Cold and rainy, but no more class this week!

The weather has been really cold these past few days! When I go out at night, I have to layer most of my clothes. Haha, not really, but it is really cold, and when I left for class this morning, there was a cold drizzle of rain. Perfect. But there's no more class this week, after economics later today.

I'm writing now from the library on campus, which is really crowded with students, many of whom seem to be hurrying to finish assignments. I was in there shoes yesterday, when I came with my literature group to finish our handout on Mark Twain's A Tramp Abroad. The presentation went really well! There was a lot of partcipation, which I had been told not to expect. We also talked about our class excursion to Rothenfels this weekend - we will get to stay in a youth hostel in a castle! And our professor instructed some of the students to bring beer for the first night, which I found hilarious. Apparently students and teachers drink together here, which will be a new experience for me, and probably delightful.

A funny moment in language class today, when Dr. R. brought in menus for us to look at, and one of the boys took the phrase "Wiener Art, " describing a method of cooking schnitzel, literally. Of course, in German it means "in the style of the Viennese," which I think he knew, but we all had a laugh. He said, "I like it, but I don't think it's art."

Tonight is Stammtisch, which I'm looking forward to. Last week, I spoke at length with a Russian-German student who is studying political science at Uni Würzburg. He knew a lot, and explained the origins of the economic crisis for me, tracing it back to a Roman king, haha. I think the new students at our dorm (yes, there are students newer than us!) are going to come. They're MBA students from Christ University in Bangalore, India. I went to the Wine Fest with some of them, and we had a lot of fun.

Views of the City from Festung Marienberg

Gardens, the Main River, and a view of the city.

Garden detail. (I wouldn't mind living here.)

The prince-bishops' vineyards.

The city to the south.

The city to the north, including the stone Old Main Bridge.

Now I have to get back to studying and homework. My group is presenting tomorrow on Mark Twain's A Tramp Abroad (here is a link to free e-texts), which I highly recommend for anyone who likes humorous travel writing. I'm also writing an essay in German for my language class on my first two weeks' worth of impressions of Würzburg.

The Philosophy Institute at the Am Hubland campus of Universität Würzburg, where all of my classes are.

One short story before I go:

Yesterday, I was coming back on the bus from grocery shopping in the city, and I started getting nervous, because I saw that for some other riders, the doors were not opening. On the buses here, when you're at your stop, you have to press a button to open the doors to get off; the driver doesn't do it for you.

And so my stop was the next one, and the bus came to a halt, and I got up and pressed the button to open the door and get off the bus. But the doors wouldn't open! No one else was trying to get off, so I panicked, and pushed my way through the crowded bus through the quiet, well-behaved, and nonplussed passengers, to the second set of doors, to see if the doors would open there. (Some of the buses are very long, accordion vehicles, with up to three sets of doors.)

They didn't open, and I got scared, which prompted me to yell out, "Es öffnet nicht!" which literally means, "It's not opening!" I'm not sure, though, if that's idiomatically correct for doors.

An older German man next to me calmly replied, "Die nächste ist die Haltestelle," which means "The next place is the bus stop."

And sure enough, we were at a traffic light, and not at my stop. When we got to my stop, less than 50 meters from the traffic lights, I quietly got off the bus, wondering why no one reacted to my panic until I vocalized it.

Festung Marienberg

On Tuesday, some of my friends and I went to Festung (Fortress) Marienberg, a beautiful castle sitting atop a (rather large) hill, overlooking the entire city, that was once home to Würzburg's prince-bishops. It's kind of like living in a fairy tale, to look up when I'm downtown or across the city when I'm at the Am Hubland campus, and see that castle. We hiked up to Marienberg, through Japanese gardens, forests, and little cottages sheltered under the hill.

A baby doll head with plants growing out of it. I spotted this in one of the cottage gardens on the hike up - kind of demented, no? I don't know if you can tell, but the doll's eyes were also gauged out and filled with dirt.

A pretty cottage.

J found this unique flower in one of his forays into the forest.


Some of the wildlife. Haha, just kidding. It's J on one of his aforementioned forays.

Entering the fortress. The inner keeps are protected by several sets of large stone walls, and the entire fortress is surrounded by a moat. Of course, the moat is dry now.

Passing through more keeps.

Taking a break, in an ancient water trough.

Finally inside! I can see why the Peasants' Rebellion in the 16th century was unsuccessful.
The chapel.

Inside the chapel.
The prince-bishop's orchards.

Class picture!

In a separate post, I'll put up pictures of the gardens and views of the city from this perch.

Cute Piggies in a Shop Window

Pfingsten Weekend, Africa Fest

Just home from a long day out! Lunch with some friends from my dorm downtown at a döner place (where I practiced Turkish with the owner!), second day of Afrika fest, then back to town to meet up with others for ice cream, coffee, and dinner at a trattoria. It's been hard getting used to the fact that almost all places close early Saturdays, and are not open at all on Sundays or holidays. So, no school today, or tomorrow, because of a Catholic holiday, which means I will have had a week of freedom by the time I have class again, on Thursday. I took advantage of this time to explore the local area and go to Afrika Fest, which was really crowded but fascinating. I went downtown yesterday to visit the Marienkappelle, a Gothic church downtown.

Exterior.

Interior.

One very big difference between life in Austin and life in Würzburg is that in Austin, I'm used to going to only one or two stores to get everything that I need, like HEB or Target. In Würzburg, though, there are few shops that carry such a hodgepodge, except for the local Woolworth, which is bankrupt and closing. The Aldi supermarket and Real (formerly a Wal-Mart) do have a lot of products, and seem very popular, but their selections seem limited compared to what I'm used to. The many small, specialty stores that exist in these parts that would probably have a hard time staying in business in the states. On second thought, though, perhaps it has more to do with urban versus rural areas. Anyway, for example, there is a store downtown that only sells razors. Another specializes in gummy bears, which my sister would love:


Another one's primary goods seem to be ceramic tiles of cute doggies and kitty-cats:

The dog tiles say, "Here guard I."

Here are some pictures from the 21st annual Afrika Fest. Würzburg has the largest celebration of African culture outside the African continent, strangely enough.

Girls getting their hair braided.

Awesome drummers. (The one in the beige hat was so cute!)