Photo Update, Pt. 2

I returned to Munich on March 16th (das heißt - already five weeks ago!). What follows will be a very piecemeal and relatively inaccurate representation of those weeks, as I have no photos of my apartment with its ridiculous plastic space-capsule bathroom, the U-Bahn, or the classrooms of JYM.


I went to Regensburg with JYM a couple of weeks ago. Regensburg was not bombed during the war, so we saw buildings that were older than 1950 -- these are not too easy to come by in Munich. Note the beautiful blue sky! Spring had already started coming by this point. There are flowers coming up in the last picture.



I have a dirndl. I will wear this when I graduate from New College. Possibly also with the braids.



Germans drink beer by the liter. My friend Rebekah and I attempt it. (Note the scarf I am wearing, and the sweater Rebekah is wearing. It is COLD outside. In this picture, we are standing inside a giant beer hall with something upwards of a thousand Germans singing and dancing on top of benches to a live band belting out such American classics as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Timewarp" from Rocky Horror. Yes.)


This is the view from my window, about ten days ago. It is much greener now.



My friend Chris makes my piece of junk flea market guitar look really really cool.

And endlich! Frühling. Nothing says spring like forsythias and lovely friends.

Photo Update, Pt. 1

This is what I did before I moved to Munich.

I left Florida, my lovely job, my wonderful roommates, boyfriend, and friends.


I went home to visit my family for a few days, and then hopped a transatlantic flight. After two pretty miserable days of jetlag and hanging around the never-to-be-revisited Hauptbahnhof area of Munich, I managed to get myself to Paris to visit Sunshine and Emily-Rose.



I found what is possibly the best fountain I have ever seen at Versailles. All in all, I say that I would rather wander Cranbrook's campus than the Versailles gardens (there might be some nostalgia swaying that judgment), but this fountain beats the pants off all the Milles' stuff hanging around CK. It has reptiles. Spewing water from their mouths. My pictures do not do it justice.




Also, topiary.


And leaving my generous and lovely Parisian hosts, I ventured on to Italy and I will just post pictures without commentary because my dumb jokes will not add anything. The Cinque Terre is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.








Then I ended up in Vienna for a week, going to operas, drinking a lot of coffee, befriending backpackers, and not taking any pictures. Not a single one. It rained every day except for one, anyway.

I am terrible at updating

See subject line.

(these photos are from Italy)

I've been in Munich for just over three weeks now and am happily adjusting to life in a big city (gasp!) and in Germany. Travels in March were lovely and I can safely say that the wanderlust has been reignited (I learned a German word a few weeks ago, "Fernweh," which is like the next step up from wanderlust. As I understand it, it connotes an inability - "weh" means pain - to stay in one place. I am not quite there, but it may yet happen.) I ended up in Vienna for almost a week, which was lovely. Italy was by far the most beautiful, but I think future travels will be mostly east- and north-bound rather than southerly. Prague is a relative certainty at this point, to see none other than the prodigal Adam Gajdos (for the first time in... 5 years?). Other trip possibilities include St Petersburg, Istanbul, and Sweden. However, for now, I am happy to be in Munich.

The last three weeks have been our orientation period, and on Thursday we're done, for which I am excited. It's been easy, mostly too easy, and my German improves much more quickly through conversations and meeting people. Next week we have free (Easter) and I will be staying in Bayern and doing some day trips outside of the city.

My impression thusfar of the cultural differences is that they aren't huge, but that there is more of a general atmosphere of modesty (in many realms - politics, national discourse, public interactions, consumer culture) in Germany than in the US. People are more reserved in public. Public transit is well-utilized; car culture is very limited. Drinking is normally more low-key, with the exception of festivals (institutionalized in Bavarian culture). Interactions with strangers are more business-like, but also more comfortable in some ways (for me, at least) - it's almost more personable insofar as different limits and freedoms are observed. For instance, there are public situations where it is okay to be naked (saunas, sunbathing, etc). However, you don't expect strangers to go out of their way to be nice to you, which I feel like is something that would be unnerving for many Americans. Different conceptions of normal humanness.

More posts with photos from time in Germany will be forthcoming. Probably after orientation is done, but before real classes start.

On the road

It's been about a week since I left, and I've been covering a fair amount of ground since then. I am writing from Florence, Italy, having just gotten in on an all/day train ride from Paris. I spent four days in Paris. Before that, the few days I spent in Munich were distinguished by serious jet lag, but were quite lovely. The parts of the city I visited (Marienplatz, Kaufinger Strasse, Viktualienmarkt, etc) were beautiful and very busy. I was unprepared for just how serious Bavarians are about their beer -- almost everyone in restaurants has a glass of beer in front of them, for both lunch and dinner (it remains yet to be seen if beer has a place in the German breakfast). My German served me pretty well. It was definitely challenging to understand conversations on the street, but I could carry on basic conversations pretty well and could generally get the gist of what others said to me.

I spent a lot of time in museums in Paris, which I hadn't been anticipating, but was a good experience. Versailles, the Musee dOrsay, and Notre Dame were all wonderful and interesting places. Although after watching people walk through museums at warp speed with their cameras permanently out, I think I am ready to take a break from the museum tourism for a few days. Luckily, I am headed off into the Cinque Terre tomorrow and should spend the next couple of days hiking and taking it relatively easy so long as the weather cooperates.

I will be going to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) instead of spending the rest of my trip in Italy. I'm looking forward to practicing my German some more. I should be back in Munich on the 16th, and am looking forward to getting settled in...

Obligatory Itinerary Overhaul

It was bound to happen. Here it is, the next three weeks of my life:

Arrive in Munich February 27
March 1-5 Paris
March 6 Florence/Siena
March 7-10 Rome
March 11-12 Hiking in the Cinque Terre
March 13-16 Venice
March 17 Back to Munich!

I'll try to write some notes from the road!

Pre-departure

I'm into my last few days stateside. I leave for Munich on the 26th and will be traveling pre-program from March 1 through March 17. I've "finalized" my itinerary for those couple of weeks (this has been a massively drawn out, indecisive process). It looks something like this:

Arrive in Munich on February 27th. Lay low and recover from jet lag until March 1, which is when my train pass becomes valid (!).

Head to Paris (jet-lag and all) to visit Jessica from March 1 through 5.

Night train to Tuscany, arriving March 6. I'll be going to Siena to sate my urban-design-classes inspired curiousity.

Leave for Rome on March 7. Arrive midday, plan to wander, get lost, and see cool stuff.

of course, an edit: Head for Matera via Bari (southeast Italy) on March 11. Stay in Matera for three night, Brindisi for two. Make day trips to nearby towns.

Return Munich-ways on a night train from Bari on the 16th. Settle in to my new room on the 17th. The JYM program orientation starts on the 18th!

This is a really farflung itinerary, but hopefully it will go off relatively well. I really couldn't decide on a more compact area to explore.

Here is my contact information for while I'm away:

Mail:
c/o Junior Year in Munich
Richard-Wagner-Strasse 27
80333 Munich Germany

Skype: lauren.white89

Email: untravelledworld at gmail dot com

That's it for now! I'll post something new when I get computer access somewhere along my travels.