D is for Dortmund

September 3, 2009

Leaving Dakar for Dortmund was slightly scary in more ways than one. Though I had a firm job offer to teach at a German high school, no contract had yet been signed. On the strength of what amounted to little more than a solemn promise, I had bought a plane ticket and put down a month’s rent on a furnished apartment I had located on the internet but not actually seen. I was really quite petrified, but I argued to myself this way: the rainy season was coming to Dakar, so I could deal with the electricity cuts, the sweltering days and the ever-determined mosquitoes or take my chances, head to Europe, visit friends and family and see what happened.

I had not actually been overly eager to come to Dortmund, located in
North Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. The region in
general is affectionately, if also somewhat pejoratively, referred to
as the “Ruhrpott,” a reference to the region’s thriving coal mining
industry. The auto industry was also a huge one here, with Opel
headquartered in nearby Bochum, so in my imagination I saw a huge
metropolis characterized by blackened buildings and smokestacks, huge
commercial centers and buildings and very little charm. Thankfully,
that has not turned out to be the case – I live in what is called the
“Kreuzviertel,” right near Dortmund’s TU, or technical university. The
neighborhood is full of pleasant cafes and restaurants, immaculately
clean, tree-lined streets, and quaint buildings so that I am reminded
a bit of the brownstones I used to enjoy so much as I would wander
around Brooklyn Heights after a walk across the Bridge.

I live close to at least four beautiful parks:  the Westpark, with
inviting cafes and even a Biergarten, the huge Romberg Park adjacent
to the big zoo, Tremonia Park and the huge Westfalenpark, where there
is a huge fireworks display each year around the end of summer. Sadly,
I am working so hard at present to prepare for my 22 hours of classes
-12 of which are taught in German, ulp! - that I hardly have time to
enjoy them, but hopefully someday soon. Though I cannot always take
the time to enjoy a stroll in the park, what I can do is the next best
thing, namely open the door to my own little balcony and enjoy the
view of green leafy trees and my neighbors’ beautifully tended
flowers. On Friday afternoons, a nearby neighbor practices the piano,
so I am treated to a philharmonic-grade concert (Germans, like
Austrians, take their music quite seriously!) as I bask in the sun -
it is a self-imposed appointment I hate to miss!

By bike, I am about three minutes (downhill all the way, yay!) from the center of town, where I have a wonderful pedestrian zone full of every store you can imagine, from H and M to Marks and Spencers and everything in between. I now know where to get a fabulous inexpensive Bratwurst or homemade waffles, and I enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the central marketplace on a Saturday, though the produce is very different from that which I used to see at Sandaga in Dakar: no tiny green limes or papayas to tease the taste buds here, but strawberries, spinach, kohlrabi and enormous homegrown zucchini to feast on instead.

Dortmund’s central train station has direct lines to almost
everywhere, and what is not covered by rail is almost certainly
covered by air, as Dortmund boasts its very own airport, with direct
flights to Barcelona and all sorts of other exciting European
destinations. Unbeknownst to me, the region has even been selected as
a European cultural center for 2010, so that still more improvements
are in the works.
Changing countries is always a difficult endeavor, but happily, I can
report that my ideas of the grim coal-mining city have been replaced
by images of a bright and vibrant, multicultural city with a lot to
offer, and I look forward to discovering it all.

About the Author : Tamara-Diana Braunstein brings us her stories from Senegal every week. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a restless wanderer who earned an MA from the University of Freiburg and has worked in a youth hostel in the French Alps, a law firm in Montreal, the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as in university press publishing. At the moment her home base is Dakar, Senegal, where she is supposed to be teaching but is doing far more learning, as you will see by reading her blog at www.senegalschoolmarm.blogspot.com