Anyway, I really appreciate the comments that you guys write. It's really good to hear from you and I like the suggestions (so if you have any, please comment). Also, I don't really know how I should reply to comments... I've just been commenting below the comments, but tell me if there is a better way to go about doing this.
I'm not sure how I should go about writing this entry since there is a lot of ground to cover. This may require sections again, heh. Sorry I'm bombarding you with words. If you don't like to read, you can just look at the photos or something.
Orientation/Musings and Observations regarding Americans/etc.
So last week, we started orientation. The WU has this "OK" orientation program (I think that's what it's called?) for all the internationals, but apparently we are special since our group is so damn huge, so we have our own orientation. This sucks because it's harder to meet people. It's just UofI people together... all the time (not that they are not together all the time anyway). Despite this though, I have managed to branch out and meet non-Americans. This entry makes it seem like I really dislike Americans, and I do dislike some things... such as the fact that the Americans always band together and act rather exclusive. If they branch out, it will be to other Americans from different states, more or less. Ultimately though, it usually ends up just being a huge group of UofI kids (and possibly a few Americans they have adopted into the group). The interesting thing is that, despite the fact that all the Americans hang out with each other, they also tend to hate on each other. There is apparently a stigma towards UofI kids because we are "loud and obnoxious". Oh well.
This really doesn't affect me much though because I don't hang out with the rest of the people that often (not the whole group, anyway). This makes me sound really asocial and such, but I just don't have much interest in what they do (e.g., going out every single night). If you're reading this though, you probably already know that. I mean, I honestly don't care what people do because they can do as they wish, but it's not my idea of fun. That is all. Eh, plus, I sometimes like talking to people from other countries more because I learn a lot more about things I'm interested in. I've learned a lot these past weeks because I have been really lucky to meet people from all around the world (e.g., the Netherlands, Indonesia, Poland, Finland, England, and Canada).
Wow, that was a randomish tangent. I had originally intended to write about the orientation. So... back to the point. Orientation. So far, it's been kind of boring. On the first day, I was forced to sit in a beginner's German class (for all the business/poly sci students who hadn't studied German before) and I almost died. I thought it would be good at first because my German is rather horrible, but it was really boring. Excruciatingly boring. Unfortunately, now I'm in the class with the German program people (who have all had more semesters/experience with German compared to me, mind you) so it's much more challenging. This is good because I will obviously learn more, but it's also really stressful. (Kim, if you are reading this -- it was like AP Spanish all over again... You know, when we went around the room answering worksheet questions, and we'd be panicking because we didn't even understand the assignment). Other than that, we went on a walking tour through the Innere Stadt (the old town/main center of Vienna... see previous post) which was pretty cool. I think I will explore there more when it's a bit warmer. During the tour, we stopped in one of the most expensive grocery stores in Vienna (if not the most expensive) and it was absolutely amazing because there was so much food from all over the world. I am definitely going back there, haha. The more time I spend in Vienna, the more I love it. It is really one of the most beautiful cities I have visited.
(Random -- I just randomly had this memory of the first night I was here. I was sitting on the laptop and munching on some Manner wafers, much like what I'm doing right now, but I basically feel at home here now. This is a good thing, yeah?).
Munich - The Hostel
Right then. If you are reading this, you probably already know that I was in Munich from February 11-14. The train from Vienna to Munich is only 4 hours so it wasn't a massive trip or anything. However, it's kind of a big deal because I had a Germany-obsession phase, and now, I can finally say that I have visited Germany :D.
Munich is a really amazing city. Very briefly, it is the 3rd largest city in Germany (I believe) and the capital of Bavaria. It's probably also one of Germany's richest cities. Most of it (all of it?) was rebuilt after WWII but the layout wasn't changed much from the pre-war layout. I really liked Munich and even though I don't think it is as beautiful as Vienna (sorry), it was still an awesome place to visit. I'd like to go back because there is a lot I didn't get a chance to do.
In Munich, I stayed at Wombats Hostel (you should definitely consider staying there if you plan on visiting Munich, Berlin or Vienna in the future). It was my first time in a hostel which was kind of sketchy, but Wombats is really nice and the staff are super friendly.
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| My room (6 person dorm) |
The first night was annoying because the 4 Spanish girls in my room came back really late (or early... like 3-4AM) and they were SUPER LOUD. Luckily, they didn't do that the second night, so it wasn't bad. I talked to one of them briefly (the rest didn't speak English or something), and I found out they were from Zaragoza and also studying business. There was also this Korean lady (in the bunk below mine) who was kind of creepy. She was maybe 7 or 8 years younger than my mother. I have nothing against "old" people, but it was weird because she kept talking to me. Nonstop. She was supposed to be touring Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria with her cousin, but then something happened with her cousin and his wife (I think) so they had to call off most of the trip. Thus, she only ended up visiting Munich which made her VERRRRRY ANGRY *insert strange hand gesture* (as she would put it). As a result, she started trying to drink her troubles away even though she didn't like alcohol (don't ask). She basically dragged me to the bar (okay, I'm too passive) and ranted for hours. She even told me that she just really wanted to drink and rant to someone. It was really sketchy... Luckily, she was leaving the next morning so I only had to interact with her for one evening. I understand that she was super upset, but it was still a bit awkward. Then some young woman from Hong Kong replaced her. She was in Munich for a conference about a new drug her team was developing or something, which is pretty awesome. She was nice and I managed to practice some Cantonese (going to Germany to practice Cantonese? Life is strange, haha). The last night in the hostel was probably the most interesting. In addition to the person from Hong Kong, a Dutch girl and an Italian girl came (replacing the Spanish girls). The Dutch girl had an internship with BMW and the Italian girl was actually studying architecture in Vienna. I also talked to these random dudes from UChicago (of course I would find Chicagoans) who were studying in Barcelona. Overall, I had a pretty good experience staying at a hostel.
Munich - Touristy Things
Now on to touristy things... The first full day I was in Munich, I went with a few other UofI people (they went to Prague beforehand, but I was sick so I didn't go) to the Dachau concentration camp (it was super cloudy/overcast that day... how fitting).
Facts:
- First Nazi concentration camp in Germany (model for future concentration camps)
- 200,000+ prisoners
- No evidence of mass murder -- there were gas chambers, but they were not actually used
- Most prisoners were taken to other camps to be killed
I don't really want to get into nitty-gritty detail or give you an entire history of WWII, so if you are interested in learning more, please refer to your history textbooks or Wikipedia/Google. Overall, this was probably one of the most sobering moments in my life. I spent a lot of time in the museum reading all the descriptions and stuff, and it was... well, quite sickening. But I couldn't stop. There was this one series of 3 photographs of a man that I could not stop looking at. As most of you probably know, a lot of "medical experiments" were preformed on the prisoners in the concentration camps. They were using this man to study high altitude cerebral edemas (swelling of brain tissue due to fluid leakage) and the pictures basically showed him as he died. In the first picture, it almost looked as if he were smiling somehow and then ... well, then he was slumped over and dead. Gah. I don't know. I couldn't stop staring at it.
We also saw what the living areas looked like, and it was really obvious how the quality of life (if you can even say that) became progressively worse as the years wore on. In the early years of the camp, the bunks were much bigger and had separators but by the end, they were basically just slabs of wood that were probably stuffed with people.
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| Entrance; lit:"work makes free" --> "work will make you free" |
Dachau is only a 20 minute train ride away from Munich, so we were only there in the morning. That afternoon, I met up with someone I know in Munich (shout out -- thanks again for showing me around! You know who you are :D) and she and I visited to the BMW Welt/Museum in the Olympiapark area (okay, I dragged her there, haha). It was super crowded on the train for some reason (there was also some massive football/soccer game, but it was in a different area). Anyway, we got there and walked around. At the BMW Museum, there was a temporary "Art Cars" exhibit -- basically, cars painted by famous artists. It was quite interesting. BMW was also doing some joint thing with fashion students (I guess that was their theme this year) so there were also random designs by fashion students situated throughout the museum.
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| BMW Welt (BMW World) |
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| Looking out to the Olympic Park (1972 Summer Olympics) |
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| Inside the BMW Museum |
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| Some of the art cars |
Afterward, we walked from Odeonplatz to Marienplatz.
Odeonplatz
- Square in central Munich
- Home to the Feldherrnhalle (Hall of Heroes)
- built between 1841 and 1844 by Friedrich von Gärtner, at request of King Ludwig I
- scene of confrontation between the police and some of Hitler's followers (one of the attempts that the Nazis made to take over Bavaria)
- Central square (that's where markets and stuff were held in the Middle Ages)
- Home of the Old City Hall, the New City Hall (that's where the Glockenspiel is), and the Mariensäule, a column thing that was built to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation in the 1600s)
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| Hofgarten (Theatine Church in the background -- that's the yellow building) |
The Hofgarten was pretty much empty since it's winter and it was pretty cold (and overcast) that day, but apparently it's really busy in the summer and a really nice place to hang out and people watch. I can definitely see that. It looks like a nice place to chill on the weekend.
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| P1 - the exclusive club |
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| Feldherrnhalle |
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| Theatinerkirche |
(The previous 2 photos were taken on a different day so that's why the sky is different... if you were wondering). Overall, I had a very good time that day. It was awesome to have a private "walking tour"/hang out thing, if you will.
The next day, the others and I took a train to Füssen (2 hours outside of Munich) to see Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau (above the village of Hohenschwangau). The castle (Neuschwanstein) was commissioned by King Ludwig II but it was never finished. It's also the inspiration behind the Sleeping Beauty (Disney) castle, which is pretty interesting. Of course, this castle is kind of a "fake" castle in the sense that it wasn't really a fortified structure. I guess you would call it a palace instead? Either way, it was basically supposed to be a place where Ludwig II could be a hermit, but then he died so... it became a tourist attraction, more or less. I don't really know much about Schloss Hohenschwangau because we were mainly there too see Neuschwanstein.
Anyway, so we took a train to Füssen (it only cost €6, round trip! I hardly spent money that day, which was awesome) and then a bus to Hohenschwangau. To get to to the castle, you can either take an... uphill stroll, a horse-drawn carriage (I don't understand why people like these things because frankly, horses smell), or a bus (it didn't run when we were there due to ice or something). Of course, we chose the uphill "stroll". It was quite beautiful even though everything was a bit misty and grey that day. There were some moments of sun later on though, so that's why some pictures actually have a blue sky and such.
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| Schloss Hohenschwangau |
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| Neuschwanstein as seen from Marienbrücke (bridge) |
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| Some sign on the way up |
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| View during the hike/walk/whatever |
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| Neuschwanstein |
Right then. I don't think I did anything that evening. Oh wait. We went to some beer hall and had dinner. We also sat for hours just chatting, and this oompah band (I think that's what they're called?) came and it was weird because they found out we were Americans so they played the American anthem. Of course, many people were drunk by this point so there was some very loud singing of the anthem, heh.
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| Dessert -- as you requested, Amy |
Finally, on the last day, I just went out to Marienplatz to take one more look (the weather was finally nice!). I climbed up Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church) to look at the city. It was awesome. In the second picture below, the building on the left (2 towers, red roof) is the Frauenkirche, which is a pretty important symbol for Munich so you may have seen it before. Unfortunately, one of the towers is being fixed right now.
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| New Town Hall/Glockenspiel |
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| View from the... steeple (?) at Peterskirche. Frauenkirche (l), Neues Rathaus (r) |
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| Justizpalast |
Okay. I have more stuff to write about (Vienna-related stuff though), so I'll make a new entry for that... tomorrow. Or sometime later. This entry is freaking long. Overall, I really enjoyed visiting Munich + surrounding areas. Bavaria is really quite beautiful (I spent most of the train ride looking outside my window). This is such a long entry, but I still want to write more about impressions and things instead of just being like, "Here is this castle. Here is this building. etc" Eurgh. Time for bullet points, heh.
Munich - Some random thoughts and the like
- Every single car = BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Volkswagen (okay, fine, not EVERY car, but basically like 98%). Apparently if you don't drive a German car, everyone will glare at you (not literally, but you know)
- Once again, people are dressed really well.
- Munich is super clean (cleaner than Vienna, I think?)
- You have to pay for the restroom in many places (like China... I haven't seen that yet in Vienna though)
- Trains come more often and in a more timely manner than they do compared to Vienna
1 comment:
Finally, a(n epically long) post! I do enjoy finding new procrastination sources.
My gosh, it's awesome that you get to meet so many internationals... hell, it's awesome that -you're- the international there.
So. Um. There's a lot to comment on. a) Korean ladies apparently have a thing for you, b) Of course there'd be a BMW museum, haha, c) Neuschwanstein is beautiful, d) Foooood looks really goooood, e) Keep looking out those windows.
:D
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