BIG NEWS! -revised

Alright everyone, my most exciting news yet!

I'm going to: PARIS, ROME, AND MADRID! In addition to Berlin! Today I bought a eurail pass that will allow me to go to Rome and Paris for relatively cheap (in comparisson to flights or if I didn't buy the pass) and I'm going to Rome, Italy from October 29th to November 1st! (Halloween weekend). Paris is TBD but it is looking like it will either be the weekend before or after Rome and I'm going to Madrid, Spain from November 19th to the 21st! My friend Barbara and I just decided spontaneously to go to Madrid for the weekend because we found a roundtrip flight for only $70! We're only allowed our backpack but we figured that it would be fun and exciting- not to mention a cheap way to see a little bit of Spain! Another spontaneous decision is to go to Oktoberfest for the day on Saturday the 25th. Nick found a way for us to go to a place that is like Oktoberfest in Stuttgart which is way closer and cheaper than going to Munich- and probably less crowded. So we're going to go to little Oktoberfest instead- most likely will still be a great time!

Overall, today was definately an exciting day. Not only did I plan all my trips around Europe, but we had a seminar about our upcoming courses. I got to look through the packet and figure out a schedule and I'm excited to start! But I'm really looking forward to seeing all of these new places and experiencing all of these new things. Many, many, many pictures to follow! However, for the rest of the week: preparing for my upcoming test that will determine what German class I'm placed into for the rest of the semester. Boring!

Just in case you got confused- the Schedule:
-September 25th: Stuttgart for mini Oktoberfest
-September 28th- October 2nd: Berlin
-October 29th- November 1st: Rome, Italy
-November 19th-21st: Madrid, Spain
-Paris: TBD (most likely the weekend of Nov. 5th)

The Swiss Alps



view of the Swiss Alps from the Gondala



Our next day trip was yesterday to Engelberg, Switzerland to hike through the Swiss Alps. It was not made particularly clear that hiking the mountain was the ONLY thing we were doing that day, so it was quite interesting to see everyone's reactions when we figured out that we had a vertical mile hike down the mountain which lasted over three hours (and due to not being able to go straight down took about 6 miles).



Rocky ground above the tree line



Switzerland was very beautiful and we got to see lots of it from our bus ride through Basel all the way down to Engelberg- we even ran into a herd of sheep! It was really funny for us Americans since that only happens "in the movies". Once we got to Engelberg we took a gonadala ride for about 10 minutes up the mountain and through the clouds. For awhile, all we could see was the rope- it was pretty creepy. But we made it to the top (halfway up the mountain) and we were already in the clouds and above the treeline. All there was to see were rocks and the occasional stream of water. Supposedly there was a lake nearby but we couldn't see it due to the fog.



The hike was steep, long, and there wasn't much to look at until we hit the tree line after about an hour. Things got prettier once there was some vegetation- and LOTS of cows! We all quickly learned why the Swiss are obsessed with selling cowbells- they are EVERYWHERE! We ended up walking down the path that led through cow city where we had to dodge huge piles of cow "droppings". I spent the entire hike slipping and sliding down the mountain, but it took me to get into the cow pasture before I actually fell over. But once the initial fall happened I fell about 5 more times- it was quite the spectacle.

After a much too long hike, my legs were tired and I had enough of hiking (we went hiking on Friday through the Black Forest with our classes, too) we FINALLY!!!! made it to the bottom of the mountain! We had a break and then went on our way home.



Water that is supposed to give eyesight



Things in Freiburg are going well- like I said, on Friday instead of having class we went into the Black Forest in Freiburg and went to a remote church where legend has it a king sent his blind baby daughter to live. She lived in the church and regained her eyesight due to the water running through the church- so we all went inside and got to wash our eyes with the water. This week is our last week of class- we have a written test on Thursday and a spoken test on Friday to determine what German class we take for the rest of the semester. Then we have the weekend where I might be going to Heidelberg to stay with Barbera and I also am going to try to meet up with Dakota from the radio station. Then, on Tuesday the 28th I'm going to Berlin for 5 days! That should be exciting- I've never been to Berlin before. Then, finally, our real classes start on October 4th. (classes, what? I thought I was here to see Europe!! :] ) <<just kidding Mom!

Nick and me on the Gondala ride!



Parlez-vous Français?

To answer my own question, not at all! But that didn't deter me from absolutely adoring Strasbourg, France! 70s, bright sunshine, and all Saturday in a new country was just what the doctor ordered. We boarded a bus around 9am and were standing in the French sunshine by 10:30am, where we saw their LARGE cathedral and I got my very first real French crepe!

We took a boat tour on the Ill River (which flows into the Rhine) for about an hour where we got to see all the major buildings and other historic or important things. Afterwards, they let us loose in the city for about two and a half hours where we went to a cafe and looked through all of the street vendors things- and of course we bought some French wine!

Me and the "cuteness" of France!

After our excursion in Strasbourg, we all boarded our bus and went to a touristy (but quintessential) little French winery town where we enjoyed Flammenkucken, an Alsace tradition, with Riesling. We all had a fantastic time together (as always!)

Flammenkucken! Delicious... that's some sort of thin bread with a creamy cheese, bacon and onions!

Aside from our trip to France, I've really been enjoying myself here in Germany! The weather is mostly nice and everyone in the program is getting along extremely well! We're all having a great time and our German class isn't strenuous at all and is a great review session for grammar and also for learning about the city of Freiburg.

Just to touch base on the updated schedule:

-September 18th: Day Trip to Switzerland

-September 24th:Free weekend, TBD!

-September 28th to October 2nd: Trip to Berlin

-October 4th: REAL classes begin!

Trips TBD:

-Paris to see friends Kelsey and Rachel!

-Italy!

-Meet up with Dakota from 96.3 WDVD when she's nearby!

I'm very excited for all of the fun things I have planned coming up! Also, I'm ready to get going with classes... too much longer of all this lesiure time and I'm not going to be able to settle down and focus once classes do start!

If anyone has any questions or anything I'd be happy to answer! Also, if anyone wants to skype I'm almost always logged onto skype when I'm sitting at my laptop. Just remember- 6 hours ahead of Eastern time zone- I can't always talk long!! :) I hope to hear from you!

Random Updates

Here are just some random pictures of Nick's that are nice from the trip so far and my mailing address(es) for those who are interested!

For Mail: (will come directly to my mailbox- cash is also accepted!!! :] )
Laura Erikson
Merzhauserstrasse 150/06-00-02
79100 Freiburg i. Brsg.
Germany

For Packages (if you choose :) -will go through the IES center)
Laura Erikson
IES Abroad Center
Erbprizenstrasse 12
79098 Freiburg i. Brsg.
Germany

Now here are some of Nick's pictures- his are a little bit better quality than mine so I wanted to share them!!

Me and Nick in the airport in Detroit!

Shortly after our arrival- eating at our hostel's restaurant with a seriously large menu!

A view from the castle in Heidelberg

Heidelberg

We made it to Freiburg!! Here I am in front of the S-Bahn that I take everyday! (with ALL our luggage!)

Today Was a Fairytale: Black Forest

On the way into the Black Forest

After a few days of orientation like things (applying for residency, paperwork for our visa, going over rules, etc etc) we got to go on one of our many to come IES outings! First trip: the Black Forest!

The German Language Program all went together as a group and we took the most picturesque train ride from Freiburg; it was like we were going to Hogwarts or something. The train was choo-chooing, we were going through mountains and over train-bridges, and everything was just so beautiful. When we got off the train, we walked through the most quaint little German town and then started into the forest. It's BEAUTIFUL! It's like every fairytale or kids story you ever imagined; I was just waiting for Prince Charming to come riding through on his horse or to see Hansel and Gretel walk by with their little bread crumbs.

A Fern Gully-esque spot in the forest

Nick on one of many steep hills!

The forest itself was gorgeous- it started out as walking through field, which turnd into wooded areas, which turned into steep wooded areas with streams and rivers running through all over the place. I couldn't believe how much water was there... I guess Geology comes in handy at a time like now- that's all left over melted water rushing from the mountain tops!

 

 

After a long trek through the woods, we got back on the train and went to another small town to have dinner, which was delicious and consisted of salad, schnitzel and pommes (fries) and ice cream with berries. It was so yummy! But after about 20 miles of walking this week, I was dead tired and everyone decided to just have a quiet night.

Getting ready for dinner after hiking!

Overall, I've been having a great time! I've been making some friends in the program (since it's summer vacation here and the Germans won't be back until October) and we have been having fun together. It also makes it fun to have girlfriends now too, since I've mostly been hanging out with boys... they're just not the same. For whatever reason, boys don't like to do the same things as girls... :) so I'm very happy to have friends to hang out with now!

 

It's Sunday here so our intensive language training starts tomorrow. I heard it's 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks (= 60 hours of German!!). So hopefully all goes well with that! We'll see just how good my language gets! Also, I hope it leaves time for some traveling... our tram pass also doubles as a free train ride (on some trains) as far up as Aachen and as for south as Basel! So I definately want to take advantage of that!

 

More pictures and updates to come- wish me luck with classes!! Eek!

Home Sweet Home

my bedroom

Final stop- my dorm room! I've living in what my flat-mates refer to as the "Hippie Area". The roof of my building has solar panels and all of the buildings are connected by walkways- you can't drive through. I knew that my house was going to be small, but it's even smaller than I thought! My room is big enough, but the kitchen area is like a living room too. And my bathroom... don't even get me started on that. If I thought that Albion bathrooms were small... well I'm never complaining again! This bathroom is so small that I don't even know if I want to think about showering.

bathroom?

kitchen area

Anyway, I met everyone in our program today and I had dinner with the people living in the same area as me, since there are a few different areas around the city that people can live. I live in an area called Vauban on Merzhausserstrasse and it's almost in the next town over (called Merzhaussen) but there are places to do shopping and such right on Merzhauserstrasse and the tram goes right by my building, so getting to the city is not a problem! The tram is really easy to figure out and it runs almost the whole day.

So far so good- my housemates seem really nice (even though I share my spaceship bathroom with a guy) and they speak german with me so it's great practice! So far I live with 3 Germans and someone else who hasn't moved in yet. We start our german intensive program on Monday- hopefully everything goes well with that! So far I have been able to understand lots so that's great!

I'm having a good time and everyone in my program seems nice- so hopefully things keep going my way!

my building

Trains and Cobblestone Streets!

We had a very nice weekend in Heidelberg. Nick and I did some exploring of the Heidelberg Castle on Saturday (which I had already been to but 6 years ago!) and then we met with with some people from Albion who are doing the program in Heidelberg. Th funniest part is that they had little to no time to explore the town (as opposed to me and Nick- all we did was walk around the hauptstrasse looking for things to do) so they often times ended up asking us where things were! But we had fun with them and met some of their American friends so that was fun- our room dymanics in the hostel the second night was way different and everyone was from random places- Finland, Argentina, Hong Kong, Turkey, etc. So we decided to hang out with Abby and Jon (our friends from Albion). On Sunday we decided to explore other parts of Heidelberg and that was interesting and a new girl from California came to our hostel after almost everyone else left and she was nice company. But we are happy to be in a different place now.

Today (Monday) we had to leave the hostel at 11am and we took the bus to the train station where we waited for 2 hours (we didn't realize that the wait was going to be so long) but we managed to find everything alright and we made it onto all of our trains again, even though the cobblestones broke one of the wheels on one of my bags. But it's still usable.

The hostel in Freiburg is way different and much nicer than the one in Heidelberg. It's a little further away from the downtown but it's not so bad- we have a room with a sink and small table to ourselves and the downstairs has tables and a tv area and a bar. However, we do not have free wireless internet in our room so we have to use a common computer at the entrance. Not awful, but the keyboard is weird to get used to and it's annoying not being able to use my computer or skype.

Freiburg is a lot bigger and 'younger' than Heidelberg, definately way less if a tourist attraction which is nice- our other hostel was directly outside of a tourist center and the first stop was directly outside of our window, which had to stay open all the time. Needless to say we are glad to be away from there! There is lots of shopping and things to do in Freiburg so we are excited to be here. Tomorrow we are hoping to go explore the town and find where we are going to live and such.

Overall we're having a good time (but tired!) and hope to be able to visit other countries and cities once we get settled into our program which starts on Wednesday and Thursday.