Wenn ich erste zwei Woche erbracht,  interessiere alles ich. Auf der Straße fahren viele hochwertige Autos wie BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi. Nur wenn man ein Ausbilder ist, kann er ein eigentliches Auto besitzen. Das Luft ist so sauber und frisch, dass man keine schmutzige Sache auf der Kragen des Hemd. Außerdem der Straße und Parkplatz zur Autofahrt und Fußweg werden fast alles Grundfläche von grünem Wald und Wiese verdeckt.  Die schöne Umwelt gefällt mich sehr.

Vergleicht mit in China kann man finden,  dass Leben in Deutschland ruhig ist. Die meiste  Deutsche genieße solches einfache Lebenstempo. Morgenfrühe  stehen  Deutsche früh zur Arbeit auf.  Auch sind  sie früh auf Feierabend. Das bedeutet nicht, dass sie nicht Leben gut genießen können,  im Gegensatz  liebe sie ihren Urlaub sehr. Während des Urlaubs bleiben sie mit ganz Familien  zur schöner Landschaft, Meers, Ausland, sowie zu Hause. Auf einem kleinen Fluss kann ein Hausboot möglich gefunden werden.

In schönem Deutschland nicht nur Umwelt sonder auch Deutsche bingen ihr schöne Laune.    In letzten fünf Monate habe ich so viele freundliche Deutsche.  Wenn ein Fremde mit Stadtplan auf der Straße schauen,  kommt ein Deutsche hilfsbereit sofort,  ‚Can I help you?’    Wenn Sie Frage haben, dann können Sie ohne Schüchternheit nach Deutschen um Hilfe bitten.  Aller meine Freunde lobpreisen  die Herzlichkeiten von Deutschen.

Für mich ist Heute 06, Janu. nicht das erste Arbeittag,  weil tatsächlich Gersten das erste Arbeittag.  Seit letzte Sonntagmittag schneiet es immer stark,  so dass sind Schneetiefe fast 20cm hoch.  Deswegen wird das Verkehrsmittel teilweises lahm gelegt.  Auf  Bildschirm der Straßenbahnhaltstelle zeigt, „ Wegen des Schneefalls können wir heute nicht normal Plan fahren“. Wenn ich auf HBF ankomme, warten viele Menschen über das Straßenbahn. Nach 3 Minuten kommt ein Angestellter, und teile freundlich aber peinlich mit, dass diesen Tag es keine immer Straßenbahn gilbte.  Nur mit Straßenbahn 308 kann ich zur Firma fahren, so das bedeutet, am ersten Tag kann ich noch Urlaub machen.

First, I have a deep feeling of China. The Olympic Games made us exciting. It showed foreigners a good view of China. I was very proud of it when I watched the opening of Olympic Games in Germany. I also had a talk with my colleagues. They also enjoyed it very much. Olympic is for people all over the world, and China did it well.

Second, I know money is very useful. 1 Euro equals 10 Yuan in China. When I stayed in Germany and did shopping, I also changed the price into China first. So everything is expensive for me. And when I go back for the first week, I change the price into Euro. How cheap it is!

At last, I will show you some pictures in Shanghai. When I flied back in Shanghai, I walked around of Shanghai, and saw a lot.Pic1: Technology MuesumPic2: Television Tower -the Oriental Pearl Radio

1．       欧洲旅游首选火车。

www.bahn.de

这是德国火车系统，多玩几次就熟悉了。而且可以查其他国家的火车信息，这一点我很欣赏。如果只是单买票的话，越早定越好，便宜票有限。机器买不加手续费，柜台买+2，邮寄+3.5，打印的话火车上要出示信用卡。

签证可以买欧洲通票或者欧洲多国游。具体价格这个网站上可以查到。这个票在比较大的火车站有的卖。也可以在国内买。不过我们好像不能买德国通票（不太确定）。

2．       廉价航班

个人不是很喜欢。这次意大利之行就是飞机去飞机回。价格不太贵，和打折后的火车票价差不多。但是人太累了，尤其是第二天还要玩。便宜的时间一般都是很早或很晚，机场也很远，要坐大巴之类的（不是免费的），到机场还要+5的机场建设费。反正我坐飞机的那两天都是通宵的。相比之下，更喜欢火车，可以休息。

http://www.ryanair.com/site/SE/

http://www.go2eu.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=69455&extra=page%3D1

http://www.germanwings.com/index.en.shtml

3．       欧洲大巴

http://www.touring.de/Rates.237.0.html?&L=1

https://www.berlinlinienbus.de/index.php?lang=en

没什么好说的，大家直接看网页吧。鄙人晕车，所以不考虑汽车。

4．       青年旅馆

出门玩大多都是住青年旅馆，便宜又安全，还可以认识很多朋友。一般是15欧以上，根据地区和国家不同而不同。都不提供牙刷牙膏之类的。有的提供毛巾，有的没有。所以出门的时候带上就是了。青年旅馆大多都是网上预订的，基本上没什么问题。我都是这样做的。对了，需要信用卡。我是东借西借的J

http://www.uni-ulm.de/acssu/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?forum=8&topic=121

http://www.hostelworld.com/

http://reservations.bookhostels.com/go2eu.com/?Language=Chinese

5．       国际学生证。

这个非常好用。每到一个景点，就拿出来问，有时候打折很多的。绝对比你不用合算。

6．       最后要说一下安全问题。

德国的治安是我去过的国家中不错的。但法国和意大利就要小心了，其他国家也不怎样。所以一定要保管好自己的东西，尤其是证件。补办很麻烦。在家准备一份护照的复印件，以防万一。

如果对欧洲旅游还有疑问的话，可以上www.go2eu.com/bbs, 这个网站的欧洲板块做的很好，有问题就问他们，会有很多人解答。一般我出去玩之前都会去做做功课。
好了,要回家了.德国的博客也要告一段落了.希望即将赴德的童鞋们在德国度过一个快乐的时光,玩的愉快.

Firstly, I should thank my “German Papa” Rudi. I still remember he came to pick me up in the hotel of Ohlstadt. I still remember what he asked me the first words, “Can you speak German?” I still remember he cooked for me my first German food. I still remember he took me to Neuestadt to spend my first Easter. I still remember he laughed at my shoes were for children and I laughed at his shoes were like boats. I still remember he went to Oberau and drove me back when I came back from travelling with sickness unluckily……I didn’t realize I would have a German to take care of me like what he did. As Rudi said, sometimes I was a little bit asleep to do anything. For these 5 months, I learned a lot from him. Even though sometimes we had some problems with each other, I experienced what I could not experience in China.

Secondly, I should thank the owner of my apartment in Bayersoien. This is a very nice family. I am their first Chinese guest. Yesterday I gave them a photo of me with Dirndl, a typical Bavarian Dress. They said they would still remind me after several years when they saw this picture. During this period, they took care of me very much. Even though their English was not so good to communicate, they use any way to talk with me. Sometimes I thought language is not important, but if my German was better, perhaps we could have more fun with each other. I still remember every morning I said “Guten Morgen!” to them when I stepped out. I still remember when I got a cold, they did worry about me. I still remember they treated me a Schweinshaxe, so big and so much that I had to eat it for 3 days……

Thirdly, I should thank my lovely friends I made in the company and in Bayersoien. We had different skin color with different culture. Before long, I had no confidence that I would make some German friends. I even had to spend long time to remember their names. Besides, I didn’t assure that I could handle with so many problems with more or less Culture Shock. Perhaps understanding is the most important thing between two nationalities. When you met some trouble with foreigners, it is better for you to think about under cultural guiding rather than to complain about everything. I really appreciated my dearest foreign friends to understand me and my culture. I still remember we sat in bars and talked some girl things. I still remember we cooked together German food and Chinese food. I still remember they tried their best to help me to buy what I need, especially some Chinese stuff. I still remember they came to console me when China was facing the disaster of earthquake. I still remember when we sat in McDonalds at every lunch time and talked some funny things. I still remember they attempted to teach me German and encouraged me to speak out, although my German speaking was still bad……   

Not every Chinese has this chance to live in another country for a long time. I was lucky that I had opportunity to touch German people and German culture so deeply and so profound.

Ich bin eine Studentin aus China und machte ein Praktikum in Deutschland. Ich absolvierte die „Peking University of Chemical Technology“. Mein Hauptfach war „Chemical Engineering“.

Ich habe in der deutschen Firma Kennametal Sintec Keramik GmbH gearbeitet. Ich war in der Forschung- und Entwicklungsabteilung. Fünf Monate lang arbeitete ich mit meinen Kollegen am Projekt „Competitor Analysis“

Während dieses Praktikums bekam ich viele Einblicke in die Lebensart der deutschen Menschen und deren Kultur. Diese Eindrücke machten mich offen für Neues und erweiterten mein Blickfeld. Hauptsächlich lernte ich in einer Internationalen Firma zu arbeiten und wie ich mit den ausländischen Menschen kommunizieren kann. Außerdem lernte ich wie ich mich bei Problemen verhalten muss.

Ich habe viele neue Freunde in Deutschland gefunden, mit denen ich viel Spaß während dieser Zeit hatte. Ich wünsche mir, dass wir Freunde für immer bleiben. Diese fünf Monate sind die wertvollsten Erfahrungen in meinem Leben.

_______________________________

Good morning  Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am a Chinese student who makes an internship in Germany. I graduated from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. I am a Master. My major is Chemical Engineering.

I worked in a German company, named Kennametal Sintec Keramik GmbH. I was in R&D department. For these 5 months, I collaborated with my colleagues on project of “Competitor Analysis”, which conducted in-depth study of substantial worldly competitors on field of ceramic evaporator production. I managed to evaluate the quality of competitors’ products, including in-house assessment and detailed element analysis to propose next developing strategy on our products.

During this internship, I have deeply experienced German people and German culture, which opened my mind and broadened my scope. Additionally, I learned how to work in an international company and how to communicate with my foreign colleagues. And I also learned how to deal with different problems in foreign country. 

I have made a lot of German friends here. And we had so much fun together during this time. I wish we would be best friends forever. These 5 months will be the most precious experience in my life.

德国这是一年365天都供应热水的。冬天大多时候在室内很暖和。而且,如果不是大的消费的话,单纯的吃喝,不管房租的话,一个月200左右.好了，书归正传，说说生活中的事吧。

1.           通信。

大家都很关心电话的事情。首先，中国的手机带过来只要换张卡就可以用了。德国的通信商很多，有点类似于咱中国的联通。所以可以问问你的同事

这里我介绍一个我用的，也是我的师姐推荐的，打回中国很便宜的。Ortel mobile，在绿色的e-plus+店里有卖。卖12。95欧，含10欧的手机费。之后没钱了就买卡充值。打电话的时候，第一分钟要收0.15的接通费，然后打回中国是0.05/min，德国是0.19/min。发短信是0.15一条。根据充值的多少，还可以享受网内的免费通话。15欧是30min，30欧是60min。根据这是目前为止我知道的打回中国最便宜的。网络电话也不止这个价。

至于其他的运营商的情况我就不知道了，各有各的要求。具体的可以过来问商家，货比三家不吃亏，千万不要急。

2.           储值卡（不是信用卡）

德意志银行有一种针对学生年轻人的储值卡(<26岁)。这种卡不收卡费，而且这家的覆盖率还是挺高的。

如果嫌每个月拿钱太麻烦，可以办的（和我在一起的那个同学就办了的）。像我就没有，呵呵，主要是觉得拿钱就得有拿钱的感觉。对了，这张卡可以用于买火车票。

3.           网络

这一点因人而异。如果公司提供了，最好。如果没有，就问住的地方。有的地方拉了固线，提供网络。有的就要自己搞了。这边手机运营商也提供移动网络（不是无限网络）服务，类似于一个优盘，不过里面放了一张手机卡而已。有点贵。

4.           交通

如果要坐公车上班，有的甚至要坐火车，别忘了问公司是不是能报销。

还有一点，中欧通在活动其间有个聚会，介绍单上说是要自己掏钱的。但有的公司也会提供这笔费用，有的不，买票之前要先问一下公司。最后走的时候公司通常也都会有安排，所以可以省钱的地方千万别客气。

首先说说行李。这一点在网上可以查到很多。我想说说我的体会。

1.           伞。准备一把轻便的可以放包里随身带的伞。在德国伞是个非常有用的东西，雨很多。

2.           塑料拖鞋。德国的塑料制品一般都很贵。一双塑料拖鞋卖2~3欧，折合下来很贵的。也可以准备一些塑料袋，差不多就可以了。

3.           双肩包。可以购物也可以旅游用。咱出门玩都是背个包了事，不像欧洲人人手一个箱子。而且购物塑料袋是要花钱的(15cent左右)，但书包不会太累。不建议准备登山包，因为登山包在上飞机的时候还是要托运，而且日常生活中用的不多。

4.           吃的就不要太多了。这边有亚洲超市，想要的都有。而且来这可以好好享受一下西方的美食。可以的话准备一本食谱，这边的书很贵的。

5.           眼镜和相机。我们这次有2个人的眼镜坏了，还有2个的相机坏了(我就是受害者之一)。所以，近视的最好多准备一副。因为德国的眼镜很贵，玻璃的就要30多欧，还不是当场可取的，要等几天。要立即取的话需要加钱的。相机的话最好把保修卡带上，可能会有用。德国这的相机价格和中国的差不多。

6.           钱。有时间的话赶快办张国际信用卡。那个需要时间，有点烦。不办也没事，反正在德国也花不了多少。身上要带点小面额的欧元。咱从银行换出来的比较大。德国这常用的不超过50欧面额。我当年就准备了1000欧，而且没卡，结果看我还玩了那么多地方。不过如果要预订旅馆的话，需要用卡（可以借的）。

7.           书。字典，旅游的书。有一个旅游系列的书叫<<走遍…>>的是日本人写的，不过有中文翻译版，挺实用的，不过有点贵(不是广告，本人很讨厌日本人)。我这次的意大利之行就是靠那个。

8.           化妆品。这依据个人。如果你有自己的专用的一套，最好自己带。如果一般的，德国这也不贵。而且德国的化妆品进入市场的要求很高，不用担心劣质的。要说一下的是，Nivea和国内的差不多，好歹要算一下汇率吧。对了，德国的天气比较干，尤其是冬天，要注意保湿。

9.           带件厚点的外套出门用。这有暖气，只要准备出门的时候有件挡风的就行。这一点南方人可能没概念(我就是一开始没搞明白，带了很多)，反正就是春秋天的衣服为主。

10.        旅行装的化妆品还是要的。这卖东西不是按大小多少定价的，小瓶装的反而贵。或者准备几个小瓶子过来灌。出门玩时可以带点洗发水，沐浴露什么的。

11.        转换接头。这个很重要的。可以带2个或者多带个接线板。德国和法国，荷比卢的标准是一样的。但是意大利的小一些。可以准备一个意大利的，如果有去意大利玩的计划地话。

12.        国际学生证。这个真的很有用的。尤其是旅游的话。

13.        带一点文具。德国的文具很贵，不要太多，毕竟公司也提供文具的。

Schweinshaxe. Firstly, I can not pronounce the name. I always say “feet of the pig”. Now you know what it is. But it is totally different from what we eat in China. German people eat the whole one without cutting to small pieces. Chinese people normally stew it with some melon. But German love to braise and eat with potatoes. Here I must say for one piece, it is too much for me. I still remember my owner gave me one and I have to eat for 3 days. Rudi told me that is for a normal Bavarian.

Schweinebraten. This dish is a kind of sour vegetable (Sauerbrot) eating with bread dumpling. It is said this dish is a famous Bavarian dish. But for me it is too sour. Perhaps for those Chinese who live in the northeast of China can accept this because they also have a kind of typical dish like sour cabbage.

Kaesspatzen. It is a kind of noodle made from a typical Bavarian cheese. Good taste but sometimes a little bit two salty.

Weisswurst. “White sausage“. This is a very famous food in the world. In China, we don’t have so many kinds of sausages. Since I was in Germany, I bought sausages once I went to supermarket. Sometimes I went to buttery to buy some fresh sausages. They are so delicious! Until now, I nearly tasted all kinds of sausages. Weisswurst is the best. The first time I tasted was in Nuremberg, the cradle of Weisswurst.

Salad. For most of Chinese people, what we eat of salad is extremely different from German salad. First, our salad is sweet normally, but German salad is salty. Secondly, Chinese use a kind of salad jam to make salad, but German use Olive oil, salt, pepper and a typical oil. Chinese people like to use fruit to make fruit salad. German salad is made from vegetables. Italian people use some fish tin to make salad more taste. I like that style.

Brot. “bread”. German bread is harder than Chinese bread. I still remembered that when the first month I was in Germany. I told Rudi that German bread is like stone. He laughed at me that I am old. Comparing to Chinese bread, German bread is indeed very tough. But I think Chinese don’t qualify to have any comment on German bread because in China in the past time bread was used to import from western world. Surely, we also cannot be blamed about the hard bread we taste because “Chinese bread” such as “Jiaozi”, “Baozi” “Mantou” was very soft.   

Döner Kebap. I translate it as “barbecue in sandwich”. That is the most food I eat in Germany—cheap and delicious. In China, we also have this kind of food, but with small size and fewer barbecues. I must say this is not German food. This is from Turkey—a typical Turkish food. But lots of German people love this food and it is very popular in Germany, even in Europe.

German. German people are the most people I have contacted with. I have so many German friends. I talked with them. I went out with them. We have had so much fun together--Ayfer, Manu, Christina, Patrick, Rudi, Schweiger…..and those farmer friends from Bayersoien. Honestly speaking, they have changed my impression about German which used to be the popular opinion of Chinese people about German. Besides, they also tell me I have changed their primary opinion about Chinese people. This verifies that deeply communication boost the mutual understanding between two people. In most of Chinese people’s eyes, German is a nation of accuracy and strict method. They produce the most developed mechanical system in the world from the early time. They establish the most expensive auto brand in the world. They symbolize “good quality” of products today. Because of their preciseness and dealing with concrete issues, they always behave steadfast and earnest in one's work. Everything for them should be in plan. Schedule is a vital thing in their lives.  

However, German people have a period of aggressive history which is unbearable to recall. Two world wars, Nazi, Jews massacre seemly became the indelible scar for Germany and German people. The role of aggressor they played in the past time used to bring them painful lessons. “Berlin Mauer” (Berlin Wall) proves that anyone who breaks the peace will pay for a high price later.

The most respected action of German people is that they square up to the reality of being out of order. They realized that they have to start again and to help their country stand up from the ruins which are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war. When German Prime Minister Willy Brandt got down on his knees before the Holocaust monument in Warsaw to show his country's repentance, we know they would stand up and they can. Memory, forgiveness and forgetting, if a country is to find true greatness; it needs to be honest about its turbulent past. Chinese people respects this action and I think German also have won the respect and support of the whole world.

Picture notes:

1. Erdi--Rudi's best friend in Bayersoien; a very funny guy.

2. Manu and her boyfriend Michael--My colleagues in Sintec; best friends. They have so many animals in their apartment.

3. Christina and Patrick--My best friends also. They were enjoying Chinese food I cooked for them. 

4. My friends in Bayersoien--Martin and his mother. They borrowed me Dirndl (Bavarian dress).

5. My friends in Bayersoien--The lady with Bavarian hat is a writer who mainly writes criminal stories. Her latest new book is about her cats.  

If you live in a society which is made up of a variety of people, you are inescapable of communicating with others. That is the basic social skill of living. China and Germany are mostly different countries. We were growing up in the eastern culture, but for the western life, we need time to adapt. In China, we don’t think it is unforgivable to be late for 30 min when you are taking part in a party. But we also believe that it is important for a person to be punctual in his working. We do consider time and punctuality as vital things for human living in this world. However, German people are known for their punctuality in the world. Could you tell me why? My German readers.

I still remembered that the first week I was in Germany to work. At that time, I wasn’t aware of the importance of time for German. After my mentor was angry with my lateness, I knew I must start to change my living style. “Better late than never” didn’t work here. Awareness had to be planted in my mind that in this country, “better never late”. Factual proof during these 5 months told me that was true.

One of my readers mentioned appointment. Yes, appointment--“Termin” in German always is a vital word for German people. Here, you must make a “Termin” with your doctor. You must make a Termin with your friends. You even must make a “Termin” with your parents. Before you visit someone, it is better that you call his/her firstly. If you are invited to some party, it is better you get there on time—never late and never early. But no one can be punctual for the whole life because of some emergency. You never know what will happen in the next 5 minutes. If happened, pick up your mobile phone and tell your party that how long you could get there. I think that can make every party flexible to fix everything following. On the other hand, controlling the time is better than being controlled by the time.

As for this topic, I still have something to mention. That is habit. William James said, “Sow a thought; reap an action; sow an action; reap a habit; sow a habit; reap a character; sow a character; reap a destiny.” If German people’s punctuality is deeply sowed in their blood, why should we ask them the reason that they are always on time? Just habit drives them to reap a Germany.  

Pictures from Bayersoien Lake.

“Are they really so punctual?” I said yes—unbelievably punctual…..

First, the transportation. I must tell you that the most part of my salary I earned in Germany was spent on travelling. And the most cost for my travelling was on transportation. It is undeniable that travelling in Europe you need to prepare more money on the trains, flights and buses. But you also can choose different transporting way to get to your destination. Frequent travelling gave me another chance to take a deep look at German’s transportation system. It is various, suitable, comfortable and punctual. The most impressive feature for foreigners should be its punctuality. 

I remember the first time I started to travel to Berlin, I needed to take bus from Bayersoien to Oberau, then from Oberau to Munich by train. Between bus and train, there was only 3 minutes. I was so worried if I could take my next train successfully; when I sat on the bus, even that bus driver assured me that don’t worry. The result was I got to Oberau Bahnhof on time. I rushed to the platform, after 3 minutes, my train came to the station precisely. I asked myself: how they did it?  

I live on the Romantic Road, where there are many buses driving on this road. Sometimes I took some bus line to Schongau, to Fuessen, to Oberau, or to Garmisch. Bus9606, that is most line I have taken during these 5 months, because it is one of two lines past by Bayersoien. Some of bus drivers in this line knew me because of my passport Asian face, frequent taking and poor German inquiring. I have asked them why these buses were so punctual. They asked me, “why not?” 

In Germany, every train stops in a station only for 3-5 min, to guarantee the train can get to the next stop on time. This system must give the train, train driver and the controlling system a high requirement. For us, we always thought German trains were racing with time and speed. Without a highly developed technological support, no one can make sure that “ICE784 will arrive at Munich at 18:37.” Let alone the cooperation between bus and train is terribly unbelievable. They calculate in advance the time walking by foot between bus station and train station. They even calculate in advance the time walking from one platform to another in the same station like Munich. You can get all the information from internet. According to your timetable, normally you must arrive at your destination quite punctually.

To be continued……

Picture notes:

1. Regional Bahn

2. Berlin Bahnhof

3. Munich Bahnhof

4. Hamburg Bahnhof

5. German ICE

First, I have to say, this article is difficult to finish because it refers to some “technical words” about Chinese dishes. For my German guests, it was easy for them to know because they were watching me when I was cooking. Even though I could not explain them the exact names, they knew what I had used and how I made use of them. However for my blog readers, I must do some homework in advance to check them on internet, in case you can understand what I have done instead of coming to me and asking me to cook for youJ. 

Manu, one of my best German friends in Sintec, she has a perfect apartment with a perfect kitchen. During this time, I usually visited her after work in Peiting. I promised her to cook Chinese food for her, her boyfriend and his family--9 people in total. After we fixed the time, I started to make a list with everything we needed to purchase in Supermarket. On Wednesday after work, we drove to Penny (German supermarket) to buy those stuffs on my list. It took us two hours. On Thursday after work, I became a Chinese cooker….

As for my cooking style and history, I think it is necessary to introduce myself firstly. In my parents’ eyes, I was not a good cooker, even though sometime they praised me for some of my dishes. They always didn’t believe that I could cook for the whole family. Their opinions depressed me a little sometimes so that I always thought that I could not take this “responsibility”. When I decided to cook for my German friends, I even could not believe myself. What would happen if I messed it up? But another voice told me that don’t be afraid, just be yourself.

After two hours preparation with two of my “assistants” Manu and Christina, I, the chef, finished all the dishes I had planed for the whole family. They are:  

“Vegetarian Squid with Green Vegetables,

Scrambled Egg in Three Colors,

Braised Cucumber with Pork Filling,

Shredded Pork with Sweet Bean Paste,

Creamy Broccoli,

Sliced pork with vegetable shoots,

Bean Threads with Vegetables.”

When they were eating, the funniest thing was that I tried to teach them to use Chop sticks. After 15 minutes they told me, using chop sticks must be a real “technical work” and if they used them for eating one week, they would die from hungry.

That day they so loved my dishes that everyone were quite overfull. The next day Manu even asked me to teach her Chinese cooking. I was so happy that all of my guests liked my dishes. And I suddenly found cooking was an interesting thing. Besides I felt so proud of our Chinese diverse cooking style. I never imagine that one day I would cook for 9 German people. I believe that this would become the most precious experience I should remember in my whole life.   

Do you know what the temperature is today in Heidenheim? 13℃!

It is hard to believe in China. Now it is the hottest season in China, with 38℃ in Shanghai for a long time. I have a friend here who told me that he only knew one word in China, 空调. It means air conditioning in English. Here I saw no air conditioning, but in China, almost every family has at least an air conditioning, especially in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Latitude is the main reason. Besides, high buildings lead to tropical island effect and the city’s development destroy too many trees which are the best natural air conditioning.

So now, do you know what I am worrying about? When I go back to China, how can I adopt the change of temperature directly from winter to summer?

Ps: there is no photo about the weather, so I like to share some interesting cars and motorcycle here. It is hard to see in China.

Belgians are so enthusiastic that it is hard to believe at first. In China, there are many frauds in the street. But in Belgium, you don’t worry about it. They want to help you, though their English is not very good. When I stood on the street and saw the map, a man or a woman often came to me and asked me ‘do you need help?’ And if I asked them the road or the museum, they would tell you ‘Go down this street until that corner and then you can ask others’. I heard this sentence for at least 10 times just in the whole afternoon.Pic1: Pont Adolphe, the oldest bridge in LuxembourgPic2: Canyon in LuxembourgPic3: Sign in the subway station for Blind i nBelgiumPic4: in the mini europe, you can see the model is very small, comparing with my bag  -:)

It is said that the French is very phlegmatic. When I was in Paris, I met an old professor who helped me find the right train to the palace. We had a talk in the train. So I asked him why the French didn’t speak English, even though they understood my question, they would answer me in French. It seemed that the French was not friendly. He gave me a surprise answer. Though the French need to learn English at school, they just know how to read and write. Most of them can’t speak well of English. They understand the questions English, but they don’t know how to explain it in English, which made them phlegmatic. It seems the education’s problem. ^_^

The French is really on the top of fashion. You can see many old women wear colorful skirts, with beautiful shoes. It is hard to believe in China. In the other countries, I seldom saw so many colorful skirts. France is really the center of fashion.

Pic1: Eiffel TowerPic2: marragePic3: a small concert in Luxembourg park in ParisPic4: Mona Lisa in Louvre MuseumPic5: Venus in Louvre Museum

Last weekend, I travelled to Cologne, one of the famous cities in Germany. There you have the gorgeous cathedral. This Gothic cathedral is regarded as a miracle in architectural history, which has attracted visitors from all around the world. You have cologne perfume, which was generated from this city. But the most important thing attracting me is not cathedral, is that river which flows through this city, like a jade belt decorating a handsome lover boy.

Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres. The name of the Rhine comes from the archaic German Rhine, which in turn comes from Middle High German: Rin. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire, and since those days the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway, carrying trade and goods deep inland. It has also served as a defensive feature, and been the basis for regional and international borders. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. River traffic could be stopped at these locations, usually for the purpose of collecting tolls, by the state controlling that portion of the river.

“Danube so blue, so bright and blue,through vale and field you flow so calm,our Vienna greets you, you silver streamthrough all the lands you merry the heartwith your beautiful shores.”

After this poem, you might imagine that why Mr. Strauss had so much inspiration to create so beautiful tones. Last month, we were in Vienna for weekend travelling. This river gave me the most impression, not just because this tune was very deep in most Chinese people’s hearts, but it is so amazing when you just stand on the bank of river—like in dreams.

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance, passing through several Central and Eastern European capitals, before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine.

Known to history as one of the long-standing frontiers of the Roman Empire, the river flows through—or forms a part of the borders of — ten countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Although the headwaters of the Danube are relatively small today, geologically, the Danube is much older than the Rhine, with which its catchment area competes in today's southern Germany. This has a few interesting geological complications. Since the Rhine is the only river rising in the Alps Mountains which flows north towards the North Sea, an invisible line divides large parts of southern Germany, which is sometimes referred to as the European Watershed.

This weekend I was invited by Mr. Schweiger (my colleague in R&D) to Fuessen to watch a concert in “LudwigⅡMusical”—an opera house which located on the bank of “Foggersee” and in the opposite of Neuschwanstein. I got to Fuessen at 11pm. Mr. Schweiger picked me up and took me to meet his niece Stephe, who is a very nice girl, 2 years older than me. Then they invited me to take a ship-trip on lake “Foggersee”. It was a pity that the weather was very bad that day, even though it was cool and clear in the air, the rain drop was coming down without mercy. The weather in the weekend more or less made people depressed and sleepy. But good news was, that there were enough seats on the ship for us to sit inside. Stephe told me, that normally the ship was full any time especially in the weekend if it would be sunny and cloudless. Fuessen is a popular tourist city. You can see most of people who walk on the street are tourists.  

The concert in Ludwig II Musical was hold by two famous German saxophonist and bandleader Max Greger and Hugo Strasser. I haven’t heard so much about Jazz music in the past time. I was not so interested in it because sometimes I thought I didn’t understand this music. Besides, for most of Chinese people, they are not so familiar with this kind of Jazz taste. I have one album of Jazz played by a famous American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong. I have to say his music was the only Jazz I have ever heard, but was very beautiful and emotional.

For these two players, it was the first time for me to hear about them even though they were popular and well-known musician in Europe with myriad credits to their names, including film and television work. Performing a mixture of pop, jazz, and swing tunes, they had considerable success from the '50s onward, and helped establish the growing German jazz movement. The most surprise for me was this year Hugo Strasser was 86 years old and Max Greger was 82. With these ages, they still looked unbelievably so spirited, hale and hearty—who believed that they were over 80. I thought maybe it was the power of music. Someone use music to treat patients; someone use it to make himself younger. 

People crowed into the concert to watch their performance. I noticed most of them were middle age and old age people. I knew all of them were loyal fans of these two players. They grew up with their music and infatuated with it for their whole lives—who knows if it is not the power of music?

Adding to this concert-trip in Fuessen, I am not sure if I have fallen in love with it, castle, football, friends, and music……

In Luxembourg, when I got out of the train, I went to the tour office first. There were two men there, one was having a telephone call and one was sitting there for rest. So I decided to ask the man at rest.

“Do you have the map of Luxembourg?” I asked.

“Ask that man.” The man said.

“Do you know where I can put my luggage?” I asked again.

“Ask that man.” The man answered angrily and went out of the office.

Nothing to say.

In Belgium, I just stayed in Brussels. Belgians are very friendly. I just wanted to get the bus at the railway station and a man showed me there and helped me find the timetable of the bus. The next morning, I got the station too late that it just 2 minutes for train to leave. The man in the information desk told me run directly. Lucky I got the train.

Germany

The train in Germany is very on time. Sometimes it delays for several minutes. It is very serious when you need to change the train in the railway station in just several minutes. So when you meet this problem, don’t worry. You can tell the conductor in the train, and he will help you. This is very useful. I met twice and lucky the train waited for me. The service is very humanistic.

France

When I stayed in France, I took night train because it was too far to get. I bought a second class of couchette. It was a room for 6 people. I got twice and had a very interesting experience.

The first is from Paris to Nice. I got to the train and found I can’t open the door of room. I tried and tried, but failed. Then I met a conductor. She explained that because only my ticket was in that wagon, they decided to change the room for me for safe. At last, I stayed in a room alone.

The second time is from Nice to Luxembourg. It was a long train for almost 12 hours. This time, I was not alone in the room. When I entered the room, I saw a lot of water on the floor. I didn’t care about it. I knew that there would be 4 people total in that room. Then there came an old man who had a bed under mine. We had a talk about Nice. At that time, the conductor came and the old man told him that because of the wet floor, he wanted to change the room. The conductor helped him change into an empty room. I saw the whole process and told the conductor I also wanted to change the room because it was a danger for me when I stayed in the stairs and the wet floor may make me slip. So at last, I changed the room and stay in a room alone.

I feel very happy about my staying in the night train. I just used the second class ticket and got a service better than the first class ticket.

Pic1: RE in Germany (slow train)
Pic2: ICE in Germany (fast train)
Pic3: TGV in France (fast train)
Pic4: TGV in total

When I stayed in China, I never went out for travel. It was my first time to go out of my town when I began to study in Nanjing. So when I left home to Germany, my parents were very worried about my life in Germany, especially for my decision of travel. But now, fact proves that I can take well care of myself and I can travel around.

This week I had a long travel in the west of Europe. I spent 9 days in 6 countries, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands and Cologne in Germany. It is a long trip, and I met many interest people. They are very lovely and friendly. They helped me a lot during my trip. And when I stayed in Cologne, I met my friends of etp there. One of ours will go back to China on Monday, we decided to meet him before his leaving. It is a happy time when we 7 met together and climbed the Cologne Church for more than 500 stairs, though it was such a tired work. Wish him a good trip.

Pic1: the view of church

Pic2 & Pic3: door of church

Pic4: the view of Cologne on the top of the church

In China, we have a vivid metaphor to describe these two—“阳春白雪，下里巴人” (snow of the early spring and farmer of the distant village). A prince who grows up in royal court definitely distinguished from a farmer who lives in the village for his whole life. So we called the former “snow” because of its feature. What you do in the palace normally should be with strict etiquette practiced at the court and that is surely never required for a farmer. Vice versa, a farmer has his own trouble. He has to worry about his living life all the time. He has to think about which part of grassland he should weed today. He has to tell himself that tomorrow is another day and I should do more work to feed my kids. But I think it is hard to tell which life of these two kinds is better. Sometimes nobles envy normal people with normal life—they can do anything they want, no restriction, and no limitation. Sometimes normal people admire nobles with noble life—they can do anything they want, no heavy work, and countless treasure.

I am a big “Sisi” fan. Like lots of girls, I always have a princess dream. I dream that one day I could wear my fancy dress and walk elegantly through the long Corridor till my cheering people. But I know she was not happy with her marriage even though her husband was so affectionate with her. She used to be a Bavarian girl. And I know what life of a normal Bavarian lady is like because I have been here for this long time and I live in the countryside. With the mountain, river and forest, you must feel free and delightful with everything around you. They dance together, sing together and talk together, you never feel lonely. I can feel what she felt and I also can imagine what her court life was like—a canary bird kept in its golden cage.

Until now, I have seen many castles and palaces. On the one hand, I am certain that the splendor moving in a throng must be a gorgeous spectacle of which I should never tire. On the other hand, I am grateful that I just a normal girl who grows up in a normal but happy family. JJJ

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Bavarian palace. Located on a mountain top in Germany, near Hohenschwangau and Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Swabia, the palace was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as homage to Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse. Although public photography of the interior is not permitted, it is the most photographed building in Germany and is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. The palace has appeared in movies several times, and was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

Some of my friends who live in Füssen told me even though they lived so close with this castle and drove past it so many times, they haven’t been inside. But they told me the most beautiful scene of Neuschwanstein is from outside. The king Ludwig II was a castle lover. He built 3 castles around this area but not living in. He is known for most the Chinese people as a “fairy prince”, a king who lived in his own fancy world. Neuschwanstein was near completion when, in 1886, the King was declared insane by a State Commission and arrested at the palace.

As for me, Neuschwanstein is the second castle I have visited since I was in Germany. First is Linderhof, the smallest of the 3 palaces built by King Ludwig II and the only one of which he lived to see completion. I was told for thousands of times about Neuschwanstein. But sometimes when something is so popular that everyone tells you to visit there, you might choose to leave it with some distance. Like most of my Füssen friends, although I have past there for several times, I didn’t visit it formally. Until May when I have been in Bavaria for 2 months, I went there…

I don’t know what normal German people think about this castle and its owner. But one of my friends said to me that she is crazy about Neuschwanstein and also a fan of Richard Wagner. I like listening to classic music, but I haven’t listened to some pieces about this famous German composer when I was in China. After I came here, I started to touch some tunes from him and heard some stories about him. I tell you, once you stand in front of this castle, you should be eager to know something about this composer. Why did this fairy king adore him so much and do everything for him?...

I remembered in April, my colleague Ralf, who worked in the production, asked me to do him a favor. His younger daughter Christina, 16 years old, is a super Chinese fan. She told me she loved everything about China, especially Chinese characters. Ralf and his wife made their daughter’s room some decoration. They left the wall to let Christina decide the style by herself. She asked her father to paint Chinese on it. So Ralf invited me to his apartment to help her. But I have to say, even though I have written Chinese for 25 years, it was my first time to “draw” some Chinese characters with large size on the wallJ. Facing the clean white wall, I need to take some exercise firstly to make sure that I don't do anything wrong. I draw them on papers, and then duplicated them on the wall in shape of frame and shallow with pencil. Then Ralf’s wife filled them in color. The words they needed me to paint are “爱（love）, 友谊（friendship）, 幸福（happiness）, and 克里斯蒂娜（Christina）”. Finally this family asked me to paint my Chinese name on the wall.

Another colleague of mine Anja, she worked in the production either. Last month, she came to me and asked me to make her a Chinese name in order to take a tattoo then. So I made a “name-card” for her on which I translated her name “Anja” into Chinese “安娅” so that she could take it to tattoo workshop. Not just Anja, lots of my colleagues had tattoos with Chinese. Most of them normally use “love” “rich” “friend” “home” “happiness” and so on, but they didn’t know the meaning about those charactersJJ.

I have asked them why they liked Chinese characters without understanding any meanings about them. They told me even though they didn’t know anything about them; those characters looked pretty beautiful like a painting. Some of them thought a Chinese tattoo could seem so cool on their skin and they thought those Chinese had some kind of mysterious power which would bring them countless luck.    

Picture notes:

1--Happiness & luck
2--Tranditional Chinese knot
3--Age
4--Love
5--Safty

Sisi is the most famous princess in the history. This is not only because her husband is a king, but also because she is a very beautiful girl with unfortunate marriage. In the middle of Vienna, there is a Sisi museum. There you can see many things about her, film, dress, shoes, sculpture, and stories in her life.

Vienna is also the center of the music in the world. Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Strauss, you can find information about them in Vienna. You can even feel that you have a talk with them, through time and space. We are very lucky to get the tickets and enjoyed a concert.

But if you stay in Vienna and have time for lunch, you must taste schweineschnitzel. It is made of pork but it is very thin with crumb covered. It tastes very delicious.

This year, Austria is the host of Europe Cup 2008. The game in the evening is Netherlands to Russia. We are very surprised that Russia won Netherlands with 3:1. Before we went to the concert, we saw many fans with orange coats and orange shoes. Nothing is impossible.

Ps: Next week I will have my vacation in France and Netherlands, so I will not write blog during that week. After I am back, I will introduce these countries to you.

Pic1: Outside of Sisi Museum

Pic2: In the Silver Collection

Pic3: A concert of one person

Pic4: Fans

Mr. Schweiger graduated from Technical University of Munich. After he worked in Munich for several years, he moved back to his hometown Fuessen and worked for Sintec. Since he started to work for this company, he had stayed in Sintec for 18 years. He knew everything about this company, I think. He is in charge of operating SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) in our department. Sometimes I should work with him to take some pictures about samples. He was quite patient to teach me how to use that machine. I usually made some mistakes with carelessness. He never blamed me anything. Most of the time, when we were working together, he tried to teach me some German. He hoped me that some day I could use his language to communicate with him. Sometimes he never talked with me in English to force me to speak German on my own. But I think I am not so clever that normally he had to teach me two or more time for one word. He is a very patient teacher, but I am not a smart student.

Every Friday, when Rudi had to drive directly to Neustadt after work, Mr. Schweiger and Ayfer would drive me back to Bayersoien. Ayfer is a Turkish girl, one year older than me, also my colleague and my best friend in this company. She lived in Fuessen either and she was a friend of Mr. Schweiger’s niece. Mr. Schweiger and her drove together everyday from Fuessen to Schongau in order to save some money. Mr. Schweiger is a non-talkative man. When we drove back, Ayfer and I always talked and talked like we hadn’t seen each other for a long time. And Schweiger normally behaved very quiet. Sometimes I thought perhaps we talked too fast, he needed time to switch his mind from English to GermanJ. Anyway, I like to drive with them.

As I said this man is like a book, I have to say this man’s home is like a museum. In the first weekend of April, he invited me to take a day-trip in Fuessen. That was my first time to see this city even though I had heard it several times. In the afternoon, he took me to have a rest in his house. That is an old house located in old city district of Fuessen—not so big, but very time-honored. He told me this house was inherited from his parents. The most thing I was quite surprised was not the age of this house, but the decoration inside of this house. Much antique furniture was from old times. Some of them even came from his grandparents, but with perfect preservation. He had an excellent taste ability of old things and deep understanding of beauty. This could be proved by his displaying a great deal of artifice in decoration of his house. To my surprise, he had a room for books. Too many books, most of them are about history and technology, especially physics because that was used to be his major. No wander some colleagues told me Mr. Schweiger is a bookman.

Noticeably, he had a book about China in German. Even though I could not understand the words inside, I still feel so moved when a foreigner saw something about her own country in a normal German’s home.

Now European Football Championship, it is like a pageant of football for European football teams. German people are crazy. The whole European world starts to be crazy. I think I am also following them to be crazyJ. I am not a football fan. And the worse thing is I even don’t know how to watch a football game. But now I am here. I have to watch one game. No matter how deep I know about the game, the most important thing is how I feel with the game. When your team won, you went crazy. When your team loose, you went crazy. And the most things beating your heart all the time is you never know who will win until the last minute. When you hold the breath at the end, you aren’t even aware of everything around you, only you and that little ball.

On the game between German and Portugal, I was in Fuessen. On that day after work, my colleague Christina, also one of my friends in Sintec, invited me to watch the game with them. So we drove to Fuessen because there was a famous opera house where a big screen could serve many people to watch football game at one time. Unfortunately, when we got there, no space could include us. That was an important game for German. No one wanted to miss it. We found a bar in downtown of Fuessen, took seat and drank some beer, meanwhile stared at the TV screen.

Christina told me Portugal team was quite strong. Based on the last performance of German team, most of German people held out no hope of winning. But no giving up, no hopelessness, they told me, as a German, they always had more confidence on their team. With the last triumph score 3:2 identifying German’s victory, Fuessen, this beautiful city, got crazy. People cheered outside with national flag. They danced, sang, and ran. They hugged each other even they didn’t know each other. The drivers hooted their horns and waved the flags. Everything looked alive back. Depressed German stood up with sleepless night.    

“Super Deutschland, Super Deutschland…!” They were singing. I was sure everywhere at that time in Germany should be under the same occasion.

That night, when we drove back, I was suddenly surprised to see Neuschwanstein under the dark sky. I bet you. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life…..

After we got Vienna Railway Station at 6:15 a.m. we bought a tag ticket for transport immediately. This is very useful for your travel especially if you need to travel around.

It is too early that almost everywhere is silent. We can only go to the Stadtpark to have a look of Golden Strauss—the sign of Vienna.

At 8 o’clock, we went to Schloss Schönbrunn. It is the summer palace of the kind in the history. Schönbrunn Palace together with its ancillary buildings and extensive park is by virtue of its long and colorful history one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Scheduled as a listed monument, the whole ensemble, including the palace, the park with its numerous architectural features, fountains and statues and not least the zoo – the oldest of its kind in the world – was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1996. You can even choose Chinese explanation in the palace. But it is not allowed to take photos. So I can only show you a picture outside.

When we finished and went out of the palace, we saw a large number of travelers. So you can see this palace is very popular.

Pic1:  Golden Strauss

Pic2:  Schönbrunn from the door

Pic3:  Schönbrunn from the garden

Pic4:  Neptunsbrunnen in the palace garden. You can see a point on the left top. That’s my finger J

They sited some examples and statistics to make it clear, that industrial giants such as Siemens and Bosch are among hundreds of companies giving materials and money to kindergartens to try to interest children as young as three in technology and science. Many European countries from Switzerland to Spain suffer shortages of graduates. But the problem is especially acute in Germany, renowned as a land of engineering. German companies have 95,000 vacancies for engineers and only about 40,000 are trained, according to the engineers' association.

I am not intending to give some comments about this news. As I have seen in Deutsch Museum of Munich, it is amazing that this country had been through so much technological development from the past time. They made so enormous invention and creation that the world had been glorified from their achievements in engineering. I hope this news would not be true. Even if it is true, how could they possibly put every expectation on the kindergarten education of children? Sometimes I don’t believe Germany needs engineers because it is supposed to be the cradle of engineers. I think perhaps this situation could happen because of the awareness of modern young people who would like to take any education. It is commonly believed that school is the place where you go to get an education. Nevertheless, today some people say most of the students interrupt their education to go to school. To become an engineer, you need to spend more time than normal others to get your paper. Probably utilitarianism of today’s young people impulses them to end their education earlier and then make a living as soon as possible.

Is this the fault of education? Or the fault of society?

This month is the hottest in Europe, because of the football. You can feel it everywhere, bars full of people, cars with different kinds of flags, bags with pictures of flags, and so on. Yesterday is a very crazy night. It is very important to German Team, because if they won, they could go further, or they would stop the games. It started at 8:45 p.m. and end at 10:40 p.m.

I don’t know the football, but I enjoy the happiness of football. The resulted of it is that the German team won the game. So I decided to go out to feel the happiness of German people.

So crazy! So many people! Everywhere was celebrating. They drove the cars in the street and honked horns. You can even see jams in the street, because it is seldom to see the jams in Germany. Though there were so many people and so many cars in the street, everything was in order. Two policemen stood in the middle of the street to stop dangerous activity.

If the German Team win the European Cup, how will they celebrate it? I am imaging it now.

ps: the pictures are not very clearly because it is very dark outside (almost at 11 p.m.) and people are moving. You can just feel the enthusiasm of German people.

This weekend there is a rose market. So I had a good chance to have a look of it.

In fact, German likes plants. No matter in the office or at home, they prefer to have a pot of plant behind. When you walk in the street, you can see that almost every family has its own plants on the windows. They have different kinds of plants in their private gardens, lavender, cherry tree (J do you remember the story of cherry tree and George Washington? ), and rose.

Besides, German use green roof to increase the area of greening land. This can solve the problem in China for the losing green lands.

Here, coffee is considered as Chinese tee in China. When you have a guest in your house, you ask him/her “would you like to drink some coffee?” When you sit in a bar in the daytime, maybe you would order a cup of coffee, not like beer to make you drunk, but caffeine would make your mind clear enough. Sometimes it becomes a life style—drinking coffee and thinking about something. It is the same in China. Treating with tee must be the normal way to entertain the guest. I am not in the tee drinking. I think most of Chinese young people also are not tee drinkers. Some of them love to drink coffee, coca, juice, even some alcohol instead of tee. For me, after I entered into the university, I already got used to that special taste of coffee—not strange any more, but a habit. In Europe, you can see many kinds of coffee, Espresso, Blue Mountain, Mocha, Latte, Cappuccino, Irish coffee, Mendeling and so on. You name it. Take a look at the different types of coffees that you can order in a Coffee House. Have you ever wondered what they actually were?

For example, Espresso, the word "espresso" is derived from the Italian word for express since espresso is made for and served immediately to the customer. When we taste espresso coffee, we are at once struck by its concentrated flavor and aromas, which distinguish it from coffee made by other methods. Aroma and body are the two dimensions which add to the flavor of espresso coffee.

Cappuccino is a shot of espresso with the remainder being 50% steamed milk and 50% milk foam. An alternative description is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 foamed milk. But again, this depends very much on the maker. Many places use more steamed milk and less foam. A man states “The foam should follow the milk to the cup naturally.”   

Mocha was a port in Yemen - a major coffee-growing country located in southwest Asia at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula - and it has NOTHING to do with chocolate!

Blue Mountain Coffee. Well-known coffees are characterized by the regions where they are grown. Climate and soil qualities can make subtle changes to the flavor of the resulting coffee. The tropical island of Jamaica has ideal conditions for growing coffee.

Latte. A kind of espresso with steamed milk and in some shops, a small cap of foam. It has less foam than a cappuccino. Definitions blur easily here.

Even if I have done some homework, I still possess nothing knowledge about coffee. When I go to a coffee house, normally cappuccino should be my only choice because I have no idea about other kinds. Sometimes I think, talking about "coffee" with me is like talking about "tee" with my German friends. JJJ

This Saturday, I had a look of Stuttgart.

The door of the Stuttgart station is in the opposite of the Koenig Street. It is also the main walk street in Stuttgart. Just walking for about 10 minutes, I arrived at the Schlossplatz. In the middle of the plaza is the statue of King Wilhelm I. Around it is the Neues Schloss, Alter Schloss and Konigsbau. Neues Schloss is built in 1746 and now is the building for education and financial office. Alter Schloss was destroy in the war and rebuilt after that. Now it is the museum of Baden-Wurttemberg. There is a market on Saturday morning. And I am lucky to have a look of it.

Time went to 12 a.m. and I started to Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Mercedes-Benz Museum is the most popular museum in Stuttgart. I bought a student ticket and got a voice introduction. It is very lucky that it has Chinese explanation.

I got to the top of the building, and saw from the top to the bottom. It exhibits the development of Mercedes-Benz car, from the carriage to the latest car, and autos in different use. The most interest thing is that in the exhibition of racing cars, there is a simulation system of racing car.

Another thing that never misses in Stuttgart is Seinbahn. It just needs 4 minutes from the bottom of the mountain to the top, the Waldfriedhof.

At about 17:30, I got to the train of backing to Heidenheim. Unluckily I changed the wrong train in Aalen. I didn’t know it until it stopped. There were only two people there, the driver and me. He told me I got into the opposite train and I had to wait for the next train an hour later.

After waiting for a long time, I got home. Such a long trip.

For the last 3-decades, all of us were still bathed in the idea of “elite group arts”. That means when some one says “art”, he should tend to explain that it is the art that must be captive to elite groups. Those creative and performing people in the so-called “higher” forms of art often convey the idea that nothing can be good if it is popular. But with the increasing openness of our mass taste, country singers and romance writers are becoming popular because they are trying harder to please their mass audiences.

I still remember that afternoon when I spent total 3 hours in the Kaufingerstrasse of Munich, just to watch those road artists performing inebriously. So many people gathered there to watch them. They took photos for them; they danced with their music; they bought their CDs; they drew some portraits for them. Here, Europe is the home of artist, also the home some amateurs and self-professional artists. They come here to fulfill their dreams and to express their adoration of nature and human inner feelings. The artist, in order to survive and become recognized, usually needs only the opportunity to seek out a small number of allies and supporters. For a painter, this might mean only a group of local admirers who are willing to buy his work. For a writer, it might mean only a few small magazines who will publish his material or perhaps a shoestring publisher who will risk the money it takes to produce and market a book. For a creative professional person like an architect, all that's required is one client who is looking for an unusual idea. Some are successful to step out as the world famous artists; some are still starving, but always striving to their dreams.

The more affluent we become, the more we are likely to appreciate all forms of art and to demand greater artistic expression in all things.

At 8 p.m. we arrived at the bar. It is a small bar if you looked outside. A waiter showed us pass a small house and arrived in the garden. Things were different. There were already many people sitting there. I found a good seat and started to talk with other people. Most of them can speak English well. So it is no problem in communication. Not all of them are Germany. I know a girl from Poland, and another girl from Sweden. And they can speak Germany well. You can’t image how surprised I was when the Swedish girl told me that she could speak 6 languages!

Here you can feel that everyone is the same. You needn’t think where they are from. We are all youth people. After talk, you can find that we have many in common, music, education, marriage, family and so on.

That is a different experience for me. And I enjoyed it very much, beer and lovely young people.

ps: Because it was too late that day, the photos were almost black. So next time maybe I can show some clear photos.

Berliner say: We are from the Capital of Germany.

Municher say: We are from the Beer Capital of the World.  

Berliner say: Our name is from the bear.

Municher say: Our symbol is lion.

Berliner say: We have the King of Prussia, who built the most beautiful castle—Sanssousi.

Municher say: We have the King of Bavaria, who built the most famous castle—Neuschwanstein.

Berliner say: We have Spree, which goes through the whole city.

Municher say: We have Isar, which locates in the eastern city.

Berliner say: We have Alexanderplatz with the highest TV tower.

Muincher say: We have Olympiazentrum with the highest TV tower.

Berliner say: We have Tiergarten with Siegessaule.

Municher say: We have Englischer Garten with Chinese tower.

Berliner say: Berliner Mauer and Brandenburger Tor symbolized an era in the history of Germany.

Chinese people know that beer is a part of German’s life. Before I came here, I told to myself that I must taste as much beer as I could, or I would feel pity after my return back to China.

In German, you can enjoy beer everywhere, no matter whether you are in a big city such as Munich or in a small village. If there is people, there is bar. It is said that each German can drink 130 liters in average. Here, you can see many people sitting outside in the sunshine and drink beer. It is a little hard to believe it in China, especially in the big sunshine. German people like sunshine and beer. So they can enjoy them at the same time.

There are many kinds of beer here, ale, light or no-alcohol, pils or ice beer. You can even add some cola or juice in it, though it may be a little strange in China. It tastes good.

So if you have chance in Germany, don’t forget, try the beers here.

Dog (Hund in German). Here in Germany you can see the most precious dogs in the world, from the big one to the pocket one, from the fat one to the stick-shaped one, from the single color one to the colorful one…..You name it. I am a dog lover. I used to raise a lovely dog in my parents’ house. Unfortunately, after I went to Peking, my father sent it to other family and hadn’t asked my opinion. For that action I didn’t speak to my father for a whole week. When I told this to my German friends, I won their applause for my respect of dog.

Lots of German people think it is unbelievable for Chinese people to favor dog as a table dish. They think that is a rude and uncivilized action. I have to say, that is happened in China indeed. But I don’t understand either, not just because I am an animal lover, but all the time I consider the animals to have the same right with human beings. We should pay responsibility on those dogs—protecting them rather than hurting them. In a normal German family, if they raise a dog, it should be treated like one of their family—they love it and respect it so thoughtfully that someone must ask who their kid is. Most of us have got a very impressive memory from the movie “Garfield”. That happy, fat, lazy cat—Garfield always tells his master, “Love me, feed me, and never leave me”. We must compare Garfield to those cute German dogs and the relationship with their owners always naturally tends to be closed day by day until they become undividable partners.

Finally, still from that fat cat, “love me, feed me, and never leave me”!       

Picture
1-"I am a handsome man."
2-"I love football !"

3-"I need to lose some weight. :( "
4-"I should be the most lovely lady in the world !"
5- Sexy lady and her cute dogs.

No matter whether it is destroy or not, the building will be protected for people. In Berlin, you can see many black buildings because they were burned in the wars. After the war, people can treat them. They didn’t clean them. Instead, they protected them as they were before. That is why in Berlin there is a Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. In some small towns, you can also see that they have their own museums or exhibitions of their history. They are very proud of their history.

This is what our Chinese need to learn. Now in China, every city tries to develop economy. This is good for it can improve people’s life. What I am worrying is that if we destroy things that has meaning in the history, how to make our posterity know that we also have a splendid history? Just from books? Or from pictures? No. That is not enough. What we need is that we can see or touch. So please protect the history when we are developing, especially in small cities or towns.

Picture 1: The Sculpture before the museum in Berlin. You can see that the pillar behind is black.

Picture 2: Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Picture 3: Part of the castle in Heidenheim, though it is a small city.

We have a good government. We have Premier Wen. We can see him in every disaster, in the snowstorm, and in the earthquake, though he is already 65.  

We have armies. In every disaster, we can see them. During the big flood in the summer of 1998, we saw them saving people. In the snowstorm, we saw them trying their best to send food and water to every traveler who couldn’t go home in the snow. Now we see you. You tried to send relief supplies, though it was having a heavy rain outside. What you send is not only foods, you light a hope for peoples who are suffering the disaster.

We have a whole country. The whole country is worrying about it. People are holding together. We try our best to help them. Water, food, medicine, blood, tent, we can help them in different ways. We believe we can pass the disaster.

There is an old saying in China, that there must be a good future after suffering. We believe we can be strong and rich. We believe we can pass every disaster, because our hearts are together, no matter whether we are in or out of China. We love you, our motherland. It is not my voice. It is from every Chinese heart.

Bless. Bless for people. Bless for my motherland. Bless for the future.

I have a dog at home. He is 7 years now. Though he is a common dog, he is also a member of my family. I still remember his brave behave two years ago. At that time, we had a new house. My parents were very busy about moving things into the new house. No one had time take care of the dog. So he was stolen. About 20 days later, he found a chance and escaped outside. He never came to the new house before. But at last he found us. When my father heard the bark and opened the door, he stood outside. We were very happy.

Now if I see a dog in the street, I always try to have a talk with his owner. I believe every dog has its own story, and their owners know them best.

It is a pity that my camera doesn’t work. So I had no pictures of lovely dogs.

Your daughter: Liu Xiao

If the hero never comes to you 
If you need someone you’re feeling blue 
If you’re away from love and you’re alone 
If you call your friends and nobody’s home 
You can run away but you can’t hide 
Through a storm and through a lonely night 
Then I show you there’s a destiny 
The best things in life 
They’re free 

But if you wanna cry 
Cry on my shoulder 
If you need someone who cares for you 
If you’re feeling sad your heart gets colder 
Yes I show you what real love can do 

If your sky is grey oh let me know 
There’s a place in heaven where we’ll go 
If heaven is a million years away 
Oh just call me and I make your day 
When the nights are getting cold and blue 
When the days are getting hard for you 
I will always stay here by your side 
I promise you I’ll never hide 

What real love can do 
What love can do 
What real love can do 
What love can do 
What real love can do 
What love can do 

As God commanded Noah in Genesis: “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” With more and more species threatened with extinction by today’s economic juggernaut, we may be the first generation in human history to act like Noah—to save our environment and the last pairs of species. Here everywhere I go, I can deeply feel the strong environmental protected awareness of normal German people. From the top level state officials to the most common farmers, to save something for the nature seems an easiest and normal thing for them. Waste classification, bottle recycling, and package simplification, nearly every detail you can get some shocks and then think about my country. When I walked along the lake of Bayersoien, I often saw the running deer—a kind of animal of which China used to have many and now nearly die out. I think, for China, we have a long way to go even if we already have a remarkable economic growth rate. But for a full developed country, it should not be economy-first. We must try our best to strike the balance of economic development and environmental corruption. If we don’t plan well, we could find ourselves with a healthy climate on a dead land.

For so many years, we have been taught that life is a trade-off: healthy people with lots of jobs or healthy forests with lots of gibbons — you can’t have both. But the truth is you have to have both. If you don’t, you’ll eventually end up with neither, and then it will be too late even for Noah.

This time I bring you some interesting things about me and the animals in this area. I think it should be better that I described these animals separately so that my readers can accord to the pictures to taste what I have experienced.

Cow. Firstly, it must be the cow. The place where I live is like a big cow club. Now it is the time the cows are coming outside, walking around, eating delicious grass, drinking some “beer” and enjoying the sunshine. You can come close to them and observe them. I must say they are very beautiful. They have a pair of big crystal black-shining eyes. If they are staring at you, you must feel a little bit shy and blushing, thinking whether you are having a crush on them. And their funny ears look like two bells and sometimes make a little fast-movement. Have you ever seen the baby-cows, they are so lovely and curious about everything that you just want to kiss them although I cannotJ. Everyday when we drive to work, we can see them coming out slowly and freely. After we are back, we can see them stepping into their house slowly and freely. Sometimes I am thinking maybe it is good to be a Bavarian cow—only eating grass and producing milk. When I see cows I am always exciting and even a little hysterical, one of my colleagues laughs at me that “Those cows must be your family otherwise you would be not so happy when you see them!”          

Swan. Most people see swan like a beauty in the upper class, very quiet and elegant, but don’t look down upon the swan. Actually they are very ambitious. Look at them on the water—quite stable and leisurely. If you are capable of observing their feet under the water, you should be surprised their feet are moving so fast to make them stay upper the water and swim forward. When I was in China, I learned this feature for a long time, but I haven’t seen any swan in real even if I read it in books several times. Now in Bayersoien, we have a lake which is so nice that lots of tourists come here just for this lake and Bad Bayersoien becomes popular with part of reason about the lake. The view I have to say, you cannot imagine how beautiful it is, especially with those swans in it. I have ever sat beside the lake and observed one swan for nearly 1 hour. It was very interesting and I finally found the feature what I described before. It is true！

Horse. In the place where I live, the horses are just like friends of human. Until now, I haven’t seen they are used for some working purpose like the cows being used to produce milk and sheep being used to produce wool or other related products. The only thing I see is they are being rode by adults for fun or by children for practice. And I feel so ashamed that I tell them I haven’t ever ridden a horse before because almost everyone here, from the old to the young, has some experience of riding a horse. The granddaughter of the owner in Bruckenwirt (a restaurant I often visit) even has her own pony, so lovely that I take lots of picture for it. Marlene’s uncle raises 4 horses. I have seen them—I think they are the most beautiful horses in the world.

To be continued……  

Potsdam is famous because of the Second World War. There are many palaces there, such as Schloss Sanssouci, Marmor Palace and Neues Palace.

The first place we went was the Nikolai Kirche. It is the oldest church in Berlin. But unfortunately it was destroyed during the war. Now we saw the church was rebuild after the war.

Then we went to the New Gardens to see the Schloss Cecilienhof. It is the place for the Potsdam meeting at the end of the Second World War. We asked an old man there and he pointed a white building and told us walk near the Heiliger See. But we arrived the building, we found it was Marmor Palace. We come and we stay. This old Chinese sentence made us stay and have a look of the palace. It is a small but beautiful palace, though it is in repair now.

Time passed quickly. When we left Potsdam, it was almost 4 p.m. The rest time for us was just enough to see the Poegamon Museum and the Berlin Wall.

At 10 p.m, we got to the train back to Munich. Goodbye, Berlin.

pic1: It is one room of the Poegamon Museum.
pic2: It is a bridge near the New Gardens. It is black because it was burned in the war.
pic3: It is the Schloss Sanssouci. It is too big to take a whole picture near the palace.

Today let me tell you something about sickness and hospital here in Germany. Last month, one of my German friends—Franz got sick of pulmonary infection and had been sent to Schongau hospital. Franz lived in Wiesteig, not so far from Bad Bayersoien. He is a geographical teacher in a Gymnasium. He is a very nice man, speaking good English and knowing a lot about Chinese geography, who used to drink in Marlene’s coffee house. During these two months, we met several times and talked a lot. Rudi and I decided to see him after work. Both of us hadn’t been in hospital of Schongau so that we drove nearly for half an hour and find it on a hill at the end. Rudi told me most of the hospitals in Germany were built outside the city to have the patients a good environment to recover.

Here I must give my Chinese friends some pre-lessons about the medical system in Germany. It is totally different between China and Germany in this aspect. In Germany, there are lots of private doctors who operate some kind of clinics with special or general treatment skills. Every German has a constant private doctor who should be a general practitioner. If you don’t feel good and not so serious to be taken to emergency center in the hospital, you can go to your general doctor firstly. After the general doctor’s diagnosis, he/she will give you some prescriptions or introduce you to some special doctors, also private ones. Only with very serious diseases one can be sent into the hospital. Adversely, in China, every problem should be solved in the hospital, from fever to surgery; you must go to the hospital to get your prescriptions or operations. For every person in Germany, they have a complete medicare insurance system, which can help them pay most medical expense when they need. Because the medical care is very expensive here, anyone who lives in this country must buy the health insurance more or less under different level.

As for the hospital, based on my description about German Medical System, you can imagine how many patients would stay in the hospital. Contrasting clearly with Chinese hospital, there was only few people who live in the hospital. Most of the sickrooms were empty and only a few doctors work there. When we entered into Franz’s room, I was surprised he lived alone in a big room. He told me he didn’t have to pay most part of the medical expense because he had a very good insurance. Then he took us to see a little in this hospital. He looked well. I hope we can talk at Marlene’s coffee house next time.

Gute Besserung for Franz!! J

Picture Notes:
1--Franz with his new smoker.
2--Guest hall of hospital.
3--Front door of hospital.

After a whole day’s travel, we came back to the hotel. It is a little difficult for Chinese to accept staying with men in a room, though it was not only two people. when we entered the room, it was empty because all the people were out for the party. We were so tired that we fell asleep in about one hour. No dream at night.

When we woke up in the morning, we saw the other 6 people, 4 men and 2 women. Everyone slept well. That time we believed that staying in the youth hostel is very safe.

If you want to have a travel out and need to stay outside, it is a good experience for staying in the   youth hostel.

德国是青年旅馆的发源地，很干净也很安全。其中有很多是男女混合住的，这一点中国人在开始的时候可能不能一下子接受，毕竟和咱们接受的传统观念不一样。不过，价格也是很诱人的。而且心里放开了其实也没什么的。

After we put things into the hotel, we began our travel. The first station is Alexanderplatz. We planned to take the bus line 100 or 200 because there are the travel lines in Berlin. Plans can not keep up with rapid changes. This old Chinese saying is true especially for our travel in Berlin. When we found the station of travel line at last, an old man told us a cruel fact. The bus is going on strike! No one knows when it will end. We had to walk from Alexanderplatz to Brandenburger Tor, through the Under den Linden. This is the most famous travel line in Berlin. You can see Fernsehturm, Marien Kirche, Berliner Dom, Museumsinsel and Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. It is cheap for us to buy the student ticket since we have ISIC (International Student Identity Card).

Around Brandenburger Tor are the Reichstag, Bundeskanzleramt and other places. The most beautiful and the most popular is Reichstag. You can see hundreds of people a long team near the door of it. We don’t have time to wait for so many people, so we decided to see it in the next morning.

Then we went to the Zoologische Garden. The Europe center is here. Near that is the famous shop street Kurfürstendamm. LV, Chanel and some other luxury goods can be seen here.

After supper, we arrived at the hotel. We were tired and had a good sleep.

For the first two months, I think the influence of weather on me is so great that my mood even can change with the weather transformation. Unfortunately, during this period, I have to face the most changeable weather in the year of Germany. They call it “German April”. During this month, someone in Germany must be surprised the weather can change every 5 minutes in one day distinctly. If you need me explain it scientifically, I cannot make you satisfied. Maybe something happens wrong with the atmosphere. My German colleagues and friends they also cannot give me a technological explanation. But sometimes I was thinking maybe it is because the April should be a “fool month”—most people know the 1^st of April—the fool day. So to make this month more interesting, the weather should cooperate with the name. J

Everyday Rudi and me have to drive 20 minutes from Bayersoien to Schongau; the road we pass is a famous road in Germany—Romantic Road. You can see everyday is different along this road. From the big snow to the unbelievable green everywhere, from the little frame Bavarian houses to the cows, the horses, the sheep walking free on the green grass, many time I always think myself is in some garden. But for the first days of April, I got everyday big snow or big rain in the morning, and I have to get up at 6:30 to work. Sometimes the bad weather makes me a little bit homesick. I lived in Peking for a long time. In Peking we can get sunshine everyday even in the cold winter time. Rudi also hates this weather. If the weather is not good, most of time we are very quiet when we drive, only the Radio “Bayern 3” with some nice music to delight us. If someday the sun comes out, we would be so happy that we can talk a lot when we drive to Schongau.

For Bavarian people, they like the sunny day like me. From the May, the happiest time for them has come. I wish I can see more about Bavaria during this time.     

Picture notes:
1--Wiesteig with half snow.
2--Bayersoien with fog.
3--Peisenburg on the hill. 

You need to book the hotel and tickets. You need to find some interesting places in Berlin that you want to go. You need to make a line of travel. You need to find foods in Berlin, and so on.

It is very busy and a little chaos. Maybe this is because I don’t have the experience of planning the travel by myself. So I write a list of what I have done and what I will do. This may be useful, I think.

It is lucky that there is another Chinese girl going with me. She lives near Munich. It is not far from the city I live. We will meet each other in the train. Now I need to put things into my rucksack. After I come back, I will show you pictures of Berlin. I am sure I will have a good trip.

When I got to Bayersoien and started to work in Schongau, normally Rudi would drive to take me every morning and take me back after work. On some Friday, he would go to his hometown Neuestadt to spend the weekend. He has to leave the company straightly to Neuestadt. So sometimes another of my colleagues Mr. Schweiger and Miss Ayfer would take me back. (They live in Fussen and drive together to save some money.) I can tell for the working time, I have no problem of getting lost because my lovely colleagues take care of me so much.

But for the weekend, most of the time, I am likely to go outside to do some day-trip near this area. I think for a normal one if he/she hasn’t been some places before, he/she would confront some problems during the trip. Rudi worried about me getting lost when I would travel. He made me a special card in case I would get lost in some places and I would not know how to communicate with others because of my poor German. You can see from the picture I take for my “German ID card”. On it there is some detailed information about me written by German language, including my name, nationality, intention in Germany, living address, and my contactor under urgency. Rudi told me that if I didn’t get the right way home, I even could take this card to police.

On the one hand I really thank Rudi’s caring about me so thoughtfully. On the other hand, I really don’t hope I have to use this card at end in some cases. Luckily until now I have traveled many places in Bavaria and have no chance of taking this out. No matter whether I use this card or not in the coming months, I will preserve as a very precious gift to memory my German life.      

Picture notes:
1--my ID card made by Rudi.
2--"Hund", German people think every Chinese eats dog, but I am a animal protector, a dog-lover.
3--"Rabbit chocolate" I received before Easter.

I am not a good drinker. Though I grew up in a province (Guizhou) where a very famous wine (Maotai) in China was produced, I hadn’t had any experience of drinking before I went to Peking studying. For the past time, I was like an in-door girl who was protected under my parents’ wings and knew nothing about outside except learning. When I finished my high-school time and went to Peking into the university, I thought my own life just started. Surely, going to the restaurant with best friends in the weekend and drinking some beer for fun were necessary “curriculums” for every university student. But I must tell you I am an exceptional girl. Even if I went out with my friends to the restaurant or to the bars, mostly drinking is my last choice. I think that is good for my health. Most of my friends know this special feature of me. They didn’t force me to drink more most of time.

Now I am here, Bavaria, like a big factory of beer. You cannot count how many kinds of beer they have. If you don’t drink when you go to a bar or a restaurant, you must be thought like a strange person. For me, because I am a Chinese, they understand me and accept willingly my bad drinking style. I must emphasize my drinking capacity becomes better than before because I drink some beer more or less nearly everyday. But what funny thing is the only beer I can drink more than one glass for one time is a beer named “Radler”—a kind of soft beer with half beer and half lemon. In the eyes of Bavarian natives, it is nearly not like a beer, only a drink for thirst or stimulating their stomach before they drink another. And I only can drink the “kleine” (small) glass for one time. Rudi always laughs at me that normally one would order a big one if he/she wanted to drink Radler, but for me that is an exception. After that in those two coffee bars where we often go, the owners already know my style. So they name the “Radler” as “Nancy beer” because firstly I can not remember the name and even pronounce it. Now in Echelsbach Brucke, they call it “Nancy beer”.

Although my drinking style is very funny in eyes of my German friends, they would like to accept me and take care of me. And I am also proud that the “Nancy beer” is named after me even if only in a small area by a small bunch of people.     

Picture notes:
1--Nancy beer.
2--Beer bar in Burckenwirt.
3--Festival on 4th of May in Bayersoien.      

First, we need to book the train tickets from the net. It is a little far from the city I stay in to Berlin. So I prefer to choose a night-train so that I can have a good sleep. Besides, I can have a day in Berlin because when I arrive in the Berlin, it is just at 8 a.m. It is a good beginning.

It is very interesting to book the tickets in Germany. Because the price here is very expensive, it needs to book the discountable tickets from the net. You can choose the cheapest, 50% off or 25% off or the whole price as you like. When I booked the ticket, I found there was just the whole price ticket left and it needed 274euro. It is very expensive and I had to change the plan. At last I booked the ticket of the next day. That just needs 49euro.

This gives me a lesson that plan the trip as early as you can, or you will pay more about it.

People here are very active. They like to talk. But the Chinese are not the same. An old saying in China is that silence is golden. Most of Chinese are not active. I am a shy girl. I often feel nervous when I talk with people, no matter he/she is a Chinese or a German. So I often keep silence in my daily life, if no people talk with me, especially when they talk in German. It is good in China but bad in Germany. They think you don’t know what they talk. They think you may have some problems in communication. This gives me a lesson that speaking out what you think in your brain, and don’t worry about the mistake you have in your sentence.  

在德国，要显得很热情，很积极。如果不这样的话，会给别人误导。

There is a coffee house on the head of the bridge, named “Brückenklosk” (I gave her a Chinese name “桥亭”, like a poetry name J). The owner of this house is a very nice lady—Marlene, and she is Rudi’s good friend. Everyday we finish the work and drive back, Rudi always take me to her coffee house. There I always order a small glass of beer “Radler” (a kind of soft beer with half lemon). We sit there and talk with her or other drinking people for 2-3 hours. She is a very hardworking lady, managing the whole coffee house by herself from purchasing the daily use things to cleaning this house. Marlene also sells some snacks, fast-food and typical Bavarian souvenirs for passersby because this bridge is a geographically important transfer stop. Some of the buses which drive on the Romantic Road must pass or transfer here. Therefore this advantage makes Marlene a profitable business, especially in the summer when the golden tour time is coming. From the window of Marlene’s coffee house, you can see the beautiful parts of Alps clearly. I must tell you the scene of those mountains changes everyday.

But there are some sad stories about this bridge. Because of the geographic position of this bridge, it has become the “popular” place to suicide since several years ago. Every year, some terrible things always happened on this bridge so that the government had settled down some course to deal with afterward things, including some bridle-wise rescuing teams and emergency instrument, even special helicopter. I think I will never ever forget that suicide happened on this bridge I have seen by myself. I forgot the exact date of that day (perhaps the first week of April). We came to Marlene, drank and talked. The man (suicider) went into the house. After two beers he walked to the middle of the bridge and jump down. Rudi and his friend Erdi saw the scene; they tried to stop him but it was too late. That day I thought I had seen the most kinds of “polizei” (police), emergency instrument and ambulance in Germany, even the special helicopter.

Marlene told me this man was the third person who pursued suicide on the bridge from 2007 to 2008. It is easy to understand this “perfect” position can have someone finish his/her “work” exactly and precisely. But it is not easy to understand why so many people choose suicide to end their lives.      

“The owner of my apartment Mr. Konrad”. It should be him first because he was the first person I met in Bayersoien. He and his wife are very nice couple—hardworking and hospitable. They opened a restaurant, a meat shop and this hotel apartment. The name of their hotel is “Bayersoier Hof” and it is the one of the biggest house in Bayersoien, either. They have a big family—three children, his mother who operates another hotel in the opposite street, and some people who work for his business. He is quite a funny man. First, he looks very funny—with his big belly. Second, he loves to make some jokes with people, especially with me. For example, the service of the hotel includes laundry. I remembered the first time I took the plastic bag with my clothes downstairs to his wife; he immediately took my bag and put it into the water sink, pretended seriously told me: “Nancy, look! You just need to put your bag here, switch the water tap, and after you shake your bag up and down. Ten minutes you get your clothes clean! ” “Nancy, trust me, that’s Bavarian washing style!” While I hadn’t reacted and been thinking about what is this kind of strange style they had, he laughed out. Until now, he always uses this funny thing to joke with me.

“My neighbor Mr. Hartmann”. I met him twice. He is also a very nice man, 70 years old and speaks very good English. He and his wife live in the opposite street of my apartment. His house is an old one which is said 80 years old. They used to live in Hannover. After they bought this house, this couple decided to live in Bayersoien, 30 years until now. The first time we met was on a sunny Saturday, in “Biergarten”, a coffee bar near my apartment. I remembered we talked a lot that afternoon and then he took me to see his wife. They showed me their house—quite decorated inside. I must thank him the next day. I knew there was a museum in Bad Bayersoien and it was only opened on every Wednesday from 14:00pm to 17:00pm. But I have to work in Schongau during that time. When he knew I wanted to go to the museum, he talked with the owner of that museum and they decided to open it for me on that Sunday. Mr. Hartmann said I am a special guest in Bayersoien and I should be treated as VIP. Hehe, it is good to be a foreigner here! The next day he took me to the museum and introduced me a lot about Bad Bayersoien.       

I will never forget the life in Germany. It is full of a lot of fun and perfect experience.

So many stories and procedures want to be shared with you. I can’t wait organizing everything to show you. Some categories I just put together and say randomly, it is non-organized but good for you to learn more about Germany, be specific, Munich where I stay and live.

Living in Germany-Normal life from beginning

Visa: With your visa you can land here freely. I was in Thailand before I came here, the visa was so easy and free to get because I got Germany scholarship associated with my home school in Thailand. I felt very good from the very beginning which gave me more confidence to settle down in Germany soon. Of course, according to the policy of Visa from Germany embassy you have to submit all materials. One extra thing I want to give you a hint is insurance purchase. You can purchase before you come or after. It depends on your options and the embassy. But it is necessary for you to get it.  (Normally Visa for Asian students needed) 

Room: Germany has a good student service organization (Studentenwerk) which distributes the student rooms for you who apply it earlier. You can go to website or write to them for you on the waiting list before you come here so that you can move in when you are arriving  Germany at the first time. In fact, fortunately, thanks to exchange program between my home school and Germany school, they arranged the room for me earlier. So it saved time and procedures. You can get know new international friends in your apartment and share fun with them.

Official registration: After arriving in Germany firstly you have to go straight to the registration authority to give them your address in Germany and then to the foreigners authority.

School life- colorful life begins

Study: Everything is done. Go to your school and handle your study life. To be honest, I took 12 courses in one semester which I had never been busy. But I love that kind of life. It makes me busy but filling up my heart. I know what I am here for and I insist to do it. I can image how hard to get through for German students who have been in that way. They got used to that. I also appreciate the hard working of Germany students. They really did well and I tell myself to learn from them.

Relax time: Don’t be afraid of that. You still have time to go to parties and know new friends. The School connects a special organization for international students and does a lot of work for foreign students. That is TUMI. They organize the free party every week and guide you know the cities and suburbs around your place. Many companies, organizations, institutions or sports center come to school for promotion, invitation and interactive activities with students. You have many choices to improve yourself or enjoy the school life in right ways.

Sports: Olympia centrum is a good place for students’ sports. You can register a card for your sports in one semester with an ideal price. Swimming, tennis, football, basketball, fitness, everything there makes you comfortable and happy. You also keep relax even you don’t want to do anything but just sit down in the watch platform beside lake with good views, swan around you in the lake, jogging people make circles for fitness, bicycle sports around the lake, children playing on the bank of lake, old couple walking bypass you etc. in the sunshine days. You will feel life is so beautiful and kind of you. Of course, don’t forget go Skiing in the winter, it is a big fun when you are in Munich. You have to do that, at least once a time. It is so thrilling and happy around you all the time. Just try in Alps.

Concerts: you can visit in the National Opera where close to the city center. Every weekend or some events day coming, they hold concerts or operas there. You with your friends can go there to enjoy classical music, famous orchestra and opera. This kind of information you can get from the foreign students organization, they will tell you what time the concerts or events coming.

Working or internship- goes to change

 To try new things is your mission since you come here. Don’t stay still. The school provides you many consults opportunities for internship or working in Germany. Big companies come to school for communications, for forums, for workshops, full of challenges and options. There are also many chances to get know the middle managers or even higher managers of those companies in your sophisticated classes, normally, you can listen the addresses from those classes when they come to you as guest lecturers. You will learn a lot from them. It will give your new ideas or views about your life in future. Don’t miss it. Of course, extra workshops you can register from different student organizations or the school’s career service offices. To work in a European way and communicate with the European companies you will find more interesting experience, it is different from Asian way. It is better you know this world before you do something. Just try you will like it. New life, new start point!

Little hints: in Germany, it is not necessary to worry about a little bit slow when some offices dealing with official stuff, they are on the way definitely as long as you finish your own parts according to their policies. You have to be patient for that.

Regards to the limited time, I couldn’t note down all here, but life is always needed to try, come and live Germany is a good way, I strongly recommend to you.

Ulm is not a big city, but it is very famous. Ulm is the birthplace of one of the 20th century's most famous persons - Albert Einstein. Now the educational center for adults in Ulm is named as ‘Einstein Haus’. Besides, there is an Einstein Spring near Ulm Church. In Germany, Einstein means a stone.

Ulm Church (Ulmer Münster in German) owns the highest church spire in the world. It has 768 steps. You can go up and see the whole city. If it is sunshine, you can even see the Alps.

Another beautiful place here is the Fishermen's Quarter (Fisherviertel in German). It is near the Danube. Walking along the river, you can see many kinds of animals, such as wild duck and goose. Water here is very clean. No pollution, no damage, only pure water.

It is very interesting that there are many sparrows around. Someone told me that the number is 255. I am not sure, but I really find some. There is a story about it. When people started to build the church, they didn’t know how to let the long wood into the city. At that time, they saw the sparrow and got the idea of doing it. So sparrow is very popular in Ulm.

乌尔姆市离我住的城市很近,45分钟的火车.这里有世界上最高的尖顶塔,不过冬天不开.在市政厅里有爱因斯坦的出生证明.故居那还有他的纪念像.这里还是Teddy熊的故乡.有工厂和博物馆,但我没找到地方.

After that, every family needs to package the waste in different kinds. Just in the apartment I live, there are three bags for waste, one for plastic, one for paper, and the rest for other scrap such as food.

When you buy a bottle of water in the shops, you must pay 0.15 or 0.25 euro more if there is a signal for recycling. After that, you can take the bottle back and get your money back. Besides, if you shop in the market, you need to take a bag or you must buy a plastic bag. The first time I went to Plus to buy something to eat, and I forgot to take my schoolbag, I had to pay 0.15 euro (RMB 1.65) for a plastic bag.

在德国,买东西是要带包的,买水是要收押金的.在中国易拉罐和塑料瓶也是回收的,不过不是全民行动,而是少部分的捡垃圾的在回收.在德国是看不到收废品和捡垃圾的.因为这些都融入到了人民的生活中了.在日常生活中就已经对废品分类,统一回收利用,从源头抓起,才能控制污染.中国还有很长的路要走.

The name "Rothenburg ob der Tauber" is actually a shortened version of "Rothenburg oberhalb der Tauber", which in German means "Rothenburg above the Tauber". This is so because the town is located on a plateau overlooking the Tauber river. As to the name "Rothenburg", some say it comes from the German words Rot (Red) and Burg (burg, medieval fortified town), referring to the red color of the roofs of the houses which overlook the river. In the middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City.

Rothenburg is one of the cities on the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) that has preserved vestiges of its medieval importance into the 21st century. A series of walls and towers defended the city over the ages, and the most recent still stands and surrounds most of the older part of the city. The inner wall (built prior to the 13th century) still remains. Stairwells ascend to the top of the wall at intervals, and the entire wall can be walked. In addition, the tower at the east end of the city is open daily to allow a climb up the stairs to the vista from it.

While buildings within the walled city reflect the city's medieval history, this part of the city is in many ways a normal, modern German town with some concession to the tourist trade. In addition to many stores and hotels aimed at tourists, residences and shops also reflect the daily life of modern Germany. Most of the tourist shops cluster around the Town Hall Square and along several major thoroughfares. Along the Tauber below the west town walls and the castle gardens lies the original settlement of Detwang, dating from the year 960. Its St. Peter and Paul church was built in 968 and is the only Romanesque church in the region.

Before I start, I must emphasize that I don't have much feeling for the beauty of music. But I like to taste any kinds of music. And I am also proud of my good rhythm in the music. I have possessed lots of different kinds of music, like classic, light, pop, instrumental, and so forth. But I never have listened to the choir music and neither the typical Bavaria folk music surely. Thanks to this chance of being in Bavaria, I heard them all, in real. Last month, Rudi’s parents came to Bayersoien to do some personal things and conveniently they took me to travel around this area. So, I am lucky to sit in their Mercedes Benz and start my first trip in south Bavaria. Oh! I must tell you, their Benz is so nice that Rudi made joke with me that I sit like a princess. J

We went to the nearest tour site—Wieskirche. After that I was informed this church is the most beautiful Rococo style church in the Romantic road. I told myself, “lucky girl!”At Wieskirche, we happened to catch a church music performance which was presented by a choir from America. It was my first time to listen to this kind music. I think I was almost intoxicated by the beauty of the song. They are so smooth and gentle like sounds of nature. They could make your irritable mind and tired body relax entirely. Nothing you need to do, just sit there and feel. If you are Catholic, you can use them to purify your thoughts and make you calm down immediately. Amazing!

As for the other one—Bavarian folk music, I have to say it is a precious gift from the land of Bavaria. You have beautiful countryside scene; you have hospitable people; you have the happiest cows and horses in the world. Now you should use the rhythm and tones to express your passionate feelings. That is the music I am talking about. We have a band in Bad Bayersoien, which is professional in typical Bavaria folk music. It is a definitely distinct music. When you are enjoying it, you’d better to take a beer and sit outside with the sunshine, or you should dress like Bavarians and dance with them. The listeners are surely happy and talkative as they are hearing, or they must be going to become happy and talkative. That is what happened on me.

But do you know what made me crazy after I came to Bavaria?—not those vocabulary and those complicated grammars—the dialect! Here what I heard from those natives is totally different from what I learned in my German books. In the past, I was always confident with my language learning talent. When I was in Peking, I am interested in learning English and I like to communicate with foreign people. Although I do know the huge difference among dialects even in same country, it is the first time for me to confront this problem in another language’s dialect. In the first beginning, I was even thinking that I have learned nothing about German during the past 3 months. Everything I have to start again, like those greeting words. It is a challenge for me to get back my confidence.

Rudi saw me and comforted me that, he came from north Bavaria and it was also hard for him to understand those native south Bavarian in the beginning, not mention speaking with them. But some of people in Bayersoien told me they believed that after two months, I can speak Bavarian German. I think after 5 months maybe my German teacher in China cannot understand my German. It will also make her crazy, ha.J

Her formal name is Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie. She was born in Munich, Bavaria. In 1854, Elisabeth accompanied her mother and her 18-year-old sister, Helene, on a trip to the resort of Bad Ischl, Upper Austria, where they hoped Helene would attract the attention of their cousin, 23-year-old Franz Joseph, then Emperor of Austria. Instead, Franz Joseph chose Elisabeth, and the couples were married in Vienna. Elisabeth later wrote that she regretted accepting his proposal for the rest of her life.

Elisabeth had difficulty adapting to the strict etiquette practiced at the court. Nevertheless she bore the Emperor three children in quick succession. Elisabeth was denied any major influence on her older children's upbringing, however—they were raised by her mother-in-law, and soon after last child’s birth the marriage started to deteriorate, undone by Elisabeth's increasingly erratic behavior.

Tourism has profited enormously from the renewed interest in Elisabeth and vice versa, both in Austria and abroad. Apart from the usual souvenirs such as T-shirts and coffee mugs, visitors are eager to see the various residences Elisabeth frequented at different points in her life. These include her apartments in Hofburg and Vienna, the imperial villa in Ischl, the Achilleion in Greece that she built in 1890, soon after her son's tragic death, and her summer residence in Hungary.

Elisabeth loved Hungary far more than Austria and surrounded herself with Hungarian ladies-in-waiting. She insisted that her attendants speak Hungarian, which she herself spoke fluently. One of her closest friends, and a reputed lover, was Count Andrassy who later became Emperor Franz-Joseph's Foreign Minister. Elisabeth's attachment to Hungary benefited the Empire because the Hungarian people returned the attachment. They considered her the only Habsburg they trusted. There are several sites in Hungary named after her, most famously the Elisabeth Bridge in Budapest. JJJ

As I introduced in Germany Impression (1), Rudi looks a little bit bigger than normal people—more than 2 meters tall and a big belly. Now I come, everyday he has to take me with him, in the supermarket, in the gas station, in the coffee bars….I must say, when we walk together, the scene will be very funny. Comparing to him, I am so small that no one can see me while I stand behind him. These make us look like a pair of superstar no matter where we are, in Schongau, in Bayersoien or in Neuestandt. But what impressed me until now is in Rudi’s apartment, everything is designed for his size, including the table, the mirror, the bed, and the kitchen instruments. But these for me are so big that something I even cannot handle and get touching, like the mirror in his bath room. I cannot get it because I am so short. Especially Rudi’s shoes, I must say, they are huge and I even can put two of my feet in one. So I always laugh at him that these are not shoes; they are “boats”. And mostly Rudi laughs at me back that mine are also not adult shoes; they are shoes for children. JJJ

So Rudi always call me “the little Chinese girl”. Comparing to him, another feature of me is that I eat really less. When we were in Neuestandt, we went to the restaurant; mostly I cannot eat the whole share of one normal Kaupfen (the fish). Mostly, we order a big one and Rudi only cut a little piece for me—that is enough. So Rudi also joked with me that, “I eat like a bird”. That is true. But I think that can save me some money, right? Haha! J

I must tell you, Rudi is really like my Dad. He looks after me so considerately and thoughtfully. I don’t possess any other shining words to express my appreciation for him. I won’t be able to thank him very enough for it. I come here and interrupt him everyday. He has to spend most of his spare time to take care of me. But sometimes he is not happy because of his personal affairs—his ex-wife. He thinks too much. I cannot imagine if he was not so optimistic to face his life, what he would be like after going through that painfulness. I wish he would be happy everyday.

Until now, the most words he tells me is “langsam, langsam, langsam” in German, that means “slowly, slowly, slowly”, because during this month I worried about a lot of things and he fully understand me as a foreigner for the first time to be outside my country how hard for me to adapt this new life in the beginning. And he teaches me a lot. He always told me, “to know another country, you cannot only be a traveler to seeing some old historical things, you must be a learner to talk with people in this area, to know what they are thinking about, what the normal people’s lives are like.” He thinks that is what the “culture” means.

This time I want to introduce something about flying to Germany.
There are some international airports here. The most famous are in Frankfort and in Munich. The Frankfort is the center of finance and traffic hub.
My flying is from Beijing to Munich. It needs 11 hours. A friend here told me that flying from Shanghai was also 11 hours. The company of the airplane is Air China. You can also choose some European companies.
During the 11 hours' flying, you can have two meals, at the beginning and after 6 hours. you can choose meat or fish as you like. If you have a seat near the windows, you can have a look outside. Views are different. If the weather is good, you can see the mountains. If not, you can only see white cloud.
When the airplane will arrive at the airport, the line of flying will show on the television. So you can know where you are. It's very interesting.
 
今天介绍的是从中国飞到德国的情况。相信很多人都很好奇。其实，是很累的，在飞机上大多数是坐着，睡觉也不太舒服，有时候还需要起来走走。坐过火车的人，尤其是长时间的那种，这种体会很深。但是也挺好玩的，主要是自己给自己找乐子。传几张在飞机上拍的照片给大家看看。拍的不好，有待练习。呵呵。

Nuremberg for many people is still associated with its traditional gingerbread products, sausages, and handmade toys. The first pocket watches—Nuremberg eggs—were made here in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century Nuremberg became the "industrial heart" of Bavaria with companies such as Siemens and MAN establishing a strong base in the city. Nuremberg is still an important industrial center with a strong standing in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. The city is also strong in the fields of automation, energy, and medical technology. The Nuremberg International Toy Fair is the largest of its kind in the world. The city also hosts several specialist hi-tech fairs every year, attracting experts from every corner of the globe.

Nuremberg held great significance during the Nazi Germany period. Because of the city's relevance to the Holy Roman Empire and its position in the center of Germany, the Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions–the Nuremberg rallies. After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, the Nuremberg rallies became huge center of anti-Semitism and other Nazi ideals. During World War II, Nuremberg was the headquarters of military district, and an important site for military production. In 1945, the medieval city centre was bombed by the U.S. Army and about ninety percent of it was destroyed in only one hour. Despite this, the city was rebuilt after the war and was restored to its pre-war appearance including the reconstruction of some medieval buildings.

Then we went to the Nuremberg Castle. I remembered I asked Rudi if there is any princess living in this castle. Rudi made jokes with me that “no princess, only an old rich king who didn’t know how to play football”J.

Pictures note:
1--the cheese from the Hauptmarkt, but a little expensive.
2--the first church I have ever seen in my life. I am lucky to see the famous one.
3--the most famous artist and sculpturer in Europe. I heared him when I was in China.

Rudi took me to his hometown Neustadt which is near to Nuremburg. So we started to drive at one clock in the afternoon. He told me we should drive 3 hours to get the place. “OK”, I said, “I can take some pictures on the way.” But I fell asleep after we drove for around 40 minutes. Until now, Rudi always laughs at me about this thing. Haha, lots of things I needed to know for those days. I was really tired then.

I lived in Rudi’s apartment in Neustadt. His mother had prepared me my bed when she knew I would come. What a nice old lady! The next day, Rudi showed me this town. It is a very nice town in which the buildings were different from I saw in south Bavaria. They were old and typical with higher roofs. I saw the old wall of this town which rounded it to protect it in the past time. After that we went to see Rudi’s best friends (sorry I forget their names)J. We walked to have lunch at a typical restaurant—it is said the owner of this restaurant is the richest man in this town and he opened it just for fun. In this restaurant we ate a special Neustadt fish. What I should mention is this kind of fish in this area, names ‘Kaupfen’. Rudi told me they came from China and now most people in this area feed them. It became very popular in many restaurants here. By the way, at one time Rudi’s father used to own a lake where raised a lot of Kaupfens.

In the evening of that day, we went to a bar. There I met Rudi’s other best friends. Some of them could speak good English and we talked a lot. They told me amounts of interesting things in this area and about German people--what I knew in China and what I didn’t know before. Among them, a man named Armin (now we are good friends) was a nice guy, a manager of the beer factory “Brunner Horfmann” (I wish I typed rightL) and spoke fluent English. I like him. He is a special man. Most of the time he is very quiet-- not like most of the Bavarians. On the Easter Sunday, he invited me to Rothenburg—one of the famous old city in Europe. JJ

I think I am a very lucky girl. Rudi thinks so. JJ JJ  

It's spent  us 11 hours on flying from Beijing to München. I can feel tired since my excitement. When we arrived at our hotel , Mr. Joosten and Mrs. Berg gave us an ebullient welcome party. We had a wonderful dinner and took a lot of pictures that night. After a sweet sleeping in soft bed and warm room ,I got over my jet lag. And there is a special training on how to live and work in Germany waiting for us.Continuing…