Organized

 I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again: Germans are orderly.  I felt like I got initiated into the work group when I was given a whole set of different colored pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, stickies, and paper.  Now I can keep everything separate! (If you know me, you already know this experiment is doomed to fail (chaotic creative type)).

"We need more colors!!!!!" - a sentence heard everyday somewhere in Germany.

 It was suggested I could improve my sketches for brainstorming.  I was given an old fashioned device for drafting- and I'm in love.  It grabs the paper along the corners and allows you to rapidly draw to scale drawings with 90, 60, 45, and 30 degree angles.

Oberjoch | German Alps | Schifahren

     As a birthday present, I was invited to go skiing with the family in the German Alps of South Bavaria.  Lena had a trip planned with her friends; we tagged along and stayed in  a hotel on the main run!

Google Shows Ski Runs!

 The mountain was comparable to Santa Fe in size and terrain- the scenery was incomparable in beauty and vastness.

First step was renting skis:

And then taking in the view from the hotel:

Freshies: noun, pl. When one makes fresh tracks in powder snow. synonyms: Pow-town, Goods.

We were very lucky- it snowed the whole week before and the nights we were there.  There was 10 cm of powder both days.

Pictures from the group:

From the mountain:

I spent some time trying to get "the shot" of Fabi

 The hotel was perfect after a hard day of skiing.  It had an awesome Sauna and great beds.  We also ate our dinners and breakfasts there.

For our second dinner, we had musical entertainment: Hanz und Franz

Franz is hiding

 They played folk music and Yodeled- a life long dream was fulfilled in this moment. Eating:

Mountains are very pretty:

Never miss the chance to Photobomb:


The second night all of the girls (Lena's friends) and chaperons came over after dinner for a drink (well, not the kids).  I ended up convincing everyone to play 'Celebrity' AKA 'Fishbowl'. The Rules (and my comments):

1. Everyone writes down three 'known' characters (e.g. Obama, Donald Duck, Merkel, Thomas Mueller, etc.).
2. All of the pieces of paper go into a 'fishbowl' for the game. People divide into two teams.
3. Teams take turns with a representative taking a name out and explaining the character to their group to help them guess who is written down. Once it is guessed, the representative grabs another name. Try to help your team guess as many names in 30 seconds. Teams alternate every 30 seconds until all names are gone.
4. There are 3 rounds, which each use the same fishbowl of names:
 A. Round 1: You can say anything other than 'the name rhymes with' or the name itself
 B. Round 2: You can only say 1 word (Round 1 rules apply)
 C. Round 3: Only Charades. 

It worked surprisingly well! Rules are always hard to explain- and it always takes a little experience to know which names will be fun to play with and which ones are not fun (Obscure politicians, difficult history).

The best part was the second round, which doesn't work so well in German, because nouns combine to form new words. Example: Fussballnationalmannschaftskapitaen (National Soccer Team's Captain). Technically, no rule was broken. I had to remake the rules, and it proved difficult for everyone to remember to use just one 'root' noun.

Mountains are pretty:

Work

Started work in the German Mittlestand.  I have written a lot today, so I'm going to put the ball in your court and hope the link to Wikipedia is sufficient. 

Fine, one sentence: The German Mittlestand is a large part of the economy and it is comprised of small (mostly family) companies that focus on incredibly specific markets and then go 100% German to dominate said market with excellent products (ex. company that creates casters for shopping carts or a company that makes a specific type of hinge for expensive windows). 

This company is really great at working with sheet metal, welding, and automation.  They build assembly lines for other companies. Recently, they made a module that helps another Mittlestand Firm (this is how it works) put gears together, so that company can sell to a big conglomerate.  They also built machines for building dialysis filters.

My project is in conjunction with the Frauenhoffer Institute, which is building a laboratory on wheels.  The laboratory is top of the line and showcases technology for other people to lease (I think).  Currently, the 'Labor der Zukunft' :

1. goes to trade shows to show off technology and answer questions for people looking to do the same thing,

2. collects hair, urine, and blood samples to check toxicology throughout Germany. They track to see if environmental pollutants make it into people in different regions.

My small part in the play is designing a pretty Autoclave. An autoclave is a pressure-vessel that uses steam to sterilize medical equipment.  It will be a challenging project because there is fine line between poorly designed pressure-vessels and well designed bombs.  Many German regulations will be read.

Fulda Gap II

No pictures for this part of the story... eek! I'll try to write better.

We were driven to Geisa to meet with two 'living history' volunteers: the former leader of the inner (west) German border patrol during the decade leading to the fall of the DDR, and a former DDR citizen.

The following experience is my most treasured experience from being in Germany.  It was something I would of never seen myself participating in just months ago.  It made me super grateful that I can (somewhat) speak German now.

Each of the volunteers came to tell us their life stories and answer questions for an hour each.  It was a lot of information to take in, especially for me in German.  It would be impossible for me to remember it all and to share it eloquently.  I will, however, try my best to share some of the most interesting anecdotes.

Leader of the Guard Story:

- He himself came as a refuge from the East to the West after the end of the war.  They had to illegally cross the border in the night and run through the Germanys undercover. He experienced the poverty and struggle of trying to find food and work in a post-war Germany- people were kind and tried to help them make it.

- He became involved in the Border patrol at a young age and took up the assignment in Fulda because he thought it would be a great and safe place to raise his family.  He laughed that had he known it was the planned location for WWIII, he would of changed his mind.  He had no idea that the entire region would be where the USSR would attack, and that it would likely be nuclear bombed by NATO in the event of Soviet aggression.

- He had positive memories of living and working alongside the Americans

- There was an event where fire opened up on the border, and a DDR person was killed.  He was in a leadership position, and very frightened about what would happen.  They two sides of the border met armed to the tooth and decided to do nothing.  He said standing there with all of the guns and uncertainty was the most scared he's been.

- The DDR citizen (from above) was killed with a bullet through the eye.  The west German soldier that fired the shot was found in dead in 1998 with a bullet through the same eye.  He said that such was the power of the KGB/Stasi - years after reunification he believed the old members still acted according to previous allignment.

- They witnessed people get killed at the fence on more than one occasion.  After the fall of the wall, a man approached him at the museum or post (or something). He said "do you remember the boy who was killed on this day (shows article)? well, that's me"  It turns out the kid wasn't killed as he tried to escape- but he was damn near killed.  He went to the hospital and then prison/work-camp for his crime of trying to escape.

- Something happened in one of the Soviet Satellite countries which meant people could come to West Germany.  The DDR made some strict rules about transporting people, so they had to all board a train.  This man was chosen to be among those who went to get the refugees.  He told a really emotional story about people being scared and hungry and that he didn't really know what to do.  The first lady he met (while he was giving commands or something) said "Look here sir we would be happy to oblige but I just had a baby and right now I need diapers for my baby..." and then she starts telling him how things are going to happen.  He obviously had a huge heart and did everything in his power to help these people.  The lady asked him to be the babies god father- he accepted and is still in touch with the family

I asked a friend and this was his memory: "Are you talking about how the guy was the one who welcomed the train full of refugees from the Prague (budapest?? Not sure) consulate who claimed refuge. And the DDR tried to starve them out but then finally let them go. So by the time the train full of people go to the west german boarder everyone was nervous how the refugees would react and if they'd really believe they were free. And so he was scared what would happen but the first woman through the doors was holding a baby and she basically says "I don't care where we are or what you wanna do with us but my baby's got a crap load in this dipper so let me change it and then we'll talk" and she laughed and they laughed and everyone was happy."

- As a refugee himself, he thought his calling (and the border police) was to do everything possible to help the refugees from the DDR

- other stories include the confusion of when the wall fell and when people began to flood from East to West.

Woman from DDR's Story:

She was really sweet.  She came up the podium and read a statement in English she had written and then asked us for feedback- she said she's trying to get better.

Her talk was very open ended- she wanted us to ask her questions.

- Do you miss the DDR? She said knowing everything she knows now, she does not wish for it and wouldn't wish it for anyone. But at the time, life wasn't so bad.  The government made sure everyone had jobs and that housing was very cheap- her and her husband paid something like 40 dollars a month for a multiple bedroom home.  She went to school and was able to get letters and things to family on the other side- she didn't really think the traveling thing was so bad.

- Random memory: Saving money and making things to support the Vietnam word and the soldiers defending communism.  They would meet on Sundays.

- What was the collapse of the DDR like? It was terrible.  The DDR businesses went under and everyone was unemployed.  Everyone went west (she included) to find work but had lots of trouble.  Getting her new life started, she lost track of what her sons were doing.  In East Germany, the state made sure no one got into bad things- it was impossible.  But, in the free west, many eastern Germans didn't know what to do.  Her son fell into drugs and she thought he'd get reprimanded and that would be the end of it.  What she didn't know was that her son was doing worse and worse things and avoiding the law.  In the East, again, this couldn't of happened, so she didn't really think anything was amiss.  Finally the law caught up and her son was sentenced to prison.  She was devastated because she was so unfamiliar with the system she didn't realize what kind of trouble her son was in.  She said drug abuse and crime was something that was new to a lot of east Germans and consumed their lives. She shared a lot of personal family history just because she wanted us to understand how complicated everything was for everyone- they were all uprooted in one form or another and many people couldn't adjust.

- Did you have a Stasi File? The second this question was asked the woman's face changed dramatically- this was obviously something deeply personal.  She reached behind her and pulled out her folder, which any former DDR citizen can request.  She talked a lot about the folder, and what it felt like.  They had intercepted random letters of hers, steamed the glue, photo-copied the contents, and then sent the mail on to its intended receiver. She never knew.  The letters were harmless between family, friends, and lovers.  But it still cut her deeply to even look at them in front of us, it disgusted her to think someone summarized the content of the letter on the accompanying form for every document.  It was obvious, hearing within her voice, how horrendous it was for her to have the revelation she had no privacy- she was state-loving, normal secretary, yet she was still spied upon.

Author's thought:  

There was obviously something about the 'physical' nature of the records that affected our speaker.  Holding it in her hands was proof that people had spent effort and time to disrupt her privacy.  It made me wonder: what would it be like to hold the 21st century equivalent of this? 

What if someone printed out all of your personal data (in the form of cookies, search histories, emails sent, tweets, facebook, etc.) and just printed it.  What would it look like?  We all know it exists- a friend on facebook could go through everything I've ever done and print it- I trust them not to.  Someone at Google could see everything I've ever emailed, or ever looked at- but I trust them not to. I'm writing an open blog of my thoughts that I assume nobody is collecting next to my name- but anybody could do that.  I've always thought there is no need to be paranoid, because I'm not special, and it would take a lot of effort for nothing.  BUT, the crazy thing is, this woman was in the exact same position- yet nonetheless her things were collected.  

It is the PHYSICAL nature of it that was so appalling- digitally it is just a 'ctrl+c' and then it's all there for later. We can't see our digital footprint- and that is a crazy thought to me.  If I wanted to tell someone something, and know that only they knew it, I would have to write a letter or meet them in person.  Everything else goes through a company or a government data center.  Sure, things are allegedly aggregated- but the fact remains the same- privacy is a very weird concept nowadays.  Seeing the speaker struggle to hold and speak about her folder was an extremely powerful moment that I still haven't processed.  

This post is typical of the downfall of every blog.  Anytime there are more paragraphs and rhetorical questions than pictures I immediately end my readership.  Good luck out there!

Observation Post Alpha || Fulda Gap

The wall, the Soviet tower, and Thuringia (previously DDR/GDR). The town was within the 5km mark, so it didn't exist back in the day.

The program had a seminar in Frankfurt last month.  We shared a lot of stories, met with GIZ at their headquarters (International Aid // Leaders of the program), saw 'Ghost' the musical, and heard from the Consulate General.  The greatest part of the week was a day trip we took to Observation Post Alpha.

Observation Post Alpha was a small barracks built on the German inner border during the Cold War.  NATO suspected that a Soviet attack on Europe would take place via the Fulda Gap (a natural break in mountains, near the town of Fulda), if one were to ever take place.  The location was speculated because through Fulda, Soviet troops could quickly control Frankfurt, a pivotal airport, and prevent NATO reinforcements of western Germany. 

[Documents released in late 1990's and 2000's by former Soviet countries (especially Poland) corroborate NATO's theory, which at the time was only a theory. See 7 days on the Rhine]

Our group broke up into two groups and were led through the area by local Germans who had a story to tell about a divided Germany (and Europe) and life on the border.

From this point I am standing on the Thuringia and Hessen, looking west towards Hessen:

The field in the foreground is the property of my tour guide, who grew up working this land with his parents.  The town in the distance is where he had family and school.  Long before the border of the DDR and Germany existed on the edge of his field, it marked the border of Prussia.  For our guide, demarcation stones had always been a part of their lives, but it was only in the 50's that a wall was built and people were actually separated.

I had always known about the Berlin Wall, and had assumed that the Iron Curtain was more figurative than literal.  Maybe if there was a fence, I thought it would be in "hot spots" like Germany or near populated areas. It seemed unlikely that an entire continent could be separated by an iron wall - too much money and resources would be required, I thought.  I found out I was very wrong.

The wall near Camp Alpha evolved with time.  When he was young, the wall was a wooden fence and travel between East and West was possible.  But, too many East Germans fled the Soviet block.  That is when the DDR started building an actual wall and banning travel.  People within 5km of the border were relocated to prevent migration.  Our guide was cut off from cousins and other family during this period of fortification- a separation that lasted nearly 40 years.

Camp Alpha talked about the evolution of the inner German border in the "house on the border" exhibit.  It contained a timeline of fortification as well as information concerning migration and escape, as well as the propaganda the DDR circulated.

The wall was officially a DDR creation- it existed meters from the actual border between countries on the DDR side.  Furthermore, its "strong side" was the side that faced the DDR.  The picture below is what the fence looked like to the west Germans- all of the nuts for the metal plating could easily be loosened by people on this side:

Despite the design and location of the wall, it was marketed by propaganda as a defense against the west, which sought to invade the Soviet Union.  This may have had some truth, but information on migration from East to West supports the belief that the wall was meant to keep DDR citizens in.

The wall, as I said before, was continuous and extensive:

With every attempt to pass through the border, the defenses increased.  For example, after a car was used to batter part of the wall down, the DDR installed a small cement barrier meters in front of the fence to prevent autos from busting through.  The shear amount of money and resources required to build the cement barrier along thousands of hundreds of kilometers is astounding- but the point was a show of strength.  How many dollars were spent per person prevented from escape?

(The author can't help but note similar comparisons made for TSA or the US Mexican border- despite apples to oranges, there is a lot of money at play)

Here is a random propaganda poster, which is unfortunately 'cool' looking:

The original wall:

The wall was anything but humane. The DDR illegally (Geneva convention) employed the use of mines to deter escapees.  Here is a section of fence, from the second version of the wall, which used to have mines between:

The DDR strongly denied the use of mines, until one day a German was able to pull some from the DDR and show the world.  West Germany offered a lot of DMs for the DDR to remove the mines, which they did.  With that money, they built more defenses, and put trip mines (claymores?) on the vertical wall.  It was at this point that our guide got impassioned as he talked about the folly of doing business with the evil regime.  He believes that the DDR was so poor, that without the money that was given to the DDR from west Germany for this and other humanitarian projects, the regime would of collapsed sooner.  His talk (and the timing) made me think of the US and its decision to increase diplomacy with Cuba.  I do not believe our guide would support this decision.

Here is a shot of the final version of the wall and Camp Alpha in the background:

Cement Car stop seen; guide wire for patrol dogs not seen.

Our guide continually referred to the wall as a crime against humanity.  It separated families, it killed people who tried to pass through, and it demoralized the people who defended it.  He talked about how hundreds of German Shepherds, which were used to guard lengths of the wall by a system of guide-wires and leashes, had to be killed after the fall of the DDR because there was no other option for them.  (Point of the story is that it affected everything and represented death).

A fun fact: nobody saw the fall of the wall coming.  Parts of Camp Alpha were renovated (costly) just a short time before the wall fell.

Here is the flag of Camp Alpha:

The flag pole symbolically does not touch the ground because 'the Americans were not here as conquerors or rulers, and had no intention of remaining here longer than necessary' (paraphrased from sign).

Apparently life at Camp Alpha was relatively tough, because your mission was essentially suicide.  The camp was tasked with surveying the border and alerting Frankfurt should anything happen.  The Soviet Union was heavily armed in the DDR- the US was not in West Germany.  The plan was, should the Soviets attack, the military units in place would be able to fight for 3 days until they would be overrun.  In these three days, the world would mobilize (through Frankfurt) and defend Europe.

From the camp, the cavalry would fly to Frankfurt and pickup weapons to slow the Soviet advance.  This involved detonating explosives (potentially nuclear) in tubes built into the foundations of every major bridge in the region.  Everyone would then disrupt the attack for as long as possible, retreat, and wait for reinforcements.

Here is the camp, which was relatively tiny:

This is where our tour ended and our docent left us.  We ate and then got in a bus to visit an old town on the DDR side of the wall.

Last Paris

The Louvre started out as a royal defense of Paris and even had a moat.  Nowadays, it hosts gobs of art.  "Time changes everything" - King Phillip II

Paris made me realize how much history I never learned or have already forgotten.  I had no clue the Louvre was once a palace and the seat of empires, or that the collection started out as royal plunder and braggery.  I concede, this is probably not important information for the common american, but I was nonetheless intrigued to learn this as part of my audio-guided-tour of the Louvre.  The building is absolutely beautiful, and the art isn't half bad either.

This was the pearl of the museum, the Mona Lisa:

Well, it's just the crowd, which wasn't that bad.  We had plenty of time to stand and stare- time spent trying to figure out why this is the ultimate painting of the world.  It was very nice, but I think almost every other painting in the room was more appealing.  If only I would of taken art history instead of musical appreciation.

The audio guides were really cool- I would say a must for this museum (and I think for all museums).  The audio guide brought the paintings, the building, and the contextual history to life for us.  This is Kyndall looking at the largest painting in the Louvre:

The painting is of the last supper, but the artist chose to make it fit into the style of the modern French Aristocracy.  We renamed it "Fancy Jesus with Friends."

One of the cooler audio guide explanations was of this roof:

The ceiling was commissioned by ... one of the Napoleons?... to convey that all art and beauty was derived from the power and rule of great leaders- a kind of "trickle down effect" if you will.  Each of the four scenes has the great politicians and leaders of the time closest to the center. Below and around them are all of the great artists and composers of the time.  Below them are gods representing virtues or something.  This was all meant to show that without the leaders, Paris and France wouldn't of blossomed culturally.

The explanation of revolutionary symbolism, and the controversy around making these paintings, was interesting:

Don't forget to look up!

I believe this is the VIP entrance:

This was a cool double sided painting of David attacking Goliath.  The artist was trying to break the limitation of time by painting two consecutive instances in time from opposite angles.  If you walk around a couple times you realize that David advances on Goliath in the second picture:

Painted on slate... that's a big piece of slate.

This was a great painting for the audio guide to explain.  At first look, it is the happy coronation of Napoleon- don't be deceived!

This piece was commissioned by Napoleon, who asked for the painter to re-write history a little bit.  First of all, Napoleon's mom refused to come to the coronation because she disagreed with his right to the throne (or something). Napoleon had her painted in at the seat of honor.  Second, Napoleon was crowning himself in the first draft- which just looks bad.  They decided to paint over the first layer and have him crowning his queen, which is less crazy.  Then, patrons of Napoleon were painted in to the audience so they would know they were important. And also the Pope and a bunch of Bonapartes.

Here is a small portion of the painting:

From the paintings we went on to ancient sculptures:

This is the head of one column from a palace that had... a large number of columns (I think around 64.... I should of written this last month):

I think the Louvre and the London Museum decided to split some of their loot, this guy looks familiar...

Law of Hammurabi:

Thanks France:

Best sculpture ever:

This sculpture actually looked like the lion was ripping into this mans flesh- it was incredibly realistic.  The combination of the man twisting and the lion wrapping around him give the statue a lot of energy.

Then I went to the Museum of the Army.

First stop, tomb of famous French people:

Sunburst on a tomb... classic. I was 1 bejeweled Staff of Ra short from re-enacting Raiders of the Lost Arc:

The big fish himself:

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Museum of the Army is fairly large and I was on a short schedule.  I decided to run through the WWI and WWII exhibit before I met my lunch appointment.

I wish I would of had 2 hours to go through the exhibit.  It was very interesting seeing a WWI and WWII history from the perspective of the French.  In the US museums and history books, the events within Europe before US involvement are not heavily emphasized.  It was interesting seeing about the quality of life and the political situation within the French empire at the outbreak of the war.  It was also interesting seeing more about the Africa and Middle East campaigns, because these arenas are more dear to French history (imperialism) than to American.

P.S. The Museum was as neutral in its diction as you'd imagine a country that refuses to print anything in German would be; the museum explained why this sentiment exists.