Going in Circles

The weeks have been flying by here. Part of it has to do with my incessant need to always be doing new things and learning new things. And since I have no patience, I want to learn them now, not later, not in a few days. Nope, now. I don't have ADD, but I feel like I have some form of something like ADD, where I'm always searching for new things to discover, even while I'm working on one thing. Or maybe it's just an obsession, an unclenching thirst, for knowledge. I want to know everything.


Example 1:
I started my German course on the 10th. We have had two weeks of classes so far, and it is four days a week from 8:30 - 12:30. This week and next week we are on holiday, and then we start up again for 3 more weeks. I love going to class. It has already helped me a lot with my german and I just have missed school. I'm one of those people that likes being a student. If I could make a salary from being a student, that would be my profession. So I've been enjoying class. There's about 15 people in my class and they are from all over: Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece, Cameroon, Nigeria. It's fun meeting this people from different places and knowing that although we are from such different cultures, we have this in common: we all know how to be students and we all need to learn German. It is kind of unifying, the fact that we are all outsiders here in Germany, being unable to fluently speak the native language. And now, when I look at Facebook, there are so many different languages filling up my news feed. I love it. The problem is, while I'm sitting here learning German (which I really need to learn), I keep thinking about how much I now want to learn Spanish and Greek... and I start trying to learn these languages on the internet before stopping myself, and realizing, HELLO, you are living in Germany. You must learn German first. I try to tell myself that I can learn these other languages later, after I get back to the States. But it's still there in the back of my mind, while I'm learning new words in German, I'm thinking, I wonder how I say that in Spanish? Greek? Or when we are in class, and the native spanish speakers are talking to each other, I just want to ask them what they are saying and how can I say it?, while the teacher is standing there trying to teach us German. Don't get me wrong. I do want to learn German the most.  It just goes back to my desire to know everything and my limited supply of patience. When I want to know something, I want to know it now. It all goes back to that list I made when I was 16... my list of things to do before I'm 30. I don't remember all of it, but I remember that one of the things was to be fluent in at least 3 languages. I've always wanted to learn many languages.


Example 2:
I'm trying to read books in German so that I can learn it better. I've tried watching TV shows and movies in German, but it doesn't work for me. I learn by seeing and doing. I can't learn by hearing. So I've been slowly reading a german book, along with some magazines in German. It does help a lot. The problem is that when I can't read a book quickly and have to keep stopping to look up words, I get distracted. I start thinking of other things I've wanted to read, like I've wanted to read more poetry. So then I google Dylan Thomas and start reading poems. Poems not in German. Or I remember, oh I wanted to look up when the next book in so-and-so a series is coming out, so I look that up. Then I start reading about books. And then I think, oh, speaking of writing, I need to write a new blog. Which brings me here.


Some more quick examples: I just bought a keyboard so I could learn. I've been wanting to learn and now I can. I'm teaching myself with Youtube... there's this guy who put together some really good lessons. I'll be a pro soon. I've started watching ER from Season 1. There are 15 seasons. That's a lot of hours. But it was such a big show on TV and I want to watch it so that I know what went on and how good it was. I'm on season 4 now, and it's really good. I love history, so I'm always interested in learning more about it. The problem is that I can never decide what I want to learn more. So I just end up googling a bunch of different things and never learn the whole story. Ancient Egyptians or Peter the Great? Scotland Highlanders or the myths of the Ancient Greeks?


Summary: I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. And not enough time in the day to find out all the answers. Which brings us back to the first paragraph, stating that the weeks have been flying by, and that is some of how I have been filling my time the past few weeks.


Now... on to read some more german again. Before being distracted by all this talk of languages and history and ER.

What a funny cat. I mean, why would a cat want to learn guitar? They seem much more like a flute animal. Or maybe a harp. You gotta click on him, he does neat tricks.

Hello (Hamburg) Goodbye (Liverpool)

"We were born in Liverpool, but grew up in Hamburg." - John Lennon

In my last post, I mentioned writing a blog about Beatlemania in Hamburg. Here it is; If you like the Beatles, enjoy. Although, you should love them, not just like.

When I first found out I was going to Hamburg (to take the GRE), I started researching the best things to do. Lo and behold, through my Germany Travel book, I found out that Hamburg is the city where The Beatles got their start. I had no idea. So when I found this out, I made a plan and list of all the places Beatle-related to go in Hamburg. There are quite a few. The most important are: The Indra Club, The Kaiserkeller, The Star Club, BeatlesPlatz, and the Beatlemania museum. The first three are the bars/clubs where they played during their time in Hamburg. The BeatlesPlatz is a square dedicated to The Beatles, with sculptures. The last, is of course, a museum of their history starting with their beginning in Hamburg and ending with facts about where they are now. If you ever go to Hamburg, I suggest visiting these places. I learned all of this information from the Beatlemania museum in Hamburg, and am typing from memory, so if any facts are a bit off, forgive me.

To begin, I want to explain the area a little bit. Hamburg is known for Reeperbahn Strasse, where the red-light district is located. It's supposed to put the red-light districts of Amsterdam and Las Vegas to shame. I walked along there around 8pm one night and it was pretty sketchy. I didn't feel like I was in any danger, but the people that hang out there are of a semi-sketchy variety, to put it nicely (is that nicely?). So, you have Reeperbahn, which is filled with all kinds of shady clubs and shops. Along Reeperbahn, you have the Beatles Platz. Platz means square basically, when using it in these terms. So, Beatles Square is right in the busiest section of Reeperbahn. This is where Reeperbahn meets GrosseFreiheit Strasse. GrosseFreiheit is interesting to look at and walk down. It's a pretty skinny street, open pretty much only to foot traffic as a rule at night. And there are so many lights. All of the clubs, bars, and shops are competing for the biggest and brightest sign as to outshine their neighbors and be noticed. I stood there for a while, just trying to look at all the signs. The three clubs where The Beatles played are on GrosseFreiheit.

The beginning of Grosse Freiheit

Now that I have explained the area a little bit, on to some Beatletrivia. So, the first club that The Beatles started playing at in Hamburg was The Indra Club. At the time, in 1960, the band included George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Pete Best, and Stu Sutcliffe, and they were just playing in small bars around Liverpool. When they got an offer to play in Hamburg for a few months, they accepted. So the fab five began their stint in Hamburg.

Plaque on The Indra Club, which is still standing and functioning as a local watering hole

Their contract with the Indra Club required them to play 4 hour sets Sunday through Monday, and 6 hour sets of Friday and Saturday. Their rooms were windowless boxes, and they had to shower in sinks in the public bathroom. Supposedly unsuspecting customers would just walk in on them while they were "showering". They could not have smelled good. After a few months at the Indra, the club was shut down, and they began playing at the owner's nearby club, The Kaiserkeller.

Their first night at the Kaiserkeller, they shared the stage with a band called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, taking turns playing. Can you guess who their drummer was? Yep, Ringo Starr. They continued playing at the Kaiserkeller and Ringo would hang out and listen to them play, becoming friends. Around this time is also when they met a group of young artists/photographers. Among them was Astrid Kercherr, who later became Stu's fiance.

Because of their growing popularity, The Beatles were soon offered another contract taking the place of Tony Sheridan and the Jets for a nearby, more popular club, The Top Ten Club. As the owner of The Kaiserkeller was not fond of this idea, he had George Harrison deported on the grounds that he was only 17 and therefore not old enough to work in Germany. The rest of the Beatles continued to play for a while until Paul and Pete were also deported for setting a fire behind the theatre where they lived, which was attached to the club. John followed Pete and Paul, but Stu stayed behind and moved in with Astrid, living in the attic of her parent's house.

Their hiatus from Hamburg didn't last long. A few months later (after Harrison turned 18), the group returned to Hamburg to play at The Top Ten Club. At the new club, their fame only continued to grow. Stu left the band shortly to attend art school (he was always a painter first, musician second) and continue his relationship with Astrid. The Beatles began backing Tony Sheridan, and got their first recording by backing him in a recording of "My Bonnie". It was this recording that got Brian Epstein's attention and decided him to sign on as The Beatles' manager.

In 1962, The Beatles returned to Hamburg again to play at The Star Club. Arriving, they learned that Stu had died earlier that day. He had collapsed at Astrid's house and died on the way to the hospital, 21 years old. A few days later, they began playing at The Star Club, along with Little Richard and Gene Vincent.

They played here for about a month, and during their break, hopped over to Abbey Road Studios in London for an audition. A few months later, Pete Best was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. No one knows exactly why except for The Beatles and Pete Best. Some say it was mutual, some say Harrison, McCartney and Lennon were jealous. Some say Epstein thought that Starr had more talent and stage charisma. It's a mystery. But Pete Best went on to have a soaring career. Fans of The Beatles, who were outraged of Best's dismissal, stayed extremely loyal to him and he still tours the world with his band.

After their single of "P.S. I Love You/Love Me Do" was released in the UK, The Beatles returned to Hamburg to play at The Star Club again from October 1962 through New Years, taking about a month's break in the middle. After that, they returned to the UK where they skyrocketed to fame. But without Hamburg, who knows where they would be? I wonder if we ever would have heard of them. I'm glad Hamburg happened.

Signing the wall in the Beatlemania museum.

P.S. I suggest checking out Astrid's photos of The Beatles, which she took while she was friends with them in Hamburg. They're some of my favorite photos of them and you can see some pictures of the 5th Beatle, Stu.

Playing Catch-Up

OK, so I’ve been awful at keeping up with the blog this past month. I blame it on all of the traveling. Now that I’m back for a bit, here’s a short version of what you have missed.

Cologne for an au-pair meeting that consisted of 20 Russians, 1 Greek, 1 Mongolian, and me. The Ludwig Art Museum. Keyboard (as in the musical instrument) shopping. An infinite number of Croissants. And chocolate. And Eis. Hamburg. The Beatles’ history in Hamburg. Trying to sleep while guys in the same hostel-room as me are spilling lord-knows-what all over my shoes at 4 in the morning. Getting up the next day at 6 to take the GRE. Finishing the GRE!!!!! Eating delicious fish in Hamburg. Meeting people. Learning their stories. Riding trains and reading books on said trains. A lot of Sudoku; I am now an expert. A fair, german-style. Mastering the art of parking in tiny parking spaces. The Netherlands. The freezing cold, but utterly refreshing North Sea. Failing at finding a shark’s tooth at the North Sea. Massively jamming my whole left foot and ankle. Christian pulling me around in a wagon because I cannot walk on left foot. Experiencing the German health care system. A stalker from Cameroon. Desperately trying to avoid shopping. Trip planning and fantasizing.

As far as I can remember, that basically sums up the past few weeks. On October 2^nd, I was officially here for 2 months and they’ve gone by surprisingly fast. I’ve now had time to look and see the biggest of the differences between Germany and America, which are many. I don’t think one is any better than the other; they are just different. One big difference is that Germany has not become as mesmerized by technology as America. It’s almost like stepping back a few years. But I like it, in a way. I’m definitely learning a lot of new skills. For one, when I get back to the states, I will be really good at parking in the humongous parking spaces. I should look for a parking contest when I get back. Whenever I park in a German Parking Garage, I feel like I have to do some Harry Potter magic to make the car slim down and fit in the spot.

Since the above is just a quick overview of my past month, here are some more details about some of the events…

First, the au-pair meeting. Here’s how it went down: the 20 Russians spoke in, you guessed it, Russian, the whole time. So the Greek, Mongolian, and I, the American, spoke to each other in German for the whole trip. They were nice and I liked them. The girl from Greece had actually been to South Carolina the previous summer and loved it. So she was one smart girl in my book. One of the Russian boys told me that he hated America and Americans. He didn’t stop there…he also let me know that we are all full of ourselves. He asked me who won WWII, and when I answered him and started discussing it he just looked at me. He asked me how I knew about the war since he was sure that our schools only taught us about American history and we don’t learn about any other countries (even if that were true, since America fought in WWII, wouldn't we learn about it?). I told him it sounded like he was the one that didn’t learn about other countries in school. After that he was nice and we were friends. I went to the Ludwig Art Museum in Cologne and it was a great day. 4 stories of art. The largest Picasso collection in the world. I’m not a huge fan of Picasso’s art, but I love his story. I think that’s what I love most about art, is the stories that make up the art. I just love stories, period.

I still haven’t made it to the Chocolate Museum in Cologne. But I will go, one day, and then I will write a whole blog about chocolate.

The next weekend was my trip to Hamburg for the GRE (Btw, just yesterday, about 2 weeks after taking my test, the PowerPrep Software, which the GRE people send to you for free to help you study, arrived in the mail.). I arrived late in Hamburg on Friday. I wasn’t sure where my hostel was and didn’t want to wander around aimlessly at midnight, so I took a cab from the train station. I got in the cab, he drove approximately 500 feet and then stopped in front of my hostel. Glad I took a cab. I went (or tried) to go to sleep immediately since I had to wake up early for the GRE. Sleeping didn’t go so well, but that’s ok. I still did fine on the GRE and felt an intense relief at being done. After that, I treated myself to some fish and potatoes, Hamburg’s traditional meal, on the harbor, and explored. I went in a museum of a ship from the 1800’s, which has been restored to its’ original décor. It was neat. I pretended I was a pirate on the ship. The lady and man that ran the ship’s shop were nice to me. They personally showed me around to the different areas. The lady made me take German explanation sheets since she said I was here to learn German, but then the man gave me an English version, too, and told me that would help. Basically, I learned I want to live in a ship; one that is permanently docked at a harbor. The rooms and beds look so cozy.

One of my big goals in Hamburg was to unravel all of the Beatles’ history there, and it was so much fun. I’m not going to go through everything in this blog because there is so much to tell, but the Beatlemania Museum (http://www.beatlemania-hamburg.com/) was one of the best museums I’ve ever been to. Everything was so interesting – I think I’ll write another blog on this, so if you’re interested in the Beatles, I suggest reading it.

After Hamburg, I came back to Moenchengladbach to relax for 4 days before leaving for the North Sea. Christian and Monika had graciously invited me to come on their vacation with them. Naturally, as the beach is one of my favorite places in the world, I tagged along. There are a lot of differences in the way that Americans go to the beach and the way that Europeans go to the beach. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the North Sea is freezing. If that is correct, then maybe it has more to do with cold-water beaches vs. warm-water beaches and not European vs. American. Either way, it was fun and I had a good time. The first full day, Saturday, I hurt my foot really bad, and poor Monika had to drive me all the way back to Germany to go to the hospital. I found out it wasn’t broken, but apparently I had just jammed it really bad and couldn’t walk on it for a few days. Then we drove all the way back to the North Sea. By about Thursday, I could walk OK on it, but even now, it still hurts when I walk or have to press the clutch while driving. Not too bad, but I’m hoping it goes away soon. Anyways, I did basically what I always do at the beach... relaxed, laid out in the sun, read books, ate Eis.

And now I am back in Moenchengladbach. I start my German class next Monday, which will take up a lot of time, but I’m excited to begin and become better at German. I won’t have much time to travel in October or November because of the class, but I’m planning on staying busy and exploring closer cities around me. Plus, without traveling, I’ll be able to keep up with the blog better. I know; you’re so excited. Try to contain yourself. Plus, I’ll be getting plenty of traveling in when my Mom visits for 2.5 weeks at Christmas. Can’t wait!

Better get started on planning… ‘til next time.

Schönes Tag.