After my last blog post, I ran to meet the others in front of the Rathaus for our tour of Marburg. It ended up being pretty cool and better than I had originally thought. I also decided to take lots of pictures.
We split in two groups and explored various parts of Marburg, including the many churches.
The Altstadt still looks like the old days, but with a touristy twist.
There are still parts of the original city wall.
The castle at the top of the hill is visible from just about any angle of Marburg.
And the view is spectacular...does that steeple look straight to you? I didn't think so either...
Beside the facts and history I learned on the tour, I discovered two things I hadn’t previously thought much about. One, those Marburgers must have been in some pretty dang good shape back in the day, because there are some steep hills with cobblestone everywhere! And two, Marburg is actually rather beautiful. Ok, the second one I already knew, but I hadn’t really paid close attention until we went on our two-hour tour and stopped in front of some important sites.
Just a few highlights:
After the tour, we all headed to the hilltop beer garden and enjoyed some German beer and food. Pretty fun to hang out as a giant glob of Fulbrighters. I didn’t stay all that long though since Brandon and I decided we were going to go home and come back to watch the movie, Predators.
The movie itself played at 10:45 PM, so we had to miss the last 10 minutes of the movie to catch the last bus home. Despite the movie being in German, I surprisingly understood about 75% of the dialogue and caught most of the important details. Other than it being my first movie in German though, I’d probably not recommend that movie.
On Saturday, I finally got my haircut, only three weeks later than my normal haircut timeframe. This was only my second haircut abroad ever (in five six-seven week long trips), and it was also my first one in Germany. I learned some new stuff. For example, when I said I wanted “a 5 on top and a 1 on the sides,” the hair stylist looked incredibly disturbed because in Germany you tell them how many millimeters long you want your hair to be. Thank goodness for her English-speaking boss or I might’ve had to wear a hat for a few weeks. In the end, I was happy with what she did.
Saturday night, we went on a pub crawl with our program director and her students. It was definitely a fun night. Since it was Nick’s birthday, we went out for dinner first (and of course the first beer of the night). The restaurant was very nice as well and gave us free shots for Nick’s birthday. The food was delicious as well. One of the specialities of the region is called Auflauf, which is basically like a casserole. I love it...it's filling and yummy.
Just a few highlights:
- The city’s history can be traced back as early as the 12th century; they found coins minted in the 1100’s.
- The Brothers Grimm (famous for fairytales) studied here for a period of time and remarked that there were more steps around the city of Marburg than there were in the actual houses of Marburg.
- Martin Luther also came through Marburg at some point.
- There are university student dorms next to the castle on the top of the hill.
After the tour, we all headed to the hilltop beer garden and enjoyed some German beer and food. Pretty fun to hang out as a giant glob of Fulbrighters. I didn’t stay all that long though since Brandon and I decided we were going to go home and come back to watch the movie, Predators.
The movie itself played at 10:45 PM, so we had to miss the last 10 minutes of the movie to catch the last bus home. Despite the movie being in German, I surprisingly understood about 75% of the dialogue and caught most of the important details. Other than it being my first movie in German though, I’d probably not recommend that movie.
On Saturday, I finally got my haircut, only three weeks later than my normal haircut timeframe. This was only my second haircut abroad ever (in five six-seven week long trips), and it was also my first one in Germany. I learned some new stuff. For example, when I said I wanted “a 5 on top and a 1 on the sides,” the hair stylist looked incredibly disturbed because in Germany you tell them how many millimeters long you want your hair to be. Thank goodness for her English-speaking boss or I might’ve had to wear a hat for a few weeks. In the end, I was happy with what she did.
Saturday night, we went on a pub crawl with our program director and her students. It was definitely a fun night. Since it was Nick’s birthday, we went out for dinner first (and of course the first beer of the night). The restaurant was very nice as well and gave us free shots for Nick’s birthday. The food was delicious as well. One of the specialities of the region is called Auflauf, which is basically like a casserole. I love it...it's filling and yummy.
The rest of the night went fine. We went to another four bars, and I ended my night after 2.5 liters of beer. Sounds like a lot, but in Germany, literally no one drinks water, so it’s really not too bad. I went home around 1 AM feeling just about as sober as when I started my evening.
The rest of the weekend went downhill after that as I got a cold. Nevertheless, I did my laundry while it rained buckets of water outside. It’s been quite a shock to my system going from 105 degree weather in Athens to about 65 degree weather in Marburg. Thank goodness for all the NyQuil and DayQuil in my backpack.
Of course, we had class again on Monday, so yet another round of German all day. It’s been pretty helpful, I’d say. I’ve improved my grammar and vocabulary considerably. So much so, I’ve dreamed completely in German the last two nights...
I made dinner with James on Monday night, and we ended up eating with Brandon and Natilee while speaking all in German. It’s always nice to practice cooking and German skills.
The rest of the weekend went downhill after that as I got a cold. Nevertheless, I did my laundry while it rained buckets of water outside. It’s been quite a shock to my system going from 105 degree weather in Athens to about 65 degree weather in Marburg. Thank goodness for all the NyQuil and DayQuil in my backpack.
Of course, we had class again on Monday, so yet another round of German all day. It’s been pretty helpful, I’d say. I’ve improved my grammar and vocabulary considerably. So much so, I’ve dreamed completely in German the last two nights...
I made dinner with James on Monday night, and we ended up eating with Brandon and Natilee while speaking all in German. It’s always nice to practice cooking and German skills.
I also realized that Brandon and James (4th level students) are definitely much further ahead of me in terms of fluency, vocabulary, and sophistication. I’m liking 3rd level more and more now.
On Tuesday, we decided to go watch Inception after class. I had heard so much about it from people in Seattle, Athens, and Marburg that it was almost shameful that I hadn’t seen it yet. Nevertheless, we decided we’d go watch it in German. About 15 of us went in the afternoon (student prices = great). What's even more awesome is that you can buy a beer at the movie theater to take in with you, as you can see a giant stein in Brandon's hand below. Side note: this picture is also interesting because David's holding a fencing sword and helmet.
On Tuesday, we decided to go watch Inception after class. I had heard so much about it from people in Seattle, Athens, and Marburg that it was almost shameful that I hadn’t seen it yet. Nevertheless, we decided we’d go watch it in German. About 15 of us went in the afternoon (student prices = great). What's even more awesome is that you can buy a beer at the movie theater to take in with you, as you can see a giant stein in Brandon's hand below. Side note: this picture is also interesting because David's holding a fencing sword and helmet.
Some had already seen the movie in English; others had never seen it, including me. Either way, the movie was amazing, but still confusing. I understood about 65-70% of the dialogue but I missed some key concepts. James ended up helping me fill in the holes in English while we ate döners for dinner.
Today, I had the most unusual experience in an otherwise normal day. It's a bit long, so bear with me. Typically, we have an hour and a half for lunch, so today I decided to go to H&M a few bus stops away to buy a coat. Being the smart person I am, I sent my box of winter clothes (including all my longsleeves and coat) to Berlin from Athens, thinking that Germany would maybe be a bit like Athens in terms of temperature. So I’ve had nothing but t-shirts and polo shirts plus my jeans or shorts.
Since I was hungry though, I went to McDonald’s first since it’s across the street from H&M. Nick decided to join me as well. It was expensive but delicious.
Today, I had the most unusual experience in an otherwise normal day. It's a bit long, so bear with me. Typically, we have an hour and a half for lunch, so today I decided to go to H&M a few bus stops away to buy a coat. Being the smart person I am, I sent my box of winter clothes (including all my longsleeves and coat) to Berlin from Athens, thinking that Germany would maybe be a bit like Athens in terms of temperature. So I’ve had nothing but t-shirts and polo shirts plus my jeans or shorts.
Since I was hungry though, I went to McDonald’s first since it’s across the street from H&M. Nick decided to join me as well. It was expensive but delicious.
After we stuffed ourselves with Big Macs, I went and bought a light gray jacket at H&M for nearly 30 €. I think H&M is one of the only places I’ve ever been able to use a credit card in Germany. Seriously, Germans do not use credit cards anywhere, especially in Berlin.
On our way back to class though, I saw something a bit unusual that made me stop. There was an elderly man slumped on the ground while two university students held him up by his arms. It didn’t feel right to walk past without at least seeing if there was anything I could do to help, so I asked the students in German if everything was alright.
Turns out the elderly man had fallen and others had run off for help. The students were actually the second pair of people who had stopped to help. During this whole time, the man’s eyes had been closed and his skin looked very pale. He was bald, and I could see blood on his head where he had hit his head on the sidewalk. The students said someone had run off for help, but we decided to call the police/ambulance anyway.
I had never dialed 110 (the German equivalent of 911 in the US for the police) before, and I normally don’t like speaking on the phone in German because you’ve got to speak quickly and understand quickly. The guy who picked up on the other end didn’t sound all that interested, and he asked me how bad the situation was. I responded that I wasn’t sure but they should hurry up anyway. Then he mumbled something about a few minutes and asked if I understood. I told him to hurry up with the ambulance again and then hung up.
During this time, a friend of the man arrived with his car and asked us to help get him in the car so he didn’t freeze outside. He had an accent I couldn’t quite understand, but we decided to wait for the ambulance. Thankfully, James showed up then and could communicate more clearly. 15 minutes later though, still no ambulance. So, either my German sucked really badly or the ambulance was late.
At this point, the friend decided to run across the street to the skin clinic to ask the doctors to come help, while we stayed with the elderly man. James and I stood next to the car while David and Nick kept an eye out for the ambulance. Another guy who worked at the university showed up and ran with David to another hospital down the street for help. As we were waiting, James checked on the man in the car. He checked his pulse and, a few seconds later, said, “Dude, I can’t feel a pulse.”
Now, I’ve never seen anyone near death in real life before, but this seemed pretty dang near close to it. His skin was pale, his eyes closed, his head bowed slightly forward. I threw my phone to James and told him to call 110 again and tell them to get there ASAP and yelled across the street at David to tell the medics to hurry it up from the hospital. I couldn’t think of anything to do except put my hand on his shoulder and just pray that he would breathe, even if it was just a tiny breath, so we’d know he was still alive.
I feel a bit weird even writing so much of this in detail, but about 30 seconds after I had put my hand on the man’s shoulder and started praying, he gave a little gasp and exhaled sharply. I don’t know about Nick ‘cause he was right behind me, but I was so relieved. A minute later, we looked up to see two groups of medics in white gowns walking hurriedly toward the car and from there they took over.
So, in an otherwise uneventful week, I experienced some firsts that I had never expected to encounter. I’m glad I remembered the German phone number for emergencies when we had our orientation because if you would have asked me for the number two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you.
Tomorrow night, we are going to cook dinner again, and this time it’ll be at the apartment I share with Natilee. We have one of the bigger places because we live in a WG with two other people, but we’ve barely ever seen them around. In fact, one of them isn’t even here at the moment. Then on Sunday, we’re going on a canoe tour down the Lahn River toward Giessen. Should be interesting. At least I have my coat now.
Anyway, let’s hope I don’t have to call 110 again anytime soon.
On our way back to class though, I saw something a bit unusual that made me stop. There was an elderly man slumped on the ground while two university students held him up by his arms. It didn’t feel right to walk past without at least seeing if there was anything I could do to help, so I asked the students in German if everything was alright.
Turns out the elderly man had fallen and others had run off for help. The students were actually the second pair of people who had stopped to help. During this whole time, the man’s eyes had been closed and his skin looked very pale. He was bald, and I could see blood on his head where he had hit his head on the sidewalk. The students said someone had run off for help, but we decided to call the police/ambulance anyway.
I had never dialed 110 (the German equivalent of 911 in the US for the police) before, and I normally don’t like speaking on the phone in German because you’ve got to speak quickly and understand quickly. The guy who picked up on the other end didn’t sound all that interested, and he asked me how bad the situation was. I responded that I wasn’t sure but they should hurry up anyway. Then he mumbled something about a few minutes and asked if I understood. I told him to hurry up with the ambulance again and then hung up.
During this time, a friend of the man arrived with his car and asked us to help get him in the car so he didn’t freeze outside. He had an accent I couldn’t quite understand, but we decided to wait for the ambulance. Thankfully, James showed up then and could communicate more clearly. 15 minutes later though, still no ambulance. So, either my German sucked really badly or the ambulance was late.
At this point, the friend decided to run across the street to the skin clinic to ask the doctors to come help, while we stayed with the elderly man. James and I stood next to the car while David and Nick kept an eye out for the ambulance. Another guy who worked at the university showed up and ran with David to another hospital down the street for help. As we were waiting, James checked on the man in the car. He checked his pulse and, a few seconds later, said, “Dude, I can’t feel a pulse.”
Now, I’ve never seen anyone near death in real life before, but this seemed pretty dang near close to it. His skin was pale, his eyes closed, his head bowed slightly forward. I threw my phone to James and told him to call 110 again and tell them to get there ASAP and yelled across the street at David to tell the medics to hurry it up from the hospital. I couldn’t think of anything to do except put my hand on his shoulder and just pray that he would breathe, even if it was just a tiny breath, so we’d know he was still alive.
I feel a bit weird even writing so much of this in detail, but about 30 seconds after I had put my hand on the man’s shoulder and started praying, he gave a little gasp and exhaled sharply. I don’t know about Nick ‘cause he was right behind me, but I was so relieved. A minute later, we looked up to see two groups of medics in white gowns walking hurriedly toward the car and from there they took over.
So, in an otherwise uneventful week, I experienced some firsts that I had never expected to encounter. I’m glad I remembered the German phone number for emergencies when we had our orientation because if you would have asked me for the number two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you.
Tomorrow night, we are going to cook dinner again, and this time it’ll be at the apartment I share with Natilee. We have one of the bigger places because we live in a WG with two other people, but we’ve barely ever seen them around. In fact, one of them isn’t even here at the moment. Then on Sunday, we’re going on a canoe tour down the Lahn River toward Giessen. Should be interesting. At least I have my coat now.
Anyway, let’s hope I don’t have to call 110 again anytime soon.
Until next time,
Sam
Sam
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