This morning, I left Ginger's place and headed to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to catch a short one-hour train to Marburg. I'd booked a ride share via Mitfahrgelegenheit.de, so I only had to pay 7€ for my trip. Not bad, considering that's about half the normal price for one person.
I had a blast in Frankfurt, though, and the time I got to spend with Ginger and her friends was a pleasant and necessary reminder about why I enjoy traveling and also returning to Germany so much. The diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas that you learn and share with others can be incredibly inspiring. (On this note, please do check out this article Ginger recently wrote, because its message is a critical one.)
I also decided I'd make sure to take pictures of/or with each of the friends I visit during my trip like this one of Ginger and me. Taking pictures with friends might've been a given in years past when I took about a thousand pictures a week, but in recent years, I've just stopped taking many photos at all.
My friend Sarina, whom I had met during my Fulbright language course through her roommate who happened to be my former neighbor in the student apartments, came to pick me up at the Marburg Hauptbahnhof. In the two years since I was last here, not too much has changed except that there's now a brand new McDonald's inside the Hauptbahnhof. The outside construction is still moving along at a glacial speed.
We headed to Sarina's apartment, so I wouldn't have to schlep my stuff all over the old cobblestones. Walking the streets and looking at all the shops brought back fond memories of my language course though.
Sarina's apartment has a pretty filthy view, too. I wish my rent in NYC were this good and came with views and space like this. On that note, I'd like to have a castle in the middle of NYC, too.
For lunch, we grabbed a few döners and headed down to the Lahn River to eat our food next to the water. This was my first döner in a long time, and it was as delicious as I hoped. I cannot wait till schwarma in Berlin, though!
The Lahn River was as murky as ever, but looking at the landscape as a whole, it was quite nice.
After walking around a bit, we headed back to her apartment and continued catching up. What's great is that I can always speak in German with Sarina, and she very rarely will switch to English as many other of my Germans do. She'll probably tell you it's because she doesn't think her English is that good, but I know it's great. In fact, even better than my German. But I do appreciate her letting me make my mistakes and correcting me every once in a while with all the masculine, feminine, and neutral articles I mix up and the various cases that go with each.
Soon, I went to meet up with my friend Gerdi, whom I had met through my old doctor's office in Marburg. Gerdi worked in that office and became somewhat of my "German grandmother" if you will. We've stayed in touch since then, and she's definitely helped me maintain my German as well through emails and Skype calls. It was a lovely day to be out in Marburg, so we grabbed some ice cream drinks and then had dinner at a nearby restaurant.
It was wonderful to catch up, and after speaking mostly English in Frankfurt (naturally, since I was hanging out with fellow Americans or native English speakers), it was a nice change to be speaking German nearly the whole day in Marburg. The conversations I had with both Gerdi and Sarina ranged from what our latest updates were to the latest happenings in the world. I enjoy these kind of current event conversations, and I especially appreciate hearing perspectives from other parts of the world.
After dinner, Gerdi went home, and I headed back to Sarina's, where we continued catching up and listening to Macklemore and other American artists she enjoys. Her boyfriend, Simon, came over as well, and we had a fun time looking up places in Google Maps and checking out the street views in places we've been. A rather chill Thursday evening, but it was perfect for me.
Tomorrow morning, I'll grab breakfast with Sarina and Simon before heading to catch my ride share to Berlin. The fun continues!
I had a blast in Frankfurt, though, and the time I got to spend with Ginger and her friends was a pleasant and necessary reminder about why I enjoy traveling and also returning to Germany so much. The diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas that you learn and share with others can be incredibly inspiring. (On this note, please do check out this article Ginger recently wrote, because its message is a critical one.)
I also decided I'd make sure to take pictures of/or with each of the friends I visit during my trip like this one of Ginger and me. Taking pictures with friends might've been a given in years past when I took about a thousand pictures a week, but in recent years, I've just stopped taking many photos at all.
My friend Sarina, whom I had met during my Fulbright language course through her roommate who happened to be my former neighbor in the student apartments, came to pick me up at the Marburg Hauptbahnhof. In the two years since I was last here, not too much has changed except that there's now a brand new McDonald's inside the Hauptbahnhof. The outside construction is still moving along at a glacial speed.
We headed to Sarina's apartment, so I wouldn't have to schlep my stuff all over the old cobblestones. Walking the streets and looking at all the shops brought back fond memories of my language course though.
Sarina's apartment has a pretty filthy view, too. I wish my rent in NYC were this good and came with views and space like this. On that note, I'd like to have a castle in the middle of NYC, too.
For lunch, we grabbed a few döners and headed down to the Lahn River to eat our food next to the water. This was my first döner in a long time, and it was as delicious as I hoped. I cannot wait till schwarma in Berlin, though!
The Lahn River was as murky as ever, but looking at the landscape as a whole, it was quite nice.
After walking around a bit, we headed back to her apartment and continued catching up. What's great is that I can always speak in German with Sarina, and she very rarely will switch to English as many other of my Germans do. She'll probably tell you it's because she doesn't think her English is that good, but I know it's great. In fact, even better than my German. But I do appreciate her letting me make my mistakes and correcting me every once in a while with all the masculine, feminine, and neutral articles I mix up and the various cases that go with each.
Soon, I went to meet up with my friend Gerdi, whom I had met through my old doctor's office in Marburg. Gerdi worked in that office and became somewhat of my "German grandmother" if you will. We've stayed in touch since then, and she's definitely helped me maintain my German as well through emails and Skype calls. It was a lovely day to be out in Marburg, so we grabbed some ice cream drinks and then had dinner at a nearby restaurant.
It was wonderful to catch up, and after speaking mostly English in Frankfurt (naturally, since I was hanging out with fellow Americans or native English speakers), it was a nice change to be speaking German nearly the whole day in Marburg. The conversations I had with both Gerdi and Sarina ranged from what our latest updates were to the latest happenings in the world. I enjoy these kind of current event conversations, and I especially appreciate hearing perspectives from other parts of the world.
After dinner, Gerdi went home, and I headed back to Sarina's, where we continued catching up and listening to Macklemore and other American artists she enjoys. Her boyfriend, Simon, came over as well, and we had a fun time looking up places in Google Maps and checking out the street views in places we've been. A rather chill Thursday evening, but it was perfect for me.
Tomorrow morning, I'll grab breakfast with Sarina and Simon before heading to catch my ride share to Berlin. The fun continues!
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