Leaving Dresden

On the last day of February my classmates and I bid farewell to Dresden. The last days there are a blur - we had our last exam, in hydrology, on a Tuesday. We spent Wednesday and Thursday going through our things - throwing or giving away what we no longer needed and packing what we wanted to take with us - shopping for some things we didn't think we'd be able to get in Delft (or that we anticipated would be more expensive here), deregistering from the municipality, unblocking our debit cards so we could use them outside Germany, getting enough cash to get us through the next weeks, etc. etc.

One of my friends and I wanted boxes to pack our household goods in, as we knew we'd have studio apartments in Delft and would need our kitchen supplies, among other things. We had an unexpectedly hard time finding some (Germans recycle everything) but finally were able to purchase some new boxes at a large, inexpensive household store called POCO near Bahnhof Mitte.

After I was done packing on Thursday afternoon I had to clean my room. I was thorough but not thorough enough for my hausmeister - he left me his ladder so I could clean the top of my wardrobe and my overhead light. He'd requested my French suitemate who'd left a few days earlier to do the same thing, so this wasn't a surprise. After he came back and approved the job I'd done, we signed off on the inventory list. He then took my key, but mercifully allowed me to stay in my room. It was only 5 pm then and I wouldn't leave Dresden until 10 pm, so I was very grateful for this.

A friend in the same dormitory who'd checked out of his room earlier but had not been allowed to stay in it brought his luggage to my room and we rested there for awhile, completely exhausted. Propping the door open with one of our boxes we then crossed the hallway to my shared kitchen, where we had some last cups of tea and finished eating a few of the things I had left in the fridge and cupboard.

We needed to go to the center to take care of a few last-minute things, so we left our luggage in the care of one of my suitemates (in a manner of speaking...) and left, catching the tram one last time from Gret-Palucca Str to Hauptbahnhof Nord. I regret to inform you that our last meals in Dresden consisted of McDonald's for my friend and Chinese food for me. I had wanted to go to a good German restaurant called Zum Schiesshaus, but there was no time. After finishing eating we walked to the main station's taxi stand and tried to arrange for a minivan taxi to pick us and our luggage up from our dormitory some short time later. We were unable to communicate with the taxi drivers as they didn't speak English, but luckily a young German student who was passing by interpreted for us and helped us call the taxi company.

After this we returned to the dormitory and began moving our luggage down five flights of stairs to the main entrance. I had two suitcases, my backpack, a small carry-on, and two large boxes. My friend had even more, and some in plastic bags. Fortunately he did most of the heavy lifting. Another classmate of ours living in the same building added his luggage to the pile - the three of us would go to the station together.

At the prearranged time, a cab arrived at our dormitory, but it was too small for the amount of stuff we had, so we sent for another, larger one. As we were waiting we started to worry that we wouldn't make it to the main station in time. My classmates had hired a 44-seat bus to take 18 of us to Delft (for a cost of approximately 100 euro per person), and it was set to leave the main station at 10 pm. Luckily, our mini-van cab did show up and we got ourselves and our luggage to the main station just before the bus arrived.

Once we had piled our luggage into the luggage compartment under the bus, I was overcome by relief and elation. Many of our Hydro-Science and Engineering classmates had come to the station to bid us farewell. I hugged everyone I could before I got onto the bus and found a good seat. Since we'd hired such a large bus there was plenty of space. I sat in the back near some of my closest friends.

Our bus made 2 more stops before we were on our way. I felt sentimental as we passed over the Elbe River for the last time, the lights of the beautiful old buildings reflecting off the water. Totally exhausted but full of joy, I settled into my seat, alternately dozing off, chatting, and singing. My Colombian friend had his guitar out and was singing and playing songs that my Albanian and Irish friends were singing along to.

Around midnight the bus stopped at a gas station that brought back memories of larger truck stops in the U.S. - only that the prices were double to triple what you'd find in the States and you had to pay 50 cents and go through a turnstile to use the bathrooms. I think most of us fell asleep soon after that stop, though the bus was very cold. When the bus stopped again at another gas station, around 4 or 5 am, we were already in the Netherlands. For several of my friends, who'd had a challenging time in Germany, it was like a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

We arrived at UNESCO-IHE in Delft right on schedule at 8 am on March 1.

Dance Fitness

As students of TU Dresden, we are allowed to take up to three of the sports classes the university offers. There's limited space available in the classes, so you have to wait for the open period and sign up for your favorite classes immediately to get a spot. The most popular classes fill up within minutes. I had planned to take Pilates and Tae Kwon Do, but didn't get spaces in either of them. Luckily, I got into Dance Fitness. I take it one afternoon a week, at a dance studio near Bahnhof Mitte, and absolutely love it.

My teacher is a young, energetic dancer who is very strong. We always start with a warm up, then go into a fitness part, then learn some choreography, and finally cool down and stretch. It's different every week. The choreography combines jazz, latin, hip-hop, and a little ballet. The fitness part is always exhausting - our teacher loves to yell at us to go faster (Schnell! Schnell!) and to move with more emphasis and power (Bam! Bam!). Sometimes when we are learning the choreography and are acting a little lazy or lackadaisical, she makes fun of us by imitating us. It always cracks me up. Overall, she is very positive and patient with us. The class is taught entirely in German, so I don't always understand what she's saying, but it's not too hard to follow along, and now at least I know the words for "left" and "right"!

There are usually about seven other students in the class with me, but the number fluctuates up and down from week to week. Some of the people there the first week didn't come back, and other people filled their places. All of the other students are young Germans, one guy and the rest girls. Everyone I've talked to has been really nice. At first I though it was strange that we all get dressed in one changing room, but I got used to it. Germans seem to be very comfortable with their bodies. I've heard stories from friends that in the saunas here women and men sit around naked together; I don't think I could do that!

Today was one of my favorite classes because I really liked the choreography. There were fewer students than usual so we all had plenty of space to move. The choreography was sweeping and set to dramatic music from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There were two particularly tricky floor moves. If I practiced those every day I would be really strong (and probably covered with bruises)! During the cool-down I started laughing when I realized she had chosen "Feliz Navidad" for the first song. This was followed by some other Christmas tunes. At the end she wished us all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Our next class will be in January!

Discovering Räcknitz

A few weekends ago there was nice weather and I decided to go for a short walk before I started studying. I headed out in a direction I've never explored before, south, away from the city center. I saw an old house with a pretty ironwork gate on my way. I also passed some community or allotment gardens (called Kleingarten in German). These gardens are popular in Germany. According to the City of Dresden's website, the first allotment gardens in Dresden were established in 1890. There are now about 1,935 acres of allotment gardens in Dresden, owned by 374 allotment associations.

Just south of the community gardens, on a small hill, there's a long, narrow park called the Volkspark or People's Park. I followed a trail through the park, then continued south, entering a district of Dresden called Räcknitz. Crossing a street named Räcknitzhöhe, I came upon a large, open field where people were flying kites. In the middle of the field, there was a mound with an imposing tower on it.

The tower, Bismarcksäule, was built in 1906 in tribute to Otto von Bismarck. Wilhelm Kreis designed the tower, which is 35 meters (115 ft) tall and supported by four columns. There is an imperial eagle with a snake in its talons on the front of the tower. A fire could be lit on the top of the tower for special occasions. During every other summer solstice, until 1941, Bismarck commemorations were held there. These were often followed by a torchlight procession through Dresden. On May 10, 1933, TU Dresden students burned books at the base of the tower as part of the Nazi book burnings campaign. Bismarcksäule survived World War II and was renamed the Peace Column in 1946. In the 1950s, there were proposals to demolish the tower, but it never happened because it would've been too expensive. The name of the tower was reverted back to Bismarcksäule in 1990, and in the last ten years, the tower was renovated and a small exhibit was established inside. There's a nice view of Dresden from the top of the tower, but you have to pay to go up, so I settled for the view from the base.

There is another, older monument in the field, to the French general, Jean-Victor Moreau. Moreau was fatally injured in Räcknitz during the 1813 Battle of Dresden. Though French, Moreau fought against Napoleon on the side of the Russians. The monument is surrounded by three oak trees, symbolizing Russia, Prussia, and Austria, the three allies who opposed Napoleon. The monument reads: Moreau, the Hero, fell here on the side of Alexander the XXVII in August 1813.

On my way back, I walked through a higher level of the Volkspark. It was almost completely deserted and there were some beautiful trees. I stayed there for awhile before returning home. All in all, it was a lovely walk, filled with unexpected discoveries.

Running in Großer Garten

One of the things I really enjoy doing in Dresden is going running in the Großer Garten. This park is located just a few blocks away from my dormitory. It's about 2 sq km (500 acres) big. I like it because it has lots of trees, trails (both dirt and paved), and interesting features. The park's features include a small palace in the center of the park, at least one flower garden, a mini-railway that winds through the park, a zoo, several lakes, some streams with small bridges crossing them, some open fields and soccer pitches, and sculptures scattered throughout the park. I still haven't explored all of it. I like to run around the park without a predetermined path, going a slightly different way each time. I often see mallards and very interesting-looking Mandarin ducks near the streams and lakes. Now that it is fall the ducks are well-camouflaged. The color of the bright yellow leaves that have fallen to the ground is striking against the dark dirt paths. I occasionally see other runners in the park, but mostly I see walkers. Many of the walkers are older couples.

When I go running I don't take my camera with me, but below I've included a few photos from one time just over a month ago when I walked through the park with my classmates. Most of the photos are from around the park palace. I want to return to the park with my camera sometime to take a photo of a statue that startled me the first time I ran through the park. I believe it is of a woman with a child and a lioness with her cub that have scared each other and look absolutely horrified. I stumbled across it as it was getting dark one evening and just about jumped out of my skin.

Saxon Switzerland

Yesterday I went to Saxon Switzerland with one of my classmates. We took the train to Kurort Rathen, arriving late in the morning. It was slightly foggy, but still beautiful. The weather was relatively mild and the trees were changing their colors from green to yellow and orange. We took a ferry across the Elbe River, then found a trail up and through the forest to the Bastei Bridge. Since it was a Sunday there were lots of other people out; we even crossed paths several times with three other Americans who live in my dorm. From vista points high up along the trail there were beautiful views of the river and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. We saw some people climbing as well. The bridge itself was not as large as expected, but it was surrounded by unique peaks. We lingered at the top of the trail, enjoying the views, then descended and found another trail to a small man-made lake called the Amselsee. We stopped and had some sandwiches on a bench there, watching fish swimming in the lake. Despite my classmate's protests, I insisted we continue on to Amselfall, which I hoped, based on the name, was a waterfall. We asked a family heading in the same direction about it and they confirmed that indeed it was a waterfall, but warned us it was very small! It was another nice walk, along a small creek this time, to get there. At the waterfall, there was a cafe and a small nature center that we checked out. As we returned to the river, the sun finally broke through the clouds. We took the ferry back across the river, then I had some tea while we were waiting for the train back to Dresden. We made it home by early evening. It was one of my favorite days in Germany so far. If we have another weekend with nice weather it would be a nice place to return to - there are many more areas of Saxon Switzerland to see and it's free to get there by train with our student ids.

One Month in Dresden

I've been living in Dresden for over a month now. Time is flying. Here are a few things I've come to appreciate about living here:

• Great public transportation 
• Delicious, inexpensive beer 
• Many different kinds of juice & jam 
• Huge variety of inexpensive dairy products 
• Excellent electric hot water kettles 
• Rooibos tea everywhere 
• German drivers use their signals 
• Vegetarian food isn't too hard to find 
• Germans are pretty quiet 
• Beautiful gardens and flower boxes 
• Can recycle almost everything 
• Bread! 
• Chocolate! 
• People enjoy walking outside on the weekends 
• Pretty birds and waterfowl, surprisingly tame 
• Wildflowers along the road and in empty lots 
• Funny kids - very cute and quite serious 
• Kid-friendly environments 
• Clean air & water 
• Clean streets

Military History Museum

Last Monday evening, the Erasmus Students Network in Dresden arranged an English tour of the Military History Museum in Dresden. To be honest, military history doesn't interest me much, so I wasn't planning on going. However, when I checked out the museum's website, I discovered that not only is it the largest museum in Dresden, unlike many military history museums, its goal is to explore what causes and results from war and violence. I'm glad I decided to go, because it turned out to be very interesting. Our tour guide was great as well. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died about halfway through the tour, so I don't have too many photos. I would like to return later to explore the museum further, as the entrance price is free.

The museum used to be a traditional military history museum, but was redesigned about six years ago with the help of architect Daniel Libeskind. Reconstruction was completed this year. The building is in the center of a military complex and used to be an armory. Libeskind pierced the building exterior with a sharp metal structure that points toward Dresden's city center.

As you enter the exhibits, first you go through a room with hundreds of copies of the words "love" and "hate" projected and moving over the walls. The words slowly mass into the form of a crouching soldier with a gun and break apart, again and again.

The first item we saw on display was a Pervitin pill. Pervitin is a methamphetamine that German soldiers were forced to take during World War II to keep them awake for days.

Walking down a corridor, we saw the world's oldest submarine:

Beside this was one of the first space shuttles, and next to it, the capsule in which the astronauts would fall back to earth. Because they weren't sure the capsule would land where they wanted it to, it was marked, in Russian and English: "Man in side! Help!" It made me feel very claustrophobic.

Many of these items were built by prisoners in the concentration camps. Around the corner, one of a prisoner's most precious items, a food bowl, was on display.

The caption said the aluminum food bowl was from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, Nordhausen, during the German Reich ca. 1943-1945. Three prisoners had carved their name or number into the pot. Presumably the pot had been taken each time after the previous owner had died of exhaustion or had been murdered. It was very sad.

We then saw an exhibit of how armor had changed over time, as weapons had become more and more deadly. It was bizarre to see early armor next to modern armor.

I thought the Saxon breast-plate (upper-right) was rather beautiful.

Next, we entered a room devoted to nuclear weapons. There were various concrete and metal shelters on one side of the room and nuclear missiles hanging from the ceiling. Every few minutes, there would be a flash, and if you were standing close to one of the walls, your shadow would be left on the wall for several seconds. I felt uncomfortable and was glad to leave the room.

We then walked down a narrow corridor in which a transport helicopter was attached to the wall. Standing below it you could feel what it would be like to have a helicopter (in this case, a relatively small helicopter) bearing down on you. Not good!



Going upstairs, we saw a ship peeking out from around a corner, which intrigued me, but we didn't investigate it, and quickly moved on.

Our next stop dealt with the role of animals in war. We saw, in a long line, different animals that had been used for transport, as mascots, and as weapons. The craziest things on display were a small horse wearing a burlap gas mask, and a dog with a wooden stick on its back, to trigger a bomb strapped to its chest when it ran under an enemy's horse. Poor animals. At this point, my camera died.

The next area was about the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. Our tour guide told us that when Hitler became the head of Germany's military forces, every soldier swore an oath of loyalty to him. She said this made a huge difference, and is why the soldiers did not surrender until after Hitler had killed himself.

There was also a section about life in the trenches. It was awful, basically. It also smelled terrible, as we discovered when we opened a small door in the wall behind which there was a machine emitting the smell of the trenches. Human waste and dead bodies, ugh. However, as we learned on the third floor, the trenches did give rise to that fashion staple, the trench coat. Speaking of military-inspired fashion, apparently underwear has its origins in the military. Soldiers didn't start wearing it until they were ordered to do so!

On the top floor of the museum, there were stones from the streets of three different cities in three different countries that were bombed during World War II. We walked out on a platform inside the metal wedge extending from the building. Through the metal screening, we could see the lights of Dresden's city center. It was kind of beautiful but also very cold. It was meant to be a hopeful scene, as Dresden has almost finished reconstructing its landmark buildings that were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden around Valentine's Day in 1945. This is where our tour ended.