Book of Esch

I had the extreme fortune to spend last night with a Wolfgang Esch. He is the extremely distant cousin who has been putting the Esch family tree together for the past couple of years. He picked me up after class and drove me to his home in Koeln filling me in on all kinds of Esch history on the way.

We arrived at his house (that was originally built for the English soldiers who occupied Germany after WWII) and I met his wife Ola. We watched a bit of the news and then got to work trying to figure out where my family fits into the mess that is the Esch Family Tree. After half an hour of searching through lists of names and dates we came across a Peter who was the son of a Johann who had no family. We cross checked the names of the wifes with the information that I had, and by-golly it all fit together. There was a lot of loud and fast German at this point in time, and we were both really really excited.

His wife then interrupted our work with a wonderful dinner of rice, meat with some sauce, and a salad. It was so wonderful to eat real food with real people. We spent a lot of time over dinner talking about America, they ad lots of questionf for me which I did my best to answer, but I could tell they weren't always satisfied.

Post dinner we began putting in the information for the ancestors that connect the family tree to me. I have some more work to do, I need to get specific dates and sibling names, but it is really cool to see the way the names all fit together.

After we finished entering our names, he showed me the books that he got all of the other names out of. There are literally books of Esch. It is incredible. Most of the records in Germany were destroyed during the Thirty Years War but the Eschs srvived. Not only are there names of people, there are dates, spouses, churchs where they were married, the land they owned, how much corn they produced on that land. Unbelievable.

Wolfgang gave me a copy of the original deed to one of the farms. Unfortunately, it is not clear and it is written in old German script so I can't even come close to reading it. He also gave me a really cool map of the way Minkelfeld was originally divided and the different farms there. I also got a copy of our family crest. Yeah, that's right, I have a family crest.

It was a great night, I loved learning so much about my family. I am planning on visiting again. Wolfgang has said that if I can spend a couple of days there we will go to Minkelfeld, Kalt, and Kuettig and follow the movements of the Esch's through history. I can't wait.

I wouldn't have ever even thought about undertaking this adventure if it weren't for my Grandad. He told me right before I left for Germany about Minkelfeld and that I should find it because our ancestors came from there. It really kind of sounded like a pain in the neck, traveling to some tiny town, that doesn't have a train station to take some pictures with a sign. But I wanted to do something for him, and what I thought was going to be a futile attempt to connect with the past has turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime. I only wish that he was here to experience it with me.

Karneval in Koeln

Karneval. It was definitely something special. Every year approximately a million people flock to the city of Koeln to celebrate Karneval. People dress up in costumes, have a couple of drinks, and watch the parade. This year I was one of the one million participants.

Karneval has the potential to be a really fun experience. Unfortunately, my experience really was not all that great. I had a great time at the bad Godesberg celebration that happened on Sunday. There we watched the parade, stole candy from kids, and were generally in a good mood.

In Koeln we were with a large group of people from the Goethe Institute. Mistake number one. Never, do anything with a large group of people. We were planning on leaving at ten so that we could get a spot for the parade. We didn't leave until noon.

Once we got to Koeln we were following one of the Zivis who has lived in the Bonn / Koeln area for a while. We assumed he had a specific viewing spot in mind and that he knew some back area where we could watch the parade. Mistake number two. He led us around and we followed. At one point in time we even had a pretty good view of the parade. Then he led us across the parade route, we were thinking some super secret viewing. Nope, he just wanted to find some cigarettes.

After we procured cigarettes he led us to a large plaze packed with people and no view of the parade. Really not a whole lot of fun. Then it started raining, and that pretty much put me and a couple of other people over the edge. We all left and came back to small, quite Bad Godesberg.

Even thought I didn't have so much fun, Karneval was definitely an experience. And it was an experience that I would definitely like to have again, just on my own terms next time.

Taking Candy From A Baby

Today was the Karneval parade in Bad Godesberg. It was ridiculous, people everywhere were wearing costumes and celebrating. There was terrible music playing, and drunk people dancing. Then everyone lined the streets for the parade. People in the parade were throwing all kinds of goodies for the onlookers to collect. Here is a little list of some of the treats we managed to aquire.

• Marshmellow twists
• Haribo gummi candies
• Mars Bars
• Waffles
• Menthos
• Fishermans Friend cough drops
• Tissues
• A protractor
• Flowers
• A juice box
• Popcorn
• Peanutbutter puffs
• Matches
• A sponge
• A condom
• Chips

We returned to the GI with full bags of loot and are contentedly trying out the German sweets. Can't wait to do it again tomorrow in Cologne.

The Email

Upon returning from Minkelfeld yesterday I had an email waiting for me from the cousin who lives in Cologne. Here it is

Dear Caroline,
ich habe von meinem Cousin in Minkelfeld erfahren, das Sienach Ihren Vorfahren Esch aus Minkelfeld geforscht haben. Ich bin sicher, das ich Ihnen und Ihrem Großvater helfen kann.
1807 kam Johann Esch von Küttig nach Minkelfeld und hat eineverwitwete Saurborn, geb. Adams geheiratet und den Hof übernommen. 11 Jahre später kam Peter Esch geb. 1782 in Küttig, der jüngere Bruder des Johann Esch ebenfalls nach Minkelfeld und hat 1816 in einen Richter Hof eingeheiratet,. Diese Linie der Esch hatte sehr viele Kinder gehabt, von dieser Linie stammen wahrscheinlich Sie ab, wenn nicht, dann von Johann Esch, andere Möglichkeiten gibt es nicht. Unser gemeinsamer ältester Vorfahre ist ein Peter Esch, er war Hofmann (Pächter)
des grossen Deutschherrenhofes in Kalt, geboren 1585 in Kalt. Von hier aus habe ich alle Vorfahren ohne Unterbrechung. Wenn Ihr Großvater sagt wie sein Vater und seine Mutter mit Geburtsnamen mitteilt, glaube ich, das wir diese Linie bis zu Ihnen verfolgen können
Ich würde mich freuen, wenn Sie mich anrufen würden und uns auch in Köln besuchen würden.
Der Weg von Bonn nach Köln ist nicht weit.Wenn Sie wieder in die Heimat fliegen nach Missouri werden Sie Ihrem Großvatereine Menge Unterlagen mitnehmen können.
Herzliche Grüße nach Bonn
Wolfgang Esch

And here is my rough translation

Dear Caroline,
I have heard from my cousin in MInkelfeld that you have asked about your ancestors form Minkelfeld. I am certain that I can help you and you rgrandad. In 1807 Johann Esch came from Kuettig to Minkelfeld. He married a widow by the name of Saurborn, who was born Adams and took over the farm. Eleven years later Peter Esch, the younger brother of Johann Esch, came to Minkelfeld. Peter was born in 1782 in Kuettig. Peter married into the Richter farm in 1816. This line of the Esch family had a lot of children, it is from this line that you probably came, if not then from Johann Esch, there are no other possibilities. Our oldest shared ancestor is a Peter Esch, he was a tennant of the biggest german farm in Kalt. He was born in 1585 in Kalt. From here on, I have all the ancestors without interuption. If your grandad tells you his father and mother with birth names, I believe we can follow this line to you. I would be very happy if you would call me and visit me in Koeln. Koeln is not very far away from Bonn. When you fly back to your home in Missouri you can bring your Grandfater back a quantity of documents.
Heartfelt greetings,
Wolfgang Esch

Mission: Accomplished

Today was a day of epic proportions. I left from my dorm in Bonn Bad-Godesberg with the intention of finding Minkelfeld, the town of my ancestors. The journey was supposed to take two hours and require the use of a train, two buses, and minimal foot power. Easy breezy beautiful.

I caught the train, on time and made it to my destination, the Andernach Bahnhof. I then found the bus station in Andernach and got on the 335 bus to Ochtendung. Again on time and no problem. In Ochtendung I was supposed to have a five minute wait and then the second bus was supposed to come that would take me to Minkelfeld. It never showed.

I looked at my itenerary and saw that it was supposed to be an eleven minute bus ride. Surely I would be able to walk the distance that took a bus only eleven minutes to travel. So I looked for the next bus stop and the route, set my eyes on it and started walking. I was soon outside of the city limits of Ochtendung and surrounded by some of the most beautiful rolling farmland I have ever seen.

I made it to a the first small town along the road and managed to ask some inhabitants where Minkelfeld was. They pointed the way to me, over the hill, under the Autobahn, and take a right. Great.

I took the right after the Autobahn and there it was, the town of Minkelfeld, all of ten houses. I saw the church that my Grandad had described to me. I was walked down the street until I came across a women out with her dog and asked her where the Eschs lived. She pointed me to the house right next to the church. I started to get pretty excited because this was unfolding just as my Grandad had said it would.

I went to the house next to the church just as a man was driving a tractor into the driveway. I followed him in and introduced myself as he got out of the cab. He is Junior. Senior Herr Esch had pulled up in a car behind me without me realizing it.

These Eschs are still living in the original farmhouse that was built in the 1800's by my ancstors. Herr Esch still has the key to the church where Mass is celebrated once a month. (He was very excited to find out that we were "still Catholic even though we lived in Evangelical America").

I talked with Herr Esch for two hours, all in German, and learned about my family. Minkelfeld has ten houses, three of which now occupy Eschs. There is another cousin who lives in Cologne who has done some extensive family research, he supposedly has six thousand names assembled, who lost track of the family after they immigrated to America. AKA: my family is the missing link.

I got an email from the Cologne cousin later in the day and I am hopefully going to meet up with him sometime this week to give him any and all information that I am able to provide about the family.

At the end of my visit, Junior gave me a ride back to the bus stop because "Eschs don't let Esch's walk". It was a great day.

Me with the Minkelfeld sign. Gotta love self timers.

The Esch Family home.

The Church that Herr Esch still has the key to.

Conversation Hearts

I ate some conversation hearts today. Apparently they are used to help celebrate Karneval as well as Valentine's Day in Germany. Or maybe someone just had them leftover. Either way, they were rather interesting. I don't think that germans really understand that the hearts are supposed to have cute, little, flirtatious quips on them. Here are the sayings that were on my hearts today.

"Mama", "Shalom", "Service", "Girl", "Success", "No", and my personal favorite "Irene"

I thought it was pretty fantastic.

Total Verrückt

Yesterday we was Weiberfastnacht, a celebration for the women. All day long women are running around with scissors cutting off men's ties to symbolize women taking over control from the men. The celebration marks the beginning of the Karneval parties that will be going on from now until Tuesday.

Last night several people from the Goethe Institute dressed up and headed out to go to some enjoy some of the craziness that has taken hold of Bonn and the surrounding areas. We came upon several parties but weren't allowed in because not everyone in our group was wearing a costume. Than's right, they actually won't let you in unless you are dressed up. And a hat doesn't cut it. You have to be fully decked out. Needless to say, I am enjoying it.

We finally ended up at a restaurant bar that would let us in and would keep us dry from the permanent mist that falls from the German sky. It was an ok night, but I am really looking forward to getting to dance to some absolutely terrible Karneval music.

PTL

Today was a great day. First of all, I went into the Reiseburo in Bonn to buy a ticket to Minkelfeld, Germany. I got part of the ticket, the train part. To get the rest of the way there involves some walking and two buses. That is all the information I have so far. It will be great.

Secondly, after I bought my ticket I went to find the Poppelsdorfer Schloss (castle) in Bonn. I was disappointed by the actual building, it is one of the university buildings so there were no trap doors to find and secret passageways to explore. But the weather today was beautiful. I put on some Caedmon's Call on my iPod and explored a part of Bonn that I hadn't seen yet. It was great to just be able to enjoy being in creation. And I saw the coolest ducks. It was rather chilly, definitely below freezing, and I came across this pond where the ice had really confused the ducks. Some were standing on it, some were trying to ram their way through it. It was a great spectacle.

And lastly, one of the coolest things of my day was that I got to explain who Jesus was to a couple of Muslim women in my class. The teacher divided the class up into groups and each group recieved a holiday to do a little bit of research on and to the present to the class. The holiday that I got was Easter. The women I was working with were both Muslim and had no idea about what Easter is. I got to explain to them what Christians believe and why Easter is then so importent. It was cool.

I had been feeling a bit distnaced from God lately; I don't have my church anymore, I don't have my church friends around, and I can't really understand what is being said at church. God is good, and it was a great day to be reminded that He truly is everywhere.

Costume Time

Karneval, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Fasching, Shrove Tuesday, whatever you want to call it is fast aproaching. And in Germany, especially in the region where I am, it is a big deal. Everyone dresses up and goes nuts. The official celebration actually began on November 11, at 11am.

Ever since I have been here I have been seeing random people walking around in various costumes. As time has passed and Rosen Montag gets closer and closer the frequency with which these costumed people have been seen has exponentially increase. I decided that since we are in such a good region to celebrate that we needed to get costumes and partake in the festivities.

Now, I know that you are probably thinking, "Caroline, you hate to dress up and make yourself look like a fool. Are you sure that you are going to do this?" But I think I will be ok. Katherine, Ian and I all went shopping for our costumes today. Katherine is going to be an Ancient Roman, Ian is a monk, and I am a nun. Unfortunately, nuns don't require the use of any paint, so I got some lime green hair gel just for grins.

Valentine's Day

I have never been a fan of Valentine's Day. This year was different though. I had a great day. My day began with me catching the train into Cologne to meet up with Leigh, the student from WashU who is doing an internship there. We met at the train station and went outside into the beautiful weather. I took some more pictures of the Dom, because a picture of the Dom with the blue sky overhead is a rare thing to come across.

We then headed to the Lindt Chocolate Museum on the Rhine River. It was a pretty nigty museum, but the best part was by far the samples that you could get. Unfortunately, I tried a ginger truffle which was not very tasty.

After the chocolate museum we went to get some lunch. We were in a pedestrian zone when we heard some music an decided to start following it. We came upon a group of people decked out to the nines. We inquired about the reason for such festivities and were told that it is all a part of Karneval. Karneval actually isn't for another week.

After hing our lunch we headed out to the stadium for the soccer game. On the way there we got some pretty sassy Cologne scarves. The game was a riot with people hooting and hollering, singing, dancing and jumping the entire time. It was definitely an experience.

This morning I woke up and went to Mass at the Koelner Dom. It was incredible. I still had a bit hard time knowing where we were but it was easier this week than last week. I believe that is in part to sitting right by a speaker this week so I could hear a little better.

After Mass I climbed the stairs to the bell tower. There were 474 steps and it was a terrible windy staircase. My legs didn't stop shaking until about and hour after I was back on the ground. The Dom is really an incredible building though and I am glad that I had the chance to explore it a little more.

Happy Friday the 13th

I feel mildly obligated to post something today; more specifically, something superstitious. However, I am not all that superstitious, and I have yet to discover any German superstition. The best I can do for you is a legend that I heard on my trip to Cologne.

A long, long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away or I can still remember, take your pick) the people of the city of Cologne lived a charmed life. You see, the people of Cologne have always been a lazy crew and have never enjoyed working. In this ancient time, the people of Cologne didn't have to work. They were free to spend their days and nights partying and drinking beer in the numerous beer houses around the city.

The Cologners were able to get away with such a life style because there was a group of dwarfs that lived near by. Every night the dwarfs would come out and would do all the work the the people of Cologne were supposed to have accomplished that day. When the inhabitants of Cologne would wake up the next day they would find everything on their to-do list finished and would celebrate the whole day long.

One day a curious girl decided that she wanted to meet these dwarfs and thank them for all the hard work that they do. That night, after everyone else in the city was asleep, the girl lit a lamp and went out into the city to find the dwarfs.

The dwarfs are very shy though and they did not want to be found. They heard the girl coming, and they saw her lamp and they scurried away. The girl wasn't able to find the dwarfs so she went back to sleep.

The next day when all the residents of Cologne woke up they found that there work wasn't done. Instead of partying like they were used to, they all had to work. From that day on the dwarfs have never returned to Cologne because they are afraid of the girl who wanted to discover them. And to this day the people of Cologne are known as lazy all over Germany.

Hearing this on our city tour was pretty funny because on one of the first days here one of the Zivi's told us that the people of Cologne were a bunch of lazy bums who only work enough to make enough money to buy beer. We thought that he was just prejudiced because he was from a different area of Germany. But then our tour guide told us this legend.

Distinctly Deutsch

I have been in Germany for a week and a half now and while I have been here I have been taking notice of things that seem to be specific to Germany. Here are the top ten things that I have found to be, distinctly Deutsch.

1. In Germany there doesn't seem to be much parking, granted not everyone has a car because the public transportation system is often much faster and more efficient. But when people do park they parallel park. In the states, we park along the side of streets. In Germany, they park on the sidewalk.

2. I keep running into doors while I am here. Not because they are invisible or I am blind, but rather I am used to doors having a bar to push and a handle to pull. In Germany, every door has a handle on both sides so I never know whether to push or pull.

3. In the United States when we go grocery shopping at the checkout there is someone waiting to put our goods into a bag. In Germany you have to bag your own groceries, and bring your own bags unless you want to pay ten cents per bag that you use.

4. Outdoor cafes in Europe are very common. Peopple love to sit outside and drink a cup of coffee and chat with friends. Normally, winter weather would put a damper on this kind of leisure activity. In Germany, they just set blankets out and umbrellas up so you can continue drinking outside in the cold wet weather.

5. In restaurants in the United States turnover is a big deal. They want you in and out as fast as possible so that they can seat more customers and make more money. This doesn't seem to be the mindset in Germany. Every time we have gone out to a sitdown restaurant it has been 45 minutes to an hour after our plates have been cleared before we were able to get the check.

6. French Fries are a very common dish in Germany. Now, you may be thinking, Caroline, French Fries are definitely not Germany, they areFrench. But when you eat them with mayonaisse they are one of Germany's favorites.

7. When people think about Germany, one of the first images that pops into their heads is often beer. And for good reason; it is often cheaper to get a beer to drink than to order water because they only serve bottled water and it is really expensive.

8. The weather in Germany leaves something to be desired. Every day is grey and rainy, seeing the sun is a special event. In German snow is Schnee, and rain is Regen. We came up with a name for the nasty mix of the two that has been falling for the past couple of days. We call it Schnegen.

9. When I first got to the Goethe Institute I was given a binder that I could use to keep all of my papers in. I can't keep my notebook in it though because Germany only has two ring binders and their paper has four holes in it.

10. Castles are the thing that I think most exemplifies Germany. From where I live in bad Godesberg I can see three castles. Not lets build this to create a tourist trap, but actual castles. It is absolutely awesome.

Meet the Americans.

As you may have realized, I am not alone on the adventure. There are a few other Americans that are on this program with me.



This is Katherine. She is a Junior at WashU and has been in one of my German classes. We are currently rooming together at the Goethe Institute and we typicaly accompany one another on various treks around Bad Godesberg and the surrounding area.

This is Ian. He is also a Junior at WashU and has been in several of my German classes. He is doing the exact same program as me and Katherine and will be with us the entire time.

This is Leigh. Leigh and I actually went to MSA together and competed against each other in High School when we were both FPSers. Now we both go to WashU. She is in the business school and is going to be working at an internship in Cologne this semester.

Here is Todd. He is a junior at Northwestern and is currently Ian's roommate while we are at the Goethe Institute. We found out that Todd is actually doing the exact same thing that the people from WashU are, spending a month at the Goethe Institute and then spending the summer semester at the University of Tuebingen.

Rhine River

Yesterday we went down to the Rhine River. We had heard that there was a lovely little riverwalk, so we went investigatin. Unfortunately, on the way there was a play ground, and I like to play. The problem is that playgrounds aren't made for Caroline sized people, and my pants weren't made for playing. I survived the playing apparati (plural of apparatus ?) that seemed like a death trap like the spring horse and the half-pipe like thing. But the teeter-totter, it seemed so innocent, but upon trying to stand on the teeter-totter my pants ripped. It was rather unfortunate. We did continue the walk, and the Rhine was rather pretty. It was fun to see all of the boats and barges, there was even a ferry bringing some cars accross the river.

Class yesterday was really nifty, not because the grammar of the was new and fascinating, but because I got to know one of the Afgahni women in my class better. We sat at the same table and we started talking. Her name is Homa and she is a German Studies major who has technically graduated from her schoolin Afghanistan but after they graduate they come to the Goethe Institute for practice using the language because apparently they don't do much with actual usage when they are learning. We both shared pictures of our family with each other and we mad a great team in a class competition. She told me at the end of the class that I had initially intimidated her (I've never heard that before), but now she thinks that I am nice.

Last night we went to a gym and played soccer. It was a blast. I was the only girl that played, and needless to say I wasn't very good, especially compared to all the guys that only ever play soccer, but it was a good time nonetheless.

Bonn Basilica

The Pope recently revoked the excommunication of several bishops that were a part of an ultraconservative group. One of the bishops had at one point in time denied the existence of the Holocaust. In Germany, denying the Holocaust is a crime. This move by the Pope has caused him to be criticized by Angela Merkel, the Bundeskanzlerin of Germany. Despite the turmoil that is being felt in the Church in Germany, people still gathered today to celebrate Mass with one another.

I went to Mass this morning at the Basilica in Bonn. It is a beautiful building, and it was a very cool thing to be able to worship with people from another country, who speak another language. This universality, the fact that I can know what is going on at a church in Bonn, Germany when I am from Missouri, is one of the things that I like most about the Catholic Church.

The Basilica is a big open building with rock walls. As a consequence, any noise echoed quite a lot and made everything very difficult to understand. I was in a strange church, in another country, listening to a foreign language, and I still knew what was going on and where we were in the Mass. That is cool.

There were a few slight differences that I noted. There was no pause between the first and second readings. And then between the readings and the Gospel, both a Psalm and the Alleluia were sung. No one held hands while saying the Our Father. And Peace be with You was just something that everyone said all at once, not an individual greeting of the people around you.

These minor differences in the structure don't matter though. It is the content that matters and that is the same everywhere. It is comforting to me to know that I have done today what the CSC, my church in the states, is going to be doing in a few hours. There is a sense of community and unity that can literally span oceans when you are doing the same things to worship the same God.

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In other news, Leigh came down to Bonn today and we showed her the city. We went to the Beethoven house, and this time we actually went inside. We were able to take several illegal pictures from inside the house. (You weren't supposed to take pictures in the museuem, or at least that is what I assume a camera with a line through it means) We also enjoyed some cake at a local bakery. Quite a lovely day.

An organ that Beethoven played. A collection of various instruments that had some connection to Beethoven and therefore needed to be displayed in his house.

Flat Stanley with one of Beethoven's compositions

The room where Beethoven was born. Kind of weird to think that he was born at home and not in a hospital or doctor's office.

Köln otherwise known as Cologne

Today was the first weekend that I have spent in Germany. We went to the fourthe biggest city in the country, Köln. When we arrived we met up with a tour guide, Dr. Helmut Meyers, who led us on a tour through the city. Köln is 2000 years old and was originally a Roman city. All around the city remnants of the Romans can be seen, a street here, an arch there, part of the city wall. After we finished our tour through the city, Catherine, the other girl from WashU, and I met up with Leigh. Leigh is also a student at WashU but she is here through the Business school and will be working at an internship this semester with a German TV company. Here are some highlights from the day.

This is the world famous Kölner Dom. You can go up into the towers and have a great view of the city on a clear day. The detail is absolutely amazing and there are carvings and statues everywhere.

This is an arch that was part of the old city wall from when Köln was a Roman city.

This is another cathedral. It is older than the Dom but not as big or ornate.

Flat Stanley and Leigh hit it off right from the time that they met at Starbucks. What, we were in a Starbucks in Germany? Don't they have those in the US?

Flat Stanley and I enjoying a currywurst. It is a sausage covered in a sauce with curry powder on top. Eaten with french fries that you dip in a multitue of sauces.

Me and Flat Stanley chilling at Leigh's apartment in the awesome hammock

Bonn

Here is a quick overveiw of thedifferent sights to see in Bonn. We had a limited amount of time to go exploring because of that whole class thing that tends to get in the way. We were still able to see a lot and now know what to go back to investigate further.

This is the Old Post Office and the Muenster Marktplatz. There is a statue of Beethoven in the Middle you can see it right in front of the Post Office.

This is a picture on the wall of a building opposite from Beethoven's birth house. We were unable to actually go into the house because of time constrictions but we are planning on going back another day to investigate.

This is th Old City Hall. It is one of the oldest buildings in Bonn. It was rebuilt due to fire damage at one time. It is no longer in use, but it had been the city hall until sometime in the late 1900's.

This is Bonn University. The University doesn't have a central campus like universities in the US do. Instead, each department has it's own building and then the buildings are scattered all throughout the city. This is the building for the language studies department.

This is me in front of the Rhine River. To the right you can see Bad Godesberg, behind me is Bonn, and to the left you can see Koeln.

This is the Bonn Basilica. It is actually older than the Koelner Dom, which is something that the Bonn inhabitants take great pride in.

These are the heads of the patron saints of Bonn in front of the Basilica.

After our whirlwind trip through Bonn we decided it was time to get a crepe and chill out before catching the train back to Bad Godesberg for class. It was a good life decision.

Haus der Geschichte: House of History

Today's cultural activity was going to the Haus der Gesichte (History Museum) in Bonn. After breakfast I was waiting with a couple of other people to leave when one of the secretaries walked by and asked me if I was wearing an Icelandic sweater. I was. We then had a lovely chat about Iceland, and Icelandic horses, and my sweater. (Mom, this little tidbit was all for you.)

After having established that I had been to Iceland, that I had ridden horses while there, and that Missouri is too hot for Icelandic horses, I left with two other people for the History Museum. We rode the U-Bahn, subway, there. An entrance is actually rght in the subway station. The building is actually three floors and it has exhibits for many periods of German history. I was able to thoroughly read the WWII section, but that is all the time that I had because everything was in German and I read slowly, and we wanted to get back in time to get some lunch before class. We are planning on returning sometime soon to look at the other displays, especially the one about the development of the German flag.

For lunch, we again went to the cantina. I had Jaegerschnitzel with frenchfries. It was pretty tasty, much better than anything I could come up with. I am enjoying the typical German food that I have had for lunch the past couple of days.

Today's class was difficult, lots of dealing with prepositions and what prepositions are used with what verbs and in which case. I tend to think too much while analyzing the sentence, and you really just need to feel what goes where, or at least that is what my teacher told me. She said there isn't a rule to use, you just have to feel it. I hope it doesn't take too long for me to get a sense of feeling.

Bad Godesberg

I know that I have been telling everyone that I am going to be in Bonn for the first month that I am in Germany. But that is not entirely true. I am actually residing in the city of Bad Godesburg.

It is a suburb of Bonn, but it is still its own distinct entity. Bonn used to be the capitol of Germany, and capitols attract lots of politicians and diplomats. Most of these important people lived in Bad Godesberg. Today we took a walking tour with one of the Zivis around Bad Godesberg.

(Zivi stands for Zivildienst. Every male in Germany must either serve in the army or become a civil servant for a certain amount of time. The Zivis are the guys who have chosen not to serve in the army.)

We saw the house where Beethoven gave his first concert. We also saw the Algerian consulate. There are some absolutely incredible houses as you get close to the Rhine.

But not everyone in Bad Godesberg is like that. The street that the Goethe Institute is on is sort of a dividing line. As you go toward the Rhine the houses are extravagent and there are lots of very wealthy people living there. As you get farther away from the Rhine you tend to find more and more immigrants and people that do not have much money at all. The weather was pretty crummy today so I didn't take my camera on our Spaziergang (walkingtour) , but hopefully I will soon be able to get some pictures of these incredible houses.

After the walking tour the other three Americans and I headed over to the Cantina to eat. It is a cafeteria in the basement of an office building, and it's cheap. I had pork with red cabbage and potato dumplings, very German.

In class today we looked at the different languages that everyone speaks. In my class of ten there were people who reported in Persian, Arabic, English, Portugese, Spanish and Catalina. It was pretty nifty to look at the similarities and differences of all the languages, and to discuss what is the most important aspect of each language. (German is the grammar, English is the vocabulary)

First Day of School

Today was my first day of class. I have class Monday through Friday from 1:00 until 6:00. It is a long time. And we are working on a lot of grammar stuff in my class, which I don't find particularily thrilling, but it is stuff that I need to work on, imagine that, me needing to work on grammar.

My class is very diverse, there are six Afgahni women, a boy from Brazil, a girl from Argentina, another boy who speaks arabic, and me. Literally, the only way we are all able to communicate is through German. It is a pretty nifty.


Since I only have class during the afternoon, I have the entire morning to go exploring. This mornings first adventure was to the doctor's office to get some blood work done. It took a lot of time, some great Denglish by both parties, and a German-English online medical dictionary but we were finally able to get the right things ordered and I will go back later on in the week to get the results. There were several differences besides that language that were rather surprising. First, the secretaries don't print lables for vials and things on a computer, they just write names on by hand with a permanent marker. Second, the nurse drawing blood didn't wear gloves. Quite a different experience after being in American doctor's offices my enire life.


After the doctor appointment I headed out to explore the city Bad Godesburg a bit. There is a castle overlooking that city that I wanted to find the entrance too. I set my eyes on the castle and started walking. I reached the hill that the castle is situated on and started climbing when I saw signs that were pointing to the castle cemetary so I let myself get distracted. I think that it was a good life decision. The cemetary was absolutely beautiful and so different from American cemetaries. In this cemetary each plot is clearly defined by a concrete border and the land inside is very carefully tended. Each plot is like its own zen garden. And there were a couple of grave gardener's out tending to all of the displays, watering flowers, lighting candles, pulling weeds etc. There were also a few realtives cleaing up plots as well. This cemetray has been in use since 1805 when the castle was around, and it is still in us today.

Side note: I found a Hans Esch, a C. Pesch at the cemetary, and read about a Michael Lesch in the newspaper. A great day for last names.

I didn't end up making it up to the castle today because I spent so much time in the cemetary. But I always have tomorrow. On my way back to the Goethe Institute I stopped at a supermarket so that I could get some food. I had remembered to bring my shopping bag so I was pretty proud of myself.

I have finished with class for the day and have started on my homework for the night. There are four Americans here, three of which are from WashU, and we all like to stick together. Right now we are heading of to try and cook some dinner.

Here is a quick look at my room. Twobeds, two desks (with touch desklamps), two closets, and a sink. Pretty standard









This is a look down the pathway in the cemetary. You can see the concrete edges of the plots and some of the gardes on the inside. Some were more intricate than others but all were very beautiful.











This is the Mother Earth memorial. Along the bottom is the verse

"From dust you were made, and to dust you shall return"






And this is a pretty sweet poster that I found while walking around the town center. "Who has Jesus, has Life"