the Emigrants, the church, the... beer?

March 12, 2012. Day two. 

Today we went to the Immigrant museum in Hamburg. It was an interesting place and I thought it was really cool to learn about how people traveled from Europe to the Americas and elsewhere. Apparently Brazil was a large destination for a lot of Europeans or other Migrants leaving through Hamburg. We were given these tickets that allowed you to play a kind of game and experience what it was like to be an immigrant. I got one of the tickets, and the first part was to take your picture in this barrack-looking thing. I wasn’t sure what it was for, but later found out that they used it to make me into an immigrant! I took pictures throughout my journey, and it was very hysterical. 

It was difficult, though, because you had to make a lot of choices about your life, but it was all in German, so I just hit Ja and Nein randomly. However, they showed me on board a ship, and I even got an immigrant passport document!

I make a pretty spiffy looking emigrant, no?
I'd let that guy into the States if he just showed up on a random boat... 

home!

At the end of the exhibition, you go into a room with a bunch of computers. This was probably the coolest part because the computers are all registered with Ancestry.com and we were able to look up our relatives. I didn’t have a lot of success with some of my family members, namely with my dad’s side, but I was able to find information on my mom’s father, which was a really surreal feeling. I found his information from when he enlisted in the Second World War, as well as his father, my great-grandfather’s, information from the 1930 Census, as well as the travel documents from when he came over from Poland. Apparently (and I haven’t heard back from my mom yet, so I don’t even know if this is accurate information) my great-grandfather came over on a ship from Antwerp, Belgium to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the Lapland in 1887. I really hope the information ends up being accurate.. It would make me feel so great to have found some information on my grandfather.*

*NOTE: Unfortunately, the information that I had found about my grandfather's family coming over from Europe was inaccurate.. but I did find his information from when he was in the war, as well as his address when he lived in Connecticut.

The fact that I have to opportunity to explore Germany (and maybe even Poland later this semester) is something that I think he would have wanted me to do - to explore my roots and learn more about where I come from. I would love to come back and explore more specifically where my family is from. I’d love to find out more about my lineage and trace it back as far as possible. 

After the Immigration museum, we headed down to a boardwalk on the harbor and walked for a bit. 

Hamburg is so dependent on the harbor and rivers, it’s rather interesting to hear about how significant the water is there. 

We made our way to the St. Michael cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful. I was so upset that I had to use my iPhone as a camera, because it wasn’t doing justice for all the places that we were visiting.  We climbed to the top of the steeple, some 400+ stairs, and look out over Hamburg. 

(Cece and I atop the St. Michael's Church)

The city is similar to Paris in the sense of how they maintain their skyline. None of the buildings are able to be taller than the five churches in the area, which makes it very pretty. The view was incredible.

After the cathedral, we had a presentation on Hamburg as the European Green Capitol in 2011. The city of Hamburg has been focused on being sustainable and eco-friendly for some time, and has done so much already, and hopes to be the Green Capital 3 times by the year 2031. Some of the ideas that were used to obtain this title were: A Train of Ideas, which toured a number of European cities to spread the idea of being sustainable, and how those cities can do the same. Since this, Oslo, Norway has begun communicating with Hamburg to become more sustainable. Hamburg also has shifted the from individual transportation and unsustainable energy to buses that produce zero emissions, and a shift to bicycles. You can usually find a corner with tons of red bicycles to rent within several meters from any given location. Overall, Hamburg has done so much to contribute to a growing community of sustainability and one can only hope that this picks up in the United States soon! 

They also had there really cool elevators that were like, moving boxes and you could just get in one side and ride all the way up, then it would switch and bring you right back down the other side. It is continuously moving and incredible!

Next, we headed down to the University quarter. Here we got to see the University of Hamburg, where Professor Prisner went for 6 years to get his PhD. It was neat to see where he came from, and how he’s progressed since then. It’s nice being here knowing that he knows all the places to show us since he lives in Hamburg and commutes every other week to Lugano to teach. It was starting to get dark, so we made our way to dinner; Pakistani food.

Might I just start out by saying that curry is one of the best foods I have every had. Ever. We ordered drinks (I had ginger ale, of course. The bottle even said American Ginger Ale. It was great) and then Prisner had ordered the different types of food. A plate of salad was brought out and we all started with that and some pita bread. Then came the large trays of rice and the five different kinds of curry. There were two vegetarian dishes: Vegetable and Lentil I didn’t try either because I was too occupied with the Lamb and Spinach, Chicken, and Beef in a red coconut curry. The last was easily my favorite, it was incredible with the rice that tasted like cinnamon to me. There were so many flavors, and mixing them all together with the rice and pita was just... there are no words, really. It was incredible and if you haven’t had curry before I highly recommend it. In fact, let’s go find some Pakistani restaurant and hit that up, ja? c:

After dinner, Tavia, Natalya, Will, Amanda, Samantha, Coral, and I left to find our way back to the hotel. The S-Baün and U-Baün are the two train systems in Hamburg. We have passes that let us ride all the transportation for free so it’s great. We picked up the U-1 and rode it to Hautpahnhoff, when we transferred to the U-2 to Billstadt, which is the stop for our hotel. 

(Coral is from California and was obsessed with this restaurant that was apparently
similar to Chipotle.. I've never been, so I have no idea what she's talking about.)

After making it back, we dropped off our things at the hotel. Then Tavia, Jorden, Coral, and I went back to Einstein. Coral and I tried banana beer which was.... interesting to say the least. 

It was carbonated banana juice/soda mixed with beer.
Odd combo, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

NOTE: The above description of said beer is all code for:
"IT WAS TERRIBLE. NEVER TRY BANANA BEER. EVER." 

Tavia and Jorden went back to the hotel, but Coral and I decided to have another (normal) beer to justify our going out to the restaurant. I wasn’t fond of the beer, but it was quite grainy (or that’s what Coral said, anyway.) I got back to my room around 12 (We were at Einstein from about 9:30-11:30) and headed off to bed since we had a lot planned for the next day!

The beginning... part two.

First off, I must apologize for how long it has been. It has been very crazy around here, and I've been trying to focus on transfer applications, as well as balancing my school work with maintaining my social life and just living a Swiss life. It's been really great thus far, but like everything in life, there have definitely been a few snags here and there. Nothing too bad, and I've been able to keep my spirits high these last few weeks in Switzerland. It seems like everything is going by in a blur. I have just over 40 days left in this country, a country that has truly been home for these past seven months. I'm not going to make this some solemn "good bye to Switzerland" post, because I'm sure that will come in the coming weeks, and maybe even once I'm back in the states (assuming I can get up-to-date a lot faster than last Academic Travel...) That being said.. would you like to go on an adventure? Muy bien! 

I don't know why Spanish was my go-to language there... oh well. European Problems..

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Academic Travel: TVL-285 Hamburg, Copenhagen and the Baltic Sea

This travel was one of great interest to me. I did not have any major interest in the subject (Urban Sustainability and Development) but I decided it was interesting enough to hold my attention, and it had some great perks. I mean, three countries in two weeks? Who would turn that down?!

I started writing a blog while I was on travel, and only managed to get the first three days done before I was overwhelmed with the culture. So I'm sort of "cheating" these first three posts, because it's already written out for me! I just have to go through and add some pictures!

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March 11, 2012. Day one.

Today was full of emotion. I was up until 6am cleaning, packing, and writing a piece for Aunt Sharon to read at Grandpa’s funeral on Saturday. I still feel a bit guilty being here while my entire family is over there for his funeral. I would love to be there more than anything, but I know he would want me to be here - doing what I love. I’m in Germany, so I can at least try to learn something about my culture, his culture, and do him proud. It’s the least I can do since I won’t physically be there for him. At least my words will be. I hope that means something to him and to Grandma.

I slept from 6 am until about 11, but didn’t get out of bed until noon. My cab was schedule to pick Natalya and I up from Girasole at 1, and I had a few last minute things to pack and tidy up, such as unplugging all of my appliances. I swifter-ed my place to try and make the place look tidy for inspection - I should be fine. 

The cab came and took Natalya and I to the Agno-Lugano airport. We passed the entire group of my travel that had taken the FLP train and walked the rest of the way. They all live up the hill, so it was easier for them to do that (and cheaper, too). It worked out to be about CHF 14 each, so it wasn’t bad. We got there around 1:15 and our flight wasn’t until 3:30. Professor Prisner, our leader, wanted us to get there early, just in case something happened, such as forgetting a passport; to be honest, though, no one checked my passport at all.

The flight from Lugano to Zurich was smooth - about 35 minutes over the snow-capped Alps. It was beautiful, as always, and soon we were above the clouds. Zurich was cloudy and dreary - kind of like the New York of Europe, but a lot less concrete and more cows right beyond the fences...

We had an hour and a half layover in Zurich and I got a sandwich (ham, cheese, and a pickle) and some chips that tasted like the flavor packets from ramen noodles. I met Amanda on the flight over, and found out that she’s form Buffalo, NY, but if actually going to Quinnipiac! I think we started to have a bond just because it was something to talk about. 

CT Represent!

When we boarded our flight from Zurich to Hamburg at 17.35 I found out that I was sitting next to none other than.... Amanda! More time to talk and just get to know each other. The sun set while we were above the clouds and there were brilliant shades of pinks, purples, and oranges. Landing in Hamburg was incredible. This is my first time ever being in Germany, and I’m ecstatic. It was bittersweet, though, because it was dark and you couldn't really get a feel for the city. We took a bus to our hotel (Hotel Panorama) and got our roommates. I’m with Ahto from Estonia. He seems nice, and is a sophomore studying International Business, if I remember correctly.

We were only in our rooms for a short time before we headed out to the Einstein for dinner. I sat with Amanda, Natalya, and Will. I knew Will from a Computer Graphics class that I had taken last semester. We had a lot of fun and clicked instantly. I ordered a cocktail (a Hemingway) which had gin, vodka (or wodka, in German!), pineapple juice, orange juice, triple sec, and something red. It was delicious. 

When I ordered it the waiter asked if I wanted to do the two-for-one, and I was like “sure?” I was under the impression that I could get one and then another cocktail from the list, so I asked if anyone else wanted any. Natalya ordered a Tropic Margarita. When they brought them out, they had 2 Hemingways and 2 Tropic Margaritas. The deal was that if you ordered one you got two cocktails. So Natalya and I naturally shared our drinks with Will and Amanda. We talked about where we were from, what we’re studying, and just stories about ourselves, and what we were looking forward to most on travel.

I had a Creole pizza, which had tomatoes, jalepeños, shrimp, green peppers, and dried coconut. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so my self. :]

After dinner we went back to Will’s room for a little bit before walking around the hotel area a little bit. We’re RIGHT NEXT to the Audubon. It’s crazy to walk on a bridge over this road where cars are flying by. We found a path along a river and sat on a bench and talked some more. It’s nice not having the quiet hour restrictions of Switzerland for the next two weeks! 

It started to get cold outside, so we walked back to the hotel and went back to Will’s room since he doesn’t have a roommate yet. We watched some horror movie that was dubbed over in German (The Uninvited). Amanda had seen it so she was able to tell us what was happening. It was terrifying and hilarious because we spent most of the time subtitling it ourselves. The movie ended around 12:10 in the morning, and now I’m back in my room with Ahto. We’re both on our laptops, but there’s no internet.. He’s watching a movie and I’m recapping my day so it makes it easier to update my blog once I find internet. 

I still don't have a charger for my camera, but I’m going to have my iPhone with me at all times! I’m even going to bring a memory card around with me in case some of my friends let me borrow their cameras! I’m feeling so much better about this travel already. I think it’s going to be great, and I think Amanda, Natalya, and Will are going to be great friends. It’s going to make it a lot harder to leave. I’m down to 67 days until the end of the semester. It’s such a tough decision, but I have to do what’s best for me, and the Creative Writing program here is lacking...

That’s it for today! We have a tour of the inner city tomorrow, and a presentation at 15:00-16:00. Then free time. This travel has so much free time - I love it. Lots of time to just explore the city on our own. I think that’s the best way to learn a place. Just get lost and see how long it takes to get back. Best feeling in the world. Europe is beautiful. Germany is beautiful. Hamburg is beautiful. I can only hope Rostock, Copenhagen, and Malmö are the same!

ciao!