Week Two
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!
