A day “without a care”

So this is what everyone is doing right at this very moment:

Morning class at the A+O Hostel in Ostkreuz – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

I’m sitting behind them, listening to their interesting discussion about secularism in contemporary Europe, and about to tell you about the last few AMAZING days in Berlin!

I left off with our arrival on Thursday… On Friday we all met in the morning and went out for our first German excursion – to the Deutsches Historisches Museum on Museuminsel (Museum Island) in downtown east/side Berlin.  We saw exhibits on everything from Friedrich der Grosse (Frederick the Great) to WWII and Nazism in Germany to the story of the Berlin Wall and reunification.

     

     

Although we spent over four hours at the museum, it wasn’t nearly enough for the amount of information there!  After the museum there were a few hours of free time.  Some people decided to walk down part of the Friedrichstrasse (Frederick Street).  There were street musicians playing hot club music:

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

And the students got to see Ampelmann for the first time.  Ampelmann is the famous Berlin-specific Walk/Don’t Walk sign man:

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Fast forward to Saturday…

While everyone walked around Tiergarten and explored other parts of Berlin, I ended up going to the hospital with a bad case of bronchitis.  Not so fun, but I definitely got to practice my rusty German and learn new medical words like “Krankenpflege” (it means female or male nurse).

Fast forward to Sunday…

Cori and Professor Nyitray went off to see Schloss Charlottenburg, one of Prussian royal family’s most beautiful palaces in the Berlin area.  The whole group met up for class on Sunday evening downstairs in the hostel.

Monday…

Yesterday everyone was refreshed after a weekend of rest so we all headed out to Potsdam, one of the most historically interesting places in Brandenburg (the region of Germany in which Berlin is located).  First we explored a German department store (Kaufland) and then hopped on the M-695 bus to Schlosspark Sanssouci (Castle/Palace Park “Without a Care”).  We got off at the Neues Palais (New Palace stop) and started our journey though the beautiful grounds.

Neues Palais was constructed between 1763 and 1769 by Frederich II (der Grosse) as a symbol of Prussian prosperity after the Seven Years War.  It has 300 rooms, 322 windows, and 488 statues!

Perla, Andrew, Jason, Prof. Nyitray, Erin, Angelique, and Cori in front of Neues Palais – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Jason, Perla, Angelique, Andrew, Cori, Shady Grove, and Erin in front of Neues Palais – Photo by Vivian-Lee Nyitray

We continued our walk to the Friendship Pavilion, built by Friedrich II for his favorite sister, Wilhelmina, after her death.  It features famous pairings of good friends:

Friendship Pavilion – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Prof. Nyitray, Jason, Andrew, Angelique, Perla, Erin, Cori, Shady Grove in the Friendship Pavilion

We saw the Chinesisches Haus (Chinese House):

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

The Windmill:

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

And finally…we arrived at Schloss Sanssouci (Palace “without a care”)!

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Where a very nice person offered to take a picture of the whole group:

Perla, Angelique, Andrew, Jason, Erin, Prof. Nyitray, Shady Grove, and Cori in front of Schloss Sanssouci

We saw the grave of Friedrich der Grosse (which has potatoes on it at all times):

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

And the Orangerie…

     

     

After we finished at Park Sanssouci, we took the bus back to downtown Potsdam where we got a bit nostalgic walking around the Hollaendisches Viertel (Dutch Quarter), built in the Dutch style by religious refugees from Holland:

     

We also got to see the area of Potsdam around the Nauener Tor (Nauener Gate):

    

We then hopped on the S-7 train back to Berlin.  Professor Nyitray, Cori, Andrew, Jason, and I went to have dinner at Potsdamer Platz – one of the most fascinating places in the city.  It was right on the border of east and west when the Berlin Wall was standing and there is still a small wall exhibit there today:

     

     

We had traditional German food for dinner at the Sony Center and watched the sunset…and the lights on the ceiling go from blue to pink to purple…

     

All in all, it’s been a great few days in Berlin!

View of the Deutsche Bahn building from the Sony Center at night – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Tot ziens, Utrecht – Hallo, Berlin!

Thursday, 09 August 2012

Tot ziens, Nederland! –> Guten Tag, Deutschland!

On Thursday, we checked out of our lovely home for the week in Utrecht — Hotel Mitland — hopped into a few cabs, and went to Utrecht Centraal.  At the central train station, we dragged our bags onto the regional train to Amersfoort and then transferred to the red “Hispeed” train to Berlin.

After a couple of hours, the announcements on the train switched from Dutch to German and we stopped to pick up a German engine and staff at the first border station.  On the train, some of us slept, Angelique and Erin watched one of our course films [“Zwartboek” or “Black Book”], a few people made their way to the lunch car for a first taste of German fare, and others spent the six hours watching the landscape fly by through the windows.

We pulled into Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) at around 17:30 (5:30 pm on a non-24-hr. clock).  It sure is an impressive train station!  It even has a huge sign on one end of the ceiling that says “Wilkommen in Berlin” — Welcome to Berlin!

After getting our transportation passes and getting a feel for our new home, we made our way to the S-bahn platform (the S-bahn is like an above ground metro/subway) and rode to our stop in the Ostkreuz neighborhood.

Ostkreuz S-bahn station – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Ostkreuz S-bahn station – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

And what a neighborhood Ostkreuz is!  It’s filled with restaurants and snack shops (one block alone has a Pho place, a “chicken hut,” a Mexican/Indian joint, and a Japanese/Korean eatery).  Right next door to our hostel (A+O) is a “biologisch” market = all organic with LOTS of vegetarian and vegan food.

Street art in Ostkreuz – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Ostkreuz neighborhood – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

We dropped our bags in our rooms and went out for a wonderful dinner at the Indian restaurant.  For a number of people, this was their first time trying Indian food!  It seemed to be a big hit.  Several bowls of palak paneer and aloo gobi later, we walked back to our new home for nice, long night’s sleep…

…But first we went downstairs for an impromptu survival German lesson and a sampling of local beverages.  I went up stairs to get the vocabulary sheets; when I came back down to the communal area to meet everyone else, I was surprised to hear Disney songs emanating loudly from the lounge.  I was even more surprised to see that it was emanating from two of our own intrepid students who had–to the delight of the lonely barista–discovered the karaoke machine.  Post-Disney and Michael Jackson, we all sat down for a crash-Deutsch course, followed by a round…or two…of pool and then sleep.

Will be updating about our last few days in the Netherlands – due to illness and lack of internet for a few days I’m playing catch-up.  But current updates to come as well.  For now, I bid you…

Auf Wiedersehen!

A day in ‘oudt Leyden’

WEDNESDAY – 1 August 2012

On the first of August, we all piled onto the train once more and traveled through the cow- and sheep-filled pastures to the beautiful old city of Leiden (Leyden in old Dutch).

Leiden Centraal – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Straight out of the station I saw a small booth selling….HERRING!  “Haring” is a Dutch specialty.  It’s lightly smoked fish served with onions…yum!  All of our non-vegetarians braved the fishiness and tasted it – and from what I heard, they all liked it well enough.

     

     

     

Then we all walked over to De Valk, one of the oldest windmills in the Netherlands.

Prof. Nyitray, Cori, Angelique, Jason, Andrew, Perla, and Erin in front of De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

We learned about the different uses for windmills traditionally, including to help drain the marshes and make much of the inhabited land in the country today.  Since much of the country used to be marshland and wetlands, the water had to be drained to some degree to make the land stable enough for building.  Other uses for windmills included grinding grain and corn, and nowadays, they are often used for wind power.

We walked all the way through the house…

De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

…up the VERY steep stairs through the attic area…

Perla and Erin in De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Jason in De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

…to the top where we saw the sails going ’round and ’round over Leiden!

Cori at the top of De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Andrew at the top of De Valk – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

The long climb got us all pretty hungry so after a few hours wandering around Leiden, we met up again at the pannekoekenhuis (pancake restaurant) Oudt Leyden (old Leiden).

Oudt Leyden – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

We had wonderful pannekoeken on traditional large blue and white (Delft blue) plates.  There was every flavor from Caprese (mozzarella, tomato, pesto) to ginger/powdered sugar to cherries with ice cream!

Oudt Leyden – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

…I guess none of us learned not to eat anything larger than our heads…because this is what we looked like when we left:

Perla, Erin, Prof. Nyitray, Jason, Andrew, and Cori at Oudt Leyden – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Luckily, there were people giving out free caffeinated beverages at the train station so we all woke up out of our food coma for the ride home.  Cue goofy faces for the picture!

Prof. Nyitray, Shady Grove, Jason, Andrew, Perla, Erin, Angelique, and Cori in front of Leiden Centraal

All in all, it was a great day in Leiden!

The day of religion!

Hello everyone!

Going back to Tuesday…

We started the morning with breakfast in the room and a short discussion of what we’d be doing for the rest of the week.  Then we all made our way down to Drift (near Janskerkhof in central Utrecht) where we had a wonderful lecture on the religious history of the Netherlands by Professor Henk Tieleman.

Andrew, Prof. Nyitray, Cori, Erin, Perla, Prof. Tieleman, Jason, and Angelique in the classroom at Drift – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

From there we walked over to lunch under the Dom (in the Domplein) and tried wonderful Dutch specialties like uitsmijters (open-faced sandwiches with 3 over-easy eggs on top) and kroketten (soft gravy/meat inside a hard fried shell).  We weathered the huge summer storm under the lunch umbrellas and then walked to the St. Willibrord’s church, the most richly decorated church in the Netherlands.  It was built in 1877 in the neo-Gothic style.

St. Willibrord church – Photo by Jason Cardenas

At St. Willibrord’s we were taken around by a nice volunteer who made sure to point out all of the unique nooks and crannies inside the church (including the dual-facing pews that flip up and down so parishioners didn’t have to get up and change seats when the speaker would walk up and down the aisles).

St. Willibrord church – Photo by Jason Cardenas

From St. Willibrord’s, we walked under heavy skies to the Catharijneconvent, a peaceful former convent that currently has the largest collection of relics and religious artifacts in Europe outside the Vatican.  We had coffee in the museum’s cafe and talked about the pillars of Dutch society and what it means to be Protestant and Catholic in the Netherlands both historically and contemporarily.

An intrepid few walked all the way back to the Hotel Mitland from the Catharijneconvent before heading out for dinner later that night.

Next installment coming later tonight!

Tot straks! (See you soon!)

A park, a pancake, and a player piano

Wow!  It’s already Wednesday night here in Utrecht– can’t believe the first 3 days of the program are already done.  Saturday evening brought Andrew to the Netherlands, followed by Erin, Perla, Cori, and Angelique on Sunday morning.  The whole group braved intense jet lag to wander around the city of Utrecht Sunday afternoon before sitting down for an intro dinner at the Hotel Mitland.  One final trip to the airport to collect Jason Sunday evening and the program had officially begun!

Monday morning we had breakfast in the hotel cafe and then met in our makeshift classroom aka extremely comfy suite living room for an short ‘intro to the Netherlands’ meeting.

Room at the Hotel Mitland – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

On Monday afternoon, we laced up our walking shoes and took the #4 bus to Prins Hendriklaan where we started our walking tour of Utrecht.  We walked up to the University College Utrecht campus and saw the Kromhoutskazerne area– site of monasteries and nunneries from the 1100s – 1600s, home to the Dutch military during WWI, and local headquarters of the Nazis in the provence of Utrecht during WWII.  It’s currently an English-language honors college affiliated with Universiteit Utrecht (located up the street).  We passed by the Rietveld-Schroeder house (a pioneering example of ‘De Stijl’ neo-plasticist architecture), had lunch at the Park Cafe Buiten (I got a great salad with pear, brie, cashews, and arugula), and walked through the Wilhelminapark before catching a bus downtown to Janskerkhof.

From the Janskerk (church) we walked up to the Speelklok museum, which has an amazing collection of automatic instruments (from early music boxes and clocks to large dance organs).

Speelklok museum – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

After listening to a number of music pieces–including ones by a self-playing piano, automatic violins, our wonderful tour guide with a phenomenal voice, and one organ fondly known as “the goat”–we gathered up our things and moved on to the Domtoren (crossing over the historical edge of the Holy Roman Empire…of course).  The Domtoren is the tower of the largest church in Utrecht.  The tower is still the tallest one in all of the Netherlands!  We then proceeded to climb nearly 500 steps to the top of the tower.  The climb, combined with the view from the top, was absolutely breathtaking!

View of Utrecht from the Domtoren – Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

After the Dom, we went over to the Oudegracht, or ‘old canal,’ to have a traditional Dutch pancake dinner (called pannekoeken) at the restaurant ‘t Oude Muntkelder.  As it was Jason’s birthday, we snuck a card around the table to sign and then took him out for a drink downtown at Neude square.  For Jason: GEFELICITEERD!

All in all, it was a great first day!  I’ll be playing a bit of catch-up here on the blog for the next day or so to fill in the first few days when I didn’t post.  Hope you don’t mind backtracking!  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next installment from the low countries…

Aankomst…

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

Hello everyone~

This is just a quick post to say the course has officially begun!  The first student arrived tonight at Schipol Airport.  Despite the briefly-lost luggage issue, everything went smoothly.  I, for one, am very excited that things are getting underway.  In just a few hours, I head back to Schipol to pick up the rest of the students.  Then we’ll take the train to Utrecht, get all of our transportation cards (OV Kaartjes), deal with the jet lag (nap time, anyone?), and have an intro dinner tomorrow evening.

To all of the students– welcome to the Netherlands!  To all of the blog followers– welcome to the start of the program and thanks for reading!

It’s almost time…

Photo by Shady Grove Oliver

YES!  It’s almost time to fly to the Netherlands!  We’ve had a few questions from some of you that others might have as well…

1. If I want to travel during my free weekend, do I need to book that trip before I leave the US?

*No, you do not.  It’s likely the prices of flights/buses/trains will be the same now and in a week (or longer) so you shouldn’t miss any special deals.  When you get here, your intro packet will have useful websites and other info about inter-Europe travel, along with a revised syllabus.

2. Do I need to declare medications I’m bringing when I go through customs in Amsterdam?

*No, you do not.  Both over-the-counter medications and prescription medications are OK to bring and do not need to be declared.  You should be able to pass through the NIETS AAN TE GEVEN / NOTHING TO DECLARE line at Schipol Airport.

3.  What do I need to declare?

*You need to declare items such as firearms and controlled substances (not prescriptions) so none of you should have that issue.  You are no longer allowed to bring meat or vegetables from any non-European Union country into the Netherlands (even if it was purchased on an airplane or in an airport that is non-EU).  If you have any meat or veggies from the USA, leave them behind or eat them because if they are declared, they’ll be confiscated.

4.  Do I need to change money before I arrive?

*No, you do not.  When I meet you at Schipol, I’ll take you past the airport bank and you can do it at that time.

——————

If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to ask.  See you all soon!

Groeten uit Nederland!

Groeten uit Nederland!  (KHROO-ten OUT NAY-dur-lahnd)

Greetings from the Netherlands!

Arrived in the lowlands this afternoon, waved hello to Amsterdam from Schipol Airport, hopped on a train and came to Utrecht.  Apparently brought the warm California weather along…but luckily it will be back to the high 60s / low 70s, overcast, and rainy Dutch weather by the time all of you fly in this coming weekend.  Treated myself to Dutch bread (tijger brood–tiger bread) and cheese (komijnekaas–Gouda cheese with cumin seeds) for dinner.  That would normally be a breakfast food–but hey, I’m jetlagging.

Just a few reminders and tidbits of info before you come:

1.  If you are accustomed to using a small, square, American-style washcloth, consider bringing one along as Dutch people use long, rectangular towels instead.  If not, doesn’t matter.

2.  As I’ll be handling most of the breakfast and lunch prep, please let me know [eapprogramdirector@gmail.com] if you have any dietary preferences or allergies.  For example, if you’re vegetarian but really hate celery, let me know so I don’t go on a crazy celery kick and make you sad.

3.  Don’t forget to bring a small umbrella or rain jacket (or be prepared to buy one here) as there is a 99.9999% chance of rain next week.

ARRIVAL INFO:

*I will be meeting you all at Schipol Airport and then bringing you back to Utrecht on the train.  If you are one of the 7:45am arrivals, you may have to wait for an hour or two for the others so bring a book!

*When you arrive at Schipol, you’ll go through the baggage claim and pick up your luggage, then exit into the main corridor of the airport/train station (you’ll most likely have “NOTHING TO DECLARE / NIETS AAN TE GEVEN” <–follow that sign out of baggage claim).  Immediately once you exit the baggage claim, follow the signs hanging from the ceiling to the “MEETING POINT”.  It is a HUGE red and white checkered cube in the central entrance to the main train terminal/shopping area.  If you get lost, just ask for the meeting point and someone will tell you where to go.

*I will be sitting on the meeting point and will be wearing bright pink tights, so hopefully will be hard to miss.

*There will be a place to change money from dollars to euros before you exit the baggage claim.  I’d suggest not changing money there.  Once you meet me at the meeting point, I can take you all over to the bank in the train terminal and we can do all the money stuff together.

*I’ll be providing you with a transportation card (called an OV Kaart) and will show you how to use the train ticket machines before we head out.

*Near the meeting point there is a place to buy postcards, lots of places to eat/snack/drink coffee, a phone store, pharmacy, etc…

*Tomorrow, you’ll all get an email with my Dutch cell phone # and Prof. Nyitray’s Dutch cell phone #.  Keep this with you–written down–in case you need it while you’re in transit.

FINALLY:

Please comment on this post if you’ve read it.  We really want you to start interacting with the blog and I need to make sure all of you can access it/comment.  Let me know if you have any issues.  Thanks and goede reis (good travels)!

Controversy and religion in the news: Germany and the male circumcision decision

Hello everyone 🙂

We’re getting close to our departure date, so stay tuned for more frequent posts during the month of July including…a packing list!

If you have a little time now that finals are over, this is an interesting article to check out.  Like the French headscarf ruling that had the world watching closely a few years ago, this German decision on male circumcision has many people very upset (and others very happy– as controversies go).  A fascinating look into religion in the public sphere in one of the countries we’ll be visiting…

German Ruling Against Circumcising Boys Draws Criticism

By NICHOLAS KULISH

Published: June 26, 2012

BERLIN — A German court in Cologne ruled on Tuesday that circumcising young boys represents grievous bodily harm, a decision that could have significant repercussions for religious groups.Follow@nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.

The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany condemned the decision as “an unprecedented and dramatic intrusion on the self-determination of religious communities” and called on the German Parliament to pass legislation protecting circumcision as a religious practice.

The case centered on a 4-year-old boy whose Muslim parents had him circumcised by a doctor, which led to medical complications. Although both Muslims and Jews circumcise infant boys as a religious practice and many other people do so for health reasons, the court found that the child’s “fundamental right to bodily integrity” was more important than the parents’ rights.

According to the court, the religious freedom “would not be unduly impaired” because the child could later decide whether to have the circumcision.

Millions of Muslims call Germany home, as do more than 100,000 Jews, as part of a community that has enjoyed a significant resurgence here. Since World War II, many Germans have been careful to consider Jewish sensitivities as a result of the horrible crimes committed against Jews during the Holocaust in the name of the German Reich.

Jewish leaders reacted furiously to Tuesday’s decision. The central council’s president, Dieter Graumann, called it “outrageous and insensitive,” saying in a statement that circumcision had been practiced worldwide for thousands of years. “In every country in the world this religious right is respected,” Mr. Graumann said.

Germany has no law against male circumcision, as there is against female genital cutting. Experts said that the decision would not be enforceable in other jurisdictions. But the legal uncertainty and threat of possible prosecution could lead doctors to decline to perform the procedure.

The central council said the national Parliament, the Bundestag, should “create legal certainty and thereby protect religious freedom from attacks.”

The decision by the court “places an intolerable burden on the free exercise of religion by Jews and also by Muslims who practice male circumcision as part of their religious faith,” Abraham H. Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s national director in New York, said in a statement.

While the ruling did not appear to have specific anti-Semitic intent, Mr. Foxman said, “its effect is to say, ‘Jews are not welcome.’ ”

Holm Putzke, a criminal law expert at the University of Passau, told the German news agency DPA that the ruling was not binding for other courts, but could send a welcome signal.

“After the knee-jerk outrage has faded away, hopefully a discussion will begin about how much religiously motivated violence against children a society is ready to tolerate,” he said.

~Getting connected~the Indian Removal Act~WWII~The Edict of Worms

Hi everyone~

First things first…I sent out an email to each one of you so we can start getting the whole group connected both on the blog and via email.  For those of you who’ve responded– thanks!  To everyone else, please let me know if we can share your email with the whole group and if we can post a short bio about you on the blog.

For those of you going through finals week right now, best of luck!

And now for this week in history:

May 23…

1798: The United Irishmen rebel against British rule in Ireland, but despite French help they are defeated.

1915: Italy switches sides and declares war on Austria-Hungary, in accordance with the secret Treaty of London.

May 24…

1943: Germany calls off the Battle of the Atlantic by withdrawing its U-boats from North Atlantic convoy routes.

May 25…

1521: The Edict of Worms condemns Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther as an outlaw and heretic.

1963: Thirty two nations from the Organization of African Unity convene with the aim of ending white rule in Africa.

May 26…

1679: The Habaeus Corpus Amendment Act requires the showing of ‘just cause’ for imprisonment over 24 hours.

1948: The Afrikaner National Party wins the South African general election and introduces ‘apartheid.’

May 27…

1940: ‘Operation Dynamo,’ the mass evacuation of encircled British and French troops from Dunkirk, begins.

1941: The German battleship ‘Bismark’ is sunk by the Royal Navy, with only 110 survivors from its 2,192 crew.

1942: Reinhard Heydrich, an architect of the Nazi genocide, is fatally wounded by Czech partisans in Prague.

May 28…

1830: The ‘Indian Removal Act’–deporting Native Americans to West of the Mississippi–is signed into US law.

May 29…

1453: The Roman empire in the east comes to an end as Ottoman sultan Mehmet II captures Constantinople.