Day 1: Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig

*I know, this is not two weeks ago, but my computer has been acting up more and I've had academic stuff to do (I had a presentation today that I think went mostly well(it was over the Princess Bride, but entirely in German!) and I had am exam last Friday. I have a paper(also entirely in German) due on Monday, another presentation(thankfully in English, but it is about lobbying and the representation of interest in the German government, so not the easiest/most interesting of topics to talk about for 25 minutes) and my final for my grammar course on this Friday(and then I start my last grammar course). Ah, but results are in from midterms and I did very well. I am incredibly pleased with my exams and I haven't been given a grade on my presentation yet, but hopefully it is also fairly okay.

But enough about that stuff, I'm going to get on with the past. The first part of this is what I wrote either on a train or waiting for a train, both of which I did A LOT of over spring break. In four days I was either on a train or waiting for a train for a total of 32 hours, give or take an hour or so(yes, I actually did the math), so I only ended up traveling Monday through Thursday. I woke up Friday morning and the thought of a train made me want to scream, so I opted for the quiet route and stayed the rest of the week at home, which worked out because that was my week to clean the apartment and by Friday, Mark, the guy I went to Goslar with, was back in town, so I hung out with him on Saturday and we played basketball on Sunday, so it wasn't at all boring. Sometimes it's nice to just lay back and chill with friends(and not take trains. I actually haven't taken a train since, but I'm fairly sure I could handle it. I couldn't say the same a week ago). But anywho, so these are my thoughts on the trains. I'll show a difference in time by doing -----, just so you can see where my train(ha, train) of thought went and will add stuff about the actual pictures and such at the end. So, here it is, my journal from the first day of travel while on spring break...*

It's amazing how quiet everything becomes when the train is stopped. It's easy to forget the sound of silence when you spend three straight hours hearing the howl of the wind, the cracking of the rain against the window, and the constant clacking of the train on the tracks all muddled with the passing conversations of those seated near you. It's the sort of silence where I feel like the 5 or 6 nearby passengers are all going to ask me to quiet the scratching sound of my pen on the paper. It's almost too eerie to explain, but trust me, when it happens, you know.

Last night, the skies opened up and I decided to salvage the last of my relatively uneventful Sunday evening. It was too late to travel by bus or train, which is why it is incredibly fortunate that I have two fully functioning legs(which I not only love to use, but do so often!) I had my flatmate, Thies, point me in a direction(he suggested I go walking in this nearby neighborhood that looks very much like a regular American suburban neighborhood. I didn't really walk through it as much as I walked to it. I changed my plans towards the beginning of my walk and didn't get a chance to go back to it, but what I saw of it was gorgeous).

So I started walking. There is this massive field outside my window that I've walked down one side of. There is a path that I could see out of my window and a few months ago, curiosity got the better of me and I found out where it leads. It goes to Reppenstedt, a really small nearby town that doesn't have much. A few stores and a distinct smell of dog poo and mold, but that's about it. If you walk straight down one street though, it will lead you to the old cemetery(there is a new one that I haven't gotten to yet).

As morbid as it may sound, I walk to the cemetery on a weekly basis. It is unlike any cemetery I have ever been to. The only reason I ventured in in the first place was because I was under the impression that it was a garden. Imagine a maze of waist high bushes with paths stretching through from side to side. This maze was built for privacy and respect. Within each green block is a handful of headstones, most of which are adorned with the branches of nearby evergreen trees and small trinkets like teddy bears, but all are incredibly modest. No elaborate angel singing "Ave Maria," but all fairly simple and tasteful headstones. Almost every one has a candle on it as well, with many of them lit.

Everything is well kept. Nothing is overgrown with branches or covered in dirt. Peaceful. Everything is incredibly peaceful. There are benches scattered throughout this labyrinth and on any given Sunday, you can find me there; simply thinking and staring off quietly into space.

I thought my path yesterday was going to lead me to Reppenstedt... yeah, it didn't.

It lead me to the other side of that massive field that have given me many a gorgeous view of the sunset(I did luck out with my housing. Not only do I have awesome flatmates, but a west-facing window as well. If only I had a terrace....)I actually got to see where the farming community that tends the giant field lives. It is this collection of really very pretty old buildings with a bunch of signs posted with maybe 7 words on them. Of the 7 words, there are 5 I don't know(which leaves "please" and "not") between that and the extensive barbed wire fence surrounding the entire property, I took that as a "Do Not Enter" and didn't venture in, but just kept on a-walkin'.

Walking lead me to the woods(wildlife preserves here are marked by a friendly sign with an owl on it). It's the insane power of silence again. It was so quite, but at the same time, I felt like everything around me was so loud. The twigs snapping and the birds chirping is almost deafening in silence such as that. It's also one of my favorite environments. I love to wonder and putter as is, but put me in the woods and I am a happy camper for hours.

The first path I took(which is also used by the farmers' or at least by their horses. Let's just say that in some places, it was better to choose the ankle high mud over the option on the other side. Also, for the better part of two hours, my nostrils were reminded that there was a farm nearby.) Anyway, this first path lead me to a clearing. I left my house around 5, so it was well into sunset by the time I got to the woods and the evening fog was beginning to settle on the field.

I'm not sure how many of you have watching the fog roll in at eye-level before, but it's surreal. It's like sitting on a stationary train when the train next to you begins to move. Even though you can feel that you are not moving, you begin to frantically turn to the opposite side to see if you are still, in fact, stationary(which becomes even harder when there are moving trains on both sides). The world was moving, was creeping up on me, but I felt like I was the one who was changing positions.

It started to get a bit darker(I know, big shocker huh?) so I figured finding a not horse or puppy dropping filled path was pretty essential on my to-do list. It was then that I found the paved path. I stopped dead in my tracks for a bit and stared at my two options. I could go right and head back home before the sunsets and it gets too dark to see. It isn't wise to be in the middle of the woods at night.

I went left. I was in no way, shape or form pressed for time and worst comes to worst, I follow the sounds of cars and figure out where I am from there if I happen to get lost.

*For those parentalish readers who are shaking their heads in my general direction for venturing into the woods at dusk, a few reminders. 1. It was incredibly clear out(once you got past the thicker than pea-soup fog, but that was only maybe 15 feet above my head) and the girl who studies astronomy can figure out which way is east pretty quickly using the stars. 2. I have an incredible sense of direction that has a habit of aiming me, if not in the exact direction I need to go in, than in a direction I'm familiar with and I can work from there as well. 3.(and most importantly) it was a paved path, which are easy to walk on at night and even easier to figure out which is the opposite direction that you are heading. So, no trail of breadcrumbs for me, just me and my brain. I made it home in very good time and the only thing I regret about the decision is the fact that I wore shoes that don't fit well and ended up with really bad blisters on both feet, just in time for spring break.*

So I walked. For the first 45 minutes after sunset, I was surrounded by fog. Eventually, I came upon this clearing and suddenly the fog was gone. It was the strangest thing, I literally couldn't see a foot in front of my face and then I could see, what felt like, for miles.

I also understand fairy tales now. You see, the Grimm Brothers didn't make up all of their fairy tales, but merely walked around regions in Germany and listened to the legends and simply wrote them down. Totally understand the legends now. Walk around in the woods for awhile, daytime or nighttime, and you'll start to see your imagination getting the better of you. I actually haven't felt so creative in a fairly long time. The writer in me was working overtime after my adventure into the woods. It happens all so simply too. You'll hear a bunch of ravenous crows and suddenly your imagination will turn them into a blood-thirsty, child-eating woods monster. Throw in a thick night fog, a nearly full moon and one too many scary movies and you find yourself moving a bit quicker.

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And that was all I wrote, obviously nothing about the places I was visiting on Monday or my reasons for going there, but that's mostly because both were completely random. I started out the week by making detailed plans of where I would go and on what train and by Thursday, I barely had an idea of where I was going, let alone how to get there. Anyway, on Monday, I went to Wolfenbüttel because I was told about this fantastic library that was there. I wondered around for a bit and took pictures of basically everything I saw. There was quite a bit though that I have no idea what it was, but we will, for posterity, start with my reason for being there, the Herzog August Bibliothek.




I really liked Wolfenbüttel. It was fairly quaint, but had a lot of people out and about. I found the tourist center and grabbed a map of the main sights of Wolfenbüttel and was quickly on my way. The Herzogliches Schloss(Castle from Herzog) was one of those "wow, that's so big you can't miss it" kind of things and according to the mail boxes I found when I went into the courtyard/parking area(basically everywhere is a parking area here. If the car fits, go ahead and drive there and if there is no sign, might as well park while you are at it.) it is now a school, which I think is very cool.




So, it is pretty typical in the States to find things like a "Main street" in every city and the same is incredibly true for Germany(I'm not even going to go into how many places have Goethestrasses (streets named for Goethe), but a lot of cities have churches with the same name. This is the Johanniskirche I found on my journey(there is also one in the town in which I live). I really loved this church! It is very modest and quaint and had a gorgeous courtyard that I just sat in for awhile, enjoying the weather(this is incredibly sarcastic. Spring break had horribly rainy and cold weather for the most part, but the courtyard was still very pretty).





And the rest are fairly random pictures. The Rathaus was incredibly ordinary. I actually didn't realize what it was until I read the sign. The big statue in front is of Herzog August(who obviously had something to do with the city but I will not even begin to pretend to fathom a guess of what that was). I even tried to get some pictures of normal everyday people in, but that's a little hard to do without looking like some sort of creep, so I had to be a super sleuth.
















The next are a series of signs that I found really funny. One is for a playground and another is basically telling you to not cross the street illegally because there could be children watching(this is actually a pretty big deal here. I think, in general, German pedestrians abide by traffic laws more than those in the US and will definitely not cross the street illegally when there are children who are watching. It's sort of the entire community taking responsibility for each other, which is really awesome to see in action. It happens often on the bus as well. You'll see older men or women(usually women though) who can barely lift their walker up onto the bus and most young people(men usually before women, but both do it) well offer help without batting an eye. Same happens with luggage in train stations, young people carrying it for people who can not handle it on their own. It is one of the biggest things I am going to miss when I go back to the states. Sure, Germans push their way to the front of basically every line(chivalry doesn't really exist here in terms of boarding anything) but they will also willingly and far from begrudgingly help out people who need it. I can not say that the same happens often in the US.) The other one is pointing the way to a popular alcoholic beverage(that I couldn't find, I was curious and it just led me in a big circle) and the last is my favorite. There are simply some signs that speak for themselves without needing words.





And that's all that I have from Wolfenbüttel, except for this really weird sculpture I found.


After my adventures in Wolfenbüttel, I hopped back onto the train and started making my way home. When I went to change trains in Braunschweig, I found that I had an hour wait before I could leave, so I took the opportunity to take a little walk. I didn't get to see much of the city, but I wasn't overly impressed with what I saw. It is bigger than many cities in the state and had a park(where I did my wondering) right outside the train station. The park reminded me of Ohio Universities campus, and I honestly can't tell you why, but it was fairly eerie. i had never been there before, but it felt oddly familiar. And since I was only there for 45 minutes(exploring I make it a habit to show up a little early for trains; not because I am afraid they will leave without me, but because they sometimes show up early and you get a better seat!)






And that's all for now. Back to studying and report making. Be safe and have fantastic days!