Viva das Leben!

So I need to start this entry out by letting everyone know that the (kid's) bike Dieter brought back from Basel was stolen from him three days later.  He thought it so shoddy a bike that nobody would bother stealing it.  Well, he was wrong, and now it is sitting in a bike shop in Freiburg with a price tag of €60 on it.

Monday, September 7th:  We had a mandatory session about financial matters in Germany.  Namely, we were told how to properly make deposits/check our bank statements.  Nothing terribly exciting.  After this session, a group of us went to an international dining market.  Everything was really pricy, and I just wanted some Döner (Turkish equivalent to the gyro...though not as tasty).  I did happen to find an empty plastic bottle at the market though, which I was able to claim the Pfand (refund) for later.  I got my Döner kebab and afterwards was left feeling very parched...again with a strong desire for milk.  So a couple of us went to the Pennymarkt in the city, where I was able to claim that Pfand (¢25 baby!) which I was able to put toward my milk purchase.  I got a liter of milk for ¢17.  Take that MUHS cafeteria!  I drank the whole thing...and believe, milk was a bad choice.  Immediately after lunch we had a reception at the International House–the language institute where we would take our intensive classes before the school year begins.  Little did I know they were going to be having a little reception...with food and beverages.  Orange juice after a liter of milk=bad idea.  We were introduced to the staff and then took a placement test to divide the 45 person group into three smaller groups based on proficiency.  I made it into the middle group, which is exactly where I would have placed myself.  Finally we were going to start classes, but not until...

Tuesday, September 8:  The first day back in the classroom is always the hardest...but when it is all in German, it's a bit more difficult.  We have class from 2 to 5:15.  From 2-3:30 we have a grammar course.  Following a 15 minute break, we have a conversation course from 3:45-5:15.  These classes will go until October 1st.  This is what I have been doing for the last two weeks.  Nothing terribly exciting happened during this week (excluding the purchase of olive oil on the 8th...man did I miss me some olive oil), until...

Wann in Der Schweiz!

Naturally after Thursday, came...

Friday, September 4th:   We met up with our tour guide/tutor Johanna in the morning, and she took us into town for the "paperwork marathon."  That meant spending an hour and a half in a warm room filling out forms with 20 other students, step-by-step to insure nobody screwed anything up.  We had to register with the city, the university, and some other unmemorable places.  Once we finished that, we split into two groups for lunch.  One group went to this international market but I decided to go with the other group for the traditional Flammkuchen.  Imagine a very thin pizza with a thin layer of (sour, I think) cream instead of sauce, topped with some cheese, onions, and thin strips of ham.  Very tasty (or sehr lecker!).  After that we had to go fill out our paperwork with the housing company, even though we had already been living in our dorms for four days.  After this, we were free to go, so Paul (MUHS guy) and I went looking for a bookstore.  Paul wants to learn French (as do I, but I have Rosetta Stone on my computer), and he wanted to find a German book that would teach it to him...a pretty brave way to learn two languages at once.  Before making it to the store, we took a detour so I could check out the Johanneskirche, which, like most churches here, turned out to be Catholic. :)  Unfortunately it was closed, so we explored the neighborhood and, due to the rain that intensified since we left the housing company building, we decided to stop in to an ice cream shop to get a little treat.  Because, hey, isn't it funny to eat ice cream in the rain?N.B.-Hazelnut ice cream is not as good as every other thing that Germans have similarly flavored.  We found a bookstore, browsed for a while, found the (very expensive) books Paul was looking for.  I stumbled across a German-English phrase book, and for the English pronunciations, they had phonetically sounded out the syllables.  Not as they would sound when a native speaker would talk, but rather a German trying to speak English.  So now I know why Germans speak English with such a distinctive accent.  Nico Fassino can replicate it for you if anyone is wondering how it sounds. :)  These authors have a sense of humor.  

That night we went out.  I was of course wearing my stretchy black and gray striped pants that I got for a Euro-pop dance in Madison.  At about 10 we made our way to a bar, where I had my second beer...still nothing special to me...and after about an hour there we went to another bar, where I didn't get anything but instead patiently awaited our next stop: a Diskothek.  We made our way there around 12:30, but I was warned that the music wasn't very good and at the door, was made aware of the €3.50 entrance fee.  That, coupled with the extra €2 fee I was going to have to pay to take the late S-bahn home, as well as the fact that I didn't plan on staying very long anyway, made me decide to catch the last S-bahn home.  Fortunately, I had company because one of the other AYFers shared my sentiments.  To make a long and complicated story short, Rob and I walked a ways to meet up with a female AYFer who took the S-bahn too far and was lost in a sketchy area not really close to our dorms.  So we ended up not getting back until about 2-2:30 anyhow.  Getting to bed so late forced me to sleep in on...

Saturday, September 5th (my Mom's birthday!):  I woke up around 9:30 and went for a run with some guys around 10:30.  Later we met at the train station for the group shopping trip to the huge IKEA store on the outskirts of town.  I have never been to an IKEA before, or a store that had a shopping flow of traffic dictated by arrows on the ground.  I didn't need too much for my room, just a carpet, some extension cords, and a small mat for in front of my sink...so I purchased those three things! (Howabout that!)  And if I had a real job, I would totally go back to IKEA and get furnishings there.  So chic!   After we got back home I did some grocery shopping, since most are closed on Sundays, and then quickly made my way down to the Münster, the Catherdral, for a vigil mass (since we were leaving for Basel, Switzerland early in the morning).  It was interesting, you know, being in German and all.  I look forward to when I will be able to understand the readings and the homily.  It was really cool being in such an old cathedral, though.  There are a lot of Catholic churches that I can make my way to around here, so I plan to check them all out.  After mass I went to ALDI to get some (more) delicious hazelnut wafer cookies that are only €.99 for a 400g bag.  Haha, they are just too good.  I wandered around the city for a while after that, eventually making my way to O'Kelly's Irish Pub, where some of my friends from Michigan were planning on meeting later in hopes to watch their Wolverines.  I scoped out the place to see if that would be possible, but, due to the four world cup qualifiers going on, the four televisions were, and were going to be for most of the night, occupied.  I ran into a couple of other AYFers there, so I joined them and had my first Guinness.  I figured I had to try one before I really claim not to like beer, but again, nothing too special for me.  After watching the matches for a while, I went back to my dorm to meet up with Carl and Derek, the Michigan guys, who decided to purchase an online package allowing them to watch college games (football and basketball) for the year...a pretty nice pick up.  So I joined them for a while, but only after I made myself a double-decker sandwich.  I also broke out this box of "cereal" I purchased earlier that day.  There were essentially crispy chocolate squares with Nutella in them.  Not very good in milk, but pretty darn tasty otherwise.  After calling my momdre to wish her a happy birthday, I went to bed, because I was going to Basel on...

Sunday, September 6th:  I arrived at the train station in the morning and was greeted by our pretzel-toting program director.  Pretzels for breakfast.  :)  The train ride to Basel lasted about 50 minutes and we were free to wander once we arrived.  I was trying to find a partner with whom to wander the city.  I don't like being that big group of loud Americans.  I also like to walk with a purpose, so I can see as much as possible.  (Ideally, I would have had my brother to explore the city, but I need to find a travel-buddy like him.)  Dieter, an eccentric MUHS guy who was my year but I didn't know very well, had separated himself from the bunch, so I made my way to join him.  He became my exploring buddy. 

Basel sits on the Rhine, and isn't (in my opinion) very special otherwise.  We wandered through the city and walked along the Rhine, which was pretty cool.  Dieter read somewhere about Basel having a paper mill where one can make there own paper.  We made an effort to find the mill, but unfortunately it didn't open until later in the afternoon.  It also charged a hefty admission price.  I did take some pictures of the sign though.  It reminded me of my friends from Kimberly, Wisconsin.  Their high school mascot was called a "Paper-Maker."  Fierce!  Although Bagels tries to tell me it's some sort of wasp.  Speaking of WASPs, the cathedral along the Rhine, which we visited later that day was pretty on the outside, but once we entered, it seemed to be missing a good deal.  We went and clarified.  It was no longer a Catholic Cathedral (since 1520).  (Sorry, I couldn't pass up on that següe.)

We kept along the Rhine until we made our way to a park.  There were so many bicyclists and runners, that I mentioned to Dieter, "Wouldn't it be funny to see somebody chasing after somebody who's going for a run?"  So, I have about 4-5 videos of Dieter chasing after runners, bikers, and roller bladers.  Nobody ever turned around to look at him.  It was pretty darn funny.  We also found a see-saw in the park and had a go with that.  We really made the best of Basel.  We approached a dam and decided to cross back over the Rhine and start making our way back.  But, we were both a little hungry, so we decided to get some ice cream from this lady selling in at the dam.  Unfortunately for us, Switzerland is not on the Euro, but rather the Swiss Frank.  We knew the conversion rate, and she charged us fairly, even though she was very difficult to understand.  We were in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but Schweizerdeutsch is pretty far from standard German.  Anyhow, the ice cream tasted like liquid Laffy-Taffy that had been frozen.  No joke.  I don't even know what flavor I got.  It was some Swiss bastardization of a German word, but I thought I would try something new.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, we came across a fruit "stand."  It consisted of about 6 crates stacked atop one another with a couple of bags of apples and plums with a folder with the price written on it.  There were some Franks in the folder from past purchases.  Dieter and I decided to see what the coins looked like, so we were standing on either side of the "stand."  A women on the bike path saw us, stopped, and asked in her Swiss German if we had plums.  Instead of clarifying that it was not our stand, Dieter told her that we most definitely did.  She asked from where they came.  Dieter told her they were from the Bodensee in Southern Germany.  I was trying so hard not to laugh.  She purchased a bag and we got the heck out of there before more people could stop by.  

We kept along the Rhine until we ran into another playground.  We had been walking for a long time so it made even more sense to try out another see saw.  After we made sure it was safe for all the little Swiss kids, we found a(n abandoned...we think) kid's bike.  I took a video of Dieter riding it around the tunnel we found it in, but then he decided to keep riding it along the Rhine.  So here was this 20-year old American riding a Swiss kid's bike along the Rhine, shouting Grüezi (Swiss greeting) to everyone else on bikes that he passed.  We took a little break, and Dieter paid €10 for some Chinese noodles...they totally ripped him off because he payed in Euros.  He knew it, but was so hungry he did it anyway.  He also kept the plastic bowl and fork he was supposed to return...so he kind of only paid €9.  I packed a lunch.  Much better (billiger=cheaper) idea.  After we ate, Dieter decided to go swimming in the Rhein.  It was a very warm day and there were also other people swimming in the river, so that was not too strange.  Our day in Basel was coming to an end and Dieter decided to take home his new bike, depriving some little kid in Basel (maybe...unless it was abandoned!) of his or her bike.  So he rode it all the way back to the train station and brought it onto the train.  On the way back, a family with some children sat across from us.  Adorable children speaking German...yes please.  They were talking about where their Oma and Opa lived, oddly enough near the Bodensee.  Heck, I bet Dieter's plums came from their farm.  Well, as Dieter was getting off the train, he picked up his bike, only to have the little girl say to him, "Ein Kleines Fahrrad." (A Little Bike)  It was pretty darn funny.  Then I returned home after a long day of a lot of walking, and slept.  Still no more German roommates!  

I am hoping to post the pictures from Basel on a slideshow on my blog, but am working out the kinks.  Hopefully that will work.  I will also post them on Facebook with some descriptions so you can follow along with our eventful day visually.

Die Ersten Vier Tage (The First Four Days)

Alright, so here is the breakdown:  I am studying abroad for a year in Freiburg im Breisgau, Deutschland.  I am going through Academic Year in Freiburg, a program that takes students from UW-Madison, Michigan State, the University of Iowa, and the University of Michigan...and yes, those were mentioned in order of importance.

Monday August 31st:  I flew from Chicago to Detroit, Detroit to Frankfurt.  Before getting on my flight to Detroit, I ran into my German teacher from this past semester, Charlie (who did the AYF program in 2004).  He is also in Freiburg as part of some research he is doing for his doctorate.  Somewhere during the flight to Frankfurt (during which I got a mere 2 hours of sleep), it became...

Tuesday September 1st:  Once we arrived and got through customs, I met up with Charlie at the baggage claim, and we made our way to the Bahnhof (train station) which is adjacent to the Frankfurt airport and there we purchased train tickets.  Finally we were on our way to Freiburg im Breisgau!  We arrived at the Bahnhof around 11 in the morning and checked in, purchased a cell phone, and then were off to the Studentensiedlung, or Stusie for short. (The "we" is Charlie and me.  I was glad to have someone who had done everything before.)  I got to my dorm-style apartment, had no idea which room was mine because it was not on my keychain, but then ran into a familiar face.  Of the two other Americans living in my building, Jared from my German class is also on my floor, and helped me finally figure out not only which room was mine, but also the German key system.  So I was finally able to drop my 4 bags after hauling them through an airport, two train stations, and one Straßenbahn (street train...tram).  I wanted to take a nap, but realized I needed an alarm clock to wake me up...which I had buried somewhere in one of my four bags.  So I took the last amount of energy I had, made my bed, put all my clothes away...and then slept for four hours.  I set my alarm for A.M. instead of P.M. and almost missed the welcome pizza party...but free pizza...my body knew to wake itself up.  So yes, my first night in Freiburg I had pizza...small, and not as tasty.  But they were free, so I even took a left over one for breakfast on...

Wednesday September 2nd:  Most Academic Year in Freiburg-ers (AYFers) went out Tuesday night...but I was ready to become acquainted with my bed.  After having pizza for my second consecutive meal, Jared and I decided to go take a look at Freiburg before our tour that afternoon.  We took the Straßenbahn into town (I am about two miles outside of it...but about 5-8 minutes on the S-bahn) and began exploring.  We eventually ran into my friend Alex from Madison and went with him to check out the AYF office.  From there, we went back to his place...Hippieville, or more formally, Vauban.  The buildings in this area used to be French barracks following WWII.  Cool, but like the most intense Madisonians...Alex wanted to live there so he could access the Black Forest more easily on his bike.  We got some döner kebabs for lunch (essentially a Turkish gyro), hit up eine Bäckerei for some dessert, and took a tour of the city.  It is surprisingly large, but there are some really pretty and quaint areas within the city.  I didn't take many pictures of the city yet...I bought a new camera and am getting past my fear it will be stolen by some Gypsies on a moped as soon as I pull it out...so I will eventually get some visuals for anyone with enough time to read this.  After activating out cell-phones...on a pay-as-you-go plan...from ALDI!, my small group and I spent the afternoon in a Biergarten, where, yes, I had my first beer.  It wasn't anything special...but then again, I don't know what special beer tastes like.  What was more memorable was my Brezel und Weißwürste.  I like German food.  After our enjoyable afternoon, Joe, Christina (MSU),  Derek, Carl (Michigan), Kristin (UW) and I went and did some shopping... I got some thumbtacks, so I can put things up in my room.  Unfortunately I need a hammer to hit them in because the wall is so thick...so my room is still very white. I also got some Müesli (generic term for German granola cereal...really good) so I would have something for breakfast on...

Thursday August 3rd:  An eventful day.  We went into the city to open bank accounts, had spaghetti for lunch–I have had more Italian food that German so far–and then attended a colloquium held by our program director George Peters, a German teacher from Michigan State.  It was titled "Life in a German Dorm, Culture Shock, Health and Liability Insurance."  It was informative, but also eye-opening.  Umm...they talked on sexual "health," promoting contraceptives and morning-after pills, and very sadly noting that abortion is legal in Germany in a "worst-case scenario."  It was a "Toto...it looks like we're not in Kansas anymore" moment.   This was the day that I first got internet.  We put down deposits for modems, and my friend Carl–who lives right above me– and I split a router so we will pay half the price.  He came over and hooked it up in my room, but we had made plans with others, so we didn't get to spend much time online.  We went to another Stusie house where my friend Paul (who actually went MUHS, but was a year below me) lives.  He and I played Sheepshead and practiced our German with his German roommate, Mischi.  He is one of my favorite Germans so far, namely because he speaks standard German pretty slowly.  Unfortunately I don't have any German roommates yet.  My floor is pretty empty, and will be until the school year starts.  The current breakdown:  10 rooms.  4 (known)occupied.  2 Americans.  1 Armenian sublettor. 1 German who is always with her boyfriend.  When she is not busy making a mess in our kitchen, she is off avoiding cleaning it up.  So I look forward to speaking with some (clean) natives. 

 I am going by Nathan here, to the Germans, because, as I learned on the plane ride when I sat next to a German, "Nate" is not common in German.  One girl asked me if my parents were very religious, because Nathan is only common for very religious families in Germany.  Probably like Ezekial in the U.S..  Speaking and (correctly) hearing German has been much more difficult than I initially anticipated, but it has only been about a week.  We AYFers have varied levels of German–some have studied in Germany before, while others, like me, have taken 4 semesters in college.  But, we start intensive classes soon, which will be very helpful to remember everything that I forgot over the summer.  Those classes begin tomorrow, which means I need some sleep.  I will tell you about the weekend on my next post.

Tschüß!

Ich bin hier!

I am finally in Freiburg, slowly getting accustomed to the city. I don't have much more time on this computer, so I will have to wait until I get internet connection tomorrow or Friday to start blogging more. Tschüss!