Blaubeuren

Friends!  I have not abandoned you.  I've merely been overwhelmed with German grammar and other marvelous thing. A few weeks ago we spent our Midterm retreat in Blaubeuren which is a small town about an hour away from Tubingen.  This was a week of intensive grammar learning ending with our midterm exam.  Blaubeuren is a beautiful town and is home to Blautopf which is the source of the river Blau.

 Beneath Blautopf is a series of extensive system of caves.  Only a special group of cave divers are allow access to these caverns.  In order to explore these caverns the local geologist have a miniature submarine named "Speleonaut".  How cute is that?

Blaubeuren is also home to hundreds of snails of all sizes and colors.  I have a entire photo album dedicated to them.  On one memorable evening we were able to rescue a snail from the middle of the road and deliver him safely to a patch of grass.

I should have another post done this weekend concerning my trip to Amsterdam so stay tuned.

Cheers.

Amsterdam Plan

The last weekend in May I will be travelling to Amsterdam with a group of people from my group.  I consider this trip to be a pilgrimage.  Shortly after my arrival in Germany, my friend Laura recommended I read one of her favorite authors, John Green.  Having worked my way through two of his books I too am of the opinion that he is beyond amazing.  He is currently living in Amsterdam and we are determined to meet him.

So far, my list of things to accomplish in Amsterdam consists of…

1. Meet John Green!
2. Eat Pancakes
3. Find something cool at a market

If you have any recommendations please post them in the comment section. 

Things in Germany are going very well at the moment.  Although in class we are learning prepositions and they are the bane of my existence.  

Heidelberg

On Saturday I ventured to Heidelberg with my friends Laura and David.  There are many things to love about Heidelberg.  We hiked in the hills above the city which provided stunning views of the castle and city center.  The weather was beautiful, albeit a bit windy and after the hiked we indulged in some scrumptious ice cream.  Mine was blood orange flavored-delicious.  While the weather and architecture and river in Heidelberg were all excellent the best part of the trip was a piece of playground equipment we happened to find while strolling along the river. 

I have fond memories of playgrounds from my childhood and still spend significant amounts of time on the swing set that still stands in my family’s front yard.  However, we never had anything quite like this…

Please note, in the video you can hear me saying “Oh my God! This is the best thing ever.” And it was.  I imagine that is the closet I will ever come to flying.  Seeing as I am a muggle and therefore am unable to play quidditch-a depressing reality.  On a daily basis I have thought about doing another trip to Heidelberg in order to spend several hours soaring through the air and giggling uncontrollably.  It was magical. 

Easter in Munich

 

When I was planning my trip to Munich for Easter weekend I devised a long list of things to accomplish.  There were several historic sites I wanted to see and museums I planned to visit.  I left Munich after four days with most of the items on my list unaccomplished.  You see, I was busy.  I was busy spending my afternoons in the beer gardens watching the world go by as I melted into my surroundings.  I honestly don't know how Germans accomplish anything in the summer months with all the parks and ice cream and beer gardens they have access to.

I did manage to work in some sight seeing while I was in Munich.  In the main town square there are several church towers that you can climb to the top of and see magnificent views of the city.

I also went on a few walking tours.  One was Munich by night which featured some of the haunted spots in Munich and tales of more grisly bits of history.  I also visited Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site with a tour group.  I plan on discussing this experience in a later post.

I have an exam tomorrow that I must study for so I shall leave you with one of my favorite photos from Munich.

Tour of Tübingen

        I thought you all might enjoy seeing a few photos of the city of Tübingen.  First up is the view from one side of the Neckar Bridge.  This scene is featured on a majority of postcards and tourism literature about Tübingen.

       During the first week we did a group tour of the city which included a hike up to the castle.  Apparently the Archaeology department at the University of Tübingen is located in the castle.  How cool is that!? 

View from the castle

View of the Castle

Marie and I enjoying a German
weekend.

     Tübingen has a fantastic historic city center.  On the weekends a majority of the city's population can be found here sitting at the outdoor cafes or eating ice cream.  This is certainly a lifestyle I could learn to love.

City Center

Rathaus

  

     On Sunday I wandered through the city enjoying all of the outdoor markets and I happened to come across a comicbook store.  I was all atwitter with nerdy excitement.  They had many wonderful things including the Sandman graphic novels in German.  I haven't decided if I'm going splurge and buy them all or just my favorite one.  I did pick up a copy of Kick Ass in German and have been able to read some it which was very exciting.

   

Fantasy Empire

Tübingen is a lovely little city.  I wish I was going to be here forever so I could study archaeology in the castle and eat ice cream by the river on the weekends.  Then again, there's always grad school.

I will leave you with a somewhat artistic shot that I took while at dinner on Friday night.  I like to think that it is Harry Potter-esque.   

All beginnings are hard...

I spent a majority of my first week in Germany in a start of constant fear.  Everything was new and terrible and wonderful and most worrying of all - in German!  I shocked myself with realization that not only was everything in German but I didn't speak German.  And to make it even better I had signed up to live here for the next three months.  What an excellent idea that was!  I vaguely remember unpacking my suitcase and talking to myself the entire time about how much of a fool I was.  

Now that I'm in the midst of week three it all seems a bit silly but in the moment I was terrified.  I would do ridiculous things such as sneaking around the dorm hall trying to avoid interacting with my German floormates.  The lack of internet access made it even worse.  Complaining about a lack of internet access may seem absurd but it was incredibly isolating and nerve racking.  

There is a German proverb; All beginnings are hard.  I clung to this proverb throughout that first week.  In this midst of my panic I felt that the only thing that would be worse than being here would not being here.  This beginning has been the hardest one I've encountered in my lifetime but I'm certain that it will be infinitely more rewarding than those which were easy.  This experience will be filled with good madness. 

    

I will leave you tonight with another quote that I've been thinking about lately.  These words were a comfort to me as struggled through that first week. 

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default."

-J.K. Rowling

England in the Spring

Hello friends and family.  I apologize for the delay.  I have been without internet for my first two weeks in Tübingen.  While I'm in Germany I hope to do at least one blog posting a week.  I'll start by catching you up on what I've been doing the past few weeks.  I was lucky enough to spend my spring break in England before coming to Germany.  I had a glorious time there and it was a fantastic way to spend the weeks leading up to this program.  Spring arrived in England shortly before I did and it was a beautiful sight with sunshine and flowers and green grass.  I was fortunate enough to have various distant relatives put me up for a few nights in various locations throughout the country.

Thelma and I in Green Park

I started off by staying with Thelma in London.  I had a marvelous time with her touring the city on rented bicycles and having curry on Brick Lane.  We visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and had a tea in their fancy cafe.

Cambridge

That weekend I set off the Cambridge to visit Neil.  I spend a significant amount of time daydreaming about attending a university like Cambridge and seeing the actual town was wonderful.  There happened to be some graduations going on that weekend so I was able to see some the scholars up close.  That afternoon we watched a soccer match in a pub.  While I'm not a big sports fan I did find watching everyone in the pub get all riled up about the game highly entertaining.  After the soccer match, we had these incredibly rich desserts that kept us full well into the next day.

On Sunday Neil and I travelled to the little city of Ely to visit the Cathedral. I also experienced my first Sunday Roast in Ely which is a delicious meal of roast beef and vegetables smothered in gravy.  While wandering around Ely we happened upon a bookstore that was absolutely perfect.  It was everything a bookstore should be with creaky floorboards, three stories and floor to ceiling bookshelves that were full to capacity.  I could easily spend days on end there and be a very happy nerd.
Following my weekend in Cambridge I returned to London for a two days before setting off for Gloucester.  During that time I was taken on a motorbike ride through London thanks to Thelma's fiance Pete.  Now, that motorbike ride is the most thrilling thing I have ever experienced.  I get all giddy just thinking about it.  One day I will have a motorbike of my own and it will be glorious.

View from tower at Warwick Castle

I spent several days in Gloucester with David, Claire, and Emily.  It was lovely to be back on Odessa Farm in the springtime with all the lambs and calves running about.  David took me to Warwick Castle which was very cool.  My favorite parts were walking along the ramparts and the amazing birds of prey show we saw.

Cider bottle collection

Claire treated me to a tour of a local cider company which was very fun and we got to sample all of the different ciders they make after the tour finished.
Another highlight was the rugby match that Emily, David and I attended on Saturday.  As I've mentioned before I am not a big sports fan but I could learn to love rugby.  It"s fantastically violent and highly entertaining.

This trip to England has motivated to me to seriously consider spending a significant about of time in the UK.  I've started researching Masters programs and plan on applying to several of them.  It would require less time and money than a masters program in the US and I would get to spend at least a year in the UK.  I like this idea.
I want to close by saying how thankful I am to the Goddard family members who showed me such kindness and hospitality during my stay.  I enjoyed the time we spent together and I look forward to seeing more of you all in the future.  If any of you are interested in visiting me while I'm in Tübingen you are welcome anytime.

Below are a few additional photos for your viewing pleasure.

Me at the Tythe Barn

Ely Cathedral

Birds of Prey show at Warwick Castle 

Teweksbury Abby

Gloucester Cathedral