Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Alone among Lions....
Germany is through to the Quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup. And knocked out England in the process. As a German national, I don't really see the problem all my British neighbours have with this outcome of last Saturday's match. I myself was rather jubilant. What can I say? While the Lions were only roaring, the Eagle was soaring.
I did miss something though: Fußball-Fieber, as I'm used to from home. Watching from massive Public Viewing spaces instead of tiny pubs or confined to the four walls of the living room. Celebrating victories by driving your car through town, honking, waving flags and joining convoys. Flags of all participating nations proudly displayed in windows, shopfronts and flapping around cars. Nobody getting bullied for supporting "the wrong team".
I remember the Euro 2008, when Germany played against Turkey and ultimately won. Fears were high there might be trouble in the streets of my hometown of Solingen after the match. Instead, Turkish and German fans flogged to the city centre, closed the main thoroughfare in the process and celebrated out on the street until the early hours.
When I suggested flying the German flag from our house in Britain, my other half shrieked: "Do you want to get us killed?" Having experienced the World Cup in Britain so far, I do have to say that Germany comes out more multicultural and tolerant than Blighty. This picture was taken in my hometown Solingen during the European Championship:
For today's Champion newspaper, my England supporting other half David Simsiter and I were asked to write a feature. Here are our impressions:
I'm no football expert but even I was feeling worried when our lads went out on the pitch for our World Cup showdown. Not because I was afraid England might lose - that'd never happen, obviously - but because Germany might win, and I was sitting next to a German supporter in a pub packed with England fans. I was thinking I'd be lucky to survive the first half as my other half, Cornelia Kaufmann, hails from the city of Solingen, in northern Germany, and wasn't going to let living in Britain get in the way of supporting her country's sports stars.
I knew the high stakes for both teams. I just wished it wasn't such a crucial match for Capello's crusaders, who'd made it through to the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth. Aware of the imminent dangers of causing a diplomatic faux pas, we deliberately chose to view the match where the England support might be a little more muted - Wales. I reckon it was probably one of the best decisions I've made, because while there were plenty of England supporters to cheer BOTH the England goals, there were also plenty of ABE - Anyone But England - fans cheering alongside Conny. They didn't want Germany to win either, but they definitely wanted England to lose.
It's the most unlikely cultural partnership I've ever seen, but I was glad the lone German wasn't the only one cheering for the other side. As a proud Brit, despite the sunshine last Sunday, it was a dark day. I'm not going to get into what went wrong but the score speaks for itself, and I can't think of any worse consolation than a jubilant German. She actually wanted the score to be 5-1, just to rub out memories of nine years ago when England fans were celebrating that score.
I left the pub feeling even more defeated than expected, made worse because I knew the German supporter wasn't ever going to stop going on about the win. I guess it makes up for all the light-hearted jokes about 1966 and a certain two other times we've faced Germany. Don't mention the score....
Meanwhile, proud Germany supporter Cornelia Kaufmann had this to say on the match:
Following the World Cup in the UK and not supporting England might not be the smartest idea. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve lived in England for the last three years and I love it here – but when it comes to football, I’m cheering for my own national team. Yep, you’ve guessed it: I’m German.
Sitting in a Welsh pub surrounded by England supporters felt weird. Previously, I’d followed matches from Public Viewing spaces but this time I was the odd one out. I tried to keep my enthusiasm down for fear it might get me into trouble, but it did prove rather difficult to keep quiet.I found myself muttering tactical suggestions in German and couldn’t suppress a “Yes” when the whole pub went “NO!” All the while, my England-supporting other half shook his head disapprovingly.
Hand on heart though: you would probably have cheered too if it had been the other way round.
What I missed in England were multicultural celebrations, flags of all the participating nations being proudly displayed and rival supporters celebrating side by side. With this being a match between arch rivals England and Germany I knew it would be different, but I didn’t expect it to go that quiet.
The whole nation went into mourning upon that final whistle and I felt sorry that England’s second goal didn’t count. Driving through town after the match, I only blew my tiny, electronic vuvuzela once to celebrate. The noise it made was so quiet I doubt anyone actually heard it.
Carnival in Cologne
It's "Roosemondaach" in Cologne, the most important day in the Carnival season, which lasts from 11th November until Ash Wednesday (17th February this year).
Over the last few days, Germany's Rhineland region went crazy, with carnival meetings, music and parades everywhere. There were concerts, and speeches, loads of jokes and on Thursday "Altweiber", women took over most towns with the mayor symbolically handing over the town keys, and all tie-wearing men got their ties cut by the girls. The main event will be today's "Rosenmontagszug" in Cologne, the hometown of German carnival. The streets will be closed off, and millions of people will line the streets, waiting for the colourful floats to pass by and hopefully catch a few sweets that are thrown into the crowd. The "Dreigestirn" will be there, accompanied by "Funkemariechen" dancers, marching bands and hundreds of people in colourful and imaginative costumes. Carnival is a time to have fun, to be whoever you want to be.
If you're trying to catch any of the sweets and candy "Kamelle", as it's called in Cologne, try this trick we all used when we were kids: Open an umbrella and hold it upside down!
"Kölle Alaaf", or, if you're from Solingen like me "Solig lot jonn" everyone, because: "D'r Zoch kütt!"
Over the last few days, Germany's Rhineland region went crazy, with carnival meetings, music and parades everywhere. There were concerts, and speeches, loads of jokes and on Thursday "Altweiber", women took over most towns with the mayor symbolically handing over the town keys, and all tie-wearing men got their ties cut by the girls. The main event will be today's "Rosenmontagszug" in Cologne, the hometown of German carnival. The streets will be closed off, and millions of people will line the streets, waiting for the colourful floats to pass by and hopefully catch a few sweets that are thrown into the crowd. The "Dreigestirn" will be there, accompanied by "Funkemariechen" dancers, marching bands and hundreds of people in colourful and imaginative costumes. Carnival is a time to have fun, to be whoever you want to be.
If you're trying to catch any of the sweets and candy "Kamelle", as it's called in Cologne, try this trick we all used when we were kids: Open an umbrella and hold it upside down!
"Kölle Alaaf", or, if you're from Solingen like me "Solig lot jonn" everyone, because: "D'r Zoch kütt!"
German tuition fees: it could be worse!
Students in Germany often complain about their tuition fees of 500 Euro per semester, plus 200 Euro "social fees" for the Student Union etc.
I had no choice but to study in the United Kingdom, because my course is the only B.A. (Hons) Travel Journalism degree in Europe. Currently, tuition fees in England amount to £3.225 per academic year, and this amount is increasing every year. The government is talking about raising the fees to £5.000 or even £7.000. Maybe fees this high are not a problem for spoilt Eton boys, but we "normal" students are already struggling to pay for tuition and live a little on the side. After all, these fees do not include rent, food or anything else.
At German universities, you get your money's worth for the fees you're paying. You get an annotated syllabus, all the lecture notes, printing credit and the "social fee" covers meals at the canteen and a monthly young person's bus- and railcard, to mention but a few advantages.
In England you get - well, lectures. That's it! Everything else has to be paid on top of the fees. My university is the University of Cumbria, proudly proclaiming itself the newest university in England (inaugurated in August 2007), but for me, it is easily the worst uni I have ever heard of! That has nothing to do with lecturers or teaching standards, but if a university closes two, in their time purpose-built libraries - first the Law and Management libary at Milbourne Street, and in 2009 the Art library at Brampton Road, you do begin to think that maybe they have no clue what they are doing. After all, this library situation forced thousands of third year students to dish out for books they need for their dissertations, on top of paying £3.225 for essentially half a year of studies. Tuition does not include meals at the canteen, let alone a railcard.
Getting financial help in England is also tricky if you're an EU student. You can't get the bursaries all your peers areentitled to, because you haven't been living in the UK for three years before you started your course. If you're lucky, a charity will take pity, but they usually only help in extreme circumstances. The student loan is an option, but there is no way to reduce your fees. In Germany, you can work for the faculty, or help as a researcher, and in return, you only pay the social fee. There is even an organisation that sends you stationery - paper, post-its, pens etc. - at the beginning of every semester for free, as long as you are a student and can prove it.
Christmas in the UK
This Christmas was the first I celebrated with my boyfriend, and the first I celebrated in the UK.
And although it was great, it was also.... different.
At home in Germany, we celebrate on 24th December. Usually we decorate the tree either on the 23rd or during the morning of the 24th. We go to church in the afternoon for an hour, and then the whole family gathers at my parents' flat and we open our presents. After that, we have Christmas Dinner in the form of meat fondue and later some coffee.
This year, my boyfriend and I decided to open our presents on the 23rd December already, as he'd also gotten presents for his housemates, and they left for their parents' houses that night. On Christmas Day, we then met up with nearly the entire family at my boyfriend's parents' house at 10am and opened our presents, before half of us were kicked out of the kitchen so that the rest could prepare lunch. We had turkey for lunch, complete with stuffing, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, pigs in blankets and gravy. We each had Christmas crackers, and ended up wearing those funny paper crowns. Later, most of us played Scattergories and Charades while getting drunk and eating too much cake.
It was a really nice Christmas, but it was still weird not to be home.
Solinger Tageblatt on iPhone
After 200 years, the Solinger Tageblatt, the local paper I write for when I'm in Germany, just went digital! It has officially become Germany's first newspaper to be fully accessible via an Apple application.
"mein ST" is an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch and offers all of the Solinger Tageblatt's content - including latest news, photo galleries, ST TV and sport news - for you to enjoy wherever you are. It has really gone pocket-size!
JCS in Solingen's Clemens Galerien will load the new application onto its Apple products on Saturday, so you can see first hand how this innovative application from Medienhaus B. Boll works and looks.
Solinger Zöppkesmarkt this weekend
The German city of Solingen is going completely bonkers again this weekend, as the 41st "Zöppkesmarkt" is on. The Zöppkesmarkt is a massive flea-market in the city centre, with some groups putting up stalls and performances all weekend long. These groups, including the "Aul Baseloemker", "Flecken Lecker" and Dreitausender" are now attractions in their own right! Zöppkesmarkt is now one of the largest flea-markets in Northrhine-Westphalia, with many people coming from all over the state to bag some bargains.
A "Zöppken" is the name the City of Blades gave its small kitchen knives. Of course, these Solingen specialties are sold as well. Though the market is getting more and more commercial every year, there are still some great bargains and rare items to be found. Old phones that still have a proper dial and work? - No problem! Vinyl records? - Sure thing! There is a lot of bric-a-brac for sale, but if you're creative and a DIY kind of person, you might just find everything you need to turn your flat into a place straight out of the 70s.
Solingen's Miss Zöpfchen (voted for having the nicest plaits) is voted before the market and her proclamation is the official start of the Zöppkesmarkt. She'll go around, give awards for the most original stalls and represent Solingen in the year to come.
The Zöppkesmarkt is one of Solingen's biggest annual events and well worth a visit. Be prepared to haggle, have a laugh and maybe you'll find those bowls that go so nicely with the plates you've already got...
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