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My sixth-grade students researched elements of Germany to create challenges for me to attempt while exploring!
Challenge #1: Order a Doner Kebab (a Turkish immigrant dish) from an imbiss (street vendor market)
Challenge #1: Order a Doner Kebab (a Turkish immigrant dish) from an imbiss (street vendor market)
Mufasa's Doner Kebab was about a block from our hotel in Berlin. The three meat choices were veal, beef, or chicken. I went with beef. They have three huge kebabs of meat spinning and cooking, and they slice off the pieces for sandwiches once you order. There were options to put in on a bun, like I did, or to use a tortilla wrap or a bowl with no bread. Then, came the toppings, and I opted for the works! They included a red cabbage mixture, a fresh lettuce-onion mix, pickled vegetables, and grated cheese. They also had variety of sauces, and I went with the garlic. This might have been THE MOST delicious sandwich I have ever eaten!
Challenge #2: Show how to pay for a public restroom
Challenge #2: Show how to pay for a public restroom
Most places had human attendants at bathrooms collecting one Euro to use it. I could not take videos of those people, so I waited until we found a paying machine to unlock the bathroom at one of the train stations. We had to be prepared and responsible for always having a coin with us in case of emergency.
Challenge #3: Order a bretzel (pretzel) in each of the three cities (Frankfurt, Geisa, Berlin) to see how the traditional food varies. Then, rate the three pretzels.
Challenge #3: Order a bretzel (pretzel) in each of the three cities (Frankfurt, Geisa, Berlin) to see how the traditional food varies. Then, rate the three pretzels.
1st Place: In Frankfurt, there were options like plain, butter, herb cream cheese. I went for the plain to keep it easier to compare all three. It had a little bit of a beer taste to it.
2nd Place: I got this one at Berlin airport. There was not a plain option, so I got buttered. I assumed this meant hot, melted butter. NOPE - The pretzel was sliced and it had cold butter spread between. I was kind of put off by the entire pretzel being cold. It had a perfect amount of salt, but the flavor of the pretzel alone was plain.
3rd Place: In Geisa, there was only a plain option. It tasted like any other pretzel I had before. There was also not a lot of salt.
Challenge #4: Use the Pfand bottle return system
Challenge #4: Use the Pfand bottle return system
I did NOT complete this challenge. I assumed the Pfand bottle systems were on the street by the trash cans. After the first week, I never saw one and asked the others. It turns out they are IN the grocery stores, and I was not near a store in the days after to try it out. However, I did learn, that people are encouraged to put empty bottles they have while walking NEXT to trash cans and NOT in trash cans. This is out of respect for people that might need money, so they can just pick up the bottle to take back for change and not have to dig in the trash for it. Pictured is an example of a trash can I passed where others had followed this kindness.
Challenge #5: Document at least three positive examples of Human-Environment Interaction (HEI)
Challenge #5: Document at least three positive examples of Human-Environment Interaction (HEI)
Left 1: Just outside the European Central Bank, there was a garden of native flowers and plants. Because it is native, it needs no watering other than rain.
Left 2: Just like our school, this school had a water bottle filler. However, notice there are three options. In Germany and other European countries, they drink carbonated water (with bubbles). Their filler had choices for "still" water (plain), medium carbonation, or full carbonation.
Left 3: Little to no air conditioning in most public buildings and private homes. Windows open even on warm days is used to used to reduce energy use.
Right 1: Bicycle lanes on every city street. Way more people walk and bike than drive cars.
Right 2: Public transportation like above ground trains (pictured), subway trains, and city trams are common and reduce the need for individual vehicles and pollution.
Right 3: The trade school we visited was built with solar panels, a wind turbine, and a natural plant roof to help with sustainability.
Challenge #6: Walk around the World Clock at Alexanderplatz from your current location's time to the time the clock says it is in Chicago, Illinois which is the same time zone as our Missouri school
Challenge #6: Walk around the World Clock at Alexanderplatz from your current location's time to the time the clock says it is in Chicago, Illinois which is the same time zone as our Missouri school
This area was very crowded which did not allow me to take a video because of the social norm to not photograph strangers in Germany. In Germany, they use military time. 1 - 11 are AM times. 12 is noon. 13 - 24 are afternoon and evening times all the way up to Midnight. If it is 17:00, think 12 + 5 = 17, so it is 5 PM. If the clock is 19:30, think 12 + 7 = 19 and another 30 minutes, so it is 7:30 PM. All cities in Germany are in the same time zone, and it is 7 hours ahead of us in the Central Time Zone back in Missouri. If I had called my husband at 10:00 PM when I went to bed in Germany, it would have only been 3 PM in Missouri on the same day.
Challenge #7: Take a photo of a printed menu at a sit down restaurant and a pic of the food you ordered when it arrives.
Challenge #7: Take a photo of a printed menu at a sit down restaurant and a pic of the food you ordered when it arrives.
I ordered the Frankfurt Schnitzel with boiled potatoes. Schnitzel is usually veal, but I got chicken. It is basically a large, flat chicken nugget with fried breading. It came with two sauces. First, the white sauce is an onion sour cream for potatoes that is common there. Second, the green sauce is a famous and traditional multi-herb sauce that Frankfurt is famous for. It came with almost all meals.
Two teachers sitting by me ordered the Slaughter Plate because they wanted to be a little more adventurous and authentic to German cuisine. On a different evening at a different restaurant, they each ordered the roasted goat!
Frankfurt Schnitzel
Menu
Slaughter Plate
Challenge #8: Take a selfie at Checkpoint Charlie
Challenge #8: Take a selfie at Checkpoint Charlie
I forgot this was supposed to be a selfie! This historic site is still right in the middle of the street even though the rest of the area has developed into modern businesses with no other symbols of division left. It was difficult to see these sights and participate in photos when you stop and think what the building represented and how it affected the people in that historic time. I learned A LOT about the time between 1961 and 1990 when Germany was a divided country by border from primary sources alive during the time. And, yes, that is the McDonald's you all saw on the websites to come up with the next challenge on the list.
Challenge #9: Order a Happy Meal from McDonalds-Germany and video the unboxing! Bring the "toy" back to raffle off to one of us! Find out if it is true that you can get a book instead of a toy.
Challenge #9: Order a Happy Meal from McDonalds-Germany and video the unboxing! Bring the "toy" back to raffle off to one of us! Find out if it is true that you can get a book instead of a toy.
First, the photo to the left is not from McDonalds, but this was a good spot to share it. I stopped at a KFC for a quick meal instead of opting for a bratwurst station. I spotted a Minions Kids Meal that gave the option of BANANA SAUCE for the chicken strips. If you ever had sweet and sour chicken with a type of orange-sour sauce, this was similar - just with a banana sour type sauce. I liked it! Don't go rushing to KFC tonight to order it though as it is currently only available in European KFC stores.
Mr. Schulte is a high school history teacher from South Dakota and a participant in the TOP program with me, so he helped me out on the McDonald's meal. Yes, we even went to the location next to Checkpoint Charlie that you all found on the website photo. There WAS a choice to select a book instead of a toy, but the screen did mention "additional donation" for that option. Not knowing what that meant exactly, I opted for the surprise option. Turned out our surprise was TWO toys - not sure that was what they intended. I think we just got lucky there. I will be bringing back the two toys and the Happy Meal box with its World Cup soccer theme to raffle off!
Mr. Schulte was our taste tester, and he said the biggest difference was the fries had less salt than in the US. The McFreezy is an option not available in the US, and he said it was the perfect treat on this hot day. FYI - Mr. .Schulte is also one of the two teachers that ordered the Slaughter Plate and goat!
Challenge #10: Find a mural or other street art and take a photo integrating yourself into the art piece in some way.
Challenge #10: Find a mural or other street art and take a photo integrating yourself into the art piece in some way.
This is the challenge I personally was most looking forward to! I was unable to complete this challenge. Some of the murals were historic and serious in nature, and I did not feel those were appropriate to use for this challenge. There were others that were only appropriate for adults. When I did spot a few that would work, they were across the multi-lane busy street. Traveling with a group guide did not allow me the opportunity to get to those murals.
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