Okay, so our hotel here has two computers in the lobby that are free to use so yay, I get to blog. It's somewhat difficult because the keyboard is reallz similar to American ones but the z and y key are switched and some other minor differences.
Yesterday we went to several sites: we saw the gates (they're from Roman times, very cool), the holocaust memorial and museum, an exhibit on the Gustapo and SS headquarters, and checkpoint charlie (which was the Army's checkpoint at the Berlin Wall to get into the American Sector). It was a good day overall...in about an hour we are going to take a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin. I am excited about seeing more sights, but not about the walking or the sweating that goes along with it. It's way hotter here than they said it would be. A ton of us have brought clothes that are not condusive to the weather, but H&M is cheap so I may pick up a few more shirts there so that I'm not as hot all the time.
Anyway, there's tons of reflection I could give on the day yesterday, but I will wait until we get back to Leipzig and then I will reflect on the weekend as a whole. Alright I'm off with my friend Amanda to find some coffee and then meet up with everyone for our walking tour! Hope everyone is doing well and having a good summer!!! Keep the comments coming, I am loving them.
PS...Shannon, the frenchtoast nutella style is the best thing I've heard all day, I am totally trying it when I get back to a kitchen in Leipzig!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Seeing the Sights in Downtown Leipzig
Today Amy and I got up early and walked to a bakery that is literally on the corner of the street we live on here (our street is Erich-Koln-Strasse). The lady at the bakery spoke no english so when I ordered I said in English "Can I have two of these?" and pointed to the pastry I wanted. And she said "zwie?" And I was like "Two?" and She said "zwie?" Eventually I realized she just trying to tell me zwie means two. She was a cute little grandma type, very sweet and I am going to try to learn how to say a few things to her in German because I hate that I can't talk to anyone I meet here! The pastries ROCKED. I have no idea what I got but I want more!
After that we came back to our flat and ate our pastries and drank coffee until we had class in Dr. Beck's flatt at 10. We had orientation today, aka rule time. Basically we need to not be dumb while we are here and not drink. I can do both of those so I should be good to go.
Dr. Beck gave us some notes on the Berlin wall and the Cold War and then we were free to go finish our sigh seeing that we were assigned yesterday. Amy and Amanda (my two roomies here) and then two other girls, Stephanie and Dayami, and I all went together downtown. I rented a phone for 10 euro (15 american dollars wooohoo!) and then we went to Leipzig University and walked around aimlessly for a few minutes and then we went to the Museum of Contemporary History. That was a really cool place. After walking around it for like half an hour a worker there asked me if I spoke English and then gave me a booklet that you return to them when you are done. The booklet is an English translation of all the German descriptions of the different things in the exhibition. I was already done and we had to move on, but I am definitely going back on a free day because I want to know what all the stuff said! After the museum we went to H&M which is actually a store that's from America and the other girls bought some stuff. Then we went to St. Thomas Church which is the church Bach worked at for a while and he composed a lot of stuff there. His remains are actually buried under the choir room and you can see a big brass plate on the ground over where they are located. It was really cool (of course the choir nerd in me loved it). The church was beautiful and had an awesome organ! It also had a small room that was set up in the style of a museum that was very interesting.
After that Amanda and I were pooped so we headed back to the tram. We got back to our flat and I went to the grocery store. I picked the worst time ever to go. I had no clue what time it was because I hadn't set my phone up yet, but it had to have been like 5 or 6 because the little store was packed. I learned how to rent a shopping cart (you pay a 1 euro deposit for a shopping cart) and then did my shopping. I bought bread, turkey, Gouda cheese (yeah baby), fruit, NUTELLA (I'm in LOVE), coke, etc. Stocked the fridge basically. I need to go back and get cereal though. Anyways. Then I had to stand in a line that was forever long and pay and pack my bag while people were staring me down because I was taking forever and I know they were thinking "stupid American." I am sure I will get the hang of how to efficiently grocery shop here. After that I came home, made a nutella sandwhich and journaled for a bit because our first entries are due tomorrow. Then I set up my phone and then I realized it was almost 8:30 at night. It was light enough outside I thought it was like 6, so then I realized I needed to hustle because....
Tomorrow we go to Berlin! I packed and I'm ready to go now. We leave at 8:30 in the morning. I won't have my laptop because I won't have internet access there, but I'll be available for you to call me on the phone I rented (that's for Mom).
Alright...I need to sleeeeep, so peace out!
PS...Thank you all for your comments! I love them!
After that we came back to our flat and ate our pastries and drank coffee until we had class in Dr. Beck's flatt at 10. We had orientation today, aka rule time. Basically we need to not be dumb while we are here and not drink. I can do both of those so I should be good to go.
Dr. Beck gave us some notes on the Berlin wall and the Cold War and then we were free to go finish our sigh seeing that we were assigned yesterday. Amy and Amanda (my two roomies here) and then two other girls, Stephanie and Dayami, and I all went together downtown. I rented a phone for 10 euro (15 american dollars wooohoo!) and then we went to Leipzig University and walked around aimlessly for a few minutes and then we went to the Museum of Contemporary History. That was a really cool place. After walking around it for like half an hour a worker there asked me if I spoke English and then gave me a booklet that you return to them when you are done. The booklet is an English translation of all the German descriptions of the different things in the exhibition. I was already done and we had to move on, but I am definitely going back on a free day because I want to know what all the stuff said! After the museum we went to H&M which is actually a store that's from America and the other girls bought some stuff. Then we went to St. Thomas Church which is the church Bach worked at for a while and he composed a lot of stuff there. His remains are actually buried under the choir room and you can see a big brass plate on the ground over where they are located. It was really cool (of course the choir nerd in me loved it). The church was beautiful and had an awesome organ! It also had a small room that was set up in the style of a museum that was very interesting.
After that Amanda and I were pooped so we headed back to the tram. We got back to our flat and I went to the grocery store. I picked the worst time ever to go. I had no clue what time it was because I hadn't set my phone up yet, but it had to have been like 5 or 6 because the little store was packed. I learned how to rent a shopping cart (you pay a 1 euro deposit for a shopping cart) and then did my shopping. I bought bread, turkey, Gouda cheese (yeah baby), fruit, NUTELLA (I'm in LOVE), coke, etc. Stocked the fridge basically. I need to go back and get cereal though. Anyways. Then I had to stand in a line that was forever long and pay and pack my bag while people were staring me down because I was taking forever and I know they were thinking "stupid American." I am sure I will get the hang of how to efficiently grocery shop here. After that I came home, made a nutella sandwhich and journaled for a bit because our first entries are due tomorrow. Then I set up my phone and then I realized it was almost 8:30 at night. It was light enough outside I thought it was like 6, so then I realized I needed to hustle because....
Tomorrow we go to Berlin! I packed and I'm ready to go now. We leave at 8:30 in the morning. I won't have my laptop because I won't have internet access there, but I'll be available for you to call me on the phone I rented (that's for Mom).
Alright...I need to sleeeeep, so peace out!
PS...Thank you all for your comments! I love them!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Hey y'all! It's about 11:00 p.m., just got back from a very long day. Today we met at ten a.m. in the Becks' flat (Dr. Beck is the prof leading the trip, and he has brought his family with him). He gave us an assignment for us to go find on our own about 6 different places in town tomorrow and we have to journal about that (just give our reflection of our experiences) and turn it in to him. Then we walked down to a market that happens twice a week. I want to go back and get a better look though. We didn't spend much time there at all because we were just getting acquainted with the neighborhood we live in here.
Then we took a tram downtown, which is situated right by the train station we came into last night. We looked in the train station again in more depth. It's set up like a mall almost. We at lunch there and I got some of my cash made into Euros. That was sad, the exchange rate sucks. Oh well! Tomorrow I'm going back to the train station to rent my cell phone (I found if you guys call me it doesn't cost me a thing other than the rental of the phone).
After that we walked all around downtown and then spent some time in St. Nickolas (beautiful church! I have pictures!). Then we came back to our side of town and visited the grocery store in our neighborhood. I am going back tomorrow to do a real shop for food. You buy your own cloth grocery bags here and reuse them. You have to pay for plastic ones too, so I decided to buy the reusable one.
After that we came back to our flats and had some time to do whatever we wanted. For dinner we all met at this really cool restaurant that is like underground. It was really cool and apparently is a popular place for college students here. Stephen is the guy from the study abroad office that is here with us and he knows a few people in Leipzig so he introduced us to them. Elfie is a woman who I think he coordinates with to get us set up for our trips here, and she brought two college students with her, Maxie and Conrad. They both speak really good English so it was really nice to talk with someone who can really tell us about Germany and translate stuff and all that. Maxie and Conrad both want to hang out more with us before we leave so in our free time I am sure most of us will try to find times they can give us tours of the city and stuff. Conrad
is actually in medical school and there are some other psych majors here that are also premed and Conrad said he could show us his medical school. That should be interesting. They go straight to med school out of high school here, so I am interested to see how their school system works. This picture to the left is of me and Maxie, by the way!
After dinner we got geleto (delicious!) and then rode the tram back to our flats. I still need to unpack and hang up my clothes so I'm off to go do that. Night night!
Then we took a tram downtown, which is situated right by the train station we came into last night. We looked in the train station again in more depth. It's set up like a mall almost. We at lunch there and I got some of my cash made into Euros. That was sad, the exchange rate sucks. Oh well! Tomorrow I'm going back to the train station to rent my cell phone (I found if you guys call me it doesn't cost me a thing other than the rental of the phone).
After that we walked all around downtown and then spent some time in St. Nickolas (beautiful church! I have pictures!). Then we came back to our side of town and visited the grocery store in our neighborhood. I am going back tomorrow to do a real shop for food. You buy your own cloth grocery bags here and reuse them. You have to pay for plastic ones too, so I decided to buy the reusable one.
After that we came back to our flats and had some time to do whatever we wanted. For dinner we all met at this really cool restaurant that is like underground. It was really cool and apparently is a popular place for college students here. Stephen is the guy from the study abroad office that is here with us and he knows a few people in Leipzig so he introduced us to them. Elfie is a woman who I think he coordinates with to get us set up for our trips here, and she brought two college students with her, Maxie and Conrad. They both speak really good English so it was really nice to talk with someone who can really tell us about Germany and translate stuff and all that. Maxie and Conrad both want to hang out more with us before we leave so in our free time I am sure most of us will try to find times they can give us tours of the city and stuff. Conrad
is actually in medical school and there are some other psych majors here that are also premed and Conrad said he could show us his medical school. That should be interesting. They go straight to med school out of high school here, so I am interested to see how their school system works. This picture to the left is of me and Maxie, by the way!After dinner we got geleto (delicious!) and then rode the tram back to our flats. I still need to unpack and hang up my clothes so I'm off to go do that. Night night!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Day full of travelin'...
WOW! The past I don't even know how many hours has been NUTS! Yesterday my family dropped me off in Dallas and the study abroad group flew out from DFW at 5:30 into Heathrow (London airport). We landed there at 8 a.m. London time which is 2 a.m. American time I believe. I only got a few hours of sleep on the plane. We then flew to Frankfurt from London.
We were delayed in leaving the airport for about 15 minutes because of some unknown reason, and then once we landed in Frankfurt one of the girl's with us luggage did not make it to Frankfurt so that delayed us just enough to miss our train to Leipzig from Frankfurt. So we caught a train at about 4:10 and got to Leipzig at about 7:45. One thing I've learned: don't pack bags you can lift and carry yourself. My suitcases (and every other girl I am with) are just big and awkward sometimes. For instance on the train where there is virtually nowhere to put huge suitcases.
Anyways.... We ate dinner at the train station and I had my first conversation with someone who spoke not English. It went like this: She said something in German that I had no idea what it meant, I pointed at the baguette I wanted and said "Coca Cola" and she handed me the goods. I said "Danke," paid her, and was on my way. I need to look up German phrases in my Guidebook for Germany haha.
Then we took a tram to about 2 or 3 minutes away from our flats and walked our luggage to our flats. They are really nice. I told myself to have low expectations so I wouldn't be disappointed in them and I can honestly say they're great! I will post pictures on here in a day or so. For now...I'm sleeping! Good night and thanks for all your prayers for safe travel! We did get here all safe and sound!
We were delayed in leaving the airport for about 15 minutes because of some unknown reason, and then once we landed in Frankfurt one of the girl's with us luggage did not make it to Frankfurt so that delayed us just enough to miss our train to Leipzig from Frankfurt. So we caught a train at about 4:10 and got to Leipzig at about 7:45. One thing I've learned: don't pack bags you can lift and carry yourself. My suitcases (and every other girl I am with) are just big and awkward sometimes. For instance on the train where there is virtually nowhere to put huge suitcases.
Anyways.... We ate dinner at the train station and I had my first conversation with someone who spoke not English. It went like this: She said something in German that I had no idea what it meant, I pointed at the baguette I wanted and said "Coca Cola" and she handed me the goods. I said "Danke," paid her, and was on my way. I need to look up German phrases in my Guidebook for Germany haha.
Then we took a tram to about 2 or 3 minutes away from our flats and walked our luggage to our flats. They are really nice. I told myself to have low expectations so I wouldn't be disappointed in them and I can honestly say they're great! I will post pictures on here in a day or so. For now...I'm sleeping! Good night and thanks for all your prayers for safe travel! We did get here all safe and sound!
Friday, May 30, 2008
3 days!
3 days till I leave the States (depends on how you're counting I guess, but I felt that three was a good number)! I'm leavin' at 5:30 pm on Monday from Dallas and will be in Germany by 8:30 am London time the next day. NUTS!
Just got done packing...kind of. Still have some loose ends to tie up tomorrow. I will be in Abilene Saturday and Sunday, then Monday I'll be traveling to Dallas.
Notes to all: I won't be able to really communicate with anyone via phone or text, so it's e-mail, this blog (which you can comment on) and facebook for a while.
Love you all! I'll try to update this a few times a week, so check back!
Just got done packing...kind of. Still have some loose ends to tie up tomorrow. I will be in Abilene Saturday and Sunday, then Monday I'll be traveling to Dallas.
Notes to all: I won't be able to really communicate with anyone via phone or text, so it's e-mail, this blog (which you can comment on) and facebook for a while.
Love you all! I'll try to update this a few times a week, so check back!
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