This week has gone by fast! With class only taking up half of the day, I have a lot of free time. For one of my online classes at UWSP, I have to get involved with an organization, club or cause and write about it throughout the semester. I just sent an email to the administrators at the Volkhochschule, which is a type of community college open to everyone of all ages. One of my teachers earlier this week brought in a catalog from the school and listed were English classes of all levels. I'd love to assist in one of the classes, whether it be as an assistant to students in class or as a tutor out of class. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Yesterday Maggie and I made our way up to the castle. It was a beautiful walk through Oberstadt and up the side of a very large hill. Because of its location, the castle is easy to find anywhere in the city. Just look up! I had fun taking pictures of the castle outside, but I really wanted to go inside and either take a tour or go through the museum. For some reason, neither Maggie nor I could find a door to go inside. There were plenty of doors... but they all looked private! I didn't see one that had a welcome or enter sign over it. Some other people from my group said the same thing, so I know I'm not completely retarded.
I still have to visit the Elizabethkirche, which is centrally located in town. I think it's lit up at night on the inside, from some of the postcards that I've seen. That'd be cool.
My group's German tutor, Rouven, talked about setting up some type of tour for the groups from UW Stevens Point and UW Eau Claire this weekend. I was asked to ask the group whether or not they're interested if they end up having to pay 10 euros, and everyone (except one person) is interested. I think it'd be a great bonding experience for the group and we'll hopefully gain a completely different view of the city. There's catacombs located underneath the castle... I want to see that so bad! Who knows, though. I hope it works out!
Brittany invited people from her class and from the group to her kitchen last night for spaghetti and to watch Cast Away in German. It turned out Cast Away wasn't supposed to be on tv that night, but we ended up watching some King of Queens instead. It was a lot of fun, getting to know people from my group and people from all over the world. I met a really nice girl from Japan, who is making our group sushi next Wednesday. :D We've all decided to make this dinner date a weekly event.
I'm planning to go to the movies tomorrow night with my friend Keifa (Israeli) from my class and Maki (from Japan). I don't know yet what we're going to see... but I don't really care. Rubbel die Katze looks pretty funny... and dumb. But dumb usually equals simple language usage, which is good for me! Some people from UWSP are going to see the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tonight, but I haven't decided if I'm going yet. It's only 3 or 4 euros for students, so I could afford it... but I brought the book with me, and I kind of wanted to read it before I saw it. I guess it doesn't matter too much, because it's in German so I won't fully understand it anyways. Seeing it again in English will probably be like me seeing it for the first time, haha.
I almost forgot to write about last weekend! Last weekend, Maggie, Marcel and I went to Magdeburg to visit the group of German students I worked with last summer in Stevens Point. The train ride consisted of two stops each way, with it being 5 hours each way. It went by fast, though. I noticed some changes as we went from Hessen, which is centrally located in Germany to Saxon-Anhalt, which is located in east Germany. The buildings seemed a little bit more run-down and the city itself didn't have the charm that Marburg seems to have. I feel safe in Marburg, where as I wouldn't want to travel around Magdeburg along not knowing the city. Both cities have a lot of graffiti, but the graffiti in Marburg seems to have more of a positive message than the contrary. Saturday night we met everyone out at a bar, including one of the German professors from UWSP who was in town. It was nice catching up with everyone! Afterwards we went back to Marcel's place and drank more. Mortiz compiled all of his videos he shot while in the US and turned it into a movie for everyone to watch. It was hilarious! At the end of the night, I ended up sleeping in Marcel's roommate's smelly bedroom because Moritz and Susann were pissing me off, haha. I'm ready to sleep when 6 am rolls around. Jesus.
The next day I met up with my friend Franzi and her boyfriend. She picked me up and we all had something to eat at her place. After talking for a while, they drove me to the Dom, aka old church in the city and we walked around a bit. I also saw the Hundertwasserhaus, built by Austrian Friedenreich Hundertwasser:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser
Overall, I've been having a great time so far in Germany. I'm looking forward to what's to come in the following weeks! I'm starting to plan my excursions for the semester... so far it's Ireland, Spain and a roadtrip with my host sister through southern Germany, Austria and Northern Italy. I also need to make time to see a concentration camp... European history at it's worse. As morbid as it is, I'd like to see it for myself.
Thanks for reading!
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