Douglas-fir Archives

Since my last post, I've found some other pretty places to go walking, and other nice photo-ops. A sampling is presented here for your enjoyment.


< The Seeschloss Monrepos cuts an elegant figure from across the lake. It is one of a network of palaces built from the early 18th to the early 19th centuries in Ludwigsburg for the dukes of Württemberg. >


< Quiet walking paths encircle the lake. I spotted ducks, swans and coots paddling about on the water. >

I nearly injured myself the first time I attempted to take the above photo; I tried to make a lightning dash toward my position as soon as I set the timer, but slipped on the wet turf next to the path, tumbling face first and catching myself with my outstretched palms. Thankfully I ended up only with muddy and slightly sore palms and a muddy spot on my jeans.


< The Amanduskirche, a centuries-old church atop a hill in Freiberg am Neckar >


< Prospect from the wall at the Amanduskirche >

For a larger, better version of the above photo, click here.


< Up against a wall in Freiberg am Neckar >

Until fairly recently, I was unaware that, not five minutes walking distance from my house, there are large tracts of open farmland. I discovered this by accident when I decided on one occasion to walk into Frieberg am Neckar, a neighboring town just to the north of Ludwigsburg. I scouted the route to the town by viewing satellite photos of the area on Google Maps. I could naturally see that much of the area I'd be walking through was farmland, but the satellite photos, giving a view straight down, offered no indication of how pleasant the area would be when viewed from the perspective of a person out for a stroll.

The fields are crisscrossed with what appear to the casual eye as being paved walking paths. They indeed serve this purpose, and on a nice day, it is possible to see many walkers and joggers during the course of a long walk. However, these paths are also narrow streets used by farm machinery and local automobile traffic. Even then, it is rare to have to dodge a tractor or car, and a walk on one of these roads is a very peaceful experience.

I try to walk at least thirty minutes per day, although I often walk longer. On my most recent walk, I thought I ought to give my readers an idea of a typical route to Freiberg and back. I walk alone; all photos with me in them were staged using a timed exposure.




< About ten minutes into my walk. >



< Despite appearances, it would be a stretch to call this area truly rural. I would compare it to the farmland in Clackamas county, Oregon that lies on the outer reaches of the Portland suburbs. >



< For a larger version of this picture click here. >



< Often, I combine a walk with a trip to a grocery store or bakery. On this occasion, I bought two litres of milk. >



< If I happen to walk all the way into the town, I often pass this church. >



< Walking past the Schloss Heutigsheim, an old manor house. "Schloss" usually means palace or castle, but this building is neither large nor grand as castles go, although it's quite picturesque. >



< Sign restricting traffic to farm vehicles. >

After weeks of spring-like weather, with daytime temperatures consistently in the 50°s Fahrenheit range, the temperature plunged on Tuesday, bringing with it true wintry weather. The first snow I've seen since I've been here started on Tuesday at little past noon, and hasn't stopped as of 3:00 Wednesday afternoon. What great fun! Last night I bundled up and walked all the way to IKEA (almost three miles) just to get out in it. This morning, the smaller streets were covered with packed snow, and motorists were out spinning their tires on it. Temperatures are forecast to be below freezing for several days still, so it'll stick around. We'll enjoy it while it lasts!





< View outside my window at 9:00 this morning >


< Snow, however little, tends to make us Portlanders a little giddy. >


< I couldn't resist taking this shot of a man pulling his little boy along in a sled. >


< Reveling in it all >


< A view down snow-covered Montessoriweg >


< Montessoriweg 20 >


< Our mailboxes >


< Cars parked along the street behind the student housing >


< A quiet alleyway next to the student housing, leading toward the forest park >

It's a frosty December 25th here in Ludwigsburg. We didn't manage a white Christmas, but late on Christmas eve, a thick, icy fog rolled in. The tiny ice crystals in the fog clung to exposed surfaces, creating a delicate, paper thin layer of ice on everything outside. This gave the landscape a slightly steel-grey hue. Even some of the remaining tattered spider webs were coated with ice.





< View out my window, Christmas day. The student housing complex is very quiet around Christmastime. >

In Germany, Christmas lasts three days, from Christmas eve to the day after Christmas. Accordingly, almost all businesses, including grocery stores, are closed for this three day period. So on Saturday, I had a very busy day shopping for food. I did the equivalent of a "major shopping trip" in America. Since I have no car, I normally do quick, frequent shopping trips limited to what I can easily carry. This time, I used the "shuttle" method, managing it in three trips on the light rail. I'd get off the northbound train with a couple of heavy bags of groceries, hurry to my building and drop them off, and run back to the platform in time to catch the next southbound train back into Ludwigsburg. I had only five minutes between the two trains to drop off each load, and missing a train usually means a wait of 30 minutes for the next one.

What was I planning to do with all of these groceries? Well, I was planning to cook some "festive" meals, but before I could get very far with those ideas, I came down with a nasty cold. Since yesterday, I've been pretty well taking it easy, consuming tea, cough drops, and tissues. Classes don't start again for a couple of weeks, and I figure I'll get more festive and creative with my cuisine when I feel better.

Before I fell ill, however, I had some very nice Christmas celebrations: with the students in my house, with the English department at the college, and with Shannon and Crystal. At the celebration with the students in my house (which also included other German and foreign exchange students), we had a white elephant gift exchange, which was a lot of fun.



< Preparing for the English department's Christmas dinner. Among other things, six turkeys were cooked for the occasion! Students were invited to come early to help if they wanted. I only helped a very small amount, having come much later than most of the other students offering help. >



< Despite feeling ill, I managed to bundle myself up and get outside for a Christmas day portrait >


I'd like to wish everyone back home a very merry Christmas; I miss you lots!

I can't believe it's already December. The last three weeks have gone by in such a whirlwind, I'm having trouble keeping track of it all. Classes are going right along; pretty soon it'll be Christmas break. Still am thinking about what I'm going to do!

Perhaps you're wondering what the Oregon students did for Thanksgiving. Silvia Kunze-Ritter, our resident director for the study program, invited us to come from our different universities to Tübingen for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It was magnificent: turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, green beans, and an assortment of desserts, some brought by students. It was fun to see everyone we had gotten to know during the Tübingen orientation; not only the other students, but also the tutors and teachers. After the dinner, there was a Thanksgiving reading and a quiz for fun. I enjoyed the evening very much, despite feeling ill that day; I had flu-like symptoms on Friday, but thankfully it did not turn out to be a full case of the flu, and I was feeling well by Saturday afternoon.

Today, I took a trip to Munich. The international office invited all the foreign exchange students in this year's program on a day trip to Munich, which cost us only three euros for a required visit to the Deutsches Museum (We traveled in a chartered bus). The museum was definitely the highlight of the day; it is a museum of technology, covering everything from engines and machines used in the Industrial Revolution, to pioneering aviation, to modern science and technology. My favorite section was aviation; there were dozens of aircraft on display spanning from the Wright brothers to the present day. Many exhibits have hands-on sections that remind me of OMSI in Portland. I'd recommend anyone interested in visiting the museum to allow an entire day to explore it, because it's huge. I spent several hours in there, and I had to prioritize and breeze through many areas of the museum, because I wanted to leave enough time to walk around in the city.

After the museum, I walked up toward the Marienplatz (great photo on Wikipedia), where the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market) was being held. The rows of stalls stretch for blocks in several different directions. Besides the many stands offering handicrafts and everything Christmas-themed, on nearly every corner there's a place to get a steaming mug of Glühwein, a traditional winter drink; a sausage on a roll, or all different kinds of sweets. There are so many people crowding the area, however, that to get from one end of the market to the other is often quite difficult!

Came home tired but happy this evening.


< I'm standing in front of the Deutsches Museum's Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a, built 1944. This type of aircraft was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter. >

The last week has been one of routine: getting up, going to class, study and preparation. I do have some new photos to post, however: those of my building and house in the Studentendorf. To be certain, my building isn't an architectural marvel; neither is my house a wonder of interior decorating, but it already feels like home.


< A view of my building from the ramp leading to the S-Bahn stop. My window is to the right, one below the top row.>


< The front of my building. >


< A view down Montessoriweg, from the front of my building. >


< The communal kitchen in my house. >


< The sitting area. >

Classes have started here at Ludwigsburg. The first few weeks are a bit chaotic, I understand, because students are going to different lectures that interest them, even if they might not end up staying in all of them. Registration for classes doesn't exist in the sense of the system that is common in American universities. Some professors have lists for their courses tacked onto the department bulletin board, with a certain number of spaces for people to sign their name, in effect registering them in the course. Other professors provide lists only after the first few weeks of class. Others, as far as I can tell, provide no consistent method of registration at all. As international students with our own credit requirements that don't always match what we would receive as German students, we Oregonians must specifically request a graded certificate that we will receive at the end of the semester, which will be our sole proof that we took part in the course.

A fair number of courses seem to be assigned to classrooms too small to accommodate the demand. A few lectures that I tried to attend in the first two weeks were so in demand that 45 minutes before the start, all the seats at tables would be taken, and chairs would be pilfered from other classrooms and squeezed anywhere they could fit in the room. Twenty minutes before the start, anyone who wanted to listen to the lecture would have to stand or sit in the hallway and strain their ears, which I did on one occasion. Thankfully, the two most crowded courses I wanted to take were moved to larger rooms after the first two weeks.

I am starting to get settled into life at the student housing. My room, which has been a disaster area from the day I moved in, I finally have managed to get into order. (It is for this reason that I can post photos of it for the first time.) I am learning how to cook, do laundry, and generally get my life organized, which is all pretty amazing. I don't know why I didn't think of some of this stuff sooner.

< Below, some pictures of my reasonably organized room. >








< I managed to get away last weekend and visit Tübingen, a city that I fell in love with in September during the orientation. Although I like it here in Ludwigsburg, I think I will always have a special fondness for Tübingen. While I was there, I took a picture of the building I stayed in during the September orientation, something that I oddly neglected to do while I was living there. >




< Tübingen city bus at Waldhäuser Ost. I sure do miss riding to school in a Mercedes-Benz every day! >

These first two weeks of transition have been full of surprises. Much of what we Oregonians were told to expect when we came to Ludwigsburg turned out to be a little different. Or in a few cases very different. We are finding it necessary to get used to a system of doing things that is much different than at universities in the United States. Our first days here have been what can only be described as organized chaos. One of our biggest surprises came when we learned that we did not have the two weeks before the start of classes free as we had thought. On Wednesday the 4th, we began a new orientation/language course, similar to the one for Oregon students in Tübingen. This program is for all foreign students new to the college. There are students from France, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and Australia, as well as other American students from California and North Carolina. We are divided into four groups, based on language proficiency, with four being for those with the most proficiency. It was into this group that I was placed. Shannon and I have already made good friends among many of the other exchange students. Naturally, we speak a great deal of German together, since it is often the only language we have in common.


< A group photo of my class. Interestingly, the teacher and I are the only men in the class. >

I should say something about my new housing situation. When I left Tübingen, I was mourning the beautiful view out my window I had just lost. Ludwigsburg is, to be sure, not as picturesque a city as Tübingen. However, I am still forming my impression. The college campus is not the greatest place to do so: it was built comparatively recently, and has a modern flair to it. To put it less delicately, it's ugly. Most of the buildings in the student housing complex are also rather homely. Most are four or five stories high. There is one taller and somewhat out-of-place building in the complex, comparable to my building in Tübingen in size, but not in ugliness. This building looks like something you would see in Soviet-era Turkmenistan.

But like they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover, and the rooms and living areas in the buildings are really quite nice. Each floor has several houses. In each of these houses, there is a kitchen, a dining room, and in my case, a sitting area with a couch. Each house has several dorm rooms. The rooms are very roomy for being single rooms. And my new view? As I stood in that long line on the first day, I commented half-jokingly to Crystal and Shannon that I would be happy if I could just be assigned to a room with a good view of the railroad tracks that run between the campus and the student housing. I've always liked trains. As it turned out, my I couldn't have picked a better room for this purpose myself. I am on the fourth floor (to Germans, the third floor), and my window looks out on the railroad. About half a dozen freight trains and countless passenger trains go by each day. I can always tell the difference just by hearing; the passenger trains are whisper quiet, while the freight trains roar loudly, with much clanking and rattling, as they go past.

I still haven't gotten my room completely in order yet. Until a few days ago, my baggage was still in a heap on the floor. This has been an exhausting period, emotionally as well. The reality of being so far away from home for the first time has gone through various stages of sinking in to my consciousness; my last week in Tübingen and my first few days here were especially difficult, as I battled homesickness and depression. Such things are to be expected when moving to another country; still, it was hard to remember that. Music has been my main comfort commodity here. Since I've been in Germany, I've listened to far more music than I normally do; when I'm in my room, I usually have iTunes playing on my laptop, and in the last month I've gone through well over 100 hours of music.


< My iTunes is almost always on when I'm at home. >

Naturally, there are also many opportunities to be with friends or go into town, and the three of us from Oregon often do things together. Sometimes we have a meal together, sometimes we take a walk or go to the store together. Crystal's birthday and mine are only two days apart, and have just taken place, so the mood of the last few days has been cheerful and celebratory.

Interestingly, the three of us from Oregon were assigned to three separate buildings in the student housing complex. One of the other exchange students from the program is in my house. When I first moved in, the two girls from Australia were in the same house as I was. However, the random assignment had apparently created a problem: the way I understand it, the girls' families are Muslim, and wouldn't approve of them living in a dormitory where there would be men. So, they managed to switch rooms with the one Polish student in the program, who just today moved into the apartment in my house.


< The view from my new window, with a freight train heading south toward Stuttgart. Although in the photo it appears to be still, it is actually clipping along at a good rate. >

Although it's been a little bit of a rocky start here, things seem to be falling into place a little more. Yet more details in the next few days.

First, a little explanation about why I haven't posted an update in so long: my guest password for internet in Tübingen suddenly expired on the last day of September, leaving me with no access to the net. Tonight is the first time I've had internet access on my laptop since then. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was sad to leave Tübingen. I had gotten to like the city very well. I had also come to appreciate my room, my view out the window, and my building very much. Of course, I had to say goodbye to many new friends I had gotten to know during the orientation. We managed to squeeze in some more fun before we had to go our seperate ways: we had an excursion to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). We took a ferry across the lake to the city of Konstanz. It was a beautiful day, and we had lots of fun.


< On the ferry to Konstanz >


< A view of Meersburg, a town on the other side of the lake >


< Shannon and I in front of the castle in Meersburg >

On Monday, 2 October, my checkout day, I had an appointment at 11 o'clock for the Hausmeister to inspect my room so I could give him the keys and leave. Shannon had left earlier in the morning with Jessica, one of our mutual friends, and her daughter Payson, so that they could have time to go to the Canstatter Volksfest (literally "people's festival," a little like a fair). I spent the morning cleaning wildly, and by 11 o'clock my room was almost completely cleared out. Shortly thereafter, I removed the last of my things from the room, and the Hausmeister locked the room. I loaded my bulging frame pack on my back, picked up my computer bag, and headed downstairs to meet Crystal, with whom I would be traveling to Ludwigsburg. (There are three students from Oregon going to Ludwigsburg: Shannon, Crystal, and myself.) Crystal had much more luggage than I had, and it was necessary to divide the load somewhat. I had been warned against taking rolling luggage to Europe; that's why I had brought luggage that, with a little lashing together, could all be carried on my back. I soon discovered that the advice had not been offered in jest; Crystal had three rolling luggage pieces ranging in size from manageable to bulky. The trip was somewhat nightmarish on account of all the luggage. Between us, we were able to drag, carry, or push the luggage wherever we needed to take it: on and of the busses and trains, up stairs, down stairs, through the train station... but just barely. It was one of those experiences that you think is hellish in the moment, but that you laugh about later.


< My room in Tübingen, cleaned and almost ready to leave >


< Crystal on the train to Stuttgart (where we would connect to a train to Ludwigsburg), with all of our luggage >


< A very tired me on the train to Stuttgart >

When we got to Ludwigsburg, we found that our travails were not at an end. We had expected to get our keys for our new rooms at the student housing complex from the Hausmeister and then relax for the rest of the evening. What greeted us instead was a line in front of the Hausmeister's office of about two dozen people... and the line didn't seem to be moving. It turned out that it only seemed not to be moving, in the same way that, to a casual observer, a bud doesn't seem to be actively opening into a flower. We were not encouraged to find out that, when we called Shannon to see how she was doing, she was still waiting in another line. She ended up spending a total of four hours in line that day. It was overcast and threatened rain outside, and we were fortunate that the rain held off, because Crystal and I stood outside in line for two hours before it was our turn. When finally sat down in the office, Crystal got her key and papers, then it was my turn. The Hausmeister looked at my name on the sheet and said, "Sie müssen sich bei Herrn Bohne anmelden!" Translation: it turned out there were two lines in two different buildings. Shannon and Crystal needed to be in one line; I needed to be in the other. As far as I know, there was no way for me to know this in advance. As it turned out, Shannon had gotten into the line I needed to be in, and I had gotten into the line Shannon needed to be in. I went to the other building, only to discover with sinking heart that there was another long line there. By this time, it was five o'clock, and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Crystal came to check on me, and commiserated with me on my wretched situation. She walked to the little Turkish food market nearby, and bless her heart, she brought me a packet of cookies and some Sprite. I don't know what sort of state I would have been in otherwise. In the end, I got my key and staggered to my room. I dumped my luggage in the middle of the floor, where, for the most part, it would stay for nearly a week. Although I was so tired I could hardly think straight, I joined Shannon, Crystal, Jessica, and Payson to go to the Volksfest. When we got back, it was very late, and I dropped into bed, thoroughly worn out, and not knowing what to expect in the morning.


< Crystal and I waiting in line at the student housing complex >

That Monday was only the beginning of the story. As I have time in the next few days, I'll continue the update to make up for my time without internet.

Well, I was planning on posting on my blog at least once a week, but this week has been so incredibly busy that I've hardly had time! Classes and schoolwork keep me well occupied. Course work for this first month has consisted mainly of grammar review, conversation, and cultural studies. And, although some of it is review, this is an intensive language course, and I've found myself challenged. And of course, simply being out and about gives one ample opportunities to practice.

One of the optional activities available to us was to participate in a literature reading and discussion, after which we would write a play to preform for the group. Wade led this group, and everyone had a lot of fun. We read a short story by Hermann Hesse called Flötentraum, or Flute-dream, the parable of a young man who goes out to make his way in the world, unaware of the sorrows and disappointments the world can bring, and that there is no path that leads back to lost innocence and missed opportunities. The group of us doing the theater project met on a sunny afternoon by the River Neckar and hammered out a play version. Abandoning the more serious tone of the story, we produced a parody to last about 15 minutes. Everyone contributed ideas. In the original story, the young man is given a flute by his father, who tells him to play the flute to people he meets, although the young man doesn't know how to play. We changed the flute motif into dancing. This seemed appropriate, since I was to play the part of the young man, and I can't dance. Later in the original story, the young man sings a song for a girl he meets. On the urging of the other members of the group, this was changed into a rap song. Since we had no costumes, we used our ordinary clothes for the play. Based on these and other modern elements in our text, and the fact that we had not yet chosen a title, I jokingly suggested to Wade a couple days before the play that it should be called "Flötentraum: Die moderne Fassung" (Flötentraum: the Modern Version). The next day, to my half-surprise, flyers were passed out to all the students advertising our play, with the title "Flötentraum: Die moderne Fassung, oder Caleb geht in die Welt" (Flötentraum: the Modern Version, or 'Caleb goes into the World')!

We performed the play on 20 Sept, and it was a smashing success. We pulled it off well, and we got a lot of positive feedback. I'm very glad that I had the chance to be in the theater group. It was so much fun for everyone involved. Wade had to return to the States this morning, and we were all very sad to see him go.

There was no official photographer to document the opening night, but thankfully, Justin took some good photos that he let me copy to post here. Here's a smattering:














< Left to right: Silvia Kunze-Ritter, the resident director of the Oregon programs in Germany; me; Payson; Wade; Courtney; Holly; Jessica; Shannon. >

Much of the adventure of living in a country and culture that one is not yet used to comes in the little things. It's learning to adjust one's daily habits; doing without some things you were used to at home, while exploring things and ways of doing things that one isn't used to. This seems particularly applicable to food. Even so, a common thread among American students seems to be the search for a reminder of home in the form of food. Although I was eager to plunge in to the "German" lifestyle when I came here, I must admit that food shopping has been a bit of a bewildering experience. The first several times I've shopped for groceries, I've just wandered around the store not quite knowing what to do.

Granted, It doesn't help that I can't cook very well. Any meals that I prepare are likely to be simple and won't require much preparation. I'm planning to have spaghetti in the near future, now that I've found spaghetti sauce in jars. (I'd still have to boil the noodles, though, which presents a bit of a challenge.) It took me more that a half hour yesterday wandering around two stores before I found soup in cans. And although my German is adequate to get me around in most situations, my lack of vocabulary is often glaring when I'm trying to find something specific. I bought a pudding cup to have for my after-dinner dessert recently, understanding only that it was mit Milchschokolade (milk chocolate). The package said "Grieß-Pudding," and although I didn't understand what Grieß meant, I figured it was just regular pudding. It turns out that Grieß means semolina, and the pudding was roughly like chocolate Cream-of-Wheat. Ug.
You learn something new every day.

I was in the Altstadt of Tübingen the other day and found a store that sold biologische foods, which are equivalent to "Certified Organic" products in the US. And what should happen to be sitting on the shelf along with jams, honey, and syrups but... peanut butter. It was even the good, natural kind, where the oil separates and the peanut butter must be stirred (I can't stand the stuff with all the added sugar and hydrogenated oils). They even had a choice of creamy or crunchy! I stood there for a minute just clutching the jar in wonderment. I bought a jar and some other groceries, and later that afternoon, I bought some sliced white bread in one of the grocery stores next to the Studentendorf. That night, I had peanut butter on bread with a glass of milk. It's harder to get closer to a taste of home than that.

Peanut butter seems to be one of the most sought after comfort foods for American students overseas. I'd read about the quests of students in various countries to find it, and now I got to experience it firsthand. I was talking with one of the students in the program recently who, when I mentioned how much I loved peanut butter, strongly insisted that peanut butter couldn't be found in Germany; my response to which was, "Sure you can, I just bought some the other day!" Granted, it can take a little sleuthing to find certain things. I didn't happen to mention that, although I had seen Skippy-style peanut butter in other stores, I had actually had little hope of finding the natural kind by the time I happened across it!

Anyway, food may not be as exiting as exploring 900 year old monasteries and the like, but it's truly a whole different adventure in its own right.


< »Crunchy« -- Ist das also Neudeutsch oder Denglisch? >

Yesterday there was a hike for the Oregon and Connecticut students. We hiked from the Marktplatz in Tübingen to the town of Pfäffingen. The hike lasted about three hours, and we hiked through some beautiful country in the Schönbuch forest. We also climbed to the top of a hill, on top of which was a small Kapelle (chapel).


< Walking down the hill from the Kapelle >


< After that steep hill, I really wanted to prove that I'd made it up! >


Although hiking in the countryside lends itself better to breathtaking views, I thought I'd post a few photos depicting daily life here, which, by the way, is going pretty well. My first weekend living in Germany is drawing to a close, and I must prepare for classes in the morning.


< My computer/writing desk >

< See a larger picture of my room >


< What's the point of making one's bed when one has to sleep in it every night? >


< Self-portrait in the bathroom mirror>

The last several days have been such a blur of activity, I've hardly had time to consider what day it is, and here it is, Friday evening, drawing close to the end of my first week here! It's been a time of major adjustment, but I've been having a lot of fun and am always improving my German.

The Oregon Students received a very warm welcome from the program here. They took all of us out to dinner the first two evenings, we have received much helpful information and assistance with bureaucratic hurdles, and we have even been led on some fun excursions. And of course, there are the orientation courses, which are basically intensive language courses. On our first day in class we all took a written placement test and an oral interview. Based on the results of the test, we were all placed in one of three classes, with the first group being the least advanced, and the third group being the most advanced. I was placed in the third group. Classes last from 9:00 to 3:00, with a 15 minute midmorning break and a leisurely 1 hour and 15 minute lunch break. Although much of the class material so far has been review, I am already finding my knowledge stretched and tested. My limits in the language are being exposed and will continue to be as I gain more competency.

Outside of the classroom, I have plenty of time to explore, relax, or be with friends. I have made friends with several of the students from the other universities in Oregon. In addition to the Oregon students, there are several students from Connecticut who have been grouped with us. I often hang out with Shannon, my friend from PSU, and Wade, a tutor from Portland who is helping the students in the program. When any combination of the three of us are together, the default language is German. Shannon and I are both on a comfortable conversational level in German (she a little better than I), and Wade is able to help us when we hit the end of our language tethers.

As I wrote on Monday, I like my room. My living situation has not been without some getting used to, though. I have a sink, a medicine cabinet, a closet, a shelf, a desk, a low table, a chair, and a bed. My whole room is perhaps 18 X 8 ft.; not bad for a dorm room. Bathrooms, showers, and kitchen facilities are communal. None of these communal facilities are bad (except for slimy, stained shower curtains), but I find them inconvenient. This is partly due to laziness. If, for example, I wanted to eat something in the kitchen, I would have have to gather the food I'd be taking, unlock the door, open it, close it, lock it again, walk down the hall to the kitchen, rinse the dishes I'd be using, prepare whatever I'd be eating and eat it (OK, I'd have to do that anyway, but still...), clean whatever I used, and execute the inverse of steps 1-6 in reverse order. So 'n Pech!

The view out my window is fabulous. My window faces east, so I get to see beautiful sunrises. As the rooms are not equipped with curtains, I get to see these sunrises whether I want to or not. They act as a natural alarm clock, as the room is flooded with light after about 7:00.


< The moon rises full and orange out my window, 8 Sept. >

http://www.douglas-fir.net/images/ausblick_fruehmorgen.jpg
http://www.douglas-fir.net/images/ausblick_abend.jpg

I never seemed to have a problem with jetlag when I arrived here, but the change seems to have altered my natural sleep cycle; instead of wanting to go to bed at 2:30 in the morning and wake up at 11:00 as was the case in Portland, so far I have been getting very sleepy in the evening around 10:00 and usually wake around 7:00. If you're counting 9 hours ahead of the time this was posted, you'll see that I was well past the start of my "very sleepy" time. I really wanted to post an update, though. I have a hike tomorrow, and I'll try to get some good pictures.

The weather has been gorgeous here. Temperatures have been in the 70s, it's been a little breezy, with big puffy clouds rolling across the sky all day.

I got a room today at the Waldhäuser Ost student village north of Tübingen. I am on the 14th floor! (In Germany it is the 13th floor. Numbered levels start after the ground floor in Europe.) It is small but comfortable. I'm happy with it. (Of course, I'll only be staying in it for a month; who knows how the dorm in Ludwigsburg will be!)

At the moment I'm in an internet café in Tübingen. I should have internet in my room tomorrow. I'm hanging out with Justin and another Oregon student, and having a blast.

Can't stay long here, but thought I'd give the quick update. Photos coming in the next several days!

The wheels of the airplane touched the runway at the Airport in Stuttgart at 8:31 AM local time on Sept. 2. After picking up my backpack and lashing my carry-on bag onto it, I headed into the area of the airport accessible to the general public, feeling very lost and alone. I wandered amid the sea of people for a while, trying to decide what to do. As I gathered information and found where the bus to Tübingen would come, I found some encouragement amid my confusion: I started to realize how much my German had improved in three years. When I was in Germany for two and a half weeks in 2003, my practical language skills were limited to simple conversations, with difficulty reading or writing on abstract topics. This time around, I felt more comfortable from the moment I started speaking at the Stuttgart Airport. Of course I had already known that my German would be better, but there's nothing like being dropped into the middle of Germany all by one's self to demonstrate the difference.

The wait for the bus was long enough so that I could have lunch. At about a quarter past 11 it came, and I was on my way. The country side was beautiful between Stuttgart and Tübingen; the road passed forests, farmland, and several small towns. When the bus came to its final stop near the center of Tübingen and let all the passengers off, I once again felt somewhat lost. I sat down on a bench for a while. It was a little early to go to the youth hostel, where I would be staying for the first two nights. I wasn't hungry. I was fatigued, and didn't feel like sightseeing, least of all carrying a bulging frame backpack with a travel bag precariously strapped to it that together felt like a bag of cement. I knew that the hostel was right on the River Neckar, so I started walking in that direction, figuring that I would at least find the hostel and become oriented with the layout of the town. I had just found the Gartenstrasse, along which the hostel is located, and was starting down it, when I heard someone call out in English,

"Hey, Caleb!"

I looked across the street, and there, sitting at a table outside a little restaurant, was Justin, one of my friends from PSU! Last year he was taking the same German and French classes I was taking for two terms. It turns out he came one day earlier than I did, and he was also staying at the hostel. After talking for a while, we headed for the hostel. After I was a little bit settled and had my luggage stowed, Justin and I walked into town again. He was able to show me around a little bit, including where there was an internet café, and where I could buy bottled, non-carbonated water (drinking fountains are not a German phenomenon. I spent my first day in Germany feeling very dehydrated). After downing a liter of water, I suddenly had a wave of weariness sweep over me. My lack of sleep had caught up with me. Up until then, I had felt fatigued, but not particularly sleepy. The excitement of my first day in Baden-Württemberg had kept me in a floaty, artificially awake state. On our way back to the hostel, we each got an ice cream cone. It was not yet 4 o'clock, but it turned out to be my dinner. I had planned to go to the internet café after a while, but once I got to the hostel, I was so tired that I just sat on my bed and fought to stay awake until sleep overcame me, or that's how it appeared, for all of a sudden it was 8 o'clock when my eyes floated open again. It was dusk, and quiet. Justin, it appeared, had fallen asleep in the same manner I had: on, not in bed, and still dressed for the day. I was mildly disgusted that I had fallen asleep so early; I feared that I wouldn't be able to sleep during the night. I needn't have worried, however; aside from waking up for a short time around 3:30, I slept fairly well. I already feel acclimated to the time. I can't help but think that my complete lack of sleep the night before my departure may have helped me in that department.

This morning, I went to a 10:00 church service in a beautiful cathedral in the center of Tübingen. At around 10:00, all the church bells from around the city pealed for minutes, creating a glorious chaos of sound. As the service progressed, I was reminded of the church service I attended the last time I was in Germany and, once again, how much my German had improved since that time. Then, I really didn't understand enough of the message to be able to tell much about it. This time, I understood the vast majority of the sermon. Makes me think I might be able to actually do this. Tomorrow: First day of the month-long orientation for Oregon students.