Munich, Germany - Part 1
After London, my next stop using the RTW ticket was Munich, in Germany, from August 13th to 18th.
Like in London, I asked for help to some relatives. In Germany help was even more needed, since I know little to no German. Even when I went to Japan, I already had relatively good notions of Japanese. This time, I was going to a country barely knowing how to say a sentence in that country's language.
From the airport I went to my relative's house with K (my cousin), J (her husband) and S (their 2-year-old daughter). This was actually the first time I've met J and S. As J said, the only touristic spot we would be able to see that day was Allianz Arena, home stadium of FC Munchen (although not only that team). And that was because it's on the way from the airport to their house, so we'd gave glances of it.
Again, the rest of the day was dedicated to do some catching up, planning... and also play a little with the child. For some reason, S, who were quiet from the airport to their house, got something like an instant liking for me after we arrived and wanted to show me things, play together and play with my luggage...
And it was funny to be at a loss with a child who says "dá dá" ("gimme, gimme" in Portuguese) when she wants something, "nein" ("no" in German) when she doesn't want something and "hai" ("yes" in Japanese) when she agrees with something... So cute!
Next day. Sightseeing begins again (after London). The weather was nice, so K, S and me went to Olympiapark, the Olympic Park built for the 1972 Olympic games. It's impressive, especially considering how long ago it was built. Now it's a very nice green area and place for events. On the day we were there, there was an event for children part of the city's 850th anniversary celebrations and a rehearsal for some sort of live. If I got it right, that'd be for Paul Potts (don't know him? Check this video) first live in Germany. Not sure, though.
From the park to the BMW Welt, some sort of BMW exibition facility. Or the "factory of wishes"... You see the models in display and think "I wish I had this one"; "I wish I had that one"... Anyway, weather was getting a little weird, so it was time to finish sightseeing for the day.
August 15th. Since I mentioned to K I like technical stuff, she recommended the Deutsches Museum, the world's largest museum of technology and science. And since the weather was rainy (not too strong, but strong enouh to be annoying), it was perfect to stay indoors.
Have I mentioned it didn't occur to me to bring an umbrella? I thought it would be unnecessary since I'd be indoors, but I forgot about the queue to enter... And since it was a holiday, the museum was, obviously, crowded and with a huge queue to enter... Of course, those waiting were doing so under the rain. Gaijin Smash was something that came to my mind. Still, in the end I didn't. And it sort of paid off. There was a (German) family behind me, and the father was kind enough to let me get under his umbrella while we were waiting. Safe...
Note: later, I got some theories about that. My hosts believe that people who are Japanese looking are well-treated there. In part because Japanese tourists usually don't create much trouble, have good manners and spend a lot of money. A Japanese friend says that people from south Germany are usually kind. My personal theory was that I just happened to be close to a kind individual...
The museum is very interesting. And large. Ok that I simply stopped at the Informatics, Electronics and Electricity sections... It has nice explanations (without getting too much into technical details, but enough for people to know what's going on) and some stuff to try "hands on". Good for children, but many are interesting even for adults.
After that, I joined my "host family" and went to a pool... And since it's not a place whewre tourists usually go, it was a place where my Asian looks (although I'm Latin-American) drew some attention. In Japan, I'm sort of a camouflaged foreigner, but I think I got a free sample on how non-Asian-looking people feel in Japan. When some guys were trying to say something (remember, I know almost no German) my cousin (also Japanese descendent) came to the rescue and exchanged some words with them. Later I got a quick translation. It was something like:
"Hey, your country is getting a lot of medals in the Olympics!" (sort of mocking tone)
"We're not Chinese."
"Huh? Where are you from? Japan?"
"We're Brazilians."
"......" (speechless)
Nice answer. And even in Europe some people can't imagine Asian-looking Brazilians... Guess I have to blame soccer and carnival for that...
The Munich saga continues...
Like in London, I asked for help to some relatives. In Germany help was even more needed, since I know little to no German. Even when I went to Japan, I already had relatively good notions of Japanese. This time, I was going to a country barely knowing how to say a sentence in that country's language.
From the airport I went to my relative's house with K (my cousin), J (her husband) and S (their 2-year-old daughter). This was actually the first time I've met J and S. As J said, the only touristic spot we would be able to see that day was Allianz Arena, home stadium of FC Munchen (although not only that team). And that was because it's on the way from the airport to their house, so we'd gave glances of it.
Again, the rest of the day was dedicated to do some catching up, planning... and also play a little with the child. For some reason, S, who were quiet from the airport to their house, got something like an instant liking for me after we arrived and wanted to show me things, play together and play with my luggage...
And it was funny to be at a loss with a child who says "dá dá" ("gimme, gimme" in Portuguese) when she wants something, "nein" ("no" in German) when she doesn't want something and "hai" ("yes" in Japanese) when she agrees with something... So cute!
Next day. Sightseeing begins again (after London). The weather was nice, so K, S and me went to Olympiapark, the Olympic Park built for the 1972 Olympic games. It's impressive, especially considering how long ago it was built. Now it's a very nice green area and place for events. On the day we were there, there was an event for children part of the city's 850th anniversary celebrations and a rehearsal for some sort of live. If I got it right, that'd be for Paul Potts (don't know him? Check this video) first live in Germany. Not sure, though.
From the park to the BMW Welt, some sort of BMW exibition facility. Or the "factory of wishes"... You see the models in display and think "I wish I had this one"; "I wish I had that one"... Anyway, weather was getting a little weird, so it was time to finish sightseeing for the day.
August 15th. Since I mentioned to K I like technical stuff, she recommended the Deutsches Museum, the world's largest museum of technology and science. And since the weather was rainy (not too strong, but strong enouh to be annoying), it was perfect to stay indoors.
Have I mentioned it didn't occur to me to bring an umbrella? I thought it would be unnecessary since I'd be indoors, but I forgot about the queue to enter... And since it was a holiday, the museum was, obviously, crowded and with a huge queue to enter... Of course, those waiting were doing so under the rain. Gaijin Smash was something that came to my mind. Still, in the end I didn't. And it sort of paid off. There was a (German) family behind me, and the father was kind enough to let me get under his umbrella while we were waiting. Safe...
Note: later, I got some theories about that. My hosts believe that people who are Japanese looking are well-treated there. In part because Japanese tourists usually don't create much trouble, have good manners and spend a lot of money. A Japanese friend says that people from south Germany are usually kind. My personal theory was that I just happened to be close to a kind individual...
The museum is very interesting. And large. Ok that I simply stopped at the Informatics, Electronics and Electricity sections... It has nice explanations (without getting too much into technical details, but enough for people to know what's going on) and some stuff to try "hands on". Good for children, but many are interesting even for adults.
After that, I joined my "host family" and went to a pool... And since it's not a place whewre tourists usually go, it was a place where my Asian looks (although I'm Latin-American) drew some attention. In Japan, I'm sort of a camouflaged foreigner, but I think I got a free sample on how non-Asian-looking people feel in Japan. When some guys were trying to say something (remember, I know almost no German) my cousin (also Japanese descendent) came to the rescue and exchanged some words with them. Later I got a quick translation. It was something like:
"Hey, your country is getting a lot of medals in the Olympics!" (sort of mocking tone)
"We're not Chinese."
"Huh? Where are you from? Japan?"
"We're Brazilians."
"......" (speechless)
Nice answer. And even in Europe some people can't imagine Asian-looking Brazilians... Guess I have to blame soccer and carnival for that...
The Munich saga continues...
1 comment:
Como to com pressa, dei uma olhada rapidinho! =p Vou ler com calma no fds!
Li esse final que achei comédia:
"Hey, your country is getting a lot of medals in the Olympics!" (sort of mocking tone)
"We're not Chinese."
"Huh? Where are you from? Japan?"
"We're Brazilians."
"......" (speechless"
Hauahuahuaha! Complicado isso! =/
E putz, encontrei a Japa hoje e falamos: "Droga, mas o Madness já voltou? Nem deu tempo de despedir!" =(
Post a Comment