Travel by Number

Sweet street art

23. Mai 2011

Springtime in Vienna!

Vienna Secession...art dork!

Naschmarkt, Vienna

Handpainted Easter eggs!

My Easter Break trip in April was epic.  I saw and experienced so much that any amount I write about it really can’t do it justice.  The magnitude of both the distance I traveled and the sites I visited is truly massive…honestly there is no honest way that I can accurately verbalize my sensual impressions of Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, but I can leave a road map of my journey and hopefully spark some part of you to give due time to these three capital cities on the Danube river if you haven’t already or remind you of hidden memories of a prior trip that are still lingering off in the corners of your mind.

Poppyseed noodles!  Europe has the best fair food!

Enjoying the little things

Train to Bratislava...Wiesel???

Far from home

Eating veggie with the Hare Krishna

• 3 capital cities • 90 kilometers walking • 26 hours in the train • 1 Danube River • 20 Lipizzaner Stallions • 1 terraced palace view • 2 world class museums • 1000s of hand painted Easter eggs • 1 Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” • 1 contemporary ballet mystery • 2 angry Brits • 2 turtles in a train station • 1 advertisement for my homeopathic flu medication • 3 grumpy Slovak train station employees • 3 sweet Slovak “grandparents” pointing me in the right direction • 1 €5 (and somewhat useless) map of Bratislava • 1 failed trip to Devin Castle • 3 vegetarian restaurants • 5 Hare Krishna • 2 fair trade stores • 2 questionable statues • 1 drinking fountain feeding directly from underground springs • 1 world class performance of Ravel’s “Bolero” • 10 thermal bath pools • 1 Gellert Hill hike • 7 days of gorgeous weather • 2 Chinese twin roommates • 5 vibrant markets • 1 Polish hippy hostel • 6 postcards with international postage • 1000s of new sights, sounds, smells, tastes and impressions •

Never seen an ad for my flu meds before

I love traveling in Eastern Europe!

Deine,

N*

Lock gates started in Budapest

Artsy Fischerbastei

Jewish memorial

Poppyseed ice cream???  Yum!

Danube from Gellert Hill, Budapest

Sunset behind Gellert Hill...perfect last night!

N* sucht den Supermarkt

6. Mai 2011

If there is one thing Germany gives generously, it's vacations during the school year. The break for Easter was a week and a half long, and the first week was the perfect time for my second solo trip. What started as a trip to Budapest turned into a trip to Budapest with a day trip to Vienna, turned into a trip to Vienna and Budapest with a day trip through Bratislava.

After four trains and 10.5 hours, I arrived in Vienna. Having decided that saving money was probably wise, I set out for the city center hoping to find a supermarket. This began a week-long saga or what I narrated in my head as "N* sucht den Supermarkt." In Germany, the show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar," (Germany looks for a Superstar), "DSDS" for short, is similarish to "American Idol" in the U.S. I think, and is incredibly popular. So much so in fact that Lena came over on the Saturday night preceding my trip to show it to me because "Everyone watches it, and if you want to be in on conversations, you have to know what's going on." So with this recent cultural experience on my mind, "NSDS" sort of popped into my head throughout my perpretual supermarket search.

Finding a grocery store in a new country is not always easy; if you don't know what to look for, they can blend right in! But once you do find them, having a look around is fascinating! You can tell a lot about a culture just by seeing what they typicall buy. Plus, it's always an adventure figuring out the system in the grocery store and then getting to try new things as your reward for getting it right.

Deine,
N*

American Cooking 101

3. Mai 2011

My “Russian” friends plus Elise, Lara’s good friend and one of the 11th graders I know from the dance group at school and the ski trip joined me for dinner and English movie night. In true N* fashion, I planned far too many things to do and through a well-honed combination of over-procrastination and under-estimation, my apartment was clean, but the cooking portion of the evening was left egregiously lacking in doneness by the time Lara, Ben and Elise arrived. In fact, of the three things to be made, none were finished. The doorbell rang just as I poured the quark layer over top of the chocolate dough for the Russische Zupfkuche (literally: Russian pluck cake) I was baking.

“Dinner’s not ready, but I’m baking a cake,” I told my friends as we walked up the stairs. They “ah’d” appreciatively at the prospect of cake and appeared to be more concerned with the art in the stairwell than with the fact that it was 6:30 P.M., and they had a delinquent cook on their hands. Granted the art in the stairwell is quite…startling (It’s not mine, lol!), but more on that at a later date.

Once in my apartment, they politely offered to help, and as much cutting was required, everyone had plenty to do while I finished making the remaining cake batter into flat, pulled-off pieces over the top of the cake. Much like me at that age, my students don’t have so much experience in the kitchen, but they are fast learners. The kitchen was a friendly bustle of chatter in English and German.

“What can I do next?” Elise asked, as I pulled a bunch of green onions from the fridge.

“Green onions,” I replied.

“What?”

“Um…these…I can’t remember the word in German.”

“Das ist doch Lauch, wahr?” interjected Ben. (That’s green onions, right?)

“Was ist dann Schnittlauch?“ said Elise. (What’s chives then?)

“Wann es geschnitten ist,“ replied Ben (When it’s cut.)  (I love this story...and included it because when I was looking through a German cookbook I was given as a birthday present, I thought the same thing at first!)

“Nee, stimmt gar nicht. Der ist dünner,“ Lara cut in. (That’s not true. Chives are thinner.)

“Ach sooooo, das stimmt,“ conceded Ben. (Ohhhhh, that’s right.)

“You mean chives?” I guessed.

“Was denn? Chi…was?” Three puzzled faces looked over at me.

“They’re skinny and green.”

“What means skinny in English?” was the next question.

“Thin. Not fat,” I suggested.

“Ach so,” said Lara, who promptly got her list and made a quick note. Being me, I happened to have a bag of dried chives in the cupboard.

“These things?” I inquired.

“Yes,” said answered Elise decisively, as she held onto one end of the bunch of green onions, “but which part of the Lauch do we eat?”

After successfully identifying and cutting up the Lauch (and the three of them crying from a combination of hysterical laughter and green onion fumes – who knew they could be potent enough to draw tears?), we were ready to make salad dressing and mix the seasoning for the oven fries. This was an experience in itself because none of them had ever seen American measuring cups and spoons.

Finally the cake came out of the oven, smelling of cocoa, the fries were put in to bake in its place, and the four of us crowded around my laptop with plates of tortellini salad to watch “Singing in the Rain” in English. I have seen the movie enough times that I can practically quote it, and it was even more fun than usual to be able to watch my companion’s reactions. “…but you have to talk into the mike first. In the bush!” and the song, “Moses Supposes,” were particular favorites.

The perfect cake

The fries were also a hit, as was the cake with its perfectly creamy quark sinking delectably into the moist chocolate layer which had a slightly crunchy crust – something that I find to be the pinnacle of cakey perfection. Surprisingly, the three different dishes, not normally served together mad ea satisfying trifecta. Lara even made the tortellini salad again with her family.

I only hope that Lara, Ben and Elise had as much fun as I did and that they didn’t mind the cooking lesson. I so much prefer cooking with people, and there’s something magical about sharing a meal that connects us to each other in a different, but just as vital way as our verbal interactions.

Deine,
N*

P.S.  My German friends are FANTASTIC!

Russian in Germany

19. März 2011

Over the past few months, I have been trying to learn Russian (with varying degrees of diligence). I sit in a 9th grade class a couple times a week, meet with a Russian teacher and a GT student after school and meet with two Russian students for Russian-English conversation hour on Fridays. Despite this, I often find it difficult to stay motivated without actually having a consistent class at my level. Not to mention that I’m learning in German. Oy. I have made a decent amount of progress, though, and it’s fun. I love the way the language sounds, although my pronunciation is terrible. At least the grammar makes sense to me.



Check it out!



I anticipated that my learning curve might be steeper than with previous languages I’ve learned because first I

had to learn to read and write Cyrillic (and of course, cursive and print are fairly different, just to make it more confusing), so I’ll just keep trying. If nothing else, I can speak (very) simply and I learned to read and write, which is an accomplishment in itself! Also, I find myself being able to pick the limited words I know out of conversations in Slavic languages while I’m traveling…cool!

What I really want to talk about here, though, are the relationships that I’ve gained in my attempted to learn Russian in Germany.

First, there’s my Russian teacher, Frau Doktor T (Don’t you love the German titles?). She has so much passion for the Russian language, and I actually thought she was Russian for a while. It turns out her Mom did a Russian radio show during DDR times, so she grew up with the language. She’s been really helpful in the learning process and is now a friend in the teacher room. There are around 100 teachers at my school, and I really only have a relationship with a few because people are in and out so much, so making a new friend was definitely positive. Plus, she’s really full of life and fascinating to talk to. We speak German together, and she tries out the English phrases she knows sometimes, too.

I’ve also gotten to know “der kleine Kostya,” the GT student learning Russian. I actually knew him from my time at T’s (my former host mom) school during my previous visits to Germany, so it’s funny we’ve been brought together again. He’s very shy, but lately we walk together to the train station after Russian lessons, as he goes that way to walk home. He talks and I talk – mostly in German – and it’s interesting to hear what he has to say. Sometimes you can tell that there’s so much going on in his head at once that he can’t express it all quickly enough. You can almost see wheels spinning and gears whirring – adorable. His Mom has even said that he can’t read before bed because he starts thinking about so many things that it’s impossible for him to sleep afterwards.

Perhaps some of my favorite people are my Russian-English speaking partners, Lara and Ben. They’re 9th graders, but in the U.S. you’d never believe it because they’re so smart and mature. Lara always comes to our sessions armed with a notebook to write down any words we talk about that she doesn’t know. Smart really since she and Ben are two of the 16 students from our school who will participate in the month-long exchange program in Texas this fall. Since I know them primarily from outside the classroom setting (Lara is also in the dance group I teach in at school), I’ve really gotten to know them on a much more personal level, and I think we’ve all been able to benefit from the exchange. They’ve taught me about a myriad of things in Germany from Bleigießen (lead figures that are melted over a candle on a spoon and then dropped into cold water before their shape is “read” to show what is the come in the new year) to how to tell someone their zipper is unzipped in German (valuable information, I tell you…if someone tells me that, I need to know!) to everything under the sun about the German school system to when you should (and shouldn’t) ring your bike bell. Not to mention that they’ve helped me feel truly integrated in both the school and the culture. I only hope that I’ve been able to share as much of my culture with them as they have their culture with me.



Making guac



One night they came over and we made burritos and guacamole. They’d never had guacamole before (gasp!), and we had a lot of fun mashing the avocados. In true Chipotle fashion, I helped them learn how to roll a burrito and they really managed it quite well. I was pretty sure that they enjoyed their first foray into the realm of Mexican food, and sure enough a couple of weeks later, they told me that they made burritos with their families one weekend. That really made my day.

Who would’ve thought that such fantastic relationships would come out of learning Russian in Germany? My life here is full of wonderful people, and I am so thankful for their warmness and acceptance.



Rolling like a pro...note the pinky!



Deine,

N* 



Beautiful flowers they brought me



 

Florence on the Elbe

 13. März 2011

Bright and early Wednesday morning, Michelle and I were on a train rocketing east at a furious pace while we still struggled in vain to maintain even a semi-conscious state after only a few hours sleep and a 4:30 A.M. wakeup call. But by the time we got to Dresden and checked into our hostel, we were ready to start exploring. We would spend the next few days discovering what a cultural treasure Dresden is.

After days on the go, it’s hard to be poetic, so a descriptive list of suggested sites and restaurants will have to do for now.



Der Zwinger back view

 1. The Zwinger – We didn’t actually go there on this trip, but I’ve been there previously. If art from the Middle Ages through the 18th c. or so is your thing, GO! There is a good selection of famous works by artists like Rafael, Titian, Rembrandt and Canaletto, and the way the large galleries are hung floor to ceiling as they would have been in art exhibitions through history is a worthwhile experience in itself.

 

Die Frauenkirche

 2. The Frauenkirche – The majority of Dresden was destroyed by Allied bombs in WWII, including the Frauenkirche (The Church of Our Lady). Since then the city has been restored incredibly accurately and historical monuments such as this one have been painstakingly reconstructed using original materials wherever possible. Today the Frauenkirche boasts a spectacular pastel and gold-leafed Rococo-style interior well up the three balconies and into the dome. The ascent up the dome itself is long and full of stairs, but you get an intimate understanding of the church’s construction as you are taken through the many subparts as you ascend the dome. The 360° panoramic view of the city isn’t bad either, but hold onto your hats! The wind at the top actually made walking a challenge.

View from Frauenkirche Dom

3. The Albertinum – This art museum was an excellent choice for Michelle and I because I hadn’t been there before and this is exactly the kind of art (late 1800s, 1900s and contemporary) that she enjoys the most. The top floor had German Realism, German and French Impressionism (including a fantastic Degas pastel piece and a famous Gauguin depicting two Tahitian women, which used to grace the wall of my dorm room). The middle floor was mix of stimulating Contemporary Art and storage display cases full to the seams with statues. The exhibits were set up as a ring, so starting and ending with sculpture was an interesting, but oddly satisfying bookend to the Contemporary section. On the ground floor was the Sculpture Hall. One of the Degas “Little Dancer” sculptures was there too – fantastic!

4. The Dresden Zoo – Yes, the zoo with animals. We were asked incredulously if that’s what we meant several times while trying to get directions at the hostel. Honestly I wouldn’t have thought to go to the zoo, but props to Michelle because it was a great idea! Even though it wasn’t super warm, we still got to see most of the animals including a snow leopard, a lynx, ring-tailed cats, red pandas and a sloth with a baby on its belly. Aside from the sloths and lynx, all these animals had fantastically fluffy tails. I don’t know why, but I am really a sucker for awesome tails…so cute! What a fun way to spend he afternoon, especially since the weather warmed up to the 50s this week.

  



Der Semperoper



 5. The Semperoper – The opera house is well worth the visit. Especially if you can get 10€ student tickets for the ninth row 30 minutes before the show! We went to see the Magic Flute (an opera that is actually in German and whose libretto I’ve studied intensively). Honestly, I wasn’t such a fan of the modern adaptation of the show, but the singing and orchestra themselves were unbelievable beyond words! We couldn’t believe we were sitting amongst ladies in elegant dresses and well-suited gentlemen in an ornate opera house with four stories of wall-ringing tiered seats extending far above the main floor to the Rococoesque ceiling. Sadly I made the mistake of bringing only jeans on the trip and I also wore my hiking boots that day. Thankfully, as at other German theatre events I’ve attended, people dress up only as much or as little as they feel like, so I really wasn’t too out of place.



Traditional "Blue Onion" Pattern


6. Meißen Porcelain Factory – We spent our third day on the trip in Meißen, a small but quaint town to the Northwest of Dresen. As the first ones to arrive at the porcelain factory, we got a private tour! There were four (live!) demonstration stations showing how porcelain is made, shaped and created, along with an audio explanation. I couldn’t believe how quickly the artists worked on the wheel or created parts, like individual flowers, out of thin air. I’d love to be skilled enough to do that kind of work. The museum of all the old porcelain patterns (all of which are still produced or still can be ordered today!) was interesting and full of beautiful artworks – utile and decorative – from the whole history of the production of porcelain. Meißen was the first location in Europe where someone figured out how to make white porcelain, which up until that point had only been available as an import from the Far East. It was fascinating how deeply the tradition rooted itself there and remains important today. I bought a small piece in the traditional blue onion pattern – handmade and hand painted in the factory. Can you believe it?



Eine Mietzekatze!



7. The rest of Meißen – We took a walk into downtown Meißen, where the friendly lady in the tourist office gave us suggestions on where to go. The Frauenkirche there has a set of porcelain bells (everything here is centered around porcelain, even today), which we were lucky enough to visit at the right time to hear. I really should start taking my voice recorder with my when I travel! Then we climbed up the stairs which wrapped along the side of the hill. At the top we visited the church as well as the castle where the porcelain was originally produced. The inside was lavishly painted; I can’t imagine actually living somewhere like that!



"Spicy Cauliflower Curry"



Those are the main sightseeing attractions I can recommend, so now let’s talk about food! It’s pretty exciting

to visit a new city and actually have recommendations to give. One day we ate lunch at “Cafe áha” – a little place over a Free Trade Shop (also worth a visit, but don’t be surprised if your wallet ends up significantly lighter afterwards) that offers many organic and vegetarian options. The food was excellent. I had “Spicy Cauliflower Curry”. You could also order half-portions. I did. We visited “Leonardo”  for dinner. They are a bit more off the beaten path in a restaurant area often frequented by locals. They feature a small fixed menu, but most of the main dishes change daily and can be read from a chalkboard. Michelle and I shared a “Topf” (best translation: foods baked together in a cast-iron pan in the oven…could be casserole-ish) of scalloped potatoes with tomatoes, mushrooms and basil and then splurged and each got apple strudel with ice cream for dessert. Yum. The other two nights we went to a fantastic little Italian place  in the square where the Frauenkirche is. I ate there with my former German host Mom, so I already knew it would be good. I can definitely recommend the “Spinach and Gorgonzola Pizza”, but I’m pretty sure you can’t really go wrong there. We definitely enjoyed a variety of good food available in Dresden for a decent price!



Meißner Fummel

 And while we're on the topic of food...I forgot to mention the Meißen specialty...Meißner Fummel!  Fummel are made from increidbly thin noodle dough and they are like a dough balloon once baked.  They were invented because the couriers carrying the porcelain from Meißen were breaking their cargo far too often, as they were indulging in Meißner wine.  In order to test if they were careful enough, they were required to transport the Fummel with them and present them whole at the destination.  Of course, we had to try one.  It was chewier than I expected...kind of like a sweet, tough cracker, but it tasted good.  And of course, it was full of air, haha.

Through really old glass...

Overall I highly recommend Dresden as a short trip destination. It certainly lives up to the name it was christened with in its heyday – “Florence on the Elbe”. The city itself is beautiful, there’s lots to do, many places are easily walkable (we ended up walked about 26 miles in the day we were there…not because we had to, but because we like to walk…a lot) and if that’s not so your thing, the public transportation appeared well-connected, and overall the city seemed very safe. And of course, I was lucky enough to have the BEST travel buddy!

Deine,

N*

In Which I Experience a Small Flood

11. März 2011

When I wrote about my students a while back, I mentioned Lena, one of my 9th graders. Since I’ve met her, she has continued writing e-mails to me, working hard in English and generally being interested in the U.S. She’s actually going to be able to go to the U.S. with our school’s month-long exchange program to Texas in the fall. She was a bit unsure about going at first, but when a spot opened up, she really took the initiative, so I’m incredibly proud of her.

One day we ended up talking about food, and she told me about “Grießbrei”, which they often eat for dessert in her family. Of course with my dessert project in full swing, I wanted to know how to make it. Well, Lena went home, asked her Mom about the recipe and sent me an e-mail with instructions, but then suggested we make it together sometime. And that’s how I ended up inviting her over to cook it and watch a movie with me.

Of course, the day before this, I became obsessed with the idea of Eierschecke – a three-layer cake typically found in Saxony, and especially in the city of Dresden, and decided to give it a go. However, round one was not to be because the yeast dough recipe I had ended up being faulty; I tried it twice with horrendous, rock-like results. After further research, I decided to try out a more cake-like bottom layer the next day. This was more successful, but ended up seeming a bit like my snicker doodle cookie dough, but I went ahead and greased the pan anyways. The dough looked like it might not stretch enough to fill the whole baking dish, so I decided to use only part of it and proceeded to fashion a wall out of tin foil. Don’t ask. It seemed like a good idea at the time.


Quark filling...and the wall!





 About an hour and a half before Lena was set to arrive, I was busy mixing the thick, quark filling. Quark is sort of like a mix between yogurt and cream cheese, so this filling could be compared in a way with American cheesecake. The result when it is cooked is a bit more fluid and slightly stickier, yet it somehow retains a fairly firm taste and texture. Finally I began composing the custard top, complete with separating egg yolks and egg whites. Whipping the egg whites was certainly an adventure, as I didn’t anticipate just how much they’d expand and it was necessary to transfer them to a larger bowl partway through. All in all, I felt proud of my egg-related efforts for the afternoon.

Just as I finished cooling the custard made from the egg yolks and whipping the egg whites, Lena called me. Through some miscommunication (on my part) about directions (because somehow I apparently still can’t adequately describe where I live), her Dad had brought her to the wrong house, but eventually she arrived with a box of chocolates, the Grieß and a glass jar of cherries we would later heat for the topping. I warned her about the highly experimental nature of my cake, and went about mixing the top layer. As I was pouring the egg custard over the top, I could see that there wasn’t really room for it. Just as I was sincerely regretting not rolling the bottom layer out to cover the entire pan, a flood of egg custard broke the aluminum dam and flowed as though molten across the open third of the pan.


The Grießbrei

 “That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” remarked Lena in her slightly Germanized and completely adorable British accent. Of course I replied in the negative, but decided to put the cake in the oven regardless.

In the meantime, Lena and I started in on making the Grießbrei. She told me that her Mom makes it so often that she doesn’t even have to measure the Grieß, which looked a bit like sand, anymore. While we put the cherries on to heat, we guesstimated the proper amount and cooked it. The result can best be compared to Southern grits, I think, but we’d put in a bit too much Grieß, so our version turned into large cakes of grainy stuff, much like polenta, as it cooled. It was still tasty, though.


Finished in the oven!





By then the cake was done, and by some miracle, none of it was burnt, despite the lack of uniformity in the composition. While waiting for the cake to cool, Lena and I watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in English – a movie based on one of my most-read series of books and which also had a good level of English for Lena. I think she enjoyed it, and afterwards we also enjoyed the cake, which turned out to be perfectly moist and delectable, even if the aesthetic was a little unusual. I had to transfer part of the top layer so it was allocated properly across the cake.



Masterpiece

 All in all, I’d deem it a success…the cake and the evening. I’m consistently impressed with my students’ abilities in English, and the chance to interact bears innumerable opportunities for intercultural exchange. Unfortunately having my students over also means they are prone to be exposed to some of my crazy cooking/crafting ideas that are constantly underfoot in my apartment, but hey, life’s not fun without a little crazy!

Bis bald!

Deine,
N*

P.S.  If you'd like to try out the Eierschecke recipe...I used this one for the dough and this one for the top two layers, minus the lemon zest and raisins.  The only problem might be getting quark in the U.S., but I've been told that some World Markets actually carry it.

Experiments

Sometimes I get an idea in my head that I just can’t stop thinking about. For months “Milchreis” has been haunting my supermarket visits and dancing tantalizingly before my outstretched fingertips. Finally after Christmas break in the U.S., I decided that I was going to try it. Countless times, I had returned the pre-made variety to the shelf, rejected, after careful perusal of the ingredient list, so it appeared that actually tasting the concoction would be preceded by preparing it myself. This prospect appealed to me much more, regardless of the aforementioned superfluous ingredients, I mused, as I finally gathered the needed items into my shopping cart.
Milk, the “Milchreis” rice (white rice), sugar, cinnamon. Straightforward enough. I even sprung for organic milk because at .69 Eurocents a liter, it certainly wasn’t going to break the bank. On my way home, mini-trampoline in tow (but that’s another story), I ran into one of my colleagues, who, while unabashed by the trampoline, seemed taken with the idea that I might like “Milchreis” and she hadn’t known about it. After counseling me to make sure I ate it with cinnamon and melted butter drizzled over the top the way her mom always made it and giving me a much-appreciated rundown on the exact meaning of certain vocabulary in the cooking instructions, she sent me on my way.

The "Milchreis"



Once I had thumped my way clumsily up the stairs with my ingredients and my trampoline, I relaxed into the warmth of my apartment and set the stage. One pan, a whisk (Schneebesen or “snow broom” in German!), measuring cups and a metric-English calculator later I was well underway. The process was simple enough, as “Milchreis” is in effect rice boiled in milk instead of water. The concoction was tasty, but it was a little sticky and took some adapting to. Paired with cinnamon and a little extra sugar I found it to be a comforting and satisfying treat.



Rice Pudding hot from the oven

 While talking with my Mom a few days later, she asked me if it was similar to rice pudding, fondly called “figgy pudding” in our house, which was a childhood favorite of mine. To be honest, it had been about 15 years since I’d had rice pudding, so I set out to make it, little knowing what an undertaking it would be. The recipe required baking the pudding in a glass baking dish immersed in a water bath.



Ready to eat!

 After visiting the neighbors, I procured the missing baking implements and mixed the custard while the rice finished cooking. Then I put it all together and stuck it in the oven. Luckily I had enough raisins left; even though I had bought them FOR the pudding, I had been eating them like it was my job. The result was completely different from the “Milchreis” since the eggs in the pudding make the filling custardy, but it was as delectable as I remembered.

I guess I got a bit spoiled because after both desserts were gone I felt like there was a dessert-shaped hole in my stomach that only homemade baked goods could fill, and that’s when it struck me. Even if I pass up cultural experiences due to my preference to not eat meat, German dessert is one category that leaves my options wide open. I don’t just want to eat it, though. I want to make it myself – to fully engage in the process and have a piece of German experience that surely no one in the U.S. will object to my sharing with them. So that’s my new goal: to cook, eat and share as many German desserts as I can over the next months. I’ve already invested in a new glass baking dish and a cake pan that’s like a deep cookie sheet, so let’s go!

Ideas about what I should bake?  Please enable me.

Deine,

N*

Somersault

16. Januar 2011

Day #2 on the slopes: Blaue Piste: erledigt. Rote Piste: erledigt. Schwarze Piste: überlebt. On my second day, I was able to manage the blue and red ski runs well, but I would consider my execution on the black run an act of mere survival. We continued to practice technique, and starting in the morning was rough, but at least it got better. Maintaining parallel skis is now at least a possibility, and when I can do so, turning goes much better. The problem is that even though I can, sometimes I don’t, and that’s when interesting things start to happen. Especially when it’s steep, and I’m a little nervous some very interesting things start to happen. Like sliding 50 feet down a black slope, getting turned around and ending with my head downhill and my skis over my head. The only way out was a back somersault. But really, most of the time, I’m feeling more and more confident, and loving the chance to learn so intensively. We’re skiing about 4-5 hours each day, and we work with the ski instructor (one of the teachers from our school in Dessau) for most of the time, so at the end of the day, we’re all spent.

At least I’m less tired today. However, I’m not any less hungry, which is good because you really need to be hungry to eat dinner here. The house where we’re staying is owned by a family, and every night they prepare dinner for us. It is perhaps some of the most fantastic food I’ve ever eaten in my life. Being veggie is not a problem; last night I even got cheese spaetzle made just for me. Needless to say, we are being fed well after a strenuous day. And dinner is in ten minutes…score!

Deine,
N*

Let Them Eat Fish!

15. Januar 2011

Long, long ago I promised an update on what it’s like to be a vegetarian in German. Here’s the skinny: Definitely doable, albeit periodically frustrating.

Here’s why:

1. Most traditional German food involves meat and some kind of gravy with potatoes, dumplings, or the like, or it involves some kind of sausage. Of course, there are many other things to try, but I do think it’s a shame that it’s very difficult for me to bond with people here over their favorite meals. Food ties us together in so many ways, so it’s a shame to miss out on part of that aspect of the culture.

2. Right now, being a veggie in Germany is like being a veggie in the U.S. about ten years ago. (Granted it is not always easy in the U.S., but certain steps forward have been made). Many people’s first reaction is to try to feed me fish. I know that it’s meant well, so I’m not offended, but I am not a pescatarian, so I don’t actually eat fish, and I also happen to be allergic to seafood. Oy. Try explaining that in German three times fast. Sometimes people also don’t realize that I also can’t eat broth made with meat products – an honest mistake – but then they feel badly and I feel badly, plus I don’t like to put anyone out, so it just turns into an awkward.

3. And possibly the worst: “Well, you can eat X because you can’t eat Y, too…but you could…” I find this distressing. I’ve never asked anyone to be veggie. I’m not even asking for a special meal; there have been occasions where I’ve offered to eat bread and cheese. All I want is for everyone to enjoy a meal together, whatever we have to do to make that work, so please, don’t try to change my beliefs without knowing my reasons. I promise to respect yours.

Thankfully I have a very understanding network in Dessau, not to mention that I mostly cook just for myself, so in everyday situations, it’s really not a problem. Most people are really flexible and helpful, and my German friends all seem to enjoy my recipes. I even got a veggie cookbook from the English teachers at school for my birthday, which I’m looking forward to using when I get back to the U.S. I’ll just have to get fast at metric-to-English conversions!

Deine,
N*