On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

... an Advent Calendar in the Forchheim Rathaus.

The Forchheimer Weihnachtsmarkt may not be the biggest Christmas market in all of Germany, but set up right in picturesque Rathausplatz, it was definitely full of Christmas charm! Not to mention, the snow last year set the perfect Christmas mood. I wandered over to the Weihnachtsmarkt pretty much everyday after school and Gemma and I made the trek back into town on quite a few evenings as well. 

The crown jewel of the Forchheimer Weihnachtsmarkt is the Advent Calendar the City hall is turned into. Each window represents a day leading up to Christmas and every night at 6pm an "angel" opens the window, sprinkles a little faery dust and reads a poem. Just watch...

If you think this little living Advent Calendar is pretty adorable, you wouldn't alone. The Adventskalender Forchheim is locally famed as the most beautiful Advent Calendar. Now, I'm a little hazy on the details. I'm not really sure what arena we're playing in. The most beautiful in the world? the country? the region? the city? Also, I feel the need to wonder how the very subjective quality of beauty can be objectively quantified as "the most beautiful." But, I dare not question the title to the very proud locals. And I can't deny that it is quite a beautiful Advent Calendar, regardless of the validity of the claim. 

o little town of... Forchheim?

Among the many holiday festivities and decorations I saw last year, I noticed there were quite a few nativity scenes on display. Nativity scenes, or Krippe in German, were all over the place in every style possible to display the birth of baby Jesus. The were living nativities, musical nativities, life-size nativities, interactive nativities, light-up nativities... the list goes on.  

 

But, as varied as all these sound, I did notice they all seemed to have one glaring similarity - a blatant disregard for historical accuracy. 

So, I've gathered a few pointers for anyone interested in creating a German nativity scene...

1. Feel free to set the scene in any place you desire. Sure the story goes that it was in Bethlehem, but the details of the journey are pretty hazy - who's to say they didn't wander through Forchheim on their way! And don't even worry about the anachronistic problems of setting a story that happened in 1 A.D. set in a scene that didn't exist till more than a thousand years later. 
2. make sure the scene, as a whole, lacks proportional continuity. Figures should not be appropriately sized to the setting. True greatness is achieved when figures aren't even proportionate to each other. 
3. Mary should be the only character appropriately dressed for the original setting of Bethlehem. All other characters, including Joseph, should fit the setting chosen for the particular nativity. For best results, Joseph should look like he just finished herding his cattle in the mountains. (You are allowed one other figure not dressed appropriate to the setting, if, and only if he is a giant creeper on a horse with a cape and crown)
4. Although not necessary, it's always good to have a group of people enjoying some beer somewhere in the scene. 
5. The last and probably the most important point: pretty much nothing in the scene needs to have anything to do with the actual Christmas story. As long there is a pregnant Mary and a Joseph, it's officially a nativity scene.

For any further comments or inspiration for your own Krippe, please refer to this wonderful scene set in the truly biblical town of Forchheim. 

The Great Return

For the second week of our two week fall break, I decided to return to my German roots: Forchheim. 

 

The two months I had been in Dortmund marked the longest I had ever been away from Forchheim since moving there in September 2010. So going back was a greatly-anticipated treat!  My return to Forchheim also saw the greatest reunion of Gemily since the Christmas 2010 split. 

Although the week went by all too quickly, I got to get in a little bit of all my favorite Forchheim things. I got to spend plenty of quality time back at Hotel Baptistella, playing cards with Gemma, visit friends in the city, enjoying some delightful (and appropriately-sized) Kellerbier, visit new places in Franken, and spend a day in my PJs watching TV (Bones...) and being completely lazy all day with Gemma. 

Our first order of business, actually, was to stock up on sustenance to get us through our ritual lazy day without ever having to leave the apartment (and yes, those are mini pizzas and mini breaded cheese bits in there. We like to keep it classy). 

If the excitement of it all wasn't enough, my week was topped off when my new winter jacket and purse were delivered on my last day. My excitement is clearly discernible here in my happy dance (hey, you'd be excited too if you got a 60€ Jacket and 15€ purse for a grand total of 28€, thank you internet sales!)

It was fantastic to be back and to get to see everyone, and I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get to go back again! 

Walberla, it's short for Ehrenbürg.

Last year in Forchheim (this is how I begin about 90% of my sentences these days), my school was named Ehrenbürg Gymnasium, if you'll remember.  It's been my experience that most German schools are named after famous people (for example, my school this year is the Immanuel Kant Gymnasium). But every now and then, they are named after well-known geographical features of the region. 

The Ehrenbürg is a uniquely shaped large hill just beyond Forchheim in the Fränkische Schweiz (Franconian Switzerland). I would say it is something of landmark for the people in the region, almost symbolic in a way. But if you ever travel to this region, you will never hear anyone speak of the Ehrenbürg. That is because, to the locals, is fondly referred to as the Walberla (the obvious choice for a nickname there, really. If I'm being honest).

Hiking up the Walberla became one of this things that Gemma and I always planned to do, but never actually got around to doing. Eventually, about a week before I left, my friend invited me to spend the morning finally getting to explore the famous Walberla. It was the perfect morning hike, probably about 45 minutes up and down each, and a break for some lunch at the top! We even enjoyed some fresh picked fruit from the trees along our hike! 

So now I can proudly say that I took part in a Forchheim rite of passage: the hiking of the Walberla. 

Graduation Goggles

My room now looks quite a bit different than the last picture I posted. 

So it's my last night in Forchheim. I seriously don't know where the last week went. Really, I don't even know where the last year went. I moved to Forchheim on 9/9/10 and exactly 365 days later I will be leaving it. 

We had our ups and downs, Forchheim. Sure you're public transportation is inconvenient and annoying, yes, it's lame that all your shops close at 2pm on Saturday, but I'll never forget the good times I had in the Kellerwald or at the Christmas market, all the friends I made, things I experienced, lessons I learned. 

Graduation goggles are a phenomenon, explained by How I Met Your Mother as:

graduation goggles, like with high school - it's 4 years of bullies making fun all the kids with braces even after the braces come off and they can walk just fine. but then on graduation day, you suddenly get all misty because you realize you're never going to see those jerks again. 

Of course, in this sense it's not that I hate Forchheim and suddenly like it now that I'm leaving. Trust me, I've liked all a long (most the time). It's that I was excited to head off to Dortmund and get to see and experience a new place, when suddenly the graduation goggles popped on and masked that excitement with the sadness of having to leave Forchheim.

This isn't the first time the graduation goggles have come on right before a big move, and it definitely won't be the last - I'm sure I'll be strapping them on next summer when I leave Dortmund - but that doesn't make it any easier to leave. 

So I guess this is just my way of saying thanks for the great year, Forchheim! 

The Summer According to Beer Festivals: Annafest

If you remember, I opened the summer season back in June with the Berg festival in Erlangen. But the real highlight of the summer beer festivals for me was just a few weeks ago right here in Forchheim. 

The first time I heard about Annafest was probably over a year ago when I found I was would be moving to this city I had never heard of before. And just like any rational, uniformed person, I read the wikipedia article on Forchheimn - including a small bit on the town's biggest attraction, a beer festival in the middle of summer. 

Annafest is an annual 10 day festival that takes place in the Kellerwald in Forchheim. Along side the 23 beer kellers, they set up all kinds of carnival rides and games. Running till 11pm everynight, you can enjoy liters of beer, live music, traditional food, and the company of several hundred thousands throughout the week. 

Of course, when I read the article, I didn't really realize just how big of a deal this Annafest was. How was I supposed to know that I would hear about it at least once a week while living in Forchheim. That whenever I asked the question "What is there to do in Forchheim?" inevitably the answer "well, have you heard about Annafest?!" would work its way in. So when the festival finally arrived, I was very excited to see how the reality lived up to the rumors.

I made it up to the festival several times during the week. Sometimes just to pop in, take a few pictures and grab some Gebrannte Mandeln (my favorite German treat, roasted almonds!), while other visits were for the whole evening, enjoying delicious food and beer with friends. I would go on, but I think the pictures can do it more justice....

You could order beer at your seat, or you could just walk up to the kellers and get a beer to walk around with

"During Annafest (July 23 - August 1), the Lohnmühl is closed"
There were many bars and restaurants in town that had signs like this up during Annafest.

One of the 4 stages in the Kellerwald that had continuous live music

With the standard Annafest Maß - 1 liter of beer

There was even a ferris wheel

My delicious schäuferla (pig shoulder), after it was devoured 

The main path up into the Kellerwald lined with food and game stands

The bigger carnival rides - all lit up for night here - were down below the kellerwald

My beer forest can beat up your beer garden

I'm pretty sure the concept of the beer garden is not foreign to anyone reading this blog. Though always associated with Germany, I have been to and/or seen beer gardens (usually with a German theme) all over the US. And, of course, they do actually exist (and can often  live right up to your hopes and dreams and stereotypes) in Germany - especially around the beer capital state of Bavaria. During our trip to Munich (hello, Oktoberfest is like the mothership of all beer garden gatherings), we were able to visit some of the most famous beer gardens in the country/probably the world. 

But up here in [the northern region of Bavaria known as] Franken, it's a little more hardcore. When we put on our Lederhosen and Dirndl, we aren't just skipping across fields of happiness and sunshine to our dinky little garden of beer. No. We're climbing mountains (ok, it's more of a hill...) and fighting our way through the thick cover of nature (or, you know, we take the road) to get to the Kellerwald

Kellerwald literally means "cellar forest," for all the beer cellars it is built on top of. 

Wait, don't you mean the beer cellars were built UNDERNEATH the buildings?

No no (we took a tour of one of the cellars last week, so now I think I'm a professional, but I would like to apologize if any historical information is not entirely accurate). The beer cellars are an over 200 year old network of tunnels built into this hill as naturally refrigerated storage. Because of the thick sandstone walls that these tunnels were dug into, the cellars remain incredibly dry and a constant, year-round temperature of 6 - 8ºc (42 - 46ºf). Originally built to store more than beer, they eventually became home to 14 different breweries in Forchheim, of which

 there are only 4 remaining today. Back in the day, the beer would be brewed in the city, then brought up to the cellars by horse carriage to age for about 8 weeks before being brought back down to be served and sold. Of course, some beer was kept up at the cellars, where the more committed patrons could enjoy a fresh brew straight from the cellar. Now the Kellerwald is Forchheim's biggest "attraction", with around 23 different cellars serving beer from around the entire Franken region almost year round (I think they had their official opening in the beginning of April, but it is possible to find 1 or 2 open on the weekends throughout the year, especially when the weather is nice). It is also home to their biggest and most famous festival, Annafest. But that's another post entirely. 

Right, so that's the history/facts of the Kellerwald, but our experience has been so much more! Our story with the Kellerwald really begins about 2 months ago in the beginning of April. I had a friend visiting and the weather was finally starting to warm up, so we gathered our group and headed for the Kellerwald. The rest is history. It is a great place to spend the afternoon sitting outside under the shade of the trees enjoying deliciously cheap food and beer (no, seriously, I've had 3 half liters and a very filling dinner for under 10€). We tend to go to the same Keller everytime and have come to know the servers there pretty well.  "Our favorite server" (as we to refer to her), worked her way into our hearts by being super complimenting and positive about Gemma's and my German. She's never annoyed or frustrated if we don't know a word, will randomly give us some new (usually beer or menu related) vocabulary just for fun and will always stop by our table to say hi. Last week she even told us they had customers from Australia and that she wished we had been there to help translate. 

1/2 liter, 1 liter, and 3 liter Krugs

Although it probably goes without saying, but the Kellerwald is pretty much my favorite place in Forchheim. I will definitely miss it. 

Something I don't miss

Remember that time I told you April was going to be crazy? I wasn't lying! I have been loving having my friend Kristen in town for the week and there are so many stories to tell (plus, I'm still behind on Berlin... need to get those cameras developed) and oh so little time to tell them all.

Yesterday we ventured out into the Kellerwald (one of Forchheim's biggest attractions [where the Annafest is {that festival in the end of July everyone has been telling me about since I got here }]) to enjoy the beautiful spring weather... and a beer or two. 

my normally dark green car during a GA spring

Suddenly, while sitting outside, I realized there was a total absence of something I'm very accustomed to during the spring time... Excessive amounts of pollen. Having spent most of my life in Georgia I'm used to the springs with pollen counts in the thousands (didn't we break records with 5000 or so pollen count last year?). Keep in mind a "normal high" pollen count for spring is usually around 120 or so.  And since Georgia isn't exactly known for having the wettest of climates, you are powerless as you watch the world around you turn a nasty mustard yellow during the month of April. 

 Luckily Forchheim does not seem to suffer from the same problem, meaning we were able to enjoy our warm spring day outside without so much as a sneeze (let alone the fear of an allergy related death)

First impressions of Forchheim

I hate to disappoint, but if I don't give you the abridged version of my first weekend in Forchheim, you would all probably hate yourselves by the end... nobody wants to read that much and I don't really want to type that much.

I'll just let you know that, although she was almost 45 minutes late picking me up, my land lady got me from train station on Thursday (yes, the main train station that only has 4 tracks!) and brought me back to the apartment....

Ahh, the apartment.

It's actually pretty big. Unfortunately it looks like the 1970's threw up on it. I've already been to Ikea, so my room looks like it might actually come out of this century, but the rest still needs work! (Hey, have you seen the pictures?! Check them out to get the full experience: PICTURES!) Here are some highlights from the apartment (you can find PICTURES! of all these):

1. American flag bed sheets! I actually slept in that bed for 3 nights. I've never felt more patriotic.
2. the world's tiniest shower. But THANK GOD there's a bath tub... right... don't you always take baths???
3. Slanted ceilings in every room. You can't actually walk all the way to both ends of any room standing straight unless you're about 2 feet tall.
4. the fact that the oven is kaputt (that's German for broken.)
5. (My personal favorite:) The barbed-wire toilet seat. There are no words, you just have to see the pictures.

When I got there, my land lady told me I pick from one of two rooms and said the middle room would just be empty. Well... my choices were

• room with big bed, horrible desk, no way to rearrange, door to the patio, but no real way to decorate
• giant room with 2 twin beds, the world's ugliest couch (seriously), pretty nice desk, but just too big to work with.

So I peak in the middle "empty" room to find a cozy room fully furnished with a nice desk, great storage space and a sky-light type window on the slanted ceiling. I wanted that room! So after 3 nights of crashing in the super giant room I finally just ask my land lady "is it ok if I take the middle smaller room?" You would have thought I asked if I could trade her soul for chocolate. She could not understand at all why I would possibly want the smallest room. I tried to explain that it was just more comfortable for me and I didn't like living in a giant room. I feel like she doesn't trust me anymore because I like small rooms.

But I do love my little ikea'ed middle room! It's working out pretty nicely!

Today I had my first day at school. School actually starts tomorrow, but today was the welcome back teachers meeting. Yeah, one day before students come back, the teachers decide they should show up too. The meeting was in teacher lounge and I was quickly reminded of the German's need for order - my mentor teacher had to help me find a seat because everyone had "their" seat and you can't just sit there (mind you none of these seats are actually assigned, they just always sit in the same place). We got there almost 30 minutes early so there was a lot of meeting people, shaking hands and saying "yes, I do actually know German." I ended up sitting near and talking to a couple new teachers/referendar[in]

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HEY! what's a Referendar? Well, in Germany, to become a teacher, instead of 1 semester of student teaching, you have to go through 2 years as a "probationary teacher" or a "referendar" (and if you're a female - "referendarin"). Meaning these people are usually younger and right out of Uni (that's basically a Europe-wide way of saying "university")... hey, like me!

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I wasn't following the meeting completely because 1. it was hard to follow without being familiar with their educational system and 2. my teachers gave me their text book to look through. I think the text book deserves a post of it's own. I'll give you just this one example:

WHAT TO SAY AND WHAT NOT TO SAY

if you're traveling to the UK or the USA, you'll meet lots of people in many different situations. Both countries and their people are considered very polite. This means they are often less direct that the Germans.

The English are famous for 'understatement'. here is an example: (there's a picture of a wooden bench)

Accurate description: A very hard, uncomfortable bed.

English understatement: the bed is a little on the hard side

the section goes on to explain small talk, which is a completely foreign concept to Germans.

At some point in the meeting, I noticed they started announcing students names then going through their grades "English: 3, Math: 4, Latin: 4 - they passed" (oh, btw, in Germany 1 is the best grade you can get and 6 is the worst, 4 is passing) I missed the whole who and why part, but I thought it was an interesting technique. They went on to announce students by name who did not pass on to the next level, students who left the school, and students that would probably need extra attention...

at 5 there was a short break, so they let me leave. I don't have to go to school tomorrow, because it will probably just be a lot of meetings, rule readings, etc. So my first real day will be Wednesday, then I just observe for the first week or so before diving. At least I'm pretty confident in my abilities to speak English, if nothing else.