Ah, Pennsylvania! (Or That Time I Relived My Childhood in German)

Given the title of this blog, it should come as no surprise that I love the movie The Lion King.  As a child of the 90s, I basked in the warm glow of hand-drawn line art Disney princesses and animals, replayed endlessly on VHS tapes.  For some reason, Lion King became my favorite and I amassed a collection of Lion King related products thanks to doting parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  My mom even baked me a cake for my 6th birthday, complete with little plastic lion figures and most importantly, Pride Rock (which sometime during the baking process slid from its majestic height to become "Pride Ramp").

And as you've no doubt read on the sidebar, yes, I took a giant stuffed Simba as my carry-on for the flight to Germany.  I remember being terrified that I would lose him, and I was doubly perplexed why exactly he had to go the X-ray machine. I vividly remember asking my mom why he had to go through the X-ray machine.

This is probably how the conversation went:
Seven year old me:  Why does Simba have to go through there?
Mom: Because they have to see if there is anything inside of him.
Me: Why?
Mom: Because bad people might try to put knives or razors inside of him.

I was terrified.  Needless to say, I spared my current (and smaller) stuffed Simba the trauma of the X-ray machine and stuffed him in my checked luggage this time around.

Anyway, when I was little, I was convinced that the words to the opening bars of song "The Circle of Life" were "Ah Pennslyania!"  (Hence the title of my entry)

You can't say I wasn't justified.

Anyway,  nostalgia aside, I was super excited to see the Lion King here in Germany.  I was sad I couldn't see it at home, but it couldn't be that different, right?

For those of you who don't remember the plot or who have seriously missed out on Disney's best film and best score (thanks Elton John!):  It's Hamlet.  With a happy ending.  

Young cub and heir to the throne, Simba, witnesses his father's, Mufasa, death.  Convinced by his evil uncle Scar (who in fact murdered Mufasa) that he is responsible for his father's tragic death, Simba runs away from his kingdom.  In a jungle oasis, he meets two social pariahs, Timon and Pumbaa who teach him "Hakuna Matata" - it means no worries (don't take my word for it, watch the video).

Told you so.

Eventually though, Simba mans up (or in this case lions up), defeats his uncle, reclaims his destiny and his part in the Circle of Life, and everyone lives happily every after.  Except for Scar.  Who gets eaten by hyenas. One of which is Whoopi Goldberg.

There's a whole lot of other stuff, funny one-liners, AMAZING songs, beautiful animation....JUST GO WATCH IT, OKAY?!  It's on Dvd now and it's only 90 minutes.  So break out the popcorn.

Needless to say, I was super excited to see it again on the big screen.  The 3D really wasn't important to me. I'm not a huge 3D fan anyway and to be completely honest, Lion King doesn't need 3D to be awesome.  3D movies usually have a stupid plot that features lots of stuff popping out at you so you don't forget how much you spent on the ticket. 

The show was matinee around 4pm and I went with Rachel and Jake who were not as excited as I was (few people are).  We headed to one of the 4 movie theaters in Tübingen, because Blaue Brücke (literally, the Blue Bridge) is only one that shows American blockbuster movies all the time.  The one by my house only seems to show weird French films that did well at Cannes. We paid and got our 3D glasses.  I was pumped.

Then I saw the concession stand wasn't open.

It was completely dark.  No gentle popping noises from the popcorn machine.  No sticky floors from spilled drinks past.  No huge counters filled with overpriced candy you suddenly desperately want to eat.

A little sign told me that the concession stand would open after 7:30pm.

WHAT KIND OF TERRIBLE PLACE IS THIS?!

I tried to shove the hunger for some very very unhealthy candy or popcorn away and we entered the theater.  Usually in German theaters, you get reserved seats.  Like for a theater show.  Luckily, it was a matinee so we didn't have reserved seats and we picked some good ones.  There was stiff competition.  There were like 10 other people in the theater.

Then the movie began after many cute and funny German commercials and previews.  It was shock when the opening song "The Circle of Life" was in German.  For some reason, I didn't think the songs would be translated.  "The Circle of Life"  is translated to something that basically means "The Everlasting Circle".  Unfortunately, what makes Lion King so awesome in English is that the lyrics to the songs are really witty and clever.  It's harder to maintain word play humor in German translations of spoken dialogue or texts.  Songs must be especially difficult to translate.  So many of the songs had different titles and it slightly altered the meanings of the song.  Simba's big song as a young cub is "I Just Can't Wait To Be King".  The German version changes the title to "I Want To Be King Right Now", which makes Simba sound really bratty.  The big   love song, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"  is translated to "Can This Really Be Love?"

Another thing that was different is obviously the voices.  I've become so used to the voices of each and every character due to strenuous memorization as a child, that hearing new voices for the same character is deeply unsettling.  Just like when watching The Dark Kinght,  Lion King is a movie about voices.  So not hearing this:

Darth Vader and Mufasa. Rock on James Earl Jones.

But instead hearing this:

 It's quite different.

On top of that, lots of the English puns (especially the lion related ones - "lion's share" etc) didn't translate, so the German translators put in different jokes.  There is one scene with the hyenas where, in the English version, they rhyme Mufasa with the phrase "Qué pasa?".  In the German version, they rhymed Mufasa with "Mit Wasser" (in German, "with water").  It's not as funny, but it rhymes.


Overall, I had a really good time!  I loved seeing my favorite movie on the big screen, even though I had to get used to new voices and new songs.

Living in Germany (or How a Tadpole and Superman Are Same Thing)

I like living in Germany.

I really do.  And I think 80% of the time I do a good job of "pretending to be German".  Because that's the point of study abroad, right?  You try to become like, or at least understand, the people you're living with for a semester or year.  I am becoming a model German citizen - I separate my trash in strange ways, I stop at red lights on crosswalks, I carry cloth bags with me to the store, I walk everywhere (a feat, I know), I go to the bakery to get fresh bread every day (but seriously, within 3 days a little bread roll becomes a deadly weapon, so you have to.  Also, why wouldn't you?! The bread here is fantastic).  I'm even starting to dress more German - leather boots, a huge wallet for all my changes, more scarves than you can shake a stick at...Heck, I've managed to figure out this whole woah-I-have-coins-that-are-Euros-too-I'm-not-as-broke-as-I-thought-I-was.

Yes, I am becoming more and more German.

And then there is the other 20% of the time.  There are just some days when it becomes painfully obvious that I am not German.  Usually when I open my mouth and say something wrong (or occasionally when I push on a door when I should have pulled.  Embarrassing).  When you fail, and I mean utterly fail, at expressing something to someone because you lack the grammatical ability to string hundreds of verbs together or because you're missing that ONE WORD that would fully express all your feelings....There is truly nothing more devastating than that.  Because you end the conversation feeling terrible and the person you were talking to thinks you're insane.  Or stupid. Or both.  Or that you have the "emotional range of a teaspoon" (to quote Hermione Granger from Harry Potter).  Or all three.

Living in a foreign country is like being a spy.  You don't want to be "found out".  You don't want other people to know you're foreign until it casually comes in conversation ("Oh, by the way, I'm from America.  Oh really? You are? I thought you were German!) and you can giggle about it.

What do a tadpole and Superman have in common?

For those of you not comic book
or pop culture inclined,
this is a tadpole.

Nice pose.

Answer - they both are trying to hide their identities  from everyone else.

Living in a foreign country is like being a tadpole among a bunch of baby fish.  You look the same (mostly) until you freakishly sprout legs and decide you want to live on land.

Living in a foreign country is like being Superman.  You're an alien that can fly, lift trucks, shoot lasers out your eyes, leaping building in a single bound (and a whole bunch of other cool stuff).  But you live as a nerdy reporter.  You're not fooling anyone with those glasses, Clark.


The upshot is this: You will eventually be found out as an impostor.  


A semi-aquatic amphibian.  A super-powered alien.  An American student.


But you know what?  All of the above are pretty awesome.

And it's fun to keep them guessing.


(Also, my Lion King review will be up soonish!)

Movie Day!

Going to see the Lion King in 3D with my friends today!

It's going to be all in German.  This could be interesting...

I'll post a review in a bit!

Roundup Vlog (yeehaw!) and Burg Hohenzollern

Hey Everyone!
It's my first Vlog! I hope you enjoy it!

Even better than seeing my face, I've also got pictures for you!  Last weekend, Jake had an old high school friend, Carli, come to visit, which gave us an excuse to do some exciting stuff.  The most exciting thing we did was definitely to take a trip up to Burg Hohenzollern, this amazing castle in the area.  It's the seat of the Hohenzollern Family, which (for those of you interested in German History) is the family of Prussian Emperors and Holy Roman Emperors.  Technically, the current prince could be the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire if we still that whole monarchy thing.  We took a tour and lots of pictures and just had a great time.  The leaves were starting to turn, so I snapped tons of pictures of the landscape.  I'm not apologizing for it.  

Anyway, here are some pictures!

From the bus.

Yep. We were going to have to climb that.

Why is everything you want to see uphill?!

No alligators in the moat here!

Carli looks like a professional photographer here!

Awwww.

Mandatory pictures out of the turret.

Oh hey. It's your humble blogger.

And Rachel too.

Rachel and Zach!

"High Voltage. Risk of Danger to Life."
German signage. Inspiring confidence since...
Never.

Zach works on his Spiderman skills

The leaves in this picture are breathtaking.
Also, see the little white church down there?

Carli as a photog!

One of the churches (they have a Catholic one and Lutheran one to be fair).

I hope you enjoyed this super-belated, super-picture heavy post! Hopefully there will be more to come soon.

If you enjoyed the Vlog and want to see more (or if you didn't like it and preferred that I stick to blogging) check out the poll on the left-hand side.  Go ahead and cast your vote! It's open for a week.  Also, if there are topics about Germany that you want me to talk about, feel free to leave a comment! I don't bite.

EDIT: Just found out my Grandma was also responsible for my lovely package of Mac 'n Cheese boxes! Thanks Grandma!!!!

Bonn

I'm so, so sorry I haven't updated in a while! I made a video blog entry for the trip to Ikea, but apparently the internet gods hate me and I've been having massive trouble uploading my vlog entry.  The internet is conspiring against me. Sigh.

If you already haven't read Emily's entry on Bonn and our Ikea adventure, go do it.  Since I didn't bring my camera on the Bonn trip, most of the photos I'm reusing here are from Emily. (Thanks girl!)

On Thursday, Emily and I met up on a cold, foggy morning in Tübingen to board a train that would take us along the Rhine (in German, Rhein) river all the way to Bonn.

Yep, it's quite the trek, but it's certainly beautiful.  (It's also certainly quite expensive - the Deutsche Bahn trains are clean for reason!).  Here are some pictures we snapped on the journey back from Bonn (we were asleep the way there).

Didn't mean to take this one,
 I was trying to get the castle in the back...
But it looks cool, doesn't it?

We saw tons of castles and ruins along the way!

The trees are starting to turn here and it's lovely!

As for the reason Emily and I were headed to Bonn...We've both received/are receiving some great scholarships from the German government and their academic exchange service, the DAAD.  If any of my readers are planning on going to study in Germany or know people going to study here for Bachelor's, Masters, or PhD, the DAAD is amazing. The application process is hell, but if you're going to go to Germany, you gotta know how to get paperwork done (that's a story for later).

Anyway, the DAAD had invited all the North Americans who received scholarships to go Bonn and meet everyone else.  It was really nice getting to meet other scholarship holders!  I mean, yes, it was a little weird when you were talking to someone and they tried to get you empathize with their struggles in taking their kids' stroller through Berlin...but still, everyone was working on some sort of cool project. 

My favorite part of the program was when they took us to the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (aka the House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany).  It's a really cool museum even if you do know Germany history. This museum houses all the artifacts and historical things from post 1945.  At first I was little disappointed when I was pushed into the English language tour, but I was so glad I was.  Our tour guide was this adorable old man who not only spoke perfect English, but also was able to put a personal spin on every aspect of the museum.  He was seven when the Royal Air Force managed to pull him and his family out alive from the rubble of their bombed house after WWII.  Our guide was able to tell us in heart-breaking detail about the pain and suffering of the Germans during the years of famine that followed WWII, something which I think is often skipped over in American history classes.  Needless to say, I think this tour guide was able to teach me more about modern German history than any course.

As for the city of Bonn itself...I didn't really like it.  Bonn doesn't have any old or historic building since it was bombed to the ground in WWII and I found that the city was just kind of gray and depressing.  The subway was really dirty and kind of creepy.  I don't think I really want to go back.

EDIT:  I was going to put the video of my vlog entry here.  But the internet hates me, so I'm going to record another version and post it later.  I'm sorry everyone!

SIDE NOTE:

Really YouTube? Really?!

Okay. Fine be that way. Deprive my readers of my beautiful face and voice.

Vienna: Day 3 (Or the Day We Tried to See Everything!)

Sorry my darling readers! This post was stalled by my crazy week as well as Blogger hatin' on my pictures! I hope you enjoy it despite the delay!

Not ones to waste our last full day in Vienna, we set out with a huge checklist of things to do on Day 3 (which I guess is Day 4, but whatever). We first hit up the royal gardens of Schönbrunn Palace, the old summer palace of the Habsburg monarchs for when they got bored of their other huge palaces.  Although the gardens are little less resplendent in the late autumn, Schönbrunn and its gardens were amazing.  Jake asked me as we were walking along if I could imagine myself living there. Um, yeah. Who doesn't want to be a princess?!  If you're a princess, you get fabulous clothes and a castle (peasants, what peasants?!). If you're a princess you get a carriage and body gaurds.  And you always look good.

And eventually you can play Catwoman too!
This movie is adorable, by the way.

And as a princess, you occasionally get to go on a Roman Holiday.

My favorite movie, y'all.

Anyway, your humble blogger thinks that being a princess ain't so terrible and Schönbrunn gardens made it look easy.

We had a lovely, crisp morning in the sunshine to walk through the gardens!

The Greenhouse, I think.

A first glimpse of the palace.

Above the palace is the Glorietta.
They originally were going to build the palace there
and they realized they didn't want to carry everything uphill.

The backside of Schoenbrunn palace.

The whole gang!
Left to right: Helina, Emily, Zach, Rachel, Jake

A moody photoshoot with Zach and his new jacket.

Part Deux.

On the front side...

Bam! That's what I call a palace.

Although we all really wanted to go inside, the museum was expensive and we had bigger fish to fry.  We first hit up the Nashmarkt, a huge section of town divided into a outdoor market and ethnic food bazaar.  There were so many choices and they all looked amazing!  We settled for Doener Kababs (amazing), which are the Turkish answer to Greek Gyros.  They are amazing.  But if you're ever in Vienna, feeling adventurous and looking for a cheap eat, hit up the Nashmarkt.

 Beyond the Nashmarkt is the Secession House.  A brief history lesson fueled by Wikipedia and my old German 220 class:  

In 1897, a whole group of artists, including Gustav Klimt, said "Screw the rules!" to the Vienna art scene and clubs and decided to build their own house to exhibit their progressive art work.  The whole house was created in the art nouveau style (jugendstil, remember?) and they've been rocking the progressive art ever since. 

Check out all the gold foil and paint detail!

The gold leaf dome is fabulous from a distance. 

 The house is really famous for Klimt's Beethoven frieze (aka wall mural) that depicts the 9th Symphony.  (For those of you who aren't so into music or just forget all the numbers, it's the one with "Ode to Joy".)  Unfortunately, the grouchy security guy didn't let us snap any photos, but look it up.  It's super cool.

As for the rest of the house, I was really looking forward to seeing artwork from Klimt's contemporaries.  Alas, it was not to be.  The house had "filled" up the rooms with pieces of modern art and in my humble opinion, they severely misused the spaces.  One room simply had a black line on the wall and half the word "und" (the German "and") on it.  Not quite sure what they meant, but they knew how to draw a straight line?  Which is better than the other room, which had nothing in it, except for the fact that it was really cold. The use of an air conditioner apparently counts as art now.  Maybe I should enter my dorm room here in Tuebingen as an exhibit....

I think my eyeball muscles got a great workout from the number of times I rolled them.

Luckily, my sarcasm was short-lived as I was soon to be blown away by the gorgeous Hofburg Palace, the home of the Austrian-Hungarian Emperors and Empresses.  The Hofburg houses at least 4 museums: The Royal Silvery, the Sissi Museum (my favorite!), the Royal Apartments, and the Spanish Riding School.  We got tickets to see the first three museums, which bleed right into the next ones, but it wasn't cheap.

Outer part of the Palace

The Inner courtyard.

Spanish Riding School

Emily photobombs my otherwise decent pic.

The front gate.

I really enjoyed these museums at the Hofburg.  Okay, yes, I never need to see another piece of imperial silverware, pottery, porcelain, let alone another tureen dish, ever again. But I really, really liked the palace tours.  It captured the grandeur, the insanity, the pressure, and everything else about royal life that makes Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries look like a cake walk.

My favorite museum was the Sissi museum, dedicated to the last Empress of Austria-Hungary, Empress Elisabeth (aka Sissi) who was really quite unusual for her time (and even for today) and who is universally loved by the Austrians.

Her most famous portrait done in 1865

And by eight year old me.  When I lived in Germany, there was this animated show all about Sissi and her adventures.  She rode horses, put on pretty dresses, fell in love with the Kaiser, danced a lot...It was pretty awesome.  Take a look.

Why she has this totally kitsch pink locket from the 90s, I have no idea. 

And then I found out that Sissi's life was actually a living hell, partially because she was kinda crazy and partially because being Empress was a terrible job.  She married her cousin (ew) at the age of 16 (double ew) and lost one of her four children at the age of 21.  She was most likely anorexic and obsessed with her own beauty. She was also creepily obsessed with the German poet, Heinrich Heine. She wrote some poetry and traveled all over the place, trying to find meaning in her life. After her son, the heir, committed suicide, she only ever wore black.  Oh and she got stabbed to death with a rusty shiv by an Italian anarchist at the ripe old age of 60.  Jolly.

Nevertheless, I'm adding the German language version of her biography onto my summer reading list.

After the Hofburg, we tried to see the UN building, but alas they were closed on Saturday!!! We were all very sad.

And we ended our Viennese adventure with a return to the restaurant we ate at the first night.  And yes, the schnitzel was amazing the second time around too. 

I loved Vienna and I really would like to go again.  I think there is something for everyone to enjoy in Vienna - from the shopping to the museums, to the art halls to very sparkly musicals, from ethnic food at the Nashmarkt to Weiner Schnitzel, Vienna was awesome.  I hope you all get the chance to visit someday!

Also, this entire blog entry was fueled by the rockin' tunes and DJ Prowess of Will Power, the greatest rock show known to man, featured on FM 95.1 WVUR on Monday nights, hosted by this humble blogger's brother.  Go check it out.