Flash Mobs and Garden Plots

On Tuesday, Bryan's boss invited us to visit with him and his family at their garden plot. I met Bryan after work and we had some time to kill before we started our tram and bus trip to their garden, so we had a pint on the town square. All of a sudden, "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (in German) began playing over the loudspeaker and people began to assemble in the middle of the street, take of their street clothes (they had swimsuits on), and began to do the Macarena dance. No, I am not making any of this up. 

Bryan's reaction to the dancing:

After recovering from all of the excitement, I did a little shopping (It's the most dangerous season here... summer sale season) and then we were on our way to meet Bryan's boss. We had a slight delay because Bryan helped an older gentleman figure out how to buy a ticket from the automated ticket machine, but we still made it to our designated meeting spot on time. Which is good, because we don't have phones and being late or having a change of plans is no good for us here.

Bryan's boss and his family have a plot in a large garden complex owned by the city. They rent their plot each year. There are hundreds of plots and each is unique. The garden plot movement in Germany began in the 1800s and is called the Schrebergarten Movement because of its creator. When Leipzig was a part of the GDR, the garden plots were crucial in being able to feed people, especially senior citizens. Now, it is more recreational, though 10% of each plot is required to be made up of edible plants. Some plots even have small structures on them and some people "move in" to their garden plots for the summer months. There were tons of bikers, people tending their plots, and people enjoying a cold beverage or two while children ran about. 

It took about 10 minutes to walk from the entrance to the family's plot. We sampled wild strawberries, gooseberries, and peas. It was delicious! The family also gave us some homemade jam to take with us. Being invited to spend an evening there was an absolute delight; we chatted (with heavy translation duties for Bryan) for about 2 hours about the garden and different travel topics. 

Here are some garden photos: 

If you look closely in the photo above, you can see some awesome tomato stakes. Seriously, these little guys are like art! They are plain metal and swirl up from the ground. Too bad they won't fit in my suitcase! :(

It was a beautiful night, so we decided to walk the 4 km (roughly 2.5 miles) home instead. The route was through a park and featured views like this:

After grabbing a quick dinner from a doner stand, it was time to sit down and relax!

This weekend, we'll be heading to Prague. I'm excited!

The German Workplace (Daily Living Part II)

My job in Leipzig is with the City Development Planning department with the City of Leipzig. Their job, in essence, is to prepare plans for specific parts of the city (for instance each block in the city center) and to work with private developers to build the best possible development for the city, its residents and the private developer. They also deal with a lot of European Union programs. The City applies for pretty much every grant they can find through the state and federal governments and the EU.

The reason I chose Leipzig over other (potentially more beautiful) cities in Germany is because up until about 2000 it was a shrinking city, which is what I want to form my master's thesis around. Since then, it has accepted that fact and dealt with it in the context of a post-industrial urban area. These aren't our best pictures we've taken, but this is the building where I work (on the fifth floor next to the large tower not pictured here):

 
 Most of what I do (in addition to data entry) is read through the material the department already has in English and make corrects and additions. This sounds like a simple enough task, but the nuances of the English language are ever so slightly mangled and destroyed by the efforts of the Europeans. For example, seven-line sentences are NOT okay in English. In German, those sentences actually make sense and are (relatively) readable. However, this does not make it okay in English.

The office life in Leipzig is somewhat different than in the US. The dress code is drastically more relaxed than all other offices I've worked in in the States. For instance, I showed up in khakis and a button-down shirt for my first day (which I didn't think was in any sense over the top), but found that I was incredibly over dressed. Turns out, jeans are generally acceptable for everyone except maybe the head of the department. The guy I share an office with, who must be around 40 years old, showed up in ratty jeans and a South African Springbok rugby jersey. He also feels that he must crush every key on the keyboard in order to type anything.

The lack of openness is also quite different here than in the offices I've worked in up until now. In America, nobody (with a few exceptions of course) closes and locks their doors in the middle of the day I feel. We are subdivided like suburbs into two-person offices that are connected via other doors (which are also shut at times). It's taken a little getting use to, but I have learned quite a lot about how German cities are structured and developed, and hopefully I can bring back that information to turn into some kind of thesis!

So, there are a few odd habits that are okay here. For example, it's apparently okay to walk around without shoes. The picture above was taken on a busy street in the city centre today. I don't really think it is okay, since the ground is covered in broken glass and cigarettes (I think everyone smokes at least a little). Oh, and you know, it's a public street!

Here are a few new pictures from this afternoon. There are two giant churches in the city centre. One of them is the church where Bach served as cantor. It also happens to be Bach fest right now. I've heard he is making a live appearance on Sunday.

Just kidding, guys! Bach's dead.

All of the taxis here are a pale yellow and are Mercedes, BMWs, or Volkswagons. Don't worry though, taxi drivers are just as reckless here as at home. That is an international trait it seems!

In addition to all of the pastries and Kuchen (cakes), there are a lot of street food. My current favorite is the Pommes (french fries) from a particular vendor on one of the main squares downtown. I like them plain. If you order ketchup, it gets squirted in a gigantic pile on top, which makes eating kind of gross and messy.
 

This is where Bryan works (more details from him below). I think the blue sign is the best thing ever. According to Bryan, it means that this pathway is a shared space. I think it was an excuse to put a lot of symbols on one sign. Either way, it is pretty sweet.

We went to a bar today that specializes in Paulaner, which is Bryan's favorite German beer. I tried Radler, which is beer mixed with Sprite. It was just about as good as it sounds... but there were a lot of bubbles, which was a definite plus. For dinner, we took our first foray into German food and stumbled upon a restaurant that seemed to specialize in vegetarian and gluten free food. Bryan had about 10 different options for dinner, which never happens! I had white asparagus (Finally! And it was everything I had hoped for!) in a chicken and cheese thick mixture/dip. Delicious! Hard to go wrong with that!

Below is a picture of the Altes Rathaus (the old city hall). Similar name to the building where Bryan works, but now it is a museum. It is surrounded by a giant construction site, several places to get gelato, and a Burger King with a patio.

Bryan: I've been learning a lot about Leipzig's post-socialist history this week. I'll be taking part in a conference/field trip next week about Straßenbahnen and city development. Straßenbahnen are streetcars that will run you down if you're not paying attention. They're the best. 

The Neues Rathaus where I work is a massive piece of industrial symbolism that (I was told) was meant to show Dresden (the royal, cultural neighbor city) that Leipzig was stronger and of course more important. I was also told that the tower is the tallest city hall tower in the world. I'm not sure if I believe it though.What I do believe, though, is that it is enormous and the seemingly unsafe pseudo elevator that does not stop is great when you work on the fifth floor (which I do). However, when you're on it between floors when the fire alarm goes off and it stops (which I was), it's quite an unsettling feeling.

That's about it... tell us what you've been up to! The best way is to e-mail or Facebook Steph. Bryan will likely never respond to you. Seriously.