Regular day of schoolwork today, but an unusual afternoon. I'm not sure if it was on the news in the US, but Munich was a candidate city for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The decision was today, 5:00 PM local time. Munich planned a big party, brought in a stage to the Marienplatz, and hired a bunch of musicians.
I worked on my homework the day We rode the train in after school and waited around in the Marienplatz for an hour or so waiting for the program to actually get started. I spent a lot of time looking at the speakers - the stage had a really nice D&B rig that sounded excellent. There was also a bookstore with free wi-fi that I spent some time in.
Finally, it was time for the show to start. I watched a C-List rapper and a few German dance teams before the big news hit - South Korea won the bid. The crowd was really disappointed (Although it seemed like there were more tourists than actual Germans) and dispersed quickly.
I ate dinner at a nifty Italian restaurant - I got a card with a magnetic strip as I came in the door and then ordered my food from a window. They swiped the card, made the food, and I paid on the way out. Pretty cool.
Afterwards I did a bit of hanging out and then went home for bed.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday
Back to school Tuesday!
Literature class, then social studies class. In film class we watched The White Rose in film class, which is about a resistance movement against the Nazis. Decent movie, but a bit dated. It's certainly interesting to read about the resistance.
Afterwards I went home and got ready for the nights event - a trip to the local Schuetzenverein, which is basically an air rifle shooting club. We met at the marketplace and walked to the club. Everybody got three practice shots and ten regular shots. The rifles were air rifles that fires a small metal bullet - nothing too major.
We ate dinner of Leberkaese (liver cheese, which has neither liver nor cheese in it) and actual kaese (cheese) on bread while the results were being tabulated.
Finally we got the results - I got second place! I guess that rifle shooting merit badge paid off after all.
I got some ice cream afterwards and then went home to do a bit of homework before bed.
Literature class, then social studies class. In film class we watched The White Rose in film class, which is about a resistance movement against the Nazis. Decent movie, but a bit dated. It's certainly interesting to read about the resistance.
Afterwards I went home and got ready for the nights event - a trip to the local Schuetzenverein, which is basically an air rifle shooting club. We met at the marketplace and walked to the club. Everybody got three practice shots and ten regular shots. The rifles were air rifles that fires a small metal bullet - nothing too major.
We ate dinner of Leberkaese (liver cheese, which has neither liver nor cheese in it) and actual kaese (cheese) on bread while the results were being tabulated.
Finally we got the results - I got second place! I guess that rifle shooting merit badge paid off after all.
I got some ice cream afterwards and then went home to do a bit of homework before bed.
Monday
Monday is Neuschwanstein day! It's also the fourth of July.
The group met up at 8:00 to take a bus to the castle. We spent the bus ride blasting American songs and singing along. The bus we company we use is called the Bavaria Reisen Kriege and we get an awesome green bus - it's based in Holzkirchen and this is our 50th year with the same company.
We caught a glimpse of the castle on the drive, and then the bus dropped us off at the base of the mountain. A short wait for tickets and then we started up. When I was here in 2005 we walked up the normal footpath- this time we climbed the gorge between the castle and the actual mountain. It was a very fun hike, and not too strenuous.
Neuschwanstein was built in around 1880 though is incomplete. It was supposed to be the home of Ludwig II, king of Bavaria. Ludwig was (disputably) crazy, and decided to sink his fortune into building massive castles. Each room is modeled on a Wagner opera, so there are some odd paintings on the walls. Ludwig only lived in the castle for about a month before he was deposed of and died under mysterious circumstances.
Once on the top we milled around a bit in the horde of American and Japanese tourists outside the castle. Our tour was OK, but not quite as impressive as I remembered it. The castle is pretty cool, but it's certainly a massive tourist enterprise. At least we had a German tour.
After seeing all of the rooms we were taken out through two gift shops and took a short hike over to a bridge across the gorge from the castle. I forgot to bring my water, so I was pretty dehydrated at this point, but it was still a good time. I have a few excellent pictures from this vantage point.
Afterwards I had an awful Currywurst at the bottom of the hill along with a couple bottles of water. It was my first Currywurst, a Berlin specialty, but I don't think this was a good example - probably because we're 400 miles from Berlin
We packed up on the bus after lunch and headed for a well known church in the area. It's in the Rococo style, which is not my favorite, but the church was still impressive. It had a beautiful organ, too. The sound system consisted of column loudspeakers, like many of the churches I've visited here. The brand was Straesser loudspeakers, which is not something I've heard of before. I like finding out about all these small German manufactures - it's interesting.
The final stop of the day was Schloss Linderhof, another castle built by Ludwing II. This one is small, but he actually spent most of his life living in it. It's modeled after Versailles, and I was disgusted by the Baroque architecture. It's an architecture of excess, and left me wanting to go photograph a nice Bauhaus building...
That's not to say it wasn't worth the visit, though. The castle was impressive, after all.
After a tour of the palace and a stroll through the garden, we visited the fake cave Ludwig built as an opera house. I guess it's impressive if you've never been in a real cave - I found it a bit boring.
We ate dinner at a restaurant and brewery at a convent close to Holzkirchen. I had a tasty Schnitzel and then explored the convent. Unfortunately, the light wasn't just right, but I think I got a couple good pictures.
It was late when I got home and I pretty much passed out right away.
The group met up at 8:00 to take a bus to the castle. We spent the bus ride blasting American songs and singing along. The bus we company we use is called the Bavaria Reisen Kriege and we get an awesome green bus - it's based in Holzkirchen and this is our 50th year with the same company.
We caught a glimpse of the castle on the drive, and then the bus dropped us off at the base of the mountain. A short wait for tickets and then we started up. When I was here in 2005 we walked up the normal footpath- this time we climbed the gorge between the castle and the actual mountain. It was a very fun hike, and not too strenuous.
Neuschwanstein was built in around 1880 though is incomplete. It was supposed to be the home of Ludwig II, king of Bavaria. Ludwig was (disputably) crazy, and decided to sink his fortune into building massive castles. Each room is modeled on a Wagner opera, so there are some odd paintings on the walls. Ludwig only lived in the castle for about a month before he was deposed of and died under mysterious circumstances.
Once on the top we milled around a bit in the horde of American and Japanese tourists outside the castle. Our tour was OK, but not quite as impressive as I remembered it. The castle is pretty cool, but it's certainly a massive tourist enterprise. At least we had a German tour.
After seeing all of the rooms we were taken out through two gift shops and took a short hike over to a bridge across the gorge from the castle. I forgot to bring my water, so I was pretty dehydrated at this point, but it was still a good time. I have a few excellent pictures from this vantage point.
Afterwards I had an awful Currywurst at the bottom of the hill along with a couple bottles of water. It was my first Currywurst, a Berlin specialty, but I don't think this was a good example - probably because we're 400 miles from Berlin
We packed up on the bus after lunch and headed for a well known church in the area. It's in the Rococo style, which is not my favorite, but the church was still impressive. It had a beautiful organ, too. The sound system consisted of column loudspeakers, like many of the churches I've visited here. The brand was Straesser loudspeakers, which is not something I've heard of before. I like finding out about all these small German manufactures - it's interesting.
The final stop of the day was Schloss Linderhof, another castle built by Ludwing II. This one is small, but he actually spent most of his life living in it. It's modeled after Versailles, and I was disgusted by the Baroque architecture. It's an architecture of excess, and left me wanting to go photograph a nice Bauhaus building...
That's not to say it wasn't worth the visit, though. The castle was impressive, after all.
After a tour of the palace and a stroll through the garden, we visited the fake cave Ludwig built as an opera house. I guess it's impressive if you've never been in a real cave - I found it a bit boring.
We ate dinner at a restaurant and brewery at a convent close to Holzkirchen. I had a tasty Schnitzel and then explored the convent. Unfortunately, the light wasn't just right, but I think I got a couple good pictures.
It was late when I got home and I pretty much passed out right away.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Saturday and Sunday
I'll try to speed this up now that I'm two weeks behind.
Saturday was a lot of fun. I woke up late, met up with some other students, had lunch at home, then took the train to Munich. I met up with John Lodato and Patrick Vatterott at the Marienplatz and we hung out most of the evening. We went to a food fair at the Olympic Park and then ate at the Augustiner Brewery. It was totally crazy that the three of us were in Munich at the same time - the last time we were all here was in 2005 with Herr Hasselschwert!
Sunday was also pretty cool - my host family took me out on an Architectural tour of Munich and then we went to BMW World. I saw a couple cool buildings on the way there - the tallest building in Munich is only about 40 stories.
BMW world was pretty amazing, too. I got a lot of good architectural photography in and got to see some cool cars. There's an entire area where if you pay extra to pick up your BMW, you can walk down a glass staircase while the car is spotlighted and rotated. You then drive it away through the building.
The BMW museum was closed, but I got to see a very cool exhibit on BMW art cars by famous artists. It just made me want to go paint the van even more.
We returned that evening and I hung out a bit with other students in Holzkirchen.
Saturday was a lot of fun. I woke up late, met up with some other students, had lunch at home, then took the train to Munich. I met up with John Lodato and Patrick Vatterott at the Marienplatz and we hung out most of the evening. We went to a food fair at the Olympic Park and then ate at the Augustiner Brewery. It was totally crazy that the three of us were in Munich at the same time - the last time we were all here was in 2005 with Herr Hasselschwert!
Sunday was also pretty cool - my host family took me out on an Architectural tour of Munich and then we went to BMW World. I saw a couple cool buildings on the way there - the tallest building in Munich is only about 40 stories.
2nd Tallest Building in Munich
BMW Office Tower
(Georg said he did IT work for BMW years ago in this building and lived across the street)
(Georg said he did IT work for BMW years ago in this building and lived across the street)
BMW world was pretty amazing, too. I got a lot of good architectural photography in and got to see some cool cars. There's an entire area where if you pay extra to pick up your BMW, you can walk down a glass staircase while the car is spotlighted and rotated. You then drive it away through the building.
BMWs waiting to be picked up
The BMW museum was closed, but I got to see a very cool exhibit on BMW art cars by famous artists. It just made me want to go paint the van even more.
BMW art car
We returned that evening and I hung out a bit with other students in Holzkirchen.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Friday
OK, I'm still running about a week behind but I'll try to get caught up soon.
Friday wasn't too interesting, either. I had a quiz in Literature that went OK, then we started on poems about the Loreley legend. We talked more about the different German states in my social studies class, then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. I had a pizza and it was all right. Germans have a thing or two to learn about Chicago style pizza - Italian style might be the original, but it doesn't quite cut it.
It rained after lunch, so a few friends and I had ice cream and hot chocolate in a little shop. After the rain ended, I went home for a while, then went out again around 8:00 to hang out a bit in Holzkirchen.
I ended up walking a friend home late at night - to an outlying village! - because not everybody knows their way around yet. It was about a half hour each way, but that was OK - it was a super nice night
Friday wasn't too interesting, either. I had a quiz in Literature that went OK, then we started on poems about the Loreley legend. We talked more about the different German states in my social studies class, then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. I had a pizza and it was all right. Germans have a thing or two to learn about Chicago style pizza - Italian style might be the original, but it doesn't quite cut it.
It rained after lunch, so a few friends and I had ice cream and hot chocolate in a little shop. After the rain ended, I went home for a while, then went out again around 8:00 to hang out a bit in Holzkirchen.
I ended up walking a friend home late at night - to an outlying village! - because not everybody knows their way around yet. It was about a half hour each way, but that was OK - it was a super nice night
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Thrusday
Same deal today. I woke up, went to class, read some Goethe, and then had film class. We watched Wir Wunderkinder, which is a comedy that follows the life of two Germans throughout their lives – from 1915 or so until 1955. I’d recommend it if there’s a version with English subtitles – the German was pretty complicated but I ended up understanding pretty much all of it.
I went to a coffee shop afterwards to work a bit on my blog, and then I went home. Tonight was one of my guest parent’s birthdays, so I got my homework done before the big party!
They had a Russian theme this year (because they just got back from St. Petersburg the weekend before I came) and made all kinds of tasty Russian food. It was fun listening to all the German and German dialects – there was a decent amount of Bayern dialect being spoken, too. I also got to try Caviar – which was pretty gross but really classy. Pictures soon.
The whole family was there along with the new grandchild – only like a week old!
Not too much else interesting tonight - my host family has one of those cactuses that only blooms once a year and it bloomed tonight – I have a picture in a minute. I finally got to bed around 11:30 after a bit of Skyping.
Wednesday
OK, I guess yesterday wasn’t short or boring, but today kinda is.
I woke up and had breakfast of cereal with yoghurt (also, fresh berries out of the garden). Then it was off to school, literature class, social studies class, lunch, and then film class.
We watched our first movie in films class – it was a 1950’s German film called Ludwig II, surprisingly about Ludwig II. It was pretty good, but very 50’s.
After that class I went home and did homework.
That night we went out and ate Italian to celebrate a student’s birthday and hung out for a bit in Holzkirchen.
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