First Week of Class

Monday: Today was the first day of Calculus III, and I am realizing how fast we are covering this material. Our class starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:15. We have 3 15 min. breaks and 1hr. 15 min. lunch. Class goes by fairly quickly and it's not so bad. One interesting thing about the class is that the chalkboard isn't fully erasable as in the us. Our professor must wet a sponge, clean the board with it, and use a wiper to get the excess water off.... every time he needs to write something new. After class I headed to the mall to get a cheap German phone so I can keep in touch with the host fam. and friends if needed. The mall had a grocery store in it, which was different.

Tuesday: After class I went exploring with some of the people from class. We decided to visit one of their host family's home because it was about 300 years old and in the oldest part of town that is over 1000 years old. Afterwards, we took a train to the Rhine river where we just looked around. It was very peaceful and really pretty because of the windmills around the area and the the swift river. Once finished there we went back to town for food, ( My meal consisted of kebab meat, tomato sauce, bread chunks, yogurt-garlic sauce, and a few veggies. It was quite tasty :) ) and then took advantage of the fact that we can buy alcoholic drinks here. I got a beer called Hoephner Pilsner because it is brewed here in Karlsruhe. It was my first beer ever, and it tasted ok. I plan to try something else next time.

Wednesday: After class I decided to go to my host family's house directly because I had a test to study for, but before I did I did some exploring by myself in my suburb Groetzingen. I personally find this place gorgeous because of all the colorful houses, old churches, and hilly area. The most interesting church here had a twisted steeple that used to be straight, but has warped over time. Local legend is that the devil himself twisted it, but you know how that goes. :)

Thursday: Today was test day. luckily I have been able to separate my excitement for Germany and the focus needed to succeed in class. This first test I took was ok, but there was quite a bit that I wasn't entirely sure on. The good news about tests is that we get a longer lunch break because once we finish, we are free to go eat.

My next plans: This weekend me and about 7 other people are going to go to the Swiss-German border and then to the Black Forest. We are visiting the Mercedes Museum on Friday in Stuttgart, Germany and we are taking a train to Basel, Switzerland directly afterwards. We are staying in Basel Friday night, and going to Konstanz, Germany the next day where Lake Constance is. After exploring a bit, our next stop is Freiburg, Germany where the black forest is. We plan to do a bit of hiking so that we can see just how pretty it is supposed to be :)

                                               The 300 year old house in Kneilingen.

                                                                  More of Kneilingen

                                                           Windmill at the Rhine

                                                            Bridge across the Rhine

                                                 Old buildings in Grotzingen, my suburb

The Church in Grotzingen with it's twisted steeple. (Sorry it is sideways)

Back of the Church.

Karlsruhe and Frankfurt

This weekend has been pretty busy with visits to two cities, Karlsruhe (the one I am staying in) and Frankfurt.

Karlsruhe: I have finally met my host family in Grotzingen, a suburb of Karlsruhe. My host family consists of host parents Klaus and Danica and host sister Carla. My host family has been very welcoming to me and they have been introducing me and showing me around all kinds of places. I absolutely love their cooking! On Saturday me, Klaus, and Carla went biking to another suburb of Karlsruhe called Durlach where we got groceries from local bakeries and a local butcher shop. The food here is very fresh and tastes quite different than that of home. I have tried a lot of cheeses, meats, and breads including black forest ham and local rye bread. I can't really go into great detail because I have forgotten names and I have tried so much, but what I can say is that it has all been very rich in taste especially for the meat, and the bread has lots of whole grains and seeds which I love. One food discovery I have made here is that practically all of the drinks here are carbonated. Plain water is carbonated and an apple juice I bought the other day was as well ( it was called apfel schorle). Below are some pictures from Durlach and Karlsruhe.

Frankfurt: My host family was invited to a friend's 65th birthday party in a city near Frankfurt called Neu-Isenburg at a restaurant called Senso e Vita. At the party, I was announced as the guest who traveled the farthest which I thought was pretty cool. Many of the guests spoke English, so I had fun talking with them about the differences between Kentucky and Germany. Because the city was so close to Franfurt, Klaus was kind enough to drive me and Carla to the city center where we spent about 2 hours looking around. The city was different from the place I am staying because of its financial center packed with skyscrapers. The city has the tallest skyscraper in Europe, since buildings of this type aren't that typical here. Below are pictures of the city skyline and the old Opera House.

This post is not too detailed because I have done a lot these past days, but I must get done because dinner is almost ready. :) Its beef stroganoff, white asparagus salad, and guacamole.

                                          Durlach

                                          Durlach

                                          Schloss (Castle in Karlsruhe)

                                           Street corner in Karlsruhe

                                          Opera House in Frankfurt

                                          Skyline of Frankfurt

Arrival!!

Well, after much traveling and waiting I have finally made it to Karlsruhe, Germany! More specifically I am living in Grötzingen, a borough of Karlsruhe. I have been awake for about 30 hours now and I'm still not done. So here's what I've been doing the throughout this time.

The flights: I have flown before but not like this. The first leg of my journey began with a regional jet from Nashville to Detroit which left me feeling quite dizzy and a bit queasy. The second leg of my journey, Detroit to Frankfurt, went better. Unfortunately I was in the very last row with no windows in my row. The bathrooms were right next too me, and although they were convenient with respect to proximity, the occasional odors were not. I tried my best to sleep, but excitement wouldn't let me.

The trains: When I finally landed in Frankfurt, the next step was to take the trains to Karlsruhe. The first train had no seating room left, therefore I was stuck standing up with my luggage trying to maintain my balance while the high speed train made its sudden turns. The next train's conditions were improved with actual seating, and to make the experience even cooler, a young German boy and an older German lady invited me and another person in the group to play cards.


Finally, I met my host family at the train station, but I'' have to tell more about them and their home later. I need sleep and dinner is about to be finished. :)
Below are pictures of the part that I'm staying in.

Blog Start-Up

   Hello! This blog's purpose is to document my stay in Europe over the next 5 weeks, namely Karlsruhe, Germany. I leave for the trip on Jun. 21st, and I am extremely excited!! I have known about this trip since the middle of high school so it's been a long time coming. While I am in Karlsruhe I will be taking Calculus III for class credit for the University of Kentucky. I'm not too worried about the course since I will be in a small class with a professor I can actually understand. I will be staying with a host family who I have been contacting through email, and I am excited to meet them in person on Friday!
   Going into this trip, I am expecting to learn several things other things besides Calc. III. I expect to encounter a different culture than my own, and I expect myself to learn to adapt to situations unfamiliar to me. I know basically no German and have no international travel experience so new situations should be plentiful on this trip. I also want to learn more about the field I'm going into: engineering. Germany is the perfect place to explore this because of its world leadership in the field of engineering.
   As the trip begins I will post more stuff on whatever is different or whatever interests me on the trip. I can't wait to get started, but first I must pack my suitcase....