Reutlingen

Tag: Reutlingen (page 1 of 5)

Classes: The boring but important stuff

Who am I kidding – the classes aren’t really particularly boring, but rather information about classes might not be the most interesting thing. Sorry about that.

First, I’ll focus on the classes offered through Valpo. These classes always take place in the same classroom, and all 16 of us are enrolled in all of them (not quite true, but I’ll get there later).

Here’s a video about our classroom and the building in which the classes occur:

Everybody takes one of the German classes, taught by Swantje. They meet in consecutive hours, and you enroll in whichever one better reflects your German abilities. 204 is the one you’ll need if you’re pursuing a German major or minor.

European Art & Architecture is taught by Dr. Walter Springer, an art historian from Tübingen. With Dr. Springer, we’ve discussed characteristics of gothic cathedrals (think Notre Dame in Paris), the structure of art (form, lines, colors, composition, etc.), and common themes in religious art. Prof. Springer often reserves the end of class for students to recreate famous paintings and sculptures, while he tries to identify the piece of art. He’s fairly good at this, and has even been able to correctly guess some more obscure pieces.

Economics is taught by Prof. Baldur Veit, who also runs the Reutlingen International Office and probably manages at least a dozen other things away from Hochschule. We’ve discussed how Germany and the EU work, what exactly went wrong with VW, and why Baden-Württemberg is a good place to live. We’ve been told that part of the final exam will be spelling “Baden-Württemberg,” a task which still seems to be difficult for many of us.

Utopian/Dystopian Literature and Social Theory is taught by Carter Hanson, who is also the director of the Valpo study center in Reutlingen for the next two years. This class can count for either English or social science credit. It features discussions of the questions raised by utopian thinking, regarding aspects of history, politics, culture, art, and morality.

Luther and Bach is also taught by Carter Hanson, and can count for history or theology credits. One of the early discussions was about how one can assess the validity of a biographical work. This class was also the basis of our second group trip to Leipzig, Erfurt, Eisenach, and Wittenberg.

These classes account for 16 credit hours, and fulfill general education requirements. Since one only needs 12 credit hours to maintain full-time student status at VU (and thus scholarships), not everybody is taking every class. Perhaps they already fulfilled their gen. eds., or perhaps they simply weren’t interested in taking a particular class.

Or perhaps they’re a VIEP (Valparaiso International Engineering Program) or EIB (Enhanced International Business) student, and have other requirements. For VIEP, we need to take one engineering class taught in German at the Hochschule. In the German academic calendar, the Wintersemester lasts from October to February, so you’re basically on two semesters at once. To be able to take these classes without a credit overload, one must drop a few of the Valpo courses. In my case, I left Utopian/Dystopian Literature and Luther & Bach. Though I had been looking forward to Luther & Bach, my schedule without either of them was a bit more conducive to travel.

This german course began for Nick and me three weeks ago. After initially attending a class that was well beyond our abilities, we switched into Kraft- and Arbeitsmaschinen (work and power machines), and found that to be far more appropriate for our level. Though lecture goes by somewhat quickly, between the two of us, we’ve been able to keep up just fine. However, the class so far has also been a review of thermodynamics and heat transfer, which has greatly improved our comprehension of the material. Though this class will certainly be a test of our skills, I’m confident that hard work will pay off for us both.

Gathering Thoughts in Reutlingen

September 3, 2015 / kbouman / 0 Comments

First a brief introduction. Not that it matters, as a majority of readers will likely be my parents, but we will proceed regardless.

I’m Kenneth Bouman. 4th-year (9th-semester) mechanical engineering major from Cincinnati, Ohio. Though I’ve crossed borders into Germany a total of five times, this is really only my second time here. I arrived with (most of) the rest of the group on 27 August, but unlike (most of) the rest of them, I’ll be staying for a full year.

The program I’m enrolled in is called Valparaiso International Engineering Program, or VIEP. If you’re enrolled at VU, they’ve bragged (and rightly so) about it in their ads, and you should totally know what it is. However, since even some of my engineering classmates still don’t know a thing about the program (or inexplicably haven’t heard about it) despite walking past several prominent posters that explain the big points, I’ll fill everybody in. VIEP takes engineering curriculum and adds foreign language. It also adds a year to your study plan, but considering that this year is split between studying abroad and an overseas internship, this extra year is easily worthwhile. There are impressive statistics that accompany the program, but you can look those up yourself if you’re really that interested.

We’ve been busy enough that I haven’t found time to properly formulate coherent thoughts that can give a blog entry a good flow. Instead, I’ll talk about several things that I’ve noticed.

Euros are incredibly well-designed. You can sort through different denominations of Kleingeld (change) and Scheins (bills) by touch alone, and the size of everything is more indicative of its worth than the US equivalents. All of our bills are the same size, while larger Scheins have greater value. Simple. You can read more about the coins if you’re really interested, but I’m just going to share one fact that I find interesting: the front of the coin (the “Common Side”) shows the denomination and some map-like image of Europe, but the reverse (the “National Side”) will be different depending on the country in which it was minted. This is a cool way for the countries to maintain some semblance of a self identity while still associating with the much larger entity of the European Union. The Scheins also have a bunch of security features which I find fascinating, but these don’t need to be discussed here or now.

The bills are different sizes, which among other things, facilitates transactions for people with visual impairments.

Infrastructure seems to be developed far beyond that which I’m used to from back home. Recycling is the big one in particular, but much more on that later. Or maybe not, come to think of it. Infrastructure, though interesting to me, is most certainly not interesting to many people.

City planning seems to be more relaxed. Houses don’t necessarily have places to park cars next to them. Some had stair climbs to get from the houses to the road, and these houses may or may not be accessible by car or have a road going to them. (Google Earth helped me confirm this). This may not be true everywhere, but it certainly seems to be the case in Reutlingen.

There are quite a few playgrounds around. Seems like a great place to be a kid. These playgrounds even look to be far more exciting than their US counterparts, though this could be my fresh optimism talking. We’ll see if this is still the case in a few weeks or months.

When walking from Stadtmitte (city center) toward the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) – a 300-meter (3 block) distance – there are a minimum of 5 mobile phone stores. This seems like kind of a lot for a country that I didn’t really imagine as very consumer-centric.

You know how “there’s a Starbucks or a Walmart on every corner” in the US? It seems as though the German analogue might be a Kebob place on every corner. The closest one to our dorms, Campus Kebap, is about a block away.

Smoking seems fairly prevalent, but I could be biased by the fact that my room is situated immediately next to the two-seat smoking balcony for my floor. You get carded at grocery stores if you look like you’re under 18, much as one does in the US with alcohol. Interestingly enough, alcohol doesn’t have nearly the same taboo factor here as it does in the US. It’s perfectly acceptable to be seen in public with open containers of it, and none of us have needed (or likely will need) identification to purchase it.

My group is great. As usual, more on them later. For now, here are their names in alphabetical order: Aaron, Adam, Brittany, Jessica, Jordan, Kellie, Kelsey, Kenneth, Lauren, Nick, Mackenzie, Maria, Micah, Reid, Ryan, and Teddy. We’re spread pretty evenly across three apartments for international students. My experience of meeting more english-speaking non-germans in the dorm echoes what I’ve heard from the rest of the Valpo cohort. Carter Hanson, our director, lives with his wife Michelle and daughters Sophie and Elsa in a nearby apartment building. Classes are all in one room (but at different times, fortunately), which is about a 10-minute walk from the dorms. It takes about 20 minutes to walk into town, but the bus can get you there in less time.

By the way, the ‘eu’ in “Reutlingen” makes an “oy” sound, and rhymes with “boy” or “Freud”. If you’ve been pronouncing Freud incorrectly this whole time, now’s a great time to fix that.

As you may guess from these disjointed observations, they’ve been keeping us very busy. We’ve had two cursory days of classes so far, and are already preparing for a group trip to Berlin beginning tomorrow morning. Though there has been time to relax – to climb a nearby mountain and spend an afternoon at the pool, among other things of course – the whirlwind of stimuli has left room for barely anything else. I would hope that before too long, everybody will be able to settle into something of a routine, but in the meantime, we are a bunch of fulfilled yet busy travelers.

First Impressions of Germany

January 12, 2015 / apittman / 1 Comment

I have made it safely and soundly! The plane ride was a little bumpy but Swiss air gives you plenty of chocolate to forget about that. Our group landed in Zurich, Switzerland then took a conecting flight to Stuttgart, Germany where we finally took a bus to Reutlingen. Quite honestly this four day span has been surreal. It still has not hit me that our group will be studying here for an entire semester, but I have (mostly) nothing but great things to say about Germany so far. As soon as we got into Reutlingen we were welcomed by Professor Ostoyich (our study abroad director) and his family. They make you feel right at home from the start. In fact so at home that on Friday we played a game of tag with his daughter while getting a tour of Reutlingen University. It seems as though every now and again I have to pinch myself to remind me that I am indeed in Germany. My first impressions of Germany are quite simply the beauty of the region Reutlingen lies in and also the friendliness of the people in and around Reutlingen. As a group, we have visited downtown Reutlingen and Tubingen, which are both spectacular. Our groups European Art and Architecture professor, Professor Springer, gave us a tour of Tubingen, a university town that has the Nekar river running through it. In the tour, our group saw the Tubingen castle, city hall, market square, and also a fantastic dinner at the Nekarmuller restaurant that was covered, free of charge, by the program. Tubingen University is one of the oldest in the world, dating back to the 15th century, and has currently over 30,000 students. Valparaiso University also offers a Tubingen study abroad program that lasts a year, while also having the courses taught in German. Speaking of the German language, myself coming from a 101 background felt fairly confident in my German conversational skills, but I was soon mistaken. The region that Reutlingen lies in has a very interesting and different accent compared to the rest of Germany. It can be hard to understand exactly what people are asking you or talking about, but once you get the hang of it, it is really no trouble at all. Although it may be scary going to a country where you do not know the language, I can assure you that you can still survive in Germany. Mostly everyone can either speak or comprehend English so communication should not steer you away from visiting. Although I would recomend learning some German beforehand to get the full experience. Monday marked our first day of classes and so far, it seems as though they will be very informative and manageable. Each class brings a special something to the table that helps us understand and comprehend modern Germany. However, the only bad thing I have to say is that internet can be scarce. The dormatory I live in does not have Wifi or a very stable ethernet connection so internet can be very difficult at times. Especially if you have a cellular device with a provider other than T-Mobile because T-Mobile for example has an international plan that offers mobile data and texting for almost nothing, while Verizon, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular can be pricey.Be prepared to be unplugged for a while and disconnected. However this is not such a bad thing. Not being able to use my phone has acutually let me be able to take in the beautly of the region and also the atmosphere here in Germany. Unforedtunentaly, I was unable to get some pictures included in this blog, however the next one I will throw in some from the Reutlingen and Tubingen area so you can get a feel of how breath-taking the area actually is. Also, I forgot to include a lot of umlaut’s because I do not know how to put them in, but hopefully I will figure it out by my next post. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my next post! Tschuss!

Why You Shouldn’t Study Abroad: End of Semester Thoughts

December 20, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Everyone who has ever studied abroad comes home saying the same thing:

“It was the best time of my life! I learned so much! Saw so much! Everyone should study abroad!”

I’m not home yet (I won’t be until June, as I have an internship next semester here awaiting me), and so I’m not going to echo what so many study abroad people before me have said. Those are the kind of people that tend to make me suspicious, whose blind adoration is intimidating, rather than welcoming. I will instead, lay down the reasons that you shouldn’t study abroad. No, I’m not going to go into logistics, like money, time, or the other details that can prevent you from heading off to see the world. These are the things that ensure that your time abroad will be wasted.

Like everything else, going off to learn and experience life in a foreign country can be pretty awesome while simultaneously being very awful. You have to take the good with the bad, like how engineering majors balance heavy workloads and sleepless nights for a challenging rewarding career. If these cons outweigh the many, many advantages of study abroad, don’t go.

Why You Shouldn’t Study Abroad:

1. You absolutely cannot function outside of your controlled environment. You are the kind of person who is absolutely worthless when you don’t have your coffee at precisely 9 am, when your alarm clock isn’t set to the loudest buzzing known to man, when the class schedule varies a bit. You plan everything, and everything is organized. Study Abroad, is not for you, my precise friend. There will be too many unknowns, and you will be unable to predict them. It’s really okay. I’m not judging you for this, as you are probably the person who keeps the world running when I’m off traveling.

2. You are deathly afraid of not understanding what’s going on. If you depend on understanding everyone else’s words, and the cultural norms, study abroad is not for you. There is never a moment that you will ever be able to understand every aspect and every conversation in a new culture. More importantly, study abroad requires a brave heart, one that does not cower in the face of the new and unknown.

3. You cannot survive without your support network, or you are the key support for someone else. If you rely on a group of people to navigate all life matters, you will be lost in the lost distance world of time zone changes and internet communication. You will not have the means or time to contact home everyday. While the internet has made communication across the pond much, much easier; it cannot fix all ills. If you need to be in someone’s physical presence, you should not study abroad.

4. You don’t think experience is a good way to learn. If you think the best way to learn is in a classroom, from a textbook, written by an expert, instead of by your own life, then do not study abroad. You will not get anything from the myriad events and lessons that life in a foreign place will teach you. You will not enjoy the full experience of new food, new people, and new ideas.

If these don’t sound like you, then you really should study abroad. If these aren’t obstacles, but challenges, you can handle the growth experience that is study abroad. Go and see the world.

Checking In and Catching Up

November 25, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Okay, I realize it’s been a while. I just got so caught up in traveling that I forgot to document the traveling. And general life experiences. We’ve traveled a lot. Since I’ve written last, we’ve been through the lands where Luther and Bach walked. We’ve seen Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Budapest, Prague, Munich, and Paris. At points, we also attended class and slept.

Brittany and I were amazed at the precision of our neighbor’s leaf raking.

I have just looked at when I last posted. September. Sorry, guys. I’m going to try and catch you up with the last month or so in my next few posts, but to keep the ball rolling forward, let’s start with the last weekend: Paris.

Me! In front of the Notre Dame.

Paris was not originally on my must see list. It seemed to be such a cliché- See Paris! See the World! The city of lights was more beautiful than I expected it to be. It is also way too crowded a place for me to ever live in. Parisians are strangely bad at English, considering that it is basically the language of international tourism (i.e. how to make money off of all the culture they’re so proud of.) The first day in Paris, we took the metro to a stop near the right bank of the Seine River. From there we walked across the Ile de’ Cite, which is the island home to the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Palace of Justice. The latter is known primarily for something involving the revolution (as well as being a beautiful old building). Notre Dame means the Church of Our Lady in English, and it is quite impressive in person, although there were too many people there, a general theme for famous tourist spots in Paris.

There were a lot of cars, and a roundabout with no lanes, which to me seems like death.

We then crossed over the Seine and took the RER suburban metro train to the Eiffel Tower, which is much larger than it seems in pictures. It’s massive. 986 feet, according to my Art History professor. (He actually gave it to me in meters, but I thought you would all appreciate the imperial system. I definitely miss it.) It is also gorgeous at sunset. I took approximately a million photos, one of which I shall share with you now.

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower, just as the lights were being turned on.

Perhaps most importantly, across the Seine from the Notre Dame is a little bookstore, one may safely say is the best in the world. It is known as Shakespeare and Company, and coming to Paris, it was the only thing I needed to see. It did not disappoint. It was, in fact, the most magical place of selling books that I could have ever envisaged. Outside, there are carts of secondhand books for sale, spanning everything from the most generic children’s book about football to obscure short story writers from the 1930’s. The ground floor is overrun with bookshelves, new stories from the US and the UK. The second floor has a collection of children’s books in the landing and two perfect reading rooms filled with books. There is even a cat, who only sleeps in the best of the reading room chairs.

Here I am, in front of my favorite bookstore in the world.

So, Paris was a beautiful and hectic city. Coming back to classes and responsibilities in Reutlingen was a little painful, but such is life. I will begin catching you up on the rest of my adventures soon!

The study abroad kids at Professor Springer’s house for lunch- but more about that later.

First Trip: Part 1 Berlin

September 25, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

So, having been in Germany for a grand total of three weeks, we decided it would be a grand idea to take a ten day trip to Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne. Seriously.

Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church, left unrestored in remembrance of the horrific damage WII caused not just here, but everywhere.

Technically, the Berlin trip was a part of our Modern Germany class. Nothing is more exciting as a college student than a field trip. (Excepting free food and naps.) Learning about the Friedricks and Wilhems of Prussia is great, but their importance doesn’t really sink in until you see building after gorgeous building funded by the Prussian monarchy. There are many of these buildings in Berlin. We also visited Sachsen-hausen Concentration Camp and the German History museum to continue learning about Germany outside of the classroom.

No, I do not know why Super Luther is a thing. Seen outside the Berlin Cathedral

We were in Berlin from a Friday to a Wednesday, so there was plenty of time outside of class to go exploring. Berlin is a fantastic city to walk around in and admire the architecture. I loved exploring the neighborhood of Savignyplatz, where our hotel was located. There were fun restaurants and shops everywhere, gorgeous turn-of the-century buildings, and (most importantly) two fantastic bookstores underneath the S-bahn: one for fiction, biography, and philosophy; and one for all kinds of art-based non-fiction (film, music, architecture, art, etc.). I bought a book one rainy afternoon, and read and enjoyed fantastic hot chocolate at a cafe three doors down from the hotel, which was delightful.

Platter for four at the Zillemarkt in Berlin, just a few blocks from our hotel. Yes, this was a ridiculous amount of food.

Since this was a longer trip, we visited so many places that I started losing track. We went on a bus tour that highlighted key sights in East and West Berlin, including the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and a few sections of the Berlin Wall (Cue Pink Floyd). We toured the Berlin Cathedral, took pictures in front of Humboldt University (where Einstein and Max Plank taught!), visited the Brandenburg Gate, marveled at the beautiful Schloss Charlotenburg and its extensive grounds, admired Art Nuveau at the Bröhan Museum, and ate authentic Berlin Currywurst.

Train rides across Germany are long if you do not amuse yourself.

(As a side note, while they might not always be there on the exact minute, German trains, buses, and subways are pretty much the best. Easy to understand maps, signs showing the train, its final stop and stations between are everywhere, and they-re pretty much always clean. Plus, even in second class, the inter-city Deutsche Bahn trains are very sleek. They have automatic glass doors between compartments. It’s like a science fiction movie. Maybe James Bond?)

Courtyard and Alley to Orangienburger Strasse

There’s my update on our Berlin adventures. I will explore some of our tourism in more detail, along with Hamburg and Cologne, when we arrive back in Reutlingen. Right now: Hamburg. Tomorrow: Cologne. I’m excited for more trains!

Gearing Up for Berlin and Travel Season

September 17, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Waiting for the bus.

This last week was a little on the quiet side. Went to class, ate more chocolate croissants, attempted to say more than “Ein. Brelzen.” to the very nice bakery ladies, and polished off my third jar of Nutella. (It actually is better in Europe. The chocolate to hazelnut ratio is perfection, and the smoothness is reminiscent of Wynton Marsalis’ patter at the BBC proms. I feel for you who have never experienced the wonderfulness of European Nutella.) But a nice, calm week is probably the best kind of week to have right now, as Friday begins our whirlwind of class traveling on a train headed for Berlin.

Yes, I color-code my travel maps. Although not entirely consistently.

In honor of our season of traveling, Brittany and I began our travel map, pinned with places we’re going and hope to go. The list is long, but between the map and the realization that Italy is a lot closer that we thought, our plans are coming along quite nicely. In addition to Berlin, we’re headed to Hamburg and Köln (Cologne) in the next couple of weeks. Don’t worry, I will post pictures of it all. I will also figure out how the post works again so I can send all the people I said I would send stuff a postcard. I promise.

We found this walking to the train in Reutlingen. I think it’s a coffee table. I also think it’s for sale.

Oh, I forgot something for my summary of the week’s events… Tübingen! This university town is 10 minutes west of Reutlingen, is home to one of Germany’s oldest museums, and sits on the Neckar River. It’s a very pretty and very vertical town. We briefly toured the downtown and the castle with our Art History professor, who’s lived in Tübingen for at least thirty years. We also got to go on a boat ride on the Neckar. It’s not that big, as rivers go- compared to the Mississippi, Illinois, or Mackanac, it’s a mild-mannered stream- but that made it an even better choice for punting, in which the boat is moved by digging a long stick into the bed of the river and pushing the boat forward. Our punter (the guy that makes the boat move) was also a member of one of the university teams for the annual punting race up and down the Neckar. According to our professor, the winners throw a huge party, and the losers have to drink castor oil. Our boatman’s team got 5th out of 30-ish last year.

The beautiful Neckar, and the punter.

While we were there, we enjoyed a dinner at the Neckarmüller, a microbrewery right on the river. We ate with everybody associated with the Valpo program in Germany, even including the retired language professor from the start of the Valpo program here, almost 50 years ago.

Kaitlyn and Katie, two non-Reutlingen Valpo students in Germany, enjoying the sunshine on the Neckar

That was Sunday, and it was delightful. But what will Berlin bring? You have to check back next week to see…

The Narrowest Street in the World and a Prussian Prince

September 7, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Week Two in Reutlingen

Berg Hohenzollern, sitting above the Swabian Alps

After the exciting jet lag recovery, soccer game watching, and chocolate croissant eating events of the first week, I spent most of week two familiarizing myself with my new hometown. We found the real grocery store, which was exciting. More exciting was our tour of the Stadtmitte with a native Reutlingener, including a visit to the narrowest street in the world: Spreuerhofstraße!

Me at the end of the narrowest street in the world

To further aquaint ourselves with Reutlingen, we also went to the Heimat Museum, which is devoted to the city and some of the surrounding area. It has artifacts from the Middle Ages through WWII, including everything from original stonework from the Marienkirche (local cathedral) to a complete room from a traditional guild hall. The sword used for executing thieves was intimidating, but the little textile shop room from the early 20th century was really charming.

The most important thing I have learned from the tour and the museum: Reutlingen was an imperial city. This meant, back in the days of the Holy Roman Empire, that Reutlingen had market privileges, trade privileges, and self-governance. You can see evidence of this everywhere in the town. The manhole covers in the Stadmitte feature the imperial eagle, as does the facade of every major building built before the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napolean (that cad). The Marienkirche even has the imperial eagle in some of its tile work. To this day, the mayor of Reutlingen still has to swear every year in a formal ceremony to serve the citizens of the city, which is cool. (I would also like to take this moment to point out the history I’m learning- Look mom, education!)

The most scenic event of the week however was our visit to Burg Hohenzollern, an honest-to-goodness castle that is still owned by actual royals. The journey there was nice, but the footpath up to the castle was steep. And long.

Brittany and Kaitlyn taking a brief respite from climbing the near vertical stairs.

Once you’ve made it up the stairs, you’re rewarded with a castle, and some really gorgeous views.

The view from the top.

This castle was part of the ancestral lands owned by Kaiser Wilhelm II, also known as the guy who was technically in charge of Germany during the first world war. The castle itself is fairly new, only dating back to the 1800’s. (Insert comment about the lack of years of American history here!) They have some excellent artifacts from the family on display, who became the rulers of much of the lands we now call Germany in the Middle Ages and hung on through WWI.

No members of the Hohenzollern family have really lived there since the early 1900’s. But, they do occasionally visit. We just happened to be there at the same time as Georg Friedrich, who is the current Prince of Prussia. I was unaware that any German noble titles still existed to be granted, especially the ones belonging to the now-defunct monarchy, but my ignorance has now been remedied.

The Prince very kindly offered to take a picture with us- that is, the group of around 70 international students from Reutlingen University. I do not have access to this picture, but somewhere there exists actual photographic evidence that I was within ten feet of royalty. Maybe Georg Friedrich has an Istagram? I shall investigate, and leave you with another beautiful view of the Schwabian Alps.

From one of the guardposts on the outerwall.

September 4, 2014 / katherineackerman / 0 Comments

Because I was not able to move into my Stuendentwohnheim until September, I was able to spend a weekend at the Valpo center in Reutlingen. It was lovely to get to see another city and just do some exploring during the first few days.

The first day I was pretty jetlagged, but I did manage to say up until 10:00, which helped immensely in getting used to the time change. The director of the Valpo center also invited me to join the group for lunch and dinner which was very lovely. I was surprised to be able to stay up until a normal hour (ten), which greatly diminished the effects of jetlag the next couple of days.

The second day was the Stadtrundgang (tour) of Reutlingen. Reutlingen is home to almost all major german manufacturing companies that have headquarters in nearby Stuttgart, notably a large Bosch plant. It has 100,000 residents spread out between the Stadtmitte (city center) and the surrounding areas that actually used to be indepedent Dörfer (villages). This makes it a Großstadt (large city), which is the largest municipal division that German has. It actually makes sense, but it seems to be a little small to me considering that that is the population of Naperville, IL, but in Germany the proportions for large cities are a bit smaller than back home. The tour ended in lunch at a traditional German Kneipe (a mix between a restaurant and a pub) where we had traditonal Spätzle, a dumpling made with flour and water that is usually served with cheese and browned onions. A few of the other students and I also went to the wine festival that was going on downtown, which was very charming and provided me with my first piece of kitchenware. German festivals like to sell cheap souvenir glasses, something that will help in eventually filling out my dishware collection.

On Saturday, I went with the Valpo Intern Kaitlyn to the Markt, a giant farmer’s market in the townsquare of Reutlingen. It was great to see a lot of the vegetables that I hadn’t eaten in a while like Wirsing (Savoy cabbage), Kohlrabi (another type of cabbage), and Pfifferlinge, a type of woodland mushroom that is a sign of the impending autumn. I didn’t end up buying anything because I didn’t want it to go bad before I get to my WG (how I shall henceforth refer to my dwelling it stands for Wohngemeinschaft, or living community). In the afternoon, I joined the Valpo group to go to a game of the local football team SSV Reutlingen. I know that I am not British, but I personally prefer the term football to soccer not only because of its more accurate descriptive qualities, but also because it is the term that is used by the rest of the world to describe a sport that is of much higher importance to many other countries that it is in the U.S. The game ended in a tie with the other team scoring a goal in the final minute. It was a lovely day for a game and to sit outside. Later, I had the first of what I predict will be many bakery sandwiches. Germany has a great tradition of bread which (to me) can only be topped by its great tradition of putting things on bread. I had a tomato and cheese sandwich, but because of the high quality ingredients on it, it was honestly the best meal I’ve eaten so far in Germany.

And finally came my favorite day of the week in Germany: Sunday. Sunday in Germany is great because they are truly a day for resting. Most shops are closed and because of this, there is an attitude of relaxation on Sundays that just is not possible on any other day of the week. I know people who do not like this aspect of German culture, but I really enjoy having a single day of the week in which I cannot be running around all of the time. I think that it is good to have a day to rest and recharge before continuing on with the rest of the week. For dinner, I had a veggie Döner. Döner are the quintessential German fast food. They are essentially like a gyro (although, debatably much better) and the veggie Döner are basically a large flatbread stuffed with vegetables, a large slice of sheep’s cheese, cucumber sauce, and hot chili flakes. You can also order a Turkisch tea alongside them and it makes a great meal.

As for now, I am headed off to Tübingen to move into my WG and register for the intensive German class that I will be taking for the next month. I can not wait to see what Tübingen has in store.

Bis Bald!

Every Day I Shall Have a Chocolate Croissant

August 31, 2014 / Katie Rinda / 0 Comments

Katie Ackerman (Right) and I at the Reutlingen SSV match on Saturday

Week One in Reutlingen

Five Valpo students arrived at the Stuttgart airport Thursday noon, hauling our lives around in suitcases, energy sapped, but enthusiasm mostly intact. Four of us: Brittany, Alan, P.J., and I, were bound for Reutlingen and the Valpo Study Center there. The fifth, Katie Ackerman was tagging along until she could move into her apartment in Tübingen. Of the five, I think I’m the only one to have never visited Europe before. I apparently was not as nervous about this as I could have been.

The Reutlingen students and I are all living in Wurmhaus, a mostly international student dormitory with a longer name which I currently cannot recall. Theophil-Wurmhaus perhaps? It’s on the edge of campus, and a short walk from the city soccer stadium, where we went to watch the Reutlingen SSV get Portugaled yesterday. (For those who don’t recall, this is where a scoreless game is finally broken by your team, only to be crushed by the other team a few moments before the game ends. See also: USA v. Portual, 2014 FIFA World Cup.)

Wurmhaus, Home Sweet Home

It’s a longer walk to downtown- about 25 minutes- but the bus runs pretty frequently. Like many cities that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, Reutlingen’s center is filled with historic and beautiful buildings. The Tübinger Tur and Garden Tur are gates from the original castle walls that are still standing imposingly around the city center, or Stadtmitte.

We’ve been exploring our new home the past few days, learning mostly the practical things like where the grocery and train and buses are, but also getting into the beat of the rhythm of life here. We wandered through the Reutlingen Wine Festival Friday. The vendors’ tents were circled all around the Marienkirche, Reutlingen’s cathedral, completed in the 15th century. By nighttime the tables and the paths were full. We stood and chatted over glasses of local Riesling, along with about everybody else in the city. Today we walked through the massive park next to the soccer stadium. The morning rain had pushed slugs and snails onto the asphalt path, which grossed me out. (Brittany found them quite adorable, and asked that I tell you so.)

But perhaps the most important place we have been introduced to is the bakery down the hill from Wurmhaus. It’s open every day. It serves delicious coffee and baked goods. It’s less than a minute walk from our dorm. The best part, however, would have to be the Nutella filled croissants they make EVERY DAY. This is possibly the greatest thing mankind has ever invented. I now have breakfast plans for the entire semester. Done.

Valpo Voyager

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