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They say that the first half of your trip crawls by, while the second half of your trip flies by---so far, this has been true for me. If it wasn't entirely obvious in my last entry (and I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. As much as I love to inform you all of this grand adventure, I tend to forget to write in my paper journal, so 20 years from now this will be the place I turn to remember what I did--so I hate to slack on my entries) I was really sad to leave Paris, despite the fact I do know I'll be back (possibly sooner than later). This made the 6 hour train ride from Paris to Munich a little bit bitter sweet.
On the train I was sitting with a French girl who is now living and working in Germany. We talked four about 4 hours in French--and then she said if I was ever passing through her city in Germany or was back in Paris when she was back living there (in a few months) she would let me stay with her. Who says French people are rude?
Okay--I really am not a huge fan of stereotypes, but I have to report that Europe is in fact one giant stereotype. French people carry around bread and wine and smoke a lot. Americans are rude when they travel. Canadians are polite and usually liked. The Irish take Guinness seriously. And Germans are angry but occasionally burst into song while wearing funny outfits. After my new French friend got off, I still had two hours to myself on the train (at least this time I had a seat for the entire journey). Some time after that a man with TB got on the train and proceeded to cough so badly that 5 different strangers got up at some point to give him various forms of cough medicine/drops. None of them worked. Of course he was sitting right across the aisle from me. He and my drunk Irish flying friend should get together for a drunken cough fest. Actually, I did feel bad for him.. but i didn't really want to get TB. I'd like a more exciting disease, like Typhoid. But eventually, the coughing was drowned out by an entire mixed chorus of german men, women and children singing what I believe to be German folk songs. That's right, i was barreling down the German train tracks in a sleek train at 200 km/hour or so, while living out a scene from The Sound of Music. I have it on film. Or part of it. Actually, I have me on film reacting to the singing because I was too embarrassed to stand up and film them. It was the sound of music minus, nuns, a mountain, and nazis--at that very moment I even decided to make a new outfit out of the curtains from the train. It's really quite lovely, I think it's flattering.
Around 10pm, I finally rolled into Munich. I had written down the directions to my hostel and was fairly confident that between that and all 8 German works i knew I could find it---but Nicky (a friend who had been here for about a week) and Jessi (yes Irish/German bender Jessi) said they might meet my train. I got off the train and didn't see my girls from team bitter, so headed in the direction of my hostel. I got out onto the street and wasn't actually sure what street I was on, so went back into the station to ask for a map at the info desk. About three seconds after I asks if the man sitting there spoke English (spreichen ze english? *i know that's not how you spell it, but that's probably what it sounds like when i say it!*), I turn to my right and there's Nicky asking the other info man if he'd seen me! Shortly there after was Jessi. They were late, and so missed me getting off the train. They each spoke to different German people who worked at the train station who each offered to make a message throughout the entire station in case I was lost. This would have been hilarious, however, they refused. I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, because I tend to ignore messages in languages I don't understand. Although after being here almost a week I have now constructed a sentence using the word I know. It's about green dogs and children. I'll save it for later, it's better in person.
So that night we went to Kate's apartment for some wine and just to chat. Kate is German, but did an exchange program with the U of A for a year, and left Edmonton about a year ago. I was really happy to see her again. She's beautiful, and although she has the bold German characteristics, is not angry at all. In fact, she's probably the kindest German ever. The next day, I got up and did a walking tour of Munich with the same company that I did one in Paris. It was also very good here, again I made friends on the tour, so had I been here alone I would have already had people to spend time with. Mostly because I'm so awesome and popular.
The history in Germany feels so different from anywhere else. It's much darker, or obvious reasons, and it all just feels very heavy. I don't really know how to describe it. Munich is beautiful though, it has all the charm of a European city, and all the meet and beer of Germany. It does feel like a small city, like Heidelberg, but is in fact a large city--about the size of Edmonton. The transportation system here is amazing (like all of Europe) and people actually get made if they have to wait more than 3 minutes for any bus/train/tram. We find this hilarious.
After the tour I came back to the hostel to find Jono had arrived... although jet lag had gotten him and he was having a nap. I took this as an invite to jump on him. Eventually he woke up and we headed to kate's for dinner (that Jessi cooked. Hey, at least she's good for something!) and then we hit up a cool alternative German club where we danced the night away and drank a lot. I was sort of thinking that this was going to be German Bender Part two (for this I blame Jessi, please notice that each and every time I have talked about drinking too much it has involved Jessi She's bad)--but youll be happy to know that although there has been drinking this week, it has not been a bender. We've been pretty well behaved--while we've seen a variety of people sloppy drunk by 8pm. We got home really late, and much of the next day was spent recovering.
The next day though Anna (who arrived a day earlier. These are all my drama friends), Jono and I headed out to the concentration memorial at Dachau. To best honest I sort of didn't want to go. My sensitive nature does not lead well to places where thousands of people were killed and tortured, but for whatever reason I felt some sort of responsibility to go. Again the same company that runs the free tours, offered a paid tour of the site. Going with a tour guide to places like this is the best idea. You get a much better understanding of what happened there. Especially at Dachau where all the tour guides must past two exams and be certified before they are allowed to give tours there (this included our guide who actually had to take three exams and take an 8 week course in order to be able to give tours there). Even taking the bus out there seemed sad, getting of the train you could see the old train station.. and probably from movies, and tv I just knew what went on there. Dachau was not an extermination camp, so although many people were murdered there, that was not the sole reason of the camp. It was actually the first ever one the Germans build, and it was referred to as the School of Terror. Walking through the gate there's a message that translates to "work and you will be free", a statement that was false on pretty much every level, but was just another part of the nazi propaganda machine.
The tour was amazing and completely heart breaking, even now if i think about it I sort of want to cry a little. The first building we were in was the buidling where the people where shaved and showered, registered, everything was taken away... and those rooms just felt cold. They were made of cement and it just felt really creepy. They were also used for torture, the pictures made me queezy. One of the walk ways outside, wide and framed by trees had an erie resemblance to one of my favorite walk ways in Central Park. Eventually, we made it to the gas chamber, or building X as they called it. Outside there was a small crematorium, that wasn't attached to the building. Then there was the main building, with a room where people were forced to take off their clothes, then the "shower" room (a cement room, low roof, completely too small.. even though the room was big, it was suffocating), where the gas was administered, then a room where the bodies were piled, then another large crematorium. I had to bite the zipper on my lulu lemon hoody to hold it together in there, but the second I stepped back into the sun I totally burst into tears. I really felt like throwing up in there. Someone other people took photos. There were some beautiful/haunting things to take pictures of, but I never took my camera out once. I won't forget, and somehow it felt disrespectful to snap photos there. I didn't feel like I was doing a really touristy thing (although I was), I felt more like I was doing a "humanitarian" thing for lack of a better word.
The next most haunting place was the prison within the prison, or the bunker. It was impossible to talk in there, it was also very cold and dark. I don't really know how to describe it. No one did. We didn't really talk for the train/bus ride home. I was sad for almost two days after that.
Since then there has been big glasses (one liter) of beer drunk, sausage eaten (not by me), and adventures. Last night Jono, Jessi, Kate and I went to a latin dance club. It was so hot and sweaty in there we felt like we were in a Britney Spears video. It was great
I've also seen three plays. The first I actually understood mostly, even though it was all in German. But it was a play based mostly on subtext, called Winter. It was beautiful though. The second was the FUNNIEST play I've seen. I feel bad right now because i'm hogging Nicky's computer and this entry is really long so here is the shortest run down of this "play" (and by play I mean performance, and by performance I mean a bunch of people who wish they were performers in a cool room trying to do artisty things). First a woman doing bad (according to Jessi) poetry, second a man who can't play the sax but is trying to, third a woman doing angry german poetry about vegetables, four a movie called High Noon made by someone who obviously just got a mac book and has learned to max video and songs but doesn't know how to do anything else so it's just basically one shot and a long song, five a man in a huge suit of a japanese woman with a huge head who doesn't have his tech set up properly and therefore his performance gets cancelled and intermission gets called early. Honestly, I was laughing so hard at how bad everything was that I a) coudln't breath and b) was shaking my entire row. We ran away after the first act. Then last night we saw Scorched (but all in German) again it was beautiful to watch and I understood much of it.. just by intuition or something? Body language? i'm not sure.
Anyway I should get off this thing. Tomorrow we head to Prague for three nights, then Berlin for three. There I"ll probably leave the group. I'm not sure where I'm going yet, but I feel compelled to get back on my own i think. Although they want to go to paris for a couple of nights and I can't say I'm not tempted to return.. I'll see how I feel I guess. Youll be happy to know my list of German words has grown. I'm actually fluent now. I won't type in German though because that would just be bragging.
Hello to all my faithful readers like Maman and Grandma Hughes. I think of you both often, especially when hearing all of the stuff about the war. I can't help but wonder what it would have been like. We'll have to talk about that time someday. Hope everyone in Canada and beyond is well. Miss you!
xoxo
Lana "Kinder druken grun Hound" Hughes
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anja
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kinder,kinder
wish i was there, i could be your private tourguide fuer die kinder und den ....hund... not hound. love to read your journal.