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:)