Hakuna Matata

For those of you that are familiar with The Lion King you know "Hakuna Matata means no worries..." as does the French phrase "Sanssouci". Why on earth is an exchange student in Germany be giving you a French lesson? "Sanncousi, roughly translated to "without concern or "without worries" is the name of Frederick the Great's former summer home is Potsdam, Germany. Frederick the Great, also known as "Der Alte Fritz" ("Old Fritz"), was the king of Prussia during from 1740 to 1786. I had the opportunity to take a stroll around the Palace ground while I was in Potsdamm for the weekend a couple months ago.(Just now writing about it). While there, my friend/ designated tour guide, gave me a quick history lesson, which I will try to briefly go over in this blog.

The palace was not as extravagant as other palaces from that time, explained my friend, because he wanted this to be a place to actually live. A place free from war and violence, where he could relax and enjoy his time "away from it all." To me the home looks huge and godly, but when taken into consideration the average palace of the time period, I can see how what she said made sense.

Beside the palace a saw a stone slab with the king's name. Beside it people had left potatoes. I was intrigued and sought out my "tour guide" for an answer.

During the reign of "Old Fritz" there was a famine in his realm.

Frederick the Great tried introducing potatoes into his kingdom, but the peasants were reluctant to abide by his orders in 1774 grow potatoes as protection for human consumption. Towns people of Kolberg replied: "The things have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us?". People were weary of the potato since it was new and had never been used for the dinner table. Old Fritz decided to try a different method of getting his kingdom to accept the potato and had a large field planted with the crop and guarded by his own soldiers. People, believe that if the crop was being guarded than it must be worth stealing, did exactly as Old Fritz had intended, and sneaked in to the field to steal the plants fr their own gardens. Fredrick the Great had even gone so far as to tell the guards that if they see a thief, to turn a blind eye. His strategy worked and he was able to save his kingdom from hunger.

So, thought for the day: Why worry when you have potatoes!

Hamburg, Germany

HERE ARE SOME MORE PICTURES! < Click there to see the pictures. These are from my trip into the city of Hamburg in Northern Germany. The city is only about a 40 minute drive from my village without traffic.


The pictures include:

Shots of the Red Light District

The building with the green roof is the government building (Town Hall). The German name for a Town Hall is "Rathaus" Pronounced Rat House. I think the name fits! ;)

There are some pictures of an old burned church this is:

"The Gothic Revival Church of St. Nicholas (German: St.-Nikolai-Kirche) was formerly one of the five Lutheran Hauptkirchen (main churches) in the city of Hamburg. It is now in ruins, serving as a memorial and an important architectural landmark. When Hamburg residents mention theNikolaikirche, it is generally to this church that they are referring, and not the new Hauptkircheof St. Nicholas, which is located in the Harvestehude district.
The church was the tallest building in the world from 1874 to 1876 and is still the second-tallest building in Hamburg."
(Wikipedia)

The church was left standing after it was destroyed in the second world war as a reminder of what war can do and as a warning to future generations.
They installed an elevator in the church which is how I got the areal shots of the city.

You can probably see the Harbor in some of the pictures. Hamburg's harbor is the 3rd largest in Europe.

There are a couple pictures of another church, which is one of 5 of the mother churches in Hamburg.

The picture of a waterway and on either side a long line of brick building is what used to be the Old Harbor. The buildings are now used for, I believe the storage of carpets. There is also a Maritime Museum and a couple other things to see inside.

The picture of me with the guitar is taken in the Red Light district. It's actually a memorial to The Beatles, who made their start in Hamburg, not far from where I was standing. Looking down on the memorial it looks like a giant record. Then there are the statues of the 4 known Beatles and the 5th Beatle who left the band on good terms to peruse an education at a prestigious art school in the city. Not long after leave the band he died suddenly from natural causes. He was the one who gave the Beatles the "look" that we know today as belonging to the band.

The swans in the picture have the best life a swan could have. There is someone working for the government, who's job is to take care of them They live in the Alster, which is a right tributary of the Elbe River. During the winter months they are moved to another part of German to "vacation" in an ice free pond.

"After more than four months in their winter quarters, Hamburg's “swan father” Olaf Nieß lead several boats to move 120 birds to the port city’s outer Alster lake.

The animals will now be able to find sufficient food on their own, a spokesperson from the Hamburg-Nord district said.

At the end of the November the swans made their traditional trek to their winter retreat in the Eppendorf district’s mill pond, which is kept free of ice year round.

They have been a part of the city landscape since the 11th Century, under the care of a “swan father” - Hamburg’s oldest municipal post – since 1674.

The birds now grace the Hamburg city emblem, and their return to the Alster signals the start of spring each year. " (http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100412-26495.html)

There is one picture of an apartment building painted red with the word "OUT" on it. This is one of a few building which belonged to the government. They were unoccupied and a group of squatters moved in. Soon these squatters had families and turned these building into their homes. When the government went to sell the buildings the squatters refused to leave. After numerous arguments the squatters won. This is how I understood the story. Apparently the buildings are now owned privately and the apartments are leased to the people who live there.

"The Hafenstraße (Harbour street) is between Landungsbrücken, the most tourist crowded place in the city, and the fish market, which is open only on Sunday morning from 4:30AM-9:30AM. The street between was a place for squatters in the 1980s and was well known by the media when there were battles between the Autonomous movement and the police. Some houses still exist there, though the 80s-Myth is dead. You can go to the Punksbar onkel otto or eat at the vokü." (http://www.live-like-a-german.com/destinations/show/hamburg)

The black and white pictures are just old pic (that I took from a screen) of Hamburg. There is one of the St. Nicholas church.


I hope you enjoy the pictures!! I also hope all of my information is accurate. Some of you already got this stuff in an email. I will make a new post at some point to give you something new. :)

I took the pictures while giving a friend of mine, who lives in another part of Germany, a tour of Hamburg. I had confessed to the father of a friend that it was absurd for ME to be giving a tour of Hamburg when I know next to nothing about the city. He replied,
"In the kingdom of the blind the man with one eye is king"

Sounds good to me! :D

I'm Pretty Bad At Blogging

Well after being harassed by both my mom and my dad in the sates I have decided to please them by updating my blog. It's funny that just two years ago I was explaining to them what a blog was and now they are the ones trying to refresh MY memory. My mom has started using words like "creeping" and "wall post" after figuring out the Facebook basics. She will probably have something to say to me after seeing that the entire first paragraph in my blog about Germany is in fact about her, but I don't mind. Now for the juicy stuff. I'm in Germany! So my mom and I went to a neighboring village and this is one of the lovely, old buildings.

Germany, after only a month, is a place that I can see myself calling home. Everything about it is fascinating and attractive. I'm living in a small village, as I have said before. However, for the last 2 weeks and for the next 2 weeks I am studying in Hamburg. I go to a language school in the city. I take a car, a train, and a metro to school every morning. My day usually starts at 7:45 or 8:00 am. I have coffee and toast with my mom and we head to the station. After school I usually have a couple hours to kill before taking my train back to meet up with my ride. I have been using that time to explore parts of the city near my school. Since I'm only a metro ride away from everywhere my exploring has taken me to a few neat places. Now that I'm more confident in my ability to find my way back if I take the wrong train, I'm planning on my next two weeks being very entertaining. I love Hamburg. It's beautiful and clean! Germany isn't just going green, it is green! Hamburg is especially green and not just energy wise. For it's size, Hamburg is one of the greenest cities in the world. (Green meaning grass, trees, etc.) The Elbe river runs through the city thus giving Hamburg the bragging rights for having more bridges than Venice. The houses are lovely and recycling is a big deal here. I'm constantly learning. Today I was on my way to school and I found out that the metro I had to take was down for some reason. I was going to be late for class and I had no idea what to do. The lady told me to take a bus, so I got on a bus. Then the bus driver told me to take another bus...so I did. Finally I ended up somewhere where I could supposedly get on my metro. However, my metro didn't run through the station where I was. I ended up taking a subway and then my metro. I was 20 minutes late to class. Now I know more than I did about the train system. See, I am learning. I have been wanting a pet hedgehog. My parents think I'm kidding. I told my dog to find me a friendly hedgehog that will will in my room and tell me jokes. She found one today and ran away with it. She is back in her cage now. The poor hedgehog probably didn't make it. I'm refusing to speak to the dog now. Other than my killer dog, everything else is lovely. German's take pride in what they do and how they act. At least the one's I have met so far. Having coffee at a friends house means that the coffee cups and plates are brought out, and there is a tablecloth and cake. It's nice to sit around with a group of people to enjoy good company and even more importantly, good cake! I've been playing my Ukulele and trying to stay warm. It's getting colder and colder. Still fall, but you can tell that winter is going to be a "blast". I'm sorry for this being a lame post. I tried to fit the past month into a summarized entry. Trying to do that probably makes this a bit boring. I'll try to be better in the future. :) This is my sister and I. While putting cardboard boxes on our heads, sword fighting, and taking pictures, we forgot about the pizzas in the oven...

The First Three Days

"Steal with your eyes and your ears, not with your hands." This was some advice given to me by a woman waiting at the train station for her train. This is also wisdom that will carry me through Germany. I've been with my family for four days now. Getting here was... exhausting. It all started in Washington D.C. with a 4 day long orientation. After the workshops, lecture, and technical stuff we (92 USA high school students) were on a plane to Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt we met up with the other AFS students, who would be living in Germany from other countries. After an 8 hour flight (I got only a 1/2 hour of sleep) we waited around in the airport in Germany for our families or our trains. I waited 5 or 6 hours then boarded a shuttle train, which was the scariest part of all. When all of the AFS volunteer started running, shouting and grabbing our bags to throw them onto the train before the doors closed, I wished desperately that I had only packed a backpack and not two 20 and 45 lb bags! Along with my lunch and my ukulele case I managed to get myself and all of my belongings on the train. After 10 minutes we arrived at another station where we quickly (but painlessly) boarded the train that would make the 5 hours trip to Hamburg. The train was nice, spacious, and air conditioned. Even though I was tired I couldn't really sleep. I blame the inner excitement. Arrival: The train pulled up to the station and came to a halt. When I turn came to lug my baggage off I made it through the mess of people and saw my mother, my youngest sister, and my father waving to me. My mother had a lovely orange and red flower for me. We all hugged then took a picture with the rest of the students and their families. Well...I don't speak German...and that's obvious: We went to grab a bite to eat at an Italian restaurant in the city. The waiter (obviously hearing my "German" and my family speaking English) made sure to add "Would you like something to drink", "Thank you", and "Dessert?" to his vocabulary. My family and I drew pictures and worked on some basic vocabulary while at dinner.

First Day: Vocabulary- Plate, river, salad, water, fork. Second Day: Slept very well in my new room. I showered (felt much better), and then I went downstairs and shared a fantastic breakfast with my family. Breads, butter, cold cuts, shrimp and cream, eggs, and coffee. I got a tour of the house, which is VERY nice. My family built it 20+ years ago and it has a large sun room that is lovely and complete with a fireplace. The town is flat and green with lots of little horse pastures. The houses are out of a book. They are all red brick and some of the roads are brick too. There are apple trees everywhere and even some pear and plum trees! I have my own room and I share the upstairs and the bathroom with my younger sister. I still haven't met my older sister. On my first whole day we had coffee and desserts two different times with friends and neighbors. When they have coffee here they go all out. It's fantastic. They get the coffee cups and plates, cake plates, sugar, milk, and tablecloth out and set everything up neatly. It's my favorite custom thus far! At night I went to a youth group meeting with my sister. I was able to meet some of the local kids, which was nice.

Third Day: Breakfast with my mom. Then we went to the government building to give them a heads up that I'm residing with my Hanke Family. We did some grocery shopping in the very organized grocery store, and drove through a couple pretty villages much like Brackel. In the afternoon my sister, mom, and myself with mushroom hunting with my sister's painting class. The forest was really beautiful and I got to have some one on one time with my mom, which was great for bonding. At night we tested chocolate and watched the Mentalist in German. :P Fourth Day: (Today) I went to a bigger town with my mom and we did some VISA stuff. Then we walked around the town and walked through the palace, which was located there. We went to an outdoor market and had Crepes and coffee. It was fun. She called me her daughter <3 When we got back I went to the elementary school with her. She helps kids with their homework for 2 hours everyday after school. The 8 year olds helped me read a children's book and then they helped me recognize the different colors in German. My mom said that tomorrow maybe I should go to a younger class. My German is too basic for the "upper classes". I went mushroom hunting with my dad and our two dogs this evening and I took a walk with my sister around the town. Germany is nice. I love the people. I feel like I'm going to fit in well and my German is already a lot better. I have added tree, dog, cat, apple, mushroom, cell phone, fish, and meat to my vocabulary along with a few basic, but necessary phrases. I'm sorry for the day by day description, but for now that's all I have to write about. I hope my horrible grammar doesn't hurt your eyes. I tend to ignore it. :)

The Countdown Begins

9 Days before I arrive in Washington D.C. for a three day long orientation.
The CBYX Scholars will then head to the State Department to meet with their individual Congressmen. Next there will be a series of workshops designed to a.) prepare us for adapting in a new environment, and b.) get us better acquainted with our travel mates.

Am I nervous? : No
Am I excited? : Yes
Am I prepared? : Define prepared.

I'm mostly packed.
I don't speak German.
I'm up to my ears in anticipation and excitement.

I learned how to say "I'm cold, I'm hungry, I have a contagious disease" in German.
Baby steps.

I have been in contact with my host family, and I am fairly certain that we will get along really well. My parents have "met" them via skype, which was nice.

When I arrive in Frankfurt, Germany the morning of the 10th, I will then take a train to Hamburg. My family will pick me up at the station and then it's a 30 minute car ride to my new home in Brackel, Germany.

I will attend a language camp in Hamburg 5 days a week for 4 weeks in order to receive 80 hours of German language instruction. After those first 4 weeks I will attend my host sister's school in another town. I will be in the 11th grade. (I've graduated high school in the United States, but due do Germany's advanced school system I am a junior again).

Time to learn. Time to live. Time to travel!

Off I Go Again!

My Great Uncle Jack: Phoebe, there is an exchange program that goes to Germany. It’s called Congress-Bundestag I believe.
Me: I want to do it.


In a nutshell of a conversation that is basically how I found myself where I am today. I came home from a year abroad trip with AFS to Argentina wanting to go to Germany to learn German. Languages fascinate me and I can’t seem to get rid of this travel bug I only assumed I picked up genetically. When my uncle heard of my desire to head to Europe he told me about a program called Congress-Bundestag that a nephew of his was going to Germany through. I wrote down the name and kept the idea open in the back of my mind. Then my old AFS advisor called to ask a few questions about hosting students, and my mother told her of my plans to go to Germany someday. My advisor suggested the same organization, which evidentially operates via numerous exchange groups including AFS (American Field Service). She said I was a good candidate, so I began the application process.
I kind of feel like I am constantly bombarding my poor folks with new ideas and plans every day. I always get the same response, “Yeah okay, Phoebe.” At first they brush off these plans thinking that I am just daydreaming again. Then I am asking for parents’ signatures and medical records. “Oh? She’s serious!” is usually the next thought going through their brains. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel as if this gives a relatively accurate picture of how things tend to go.
The Germany trip started as talk and after applications, signatures, school transcripts, interviews, and follow ups, I’m here, ready to go to Germany to spend a year. Wow. It’s not even real for me yet.
Congress-Bundestag offers a full paid scholarship to students who would like to spend a year studying in Germany. The program is somewhat competitive and I didn’t think I was going to get it. I figured that they would overlook my application because I am graduated and had traveled abroad before. I guess I was wrong because now I am preparing to leave Labor Day weekend.
An exchange student is always learning. Not necessarily from books either. A lot of the learning actually happens before you ever set foot in your new host country. Patience is a virtue? Well exchange students are forced to be patient, like it or not. We wait to be accepted by the US…Then by the host country…Then you wait for a family…Then your passport…Then the VISA…Then orientation. After a long drawn out waiting period you are saying goodbye to your family and friends at the airport. It may not seem like a big deal, but when your life is up in the air and you are waiting to find out with whom and where you will be spending the next year of your life you can see how one may get anxious.
That’s why I was through the roof with excitement when I was placed with a family.
I will be moving to Brackel, Germany to become a part of the Hanke family. Brackel is small town of maybe 1,800 residents, and it is located 30 minutes south of Hamburg in northern Germany. I will be living with my host mother, father, and a 13 year old sister. I also will have two dogs. I have another sister, who is 21, and is living in another town to study at an university.

Now the only waiting I have to do is for Labor Day weekend when I am to leave. I am excited to go, but there is no rush. I am soaking up the time I have left with my family and friends.
I have graduated High School and I am 18 years old. When I return from Germany in 2012 I will attend Chatham University (I have already been accepted and have deferred my acceptance until next year).
I am looking to major in either International Studies or International Business with a double minor in Public Relations and Sustainability. Things in my life tend to change constantly so my direction education wise probably will too. As of now I am hoping to one day be involved with the promotion of renewable (green) energy.
I will go to a high school in Germany and for those of you who remember when I took my trip to South America on exchange it is basically the same thing. (I am just expected to study more).
I will try to update this Blog at least a couple times a month once I arrive in Germany in order to give you all an update of what is going on in my life. That way I need not worry about a bunch of individual emails. However, for those of you that would like to email me my email is phoebearmstrongs@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: My spelling and grammar are awful, so please don’t pay too much attention to the many mistakes you are bound to find.


The picture of Germany is from http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/germany.htm