One of the many perks of coming to Germany during the autumn season is having the opportunity to partake in all of the festivals celebrating the harvest season. In the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve gone to four different festivals in Kandern and neighboring little villages. At these festivals, you’ll fine new wine from the local vineyards, authentic German food (had my first taste of REAL schnitzel as well as a local specialty called zwiebelwaie, a potato/onion/cream sauce pizza), a dessert-type waffle stand supporting the local kindergarten, German music (sometimes complete with singing participation from the crowd), and small street markets filled with local artisan’s pottery/woodwork/etc as well as fresh produce and flowers. The last festival that I went to was held at a local dairy farm. I got to take a quick walkthrough of the milking parlor and back barn to get a glimpse of how a German dairy is actually run – definitely a highlight of the weekend!
Besides all of the harvest festivals, I also got to experience my very first Canadian Thanksgiving (kind of ironic that it would happen in Germany, eh?). Kandern is home to the Black Forest Academy (pretty much a school for missionary kids), which was started about fifty years ago by Canadians. Even though the American population here has increased as the Canadian population has decreased, a Canadian Thanksgiving is still celebrated every year. In case you were wondering, we ate much of the same foods typical of our November American version.
Another experience that I had this past week was buying postage stamps from the local post office. Normally this would be a very simple thing to do, one that wouldn’t require much thought or effort. However, this time was different... this time I had to do it all in German. I never really thought much about how easy it is to do things and get around when I can speak the common language (I definitely took that for granted!). But here, people may look much the same as me but we certainly don't talk the same. Because of this, I've often felt restricted these past couple of weeks - mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut! A simple task, such as buying a stamp, is now something that requires a lot of thought and attentiveness. But, alas, I used the little German that I do know to rather sheepishly ask the very stoic and intimidating German man behind the counter, “Kann ich fünf internationale Briefmarken für Postkarten haben?”. Much to my surprise, I walked out of the post office with five stamps in my hand.
Success.
In my last post, I promised a little yodeling and a little German church experience. My story about the German church I’ll save until after this coming Sunday, but the yodeling man I’ll enlighten you with now… I was wandering along a hiking path in the Wolfsschlucht (looks very medieval and Lord of the Rings-like), when I heard a man singing very loudly in German. My first thought was, “has he had one too many to drink?”. Up until that point, I had yet to experience a singing German (and I couldn’t understand what he was saying which didn’t help either). Then he started yodeling… not very well, but it was definitely a yodel nonetheless! Turns out he was a very pleasant middle-aged man enjoying the nice weather with his dog. When he passed by, we exchanged the common greeting of “hallo” and I made sure to pet his dog.
No comments:
Post a Comment