More Miscellaneous Munich

This will be a long post.  There are lots of things from our time in Munich I wanted to include, but haven’t yet.  So I’m catching up.  Here goes.

Bahnwarter Thiel

One Monday, June 8, we took a bike ride around the city and then through the English Gardens.  Our first stop was at the Bahnwarter Thiel.  From my understanding, this is a place that sponsors raves/parties regularly and is a famous place to see lots of graffiti.  We walked through this little area that is full of bars, tattoo shops and even a barber.  Most places were closed when we were there, but everything is made of random items.  It is kind of like an art museum and junk yard combined.  It was fascinating.

Group photo by the entrance.

Gate made by bicycle wheels.

Bike Ride - Oktoberfest Site and English Gardens

Next, our bike ride took us to the site of the annual Octoberfest.  In the fall of 2000, David came to Germany to work for his company, Grob.  He was here for 2 months.  I joined him for one month.  After getting off the plane, we drove to Octoberfest to just check it out.  Of course it looks much different all set up - tents everywhere.  

Next, the group went through the English Gardens.  

There are at least a couple places in the English Gardens where there are waves for surfing.  People were lined up on both sides, taking turns to give it a go.

Dirndls and Lederhosen

To be honest, I wimped out on the bike ride after the first hour and a half.  David and I returned our bikes and then I went wandering around - my favorite thing to do.  Here are some random things I saw.

I’m always fascinated by the dirndls.

I found this purse made out of lederhosen interesting.

Random Things 

German version of evolution.

These hangings are a common souvenir.  They are mainly in Bavarian light blue and red and can include flowers, pretzels, more ribbons, etc.  

I found this long metal structure along the sidewalk covered in stickers interesting.

There are street performers everywhere in the city.  Especially around the Marienplatz, where the EF classrooms were.  One day, while waiting for David, these two soccer players performed tricks and stunts on the sidewalk for change.  They were fascinating to watch.  I’ve seen lots of different musicians playing everything from saxaphones to accordion to strange instruments I’d never seen before.  We saw a magician, artists and opera singers.

Many churches have these old gravestones on the exterior.  I think it is because there used to be graveyards around the churches and as the city expanded, the bodies were moved, but sometimes the gravestones remained as a memorial.

Every day we commuted to classes on the bus and subway.  The subway we took was the “Sendlinger Tor”  line.  Several students decided on the last day in Munich to actually go visit Sendlinger Tor.  “Tor” means “gate” in German.  There are several tors around the city - marking where the city gates were when it was a walled city.

Part of everyday life in Germany is pfand, or the deposit for recycling.  Many plastic bottles and cans are not only recyclable, but have a deposit.  There are little stations in many grocery stores where you put in the items, sometimes whole bags full of bottles, and then get a receipt which you can use to buy groceries or simply get your change at the cashier.

EF Classes

The EF classroom building in downtown Munich had a nice activity area with lots of comfy seating for students, a stocked kitchen, piano, guitar and foosball table.

The students had German language classes most days.  Some days they even had two 3 hour classes in one day.  The were all on the same level of instruction  - A1.  But they all reported that the classes were well done, engaging and they all made good progress on their German.

David also had a few specific “classroom times” during our weeks with EF.  On the last day students had to make a slide about the “highlights and lowlights” of the trip.  

Graduation

Also on our last day of classes in Munich, the EF staff organized a fun graduation ceremony for the students, complete with champagne (or apple juice), balloons, music (pomp and circumstance on a speaker), hats and photo props.

Everyone was called up to receive their hat and asked a couple questions.  They all told their favorite German word and then other things such as their favorite German food, best site in Munich, etc.

Then we all toasted their graduation!

The graduates!

The young woman in the yellow vest in the front row is Nicole.  She was our EF guide for our time in Munich and Vienna.  She took us on all our tours and just generally made our lives easier.  She was a cheerful, wonderful, competent guide.  We grew to love her and appreciate her greatly.