I've got the spirit

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, it's time to start getting into the Christmas spirit here in Germany!

There are about seven different Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) in Hannover with the two biggest ones being the one in front of the Hannover Hauptbahnhof and the other in Altstadt.  Last night, I met up with Bill and Judy at the slightly smaller Christmas market on Lister Meile right where they both live.  One of the most popular traditions in Germany is to drink Glühwein (mulled wine) at the Christmas market--I'm officially now a fan.

 

Today in school one of the teachers I work with, Louisa, gave me a Hannover Adventskalendar which I'm incredibly excited about.  If there is one other German idea I love, it's having a piece of chocolate every day to countdown to Christmas!  I proudly hung it up on the wall next to my desk, and now I just need to practice self control.  The only downside to Christmas in Germany is that Christmas means winter and winter in Germany means extremely short days.  According to the newspaper here, the sun rose today at 8:07 am and set at 4:12 pm.  This picture was taken while I was waiting on the tram right around 4:00 pm.

My Big Fat German Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday, and I feel like it has completely thrown me off schedule.  Leading up to Thanksgiving Day, when I would normally be scrambling to finish papers and lab reports before the break, was pretty calm and a completely normal week of school.  Tuesday and Wednesday were adventurous days in the kitchen when I cooked a pumpkin pie entirely from scratch.  It's amazing how much more time consuming pumpkin pies seem when you don't use canned pumpkin and a premade graham cracker crust, but I enjoyed the challenge.  Pumpkin is relatively new part of the German diet and not nearly as prevalent as it is in America (or so I've been told).  Right now, pumpkin soup is en vogue in Germany but the idea of pumpkin pie--Kürbiskuchen as my host teacher called it--is a pretty foreign and scary concept to them.

Kürbis in German is kind of a catch-all term for a lot of different gourds and squashes but more often than not refers to a specific type of gourd called a Hokkaido pumpkin.  Tuesday morning I bought two little Hokkaidos, cut them open, scraped out the insides and then roasted them in the oven.  After they cooled I scooped out the pumpkin flesh and pureed it with my roommates handmixer.  On Wednesday I continued my baking adventure and tried my hand at making shortcrust pastry dough--I was quite impressed with my handiwork!

  

The only problematic part of the entire adventure turned out to be my oven.  All of the recipes I used listed cooking temperatures in Fahrenheit which would normally be a simple conversion to Celsius, but my gas oven just has gas marks 1-8.  I found a website which listed approximate oven temperatures with German gas marks, but I'm pretty sure the oven was still a good 50-75 F too hot.  This caused my pie to cook entirely too fast and to souffle a bit and crack.  I still took it to school on Thursday with me for the teachers to try, and they all really seemed to love it except for one guy who unconvincingly said that it wasn't "too bad".

So back to Thanksgiving Day, after I was done with my classes for the day around 3:30 pm, I went back to my apartment and skyped with my family for a bit.  After that I went to run a few errands that ended up taking me past a few of the the recently opened Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) in Hannover including this crazy two-story nutcracker themed stall near Kröpcke.  After cooking dinner, I skyped a little more with my family, so we could do our annual drawing of names for Christmas.  In all honesty, missing Thanksgiving affected me a little bit more than I originally expected.  I think without the buildup to Thursday that you have in the US, it kind of just popped up out of nowhere--I was really glad I got to webcam with my family as well, but having them all in one room together laughing and carrying on made me realize what all I was missing.  I can't help but laugh at how 4,500 miles can suddenly make me realize just how much family traditions mean to me.  I am looking forward to Christmas here though because I can already tell how important Christmas customs are here.

So even though I missed my American Thanksgiving, I had a German Thanksgiving on Friday at Bill's apartment hosted by him and the teacher he lives with.  She ended up having to work Friday morning, so I went over to Bill's in the morning and helped him prep a lot of the food.  We ended up cooking quite a feast for one of his English classes and a few other assistants here in Hannover.  These pictures are of me and the Chinese assistant and the second is of me supervising Bill carving one of the turkeys after I myself gave up.

 

 

Bill and I started to drink the bottle of Rioja I brought around noon or so, and by the time I we were done eating I was starting to feel pretty good (just extra holiday spirit, right?).  Sara then stopped by after working late, and we stayed up pretty late talking and goofing off and cleaning up a bit.

Saturday was a bit of an extension of the holiday weekend.  I woke up early and baked another pumpkin pie with my leftover pumpkin puree, and then Bill and Sara came over for brunch.  After hanging out a bit, we trekked out to visit my host teacher Martina in Langenhagen outside of Hannover.  We ate lunch with her and then she and her two daughters (and her daughter's friend) tried my pumpkin pie 2.0 which was much better than the first after I corrected for the oven temperature and reduced the amount of ground cloves I used.  After that we played this called game called Wizard which was actually really fun, and I feel like at separate points both of her daughters got over their shyness a little bit.  After making our way back to Hannover and saying goodnight to Bill and Sara, I went home to my apartment where I actually got to listen to the Carolina-Clemson game on streaming online radio...all I can say is Go Gamecocks!!!!!  It also figures that as soon as I leave the country, we finally beat Clemson which I guess makes up for the second half of the season.

A long weekend in Amsterdam

After my morning/afternoon classes on Thursday, I had to scramble to finish packing and run (literally) to the Hannover Hauptbahnhof to catch my train with Bill to Amsterdam.  Because of a few poorly planned errands like hitting up the ATM and letting my monthly transit pass expire, I ended up almost missing our train but thankfully everything worked out.  Our train ride to Amsterdam was fairly uneventful, with the exception of a bit of confusion on our transfer in the Netherlands, and we made it to Amsterdam Centraal Station around 9:30 pm.  After wandering around what seemed like the Amsterdam China Town we ended up finding a nice little place to grab dinner before we headed out to the campground where I had booked a cabin that we would be calling home for the next three nights.  Little did we know that after our quick tram ride, we had to walk halfway across this giant bridge to get to the campground.

The next morning, we woke up around 9:00 am and were having a nice relaxing breakfast enjoying the view of the bay from our cabin when these geese and ducks started following me looking for food.  One goose in particular persistently followed me around for a good ten minutes and even tried to sneak into our cabin to steal some food.

 

We made our way back to the Centraal Station and walked around Amsterdam for a bit before heading to the Rijksmuseum (National Art Museum of the Netherlands) which was my favorite museum of the trip and possibly so far this year.  We then grabbed lunch and beers near the Leidseplein and walked around a bit more before hitting up the Van Gogh Museum.  To be honest, the Van Gogh is a great exhibition space, and it does a great job of showing the development of Van Gogh as an artist, but my favorite parts of the museum were probably this special exhibit they had on Belgian Painter Alfred Stevens who was known for his portraits of "ladies of fashion" and also the top floor of the museum which showed Van Gogh's relationship to his contemporaries and his influence on a younger generation of artists.  While the Van Gogh museum wasn't really much more crowded than the Rijksmuseum, the setup of the permanent exhibit made it feel uncomfortably crowded at times and really took away from the art.  After walking around a bit more we bought some needed groceries and beer and headed back to the campground to play some cards before getting some much deserved sleep.

 

Waking up on Saturday, it looked like it was going to be a gray, rainy day in Amsterdam, but thankfully my predictions were proven wrong and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We started our day with a walk through the famous Bloemenmarkt (flower market) and then coffee outside of a farmers market near the Waag before heading to the Rembrandthuis--the former residence of Rembrandt which has been turned into a really neat historical museum.  After enjoying a nice lunch on a bench overlooking a beautiful canal, we wandered through this great street bazaar selling everything from used clothes to flowers to souvenirs to art to books--I found a great "Amsterdam" hat that I just had to buy.  We then made our way to the Amsterdam Historical Museum which came highly recommended from Jackie.  Halfway through we decided to call it quits for museums for the day and to finish the museum Sunday afternoon before our train back to Hannover.  We walked through the Jordaan quarter of Amsterdam until we found this great little Italian pizza/pasta place.  After dinner we strolled through the Red Light District for a taste of a major reason Amsterdam has become so famous and then headed back to the campgrounds for some wine and winding down.

Sunday morning I used the last of my shower tokens (you had to pay for showers at the campground, but the facilities were really nice so it was ok by me) and we said goodbye to Camp Zeeburg before heading back to the Amsterdam Historical Museum.  The museum didn't open until 11:00 am, so we waited out a morning rain shower at a cafe on Dam Square.  We finished the museum (which I still can't believe held our attention for so long--quite a feat!), and I made a beeline straight to the first falafel place I could find.  Amsterdam still has a strong Indonesian/Asian influence from it's colonial days and is famous for its falafel stands and restaurants.  After that we walked around a bit more, and I made Bill go into a few stores with me to look for postcards and then a few more to look at coats.  While I did find some postcards, unfortunately my tastes are too expensive in winter coats (since I guilt-tripped myself out of buying one I found).

Upon our arrival to the Centraal Station thirty-five minutes before our train left, we were surprised to find that the schedule had been changed due to construction, and our train had already left.  After a few annoying customer service employees told us "You have big problem", we got everything straightened out and a new return trip route that got us into Hannover only two hours later than expected.  Of course though, Murphy's Law went into effect and our new train was fifty-five minutes late getting to Duisburg, so we missed our transfer.  We then frantically had to run to catch an alternate train to Dortmund (along with a few university students we met who were also headed to Hannover) and then transfer to a train headed to Hannover.  After the day was over, I finally got home right at 1:00 am and only four hours later than scheduled.  Needless to say, I was in less than top shape for my morning classes today, but both lessons went swimmingly!

"A Hard Day's Night"

So I'm not sure what is going on with the plethora of references to the Beatles--it just seems to fit.

After a good, long weekend in Amsterdam with Bill and a return journey riddled with delays, three-and-a-half hours added to our over four hour journey, I'm finally back in my flat in Hannover.  There are tons of great stories and pictures to share, but first I need sleep.  Monday morning classes should be extra fun this week.

I'm so tired I think could speak Dutch if tried.

I should be packing right now...

To start with some long overdue business--two weeks ago as I was walking out of the front door of my apartment with Jonathan to grab some coffee before he caught his train to Berlin, I spotted a wonderful surprise waiting for me in the mail area.  What's better for a midweek pick-me-up than a care package from mom?

Half of an awesome care package

So not only did I get three pairs of thick socks and my new contacts (both badly needed), but I also got a stash of Skittles, Reese's Pieces and Sour Patch Kids (not pictured--halfway consumed at time of photograph).  Shout out to mom!

This weekend Jackie came to visit me from Berlin.  After our unhealthy "junk" dinner on Friday night, we spent Saturday trekking out of Hannover to go see Schloß Marienburg (about 22 km outside of Hannover).  We knew that after our train ride we would have a 3 km hike to the castle (which I knew was on the side of a mountain), but we didn't know that there wouldn't be a marked path from the road.  It turned into a 5 km hike, but it was worth it in the end--the castle was really cool and it has an interesting history around it (ties into the royal House of Hanover in England).

 

 

After our tour, the sun was setting, so we asked about the quickest path down the mountain which incidentally resulted in us hiking down a steep unlit path through the forest at night.  Oddly enough, not the first I've trekked down a forested mountain path at night after touring a German castle.  We then got stuck at this old, creepy train station for an hour before finally getting back to my apartment just in time to start cooking before Bill and Sara came over for dinner & drinks before a night on the town.

                                    

 Waiting at the old creepy train station

This week I also kept up my trend for adventure Tuesdays...last week saw me hiking up a frosty mountain, but this week I decided to go on a long bike ride.  I slept in a bit and had a big breakfast before setting out on my bike adventure, and I somehow managed to time it just right because the weather was beautiful.  For most of the ride, I followed the Leine River (which flows through Hannover) with a roughly northeastern path before looping back to the north of Hannover past the Herrenhäuser Gärten.  The nice thing about Hannover is that it's a pretty nice sized city, but you don't have to go out too far to be in the country with cows and open fields.  On my way back to Hannover I also encountered the mythical Hannover Mini-Golf course which I had heard of but never seen.  While it doesn't look as exciting as the Pirate/Dinosaur/Safari themed courses at the beach, I'm very excited for it to open back up in the spring.

    

All in all it's been a very good week in Hannover.  The weather has been a bit nicer as of late with not quite as much rain and it has been significantly warmer.  But, after staying in town for a few weekends in a row, I'm looking forward to my trip to Amsterdam this weekend.  I'm leaving tomorrow directly after I'm done teaching, and I'll be getting back late Sunday night.  Expect a much more exciting post soon detailing that adventure.

Lastly, I leave with a picture of the front of the Hannover Hauptbahnhof.  This week they have been frantically working to finish setting up this one of many Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) in Hannover.  I'm starting to get incredibly excited about Advent in Germany!

 

 

P.S. A quick shout out to Carole, who is turning the big 5-0 this year.  Remember, after you get over the hill you just start gaining speed!

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Harz Club Band"

This Tuesday Bill and I decided to go on a hiking trip in the Harz--a mountain range in northern Germany.  Even though we knew it was going to be cold with an outside chance of rain, we figured you only live once, right?  That is, unless you get sick after hiking in the cold rain and die...luckily, that didn't happen.

The path we followed is called the Goetheweg and is named for the 18th Century German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who hiked this area in 1777 (the hike is said to have inspired him enough to include it in his masterpiece Faust).  The trail begins at Torfhaus in an amazingly well preserved German moor and ends at the peak of the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany at 1,141 m.  The most interesting part about our adventure was the complete change in weather from the bottom of the trail to the top of the Brocken.

By the way, we were trying to come up with good song titles containing the word heart which we could replace with Harz--I think the winning two were "Total Eclipse of the Harz" and "Shot Through the Harz (thanks Jackie, I know that's not the title)."  Things tend to get pretty random towards the end of 16 km hikes.

Notice what I dubbed the "Sweet Tea River"

A new room and a new recipe

I have now officially been in my new apartment for three weeks, and I figured that means an update is overdue!

To recap: My first week in Hannover was spent with Bernhard and Dagmar in the Hannover suburb of Berenbostel.  It was a really nice little town, but it was also about an hour to downtown Hannover via public transportation (a combination of bus and stadtbahn).  It was also a nice way to spend my first week adjusting to life in Germany and getting over jetlag--not to mention the awesome breakfasts and fresh fruits and vegetables from their garden.

I then spent the next month subleasing a room in Linden-Nord in a shared flat with three other people.  Two of my roommates were pretty much out of university (one was finishing his internship) and the third was only in her second year at the University of Hannover.  It was a great place to live, and I got to know the Linden-Nord neighborhood really well, but it never quite felt like home since I knew I would have to leave at some point.

I'm now living in Linden-Mitte, but my apartment is on the north side of Linden-Mitte, so I'm still really close to all of my old haunts on Limmerstrasse in Linden-Nord.  The great thing about my new apartment is that it is in a nicer residential area than my apartment in Linden-Nord, is next to a quiet police station and quite secure and has even better access to Hannover Mitte (the center of downtown Hannover) as well as more nightlife possibilities!  It's always interesting here and the vibe of the apartment is a bit more open than other places.  Of my two roommates, Poisy is kind of the "landlady"/roommate and she is a little bit older than me and works at a big travel company based out of Hannover.  The other roommate Christopher is close to my age and is actually doing his internship at the company our lady works for.  They both work fairly long hours, but we actually have dinner together quite a bit which is a very nice change of pace.  Chris pretty much goes home every weekend (to his parents' house), and Poisy travels quite a bit on weekends visiting friends--so it's nice to be able to relax on weekends and have the apartment to myself when I'm here.

My new home on Lichtenbergplatz (the red building on the left) 

In more recent news, tonight I finally tried cooking a dish that I've been thinking about for a while as a way to ward off the early winter blues here in Germany.  Gulasch (or goulash as it is known in English) is a popular dish in Germany with largely Hungarian origins.  There are apparently hundreds of different recipes and various schools of thought on what or what not Gulasch should contain--but the recipe I used was modified out of German cookbook I bought last week.  It was actually quite simple to prepare, and while I had my doubts at first, it turned out delicious.

German (Hungarian) Gulasch 

• 500 g Rindergulasch (basically small pieces of beef stew meat--could use boneless chuck or beef shank)
• 2-3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 small onions (or 1 extra large) onion, chopped into large pieces
• 2 carrots, sliced thickly
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  
• 2 cups potato, left in large chunks
• 2 Tbsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
• 650 ml beef or vegetable broth
• 1-2 bay leaves
• parsley, for garnish
• salt and pepper
• vegetable oil/butter 

Season the beef generously with salt and pepper and brown in vegetable oil/butter (I melted about a Tbsp of butter in vegetable oil and used a mixture) on high heat.  Remove browned beef from pot and mix with paprika and cayenne pepper mixture. Add tomato paste to pot beef was cooked in and stir for about 30 seconds before adding onions and carrots.  Cook onions/carrots until slightly softened (about four to five minutes) and add garlic, stir for another minute, and add potatoes.  After a few more minutes, add beef/spice mixture and stir for a few more minutes to allow paprika/pepper to heat up in oil.  Add broth and bay leaves, cover and simmer on very low heat for at least 90 minutes until beef is tender.  Season with additional paprika/cayenne pepper/salt/black pepper to taste.  Garnish with parsley and serve with bread.  Guten Apetit!

German Gulasch with bread and a beer (the perfect winter meal!)