Ich bin Leipziger

It is amazing how fast time can travel. It feels like a day, rather than a full week since we returned from Berlin. This past week has been, more than anything else, a time to integrate ourselves fully with our new home city.

This week we really got into the routine of what our weekly schedule would be like. Classes in the morning, with time for homework and exploring in the afternoon. Taking the trams is becoming second nature now, and going to the store so we can actually have food to eat is as fun as it is necessary. 

We were also doing plenty of visits to volunteer locations this week. A portion of our grade in the German culture class is going to be our volunteer hours during the semester. The possibilities from volunteer range from a youth center, to a science museum, to the salvation army, to a community garden, with plenty more. These opportunities give us the opportunity to become more connected with the city, than if we were just students.

Bubble Experiment in Science Museum

On Tuesday, my friend Reuben and I took a trip to Leipzig's city hall, the Neues Rathaus. The Neues Rathaus was constructed between 1899 and 1905 under the motto "A New Castle Arises". It fits this motto perfectly, as it feels like we stepped back in time to a real castle. The exterior structure, inner decorations, and the labyrinth-like design makes the whole building feel ancient and mysterious. After our time in city hall, we went to join our friends at the university library where some of us were able to get library cards. This gave us access to the entire city's library system which includes roughly 15 libraries and more than 5 million books.

Neues Rathaus

Interior or Neues Rathaus

Grand Staircase

A sea of bikes outside of the university library

On Friday we took a group trip to the symphony. We heard Leipzig's orchestra which is the first publicly funded orchestra in the world. There was a guest percussionist that played with the orchestra. He was without a doubt the most impressive percussionist I have ever heard, and he left my ears filled with the sounds of his rhythm after he was done. The applause for him went on for a literal 5 minutes after he finished playing. The auditorium was filled to the brim, as out of the roughly 2,000 seats, I found 8 that were empty.

Orchestra house

On Saturday morning, Reuben and I took the number 1 tram to the end nearest to us outside of the city. Riding at first, we got to see much of the beautiful architecture we are used to seeing inside of the town; however, the further we left the city, the more classic "communist architecture"  we found. Seeing these two styles compete for dominance was an interesting example of the recent past of Germany that seems so incredibly old to us.

This past week was a fantastic one filled with new and old pieces of Leipzig that were all good to see. This upcoming weekend will be our first weekend trip that we will take, and we are all excited for that. Hopefully we will get to see what will impact us the most on this next weekend, to give us a greater understanding of Germany.

German countryside

The Center of Europe

We've done it! We've survived another week in Germany, and boy has it been a great one. I figure the best way to work is chronologically, so I'll start where we left off on Sunday. Added note, sorry for the delayed post. I had no way to post on Saturday when in Berlin. From now on I will be updating on Sunday to avoid this problem in the future. I also changed the font from Times New Roman due to Nevan's complaining, so you're all welcome for that.

On Sunday morning our group went to the English church in Leipzig, and we had a great time getting to meet other Christians that we could talk with. There were violins, beautiful voices, and a delicious potluck afterward. It began to snow on Sunday, and it has been ever since, leaving beautiful scenes like these.

Snowy night

A Church near our flats

On Monday we had our first visit to the German language school where we will be taking six hours of German language credit. The teachers are wonderful, though the class can be quite hectic. There are seven students to a class, and the German teachers are native speakers. However, the twist that nobody expected is that the class is entirely spoken in German. The teachers will speak, explain, and respond only in German. This causes plenty of confused faces and questions, but I have no doubt that the instructors know what they are doing. The view outside of the school is amazing, at least.

View out of our school

We had two of our other classes on Tuesday: German culture and ACU's Core. We also got to visit the U.S. consulate on Tuesday. We were greeted with a warm American welcome by angry security guards, an ear splitting metal detector, and a long speech on culture in a hot room. The people inside were nice, and it was more time that we were able to spend with our German mentors, who we have found to be awesome people.

Students and Mentors at U.S. Consulate

Wednesday and Thursday passed with all sorts of exciting trips to the Hauptbaunhof, wanderings around the city, and meals spent with our friends. The city is complex in the way that it feels. While you live so incredibly close to the Leipzigers around you, you never spend time in exchanging small talk with them. The city is safe with dogs off of their leashes and children walking unaccompanied, but there are also slides that dive straight off in front of a frozen river. Most of all, it is a pleasant place to spend quiet time without feeling lonely. 

Fantastic dinner of grilled cheese and grapes

The metal slide that aims at the frozen river below

On Friday we left as the sun rose to go to Germany's capitol, Berlin. The train ride was an excellent combination of calm and crazy, but it was far easier than any kind of car or plane. Upon arrival we checked into our hostel before we turned right back around to go into the city to begin our walking tour. However, on the walk I saw the perfect scarf, and was able to take a brief detour to get it. On the tour we visited multiple sights across East Berlin that were historical, and stunning. Old churches, a memorial for victims of war and tyranny, the location of the book burnings, checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, and Brandenburg gate to name a few. It lasted over four hours, but our tour guide, Jaime, kept us interested the entire time, even though we were all freezing our buns off.

Animation of our approaching train

The Berlin Wall

A Fabulous Scarf

Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin Cathedral Church

Location of the Nazi book burning

Memorial to War and Tyranny victims

Brandenburg Gate

On Saturday, we had free travel and decided to go visit Parliament followed by Museum Island. The dome above Parliament was closed due to weather conditions, but the view was gorgeous nonetheless. We spent the rest of the day exploring three of the five museums on the island. We explored the Greco-Roman museum, the Egyptian and history museum, and the National Gallery of Germany. Spending six hours among ancient artifacts that are worth more than you will make in your entire life is exhausting, but we observed famous items. Hundreds of statues, the head of Nefertiti, original fragments of the book of Acts, John, Exodus, and Isaiah. The National Gallery was just as much as a work of art as everything hanging inside of it, which gave the feel of an old and powerful building.

Statue

Greek pots depicting Hercules

National Gallery

Art from National Gallery

Parliament

The Book of the Dead

Sarcophagus

On Sunday we visited the Topography of Terror Memorial which is the memorial for the German SS, Gestapo, and Berlin Wall. We finished the visit by going to the Holocaust memorial and museum in central Berlin.

Inside the Holocaust Memorial

Outside the Memorial

Now we're back safe in Leipzig, excited to be home, excited to explore more, and excited to get blissfully lost. 

-Tad Kile

22 Hours

Who doesn't like 22 hours of travel?

Hello to anybody of the roughly 3.5 people I expect to read this! Congrats to myself for actually clicking the publish button this time, and congrats to you for finding it. As easy as this interface should be, I find it much more difficult than I thought it would be. If you don't know, I am Tad Kile, and this will be the blog that I update with my travel stories while I spend time in Leipzig, Germany for the Spring 2016 semester. This is an exciting adventure, and I thank you for sharing it with me.

We left Abilene around ten on a Wednesday morning on a coach bus for Dallas, and though there were smiles on everyone's faces, the smiles would not last forever. I was graced on our nine hour flight to Frankfurt with sleep, though when we arrived in Frankfurt, we had an hour long struggle with getting our boarding passes. I had to chug a liter of water for the second time that day (how does a person forget twice?), and the airport felt domineering. However, things began to turn around on the short flight to Berlin.

The view was remarkable. Cozy hamlets sprawled the countryside, mixed with dense trees, agricultural plots, and green energy. It was beautiful and eye-catching, and I couldn't help but wonder how many hundreds of years they spend building the spread out farming land into tight community based cities.

View from the plane

Masterful artistic rendering

                                            

The Trees between Berlin and Leipzig were beautiful and tall. When we arrived to our lofts, we were amazed at their loftiness. Two fully furnished floors with a spiral staircase. We walked through the town that night, though many of us were practically walking while asleep. Our neighborhood is cozy, and there is a bakery just down the street. We slept, easily having just traveled 22 hours, wondering what dreams jet-lag would bring us. 

The next day was spent traveling to the city center. We saw the St. Nicholas Church where the prayers for peace occurred when the Berlin wall was up. We visited Thomas Church where Bach is buried. We visited the University of Leipzig, and the new and old city halls. Finally we visited the HaputBahnhof (Main train station) and decided to have lunch, as it is just like a mall. I had a massive culture shock when I used the restroom and had to pay 1 Euro. The restroom was clean, but also not free. We then went to a coffee and cake party put on by the welcoming committee. The welcoming committee was amazing, kind, and we got to meet our German mentors.   

University of Leipzig

MDR tower

 

Bach's Grave

Today we walked around town with our mentors, and generally had a great time exploring the city. There was a bratwurst cooking festival that was occurring in the city center. There were around a hundred entrants in funny costumes, and each entrant got a free case of beer. The line to sign up was extensive.

Art in the city center.

This is getting extensive, so I'm going to finish and publish so I can go eat dinner. I'm having a fabulous time here, and we are expecting snow tonight! Thank all 3.5 of you reading for caring.

-Tad Kile