A trip always starts with with a thought or an impulse. For me it is an urge to see places I have heard or read about, a need to get out of my routine and jump into a world that is unknown and which pushes me out of my comfort zone. It's almost an addiction, but one that can bring more clarity and happiness than any other. I had always dreamed about visiting Germany since I was a kid. I remember looking at picture of the Berlin wall, the Alps, listening to Beethoven and then seeing city names like Bonn, Hanover, Hamburg, Cologne and wondering how life would be in those places, what the cities would smell like, how the weather would be like and the how the people are. Lately I kept making friends with German Buddhist travelers and telling myself I got to go there soon, and so I started working on it.
After I made the decision to go there I found the volunteer gig at an organic farm, (which I previously wrote about) and started shooting emails to get a tentative itinerary down. I knew from previous experiences that it would be better to plan to visit only a few cities and make it to Germany before making to many fixed plans, and so I arrived to the farm. During my time there I was lucky to be able to travel with Gerd Boll to the places were he gave lectures on dharma and travel with other Buddhist friends to lectures and events which allowed me to get to see the region and meet local sanghas (Buddhist practitioners). I got to go to Hamburg one weekend, visit Kiel multiple times which allowed me to make really strong connections with the amazing people there, among other smaller towns and cities.
Staying in the farm for a month allowed me not only to loose at least 5 pounds from eating only organic and extremely healthy and well balanced meals, but also to experience life in the German country side, the pace, the food, the values, the changing weather. This place had a quiet and laid back pace which I had never experienced for more than just a few days. Having no internet, no car and being immersed in a community which spoke a language I wasn't fluent with was simply amazing. But the things I enjoyed the most was the quality of life and punctuality.
I think these two come hand in hand. Germans seem to have an internal time-measuring mechanism that allows them to know how long a task will take, and without the stress get ready for appointments and commitments right on time. I would have thought such punctuality would be accompanied by a certain degree of neurosis, but instead I found out that it simply makes life easier, makes you more reliable and relaxed as you don't have to be wondering when people will show up, or freaking out when you are running late. Consideration for other people's time is key and makes life so much easier! If they were running two minutes and thirty seconds late they would always call, text or send smoke signals, because everyone's time is precious. Of course when it comes to neurosis, I'm not saying all Germans are exempted... there were cases. But the ideas and stereotypes I had were challenged and changed, and my habits as well. Now I feel a certain degree of satisfaction when my bus is on time in Minneapolis and I can plan my bike ride to be where I have to be on time.
My relative isolation also made me enjoy the people. I think in this modern world sometimes we enjoy our friends across our iPhone or computer screens more than those we have in front of us sharing the here an now. Of course, I tell this to myself, and some of you may be exempt from this craziness, right? I only had access to cable internet at times when there was nobody around the kitchen where the connection was, because the main rule at the house was that the internet use should not interfere with socializing and meditation. I learned to sit, listen and relax which of course was also due to the fact that I didn't have enough German skills to babble like I would in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French. However the Germans I lived with were also amazing examples. Despite the hard work at the farm and their busy lives there was always time for wholeheartedly greeting and asking me about my day, sharing something about theirs and talking politics, soccer, dharma or teach me some useful German phrase. Of course this was life in the country side of Schleswig-Holstein.
I learned to enjoy naps, country side bike rides, walking through fields and pick my own berries for dessert, enjoy the morning coffee, the fresh air, conversation with friends, the cold Ost-See swims and simple visits to town to have ice-cream. I was all of the sudden not in need to run around doing something all the time, spending money or going crazy with sudden inactivity. However I would have loved to be in a big city during the World Cup final, but our barn "public-viewing" and champagne drinking was equally enjoyable and maybe safer than the streets of Hamburg, Cologne or Berlin.
After my month in Großholz another part of the adventure began and I started planning my trip to Rodby and Copenhagen. First I talked to an old acquaintance in Cologne and told him I would stop by for a couple of days. And as I said, it was good that I was flexible and had no fixed plans, because this old acquaintance became my boyfriend and after Copenhagen my plans would change a lot. But that's another story...
Cologne showed me a different face of Germany; a very multicultural and urban one. Kersten and I walked all over town and even though I was in a mild culture-shock coming back from rural Germany into a big city, I couldn't help but notice the relaxed and safe atmosphere there was in Cologne. Coming from the U.S. and Guatemala I was constantly weary of strangers in the streets, and a little nervous about walking around dark streets at night. Kersten had to remind me, "you're are in Germany". It took a while for it to sink in, but once it did I couldn't help but thing "Wow, this is life!"
Acknowledging that I did not hang out with every single citizen of Cologne, I have to say that I was fascinated by what I considered a very healthy life style, similar to that of my family in France. For instance I became amazed by Kersten's love of fresh brötchen, and the fact that there was a bakery on almost every corner, like Starbucks in Seattle. Fresh preservative free bread was the way to go. The day could rarely start without him walking to the bakery to get the famous bread for breakfast. But fresh bread by itself is not as exciting; there were no frozen foods, very little food in the refrigerator, farmer markets and fresh produce were bought daily, etc.
But my favorite thing was when I would see little kids drinking Apfelschorle (apple juice with gas) or simple Apfelsaft (apple juice) instead of Coke. I slowly started to notice that most corner stores did not have pop like Coke, Pepsi or 7 up, but instead very low sugar drinks like Club Mate (a hierba-mate tea drink with gas), Apfelschorle and Fassbrause which became some of my obsessions. There were also a lot of people jogging and biking like in Minneapolis. Perhaps it was a way to make up for the ridiculous amount of smoked tobacco. There is even a smoking booth in the Frankfurt airport. A small box inside a building were people go to smoke and inhale ten other smokers' concentrated smoke at the same time!
But enough nicotine-talk. Being interested in identity dynamics I was pleasantly surprised by how easily and yet tactful Germans would approach me and ask me where I was from. It was pretty obvious by looking at my non-blond, non-blue-eyed self that I was not from Germany yet I did not feel unwelcome or uncomfortable like I have sometimes felt in certain places in North America. The question wasn't meant to place me in some category, but to genuinely learn something about me. Most of the people who asked me where I was from knew where Colombia and Guatemala were and knew a thing or two about my countries like: "Tikal is an amazing Mayan archeological site, have you been there?" or... "I have heard Medellin is a beautiful city, and Bogota is interesting but very big and busy." or... "I have been to Colombia for a couple of weeks..."
I also appreciated the fact that most would consider my language limitations and switch to English, but most times I would quickly beg them to speak German and help me learn. They loved it!
The amount of Germans from so many different backgrounds who travel amazed me. And even more amazing was the fact that our conversations occurred in perfectly fluent English. Two German farmworkers I got to know well as we worked together at the farm told me about the trips they made when they were getting their degrees or certificates in farming or biology. They received state aid to study abroad or were able to save money doing farm work to travel to Israel, Australia, Spain, etc... I can't imagine a Guatemalan farm worker making money to even travel for leisure. Another thing that amazed me was their fearlessness when traveling, so many of them had crazy stories because they would never even conceive dangerous situations as the conditions in Germany are humane. For instance they would have never imagined that taking public transportation could be a "trip" in itself, like taking a chicken bus across Guatemala which sometimes can be like playing Russian roulette.
This was even more extreme when I visited Copenhagen and I met University students who not only did not pay for school at all, but did not have to pay for their study abroad programs in Kathmandu, Quito, Tokio or you name it. But Denmark is a different story. I'll have to write about later.
After Denmark I spent three weeks in the Alps at a Buddhist course setting up dinners, counting thousands of people who ate at the cafeteria and later cleaning up the service area after them. I met many amazing people, but lets just say I learned something about patience. I got to see my lama and experience Tibetan initiations for the first time in this life. I was able to pitch my tent in the one spot that would become a swamp after the first shower, stay warm during very wet and cold nights, take showers in front of twenty other women in a common shower, use the same toilet 2,000 others used on the same day and stay sane and happy. I enjoyed every bit of it, but by the end when my asthma was keeping me from going up the hill without stopping every five steps I could not wait to go back to Cologne and take a long hot shower by myself and sleep in a bed.
I then got to go to Berlin which was a big dream of mine. I wanted to see the places where so much of recent history had taken place. I did my share of memorial and museum visits, but my favorite part was staying in an apartment in Prenzlauer Berg and experiencing the neighborhood. Its music and noises from the cars in the morning, to the music coming from the Swingers Club downstairs or the neighbors' parties. Walking to the supermarket, taking the train Mitte or simply walking to a restaurant from any country in the world. And the amazing coffee everywhere I went, but especially the fact that Berliners seem to love dogs and dogs are welcome anywhere except hospitals and fancy restaurants. They are everywhere and by then I had finally learned to ask "May I pet your dog?" so I could indulge in petting some of the happiest dogs I have ever seen. The metropolitan touch did it for me. Quality of life, culture and history; I'm sold! But then my trip was coming to an end and I had to head back to Frankfurt, say goodbye to Kersten and fly across the Atlantic to my beautiful Minneapolis.
I know it has been a great trip when it does not stop when I get home. Instead I can enjoy life in Minneapolis with these new perspectives and lessons learned making every thing so much more exciting and fresh.
