This Old House

My Schwiegermutter has been staying with us over Easter, and since M had to go back to the office yesterday to row with the rest of the slaves, she and I took a day trip to the tiny village of Nöttingen to hunt down the house where my ancestors (specifically my great-great-great grandfather) lived before emigrating to America. We had photos of part of the house from 1956 and 1989 and the name of the town, but no address. The special marking on the house gave us confidence that we could find it.

I am a direct descendant of this Jacob Jung.
We think "Jungen" is intended to mean the feminine of Jung (Jungin).

My brother had found the house in 1984 when he was an exchange student, my mom found it after quite a bit of wandering around town and asking locals with the help of her guide (my brother's former host mother), and the wife of my grandfather's second cousin found the house around 1960 and actually visited with the woman who lived there (and whose family still lives there, according to the name on the mailbox!). I've decided not to ask why none of those folks took note of the address...

We set off from Horb in the morning headed for Pforzheim by train. We had an hour to kill in Pforzheim before our bus left for Nöttingen, so we wandered around a bit and found two Protestant (and therefore locked) churches, a closed museum, and nothing else worthy of note. Unfortunately Pforzheim was almost totally destroyed on 23 February 1945, and rebuilt with ugly modern buildings, so it has no charm that we noticed. We decided to look for the Stadtinfo later.

As our bus pulled up, the poor driver smashed clipped the side mirror of a bus parked near where she needed to be, and so we waited while she and the other driver photographed the damage, discussed what to do, filled out their reports, and traded insurance and contact information. Twenty-five minutes later we were on our way to Nöttingen.

As we pulled into the teeny town, I peeked down side streets we passed to get a feel for what the houses looked like. I spied in the distance down a narrow Gasse some writing on the timber of a house. Could it be that simple? The bus stopped a moment later, and we got out. I headed for that Gasse, but soon we saw that the names were wrong. Oh well, we kept walking. A few yards beyond that first house, I turned around to look behind me (as a good photographer should), and lo and behold, there was the house with Jacob Jung's name. We had stumbled upon the house within two minutes of getting off the bus!

[Incidentally, it took us about 40 minutes to find the Stadtinfo in Pforzheim two hours later following signs and arrows posted around the Stadtmitte, but that's a story better left untold.]

I snapped a bunch of pictures hoping someone would come out and ask, "What's all this, then?!" so I could ask him or her about the inscription. But either I wasn't seen, or this crap happens all the time as Americans wearing silly grins come looking for their ancestors' roots. There was a guy washing his car with his kids on the same little street, but he paid us no mind.

And I wrote down the address. :-)

We had scheduled about two hours to spend in Nöttingen searching for the house before catching the bus back to Pforzheim and were down to 90 minutes due to the mirror incident, so with 86 remaining minutes we did some more wandering. We grabbed a Schnitzel and a cappuccino at the local butcher and then decided to check out the church. It's a protestant church, so it, too, was locked. On the way there we noticed quite a few houses had similar inscriptions to the Jung house, and I took more photos.

Martinskirche in Nöttingen

After we walked around the church checking the doors, we spied a poor chap out on his balcony in a neighboring house checking his text messages. We scurried over looking all innocent, and when he made eye contact we asked him if he could tell us something about the inscriptions on the corners of the houses around. His neighbor's house had one. He asked with a quizzical look, "What is written there?" We said, "For instance, here on your neighbor's house it says on the bottom 'Z.M. Frei'. Do you know what that means?"  He said, "I have no idea. I just bought this house six months ago." Perfect. The first guy in town we speak to is a newbie.

Back to the narrow Gasse and the guy washing his car. He had to know, right? He'd finished washing his car despite his childrens' help and had disappeared inside his house. We heard another guy washing his car a little further on (Swabians really like their cars to be clean), so we perservered. He was very friendly and told us the "Z.M. Frei" indicates Zimmermann Frei, the carpenter who built the houses inscribed that way. Zimmermann means carpenter, and Frei was his last name. We think this was his house, located on the main road through town:

On this inscription you see Catharina's family name as "Freiin", which is the feminine version of her husband's name "Frei".

The friendly car-washer also told us that these houses are all under Denkmalschutz (historical monument protection).

Who were Jacob and Margretha Jung? Jacob was my great-great-great-great grandfather, and Margretha was his first wife. They had one son, who died before his first birthday, and Margretha died a few years later. Jacob was born in 1768 in Nöttingen and died there in 1846. His son (also Jacob, of course), daughter, and widow (and 2nd wife) Magdalena emigrated to America in 1853 because he could see no promise of a successful future in Germany - settling briefly in Cleveland, Ohio and then moving to Sheboygan, Wisconsin (my hometown) in 1854. They had heard that Jacob, who had learned the wheelwright trade back in Germany, might find work in Wisconsin. He got a job with a wagon-making firm that had "plenty of work but not much money," and accepted an arrangement that paid part of his wages in credit. Eventually the owners owed him so much that he bought them out and took over the business. Several generations later Wesley Jung donated a large number of wagons and carriages made by the Jung Carriage Company to the Wade House Historical Society, which then created the Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum near Sheboygan.

So I have ancestors who, considering they could have come from anywhere in Germany, lived more than 200 years ago in a tiny town only 90 minutes from my new home. Perhaps this is why I feel so comfortable and content in southern Germany. I have returned to my roots.

March Highs and Lows 2015

Thank goodness January, February, and March are over. Seriously, I think the sole purpose of those months is to remind us what is to love about every other month of the year.

HIGHS

• meeting my exchange sister in Esslingen for lunch at her mom's house. This is worth explaining: We were exchange partners in 1985-1986. She is from Esslingen, Germany, and I am from Sheboygan, Wisconsin (USA), which are sister cities. In 1994 she married an American and moved to the U.S.. They now live in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2006 I married a German and now live in Germany. Who would have thought?!

• seeing through our living room window the meteorite that flew over Baden-Württemberg on March 16th, though we didn't know what it was until the next day when it was mentioned on the news.


• two meals at our favorite restaurant in three days, one of which was venison. The deliciousness was indescribable.


• another meeting with our exchange students and their parents for the summer Sheboygan-Esslingen exchange. We have another great group and are so looking forward to our adventures!


• spending several hours with my Schwiegermutter in Stuttgart at the "Romans in Baden-Württemberg" exhibit at the Altes Schloss (old castle).


• signing up for our third Kochkurs at the above-mentioned restaurant in May. 


• being invited to a Kaffeekränzchen, (afternoon coffee party) by one of the women who participated in last month's Kochkurs. There were eight of us - the others all knew each other - and it was such a lovely afternoon! We talked about everything - politics, religion, dialects, education, the GermanWings crash, Flugangst (fear of flying), family stories, the Kochkurs, told jokes... They were truly delightful, and the afternoon flew by.

LOWS

• It was March.


• learning of the crash of the Germanwings plane, on which was - among others - a group of 10th grade German exchange students returning from Spain. Breaks my heart.

That's about it, and good riddance, March! I think any other lows of the month were over-shadowed by the Germanwings crash and the aftermath as details and information were released. The weather has been, is, and will remain crappy through Easter, but isn't it April that "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb"? I'm sure things will pick up.

Upcoming - Easter  Weekend

For a peak at what Easter weekend is like in Germany, have a look at this former post about stille Feiertage (quiet holidays) or this one from last year about the Osterhasi and the Tanzverbot. I'm off to place our order at the local butcher for the meat we need through Monday night.

Was ist Typisch Deutsch?

Was ist typisch Deutsch?  What is typical German?

This post was approved by one German and tolerated by another.

Germany and the USA are both civilized "First World" Western countries. On the surface Germans and Americans don't look very different from one another. The citizens and residents of both countries come from a variety of cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Both countries have areas of beautiful landscape, dirty industrial cities, national parks, and poverty. As a whole we have much in common.

Germans and Americans do, however, see the world differently in a lot of ways as well. Keeping in mind that all generalizations are false and therefore that the following points do not describe all Germans, these lists might be helpful for those Americans who want or need to know what makes Germans tick.

The average German...

• spends a lot of time outside - going for walks, playing sports, waiting for public transportation, working in his garden, sitting on her balcony, eating outside at a street cafe, biking, hiking through a forest or in the mountains...


• dislikes small talk.


• pays with cash rather than a credit card, even for amounts over €100.


• is very wary of Facebook in part because of the lack of privacy and because she knows that Facebook is constantly collecting data and information from its users and can use that data for any purposes that its officials choose. Only about 25% of Germans are active Facebook users.


• is knowledgeable about what's going on in the world outside of Germany's borders - not only in other European countries but also in the United States, Asia, and Africa.


• does not care what celebrities have to say about current events and political topics unless they are directly and personally involved.


• is critical of himself and others.


• is serious, industrious, and believes in hard work, but he also knows how to take time off and leave behind the stress of work when it's time to do so.


• follows rules (like observing the midday and Sunday quiet times and waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green before crossing even when there are no cars coming).


• wants to know where her food comes from. Signs in the produce section, packaging on other products, and stamps on every individual egg tell German consumers which state or country the food item came from.


• knows something about life in the Middle Ages because of visits to castles and trips to museums during his formative years if not also as an adult.

Burg Hohenzollern

• can recognize from where a person's ancestors originated based on his last name. Keckonen is clearly Finnish, Akdemir is probably Turkish, Gustaffson is likely Swedish, and Shevchenko sounds Ukrainian.


• does not understand Americans' obsession with guns, violence, and war.


• is not uptight about nudity and doesn't understand why Americans are.


• is very private and will not readily offer personal information about himself.


• is a realist with realistic aspirations and desires.


• is sincere and does not dish out compliments she doesn't genuinely mean.

Most Germans...

• live in an apartment, duplex, or townhouse rather than a single-family house.


• take pride in their cars, which means they don't eat and drink in them, they keep them clean and tidy, and they fix dents and scratches when they occur.


• are orderly, organized, tidy, and punctual.


• are interested in the USA and Canada and intrigued by the wide-open spaces.


• are tired of such questions as "Are you still mad that you lost the war?"


• pay the mandatory church tax but do not regularly attend church.

• prefer to dine at a table outside rather than inside, especially on a hot day.


• drink a lot of coffee. Germans drink more coffee per capita per year than beer. source


• have spent vacation time outside of Germany.


• don't smile at strangers.


• do not have air conditioning in their houses or apartments.


• are difficult to get to know at first but are warm, kind, and friendly once you become well-acquainted.


• consider fresh air important for one's health.

In Germany...

• climate change is accepted as fact in much the same way that "smoking is harmful to your health" is accepted in the U.S..


• being a Holocaust denier (or rather being publicly vocal about it) is against the law.


• movies are more strictly rated/censored for violence than for nudity and sexuality.


• English curse words are not bleeped out or censored on TV shows or in songs on the radio. Not even the "f-word". 


• many stores and businesses do not accept credit cards.


• fast food is more of a last choice than a viable option for a warm meal.


• it is illegal to overtake in the right lane on the Autobahn (or any other multi-lane road).

• you need to bring your own grocery bags from home or pay up to 15 cents each to purchase plastic shopping bags at the store.


• most stores do not have restrooms for customers to use. Cafes and restaurants do, however.


• one often must pay 50 cents to use a public restroom, even those in many museums. The money is put toward maintenance and cleaning, so the restrooms are usually clean.

...and flowers. Germans love flowers all year 'round. As soon as it's almost warm enough, they start planting!

downtown Stuttgart, March 5, 2014

window boxes

fountains and flowers

stunningly beautiful cemeteries

Strangely, I don't think I could write a post like this about my Landsleute.  What about you? What do you think is typical American?

Exchange Students: What You Should Know About Traveling to Germany

I am one of the organizers for a summer exchange program for middle school students. The program is for students in the sister cities of Esslingen, Germany, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin (USA) and was established in 2010. In July the group of Sheboygan students and their chaperone fly over to Esslingen to spend three weeks living with host families, attending a few days of school, and touring with the group and with their families. Then the Esslingen students and their chaperone fly with the Sheboygan group to Wisconsin where they spend three weeks getting to know what life is like in the U.S.. It's a fantastic program and we have had really wonderful groups of students participating each year.

As a former teacher I'm a big fan of handouts and written information for students to read and study on their own time and then come back with questions. In an effort to be more eco-friendly, I thought this year I would put my advice on my blog and provide families with the links to read online.

Exchange programs are close to my heart because I participated in one during my junior year (11th grade) in high school. The dear woman who is now my Schwiegermutter was the coordinator of the program in Esslingen, so she has known me since I was a silly 17-year-old. Now she and I work together for the Esslingen program, have both been chaperones for the German students, and do what we can to provide students with a wonderful and educational experience in both countries.

So what advice do I have for American students (specifically those from Sheboygan, WI) coming over to Germany for an exchange program where they will be living with a German family? I'll start with the following. If you have any advice to add, please add a comment!

What to Know About Traveling to Germany

1. It is essential that you pack good, sturdy walking shoes. Tennis/Gym shoes are probably fine; just don't rely on flip-flops even if you go everywhere in them in Wisconsin. You will be walking on uneven cobblestones and up and down hills and stairs, probably climbing up tall church steeples (the tallest church steeple in the world is in Ulm, a city we will be visiting together!), running to catch a bus or train, and hiking in forests and possibly in hills or mountains. On the days we take day trips together as a group, we will be walking many miles to tour the towns and you will need to wear good walking shoes (not flip-flops) on those days.
   
2. Bring a rain jacket, spring jacket, or some jacket that keeps you dry in the rain. We do not cancel day trips because of rain. Your family will surely have an umbrella for you to borrow; in  Germany if there's even a chance of rain, wise people have an umbrella with them. They're not uncool here. :-)


3. You will likely be riding the city bus and perhaps a train with your partner (never alone!) to get to school, to go into town, or to go to a friend's house. Most Germans use public transportation on a regular - if not daily - basis.


4. Do not lose your passport. Your passport is the single most important thing you possess when you are traveling internationally, even much more important than money. Without your passport, you cannot get on the plane to return home. Your host family will have to drive you to Munich or Frankfurt (a minimum 2-hour drive each way) to spend several hours waiting in line for an appointment to get a temporary replacement passport so that you can return home. Because this will take all day, tell someone immediately if you think you have lost your passport. Do not delay for fear of getting into trouble, because delaying will make the situation worse.
   


5. If you go on a trip with your host family, take your passport with you. If your family wants to take you into Switzerland, for instance, you need your passport to cross and re-cross the border because Switzerland is not a member of the EU. Feel free to ask your host parents to keep your passport safely during your trip to reduce your chance of losing it.


6. Make and bring TWO copies of your passport with you on the day you leave for Germany. Give one copy to your chaperone and keep one copy in your carry-on.


7. Once you've arrived at your host family's home, I recommend you put your passport in a safe place (in a drawer in your bedroom, for instance) and keep the copy of your passport in your wallet or purse. Verify visually every single day that you still have your passport and know where it is.


8. There are not public restrooms all over the place, and even when you do find them, you often have to pay 50 cents to use them. Before you leave a restaurant, pizza parlor, cafe, or home, use the bathroom there - those are free and readily available.


9. "WC" (Water Closet) is a common abbreviation or sign for a restroom.


10. Sunday is not a day for shopping. Almost all stores are closed on Sundays in Germany.


11. A lot of people smoke in Germany! Smoking is generally banned indoors, but you will often find yourself walking behind someone who is smoking, walking through a cloud of smoke, or standing near someone who is smoking at a bus stop, train platform, or waiting to cross a street.


12. Water is not free in restaurants, and Germans don't drink tap water. You buy bottled water, and you'll want to ask or look for "stilles Wasser" - still water, rather than the very common unflavored carbonated water. There's nothing wrong with the tap water, though, so feel free to drink it at your host family's home!


13. Air conditioning is not common in stores or homes. On hot days you will be warm.


14. Clothing is very expensive in Germany. A normal pair of jeans costs around $100. Price tags and signs show exactly what you will pay for the item; the 19% sales tax is already figured in.

postcard

Potential Hot Spots

Avoiding or dealing with potentially awkward situations...

Foul Language

English curse words are not bleeped out on TV or in songs on the radio - not even "the f-word". Game show contestants express their frustration often enough by using the English curse words "f---" and "sh--". Curse words in German or in English are not really considered a big deal in Germany - students even use them in school without getting scolded.
A teen comedy movie about students and teachers came out last year called "Fack ju Göthe", and I heard a young child shout that on his way past me out of his school the other day.

Nudity

Young children play in wading pools, fountains, and streams on hot summer days, often wearing nothing at all, not even a diaper. This is not sick or weird - Europeans are not as uptight about nudity as we Americans are. Do not stare. Nudity is natural, but staring is rude.

At beaches it is generally allowed for women to be topless. Most wear a top, but not all. Do not stare or giggle.

Saunas

Avoid public ones. In Germany swim suits are not worn in saunas, and they are co-ed (for men and women together). Some people cover themselves with a towel, but many do not. Again, this is not weird; it's just the way its done here. In fact, Germans find it odd that Americans wear swim suits in saunas.

Movies and TV

In Germany Movies and TV shows are rated more strictly for violence than for nudity or sexual scenes. Movies that are rated R in the U.S. because of sexual scenes are commonly rated "not to be seen by children under 12" in Germany. 

Waste

Do not waste anything - water, electricity, food, beverages... Europeans tend to be much more conservative than Americans (in other words Americans tend to waste much more than Europeans). Keep your showers as short as possible, turn off lights as you leave rooms, and eat and drink what you take. (When you are served and have no choice about the size of the serving, you do not need to stuff yourself sick. Eat as much as you comfortably can and try to waste as little as possible.)

Punctuality

Ask your family what time you need to be ready to leave, and make sure you are ready before then. Germans are highly punctual; do not make them wait for you.

Meals

Do not begin eating until someone has said "Guten Appetit," which means "enjoy your meal." Usually this comes after everyone has served themselves or been served. Follow your partner's lead.

While I can't cover everything in one post, I think these are the most important for young travelers. What do you think, readers? Any other advice for 7th grade students coming to Germany for three weeks this summer?

The Question EVERYONE Asks...

"So, do you SKYPE with your family?"

I've been getting this question since Skype came into popular use when I was still living in the U.S. and my husband was here in Germany. My answer has always been the same: Nope.

source

I don't blame other people for using Skype and video chatting, but it's not for me. I call my parents every Monday on the old-fashioned landline and our calls often last 90 minutes. I call my daughter every week or two when she has time. I don't talk to my son quite as often because you know how boys are. All of us, regardless of phone calls, send lots of emails, and with my kids we chat via Facebook. I also write postcards to my kids, who are both in college, every few weeks. That's right - postcards. Three of them fit into an envelope for the price of one international stamp, and they get to see pretty pictures besides.

When M and I were living an ocean and six time zones apart, we emailed daily and talked on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and often mid-week during the summers. We also used Instant Messenger to chat online. Often we preferred the online chatting to talking on the phone, especially when we needed to multi-task. I don't need to video-chat; I know what my family and friends look like.

So no, I did and do not skype.  Why not?

Think of all the things you cannot do while you're video chatting that you can do while on the old-fashioned (though cordless) phone:

1. pace (I try to sit on the sofa while I'm talking on the phone, but I always end up pacing.)
2. go down into the cellar to get something
3. check Facebook or email
4. not worry about how you look
5. play solitaire
6. fold laundry
7. roll your eyes at something the person on the other end said
8. scratch your nose ("I wasn't picking, I was scratching!")
9. scratch an itch in an awkward spot
10. change clothes
11. drink a glass of wine during an afternoon call (which I only did sometimes in the States)
12. dust
13. sweep the floor
14. eat a messy snack
15. facepalm

And this is why online chatting (typing) is sometimes even better than talking on the phone. After typing a response to whatever the person you're communicating with last wrote, you can do any of the following undetected:

1. put laundry in the washer or dryer
2. grab a snack
3. take a bathroom break
4. empty the dishwasher
5. eat a noisy snack
6. answer a telephone call or the doorbell
7. express frustration out loud in response to something the person wrote
8. take the garbage out
9. listen to music
10. watch a Formula-1 race or anything else on TV
11. facepalm

True, every now and then one of us ended up typing "Still here?", but M and I knew the other one needed to multi-task sometimes. It is, of course, best to give the person you're communicating with your full attention, but these international phone calls sometimes last several hours and multi-tasking is sometimes necessary and sometimes desireable.

In 10 years or so if I have grandchildren (no rush, kids!), I can see the point of video chatting. Children change so quickly and forget people they don't see frequently. But until then, I'll keep using the telephone and email.

M told me recently that Skype isn't just about video chatting. One can also use it like a phone or use it to type-chat online. For me that would mean learning how to use new technology and a new system, so no thanks until I'm forced. What I've been using for the last 12 years or so works just fine.