Final Day in Germany

On Friday, June 12, 2009, we arrived back in Frankfurt. After dinner with Rotary District 7390 Governor Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hoover and Rotary District 1950 Governor Herr and Frau Helmut Mater, we toured the city. Walking through the streets of Frankfurt, I noticed how even in a big city, everybody still seems to move along at a much slower pace than in our American cities like New York and Philly.

It's a tear-filled goodbye for us, but with a promise that most of us hope to come back someday in the near future.

Thank you to all of our sponsoring Rotary Clubs in Pennsylvania.

Thank you to the Rotary Districts 7390 and 1950 (in Germany)

Thank you to District Governors Mr. and Mrs. Hoover and Mr. and Mrs. Mater

Thank you to the host Rotary Clubs in Arnstadt, Gera, Jena, Weimar, Schweinfurt, and Roth

Thank you to the German GSE Team: Roland, Christian, Ulli, Ulrike and Daniela

Thank you to Peg Sennett and the GSE Committee.

Thank you to Mr. Treiweiler.

Thank you to Will Kirkpatrick for being our fearless leader.

Thank you to my team members: Melanie, Christina and Jessica.

Thank you to our new friends in Germany.

And thank you to Rotary International for this wonderful opportunity.

It is programs like this--promoting leadership, networking, friendship, travelling abroad, and peace--that we can finally begin to see good things happening in the world.

Thank you to all of our loyal readers. Please keep in contact with us. k_lightcell@hotmail.com

Blessings to all around the world!

-Kevin Leitzel-

On the Road Again...

After several days of arguing with Tina, I finally lost the argument. Nürnberg is, in fact, the same city as Nuremberg. My mistake Tina. I apologize. You win.

Once in Nuremberg (aka Nürnberg), we visited the Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rallying Ground in the Congress Hall. Our tour lasted between 2.5 and 3 hours. In this tour, we learned the history of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, the Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials. Afterwards, we enjoyed a more light-hearted view of the city. We toured Nuremberg Castle; it sits on the hilltop overlooking the city and learned about the devastation of World War II air raids. Approximately 90% of the city was destroyed, but then later rebuilt to look almost exactly as it did before the bombings.

In the evening, we walked through the city and stopped at a beer festival. Once a year, the city holds a beer festival in the land moat surrounding the castle. Here 28 local breweries are represented along with food vendors. As you can imagine, it was an enjoyable evening... - Kev-

Playing in a Creek, Talking to Birds, and a Last Minute Stop in Regensburg

From our hotel in Enderndorf -- the beautiful building overlooking the Grosse Brombachsee (a man-made lake)-- we ventured about two hours to a waterwheel electricity station. Standing in hip-boots, we inched our way through the creek to get a feel for the strength of the water passing through the waterwheel.

Later, we travelled to a bird sanctuary where we met some very friendly feathery friends. The owner, a man with a shaman-like ability to communicate with the birds, showed us some of the neat tricks they can do. One exotic creature flips his head back when there is an audience. He enjoyed entertaining us. Meanwhile a hawk was very giddy for the owner's affection.

In the last minute, we took an impromptu tour of Regensburg. A walking bridge was built in 1146. It still stands today. It is the first stone-bridge found in Northern Europe. At that time, a toll was collected three times across the bridge. I bet they weren't very happy when they got to the end... This bridge was the only way to get across the Danube River at that time. Regensburg was an important trade center as a result of this bridge. The Rhine-Main-Danube channel join in Regensburg. The earliest record of Regensburg dates back to 179 A.D. Today, the city has a population of about 150,000 with an unemployment rate of 1.5%! In the 13th and 15th Centuries, very strong earthquakes destroyed two-thirds of the city. By the 19th Century, the city had been completely reconstructed. - Kev

Schweinfurt - Northern Bavaria

We have moved to the state of Bavaria (West Germany in former times). Our first city stop is Schweinfurt, where we are being hosted by the Schweinfurt-Peterstirn Rotary Club.


We attended Distrikt 7390's Conference on Samstag (Saturday). Rotary International's theme for 2008-09 is Macht Träume wahr (Make dreams real). We had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the 300+ attendees (in German!) with the other two GSE teams from the Distrikt. The team who visited our district in Pennsylvania gave a presentation about their experiences in South Central PA and showed photos of their time in the area. During lunch, we set up a table with tastes from PA: Snyder's pretzels, Herlocher's mustard, and Hershey's chocolate. This also gave us the chance to meet and greet RC members from around the Distrikt in areas we did not have the chance to visit. During the conference, we also saw friends we've made along the way on our trip from Arnstadt, Erfurt, Gera, Jena, and Weimar. "Now this is something really special..." We said goodbye to the German GSE team who we first met in PA. Thank you Distrikt 7390 for sponsoring the team to PA; we had many good times together. It's good to have friends across the Atlantic.

After the conference, we visited Kunsthalle, a former bath house turned into a modern art museum. Next, we were off for a city tour with Fritz before a wünderbar dinner hosted by RC Freund, Barbara. Das Essen war ausgezeichnet!


Sonntag (Sunday) was an adventure filled day. We enjoyed a fahrrad (bike) ride of the surrounding area with Jürgen. We had a personal tour of the 829-year-old village of Königsberg with a former mayor, who told great stories! We learned the discovery of America was assisted by Regiomontanus, son of Königsberg. Columbus positioned his ships based on tables developed by Regiomontanus.

Dinner featured spargelessen at the Weinstall Castell, a vineyard located in the hilltop village of Castell.

While our time in Schweinfurt was limited, we enjoyed the new friends made and the opportunity to explore the region. Vielen Dank!

°tina and kevin:)

P.S. Zum Geburstag Viel Glück Will! (Happy birthday, Will!)

Playing Catch-Up

Hello everyone! Sorry we have been negligent in our blogging duties, but there has been so much to keep us occupied that it has been difficult finding the time to log on. This blog post may be more of a bulleted list than previous entries in order to fit everything in within a short time period. Here goes...

We had a nice final weekend in Jena, touring around at farms, preschools, castles, and other cultural locales. We had met so many wonderful Rotarians and friends and many of them came to say goodbye and wish us well. On Sunday we traveled the short distance to Weimar, home of many great artists and Universities.

Since we've been here for 4 1/2 days or so now, here are some things that we've seen and done:

• Belvedere Schloss - a castle with beautiful gardens and very old trees in the large park
• Ate at a Turkish restaurant named Divan - there is a large Turkish population in Germany. We enjoyed the falafel, lentil soup, and other delicacies.
• Traveled to Eisenach to attend a Lutheran service honoring a retiring Bishop, then went to the Wartburg castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. This castle was very beautiful and included many works of art, including a room of sprakling mosaic tiles.
• Moving back and forth between the Hotel Leonardo and the Hotel Amelienhof because the hotels are booked solid due to a possible visit by President Barack Obama this weekend! And speaking of that, it's neat to be here with such a President in the White House. All the German people we've spoken with seem to like him and think he'll do good for the US and internationally. There are posters hanging up for him and wer were giving "American" cookies with his image printed on it. Yum! There are secret service agents all over the place, including at our hotel! It was funny/interesting to walk into the restaurant for breakfast one morning and hear 90% of the guests speaking English. Not what you'd expect.
• We visited the Buchenwald concentration camp (also a destination for Obama). It was a very sobering experience but one I'm glad we did; everyone should see something like it to honor those that were impacted by this terrible time in history.
• We also visited the Amalia Library - an old and art-filled library that unfortunately partly burned down a few years ago, damaging many valuable books.
• We've strolled through two local Universities: Bauhaus Universitat Weimar and the Hochschule fur Musik Franz Liszt. One is well known for its art and architecture classes while the other is a highly respected music school with students from around the globe.
• Last night we attended a piano concert of a wonderful Russian/Canadian pianist, then socialized at a local pub.

It's not all touring around though. Our time in Weimar is work too. We had another Rotary presentation on Tuesday night and yesterday we attended a 5th grade English class and helped them with their language studies. Today we're stopping by the International School in the morning and visiting a solar panel manufacturing plant in Arnstadt in the afternoon. We get to see so much of the state of Thuringen - it will be difficult to leave on Friday for Bavaria.

As we approach the end of our 3rd week I just wanted to say another thank you to all the people that have welcomed us into their homes, businesses, and lives. People have taken off work to show us around and for that we'll be eternally grateful! Your cities are magnificent and we've had the trip of a lifetime. Danka! - Jessica

Jena

This morning, we met with the mayor of Jena, Dr. Albrecht Schroeter. Then, we were off to a local vineyard for lunch, about 30 minutes outside of Jena. Afterwards, we visited Schloss Neuenburg, a castle from medieval times. People were setting up stands in the castle for a weekend festival. It compares to our hometown Renaissance Faire. In the evening, Herr Wolfram took us to an architectural exhibit in Erfurt for which he won a prize. Along the way, we learned of different styles of modern architecture in the city.

The trip back from Erfurt was an enjoyable excursion... Thank you, Kristian, for helping us to hop onto the right train.

Bis Spaeter! - Kevin

Mein Liebe--Deutschland!

What a busy day...

The day started off with some rain. Jessica and I met with Herr Wolfram to learn more about architectural planning for city landscape. I was impressed to see how much care and attention goes into the environmental aspect of planning. Then, we went to visit his hillside vineyard. It's a project in the making. The view from the top is absolutely stunning.

Afterwards, Herr Wolfram took us to visit three chateaus/castles--each with their own sense of personality and color. They are hillside as well. The gardens are filled with flowers; hedges and trees are perfectly trimmed.

In the afternoon, we visited the Schiller House, a famous author and correspondent of Goethe's. The Schiller Home was one of five residences for him, but only one survived the devastation of World War II. He lived in this house from 1797 - 1799. It is said that the correspondence letters between Schiller and Goethe are one of the great works of German Literature.

In the evening, Kristian and Stefanie, my host family, showed me a book of black print artwork of New York City. "Vom Rhythmus Der Neuen Welt" by Max Thalman was printed in 1927 in Jena, Germany. The process for printing these pictures involved carving them out and stamping the ink onto a page. Only a small handful of copies exist in the world.

Afterwards, I met up with the team again and a few of my new German friends here in Jena. We attended a barbeque at the home of Herr Olaf. The food was delicious. We talked for hours and a few of us hiked up the hill near his home. At the top is a special monument to memorialize those who were killed in World War I.

Tomorrow, we meet with the mayor of Jena. Then we will be interviewed by the local newspaper. I'm now looking back over the past 12 days, and I can't believe how many places I've visited and how many new friends I've made. Germany is such a welcoming country with many ancient sights to see and wonderful people to meet! The food and beverages here are always good. It didn't take me long at all to adjust to the German way of life...

Guten Nacht! - Kevin

Jena - 2nd largest city in Thuringen

We arrived in Jena on 26 Mai. Jena is a city where one-fourth of the population attends the University, making it a 'young' city, yet the castles on the surrounding hilltops were built in the 1st Century.

Since arriving in Jena, we have been on the go! Catching the wave of energy in a University city. On our first day here we went to the top of the Intershop Tower, the highest tower in Thuringen; a Queen Heaven light show at the Planetarium; orchid hunting in the wildlife preserve; and presented at the Jena Ernst-Abbe Rotary Club. We were very honored to learn we are the first GSE Team to visit the Jena Ernst-Abbe Rotary Club, as the club has only been in exisitence for two years.

Today, we had a vocational day. Tina visited the Red Cross, Melanie and Jessica visited a 4th grade English class, and Kevin visited two libraries. Will had an opportunity to work on his golf game, as all great lawyers need to do!

We also presented today at the Jena Rotary Club. We witnessed a new member being inducted into the club. In the spirit of a true Rotarian, this new member sprung into action and assisted us while having technically difficulties during our presentation. Dankeschön!

Finally, we ended our day with a city tour of Jena, guided by Kristian and our honorary sixth team member for the week, Leni. Jena is a city of much history, including the invention of optical lenses and UV lighting. The city has its own seven wonders and many folk stories to go along with each one. The city museum has the first German flag with the German colors of black, red, and gold.

Stay tuned for more stories and photos from this grand adventure! We are not even half way through yet!!!

Freut mich! (It is a joy to me!)
tina:)

Tina and Melanie's Vocational Visit May 25, 2009

Today we had vocational visits in Gera. Tina and Melanie went to Lebenshilfe, which means living help or help for living. It is a company that provides education and vocational opportunities for people who have mental and/or physical disabilities. They have a 12-year school where they teach them acedemics and skills that encourage and empower the students for real life. The students attend during the day and go home around 4:00 p.m. The adult housing program, Wohnhaus Lebenshilfe, is a residence for disabled people who are 21 or older. Most of the residents work during the day at integrated workplaces where those with disabilities work alongside those without disabilities. We walked through the Lebenshilfe Werkstätten (workshop) to see how they produced light fixtures from start to finish.

Here's a picture of Tina and Melanie in front of the Lebenshilfe School.

Guten tag!

Next Stop - Gera

On 22 Mai, we headed off to the city of Gera. While in this grand town, we will be staying with host families and each team member will have individual programs over the weekend. On Montag (Monday), we will have a vocational day before meeting up for a presentation with the Gera Rotary Club. The Gera Rotary Club sponsored German GSE Team Member Ulli's trip to Pennsylvania. We had an opportunity to spend some time with Ulli and his friends when we arrived in the city. It was great to see another familiar face so far from home!!! Danke, Ulli!

Gera was formed in the 1100s and in the 1200s there were 1,000 inhabitants. In the 1300s, Gera was primarily a glove making industry. In 1780, there was a great fire that destroyed the entire city. Schrabersches Haus is the oldest house in the city (built in 1660) and was the only thing not destroyed in the great fire. The city was rebuilt on the same plan with deep cellar passages to store bier! There are over 200 cellars below the city. Historically, bier was safer to drink than water. In the word of our tour guide, Katrin, 'beer is perhaps better than water!' Today, Gera is a very modern city with little industry, but still has many beautiful historic landmarks and a lot of modern art through out the city.

tina:)

Father's Day, Thueringen Wald, and Saying Goodbye to Arnstadt and Erfurt

New friends, German snacks, a mountain view that would take your breath away and two celebrations... These are the experiences that marked this day. We awoke to the clanging bells of the early morning travelers in the streets. This is not your typical day. It is Germany's national holiday-- for fathers! They arise early in the morning to embark upon an excursion to celebrate. It is a day to drink and be merry.

After Fruehstuck, we met our other German friends from the Arnstadt Rotary Club. As a group, we hiked Thueringen Wald. We traveled approximately 8 miles and learned all about German history, German environmentalism and the German castle that occuppied the mountain in the 1200s. With the help of our tour guides Norbert (Rotarian) and Frodo (a four-legged friend), we pressed onward through the mountain and enjoyed the sites with some new friends.

I've lost track of time because I forgot to bring a watch with me to Germany, so I can't say exactly how long we hiked. But I can say that it was a very nice, long journey. We arrived at Norbert's house. Once there, we enjoyed some coffee and baked goods.

Later in the evening, we met at Frau Ulrika and Herr Ralf's house for a good-bye barbeque party--Erfurt style. I ate my very first bratwurst and enjoyed a compliment of foods and homemade drinks (gifts from the Grossvater und Grossmutter of the house).

Tomorrow morning, we move onward to Gera. We are curious as we await the new adventures yet to come. Arnstadt and Erfurt have left the most amazing impressions in our minds and we are very grateful for the friends we have made along the way. Thank you to the Arnstadt Rotary for your generosity, time, food, and interest in hosting us. Though we are separated by an ocean, we will always hold Germany and especially Arnstadt and Erfurt in our hearts as our first experience in this fabulous country! It is easy for me to see how peace in the world is a real possibility through this magnificent organization. Guten Nacht und Vielen Dank! - Kevin

Erfurt - Thuringer State Capital

Guten Abend! Heute (today), the GSE Team ventured to the city of Erfurt via der Zug (train). We were greeted by Herr Ernst Bergmann (pictured with us) and began a walking tour of the city with Frau Habisch. Erfurt has a very rich history with first written mention by Bonifatius in 742.

We had Mittagetten (lunch) in the "middle ages" at the Wirsthaus Christoffel. The restaurant was decorated with furniture and adornments of the time period. And the food... Schmeckt sehr gut! (It tastes very good). As mentioned in a previous post, three of us don't eat meat, but we have had little problem finding vegetarian and fish dishes everywhere we have been. And there hasn't been any opportunity to be hungry since we have arrived in Germany, we have been fed very well!

Next, we travelled to Messe Erfurt, the largest Congress Center and Exhibition Hall in Thuringen. While there we had the honor of meeting the Lord Mayor of Erfurt.

To end our day in Erfurt, we had the pleasure of visiting with Ulrike, from the German GSE Team to Pennsylvania. It was great to see a familiar face in the city!

Dies ist ein wunderbares Land! (This is a wonderful country)

~tina:)

May 19, 2009, Tour of Arnstadt

Today we took a tour of Arnstadt. We started at the doll museum. The dolls are made of wax and were the collection of the wife of a duke.

Our next stop was at the Bakerei Nagel (bakery). One of our hosts knew an employee of the bakery, so we were permitted to walk into the back where the bread was baking. They handed us a sample of some freshly-baked bread which was still hot and delicious! German breads are often dark, usually made with pumpernickel or rye, and more dense than bread in the USA.

We walked through a music school and then through the market in the center of town. Vendors were selling fresh fruit, vegetables, spices, meat, and cheese. They also had clothing, toys, and other items.

Next, we toured the Bach-Church where Johann Sebastian Bach was the organist for four years. The pipe organ has 21 registers and 1200 pipes. It is on the third level in the back of the church.

We saw a model of Arnstadt from the 1500's when there was a wall running the whole way around the city for protection of its inhabitants.

Our next stop was the personal museum of a man who has collected antiques for 40 years. We were impressed by the amount of items he had on display. Across the street from this man's home, is a church that was built in 1130.

Our last tour was at the Veste Wachsenburg Castle. We climbed to the top of the castle tower and enjoyed a wonderful view of the area.

It was a beautiful day filled with great experiences.

Bis morgen (till tomorrow),
Melanie

Vocational Day in Arnstadt

Guten morgen! Monday marked our 2nd day in the German state of Thuringia. We had a delicious Fruhstuck (breakfast) of breads, cheeses, fruits, and pasteries at the hotel and then split into two groups for our first vocational day. Kevin, Melanie, and Tina headed out to a local school and library to see how these systems work overseas. The young German students were eager to ask many questions about the US and the older ones practiced their English vocabulary skills with the GSE team. Schools compete for students in Germany and their grading system seems much tougher than in the US... to get their equivalent of an "A" students must score better than 95%. Even before the students leave what we'd call elementary school they must decide what track they want to follow for the rest of their schooling... to go into a trade or work towards going to University.

The second group consisted of Will and Jessica. They met with one of Arnstadt's city planners to discuss how they maintain the historical character of the city. Zoning rules are more stringent here than in Pennsylvania... all development must take place within city limits so that they don't get the urban sprawl that is so typical of the US. After that the group traveled to nearby Erfurt to meet with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment to discuss climate change and biodiversity protection. Germany is very proactive when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change; we can learn a lot from them!

After such a jam-packed day you'd think we'd all take a nap, but not so. We walked around the beautiful town that is Arnstadt, visited the train station, then headed to out first German Rotary meeting where we would give our first presentation (see photo above). The Rotarians were so welcoming and friendly and the language barrier only slowed us down a tiny bit. Warm greetings and jokes seem to transcend languages. For instance, the mai course of dinner was a local variety of sausage. Three of us don't eat meat, however, so we were worried we'd offend people by not eating it. They might have thought we were a bit strange for not eating meat, but they kidded around, saying that at least we drink beer!

Our presentation went over very well, even with out broken German. They seemed to love the Hershey's kisses we handed out, particularly one man in an armed forces uniform that remembered when American soldiers passed out Hershey's chocolate bars to kids after WWII. It's hearing these personal stories and seeing the non-touristy side of Germany that is really making this trip so worthwhile. So until next time, tschuss! (ie. "goodbye;" that is spelled somewhat incorrectly but there is not umlaute or the extra vowel that is used in the German language).

Jessica

First Day in Germany!!!

After a very smooth, 8-hour flight, we arrived at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The weather here is gorgeous! We were greeted by sunshine and a temperature of about 80 degrees in the afternoon. We were transported by Mike (Past GSE Rotarian, not pictured) and Ben (not pictured) to Arnstadt. The Autobahn is fast--very fast! We saw about a dozen hilltop castles on our journey and endless forests, grass, and yellow farmland--all of which are meticulously cared for.

When we arrived in Arnstadt, we were greeted by local Rotarian, Tom (not pictured). He treated us to Fruehstuck (breakfast) at one of the local cafes. Then, he took us on a foot tour of the city. Many of the buildings have been in existence since the 1600s or earlier.

This city is absolutely gorgeous! Cobblestone streets, water-fountains (that are clean enough to drink from) gardens, cafes, street shops--these are the sites of Arnstadt. All stores are closed on Sunday. However, we did have the opportunity to visit two ancient churches, and see miniature models of castles.

We had ice cream with Tom and his energetic, little cherubs (a 10-year old daughter and 6-year old son). The children were playing as we toured the city--speaking in German and attempting to outdo each other with the one foot scooter, which they so joyfully carted to the top of the hill and then raced down. Of course, they were showing off to us, but we enjoyed their playfulness.

In Germany, the children have more freedom to play. The streets are safe and clean. Cars yield to pedestrians. Coffee and ice cream are a daily pasttime at 4:00 pm every day. We breathe a sigh of relief at their relaxed lifestyle. It is pleasant, pristine and precious.

However, we are also very tired. Most of us have been awake for 32 hours straight. Tomorrow, we will have a vocational day. Stay tuned for more updates. Guten Nacht von Deutschland! - Kevin

Preparations

Our team met for the first time on January 15, 2009. At that time, May 16 seemed so far away. Now here we are only three days away from departure to Germany!

As we have prepared for our trip over the past four months, we have spent a great deal of time planning our uniforms, presentation, and gifts for our host families, Rotary Clubs, and the Rotary Conference we will be attending. Yet, one of the most beneficial things we have done to prepare for our trip has been the time spent with the GSE Inbound team from Germany. Getting to know Roland, Christian, Daniela, Ulrike, and Ulli has been a great start to our GSE experience. They have provided us with insight on the German culture, language, and areas we will be traveling to. Danke, Freunde! Wir freuen uns, Sie in Deutschland bald zu besuchen! (Thank you, friends! We look forward to visiting you in Germany soon!)

You can check out the German GSE Team's blog to see what they have done while here in America for the past month at http://www.gse09.blogspot.com/ Since the site is in German, you may want to translate the site at http://www.babelfish.yahoo.com/

~tina:)

Nach Deutschland, von 16 Mai 2009 bis 13 Juni 2009