Oh my! I missed two weeks posting a travel journal - I'm sure you noticed. But I had a very good reason. My husband finally got his transfer and is now here enjoying a vacation with me before he starts his new position in Munich next month.
Obviously, I have been busy going here and there, wining and dining him and enjoying many outings with friends who are happy to see him. He brought me countless gifts, among them this new iMac I am now processing my photos and writing on!
He landed in Munich last week and here he is, post-spa-massage, in the beer garden. He just happened to land on German Father's Day. He has a knack for timing!
Every couple of days there is a new, interesting adventure, but I'm going to start with the latest first. This past Friday we went to a very big beer fest in the nearby town of Erlangen with our friends Carmela and Ivan. We hopped a train, and the first indication of the party spirit greeted us immediately:
Erlangen is about 30 minutes away from Bamberg, so we arrived soon. As
we walked the 15 minutes or so from the train station to the fest, there
was the requisite group of young people in Lederhosen and Dirndls
singing drunkenly at the top of their lungs and mugging for my camera:
This fest had the biggest Ferris Wheel I've ever seen. You can see it for miles from the train and from the autobahn as you pass Erlangen:
The name of this fest, Bergkirchweih, means mountain fest. It is nestled in the forested hills outside of town. It's a great environment but misleading from the outside, as it looks as if the fest isn't that large. Notice I said "misleading." Here are a few shots as we walked in:
This is a shot from the vantage point of about halfway up the hill looking down. Each of a dozen or so breweries has their own beer garden area in the fest. We barely found a table and it was only about 5:30 pm.
But we did find one farther down the hill at a section called Hübners Keller. Here's Carmela with a pretzel bigger than her own head!
Carmela and Ivan with their German food:
I didn't take many more still shots that day, but I had a couple I made into an animated gif for your enjoyment. As the Germans would say, "Prost!"
Instead of still photos, I was practicing my video and trying to learn how my sweet camera wants to be instructed on the matter. I must say that a couple of liters of beer didn't help me focus on the subject (forgive the pun), but I wanted to show you this one I posted on YouTube. Despite the camera shake and the out-of-focus portions, it gives you a sense of the enormity of this fest, the music and playfulness of the entertainment, and the hoards of people in attendance. Enjoy!
Today we're off to Munich because Ivan wants to see the BMW Museum. We kindly offered to show him around. And we get to go there in his new BMW M3. You want to be us!
Next week I will not post a travel journal because the four of us are making a short trip to Tuscany. We will visit the Leaning Tower and Carmela and I hope to take a cooking class while the guys taste wine and eat what we create. I'm SURE you'll see pictures of all that!
Happy Sunday! I wanted to remind everyone to check out my stock photo selections, mainly because I just want to share them with you. But if you need stock images for brochures or what have you, look at these pix with an eye to buy. Thanks!
Also, my good friend Cyndie Smith and I sponsor a Yahoo group called I Do Street Art - International Games of Tag, which is devoted to graffiti pictures. Take a look at what we two have shot and posted. Also, it's open to the public so anyone - even you! - can post his or her own photos of street art.
Another blog I maintain with my good friend and fellow photographer Paula Showen (you REALLY MUST see her work!) is Image/Imagine. We challenge each other each month with themes we each interpret according to our own photo style. Check it out and leave us a comment!
Check these three sites often because they are added to on a regular basis.
I actually had this particular blog post scheduled for my last installment, but a last-minute invitation to the Heckenwirtschaft changed all that. But here's a photo I shot last Sunday morning of the local marching band parading down the street once again in front of my apartment. I think it was First Communion at the church or something. But spring is here and the weather is getting warmer, so I know I'll be hearing that oompah music pretty often til fall.
In addition, this year is the 1000-year anniversary of this little village, so I'm sure they have extra fests planned this year. And I'm also sure you'll be seeing photos of all the goings-on.
Other than that, I have very few photos to show you this week. However, I thought I would give you glimpse into what it's like to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) in a foreign country. That's how I pay most of my bills here in Germany, with a little pocket change coming from freelance articles for online magazines.
Teaching English to non-native speakers has got to be one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. I've been fortunate to acquire a freelance work permit, which means I can provide instruction for any school I want, as opposed to being an employee at one school, and I can also take on private students.
I'm further blessed that I've hooked up with a great school called SprachInstitut Treffpunkt here in Bamberg. I've made a ton of money through them teaching people via Skype, which suits me because I don't even have to leave home for most of my lessons. However, I do teach students on site at the school from time to time and the facilities there are great, as well as the management.
In addition, I currently am working a contract I landed with the US Army to teach English to soldiers' family members on the local base. There I have students from all over the world, but mostly from Central and South America.
On the other hand, I teach for a couple of other language schools here and there and usually they require me to travel to companies to provide instruction. I don't mind telling you that I don't like to have to go on-site, but I enjoy the teaching as much as via Skype. Maybe more.
You can imagine that the dynamics of teaching on-site vs. teaching online are hugely different. It also makes a difference whether the lessons are for business English or general, conversational English. I teach business English in most instances (thank you America for being the global business leader and for inventing computers and the internet, which means anyone in business or using a computer online needs English).
For my lessons on the Army base, though, it's strictly conversational and tends to be more of a social hour for the students, many of whom have kids and whose husbands are deployed to Afghanistan. This means we can do practically anything we want, so I incorporate show-and-tell, pop music song lyrics, movies and fiction into those classes. What fun we have! In fact, some of the students and I went sightseeing in Bamberg last week. If you are my Facebook friend, you might have already seen the photos from that excursion. I'll be sorry when the base closes next year and I will no longer have my group there!
Today I want to take you through a lesson I had recently with a group of managers at Telekom, the German phone company. You can compare it to Verizon or AT&T in the States. The location I go to every Thursday morning is an IT center that services trouble tickets on internet and phone line infrastructure. My students in this particular scenario are the managers of three IT service teams. They are all in their 30's or 40's, have advanced English skills and love to discuss a wide range of topics.
As with all my classes, I begin with a warm-up to get them settled into the lesson and thinking in English. I ask them each in turn what they did during the past week, etc. Sometimes with this group we make it out of the warm-up conversation to the grammar book because we get into fairly deep conversations. That's exactly what happened in this case.
Below is a photo of the flipchart page I used to write new vocabulary for them during this 90-minute session. I'll try to take you through the conversation we had based on this paper. So refer back to it when you need to.
As you can see, one of the students mentioned that he had gone to a nephew's First Communion (hence the word "communion" I wrote on the flipchart) over the weekend, which is a BIG deal in this neck of the woods. In the process of telling me what they served at the party at the restaurant, the words "appetizer" and "venison" came up.
Then I explained that venison and other wild animals were called "game" when you eat them, which led to questions about the other meanings of "game," such as in Monopoly or cards. So I added the word "preserve" which they knew from news broadcasts.
Then came the words for more food ("pork tenderloin," "ham," "herbs," "noodles/dumplings"). Then we discussed the difference in pronunciation for the word "herb" in British and American English. British people pronounce the 'h' - in America it's silent.
Now look at the top right-hand corner of the flipchart. When we talked about dumplings, one student asked me the English word for the German Teig, which I happen to know is "dough." Then I explained that the pronunciation was the same as "doe," but that the latter means a female deer (refer back to "venison").
"Isn't 'doe' what's on the end of your feet?" asked someone. "No, that's 'toe,'" I said. Then someone asked what a male deer was called, hence the word "buck" on the flipchart. Someone else said, "I thought 'buck' was the little things that crawl on your arm." After a couple of minutes trying to figure out what she meant, I finally understood. "Oh," I said, "no, that's 'bug'!"
You can see here a good example of the different ways German speakers pronounce English words. D's and T's tend to sound alike, as do B's and P's.
Then one of the students asked how to pronounce the word "put"
correctly. Many non-native speakers, including this student, say it like
"putt" as in golf ball. I have also heard this pronunciation among Americans from the South.
So you can see on the flipchart that I went
into the difference between the two pronunciations ("to put" and "to
putt"). Then I explained some conjugation of these two verbs, which you
can also see here, saying that "put" is the same in the past tense - an
irregular verb - but "putt" is regular and the past tense is "putted."
This
led to the progressive form, which is "putting" for both verbs, but the
pronunciation is difference. As in, "He was putting the groceries in
the cabinet yesterday," or "Tiger Woods was putting the ball on the 18th
hole."
So check out the word "pudding" under the word
"putting" on the flipchart. I wrote that because one of the students
said they thought "putting" was the custard-like dessert. So there was
THAT explanation!
I enjoyed that lesson so much and felt a little guilty about not getting to the grammar textbook. However, all three students voluntarily told me they thought it was one of our better lessons!
I absolutely LOVE this stuff! And each person has a different take on English depending on their native language. In addition, it helps to modify my teaching methods depending on the original language as much as I can. In this post are examples of German speakers learning English. Don't even get me started on native Spanish speakers and their pronunciation of "beach" (sounds like "bitch") and "chair" (sounds like "share"), for just two examples.
Then I have a student who is from Cuba and has learned German, so she mixes all three languages together. And I have a student from Rwanda who speaks Rwandan and French natively. Some days I just don't know how anyone learns any other language. But somehow we all manage to communicate with each other and have a good time doing it.
On top of everything else, teachers have to tailor their level of English to their students. Therefore, if you have total beginners, you must be careful to speak very slowly and simply. Remember to teach them how to say, "Can you please repeat that more slowly?" during the first lesson!
This is all very taxing. A fellow English teacher made an astute observation to me a few years ago when I was teaching English in the Czech Republic: "Sometimes at the end of the day you hear yourself speaking English exactly like your students."
If I had to give one piece of advice to anyone teaching ESL, it would be to take a sincere interest in your students' native languages and cultures. If you demonstrate curiosity about their language and culture, they respond so much better to trying to learn yours.
Here's to better communication all over the world! Have a great week!
Best laid plans of mice and men and all that. I hope some of you noticed I did not post a blog last week. Well, I had carved out a couple of hours last Sunday afternoon and was all set to deliver the most amusing, edifying post ever, when my long-time German friends called and asked if I wanted to join them in a trip to the local wine room, or Heckenwirtschaft. Well, uh, YEAH.
So I ditched you in favor of consuming some local German wine. Sorry, but I'm sure you would have done the same in my shoes. In fact, my blog post this week is an account of that.
But first, check out my latest acceptances to my stock photo inventory on Alamy.com. I continue to have my submissions approved, which does wonders for my ego. Now, I want to start selling some of the images, so if you or someone you know is interested, please consider my wares. Thanks.
Back to the wine. A Heckenwirtschaft is very European and I've explained it in detail in a freelance article and in a couple of previous blog posts. They serve the local wine there along with typical German food such as dark bread, cheese, salami and cold cuts. But the wine is the focus. The selection at this one was Schwarzriesling, a red wine that is otherwise known as pinot noir; Bacchus, a very fruity white wine and, while not my favorite wine, my favorite name for a grape; plus the usual suspects of Riesling and Sylvaner.
Heckenwirtschaft literally translates
from German as “hedge business.” They are only allowed to open a few weeks in the spring and fall each year. I had been to the one we visited last week a couple of times before. It is run by Christine Rippstein and I consider her an old friend of mine. I've given her photos and some quilling and she's give me wine. It works out very well for me! Here's a shot of her place:
To
signal they are open, owners traditionally hang a broom or a bough or two of –
what else
– branches from the hedge on the building. They are sometimes part of a
vineyard or just associated with the local winemaker in some way.
The wine was good, as usual, and Christine was there, working her butt off, along with her mother and daughter, to get the clientele their wine, cheese and bratwurst. Here's a shot of Christine standing beside my German "mom," Hilde:
LOVE the German Easter/Spring decorations:
I was THRILLED to see the quilling I'd given Christine last year hanging in the window!
This building has walls and ceilings constructed of heavy wooden beams and old-fashioned mud-and-straw. Of course, the ceiling isn't that old, but the construction method is. I'm sure the "mud" has been replaced by more reliable concrete or plaster, but it still has its charms:
You can actually see the straw in this detail:
I took a secret photo of the people we were sharing the table with. I just like the way the lighting turned out. These guys were more than a little toasted and having a wonderful time, though they look kinda mad. Germans.
The door to the wine tasting room was also very old fashioned and had a carving that means, roughly, "close the door."
It was a wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon in Bavaria. This week the weather is just as sunny but a little cooler. No invitations a Heckenwirtschaft this weekend, but I am meeting some friends later for wine and Greek food. I went to the local open-air market yesterday and got some wonderfully delicate strawberries and lovely tiny tomatoes. I'm serving them with some Spanish wine and cheese from Switzerland I got at the deli that I rode my bike to. How European! You guys should really come and visit!
It's still winter here, despite a couple of weeks of unseasonably warm weather in early February and despite the fact that Easter happened. Though I'm sure spring will show up any day now, most days are still cold and windy with little or no sunshine.
Yesterday was no exception, but I don't mind the cold weather. So I hopped a train for a daytrip to nearby Kulmbach. I'd heard it was a nice little place to visit and I'd passed it often on my way to Kronach, Nuremberg, Bayreuth and other destinations. So I figured it was about time to look into it.
Here is all I had ever seen of Kulmbach as the train passed through:
Yes, those are cases and kegs of beer. Kulmbach has a giant, famous brewery and they ship it far and wide. You may even be able to find it in the States. Their brands are Kulmbacher, EKU, Mönchshof and Kapuziner. All of which I can personally vouch for.
Kulmbach is also well known for its well-preserved medieval Plassenburg castle high on the hill above the town. I'd visited the castle many years ago and plan to again in the near future. However, that was not my destination on this trip. I had downloaded the self-guided walking tour of the old village from the town's website and wanted to do it for myself, taking photos along the way, of course!
Here you can see the castle above the town. It dominates the scenery from almost any viewpoint:
Once I got off the train - a mere 40 minute ride - and oriented myself, I struck out according to the printout. Kulmbach isn't very big and the map and directions are fairly easy to follow. In addition, the path is well marked by signs for us tourists.
First stop, The White Tower, which was originally a watchtower built into the medieval city walls. The tower dates from about 1300 or so.
It's surprising how much of the wall remains. You'll see a lot of it in this post. Check out the steep, sweeping roof of the tower. It was unusual architecture in those days. Next to the tower you see a short, fat one that is also part of the city walls.
A distinct advantage of touring on a cold, blustery day is that there was absolutely no one else around! I followed the path along the old city wall up some narrow passages. As you can see in this photo, the old wall is now part of a house and you can see the satellite dish on the balcony above:
This part of the wall had a helpful mural showing the way. I was headed in the direction of the castle and the way was steep:
Here ya go, Deb!
Then I came to the Red Tower, over 100 years older than the White Tower. It was also part of the medieval defenses. You can see the old wall on the left in the foreground in this photo. The Kulmbach website makes mention of the top floor being the "town whistler's apartment" but I couldn't find anything about what a town whistler was! Maybe they meant town crier and it got lost in translation. Dunno.
Note the sweeping roof design, much like that of the White Tower. As is the case with a snowy land like Germany, snow slides off roofs and falls to the ground below. From such a height it could really do some damage. So this sign is typical of such places. It says, "Attention - Roof Avalanches! Park your car here at your own risk." There were no cars parked there.
Just beyond the Red Tower I could have zigged and gone to the left to see the castle. Instead, I zagged and made my way back down through an archway in the old wall to the historical city district. You can see how far up on the hills I had climbed from this shot of the stairs leading back downk:
On my way down I saw some very interesting architecture:
Eventually I made it back down to the city street to the oldest market place in town. You can see the town fountain here still all decked out in Easter finery. The Germans in this area adorn public fountains with evergreens and colored eggs and call them Osterbrunnen, "Easter Fountains." What's with the shapely hindquarters of the lion?
Following my little downloaded map, I walked through a pleasant passageway that had an interesting door (you're welcome, Deb) and was freshly painted.
It also had a nice logo written in Sharpie:
It's funny to me that "basstardte" is NOT the German word for "bastard" but whoever wrote it added a 'd' before the 't' and used an 'e' to make it plural, all very German language features. They got "cops" right, though.
Along the way around the old city walls were more churches and even the home of a margravine (duchess) who had pissed off someone in Bayreuth so was obliged to live here as a result. You can tell there was a lot of money in Kulmbach through the ages. There was also a school that Thomas Gottschalk, a popular German TV variety show host, attended. Google Image his name if you're curious. The school, though, had some interesting metal sculptures along the fence:
On the other side of the street is a sign reminding you that the ground along the sidewalk is not a dog's bathroom. Someone had tried to put a sticker over the first letter in the word kein, which would have changed the meaning from "this is no dog's bathroom" to "this is a dog's bathroom." Those wacky Germans!
Now I was on the opposite side of town from the castle. Here you can see the old town wall as well. It serves as the backs of lots of houses and shops.
Half of an old tower is still here as well. The other side of it is a modern building face and the whole thing is used by the local adult education center.
I cut through the old wall next to the half tower and made my way down into the old town again. It is a delightful old village and I'd be here all night trying to upload all the photos I took of the place. But I'll just use this one I shot in the window of a bakery:
Soon I came to the main market square, which dates from the 1300s, and the Luitpold fountain, built much later in 1898 in honor of Luitpold (who else?), the local prince regent. You can see its Osterbrunnen as well.
Behind me as I shot the fountain is the lovely town hall, all decked out in Rococo. Note the two ladies flanking the clock. The one on the left holds a book and stands for wisdom; the other holds a scales and stands for justice. This building reminded me a lot of Regensburg.
To the left as you face the town hall, with your back to the fountain, is the old granary (Kornhaus, hahaha!) that is now a bank. Next to it is this guy, Hans Suess (no relation), aka Hans von Kulmbach, a painter who lived from 1476 to 1522. He was from Kulmbach but worked mainly in Nuremberg with Dürer. He also did a famous altarpiece in Krakow. I dig his coat.
Finally, I made my way across the square past the fountain and down the pedestrian shopping area of Langgassse, which used to be an overseas trade district.
At the end of the pedestrian zone is the Holzmarkt, or former lumber market square. You can see the Osterbrunnen here as well, on the fountain sculpted by Hans Georg Schlehdorn in 1696 and painted by Lorenz Reincke. Yeah, I don't know them, either, but I like the sculpture.
Just behind this fountain in the white building is a restaurant called Stadtschänke, which translates roughly as City Tap. I went in seeking beer and sustenance. I found both. The beer was great - local Kulmbacher, of course. The meal looked wonderful! It was a big chunk of pork that had been breaded and deep fried, served with pepper gravy and two potato dumplings.
As good as it looked, the meat and gravy were relatively flavorless, I'm sorry to say, and the dumplings were just bad. However, I asked the waitress to pack up the leftover meat (there was a lot leftover!) and I took it home. I seasoned it up and put it in the oven when I got home and had a very tasty dinner out of it.
After my repast, I wandered back to the train station and headed home. It was not very late, but the day full of walking had worn me out. I picked up a few bottles of brew on my way out of town to enjoy along with my pork dinner. All in all, it was a nice, quiet, enjoyable day. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Take care and tune in next week!
