Holi Braunschweig 2013

Before

The Holi festival was awesome! Tons of music and color powder everywhere! Lines that were 12 miles long and people dancing everywhere! We all started white and left 25 different colors! We all were there for hours! It lasted from 11:00 am till 10:00 pm! Every full hour everyone there and the live band playing threw colored powder in the air! It was so much fun despite the fact that you could barely breathe durning the full hour color throwing! Not to mention I'm still sneezing colors! 

After 

Celle

Today we visited Frau Legall's home. Some of us went to school  for a bit, then took the bus to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station in the city), while some of us were taken directly there by our hosts. Personally, I went to school first, and experienced a French lesson. In Germany. I understood absolutely nothing, but it was rather interesting to watch.

Frau Legall drove by car over to Celle, letting us find our own way as a sort of 'final exam'. She bought our train tickets, then left it up to us to get to the right track and read the departure lists. It was a bit chilly in the morning, on the train tracks. Some people forgot jackets and had to borrow from other people.

The first thing we did upon arriving in Celle and meeting Frau Legall was to walk to the castle there. On the way we passed a lovely federal prison!

It was odd to see people's homes pressed right up against the prison walls, with children's toys in the yard and the like, but apparently this is a really secure facility. No one has ever broken out.

Near the castle we saw this statue: 

Around and in Celle is a major breeding grounds for a fantastic horse breed, used often as war-horses when they were still used in warfare. Around the castle was a moat. Due to time and all that lovely flooding, it was clogged and filled with gunk, so it had been drained and was being cleaned out. We got to see a few odd things down there as we stood on a bridge. Such as a bike and an umbrella. 

At the bridge, we met up with a tour guide, who showed us around the city. 

She was actually rather adorable. When she started speaking I thought she might be mocking us with how she spoke her English, but then I realized it was just how she talked, sort of like cooing at a kid, but less annoying. She pointed out some really neat things on the buildings. Such as a Goldscheißer. I really do hope I spelled that correctly. Bluntly put, it translates to gold-shitter, and it was painted on a house to bring good fortune.

Towards the end of the tour, we were taken to a horseshoe set in the cobblestone streets, and told that it was thought that if you stepped on it, and made a wish, that wish would come true. Of course, we all had to give it a go.

Frau Legall looked right at home. Which, I guess, she was. It was rather fun to hear and see her point out everywhere she knew with a big smile.

On the way to her parents' house, she pointed out one of these book boxes. Apparently, it's an honor-system 'take a book, give a book'. You take a book from the box for free, and replace it with a different one. Some of these books were current popular hot-demand books, too.

Frau Legall's parents were adorable. They cooked little cakes and ham-and-cheese biscuit things, and cut up strawberries to have with icecream and gave us fizzy apple-juice... It was really sweet.

Her niece and brother and sister-in-law dropped by to visit about halfway through. The niece is in third grade, and is just now learning English. It was adorable to have a conversation with her. She knows about as much English as I know German. Except better. I felt a little silly, but I enjoyed talking to her, in both languages.

The trip home was the same deal as the trip to Celle. Frau Legall saw us off at the station, and we saw to layovers and such alone. In the Braunschweig Haptbahnhof, we saw a man dressed like this come through:

I was trying to figure out what religion he is of, since I think that may be why he is dressed oddly. He was being led about by another man and a woman. It really is fascinating to see all of the different people who come through the train stations.

--Erica

A school day

Today was Thursday and we had a normal school day, taking a break from our travels. The school in Braunschweig is a completely new experience for everyone on this trip. When we arrive it is usually by bus or bicycle which is much different than our usual car ride to school in America. We walk into the school, a simple and old building. Outside the windows we can see the hundreds of bicycles parked along the school wall, which is different compared to the two that sit outside our own school. 

Before school starts we walk up the many stairs and go to our classrooms with our exchange students. We sit in the same classroom for every class and the teachers come to us, which may make the day seem a little long because we don't move. However, unlike our school in America the teachers here keep the many windows open, keeping us awake. 

During the school day teachers may be a little strict and the classes may be more difficult, but for the most part the students get a lot more freedom than we're used to. On some days, like today, we get out of school early, so we all walk or ride our bikes into the city center to hang out or shop, before we go home. We all have gained a feeling of freedom and independence while being here.

Heidepark Soltau and Eintracht Braunschweig Soccer Stadium

 

Yesterday we visited the nearby Heide park. This is an amusement park comparable to SixFlags. We had such a great time riding all of the roller coasters and walking around the park! 

Today, we went to school and then toured the Braunschweig soccer stadium. The Braunschweig "fussball"team recently moved up to the premier league so it was really interesting to see the stadium where the highest level of soccer will be played.

Autostadt a.k.a. Autoheaven

Today we took a trip to the Autostadt in Wolfsburg. This place was a car lover's heaven! First we get on a lil VW bus/train and get a first hand, English, tour of the factory! Our Bus/Train broke down and we walked through the rest of the factory. After that we went to the Museum and to a stroll through car history,from seeing a 1912 Bugatti to a 2009 Bugatti! This city was my place to be. We went through a "Private Clubhouse" and saw the Chrome Bugatti, 1000+ horsepower all in a chrome shell! Next we went to the Audi exhibit and sat in the Audi R8 in Iron Man 3! After that we went into a very interesting Lamborghini exhibit and hear the incredible revving of the car, she can purrrr. After having some authentic VW curry wurst we stopped off at the Porsche exhibit and sat in some Porsches! After we had our fun in the Autostadt we crossed the bridge and did some outlet shopping! We ended our day with a good bus ride home. 

I love this million dollar car

A Hamburg-er Weekend

Friday we arrived home after a good ol' train ride and our host families picked us up. After unpacking, we just stayed at home and recuperated from the massive amount of traveling done that week in Berlin and Dresden (all the walking was totally worth it). On Saturday some of us decided to head out to Hamburg. The city was fantastic and we saw alot of the city. The Rathaus (city hall) was my favorite part of the town. 

Then we went around to H&M and shopped a little bit and just continued our tour of the town. This title doesn't mean nothing, before we left we went and had some hamburgers! On Sunday a few of us met up at the park and just hung put, playing some paddle ball! 

Dresden: Day 1

Today we traveled to Dresden. After getting off the train, we met up with Frau Legall's aunt, who will be our personal tour guide for our stay here. She does not understand English very well, but so far she has been very welcoming of us all. After unpacking in our rooms, we left our hostel to go to our first destination: Frauenkirche. It began as the center of the Lutheran Reformation. There it practiced a policy of acceptance of all people who wanted to be a part of it. It was sadly destroyed in a city wide fire on February 15, 1945 caused when allied boomers dropped over 900 bombs (some of which were incendiary) on Dresden. It was rebuilt some 50 years later when the Wall fell by private donations. We would soon discover that this was not an easy build as many pieces used were from the original church when we stayed for a service.  The Jesus sculpture on the alter was broken into over 70 different pieces.   Before we went, we made our way down to the river area. Due to large rains in Germany and the Czech Republic, many areas near the river were severely flooded (the normal depth is 2-2.5 m, now it is 8.6 m). Regardless of this minor setback, we were able to see many beautiful sites around the town. Eventually our sightseeing led us to the Zwinger, a fairly large and magnificent complex with an expansive courtyard. It was there that we decided that it was a very good place for today's group picture. Soon after we capped off our evening with a wonderful dinner in some of Dresden's restaurants.

Berlin! They might just push you out of the way!

Yesterday we traveled around Berlin ! We went to the Brandenburg Gate, the Bundestag and went on a boat tour around Berlin! We had a Awesome private tour of the Bundestag we went under through the tunnels and saw all the offices of congress and had our picture taken with the German Secretary  of State -Guido Westerwelle-(picture coming later) Everything was so beautiful! We also climbed the Berliner Dom after a billion and one stairs we finally made it to the top! However it was worth the climb! The view was incredible a sky view of the huge city of Berlin! We also went to see checkpoint Charlie museum! All of the escapes were unbelievable ! We also went shopping at the KDW! There we saw Michael Phelps!!