Life, Lahn, and Lederhosen

The Search for Harry Potter: David and Meredith take on London

2009-03-12T21:36:00.006+01:00

When you are on Christmas holiday, gallivanting about Europe carefree and easy, it is a bit hard to really comprehend that in a few weeks you will be in class for seven hours a day attempting to learn a new language while being taught in that unknown language. However, now that classes are back in session it is amazingly easy to see why I tried to forget all about Sprach Kurs during the break.

It is EXHAUSTING!

By the time I make it home everyday, basically the only thing on my mind is how I don't want to speak any more German. The only thoughts that go through my mind at that point are about sleeping, dinner, and possibly homework. Possibly. Which is a bit sad but after seven hours of being taught German language in German, you just want to avoid thinking at all.

Anyway, obviously courses are back in session and, now that I am in Stufe 1, a bit more difficult than last semester. This means that until semester courses start, I have no time for traveling anywhere except for locations in Germany. This isn't terrible, since saving money is key right now! But still, it is a bit sad when I see bus ads for places like Greece and realize that I am so close yet so far away.

But memories of other trips sustain me! So, on to a recap of my first trip to London in December. This trip was with David, a fellow American but one who hales from Louisiana – originally Shreveport but now Baton Rouge where he goes to LSU. Traveling with David is wonderful since he is tall, male, and can intimidate creepers who might otherwise bother a female traveler, while I am a female (trust me it is a plus in getting help and people being nice), have the tendency to look cute and endearing when puzzled (or so I am told), and like to talk to everyone, especially strangers – this combination of David tallness and Meredith talkativeness creates the perfect traveling team. People want to help the talkative, slightly confused female while the scary folks avoid the tall, imposing male. It works so well!

But anyway, here is a photo log of our trip to London in December. Enjoy!

This ever so amazing individual is David Fuller, traveler extraordinaire and native Louisianan. Please enjoy the fact that he is almost as tall as Big Ben. Yes, that is about the average height for people in Louisiana.

This is the Radcliffe Camera, one of the most well known buildings in Oxford and part of the Oxford University library. Sadly it is not open to the public but even from the outside it is very pretty! To make it even better, on the day we were in Oxford there were students wearing academic robes coming out of the camera. It was pretty cool!

More Oxford sights and history. Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke worked in this building. The people who discovered the cell, the very building blocks of every living thing, worked in the building and I got to see it and even go inside for a minute!

This is a view into one of the courtyards of one of the Oxford colleges. I don't remember which college it was but I do remember that this courtyard was used in Harry Potter! Yes the first of many HP locations during this trip to London/Oxford. I think this was where Malfoy was turned into a ferret... I think...

Ok, back to London! This is one of the houses in Lincoln's Inn Fields. We originally traveled here looking for the house that was used as Sirius's house in the HP films (not this one sadly) but managed to find a great little known museum tucked away on the side. While we stood outside of this house looking a bit sketchy as we tried to figure out which one was Sirius's house, a nice man from next door asked if we wanted to come inside and see a museum. We didn't even know that it was a museum! Turns out that Sir John Sloane's Museum is in Lincoln's Inn Fields. This is one of the little gems that you discover when you just wander a city.... this museum was John Sloane's house and it contained everything that he collected over his lifetime, including the sarcophagus of Seti the first! Truely cool.

These were taken at the Westminster Tube stop. They filmed a scene in HP here! Remeber when Mr. Weasley took Harry on the Tube to get to the Ministry of Magic? They went through here!

Yes, I did manage to make it to Platform 9 3/4 but I decided that Hogwarts just wasn't for me. Seemed a bit too British, I knew I would be missing my crazy German school in no time at all.

Check it out, it's the Leaky Cauldron! When we didn't see Harry, Ron, or Hermione there, we decided to drown our sorrows in a pint. Beer for David and Strongbow for me!

Right next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London is an awesome monument/fountain that chronicles the entire history of London and the most important events in the city's past. Including.... the date the LAST SALMON WAS CAUGHT!

Meredith in London!

2009-02-19T02:35:00.009+01:00

Ok, I know it has been a while since I updated... sorry about that. December, January, and the beginning of February were all a bit busy. As in I think I might have been in Marburg for a total of 15 or so days in the past 75 days and had internet for maybe eight to nine of those days. So, yet again I am sorry about the delay in updates but in return for the long wait I am going to do a post for each trip I have taken so far in that time, meaning that before the end of this month you should have around nine new posts about every country I have been to in the past few months.

So, this is the first one and let's talk about Nürnberg, the Christmas Market, and Prague! These two trips took place within hours of each other so I feel that one post is needed to cover them. For the sake of showing how pretty these towns are, I am just going to post pictures and explain a little bit about each of them and what we were doing around these places.

First off, Nürnberg!
Alright this is the walk to the Nürnberger Kinderweihnachtsmarkt aka the Children's Christmas Market. This market is one of the best known in Europe, famous for its wooden toys, ornaments, and Christmas decorations, and also the most visited out of all the Christmas markets in Germany. That's saying alot since almost every town, and I mean every town, has a Christmas market. Heck, Marburg has two and it is a small town in the middle of nowhere.
People going into and leaving the main market. This place was packed! Even during the day it was almost impossible to get from booth to booth and move around the market. At night it was impossible! I was almost trampled once by a group of drunk twenty-something German men while I was drinking Gluhwein. But they were probably drinking Gluhwein also and that is what caused the trampling. After all, that stuff is strong. Anyway, it was still worth it to see all of the fun German Christmas goodies, like these!

Yes the Germans do have some pretty awesome children's toys. Afterall, what other culture would think, "Hm... how can we sell this police station toy? I know! Let's put a Christmas tree in it! That will make all the kids think of Christmas and immediately ask for it." Also, check out the woman about to hit the robber over the head with a frying pan. Ah Germany, how I love thee. And what is better than a tiny toy version of a Deutschebahn ICE train (RCE in the picture)? The great thing was that the train even ran and had first and second class compartments that looked just like the ones in the train I take to get to Frankfurt!

Ok, so on to Prague! After arriving back in Marburg from Nürnberg, I finished up my final week of the semester, aka went to one final class and gave a LONG presentation in my British Film seminar. At the end of the week, there was a nice going away breakfast/brunch for all of the semester students who were leaving and then it was time to head to Prague! After a long long trip on a night train from Frankfurt to Prague, we arrived in the morning and immediately headed toward the apartment we rented for the duration of our visit. However, before we reached the apartment, I discovered a wonderful thing...

BUDWEISER FOLLOWS YOU EVERYWHERE! Yes, that is a Budweiser sign and it does look exactly like the ones that are all over St. Louis. However, this is for the Czech Budweiser not the oh so beloved St. Louis brew. After gawking at the Budweiser signs and the various sights nearby, we finally reached the apartment and relaxed for a bit before heading to the main square and the Prague Christmas market (can you see a Christmas market theme here?).

These are pictures from the main square in Prague. This was the square where the Christmas market was set up and it was packed both during the day and at night! At the center of the square is the Church of Our Lady before Týn or Týn Church. It is absolutely beautiful! Gothic and imposing, the church can be seen long before you reach the square and at night it is lit up to the point where it looks like a castle out of a classic fairytale. And to make it even better Tycho Brahe is buried inside and really what is better than a beautiful church with a noseless astronomer in it?

Right near by is the Prague Astronomical Clock or Prague Orloj, a astronomical clock that is located on the Old Town Hall. At every hour, the clock strikes and figures of the Apostles and other sculptures move about in the "Walk of the Apostles". While sort of cheesy and very touristy, the clock is impressive and is also magnificent at night. The gold gilding and enamel colors reflect the lights from the square and make the clock and the figures look strikingly beautiful.

But really, being in Prague during December, the best part of the city is the Christmas market, toys, crafts, and food! In the middle of the market there were two live trees that were lit by strings of light that the lights moved up and down on. This meant that the tree constantly looked as if snowing was falling on it. Impossible to really describe but one of the most beautiful Christmas trees I have ever seen and possibly will ever see. Nearby, the next most impressive thing was the food! Kebabs, ham roasted over a coal fire, sweet dough rolls cooked over coals, mulled wine, etc. All of it was good and so cheap! A giant chicken kebab for about $1.50 US and a 150 g hunk of ham (cut off of a giant ham being spun over an open fire) for about $3.00 US. Oh so good and so cheap.

The next day we decided to head to the other side of the river, explore the castle, and visit the Kafka Museum and House. The Kafka locations were very ... um.... interesting. In the front of the museum there was a statue (see above) of two men facing each other and peeing into a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. To make it even better, the men's hips swiveled side to side along with certain other appendages that moved up and down. Yep a peeing statue that moved. And inside the museum was even better. The entire place was designed like a Kafka novel, meaning that it was confusing (on purpose), abstract, and a bit sparse. However, it was very interesting and informative about Kafka's life and his works. Also there was a ton of stuff written in German which was a nice change from Czech. I never thought I would say it but seeing German was so nice since I could at least read some of it versus Czech in which I only know two words (beer and check).

Finally, this is picture of the advertisment for one of the restaurants we ate at in Prague and one of my travel companions, Ben from Idaho. Checkout the excitement in Ben's face at seeing that there was a real theme restaurant only a block from our apartment. Yep, we managed to find ourselves a primeval themed restaurant where everything was named cutesy names about dinosaurs, like Fruitosaurous (a fruit drink), Donaldosaurus (a duck dish), and, my favorite, the Barbarian's Feast. The Barbarian's Feast was a giant meal for two people that involved steak, chicken, shrimp, salad, soup, sides, and other small things. It was gigantic and to make it better, the two smallest people on the trip managed to order it and even finish the entire thing.

Wednesday and Ben Folds in Frankfurt

2008-11-27T02:37:00.004+01:00

At 2:38 a.m. I am happily back in Wehrda after a long long long day in class and a wonderful evening in Frankfurt.

For those who don't know, Wednesdays (Mittwoch) are the bane of the German Uni student's existence, including the foreign students despite their smaller class load. For this student, the day usually begins at 6:30 a.m. with a lovely wake up call and the beginning of the morning ritual to prepare for the day. Once ready, the next step is to rush down to the bus stop to catch the 7:29 C bus to Stadthalle and then ride the bus for a relaxing 20-25 minutes. Get off at Stadthalle at 7:55ish and then a brisk 5-8 minute walk (it depends how cold it is) to the Phil-Fak to rush into the 8:30 class to get a seat. Now sit and relax, this class is going to last 4 hours, so enjoy!

Ok, now class is over and it is time to rush to Conversation class which begins in 15 minutes and is half way across town. Grab the bus (any of them - they all go to Bunsenstraβe) and get off, run across the street to Elizabethkirche and run into class. Enjoy for the next hour and a half.

Time to leave conversation rolls around and, finally, a two hour break. But no! Actually instead of a real break, it is time to rush to a group meeting to help get ready for a presentation for the next week. Walk on over to the Mensa, track down the group, and collapse into a chair. Most times there might be time to grab a drink and a schnitzel sandwich but this week there are muffins on the table courtesy of another group member. This is perfect as it both save money and provides the opportunity to eat yummy yummy chocolate banana muffins. Eat, discuss, and chat for a bit and then run on out to make it to the next class.

After leaving the Mensa, it is time to head to the Psych building for the final class of the day at 4:00 p.m. Thankfully it is a nice relaxing walk along and across the river, down Am Grun, and then into the building. Once in the building, chat with some of the Germans on the ground floor and then head up two floors and into class. Sit down and enjoy 4 more hours of class. Most of the time the class can drag a bit but it is survivable. Once over, just head back to the closest bus stop, head back to Wehrda (a 30 minute ride), and collapse into bed/do homework.

So that is a normal Wednesday in Germany. However, today was slightly different as instead of staying in class until 8:00 p.m. I managed to get out at 6:00 and run to the bus stop to catch a bus to the Hauptbahnhof(Hbf). It was particularly nice because Saumirah was on it and we caught up a bit before I got off at Hbf and met David to go into Frankfurt. We caught the 6:45 train to Frankfurt Hbf and, once in Frankfurt, had a quick bit at McDonald's in the Hbf. While eating we chatted with two other travelers, one girl from Hungary and a Argentinian male who lives in Italy. With parting offers to come visit Italy and have free housing (a tempting deal) we had to run to the U-Bahn station in the Hbf and catch the U-4 going to Merianplatz. We got off at Merianplatz and took a quick 4-5 minute walk to the Mousonturm where Ben Folds was performing! So we arrived, witnessed, and took part in a great concert and then rushed back to the U-Bahn station to get back to the Hbf in time to catch the last train at 12:35. If we missed it we knew the next train wouldn't be until 5:32 a.m. so we desperately wanted to make it back on the last train. Funnily enough, we ran into two other Uni-Marburg students in the U-Bahn station, one of which I knew from my first few days in Marburg. Turns out they both were at the concert and were also trying to get back to Marburg, so we chatted a bit and decided to travel back together. After getting to the Hbf we managed to catch the train and make it back to Marburg at about 2:10 a.m. As the last bus runs at about 1ish and doesn't start again until 5:00, we just caught a taxi home and here I am.

Overall, the day was exhausting, crazy, and totally worth it! Not only did I see Ben Folds but I made some new friends and reconnected with some old ones. What could make a better day? Nothing except for maybe some turkey, stuffing, and other Thanksgiving food. But that is for later tonight...

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Are you happy with the new president of your country?

2008-11-09T22:24:00.002+01:00

I cannot count how many times I have been asked this by other students and random Marburg citizens in the past week. Almost always followed with the question, "Did you vote for Obama or McCain?", the questioner has (for the most part) voiced heir support for Obama and their happiness that Obama is the new President-Elect of the United States.

Every time I was asked the question, "Who did you vote for, Obama or McCain?", I answered simply, "It doesn't matter." Shocking I know, exercising my right to secret ballot and all that. Yes, I did fill out my ballot on the bus in full view of at least twenty other people making my ballot anything but secret... but really it doesn't matter what that ballot said and whether in the end the circle was filled in for Obama or McCain. Actually, it doesn't matter who I voted for, it just matters that I took the time to vote and voice my opinions and wants. Indecently, yes I am happy with the election. Not because my candidate won or lost, but rather because people threw off the air of apathy that has surrounded so many previous elections and VOTED! People ignored the little voice that says one vote won't count and went out into the polls.

Yay for voting and the democratic process!

EDIT: Also, do you know how many people watch our election with bated breath, waiting to see who the new leader of the United States will be and what the next four years will be like? Let me tell you, more people over here care about the U.S. election and our voting system than you can imagine. In the course of a day, I had to explain the electoral college five separate times. FIVE. Now think about how much Americans know or care about the other governmental systems, Germany for instance... I am betting it doesn't even cross the mind of the common American. Sad how the world cares so much about us and we don't even notice them.

Ich esse ein Berliner.

2008-10-21T22:54:00.009+02:00

Wow... three weeks without an update and finally Meredith reemerges from the wilds of Germany to regal others with tales of her adventures.

So, lets start with the weekend in Berlin (school sponsored!) and the craziness that is Oktober 3rd, the Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit). Leaving on the 2nd, we arrived in Berlin, dropped off our stuff at the hostel, and immediately began exploring the city, aka heading out to experience the famous nightlife. The next day we headed out to the Stazi Museum to check out some of the ways in which the East German government maintained control over its populace and various methods used to spy on suspected defectors in the general population. Of all of the things in the museum, the spy equipment was the most interesting and the stories about how they were used and who they were used to spy on. However, I was also partial to the room that displayed various rugs that were in the offices of the Stazi Headquarters. It really gave me some great decorating ideas...

The rest of the day was walking around Berlin and seeing the major sites, such as Brandenburger Tür (Brandenburg Gate), the line of blocks that traces the path of the Berlin Wall, the remains of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the location of the Führerbunker, and the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Since we were walking all around, we didn't get to spend as much time in each of the spots as I would have liked, but at least we saw them and spent at least a little bit of time at each. My favorite though was probably the memorial because of the way in which it was done. trying to convey a sense of uneasiness, the entire memorial is made up of blocks of concrete of a uniform size but different heights and placed in long lines along a very wavy ground that seemed almost like a wave pattern. Overall, the effect was immensely unsettling and powerful.

Saturday was a free day so a couple of us wandered around the city stopping by various places we were interested in visiting. Some of the places we visited included Humbolt Universität and the Universität Museum where they have a really famous dinosaur skeleton that one of my friends desperately wanted to see. Turns out that this is the dinosaur fossil that definitively links bird to dinosaurs. It even has feathers! After the museum, we tried to get into another museum but the line was at least 100 to 150 people long (no exaggeration!) so instead we stumbled upon a flea/craft/everything market where we took some time to shop and relax after a long day.

Before we left on Sunday, a couple of us decided that we really wanted to go to the Pergamonmuseum to see the Ishtar Gate and the other artifacts in the museum. Luckily we managed to get in early and it turned out that it was the last day of a special exhibit about Babylon and the impact of the Babylonian civilization on the modern world. In this exhibit was the only remaining pieces of the Gilgamesh Epic and the original Code of Hammurabi. Two amazing artifacts that had me squealing my little history major head off. Following the trip to the museum, we had to pack up and head off to return to Marburg. Overall an amazing trip in an amazing city which I could easily fall in love with.

Since then I have jut been enjoying my time in Marburg and the surrounding areas. Two weekends ago a few of us went to Rüdesheim and this past weekend we went to Frankfurt for the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the largest book fair in THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

So to end this post I will leave you all with two more pictures from Berlin that are both entertaining and informative. Firstly, a picture of the green crosswalk man in the area of Berlin that was formally East Berlin. Look at him, all proud and positive, head thrown back while walking into his prosperous communist future. Then the red crosswalk man in the same area. Very imposing and yet cute. These signals are completely different from those used in the area of Berlin that was formerly West Berlin. When the reunified government tried to get rid of these signs and install the same ones that were on the West side (the exact same as those found in the US), the East Berliners through a hissy fit and managed to convince the government to let them keep their crosswalk men. now the signals are an easy way to tell if you are in an area that was formerly East or West Berlin, just look for the happy communist walking men and they will let you know where you are.

More pictures to hold over until I have a relable internet connection in my room

2008-09-29T10:43:00.005+02:00

Mein Zimmer!

My comfortable bed with its nice and warm quilt and blanket.

The Kik €2.99 blanket with lemons on it! The pillows also come from Kik for €1.99 each.

Sink area! I don't have my own bathroom but at least I have a sink in my room and a medicine cabinet.

Mein closet.

€1.50 clock. I bought it at the used electronics store. Sadly, it may have been the newest item in the store - most of the stuff looked to have been made in the early 80s/late 70s.

Shelf area with pictures, food, and dictionaries.

My low, cushy chair. Behind it is my new wall hook overloaded with shopping bags. The one in the front is a Tegut bag from the Wehrda Tegut. In Europe they don't give you plastic shopping bags so you have to bring your own or buy them at the store, this means that I am now the proud owner of three plastic Aldi's bags, a Tegut tote bag, a bigger Tegut tote bag, and a ReWe tote bag.

Photos from the Landgrafenschloss, the Altstadt, and the inside of Elisabethkirche

2008-09-16T10:36:00.004+02:00

2008-09-07T16:11:00.001+02:00

After only three days of German and six days of being in Germany, I can already hold a basic introductory conversation. Sehr gut! Sadly, right now I have limited internet access because my apartment does not have it set up. However, we are trying to set it up on Monday so look for more updates starting Tuesday/Wednesday!

I am roomed on the far north end of campus in Wehrda A Room 312. In the morning, there is an amazing view of the entire valley and the town below and at night the town is light up and sparkling. The only draw back to being in Wehrda is the fact that the building is a 45 minute walk from the town center but it is actually pretty nice because we have free bus passes and that means it is only a 5-10 minute ride into town. The multitude of people in Wehrda also makes it worthwhile because the Wehrda people are quite close and amazing overall!

More later when I have internet of my own and don't have to mooch from the train station!

Made it to Marburg... Barely

2008-08-31T12:38:00.003+02:00

Well I am officially in Marburg, Germany after a long day of flights and train rides. Before my flight from Chicago, I made friends with another student who was on her way to Germany. However, she was on her way back to begin her studies after taking a year to au pair in Philadelphia and travel the states. She was on her way to a small university outside of Munich - only about 400 students in the whole school! While talking, she mentioned that she would like to study in the US for a semester or so but tuition is too much for her - she only pays 715 euros a semester for university. I think SLU should take a lesson from the German school system and revise their tuition to be along those lines... On the flight I was next to a German woman who was returning to Dusseldorf after visiting her daughter who was living and working in Orlando. After the flight from Chicago , I transferred to a second flight in Dusseldorf and eventually made my way to Frankfurt. Once there, I had to find the train station in the terminal, which admittedly was a bit difficult but that was most likely due to a lack of sleep. The real hard part was buying my train ticket to Marburg, catching the S-bahn to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, and once in the Hauptbahnhof finding my way to the tracks with the train to Marburg. Fortunately, there was a nice German chap who helped me out with buying my ticket (he was having trouble buying his also!) and then we rode together to the main station and he walked me to my track as it was on the way to his track. Sadly, once at my track, we realized that my ticket was to Marburg-Sud not Marburg-Lahn and I had to have a ticket to Marburg-Lahn. So, I had to buy another ticket but I am trying to think of that first ticket as a sacrifice to my year in Germany!

Now I am checked into my hostel and relaxing as I have absolutely no energy and nothing is open today anyway... sadness. One of the girls in my room is also participating in the IUSP at Uni-Marburg and she only has a year or so more German than me so I don't really feel that bad anymore about my lack of German skills. Anyway, I think that the rest of the afternoon will be spent enjoying the weather, reading my book, and preparing for tomorrow and the beginning of the program... and then I will follow that exciting afternoon up with a bedtime of 9:00 pm! Yay for trying to avoid jetlag!

Leaving St. Louis!

2008-08-29T09:32:00.002+02:00

Here I sit, watching the hours pass and packing furiously, making final preparations for my trip to Chicago and Frankfurt. For the purposes of keeping a travel diary of sorts - and keeping you all entertained without my lovely personage in the US of A- I'm attempting my very first foray into the wonderful world of blogging. This blog will adopt a scattershot approach, covering a variety of topics in a semi-coherent manner, ensuring that anyone checking it out in search of any one thing will come away feeling wholly dissatisfied or, at the very least, somewhat disappointed.

That said, for the next couple of weeks, I'll mostly be writing about my integration into Marburg and German culture and the subsequent struggles with navigating a new and non-English speaking university bureaucracy. Some people travel to experience the world and its various cultures. Others travel to learn more about themselves and discover their true priorities in life. I travel to see how far out of my comfort zone I can get - and thus embarrass myself in new and inventive ways. That said, there will most likely be many times when my updates focus solely upon a single event in when I somehow display my complete and utter lack of knowledge about the proper German way to respond to a situation and instead act like a silly American. Or the posts could be about food. Really, really good food. Either way, I will try to keep it entertaining.

And if I can figure out how to do it (provided I can theoretically do it at all), I'll include some pictures to accompany said posts and liven up this blog a bit.