Das Alles Ist Braunschweig- Week 3 (6/30/11-7/6/11): Chris Habermann

My third and final week in Germany was also great. On Thursday, I did not do very much; I went to school and then watched TV and played video games with Fabian. On Friday, we went into the Harz Mountains. First we explored a Gold- and Silver-mine there. It was very dark, damp, and small (see the picture on the left). I am glad that they gave us hardhats, because I hit my head multiple times. Down there, we heard many stories of the hardships of mining in the Middle Ages before the use of machinery. I tried using a hammer and chisel, but I couldn't get any work done. On the way out, however, I was given a chunk of silver ore. Then we took a lift to the top of the tallest mountain there. The view was amazing! Then we went to the town of Gossler, known for its witches.

On Saturday, I went with Fabian to the airport to wish him well on his trip to England and say goodbye. Then I said goodbye to my host family, who was going on vacation to France, and moved in with a new host family, Familie Struss, who was already hosting another American. On Sunday, I went with them to the Phaeno, a very hands on science museum in Wolfsburg. I had a lot of fun there, especially in the tilted (see picture on the right) and rotating houses. On Monday, we started school off normally, but that night we had our Goodbye Party. We brought American food and decorations (I brought American flags, a Tennessee flag, an American map, a Tennessee map, and a Nashville map) and provided the entertainment. Along with many thank you speeches, we performed a skit based on our difficult first day of traveling, we sang "Das Alles Ist Braunschweig" (a song we made up with similar lyrics and melody to "Das Alles Ist
Deutschland"), sang the "Star Spangled Banner," gave flowers to our host families, and lit sparklers because it was the Fourth of July. On Tuesday, instead of school we went into the city and did some last minute souvenir shopping. Then we went bowling (see picture on the left). I had a lot of fun! On Wednesday, after several sad goodbyes, we got onto our bus and went to the airport. Thankfully the trip back went much more smoothly than the trip there. Though I am sad that I had to leave. The trip was amazing and easily the best part of my summer. I would like to thank the Wilson family for the opportunity which they gave me! I had a blast, learned a lot, and met some really great people with whom I became great friends. Even though I am sad that the trip had to end, I am so happy that I was able to go on the trip in the first place. And for that I would like to say "Vielen Dank," which means many thanks in German.

Das Alles Ist Braunschweig- Week 2 (6/23/11-6/29/11): Chris Habermann

My second week in Germany was just as great. On Thursday, I went to school, learned a lot in German class, had great food , went to ballroom dancing class, watched The Simpsons in German, and played video games with Fabian. On Friday, we took the bus to Wolfenbuettel, a small town near Braunschweig where the aristocracy of Braunschweig went after they were kicked out by the people. Along with a beautiful palace (see picture on the left), many Fachwerkhaeuser which were left untouched by the destruction of WWII, and the headquarters and brewery for Jaegermeister. After returning to Braunschweig, we went to the Okerwelle (see the picture on the right), a radio station where we were going to play some of our favorite American music and answer some questions about our stay in Braunschweig. Although I was quite nervous, the live interview went well and we played our music. On Saturday, I went to Fabian's sister's, Jana's, Abitur or Graduation, which ended up lasting three hours. Later that day, we went to her AbiBall, a graduation dance. It was a lot of fun, even with all of the ballroom dancing. On Sunday, my grandparents visited me. I hadn't seen them recently, so I was glad that they came. After they went back home, my host-family and I went to an Italian restaurant. The food was great! When we got back, Remember the Titans was on TV in German. It was interesting to say the least. On Monday I had class like I usually do and then after school we went to the old Rathaus or City Hall and then climbed to the top of its tower for an incredible view of the city. Afterwords, we went to an "Amerikanische" BBQ at a host-brother's house. On Tuesday, I went to school like normal and afterwards explored the city some more with the Americans. On Wednesday, we went to Berlin, which was loads of fun.We saw thousands of interesting and amazing things; I wish we could have stayed there for more than one day. Along with seeing many beautiful buildings and monuments, I also was able to right my name on the Berlin Wall. Berlin was a great end to the second week!

There I am writing my name on the Berlin Wall.

Here Is the iconic sign from Checkpoint Charlie.

Das Alles Ist Braunschweig- Week 1 (6/15/11-6/22/11) with Chris Habermann

The trip to Germany, however, was well worth it. My host family, Familie Koetz, was amazing! They accepted my as

a member of their family, and I hada blast with them. After the bus stopped at theGaussschule (see the picture on the top-left), where Fabian (my host brother) and Jana (his sister) go to school, I met up with my host-brother Fabian, host-sister Jana, host-mother Petra, and host-dog Lu. They drove me to their house in Leiferde, a small town on the outskirts of Braunschweig.

After dinner of Lasagna and Mineralwasser, I watched The Simpsons in German with Fabian. Then his father came back from work in the Pharmacy which he owns. Then Fabian and I played Portal 2 on his xbox. I had to wake up at 6 am the next morning (Friday) to get ready for school, a task which the jet lag did not help. After a breakfast of Nutella and toast, something I would have every morning, Fabian's mom drove us to the Strassenbahn (street train) which we took into the city. On the first day of school, we started with our special German class taught by Herr Livingston, a German teacher from California and our American Chaperon, and Herr Schubert, a English teacher in Braunschweig. 

After our German class, Herr Schubert led us on a tour of Braunschweig. The city is filled with dozens of beautiful buildings (see pictures on the bottom right). Afterwords, I went to the Oker Cabana, a man-made beach where people can hang out. On the weekend, I explored the city some more with Fabian and some of his friends. I saw some great buildings, had some great Eis (Ice Cream), and had my first Doenner (a Turkish dish similar to but far better than a Gyro). I also went to a ballroom dancing class, which is very popular in Germany, where they danced to different music ranging from classical to hip-hop to Lady Gaga. On Monday, I went with Fabian to his classes for the first half of the day and then went to our German class for the second half. After school all of us went to the Schloss, a mall in Brauschweig, to get some Eis and hang out. On Tuesday after going to school, we walked over to the Burgplatzmuseum, a museum filled with history from Braunschweig dating from as far back as 9th century all the way to the present. The museum was really cool and interesting. On Wednesday morning at school, we witnessed the AbiKlasse (senior class) have their AbiStreich, a sort of Senior Prank where the seniors lock up the school on an unknown date and have a carnival outside. After watching it for a while, we got on abus and left for the close by city of Wolfsburg also known as the Autostadt or Car City. Volkswagen has one of their biggest plants and their headquarter there. While there, we saw a museum showing hundreds of cars throughout history and some of the other cars VW makes for companies such as Audi, Lamborghini, and Bugatti. I also saw the Bugatti Veyron (see the last picture), the fastest street-legal car in the world. It was a great end to my first week in Germany.

An old Rathaus (City Hall) dating back to the Middle Ages in one of the town squares.

Some examples of tradition German Fachwerkhaeuser (Wood-frame houses)

The Schloss, an old palace complete destroyed in WWII which was rebuilt in the past few years and has a shopping mall and library inside.

The Bugatti Veyron, the fastest street-legal car in the world.

Das Alles Ist Braunschweig- The Trip There: Chris Habermann

I'm not going to lie, the first two days of traveling from Nashville to Braunschweig were simply awful. It started off fairly smoothly. I got from Nashville to Newark, New Jersey, without any problems. I met up with my fellow trip takers, all of whom were strangers. Apart from a few crying babies and a lack of beverages, the plane ride was uneventful. I even got three hours of sleep. But it was when we got to Germany that the trouble started. Once we got over to the terminal for our connecting flight in the Frankfurt Airport, we were told that our flight was canceled and they gave us train tickets to Hannover instead. After finding our luggage, which took much longer than it should have because of poor directions and missing bags, we had to find the train station. After wandering through a crowded maze of hallways and stairs, we finally found the subway which would bring us to the train station. When we got to the Frankfurt Train Station (see picture), we found out that the tickets they gave us had not seats on them. We would either have to find empty seats or sit on the floor. We sat on the floor. After the two and a half hours of guarding our luggage and our unair-conditioned spot in between two of the cars, we finally were able to escape the Hannover Train Station just to spend an hour searching for our bus. After the two hour bus ride, we finally got to Braunschweig where I met my host family. Even though the trip was miserable, it became an unforgettable memory over which our group bonded.