An Update From Hamburg

I realized today that it has been awhile since I wrote a post about Hamburg. So here you have it: a blog entry entirely dedicated to my new home. It's hard to believe that I've already been in Europe for six weeks. It makes me really worried that the next six months are going to fly by and before I know it my time in Hamburg will be up! The weather in Hamburg has been ridiculously cold. Our daytime highs have been about 48F below normal, and we've only hit freezing twice in the past two weeks. We've had snow almost everyday, but it never amounts to more than an inch. If you know me though, you know that snow never fails to put a smile on my face and brighten up my day.

My German language class has been going pretty well. I knew from my pitiful attempt at studying Spanish in middle and high school that learning a foreign language is not a talent of mine. But, I still feel like I've made some progress in the class. One of the most important skills I've learned is how to read German menus and order food in German. I can make it through an entire meal without awkwardly pointing to what I want or waving money in the air to symbolize I'm ready to pay. While I'm on the subject of food, I thought you might all like to know that I am loving German food! Specifically, I am obsessed with German bread, cheese, and pastries. One of my favorite German pastries is a Franzbröchten, or a soft pastry covered in crunchy cinnamon and sugar flakes. I generally have to eat breakfast before I leave for the train station because otherwise I would be tempted to buy one every morning from the bakery near my school.

A few weeks ago, we had a small party at the language school. We spent the entire time conversing in German and eating food typical of our home countries. I brought peanut butter and bread because let's be honest, what's more American then the creamy goodness of peanut butter? The party was so much fun - we had two hours to just practice German in a safe, non-judgmental zone. We even played Hangman in German!

Some of my classmates and a view of all the delicious food!

Last week, we went to Miniatur Wunderland which is the largest model railroad in the world. The railroad bends and weaves its way through towns and cities and mountains and forests. Even though the main attraction is the railroad, they have all these tiny little people doing everyday activities. The model is so realistic that police can chase after and stop speeding vehicles, planes can take off and land at the airport, and buildings can catch on fire and be put out by firetrucks. They also have this day/night cycle where every 10 minutes the lights change color and set the tone for dusk, evening, dawn, and day. One cool thing about Miniatur Wunderland is that each room is dedicated to a different place. Just to name a few, they have models of Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, and Knuffingen. It was really incredible to see all the detail that went into creating the model world. They even have windows looking into the workroom so you can see firsthand how each model piece is created. If you ever visit Hamburg, I would definitely recommend checking it out.

One of the many model trains at Miniatur Wunderland. 

An example of how detailed the model is.

An airplane landing at Wunderland Airport. When the planes
took off and landed, the engines reved up and exhaust
came out the back. 

Aliens, Cadillac Ranch, an oil rig, and a brocken down truck.
I especially liked this part of the model because I've actually
been to Cadillac Ranch and have a picture standing next
to those cars!

Mount Rushmore

The Grand Canyon

Las Vegas and the famous Treasure Island Hotel!

Rut Roh - a tornado is heading towards the
space shuttle! 

Hamburg: St. Michaelis Church and a building on fire

Releasing a weather balloon. 

Another Hamburg related update is that I got my new housing assignment for April. We are currently living about 30 minutes outside downtown, so we are going to move in April to a place closer to the school. Strangely, Kaitlyn and Daniela were placed in the same housing complex, and I was placed in a different one. This will definitely make late night talks more inconvenient! On the other hand, we're likely to meet a lot of new people since we'll have two dorms to hang out in instead of just one.

Last Monday, we went with some fellow meteorology students to a movie theater in the city. It was easily one of the strangest movie watching experiences I've ever had. First of all, the movie is a big secret. You do not know what movie you're watching until it starts. From 8:30 to 9:30, they played a bunch of movie previews that were all related to the actual movie. Each preview is supposed to be a hint as to what the movie is.  They also had this random auction in the middle of the previews where they sold old movies and posters. It was so strange! The movie ended up being Shame which told the story of a sex addict. I'm happy I saw it, but I would never want to see it again. It was such an emotional movie filled with so much pain and suffering that I left the theatre feeling discouraged and depressed.

Switching topics once again, the extreme cold in Europe and Hamburg has led to some really awesome ice formation on the River Elbe and the Aussenalster. Once every decade, the Aussenalster, or the larger of two lakes in Hamburg, completely freezes over. Lucky for us, this cold snap has allowed the lake to freeze over so we got to personally experience this rare event. According to a random news article, the last time this happened was 15 years ago (although, a friend of mine told me it froze over two years ago, so who knows...). Along with thousands of others, we braved the ice and walked all the way across the lake. It was so amazing to see the city from the center of the lake. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after taking just two pictures, so I wasn't able to document the epicness of this experience. But, I did manage to grab a few photos before we went out onto the ice. We also went down to see the River Elbe, which is the large river running through the city. Apparently, the river was so close to freezing over that they had to drive enormous ships through the ice to break it up.

Ice on the River Elbe

The main shipping passage is really obvious in this photo. 

Another view of the ice on the Elbe. Who wants to go for a swim?

People ice skating and walking on the Aussenalster.

Last photo taken before my battery died. 

I had a really cool moment of realization last week when I flew back from Prague. Whenever I would fly into Oklahoma, I would always sarcastically tell myself "Back in Oklahoma. How wonderful..." I was never excited about going back to Oklahoma, and I never once thought to myself "Boy, am I glad to be home!" But when I flew back from Prague, my first thought was "I'm so happy to finally be home." Even though I've only been in Hamburg for one month, I feel more at home here then I ever did in Norman. It's such a strange and welcomed feeling for me to love the place I'm living so much.

I will leave you with some fun difference I have found between the United States and Germany. Tschüss!

• You cannot order tap water in a restaurant. It is considered rude to bring you a glass of water rather than bottled water.
• Dogs are allowed in restaurants, shops, banks, etc. 
• They have bike lanes everywhere, and if you walk in the bike lane you will get run over.
• Germans eat waffles and pancakes with Nutella, not syrup. 
• You have to pay to use a cart at most grocery stores.
• They have two flush buttons on the toilet - one large and one small. I'll let you figure out what each is for.
• Waiters will not bring you your check until you ask for it.
• Airport security is much less invasive. You only have to remove your shoes if you're wearing big boots. 
• Germany is a much more social place then the United States.
• Non-alcoholic drinks are really expensive, and you have to pay for refills.
• You can openly drink alcohol in public places.
• Unlike the United States, policemen and police cars are not everywhere. They remain very much in the background.
• Markets and stores are closed all day on Sunday (which is problematic today because I really need to go grocery shopping!)