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.
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