Herbstferien & Fotos

22. Oktober

What a wonderful two weeks Herbstferien (fall break) was! We were in Bayern (Bavaria) for a week and a half, staying with my host mom's mother in southern Bayern. I really enjoyed getting to know her, her husband, and her dogs, and I feel like my German host family expanded. The weather was almost as wonderful as our hosts, with sun almost every day. It held out really well for us--I looked yesterday, and the forecast predicted snow last night in the same town. I went hiking in a tank top and shorts when we were there!

For my birthday (19!?), I was treated to a wonderful breakfast, which is often when gifts/cake are had here. This suits me perfectly, because I love German breakfasts so much. The bread here is SO WONDERFUL (sorry not sorry to all my gluten-free friends out there). Then, there are practically limitless options for what to eat with that freshly-baked bread! Käse (cheese) and Marmalade (jam) of many varieties, Nutella, Honig (honey)... I could go on all day, until it was time to eat breakfast again.

A glimpse from my Geburtstag Frühstück. Not pictured: Brot (bread)

Later in the day we drove to Füssen, looked through the shops there, and ate ice cream. For dinner, I made black bean burritos with guacamole and we played a game and had many laughs!

Cassie, my host sister, and I on my birthday.

On our last day in Bayern, I hiked up to Schloss Neuschwanstein. I didn't go inside (you have to pay and there were so many tourists there...), but instead I hiked further and was amazed by the view of the mountains, especially with the fall colors in the trees. That day was the clearest, and the mountains were breathtaking.

The view of the bridge from the Schloss.

Schloss Neuschwanstein.

Schloss Hohenschwangau, the other of King Ludwig's two castles.

And now, I'm back in Duisburg and in school, but coming back I realized again what a good place this is to live. It is certainly more "industrial" here than in the south, but everything I could need is within reach, and I have a ticket that allows me to travel anywhere in the Ruhrgebiet with public transit, which makes even more accessible. (Perspecitve: Duisburg has a population of about 490,000, and the entire Ruhrgebiet about 5 million) I also really appreciate how many different things there are to see that aren't far away. A good place to live for a year, I must say!

At Home in Deutschland

7. Oktober

What a month it’s been! My blog certainly deserves an update.

I’ve settled into school well. I changed my second major course to Kunst (art) instead of Sport, with Deutsch still my first major course. School is generally challenging, of course, but it’s gotten a lot easier. Outside of school, I found an art class at a studio not too far (20 minutes by bike), and they meet for three hours on Tuesday evenings.

I’m writing this from southern Bayern (Bavaria in English), not far from Füssen, which itself is not far from Austria. We are visiting my host mom’s mother, and it is simply beautiful! We went for a long walk earlier with the dogs (Ghandi, our bulldog, and her two dogs). The weather is warm in the midday sun, and the Alps watch over the rolling grassy green hills and trees that are beginning to welcome fall. So peaceful.

This weekend, we were in Marburg. I could tell you it was beautiful, but it might be easier to just say that everything I’ve seen in this country has been beautiful. Perhaps, then, it is more useful to describe what I saw. The house we stayed in was outside of Marburg, with lots of open hills interspersed with forests. I went running in the mornings on a path right behind the house that went through the woods. It’s pretty chilly early in the morning, but perfect for jogging. I’ve also had more time to do yoga, and I feel physically pretty good, especially considering the amount of bread and cheese I’ve had the luxury of enjoying here.

The city of Marburg itself has a large university. I would compare it to an American college town, but with a deeper and longer history. There is also a significant school for the blind in Marburg, and many blind people live there. We were there for a cooking course for my host sister, who is blind. The city generally had a really relaxed feeling about it, I enjoyed just walking around.

I’ve felt comfortable from pretty early on at home with my host family, but somehow a feeling came to me on the day we left Duisburg for vacation, last Thursday, “I live in this country.” Every day is a new adventure, but I live here now! I am growing and developing not just my language skills, but also myself as a person, and it’s cool that I get to do that here. Perhaps that is still a bit vague, but that’s okay with me.

Ghandi! We found this perfect spot by the river to sit and talk in the sunshine. Could you ask for a better view? That is the Marburger Schloss on the hilltop.

The view in Bayern.