First Days in Freiburg

What a crazy week. Information overload. I want to write down everything that happened but not only would that take too much time but I don't think too many people want to read it all either. 

To keep things concise, I think this blog will be about my experiences thus far with the people I have met. First the Schmid Family. This is the family that I spent about seven days with when I first arrived in Germany. I couldn't have asked for a nicer family. They gave me a wonderful place to stay, showed me the sights and experiences of Straubing (near Regensburg) in Winter, and helped me practice my German. This first picture is of the Bavarian favorite game Eisstockschiessen, which is similar to shuffleboard but on ice and with disc-like objects that weigh almost 2 kilos.

Another thing that has really intrigued me about this trip so far has been the other students in my program. I have met many already and will likely develop great friendships. It is nice to have to have so many people (including my German roommates, which I will talk about next) able and willing to discuss politics in depth. However not everything has impressed me about everyone. 

It is still early in the program, but so many of my colleagues seem to have an attitude that this program is first an opportunity to party and second an opportunity to learn. I personally came with the idea that me and my parents were spending a lot of money for me to first have a career and life benefitting learning experience and second to explore and enjoy my new surroundings. For me the first and second go hand in hand, but I none-the-less feel that not everyone has the same level and feeling of responsibility and obligation to put forth one's best effort.  However, as time has passed I have found more and more people that share my views and it has been encouraging. 

The roommates. This has been an awesome surprise. My roommates so far (flatm

ates is better term since we all have our own rooms but shared bathrooms and kitchen) have been great. They are very helpful, instantly welcomed me into their circle,

 and are fun to hangout with and be around. Last night after making burgers together (I introduced them to adding butter to a toasted bun/butterburger) we played tabletop Fussball and then a game of poker. One is making cartoon characters of all of us with typical things

 we do/eat/drink to put on the outside of our door so that other people know who lives here. One roommate, Christoph is an English major and enjoys reading the Economist. We've already had some good discussions. This is my room to the right, prior to any decorating.

All in all es geht gut. Today we snowshoed to the highest point in the German Black Forest (see pic above). Classes start Monday, and we already have our first trip to Berlin and the Baltics on the 29th of January! Apparently we only have three or four weekends where nothing is planned for us. Here's to a busy, action-packed semester!