Journal_Entry_Eth125

Dear Journal, Wow, how the time flies. It has been quite a while since I have had the time to write in here so I will fill you in on what has been going on in my life. First of all, I moved. I am living outside of a town and people I can relate to called New Braunfels, in Texas. Second, I started college and I am in my second year already! It is amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it. So this place where I live is absolutely amazing. I found so much about the town intriguing. When I first moves here I was curious about the people who lived here and this place is FULL of German people and that plays right into my heritage. I am learning more and more about where my family came from and what they went through to achieve the freedom that they have today. According to the information that I researched, the first German settlers arrived in the U.S. in 1608 ("Library Of Congress: European Reading Room", n.d.) and they have been migrating ever since; Migration means any transfer of a population (Shaefer, 2006, p. 17). Oh, and I found out that this one guy named Francis Daniel Pastorius came to the U.S. in 1683 and bought 43,000 acres about six miles north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He called this settlement Germantown ("Library Of Congress: European Reading Room", n.d.), ( Davitt, 2007). The German migration to Texas came in the 1830s and largely in part to one man, Friedrich Ernst. This is because he wrote a letter to a friend in Oldenburg Germany and it was later published into the local paper. His description of Texas was so inspiring that it sparked an immigration movement, thus dubbing him "The Father of German Immigration to Texas." (Gold, 1997). Now we get to the good stuff. Further research showed that Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels actually founded this awesome town of New Braunfels (Gold, 1997). He created this town as a way station to colonize the land; colonize means to permanently be a part of a settlement in a foreign land. The Texas land for the German people was plentiful and they took full advantage. I came from German decent and it was so awesome to educate myself about what German people did for Texas and the city I live in. New Braunfels was at the hub of so much that happened for the German immigrants. This place served as a such a large jumping off point for most Germans to get the land that they were destined to get due to the Fisher-Miller Grant. This grant gave a percentage of acreage to the new immigrants of Texas (Gold, 1997). This migration activity made Central Texas what a great place it is today. Oh my, I have been rattling on about the new place I live in of New Braunfels. It is hard to believe that a place that is typically thought of as a country place could have such a large German background. I love it here. There are so many things to do like going to the Wasselfest or Wurstfest in Landa Park or visiting Schlitterbahn and riding all of the water rides. There is also the local theater that puts on performances by local inspiring actors and actresses. OH, and if I hop in my car, I can go check out Gruene, TX. It is located just outside of New Braunfels, kind of like an extra special place that the locals love to escape to. I believe that every day, I fall in love a bit more with this town. Ok, well I guess now that I have been writing for the better part of an hour, I will wrap this up and call it a night. I am proud of my heritage and where I am living now. I know that what my ancestors accomplished when they migrated and I am thankful for all of the struggles that they went through to get here. It makes me appreciate all the wonderful things that I am learning about the town I now live in! I cherish all of things that I will continue to learn about the longer I live here. I bid you a due, darling journal, until we meet again. Good Night. Oh and I will try super hard to write in here a bit more often. -Desi