Clara in Germany!

February left us very gracefully on this sunny Saturday. I have a monthly train card, so what better way to use up my last day of the month than head into Hamburg, and check out some art? Out of all the great museums in Hamburg, I opted for the Deictorhallen, in particular, the photography section. The theme of the exhibition was simply young photographers, so it made way for vibrant, erratic viewing. After I got my photography fill, I just wandered around in the city, and enjoyed the fact that it was not raining.            

Mailboxes are for people who have given up in life. Mail HOUSES are the way to go! ADORABLE . "Trespassing forbidden. Valuable pigstock"....this is a sign that graces our local slaughterhouse. Look at that sassy lil cartoon pig! He is embracing murder like a champ! DELIGHTFUL.  6 euros for a pint of Ben and Jerry's? AWWWWW!  This door. IT HAS A FISH DOORKNOB. And if that wasn't enough, check out the golden old lady head smack in the middle! Discomforting? Yes. But what's cuteness without a little terror?

In Northern Germany, every 10th grader goes off into the working world for two weeks, and is an apprentice (oh! fancy!) in a job of their choosing. Since I would most certainly botch anything associated with filing and phone calling and calculation-ing, I decided to help take care of Germany's young generation instead. Bring on the babies. Even in pre-school, a warm and pleasant mid-day meal is seen as sacred. No German zero year old would be caught dead with anything less than an artisan glass and a full set of silverware. A sippy-cup user would be unpopular among his or her peers. Baby food? You crack me up. Tiny humans here take part in the pyramid of Germanity (Potatoes, Bread, and Meat), just as much as anyone else. Of course when you give a 1 year old a full potato (That's a new children's book title if I ever did see one), it is intimidating, and may result in a frantic attempt to wear said pota...

At concerts, I am used to being pushed, shoved, and heavily sweated upon by strangers. So naturally, this Monday when a few friends and I went to see alt-j in the Hamburg Sporthalle, I prepared myself for battle. However, my experience was an actively comfortable one. I had a space,enjoyed a cool breeze or two, and was not once subjected to the bodily fluids of my fellow concert goers. I didn't even have to pull the "Oh, you gotta let me through, my little sister/brother/ easily confused friend is at the front all alone!" People simply stepped aside, beer in hand, and wished me a pleasant,forward bound journey. The stuff of miracles. Alt-j wasn't too bad either. For the entire show, each band member stood strictly in their designated spot, as if they were waiting to be beamed up by Scotty. But that robotic distance worked in their favor. Like aliens fresh out of their spaceship, learning slowly how to...

When Winter gives you sunshine in Northern Germany, you take a walk. It's simply how it's done. Today on this clear blue Sunday, my host family and I did just that in a village near us. A lot of the houses there are older than America, and have been converted into quaint museums, filled with everything from vintage toys to farming machines. Usually the houses are only open in spring, but because my host dad is a member of this museum society, he had a key. Below are just some pictures of my wanderings: Handmade metal sword in front of an old blacksmith's cottage The house in the background is very typical, traditional North German. The roof is made of thatched hay. Old toys... My host mom, Christiane!

Today was unbelievably cold, so much so that the endless rain we have been getting up north actually turned itself into snow! I decided it would be a good idea to keep warm, but with artistic surroundings. So I headed to the Hamburg Kunsthalle, right around the corner from the main station. Unfortunately, the museum has been under construction since last summer, leaving many sections unavailable. I played it safe and simple, just checking out the permanent collection. My boy Andy Warhol was there, as well as a few other buddies of mine (Hockney, Cindy Sherman, etc.) But I also was able to see a lot of classic and current German artists that I have never heard of before. The mix of new and old was refreshing, and kept me happy on this frosty Tuesday. 

Today I had no school, because everyone in the Lower-Saxony region of Germany gets a 2 day vacation after they get their report cards on the last Friday of the month. Me, my friend from Mexico (her name is Maria Fer), and Maria Fer's host sister, took this break as a chance to explore the cool corners of Hamburg. And to do that, you gotta take the U-Bahn downtown: People on the bahn, keeping me occupied Gängeviertel "Valentinskampf":  In the midst of your run of the mill office buildings and Starbucks, you will find a tunnel (literally, it's bright pink and strewn with decapitated mannequins) beckoning you further into a street-art, punk-art, anything-art Utopia, kept afloat by the passionate kooks of Hamburg. The houses in this area of Gangeviertel  are from the early 19th century, and were supposed to be demolished by the city. Because of the unique structure of these buildings, people put up a fight. Thus, the buildings and the space between them...