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 Posted September 18th, 2005 at 8:18AM
The first week I was here, it was downright hot. This was totally unexpected. All of the newly arrived Americans complained, while all of the Germans enjoyed it. Then, a little more than a week ago, it rained. Total downpour. And ever since then, it’s been cold.
Just like that. From hot and humid to cold and clammy in the space of a single day. The weather makes it so I don’t want to go outside. I still have a lot of exploring to do, but I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get a few more nice days. Hopefully.
Posted September 16th, 2005 at 4:59PM
Wednesday night, German Chancellor candidate Angela Merkel came to Freiburg. I had to see this.
A quick overview — current Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called an early election, which is being held September 18th (this coming Sunday). In the polls, Schroeder (with the Social Democrats) is currently behind Merkel (who is fronting the CDU, or Christian Democratics). However, the CDU’s lead has fallen to single digits after Schroeder did particularly well in the two televised debates. At the moment, neither party has a majority, even factoring in likely alliances. This raises the interesting question of a CDU-SPD alliance, a la Israel at the moment.
Angela Merkel is, in the spectrum of German politics, pretty right-wing (for comparison, the SPD is left-center). Freiburg is your typical liberal college town, with sections of the town voting majority Green. So it might come as no surprise to anyone that most of the crowd was against the CDU.
And when you don’t like a person’s speech in Germany, you don’t just frown and remain silent. You boo and whistle (those with whistles have an advantage. I wonder why no one had an airhorn). The atmosphere was less political speech, more political demonstration. It was all in German, of course. But even if I was fluent, I couldn’t of understood most of what she said, because the crowd was loud.
The speech was held in the Munster plaza, and it was absolutely jam-packed where I was standing. It was a tighter crowd than most concerts I’ve been to. Ultimately? It restored my faith in society. Or at least a certain sect of it. Spiritually refreshing, if you will. From what I’ve seen of the CDU’s platform, it could be a scary turn for Germany. Sort of like America, circa 2000.
Posted September 9th, 2005 at 6:14PM
Back in the spring, I knew what I needed to bring with me. All of the literature explicitly stated that we needed formal attire, for many of the field trips that we took to important EU institutions. I put off buying an outfit, right up until the drive down to NYC a few days before I flew out. We saw a promising store, stopped in, and bought a decent outfit. Except for the shoes.
I guess I thought they were kidding about the whole “formal attire” thing. Maybe they’d be lenient and let my creme-colored Pumas slide by. Turns out that they were pretty serious.
So I needed to buy shoes. At first I simply asked for a place to buy dress shoes. I checked out the recommended store, but they seemed to wholly stock designer names, at prices in the 100-plus euro range. A bit more than I wanted to pay. The second store I looked at was much more my speed. I found some dress shoes, on sale for 29 euro, and I even like them. I was truly fortunate. Oh, and the only time the whole language barrier came up, was at the end when I was checking out. The cashier asked me a question; I smiled, shook my head, and said “ja” uncertainly.
Why would a store ask whether or not you want the shoe box?
Yesterday, I ventured into a camera shop to get my digital camera cleaned (another thing that I could have done all summer, but put off). The woman working there spoke some English, but more importantly, was very nice about the whole not-understanding-each-other thing. It eventually worked out to 30 euro, and apparently they’ll call and let me know when to pick it up… Hopefully.
The hike in the Black Forest last Sunday would be told much better through photos than through text. However, I only had my film camera, and I don’t have easy access to a scanner. Suffice to say, it was a very beautiful hike. Lots of.. trees. Just use your imaginations, people.
Next, we go to the Alsace region, where we’ll tour a random castle, sample wine at a wineyard, and play tourist in a small French town. In approximately eight hours we leave. I need to catch some shut-eye. I’ll expand later, for now, make do with this half-ass, vague post.
Posted September 6th, 2005 at 6:42PM
I was sitting here, at midnight, watching a final music video (a Nirvana performance on SNL) before heading off to bed, when I came to an important realization. It was something obvious, something that if you haven’t experienced for yourself, wouldn’t understand. But it finally sunk in that my time here is limited. Less than four months total. A week of which has already gone by.
I’ve been in somewhat of a bad mood since I arrived. Culture shock. But finally understanding that, before I know it, I’ll be flying back to the states, brought it all into perspective. I’m here on my own accord, to soak in as much as I can. Foreign perspectives, ideas. Thoughts. New experiences, sights, and sounds.
And it will be over soon enough, that I don’t have to dread every moment of it.
So far I have had three classes of deutsch 102. The professor is good — pleasant, amusing, easy-going, and attractive. The class is starting out slow, but this is a good thing. I am not ready to be nailed with heavy classwork. We’re going over some pretty elementary material, which is helpful.
I’ve also had two classes of my European Union seminar. This is a 300-level politics class, and I believe it will be satisfying my high-level seminar requirement for my politics major. The professor here is also high-caliber, as is the tutor (teaching assistant). The class should prove interesting, and extremely enlightening — both in terms of the EU, and of political systems in general.
I’ve been eating alright — usually eating lunch at the nearest mensa (uni cafeteria) and dinner at my suite (my cooking is improving). They do wonderful things with potatoes here.
This coming Saturday there is a trip to Alsace (just across the border into France). I believe we will be visiting a vineyard. Or something. Next week, we spend the night in Geneva, where we’ll get a tour of various institutions vital to the workings of the EU, attend lectures, and even eat at a fancy restaurant.
So although I’ve had more than my share of “Doh!” moments in the past week, I think I’ll survive. And as soon as I work up the nerve to enter a camera shop with my digital camera, and mumble some half-ass German asking to have it cleaned, I’ll be able to give all of you a visual tour de force. Or something of the nature.
I never really showed on a map where I am, so let me include one before I get any further. The red dot is Freiburg im Breisgau, a college town of about 210,000 residences (30k students). This is a fairly decent-sized city by German standards.
At this point it’s twenty minutes till 1am, and I need to get some sleep. Adios.
Ain’t it a shame to go fishing on a Sunday, ain’t it a shame…
Posted May 26th, 2005 at 12:23AM
It’s the end of May and I’m putting the finishing touches on my trip abroad. I’ve done the bulk of the necessary planning. Most of the paperwork is done, and the passport is in the mail. It should arrive within the next two or three weeks. But before I go any further, let me write a quick refresher, since this is my first post in the travel blog.
This fall I’ll be heading to Freiburg, Germany, where I’ll be staying the entire semester. It is a specific program through IES, in which I’ll be studying the European Union. Because of where my interests lay — as well as a certain lack of requirements in other fields — I’m tentatively planning to take four politics classes and an intermediate German course. The classes cover a broad range of topics relating to the EU, ranging from the economics of the system, to its relations with the Muslim world.
I am interested in the workings of the European Union, to be sure (I’m not sure how many people would actually make a statement like that, but regardless). To be honest, the primary reason for this trip is to see the world — or at least large parts of Europe. Because when I say that I’ll be staying in Freiburg — it’s a bit misleading. The EU program includes paid trips all across Europe, to the key institutions which make the EU function. This includes Brussells, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, Budapest, Prague, and more. The specific field trips won’t be revealed until I actually arrive in Germany, however it certainly looks to cover most of Northern and Eastern Europe. At this point in time, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going to the more southern states, like Spain or Italy — but of course, when you’re in Europe, these places are only a train ride away.
I’ll be leaving August 30th, and will be returning December 19th. It’ll be only my second time on an airplane, my first time outside of the US for an extended period of time, and a chance to really nail down German. It’ll be a chance to live more independently than I have before, and to take in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a quite markedly different culture.
Ithaca College has large programs in London and Australia, but I’ve always heard that to get “The Full Experience,” you need to live in a country where English is a second language. Germany or Austria were my main avenues, since I’m taking German at college. And studying the European Union ties in nicely with my politics major (the Chair of the Department said that I will be “basically done” after I get back).
At this point in time, I’ve completed 90% of the paperwork required to go. I’m waiting on the passport, and then I’ll be O-K with IES. I had everything in order at school by the time I left. Right now, I’m actually focusing on getting a few recommended immunizations, as well as a cyst removed from my wrist. The surgery is going to be bothersome, requiring a total of three visits to the surgeon, as well as the actual operation which will take at least two or three hours.
But besides a few other loose ends, my main concerns right now are buying plane tickets and a notebook computer. Unfortunately, both of these are turning out to be large expenses. Roundtrip tickets from Albany, NY to Frankfurt, Germany look to be about $1000. And the 12″ Apple Powerbook is $1300. My parents are buying, but I still feel bad about dropping that sort of cash. Ultimately we’ll just have to take the plunge.
A few people who know me might be getting sick and tired about all of this. I’m nearly tired talking about it. But the plan is to set up an independent travel blog while I’m abroad. I’ll be figuring out the technical aspects in the weeks to follow, but eventually I’ll have a pared-down, distinctive section of the site, where I will be posting while I’m in Europe. Expect a lot of pictures. Probably become the main page of the site, since I’m thinking right now that I’ll stow away the rest of the blog during this time. Right now I’m not sure what will become of other parts of the site, like the conga lines I’m advertising, or the forum. I don’t know if I’ll have time to constantly administrate it all. Time will tell, but if people keep the forum nice and active (hint, hint), I’ll be more inclined to keep it afloat. That reminds me, on a last note, I plan to do a slight redesign to the menu bar, for the main sections. This will hopefully make the link to the forum stand out more, potentially adding users faster. That’s the plan, anyways.
Posted April 15th, 2005 at 2:43PM
I got accepted to the European Union program in Freiburg for this fall semester. What a relief! At first they said they hadn’t recieved some paperwork (which I had totally sent in) and said that “demand for the program is high.” This had me a bit worried, but I sent the info in again and today I recieved an e-mail saying I’ve been accepted. If you’re not in the loop, fall 2005 is the only time I’m able to go abroad, since my schedule is otherwise so booked from having two majors. A blurb about the program:
For over 20 years, IES has conducted the European Union Program from its Center in Freiburg, Germany, but the scope of the program also encompasses France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, and Central and Eastern Europe. Situated on the edge of the beautiful Black Forest, Freiburg is a picturesque university and medieval cathedral town with a rich educational heritage. It allows easy access to Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, and Geneva–the centers of influence and development for the European Union.
Understanding the European Union (EU) is key to understanding contemporary Europe. The EU is a unique, treaty-based, institutional framework designed to coordinate the political and economic policies of its member states. With the accession of Eastern European countries, the EU is now a community of close to 500 million citizens and one of the largest markets in the world.
While the EU sets out to become an important international player politically, its status as an economic superpower is indisputable. The symbiotic relationship between the U.S. and the European Union is one that dominates the global economic arena by its sheer size and importance.
I’ll be able to continue my politics studies, and all courses are taught in English. I’ll be able to continue German, and travel all throughout Europe. A model EU simulation, and housing in co-ed German student residences. Check and check!
Finally, on another awesome note, my hat came today. And it is spectacular.
Nirvana — In Bloom
Sell the kids for food
Weather changes moods
Spring is here again
Reproductive glands
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