More adventures!

Hi everyone!

Have you by any chance been following the Euro 2008, the European soccer Championship? Germany sure has! The country has been consumed by soccer for the past few weeks, and with good reason, as the Germans made it all the way to the final game against Spain. Unfortunately Spain played much better than Germany and won 1:0, but nonetheless it was exciting to be able to be here while the Germans were romping through the tournament! I watched all of the Germany games in the city and got to see how crazy the Germans got after each victory.... see my last post for some photos.

Besides watching Fußball, I've also been exploring the area around Konstanz lately. I went hiking with some other people from my house to Marienschlucht, a ravine on Bodensee (Lake Constance). We actually spent more time hiking there and back home than we did wandering around Marienschlucht, but it was all so gorgeous it didn't matter! See below:

Us taking a little photo break on a tree in the lake.

The ravine---- yes we had to walk up a lot of stairs!

Then, attempting to find a shorter way back to Konstanz (or at least to a bus stop with busses going to Konstanz) we found some horses and a little village. The town had a bus stop, but the next bus didn't come for 2 hours, so we ended up walking to the next town.

I also had my visit to a German highschool as an ambassador from America. My host teacher was so nice! She lives in the town right across the lake, so I took the ferry there and then she drove me about an hour to the school, which is the little town of Messkirch. I visited her 12th grade, 11th grade and 6th grade English classes and her 7th grade German class. In the 12th and 6th grade classes I just answered questions they had about America. Some questions I got from the 12th graders were: Are high schools really like they appear in movies--- are there really football teams and cheerleaders? Does America have laws to protect the environment? What do you think about the practice of saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the school day? Then they sang me a German folk song and gave me a HUGE gift, including honey, juice, jam and noodles home-made in the region, as well as flowers! The 11th grade class took me on a city tour and I compared the sights they showed me and the stories they told me with the cities and traditions at home. The 6th graders (who were only in their 2nd year of English) asked things like: How do you live in America? (a very hard question to answer) What is New York like? Do you like the Simpsons? Do you have a weapon? Does your Dad? Your brother? They were amazed when I talked about how big the US is--- comparing how long it takes to drive from one coast to the other with how long it takes to drive across Germany.

On our way back to Konstanz my host teacher made a stop by her mom's house so her mom could meet me too! Then, when she heard that Mom and Cailie were coming to visit me, she offered to give me bedding or anything else I needed for their stay. She told me to contact her if there was ANYTHING I needed during the rest of my stay here---- just another example of a very friendly German!

I didn't have my camera with me, but I found this picture of Messkirch online. It was a little village with lots of farmland around.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you are all enjoying the warmth of summer, and I will see many of you in about a month! Time is going by so quickly now!

"So seh'n Sieger aus!"

Germany surprised all of Europe last night and won their quarter-final Europameisterschaft (European soccer Championship) game against Portugal! Portugal was expected to win, but Germany won in a very exciting and fast-paced 3:2 game. I watched the game from the outdoor seating at a restuarant in town (and was very disappointed by the "Chocolate Milkshake" I ordered--- it was literally shaken-up chocolate milk!!). After the game, we made our way towards the bus stop and got swept up in the mass of Germans celebrating in the streets singing "So seh'n Sieger aus!" (translated: that's what victors look like!). It was crazy and awesome to see!! Here are some pictures:


The crowd ended up blocking one of the main streets in Konstanz, and decided not to let the buses through-- there are two barricaded-in buses in this pictures. Eventually the crowd draped a German flag on the buses' steering wheels' and let them pass.


Although the police were standing by, the crowd managed to begin a huge traffic jam by stopping every one of the thousands of cars trying to get out of the public viewing's parking garage. We only stayed about 20 minutes, but I think the police eventually made the crowd let the cars through--- they however looked like they would rather be joining in the celebration than enforcing order! As a new car tried to get through, the crowd blockaded the car, placed a German flag over the winsdshield, and then sang a victory song before removing the flag and letting the car through. You can see a captive car in this picture.


There are very few instances when Germans show national pride (they don't have a flag day, don't usually sing along to their national anthem, don't wear clothing with German flags or display the German flag outside their houses), so seeing all of this was especially amazing.

This is actually a picture from the last Germany game (against Austria) prior to the quarter final. You can see the German head coach, Joachim Löw, after both he and the Austrian head coach were ordered by the ref to leave the sidelines and watch the rest of the game from the stands because they were arguing with one another. He wasn't allowed to coach the quarter final game either! What I found especially funny was that he ended up watching the game in the seat next to one of his players (Schweinsteiger) who had also been exiled from play after receiving a red card. Löw had no doubt chewed-out Schweinsteiger, one of Germany's star players, for getting himself kicked out, only to find himself in the same situation!

Tonight's game between Croatia and Turkey will decide who Germany plays on Wednesday in the semi-final. The Germans are saying, "Wir werden Europameister!" (we'll be the European champion!)--- I'm excited to see how far they will go!

Yeah, I know it's been awhile...

Hi again! I realize it's been awhile since I've posted, but I'm still alive and thriving.

Everything has been getting easier for me here during past few weeks--- the language, the social interactions, and the (still) bothersome beauracracy. Just in time for me to go home in 6 weeks, I'm feeling pretty darn comfortable here; when I arrived, my housemates told me this would happen, and they were right.

I have now completed two presentations in German for my psychology classes, and, as my entire grade comes from these presentations, I am essentially done with two classes. Yay! Both went really well, and I got lots of compliments on my ability to speak German, which made me feel good.

Thursday I got the best compliment on my German I have ever received. I got to my Motivation Psychology class early because I had to give a presentation that day, and a girl sitting in the room started making small talk with me--- it wasn't a lot, but I said at least 4 or 5 sentences. Then, when class began, I went to the front of the class to give my presentation and the professor introduced me, saying that I was from the States. After the presentation, the girl told me that, until I was introduced, she thought that I was German! She didn't detect any accent when I spoke to her, and apparently my grammar was correct!!

In addition to preparing for these two presentations, I have gone for my first swim in the Bodensee (which looks like an Alpine Lake because the Alps tower over the water). I have had a couple more wonderful barbeque nights with my house (despite the frequency of our grilling, we are not especially talented at it--- it took us an hour-and-a-half to start the grill last time) I have attended a German birthday party with Amelia and brought marshmallows to roast (which was a huge hit among the Germans; the whole night we heard, "I've never actually tried one of these before, could I try just one?"and then they'd come back for seconds and thirds....) I have battled my way through the signing-up-to-take-tests beauracracy of the psychology department. I have visited the Customs Office to have a package Mom sent me searched before I received it and then the vitamins inside (the whole point of the package!) destroyed because one is not allowed to send any type of medicine/supplement into the country (possibly because many things we have at home, like multivitamins with 100% of the daily needed value of many vitamins, are illegal here because they are "too strong").

I have also begun volunteering once a week to help elementary school kids in an afterschool program with their homework and to play with them. They are so much fun, and very honest and stubborn for the most part. I had a very lively 10 minute discussion with a 7-year old who was convinced that 10-1=11! The same girl had a very hard time understanding why I grew up in America and not in Germany-- when I told her it was because my parents were born in America and still live in America, she asked why they were born in America and not in Germany. Sometimes the simplest questions are the hardest to answer! I've also learned from the kids that the way I pronounce the German word for '5' sounds a lot like '12' (I'm not quite native yet), and they are quick to correct me anytime I use the wrong preposition. They are eager to speak English with me (although their knowledge is limited to numbers, animals, and colors), and so I've been teaching them some English games--- Simon Says is a big hit!

The European Championship for soccer started last week, and this country is now covered in German flags, which is nice to see as it has only begun to be socially acceptable to display patriotism in the last 2 years. My language class teacher warned us foreigners to not get worried if Konstanz became a bit louder and crazier in the next few weeks and told us it was best if we'd just join-in with the soccer-crazed Germans. Below are a couple pictures of soccer spirit:

Some of my housemates, Amelia and I tried to go over the border into Switzerland (5 minutes from Konstanz city center) to watch the last German game from a huge TV screen projecting the game, but the 4000+ capacity was filled long before the game started. We ended up at the Irish pub to watch it, and drew our national flag as well as the German flag on our faces (hence the pointing at the cheeks in the picture). Germany lost 2:1 to Croatia, but we weren't all that sad because we're not German.

This is a picture of a bus driver who parked his bus (which has a German flag on the side) in the middle of the street during his break so he could watch the soccer game from one of the pub's TVs!

I have also been spending a lot of time in town, just enjoying the hustle and bustle. Cafes, like the one below, are good for people watching!

Yesterday Amelia, Kirsten and I crossed the border into Switzerland because we had heard rumor of a chocolate factory with a factory store.... The chocolate I bought is pictured below because it just looks so good (and because I was excited that I bought Swiss chocolate direct from a Swiss chocolate factory, which is only 15 minutes from my dorm!). It was also really cheap-- three high quality bars for the equivalent of 3.50 US dollars!

And, in closing, a picture of the Konstanz harbor looking beautiful as ever, despite an ugly day, to make you all jealous of me and to make Mom and Cailie excited about coming over here in about 5 WEEKS!!!!

That little thing called school....

Yes, to answer your unasked question, I do indeed go to school while I'm here (and all of my classes are in German with German students). I am taking 4 academic classes plus a yoga and Irish/Scottish dance class. Each class meets for only an hour-and-a-half per week. I will describe each of them so you can get an idea of what I'm doing here (other than seeing Europe):

Intimate Relationships Scientifically Considered" (Yes, that's seriously what it's called):

I have never met the professor. Each day a small group of students gives a 90minute presentation and the teacher's aid gives them a grade. We were told that the reading is optional and our entire grade comes from our presentation. I do the reading because I want to learn something. It is normal for students in the audience to talk during presentations, the presenters just shout over them.

"Personality Psychology"

This is a big lecture class. The professor drops off at the end of her sentences which makes understanding her especially difficult. As in the above class, students talk during lecture, which makes it even harder to understand. My grade in this class comes from a one-hour exam at the end of the class. Again, reading is optional and "pretty much unnecessary for the exam" because the exam I am taking is reduced for international students and students who don't normally study psychology. After class I have to print out her slides and try to figure out what exactly she was talking about. I'd say I only comprehend about 70% of what she says.



"Motivational Psychology"

I will describe the first day: Professor enters; says "Guten Tag"; assigns each student a scientific article to present during a specific class period; leaves 10 minutes later, after telling us we won't have class for the next two weeks. hmmm. My grade comes from a 20 minute presentation and it is not expected of us, or even recommended to us, that we read the articles students present. The professor's lecture, however, is really interesting and he is very clear and organized. I can understand him!!



"German: Applied Geography"

This is a class for German language learners, and most people in it have already been here at least a semester. We listen to current German news and discuss it. I am learning a lot about the German social and political structure this way. Our discussions are especially interesting because the class includes students from Columbia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Isreal, Ireland, Estonia, Bulgaria and Hungary.



Irish and Scottish Dance

This class is as fun as it sounds! We spend the whole time jumping around on our toes laughing over our attempts at Irish dancing. I am meeting a lot of really nice Germans in this class, and it's so nice to know that on Thursdays from 6-7:30 I will be laughing! I'm actually getting pretty good, and I make sure to stand up nice and straight when I dance, so perhaps I'll try out for Riverdance when I get back..... :)



In addition to all of this, I will be tutoring/mentoring either an immigrant elementary student or a student living in a state orphanage (haven't received my assignment yet), meet once/week with my Polish housemate (who speaks fluent German) to improve my German and teach him English, and will be visiting schools in the area to present on topics dealing with the US. This last program is called "Rent an American" and I had training for it last weekend up in Stuttgart. I'm really excited to do things like simulate job interviews with students, throw elementary students an American style birthday party, be interviewed about what it's really like in the US etc!



Alright, so now perhaps you have a better idea of my life here. I know my language is improving, but I still feel like I've been bombarded by heavy, piercing German words at rapid-fire speed after sitting through three hours of class on Thursdays. It takes a lot of energy to go to class! Daydreaming for even a second is not an option-- it takes 110% concentration to keep up with the lessons.



I know everybody else's classes are ending right now, but here in Konstanz we have classes until the 21st of July, so we're just starting to get into the semester.

Wien!!! (Vienna)

Hello friends!

I am back from Vienna and actually have some homework to do for my classes-- man, it's been forever since I've done any real school work.... more on classes later. Vienna was (guess what I'm going to say....) yep, BEAUTIFUL! It was as pretty as Paris, just more relaxed and not as crowded. As with all of my trips so far, the weather was perfect-- sunny and about 7odegrees. It took us 10hrs. by train to get there and 13 to get back (thanks to a delayed train that made us miss the rest of our connections). I am really becoming a pro at riding German trains!


This was the view from our hostel window.



Vienna is known for its coffee houses, and most specifically, for the Melange (milk coffee) and Sachre Torte (chocolate cake with thin Apricot glaze in the middle). MMMM!!!!

This is probably the most famous coffee house in Vienna (which is saying a lot). It looks super fancy, although people just come in jeans and sit for hours drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Notice in this picture the DOG ON THE FANCY BENCH! Yes, it is completely allowed (and completely) common to find dogs everywhere, including in restaurants.

And now for my favorite part of Vienna-- the Vienna State Opera!! Amelia and I got to see Mozart's Die Zauberfloete (The Magic Flute) for 3.50 Euros. Yes, 3.50 and the people sitting directly in front of us paid over 200 Euro for their seats. Okay, granted we had to wait in line for 3 hours before the show to get standing room tickets, and then we had to stand for the performance, but we had a rail to lean on and LITERALLY had the best standing room tickets in the whole opera. This is a picture I took at the end of the performance without any zoom-- we were that close to the stage!


A view from our standing room spots inside the Opera House.


A view of the very short distance between us and the stage (and of the very nicely dressed people who sat in very expensive seats).


Amelia and me looking pretty on the stairs at the Opera. I'd never been to an opera before, but I think we saw an especially great one! It was hilarious and had a happy ending and I think I smiled for three hours straight. They also had little LCD screens in front of each of our places that showed the text of the opera so we could follow along.


Vienna by day.

Vienna was the center of the Habsburg Monarchy and thus is full of----crap, I can only think of the German word for what I want to say.....okay....I actually had to look up the English translation of the word----traces of the royal family. In this picture you see the coffin of the Maria Theresa and her husband. Apparently they were so in love they were 'buried' together in a coffin that's supposed to resemble a big bed. We saw this in the slightly creepy but really cool Kaisergruft (Imperial Burial Vault), which is where are all of the Habsburg family is laid to rest when they die. The last person to be buried there actually died last year, and there's still room for about 5 more people.

We also saw the historic Spanish Riding School's Lippizaner horses (which still operates in the tradition of the Habsburg family), and gives their horses 3 months of vacation per year in the fresh air in the hills of Austria. They were so pretty! Unfortunately we didn't get to see them perform, we just got a tour of the stables. We also saw the "silver chamber" of the monarchy (ie. all of their silver and china and porcelain--- actually a lot more interesting than it sounds), their "treasure chamber" (ie. their coronation crowns, religious items, royal dress, jewelry etc), and a museum dedicated to the extremely intriguing and sad life story of the Queen/Empress "Sissi."

We also climbed to the top of one of the spires of the St. Stephan's Cathedral. 300+ stairs helped us feel less guilty about the amazing gelatto we ate earlier. This is a picture from the top.

Hmmmm, this is something big. And pretty. And important. Oh yeah, it's part of the HUGE palace called Hofburg that is located directly in the middle of the city. The Habsburgs ruled from here for over 700 years, and today it houses a bunch of museums, the office of the Austrian President and some offices of Congress. It's interesting that the museums the government offices are, and how little security the office have (especially in comparison to DC)!

So there's a little flavor of my trip!

Europe is beautiful, but nowhere is as pretty as the place that houses the people I love. I miss you guys!

Feeling Foreign and Fitting in

Hi! I haven’t written in a while, partly because I no longer have internet in my house (apparently they were just testing it and then decided to turn it off for a while when they realized it worked…). The last couple of weeks, however, have been very eventful for me, and I thought I’d update you on it all.

Firstly, the weather—I think it has become summer around here! The weather has been consistently warm and sunny, and everything is in bloom. Since it’s been so nice, I’ve spent a lot of time outside and have lots of pictures to show for it. See below:

A small part of the harbor in town.


Colin and I walked to an island nearby (via a bridge) called Insel Mainau, which is entirely covered in flowers. It was gorgeous!


A view of the Alps from the island.

There was also a butterfly house. The butterflies were frantically flying all over the place, so I was so excited to be able to take this picture of a still one.

This is part of the neighborhood we walked through to get to the island.

The same beautiful neighborhood.

This is where I live. If you pretend like the big, ugly cement buildings (ie. our houses) aren't there, it's really very pretty.

A view of the lake and a neighborhood from the University.

The University. They call this modern art.

Another view of the strange architecture at the Uni.

The view of the Uni I see everyday on my way to class.

My house decided to have a grill party on Saturday. Those of us who could pull ourselves out of bed by 10am went grocery shopping together in the morning, and then we spent the evening grilling and having fun. It was possibly one of the best nights I've had here! Not everyone could make it (and some people from other houses joined us), but pictured here from the house are Eve (Poland), Augustina (Lithuania), Marcus (Sweden), Brigi (Hungary), Arthur (Poland), and Mehmet (Turkey/Kurdistan). Missing are Yen (China), Annelise (Estonia), Lina (Bulgaria), Francois (France), and Isabella (Romania).

Just last week I found myself starting to lose patience with all of the cultural differences I am encountering here. Because I’ve always loved learning about and experiencing other cultures, I was surprised that the differences I usually find so intriguing were getting so very annoying. I realized, however, that I was simply sick of being aware of how ‘different’ I am; I was sick of being foreign. For example, I was sick of being told that I was “too thinly clothed for the weather” and responding that in Minnesota, this weather is considered warm. Although I found my housemates’ amusing preconceptions about America amusing (we eat ice-cream at every meal, school shootings are so common we are afraid to go to school, we are the greatest country in the world, we are the worst country in the world etc.), I was getting sick of being the American and of discussing American politics. I was getting sick of the response, “Ohh…” that inevitably followed when somebody found out I was from the States (and of not knowing exactly what that person meant with this one little word). I was getting sick of having my meals critically scrutinized. The worst, however, was when I wore flip-flops into town last weekend and was subject to people blatantly staring at my toes for the rest of the day. It is not fun to be stared at! I still am not sure why they found my footwear so odd—perhaps the weather wasn’t quite warm enough for them yet. While being foreign and different is often uncomfortable, being in the position of the ‘different’ one is humbling and is teaching me real empathy for everyone else who, because of their clothing, accent, skin color, food of choice, body shape etc., is subject to stares and criticism in the place where I fit in as ‘normal.’

Then, one day, something clicked and I suddenly felt like I belonged here. Granted, I have been seriously considering telling people that I’m from Canada and not the US, but I am beginning to feel like I am really a part of the community around me. I have been going to dinners hosted by the Catholic club on campus (and am finally meeting some Germans!!), and am comfortable and familiar enough with the people there that I can joke with them and feel like a ‘regular.’ My house is also becoming more close-knit, and I am really getting to know the people I live with. I am becoming the house’s English tutor, as most people in the house are either taking English classes, wish they were, or are in classes that require knowledge of English. It feels great to be useful!! So, I guess the discomfort of feeling foreign had to build-up and reach its breaking point before things got better and I really started to feel like I fit in here.

On a last note, I am going to Vienna Friday thru Tuesday. I still have two travel days left on my Eurail train pass that have to be used before the end of the month, and Monday is a holiday here, so I thought-- why not! Neither Amelia nor I really have class on Friday or Tuesday, so we’re going to make the 10 hour trip.

Paris-- the city that loves Love and loaths English

Our trip to Paris was my first adventure on an overnight train, and I think it's one of those adventures you only need to experience once. We got on the train around 10pm and were supposed to arrive in Mannheim, Germany at 4:45am and catch a train into Paris at 6:45am. I slept at most 2 hrs., and then woke everyone up at 4:25 so we could ready to get off. After 4:45 came and went and the train didn't stop, we asked two different train people (I can't think of the English title for them) where we were and when we would get to Mannheim. They were both super crabby and said they had no idea. We found a more helpful lady who told us that we were delayed 2 hrs. due to some electrical problem. We tried to go back to bed, but at this point, we only had an hour or so left until we were expected to arrive. Luckily we made our connecting train in Mannheim, and made it to Paris.

The people working in the ticket booths at one of the largest train stations in Paris were so unhelpful (and of course, could not speak German or English) that it took us a solid half an hour to figure out which ticket to buy for the metro. By the end of the whole transaction we were having a very hard time not bursting into laughter-- their uselessness (and arrogance) was just that hilarious! This trip was the first time I've ever been somewhere where I can't speak the language. It was quite frustrating, but definitely an experience everybody should have at some point in their life. It really gives you empathy for people who struggle with English in the States. It was kind of funny-- no matter how hard I tried to use the few French words I learned, German came out of my mouth whenever I tried to communicate what I wanted.

It's true-- the French love to demonstrate! This protest was one of the first things I saw in the city. I saw three protests/demonstrations in three days!

Parisians relaxing at a cafe overlooking beautiful gardens. I LOVE THIS CITY!! Life just seemed so beautiful here.

The Place de la Concorde, the center of the French Revolution. It was a bit surreal to be standing in such a historically signicant place.

The metro at night. We became pros at riding the super-crowded metro (and always spoke to each other in German while riding so that people wouldn't think we were ugly Americans).

Notre Dame at night.

Notre Dame and the Seine river during the day. I got to go to Saturday night mass here.

A cool-looking shop on the Champs Elysees, a super chic shopping street that leads directly to the Arc de Triomphe.

This is a mall!! I told you this city was beautiful! Amelia and I spent a bit of time wandering This was about the time when we lost Colin in this huge city.

We met up with Erik Davis and Kelly, another St. Olaf student who is studying in France and had a picnic dinner on the garden of the Louvre. We had fresh baguettes, chicken, brie cheese, strawberries, and French wine. mmmm! The Eiffel Tower was also in the background, you just can't see it in this picture.

The Louvre! Friday night from 6-10 was free for students, so we saved a lot of money.

I will spare you from having to look at the billions of pictures I took in the Louvre, but I like this one of the Sphinx...

...and this one of the crowd surrounding the Mona Lisa..

...and this one of me in Napolean's private apartments... (apparently he lived in one of the wings of the Louvre- he lived pretty well, huh!?)

Ever since I watched the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson movie Passport to Paris when I was 11, the Arc de Triomphe and the traffic circle surrounding it has symbolized Paris for me. I was so excited to actually be able to see it in real life! I took this picture from the middle of the street and almost got run over (Parisian drivers are insane!), but it was worth it. Don't worry, I only acted like a stupid tourist in Paris, not while I was traveling around Germany.

Ahhhh-- just looking at this picture again makes me so happy!! This is the Museum l'Orangerie, which is a small museum filled with impressionist paintings. My favorite part were the two circular rooms in which Monet's waterlilies paintings spanned the entire length of the wall. I just sat in the middle of the room and stared at them for a while.

Creme Brulee! It was soooo good! We unabashedly ate our way through Paris, including: crepes (desert and savory), chocolate macarons, chocolate eclairs, baguette sandwiches, baguettes with a hotdog in the middle, espresso, and french onion soup. France tastes SO much better than Germany!

And, of course we made it the Eiffel Tower. At the top of every hour at night they make it blink-- it was pretty dang cool!

We walked along the Seine from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower one night, and I probably took 50 pictures of the tower-- it just kept looking better and better! I'm in this one (in the left corner).

It took us 10 hours (and six trains) to get home from Paris. I spent the whole time staring out the window and listening to my mp3 player-- the ride was so gorgeous I literally had tears in my eyes at time. We drove through the French country side past little villages, through the German Black Forest, and around the sparkling Lake Constance with the Alps in the distance.