Wednesday, August 31, 2005
The view from Kiel
Since August 15th, I've been taking language classes in Kiel, Germany, a city of just over 200,000 people on the northeastern coast. Kiel is about 50 miles from the Danish border, at the end of a little fjord.
I'll try to fill in some of the other details later, but for now let me just say the weather has been beautiful. Adding to the vacation vibe, the dorm we're staying in is situated right on the water. The view from the kitchen window on a sunny day includes the fjord, passing sailboats and the occasional massive ferry bound for Oslo or Copenhagen. When the weather's nice, the other Fulbrighters and I eat dinner on the lawn and drink cheap red wine until the sun goes down at 8:30 or 9 p.m.
Thanks, Fulbright program! You rock!
I'll try to fill in some of the other details later, but for now let me just say the weather has been beautiful. Adding to the vacation vibe, the dorm we're staying in is situated right on the water. The view from the kitchen window on a sunny day includes the fjord, passing sailboats and the occasional massive ferry bound for Oslo or Copenhagen. When the weather's nice, the other Fulbrighters and I eat dinner on the lawn and drink cheap red wine until the sun goes down at 8:30 or 9 p.m.
Thanks, Fulbright program! You rock!
Hurricane Katrina, seen from Kiel
I've only been to New orleans once, but every story I read about the damage caused over the past few days in Mississippi and Louisiana makes my heart sink.
Katrina has dominated the news here in Germany as well, though for the most part it's recycled wire and CNN footage. One surprise on the national news station N-TV last night was a German Greenpeace "climate expert," based in Berlin, making the case that Katrina's intensity was caused by global warming. He went on to suggest that maybe the damage and destruction would be the wake-up call America needed to finally sign the Kyoto accord and start reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. (That's the gist; my German is still fuzzy on the specifics.) His was the only "talking head" interview I saw, and it went on for about five minutes.
Not being a climate expert myself, I'm not capable of evaluating the argument's validity (though the political part seems unlikely). But the part of me accustomed to constantly evaluating media coverage for bias nearly fell off the chair. It's going to be an interesting year.
Katrina has dominated the news here in Germany as well, though for the most part it's recycled wire and CNN footage. One surprise on the national news station N-TV last night was a German Greenpeace "climate expert," based in Berlin, making the case that Katrina's intensity was caused by global warming. He went on to suggest that maybe the damage and destruction would be the wake-up call America needed to finally sign the Kyoto accord and start reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. (That's the gist; my German is still fuzzy on the specifics.) His was the only "talking head" interview I saw, and it went on for about five minutes.
Not being a climate expert myself, I'm not capable of evaluating the argument's validity (though the political part seems unlikely). But the part of me accustomed to constantly evaluating media coverage for bias nearly fell off the chair. It's going to be an interesting year.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Evening Epic
I brought a bike to Germany. It's my cyclocross bike, which is a sort of rugged road bike. I brought it, of course, to ride, but not just to putter around town -- I wanted to find a local club like to one I raced for in the States to ride with. One of the first things I did when I got here was ask at a local bike shop about group rides in the area. The guy gave me a little flier for the local club.
So far, so good. The club's group training ride meets Tuesday evenings at 5:30, in a suburb about a half-hour ride from my dorm. As far as I could tell, the flier said they did two 11 kilometer loops, which seemed short for a racing club but made sense given how late the ride started.
I rode out and met about 10 guys, who were very nice. They told me I should always use the informal second-person ("du," as opposed to "Sie") because we were all part of "a sporting brotherhood." We did the two loops, and then the ride ... kept going.
It kept going for a long time, actually. As we kept passing arrows pointing towards Kiel and going in the opposite direction, I started getting worried. And hungry. And tired. We were moving about 35 kilometers an hour away from Kiel and I couldn't seem to get a straight answer (or understand what I was being told) on when we were going to turn around and go home. The scenic pastoral German countryside was getting harder and harder to appreciate.
Apparently the part of the flier I didn't have the vocab for explained that after the 22 km. starting circuits people took off on a long training ride in smaller groups. I had somehow ended up in the hard-core bunch. After four hours and 114 kilometers -- about 70 miles -- I got back to the dorm, just as it was starting to get realy dark. Next time I will definitely bring more food.
So far, so good. The club's group training ride meets Tuesday evenings at 5:30, in a suburb about a half-hour ride from my dorm. As far as I could tell, the flier said they did two 11 kilometer loops, which seemed short for a racing club but made sense given how late the ride started.
I rode out and met about 10 guys, who were very nice. They told me I should always use the informal second-person ("du," as opposed to "Sie") because we were all part of "a sporting brotherhood." We did the two loops, and then the ride ... kept going.
It kept going for a long time, actually. As we kept passing arrows pointing towards Kiel and going in the opposite direction, I started getting worried. And hungry. And tired. We were moving about 35 kilometers an hour away from Kiel and I couldn't seem to get a straight answer (or understand what I was being told) on when we were going to turn around and go home. The scenic pastoral German countryside was getting harder and harder to appreciate.
Apparently the part of the flier I didn't have the vocab for explained that after the 22 km. starting circuits people took off on a long training ride in smaller groups. I had somehow ended up in the hard-core bunch. After four hours and 114 kilometers -- about 70 miles -- I got back to the dorm, just as it was starting to get realy dark. Next time I will definitely bring more food.
German word of the week
The longest German word I've learned so far: "Unabhangigkeitserklarung," or declaration of independence, as in, "die amerikanische Unabhangigkeitserklarung." I also like "die Faust," or "fist."
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Point Reyes
KIEL, Germany -- Once again, just taking the opportunity to catch up on a few things. Before leaving California, my dad and I went on a quick overnight backpacking trip to Point Reyes National Seashore, an incredible park just north of San Francisco on the California coast. It's an amazing spot -- it's about a seven mile hike through coastal forests and meadows to a little valley facing the ocean. It's one of my favorite places in the world, even though I don't get to go very often for geographical reasons.
At night it gets a little fog-bound, but it's still warm enough and usually dry enough to leave the tents at home. Because my dad and I average 6'3 between us, our pace is naturally a little quicker, and the hikes in and out took us a little over two hours each way. Long legs rock.
At night it gets a little fog-bound, but it's still warm enough and usually dry enough to leave the tents at home. Because my dad and I average 6'3 between us, our pace is naturally a little quicker, and the hikes in and out took us a little over two hours each way. Long legs rock.
American Food
KIEL, Germany -- This doesn't have much to do with my adventures in Germany, but I thought I'd get it out there anyway. Two articles of mine were published in the most recent issue of U.S. News and World Report. A double issue focusing on the history of food in America, the issue included everything from the origins of sliced bread to my friend Dan's excellent contribution on Prohibition and the death of the cocktail.
I wrote a short piece (that got even shorter after editing) on the influence of slaves on American foodways and on the Civil War, one of the darker periods in American cuisine. Both were fun subjects to look into. They should be available free online for another few days.
I wrote a short piece (that got even shorter after editing) on the influence of slaves on American foodways and on the Civil War, one of the darker periods in American cuisine. Both were fun subjects to look into. They should be available free online for another few days.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Fulbright Fellowship
FRANKFURT, Germany – In the next few months, I hope to be using this blog more. I’ve arrived in Germany to start what will be a year-long Fulbright journalism fellowship. Tomorrow I’m headed north to a coastal town called Kiel, in northern Germany near the Danish border. I’ll have six weeks of intensive German class in Kiel. Then I will go to a town on the German-Polish border called Frankfurt an der Oder (czy Frankfurt nad Odra, jezeli wolisz po polsku mowic) to study and write about Germany’s relationship with its eastern neighbors, Poland in particular.
After driving across the country, from Washington to California, I spent a week or so in San Jose before leaving for Germany on August 10th. The fellowship began with a three-day orientation session in Frankfurt, which is wrapping up tonight.
One of the coolest things we saw in the city was the Kommerzbank headquarters, which is a 50-story un-air conditioned office building. All the offices have natural light – no cube farms, no neon – and the windows open. Extra cooling is done with cold water piped through tubes in the ceilings. I also went to a karaoke thing at an Irish bar, which was mostly filled with American servicemen. I was a backup dancer for a Britney Spears song one of the other Fulbrighters performed. I am sure I did an amazing job, but sadly no video record exists.
Since I’ll have new things going on, I’ll try to blog a bit more to keep friends and family updated on how things are going. If you feel like dropping me a line, or have suggestions on how to find housing in Frankfurt-Oder, shoot me an e-mail via the contact button above.
After driving across the country, from Washington to California, I spent a week or so in San Jose before leaving for Germany on August 10th. The fellowship began with a three-day orientation session in Frankfurt, which is wrapping up tonight.
One of the coolest things we saw in the city was the Kommerzbank headquarters, which is a 50-story un-air conditioned office building. All the offices have natural light – no cube farms, no neon – and the windows open. Extra cooling is done with cold water piped through tubes in the ceilings. I also went to a karaoke thing at an Irish bar, which was mostly filled with American servicemen. I was a backup dancer for a Britney Spears song one of the other Fulbrighters performed. I am sure I did an amazing job, but sadly no video record exists.
Since I’ll have new things going on, I’ll try to blog a bit more to keep friends and family updated on how things are going. If you feel like dropping me a line, or have suggestions on how to find housing in Frankfurt-Oder, shoot me an e-mail via the contact button above.
