August 20th, Tuesday- Consulate
After lunch we were met by our Betreuer Team (Betreuer/in - responsible person/liaison... we don't really have a word in English but the team lived with us in the hostel, helped us deal with problems, enforced rules, took us places etc) and were taken to a party at the American Consulate in Hamburg. We were welcomed by many people, including staff from the consulate and German students preparing to leave for exchange in the U.S. At some point a group of my friends and I were standing around eating the customized "Hamburg Consulate" Dunkin Doughnuts, when we fell into conversation with Consul General who took 20 minutes out of his day to talk to a small group of high schoolers about our lives in America, our program, our time already in Hamburg, and to teach us all about the Consulate.
We learned that the Consulate in Hamburg was established in 1790, making it one of the first U.S Consulates anywhere in the world and that the “White House on the Alster” (the nickname for the current consulate buildings) was used by the Nazi Party as their Hamburg headquarters from 1933 to 1945. He also explained the subjects of several portraits around the room, the history of the first few Consuls and told us how recently the Consulate (actually the same room where we were dancing to German pop music played by a band of refugees from a local youth organization) hosted a dinner party between President Trump and members of the South Korean government where they arranged the Nuclear Summit in Singapore in June.
The AFS CBYXers wrapped up the party by hijacking the piano and filling the Consulate with a sing-along of an eclectic mix of American Music.
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| Outside the Consulate |
August 26th, Sunday - Fish Market
Sunday morning we were given the option of going to the famous Hamburg Fischmarkt. We woke up at 5:00 and were on a train by 5:30, and ferry by 6:00. The market was filled with everything anyone could want. There were sections dedicated to fruit, sections for fish, sections for meat and cheese, and sections for clothes and souvenirs. The warehouse by the entrance had live music and a dance floor. Fishermen were shouting and haggling. Vendors were auctioning off mystery baskets from the beds of trucks. Groups of people, kicked from clubs and bars at 5:00 am closing, stumbled drunk through the crowds in body glitter and mini skirts. Everywhere we looked something was happening.
Even though it was mid-August it was way too cold to be on the water without a jacket so the first thing we did was buy hot chocolate, and then Fischbrötchen. Maybe eating a 3/4 inch thick piece of pickled fish isn´t everyone´s idea of a good time at six in the morning, but it was honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten.
A friend and I pooled our money for a large bouquet of figs and went in search of a little slice of the stinkiest cheese we could find. We ended up in almost forced possession of a very large slice of something I would hesitate to call edible and the vendor described as ¨very old.¨
Even though we had to get up ridiculously early, even though it was freezing, even though we only stayed an hour or two, the Fischmarkt is one of my fondest memories from Language Camp.
August 29th, Wednesday - St. Nikolai Memorial
Wednesday we went to a Planetarium after language classes. I enjoyed the show and understood far more than I was expecting to, but what really stood out about this day was the two hours we had between finishing lunch and meeting at the planetarium when a group of my friends spontaneously decided to stop at the ruins of the old St. Nikolai church.
Because of the importance of Hamburg's shipyards the city suffered catastrophic damage during WWII. In July 1943 allied forces attacked the with one of the largest firestorms in the war, killing almost 43 thousand civilians and leveling much of the city. The steeple of St. Nikolai church was used as a point of orientation for allied bombers and although the steeple was largely unharmed and today houses a small museum, the rest of the church was mostly destroyed and never fully restored. Today the church stands as a memorial against war.
My friends and I decided to pay the entrance fee to the museum and it was absolutely worth it. 73 meters up the steeple there is a viewing platform which shows pictures of the destroyed city taken from that spot by a Nazi Propaganda Agent in the immediate aftermath of the bombings. These pictures are accompanied by short texts describing the suffering of the citizens of Hamburg but were also careful to frequently call attention to the cause of WWII and lay all blame on the Nazi Party.
I was really impacted by this tiny museum. As an American I am used to treading on eggshells when it comes to discussions about the darker periods of American history. It was very interesting to see the easy balance this museum found, mourning the destruction of the city and the loss of so many lives without pointing fingers or condemning the Allied Forces in any way.
September 5, Wednesday - Miniatur Wunderland
Hamburg is home to the Miniatur Wunderland, the largest model railway exhibition in the entire world. The Miniatur Wunderland is a compilation of incredibly faithful, incredibly detailed, incredibly small reconstructions of real locations including Hamburg, Las Vegas, Rome, Venice, The Baltic Sea with actual water and a fleet of ships, and the Knuffingen Airport, with actual arrivals and departures - including, on occasion, the Millenium Falcon.
In total the Miniatur Wonderland is 1,500 square meters, nine themed "worlds," 15,000 meters of track, 4,000 buildings, 11,000 Trains and traincars, 200,000 thousand figures, and 400,000 LEDs (numbers rounded from the MW website).
A few hours in the Minitaur Wonderland was quite an experience, especially walking through the detailed reconstruction of cities I have visited, including the city we were currently in (Hamburgception). I also appreciated that most of the computers and control boards are visible to visitors and the operators were extremely friendly and willing to talk about their work and explain what was going on behind the scenes. Similarly one has the option of exiting the exhibition through the workshops and watching people (including what had to have been a twelve-year-old boy) meticulously building and painting new pieces for the ever-expanding display.
I was too busy looking at everything to remember to take pictures.
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| Details |
Hostel Kids
Because we lived in a youth hostel we were constantly surrounded by local kids. There was a small football pitch behind the building and most free evenings groups of CBYXers would end up in an intense game of Fußball with a mix of people 10 years old and up. I never played but I spent a good amount of time watching the games, often cheering for the middle schoolers who could grind those silly Americans into the dirt with their fancy German footwork. My friends and I took these games, and the constant presence of curious kids, as opportunities to talk in a broken German/English mix to everyone we could. The conversations, especially with the preteens, usually went something like this...
¨Hallo! Wie heißt du?"
¨Insert Name. Woher kommst du?"
¨Aus America!¨
¨Kennst du Fortnite?"
I had to explain to dozens of German tweens that ¨Yes I am an American. No, I do not play Fortnite.¨
One of my favorite interactions over the weeks was with an eleven-year-old called Sami. Sami spoke pretty good English and attracted quite a crowd of CBYXers with his mixed German/English sass. He took it upon himself to guess all of our names and explain why he guessed each name, we gave him hints and he got mine pretty fast, but he insisted that one in our group should be called ¨Dolphin.¨ He also attempted to guess our ages, and, for some reason, our shoe sizes. Most of us weren't exactly sure about our European shoe sizes so that was a bit of a dud.
I remember this conversation particularly well because even though the conversation was half in German and the more advanced speakers in our group primarily dominated the conversation, I realized I could understand 80% of what Sami was saying, and even got a few words in myself!
Keep your eyes peeled for a post, probably primarily photos, from our day trips to Celle and Bremen.
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