I made it to Freiburg, Germany in one piece! And made a mental not to never take a 13 hour train ride alone with a connection and a huge suitcase again. Fun fact about that train ride was that I felt like the first three hours were out of a movie. There was a creepy guy sitting across the isle from me with huge blaring headphones and a leather jacket...he was head banging to some french techno music that was loud enough for our whole car to hear. The weird part was that the music kept cutting out, about a minute and a half into each song, but he just kept head banging and staring creepily... Anyways, between him and the little boy with a blonde curly mullet sitting in front of me and singing German children's songs, I was lucky to sleep at all.
But, now I am in Freiburg and have been for about a week now. I am so excited to be here, its pretty great. Its funny, I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but mostly not this. Right now it feels like a decently sized city. I take a ten minute train/trolly ride into the city for everything. The city is pretty awesome, lots of young people everywhere and super alternative. Theres a huge, Gothic style church in the middle of the city that has been standing since 1330. Its amazing. Every day of the week except Sundays you can find hundreds of little tents and stands set up around the church until 1pm, a farmers market! The city is all cobble stoned and still has lots of old and interesting architecture, along with the new boutiques, cafes, bakeries, and edgy clothing stores. One of the most notable landmarks in the "Old City" part of Freiburg are the little freshwater streams that run on the sides of the streets and alleyways. They were originally designed as a fresh water source and protection for fire, but now are just there for character. Its pretty cool, because the University does not have a campus, really. The buildings are dispersed all through out the city, making it extra lively in the day time.
Hmm...apartment life...where to begin. I guess I should say that I was super bummed at first when I found out that I didn't get into the dorm I wanted to live in. Vauban is a little dorm/apartment village about 20 minutes south of the city that was built into a "sustainable eco-district" from an old French military base. The buildings are all painted crazily, theres a pirate ship playground, and you can find hundreds of old buses and trailers made into to houses, lining the streets: hippie madness! In fact, there is somewhat of a sit in going on right now. In protest against new office buildings being built in Vauban, people have constructed somewhat of a shanty town right on the plot of land. and they are not moving. They've made complete homes, all from recycled everything. It's pretty incredible, I need to take some pictures of it. So thats a taste of Vauban...if you know me well, I am sure you understand why I was bummed at first...But! All is not lost!
Let me give you a taste of my dorm, StuSie. It is a pretty big dorm/apartment complex about 20 mins west of the city. In my back yard there is a small lake and a nice park. It's nice now, but I cant wait to really enjoy it when it warms up. StuSie houses mostly international students and Germans as well. I live on a floor with twelve other guys and girls. We share a kitchen, 2 full bathrooms, and 2 half bathrooms. I by no means would call myself a clean freak, but the kitchen might be the death of me. Its grimy piece of work! It's hard to find clean dishes, fridge space, counter space, or really clean anything...we'll see what happens... Anyways, my roommates are all pretty random and are from all over the world!
I'm lookin' to buy a cheap, used bike pretty soon... Freiburg is the "bike capital" of Germany, and it's not kidding around! Thousands and thousands, everywhere! It's incredible. I'm really excited for when I know my way around. I'm also on the look out for my study spot/coffee house. Thus far, German coffee has disappointed me. We shall see... I think tomorrow my new friend Stephanie and I are going to go hiking in the Schwarzwald, which I am stoked about :) Classes have been easy thus far. It's so funny to be an international here. In my intensive German class alone there are people from Japan, Greece, Italy, Romania, Brazil, France, Australia, and the U.S. Talk about accent overload! Last night I went, with a bunch of other Americans to a dub step concert...ha. I am going to go explore the city some more this afternoon! Hopefully I will take some pictures...but no promises...
Peace.