Spring in Leipzig

Spring in Leipzig has been a real treat. We've actually had spring, unlike the usually sudden transition in Ohio (like this year!) where it's freezing one day and within a week people are using their air conditioners.

We have so many more photos that we should post. Maybe next week I'll get to our Easter photos in Paris. Anyway, enjoy these photos from Leipzig in the spring.

The Diary of Anne Frank - Leipzig International School 2009 Production

The following slideshow are some images from the Leipzig International School's 2009 production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Direction was by Tom Baily.

My daughter Anissa played to role of Mrs. Kraler. In the actual story, Mrs. Kraler was a man and a business associate of the Frank family. He hid the Frank's and others in an annex of their business.

The play was excellent and it was hard to believe that the students were only 14 to 18 years old.

Click on the slide show to the images in a larger format.

Praha (Prague)

Well folks, it's been a long dry spell on the Bohland Family in Leipzig blog. There would be more, but the work - and rest - schedules just haven't allowed it. This week however there are photos galore from our three day - two night jaunt to Prague in the Czech Republic. If the Germans are sometimes socially challenged, the Czechs are surely socially gifted.

I guess if 60% of your economy is based on tourism, you learn to be friendly. And friendly they were. From the driver hired by our guest house to collect us at the train station to the wait staff in the restaraunts to the laughter in the streets late at night, we enjoyed the pleasant contrast. I'd highly recommend this beautiful old world city to anyone that can make the trip. As they always say.....more later - for now enjoy the slide show (and if you click on the images I think you can view the pictures at higher resoultion in their Web gallery.) Enjoy!

Snow, Snow-Figures and Cold

We returned to Leipzig from the US under a cloudless day last Saturday. The weather was cool and there was a little bit of snow on the ground and ice crystals on the trees. Then overnight we were pummeled with what the natives say was the heaviest snow in 10 years. I took a long walk in the park last Sunday night and took a few photos of snowmen (and snow-women) that were built during the day.



Since the snow, it's been really cold - around -20 C most nights which is borderline for even a modern diesel engine to start. Luckily my car is in the basement garage where it stays a few degrees warmer and I haven't had a problem getting going in the morning (well, at least getting the car going.)

How to be German

I sometimes follow, and now have added to the bloglist (at the top right of this page) a blog called "German Joys." A large part of our daily conversation is the cultural differences that we notice between Americans and Germans. The blogger of German Joys is, I think, some kind of professor in Berlin. Here is an excerpt from his recent post on his evaluation of the degree of cultural integration of a Ghanian cab driver he recently encountered on holiday in Duesseldorf:

A case in point is the cab driver who took me back from the airport after a holiday visit. I fly into Duesseldorf, and to my delight, I find that it's well below freezing, and there's virginal snow everywhere. But that's exactly what's pissing off Joseph, my tall Ghanaian cabdriver. "I hate the snow," he explains in excellent German. "You clean your car, and then 5 minutes after you start driving, it's completely covered in dirt again." On the successful-integration scale, score that +7 for bitching, +5 for daily car maintenance.

But Joseph wasn't done bitching -- not by a long shot! Further targets included "morons" who don't know how to drive in the cold, and "blind" tram drivers who cut you off without even realizing it. Score +10 for yet more bitching. But then he worked himself into a real lather reminding himself of something that happened at breakfast, taken in the form of a sausage on a roll eaten at a roadside stand (+3). A car drove by and "purposely swerved into a puddle, just to cover me in dirty water!" At this point, Joseph became truly outraged: "Imagine that! He went out of his way just to splash me! What is this world coming to?"

But then Joseph did something that, however delightful, dented his integration score: He literally raised his fist and began shaking it, repeating over and over: "May God punish him! May God punish that man!" My analysis: cursing general depravity of fellow citizens, general decay of public morals: +5, but shaking fist: -5, apparent belief in Supreme Being: -5, and mentioning same to stranger: -5.

Oh well, I say we let him stay anyway.

Könneritzstraße Bridge

The really great thing about Leipzig, as I've probably mentioned in previous posts, is beauty in abundance within a short walk from anywhere. The photos in the embedded slideshow are from the Koenneritzstrasse bridge, just 2 or 3 hundred meters from our apartment complex.



The pretty Mandarin ducks have just recently joined the swan, the mallards, and the ginourmous muskrats that we see and occassionally feed with stale bread from the bridge.

Working

November has been very difficult at work. A corner has been turned however and it should be easier from here. The last few weekends one or another kid is either at a friend's house for a sleepover or someone comes here. This weekend Julian spent Friday and Saturday night at his friend Max's house and the girls had the two friends in the picture over Friday night for a sleepover.

Diana and I escaped Friday night for a nice dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant. We continue to love our new flat; it's a lot more comfortable than the old one. Got in a little nap today and now time for the next work-week to begin. We're all looking forward for our two week holiday over Christmas.

Das Wochenende (The Weekend)

The girls dispersed here and there for the weekend. Actually Anissa and her friend Natalie spent Friday night and Saturday here at the new apartment and Sierra went to a friend's house by tram and train. We didn't have time for a full photo shoot but here are a few of Anissa and Natalie - they want me to do a real shoot sometime in the future.

Der Verfall (The Decay)

Here's another excellent video by You Tube user Plembem that shows some of the deteriorated side of Leipzig.

Leipzig has been known at times as "The Little Paris" and the part of town we reside in sometimes called "A little piece of Venice" - complete with Gondola canal boats. Clearly the city has extraordinary beauty and is in overall resurgence. But this video shows some of the work that remains.

Be sure to "Leipzig bei Nacht" below this post to see the resurgent side of Leipzig.

Leipzig bei Nacht (Leipzig at Night)

Here's a sweet little video I found on YouTube that gives you the opportunity to do a virtual night tour of Leipzig. Credit is to the You Tube user "Plembem" for this video.

Our Friends in Wolfen

From the first time I ate at Wolfen's finest Asian restaraunt by myself on a Saturday afternoon sometime last spring, I felt at home and welcomed. I can tell many stories about many wonderful meal - and drinks - at the Asian restaurant on Leipziger Strasse in downtown Wolfen. Last Monday, since the kids were off school, they took the train and met me to accept a dinner invitation from our friends Zum, She and Ming.



Here is the note I sent to Zum afterwards:

Thanks so much for the wonderful meal we had last week. We will have you over for a Mexican feast after we move into our new flat in November. For now, please have a look at our blog and the photo of our two families here: http://bohlandfamilyinleipzig.blogspot.com/

Your hospitality means so much to us Zum and we are so glad to know you and have you as friends. I have so many fine memories eating at your fine Asian restaurant in Wolfen.

Best,

John

Guitars

We took three guitars to Leipzig and it was worth it. Sierra and I have composed some new things and she and Julian have been working on several duets. We took a couple guitars to the Clara Zetkin park last weekend. It the kids get polished enough maybe they will do a little street music like the guys in the second picture. They were really good.

The Leipzig Art Museum

The Leipzig Art Museum is seen in the background. Preparations are underway for an exhibition titled Kopf oder Zahl (Head or Number) which I don't really understand except that it is work in portraiture. Diana has been to the museum with her women's group but the rest of us haven't. Something else to do in the future.

I took a few artistic liberties with the image for this post.

Boring Food Made Exciting

We acquiesced yesterday afternoon to let the kids "have it their way" and get a burger and fries at Burger King. You can see from the picture what is typical of American fast food places in Germany - they all have a disco feel to them. Orange and blue lighting, music videos playing on a wide screen TV, etc. How else would you get people to pass up the excellent continental European food available here everywhere for this junk?

Diana and I had Sushi Friday night at a place called Mr. Moto. We sat at the circular sushi bar ringed with a small "river" on which miniature boats are continuously loaded with sushi treats and conveyed around for customers to choose them. The trays that the sushi are placed on are colored coded, so at the end of your repast, the waitress tallies the bill by adding up the amounts based the cost associated with of each tray color.

Friday for lunch my colleagues were excited because burgers were being served at the cafeteria; I passed and had a wonderful fish filet covered in a light horseradish/hollandaise sauce but I did ask for french fries instead of the mashed potatoes it came with. Even I need some familiar comfort food now and then!

Weekend Driving

As in - no weekend driving. For three weekends in a row, the rental car has remained parked from Friday after work to Monday morning. It is possible for me to take the regional train to work and many people do, but my hours are often unpredictable so using the car to get to work, while not necessary or in the best interests of of the environment, is a concession to convenience. The picture of the car is not mine, but it is the same kind of car I drive; an Open Vectra "Combi" (station wagon) with a 1.9 liter diesel engine. I haven't checked the mileage, but I can drive the 40 or so miles from Leipzig to Solar Valley back and forth all week on a tank of gas.

It's pretty cool being able to accomplish grocery shopping, going to the post office, even taking a day-trip like last week to Torgau, all without the danger, expense and environmental damage of driving a car.

Torgau and Hartenfels Schloss (Castle)

Another great weekend. We traveled to Torgau on Saturday to visit the Hartenfels castle and take in the local sites. They keep big, fat brown bears in the moat! I won't even try to summarize the history of this castle, a very worthy testament to monarchy and nobility, but I did find this excellent guide to the castles in the Saxony region of Germany and a description of this castle can be found in this guide along with information and photos on many, many others. Beware the PDF file is about 8 MB and will take a while to load.



Our traveling companions were Rachel and Bran and their two kids (a permanent link to their blog is at the top of this blog). We went by regional train from the Hauptbahnhof in Leipzig and walked from the train station to the castle through the large square in Torgau with its impressive fountain. After touring the castle, we had lunch at a hotel/restaurant on the square which we chose only for the reason that it was in the sunny and not shady side of the square because it's October after all and even sunny afternoons are starting to get chilly.

Leipzig Life

Saturday. Woke up, Listened to BBC, made coffee. Checked the latest worldwide insanities on the Web. Then walked to the post office with our absentee ballots. For Barack Obama of course - though no Washington politician will pull us out of the current nose-dive.

The image is from the way back from the post office. Taken from the bridge at the end of Könneritzstraße.

Then to the bakery, the cheese shop. Home for a nap. Off to grocery store with Diana for stores for the five of us. Then air-up the bicycles and off to the park. Back home. Ate a great home-made dinner of rigatoni, bruschetta, zucchini and stewed apples. Now a post to the blog.

No need to drive. Accomplished all this on foot and on bike. Great scenery along the way. This Leipzig life.

Leipzig Zoo

We visited the Leipzig Zoo on Friday and I had a chance to sift through my photos from the day. This one was my favorite. I am less and less a fan of zoos. The Leipzig Zoo has been extensively upgraded and efforts have been made to provide large and "natural" habitats. Still, the large animals and the primates showed the typical zoo behaviors of repetitive pacing, swaying and so forth. Animals belong in nature, not zoos. The zoos tell us where the animals are from, what they eat, maybe something about their habitiat - but they don't tell us why the animals are in the zoos. I think it's rather better to meet animals on equal terms, not our terms. Here is a great article on the ethcis of zoos: Thought to Exist in the Wild

Bellanixe

This weekend we met our friends Rachel and Brian and their two kids Bellanixe and Isha in Leipzig Zentrum for a coffee and conversation and another tour of the folk festival which ended today. We went to the Moritzbastei which, like most things in Leipzig, has a long and storied history. The complete history is at the link (there is an English option too!) but here is the introduction:

In the heart of Leipzig, nestled behind the Gewandhaus Concert Hall and City Skyscraper, you find the Moritzbastei, the only remaining part of the ancient city fortifications. The Moritzbastei was commissioned by Elector Moritz of Saxony in the 16th century and later named after him. It has survived 400 tumultuous years and it was used in many different ways, only to end as part of the rubble of the Second World War.

In 1974 students began to work on the Moritzbastei, freeing it of the debris it was filled with and turning it into a students’ club, which opened in 1982.
For almost 10 years the club had been a students’ club, but in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Moritzbastei opened its doors to all visitors interested in culture.

Since 1993 the “MB”, as locals lovingly call the building, has been run by the “Moritzbastei Foundation” as a non-profit organisation without external financial support.

Annually around 300,000 guests visit the impressive vaults to attend one of the 600 events which take place here. The MB has something for everyone, from rock and jazz concerts through readings and play performances to exhibitions and discussions. And those people who are simply looking for a cosy place to enjoy a glass of wine or a snack will be charmed by the atmosphere in the Café Barbakane or one of the comfortable bars.

But the title of this post is Bellanixe. This is the name of Rachel and Brian's wonderful and free-spirited daughter shown in the photo.

I've added a link to a blog (right side of the page) that Rachel maintains to diary the goings on of Bella and her brother Isha. We really enjoyed our afternoon together and appreciate the insights on Leipzig life from Rachel and Brian.

September Update

To all following this blog: We've been a little busy lately but have no worries, the blog will be caught up in due time. See the short post on the Trabant car below. Soon I will post some pictures and stories about our trip to Dresden last weekend and the folk festival in Leipzig this weekend.