Back in Minnesota

Almost one week ago I made the journey back to Minnesota, completing this semester-long adventure in Europe. The closing weeks and days in Freiburg were a lot of fun, but sad too. The weather was beautiful and conducive to outdoor activities such as grilling and playing soccer.

At the end of our academic semester in our program, we held a model European Union summit where each student represented some minister, dignitary or official. I was an EU commissioner. The summit was a lot of fun, and afterwards, IES took us out to eat at the restaurant where the next picture was taken. 
A few days later, after all of our finals were done, IES hosted a bar-b-que at the center where all the students could come together one last time to spend time together. Below is a picture of my german classmates and teacher (third from the left). Our german class met the most often of any class (not including field trips) and so we all got to know each other pretty well.
The next two pictures were taken at my going away party that we held inside my flat's kitchen. The first picture is of all of my roommates and me (from left to right: Alex, Me, Christoph, Benni, and Monti) . I'm holding a poster they made for me that has some memories from throughout the semester and also some cartoon representations of each of us. I really lucked out with these roommates. No one else that I talked to in my program spent as much time together with their roommates hanging out and having fun as I did. 

This picture was another taken from the party. On the right is Konstantin, who studied at my high school back in 11th grade. He is originally from Bonn where I've visited him before, but we lucked out and he now studies molecular biology in Freiburg! It was great being able to hang out with him some more and I hope he is able to make it back to the US to visit again.
I'm not good with grand conclusions, so I'll keep it short. I am now faced with a new challenge. I have to integrate this once in a lifetime experience into my life back in the US. I'm still thinking back over what I experienced and I find it almost surreal. Did that really happen? We'll see how the summer goes and my last year as an undergraduate. The plans after that are not certain and will hopefully come into focus soon. 

London, England

Once again, I am squeezed for time today, but I wanted to catch up a bit on the blog, since I didn't finish my last trip (France and England). So much is flying by in these last remaining days in Europe. But first, the second leg of my "study days" trip ;) From Bayeux in Normandy, France, I took a train back to Paris, where I transfered to a train that would take me to London. A train? But there's a body of water in the way! That's why they built the Chunnel, under the English Channel. After only two hours or so, I arrived in London, hopping off the train and emerged onto the streets of London to see the famous King's Cross Station (mostly famous from Harry Potter) next door to me. 

I once again lucked out with the weather on this trip, and I wanted to get as many pictures as possible before the clouds and rain that London is famous for rolled in. Most of these pictures should be familiar, but that's Big Ben attached to Parliament pictured below.
The day after I arrived, I did a hop on/hop off tour through the famous sights of London. That was great since I didn't have much time in London (and there is far to much to see) and I wanted to get pictures of as much as possible. I did manage to get into one museum, the Central Bank of England. Wooo! Exciting, right?! Well it was one of the few free places. Getting into West Minster Abbey would have set me back around $35... Seeing these sights was especially interesting and fun since so much history has taken place in London and they speak English, which was not easy to come by in the other countries.
After the city tour, I rushed back to my hotel, and booked it down to the borough known as Chelsea in greater London, for a semi final match of the European's Champions League, which by luck was actually taking place right there where I was. I didn't have tickets, but I was right outside when the game began, and then headed to a pub filled with fanatic supporters of Chelsea Football Club (Chelsea FC). The night before, another London team, Arsenal, played in London too, but I stayed near my hotel and found a pub nearby. 
Without a doubt, the pub in Chelsea was way more fun. It would have been neat to see a win for Chelsea, but what happened was also interesting. In added time at the end of the game, Barcelona took their first accurate shot of the entire game and it went in. The shock was made worse by the fact that the refs blew four obvious calls within the box for Chelsea that would have made the game at least 3-0 instead of 1-1. Overall though, amazing experience, seeing football in the heart of a top-English team's home.

Next up: Relaxing on the beach in Alicante, Spain! But I have to go now, so until then.

Normandy, France

Haha, so I completely forgot that I hadn't put up any pictures from Omaha Beach. These were taken from the very beachhead that US soldiers struggled up on June 6th, 1944, beginning the end of Hitler's domination. I saw Pointe du Hoc, where the Rangers scaled the cliffs, Omaha Beach, where the Americans suffered the heaviest losses of D-Day, the German heavy gun bunkers near Juno beach, and the US military memorial/cemetery. In the interest of saving time and the fact that many of these speak for themselves, I will cut off my commentary here.

London and the Last Days

5 hours from now, I will be checking out of my apartment. These past few days have truly been bitter-sweet. Before I get to checking out and beginning the end of my time in Freiburg, I have to recount the time I spent in London, England.

After being in Normandy, France, I took the Chunnel under the English Channel to London. Other than the expensiveness of London, I had a blast. I negotiated for hotels, saw the sights, and took the little time that I had to experience as much English culture as I could. What was perhaps most interesting, was being able to go to a pub in England for not just one, but two UEFA Champions League games (where the top club teams of Europe compete). The first, Arsenal against Manchester United (at Arsenal which is in London :) was a bit of a blowout and not too interesting. However, the second game was at Chelsea and I was able to be just outside the stadium for the beginning of the game. After the first whistle I went to a nearby pub (which was packed) to watch what was happening less than a kilometer away.
Chelsea ended up losing in extra time, which was bogus, if you ask me, but I was with Chelsea fans, so that may influence me ;) Another of the highlights from the trip was the hop on hop off tour of London's most famous sights. I was able to listen to a running commentary about the main historic places London, which was perfect since I didn't have much time (only 1 1/2 days) to see as much as I could. To finish, I saw King's Cross station which, if you've read Harry Potter) know that platform 9 and 3/4 is located there. In other words, this summer with the new movie, I will be able to say I was there! Incredible. The two pics I have here don't illustrate how nice the weather was when I was there, but the hop on hop off tour I did had mostly sunny weather, which is unlikely for London. Overall, an incredibly historical trip that I learned a lot from; and not just historically.
I hope to blog at least once more, but today as I write, many of my closest friends have checked out and headed their separate ways. We had a final BBQ at our program's building which was wonderful but also very sad, because we all realized that our time together was almost gone. We have experience sooooo much, and it will be nearly impossible to be able to explain this experience to anyone, capturing what it has meant to me personally. I can't believe that it is over, and that I will soon be coming back to the US. I have made friendships that I think will last for many years, not just in IES but with my roommates too, which have been an incredible blessing to me too.
Before closing, I want to mention the man pictured above with me and my friend Alex (on the right). Thomas Bauer has been a fun person to talk to, especially about FC Bayern, whom Alex, Thomas and I share a passion for. Together with help from some others, Thomas arranged an IES-wide soccer game where the teachers and staff put together a team against each of three dorms (we intermingled, but it was basically dorm against dorm against dorm against faculty). My team won one, tied one, and lost one (against the faculty :( but it was a blast.

I have to go, but I want to re-emphasize, how sad it is to have to be concluding my time here. This is the last blog I will write from my apartment room. The next will come from either a roommate's room, where I will stay until my flight home, or from Alicante, Spain, where I will be relaxing for a few days before returning to Freiburg and then the US.

Blogging in Bayeux

Sorry for the break in writing, it's been a very hectic week. I had numerous papers due, and on Friday and Saturday, our program ran our model European Union summit (in which I was the EU commissioner for internal and external relations) which ran from 10-6 each day. The papers were not fun but the summit was. Although stressful at times, I felt as if our model EU summit encountered many of the same difficulties that the real prime and foreign ministers would encounter.

Today I am writing while sitting along a little river in the area of Normandy, France (see picture above). The town is called Bayeux and is about 15-20 kilometers from Omaha Beach, where the D-Day assault encountered the strongest resistance. I just booked a ticket for a bus ride to Omaha Beach as well as Pointe du Hoc and the German artillery installments at Longue sur Mer.

The adventure getting here was exciting but also a little stressful. I may write about that more later, but ask me if you are interested.

Tomorrow morning I leave here and take the train back to Paris, where I'll immediately transfer and take the Chunnel to London, where I spend another 48 hours or so before going back to Freiburg. This trip would have been cheaper if I would have cut out the trip to Normandy, but missing the opportunity to see the places that the Allies landed and parachuted into was something I could not do.

I must go now and see an apparently world-famous tapestry that is here in Bayeux before I leave for the beaches. I'll blog again when I am not so rushed and am back in Freiburg. I promise I'll have better pictures. Before I go a reality check for me: Three weeks left in Europe... Wow.

Miscellaneous

This has not happened in a while, but I haven't been on any major trips since my last blog. However I have been slacking in the blogging department, so today I am catching up on a couple of smaller trips that I made the weekend before Easter weekend.

On Friday, April 3rd, the two economic classes in our program took a bus (early) up to Frankfurt, the seat of the European Central Bank. What the Fed does in America, the ECB does (for the most part) in Europe for all the states that use the Euro for their currency. Both speakers that we listened to frequently repeated two major differences between the Fed and the ECB. After WWII the Germans went through a terrible period of hyper inflation, permanently engraining in the politicians' minds the above-all goal of controlling inflation (the Fed targets inflation, GDP growth and unemployment; it sounds nice but is near impossible to control all three). The second difference is the independence of the ECB from politicians. The Fed works with politicians, coordinating and advising. The ECB was founded on the belief (taken from the distrust of politicians when it comes to money and the incentives to spend it) that monetary policy and politics should not intermingle. Recent examples throughout the world illustrate how it can be too tempting for politicians if the central bank is under their control.
After the visit to the Central Bank of Europe, I separated from the group and took a train north to Bonn, Germany to visit Konstantin Richter and his family. Konstantin studied in the US with me at my high school in Rochester and two years ago Dominick (another friend from high school) and I visited him in Bonn on our trip to Germany. It's crazy but Konstantin also studies in Freiburg, so I've met up with him a few times already, but it had been awhile since I'd seen his family. On this trip Konstantin and I made the rounds of the old governmental buildings of Bonn where the West German government was located for about four decades before returning to Berlin after the reunification. It was interesting to note how many headquarters for German firms are in Bonn, partly because the government was here, but also partly because it would have devastated the city of Bonn to lose the seat of government without any new businesses coming to fill the void. 
On Sunday I went with the family (not pictured is Konstantin's sister, Theresa) to their church (the first half of the service was in a building over 1000 years old!) for Palm Sunday services. This was especially meaningful because I have now been to Palm Sunday services in the Crystal Cathedral and in Europe. Afterwards I picked up a train back to Freiburg. The weather the whole weekend was perfect. On Friday we were able to eat outside and on Saturday Konstantin, Theresa and I went to one of their friend's house for a bar-b-que. 
Lastly, I wanted to show you all a picture of our building in Freiburg. This is where I have all my classes. Originally built by a wealthy French wine-making family, it served as their residence for 200 years or so before being given to a French organization in Freiburg to use as an institute. IES bought it from them 3 years ago and had it modernized and renovated. Very nice! One evening, when we hosted teachers from the US, IES opened some wine from the family who used to own the house. So much history for one building! 

Long blog, sorry, but now I must go buy groceries for tomorrow night. The roommates and I are making burritos :) 

Youtube Skydiving Link

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Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHBBaVDTxvA&feature=related

This picture was outside our window at the hostel in Interlaken. The hostel was called "Funny Farm". Strange name, but I had no complaints.

Easter Weekend Trip to Interlaken, Switzerland

What an Easter Weekend!! A couple friends and I decided that we would go to Interlaken, Switzerland for Easter Weekend this year. I'll get straight to the point. Our main mission and reason for this trip was to go skydiving in the Swiss Alps! That's correct. Throwing ourselves at the earth from a perfectly good airplane :)



We could not all fit in the plane at the same time, so Hannah and Adair went first while I stayed at the drop zone to watch them come in. That was a lot of time to ponder what I was about to do. Adair and Hannah's jump went just fine. They came back so excited. Now it was my turn! The guy in the picture above was my tandem partner, meaning that we were strapped in together for obvious safety reasons.This picture above is the view from right around 3800 meters. My jump would be up at 4300 or so, which means over 14,000 feet from ground level! The weather that day was unbelievably perfect. I couldn't have scripted something better. The sun was completely out, the Alps were not shrouded in haze or clouds, it was incredible.This picture does not need much for an explanation. We had around 35 seconds of free fall, in which time everything happened so fast, it's just a blur. But that's exactly why I have a video of it all!! It should be on youtube soon, but if not, I have a DVD :)

After the parachute deployed, it was about 3-4 minutes until we landed. What a BLAST!! I certainly will not forget this for some time. Oh, and did I mention that no one knew I was doing this?? Not my parents, friends, no one but the people here in Freiburg! I'm a little proud that I kept it under wraps. Now that it is over, I can announce it to all, since I am back safely in my apartment in Freiburg.The rest of the weekend was amazing too. Our weather held the next day (Saturday) too. We hiked for 5 1/2 hours along lake Thunersee next to Interlaken. Soooo beautiful. Sunday (Easter) we went to a church service spoken in Swiss German (incredibly hard to understand, even for Germans!). But it was good. After that Hannah and Adair headed back to Freiburg, but I stayed and hiked 500 meters up a nearby small mountain. The views in this city are spectacular and I hope to post some more pics. Alas, my time is short, I have an Easter Skype call with my parents coming up right now and they still don't know what I've been up to...

Happy Easter!

Paris, France

Paris, the final stop of our last major trip on this study abroad adventure. This reality was hitting home to all of us as we were here. It's unbelievable how fast the time here has gone. But what a way to end it! Paris, France! Our meetings here were with the International Energy Agency as well as the French Foreign Ministry. Both meetings were interesting, as we had not had much exposure to either organization although both are very important in the world.

The sightseeing in Paris was of course amazing. Above is a picture of the Louvre, where some of the world's most famous pieces are kept, such as the Mona Lisa and statue of Venus. What struck me most about not only the Louvre, but the Eiffel Tower too was how large they were. The Eiffel Tower is so famous, that nearly every has a picture in their minds about how big it is, but when I got there and looked up at it, it truly was marvelous to see how tall and impressive it is in person. With the Louvre, it's only an art museum, right? Well don't tell the French. This museum would take days (plural) to get through, if one was to even go slowly through it. It's unbelievable. The best part though was that on Fridays after 6pm, students get in free. A couple of friends and I went there to mostly see the famous works, so two hours was definitely enough. Anything past that and we felt guilty that we couldn't appreciate the artwork for how good it truly is.

On Saturday, we ended up having the entire day to ourselves (no meetings!!) and were able to explore the city to our hearts' desires. A bunch of us headed to Versailles, the famous palace outside of Paris about 30 minutes or so. Also unbelievably large and ornate. After that, I came back and went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then headed to Notre Dame and walked back to the hotel. That night, IES paid for a farewell dinner for us in honor of a good trip. The food was amazing. At the end, our "family" members (the close group of us that have hung out since the beginning) shared our favorite aspects of the trips that we've taken together. For me, I was happiest that I met the people that I did and that we had so much fun together over these past few months. It was really a bitter-sweet moment. But overall, what a fun bunch of trips! Now we begin to wind down and prepare for our final papers and tests as well as our model EU summit at the end of April.

I want to wish everyone who reads this a Happy Easter. I miss you all and I hope that everything is going well. Spring has definitely arrived in Freiburg, and I hope it makes its way to you as well. Ciao for now!

Luxembourg and Brussels, Belgium

Our last major trip coordinated by IES; this one to Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris. On this trip we would see firsthand the institutions that we have been studying in our European Union courses. Before we arrived at our first meeting in Luxembourg, we stopped at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, where many soldiers who gave their lives during World War II are buried. Although somber, it was good to remember and honor those who died to give Europe and the World the freedom we enjoy today; the same freedom that led to the development of the EU.


From St. Avold (the city near the memorial) we traveled into Luxembourg. Luxembourg as both a country and city are small. The city has only 77,000 residents or so but has one of the highest GDP's per capita in all of Europe and the world. Our meeting here was with the European Court of Justice or ECJ. It's easiest to think of this body as Europe's supreme court, making final judgements on whether countries have upheld treaties and interpreting the regulations and laws of the EU. The picture below is of the ECJ's new courtroom which has not yet opened. We were the first IES group to visit it :)
From Luxembourg (all in one day) we travelled to Brussels, Belgium, the first major stop on this trip. Brussels is the heart of the European Union in terms of bodies and institutions. Most business of the EU is done here. Brussels was unique for me in that in most cities, I am able to orient myself and have a good idea of where I am and where I need to go, but not here. Brussels is beautiful, but I could not find my way. However I was happy none-the-less because of the delicious chocolate covered Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate in general, and Brussels Mussels (a specialty of Brussels). Plus, Brussels is home to the Guinness world record for the most beers available in one establishment (2000+!!).
On a more professional note, our meetings were informative and interesting (for the most part ;) My favorite was the controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) meeting. CAP is a subsidization program that has been in place since the formation of the European Community in the 1950's, designed to promote agricultural independence and rural prosperity in post-war Europe. It's controversial today because many nations accuse Europe of spending billions to favor less efficient farmers in Europe when farmers in the developing world could supply Europe more efficiently and cheaply. The point I thought was most provoking and stimulating was our speaker's mention that many Europeans see spending on CAP to be investing in keeping the countryside beautiful and in a condition similar to what everyone loves and remembers (especially important to British citizens, as our speaker could speak to first hand). Keeping the countryside as farmland is a cost that many seem willing to pay. The other speakers also were informative, but not as interesting as the CAP talk.This picture above deserves special mention. The artwork seen above our group has been the most controversial piece ever to hang in the EU's main building. It depicts each member of the EU in a less-than-flattering manner. England (being seen as ever skeptical of the EU) is missing entirely, symbolizing their aloofness. Romania is depicted by a cave with a vampire and bats. And Bulgaria (this one was covered with a black cloth because it was too controversial) was depicted by a Turkish toilet. This was especially nasty because the Bulgarians have struggled for centuries against Turkish influence, and to be shown as a Turkish toilet was unacceptable. Not all symbols were so terrible. Italy was a big soccer field and Germany made of autobahns, but overall very controversial. Why was it kept? The Czech's (who are holding the EU presidency right now) paid for it and decided that although it was less-than-desirable, the countries could do well to be able to laugh a little at themselves and not be so serious. I'll let you decide.

There were many things to do and see in Brussels and it was beautiful. The weather didn't cooperate entirely, but overall ok. The center of the European Union lived up to expectations.

I apologize for any mistakes in spelling/grammar. I am watching the German national soccer team play in Wales as a work. Hopefully this multitasking works...

Additional Thoughts

Haha, I felt bad for talking about how beautiful the view was from the top of that hill near Olympic Park and then not having any pictures to show you all. So here are two from the top of the hill and the third is at BMW World which is right across the street from Olympic Park.
I also wanted to mention another "cultural" experience of the last week. It was St. Patrick's day this past Tuesday, and as I was in Europe, I had to venture out to see how they celebrate here. I didn't bring my camera, but it was a blast. They had a couple Irish bands playing typical & traditional Irish music while we drank Guinness draft (delicious). It was also my first time drinking a green beer (it tasted the same, but had to be done as it was St. Patrick's day).

Delving Deeper into German Culture

The past three days have been extremely busy, but also very rewarding and fun. Thursday I had one midterm and one German test and that night I prepared a presentation about Minnesota for a class of fifteen twelfth-graders at a local Gymnasium (high school for students heading to college). Friday I went to the school (Droste-Hülshoff Gymnasium) in a small village (pictured above) in the northeastern section of Freiburg. It was interesting and fun to inform 17-18 year old German students about a state that they probably had not given much if any thought to. Hearing their questions about politics, culture comparisons and beliefs about the US was also interesting. We also exchanged vacation hotspots in the US for some good ones in Germany.

Friday afternoon, one of my friends from the program organized a small group to play soccer. We went to a place nearby that wasn't the nicest field, but we weren't the best players either. Not long after we started, neighborhood kids (many of whom came from immigrant families) came up to field and asked to join our game. Some of the kids were only 10-12 but they were determined and played pretty well. Many of the students (from the US) were able to talk to the kids as we played. It was fun to hear their questions about the US; mostly questions about hip-hop, movies, tv shows and California, but fun none-the-less. They didn't know much English, so we were able to practice a lot of German. I really enjoyed this. Saturday I woke up at 5 am to catch a train to Munich! The main goal was to go to an FC Bayern game. And we did. The above picture was taken at half-time. FC Bayer played Karlsruhe SC, a team they were supposed to beat and did! The stadium and atmosphere were unbelievable. I have wanted to do this ever since I came to Munich 3 years ago. I loved it. Afterwards, one of my friends from IES met up with us and brought his friend who lives in Munich, Max. Max pointed out a great Bavarian restaurant (where it was so busy that our group split and had to sit next to other people, who I was able to chat with in German :) and afterwards, led us to a beer garten similar to Hofbrauhaus but lesser known and bigger :) The Paulaner Beer Garten is located near their brewery and when we came, they were having a big festival (see pic below). Most people were dressed in typical Bavarian clothes and were standing on the table-benches drinking beer by the "Maß" (one liter mugs). They had live music (which wasn't Bavarian but was still cool). We had a beer there and then headed off into the night. I ended up heading to the hostel that a couple other friends from our program were already at.
Sunday morning, my roommates woke up at 5:30 so that they could take a Bulgarian friend of theirs to the airport. I woke up too and stayed up. I ate breakfast, checked out and then headed off into Munich for some alone sightseeing. The weather was a little chilly, but over all beautiful. Our hostel was located about a mile south of Olympic Park where the 1972 Olympics were held. As I walked there, I found a park with some large hills (the largest in Munich, apparently) which I climbed and discovered one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen in Munich. I had a wonderful panorma of peaceful, Sunday morning Munich (sorry no pics on the blog, I had try to not make these too long). So I walked around and also over to BMW's headquarters and then headed back towards downtown in the Underground subway. Little did I know that my friends were trying to reach me while I was in the subway, trying to tell me that they bumped up our meeting time at the trainstation to go to Neuschwanstein (the fairly tale castle that Disney modeled theirs after). When I got the message it was too late, but I didn't mind too much, since I've been there before in beauftiful weather and now was able to head back to Freiburg earlier and prepare for our next official program trip to Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris. Overall, I am sooo glad we did this trip. It's been another great weekend.

Budapest, Hungary and Taking a Moment to Soak Everything In

The last two cities that we visited on this trip to Eastern Europe were Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary. We were only in Slovakia for half a day, but it was still enough time to get a glimpse at where this country has come from and where it hopes to go in the future. The top picture is the castle overlooking the entirety of Bratislava. From this point, I truly got a full picture of the city (and not in a camera kind of way). The castle and older part of the city were a standing legacy to the history of Bratislava throughout the centuries. Various styles of architecture were visible everywhere. Across the river, I could see the communist legacy of cement-block style apartments built in the latter half of the 20th century. Almost everywhere I could see was excitement about the Euro. In 2009 Slovakia joined the monetary union of the EU and thus was brought under its protective wing (extremely beneficial for the country right now, this cannot be understated). Posters marking this historic achievement were everywhere. It's hard to see, but even the castle amidst the scaffolding had a Euro 2009 poster with a 1 Euro coin.

Next we traveled to my favorite city from this trip, Budapest. In all reality, you would be hard-pressed to find a city with a more beautiful Parliamen (see Parliament). Regardless, Budapest had this and an amazing castle and cathedral opposite parliament across the river. We were able to take a boat cruise on the Danube at night, and the above picture is one from that trip. I wish it did more justice.



Once again I came away from the meetings aspect of this city believing entirely that what we learned would have taken at least twice as long in the classroom and would likely not have stuck in our memories nearly as well. From each speaker that discussed the politics and economics of Hungary, I gathered the dismal reality of their situation. Hungary faces an insurmountable challenge from the financial crisis. A challenge made more difficult even with loans from the IMF and EU due to the countries lack-luster political situation. On top of all this, the public is disheartened from corruption and ineffective government. Dismal enough yet? The country's economy is based on exports; mainly automobiles and parts...

As disheartening as the situation may be, I felt like Budapest and Hungary still have a lot to offer. The magnificent beauty of the central core of Budapest needs to be advertised more. The river corridor with parliament, the castle and other beautiful buildings are truly something to be proud of. Another thing the city had going for it while we were there was the exchange rate (thanks also in part to the crisis, but that helps tourism). Meals and souvenirs were significantly cheaper for us than for the students in my program that came the semester before us. Also heavily influencing my opinion was the weather. Much of what we experienced this trip was cold, gray, wet or a mixture of all three. Our last day in Budapest was magnificent. The sun was shining, the sky was a deep blue, and it wasn't cold :) See the third picture.

We also visited the Nazi extermination camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau. I didn't include those pictures mostly because of time, but I may put them up later. The feelings and impressions I came away from there with would also be too hard to put into words, nor could I do them justice.

Overall this trip was certainly my favorite. The sights, experiences and impressions will last a liftime, no doubt!

Just before I wrote this blog this evening, something striking hit me. I finished my work for the day and was listening to music (Band of Brothers Soundtrack) while looking up info on Omaha Beach and the French railway system (for a short trip when we have a break). I was doing this from my apartment in Freiburg, Germany where I am studying abroad for a semester, drinking a beer I bought in the Czech Republic, which was made in Bratislava. This is a once in a lifetime experience (Erfahrung). I had to smile and think, "This. Is. Amazing. How did I get so fortunate?"

Prague, Czech Republic

Ah, it's Friday and I have no classes :) We're so busy this semester that this is probably one of only three or four three-day weekends that  there is nothing official planned. Next week we begin midterms already! That's unbelievable. As for weather, it was in the 50's last week, but now we're part of a big storm system that's hitting Continental Europe with cold, wet weather. Last Monday, I was able to go to the local Ultimate Frisbee team's practice and walk back in shorts and a t-shirt.

Now for Prague, or Praha auf deutsch. This city was probably my favorite of the trip because the modernity of the city was so well integrated into the rich history of the area. The main castle and cathedral were situated on a hill and visible from almost anywhere in the city. Either the President of the Czech Republic or the Prime Minister that still lives within the walls of this city within a city. The other parts of the city were easy to reach from our hotel with the elaborate underground/tram/bus system. One night we went to the modern city center and found an Irish pub where we could watch three Champions League (European Soccer Championship) games. It was a blast. The environment was amazing. We had a group of Italians right beside us who were watching the AC Roma game and were shouting at the screen from time to time.

Our meetings in Prague focused on the rotating presidency of the European Union which is, until June, in the Czech Republic. Thus we were able to hear firsthand the difficulties and challenges faced by this smaller sized country in trying to forward an agenda in an international organization as complex and full of dissenting opinions as the EU. The Czech Rep. took on the presidency in January with a lot of goals, few of which will now be realized because of the attention needed for the economic crisis, Gaza conflict and Russian/Ukrainian gas dispute. 

The exchange rates in all of the countries that we visited on this trip (excluding Slovakia, since they have the Euro) have been in free fall for the past couple months because of speculation against the entire Eastern European area. This made for very cheap meals and cheaper souvenirs which was fun (especially when  I could take out 14,000 Forints in Hungary) however for the countries it is a sign of the times. Some items in stores and on menus were in both euros and the home currency and we could see how much the exchange rate had changed between when they had the menu or sticker printed compared to what it was that day. Overall though the Czech Republic is doing relatively well compared to its neighbors.