DRESDEN: A 70th Birthday Party (and hints of "Ostalgie")

<-- Instead of an "Ampelmann", in Dresden they have "Ampelmädchen"! 

This passed weekend I was in Dresden celebrating Robert's grandmother's 70th birthday. Four days later, I am eating a breakfast on a Thursday morning of boiled eggs, malt bread and coffee, hoping eventually to muster the energy for a productive afternoon of reading and writing at the FU. But first I don't want too much time to go by before I fill you in on my weekend, if only because it meant so much to me. 

There are not too many students that go on a year abroad and get to meet family where they go. I cannot say enough how warm Robert's relatives have been to me, both his grandparents on his father's side (who live in East Berlin) and his aunts, cousins, grandparents, and everybody else on his mother's side, whom I met for the first time this weekend. Not only did I get my first exposure to serious Saxon accents (nearly incomprehensible), but I experienced first-hand the importance that east German's place on laughing together, telling stories, and spending time with family, if for at least one very lavish feast a year. 

I arrived in Dresden sneezing and guzzling cough medicine. My immune system really picks the best moments to let up the fight, but as disgusting as I was and felt, I was incredibly excited to see a new city. I had gone to my guest-sister Judith's 18th birthday party dinner the night before, but chose to catch up on sleep instead of going out clubbing so that I would have the most energy possible for Brigitte, Robert's grandmother's, party. After the two hour train ride I hibernated from the cold in a cafe near the train station. In their silver Peugeot, Helmut, Katrin, Thomas and Robert picked me up at the train station and squished to make place for me in the back seat. We went over to see his grandparents, who showed us which apartment Robert and I would be sleeping in. Meanwhile Robert's aunt who works for Lufthansa really wanted to practice some English, so we had some cute conversations as we waited. They rented three apartments in a sort of soviet-looking complex just for that night so that we did not have to worry about hotel rooms and we could all stay together. Robert and I were stationed in the "young couples" apartment, with his older brother Steffan, his girlfriend Karo (short for Karoline), and Robert's cousin Katya with her boyfriend Alex. 

Once settled, we followed Günther, Robert's grandfather's, instructions (he was clearly the boss of the operation, so there was a lot of waiting for his instructions) on how to get to our first destination. We headed via tram through the center of Dresden to the Lindenhoff Hotel way up on the big hill that overlooks the city. This hotel had a restaurant surrounded by windows so that we could see the view from our incredibly long table. More people joined us at the restaurant, so that we were a group of around 30, coming from Nurenburg, Gera, Jena, Karlsruhe, some from Dresden. 

Robert's great uncle presenting his grandmother with Hungarian wine

At the Lindenhoff we were served Sekt and coffee and had our choice of a wide array of incredible cakes, something that Dresden is famous for. I had an apple-quark cake (a new favorite) while Robert had some sort of current and berry creamy something or other. His aunt explained to me the names of each of the cake and their respective ingredients, but there were dozens, too many to remember (although this information would have been useful later on). In Brigitte's speech she explained to us why they chose this particular restaurant, which was where they had their "green wedding" dinner, meaning the original wedding dinner around fifty years ago. She thanked everyone for coming and was presented with the menu and wine that they had been served on that wedding day so long ago. This was also the time for Robert and Steffan to "present" their girlfriends to the relatives, which was a bit awkward for me and seemed very traditional. But I was surprised to discover that everyone seemed excited to get to know me, asking me where I was from and what I thought of Berlin. My goodness, those cakes and the view were amazing.

A few more pieces of cakes (Robert's younger brother Thomas had a total of three) and a couple of hours later we made our way to the Bergbahn, or the sort of gondola tram that took us down the side of the hill to the Elbe river. We crossed the famous but icy blue bridge (the Nazis had wanted to destroy it at the end of the war but were thwarted by two workers who cut all the dynamite lines) to the next hotel, the Schiller House. There the real feast began. 

The "Elk Room", very warm and with large traditional paintings on the walls, was reserved just for us, with its grand table for 30 and buffet. The spread included soup, salads, pretzels, cold cuts, cheeses, fish, an entire small pig (!), chicken dishes, pasta dishes, and more desserts. Throughout the evening (in between eating and eating and eating until we could not move) we heard speeches and jokes and poems and little songs and proclamations of admiration for Brigitte. We called this the "Cultural Program". Most members of the family (those who had time) prepared something. Robert recited two longer sketches from a well-loved comedian from the DDR. Both were about animals - I must say, although I did not quite understand the jokes, I was rather proud to see Robert acting out the sketches and hear his family members' bellowing laughter. He admitted later that he doesn't understand them much either; they must only make sense to those who grew up in the DDR. 

Robert's Grandfather reciting a poem in the Elk Room

A lot of the cultural program had to do with DDR spoofs, such as a joke about an elephant who was brought into the DDR to be Lenin's example of communism, and eventually ended up in the West with no zoo and no job. This is what I mean by "Ostalgie". Ost is the German word for East, and although the DDR certainly had its drawbacks (oppressive, cannot leave, etc...), the regime was around for fifty years. This is definitely an overgeneralization, but in that time it shaped the people who lived in it, in ways that are sometimes subtle, sometimes not, and regardless these ways are not to be forgotten, or left behind.

<-- Karo and Steffan

We played a couple of games, too. The first was a riddle. We were 

given each a sheet of paper with about 20 descriptions of nonesense things that each described the name of a German candy or dessert. I certainly was at a disadvantage in this activity, and I cheated off of Robert's sheet. But I was able to guess two out of 20 all by myself. Very exciting. Plätzchen and Schillerlocke. The first are little cookies that I had baked with Judith before Christmas and the second I had learned about when I toured Schiller's house in Weimar, although I don't know what the candy is. 

The dinner lasted from around 6pm almost to midnight. I left in Karo's car to go back to the apartment (very very well-fed but still feeling a bit sick and ready for bed) while the others waited for the trams. The "kids", meaning all between the ages of 18 and 26 stayed up late playing the most intense game of UNO that I have ever played in my life. People were laying cards out right and left and I was sure that they were making up rules (I mean, we Americans invented that game, didn't we?). Lots of fun, and I think I came in second-to-last place. 

We didn't have too much time to sleep since we were requested at 8:30 for breakfast. We packed quickly and walked to Günther's apartment for bread and cold cuts and tea. We said goodbyes and thank yous. I brought some of my favorite black tea as a gift for Brigitte, so hopefully we will meet again soon in Berlin for more tea and coffee. I still cannot believe how well they were able to organize everything, and how unbelievably lavish everything was. Chapeaux to them!

Robert and I were reluctant to part with his brother's, his mother and Helmut. Robert had flown to his hometown of Karlsruhe from Breslau a couple of days earlier to see a concert there and accompany his mother for the ride to Dresden. Robert and I decided to stay a bit longer in Dresden and then go back to Berlin together, so that he could take the train from Berlin to Breslau (much more convenient) the next day. 

So after a couple of hours of promenading around the beautiful Baroque buildings and seeing the Elbe by day (and escaping the cold with hot chocolate in a ritzy cafe), our relaxed Sunday ended back in Berlin with a cheap Italian meal, unpacking, and slowly recovering from my cold. The snow-covered fields were speckled with deer on the ride to Berlin through Lower Saxony and Brandenburg... incredibly peaceful. Dresden was beautiful and impressive, and I just know that I'll be going back there sometime, if not for another family party of Robert's then for tourism with my own family (OPERA!). 

Robert and I, the Elbe River, and the Old Bridge

Both Robert and I have a lot in store for us in these next two weeks; he has just moved into his new apartment in Breslau and I am looking for books, books, books. After the excitement of the inauguration, I guess we all need to take Obama's example and get back to work! I went on a tour of the fascinating but small Schwules Museum, the "Gay Museum", yesterday with my Ethnology Tutorium, and after I had a really interesting meeting with my Immigration Theory professor at the University cafeteria. I am all business these days, but of course being in Berlin that also means fun moments in between. I'll be joining Robert again in Breslau for this weekend, which means long stretches of train-time (I am seriously my most productive while on a train) in which I can hopefully learn a few Polish words here and there in preparation for meeting his new Polish roommates...