Sunday, July 7, 2013

Last Post

Five weeks flew by and I am finally home after being delayed in Montreal and missing my flight in Chicago and having to stay in the Hilton in Chicago for the night. I am excited to have passed my German language course and be home! The class helped me become quite a bit better at reading writing German I am still going to have to work on the spoken part some. I learned a lot in Germany and met a lot of new friends I am so glad I went! I learned a lot about culture, different business ideas, language and many other things. I would recommend that everyone study abroad at least once!


 Fireworks
 Light show from 3 weeks ago
 Light show on campus

 Light show on campus
 Berlin
 Painting in Berlin
Statue in Berlin


 Funpark

 Castle





Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Point Alpha

Happy 4th of July! Yesterday I went to Point Alpha which was a USA military base back during the cold war which sat right a long the border between East and West. It was very interesting and cool to learn about how Germany use to be when it was divided. Today is my last day of classes and then I have one test tomorrow! My parents, grandma, and aunt and uncle are coming to Schmalkalden tomorrow to pick me up. I can't wait to see them and hear about there tours of Germany. It is hard to believe that five weeks has gone by so fast, but I am ready to be home.


 Old fence that use to separate Germany
 Mines that the Soviets put on fences
 How Germany use to be divided




Sunday, June 30, 2013

Friday I got to tour inside the castle. It was very interesting and all of the artwork especially on the ceilings was awesome to see. I can't imagine the time it took to build a castle like that because of all the attention to detail that was put into it. This weekend I went to Erfurt again where I saw some new sites but basically did some souvenir shopping with friends. On Sunday I went to Weimer for the first time and found it to be a very nice city. We went to a historical part of town and went into a museum where they used videos to teach us about the importance of Weimer. It use to be a city of the arts and science and was pretty important back in the day. Napoleon had even gone to Weimer many times because he liked it so much. After Weimer I went to Buchenwald concentration camp which was a German work camp in World War 2 where approximately 56,000 people were killed. Needless to say it was pretty messed up but I am glad I went to it, hopefully nothing ever happens like that again in the future!

 Chapel in Castle
 Ceiling in castle

 Organ in castle chapel one of the oldest that still works in Europe
 Ceiling in castle

 Erfurt fish market
 Opera house in Weimer
 Statue in Weimer
  Buchenwald Concentration camp

Thursday, June 27, 2013

These last four weeks have flown by one more to go! I am starting to look forward to heading home and see my family and friends again. I get to tour the castle tonight in the past we have only went to small parts of it but tonight I think they are allowing us to see the whole thing. Traveling to Erfurt and Weimer this weekend then traveling somewhere next Wednesday. Four more days of classes left I have become quite a bit better at reading Deutsch just not speaking as good yet. My Romanian roommates have taught me a few simple words in Romanian too, and I have been having a lot of fun hanging out with them.

Monday, June 24, 2013

This week I have started my German language classes. They have been going good so far. Most of the people from the last program took off already so I got four new roommates all of which are from Romania. They all speak pretty good English and have taught me a few Romanian words. It has been fun hanging out with them and hearing what it is like where they are from and things that we have in common. Wednesday we get to go to a Fun park in the middle of the forest and then Saturday I am going to Erfurt again. Sunday's plans are to go to Weimer and a concentration camp. So a lot of traveling within the next few days which should be fun!

 Castle in Schmalkalden
 A square in Erfurt from a couple weekends ago
 Erfurt
Cathedral in Erfurt

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Thursday I got to go to a chocolate factory which I found to be quite interesting. They showed us how some of there products were made and the history of there company. Friday I explored the town some more and found a really good Kurdistan restaurant that I enjoy going too that isn't far from where I am staying. Today and tomorrow I am going to explore the town a little more and take it easy and get ready to learn some Deutsch for the next two weeks. Most of my current room mates have already headed home and I am expected to get some new ones on Sunday. Hopefully they will be as cool as the last ones!



 Chocolate
 Chocolate factory
Cathedral right beside where I stay

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

This week the school is holding the Schmalkalden Olympics. Yesterday they kicked off the Olympics with the opening ceremony which was held on campus and there was three portable bars brought in. I would say 1200 people or so showed up for the open air concert last night. After the opening ceremony the beer Athlon began, which is where you run 2 km in a team of 4 and drink five 16 ounce beers as fast as you can. We represented America by finishing top 10 out of 30 to 40 teams. Today we are playing basketball in the Olympics and tomorrow we get to tour a chocolate factory.


 Finishing beer athlon

Portable bar in the middle of campus