So yesterday's post was a little on the down side. Sadly today it is actually raining - also depressing after all the beautiful sunshine we have had! Also I have a really sore throat but am unsure what soothers (or something like that) are called here. So will have to figure that out soon.
But on a side note to yesterday, I realised I did do some interesting things I didn't mention. Namely, I went to a 'food court' called Markt Halle for lunch. It was really cool; kinda like a food court, but more like the ones at say the Bus Depot Markets in Canberra or the Victoria Markets in Melbourne - more like permanent stalls as opposed to actual shops. Had foods from all different nationalities, but I ended up getting Chinese lol.
Also went to a bar last night that is in a building that used to be a morgue. It was all cement and underground. Basically creepy but cool, and full of spirits. (See what I did there... :P). Had a drink that was Malibu, cherry and orange - strange but good. Also met some guys from America and France - awkwardly went up to them to ask where they were from, cos we could hear they were speaking English, which of course made us curious! But music was too loud to hear their accents. Convinced Jenna to ask them as it was her last night here so she would definitely never see them again :P They were nice though - all living in Freiburg, and knew each other from being in the same rugby union team. Then had an early night, taking the tram and walking in the rain.
And today I bought some delicious looking jams from the markets to take with me to London. Though I didn't actually get mirabella jam, which I'll have to do before I leave. But got schwarze Johannesbeeren, pfirsch (peach) and aprikose, which I could easily get at home but it looked so delicious I couldn't help myself! Got it at the Munsterplatz markets, immediately following our short city tour we did in the second half of class this morning. That was also kinda good - the teacher had little palm cards she'd prepared with info she had researched, and maps of Freiburg in the 12-1300s, it was really cute. It was kind of raining on us, but it was much better than sitting bored in the classroom!
Anyway, finishing off my last hours in the language lab, then planning to find some soothers and go home. Might meet some friends for dinner, but otherwise no big plans for this evening - its definitely a snuggle in bed with a movie kinda evening I think!
Friday 24 August 2012
Thursday 23 August 2012
Drawing closer to the end
Well, its been a quiet past few days. Haven't done anything as exciting as what I talked about in my last post, mostly just class and wandering around Freiburg. The weather has begun to change around a lot - as the course is coming to an end so is the nice weather it would seem. Its still sunny a lot of the time, but have had a few cloudy days and also periods of uncomfortable humidity too.
Today has been a not so good day. Had a test AND a speech today in class - two things which I (and most other students) hate. So had a late night preparing for them both. But worst of all, my friend Jenna is having to leave early and head back home tomorrow, due to family troubles :( This of course put a dampener on an already not so great day. So will be going out for dinner tonight to farewell her.
Other than this, am re-thinking the trip to Switzerland this weekend, as it is forecast to be cloudy and stormy all weekend. Would still love to see Lucerne, but might just have to go another time when the scenery is more likely to be visible. May still go to Basel on Saturday - as a city it will have more indoor things to do, and I could also meet up with Jo's friend Catia who I met in Australia. Not sure yet though. Alternatively will have to check out other things to do that I haven't yet done in and around Freiburg.
Must also apologise to everyone I have promised a postcard to - they have been written for around 2 weeks now, but as yet I have been unsuccessful in actually finding a post office. Something which I will attempt again tomorrow, but otherwise will just have to post them at the airport on the way to London. Also if anyone feels so inclined, I am more than happy to send you my Dundee address (once I verify it anyway!) so you can send me mail ;)
Since this post is a little more gloomy than my previous ones, I might cut it a bit shorter than usual. Despite what it seems like from this post, I am still enjoying myself and will endeavour to do as much as possible in the few days I have left in Freiburg - 5 to be exact. Though pre warning to my parents, with the amount of sleep I have been running on, I'm almost sure to crash once reaching London. All part of a good holiday though!
Today has been a not so good day. Had a test AND a speech today in class - two things which I (and most other students) hate. So had a late night preparing for them both. But worst of all, my friend Jenna is having to leave early and head back home tomorrow, due to family troubles :( This of course put a dampener on an already not so great day. So will be going out for dinner tonight to farewell her.
Other than this, am re-thinking the trip to Switzerland this weekend, as it is forecast to be cloudy and stormy all weekend. Would still love to see Lucerne, but might just have to go another time when the scenery is more likely to be visible. May still go to Basel on Saturday - as a city it will have more indoor things to do, and I could also meet up with Jo's friend Catia who I met in Australia. Not sure yet though. Alternatively will have to check out other things to do that I haven't yet done in and around Freiburg.
Must also apologise to everyone I have promised a postcard to - they have been written for around 2 weeks now, but as yet I have been unsuccessful in actually finding a post office. Something which I will attempt again tomorrow, but otherwise will just have to post them at the airport on the way to London. Also if anyone feels so inclined, I am more than happy to send you my Dundee address (once I verify it anyway!) so you can send me mail ;)
Since this post is a little more gloomy than my previous ones, I might cut it a bit shorter than usual. Despite what it seems like from this post, I am still enjoying myself and will endeavour to do as much as possible in the few days I have left in Freiburg - 5 to be exact. Though pre warning to my parents, with the amount of sleep I have been running on, I'm almost sure to crash once reaching London. All part of a good holiday though!
Monday 20 August 2012
Strasbourg, Baden Baden, and somewhere in the middle of nowhere
Ok, well again I have a few days to catch up, as I've slacked off again. Apparently my last post was Wednesday! So here goes...
Thursday and Friday weren't particularly memorable, just classes, and I think hanging out at the Seepark Friday night. But Saturday we went to Baden Baden, which was cool. It was relatively small and fairly touristy, but cute. We went for a wander around when we first got there, walking up and down hills (much to my dismay) and just generally having a look. Sadly you had to pay to see the ruins of the original Roman baths that were there, so didn't bother doing that, but like with most small German towns around here, there was lots of old, picturesque buildings.
Probably the best part of Baden Baden though was the spa. We went in the early afternoon when it was quite warm, so were quite looking forward to getting in some water. It was a really big place, with 2 outdoor and 3 indoor pools, saunas (one nude and one not) and an area with tanning lights. Of course, being a spa the pools were varying temperatures. But despite the warmth of the day even the hot pools were still good.
Then on the way home, we had to change trains in Offenburg, so decided to stop for an hour and have a look around. Weren't there for long, but it seemed quite nice. After the hour went back to get the 6pm train, only to find out it was cancelled and we'd have to wait another half hour. So we sat down on the stairs and watched all the drunk fans from a nearby football match and the police obviously here to control them as we waited. Finally the train came, so we crammed on with heaps of other people on their way home from the match. Then halfway through the trip, the train stopped in the middle of nowhere, and after sitting confusedly on the still train for about 15 mins, we were all told to get off as there had been an accident further along the line and they didn't know how long until the train would be able to run again so it was heading back to Offenburg. Apparently a common form of suicide around here is people throwing themselves in front of trains as they speed through the countryside.
So there we were, standing in the middle of nowhere with about 200 other people, with no idea what was happening or how long we'd be waiting. It was interesting to see the different reactions - of course the still drunk football fans on the whole seemed to be pretty relaxed about it. Barbara, who is English, started making very sarcastic statements, Jenna started getting really annoyed, and Rebecca just sat down on the side of the road in acceptance. I found it a little inconvenient but also rather amusing - especially after the second train came and even more people were added. I bet that tiny train station had never had so many people at it before! I don't think everyone could have stood on the platform at the same time. Also the little shop at the station would have done great business, as it was still so hot that half the people from the train were crowding it for cold drinks and ice-cream. Of course the other amusing reaction was the group of Asian tourists, who decided to get a group photo in front of the second train as it sat there on the tracks.
So anyway, a few people started to trickle off, as they called friends or a taxi to come and pick them up. Then thankfully a bus came - sadly we didn't make it on that one, as there were way too many people in front of us. That was when Jenna became most amusing, plotting out the best plan to make it onto the next bus that came. A friendly German guy also told us that there was a train coming the other way that would take us to the German-French border, and from there we could get a train back to Freiburg, but luckily another bus came before that train did, so we made it onto that one and were transported to the town of Emmendingen, where we were able to take a train that was especially diverted to Freiburg for us. Altogether quite an adventure though!
Also the adventure didn't even end for Jenna when we got home - hadn't realised that a large chunk of the tram tracks had been closed for the weekend for track work, so her tram was no longer running. Luckily an old German couple took pity on her and let her share their taxi back to the street where she lived. Altogether though it rather undid the relaxing 2 hours we'd spent at the spa earlier that day!
So after our eventful Saturday, we took Sunday pretty easy - had a sleep in, then headed to the pool for the majority of the afternoon. It was definitely a day for the pool - I think around 38 degrees, and blazing! And here I thought I'd moved away from stinking hot summers, at least briefly. Surprisingly not sunburnt though, which is a definite plus!
Then today, Rebecca and I had official permission to skip class, as we went on an excursion to Strasbourg for our Deutschland und Europa seminar. It was pretty cool, I wish we'd had more time to spend in Strasbourg! Though I have to say, before I go anywhere in France again, I HAVE to brush up on at least a few basic phrases in French. I unsuccessfully tried to buy fruit at a supermarket - apparently you have to weigh it and print the labels yourself, which for some reason I couldn't do, so I ended up sneaking out without buying it. I also got a little lost at one point, when I was wandering about on my own in the free time, and was worrying about how I would ask someone for directions. Thankfully managed to find my own way back in the end though!
Anyway, we started the day with a tour of the old part of Strasbourg, which was really cool. We had a (very attractive!) French guy as our guide, who admitted at the start that his German wasn't that great. It was really good - I think grammatically he made a few mistakes, but his vocab was still really good. And it was great for me cos I was able to understand everything he said, as he spoke a lot more clearly and slowly than native speakers do. But the tour was really great - he is studying architecture at uni, so he was able to tell us all about the variety of architecture and history for the places we saw. I now know the difference between Gothic and Roman cathedrals. And the parts we saw were so old! From around the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
After the tour we then had a short break for lunch and some wandering of our own. Rebecca was pretty keen to shop, so we both headed off on our own - me to find some lunch, as by then I was pretty hungry! Wasted a bit of time being lost, which was made even worse by the fact that it was so hot - again in the high 30s. But got there in the end, and even had a brief look in a few shops.
Then after the break we went for a tour of the European Parliament, which was really cool. Of course it was empty as you can't tour the building while they're in session. But we got to walk through, and see the fifty million flags everywhere, and the rooms where they hold debates, with the headsets at each desk and rooms for interpreters lining the walls. Also saw the big room where they all sit when parliament is in session - had seen it on tv, but it was even bigger and more impressive in person! Also had a view of the European Council and European Court of Justice buildings across the water from one part of Parliament. Altogether pretty cool :) Especially the glass statue of the football/soccer ball in the entrance - the Europeans sure love their soccer!
So now got to go and do my homework to make up for missing class today. Only 4 days left! Hard to believe its almost over, when it feels like it only just started! Have only got 7 days left in Freiburg :( But then off to the main adventure of Dundee! :)
Thursday and Friday weren't particularly memorable, just classes, and I think hanging out at the Seepark Friday night. But Saturday we went to Baden Baden, which was cool. It was relatively small and fairly touristy, but cute. We went for a wander around when we first got there, walking up and down hills (much to my dismay) and just generally having a look. Sadly you had to pay to see the ruins of the original Roman baths that were there, so didn't bother doing that, but like with most small German towns around here, there was lots of old, picturesque buildings.
Probably the best part of Baden Baden though was the spa. We went in the early afternoon when it was quite warm, so were quite looking forward to getting in some water. It was a really big place, with 2 outdoor and 3 indoor pools, saunas (one nude and one not) and an area with tanning lights. Of course, being a spa the pools were varying temperatures. But despite the warmth of the day even the hot pools were still good.
Then on the way home, we had to change trains in Offenburg, so decided to stop for an hour and have a look around. Weren't there for long, but it seemed quite nice. After the hour went back to get the 6pm train, only to find out it was cancelled and we'd have to wait another half hour. So we sat down on the stairs and watched all the drunk fans from a nearby football match and the police obviously here to control them as we waited. Finally the train came, so we crammed on with heaps of other people on their way home from the match. Then halfway through the trip, the train stopped in the middle of nowhere, and after sitting confusedly on the still train for about 15 mins, we were all told to get off as there had been an accident further along the line and they didn't know how long until the train would be able to run again so it was heading back to Offenburg. Apparently a common form of suicide around here is people throwing themselves in front of trains as they speed through the countryside.
So there we were, standing in the middle of nowhere with about 200 other people, with no idea what was happening or how long we'd be waiting. It was interesting to see the different reactions - of course the still drunk football fans on the whole seemed to be pretty relaxed about it. Barbara, who is English, started making very sarcastic statements, Jenna started getting really annoyed, and Rebecca just sat down on the side of the road in acceptance. I found it a little inconvenient but also rather amusing - especially after the second train came and even more people were added. I bet that tiny train station had never had so many people at it before! I don't think everyone could have stood on the platform at the same time. Also the little shop at the station would have done great business, as it was still so hot that half the people from the train were crowding it for cold drinks and ice-cream. Of course the other amusing reaction was the group of Asian tourists, who decided to get a group photo in front of the second train as it sat there on the tracks.
So anyway, a few people started to trickle off, as they called friends or a taxi to come and pick them up. Then thankfully a bus came - sadly we didn't make it on that one, as there were way too many people in front of us. That was when Jenna became most amusing, plotting out the best plan to make it onto the next bus that came. A friendly German guy also told us that there was a train coming the other way that would take us to the German-French border, and from there we could get a train back to Freiburg, but luckily another bus came before that train did, so we made it onto that one and were transported to the town of Emmendingen, where we were able to take a train that was especially diverted to Freiburg for us. Altogether quite an adventure though!
Also the adventure didn't even end for Jenna when we got home - hadn't realised that a large chunk of the tram tracks had been closed for the weekend for track work, so her tram was no longer running. Luckily an old German couple took pity on her and let her share their taxi back to the street where she lived. Altogether though it rather undid the relaxing 2 hours we'd spent at the spa earlier that day!
So after our eventful Saturday, we took Sunday pretty easy - had a sleep in, then headed to the pool for the majority of the afternoon. It was definitely a day for the pool - I think around 38 degrees, and blazing! And here I thought I'd moved away from stinking hot summers, at least briefly. Surprisingly not sunburnt though, which is a definite plus!
Then today, Rebecca and I had official permission to skip class, as we went on an excursion to Strasbourg for our Deutschland und Europa seminar. It was pretty cool, I wish we'd had more time to spend in Strasbourg! Though I have to say, before I go anywhere in France again, I HAVE to brush up on at least a few basic phrases in French. I unsuccessfully tried to buy fruit at a supermarket - apparently you have to weigh it and print the labels yourself, which for some reason I couldn't do, so I ended up sneaking out without buying it. I also got a little lost at one point, when I was wandering about on my own in the free time, and was worrying about how I would ask someone for directions. Thankfully managed to find my own way back in the end though!
Anyway, we started the day with a tour of the old part of Strasbourg, which was really cool. We had a (very attractive!) French guy as our guide, who admitted at the start that his German wasn't that great. It was really good - I think grammatically he made a few mistakes, but his vocab was still really good. And it was great for me cos I was able to understand everything he said, as he spoke a lot more clearly and slowly than native speakers do. But the tour was really great - he is studying architecture at uni, so he was able to tell us all about the variety of architecture and history for the places we saw. I now know the difference between Gothic and Roman cathedrals. And the parts we saw were so old! From around the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
After the tour we then had a short break for lunch and some wandering of our own. Rebecca was pretty keen to shop, so we both headed off on our own - me to find some lunch, as by then I was pretty hungry! Wasted a bit of time being lost, which was made even worse by the fact that it was so hot - again in the high 30s. But got there in the end, and even had a brief look in a few shops.
Then after the break we went for a tour of the European Parliament, which was really cool. Of course it was empty as you can't tour the building while they're in session. But we got to walk through, and see the fifty million flags everywhere, and the rooms where they hold debates, with the headsets at each desk and rooms for interpreters lining the walls. Also saw the big room where they all sit when parliament is in session - had seen it on tv, but it was even bigger and more impressive in person! Also had a view of the European Council and European Court of Justice buildings across the water from one part of Parliament. Altogether pretty cool :) Especially the glass statue of the football/soccer ball in the entrance - the Europeans sure love their soccer!
So now got to go and do my homework to make up for missing class today. Only 4 days left! Hard to believe its almost over, when it feels like it only just started! Have only got 7 days left in Freiburg :( But then off to the main adventure of Dundee! :)
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Summer warmth and sun tans!
Was officially welcomed to Freiburg yesterday, with speeches from the mayor and people from the uni, weird dancing and a lot of singing. Only 2 weeks too late, but I guess it was nice all the same? Then went and hung out with people at Augustiner Platz. At which I actually finally met the other person here from ANU, whose German is a lot better than mine :( Lol.
After a late night last night, had a bit more of a chilled day today. Had class of course in the morning, and then in the afternoon went to the Schwimmbad (swimming pool) in Littenweiler, which was really nice! It's in the outer edge of Freiburg, so there were trees all around, and it kinda just felt like a big park, with volleyball courts and such at one end, two big pools and a waterside in the middle, a then a big grassy patch where people were sunbathing on the other side, and also a jumping castle.
Today was quite hot - saw one sign that said 38 degrees, though I think it might have been more like 34-5 degrees... But it was definitely the perfect day to be at the pool! Could jump in and cool down, then get out and dry off in the sun before jumping in again. Was definitely not expecting such warm weather in Germany though - I have been hunting down new shorts to buy, as I only brought 2 pairs with me! Mum and dad will have a few summer clothes in their suitcases on the way home I think!
I also think I'm tanning a bit! Which is nice, after the first day when I got sunburnt. Brown is definitely better than red, even if it is 'skin cells in trauma'! And maybe people will believe me more when I say I'm Australian if I have a bit of a tan? Have already been told I don't look much like an Australian (though I'm not exactly sure what we usually look like?), and that my Australian accent is not very strong (which is actually quite true).
So yeah, had my first taste of mac and cheese tonight - made from scratch by Jenna. I have to say it was pretty delicious, and didn't taste at all like what Easy Mac smells like (i.e. vomit). Also finally found out where to put my rubbish - even got a tour of the rubbish garage, auf Deutsch lol. And now I'm just chilling on the couch. Was watching Robin Hood in German - can't get over how funny it is, cos their voices are all wrong! But now am watching Germany get beaten by Argentina, and keeping up with the news feed for the Australia vs Scotland soccer match. Also saw on the news that Australia passed another law on cigarettes - they can no longer have brand names and pretty packaging, but will just be covered in those disgusting pictures? :S Oh and doing homework, of course...
Making plans to go to Switzerland next weekend, and vielleicht either Stuttgart or Baden-Baden this weekend. We all want to make the most of the relatively short time we have here! So yeah, still lots to look forward to! Also have a week and a half more of class, so I'm sure there'll be plenty more homework to look forward to as well... But anyway, should probably go to bed now, if I'm going to have the energy to actually do all these things in the next 2 weeks!
After a late night last night, had a bit more of a chilled day today. Had class of course in the morning, and then in the afternoon went to the Schwimmbad (swimming pool) in Littenweiler, which was really nice! It's in the outer edge of Freiburg, so there were trees all around, and it kinda just felt like a big park, with volleyball courts and such at one end, two big pools and a waterside in the middle, a then a big grassy patch where people were sunbathing on the other side, and also a jumping castle.
Today was quite hot - saw one sign that said 38 degrees, though I think it might have been more like 34-5 degrees... But it was definitely the perfect day to be at the pool! Could jump in and cool down, then get out and dry off in the sun before jumping in again. Was definitely not expecting such warm weather in Germany though - I have been hunting down new shorts to buy, as I only brought 2 pairs with me! Mum and dad will have a few summer clothes in their suitcases on the way home I think!
I also think I'm tanning a bit! Which is nice, after the first day when I got sunburnt. Brown is definitely better than red, even if it is 'skin cells in trauma'! And maybe people will believe me more when I say I'm Australian if I have a bit of a tan? Have already been told I don't look much like an Australian (though I'm not exactly sure what we usually look like?), and that my Australian accent is not very strong (which is actually quite true).
So yeah, had my first taste of mac and cheese tonight - made from scratch by Jenna. I have to say it was pretty delicious, and didn't taste at all like what Easy Mac smells like (i.e. vomit). Also finally found out where to put my rubbish - even got a tour of the rubbish garage, auf Deutsch lol. And now I'm just chilling on the couch. Was watching Robin Hood in German - can't get over how funny it is, cos their voices are all wrong! But now am watching Germany get beaten by Argentina, and keeping up with the news feed for the Australia vs Scotland soccer match. Also saw on the news that Australia passed another law on cigarettes - they can no longer have brand names and pretty packaging, but will just be covered in those disgusting pictures? :S Oh and doing homework, of course...
Making plans to go to Switzerland next weekend, and vielleicht either Stuttgart or Baden-Baden this weekend. We all want to make the most of the relatively short time we have here! So yeah, still lots to look forward to! Also have a week and a half more of class, so I'm sure there'll be plenty more homework to look forward to as well... But anyway, should probably go to bed now, if I'm going to have the energy to actually do all these things in the next 2 weeks!
Sunday 12 August 2012
Catching up
Well, it seems I have a few days to catch up - was definitely right when I said the daily posts would stop coming! Time has been moving so quickly, but then at the same time I really haven't been here long yet. A week and a half-ish? It's amazing how quickly time goes when you're busy!
So Thursday and Friday had class again, of course. Also tried to get as many hours as possible in the language lab, cos I have a ridiculous amount needed to get just 1 credit. However sitting down and calculating it, I actually don't think I have enough time left to get the amount of hours required. Luckily its not the end of the world if I don't get credit for this course. Not sure, will have to check into it. But anyway, back to the more exciting parts of the week.
Thursday night we went to the Biergarten to meet some people, then hung out in Augustiner Platz where all the students in Freiburg go to hang out at nights. It was really nice, we sat with our feet in one of the Bächle, and bought a beer from this old Turkish man who buys them down the road for 60c then walks around the Platz selling them for 1 euro. Then after that we went to a shisha place, which was cool. We got apple-rose, which really made me want Turkish delight! Then we ended the night with bingo at the Irish pub. That was really funny, the guy was making up little rhymes for a lot of the numbers, like "the way to heaven, 7!".
Friday, we had a BBQ at the Seepark, which was awesome! I use the word BBQ loosely - didn't get a photo, but should do next time. It was like a little bucket with coals in it, and what looked like a strong cooling rack on top. Worked really well though, and we ate delicious corn in foil. I also had my first smore (I think thats how you spell it?), which was pretty delicious. Definitely trying that the next time I go camping! It was really good, cos a lot of people go there to hang out cos it's such a nice spot, so we ended up meeting and hanging out with a whole bunch of other people from the course, which was great.
Then on Saturday Rebecca, Jenna and I headed to Schwarzwald on one of the course organised excursions. It was alright - I put one or two photos up on Facebook, but the Schwarzwald is beautiful. Probably would have enjoyed it more if we weren't all so tired though. It's been pretty non-stop since we got here, which is awesome, but tiring! So we went to the St Peter Kloster first, which I guess we'd call a monastery? It was a big, old, beautiful church with living quarters attached. That was ok, but again, too tired to understand pretty much any of what the tour guide was saying. Then we went and saw the world's largest cuckoo clock, which was cool, if not very brief. Then we went to another town, where the 3 of us spent the whole hour and a half in an Italian restaurant for lunch then getting legit Schwarzwaldtorte. Then lastly we went to a museum farm, of a traditional Schwarzwaldian farm. It was interesting - I learnt that they didn't really let cooking smoke out of the house, so they had to sleep sitting up so they could breathe properly. Also they had a room at the top of the barn where they would send girls when they got engaged, and then the guy they were engaged to had to climb up to it with a ladder, and they didn't get married until the girl was pregnant. Weird.
Think we're done with the organised excursions though - there's another one next weekend, but its nicer to do stuff on our own, cos then we don't have to do stuff we don't want to (such as tours we can't understand a word of!). Will just organise our own stuff for the next 2 weekends.
So yeah today was a day of rest - didn't really do anything all day, and then just had dinner together and watched a movie. Pretty chilled, in preparation for the next 2 weeks I guess! Seminars start tomorrow, and I'm signed up for Deutschland und Europa (Germany and Europe) and Typisch Deutsch (which is about intercultural aspects of Germany in a global context). So hopefully they'll be interesting. They at least sound interesting anyway.
Think it will be weird going to London/Scotland after this - at the moment it just feels like a particularly awesome holiday, that will be ending soon. And of course usually when your holiday ends you go home, where you can comfortably collapse in a heap and recover! So yeah, could be interesting, trying to recover while starting out in another new place. Will be awesome though, I'm sure :)
So Thursday and Friday had class again, of course. Also tried to get as many hours as possible in the language lab, cos I have a ridiculous amount needed to get just 1 credit. However sitting down and calculating it, I actually don't think I have enough time left to get the amount of hours required. Luckily its not the end of the world if I don't get credit for this course. Not sure, will have to check into it. But anyway, back to the more exciting parts of the week.
Thursday night we went to the Biergarten to meet some people, then hung out in Augustiner Platz where all the students in Freiburg go to hang out at nights. It was really nice, we sat with our feet in one of the Bächle, and bought a beer from this old Turkish man who buys them down the road for 60c then walks around the Platz selling them for 1 euro. Then after that we went to a shisha place, which was cool. We got apple-rose, which really made me want Turkish delight! Then we ended the night with bingo at the Irish pub. That was really funny, the guy was making up little rhymes for a lot of the numbers, like "the way to heaven, 7!".
Friday, we had a BBQ at the Seepark, which was awesome! I use the word BBQ loosely - didn't get a photo, but should do next time. It was like a little bucket with coals in it, and what looked like a strong cooling rack on top. Worked really well though, and we ate delicious corn in foil. I also had my first smore (I think thats how you spell it?), which was pretty delicious. Definitely trying that the next time I go camping! It was really good, cos a lot of people go there to hang out cos it's such a nice spot, so we ended up meeting and hanging out with a whole bunch of other people from the course, which was great.
Then on Saturday Rebecca, Jenna and I headed to Schwarzwald on one of the course organised excursions. It was alright - I put one or two photos up on Facebook, but the Schwarzwald is beautiful. Probably would have enjoyed it more if we weren't all so tired though. It's been pretty non-stop since we got here, which is awesome, but tiring! So we went to the St Peter Kloster first, which I guess we'd call a monastery? It was a big, old, beautiful church with living quarters attached. That was ok, but again, too tired to understand pretty much any of what the tour guide was saying. Then we went and saw the world's largest cuckoo clock, which was cool, if not very brief. Then we went to another town, where the 3 of us spent the whole hour and a half in an Italian restaurant for lunch then getting legit Schwarzwaldtorte. Then lastly we went to a museum farm, of a traditional Schwarzwaldian farm. It was interesting - I learnt that they didn't really let cooking smoke out of the house, so they had to sleep sitting up so they could breathe properly. Also they had a room at the top of the barn where they would send girls when they got engaged, and then the guy they were engaged to had to climb up to it with a ladder, and they didn't get married until the girl was pregnant. Weird.
Think we're done with the organised excursions though - there's another one next weekend, but its nicer to do stuff on our own, cos then we don't have to do stuff we don't want to (such as tours we can't understand a word of!). Will just organise our own stuff for the next 2 weekends.
So yeah today was a day of rest - didn't really do anything all day, and then just had dinner together and watched a movie. Pretty chilled, in preparation for the next 2 weeks I guess! Seminars start tomorrow, and I'm signed up for Deutschland und Europa (Germany and Europe) and Typisch Deutsch (which is about intercultural aspects of Germany in a global context). So hopefully they'll be interesting. They at least sound interesting anyway.
Think it will be weird going to London/Scotland after this - at the moment it just feels like a particularly awesome holiday, that will be ending soon. And of course usually when your holiday ends you go home, where you can comfortably collapse in a heap and recover! So yeah, could be interesting, trying to recover while starting out in another new place. Will be awesome though, I'm sure :)
Wednesday 8 August 2012
Titisee
Well after a marathon postcard effort last night, I was too tired to write a post. Though I think tired will be a constant state when I'm out all day, don't get to bed until late, and then am up early the next morning! But watch out for a postcard soon! Will try and figure out how to post things today :)
Anyways, so of course had class again yesterday, which was fine. Though we have to do a speech soon, which I'm not looking forward to so much :S But as seminars don't actually start until next week, I still have the afternoons kinda free this week, which has been nice. So we went to Titisee, which is a little town/lake about half an hour away by train. It was great - the town was really cute (as usual!) and the lake was beautiful too. It was a beautiful afternoon too, sunny and hot but not uncomfortably so. Even though I don't really tan, I kinda feel like I might be a little browner than when I came :)
So we got there and found a nice spot by the lake where we laid in the sun for awhile. Could have swam, but contented myself with a paddle, which was also nice. Am still planning on going swimming at the Seepark here in Freiburg though - got to make some use of the fact that I brought swimmers! After that we walked down the street and bought some ice-cream and some specialty cherry-vanilla liqueur, then rented an awesome bright orange boat shaped like a doughnut, and went for a half our spin on the lake. Took us awhile to figure out how to work it though - we were going in circles near the shore for like the first 10 mins lol. But yeah, altogether it was a really nice afternoon with new friends - Rebecca, Jenna, Katie and Karl who I have mentioned before, and also Barbara who is from England and Alex who is from Belgium :)
I have also finally been able to do some washing! Its in the machine right now :) Finally remembered to ask Yolanda - my really nice roommate - and she lent me her washing machine card. So I've narrowly avoided getting to the point of needing to buy some underwear in order to have clean ones! Its good having German roommates actually, cos its a good chance to actually practice my German, which is something I do desperately need.
Now today I need to spend as much time as I can in the language lab, as I still have 19.5 hours left to do so I can get that credit! I swear I don't work so hard for my credits at ANU?! So probably won't have anything interesting to write about tonight. But we're going on an excursion to the Schwarzwald this weekend, and then hopefully Bodensee next weekend - they're both on a Saturday. Then we're also working on plans to go to Baden-Baden and Switzerland - so many plans so little time! Hoping to cram as much as possible into the next 3 weekends, which means I'm going to be so tired by the time I reach Dundee! It'll definitely be worth it though :)
Anyways, so of course had class again yesterday, which was fine. Though we have to do a speech soon, which I'm not looking forward to so much :S But as seminars don't actually start until next week, I still have the afternoons kinda free this week, which has been nice. So we went to Titisee, which is a little town/lake about half an hour away by train. It was great - the town was really cute (as usual!) and the lake was beautiful too. It was a beautiful afternoon too, sunny and hot but not uncomfortably so. Even though I don't really tan, I kinda feel like I might be a little browner than when I came :)
So we got there and found a nice spot by the lake where we laid in the sun for awhile. Could have swam, but contented myself with a paddle, which was also nice. Am still planning on going swimming at the Seepark here in Freiburg though - got to make some use of the fact that I brought swimmers! After that we walked down the street and bought some ice-cream and some specialty cherry-vanilla liqueur, then rented an awesome bright orange boat shaped like a doughnut, and went for a half our spin on the lake. Took us awhile to figure out how to work it though - we were going in circles near the shore for like the first 10 mins lol. But yeah, altogether it was a really nice afternoon with new friends - Rebecca, Jenna, Katie and Karl who I have mentioned before, and also Barbara who is from England and Alex who is from Belgium :)
I have also finally been able to do some washing! Its in the machine right now :) Finally remembered to ask Yolanda - my really nice roommate - and she lent me her washing machine card. So I've narrowly avoided getting to the point of needing to buy some underwear in order to have clean ones! Its good having German roommates actually, cos its a good chance to actually practice my German, which is something I do desperately need.
Now today I need to spend as much time as I can in the language lab, as I still have 19.5 hours left to do so I can get that credit! I swear I don't work so hard for my credits at ANU?! So probably won't have anything interesting to write about tonight. But we're going on an excursion to the Schwarzwald this weekend, and then hopefully Bodensee next weekend - they're both on a Saturday. Then we're also working on plans to go to Baden-Baden and Switzerland - so many plans so little time! Hoping to cram as much as possible into the next 3 weekends, which means I'm going to be so tired by the time I reach Dundee! It'll definitely be worth it though :)
Tuesday 7 August 2012
So much good food, so little fridge space!
Another day of class, so not a whole lot of exciting things to say. In fact I'm sure after this week these daily posts will either be non existent or even more boring! But anyway, so yeah we had class this morning - still doing stuff I've done, but I'm optimistic that some new stuff is coming soon. Still getting up early, which I have decided is probably a good habit to try and keep going, as its a good time to Skype, do homework, and just generally get a few things done. Oh yeah, so if you're reading this, 2:30/3pm Australian time is generally a good time to catch me on Skype :)
Also went to check out this language lab thing this arvo - I have to do 22.5 hours there to get 1 ECTS credit, which I was thinking would be rather painful after the confusing introduction. But I discovered the hours still count if I just borrow a book and sit at a desk and do my homework, which is great! I do homework I already needed to do, and get credit for the time I spend doing it :) So yeah, did 3 hours today - only 19.5 left to go...
Then had some friends round for dinner - should just quickly mention them I guess, since I have just been referring to them as 'my friends'. The people I am generally referring to when I say this is Rebecca, Jenna, Katie and Karl. We kind of formed a little English speaking group - Rebecca and Karl are from Canada, Katie is from America and Jenna from Scotland (Dundee in fact!). Something which is probably not so great for my German, but is really interesting. Never realised exactly how many different words and such we have between English dialects! It's also a lot easier to organise things together lol. Have made friends with some other people too, including an Italian girl Cecelia who lives in the building next to me, and then Cybele, Efie and Olga who are from France, Greece and Poland respectively and are in my class. But we mostly just hang out around class time.
Anyways, onto the main topic the title of this post suggests - Essen!
Have been going to the Mensa for lunch - one place we haven't yet taken photos! It's pretty much just the student cafeteria, with good pricing on food, that is actually quite tasty. Though it can be a gamble sometimes as to what it is, with all the signage being in German. For example had something that I thought looked like a piece of oven fried fish or maybe a potato patty, that turned out to be some kind of crumbed cooked cheese. Have been trying to also take food with me - mostly containers of fruit, cos its so cheap and varied, I guess cos its summer at the moment.
But every time I go to the supermarket there are fifty million things I see that I just have to try! Especially in the chocolate and yoghurt sections. You may not recognise me when I get back, if I do try everything I want to lol. The bigger the supermarket the worse it is, and the fact that I still can't get over how much cheaper everything is over here definitely doesn't help either! James, I'll have to buy a bunch of stuff for Mum and Dad to take back for you! My fridge is quite full at the moment - the main reason I have as yet been able to resist the temptation to buy more food! I only have a small shelf, so its quickly been filled up with yoghurt, fruit and dinner leftovers mainly. Tonight we made burritos (not so German, but delicious and also something Jenna had never had!) and spaetzle, which was also delicious! It's just like egg-ish noodles, cooked in a pan with this weird bacon-y stuff, onion, and cheese. We also consumed the only cider we've been able to find so far, which is a super light supermarket brand. Then we went to the ice-cream cafe across the road, where the scoops are 80c each (!).
But away (briefly) from the topic of food, went to the movies last night, which was an experience. The movie was in English, but they have a pre-movie 'show', somewhat like Saturday Disney or Video Hits with the host who just randomly talks or maybe does a weird skit in between shows/videos, only his was between ads and trailers. And it was of course all in German, including the trailers, which was interesting. Probably the best though was the Ben & Jerry's ad, in which the voiceover was German spoken with a ridiculously obvious American accent - it was hilarious! Then after, went and got hot chocolate while waiting for the last tram to come at 12:27am.
Tomorrow am planning on going to the Titisee - a lake not too far away, that I think is supposed to be the largest natural lake in Germany or something? Regardless, I know it will at least be a relaxed train ride with beautiful green landscapes to gaze upon, so worth going on. But hopefully if its hot enough tomorrow we'll be able to go swimming there :) It was so hot when I first got here, but the past few days its been a bit cooler and also a bit rainy.
And finally, briefly back to the topic of food, what I miss most is rice crackers! Apparently they don't have those here, and I finished my final ration of the ones I brought with me from Australia today :( Might need to instruct for some rice crackers to find their way into mum or dad's bag before they leave! Those and cider, which is super hard to find here. Although I also learnt to my surprise that Minties are apparently an Australian thing, as are Kool Fruits?? That, and no one seems to use capsicum outside of Australia...
Also went to check out this language lab thing this arvo - I have to do 22.5 hours there to get 1 ECTS credit, which I was thinking would be rather painful after the confusing introduction. But I discovered the hours still count if I just borrow a book and sit at a desk and do my homework, which is great! I do homework I already needed to do, and get credit for the time I spend doing it :) So yeah, did 3 hours today - only 19.5 left to go...
Then had some friends round for dinner - should just quickly mention them I guess, since I have just been referring to them as 'my friends'. The people I am generally referring to when I say this is Rebecca, Jenna, Katie and Karl. We kind of formed a little English speaking group - Rebecca and Karl are from Canada, Katie is from America and Jenna from Scotland (Dundee in fact!). Something which is probably not so great for my German, but is really interesting. Never realised exactly how many different words and such we have between English dialects! It's also a lot easier to organise things together lol. Have made friends with some other people too, including an Italian girl Cecelia who lives in the building next to me, and then Cybele, Efie and Olga who are from France, Greece and Poland respectively and are in my class. But we mostly just hang out around class time.
Anyways, onto the main topic the title of this post suggests - Essen!
Have been going to the Mensa for lunch - one place we haven't yet taken photos! It's pretty much just the student cafeteria, with good pricing on food, that is actually quite tasty. Though it can be a gamble sometimes as to what it is, with all the signage being in German. For example had something that I thought looked like a piece of oven fried fish or maybe a potato patty, that turned out to be some kind of crumbed cooked cheese. Have been trying to also take food with me - mostly containers of fruit, cos its so cheap and varied, I guess cos its summer at the moment.
But every time I go to the supermarket there are fifty million things I see that I just have to try! Especially in the chocolate and yoghurt sections. You may not recognise me when I get back, if I do try everything I want to lol. The bigger the supermarket the worse it is, and the fact that I still can't get over how much cheaper everything is over here definitely doesn't help either! James, I'll have to buy a bunch of stuff for Mum and Dad to take back for you! My fridge is quite full at the moment - the main reason I have as yet been able to resist the temptation to buy more food! I only have a small shelf, so its quickly been filled up with yoghurt, fruit and dinner leftovers mainly. Tonight we made burritos (not so German, but delicious and also something Jenna had never had!) and spaetzle, which was also delicious! It's just like egg-ish noodles, cooked in a pan with this weird bacon-y stuff, onion, and cheese. We also consumed the only cider we've been able to find so far, which is a super light supermarket brand. Then we went to the ice-cream cafe across the road, where the scoops are 80c each (!).
But away (briefly) from the topic of food, went to the movies last night, which was an experience. The movie was in English, but they have a pre-movie 'show', somewhat like Saturday Disney or Video Hits with the host who just randomly talks or maybe does a weird skit in between shows/videos, only his was between ads and trailers. And it was of course all in German, including the trailers, which was interesting. Probably the best though was the Ben & Jerry's ad, in which the voiceover was German spoken with a ridiculously obvious American accent - it was hilarious! Then after, went and got hot chocolate while waiting for the last tram to come at 12:27am.
Tomorrow am planning on going to the Titisee - a lake not too far away, that I think is supposed to be the largest natural lake in Germany or something? Regardless, I know it will at least be a relaxed train ride with beautiful green landscapes to gaze upon, so worth going on. But hopefully if its hot enough tomorrow we'll be able to go swimming there :) It was so hot when I first got here, but the past few days its been a bit cooler and also a bit rainy.
And finally, briefly back to the topic of food, what I miss most is rice crackers! Apparently they don't have those here, and I finished my final ration of the ones I brought with me from Australia today :( Might need to instruct for some rice crackers to find their way into mum or dad's bag before they leave! Those and cider, which is super hard to find here. Although I also learnt to my surprise that Minties are apparently an Australian thing, as are Kool Fruits?? That, and no one seems to use capsicum outside of Australia...
Monday 6 August 2012
Elsass and more class
Just a quick post as I have to catch a tram soon. Was too tired to write anything last night by the time I got home. Went to Elsass yesterday (aka Alsace in French). It's part of France, though any good European history student would know that its a region that has been both German and French at various points in history :)
Went to Hochkönigsburg first, and saw a castle once inhabited by Kaisers. That was pretty cool, and had great views of the surrounding countryside. Everything around this Southern Germany/France region is so beautiful! Then after that we went to this little town called Riqueswihr - so beautiful! I put some pictures on Facebook you should definitely look at. Again, I just can't get over how picturesque everything is! I also purchased some French booty there - my first macaroons, French fruit liqueur and we also had delicious crepes for lunch :) Wish we'd had a bit more time to spend in the town, but on reflection it was probably a good thing, just for my wallet's sake :P
The last stop was Kayserburg - a slightly bigger town, still picturesque, but not as good as Riqueswihr. Went on a city tour there, with a tour guide who looked like he could have keeled over at any time during the tour. Didn't understand a whole lot of what was said, as it was in quavery accented German, so wasn't the most interesting thing we did. Did find these HUGE pain au chocolat though (chocolate croissants). They would have been at least twice the size of ones I've seen in Australia. Also nicked a bite of a vanilla eclair that was pretty delicious too :)
There is definitely downsides to so much good food in one place - you physically can't try it all! Still need to try Flammkuchen, and still haven't had an ice-cream. Also haven't really sampled wurst, spätzle and other stereotypically German meal foods, but I think I'll do a German food night sometime soon with friends from the course.
Had class again today - wondering if I am in the right level, so endeavouring to find that out, but in the meantime met some nice people in my class, with whom I can only speak German as its better than their English :) Don't start seminars in the afternoon til next week, so need to try and go to the language lab as much as possible in the afternoons this week. Had an orientation for that today though, and it really didn't seem that great. Seemed to be just listening to stuff and repeating it - something of which I'm apparently supposed to clock 22.5 hours?? So yeah, not really looking forward to that... but here's hoping it at least makes my German a bit better...
Went shopping for shorts again this afternoon, and again was unsuccessful :( But Jo you'll be proud, I made my first H&M purchase - a shirt and tshirt, which are really cute. But I really want to visit the op-shop I've passed on the tram, and see if I might have a bit better luck there. Fingers crossed! Luckily it was rainy and a bit chilly today, so was able to wear jeans and a jumper and not boil, but I think it'll be hot again tomorrow or the next day. So very desperately need to do washing now! Especially cos if I don't I'll need to buy new underwear next.
Anyways, heading to the movies tonight, and then homework and bedtime in preparation for more class tomorrow night :)
Went to Hochkönigsburg first, and saw a castle once inhabited by Kaisers. That was pretty cool, and had great views of the surrounding countryside. Everything around this Southern Germany/France region is so beautiful! Then after that we went to this little town called Riqueswihr - so beautiful! I put some pictures on Facebook you should definitely look at. Again, I just can't get over how picturesque everything is! I also purchased some French booty there - my first macaroons, French fruit liqueur and we also had delicious crepes for lunch :) Wish we'd had a bit more time to spend in the town, but on reflection it was probably a good thing, just for my wallet's sake :P
The last stop was Kayserburg - a slightly bigger town, still picturesque, but not as good as Riqueswihr. Went on a city tour there, with a tour guide who looked like he could have keeled over at any time during the tour. Didn't understand a whole lot of what was said, as it was in quavery accented German, so wasn't the most interesting thing we did. Did find these HUGE pain au chocolat though (chocolate croissants). They would have been at least twice the size of ones I've seen in Australia. Also nicked a bite of a vanilla eclair that was pretty delicious too :)
There is definitely downsides to so much good food in one place - you physically can't try it all! Still need to try Flammkuchen, and still haven't had an ice-cream. Also haven't really sampled wurst, spätzle and other stereotypically German meal foods, but I think I'll do a German food night sometime soon with friends from the course.
Had class again today - wondering if I am in the right level, so endeavouring to find that out, but in the meantime met some nice people in my class, with whom I can only speak German as its better than their English :) Don't start seminars in the afternoon til next week, so need to try and go to the language lab as much as possible in the afternoons this week. Had an orientation for that today though, and it really didn't seem that great. Seemed to be just listening to stuff and repeating it - something of which I'm apparently supposed to clock 22.5 hours?? So yeah, not really looking forward to that... but here's hoping it at least makes my German a bit better...
Went shopping for shorts again this afternoon, and again was unsuccessful :( But Jo you'll be proud, I made my first H&M purchase - a shirt and tshirt, which are really cute. But I really want to visit the op-shop I've passed on the tram, and see if I might have a bit better luck there. Fingers crossed! Luckily it was rainy and a bit chilly today, so was able to wear jeans and a jumper and not boil, but I think it'll be hot again tomorrow or the next day. So very desperately need to do washing now! Especially cos if I don't I'll need to buy new underwear next.
Anyways, heading to the movies tonight, and then homework and bedtime in preparation for more class tomorrow night :)
Saturday 4 August 2012
Europa Park
Got home earlier than anticipated today, so the daily posting will continue at least one day longer. So today I went with some friends to Europa Park, which is a big theme park just near Freiburg. You can google it to see some pictures, but its pretty awesome. It's huge, and has a bunch of big roller coasters and such.
Aside from a bad start, which involved the trams not going regularly til after I needed to leave to meet the others in time, we made it there taking first a train then a bus. We got there 15 mins after opening at 9am, and stayed til 4pm. I'm a pretty poor picture taker - I never remember to do it - but I will put a few photos up on Facebook. We went on the Silver Star first, which is this huge roller coaster with massive rises and drops (anyway you can look it up on google if you want to judge for yourself). We were a group of 5, which was a bit awkward as most of the coasters had rows of 2 or 4, so I ended up getting left behind to go on the next car by myself - daunting enough in itself, as I was pretty nervous to begin with - and then I got herded into the front row! Needless to say I was scared stiff, but survived to tell the tale!
After that we went on a bunch of other rides, including a roller coaster largely made of wood, and a rafting ride in which we all got quite wet. Another thing I learned was that German milkshakes are not so great - no ice cream or anything, just vanilla flavoured milk with foam as thick as the foam on coffee on top. But the salad bagel I got with it was really good, even with the mayonnaise :) The day was great, though it basically involved some really fun rides and then a lot of waiting around, mostly in the sun, in between.
Freiburg continues to be a lot hotter than I expected, and I am definitely getting desperate to find at least one pair of shorts to buy! Ended up wearing gym shorts and flats at the theme park, which as you can imagine looked very classy. Also bought icy poles and iced tea on the way home, after such a hot day in the sun! The heat also tends to make things even more tiring, so I'm going to have to get a good nights sleep tonight before going on the Elsass, which I discovered is the German name for Alsace - a name I actually recognised from history classes! As I said yesterday we're definitely soaking up all the free time we have before classes start for real on Monday.
Aside from a bad start, which involved the trams not going regularly til after I needed to leave to meet the others in time, we made it there taking first a train then a bus. We got there 15 mins after opening at 9am, and stayed til 4pm. I'm a pretty poor picture taker - I never remember to do it - but I will put a few photos up on Facebook. We went on the Silver Star first, which is this huge roller coaster with massive rises and drops (anyway you can look it up on google if you want to judge for yourself). We were a group of 5, which was a bit awkward as most of the coasters had rows of 2 or 4, so I ended up getting left behind to go on the next car by myself - daunting enough in itself, as I was pretty nervous to begin with - and then I got herded into the front row! Needless to say I was scared stiff, but survived to tell the tale!
After that we went on a bunch of other rides, including a roller coaster largely made of wood, and a rafting ride in which we all got quite wet. Another thing I learned was that German milkshakes are not so great - no ice cream or anything, just vanilla flavoured milk with foam as thick as the foam on coffee on top. But the salad bagel I got with it was really good, even with the mayonnaise :) The day was great, though it basically involved some really fun rides and then a lot of waiting around, mostly in the sun, in between.
Freiburg continues to be a lot hotter than I expected, and I am definitely getting desperate to find at least one pair of shorts to buy! Ended up wearing gym shorts and flats at the theme park, which as you can imagine looked very classy. Also bought icy poles and iced tea on the way home, after such a hot day in the sun! The heat also tends to make things even more tiring, so I'm going to have to get a good nights sleep tonight before going on the Elsass, which I discovered is the German name for Alsace - a name I actually recognised from history classes! As I said yesterday we're definitely soaking up all the free time we have before classes start for real on Monday.
Friday 3 August 2012
Getting comfortable
Third day in Freiburg, and I'm definitely starting to feel a bit more at home. Taking the tram is easy now, and finding places a lot less difficult. I'm also slowly starting to get used to the money, which is good. Freiburg really is a beautiful city. We went to the Seepark by the lake today - it was such a nice day, and there were people swimming and sun bathing. It also has random stuff like a small vineyard in the middle of the city! Really need to remember to get a photo of that at some point.
Started classes today too. After a minor hiccup of accidentally going to the wrong class, it was good. Although I'm hoping its only cos it was the first lesson that it felt so easy... But we only had the morning classes today, next week we get down to the real business of seminars in the afternoon and hours in the language lab. So definitely soaking up the free time we have at the moment.
Tried some cherry yoghurt for brekkie this morning - it was pretty good, but such a strong cherry flavour! I definitely couldn't finish the whole thing in one sitting. Also, Jo, I bought some Kakao Express, which I believe is the German version of Suchard Express as it has Suchard above it and the packaging looks the same :) And I will have to buy and try some pineapple yoghurt - although maybe I should wait til I go to Italy for that? One thing I am a bit hesitant to try is the Bananeweizen (at least I think that's what its called?). From what I understand, its beer with banana juice in it....
Also went book shopping today - bought Der kleine Prinz and also Der kleine Hobbit. Not sure why it's der kleine Hobbit and not just der Hobbit. Also wanted to buy the Hunger Games, which is die Tribute von Panem in German, but they only had it in a big hardcover :( But now I have something constructive to do in my free time :)
Anyway, this daily posting thing is probably not going to continue much longer. Signed up today for a day trip to Elsass on Sunday - which was a struggle, as there are only limited places on the trips, so everyone was pushing to get to the front! But yeah, that looks nice, just over the border in France. And then tomorrow I'm heading off with a few new friends to Europa Park, which is just nearby - I think maybe a 1/2 hour on the train. That looks awesome, its supposed to have really good rides, so yeah should be a pretty good time. Only downside being we have to get up early to get there when it opens, cos its probably going to be pretty busy! So will just chill with some people tonight and try and get an early night tonight, ready for an early start tomorrow morning!
Thursday 2 August 2012
Second day in Freiburg
Another day passed in Freiburg. This will have to be pretty quick, as I have to get up for class tomorrow :S But yeah, things about Germany/Freiburg still surprise and confuse me. For example had a MASSIVE bee follow me into my room tonight - I think I prefer blowflies cos at least they can't sting you! Also went to 2 bakeries today (but no, haven't eaten it all yet) and both had bees flying around in the display cabinets. But everyone just seemed to ignore them/ think it was normal. Also still getting confused with calculating stuff based on cars and trams driving on the right side of the road not the left - especially when that relates to walking in crowds. I keep almost walking into people when I move to the left but they also move that way. Also another random difference I've observed is that they have massive light switches in Germany, and most of them are also slightly illuminated in some way.
In terms of course stuff, I went on a tour of the city this afternoon, which was nice. Didn't hear much of what they said, but it was definitely a nice walk around the middle of the city. Also met some more people today, which is nice. Although I think so far none of us are in the same class - theres like 22 classes or something! Went on a Kneipentour (pub tour) tonight, and had a Radler - the German equivalent of a shandy. Am working up to getting a Weissbier or some kind of real beer...
In terms of course stuff, I went on a tour of the city this afternoon, which was nice. Didn't hear much of what they said, but it was definitely a nice walk around the middle of the city. Also met some more people today, which is nice. Although I think so far none of us are in the same class - theres like 22 classes or something! Went on a Kneipentour (pub tour) tonight, and had a Radler - the German equivalent of a shandy. Am working up to getting a Weissbier or some kind of real beer...
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Initial Observations
As Facebook would be overwhelmed by the number of observations/things I had to say upon arrival in Europe, I figured a blog would be easier to write all this down :) So, arrived in Frankfurt yesterday, then stayed in Basel last night and travelled to Freiburg today.
Frankfurt - all I saw was the airport, and between feeling smelly and disgusting after 23 hours of travelling and having to walk between about 5 shops in different sections of the airport to find a SIM card, I probably wasn't in the happiest of moods until I got on the train. But once I was on that, I couldn't help admiring how beautiful the German countryside is. Noticed it again in the train between Basel and Freiburg today. So wait, it might be easier to list my observations so far:
- German countryside is amazing - in this area they have heaps of grapevines, everywhere, even on steep hills that I would never consider planting on.
- Also on the subject of countryside, their crops are so tiny, but also everywhere. Other than grapes, I noticed a lot of corn, some wheat, and another one I couldn't quite identify.
- On trains and trams you have to open the doors yourself (well, press a button, but still), they don't just open automatically?!
- Its a strange but awesome mix of new old - for example a beautiful old building, with a big Macdonalds sign on it.
Had a great time staying with Mirjam and Mathieu in Basel. They were so nice, and I got to see a bit of Basel, try Switzerland's best ice-cream (Mövenpick) and see the massive chocolate section in a Swiss supermarket! My first day in Freiburg has also been good - not at first, when I couldn't find anything and was carting my massive suitcase around over streets that are not made for wheelie bags! But finally made it to my accommodation, met my nice roommates, went to the supermarket, then met some cool people from the language course :) Actually, the supermarket amazed - it was so cheap! For what I calculated would be at least $20 in Australia, I paid just under 9 euro.
So yeah, Freiburg seems pretty cool so far, with beautiful old buildings and streets and trams that go through the city. Have a city tour this afternoon - in German, so we'll see how much more I know about it after! Also have a Kneipentour, aka pub crawl, tonight, which should be fun. It'll be interesting to meet other people from the course.
Frankfurt - all I saw was the airport, and between feeling smelly and disgusting after 23 hours of travelling and having to walk between about 5 shops in different sections of the airport to find a SIM card, I probably wasn't in the happiest of moods until I got on the train. But once I was on that, I couldn't help admiring how beautiful the German countryside is. Noticed it again in the train between Basel and Freiburg today. So wait, it might be easier to list my observations so far:
- German countryside is amazing - in this area they have heaps of grapevines, everywhere, even on steep hills that I would never consider planting on.
- Also on the subject of countryside, their crops are so tiny, but also everywhere. Other than grapes, I noticed a lot of corn, some wheat, and another one I couldn't quite identify.
- On trains and trams you have to open the doors yourself (well, press a button, but still), they don't just open automatically?!
- Its a strange but awesome mix of new old - for example a beautiful old building, with a big Macdonalds sign on it.
Had a great time staying with Mirjam and Mathieu in Basel. They were so nice, and I got to see a bit of Basel, try Switzerland's best ice-cream (Mövenpick) and see the massive chocolate section in a Swiss supermarket! My first day in Freiburg has also been good - not at first, when I couldn't find anything and was carting my massive suitcase around over streets that are not made for wheelie bags! But finally made it to my accommodation, met my nice roommates, went to the supermarket, then met some cool people from the language course :) Actually, the supermarket amazed - it was so cheap! For what I calculated would be at least $20 in Australia, I paid just under 9 euro.
So yeah, Freiburg seems pretty cool so far, with beautiful old buildings and streets and trams that go through the city. Have a city tour this afternoon - in German, so we'll see how much more I know about it after! Also have a Kneipentour, aka pub crawl, tonight, which should be fun. It'll be interesting to meet other people from the course.
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