Every year, for the past nineteen years, der Hamburger Jedermann play by Michael Batz is produced outside of the Zoll Museum in the Speicherstadt in Hamburg. My second weekend here, my host family took me to Hamburg for the first time to see the classic play in the famous Speicherstadt. Being unsure of what either Jedermann or the Speicherstadt was, I rode along quietly in the back seat and pondered on what was to come. Turns out I could not have even begun to imagine either. I am going to try to explain it all; first the Speicherstadt, then Jedermann, then my night.
The Speicherstadt, literally meaning "storage city", is the old warehouse district along the Hamburger Haffen. It is built on a wooden support system and is the largest warehouse district with this unique feature. The architect, Andreas Meyer, built all of the storage blocks out of red brick in a neogothic style. A canal system runs between the 1.5 km long rows of building allowing ships easy access to them. The Speicherstadt had a rough time in WWII but after the war, all rebuilding projects were done in the original style of the district. Now, the Speicherstadt is not completely used for storage but also houses the Hamburger Dungeon, a bunch of Museums, office complexes, a parking garage, (in the near future) a hotel, the Miniatur Wunderland and, of course, the Jedermann. Boat trips through the canals of the Speicherstadt are also a common tourist attraction.
The most famous production of Jedermann has taken place in Salzburg every year in front of the Salzburger Dom since 1920. Although the 92 (soon to be 93 later this week) showings in Salzburg and 19 showings in Hamburg may seem impressive, the text from which the play is based comes from a completely different era. Jedermann is actually based of a 15-century English morality story called The Sumonyng of Everyman. This allegorical piece (originally adapted by Hugo von Hofmannsthal) follows the journey of the main character, Jedermann (literally meaning "every man"), through realizing mortality, to the end of his life and judgement day. You can read about the original yourself if you want, I'm just going to talk about Hamburg's.
The play in Hamburg is seriocomedy, employing some comedic elements in the overall dark, morbid play. Along with the original subject matter, each year, a playwright mixes in humor or satire about current events, life in Hamburg or new wordplay to liven up the work. In the show I saw Jedermann is a successful man, with wealth, power, and love and after Death tells the Devil that Jedermann is going to die soon, the Devil is determined to acquire his soul. When the Devil meets Jedermann, the Devil offers Jedermann the whole Speicherstadt for just his soul. Shocked that the Devil wants no money for the land, Jedermann quickly agrees and gladly signs away his soul. However as death starts to take Jedermann, the Devil returns and demands his soul. Jedermann scoffs is incredulous at the Devil's glee in a soul so the Devil tells him to try to live without a soul. Jedermann finds, to his surprise, that he can't feel. He can see and act but he feels nothing. As Jedermann is struck with the weight of a soul he never knew he had, he begins to realize his mortality. Alone and powerless, Jedermann looks for friends to accompany him on the road to death. To his despair, all of the things he believes he can take with abandon him. He looks for comfort in material goods, rules, physical love, and family but they all fail him. Even Knowledge must leave him as he leaves the physical world. All he has left at the end of his life are Good Deeds. They stand by him as Death takes his hand and leads him off stage.
There was some crazy German allegory at the end there so I apologize for the rough summary at the end but I hit the high points and that's what I got out of it all. What is especially interesting about the Hamburg production is that each year the play is different and chock-full of Hamburger inside jokes (only some of which I understood). In Hamburg, they take an old text and transpose and reapply it to modern day and modern scenarios. It illustrates the timeless struggle to accept mortality and morality -- classic, man versus temptation and physical versus spiritual. Finally, the allegory becomes all too real as the actors and patrons become normal people again and walk through the old Speicherstadt (whether they bother to notice), across one of the old bridges (and wave to a passing tour boat) and think to themselves about death, mortality (probably not theirs) or maybe, about how much cleverer they are than their neighbor because they got every ounce of allegory that Michael Bratz walked across the stage.
Montag, 19. August 2013
Mittwoch, 14. August 2013
A couple of miscellaneous thoughts 2
1) In movie theaters in Germany, general admission is not a thing. You pay different prices for the various regions of the theater. Also, the seats and super comfy.
2) It feels odd to speak German to animals.
3) Another pizza update: I had a pizza that had lettuce and tomatoes on it and it was dipped in ranch dressing.
4) Bäckerein sind THE BOMB. They are full of warm, delicious bread and sweets and they are super cheap. When in Champaign I'd stop by McDonald's for a snack, here I buy a beautiful fruit tart instead. Truly lovely and you can never tire of bread when there are so many sorts.
5) Dog groomers aren't really a thing here. People wash there dogs when they need washed and cut their hair when it needs cut.
6) Watching actors I know, when they are dubbed with different German voices is funny but watching TV I already know in German is very helpful.
7) German reality TV is just as good as American reality TV. :)
2) It feels odd to speak German to animals.
3) Another pizza update: I had a pizza that had lettuce and tomatoes on it and it was dipped in ranch dressing.
4) Bäckerein sind THE BOMB. They are full of warm, delicious bread and sweets and they are super cheap. When in Champaign I'd stop by McDonald's for a snack, here I buy a beautiful fruit tart instead. Truly lovely and you can never tire of bread when there are so many sorts.
5) Dog groomers aren't really a thing here. People wash there dogs when they need washed and cut their hair when it needs cut.
6) Watching actors I know, when they are dubbed with different German voices is funny but watching TV I already know in German is very helpful.
7) German reality TV is just as good as American reality TV. :)
Sonntag, 11. August 2013
Eine ganze Woche ist schon vorbei
Wow, I can't believe my first week is already over. I was told before I got here that days seem to go by slowly, weeks run by, and the months fly but I had no concept of how true that is. Right now, school takes up a good portion of the day. I wake up at 6:30 (which is extremely early for me...) to make it to Orientierung und Sprachkurs at 8. My school schedule is as follows:
8-10: Sprachkurs
10-12: Orientierungskurs
12-1: Sprachkurs
1-2: Mittagsessen
2-3: Sprachkurs
With 5-10 minute breaks every hour or so. I should explain that this isn't real school. It's just and orientation-y thing that comes with the CBYX scholarship, so I am not yet integrated into real German school. I mean, we are in a Gymnasium but my class is nine other Americans (from the Midwest-ish) and myself, who are all here for the CBYX scholarship. Although getting a ton of homework my first week in Germany was not fun, having a three week orientation with other Americans in the same, somewhat terrifying position as myself is really nice and we definitely have fun. I would say that the most shocking thing about going abroad is that, all of a sudden, you have nothing of your own to do. (I just wrote a whole other paragraph about this but cut it, deciding to write a separate post for that topic.) Everything you do is you tagging along on your host family's life, which is awesome, because they are awesome, but you can't be entirely dependent on them all the time. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that you have to make friends to live a normal life but at this point my language isn't good enough to casually converse with any German on the street, so the language course allows me to have make friends in English. They are friends who can relate to your situations, help you with German, give you a break by speaking English, and tell you tons of funny Deutschland stories. I hung out with my own friends on Thursday and Friday and it was pretty great.
Another thing I must comment on is the public transportation here in Germany. Gott sei Dank for the public transportation in Germany. I take a bus and then the S-Bahn to school and back and it is fast, easy, and on time (most of the time). I can go wherever I want whenever I want even though I can't drive. That must be so hard for European exchange students in the US because they always have to ask for rides to go places. I can meet up with my friends from school without disturbing my host family. Once you figure it out, it is a truly amazing asset AND CBYX paid for my first month's pass, so that's pretty cool. A couple things you need to remember while using öffentliche Verkehrsmittel in Deutschland:
1) Have your pass ready to go when you get on the bus.
2) Buses going forward and backwards on routes have the same number so the only way to tell them apart is the side of the street you're on.
3) In the S-Bahn, the stop displayed on the little screen is the last stop in the line. Some trains do stop and then SWITCH DIRECTION and go back (which I discovered with some friends on Friday).
4) If you are going to try to stop the doors using some part of your body, you must be very committed.
Anyways, back to my schedule. After school, I come home, do something before dinner, eat Abendbrot, and sleep. In general, I am SO tired at the end of the day here but the level of totally exhausted that I am is mostly contingent on how much German I speak. The more I sleep, the more rested I am and the more rested I am, the better my German is. However, the better my German is the more I speak and the more I sleep the tireder I get. The result: sleeping a lot to keep up with all the things I get to do during the day.
Overall, my first week has been amazing and overwhelming. I can't explain all the change and growth and learning that has taken place around and in me in only this first week. It's been crazy, busy, exhausting, humbling, but mostly, intensely fun. It flew by and I pumped to continue here (especially as my German improves).
8-10: Sprachkurs
10-12: Orientierungskurs
12-1: Sprachkurs
1-2: Mittagsessen
2-3: Sprachkurs
With 5-10 minute breaks every hour or so. I should explain that this isn't real school. It's just and orientation-y thing that comes with the CBYX scholarship, so I am not yet integrated into real German school. I mean, we are in a Gymnasium but my class is nine other Americans (from the Midwest-ish) and myself, who are all here for the CBYX scholarship. Although getting a ton of homework my first week in Germany was not fun, having a three week orientation with other Americans in the same, somewhat terrifying position as myself is really nice and we definitely have fun. I would say that the most shocking thing about going abroad is that, all of a sudden, you have nothing of your own to do. (I just wrote a whole other paragraph about this but cut it, deciding to write a separate post for that topic.) Everything you do is you tagging along on your host family's life, which is awesome, because they are awesome, but you can't be entirely dependent on them all the time. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that you have to make friends to live a normal life but at this point my language isn't good enough to casually converse with any German on the street, so the language course allows me to have make friends in English. They are friends who can relate to your situations, help you with German, give you a break by speaking English, and tell you tons of funny Deutschland stories. I hung out with my own friends on Thursday and Friday and it was pretty great.
Another thing I must comment on is the public transportation here in Germany. Gott sei Dank for the public transportation in Germany. I take a bus and then the S-Bahn to school and back and it is fast, easy, and on time (most of the time). I can go wherever I want whenever I want even though I can't drive. That must be so hard for European exchange students in the US because they always have to ask for rides to go places. I can meet up with my friends from school without disturbing my host family. Once you figure it out, it is a truly amazing asset AND CBYX paid for my first month's pass, so that's pretty cool. A couple things you need to remember while using öffentliche Verkehrsmittel in Deutschland:
1) Have your pass ready to go when you get on the bus.
2) Buses going forward and backwards on routes have the same number so the only way to tell them apart is the side of the street you're on.
3) In the S-Bahn, the stop displayed on the little screen is the last stop in the line. Some trains do stop and then SWITCH DIRECTION and go back (which I discovered with some friends on Friday).
4) If you are going to try to stop the doors using some part of your body, you must be very committed.
Anyways, back to my schedule. After school, I come home, do something before dinner, eat Abendbrot, and sleep. In general, I am SO tired at the end of the day here but the level of totally exhausted that I am is mostly contingent on how much German I speak. The more I sleep, the more rested I am and the more rested I am, the better my German is. However, the better my German is the more I speak and the more I sleep the tireder I get. The result: sleeping a lot to keep up with all the things I get to do during the day.
Overall, my first week has been amazing and overwhelming. I can't explain all the change and growth and learning that has taken place around and in me in only this first week. It's been crazy, busy, exhausting, humbling, but mostly, intensely fun. It flew by and I pumped to continue here (especially as my German improves).
Sonntag, 4. August 2013
A couple miscellaneous thoughts
1) I heard a real German person say "gesundheit" and it was surprisingly exciting.
2) My host family and I went to a GIANT fireworks show called Pyro Games at this theme park kind of place. They were insane! I've never seen fireworks like that in Europe and honestly they were way better than any I've seen in the USA as well.
3) I switched my keyboard to German mode which means I incessantly hit the z-key for y and always have to search for the punctuation...
4) Stables are pretty standard worldwide.
5) There are, in fact, mosquitoes here. They are called Mücke and are TEENY in comparison to those of central Illinois.
6) There is a heatwave here (getting up to the mid-eighties) and a cold-front at home.
7) Pizza was eaten with a fork and knife.
2) My host family and I went to a GIANT fireworks show called Pyro Games at this theme park kind of place. They were insane! I've never seen fireworks like that in Europe and honestly they were way better than any I've seen in the USA as well.
3) I switched my keyboard to German mode which means I incessantly hit the z-key for y and always have to search for the punctuation...
4) Stables are pretty standard worldwide.
5) There are, in fact, mosquitoes here. They are called Mücke and are TEENY in comparison to those of central Illinois.
6) There is a heatwave here (getting up to the mid-eighties) and a cold-front at home.
7) Pizza was eaten with a fork and knife.
Why gap year?
My decision to take a gap year was executed in three parts. The first
was the realization of my somewhat logistically irksome younger age,
due to my skipped seventh grade year. The footsteps of so many other Uni
students led me to taking a gap year as a completely viable option. The
logistical advantages to taking a gap year were furthered once I found a
few appropriate and convenient programs. As my interests fell into
place, I also recognized the intellectual opportunities associated with a
gap year. The prospect of becoming fluent in a foreign language through
the exciting and effective (although terrifying) method of total
immersion was extremely alluring. Although at the time, I thought that
these two pieces were enough, as departure date approached, I became
aware of the third, final, and most important factor in my decision.
I can't quite think of a nifty, little heading (like logistical piece or intellectual piece) for this part. I was going to call it the experiential part because that is close to what I mean but even that doesn't quite cut it. Instead, I'll just talk about it a little. It has something to do with proportion and self-worth. Uni (my tiny little high school) makes many of its students feel big. The small building and student body and its much larger reputation make the individual feel seen. Students feel like they are known for something, whether it be music, athletics, academics, or being a gamer. You build a name and persona at Uni and you feel big. As the new ranks of graduates leave Uni's safe, enclosed space each May, the vast world is starting to creep up on the unsuspecting rising Seniors. It isn't really the world though; it's that all-American college application process. All of a sudden, the applicant feels small. He or she becomes a data point in an admission statistic and seventeen or eighteen years of life are reduced to 50-500 word essays. I wanted to go away from home for college so I could have a new perspective. I grew up a Midwestern kid but I wanted to grow up gaining perspectives, not just strengthening old ones. So my college search took me all over the Midwest, South states, and East coast. In my final two, I had a southern school and an east coast school. Surely, I thought, between these two places, I can get the education I want to prepare me for the real world. So I made my decision and went to the admitted students weekend at Brown. However, sitting in a room of brilliant students who will be your classmates for the next four years, doesn't actually make you feel bigger. It kind of makes you feel smaller because everyone there is all special and smart and stuff. Then the admissions counselor gets to the admission stats about international students. The guy next to me leans over and asks me, "Why would you want to go to college abroad?"and I finally had that "moment" that everyone talks about with gap years and college searches. Super cheesy, I know, but it actually happened to me with gap years! I got that realization that would keep me going through the hardest days and academic struggles.
So here it is: I want to be part of a global community. Everyday the internet and technology makes the world a bit smaller and I think that being able to navigate more than one culture prepares me for the impending globalization of... well everything. Even though I'm only in one other country, and only for a year, potentially, I can become a part of so many communities. A gap year also arms me with a score of skills not taught in school. This experience helps me stand out in a room full of amazing people. I know that I can bring new perspectives to the table in anything I work on.
As suggested by my YFU group leaders, I wrote myself a letter reminding myself why I chose to do this. I can read it if I need inspiration when everything seems impossible in German. Although I wouldn't have gotten here without pieces one and two, my letter is about the third piece because logistics and intellect aren't going to get me through a hard day. As of yet, I can't quite speak to the effectiveness because I've only been here two days, but I'll keep you posted!
I can't quite think of a nifty, little heading (like logistical piece or intellectual piece) for this part. I was going to call it the experiential part because that is close to what I mean but even that doesn't quite cut it. Instead, I'll just talk about it a little. It has something to do with proportion and self-worth. Uni (my tiny little high school) makes many of its students feel big. The small building and student body and its much larger reputation make the individual feel seen. Students feel like they are known for something, whether it be music, athletics, academics, or being a gamer. You build a name and persona at Uni and you feel big. As the new ranks of graduates leave Uni's safe, enclosed space each May, the vast world is starting to creep up on the unsuspecting rising Seniors. It isn't really the world though; it's that all-American college application process. All of a sudden, the applicant feels small. He or she becomes a data point in an admission statistic and seventeen or eighteen years of life are reduced to 50-500 word essays. I wanted to go away from home for college so I could have a new perspective. I grew up a Midwestern kid but I wanted to grow up gaining perspectives, not just strengthening old ones. So my college search took me all over the Midwest, South states, and East coast. In my final two, I had a southern school and an east coast school. Surely, I thought, between these two places, I can get the education I want to prepare me for the real world. So I made my decision and went to the admitted students weekend at Brown. However, sitting in a room of brilliant students who will be your classmates for the next four years, doesn't actually make you feel bigger. It kind of makes you feel smaller because everyone there is all special and smart and stuff. Then the admissions counselor gets to the admission stats about international students. The guy next to me leans over and asks me, "Why would you want to go to college abroad?"and I finally had that "moment" that everyone talks about with gap years and college searches. Super cheesy, I know, but it actually happened to me with gap years! I got that realization that would keep me going through the hardest days and academic struggles.
So here it is: I want to be part of a global community. Everyday the internet and technology makes the world a bit smaller and I think that being able to navigate more than one culture prepares me for the impending globalization of... well everything. Even though I'm only in one other country, and only for a year, potentially, I can become a part of so many communities. A gap year also arms me with a score of skills not taught in school. This experience helps me stand out in a room full of amazing people. I know that I can bring new perspectives to the table in anything I work on.
As suggested by my YFU group leaders, I wrote myself a letter reminding myself why I chose to do this. I can read it if I need inspiration when everything seems impossible in German. Although I wouldn't have gotten here without pieces one and two, my letter is about the third piece because logistics and intellect aren't going to get me through a hard day. As of yet, I can't quite speak to the effectiveness because I've only been here two days, but I'll keep you posted!
Gap year overview
Hello! I am, in fact, attempting to keep a blog over my gap year in Germany. I came to Germany with the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) scholarship program and Youth for Understanding (YFU) organization for exchange years. I left the USA on August first and arrived in the Frankfurt airport the morning of the second. I then flew to Hamburg airport and was picked up there by one of my host sisters. In the Spring, I took a language placement exam through YFU that placed me in the Hamburg language camp for the first three weeks. During the language camp weeks, I am staying in Harburg, which I am told is basically the southernmost point of Hamburg. After language camp ends, I am moving to the opposite side of the city, Norderstedt, with another host family. There, I will be attending Lessing Gymnasium for the year. I believe I will be taking two trips with my fellow CBYXers, one at the midyear mark and one towards the end. Although I am still a bit fuzzy on the details, I do know that I will be in my USA home again next July eleventh.
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