Projekt Kaffee Baum (German)

This is another project I did at the beginning of the second course. I explored the Kaffee Baum, the second oldest cafe in Europe, and then wrote this report. There might still be some grammar errors.
P.S. I find it rather strange that coffee names are almost exclusively in Italian. Hundreds of years ago it was in Austria and what is nowadays Sachsen (a federal state of Germany) that were coffee most popular.
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In Sachsen gibt es eine lange Kaffeegeschichte, und heute habe ich das Kaffee Baum, eines der ältesten Kaffeehäuser Europas, besucht, weil ich mehr über die Kaffeegeschichte und Spezialitäten in Leipzig  lernen möchte.
Im Museum finde ich es besonderes interessant, dass das Kaffeehaus Kaffee Baum im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert eine wichtige Rolle in der Gesellschaft gespielt hat. Das Kaffeehaus war ein Ort, wo viele Leute treffen können. Zum Beispiel, im Kaffeehaus “spielten die Damen Karten und zogen über die Nachbarn her”, und “regelmäßig zur Messe fanden sich beim Kaffee Verlagsbuchhändlers aus ganz Europas ein.” Im besonderen waren Friedrich Schiller und Salomon Gessner auch im Kaffee Baum. Deshalb sagt man “die ganz Welt hier beisammen.”
Danach bin ich zu einem anderen Kaffeehaus in die Nähe der Thomaskirche gegangen. Dieses Kaffeehaus heißt Kandler, und es ist täglich von 10 Uhr bis 20 Uhr öffnet. Die Kaffeespezialitäten hier, die ich gefunden habe, sind Kaffee mit Alkohol. Ich habe davon weder gehört noch probiert, darum bestelle ich eine Tasse ” Kaffee Mozart”. Köstlicher Mozart Likör, Vollmilch im frisch gebrühten Schümlikaffee—-dieser Kaffee hat ein spezielles exotisches Aroma, und es schmeckt wunderbar.
Das ist alles über mein Kaffee Erlebnis heute. Ich habe sicher viel gelernt, und eine besonders gute Tasse Kaffee getrunken!

A report of the project in the Summer Course B (German)

As a Rice student I am required to write this German report. It is about my first course project, German Soccer — what we did, what I learnt. Thank Frau Eick, who helped with the language of this report and greatly enhanced my German writing skills.
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Mein erstes Kursprojekt
Ich glaube, dass ein Projekt in diesem Deutschkurs wichtig ist, denn ich kann viel Deutsch üben und lernen. Ich wähle das Fußballprojekt, weil mich Fußball in Deutschland interessiert. Fußball ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil der deutschen Kultur, deshalb wollte ich mehr über Fußball lernen. Besonders wollte ich bekannte deutsche Fußballspieler kennenlernen.
Ich habe zuerst einen Fragebogen gemacht. In einem Kaufhaus in der Nähe des Hauptbahnhofs habe ich drei Leute gefragt. Was ist Ihr Lieblingsfußballteam? Wie sehen Sie Fußball? Welche bekannten Spieler kennen Sie und warum? Ich bekomme viele Informationen, aber ich lerne, dass nicht alle deutschen Leute Fußball lieben. Vielleicht ist Fußball nicht sehr beliebt in Leipzig?
Danach haben wir zusammen den Leipziger Fußballfanklub besucht. Wir haben einen Film über Fußballfans gesehen, der sehr interessant ist. Ich lerne, dass Leute sehr begeistert und aufgeregt während eines Fußballspiel sind. Es gibt auch viele Bücher im Klub. Ich finde einige Bücher über deutsche Fußballspieler, und dann lese ich die Bücher und mache Notizen. Ich lerne viel über Franz Beckenbauer und ich sollte ihn präsentieren.
In der Präsentation werde ich ein Quiz über Beckenbauer vorstellen. Ich schreibe vier Fragen und bereite ein kleinen Text vor. Unsere Präsentation war speziell. Die anderen Teams haben Spiele gemacht, aber wir machen das nicht. Wir singen Fußballfanlieder, machen Shiridemonstrationen und ein Quiz etc.. Wir haben viel Spaß.
Ich glaube, dass wir eine erfolgreiche Präsentation haben. Ich habe viel Deutsch und über deutschen Fußball gelernt. Und weil ich in einem Team gearbeitet habe, habe ich auch viel Freunde kennengelernt. Hoffentlich könnte ich zu Hause als ein Fußballexperte meinen Freunden deutschen Fußball erklären!

1.8.13

It is already August, and within 10 days I will say goodbye to Germany. This week should be a little climax of this course, or even the entire stay in Germany, because I met so many new people and had so much fun.

For example, on Wednesday we had a summer BBQ party, and in the party I played the violin. I didn’t plan on that; plus the atmosphere in the party was not good for classical music. But I played anyway, and I explained to the other students before my play like this: I. Have brought my violin here anyway, so there is no reason for me not to show off my skills, although I am only a layperson. And it turned out to be very good. I played the theme song from a very famous Japanese animation movie which a lot of people know, and a traditional Chinese song.
After the BBQ party I went to a karaoke bar. This wax my first time going to karaoke outside China, and the layout of the place is very different from that in China. In China the karaoke usually have lots of separate rooms, big or small, so groups of people can sing on their own. But here in Germany it’s more like a bar with karaoke function. There are no separate rooms but a stage; people wishing to sing send the song to DJ and when their turn comes they go to the stage to sing, and all the people in the bar can enjoy it and dance to it. Other than that karaoke here is like a normal bar: people can have drinks, chat, dance, listen to music. It’s definitely smaller but more sociable than the karaoke in China.
(I have never been to a karaoke in USA… Shame on me)
Aside from that was the project. After our visit to that “Bayerischer Bahnhof”, on Thursday this week we went to “Kleingarten”. This is something I didn’t have a concept for before. I didn’t think we have that in Chin. Little garden? What is little garden? And that is typisch Deutsch? And then I gradually have a concept of this word Kleingarten. It is basically a private garden, but the functions are not limited to planting flowers or fruits or vegetables. It is a place for people to relax and enjoy life. For example, there are small hits in the garden designed for tea drinking. There is also another famous item in the garden: the German Elf, “Zwerg”. Those are those well know figures: red tall hats, big nose, long mustache. It’s interesting to know that the lovely elves in various fairy tales actually come from this Zwergen from the little gardens. I even bought two bottles of Zwinger Medizin, haha. But anyways, the garden that I first attributed little interest and importance is actually a part of German culture.

29.7.13, viel Spaß haben

Today was a fun day and worth noting. Morning was regular speaking course. But in the afternoon, during our project “typisch Deutsch”, we visited an old and very stylish Brauerei, Bayerischer Bahnhof. The location for this Biergarten was once the train station in Leipzig, one of the earliest in Europe. The coolest part of the visit was a tour to the beer making plants. We saw the huge machines where beer is been processed and heard strange funny sounds. This place was normally only allowed for staff, but today we had the luck to visit here! After that we had one of the most traditional beer in Leipzig: Gose. Before we drink Gose we have to say, not “cheers” or “Prost”, but “Gosiana”! When we were drinking beer we talked further about various things about beer and beer and other alcohol drinks around the world. Our group consisted of people from Lithuania, Czech Republic, Russia, USA, Ukraine, Moldova and … ( oh crap, I forgot the country of one or two people in the group…… ) it was really an international and intercultural talk, and I liked the open atmosphere of our chat.
In the evening I went to a Texan restaurant with three other people. Food and chat couldn’t be better. The best part, however, was after dinner. It suddenly rained very heavily, and we were sitting outside under a big umbrella, and we decided to go right away. Then the people along the way have seen four foreigners  running in the rain, laughing and shouting. I was all wet when I got back to my room, but it was fun – some of the fun and craziness, like running in the rain with friends, can only be done when your are young.

28.7.13, random thoughts on the train – may need revision lol

Sometimes when I am traveling by train I don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to enjoy the beautiful landscape outside the window, scenes that passing so quickly that I might only have one chance to see it in my life. Not only is the landscape beautiful; they are inspiring.  I have the feeling that the constantly changing landscape triggers thoughts and imagination. I sometimes see something, and then think about something for a while, forgetting that I am now traveling on a train or even forgetting that I am right now in Germany. It is cool to think that your thoughts, not the train, actually carry you for quite a long distance. I also usually have this feeling – it’s hard to describe – that in the morning i am at one place, and in the afternoon I am at another. And in just a few days I can leave my footprints in a lot of places – for example, in the eleven days during the two courses I have been to 11 cities and towns in Germany, from south to north, almost covers the entire Germany. I see things, I go to places, and I left. I am inspired and perhaps in someway changed, but the old palaces, houses and castles of hundreds years of history remain largely intact and unchanged. Is this the magic of space and time, that something eternal, or seemingly eternal, like those historical sites, leaves mark on something mortal like human beings? I don’t know, but it feels magical.
I was just writing down random thoughts, so It is a bit illogical… If you can understand what I am talking about or what I feel, you probably either have a super-nature understanding ability, or you have similar experience as I.

26.7.13 afternoon, Dresden

Last Friday I once again visited Dresden only because I wanted to see the Grüne Gewölbe. Last time when I was in Dresden I didn’t have time for this luxury baroque era treasure collection. It was a pity. Therefore I decided then that I must some time visited the Saxony capital again. Plus last time in Dresden the weather was not very good. I guessed if this time if the weather is good, I could have a better taste of this city.
I had to say the museum shocked me. The first thing that strike me was the level of security in the museum. At the entrance of the museum there are two very thick glass doors. The security person checked my ticket, scanned her card, and entered some thing on a machine near the doors, and the first lass door opened itself. But the second door didn’t open. I went pass the first glass door, then standing between the two doors, when the first glass door closed. Now I was left alone in this very tiny space between the two glass doors. When I was about to panic, the second door opened. Then I could entered the museum. It was just like some strange lab in the movies where people have to pass several security check like these two glass gates here. When I was trapped in between the doors I somehow thought bout that and I felt amused, as if I was in a movie scene.
The treasure exhibited here are far beyond my expectation. It is dizzily shining place, with numerous treasuries made of ivory, silver, gold and other precious materials of that time. In the ivory room, there was a table in front of the window. Several ivory decorations stand on the table. The calm orange evening sunshine walked through the window and lay on the table and the ivory items. The ivories and the table thus illuminated a sense of glory and luxury of Saxony rulers in the 18 century.  And the golden room, one of the climax of the museum tour, is even more luxurious. The mirrors on the walls, the oil paintings near windows give a feeling that the room is endless. It was a pity that photos are not allowed in this place, or I would at least have som image memory of this beautiful place. It WAS worth a visit. The luxury reminded me of the royal palace in Beijing, China, called 圆明园 ( Yuanmingyuan Impeial Palace), which is a incredibly huge place for treasures, even larger than the green vault here in Dresden. The fate of theses two places were somehow similar: both were destroyed in war, though the green vault was rebuilt, and the Chinese palace remained in relics.
After visiting the museum I had dinner at a traditional saxony style restaurant with traditional saxony style settings of the 18 century. After that I went to the old bridge to enjoy a view of the Elbe river bank and the old town. The weather was particularly good. It was the time of sunset, and the light piercing through thick clouds was simply glorious. It was much more beautiful than when I visited last time. It seemed weather does matter to one’s travel experience.