Just got my class schedule 9/13/07

Guten Tag. I just got my class schedule for when regular classes begin in October. Ready for this?

Monday:
Finance 11-1
Economic Policy 2-4
Finance 4-6
Finance 6-8

And that's it. Class one day a week. Of course, all those hours on Monday will be in German, so potentially that will be a very long day. Just wanted to keep everyone updated.

P.S. Anyone who sends me a book in English on Finance is guaranteed to get a present from Germany.

Exchange Rates

$1=€.72
€1=$1.39

It's Been a While 9/12/07

Hello. Sorry that it's been so long since I last blogged, but the new hotel in Sweden didn't have internet access and I just started the German culture class, which severely limits my available internet time. First: Sweden.

Absolutely loved it. On Friday we found the new hotel and then went to the Nationalmusseum, which was mostly an art museum. They had an excellent collection (I was just generally impressed, but Amanda, who has taken classes on such things, was really impressed with the diversity of the collection). It was pretty exciting. Then we got lasagne for dinner and walked around for a while. The new hotel was much, much nicer than the Hostel, even though it was not on a boat. It even had a television, which was good because I have very limited access to that as well. We watched BBC a lot.

On Saturday we went to the Nobel Prize Museum, which I thought was amazing because one of the laureates that they did a video portrait of was Barbara McClintock, who we read about in my Women in Biology class. She won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for her work with 'Jumping Genes' in Maize. That made me happy. Random Trivia. Fewer than 40 women have won the Nobel Prize, and only one of them won twice. Guess who, and which prize? Marie Curie for Physics and then for Chemistry. Did you guess that? Bet not... After that we went to the Royal Palace to see the crowned jewels and the antiqities etc. Very cool. I got carded for the first time ever and had to show my passport. It was very exciting. Sadly, the computers here are going to shut down in about three minutes, so I have to get off, and can't relay much more now. We did manage to get home though.

Exchange Rates

$1=.72€
€1=$1.38

Dollar is down... that's not good. More later!

Greetings From Sweden! 9/7/07

Hello, hello. We have made it to Sweden. A few valuable tips for future travelers (particularly if any of you are planning on traveling with either of us). First: When you buy train tickets to the airport, make sure that you are going to the correct airport. Strike one for us. Second, when you book rooms in a hostel, make sure that you're booking them for the correct year. Strike two for us. Hey, we're learning, and these are easy mistakes to make.

So, we ended up taking a cab from one airport to the other in Dusseldorf. Not a huge deal, a little expensive, but we saved a lot on the plane tickets, so it could have been worse. We were able to stay at the Hostel for one night (it's very cool... I like boats). Then, we were able to find a hotel not too far away that is actually cheaper than the hostel, by about $10 per night. Success has been ours, clearly, though it was a tad stressful. I'll write more later (like after we find the new hotel).

New Plan! 9/3/07

Alright. It ended up raining just about all weekend, so I wasn't especially sad about not going to Nuremburg. We'll get there, have no fear. I finally met a few of the people in the IUSP program, which is what I'm in. They all seem nice enough. It's all Americans and Canadians. The only other person I've found from the East Coast actually goes to Bridgewater, which is kinda cool. Today is orientation, so we haven't done very much so far. Although they did finally give me a schedule, which I didn't get before because I didn't arrive with everyone else. Schedules are helpful things. We're going to call that a 'First-Movers Disadvantage.' Amanda has run into quite a bit of that as well.

Now I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting details on our upcoming trip to Switzerland. Well, we have had a minor change of plans regarding that. Nothing really huge, we're just not going to Switzerland any more. Instead, we're going to Sweden. They both start with the same two letters-small change. As it turns out, going to Switzerland right now would cost us €275 each for plane tickets and about €35 per night in a hostel. This would be in addition to the train tickets to get from Marburg to Frankfurt. Now that we're going to Stockholm, the plane tickets are €126 each for a round trip, and the hostels are €22 per night. And the hostel is on a ship. It's like a bonus cruise! Well, we weighed the marginal benefits of each, and decided that we like being fiscally responsible people. We will reconsider Switzerland at a later date. As in, when the tickets are cheaper.

So. Before I tell you loyal readers about the exchange rates, I'd like to wish my Dad a happy birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

$1= €.73; €1=$1.36

$1 = 6.85 Swedish Kronas; 1 Swedish Krona = $.16

I Passed! I Passed! 8/31/10

Hello my (hopefully) loyal readers. Today was the big day. We got our grades for the German Language class I've been taking for the last three weeks. I got an A- (or in Germany, a 1-). It's broken down into five parts, and the only one I got a B on was the grammar. I'm sure that's not particularly important for language though. Still pretty good, considering that I missed the first week. I got a certificate and everything. Everyone in the class passed, which was good.

Minor change of plans for this weekend. As of yesterday, we were planning to go to Nuremburg, which is roughly four hours away by train. Upon looking at the train schedules, however, we determined that we could either start at midnight and get there at nine, or we could leave at seven, get there at noon and pay €115 for the round trip tickets. Neither of these options seemed ideal. After careful consideration, we decided to wait on Nuremburg until we have matriculated as students. That way, the train fares will be greatly reduced. So instead... I'm moving!

Amanda lives in an apartment that is all of a three minute walk away. She lives on the second floor as opposed to the fourth, and it's a pretty sweet situation in general. This week, one of her apartment mates moved out, so I swooped in and snagged the room (assisted heavily by Amanda, who did most of the actual swooping). So for the rest of today and possibly some of tomorrow, I'll be lugging stuff up and down stairs. I'm excitied about it, particularly considering what an efficient mover I am. Hmm... Anyone want to fly over and help? I'll buy you lunch...

P.S. The picture is the view from my first room

Last Day of Speak + Write 8/30/07

Today was the Speak + Write final exam. I think it went pretty well. Tomorrow we'll get our certificates of completion and have a potluck party, and we're done. On Sunday I take a placement test for the IUSP program, which is the one I'm actually in, and I start class on Monday. Should be pretty entertaining.

Since Saturday is a relatively free day, Amanda and I are traveling. We're off to Nuremburg to see the courthouse where the Nazi War Trials were held. I'm very excited about this. I took a Holocaust class in High School and ever since, I've found that period of history to be particularly fascinating. I'll take lots of pictures. Nuremburg is about four and a half hours away by train, so it will almost certainly be an all-day affair.

Next weekend we have another trip planned as well. We're planning on going to Switzerland for three days. We're not sure when we plan to leave, but we're thinking Destination : Zürich. I want to go to a Swiss bank. And see the Alps. And eat cheese. What else is Swiss? Chocolate. Clocks. Neutrality. Francs. Man, what's not to like about this country?

Exchange Rates:

€1=$1.37
$1=€.73

And, because we're going to Switzerland soon...

1 Franc = $1.19
$1=.83 Swiss Francs

Good deal.

Mmmm.... Chicken 8/27/07

So you know those Sundays in Virginia when you wake up and realize that you really, really want a chicken sandwich, waffle fries and a milkshake? And then you realize that Chick-Fil-A is not open on Sundays. Drat. So you sit there for a few minutes and admire them for their Chrisian business ethics, while still thinking 'Man, a chicken sandwich would be good. This stinks.' Well, welcome to Germany. Except for select restaurants, nothing is open on Sunday. This is not hyperbole. There are no grocery stores, clothing stores, book stores. It makes Sunday a lazy day, which is not a bad thing necessarilly, but you quickly get in the habit of going grocery shopping on Saturday. Otherwise, you're scraping a bit by dinner time. Man... I'd really like a chicken sandwich and waffle fries. A milkshake would be good too...

On Saturday we climbed the gigantic hill to go to the Medieval Market. That was a bit of a letdown. It was €5 to get in and then all you could really do was buy stuff. The ticket however doubled to let us into the castle on the top of the hill, so we got to go to a museum instead. The museum is dedicated to Saint Elizabeth, who, as far as I can tell, is Marburg's big claim to fame. After her noble husband died, she came to Marburg and started a hospital to aid the sick and poor. In turn, these saintly actions made her sick and poor, so she died three or four years after arriving in Marburg. Hopeless people came to her grave and were miraculously healed, so she was canonized only three years after her death. This year is something like the 800th anniversary of her death, which is pretty significant in Marburg.

Exchange rates:

€1=$1.36

$1=.735€