Farewell Marburg!

I can’t believe that May Term is already over! This month has been an absolutely fantastic experience. We have experienced so much in only one month with all the places we have visited and all the culture we have been able to absorb. To echo other students, it has been awesome to study with the other students from other countries. It puts into perspective the diversity of our world. We all have learned lots of German language studying at Speak and Write and being immersed in the language. I highly suggest this May Term experience to anyone. It is an experience that I will never forget. Farewell Marburg! Auf widersehen! Dan

Last Weekend in Germany!

This past weekend was our 'free' weekend. This simply means that we were able to explore Germany on an individualized basis. This experience was an especially fun time for us and I will share with you my thoughts about the weekend and will summarize with an overview of the entire experience.


The Speak and Write School is a very diverse community with students from many different countries. I am currently in the A1 German course which is for beginners. Over the last few weeks, we have been surrounded by the German language. Our time here has not only provided us with interactions with German culture, but because of the diversity, we have gotten to know students from countries all over the world. One particular individual from Colombia took several of us to a Salsa dancing club on Friday and actually taught us how to do the Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata! It was so much fun to see everyone dancing and it was really fun to learn! :)


Saturday was the first warm sunny day of the whole trip! We were very excited to soak up some Vitamin D. Ross and Dan went off to see friends and explore Germany on their own while the rest of us decided to take a train to Frankfurt. Upon our arrival, we purchased a bus and boat tour combination ticket. This enabled us to ride in a double-decker 360 degree tour bus (with no roof over the upper level of the bus). We had headphones that told us about each important building/landmark as we passed. The bus tour lasted about an hour and was helpful because it allowed us to see a general overview of where things were located within the city. We were able to see two of Frankfurt's 'twin business buildings' that stood side-by-side. For a business major, it was humorous to learn that the buildings had been nicknamed 'Credit' and 'Debit.' We were also able to see St. Paul's Cathedral and another cathedral where kings were coronated. After the bus tour, we walked around the pedestrian area for a little while. There were several little restaurants, ice cream shops, souvenir shops, etc. Because it was such a beautiful day, we were all anxious and excited for the boat ride. As we made our way to the boat dock along the Rhine, we saw several bridges crossing the Rhine river. Only one of these bridges was the origional one from before World War II. The boat ride was absolutely beautiful! There was a perfect view of the Frankfurt Skyline. As we floated down the river, we got to relax a little bit, enjoy the sunshine, and see people sunbathing and playing along the shoreline. There were also a lot of people rowing and paddle boating down the Rhine. It was really fun!


Monday we gathered as a large group once again. We hopped in a bus at 8:00 a.m. and made our way to Heidelberg. It was a gorgeous town with a river that runs into the Rhine from the Black Forest. Mark Twain lived in Heidelberg for three months and the town gave him inspiration for his book Huckleberry Finn! While on our tour of the city, our tour guide informed us that Heidelberg is known for its University. She pointed out the 'student jail' to us. This is where the police would make college students stay if they were being loud or causing trouble. The amount of time a student had to spend in this 'jail' was dependant upon the degree of mischief. For instance, if they were just being loud, they only had to stay there a night or two. If they let the farmer's pigs out of the pen, they were to stay there a week. In Heidelberg, we were also able to see their 'kisses' trademark chocolate store. They were really cute chocolate gifts! One of the most amazing sights in Heidelberg was the Schloss Ruins (Castle Ruins). They are the largest ruins left in all of Germany. It was really neat to see how well the castle has been preserved over the years. Ludwig V lived in this castle and became king at age 16. It was sweet to hear the love story between him and his wife. Even though their marriage was arranged, they actually loved each other. For her 19th birthday, he had an archway to her garden built overnight! The castle also had a moat, toilets, and a powder tower (for gun powder). It was really neat to be able to walk within the castle gates as well. In the basement, we were also able to see huge wine barrels that the king used. To see the top of the largest barrel, we had to climb a set or two of stairs!

Needless to say, we had a very busy 'free' weekend! I have truly enjoyed my time in Germany, and have learned not only about the German language, but also about German culture and history. I have been able to use what I have learned in the German language classroom nonstop outside of the classroom. I have steadily been applying new words, phrases, and have constantly been surrounded by other people speaking the language. This has been especially helpful for learning German, because words and pronunciations become much more familiar. I am also proud to say that I have now ordered from restaurants several times using strictly the German language! :) There is no way that I would have been exposed to so much German language and culture back at Wartburg. Not only have we learned more of the language, but it's amazing how different the German culture is from back home. These 'culture lessons' came from both our professors and from being able to meet many other German people.

I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to come to Germany with this group and it couldn't have been better! (Except for the weather!) A special thank you to Frau Losch for all of her work to make this trip as fantastic as it was!

Tschüss!
Erika

Free Weekend

This past weekend was the weekend we were given to pusue our own interests. As you already know we have been traveling around to many cities on the weekends and have kept ourselves busy with many muesums, historical sites, shows, and tours. However, this weekend we were left to do as we pleased and go where we desired.

On Friday night a small group of us went salsa dancing! One of our classmates is from Colombia and he taught salsa dancing lessons for a number of years and was willing to help us learn a little. It was such a fun night. We learned a number of different dances and it was such a neat experience to learn from someone who was so obviously knowledgeable about it. It was really fun to pick up on some of the dance moves, but I will be honest I think it is a little easier for us girls to learn since all we have to do is follow the lead of our partner. :)

A group of us stuck together and decided to travel to Frankfurt for the day on Saturday. We jumped on a train in the morning and arrived in the city about an hour later. It was definitely a new experience to be in a city alone and have to figure things out on our own. We managed very well if I do say so myself. We found the tourist information and planned our day out and even managed to find the bus stop without getting lost! We decided to spend the day getting a couple tours of the city. We started out by getting a bus tour of the city. We were very much blessed to have a nice, warm, and sunny day, and so we got to enjoy the city from the open top of a double decker bus. After the bus tour we walked across the bridge in the city and got onto a boat that took us on a ride down the Rhine. From the boat we got an extraordinary view of the skyline of Frankfurt, and once again got to enjoy some more sun which has been very slim thus far this trip. After our tours and learning a lot about the landscape, structure, and uses of the buildings in Frankfurt we got the chance to walk into St. Paul's Cathedral. This was a special opportunity because this is the place where the rulers are coronated. We ended our day walking around the pedestrian zone of the city and heading back to the Hauptbahnhof (the main train station) to arrive back in Marburg for a relaxing night.

Wartburg Castle

Hello Again!

Last Wednesday, with the other students at our language institution, we took the day to visit the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach and the concentration camp, Buchenwald, The weather was not on our side for the day, as it raining throughout the entire day. We made the best of it and hiked up to the Wartburg Castle first. We toured the castle, hearing again about St. Elizabeth and her time spent in the castle. We also saw the room that Martin Luther translated the Bible into German while being protected by Frederick the Wise. It was amazing to realize how much important history had taken place right where we were standing, but hundreds of years before.
After seeing the castle, we headed to Buchenwald, which is just outside Weimar, Germany. It was a very solemn experience to walk thorough the camp. The weather left a dense fog over the whole camp, which brought the experience to a different level. It was hard to fathom how many thousands had died in that very camp, behind the barbed wire and guard towers. Words really can’t describe the sadness of the camp. Despite the sadness, it was a good experience to have; to see what had happened during the Second World War and to never allow such a tragedy as the Holocaust to occur again.
Now we are getting ready for our free weekend and then visiting Heidelberg on Monday. The weather is finally starting to warm up here. I hope it is the same for Waverly!
Dan

St. Elizabeth's Kirche

Hello all!

Last week we took an afternoon after class to visit the St. Elizabeth’s Kirche (Church). St. Elizabeth was a Hessen princess who lived for part of her life in the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. She is remembered for all the work she did helping the poor and sick of her time. After her husband was killed in the Crusades, she was removed by her family from the Wartburg Castle, and dedicated the rest of her life and wealth to founding hospitals and helping the poor. St. Elizabeth is buried where the church nice stands today. It is a beautiful building. The St. Elizabeth’s Chorale at Wartburg College is named after St. Elizabeth.
After our visit to the church we enjoyed a delicious German dinner together as a group. The picture of our whole group is in front of the Marburg Rathaus (Townhall).
Auf wiedersehen! Dan

Berlin!!

Greetings Wartburg College!

This last weekend we spent in the capital of Germany, Berlin. It was a blast! Thursday was a national holiday in Germany celebrating Christ’s ascension into heaven. We left mid-morning, taking the train to Frankfurt and finally to Berlin. I personally enjoy traveling by rail. It is a nice change from travel in the United States and allows the traveler to see the beautiful German countryside. We arrived mid-afternoon and met up with the group from Eisenach at our hostel. We traveled from place to place by bus, which worked very well. Germany has very good public transportation. Berlin seemed to be a much busier city than Munich. Given that Berlin’s population is nearly twice that of Munich, that makes sense.
We saw so many amazing things in Berlin. We saw a variety show at Freidrichstadt Palast, an old theatre in East Berlin that hosted many shows in order to impress foreign dignitaries visiting East Germany. The show featured everything from figure skating on stage to flying acrobats. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and found the German cultural on stage to be entertaining and fascinating. The next night we saw Blue Man Group, which was another enjoyable show.
While in Berlin we also visited many museums. We visited the Neues Museum, which featured ancient Egypt artifacts, including the bust of Nefertiti. We also visited the Pergamonmuseum, which featured the Gates of Ischtar in ancient Babylon and the Pergamon Altar. We also walked through the memorial to the Holocaust and the Jewish Museum, which were both solemn experiences. One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing the German History Museum. It covered all of Germany’s history, including exhibits from medieval time, the Reformation, the World Wars, and the divided Germany. I could have spent days with all the interesting displays and history that was right before me.
We also visited the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (where the German parliament meets), and the Berliner Dom. The Berliner Dom was my favorite part of the trip to Berlin. The Berliner Dom is an enormous, and probably the most beautiful, Protestant church I have ever seen. We climbed to the top of the Dom and got to look out over the Berlin skyline. In the basement, the sarcophaguses of many of the former Prussian kings were displayed. The Berliner Dom, along with the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag are all well worth a trip to Berlin by themselves.
One of the most interesting themes of Berlin was the history of the wall and divided Berlin. We visited Checkpoint Charlie, an entrance point into East Germany for Americans, the Mauer (Wall) Museum, and the East Side Gallery, which featured a long stretch of the wall still standing. It was hard for me to comprehend a divided Germany or Berlin from the Germany that I see today. I was only six months old when the wall came down, so have no memories of divided Germany. The impact of divided Germany can still be seen in some parts of the country, as some Germans struggle for an identity that has been turned upside down several time in the past century. I cannot imagine being separated from my family by a wall of cement and barbed wire. I could not distinguish the difference today between East and West Berlin without being told. Passing several times between former East and West Berlin, it was almost eerie to think that only twenty years ago that was not possible for some many people.
Berlin was an extraordinary city to visit, one of my favorites in the world. I hope all is going well as May Term begins to swiftly wrap up! Auf wiedersehen!

Berlin

Hello!

We have been extremely busy the past couple weeks, so here are some of our activities.

This weekend we just got back from Berlin, where we met up with Pastor Trachte's Eisenach group, just like we met up with them in Munich. We started off the weekend excursion with a trip to the theater to see a sort of a variety show at the Friedrichstraße palast, which, during the time of the Cold War, was in East Berlin, and was one of the jewels of East Berlin. With the biggest stage in all of Europe, it was an impressive show.

After that, most of us went back to the hostel. The next day we went to the Pergamon Museum, where the Pergamon Altar and the gates of Babylon are housed. It was an impressive display. After that, we split into two groups, with one going to the Brandenburg gate, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, and then Potsdam Platz. The other group went to the Berlin Dom, the Brandenberg gate, and then the Jewish memorial.
That night, we attended another show: Blue Man Group. We got to see how the Germans interacted within the audience. There were some things the group did that were different than what they do in the states (seen them live there too), and it was interesting. After Blue Man, we went back to the hostel.

Saturday, we went to the New Museum in Berlin, where the bust of Nefertiti is housed, as well as several other interesting artifacts from ancient Greece and Egypt. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie and parts of the Berlin Wall, including a stretch that is still up.
We had part of Saturday afternoon free, but saturday night we went to the Reichstag, and saw the city light up and the Berlin Skyline from the dome.
That night, some people went out on the town and others went back to the hostel.
Sunday morning we went to the Jewish Museum of Berlin, which was an interesting display. It showed Jewish history all throughout time.
Sunday afternoon, we came back to Marburg, where we have been attending school for the past two days.
That's all from here for now. Tomorrow we go to Eisenach.
Brent