In Leipzig Once Again

Hey everyone,

Leipzig and Gera are going to be the main places I'll be dividing my time until Christian and I move into our apartment in Berlin, since he has an apartment here and his family lives in Gera. Christian's family lives in a little village called Otticha, and it's got the charm of a place that's not over-run with modern things. As a result, they don't have the fastest internet connection and so I usually won't be posting on here while we're in Otticha. Christian and I just spent from last Thursday until yesterday (Monday) there and thus, the silence. It's good though, you're kind of forced to relax there, such is the hospitality of his family. I guess being from Fort Wayne, though, I do appreciate being in a bigger city like Leipzig. I really like hearing people in the street outside the window and the sound of cars passing in the street.

Though you can find little phrases of English here and there, it is a little bit of an adjustment being in a country where you mostly don't understand what people are talking about -- in everyday conversation, people tend to talk fast or mumble, just as in every language, I suppose-- Granted, when I sit down and hear Christian talking or friends speaking German, I can understand a little better since I'm more familiar with the sound of their voice and words and expression. It's like the scene in "The Thirteenth Warrior" with Antonio Bandaras where he is a foreign soldier camping with Nordic soldiers. It shows him over the course of a night learning the language (which, granted is impossible, but Hollywood can do it). He's listening to their speech and hears what sounds like gibberish, then one word will jump out in English. Then another, then several words surrounded by gibberish. Like little familiar flags jumping out of nowhere. It really is like that, but only if I really listen.

Often, if I sit somewhere too long I end up falling asleep. I feel tired a lot, and I remember feeling this way almost the entire stay of last year's visit. Some of it was jet lag I'm sure, however, when there's a lot of interaction or even a lot of movement over the city, it really is exhausting my brain. I've taken for granted simply understanding the passing conversations I hear in the street, and especially the ones directed right at me. I always knew in the US that wherever I saw a sign or an advertisement I would be able to read it without even thinking about it. Now it's all a puzzle, every word, every sign, everyday. And all the working it out in my head... well, I guess I can accept how tired it makes me, though I do feel sort of guilty napping in the middle of the day sometimes.

When we went to a mall in Gera, there was an Anti-Nazi march going on in the street. The radio said there were about 1,000 protesters altogether. There was a lot of yelling "Nazis, Nazis! Raus! Raus!" Nazis, out. Apparently it was a Nazi music festival going on in Germany that they were protesting. They had a banner at the front of the line that said "Kein Platz Fuer Nazis" No Place for Nazis. We watched the parade go by and toward the end were loads of people dressed all in black and basically just looking really angry. Christian said these were the extremist, sometimes violent, anti-Nazi people. I understand that you can passionately believe in cause, but their trying to fight an intolerance with intolerance? I suppose there are people like that everywhere.

I recorded some of the march and one of the marchers gave me a nasty look and flipped me off. I got pretty offended but Christian said he was probably thinking I might have been a Nazi supporter. He said that sometimes Nazis will record or take pictures of people participating in those kind of demonstrations and put them on a 'black list' on Nazi websites. He used to take part in those demonstrations when he was younger and used to be on a list. The tensions there are really high, and it seems there is a lot of hatred from both groups.

On a lighter note, I went to a really cool birthday party for a man in Otticha who turned 50. He was the friendliest guy and he invited the entire village to his home and his garden to enjoy food (a whole pig on a spit) and drinks. There was a little girl of about 11 named Paula who is learning English. I think she was excited to meet a native speaker because she showed me all her schoolbooks and we talked for about an hour and a half. She brought out a German teen magazine and was asking me if I knew any of the celebrities in it, like Zac Effron and people from Twilight, lol. She asked if everyone in the US is rich (her mom wasn't happy about that) and she said she wanted to live there so bad because she wants to live in a villa, have lots of nice clothes, and have a lot of money. I tried to tell her it's not really like that, but why destroy her somewhat positive stereotypes about the US while she can still have them? She spoke to me in a pretty interesting mix of German and English, and I responded in German to the best of my ability. I was actually surprised how well we communicated in the other's language. I guess I need to be less shy about using German in front of adults, but with a kid who was really interested in me being an American, it was just a lot easier to talk to her, lol.

That party was a seriously good time. The crowd consisted mostly of people over the age of 40, but they seemed to really have a good sense of humor, pretty easy going, and really enjoying themselves. There was some 'disko' kind of music like YMCA and thrown in were also a couple Katy Perry songs and Lady Gaga. I really enjoyed seeing some of the people dance, although there wasn't a whole lot of room. Even Christian and I danced a little bit. I did a little Macarena and they even played it so we could all do it. Haha. I was taught how to chacha by Paula and Christian was forced into dancing by a severe fifty-something retired dance teacher. Good party.

Another interesting thing, we were walking in the city and we passed by a pet shop, in the window were cages and in one there was a chipmunk jumping around on little hamster toys and going crazy. They actually were selling chipmunks as household pets, lol. I guess they might be a little rare here, but I told Christian we have those things running around everywhere in Indiana.

Things you also don't really see here (that I know of): squirrels (they have loads of hedgehogs instead) and raccoons.

Ok, that's enough for now. I gotta get a shower and then start some ironing. Talk to you soon!

PS - if you want to see more photos, I'm uploading them on Photobucket. Here's the LINK