Die Zeit Vergeht Immer Schneller...

Can my third week in Germany already be underway? Its hard to believe, but it is a good reminder to enjoy every moment. Since I last posted, I have gone on a Stadtführung through Marburg (city tour), ice skating in the Marburger Eis Palast, attended Gottesdienst in the Elisabethkirche (a church built in the 1200s), spent a day shopping in Frankfurt, a night meeting other international students and Germans while dancing, and even squeezed in a load of laundry for the first time in 22 days.

It seems that everyone within the past week or so has been busy planning their travels for our first break beginning February 15. It is fun to hear of all the places people will be visiting; Rome, Venice, Paris, and various others. Where will I be heading off to? The plan at the moment is to board the train to Zürich, Switzerland, and let the adventures unfold. Planning a trip is a lot more work than I had expected, but if I can channel my mom´s amazing organizational skills for even an hour, it wont be so bad.

Apart from traveling to other cities, I´ve just been spending my time in Marburg; meeting new people, trying delicious German beers, exploring new streets, and doing my best to speak lots of German! I find it is easier when I am out and about and talk with the locals in Bakeries and stores. But often in class it is harder to speak, because the topics require a vocabulary that I have not fully developed yet.

Next weekend I will visit Sinh Duc, a friend from my German exchange trip two years ago, in Darmstadt for his 20th birthday party. It will be fun to take a little trip on my own! I hope all goes well.

Here are some pictures from the last week, bis später alle!

In the Elisabethkirche, listening to the Stadtführerin tell the interesting, and funny, history of Marburg.

Wandering around

Too short

Fun Filled Night!

Skating in the Eis Palast!

International Students Party

These pictures are a little out of order, es tut mir leid!

In the MyZeil shopping center in Frankfurt. (Photo from Kelsey)

Kelsey, Kelly, and I believe we observed an Occupy protest in the streets of Frankfurt...its always amazing to witness things happening worldwide. (Photo from Kelsey)

Living in a Fairytale Land

"Jedes Leiden und Übel führt leicht im stillen irgend einen zu gute kommenden Ersatz mit sich"

--Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm

Good Afternoon Everyone! 

The quote above roughly translated says something like, "All suffering and evils can easily lead one to a quiet, good alternative." I could be wrong, so if so (Tim or whoever) correct me! I just chose a random quote by the Brothers Grimm because it is fitting for this blog post. The Philipps-Universität Marburg was where the Brothers once studied, long long ago. Its hard to forget that fact, when many of the streets here are named after them.

Yesterday I took walk up to the Landgrafenschloss, the castle that presides above the city. It was hard not to imagine life back in the late 1700's, and with Marburg's quaint city and beautiful geography; I may or may not have imagined being in a fairytale for a little while.

All in all things are going well here, and since pictures are worth a thousand words (sorry for the cliche) I am going to tell you the events of my week through pictures, with little blurbs below.

Pferd! Horses in the Oberstadt in Marburg. This picture was taken when a few of us were looking for an adventure. So we roamed the streets and even were offered some fresh "Pflammkuchen"  (pancakes) from out of a 4th floor  apartment window. We declined the generous but strange offer and continued on our way. Of course thats when we realized we were really hungry, so we stopped in a cafe and I ordered another Auflauf, the casserole-like cheese thing, this time with salmon and spinach. It was delicious! But I really need to make a budget. It is too easy to spend money here.

Spaghetti-Eis! A Marburg specialty. Somehow they push the ice cream through a spaghetti noodle maker and voila! Ice cream that looks like spaghetti noodles--with raspberry sauce playing the part of the sauce! Delicious. 

I had to document the blue sky that appeared yesterday. Finally a day of sun shine and little clouds! 

This is a view of Marburg from the Mensa, the student union/cafeteria. Behind the bikes is the river Lahn, but its not very pretty right now. Last week it was incredibly high, it felt like I was in Eau Claire.

This is James, Clemence, and I standing before the Marburger Rathaus. The city hall, I have yet to see the rooster at the top crow on the hour, but one of these days I'll be there at the right time.

On my way to the castle! We walked along a winding cobblestone road up the hillside, with old rock walls lined with ivy and vines. Yeah, it was pretty cool!

A view of the castle--almost up the hill!

We stopped along the way to take pictures, when the sun actually comes out, you have to take advantage of it! 

Me and Marburg :)

Clemence and I again--we met in our class, she is from Cameroon, Africa.

The wall was green! 

So this was my adventure from yesterday. Today I will be going on a city tour of Marburg, to learn more about the history of  all these places I have pictures of. I'm sure I'll be going to the castle again, and taking more pictures...but when I post again I can offer a little more knowledge behind the pretty views.

Have a great weekend everyone!

B

Can I Really be in Deutschland?!

Schönes Wochenende Alle!

I have now been in Marburg about 7 days, and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I will be here for many more! I feel as though I need to squeeze everything I want to do in the first two weeks, but in reality I have plenty of time.

This past week has been all about trying to get used to living here; a lot of paperwork, payments, and even a trip to the Stadtbüro so that I could "Anmelden" (become a temporary citizen). I have had my first German beer in Germany, and then one or two more :) Becks (of course) and last night I tried a beer called Licher. It was very good!

For my first weekend in Germany, my "tutor" I guess you could call her, Oksana brought some of us to the Oberstadt to a bar called the Sudhaus. It was a very cozy bar lit mainly by candles and had a cool rustic feel to it. The Sudhaus has great gemütlichkeit!

Oksana is a student here at the Universität Marburg, who helps the international students get acquainted with the city. She is very nice and extremely helpful!

So this is all I have for now, with a few pictures below. Today I will  return to REWE, the grocery store I wrote about in my travel essay a few years ago. I would attach that essay somehow, but unfortunately that is at home on my mom`s computer.

My first Döner in Marburg! I am with Kelsey, another UWEC student. Wir haben die ganze Nacht Deutsch gesprochen, es wird immer besser. 

Brötchen and Quark with jam! So lecker! It has been my Fruhstück this past week.

Die Oberstadt...

At the Sudhaus, it was not as light as this picture makes it seem.

Viel Spaß!

Guten Abend Aus Deutschland!

Good Morning to you in America!

I have now been in Marburg for 2 days, and am loving every minute! It is incredibly busy; trying to learn the bus schedules, pay various charges to the Haus Frau (She is in charge of the dorm), starting my first day of school (!), and just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I will be here for 6 months!

Here are a few pictures from my travels. The first was taken when we were waiting for the train at the Frankfurt airport, to take us to the Hauptbahnhof which would then bring us to Marburg. This is 7am in Marburg, midnight in Minnesota!

 Flughafen Frankfurt: Airport train station

Marburg is a very beautiful city, even when the sky is gray and it rains, you can't take away its fairytale charm. Die Oberstadt is the oldest part of the city, and is the most wonderful in my opinion. When you imagine a European town with winding cobblestone roads, unique architecture, and great history...thats Marburg. I took the picture below from Studentendorf (literally translated means student village, where mz dorm is located), which is on the opposite bluff as the Oberstadt. You can see the Landgrafen Schloss (Castle) at the top overlooking the city. The buildings directly below that make up the Oberstadt, and below those, in the valley lies the Unterstadt. 

After settling into our dorm rooms, a few of us ventured out to buy some groceries. I was very happy about finding brötchen and quark! They will make up my breakfast for the next week. 

I just had to document the cool cars in Germany! Though I would be terrified to drive here, the streets are so narrow, and when passing a bus there is very little room between...

 Another picture from the Oberstadt: Last night my group went to a restaurant called the Auflauf, there I ordered a "Grieschiches Auflauf" which was kind of like a greek casserole thing. Very delicious!

The christmas decorations in the city are also very fun... and magical at night.

Lomonosov-Haus, my new home for the next 5 months! It is a very old dorm, but my room is quaint and cozy. It is located on a bluff, so I climb very steep hills when I walk home from the bus stop. There is another stop, which is at the top of the hill and requires you to walk through a forest. It then opens to a road surrounded by more forest. Very cool but at night it is a bit dangerous! 

I started classes today and was placed in the stufe 2 (second level), basically I will be in this class for the next 6 weeks, focusing on grammar, reading, and speaking and then at the end will have a test and hopefully go on to the next level. There are 13 in my class, some students from America, Cameroon, Indonesia, China, and Palestine. It is interesting to converse with them when our common language is German. I really enjoy it. 

Now I must go to the bus stop to head back to my room, a few of us are making dinner tonight and then perhaps exploring more of the city. I do not yet have internet set up in my room but hopefully soon!

Ich wünsche euch ein schönen Tag noch!