Switzerland was closed, so we went to the beach.

Starting with Thursday evening--a fantastic and adventurous time.

(first was 8:00 a.m. Investments class where the lecturer went over stuff "we already knew". But I didn't. The others learned it in their grundstudium (lower division) and this is a hauptstudium (upper division) course. So while talking about Net Present Value, I'm thinking that I've got a lot of learnin' yet to catch up)

6:00 p.m. was a 21 birthday of a friend. So we grilled on the balcony in Vauban (or fondly nicknamed "the Vaub" (pronounced, the foub)

Then 9:00 p.m. a group came over to my apartment and we cooked dinner. Well, Emma and Cliona cooked. We ate and cleaned or served ice cream and set the table. Above L-R, Emma (Scottland), Cliona (Scottland/ Ireland), Alastair (Ireland), Mike (Australia), Joanna (N. Ireland), Scott (roommate from Indiana) and Billi (roommate from Germany). So yes, I'm eating real food.

12:00 a.m.- SAFA webcam meeting in U.S. First we had to set up. But yay, I'm the president of SAFA for 07-08! (I ran unopposed, so I kind of just got it, but I'm happy) The event went until 10:00 p.m. Central Standard Time....figure out when that is for me.

I made the elections, Saw the CIA introduce, missed the entire simulation, but thanked and said goodbye to the reps. A late, but very fun, evening.

Today, Friday, we went to Lake Constance. (or Bodensee as called in German, but in the town Konstanz). This lake is similar to the great lakes (like Dad said when he was a kid..."it must be an Ocean because you can't see the other side") Borders Switzerland and Austria.

Beautiful city. Here is Alastair and myself standing on the bridge over the Rhein river as it feeds into the lake.

We got here after a 6 Euro (round trip) train ride (That's like going from Worthington to Belle Plaine for $8) We went to the Switzerland border, but found out we needed our passports, so it was closed for us. Instead we went along the shoreline, played in a park, went in the water, and relaxed for a gorgeous afternoon.

and then...

It Rained on our way back! The entire time i've been here it hasn't tossed a drop from the sky. Heck, we've hardly had any clouds.

Essie (Finland) is enjoying the cool and awaited rain.

Tomorrow is a big day. We're headed north to Stuttgart for Europe's largest Spring Festival. (this is also the place where the FIFA Fussball Weltmeisterschaft- FIFA World Soccer Cup Championship game was held)

Then, Sunday I'm taking it easy at home. Monday we're celebrating a Finnish holiday, and Tuesday we're going to France.

Later Days,
Rick

Welcome back to Freiburg.

So more tour, and a few observations about Germans in the classroom and differences from the U.S.

Along a side street of the main drag- Kaiser Joseph Strasse, one finds this store. "Welt der Handarbeit" or World of Handywork/Crafts.

This is for my Aunt Cheryl who's an avid knitter. You can also see all the yarn sitting out front...just inviting you in...or at least Cheryl in.

Headed East, one can climb 1/2 up a huge hill to find a biergarten, or continue up to the top. I decided to go all the way up (1/2 Kilometer). Here's Freiburg--the view from the top

The tall Turm (tower) in the middle is the Muenster--our gothic cathedral and highest man-made point of the city.

I made it to the top! Behind me is, well, the sun, and the flag of Freiburg im Breisgau--my city.

Back on the ground you'll find Muensterplatz.

This market is open every morning, filled with local merchants. The market square is lined with cafes, all setting out chairs and tables for guests to dine outdoors.

Now crane your head and you'll see my apartment in Vauban. Of the kitchen/living room, the entire front is one large glass wall, which keeps with the theme that germans hate being indoors. you'll see the balcony and later maybe photos of the interior or the rest of Vauban.

-Germans use grid paper for normal note taking. It's practically hard to find just lined paper.

-German hole punchers are 2 holes that are centered together. Nothing is held tightly and good luck trying to line up the holes so each page you punch will, in the end, line up in your binder. Ha!

-Every lecture ends with knocking on the desks--it's German applause for the professor.

-They cover a LOT of material in some classes. Most of the time because students aren't tested on it until the next year or so (unless, like me, they need a grade for the specific class)

Well, I'm off to France tomorrow to visit Strasbourg and then Stuttgart on Saturday.

Tonight is *An American friend's 21st birthday, *My sister's birthday and *the big CIA event back at Carlson (cross my fingers the internet works).

Later Days,

Rick

on your left side...

(so my computer battery is dying and I'll try to do this fast)

This is "Martins Tor" or nicknamed McDonald's Tor, because the city was dumb enough to allow McDonalds to put their sign ON the tunnel/door. As you see the sign on the lower left side, right past the Subway sign.

This is somewhat the entrance to the city center--always crawling with people, as you'll see next.

Here you'll see "Bertold's Brunnen" which is the city center. The lines above are the Tram lines as all lines converge here.

The place is ALWAYS full with people, whether it be Monday morning at 9 a.m. or Thursday night at 1:00 a.m.

The shops are all specialized and set little kiosks out on the cobblestone sidewalks.

Lining all these streets is a Bachchen "a little stream" that runs into the city center (which is a statue just off to the left of the photo). The legend is that if you fall into this little stream, you have to marry someone from Freiburg.

This is the lovely Strassenbahn that I take everyday. Number 3 to Vauban. Quite similar and as clean as the lightrail in Minneapolis.

Coming next (when I can get internet) is a travel up the local hillside for a overview of the city, a view of Muenster--the large cathedral in town, and Vauban--the student residence where I live.

Until then,

Later Days,
Rick

...and we're walking...and we're walking

Continuing through the University, we find our cafeteria, the "Mensa".

Here's a view of the outdoors of the Mensa--practically as large as the indoor dining area. Remember what I've taught earlier-- I'm convinced Germans hate staying indoors.

Here's the inside so you can actually compare. See what I mean. And to reinforce the fact Germans hate staying indoors, the whole building is practically windows, so when you HAVE to be inside, it still feels a bit like being outside.

And the exterior of the building. You know it's germany when the cafeteria has all windows and has a bar on the main entrance. Not to mention the fact it's swarming with people outside and kind of barren inside.

A tour of Freiburg

Since the best part are always the photos, and I haven't got much more to say other than, "Yesterday was Sunday. It was nice." I figured I'd be your Fuehrer (leader) through a Stadtrundgang (City Tour) of Freiburg so you can see what I get to experience every day.

Let's start with The Albert Ludwigs Universitaet Freiburg. Here is Kollegien Gebaeude II. (KGII) This houses Law and Finance classes-so I'm here about 1/2 the time. (Just the other day they had a huge sign on the front that said Uni Freiburg 550 Years, but I missed it for a photo).

On the right side you'll notice Kollegien Gebaeude I (KG I) (Oh, Kollegien Gebaeude means College Building)


The gold motto across the front reads (Die Wahrheit wird euch frei Machen) "The Truth will make you free".

And below is our lovely (not really) library, where I sit now to type this Stadtrundgang, becuase the internet in our apartment sucks. In here, unlike Carlson, you have to pay for every printed page (which kind of sucks). BUT, you never buy textbooks.

Germans, it seems, don't concern themselves with copyrights for textbooks, so we just find the book in the library, and photocopy as much of it as we need. It's a nice $30 substitute for a $200 book.

Europa Park

I REALLY with that Germans were as dependent on the internet as Americans. It's ridiculous how inconsistent it is. My apartment had it for one day before it went out...again. Now I sit on the concrete steps outside the library where we actually have wireless, but writing fast enough to publish the blog before my battery dies. Apparently i'm supposed to be thankful for the internet, becuase in France they practically don't even have it.

Anyway, Saturday we went to Europa Park, as the photo on left shows. This is the largest amusement park in Germany with each ride themed around a different country. You see us in the back row, Mike on left, Alastair in blude, Luis in green, and me (rick) on end in Red.
What an exhausting day of sun, rides, water and wetness, and plenty of walking. On top of that, Saturday night was the semester opening party at the StuSie (a housing complex where almost all my friends live). So as soon as we got back, we got ready to go out--a double whammy.

The other day at the grocery store, I met a friend from Minnesota. Just a common place, I run into Lincoln who informed me that he's been studying there since January.

Other than Europa Park, the week has been relatively calm. Classes on Wednesday for 6 hours (next week will be 8), which were really hard to understand. Thursday spent shopping, plus a wine and cheese party hosted by the International Club, and Friday taking care of library registration. There are SO many rules here just to borrow a stinkin book.

Oh, and I got my Studienbuch back (the equivalent of my Student ID). It came in the mail from the Uni.

Despite Wells Fargo being the 4th largest Financial Depository institution in the United States, it apparently sucks at doing international wires to the largest bank in Europe. I got the worst exchange rate, with a terrible fee (that should have been avoided because of an agreement with Deutsche Bank) and had to spend 20 minutes on the phone (which cost 7 euros to do) just to take care of it. Why can't it be..."this is Rick here, send money to Germany. Thank you good bye" ?

And my European address is
Studentenwohnheim Vauban
Merzhauserstrasse 154 15-00-01
79100 Freiburg
Germany

Until the next adventure finding internet.
Later Days,
Rick

So business in German is not easy.

Today I started classes--the entire reason I came here--and I kind of wish they were easier.
At 8 a.m. I started with Fundamentals of Finance (oder Grundzuege der Finanzwirtschaft). I think the course won't be too much of a problem, I just need to hear what the professor is saying. The course is approx 500 large and 1/2 the people talk the entire way through lecture. (Also, I'm hoping this will take care of my Finance 3001, cross my fingers, but I'll see how that goes)

Following at noon came my Investment course--apparently meant for upper division students. I didn't know that to start. That's why the professor whipped through everything. Although I could hear him this time, I just couldn't understand him. But it's the same professor for all my finance courses, which will be easy in that I need to adjust to really only one teaching style.

Dr. Heil Rehkugler, approx 50, FAST-TALKING, quite professional and prepared, but also very often tosses out jokes. The ones I don't get I just kind of smile and laugh along, so I don't stick out as "THE AMERICAN...". But it's only day one.

Tomorrow theoretically will have 10 hours of class.

• 8:00 a.m. with Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management
• 10:00 a.m. with Practicing the Fundamentals of Finance
• 2:00 p.m. with Social, Economic, and Natural History of Germany from 1945-1980
• 4:00 p.m. with International Trade and Globalization in the European Union
• 6:00 p.m. with Renaissance in Venice

(*note all courses are 2 hours long. But they normally start 15 minutes late, and end up to 1/2 hour early)

Yesterday I lost my Studienbuch, which functioned as my evidence that I'm a student at the Uni-Freiburg. Today, though, I got my uni-card. Deutsche Post (Germany's USPS) lost it in the mail because they sent it on the 10th. Also note that the postage send around Friday or Thursday from the States arrived today, Tuesday.

But the best part about the Uni Card is that I first had to bring a passport photo in to get it. I needed it right away and I'm all out of the ones I brought. So I went to this photography studio just to get a normal pass photo. The photographer lady starts powdering my face, turning on all these lights, and having me almost pose for the shot. I was just thinking I'd stand there with a half-smile and turn that it. But she took multiple shots for the "best photo". What a wierd experience for a passport photo. BUT, it turned out much better than I expected--and totally normal.

Other than that-

-German's knock on the tables at the end of every lecture as applause

-Few feel the need to be silent during a lecture, even during the important parts

- Oh, and I finally got a Cell Phone! From Germany, the number is 015151457590 I think that you have to dial the country code first(, Mom). The country code is 49
I also have a land line in my room, but have no clue what the number is and I need to call the U.S.

That's the long-winded update.

Later Days,
Rick

a mountain in my backyard

It's 12:58 a.m. and I have class at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow (the first day), so I need to get to bed, but the main points of this blog include
(the photo at right is of the worthington stone in Crailsheim in the Schweinmarktplatz indicating the partnership since 1947)

-Sunday was a gorgeous day, so I went on a 6 KM hike up the mountain/hill practically in my back yard. All I did was walk 10 minutes to the base, and then started climbing. Amazing to see how the once-standing castle (Schneeberg) stood on the highest hill perfectly positioned to guard Freiburg against any oncoming offenders.

-I think Germans hate being indoors. Take my apartment for example, it's referred to as a fishbowl because the whole front of it is a glass wall. They always want light. My room is almost too bright (high ceilings, white walls, white cloth, light wood.) Almost. It's still great.

-I lost my Studienbuch in the City, and until I get my Uni-Card I have no way of proving that I'm a student yet. I looked through 3 different stores and since each department has their own cashier, I had to ask a lot of people since nothing was centralized.

-I still hate doing laundry

-Internet finally started working. Just wait though...all good things come to an end.

-Germany needs Target Inc. Every store is so specialized that you can never find what you want.

-I hope Business Week back at Carlson is amazing

-Adam Simonett lives in Germany. And Jon Komp apparently just moved here too. (I saw someone that looked like them) However Adam is 15, speaks German, but still has the same "ramped" bangs. But this Jon hasn't worked out for the past (approx) 64 days straight.

another grillin photo

So the grillin continued, and here we celebrate finally preparing the thing to cook off of. Luis, in the photo, worked so hard on that thing, constantly airing the coals with this one flimsy paper plate. BUT, it worked in the end and our (well, his) grill beat all the others for first to cook and eat.

a grillin experience

the last update being up to Wednesday night, that leaves the rest of the week to cover. My wireless internet in my apartment decided to stop functioning on Thursday, so I sit in an internet cafe trying to type this on a German keyboard.

Thursday was another day of orientation. We learned that if we have questions, we can ask our specific subject advisor. But no one really knows where to find that person, so we´re all still at square 1, well maybe square 2 by now.

But Thursday night was fun because my apartment roommates bought a grill and had a huge group over to enjoy everything grillable. It was hysterical because we moved out 3 couches, 2 grills, a few tables, chairs, a living room lamp, and Christmas lights for the space. I have a photo of it, but that would be stuck on my computer...which doesn´t have internet.

Lo an behold Friday was similar experience--although this time in English. A group of about 30 of us each went out to the grocery store, brought some meat, some drink, and some garnishes and rented 3 grills from the apartment complex. BUT, no one knew how to grill. That meant about 2 hours of trying to light the coals, trying it with lighter fluid, trying it with paper, sticks, reeds from the lake, anything we thought would burn. So we concluded that the coals stunk and finally, the grill I was around got everything started and finished the first load of grillin before the others had put their meat on. We were proud, although it was mostly Luis, a Portugese friend, who got it going.

So that was the "grillin experience". My apartment is doing it again tonight, but we´re all headed to the semester opening event at the Stusie apartments.

Later Days,
Rick.

(photos to come if I can ever get on to my home computer´s internet)

and I finally made friends.

I understand that it's been two days since the last post, so whoops. But the title explains the reasoning. Tuesday we had our first day of orientation to the University, and on the tour around the city, I ended up with all the German studies majors, all of whom speak English.

I'll admit that we all speak English, but I'm the only American in the group so at least I'm always hearing a dialect. Like Zoey, Beck, and Lizzy are from Australia; Jill, Alastair, Cleona, Emma, and Catriona are from Scotland/Ireland, Jenni is from Finland, and I'm from Minnesota. Jill thought I was a Canadian when we first met.

The first day of orientation covered tips and tricks for studying at the Uni plus an introduction from the director of the international office, followed by the tour of the University, tour of the city, and ending with a kneipe tour. (I'll leave that word for you to translate.)

We stayed with that kneipe tour until about midnight, visiting all the cheapest places and trying the local brews. It's unfortunate becuase the last streetcar leaves at 12:30 a.m. And if you miss it, it's either taxi for approx. 10 Euros or walk approx 45 minutes becuase all the student "dorms" are practically city outskirts.

I say "dorms" but it's not. They are 8 in my apartment, each with his or her own room. We just share bathrooms and a kitchen. Although I did hear from a friend that she lives with twelve total and knows of one apartment at 16 people. Yet each room is still huge and is never shared. No "dorm" life for this kid.

Day two was much more useful in that we finally heard about studying at the Uni. The German system is terribly confusing. They are implementing a Bachelors/Masters system such as the U.S., but the old system of Diplom, Magristrum, and Staatsexam are still there. I don't even understand it, so that's why I can't really give an explanation.

The good news from our discussion is that as an International student, I really can take anything I want...at least I hope. The lectures don't have homework, readings, or tests. You don't apply for almost any of your classes. There are also Proseminars, which are more work and smaller groups, but even then application isn't necessary. So with that, I'm solely waiting on the U of M to respond with description of what I need to do to get credit from here. Otherwise I'll be taking my history course (Social, Economic, and Environmental history of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland), my "other humanities" course (Introduction to Musical Analysis), and of course some finance ones for my own enjoyment (Fundamentals of Finance, and Financial analysis and portfolio management! Woo hoo!)

Well, off to the next day of sessions and a 70 degree weather. I hear Minnesota has snow--that's quite unfortunate. But I've got to buy some sunglasses now so I can't worry about 20 degrees fahrenheit when it's 20 degrees celcius here. (just kidding, enjoy it and sled it in) I will admit that while it's warm here now, it's only a sign that it will be hot here later. Until then,

Later Days,
Rick

what I learned in Crailsheim

So the picture in the post before this is of Elena and myself at the fountain decorated with Eater eggs in Crailsheim in front of the Church.





This post contains a photo of Dieter and myself in the same spot.

Aside from learning SO many new German words, thanks to a thousand questions I posed to Dieter, I got some cultural experiences as well.

My two new German words, both which represent a good part of the culture
1) Reinheitsgebot- German purity law for Beer; and
2) Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung- Speed Limit

for #1- they can ONLY use 4 ingredients, the purest water from the deepest wells, hopps, malt, and yeast. Anything else is ILLEGAL. yeah, it's serious stuff here. (Budweiser the sponsor of the FIFA world cup in Germany-ha!)
#2-this doesn't exist on the Autobahn for most places, only where there is high traffic. Otherwise there is no speed limit. With that I learned the next part,

• Dieter drives fast in the "Dietermobile" Since Dieter loves his PT Cruiser so much, we appropriately named it the Dietermobile.
• Germans wash clean cars (They have NO concept of what dirty is. Minnesotans get it. When you can't see your lights at night becuase they're too covered with dirt, when you forget what color car you have, when it's a struggle to see out your windsheild when light hits it...that's dirty. Germans see specks by their tires and drive through the auto wash
• Germans don't have smooth driveways. They must wear out their schocks on their cars so fast because they have raised driveways and often they park on the curb. Not by it, ON it.
• Mountain Dew is not the same in Germany. It does not burn your throat like in America, it's an actual drink. When the heck did this occur. I missed the burning sensation of that first carbonation hitting my tonsils and making me cringe because of the bubbles and the cold. Yeah. That's the stuff.
• German beds are SO easy to make. They have their fitted sheet on bottom then a comforter. Fluff your pillow , straigten the sheet and you're done.
• The window shades are actually useful. It's like a metal plate that rolls down to keep out any and all possible sunlight. Not like american venetian blinds--those suck. With these i feel that I'll be able to sleep in, and survive a nuclear blast.
• I met a 5 year old whose German is better than mine. That was embarrassing.

For Dieter- A Golden Cadillac consists of:

1 oz Galliano

2 oz White Creme de Cacao

1 oz creme

1/2 cup of Ice (or you could substitue the creme and ice for ice cream)

Til tomorrow.

Spaeter Tagen,

Rick

A visit to Crailsheim

So this may be a long one since it's been four days and I do talk a lot...

For Easter and my first weekend in Germany, I rode the train for 3 1/2 hours to Crailsheim. It is the partner city of my hometown, Worthington (MN). Simply put it was amazing. First of all, my host for the weekend, Dieter Kainzinger, the president of the Crailsheim-Worthington committee in Germany had everything planned out (which as you understand is something I can really appreciate). He did SO much and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. When I arrived on Friday I got to help color Easter Eggs (Ostereier), and help bake an Easterlamb. (Dieter actually took care of everything, I just dissolved the color tablets and buttered the pan for the cake in the shape of a lamb). Around dinner we drove to the top of the hill North of Crailsheim to look out over the entire city. Then we went on the Autobahn (by Crailsheim the Autobahn does NOT have a speed limit). That was awesome. Dieter's PT Cruiser can go pretty fast. After dinner, we went through Dieter's photo albums of his trips to America and laughed about all the experiences and exchanged stories of America and Deutschland.

Saturday started early (8:00 a.m. breakfast, uff da...I know, I know...I complain) and we drove to Schillingsfuerst to tour the castle once owned by multiple German Kaisers and current home to a German Aristocrat. Standing high on the hill, we overlooked the entire region and saw the sign for our German lunch--one at Burger King. (even though YUM enterprise is only 1/10 the size of McDonalds corporate, they still have a location by Crailsheim).

Therafter we drove further to Rothenberg--an incredibly historic and incredibly tourist-laden city completely surrounded by the stone wall once used as a barrier. We kind of went shopping--especially in this Christmas store where I really wanted to by a hand-painted glass ornament. It was expensive to start (35 euros), but I figured with Dieter's 20% discount and taking the 19% tax off, it would be a good deal, especially because they ship it out of the country for you and insure it in the meantime. BUT, with shipping the total was almost 62 euros for a glass bulb. Schade (oh schucks).

Sunday was Easter and we had delicious Duck with Kraut and dumplings. Then the afternoon Elena Fernandez, a former exchange student from Crailsheim into Worthington, came to coffee. It was so nice to see her again and hear that she's doing very well. She'll finish school in 1 1/2 weeks when she passes her high-school leaving exams (Abiturs) and then work in business in Crailsheim.

Then today was the last day and we drove to Dinkelsbuehl, approx 18 KM East. Completely original in structure and layout, as it was not destroyed in the wars, it is an authentic and beautiful little city. Surprisingly, the church there is HUGE! (Considering it's catholic, it's actually not that surprising--sorry but I gotta throw in that joke). It was amazing inside. Dieter and I stepped in for 15 minutes to listen to the ceremony (Monday was a holiday in Germany). The music resonated forever in the long and tall church. Everything smelled like inscense and the monotone priest spoke a German prayer that I couldn't understand because it was in German and all sung in one straight consistent line. Totally awesome.

Now I'm back. I start my orientation at the University tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully everything goes well. You'll hear about it.

Until then.

...they'll even let me study.

So I finished the paperwork today and officially enrolled at the Albert-Ludwigs Universitaet Freiburg. I'm not sure how the registration, sheduling, credits, and so forth work, but I'll figure it out soon enough.

Married with Children and Cosby are really not as funny in German as in English

Tomorrow I'm taking the train to Crailsheim, Worthington, MN's German Sister City. I get to spend the weekend there with exchange students and the coordinator of the program from Crailsheim's end--Dieter Kainzinger. I'm not sure if I'll have a computer, so I'll update certainly at least when I return.

Today I found the offices of Ernst & Young, KPMG, & PwC. They are all right next to one another (similar to Minneapolis, but even more so). Yet as I looked, I could not find Deloitte. So my next task is to find a way to make an appointment with the office in order to see the interior and not just the big sign.

Bis bald.

Later Days,
Rick

They're letting me stay here.

Right after that last note when I said I was going to bed, I ended up staying up past midnight talking entirely in German to one of my roommates. After the conversation ended I was surprised to look back and realize that I had gone an entire 2 hours or so of entirely German. I think I'll survive, I'm not close to fluency...but I'm working on the language.

Day number two started as early as the Ernst & Young days in order to arrive at the Citizen's agency before a large line formed--a tip from one of my roommates. The agency lady was very nice and the application part went smoothly. Then I went to step 2 to get a residency permit--turns out only appointments are accepted on Wednesday mornings and I had to wait until 1:30 before meeting with her.

That meant that I should go shopping. I walked down a fantastic European/German cobblestone street named Kaiser Joseph Strasse lined with small shops, bakeries, and various stores. Most surprising was the amount of people of all ages that were out--on a Wednesday none the less.

Finally after lunch I go back to meet with the residency permit lady, and after showing a lot of documents and calculating my monthly income, I can now officially stay in the Federal Republic of Germany until August 21.

So the next step is to register and finally become a student, BUT the office is only open in the mornings. Great. So my adventure continues for tomorrow.

Other notes- it's really wierd getting all my e-mails after midnight. Time difference, it keeps hitting me that it exists

And I keep forgetting that my roommates speak german. One of them reminds me of an American friend, so I found myself a few times assuming she spoke English. Whoops. I'm in a foreign country. Wow. Bis morgen. (until Tomorrow)

Later Days,
Rick

I made it!

So today I arrived in Freiburg. However, first there was the near 9 hour plan ride which allowed for no sleep thanks to the heavy-bladdered family in front of me with two young children, neither of whom wanted to go to sleep until we landed.

This was the start to the day, a night without sleep. Thanks to the beautiful Freiburg weather, I was able to keep up with it because it felt like I should stay awake. But then the stress of transfering to the train stations from the plane, along with the strain of carrying all my bags wore me out quickly. I will say it was an adventure running to the appropriate cart on the train, only to see the doors close right in front of me. Fortunately another train, this one without transfers, came an hour later.

I will say that I'm impressed with the German trains because they're fantastically smooth and quiet. Although on the ride, there were a group of students chatting a few seats up and I thought that they were headed to the same city, to Freiburg. With this thought in my head, I listened to them speak to hear some odd language that I couldn't make anything out of, aside from a word every paragraph. I was terrified this would be the dialect of the region to which I was headed. Nervous the whole time, they don't get off at Freiburg and my fears fade.

After finally arriving in Freiburg, I got to my apartment, met the Hausmeister Herrn Keil who gave me keys to my apartment (or WG), said that I was the one "who sent all those e-mails". Hey, persistence pays off. And I moved in. The room is huge and the apartment is ginormous. That's right it's a word--look it up. There are 8 people that live here, but the space suits it.

Other than that, I'm ready to go to bed, despite it being only 9;30 here and 2:30 for everyone back in the U.S.
Oh and two cultural notes--the pillow cases go on differently--the long way instead of the short way. And the cashier at the grocery store does not like giving you change. If you have exact, do it to avoid her glare.

Bis Spaeter! Tomorrow will be my adventure of registering with the government, the school, and everyone else in Germany.

Later Days,
Rick

A Departure Thank You

To my Friends and Family,

As I sit here, the night before flying out of the country, I want to say thank you for everyone's messages, calls, photos, and other well wishes before leaving everything and daring a new world for almost half of a year. I can say that I will miss seeing everyone, but encourage you to keep in touch. Tell me how your year is going...how your week is going...or how your morning has started. I just want to hear about your life.

I'll do my best to keep posted the German Exploits, and should I forget to keep a constant update feel free to hassle me to do so.

Again, thank you everyone. I love and will miss you all.

Later Days,
Rick