May 27: Paris

Heya!

I’m posting this about a week late due to lack of steady Internet access.

Quick note about why I’m posting about this day in particular - it is my first and only day completely alone on the trip (no friends to travel with, no access to the Internet).

After the spending the last three weeks staying in Osnabruck and visiting Amsterdam with the company of new and wonderful friends, I am finally alone for a day and challenged with the task of not getting too terribly lost or dying (I’m sure at least one of you has seen me almost get hit by a car during our time together). The day before, I arrived in Paris midday and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around, so on the 27th, I had a vague idea of where I wanted to go and the general direction of it. Being my first full day in Paris, to me, the most logical place to go was the Louvre. My hostel was a short walk from the Gare de Lyon train station, so about a 45 minute walk north along the Seine brought me to the inner courtyard of the Louvre. Having arrived there shortly before 10am, I made my way into the museum itself in no time. I paid 20 euro to get in: 11 euro for the museum, an extra 4 euro to see a temporary exhibit, and 5 euro for an audio guide. In hindsight, I could’ve just spent the 11 euro and been as content - I was too overwhelmed by everything in the museum to even think about what the temporary exhibit was (I think it was something to do with Napoleon’s crown jewels, so either way I never did find them) and the audio guide I used for maybe 10 minutes, it was on a Nintendo DS and too much of distraction in navigating it alongside navigating the museum (that said, on my next visit to Paris, I do plan on using it). Anyways, as soon as I got past the ticket counter, I made my way to Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory). At 10am, there was already a huge crowd gathered around the statue, which sits on a pedestal at the top of one of the staircases. I stood there in awe for quite sometime, until the crowd bothered me enough to remind me that there were still countless works of art to be seen. I spent the next four hours lost in the museum, just walking slowly to admire every piece, while trying to make my way through all of the halls. I worked my way from the upper two levels down, but at the end of the four hours, I was still maybe half way done walking through the second floor. At this point, I decided to give my legs and mind a much needed break for lunch, so I could return and functionally admire all of the beauty. After a short lunch, I stayed at the museum until 6pm, at which time it closed, and I had only just started to walk the third (ground floor from the way I was doing it), leaving almost half of the museum unseen. Feeling somewhat disappointed that so much was left untouched, I decided to make my way to the Eiffel Tower. There was a long line to take the lift to the very top, so instead I climbed the stairs to the second platform and took the lift to the top, since the stairs to it were temporarily closed - probably in my best interest too. The view from the top was amazing, crowded, but amazing. You could see for miles around and point out landmarks. It was almost strange to be able to see so much of the horizon. At sunset, I made my way to Trocadero, across the Eiffel Tower, and watched the sun go down on the tower as well as some groups of street performers. At 10pm, the Tower was lit up in a light display that lasted several minutes, making it glitter for a time.

In the end, it was an awesome day and a rare chance to completely disengage from everything back in the States.

Anya

May 23 2013: Bremerhaven

Guten Tag, Leute.

Internet access has been very limited for the majority of this trip, and im using my phone to make this post now.

After 2 weeks in Osnabrück and various cities in Germany with the USF brigade, i am now on my own, up in the north of Germany, in a cityy called Bremerhaven (port of Bremen). I had learned before that my great great grandfather was born in Germany before the trip, and I went to visit a museum here called Deutsches Auswanderer Haus. That is, German immigration house. Some 44 million people, Germans primarily but many others, came through Bremerhaven to travel to rhe new world, and I thought there was a good chance my forefather did too. I already knew his name, and tjat he was born in 1872 in Germany.

As it turned out, i was somewhat dissappointes to find out that the "family research center" was not much more than a computer lab with access to ancestry.com records. I already used that website to get as far as i had!  Ah well. It was nonetheless an emotional experience for me as i thought that i amy jave been walking on the very ground that WilliamFranz had walked, when he was only about 14, to take the ship to America. Theres a good chance that it's the case.

Bremerhaven offers a fair amount of tourist spots: a Climate Museum, a "Land before time Dinosaur museum, and maritime museums, for those interested. It does not have the mass appeal of many larger cities like Köln or Berlin but for me so far it has been a nice experience. Bremerhaven has an interedting history: in the war it was essentially bombed to shreds and later rebuilt during the time of the Marshall plan. You can find neighborhoods with identical houses here for that reason. If you explore near the coast, you can find massive "Hochgaragen" which contain thoudands of cars, tractors, vans, and military vehicles waiting to be exported. Like many places in Geemany, there are many wind turbinslittered across the coastline; unlike some places, these turbines are pretty dang active, because the wind is REALLY strong here. On a cold day you should be careful if you do not wish to lose your ears.  I had the priviledge of having a Polish-inspired dinner with our Osnabrück tutor Alexandra and her family yesterday and got a taste of not only Polish food but also a typical Bremerhaven home. They had a cool garden in the back, and a cool cat, whose name is Hugo.

I'm excited to consider what may happen next in my journeys. I may go to Bremen and/or Hamburg, but anything could happen.

Auf Wiedersehen,
Franz

May 15

On the road at 6:20 am this morning. One stop before Wittenburg, where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses, and Watburg, where he lived in secret after being labeled an outlaw. Impressive and fascinating history. Then a drive to Buchenwald concentration camp. It was a solemn walk, and disturbing how so few people took a stand to say something was wrong. Now in Weimar hostel, resting for another day.

Day 2

I LOVED meeting the facetime buddies today! It was precisely the local interaction that I've been craving. Talking to Fernando, a Penn State student interning for the summer here, has been refreshing but he is just as new to Osnabrueck as we are and I want someone who is familiar with the town to show us it's hidden gems. Hanging out at Grunejager, a local pub, with the buddies listening to their stories, sharing our own, making plans, etc was not all that different from meeting new people in the States but the actual content of our discussion left me with a lot tot think about. The ways that we are different, the ways that we are the same. They usually have American music playing and w learned that out music actually dominates their top 40, but like me, many of the Germans prefer to listen to indie and alternative music instead of radio. At the Maibrock festival I actually heard one cover band playing Wonderwall in german.

May 12, 2013

This post is one day late due to internet access and is supposed to cover yesterday. The start of the day included some of the students attending the local cathedral services in Osnabrueck while others tried to go to the library finding it closed. We then went on to tour the Kalkriese museum where it is thought that the Romans attempted to conquer what was then known as Germania but were unsuccessful. The battlefield is now farmland and lies a meter below the soil. Following this students had free time to do as they wish. We are exhausted but are enjoying every minute of the trip!

Bryce McCarthy

Day 3

The main events of today were a personalized history of German by Professor Harald Husemann and a tour of the cathedral's treasury for the the cathedral here in Osnabruck.  The personalized history featured many firsthand accounts of Germany following World War II including the formation of East and West Germany and the fall of the Berlin wall.  This personalized history featured unique experiences that you won't often find in a textbook.  The tour that followed was quite interesting as well due to the rich historical and religious value of the treasury of the cathedral in Osnabruck.  From clergy robes used over 700 years ago to the staff of the current Bishop for this region, the treasury was full of significant items, each with a story to tell.  Following the tour of the cathedral, we went our separate ways to eat lunch and further explore the city.  Many of us ate lunch at the festival booths that featured assorted foods including curry wurst  falafel, and many more choices.  The rest of the day for most of us was spent with our German peers.  Some of us went miniature golfing while others enjoyed a barbecue.  The mini golf here is quite different from America.  The surface is not the "green" that we are used to. Rather, the game is played with a rubber ball on a smooth stone surface.  The holes were also quite different as many of them were not holes at all but rather large objects such as nets or sculptures that the ball must land on.  Most of us ended our day earlier than normal as we have an early start tomorrow for the trip  to Cologne.

-Sam

Day 1

   Hallo!
       This has just been our first full day in Germany and we are already having a blast!! Our tour of the town was so nice with the cool weather (Ignoring the bit of rain) and we have all seemed to mesh rather well together. The tour guides are all very nice and informative. Osnabruck is even itself a very friendly and beautiful city. We saw everything from the historic pubs to the modern University buildings. Tonight we also had our welcome dinner at a bar/brewery. One thing we are all enjoying is the beer!! We have been to two different restaurants and most of us are making a point to experience the different tastes of each. Tomorrow is the holiday, and after our German class we are going to the festival, which looks very exciting judging on what we saw of the set up process on our tour today.
         Busy day tomorrow!!!
                      Katie