Ostern Wochenende

 

Did someone say Pancakes and Maple Syrup


Wednesday April 20: On break I laid out the pancakes, maple syrup and left over birthday cake for them. They loved it and it was all gone in no time. Our teacher Irene was here today and I think everyone was a little relieved because the vibe seemed light and happy. We played an amusing activity learning the parts of the body where we would draw a monster then describe it to the partner where they would try and draw it. It was another hot and sunny day so sat outside again. The only thing is there’s all this pollen in the air and it coats everything, and I’m not allergic I’m worried I will with all the pollen intake. Later, Elke invited me to come with her to the opening of the Max Lieberman exhibit at the Kunsthalle Museum . He was a Jewish-German painter from 1847-1935. He loved nature, and especially the outdoors and gardens, but many other of his paintings were of people; either portraits or people and their lifestyles.
 

Lieberman Garden on roof top

Thursday April 21: Today was last day of school for the week because Friday and Monday are Ostern (Easter) holidays. I biked home and over to Elke’s. One thing that I passed that really bothered me in what I saw when biking, was all this women on this hot day wearing full length burkas with only slits for the eyes. There was even one woman who was wearing this metal thing over her mouth. Now, I am in no way against any religion and do not mean to offend, but it just really bothers me. Everyone has right to practice one’s beliefs but I do not see it fair that these women wear such intense coverings; they have nothing to fear in a free country (well besides their husbands, which then the law should be stepping in!)  I left earlier because I thought I was going to have a Chinese supper with the people I live with but when I got back they had cancelled, so I just planned my trip for the next day to Mönchengladbach to Janina Roders. She almost 6 years ago, had lived on our farm for the summer to ride the horses. So all this time after, she is still riding, and is for 3 years now boarding at this barn and riding.



Easter Stable Bunny



Friday April 22: I caught the 11:30 train and once in Mönchengladbach I took a bus to where Janina lives and works. As I got off the bus it was a nice change to see all fields and barns. At first I was a little unsure where to walk but I asked this lady taking a horse to a paddock if this was the right address and if Janina works there and she said Yes. It was a very hot day and with my heavy backpack just wanted to sit. Some other girls were out riding in the ring. The barn was big with rows of stalls and was comforted to see Hannoverian breeds (which we have) as well as various pedigrees as Oldenburg and Rheinlander (which is the areas specific pedigree). Janina still had another horse to ride so sat and watched in the arena. This was the first times I can say I had to test out my Deutsch skills because even though we had spoken English together 5 years ago, she had not used it, so English was minimal so that was fun trying to explain ourselves :p After a few hours, we went for dinner at her fathers, where we had a barbeque!! Yaa, home cooking, boy do I miss the barbeque. There I finally got to meet also her brothers which she had talked about those many years ago. I found out then, it would not be like the “cheating” I had been doing at the Wolters; we really did have a language barrier. So times at the dinner table I would not be able to understand; only words, which could not be enough to really make sense, but I don’t mind, I’m very much used to it; hey, I’ve to deal with it most of my life. The food was wunderbar; marinated fleische. Kartoffeln salad, etc. It was soo hot though,; it felt like 40 degrees on their balcony. After a full stomach, we went and cooled ourselves down with an Eis. We drove in their very nice new BMW to the centrum. I think I was in heaven with all the specialty Eis. After a long time of trying to decide, I picked the Spaghetti Eis with Bananen und Schocolade. MMMMM. Janina, her father and I walked over to see their massive Rathaus and Church. They noticed the lights were on in the church (which apparently they never are and so peaked in. There, we were surprised to hear wonderful operatic music. Janina and I sneaked upstairs to have a look. Oh, it was so lovely’ even though I was sneaked in the back, it lifted my spirits instantly. The acoustics were grand in this wonderfully decorated stone and wooden Kirsche (by the way, church and cherry are the same word). We stood right next to the massive organs so I could admire their greatness and the music’s beauty. After a bit, we decided to head back down. Once back to their house, they had Easter chocolate and Haribo goodie bags for us which was very sweet of them. Janina and I headed back. She took me to the Schlosspark Wickrath which was actually where she once rode horses. We walked through the gardens and were finally more comfortable with conversing with each other with a mix of English and ein bisschen Deutsch. A couple of her friends wanted her to pick them up and drop them off, so I got to meet a couple of her friends. The one does a bit of DJing so we got to hear some of his stuff in the car! Janina and I would try and interpret/translate for each other which gets pretty exhausting. 
  


Julia; Stable, Monchengladbach




Spaghetti Eis! Monchengladbach



The Stables



Saturday April 23: After a lovely home breakfast together we headed to the city’s art museum. We both thought it would be smaller with some pieces but we were very much mistaken. We soon became in awe with the very unique pieces of Modern Art. Some we had to chuckle about because we didn’t really understand but walked wide-eyed together. Instead of just painting, they were mostly object pieces. The main ones which were the most shiny and interesting were the works of Heinz Mack (who actually has an exhibit at the Bonn Kunsthalle which I’ve been meaning to see.) All his art deals with either mirrors, glass or lots of shiny white light, which I may say trippy. It’s hard to describe but I would say his work is something one has to definitely check out because it is definitely not dull. There were many other different, themed rooms with just as many intriguing pieces. For some you could spend hours analyzing, like a wall of fluorescent coloured posters, which were actually in a “dialect” of English. We realized we had to really hurry it up because we were now on a timeline because her brothers were picking us up at the stables to drive to the North of Germany to visit their mother in Nordon, Ostfriesland region. They arrived in the father’s BMW, it would be a tight squeeze with Janina and I, her two brothers, Sven and Stefan and the one’s girlfriend, Nicole. It was a long drive, 345 km, 3 ½ km, but we were driving on the Autobahn cruising at roughly 160km J. We arrived in the evening to a very wonderful brick house to a outside yard and a klein teich (pond) with goldfish and kaulquappen (tadpoles). As it it is the Easter weekend, Germans take it seriously and so we headed to their family friends to an Ostern Feuer (which is tradition to this country area, where all the excess brush is piled for one massive Bon-fire(to burn away all your sins). It was all smoke along the way with all the great fires burning on every property.   It really reminded me of home, for they were horse people so and we sat outside in the barn to eat a feast from the barbeque.  They even brought out a bottle of a signature liquor which I was surprised to see it had the Hannoverian brand on it, so they coaxed me try a bit to say I had tried a Hannoverian drink. (For those who do not know, our farm is Middle River Hannoverians). The old folks seemed to be having a good time listening to traditional Deutsch songs, ABBA and even some Bryan Adams. No one really spoke much English, though a couple women were pretty good speakers. There was also this cute 5 year old girl who would always run over to me to ask me a question then run off again, thankfully they were fairly simple questions so I didn’t feel too much like a retard in not being able to communicate with even a child. All in all, it was a very cultured day and finally had to exercise the little German I know.


It really is a really door, window and room! Love Modern Art





Take the Time to Read




Heinz Mack! What wonders




Incredible!




Ostern Feuer


 

Saying make Everything



Sunday April 24: Well, it was actually a day to be able to sleep in. With a wonderful breakfast and Easter egg hunting, we headed drove to Greetsiel where there were groβ windmills. We took a lovely paddleboat ride along the canals between the field dikes, taking turns paddling. Boy, it was hot! But they even brought their little dog Henry. It was a lovely and relaxing trip. We later stopped for a well-deserved Eis (I had Vanilla with yoghurt and Rote Grutze (mmmmmm! My favourite). They area was an old historic port so there were all these lovely fishing boats along the water.  For abendessen (dinner) we went to a Chinese Buffet in the town where I finally had the good ol’ Maltz Bier (Vita Malz if you want to be exact for those interested; and also for those you do not know, it is a non-alcoholic sweet drink).  I started reading Janina’s old children’s book about a kleine Baum. (Haha...going back in time.) It took like an hour to read with the help of some translation...oh,that’s terrible. 


Paddleboat ride along the dikes-look at all the windmills!




Paddleboat Ride with the Roders



Greetsiel



Monday April 25: Another hot day, but a little a bit windy. After breakfast, Janina and I went to the lake nearby (there are not many lakes in Deutschland). After cooking for a bit, I decided to finally jump in. Yes, it was very cold, but after a bit of a struggle, I got used to it and ended up swimming for about 20 minutes. From what I could see, I was the only one in. When we got back I borrowed a pair of roller blades and zoomed around a little bit before lunch. I’ve always wanted a pair, but the roads where I live are crap for that. Then was the long ride home. Although, we listened to some German mixes, with some Lady Gaga added and well, amusingly enough My Heart Will Go On came on (go Celin Dion :p ). Well, I never got to visit Hamburg to see The Beatles Museum there, where they played when they were first starting their career and had to play long hours every day. That was something I really wanted to do, but it never fit into my schedule and also the point with money for trains. Well, there is always next time.

 

First Swimmer



Nordon Traffic




Nordon House