Bunker Kralenriede – Führung 3. Oktober 2014

Keep calm!

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In Braunschweig, very few bunkers remain in original condition. The city center was dotted with bunkers during WWII, however most of them were taken down after the war. Others were turned into apartment buildings, none of which still look like bunkers to this day, of course. Bunker Kralenriede is one of the few that remained untouched. Organized by KulturTeam, monthly tours are available for those interested in taking a peek inside Bunker Kralenriede.

The tour lasts about 1 1/2 hours, costs 7€, and is led by a well-informed local (i.e. a Braunschweiger). Though the bunker was not built below ground, it felt about 10 Degrees chillier inside. That's the first thing I noticed upon entering, in addition to feeling a tad spooked out. The second thing I noticed was Rauchen verboten! (Smoking not permitted!) written on almost every wall in an unfamiliar typeface.

The bunker has a simple layout: ground floor, 1st floor and 2nd floor. Each floor looks identical to the next and consists of long hallways lined with 6 sq. metre rooms. Unbelievably, 20 people fit in each of these rooms, sometimes for days at a time. Despite having vents that allowed fresh air to enter the bunker, ventilation was horrible and made worse by the perpetually foul state of the washrooms.

Only German women and children were allowed in the bunker. Foreigners and Jews were not permitted to enter. Bunker Kralenriede was mainly for residents in the local area, and most people kept a few of their belongings inside the bunker as there were periods of time when the alarms went off frequently.



The photos below show stairs leading to one of the bunker's main entrances, as well as the actual door at that entrance. Our tour guide explained that once the door was closed, it remained closed until it was safe to open again. Oftentimes, people who hadn't entered the bunker in time desperately waited at this door in hopes of being let in. The sheer thought of this makes my heart sink.

Nowadays, musicians make use of Bunker Kralenriede by renting out the space for practice sessions. I've shared this with a few people I know and I've either gotten a raised eyebrow or a shrug of the shoulders. So long as the musicians are comfortable with it, why shouldn't it be tolerated?



Situated in the neighbourhood of Kralenriede, it's hard to notice the unassuming bunker at first since it's surrounded by normal houses on a residential street. Here's a photo of the bunker taken from outside.

While it isn't the most positive time in history to reflect on, my visit to Bunker Kralenriede was admittedly fascinating. The past cannot be changed. As such, I think it's necessary for one to know a thing or two about the place where one lives or the place one calls home, even if this place is temporary. I can't think of a more worthwhile activity to have done on the Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity) earlier this month. *proudly waves German flag in the air*

The Top 10 Mistakes Germans Make in English

After 2 1/2 years of teaching English in Germany, I’ve developed a good understanding as to why native German speakers make the mistakes they do when speaking English. Like any language learner naturally does, they tend to think in their native language first. The trick, however, is to do the exact opposite. This is because unfortunately, not all words and expressions can be directly translated from German into English. Tipp: By making a conscious effort to think in the target language prior to speaking it, one-to-one translations can be avoided.

The following is a list I’ve compiled of the top 10 mistakes that Germans make in English due to the characteristics of their native language, be it a grammar, sentence structure or pronunciation matter. By thoroughly understanding the reasons why a German speaker makes the following mistakes, the student may focus on avoiding them and the teacher is able to make well-timed corrections accordingly.

Poor Angie! She didn't actually ask this question but she's the butt of our joke because 1. she's German and 2. everyone knows her.

10. By / until

In German, bis is used to express either by or until. So for example a typical sentence I often hear is, "My boss told me to finish this task until tomorrow." No. BY tomorrow. I tell my students to remember that by means "not later than" and until answers the question "How long...?" It's just one of those concepts one learns best by doing. In the language-learning world, this means speaking (lots of it).

9. Adjectives and Adverbs

Adverbs don't exist in German. Verbs can simply be described with adjectives. If one can fly direkt to Japan and one can sing perfekt, why bother with this -ly business? Even the most advanced English learners struggle with adverbs and I presume because it's so hard to remember to tack on that -ly where appropriate, particularly when dealing with complex words like precipitately or thwartedly.

8. What means ________?

You get this question every few lessons. But beware! Get used to hearing it and sooner or later you'll start saying it yourself. In German, Was heißt ________? is used to ask someone what a word means. German speakers forget, however, that they need the helping verb do in order to form a question in English. What means 'awkward?' ✓What DOES 'awkward' mean?

7. Fahren (to drive)

Germans, as efficient and practical as they are, need only one verb, fahren, to describe a million types of movement. In German, you can drive not only a car but also a boat, a train, a bike, a skateboard, a pair of skiis - you name it. Student: "I'm driving to Dresden next week." Me: "How long does it take to get there from Braunschweig?" Student: "If my train is punctual, 3 hours." *facepalm*

6. Since / for

Here's where it gets sort of tricky. In German, one could say Ich lebe in Kanada seit 8 Jahren. One-to-one translation: I live in Canada since 8 years. Correct translation: I've lived in Canada for 8 years. Now do you get why it's so confusing for German speakers? To make matters worse, one could also say Vor fünf Jahren war ich in Australien. One-to-one translation: For five years was I in Australia. Correct translation: I was in Australia five years ago. Ago = vor and for = seit.

5. Do / make

Hey, all you English teachers out there teaching German speakers! Don't deny it. When you first heard a student say "I'm going to make party this weekend," you chuckled out loud. You had to wipe that smirk off your face when another student said they "made a BBQ" last week, didn't you? As long as you correct them every time they do a mistake, I guess you're forgiven.

4. "in the near from"

This particular mistake had to battle it out with 2nd and 3rd place because it's a phrase I hear not once, not twice, but five times a day. In German, in der nähe von is an expression commonly used to describe how close a place is to another place. That's why German speakers cannot shake the habit of directly translating and saying something like "I live in the near from Berlin." Grr.

3. "We see us..."

Every time the lesson comes to an end and I'm saying bye to my students, someone blurts this out. Someone'll say, "We see us next week!" nanoseconds before I slyly sneak in an "each other" and give them a look that says you should know this by now. In German, wir and uns are allowed in the same sentence. In English, we and us are like oil and water; in the same sentence, they repel each other.

2. Person / people

I feel like English teachers in German elementary schools weren't/aren't doing their jobs properly because this is the one mistake Germans have ingrained in them that for the life of me cannot be undone. 1 = person. 1+ = people. The word persons may occasionally be seen on signs in elevators (e.g. Max 9 Persons) but it is not used in everyday spoken English. Germans likely think that since Personen is plural in German, persons must be the correct translation. But what about the word Leute?

1. Clo-thes

Forget squirrel or Porsche or WiFi. Clothes is the #1 English word that German speakers mispronounce. My theory is this: in German, every letter is pronounced the way it looks. Silent letters don't exist. What you see is what you get. This could be why Germans pronounce clothes as two syllables instead of one. The bf has another theory. He says Germans think that cloth is the singular form of clothes, hence the need to create a second syllable and say clo-thes. Beats me.

Almost German / Not Quite German

In light of Germany winning the World Cup earlier this month, a question came up that I couldn't help but ponder. The big win left me questioning how German I've really become, in addition to now being a lover of football. Living in Germany has undeniably changed certain aspects about myself, some I hadn't even realized until I gave it a good think.

5 Signs That I'm Almost German

1. I’m not particularly proud of admitting this, but, I eat Wurst almost every day. Now I know what you’re thinking and no, I don’t each sausages every day. But Wurst is also the name given to sliced meat and my lunch almost always consists of a sandwich containing Käse, Gurken, Tomaten and Wurst. Hey, at least I’m not a slave to canteen food like all of my students are. The canteen at the company where I work, by the way, serves Currywurst every day.


2. I value ventilation like I’ve never valued it before. When in doubt, open up a window. You’ll automatically feel better. Not only does it remove the lingering smell of cheap cologne worn by businessmen in the office, it also helps to remove the feeling of stuffiness in your flat. I know this because I learned it from the Germans, a people obsessed with ventilation and who throw open their windows (albeit briefly) even in the wintertime!


3. I’ve thrown all notions of prudishness out the window. Let’s face it: North Americans are prude. Period. Especially in the eyes of Germans, who are comfortable with nudity and actually open about sex. I feel like I grew up in a completely opposite society and culture, and almost feel liberated now that I live in Germany. Case in point: in the change rooms at my gym, women of all shapes and sizes change and shower with brazen confidence. They don’t bother trying to cover themselves up with towels or what have you. I’ve even seen women have full-on conversations with each other in the nude!


4. I ride my bike in spring, summer, autumn and oh yes, even in winter. Expertly too. Nobody thinks I’m crazy for biking in rain or snow because everyone does it. The Germans say Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur falsche Kleidung. In other words, there’s no such thing as bad weather, but rather, inappropriate clothing. While I prefer to wear rain pants, a rain jacket and waterproof shoes, it’s typical to see people donning a poncho or holding an umbrella while riding in the rain.


5. When Skyping or FTing with friends and family back home, I have to resist the urge to start off by saying naaaaaa and inserting German words such as doch or egal throughout the conversation, for they’d likely respond with a clueless ‘huh?’ The thing is, there are so many German words that I wish we could adopt in English. The reason why I admittedly enjoy peppering my English with German words is simply because these words fit so well in context yet do not have direct English translations or, when translated, don't express what I'm trying to say as fittingly.

So there you have it. I'm probably, say, 25% German? Am I therefore a mere 75% Canadian? However which way you want to break it down, there are definitely qualities about me that aren't German-like.

10 Signs That I'm Not Quite German

1. I can’t say I love making small talk but I definitely don’t mind it when the person I’m talking to gives me something to work with. Conversely, Germans hate it. What we believe is essential for networking and for building good relationships, they think is a waste of time. The problem is Germans think that when English speakers make small talk, it’s superficial. It’s hard for them to comprehend that asking someone “How are you?” isn’t necessarily meant to inquire about one’s life in detail. This is because in German, Wie geht’s Dir? is indeed meant to sincerely inquire about one’s (oftentimes personal) life and normally only asked by close friends and family.


2. I don’t care if people choose not to follow rules and regulations and I most definitely will not wag my finger nor scream at a jay-walker. Germany is a land of rule and regulation abiders, which is fine by me. But we do live in a free society, no? If someone chooses to jay-walk, that’s his or her decision and I’m not wasting energy or my emotions on denouncing that person.


3. I’ll never learn to be as direct as Germans are. Countless times I’ve experienced (mostly old) people scream at me for things like biking too close to the sidewalk and I find it utterly tasteless. Germans have no shame giving you a piece of their mind, whether you’re a stranger to them or not. In the business world, assertiveness is also the name of the game. Some of my students feel uncomfortable saying “could, would or should” because they think these words express uncertainty. When translated into German, these words communicate indecisiveness and therefore weakness. While they're polite to use in English, in German they're not explicit enough.


4. Germans are generally wary when it comes to data protection and privacy but unlike them, I don't feel compelled to change my name to Sh Elley on Facebook. I don't blame them, what with the spying going on and all. No one seems worried about their own cell phones being tapped though.


5. Döner will never be my go-to fast food meal. I rarely even eat fast food, let alone döner. Nevertheless, I get why it’s so popular. It’s relatively affordable, a Dönerbude is never more than a hop, skip, and a jump away and it's filling. But it leaves this nauseating smell on your hands that doesn’t go away for days. No, you cannot eat Döner with a knife and fork.


6. I haven’t been to Mallorca, which the Germans themselves have deemed their “17th province.” It’s such a popular holiday destination for Germans, you don’t have to worry about not being able to speak Spanish if you plan to go there - everyone speaks German. Although the thought of visiting Mallorca is tempting since it’s cheap to fly there from virtually any city in Germany, I’d like my next major trip to be a destination far different from Europe. China, perhaps?


7. My 1s don’t look like 7s and I promise you, they never will. Germans were taught how to print certain numbers and letters in school differently from how I remember being taught. If you ever ask a German to write the number 1 on a piece a paper, there’s a 99% chance that instead of it looking like a lower-case l, it’ll consist of two lines, both of which touch the baseline and the cap height. It basically looks like a deformed 7. Ask a German to print out the whole alphabet for you and you’ll see that their letters have loopy qualities, similar to that of cursive.


8. If I were able to have one warm meal per day, I’d prefer it to be dinner. Traditionally, German children got off school early enough in time for a late lunch at home where they’d usually have a warm meal. These days it's common for adults to enjoy a warm lunch as they either eat out with colleagues, or as I mentioned before, they eat in canteens. As a result it was and still is common to have Abendbrot (literally ‘evening bread’) in the evenings. To be fair though, due to changes in lifestyle, instead of just bread with sliced meat and/or cheese, nowadays more and more families are having warm meals for dinner as well.


9. I don’t believe qualifications are the keys to success and that the more education and experience you have, the more successful you will be. This is very typical German thinking. Germans jeer at the idea of ‘rags to riches’ as being only possible in Amerika (aka the US). They’re super structured people so it’s hard for them to wrap their head around getting to the top without taking the qualified route. They don’t like taking risks and that’s why entrepreneurialism isn’t prevalent in cities that aren’t Berlin. In my opinion, the average, middle-sized German city lacks restaurants and shops that are truly daring in concept because no one is brave enough to open one up.


10. Saved for last because it hits home the most, I can never be a true German because I know how to queue. A simple concept but one that has bestowed upon me many aggravating experiences. You may already be aware of such horror stories in German supermarkets where a new cashier opens up and everyone in the original queue tramples over one another to be first in line in the new queue. There exists zero courtesy in these instances. Sheer malarky! I see this all the time and it never ceases to make my blood boil. C'mon, Germans! Look to the Japanese and Canadians as good examples: apparently they're the world's best queuers.

I've proved that although Germany has moulded me in some ways, much to my sister's relief, I am and I'll always be Canadian. I sometimes wonder how I'd have turned out if I hadn't moved here. Would I still be prudish? Would I have learned how to bike in the snow? Would I have even bothered to learn a second language? I don't think so. And that's why I find the idea of living abroad so fascinating. Without even realizing it, you're influenced by the culture you're surrounded by. This is precisely why I think travelling is so important for one's growth, and also why I think being an expat is so verdammte fulfilling.

World Cup 2014: Celebrations in Braunschweig, Germany

Although the city in which we live isn't a Berlin, a Hamburg or a Munich, it was still good fun seeing and being a part of all the craziness that went down last Sunday. To think that simultaneously, every city in Germany was partying as hard as Braunschweig - if not harder - is beyond comprehension. As soon as Die Mannschaft got their hands on the cup, everyone took to the streets and it only started to really pick up as we were leaving, around 2am (CEST).

Honestly speaking, I'll always be Canadian deep down. But this one night was the only time I've ever felt pangs of Germanness. Nobody questioned why I was madly flailing my arms and constantly bellowing "WOOOOOOOOOOO" at all the passersby while circling the city centre in a scooter. On this night, it was perfectly acceptable for me to be one of them.



Donned and waved in every which way last Sunday, the German flag was an essential accessory to have at the celebrations. I lamented the fact that I was ill-prepared and didn't have one dabei, but egal. Ole. Ole. Ole, Ole, Ole! Supa Deutschland! Supa Deutschland! Supa Deutschland, Ole Oleeeeeeee. >>



...and then fireworks happened. I think it's important to note that fireworks are technically illegal to set off in Germany other than on New Year's Eve. But the Polizei happily tolerated it this night. *honks horn*



Since it's been a few days since the big win, I've been asking my students whether they think anything will be different from now on. Most of them have simply laughed at the question. They see no reason why everyone wouldn't go back to the way it was before. They recognize that Germans are a modest people and that being patriotic in one's country is something really only reserved for football tournaments. They admit that nationalism will remain a sensitive topic for them. In the meantime, however, I've still been seeing German flags on cars and hanging from balconies, so perhaps there's hope for it yet.

World Cup 2014: Why I Want Germany to Win

I used to hate soccer. Excuse me, I meant to say football. Nobody says soccer here (soccer/football is fußball in German) so neither will I.

I blame the World Cup for changing my attitude towards the sport I was never good at. It’s simply impossible not to get caught up in all the hoopla here, especially since football is so much more than a sport in Germany. One need only attend a Public Viewing to experience the indescribable energy and passion these football fans have. At the moment, not one of my students hasn’t been keeping up with Germany’s progress in the World Cup. Football is to Germany what hockey is to Canada: respectively, the two are inseparable. Football is very much ingrained in German culture.

I remember when Italy won the World Cup back in 2006. I was living in Woodbridge at the time so you can only imagine how crazy it was. Last weekend I Skyped with an old friend of mine who still lives in the GTA, and his insight on World Cup fever this year back home was on point. He said to me, “Everybody over here is suddenly Brazilian or Argentinien or Dutch right now.” I don’t doubt it. Eight years ago during the World Cup, everyone in Woodbridge was suddenly Italian even though on any other day they would have deemed themselves Canadian or Canadian-Italian at best. Do Canadians do this because we don’t have a national football team that's good enough to compete in the World Cup? Whatever the reason is, I find it amusing.

In Germany, it’s a different story. On an international level, Germany's national football team has always been a strong competitor. Germany also isn’t currently what I’d consider an immigrant country. Deciding what country to root for in the World Cup isn't a difficult decision for Germans to make.

What I believe it comes down to is this: Germans feel comfortable expressing pride in their country particularly every four years. Patriotism is a touchy topic in Germany. This isn't the US; it's awkward and inappropriate for someone to hang a German flag on their porch unless it's World Cup time. As absurd as this may sound to a Canadian, Germans generally have a hard time showing pride in being German.

But I'm hopeful that things will change in this country. It already has. The younger generations these days feel less and less of a connection with the hardships of WWII, and rightly so. In an ideal world, Germans wouldn't be afraid of showing pride in their culture/nationality all year round. For one, everybody knows they have the strongest economy in Europe right now. Furthermore, speaking from experience a decent standard of living can be had here, even for the average citizen like myself. So what's not to be proud of?



Perhaps the reason why I've been bitten by the World Cup bug only now is because I can't resist wanting to be a part of it all. On Sunday night, the World Cup Finale takes place and even if Argentina deserves it just as much as Germany does, I'll be rooting for the latter. It's incredible that through sport, Germans can come together and forget about their past even if it's only for a few weeks. I just wish they were able to do that without relying on football. Call me selfish for wanting Germany to win, but all I'd really like to experience is the epitome of what German unity and national pride looks like.

Schrebergärten: Allotment Gardens in Germany

Until I came to Germany, the concept of Schrebergärten (allotment gardens) was unfamiliar to me. Could I be blamed? I grew up in the suburbs of a big city in North America. Every cookie-cutter house in my neighbourhood came equipped with a front yard and a backyard. Roughly one out of every three backyards on my street kept a modest garden of fruits and veggies and/or flowers. If you lived in an apartment, however, you reluctantly threw the notion of having a garden out the window.

Nowadays, most of the housing in average-sized German cities (i.e. not Berlin) consist of apartment blocks. We’re not talking buildings up to 30 storeys high, by the way. The tallest buildings that I’ve seen in Braunschweig are maximum 7 storeys high, if that. These apartments are occupied by people from all walks of life. Families prefer to live in apartments just as much as they prefer to live in houses in the suburbs. This isn’t Canada; not every German dreams of owning a house with a white picket fence and two cars parked on the driveway. Gott sei Dank for that.

The point I’m getting to is that because living in an apartment in Germany (or anywhere, for that matter) isn’t conducive to having one’s own garden, the Germans invented Schrebergärten so that city dwellers could have their own piece of nature just a stone’s throw away from home. Brilliant, no?

I’m pulling your leg. That actually isn’t the reason why Schrebergärten were invented. In a nutshell, these allotment gardens date back to a period of industrialization in Europe, a time when food security and survival were daily concerns. Sometime in the 19th century, a clever man named Dr. Schreber believed that children deserved a healthy environment in which to play. It was then that the concept of allotment gardens was born.

A typical German Schrebergarten today is pristine, well-maintained and photogenic. They have to be. There are strict German laws that forbid you from growing your grass too long! Kidding. But it is true that if you have a Schrebergarten you have to keep it in tiptop shape. And you cannot live there, as it’s not to be used for residential purposes.

Practically in my “backyard,” a large plot of land devoted to Schrebergärten exists just 5 minutes away from my home. It only takes me about 15 minutes to bike into the city so one can suppose these Schrebergärten aren’t too terribly far from where their tenants live. Hop on the Deutsche Bahn and no matter how short your journey is, there’s a good chance you’ll spot at least a few Schrebergärten while riding the German rails.

I took this photo while biking through my ‘hood a few weeks ago. If I cycle past the same allotment gardens this Friday and the weather’s nice, I’ll probably see families watching the football game outside. Germany’s playing France that day. It’s also World Cup 2014. #NBD

Those who don’t give a hoot about football may be barbecuing in their Schrebergärten on that day. Why? Because that's what Germans like to do. They like flocking to their Schrebergärten during the warm summer months so they can grill (aka barbecue) and have some beers with friends, do the gardening or simply lounge in the sun. Having a Schrebergarten is the cheaper alternative to having a house! Interested? It may be a while for those of you with green thumbs. Two words: waiting lists.

Osterfeuer (Easter Fire) 2014

First and foremost, HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

The epic Easter egg hunt goes down tomorrow, so today I'm sharing with you all a tradition typically celebrated at nightfall on Easter Saturday here in Germany. While biking through the countryside yesterday (about 10km west of Braunschweig), I'd noticed huge billowing wisps of smoke in the air, and not just one, but several. After deciding to investigate the one producing the most amount of smoke, I found out what an Osterfeuer was.

Since I spent last Easter back home, I'd never really heard about nor experienced this tradition. Turns out it's celebrated for several reasons. Going way back to pre-Christian times, it symbolizes the act of leaving winter behind. For the Church, the light symbolizes Christ himself. But honestly now, isn't it just a reason for friends and families to get together over some good food and drink before the holiest day of the year? See the clusters of people in the photo above? Yeah all those peeps are lining up in front of a beer/currywurst truck. Mo' fyyyyaaaaaa.

Eiermarkt (Easter Egg Market) Braunschweig 2014

I don't know about you but I personally had never heard of an Egg Market before finding out we were gonna have one in town not one week ago. Gotta love all o' Germany's little surprises. The market itself was held in a cloister, which felt odd because didn't Jesus kick out a bunch o' people who were selling things in a church way back in the day? Nevertheless, the place was hustlin' and bustlin' so I took as many pics as I could before having to hurriedly leave for a breath of fresh air.

While I find the idea lovely and I truly admire the meticulous handiwork that goes into these eggs, I didn't feel the need to buy any. Why buy when you can make 'em yourself? [insert flashback of having a jolly ol' time hand-painting Easter eggs back in Mrs. Jung's grade 1 class] HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

The Alps / Munich 2014

5 days.
Braunschweig --> Munich.
Crashed at a fellow Canadian's place (the hospitable Kelsey Kappel).
Visited my first concentration camp in Germany (Dachau).
Munich --> Füssen --> Hopfen-Am-See
Stayed in a lovely apartment overlooking a lake for 3 days.
Went on nearby day-trips (i.e. Neuschwanstein bka the 'Disney Castle').
Took a cable car up to Zugspitze (the highest point in Germany).
Remained speechless for a few hours.
Ate traditional Bavarian food that wasn't über salzig!
Enjoyed daily highs of 20 Degrees.
Spotted onion-topped churches.
Fell in love with the Bavarian countryside.
Rushed back to Braun Town.
Urlaub zu Ende.

Quedlinburg 2014

There's this picturesque lil town about an hour away from us and I can't believe I hadn't heard about it earlier! We visited quaint ol' Quedlinburg just last Sunday and I was impressed to say the least. The Castle and the Old Town are deemed UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Not to mention, Quedlinburg has more Fachwerk or "timbered buildings" than any other town or city I've visited in DE thus far. Most of these buildings have been restored, but it's amazing how they're essentially hundreds of years old! I love living amongst so much history!