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Hallo Leute!
So before I upload my pictures of beautiful Constance, I just wanted to inform you of my three pieces of quality news:
1) I had my first Arabic class today. I went to the intro course, and the professor told me I should be in the second highest level of Arabic! Then I visited this course, and I'm at least as good as everyone else (if not a little better than average).
2) I got elected to an executive position in Alpha Phi Omega again for next year.
3) One of my paintings ("Annaliese") was chosen to be on this year's cover of St. Olaf's The Reed magazine!
Alright, now the boring stuff is out of the way.


the strangest looking university ever


see above


view from my room in Sonnenbühl Ost
It's actually pretty, but I still have no internet.


Lake Constance and the Alps in the background


Everything's blooming here. This is Sonnenbühl Ost again.


Now this is funny. First off rauchfrei means "no smoking," so no one smokes inside the buildings, just right outside every exit. Then the massive German word Studiengebührenboykott means they're boycotting tuition. Thus far higher education here in Constance is free, but now they're thinking about making it €500/semester. Okay, so €500 sounds like a pittance compared to the leviathan cost of American college, but I agree: Boycott the increase before it gets out of hand like it has for us!


Have I mentioned this university is obscene?


The walk to the U from Sonnenbühl Ost takes about 20 minutes and cuts through these gorgeous natural lands. There are loads of birds, butterflies, people walking their dogs, etc. It's a very nice way to start the day.

Ende des Sprachkurses

So yesterday (Friday) we had our last day of class. Now I'm on vacation until April 14, when my semester at the university finally begins.

For our last day of class, we took another tour of Constance. This time we only hit up historical sites, including the Bismarck Tower and old French military housing from the days when Constance was part of the French Zone.


another historical site, The Bus


This is where we eat lunch.


And here I am with my wonderful (ex-)professor, Hilde.

Last night four of us (two Americans, a Turk and a Russian) took the bus to Switzerland. We got coupon books with our residency permits and wanted to use one to get into the planetarium in Kreuzlingen. But here's the deal: We finally get there, and so far everyone's been really nice (especially the bus driver, who even pointed out exactly how to get to the planetarium). Then we arrive at the actual planetarium, and the guy working the counter there is … hmm, what's a nice word for it… it starts with an "as" and ends in a "shole." Anyway, unhelpful Herr Ihateyouall tells us that we have two choices. Either we don't use the coupon, and we pay the student price (€5,00) or we use the coupon and take off €2 off of the adult price (€8,50 - therefore we'd pay €6,50). So our "coupon" would actually cost us an extra €1,50! Unbelievable.
Obviously we didn't go. Instead we wandered around Kreuzlingen and walked back across the border into Germany, where we bought gelato and then shared a bottle of wine in one of our dorms.

Then today I had a massive hassle with reserving the train back from Paris to Constance. My teller was from Korea, didn't speak especially good Germany, and was truthfully one of the least helpful people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I spent an hour with him. It ended with his drawing a picture of a train full of people. This was supposed to explain to me what I would have understood with the word "ausverkauft" (sold out). He also smiled condescendingly the entire time - as if my German wasn't better than his. Anyway, then I spent an hour on the internet in McDonald's (remember how I don't have internet in my room), and then went back. I got a different teller who said he spoke English, but didn't really. We spoke German again. He was very confused by the whole mess, but in the end was very helpful and nice. The trip back won't be ideal (four transfers and a total of about 12 hrs of transit), but it'll take place, and that's all that matters at this point.

And tomorrow I'm off!

Märchenstadt

I'm in Germany!
So here's my first actual post. It's amazing. Truthfully, I think this is about my favorite city I've ever been to except for Eidfjord. It's beautiful and quaint and a college town with plenty of stuff to do all at once.
So quick recap with photos (Fotos):

My parents came to the airport to see me off. I love my parents :)



This is me on the "red carpet" which United rolled out for Chrissy and me. Seriously, they called it the "red carpet." My flights were basically uneventful. A little delayed, but nothing serious.

One thing that was interesting was when I was on the long flight from Chicago to Copenhagen, I sat next to this really large, drunk man from near Iceland. He talked a long time (occasionally incoherent, but unfortunately in English, so I couldn't pretend not to understand). One of his many inappropriate stories was about the prostitute he bought in New Orleans for $300. He also said that he has 6 children, none of whom look like him. Hmm.


Here's Amelia and me in the Zurich train station. Also included are Chrissy's bags. We got stares. Total, I'm pretty sure our luggage weighed a ton and a half.


We went shopping at the Supermarkt. I found the exact same chocolate rabbits that Mom gave me. I also got a good bottle of wine for 1 euro 49 cents! I haven't tried it yet, tho, so we'll see.


Uni-Konstanz! My university is enormous and ridiculous-looking. The cafeteria (Mensa) is actually decent and pretty cheap. I had orientation today.


bizarre sculpture(?) near the university


Lake Constance (in German "Bodensee") and a statue of Imperia. I have no idea who Imperia is, but she's a big deal here. Maybe you can see the Alps in the background. Constance is really pretty.

We went on a tour of the city today after our orientation period and language placement exam. It was chilly, but the city is really nice. Buses run every fifteen minutes to everywhere, and actually nothing is really that expensive. While we were walking around I met a bunch of other foreign students who'll be taking language classes this month, too. One of the young women I met (from Italy) called Constance a fairytale city ("Märchenstadt", our common language is German).


buildings in Constance


another building


Hanfuniversum - I'm not really sure what they sell here, because I'm pretty sure pot is still illegal here. They do have hookahs in the window, tho.


shot of our tour group - Our tour was actually a scavenger hunt, so one of our tasks was to take a photo of ourselves in this courtyard.


Here I am in Constance. It's a little chilly, but still better than Minnesota!

*So I don't have internet in my room yet, but I will hopefully very soon, so expect better posts in the near future.

A little about my room: It's decent; it was really nasty, but I cleaned for hours, and now it looks fine. Plus I found an extra mattress, so I have a place for visitors to sleep (for free)! It's also really close the university, so it's only a walk. And tomorrow the bus drivers are striking, so for the people living in nice dorms - hah! - they have like a half hour walk. One point for Sonnenbühl Ost. (My address, by the way, is Zr. Nr. 160, Haus E, Sonnenbühl Ost, Jacob-Burckhardt-Str. 35, 78464 Konstanz).

There's my first post. There will be more in a few days.