Valpo Voyager

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TOO FRENCH???

October 8, 2011 / Lindsey Skala / 0 Comments

My first weeks in France, I had this reoccurring (and curious) thought: that

Une boulangerie. In Paris, you can find one of these babies about every 10 feet.

somehow all the Parisians I saw in my daily comings and goings were TOO French. French to the point that they must have been acting. The more I observed, the more I was convinced that all these cigarette smoking, baguette buying, and small-dog toting people existed only to reinforce all the stereotypes that exist about French people. It had to be a farce! Un petit spectacle du théatre! And I am here to tell you that it is anything but. It’s life à la française! In Paris, daily living is art. Everything from self-presentation to meal preparation is a delicate process which requires much time and attention to details. And the thing about the French is that they don’t apologize for their Frenchness, which is interesting to me, an American in Paris, who, for better or worse, is constantly apologizing for the supposed shortcomings or “unculturedness” of her home country. Having been here a little over a month, I’ve since decided to “laisse tomber” the apologies and instead take full advantage of my current (if unofficial) position as American ambassador to France and soak up as much Frenchness as possible, and if in doing so, I happen to leave a little USA behind, so be it.

For my smoking specimen, I've chosen mon ami Mathieu Brandisi, who was, interestingly enough a French exchange student at Valpo 2009-2010.

Où j’habite ! (and other gentle reminders that I’m not in the US)

Quite excellently, my homestay assignment is in the 18th “arrondissement” (=French term for the districts in which the city is divided) of Paris which is called Montmartre. Home not only to the famous Sacre Coeur cathedral but also the vampy Moulin Rouge cabaret, Montmartre is generally regarded as the sort of artist’s quarter of Paris. But we’ll get back to that later! Right now, I want to give you about more of an idea about the building in which I live! When you think of Parisian architecture, you undoubtedly picture ancient and ornate apartment buildings with intricate iron balconies and flowering windowsills. And in doing so, you would be spot on! (Here, see for yourself! http://maps.google.fr/)

The view from my bedroom window! Typical Parisian landscape!

ANYWAYS i live on the 6th floor of a wonderfully old brick immeuble (apartment building!) with two wonderfully hospitable host parents. The apartment is small for our standards, but for Paris, it’s just about right! It’s quaint and intimate and I have a little upstairs loft to myself. These little upstairs fixtures are remnants of post 1860s additions to buildings (Haussmann! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris) to create more housing in the city. Thus, back in the day, my little space would have been used as servant quarters! But today it’s perfect space for housing exchange students like myself! Have a look!

La baignoire (bathtub!) Note the lack of shower curtain!

The beautiful little parlor area! I suppose our equivalent of a living room!

The view from the dining room table!

European specialty: le WC (water closet, gotta keep that toilet separate! it's both a matter of sanitation and space!)

My whole back wall is covered in empty Camel packs. What can I say? The French love their cigarettes!

Volksfest in Stuttgart

October 3, 2011 / Jake Stefan / 0 Comments

So it’s officially October here in Germany. And what does that mean? Oh yeah, Oktoberfest, of course!

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany is probably the most famous, but there are Bierfests all over the country. After consulting with some German friends, we learned that making the trip to Munich might not be worth it. It was purportedly quite the experience, but very touristy, there’s nowhere left to spend the night, and everything is really expensive.

Instead, everyone suggested that we make a point to go to the Cannstatter Volksfest – Stuttgart’s version of “Oktoberfest” and the second largest Bierfest in the world. They told us that there weren’t very many tourists, and it was probably the most authentic experience we could have.

On Saturday we decided to take the train into Stuttgart do a little shopping and then meet up with some other people from our German course at the fairgrounds.

We ate lunch at a café that serves traditional schwabisch food, just to complete the experience. Unfortunately we had terrible service. Because customers here are expected to tip much less, there isn’t as much pressure for “service with a smile.”

Eventually we made our way to the Cannstatter Wasen – the grounds where the Volksfest is held. It was huge! There were rides and tents and food and toys and games and anything else you could dream of!

Canstatter Wasen

American Burgers! - "The Giant Hamburger"

Las Vegas!

Behind all the typical “carnival rides” they had giant beer tents that seat thousands of people. But these aren’t just like temporary cheap-o tents. These are like hardcore buildings they take up and down every year. And everything inside is done up to nines. It was surreal!

Dinkel Acker

The tent we were in

At first we had some difficulties meeting up with our friends from the course because it was so huge! We tried calling and texting but the German cell phone network kept crashing. That’s how many people there were at this Bierfest. The cell phones didn’t work. How crazy is that!?

Eventually we met up and sat with a bunch of German students. Because the Germans are pretty serious about their Bier consumption, they were pretty friendly.

Inside the tent

Panorama

We turned out to be one of the main attractions of the evening, with all the Germans taking turns teaching us all the traditional drinking songs. They showed us how to stand up and dance on the tables, as well as how to “properly” hold a Maß (1 Liter) of Bier.

The whole festival really reminded me of the smaller Galas or Fairs held in America around the Fourth of July. It was really an experience and I met some more German friends in the process!

Not all Rainbows and Butterflies…

October 3, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

So I think when people read about going abroad, everything seems amazing. And believe me it is… but there are some things that can be really frustrating. Here are the things that have been really difficult thus far:

LANGUAGE! So I think if you study abroad in a country that has one universal language this might not be as big of an issue. However, in Southern Africa there are numerous languages. In South Africa there are eleven official languages and in Namibia there are nine recognized languages. It has been so difficult to talk to people here because while I know some phrases in certain languages, there is no guarantee that they will understand what I’m saying. Needless to say it has been a huge frustration of mine.
Eating out in Namibia
FOOD! Ok so this also might not be something that upsets some people, but I have so many food allergies it is ridiculous! At first, the food here was really good; they made me lots of rice, beans and gluten free pasta. However, that is all that I have eaten now for 2 months. I am so sick of rice and beans I do not think that I can ever eat it again. I think going abroad is hard for people with any type of food restriction. On my trip we have vegetarians, peanut allergies, lactose intolerance, and gluten allergies. I know that each person has experienced aggravation with eating food here. But with all of that aside there is a food here called pap. It is one of the greatest things ever! I think I could eat it every day
AFRICAN TIME! I was raised on the mentality that if you’re early you are on time and if you are on time then you’re late. The idea of punctuality does not exist here in Africa. The locals have constantly called their concept of time “African time” They get to places when they get there and they complete tasks when they decide to complete them. It has been something that has been very difficult for me to adapt to because I am used to being so leisurely with my time. But I think that it is a part of my lifestyle that I could eventually learn to change. When I was in South Africa, I was walking with one of my host sisters and I told her that I was not used to walking so slow, because in Chicago it is so fast paced. In response she said to me, “Why would you want to rush to a destination? The fun part is getting there. The place you’re going to will always be there, so take your time getting there.” I really love that idea, and while this slower paced life has been difficult for me, I can see it being in my future.
Waiting on the bus

4. LIFE BACK IN THE STATES! This has probably been the hardest thing for me to deal with. Being here in Namibia, I have felt torn between two lives, the one here in Windhoek and my life back in the states. It can be really difficult to balance the two of them because you want to experience as much as possible here, but at the same time you want to stay connected with family and friends back home. It has been so hard when family or friends tell me about things going on at home that I want to be there for. Now I know being in Africa is probably a lot cooler than most of the things going on back in the US, but it is still a struggle to find a happy medium between contact with loved ones and truly enjoying your time abroad.

Out with some friends.

Like I said before, I am in love with Namibia and most days I find it hard to imagine leaving this place to go back home. But that doesn’t mean that everything about your abroad experience is going to be perfect. You just have to look at the positives and in my case that means being in the beautiful, warm country of Namibia and getting to see a glimpse into a world outside my own.

Click! Here I come!

September 29, 2011 / Stephanie Volz / 0 Comments

Lichtenstein

Last weekend was the weekend of palaces, castles, and fortresses for me. It’s been one of my favorite parts of traveling so far, being able to see all the cool sights and beautiful nature of Germany. On Friday, our class ended at noon, so we decided to spend the afternoon at Lichtenstein Castle, only a short bus ride and a steep hike away. Lichtenstein Castle, not country. And in no way related to Heath Ledger as Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. Sadly. But the hike was incredibly beautiful, like walking through a Tolkein novel, with moss-covered rocks and castle ruins on the way up. The castle itself was also beautiful. It was built only a few hundred years ago, and was based on the description of a castle in a book. Even though it was fairly small, it still held all the awesomeness of a castle. Really, they’re pretty dang cool.

When we got back to Reutlingen that night, I decided that I really wanted to go somewhere over the weekend, because we have German Rail passes that expire next week. Since it was the night before I needed a hostel, reservations were hard to find online, and I tried several cities before finding one that would work. The first one I found was in Würzburg, a town in northern Bavaria, so without really knowing what the town had to offer, I decided to go for it! And then after reading about the town and being there, I’ve decided that randomly picking a city on a hostel website can turn out to be an amazing weekend. Even if you do have to go by yourself because the rest of your group is lazy.

Residenz

After wandering the city for a bit, I headed to the Würzburg Residenz, the palace constructed for two prince-bishops and finished in the early 18th century. The largest fresco in the world is located there, and actually is pretty funny. It depicts the four “continents” of the world, with Europe as the most modernized, and the Americas as this backwards place. Each nation had its own symbolic creature, and I found it amusing that the American scene depicted a native American woman riding an alligator. Pretty interesting stuff right there. But it was also a beautiful palace inside and out. It even had the typical palace mirror room, a room made entirely of mirrors with paint and embellishings on them.

I also hiked up a hill covered in vineyards for wine to the old Fortress Marienberg. I didn’t take a tour, so I didn’t get inside the buildings of the fortress, but even being on the grounds and in the courtyards was impressive. It gave a full view over the river Main and the downtown area of Würzburg. I also got to see the outsides of beautiful churches downtown and relax on a really old bridge over the river that had huge statues of religious figures.

The old bridge, the Main river, and Fortress Marienberg

By then it was getting dark, so I tried to find my hostel. Try being a key word. The map online definitely led me to the middle of a park. Across the river from where the hostel is. I have no idea how that one worked out. But eventually I got directions and made it safe and sound. And the benefit of traveling alone kicked in when I met another American study abroad student, because we felt a little safer walking around town and comparing our experiences so far and drinking wine with at least a hundred others on the old bridge. I think that’s one of the best parts really, getting to meet people from all over the world, or who are studying all over the world (this girl was in Luxembourg).

The next day I headed out to stop at Dachau to see the concentration camp before getting into Reutlingen. But since that didn’t have the same exciting emotions as the rest of my weekend, I’ll save it for another post. Moral of this story: travel wherever chance takes you, because you’ll never know what and who you’re missing out on if you don’t!

My Wohnheim

Adventures Walking Back to Neuhaldenstraße

September 27, 2011 / Jake Stefan / 0 Comments

Getting home at night is always an adventure. For example, I usually end up stranded in a neighboring village, being followed by a creepy bum or getting rained on halfway through my journey. My luck with the whole process is just really subpar.

Why I expected today to be any different is beyond me.

The day started off decently enough. I woke up early to visit a German high school, but it turned out that our teacher had mixed up the dates. So it was back to regular old class for us.

Our school day ended with a few presentations done by members from the class, the last of which was a presentation from Zach and his group on the topic of German wine.

As luck would have it, another obnoxious American spilled wine all over the front of my shirt. I should have taken that as a sign.

My Wohnheim

After class I headed back to “Neuhaldenstrasse” (not Neuhalde) to finish some things and change my clothes.

About three blocks from my Wohnheim the obligatorily stressful part of my journey reared its ugly head. Right as I turned the corner an old woman collapsed in front of me.

Really? Why do these things always happen to me!?

I ran to her and helped her regain her bearings a bit. Another student behind me rushed to her other side. Together we helped her turn around and sit on the half wall she had collided with on her way down.

Suddenly, Germans started coming from everywhere! Everyone was so willing to help! Even though the Germans generally keep to themselves, they jumped right in when they were needed.

Soon, a middle-aged woman took control of the situation and sent everyone except the other student and me away. It became clear that the woman had nicked up her arm pretty badly. She started bleeding onto her sandals and onto the sidewalk.

After a short debate, the three of us decided that an ambulance wasn’t necessary, but that we would take her home to call her general practice physician. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this decision, but being an exchange student I didn’t exactly have much say in it. I was in a state of shock about what had just happened, and wasn’t quite equipped with the vocabulary I needed to argue this point with them.

We got her to her feet and eventually had her explain the directions to her home a couple blocks away.

Once there we worked on cleaning up her arm and trying to get ahold of a family member. She mentioned that the only person looking after her was her daughter, and we eventually got her to tell us her daughter’s number. Despite a couple of tries, the number never went through.

The older woman began to get annoyed that we were encouraging her to sit down and wanted us to leave. However, none of us thought it was a good idea to leave her alone.

We couldn’t find the number for her family doctor, and sat for a while considering what options we had left. Soon enough, the woman in charge noticed a church bulletin on a coffee table. She must have been familiar with the church because she immediately formulated a plan.

She began speaking really quickly (in schwabisch- the regional dialect) and began relaying directions to the other student and me. Although I didn’t quite pick up everything she said, I got the gist that she wanted us to get the older woman to sit down while the middle-aged woman ran to get information from the church.

After about an hour of this whole situation, the middle-aged woman figured it would be okay if the other student and I left. She was able to get in contact with some family or friends that would check in often.

On my way back to my Wohnheim I found my arms covered in blood and dirt, my pulse still a little high and maybe just a little bit proud that I had navigated this entire situation in German.

Looking back now on the whole situation, I’m reminded of the good in people. No one had to stay with her, they could have simply called the police and left. But instead this middle-aged woman decided to spend her entire afternoon helping this other woman find help.

But I’m also reminded of why I want to go into medicine. There is just something about the feeling of knowing you made a difference in someone’s life, even if that difference is simply asking if someone is okay, holding their hand, and walking them home.

A Weekend to Remember.

September 26, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

The local kids teaching us to dance.

This past weekend was definitely one to remember. Early Thursday morning we all headed to the Namibian coast town of Swakopmund, also called Swakop. We were all super excited to get out of the house for a weekend and Swakop did not disappoint. When we drove into the town, I felt as if I had just entered a beach town in Florida. There were palm trees lining the streets, cute cafes and shops, and sand galore. As per usual, this was not just a trip to relax, but to try and learn more about the Namibian culture. Prior to coming to Swakop, we had learned about the German-Herero Genocide that took place in the early 20^th Century. This genocide is one that is rarely acknowledged, however the Germans implanted an “ethnic cleansing” of the area and ended up killing 65,000 Herero people, leaving about 15,000 as refugees. The area of Swakopmund was the site of the concentration camp that the Hereros were sent to, and many of the dunes that surround this beautiful town became mass graves to those that are long forgotten. Swakop’s past is one that has been full of pain and heartache, but we all had the opportunity to see how far the town has come.

On the Thursday that we arrived, we were given a tour of the city and it was amazing! It started off with a cappella performance by the local group called Vocal Galore. They were amazing and it was such a treat to hear them sing. We then went to visit a kindergarten in the township where the students sang to us and taught us traditional Oshivambo dances. They were so full of energy and excitement that every single one of us could not wipe the smile off of our faces. That evening we walked along the ocean and ate dinner at a restaurant on the pier. It was already a fantastic start to the weekend

Climbing up Dune Seven.

On Friday we had numerous presentations about the inner workings of both Swakop and Walvis Bay, which is a neighboring town. We then visited three different places to get more of an idea about economy and the role that it plays there. The first place was a factory that had products shipped from Germany here and then the Namibians would add a simple thing such as a bolt, and then ship it back. It seemed as if the factory was not a necessity, but it was still awesome to see the machines at work. Then we headed to center for people with disabilities and had the opportunity to see the how here in Namibia, there has been nothing put into place to help those with disabilities. The tours of the day ended with the viewing of a fish packing factory. We were put into big lab coats and taken into the factory where we were able to view how everything worked. This factory in comparison to the one we had seen earlier was more of a well-oiled machine. While all that was extremely eye-opening, the best part of the day was getting to climb Dune Seven, which is massive 100-meter high sand dune in Swakop. It was quite a feat to tackle, but the view from the top was breathtaking. All in all it was a fabulous day.

Relaxing by the ocean with my friend Jessy

Saturday was a free day for us, and everyone split up to do different activities. Some went sand-boarding and quad biking, while others decided to kayak with seals and dolphins. I decided that I just wanted to chill, explore the town, and sit on the beach by the ocean. Which is exactly what I did. Two of my friends that I have made in Windhoek drove down to hang out. There is nothing like sipping a glass of wine and watching the waves of the ocean crash onto the beach. It was the perfect end to an trip that I will not soon forget.

Finding my place

September 25, 2011 / Jodie Buchanan / 0 Comments

SU Namibia Logo

Here in Windhoek, I have been placed in an internship with the organization called Scripture Union. I was very excited that this was my placement, because the goal of SU is to make the news of Christ available to young children. I felt as if I would be a really good fit for the organization, while at the same time learning a lot about a different culture. However, when I arrived at SU, I realized that my role within the group was not what I had anticipated it would be. At this point in the year, the schools in Namibia are entering their third term, which means most of the students are going through exams. As of a result of the busyness of the students, SU does not have as many programs scheduled. Adam, one of the SU staff, explained to me that they have worked hand in hand with the education system in Windhoek, and realize that it is very important for children. So when they need to focus on exams for school, SU will ease up on their programming. I was very pleased to hear that, because I feel that Christian organizations can often neglect certain aspects outside Christianity, such as practical life skills and education, to name a few. While I was agreed with SU’s stance on education, there is not much to do at my organization for an intern, however there are tasks that need to be done by a full time staff member. Yet the problem is that the two full time staff members have new born babies in their lives. So the tasks that they usually do they need help with, but I don’t know if I feel qualified to do them. Every day that I go to my internship I feel that there is so much that needs to be done but I feel like I have no idea how to begin tackling it. Naturally, I felt a sense of hopelessness in creating my goals for the semester because everything that I had thought this internship would entail was false. I constantly would pull out my learning objectives sheet (part of the requirement for an internship here) and stare at it blankly, confused at what direction to take my learning in this internship. I knew that it was coming close to my meeting on Wednesday with my supervisor, so to the best of my abilities, I created what I hoped to get out of my experience.

I finally had the chance to sit down with not only my supervisor, Graeme, but also one of the other staff members, Adam, and discuss my goals for the semester. I first had the chance to talk with Adam and I really appreciated everything that we were able to discuss. He really listened as to where I wanted to take my internship and asked questions as to guide me in how I wanted to attain my certain goals. Adam was also very cognizant of the reality of my goals and if I would be able to accomplish them. One of the things that I hope to achieve is being able to learn more about the issues that are facing the youth in regards to forming a relationship with Christ. Within my agreement I specified that I hoped to achieve this goal by spending time with not only students, but also with their teachers, because I feel that the educational system plays a very big role in teaching children about Jesus. Adam expressed that obtaining an understanding of how the educational system plays a role in teaching children about Jesus would be difficult if I stayed in the office. He instead has decided to set up multiple interviews with teachers at the local schools. He also said that he is going to get in contact with the local SU clubs in the high schools so that I can facilitate some of the meetings and get to know students in town. After talking with Adam I felt much more at ease as to what this internship holds for me.

I then had the opportunity to talk with my main supervisor, Graeme, and I don’t think that it offered any sort of guidance for my internship, but we did have a great conversation. It has been very beneficial for me to have Graeme as my supervisor, because he is also a foreigner in Namibia. He has been a real blessing in the fact that I am able to discuss issues as far as cultural differences or norms that exist here. We had a long conversation about how it is easy to judge a situation from afar in contrast to actually living some place and experiencing things first hand. We also discussed how both he and I are going to go back to our home countries with new perspectives on things, and back home people will most likely be unaware to what we have learned. I totally agree with him, because that is exactly what I experienced when I came home from Vietnam. However, one of the main things that I took away from our conversation is that part of my role here is to learn and share what I have experienced here with those from home. And while I might not be able inform every single person in America about the reality of the situation in Southern Africa, I can tell the people around me. I have really become excited about my time with Scripture Union; I think it will be a good time of learning and understanding, not only about how certain organizations function in Namibia, but also a time of learning about me.

Language Retreat! A Week in Blaubeuren

September 24, 2011 / Zach Nelson / 0 Comments

First of all, sorry for not having posted anything in an extremely long time! Our German course here is really starting to pick up, and lately we’ve had more tests, projects, presentations, and homework than we’ve known what to do with. Other than all of the work (which is really helping our German skills very much), the course itself has been very enjoyable.

The best part so far, in my opinion, was definitely last week. On Sunday, September 11^th we departed for a weeklong “language retreat” of sorts in Blaubeuren, a small town in the Alb mountains about an hour away from Tübingen. The University of Tübingen has conference/retreat center in Blaubeuren, where we were housed in single, double, and triple rooms. Our accommodations were comparable to a pretty nice hotel, and the food they served us was amazing – absolutely no comparison to the cheap groceries we have become accustomed to here in Tübingen. Because I am gluten intolerant, they would even cook me special meals and place them out on the buffet line with a little sign that said ,,Glutenfrei” (Gluten Free.) Our classes and tutorial sessions continued as normal with the exception of a three-hour midday break, which we often used to explore as much of the city as we could before running back. Although the workload didn’t decrease, we still all found time to be social and expand a little bit beyond our regular friend groups that have formed over the past few weeks. In Tübingen we typically only spend time with the other students in our class, but I really enjoyed having more opportunities to branch out and meet some people from the other two classes.

A view of the "Heinrich Fabri Institut" where we spent a week in Blaubeuren. (The three tan buildings in the back are where we stayed and took classes.)

Anyway, the city of Blaubeuren is named after its most famous landmark, known as the “Blautopf,” which translates literally to “Blue Pot” (or “Blue Bowl”.) The picturesque Blautopf is a crystal-blue spring that feeds the Blau River, which eventually flows into the Danube in nearby Ulm. The vibrant blue color is the result of a high concentration of limestone, and it reminded me instantly of the bright-blue Caribbean water on the beach in Cozumel. The spring itself is approximately 70 feet deep, and serves as the entrance to an extensive underground cave system. Unfortunately, these caves have only been explored a handful of times by experienced scuba divers. There have been a number of fatalities and accidents while exploring, so permission to scuba dive in the Blautopf is seldom granted.

The crystal-blue Blautopf

The picturesque Blautopf and Mill

The surrounding landscape is not only beautiful, but historically significant as well. In addition to the underwater caves, there are also many caves in the surrounding mountains where ancient artifacts have been found. Among the most notable of these artifacts are the oldest piece of artwork ever discovered (a small sculpture called, “Lion Man,”) and the world’s oldest known musical instrument, both of which date back approximately 40,000 years ago. These and many other artifacts are housed in Blaubeuren’s “Urgeschichtliches Museum” (Pre-history Museum) – a small but interesting museum full of exhibits about the caves and the ancient neanderthals who inhabited them.

The world's oldest known piece of art. The Löwenmensch. (Lion Man)

Another one of our day excursions was a hike to the ruins of an old castle in the mountains that overlook the small, pastoral town of Blaubeuren. After a couple hours of hiking we finally reached the tiny castle, and the view was breathtaking. It vaguely reminded me of climbing to the top of Yosemite falls in California and looking out over Yosemite Valley, however, the Alb Mountains are not nearly as high.

A view of the Ruins

"Inside" the Castle Ruins

The Castle (to the right on top of the rocky cliffs)

The next day we all took the train to nearby Ulm, where there was also no shortage of picturesque views. Ulm is a small city of 105,000 that is famous for the church located in its city center. Construction on the “Ulmer Münster” (The Minster of Ulm) began in 1377, and it became the world’s tallest church tower upon completion in the late 1800’s, a record it still holds today. It was constructed in the gothic style of architecture, so gargoyles and flying buttresses are in no short supply. Many of us took advantage of the opportunity to climb the hundreds of stairs to the top of the tower where there is a very small observation deck. So small, actually, that we were stuck for about 25 minutes at the top because the influx of tourists caused a traffic jam in the narrow spiral staircase. Afterwards, we crossed the river into Bavaria where we ate dinner at a nice Biergarten before taking the train back for the night.

The Ulmer Münster

A closeup view of the Flying Buttress architecture

Minster Interior

Looking up towards the staircase column and observation deck

Traffic Jam! Rachel and Jake stuck in the staircase waiting to get to the Observation Deck

View from the tower. Ulm (Baden-Württemberg) and New Ulm (Bavaria) separated by the Danube River

Our last night in Blaubeuren was concluded by a visit to an “Internatschule” (Boarding School). The school is attended by students from 9^th to 13^th grade, and is housed in a Monastery that was founded in 1085 by Catholic monks. The Monastery is yet another truly historical landmark in Blaubeuren, and became protestant during the height of the Reformation. The architecture was absolutely stunning – I was really jealous of the students who get to live and go to school there!

A view of the Monastery

The Blautopf with the Monastery in the background

So after we had made our way through the touristy part of the monastery and into the boarding school, we were welcomed by the students into their bar. That’s right – their school has a bar. We were explained that the “Internatsbar” is somewhat of an experiment, for the purpose of teaching kids how to responsibly enjoy alcohol at a young age. The more I thought about it, the more I actually really liked the idea. There was no hard liquor – only beer, wine, champagne, and soda, and it is only open on Thursdays until 11:00 PM. In Germany, the drinking age for beer, wine, and champagne is 16, while the age limit for hard liquor is 18, so the younger students are of course not allowed to have alcohol. This was a pretty stark contrast to America, where “Alcohol” is a forbidden swearword in public schools, not to be uttered by a single underage soul. I think our high drinking age presents many problems, in particular, the fact that many people don’t know how to responsibly enjoy it once they are old enough because alcohol is such a taboo subject in America. I have no idea how well the experiment is working for them, but I think it’s a very interesting concept at any rate.

We spent a couple hours visiting with the students, and had a lot of interesting conversations. Some were more interested than others to meet the “international college students from Tübingen,” but the questions they asked us about our home countries were interesting, and good conversation starters. We, in turn, got to learn about their experiences living at a boarding school away from home, which was also very interesting. A few lucky members of our group were even offered tours of the students’ living quarters.

I think that pretty much sums up last week! I have a couple more things I’d like to blog about, which I’m hoping I can get to on Tuesday night. On Monday I have another big grammar test, and on Tuesday I have to give a presentation (by memory) about German Wine. I guess I know what I’ll spend all of tomorrow doing! On Wednesday we are taking a class trip to the Bodensee (“The Lake of Constance”) in the south between Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

Today, Hannah, Rachel, Emily, Jake and I walked to the home of the Brixners, longtime friends of VU and former professors for the VU Reutlingen program. There we were very hospitably served with one of the best dinners I have had in a long time. My next blog will be about our experiences there, and our 3.5 hour walk through the woods. Needless to say we got hopelessly lost.

That’s all for now!

Bis dann!

Cologne and Heidelberg

September 24, 2011 / Stephanie Volz / 0 Comments

So after our completely amazing Berlin trip, we had to decide where to go that could compare in the least to our last few days. We decided on Cologne (Köln, in German) because of its incredibly massive cathedral. And indeed, the first thing we see as we step out of the train station was this incredibly massive cathedral. That doesn’t even begin to describe the monstrously huge intricate structure blotting out the skyline. It was absolutely beautiful, but the first reaction was naturally “oh my freaking gosh that is so freaking big.” Or something along those lines.

IT'S SO BIG

But since it was already night by the time we got to Köln, we couldn’t go inside until the next day. And we put it off until we had visited other sights the city had to offer. Like the Lindt chocolate museum. With its free chocolate tasting along the way. And chocolate cake and hot chocolate afterwards in the Lindt chocolate cafe. And more chocolate. And an insane chocolate overload afterwards. Totally worth it, though. So to work off our body’s protestations, we wandered around the Stadtmitte for a bit and found a wooden handiwork shop, which had intricate cuckoo clocks and wooden figurines covering the walls. It really was a typical German shop, and I was fascinated by the craftsmanship that went into everything.

Inside the Cathedral

THEN we finally got into the cathedral. It was so enormous, and so marvelous. Did I mention enormous? And beautiful. Words really can’t describe how amazing it was, so you’ll just have to check out all my pictures on Picasa (link: picasaweb.google.com). But you can see a few here. And once we had wandered the main part, we climbed way, way too many stairs to one of the two tallest towers to check out the view, and to see again just how enormous the cathedral is. The view really was amazing once we caught our breath, especially since it overlooks the Rhine river.

After making our way downstairs again, we split up to explore on our own. I decided to first check out the Roman-German museum (since Romans occupied most of Germany way back when). Although it didn’t actually give me much history, it did give me a chance to see tons of artifacts from olden days, many from 1st to 3rd century A.D., as well as some older pieces. After steeping myself in history, I went to the Rhine river to sit on the bank and relax for a while. A few minutes later a guy came to sit with me, and we ended up talking in German (brokenly on my part) for a good half hour or 45 minutes. And of everything in Köln, this was one that will stay with me the most, sitting on the banks of a beautiful river practicing my German skills. (German language classes should consider this method, it’s very effective). And that night for dinner we found a restaurant on the edge of the river from which to admire the view.

Heidelburg Castle

Matt on top of a vat of wine. Believe me now that it's the biggest one in the world?

The next morning we set off for Heidelberg on our way to Reutlingen. I had actually seen this town before when I visited Germany with my family 3 years ago. But seeing it again brought new experiences, naturally. I was still impressed with the famous bridge across the Rhine, and with the outside views of the castle of Heidelberg. However, the inside of the castle was disappointing, because you could only go into the courtyard, and there wasn’t much to see from there. Except, of course, the largest vat of wine in the world. But Heidelberg as a town is still worth the trip, because it is just absolutely beautiful, in the typical German old-town beauty.

That’s it for our Berlin trip! But right now I’m touring Würzburg, a town in northern Bavaria, so be sure to keep up with the blog in the next few days to hear about more of my travels! Bis dann!

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