Sex and Nudity- Do Germans Really See Them Separately?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do Germans feel about coed naked saunas, sun bathing in the nude or even walking through a private yard in the buff… right in front of passing trains or pedestrians? My first reaction would be to say that Germans are naturalists at heart and truly comfortable and at home with their bodies. They seem to see no connection between public nudity and sex, but I can’t help but wonder if this attitude will change over time.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently read an article on BBC about this very topic. The author described his experiences in male locker rooms with female cleaners and coed saunas… all in which he seemed to be the only party embarrassed by the situation.

When I go to the saunas or a public beach, I feel like the there are way more saggy old people and families with young children than people in the 15-35 year range, so I can’t help but wonder if the historic trend of naturalism will change with future generations. I brought this up in a discussion with a French class of students around 14 years old, and they unanimously agreed that being naked in a public place was “gross.” Is this their age? Is this their cultural background (while 60% German, our students come from a very international mix )? Or are the days of feeling free to walk around in the buff, change openly on the beach or sweat it out in a coed sauna going to come to an end?

A Last Minute Field Trip to the North Sea

Deutsch: Hallig Hooge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Teaching is a fantastic profession for people who want to avoid monotony, and because Dresden International School is a small private school, the variance factor of what our job entails increases ten fold. As teachers, we’re free to teach outside of the box of our 4 classroom walls, which makes bringing the real world into our lessons (or visa versa) quite easy.

Part of being more creative with our teaching methods and materials means being more flexible…. which is how I ended up on a bus to the North Sea with 30 eighth graders after only a few days notice. I’m filling in for another teacher, but I’m more than excited to do it because, as I realized on an eight day ski trip with our grade sevens earlier this year, there is some magical bonding that takes place during these trips which transfers wonderfully back into the classroom.

Birthplace of Theodor Storm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’re on our way to a town called Heide, near Germany’s coastline with the North Sea. During the following week, students will do a study of the island Hooge, which has almost no vehicular travel on it, canoe through the Walden Sea, perform their own science experiments on adaptations of tidal life, and visit the home of a famous German poet, Theodor Storm. Students have various group tasks to complete and an essay to explain the importance of preserving the national park area that we’re visiting, but they will also have plenty of time to bike, canoe, explore and be the curious, fun loving kids that they are.

Hand Making Mexican Staples and Getting by in Dresden

Styles of “Mexican” food vary at least as much as the countless styles of pizza that can be found worldwide. The only difference is that while pizza is everywhere in Dresden, finding good Mexican (or even the ingredients to make it) proves difficult to do here.

Jace and I are lovers of the Baja style with fresh ingredients, grilled fish or meats and rich avocados. We originally found cilantro at the Asian market under the train station but have recently hit the jackpot as the market near our house now sells not only cilantro, but fresh jalapenos too! Add some onion, garlic, jalapeno, lime and summer’s finest tomatoes and we have ourselves a zesty bowl of pico de gallo. Until now, this, along with a plate of rice and beans has sufficed as our Mexican food fix. Today, however, we brought it once step further- hand made corn tortillas!

The recipe is super easy and thanks to the sweetest Guatemalan lady who runs a little shop called El Mercadito, we were able to get a bag of masa harina (corn flour) to make them. We had to go old school and hand flatten the tortillas as we don’t have a press or even a rolling pin, but they tasted great and even held up to my chronically overloaded taco building.

Here’s to getting creative to satisfy our cravings!

Husband extraordinaire making corn tortillas

Easy peasy- just 1 key ingredient: Masa Harina

Passing the STUFF-TEST for the most part

Dresden, Summer, Beergartens and Sunburns

In Dresden, the first days of summer mean thousands of people swarming into the streets, lolling about cafés and downing ice cold beers in beergartens. It’s as if the whole of Dresden, the Czech Republic, Poland and the rest of Germany has showed up in our quiet little city to enjoy its marvels and relax among its many friendly meetup points.

The beautiful Frauen Kirche viewed from the Neustadt side of the Elbe

Today was the start of a 4-day weekend for Jace and I, and while it would have been the perfect opportunity for a trip outside of town, we both found ourselves looking so much forward to a few quite days to explore our own stomping grounds (that we are usually otherwise too busy to spend much time seeing).

We had a fantastic 50 km road bike ride into the hills through blooming farm country this morning. I was so caught off guard by the hot weather that I came home with a beautiful biker’s sunburn (i.e. I look like I’m wearing a white t-shirt with red sleeves). After lunch in the garden, we headed into town to pick up a few parts for my road bike (during which I found a rocking hot pink cycling cap) and then meet up with a few friends for drinks along the river.

When it was time to go, Jace and I found ourselves eager to stay out in the warm night air, so we headed to another beergarten near the Blaues Wunder for a little more brew and Flammkuchen, Germany’s delightful take on pizza.

Off to bed for now…. we have plans to bike into the Czech Republic and back tomorrow, so it’s time to put these legs up for a rest!

Friends along the Elbe

Dresden skyline from a distance

Jace soaking up the afternoon sun on our city bike cruise

Castles along the way

Bike parking at the neighborhood beergarten

Beergarten along the Elbe

Flammkuchen, it's what's for dinner

Sporting my rocking new cycling cap (and my morning's sunburn)

Saying My Goodbyes

Evening views from my bedroom at my parent's house

Tonight I just bawled my eyes out saying goodnight to my dad. The simple thought that it will be a long, long time before I’m back home in Alaska getting to say goodnight to him again just made the tears flow. It’s not just right now though. This entire 10 day trip home has been an emotional roller coaster and it’s brought up so many feelings that I just didn’t know I had or wasn’t thinking about since I’m so far removed from everyone and everything that I spent the first 24 years of my life with.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love living in Dresden and that I would feel trapped and discontented living in small town Alaska, even though I love it to death and miss it all the time when I’m gone. In the last 5 years, I’ve lived in 4 countries and 2 different states, always looking for the right place to settle down, but meanwhile becoming more and more addicted to extreme change and the adventure of the unknown. Nonetheless, I’m planning on beating this addiction, especially now that I’ve fallen head over heals in love with Dresden. Either way, with all this moving around, you would think that this “goodbye” thing would be getting easier by now, but it just keeps getting harder and harder.

I see how much joy I bring to my parents when I’m home and I feel bad that I’m not there more often to do nice things for them or to simply hang out and chat. I see how relationships have changed without me. I experience some friends and relatives that do everything they can to sneak an extra minute of time in, while others I don’t even hear from despite multiple attempts at contact. There’s really no hard feelings on this one as I barely have enough time to see everyone as it is, but it’s an interesting effect of me being so far removed. My sister and cousins have grown into young adults and I’m sad that I don’t get to enjoy their conversations and opinions regularly. I haven’t been to the cabin with my dad in years. I can’t remember the last time I went crust skiing with friends, and I miss showing up at venues such as Bear’s Tooth for First Tap, knowing that I would see loads of people I know.

I guess some people would tell me that I can’t have my cake and eat it too, and since I know I’m not coming back home any time soon, I just have to get over this hump. Luckily, I have my amazing husband and some road bikes that need riding in the beautiful spring weather to get back to!

Investigating Spring in the Großer Garten

For two weeks now, we’ve had beautiful sunshine and days warm enough to enjoy a meal on the outdoor patio of the corner café. But where are the leaves? Only the slightest of buds are beginning to show on the trees, creating a strange paradox of people in warm weather clothes and trees that look nearly the same as they did in the middle of winter.

Jace and I spent a lazy Sunday afternoon spinning around the Großer Garten. Located directly between our house and the school I work at, I commute through this giant park every morning, but never take the time for pictures. While I definitely didn’t capture the quiet tranquility I experience in the morning on my ride to work, these pictures capture the essence of Dresden in early spring.

Old hunting lodge in the middle of the garden

Me by the pond

The main drag and the ever popular German pastime of rollerblading

A quieter side path

Young people by the pond

My handsome husband

Little sister chasing big sister

Funny duck

Kids making good use of a natural jungle gym

Boys playing by the water

Taking a paddle on the pond

The Best Weekend

Last weekend was the best I’ve had since moving to Dresden and seeing as this weekend marks Jace and my 1 year anniversary, I figured I had better blog about before it gets outdone.

Spring, and at some moments, summer, is in the air. The sun is warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, and while there still aren’t any leaves on the trees, flowers have been popping out of the ground like fireworks. Simply getting to ride my road bike in short sleeves for a few hours, followed by lunch in our garden is enough to make my heart soar!

Lunch with the husband in the garden

On Sunday, I participated in the Dresden Citylauf 10 km race. Over a thousand people showed up for the event, and while sweaty, salty and crowded, running with a purpose felt grand. It was a big effort shaking off those winter cobwebs, but such an energy boost and motivation toward training as we get closer to summer.

Leading a pack of boys in my blue leopard print tights and even smiling for the camera

Discussing our very important post race (brunch) strategy

The race was followed by such a lovely brunch with friends at L’Art de Vie. As luck would have it, there was more sunshine and perfect little tables for us to sit at on the patio. Somehow, three hours  and a nice sunburn passed over casual conversation.

L'Art de Vie for bunch - A+ for atmosphere!

Following an afternoon ride on the city bike along the Elbe river trail, I couldn’t help but smile to myself and think about how much I love this place. I’m sure someone’s reading this blog and thinking, “What? That’s pretty lame and uneventful for the best weekend ever!” but there was something magical and simple about it that left me grinning from ear to ear.

Cruising around Dresden with a happy heart