A weekend in Freiburg und Schauinsland

This weekend, all the students from UMASS who are studying at Baden Wurttemberg Universities met up for a weekend in the Black Forest. We arrived on Friday to a delicious home cooked warm German meal. We stayed in a hostel-esque cabin that was quaint and adorable. It even had a collection of cuckoo clocks! It was a half hour walk from the nearest bus stop, and about an hour from Freiburg proper. We were up on Schauinsland, a snowy, mountainous area of the Black forest! On Saturday, we were lucky enough to have views of the landscape and hike for a few hours up to a lookout observatory. The amount of fog was unbeleivable, and only added to the majestic nature of the views. In every direction there were mountains, snow, and fog. Below us was a small village where one could see the smoke coming out of the houses chimneys.

Group photos are difficult...

The town below

The insane fog

The lookout tower!

Tallest Mountain in the Black Forest

That view!

On Sunday, after hiking and picking classes for the semester, we decided to explore Freiburg. We had a few hours to walk around and sightsee. Freiburg was beautiful, similar to Heidelberg in that it had both an old town and a more modern section. Freiburg felt bigger than Heidelberg as well. We decided to climb up a lookout hill on the outskirts of town to get an aerial view of the city and it was amazing! After climbing down, we stopped into the large Cathedral in the Altstadt plaza. Not only was this Cathedral amazing, but outside of it a male opera group was singing outside and drawing a crowd. Their voices were incredible, and they were the first street performers that I endorsed! After the long weekend and lots of walking we decided to treat ourselves to... eighty cent gelatto! So cheap! It was heavenly- I got Hazelnutt :)

Freiburg- Clock tower and McDonalds

View of Freiburg from the tower

Freiburg Cathedral

Munsterplatz

After our return from our orientation, we went North again into the Black Forest in the town of Bad Herrenalb. This town was tiny, but beautiful in its own way. Here we were helping answer questions for the students of Baden Wurttemberg Universities who would be attending UMASS next fall. It was a really interesting experience hearing their questions and concerns with traveling to America. It was a role reversal, and really eye opening!

MM CAME TO VISIT!!!!

This week was a very special treat! It was UMASS spring break week, and SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL showed up in Germany for a week! Grabbing a beer with him in Heidelberg was surreal and amazing! Even though he brought with him the rain, Heidelberg still showed us a good Sunday night with a 5 Liter keg and a traditional German dinner out.

Self service Keg at our table!

On Tuesday of last week, I decided to head to Mannheim, where MM was staying. Ever since coming to Germany, all I have heard is that Mannheim is an unattractive industrial city. No one has ever said anything remotely nice about its atmosphere, looks- nothing. So when I was on the Strassenbahn to Mannheim, I definitely had lower than low expectations. Because of this, Mannheim totally surprised me and I really enjoyed my afternoon there! It definitely was more of a modern city than Heidelberg, but it had character and beautiful pieces scattered throughout. I really enjoyed Mannheim, ESPECIALLY the prices of food! Everything was much cheaper than in touristy Heidelberg. Mannheim also has more of a nightlife than Heidelberg, with clubs and bars full every night of the week. I still think I chose correctly with living in Heidelberg though :) After seeing a few other surrounding towns in Germany- Heidelberg keeps coming out on top of my list! It's a good thing too- since I am 'stuck' here til July. Oh darn...!
So happy I got to see M while he was here traveling for his first time outside the US! I hope you had fun!

Mannheim Castle/Palace- Rebuilt after destruction in WW2

Intricate alter in the Cathedral

The water tower

Precious!

German playgrounds... yet again proving how fun they are!

View from the walking Bridge near the Park

Birthdays, Karaoke, and the Zoo

So two weeks ago now (woah time flies!) one of my friends here (K) turned 21!!! Now, turning 21 here is almost painful. By choosing to study abroad during our time to come of age, we have robbed ourselves of that fantastic milestone in American culture. Turning 21 in Europe is the equivalent of turning 19 (boy that was so anticlimactic) in America. It just doesn't feel right. So to try and distract from this sad realization we all decided to bake K a cake and buy her lots of alcoholic beverages (that she could already legally buy herself...shhh.) In America, when it is time to bake a cake, I usually look to my pantry for a classic Betty Crocker package, and supplement it with eggs, oil, and maybe (if I like the birthday person) some chocolate chips and frosting. In Germany, it was not quite that simple. First, we had to use my apartment to bake the cake since I was the only one who had an oven (who knew they were so rare!). Second, we had to make this cake from scratch. BIRTHDAY CAKE FROM SCRATCH. It is almost unheard of. Third, we had to find all these ingredients in a German grocery store. After an hour of searching, I left the grocery store with my friend M with the usual cake baking supples, along with back-pullver (baking powder), vanillan zucker (vanilla sugar- still not quite sure what this is), and gummy bears! Everyone then gathered at my house to bake the cake in a small, ceramic pan since that was the closest thing to a glass 9x13 we could find. After a lot of metric conversions, and a lot of guessing, the cake turned out beautifully!

And it didn't taste too bad either! We then went out to the Brass Monkey for student Tuesday night and ended up staying a little too late. We missed the last bus, and had to walk all the way home. Live and learn!

That Friday, it was the beginning of St. Pattys day weekend. To celebrate, we went to O'Reilly's Pub on the far side of the river. O'Reilly's is a karaoke bar! A few beers later, and me J and J we're up singing Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. It was AWESOME. So awesome in fact that I lost my voice for a week because of these shenanigans. Totally worth it.

The amazing DJ

 

The next morning we all woke up and decided to venture to the Heidelberg Zoo! It was a very typical Zoo, but did have some animals that I had never seen or heard of before! It was an excellent way to spend a sunny weekend afternoon. After seeing the Zoo, I was able to skype with my friend E, parents, and sister all in the same evening and all without a voice. It was a nice taste of home!

M + J casually loungin

Some things I have noticed...

So when I told various people that I was going to study abroad, I usually received similar questions. I was asked, "Where are you going to study," and "What classes are you going to take there," and "Do you speak German," fairly frequently so I became accustomed to answering them. One question, "Why do you want to study abroad," was also asked a few times. The obvious answers of traveling, learning a new language, a new culture, and why the heck not were usually accepted by the audience. Now that I have been in Europe three weeks (yikes!) I am starting to see those answers come true. I am beginning to have a basic handle on the German language (pronounce EVERY letter written in front of you), have already begun planning my travel excursions (first up: Freiburg (The Black Forest), Germany!), and have figured out that why the heck not is turning out to be one of my greatest life decisions. While all those things are wonderful and amazing, I wanted to take a post to point out some of the culture shock that has definitely occurred while being here. Everyone warned us exchange students that it (culture shock) would happen, but until it is experienced it is not a tangible feeling.
Some first impression cultural differences are:

• Most people here are AT LEAST bi-lingual. Not only are the people, but the signs, menus, and information is all in both German and English. I have never felt more embarrassed to be an American stereotype than while in my German course. Out of the entire class, us three Americans were the only ones who only spoke one language. Definitely makes me wonder why our school systems don't start language classes earlier...
• There is no such thing as a line. Yeah- we Americans stand in line at the check out counter as Germans sneak their way in before us constantly. We thought we were being polite, giving people some space to check out, but apparently that is not how it is done here.
• Walking down the street is like playing a game of chicken. No one moves out of the way for each other. At first I was always getting out of peoples way zig zagging across the street until I realized I was the only one going out of my way to move. Now I walk down the street stubbornly refusing to move out of others paths, just as the Germans do.
• Sweatpants in public are just not a thing. It just isn't done, and this breaks my heart a little bit.
• Bright colors also are not a thing. Black, grey, tan, navy, and white are the only 'in' colors I have seen. Even clothing store windows rarely display colorful mannequins. It is strange, and does not fit my complexion at all!
• Being eco friendly and green is not something to boast about, because it is something that is just done. Reusable bags are the only option at grocery stores, or else you get dirty looks and are half a euro poorer. 
• Continuing the eco-friendly trend- THE TOILETS. Every toilet must be self stopped. You press the button once to start water flowing, and a second time to stop the water flowing. The first time I did it- I must have let about 6 gallons of water go through (I mean liters... metric system still hasn't fully sunk in yet!) before I realized it was my responsibility to stop the flow. 
• There is only tough love- no sugar coating whatsoever. Our professor in German class is definitely not afraid to offend or embarrass anyone in class. It is not considered rude here, just their method of teaching and communicating.
• THE BUSES. Holy moly. They have a set schedule that they actually stick to. IT IS NEVER LATE. It is actually quite impressive. Their schedule is so rigid that I saw a bus approaching, began to run for it, and as I approached the bus to open the door (yeah, you also have to press a button to open the bus doors- it is a little weird) it drove away. It was quite a sad moment, but luckily, exactly ten minutes later another one showed up, and this time I was ready for it!
• Last one: YOGA. I really do not even know where to begin on this one, but it was the strangest yoga experience I have ever had. The instructor was unable to actually do most of the moves, had a ponytail comb-over with a missed bald spot on the top of his head, and talked about 90% of the class. He also timed each move with a stopwatch that would beep (totally disrupting the peace and serenity!) when we were finished. The room was freezing, there was no soothing music, and I think it actually made me more tense and stressed than I was before the class. Needless to say I will probably be avoiding the gym classes here... seriously missing Umass group fitness right about now!

Philosophenweg

Philosophenweg in English means the philosopher's walk! This hike was so amazing that my friends and I did it both on Saturday and Sunday this weekend! It is a small hill on the other side of the river from the altstadt (old town) with steep cobblestone switchbacks, beautiful views of the castle and altstadt, forest covered paths, church ruins, and a Nazi era amphitheater. The weather was nice and it was quite breathtaking to stand in the large amphitheater, hearing the projection of voices from one end to the other just as it must have done during the Heidelberg meetings many years ago. The amphitheater is situated between two sets of church ruins from about 1000 AD. Both churches still had lookout towers standing, and it was really interesting to see the contrast between the medieval Heidelberg and World War 2 era Heidelberg. This contrast, of medieval and modern, is still really apparent throughout the city itself, and is one of the reasons why Heidelberg is so interesting. 

The view from the top of the switchbacks

The view from the tower at the top!

The Germans know how to make a playground. Serious business

Sunset over the Neckar River

Thingstätte Amphitheate- seats 8,000

The stairs in the seating section of the amphitheater

St. Michael's church ruins

St. Michael's

 

I almost forgot! After we descended the hill, we were obviously hungry, tired, and a little bit chilled. In true German fashion, we walked into the Marktplatz (Market square) at the end of the altstadt and directly into a music festival! As we walked by, a lovely man was handing out free pretzels for all who were around.  This pretzel was golden, unsalted, crisp on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside- just as it should be :)