Verwaltung

15. Verwaltung die [administration]: where a foreign student can really get a good “behind the scenes” look at his/her visiting country; a place where one can work in a beautiful, usually historic Rathaus (city hall); a Petri dish of dozens of unusual German dialects; so, in other words, my internship.

It is officially my fourth week of doing my Praktikum (internship) at the Freiburger Rathaus. By the way, I am not going to translate Rathaus, because a) it is such a beautiful German word, and b) anyone visiting Germany should know the word Rathaus because it’s always the most prominent building (besides the church) in a German city. The internship is full time, which means that I am usually working 9-5 Monday through Friday, and I am proud to say I have put in 55 hours at the Rathaus so far. I must confess that being inside all day, sitting at a desk, has been quite an adjustment, but it is totally worth it. If there is one bit of advice I could give to a study abroad student it would be- DO AN INTERNSHIP! I have met so many people within the department and gained a perspective that an ordinary study abroad student or tourist wouldn’t normally receive. For about seven hours everyday, I am guaranteed to improve my German by reading, communicating and listening. And to describe everything I have learned would take a few days.

One of the most common stereotypes of Germans is their love and obsession for structure and organization and I actually learned that is true. As I described in an earlier blog, the Freiburg Rathaus has five departments (Dezernate). The heads of each department are the mayors. Yes, that is plural. There is the Oberbürgermeister, or the Lord Mayor, who runs the entire Rathaus and Department 1. My department, Dezernat II, has a total of seven sections, such as the “Office for School and Education,” “Office for Environmental Protection,” and where I am interning “Office for Children, Youth, and Family.” Environment and education seem like different things for one department, but I quickly learned how closely both relate to one another. Freiburg is one of the leading cities in the world for environmental sustainability and renewable energy. One of the main reasons for this success is the Freiburg community’s awareness and the fact that most citizens are environmentally conscious. It is a rarity to not find houses with solar panels and brightly colored flags that boldly state “Atomkraft? Nein Danke (nuclear energy? No thanks).” Thus, the education of the environmental awareness is extremely important in Freiburg. Again, I am interning for the Office for Children, Youth, and Family.” Within this office there are six divisions, from a Kindergarten division to social worker and within each division there are more subject areas. Let me reassure you, the first day I worked here, I got a chart for the German Federal Government, the Baden-Württemberg German Government (the “state” Freiburg is in), the structure of a city government, the Freiburg city council, and my department. Whew!

My “advisor,” or the person who I am directly interning for, works directly for the Bürgermeisterin (major), doing mostly administrative work. The main point of this internship is to learn more about the German government, specifically the local city government.  By interning at the Rathaus, I have the honor of getting to see how Freiburg really ticks. My advisor is the nicest person in the world, and is completely patient and understanding. I have my own office, right next to his, with a connecting door that is always open. Whenever he has time, we always talk and discuss the differences between Germany and the US, like the cultures, government, education, etc. The more time I spend in the Rathaus, the more I can appreciate and understand the German education and culture.

At around 7:30am my alarm goes off and I groggily roll out of bed. After a refreshing shower and a nice bowl of the delicious German Müsli combined with German quark and Johannisbeeren, I put on the business/business casual clothes I laid out last night. At around 8:30 I walk into the inner city, breathing in the fresh Black Forest air. If I am running a little late or if it’s raining, I would simply take the streetcar. Shortly before 9, I arrive at the Rathaus. The most “intense” assignment that I had was to write two letters for the Bürgermeisterin. Part of the mayor’s job is to visit families that are struggling (single parent, disabled children, etc.).  Although the letters were rather short, writing them in German with a friendly, yet super formal style was something I have never done before. My advisor patiently helped me perfect each letter and both were passed to the Bürgermeisterin, which she later signed and sent to the families. If there’s a meeting, I am usually invited to sit in on them. I sat in on a large meeting, for example, where over thirty representatives from several Youth Programs in Freiburg got together and talked with the Bürgermeisterin of how they can get the youth more involved with their community. 

Last week, I rode my bike with the Bürgermeisterin and my advisor to meet the social worker of a district in Freiburg. The social worker escorted us around the district, describing the strengths and weaknesses that district has. There was then a “round table” where we met representatives of the Kindergarten, elementary school, etc. of that district. The knowledge I gained of the living conditions, school system, integration, and what the city provides was unbelievable. I don’t know about the other departments or city halls in Germany, but I can really tell that this department really cares for its constituents. The workers look to really improve the living conditions and education of the Freiburg community.

A few weeks ago I read a prominent newspaper in Germany. The entire newspaper. People say that when you are learning a language, at some point, something just clicks and everything becomes so much easier for you. Well, that happened when I finished reading that newspaper and watching German movies, reading in German, living in Germany, everything became so natural. And why is it that I am leaving in just a week???? 

Photos come from Freiburg website.

Unwetter

14. Unwetter das [stormy weather]: a traveler’s enemy, especially when using Deutsche Bahn; the weather that has hampered southern Germany for months now, despite being unwelcomed.

The weather here has been so disappointing for pretty much the past three or four months. Freiburg boasts of being the “sunniest city” in all of Germany. In theory, yes, Freiburg is. That’s why this region makes the most dangerously delicious wine, especially their white Rieslings. But this year, God must be very angry at something, because to have a completely sunny, hot day seems like a delicacy here. It seems like the days that I have a little more free time, the weather does not celebrate with me, but instead chooses to rain and be cold. I am still just as pasty white as I was in the winter and feel as if I blend into the plain, white walls in my student dorm.

Inside the model of the Hindenburg airship

Despite the dreary, United-Kingdom-like weather (the top reason why I would never choose to study in the UK), I decided to make myself happy by treating myself to a first class ticket to travel to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, which borders Germany and Switzerland last Saturday. Friedrichshafen claims to be a harbor town with a Mediterranean flair, but all I cared about was the fact that this town had the Zeppelin Airship Museum. My freshman year in college, I wrote an elaborate research paper on the Zeppelin Company, with a focus on how the Hindenburg disaster could have been prevented, had the company not flourished during the Nazi time period.  The paper was a success and I was honored to be selected to present my work at a Symposium. I have decided to integrate this topic into a senior thesis paper, so going to the town where the airships originated excited me greatly.

Models of airship designs

Anyway, I was estatic that I finally finished and survived my week of hell (finals week) and then also the first full week of my full-time internship at the city hall, so I bought that first-class ticket and enjoyed a relaxing, quiet, scenic trip to Friedrichshafen.  And please note that this was my trip absolutely alone. I would be traveling on my own, touring a city alone, and coming back alone, which made the trip all the more exciting. I finally arrived at the harbor part of Friedrichshafen around noon and grabbed a quick coffee and pretzel at a cheap bakery by the harbor and museum. I gave myself fifteen minutes to just relax and take in the beautiful Bodensee, before I started my tour of the museum.

I didn’t know what to expect with the Zeppelin Museum, but I think that staying there for five hours explains quite enough. Finally, I was united with my Zeppelin Airship Company. For hours and hours, I had closely studied newspaper articles, pictures, correspondence papers, and books on the company, and I just gobbled up as much information the museum provided.  With my camera, note book, and audio guide in check, I was ready to start my adventure. The first part of the museum was very visual. They recreated a life-size model of the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship, so you could get a feel for the huge size and what it was like to be a passenger. I climbed up the ladder to enter the airship and toured the bathroom, dining hall, reading room, and cabins. After reading so much about it, it was so cool to actually go inside the Hindenburg. The rest of the museum explained the technical process of creating the airship and gave airship history. I was there for over five hours, soaking up all of the information and I was like a little kid in a candy store at the museum’s gift shop. For the remainder of the afternoon, I wandered through the city and had the most delicious dinner at an Italian Restaurant right by the Bodensee. At 7:00 I headed to the train station, completely oblivious to what was to come…

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Friedrichshafen

About a half hour in, the adventure began. Who thought that getting home on a train was more of an adventure than touring a city for the first time alone!? I was the only person in first class, besides a man who worked for Deutsche Bahn. I had an amazing view of the Bodensee and absorbed the beautiful view of storm clouds ahead. It was an eerie navy  blue color with a green tint and there were frequent flashes of lightning. It looked magnificent off the reflection on the Bodensee. But then we got into the middle of the storm. The train slowed down as the tracks directly paralleled the Bodensee. The flashes of lightning doubled and the strong winds shook the train cars. Thuds and clinking of tree branches and leaves became nonstop against the windows and roofs. And then we came to a complete stop. Outside my window were the harsh waves crashing nearly against the tracks. The wind’s pace quickened along with the thunder and rain and debris from the trees pelted against the train car. The train just sat there helplessly relying on mother nature to get her anger out of her system. The conductor finally went on the loud speaker and said that because of the storm, the train could no longer continue going forward. I don’t know how fast or how slow the time went by, maybe an hour, but then the train backtracked to a small train station at Überling and everyone got out to get fresh air. The storm passed, but it was significantly cooler. The sweat from the ninety degree day dried on my skin and as time went by, I got colder and colder. The Deutsche Bahn man was nice and tried to help out, but no one knew what was going on. We assumed that the train would soon go on. People started to get worried and upset and out came the cell phones. Oh, how I wish I had my smart phone from the US!

There were about 70 passengers in the train. The Deutsche Bahn man said that the train will go back to Friedrichshafen empty and we were to wait for a bus. A man recognized my accent and spoke a broken English to me. I will call him “Bob,” because I never got his name and he plays an important role for the rest of my adventure. We quickly transferred back to speaking German, but Bob said that he was also going toward Basel and the Freiburg area. The Deutsche Bahn man offered for me to stay at his place, which was nice, but you never know, right? I then stuck around Bob and called a friend back in Freiburg to tell her what was up. I then called Carola, a friend of the family who I visited twice while being here to ask her for advice and she said to just find a group and constantly ask for updates from Deutsche Bahn workers and that’s exactly what I did. A train came later on, which everyone took. We had no idea really where and what to do after that, but it took us about a half an hour further west, which was good. I sat down next to Bob, which was a comfort, but still had the self-alerts on inside me. Once we reached Radolfzell, I then joined allegiances with a nice looking young man who was also going to Basel Bad. I will call him Charlie, just because.

The 70 of us passengers (about 25 being a middle school class) were then stuck at the outdoor station in Radolfzell, where ever that is and the time clicked by. The school group called the police to get involved, so they came and helped calm everyone down.

Stormy weather outside my window

It was amazing, however, that NOTHING was organized for us. No extra train or bus or boat or airship, whatever. That, I learned, is a major fault of the German Deutsche Bahn system. They have a structure and cannot break it up. This means disorganization and no help. I am so glad that my German is good now and that I befriended Bob and Charlie.

We then went inside another random train for another half hour to Singen. There we were once again stuck in the middle of no where. No trains went to Basel, although the majority of people needed to get there. I tried to find other Freiburg people, but no luck. My new plan was to just reach Basel and spend the night there and then leave Sunday afternoon for Freiburg. We waited and waited. And waited. And thought that maybe a bus was going to pick us up, so we all went to the bus stop, right next to the train station. After about a half hour, we gave up hope for a bus, although a number of empty buses and trains passed by us, almost mocking us. Stupid, stupid system…

I was still too cold and too tired to panic or be scared. Then we discovered a taxi service next to the bus stop. The school teachers called the taxis for their students, with the help of the Singen police. Slowly, the mass of middle school students decreased, along with the noise. Bob called a taxi for us and around 1am, we finally got into one. Charlie was in the front and I was in the back with Bob and another random woman who also needed to get to Basel. The woman offered for me to stay with her in Basel, which was so nice, but I denied. They were hard to sometimes understand with their various dialects, but I managed just fine. Along the way, another storm brewed and we at times had ice rain and lightning. It felt like the movie “The Day After Tomorrow.” We figured we would get to Basel around 2:30am, so my hotel plan had to be thrown out. The earliest train that went from Basel to Freiburg was at 5am, so my new plan was to just wait for that train. The taxi driver dropped us off at Basel Bad finally around 2:30am.

Charlie went to his parked car and drove home to Lörrach, leaving Bob and myself alone. I was still guarded, but my instincts told me I could trust him. We had to pee really, really bad and that was another adventure. Inside the Basel Bad train station, we discovered the bathrooms were closed from 12-4:30am. Signs led us to the tram station and discovered that they were out of order. Frantically, we crossed the street to McDonalds. Although they were closed, a man was inside and he tried to get us inside, but the door was stuck. Of course.  We walked (more like power walked) a few more blocks and found a ritzy hotel. The bathrooms by the front desk were of course also out of order, but the kind man at the desk led us to bathrooms on the 7^th floor. It was the longest trip to the seventh floor of my life.

After we, ahem, relieved ourselves, we walked back to the train station and sat inside and waited for two hours until our trains arrived. I paced in the huge Jugendstil room to stay awake, just until the big hand reached the 40 (4:40, that is). Then, I sluggishly trudged to Gleis 4 and saw two young Deutsche Bahn workers ouside the ICE train, smoking their last cigarette with their coffee-to-go in hand. I was actually thankful to look exhausted and probably dirty too, just to prove my exhausting day. I explained my situation, and begged them to let me take the ICE train back to Freiburg. With the ICE train, there would be no stops, meaning it would be a short trip home. Theoretically, my ticket expired, so if I just showed my ticket in the train, it wouldn’t be valid. But those two nice workers were understanding and nudged me into the nearest car door. Relieved and exhausted, I collapsed into the nearest seat and fought my droopy eyelids for about a half hour, until I reached Freiburg.

I never thought that I would get the know the Basel Bad train station that well. And notice the time...

Freiburg. Never had I been so happy to climb into my hard, bed-frame-less bed. It was already light outside, but I finally closed the blinds and my eyelids at 6am- only 8 hours longer than I thought.

So just to clarify. My train was supposed to arrive in Freiburg at 10pm on Saturday. I got home at 5:30am the next morning.

I think I will watch the movie from my childhood “Homeward Bound,” so I can sympathize with the poor animals.

Frust

14. Frust der [frustration]: although Germany is rather perfect, there are a few things that are beginning to bother me; my chance to get a few things off my chest.

So yeah, it's impossible to look at the beautiful Germany countryside and cities and think that some things actually frustrate me?! Well, sorry to say, but there are a few things. I will list the things that stick out at the moment...

Don't let them deceive you!!

1. The Children
This one might be a shocker, because I absolutely love kids. That has changed. Don't get me wrong. Small children talking in high-pitched German and their cute little outfits are adorable, but I am no longer fooled. In Freiburg, there are children literally EVERYWHERE. In the streetcar, on the sidewalks, in stores, etc. And this morning in the streetcar, I couldn't get into one because I counted FOUR strollers right by the door! And they scream and whine ALL THE TIME...in church, during a tennis match, during a lecture (yeah, I sat in an Uni class and next to me a girl was holding her baby), wherever. And the thing that makes it worse, is that instead of the mothers trying to shush their children, they just smile and tweek those chubby cheeks! And I am not the only one who has noticed this. Fellow American students and other Germans have also remarked about this whole baby-taking-over-the-whole-world thing.

2. Public sports

Now I cannot speak for all of Germany, because as far as I have seen, I am not a big fan of the public sports thing. I think I know why hiking, biking, and running are so popular in Freiburg. To join a gym, have a personal trainer, or belong to a sports club, one must pay through the nose. My tennis club isn't that cheap. You won't find public tennis or basketball courts in Germany, or very seldom. Nothing is public, you have to pay for everything. Now this is only as far as I have seen, so I have to be careful how much I criticize, but since there's nothing equivalent to high school and NCAA sports in Germany, I must say I am very lucky to be playing tennis in college back in the states. Oh, and wearing shorts here seems like a scandal. My friends and I have noticed that no one wears shorts when running, but instead long black tights. And I thought that here showing some leg was okay. They have nude beaches!

3. The Apotheke (Pharmacy)

Sometimes I feel like the German version of the Pharmacy section of Walgreens is a little behind the times. But I really love how they try to provide the most natural ways to cure illnesses. But for a sports injury not so much. I needed to get pain medication for my hand and I couldn't find meds anywhere. In the US, you can find Advil or whatever in basically every store, but here I discovered you have to ask a pharmacist for Ibuprofen and explain why you need it. The pharmacist I asked gave me a box that had ten measly tablets inside. Humph. Oh, and pre-wrap? Non-existant. Athletic tape? You have to ask the pharmacist again for that.





4. Cafes
Now, before I vent on this one, let me first reassure everyone that I am in love with cafes here. I love the atmosphere, the great selection of breads, cakes, coffees, etc. But I don't like the fact that a "to go" cup of coffee is cheaper than one "for here." I find it unethical that you have to pay more for a Milchkaffee when I want to sit down and enjoy it (although it does make sense too). And yesterday, I had about 45 minutes before my class started, so I bought a sandwich and "coffee for here" and settled down in a comfy chair in the corner of the Cafe. After about a half hour a lady who worked in the cafe, "kindly" asked me to leave, because I was done drinking my coffee and was taking away a chair from other customers.  Now not all cafes are like this. In fact, one thing I love about Germany is the number of people who sit outside cafes and relax, purely relax and enjoy their meals and coffee. But that particular cafe will no longer get my business and also confirms the fact that there is barely anything "free" or public in Germany.

5. Water and bathrooms
One of the most important things we humans can do for our bodies is to drink water. Well restaurants here deprive us of that right. Most restaurants here make you buy water and they don't come with ice! And if you get water, you usually get puny glasses a little bigger than a shot glass. And then you have to pay for refills! So let's say that I am thirsty and pay for a refill, well that means that I have to go to the bathroom. Once you're out of the restaurant and roaming through town, finding a bathroom is very difficult, especially in a new town. You either have to buy something to use a restaurant's bathroom or pay 90 cents for the one public bathroom. No fair, in my opinion.



5. Calories

I love food. Especially German food. Spätzle, noodles, Schnitzel, wine, beer, cheese, chocolate, Haribo, etc. And they all have oh so many calories. The Freshman 15 is nothing compared to the Study Abroad-I-Don't-Want-To-Know-How-Much. So starting this week, I have decided to go healthy. I have become not a German, but a true Freiburger. You see, Freiburg is really special. They are very environmentally conscious and love their organic foods. There's a supermarket chain "Alnatura" where I am now officially going grocery shopping. Expensive, yes, but all Bio, or organic products. Since the prices are a little higher, I am forced to make more decisions of what I buy and also I buy less. I already feel so much healthier and have so much more energy!



That is all for now. Please notice how small this list is. If I were to make a list of things I love about Germany, I think that Blogspot would run out of memory space ;)

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! 

Herausforderung

12. Herausforderung die (challenge): realizing you over-involved yourself while studying abroad and trying to find a solution to get everything done

Thanks to overdoing it, I have been stuck inside my room for the past few days trying to catch up on work. Five research papers, daily readings, and three final exams is a little too much for me and I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life. The thing that really stinks is that my home University does not allow me to pass/fail the classes I take here, something that the majority of the other students are allowed to do. And most students are also taking easier, less demanding classes than me, and they are also not doing as much as I am outside the classroom. So yes, I am overwhelmed with work, when my roommate is traveling in Paris and friends are going out. Boohoo.

And the noise outside my window does not make matters any better. Tonight, Germany played against Portugal. Statistics showed Portugal at an advantage, but around 10:45 tonight, Germany shook (or at least, outside my room). Without even walking toward my window, I heard people screaming and chanting “Deutschland,” car horns going absolutely wild, fireworks exploding, and that super crazy vuvuzela horn piercing the air. I didn’t need to turn on the tv to see what happened, I knew that Germany defeated Portugal 1-0! Unbelievable.

Germany definitely met their challenge and beat Portugal. Now I have my own challenge that I must defeat- getting everything done.

Well, back to work. On Wednesday, Germany plays the Netherlands, so I will definitely take time off to watch that. Observing Germans watching Football is more educational than writing papers anyways…right?

Gleichgewicht

Overlooking Heidelberg along the Philosophenweg

11. Gleichgewicht das [Balance]: the most hated, but most important word for any study abroad student; the act of figuring out how much time to put into studying, writing papers, traveling, playing tennis, doing an internship, meeting Germans, sleeping and eating, and going out with friends….ugh…

I cannot hide the fact that these past few weeks have been a slight struggle for me. The question of “why am I really here” has been put on repeat in my mind as I lay in bed each night. Where is my classroom? Am I expected to just learn and grow as a student in the traditional classroom? Will taking my courses be enough to get the true “study abroad student” experience? Am I being a bad student, since I am doing more during the week and weekends than I normally do? Don’t get me wrong, I am still dedicating sufficient time to do my real homework and am reaching deadlines, but I am seriously over-involved in things other than my traditional studies. Through tennis, having a sweet German tandem partner, traveling on weekends, and making new friends, I am definitely busy and am growing so much as a person and student. As I have said in past blog posts (but I keep on needing to remind myself), I am learning so many life-essential lessons outside of the traditional classroom and my German language abilities are put to the test every minute in the “real world.” But my biggest problem here is finding the right balance of, what I will call, the “traditional” and “study abroad” classroom.”

This post will update my progress in the “study abroad” classroom. Believe me, I have had so much fun here, but even trying to go to Apotheke (pharmacy) and ask for Ibuprofen was challenging. I had to look up words like inflammation, carpal tunnel, injury, etc. before I went there! But don’t worry, I passed that test- I was able to walk out of the Apotheke with my much needed medication. More on the reasons why to come…

In Basel on my birthday

To start, I celebrated my 21^st birthday in the end of April. While I was preparing to go to Germany, I often felt sad thinking that I would miss my  21^st birthday with friends and family. Although it would have been wonderful to have had them with me, I must say that turning 21 in Germany, even though I was already legal, was just fine. In fact, I can proudly say that I had a pretty classy 21^st birthday.  That weekend, I first went to Heidelberg with a friend from the program. We took the train early Saturday morning and spent the entire day touring the city. Heidelberg is an absolutely charming and romantic city, filled with history and culture. We climbed up to the famous castle and took our time in the Apotheke Museum, learning about Germany’s influence of the development of chemistry and medicine. We then sat outside and ate delicious Italian pizza, truly savoring each bite and our surroundings. The Philosopher’s Walk definitely burned the calories we ate. We walked across over to the famous Heidelberg bridge and then climbed up to a path called the Philosopher’s Walk. Fragrant lilacs and grape vines surrounded us and to our right was always a fantastic view of the beautiful Innenstadt of Heidelberg. I can see why famous philosophers walked here!

My actual birthday, Sunday, took place in Basel, Switzerland. I met a long time friend there, who lives in Switzerland. It was such a lovely reunion, especially since it was the first time I spent with her in her home country. I couldn’t help but smile, whenever I heard her use the “distinguished” Swiss-German dialect. We went to the art museum and toured through the special Renior exhibit, which was absolutely fantastic. We then walked through the streets of the beautiful Basel. Since it was Sunday, all of the shops where closed, so I loved the more relaxed mood of the town. I was also not tempted to then go shopping, which is always a good thing. We talked for hours at yet another Italian restaurant, overlooking the Rhine River. At the train station, we split a small bottle of champagne, celebrating my birthday and we sadly had to then say farewell. I hope to visit her in Zürich soon, though! Oh, and fun fact. Roger Federer is from Basel, which makes me love Basel even more.

Staufen

Königsbourg in Alsace, France

My course on the Middle Ages also recently went on a day-long field trip, traveling to sites that still had traces to Medieval Europe. We saw ruins of once majestic fortresses in southern Baden-Württemberg, a castle and medieval town in the Elsass region of France. At the end of the day, we went to Staufen, a small town near Freiburg. This is where the legendary Dr. Faustus supposedly died, as famously noted in Goethe’s Faust. To celebrate the best fieldtrip of our entire lives, we had a wine tasting at a small winery in Staufen. To study the Middle Ages in a classroom and in textbooks is fascinating, but to actually see the sites reminded me why studying in Germany was such a good idea.

Last weekend, I hiked in the Schwarzwald with a few friends. We chose an area near Freiburg called Schönberg, which was absolutely breathtaking (because of it’s beauty AND steep hills). Of course, we chose to go hiking on the hottest day yet, 90 degrees to be exact, but I absolutely loved it. We hiked through valleys filled with wildflowers and woods that had that fresh, earthy smell. After three hours, we reached our destination to have a lunch break: at the ruins of the Schneeburg, a former small fortress. My friends and I took out our homemade sandwiches, sat by a window overlooking the Kaiserstuhl mountains, and to our right we could see Freiburg, off in the distance. I just loved the atmosphere and definitely got a good butt and leg workout from all of the climbing. No wonder why Germans can eat so much cheese, wurst, and chocolate! I better go hiking more often...

Tennis on clay continues to get better, although my patience with learning the new surface is beginning to run out. But being able to interact with girls my own age is really nice, and I am really testing my German language abilities with them. My tennis club has three women’s tennis teams. The first has players from all over the world, meaning they are very, very good. The second has current and former successful NCAA Division I players, meaning that they are very good also. The third also has very strong players (Division III level, I would say). I am right in between team two and three, so I practice with both of them. On Sundays, we have matches. My first match was in the small town Emmeldingen, about 45 minutes north of Freiburg. The girls on my team are all so sweet and I just love being in a tennis atmosphere. The format is just like college tennis at home: 6 singles matches, 3 doubles matches. I lost singles, but dominated in doubles. Afterwards, we all showered and the home team made us a meal. Beer was of course served. The next week, I injured my hand. The doctor says from overuse, carpal tunnel, so it’s sadly dampening my determination to improve my skills on clay. I tried to play this past weekend with my team in Lörrach, but my stupid hand got in the way. It was probably a blessing in disguise, since I have to rest it now and wear an annoying brace, giving me more time to write two research papers! Which I should go back to doing…

Ausländerin

10. Ausländerin die [foreigner]: any person knows that German natives say this word with their stare and then look you up and down; someone who doesn’t dress “German” or speaks too loudly with a strange accent; or someone who just looks lost in the classroom or on the street.

Yep, I have definitely realized that I am a foreigner here in Germany, but to say that I have accepted the fact that I am is another question. Sometimes I just want to fit in and when I order a large, soft pretzel at the Bäckerei (in German, mind you), I want the Bäcker to say “danke,” not “thank you.” Or if I am struggling with “tennis talk” in German, I don’t want a teammate to reply in German and then say the score in English, as if that is the problem. But the part where I felt like a foreigner the most was in my new University class.  Thanks to this fascinating, yet terrifying “Uni” class, these past few weeks have been crazy, crazy, crazy.

In addition to my three IES program courses, I challenged myself in taking a class at the actual University of Freiburg, Albert-Ludwigs-Üniversität, which is one of Germany’s top universities.  Some notable professors include Dr. Johann Maier von Eck (theologian, known for defending Catholicism during the Reformation), Hans Krebs (the founder of the Krebs Cycle), Max Weber (the well-known philosopher and sociologist), and Konrad Adenauer (former Chancellor of Germany). I definitely felt honored to learn in an institution where such notable people contributed to the University’s success. “Das Deutsche Kaiserreich” course first met on the second Wednesday after Easter in a small, stuffy room. Thankfully, the first day was just an introduction to the class, so I understood everything and even participated in class.  The “foreigner” feeling came the following Monday, where the class met for the “Tutorat,” or rather tutorial where we discuss the class with a tutor (like a TA). It was just me, and the German University students. I was already friendly with many of them and could practically fluently engage in normal conversation with them, so I thought the Tutorat would be fine, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong! The majority of the German students in my class were first year students, even though they were interestingly my age. I soon found out that the Tutorat was teaching the students how to write and study history, with a focus on the historiography of the German Kaiserreich period. All this I learned in the past three years at Lawrence, so I felt way above the students, except for one very significant problem: talking history in German!! What the tutor and students discussed in class were things that I already knew, but it was so hard to keep up with them when they spoke so fast. I realized that there is a major difference of “regular German” and “academic German.” Instead of panicking, I decided to just hide and try to get everything I could from the class (which was hard to accept because I am usually the student who always participates). But even that tactic didn’t work, because all of sudden we were divided in groups and given sheets of paper with sentences that we were supposed to discuss and then present our conclusions as a group. As I was trying to remember what “Quellen” meant, my group stood up and handed me a sheet of paper and told me that I should present the meaning of the sentence. I stood in front of thirty students, all eyes on me, and I felt like the stupidest person alive, as I stared at the sentence, that I, to this day, have no idea what it meant. I tried to be funny and simply said in German that I didn’t understand what the sentence meant, not because I am dumb, but because I am a foreigner, so I asked if anyone could explain the meaning to me. Although the class laughed, I felt eyes on me throughout the rest of class and all the way to the streetcar. But the funny thing is that I was never scared or nervous, I remained calm and I am now even more determined to improve my German, especially my academic German.

Another time where I feel like a foreigner the most is when I play tennis. I have played tennis for practically my entire life and I have been a tennis instructor for six years now, so I think that I can say that I know tennis. Well, I don’t feel that way when I am here. Don’t get me wrong, I am having such a great time playing tennis in Germany, but after Easter, we are now playing outside on clay. Finally I get to play outside, but this is my first time really on clay, so I am having a really hard time adjusting to the new surface. Every time I move, I feel like I am going to fall and since I can’t slide yet, I have to awkwardly run to the ball, losing my timing completely. So basically, my game is pretty crappy right now. And I can now easily talk to my teammates about things outside of tennis, but what super frustrates me, is that I cannot talk tennis with them. It will definitely take a lot of patience when I play tennis and also when I want to talk tennis.

I realize now that as a foreigner, I need to get rid of my ego and realize that I cannot look like the smartest person in the world here, because I am not. I keep on trying to prove that just because I am a foreigner, I am not dumb, I know more things academically and in tennis in my own country. I have this new appreciation for foreign students at my home university and admire their bravery for studying there, but also for immigrants throughout history. Throughout history people have immigrated with absolutely no understanding of their new country’s language and culture. In the native’s eyes, they must have looked foolish and stupid. I can how understand the foreigner’s frustration of proving themselves that they do have skills.

So although these past few weeks have been a little difficult, I still feel fortunate to have been put in situations where I feel uncomfortable, because, every time, I feel like I am learning so much as a student and growing as a person.

My German roommates surprised me with a Johannisbeerenkuchen on my birthday!
 More on my birthday and other adventures later :)