Catching Up.

December 18,
I am in Gottingen for Christmas. I want to catch up with a few events and photos. As days and lovely things were happening, I thought of great descriptions (they seemed great in my mind, anyway). But, then another another event would occur and I wouldn't find the time to say all that I wanted to. Now is my attempt to at least note things lest they slip from my memory only to be captured by a glance, a smell, a sound, or taste some day in the future.

Reimannstrasse, Goetingen. The Zimmerman family home is here.

Preparing for the Christmas Tree hunt. Sandra and Julius.

Evaluation! Ralph, Gabbie, Stefan, and Julius. Three were chosen. Not from here.


December 5, Sunday.
Marion and I went to the cinema (kino) and saw "Goethe". The film was about his time in Franfurt, trials and tribulations, and first love. The film was in German, but as it was a German/Hollywood production we understood the film without all the nuances of understanding the dialogue. Beautifully filmed, good acting, sad story -- except he becomes a famous novelist at the end. To cheer up we went on the the Weihnacts Markt and drank gluehwein. Sehr Gut.

December 6, Monday.
St Nicholas Tag. Marion, Niang (from Senegal), Mahdi (Togo) and Weina (China then Sweden then Mainz) had a late scrumptous meal in our kitchen. I joined for a while, laughed, and we had our international photos...

Weina, Mahdi, Niang, Marion, me.

Tuesday.

Eva, Mateus, Tobias, Katarina, Neal, Phillipe and.... met by the Dom (catedral) at the Weinachts markt for gluewein, feuerzangen bolle, and then for dinner at a weinbar. Laughter, good conversation. Then, so nice to be able to walk and ride buses home. Many great people in my daily life here.
Torsten

My office

Matteus and Tobias

Meike, the best of assistants.

Eva

Wednesday.
Found out Torsten and Stefan's paper had been accepted as in printable form by Erdkunde and will be published this year. Yay. Good achievement.

Thurs.
Jason Dittmer spent about 12 hours getting to Mainz from London due to the snow. He arrived five minutes before his presentation at 6:00 PM. Great talk on Comics, politics, and nation building. After, he, Stefan, Torsten, Malthe, and Christian (the latter two MA students) went to the great Greek restaurant for supper and a wee tipple...until nearly midnight. Exciting conversations and great fun.

Fri.
Torsten, Stefan, Jason and I hit the Weinachts Markt and then walked around in the oldest part of the city -- built in 1450. Whoa. Like, we're talking a while ago!!!! I love the labarynthan strassen. and the 'wattle-and-daub' houses.
I think that, in part, it is the cold and snow with people bundled and scarved and hooded in contrast to the lights, bright colored gifts and warmth of the gluewein and feuersangen bolle that make Weinachts Markt and this season so special. One of the days as was trudging bundled in about five or six layers of clothes and coats, zipped up over my chin with hat pulled low on my brow, I felt like one the the poor rebellous Bolshevists from Dr. Zhivago. Not the aristocracy, riding in sleighs and warmed by furs.... but definitely one of the masses : ) Of course, I'm in Germany, not Russia....besides, Dr. Zhivago was filmed in Finland, not Russia. Hmmmmm.

The three "wise ......" Stefan, Torsten, Jason.

Jason, me, Torsten, Stefan....and... feuerzangen bolle.

Sat.
Morning shopping for groceries and other necessities in the city center. Home on the bus. Back to city center in search of St. Peters church/cathedral. -- True magic for Christmas or any other time of the year. The church is a majorly Baroque affair. Curves, ornate carvings in gilt, ceiling painted with 'heavenly' figures. Initially the lights were low. The children's choir walked in singing in Latin. The light, high voices and acoustics were perfect. The choir sang traditional songs in Latin, French, (a more modern, less pleasing American piece), and last with German carols. As they sang the lighting in the church became brighter and brighter. The last song as they walked out was Silent Night. It was exquisitely beautiful. Of all carol’s, to me that brings most memories and longings of Christmas.Weina, and two of her friends from China, Susanna – a young German physicist, Marion and her friends from France, and I enjoyed the concert together. After, Susanna, Marion, Blanche, Johann and I went to the Wiehnacts Markt for gluewein and feuerzangen bolle and they to do some gift shopping.

Sunday Johann and Blanche needed to return to France from the Frankfurt airport so Marion and I caught the train with them. Blanche is completing her PhD in biological ecosystems modeling and Johann is a professor of biology and studies microalgae in the coastal ecosystem. Marion and I went on to the Weihnachts Markt in Frankfurt, walked on the iron bridge to see the Main (river) and the skyline of Frankfurt in evening, and listen to musicians. Back at the Markt we had gluewein, feuerzangen bolle and rode the carousel. I think I had not been on a carousel with horses going up and down since I road with Melisa in Disneyland when she was about a year old. So many days of wonderful fun in one week.href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyK-XqyL1UnengdvIEoQFcMPVb-mHFpwacIMgV_qrSA1FwAvuote-PLBpTP09583RSG8cklbMQiOF0NucY7Idl6MlEXV5oluWym5OcYCLuri9wxrW7LooQ8h-0jvdJD3bStiums_q-G8s/s1600/DSC08185.JPG">

Marion, Blanche, and Johann. Mainz train station.

Frankfurt am Main

Marion and great bridge musicians. They were REALLY good.


The gigantic Xmas tree at the Frankfurt Weihnachts Markt. Cut from the forest and later used for firewood.


Marion on her horse on the carousel. She said hers was faster than mine??? I think it was a tie.

The scene.

Plays, Shopping, and Living

Sitting upstairs and eating with a view is delightful.

Weina's choice of 'pig's knuckle'. She said it was delicious.

Yum, yum, yum. My meal of last week and yesterday (and breakfast this morning and possibly lunch).




A little 'addendum' from last week... This small statue displayed in the Museum in the Roman Passage, suggests that the Romans were manly men.

December 5
This morning and the week past.

I step into the dark hallway and press the light switch. Glass-like high pings of music float down the hall as the florescent bulbs wake. Night outside at 6:00 AM. The white of the frozen ground hides in the dark except where exposed by the yellow of streetlamps. All is quiet. Sunday morning. Those not away for the wochenende are resting from a late night and week of hectic activity. After a 10:30 AM cup of glüwein yesterday at the Weihnacht Markt, visiting the Guttenberg Museum while Marion was interviewed by a potential flat-mate near the Dome (cathedral), lunch again at the same restaurant as last week, missing Oxfam because it closes at 2:00 on Saturday, and shopping for a few essentials, we came back to the Sportshaus. Bus 6, from Weisbaden, was late. We, a group of children who had been ice-skating, an elegant grandmother with red hat and scarf and a snow-suited grandson, and an ancient couple waited -- then waited some more. In 30 degree weather with wind (I foolishly hatless) time moves at glacial pace.

The bus, when it came, was full. The automatic door kept closing on us as we tried to get on. We stepped into the midst of the damaged and lame. The vague smell of human waste inadequately cleaned, faces with twisted noses and caved in toothless mouths, wheelchairs with slumped bodies, and happy voices with slurred poorly enunciated words. Others on the bus were standing, avoiding the nearby empty seats. Were they giving space or keeping their distance? The group debouched at the nearest stop to the Weihnacht Markt. The Christmas Market is the center of civic outings this time of the year, action, lights, glüwein, gifts and fun.

At home, rather than lying down in my cozy but isolated room, I sat with Marion and Nur (from Algeria) in the common kitchen.I drank my small pot of coffee in an attempt to quiet my massive headache and enjoyed trying to follow the conversation, mostly in French, between warm, outgoing Nur, an Arabic teacher from Algeria, and Marion. At times, I was able to follow the main flow of conversation; at others, Marion helped in the translations. We talked about teaching, ‘souvenirs’ (memories), the importance of our experiences, and the effects of climate or weather on the way people behave – being outwardly oriented or inwardly oriented. (Environmental determinism, once more, rears its head). Regarding memories, Nur told of a science fiction film where the main character, a very poor man, sold his memories, one by one, as they were all that he had. At the end, he had no memories left. Life, then, had no meaning. So, he committed suicide. How fortunate I am to have such a banquet of souvenirs placed before me each day.

Dec. 3
Everyone leaves the department by about 1:00. At 4:00 I went to the city center for shopping. It is amazingly challenging to carry groceries, new pillow, a bag with a newly purchased longer coat, and backpack onto a completely packed, rush hour bus. People that I bashed in the face with my pillow were most understanding and tolerant. I am so lazy with all the conveniences of an auto at home. So much more isolated though.

Nov. 30
I left immediately after the seminar, walked on my Yak Tracks half a mile, in the dark, in 19º weather, (uphill both ways too : ) to the bus stop. Marion, Weina, and I met at the theatre in the city center at 6:45 so that we could attend ‘My Fair Lady’. We were in the attic seats, furthest from the stage possible. Fortunately this allowed me to stand and sit and stand and sit throughout the performance. The play was performed in German, of course, and, was set in today’s Berlin. Instead of flower girl Liza Dolittle learning ‘proper’ English, punk girl Liza learns ‘hoch Deutche’ – proper German??? The updated version was great with punks, a Pickering who sniffs cocaine, fantastic choreography, and audience participation in the ‘going to the ball’ scene. Liza and Higgins had fantastic voices and had more passion in their parts than in the film. Because Marion and I knew the story and film and music, we could follow the action even though I understood only a word or two spoken. Weina had read a synopsis of the story, so relied on simply enjoying the music and dance. We got home about midnight.

Snow and Weisbaden Afternoon

Everything is blanketed in white. A thin blanket to be sure, but one that turns the world monochromatic. It started snowing yesterday and apparently snowed more during the night. I think winter has arrived despite the fact it doesn't officially start for another three weeks or so.

Sunday afternoon I went to Weisbaden on the bus and then walked to Torsten's and Katrin's apartment. Their home is delightful, full of warm colors, windows looking out over rooftops to distant hills. Gemutlisch.... Katrin cooked a wonderful mean of potatoes and spicy meat with delicious stuffed, baked apples for desert. All were special dishes from here. I got to meet Jakob who is a very smiley, darling little guy about 3-4 months old. He and I got along very well. He is super friendly. He looks a lot like his father. After talking and visiting we went out and wandered around Weisbaden, saw the hot springs (about 60 degrees C) a homeless person camping out on a heating vent nearby, the strange monument that is being built to signify the location of a Jewish Synagogue destroyed in WWII, the incredible theatre, casino, and hotel where people came in the 1800s to drink the waters from the hot springs. A Christmas market was in full swing and an outdoor ice skating rink. We drank glugwein and walked along the very expensive shopping street where the high faluting and elegant 'upper crust' of Weisbaden shop. Torsten, Kristen, and Jakob (who was happily asleep bundled up in his snow suit and bed of sheep fleece in his stroller) helped me find the right bus to head back to Mainz on. A truly wonderful afternoon.

Their home is on the topmost floor of their building. Many, many, many stairs to reach. Torsten told me about a lady who passed about a year ago, but who walked up the stairs to her apt each day when she was 90 plus. Hmmmm. Maybe I SHOULD look for a place with stairs when I get back??????

Markets, a Creche, Glugwein, and Roman Ruins -- Pre Weihnacht in Mainz

Marion, Weina and I went on an adventure yesterday. Les petites Chouxs are by a gigantic cabbage at the flea/farmer's market close to our dwelling.

Once we arrived in the city center, it was clear that Christmas is around the corner. Today is the first day of Advent (I am told).

At the Weihnachts Markt in the plaza by the dome (cathedral), one of the first stalls we visited had many different kinds of glugwein (hot mulled cider) and many customers. Marion bought us a round -- with raspberry in it. Great for chilled bodies and frozen fingers.

There are perhaps as many as 80 little wooden stalls with a wonderful variety of potential presents, viands, and decorations. Each is numbered so that if you see something you want you can always go back and find the stall later.

It snowed in the morning, but only a few places were slick with ice or snow. No-one lets the weather stop them from their enjoyment.

Young and old simply bundle up or are bundled up and go out for activities. Again, the pedestrian friendly city center encourages a sense of community and intense activity.

We visited a creche set up by Saint Boniface right outside the cathedral. Marion said that in France the baby Jesus is not put in the cradle until Christmas Eve.

This baby Jesus looks like he's been around a while. I'd say he is at least 50 years old if not more.
Still happily waving his fat little arms and being adored by his parents and all and sundry.

In keeping with the spirit of joy, I happily drank the rest of my glugwein......

At noon sharp there was meditation in the cathedral. A few words by the priest and organ music.

The chair, like these, was cushioned and set on the heating vent. How lovely to rest and thaw out toes and fingers will contemplating how good life was at that moment and all the friend, family, and other good things in my life that I have and can be thankful for.


Lest you get the idea that all city center is "quaint", a simple 180 degree turn from the Weihnachts Markt shows another aspect of downtown.

Still there are the 'restored' buildings. Some like this, bedecked in Christmas wreaths and other decorations.

These little buskers were doing quite well with the Saturday, holiday crowd. Her flute playing was quite good, especially considering her fingers must have been stiff from the cold.

These, were playing and singing lovely music, but weren't doing as well financially. Maybe they had just begun.

While looking for a restaurant, we came across a gigantic candle outside one. We went on and found a delightful, cozy, two storied restaurant with fantastic food. Weina had pig knuckle, Marion, veal cutlets, and me steak, onions, and pommes frittes. Ummm, Ummmm, Good.

Marion, working on her PhD in archaeology took us to the museum in the Roman Passage that shows the remains of part of the old Roman City here. Mainz obviously has an incredibly long history.

"Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning. Give me oil in my lamp, I pray. Give me oil in my lamp, keep it burning. Keep it burning 'til the break of day." Hymn I leaned as a child. These are tiny oil lamps found in the dig. Amazing how many eons people have used oil lamps.

Below is an example of writing found on one of the artifacts in the dig. THE DAY AND THE COMPANY WERE GREAT FUN.

According to the guide book, this is a 'crucifixion group (1518)...for the burial monument of Hans Backoffen and his wife. I suspect the 'group' dates from later... It is an amazing wooden piece!!!!
People have been worshipping in and on the site of the Mainz cathedral since 975. During that time there has, of course, been additions, restorations, and some rebuilding. The sounds of the bells on Sunday for worship and the acoustics, organ, and music within the cathedral are "devine". During WWII 80% of Mainz was leveled by bombs. The allies were aiming for the cathedral, but due to weather conditions, mostly missed it and wiped out the majority of the city center next to it.... WAR....
The city center is paved with cobblestones (How do women with spike heels ever manage??) and is totally pedestrian friendly. The street pattern is true to that of the area before bombing and so is a fascinating maize. Many/most of the buildings there were restored to their original styles. So, one doesn't know if she is looking at an 'authentic' building or a 'recreation'. Regardless, it is a wonderful place to wander, shop, and eat. It TRULY is a city center!!

Time is passing

There are still a few leaves clinging to the branches of the trees, but we are having our first snows. Marion (an archaeologist from France) and Weina (a physicist from China) and I are going to go down to the Christmas Market by the cathedral today.


Below was my first glimpse of Mainz in Nov. My first day here was a glorious, sunny autumn day. My room is in the Sportshaus. Maybe 8x10 with a shared bathroom and shower. Each floor has a common kitchen. This is a great place to live as it is only a 5 or 6 minute walk to the building that houses the Geography Institute. There is a sportsbar/restaurant with great food downstairs -- open during the week nights. I can catch the bus on the street that goes by the other side of the track. People from all over the world stay here while they train. Left-over rooms are available as interim homes while people like me, or new graduate students from other countries find places to live. We have people from France, Brazil, China, Russia, England, Mali, Senegal, and Viet Nam. That's only the few that I've spoken with. Great atmosphere and incredibly interesting!

Sunny Sunday

I have been in Mainz nearly two weeks now. I feel settled in. I haven't done the exploring I want and need to do yet. Two shopping trips to the city center is about it. This lack is not due to opportunity, but rather to trying to navigate a new language, new university, new lodging, getting over jet lag and a cold, and working on the presentation I'm to give on Thursday evening. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Today is incredibly sunny.... second such day since I've been here. Looks like it might last the entire day. It's pretty cold here (for me). On Sunday's the cathedral and church bells toll. Magnificant.

I went to the 'farmers' market by the cathedral yesterday and wandered into the building which has accreted over the past 1000 years. Solemn, celestial scale, dark with dim light from leaded stain glass windows and with soft points of light from remembrance candles.

Everyone has been most kind and friendly here and I've had an incredible amount of laughter with Stefan and his friend Torsten.

Sunday in the Capitol

In the morning we listened to a cd Emmie got Kathy for her birthday. Grand Ole Opry hymns. In the afternoon we subwayed and walked to the National Presbyterian Church/Cathedral. Kathy's friend Laura met us. The National Master Chorale sang Mendelssohn's "Richte Mich, Gott" and Brahms' "O Heiland, Reiss die Himmel auf" among others. Incredible music. I was thinking this morning of the incredible variety of 'sacred' music....

The weather has been perfect -- sunlight for fall colors and warmth. Today is grey.

Starting a New Adventure -- Washington DC

Mule Power -- pulling our canal boat after we went through a locke meant to circumvent the rapids/falls on the Potomac.

Being a 'westerner', I tend not to associate scenes like this with the East.

Part of the Potomac. Yup. Bet old George could throw a rock across this section.

Stealthy deer.

Women waiting to open the locke. Living history, I think... or did I do time travel as well??

Saturday: the trip to Great Falls National Historical Park.

Arriving:

The taxi driver was from Punjab Province. He was born in United India in 1944. When he was three, his family had to walk 12 miles across the border to Amritsar to join his father, a doctor. They were hungry. They didn't know when they might be set upon and robbed. They made it safely though. He said his strongest image/memory is of his grandfather carrying him on his shoulders. They came to a stream they had to cross. The stream had smooth round rocks. His grandfather said there were fish in the stream. Grabbing a long heavy stick, the grandfather clubbed 8 fish for them to eat. My driver came to the United States when he was 18 and became a civil engineer. Before he retired, he was inspecting the safety of nuclear plants.

I like watching the wonderful variety of people here. So many transient, from someplace else, staying a while in the votex of power, and then likely going someplace else. Some stay.

Kathy's lovely apartment on Porter and Cleveland overlooks a five street intersection, and occupies an end of the building on the 5th floor. It has a clinic attached to the building and a Walgreens next door. The subway station and numerous restaurants are a two or three minute walk, the National Zoo -- 10 minutes. I didn't see the giant pandas or elephants, but did see a sloth bear, fisher cat, and Asian otters. The zoo is beautifully designed -- Frederick Law Olmstead.