Hello once again from Ratisbon (Regensburg)
Today marks the day where I have exactly two months remaining of my time in Germany. Before I came here, I was convinced that there would never be a point in the trip where I would find myself not really wanting to be here. Whenever students getting ready to go abroad think about what their lives will be like when they are in a foreign place, it's almost impossible to imagine that every second of the experience won't just be the most amazing thing ever. However, this last week definitely proved my pre-Germany mindset wrong. Now that I've been here over three months, a lot of the novelty of European life has worn off and a lot of the disadvantages have started to weigh in. Constantly being at the mercy of public transportation, overpaying for EVERYTHING, language difficulties, and struggling to work with the terribly too-complicated German bureaucracy has started to get to me. Even more than all of this issues, I really miss a lot of my friends, family, and Rudy. It's kind of been frustrating this month to know that all of my other friends have returned home from their wonderful semesters abroad and now get to be at home for the summer. I've been trying to take it on a day by day basis, which has been working. I think it is just a fact of the experience that some days will be better than others.
This past week has not been particularly interesting. I had class Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. My Landeskunde class is easily the worst one, for boringness purposes. I also really have no idea what the professor is saying because she is so Bayerisch. I really like my Sprachkurs because we mostly just converse the entire class, which is both fun and beneficial. In the Sprechen class, we watch a lot of presentations that our classmates give. I will be giving mine in July on the Amanda Knox trial. There are students from a lot of different countries in each of the classes (In Sprechen there are students from Poland, Romania, South Korea, Czech Republic, Finland...) so it's really cool to watch all of the different things people come up with as topics. In June, there are a lot of various Catholic holidays which translates to a lot of days off school for us. We do not have classes this Thursday and also four days the rest of the month. I am also using the week Rudy is here in June as my class-missing occasion for our trip to Scotland so therefore June will not be particularly educational. Dult ends today so I will also not have that to enjoy on my free days and nights.
Tonight Liz and I are meeting once again with our host families for dinner. My family is going to be leaving for the US this week so they will be gone for the month of June. Hopefully I will see them a lot throughout July. Then I am ready for a short week of class (only one class each on Monday and Tuesday) and then a 5-day weekend of who knows what! I am really excited for Rudy to come for a week and to be able to travel.
I don't have anything else to say, so here is a cute cat video someone posted on my Facebook recently:
Love Ashley
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Mai Dult, Westbad, and the end of the world
Happy May 21! It's 4:24pm here, and with impending rapture I can only hope to make it another hour and a half before I get sucked up into heaven. But in the off-chance that doesn't happen, I guess I should update you all on my life in Germany as of late.
Spring semester is pretty much the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. Not only am I only in class around 6 hours a week, but my instructors don't want to strain me further by placing the burden of homework on me. It's quite a change from the 7 hours of torture a day from March and April (better known as the Intensive Language Course). I have lots of time to sleep in, take pleasant strolls around the city, and participate in other German-related activities. It's really nice. However, the abundant free time does make life around here a little less interesting and a lot more boring. Sometimes I find myself thinking longingly about what my friends are doing back in the states, but I am still glad to be here and ready to enjoy two more months! To take up some of that boring free time, I have decided to work a little bit on filling it with useful things such as actually working on my thesis paper for next fall and studying for the LSAT. I ordered a Logic Games book the other day and hopefully it will get here soon so I can get to work... again.
I have been lucky enough to get a great host family here in Regensburg. Our program decided it would be nice for us to link up with a Regensburg family who (even though we aren't living with them) could show us around town and spend time with us. It's been really nice to spend time with them. My host parents are Monika and Helmut and they have one son who is studying abroad right now in the U.S. (Texas). They have a cat, too! I first met them at a program dinner and then they invited Liz and I to have dinner with them at Liz's host parent's house. We went there last last Wednesday and had a great shrimp meal! Then this past Monday they took us to the Mai Dult festival. The Mai Dult is a giant festival (think Oktoberfest, only scaled down for a smaller city) that is held here in Regensburg for two weeks and three weekends in May. I first went there two Fridays ago with Morgan and Liz and we wore dirndl, drank beer, and danced all night with some of their rugby friends. It was quite an evening. There are giant beer tents all over, carnival rides, a flea market, and lots of delicious German food options. Unfortunately, the beer runs at about 8 euros a liter and even though it only take one or two to be enjoying the night, that's still a pretty high fare. Anyways, we have gone several times to the festival just to enjoy the scene. It's really cool to have something so exciting going on here in our little town. Also, Anna and I visited Westbad the other day, which is like a giant pool complex with tons of little and big pools (indoor and out) and they even have saunas and some slides! It only costs 3 euros for students, so I plan on going a lot more often as it gets warmer.
Other than the Dult, which has provided lots to do, I have been laying low for the most part. I am still trying hard to save money, especially now that I have a few trips planned for June. Rudy will be arriving on June 25 and we will spend a few days here and then we are flying to Edinburgh, Scotland for the 27-29, then coming back to visit Salzburg in Austria. I am really excited to get out of Germany for a bit and see some new places! It's crazy that all of my friends are already coming home from their trips abroad, but I will still be here until July 29 when I fly home. I am definitely not ready to go, but I find myself getting frustrated with the experience a lot lately. It's difficult to live in a place where you haven't quite figured out the language entirely, but yet are surrounded by extremely rude people who have no appreciation that you are really applying yourself to learning it all! A lot of people I have met have been so nice and welcoming, but on the whole, Germans could use a little work on their hospitality and manners. Being wary of obnoxious foreigners who scream drunkenly on the bus and in the bars is one thing, but acting like a total jerk to someone who is just trying to have a polite conversation and happens to be an American is another. However, I have made some really fantastic friends here and I know that once it comes time to leave, I won't want to go. It's such a simple and relaxing lifestyle here, and while I don't think I could get used to this as a long term lifestyle, it certainly has been a good experience for me.
Love Ashley
Spring semester is pretty much the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. Not only am I only in class around 6 hours a week, but my instructors don't want to strain me further by placing the burden of homework on me. It's quite a change from the 7 hours of torture a day from March and April (better known as the Intensive Language Course). I have lots of time to sleep in, take pleasant strolls around the city, and participate in other German-related activities. It's really nice. However, the abundant free time does make life around here a little less interesting and a lot more boring. Sometimes I find myself thinking longingly about what my friends are doing back in the states, but I am still glad to be here and ready to enjoy two more months! To take up some of that boring free time, I have decided to work a little bit on filling it with useful things such as actually working on my thesis paper for next fall and studying for the LSAT. I ordered a Logic Games book the other day and hopefully it will get here soon so I can get to work... again.
I have been lucky enough to get a great host family here in Regensburg. Our program decided it would be nice for us to link up with a Regensburg family who (even though we aren't living with them) could show us around town and spend time with us. It's been really nice to spend time with them. My host parents are Monika and Helmut and they have one son who is studying abroad right now in the U.S. (Texas). They have a cat, too! I first met them at a program dinner and then they invited Liz and I to have dinner with them at Liz's host parent's house. We went there last last Wednesday and had a great shrimp meal! Then this past Monday they took us to the Mai Dult festival. The Mai Dult is a giant festival (think Oktoberfest, only scaled down for a smaller city) that is held here in Regensburg for two weeks and three weekends in May. I first went there two Fridays ago with Morgan and Liz and we wore dirndl, drank beer, and danced all night with some of their rugby friends. It was quite an evening. There are giant beer tents all over, carnival rides, a flea market, and lots of delicious German food options. Unfortunately, the beer runs at about 8 euros a liter and even though it only take one or two to be enjoying the night, that's still a pretty high fare. Anyways, we have gone several times to the festival just to enjoy the scene. It's really cool to have something so exciting going on here in our little town. Also, Anna and I visited Westbad the other day, which is like a giant pool complex with tons of little and big pools (indoor and out) and they even have saunas and some slides! It only costs 3 euros for students, so I plan on going a lot more often as it gets warmer.
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| Crazy beer tent |
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| My host mom, Monika, and me at the Dult |
Other than the Dult, which has provided lots to do, I have been laying low for the most part. I am still trying hard to save money, especially now that I have a few trips planned for June. Rudy will be arriving on June 25 and we will spend a few days here and then we are flying to Edinburgh, Scotland for the 27-29, then coming back to visit Salzburg in Austria. I am really excited to get out of Germany for a bit and see some new places! It's crazy that all of my friends are already coming home from their trips abroad, but I will still be here until July 29 when I fly home. I am definitely not ready to go, but I find myself getting frustrated with the experience a lot lately. It's difficult to live in a place where you haven't quite figured out the language entirely, but yet are surrounded by extremely rude people who have no appreciation that you are really applying yourself to learning it all! A lot of people I have met have been so nice and welcoming, but on the whole, Germans could use a little work on their hospitality and manners. Being wary of obnoxious foreigners who scream drunkenly on the bus and in the bars is one thing, but acting like a total jerk to someone who is just trying to have a polite conversation and happens to be an American is another. However, I have made some really fantastic friends here and I know that once it comes time to leave, I won't want to go. It's such a simple and relaxing lifestyle here, and while I don't think I could get used to this as a long term lifestyle, it certainly has been a good experience for me.
Love Ashley
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| Regensburg view. It really is gorgeous! |
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| Some friends enjoying the Dult! |
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Was neu ist
Our spring break is finally over and here I am back at school for classes. It was really nice to have two weeks off, but it does feel good to actually have something to do that is more worthwhile than sitting at home watching House (on that note, however, I just finished season 4 finally!) I only have class three days per week and it is really the most ridiculously easy schedule ever. Monday from 4-6:30 I have Landeskunde (kind of like a Civilization/Geography class), Tuesdays I have my Sprachkurs class from 2:15-3:45, and Thursdays I have Sprechen from 10:15-11:45 and the Sprachkurs again at the same time as Tuesdays. Add it all up and it amounts to less than six hours of class a week. How do the Germans get away with this kind of ease? Also, in June there are several University holidays that mean I will have 4 other days free of class. Ridiculous, but I'm not complaining.
This week the weather kind of dampened again and it was cold and rainy a few days, but its been really nice recently. I guess I should update what I did the past couple weeks... Last last Friday a few friends and I went to the Dachau Concentration camp just outside of Munich. You would think such a trip would be depressing and no fun, but it was really interesting and nice to visit. They had many interesting things to see on the site and also a great museum. We spent at least three hours in the camp and museum before we went back to Munich. In Munich we visited the famous Hofbrauehaus and the English Gardens.
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| The entrance gates to Dachau. "Work will make you free" |
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| The Crematorium at Dachau |
Friday night was the date that our program directors had set up for us to meet our host families. Although we are not living with our host families like I did while I was in Finland in high school, we have each been assigned a family that will include us in family activities the rest of the time we are here. Around 6 we met up at a traditional German biergarten in town and we all met our host families. My host family is really nice. They are a middle aged couple with one son, 16, who is studying for a year in San Antonio right now. They were so friendly and I can't wait to spend more time with them. This Wednesday my host family and Liz's host family are taking us both out to a restaurant in town and then we will make more plans.
Yesterday was one of my favorite days here in Regensburg. I woke up early and got ready for a long walk we had planned. Since I have gotten here I have really wanted to visit the Walhalla temple that is just outside of Regensburg. It is a temple that houses famous busts and plaques of people from history who were influential to Germany. It was built in the 1830s and 40s in the same style as ancient Greek temples. It is only about 12km from the city center, so some friends and I decided to walk. The walk took about 2 and a half hours, but it was really nice and sunny outside so I really enjoyed it. We even decided to stop and get some Eis (Ice cream) along the way at a random store on the highway. We got there around 5 and it was just beautiful. There was even a bride and groom there all dressed up for their wedding. We took pictures and looked at the inside of the temple and then started the trek back to find the bus.
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| Walhalla Temple |
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| Standing on the top of the temple stairs looking over Regensburg |
Happy Mothers Day!
Love Ashley
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