Travel notes that are not travel notes (1): Germany

I have three impressions of Germany: rigorous mechanical workers and car manufacturers, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Akun's mouth "put a spoonful of salt when cooking, and then use your fingers to smooth it out" Weird German roommate.

Later, I developed an indescribable obsession with Germany, which started from a short story I read a long time ago. There was a description in that article:

"Out the window is a winter day in Heidelberg, and the banks of the Neckar River are covered with layers of snow-drenched forests.

The old castle in the forest reminds me of Mark Twain, 'Broken yet kingly, like King Lear in the storm. ’

There are so many tourists. "

 

After the final exam, when I saw a suitable air ticket, I immediately packed my bag and flew to Germany. (As for why Berlin, because the air tickets are cheap, hehe)

The day before departure, I performed on the open-air stage in Chinatown. In order to prevent my cold from affecting my gaming experience the next day, I put on a short-sleeved shirt and a warm autumn coat under my performance clothes. Therefore, the whole performance did not cause any additional losses except that the stage was too slippery and almost caused me to fall off the street and a pair of soft shoes.

After returning to the dormitory, I started to pack my luggage and download the videos I wanted to watch on the road. Packing things is a wonderful thing. It starts with reluctance and ends with a feeling of loss.

There are only two pieces of luggage in total, a school bag (and the fox Nick on it) and a very small cross-body bag.

my luggage

As usual, I couldn't sleep well that night. I kept thinking about the terrible situation like losing my passport or forgetting to bring my BRP. I got up at 7 o'clock the next morning, opened my schoolbag and checked it three times before taking the train to Manchester Airport with lingering fear.

Day 1

The flight was delayed, so after I rolled my eyes and ate a sweet muffin, I still had time to drink water like crazy while sending insulting messages to my friends. Then I sat in the waiting hall, smelling of various high-end perfumes sprayed by enthusiastic shopping guides because I passed through the shopping area.

The flight numbers on the big screen kept scrolling, and I suddenly felt that the name Heathrow was quite nice for no reason.

British people love to read. From the train to the plane, there are always people reading books and newspapers. Although the reason may be that the signal is really poor, this kind of scenery can be regarded as retro and beautiful.

 

I regretted buying the ticket to Ruian. The airport was too far away and I spent a huge sum of money on city transportation tickets. After taking the bus and subway countless times to the hotel, it was already dark. When I emerged from the subway entrance, my heart skipped a beat. A long-lost tension and throbbing made me break out in a cold sweat. They all became excited in an instant.

 

Schonefield—Mitte

Before departure, I read through two Berlin travel guides and maps, but Berlin is actually different from what I imagined. It is more prosperous and noisy, and the lights are as bright as Beijing. (Of course, only at this time is it like Beijing. The real capital. The Italian restaurant downstairs of the hotel is lit up with weird pink lights, and with some music, it will definitely become a sanctuary for head-shaking masters.

I went to an Asian restaurant in the evening. The lights were not turned on, and there were candles on the table. The weak flames swayed every time someone opened the door. I ate a plate of Pad Thai in the dark, and the waiter gave me a strawberry milk candy before I left.

The Germans' English is so bad that I accidentally bought a bottle of sparkling water. I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and unscrewed the cap to drink water. Bubbles rushed out and poured all over my hands.

Oh, what a bother:(

Dining room

Day 2

One of my many secondary habits is that I always like to add a gender to "it". Before coming to Germany, I thought Berlin was an old man wearing heavy reading glasses, the kind of person who doesn't smile. On the second day after arriving here, I changed the demonstrative pronoun in my diary to she. Berlin is a precocious little girl.

I was woken up by the alarm clock at 7 o'clock in the morning. After washing my face, I found that it was still dark, so by some mistake, I lay back down and slept until 8:30. There was a German student and his friend sitting in McDonald's, pulling their hair and learning Chinese. It wasn't until I poured the last sip of cappuccino into my mouth that I could choke out a complete sentence. This feeling is quite strange. I speak English in Germany, and the Germans are learning Chinese.

After checking out, I regretted it again. Getting up at 8:30 was still too early. The devilish schedule of Europeans kept refreshing my knowledge. I walked around in the deserted streets with my earphones playing a weekly cycle of traditional folk songs from the 1940s and 1950s. My playlist was always puzzling.

This day I went to the Brandenburg Gate where there was no one around. I have to admit that before I came here I never understood what was so good about a gate (it smells so good) and the Soviet Monument. I leaned against the tank at the door and watched the traffic on the street. The phone just happened to play a song called try to remember, which is quite suitable for the moment.

Remember the present, because the present is future history.

Half an hour later I was sitting in the woods in the park listening to music. I was extremely happy. The love of sunny weather was a humble emotion that I only developed after arriving in England. Although this happiness did not last long, and it became cloudy after I entered the Capitol, but I at least temporarily harvested this hard-won limited edition happiness, right?

 

 

Can this little advertisement really be cleared?

Brandenburg Gate & Soviet Monument

A small picture taken from the video

This evening I went to the Berlin Concertgebouw to listen to the symphony. I bought the tickets a month ago. When I received the order information, the pointer skipped 12 and reached the magical year 2020.

The music literacy class made me feel that Germany is a solemn and romantic place. Berlin has a high popularity of art. Three-quarters of the concert hall is filled with middle-aged and elderly people. At first glance, they are all white-haired German women wearing long black dresses and red lips, talking and laughing with their partners. My coat is co-branded by Disney. There is a Mickey Mouse in the pocket on the back. Inside is a discounted sweatshirt I bought not long ago. It has Simba and his friends printed on it. They are grinning. I described this scene to my friend. At that time, it was said that "Yu Zeyun was wearing a robe and covering his clothes."

concert hall

berlin bear

Small wine cabinet in hotel

Day3

I woke up hungry in the morning and went to a nearby cafe to have breakfast. Standing at the counter was a German who looked German (this seems like nonsense). Sicily is the hometown of Gargamel. I think the Germans are more like Gargamel. Men all have big noses with a slightly hooked tip, which is both abrupt and cute, like a cartoonist’s nose that has been deliberately enlarged. Imperfect characters. I bought an original croissant and cappuccino that day. The German uncle put on a serious face that almost said "Made in Germany" and handed the items to me. He also added "Welcome to Berlin city". I was very moved. .

Passing by the concert hall where I listened to the symphony last night, I regretted coming here in winter. If the weather was warm enough, I would really want to sit on the steps by the roadside and draw a sketch. This building makes me want to use a sharp pointer. Describe her with a thin outline pen.

The weather in Berlin is as strange as in the UK, with rain one second and sun shining the next. At that time, I stood in a daze in the narrow aisle of the Berlin Cathedral. The cold wind rushed into my ears. I was surrounded by small houses with red roofs, which looked very German. A few birds were whispering on the shelves that had not yet been demolished for maintenance. A train was slowly passing by on the bridge opposite.

 

Concert hall during the day

I spent almost a whole day visiting museums and art galleries. These places are my temples, but it’s not because I claim to be cultural or artistic. It’s just that this place is so quiet that the sound of the bells is infinitely amplified. It’s a great place to be in a daze and spend your time. I was the only one in the entire small exhibition hall. The bench faced the window. There were several other museums outside the window. The sun was very bright that afternoon. The exterior wall of the museum is yellow, which reminds me of a poem I read last summer:

"Huang is actually very childish and overbearing.

Golden is the emperor

Lemon yellow is the prince

Rice and wheat yellow are ancient human nature" (Mu Xin's "Color Theory")

(So ​​does the museum being painted yellow imply something?

 

I also have a problem. When I see an author’s birth and death years, I must subtract them in my mind, and then express my feelings about being jealous of talents or longevity.

That afternoon I walked around Museum Island until my phone's battery was only 1%, my camera's film was only three, and my osmopocket's memory card was half full before I returned to the hotel. To this day, I still want to say a very vulgar saying, only art knows no borders. No matter what you look like and what language you speak, you will never feel alone here.

a painter's manuscript

some paintings

In the evening, I went to eat Korean food that I wanted to eat in the UK. I forgot to take pictures while eating. When I remembered, I had already finished the vegetable pancake the chef gave me. (When will I remember to eat before eating? Taking photos) , now my German food photo album includes: a half-eaten apple strudel, a cappuccino with only one bottom but the latte art is still intact, and a Korean side dish that has lost its staple food.

? ? ? 🥞☕️🥘

I dislike German very much because it is neither elegant nor sexy, and sounds very dirty, so before I go out I only know three sentences in German: hello, thank you, and a dirty word. After staying here for four days, I became physically uncomfortable with the German language, and I simply left as if I was running away. When the plane landed in Manchester City, English with various accents rushed into my ears, and I almost burst into tears. People are like this. Although my English is average, when I face German, French and Spanish, English is simply my mother tongue. My tongue, which was mute all the way, finally grew back.

other

On the third day, I encountered a discriminatory staff member on the basement floor of the Berlin Cathedral.

Racist at God’s doorstep, yes! ironic, doesn’t it sound ridiculous?

I have always thought that I am a peaceful person, at least on the surface, because I am too lazy to argue with others. But this incident really made me feel offended. Later, I sent an email to complain to this staff member. In fact, I wanted to call him hey you fucking racist in person or use the German curse words I learned through translation software, but I couldn't relieve my anger by swearing. Solve the problem. I know it is wrong to accuse others from a moral perspective, but I am not qualified. I still like to look down on others from the moral high ground. For example, at that moment I was thinking, "Oh, what a narrow-minded woman who can't speak English." "

Many Chinese people are dissatisfied with people of Asian descent, but I really don’t think people with yellow skin and dark eyes deserve to be inferior.

 

After writing the complaint letter, I admired myself. It was so rare that I still had such courage after living in the examination-oriented education system for more than ten years.

 

I don't expect any official solution to this matter, I just hope that the relevant people know that even in such a dark corner, there are still people who demand fairness.

Didn't Lu Xun say, "If there is no torch from now on, I will be the only light." (This sentence is the second one, it is really what Lu Xun said

 

The blogger I followed that night posted a Weibo: 'I believe that every brave speech will not be in vain. They will form a subtle power. Even if they cannot improve the situation immediately, they will adjust people's psychology in subtle ways. order, thereby affecting the historical process to a greater or lesser extent'

 

postscript

This is a very anecdotal travelogue, so I have always wanted to give it a more literate ending, but I am really not a literary person, so I racked my brains for a long time and couldn't come up with anything. It was the end of January when I went to Germany. I wrote these thousands of words intermittently for seven months. When it was about to end, I didn’t quite know what kind of conclusion I wanted to give him. When I was looking for inspiration in my diary, I suddenly came across Liang Wendao's "Ego" which I read on December 14 last year. I took the liberty of borrowing it for the postscript.

"All these lies and delusions, despicability and cowardice. They are like paint and materials, which can just paint an entire city and countless scenes and encounters in it. What you see is just your imagination; you think It’s my own, it’s just an accident.”

There is another sentence at the end: "The tighter you hold the hand, the more futile it becomes. This is called self-grasping."

Souvenirs

 

(The name of the essay was randomly chosen by me. The reason why I named it 1 is because I hope that I will have more output in this area in the future, so look forward to it, hehe.

Thank you for seeing this, see you next time!