Where in the World is Prenzlau?

Prenzlau is a city in the Uckermark District of Brandenburg, Germany. Its population is about 21,000 (2005). The town is twinned with Uster, Switzerland. It is about 1.5 hours from Berlin.

I was in the paper last Wednesday (Mittwoch in German). The title read: “Junge Tanzer suchen noch Schlafpatze” , which I think literally translates to “Young Dancers in Need of Beds” (funny if you think about it, haha). With matching picture! It would have been fun if I knew what the article was saying! Well, I just have to be satisfied with seeing my name crop up in a few places. Ahh, Advance Work in a foreign land.

Cast B was in Switzerland and will proceed to Zell Am Hammersbach in Germany this coming week. Sad to say though, that Cast B is incomplete.. why? Because Hanna from the Philippines and (most importantly) Ljuan from Macedonia is not with them! And from what I have heard, Megan, Vanessa Graves and Lesley are also missing in action.This is the part of Up With People that we call Advance Team Internship. This, I think is one more amazing growth and learning opportunity with Up With People.

If you didn’t know, ever since our first city on the road in the US (which was Tucson), somebody (sometimes 2 people) from the cast makes a sacrifice and leaves the cast for a few weeks to help the UWP staff set up a city. Yes, it is kind of unfortunate that these students miss 2-3 cities in the tour – but this is replaced by the fantastic opportunity of going behind the scenes in a UWP semester and knowing everything about logistics, publicity, admissions, host family coordination, etc, etc. Not to mention the experience of working in a cross-cultural setting. Whew. Take that resume!

Ljuan and I are currently in Prenzlau, Germany doing Advance Work for the Cast. (Photo was taken in Milan, though) It has been very challenging and exciting for me because of the following reasons:

1. It is my first time in Europe. The culture is very different.
2. I don’t speak German. I can’t even pronounce the words.
3. They don’t speak English.
4. This is my first time working with a German person (Birte, our CRC)
5. This is my first time working with a Macedonian person (Ljuan!)
6. It is so cold.
7. I ride a bike to get around. (Please see # 6 again…)
   

The previous week, Ljuan and I walked around the Prenzlau shops for show promotion. Not one of us spoke any German other than “Hallo!” , “Danke” (Thank You) , “Ja” (Yes), “Nein” (No) and “Tschius!” (Good Bye) – oh it was so funny! We mainly used facial expressions and body language to communicate.

Ordering coffee is an ordeal. Asking for a receipt is harder. Ah, imagine me trying to buy shampoo in a grocery shop where all labels are in German (I had to go back the next day because it turned out that it wasn’t shampoo after all!). But I am having a lot of fun. Even if Advance Work is Work (duh) it means I get to stay in a city longer. 3 weeks will mean I get to know my host family a little bit better (even if they speak very little English) and immerse in the culture a little bit deeper.

My host family are the Schmidts – Klemens (pronounced Kleemens) and Brunhilde (pronounced Brun-hild-uh) and we live about 10 minutes bike ride from the UWP office in town. They are really cool people. I am staying in their home with Birte, the UWP staff member.

Food has been very great too. Although I really like Italian, German food has proved to be very interesting. Meat and cheese are definitely favorites here (I love cheese and tasting all the different kinds is such fun!) – and I have also tried authentic sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) which I feel is very much like the Philippine atchara. My host mom Brunhilde is a wonderful cook.

Prenzlau is such a little place with cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings. It is a small city where I believe everybody knows everybody. It is very beautiful this time of the year because the leaves have just started to change color. If I weren’t so stressed with riding my tall bike, I would have biked for hours in the breathtaking tree-lined pathways by the lake and the meadows.

Sigh. More to see and experience in Prenzlau in the coming weeks!