Visitors from home.

Grandma and Poppo arrived from Vineland on Friday morning. They will be staying with us for just over a week, and while they are here we will all travel to Amsterdam for a few days. So far we have had a fun visit.

On Saturday we took a the Eppelwoi Express, a trolley that tours the major sites of Frankfurt. Unfortunately, there is some HUGE festival happening down on the Main River, and the tour is not following its usual route. We did have fun though. Each rider gets an apple juice or another beverage and a bag of pretzels for the ride, so both boys were very happy. We had a group of 'happy' young men on our trolley car and they spent much of the ride singing loudly. They also had a habit of messing with the controls at the back of the car, and our conductor was NOT happy about that. There were several conversations that ended with the conductor threatening to throw them off the trolley. Luckily, Steve could translate so we were able to understand the controversy.






Once we realized that the trolley was not following its usual route we decided to hop off in the Sachsenhausen section of town. This is the part of the city with the traditional Cider bars. The six of us had a traditional Frankfurt meal, complete with apple wine and hankasse mit musik. It was quite tasty, although Steve was really the only one to enjoy the hankasse.





Today we another lovely day- bright and sunny but not too hot. I got a good run in this morning, about 8.5 miles along the Main. The boys did some schoolwork as well. We also spoke a bit with them about the history of the region and of World War II. One of our stops in Amsterdam will be the Anne Frank House, so it seemed an appropriate time to start talking about who she was and why her story is so important.
After lunch all six of us walked over to Grueneberg Park, which is an enormous park about a mile from our apartment. Today there was some Olympic run event happening in the park, with lots of different events- kid’s runs, speed walking and races. The boys threw their ‘howler’ around and we watched them climb on the various jungle gyms. We also had a little treat at the park café- a giant bowl of ice cream for the two little ones, apple strudel and ice cream for Grandma and Poppo, a Radler for me, and nothing for Stevie.









Tomorrow I will head out to Riedberg for the day and then we leave for Amsterdam on Tuesday morning!

A post from Charlie.

I very much enjoy walking around town and site seeing. It gives us stuff to do on the long days. One place we go very often is a big rope climbing maze. I really like this because it is fun to climb to the top in different ways. It is challenging not because the ropes are too far apart, but because they are too close together- ropes always get in your way. I've found three different types of ways to get up to the top- inside, outside and corkscrew.

I just finished a very good book called "Snow Treasure". I enjoyed it because it had a lot of German history in it. It was also very well written, I highly recommend it.

love,
Charlie

A post from Henry.

There is a train called the U-bahn that goes underground just like the subway. I like to ride the train. There is a climbing thing down by the river and a bridge. It is like 10 feet tall. I climbed up to the top five times. It is fun- we will put in a picture, sorry but it is sideways!



Germany is known for its sausages, and I like to eat SAUSAGES. I miss everyone.

love,
Henry

Fun in Frankfurt

We have had a great time here in Frankfurt. It took Steve a couple of days to adjust to the time, but both boys seemed to settle in quickly. We have been laying low, walking around and taking in some of the sights nearby. It has been HOT and sunny, at least until today. Steve is working diligently away, he is submitting a grant this afternoon and both boys have been doing their school work everyday. Here are some of the highlights so far:


Our first dinner.



Charlie and Henry enjoying nutella crepes by the Main.


Steve, Charlie and Henry admiring a Vermeer at the Stadel Museum.


A visit from Andi on her way to Dusseldorf.



Some new, short haircuts.

They're here!

I met Steve, Charlie and Henry at the airport this morning! They arrived on Air India, landing at 8:15. There are two big automatic doors that lead to the international baggage area and when they open you can see inside. I stood watching carefully, and sure enough at 8:40 the doors opened and I saw them all waiting for their bags. They couldn't see me, even though I was jumping up and down and waving my arms.



If you look closely, you can see Charlie and a little bit of Henry behind him. Here are the two weary travelers wheeling their bags through to the exit:



Their flight was good- a man passed out three rows behind them, Henry stayed up ALL night watching television (reruns of The Nanny and Mad About You, as well as Mama Mia), and Charlie made it all the way until they were taxiing to the gate before he threw up. But, they are all here now and I am so glad to have them with me.

Hamburg

Last weekend I went up to Hamburg, about a four hour train ride, to visit with an old friend Debbie Maxfield Kuschel. Debbie and I went to elementary school together and we were in touch with one another through college. The last we can both recall, we saw each other sometime in college. I am not sure how we reconnected, I think it was through Facebook, but I essentially invited myself up to visit with them and they graciously allowed me to do so.

Here is a photo of Debbie and Gunnar on their boat, missing from this photo is Garbo their dog. I think she is off to the right somewhere and she is beautiful so I am sorry you can't see her.



Debbie and Gunnar have been married for nearly 16 years! Debbie met him in Germany while visiting her aunt, they returned to the states for the summer and then married and moved back to Hamburg and haven't left since. Debbie is a graphic artist, currently working for a publishing company and Gunnar is a veterinarian. While I was visiting, their upstairs neighbor had some sort of cat emergency and Gunnar must have gotten 5 calls from her- at one point he even said that they would have to move (I think he was only partially kidding!)

I arrived on Friday afternoon and Debbie and I took Garbo for a walk. It was a bit chilly, overcast and rainy, but it gave us a chance to catch up on the past 20 years. We went home to a lovely dinner and then at midnight Debbie and Gunnar took me on a night driving tour of Hamburg. It is a very pretty city, surrounded by water, the Elbe river and many canals. Debbie told me that Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam.
The city skyline is dominated by the church spires- the Michel is the town's symbol and it is on their flag. Another interesting and beautiful church is the St. Nikolai-Kirsche, originally built in 1195, it was nearly destroyed in the war and only the spire remains. It has been left as it was after the bombing and new serves as a memorial.

Saturday Gunnar had to work, so Debbie and I drove around town in her convertible. The sun came out and it was a lovely day. We went to a section of Hamburg right on the Elbe river, apparently it is one of the more exclusive sections of town. The center of this part of town is on a hillside and the houses run along small lanes down the hillside. The walkways are cobblestone and they are all named and even have street signs. The walk down was great, the walk back up, not so much fun. At the bottom of the hill was a dock where ferries pull up and a little cafe and restaurant. Debbie and I sat to enjoy the view and I was able to taste a Germany treat- Alsterwasser it is called in the north, and Radler throughout the rest of Germany. This is the beer/lemonade drink that I had heard of before coming here. I must say it was rather tasty- very light and refreshing.







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Saturday afternoon we had a late lunch on Debbie and Gunnar's boat and went for a small cruise around their harbor. They dock their boat south of Hamburg, on the Elbe river, just on the other side of the locks. Hamburg is a major port city, with access to the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The Elbe rises and falls with the tides, but south of the city there is a lock/dam system in place, so everything beyond is not influenced by the seas. We passed some interesting boats- this 'beauty' for example, which is apparently in danger of sinking at any moment.


There was also an old warehouse in the harbor and I was quite taken by it for some reason and took lots of photos- I will share just one:



Saturday evening we stayed in, enjoying Chinese food and Eurovision 2009. This is a tradition that I can't really explain- kind of like American Idol or Star Search, but for countries and it involves pop acts and voting by country. This year's winner was Norway- take a peek, it was rather entertaining!

I returned to Frankfurt on Sunday, Debbie sent me with some homemade banana nut walnuts and a care package of chocolates and biscuits, yum! The only hitch coming back was the the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station) was closed because of a protest, so my train was diverted to another station in Frankfurt. Luckily, I am quite familiar with the Frankfurt train system now, so I made it home with no trouble.

It was great fun Debbie and Gunnar, thank you! I hope to see you in the states soon.

Lectures

I haven't posted in a while- I have been busy lecturing and traveling and my internet is DOWN! So, I am going to break up my activities into smaller posts, that way people can read what they like and skip the rest.

Last Wednesday I gave my first lecture here, it was in the Didactics group (what we call Education), and I spoke about the American school system. In last week's talk I covered K12 education and tomorrow I will speak about colleges/universities and graduate work. I have to admit that I learned quite a bit in preparing. Did you know that NJ spends on average $12,000 a year per child to educate them. That is quite a bit, but even more shocking is the range spent across the state. Students in Sea Isle City have nearly $34,000 a year spent on their education, while students in the Irvington School district only get $7,400 a year. It was quite shocking to see how very different the numbers are for different school districts. In general, however, the German students were most intrigued by the notion of home-schooling. I mentioned it in passing at the end of the seminar and they were very interested in why someone might want this type of educational experience. I had very little to offer on that subject.

Tomorrow I will speak about colleges and universities, and I am a bit more comfortable in that area.

Zurich

I have just returned from the loveliest weekend with Kristina and her family in Thalwil Switzerland. Kristina and Brandon live just outside of Zürich with their two children, Elyse and Nicco. I have known Kristina since my days in the Schupbach lab where she was a graduate student and I was a postdoc. Our advisor, Trudi, is originally from Switzerland so it was quite fitting that we meet up here. Zürich is an incredibly beautiful city. It sits on lake Zürich and the Alps rise up behind the city and when they are visible they are spectacular! The city is clean and the buildings are beautiful. We rode the ferryboat over to Zürich both afternoons and just walked around enjoying the sites and the people.











Kristina and I did go into the two major churches in town and one, the Fraumünster, has the most incredible stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall. I wish I could have taken photos, but it wasn’t allowed. Here is a link to some information and photos online in case you are interested. I think these were the most beautiful things I saw in all of the city and these images do not do them justice.

Thalwil is also a wonderful little town. Kristina and Brandon’s home is within easy walking distance of the train station, the ferry depot and the local shops. They live in a community with many other ex-pats, as well as a number of Swiss families. The view from their top floor balcony is just amazing- out across Lake Zürich to the Gold Coast on the opposite shore. There are tons of boats out on the lake, big sailboats, dinghies, skulls and even paddleboats. We saw a couple of water skiers and Elyse and Nicco even went swimming, briefly on Saturday. Kristina and I went for a run, and let me way, Zürich is much hilly than Frankfurt. We only went about 30 minutes or so, but almost the last half was uphill! My calves are still sore on Monday morning.

On Saturday night we had dinner with some of their friends, Valerie and Andrew and their girls. These guys are from London, but have lived in Luxemburg, Paris and now Zürich. We enjoyed some delicious guacamole and beetroot margaritas on the balcony and watched a storm blow in over the mountains and the lake. There were some flashes of lightening, but no thunder. It passed relatively quickly and we were able to enjoy dinner of grilled salmon, potato salad nicoise and rhubarb tart, outside.



One of the funniest things I learned in the course of the weekend is that every Swiss household, even those built today, must have a bomb shelter. Some homes share bomb shelters, and Kristina and Brandon’s is across the way at their neighbor’s home. Not only must they have a bomb shelter, but the list of supplies that should be in it are posted in every home. Here is the sign officially affixed to Kristina’s basement door-


Zürich was truly lovely, although terribly expensive. Everyone on Germany commented on this before I left, so I was prepared for that. Kristina and I bought a couple of cold drinks from a street vendor and the total was 9 Francs, or about 10 bucks! And, that is the other thing, Francs?? I thought that was the purpose of the Euro, so that everyone (except England of course, but they’re an island and stubborn as we all know) would use the same currency. So, I arrived with none. Fortunately, the easiest and best way to change currency is simply to use an ATM machine.

It was such great fun to see an old friend and visit. I was even able to share Kristina’s Mother’s Day celebration; we had pancakes with fresh berries and chocolate cake at breakfast. Elyse, who is seven and reminds me very much of Charlie, asked if I would bunk with her. So, I slept on an extra bed in her room both nights. It was so very comfortable and it was nice to hear her breathing and think of my two boys at home in NJ.

I arrived back in Frankfurt last night around 9 and it has been raining steadily ever since I reached my apartment. Hopefully it will let up so that I can stock up on some groceries. I am glad to have taken my first big train trip here. I have a general idea of how it all works now, and I even have a Bahn Card (a discount card). I took the ICE (Inter City Express), which is the high-speed train. Zürich is about 268 miles from Frankfurt and it took just over 4 hours to get there. One can travel in first or second class, and second class is certainly a step up from Amtrak at home. It is possible to buy an open ticket, but it is much better to make a seat reservation and that way you don’t have to worry about finding a seat. The train was pretty full going in both directions. We are planning to take the ICE to Amsterdam and Paris later this summer, so at least I am familiar with it now.

Thank you Kristina and Brandon!