Erfurt & Berlin Germany

July 6th - 11th

I left Paris, and boarded my train for Frankfurt/Erfurt. I had a stop over in Frankfurt for a couple of hours, so I could tour the city. The train was really nice, fast and super easy. I got to Frankfurt, looked around for some place to store my luggage, decided that was too complicated and instead just lugged it around with me. I walked towards downtown, where I sat in a small square for a while people watching and enjoying the beautiful day. Some older gentleman came up and we had a nice conversation in English - since all I know in German is 'danke schön' (dunke sheon meaning thank you very much) and guten tag (hello/good day) also Auf Wiedersehen -- from the song 'good-bye, fair well, auf wiedersehen I love you....' So Frankfurt was nice, but it was a pain having to lug my stuff around with me the whole time. After a few hours I walked back to the train station and waited for my train to take me to Erfurt to meet up with my good friend Jan. I met Jan while studying abroad in South Africa. We hung out quite a bit -- took a road trip to Cape Town together, he taught me how to drive stick (on the right side of the car/road!) and taught me some German and some how to cook! I was so excited to see him (although it had only been a little over a week since we had left each other in Africa!) But all excitement ended when I realized my South African phone had gone missing from the outside pocket of my book bag and also a memory card. I had a panic attack thinking I had lost a lot of pictures. I whipped out my computer and started searching seeing if I thought there were any pictures missing. When I figured out none were missing, I was able to breath again. However, I was still upset to lose my phone since that was how I told the time and also my alarm clock since my American one was basically only a contact book! Nonetheless I arrived safely in Erfurt about 11 pm. I was exhausted but was so thankful to see Jan! He took me to his parents house where I stay for the next 3 nights.


Erfurt.

He took me around the town - to see old buildings (Europe is filled with old buildings around 4 times older than our country!) It's quite impressive. Large churches are also plentiful. We stopped by an ice cream shop where we had a ridiculous amount of ice cream! :) We walked down by a small river, where there were houses built over the water. It was quite strange and hard to explain. I also learned that German's are a bit annal about their trash and such. If they are caught littering, it is at least a 200 dollar fine. They also can't put their glass recyclables (which they must recycle EVERYTHING!) in the bins past like 9 pm because it will disturb the peace. I also tagged along with Jan to the mall so he could get a few things. We also went in to a travel agency. The lady in their had her baby and mother with her as well. I was looking at the baby a lot, making faces or doing who knows what and before I know it the grandma takes the baby and plops him on my lap! She didn't speak a word of English and Jan just sat their dumbfounded. I had no idea what to do or say... so I played with him for a little bit (not really saying any words - because 1. he was about 1 and couldn't really talk and 2. if he did know words they were probably German). I just smiled a lot and bid them good-bye when they left. It was so strange but also amazing that she trusted a stranger (who doesn't speak the language) with her baby. And Jan was trying to tell me German people keep to themselves... this must have been an exception!

We also went to a concentration camp. Jan asked me, 'Kristen, would you like to go to a concentration camp?' I said 'Yes, wait I mean no but yes but no.' I didn't want to sound too excited but of course I wanted to see and experience one first hand. We drove about an hour out of his city to the nearest concentration camp. On the we got McDonalds, which is actually rather classy and pretty high quality. I got a veggie burger, and it was pleasant! I will never forget when Jan told me that he worked at McDonalds.. I started to laugh since in the states we make fun of MD workers - flippin' burgers. He went on to explain to me it was a really good job and the food was actually decent there. His little brother works at one in Erfurt - where we stopped by and said hello. Jan made me order myself so I used English! His brother's English is great so it was fine. Anyway back to the Buchenwald concentration camp. We arrived and walked in and started to wonder around the site. Most of the building had been torn down, it was just different colored stones showing where the buildings were. It was so eery and quiet.. there were so many emotions running through my head. I didn't know what to think or how to feel. So many people were tortured and murder on the ground beneath my feet. The camp was not that far off the road or that out of site. How could so many people not know or not care what was happening at these camps. It's hard for me to fully grasp what all went on and why, but being there was good. It was good to witness firsthand a huge part of history and to see the exact place where Hitler's regime killed and tortured so many. Not to just see it in an American text book or what a film about it but stand where it happened. However, it was horrifying and I didn't know what to say most of the time, so I stood in silence. As we were walking to see where they would burn the bodies, there was an elderly woman on the ground. There were a few people around her looking frantic; I could tell something was wrong. I looked to Jan for some understanding and he said I think she is having a heart attack. I know CPR.. but would I be able to help? I don't speak German. I was so terrified and didn't know what to do or say. I saw there was a lady there who looked like she knew what she was doing. We were rushed into the furnace room with a high school group so we could be out of the way. After awhile we were ready to leave so we walked back out and noticed they were doing CPR on her. The ambulance still hadn't arrived. It was so sad. I was already emotional from being at the camp and then to witness someone having a heart attack it was almost too much for me to handle. Jan, being mr. calm and collected said, 'It's ok Kristen. Those things happen and she was pretty old anyway.' I said but still it is so sad and what about all her family. I will never forget that day, for many reasons. I learned a lot that day.

I spent a night in with Jan's parents, while he went out to a friend's birthday party. I was ok with it since I would be the odd one out not knowing anyone and their language! His parents had been a little shy to try to speak English with Jan around but when he left they tried a lot more. We ended up having a long conversation about their vacation to Florida in the states. I made sure to speak really slowly to make sure they understood. We were communicated fairly well.. the only issue I had was when they were trying to tell me they went 'wall watching.' I was so confused by this - who would watch walls? They had to get out their picture album for me to realize they were talking about whales! It was a very relaxing night and was good to get to know his parents a little. I found out later from Jan that his parents really enjoyed it and said I was so patient with them and was very easy to understand. I was thrilled that I left a good impression. I told Jan their English was very good - so they should have nothing to worry about or be ashamed of!


Berlin. 

So there is this cool thing in Germany called ride-share (or something to that effect). Basically you get on a website, find someone who is going where you want to go and has extra room, contact them, find a meeting place and you're on your way! Creepy - nope not at all, especially since we were riding with 2 girls. We met up and were on our way. We drove on the Autobahn and who really knows how fast we went - probably pretty fast. When we got to Berlin we hoped on a underground train to go to Jan's cousins' place to set our stuff down. That night we went down by a river (I believe) and hung out outside. Pretty sure I was freezing - summer in Europe is quite strange. It is not all that warm. The next day we took a tour bus (hop on hop off) all over Berlin. We saw parts of the Berlin Wall, Check Point Charley and Brandenburg Gate. Seeing the wall was interesting and seeing the plain architecture style of Hitler's time. It was sort of terrifying and un-comprehendable to stand at the site where a huge wall stood splitting the city into two parts. On a lighter note, I watched a couple of people make unbelievably large bubbles. I stood there in awe for a good 20 minutes at least - but since I had lost my phone I had no sense or care for time! I also had a Döner Kabob - they are delicious. Pretty much a big pita filled with meet and sauce and veggies. Plus they are cheap and sold by street venders (well.. still sort of expensive for me with my weak American dollar - but whatever!)


I had an amazing time in Germany thanks to my good friend Jan and his family :) I hope to visit again sometime soon! It felt a lot like home really. Small towns, lots of farming, friendly people (just super duper German). I mean I guess I am mostly German so maybe that played a role as well.. who knows.


Then I was off to Switzerland to visit Karine and Kilijan near Geneva! I flew out form Berlin on the 11th in the evening.