My So-Called Life

This afternoon I went on a bike ride with Rhiannon (a fellow student) and an intern-coordinator from my program. We rode through several neighboring villages until we got to the top of a hill with an old castle, where we walked around and took pictures before heading home. Later this evening I went to a production of the story of Noah, put on by a local church in an open-air type theatre on the church steps. The play was produced by Katja’s (my coordinator’s) aunt, a wonderful, eccentric old German lady with an obsessive passion for German.

While I was watching and listening to the play, I suddenly wondered if they had so many monuments in China as they do in Germany. Remembering seems to be a big part of the culture here. Not just remembering the Holocaust, but heritage in general. There are signs outside of buildings explaining who it orginally belonged to, tons of historical-explanation plaques, memorials, monuments, statues depicting historical events, etc. Even on the country bike paths, when you think you are really alone, you aren’t because there are statues and random plaques in the middle of no where. There are also lots of huge crucifix statues in random places, which I haven’t quite figured out– they always catch me offguard although none of the locals seem to pay them much attention. Anyway, back to the history… Most Germans I know are more aware of their history than I am of mine and I wonder sometimes what is the role of all these Denkmaler in their culture? Is „remembering“ as important in every country as it is in Germany? I don’t know why China came to mind, I just couldn’t picture collective-remembering in China the way I see it in Germany (all I could picture were rice patties and human-rights abuses).

On the way back from the play, I got to watch a beautiful sunset over the Rhön mountains-hills. The sky was full of pinks, oranges, and blues, with downcast light washing over the forest, hills, and several small villages. For the second time today, I couldn’t resist singing the song, „the hills are alive with the sound of music.“  (The first time was at the castle, when Rhiannon and I ran across some hills singing in order to show the Germans some American culture– even though Rhiannon is Canadian, I’m pretty sure she wishes she were American like me.) But I hope by singing that, the hills don’t actually get any bright ideas, because I would be really afraid if they were actually alive. They are quite big and they could probably take over the world or something.

That’s all for now. Tschü!

NML

Warum Fulda?

10. …Weil die Stadt während der Mittelalter gegründet wurde.

9. Weil jeden Tag eine lebendige Geschichstaufgabe ist.

8. Weil man nur 5 Minuten mit dem Fahrrad durch die ganze Stadt fährt!

7. Weil Kopfsteinplaster starke Beinmuskeln baut.

6. Weil wegen des Geläuts, braucht man keine Uhr.

5. Weil man Krebs in der Fahrschule beobachten kann.

4. Weil man in der schöne Innenstadt sich verirren kann.

3. Weil nach dem Sturm (die Weltmeisterschaft), gibt es immer Ruhe.

2. Weil Nordic Walking warscheinlich obligatorisch ist, um ein Mitglied der Gemeinschaft zu werden.

1. Weil Bonifatius das befehlt!!!!!!!

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