Wittenberg

The weekend that we were in Berlin, we also spent a day out in Wittenberg. This is the city were Martin Luther was a pastor and based his mission work and other reformation activities out of. The door where the 95 thesis were nailed is here and we visited the church. We visited on a Sunday and we had the opportunity to attend the morning church service here. It was a great experience, and we have some fun pictures.








Also while we were in Wittenberg we visited the Luther House. This is were Luther did a lot of his studying and lived, i believe. I could be wrong, but why else would they call it the Luther House. In the Luther House there is now a museum with a few artifacts and pieces of history from the time of Luther. There are a few pictures from here as well. After a morning and afternoon in Wittenberg we departed and traveled about 4 hours to get back to the apartments back in Bremen.

Three "B's"

Well how's it going everyone. I'm sorry, again, for the long delay in posting. I hope that we can be more regular for those of you who wish to follow our trip. In this episode of the Deutschland Duo's trip through Europe, I wanted to talk about the three "B's." To start you best know what they are, then we can go from there. Beer, Brats and BMW's (my favorites). These are the B's that I have come to associate with Germany. Some others may have their own but these are mine.

So first, my experience with beer. Not very extensive but yet there is some. When i first arrived in Europe, the first encounter with beer came on the plan from Amsterdam to Bremen. So before we were even in Germany we were already drinking. When we arrived in Bremen, one of the first things that we did, upon arriving at the apartment, was to go to our local Extra Store. Extra is a small grocer where we buy all of our food and the like. So i pick out some food and other snacks that i think could be enjoyable. Then we come to this little opening in the store. What did i see? Could my eyes be deceiving me? It was a space about the size of my garage, filled with beer! This was a source of great excitement to me. So to start out light, we bought one six pack of the locally brewed Becks beer. Just to get some grounding in "local tradition." But, unbenounced to me, as the fresh flow of my first real beer flowed down my thought... This stuff is gross! I was utterly surprised, bewildered and by all other measure, angry. I was looking forward to being able to drink beer. But it doesn't taste good. What should I do? Well let me tell you what i didn't do. Drink beer. I did however find a suitable stand in. The Coca-cola here is excellent, made with real sugar, mm mm. As time went on it really wasn't a bad thing, not drinking beer. Saving money at Extra and not having to worry about drinking too much. I suppose it was really good. After a few weeks there is one or two beers that i like to drink and it is starting to grow on me. So not all hope of beer drinking was lost after all.

The second "B" is designed to go along with the first "B" very well but not with the third, it could make a mess, Brats! Beer and Brats are a very common meal around the cities here. There are many stands on street corners selling the two as thought they were destined to forever dwell in the stomachs of the customer. Brats are a little different here than they are in the states. They are, fist off, made with real meat and are a bit lengthier as well. They are often eaten with little or no bread. You wouldn't want to lessen the taste of the meat. Brats are often served with a mustard that is very interesting and quite enjoyable. Isn't Germany strange? What, no Ketchup?

And last but not least is BMW's. Here in Germany, for those of you who don't know, is the place where BMW's are produced and from here they go to America. Who knew something so nice could come out of such a small country in Europe, where they speak such a funny language, and have so many weird traditions could make such an amazing car... (i did). Anyway, about every third car that we see on the streets here is a BMW. This is great for me, being a car guy and really loving the German auto industry for many great cars. There are also many other great cars that we see around on the roads such as Porsche, Austin Martin, Ferrari and a few others. I love Germany.

Well that's all i have for this post. Hope to hear from you all real soon.

Berlin

Hey everybody! I apologize to all my faithful readers for my delinquency but I have been extremely busy the past few days! Last weekend our group visited the German capital of Berlin. In Berlin we stayed in the Golden Tulip which was only a few blocks away from the KaDeWe, the largest superstore in Europe. On our first day out we hit the main sites including the Victory Column, Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag.


Here you see the Victory Column which is where Obama made his speech the day before. We were told quite fervently by Berliners that "Your president was just here". As far as the significance of the monument, it was constructed to commemorate Prussia's victory over the Danes in 1871.

In this picture you see your's truly in front of the Brandenburg Tor. This was once the main city gate leading into Berlin. Beyond this gate is the brand new U.S embassy and then a long street lined with linden trees (Unter den Linden). The Berlin wall once stood right behind where I am standing and speeches by both Kennedy and Reagan were made near this very spot.

Here is a shot of my shadow crossing what was once the Berlin wall. All that remains now is a brick marked trail.

This is the Reichstag, where the German Parliament the Bundestag is seated. Above the building you will notice a glass dome which is meant to represent the transparency of the German Government.

More to come from Berlin but it is off to Hamburg tomorrow and I need rest. Thanks for reading!

What's Up?

Well Sorry to disappoint our readers for the momentary laps of laziness. Things are going well in Europe. Today I changed some money and am sad to say that I paid $1.65 for 1 Euro. This is no good. This weekend we are off to Berlin to do some sight seeing and other fun things. Today was Professor DeRooy's last day and we wish him safe travels on his way to the Netherlands to visit family. Professor Nielson will be taking over and we are excited to here from him.

Last weekend we spent some time out in Bremerhaven. This is the sister city to Bremen, a port city. It was a day trip with a little sight seeing and walking. We split up into two groups and went to a few different places. One group went to the Immigration Center in the city, where I went. This is one of the main places people from around Europe ended up on their way to the new world. It was a great experience. We were given names of people that had gone through there and we were able to follow their life before and after immigrating. The other group went to a shipping museum that had a tall ship and a few other nice looking boats. Here are some photos of the city, and pictures of the boat tour we went on. Big boats!

Just to brag

This is just the view oustide my window just in case anyone forgot...it was taken right after a rain storm so it looks pretty cool.

an ingenieurwissenschaften party!

So after a long week of studying and a test to top it off we were invited to a party hosted by the engineering/ceramics department. The party was a real experience because several groups from across the globe attended. There were Germans, Russians and Brazilians, some of whom could speak fluent English. I spoke with a German named Katharina who exchanged many stereotypes about Americans, I was obliged to confirm that they were all rather true. Some of the stereotypes, for those who are curious, were that Americans are: unhealthy, obese, ignorant, religiously extreme and have terrible tasting beer!

Die Mensa (another food oriented post)

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is well back in the states! I wanted to cram a quick post in between doing homework and studying for an impending test... Now that we have started our two classes at the University of Bremen our schedule is as follows: 9:00-11:30 Statics and Dynamics then lunch at the Mensa (cafeteria) and then 1:00-3:30 Deutsch. The food at the Mensa is really quite good (Calvin food service could learn a thing or two) and it costs about 2.80 Euro. It is a great deal, see for yourself:

mark

So Mark seems to be taking over the blog. I don't know what's going too happen. Just thought I would get one sneaky blog entry in while he wasn't looking. Ha Ha
Have a nice day!

Knipp

So after going to Church in the city and enduring a few hours of homework we finally headed out to eat. I decided to be very daring and ordered "Knipp" a local delicacy made from groat!?!? As you can tell the meal was certainly not visually appealing. However, it was actually quite appetizing and kind of tasted like Swedish meatballs.

The first night out

Yesterday evening we broke into groups and scrounged the city for a place to eat. Several of us decided on the Schüttinger Gasthausbraueri, which turned out to be quite an experience. We were seated on wooden benches and served Schüttinger Bier which was brewed in-house. Not feeling terribly daring the group ended up ordering fried chicken which was actually prepared a bit different and still very good.
It seemed that in one moment all the German stereotypes were met when a group of eight ordered a 10 liter keg of Schüttinger to their table. As the night went on that table became progressively louder with shouts, cheers and drinking songs. It was certainly culturally engaging to say the least.

The City of Bremen

During our first two days in Bremen we have ventured into the city on several occasions. Yesterday we purchased the necessities (Milk, Frosted Flakes and Becks) at a tiny grocery store a few meters from our apartment. Our apartment is situated right downtown and provides quick and easy access to the best portions of the city. When we awoke today we were greeted by the sounds of American rock coming from the other side of the river. Upon closer inspection we discovered that an array of street vendors had set up shop just across the river and a live band was playing as well! They were selling all sorts of things from spices, handbags, small electronics, furniture and naturally bratwurst and beer. After seeing the market we visited many of the cities landmarks such as the Bremen town hall (above) and St. Peter's Cathedral as shown below.

Welcome to Bremen!

Well we arrived safely after a few delays and many stressful hours on the plane and in the airports we made it. As we struggle to adjust to the time change we explore the city of Bremen and enjoy the comfort of our room. We are living in small apartments right along side of the river in downtown Bremen. The image above is a picture out our fourth floor window. The view is quite spectacular. Dinner last night was an experience with Scott, Amy, and a few others, making some spaghetti and sauce. Also Prof. DeRooy's wife helping with some salad and bread to go along with our meal. So far so good!

The Departure

After a week of study in Grand Rapids we are about to begin our journey to Germany. The first leg of the trip involves a quick jump to Detroit followed by an eight hour flight to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we will make one last flight to Bremen, Germany. So a long and arduous 12 hour day lies ahead of us! Wish us luck!


Here is a pic of our group on the way to the airport by van:

Swing Dancing Fun!

On Tuesdays, downtown Grand Rapids in Rosa Parks Circle there is a weekly swing dancing party. This past week we found ourselves in the middle of it. Well sort of. Since we were having so much fun already, we decided to add on by going to see the new Hancock movie in theaters.

The Boersma's

During our stay in Grand Rapids, Michigan we were graciously provided for by the Boersma Family! We ate very heartily and slept very soundly during our stay. We are very grateful for the Boersma's hospitality and hope they have a great rest of the summer without us!

Before we leave

In the first few days of our illustrious journey to Europe, we begin to study with our expensive book, Statics and Dynamics. Hey look, BEER!! This will be the first class of our sophomore year at Calvin College. The first days prove to be a challenge as homework and extra time and patience are stretched and tested. Here we go!