Schmeidelberg

Hallo!

So it's been about a week since I last posted on this and a lot has happened. To start off, I arrived in Heidelberg Sunday afternoon. I was somewhat lost at first, but the city is actually pretty small (about 140,000 people), and easy to figure out. Here is a map of where I live/go to school/CASTLE!!!11one!!:

My parents, Frau and Herr Schwarzer, are the typical cliche German old couple. Honestly, if I was making a cartoon with German stereotypical people, it would be this family. They are extremely happy, polite, and organized people. Everything has a label/directions on it. I was kind of nervous at first since Germans aren't known for being warm loving people, but so far it has been great. They don't speak English with me, which is perfect since I'm trying to learn German, and they are always talking and helping me practice. I also live with a guy from Belgian named Anton. He is really cool and speaks pretty good German (and Flemish, French, and English). He goes to a different language school than me, but we leave at the same time in the mornings.

Mein Haus:

"Heidelberg is a pretty city. It was untouched during the wars that dominated the first half of the century and has retained much of its charm making it quite picturesque." The Old Bridge and Castle (Schloss) overlook much of the scenery that I see when I go to school. I take a 10 minute tram ride (see below), from my house to the Aldstadt (Old City) where my school is located.

About 1 in 5 people in Heidelberg are students and it has a lot of international students, including myself I guess. My class at the school is one of the beginner classes and has 9 students. There is a girl from Israel, two Korean girls, a lady from Poland, a Bulgarian dude, a Spanish girl, a British boy, and a Portuguese/Swiss man. The last two are my friends Mike and Nelsen. We have class from nine til a little bit after noon and then the three of us grab a beer or coffee and practice speaking German for about 2 hours and the nearby Heidelberg University student union. We all started this week and both of them just moved to Germany to eventually live with their German girlfriends. Mike only has 4 weeks before he goes up to Hamburg to try and find a job while living with his girlfriend so he has a pretty big incentive to learn. The same pretty much goes for Nelsen. I felt like the odd one out on this one, but I'll just pretend that Ashtyn only speaks German and I need to learn it to prove my love (Hemendinger Ja?).

Food :D I like food. That being said, German cuisine is definitely not Mexican food. I was lucky in Mexico in that I ate some of the best stuff produced on this planet with a huge variety of flavors. German food doesn't quite fill out the spectrum, but that doesn't mean that it isn't good. A lot of potato based stuff (pancakes, fries, etc.) and of course, sausage. I've already eaten several different versions of Wurst and the stuff is actually pretty tasty. It is all good, but what I've really fallen in love with, are the desserts. There are like 800 bakeries per square mile (1.6 km?) here and they make everything look amazing and fresh. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyways), I've had my share of strudel. Its friggin amazing.

Also, BEER. Germany has invented so many of the beers that we enjoy to this day. They excel particularly in making Weizens. Also, they don't use the shorter squattier glasses like in the US, but instead Pilsner glasses which make it look even more beautiful. :

I love Germany.

So basically, I got a pretty good schedule going on of class, speaking practice, working out, dinner, and the occasional beer. I've been absorbing the language like a sponge at every chance I have. Tomorrow my friends and I are going to tour the Schloss and see all the great sites that Heidelberg has to offer. Hopefully I'll be able to put up more pictures soon. Until then, Tschuss!