Weekend/Monday Update

On Sunday, a bunch of us went to the little town of Staufen on the edge of the Black Forest. It was founded in the 8th Century A.D. and is supposedly where Dr. Faustus sold his soul to the devil. We were there for Narrentreffen, which is the annual carnival/birthday celebration that takes place in the form of a gigantic parade. It's simultaneously awesome and hard to believe that German adults feel totally comfortable marching around in this:




The parade was super fun to watch. Groups from all the different regions in Baden-Wuerttemberg all marched in different costumes with brass bands and various props (including pig bladders on a stick. These were used to whack people on the head, and no one complained). We joined the tradition of watching with cups of Gluhwein, which is hot mulled wine that's really popular in this part of Germany. We folllowed it up with Wurst and a hike up the nearby Schlossberg to the castle at the top:



It's a great little walk, and the castle ruins are fun to walk around. It was destroyed by the Swedes a couple hundred years ago. I was previously unaware that the Swedes had ever destroyed anything, but there you have it. I'll post the link to a bigger photo album as soon as I have time to make it.

In other news, classes started today. For those of you who don't know, the program I'm doing is an EU-focused program that offers classes in economics, politics, international relations, and cultural studies. We also take German, and this week is the intensive phase where we do German and an EU seminar every single day. They're pretty good so far. Our professor for the EU Seminar is British and keeps professing his love/hate for Margaret Thatcher and making fun of the French. Here's a gem resurrected in his class today: "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." (Jed Babbin, 2003). I think it's a good sign so far - this course should be funny if nothing else.

All for now - bis spaeter!