Tuesday we got a tour of Dresden's local brewery--Feldschloesschen ("little field castle"). It's good that I just went to a brewery in Boston in June, because I really wouldn't have known what was going on. I just saw lots and lots of beer and lots and lots of really hot vats. The best part was when we got an hour to eat and drink all we wanted. I got a non-alcoholic malt drink called "VitaMalz" or something like that, and it tasted like beer with Coke, and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. But we did get to eat tons of sausages (big surprise) and pickles. After an hour, most of the girls left, and the boys stayed and drank to their hearts' content. Here are some photos:
Russian, German, Ukrainian, French, me enjoying the various types of beer and non-beer
Indonesian, me, Italian with the brewery sign
I have to say that our two business tours (geared towards students in my special project course and then the business German course) were quite a good introduction to two of Germany's favorite things and best exports: beer and VWs. We were fortunate to go on these behind-the-scenes tours, as they provided a little bit of a different experience than the typical tourist one.
Anyway, after the brewery tour we had a Grillabend on the Elbe, which was basically a BBQ with SAUSAGE and grilled vegetables. I had a really good time, as it was a nice chance to hang out by the fire with the friends I have made over the course of the program. Most of my pictures from that night are just of people I've become friends with, which are boring to most of you, so here are just two:
My Serbian friends and I making some sort of political symbol that I am told will make everyone love me if I do it when I visit (which I now plan to do!)
A Russian guy jumping over the fire. After a few beers many of the guys decided they could jump over it, and I'm happy to report no one was seriously injured in the process
Wednesday afternoon I participated in a phonetic workshop, during which I realized I will never ever be able to sound like a German. We tried to do a tongue twister and I am just hopeless. There are a billion variations of "ch," and while as a linguist I am trained to hear the differences, I can't make the sounds. I can also hear and make the umlauted vowels, but the distinction between long and short vowels is totally beyond me. Bahn and Bann will always sound the same, except when said one right after the other. I think the workshop frustrated me more than it helped, but at the very least I now have hope that over the next 10 months I will able to pick up a few of the sounds.
We played volleyball Wednesday evening and now I have huge bruises on my forearms. I don't know how I used to play every day as a sixth grader--that's child abuse! After volleyball I went to the Neustadt with Italian friends, and after they went home I hung out with my Serbian friend and his roommate. Like any typical German night out, it ended with a Doner. There are Doners absolutely everywhere, but I really haven't seen many Turkish people here. I don't know the statistics for Dresden, but to me it seems that there aren't many Auslaender here. I could be totally wrong, but I can only recall about three instances in which I saw a woman on the street wearing the hijab. I know my experience in Berlin will be totally different, as about 2/3 of my students are "of foreign descent," and I take that to mean they're Turkish, but I'll just have to wait and see.
Today was the last day of class, but instead of having an actual class we just went to the Stadtmuseum and learned about the history of Dresden. I enjoyed seeing all the artifacts from the first World War up until the present day. Dresden has quite the history, especially as it was bombed by British and American troops and then had to suffer through communism. But I must say that they've rebuilt it quite nicely. There is so much construction going on here--which reminds me, I find it amusing how on the main street here everyone always stops and watches the construction. I can't figure out what's so interesting about it. Have they never seen a tractor before?
Speaking of class, here's a terrible picture of everyone in my class, with half the people with closed eyes and one not even looking at the camera:
Russian, Russian, our Lehrerin, Romanian, me, Serbian, Japanese, French, Polish (in front)
I've been packing all my stuff up--somehow everything fits a lot better now than it did when I first came to Germany. It's not going to be fun lugging it all to Cologne . . . but I just found out that my roommate will be in Cologne all Saturday so at least I will have someone to spend time with! Alright, I must go now, as I have to get ready for our Abschlussparty!
Next time I write I will probably be in Berlin! :-)
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