Trampletier

After six days of residing in Germany, I finally got to see the zoo where I will be working part of the time here. I got a whirlwind tour with the curator on Wednesday, which began when I walked to meet her by the administration building and came upon a lot of commotion, a huge semi truck, and a jumble of people talking quickly in German. The truck began to rock back and forth gently. The curator saw me, introduced herself and then explained there was a two ton rhino in the truck, being transferred to a zoo in England. The truck rocked some more. At the last minute the zoo also decided to send a zebra with the rhino apparently, so a forklift carrying a giant box drove down the path and carefully parked next to the truck where it took eight men to push the box into the truck. This was my introduction to the zoo.

Mostly for the rest of the tour we blew quickly past the exhibits and the curator pointed out which ones were being torn down and replaced or remodled (a lot of them). The zoo is reminiscent of Point Defiance several years ago when all the construction for new areas was going on. In Magdeburg there are plans for some great new exhibits, but it means that some of the animals need to be loaned out to other zoos whlie their new homes are being constructed, or they might even need to be permanently given to other zoos, so the list of animals I recieved before I arrived is already outdated. 

Though one rhino was being shipped out, there are still four rhinos here in Magdeburg and I was fortunate to get to spend a little time with them and their keeper (he speaks no English at all) who has worked at the zoo for over 30 years. I would not have guessed rhinos are...cuddly. I know that's anthropomorphic and all that, but really, they came up to the edge of their (don't worry Mom) REALLY well-reinforced stalls, and they liked to be scratched and patted and rubbed. Their skin feels strange and rubbery, almost inorganic. And their eyes are so very small for such large animals, which is of course why their eyesight is so bad, and why they are prone to being skittish. The male rhino reportedly weighs over three tons, and with their reputation I certainly did not expect them to be so good-natured. 

I got to do some other things at the zoo that were firsts for me this week as well. For one thing, I had never mucked a stall. At Northwest Trek where I was an intern, all the hoofstock roamed in a huge 430 acre area, so there were no stalls at all. The hoofstock in Magdeburg live in stalls, so lucky me! It was a good upperbody workout anyway. I am also pretty sure I have never seen a camel up close before. They are huge! The kind with two humps is called "trampletier" in German, which made me laugh because that translates directly to mean just an animals that stomps on things. The camels also were pretty good-natured and I have yet to see one spit. (I haven't been spit on by any llamas yet either.)

Some other animals of note here are 1) a very endangered and extremely ugly type of monkey that the curator admitted she chose to try to breed at Magdeburg because most zoos don't like to exhibit the homely and uncharismatic little things 2) a pack of Siberian Huskies, the first domesticated dogs I have ever seen on exhibit anywhere 3) itty-bitty mongooses so numerous they are like some sort of weasel swarm--very odd to me 4) a raven who, since ravens can mimic human sounds, speaks German. There are many more animals that are all worth discussing, but I have to leave something to write about next time!

In other news, the parents and kindergarten supervisors were quite concerned that I had no TV in my apartment (a travesty!), so they donated one to me. I would really much rather have internet access than a television, but I decided not to mention it and to graciously accepted the gift. Of course, it doesn't help much with lonliness or homesickness because the channels are German! But I do get CNN if I am really craving an English-speaking voice. I also can watch The Simpsons dubbed in German. I will probably watch the German channels anyway occasionally to help me to learn the language faster. I already find I understand more this week than last, and I hope that trend  continues.

I also discovered the reason that I encounter so many German people who do not speak English or who only speak very little. One of the keeper-apprentices who studied English before she decided to become a keeper explained that there is a great descrepancy between the number of Germans from former West Germany who speak English and the number from former East Germany. The more tourist-y parts of Germany are all in the west and south (former West Germany) and those areas have all been teaching English in their schools since just after WWII. These are the places Americans visit most and why we Americans have the impression that "everyone in Germany speaks English." In the east however, Russian was almost the only foreign language taught until the wall came down, and even after that it took some time for English language programs to get started. At the same time, I have been surprised by a few Germans who claim to speak no English. They will say something like, "Ich spreche kein Englisch" (I don't speak English) but then say something to me that is certainly English, like "Wait a moment" or "I'll come around" or "See you in the morning" to me. Many of the young people who say they speak no English actually mean that their English is about as good as my German is, which is pretty bad, but good enough to ask for things they need or string together a few meaninful sentences when necessary. The older people who say they speak no English, well, they mean it.

This weekend I am hoping to see a little more of Magdeburg, specifically the famous park on the Elbe river that is supposedly quite beautiful. It is colder here than I hoped and I am feeling a little sorry that I packed all of my warm clothes in the bag that I will not get to bring here until November when I come home for a few days. I hope I have not made a grievous packing error.

Victorious

I have several victories to report for the day:

First, I figured out how to wash my clothes. Yes, joke all you want about how I am not even domestic enough to do laundry--ha ha. Seriously, it was not easy. The German washing machine is small and functions as both the washer and dryer. Not surprisingly, the instructions are in German. This did not phase me, as my German skills (as well as my ability to decipher the heiroglyphics under the words) are adequate for this task. But no matter what button I pushed or knob I turned, no water would enter the machine. Yesterday in all I spent about half an hour trying to do laundry and then gave up. Today I asked one of the other teachers about this enigmatic machine. Apparently there is a valve tucked away someplace and it looks like something only plumbers should touch, and then only if your bathroom is flooding, but if you turn it,the water will go in. So today I turned the valve and did laundry!

Another victory for the day was getting a library card from the university here. I was able to not only find the library on a map and then get to it, I also was smart enough to bring all of my documentation with me as proof of residence. Then, with a little paperwork and some really poorly spoken German, I obtained the ability to check out books (mostly in German) and use the internet here!

Next on my plate was to buy a tram pass for a week. Again my mental mapping facilitated this and I found the small green stand in front of the McDonald's (McCafe!) where I bought a pass using no English. Then the police who make random checks on the tram to make sure no one sneaks on asked to see my ticket (the first time this has happened to me) and of course, I was able to show it to him.

The last victory, which was actually really appalling happened in the school at about 9am. Several children had arrived already and were seated in the morning circle, when Cedrik arrived, munching on the remainder of a roll. Unbeknownst to Cedrik, a chunk of the bread fell to the floor when he took a bite upon entering the circle. With absolutely no warning two children, a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, shot out of their seats and dove onto the chunk of bread, screaming. I could not move for a moment. They rolled around on the floor, each trying to not only grab the bread, but to simultaneously shove it in their mouth. It reminded me of when dogs are fighting and people need to use the hose to get them apart. When I separated them, I said, "This has been on the floor, blech. It is dirty." The students calmly sat back down as if they had not just been wrestling WWE-style over a bread crumb on the floor. At the time I was shocked, but just a minute afterward I could hardly keep from laughing when I looked at them. The mental image of this interaction is amazing, and I am rather glad to have witnessed it.

Observations for today

Observations for today:

1) Nearly the first thing I observed this morning was a man showering. This happened on accident for my part, but I am not sure about anyone else's invovement. I walked into my kitchen absently pondering whether to eat bread or yogurt, which were the only two things in my apartment to eat. I happened to look out my window and straight into the window of the apartment across the coutyard from me. Apparently, my kitchen window looks directly into HIS bathroom window. Why he does not pull the blinds, I cannot fathom. Fortunately, there is a big fake plant that blocks the view at least partially...

2) In the past three days I have seen three men wearing a bag that is a combination man-purses/fanny pack. They wear it slung over the shoulder opposite of the side where the bag hangs, which makes it less like a purse, but at least two of them were shaped in a way that reminded me of a fanny pack. Additionally, I have seen at least two young men (different from the ones wearing man-bags) who were wearing a masculine version of capris. There were many pockets and manly indicators that they were not wearing women's pants, but I have never seen this style before. I do not know if it will catch on in America...

3) There are florists and garden centers on nearly every block here. This struck me as odd because most Germans live in condos or apartments and have no yard. However, just behind my apartment building is a big stretch of green, well-looked-after gardens, separated by tiny fences, and speckled with little green houses. I think people may rent or own these small lots to grow their gardens. Either that, or people actually live in the tiny buildings and take much pride in their yards.

4) I went to the kindergarten for most of the day today to observe and get to know the children. Since I am not allowed to speak German to the students, they tended to look at me uncertainly when I tried to talk to them, but sometimes seemed to understand what I was saying because of my gestures or words that are similar between the two languages. Once I caught a three-year-old girl throwing rocks off of a giant mound of dirt. I called up to her that she should not throw rocks, and she responded by announcing (in German of course), "I am on the horse!" I have no idea what that was about. Probably she said something sensible and I just misheard or misinterpreted because my German is poor. Another instance of this occurred after a clerk rang me up at the store: I was pretty sure he asked me, "would you like the reciept in your stomach?" Since he did not shove the piece of paper down my throat, I must have misunderstood him. To be clear I said I wanted the reciept in my bag. ("Ich will es in meine Tasche, bitte." Well, I hope that is what I said anyway.)

5) My apartment here in Magdeburg has convinced me that there is not an apartment in the world where you do not have to listen to a train zipping through the backyard and a baby crying on another floor. Both my Puyallup and then my Kent apartment had both of these things, and now I still have to listen to them in Germany. I will admit though, the train was much louder in Puyallup and the baby much louder in Kent, so I have nothing to complain about here. I particularly find it hard to complain because I really only hear the baby when I am in the bathroom (I think because noise carries so well in the big, open, tiled room--not because my bathroom is haunted by a baby ghost or anything) and really, since I do not sleep in the bathroom, the baby does not keep me awake. Last night, when I could not sleep at about 3am because of the jet-lag, it did occur to me that maybe I should take a bath because my bathtub is so awesome, but really, who takes a bath at 3am? Trains are also much quieter here; they run without all the pompous whistling and chugging.

As always, more later.

Magdeburg, heir bin ich!

Jet-lagged, hungry and unable to use the German keyboard properly, I am writing from Magdeburg! I have been here just a little over two days, but so far I am enamored. The trip was long and mostly uninteresting; however, I did have a couple of moments of panic when 1)My passport renewal was enigmatically delayed and subsequently lost by the USPS 2) I realized I did not have the phone number of the person picking me up at the trainstation and thus could not actually ASK him to do so (solved thanks to Jared!) and 3) on the layover in Paris a number of employees were unable to tell me where to find my cat. Apparently when you fly an animal into Paris it is customary to leave it by itself on the floor of the baggage pick-up hall with absolutely no aplomb. Sophie meowed about this quite a bit, but otherwise mostly just sat and looked at me as though she despised me. Not one person asked to inspect the cat or her documents at any time.

When I had finally dragged my bag and Sophie to our new apartment, she immediately forgave me and now seems thrilled with Magdeburg, purring constantly. Our apartment is amazing, so it is unfortunate that I can only keep it for six weeks. There is a washing machine, dish washer, nice view and even a beautiful newly tiled bathroom complete with tub. I did run into a small snag this afternoon though, when as predicted I had trouble buying the right products to actually use these machines. I found what appeared to be dish soap, but the bottle said "do not wash children's hands in this" so I did not buy it, and also I could not remember the word for soap or for laundry and thus gave up quickly on finding laundry soap. The apartment is also within walking distance of a mall, lots of cafes, a bakery, and pretty much everything I could ask for. Even the internet "club" I am sitting in right now is only a few blocks away. 

Tomorrow I will sit in with the class for the first time and also visit the zoo itself. I have seen the school, but not when children were there, and have not seen any of the zoo at all, so that should be exciting. Next week I will be doing a presentation with the boa constrictor for the children and the press have been invited to observe. Apparently our project has been getting good press; of course I cannot read or understand any of it because it is all in German. 

I have not found a routine yet because I am still not sure of my schedule at all, but to retain a semblance of routine I tried to continue going for my usual run. I did not get lost on my first run, and ironically ran directly and inadvertently to a gym. It was called McFit. No joke. It did not appear to be operated by McDonald's, but would be a great business plan--to run both the horribly fattening fast food joint as well as a the gym... 

Some random observations thus far:

Europeans do TOO wear jeans. A lot. 

Not all Germans speak English, and some who don't are important--bank tellers, bus ticket checkers, etc.

Everyone will respond "just a bit" if you ask whether they speak English, even if they are proficient.

Germans stand too close in line.

There is a drink on the menus here that is half beer and half Sprite.

The University is free, but it costs an annual fee to have a library card.

The manager of the preschool has NEVER eaten peatnut butter!

German keyboards are not the same as American ones and are difficult to use.

Clerks in stores and waiters have no "customer voice" that is extra helpful and friendly like Americans clerks.

Espresso types of coffee will be served with straws.

Non-alcoholic beer has begun to be marketed here and the Germans are justly confused.

For now, Magdeburg is fabulous and I am greatly enjoying my adventure. If I still believe this after my first day on the job tomorrow...we will have to wait and see.

Onward

When I came in to the hallway of the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater today, my last day as an employee there, Maureen said, "You get to do whatever you want today!" I thought, "Great, I can make the perfect day! I'm going to--hold on..." It struck me then that if I were to create the perfect day, it would look mostly like every other day at Wild Wonders.



First I spent an hour cleaning the bird of prey mews, and broke the news to the raptors that I wasn't coming back. Then I spent another hour dicing produce and preparing the bizarre culinary concoctions that the animals eat. After a lively break with my coworkers, I asked Quito the green-winged macaw to participate in a training session with me. He responded by raising one foot in the air toward me, asking me to pick him up. Quito is learning to extend his wings on command, and considering he started out just shrugging, I think full wing extentions like he offered me today are impressive.



Next I took Jumbo Jet, a radiated tortoise, out for a snack of clover in the grass, and then helped set up for one of the theater's big presentations. Mostly this consisted of asking animals to go into their crates and strategically placing treats and props. During the show I stayed behind the scenes to release animals from their kennels at their cues and direct them back when their routines were through. After show clean-up, I harnessed Buckley the beaver and took him for a short jaunt around the zoo while I talked to visitors about him. I then had just enough time to bring Canberra the tawny frogmouth out into the sunshine for a quick sunbathe before lunch.



My coworker Sara and I jogged through scenic Point Defiance park on our lunch break, with the sun dappling the paths through the thick trees. By the time I cooled down and ate, it was time to set up for the next show. This time my role was to present to the audience. Our show is really an entire play, scripts, costumes, sound effects and all; the difference is that we have a lot more animals doing cameos than any play I've ever heard of. Performing in these shows is one of my favorite parts of working at Wild Wonders. I love hearing the "oohs" and "ahhs" of people who have never seen an aardvark dig, a fishing cat go fishing, or a hawk dive after prey.



By the time we cleaned up after the second show, there were less than two hours left of our ten hour day. I squeezed in one last training session with Quito, who again proved that parrots are very intelligent birds by holding his wings extended for slightly longer when I gave him the hand signal cue for slightly longer. Twiggy the red-legged seriema was next in line for attention. She needed a refresher course in her "hold" behavior, which means she should stand fairly still and focused on a target when the trainer cues her.

The last animal I accompanied onto zoo grounds was Phoenix the Harris' hawk. He said, "cheep cheep" when I asked him to step onto my glove while I untied his leash from the perch. I chose a shady spot near the path, but it was late in the day so mostly Phoenix and I had the place to ourselves. I fed him a few bits of chick and explained that I wouldn't be there to take care of him anymore, and that he should be sure to fly well in shows, but that I didn't mind if he wanted to foot some people now and then or yell his impatient "caaaaawww" at them. He said, "cheep cheep."

Before I left, I cleaned out my locker, turned in my uniforms and keys and walked once past each of the enclosures to look at the animals one last time as one of their keepers. I did feel sad, but the feeling that overshadowed my sorrow was the realization that I was extremely lucky. I had constructed my perfect day, just like Mo said, and it was exactly like any other day for me at the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater. Not many people can say that most days at their job are nearly perfect.

Needless to say, I will miss the theater. But I am optimistic about building my own new role in Germany at the Magdeburg Zoo and school. As must as I loved Wild Wonders, I am ready for more than I could get there.

The Journey Begins

So there I was, attempting to join the ranks of all other tech-savvy, hip, young people, when I accidentally deleted my entire first blog entry and had to start over. Blast. Since my departure for Germany is imminent and I am a notoriously poor correspondent, I am attempting to open all lines of communication. I have an internet phone number, an email address (of course) a MySpace page, and now this blog. I hope that's enough for people or I'm in trouble. Today we are at T-minus 9 days. (Where does the saying "t-minus" come from?)

Truth be told, I am terrified. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea for me to wander off to a country where I barely speak the language, don't know a soul, and won't be able to afford weinerschnitzel? Some days though, I am excited. I will be experiencing all kinds of new things, and I'll be doing it all on my own, however I want. That part doesn't sound half bad. Well, not entirely on my own--Sophie is coming too.

So here is my Blogspot page. Ta da! Thus far, I haven't figured out how to do anything useful with it (besides delete blogs accidentally), but I am optimistic. I am optimistic about Germany too. As the Magic-8 ball would say, "Outlook positive."