Fake Tales of Dresden

The End of the Blogging Craze

Judging by the activity with respect to both posting and comments on my blog and my sister blogs (Dan, Emily, Frank, and Greg), I think it is safe to say that the Euro-Blogging Craze of Summer 2007 is officially dead. In no way do I blame my colleagues, as it is every bit as much my fault as it is theirs. I remember the first half of the summer when throughout the course of my week, I would consistently think to myself, "This will make great blogging material!" I would eagerly await Sunday nights when I got to compose a nice, witty essay, enthusiastically detailing my experiences, bitching about America, and droning on about my worthless thoughts. The enthusiasm just isn't there any more. I believe part of it is that I spend too much time with my friends, allowing my time and thoughts to be consumed by a social life that, similar to the social life of any person my age, just isn't that interesting to those outside of the group. But alas, I will continue posting weekly, even though there are only two people who are going to read it. So this is for you, Mom and Dad!

I'll Bet That They Looked Good at the Alter Schlachthof

Most of you probably do not understand the parodies that make up both the title of this post and bold heading of this section. In that case, you will probably not be able to share my excitement. Last Tuesday night was, in some ways, the best night of my summer. It had nothing to do with German culture, my wonderful new friends, or the kick ass city of Dresden. What then, you ask? I got to see the British Indie Rock sensation Arctic Monkeys right here in Dresden! For those of you out of touch with my taste in music, the Arctic Monkeys are one of my favorite bands, right up there with Muse; ¡Forward, Russia!; and Radiohead. The show was absolutely fantastic. The Arctic Monkeys do not have much of a stage presence, but both the music and the crowd were amazing. I ended up in nearly every part of the Alter Schlachthof (old slaughterhouse), which was a seatless venue roughly the size of your average elementary school gym. At some points I was within ten feet of the stage, with a crowd so dense that I could just about pick me feet up and be transported around the floor. Mosh pits were common everywhere throughout the house, even as far as half way back from the stage. Once again, a great crowd, and a great show. I can now check off another item on the list of bands that I absolutely have to see live.

Heidelberg Conference

Many of you may or may not be aware of the fact that the people who are funding my stay here, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) arranged a very nice weekend retread for all of us in the program. The conference took place in the ultra-touristy and university-ish city of Heidelberg.

The City of Heidelberg

I will begin this section with my impressions of the city. In addition to having the oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg is famous for its historic, unbombed Altstadt ("old town," i.e. historic district) and some castle on a hill. Let's get the cynicism out of the way first. The Altstadt was aesthetically appealing, with narrow, car-free streets adorned with beautiful architecture. But, like I said, Heidelberg is a very touristy city. The "different time, different place" feel created by the historical nature of the area, combined with incessant digital cameras, made the Altstadt feel like Disney World to me. As far as the castle is concerned, we have parks in Dresden, too. Only ours are better, because there are no tourists. But wait! I liked Heidelberg! Early on Sunday afternoon, I had decided that I had been around people too much, and I owed it to myself as a self-proclaimed introvert to strap on some headphones and walk around the city on my own terms. I found an area called Neueheim that suited me quite well. The streets were relatively narrow and the architecture was beautiful, but I still got the feel of a city that was relevant to the present day in ways other than tourism. In many ways the aesthetic aspects of this part of Heidelberg reminded me of Dresden Neustadt, one of my favorite places on Earth. Note that I specifically said "aesthetic aspects." Socially, this place could not be any different than Dresden Neustadt. The streets were absolutely deserted at sun fall. I asked a Canadian living in Heidelberg about alternative culture, and he said that it can be found, but there is nothing comparable to Dresden Neustadt. This is the case for most cities, though. Dresden Neustadt is a very special place, and this makes me that much happier.

The Conference

Oh, to be in high school again! Check in was from 12:30 - 13:30. Coffee and cake was then served until 14:30. At 15:00, we congregated in the lobby to walk to a lecture hall. From 16:00 - 18:30, we sat in a lecture hall and learned why Germany needs us, and why we need Germany. Dinner was served at 19:00 for last names A-M, and 20:00 for N-Z. And so on. Here I am most certainly not being cynical. I love this kind of structure! And yes, we were still treated like grown ups: No curfew! This type of event, with this exact amount of structure, is my perfect environment for meeting new people. There was an unspoken agreement amongst us Dresdners that we would do our best to meet other people instead of hanging out with each other, to the point that I found it awkward to be more or less intentionally ignoring people whom I consider to be relatively good friends. Either way, we were all very successful in "branching out." I met many people whom I enjoyed spending time with, but will never see again as long as I live. Of course, this just reminded me how devastated I am going to be in about a month's time from now.

Field Trip

Let's begin this italics sub-heading with a multiple-choice quiz question.

Jeff is spending the summer in Germany. During the course of said summer, Jeff is going on a field trip! His stereotypical field trip is to one of the following locations:

A. A sausage Factory

B. A Porsche, Mercedes, or BMW Factory

C. A John Deere Tractor Factory

D. A Brewery

E. None of the above

If you answered 'C,' you were correct! Really. I'm not joking. On Friday morning, myself and about twenty other RISE participants boarded a charter bus with two chaperons to visit the Heidelberg Printing Press Factory in the morning, and the John Deere Tractor Factory in the afternoon. Once again, I find the field trip environment both fun and nostalgically satisfying. Although I didn't realize this before the Heidelberg Print Press Factory tour, it is ingrained in my personality to be fascinated by a modern-day factory. Given the way I gawk at traffic lights, public transportation conveyances, and interstate highway interchanges, why wouldn't a factory fascinate me? After this first tour, we were given a first-class cafeteria lunch. Do I need to remind anyone how excited I get about cafeteria food (only 13 hours until the Mensa!)? Like I said, the afternoon was a tour of a John Deere factory. At this point I was all toured-out, and just wanted to sit down and relax, somewhere outside of the oppressively hot factory. And no, I was not given a free John Deere hat, crushing my dreams of actually fitting in at Virginia Tech once and for all.

Happy Fourth of July!

So like I said, the conference was a great time, meeting new people, experiencing a new city, and having some nostalgic moments from my field trip days. For the most part I do not feel inclined to go into details about night-time social activities (drinking, dancing... you know us young people well enough to paint your own picture) perhaps with the exception of Saturday, my last night in Heidelberg. About four times a year, the City of Heidelberg lights up the castle in red and shoots off fireworks. I went up to the top of a hill with a group of people I met from RISE, and ended up being joined by a Canadian, a New Zealander, and some Germans. We had a stereotypical European picnic with bread, cheese, and wine. After the fireworks, we went out dancing, as usual. All in all, it was a great Fourth of July celebration, despite the fact that the Germans messed up the date. Silly Germans.

Navin and I got back to Dresden in time on Sunday for an outdoor concert on the Elbe. Fireworks and lit-up castles can be as pretty as could be, but without an emotional attachment to the city, it's just aesthetic beauty and nothing more. Sitting on the Elbe in the midst of a festive atmosphere with live music and a picturesque view of Innere Altstadt, I remembered once more that life is good.

Where are the Pictures?

I think it is about time I come clean and admit the fact that I am simply not a camera person. To put it bluntly, those rechargeable batteries are much more useful to me nestled safely in my portable CD player, where they belong. I have forced you to read an essay which takes place in a beautiful city where I met a crap-ton of people and had a great time. But alas, there are no street scenes for you to see, and no pictures of happy-looking drunk people. I swear I'm not trying to make a point here. I'm too lazy to take pictures, and for that I apologize.

Thanks for reading, Mom and Dad!