Karlsruhe 2012: 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 :)