What do you want to be when you grow up?

When I was a kid, in the US, that was a fun little question.  Even as a teen, it was not something to be taken overly seriously--no one really expected me to have my life planned out by highschool, or even by graduation.  Starting college (which was still reasonably priced) with no declared major, and figuring it out while you worked on core classes was a perfectly legitimate option.

I do realize that now that as college costs have risen, and graduation requirements have gotten more intense, teens in the US do need to have more direction before taking on the cost of a degree.  Nonetheless, I think it is still fairly common in the US to not really have much of an idea of what you want to be until midway through highschool, and even reasonably normal to not know upon graduation, and take a few years to work or attend community college before deciding on a likely career path (which may or may not include getting an advanced degree--I think there is a push back now from the idea that everyone must have one).

And then, we have Germany.  I do really like the system for vocational training in Germany, and the fact that those kids who are not wanting or able to attend college have a great way to learn a trade (and resources are not being squandered forcing everyone into the college path, when in reality no society flourishes with only degreed professionals in the population).  I am less impressed with what goes along with it; the fact that in a typical German school set up kids are put into tracks by grade 5 and specialize more and more from that point, so that by  15 it is very odd indeed to not be heading towards at least a general set of careers (something in the science, or hands on but technical, or clerical, etc), in fact, from what I can tell, in the standard school system that is almost impossible to avoid.

And that is how, even at the Waldorf school that Rio attends (Waldorf is an alternative education, much more focused on the whole child and much less tracked) I found myself attending a meeting today with his teachers.  They want to know his future plans.  What he intends to study and where he intends to work.  You know, because by 15 he should have his life all mapped out, or last some reasonably good idea of what he wants to do and how he is going to get there.

The ironic thing is that Marika, my kid who is heading back to the US for schooling,  DOES know.  She is my planner, my goal oriented kid who focuses and needs a picture of the future to work towards.  but, Rio, well not so much.  There are things he is interested in and good at.  He wants to try working a contract on a cruise ship, as a member of the activities staff, and see how he likes it.  I think he has a real chance at that and speaking both English and German will be a big boost.  Whether he would like it enough to try to make a career out of it, even he cannot say.  It's probably more of a get some work experience and meet people and travel while young kind of thing.  He loves all things technical and spends a lot of his free time keeping up with the latest innovations in computers, cell phones, and science as a whole, which could lead to any number of careers if he so desires.

He is really good at math and logical reasoning and could decide to attend college in the US with an end goal of working in some sort of related field (though, lacking a third language and being unevenly great at math and science but not strong in language arts in general he could never attend university under the German system).

I am lucky to have found a great school, with really caring teachers for him.  One where, after talking to me today they are okay with keeping going at trying to get Rio up to the next step in the German testing system, just to open up more options for him, but also knowing he is not focusing yet on any particular career, and being his own self will likely take a very non traditional path, but still make it work.

Funny thing is, even as a young child, Rio would usually refuse to answer "what do you want to be when you grow up"  He used to get irritated at being asked and not understand why people expected him to know already.  We would try to explain that it just meant what was something he might like to be, not a hard and fast answer--maybe he had some vision of his German future and the box an answer might put him in!

--Hadley

Wheelchair accessible Junior Suite on Legend of the Seas

I am finally getting around to throwing up this post about our wheelchair accessible Junior Suite on the Legend of the Seas (from our trip to Norway in May).  I tried to take lots of photos, in case someone is looking to see if such a cabin would work for them.

We booked the last Junior Suite left on the ship, upgrading only a few weeks prior to sailing, and thus were given the accessible suite even though we had no need for one.

Here is a photo from in the entry hallway.  The room is quite wide.

The hallway and door are also wider than the norm, to accommodate a wheelchair.  There are two peepholes in the door, one at the normal height and one lower down.

The closet is very small.  No bigger than in an interior stateroom (but there are LOTS of drawers to store clothing in).  The safe is low down, easily accessible from within a chair,  I would think.  

The desk is lower, and wider than the norm, again to accommodate a chair.

Getting to the fridge (on the far right, in this photo) might be difficult from within in a wheelchair; there is not a lot of space in between the sofa and fridge, but it was fine for us.  The sofa itself was wider than the norm, I would not lean back on the backrest if I sat normally and bent my knees to allow my legs to hang down.  

The bathroom was quite large and came equipped with two shower stools.  The mirror is tilted down to provide a good view from within a chair, which was fine for me, but Dave, at 6'5" could not see the top half of his head or face in it.

In order to have a roll in shower, there is nothing to stop the water from running all over the rest of the bathroom--which was a bit annoying for us but not a major problem.

The room, and thus the balcony, was extra wide--a very enjoyable feature to be sure.  Looking from outside, we estimate we had about 20 to 25% more space.

The door to the balcony opened very wide-- even wider than the door into the room.

And finally, an extra shot, with people in it, to give you a feel for how much turning space is available.  

I hope this has helped someone who needs the information.

--Hadley

World Cup Wrap Up

Most of a week has gone by since the World Cup finished up with an exciting, close game that ended late into extra time with a German goal and win.  I expected Germans, who change work and school schedules around World Cup games, and party well into the night celebrating lower tier wins, to be ecstatic, and on Sunday night they were.  

The few (illegal, when not New Years Eve) fireworks that had not been used up, all seemed to be set off within 5 minutes of the final whistle blow.  Shortly thereafter, the honking started.  We went for a walk into town and there were several people driving round and round, honking and waving flags, while others stood along the edge of the street waving flags and cheering as they went by.  Most seemed to be driving safely and carefully--we did see one instance of stupidity, a car with someone laying across the hood as it drove around.  

At the public viewing, many people were still watching the post game interviews, shots of the team on the field with their families, etc.  

(photo from Fifa.com)

I fell asleep around 2:00, a bit more than 2 hours after the game, and the honking and cheering was still going strong.

So, I was a little surprised on Monday when everything seemed to be back to normal.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I was expecting something.  I think I heard less post game talk Monday than after the quarter and semi final matches.  The same held true for Rio at school and Dave who is actually working in Germany this week.

There was a bit more interest and conversation on Tuesday, when the team arrived back in Germany and was welcomed by a huge group in Berlin (where it appears people were still celebrating!)--but still not much.  With all the huge amount of hype and excitement and talk about the World Cup before and during, I am a bit surprised about how little there is after here in Heidelberg.

--Hadley

Stadfest!

One of my favourite things about living in Germany is that we have all these fun little local festivals.  I would hazard to guess that on at least 90% of weekends there is a local festival happening in at least one town less than an hour from me.  The most enjoyable, though, is when it is right here in my own hometown, as it is this weekend.

This weekend is our Stadtfest (city festival), which is put on by the city itself (with plenty of sponsors of course), as opposed to the fall Kerwe which is put on by the local churches.  Both are really nice ways to get people out and about and build a sense of community, both offer fundraising opportunities for local clubs, and both are fun.

We kicked things off Friday night with a low key, DJ hosted party in the main event area: the school courtyard.

The DJ was excellent, but no one was dancing.  Personally, I find it hard to dance on hard bricks without pain in my knees.

The first "real" event on Saturday was the early afternoon tapping of the ceremonial keg.  The Burgermeister (mayor) does this and then hands out free beers until it is all gone.  You can't beat that!

Eppelheim has an agricultural background (and is still surrounded by farms and fields) so one of our main events in the Stadfest evolves from that: the Heuwagon races (hay wagon races).  The course is set up over a small section of local streets and around the water tower.  The first races are the pedal car races, which are mostly kids, but the mayor and some other town officials always get in on the act as well:

While the racers are off pedaling hard, the race official cools off with a small beer:

The pedal car races serve as a good time for everyone in the main area to notice that things are about to start happening, and the number of people lining the street builds as the first of the hay wagon races take place.  The initial races involve small competitors and small wagons:

"Small" generally refers to the under 11 crowd (broken into two age groups) but yesterday it also included the over 90 crowd!  These ladies got lots of cheers, especially as their nurses pulled them back around for the second half of the race:

The main event involves 800 kilo wagons!  This year was not nearly as hot as last year, thank goodness.  It still takes a lot of strength, and a bit of skill to maneuver such heavy and cumbersome wagons down not only straight paved streets, but through sand traps and around curves, down a twisty bricked street and around the water tower in a tight circle (note, only 4 people are allowed to touch the wagon at a time, one steering and three pushing--the teams can have others run along side and switch off as needed).  

The sand really does slow those poor guys down:

and the corners can be tricky:

But it sure is pretty, and a little lonely, back on the back stretch and around the water tower:

We had to head home to get ready for guests as the race was finishing up, so I have no idea which of the seven teams had the fastest time:  we missed seeing the little haywagon (full of beer bottles) awarded to the winners.  

Most years, there is a live band on Saturday night, but this year a big screen was up and there was a Public Viewing of the World Cup game to decide third place.  

There was also a breakfast this morning, and a live band playing traditional German music.  Normally, everything would close up and be taken down begining at about 2:00 this afternoon.  Tonight, Germany plays in the final for the 2014 World Cup, so everything is remaining up so people can watch the game together there.  We walked by and it is packed--but we prefer to watch at home, where no one can smoke nearby.  If Germany wins, I may have to head over and see a bit of the post game celebrations though.

--Hadley

World Cup Fever

If you live under a rock, or possibly if you live in the USA, you may not know that this evening the first of the semi final matches in the World Cup will be played.    While it DOES appear that the every fourth year sporting event is finally getting noticed in the US this year; it seems (judging from facebook posts and message board conversations anyway) that interest dropped off sharply after the USA team was eliminated.

Germany, on the other hand, is playing tonight (having made it to the semi finals now 4 times in a row) and I am at a bit of a loss on how to describe just HOW big a deal the World Cup is here in Germany.

I truly do not believe there is any sporting event in the US that garners as much attention fro such a large percentage of the population (hey, even Rio, David and I, not normally fans of televised sports are all loving watching these games--all of them).  This is much bigger than the World Series, bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than the Olympics.  . .

Here in Germany, it is rare to see the German flag displayed, other than on government buildings, or occasionally at a park, etc along with other national flags (for example, around the fountain in our town the German flag is flown, but so is the US, the Italian, etc--all equally high).  The American tendency to display our flag, and flag related decor (as well as wear our flag) is something that every German visitor we had while in the US, and many people we talk to now after visits, comments on with surprise.  This level of nationalism is not the norm in most of the world, and particularly not in Germany, where there is a fear of too much pride in the fatherland, thanks to the horrific history of where that led less than a century ago.

That all changes during the World Cup.  I am told that it was the 2006 World Cup when Germans finally felt, for the first time since WWII that they could show pride in their nation and their team.  The idea sure picked up steam quickly, both during 2010 and now, in this month of the tournament, it is all Germany all the time.

Suddenly, a good quarter of the cars on the road are decked out in flags:

Many homes are decorated as well:

(in a town with a very large immigrant population, we are far from the only family with some conflicts as to who to root for!)

Virtually every business has flags and other patriotic decor up.  I had my camera out at the local Welde Brewery this Sunday and thought to photograph the exterior fence:

You will notice it is also advertising a "Public Viewing"--a football (sorry Americans, I learned the sport over here, and really American football involves very little footwork--so I will keep referring this world wide sport as football (like nearly every other nation) and not soccer! 

 Anyway, where was I?  Oh yes!  Public Viewing (which I also hear is catching on in the US) is just watching the game on a large screen, in a public area--so that you get all of the thrill of being in the crowd of fans while watching.  Unfortunately, you also get to breath in all the cigarette smoke from smoking fans, so we avoid these (there are at least three in even our little town--it is a big thing).  Here is the area Welde has set up for fans to come and watch (at no charge):

Lest you doubt the German fan tenacity, people happily stay and watch and cheer even in the rain.  

Stores are filled with German and Football themed merchandise and decor (this must be a marketer's dream come true)

Even unexpected things, like high heels and toothbrushes get into the act:

and, of course, during games everyone wears t shirts, face paint, etc--just like in the stands.  Even Rio and I are decked out:

Tonight, the semi final games is at 10:00 pm.  Rio's school (no, they are not out for summer break yet!) will have a delayed start tomorrow--knowing that the kids will be up late watching and (hopefully) celebrating a win.  Many factories and offices will also open late tomorrow (several unions negotiated later start times on days following late games Germany plays, and some negotiated shift work being changed so that no one is working during the games themselves).  

So today, I have my Germany shirt on, and Rio has his, and tonight we, along with most everyone in the country, will be glued to a screen, cheering on the German National Team, and if all goes well, later tonight we will be kept awake by joyous shouting, honking and firecrackers!

--Deutschland! 

Kletterwald, Speyer

I have been rather busy these past two weeks--we have a teen exchange student visiting (from the USA of all places!) and have been out and about every day doing our best to show him a good time while he is here--which leaves minimal time for writing (and, when we have been home, we are often glued to a World Cup match on TV.)

All the kids are off at various events today, and I have a free hour, so I want to try to share some more fun day trips we can do from Heidelberg as well as the many differences between my home country and adopted one (many of which have jumped out at our visitor these past few days), and the like here on the blog (I will still write a summary of DLP for the Disney enthusiasts, but that will wait a bit--the non Disney lovers out there are probably more than sick of it).

So today, I will talk about one of our favourite almost local places to visit: Kletterwald Climbing Park on the outskirts of Speyer.  Kletterwald translates to "Climbing Forest" and it is basically a series of high ropes courses up in the trees.  Such courses are actually quite common and popular here in Germany and easy to find almost anywhere (at least here in the South where we have plenty of forest land).  Kletterwald was the first one we visited, and is our favourite.  They have added to and expanded it and it keeps getting better and better. We try to go once a season, and at 22 Euro a person, generally only go the one time--it can be a pricey few hours, but so worthwhile.

One thing that jumps out to us Americans is the lack of liability forms to sign.  When the kids were younger, I did sign one for them, but now that they are as tall as I am (okay, taller), it is never mentioned.  This does not mean safety is not paramount.  All climbers, no matter how often you have been before, must be instructed on the ground level set up and show that they understood and are capable before being allowed to head up,
and your first course must be one of the easier and somewhat lower courses (though you can still choose to be a good 3 to 5 meters high--the lowest courses are almost like playground equipment and really just for young kids).  There are also many workers stationed on the ground, keeping an eye out on all the platforms to be sure everyone is operating safely.

Once receiving instructions and showing competency, you head up into the trees:

Elements stretch between platforms, where you can rest a moment, or take a photo (keep that camera tied to a belt loop, etc in between times so you do not lose it to the forest!) and which are always limited to no more than three people (and only one at a time can be on an element).  Some are not at all physically demanding, just fun, with that thrill of feeling like there is not much between you and the ground:

Since you are safely harnessed in, it ca be fun to let go of the guidelines and try to manage the obstacles entirely balancing on your own.  I never make it more than about half way when I try that, but it is still a lot of fun and the extra challenge is enjoyable.   

All of the courses have at least a few of the super easy and terrifically fun ziplines to go sailing along.  One course is primarily ziplines, with simpler elements to get you up high enough to glide.  This is a great one to save for last, when you still want to have fun but are running low on energy.

Many of the challenges, like both elements shown here, rely heavily on using your upper body strength to pull yourself along or remain upright.  A trip to Kletterwald is always a workout for the arms!

and some elements are just plain freaky!  This series of tubes is about 10 meters up (no joke) and signs say you must go through on your hands and knees.  So, there you are, crawling with a view of the ground FAR beneath, easily visible through those open slats, and swaying back and forth, and then you get to the open section where you have to move between tubes.  Eek!  Technically you are attached, via harness, so a safety line above your back, but it is still horribly freaky (for me anyway) to reach through that foot or so of open space and get my hands on the side and then try to hold my body weight as I hop my legs over.  

It is one of those freaky while you are doing it, but also fun and a great feeling of accomplishment once you make it through kind of things.  

Kletterwald is certainly one of my favourite local outings--and while not the typical thing tourists think of when visiting Germany, well worth an afternoon of your time, if you are inclined to enjoy this type of thing at all.

--Hadley