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. 

ETA and Famous.

My group of friends recently found our way on to the homepage for the website of the city of Erlangen. So I thought I should explain just how we're so cool.

You might have heard me refer to ETA and Famous before. But let me explain...

It all started in September when we left orientation and moved on to our respective towns and schools. Well, all the ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) in [the northern Bavaria region known as] Franken some how bonded together very quickly. And in the beginning phases of our hanging-out-togetherness we noticed that people stared at us wherever we went, which we quickly credited to two things:

1. Germans stare. No really, they have no problem blatantly following you with their whole body as you walk down the street. I think since there is no German word for "awkward" people just had to roll with the staring since they didn't know how to describe how it made them feel. Now it's just normal.
2. We're loud Americans. I'd like to deny it, but have you heard me speak? I'm loud. And when there are 7 of us, we're very loud. And we're speaking English. 

But, since both these concepts made us both uncomfortable and a little sad, we decided to blame the stares on something else. Fame. Yes, they're staring because we are famous. So this became our little joke all year. Whenever someone would start listening in or stare awkwardly at us, we would just give the group the signal "guys, we're so ETA and famous right now."

we even made our own reality show...

And we clearly got on the website because we were so recognizably famous*

*and not at all because we just happened to be sitting next to the website photographers 

on the opening day of the biggest beer festival in Erlangen**

**but more on that later

America: the land of ethnic diversity

or at least according to the English books used at my school.*

I'm supposed to be lesson planning (I think I see where this is going), but got sidetracked by completely unrelated details in the book (no surprise there). 

In the 7th grade US unit, you get a closer look at three states: Florida, Alaska, and California. And, for the sake of continuity, there are three characters that tie together all three states throughout the unit. 

It all begins in Florida at space camp, where our 3 friends (oh, and a random British girl) meet...

If you can't read that, their names are (from left to right): Margo Blair, Glen Oktollik, Conchita Gonzales, and Scott Truong, and are from the UK, Alaska, Chicago, and San Fransisco, respectively. 

So, according to this book, if you were to take a random sample of three American children, chances are they're all going to be incredibly ethnic, both in appearance and name. Because we're the melting pot. Right? the land of equal opportunities for all... or something. Apparently this book did not take a sample from Oconee County, Georgia (or else there most definitely would have been at least one very white kid name "Bubba" with a shotgun and a pick-up truck... or am I generalizing again?). 

and my favorite part? the text to the left says "Find the places they are from on the maps of the USA and the UK. Which kid is not American?" hmmm... which one of these is not like the others. 


Maybe in the next edition they'll include a tribute to our native American population as well...

*Obviously I can't say they're wrong, I mean, we are a pretty diverse place. 

I just love that that's how they classify the American kids: they're ethnic.

Reduzierte Surfgeschwindigkeit

Here are some basics you need to know:

-O2 is a phone company in Germany (and I think basically throughout Europe, I know they're at least in the UK too)

-Most internet providers are through the phone companies

-pretty much all internet contracts are 24 month contracts

So back in September when I was looking for a way to feed my internet connection, I searched desperately for internet that had a simple 12 month contract instead of 24 months. But it was to no avail. I was finally directed to O2 and their "surfsticks". Basically a USB stick with a regular SIM card in it that connects you to the internet. It's pay as you go, and you can buy a day long or month long flat-rate. It seemed like the perfect solution back in September. So much so, even, that after I got mine, I recommended it to our Franken group, out of which 5 of the 7 of us bought one. However, over the past 9 months I've come to have a very love-hate relationship with this little O2 stick. 

Love 

• No contract
• You can use it anywhere in Germany. Which is very useful for traveling as most hotels in Germany do not provide free wifi
• it gives me internet. period. 
• it's really quite simple and you don't have to rely on lots of different parts like a modem, router, etc. 
• It saved the day on two separate occasions (the first at the Fulbright conference in Berlin when everyone brought their laptops only to find there was no internet in the hotel, the second when my friend was in the hospital and she could stay connected the whole time)

Hate

• it only provides internet to one computer at a time, so if you have friends over, no lame internet parties.
• there is a data transfer limit of 5gb per month. And while this might seem like a lot, it takes away the freedom of spending hours a day on youtube, streaming tv shows from home, or even downloading (legally, of course) movies and such.
• After you reach the 5gb limit, you are forced to use "reduzierte Surfegeschwindigkeit" - or reduced surf speed until the end of the month. meaning you basically go through a time warp to 1996 when you had to wait about 5 minutes for even the simplest of pages to load. fru-stra-ting. 

For the past 5 days I was sentenced to reduzierte Surfgeschwindigkeit. And it was pretty miserable. Because of these limitations, we spend a lot of our time at our fave cafe in Erlangen and enjoy the limitless freedom of wifi. 

While I wouldn't necessarily go with the O2 option forever, it's not a bad fall-back plan. But I think there are some new internet providers that no longer require a contract... Now I know for next year.

Pizza Wednesdays

In mid-September, while visiting a friend in Erlangen, we stopped for drinks a bar called Bogart's.

Even though it is named for the famous 1930s actor, Humphrey Bogart, I can't help but think it was a combination of being the name of the next town over back home and the familiarity of the Confederate flag waving above it (...yeah, I don't get it either) that drew me to this particular spot. During this first visit, we noticed a sign advertising a Wednesday night special of a pizza and a beer for 6€. Since we all love pizza, and we all love beer, and we all needed a regular social engagement, we decided this would be a worthwhile investment for our Wednesday nights. And thus was born the Franken ETA Pizza Wednesday.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck for our Pizza Wednesday only a few short weeks after its inception - I joined the Musikverein, which also meets on Wednesday evenings. Since one commitment involved rehearsing with a group to prepare for a concert, while the other was dedicated to over-eating and alcohol consumption the choice was pretty clear. And that's how Pizza Wednesdays became a very irregular occurrence. But they did not end forever. Every now and then, on the rare occasions that there is no band on Wednesday nights or for special circumstances (e.g. friends visiting, farewell dinners for members of our group heading back stateside), we all gather for a pizza and a beer (or two... or three). 

Oh and btw, my pizza of choice is the "Pizza Hollywood" - ham, pineapple, corn (yeah, apparently it's normal to put corn on pizza in Germany, it's on pretty much all of them!), and artichoke hearts. Deeeeeeelish. 

6 years and 4 days ago...

I arrived in Germany for my very first time. 

It was on a high school exchange program to Braunschweig. We stayed with exchange families and went to school with our exchange partner for about a month. I honestly could not have had a better first experience in Germany.  

I really think, considering I went into college with no intentions of even taking one German class, that it was this trip that influenced my eventual decision to study it - which, of course, then snowballed into a series of classes, professors, friends, and an exchange year which all played a role in me being back here now. 

Forchheim, 2010

and it was exactly one year ago yesterday that I found out I'd be moving to Forchheim. Which I'm sure will keep leading to many more experiences and opportunities. I'll be sure to let you know for sure in 6 years.

When there is no cake for your birthday candles...

About a month ago I celebrated my birthday in Forchheim, and although I never got a birthday cake with candles to blow out, I still got some candles in some pretty unusual places...

On my actual birthday my friends and I went up to the Kellerwald (it's a magical place to sit out in the woods and eat delicious food and drink great beer, but more on that later).  When my usual order of Currywurst and fries came, not only was there a candle in it, but it was more like a mini-firework. Just spewing sparkly fire for a good 40 seconds.

The next day in school, a teacher brought me a pastry called an Amerikaner (literally an "American" - how appropriate?) with a single candle to commemorate. It was pretty cute!