Another Weekend

This fifth weekend in Germany was just like the ones before it: exciting, spontaneous and full of new things.Saturday I took the train to Stuttgart to meet up with some other exchange students for Wasen (Oktoberfest). It was especially nice to compare Wasen with Wiesen, the Oktoberfest in Munich I attended last week.

I didn't take as many pictures as I did at Wiesen, but some things were nicer in Stuttgart (the festival is much smaller), such as the lovely German houses in the festival, the pommes (French fries) with delicious sauce, and an Almdudler, which is a kind of fizzy and delicious lemonade.                                             

After kicking around in Wasen, we took the U-Bahn into Stuttgart's Schlossplatz and admired the gorgeous view while eating an ice cream. I ordered Wafernut, but I pronounced it with a German accent. Turns out it was an English name. 

The next day my host family and I went to the Charlottenhöhle, a sort of large cave filled with stalagmites and stalactites. Although it was chilly inside, I didn't mind. You see, once I realized that I could sort of understand what the tour guide was saying, I felt toasty warm. 

If you look closely, you will see that on the left is a seal, and on the right a large birthday cake.

We also visited a geological museum, and I saw a dinosaur! And the tooth of a mammoth.

 And then I looked at this view, and I thought it was very beautiful. And then we came home.

Schwarzwald

Last Friday, I boarded a train with three other inbounds and headed to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) for a week with the Rotary exchange students from districts 1830 and 1930. After some awkward conversations while we tried to find our connecting trains, we arrived in the small town of Triberg with over 30 other exchange students. We came from 10 different countries and spoke 5 different languages (plus German) but we all understood each other. Exchange students are some of the nicest people I have ever met. We are all going through the same thing in very different ways, and can offer advice, understanding, laughter, German vocabulary, or any number of other things to each other in a way that no one else can. We stayed in a Jugendherberge (Youth Hostel) in Triberg for 6 days. The hostel was lovely--my favorite part was probably the Nutella dispenser, which I did not get a picture of because I was always eating during breakfast. Over the course of the week we hiked the second tallest mountain in the Black Forest, did a ropes course, attended a wrestling match, shot air rifles, walked around the city, saw Germany's highest waterfall, attended several museums, visited Rottweil, the oldest city in Baden-Württemberg, played golf, ate schnitzel, went swimming and watersliding, and much, much more. Throughout it all, we laughed, spoke a mixture of German and our native languages, took pictures, and connected with each other in a way only exchange students can understand. It was a remarkable time, and I am so glad I went. Scenes from the week stand out in my memory, like sunset our first night at the youth hostel...

...the line of exchange students, hiking to the top to see the view...

...standing at the top and looking out at the country that's becoming my home...

...cuckoo clocks and player pianos and golf clubs and museums and German houses and so much more...

...the history that is all over the place...

...the most glorious landscapes I have ever seen...

...Germany's best schnitzel and highest waterfall, respectively...

...more beautiful landscapes...

 ...climbing across rope bridges in the rain...

...wearing a Rotary blazer with everyone else...

...or just looking out at the end of the day, and realizing that this is your home now. 

Oktober in September

Germany's Oktoberfest is the world's largest folk festival, and an important manifestation of German culture and food. It is also very, very fun, as I learned last Thursday. Early morning found me gathering up a freshly charged camera, a warm scarf, and my wallet, and meeting the other Heidenheim inbounds and a Rotarian and his wife to board the train to Munich. The train to Munich was a festival in itself. Everyone was wearing traditional German dress--lederhosen for men, a dirndl for women--or at least a German-style hat or scarf patterned with edelweiss.

After a 2 hour train ride, we arrived in Munich. We walked up, through a crowded train station, and came up in the heart of Germany. As we stepped into the Oktoberfest proper, I was blown away by the noise, smells, and sights, and over it all, the skyline of Munich. 

First we saw the Bavaria, an old monument in Munich, and ate some lunch overlooking the festival. 

The festival was huge. We walked aisles and aisles of food, haunted houses, souvenir shops and rides. 

 For the first time, I went on a Ferris wheel. As we stopped at the top, I saw Munich laid out before us like the most perfect toy city, complete with Olympic stadium and cathedral.

 

We listened to a German band playing traditional music, people-watched, rode a roller coaster, and ate delicious spiced nuts. 

It was a long, long day, and at the end I was exhausted. I had not thought of going to Oktoberfest before Rotary invited me, but I am so glad I got to go experience this part of German culture. 

And those spiced nuts were really good.