I just spend 5 minutes figuring out how to start my first blog in over 2 months, but i don't think there is a good solution to that one. It's been hard to actually get around to it, it's quite a task putting the past 2 and a half months of my life into one blog post. It's like when people ask you after a month or two what is new, how are you supposed to respond to that? But I have felt guilty about not letting you all back home know about what's going on in the wonderful world of Freiburg. In my German class last Thursday we did an exercise yet again about what it means to be from the US, and what we miss the most about home. The list went on and on, it was quite different doing it now than it was the first couple weeks. But it hasn't changed that I miss all of you and can't wait to see you all again.
First of all I love it here! it is better than i could have ever imagined. So far I have no regrets about anything, i am right where I want to be. The biggest thing is learning the language, i think i have a new opinion every other day about whether i am where i want to be with it, but right now i feel like i have come a long ways and am doing very well with it! I broke a barrier last week where i can understand just about everything without trying too hard. This helps a lot when it comes to class, which are all in german and takes extreme concentration to pay attention. It is very difficult to bring yourself back into the lecture after zoning out just for a few seconds, not that I ever have to do that... The next thing is that I have made quite a few German friends in the past few weeks, mostly through my roommate. I hang out with him and his friends quite a bit now and almost always speak german. Another thing I am happy with is the amount of travelling I have been doing. Anytime someone talks about somewhere in Germany, i can almost always say I have been there. People are always telling me that I have been everywhere, and i take pride in that. I have been to over 12 cities in Germany: to Freiburg, Marburg, Heidelberg, Munich, Nuremburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Cologne, Düsseldorf for three hours, Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Berlin, and a few smaller cities around Freiburg. Not to mention the many countries I've been to. After seeing all of these places, Freiburg remains my favorite place, it is the perfect town! perfect size and there is always stuff to do here.
Next weekend I will be adding one more to that list and going to Augsburg in Bayern with Britta to visit some of her relatives. I am very excited about this, to meet them, I have heard they are wonderful people!, speak german with them and to stay in a house which will be wonderful after my apartment and hostels, and of course to see Britta! Along with that, Britta and I have been planning a trip to Ireland for the end of May for my week long Pentecost break. We have already booked our flight and all three of the hostels we will be staying in. We are spending two days in Dublin, two days in Galway, and two days in Killarny. I have heard Ireland is a beautiful country so we wanted to see all the parts of it we could, not just go to see Dublin but actually get out into the countryside.
One of the best experiences I've had in my trip so far was last week on May Day. May Day is Germany's version of labor day. All the students, including me, got the Tuesday off. Monday night I asked my roommate what the best thing to do at night was since it was supposed to be a good night. He told me the best options and then just invited me with him. So i went out with a few people from IES and him and his friends. It was a great time and then his friends invited Jason, one of my best friends on the trip, and I to go hiking with them on May Day, which was my best experience: we hiked for 5 hours and saw a part of Freiburg I had never seen before and spoke German the whole time. they were all great and told us we couldn't speak english the entire time which is just what i needed instead of people just speaking english to me. It was a wonderful time! Then they invited us both to an apartment party of their friends on Friday which we went to and I had a blast at that as well, and even learned a German drinking game :)
At the beginning of April we had a week off for Easter break, and I took that opportunity the travel around Germany. For the first 5 days of my 7 day trip I spent travelling alone. I have heard from many people in the past that everyone should travel alone at some point their life, and I am so glad I did. It was very difficult at times, especially since I am usually not a planner but a follower, at least I used to be, i found that has changed when we took a group trip to Munich and I found I could not mindlessly follow people anymore. The last two days of my trip I met up with 5 people from my program in Cologne and had a wonderful time there as well. Despite the great experience of travelling alone, i was so happy to have company again. Cologne is one of my top three favorite cities is Germany, it had everything you could want and the Kölner Dom was an amazing sight. There are more stories along with that trip but those i will save for my return.
It is strange that i chose today to finally update my blog because i have many midterms, projects and papers coming up this week and the week after. It is very strange to be just starting mid-terms when almost everyone else I know is either done or almost done with the semester. I am not sure how hard the mid-terms here will be, i have heard not to worry because they are such easy graders, but i can't help but thinking they will be pretty hard. I am taking classes that i don't normally take and aren't really my specialty and they are in a different language. I am taking the required normal German class which is by far my favorite, my teacher is one of the best teachers i have ever had and i am learning so much in that class, then i'm also taking, Art History, German Literature after 1945, I can barely analyze texts in english and now i am attempting to do it in german, Medieval history, and Authoritarian and Democratic Traditions, another history class. I never thought i would miss math and engineering as much as i do.
Dalton is coming to visit in less than two weeks and i am very excited to see him and show him around. i think my friends are just as excited to meet him as i am to see him, so dalton you better be ready! i tell people they won't be able to tell us apart and they don't believe me so we will have fun messing with them. you can even go to class for me if you want... Britta has already visited me and it was great showing her around! i love to show people this world i am living in. i wish i could show you all but i will just have to do the best i can with words and pictures, or there is still time for you to plan a trip here and visit me! I will have to put pictures up later, hopefully, for all of you to see. don't worry i have been taking them.
Besides family and friends, and the food, free water and refills, both of my homes, and many other things that i miss very much, i find that i another thing i am excited for when i get back is to try all the different kinds of beer and see how they compares to how it tasted before i came here. i think they will taste much better now, so mom you better have some amberbock in the fridge! I am also one of two sophomores on my trip, everyone else is a junior, so i frequently get made fun of that i will not be 21 until January. It will be quite a shock going back to that.
Hope all is great!
First of all I love it here! it is better than i could have ever imagined. So far I have no regrets about anything, i am right where I want to be. The biggest thing is learning the language, i think i have a new opinion every other day about whether i am where i want to be with it, but right now i feel like i have come a long ways and am doing very well with it! I broke a barrier last week where i can understand just about everything without trying too hard. This helps a lot when it comes to class, which are all in german and takes extreme concentration to pay attention. It is very difficult to bring yourself back into the lecture after zoning out just for a few seconds, not that I ever have to do that... The next thing is that I have made quite a few German friends in the past few weeks, mostly through my roommate. I hang out with him and his friends quite a bit now and almost always speak german. Another thing I am happy with is the amount of travelling I have been doing. Anytime someone talks about somewhere in Germany, i can almost always say I have been there. People are always telling me that I have been everywhere, and i take pride in that. I have been to over 12 cities in Germany: to Freiburg, Marburg, Heidelberg, Munich, Nuremburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Cologne, Düsseldorf for three hours, Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Berlin, and a few smaller cities around Freiburg. Not to mention the many countries I've been to. After seeing all of these places, Freiburg remains my favorite place, it is the perfect town! perfect size and there is always stuff to do here.
Next weekend I will be adding one more to that list and going to Augsburg in Bayern with Britta to visit some of her relatives. I am very excited about this, to meet them, I have heard they are wonderful people!, speak german with them and to stay in a house which will be wonderful after my apartment and hostels, and of course to see Britta! Along with that, Britta and I have been planning a trip to Ireland for the end of May for my week long Pentecost break. We have already booked our flight and all three of the hostels we will be staying in. We are spending two days in Dublin, two days in Galway, and two days in Killarny. I have heard Ireland is a beautiful country so we wanted to see all the parts of it we could, not just go to see Dublin but actually get out into the countryside.
One of the best experiences I've had in my trip so far was last week on May Day. May Day is Germany's version of labor day. All the students, including me, got the Tuesday off. Monday night I asked my roommate what the best thing to do at night was since it was supposed to be a good night. He told me the best options and then just invited me with him. So i went out with a few people from IES and him and his friends. It was a great time and then his friends invited Jason, one of my best friends on the trip, and I to go hiking with them on May Day, which was my best experience: we hiked for 5 hours and saw a part of Freiburg I had never seen before and spoke German the whole time. they were all great and told us we couldn't speak english the entire time which is just what i needed instead of people just speaking english to me. It was a wonderful time! Then they invited us both to an apartment party of their friends on Friday which we went to and I had a blast at that as well, and even learned a German drinking game :)
At the beginning of April we had a week off for Easter break, and I took that opportunity the travel around Germany. For the first 5 days of my 7 day trip I spent travelling alone. I have heard from many people in the past that everyone should travel alone at some point their life, and I am so glad I did. It was very difficult at times, especially since I am usually not a planner but a follower, at least I used to be, i found that has changed when we took a group trip to Munich and I found I could not mindlessly follow people anymore. The last two days of my trip I met up with 5 people from my program in Cologne and had a wonderful time there as well. Despite the great experience of travelling alone, i was so happy to have company again. Cologne is one of my top three favorite cities is Germany, it had everything you could want and the Kölner Dom was an amazing sight. There are more stories along with that trip but those i will save for my return.
It is strange that i chose today to finally update my blog because i have many midterms, projects and papers coming up this week and the week after. It is very strange to be just starting mid-terms when almost everyone else I know is either done or almost done with the semester. I am not sure how hard the mid-terms here will be, i have heard not to worry because they are such easy graders, but i can't help but thinking they will be pretty hard. I am taking classes that i don't normally take and aren't really my specialty and they are in a different language. I am taking the required normal German class which is by far my favorite, my teacher is one of the best teachers i have ever had and i am learning so much in that class, then i'm also taking, Art History, German Literature after 1945, I can barely analyze texts in english and now i am attempting to do it in german, Medieval history, and Authoritarian and Democratic Traditions, another history class. I never thought i would miss math and engineering as much as i do.
Dalton is coming to visit in less than two weeks and i am very excited to see him and show him around. i think my friends are just as excited to meet him as i am to see him, so dalton you better be ready! i tell people they won't be able to tell us apart and they don't believe me so we will have fun messing with them. you can even go to class for me if you want... Britta has already visited me and it was great showing her around! i love to show people this world i am living in. i wish i could show you all but i will just have to do the best i can with words and pictures, or there is still time for you to plan a trip here and visit me! I will have to put pictures up later, hopefully, for all of you to see. don't worry i have been taking them.
Besides family and friends, and the food, free water and refills, both of my homes, and many other things that i miss very much, i find that i another thing i am excited for when i get back is to try all the different kinds of beer and see how they compares to how it tasted before i came here. i think they will taste much better now, so mom you better have some amberbock in the fridge! I am also one of two sophomores on my trip, everyone else is a junior, so i frequently get made fun of that i will not be 21 until January. It will be quite a shock going back to that.
Hope all is great!
