Wir haben einen Wasserkraftwerk besuchen und es war…. interessant. Ein Mann trugt alte Kleidung und er sagte über diesen Wasserkraftwerk und seine Geschichte. Er spracht ähnlich wie er lebtet von 1860s. Es erinnert mich an «The Landing» in Swakopee, Minnesota, mit vielen Leuten, dass die alte Kleidung trugen und die die Geschichte beschrieben.
Wir lernten über Wasserkraftwerk, Dämme, und Leben im Wasser. Es war natürlich auf Deutsch und ich war der Übersetzer. Es war zu schwer mit die lange verschiedene Wörter für Wasserkraftwerkarbeit.
It was so hard to translate considering the words he was using were functional only for people in the field of hydro electric power and the different functions of each part. It was difficult to follow along, but we were able to do it with Grollman’s help. He was nice enough to just translate right then and there to get the message across.
We even stopped at the end of the tour to help some of my German skills. There were two panels that were full of jargon about the environment and bio-life around the power plant. It was very interesting to go through each word, find out that everything is built upon itself. German is a very descriptive language. It always describes what it does within the word. Staubsauger for instance is a vacuum. Staub is like dirt or dust and sauger is the verb to suck. Staubsauger. Dirt Sucker. Isn’t that exactly what it does? Those Germans. Wasserkraftwerk directly translated is Water Strength Work. Easy enough. Kraft can also mean energy or power. and Werk can mean factory. Water Power Factory: A factory that generates power using water. It’s a little tough to describe, but that’s one of the reasons I just love the language. It just builds upon itself, growing and manifesting this weird sort of block-like language that just adds on to things, mostly.
After our excursion, most of us quickly put together our final paper on the presentation we had to do the following day. This was basically pasting the correct data onto the document and create logical sentences throughout the work. It wasn’t too hard and it didn’t take too long either.
Then I went to dinner with Garth. Garth is my (second) cousin that has lived in Germany for the past 27 some years, longer than my whole life (I’ve always wondered why I had never seen him that often). He knew that my class would be close. He is now living in Zürich, which is only about an hour and a half train ride to Rheinfelden and we decided to meet up for dinner. This was one of the only chances I had to venture out on my own so far and it was an incredible experience. Just traveling through the city of Rheinfelden on my own, knowing only the Hauptbahnhof and its nearest vicinities, was a great introduction to what I will be doing after the class flies home. I got off at the right stop from the train, but then I got a little lost.
Rheinfelden is split into two sides, like Basel and several other cities that surround the Rhein. That means there is a Swiss border side of the city and a German side. My train came in on the German side and Garth’s was coming in on the Swiss side. I had to find my way across the river and through the town to the opposing Bahnhof (train station) in order to meet up with him. I gave myself enough time, knowing that I would just get lost.
I crossed the river. Great. I’m not too lost. I know I’m in the right direction. I got to turn corners and walk as if I’m not lost around each corner even though I was. I walked what I thought was the right direction and thought I couldn’t really go any farther without being absolutely nomadic. I stopped at a bus stop to see where the heck I was.
It was yellow and looked like it was funded by the post office. Not the american post office with red, white, and blue, but with gold from the Deutschepost. If I remember correctly, it was labeled like Postbus too. I’m not sure.
We ended up eating at a restaurant that looked right over the Rhein and gave a nice view of the opposing side. We were able to see the rushing water fly right by us as we ate. I thought I was going to get vertigo because it was moving so fast and I just wasn’t. I was surprised to get up and not feel sick.
And something new I learned at this meal was the speciality of swiss meats. The regulations of meat products are higher in Switzerland, which means their meat can be eaten raw. One of the specialties that Garth let me try was a thing called “tartar (?)” that was a mixture of raw meats, tomato juice, and other ingredients depending on the restaurant. Now, at first I was a little scared. It’s raw meat and I’ve been trained to always be self aware of these things. But since it was located on a plate ready to serve at a fancy restaurant, I figured it would be okay. It was a strange taste with more tomato than I really anticipated, but it was pleasant with the meats and spices that surrounded it. Garth even noted that this was an abnormal amount of tomato in the mixture compared to previous experiences he’s had. Either way, it was enjoyable.
Turns out my friends were waiting for me in a different part of the city. We promised to meet at 9 ish on the bridge between both countries. I planned that with them because I figured that Garth would be back by the train station by then and it would give me enough time to go meet them. Garth ended up taking a later train, which meant that it wasn’t at the right time. My friends were searching for me at a time that was later than I told them. Oops. I felt incredibly bad about it, until Garth and I found them when we were strolling the streets. It was nice to catch up with Garth.
Also, my camera died.
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