Heidelberger Schloss

Today we visited the castle ruins on the hill. It was quite a nice experience. We didn't walk up the hill, but instead took the tram up, that takes probably about 45 seconds to a minute. We got there I think about 45 minutes before the tour started, so we had time to walk around the area outside of the castle gate (you have to present your ticket to get in, so we waited and took photos outside it first). Today was quite a bit warmer than it has been, so we didn't mind walking around a bit. It was a wonderful spot from which to take photos of Heidelberg, so I took several. I took a few series with the intent of making a panoramic view with, so I just have to figure out how to do that and then I will post what I come up with. I will post a few photos so far from the castle, but not many because I took a lot.

The group outside the gated part of the castle

The king's palace. This part of the castle is rebuilt.

One of the many stained glass windows inside the rebuilt section of the castle.

This wine-keg was used by the court.
On average, everyone in the court drank 500 gallons of wine a night (total).
This keg holds 55,000 gallons.

A view of our little neck of the woods.
The tall church is the one 50 meters from our Pension.
We were actually able to find our roof!

The castle was fun, but I'm really tired tonight. We also had our first classes today, and then after class Kristen, Nattie, and I walked to the store (about 12 minutes) and then back with groceries, and it was raining at least a little bit both ways. That made me more tired. So overall today was great, but I'm pretty wiped out. It is good to be starting classes though. Tomorrow is my first Germany class (while being here), so I am anxious to see how I do there. Also tomorrow, I meet my instructor for cello. I don't yet have a cello, so I'm not sure how it is going to work out, but I am meeting him, so we will at least have an introduction. Wish me luck!

Grace and Peace,

Suz

Meinen Spaziergang

Today we didn't have much planned: a German culture seminar this morning followed by a visit to a hot-chocolate cafe to practice our German, a visit to the Waschsalon (so we knew where it was), and then a meeting with Martin to go over some ground rules for the Pension. The hot-chocolate cafe was quite a new experience for all of us. For the flavored hot chocolates, they brought a cup of steaming hot milk and a chocolate bar with the flavors that you mix for two minutes and then let sit for one minute before drinking. My hot chocolate was quite different. It was Spanish, and tasted like/had the consistency of melted chocolate chips. It was good, but it was very thick and very rich.

After lunch, which consisted of a 0,45 € roll of bread from a Bakerei around the corner and cheese and salami from the Supermarkt next door to that. After lunch and a little bit of tidying and organizing, I decided to go for a walk to find gloves and a handkerchief. I brought gloves with me, but they are a bit bulky and don't actually keep my hands very warm. With the cold weather, my nose is always running, and it's not as easy to find tissue when you go indoors, so I decided that it would be wise to always have one with me. I actually was successful and found both of the things I sought. I was quite surprised. It was about an 8 minute walk to the end of Hauptstrasse, where the big H&M is, and it was sprinkling a bit and a little windy. It was nice to be inside the warm store, although after a quick search I didn't find what I was looking for. I went next door to a little accessory store where I found wool-mix gloves, which are lightweight but warmer than my bulky gloves. Then I went down the street a bit to a department store much like Macy's and found a handkerchief. I got both for about 5€. After that I walked back up Hauptstrasse a little bit and then veered off and followed the roads which ever way seemed best. I passed what looked like the Theater/Production school, because some people inside were working on what I believe to be sets. After a few more turns I reached the library:

I'm not sure which University building this is, but it's beautiful

One of the colorful, winding streets

I came across several beautiful doors and gates:

I came to the river, and the bridge was beautiful (as always):

And then I made my way back to Hauptstrasse, near the connection to our street, in the Marktplatz:

It was a wonderful walk, and I got to see a bit more of the city without any purpose except to see it. This city is beautiful in the rain.

Grace and Peace,
Suz

Walking Is the Best Form of Transportation

As you may have already guessed, yesterday we did a lot of walking. The day started with more touring of the area. Andrea led us down Hauptstrasse, where we met up with Tim, and then we walked up the street a bit more and then over to the music school where we can practice. The music school is quite small because the University of Heidelberg Music Conservatory is actually in Mannheim. We will get keys for the building and gate so that we can practice whenever we want to. It is about a 10 minute walk from the Pension, which is quite nice, especially since Tim told us that we don’t really have to worry about walking alone at night until it gets really late (like 1 or 2 AM). Heidelberg is very safe. After we left the music school, Tim left us to go to a rehearsal and Andrea took us to the Mensa (cafeteria), showing us various things along the way. The best part of this part of our journey was a bookshelf that we passed on one of the sidestreets that meets Hauptstrasse. Andrea explained that when people are finished with their books they put them on this shelf, free for anyone to take and enjoy. I had heard of something similar in the UK, where old phone boxes are turned into little city libraries, and you bring a book you are finished with and exchange it for another. This is similar, but different in that you don’t have to bring a book to take a book. You just take a book that you want to read. That amount of trust and honesty in this community amazes me. We commented that you would never see something like that in the US, because some idiot would steal all the books and then sell them for his/her own benefit. Not so here. It kind of restores ones hope in humanity.

Lunch at the Mensa was quite a new experience. Andrea told us that when she studied here twenty years ago there was a poll throughout Germany to see which Universities Mensas were good or bad, and Heidelberg’s was voted the worst in the country. They revamped their food-service, and now it is the best in Germany. About half of the food served is organic, and I think she said there is variety from day to day. What I had was quite good. The food is charged by weight, so you get a tray and a plate and then put as much on it as you want/can fit. Then you take it to the cashier and weigh it, and that determines your price. I was silly and had two plates, so it probably could have cost much less (since the plate makes up the bulk of the weight), but it was still a very cheap lunch, much cheaper than a full lunch at APU. After we left the Mensa, Andrea took us on a more extensive tour of the area, and we left Old Heidelberg and entered the newer part (although not much newer, as it looked much the same). This area is not as pedestrian friendly as Hauptstrasse, although it is still much more pedestrian friendly than any place I have seen in the US. Andrea showed us the best places to buy various things, like small everyday things we would need and groceries, and the banks where we could change our money to Euros. The grocery store she took us to, which is the cheapest, is Aldi’s. I recognized this immediately, because there are some Aldi’s in the US. I have seen them mostly in the Midwest, where my grandparents live. It was exactly the same as in the states, except in German. Aldi’s actually started in Germany and then went to the US in a few places. Although I haven’t been there much (only a couple of times with my Grandma when I have visited), it was nice to see something familiar.

Phillip, Chris, Andrew, Kristen, Me, Nattie, and Megan on the Alte Brüke

After our tour we walked back to the Pension to check out our bikes, which actually ended up being a bigger ordeal than I expected. Some of the bikes needed adjusting, but the tool we had wasn’t helping at all. Then we picked bikes and decided just to wait for more tools, only to find that one of the bikes needed a little TLC on the brakes. We finally settled on our bikes and got locks for the keys, so we can start using those as soon as we want. After that Andrea left, and we as a group decided that we wanted to go shopping to get a few necessities. Martin, the owner of the Pension, gave us a tourist map that showed a good route to see the city, which leads across the old bridge, down the riverside to the new bridge, and then back up Hauptstrasse. We decided to take that, and got some beautiful pictures of the city from a new vantage point. Once we crossed the second bridge we went back to the places Andrea had showed us to shop and got a few necessities and groceries. On our way back, just after we entered the pedestrian zone of Hauptstrasse, we saw a trio just setting up to play street music: a violin, and accordion, and a small hand drum. We stood there a few minutes and listened to them play Mozart, and Nattie tipped them. We carried on, and I was on the hunt for a watch, because it has been driving me crazy not knowing the time. I had to go to a couple stores before I found one, but I finally did find one and was satisfied. By the time we got back to the Pension, it was almost 5:00, and we were met in the entryway of the Pension by Martin. We were thinking about going to get some tea and coffee, or even dinner, since we had walked up a bit of an appetite. Nattie has been wanting to try a restaurant called La Boheme (like the opera), and Martin said that was a wonderful idea because they have good food and reasonable prices. So after quickly freshening-up, we headed back out. It’s only about a minute away from the Pension, and we were met at the door by the waiter, who told us that the chef was on his break, but would be back in about 20 minutes and we were welcome to wait if we chose to. We sat down, and then quickly realized that we had been on our feet all day. I suppose we walked about 5 miles yesterday, although it is highly likely that we walked even more than that. It was wonderful just to sit and not have to worry about where we were going next. It is so nice that we have such a small group (7 total) because we were all able to sit together and we will get to know each other much better this way. We were at the restaurant for 3 hours, and got to know the waiter Nikolas a bit. He was very helpful, and very patient. He is studying theology at the university, and is probably a few years older than us. His English was very good, and we exchanged questions back and forth of how to say certain things. While we were the only customers in the restaurant, he was able to keep a pretty steady conversation with us as he put things away. After the chef arrived (“Late,” as Nikolas said, “not the German way”) we ordered our food, which was delicious. I think we were all satisfied with out food. The best part of the whole experience was that Nikolas wasn’t in a hurry to get us out. After more customers arrived he would check on us periodically to see if we needed more food or drink, but never once did he ask us if we were ready to pay. I have noticed that at every sit-down place I have gone to so far, and I know it is the culture, but I like it a lot. The Germans tend to get a bad rap for being so rigid and cold, but my experience has been contradictory to that. So far, everyone I have encountered has been helpful and patient, and when sitting down somewhere, they aren’t in a rush to get you on your way. They take their time and enjoy their food or drink, and allow you to do the same. We sat at the restaurant for 3 hours while we ate and visited, and never once felt like an imposition. It is quite a different experience from the states, and I quite like it. When we left Nikolas told us when we works, and we told him we would be back during his hours next week. If we make this a weekly tradition, I suppose we will have a friend when we leave here.

Grace and Peace,
Suz

The North side of the river, from the new bridge

The South side of the river (the side we are living on), from the new bridge

Erste Tag

Today has been a long day. It's 8 PM, and I'm sitting in bed feeling like it's 1 AM. Although even though it has been long, it has been wonderful. I love this city so much so far, but I'll get to that soon enough.

I woke up on Saturday in California at 8:30 AM. It is now 11 AM on Sunday in California. Save a few hours of sleep on the plane, I have already been up for 24 hours. It started pretty well. My parents came to pick me up from school and my roommates saw me off. We got to LAX with plenty of time to spare, about an hour-and-a-half before my flight was scheduled to leave. I got through all of the checkpoints without any hiccups, and when I got to my terminal (which of course was at the end of a very long hall, and I was carrying two not-light backpacks), there was almost no one there. So I sat down and started reading The Lord of the Rings (of course!). Shortly after that two people who appeared to be my age walked by me to sit down in the same terminal. One of them was carrying an instrument. I was almost certain that I was the only one on my flight from the group of people studying here this semester, so I immediately looked for the email that had everyone's flight itineraries. I quickly found that there were three other people whose flights departed for Frankfurt from LAX at the same time as mine, so I started to wonder if perhaps I wasn't so alone after all. Eventually I finally walked up to them and asked them if they were heading to Heidelberg with the Biola program, and they were! They are Megan and Andrew from Westmont, and not long after that Chris from Biola showed up as well. We all four ended up being on the same flight, which was comforting because it meant we wouldn't each have to navigate Frankfurt alone when we arrived.

Unfortunately on the flight I didn't get much sleep, only about three hours total. When the flight departed, it was midnight German time, so I was determined to get some sleep so I could function when I arrived. It sort of worked. I noticed that I started to shake when I got on the plane, because by that point I hadn't eaten in 16 hours, and my body was starting to rebel. By the time I finally ate breakfast on German time, I had't eaten a meal in almost 30 hours, so I pretty much scarfed down breakfast. It was actually pretty good, so I was happy about that. Fasting for 24+ hours before/during travel and then eating at breakfast time is supposed to force the body to more quickly adjust to the new local time. My dad said it worked for him pretty well when he traveled to Uganda last summer, and it seemed to work pretty well for me today. I was tired, but not so tired that I felt I was going to fall over asleep at any moment. I will truly find out in the morning. 

The drive from Frankfurt to Heidelberg is about an hour long. It was a beautiful drive. The area was covered with snow today, so it looked like, in the words of Nattie, a winter-wonderland. Heidelberg is a beautiful city. It is a modern city that still preserves it's history, and we are actually living in Alt Heidelberg. Our pension is about a 10 second walk from a small square, which has the city hall and Der Heilige Geist Kirche, which at one time was both a Catholic and Protestant church. I'm going to upload some photos, but it is not working right now and I am too tired to wait for it. Here are the photos! The one on the left is the church, and on the right is the city hall, across the square from the church.

After our short tour of the city we had a chance to unpack and get settled into our rooms, and were on our own for the rest of the day. A few of us went out to get a bite to eat at 6ish, and ended up getting delicious crepes (made the right way) and then coffee/tea at a cafe. The tea I had was so delicious. I couldn't read what all was in it, so I took a picture of the description so I can figure it out, 

This is a view of a portion of Alt Heidelberg with the castle ruins up above the city. It's so beautiful!

Tomorrow we have a quick class orientation and then a tour of the castle ruins! Hopefully tomorrow the internet connection will be favorable towards loading photos.

Grace and Peace!
Suzannah

Up, Up, and Away

This is it. I cannot believe it. I'm sitting in the airport, my bag has been checked, I have my boarding pass, and now I just have to wait. My plane boards at 2:15, about 2 hours from now. When we pulled into the airport, there was a New Zealand Air plane sitting by the road at a terminal, and it had a sign for The Hobbit on it! It made me happy. When I was checking in, the attendant offered to check my second bag for free. I was happily surprised. Unfortunately, I have enough things in my second backpack that I need or don't was to risk disappearing that I had to turn her down. It certainly would be easier to check that backpack. It's a bit of a nuisance to have two backpacks to carry around.

So many months of preparation come to this. In the car on the way here I was in disbelief of myself that I'm actually doing this. It's not like it's a spontaneous decision; I have been planning and preparing for a long time. But I'm about to get on a plane and fly for 11 hours by myself to a country I have never been to. I guess I am becoming more independent than I had realized, which is kind of a scary thought. It's normal, obviously, but it's a bit unnerving.

Here I go, on the adventure of a lifetime. I can't wait to eat breakfast. I'm soooo hungry right now. Auf wiedersehen! My next post will be from Germany!

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah

All Packed and (Nearly) Ready

Everything (except last minute things, like my computer) is packed. My life is now consolidated to a suitcase and two backpacks. I am completely amazed. I can't even do that when I move in at school. I was telling my coworkers earlier that I was worried about going over my weight limit with my checked bag, but I packed it all up and weighed it on the scale in the bathroom, which, might I say, was quite a task. First I weighed myself. Then I picked up my bag and checked the weight again to see how much the bag weighs. Sounds simple enough, but the bag isn't a normal suitcase. Oh no. It's a had backed duffel with wheels, which is surprisingly difficult to pick up while balancing on a scale. Nonetheless, I picked up the bag, and discovered that even though it feels much heavier than it was when I tried this last week (which gave me a minor heart-attack), it weighs exactly the same as it did: 40 pounds. That's amazing to me. My bag is packed full, so I expected it to be 51 pounds at least. But it's not!! My carry-on was packed a little too tight for my comfort. It absolutely HAS to fit, so I moved a few things from that backpack to the suitcase, so that should fit fine, and my suitcase is still under my weight limit. I'm thrilled. I still can't believe I did it. Now I have about an hour-and-a-half until I leave town to meet my roommate in Victorville, so I have to make my German helper-book! 

Grace and Peace,

Suzannah

The Last Few Days

I meant to blog last night, but I never got to it. So here now is a recap of my last weekend in California.

My weekend was actually rather successful. The trend for break has been sleeping in super late each morning and getting almost nothing done. This past weekend, the one weekend when I actually needed to get things done, I did get things done! I got some final things from the store that I will be needing, like airplane food (a must!), and few other small things that add up. Sunday I played on the worship team at church. I wish I could have played more frequently during my time home, but it just didn't happen. I'm glad I finally got a chance on my final Sunday. Worship was amazing, the best I have experienced in the past six weeks, because the worship flowed well and the congregation engaged. The past few weeks it has been a struggle to get the congregation engaged in worship, but this week there was joy in the house that bubbled up and over. I was so grateful to be a part of it. Monday my wonderful friend Krystal threw me a farewell party at her house, and she, Zach and I spent the afternoon cooking food in preparation for it. I can't speak for them, but I had a blast. Krystal told me that she looked up a bunch of German recipes in hopes of fixing German food for the party, but she said they were confusing, and she figured I would be eating enough German food in the next few months, so I got a German-chocolate cake instead. It was a kinda complicated recipe, but between the three of us it didn't stand a chance. Zach read the recipe and directions off of the computer and Krystal and I mixed it up. It was delicious. And fun to make. About 15 people showed up that night, and we ate, laughed, and played Crazy Uno (if you have never played Crazy Uno, you should learn. It's so much fun). I had a wonderful time, thanks to Krystal. She had asked me last week if I was having a going away party, and when I told her I wasn't she said, "Lame. I'm throwing you one." I'm glad she did :)

Tomorrow is my last day of work, and then tomorrow evening Dad is driving me to Victorville, where my roommate Malia will pick me up and take me to APU so I can say some final goodbyes to friends. Today my coworkers took me to lunch (Chinese food - my choice) as a final farewell. My coworker Linda gave me a scarf, and Mary gave me handwarmers. In the card that was signed by the whole library, the common theme was "stay warm," and Linda and Mary's gifts kept right along with that theme. I'm super excited to use the hand warmers. I'll save those for really cold days.

So this is it. Soon will be my final farewell and then I will be winging my way to Deutschland. My bags are nearly packed, and I'm almost ready!

Grace and Peace,
Suz :)