This Race Demands A New Pace

Hello blog readers!

Christmas was fantastic. For a present to our grandparents Nadia and I baked cookies, specifically plätchen if you can remember from my last post.  They were more of ‘experiment plätchen’ because we only followed the recipe from the beginning and changed the dough to taste afterwards. The cookies turned out surprisingly simple, but simple is good which is why they were my favorite cookies this entire Christmas season. Upon our arrival at our grandparents we brought them to the second living room.

My chocolate plate :)

But my surprise didn’t end at the fact that they had a second living room (let alone a third which I found later that night). I was in awe at the six or seven platters full of different chocolates! I made a quick surveillance, which really means I tried as many as I could in the time that I realized we weren’t supposed to be in that room yet and we had to go. As we were leaving, and filling our pockets, we met Grandma on the way. Nadia swallowed (literally her chocolate) and said ‘Don’t go in, we were just bringing your present’. Grandma nodded with an all-knowing grin, as Grandmas always do as she led us back to the kitchen . There we socialized for an hour then moved into the next room, the chocolate room, to socialize until dinner was ready. Here we talked about politics, the future for Nadia and Marcus, and briefly about the American Christmas dinner. Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful fresh smoked fish and Würstchen dinner. Würstchen is the same shape of a hot dog but it is unbelievably better tasting and I’m hoping healthier too. The fish is simply smoked then handed to the customer in a bag, which means that I had to skin and de-bone it.

Considering it was my first time ever attempting such a task, it wasn’t very successful. The fish was really lecker (tasty) but the extra crunch of the bones which I somehow missed gave me the heebe-jeebies. My family was smiling at me and waiting for my opinion about this fish, the German tradition. With a strained smile I gave a sincere nod, two thumbs up, swallowed and gave the rest of the half de-boned fish to my host brother. Next time, I’ll take a würstchen please. We ate until we were content and went back to the chocolate room. We talked a little bit more about the future and played word games. I’ll explain my favorite game;  I say for example ‘chair’, then the person the right of me has to say a word that starts with ‘chair’ and ends in something different. For example, ‘chair leg’. The person to the right of them would say ‘leg cream’, then ‘cream sauce’ etc. At any rate this game was extremely fun, I love to learn new vocabulary and play with words! The night was slow paced which was a change from my busy school week schedule.

Playing monopoly with Nadia and Oma.

What are the odds of all of us being in jail at the same time?

Which brings me to my next topic, schedule and time management.

My schedule here is much different than in Connecticut. In America I go to the gym before school, afterschool I work or productively socialize and learn with teachers. On a normal night I get home at five or six p.m.. By then I’m so tired that I have to either drink a coffee, which is a synthetic energy boost, or put on my sneakers and go for a run for natural energy. Eighty percent of the time I choose the natural way because I refuse to make coffee a stimulant. By the time I’m done with my run and eating dinner its half past seven and I haven’t started studying for tests and completing my homework. My free time is on the weekends but I have to admit, when I’m doing the things I like to do during this ‘free time’ my mind is always thinking about studying more. But here it’s a different game. I attend school, and laboriously during every class write and translate every word I hear or read that I don’t understand. I come home, take a nap for half an hour and begin to review the words. That is my workload, other than that all of my times is ‘free’. After a week of being confused with so much free time, I asked my teachers what was expected of me. They said that I must attend and pay attention in class, the last exchange student wrote letters home to her friends and family the whole time. One teacher told me I could relax in her class and simply listen. I had a discussion with a teacher, one of my favorites, and she said that I will learn the language no doubt. But approaching it with such vigor and intensity will not profit my mind or body. And I must agree, I have the same determination as I did the first day I landed in the Frankfurt Airport to conquer the German language. I have realized, as with every truly successful thing, it requires a process.

There is a process to learning a language, to losing weight, to making friends, to completing homework, to understanding, and to living (all of which I plan to accomplish). What I’m learning, or more specifically what God is showing me, is that no process can be forced or rushed if one expects a good outcome. If I want a perfect love relationship with Jesus that means every day, my first hour I have to commune with Him and diligently seek His face. If I want to make friends that means I have to be vulnerable, make the first move, and let one person more hear my grammatical mistakes as humbling as it is. If I want to learn a language, that means I have to ask when I don’t understand rather than passively say yes. It means I have to study, learn, and read but also make time for myself because everything is a process. I can’t lose my sense of balance between busy and down time.



Very commically receiving a hand baked

cookie present from my friend Kerstin.



In retrospect, this last year I have been given many new friendships and challenges. Now God is showing me as I walk into 2012 it’s up to me how I develop them and let them grow in my life. Every person is given the same amount of time in a week, but its’ what you invest this time in determines what you will later reap. Every action brings a reaction. If you look at any divinely talented composer, singer, or artist their talent was not born overnight. It was a product of time invested every day. One can only realistically choose two or three things to dedicate themselves to. For me, first is God and my second passion is singing with accompanied cello and guitar. I ask as this last post in the year 2011 that you think of what your priorities are going to be in the new year. I pray that you join me in making God the first priority in your life. With this decision one can’t go wrong, it only gets better from there. This doesn’t mean that difficulties won’t come in the new year, but if we see our difficulty the way God does then we can handle it how He does.

Questions and comments are welcomed! I would be honored to answer them.

Blessings and Joy, Genevieve



Gratefully enjoying a warm tea on the floor of a mossy German forest.



Simply Christmas in Germany

A small wood Christmas scene.

Like a warm breath in a winter morning, the soft smoke from chimneys puff into the crisp December air. Gingerbread colored roof tops are lightly sprinkled with a thin powder of snow. It’s just enough to have your heart swell and know that it’s Christmas time. A time to reflect on one’s worth, to begin the journey of understanding the great price that was paid for the human race. Christmas is a time of Lebkuchen, Stolle, Spekulatius, Marzipan and colorful straw stars hung in frosted windows. A German Christmas is not excessive, but what is shown and communicated is of sentimental value (most likely hand-made) and of importance. This Christmas I won’t be sipping on warm eggnog instead I plan on trying a German favorite, eggcocoa (raw egg and hot cocoa). In this post I would like to describe to you what I have experienced as a German Christmas. To start, here is a picture of Boizenburg, the biggest village in my area that is about a fifteen minute drive from my house. In the large empty space you see in the middle is where our Weihnachtsmarkt takes place.

To state the differences, Christmas is celebrated on the 24^th which is called ‘Heilige Abend (Holy Night)’. Here one would attend church, open gifts after enjoying a meal of duck, red cabbage, and potatoes. The day after is called the First Christmas Celebration Day where one celebrates with everyone outside of the immediate family. The  day after is the Second Christmas Celebration Day which is another day to share meals, and commune with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandpa's and grandma's. Another large difference I noticed a week into December..the Christmas tree is put up and decorated the day before Heilige Abend. 



Boizenburg Church

 

Adventskranz



Every Sunday a candle is lit in an ‘Adventskranz’ which is a wreath with four red candles to create a geometric square shape. The lighting of a candle only represents the amounts of weeks until the three day Celebration of Christmas. Specialty Christmas foods include; Spekulatius (vanilla cookies with ‘festive’ spices), Stolle (dense vanilla cake with rasins and powdered sugar), Lebkuchen (gingerbread almost always chocolate covered..no problem) and Gluhwein ( offered with and without Alcohol). I tried the alcohol-less Gluhwein and if I had to compare it to anything it would be cranberry, apple cider, and ginger. Every small village and big cities too, such as Hamburg, Leipzig, etc.. have a Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market). Here one can buy candied almonds, straw stars, Christmas tree ornaments, Gluhwein, Quarkballchen (little puffs of fried dough) and small hand made collector items. A very traditional and very dangerous decoration are live fire candles, now it is common to have electric powered candles instead. A film that is played throughout the Christmas time is ‘Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel’ , which is a twist of the classic Cinderella. That is a sum of what German do have, here is what they don't; no nativity scene sets in front of houses, no coffee flavors (whatsoever), eggnog, Christmas movie marathons or extravagantly decorated houses.




Adventskalender: each number is a little door that one opens on the appropriate day for a piece of chocolate!



Last week I was honored enough to be asked, among four other AFS students, to participate in a radio interview with the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern radio station. It was not a live interview (phew!) but it will be sent out this week for the entire state to hear. The interviewer asked me questions about a 'typical American Christmas' such as 'what do you eat?' and 'do you and your family go to church together?' Then she asked me for a very common song, and to my confusion seconds later I was singing ‘Dominque the Donkey’. Honestly, don't ask me why, I find it annoying 98% of the time it's played on the radio. Thankfully, not the whole interview will go out. ‘Only a few sentences that sum up the energy of your homecountries’ Christmas’ she said. Hopefully doesn’t include me singing ‘clinkiti clink he-haw-hehaw’. The picture here was after the interview, a fellow AFSer and I lip sang just for kicks to give the appearance that we were singing on the radio. :) I chose this picture to sum up the interview experience which was fun and relaxed. 

 Here is a quick story from last week. Friday I baked Christmas plätzchen (cookies) with a friend Kerstin. We made the traditional dough but I got to choose the forms. You know me :D Afterwards I created a little cookie scene on the cutting board and explained the Orgeon Trail! Do you see it?

 In America the traditions differ within every family but here I am apart of traditions that date back hundreds of years. Because of this, I found it hard to explain what a 'typical' American Christmas is to my host sisters English class. What I was able to describe was that the main focus of Christmas, aside from the 'holiday hype' ,is still about Jesus' birth. I asked my host parents what their celebration of Christmas entailed in the former DDR time. More than anything it was a time to get together with what family you could and simply celebrate being together (not neccesarily Jesus' birth). What I’m looking forward to within this next week is being home with the family, rest from school, enjoying (hopefully) the snow to come, and baking with my host sister.

In the meantime I'm reflecting on my time so far here. Yesterday marked the 100th day since I arrived in Germany. I have learned so much since then. As I mentioned in the latest article (about writing down what you learn everyday) I cherish every snippet of wisdom I receive. With six months and counting I cherish every moment I am with my new friends and family. I pray that you all also have a wonderful Christmas. I would love to hear your comments on a German Christmas, or answer any of your questions.

God Bless, Genevieve!

Gratitude in Another Latitude

Hello All!

Today I attempted a job that demanded the strength of an ox, the balance of a ballerina, and the perfection of a pilot. This job has no room for mistakes. What did I do today for a job? Today, I was a waitress. We had a party of thirty-one people eating a five-course meal which lasted six hours. I could try to describe this experience not so dramatically, but then it wouldn’t be accurate. This time was a dance between me, the guests, the workers in the kitchen, and the six inch space I had to move between the oversized woman and the Christmas tree. I wish I could say that after the first course I served my hands didn’t shake, and my voice didn’t quiver. But every meal had a new set of precariously stacked dishes. All in all I only dropped a sauce spoon on one woman’s Tommy Hilfiger shirt, it could’ve been worse. But what can I say, I was under pressure to clean after the second course to bring out the third course before it was cold. Now I know that I can’t balance four plates in my left hand (some with food some without – which makes it harder) and carry a small plate with a gravy boat teetering on it. Thankfully, the room was loud enough that not everybody stopped to stare at me. This would be terrorizing enough not to mention that I didn’t know the necessary German waitressing phrases such as:

‘I’m sorry I spilled mushroom sauce on your sixty dollar shirt’

‘Can you move your chair in, I’m not that skinny’

Or the more frequent ‘Excuse me, I dropped the fork under your chair’.

I could never work in a restaurant, I can’t handle the stress of timing in the kitchen and then smile and serve food. The thought occurred while I was trying to pick up a spoon with my pinkie (all the other fingers had a plate in between them) that I should boycott restaurants for a while.  If you ever were, or presently are a waiter or waitress, you have my full admiration. You are unbelievably patient and hard working. You have the sense of balance as a leopard and the grace of a swan, truly, it is yet a wonder for me.

Last weekend I met with the four other AFS students in my chapter. We played games, baked traditional German cookies, and talked about our own countries. One young man was from Brazil, two young ladies from Italy, and another young lady from China. We socialized through the night until lunch the next day. We were all sitting at the table waiting for the last person to arrive to start the meal. Once we were all present there was a pause, where one would normally, in times of old, begin a prayer. I was silent waiting to see if anyone from their country, from their belief, would pray before they ate, no one did. Instead someone said ‘Bon Appetite’ and everyone picked up their forks to start eating, glad the pause was over. Before they had their first bite I asked if we could all hold hands while I prayed for our food. I thanked God for this new company, I thanked him for the food and the memories He blessed us all with. It was a short prayer but something significant happened. I told them that I pray every time before I eat because I am thankful every time I eat. Not only that, but also to cleanse the food from any possible sickness it could have given us. More than anything, as the only voice from  America there, I wanted them to know that we are still a God fearing and God loving people.

This is a picture from the border between the East and West side of Germany. It could be viewed from the house of the woman who hosted all of us AFS students for the weekend. She wanted to show us what is left of the border towers, this one was kept as a memorial. Many people died trying on the same ground that I stood on to reach the West. Because she was so close to the border she was never allowed to have family or friends visit her, and every day after school she would have to confirm with the soldiers that she lived where she lived, and only then would they open the gate for her. She was always under suspicion. I can’t imagine this as my childhood. She showed me the picture of the American troops in 1989 building a bridge between the East and the West so she could reach her family. I am incredibly grateful for the freedom we have in America, how we were born and still are a free nation. Many young people in my school, though they live in a democracy, wish that Germany was a communist nation. After a month of attending school I am no longer suprised to see students proudly wear communist attire.

It takes a while for my mind to truly think over and accept what my eyes have seen. Whether it be as strong as a border tower, or as subtle as a communist t-shirt. Both are a bit incomprehensible. With the wisdom I received from last week, to slow down and live in the moment, I can begin to understand the history of the land that I live on right now. Have you, personally you, ever considered the rarity of democracy? Did you know that only twenty-one exist in the present world? I am in awe, and continue to be everyday as I witness God's grace. This experience is unfolding into a rose with everyday that passes by.

The Art of Slowing Down

This post is a little bit different than the others, rather than explaining what I did I want to share a concept that I learned and talk a little bit about the language learning process. I also included some pictures throughout the entry with little captions so you can have a visual!

Forest of birch trees near Oma's (Grandma's) house. For you mom :)

This week was the first time that I did not have an orientation or tour of any big city in my surrounding area. Which means it was my first real week as a resident. I never had the chance to come to terms that I would be away from my family and friends  when I was America, time passed to quickly. Now that I have said my goodbye’s, met with dozens of people from and with AFS, took a plane across an ocean,  landed in Frankfurt Airport, stayed in Lower Saxony for a month for a language camp, and moved four hours away to where I currently live…have I realized what has taken place. I think this happens to a lot of us, we get so involved in our lives that somehow our minds don’t actually process what happens.

I am moved to consciously live, I do this by writing what I learned every night. I don’t want a day to pass and I don’t learn something, big or small, as long as each day I am advancing.  I also every now and then stop and take a deep breath. It seems to bring my focus back to the present, which can so easily escape us sometimes. My focus is normally very sharp and keen, but I have found during the time here my mind is very quick to shift to autopilot. I am so grateful to say that I can understand about 85% of the conversations going around me at all times, but it comes with a price. After school I need an hour of sitting (literally just sitting with my eyes closed) to slow my brain down. I am twenty four hours a day, seven days a week translating. I am dreaming now in German.

Each day the headaches come less often and without such intensity, which is a step in the right direction. As I was talking and waiting for the train to Hamburg with my friend Nadine and her sister, the question arose why can I understand so much and speak so well with such a small background of the language. Here is the truth with becoming bilingual in a cultural submersion experience against what one would normally expect. One would think, ‘I hear the language all day every day, read it in the newspaper, hear it on the radio and TV, the language will come with time’. I agree, the language will come with time but to excel the learning process and exceed expectations one must be diligent. I have an inch thick notebook of words that I have heard, looked up in my dictionary, wrote down and read before bed. It is a demanding process, but there is a sweet victory every time I hear or read a word that I didn’t know the day before. Because that means I am one word closer to becoming fluent, one word closer to better communication.

Last week I gave a presentation about the American governmental system in 1781 to my history class, I cherished every moment of it. Yes I made grammatical mistakes, but both the teacher and the students were enthralled with the context and the extent of my vocabulary. They don’t know that behind the presentation I practiced with my host parents, wrote the information with my host sister, and spent hours flipping through my dictionary. This mentality or mindset, to give something your everything comes from a childhood experience. I was cleaning my room, which means stuffing everything under my bed, and my mom walked by and somehow knew exactly what I was doing and simply said ‘when you do something, anything..do it as if you’re doing it for the Lord’.

After applying this scripture to my life, I’m glad to say that it has brought unbelievable amount of benefits. I am accomplishing something right now that I never dreamed of doing in my life and enjoying every moment of it. The point is that you don’t have to be in another country to experience what I’m feeling, you can live your everyday for God. Sing with all you have, play and create with all that is within you, and take Sunday’s off J. Let me know what you guys think about the pictures, and if you have any questions feel free to ask!



Fresh oven baked bread with salami and mild cheese sauce, at the Christmas Market.



First and last time eating these.... noodles.



View from the ferris wheel at the Schwerin Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market)

Finished baking Nadine's 18th birthday gift! Yum yumm.

Sonneausgang (Sunset)









Sonneaufgang (Sunrise)

Italian boat at the Hamburg Harbor

Picked up my cello at Cello & Co., in Hamburg

Until next time!

Genevieve