Classes – Page 2 – Valpo Voyager

Tag: Classes (page 2 of 3)

Paris- The City of Lights

So this past week has been an interesting week to say the very least. I started my third week of classes and again, I’m very blessed to have such wonderful teachers who are patient teaching classes that I want to take (minus grammar but that comes with the territory I suppose). One thing that was a little bit different from past weeks was that I started my service learning at a non-profit organisation. It’s very different from anything that we have in the United States, but I think it’s closest to an after-school program, that does a lot more. It was a different experience and I look forward to contributing more in the future.

Thursday night was an experience to say the least. We went to the Opera Bastille for my first ever professional opera experience! To see the Opera Aida by Verdi performed in one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, is something that I’ll never forget. It was largely unforgettable because of the reaction of the audience.

Aida takes place in Ancient Egypt. One of the main arguments a director must make is about the costumes and the setting. Should they be dressed like in the story, the time period in which it was written, or in today’s time? The director chose the latter of these options… and was very political. I won’t go into much detail, but the worst of it was when one of the main characters was singing the KKK walked on stage. People were not happy. At curtain call, the audience couldn’t have cheered louder for the the performers. However they booed louder than the refs making a call in favor of the Packers at Soldier Field. It was bad. Good experience though.

Friday and Saturday I was blessed with some visitors from Valpo who are studying on the Cambridge program: Grant, Lisa, Rachel, and Cat. We had a wonderful time and I finally was able to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was amazing to me that we were so high up, I could barely recognize Notre Dame from the top, yet from the ground in front of it, Notre Dame towers over you. It was indescribable. One reason I find the tourist attractions very easy to spot and beautiful is because at night, everything that is important to the French are lit up at night; even The Eiffel Tower sparkles at the top of the hour on top of being lit up after dark. I suppose that’s why they call Paris The City of Lights!

On Saturday night we went to the Fete des Vendages. Found at Montmarte, this is a wine festival and a festival of love. Every year they have a brilliant firework show on the steps leading up to the famous basilica, Sacre Coeur, and although crowded (it was so crowded at one point, I moved ten yards and my feet didn’t touch the ground. I was carried by everyone around me because it was so densely packed!) we (accidentally) got some of the best seats in the house. Unfortunately, my computer is being stupid, so I can’t upload a little video of the fireworks, so here’s the crowd behind me. Mind you, this is a small portion of the actual crowd and it took us 40 minutes to get from about 20 yards from the stairs to the bottom of the stairs.

All-in-all it was a wonderful weekend, full of new adventures with some familiar Americans!

The Honeymoon is Over

October 9, 2013 / Phil Schroeder / 0 Comments

The honeymoon is over. For that reason, I have found it difficult to write as often as I would’ve liked to since my courses have started. Although I am busy, I am truly enjoying my classes here! I’m of course taking six credits of French language and a phonetics class. My electives though, they’re pretty awesome. I’m taking a course on the History of France from the French Revolution to WWI. The other class that I’m taking is Tourism and Gastronomy; aka we eat food, talk about food, eat it, and discuss the implications of said food on culture and tourism (did I mention we eat food too?). So I am really enjoying these classes largely because the professors are extremely awesome. I like every one of them.
As for what I’ve been doing outside of classes, just adjusting to style of living… and doing some pretty awesome things as well!
First off, last time I posted I mentioned that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in my free time. What I decided to do on that particular day was to climb Notre Dame! It was very cool to see the city from a gargoyle’s eye view (see photo #1). The stone stairs actually have an indentation from all the footsteps of people walking up them over the last few centuries. It’s really cool to think that the church recently celebrated its 850th anniversary, or just under four times the number of years the United States has been a country. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… and the church was older than the United States currently is (by almost 100 years!) So it was extremely humbling to be at a place with such a rich history. Also, feel free to “like” the second photo, it is in a photo contest and the most “likes” win. Click here http://www.central.edu/abroad/photoContest/photoDetail.cfm?ID=3975 to vote (I could use all the help I can get!)

Gargoyle’s-eye view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower

Another place that I visited was the Catacombs. Now THAT was super cool. I went with a few friends and it was extremely fascinating. However, that is not a place that I would want to be stuck at by myself on Halloween. Six million dead people, no thank you.

This is me and the dead peeps.

On the 28th of September, The Central College program went and we toured the Palace of Versailles and the absolutely beautiful gardens. I’ve been telling people that the best way to describe it is grand and immense. We spent the whole day there and we saw the majority of the castle, yet in the hours we spent in the gardens, admiring the fountains (there are several hundred I believe) and the greenery, we only saw a portion of the gardens. It’s no wonder the French government went broke! In the first picture, that is me in the world famous “Hall of Mirrors,” and my favorite part of the whole day in Versailles! The second picture is of a fountain that I really admired in the Gardens. It is not the most celebrated and is actually one of the smaller fountains. If you want to see a fountain show, go to my facebook page and go to my videos and you can watch two short clips of a wonderful show.

Palace of Versailles: Hall of Mirrors

Palace Gardens: My favorite fountain

The most recent mini excursion that I went on was to Disneyland Paris! For those of you who know me well, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go to see Buzz Lightyear (see photo). I went with two other classmates and it was a good, really fun trio. In all honestly, it was a really cool experience because the parks have pretty much the same setup, and they have almost all the same attractions (the rides themselves obviously aren’t the exact same layout), but the atmosphere was different. It truly was a world attraction. On rides (other than It’s a Small World), they switched between mainly French and English so that more people would know and understand what was happening. The closing ceremony was absolutely breathtaking! It’s one of my favorite memories so far.

Buzz Lightyear and I

So if you managed to read all the way this far, thank you. It was a short summary of two weeks, but like I’ve said, not even counting these mini-excursions, I have managed to stay busy and am working hard at improving my French, take in the culture, and adjust to the daily life in Paris. I promise you’ll hear from me in less than two weeks, I’ll be better about writing my blog!

China has many picturesque water-feature locations, such as the Thousand Island Lake and the Grand Canal (pictured here)

How Crusaders assimilate into China!

September 26, 2013 / studyabroad / 0 Comments

H-24 about to enjoy some white water rafting!

“On Monday the 9^th, we started our first full week of classes here in Hangzhou, China. In one week, we collectively spoke more Chinese than we ever have in our lives (which, quite frankly, is not hard to do living in the States). Other than the joys of class and homework, the week was rather uneventful. Many of us were too busy and or tired to carry out any major tomfoolery. On Friday, however, we had a massive thunderstorm go through Hangzhou. The storm raged for hours, going from roughly 6 to 9 pm. The water easily reached the high sidewalk, turning the road into what looked like a giant four-lane swimming pool. Traffic was backed up for miles, buses were unable to run their routes, and many had abandoned their cars, pulling them over to the side of the road. The stranded people tried to call for taxis, but they had absolutely no luck, as even the taxi drivers were trying to get home. So, many of them just waited out the storm in local shops and restaurants. Many of our group just stayed indoors, however, there were three (Paxton, Marquisha, and myself) who were at our new internship. Due to the storm, we did not get back to campus until almost midnight, and were sufficiently soaked from the journey.

The week of Monday the 16^thbrought our group to the first major holiday celebrated in China, the Mid-Autumn festival. The festival was on Thursday, which meant that we did not have any classes Thursday or Friday. It is celebrated with fireworks, eating many moon cakes, and many marveling at the bright and full China moon. Most of our group went to Qiandao Lake (Thousand Island Lake); a picturesque body of water with countless small island outcroppings interspersed throughout. It was a really gorgeous lake. Upon arrival on Thursday, we were given a choice of itineraries. We could either go and do a five hour tour group of the Lake, or we could go white water rafting. We chose the latter. Professor Lin also mentioned that we could hit up an oxygen bar, before the rafting, and we all were interested in going. However, when we reached the oxygen bar, our group was shocked to find that an oxygen bar was a little different here in China than it was in the US. In the US, an oxygen bar is like a normal bar, but instead of alcohol, you hook up an oxygen mask of sorts, and breathe high concentration oxygen, usually with aromatherapy scents added in. In China, we found ourselves in a forest-oxygen bar, which I guess is Chinese for a hiking trail. Outside of the initial confusion, we ended up really enjoying the great views offered.

China has many picturesque water-feature locations, such as the Thousand Island Lake and the Grand Canal (pictured here)

Then, we went white water rafting, which was an absolute blast. As we waited to get onto the river, we were mixed in to a group of ten or twelve Chinese people around our age. As we got into the rafts, we were given life vests, oars, and a plastic hardhat helmet. After getting into the raft and being pushed off, we reached a wider, slower area of the river. There, some of the aforementioned Chinese kids had taken to filling their hardhats with stream water, and pelting friends in other boats with the water. So, naturally (in our attempt to assimilate into Chinese society), we jumped into the firefight, pelting the nearest boat with water. They then threw water at us, and something akin to World War III started. As we reached the tunnel that ran through the majority of the course, we found ourselves in a closed in water fight. The battle ebbed and flowed through countless ceasefires, mutinies, and the like, until we reached the rapids. After getting off the lake, we all laughed at ourselves, high-fives each other and enjoying our childishness. If only all international conflicts were fought in this manner. None of us were anywhere near dry until we got back to campus.

Coming up, we soon have a trip to Xi’an, but I’m sure that will be discussed in great detail in the next update.

-Ethan”

What’s Blau in Blaubeuren?

September 22, 2013 / hannahheagy / 0 Comments


Riding in a Stocherkahn with some friends on the Neckar River, Tuebingen!

Hallo alle! First of all, I should apologize for the long hiatus in between blogs. Right now I’m in a month-long intensive German language course called Deutsch-Kompakt, and I haven’t found much time to write in between classes, homework, and most of all, spending time with the amazing people I’ve met from all over the world! Our class consists of around 45 students from around 20 countries (I tried to count it out and got 17, but I’ll say 20 to be safe). One of my biggest reservations about coming to Germany was the fear that I wouldn’t be able to connect with anyone or make any friends. Fortunately, my experience has been exactly the opposite! Our group connected from the very first day of class, and the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of group get-togethers and lots of Unterricht (class). I’ve been missing my student organizations at Valparaiso University, so the community atmosphere in Deutsch-Kompakt is something I really value. I love how close-knit our group has become!

We have class in the morning from 9-12:30 with a 30 minute break in between (Germans love taking their breaks and so do I). Morning class consists of mostly German grammar, and practice speaking and discussing. Our discussions are usually about the similarities/differences between the countries and cultures represented in the classroom. I’m not only learning about German life and culture, but also about cultures from all over the world! What we learn in class is applicable every day, and I definitely feel like I’m learning a lot! We’ve even gotten to learn a little bit of Schwäbisch, the German dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg. We then have a two hour lunch break, during which we usually go to one of the Mensas (student cafeterias) in town. One of them is on the first floor of my dorm, which is extremely convenient! After lunch comes Tutorium, which is taught by a student tutor from UniTübingen. Tutorium focuses on practical lessons about living in Germany including an explanation of the candidates and parties in the elections as well as how to separate trash into glass, paper, packaging, general waste, and biodegradable waste (there’s actually that many places for trash everywhere).

Last week our class took a week-long immersion trip to Blaubeuren, a small town in Baden-Württemberg where the University of Tübingen has a study retreat center run by a family. Our group lived, ate, and had class in the same building. The trip was a lot of get-to-know-each

: The Blautopf, a beautiful blue lake in Blaubeuren. You can see the monastery we visited here too!

other time, which was a lot of fun! On the first night, we had a Stadtspiel, or a scavenger hunt around the city of Blaubeuren. This scavenger hunt didn’t include things that we had to find by ourselves, but questions about the history and landmarks of Blaubeuren that we had to ask people we met in the street. We split up into groups of four, and my group immediately started looking for people to answer our questions. The people we found seemed to be really helpful, and even wrote the answers to the questions on the paper themselves. By the end of the scavenger hunt, we had answered everything, and we thought we had the prize in the bag. We were so wrong. Our “helpful” German scavenger hunt friends had written down incomplete and sometimes wrong answers. We came in tenth place out of ten groups, but fortunately we still got a little German chocolate and some good laughs as a consolation prize.

Our group also took an excursion for half a day to Ulm, which is only about 10 minutes away from Blaubeuren! We had fun exploring the city, especially the Ulmer Minster, the tallest church tower in the world (until the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain is finished). I have two small phobias: heights and staircases, so climbing up the tower was quite an adventure. Climbing up the tower was a long haul up winding staircase after winding staircase, but the view from the top was worth it all! Looking over Ulm from 530 feet up made me dizzy and the strong winds made me afraid that the whole tower would blow over, but nothing could beat the view and sense of accomplishment.

: The Ulmer Minster!

This past week our group has been back to our regular shenanigans in Tubingen, including putting together our first group presentation for class. Our group’s topic is the history and etiquette of German wine. Part of our grade is holding a wine tasting for the class DURING our presentation, which is one thing that wouldn’t happen at a United States university for sure. Our group is making this project the fanciest/classiest presentation of them all!

Check back for more updates on my adventures in Germany, including our group’s short trip to OKTOBERFEST IN MUNICH next weekend! Definitely something to cross off my bucket list! So much excitement!

Peace,

Hannah

: Phew! Made it to the top!

Travel Update — September 8, 2013

September 8, 2013 / Timothy Goodrich / 0 Comments

Howdy, all. Sorry for the lack of updates, this last week I’ve been recovering from what amounts to the worst stomach bug I’ve had in…a few decades, actually! It hasn’t been fantastic. That said, I am all better and exciting events are on the horizon! For now, let me catch you all up on the last two weeks:

Sunday (August 25). This is a far way back. I think I explored the Buda side of the city this day, but cannot really remember.
Monday-Thursday. Of the three weeks in the language course, this week was by far the toughest. Class started at 9am, we had a 90 minute session, then a 30 minute break, 90 minute session, an hour lunch break, 90 minute session, 15 minute break, then a final 45 minute session that wrapped up at 4pm. The teacher tried to keep the course active and fun with games, especially later on in the day, but this is a lot of information to take in and retain. For prospective students looking for a way to get a head start: consider learning a couple dozen vocabulary words as a starting basis, then jump into learning the grammar suffixes. Fleshing out your vocabulary with things like numbers, places, etc. is the easy part, but the suffixes weigh you down mentally the first time you see them. You’ll do well in the course to already know a bit of what’s coming.
Friday-Sunday. Got sick! Not much to say, a blur of sleeping, eating, and antieating.
Monday. Monday was exciting, BSM had their first ever official convocation in conjunction with McDaniels of Europe college. The convocation placed students from both schools into the same room to talk for a bit, then the presidents and coordinators of each college spoke. Following the convocation they bused us over to the Danube for a cruise and buffet dinner. Bad time to be sick, but what can you do?
Tuesday. Still sick, kept sleeping.
Wednesday. While US citizens can enter the EU without a visa or residence permit,they eventually need to obtain the latter to stay in Hungary for more than 3 months. Wednesday the student coordinator got all 50 of the current students together and took us to apply for said permit. BSM does the best in terms of making sure you have everything you need for the application process, but it still ended up being a good 5-6 hour wait for a 15 minute application review. Be prepared!
Thursday-Saturday. Slowly starting to feel better, reviewed the language book some.

Not an exciting two weeks, but I promised I’d give an accurate account of the experience, so here you go! The good news is math classes start this next week, along with some events like a World Cup Qualifying match at the stadium close to the BSM school, so stay tuned!

Travel Update — August 24, 2013

August 24, 2013 / Timothy Goodrich / 0 Comments

Hey all,

Well, the Wednesday post didn’t happen, so I’ll cover the whole week in this one. Before I start, though, here’s the general timeline of my study in Budapest:

August 15 – 20	Arrive and settle in Budapest
August 21 – September 6	Intensive language course
September 9 – December 20	Budapest Semesters in Mathematics courses

As you can see, this week was split between settling in and starting the language course, and it was quite hectic. So let’s dive into it!

Sunday. On Sunday about a dozen BSM students met up to explore the city some and get to know each other. We started at the BSM school and headed to the Danube, and from there ended up at a cafe for lunch. Somewhat of a local dish, I had chicken over noodles (think spaetzle) with paprika sauce. Seriously, I could live off of bread soaked in paprika sauce, this stuff is fantastic. After lunch the group split and my half went up to Margaret Island, which is a recreational island in the middle of the Danube between the Buda and Pest sides of Budapest. After a total of about 8 hours of walking we headed our different ways. All the BSM students are spread across both Buda and Pest, either in apartment or homestays.
Monday. A bit sore from the previous day’s walking, some BSM students met at the Great Market Hall for lunch and some shopping (see cover photo). Finally was able to get some langos on the first floor, specifically a sweeter one with sweet cottage cheese and powdered sugar. Cannot go wrong for only 800Ft (~$4)! The ground floor below acts as a farmers market of sorts, with stands for anything from chicken pieces to dried fruits (all by the decigram, of course!). In the basement lurks the various and invasive smells of both fish and pickled items. Market Hall is definitely a sight to see and taste and smell, I’m sure you will hear much more of it in my future!
Tuesday. On Tuesday was Hungary’s national independence holiday, St. Stephen’s Day. The streets were filled with music and stands with giant pretzels, pastries, and candies. A couple dozen BSM students met up again and we walked around the city, then walked up Gellert Hill to the Citadel. Finally, the day ended in a long firework display synchronized with Hungary’s famous classical music. Check out my Twitter page for some pictures of the day’s festivities!
Wednesday. Wednesday marked the beginning of the language course, and they are not joking when they describe it as intensive! For those unfamiliar with Hungarian, there are 44 letters, and each are pronounced a single way (no matter where they are in the word). Further, Hungarians like their suffixes, making words quite long! However, these qualities are not negatives, but characteristics resulting in a structure with its own unique faults and beauties. I am definitely looking forward to having a better grasp on the language!
Thursday. The first half of Thursday was a typical set of languages lessons, but in the afternoon we all headed to the BSM school for pre-orientation (read: paperwork). Oddly enough, as I was sitting there in a room of 50 math students, I realized that this was the first time in over a week when someone has addressed a roomful of people in English. Would it be strange to say that it felt foreign?
Friday. With BSM business out of the way for a little while, Friday began a long string of back-to-back language sessions from 9am till 4pm. It’s a humbling experience 🙂
Saturday. Having a better idea of what my life in the upcoming 4 months will be like, Saturday seemed like a good day to get my day-to-day life (apartment, cell phone, etc.) in order. I headed over to Arena Plaza as a central location and tried out some Hungarian Chinese food (quite good!), acquired a SIM card for my cell phone, and walked through the magnificently large Tesco hypermarket. While maybe not as exciting as a day at the Hungarians baths or a trip to Munich, I must say that it felt good to have a day to feel at home.

As usual, let me know if you’d like to hear more about anything! Pictures from several of these events will be on Twitter soon, they’re…developing.

Come back tomorrow for a reflection on what precisely we mean by a “cross cultural experience” and why the subtle experiences seem to have the biggest impact.

Spanish Royal Palace in Madrid as seen from the Royal Gardens

Madrid Part 1 – Demonstrations & Protests

May 22, 2012 / Jordan Harner / 0 Comments

The last week has been a bit hectic so I apologize for having such a large gap in between my posts. I’ll also be posting quite a few this next week.

Spanish Royal Palace in Madrid as seen from the Royal Gardens

As you might know from my Twitter updates, 2 Saturdays ago I finally had the opportunity to do the “touristy thing” in Madrid rather than just going to the airport or Atocha Station like I normally do there. The other Americans from Valpo flew back to Chicago last Monday but I opted to stay longer so I stayed in Madrid until Wednesday when I went directly to Norway to visit a few friends. A Norway blog is forthcoming as well but I thought it would be better to start from the beginning of this extended trip.

Central Madrid

We all stayed in a hostel fairly close to the city center which many consider to be Puerta del Sol which is also fairly close to Plaza Mayor. The first night we were there we noticed that the area surrounding Puerta del Sol wasn’t exactly normal. We learned over the next few days that because of the education cuts ordered by the Spanish government, there have been almost constant protests and demonstrations in the area over the last few days/weeks.

There were a few thousand people there at sporadic periods during the day and since I’m not really informed of their agenda or demonstration times, many times we were forced to cut through the crowd to get where we wanted to go. Even though it was a little intimidating at first, we didn’t have any problems and everything seemed very peaceful for the most part. There were a number of police officers on hand to keep everything under control and even they seemed to be quite relaxed. In addition, this area was crawling with foreign tourists so we never felt alone. In any case I had a great time there and I’m glad I finally got to experience Madrid since, you know, it is the Spanish capitol and all.

Some of the places I visited include the Royal Palace, Royal Gardens, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Reina Sofia, the Prado, and several other locations. In my next blog, I’m hoping to detail some of the more touristy things I experienced in Madrid followed by a post on Norway and a farewell blog. Check back soon for that!

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow me more closely, I have a Twitter account. If you’d like to see ALL of my photos, I also have a Picasa account.

Easy A or not?

May 11, 2012 / sarahtiemann / 0 Comments

One of the differences that is very apparent while studying abroad is the way classes are setup. Everyone jokes that study abroad is the easy 4.0 GPA semester. This is not necessarily the case. It is more that the classes are completely different than what we experience at Valpo. From professor relationships, classes, and trips this semester has to have been one of the best one’s I’ve experience.

Professor and student relationships are different than just going to a professor’s class for 3 hours a week. Here our professors are technically like our guardians which create more of a relationship than just listening to a lecture. We get to know their families and they get to know more than just our grade and where we sit in the class. They have invited us over to their homes and have made meals together and they taught their classes in the comfort of their own homes. We also are taught classes by German professors as well (in English). Both are well known in their fields like an art curator and the head of the international programs on campus (which deals with the government). They have shown us how relaxed German classes are. In most German classes, attendance is optional.

Another difference is that we get to travel for our classes. We have had about three and four weeks of just class trips that have ranged from going to Berlin and Northern Germany to day trips around the area. We were able to take a tour of the Audi factory last week to understand one of the main corporations that affect the German Economy. We saw the entire process of the making of a gorgeous and expensive car. The week before that we went to Paris in order to present our final presentations for our Art History class in front of the actual paintings in the Louvre and the Museum d’ Orsay, followed by a delicious French meal and a tour of Paris.

Overall the classes were not necessarily the easy A courses that we all expect when studying abroad but they were some of the most interesting and memorable classes I have taken. We had our farewell dinner with all of our professors and their families and it really made me realize just how close I have become to these professors. It is a weird feeling realizing that it was the last time I would be seeing our two German professors.

Spain Update and Lisbon

April 8, 2012 / Jordan Harner / 0 Comments

Since I’ve really just been blogging about my various travels around Europe the last few weeks, I thought I was due for a report on things that are happening in Spain because, you know, that’s what I’m supposed to be blogging about.

Spanish Life

The way of life in Spain has become so normal for me (for the most part) that things I no longer find interesting or new may still be for others. For the most part, my classes are going well although I’ve thought for awhile now that I may have been placed in a level too low but I’m better at speaking Spanish than filling out bubbles on a test so that may have had something to do with my placement. I’ve definitely learned a lot more Spanish since I’ve been here and have also begun to notice a recurring cycle. Things seem to get easy for a time and slowly increase in difficulty until I reach a wall. Sometime I get a bit frustrated with the language but as soon as I get over the wall, it’s back to being “easy.” The last few days have been a “wall” for me since the most difficult thing about Spanish for me right now is not knowing enough vocabulary and learning common phrases. I discovered I still have a long ways to go in regards to this aspect but knowing that I’m improving everyday has been a motivator.

I think I’ve assimilated into the culture fairly well although a few things still annoy me occasionally. Siestas are everyday from 1:30 (or 2:00) to 5:00 p.m. and almost nothing is open with the exception of some malls. Some banks close at 2:00 and don’t reopen until the next day and the rest reopen for 2 hours from 5:00 to 7:00. In addition, many stores are also closed on Sundays. Most stores are mom-and-pop type stores so there isn’t really any store where you can buy everything cheaply. A store called “El Corte Ingles” is about as close as it gets although it’s more similar to a Macy’s and not really that cheap. For me, this is extremely frustrating because my classes end at 1:30 so if I want to go shopping, I have to go home and wait until after 5:00 even though the university is closer to the shopping than my house. All things considered, I’m probably making this out to be worse than it is but in the very least, it’s inconvenient.

Lisboa, Portual

A while back, I went to Lisboa (the Portuguese name for Lisbon) and I had a fantastic weekend! The city is stunning and I would recommend it to anyone over Barcelona! It’s a hilly city located on the Atlantic coast and it’s so picturesque. I’ve never been to San Francisco but Lisboa reminded me of it. At the top of one of the major “hills” there’s a castle where you can overlook the whole city and the harbor. Many of the buildings are white with reddish-brown tiled roofs and they contrast beautifully with the blue harbor in the background. I took quite a few pictures (especially from the castle) that I think are definitely worth taking a look at so I would highly recommend that.

We also stayed at the best hostel I’ve ever visited (called the “Yes! Hostel”) and even got to go out for tapas with the owner who is a great guy! It wasn’t too expensive, was in a great location, and was rated the #1 hostel in Lisbon two years in a row so if anyone runs across this blog looking for Lisbon travel information, I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed my time in Lisbon and am also enjoying my time here in Spain. I’ve progressed and experienced so much in the last few months I feel like I’m ready for almost anything!

If you would like to read more of my daily updates, you can follow me or just check my past posts on Twitter. If you’re interested in seeing some of my pictures from my master collection, you can check out my Picasa page. Thanks for reading and keep checking back!

Burg Hollenzollern (out the bus window)

University Life + Weekend Excursions

November 12, 2011 / Zach Nelson / 0 Comments

Greetings from Tübingen! Sorry it’s been a while – I haven’t actually fallen off the face of the earth, regardless of how it may seem. In this blog, I’ll be writing about two recent weekend day trips right after a short summary of my life over the past few weeks!

Everything here has definitely been starting to settle down a little bit, with the start of the winter semester. It’s been a little difficult getting used to the German university system in that I have so much extra time. Or so it seems… At home, there is absolutely ALWAYS something to do when I’m at Valpo. Always a paper to write, a book to read, a presentation to practice, a quiz to study for, an assignment to complete, a meeting to attend etc. Here, my classes meet once a week (with the exception of Theology, which meets twice a week) as opposed to courses at Valpo, which usually require 3 or 4 class periods per week. While American universities practice “Continuous Assessment” throughout the course of the semester, German universities typically place most, if not all of the emphasis, on a final presentation and/or exam. In some of my classes here, the only grade I will receive all semester long is the final exam grade.

What does that mean? No homework! Or so I originally thought. What it really means is that I’ve got to get a move on, and get myself on track to learning tons of material. (I know, I sound like a giant slacker, but many of the German students I’ve talked to also haven’t done much yet this semester either… Which makes me feel better. I’ve just been allowing myself to experience the life of a typical German student by living a comfortable life of social events while getting to know people and places. Just for a few short weeks 🙂

There’s really nothing assigned that I have to do, but there are online articles, books, and other supplementary materials that may very well be required knowledge for the tests in February. Which means that over the past few days, I’ve been scrambling a little to get organized with my course materials and start the learning process of preparing for the final exams. Almost every course here has PDF files online containing all the necessary course information, which I spent a painstaking 1.5 hours as well as €15 printing out in the library last week. (You’d think that printing something would be as easy as clicking print, confirming the print job by clicking “OK,” walking to the nearest printer, and collecting your double-sided document. Not here. Such as simple, everyday task would be too easy for the Germans, who like to complicate things just a little too much sometimes. But I’m not complaining! Just a cultural difference, and me poking a little fun!)

Anyway, during a conversation with a German friend here who studied for one semester in Missouri, I was told that universities in America are “easier” than in Germany. I found that opinion to be interesting, but I simply could not agree. It is a wonder that I survived the courseload I had last semester at home – it was in no way easy! There is, however, some truth to his comment, in regards to how American students are expected to learn. In my opinion, the American university system has much more structure than that of Germany. Students are expected to keep up with the pace of the course, but they are also told what they need to learn by the given deadlines (more or less.) Such a system leaves no room for the “guessing game” of, “what will be important on the test, what does the professor find most valuable, and what do I need to learn?” that I feel I’m currently struggling to play. In many of my courses at home, the semester is broken up into thirds, with three large exams at the end of every section rather than one single exam at the end. The content isn’t easier, but it is helpful actually knowing what you have to learn and be responsible for. At the end of the day you’re still learning, you just don’t have to take a lucky stab in the dark at a semester’s worth of content. Just my opinion…

Anyway, on Tuesday of last week, I decided to join another class, after already missing the first two. I figured that I had the extra time in my weekly schedule to pick up another marketing class, so after a few emails back and forth with the professor, I was officially registered for “Industriegütermarketing” (Industrial Goods Marketing.) The only catch was that I have to give a presentation with two other people next Wednesday, during our first “Übung” period. (An übung is similar to a “lab” course at Valpo – the material covered coincides with what is being taught in the lectures, and during this period you are given the chance to work through and apply the content learned in class.)

For the presentation, I’ll be talking about a case study about an electric company in New York, and explaining why they did not get a bid to build electric motor components for a company in Ohio. At home, this would be an extremely interesting topic to me, as a business major. Here, although interesting, it’s pretty complex. The case study has quite a few characters and a complex sequence of events that’s not exactly easy to understand, much less present. I’ve already had to give a few presentations in my language courses but it’s much easier presenting to other international students who, much like myself, are still in the process of learning German and don’t yet speak it perfectly!

So, other than a little slap in the face by reality and some homework etc. I really haven’t been up to too many exciting ventures besides the two small trips I’m about to write about! Next weekend, I’m off to Frankfurt to visit one of my best friends who was an exchange student in my High School, and I may be going to Sweden at the end of next month, but that remains to be determined! I have a couple different options for how I’ll be spending Christmas, but I haven’t been able to decide yet between them!

And, we're off! Our group before hiking to the Würmlinger Kapelle (Chapel of Würmlingen)

On Saturday, October 29 a group of us hiked to a chapel (the Würmlinger Kapelle) right outside of nearby Würmlingen. (You may remember my post a few weeks back about our first failed attempt to hike there, but this time we knew the way!) Among our group were Rachel, Jake, and I from Valpo, a friend of Jake who was visiting from Spain, two friends from Deutsch Kompakt, and a couple French friends that I’ve met over the past few weeks. We started at 11:00 AM on the Neckarbrücke (the Neckar Bridge) and made our way through the castle, and down the path to the chapel.

The Würmlinger Kapelle, and the beautiful Fall colors

The hike took about two hours to finally reach the chapel, where we proceeded to look around for awhile, and visit the grave of a former supporter and financial contributor to Valpo’s German program who lived in Würmlingen. The chapel is 961 years old, and somewhat of a well-known landmark for this region. It has been honored over the years by many poets, including Ludwig Uhland of Tübingen.

Picnic, and nap in the grass!

See this link for the text of Uhland’s poem (in German): http://www.historisches-wuerttemberg.de/kultur/dichter/uhland/kapelle.htm

There were a couple steep ascents, but overall it wasn’t a bad hike. The chapel is on top of a large hill covered in small vineyards, and the view from the top was beautiful. We all brought picnics along, which we enjoyed at the bottom of the hill before taking a nap on the grass. For the end of October, the weather was nothing like what I would have expected at this time of year after having lived 20 years in the brutally-cold Midwest. It really felt like it could have been a month-and-a-half earlier. After another two-hour hike back, we were back in Tübingen. I can only speak for myself, but the 10k trek tired me out more than I expected it to. All in all, it was a great day, and a must-do day trip for everyone who studies in Tübingen or Reutlingen!

Weekend excursion number 2 was a trip to nearby Burg Hollenzollern, (Hollenzollern Castle), home of the royal family of Prussia. Although the country of Prussia was effectively dissolved by the Nazis in 1932 and officially ceased to exist in 1947, the castle remains one of several official residences of Georg Friedrich, the current prince of Prussia. I find it strange that there is still a royal, extremely-wealthy Prussian family. They have their own website: http://www.preussen.de/en/today.html. In a way, it must be pretty nice to be the prince of a non-existent country. You’re royal, loaded, and you have absolutely zero political power or work to do! You could finance your whole life with the interest of all the investments and bank accounts started by your historically-royal and powerful family. And you get to carry the title, “Prince of Prussia.” Sounds great to me!

Burg Hollenzollern (out the bus window)

The castle is the third to have stood atop the mountain in the Swabian Alb range (not to be confused with the Alps, which has a very similar sound in German). It was completed in 1867, which means that it is both relatively new and in very good condition in comparison to most castles in Germany. Burg Hollenzolern has a very fairy-tale-like appearance to it, and although it fits the image that comes to mind when most Americans hear the word, “Castle,” it’s really quite unique. Most castles in Germany are multiple hundreds of years old. They’re cold, impersonal, and in many cases, nothing more than archaeological ruins.

Jake, Hannah, and Rachel make the climb up to the castle from the bus stop

We had originally planned on taking the tour in English, as Jake’s friend visiting from Spain was still with us. After buying the ticket and standing in the extremely long line, we were nearly an hour late for the English tour. It was a very beautiful October day, and Burg Hollenzollern simply couldn’t accommodate all the tourists that wanted in on the 1:00 tour. So, 45 minutes later, our tour began in German. It was no problem for us, and translating everything into English was good practice.

Inside the castle courtyard

Photography was prohibited inside of the castle, so I unfortunately don’t have any pictures to post from inside. The tour was excellent, and it is also a must-see for any tourists to the area / students studying in Reutlingen or Tübingen.

Another view of the Burg Hollenzollern

The castle also has a Biergarten and an excellent restaurant, where we elected to have dinner. There were a few hardy people enjoying the food and beer in the biergarten, but by the time evening rolled around it was too cold for us outside! The restaurant featured all sorts of traditional Swabian foods, including my favorite variety of Potato Salad typical of Southwest Germany.

Check out this website for more information about Burg Hollenzollern: http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com/startpage.html.

That’s all for now!

Next blog post to come sometime next week about my upcoming trip to Frankfurt! Wish me luck this week in classes as I attempt to understand everything! The philosophy “Fake it until you make it,” has never had so much relevance in my life as it does right now 😉

Check out my album October 2011 in Tübingen + Vienna! to see all my pictures from the two day-trips described above! (They’re at the end of the album.)

https://picasaweb.google.com/117445044945979223598/October2011InTubingenVienna?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Bis dann!

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