My last full day in Germany way Monday, August 4th. It was a somber day. I had to spend yet more time packing up the last of my belongings, doing laundry, and cleaning. I did, however, find time to go out around town for a little. I got ice cream with Kalle in the early afternoon to say goodbye. Afterwards, I wandered around taking in the sights for one last time. I made sure to just stop and enjoy the moment as much as I possibly could. It was weird hearing all the sounds of the city, seeing all the sights, and realizing that I may never be back there again. I did some last minute shopping, and I ended up getting some awesome paintings of Mainz done by a street artist. I felt like they were the perfect final souvenir of my time in Germany. I watched the sun set from my room, as I often did, and a sadness came over me. The finality of everything had finally caught up with me. As expected, it took forever to fall asleep.
Tuesday, August 5th, was my last bit of time in Germany. I had to wake up at 5am to pack up my remaining toiletries, take out my trash, and get rid of all the things I had in my apartment for living, such as pots and pans. I finally walked to the bus at 6:30. With my four bags, moving was quite a strain. When I got off the bus, a woman asked me if I needed help. I told her that my bags were heavy, but that I would appreciate the help. When I was standing at the top of the stairs looking down to the train track, a man asked if I needed help, and I again graciously accepted. He asked me where I was going with so many things. When I told him that I was going back to the USA, he kind of laughed and said that it made sense that I had so many bags. When I was attempting to get all my bags up onto the train, another woman just kind of jumped in and helped me. As my train crossed over the river, I looked out the window, trying to burn the image of the sun rising over the water into my head. Some tears came to my eyes in that moment. After more struggling and sweating, I finally crossed the massive airport and dropped my bags off at the desk. I didn't even have to pay for my second bag! I headed to security and made it through without problems. However, once I got to customs, the German customs gave me some trouble with the length of time I had been in Germany. I'm not sure why he was giving me so much trouble, I was leaving the country, but I managed to talk it through (in German) with him and he let me by. When it was finally time to board, I boarded with my zone. When they scanned my ticket, the machine beeped. I ended up getting upgraded to first class!!!!!! International first class is absolutely amazing. My seat laid down into a bed. I got a Weston Heavenly blanket and pillow. We had four courses for lunch, free alcohol, warm cookies between meals, and then a light dinner. Noise cancelling headphones were also provided in-flight. The list goes on. Leaving in first class certainly helped my mood. When we landed 9.5 hours later, it felt weird to be on American soil. I finally made it back to Huntsville at 5:30pm central time. My mom cried when she picked me up at the airport.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Das Ende
My last few days have been fairly uneventful.
On Monday I had some errands to run on campus, like pick up my remaining Schein from the foreign language department. A Schein is how the university's in Germany give grades. It's a piece of paper that says which class was taken, how many credits were received, who the student is, and what the grade is. It's quite primitive, if you ask me. I did absolutely nothing on Tuesday aside from watch Netflix in bed. It was relaxing and boring. Wednesday was the day I had to say goodbye to Marcella. I met with her, Frank, Martha (France), Indra (Germany), and Annika (Germany) for some lunch/cake. Just as it was with Clare and Matt, it wasn't fun to say goodbye. It still amazes me how such close friendships can develop in such a limited amount of time. Marcella keeps trying to convince me to visit them in England, and I just may do that one day. Once the goodbyes were over, I went around town, shopping and going inside the Dom. I'm trying to get some last sight-seeing done before I leave.
Thursday I went for a run. I also did some more sight-seeing, but this time I went to St. Stephan and Augustinerkirche, two churchs in town. I had been inside both, but with my camera. There was a huge group of tourists inside St. Stephan when I got there. I was walking around taking photos and three separate tourists in the group, two of which didn't speak any German, stopped me and told me I couldn't take pictures. I've never seen fellow tourists be so concerned with the rules. On my way home, I stopped and had some soup at a local cafe. It wasn't so bad to eat alone.
Friday I actually had some errands to run. I went to campus and had some forms signed by my adviser, then walked around the botanical gardens on campus a bit. I eventually went into town where I had potentially my last doener. Two of the workers there know me now, so they asked if I wanted the usual. One of them also knows that I'm from the US, so he asked me the name for lettuce in English. I also had potentially my last ice cream creation, the Kartoffel Becher. I wish we had the same kind of ice cream things in the States like we do here. I also began packing. I packed up most of my clothes, as well as some other items. I couldn't pack everything since I wasn't leaving for a couple of days. I also started the process of cleaning, which is no fun with limited cleaning supplies and when you're in denial of the near future.
I continued to pack and clean on Saturday. I figure that if I break up the cleaning into smaller and less time consuming bits, that it won't be so bad and depressing. It's mostly working for me. In the late afternoon, I went for a walk to St. Peter, a church here in Mainz. For some reason, I had never been inside it before though I had walked by it many, many times. It was more beautiful inside than I was expecting. I headed to the grocery store on my way home, probably my last grocery store experience as well. At 9pm I met Frank at the Hbf and we went to Porters, an Irish pub, for some drinks. After days of no meaningful human interaction, having a real conversation with a friend was a breath of fresh air.
Today was more or less the same as the previous few days. I packed and cleaned some more, though very slowly. Towards the end of the day I went on a three hour walk. I walked down to the Rhein and then along it all the way up to a park that I'd never been to before. There are four flamingos in the park, so I meandered around looking for them. On my way home, I stopped for some ice cream. I also stopped and listened to a concert that was happening near the Dom. After some research online, I figured out that it was Wolfgang Niedecken playing, apparently a well-known German musician.
Tomorrow is my last day here. I've got yet more cleaning to do, as well as some last minute shopping. I'm also planning on spending some time just walking around one last time and enjoying my favorite parts of the city. My flight from Frankfurt is at 10:15am on Tuesday, so I have to leave my place around 7am. I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to get to the airport with all four of my bags. I guess it shall be my last adventure here.
On Monday I had some errands to run on campus, like pick up my remaining Schein from the foreign language department. A Schein is how the university's in Germany give grades. It's a piece of paper that says which class was taken, how many credits were received, who the student is, and what the grade is. It's quite primitive, if you ask me. I did absolutely nothing on Tuesday aside from watch Netflix in bed. It was relaxing and boring. Wednesday was the day I had to say goodbye to Marcella. I met with her, Frank, Martha (France), Indra (Germany), and Annika (Germany) for some lunch/cake. Just as it was with Clare and Matt, it wasn't fun to say goodbye. It still amazes me how such close friendships can develop in such a limited amount of time. Marcella keeps trying to convince me to visit them in England, and I just may do that one day. Once the goodbyes were over, I went around town, shopping and going inside the Dom. I'm trying to get some last sight-seeing done before I leave.
Thursday I went for a run. I also did some more sight-seeing, but this time I went to St. Stephan and Augustinerkirche, two churchs in town. I had been inside both, but with my camera. There was a huge group of tourists inside St. Stephan when I got there. I was walking around taking photos and three separate tourists in the group, two of which didn't speak any German, stopped me and told me I couldn't take pictures. I've never seen fellow tourists be so concerned with the rules. On my way home, I stopped and had some soup at a local cafe. It wasn't so bad to eat alone.
Friday I actually had some errands to run. I went to campus and had some forms signed by my adviser, then walked around the botanical gardens on campus a bit. I eventually went into town where I had potentially my last doener. Two of the workers there know me now, so they asked if I wanted the usual. One of them also knows that I'm from the US, so he asked me the name for lettuce in English. I also had potentially my last ice cream creation, the Kartoffel Becher. I wish we had the same kind of ice cream things in the States like we do here. I also began packing. I packed up most of my clothes, as well as some other items. I couldn't pack everything since I wasn't leaving for a couple of days. I also started the process of cleaning, which is no fun with limited cleaning supplies and when you're in denial of the near future.
I continued to pack and clean on Saturday. I figure that if I break up the cleaning into smaller and less time consuming bits, that it won't be so bad and depressing. It's mostly working for me. In the late afternoon, I went for a walk to St. Peter, a church here in Mainz. For some reason, I had never been inside it before though I had walked by it many, many times. It was more beautiful inside than I was expecting. I headed to the grocery store on my way home, probably my last grocery store experience as well. At 9pm I met Frank at the Hbf and we went to Porters, an Irish pub, for some drinks. After days of no meaningful human interaction, having a real conversation with a friend was a breath of fresh air.
Today was more or less the same as the previous few days. I packed and cleaned some more, though very slowly. Towards the end of the day I went on a three hour walk. I walked down to the Rhein and then along it all the way up to a park that I'd never been to before. There are four flamingos in the park, so I meandered around looking for them. On my way home, I stopped for some ice cream. I also stopped and listened to a concert that was happening near the Dom. After some research online, I figured out that it was Wolfgang Niedecken playing, apparently a well-known German musician.
Tomorrow is my last day here. I've got yet more cleaning to do, as well as some last minute shopping. I'm also planning on spending some time just walking around one last time and enjoying my favorite parts of the city. My flight from Frankfurt is at 10:15am on Tuesday, so I have to leave my place around 7am. I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to get to the airport with all four of my bags. I guess it shall be my last adventure here.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
"Nur Bares ist wahres."
Bruxelles Central Train Station
Bruxelles : L'hôtel de ville
Bruxelles : Brent, Zou, Max, myself, Louise
Bruxelles
Bruxelles : Manneken Pis
Bruxelles : Le Palais Royal : Zou, myself, Max, Brent, Louise
Bruxelles : La cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule
Durbuy : Max, Brent, myself, Zou, Louise
Warre
Durbuy : Zou, Brent, Max, Louise, myself
Durbuy
Durbuy : view from above : Max, myself, Brent, Zou
Liège
Liège
Liège : La montage de Bueren
Liège : La montagne de Bueren
Liège : view from above
Liège : Le carré
Liège : La cathédrale Saint-Paul
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
"Wie gewinnen, so zerronnen."
My last exciting weekend abroad was this past weekend when I went to Belgium. I had never been to Belgium before, and I was excited to see some old friends from MSU. I met Zou and Louise when they came to study abroad at MSU, and they are both from the area around Liège in Belgium. I also met Max when he came to study at MSU, but as you may remember, he's from Germany. Finally, Brent is a friend from MSU, though he's American, and he's spending the summer studying in London. Belgium was the center point, so we decided to meet there.
Last Thursday was my last day of classes and also my last day of exams, as well as the day that Clare left. Between my class and my exam, I met up with Matt and Clare to get some delicious french fries and say goodbye to Clare. As expected, it was sad to say goodbye to Clare. It's weird to think about how some people are only in your life for such a short amount of time, and that's ok. It's just sad to let go and move on. After my last exam, I rushed home to finish packing and caught my first of three trains to Belgium. The first train ended up being delayed 10 minutes, so I ended up missing my second train and therefore my third train. I ended up in Aachen, Germany, with no more trains leaving for Liège that night. Luckily, Aachen is only about 45 minutes by car from Liège, and my friends were able to come pick me up. It was a bit touch and go for a little while, but it all ended up working out. We got back to Louise'e apartment in Liège around 1am, and we sat and chatted a little before we went to bed.
Friday was perhaps the most eventful day of the weekend. We got up and headed to Bruxelles in the morning, not coming back until 5pm. We ate lunch and walked around sight seeing. I love being able to walk around a big city and see so many interesting and historical sites. I got to eat my first Belgian waffle, which was pretty good. Belgian waffles are essentially coated with a sugar glaze, making them sweet without anything else added to them, but there's always something else added to them. I got chocolate sauce on mine. It was delicious. We took the train back to Liège, got changed, collected our things, and then headed out to Durbuy, the village where Louise is from. Louise's Dad owns several restaurants and hotels in the village, as well as a spa. When we arrived, we had drinks and appetizers at one of his restaurants, headed to a different hotel to drop off our bags, then went to eat at the restaurant connected to the hotel. Everything was absolutely delicious. I'm actually getting hungry just thinking about it as I type. After dinner, we headed to a bar where we met Louise's friends. We had a few drinks, a couple of shots that were on fire, then headed to the next village where a massive tent party was taking place. We danced and had a good time for a few hours. By the end of the night, condensated water had formed on the ceiling of the tent and was dripping on us. We headed back to the village where we went to an after party. We eventually made it back to the hotel around 5am. It was a fantastic day.
As you can imagine, we had a slow start on Saturday morning. Once we finally got moving, we headed to a smaller village, Warre, next to Durbuy where Louise's family has their house. Afterwards, we headed back to Durbuy, did some sight seeing, then had lunch at another one of Louise's Dad's restaurants. It was also delicious. We had to head back to Liège so that Max could catch his train back to Germany. After a little nap, the rest of us headed out to do some sight-seeing around Liege. For dinner, we went to a local burger place, which was more delicious than many burger places in the US. We went out for drinks and got peket, a specialty from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. It was also delicious, as everything else I ate and drank while I was in Belgium. Speaking of which, Belgium has some awesome beer that I like. They have a LOT of fruit beers, and I liked every single one that I tried (the first time in my life that I wanted to drink beer!). While we were walking around Liège after dinner, we got stopped by two American guys in the Air Force. One of them grabbed my arm to stop us and asked, "Are you from the US?!" He was so excited to have met "real" Americans speaking "real" English. We chatted with them for a little. While we were chatting, I noticed a homeless man who was chasing a pigeon. The pigeon was clearly hurt and was incapable of flying away. Once the man caught the pigeon, he put it in a plastic bag and killed it. Once he had done that, another man came over and took the pigeon away. It was once of the strangest and disturbing sites that I have seen while I was here.
Sunday morning we got up early to walk around the market in Liège. It was like the markets I've been to in Germany, and I wish we had markets like these in the US outside of big cities. You can find most anything you want to buy. I caught the first of two trains back to Mainz around lunchtime. Despite train delays, I made it back to Mainz in the afternoon. In the late afternoon, I met up with Matt, Marcella, Frank, Daniel, Judith, and Judith's sister for some ice cream. It was the last time that I was going to see Matt, and probably Daniel and Judith as well. Just like the last time I hung out with Clare, it was a bittersweet moment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with all of them.
I will post some pictures of the weekend later!
Last Thursday was my last day of classes and also my last day of exams, as well as the day that Clare left. Between my class and my exam, I met up with Matt and Clare to get some delicious french fries and say goodbye to Clare. As expected, it was sad to say goodbye to Clare. It's weird to think about how some people are only in your life for such a short amount of time, and that's ok. It's just sad to let go and move on. After my last exam, I rushed home to finish packing and caught my first of three trains to Belgium. The first train ended up being delayed 10 minutes, so I ended up missing my second train and therefore my third train. I ended up in Aachen, Germany, with no more trains leaving for Liège that night. Luckily, Aachen is only about 45 minutes by car from Liège, and my friends were able to come pick me up. It was a bit touch and go for a little while, but it all ended up working out. We got back to Louise'e apartment in Liège around 1am, and we sat and chatted a little before we went to bed.
Friday was perhaps the most eventful day of the weekend. We got up and headed to Bruxelles in the morning, not coming back until 5pm. We ate lunch and walked around sight seeing. I love being able to walk around a big city and see so many interesting and historical sites. I got to eat my first Belgian waffle, which was pretty good. Belgian waffles are essentially coated with a sugar glaze, making them sweet without anything else added to them, but there's always something else added to them. I got chocolate sauce on mine. It was delicious. We took the train back to Liège, got changed, collected our things, and then headed out to Durbuy, the village where Louise is from. Louise's Dad owns several restaurants and hotels in the village, as well as a spa. When we arrived, we had drinks and appetizers at one of his restaurants, headed to a different hotel to drop off our bags, then went to eat at the restaurant connected to the hotel. Everything was absolutely delicious. I'm actually getting hungry just thinking about it as I type. After dinner, we headed to a bar where we met Louise's friends. We had a few drinks, a couple of shots that were on fire, then headed to the next village where a massive tent party was taking place. We danced and had a good time for a few hours. By the end of the night, condensated water had formed on the ceiling of the tent and was dripping on us. We headed back to the village where we went to an after party. We eventually made it back to the hotel around 5am. It was a fantastic day.
As you can imagine, we had a slow start on Saturday morning. Once we finally got moving, we headed to a smaller village, Warre, next to Durbuy where Louise's family has their house. Afterwards, we headed back to Durbuy, did some sight seeing, then had lunch at another one of Louise's Dad's restaurants. It was also delicious. We had to head back to Liège so that Max could catch his train back to Germany. After a little nap, the rest of us headed out to do some sight-seeing around Liege. For dinner, we went to a local burger place, which was more delicious than many burger places in the US. We went out for drinks and got peket, a specialty from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. It was also delicious, as everything else I ate and drank while I was in Belgium. Speaking of which, Belgium has some awesome beer that I like. They have a LOT of fruit beers, and I liked every single one that I tried (the first time in my life that I wanted to drink beer!). While we were walking around Liège after dinner, we got stopped by two American guys in the Air Force. One of them grabbed my arm to stop us and asked, "Are you from the US?!" He was so excited to have met "real" Americans speaking "real" English. We chatted with them for a little. While we were chatting, I noticed a homeless man who was chasing a pigeon. The pigeon was clearly hurt and was incapable of flying away. Once the man caught the pigeon, he put it in a plastic bag and killed it. Once he had done that, another man came over and took the pigeon away. It was once of the strangest and disturbing sites that I have seen while I was here.
Sunday morning we got up early to walk around the market in Liège. It was like the markets I've been to in Germany, and I wish we had markets like these in the US outside of big cities. You can find most anything you want to buy. I caught the first of two trains back to Mainz around lunchtime. Despite train delays, I made it back to Mainz in the afternoon. In the late afternoon, I met up with Matt, Marcella, Frank, Daniel, Judith, and Judith's sister for some ice cream. It was the last time that I was going to see Matt, and probably Daniel and Judith as well. Just like the last time I hung out with Clare, it was a bittersweet moment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with all of them.
I will post some pictures of the weekend later!
Monday, July 28, 2014
"Scheiß darauf!"
It's been over a week since my last post, so I'm going to split the past week and a half into two posts.
I had my first and last hair cut experience in Germany on Thursday the 17th. Though the cut wasn't exactly what I wanted, there's nothing wrong with it. I think that the hairdresser wasn't really concerned with devoting much time to me because she knew I was an exchange student. After class, I went to get ice cream with Marcella, Clare, and Matt. We sat by a fountain and enjoyed our ice cream. Both Christian and Daniel ended up walking by, so we got their attention and they both stopped for a chat. It was nice to hang out and relax before my weekend of studying and exams began.
To my dismay, I spent most of my weekend studying or taking oral exams. On Friday the 18th, I spent nearly the entire day studying. I took a break and met Matt for a döner. While we were eating, some other kids our age heard us speaking English, and they asked us if we were American. Matt said that I was, but that he's English. The guy immediately turns to Matt and asks in English, "Do you lift?" Apparently he was referencing some YouTube video? It was strange.
On Saturday, July 19th, I had two oral exams, one for my Schiller class, and one for my Dürrenmatt class, which I have the same professor for. One was in the morning and one was in the late afternoon, so I had plenty of time to study in between (and even nap!). After my first exam, Clare and I talked about it and compared questions. We both decided that the exam was quite ridiculous. The professor asked very specific questions about a lengthy story, a fair amount of which I wasn't able to answer. The second exam wasn't quite as bad as the first, but it was still not pleasant. I was just very, very, glad to be done when it was over. Since I had been stuck in my room for most of that day and the day before, so I went into town do to some shopping. It was nice to get some fresh air and be around people.
I had some more school work to do on Sunday the 20th, so I again found myself feeling restless in my room. Once I finished the work, I went out in town. I had planned to go for a walk along the Rhein, and ended up walking through the Bierbörse, a beer festival. I sat and watched some classic American line dancing for a little while, which was not something I would have ever thought I'd find in Germany.
Last week was the last week of classes. I can't believe the semester went by so fast. It was definitely a bittersweet week. It was nice to be done with classes, but it was also sad to realize that my time here really is almost over. A week from today, Monday the 21st, I got stopped on my way to the bus stop and was asked for directions. I won't lie, I actually enjoy these encounters now. I met with Clare, Marcella, and Matt, and we went to the Bürgeramt to de-register from the city. When I registered with the city, I ended up having to do it in English. This time, I did it all in German! Afterwards, I went to my bank, Sparkasse, to close my account. I also did this all in German and the whole process was very simple and took 10 minutes. After grocery shopping and eating lunch, I had yet more errands to run on campus. Most of the offices I needed were closed, so I had to mark down all of their open hours and go back the next day. After class, I went to an awesome and local french fry/bratwurst place called "Best Worscht" (the name is a Mainz dialect). After the awesome fries, we went to Nirgendwo, a local bar whose name means "Nowhere" in English. It was fantastic to hang out with my friends, especially since I hadn't seen them all weekend.
Tuesday, the 22nd, wasn't too eventful. I was able to go to most of the offices on campus and run most of the errands that I had been needing to do. The following day, Wednesday the 23rd, was much more exciting. I went to class, I came home, did laundry, cleaned, and did some other miscellaneous things around my room. That evening, I met with Marcella, Frank, Clare, and Matt, and we went for our last meal together, as Clare left the next day. We went to a good German place that I had never been before and my meal was delicious. We met up with some other friends after dinner to have some last drinks together. It was a really awesome night, though also sad at the same time.
I'll post the details of my weekend in Belgium later. It was an awesome weekend!
I had my first and last hair cut experience in Germany on Thursday the 17th. Though the cut wasn't exactly what I wanted, there's nothing wrong with it. I think that the hairdresser wasn't really concerned with devoting much time to me because she knew I was an exchange student. After class, I went to get ice cream with Marcella, Clare, and Matt. We sat by a fountain and enjoyed our ice cream. Both Christian and Daniel ended up walking by, so we got their attention and they both stopped for a chat. It was nice to hang out and relax before my weekend of studying and exams began.
To my dismay, I spent most of my weekend studying or taking oral exams. On Friday the 18th, I spent nearly the entire day studying. I took a break and met Matt for a döner. While we were eating, some other kids our age heard us speaking English, and they asked us if we were American. Matt said that I was, but that he's English. The guy immediately turns to Matt and asks in English, "Do you lift?" Apparently he was referencing some YouTube video? It was strange.
On Saturday, July 19th, I had two oral exams, one for my Schiller class, and one for my Dürrenmatt class, which I have the same professor for. One was in the morning and one was in the late afternoon, so I had plenty of time to study in between (and even nap!). After my first exam, Clare and I talked about it and compared questions. We both decided that the exam was quite ridiculous. The professor asked very specific questions about a lengthy story, a fair amount of which I wasn't able to answer. The second exam wasn't quite as bad as the first, but it was still not pleasant. I was just very, very, glad to be done when it was over. Since I had been stuck in my room for most of that day and the day before, so I went into town do to some shopping. It was nice to get some fresh air and be around people.
I had some more school work to do on Sunday the 20th, so I again found myself feeling restless in my room. Once I finished the work, I went out in town. I had planned to go for a walk along the Rhein, and ended up walking through the Bierbörse, a beer festival. I sat and watched some classic American line dancing for a little while, which was not something I would have ever thought I'd find in Germany.
Last week was the last week of classes. I can't believe the semester went by so fast. It was definitely a bittersweet week. It was nice to be done with classes, but it was also sad to realize that my time here really is almost over. A week from today, Monday the 21st, I got stopped on my way to the bus stop and was asked for directions. I won't lie, I actually enjoy these encounters now. I met with Clare, Marcella, and Matt, and we went to the Bürgeramt to de-register from the city. When I registered with the city, I ended up having to do it in English. This time, I did it all in German! Afterwards, I went to my bank, Sparkasse, to close my account. I also did this all in German and the whole process was very simple and took 10 minutes. After grocery shopping and eating lunch, I had yet more errands to run on campus. Most of the offices I needed were closed, so I had to mark down all of their open hours and go back the next day. After class, I went to an awesome and local french fry/bratwurst place called "Best Worscht" (the name is a Mainz dialect). After the awesome fries, we went to Nirgendwo, a local bar whose name means "Nowhere" in English. It was fantastic to hang out with my friends, especially since I hadn't seen them all weekend.
Tuesday, the 22nd, wasn't too eventful. I was able to go to most of the offices on campus and run most of the errands that I had been needing to do. The following day, Wednesday the 23rd, was much more exciting. I went to class, I came home, did laundry, cleaned, and did some other miscellaneous things around my room. That evening, I met with Marcella, Frank, Clare, and Matt, and we went for our last meal together, as Clare left the next day. We went to a good German place that I had never been before and my meal was delicious. We met up with some other friends after dinner to have some last drinks together. It was a really awesome night, though also sad at the same time.
I'll post the details of my weekend in Belgium later. It was an awesome weekend!
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Das ist Pipifax!
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom
Heinzelmännchen
EL-DE Haus
EL-DE Haus : Apparently, they used to put so many people in a cell at once that they wouldn't be able to sit or lay down, simply stand. They also found nearly 1,800 writings on the walls throughout the prison of the prisoners who were kept there.
"Deutschland ist... WELTMEISTER!!!!"
I decided to venture to Köln (Cologne) by myself on Friday. No one could go with me, and it was the last place in Germany that I had really been wanting to visit. It's only about a 2.5 hour bus ride from here to there, and I got my tickets for 19 euros total. I arrived in Köln around 10am. My first stop was the Dom, which was literally steps away from the Hauptbahnhof. I must have spent nearly two hours there. The Kölner Dom is absolutely huge. I didn't find it particularly pretty, but its size alone amazed me. I walked up the 500 steps to the top of the tower to see Köln from above, which was also awesome. The 500 steps to the top were almost entirely in a spiral staircase, so it was pretty tight if people were coming up and going down. After the Dom, I went to see the Heinzelmännchen, which is a statue that tells the legend of how Köln was built. According to legend, Koln was built by dwarves during the night because the residents of Köln were too lazy to do the work themselves. One night, a woman wanted to see the dwarves, so she waited up for them, turned on a light when they had arrived, and scared them, which led to them falling and hurting themselves. Because of this, the dwarves never came back again, so the residents of Köln had to get up and do the work themselves. Since I didn't have much time in Köln, I decided to go to the EL-DE Haus next. The EL-DE Haus is the NS (national socialist) Documentation Center. In the basement, there are old prison cells that were used in WW2 by the Gestapo. The Gestapo would imprison and torture people here who they accused of going against the Nazi cause. It was an interesting contrast to Dachau, where I visited just the week before. Though the crimes committed here were different than those committed at concentration camps, they were just as awful. After this, it was time for me to head back to the Hauptbahnhof. I took my time and meandered around the old city, enjoying the view and feel of a new place. I ate my lunch on the steps of the Dom just before I headed to my bus. Because of the bad weather, most public transport was delayed to some extent, and I ended up getting back to Mainz nearly two hours later than planned. Despite this, the day was fabulous and I'm glad I went.
On Saturday, I went to Wiesbaden to meet up with Joe. We walked around a bit, got some lunch, walked around some more, and then went to the American Army base. I had needed a few things, and Joe was gracious enough to help me out. It was weird being back in American culture like that. Hearing English be spoken all around me just felt wrong. I can only imagine what it's going to feel like when I get back to the US!
As most of you probably know by now, the World Cup championship game was Sunday. After a long day of homework, I met Matt at the Hbf, where we left to get some döner before the match. We made our way to Christian and Jan's place, and arrived just before the game started. Aside from Matt and I, there were 6 other Germans and 1 Argentinean there to watch the game. When the final whistle blew and the match was over, the atmosphere was electric. We all left the apartment and went into the streets, like nearly everyone else in Mainz. People just walked around screaming chants while wrapped in their Germany flags. I will truly never forget it.
The semester is coming to an end here. I've already taken one of my finals, and I've already turned in my final assignment for another class. Next week is the last week of courses/finals. I really can't believe that my time here is about to be over. I don't know where the time went. It makes me sad thinking about how I'll be going home soon, but such is life.
Tomorrow, I'm going to get my haircut. This will possibly be the biggest test of my German speaking abilities yet. I guess we'll see tomorrow if I succeeded or not!
On Saturday, I went to Wiesbaden to meet up with Joe. We walked around a bit, got some lunch, walked around some more, and then went to the American Army base. I had needed a few things, and Joe was gracious enough to help me out. It was weird being back in American culture like that. Hearing English be spoken all around me just felt wrong. I can only imagine what it's going to feel like when I get back to the US!
As most of you probably know by now, the World Cup championship game was Sunday. After a long day of homework, I met Matt at the Hbf, where we left to get some döner before the match. We made our way to Christian and Jan's place, and arrived just before the game started. Aside from Matt and I, there were 6 other Germans and 1 Argentinean there to watch the game. When the final whistle blew and the match was over, the atmosphere was electric. We all left the apartment and went into the streets, like nearly everyone else in Mainz. People just walked around screaming chants while wrapped in their Germany flags. I will truly never forget it.
The semester is coming to an end here. I've already taken one of my finals, and I've already turned in my final assignment for another class. Next week is the last week of courses/finals. I really can't believe that my time here is about to be over. I don't know where the time went. It makes me sad thinking about how I'll be going home soon, but such is life.
Tomorrow, I'm going to get my haircut. This will possibly be the biggest test of my German speaking abilities yet. I guess we'll see tomorrow if I succeeded or not!
Thursday, July 10, 2014
'schland
Here are some pictures from München and Dachau. I'm going to Köln (Cologne, in English) tomorrow, so there will be more pictures coming soon!
Michaelskirche
Michaelskirche
Michaelskirche
Frauenkirche
City Map of München outside the Frauenkirche
Neues Rathaus
Heilig Geist : They were filming a movie here. I saw the director's chair and it said "Franz X Bogner," whoever he is.
Outside the Hofbrauhaus
The door to the entrance of the prisoners camp
The prisoners barracks
Inside the prisoners barracks
Inside the prisoners barracks
Inside the prisoners barracks
The footprints of where the rest of the prisoners barracks used to be.
Sign at the entrance to the crematorium. Rough translation: "Think about how we died here."
The new crematorium
The ovens in the new crematorium
The gassing room : It was hard to stand in here.
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