag-carrying altar boys. The statue is carried through town on the shoulders of bearers dressed in traditional clothing (Tracht), and the priest says the blessing of the horses. The priest and mayor then mount horses of their own, and the parade heads off, followed by horse owners and their horses from far and wide. The parade makes a circuit twice around town, and the town is so small that the head of the parade nearly catches up with the tail.
Across from the church is an old Linden tree, called the “Tausendjährige Tanzlinde” (1000-year Linden) that has been estimated to be between 800 and 1000 years old. The branches are held up with poles, and the trunk is hollow. It is amazingly beautiful when it has all its leaves.
We walked through town, past the half-timbered houses, and continued out into the countryside. We found a little monument along the road, and stopped for a picnic.
We ended up hiking to the next town, where we caught the bus back to Erlangen. It was nice to get out in the open fields and get a view of the hills of the Frankische Schweiz.
Kathy's Current Events, i.e. the boring everyday stuff
I have finally broken away from the thought that I should have another engineering job, and I have begun taking courses at the VHS in web design. I badly need to update my computer skills, and need to go in a creative direction. (It's been 20 years since I learned any programming, and the last language I used regularly was Fortran in my job at GE.) We'll see what comes of it. By the way, do not take the appearance of this blog as an indication of the quality of the instruction. I've only had one two-day course!
We have made friends with an Indian couple who are a lot of fun to be with. She was in our first German course at the VHS. They both work for Siemens. They know more about American movies than I do. She believes in cooking dinner every night, and a couple of times we have been the beneficiaries of her delicious Indian home cooking.
Here in Erlangen we have tried several Greek restaurants, some better than others, with more still to go. We recently found a Vietnamese restaurant that is voluntarily smoke-free. The food is very tasty. We've been there a couple times already. Speaking of Indian restaurants, while in the Albany area there was a tendency for Greek immigrants to set up Italian restaurants and pizza joints, here it's an Indian-Italian combination that frequently surfaces. A local watering hole in our part of town offers traditional Frankisch dishes, Italian pasta and meat dishes, as well as Indian food, down to lassis and biryani. They also play Spanish language music from all over the globe whenever we're there for Sunday lunch. There is a note in the menu welcoming guests and wishing them every kind of Gemütlichkeit, written by “Oma” (German for Grandma) Vina Kumar.
I now know Erlangen well enough so that when I need something unusual, say frozen shrimp or Italian Limoncello, or fabric or patterns, I know at least two different sources. That is except for chocolate chips. See the photo below.
I have only found these pathetic packages of chocolate chips in one store in town! They come in convenient 100 gram and 75 gram packages. The two boxes in the picture represent a whopping 6 ounces of microchips! There are even recipes on the backs for muffins and cookies! I had to laugh. Obviously, the Germans don't know that one should have at least 16 ounces (500 grams) of chocolate chips on hand when making cookies, because a good portion of them get eaten before they even see the cookie dough, and a good portion of the cookie dough gets eaten before it sees the inside of the oven. The labels on these packages advertise that one has at least 49% cocoa, and the other has chips that distribute themselves quite evenly during baking and are stable for baking. What does that mean -- they don't melt?! What's the point?! I guess in Germany quality counts more than quantity.
Dear Mom and Dad, please send chocolate chips.
The trees are blooming. Our spring came three weeks early. At left is a picture of a cherry tree in full bloom, with a blooming magnolia in front. We took it on one of our excursions mentioned above.
That's the news from Erlangen, where all the chips are tiny, all the women are thin, and all the children are well-behaved.
This time of the year the forests shimmer with young green leaves. The deer chase each other through the woods. It's no wonder that Germans have a mystical connection with the woods. Cold water springs well out and pipes conduct clear water into troughs or primitive basins where it returns to its underground path. Everywhere the hand of man is seen, from freshly felled trees to well-maintained paths. Germans can't leave the woods alone. Only in the Alps is nature allowed more freedom to go wild. But even there, there are mountain huts maintained by one of the Alpenverein - Alp Clubs. The picture of Richard by the spring was taken on a forest trail just outside of a small town with a Beer Garden.
Called the Kunigundelinde after the 11th century Queen Kunigunde, who is regarded as a saint, this linden could be that old. An upright teenaged companion stands next to her, intensifying the impression of the bent dowager next to her.
