culture

Discovering the Romance of Berlin

August 14, 2013 By Lauren

When I was nine, my fourth grade teacher held up a small velvet pouch.

“Inside this bag is something very important,” she said.

The class was entranced. What was in it? Gold? Money? Chocolate?

She reached into the bag and slowly pulled out…a rock.

Our faces screwed up in disappointed confusion. A rock? Half of us could have turned out our pockets to reveal the very same thing.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Mrs. Trettin said. “What’s so special about a rock?”

Our interest was piqued. That was exactly what we’d been thinking. Mrs. Trettin’s mind-reading capabilities kept our attention where the rock couldn’t.

“This rock came all the way from Germany. It’s a piece of the Berlin Wall.”

She went on to explain how the Berlin Wall had been formed and subsequently destroyed. I was fascinated. It was like the imaginary line I made in the living room that my little sister couldn’t cross, but real.

For the next 18 years, Berlin existed in my mind as a city full of rubble, war-torn and grey, host to an atrocious leader and military enemies.

I was wrong.

Berlin holds a special kind of romance. It’s not obvious, like the gondolas of Venice or a sidewalk café in Paris. It’s gritty but beautiful, scarred but alive.

Where I expected blandness and institutionalism, I got elegant architecture, archways, and mint-green rooftops. I wanted to stay longer than three nights; I wanted to rent an apartment and spend the whole summer there. Berlin has layers that can’t be peeled away in a few days.

The history is what made Berlin shine, and I’m not a history nut by any means. But when I stood in front of the remnants of the Berlin wall, I was fully awed. I love that pieces of the wall still stand as a silent acknowledgement of the past, twisted with metal and fractured by time.

Berlin’s romance comes from the way the German people have built towards the future without erasing the past. There are gorgeous old churches and museums to gape at, mysterious sculptures to stumble upon, and colorful murals in unexpected places.

It seems odd to call a place with such a tumultuous history ‘romantic,’ but it is. The city gets in your soul. In the Bebelplatz, formerly known as Opernplatz, the Nazis burned 20,000 books one night in May 1933. I stood there, 75 years later, staring at the memorial embedded in the ground. Unlike coming face-to-face with other pockets of history, like the coliseum or Gettysburg, this felt real. Right there, at my feet, history happened.

I remembered being nine and learning about Berlin for the first time; being introduced by a humble little rock. Mrs. Trettin told us about the burning books, and I was as horrified as a fourth-grader can be; who would have the audacity to burn books? I never imagined that one day, I’d be standing there in Berlin, seeing it for myself.

Berlin invokes feelings of nostalgia, love, and loss, even for someone like me who wasn’t there to experience any of it. The city still stands, vibrant and modern, yet somber and worn, ready to teach us all a thing or two about what it means to be romantic.

Photo: City Wall of Xi’an

October 5, 2011 By Danny

The ancient city of Xi’an is known throughout the world for one thing…the Terra Cotta Warriors. These warriors are indeed and impressive site to see and are reason enough to visit the walled city, but once there they are only the tip of the iceberg.
Xi’an itself served as the eastern terminus of the silk road and therefore became a must for us to visit. We’d done our best to retrace the silk road all the way from Istanbul and although the journey was not easy, it was memorable and exciting. Xi’an was the last place we’d see evidence of the Central Asian peoples and their Chinese Uyuger counterparts. One evening we took a long walk along the wall of the city which is where we took this photo. Although the Terra Cotta warriors are being unearthed now, in the present, most of Xi’an’s charms and history has been on display and up against the effects of the weather for centuries.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Xi’an is best enjoyed by staying inside or near the city center. Don’t be afraid to walk around and through the city’s markets. If you’re interested in getting out to see the warriors however, don’t forget to read our experience before you go!

Chinese Culture: Saving Face

September 30, 2011 By Sean

Travelers in China often struggle to really understand the cultural concept of “face.” The Eastern idea of “face” is that at ALL times the giving of “face” (making someone look good) must be maximized while the loss of “face” (preventing yourself or others from looking bad) must be minimized. Everyone wants to feel good about themselves and look good (who doesn’t?) to others, so it’s a massive blow to a person’s reputation or self-image if they are brought down. The giving of “face” is especially important towards those older than you, and especially superiors at work.

For example, as an English language teacher, when I spoke to a student in Chinese, he or she might use “nin” when referring to me, although I would use “ni.” The extra “n” at the end displays respect for the person with whom you are speaking, however this is a dying trend. Other examples of giving “face” could be bringing a nice gift to someone who has invited you into their home, something not very common because people tend to meet in public as most homes are usually quite small.

Paying for dinner, can be quite tricky. Meals are paid by one person only, and depending on how you pay, you can be making someone lose “face”! For example, by me paying for four other friends it gives me “face”, but if someone else was the one who did the inviting, he might feel like I made him lose “face”, even though in the West this would not be an issue.

[Ed Note: We heard a story of an executive of Microsoft coming to China to give a speech. At the end of the speech he asked for questions and received none. This speaker was annoyed because he felt as though his audience hadn’t been listening. In fact, the opposite was true! The audience did not want to disrespect the speaker and cause him to lose “face” by asking questions and implying that the speech did not contain all the necessary information.]

“Face” is extremely complicated, and many foreigners living in China tend to struggle with this aspect of Chinese culture and often give up because it is difficult to understand. In reality, people who wish to save “face” can deny their involvement and avoid responsibility and blame underlings, which makes getting things done (or getting justice) difficult. The funny thing is that many people in China assume all cultures give and save “face” like they do, and from my experience many youth are jealous that Westerners don’t have to deal with “face” the way they do.

There have been many times where I caused others to lose “face” and it caused trouble for me and my relationships (called “guanxi,” or “connections”). I realized later what I had done and felt bad for it, but knew I would have an opportunity later to give them “face” to save my own “face”!

Photo: Inside the Bull Ring

September 13, 2011 By Jillian

Spain is forever etched in my mind as the home of late nights, tapas, sangria, siestas and beaches. Spain’s regions are culturally different due in part to its varied history. We ran with the bulls in Pamplona, a once in a lifetime experience, if only because once you’ve done it you never want to do it again.

We flew into Barcelona spent the night and took a bus to Pamplona. It was a whirlwind journey of Northern Spain, as we crammed the festival and San Sebastian into just a few days. Running with the bulls was a crazy event. From the huge street parties with meter wide paellas, to the all night concerts, ridiculous number of young Brits stumbling around drunk, and the street performers (and pick pockets!) it was all a bit like Carnivale in Venice- more than your imagination can handle.

The highlight of course was the actual running of the bulls, which is over in about 5 minutes. After getting up to run the first morning, we learned to go to the Bull Ring with the locals and wait for the bulls, and want to be matadors to pour into the ring. While the streets felt like a drunken festival, the bull ring felt like a cultural event. We didn’t attend the afternoon bull fights, just the morning fights, where young bulls are set free in a ring to teach stupid tourists a lesson!

IF YOU GO: Pamplona’s festival runs for a week the middle of July. While it’s a fun experience, you won’t want to stay the whole week with nothing else to do, 24/7 parties get boring after a day or two. With more time we would have looked for Barcelona apartments to rent and used one as a base to explore Catalonia before heading further north to Pamplona and Basque country. Basically, you should plan your time efficiently in Spain, there’s a lot to see.

Bathing in Japan

August 9, 2011 By Guest Blogger

I still remember my disgust when I read the section on bathing that came with my study abroad packet: ‘In Japan, bathwater is shared by family members.’ Ewwwww! What I’d come to find out over my 6 + years living there, however, is that far from gross, the Japanese have perfected the art of bathing and cleanliness.

To the Japanese, bathing is more than just cleaning the body; it is a purification ritual preformed for the gods of Shinto. Cleanliness (think: taking off your shoes at the entrance to avoid bringing in outside dirt) is a way to honor the gods and thus a dirty house, unkempt clothing, and of course, a dirty body (like smelly feet!) are in a very real sense signs of ungodliness and disrespect. A historian noted that when the Americans finally entered Japan’s borders in 1853 all we saw was an ‘uncivilized society’ of men wearing sandals and still fighting with swords, while the Japanese saw us as nothing more than ‘filthy barbarians’ because of our poor hygiene.

In modern day Japan, the religious aspect of bathing is all but lost; however, the importance of and special regard for bathing remain the same. Up until the economic boom of the 1980s, many Japanese homes did not have a bath and thus people would visit the local public bath or sento regularly. At only a few coins a visit, this gave people not only the opportunity to get a nice scrub, but also a chance to chat with their neighbors and catch up on the latest gossip. Sento were traditionally unisex, although nowadays most (but not all!) are divided by sex.

Of course, nearly every home in Japan today has a bath. Whereas Westerners often feel the kitchen is the heart of the home, most Japanese families feel this way about their bath or ofuro. Parents often bathe with their young children, and any young children in the house, including visitors, will often bathe together. I was even asked by a dear friend’s 4-year old daughter to take a bath together. I gave in and was quickly humbled by the young child’s honesty of my less-than-Japanese-ideal body size. But she had a wonderful time squirting water at me and playing with her toys (I eventually got her to actually bathe!), I had a great time as we ‘studied’ Japanese together using the bath letter stickers, and of course her parents were so pleased that I was willing to become ‘part of the family’ by sharing this intimate time.

One thing to keep in mind is that sharing bathtime is much easier because of the Japanese-style bath itself. Unlike our tubs and/or showers, the Japanese bath is an entire room. In one corner will be the actual bath, a deep tub that allows the user to sink all the way up to their neck in the water, and the rest of the room will have at least a small, low, bucket-style chair and most likely some kind of scooper. Traditionally, you fill the bath with hot water (typically over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), use the scooper to scoop the water and bathe outside the tub, and when you’re clean and rinsed off, then finally you submerge into the hot bath. Because the body is already clean, the bath water can be used by many people and in many cases, for more than one day (by just reheating it). The key is bathing and rinsing outside the bath, something many foreigners often aren’t aware of and thus end up ruining perfectly good bathwater.

Bathing is typically done before bed and is the perfect way to not only wind down after a demanding day, but also to warm the body to endure the cold heater-less nights (as most Japanese do). It’s not uncommon for Japanese people to spend 30 minutes to an hour soaking, and recently, many TV makers have been producing bath TVs just for this purpose. Bath salts are common additions to baths and come in every scent and ‘health benefit’ imaginable (a popular one is for weight loss), including summer ones that claim to cool the body, even in the hot bath.

One cannot discuss bathing in Japan without mentioning a favorite of mine and of most foreigners I know (and of the Japanese), the onsen or hot springs! As Japan is made up of volcanic islands, it’s only natural that hot springs can be found all over the country. The iconic image of the monkeys bathing in the snowy hills comes to mind. I personally never went to any northern onsen and thus never had the opportunity to have my clothes stolen by some Japanese monkeys, but I did enjoy my town’s local onsen on a regular basis and it is by far one of the things I miss most. Onsen come in all forms, from fancy spa-like ones, to the more traditional and humble ones you can find out in the countryside, but they should never be mistaken for the above-mentioned sento as unlike sento, which are just simple tap water baths, onsen baths are full of natural minerals, supposedly good for all kinds of ailments. Many onsen offer various types of baths, including Jacuzzi-style ones, cold ones (for cooling down after the sauna), and of course my favorite, outdoor ones. My local onsen had nine different types of baths, plus a dry and wet sauna, and only cost $8 for as long as I wanted to stay. After enjoying the baths, we would often don the provided yukata or cotton robes, exit the bath and join the boys for some food and drinks at the onsen’s restaurant. After filling up we may leave or get back into the baths, making sure we went back into our correct side. (One of the guy’s fantasies of entering the women’s side was crushed when he accidentally did just that one day and to his utter disappointment, found it full of obaachan or grandmothers, as is typical!)

If you go to Japan, you will have the opportunity to experience a Japanese-style bath pretty much anywhere you stay. Many of the cheaper places, including cheap hotels, capsule hotels and hostels, will only offer a large public bath (nearly all are divided by sex). Private baths can be found in rooms but will be ‘Western-style’ due to the size constraints. Japanese-style inns or ryokan may offer private baths, but expect to pay for that luxury. Many others have onsen in the actual inn- be sure to ask when you make reservations. If you’re interested in onsen there are several famous onsen towns around the country, including Hakone, Beppu, and Arima. You can stay here and wear your yukata around town as you ‘onsen hop.’ One thing to note, because tattoos are generally associated with the yakuza or Japanese mafia, be sure to cover yours up with a large bandage or you may not be allowed to enter.

Regardless of your comfort level with nudity, be sure to enjoy at least one Japanese-style bath if you visit this country. And no, if you see them point and talk about you, they’re not talking about your thighs, they’re talking about your not being Japanese!! Give them a smile, and sit back and enjoy the warm bliss- this is the REAL JAPAN!

Author: Mellissa is originally from a suburb of Atlanta. After studying Japanese by chance in college, she headed to the Land of the Rising Sun on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program where her intentions to stay three years soon changed after she fell in love with a native son. Now married, Kazushi (Kaz) and Mellissa are living back in her hometown with their adorable pugs, planning our next big move. “My experiences have shown me that while travelling will show you the ‘what’ and ‘where’, living abroad, and especially international marriage, will expose you to the ‘how’ and ‘why’.”

Discovering the Romance of Berlin

Photo: City Wall of Xi’an

Chinese Culture: Saving Face

Photo: Inside the Bull Ring

Bathing in Japan

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