Flag of Bayem (Bavaria)
In the southern area of
Germany, next to the Alps and the Austrian border, is the State called Bavaria
with its own culture, food, music, language forms and people. The Capital is Müechen.
Its blue and white
checkerboard flag is flown everywhere. I
was privileged to have a personally guided tour of several areas during my short
stay in Kempten escorted by the Blaschke family.
For the first trip, we took a
local commuter train South to the village of Oberstdorf, at the base of the
Alps. This is one of Germany's
biggest and best-known resorts, as well as its most southerly. Popular with families year round as
there is a wide range of sporting (and non-sporting) alternatives to skiing. There are ski areas dotted all around the
village. After walking across a
very large meadow, we entered the base of the Alps. A hike of about 2 miles, led to a very
odd-looking sight in summer - the Oberstdorf ski jump. No snow, but plenty of green grass - not
exactly the best surface for the sport.
It was a bright and beautiful Sunday. David had a major test on Monday morning, so he stayed behind to study while the rest of the Blaschke family took me to the Bayem Capital, Müechen. We took the local commuter train for the 1.5 hour trip into town. As will all European trains, there is a main railway station located in the business center of each city.
The train left at 10:30am and we arrived in Müechen at noon. No surprises there. Downtown Müechen has a pedestrian zone as to most major cities. Here were a multitude of shops, most are closed on Sunday, street musicians, vendors hawking their wares, cafes and souvenir shops. We did find a couple of very old churches that were open to the public after their Sunday morning services. These were much brighter inside than those I had seen in other cities.
By mid-afternoon, the downtown crowd was filling the streets. But, we needed to catch the 4:00pm train back to Kempten, our visit to Müechen was complete. They said I had seen just about all there was to see unless I was a real history buff and wanted to dig into that area.
Another day trip gave me the chance to see the pristine castle, Neuschwanstein, one of three that König (King) Ludwig II had built. Walt Disney used this castle as the concept for his Fantasyland theme and Cinderella's Castle at his parks worldwide. In the movie "Around the World in 80 Days", the producers staged historical and crazy scenes in this unique location.
König Ludwig's unbendable instinct had
the construction site opened in 1869, an epoch in which the European
industrialization was already in full swing. Nevertheless, the King waited 16
years to move into his castle and spend some time in his favorite place: the
swan grotto. During the tormenting
construction years, he spent hours watching the progress made via telescope from
the opposite hill. Hundreds of
craftsmen from around the world executed his wildest dreams. Today, Neuschwanstein is Bavaria's most
visited historical monument.
To get to the castle, we
actually drove from Kempten to Schwangau and then walked, climbed and otherwise
exhausted ourselves to get up the road to the castle. It was well worth the walk. From the road going up, you could see
back down into the valley and across a lake to the new performing arts theater
in Schwangau.
On several mornings, Peter
and I would take a long walk. These walks were anywhere from 5-7 miles. During these times of isolation, we were
able to talk about many things that concerned each of us. Peter was also able to work his English
skills with a natural-born English speaking person. Well, one that uses English with a very Southern style.
One of the many highlights of my Kempten visit was the day I spent at the local high school. It seems that Thomas thought it would be a good idea for me to speak to the English classes, and I agreed. This had to be the high point for some of the younger students. As for me, it was something that was extremely fun, as well as entertaining.
The first class was
Thomas' own 12th grade English class. This is not the "Senior" class because in Germany,
they go to school for 13 grades with classes from 7:45am to 12:45pm on Monday to
Friday. Some students also attend
class on Tuesday and/or Thursday from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. The school year is 10 months long - from mid-September to
mid-July. And, according to all
information I had heard, much more difficult.
I spoke to several classes all day long, but the most fun was the last one. I had a group of about 20, 6th & 7th graders for almost 90 minutes. They had so many questions for me. But most of all, they found my accent interesting. German law requires that the English taught be "Oxford English", or what we would call "Kings English", a very proper, slang-free deliverance of English. Their teacher reminded me of a real jolly "Mr. Rogers". The way he interacted with the kids was just short of amazing. He worked the room like a salesman. Following his lead, I too roamed the room, getting up close and personal to the kids. This made them feel a bit more comfortable and thus invited more questions.
Even though a German
student might attend classes abroad during their 11th year, it is not "in
lieu of" the 11th grade in Germany. Some
students, such as Thomas, take on the double-duty of attending 12th grade
classes while still taking all the tests required for the 11th grade missed
while at Paris High School. This
caused his grades to suffer a little overall, but he just didn't want to spend yet
another year in high school. It
took him until mid-January to complete his 11th grade testing.
