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Tag: Valparaiso University (page 4 of 7)

Schloss Lichtenstein

May 8, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Over this past weekend we went on yet another excursion in the Reutlingen area. We hiked to Lichtenstein Castle. We invited a few of the other international students that live in our dorm to come with too. The castle is only about fifteen kilometers away from the University so we took a bus to the bottom of trail and began our journey up yet another hill to yet another amazing castle.

To get the full effect of this adventure, you should know what the weather was like. The trip adviser said that one should do this on a sunny day because you have to hike for about four kilometers through forest and meadows on narrow paths. So naturally, we would choose the day that it decided to have eighty percent chance of rain the entire day. So as we were slipping and sliding hoping not to fall of the cliffs, all while the weather kept changing from sunshine and warm to rain and wind (we thought we were back at Valpo).

We finally made it to Schloss Liechtenstein and took a tour of the interior of the castle. Our tour guide was very animated and made a lot of jokes in German which I have learned just to nod and smile to. Afterwards the sun decided to shine and we ate a late lunch on the castle grounds. Later we hiked back to the town of Lichtenstein in explored the city, even though it was a Sunday and everything was closed. Overall it was a great day just touring around the area and a nice relaxing day before finals began.

Check out more of my photos at https://plus.google.com/photos           /113496106333285759017/albums?banner=pwa

Spanish Conversational Customs

May 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

As with any culture, there are a number of different cultural customs, traditions, and expectations. Spain is no different so since I hadn’t covered this topic in depth before, I thought at least one of my blogs should definitely cover this cultural aspect since it’s so important. This is just a brief mini-guide to what I’ve observed regarding how a conversation normally operates here.

The Kiss

Spanish people traditionally do a double kiss when meeting someone even for the first time. This differs depending on what area or country you’re visiting because it’s usually one kiss in France and in the southwestern part of Germany (where I visited), it’s normally three. Usually, it’s the right cheek followed by the left. It depends on the person but some will literally kiss your cheek while with others, you’ll simply touch cheeks. This happens with both sexes in all occasions except between two men. Men typically greet each other like in the US and the formality of the greeting depends on how familiar you are with the other person. Regardless of familiarity, the double kiss seems to be acceptable in every situation that I’ve observed.

Personal Space

Personal space doesn’t really exist to the extent it does in the US so some people might feel uncomfortable in Spain or other places in Europe. Along with the greeting kisses, the Spanish tend to stand or sit very close to other people when speaking and are not afraid to look directly into the other person’s eyes when speaking. I realize this can vary greatly depending on the person and that there are a number of “touchy” people even in the US that seem to break cultural stereotypes but there’s a clear cultural difference when watching a person’s body language while conversing. They also tend to have more physical contact while conversing and may occasionally lightly touch someone’s arm or shoulder, depending on the situation.

Opening Up

Some people might get the impression that the Spanish tend to be a bit more “cold” but this is not true. Many Americans will open up, talk, and think of a person they’ve only known a short while as a great friend. This is not the norm in Spain. People tend to keep each other at a metaphorical (not physical) distance and can take a little while to completely open up. Again, this entirely depends on the person but I’ve been told this before and I’ve observed it as well. It’s sort of a funny coincidence that Americans tend to value personal space as being more private than being open with others while the Spanish value openness as more private than someone’s personal space.

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account that has (finally) been completely updated!

Spring Awakening

May 7, 2012 / / 0 Comments

One of the famous events that Germany is known for is Oktoberfest. Seeing how it is not yet October we have not been able to experience the festival. So what is the next best thing? Why its Frühlingsfest, which is basically a Spring festival that happens the first couple of weeks of Spring. It just so happens that the second largest spring fest was only a short train ride away from Reutlingen University.

We took the train in to Stuttgart in the morning and we met up with a few of the German students that will be studying at Valpo next year. They first showed us the amusement park that is a huge strip of different rides complete with roller coaster and a Ferris wheel. For the most part it was similar to the rides we have at our amusement parks back home, minus all the safety requirements. So after having witness all these ride and wandered through the different shopping stands, we headed over to the beer tents.

Though most of the stereotypes of Germans I haven’t found true during this semester, Frühlingsfest definitely explained where those stereotypes came from. The tent which was probably the size of football field was packed filled with lederhosen and dirndls. They served liters of beer that servers would bring five in one hand. There was traditional German songs playing and people standing on the benches dancing, hugging and singing with the liters of beers. Other people were eating traditional German food and talking about “football” or how we Americans say it, “soccer.” This whole excursion was definitely one of my favorite cultural events since being in Germany because it was just fun to watch and see that some of the stereotypes are true about Germans which definitely is not a bad thing!

L’Hospitalet de L’Infant

May 4, 2012 / / 0 Comments

This last weekend, we all visited a smaller town on the Mediterranean south of Barcelona called L’Hospitalet de L’Infant. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s not actually Spanish. The town is in the Tarragona area which is a bigger city but still not really close to L’Hospitalet. The name is actually Catalan which is sort of a mixture between French and Spanish but not exactly. A friend of mine from the University of Zaragoza from Norway (who incidentally just tackled me while writing this line) has a house one block off the beach so we all came here for yet another four day weekend.

It’s been really nice so far even though the weather yesterday didn’t really cooperate most of the day. We decided to have dinner outside but by the time it was ready, it had begun to rain so we moved it indoors. If there’s one misconception about Spain I’d like to debunk, it’s that the weather is rarely as nice as most people think it is. The whole day was cloudy and cold though so we were cooped up inside all day watching the American Pie marathon on TV. None of the movies were censored in any way even though they were on broadcast TV and all dubbed programs on TV are available in their original language so we were able to watch it in English. This surprised me a bit but I think I’m going to save the whole “European openness vs. American conservatism” topic for another post. Even though we were inside most of the day, it was kind of nice just sitting around on the couch for a change.

Today has been much better, weather-wise. There’s a neighborhood pool just outside of her family’s condo and we spent a few hours out there in the sun. The others swam but I avoided the cold water since it rained yesterday. Elliot threatened to push me in but I told him I had my phone in my pocket (which might not have been true, my memory’s not as good as it once was). Other than sitting around the pool, walking along the beach, going to the supermarket, watching TV, and cooking, we didn’t do much else. That was the plan before we came so I’m perfectly content with having done just that.

I can’t believe I only have 3 weeks left! My classes end in one week and then I’ll still be here for two more weeks. Everything seemed to move so slowly initially and now it seems like I’ve been here just a few weeks. I hate to sound so stereotypical but it’s true!

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account that has (finally) been completely updated!

 

Lost in Translation

May 4, 2012 / / 0 Comments

One of the major differences about living in Germany has been the fact that English is not the first language here. One reason why I chose to do the Reutlingen Program was because I wanted experience what it was like living in a country that I had no clue how to speak the language. However after reality set in and a month before coming here, I kept on asking myself  “Why the heck did I decide it would be fun to live in a country for four months where no one will be able to understand me?”

Once I finally arrived in Germany. There was the first initial language overload, especially at grocery store when we had to resort to pictures of different foods to actually understand what we were buying. However as the semester has gone on, we have learned quickly everyday words and phrases that we need to know. It also helps that we are in a language course. Another helpful thing about being in Europe is that most people know at least a little English here as well. So if there is ever a problem or if we have a question we can always find someone who can at least help point us in the right direction.

Overall, coming to a country where you don’t know the language isn’t as scary as I initially thought. As long as we show people that we are trying, they are very friendly and encouraging.  It is fun looking back on how frazzled we were the first few weeks. Now we have seem to be able to get by and actually understand what our waiter is asking us or what the students are asking us in the dorms. Although we still make mistakes sometimes like getting whipping cream instead of sour cream for the most part we have been getting the hang of this language.

Check out more of my photos at https://plus.google.com/photos           /113496106333285759017/albums?banner=pwa

The Canary Islands

May 2, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Gran Canaria

Last weekend, I went to the Canary Islands; known for its blue waters, sky, and black sand beaches! We planned this trip to be more of a relaxing than sightseeing trip and that’s exactly what it was. We stayed at a hotel one block away from the beach and that’s also where we spent the majority of our time. Our hotel was great and breakfast and dinner were included in the price. The food was actually decent since it was a buffet and there was always a variety. The majority of the other guests at the hotel were older or retired so the atmosphere was definitely more geared towards them and the older crowd than anyone else.

The Canaries are a part of Spain which I wasn’t aware of until coming to Spain so nearly everyone that works there speaks Spanish. However, it is a very international culture unlike that of Zaragoza and other smaller cities in Spain. The majority of the workers appeared to be foreign-born and the majority of them were multilingual. What really surprised me was the number of German tourists there. Normally, when we travel to a touristy area, English is the preferred second language but not in the Canaries. All of the signs, advertisements, and many of the signs for stores and restaurants were in Spanish, followed by German, followed by English.

Location 

Our hotel near the beach

We stayed in the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria and it was fantastic! The sun shone (most of the time) and I loved being able to relax instead of just sightseeing like we normally do. The weather is nearly perfect and only cools a little during the winter due to its closer proximity to the Equator. I did, however, get a sunburn so lots of sunscreen and aloe are necessities there. The one thing I wish I would have been able to do is travel towards the center of the island since it’s a volcano but we only had a limited amount of time so I guess I have to keep that in mind for a future trip. We talked to a travel agent about a Jeep excursion to the volcano and inner part of the island complete with a personal guide but were unable to do it in such a short amount of time.

In any case, I don’t have much more to write about because we didn’t actually “do” much there other than lay on the beach!

Thanks for reading and if you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account that has (finally) been completely updated!

Unexpected Twists part two

May 1, 2012 / / 0 Comments

After our unexpected detour in our plans in Marseille, two days later in Milan, Italy, another hiccup happened in our plan. In some hotels in Europe, they charge by the amount of people staying in the room rather than just the room itself. We thought we could sneak around this system and have three people stay in a room instead of the two people we had told them were going to stay. We came up with the idea that two of us would check in and bring in all the luggage and then the third person would just be visiting us later. But like any good mischievous plan, karma set in.

The first night went according to our plan so we woke up and toured around Milan. We visited the famous cathedral and were able to walk on top of the roof. We also walked around their “central park” and of course window shopped at the designer stores. After a long day of touring around the city and geeking out because I was able to see DaVinci’s “Last Supper,” we were ready for some delicious Italian food. So we attempted to beat the system again and went to a bar where they serve free appetizers when you order a drink. We ended up eating enough to make a dinner out of it, we headed back to the hotel. While we were relaxing around our room, we suddenly got a phone call and as we slowly answered it, we were asked how many people were staying in our room. And our cover was blown. A few seconds later we had a knock on our door and one of the workers started talking to us in rapid Italian implying that only two people are allowed in the room and visitors were not welcomed. So as our trio soon became a duet, we frantically searched for any hostel that was open and was available. When we finally found one, we ever so discretely took down a third of our luggage all while being watched by the workers.

In the end everyone had a bed to sleep in (whether it was extremely sketchy or not) and we were happy to check out of our hotel that morning. Though at the time it was quite stressful trying to figure out whether or not one of us had to sleep on a park bench, we know look back on the whole story and just laugh still trying to figure out just what the worker was telling us. All I can really say is, don’t try and outsmart the system because the system will win.

 

Check out more of my photos at https://plus.google.com/photos/113496106333285759017/albums?banner=pwa

 

Germany and Easter

April 29, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Parents’ Visit

Two weeks before Easter, my parents, brother, and grandpa came to Zaragoza to visit me and go on vacation. This turned out to be a unique experience because my host mother invited them all over for lunch twice and as they don’t speak Spanish and my host mom and sister don’t speak English, I translated everything.

Sure, I’d translated things on the spot before but this was completely different because it was constant for about 2 hours each time. My headaches returned during those few days because I was being forced to think in two languages at the same time. I’m glad I got to do something like that, though, because it forced me to think more quickly in Spanish even though I spoke to the wrong person in the wrong language a few times. I guess that’s one of the perils that come with translating.

Germany

The week of Easter, I traveled with my family from Zaragoza to southwestern Germany to visit some family friends. My senior year of high school, we hosted an exchange student from Germany and we went to visit him and his family. The region we went to is known for its wine and that’s the primary industry there. The whole area is filled with small towns that are so close to each other that many times you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends.

Even though the area isn’t touristy, it has a really nice country atmosphere that’d be good to visit just to relax. I’m so glad I finally got to visit my “other family” as well as have my family visit me in Spain. It was sad to leave everyone in Germany but knowing that I’ll see them soon was comforting. While we were there, we also went to a larger city called Freiburg. It’s a little more touristy than out in the country but not much. It’s an interesting city with lots of typical German architecture and there are also little streams that run along the sides of all the streets that are often associated with Freiburg. I was told there are streams because they have a lot of springs under the ground and the water needs to go somewhere.

After returning to Zaragoza after speaking only English for a week and translating between the two the week before, my Spanish was much worse, needless to say. My host mom even told me that she noticed it was worse than before I left and understandably so. If I had forgotten that much after just 2 weeks, I shudder to think what my Spanish will be like after this next semester as I’m not taking another Spanish class until spring semester 2013.

If you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account.

 

 

El Cierzo and London

April 24, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The North Wind (El Cierzo)

Before I arrived, for some reason I had this idea that Spain was going to be so much warmer than Indiana but today I mentally put that notion to bed and completely gave up on it. The sun is shining today and there’s not a cloud in the sky. You would think with it being mid April it would be a fairly nice day but don’t be fooled: the wind here ruins everything. In reality it’s only in the upper 40s today but without the wind, it’d probably be at least 10 degrees warmer. I was warned about its strength before I  arrived in Spain but I severely underestimated it.

There’s not a hint of a storm brewing but the wind is so strong there are multiple uprooted trees in the parks near my house. I was actually a bit afraid one was going to fall on my way back from school. The only way I can describe it is it feels like you’re on the top of a mountain and the wind is an invisible wall. So be warned, if there’s one thing someone should know about the weather here before arriving it’s that you never know what days the desert wind will come but you should always prepare for the worst and use lots of hairspray!

London

A while ago EB, another study abroad student from Valpo, and I visited London for a few days. We were able to fly out of the airport in Zaragoza which made traveling much easier. Ryanair, the only major carrier operating out of Zaragoza’s airport, threatened to cease operations if the Aragonese government didn’t give them more tax breaks/incentives so I’m glad Aragon did otherwise we would have had to take a 3 1/2 bus ride to Barcelona or Madrid. Anyway, London was fantastic but not quite what I’d exactly imagined.

Of course, we did the “touristy things” like go to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and The London Eye among others but I also really enjoyed taking time out to just walk around and check out the area. It was lightly raining one day when we were walking along the River Thames and we happened to walk under a large bridge that had an outdoor antiques market. I bought a small tin print made in the 1700s of a destroyed abbey somewhere in England  for a few pounds which I gave to my dad as a birthday present when he visited. That’s something you could only do in a place like London! Photos are forthcoming as soon as I get some sleep. We arrived back in Zaragoza from the Canary Islands this morning at 3 and I’ve barely slept the last two days so that takes priority (for now)!

If you’d like to follow more of my daily musings, I have a Twitter account and if you’d like to check up on my photos I also have a Picasa account.

I’m thinking about doing a typical Spanish food blog later in the week so check back for that!

Marseille, France

Unexpected Twists part one

April 22, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Marseille, France

Life throws many unexpected twists when traveling. As much as we pride ourselves in our planning and reading about all the different places we are going to, random, out of the blue, occurrences have happened over the course of the last few weeks. From missing trains, to having our water shut off, to having to find a hostel at 11 o’clock at night, we have had quite the experience learning what “just go with the flow”, and “thinking on your toes” really mean.

Our first encounter with life’s unexpected twists was our second night in Marseille, France. We had a full day of touring around the city and taking a boat ride to a park off the coast of the city, we were ready to come back to the apartment we were renting to cook dinner and relax. About ten seconds into filling up a pot of water, the water stopped. At first we thought we had broken something, however, after calling the owner and speaking broken French to a guy at a pizzeria next door, we figured out that the water was shut off in the area until 10 am the next morning. So as we ate pizza rather than the pasta we were planning on making, we came to terms that we would not be showering or drinking water anytime soon. We didn’t however, come to terms with the fact that we didn’t have a bathroom.

So our solution was to try and find a public bathroom (which in Europe, this is very rare). While we were on our quest to find a bathroom, we found a 24 hour convenient store and bought water. After about an hour and half running around the city, we desperately went into a hotel, water bottles and all, begging to use their bathroom to a man who couldn’t understand English. When we finally got him to understand that we didn’t need a room for the night but just a bathroom, he very graciously let us use a bathroom. We came back to our apartment to find that while we were frantically running around the city, our water turned back on. Though at the time it was sort of an inconvenience, we still laugh about it and the next day we were fully hydrated from our newly bought water bottles.

Château d'If

Check out more of my photos from Spring Break at https://plus.google.com/photos/113496106333285759017/albums?banner=pwa

 

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