Week six, seven, and eight are going to held by placeholder posts which will be expanded at a later time. For now I will just create a list of the exciting events in the week and continue posting the pictures as I did previously.

Go Kart Track
Club Elf
Weimar (pictured: the town hall)
Buchenwald
Stadtfest

These past few weeks have raced by, and I have unfortunately not taken the time to keep up with my writing. This post is about a week and a half overdue, and it’s sad that I haven’t spent time on it recently. The worst consequence of not writing my weekly post is not taking time to reflect on what I’ve done, and reflection is a hugely important practice in my opinion. It makes me cringe that because I neglected to write, I might have forgotten a small interaction or experience, that is in essence what makes up this thing we call life. So it goes. Thankfully, the biggest reason for this drop off is the crazy amount of fun stuff that I’ve been able to do.

During week five, the class took a trip to the state government of Saxony, and I made a little side trip to a weapons and armory museum in the Altstadt. The weapons museum has all types of things that were used back when war was cool and you had horses and killed people with spears. I particularly liked seeing the intricate and intimidating armor of the former Dukes of Saxony. The class also made a trip out to Hellerau where we found some old Soviet Barracks and a quite affluent present day suburb. The garden city apparently gained the favor of Upton Sinclair (still looking for source outside of Dr. Spencer).

The real treat of week five, though, was the weekend trip to Prague. After Friday’s class, four of my classmates and I packed up and hopped on the train to the Czech Republic. One incorrect ticket purchase and two missing classmates later, we ended up in the land of a-bunch-of-consonants-followed-by-a-y (my personal favorite Czech word? Tie between Drinky and Slevy).

The first night we unpacked, and quickly settled in with the help of the extremely nice hosts at our hostel. The sun was setting on the day but we made plans for the night: the infamous Prague Pub Crawl. The land of a-bunch-of-consonants-followed-by-a-vowel is also the land of wait-how-much-does-this-really-cost? One U.S. dollar is equivalent to about 20 Crowns (Czech play money), and this complicated things a bit for my puny mind. It was only after dividing by 34.1, raising that to the third power and moving the decimal two places that I could have a vague idea about how much I was spending on any given thing. So no, it wasn’t that dumb to pay 40 Crown for a beer at a bar; in fact, that’s a steal! I met people from strange lands such as Belgium, Norway, Scotland (Paul gets the craziest-dude-of-the-night shout out), and Florida. It was a train of fun that made its last stop at a five-story dance club that is everything you could ever want in such a place.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with sight seeing and more sight seeing. We were good tourists and took lots of wonderful pictures. Saturday evening we decided to have a classy dinner at a smaller place just outside of the tourist trap section of Prague (it’s all a tourist trap), and it was delicious. Following that we spontaneously met up with some fellow classmates who also made the trek to Prague, but weren’t staying in the same hostel. The bar we checked out had an American theme, and fittingly enough, I was finally called out for my Ohio State garb. Let me clarify: I wear a lot of OSU stuff, I love my OSU shirts and always hope that someone I don’t know will strike up a conversation with me or at least give me a passing “Go Bucks!”, but it rarely ever happens. These dudes (and I do mean dudes, or bros if you prefer), were on a dude vacation from their Boston workplace. I never know what people think about Ohio State students, we’re not particularly known for our academics… so am I a hard-partying idiot? Or am I a farm boy who got lost in Europe? Anyway, they were nice guys and they shared their epic vacation plans with me. All day I was determined to stop in a cigar shop to enjoy before the nights end, but didn’t succeed. Luckily, the bar had a small cigar case and I enjoyed that on our walk home. On Sunday we did some more touristy stuff and hopped back on the train, with my school work waiting patiently to greet me upon returning.

I had an odd feeling coming back from Prague, arriving at the train station. It was a bit like I just got back home. But I thought to myself, home is half the world away. But I thought to myself, is home where my parents are waiting for me, or a 20 minute drive 315 south? What is home? Can you have more than one?

Other Notes: Tried Haxe! (Pig knuckle)

Bis bald!

This past week was dominated by our 4 day trip to the city of Berlin. I’d been looking forward to this the whole trip, and it absolutely blew me away. I experienced so much that I could talk about it forever, but I’ll pick out my favorite parts to share.

Our hostel was located on the historically significant Rossenstrasse- the stage for an uprising during the Nazi period orchestrated by wives of imprisoned Jewish men. It was also centrally located, so despite how big the city is, I could manage to walk almost everywhere.

Berlin intrigues me because it definitely struggles with its identity; trying to memorialize its significant history while being a center of progression and modernism. The charisma of the city is unlike any that I’ve experience before. Because of building restrictions, there are no real skyscrapers. But rather than taking away the big city feel, it simply avoids intimidating visitors. Compared to New York, where sometimes light cannot even reach the street due to the high rises, Berlin is welcoming and open. It also “lacks” an overbearing hipster culture.

I was able to see many historical landmarks, including: Hitler’s bunker, some Nazi architecture, the Brandenburg gate, the Bundestag, ghost train stations from the GDR, sections of the Berlin Wall, and more. At Bernauer Strasse there was a particularly interesting view of a section of the former Berlin wall. Here, a section of the wall is preserved exactly as it was in GDR times. Viewing it from above allows you to see the death strip, the inner wall and a watch tower.

Treptower Park was the most absurdly overbearing, over-the-top monument I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to capture how it completely surrounds you in picture. This dedication to the Soviet Union soldiers that died in World War II leaves quite the impression. Especially with Stalin quotes inscribed on the “mini” sculptures that lead to a gigantic depiction of a soldier holding a baby in one hand and wielding a sword that is crushing a swastika in the other. Be prepared to pick your jaw up from the ground if you plan on visiting Treptower.

The Olympic stadium in Berlin was also surreal. For my fellow Buckeyes, you might note that this is where Jesse Owens clowned the Nazis. In fact, there is a street named after him just outside of the stadium. The stadium and other athletic areas are massive, and were built in a typical intimidating, Nazi style. It is still used today for athletic events, so it is extremely well maintained. Though, surrounding the stadium are original signs from its inception that are eerie in a way.

Saturday night I was lucky enough to attend the International Berlin Beer Festival, which is basically a mile long party. I met people from around the world, tried beers from around the world, and had an all around great evening. Even though it was a mile along, you still had to elbow your way through crowds late into the night. I also learned a Welsh toast! I have no idea what the correct spelling is, but it sounds like “Yahkee Dah!” Awesome.

The sheer amount of culture that Berlin posses is mesmerizing. From live bands, to impromptu street performers, to the dozens of languages that you hear on a daily basis, it is a city that defines what it means to be worldly. In Dresden, I have often felt like an outsider, but in Berlin I legitimately felt home.

Things I didn’t talk about: Currywurst, the Automobil Forum, the Bundestag, Topography of Terror exhibit, Potsdam

Bis Später!

Okay, so Tuesday is now the official date for posting the blog since I’ve been so consistently late.

So last week I jokingly predicted that I would have to put up a picture of my homework for my picture of the day:

Hopefully I can reverse the trend of less and less interesting photos (soon it will simply be a picture of my actual homework..), and keep providing images that you can be jealous of.

Much to my chagrin (I’ve always loved to hate that saying), it became a painful reality last Sunday when I did more homework than In one day than I’d ever done in my life. I didn’t even procrastinate that horribly, I spent a good chunk of time Saturday working on it as well! Talking about homework is boring though, so let us once again reflect on the week that was.

Tuesday night I took a night stroll through the Neu Stadt on the roads still wet with rain from earlier in the day. The skyline lights up beautifully, and 20 somethings fill the streets of the Neu Stadt during only the second night of their summer break- enjoying beer, doener, and each others company late into the evening.

The class took a tour of the Volks Wagen Glaeserne Manufaktur on Wednesday, where they produce only one car; the Phaenton. I think it’s interesting enough to note that the Phaenton is VW’s entry into the luxury market. I would really love to have to the time to write up a post about the marketing scheme behind the Phaenton (including the factory), why this was a failure in most places, and why it has seen the limited success it has in some markets (60% of Phaenton sales come from Asia). Anyway, it was cool enough, especially being the first car manufacturing plant that I’d ever visited.

That night myself and a few others went to see the local football club, Dynamo Dresden, face off against Dortmund. My other football experiences really only encompasses a few Columbus Crew games, but I have been drawn to the sport recently, especially with the World Cup just finishing. With that said, I had a blast at the game. Despite only managing to understand a few of the numerous chants that resonated from the “K Block”, of which I was a proud member this evening, the atmosphere was fantastic and I hope to get to another match before I leave.

Our trip to Moritzburg on Thursday culminated with a trek up 365 stairs to the top of a vineyard in Radebeul. The entire experience was serene, and the view was exceptional. We shared a bottle of wine from the vineyard while sitting outside, overlooking the city.

After class on Friday, a large group went to the popular Hygiene Museum. Not being a big fan of anatomy/biology made it especially hard to appreciate the scientific exhibits, but it was still an experience. The exhibit on “Was ist Schoen?” was particularly cool. Translated as “What is beauty?”, the exhibit examined what beauty is and its history. That evening, along with a few of our conversation partners, we had a barbecue in the large public park just north of the main part of the Neu Stadt. We finished the evening going to an Irish bar, where the bartender spoke English. For whatever reason, he didn’t seem to excited with our presence or request to make use of the dart board by our table.

I could talk about the homework that I did Saturday and Sunday, but I don’t want to go back to that dark, dark place.

Ciao!

So once again I’ve fallen behind my self imposed deadline of Sunday blogging. Mostly caused by the mountainous amounts of schoolwork I’ve yet to complete. But I knew I couldn’t let down my readers for too long, and here we are!

Before finishing the last blog I mentioned our bowling adventure with the local German students, but purposefully didn’t go into much detail (besides the drinking.. uh I mean bowling). It is extremely humbling when speaking another language to be restricted to talking like a third grader. My lack of ability with the German language has undoubtedly annoyed a number of locals, and it’s understandable, but the attitudes of the students was so refreshing.

In Germany, students begin learning the English language extremely early, so most all of our counterparts spoke very clear English. The communication barrier that I was becoming accustomed to was suddenly a speed bump. I could test drive my own German while still being able to communicate in English as well. Going back and forth and helping each other remember the correct word in our respective foreign language turns into a hilarious game in the line of charades.

I could talk about the dynamics of building friendships abroad for days but for everyone’s sake I’ll move on. Our class went on two “day trips” this past week; one to the Dresden fortifications, and one to the city of Meissen. The underground fortifications are impressive structures that stand to this day (obviously, if you take a peek at Day 8′s picture), and successfully protected the city through the middle ages. Meissen, a city that you’ve most likely only (if ever) heard of for its porcelain, is distinguishable from many other east German cities. A long time ago, the entire economy of Meissen relied on porcelain, and while that created wealth hundreds of years ago, today it stands mostly as a window into the past. An interesting window no doubt, as it claims the castle of Albrechtsburg as well as an impeccable view of the Elbe.

You’ll notice my pictures at the end of the week seem to reflect that I’ve been in the dorm a lot, and that’s only mostly true. The end of the week consisted of a lot of homework, terrible weather and occasionally neglecting to bring my camera. I did have a great Friday night, going to the Shillergarten for a wonderful meal and enjoying my first Cuban cigar with my new German friends.

Hopefully I can reverse the trend of less and less interesting photos (soon it will simply be a picture of my actual homework..), and keep providing images that you can be jealous of.

Tschüss!