Away we go!

Well, my pre-semester language class ended today and I leave on Sunday for a two week adventure around Germany and Paris. I am VERY excited!! I wanted to post some pictures of Easter before I go, and let you all know that I won't be writing for a few weeks.

I got together with Amelia (from St. Olaf), Azzurra (from Verona, Italy), Margit (from Denmark), and Antoneota (from Romania) for Easter. We started by going to Easter mass at the Münster (cathedral) in town, and then made a huge lunch/dinner. Mass was in Latin, and the music was beautiful. The meal was perfect--- we all ate so much we couldn't move afterwards.


Three great cooks in the kitchen! After we delegated tasks (necessary because everybody knew the best way to cook everything), things went very smoothly. Azzurra made crepes with nutella and whipped cream for desert, and, I felt super sophisticated eating crepes made by a real Italian (even though I know they are a French fare).

Our beautiful concoction of carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, whatever spices there happened to be laying around in the kitchen, garlic, schnitzel meat (which we did not make into schnitzel), and orange juice. It actually tasted really good! We were very proud of ourselves because we didn't even use a recipe. We also had asparagus and mashed potatoes. mmmm!

Happy and satt (full)!

from left to right: Amelia, Margit, Antoneota, me, Azzurra.

And, in conclusion, a picture of me. I think it nicely captures my emotions right now-- I'm still a bit in awe of everything I get to see and everything I get to do. Oh, and the light around my head is there because I am just that holy. :)

The schedule for my trip is:

March 30-31 Stuttgart

March 31-April 2 Bacharach

April 2-4 Hamburg

April4-8 Berlin

April 8-9 Dresden

April 10-13 Paris

Classes start for real on April 14, and after that point, I should have internet in my dorm room! Have a great couple weeks, and I will post stories and pictures when I get back!

Love you all!

Frohe Ostern!

Hi all! I know it’s been a long while since I last wrote. Sorry. It’s hard to find time to sit down and really think about what I’ve been doing, especially since I have to go sit in a café to use internet.
First of all, I should correct my last post. Apparently NO Germans actually live in my house. The people who I thought were from Germany apparently are from Poland, which might explain why I have trouble understanding their accent. Also, the girl I thought was from Iceland actually said she was from “Estland” (Estonia), not “Island” (Iceland). Oops. I’ve also met two other people in my house: a guy from France, who proudly speaks no German, and a guy from China (Yen), who speaks broken German. I’m so glad we have a common kitchen, because I like to eat and being in the kitchen is the best way to get to know people. I learned that Yen’s mom studied medicine at the University of MN 15 years ago. Small world!

I’ve had some other language misunderstandings. For example, one day I saw the girl from Estland on the bus and she said something to me. I couldn’t understand her well, so I asked her to repeat it. I still didn’t understand her, and I didn’t want to sound stupid and make her repeat it twice. So, I responded “Danke” (thanks) because I thought she had something like, “Your hair looks very soft today.” I thought sure, maybe I’m having a soft-hair-day. Apparently she actually said, “I’ve seen you around a lot today.” I suppose “Danke” was the wrong response. Another day in my language class we were playing a game and my team had to quickly think of a plant that started with the letter ‘h’. We yelled out “Hirschbaum,” which we thought meant cherry tree (“baum” means tree). The German word for cherry, however, is not actually “Hirsch,” it’s “Kirsche.” A Hirsch is a deer. We didn’t get any points for our answer because deer, unfortunately, do not grow on trees. But, despite these slip-ups, I apparently look/sound German because I’ve been asked twice for directions from visitors in town! Once I even knew where to tell them to go!

I’m having such a good time meeting people and hearing their stories. I have friends from Turkey, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Russia, China, Denmark, Iraq, and the Czech Republic. I really think that the diversity of this place (especially my housing complex) is one of the biggest advantages to living here! Unfortunately not everybody thinks so. The guy from Poland who lives across the hall from me isn’t as nice as thought he was. The other day he told me that he hates how you can get on the bus and hear multiple languages and see people from other cultures. I guess he forgot that he’s also a foreigner. Then, he went on to say how the US thinks they can rule the world and do whatever they want, but that the people behind this greed are actually the business people. They start wars. And do you know who those people are? he asked me. Well, they’re the Jews of course. I couldn’t believe I heard him right! I thought the world had learned the problem with such beliefs 60 years ago!

On a happier note, speaking and hearing German is starting to feel more normal. Now, I often speak German even when I’m with other Americans. I’m also getting used to the routines around here. For example, buses are ALWAYS on time, and they will pull away on time even if you bang on their side; the wheels on the grocery store carts roll side-to-side so that you can quickly dodge other shoppers who will ram into you if you don’t move out of their way; the bank normally closes at 4:30, but is open until 6 on Thursday; NOTHING is open on Sunday; all food will taste like meat and salt; beauracratic offices are open approximately 2 hours per day, during which you will have class or some other commitment; if you do not visit the appropriate beauracratic offices and fill out 80 billion forms, you will not be allowed to buy a cell phone, use internet, pay rent, get your mail, take classes or live in general; and finally, if you walk outside with wet hair in 45degree weather (because you have a tendency to ignore your alarm clock and roll out of bed 20 minutes before the bus leaves) concerned students will tell you that you are likely to die from a cold.

I know this is a long post, but if you made it this far, you should definitely check out the pictures I’ve posted. I cannot get over how beautiful this place is, and the flowers are just starting to bloom! Happy Spring to everyone, and Happy Easter!

Pictures endlich!

I am currently sitting in McDonalds's (something I swore I would never do in Germany) and am using their free wireless to upload pictures. Desparate times call for desparate measures! I'll start from the beginning and work my way through my adventure so far.

Here you see Colin and Amelia with all of our luggage-- now imagine us lugging this onto a full train in three minutes and then trying to find a place to put it all...

This is where I live. The complex (called Sonnenbuehl Ost--Ost means "East" in German, and the buildings look like they're straight out of pre-1989 Eastern Europe) is made of up about 15 bungalows. You can see two in this picture.

My gorgeous room....thanks to some creativity (including hanging wrapping paper on my wall) it is beginning to resemble an insane asylum less and less! My trash can is overflowing because when I took this picture I still didn't quite understand the German trash sorting system and so just kept all of my trash in my room. I've since learned. My room smells better too.

One Saturday morning I walked to a nearby bakery with a few friends, and these were the kind of houses/apartment buildings we saw on our way there! It's still hard for me to believe that the whole town is made up of buildings as cool as these. I love Europe!

Lake Constance (Bodensee in German).

Another view of the lake. I see this view everyday on my walk to the University. One clear days, the lake is sapphire blue and I can see the Alps.

We saw this rainbow the other while we were walking to the University. I always wondered what was at the other end of a rainbow-- now I know, it's Konstanz of course!

This is where I go to Church. It's really cold inside, but very ornate.

As part of our orientation program, we took a trip to a brewery in the Black Forest. They gave us free beer, meat and bread after our tour. I can't tell you anything about the brewery except that they have a lot of big, shiny things that hold beer because I couldn't hear the tour guide, but the food was great!

A little house in the breathtaking Black Forest.

We also took an excursion to the city of Freiburg, and saw the university there, which was founded in 1457! That was before Columbus 'discovered' America!! In this picture, Aristotle and Homer sit outside the library.

This shade of red hair is quite popular among German women, especially the middle-aged ones. Not quite sure why...


SPRING!! Magnolia blossoms in Freiburg.

Zee Germans, Rules, and an Irish Pub

After a long 20 hours of travel, luckily without much trouble, I'm in Germany! I arrived with two other St. Olaf students, Colin and Amelia, and we looked quite funny trying to lug a total of 8 pieces of luggage onto a train and then a bus. On the train from Switzerland to Germany we met quite a few talkative and friendly Germans. Their Swiss German was completely incomprehensible, and their English was perfect, so we got a bit nervous about speaking German. Luckily, crossing the border also meant hearing much less accented German. There was a Swiss couple on the train who also got on the same bus as we did. They took pity on us and helped us drag our luggage all the way from the bus stop to our dorms in the rain!

Despite the horror stories I've heard about the dorm I'm in, I actually don't mind the place. It's close to campus, but the room is so white I'm starting to go a bit crazy; it looks a bit like an insane asylum. I actually hung a towel on my wall to add some color! I live in a 'bungalow' with 13 other students, and the ones I've met seem pretty friendly. There are signs posted everywhere with rules on how to do (and not do) EVERYTHING. I went to check out our kitchen, and met a girl who skipped the small talk and went right to making sure that I had read and understood all of the rules. Quite German!

Unfortunately I can't get internet at the internet until the end of March, and nobody seems to know when I can get it in my dorm. The "Hausmeister", who is in charge of the building (including the internet), is amazingly crabby and speaks Schwaebisch (which is basically a bunch of "sch" sounds mixed with some vowels. He is also only available two hours/day. I'm currently with six other exchange students in an Irish pub with free WiFi. I've met so many amazing people here, and we're all learning to navigate the city and bureaucracy together.

Speaking of the city- it is the most beautiful city I've ever seen!!! I will post pictures later, but for now just picture a city full of sun, cobble streets, restored old, ornate buildings. The brilliant blue Lake Constance is bordered by the Alps.

We had orientation and a language test today, and I apparently slept right through my alarm clock. Soooo, I arrived an hour and 15 minutes late. Apparently I didn't miss much, but I was a bit embarassed. Apparently jet lag is catching up with me (somehow I slept a solid eight hours the first night I arrived, but couldn't sleep at all last night).

This month should be exciting- we have a few hours of language class everyday and then have activities or outings some afternoons. Real university classes start April 14th.

I love and miss you all!! Hope all is well wherever you are in the world!