Welkommen to Kleinansbach und the
Hollenbach Familie!
In
Freitag, 22 Juni, 2013, I left from Getsche’s house and went to the train
station with Charlotte in Borg. (I apologize in advance for any misspelled
German words!). This was my first time riding a train! Some of the trains are
fancier than others, it really just depends on what train you are on, and where
the train is going as to the condition of the train. Early in the morning, the
train was pretty open, but by the time I got to the fast-high paced train, it
was packed. I had to change seats twice because I was sitting in a reserved
seat. I quickly learned how to say “Ist das frei?”-meaning “Is this free?” and
pointing to the seat. It was not unusual on any of the trains to see people
just standing or sitting in-between cars. I also realized what Bettina meant by
“finding your luggage,” because on the train, people store their luggage either
above, like in an airplane, or they put them by the door-which is where my big
suitcase went halfway through the four hour train ride I had. That is something
that I don’t think would happen in the USA, we are so careful about keeping our
bags with us, concerned about terrorists or people stealing stuff that we keep
our bags by us constantly, so you can imagine this was a bit of a shock and a
little tough for me to leave my suitcase over there. I was constantly watching
to make sure it was still there after every train station (I could see from my
seat). Finally, after 6 ½ hours in trains, I made it to Crailsheim to meet my
host family! Now in Germany-this is a very long trip, in the USA-this is
considered an easy drive for a vacation. Anyway, I got off the train and had to
go from one platform to the other, but I got downstairs and didn’t know which
way to go. Thank goodness Ute and Anna came to look for me, cuz that’s where we
found each other, lol. By the way-going
to the bathroom in a moving train is tougher than in a moving airplane!
We drove back to their house, and Anna
showed me around the house, and the farm. The Hollenbach’s own a turkey farm,
they have three barns full of turkeys! The family consists of five members:
Rainer (Father), Ute (Mother), Max (Oldest), Anna (middle), and Lina
(youngest). We ate leftover goulash for supper and then I had time to unpack
and get settled in my room.
Throughout the week, we did a lot of farm
work, a little sight-seeing and various activities. These activities included
building silos (yes I did help build silos!), a roof on a small stone
structure, going to Wurttenburg, a community celebration of summer, a special
church gathering for a good summer and harvests, high ropes courses, and
playing in a band. We also tend to play
games in the late afternoon/evening. So far a favorite seems to be Wurfel
Ligretto-a game I would like to bring home! This week, I also learned how to
cook some different German food-but I think I will write a different blog
focused on food and various observations, as it will be easier and better since
this post will be very long.
It was interesting in seeing how a German
Roof is built. Rainer thinks that a German roof would be able to withstand a
tornado or hurricane. German homes are also made from stone, so my host family
thought they would be tougher against tornados and hurricanes. But I have seen
old stone buildings destroyed by tornados. I have yet to see a structure that
could withstand a tornado or hurricane
On
Samstag (Saturday 6/23) we went to a community party to celebrate summer. There
was food: turkey steaks and German sausage for supper. Stockbrot, which is
roasting bread on a stick (this is after the main meal kinda like we make
smores after the meal, they make stockbrot). And in typical German fashion
there is many different drinks, from carbonated water to pop to beer. For this
party, there was a great big bonfire, that I got to help light, and then people
stay up all night long and wait for the sunrise. I learned that a sunrise here
is not like a sunrise in Kansas. While the sun does not go down until 9:30 or
10pm at night, there are not really colors in the sky as we see at home. The
same is with a sunrise, the sky lightens, and that is considered the
sunrise. Anyway, the party was fun,
several of the adults tried to speak with me and we could understand one
another at least to an extent. There were a couple people there (outside of my
host family) who spoke English that I could talk with too, which was very nice
as it was my second day here in S. Germany and the dialect in S. Germany is
very difficult to understand. I think
that may have been the toughest part in coming to Germany so far, is the
language barrier the first couple days here in S. Germany. While my family is
wonderful and talking with me and helping me learn English, it was tough
helping to build silos and trying to figure out the language at times too.
On Sonntag
(Sunday) afternoon, we also went to Wurttenberg, which is a Medieval village
that is still standing. We went and walked around a bit, ate ice cream (I can
eat the fruit ice cream here! It’s made from wasser (water) not milch (milk)!)
Rainer pointed out various places within the city, we stopped at the cathedral,
but it was closed so we couldn’t go in, and we also walked along the wall. You
can see a lot of the city from within the wall, so it was very interesting.
Wurttenburg is considered to be a big tourist location-all Americans and
Japanese tours make a point to stop at Wurttenburg.
On Montag, I
went with Anna to go to a high ropes course. I have never done a high ropes
course, and although I wasn’t sure about it, I knew that I would rather go with
Anna than stay and sit at home. Plus this trip is also about trying new things,
so why not finally conquer a ropes course? The ropes course is different from
at home, they have various levels of courses and various heights off the
ground. It is also all self-led. Once you go through the informational section
you are on your own to complete the course. Instead of using ropes, they use
clamps to hook into each section with. Maybe that made it seem less scary, I
don’t know, but it was still difficult moving through the courses. We never got
to the 50 ft high course, but we did complete the two hardest courses at the
site. I cannot decide whether this version of a ropes course where it is all
self-led is better, or having to learn to trust someone with a rope is better.
I think each way has its + and –‘s. One thing I do like, is you progress in
stages, not just high or low. That was a lot of fun!
On Freitag, I
went to Blaskapelle Rehearsal in Kirchegard. It is a community band made up of
families. Rainer and Ute’s cousin is the conductor of the band. In Germany
there are three levels of bands, and this was considered a middle level band.
As I discussed with one of the clarinetists later, I think that playing music
should be fun regardless of the difficulty. Yes, I can play and enjoy the
challenge of tough music, but if it is not fun-what is the point of playing?
Music is meant to be fun, and playing to play was so much fun! It’s been a long
time since I have played in an ensemble and I enjoyed it a lot. I also met
several people at the rehearsal which was fun.
They invited me to play on Sonntag (6/30) at a Musik Festival in
Bavaria. Before I could even answer, they had everything figured out and called
Rainer and Ute to inform them of the parade. So I got to participate in a
German Musik Festival!!! How cool is that!
We marched and played (first time for me since um 8th grade, I would
have been 13 or 14 then!), and at the end of the parade all the bands gathered
outside the tent where concerts were held during the festival. There were
between 25 and 30 bands in the parade, so that amounted to something like 400
musicians! And we played as one large band then! We played: Festmusik by
Wagner, Mein Heinmatland, Bayerhymne (Bavaria State Song), and Deustchlandlied
(German National Song). One of the cool parts-I could understand the director’s
instructions and announcements for each song! It was great! And to play with so
many people! Oh my goodness! It was crazy, but such a neat experience too!
There is a lot
to learn about Germany customs and food and many new experiences being on a
farm and all. Probably one of the greatest things though, is hanging out with
my host sisters too. Last night, we couldn’t stop laughing from various random
funny things that were said or happened. Lina even got one portion of laughter
on a recording! I enjoy spending time with the family and playing games,
laughing, or just relaxing.
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