Woooohoooooo hello! Finally (AGAIN) I get around to writing in this thing. Ok just so I don’t get into the habit of not updating this and you guys getting annoyed and then me having to write a novel and then you having to read a novel…I propose this:
I’m going to write one long entry today about what I’ve been doing over the last few weeks in good depth (sorry another novel) but then after that every week like Wed or Thurs I will make certain that I write an entry of the weeks highlights. It just kinda means that todays one will be LONG. Maybe read it over a few days. Also, because some people don’t care about the history/detail stuff, when I write about somewhere I will put the historical and detailed specifics in a paragraph beneath (in blue) the general description so that you can skip it if you want. This blog is also for my benefit so I want to take note of historical details. And also I am copying and pasting some stuff from emails I’ve sent people because it makes things easier so don’t be weirded out if you feel like you’ve read some of this before.
Ok on to business…
I should really finish Munich!
Thurs: Last full day in Munich until xmas (which I am really really excited about!) and Alex and I drove to this gorgeous big lake in Bavaria called Chiemsee surrounded by cute little towns and with a few islands on the lake. The drive was so pretty, the landscape blew my mind. Actually, the scenery ended up being my fave part of Chiemsee. So many cute villages with little farms, town churches, towers, onion domes and bright colours. It’s actually a bit sad, I’ve been here so long that all that stuff is so normal for me now, I appreciate it a bit less. Though I guess I still can’t help staring out the windows in buses and trains. Got to the main dock at Prien and got on the ferry and took a ride to the island Herrenchiemsee to see the palace there.
Detailed description: So King Ludwig II of Bavaria bought this island in 1873 and decided to build a summer palace that was pretty much a replica of Vesailles in Paris. So this guy, Alex and I decided, was clearly a mad-man!! But a brilliant mad-man because without his madness the world would not have 3 beautiful palaces in Bavaria (2 which I have now visited, and eager to tick the third off my list at xmas). So Ludwig, the fairytale king’ was obsessed with King Louis 14th of France and wanted to copy his Versailles palace (which I’ve already visited when I was younger) as a copy with a little bit of Bavarian flair. I admit, a lot of what I saw really took me back to my time in Versailles, a stunning place. Typical of the French kings, very flashy with gold, extravagant chandelier, lavish decorations, secret passages, exact painted copies of artwork and ceiling frescoes and marble everywhere. Loved how there was a table in the dining room and the table top lowers down a floor level to the kitchen through the kitchen staff pulling chords and then putting food on and pulling it back up again! Also loved this HUGE room of mirrors with so much gold decoration and hanging from the ceiling were these huge astonishingly decorated candle holders that must have held 100 candles each because in total there were 5000 candles. And yes, Ludwig did demand that they be lit every night – what a mission! The outside has a long pathway then a big fountain before a series of stairs leading to two other fountains and then the palace. Photos weren’t allowed sorry but the interior was phenomenal. I would say I like the exterior and gardens of Versailles much more but the interior of this more. The funny/sad/ironic thing about the palace is that not only did Ludwig become bankrupt and only finished half the palace, but he only actually lived there for 10 days of his life! He died mysteriously in Lake Stanberg before he could spend a full summer as intended.
After the palace we went to look at the museum with bit and bobs that never got put in the palace and plans for so many other palaces by Ludwig that had been inspired by countries all over the world. This guy really was bonkers. So then we took the ferry to the island Frauen Insel (Island of the ladys haha, cos it’s got a monastery for nuns). The monastery was very sweet, saw a well-decorated church, as always, cute Bavarian houses and eeee view of the mountains over the lake. Slept all the way home J Chicken pancakes for dinner! Interesting concept but brilliant.
Friday: Gosh, let me remember…oh yeah, I think today I packed for Kostanz and Alex and I went and bought me stuff at a big place like a massive version of briscoes to set me up for my apartment. Got pots, pans etc. Little did I know that Alex’s mum had been an absolute sweetheart and packed me heaps of stuff to take too! Then went and played tennis again with Alex’s trainer. Then tv and got ready for a night clubbing in Germany with a bottle of cheap (but really good!) 1.80 euro wine J Met some friends and caught the train to the disco called ‘naga’. German clubs tend to have a few different rooms with different music scenes. We stayed in the mainstream music one mostly. Well one long island iced tea led to some jager shots that led to a few more cocktails, raving to my fave german songs ‘disco pogo’ and ‘nein mann’ as well as some lady gaga etc of course. FANTASTIC NIGHT, loved raving with Alex and can’t wait to do it again! Got home around 5am and only slept about 3 hours and then got up for a drive to Konstanz with my host family. The words ‘MASSIVE HANGOVER’ don’t really even begin to cover things so sadly some of the breath-taking scenery went to waste on me but towards the end I was gawking as always. Europe is a world of wonders! Ok so we arrived in an unbelievably sweet medieval town called Meersburg and took a 20min ferry from there to Konstanz, called my brilliant ‘tutor’ Larissa who we met and took me to my apartment.
I live in a big apartment block and have my own apartment with bedroom with study desk and computer chair and big wardrobe (lots of space), small kitchen and tinsy bathroom. I am very very content with where I live. I am so lucky, I live of the 4th floor and have a balcony that looks out in many different directions. One towards the forest surrounding the Uni, one towards the beautiful old town and the alps and then out over towards the other apartments (which are one level lower than my floor) where I look out of the hills and see the sun sets most nights J Most people look at a concrete wall, I am grateful for my place! I only have a stove though! No microwave, no oven, but I knew that before I came. Haha it has just meant that I’ve become a bit creative and am slowly getting better at judging how much one person eats. Everything is functional, warm, the bed is comfy, shower pressure good, 10min walk/2 min bus to Uni so I’m happy. There are many other student houses. Europahaus has waaayyy more parties and is more social but I’ve heard a few stories about noise and annoying flatmates so I think I’m where I should be.
After arrival, I went and checked out the Uni so I’ll say a bit about that which I have since visited multiple times. Haha, um I find the whole place funny. My observations:
- Lots of smaller rooms for 20-30 people. Less big lecture theatres.
- One lecture theatre has a gigantic window that looks out towards the beautiful lake, a very easy distraction!
- The Mensa (student food court) seems to be where it’s at. Lots of people everywhere, big glass windows with a view you would expect from an expensive restaurant. LOTS of food, good, well-priced food. Most people have their main meal of the day at the mensa. There is an outdoor part up top (again, eee the view!)
- Crazy weird art – things that look like pumpkins and strange blue pipes and twisted (try hard Gaudi) pillars. It hilarious because the uni has won a bunch of art awards and stuff but I just see it and laugh.
- The library is pretty sweet, they keep bragging about its awards. Quite a good system of organisation and a really cool media library for dvds etc.
Had to say goodbye to Alex and family which was so sad but Konstanz is brilliant, and denfainetly a place I can now call ‘home sweet home’. First full day in Konstanz was WOOOONNDEEERRFULLL. Caught the bus (over the Rhine river!) to meet Larissa and a friend of hers Carola. Haha so my first real day in Konstanz was the German reunification day! Most places were shut open so we decided to go and see the cute little german boy scouts and fry dough over a stick in a big tent in the sun. This is called ‘Stockbrot’ Played some funny traditional german boy scout games including attempting to smack acorns rolling down pipes.
Then we went into the city centre (old town) for the first time J WOW WOW WOW I can’t rave about Konstanz enough. This place is just amazing, more beautiful than I imagined. As some of you may have seen from my photos, so much old german-style architecture! And most of it is genuine too, unlike some German cities that have re-built everything to match originals destroyed in the war. Konstanz however was not bombed – there are two theories 1) That Konstanz was not important enough economically to bomb and 2)The more preferred version by anyone from Konstanz; the Konstanz people were smart and during the war they switched off all their power so that there were no lights and the bombers simply thought Konstanz was part of Switzerland. I think it was a combination of both :P
Anyway, we went up the awesome town cathedral (which has multiple underground passages to crypts that I love) and got a GREAT view over Lake Constance (Bodensee), Konstanz town, the Swiss alps and even Austria – I was so joyous! Then back down and started to go for a walk to the Swiss border (me dwalding and gwacking the whole time though – the a kid in a toy shop). The border is such a non-event, got there and looked at the neighbouring Swiss town, soon realised Konstanz is so much cooler and went back. I have since jumped across to Switzerland a few times and found much prettier parts J Got some ice cream etc (as I have been doing wayyyy to often – almost daily!). Also, I have rekindled my love for the McFlurry. There are lots of buskers – my fave is this cute little sailor man with a little cap and beard who sings in german about the lake constance area. I got a little lost late a night on my way home that night which was good fun, and also really scary but since arriving here, getting lost has been my adrenalin buzz – I almost do it on purpose just to see how I cope. I also cross the Swiss border without my documentation to feel like a rebel, havn’t been caught yet, but close…I think I have problems, I’ll have to stop that.
I really wish I had written like this everyday but there is just no time so I’m going to list lovely things that have done/happened/I’ve noticed – sorry if it is out of order.
- Lots of ‘getting lost’ wandering around the city and just discovering new and beautiful parts all the time. Actually, now I feel very very comfortable here. I can navigate just about anywhere and the bus system is flawless. I no longer feel like a tourist here. In fact, I’ve never felt like this before, it’s almost like when I first moved to Christchurch; new city, new people, new uni and now it is just life as usual but with a trip to a beautiful island or new city every couple of days!
- Met some really lovely, friendly german people – YES, they exist! And there are so many! And of course absolutely everyone, no matter what country are so shocked when they hear I am from New Zealand.
- On that note, I really can’t emphasise enough how much coming here has made me realize how much I love New Zealand. Not because it is better than here or anything, here is just fantastic, much more interesting, beautiful etc. But what I’ve discovered is that NZ really actually does have a culture and it’s in our attitude, our sayings and language we use, in our behaviour and in our values. I came to Germany to learn about the german culture but instead I find myself learning more and more about NZ. Today I had to talk about a national holiday in my country and I can tell you, I have never ever spoken so passionately about Waitangi day.
- On that note – people laugh at me all the time, the words I use, how I say it, my voice, everything. Good thing is that they actually like my accent! But it’s a pity I have to repeat a lot in an American accent. Sometimes I amp up my kiwi accent and choice of words just to mess with people, it’s fun haha. Also I have discovered that NO ONE can imitate the kiwi accent, I wish they would stop trying but instead they pierce my ears with some horrid Australian/British combo.
- I can’t understand Swiss german when in Switzerland, not one bit.
- Bureaucracy in Germany – they are not joking! My first few weeks in Konstanz was pretty much devoted to trying to get a residence permit and sort out Uni enrolment. The queues were crazy and the opening hours so short. But never fear, at last I am a German resident!
- Just for a bit I’m going to rant (haha ‘rant’ – NZ word people would usually laugh at me for using) about dogs here. They are so loved here, it is incredible! They are allowed EVRYWHERE – malls, public transport, cafes etc. And the sheer VARIETY, you name the breed, I guarantee there will be at least one in Konstanz. Dogs are also a major conversation point – strangers will talk for hours just bonding over their dogs.
- So the orientation program – not much too say, just a lot of seminars, intro the uni, the strange assessment systems here etc. Have met some really awesome people from all over the world which has been so interesting hearing about other countries and how things are different. Some stereotypes have been confirmed and a few turned completely topsy-turvy.
- So my classes are really scarily hard here and different! Turns out I’m doing a masters course and the rest of my courses are equivalent to the 2nd semester of 3rd year courses. Pretty darn scary but at least 3/7 are in English and the other 4/7 are manageable german (for my language level). Instead of big exams, I have big mid-term essays and then 20 page assignments (one in german!) at the end of the year as well as every class has a presentation/seminar I have to do and weekly homework/readings. So intense and I just got my first assign today so a tad scared. Problem is, most other exchange students, their Uni’s don’t care at all what mark they get here but mine affects my GPA so eekkkk. BUT on a positive note, I have hardly any classes per week (about 15 hours) and my Fridays are free J So my courses are : 1) ‘Poltical Economy of Aid and Development’ (super interesting but certainly my hardest subject), 2)‘Brand Management’, 3)‘International Dimensions of Human Resource Management’ (both these courses are great!) and then in german: 4)‘economics/german studies’ – don’t even get me started on the lecturer but oh well, I think they’ll be easy credits. 5) Current events- german 6) Germany and the world – debating and presenting 7) German history – since 1949 (HARD but interesting).
So this is way too long so I’ll bullet point all fun stuff I’ve done since I arrived:
- Fun times with my New York friend Chrystina at the sealife museum (penguins, sharks, fish etc)
- Fun times with my New York friend Chrystina at the sealife museum (penguins, sharks, fish etc)
- Meeting up with friends for way too much ice cream and exploring the area trips.
- A few parties; first was at the main club here ‘Blechenerei’ which was a good time partying with other exchange students
- Trip to the historic town Meersburg across the lake (one of my most favourite days here, see the photos, it is beautiful! Maybe towards the end of my stay here I'll post all the historical info because it is very interesting). Pretty much, Meersburg = boat trip, old castle tour, view over the lake, baroque church, old wine making store tour, vineyards, walk to thermal pools, ice cream, BEAUTIFUL sunset.
- Island Reichenau – world heritage site preserved by UNESCO for it’s old churches, history and monastery.
- Island Mainau – Flower island where I enjoyed my first real Schwarzwalderkirchtorte (black forest cake), saw some beautiful flowers, my fave church I’ve seen since I arrived back in Germany and a butterfly house!
- Stuttgart and Marbach – Ok so I get a scholarship from the state I am living in ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the capital of that state is the German town Stuttgart (mostly know for it’s involvement in the car industry). The scholarship organisers paid for all the scholarship awardees to got to Stuttgart (3 hours by train) and then from there we went to ‘Marbach’ where the german author Schiller was born. Here we took a tour of the town and saw Schillers birthplace and usual – churches (J), town walls and towers and OH MY, my firend Thorin and I found this cute little bar/café that turned out to be owned by Itlaians who made us the best Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) and hot choc. We then went to the National Archive of Literature and saw some old manuscripts of many famous german poets/authors and then we went to the National Schiller Museum. Very interesting day but the highlight by far was meeting some other interesting exchange students! Before we left Stuttgart we went up a really high tower at the train station and great view of Stuttgart.
And then this weekend just been was absolutely CRAAZZZYYY….I went to a party on Wednesday, met some Aussies and New Zealanders who invited me to go to Europapark the next day…why not?? Haha so then I went to Uni the next day, then went out to a pub and had some good good german beer with some Aussies, NZers, Germans and Americans. Late that night I then met my new NZ friend and we drove with her german friend to the town of Freiburg (2 ½ hours from Konstanz). Met her friends and pretty much from then on it got interesting. Maybe ask me for the details in person. Anyway, we stayed at some friends of my NZ friend who live in Freiburg and the next day went to Germanys largest themepark ‘Europapark’ or ‘Europe Park’. As with all themparks, it had awesome rollercoasters, water rides, shows and other amusement rides and games. My fave was by far the ‘silver star’rollercoaster which was made by Mercedes Benz and had lots of fun Mercedes Benz promo stuff as we waited. Because it is Halloween soon, the themepark had pumpkins EVRYWHERE and wow, I did not know how many varieties and different sizes, shapes and colours pumpkins came in until I came to Germany! So there was one ride that was pitch black inside a gigantic pumpkin. The most unique thing about Europapark though, is that it has a replica of every major country in Europe and has big buildings that are architecturally like the buildings you would find in those countries e.g. A big Kremlin like in Russia, a Colosseum and little Venice like in Italy, a santorini-like Greece section and oh a good ride was the Swiss Bob-sled ride. We enjoyed calling each other and saying ‘I’m in Switzerland, want to meet in Russia in five minutes?’.
And now I really need to start saving a bit more and stop eating out all the time (even though the food is far too good!) and I need to start doing some uni work…as it is hard L But having a great time so far! Can’t believe yesterday was month since I arrived in Germany. I feel like I have been here for so long and yet just arrived. Now I really don’t believe any of you could possibly read this all in one hit! But I do intend to update it weekly from now on so until then, Aufwiedersehen xox MISS YOU ALL
