It’s been
more than two weeks since I last posted, and I’ve experienced so much and been
so busy it may take a couple of posts to catch-up.
As you can
probably tell from the title of this blog, I’ve completed my courses at the University
of Heidelburg, but unlike the Alice Cooper song it references, it’s not
forever. I have now officially completed two full years of courses towards my
B.A., and after taking courses continuously for the last 16 months with the
on-campus and study abroad programs, it’s definitely time for a break.
The program
was more challenging than I ever anticipated, but I learned a lot. I wrote the
final exam on Wednesday and stressed about it like I usually due before any
exam. Marks are yet to come (eek!) I met some great people from all over the
globe, learned about the day-to-day German culture away from the big cities
like Berlin, went on day trips to Schwetzingen, Strassburg, Tübingen, and
Worms, walked kilometers every day down cobble-stone streets in the blazing
sun, and ate food like Oma used to make. It all went by incredibly quickly! On
the one hand it’s hard to believe that I left The Rock a month ago, on the other
it seems like forever because of all I’ve seen and done. In the next little
while I’ll post more detailed blogs of the trips and once T gets here to help
(please and thanx Weeds) I’ll try to post a music/slide show of the pictures I
took in Heidelberg.
I am now
ensconced in what will be our home for the next five months in Berlin, Germany.
I say I not we, because as I’m writing this Erwin is actually back on The Rock
for the next couple of days. I have one of my MUN classmates with me for a day
and a half (thankfully, because she’s helped me figure out the various
switches, knobs, dials in this very modern German apartment) T comes on Sunday
for a few days, and Erwin joins me on Tuesday. That’s when our yearlong adventure
will truly begin.
The pictures
for this post are:
-one of me
with a little boy a like to call my replacement grand-child. His father and
Erwin met many years ago while we were at Univeristy of Waterloo, and have been
out to visit us in NL a couple of times. They live close to Heidelberg and came
by one afternoon for a visit.
-this next
one of us was taken at what is called the “Thinkstätte”. It is a large (8000
seat) amphitheater build in 1934/35 as a place to conduct propaganda meetings
for the third Reich. Situated in the hills high above Heidelberg it
sits in ruins though often used for now more appropriate cultural activities.
The hike up was hot and exhausting, but worth the view, sitting in the “seats”
and imaging the original purpose of the place gives one a creepy eerie feeling,
but it’s very peaceful and quiet.
-one the
way down from the “Thinkstätte” I and the classmate that is with me right now discovered
the most fun teeter-totter/bouncy thing at a playground. Erwin and the two
other guys with us couldn’t believe we actually would dare try this. I think
they were just jealous of all the fun we were having.
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