Example of a German "Fest" - Museumsuferfest

Tonight we are headed to yet another festival in Germany- this one is the "Zweibelmarkt" (onion festival) in Griesheim; I will post pictures from that later in the month. Right now, I wanted to get you into the groove with some pictures from the last fest we attended: "Museumsuferfest". Museumsuferfest is a festival held in Frankfurt, along the banks of the River Main. As you may guess, the name has something to do with museums. "ufer" is German for "riverbank". All of the museums along the banks of the river are open, and for a very small fee (5 euro?) you can get into all of them, all weekend long. All along the way are vendors selling every kind of food imaginable- from steaming plates of fresh fried morrocan dumplings, to the ever popular (with me at least) turkish doener kebap, to (of course!) any kind of sausage or "wurst" you could desire. Plenty of beer and apfel wein flows around you, music blasts from one of maybe 20 stages set up along the way and everywhere you turn, people are having a good time.

Just one "crowd" shot... the fest is much bigger than this...

Rowan and the "telephone sheep" from the Communications Museum.

Our friend, Neil, formerly of the U.K., looking quite fetching in my bonnet...

Boat racing along the River Main... these races went on alllllll day!

Group shot...

left: me, Rowan (under the hat, playing a little Nintendo), Claire (UK), Neil (UK), Michael (UK)

right: Claire (UK), Dan (UK), Simone (native German!), Phil (UK)

Photo taken by Michael...

First Impressions of Germany

On the whole of my six-months of local experience, southern Germany is, for the most part, very similar to the US I think; with a few very notable exceptions:

*Here, wool is an all-season fabric. Even on the warmest days, when I am sweating in shorts and a tank-top, you will still see some people in sweaters and jeans. Parkas are never actually packed away for the summer. It's as though they never get really warmed-up inside.
*Tidiness is virtually a sacrament; most people spend a good portion of their weekend weeding their tiny, immaculate gardens, trimming the grass borders with scissors and a ruler (I'm NOT kidding!) and scraping the moss, gum, leaves, dead bugs and anything else from the sidewalk and curbs in front of their homes. 85% of the yards and driveways are impeccably ordered and symmetrical and clean; and, in my opinion, sometimes a little sterile.

Most of the Germans I've met are also timely, courteous, not easily embarrassed, honest and know how to cut loose and enjoy themselves. Germans have a strong work-ethic, but an even stronger sense of work-life balance. When at work, Germans are professional; when at play, they make the most of it. There are more festivals here than you can imagine. They celebrate everything from MardiGras/Fat Tuesday (Carnival, lasts almost a week) to Christmas (Weinachtsmarkt, lasts a MONTH) to onion fests (Zweibelmarkt) and asparagus fests (Spargelfest) and even just being born in a certain place (Heinerfest, a weekend-long celebration of being born in Darmstadt, tho all are invited!) People are well-behaved at the fests; rarely do you see or hear a fight, even though most people are clearly drunk.

Overall, I really like living in Germany (though I do miss my family and friends very much!) My experience here is just beginning, but I can say it has been so positive so far that I really would consider moving to another foreign country next!

Vacation to "Europa Park", August 2007

We decided to take Rowan on a very kid-friendly mini-vacation before school started... what better place than Europa Park!? A miniature (?) Disneyworld in the middle of German farm country (about 1 hour north of Basel, Switzerland, very close to the French border); Europa Park has everything a boy of 6 could want... rides, shows, shooting galleries, water balloon lanchers, huge (4-story!) enclosed slides (see movie at bottom), and of course, junk-food GALORE! We stayed on-site at one of the "resorts" (here meaning a hotel on the park grounds) for two nights, three days...

Rowan's first day of school, Aug 21, 2007

Rowan's first day of school was a little hectic... for a country so organized and structured, the day was seemingly without order or discernable structure. We went to the Jugenheim Bergkirche (church) first. It is a lovely church located on the side of a mountain, (hence the name "Bergkirche" - "mountain church") and though we were told everyone would walk down to the school 'en-mass', no one actually did... we walked alone with Rowan the 1.5 miles to the school as everyone else drove by (strike one)...

Once on the school grounds, we needed to find the "Aula" (Auditorium); which, we were told, is the "largest building on the campus". As it turns out, there are two very large buildings on campus (strike two), so we asked a groundskeeper for directions. Once at the Aula, sheer mayhem ensued as nearly every seat was already taken and people were packed into every possible bit of standing room. We found three seats together in the very back of the room, but once we were seated, a parent turned to us, looked at Rowan and seemed confused. I asked if the 1st year students had to be somewhere else and she said "oh yes, they need to be up in the front row!!" (strike three!) So, we were up again and struggling thru the crowds to get to the front of the auditorium and find someone to tell us where Rowan needed to be....

In the end, Rowan got situated; we stood nearby and listened to the speeches (mostly in German) and the older children's songs, and then Rowan was lead off-stage by his new teacher (Mrs. Kennedy) for his first lesson while Mike and I crossed our fingers that the rest of the day (and year!) would go a little more smoothly!