Since I just arrived in Budapest, Hungary for the night, I figured I should at least catch you up to our Switzerland adventures we've recently had. Last week, we took a trip to Geneva for a night with our entire group so it was a little packed for the 7 hour bus ride. We didn't get as much time as we would have liked because the program probably couldn't afford to put us up for more than a night since it costs so much in Switzerland! A coke was about $5 US and the cheapest food we found to eat was Chinese/Thai. I got fried rice with chicken and basil and a glass of coke and my bill amounted to $16! A little pricey, aye?
But other than that, we pretty much lived at the United Nations building where we crammed 3 meetings in on Thursday that were one and a half hours long, then 2 one and a half hour long meetings on Friday. The speakers weren't that bad either. We had a speaker from the UN who gave us an overview of the organization, then one from the UN who gave us an overview of the Human Rights sector of the UN (which obviously comprises a majority of the UN's work), a speaker from the High Commisioner's Office for Refugees (who I ABSOLUTELY loved!!), the French ambassador to the UN, and a representative to the WTO (....and if you didn't know, I hate the WTO and all the bull-crap that it stands for---they have screwed way too many underdeveloped nations over to have a respectable reputation).
Other than the academic side of the trip, we were able to dine on traditional Swiss cuisine...cheese fondue and white wine---which was nice but I'm sure no one went to the bathroom for a few days afterwards =) . We did wander around Thursday night and found the famous fountain and a few places to get drinks...but nothing of great interest. Then Friday, after our meeting we were given 2 hours to wander around before we had to be back. So we went to some souvenir shops and to the Chinese/Thai place. I only got chocolate as my souvenir...because once again it was so expensive! Plus, I figured you have to have chocolate while you're in Switzerland, right?
We came back home Friday afternoon, had Saturday to ourselves, then left again Sunday morning to go to the Alps. The place we were originally going to was called Grindelwald, which is supposed to be gorgeous, but that area had gotten about 2-3 feet of snow the night before, so we had to change our plans and go to Engelberg and Luzern. The Alps are so beautiful! I cannot begin to describe how pretty and surreal the landscapes were! I thought our mountains were nice, but they cannot even compare to the Alps! When we got up on Mt. Titliss, there was about 6-8 inches of snow that we had to hike in, but no one minded. We were all actually excited and played around like little kids for a while! We walked around a beautiful lake for a while and took our time just taking in the views. Then we rode the gondola back down and took our bus to Luzern. It was such a cute city, with beautiful old buildings and wooden-covered bridges. Plus, you could see the Alps from almost any point in the city as well as the lake.
After we left Luzern, we went back home to Freiburg and I had one long week with many papers, etc, due. But everything turned out fine, in the end. I've been doing really well on my papers/tests...so far all A's! I'm not so sure how I did on my German test this past Thursday, but we'll see.
Night life has been pretty great here in Freiburg....so far my favorite, as I've probably already mentioned, is Kamikazi. They play quiet a variety of music....from indie to techno to classic rock to awesome rock. Last night, I went out with a bunch of people to a club called El Pi and it was fantastic! Thursday nights are oldies nights, so they play nothing but music from the 50s through the 70s with an occasional 80s song thrown in there! Everyone had a blast!!! Especially hearing "Shout" and "The Twist" as well as "Satisfaction". I can't wait to go again! Tuesday nights are supposed to be punk/rock nights so that will definitely be something to check out as well.
I think this is enough for now, but I'll definitely post my pictures soon of Switzerland and our Eastern Europe tour. The cities and countries we are going to this week are: Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Prague, Czech Republic; and Krakow, Poland. So, as you can imagine, I am thrilled and can't wait for this week!! Plus, Mom and Dad are coming to visit once I get back so that will be a blast, too. I can't wait for my friends to meet them and to show Mom and Dad around Germany. It will be great! But have a good night and I'll post again soon!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Classes, etc
So we officially started classes the Monday after we got back from Berlin and Tallinn (which was a week and a half ago). I can't believe it's gone by so fast! My classes are a blast and I even enjoy the readings...to an extent! We've also had a crap-load of work put on us since within the last week. Our classes are only Monday through Thursday and I have already had one 5 page paper, 1 half page paper, and of course a great deal of reading due (not to mention I have a presentation and detailed outline due Monday...). Here are the classes I am taking this semester (in case you find it interesting):
PO/CU 243 - European Political Cultures
PO/IR 332 - The European Union and the Muslim World
PO/CU 334 - Migration, Ethnic Minorities, and Multiculturalism in Europe
PO 350 - European Union Studies Integrative Seminar
GR 201 - Intermediate German I
** PO = Political Science, CU = Cultural Studies, IR = International Relations, GR = German
But like I said, all of my classes are very interesting and I enjoy seeing how they intertwine with different perspectives of similar issues.
On a different note, I am "experimenting" with cooking =) . I don't really think I have the whole German cooking style down yet, but I am an expert at making pasta, potato soup, pizzas, and some other beginner dishes. I tried to make hamburgers and they turned out pretty good...would have been better if they were grilled! But I totally failed at banana pudding...I don't blame that entirely on myself though. The vanilla wafers were not the kind we have at home, the pudding was more of a gelatin filling texture than creamy-pudding texture, and I forgot to get eggs to make the icing (so I made egg-less icing that I found online and it turned out to be sugar cookie icing...yuck). So as you can see, it was a total failure. Oh and while I'm on the subject of food, let me reiterate how DIFFICULT it is to shop in the German "grocery stores" because they have the most random items --- it really makes me appreciate Food Lion even more at home! Anyways, back to the cooking...me and a couple of my friends try to cook together to learn from one another and it's working out really well. I really enjoy hanging out with all the girls and getting to know them better. Obviously, there are guys in the program, too, but they do their own thing most of the time.
I feel like I haven't talked a lot about Freiburg, so I guess I could do that a little. The people here in Freiburg are very nice and liberal -- which makes since being that it is a college town. There is quiet a variety of restaurants here in Freiburg, but I especially love the Turkish and Italian ones! The Yufka Kebab has become my new craving-food (as normally Mexican is...and by the way, they do have a few Mexican hot spots around here that are quite tasty!). Moving on, the nightlife here is great as well. There are always things to do, and I really enjoy the "discotheques." They play such a wide variety of music and it is not mainstream...I've even found a few punk, indie, and 60s/70s rock clubs around here! SO exciting! The city in general is such a beautiful and vibrant place! As I said with the nightlife, you can always find something to do. We have a beer garden called Feierlings that brews its own beer on site, of course we have a gorgeous cathedral (!), and our streets/alleys and buildings make Freiburg my home away from home. I couldn't imagine living in a better city in Germany! I'd love to come back here after I finish school and live for a while!
But on an ending note, I hope the economic situation gets better in America, and the rest of the world as it is obviously not affecting only America. Other than that, I hope everyone at home is doing well and I hope to post as soon as I get home from Geneva on Saturday!
PO/CU 243 - European Political Cultures
PO/IR 332 - The European Union and the Muslim World
PO/CU 334 - Migration, Ethnic Minorities, and Multiculturalism in Europe
PO 350 - European Union Studies Integrative Seminar
GR 201 - Intermediate German I
** PO = Political Science, CU = Cultural Studies, IR = International Relations, GR = German
But like I said, all of my classes are very interesting and I enjoy seeing how they intertwine with different perspectives of similar issues.
On a different note, I am "experimenting" with cooking =) . I don't really think I have the whole German cooking style down yet, but I am an expert at making pasta, potato soup, pizzas, and some other beginner dishes. I tried to make hamburgers and they turned out pretty good...would have been better if they were grilled! But I totally failed at banana pudding...I don't blame that entirely on myself though. The vanilla wafers were not the kind we have at home, the pudding was more of a gelatin filling texture than creamy-pudding texture, and I forgot to get eggs to make the icing (so I made egg-less icing that I found online and it turned out to be sugar cookie icing...yuck). So as you can see, it was a total failure. Oh and while I'm on the subject of food, let me reiterate how DIFFICULT it is to shop in the German "grocery stores" because they have the most random items --- it really makes me appreciate Food Lion even more at home! Anyways, back to the cooking...me and a couple of my friends try to cook together to learn from one another and it's working out really well. I really enjoy hanging out with all the girls and getting to know them better. Obviously, there are guys in the program, too, but they do their own thing most of the time.
I feel like I haven't talked a lot about Freiburg, so I guess I could do that a little. The people here in Freiburg are very nice and liberal -- which makes since being that it is a college town. There is quiet a variety of restaurants here in Freiburg, but I especially love the Turkish and Italian ones! The Yufka Kebab has become my new craving-food (as normally Mexican is...and by the way, they do have a few Mexican hot spots around here that are quite tasty!). Moving on, the nightlife here is great as well. There are always things to do, and I really enjoy the "discotheques." They play such a wide variety of music and it is not mainstream...I've even found a few punk, indie, and 60s/70s rock clubs around here! SO exciting! The city in general is such a beautiful and vibrant place! As I said with the nightlife, you can always find something to do. We have a beer garden called Feierlings that brews its own beer on site, of course we have a gorgeous cathedral (!), and our streets/alleys and buildings make Freiburg my home away from home. I couldn't imagine living in a better city in Germany! I'd love to come back here after I finish school and live for a while!
But on an ending note, I hope the economic situation gets better in America, and the rest of the world as it is obviously not affecting only America. Other than that, I hope everyone at home is doing well and I hope to post as soon as I get home from Geneva on Saturday!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Willkommen in Deutschland!
Hey everyone!! I have finally found the time to start blogging like I have promised! I've been here in Freiburg since Thursday, August 28th, and I absolutely love it! We've been to so many places within the last month thatI've been here. From the pictures on my "Shutterfly" website, you can see that I have traveled in 3 countries so far with IES. Obviously, I have been traveling in Germany, going hiking in the Black Forest (or more specifically Shauinsland) as well as traveling to Konstanz, Meersburg, and Berlin. The Black Forest is such a beautiful place to live in! You can walk just 5 minutes outside of the city and literally be standing in the Schwarzwald. Meersburg and Konstanz were beautiful Medieval cities right off of Lake Constance. The lake is so expansive that it touches Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. In Meersburg, we saw the oldest inhabited castle in Germany, dating back to the 7th century. We've also seen so many churches/cathedrals in every city we have been to. Berlin was amazing, too, but I'll talk about it a little later on in this post.
Another country we have been to, and will go to a few more times, is France. The IES students took a day trip to Strasbourg about a week-and-a-half ago and had a great time! This city is not just another Medieval city; its origination dates back to pre-B.C. years. There is a section of the old city known as "Petite France" due to the high number of prostitutes and devestating impact of a syphilis outbreak during the Middle Ages. The architecture within this area is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like a town you would imagine in a fairy tale. While we were here, we also were able to see the Council of Europe and walk through the outer part of the European Parliament (obviously the two are not related, being that the EP makes up one of the legislative bodies of the European Union). I guess I should also reiterate the fact that I am studying with a program based on the European Union, so most of our trips (and ultimately my blog entries) will mention some type of speech that we heard, building we saw relating to the EU, etc.
Today, we arrived back from another country that I would probably never visit in my life, had it not been for IES --- Estonia. This country, being one of the former Soviet-occupied countries, recently joined the EU in 2004 very soon after they claimed "independence" from the Soviets in 1991. My point with this is post-Soviet rule is extremely evident within Tallinn (the capital of Estonia). From the old city structure to the current issue with the Bronze Soviet statue, the poor outer-lying areas of the country, the newer portion of the city, the young people's attitudes/discrimination towards Russians, and even within the faces of people passing by on the streets --- everything and everyone appeared to be depressed, demolished/abandoned, and struggling.
On a lighter note, Tallinn was beautiful and I would have loved to spend more time there. It was a small city but plenty big to get lost in, and every building seemed to have a story. There were some of the most unique shops and restaurants in Tallinn, and of course they have the BEST pancakes I have ever eaten (sorry Mom!). The pancakes were more like crepes but they were awesome! I had the vanilla and apple pancake the first night, with fizz cider, and then the chocolate sauce pancake with ice cream the next day for lunch --- you can tell that I am SUCH a healthy eater here in Europe! (By the way, Germany has the best bread/bakeries and I live for food such as they have here!!!) We had two speakers in Estonia, both professors at Tallinn University, who spoke to us on "Estonian politics and the EU", and "Russia's impact on Estonia and the future of the EU". They were both very interesting topics and helped me to understand the EU from a new (and struggling) member-state's perspective.
Before we arrived in Tallinn on Thursday, we travelled to Berlin and stayed there for 3 days. I LOVED Berlin! The city is, obviously, so full of history that not only impacted the countries occupied by Nazi forces but basically touched the entire world in some form or fashion. We stayed in former east Berlin and had a blast discovering the area when we had free time. There were three meetings that we had in Berlin, and each one was unique in its own way. The first meeting was with Johannes Kahrs, a member of the German Parliament and the Social Democrats, at the Reichstag (yes, we got to go in the Reichstag and hang out in the Social Democratic Party conference room!!!!). Oh, and on a small note, Angela Merkel walked by me..about 5 feet away from me actually...and said "Guten morgen!" to a small group of us students outside of the Reichstag!!! WHO can say they have ever been that close to Angela Merkel!?? Moving on =) our next meeting was at the Foreign Ministry with a young consultant who was working on the Lisbon Treaty. This was interesting to hear since that was specifically what he was hired for and listening to his opinion of the EU and Ireland's recent vote against the referendum. Our final meeiting was with two Lt. Col. in the Defense Ministry (they don't call it the Dept. of Defense as the U.S. does). All of the meetings were interesting, but I have to say that my favorite one was with Johannes Kahrs, by far. Anyways, here are a list of other places we went to while in Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's bunker (you can only see where it was underground), Holocaust Memorial & Museum, Potsdamer Platz, Alexander Platz, Sony Center, and of course random restaurants/hole in the wall pubs and seeing pieces of the Berlin Wall.
All in all, we had a blast on all of the trips, especially this past week's travels. A few random points that I forgot to mention about Estonia include the fact that we visited the former President's Palace built by Peter the Great as a summer retreat AND I went wading in the Baltic Sea (even though it was less than 50 degrees F outside and the water was probably 20 degrees F)! But we had an awesome time and I can't wait until our next trips!
I'm going with a few of my friends back to Berlin this weekend since it's our first 3-day weekend for a while and then IES leaves for Geneva, Switzerland the following Thursday-Friday (3-4.10.08). Following that on 5.10, I'm going on a hike in the Swiss Alps aaaaand the following Tuesday, we leave for our "tour" of Eastern Europe (including Budapest, Krakow, and Prague). I can't wait and I hope to keep this blog somewhat updated! I'll definitely keep my pictures updated and I hope everyone enjoys them!
Wish you were here!
Another country we have been to, and will go to a few more times, is France. The IES students took a day trip to Strasbourg about a week-and-a-half ago and had a great time! This city is not just another Medieval city; its origination dates back to pre-B.C. years. There is a section of the old city known as "Petite France" due to the high number of prostitutes and devestating impact of a syphilis outbreak during the Middle Ages. The architecture within this area is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like a town you would imagine in a fairy tale. While we were here, we also were able to see the Council of Europe and walk through the outer part of the European Parliament (obviously the two are not related, being that the EP makes up one of the legislative bodies of the European Union). I guess I should also reiterate the fact that I am studying with a program based on the European Union, so most of our trips (and ultimately my blog entries) will mention some type of speech that we heard, building we saw relating to the EU, etc.
Today, we arrived back from another country that I would probably never visit in my life, had it not been for IES --- Estonia. This country, being one of the former Soviet-occupied countries, recently joined the EU in 2004 very soon after they claimed "independence" from the Soviets in 1991. My point with this is post-Soviet rule is extremely evident within Tallinn (the capital of Estonia). From the old city structure to the current issue with the Bronze Soviet statue, the poor outer-lying areas of the country, the newer portion of the city, the young people's attitudes/discrimination towards Russians, and even within the faces of people passing by on the streets --- everything and everyone appeared to be depressed, demolished/abandoned, and struggling.
On a lighter note, Tallinn was beautiful and I would have loved to spend more time there. It was a small city but plenty big to get lost in, and every building seemed to have a story. There were some of the most unique shops and restaurants in Tallinn, and of course they have the BEST pancakes I have ever eaten (sorry Mom!). The pancakes were more like crepes but they were awesome! I had the vanilla and apple pancake the first night, with fizz cider, and then the chocolate sauce pancake with ice cream the next day for lunch --- you can tell that I am SUCH a healthy eater here in Europe! (By the way, Germany has the best bread/bakeries and I live for food such as they have here!!!) We had two speakers in Estonia, both professors at Tallinn University, who spoke to us on "Estonian politics and the EU", and "Russia's impact on Estonia and the future of the EU". They were both very interesting topics and helped me to understand the EU from a new (and struggling) member-state's perspective.
Before we arrived in Tallinn on Thursday, we travelled to Berlin and stayed there for 3 days. I LOVED Berlin! The city is, obviously, so full of history that not only impacted the countries occupied by Nazi forces but basically touched the entire world in some form or fashion. We stayed in former east Berlin and had a blast discovering the area when we had free time. There were three meetings that we had in Berlin, and each one was unique in its own way. The first meeting was with Johannes Kahrs, a member of the German Parliament and the Social Democrats, at the Reichstag (yes, we got to go in the Reichstag and hang out in the Social Democratic Party conference room!!!!). Oh, and on a small note, Angela Merkel walked by me..about 5 feet away from me actually...and said "Guten morgen!" to a small group of us students outside of the Reichstag!!! WHO can say they have ever been that close to Angela Merkel!?? Moving on =) our next meeting was at the Foreign Ministry with a young consultant who was working on the Lisbon Treaty. This was interesting to hear since that was specifically what he was hired for and listening to his opinion of the EU and Ireland's recent vote against the referendum. Our final meeiting was with two Lt. Col. in the Defense Ministry (they don't call it the Dept. of Defense as the U.S. does). All of the meetings were interesting, but I have to say that my favorite one was with Johannes Kahrs, by far. Anyways, here are a list of other places we went to while in Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's bunker (you can only see where it was underground), Holocaust Memorial & Museum, Potsdamer Platz, Alexander Platz, Sony Center, and of course random restaurants/hole in the wall pubs and seeing pieces of the Berlin Wall.
All in all, we had a blast on all of the trips, especially this past week's travels. A few random points that I forgot to mention about Estonia include the fact that we visited the former President's Palace built by Peter the Great as a summer retreat AND I went wading in the Baltic Sea (even though it was less than 50 degrees F outside and the water was probably 20 degrees F)! But we had an awesome time and I can't wait until our next trips!
I'm going with a few of my friends back to Berlin this weekend since it's our first 3-day weekend for a while and then IES leaves for Geneva, Switzerland the following Thursday-Friday (3-4.10.08). Following that on 5.10, I'm going on a hike in the Swiss Alps aaaaand the following Tuesday, we leave for our "tour" of Eastern Europe (including Budapest, Krakow, and Prague). I can't wait and I hope to keep this blog somewhat updated! I'll definitely keep my pictures updated and I hope everyone enjoys them!
Wish you were here!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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