Hello Family, Friends.... dogs,
We know you've been waiting to hear from us, but as stated in the title, there have been a few minor setbacks: this late post and a lack of photos. The late post is a result of our unpredictable wifi connection that goes in and out all day. It's happening to work right now, so I'm posting fast! The lack of photos I have for you is because it has been pouring rain most of our first day here in Leipzig (by the way, thanks, Momma, for forcing me to take my rain boots- they saved me).
So now to the good stuff! Here is what we have done so far:
The plane/bus rides went smoothly, and the ride in Leipzig from Berlin was breathtaking! We all keep saying how we are so glad we came to Germany instead of Oxford, which is the place most ACU students choose. The architecture is beautiful, the history is rich (2015 marks the 1,000th year anniversary of the city of Leipzig!), the food so far has been delicious, and the Germans we have interacted with have been so friendly! Our first night in Leipzig we ate at a nice Pizzeria, then went back to the hotel room and played Bananagrams with our friends, then walked around the city center and found an ice cream shop. Today, we did a walking tour of the musical landmarks around city center. Some of the places we saw were Gewendhaus, which is the place that has the oldest orchestra in the world, the Mendelssohn house (which is cool because Alex, Zach, and I have played a piece by him and we got to see where he lived!), the graveyard of Wagner's parents and other famous musicians, St. Thomaskirche, the Leipzig Opera House, and the Graphic Quarter, which is the Music Publishing House- the oldest one in the world that issued the first editions of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, etc.
Then it started raining. So we went to find a snack at a cafe then went to our rooms.
By they way, we are staying at a really cool apartment in the fancy area of city center called Quartier- M. I posted a short video tour of mine and Mikayla's room.
Tonight we ate dinner with our friends at this AMAZING middle eastern restaurant called Aladin. We all had the infamous Dรถner Kebab. It tasted really similar to a greek gyro. Then we had cake and coffee at an unexpectedly fancy McDonalds. Now we have 57 pages of reading and a quiz tomorrow on our first day of classes...
K well Alex and my family always make fun of me for detailing every aspect of my life- so I apologize. I probably won't have time to write all the time but I thought you would want to hear about our first couple of days.
Some things we have learned:
1) German is really close to English.
2) Germany doesn't like to have air-conditioning... and it doesn't need it.
3) Schnitzel tastes like chicken... or that's what Alex and I thought it was.
4) Ice cream tastes like cream blended with ice, not frozen cream.
5) All German men seem to dress nice all the time.
6) Tipping waiters isn't a thing.
7) Strawberry wine is a thing.
8) Mcdonalds is classy- they have glasses and silverware.
9) The middle eastern waiter at Aladin loves George Bush.
10) Germany caters to blind people- the Euro bills and coins are all different sizes, the sidewalks are paved with different stripes and textures, and there are clicking sounds at crosswalks.
11) Girls like to dye their hair strange colors.
12) Only one TV channel is in English- CNN World.
Every building looks cool.
So much excitement.
I'm like the mom who is never in any of the pictures.
The graveyard of the famous musicians and relatives.
Yeebz enjoys the sights.
Interesting tree sighting.
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