Ich bin ein Berliner... wait wha?

The trip to California was finished and I was back in Germany... good ol' Deutschland! But of course there is no rest for the weary. Only 4 short days after getting back home and we were headed off to Berlin once more. This time it was for an official Fulbright event. They were celebrating the 60th birthday of the Fulbright organization and we were all invited! And they were paying for everything too!!

Goodbye Marburg (insert sad face here)

So sadly our time in Marburg had to come to an end at some point, though I would not have minded if it had lasted longer. Marburg was a very fun and cute city, I plan on returning to it again before leaving Germany. Maybe even have a small Fulbright reunion there before we all head back to the States, who knows.

Real German Cooking!

So it has been much longer than I would have liked since my last post..... but lack of internet will do that. Hmmm where did we last leave off..... ah yes I had made my post about restaurants and food! Wonderful topic, which is why this post will be about food... but this time about making it.

Mariko and I attended a cooking class that Raphael, our coordinator in Marburg, so graciously setup for us. Only about half the Fulbrighters were in our class, as the other half attended a prior class. We arrived at the place at about 4pm and met our instructor, who incidently did not speak English (which worked out fine for everyone). She was going to teach us to make some classic German food!! Of course minus whatever allergies and food preferences (Vegetarian, Vegan, etc) we had. Brigitte, our cooking instructor, had done quite a bit of work before we even arrived. First off she had decorated the dining room with table clothes, flowers and grapes (both flowers and grapes came from her personal garden)! She had also prepared an appetizer for us all to try before we started working, with some white wine of course... it was a dinner meal after all. Brigitte also made copies of all the recipes that we'd be cooking for every person in the class (which I hope to translate and put for everyone). And lastily she even set up little work stations for us too work at, with all the things we would need and the recipe that we would be making.

History has many sad stories

Being in Germany gives one quite a bit of time to discover the history of a land that had been around for a long time, especially when compared to the USA. Sadly some of the history is not always pleasant.... but it is still something that I think should be viewed and examined. Mariko and I had the opportunity to go to one of the Inner German Border Museums with other Fulbrighters. The museum was in Eichfeld, and it geographically at the center of Germany.

Drinking, Dancing and Frankfurt

Marburg as a city, is a cute little city compared to some of the other cities here in Germany. Full of hills, trees and people you recognize. One thing that Marburg does still have, and we have just recently experienced some of it, is a nightlife. Thursday night a group of us met up at a BierGarten with Raphael, it was a small walk from the Cineplex (but then everything is a walk here).  The BierGarten was nothing new, as we have been drinking beer quite a bit here. Though it was nice to go with a large group (we got to people to watch quite a bit). Mariko and I only had one beer each, I got a Radler once again... but Mariko tried the WeißenBoch. It was pleasant, and tasted like a fruity dark beer (her words).


The dance club was rather interesting to say the least. It didn't really look much like a club from the outside, more like a closed industrial building. There were a lot of Germans hanging around the outside though, so that gave me the impression that something was going on here. We each paid our 3 Euro and headed in. The dance floor was much smaller than I was used to, but there was also a stage with a few couches and chairs setup. Mariko and I dubbed them the make-out couches! A bar was naturally there as well, off to the side, and the prices looked fairly cheap too. Mariko and I refrained from getting another drink, purely on the basis that we knew we would have to walk home after this.

Kanu fahren

So today we went on a canoe trip with the Fulbrighters down the Lahn. We met up around 9:30 and took a bus to Roth, a small town where we launching from. We were going to be in 2-3 man canoes, wearing lifevests of course, and going around 10km. We put our things in water resistant bags, and lugged our canoe down to the water (it was really heavy for Mariko).

 Mariko was in front and I was in back doing the steering, and luckily the guides gave us some info on how to steer and paddle. It took some time to get the hang of things, and it was amusing to see our group zig-zagging across the river trying to get things controlled. A few bumps ensued of course but the beginning was fairly good. The current was moving slowly, but carried us about 2-3 km shortly.... and that's when things got complicated.

Culinary extravaganza

Our week felt as if were going by fairly quickly by the time Wednesday dawned, though I'm fairly certain the Earth's orbit around the sun hadn't changed in the slightest. But our trip down to town was rather rushed, as was breakfast... but that's ok compared to the morning following it. We sat in the lecture hall and had an official information session about Fulbright and German education. It lasted over 3 hours! It was some decent information, but just way too much to take in at once.

Lunch was once again provided by Fulbright, and it was tasty once more! We had salad, pretzel bread (different, but very good), Cornmeal chowder and open faced sandwiches. It was a light meal, but was relaxing. Of course after food came more information for us....I feel as if they like to rotate food and info. Stuff us with both and then let us digest mentally and physically. The later information was regarding our health insurance during our stay here.... which is SUPER important, but was fairly standard things for most insurance companies.

Acclimations all around

So Monday is the beginning of the first day for us in Marburg. We were a little excited to see more of the city, especially since we were more awake than the previous day. We took the bus around town a little more, to try and recognize stops that we might need. And of course we did some grocery shopping!! We wanted to have some basic food in our dorm, mainly so we wouldn't have to eat out all the time, but also because its nice to be able to relax "at home" and eat.

The grocery store was rather similar to the ones in America, though smaller. The prices felt quite similar, though they are obviously in Euro. The main differences are:
   *A LOT less Frozen food
   *A LOT of variety of cheese and meats
   *More bread in the bakery, and better bread in the packaged section.
   *More ingredients, and less "prepackaged meals"
   *Deposit on all Glass and Plastic bottles
   *Bring your own bag- nearly no store has bags and those that do charge
     for them

A man on the Lahn

We bought some simple bread, cheese and salami (Which we later found out was chicken salami) for our breakfast by the Lahn (The major river through Marburg). It was very pleasant to sit there just snacking on a light breakfast, almost like it was a natural thing for us to do. Though in Marburg there are wasps everywhere! If you are eating outside they will find you and buzz around you until you are done or you leave. They haven't been very aggressive, and resemble bees more than wasps, but are very annoying!