JENNIFER: Final Thoughts or “Going to Hogwarts in a Shiiiiiiaaaaaaatttttt!!!!”

I hate to leave! This trip has been so much fun and we have so many inside jokes by this point that its crazy. I have definitely improved my German which was the entire point of the trip so I am satisfied. I have been to Germany before and the last time that I was here my German really wasn't that good, I could hardly understand anything that they would say to me and it was the same for them, if I tried to speak in German to them they would just shake there heads at me. So I figured that it would pretty much be the same way this time but I was pleasantly surprised when I could actually understand almost every word that they said to me and I could actually hold a conversation with them this time around.

Its been a blast here, and even though I have missed my family and friends a lot , I've still managed somehow to have fun! We have done so many fun things and experienced so many new things that I will always remember. Especially Seat * its actually a type of car pronounced Shiii iiiaaattt*!! Yea that was an inside joke.

I will definitely miss the food here, mmmm it was so yummy! We have all decided though that Germans must get tired of German food too because there is an Italian restaurant on every corner in Magdeburg! But I am definitely not complaining, because every one of them was delicious! And yes we tried them all.... ohhhh and the Eis, it’s ice cream by the way..... it’s soooo incredibly good.

(Eis ist lecker!!!!)

I think my favorite flavor is a tie between nutella and After 8 which is actually mint chocolate chip mmmm yum yum! And get this it only costs you a whopping 80 cents. Well unless of course you get a huge Eisbecher and that runs you about 4 Euros. Today we took our test and we are all hoping for good grades... well at least passing grades! 

I will be glad to go home but I will be sad at the same time, I feel torn at the moment seeing as tomorrow is our last full day in Germany! Magdeburg has been a great city to stay in, it’s cute and pretty and quiet, and very easy to get around in, with lots of tasty food everywhere! The day trips that we have taken were great because all you really needed was a few hours at each place to kind of get a feel for it... and also by that time your feet where screaming that they were going to kill you while you slept!

Oh and also as a side note Germany is magical, because as everyone on this trip knows if you run very fast and then dive and slide under my bed you can get to the Hogwarts express ... me and Emily go there all the time at night! And Kel... well she has Narnia under her bed but who cares.... Hogwarts is soo much better! 

So the point of all of my rambling is... if you ever get a chance to come to Germany take it! It will open your eyes up to new things, make you see how different cultures are vastly different and yet still the same, and no matter whether your young or old.... Germany is a magical place!

GUESTBLOG: Herr C fills in the blanks

Our time in Magdeburg is coming to an end.  In less than 24 hours we’ll board our Continental flight back to Newark and then fly into GSP.  I hope you have all enjoyed the honesty and enthusiasm with which these 7 very special and unique USC Upstate students have documented their experience and in the process I hope they and you have learned something from it.

In the end, however, there were some experiences and sites that slipped through the documentation cracks and I’d like to share some of them with you:

The 1000 year old Magdeburg cathedral

The Gruene Zitadelle (green citadel) built in Magdeburg and designed by Austrian architect Hundertwasser. 

The beautiful Elbe river that flows through Magdeburg.

The Magdeburg farmer’s market and white asparagus season.

Magdeburg is the home of Otto von Guericke whose experiments with two half spheres and a team of horses established the physics of the vacuum.

The beautiful Mueckenwirt beer garden on the Elbe river

The Bauhaus school in Dessau.

Wittenberg and the door of the church to which Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses.

Martin Luther’s church in Wittenberg.

And of course I could post these for days.  Even though I had seen most of this before, this being the 5th group of USC Upstate students I have taken to Magdeburg since 2000, the real pleasure comes in seeing the students experience it for the very first time.  Not only does such a trip provide a completely new perspective on everything from environmental issues, food, money, politics, history, travel, cultural differences, historic preservation, etc…..it is something that changes each and every student that experiences it, even if just a little bit.  Each students comes back changed in some way.  They might not know it yet…..but they will.

Hope you’ve enjoyed.  Now I’ll let the students speak for themselves.

Herr C.

ANDREW: The food in Italy…..I mean Germany…..is great!

I am really enjoying all of the wonderful food here in Germany, but frankly there are 2 things wrong with it.  One it’s Italian, and 2 it’s somewhat expensive.  Breakfast is not that bad.  Well not if you like bread. 

(Typical German breakfast)

Every morning i have 2 pieces of bread with some Nutella, and i take 2 sandwiches for lunch.  There isn't much of an option for my lunch sandwiches, mostly because I'm not supposed to take them.  But i get sandwiches with salami and Swiss cheese.  They are good enough to get me by.  For lunch we really have a few good options.  There is a little Asian restaurant where you can get a whole meal for about 4 bucks.  Or you can go into the mall and get a bratwurst for 2.  Dinner is the more expensive thing.  There are a few options with dinner.  There is an American restaurant called The Fan.  It is fun and has pretty good food, but it's not as American as they think it is.  It is definitely Germanized.  Even McDonalds is Germanized. 

(I’m lovin’ it)

They area all really nice restaurants, oh and guess what guys... No Free Refills!!!  Anyway, back to dinner.  The other main option is Italian food.  There are 4 Italian restaurants within walking distance.  One, which is right next to the Hostel is called La Pizza.  It is owned by the Italian/German Mafia.  The main waiter there i dubbed "Tony"  He has a huge gold ring on every finger, huge gold watch and bracelet, massive gold necklaces, and is built like an Oak tree.  they also have strange looking Italian guys in suits walking in and out of there everyday.  Oh and they take forever to both wait on you and bring you your check.  Jay had to walk out on them one day.  The other Italian restaurant has this skinny little Italian guy that works there.  he is a trip.  we pass the restaurant everyday from school and he yells, "Hey America!"  then tells us who we are playing in soccer next.  he's a really funny guy.  The other Italian restaurant is Leo's Its my favorite.  It is really good and really cheap, and the waitress there doesn't look that bad either.  the weird thing about Leo's though, is that they have pictures of Paris all over the walls, and no one there is Italian.  The fourth and Final Italian restaurant is Palazzo's. 

(Palazzo’s Eiscafe and Restaurant)

It is also really good and also pretty cheap.  They also have a weird theme for an Italian restaurant... Egyptian.  But they have some of the best ice cream in the whole city.  The waiters in German restaurants don't rush you, in fact you have to rush them.  they wont come back with your tip until you go get them.  and since you don't get refills, they don't ever come back to your table.  Eating over here is quite interesting and enjoyable.  But the fact that we have to eat out every day kind of sucks.  You spend about 10-20 bucks on food if you buy lunch and dinner.  Overall though the experience is good.  The Gertalian food is very tasty.  I have only found 2 places in this town that sell bratwurst and of course our 4 competing Italian restaurants

ANDREW: Dresden….more steps and even more words!

Our trip to Dresden was the earliest we had to wake up.  I forget what time it was, but it felt ever earlier than it actually was.  As soon as we got to the train station our tour guide started.  He was really interesting and had tons of knowledge, but i don't think he took a breath the entire trip. 

(Herr Coffman and our tour guide in the Semper Opera workshops)

We were on our first train for a long time before we stopped at Halle.  We got a history lesson on that train ride about Halle and the surrounding area.  We had an hour to kill before our next train so we took a brief walking tour of the city.  It was really nice.   It had this kind of old meets new aura to it.  All of the buildings had the old facades, but a lot of them had modern lighting and some other modern touches. 

(Quick stop in Halle)

We got onto our next train and it took us to Leipzig.  Leipzig is an end station, which is pretty self explanatory.  The trains only go in and out one way, you cant go through Leipzig, just to it.  Anyway, we finally made it to Dresden, after more history of Leipzig and the surrounding area. 

From there we saw a church that was completely destroyed, along with the entire city, during the fire bombing.  They had used sophisticated computer technology however to use as much of the old church as they could.  So the old pieces are dark and the new ones are light.  Making it look like a giant chocolate chip cookie church.

(The restored Frauenkirche.  Notice the old black stones used in its reconstruction)

They did the same thing with a lot of the city.  You can catch glimpses of dark parts all over the place.  Then we saw the large Porcelain wall.  It was really neat looking, oh and there was an Audi R8 parked next to it :).  After that we went by the Opera house expecting to just see the outside.  But by some strange coincidence, we were there on their open house day.  So we actually got to go inside and see the theater.  On top of that the Workshops for the sets were also open.  So we walked around and got to see them building the parts for the sets and some old things they had made before.  That was really interesting to see. 

(The Semper Opera workshops)

After all of the opera house touring, we went to a Bier garden.  It was right on the river and one one of the prettiest views I’d ever seen. 

(Biergarten and View)

However, the meal was a little less than great.  Dawn, Emily, and I ordered the Weisswurst, which is a white sausage... boiled.  None of us could get it down.  Even though i was extremely hungry.  I ended up eating some of Jennifer's food.  This caused us to miss one of our trains back.  So we had to wait another hour and didn't make it home until midnight.  Our tour guide parted with us at our stop in Leipzig.  I learned a lot from him on the trip, but I also didn't have enough time for my own thoughts.  We finally got some quiet time on the train ride back.  I think that was the best night of sleep I’d gotten.  Simply because i was so exhausted.

DAWN: Tripped up…

Kel, Klaus, and I went to school for a workshop that apparently Hendrick “told” us about. We were walking to the Strassenbahn so that we could catch the tram. I was walking fast because I thought that the tram was about to come. Without thinking about it I walked in front of an older gentleman. I didn’t bump him or anything, just walked in front of him. The next thing I knew a foot hooked mine and I tripped. Turns out the man didn’t like me walking in front of him and he stuck out his foot, wrapped it around my leg, and then pulled. I couldn’t and wouldn’t retaliate because not only was a surprised but it was a man that looked like he was in his seventies. My hands had already come up to push him back but as soon as I saw how old he was I couldn’t do it. Jokingly I told everyone else if it had been a younger person they definitely would’ve been pushed.

After he tripped me, the older man kept walking like nothing had happened and I was just flabbergasted. He crossed the street without ever looking back and I just stared after him. I heard Klaus make a shocked noise and behind me I heard Kel say, “He just tried to trip you!” She couldn’t believe what had just happened. I started laughing because honestly it was ridiculous of him to even try to trip me. Klaus looked a little embarrassed and said, “That’s not a good example of German hospitality.”

(Kel and Dawn laughing)

That was just an isolated incident (well other than the guy that licked my ear) and for the most part I’ve found the German people I’ve talked with to be very nice and patient with us. Jennifer’s friends welcomed us all and made dinner for us even though they’d only ever met Jennifer and Andrew. Also, Klaus is very friendly and I’ve gotten to talk to him quite a bit in German. Sometimes at home, I’ve heard people be kind of rude to other people who can’t speak English very well so its good to see that the German people were nice about it because if they were rude it might’ve made me not want to talk as much as I have.

KYLE: Germany is Green. What about us?

So now that I've discussed money, one of the biggest differences, I think its a good time to talk about another big difference, transportation. Gas here is expensive. We complained when gas was 4 dollars a gallon and were in near riot-mode. Gas in Germany is roughly $6 or more a gallon.

It's reflected in the way they live. All the streets have a sidewalk path specifically for bikes, as well as stoplights at the intersections just for bikes. Then there's the Strassenbahn, which is a trolley system that every big city has. It can take you all over the city in a short time for a reasonable price. It makes me wonder why the trolley system in Pittsburgh isn't more expansive, as there is really only one track and very few split offs and possibilities for places to go. It also makes me wonder why more American cities don't have reliable public transportation or any sort of incentives to not drive so much.

In general, it seems that people here are much more aware of how much energy they are using and more caring towards the environment. Everywhere I go there are at least 4 different garbage/recycling cans for different types of waste.

(Makeshift recycling bins  for packaging, leftover trash and paper.  Glass and organic matter are also recycled)

Even our hostel has a solar water heater. Every time we ride the train through the countryside there is an abundance of wind mills.

It’s hard to go a day here without seeing a solar panel or some form of alternative energy. Really, I think it just isn't as popular in America because we're lazy. It's easier to just throw things away in one place, it's easier to not care about the environment or about the planet. If there’s one thing I'd like to help our country change that would be it. It might sound like I’m a hippie (to some), but we really need to start caring about what we do to the only planet we have to live on.

AMBER: Submerged in German culture

A little more on the weekend with my German friend!  Saturday night we had her fathers 50th birthday party.  It was a really big party with lots of people.  Her mother cooked a ton of German food, as you would expect.  There was also a good bit of German alcohol.  I was completely submerged in German culture! 

The food included wurst, goulasch, German bread, red kraut, cheeses, potato salad, fresh salad and for dessert these chocolate corner cake things.  The food was really delicious.  One of the alcohols I had was called 43 and it is mixed with milk, it taste a lot like Baileys.  I do not remember what the other alcohols were, they were some German liquors.  I do know it was very good tasting and you could easily drink too much because it tasted so delicious.  

She and her family lives in the west side of Germany and it was very interesting to hear them talk about when the Berliner Mauer (the Berlin wall) came down.  They also told me many differences in the people.  It was very cool to hear and to see some of differences here in Germany.  I have learned about the West and East side people in class but that does not compare to actually being in Germany and witnessing it.  Something her parents told me, which I find very interesting was that in the east side the older people were taught Russian and on the west side the older people were taught English.  That explains why I keep finding so many people here in the east side who do not know English.  People on the east side are not fans of Rammstein, which is my favorite band but they are well like on the west side.

(Svenja’s garden)

The view outside of her house was amazing and very Germany looking, as it should be!  Svenja has lived in this house all of her life and was very used to how her backyard looks!  The two pictures I have included in this blog is the view from her playroom window, which is her backyard. 

(Svenja’s backyard)

I absolutely fell in love with how it looks!  It was a sight like I have never seen in America!  Just to think that she wakes up to this view everyday and it is completely normal to her and her family amazes me! 

I really enjoyed getting the chance to spend a weekend with a German family and get to experience a German birthday party!  That is a unique experience I get to take away from this trip. 

So this leads me to talking about the German food and alcohol!  The food here is amazing! The restaurants I have been to have not been too expensive and I get a huge plate full of food!  I did not this but Germans also love their sour kraut and bread!  With almost every German meal I have gotten it either comes with some kind of kraut or bread and in some cases both!  Of course we all know that Germany is filled with Wurst!  When you walk down the street you can find some much Wurst to buy and eat!  Wurst to Germany is like hamburgers to America.  A typical German breakfast must include bread, cheese and meat.  Every single day I have been here my breakfast includes at least one of these.  I do not think I have heard the words waffle or pancake here once!  When you order a soda here, it is in a smaller glass than America serves their soda in.  The sodas also come with no ice.  If the waiter notices you are American they might try to find a couple of ice cubes to put in your drink.  Of course the beer is delicious!  At almost every meal I have had a beer.  The Germans put a little more alcohol in their beer and it is served in a much bigger glass.  This leaves me with only enough room for one or maybe two at a time!  One last thing, the ice cream is amazing!  Also, everyday I have been in Germany I have had ice cream!  When I go back home that is the one thing I will miss the most is the ice cream here!  It taste, to me, like frozen yogurt!  There are also very exotic flavors here in the ice cream!