Successes and Failures

Christmas is quickly approaching here in Tuebingen, seasonal lights appearing everywhere, as well as trees. Can’t quite fathom how it can already be December, but it’s exciting none the less. We got the first bit of snow the other day. I was definitely more excited than my flatmates, who declared it not to be snow. I am sure I will be less keen on it when freezing next to a bus stop- but Tuebingen in snow is bound to be pretty. I shall endeavour to do at least one more post before I head back for the Christmas holidays (on December 20^th) full of pictures of Christmassy Tuebingen. For now I need to rush through a fair few weeks of stuff that I have got up to and as yet failed to write about. For a change I thought I would separate the blog into ‘Successes’ and ‘Failures’of the past few weeks...

Success 1: Cooking

I cooked!!! Haha although able to cook basic meals like stir-fry and pasta, my dream of being a domestic goddess has yet to be realised... Thus cooking ‘something British’ for my group of international friends did somewhat fill me with dread. However, my Shepherd’s pie turned out quite well, if a bit bland. Then again the British are known for their bland food so I supposed I just fulfilled people’s expectations. I have generally been enjoying the food situation here- particularly the bakeries... The local Swabian cuisine is great, unhealthy, filling, warming stuff.

Success 2: Travelling

I have been lucky enough to travel a bit around Germany and see some friends along the way. 2 weekends ago I was in Berlin visiting a uni friend who is doing an Erasmus semester there. It was such a lovely time. We mostly just wandered around and chatted. One vaguely historical thing we did was to visit the Mauerpark, which we later found out was once a part of the 'Death Strip' of the Berlin Wall. The day we went was 'Volkstrauertag', which is the German equivalent of Remembrance day, meaning there were lots of families with young children wandering round the park, as well as the cool graffiti artists. According to Wikipedia the park attracts: "basketball players, jugglers, musicians, and many other types of people. So naturally I felt right at home there. Here is a pictures of me and my friend posing by a recently graffitied wall in the Mauerpark.

This picture is to prove I am not a complete loner- thus far all my pictures have only been of me...

Last weekend I went to Bonn (the former capital of Germany) and Cologne as part of my Post-War German History course here at Tuebingen Uni. After an early start we arrive at around lunchtime in Bonn, where we went to the 'Haus der Geschichte' (House of History) which was a MASSIVE museum detailing the history of German since 1945. Although we did a prepaid tour, it is apparently free for visitors, and there is so much information you could probably spend a week there. On Friday evening we travelled on to Cologne, about an hour or so away. There we wandered around the city, where preparations for the Christmas market was well underway, and had dinner. The next morning we did a whistle-stop tour of the city by foot, and then had a few hours free to wander into the massive Cologne Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe (according to my good friend Wiki) and probably the largest cathedral I can remember visiting. It remarkably survived World War Two, whilst the rest of the city was largely flattened. Cologne is also the birthplace of 'Eau de Cologne' (Koelnisch Wasser, now the term used for any sort of perfume. To my shame I only made the connection when I went into the tourist shop and saw it on the shelves. It is rather confusing that the German name for Cologne, Koeln, sounds so different...

View of Cologne Cathedral from bridge I forget the name of

Failure 1. Miscommunication

A common feature of speaking a foreign language is making silly mistakes and misunderstanding people. The strangest experience of this that I have had happened a few days ago, when I responded to the lady at the cashier at my local supermarket with the word 'no' in Russian- she then proceeded to chat to me a bit in Russian, which was lucky. I still looked like a madwoman who randomly speaks other languages she doesn't know... I think my brain is a bit confused at the moment.

Failure 2: Not making it in time to visit Berlin zoo

The picture speaks for itself

Failure 3: The ending of this blog post

It seems I have run out of witty comments and interesting stories to amaze and inspire, so I shall stop here. Hope you are all well!

Ciao! (What everyone says here...)
x

All the world’s a stage...

Apologies are boring so I shall not excuse myself for my lack of communication via the blogosphere. Actually, you should be grateful for the opportunity to hear from such a witty, beautiful and insightful person...

ANYway, how to catch up on the last few weeks. I suppose I should begin by chatting about the academic side of things. Although I am sure many of you think I am doing no work at all here, that’s only partly true. :P I have enrolled myself for 6 courses: 2 from the ‘German as a Foreign Language’ department, 2 from the Musicology Department and 2 from the Slavistic department. This week was my first ‘full’ week of lectures. Full in the sense of comprising all my courses, but perhaps not in terms of hours... In any case it has been a challenge! The mere task of making notes during a lecture entirely in German is no easy feat. Last week at an introductory lecture to Ballet Music of the 19^th and 20^th centuries I understood about one word. Even more bewildering was the surprise of a lecture-room of students banging the desks with their fists at the end of it. Seems to be the done thing here... I suppose it’s better than the awkward silence at the end of lectures back home! Russian conversation class is also not particularly straightforward after a month or so of concentrating solely on German. :S But I’m sure it will all become easier shortly.

My free slots in the day are gradually being filled with fun things. I am now singing in University’s ‘Academic Choir’ on Tuesdays and participating in an international theatre group on Thursdays. I’ve also been going along to the local Christian Union meetings on Wednesdays. I’m starting to have the pleasant experience of bumping into friends on Wilhelmstrasse (the main street where the uni canteen, library and law buildings are situated) and stopping for a chat.

This past weekend was rather random, so I should probably write it all down now before I forget! On Friday night, I and some friends went along to a party in the Stuttgardia, the building belonging to the ‘Studentenverbindung’ (loosely translated as ‘student fraternity’) of that name. These ‘fraternities’ are not without controversy, the more conservative of which, called ‘Burschenschaften’, are exclusively male, promote fencing as the sport of choice and are sometimes associated with right-wing parties. In any case, the party was fun and I was required to do any fencing- so all in all not a bad evening.

On Saturday I participated in a 24 hour theatre workshop. Some writers got together on Friday night and wrote 12 short plays. At 9am on Saturday morning, actors, volunteers and technicians arrived. We (the actors) had a quick warm up and then were assigned plays to act in. We then rehearsed for most of the day, with an hour break for lunch. The curtain went up at 8pm, and we performed what we had cobbled together in that time. It was such a fantastic experience, and one I won’t forget for a while. Having done no theatre since school, I was a bit nervous about going on stage again. But the energy and creativity of everyone involved soon got rid of any doubts about signing up. I was in 3 plays, the first two in English and the last in German. In ‘Hamlet with Zombies’, I played the part of the zombified Rosencrantz, with the thought-provoking line ‘BRAAAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSS’. I hope I did it justice.

Now it is Tuesday night, and my busiest day of the week is over with a Musicology lecture followed by a Russian conversation class followed by a German history class. This was all very interesting but a bit overwhelming for my very small brain. I reckon I need a few more weeks to get into the swing of things... hey ho!

Ooh highlight from today: Bumped into my flatmate on the bus, who said I looked tired. I agreed, but said a cup of tea would do me good, as all English people know that a tea solves every problem. An older German woman chuckled to herself and as we got off the bus told me that she had lived in England before and so understood my strangeness. TEA RULES SUPREME. I think I am tired so shall stop here. Tschüss! (Bye!) x

Becoming Edgy

OK so I have failed again to keep to my word of regular updates. I do hope you can forgive me. This time I thought I would give you a random summary of strange/funny things that have happened in the last week or so.

First of all, an update on the edginess front. Yesterday there was a random ‘alternative’ night right by my flat, with rapping, graffiti art and vegan food. I didn’t actually go, or even spend any time there... but I took a video from the bus stop. DOES THAT MAKE ME COOL?

I have now experienced two karaoke nights in Tubingen. Rapping Eminem numbers by heart seems to be the done-thing here, something I am obviously extremely good at. Video to follow... JOKES!

The number of bakeries may well kill me here- so many delicious carbs. Hopefully my over enthusiasm in signing up for Florball (what I think is indoor hockey) and Lacrosse will go some way in rectifying any damage I have already done to my health. Although according to a friend who has played Lacrosse before I may well lose all my teeth and die in the process of playing it. At least I would die super-toned?!

Travelling back from Munich during Oktoberfest season at rush hour is not a good plan but does result in a perfect opportunity for photos featuring looks of horror and dismay (see facebook...). And for playing the ‘is that man over there asleep or unconscious’ game.

I have now sampled Russian borsch, Hungarian goulash and Polish pirogi whilst here in Tubingen. I fear that my turn to wow and amaze my international friends with my culinary prowess is drawing closer. Any tips for the perfect roast/ how not to poison people would be greatly welcomed.

The ‘Christmas tree’, now my signature dance move, is gaining fans abroad (ok well maybe one fan, and probably only out of pity). I am deeply grateful to whoever it was that taught me it at a wedding reception a while back.  

Oh, and it is SOOO COLD HERE. It is apparently now colder here than in Moscow!! I shall persevere and try and resolve the issue by wearing increasing layers of clothing and pretending that it’s a fashion statement.

Sorry for the randomness of the post, probably representative of a slightly random week. I start lectures on Monday which is a bit terrifying but I will then have a bit more of a routine which should be good! J

Settling in

I have just bought a kettle. This is significant for several reasons. The first is that it replaces the rubbish one that currently lives in our flat, which constantly leaks water and has to be emptied every time water is boiled. This is not ideal, particularly as I am partial to tea and am therefore constantly boiling and emptying the kettle. Yet for me buying the kettle is also a sign that I am beginning to settle into my new habitat and claim it for my own. That sounded less pompous in my head, I promise! In all seriousness I do feel like I am starting to get into the swing of things a bit more here, whether that be timing it perfectly to sprint to the bus station (which is about 5 seconds away from my front door) or remembering that NOWHERE is open on a Sunday.

It is now Friday, and the official end of the German pre-term language course I have been doing. Tonight we are having a farewell meal with our teachers and saying an emotional farewell... OK well not quite but I have really enjoyed the past few weeks. It’s been such a ‘soft’ start into uni life, as the course has helped us matriculate and explain a lot about the German uni system. For example, one doesn’t just waltz into to a professor’s office, or even arrange a time to meet. No, the done thing is to turn up during the ‘Sprechstunde’ (Contact Hour) which is generally only once a week. Seems a bit mad to me but hey ho.

Yesterday was the ‘Tag der deutschen Einheit’ (German Reunification Day). I spent it in Stuttgart with some friends from my course. There were special tents up to represent each of the ‘Bundesländer’. For those of you who don’t know, Germany is a federal republic and is divided up into 16 Länder (or ‘states’). I would explain the intricacies of how administration and politics are affected by this but I know you don’t care and I don’t know anything about it. 

On Tuesday afternoon we took a trip to Bebenhausen, a smallish village which (according to Wikipedia, my main source of information for my blog so far...) is about 5K from Tübingen city centre.  Our tutor took us round Bebenhausen Abbey, a monastery dating back to 1183/84. One interesting fact was that after the Second World War, fro 1946-1952, the local ‘Landtag’ (parliament) met there. It was also pretty.

Now I have a week or so to wait before the real adventure begins and I attempt to understand lectures and seminars which are entirely in German. Eek... My main subject is down as ‘Slavistik’ (i.e. Slavonic languages i.e. Russian) but I also plan to do some Music and German-as-a-foreign-language courses. I have to sign up to everything online very soon. I am not the most decisive of humans so let’s see what happens!

Run Lucy Run

A little update on life here. Sorry it’s been a whole week since my last post!

Wednesday was a bit manic, to say the least. We were given a day off to get everything done in order to matriculate. Having planned on getting up at 8 am, I woke up at 10 am. It was a bad omen and the rest of the morning was a bit of a disaster! I needed to bring my European Health Insurance Card in order not to get health insurance from the university. I somehow only brought my old one with me. Thus I was eventually forced to pretty much jog home. Thankfully I had found it with 2 minutes, but had to rush back into town and get everything sorted. I had a moment when I felt like the main protagonist of the well-known German film ‘Lola rennt’ (‘Run Lola Run’), except without the red hair, level of fitness, and life-or-death task to complete. In the evening I went along to a club here called ‘TopTen’, which both sold pizza and had a room with a revolving dance floor. Bizarre.

On Friday we had an Internationales Abendessen, for which everyone cooked or brought along something to eat or drink from their home country. Us English folk got together and came up with Flapjacks, Victoria Sponge and cucumber and marmite sandwiches which seemed to go down quite well. The evening ended in the student club with the wonderful name of ‘Kucuck’.

English Pride

What to choose...

Sunday saw the German Election. The day before I was in the centre of town, where all the major parties were making last-ditch attempts to win voters, including giving out roses. We had a really useful lesson covering the basics of German politics on Friday. What makes me rather dismayed is that after one lesson I may now know more about German than English politics... On Sunday morning I visited a different church to the one I went to last week. Once again I was sitting next to some other people quite new to the church, who I got to speak to afterwards and with whom I could travel some of the way home. In the afternoon I went an ‘Ausflug’ (trip) with some other Erasmus students to the Wurmlinger Kapelle, a chapel situated on the top of a large hill and between Tübingen and Rottenburg. The journey was SOMEWHAT longer than I anticipated, particularly as I had expected to go by bus... Despite this it was a beautiful walk up there and the wonderful view at the top was amplified by my pride at having reached the top (after 2 hours or so). And I didn’t complain once. :P

Canvassing in the centre of town

Angie on a billboard

Music for the journey to the Wurmlinger Kapelle

View from the Wurmlinger Kapelle

More view

Made it!

The weather has vastly improved over the past few days which has been a bit of a relief. I was starting to think that as I am leaving in February, I would only experience Tübingen in the wet or cold! It has also meant the excuse to eat as much ice cream as possible until it gets too cold. Today (Tuesday) classes 3 and 4 from the Start-Kurs went on a ‘Stocherkahnfahrt’. I spoke about this in my second post, so you can treat this as a vocab test or just look at the picture of e trying not to capsize below. J

Trying to do Cambridge proud...

Note to self: Pictures that involve posing with ice-creams are not attractive.

Oh, some additions to the Denglish Lexicon: ‘relaxen’, ‘chillen’, ‘killen’ (yes really!)

x

Leute Leute Everywhere

Leute, Leute, so viele Leute!

I just got back from a brief jog along the Steinlach, a little river right next to where I live. I say this not to show off, but to use one of my favourite Denglish (German Anglicisms): the verb ‘joggen’. I just bumped into my German flatmate who claims that ‘walken’ is also a verb. Amazing.  The number of Anglicisms always suprises me, but then a lot of the newer ‘trends’ in health and technology are from America. Another corker is the verb ‘downloaden’, which our teacher discussed with us today.

On that note, I should say that yesterday was the first official day of the ‘START-Kurs’, an intensive German language course designed for Erasmus students starting at Tubingen University. We did a written test and then briefly spoke to one of the teachers and were then assigned our groups this morning. My group is lovely, and I’m quite looking forward to starting the course proper. This afternoon was filled with banal but very important bureaucracy, and we have been given the whole day off tomorrow to get everything done so we can matriculate into the uni. The people in my group are really lovely, and from all over: the Czech Republic, America, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Israel and so on. When I first thought about my year abroad, I wasn’t so sure about studying at university, but being an international student is a very different experience and one I am glad I haven’t missed out on. Having moved around a bit with dad’s job I have been in international schools, but it feels very different at university level. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m having to speak a second language most of the time rather than Englsih. In any case, it’s both exhausting and really interesting!

Getting to meet and know all sorts of people has been my main occupation thus far. Its fresher’s week intensified and often made harder by linguistic confusions! I’ve met some other nice people along the way. The other day I met two old German women who walked me in the right direction for the main bus station, one of whom was also a Russian speaker and complained about her aching bones. On Sunday I managed (despite the buses running weirdly due to the ‘Stadtlauf’, more on that in a minute) to get to a 9.30am church service 10 minutes early!!! Those of you who go to church with me in Cambridge, or just know my time keeping skills, may well be surprised. The service was actually much easier to understand than I thought it would be and was really encouraging. As a Christian I always find it cool that although there might be different ways of doing church, it’s something that can work in any language or culture. Sitting next to me in the service was a lady who is soon to leave Tübingen, and was also there for the first time. She then showed me where I had to go to meet some Erasmus students to watch the Stadtlauf, an annual 10k through the centre of Tübingen. (See pictures and video below- look out for the juggler!) Despite torrents of rain, it was still good fun to watch, and I also got to eat some Currywurst (a German speciality comprising sausage and curry powder and some unknown sauce) and chips (which felt ironic as I watched people puff and pant away, but hey ho). The competitors of the amateur race and the faster race were quick to grab a beer afterwards, which made me giggle a little.

Food has generally been a highlight so far- bakeries everywhere and fast food that’s cheap and delicious. A low point in my German culinary experience though has to be today at the ‘Mensa’ (Canteen) where my lunch although edible, included a chip which seemed to have sprouted hair. Yes I did take a picture and yes you DO have to look at it.

ANYway I am rambling so if you have made it thus far I congratulate you. Safe to say things are going quite well thus far, and I feel really lucky to be in such a beautiful place. If I go running again soon I will take some pictures, as the views round here are stunning! J

What I have learnt so far...

So I’ve now been in Germany for 2 days and here’s a quick summary of what I have learnt (with accompanying pictures.)

           Tübingen is pretty and old and stuff.

View from the Neckarbrücke

Trees

Town centre

            The strange tradition of punting that you see in Oxford and Cambridge also exists here. The boats go by the wonderful name of 'Stocherkahn'.

Stocherkahnfahrt (and swans)

      Goethe threw up here.

I will leave this unexplained

Other than that in the past few days I have managed to get a few admin things done like setting up a bank account. Setting up the account was surprisingly easy and we were offered a soft drink more than once while we waited to be served- what luxury! Clearly I am easily pleased.

I have also decorated my room a little, and discovered that my cassock from choir is the exact colour as my cupboard. EXCITING TIMES.

Yesterday we had a meet-up with some of the Erasmus students who will be doing the START-Kurs (an intensive German language course) from Monday onwards. We went to the local (Irish!) pub called ‘Saints and Scholars’ for an authentic German cultural experience and then I went into town with a few people to enjoy the atmosphere of the Umbrisch-Provenzalische Markt (Umbrian-Provincial Market) at night. I happened to have arrived just in time for this annual market during which the university towns of Aix-en-Provence (in France), Perugia (in Italy) and Tübingen show off their local produce.

Today I went into town with some Erasmus students and wandered around town. This evening I had two girls over for dinner (prepared by me- I don’t think I poisoned anyone so that’s a bonus) and we just chatted and chilled out. Tomorrow I am off to find a church I have heard about and then heading off to town to watch the 10K race that’s happening here with some Erasmus students.

All in all not a bad few days. J

Proof I made dinner. I have become one of those people that takes pictures of food. Oh dear.

First post from Tübingen

Grüsse aus Tübingen!

I am here all content and full from a far-too-large packet of tortellini (who says you should save half til later?!) and thought I should do a little update.

The journey here was all fine. Having said that the tension was beginning to mount on the taxi ride to Heathrow, with the taxi driver telling me he thought my bag was probably 28 kilos when it had to be under 23 kilos. I had prepared myself to cry a little to get pity from the woman at the desk (manipulative I know... but desperate times!) Miraculously it was 22.9 kilos... it was the closest I have ever been to fist-pumping the air! I managed to restrain myself and give a maniacal smile instead.

Met by a friend of a friend at the central bus station at Tübingen and having met a fellow Erasmus student on the way, I didn’t get that initial arrival panic. Even the rain, which began to bucket down, didn’t *dampen* my mood significantly. (See what I did there??!! I need to get out more.) Got the keys and arrived at the flat where I’m staying without too much problem. And having thought I would be entirely alone, there turned out to be 3 of my 4 flatmates already in. They are lovely (all German) and have been really good at explaining everything. The room is pretty nice (see photo below) and I live very close to about 3 supermarkets, including an organic one, as well as a bakery, bank etc.

All in all feeling remarkably calm and settled- just the small matter of sorting boring bank and phone things tomorrow and then I’m off to the pub with some of the other international students on the same intensive German language course as me!

Spot the sheep

Ciao! That seems to be the thing they say here...

Here I go...

Here I go….

So, with it being 2 days (!) until I move to Tübingen and begin my year abroad in Germany and then Russia, I would start as I mean to go and write my first ever blog post. Try to contain your excitement. Haha. ANYway, my plan is to use this blog as a way to keep people updated as well as myself occupied. Oh, and to explain the name of the blog, my flatmate and I have often joked about how going on a ‘year abroad’ is bound to make us cooler/more edgy… you can let me know what your reckon when I get back. :P

Because I am a bit loser-ish, and my creative writing skills have evidently not progressed since I was at primary school, I have decided to write a summary of what I am nervous and/or excited about heading off to Tübingen using the letters of the place name. I.e. T-U-B-I-N-G-E-N. I will take each letter to form a German word that conveys some aspect of how I’m feeling. Cringey, yet somehow brilliant, don’t you think?!

Right, let’s go.

T is for Traum (Dream)

I suppose this could be interpreted in two different ways. On the one hand, to study languages at a place like Cambridge and get a chance to learn those languages is a ‘dream’, an opportunity I am extremely grateful for. On the other hand, the whole idea of living away still feels unreal and like a ‘dream’. Well, how else do I justify my complete lack of packing or proper organisation?!

U is for Ungewissheit (Uncertainty)

There are many things that I won’t be able to sort out or even find out before I head of on 12^th, practically, academically, socially. There is it that lingering unease that comes before any major event that one has very little control over which I look forward to shaking once I move in to my new room!

B is for Bekanntschaft (Acquaintance)

The longest I have ever been in Germany was during my gap year for around 5 weeks when I worked as an au-pair/ got to play silly games and eat lots of cake. I hope that by spending 5 ½ months in Germany I will gain much more familiarity with the people and culture as well as the language. I also am really excited and nervous about making friends in a second language, and how that will be.

I is for Interesse (Interest)

One thing I am really looking forward to is seeing how Germany and England compare: in terms of outlook, student life, what church is like etc. Germany is also just interesting for its own sake, historically, culturally… and Tübingen is WELL pretty, from what I remember.

N is for Nervösität (Nervousness)

Will I be able to understand people? Will I enjoy my course? What if people think I am being rude when I’m being sarcastic? Haha. These are just a few of the pressing concerns I have.

G is for Glück (Luck)

Pretty self-explanatory- I get to go away for a year and try something new!

E is for Entschiedenheit (Decisiveness)

Something I will hopefully gain whilst away. :P

N is for Neuheit (Novelty)

Having moved quite a lot as a child, the first few days/weeks in a place are pretty exciting as everything is so new and unfamiliar. I look forward to discovering all the randomness that Tübingen has to offer.

I should probably go and pack. Over and out. x