Koblenz

Am Freitag war das Wetter wunderbar und so ich habe Koblenz besucht -- der Stadt wo der Mosel und der Rhein treffen (on friday I went to Koblenz). Die Fahrt nach Koblenz ist wirklich schön. Die Gleise folgen der Rhein von Mainz nach Koblenz und es gibt viel kleinen Berge unterwegs (the tracks follow the Rhein river all the way to Koblenz). Hier sind Fotos von unterwegs:




Als ich Koblenz angekommen bin, habe ich ein Bus nach den Altstadt genommen. Es gibt viel da zu sehen (I went to the old part of Koblenz). Hier ist die Liebfrauenkirche:


Und das innerhalb von die Kirche:

Und ein Platz neben die Kirche:

Hier ist die Florinskirche:

Und hier ist Jesuitenplatz und Josef-Görresplatz:



Die Basilika St. Kastor:


Und natürlich hier ist der Ehrenbreitstein:


Leider bin ich nicht oben gegangen. Es sieht ein bisschen zu schwer für mich aus -- i.e. zu viele Treppen und so weite (I didn't actually go up onto the fortress because it looked to difficult for me with all the steps and hills).

Und schließlich heir ist die große Statue neben das Deutsches Eck -- der Platz wo der Rhein und Mosel treffen.

The statue is supposed to declare that this area belongs to germany and not to France. This part of germany was part of France under the reign of Napolean and passed back and forth many times over the decades that followed. When germany had finally successfully reclaimed Koblenz they erected this statue. However, the original statue was destroyed by american troops just after World War II ended. Apparently a gun ship was passing by when troops opened fire on it. It wasn't replaced until just15 years ago.

Nächste Woche werde ich vielleicht Trier (der Geburtsort der Karl Marx) oder Marburg besuchen. Ich habe auch Bingen bemerkt als ich unterwegs nach Koblenz war und Bingen sieht sehenswert aus. Ich möchte auch da reisen. Auf jeden Fall werde ich irgendwo bald reisen.

Bis dann!

Worms

Am dienstag bin ich nach Worms gegangen (strange name for a city but keep in mind it's pronounced vorms). Worms ist in die nähe von Mainz und mit meinem Studenticket kann ich da kostenlos reisen (as a student I can travel for free in the area around Mainz). Ich werde ein andere Stadt jeden Woche besuchen. Auf jeden fall, in Worms gibt es ein grosse Dome (cathedral). Hier sind manche Fotos:









Neben die Dome gibt es ein sehr schön Garten (garden):



Ich war da nur für drei stunden aber ich glaube ich habe fast alles gesehen (I was only there for three hours but it was enough). Worms ist nicht so groß. Es gab auch ein groß Marktplatz und einen schönen Stadtpark. Ich glaube die Statue inmittel des Denkmal ist Martin Luther:


Solange es gut Wetter gibt, werde ich Koblenz am Freitag besuchen (I'm going to check out Koblenz on friday). Bis dann!

BBQ

I apologize for my lack of posts lately. But the truth is I haven't had much to report. I'm trying to make sure my money will last through the summer and so I haven't done any traveling in awhile. I have been intending to go to a couple of nearby places though like Marburg, Koblenz, and Stuttgart but every time I've had a free day it was either raining or a bit chilly. It seems like we completely skipped spring and went right into summer. The last few days have been sunny and warm. In fact I'm sitting outside right now enjoying it thanks to the fact that the whole campus is wireless. Anyway, I will for sure make it to at least one of those places next week for sure. In other news I just bought my plane ticket home and it wasn't cheap. I've been searching for the past couple of weeks and the prices just keep going up so finally I had to just jump on the best deal I could find. I wanted to fly home on the first of August but the only day available for the fare was the 4th... oh well. As far as classes go, I'm taking an Existentialism seminar with a friend of mine and I can't believe how much I'm able to understand -- probably about 85% which is much much more than the philosophy lectures last semester. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the professor explains things so clearly and doesn't use bigger words than he has to... also he speaks much slower than some of the other professors. Right now we're studying Heidegger as sort of an introduction to Sartre and I'm enjoying (maybe 'trying' is a better word) reading Heidegger in german. There's also a Schopenhauer seminar but I'm less familiar with him so it's harder to understand everything. As far as my german class goes I have to say I'm a little frustrated. This semester is much more basic than last semester and it feels like a waste of time. The problem is that our teacher last semester really pushed us hard and this semester we have a different teacher and there's many new foreign students, many of which haven't had as much german as the rest of us. I think the problem is the placement test they give you when you arrive. It's frustrating because there's a few students in our class that clearly belong at a lower level. But as a result we've been reviewing really basic things. Today for instance we spent most of the day talking about modal verbs which is like german 101 when I feel like we should be working on Konjunctiv II, which is difficult but important. The other three remaining students from last semester and I looked at each other like "what the hell is this?" We're all thinking about trying to switch to one of the upper level sections.

I've still been having a lot of fun with friends too and it's kind of sad because today I realized that I've met so many cool people and after August I will probably never see them again. A little while ago Nina, Gabrijela and I went to this cool restaurant/bar called "Heiliggeist" (holy spirit) which is actually an old church... very cool. We had tried to go there before but it was full. Here's a picture of us.

And some of my other friends and I had a BBQ last tuesday. We're going to try and do it every week. The only problem is we'll have to find a new location. The place where we had it -- a nice grassy area with a small pond next to the Chemistry building -- has been fenced off so they can begin expanding the building. Everyone's mad about it because it was such a nice place to relax. We had a great time though and we played guitar and sang. It got darker faster than I expected so I was only able to get a couple pictures. I'll try and take more next time.
Here's Dennis and Nadine (left) and Jonas and Laura (right).

And here's Dennis, Jonas, Laura, and Aldil

Tomorrow I'm going to a Frankfurt Galaxy football game and it should be fun. Frankfurt is one of the best teams right now. I've also heard that there's a professional baseball league in germany and Mainz is the best team. A friend of mine went to one of the games and he told me it was hilarious because none of the fans (usually only about 50 or so) understand exactly how the game is played... and sometimes the players. He said there's an error every other play which makes it really unpredictable and fun to watch. Maybe I'll go.

Tsüsch! Bis bald.