Saturday, 16 May 2009

After dragging my sore and exhausted body out of bed at 10:00 in the morning. I went to go meet up with my mentor to go bike ride to a lake that I had no idea where it was nor did I know how big it was, but I was getting out there anyways. The lake is known as the Cospundener See and is 9.8 kilometers around, which is a very long distance if you have never rode on a bike in many, many years. It is also a natural lake, unlike many of the other lakes around in the area. Anyways, below are some pictures of the lake and the houses by it. In the background of the first picture, there is a pyramid. The pyramid resides inside an amusement park that, as I am told, similarly resembles a Six Flags Amusement Park but is no where near as cool as one.

Also, the sand on the beaches is very coarse. During the warm days of the summer, people come out and lay out like Americans do, but some of them decide to lay out nude and such. Fortunately, it was a colder day when I went and there was no one to be found on the beaches. However, I heard some of my professors were fortunate enough to see some 65'ish old men one day when they decided to go visit the lake.

The picture of the pigs was in a wooded area that we had to ride through to get to the lake. I took this picture on the way back, hence why it is shown after the pictures of the lake.

After the lake, we went back to Kathleen's apartment to have some lunch but first I was to get my first taste of how grocery stores ran here in Leipzig. I did not see much of a difference other than the fact that they were much smaller than say a Wal-Mart Supercenter and everything was in German. Actually, come to think of it there were some more interesting things. For example, there were a much more variety of different cheeses that would have been considered "exotic" in the states, same goes with some of the meats they had, and they sell bubbly water, AKA Carbonated Water. They also sell carbonated fruit drinks. I personally hate both of those, even though I enjoy drinking pop. Someone said the water was like drinking Sprite but without any real taste. Well since I don't like Sprite, I didn't see myself how I would like the carbonated water.

So I bought some lunch meat and goat cheese to make a sort of panini-like sandwich back at her apartment. It was pretty good. Now, I plan on investing in a George Foreman grill so that I may be able to recreate my experience some day in the future. Her roommate Sandra joined us for lunch as well. We got to talking about the Swine Flu that has been spreading around because we had to turn off the radio so that Sandra would not hear the latest news on the matter because she is scared of it becoming an epidemic. I thought it was rather odd she did not want to hear what has been going on, and I was not alone on this thought. Kathleen agreed with me on my thinking. After some more chatting and cleaning up after lunch, the three of us decided to go to the park that was near Kathleen and Sandra's apartment. Sandra had just bought a new bike but had yet put it together, which consisted of putting the seat at the right height, screwing on the peddles, and fixing the handlebars at the right height. We ventured through the streets and went to the park to hang out. It was nice and relaxing to sit down in the park and just talk to two young Germany ladies about life and such. The picture of the Smiley Face was in the apartment of Kathleen and Sandra. I like those yellow Smiley Faces, so I took a picture of it.




After we left the park, I had to get back to the apartment that I have referred as my home for the next 6 weeks to have dinner with my host mother, her young daughter, and the neighbor next door. Her name is Barbara, and she is quiet an interesting person. She is a very talkative and animated. If this puts it into some sort of perspective, she runs marathons. Any ways, Anja made a Hawaiian Pizza, and it was very delicious. I am sad to say that Barbara was able to eat more than me. And for being how much she ate and drank, I am impressed of how she is able to keep off the weight and be so motivated to run long distances.





When dinner was over, I got a shower and prepared for my first night out in Leipzig, Germany. I went to the Augustusplatz to wait for my fellow peers to head to a discotech, which is a club. It was called Moritzbastei. This is the place underground that is a part of the old wall that once surrounded the city of Leipzig many, many years ago. Apparently, there were three different dance floors on different levels of the disco club, but I only stayed at the one because I did not know this until the next day or so. The picture is part of the Augustusplatz of what was in front of me where I was sitting. There are some pictures of the club as well.




Some of the mentors came with us and showed us a good time. However, most of everything that happened was first initiated by the guys from the program. We decided to play Thumper. This is a typical American drinking game and can be very loud because of all the banging on the table that happens during the game. It first started out small but soon spread to the entire table. George was even to get two German ladies in on the action that were sitting to the table next to us. It did take some persuasion, but it worked out in the end.




Once the game got old, I had the desire to go dancing. Luckily, the two German ladies and one of the mentors Cor also shared the same desire. So, I went out on to the dance floor with them and after awhile most of the rest of the group joined us. It was an amazing time dancing out there because the Germans love American music, so I knew about every single song they were playing. It was just so beautiful. The rest of the night consisted of more drinking and dancing. I even tried a drink called "Diesel." This is a combination of Coke and beer. Yes, I know it sounds disgusting, but it was very delicious. Cor made me chug the whole thing because she wanted to get out back on the dance floor. She wanted me to come with her because I am just an amazing dancer. (I went to 11 dances alone my Senior year in high school, so yea I can dance.) I tried to go up to the DJ and suggest a song, but it didn't work out because I never heard it played. It might have been because I put Beyonce down instead of Sash Fierce, but if he were a true DJ, then he should have known who I meant.



The night ended finally. I walked home an went to sleep. And on the way home, I saw a poster advertising the movie Angels & Demons. However, here is Germany it is called Illuminati. O man, what a Saturday nigh I had.

Friday, 15 May 2009

On Friday, we had our first class and my first adventure through the city. My host mother Anja and my mentor Kathleen took me through the city and pointed out some famous places and areas to know. We did some riding on our bikes, but it was mostly walking so that I could get a better feel of the area I was about to spend 6 weeks. I got to the place where we have class. It was called the Ring Café.

Our first day of class was basically just “Syllabus Day,” except for my LEAN Manufacturing class because the professor is only going to be there for 2.5 weeks, so her class is being accelerated right from the get go. Unluckily I suppose, I had signed up for this class, so I had to get it into gear on the first day, which stunk majorly. At lunchtime, the students and I as long with 2 of the mentors went to get a food card to put money on it so that we could go to the Mensa, the student cafeteria, and eat for a cheaper price. The food is pretty decent and you get a lot for a little.

After lunch, we went back to the Ring Café and had class to the 15.00 hour where we then were given the task to pair up and sent out into the city to find 10 things that were similar to American cities and 10 things that were different. Frank and I paired up together while his mentor Cor tagged along. We were able to come up with stuff, but I don’t really remember what they were. However, I have been taking pictures of things that I notice that are odd or at least different from the United States.

After we got back from our little excursion through the city, the professors, students, and some of the mentors went on a private tour of the city of Leipzig led by our very own Dr. Mosher.



This is a picture of the Ring Café where we have our classes. It was also one of the buildings the GDR built. They were planning on erecting building around the city to form a ring but ran out of money to continue on with the project. Ironically, a church now exists in the building.



This is a picture of an old wall that surrounded the city back in the way back of times. As you can see, the wall is covered in graffiti. On the other side, there is an entrance to a café, which turns into a bar/dance club in the evening.



These next two pictures are of a fountain in the Augustusplatz. The Augustusplatz is a very nice and beautiful. The fountain is called the neo-Baroque Mende Fountain. IT was built in the square in 1886 and is the only remaining testimony to one of Germany's leading late 19th century square ensembles. Rebuilt and bearing new pieces of porphyry, it stands before the New Gewandhaus and forms a striking contrast to the new and modernly designed Augustusplatz with its jet fountain in front of the Opera House.





















This is a picture of the Opera House. There is another fountain in front of this building. Often you see people laying down with parts of their body hanging into the water. Also, kids play in the water on a hot day. It is very beautiful in the evening with the lights and surrounding architecture. The New Opera House opened 1960 on the site of the New Theatre which was destroyed during the Second World War. It stages operas and ballets and can accommodate an audience of 1426. Leipzig's Opera House conception goes back to 1693, making it the second oldest musical stage in Germany. Tribute was paid to the Opera House on a European scale when it was voted "European Opera House of the Year" twice at the end of the last century. The renowned Opera House boasts one of the best ballet companies in Europe, an opera choir, a children's choir and a ballet school. Musicals and operettas are performed in the historic Dreilinden House.



This is a group picture of the UD students and two of the professors with us on the trip, Dr. Mosher and Dr. Heitmann in front of the big fountain in the Augustusplatz. In the background is the New Gewandhaus, which houses the orchestra and symphony and played host to University of Leipzig's 600 year anniversary celebration. This is very controversial because of the history the university has been through with the Nazi regime and especially the GDR days. I don't really know what the stances are on either side, but the students are very into expressing their views and showing their views in the public than are the American students.




This is a picture of the highest building in Leipzig. It was originally used by the university but now the tv and radio stations own and use it. it is referred to by some of the Leipzig people as the Wisdom Tooth as it strongly resembles a tooth by some people. As you are looking at the New Gewandhaus from Augustusplatz, the building is on the right but back off of the square a good 500 to 1000 meters or so.









This is pictures I was able to capture of one of our heroic professors as Dr. Mosher was talking about the Augustusplatz. I was able to take the picture at exactly the right time as Dr. Falkowski turned his head to the side. He truly is a superhero. Well, at least that what he believes at times.

There are more pictures of the tour, but it is just a hassle putting them up here. IT was a lot of fun and helped to get to know the city center real fast. We often spend a lot of time going in and out of the city center to get to class, go out to eat, and go out to the bars and clubs.

Some of the other things to mention about the city is the university is in the middle of expanding along the Augustusplatz and are in the process of rebuilding a church that was knocked down during the times of the GDR. It is very controversial. Though the actual final plans on what the building will actually be used for is still undetermined, the design strongly resembles the architecture of the old church that once stood there in its place.

Another controversial thing that is happening in Leipzig is the construction of the railway system going under the city. This is happening because the Main Train station only allows trains to pull into a dead end stop and have to back track out of the station and go around the city if it wishes to travel that way. The construction of the railways are to cut time of travel and add a couple of stops through the city. The city map shows some of the plans of where the rails are suppose to placed under the ground.





After the tour, there was a celebration dinner sponsored by the program to celebrate the beginnings of a wonderful time spent studying abroad. This is probably where I got my very first experience of some true German food and beer. The following pictures are the front entrance, my beer, and my food. My beer was the Goser, which is the Leipzig beer. I had some sort of game food with dumplings and mixed in a sauce. It was very good, and I was very happy for trying something new on the first time out at a restaurant in Germany. After the dinner, there was a plan of the students going out to the bars and do a little celebration of their own, but after I got a shower, I was way to exhausted to go out and passed out on my bed.

That was my Friday.



Please note that some of the information about the buildings and places in Leipzig were gotten from the Leipzig tourist website.

Wednesday, 13 May 2009 / Thursday, 14, 2009

Well after finishing eating dinner with my family at Willy's, it was time for me to go to the airport and head to Frankfurt, Germany on a direct flight that took about 8.5 hours. Once I checked my bags and walked to the gate, I already ran into one of the guys that I would be spending time with in Germany, Frank. Frank had flown into Cincinnati 7 hours earlier from Cleveland,OH and had spent the entire day at the airport. His day was already looking much more exhausting than my would eventually become. Many of the students that were to come to Leipzig were coming in on a flight from Dayton, OH. Due to the stormy weather, they were running a little late but by they arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare before the plane took off.

So we boarded the plane, and I had a window seat in the emergency exit aisle. It was very nice because it had extra leg room. I sat next to some guy that didn't talk at all and seemed to be an experienced flier. On the other, the last time I was in a plane I jumped out of it last Spring and the time before that it had to have been 10+ years before I had flown on any other sort of aircraft, so it was sort of a new experience for me. The flight didn't seem to be too bad. The dinner and breakfast was sub par but what else would you expect from an airline. They showed two movies, The Express and Yes, Man; an episode of The Office, King of Queens, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. All were at least fairly decent, except for The New Adventures of Old Christine. It was extremely stupid and the only funny parts was when there was a scene of Old Christine's son.

My seat was also located right next to the toilets, so I got to see many people on the plane. I especially took notice of the women and younger ladies on the plane, and I felt (I am not alone) that were a rather high number of good-looking females on my flight. And, in case any one was wondering, I only had to use the restroom once during the entire flight and pretty much got zero hours of sleep.

When night-time rolled around, the sky was very beautiful. There was a full moon and since we were so high it was a clear sky. Below the plane, it looked like there was a never-ending sea of clouds and all I wanted to do was to stay up there forever. It looked very peaceful and comforting. Living in the clouds would be such an amazing feeling. I tried to get a picture of the view but I was not able to get one until the sun started to come up. Below are those pictures that I took that turned out fairly decent.













The last two photos are of the descent of the plane into the airport and of other planes docked at the gates at the Frankfurt airport. Once we got off the airport, we had to go through security and show them our passports and waited to pick up our bags at the terminal. Mike was joking how it would funny if someone's bag didn't show up for whatever reason. I told him if my bag didn't show up that I would slug him in the face. Luckily for him, both of my bags made it just fine.

After getting all of our bags, we had to find our way through the airport to the train station. We have to sit around and wait for the train to arrive. I believe we had to wait for an hour or so. The train ride from Frankfurt, Germany to Leipzig, Germany was 3 hours and those 3 hours were he worse of the trip. Beth and I had gotten to her seat she saved and I found on next to her. There was a man sitting across from us in the same compartment. He had a beer in one hand and talking on his phone with his earpiece. He spoke German, but I was unable to understand anything that he was saying. He finished his first beer, took a little nap, and then reached into his suitcase and pulled out another beer to continue to drink. After he finished that one, I think he passed out or just happened to have fallen into a deep sleep of some sort for the remainder of the our train ride.

Once we finally arrived in Leipzig, we walked down the end of the rail to run into our professors, our mentors, and (for those who had them) our host families. I met my family and almost immediately left for their apartment, which was only like a 5 minute drive since they had their car with them. Since their car was so small, the father had to walk home which only took him maybe an extra 10 minutes.

When I got to the apartment, I quickly unpacked my things, had dinner, and proceeded to pass out. The dinner was very delicious. I had veal, mashed potatoes, and cauliflower. Also, I had a beer for my beverage.

That is the conclusion of my first day in Leipzig.

JUST A SEPARATE NOTE: Not all my pictures will be posted on my blog. Most of them will be placed in an album on my Facebook account, so be sure to go there to see them.

The Beginning

I created this blog to keep track of everything that happens in the next 6-7 weeks in my time spent in Europe. I am spending 6 weeks in Leipzig, Germany living with a host family and taking a couple of classes. The last week will be spent traveling through the rest of Europe ending in London, England where my flight leaves back to the States on July 3, 2009 just in time for Independence Day.

My host family lives on the edge of the center of the city on the North side. The parents have a 3 year old daughter named Sonja. I have found that she can be quite a handful for the parents. I do not know if this is a worldwide thing since I am the youngest in my family and never ever spent more than a couple of hours, at most, with a child so young.

Any ways, I have my own room in their apartment, which is bigger than my own room at home and strongly resembles the size of a Marianist room (for those of you who might actually know what that is). The apartment in-of-itself is also big. There is a so-called half bathroom; a bathroom where there is a shower, a bath tub, a washer and a dryer; a kitchen; 2 more bedrooms; a living area; a work area; and of course, a balcony. This is where I am writing this little blog right now. It is awesome. Most nights we eat dinner on the balcony, and the view ain't too bad either. On the left side there are trees and a little river and in the background and on the right are buildings, which all have their unique style depicting different times in the life of the city. (There will be pictures at some point showing all of this.)

Besides living with a host family, I have a mentor that helps me to get to know the city better and, at times, help with my ability to speak German. Her name is Kathleen, and she is currently studying at the University of Leipzig. She spent two years in Chicago and mentored a UD student last year as well. She is very nice and helpful in trying to make my experience an unforgettable one.

There are many things I want to say but will try to break them down on a day-to-day basis as the thoughts first occurred in my brilliant mind. I have already taken many pictures on my trip, so those will be coming soon as well.

If you have any questions or would like to know more information about certain topics, you are welcomed to ask me whatever you wish. However, that does not necessarily mean I will answer your questions. Also, I do have a WebCam and I have a Skype account. My screenname is david.rathman and I welcome you to invite me to chat whenever the notion might move you.


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