'I know!' Gen thought with a smile, 'I can stroll through Freiburg with my roller blades and cover 4 times the area!' And right she was. Today roller blades enabled me to go all the way to the neighborhood on the far south side of the city, Zähringen. Definitely an awesome name, the Zähringen family was a ruling German clan at the turn of the first millennium. Konrad of Zähringen (and his brother Duke Bertold III) established Freiburg (1091) as a free market town, lying on perfect location between the Mediterranean and North sea trading routes and on the Rhein and nearby Danube rivers.
Despite that Konrad's son, Bertold V died childless and that was the end of the Zähringen family, the favorable market location and the close silver mines made Freiburg a very influential town by 1200. With this excess money, the cathedral (Münster) construction was started, only to be finished 300 years later (1513).
The Zähringen neighborhood I explored today, I'm not too sure on its history. It had many old houses of course, and a couple cobble-stoned streets (which are scary scary on roller blades), a nice biergarten where I ate Käseschnitzel and drank Apfel-Schorle and a pretty wall mural.
A special moment came when I rolled into the next town Gundelfingen and over this cute small wooden bridge... and on the other side were 6-8 closely designed houses evenly spaced out on either side of the street... and for a second my mind travelled back to a rainy day in Seattle. Sebastian and I were bored and ended up building not only (playing-) card houses, but a card city. My mind replayed the exact moment when I showed Sebastian my card suburb: a cute small card bridge and on the other side were 6-8 closely designed card houses evenly spaced out on either side of the street. The memory at that moment felt so fresh... hmm, I should call Sebastian, I haven't talked to him in a while.
Or I'll lay down because I am pooped!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
On the Right Path
I haven't written in a while, there's a reason to that. Lately I've been rearranging my life, my priorities. I have less than 2 months here in Germany, and I really have to focus on what I want my remaining experiences to be like. I discovered I was sad and that my violently bouncing mood swings weren't the result from too much school work or loneliness, rather something deeper down. It was like I was on the wrong path and I was trying to bush-wack through the dense forest to the path I wanted to be on; instead I finally decided to trace back my steps and get on the right path indefinitely. Someone wise once said to me, "Find out what food your soul likes and feed it only that. Even if you die overweight, you'll be full of enlightening experiences."
What do I want to accomplish this year? I asked myself. I'd like to understand the culture and history of the Black Forest region and Freiburg. I'd like to read more. I'd like to gain a sense of self-worth and confidence to take home with me. It was all talk before, now I'm finally acting on my goals. I dropped my stressful classes (I'm not a full time student now, but that doesn't matter in the long run) and I take walks almost every day.
On Tuesday, I boarded a regional train and took a small outing to Waldkirch (about 15 km away). I didn't know much about Waldkirch, but I was determined to find out. Waldkirch is nestled in dark Black Forest hills, broken up by huge vineyards. It has ruins of an old castle owned by knights who bought the area from, I believe, the Zähringen family in Freiburg. They have a strong sense of tradition in Waldkirch, every year going all out for carnival and their bizarre Organ Festival. I went to the zoo and organ museum, had some apple juice on their old market street and climbed up to the ruins on the hill. The town/city (pop. 20,000) totally enchanted me, and I feel a small step towards understanding this area that I have called home for the past 8-9 months.
I feel good these days, a feeling that doesn't seem temporary.
What do I want to accomplish this year? I asked myself. I'd like to understand the culture and history of the Black Forest region and Freiburg. I'd like to read more. I'd like to gain a sense of self-worth and confidence to take home with me. It was all talk before, now I'm finally acting on my goals. I dropped my stressful classes (I'm not a full time student now, but that doesn't matter in the long run) and I take walks almost every day.
On Tuesday, I boarded a regional train and took a small outing to Waldkirch (about 15 km away). I didn't know much about Waldkirch, but I was determined to find out. Waldkirch is nestled in dark Black Forest hills, broken up by huge vineyards. It has ruins of an old castle owned by knights who bought the area from, I believe, the Zähringen family in Freiburg. They have a strong sense of tradition in Waldkirch, every year going all out for carnival and their bizarre Organ Festival. I went to the zoo and organ museum, had some apple juice on their old market street and climbed up to the ruins on the hill. The town/city (pop. 20,000) totally enchanted me, and I feel a small step towards understanding this area that I have called home for the past 8-9 months.
I feel good these days, a feeling that doesn't seem temporary.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Erasing Awkwardness
High School was just plain uncomfortable. Kids at that age don't know how to act in their own skin, let alone know how to act around other people. Emotions are tested, beliefs are tested. If you look back, doesn't the whole time period just seem bizarre? I often don't understand when I hear people speak about High School as these glory days of the past that can never be lived up to... blech! Coincidentally most of the close friends I have did not enjoy their High School experience, but all agree how wonderful college is.
Lately (past 2 years or so) I've been trying to erase "awkward" from my life. I've lived too many days where I felt "awkward", that I am downright done with it. There are many situations one needs to be reminded. I find talking with people you've met but don't remember their name, sitting next to someone in class with nothing to say and elevators to be the true test to my mission. The worst one is riding an elevator with someone with a forgotten name with nothing to say... in Germany. Sometimes I try to pretend I have a text message and fiddle with my phone until my floor comes up. Mostly, I just take the stairs.
I bring this topic up because as summer approaches, I began to realize I don't have many friends here to go on walks outside, play Frisbee with, explore Freiburg, etc. One friend studies excessively with a boyfriend, another with a girlfriend, one who would rather watch TV show after TV show who might be allergic to the sun, and others who live just too far away. I'm in my make new friends phase, and there is no time for "awkward" to get in the way.
Lately (past 2 years or so) I've been trying to erase "awkward" from my life. I've lived too many days where I felt "awkward", that I am downright done with it. There are many situations one needs to be reminded. I find talking with people you've met but don't remember their name, sitting next to someone in class with nothing to say and elevators to be the true test to my mission. The worst one is riding an elevator with someone with a forgotten name with nothing to say... in Germany. Sometimes I try to pretend I have a text message and fiddle with my phone until my floor comes up. Mostly, I just take the stairs.
I bring this topic up because as summer approaches, I began to realize I don't have many friends here to go on walks outside, play Frisbee with, explore Freiburg, etc. One friend studies excessively with a boyfriend, another with a girlfriend, one who would rather watch TV show after TV show who might be allergic to the sun, and others who live just too far away. I'm in my make new friends phase, and there is no time for "awkward" to get in the way.
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