Titisee-Neustadt, Baden-Württemberg

Today we were scheduled to take an 8 mile hike in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) but the forecast looked like rain, so we changed the plans and went out to Titisee (pronounced Tit-eh-zay) instead and it actually was a pretty gorgeous day! The views from the train were absolutely stunning and just made me want to live permanently in Germany even more! In Titisee we discovered a gummy bear store, where I purchased some very delicious gummies, and went paddle-boating! As we were returning to shore, one of the other boats from my program made the mistake of claiming that they would beat us back to shore. My competitive nature kicked in and my poor paddle-boat-mate didn't know what hit her. Need I add that we won?

We found some creepy puppets...

In Titisee

We had lunch in Titisee, eating some delicious bratwurst and kartaffeln, and then wandered around the shops for a few hours before heading back to Freiburg.

I also got the chance last night to try some German beer. One of our German guides told us that it is the best beer he's ever had - and he's from Germany! It was definitely the best beer I have ever had as well. After dinner and a beer at the Feierling, we ventured over to an Irish pub, where we befriended two German men and got to try out our German on them! There is one girl in our program who isn't fluent, but is pretty close, one guy who is also very good, and three of us who are mediocre.

The Augustenplatz

Tag Eins (Day One)

My first complete day in Germany is coming to a close with 2 hours left. We're still just doing Orientation stuff, so there's a lot of free time for now.

This morning we had a lot of presentations: pretty much a crash course in German culture, as well as information about health & safety, transportation, and probably other things (it was a lot of information!). Freiburg actually has a fairly high crime rate. This is because everyone rides a bike, so they often get stolen. Other than the bike stealing, it's a pretty safe city. We also learned that Germans are very green; in addition to biking everywhere, they are very concerned with recycling. I ate an instant meal for dinner and rinsed and recycled the container and plastic film! Our flat has 4 bins: bottles, paper, plastics, and waste (the smallest bin). Engelberger itself has 5 much larger bins that you bring your recycling to (distinguishing between clear and brown bottles). You can also sell your bottles back to the grocery stores for some spare change, ranging from €.50 to €1. It takes a little bit more work, but is obviously much better for the environment.

After that we went to eat in the Mensa (cafeteria) for lunch - meatballs, potatoes, and a salad. It was pretty typical dining hall food, but it wasn't bad. It was different from Lehigh, though, because it was not all-you-can-eat; there is a flat rate for each combo (Essen 1, Essen 2, Schneller Teller, etc.) so you pick which line to enter and pay for your food before entering the seating area. The meal does not include a drink, and one thing that will take some getting used to is that even tap water is not free. Obviously, since the other drinks cost money, it makes sense for the water in the Mensa to as well, but ordering water in a restaurant also costs money.

After lunch one of our housing tutors, Stefan, took us on a tour around Freiburg. I should clarify - there are 24 people in my program, but we're split into 3 different dorms. 4 of us live in Engelberger (as do 7 students in a separate program from Texas, and a lot of German students). So Stefan took the 4 of us, plus 8 others from the other dorm, so we were split into two groups of 12, which is why I don't really know everyone in my program yet. We walked to the Münsterplatz, and apparently every day until 2pm, there is what is essentially a farmer's market! I will definitely be going back to buy things and take pictures!

While walking around this evening, I managed to get myself lost twice, but both times managed to wind my way back - with my killer directional skillz - to Werthmannstraße, the one street name I know and also the street housing the IES Student Center. (If you're reading this Mom, I knew where I'd come from so could have retraced my steps to areas I was familiar with if needed, and I did have a cell-phone, all of the contact numbers of the people affiliated with the program, a map, and was armed with phrases such as, "Kannst du mir helfen? Weisst du wo Werthmannstraße bist?" There were also taxis and lots of people around and it was still light out.) I discovered a Burger King, Starbucks, and a large mural of McDonalds... yuck.

18 hours later...

Guten tag! I am at long last getting settled into my room in Freiburg, Germany. It still feels like a bit of a dream, but that could be the sleep deprivation talking. To arrive at the program center I took, in the following order: cab, train, AirTrain, plane, plane, train, cab. It took 18 very long hours.

My trip began in NYC, after visiting my brother for his law school graduation. I caught a cab at about 3:45pm EST, then bought a ticket and boarded the NJ Transit, which left at about 4:15pm. After navigating the AirTrain to the correct Terminal, I had about 2.5 hours to kill before my flight, which I used to exchange my currency and read a little Moby Dick. At 7:35pm I flew from Newark International to Washington-Dulles. My Newark flight landed at 8:50 and my Dulles flight began boarding at 8:55, resulting in a very brisk, slightly frazzled speed-walk across the terminals from gate D15 to C1. Now at this point I hadn't eaten anything since lunch at 2. I had planned on grabbing something in between my flights, but didn't want to risk it once I realized how close I was cutting it, and my international flight provided an in flight meal anyways. Well, that in flight meal didn't come until 10:45pm.

At one point, the flight attendants started delivering certain passengers their meals, and I had about a 15 minute long internal panic attack, thinking that I had missed something when booking my flight and forgotten to ask for dinner. The smells of pasta were cruelly tantalizing. Luckily, the attendants then rolled down big carts of food for everyone - I hadn't missed something after all. The only snag was that I was in row 38, so I could see and smell the food long before I got to eat it. I attacked my meal with vigor, and although it was good, it still didn't quite satisfy the hunger pains of my bottom-less-pit of a stomach. My seat mates didn't even eat all of their food (one left some rice and corn, the other his salad and roll) but I felt a little gouche begging their leftovers off of them, so I suffered in silence, counting down until the "light breakfast" would be served. It was almost 5 hours. Rough.

The plane ride was totally worth it though, when I got to see the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean.We landed in Frankfurt, Germany at 11:30am - Frankfurt time (5:30am EST). By this point I had been traveling for 14 hours, and was getting a little beat, although I was very excited to be setting foot on foreign soil! I cleared customs, retrieved my suitcase from baggage claim, and began the trek to find the train terminal. I had my first transaction with Euros, and hopped on the 12:57pm train to Freiburg. One snaffu almost freaked me out - I had to change trains in Mannheim, and my train arrived at the station 10 minutes after my connection was supposed to depart. Luckily, my connection was late, too, and arrived right when I did. Two hours later I arrived in Freiburg. I'd met another American on the train, so together we found our way out to the street, where I took a taxi - finally! - to the study abroad center, arriving right around 3:30pm. (The change from that transaction left me with some coins instead of just cash. It might just be because it's new to me, but Euros look way cooler than American money!)

Phew! Sorry for the long post, but it was a long journey! The weather here is absolutely beautiful and my room is bigger than my room from home (always a plus)! I'll be meeting the rest of my program tonight and over the next few days at orientation. We are taking a hike in the Schwarzwald on Thursday and classes begin this Friday; I can't wait to get started!

The Motherland

The question I get asked most often is "why Germany?" There's a very simple answer to that: my parents wouldn't let me go to Jordan. But I studied German for two years in high school, so it didn't seem like too bad of a plan B.

The longer answer is that I've decided that I want to visit all of the countries that my ancestors are from. (Well, I want to visit every country period, but I figure I can start with my heritage!) Aside from being 100% 'Murican, on my dad's side I am about 1/4 German, 1/8 French,  and 1/8 Scottish, and 1/4 English, 1/4 Slovak on my mom's. Fun fact about my ancestors: according to my dad, the family name used to be Vreeland, but his great-great-(great?)-grandfather was a horse-thief. His son was ashamed of that fact, so he took his mother's maiden name, St. Clair, which was then changed to Sinclair upon the family's arrival in the U.S. But anyways, I figured Germany would be a good place to start, since I have a decent understanding of the language and ancestral ties, so I will be spending about 2 months in Freiburg, Germany, and will do my best to post updates about my various adventures there!