Probably My Last Post From Germany

Well, just a little over 2 weeks remain before I return to the United States. I am currently taking care of the de-registration affairs (exmatriculation, setting up a time for checking out of my room, canceling health insurance, canceling bank account, de-registering with the city, and figuring out how to get my deposit for my room back without having a bank account). So not much new has been going on. Went down to Lake Constance again to see a friend and celebrate the 4th of July. My tests started a few weeks ago and I'm taking a few this week and next. Another thing that I need to take care of is making sure all my grades will get sent to KU and that the whole process is taken care of correctly. So, things are getting a little busy but nothing too bad, I also have to make sure I get an early enough train to Frankfurt to catch my 10:55 flight to Dallas. From Dallas I fly into KC around 6:40. So time has flown by, it feels like I just flew in the other day....

The Goings-On

It's unfortunate how fast June is passing. With the start of the World Cup a lot of time is spent watching soccer and will definitely make time pass a lot faster. Not too many trips have been planned lately. We did go to Konstanz to visit one of our friends from the Winter University. It was nice to catch up with him again and watch the US-England game. He also had some British friends so it was more interesting. Not much else is new. Classes seem to have resumed their cadence after my 10 day vacation at the end of May. I have to write a report on my stay in Stuttgart for the scholarship they've been giving me. Pretty soon I'm probably going to actually have to start taking care of stuff for my return to the US which is crazy.

June

Wow, looks like I went all of May without updating my blog. The start of May was not anything special, simply getting into the rhythm of things at the University. After figuring everything out, I was finally able to do some travelling again. In the middle of May I actually got to take my first trip since the start of April. We went to Amsterdam, Brussels, and then just decided to swing by Luxembourg since we were driving a car. It was a very interesting trip. Amsterdam was quite nice, it was a city that seemed to be based almost entirely around the canals and most of the city streets appeared very similar. While we were there, me and the other guy from KU decided to take a tour of the Heineken factory and managed to get a few beers during the tour. While we were there, the garbage people were on strike, so trash was literally littered throughout the street.

The next stop for us was Brussels. It was also a nice city, the weather being a little better than it was in Amsterdam. Unlike Amsterdam, there was something of a language barrier to overcome with most people speaking French or Dutch, however we were able to get by just speaking English. We went to a bar that had 50 beers on tap. They were a bit pricey, but they tasted quite good. One beer was labelled "the best beer in the world," but I was not terribly impressed by it. We also managed to make our way to the Atomium, which is a monument associated with Brussels after it was unveiled at Brussels World Fair.

Then, as we were leaving Brussels, we just decided to go to Luxembourg and check it out. It was a quaint city and we didn't really know what the main attractions were for us to see, so we just kind of wandered around and looked that things that were interesting for us. The landscape was what I thought looked the best, but again, we didn't know where to go to see whatever is regarded as "Must see" in Luxembourg.

After going to class for 3 days, I then took another trip. This one to Croatia. I spent 10 days there, first arriving in Zagreb, then travelling to Split, Brac, Hvar, and finally Debrovnik. The weather there was just perfect (except for Zagreb, which is in the mainland). Mid-70s with no humidity and a nice ocean breeze. It was definitely a great way to recharge my batteries after spending a lot of time in cloudy, rainy Germany, which at this moment remains cloudy and rainy. That's just a brief overview of the past several weeks. Hopefully I'll remember to update this a bit more often, even though my time here is ticking down pretty fast.

So now they actually want me to learn stuff....

The intensive German course has ended and the Summer Semester began last week. It is kind of weird with the system: for most of the lectures you "shop" for the classes you want to take. So you will attend a lot of different ones in the first 2 weeks and then decide which ones to stay in. However, this is not really the case for me because I'm taking the easy route and taking most of my classes in English and also a few courses to help me learn more German. I also have to take an Extensive German Course on Mondays for like 3.5 hours. They have an ultimate frisbee club that I've joined with some other people I know so that has been fun. The only problem is practices are Mondays and Thursdays and I have my German class the same time so I have to miss practices on Mondays. I also need to invest in a pair of cleats because I am sliding all over the field with my shoes. Not much else is going on. Once all the enrollment stuff has been finally decided I think we'll be planning more trips so that should be fun. That's about it for now, can't believe its almost May already.

The Start (hopefully) of Spring

Well the temperature has been lingering in the 50s, but I can tell warm weather is trying to break through. Since the last update I have basically just been spending my days going to the Intensive German Course early in the mornings (8:00 am) and getting back to spend most of the afternoons napping or trying to study German or just browsing through the internet. At least once a week I can usually play a game of soccer which is good to stay active and hopefully the warmer it gets the more sportly things I'll be able to do. I did manage to make it to Berlin at the start of April and it was quite a sight. Most of the buildings that had been destroyed during the war have been rebuilt so the whole city looks quite good. The Reichstag had a nice exterior, unfortunately due to the lengthy line (near two hour wait) I did not manage to get inside. Other sights included the remnants of the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery, and Checkpoint Charlie. Overall, I thought it was a very good trip and I'm really glad I got to see the city.

The Intensive German Course is nearing its end (those 6 weeks went by quite fast) and next week the actual University classes begin. It is a little surprising that I am already on the final stage of my trip to Germany, but I do still have around 12 weeks left. Hopefully I'll be able to do a lot of traveling because I think there is plenty more of Europe for me to see. The last day of Intensive German is tomorrow. We have our final exam (abschlusstest) and then we are done so I will be very glad to no longer have to wake up at 6:30 am to get to class. Hopefully the classes I get during the regular semester will not require me to wake up so early.

Movin' on

Well, I have moved into the Student dorms at Universitaet Stuttgart and am enjoying the dorm life and its similarity to the dorms in the states. The only thing is that rather than sharing an area with 2 or 3 other people, I have a room to myself, but share the kitchen and bathroom with the floor which is around 9 or 10 people. Its pretty enjoyable. The Intensive German course started March 4th after a placement test earlier in the week. The class is all in German which can be difficult and annoying at times, but at least it helps to improve my German. I have the class every day at 8 in the morning and it lasts until 1:15 pm with two breaks so the days can get pretty exhausting and I occasionally have to make use of the afternoon nap to fully recover.

Since the weather has been improving quite a bit (in the 50s) we've been able to get a few games of soccer going. The more friends we make with the other people in the Intensive course, the more people we get to play. It's been a while since I've played, but my legs have started to get used to the running again. I think I may need new shoes though because I'm kind of wearing out the only tennis shoes I brought. I have also been forced to cook for myself so that has been an adventure, but I have managed to survive and hopefully will be able to discover how to make more things. Nothing really else has happened of great significance. It's just like being in college, day after day of doing conceivably the same thing.

Travels

Well it has been a while since I have written in this blog. Well, Winter University is over and the majority of the Australians have returned to their native land. Some are still here and will be for a semester (and some for a year, wow!) so it's nice to know at least some people here as we start the second module of Study Abroad. After we had the farewell party for Winter University, some of us took the time to travel around Europe.

At first there were 8 of us in the group, 6 Aussies and 2 Americans, but as time wore on, people started going their separate ways. The first stop was Prague. We took a train to Nuremberg and from Nuremberg a bus to Prague. It was kind of weird riding a bus into the Czech Republic, but it was also pretty cool. The bus just kind of dropped us off at the train station and left us to figure out where we needed to go. Eventually, after using a taxi, we managed to get to our hostel. It was a nice place and we had the room to ourselves. We explored around the city and had to get the Czech currency (Czech koruna) and we calculated the exchange rate to be about 1 EUR=~25 Czech korunas, so we were essentially withdrawing 1,000s at a time. Prague was a nice city and I think I'm glad I went in the winter. There seemed to be a certain quality that the snow added to the city. The architecture was beautiful and the food was quite good (mostly duck or some kind of meat and dumplings). They did have Budweiser beer, but I'm pretty sure its not the same kind. The city did resemble the Eastern European style I was kind of expecting, but I still was pretty impressed with the city.

The next stop was Vienna and now it was down to 2 Aussies and 2 Americans in our travel group. We had a fun time figuring out where our hostel was the morning we arrived, but eventually managed to find it and then explored the city after a nap. Here, the architecture was impressive in the city center, but as you branched a little ways out of the city, it didn't have the same kind of quality that would be expected of an old city. Of course, while in Vienna, we had to have the Wiener Schnitzel which was delicious. I also discovered I have a good appetite for Chicken Cordon Bleu. The beer was good and overall I was pretty pleased with the city.

Now it was down to just one of the Australians and me as we moved onto to Graz. It was a quaint city and even though it was rather large it still had a pretty close-knit feeling to it. I liked the city, the only problem is there is not a whole lot to do after seeing all the sites and going to the museums. They had a nice bell tower that was on top of a hill so we went there, but it was rather hazy the day we went so my photos of the city are a little difficult to make out. Again, Schnitzel was the main dish, but we also had to have the Apfel Strudel which was amazing.

The last stop on my adventure (though this was not the intended last stop, but due to travel issues and blah blah blah, it was my last stop) was Innsbruck. Innsbruck is a city nestled in the mountains so it had some very beautiful scenery to it. The Olympics were also held here not too long ago, I think, so we got to see where they had the equipment and whatnot set up. There was a nice castle, but it was about an hour long walk away from the city center (where we were) so, naturally, we walked there. It was a pretty amazing castle and the rooms were quite ornate. I'm sure if I lived in a place like that there would be rooms I never even went into! Innsbruck seemed to be particularly known for skiing because almost everybody seemed to be heading to the top of the mountains wearing their ski boots. It was a nice city and there didn't seem to be too many tourists there so it was to get there when we did.

After Innsbruck I headed back to Stuttgart, which was actually rather welcoming to be back in a familiar place, so I could take care of some of these formalities with getting into the actual University. I think I've got most of it under control and once I get it all taken care of, it will be nice to just relax and enjoy!

Nearing the End of Winter University

Well, last weekend I neglected to mention the visit to the Swabian Alb and going to Fasching in Esslingen. Both of those were pretty fun and exciting. The Swabian Alb gave a really good view of the city beneath. The visibility was not too good at first, but eventually the sun came out for a little while and I could actually take some pretty decent photos. The next day we went to an event called Fasching where people dress up in costumes and wear these ornate masks and parade down the street. It was really interesting because there really isn't anything like it in the States. They have a lot of fun with it too, they go around the crowds and pull people out and put some paint on their face or walk around and take somebody's hat and put it on a stick and make them have to grab it back. The people that walked by threw out a whole bunch of candy which was pretty good. It was really interesting.

On Friday a few of us went to Tuebingen just to see what was there. It was raining so it was by no means the best time to go, but it was very quaint. The city is exactly what I imagine when I think of Germany. Cobblestone roads and the pointed houses of a small city. Tuebingen was pretty small. I think we traversed the whole map of the city in around 40 minutes. But I'm still glad I got to see it.

This weekend we went to the Black Forest and Freiburg. The Black Forest was pretty cool to see. The whole town seemed to be famous for clock making. We went to a museum where they told us all about it. Also, there was a big waterfall nearby that we went to see which was pretty impressive. Then we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant and I felt compelled to have a piece of Black Forest Cake which was really good. Then we went to Freiburg and saw most of the sights of the city. We went to the top of a church to get a good view of the entire city from the top. Then we went to the University of Freiburg which looked pretty cool. The inside kind of looked ugly, but the outside buildings looked really cool. It was nice to see all the cobblestone roads and whatnot. Then we took a 3 hour bus ride back to Stuttgart.

And I fail to come up with anything more original than "Update"

Not much new in Germany. The weather continues to hold to the idea that we are not to be blessed by the sun's radiance. It is rather saddening that these past few weeks have passed as quickly as they have. The Winter University is nearly over and the Australians (most of them) will be returning home. It has been enjoyable being around them and they will be missed. Yet, the Intensive German Program that will last, I think, all of March and maybe some of April will provide new students to meet. At least the Intensive Program should improve my German a little better than this Winter University is. The temptation to speak with the Australians in English is overpowering and not enough German is spoken to maintain the level of proficiency I desire. So it goes.

There are many things still to be done before the transition from Winter University (living with a host family) to Intensive German and the actual Semester (living in the dorms) can be completed. Hopefully progress will be made this week in getting things taken care of. Not many other things to speak of at the moment, hopefully I'll be able to provide more exciting posts later on. Also, I don't want to try to come up with every German farewell possible, so I will simply end my post with a period this time.

As a Matter of Course, of course

Nothing too new is going on in Germany besides the fact that the snow seems to have stopped (except yesterday), but the temperatures remain in the 30s and the sun still struggles to shine. The German class continues to refresh my memory of... German. I believe I have adapted to the German Life. I have a much greater respect for private transportation, albeit the ease with which one can travel throughout the city is unparalleled by automobile. Bread (or the German "Broetchen") and cold cuts seem to be the food of choice (I'm not sure if I have mentioned that before or not) and, of course, Beer is the drink of choice for the most part. I have decided that Doener Kebabs are an excellent food choice for lunch and are rather cheap (comparatively). Also, croissants with chocolate are delicious and they have become something of a cornerstone of my bakery visits.

The massive amount of Australians that attend the Winter University celebrated Australia Day yesterday and, naturally, us Americans had to join in the festivities. While they indulged in their Australian ways, we found it necessary to announce our presence by singing the Star Spangled Banner. It was all in good fun and it was quite an enjoyable evening.

This weekend we will be visiting the Swabian Alb to see German nature. That's about all I can think of for now.

Bis spaeter!

Munich

This past weekend the group went to Munich to visit the Science Museum and, of course, the Hofbrauhaus. The Science Museum was really interesting, the Biology and Physics areas were of the most appeal to me. They also had a section on nanotechnology which was way above my head, but some of the displays they had were very cool. We intended on spending the night in Munich so we went to find the place we were staying at after we left the museum and it took us a little while, but eventually we found it. We were running pretty late getting to the Hofbrauhaus due to a certain individual's navigational skills which caused us to speed walk in the opposite direction at first, but then we got our coordinates right and started going in the right direction. We ran into other people in our group that were just as late as us, so we didn't feel as bad. At the Hofbrauhaus I had to try a liter of the Hofbrauhaus Original which was very good. The chicken I got as my meal was also very good and was quite a filling meal. After the Hofbrauhaus we explored Munich some more and then got some sleep.

The next day we decided to visit Dachau Concentration Camp. It is very difficult to describe what it was like being there. To be aware of all the things that happened, it is just unbelievable.

Afterwords we headed back to the main station and had a while before our train so we decided to go find a place to eat. We saw a Vietnamese Restaurant that had a sushi advertisement on the outside and we were craving sushi (yes, in Germany) so we went inside. We asked for the sushi menu and they told us they actually didn't have any. So we continued to search for food and went to a place that served pizza. We had to wait a while for our food and ended up only having about 15 minutes to eat, so we all devoured our pizzas and got back to the station. The train ride back to Stuttgart took us 4 hours which seemed a bit absurd, but we had purchased a "Schoenes Wochenende" ticket which allowed up to 5 people to split a ticket for 37 euros so it was a pretty good deal. Overall, it was a pretty fun weekend.

Snow, snow, snow

Well, I've been told it doesn't snow a lot in Germany... the exception, of course, being the time I visit. I believe it has snowed on consecutive days since last Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully this weather takes a turn for the better, because I would really enjoy being able to walk on the sidewalk without stepping in slush. Regardless, the cloudy skies cast a dismal shadow over the city. Though, it would probably provide an ideal backdrop for Universitaet Stuttgart campus, the rationale being that the buildings do not possess the originality inherent in the buildings on KU's campus and, moreover, resemble factories. Yet I have been told by my Australian companions that this is what would be found on an Australian University campus. Odd.

Not much new has been going happening in Germany as of late. Saw the Mercedes-Benz museum this past Saturday and discovered a real good pizza place on Koeningstrasse. I can start to tell my German is improving day by day, eventually I might be able to eavesdrop on conversations and understand all that is said.

Bis bald!

Current Events

Well, thus far the trip has been a lot of fun. Took the placement test on Tuesday and am in the 2nd level which I'm okay with because I don't want to have to do an insane amount of work and I'm also still trying to remember all the German I learned 6 months ago.

It's kind of funny here at the apartment in which I live. The rooms are kind of pressurized, like the doors seal very well. So at night before we go to bed and in the morning after we wake up we have to air out the room because condensation builds up on the windows. It's just a technique I'm not used to seeing. In terms of meals, lots of meat and bread. Classes start at 8:45 am and we have to take a bus and two trains to get to the school so we leave the house at about 7:45 and get up at 6:30, something I am not used to, so I've been going to bed a lot earlier than I normally do.

At the Winter University, it is about 20% American and the rest Australians with 2 Brazilian students, so it's been a lot of fun getting to know them, and plus I really dig the accent. So the past few nights we've been going out with them for a few beers. I'm trying to keep a brief diary that I just jot a few things down that I did on the day so I can hopefully recollect all the stuff we do.

The highlight of the past few days is when we discovered a street named "Kansasstrasse" eventually when I load the pictures into my computer I'll post a picture of that. That's all for now I guess, tschüs!

Arrival

Well I arrive at Frankfurt Airport at roughly 8:20 am German time and was planning on taking the train to Stuttgart. The train station is inside the airport so it should not have been too complicated, except the subtle fact that most stuff is written in German. After passing through customs and picking up my luggage, I proceeded to the Hauptbahnhof (Train station) help area and ordered a ticket and proceeded to go up and down stairs multiple times before I finally found the track for my train. I called my host family from a pay phone so they were ready to pick me up at the Stuttgart train station at the planned arrival time of 12:08. My train was 25 minutes delayed so I had plenty of time to sit and do nothing. I arrived at Stuttgart a little late, but I was now at least with someone who knew what they were doing. We went to their apartment ate lunch (A dish with a lot of meat and noodles and sauce, kind of like spaghetti but with much more meat) and then went to the store for groceries and then to the airport to pick up the second person staying with us (also from KU). There were a few people from Purdue that had been visiting my host family because they were traveling through Europe and one of them had stayed with the host family before and their train to France had been full so they were staying the night. They decided to go out for the night, but I felt sleep was a little more significant, and so that's what I did.