Not always sunny in Lüneburg

Hello all!
Like you all, I find myself in the middle of the hump week. This week is the last week of class, which is sad because time has gone by so fast. It's the happy times that I remember that make it so much fun!
This week has been rainy and cold- something i've never experience before during the summer. The only day of sunshine I've gotten so far was when I went to Amsterdam this past weekend.

I went with two other people from the USAC group to Amsterdam. We left early in the morning, maybe around 5am. The good thing about getting up so early was that the bread from the bakery for breakfast was incredibly warm and fresh. It's so tempting to get up that early...but I don't think it's possible for me to do that, haha.

Anyway, after traveling for 6 hours on trains, we arrived in Amsterdam. To my surprise, it was much like Lüneburg in terms of weather. While the three of us were figuring out where our hostel was, there was heavy downpour for about 20 min, followed by sunshine for most of the day. We walked throughout most of the weekend, I was incredibly tired by the end of the trip.

We checked in at our hostel in Leidesplein. It was conveniently located in the center of activity. We could just come out of our hostel and enjoy a beer out in the huge plaza.

Most of the buildings in Amsterdam looked like the buildings in Lüneburg. I got the impression that the city was relatively new compared to others. There were a lot of canals, everywhere. If we ever got lost, we just followed a canal to a familiar street. We visited the Van Gogh Museum which had a lot of...you guessed it, Van Gogh paintings. They were all really marvelous to look at. It's one thing to look at a poster, but it's different looking at the brush strokes that Van Gogh made onto the canvas, often thick and carefully.

The next site we went to was to the Anne Frank House- the building where she hid for two years (and also wrote her diary). It was a humbling experience, to be where she had been. The windows of the house had to be closed during the day, so no one would find out they were there. It drove me crazy just being in a dark room, unable to see the sunlight. I can only imagine what the people in hiding must have felt. The rooms themselves were so small, I couldn't imagine living in such small living quarters with 7 other people. I would recommend seeing it, the museum also has some authentic documents belonging to the Franks (they house the diary as well, although there was a facsimile instead of the real diary on display).

from the canal

We also went on a canal tour, which was really cool to see Amsterdam at canal level. The tour was incredibly informative, with information about the Gentleman's canal, which used to be like the main avenue, where all the rich folk lived.

Amsterdam is very touristy, regardless it had a lot of culture (and everyone spoke english!) One thing I refused to try (again) was herring. Not my cup of tea!

typical shoe

Well, that's it for me. I'm currently planning my next adventure: Poland! I will hopefully be there next week.

One thing to reflect on: I have been reading a lot of articles about the Holocaust, because one of the main reasons i'm going is to visit Poland is to see Auschwitz-Birkenau. The more I read about the thousands of people that were murdered ie, the mentally ill/disabled in order to save costs (this was the first group to be exterminated, in order to save thousands of dollars. They were also used for experimentations...no, I won't go on about this. Anyway, the only time Hitler received a negative public demonstration was because those who had loved ones in mental institutions were outraged- they knew what would happen to them. He "stopped"the exterminations and went on to his plan of the "final solution.") to people that didn't fit a genealogical type. I can't comprehend why someone would do this, or even think of doing this. It take someone with absolutely no moral or ethical remorse to do this.

Sorry to end on a sad note, but it's a truth I'll have to face when I go to Auschwitz-Birkenau next week. This weekend is the Hansetag day! Lüneburg used to be a prominent Hanseatic League city, so now they're throwing a bash to remember the old times.

Until next time!

Former GDR border trip

On June 16th, we took a trip to the former GDR border for our Expanded European Union class. A quick history lesson: after WWII, the four allied powers France, US, UK, and USSR (now Russia) divided Germany into 4 sections (and also divided Berlin, which was deep within the Soviet division). Germany was no longer allowed to have a military, not to mention it was a complete utter economic and political mess. The Third Reich- which was allegedly supposed to last 1,000 years didn't. Anyway, as the years went by, France and the UK had their own problems to worry about so the US became the major political influence over Germany. The former USSR didn't agree with the politics of the US, and thus began the Cold War era. Each country became a major superpower, and they also became really hostile towards each other (in the US, McCarthyism, red scare, etc). The USSR separated their side from the other zones in the allied areas until 1989 when the collapse of the USSR occurred. During this period of time of post WWII until 1989, Eastern German residents went through political oppression for the sake of an ideological government that just wasn't working out. East and West Germany was divided- the East wanted to keep its people in (although i've heard that originally the wall was built to keep westerners out, however the wall did the opposite).

Until now, I honestly thought the wall was just a wall. It wasn't, it was a two walls, and within these walls was a complex system of security that included barbed wire, land mines, trip wire that went off, in some areas there were dogs, and watch towers along the 2,000 km border every 500 meters (with 4 guards in them at all times, 24/7/365). It was absolutely terrible. Deutsche Welle has an excellent video about the wall:



We started out at a the Dömitz fortress about an hour and a half away from Lüneburg.
We went there because well, why not? It was used as a prison and also as a mental institution. Now it is a historical landmark.

My first fortress!

There was a museum on the fortress itself with historical artifacts from Germany. It had things from centuries ago, to even a room that was modeled after a coffee and spice shop. The fortress was cool- I even went into some underground tunnels. It was sort of creeped out while in them, so I didn't stay there very long (I went with a group of people- even then, I bet some crazy stuff possibly happened in those tunnels). 

Canon balls- left as commemoratives. 

After the fortress, we went to go have some delicious lunch at a place where they brewed their own flavored lemonade (it's bubbly lemonade) and beer.

Then, we headed off to the Grenzland museum (GDR museum) where it housed a lot of GDR relics and served as a memorial of a time where people had limited freedoms. The black-red-yellow column seen in the picture served as a border marker between the East and the West. Imagine living somewhere where you were probably spied on most of the time, and had to live in a hostile environment. 

Finally, we went to visit the "town" of Stresow. In the 1950s, the GDR drove the people out of the town and proceeded to destroy it and then flood it. The reason why this was done was because the town was too close to the border, and it posed as a potential threat (perhaps a gateway to the West). The families were placed all across the GDR, as to not communicate or learn of each other. Today, it is part of a national forest and wildlife area. But it serves as a memorial to others. 

The town of Stresow today. 

After some time of reflection, we were taken to a watch tower, left over from the wall. 

We had to be careful, because there was a potential of landmines still left out. No one has gotten hurt so far, but the remains resound strongly that it wasn't too far in the past that a wall existed between East and West Berlin. 

The silver lining is perhaps that the area was converted into green space, a newfound freedom that everyone can experience. 

Well, that's it for me. I'm off to Amsterdam this weekend, so that should be a lot of fun. 

Until then!

I'm back!

Hello everyone!
I finally have some down time to catch everyone up with what i've been up with. I also managed to buy  an SD card reader! Hurray!
First- I'll recount my adventures in Hamburg before I forget.
On June 2nd the USAC group took a field trip to Hamburg. Our student ID lets us travel around the state of Niedersachsen for free! I'm so glad we have this pass.
State of Niedersachsen, in dark green:

You'll notice three small areas in Germany- those are city-states of Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin. So far i've been to Bremen and Hamburg (often), and Berlin is planned for next month!

We went to the Hamburg Historical museum where we learned a lot about the history of Hamburg. One interesting fact: there was a huge fire in Hamburg in 1842; before then, the city refused to modernize their water supply. After the fire...it was a different story. About a quarter of the city was destroyed by the fire. As mentioned before, one of the buildings destroyed was St. Nikolai church, which was rebuilt and then destroyed again by Allied bombings in WWII. The bombings destroyed a majority of the city. Our group leader Sören told us that in all of Hamburg, there are only 2 streets that remain that are actually "old"- meaning they look like the streets of Lüneburg. The rest were destroyed or modernized. The museum was awesome- Hamburg has a long maritime history: the Reeperbahn, pirates, trade, and it was also part of the Hanseatic league (more info on this tomorrow, since our class is taking a trip to the Salzmuseen (Salt museum) to learn more about it.

Firetruck used in 1842. Fire went from May 4-8.

Melted relics from the fire in 1842

Our second activity consisted of taking a river boat tour of the Elbe River. My, it was so windy! We walked there from the museum, and it was a 20 min walk there. We saw the Reeperbahn during the day, which isn't as hectic as it is at night. There are ferrys run by the public transport system of Hamburg (HVV) and they have ferries that can take you across the river to other stations. At first, I was really nervous about getting on a boat, since I hadn't been on one in such a long time. After a while, I got used to the life at sea- er, river. 

Me on a boat!

We walked to our third and final stop- St. Nikolai church. My experience about the church is posted in the entry previous to this, if you want to check it out. But here are some pictures:

My first view of the church, and thinking: "That's a very odd structure for a church..."

Statue to the victims who lost everything. 

Now for a pick-me-up: after Hamburg, we all went to dinner at a nice place called "The Capitol" in Lüneburg. It was nice to relax with friends and reflect on the day in Hamburg. I had my first currywurst!

with pommes frites (french fries) of course!

For next post: our adventures at the former GDR border. 

German football and the Reeperbahn.

Hello all!
I would like to mention first that I live with a marvelous bunch of individuals. I think we all get along pretty well, and we end up traveling to towns and or Hamburg a lot of the time. Thanks for being great, guys (they're all guys, really)! Plus, we live in a pretty sweet house.

So I pulled my first all-nighter that wasn't related to school work or traveling. I took the train to Hamburg in the evening with a group of other American students. The Europa Football cup is currently taking place. What a perfect place to be! Germans are absolute football fanatics. On our way to the train station, our group got three comments about our football attire (it's about a 7 min walk). I don't think this would happen in the US at all, including a walk to the train station. On the way, the group made friends with other football fans who were going to Hamburg for a big public viewing (of around 30,000 people). I missed it this time, but I hope I can catch a public viewing at a later date!

I went on my own way after arriving in Hamburg to meet up with my friend Tricia at her apartment, since she was throwing a birthday party for her cat Fritz. Alles gut little buddy!

We watched the Germany-Portugal game at her apartment, and after some very tense moments, Germany won with a final score of 1-0. Very exciting!!

Note: the following observations are cultural observations. I'll be talking about rogue subjects and my observations about them. You've been warned!

The Hamburg Reeperbahn:

In Germany, parties and clubs don't really get started until late at night (around 12am or so). 2 am is usually a normal time to head out to the clubs and bars. This is unheard of in the US since bars are not allowed to serve alcohol after 2am. Anyway, my friend Tricia and I, along with a group of friends went to the Reeperbahn (it used to be a street designated for rope-making a long time ago. The imprint of the long avenue is still there, since ropes needed a very long area to be made in. The Reeperbahn is also near the Hamburg port, where sailors used to come in a lot and, well, i'll save this detail for later). We got there around 3 and went into a technoclub, we hung out there until around 4am or so. Our plan was to stay awake to go to the Fischmarkt, which opens around 5am.

Between 4am or so, we wandered around the St. Pauli area, which includes the Reeperbahn. There was still an unbelievable amount of foot traffic, even at 4am! There were people still partying from the German football win, but I imagine it's like this every weekend (I can just imagine if Germany wins the tournament, the Reeperbahn will be wild!) The Reeperbahn is also a red light district. I believe one of the reasons it came to develop this way was that sailors would often come from the harbor to look for "entertainment"- prostitutes, bars, brothels, etc. One thing to note, is that in Germany, prostitution is legal. The prostitues pay taxes and receive social services as well. Of course, there are strict guidelines and laws in order to keep everyone safe. The group was wandering around and we came upon some prostitutes in the Reeperbahn area. They had to be pointed out by Tricia's boyfriend (prostitues commonly approach all sorts of male clientele, i'm not emphasizing anything!!), and to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to tell they were prostitutes except for a giveaway: they wore fanny packs, for I would say their "supplies." Other than that, they wore snow boots and jackets, something...I wouldn't have expected.

When our group went to Hamburg last weekend, the group leaders pointed out that despite prostitution as a way of life that's looked down upon, prostitutes do have a place in society in Germany, albeit the strong negative connotations. Taking pictures of them or making fun of them can result in consequences. It was interesting to see something that's so taboo in the US be...not so taboo in Germany. There are streets on the Reeperbahn that strictly prohibit women, one example is Herbetstrasse, where there are big gates warning that women or guys under 18 are not allowed into the street. There have been reports that if women do decide to walk down the street, rotten fruit, spit, and in some cases urine, has been thrown at them. To be honest, I was very curious to see what was in Herbertstrasee, but I opt to not get myself involved in a big mess.

The group made it to the Fischmarkt around 5am, and got a delicious Fisch sandwich for breakfast. I unknowingly met up with the American group around 6am at the Hamburg Hauptbanhhof, and once we all got to Lüneburg, we all went to our respective residences and I slept for a very, very long time.

The Reeperbahn at night was a fun adventure. I was very tired by 6am...maybe it'll be an adventure that's continued? Oh, and The Beatles also played at a bunch of clubs along the Reeperbahn. That's where they got their first tastes of fame.

sorry for the delay!

Hello everyone!
I'm sitting in my kitchen eating chicken noodle soup that I just made. Granted, it's 11:30 my time here (23:30), but anything goes!

I apologize for not updating sooner. As soon as classes started, time has flown by so quickly, and i've found myself either out and about or hanging out with other students in the USAC group.

Life is great here in Lüneburg. However, the weather has changed recently: when I first arrived, it was so beautiful and sunny. To better describe the weather...it's bipolar. The morning can start out beautiful and sunny, but it keeps us on edge whether it'll rain or not because just as quickly as overcast appears, it's also gone. It rained a lot yesterday afternoon, but today it was a mix of sun and overcast.

Today I also had a chance to listen to an organ concert at St. Michael's church. It's an absolutely gorgeous church, with the streets surrounding it as narrow and European as could be. It was a part of town that I hadn't explored, but I have a feeling i'll be back to take more pictures and take in the designs of the buildings.

Apologies in advance: I managed to lose my SD card reader, so I won't be able to upload pictures until further notice. It's a shame, because I just recently did a walking tour of Hamburg and Lübeck. Grrr!

Well, a quick word on Hamburg, i'll dedicate a post to it later, I promise:
What struck me the most about Hamburg is that everything is relatively new; the streets, the buildings, etc. I learned a little about why: in 1842 there was a huge fire that destroyed part of the city. In 1943, allied troops bombed Hamburg day and night for about a week, leaving half of the city in complete ruins. One site we visited was St. Nicholas Church. A little about St. Nicholas: it was built around the 1300s, but in 1842 it was burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt again in 1843 using neo-gothic architecture. However, in 1943 it was bombed. It was left as it was as a memorial for WWII. We walked to the site as a group to this church, and my first thoughts were: "wow, this church has some really weird architecture." Then it hit me, this church isn't complete, it was destroyed, and i'm standing in the middle of it. It was an eye-opening moment as to what war can cause; what power-hungry conquerors can help destroy.

I hope to get a memory card reader soon so I can upload my pictures. Until next time!