Travels and Trunks*

(*Ten points if you can cite the reference!)


As the handy countdown timer over on the right points out, the trip to England and Ireland is almost upon me! On the phone and ironing out some details this morning, my friend Josh (our English host) and I discovered we were both feeling like we were coming down with colds--though to be fair, his sounds more intense than mine. Since yesterday morning I've had an odd scratchy throat and absolutely no other symptoms. I refuse to be sick!  People who went to Wes with me know that there, I often had a cold, winter or not. Well, I've not had one yet in Germany, and I refuse to have one now, three days before I get on a plain to go travel for three weeks. We shall see who wins this battle, but the tea and oranges I've been stuffing my face with all morning predict it shall be me.

It continues to be coldcoldcold here in Tübingen, but we're surviving and I'm finding ways to occupy myself in doors...I swear, just as I decided I wanted to start running we got snowed on and frozen.

On Wednesday, I went with the woman I babysit for--whom I rather affectionately call my 'babysitting mom'--to one of the Gymnasiums (German high schools, essentially) where she teaches English. I sat with her and her students for their 90-minute class and basically just answered all of the questions the students--who were between 16 and 18--could think of. This included everything from what racism is like in the U.S, to how Americans feel about socialism and communism now, to whether or not I spoke German and what big cultural differences were. I had a good time, they all seemed to have a good time, and I wish we could have had longer. It's always nice to dispel rumors about the US and try to provide a little more of an honest perspective on my home culture.

It was a little tricky, because they were asking a lot of questions about my opinion about things--Bush included--and I had planned on going in and, especially when discussing the political system and the election (which I'd been asked to do), be as unbiased as possible. I didn't want to not answer their questions honestly, so I just really tried to emphasize that the US is a big country and that not everyone agrees with me about certain things. For example, I never personally witnessed an act of racism growing up (at least, not that I was aware of), but I did know that racism still very much existed in our country because of things I saw on the news. I tried to explain that in such a big place with so many different people and opinions, there were certainly parts of our country where racism is still present, but that it wasn't a part of daily life for every American. Then I had to try to explain that the vestiges of more all-encompassing racism throughout our history were still very much present and evident on our national landscape. This was a little harder to explain succinctly, but I think they got the picture. Most interesting for me was when, after this question, my babysitting mom asked the kids what they thought about racism in Germany. Their general, overall response was that racism wasn't that bad in Germany, and that if it existed, it mostly had to do with guest-workers and people with a Turkish background, and not with African or Afro-German individuals. My babysitting mom, who has two Afro-German children, revealed this to them and explained that the experiences she, her children, and their father had had in Germany proved quite the opposite. All of the kids seemed pretty shocked, and she then pointed out that in her experience in both the States and Germany, there is just much less awareness here. I'd been trying not to make this comment, because I didn't want them to think I was criticizing any part of their culture, but what I really wanted to say when they were claiming Germany didn't have much in the way of racism was that the whole other kettle of fish is political correctness and global awareness. Tübingen, at least, as "Asia Restaurants" and food that comes with "Asia sauce" (and no, I'm not missing an 'n' on my adjective there). Generalizing about groups of people is much more accepted here, and if I were so inclined, I could make comments here that would get me openly stared at and stink-eyed in the US.  As I pointed out to them, I really think it's important to remember that an individual cannot represent a whole country, and that a government or country cannot publicly represent all of its individual citizens, but still....

This whole experience has made me consider taking part in a program at the DAI called Rent-an-American. You basically volunteer to go to schools and talk with kids in their classes.  I think intercultural communication is really important, and while I'm trying to get paid to do as much as possible right now (whooo saving, saving, saving!), this would likely be a lot of fun, and very worthwhile.

I had my last English class and babysitting evening this week, and (somewhat) sadly won't be returning to Tübingen until March. I'm really excited for our trip, though, and have just about finished making (or having Josh make...) most of the arrangements (hey, he offers...he's all up on British tourism and travel...). For those people in my life who like to keep track of where I am, here's our very general itinerary for the next three weeks. I may have some of this wrong, since we've changed our plans multiple times to accommodate our (awesome, generous, fantastic) host-friends, but here's the theoretical plan (and feel free not to read or care if you're not my mother:)

2/13: fly to London with Josh, get settled at his place in Farnham (about an hour from London I gather...)
2/14: Farnham and Jane Austen's house (I die...)
2/15: Stonehenge and Woodhenge! I am possibly the only tourist ever to INSIST on going to Woodhenge, which the others agreed to since it turns out it's free and exceedingly close by. (As I informed Josh and Anya when they questioned the distance...according to (archaeologist) Mike Parker-Pearson, it's one day's slow trudge along the very windy river Avon from Stonehenge to Woodhenge...)
2/16: Time in London
2/17: More time in London and hopefully meeting up with an old au-pair of mine!
2/18: London and then a bus to Cambridge (where Josh studies) and what is apparently a phenomenal monthly (or fort-nightly?) dance party
2/19: Cambridge
2/20: Cambridge
2/21: Cambridge
2/22: Cambridge and another legendary dance party. At some point we are also attending formal dinner to which students must wear their robes. We, unfortunately, cannot. I even offered to bring my graduation gown from the States. Alas...
2/23: Anya and I are off to the Lakes District!
2/24: Lakes
2/25: Lakes
2/26: Lakes
2/27: Off to Ireland and a wonderful recuperative evening at Sinead's with her family and their amazing food
2/28: Dublin...Trinity College, Guiness, excellent music, and some merriment
2/29: Off to Sinead's family's holiday cottage in Kilkee, on the western coast of County Clare
3/1: Kilkee
3/2: to Galway
3/3: in Galway
3/4: back to Dublin and a trip to the archaeological site of New Grange
3/5: in Dublin
3/6: in Dublin
3/7: fly back to Tübingen, hopefully without plane delays so that I can make it to my English class

I'm only just a smidge daunted at how exhausting this will be, and can't wait to leave the confines of the airport (the only time I've spent anywhere remotely near England/Ireland was a layover in Heathrow). I will definitely be sending postcards, so if you want them, throw me an address!

Snow and the Super Bowl: Quick Notes

I'm thrilled to say that it finally feels like Christmas in Tübingen! A couple of months too late, but I try not to complain these days (and anyone but my parents might actually believe me on that score...). The only downside is that the temperature has also been hovering around 10 F, but unlike some of the locals I've seen walking around, I fortunately know how to bundle up appropriately. Yes, confused-looking student, I'm not wearing a hat. Why? Because I'm wearing a scarf up around my ears and a michelin man jacket and am feeling super toasty, that's why. And we're about to get on a bus. Your hat looks nice, but don't think I don't see you shivering in your extremely fashionable cotton coat sans insulation.


Anyway....

I awoke this morning to a lovely dusting of now and flurries in the air!

The view from my bus stop, looking back in the direction of my street (I life just around the corner beyond the car on the left)

This is what the little Neckar tributary looked like a couple of days ago (you can see the main Neckar, flowing perpendicularly in the background)...actually somewhat frozen over. Sections of the whole river are covered in ice and dusted snow now, though certainly not enough that anything more than a duck could sit on it...and maybe not even a duck.  

Finally, Anya and her friend from French class came to an event at the DAI (German-American Institute, where I work as an English teacher) on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl! I don't know what I expected, except that it wasn't this at all. There must have been over 200 people there, and when we arrived all of the seats were full...we finally took some from members of Tübingen's American Footbal Team (yes, we have one. I'm just as shocked as you) who had left their coats on the chairs while they cooked and sold food for people in attendance to purchase. Seriously guys, you're going to be cooking for the whole game and you left your coat to save a seat for yourself? What kinds of co-sponsors are you? People are standing all around the walls and sitting in the aisles! This was definitely an interesting experience...according to what Anya overheard, lots of people had bet on the game and were therefore rooting rather zealously for something they might not have otherwise cared about at all---this resulted in a lot of German Giants' fans. Unclear why. We think because "New York" is a recognizable name? Tired (the game started at 12:30 am here) and somewhat easily irritated, the thoughts that crossed my mind most often were, "You are improperly using football vocabulary," "There is nothing to clap at...why are you clapping?" and "Why do so many Germans care about American Football?". I mean, I'm not a football expert and I don't pretend to be--I know enough to watch and enjoy the game, understand the bulk of what's going on (that matters to the spectator) and what major penalties are for. That and how the course of the game is going for a certain team. But I still found parts of this experience...mildly irritating. The upside is we had a great venue to watch the game--thanks DAI!

The lighting is rather awkward and this is the camera on my phone, but you're looking at a space that was about half of the room in front of us....we were sitting in the back 1/4 of the space, and there were probably 200 people in here and another 50 in the German-telecast room. 

Also, as a sidenote, I really need to figure out what meat is used for German burgers. It tastes like beef, but it's so salty and tough when it's cooked! The local team was grilling and selling things, and it's the second burger I've had that made me wonder how ground beef could turn out that way. Very curious. 

Semesterferien

The semester in Tübingen is finally over, and vacation is here! The darn thing felt like it was dragging on for ages, and I can't believe I finally reached the end of it. Poor old me had a presentation, written portfolio, and final exam to finish off the semester, and every time my housemates heard that I really only had one final exam, I swear like they were looking a me with just a little less respect. Hey now kids, I wanted to say, I spent the last four years busting my butt, so let's not forget I earned my BA with honors on six-days-a-week of rowing. Of course, this would be rude (though, as my babysitting mom/pseudo German mother pointed out, the Germans do have quite the culture of direct communication), so instead, I just offered to cook an apartment dinner for all of us (Hil's lasagna!) while they're busy studying in a couple of days. The German-Greek translation exam was not a complete disaster---I had things to put down on the page, passed the course (which was really way too hard for me...sometimes falling between the lines in someone else's system has its downsides), and got a great compliment from my extremely nice Greek professor about my German: "Your German was quite good when you got here," he told me, "but I've noticed you've continued to improve a lot since October". Well shucks, Herr Schelske, even though I hated everything I had to do for your class--which was not at all you fault--I'm still sort of going to miss it, because you just make my day.

Since my last day of classes last Wednesday, there hasn't been a whole lot going on (unless you count occasional revelry). My English class is still going, and I'm very much enjoying my students. We've moved into real grammar now, and the future tense, which I thought would be relatively easy, has given some of them a lot of trouble. The challenge for me is to try to cater to all of my students...those that learn quickly and easily and those that don't, but I'm hoping they're all enjoying themselves. They certainly seem to be. It's always a fun day when I can get them to be a little more energetic and laughing....tough work when some of them have been on the job at the company and factory all day! I've sorted out a sub for my travel time, so that's one more burden off of my shoulders, but I'm going to miss seeing my students for a few weeks.

I've still been babysitting every Thursday, too, and I feel like the younger of the two kids is finally really warming up to me. I've always been able to tell that she likes me, but she can be a little bit shy. Her brother was off on a school ski trip a couple of weeks ago, so we had time to ourselves for the whole three hours I was there, and we cooked dinner together from a vegetarian cookbook they have. We walked down to the grocery store near the student dorms to get ingredients and she had a really good time showing me how to make her favorite soup. We've also been  playing a game she got for Christmas called "Make n' Break Extreme". there are ten blocks that look like big tetris pieces, and a there's also a timer and a whole deck of cards. You roll a special die to determine how much time you will have...1, 2, or 3 (not sure if this corresponds to exact minutes...they're just settings on the timer dial). You then have that much time to see how many cards you can complete, which you do by flipping over a new card and building the picture shape. The trick is to get all of the blocks in the right place, and to make sure that your creation balances...yes, you're building vertically. We have lots of fun with this, and it's nice to have a staple other than drawing that I enjoy as much as she does.

Here's the game with some of the extra tiles for special points and things. There are some cards that involve special tasks, like building with one hand, passing the card to the person on your left to complete, or creating a standing shape out of all ten blocks (and only two can touch the table). Good times! Not that I'm a little addicted or anything...

 I don't have the recipe, but I do have some photos from our soup, which could easily be recreated without one. It's a tomato basil noodle soup that starts with soaking scored tomatoes in boiled water for about four minutes. 

...like so....

Then we peeled and diced them into a tomato mush, added onions and garlic and sauteed it all in the bottom of a pot, and finally added some diced red pepper to the mix. Broth get's added and the whole thing gets brought to a boil and simmered for about 15 minutes. You add fresh or dried basil, depending on the resources you have at hand, and season to taste.

 It will look--very exciting, I know--just like this. 

Then you take an immersion blender to the sucker and give it a good puree. The color changes to a lovely bright reddish-orange thanks to the pepper, and it's really simple and totally delicious. Cooked noodles are optional, and we went for her favorite, little shells. 

 Here she is testing our soup. It was hot! 

I've been doing a lot more cooking in general, since I've finally actually had some time, and my other favorite project was these scones. They look a little funky in the oven, but sitting on a plate and dusted with granulated sugar, they were stunning, I tell you, stunning. 

Gilder bought me a cookbook/memoir from the foremost bakery institution on Lopez Island (where multiple generations and branches of his family have very strong connections, and some houses, just off the coast of Washington). I've visited the island, but not the bakery--which is closed during the winter, and he wanted to give me something to experience the delicious food when I'm not there or it's not available. Well, the book is wonderful, telling a lovely story of the bakery and the bakery's family on the island, and I decided I had to try something immediately. I went for a relatively simple recipe, since it was getting late and I didn't want to be up all night, and I chose their scone mix. The baker and author very thoughtfully provides both the recipe for their dry mix (that can be made in bulk and then refrigerated or frozen for ages) and their favorite scones with wet ingredients and flavor combinations included. I wanted to make and freeze a huge batch, but I didn't really have the storage space, so I went for just a single recipe. I chose to make my scones pear-ginger, which was one of their recommended combinations, because the pears in Kaufland were delicious and I had both fresh and powdered ginger around the house. These were dead easy and absolutely scrumptious. Here's the recipe from, "With Love & Butter" by Holly Bower and Sarah Eppenbach (http://www.amazon.com/Love-Butter-Favorite-Recipes-Cookbook/dp/0615119190/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328640205&sr=8-1)

Scone Mix (makes 40 scones---I think I quartered it) (pg. 60)

9 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs baking powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 3/4 cups cold butter (this is also labeled as 5 1/2 cubes)

1. Place all the ingredients except the butter in a large bowl and mix
2. Using a food processor (or if you're me, your hands, as if for pie crust), cut 1 1/2 cubes of butter into 2 cups of the mixture until it's reduced to pearl-sized bits. Don't over-process or it will turn into a dough--you want a dry mix.
3. Pour the processed mixture into another large empty bowl and repeat this process four more times using 1 cube butter and 2 cups flour each time.
4. Transfer the scone mix into a gallon tub. The mix can now be stored, ready for use, up to 2 months in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.

Fruit Scones (makes 8 scones) (pg. 61)

3 1/4 cups Scone Mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit; small berries left whole, other fruit cut into approximate 1/2-inch cubes
5/8 cup buttermilk
sugar for topping scones

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F with the rack in the center position. Line a large baking sheet with bakery parchment or grease lightly.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the Scone Mix and sugar together with your fingers. Add the fruit and toss again until just-mixed....Drizzle the buttermilk over the mixture and stir gently. The mixture should be just wet enough to make a ball when pressed together. If too dry, drizzle on more buttermilk; if too gooey, add more Scone Mix. Dryer is better than wetter.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Cut the circle into 8 wedges. Place the scones at least 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake 5-10 minutes more or until the scones are brown on the bottom (check with a metal spatula) and slightly brown on top. the baking time will be shorter if using fresh fruit. The centers should be dry and non doughy (peek inside one of the scones). Cool just a moment, then serve warm.

I cannot recommend these scones enough!


In other news, I've picked up what promises to be a very enjoyable, second babysitting job. My friend Anya has been taking care of an adorable little boy, a job she inherited from her friend here on Fulbright last year. The family was looking for a couple of other people to pick up the extra hours when Anya's not available, so  she kindly suggested me. I went over for a trial with Anya a couple of weekends ago, and had an absolute blast! The only downside is that we're both going to be traveling a lot and won't be seeing much of him until April.

Here is the mischievous little cutie himself on the playground!

Last, but certainly not least, I'm finally in the process of hearing back from graduate schools! I don't want to say too much yet, but I will admit that the good news is having a bit of an impact on my travel plans, and I may have to forego my trip to Greece for a trip back to the US to visit programs. Greece isn't being canceled, just postponed (though neither Gilder nor I are super excited about the postponement), but I will definitely be in the states for at least one long weekend next month, if not for two weeks with a stint at home between a couple of program visits. The upside is that if I miss out on the Greece trip as originally scheduled, I'll get to spend a week-and-a-half with my family in Hanover and Gilder will hopefully be able to swap his flight to Athens for a flight to Boston. And you know...I might actually have an educational future : )