Deutschland Update

And so I’m in Germany.
And yes, it’s awesome.
And yes, that is my dorm, Charlottenburgerstrasse, aka Berliner Allee, aka the Citrus Chateau.
And yes, there are solar panels on the roof.
And no, it was not designed in the 70's. It's actually the newest dorm.
I got here no problem (except for the fact that my duffel is the HARDEST bag to roll around ever. There will be a baggage exchange when Mike visits.) The journey was actually kind of amusing: fellow participants were accrued as we reached each leg of the journey. Four of us from Penn State left the Philly airport for Frankfurt. At the baggage claim we found three more. Then, at the train station there were two extra additions. I felt like a freshman, but, hey, there’s strength in large travel parties.

All and all, my roommates are pretty nice when I see them. The German custom of keeping your door closed whenever one is in their room, whether or not they wish to be disturbed, kind of hinders the socialization, but I definitely have nice roommates. One girl’s roommates talked about her in German, thinking she couldn’t understand what they were saying (she could), and it was not nice.

I love Freiburg. They have a lot of shopping. Surprisingly, I’m not crippled by the exchange rate (which, by the way, right now is $1 =€ 0.7703(!!!!). I’m having a party if it gets 1:1.). A sweater that I’d pay $15 is €10, so it works out wonderfully. I can’t do much more shopping, otherwise I don’t know how I’ll bring everything home. Seriously, though, Freiburg is such a cute, quaint city, but still big enough to actually be a city. Everything is so beautiful.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Germany, too. So far I’ve been to the “Tuscany of Germany” and Heidelberg. Both were beautiful. This southern region of Germany looks so much like home it hurts. If you changed the architecture from beautiful to boring, it would be NEPA. Even the weather is the same (though, recently, it’s been better than in the US).
My grandfather kept telling me have to go the München to see this gorgeous castle that is lit up at night to look like it’s on fire and has a huge vat of wine. Sorry, Grandpa, it’s actually Heidelberg (What are the chances?)! The picture is of said huge vat of wine. I know it’s blurry (The lighting was bad.), but you just have to see it. More pictures will be posted on Facebook soon. Oh, and in Heidelberg, I went to a FAKE Hard Rock Café! I saw burgers for €3,10 and thought, “What a great deal!” The food was crappy, and, if you look at the Hard Rock Café’s website, you will find that there is no Hard Rock Heidelburg! I was swindled in the town where Martin Luther defended his thesis!

And David Bowie just came up on my playlist (What Babe?) Surprisingly, this is the first real wave of homesickness that has hit me. Hmm… that’s a pretty good track record, actually. Anyway, I miss you all! And now that I’m (finally) settled in, I’ll write more frequently. Until next time!