Wow!

So a lot has happened in the past week and a few days. Sorry for the lack of post. The one night I set aside time to post was the night that Blogger decided to be down for maintenance.

Anyway. In the third week of classes and have finally narrowed it down to the classes I'm hopefully taking. I have 18 credit hours if I want to compare to UIUC, of which I hope I'll only end up taking 16 credit hours worth of finals. Basically here you go to class and then sign up for the final exam and then take that and get credit. It's quite different than the US but works in my favor because it gives me time to decide what I do and do not want to take a final for. Which at the moment is quite helpful since U of IL is being quite unhelpful in approving my classes abroad.

Anyway! Austria was gorgeous. It was great to see my host family again, especially Lisa since I hadn't seen her since I left! It was also good to have a home cooked meal! I also got to meet up with a friend from school there and explore a little more of Austria. And see the MOUNTAINS!!! (pictures soon... I haven't uploaded the last week's yet).

This last weekend was also quite insane. On Saturday, TUMI took a train to Regensburg. Regensburg, like every other city in Germany, has a church. It's a large church and it's a pretty church, but it is just a church. It also has a really, really old bridge. They started building it in the 1100's and it took 800 years to build. At that time it was the only bridge over the Danube in that area, so it was really important. It's a pedestrian bridge now.

Then Saturday night was the "Long Night of the Museums" which is a yearly event in Munich where all the museums in the city (and there appear to be over 100) are open from 7pm-2am. You buy a 15 euro ticket and you can get into any or all of them all night. A group of 7 of us started at 8:30 and went till 2. We hit 9 museums. We started out with 20 minutes each... so it was more of "glance at the museum". It was quite fun though. The downside is that they are pretty crowded because of all the people, but I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

Then Sunday TUMI went to Lindau, on the Bodensee. Bodensee is the largest lake in Germany, and it's on the corner of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We took a train down to Bregenz in Austria, 15 minutes away and toured the city, then took an hour long boat ride around the Bodensee and then toured Lindau. It's quite the pretty city once the fog goes away! The mountains and the lake are really nice. That was almost 3 hours away.

Pictures:
Lindau- Bodensee with the Alps in the background, Bregenz's church (sorry, forgot to rotate!), the city hall of Linda (colorful house) and the only lighthouse in Bavaria with the stone lion
Austria- the Alps (x3 because they're gorgeous)
Regensburg- Regensburg's big church and the 1100 AD bridge

Austria!

Going to Austria for the weekend! Post when I get back! Life has been insane with classes this last week!

So, the first weekend we spent touring the city center with TUMi. The second weekend, Nicole, Nick and I decided to explore a couple of the other highlights of the city, those not connected with old buildings. On Saturday, Nicole and I went to the Munich Zoo. It’s huge. One of the first things we noted was the lack of fences… Instead there was a knee-high fence and then you watched the animals either through a grove of trees or beyond a pond/stream. It was kinda cool. We were pleased to see that the lions and tigers were caged in though. The other thing we noticed was that the animals are really, really friendly and interactive. Some of them (monkeys in the inside part of the exhibit) were literally trying to play with people through the glass. The polar bear put on a show diving into the water and splashing. It was cool. It wasn’t till we were leaving that the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. We walked around the city for a bit and went to the famous market. It was a little expensive (tourism) but fun to look through.

The next day, Nicole, Nick and I met to tour BMW. BMW is located across the street from where I live. There are four buildings, the office building (tall and constructed like “four cylinders”), the factory (which offers tours Mon-Fri), the museum (bowl shaped), and the BMW Welt (BMW world) which is the largest BMW showroom of all their latest technology. And also a very, very interestingly designed building. I know this because Nick and Nicole are both architectural majors. It apparently defies the rules. BMW Welt is free to walk around. We did, and then went over to the museum and walked through that as well. It was pretty interesting (coming from someone who doesn’t care about cars). They do have a sample of their first hydrogen-fueled car there. I could get a job here! They also have a pretty awesome synthetic car that literally molds itself as necessary (the fabric retracts into itself to open up the headlights when they are on, and the car splits down the middle to get in and out).After we were BMW-ed out, we walked over to Olympia Park. It’s really pretty. Also home to Munich’s hill. Munich is about as flat as Illinois. This hill is man-made. After the city was bombed, they collected the rubble, piled it up, and made a hill out of it. Looking south you call also see the outline of the South Bavaria Alps.

Photos:

awesome picture of a giraffe
tiger at feeding time
BMW office building and Museum
BMW World
Awesome synthetic car
More fun animal photos

Hint, hint...

Kelsey Salisbury
Helene-Mayer-Ring 7B/0457
80809 Munich, Germany

By the way... I have an address. Perhaps people have interest to send mail to Germany?

Anyway, we've had GORGEOUS weather the last few days. After the first five or six days of no heat and nights in the 30's and days in the 40's, I finally have heat and it's been in the 70's! Yesterday and today I left my room WITHOUT A COAT! (and didn't regret it)... it was great.

Anyway, zoo and BMW are gonna be pushed back a minute. I've taken to carrying a notepad around with me and jotting down things I notice. I thought I'd share...

The escalators here are the coolest things ever. First off, I like how they go up like 2 or 3 floors on one escalator. They are long. Second off, they aren't continuously running. If no one is riding on them for 30-60 seconds or so (there's a sensor at the beginning), they stop running. There are also certain "Wechselrolltreppe" (switchable escalators) which means they run in either direction. After they stop, they start up again in the direction someone wants to go. I think they're really neat.

There are no coins in fountains over here. Or at least the fountains I've seen. I noticed this about the time I noticed you never seen coins lying on the ground either. As some of you know pretty well, you can make like 30 cents a day picking up coins in the US, but I haven't seen a single one yet, and I've been looking...

Stores! I followed another exchange student to the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum (Read: Olympic Shopping Center, or Mall two stops away on the subway from the Olympic Center, where I live). It's a pretty big mall in Munich apparently. For those of you from St. Louis, it's smaller than West County. For those at UIUC, it's about the same size as the mall on Prospect. Impressive, Munich. But that aside... as we're walking through all these clothes stores I was amazed at how messy everything was. All the clothes were thrown about everywhere - on the floor, on the wrong table, inside out, just tossed down. It was a huge mess. The employees, by the end of the night, started to walk around and refold shirts and bring them across the store to where they belonged. It was interesting...

Dogs... so this is one of my favorite. This was also the case in Austria but never ceases to fascinate me. Dogs are much more a part of society here. First off, they're allowed in bars, in malls, on subways, in cafes, etc. Secondly, they usually don't wear leashes. Which means when you do see a dog outside a store waiting, it's usually just lying there patiently waiting. Walking the street you'll see a dog just trotting along, then he'll pause to wait for his owner to catch up and you'll realize he's out on a walk without a leash. They're extremely well behaved as well. Someone explained to me that it's because as soon as Germans get their puppies they start taking them out with them everywhere they go. At this stage you actually put more of a harness on the dog, not just a leash (like around the upper body). The more people the puppy meets (which it obviously meets a lot if it's going out every day with owners), the more accustomed to people it becomes so pretty soon new people are familiar and it's just really well behaved and doens't require a leash. I find this fascinating.

The other thing I've noticed is how different Munich and Austria actually are. Munich is a big city (third largest in Germany) and also quite cultured... thus all the American things I couldn't find in Austria (bagels, donuts, muffins, cookies, cheddar cheese, pancakes, etc.) already exist here. Starbucks, Subway, Burger King and McDonalds are the main chains here. I know where two or three subways are and I can find more McDonalds here than I know in St. Louis (I'm thinking of two... west on Manchester by New Ballwin area and Big Bend and Dougherty Ferry). The first cafe I went to here was the "San Franscisco Coffee Cafe", which is a large chain here that has a menu in English for coffee and serves large chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake and extra large Starbucks muffins. Actually, apparently muffins have been around in Munich as a craze only recently. I've also seen several bagel shops, like St. Louis Bread Co (Panera to the rest of you). Then I saw one restraunt serving "pancakes with syrup" on their menu. It was, however, located under both the breakfast menu and the dessert menu. But basically, the typical American things pretty much exist here, though they may be a little harder to find.
The other large difference is just that to be honest the cities in Austria I find to be a lot prettier... part of the reason is that a lot of Munich was destroyed after the war so they had to rebuild so it's nowhere near as old as most of the rest of Europe. Some of it is, still, obviously, and the architecture is still impressive, but it's a different feeling.

Anyway, I've also found out that if I take the elevator to the 15th floor (Read: 16th floor since Germany starts counting on our 2nd floor) and go out to the rough, you have an awesome view of the Bavarian/Austrian Alps on a clear day. I haven't been around when it's light out still on a clear enough day yet, but I've checked up twice. It's an impressive view regardless.

Bis bald!

Getting there...

So I finally have finished most of the paperwork/initial to-do list here.

I have heat in my room! (now that the temperature is back up to the 60's)
I have a working German SIM card for my phone.
I have a German bank account that I now have the bank card to so I can officially put money into it (though apparently the dollar just dropped again???)
I have a student card (and am thus officially a TU student!)
I have approved health insurance for Germany (easier said then done... they have some pretty tough requirements)
I have registered with the city as living in Munich
I have a visa (!!!)
I know how to use the subways
I know where the Post Office is as well as several bakeries and several grocery stores
I know exactly when I can leave my room and still make it to the subway before the train leaves
I have officially re-addicted myself to German cookies (think semi-sweet biscuit like cracker with nutella like spread in between)

Still working on classes... hopefully getting there...

Coming up: my visit to the Munich Zoo and the BMW plant

The City of Munich!

(read this as if it were written on Sunday... when I actually started it, then saved as a draft)



I saw it twice today. Which means I've now taken a Munich city tour four times in my life. Not bad...

TUMI held a city tour at 10 this morning for the exchange students. It was a three-hour walking tour... something they neglected to mention. We started in the Inner Stadt (Read: city center and heart of the original city), saw the Old and New Courthouses (Alt Rathaus and Neu Rathaus) as well as the Mariensauele (the large column with the gold-painted statue on top). The New Courthouse was built to show off Munich's wealth. It's famous because at 11, 12 and 5, it's like a cuckoo clock and life sized people come out of the tower and dance. The entire square gets crowded with tourists to see this. We then headed around the city to see the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's very own local brewery... located directly across from a Hard Rock Cafe. We saw the square of multi-architectural history. Ludwig I liked to travel and show off. So he went to Rome and saw something he liked and built it. Then he went to Florence... then France. This resulted in a square with a building stemming from each of these styles on each corner. One of the above is a large yellow church (visable in a picture), another is the place where Hitler took control of Germany. Then headed to the English Garden, which is absolutely great. It's one of the largest urban parks ever, even bigger than Central Park. It's easy to get lost in but really pretty. One of the pictures is a view of the tower tops of Munich from an overlook. People flock out in the grass to lay and sunbathe. There's a nude section, but it was so cold that there was only one person taking advantage of the sun. Don't worry, that's across the river. The Chinese Dome is also there, which is a large tower in which bands play Bavarian music in the middle of a beer garden. Then there's the surfing... yes, surfing. A stream runs through the garden with ice cold water. In spite of this, surfers in wet suits take advantage of the really rough wave/rapids created at the start (and ignore the CAUTION: NO SURFING signs) while dozens of people look on. This happens every day. The tour then took us around the other side of Munich to the Frauenkirchen, the famous church of Munich. We saw two of the three gates to the city (from the olden times). Following this tour, Nicole and I broke away to go eat lunch and then met up with Erika and her friend, Charlotte. Then we did it again...

Actually, only half of it. We only went as far as the English Garden. Once we got there we kinda chilled in the grass for a while since it was a beautiful day and it was warm enough TO TAKE OUR COATS OFF! It was GREAT!

By the end, I think Nicole and I were extremely tired of walking. We stopped for "supper" at an Eis (ice cream) Cafe. Because it was a "warm" day today, everyone was eating ice cream. Ice cream is actually one of the things that is CHEAP in Munich. A cone for 1 Euro. The ice cream is really good, too... a little closer to gelato. Anyway, we decided to take advantage of the fact that it was in the mid 60's, so Nicole and I split an Eis Pizza (ice cream pizza). The thing about these cafes is that they love to be elaborate. They have these great creations of fruit, nuts and ice. Ours was a vanilla ice cream crust covered with all kinds of fruit. Kiwi, apple, pineapple, honeydew, etc. The first fruit since I've been here... oops!

Anyway, home again and trying to upload the pictures. Ready to not walk as much tomorrow!

Pictures:
Mariensauele (column with gold painted statue)
Alt Rathaus (the more impressive of the two, with the gothic style)
Frauenkirchen (the two large towers on the church)
View of the tops of all the towers in Munich from an overlook in the English Garden
Sendlinger Tor (one of the three gates in Munich)
Hofgarten (the palace garden in the city with a church in the background)

Oktoberfest!

Okay, so plans got changed around a little. But now I've been to Oktoberfest and it was everything it had promised and more. Yesterday, Erika's friend wasn't feeling well so they decided to push it back till today. So we met at the train station closest to the fest at a quarter to eight and walked the rest of the way. Nicole and I were dressed like Americans. Erika and Charlotte had drindls on. Oktoberfest is a huge section of land with several large "tents" set up. By tent, I mean, essentially a building they put up just for the three weekends/two weeks of Oktoberfest that seats a couple thousand. We found a tent that didn't have quite as many people crowded outside it and crowded outside it with those who were. At 8:30 the doors open. Think halls of highschool between passing period with the realization that the first one out gets a free trip to Europe or something. I'm surprised no one got trampelled. We managed to get in. Not everyone did. They monitor who they let in, I guess. We got a table and were later joined by five guys from near Frankfort. Within an hour the entire place was packed. They start serving beer at 9. One liter of beer for 8.25 Euro. Unfortunatley you actually have to buy one or they do their best to kick you out since the waiters work off tip and they expect you to buy as quickly as you can down it. So I bought one. Took a sip. Confirmed that I do not like beer, every Oktoberfest beer, and handed it off to the Drindle girls in exchange for the Pretzle-as-big-as-my-head. Pretzles in Germany are served cold, not warm.

Anyway. Music started at 12. Hence forth it became more crowded as people started dancing on the tables to traditional Bavarian tunes and crowding in the previously clear aisles. We were actually kicked out at 3. Kicked out being a harsher term for "it was implied that we should leave by our waiter who brought four other guys over to our already full table which is the Oktoberfest way of saying, it's been serveral hours since you've ordered. I want money. Order more beer or leave." We left. Getting out was possibly the most difficult part since pushing and shoving through a room where movement is all but impossible is not entirely easy.

Outside we saw the second half of Oktoberfest. The fest for famillies and children. There was a huge carnival with pretty intense rides for a carnival (even a rollercoaster), ferris wheel, more food than you can possibly imagine, souvineers, etc. We circled it a couple of times and decided after seven hours in the tent, we'd had enough.

Pictures: (figure out the order yourself)
Erika and Charlotte dressed in drindls
Me with One Liter of beer that I took a full sip of!
Nicole and I with Preztle-As-Big-As-Our-Heads
The inside of the tent, complete with overcrowdness and people dancing on tables.

Welcome to Oktoberfest!

I HAVE INTERNET!

I have internet! I'm so happy!

Got in early on Wednesday. The flight wasn't horrible as I actually managed to sleep. My baggage was already there by the time I got through Passport Control, which was also easy, as was Customs.
I love German customs. Nothing to declare, just walk right through. So I did. TUMI (I'm attending TUM and TUMI is the international group within for exchange within) met me at the airport eventually... I had to wait a bit before she showed up because she was also picking up another student at a different terminal. This was Nicole, from Rhode Island, who speaks no German but is in the architecture program so this apparently doensn't matter, and who interned in St. Louis two summers ago. So the three of us took the train to my dorm and then dropped me off and Nicole was taken to her dorm.

I haven't unpacked yet so I'll send pictures later. The room is on the 4th floor in the Olympium Zentrum, which is the section of the city that was built for the Olympics in 72? (somewhere around there). It's now student housing and the main building (with pool, etc.) is for students. It's one of many student housing sections which are spread out all over the city. All the other exchange students are convienently in another section of housing, where I would have been if my application hadn't been messed up... long story there... but anyway.

So TUMI has orientation for the first two weeks. 1-5 pm is a daily German course. I'm in the upper level. I'm the only USA student in my class. Most are from France actually. All are from Europe. I'm also in the advanced class. We read texts and discuss in groups. It's not bad, actually, beside being a little long, but it keeps me busy. So that's what I did today and yesterday afternoon. Yesterday evening I tried to fix internet but it is an insanely difficult concept here (ethernet) which requires like 6 different numbers/codes, a few of which you must go to the student office to obtain which is convienently open from 9-12:30 daily. So fail on that one. For dinner I went to Erika's. She was an exchange student from Texas last year who liked it so much she transferred. There are also five Americans here from Georgia Tech, which apparently has quite the exchange with TUM. I met one of them, Alex, at Erika's. Came home, crashed.

This morning I met Erika to run some errands. We set up a German bank account for me and approved my health insurance. These were some long lines. Went to lunch with Erika, Alex (male) and two other US student, Alex (female), and Rob (who's in Chemistry). Headed to German class, then met Eli, the lady who picked us up from the airport, and Nicole, who was picked up with me. Eli took us to get a phone, so I now have a German SIM card but have not managed to unlock the phone yet. Haven't tried, actually. Went to dinner with Nicole and went shopping. Amusing pictures from shopping, but will post those later. Had to go shopping for the weekend because tomororw is the German Independence Day which, as a national holiday, means absolutetely everything is closed... except for Oktoberfest. So I'm going to Oktoberfest tomorrow early with Erika, Nicole and a friend of Erika's from Switzerland coming to visit. Unfortunately we're going very early (I'm meeting her at 7:15) because it gets crowded FAST!

So, with that being said, I'm off to bed. Wanted to leave an update. I'm safely here!