A nice weekend!

After I last posted, the weather made a definite change for the better! The weather here in Marburg has been low 50s, hight 70s. After the rain cleared on Friday, the weekend was gorgeous! (And even chilly in the evenings!) What a welcomed change.

The worship service Thursday night was great. The service is held in this really old protestant church in the Altstadt (old city). It over looks Marburg- beautiful view. This church group is what we would call contemporary. They have worship music and a message on Thursday night, as well as bible studies Monday night and a service on Sunday morning. Most of the worship songs were German and the tunes were new to me. It was neat to worship the Lord in another language with people from all different places in this world! They even sang "Sanctuary", but it was translated into Deutsch. They also sang some songs in English, only one of which I was familiar with (Hillsong United, Might to Save). Regardless, it was awesome to be among believers and worship in another country and language. I could understand the gist of the message, but Germans talk so much faster than we are accustomed to hearing in language class! It was a good exercise for my listening comprehension skills. I introduced myself towards the beginning when they asked visitors to stand up. I spoke in German, and told everyone where I was from and what I was doing here. A German student came up to me after the service and introduced herself to me after hearing me speak for a minute. She was really nice, and we spoke German and English. She offered to hang out next week, so I am hoping that works out!

On Fridays, we get done with class at 12. I went out with Laura, a Fulbright student, to eat lunch and shop all afternoon. It was a lot of fun, despite the rain. I did more window shopping than actual shopping, but I did end up with a Sigg water bottle, european straightener, and a German dictionary (with the definitions all in German). That evening, the group went bar hopping. This was fun, but I did not last through the night with everyone. I had a few glasses of wine, but that was it! Maybe by the end of the year I will be able to drink beer...in the large quantity that it is served here.

On Saturday, I met Elisabeth and Sophia and we went to the Middle Ages festival. This comes once a year to Marburg, and I guess it would be like the Renaissance festival in Atlanta on a smaller scale (though I have never been). This was quite amusing and interesting. The people that put on this festival sleep in tents on site, and dress up in the medieval garb. I think they travel around Germany, putting on these festivals. They have arts, crafts, entertainment, and food that is all indicative of the times. When you buy cheese for example, they weigh it on a balance with weights old school style. There was a guy that made paper, a guy that made glasses, they had ceramic pottery and baskets...really anything you could think of. I tried mead (honey wine) for the first time. They also had a Fleisch station (meat), with deer bratwurst, and some type of bacon-like meat on a stick. When I think of Germany, I think of meat...

That evening, I went back to Elisabeth's apartment. Some of her friends came over, and we played two board games and ate a variety of snack food. It was fun speaking German, meeting other German students, and trying to understand what was going on . I got the hang of the game after a while, but had to have a lot of English explanation. It is one thing to study German, it is another to understand how to play a German card game you have never played in German! HaHa. I am really glad I was there. It was nice to spend the evening outside of the Studentendorf and in good company speaking German!

On Sunday we had another day trip. We went to Saalburg. Here Roman ruins have been restored and reconstructed to resemble a Roman camp. We had a tour guide, and she explained what the life of a Roman soldier was like. We got to try our hands at archery and javelin. If I had to find my dinner or kill my enemy via javelin or archery, I would either starve to death or be killed...Oh well. Love not war :) We also saw "Limes", the old border between the Roman empire and the Barbarians.

We had another "typisch Deutsch" meal. It was ok, but nothing to write home about...

Tomorrow, I might see The Proposal at the cineplex. All movies here are dubbed in German. No subtitles in German, just audio in German. Should be interesting.

I think my goal this week will be to figure out how to better navigate the grocery store and manage to cook something in our dorm kitchen. As a side note, so many products here are "bio", or organic. Rather than have a special organic section, the entire store is filled with organic products, and they don't necessarily cost more than those that are not labeled bio. In general, food contains fewer or no preservatives, and does not last as long.

So far, I have been impressed with how environmentally conscious the German system operates. (Though, sometimes this can be frustrating for us wasteful Americans). For example, you never find paper towels in bath rooms, you never get styrofoam to-go containers, and there is a very organized garbage/recycle system. Glass, plastic, paper, and organic waste. If you buy a bottle at a grocery store or cafe, glass or plastic, you get a refund for returning the bottle. This ensures it is recycled, and you have incentive to do so because you get money back. I even got 50 cents back at the festival for returning my leftover food to the trash can. This ensures that you won't leave your trash out. The fork was made of wood, and the "bowl" was cabbage leaves, so there is essentially only organic waste. I have already mentioned the lack of shopping bags in stores. There are many trees everywhere. They seem to only cut down trees if it is necessary for building space, rather than just clearing everything in site, which seems to be the norm now in the US. The windows are always large and without panes, so they let in a lot of light and lamps are not needed during the day.

Anyhow, these are just some of my observations.

Thanks for keeping up with me and tuning in to an American's perspective in Germany!

Love,

RL