The Look For Less

On Saturday Emily and I went shopping so I could get a new outfit for my 21st birthday. We went to a ton of stores, but I couldn't find anything I liked until I saw something in a department store by Espirt, which I tried on and loved, but cost 120 Euros!

Emily and I decided to instead take a picture of the outfit and try and find it somewhere else for cheaper. Here is the original outfit that I found:We ran over to H&M and found a totally similar outfit for just 34 Euros! We were so so excited about our bargain hunting of the day, and I got to wear something new for my 21st birthday!

My skin is as white as the mannequins!

"This is what we deal with all the time"--Emily Lines

Check out some of the highlights from our 3 country day trip (see previous post)!

"We love Germany, we love Switzerland, and France is ok"--Emily Lines

B-A-S-E-L!

Corny as it sounds, yesterday was one of those awesome days that I'll probably remember for the rest of my life. The gang and I decided to take a day trip to Basel, Switzerland as a semi-early birthday celebration for me with full intentions of walking into France and then back into Germany. None of us have Friday classes, and with a Baden-Württemberg train ticket special of only 28 Euros round trip for the 5 of us combined, how could you say no? We took the 9:15 train to Basel and got there a little after 10. Basel must be one of the most expensive cities in Europe. So much so that there isn't much else affordable besides walking around. We took in the old part of the city, checked out the outdoor flea market, and visited two old cathedrals before heading to our favorite restaurant to get our favorite meal (as previously mentioned in this blog): cheese tortellini. We had been thinking about this for weeks and you can only imagine our sadness when the waitress informed us that they had no tortellini; we had to choose between spaghetti or penne! We all ordered penne with low expectations, but it actually turned out to be quite delicious! When we were all finished, she brought us each a tiny cup of espresso. Out of the 5 of us, not one of us likes coffee at all but knew we had to drink it. Taking a deep breath, we all dumped in an entire package of sugar and an entire thing of cream and stirred our cups furiously before taking a sip at the same time. The reactions were not good (see video in the next post). We downed the espresso as quickly as we could and then drank water or had a piece of gum in order to get rid of the gross taste in our mouths. Immediately I could feel the caffeine kick in and got a headache from it! We also bought some Leckerli, a Swiss cookie that I sold tons and tons of over the summer when I worked at SwissBakers. I was totally shocked to actually see it in Switzerland--it really exists!

After lunch we contined to walk around for a while until deciding to cross the border into St. Louis, France. This was one of the few places I've seen so far where the border is actually marked in the ground, and we had way too much fun with it, taking a ton of pictures right in front of the border control guys. Here you can see Mitch in Switzerland checking his fancy timepiece and Jon in France being a tool and "smoking" a stinky cigarette. The part the blows my mind is how quickly the language spoken changes when you cross the border. All of a sudden everything went from being in German to French, and being the only French speaker, Jon had to translate for us all (and listen to us butcher the language by failing to pronounce anything correctly). We had a great time walking around, playing in random playgrounds, andenjoying the beautiful weather.

However, we still needed to complete our trifecta: breakfast in Germany, lunch in Switzerland, and dinner in France. It was too early for dinner in France so we stopped inside a bakery and got French pastries instead. The boys and I got eclairs and Emily got a lemon tart. Everything was amazing.

There is a gorgeous bridge on the Rhine called the three country bridge (again, with no marked border!) that we crossed to get back into Germany again. We found a small park and sat down for a while to relax and reflect on the day. Even though we were back in Germany, our train was leaving from Switzerland so we needed to cross back into Basel. We had been in three countries (multiple times!) in less than eight hours. We all crashed on the train and were back in Freiburg a little after 20:00. Overall it was such a fun day with gorgeous weather and many laughs.

Check out the rest of the ridiculous pictures from our day trip here!

Too Much Fun in Pisa

This is Nuts

My school week is finally finished and I've had all of my classes. This is my 6th semester in college and the first time that I have actually LIKED the majority of the subjects I'm taking. I don't know if my usual hatred of classes has to do with my choice of majors, the professors, the workload, or all of the above, but if you have ever talked to me between the months of September-May, you have probably heard me say that I hate school every single day. Ok, I say that here too (I wrote it like 2 days ago in this blog), but I have a feeling that I will hate it a lot less this semester.

Today I had the final two classes I'll be taking this semester. The first was Regional History of the City and University of Freiburg. I am extremely excited about this class. My professor is a hip and cultured German guy who made us all go around and say our favorite place in Freiburg. I already learned 3 really cool things about the University of Freiburg in the class today:
1. Freiburg was the first university in Germany to allow women to study there (in 1900)!!
2. Up until 1700, all professors were paid entirely in wine
3. This corner of Freiburg/Basel/Strasbourg is an economically poor place, and without the University (which was supposed to shut down in the 1500s because of the high cost), we would really be in trouble. Today the University employs over 20,000 people!
We went on a field trip in my class today too. We saw one hall in the university built in 1900, then we went and saw the old Uni Freiburg "bank," where they stored the wine that they paid to the professors, and then we saw the old center of campus, which was built in 1610. It completely blows my mind that I'm studying at a University that was established in 1457!

I also learned that the three most important products grown in this area are wine, asparagus, and tabacco. Deeeelicious.

My second class is called Germany and Europe, which is bascially about Germany and its role in the European Union. My professor works at the EU center or whatever in Strasbourg so this is pretty official stuff. I've never taken a politics class before, so I hope I'll like it, but it seems like it will be interesting (we weren't in it very long since it was only the first day). I actually have the most work in this class out of all my other classes combined: one quiz, one presentation, and one paper.

That is why Germany is so chill! There is no homework, there is (usually) one assignment I need to complete for the entire class, class meets once a week for 1.5 hours, and I have 4 day weekends. And there are field trips! For one of my economics classes we are going to visit a bank in Switzerland! For my History of Freiburg class, we're going to visit a famous cathedral in the Black Forest! This is good stuff.

Oh and my favorite part about Germany so far is that EVERYONE KNOWS HOW TO PRONOUNCE MY LAST NAME! No one asks me to spell it, no one pauses during roll call, no one stumbles. It is fantastic.

I also forgot to mention (and my mother told me I needed to write about this) that in my Literature of the Weimar Republic class, my professor told us that to get credit, she needs to see and sign our notes after every class. After our first class on Tuesday I had to run to the store and buy a bottle of White-Out because of course I drew hearts and stars all over my notes during the lecture. Oops!

It's warm, but it's not STREAKER warm

Yesterday was my second day of classes and I had the two classes that I was most looking forward to: International Trade, Market Integration and the EU, and Business Cultures. Both of them are taught in English by the same professor. He is an old German man with a very thick accent who limps around the room and occasionally snorts from a weird blue plastic container. The first class is obviously more economics based and even though I just had one class so far, it really made me start to love my major again. We learned all about globalization and the Great Depression and WWI from the German side of things, totally interesting.

In between classes, my friends and I were sitting in a cafe inside one of the University buildings and all of a sudden my friend Todd goes, "oh, a streaker." We looked up and there was a completely naked man just strolling through the cafe and making his way outside. He was wearing nothing but a hat and not wasn't making any noise at all. He went mostly unnoticed but I turned all red and was really embarrassed! Only in Germany, I suppose.

The second class, Business Cultures, is a seminar that is based off of the first class, so you have to take them together. Even though Mt. Holyoke won't even accept anything with the word "business" in it, I'm taking it anyway and I'm really glad that I am. We will be learning all about cultural differences and mistakes that managers make when working in other countries, which is what I want to do with my life (be a manager and do business all over the world). My professor gave us a short history of Freiburg in the class and we learned that it was once part of Austria, and then part of France. Because Freiburg is so close to the borders of Switzerland and France, and used to be part of Austria, it has more of that mentality than it does with the rest of Germany. Apparently in 1936, Adolf Hitler came to visit Freiburg, arrived at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), and there were so many Freiburgers protesting his arrival and throwing tomatoes at him that he couldn't even get off the train! My professor says that that alone makes him proud to be a Freiburger.

Last night Emily, Jon, and I went out for schnitzel at a restaurant in town which was great. The weather was nice and we sat outside to enjoy our dinner. Today I don't have class until 2:00. What will I do until then?

An Open Love Letter to Mike Mitchell

Dear Mike Mitchell,

We have never met but I kind of love you a little. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude toward you and the delicious American products you have your brand name on in my tiny grocery store every week. It seems as if every time I think I have seen everything from you, you always surprise me. I remember way back in my first week of Germany when I found your huge loaf of whitey white soft American bread with American sized slices, and the curious yet welcome absence of the ends (which no one eats anyway). I was never even a huge peanut butter fan back at home, but when I bought your jar back in March, I was eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches daily. I thought I had seen it all Mike Mitchell, and then yesterday in the bakery section to my shock and amazement, I found your blueberry and vanilla muffins! Blueberry and vanilla muffins, Mike Mitchell, you are too much! I have already eaten 2 of them and I must say, they are some of the best blueberry muffins I have ever had!

Alas, when I search for your name and on Google, I get over 39,000,000 results of people with your same name, ranging from photographers, to directors and musicians, to construction workers, to NBA players, so I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe you keep yourself on a low profile in order to avoid love letters like this from homesick study abroad students who find comfort in your treats. It is of no matter, I will continue to buy and support your products for as long as I am studying in Germany, and if you're ever in Freiburg, give me a call.

Love,
Liz

PS
I know you're all about the American products, but maybe you could make the Golden Gate Bride/big American flag logo a little less obvious? I feel like a dead giveaway stereotypical American when I'm walking through the store (that and the fact that I carry too much in my hands and I can hardly keep up with the cashier as they ring up my groceries while I'm trying to bag).

First Day of School

So I finally began classes today after having a wonderful (not so wonderful) 4 month vacation. On the tram into town I got checked for the first time to make sure I had my ticket. It was really scary. The checker was dressed in plain clothes and came up to me and flashed his badge at me. I got out my ticket and everything was fine but my heart was pounding!

Today's class, Literature of the Weimar Republic, is the only one I have with actual Uni Freiburg students, the other ones I'm taking are designed for exchange students. I got to the University and the first thing I noticed was the lack of a campus feel, which I know is because there is no campus. I kind of missed the buzz of excitement you feel at Mt. Holyoke on the first day of class. It's also weird walking around the university buildings because all the students are so much older than me and I kind of felt like a little kid.

The classroom was about as legit as you could get. It was a huge lecture hall with stadium seating and really uncomfortable wooden chairs. There were about 150 students in the class, so it was the biggest course I've ever taken. The professor came in, turned on her microphone, and spoke for an hour and a half in German overviewing the class and saying what we were going to be doing in every single lecture (very German). When it was over, all the exchange students in the room went up to her to ask what we could do in order to receive credit for the course. For one credit, all we have to do is show up and take notes, which she will sign after class. For two credits, we have to write a ten page paper on a topic of our choice. I am kind of freaking out about writing a ten page paper, and only getting two credits for this course (which I thought would be worth 3). I might have to pick up a 6th class now in order to have a full time courseload here, which is insane. We'll see. I still hate school.

Video from Today

We made a video when we were walking back from France into Germany! (see previous entry)

"Breakfast in Germany, Lunch in France, Dinner in Germany"--Jon Salvilla

Today Jon got his visa status fixed so he can finally leave Germany, and we celebrated by going to France for the day.

We left Freiburg at 1:30 and took the train to Breisach, Germany, which is basically as close as you can get to the border without being in France. From there, it was a 6km walk to Neuf-Brisach, France, which he chose because it was designed by the famous engineer Vauban, which is also the name of the area where Emily and Mitch live. It is an old fortified city that is completely circular and the pictures of it from far away look really cool. It was kind of a sketchy walk there because we went the wrong way and ended up walking down a highway in knee high grass for most of it. I was afraid the cops were going to come and arrest us or kick us out of the country or something, but thankfully that didn't happen. We had no map or anything and stopped a few times for directions but everyone was really nice and helpful.

We finally made it to Neuf-Brisach around 3:00 and stopped by the tourist information to get a map and see what there was to do, and more specifically, find out where we could eat. Turns out that there is only one restaurant in town and it was closed, so we ended up going to the only place that was open, which was called "Killian's Pub." An Irish pub in France! They only had 3 things on their menu but we were able to get some Alsatian food there: a very thin crust pizza with just cheese, pieces of bacon, and onions on it. It was actually really good. After that we walked around in circles for a bit before realizing that there was nothing to do there, and everything was closed anyway, so we decided to walk back to Germany. It was ok though, because the whole experience and adventure of it all was fun in itself. We went the right way this time where pedestrians could actually walk and it was so cool just enjoying the French countryside and thinking about how we had breakfast in Germany, lunch in France, and were going back to have dinner in Germany again.

Check out the rest of my pictures here!