Restposten

13. Restposten der [odds and ends]: my attempt to catch up with my study abroad experience

Erlanger Sternennacht

I am pretty sure that I am more than one month behind with my blog update. So I will make my update short and sweet. It is nice to reflect on my travels, since now there are only two more weeks left of my IES program. Meaning? Crunch time. Believe me, I have not even procrastinated with my work. I have just been doing a lot. At home, I would never dream of traveling on a weekend during the school year (well, except for tennis, but that doesn’t count). But here, traveling is practically expected. In the middle of May, I took the train up to Erlangen (near Nürnberg) to stay one night with the parents of a friend of the family. I mentioned this friend of the family before, since I visited her in Hannover in April. It was so great to see where she was raised and talk to her parents. Their small house was absolutely adorable, reminding me a lot of my own grandparent’s house. Carola arrived a little later and apparently that night was the Erlanger “Sternennacht,”which is a festival where the shops are open longer, streets are closed off, and bands play at the city square. I went with Carola and some of her friends, so it was fun to hang out with adult working Germans.  The next day, I went to Nürnberg with Carola and a friend of hers and her two kids. We walked around the beautiful city and I tried to picture it at Christmastime, with the popular market at the square. Nürnberg is filled with culture and history and I only got a taste of it. We toured the castle and churches, saw the Albrecht Dürer house, and tried the Nürnberger Bratwurst, but there was still so much to see, like the German National History Museum! Oh, I must go back sometime! But it was an absolutely lovely weekend with lovely company. I am so lucky to know people like Carola in Germany.

Traditional Nürnberger Wurst

Beautiful Nürnberg

I have also done some other trips, such as my IES program’s trip to Strasbourg. Students in my International Relations class had the opportunity to tour the European Union Parliament building in Strasbourg. Inside, we saw the Parliament in action, which was absolutely fascinating. Parliament members were debating a common system for taxing financial transactions in the EU. We were each given headphones, like the Parliament members. Each channel was a different language. Surrounding the “debate chamber,” where offices for each country with translators inside. There was a translator for each country’s language and we could flip through channels to hear them translating live. I was amazed at how fast they could translate. The building itself was beautiful- I could see myself working there. Maybe. We also got to explore the picturesque, quaint inner city of Strasbourg. Although it was beautiful, I felt very strange eating at a restaurant. Everyone spoke French and I was embarrassed that I could only say “Merci” in French. I definitely want to see more of France, but feel that will have to wait until I know the language a little more. Going back to Freiburg, where I could understand the signs and the people talking on the street, made me feel like at home. It is amazing how much at ease I feel now with the German language. But I have much, much more to learn.

Although I am now caught up a little, I still have to write about my parents coming to visit and my weeklong Pentecost break! That will be done as soon as I am farther along with my paper writing!