WARNING: This email contains a lengthy and overly wordy account of my life for the past week and a half. Feel free to skim through, take breaks or read sections at a time. I wish you luck...
Guten Tag! It is about 8:30 pm on Thursday night (the 18th) here in Munich, my last day here because tomorrow morning we catch a train for Berlin. I have really enjoyed my time in this city, it has been full of exciting adventures, but I am really looking forward to visiting the capital of this country and all that I will have the opportunity to see there. Ok, now let me catch you up on what I have been up to since I last wrote...
Last Monday I was still in Vienna and that day after class (yes, since Paris I have had class every day because we have switched professors) we went to the Haus der Musik. This museum reminded me of a cross between EMP and the Seattle Science Center. There were interactive exhibits (conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, compose your own waltz by throwing dice, mix your own cd, etc.), as well as a lot of information on music history. One entire level was devoted to the lives of some of Vienna´s most influential classical composers. My favorite room was Beethoven´s-- I have been intrigued for some time by him so it was very interesting to learn even more about his life. A lot of my fellow classmates did not enjoy this museum very much, but I had an excellent experience there. In fact, two of my friends left early and after complaining about this museum they commented to eachother that I would probably come back raving about it. This is exactly what happened, I really feel like I have an even greater appreciation for music now after visiting this museum and I was reminded of just how much I enjoy classical music. It was a good day to re-discover this interest of mine because that night I attended a ballet at the opera house, which was coreographed to music by Mozart and Beethoven. It was by far the best ballet I have ever seen. I´ve found that I enjoy ballets that do not follow a story line the most because they really demonstrate the creativity and talent of the coreographer and they involve the audience a lot more because there is more room for personal interpretation.
The next day I had the opportunity to visit the Sigmeund Freud museum with all of my fellow psychology majors (there are about 6 of us on this trip!) . He is another individual who I find myself intrigued by, especially considering that I am majoring in psychology and Freud had such an influential role on this field. It was really exciting to be in the place where the founders of psychology (who I have learned about time and time again in psych classes) used to meet. Probably one of the most unique discoveries I made at this museum was that Freud was very intrigued by the legend of Hannibal. The reason I found this to be so interesting is that my earliest interests in the field of psychology stemmed partially from my viewing of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal." I joked with my friends that one day when people visit the Melissa Parks museum these movies will play and next to it will lie a caption about how both Freud and I were intrigued by this character. That evening I went with friends up to visit the winegardens. It was so beautiful to stand up on the hill and look out over the vineyards towards the city as the sun began to set. I think a trip out of the city was just what all of us needed that day.
On Wednesday my class went to visit the Natural Historisches art museum and that evening we saw Schönbrunner palace, which was the summer residence for the Hapsburgs. My Thursday in Austria was very uneventful, I spent 4 hours in a basement waiting for my laundry (of course this did allow for 4 hours of journaling, which I was very thankful for) and then shopping. Friday it was time to leave Austria and head to the country of many of my ancestors- Germany. I have found that traveling is very exhausting-- who knew sitting around could wear someone out so much? So after our arrival I took a 3 hour nap and then it was off to the world famous Hofbräuhaus. I beleive this is the world´s largest beer hall and is the first place where Hitler addressed a large crowd. Being at this hall really made me feel like I was in Germany. It was absolutely packed, fraus ran around with foaming liters of beer or selling pretzels, an oompa band played and customers sat around at tables dressed in traditional German clothing, singing beer hall songs and toasting eachother. It was a really great bonding experience for all of us and in fact we enjoyed it so much that many of us returned the next few nights as well!
Saturday I woke up and found myself extremely tired once again, despite my long night of sleep. So I spent my second day in Munich also taking a nap, a 5.5 hr one at that! When I finally woke up my friends were heading off to the English Gardens, so I jumped up to join them on their adventure. And wow, this afternoon really did turn out to be an adventure! We had only been at the gardens for 5 minutes when we found ourselves caught in a thunderstorm! We had no idea where to go and we couldnt pull out our map because we feared the rain would tear it apart. Some people may have reacted to this unexpected event with anger or complaints, but my friends and I decided to embrace it. As we trampsed down muddy walkways we sang songs at the top of our lungs and I shared an earphone of my IPOD with a friend so that we could have a dance off in the rain. Despite the fact that we looked like drenched rats, it was probably one of the funnest afternoons Ive had on this trip! When we arrived at the metro station we discovered that Bayern Munchen (the local soccer team) had just won their playoff game, which just happened to be the last game that would ever be played in the Olympic Stadium. Overjoyed fans gathered in the town center- Marienplatz, to celebrate together and take advantage of the free beer. 3 hours later I went to see the festivities for myself, but they were beginning to die down. Still fans stood together twirling their scarves in celebration and singing "ole, ole, ole..." to the tune of "yellow submarine" which was played on a trumpet by a man who stood high above on a ledge. We met some friends at the Hofbrauhaus, where the victory celebration was in full swing. No seats were free, the aisles were crowded with people dancing and everwhere you looked people carried around stacks of plastic cups to signify how much of the free beer they had drank. I have never seen anything like this before, it was amazing to be a part of it!
Sunday was a boring day, but luckily Monday was so exciting that it made up for the lameness of Sunday. It was Pentecost weekend, so everything was closed. In light of this, me and a couple of friends rented bikes downtown for the day and went off to explore the city. It took me a little bit to get used to riding a bike again, but after I had a couple of near accidents (almost hitting an old woman, some nice cars and a store window), I felt like a natural once again. First stop was the English Gardens where we got to see people surfing in the river. I know what you´re thinking--surfing in germany? in a river? and I was thinking the same thing too! It felt like a dream! Then it was off to see the Olympic Park, including the stadium and pool. We also biked down the street of the BMW factory, but it was closed for the holiday. Our final stop was Nymphenburg Palace where we stopped for some photos and a quick peek at the gardens. Then we had to race back to the hostel in order to beat the coming rain.
The next day started nice and early at 5 am when me and a couple of friends biked downtown to the 24 hour internet cafe to register for fall quarter classes. It was the first time it really hit me that I am really half a world away from all of you! After a quick class that morning we were off to visit Dachau concentration camp. This was a thought provoking and eye opening experience, a day filled with tears as well as feelings of hope. Throughout my entire experience of the grounds and the museum I constantly tried to not get caught up in the numbers I read and the faces of strangers which I saw. I continually reminded myself that each of these individuals was infinitely siginificant and I think that this really allowed for a much richer and powerful experience. It is hard to beleive that the horror of the holocaust took place only around 60 years ago. It really opens your eyes to the reality that similar events such as these could somehow be possible again. Although it does not excuse the actions taken during those times, there are so many reasons contributing to the demonic behavior displayed by the nazis which make it easier to see how such a thing may have happened. Being here really reminded me of the importance of staying up to date on current events. Although it is often impossible for us to know the entire truth, it is our responsibility to ourselves and our fellow human beings that we make the effort to know the events that are taking place in the world around us. Although it would have been easy to walk away from my 4 hour visit to Dachau with feelings of anger and doubts that there could be a God who would allow such a thing to occur, I actually found myself filled with a sense of hope. Seeing a glimpse of all of the devestation which the holocaust brought to an entire generation of people only provides me with further proof that there must be a God, that our lives do not end with our experience on earth. Although I am still filled with questions of why? and what now?, I find myself comforted by my faith that everything does happen for a reason, that someday I will know the reasoning for these horrible events and that despite the torture and despair endured by so many during those times, it did not constitute the totality or end of their existence.
On that note, I will finally end this novel of an email. I look forward to your replies! Only 21 days left until I return home to Seattle. I will return home with new goals, changed perspectives and outlooks on life, with 30 new incredible, lifelong friends and with stories, wisdom and pictures to share with all of you. I hope to get out another email before I head home, but if not I will see all of you in June!
