Electrobikes, School and Capital Punishment

School

     Into my second week of school already and I can say that it's pretty awesome to be the only one allowed to have my phone out, but of course to use it as a "translator". However it's not too much of an advantage because Schelztor doesn't even have it's own wifi network, so I'm not quite sure even how to use my phone for anything else. Also, I'm taking a Spanish course with eighth graders. I was told that this is their first year of ever taking Spanish and if this is true, the US education system has quite a bit of catching up to do. Besides not understanding most of what is said, I've been able to observe that homework amounts are pretty much the same and that nothing else is too drastically different between school in the US besides the way the system works.

The School System

     The way school is organized for the Germans is very different than in the US. Students attend the same school up until the fourth grade when the take a test that will either place them in the Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium. The first two levels (Hauptschule and Realschule) are slower paced and are geared to prepare students to work in a trade or profession without a degree. The highest level or, Gymnasium (gihm-nah-zi-uhm) is geared to prepare students to attend a university (which is "tuition-less"). In the Gymnasium (the type of school that Joern attends), the same group of about 20-30 people will remain roughly together in the same class until about the tenth grade which is very different than a public school in the US. Another difference is that the school day is not made up of the same eight classes everyday. For example, I have 2 classes of Spanish on both Thursday and Friday and then not at all during the rest of the week. It is very similar to the flex-mod system used at some schools in the US (for example, SSHS), but in my opinion runs much more smoothly and makes tons more sense; however, I also noticed that this system also does not leave much room for choice. Let me clarify. German students are very surprised to find themselves presented with so many options of classes to take when they come to the US. This is because they don't have many choices in course besides, religion (yes, in a public school BUT there is an atheist religion option) and language. 

Baking Update

     Yesterday I tried to make chocolate croissants and I used Streichfein which is 68% butter, instead of real butter. Big mistake. Let's just say, puff pastry needs real butter and there is no adequate substitute.

TIP: use real butter and real butter only when making puff pastry!

Weekend Trip to Blaubeuren

     This Saturday we went to Blaubeuren which is a little village about an hour down the A8. We went to go to a fancy bike shop where Joern could get his bike fixed at the place where he bought it form. Besides the cool bike shop, Blaubeuren had a really cool spring that apparently you can go scuba diving in when there isn't too much water. 

They said that it was really blue because there is a lot of chalk in the water from the limestone in the mountains or something like that. After walking around the village (don't worry it wasn't much), I got to try curry wurst again (the other time being in Berlin 2 years ago) and it was much better this time. 

But who cares about the cool spring or the curry wurst, I got to try an Electrobike!

Electrobike ride

     Since Joern's dad didn't want to waste the trip only to get Joern's bike fixed, he wanted to take a look at purchasing an electrobike. Just to clarify, an electrobike is a bicycle with an electric motor, not an electric motorcycle. The bike that I rode was on the cheaper end only costing about $3000

and I can definitely say that before actually riding one, I would have never even considered wanting an electrobike when I could buy a used car for the price instead, but now I can say that I want one. After a week slaving away pumping up the hill home from school, the electrobike rode like a dream. It was like being gently pushed forward by an angel and only having to peddle with minimal effort. Magical. So mom and dad, remember that my birthday isn't too long after I get home. 

Capital Punishment

     Yesterday the topic of capital punishment came up at the dinner table. I am pretty certain that I have a good understanding now of why it's done, how it's done, what you have to do to receive it, and how extensive the repeal processes are and so forth to prevent any mishaps, but I didn't know any of this going in. It was very interesting to see how passionately against capital punishment Joern's mom and he was against something that I never even gave a second thought about besides, 'yeah, it happens, they probably deserved it'. But their concern prompted me to do some research on the facts of the matter and the ethics of the matter. After discovering the interesting difference between human killing human vs. society killing human because human gave up it's right to live when it put society in danger and so on, I decided to try explain to Joern what I found out. It took some work, but eventually Joern listened and "understood but disagreed" about why some states choose to keep capital punishment as a form of criminal justice.
     I would encourage everyone to research this topic as it is not only very interesting, but very important to be informed about because not everyone understands why these laws are in place.

     Spring is in full swing here in Esslingen with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature clocking in at 18C (64F) today

be jealous Wisconsin

All next week, Joern has an internship at Mercedes-Benz and I wasn't invited, so I'm going to be stuck in classes with ninth graders the whole week while his class attends it's various internships and so forth. The week after next we leave for our Germany trip and then shortly after that I leave for the PTP trip to Berlin, whew. Oh, and when Lent's over I can finally drink tee agian, that'll be a relief. 

Today is 28.3.2017

Nat

Kit kats and fountain pens

Germany has peanut butter Kit Kats!

and let me just say that they are amazing and that there is no reason not to sell them in the United States. They also have caramel Kit Kats that have crunchy caramel on one side and gooey caramel on the other. They are slightly less amazing, but there is still no reason not to sell them in the US. I have also made it my goal to try every kind of kinder chocolate that there is.

Also on the note of food, I have been eating a lot of Swabian food (as I am in the Swabian region, so naturally) and I am starting to get pretty sick of it. Since the Swabians come from a frugal background, their food is very simple in that they eat a lot of starches and only buy things when they are in season (exceptions apply). So for breakfast we will often have bread, and an assortment of things to put on the bread. And for lunch we will often have a pasta with some sort of sauce and a salad (which alternates between tomato salad and regular). Last, for dinner, during the week, we will often have bread, with a different assortment of things to put on it than for breakfast. Now I'm not saying that it's like this for every meal, every week, every day, but it's pretty close. And I'm also not saying that I hate it, but it's starting to get pretty boring. And Nat, being Nat, I have tried to spice things up for myself by trying  (but not limiting myself to) honey and salami, apple slices and meat salad, and the not-so-adventurous-but-still-enough-to-gross-out-Dagmar creations such as Speisequark (greek yoghurt) and peanut butter, Speisequark and apples, and finally (the one I was most surprised by) apples and peanut butter. I honestly have no idea how someone could own apples and peanut butter and never think to put them together, but I guess it's possible. Anyhow, I love to go grocery shopping with Dagmar every Monday (we have so much fun) and this time, I'm thinking of getting ingredients to make a few different kinds of salads for this week (any recommendations? comment below!). As well as me taking many new flavors out of this house, I'm hoping to bring a few new ones in as well.

 Now to subject of fountain pens. Fountain pens, a not so common commodity in the US, have survived the nineteenth century over here in Europe, and are still very much a necessity to this day among children and adults. And I, being the professional tourist and culture absorber that I am, decided it necessary to purchase one for myself. They pen that I bought, I must say, is pretty snazzy looking and can be seen in the picture above. It is clear, came with 2 blue refill cartridges and is erasible (with a special tintin killer). Yes, it cost 20€ and yes, I probably won't be able to buy refill cartridges in the US and yes, I'll probably lose it in the next week, but who cares? I have an awesome pen now.

Today, we were going to go hiking to a castle, but the rain had other ideas and left us trapped indoors. I think we're going to binge watch the Alien Saga so that when the fifth one comes out in a couple months, Joern can see it with me. Because, heaven forbid, he watch the fifth one with out seeing Sigourney Weaver kill off the last of the aliens (or so we think) in the classics. Anyhow, all is well here and I think (yes, I think) that I start school on Monday.

Today is 18.3.17

Nat

Syrian Immigrant Interview

Okay, I understand that the United States can't just let anyone across it's borders because there wouldn't be enough jobs to support the sudden influx of immigrants, possibility of terrorism and whatnot else. But the Syrian refugees that I got the privilege to talk to today were probably some of the nicest and hardest-working people that I have met so far in Germany. They were the kind of people that I would want in my country.

Take for example Ahmar and Asaad. They have both been in Germany for 16 months and speak nearly perfect German. They are currently both taking classes in Horb to further their education. A question that I asked was, Warum haben Sie Syrien verlassen? or Why did you leave Syria? Since we were speaking in only German, I could only understand the gist of what was being said, but luckily I had Ms. Hejl to clarify the details. The answer to the question "Why leave?" was very clear; however, to not get killed and to not have to kill others. Ahmar had said that the war is not as simple as one side fighting another, but rather hundreds of sides all fighting each other for different reasons. Because of this, Asaad said that, as a Syrian, there isn't really a country "identity" per say due to the corrupt government and various groups with all of their different agendas. So if he were to have gotten "drafted" he wouldn't really have been fighting for his country, but rather for a cause that he may not even believe in or agree with. Asaad also said that he left because he wanted to start a family and be able to further his education. I found it particularly interesting that Asaad and Ahmar both had relatives that were forced to fight in the war because they were not accepted as a refugee into any country. As a result, they were killed. They died, and I'm sure many more have died, fighting for a cause that they didn't even believe in, because someone in the first world said that they didn't want to give someone else the opportunity that they were born into. 

The story of Abdul also struck me as pretty cool. Abdul had helped the revolution against the corrupt Syrian government originally by providing medical help. He fled and came to Germany when the rebels started dividing amongst themselves and things were starting to get hairy. Abdul has been in Germany for 16 months as well and is hoping to be able to study to be a doctor, not for his own benefit, as yes, he could make a lot of money being a doctor here in Germany, but rather to go back to Syria regardless if the war is over or not and help people. He wants to do this because one, it is not easy to currently receive an education in a crumbling country and two, to go and help replace the many doctors that are leaving due to the war and instability. Sure, he's using tax dollars to receive his education, but his selfless attitude and the help that he's going to give to people is something that no government could ever hope to pay for. 

I also found what they thought of the United States very interesting. They said that before the immigration ban, refugees that got accepted into America were very lucky as it is the most favored country by refugees because of its many opportunities and freedoms. The immigration ban has created many obstacles even for current refugees living in America already. For example, Ahmar has a cousin who is currently living in Madison, WI and his cousin cannot visit Germany because he would not be allowed back into the States. Another thought that they had about the United States, rather, all of the other countries getting involved in the war, is that they are the ones sending in the tanks and soldiers into the country. Sure, they may be helping a little, but their opinion was that they are only making the war more deadly. 

Before this interview I had no opinion on immigration, but now I definitely can say that I know what both sides are thinking. 

16.3.2017

Nat

Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte and other long words

Last night we made Schwarzwaelderkirschtorte (black forest cherry tort). It was my idea to make it since we were dying of boredom yesterday. The recipe was a little different than the one we made at home for Lily's birthday party (I was disappointed that there was no espresso frosting), but nonetheless I'm sure it's going to be delicious. However, baking in Germany is very different than baking in the US, I noticed. For example, (I'm sure you can still buy this in the US but,) we used vanilla sugar instead of vanilla extract. I asked Dagmar if they use vanilla extract but she said that they rarely use it for baking. Also, I found it particularly annoying that we had to weigh all of the ingredients instead of measure them because all of the ingredients on the list were in grams and not milliliters. When it came time to make the whipped cream, we had the pleasant surprise of discovering that we didn't have enough cream to whip. And instead of simply running to the store (like I have done so many times in my baking past) we found ourselves asking the neighbors and going to grandma and grandpa's, begging for cream like starved homeless kitties because all of the stores close at six. SIX! That's right, no twenty-four hour, late night "we forgot to buy cream" runs here. 

The past behind us, I think this post is a great place to compare the Werth Family to the Fischer Familie. To start, both of our families are ridiculously similar in that there is Joern, who is my age, and then there is Lars, who is Josh's age, and last there is Inga, who is about Lily's age. And no, sadly there is no one Bethany's age. However (quick back story), the month before I left for Germany, I had a lot of free time because I had finished all of the coursework that was possible for me to make up. During this time, I got to do many fun things like pick the kids up from school everyday, and hang out the laundry, and dig out the endless pile of dishes in the sink, and basically all of the crappy jobs that my poor mother has to do everyday. But in doing all of these jobs, I realized how sucky being mom is, and how all of the work that she does is not easy or fun, at all. I now have a much deeper respect for my mother that I didn't have before. But anyhow, this applies to the Fischer family because Dagmar does so much work and no one even gives a second look. Before, I probably wouldn't have thought about it twice either, but now I see what a pioneer she is and try to help with what I can. Anyhow, another comparison with our families is that the Joern has similar pet names for his mom that I have! At home, I love to use silly pet names for mom like boss and sister, but then I came here to realize that Joern calls his mom "Mutti" (moo-tee) and I instantly added that to my list of words to call mom by. 

Another thing that I noticed here in the Fischer household is that Inga is pretty much Lily. For instance, Lily and Inga both love puzzles and Friends® Legos® as well as playing sports (Lily likes sports, right?). In my opinion, I think that they would get along very well if they were to try the short-stay (3 week) exchange together. However, I don't think that Lars and Josh would have gotten along all that well if they were to have done the exchange last summer together anyways, so maybe Moritz was for the better. I think this because one, Lars is first and foremost a vegetarian that eats fish (don't get me started on how much that annoys me) and two, I just don't think that their personalities would have gotten along. Last there's Jan (yahn, or John), Joern's dad who opposes the entire family in their wanting to visit America. He's a lot like dad in that he likes music, occasional beers, and walking. No one is quite sure why he opposes a family trip to America, but my theory is that he thinks he's going to like it too much and want to stay. 

Today is Sunday, so this morning Jan and I made the trek all the way downtown to the Frauenkirche (Women's Church) where they were kicking off some three week poor people luncheon outreach. Since we weren't going to eat, we got shoved into the side pews and couldn't see the front very well. Nevertheless, I managed to stay awake! The walk back was quite a huffer because of the hill that our house is on. I'm still deciding if I like it or not. Anyways, all is well here and I still have to do my homework. 

12.3.17 

Nat

Motorbike ride and other nonsense

So today was my first official day of organized education I guess you could say. The three of us Americans (Ryan, Grace and me) are taking a two week long crash course with Beth Hejl. BUT FIRST let me talk about how I got there. 

Since there isn't really any place to park downtown, Dagmar (Joern's mom; pronounced dak-mahr) took me on her motorbike (der Motorroller). I know what your thinking, it was probably really awkward and, yes I had to hold on to her hips. Yeah, sure it was weird at first, but once we got rolling, it became more terrifying than anything and I had no choice but to hold on or become a smear on the road. It was also horrifying to turn around corners because I didn't know if I would throw her off balance if I leaned into them, or if I would throw her off balance if I did nothing. Basically, it felt like if I shifted the slightest, definite doom would come to us. Not to mention the insane slopes Esslingen has. Even on a regular bike, I'm still getting used to going down hills fast enough to keep up with Joern, but I now can say that I would much rather take the bicycle down than one with a motor attached to it; however, going up the hill required no effort at all, besides the effort not to die, that is. 

Anyways, before we made the trek back up the hill, we arrived at the Volkshochschule (Translated "peoples' high school", but rather is a place to take private classes) where I met Ryan, the other boy who is on his leg of the exchange. Ryan has been here for three weeks already, I arrived last week and Grace arrives today, so she wasn't at the crash course but she will be tomorrow. First we sat and talked for two hours about the German language and such. Ms. Hejl was surprised that Ryan and I knew so much German, so the curriculum she had prepared for us proved not to be so helpful as it was stuff like numbers and letters. She determined that we need to work on noun prepositions and articles. Moving forward, we left he Volkshochschule and walked around downtown. I thought I had seen everything, but she showed us the Stolpersteine or "stumbling stones" that can be found around Esslingen. Die Stolpersteine are cobble stones that can be found around Esslingen dedicated to those affected by world war ii, either murdered (ermordet) or escaped (entkam). After walking around some more and learning some history that I didn't know before, we found that we had 45 minutes to burn so we went into Das Es! to get some coffee. At noon, I got picked up and came home by the motorbike. 

For lunch we had Roesti (a Swiss potato dish), Rotkraut (red cabbage), Erbsen (peas) and Quark (curd cheese that's more like yoghurt). 

Tonight I get to go grocery shopping which yes, don't judge me, I am excited for. 

Heute ist der 6 Maerz 2017

guten Nachmittag,

Nat

Last day in BCN

gonna keep it short.

We started out with walking and walking until we reached the Picasso museum. I found it surprisingly interesting, and Joern's dad was very surprised that he didn't fall asleep as he was expecting.

Next we walked and walked some more until we reached La Sagrada Familia. It cost a whole 18€ to go in so we didn't because it's not even finished yet. I guess I have to come back in ten more years to see it. Joern and I also got a beer from McDonald's to see how bad it really is. It's pretty bad.

Next we walked and walked to Park Güell which is on the hill. Joern and I may or may not have separated from our party and we may or may not have gotten a little bit lost. But all is well now.

After Park Güell we walked and walked to a cafe for an afternoon coffee break. Then we took the metro to some famous house (Casa Batlló) and then took the metro again to Camp Nou (the FCB stadium) just to say that we went there.

For dinner I tried Paella which, in short, is seasoned rice with meat.

Good night,

Nat

3.3.17

Barcelona! Day 2

After sleeping in, we made our way to the nearest cafe to get some breakfast. Then we walked for what seemed like forever to see some famous window-terrace-glass-covered things and a couple of other famous buildings, a few of which happened to be under construction which was quite frustrating, but being the professional tourists we are, we took pictures nonetheless. When we were all finished walking around the outskirts of Barcelona, we took the metro to the beach because Inga had to have one of the crap beach blankets that the sleazy beach salesmen were selling. But I seazed the opportunity to jump into the Mediterranean for the first time! I'm pretty sure all the people wearing coats and pants thought I was crazy, but now my tan will be better than all of theirs so ha.

Near the beach there was a cable car that went up to Montjuic (Jew Mountain) that we took. I guess you could call it cheating because all we really had to do was hike down the mountain and not up. At the top there was a castle that cost money to see. So we just took our picture and moved on, beacuase let's be real, all castles are pretty much the same. On the hike down, we saw a cool old Roman theatre and tested it's acoutics. It was pretty cool because you could hear people talking at normal volume all the way from the other side. After this, we headed back to the hostel for a break before dinner.

After our break, we decided to see a cool water fountain light show thing before dinner, but just our luck, we found out that it got cancelled it for tonight once we got there. After the disappointment we headed to dinner. I had rabbit and I would not recommend it, but now I can say that I tried it.

We split up after dinner to see a big office tower that lights up different colors at night and then came back to the hostel because it was very late.

Good night,

Nat

2.3.17

Barcelona! Day 1

Today was our first full day in Barcelona!

We flew in yesterday evening, boarded a bus that fought through the ridiculous traffic and arrived in our youth hostel to find that we were staying with a crabby British family (with whom I am now sitting so shush don't tell) Anyhow, then we went to find some dinner and wound up at a Taperia around the corner. This was my first time eating tapa style (not counting eating off my family's plates) and I think I really like it. We tried Squid (picture), cuttlefish (picture) and I had my own beer (yes, it's legal).

After dinner Joern and I went to a shopping mall that I believe was an old bullfighting ring. What a shame that they would replace something so exciting with something like a mall.

This morning I got everyone up a bit too early for their relaxed, non-hard-core tourism liking, but, nonetheless we saw much more than had planned to. We started out heading to La Plaça de Catalunya which basically the center of Barcelona. From there we navigated through the maze of streets to find the Barcelona Cathedral (not to be confused with La Sagrada Famia, the big one) where we made some goose friends and took a bunch of pictures. After the cathedral we made our way around the gothic quarter to find to an old castle thing (Plaça del Ray) to take more pictures. Joern and I tried to fit our hands in the hand thing in the wall. My hand didn't fit but his did so he must be the chosen one or something.

Next, me navigated through La Rambla (a big tourist street full of shops) to find the Mercat St Josep La Boqueria which is a ginourmous fruit, fish, meat market. There, I tried my first dragon fruit (I don't care if it's Spanish or not) and bought a mango so that I could take a picture by one of the Mango store fronts (how couldn't I). After leaving the market we went to a house that was built by the same person who biuilt La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) and then made our way to lunch where I had a very hearty double chorizo cheese burger (sorry the picture's bad, I didn't remember to take a picture until I was almost done XD).

After lunch we made our way to the beach where we saw a big Christopher Columbus momument, an interesting statue in the water, lots (and lots) of yachts, and finally the, where the people trying to sell things were more bothersome than the seagulls. We continued our trek along the waterfront until we saw the big Olympic goldfish and then headed inland to find the Arc de Triomf (Las Vegas definitely still needs one).

For dinner we decided to get Italian. I made the mistake of ordering something that I had no idea what it was. It was called "Pizza with sausage, pudding sauce and black pudding". yeah. Not the the best choice. Anyways, Joerns parents are judges and are very interested in the American court system as we have juries, which they find absurd. I was wondering if anyone could help me out on how this works and why they don't like it so much? as my only knowledge comes from TV (kommentar veroeffentlichen means publish comment if anyone can help). After dinner we headed back to the hotel and here I am.

Today is 3.1.17

signing off,

Nat