In Praise of Fresh Meat

Though this isn't on my list of things I have plans to write about, I couldn't let today pass by without mentioning the tastiness of fresh meat.  Just before I went down to visit my family my relatives up in Kolbingen had slaughtered a pig and I came home with two pork chops, two bratwurst, and some leberwurst.

The last time I was studying in Germany 12 years ago, my family had also slaughtered a pig, but that was a completely different experience.  My cousin had received a pig from some of his friends as a wedding guest since pigs are symbols of good luck in Germany.  Frank and his (now ex-)wife gave the pig over to a local former who took care of it until it was big enough.  At that point, they went over to the local butcher - who is probably a distant relative - slaughtered the pig and had what is affectionately known as a "Schlachtfest" (slaughter fest). A Schlachtfest is basically where you invite the people over who gave you the pig so that they can share in your luck.

This time, there was no Schlachtfest.  Instead Hans and Hedi split the pig with one of Hedi's relatives and they came away with basically half a pig worth of sausage and other meat. Anyway, I had some of the leberwurst for breakfast, and one of the pork chops for dinner and let me tell you they were some of the tastiest  meat that I have had in a long time.  The leberwurst was so fresh, and well seasoned, and the pork chop was tender and flavorful.  It's almost enough for me to go to a butcher when I get home rather than buying meat at the supermarket.  Unfortunately, it's super expensive...but if I could find an inexpensive butcher, it would be worth a try.

Notes on the weekend and upcoming posts

I spent this last weekend visiting my father's family about an hour south of here (60-80km depending on who you ask).  For the first time I didn't spend the night with my dad's cousin Hans and his family, but instead with his cousin Lydia.  Since my great-aunt died, they have left the upstairs set up like a small apartment for guests and for when her granddaughters come to visit.  It was comfortable, but a little sad, especially since the last time I was there 7 years ago, my great-aunt was still alive.

Anyway, the first day I got to the train station at 2:10 and was picked up by my cousin Sieglinde and her daughter Annika.  I spent the rest of the day with her family.  The second day I went to Wurmlingen - very nearby - and spent the day with Sieglinde's sister Ingeborg and her daughter Lena.  The last day my dad's cousin Hans picked me up and I spent the day with Hans, Hedi and their son Frank.  All in all it was a nice trip and I came home with two pork steaks and freshly made wurst since they had just slaughtered a pig at the butcher.  (That's what you get when you if "auf dem Land.")

There's more to tell, but I have some other work to do before my class tomorrow.  I'm busy reading and writing both for classes and for my exams which I will be taking on the 8th and 10th of December, so until then here are a couple of teasers for upcoming posts.

• The student protests going on in Europe.
• Additional details about my visit to the "Mühle" and the "Heuberg"
• An update on my awesome presentations for classes

Sport treiben: Hochschulsport

Last night I finally went to the Hochschulsportzentrum .  It's basically a complex of buildings where they offer classes and exercise equipment for students - kind of like an on-campus gym, but it's a little further away, and if I read it correctly, in order to actually use gym equipment, and not just take classes, you have to pay a fee monthly or per use fee.  But then the equipment room, both weights and cardio equipment, is also where they have the climbing wall and the Vibrationstraining (which I suspect is one of those machines with a vibrating plate that you stand on, but I'm not sure what else you do).

Dorm Life: Parties and Permission

So I've complained about people cooking dinner in our kitchen before, but this isn't about that.  This is about that.  This is about the common courtesy one extends to neighbors when in a joint living situation.  When I suggested my kitchen as the potential Halloween party/Birthday Party location for my friend Eduarda, I told her to hold off on sending the invitation to everyone until I had a chance to ask everyone else on the floor if it was ok.  I even invited them all to come.  And they did come, even Miss Montana who hardly ever leaves her room. I think because it was a courteous exchange and because it wasn't a big drunken crazy party, people felt comfortable there. This isn't to say that the simple act of asking people for permission to have a party automatically makes it a better party, but it fosters a certain amount of goodwill amongst the people with whom you live.

20 Years Ago Today....

I was thirteen years old, and had just started taking German in the eighth grade.  I knew that I didn't want to take French and Spanish didn't interest me, but I also knew that to get into a college, that I needed to start taking a language in Jr. High School.  I took German because I wanted to be able to have a connection with my family, even though once I started I was too shy and embarrassed to ever talk to either my father or my grandmother in German.

When in Rome...or I guess Germany in this case.

When I was younger, my cousins and aunts from Germany came to visit us in the US a couple of times.  I grew up in San Diego, and spent most summers on the beach with friends, so I was fairly tan, but I was always surprised to see my relatives from Germany with better tans than I had.  I assumed that perhaps they had gone on other vacations in tropical places, which often was the case - I mean what German doesn't like Spain and the Canary Islands.  Little did I know that many Germans use tanning beds as a means of keeping their skin braun all year long.

Payday!!!

So in the world of European exchange students the beginning of the month is a glorious time when we are flush with scholarship money (Stipendiumsgeld).  However you must time the acquisition of your precious funds carefully.

I say you have to time it carefully for two reasons.  First, the money is available as of the third working day and before the 10th of the month.  For example.  Monday was the first working day of the month, so I could have picked up my money yesterday, but I chose instead to get my Visa yesterday (that's the topic of another post) and go to class.  So I went today.  However, if I didn't make it this week, for whatever crazy reason, I would have to wait until next week, and then it would have to have been Monday or Tuesday, because Tuesday is the 10th.  I'm not sure what would happen if you somehow missed your money pickup date, but I shudder to think.

My new favorite snack

So the last time I studied abroad in Germany was 12 years ago.  To be honest, not much has changed.  There is probably more garbage separation, but to be honest it's not that different a place than it was 12 years ago.  With one exception....Peanuts.

Now I know what your thinking: What the heck do peanuts have to do with anything?  Well, my friend, I'll tell you.  Germans do not really eat peanut butter.  If I were interested in making a cheap PB&J for lunch to bring with me, I would be out of luck.  First, their bread is WAY better than the crap you would make that kind of sandwich out of.  Second, while they do have bread for such sandwiches, it's not as good as our bread for such things...strange but true.  But it's a moot point, because there is no peanut butter.

So.....How are classes you ask?

My classes are actually awesome.  To be fair I've only been to one sitting of three of them - the second sitting is tomorrow, but overall I'm pleased with my choices.  Here's a rundown of what I've got:

Körper von Platon bis Judith Butler (The Body from Plato to Judith Butler)
This class has met twice thus far.  The professor is new to the University, but has published quite a bit.  I met with her during her office hours and she was very nice, and interested in my dissertation project, so that was awesome.  The class is also relatively large - about 40-50 students.  This is fine, but it makes having a discussion in class very difficult.  People just kinda say things, and she interprets what they're trying to say and then she calls on someone else....lather, rinse, repeat.  The discussion that we had in class on Monday - about Plato's Symposium - was interesting, but I think we probably could have gotten more out of it.  I myself took some additional notes which I think are important to my own project.  Next week we're reading Pascal's Les Pensées.

Das Erhabene: von der Antike bis zur Postmoderne  (The Sublime: From Antiquity to the Postmodern)
This class is significantly smaller, more like 15 students.  It's specifically for students of the Literature and Cultural Theory MA program, but I asked the professor if I could take the course ahead of time, because my dissertation is likely to deal with the Sublime.  The lecture last week was interesting, and the article that I've read for this week (aka tomorrow) is very much in line with the reading that I'm doing for my PhD exams and dissertation.  In fact, I may end up using it in my exams.

The other two classes that I'm taking are language classes to help me work on the finer details of my language use.  We'll see how they go.  Thus far I've only taken tests in them - but they seem like they will be good classes.

Halloween Photos

Here are some photos of the Halloween/Birthday party on Saturday.  Story to come later - sadly there aren't any photos of me here, but such is life.  I'll find some that other people took of me.