S
Kennenlernwochenende 2008
Bamberg / Erlangen, Bayern
James Soh, Aachen
In my twenty-one years of life, I have never been alone so far away from home, from Singapore. This is why I find much comfort in the knowledge that there are other Singaporeans here, in Germany, who have chosen this same path. Singaporeans who chose to step out of the comfort of our family, our friends, and our homeland. Of course, I was excited and looking forward to meeting these like-minded, adventurous Singaporeans at Erlangen on the 24th October.
Well, but first, I’ve got to get myself there - 460km from Aachen to Erlangen! With some help from Malcolm, I got myself acquainted with an Aachener, Paul, with whom I’m going to share a carpool (they call this Mitfahrgelegenheit). This means of travel is much cheaper as compared to trains and gets you to your destination faster, when riding on smooth traffic nonetheless.
But well, you can expect heavy traffic on the highways when you travel on a Friday evening as everyone’s leaving town to spend the weekend somewhere else. By the time I reached Erlangen, dinner’s started, only for a while though.
I was struck with familiarity when I stepped into the Chinese restaurant at Erlangen. It wasn’t the decorations of the restaurant; it wasn’t the smell of the Chinese dishes, but the distinct accent of English that we Singaporeans speak. It felt just like I was home again. Although it was my first time meeting all of them at the table (except Xi Zhen), this feeling of familiarity just brought us together in no time.
After dinner, we retreated back to the youth hostel for the night. The youth hostel provided us with 3 cosy rooms, the largest one belong to the guys of course =). I’d say that the place feels like a ‘high-class’ version of our bunks in army (only guys will know... haha). Our laughter and occasional screams drowned the silence of the night as we entertained ourselves with Rummy and Ligretto.
The next day began after breakfast with us talking a stroll in the morning streets of Erlangen. It always feels great walking in the quiet streets of a German town on a weekend morning. All the shops are closed. Only few cars and people litter the streets on this tranquil morning.
Not after long, we came to a Schossgarten, which is part of Erlangen’s University campus. The fountain in the middle of the Schossgarten was especially breath-taking, especially with the majestic buildings as its backdrop. We chanced upon a market when we exited the Schossgarten, where Raymond and Xi Zhen bought freshly made apple juice. Yum!
A trip from Erlangen to Bamberg took about 20 minutes. Thanks to detailed planning by Malcolm, we arrived at Bamberg’s train station just minutes before the other Singaporeans from the neighbouring towns arrived at Bamberg.
Our tour of the town of Bamberg started from the Hauptbahnhof as we made our way to the Altstadt, a UNESCO world heritage site, where we spent some time browsing through the food stands and makeshift stalls. You can find fresh fruits and vegetables, roasted chestnuts, wursts, and not to forget, the street musicians adding a tinge of festivity into the cool, still air in the Altstadt.
After this, we proceeded to the Old Rathaus in Bamberg, where we met Guo Jun and Katrin who would be giving us a brief introduction to the Town’s history. Interestingly, the Old Rathaus is built over the river, as the townsfolk were not allowed to build the Rathaus in the town at that time. Thus, the townsfolk decided that the Rathaus should be built on the river so as not to violate the law.
Up next was the visit to the Bamberg Cathedral, officially known as Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg. The most distinctive feature of this Cathedral is said to be the 4 grand towers. Though partially destroyed in 1081 in a fire, its lost grandeur was later restored to it during the 12th and 13th century. As a Christian myself, I am always intrigued by the works of the churches in Germany. Each and every piece of drawing, structure and statue portray the dedication determination and talent each craftsman has, to be able to create such a masterpiece.
After the visit to the Bamberg Cathedral, it was time to feed our empty stomachs as we headed back down to the Altstadt in search of some delicacies to satisfy our hunger. However, as we all had different preferences for lunch, we decided to split up for lunch. Some of us went to the Brauhaus, some went to have some spaghetti. As for Gilbert and I, we went for something more Deutsch – wursts! You just got to try them in Germany., especially with the mustard sauce that complements the brotchen and wursts ever so well.
The visit after lunch was up the Michaelsberg, to the Michaelskirche – a nice workout after lunch indeed. A walk inside the church revealed a small room, the Holy Grave Chapel. After walking into this small room, we noticed that images of skulls and skeletons are used in the paintings and sculptures in this room. Not the usual kind of things you see in a church. A stroll in the garden of Michelskirche lets you have a nice view of the town of Bamberg, including the Bamberg Cathedral we visited earlier.
The last and final stop, for me, in Bamberg is a definite ‘must-do’ – tasting the local beer. Bamberg is most well-known for its Rauchbier, which actually tastes like ham! They offer both a stronger and lighter brew at the breweries here.
Not after long, we found ourselves back at the Hauptbahnhof waiting for a train back to Erlangen. It was a nice day at Bamberg; touring the town with fellow Singaporeans. Beautiful as it was, the group had to split up when the train arrived at Erlangen. One group back to Munich, and the other back to our ‘hide-out’ in Erlangen.
In Germany, we are not as spoilt for choices as in Singapore when it comes to food. Nonetheless, we found ourselves a nice Greek restaurant for dinner.
We retreated back to the hostel after the dinner. Though most of us were tired after the trip to Bamberg, how could we miss out on the night life here? Sadly, I had to leave myself out of this as I was suffering from a bad sore throat.
On the morning of the 26th we found ourselves 1 hour earlier than the day before, as the time returns from daylight saving. However, our time together in Erlangen was about to end soon. A last breakfast in the hostel, a last walk down the quiet morning streets of Erlangen.
It had been a great experience to meet with fellow Singaporeans on a foreign land; to be able to speak ‘Singlish’ freely and be understood. I’m already looking forward to the next time that we can all meet again on this land away from land, home away from home.
Surely, this will not be the last goodbye.
Bis zum nächsten Mal! Tschüß!
People who made KLW08 possible:
James / Aachen
Lester / Aachen
Joyce / Dresden
Laura / Erlangen
Hadi / Heidelberg
Bernie / Heidelberg
Kityeng/ Heidelberg
Muliadi / Heidelberg
Jin Jiang / Heidelberg
Raymond / Leipzig
Wei Xuan / München
Gilbert / München
Yi Dan / München
Markus / München
Hana / Saarbrücken
Malcolm / Stuttgart
Guojun / Trier
Katrin / Trier
Xi Zhen / Würzburg
Priscilla / Würzburg
Teddy / Zürich, CH