Damn Volcano

I'm sure everyone has seen the news about the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the ensuring air travel chaos in Europe. All the drama is true - I'm currently stranded in Greece along with the rest of my program. As nice as Athens is, I'm so ready to get back to Freiburg! There's a slim chance that I can fly to Berlin tomorrow and then take an extremely expensive train back to Freiburg, but the airline can't guarantee anything right now. Some other people in my program can't get out of here until Thursday and I might be with them. I hope to be back as soon as possible, though, and then I can post a real update. In the meantime, let's hope the ash cloud somehow disappears! The only way everyone is keeping sane right now is by making jokes about vetoing Iceland's bid to join the EU. Considering that we have no money, no clean clothes, and no guarantee of getting back to Germany, I'm not feeling particularly welcoming towards the country with the unpronounceable volcano.

Bis dann!

Lovely Greece

Greetings from Greece! This is just a quick update to say that I'm having an amazing time on this field trip. Our time in Romania and Bulgaria was really interesting. The part that stuck out most for me was the appearance of the countries. Bucharest and Sofia are still very run-down and poor in many areas, and it was almost comical how the buildings still look so distinctly Communist-era. I had thought that was more a stereotype than a reality, but I was definitely wrong. I'll write more on that when I come home to Germany.

We got to Greece this morning and have had a fantastic time so far. We're staying right near the Acropolis and we spent the day walking around getting to know the city. We're here until Sunday and I'm really looking forward to having lots of time in such an important and historical city. Plus, the weather is absolutely beautiful! We've taken lots of pictures already and I'll be sure to post them as soon as possible.

All for now - I'll try to post again soon!

Finally...

Sorry for the utter lack of posting - I've had a long stretch of homework and paper-writing and I haven't had the time. When I wasn't working on stuff for class, I was spending time with my family here in Freiburg. It was great to have them here and as soon as they send me some pictures, I'll post them up here.

I'm leaving in one hour for Romania! We leave for Bulgaria and Greece a little later in the week. I can't wait for this trip and I hope my excitement level is high enough to carry me through the six-hour bus ride we're taking overnight to the airport. Brilliant idea, trip-planners - start a week-long trip with college students with an all-nighter! Regardless, it should be tons of fun. I'll take lots of pictures and post them as soon as I have the chance. We will probably have some Internet access and I'll update the blog if I can. I promise to post more when I get back! Our destinations are Bucharest, Sofia, and Athens if anyone wants to look up more information about where I'll be.

Bis dann!

Update from Switzerland

Gruezi from the Cranes! We're currently staying in Engelberg, Switzerland and having a great time. The town looks like it came straight out of Heidi - towering mountains, green pastures, tiny cabins perched thousands of feet above the valley, the works. It looks like spring here, but even still, we enjoyed some great skiing today. It wasn't very crowded (being Easter Sunday and all) so we got to ski some fresh powder without lift lines. The mountain is huge and imposing, but we could still handle all the runs without problems. We've got one more day of skiing tomorrow before we head back to Freiburg. I wish I didn't have class on Tuesday so we could stay a bit longer, but so it goes.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

On a hike in the Black Forest (near Freiburg)

The view over Engelberg

My future home

Bis spaeter!

Meine Familie

My parents and youngest brother are arriving in Freiburg today! It'll be great to see everyone again and show them around the city. They're also bringing me a laptop to use for the rest of the semester. I'm looking forward to typing on a non-school keyboard again for sure.

We're going to Switzerland this weekend to get some skiing in before the snow melts. I'm sure my dad is particularly excited about that one since he's always wanted to ski in Europe. We'll be there for a few days, but then I'll have to figure out when exactly I'm coming back to Freiburg. Our spring "break" is only two days long and I need to be back for class on Tuesday. Then, I'm leaving on the third field study trip with my program - this time, it's Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece! I can't wait to see these countries, especially since I likely won't have another chance to see Bulgaria. I'll probably be making little or no money after I graduate and as much as I'd love to travel for the rest of my life, I'm not really going to be able to right away. That's why I'm so grateful to have these opportunities now. I'll make sure to take tons of pictures and I'll put up another post before I leave. I've had some more interesting experiences with the German language I want to share.

All for now! I have a German test in an hour and then I'm going to meet my family. Bis spaeter!

Bad News

So my laptop charger/power supply/something no longer works. It's apparently a problem that only Dell can fix and it may be a while until that happens (what with international shipping and all). The only good thing about the whole experience was that I got to practice lots and lots of German with the repair guys at two different repair shops here. They didn't even switch to English on me - progress!

I'm posting from the school computer right now, but I probably won't be able to post again for a bit. Sorry! Wish me luck with the computer stuff and I hope to be back soon.

Some Pictures from Friends

It's been a long week of work, but the good thing was that some of my friends put pictures online from our various trips. I don't have time for a longer post at the moment, but here are a few pictures for now. I'll try to come back and post sometime this weekend! I'll be hanging around Freiburg enjoying time with friends. We got together last night and made a delicious dinner consisting of miso soup, pizza, pasta, salad, bruschetta, Japanese pancakes, mashed potatoes, and other mismatched goodies. To top it all off, two of the girls made Black Forest cherry cake for dessert! It was delicious and a wonderful way to start the weekend off with a bang.

Before our visit to the ECJ in Luxembourg

We joke about how this is a good picture of our group, but we ended up blocking the view of the Eiffel Tower behind us...
Here we are underneath it.

Heidelberg Castle

Our group at the UN in Geneva! I'm all the way on the right.

Bis dann!