I Think I Might Have the Stockholm Syndrome...

Well hello everyone! I just returned from a weekend excursion to Stockholm, Sweden! More on that in a second. First, I want to talk about Halloween.

Germans don’t celebrate Halloween. Why exactly, I’m not sure. I guess we Americans are just more paganistic. Just kidding.

Anyways, Halloween just isn’t a German thing. So, we Americans put together a Halloween party at one of my friends’ apartment. What was my costume, you might ask? Well, I really haven’t dressed up at all for the past few years. This year I decided why not. Have you ever seen the SNL sketch with Chris Farley trying out to be a Chippendale’s dancer? Well, that’s what I was. I wore a bowtie and black pants. It was a fun night.

Anyways, on with Sweden.

Ah Sweden, the land of such things as...

Ikea...

Abba...

...and death metal.

I had always wanted to go to Sweden, so when I found out earlier this semester that some friends had booked a round-trip flight for $40, I had to join in. We flew out of Basel-Mulhouse Airport on Thursday afternoon, and arrived in Stockholm around 5PM. It was pitch-black out. We boarded a bus called “Flygbussar” which I guess translates to “flight bus.” It was actually easy to translate some Swedish words, since Swedish is a Germanic language. That didn’t stop me from chuckling at such tram stop names as “Sockenplan,” Skogskyrkogården” and “Hammarbyhöjden.” So, we arrived at Stockholm’s main train station, and then took the local tram to our hotel. We stayed at a hotel connected to the Globe Center, where world-renowned musical acts have played.

It seemed like a rather upscale place, since our rooms had seating areas separate from the beds, as well as fancy bathrooms. We hadn’t paid much at all for the hotel, since it was offseason. We took the tram back into town and disembarked at Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town. Gamla Stan is actually an island, like many other parts of Stockholm, as the city sits at a point where the Batlic Sea meets Lake Mälaren. It also sits near a collection of islands called the Stockholm Archipelago. Anyways, we wanted traditional Swedish food, so we found a nice little restaurant off one of the main streets. I had Swedish beef steak with onions and garlic bread, accompanied by a Swedish beer called Klass III. Some of my friends dined on reindeer, which they said tasted like roast beef. What struck me most was the impeccable English spoken by the waitress. In fact, just about everyone we talked to in Sweden spoke remarkably good English, to the point that I wouldn’t have been able to tell they weren’t native English speakers (if their intense blond hair hadn’t given it away already). Something else even more impressive about Sweden was the policy on tap water. In Germany and most other European countries, one has to ask for tap water, which sometimes gets confused for “$10 bottle of still water” or is even frowned upon. In Sweden, tap water is given as abundantly as it is in the States. It’s the little things that sometimes matter the most.

The next day, we woke up around 8 and went to breakfast. Aside from the fact that the dining room looked straight out of an Ikea catalogue, the breakfast was amazing. In addition to the typical European breakfast buffet of bread with cold cuts and cheese, they had sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, Danish pastries, cinnamon rolls, and even Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks! Our first stop was a tourist center. At the gift shop we found Viking helmets and pretend to be Vikings for a few minutes. There was also a Brio train set, much to my delight.

We walked to the Swedish royal palace and took a tour of the Swedish crown jewels and Royal Apartments. Both were very cool to see. The Swedish royal family doesn’t actually live in the Royal Apartments. They were used in the past, but are currently only used for visiting dignitaries such as royalty from other countries or heads of state/heads of government. Each visitor received their own coat of arms, and it was cool to see the South African coat of arms when Nelson Mandela visited Stockholm. Unfortunately there was no coat of arms for the U.S.A., but I can understand if the Swedes don’t want George Bush to visit.

On that note, Sweden is such a wonderfully socialized society. The streets are spotless, the metro is clean and efficient, and all the old buildings are very well kept. Granted Sweden is one of the most expensive countries I’ve ever been to, but the social programs seem to be working quite well.

After the Royal Palace we went to the Nobel Museum, which documents the history of Alfred Nobel and the prize which bears his name. It was an enlightening visit. We then trekked down to the water, and took a boat tour of Stockholm’s canals. I got some great pictures of the parks and walkways which run along the river, and I even got a picture of the house belonging to a member of Abba!

By the end of the boat tour, we were getting tired. Although the weather was quite pleasant, it was indeed Sweden and the temperature was a bit cold. We wanted to go to the Vasa Museum, which houses a 17^th-century Swedish warship. So we walked to the museum, which entailed walking along the docks. There were lots of neat boats, ranging from river cruisers like we had ridden to personal sailboats, some of which dated back to the early 1900's. There were important safety signs along the way, such as my personal favorite, "watch where you're driving your car or you might fall into the river."

The Vasa was the pride and joy of the Swedish navy. It was built in the 17^th century, a time when Sweden was intermittently at war with its neighbors for control of shipping channels. At this point in time, Poland was the opponent. The ship first set sail on August 10, 1628. However, 20 minutes later, it capsized and sank. Sure speaks well of the Swedish navy, doesn’t it?

Anyways, the ship was raised in the 1960’s and is now on display. It’s in pretty good condition which made for some pretty cool pictures. After the Vasa Museum it was dinnertime, and we all had only one thing on our minds: Swedish meatballs.

After searching Gamla Stan for about an hour, we returned to the tourist center and asked. The lady pointed us to a nice restaurant off one of the main squares. It was a rather upscale place, but the meatballs were relatively inexpensive. The restaurant had a dance floor and a guy singing and playing the piano, which created a wonderful dining atmosphere. The meatballs didn’t last long, and two of our group had to depart for an appointment at the Absolut Ice Bar, a bar sponsored by Absolut Vodka Company that is made entirely of ice. The rest of us sat at the restaurant for a bit more, then went to, of all places, TGI Friday’s for a drink.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and called it a night. When we woke up the next morning, the ground was covered with a thin layer of snow! Sweden just kept on getting better and better!

However, the rest of the day proved to be a headache. We got to the airport on time, and boarded the plane. It was supposed to leave at 12:30, and we pulled out of the gate, and then pulled back in. After about 30 minutes, the captain notified us that this plane would not fly. So we went back into the terminal and waited for another plane to be sent for us. It arrived 2 hours later, and then we departed for Basel-Mulhouse. We landed, and found that the next Freiburger Reisedienst, the airport bus, wouldn’t be for another 4 hours. So we ate a long dinner at the airport’s restaurant, and frolicked through the nearly-empty terminal to kill time. Finally the bus came at 10:30PM, and we arrived in Freiburg about an hour later. Nonetheless, it didn’t put a damper on the whole trip. This weekend was by far one of the highlights of my trip.

So what’s next? Paper writing, London next weekend, then Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris the week after that.

Bis später!

Dave

Czech This Out!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while!

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been swamped with work, being sick, and field trips. As a result, I have a lot to catch up on, seeing as how my last post was about the Alps trip the first week of this month.

First I’d like to give a shout out to the Minnesota Nivens. It’s great to hear from you all! I’m glad you like my blog posts. To answer Charlotte, Patrick and Michael’s question about how I could drink that beer, my answer is “slowly.” The same applies for the other 2 liters I drank, but don’t tell my mother about them…

So, the semester has started to pick up, with lots of papers, tests and the like. I’m trying to keep a cool demeanor about them. It’s just kind of hard when your curriculum involves taking field trips to three of the most beautiful cities in the world: Budapest, Krakow and Prague. But more on those in a bit. In between the Alps trip and the Eastern Europe trip, we played soccer against the IES staff. There were 2 student teams and 1 staff team. We greatly underestimated the staff’s skills, as both student teams lost to the staff. I guess that’s what happens when you play against people who have been playing soccer their whole lives. Here’s a picture of us playing. I’m on the far right.

Now, for our Eastern European excursion. On October 14^th we flew from Stuttgart to Budapest, Hungary. My first impression was “wow, what a goofy-looking language.” The Hungarian language is unlike any other in central/eastern Europe; it is a Finno-Ugric language surrounded by mostly Slavic-speaking countries. As for Budapest, it is quite a remarkable city. Budapest used to be two cities, one on each side of the Danube. The western part was called “Buda,” and can you guess the eastern part’s name? Yes, that’s right, “Pest.” Our first academic meeting took place in the Hungarian Parliament Building, by far one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen.

It was built in the 19^th century in neo-Gothic style. Inside, the place looks like a palace! There’s grand staircases, crown jewels, and even a gold-leaf covered senate chamber. Here’s a few pictures.

The rest of the city is quite remarkable as well. A lot of parts were under construction, evincing Hungary’s forward looking, ambitious nature as a player on the world stage. There are lots of statues all over the city, paying homage to great Hungarian heroes such as Lajos Kossuth, who fought for Hungarian independence in the 1848 revolution, and Imre Nagy, whose statue stands in Martyrs’ Square. He vehemently opposed the Soviet Union and was killed in 1958.

Getting around Budapest was quite easy. There are extensive subway and tram lines. I found the subway to be particularly cool. All the trains were fairly old and loud, and did not offer the light-as-air rides most trams offer nowadays. Frankly, they sounded like diesel engines. But the most interesting thing about the Budapest subway was the Soviet placard found on each car. I have no idea what this means, but you can see the letters “CCCP” at the bottom.

Just a little bit of a throwback, no?

The city at night is absolutely gorgeous. All the bridges are lit up, as are the main roads alongside the Danube River.

Our next stop was Krakow, the “royal capital” of Poland. Unfortunately my camera batteries died so I don’t have quite as many pictures from Krakow, but I can assure you that it’s a beautiful city.

My favorite parts were Rynek Główny, the main square, and Wawel, the old castle. Krakow was substantially smaller compared to Budapest and Prague (at least the parts we were in), but its character more than made up for its size. Our hotel was situated about 15 minutes away from the main square, in an area with a distinct urban character. People walked around with expressions on their faces as if they always had somewhere to go, similar to Philly or NYC. The older town was gorgeous, though, with cobblestoned streets and a beautiful walk along the Vistula River. Green slopes down from Wawel led to a pathway right alongside the river. We had dinner at a Polish pub and ate pierogies. One of the coolest things we saw in Krakow was a troupe of fire-dancers, who soaked ropes and staves in kerosene, lit them on fire, and then danced along to intense drumming. Kudos to my friend Alex for taking this picture.

The next stop was Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camps. Frankly, I’d rather not talk about my experience there in this blog, but I will say that it was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

We took a bus ride from Poland to the Czech Republic, which lasted about 8 hours. It really wasn’t that bad. We played lots of games and even watched “The Sound of Music.” Don’t expect a film review here.

Our last stop was Prague, one of my favorite cities in the world.

Karlov Most (Charles Bridge) over the Vltava River.

I had been to Prague once before. I celebrated New Year’s Day 2005 in Prague’s Old Town Square. I was so excited to revisit the city after 3 years. We stayed about 10 minutes away from Wenceslas Square, the New Town’s main square, at the top of which sits the National Museum. We were given the most free time in Prague, which we all made liberal use of. I went back to some of my favorite spots, such as Old Town Square and the John Lennon Wall.

The John Lennon Wall is a wall in the town below Prague Castle on which someone spray-painted a memorial to John Lennon after he died, and people began adding their own messages of peace, love, and Beatles-stuff. It grew to be a huge graffiti wall.

Prague Castle is a remarkable area.

I had been there before, but still reveled in the great structures such as St. Vitus cathedral, a beautiful example of Gothic architecture. Two friends and I decided to wander around a bit, and we found our way to several parks and public gardens near the castle. I had never been to these before, so it was nice to discover a new place.

Now, Prague is renowned for its night-life, so of course I basked in it.

Rather than go into detail, I’ll just summarize: we went to a club that was 5-stories tall, with different floors for different kinds of music (oldies was our favorite; everything from “Rock Around the Clock” to “Billy Jean” and “Macarena”). We danced until 4AM and then called it a night (or did we call it a morning?). It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Sadly, we had to return to Freiburg the next Sunday. Not that Freiburg is a bad place, we just have work and stuff like that in Freiburg.

So it’s been an uneventful week since the big field trip, aside from a class trip we took to Alsace yesterday. We visited two forts, one from the 19^th century and one from right before World War I. Here’s a picture of the artillery battery at Kaiser-Wilhelm-II-Fest.

So what’s next? More schoolwork, yes, but next weekend I’m visiting Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The weekend after that I’m going to London, and then the week after that is our final big academic field trip. This one goes to Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris.

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all.

-Dave

"Ah, Swiss air. You can smell the neutrality." -- Me

WOW!

On Wednesday, we went hiking in the Swiss Alps. I had been to Switzerland once before, but all that trip involved was an hour layover in the Zurich airport and a bar of Toblerone.

I woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning. We had to be at the entrance to our dorm area at 7:50AM to be picked up by the bus, so I scrapped my plans of making bacon and eggs for breakfast, and had a bowl of cereal (which you all should know, bowls of cereal are an institution in my 21-year career as an eater of breakfast). The bus came, and we all clambered on. The bus ride took about 3 hours, and we were dropped off in a parking lot in the town of Grindelwald. Grindelwald is in the Berne canton (roughly equivalent to an American state), which is near the Italian border. We divided into groups, my group being the one to go on the most strenuous hike. We boarded a cog-train bound for Kleine Scheidegg, one of the smaller Alpine mountains. It stands in the shadow of two gargantuan Swiss Alpine mountains, Eiger and Jungfrau.

After about a 20-minute train ride, we began to descend the mountain. Now, I thought Pennsylvania’s countryside had nice views. I thought Tennessee had nice views. Switzerland trumps them all. I have never seen mountains and valleys so beautiful as those of Switzerland. Enormous rock formations, capped with snow, overlook lush, green valleys dotted with villages. Switzerland is probably the most beautiful country I have visited so far. Sure, Italy has ruins and Mediterranean landscapes, but Switzerland’s majesty is untouchable.

Anyways, the hike wasn’t so bad. The first stretch was mostly downhill, which is more difficult than one would think. Gravity forces you to walk faster than a normal pace, and your knees have to absorb the shock of not walking on flat ground. After hiking for what seemed like an hour, we stopped for lunch. After consuming the sandwich I packed for myself, I took in the amazing view of the Grindelwald valley. Meanwhile, people were parachuting off higher cliffs down into the valley. Don’t worry Mom, I don’t plan on going parachuting. Yet.

We resumed the hike, and finally started going uphill. Yes, I’m aware of the paradox of going uphill to hike down a mountain. That’s just how the mountain path is.

It was intense at first, but that might’ve been because my stomach was full of mystery German meat and Holländer cheese.

As the temperature fluctuated, we ascended the mountain path. The landscape changed from rolling hills to rocky climbs, from green forests to steep cliffs. The entire hike, I was astounded by the beauty of the views. Our hike also took us to a glacial canyon, where I filled up my water bottle with cool, delicious glacier water.

We even met some goats along the way.

The return to civilization, illustrated by clotheslines and Spongebob Squarepants balloons, signaled the end of the hike. We had hiked for 5 hours.

Sore, yet imbued with a newfound reverence for nature’s beauty, I boarded the bus back to Germany. Shortly thereafter, I joined the Green Party.

Just kidding.

We returned to Freiburg, and I cooked a small dinner and then went to bed.

Thursday’s classes were interesting, but nothing you all want to hear about. For our Model European Union simulation, I will take on the role of Prime Minister of the Netherlands. My policy areas are security and E.U. enlargement. I also made a boast during one of my poli sci classes, regarding our upcoming soccer game against the IES staff. Our professor, who will be playing goalie, said that he will see me on the soccer field on Sunday. I replied “Yes, I’ll see you on the soccer field…as I’m kicking the ball right past you.” He replied “Ah, okay. For every goal you score, you drop one letter grade. Now, which position do you play?” I said, “Usually midfield, but if my grade depends on it, I’ll play defense.”

Today, we went to Staufen, which, as elaborated by my history professor at Penn State, is “one of those cute little German towns.” She hit the nail right on the head. We took a regional train from Freiburg for about 20 minutes and arrived in Staufen. The weather was very foggy, but it wasn’t particularly cold or rainy. After splitting up into groups, we climbed a hill of grapevines to an 11^th century castle that was built by the dukes of Staufen as a defensive measure. While some people pretended to besiege the castle by climbing up the walls, the rest of us took the easy route by walking through the gate and climbing up the stairs.

We then walked into the town itself, which was like a smaller version of Freiburg. There were a few restaurants, some wine-tasting shops, and a town square (no McDonald’s!). We then learned that it was in Staufen that the historical Faust, the medieval alchemist who sold his soul to the devil, lived and died. At the top of the Rathaus (town hall) there is a footprint, supposedly that of the devil when he came to claim Faust’s soul.

Also while in Staufen, we were assaulted by a gang of 3 children on bikes. They followed us on the tour, yelling and whistling at us, and encircling us with their bikes. Eventually, they warmed up though. They began talking to us and took us to their favorite place in town, the church. We started walking back into the town, and one kid fell off his bike and hit his head. We bought him some chocolate-covered pretzels to cheer him up.

Tomorrow, the student activity coordinator’s country music band is playing in town. I’m quite anxious to see the German take on an American musical style. And Sunday is, of course, the students vs. staff soccer game. I’ll give you a score report, as well as a report of how much or little my grade drops as a result

Also coming up is the second big academic field trip. We are going to Krakow in Poland, Budapest in Hungary, and one of my favorite cities in the world, Prague in the Czech Republic.

I slept poorly last night, so I think I’m going to take a little nap. I hope you have enjoyed this entry.

This is me being excited to be in a field of grapevines, by the way.

A Brief Interlude

I may be in another country, but I can still support my team. Go Phillies!

"I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing" -- Homer Simpson

Greetings all.

A weekend of fun has just come to an end.

Friday, I basked in the fact that I have no class by sleeping in. My roommate wanted to go second-hand clothing shopping, so I went with her. We walked all over Freiburg for about 2 hours, and then I called it quits so I could do grocery shopping. I loaded up on groceries for the week, barely fitting all of them into my backpack and plastic bag that I had brought along (remember, you have to pay for plastic bags in Germany). There was a party for international students at one of the dorm complexes, so we went over. It turned out to be pretty low-key, and we all called it a night fairly early.

On Saturday, I woke up around 7:30, and boarded a train with two friends for Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Wuerttemburg. Thus began my Oktoberfest experience. This isn’t THE Oktoberfest of which so many people speak. Rather, it’s a regional one which is very similar. After being kicked off one train (our ticket apparently good for the express train), we boarded a regional train for Stuttgart. We could tell that the Volksfest was most of the passengers’ destination, as people were decked out in traditional German clothing, were singing German folk songs, and were dancing in the aisles. After about 45 minutes, we arrived at Stuttgart’s main train station. Rather than look for signs or ask around, we just followed the crowd, which took us to the S-Bahn (Schnellbahn or Stadtbahn; public transportation) and then boarded a local train labeled “Volksfestlinie.” We arrived at the festival grounds after a few stops. It was a huge area, complete with two ferris wheels, roller coasters, and the main attractions, Festzelten. Literally, that means “party tent.” They weren’t so much tents as static structures. Inside each one were kitchens, bathrooms, rows and rows of picnic tables, stages and soundsystems. We walked into the first one we saw. A band was playing inside, and people were standing on the tables, dancing and singing along. We couldn’t find seats inside, but we eventually found outdoor seating which was ultimately more rewarding, because it was such a beautiful day. Our waitress promptly walked up and asked us what we wanted. We each ordered a liter of beer (the standard size at German festivals) and half of a chicken. Not 5 minutes later, we were presented with the biggest beers I had ever seen, and the most tender, succulent chicken I’ve ever eaten (next to the chicken prepared by my mother J). Everything was so good, we ordered another round. I had another half-chicken, and my friends ate traditional German Wurst, sausages. We wandered around for a bit more, and my friends wanted to stop at another tent. We picked one and were immediately singled out by people from, of all places, Penn State! My friend was wearing his PSU t-shirt. We sat and talked with them for a bit, and then moved on.

We didn’t think it would be smart to ride a roller coaster after 2 liters of beer and a whole chicken. We are indeed smart individuals.

We caught the 9:15 train back to Freiburg, at which point I was exhausted. I slept in late on Sunday morning, and then went to meet some people in town to go to a soccer game.

Freiburg’s soccer team is called S.C. Freiburg, Sport Club Freiburg. Whereas in America sport teams’ names are usually the city followed by the name (i.e. Philadelphia Phillies), most European sport teams have an abbreviation followed by the city’s name (for example, F.C. is the most common, standing for “Football Club”). Most teams also have a nickname given to them by their fans. S.C. Freiburg are referred to as the “Breisgau-Brasilianer,” meaning “the Brazilians from the Breisgau.” This is a take on the fact that Brazil is regarded as the best international soccer team, and Breisgau is the region in which Freiburg lies.

Anyways, I donned my S.C. Freiburg scarf and we headed out to the stadium. It’s a small venue compared to Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Ballpark, but the fan’s enthusiasm counterbalanced the stadium’s size. Almost non-stop from when the team walked out to do warm-ups to the game’s last whistle, people were yelling, chanting, and beating drums. When the starting lineups were announced, sometimes the fans shouted “Fussballgott” after a particular player was announced. The nickname denotes particularly skilled players, and translates to “god of soccer.” Whereas in Philadelphia if, say, Pat Burrell were to foul out or strike out, he’d get booed by all the fans. In Freiburg, when a player missed a shot, they were lauded for their effort. In the end, Freiburg won 2-0. At almost the same time, the German national team won the Women’s World Cup against Brazil, so there was much celebration in the stadium.

Well, it was a fun-filled weekend, but I have homework to do. We have a packed weekend coming up, including hiking the Alps, a trip to a smaller German town called Staufen, a soccer game against the program staff, and a concert featuring one of the staff members’ country music band (believe it or not).

So I leave you by saying, Prost!

#4 - Pictures

Well, I've been explaining how everything is, so now it's time to show you all how it is.
Welcome to Stühlinger. This is a view outside of my room's window.

Münstermarkt, the fresh food market in the town square.

The European Parliament.

Strasbourg, France. Beautiful.

My new home, Freiburg, Germany.

The Black Forest.

Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle near Colmar, France.

A street in Eguisheim, France. It's almost out of a child's storybook.

At the German Foreign Ministry.

The town square in Tallinn, Estonia.

The "vicious" guard dogs at the Irish embassy in Estonia.

Tallinn's Old Town section.

Hope you enjoyed this! More to come!

Blog #3 - Cows and Communism

Hey everyone. We just returned to Freiburg from our second academic field trip, this one going to Berlin and Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Before I get into that, here are pictures from the cow festival I mentioned in the last blog entry.

It was an interesting festival. The baby cows were cute until someone yelled out “hey, look at the veal!” I also rode a mechanical bull with mild success. I don’t plan on taking it up as a hobby.

So, back to the field trip. We left Freiburg around 8AM last Tuesday. We took a train to Mannheim, another town in Baden-Württemburg, and changed trains for Berlin. On the train ride I learned to appreciate something called Frikadellenbrötchen, a Danish meatball sandwich. They are delectable. If you ever get the chance I highly suggest trying one.

Traveling by train is more fun than traveling by plane, in my opinion. I really enjoyed seeing the German countryside as we sped along at upwards of 200 km/h. We rode Germany’s equivalent of Acela, the ICE. That stands for InterCity Express. It was a smooth, comfortable 5-hour train ride from Mannheim to Berlin. We arrived at Berlin Hauptbanhof, a new train station that was built not too long ago. It is a very fancy-looking building, with east-west trains running above ground and north-south trains running on ground level.

We took a local train to Friedrichstrasse, and then walked a few blocks to our hostel. It was a very modern building, and had a bar that showed soccer…er…football games. At night the bar would fill up with young fans who hooped and hollered every time a goal was scored. What’s interesting about staying at hostels is that you meet lots of people around your age who come from all over the world. We made up most of the American population, but we mostly ran into Australians. We sat down and talked with three of them about our cultures. One of the more amusing things I found out was that Australians don’t like to use complete words. They always described themselves as “’Stralians” and were not hesitant to admit their linguistic laziness. I was interested to find out that when Australians travel, they travel for months at a time because their country is so much farther away from the world’s more popular travel destinations.

But enough about the Aussies. Berlin caught me somewhat off guard. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect about the city. I knew that it had been divided from 1961 to 1989, but I wasn’t sure how that would’ve affected the city’s physical makeup. We stayed in the former East Berlin, which was a sorry system of Socialist-style structures. Sorry, I was in an alliterative mood. As to be expected, a lot of East Berlin’s buildings were built in the Socialist style, which means large, grey and bland. We didn’t venture into the West too much. We visited the Jewish Memorial which was designed by a New York architect and walked through the Brandenburger Tor, which was completed in 1791, survived complete destruction in World War II, and was where John F. Kennedy pronounced himself a jelly donut in 1963. We saw the Reichstag building from our tour bus, as well as the new, ultra-modern Chancellery building.

We visited Humboldt University, one of Europe’s most prestigious universities. There we met with the Secretary General of the European Movement, a government-funded grassroots (kind of oxymoronic, no?) organization that seeks to speed up communication between the German federal government and the European Union. His speech was a little contradictory, in that he stated that his organization sees Europe as becoming an increasingly federal system, yet he denied the existence of any “pan-European” identity. But hey, I’ll save the political analysis for my essay that’s due in two days.

Our next meeting was with Mr. Gernot Erler, one of Germany’s two Ministers of State. That is, he is the second most powerful figure in Germany’s Foreign Ministry. He is a member of the Social Democrat Party which is currently in coalition with the Christian Democrat/Christian Social Union parties. He is also the most intimidating-looking person I’ve ever met.

All that aside, his speech was a very thorough summary of Germany’s accomplishments during its presidency of the European Union. He answered all of our questions very articulately, unlike most politicians who like to sidestep questions. On a side not, he sounded like Henry Kissinger.

After Berlin we flew to the cold lands of the north. That is, we went to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Estonia is the northernmost Baltic State, which borders Russia to the east and Latvia to the south. It’s a small country, but is very excited to be a member of the European Union as we learned from out meeting with Aivo Orav, a political director at Estonia’s foreign ministry. This was my first trip to a former Soviet Republic. I’ve been to a former Soviet satellite (Czech Republic). You can tell that the memory of the Soviet era still looms, as characterized by more big grey buildings, buses that look like they’re from the early 1980’s, and the omnipresence of the Russian language. Estonia’s largest minority are Russians, who came over from Russia during the Soviet era. Almost every sign is written in Estonia (one of the goofiest languages I’ve ever seen; I’ll elaborate later), Russian and English.

I was very impressed with Tallinn. We stayed in the “up-town,” the older section. The city’s medieval walls and town hall still stand. There is a town square with neat little alleyways and streets jutting off of it. The downtown area was just as modern as any other major city though. Sure enough, there were McDonalds’ and 5-story shopping malls. What impressed me most about Tallinn, however, was how many people spoke English and how well they spoke it. I was quite glad that they did, because I could not understand Estonian at all. Imagine a few common English words, then double up on the vowels and add a few extra syllables, and you’ve got something that resembles Estonian. For example, a souvenir store is called “suuveniiridid.” I thought Dutch was a goofy-looking language, but then I saw Estonian. Streets bore names such as “Toompea” and “Rahukohtu,” while signs advertised things such as “Kohvik-Restoran Merevaikus Patkuli Vaateplats.” Don’t ask me what it means. You’d think “Pood” would mean “food,” but it doesn’t.

My main complaint about Tallinn was the weather. It wasn’t quite as cold as I thought it would be, but it did rain an awful lot. Much to my dismay, my umbrella with the European Union’s circle of stars refused to function and kept on flipping inside out. I hope that isn’t a microcosm of how the European Union functions. I hope it continues to work properly.

Myself and 4 others braved the rain and wind, walking 2 kilometers to a palace that formerly belonged to Peter the Great, a Russian czar. The palace has been turned into a museum housing artwork that Peter owned. It had a lot of nice pieces of art, and had a well-kept courtyard garden out back. We wandered a little further up the street and found the residence of the Estonian president. Instead of a White House, they have a Pink House. How quaint.

Our time in Tallinn ended with a farewell dinner at a traditional Estonian restaurant. While we were eating we were serenaded by an Estonian accordion player. Due to a mixup in the menu, I was given a plate of salmon. As most of you know, I hate seafood, but I thought to myself “when in Tallinn, do as the Tallinners (?) do.” So I ate salmon, and it wasn’t too bad. For dessert we had caramel cake, which tasted a bit like graham crackers. Yum!

Our time in Tallinn was also marred by the departure. We were supposed to wake up at 4AM and be on the bus by 5AM, in preparation for our 7AM flight. My alarm didn’t go off, and we didn’t receive our wake-up call, so I woke up to one of my roommates (who had been partaking of Tallinn’s vibrant nightlife) stumbling into the room and saying “guys, everyone is on the bus, we have to get downstairs now!” I packed in about 30 seconds, losing a pair of flip-flops and my razor in the process. We got on the bus about 10 after 5 and got to the airport, boarded our flight, and arrived in Frankfurt am Main at 8AM.

That said, I’m still a bit tired. I’m going to rest for a bit and then start to write my essay.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Dave

#2

Hallo und herzlich Gruß aus Freiburg, Deutschland!

I have been in Germany for almost two weeks now, and I think it’s time for an update.

First, a little about the area in which I live. I live in southwest Germany, in a state called Baden-Württemburg. Baden and Württemburg used to be sovereign states before the German unification process in the late 1800’s. After World War II the area was occupied by France, and then was incorporated into the Federal German Republic, aka West Germany.

I live in one of Baden-Württemburg’s larger towns, Freiburg im Breisgau. It is about 45 minutes away from France and about an hour away from Switzerland. The town was founded sometime around 1120, when it was an independent trading town. Several centuries later it was placed under the protection of the Austrian (Habsburg) Empire. It is a beautiful town which blends old and new. For example, the town’s main church, Münster, was built in the 13^th century and a large portion of the city features cobblestone streets, but these are accompanied by stores such as Foot Locker, H&M, and unfortunately McDonald’s. In fact, one of the town’s two gates, Martinstor, is emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo. It’s kind of sickening. I’ll post pictures as soon as I have internet access in my room.

Anyways, I left Philadelphia on September 1 at 6PM and arrived in Barcelona, Spain around 8AM. With a four hour layover, I decided to keep myself busy by buying a duty-free bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin and by doing a bit of reading. After my layover I flew to Basel, Switzerland and then caught a bus to Freiburg. I took a cab to my hostel and got into contact with some of my trip-mates who had posted their phone numbers online. I quickly made friends with them.

Our first few days consisted of more orientation meetings than I would have liked, and more beer-drinking sessions than I’d like to admit.

Our class schedule right now consists of 2 hours of German and 2 hours of political science each day. We even had class on Saturday, much to our dismay. After classes are over, people usually go out to eat in groups or go shopping, as we are all still tying up loose ends with clothing and living arrangements. Dinner parties are a popular nighttime activity, as well as going to pubs or beer gardens.

Last Tuesday we went to Strasbourg, France to visit the European Parliament building. The European Parliament is an interesting establishment, in which delegates speak in their own languages, which are translated and repeated to other delegates through the use of headphones. While it may seem confusing, this is part of the EU’s attempt to negate the idea that the EU’s ultimate goal is to homogenize European culture, i.e. one universal language.

Last Saturday we went out to a club. Yes, I danced, believe it or not.

On Sunday we went hiking in the Black Forest, which is east of Freiburg im Breisgau. It offered spectacular views of the German countryside, as well as a look at a small village called St. (in German, Sankt) Peter.

Yesterday I bought a pair of bongos and jammed with a kid who bought a guitar. We are going to practice a few times and then go out to be street performers. If I can make 35 Euros before we leave Germany, I will have broken even on my musical expenses and will be satisfied.

This weekend, we are taking a trip to Alsace on Saturday, and then attending something called “Almabtrieb” in the Black Forest. It’s some kind of festival that involves dressing cows up in costumes. I’ll be sure to post pictures of that. On Tuesday the 18^th we leave for Berlin, then onto Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia, the northernmost Baltic state)

As for the Germans, they’re interesting people. Most of them speak very good English, especially the younger people. They have a good fashion sense as well. However, Germany has not escaped America’s influence in that area as well. The oh-so-popular emo style and hip hop style have permeated German society as well. Black jeans with black jackets and white studded belts can be seen, as well as Roca-Wear jeans along with flat-brimmed slightly sideways New York Yankees baseball hats. The strangest thing I’ve seen, however, is the popularity of the mullet. Kids wear mullets, sometimes spiked, sometimes with dyed hair tips, sometimes with patterns shaven into the sides of their heads.

They have interesting customs that threw me off initially. When going to a supermarket, most people bring their own bags, as plastic shopping bags cost a little extra. That said, the Germans are very environmentally conscious. Whereas an average American kitchen will have one trash can and maybe a recycle bucket, every German kitchen has four receptacles. One is for paper, one is for plastic recyclables, and one is Restmüll, biodegradable material such as banana peels and cake crumbs. The fourth is a crate for glass bottles, which are taken to recycling bins labeled Weißglas, Braunglas, or Grünglas (white, brown and green glass). Beer and soda bottles made of glass can also be returned to stores for a Pfand, a deposit refund. It sounds complicated, but I got used to it after about a week.

Further evidence of their environmentally-friendly nature is the fact that Freiburg’s mayor is from the Green Party, and that Freiburg’s area provided more votes for Green Party members to parliament than any other area in Germany. The preferred mode of transportation in Freiburg is the bicycle. Cars are a rare sight in the older part of town, save for the occasional delivery truck.

Another thing I found interesting is their wedding customs. In America, people used to tie cans to strings and drag them from behind a limo when a couple gets married. In Germany, wedding processions ride through the streets beeping their horns and waving at anyone walking by. Anyone who says that the Germans are stern, expressionless people clearly has not been to Germany yet.

Well, I should probably get back to homework now. More to come.

Bis dann,

Dave

T-minus 41 Days

As you all may or may not be aware, I will be spending the Fall 2007 semester in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. This is a first post just to get the ball rolling, I guess.

I wouldn't say I'm nervous about the trip. I'm not even anxious yet. Frankly, I have enough on my plate as it is: political science research, a rigorous German course, studying for the GREs, and so on. I'm pretty sure it will all hit me by August 15th though. I'd just say that I'm looking forward to a great semester of fun, learning, and gutes Deutsches Bier!