My blog has been pitifully abandoned, and for that, I am sorry. There was so much left to be told, and I've forgotten so much. Therefore, I am making a promise to the two people who read this (Hey, Mom and Dad!) to update at least once a week. I'd say more than that, but, come on. I know I'm not going to post something about a day when I sleep in and don't leave my room. No one wants to read that. Or write it, for that matter.
My trip has just been thrown together this year. I wasn't able to take Germ 304 because of my migraine, so I was encouraged to go to Germany to satisfy that credit and to brush up my German skillz to prepare myself for upper level classes and then a semester in the country. All good and well--I applied, got in, had a heart upon seeing the tuition in dollars instead of Euros...the usual. Then came time to buy plane tickets.
Booking flights is not pleasant for anyone, I don't think, except the CEOs who are raking in money like nobody's business. You can try online, but not all the flights are there. You can go to a travel site and end up flying Air Canada to Germany. You can spend hours on the phone with the airline directly AND work with your computer. I chose the third option. I had nothing to do that day except a chapter of geology, and, by damn, I was ready to buy my ticket to Germany. Many, many hours, transfers, menus and technicians (all with bouncing accents that led me to believe that their names were not "Pam" and "James"), I not only had no ticket, but also had become uncomfortably familiar with the hold music. I was at my wit's end. Why was there no way for me to fly out of the country's capital? Why did I have to ride the train for 6 hours to Amsterdam? Why does every flight have to suck so much? And what if they don't have gluten free meals? It took two more phone chats that began mid morning and ended in the early afternoon, but I finally got my damn ticket. The flights are decent--nothing too early or too late, no random connections in Kenosha, Wisconsin--and I was assured that the airline would (most likely) provide something gluten free (maybe).
I took a much-needed break from trip-planning after that; however, when I did start reading about where to stay and in which ho(s)tels to stay, I was immediately met with a problem. I was feeling especially continental as I read about a hostel in German, and I clicked the rates calendar. I typed in the dates we'd be staying there, how many people, what kind of room. An e-mail almost instantaneously arrived; turns out, it was thanking me for reserving with them and that they look forward to meeting me. Whoops.
So now I at least have something to show for my trip: plane tickets that aren't unbearable (but are free--thank you, Skymiles!), a meal to eat on the plane (maybe), and a reservation at a hostel I looked up because it has a bar and pretty bathrooms. This is shaping up to be an interesting trip.
Peace,
Eli
26 May 2011
04 November 2010
02 September 2010
Home again, home again.
I'm really glad I've saved entries because my feet are starting to itch. Forget football season; I want to be back in Germany to see the leaves start to change and to snuggle under my duvet as the cool autumn air twists through the window. And to be in a city again! Oxford, although I love it, is stiflingly small.
But I guess the old saying is true, and that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Next up: Osna, then Amsterdam, then Culture Shock.
Peace
But I guess the old saying is true, and that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Next up: Osna, then Amsterdam, then Culture Shock.
Peace
19 July 2010
Dorm Life: Techno Musik, Sheep and Nudity
So, I promised an entry on Osnabruecker adventures, but, honestly, I don't feel like writing about those just yet. I fully intend to, however, as there are some interesting stories. What I really want to talk about is my living situation.
Initially, when they told us we were going to be living in a dorm, I was excited. Getting to know German students AND living on campus? It sounded so kick ass. They forgot to mention a few details, though, in our information briefings/ packets/ emails. For example, because dorms are a relatively new idea in Germany, oftentimes they aren't that close to the University, which is the case for ours. It's actually kind of nice, as the area where the University is located is the center of the city and can be a bit loud. But it sucks when you really want to go back and take a nap during lunch, as it takes an hour to get to the dorm and back to the classroom.
Another thing that wasn't mentioned was that are dorms were co-ed. Not the Mississippi version of co-ed, but all the way co-ed, including bathrooms. I didn't know this, so imagine my surprise when I see a dude walking out of the stall as I entered. Besides this encounter, though, I've hardly see anyone in the bathroom, let alone a boy, so it's cool. Besides, the Germans, who love their rules, have the bathrooms labeled with signs. You can only "pee standing" in the first stall.
While we're talking about bathrooms, I must tell you about our toilet paper. First off, it's brown and scratchy, but whatever. It's not that bad. What's bad is that they pretty much ration it. Apparently we get 18 rolls per month, and, if we use that up, we don't get any more until the next month. It sucks, especially since I don't know where to buy toilet paper in Osnabrueck, and I certainly didn't pack any.
Enough about the bathrooms, though. There's a vending machine with beer in it. Seriously. In a college dorm, they make beer easily acceptable. There's also a cigarette machine, and you can smoke almost everywhere. The TV room has ashtrays, the halls smell like smoke, and, everytime I go into the kitchen, there's someone leaning out the window with a Lucky Strike. Oh, and you can smoke in your room, too, although they don't seem to encourage this, as they don't put ashtrays in the rooms.
The students in our dorm are big partiers, or maybe it's just because we're here at the beginning of their summer break. Whichever. These kids have been partying a lot. Saturday night, they threw someone a birthday party in the student bar (!), which happens to be two floors below my room. The techno music blasted until two or three in the morning, and I mean blasted. My iPod was turned up all the way to soothing, let's-go-to-sleep music, but I could still hear the steady beat and electronic sound of the techno version of Happy Birthday. And they come in at all hours of the night, talking and singing and--you guessed it--playing techno in their cars.
I've decided that it's actually not that loud, really, and that it's just that my window is open in hopes of catching a breeze. I can hear the most obscure things, like sheep baa-ing. Not kidding. The first time I heard the sheep, I thought it was fake, a ring tone or some stupid toy. Wrong. There's a sheep farm in front of our dorm. With actual sheep. And we're in the middle of the city. My mind is blown every time I hear the wooly animals, who quite often are the reason I wake up from afternoon naps. Sheep can be loud.
As for my room, it looks like something straight out of a 1990 Ikea catalog. I love it, though. It's so German. And I don't have a roommate, which has been so awesome. It's not that I would mind living with someone. It's just that it has been so damn hot here, and there's no air conditioning. I don't even have a fan anymore (see Goettingen). So, in the intense heat, sleeping in anything at all, even Nike shorts and a t-shirt, is too much. Without a roommate, I can be naked all the time, which is so awesome. Although, as it cools down some, I'm enjoying snuggling up in my comforter and falling asleep cozy. It makes me think of Mississippi and the beauty of air conditioning.
So that's my experience with German dorm life thus far. It's been interesting. There have been days when I hated it, when I wanted nothing more to move back to our hotel in Leipzig that had air conditioning and not leave until it's time to go to Amsterdam. But overall, it's been hella fun. Write to you soon about Osnabrueck and our excursions.
Peace,
Elizabeth
Initially, when they told us we were going to be living in a dorm, I was excited. Getting to know German students AND living on campus? It sounded so kick ass. They forgot to mention a few details, though, in our information briefings/ packets/ emails. For example, because dorms are a relatively new idea in Germany, oftentimes they aren't that close to the University, which is the case for ours. It's actually kind of nice, as the area where the University is located is the center of the city and can be a bit loud. But it sucks when you really want to go back and take a nap during lunch, as it takes an hour to get to the dorm and back to the classroom.
Another thing that wasn't mentioned was that are dorms were co-ed. Not the Mississippi version of co-ed, but all the way co-ed, including bathrooms. I didn't know this, so imagine my surprise when I see a dude walking out of the stall as I entered. Besides this encounter, though, I've hardly see anyone in the bathroom, let alone a boy, so it's cool. Besides, the Germans, who love their rules, have the bathrooms labeled with signs. You can only "pee standing" in the first stall.
While we're talking about bathrooms, I must tell you about our toilet paper. First off, it's brown and scratchy, but whatever. It's not that bad. What's bad is that they pretty much ration it. Apparently we get 18 rolls per month, and, if we use that up, we don't get any more until the next month. It sucks, especially since I don't know where to buy toilet paper in Osnabrueck, and I certainly didn't pack any.
Enough about the bathrooms, though. There's a vending machine with beer in it. Seriously. In a college dorm, they make beer easily acceptable. There's also a cigarette machine, and you can smoke almost everywhere. The TV room has ashtrays, the halls smell like smoke, and, everytime I go into the kitchen, there's someone leaning out the window with a Lucky Strike. Oh, and you can smoke in your room, too, although they don't seem to encourage this, as they don't put ashtrays in the rooms.
The students in our dorm are big partiers, or maybe it's just because we're here at the beginning of their summer break. Whichever. These kids have been partying a lot. Saturday night, they threw someone a birthday party in the student bar (!), which happens to be two floors below my room. The techno music blasted until two or three in the morning, and I mean blasted. My iPod was turned up all the way to soothing, let's-go-to-sleep music, but I could still hear the steady beat and electronic sound of the techno version of Happy Birthday. And they come in at all hours of the night, talking and singing and--you guessed it--playing techno in their cars.
I've decided that it's actually not that loud, really, and that it's just that my window is open in hopes of catching a breeze. I can hear the most obscure things, like sheep baa-ing. Not kidding. The first time I heard the sheep, I thought it was fake, a ring tone or some stupid toy. Wrong. There's a sheep farm in front of our dorm. With actual sheep. And we're in the middle of the city. My mind is blown every time I hear the wooly animals, who quite often are the reason I wake up from afternoon naps. Sheep can be loud.
As for my room, it looks like something straight out of a 1990 Ikea catalog. I love it, though. It's so German. And I don't have a roommate, which has been so awesome. It's not that I would mind living with someone. It's just that it has been so damn hot here, and there's no air conditioning. I don't even have a fan anymore (see Goettingen). So, in the intense heat, sleeping in anything at all, even Nike shorts and a t-shirt, is too much. Without a roommate, I can be naked all the time, which is so awesome. Although, as it cools down some, I'm enjoying snuggling up in my comforter and falling asleep cozy. It makes me think of Mississippi and the beauty of air conditioning.
So that's my experience with German dorm life thus far. It's been interesting. There have been days when I hated it, when I wanted nothing more to move back to our hotel in Leipzig that had air conditioning and not leave until it's time to go to Amsterdam. But overall, it's been hella fun. Write to you soon about Osnabrueck and our excursions.
Peace,
Elizabeth
14 July 2010
Hamburg, and Why Waffle House Sucks.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been so busy with class and getting settled, and somehow, no matter how much time I seem to have, it just evaporates in this unairconditioned heat and leaves me sleeping. Anyway, at the urging of several friends, I will now recount my tales regarding Hamburg
We headed to Hamburg a day early because of the intense heat and lack of things to do in Goettingen. After we checked into the hotel, we went to the Rathaus. It is so, so gorgeous. I felt like I was walking through a palace. Or a Vegas hotel. Whichever. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the pedestrian zone in front of our hotel, and I was given a rose by the waiter at the end of our meal. We walked around for a while after that, around the lake nearby and through the streets lined with gorgeous buildings. Hamburg is so, so beautiful. I almost didn't want to go back. I wanted to keep walking and to see everything in the city.
The next day we went down to the harbor. It was a really lazy day, just walking up and down, and stopping for fish and chips for lunch. We headed back to the hotel early, though, because that night we had tickets for Der Koenig der Loewen, or the German version of The Lion King on stage. It was phenomenal. The theatre is on the opposite side of the harbor, so you have to take a boat to this massive metal theater. We got there really early, so we sat outside and watched the ships come and go. The play didn't disappoint, either. The music is overall the same, although in German. And the costumes! Ahhh. It was such a good show.
We met up with Jake the next day, and just kind of wandering throughout Hamburg and caught up on all things America and FIFA related. After lunch, we headed to the Reeperbahn, which is the big party street in Hamburg. It was tame when we were there--after all, it was only the early afternoon. Anyway, it has this vibe to it that reminded me of Bourbon Street, but if it was in New York. Our adventures there were uneventful. We discovered that Jim Bean sells mixed drinks in a can--the perfect whiskey and coke, available at your local doener shop/ grocery store. They also sell champagne in a can, a discovery which is right on up there with the Kinder Surprise for me. We managed to stumble upon one of the places The Beatles used to play/ live, which was a nice surprise.
Our last day in Hamburg was spent wandering through the warehouse city on one of the hottest days in my memory. I loved walking through that area, but ended up with a migraine from the heat, and headed back to the hotel to nap and pack. We had dinner that night in the pedestrian zone again, although this time we opted for a typical German restaurant.
There were quite a few recurring topics of discussion throughout our stay in Hamburg, one of which was waffles. We were three weeks into the trip and would have done some horrible things for an American breakfast. It got to the point that I searched waffles in Hamburg, to no avail. However, it occured to me that Waffle House has one of the best (aka most likely to clog your arteries) breakfast spreads in the world. We figured that there had to be a Waffle House in Germany. Wrong. I was so disappointed.
I have since then had a waffle, thanks to my sweet travel companion, who bought waffles and syrup upon our arrival in Osnabrueck. I'll tell you of my more recent adventures soon, although they are admittedly a bit boring, as we've not been doing too much due to the heat.
Peace,
Eli
We headed to Hamburg a day early because of the intense heat and lack of things to do in Goettingen. After we checked into the hotel, we went to the Rathaus. It is so, so gorgeous. I felt like I was walking through a palace. Or a Vegas hotel. Whichever. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the pedestrian zone in front of our hotel, and I was given a rose by the waiter at the end of our meal. We walked around for a while after that, around the lake nearby and through the streets lined with gorgeous buildings. Hamburg is so, so beautiful. I almost didn't want to go back. I wanted to keep walking and to see everything in the city.
The next day we went down to the harbor. It was a really lazy day, just walking up and down, and stopping for fish and chips for lunch. We headed back to the hotel early, though, because that night we had tickets for Der Koenig der Loewen, or the German version of The Lion King on stage. It was phenomenal. The theatre is on the opposite side of the harbor, so you have to take a boat to this massive metal theater. We got there really early, so we sat outside and watched the ships come and go. The play didn't disappoint, either. The music is overall the same, although in German. And the costumes! Ahhh. It was such a good show.
We met up with Jake the next day, and just kind of wandering throughout Hamburg and caught up on all things America and FIFA related. After lunch, we headed to the Reeperbahn, which is the big party street in Hamburg. It was tame when we were there--after all, it was only the early afternoon. Anyway, it has this vibe to it that reminded me of Bourbon Street, but if it was in New York. Our adventures there were uneventful. We discovered that Jim Bean sells mixed drinks in a can--the perfect whiskey and coke, available at your local doener shop/ grocery store. They also sell champagne in a can, a discovery which is right on up there with the Kinder Surprise for me. We managed to stumble upon one of the places The Beatles used to play/ live, which was a nice surprise.
Our last day in Hamburg was spent wandering through the warehouse city on one of the hottest days in my memory. I loved walking through that area, but ended up with a migraine from the heat, and headed back to the hotel to nap and pack. We had dinner that night in the pedestrian zone again, although this time we opted for a typical German restaurant.
There were quite a few recurring topics of discussion throughout our stay in Hamburg, one of which was waffles. We were three weeks into the trip and would have done some horrible things for an American breakfast. It got to the point that I searched waffles in Hamburg, to no avail. However, it occured to me that Waffle House has one of the best (aka most likely to clog your arteries) breakfast spreads in the world. We figured that there had to be a Waffle House in Germany. Wrong. I was so disappointed.
I have since then had a waffle, thanks to my sweet travel companion, who bought waffles and syrup upon our arrival in Osnabrueck. I'll tell you of my more recent adventures soon, although they are admittedly a bit boring, as we've not been doing too much due to the heat.
Peace,
Eli
01 July 2010
Goettingen, and Why Little Fans Should Just Stay In America
Goettingen University can claim many famous alumni--Bismarck, the Brothers Grimm, and Werner Heisenberg (the Nazi a-bomb guy. Look him up.)--and is one of the few schools Ole Miss has an exchange program with that doesn't specialize in math/ computers/ something else I have no interest in. Anyway, I wanted to visit and see the town for myself before I make my decision as to where I'll be spending my semester/ year.
We spent Sunday afternoon at a doener restaurant in one of the plazas watching soccer. It was such good game, and the crowd was so responsive. Afterward, people rode around in their cars and honked their horns and waved their flags and yelled "Schland!" just like after every other victory thus far. However, perhaps because this was a more impressive win, or perhaps just because we were in a college town, the honking and waving and yelling went on for hours and well into the night.
Germany isn't too big on air conditioning, which is understandable, seeing as the vast majority of our days here have seen perfect weather. However, Sunday and especially Sunday night were both quite hot. In my prepared-for-all-things suitcase, I had my little fan, so, naturally, I plugged it in to my converter. I sat in the moving air, thinking smugly to myself that it was worth having my obscenely large suitcase, the size of which every cab driver and hotelier has commented on, just to have such things as a fan and appreciated the scent of fresh plastic it blew on my face. That is, until I noticed that it was not, in fact, a scent of fresh plastic, but of burning plastic. In that very instant, sparks flew out from the little fan, this lights shut off, and I fell from my bed in shock. Turns out my converter was just an adapter plus a power surge protector, and I had blown the power for the majority of the second floor.
On Monday, Martin and I walked around Goettingen. We saw their synagogue memorial and a few churches, then grabbed doeners and headed to the University's campus to play the people watching game. It was so much fun, watching German students and making up their slightly melodramatic life stories based solely on their appearances. After hanging out there for a while, we headed back to the hotel for naps, then went for Mexican food and the Chile-Brazil game.
Overall, our time in Goettingen was really laid back. It was nice to kind of just catch our breath and chill out for a bit. I hadn't realized how exhatusted I was until I woke up from Monday's nap and saw that I had slept for five hours. And I'm still mourning the loss of the little fan. It was so cute and worked so well in the few seconds before its demise.
I'll update soon with Hamburger stories.
Peace,
Eli
We spent Sunday afternoon at a doener restaurant in one of the plazas watching soccer. It was such good game, and the crowd was so responsive. Afterward, people rode around in their cars and honked their horns and waved their flags and yelled "Schland!" just like after every other victory thus far. However, perhaps because this was a more impressive win, or perhaps just because we were in a college town, the honking and waving and yelling went on for hours and well into the night.
Germany isn't too big on air conditioning, which is understandable, seeing as the vast majority of our days here have seen perfect weather. However, Sunday and especially Sunday night were both quite hot. In my prepared-for-all-things suitcase, I had my little fan, so, naturally, I plugged it in to my converter. I sat in the moving air, thinking smugly to myself that it was worth having my obscenely large suitcase, the size of which every cab driver and hotelier has commented on, just to have such things as a fan and appreciated the scent of fresh plastic it blew on my face. That is, until I noticed that it was not, in fact, a scent of fresh plastic, but of burning plastic. In that very instant, sparks flew out from the little fan, this lights shut off, and I fell from my bed in shock. Turns out my converter was just an adapter plus a power surge protector, and I had blown the power for the majority of the second floor.
On Monday, Martin and I walked around Goettingen. We saw their synagogue memorial and a few churches, then grabbed doeners and headed to the University's campus to play the people watching game. It was so much fun, watching German students and making up their slightly melodramatic life stories based solely on their appearances. After hanging out there for a while, we headed back to the hotel for naps, then went for Mexican food and the Chile-Brazil game.
Overall, our time in Goettingen was really laid back. It was nice to kind of just catch our breath and chill out for a bit. I hadn't realized how exhatusted I was until I woke up from Monday's nap and saw that I had slept for five hours. And I'm still mourning the loss of the little fan. It was so cute and worked so well in the few seconds before its demise.
I'll update soon with Hamburger stories.
Peace,
Eli
28 June 2010
Leipzig, How Uncreative The Bach Family Was and How To Disguise Yourself As A Manequinn
From Munich, we took the train to Leipzig, which is in what was once Eastern Germany, AKA the GDR, or the DDR. I expected the city to still have an air of repression about it, even though it's been twenty years since Reunification. And so, as we walked to meet our friend Kilian, I wasn't surprised by the architechture or the broken windows. I was surprised, though, by the cosmopolitan city that Kilian, Martin and I wandered through in search of Public Viewing. It was the complete opposite of what I had expected.
Martin and I met Kilian last summer when he was touring with the Leipzig Youth Orchestra, and I stayed in contact with him over the past year. We were really excited, though, that he wanted to hang out with us. I mean, I'm sure he had other friends to spend time with, especially the night of the soccer game. But, not only did he take us to Public Viewing, he also took us to an Irish Pub afterward. It was the perfect evening--we sat outside in the cool night air, drank Guinness and talked about everything from politics to music to childhood memories.
The next morning, Martin and I went to Thomaskirche, where Bach worked for a number of years. It was gorgeous. From there we went to the Bach museum, which is, handily enough, right by the church and quite interesting. They have a family tree up, and it turns out that the fourteen men of Bach's generation were all named Johann. Seriously. I mean, they all had middle names, but still. They all had the same first name. Can you imagine how confusing family Christmas must have been?
Anyway, after the Bach museum and a quick lunch of currywurst, Martin and I went to the zoo so as to appreciate the beautiful day. The weather was perfect for the zoo: sunny and warm, but with a breeze. We learned lots of animal names and even found a little slice of home in the reptile exhibit, where they have a Mississippi alligator.
That night, we happened to run into Kilian after dinner. The three of us spent the evening lounging in the grass at the park, swapping travel stories and asking questions about culture. Martin and I learned about the German system of DUIs, and Kilian learned about the all important adjective ending "ish." He seemed to really like using it, too, as almost every answer we received for the rest of the night ended with it. "How long does it take you to bike to school?" "Twenty minutes...ish." After, a while, though, it got dark (ish), and Martin got cold (ish), so we parted ways and decided to meet up the next afternoon.
Martin and I went to the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, where we wandered aimlessly looking at things since we didn't understand a lot of the explainations. I ended up far ahead of Martin and decided to rest at the Iraq exhibit, where there were pillows and other comfy things to sit on. I had just gotten settled when a group of older men came in. I thought one was talking to me, so I took out my earbud. The man jumped and screamed "Sie lebt! Sie lebt!" and then explained to me that he had thought I was a manequinn. I guess I'm glad to know that, by German standards, I could pass for Iraqi.
Martin was feeling sick, so he went back to the hotel while I went to the Modern History Forum. It was one of the most emotional exhibits I've visited, with all the different propaganda posters and movies. It's unbelievable that twenty-five years ago I couldn't have visited Leipzig, that I wouldn't have met Kilian and that Leipzig has transitioned to capitalism so (seemingly) well.
Kilian called after I finished the museum, and we met up to wander some before he had to leave. It was hard saying goodbye to him. I feel like I've had to say goodbye so many times in the past few weeks! But I'm glad to have seen/ met everyone we have.
Soccer has dominated our lives. We've watched at least a game a day for probably a week now. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's over. It's given us a reason to go out and to actually be somewhat social with locals.
Anyway, it's getting kind of late, and I'm starting to ramble. I'll update soon with Goettingen and then Hamburg.
Peace,
Eli
Martin and I met Kilian last summer when he was touring with the Leipzig Youth Orchestra, and I stayed in contact with him over the past year. We were really excited, though, that he wanted to hang out with us. I mean, I'm sure he had other friends to spend time with, especially the night of the soccer game. But, not only did he take us to Public Viewing, he also took us to an Irish Pub afterward. It was the perfect evening--we sat outside in the cool night air, drank Guinness and talked about everything from politics to music to childhood memories.
The next morning, Martin and I went to Thomaskirche, where Bach worked for a number of years. It was gorgeous. From there we went to the Bach museum, which is, handily enough, right by the church and quite interesting. They have a family tree up, and it turns out that the fourteen men of Bach's generation were all named Johann. Seriously. I mean, they all had middle names, but still. They all had the same first name. Can you imagine how confusing family Christmas must have been?
Anyway, after the Bach museum and a quick lunch of currywurst, Martin and I went to the zoo so as to appreciate the beautiful day. The weather was perfect for the zoo: sunny and warm, but with a breeze. We learned lots of animal names and even found a little slice of home in the reptile exhibit, where they have a Mississippi alligator.
That night, we happened to run into Kilian after dinner. The three of us spent the evening lounging in the grass at the park, swapping travel stories and asking questions about culture. Martin and I learned about the German system of DUIs, and Kilian learned about the all important adjective ending "ish." He seemed to really like using it, too, as almost every answer we received for the rest of the night ended with it. "How long does it take you to bike to school?" "Twenty minutes...ish." After, a while, though, it got dark (ish), and Martin got cold (ish), so we parted ways and decided to meet up the next afternoon.
Martin and I went to the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, where we wandered aimlessly looking at things since we didn't understand a lot of the explainations. I ended up far ahead of Martin and decided to rest at the Iraq exhibit, where there were pillows and other comfy things to sit on. I had just gotten settled when a group of older men came in. I thought one was talking to me, so I took out my earbud. The man jumped and screamed "Sie lebt! Sie lebt!" and then explained to me that he had thought I was a manequinn. I guess I'm glad to know that, by German standards, I could pass for Iraqi.
Martin was feeling sick, so he went back to the hotel while I went to the Modern History Forum. It was one of the most emotional exhibits I've visited, with all the different propaganda posters and movies. It's unbelievable that twenty-five years ago I couldn't have visited Leipzig, that I wouldn't have met Kilian and that Leipzig has transitioned to capitalism so (seemingly) well.
Kilian called after I finished the museum, and we met up to wander some before he had to leave. It was hard saying goodbye to him. I feel like I've had to say goodbye so many times in the past few weeks! But I'm glad to have seen/ met everyone we have.
Soccer has dominated our lives. We've watched at least a game a day for probably a week now. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's over. It's given us a reason to go out and to actually be somewhat social with locals.
Anyway, it's getting kind of late, and I'm starting to ramble. I'll update soon with Goettingen and then Hamburg.
Peace,
Eli
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