So its been about 6 weeks since I wrote my first blog and
considering it was such a hit, there has been a bit of pressure to release the
next instalment. Like the last post this blog coincides with what could be
considered the end of a “chapter” in my exchange. I have spent the last 6 weeks
doing a bit of travelling, living and studying, throughout which I have learnt
a lot about myself and honed a fair few life skills (namely cooking). This blog
post begins where the last one left off, an early morning train from Stuttgart
to Cologne.
Between Stuttgart and Munich I had about 10 days of travel.
I first went to cologne on what was a bit of a dreary day. It was grey and wet
and it really matched the mood that I was in. I was sad from leaving behind so
much in Stuttgart and I was anxious for what was about to come. I spent two
nights in Cologne and the least I can say is that it is a beautiful city. It
really continued on the themes that I spoke about in my last blog post of old
buildings and history around every corner. Its only a shame this time that it
was now beginning to warm up and there was no longer any snow. Besides the old
town and the cathedrals something occurred there which I noticed and it was a
real insight into a little aspect of living in Germany and possibly German
culture that I would see again and again even when I was in Munich. On the
first day I was too cheap to pay for a bus tour and decided instead to see the
sights myself and reach them all on foot. It was cold and wet and I came across
a market square that was quite large and open but was completely lifeless. I
was finding much of Cologne quite similar and it was giving me a pretty poor
initial impression. The next day, however, the weather decided to improve a
little, it was still cold and a bit cloudy but there was no rain. On this day I
caught up with a friend and we decided to do a little bit more walking of the
city and see a couple more sights. In the morning we walked along the Rhine
river together which for me was quite cool. I had only ever heard of the name
on TV and read it in books but I knew that it was one of Germanys most
important arteries, and well finally here I was. The banks of the Rhine,
similar to the day before, were empty, there was almost no one and my
impression of the city was not improving. As time went on, however, the weather
started to break and just as we decided to loop back around and walk back to
the central station the sun came out. This simple event absolutely transformed
the city. We came across the square I had encountered the day before and it was
almost un recognisable. There were people everywhere, there was drinking,
laughter, talking and music that had been completely absent only just the day
before. My friend and I decided to revisit the banks of the Rhine and all of a
sudden, almost as if there were hidden networks of tunnels everywhere, it was
as if the population had quadrupled. From what had been a completely vacant
footpath along the river had now people walking, jogging, busking, drinking,
talking. I was struggling to comprehend what had just happened, they honestly
appeared out of no where. On that day, I learnt that when the sun shines German
people will do what ever they can to get outside. It was like nothing I had
seen in Australia before. We decided to sit on the banks of the Rhine and have
a couple of drinks and chat. It was nice just to take in the atmosphere, enjoy
the sunset and try some of the local Kölsch beer. I must admit that one of my
favourite things about Germany is that beer is extremely cheap and it is legal
to drink in public. That might initially sound a bit like a recipe for
disaster, ‘oh he just wants to go and get smashed’ (cannot deny that that maybe
true in some circumstances), but in reality most of the time it means that a
group of friends can seek out the best place under the sun to call their own,
sit down relax, socialise and enjoy the day. Ultimately Cologne is a beautiful
city with a quaint old town and an iconic bridge with hundreds of thousands of
love locks attached to it, its only a shame that I wasn’t there for the
Karnival.
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Cologne |
After Cologne I travelled to Aachen. This was a bit more of
a history trip and it was only for a day but I think that was all that I
needed. The town is small and it takes only about half an hour to walk from one
side to the other but it is none the less another pretty little town with lots
of old buildings. There, I did a small tour of the city hall and then the
cathedral, in which I was able to touch the throne of Charles the Great,
Charlemagne or Karl der Groß however you want to call him. For most people this
name probably means nothing but I still remember my time in year 8 history with
Mr Wright and I thought it was pretty cool that I was able to touch the chair on
which he sat. Not sure if you were supposed to touch it but no one was looking
so it doesn’t really matter.
Next was Amsterdam which was quite an experience. Amsterdam
is a beautiful city and, given that the weather is good, one doesn’t even need
to do anything except walk along the canals to enjoy it. I was there for 5 days
and I have to say the hostel I stayed in was possibly the biggest shit hole in
the world. I don’t really know how to describe it, I’m not normally a picky
person and can deal with pretty filthy conditions but this was next level.
Anyway, I guess it just kind of added to the experience. In Amsterdam I caught
up with some friends from Stuttgart, so it was good to see them one more time.
I saw the Anne Frank house, the wax museum, some churches and then went on a
pub crawl. It was fun to just sit and relax with some friends. Anne Frank’s
house was interesting as I had just spent 6 weeks in Stuttgart staying with a
host family and studying a bit of the German culture. The way I saw the house
was therefore coming from some kind of German perspective. Not from the
perspective of being a German person but from the fact id been spending my last
month and a half trying to understand German culture more and learn the German
language. As much as the house is confronting and I felt awful for what
happened to the Jews in the second world war, I found myself feeling just as
bad for the Germans. What I mean by this in particular is mainly the young
German population, the people my age who ive been getting to know over the last
3 months, who now have to bear the responsibility for something that they had
completely no say in or control over. When I was in Australia last year I met a
few German exchange students with whom I discussed this topic often and
discovered this idea of collective guilt which I previously had absolutely no
idea about. This feeling of responsibility for everything that happened 70
years ago is propagated throughout society from generation to generation. In
school the German youth are taught absolutely everything that happened, nothing
is hidden from them and there is no bias, it is straight up ownership. As a
result, in the words of a German, they learn “they should be proud to be German
but ashamed, proud but ashamed!” and in the words of another “To say im proud
of being German it sounds false it doesn’t sound true!”. In addition, there was
a German song recently made that a friend showed me and the lyrics are very pro
EU against the rise of right wing extremism and nationalism in Europe. The song
itself, I must admit, is very catchy. It makes fun of stereotypes of German culture
and hence the music itself is very rammstein-esque. The lyrics however were
quite striking. One of the lines of the song was “we are proud of not being
proud” and it continually had this theme of “we have made the mistake already
please don’t fuck up like we did”. Hearing this song in combination with all of
the conversations I have had and the amount of time I have spent trying to come
to terms with what the “collective guilt” must feel like, made me feel quite
sad. I think its such a shame that there is such a restriction on how the
German youth can express their pride of being German. This is especially considering how proud I am
to be Australian and is in stark contrast to the words of an English friend of
mine who said when I was there “god I love this country.”. The whole time I was
in Anne Franks house I couldn’t help but imagine how awful a German person
would feel walking there regardless of whether they were alive at the time or
not. I suppose the collective guilt plays a role in insuring that the mistakes
of the past are still repeated but honestly it must suck when the first thing
that comes to anyones mind about your history is the Nazis. As a disclaimer I
would like to say that ultimately I have no idea whether people do or don’t
have this collective guilt and what I’m reporting may not apply to every German
but it is just an observation that I have made time and time again. Amsterdam
was a lot of fun but by the end of it I must admit I could not wait to get back
to Munich. Munich was to be my home for the next year and I was very anxious to
get started settle in and start exploring.
Before I get onto the topic of my first month in Munich I
want to say that I have been immensely lazy and as a result I am writing this
post almost 2 months later. Therefore, I cannot write about everything in
complete detail and chronological order so I will write a few paragraphs on
specific milestones and events that I think are important.
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Amsterdam |
When I arrived in Munich I was able to stay with an old
friend for the first couple of days whilst I got my bearings. I moved into my
accommodation on the 1st of March and this was the first time in my
life that I was finally living on my own. Now accommodation in Munich is not
easy to find and it is one of the most (if not the most) expensive cities in
Germany. I must admit that I am not the most efficient person and I like
leaving things to the last minute (My parents can testify). I searched for an
apartment during my time in Stuttgart and having no prior experience and being
quite slack I resorted to booking a last minute air bnb for a month. I was a
bit worried as I had to sleep in the same room as 4 other people (a bit like a
hostel) and I was quite annoyed at myself but in the end it was not as bad as
it seemed. Although I shared a small room with 4 people the apartment itself
was enormous, it was brand new with a massive bathroom a huge kitchen and a
sauna. For me, living in a room with 4 other people was a small price to pay in
order to have such an apartment. My first day in the apartment involved my first
ever trip to the super market with the sole intent of buying the weeks
groceries (I’ve been to the supermarket before obviously but never was I buying
for myself and myself alone with complete control over what I selected). Well
guess what, I was super healthy. I bought plenty of fresh fruit and veg as well
as meat, cheese, eggs and some muesli. Up and until today I have maintained
this balance. After I returned home from shopping I began what would be the
beginning of the long road to becoming a master chef. That’s right, all of a
sudden I now had to cook for myself. Mum, dad and Briah used to always give me
a hard time about how I would never be able to survive on my own and would
always question: “well what are you going to do when you have to cook for
yourself?”. Well the answer is, as it turns out, I actually like cooking and I
took it very seriously. Armed with a bag full of groceries fresh from the store
I began, of course, on my first dish: a traditional, a favourite and a staple
for all those who can’t really cook out there… pasta. All great master chefs
have to start somewhere right? But that was only the beginning, I found cooking
as a massive creative outlet and preferred to muck around with what I had than
to follow a recipe. In the end, if what I did worked out, it would be an immensely
satisfying feeling and would encourage me to continue cooking. Slowly, my
repertoire began to grow and soon included, omelettes, curry, fried rice,
chilli concarne, stirfry, burgers and to this day continues to grow. Because I
didn’t use a recipe it was not uncommon to make some mistakes and end up with
some pretty dodgy food. My approach to cooking was to buy the necessary
groceries to cook one dish but to cook it day after day for the entire week. Each
attempt I found out where I went wrong and would make the necessary adjustments
for the next. This kind of systematic approach I think reflected my personality
and the way I work very well. I learn by trying something first and making a
mistake in the process, not from watching or being told by someone else. When I
studied for my exams at uni and in highschool, I would watch some of my friends
write and re write notes over and over again. I couldn’t do that, instead I
would do question after question until I had made every single mistake there was
in the book so that when I walked into the exam there were no others to make. This
is what happened with cooking, and on the last day of the week when I sat down
to eat, and I put that first spoonful into my mouth only to find out that I had
completely nailed it, the feeling was incredible. A perfect example of this was
with my omelettes. The first day I made some curried vegetables and thought I
could simply tip some whisked eggs over the top and let it cook. In the end I
went to flip it over but unfortunately ended up with some messed up scrambled
eggs. The second attempt I tried to cook the eggs separate in a pan but used a
bit too much oil and ended up with a pretty oily egg pancake. The third attempt
I used less oil and nailed the egg pancake but still didn’t really have an
omelette. The fourth and final attempt I made some curried veg, took it out of
the pan. Made an egg pancake, but just before it was done put some curried veg
onto the pancake and folded it over and bam I suddenly questioned why I was
wasting my time with mechanical engineering.
Besides cooking and learning to live on my own I also had a lot
of administrative stuff to do throughout March. I sometimes wonder how I
survived as it was not uncommon for me to just scrape through by the skin of my
teeth. An example of this was registering with the city of Munich. By the time
it was March I had only 30 days left on my passport and needed to apply for a
Visa. Rather unfortunately, the application process for that was not entirely
made clear by neither my host university nor by the German government. The order
in which I needed to apply, open a bank account and register with the city, at
the beginning of March, appeared to be an illogical circle in which each step
required at least one of the others to be completed first. As a result, I was
entirely confused where to begin. I
thought that the Visa was the most important and therefore the initial document
that I should obtain. Before I continue with this story, I need to clarify that
one only has 14 days to register with the city after moving in. I moved in on
the 1st and on the 10th I found the time, and in a fit of
urgency, the motivation to apply for my Visa. Just as I printed the visa application form
that I needed to fill out, I noticed an interesting requirement. I needed a
number from a certificate confirming my registration with the city. It was at
that moment that I realised the first step was actually to register with the
city. Under just a slight bit of pressure, I looked up when the registration
offices were open and found that they all closed at 12 pm. Now the 10th
of March was a Friday and all the offices were closed on the weekend so
remembering that I had 14 days to register and that I moved in on the 1st
its not hard to figure out that I had to get my shit together fast or I was
going to be in trouble. It was 11 am and I had an hour to some how print the
new form off, get my land lord to sign it and then race to the office to hand
it in. Luckily my land lord was home and he was familiar with the process and
so was able to print me off a pre filled out form. Now in a complete hurry, I took
it and ran as fast as I could to the train station. I must admit Munich public
transport is pretty damn amazing but as always whenever you are in a rush it
just seems to be going at that slightly slower pace. Completely out of breath,
I reached the office only to be the last person who was allowed to take a
waiting ticket. I managed to register with the city and the week after aquire
my Visa. This was not the only time I managed to scrape through at the last
minute, it was a recurring theme throughout the following weeks but in the end,
however, I managed to survive, sorting out everything I needed to in order to
stay.
On the 27
th of February I began with my next
intensive language course, like in Stuttgart I met so many different and
wonderful people from all over the world. The course really was quite
multi-cultural and on a regular basis I was hanging out with people from Spain,
The Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Turkey and Switzerland just to name a few.
Together we explored a lot of Munich, made a small trip to Innsbruck and made
our way round to a few different bars and cafes. Not only did I make friends in
my course I also made friends with the people in my apartment. These people
were from all over and we had some good times enjoying the sun in the Englischer
Garten. The garden is easily my favourite place in Munich. It is apparently
larger than New Yorks central park and in a similar fashion to cologne the
minute the sun shines the Garden comes completely alive. The atmosphere is indescribable.
Its almost like there is some unofficial sun worship festival going on. I am
confident that I’m going to spend at least 50% of my summer there because it is
just so amazing. All over the Garden there are people, drinking, playing games
or music, and relaxing. To finish off the afternoon, the sunset over Munich is
equally as impressive.
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Sunset in the Englischer Garten |
Now something that is 100% worth noting about my first month
in Munich is… The Starkbierfest. Yes that’s right not Oktoberfest but the
Starkbierfest. Most people in Australia associate, without pause, German
culture with drinking beer and beer fests like Oktoberfest. Now I could sit
here and write a whole other essay about how that’s technically not true and
there are lots of different states in Germany and beerfests with their brass
music and lederhosen are really just from the state of Bavaria but im not going
to. Instead I’m going to explain my first beer fest experience and why I now
100% understand why there are so many stories from German people about drunk Australians
at Oktoberfest. So yes Munich has the world famous Oktoberfest that takes place
actually in September every year. Yes everyone I ever told that I was going on
exchange to Munich asked me if I was going to go there and yes I will. The
thing is, Oktoberfest is only one of many beerfests in Munich / in Bavaria. The
Starkbierfest is only a much smaller version that celebrates the opening of
this seasons strong beer barrels from the Paulaner brewery. It was 10 at night
on a Saturday and I was with a group of friends who were deciding where they
would like to go out for the night. We decided in the end to go to the
Starkbierfest which had just begun the day before. The festival actually ended
at 11 so we were only there for an hour but we were catching up with some
friends who had been there for the whole day. The fest is at the Paulaner
brewery and it began with us entering the courtyard full of people dressed in
brightly coloured dirndls and lederhosen. These people were already well
underway having been on the strong beer all afternoon. The beer is served in Maß’
which is the one litre portion in the glass we know as a stein. Walking through
the courtyard you can already feel an incredible vibe among the people.
Everyone there is having a good time and you can hear the faint sound of brass
music coming from the main hall. The fest hit me the minute we walked through
the double doors into the main hall. There you are greeted by an enormous
hallway full of long tables with benches, hundreds of fairly drunk people
mostly dressed in lederhosen and dirndls singing and dancing to the lively
brass music coming from the band at the front. I do not think I have ever
opened my eyes so wide in utter dis belief. It was absolutely incredible.
Literally like Christmas. I have never had a bigger smile on my face in my
entire life. The place was on fire. My explanation here is simply not enough, one
can only experience it by going. The festival starts around 2pm every day and
by 6pm everyone is standing on benches, singing and carrying on to the music,
it is incredibly loud. The music itself is a mixture of traditional brass music
with its collection of trumpets and at the same time some real sing along
classics that are great after a couple of Maß’. The best part was easily when
the band played nena’s 99 Luftbaloons. I was drinking German beer, at a German
beerfest listening to a live German band playing a German classic that people
know about even in the English speaking world.
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Stark Bierfest |
In the last blog I spoke about how I was just getting the
hang of conversational German, well since then a lot has changed. After my
first week in Munich speaking in German just kind of clicked. It was good
because all of the people in my course were motivated to learn German and were
eager to also speak it outside of class. As a result I had a lot more
opportunity to practice and so I got the hang of putting sentences together
with relatively the correct grammar. I also made a big effort to take every
opportunity I could to speak German. I went to language Cafes in which there
would be tables with particular languages that would be spoken and I searched
for tandem partners on the internet with whom I could practice my German. By
the end of March I could hold a decent conversation but I still wasn’t quite
where I wanted to be. The ultimate goal of thinking and dreaming in German was
still evading me and unfortunately my day to day language was still English.
On the first of April, I had successfully passed the exam
for my intensive German course, had really settled into life in Munich, had made
a solid group of friends and had moved into my new home, the Studentenstadt.
March was an incredible month, it flew past before I’d even really come to
terms with what had happened. On the first of April I dumped my stuff in my new
home, caught up with an old friend and the day after embarked on another
journey, this time to the UK.
PS. It is now the 20th of May. Almost 2 months after I started writing this.