Next week is our last week of class from 9-5. That makes all of us very excited, but that means the time to take the big test has come. The test is pass-fail, but apparently is really hard. And we get to take this test at 9 am, when we get back from Berlin about 1 am that morning. I guess I can stop complaining though, because we are going to Berlin for 5 days.

This week was fairly easy week. It got really nice finally. Between our two classes we have about an hour and 15 minutes, and most of that time this week was spent playing disc in the old botanical gardens.

Wednesday was a really nice day for our early class. We got to spend a little over an hour in the city. We had to find a few people and interview them about sport clubs, if they were in them and such. We found a good amount of people fairly early and met up with a few other people from our class, and with that extra time found ice cream.

Friday was supposed to be another tour of the town focusing on famous people that have called Marburg home, like the Brothers Grimm. We got there and decided to cancel the tour because it looked like it was going to rain. About two minutes into the walk home or less it started pouring rain and hailing. I was with a few people going to Edeka, a grocery store, and we just started running as fast as we could. It only rained for about 5 minutes... about the same amount of time we spent outside.

---> This is one of the entrances to our old botanical gardens. The stairs here are very different. On the right you can see two little ramps. They are perfectly spaced out for strollers. It also seems to be easy for people on bikes to get up the stairs and such. Another innovation that I like over here are the windows. Almost every window is the same. They are normally closed, but there are handles on them. If you turn the handle to the side the windows pull in like a door, but if you turn the handle upside down just the top of the window pulls in a few inches and lets air in.

As the month of March draws to an end I get happier and happier, because then I can shave this mustache. In German mustache is called Schnurbart, and to celebrate the brave few that took pride in mustache March were are having a schnurbarty. Its great because many of us don't have our morning class the next day too. I am really sick of looking like a complete creeper. Don't worry, there will be some pictures to see just how bad it looks.

And its finally daylight savings time, two weeks later.

Ok, I am bad at this. Its been another week. Right after I wrote the last blog Fritz and I went to Giessen, a town about 20 minutes by train from us. We mainly just walked around and didn't do anything stressful It was quite awesome, but this dinosaur tried to eat his Döner.

The beginning of the week was fairly normal and not too eventful. Wednesday was St. Patty's Day. I realized I didn't bring anything green with me to Germany. Luckily, most Germans don' even know what this day is. I ended up making some pasta out of noodles that look like four leaf clovers and horseshoes that were colored like the Irish flag. Then we watched Boondock Saints.

Thursday my cousin Andy came to see me. His sister Kandis lives in Frankfurt and he was here for spring break. He came up just in time for karaoke night at Mexicali. When I picked him up I brought Fritz. I snuck behind him and Fritz walked up to him, "Hey Andy, its been a long time," and continued this while Andy just looked confused. We ended up at Meicali, and it was a school planned thing, so our professor was there. He sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and it was awesome. I showed Andy Lecker Eck (delicious corner), the food place that is always open, and we ended up making food at my place with a few more people till... late, maybe 3 or 4. I told my teacher my cousin would be in town so I would miss one day of class, so we woke up and caught one of the morning busses. I gave him my version of the city tour and after lunch sent him off.

Right after that we got on the bus and our whole group went on a program trip to Weimar. Weimar is one of the major culture centers of Germany. Also from WWI till 1933, Germany was in the Weimar Republic stage. It was 3 hours by bus. I was in a hostel room with Joe Canada and Joe Omaha. The next day was fantastic. It was Joe Canada's Bday. We had an awesome city tour, then ended up with a whole bunch of people playing frisbee and soccer for 5 hours in Goethe's backyard. Johann Goethe is basically Germany's Da Vinci. He is a big deal here.

Sunday was Buchenwald, a large concentration camp, and the ride back. Overall it was a great weekend, one of the best I have ever had. Here are a few pictures: http://s836.photobucket.com/albums/zz286/carlsonlance/March%2014-21/

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So its been about a week. Sorry about that. I finally remembered my camera this week when I went places. There should be a good amount of pictures to put here over the next couple posts.

This is Joe Canada and me. He had some friends from Canada show up. He went to give them a tour and I tagged along. This is standing up by the castle on one of the paths down. This in one of the big churches in the area. It was built in *(@# and was built to serve most of the locals that lived within the town walls. They rushed it and used wet wood on the spire. When the sun came up it dried the wood on one side faster, and thats why its crooked. Also look at those sweet mustaches. Mustache March is coming along well, though I still just look creepy.

The beginning of the week was normal... for being here. Wednesday was a lot of fun. Fritz was gone for a week and when he came back that night we decided to just go out and walk around the town. I got pictures of the town at night and I got about half the statues in the Oberstadt.

This is me kicking down the door to the basement of Rathaus, the town hall.

Thursday was Max's, a guy in the program, birthday. Fritz also had a good friend come up from Frankfurt. Though, as many nights, it ended with Fritz and I hanging out in our kitchen. Roman, his friends was there to. We made some pasta and played guitar till about 2:30, then I went to bed, but I could here them playing till about 4. When you have to get up for class at about 7:45 every morning, 2:30 isn't bad. Especially since that is about normal this past week.

On Friday Stephanie, another IUSPer who lives far away decided to stay in Desa's room. I let them have my keys with directions to leave my window open so I could crawl in, because I have an extra blanket. I got back about 2:30 or so, window was open, thats good, they left my keys, also good, and I went to bed. As I looked at my bed I noticed something missing, both of my blankets.

Also, because our class gets a day off sometime, we had class Saturday morning. Out of the 10 Americans there were 3 of us there. The total count was about 8 people out of 18 or so.

For some of these pictures its much easier to give you a link. Most of these are from Fritz and my's night out on the town. One picture is from Friday. Stphanie (not pictured) took my coat because it was easier to grab, then when we all went to leave she still had it, so I took hers. Thats why I have to fur coat. You have to click the pictures and go through them too get the descriptions.

http://s836.photobucket.com/albums/zz286/carlsonlance/Marburg%202010/

Well the weather here has been... fun. The first few days were a bit cold with snow on the ground. Then there was a long time where it was overcast and rained all the time. It got rid of the snow, but still was not the most fun. Most of last week was really nice. The sun was shining, and there was even a day where i took my coat off for a while, then on friday night it decided to snow all night. This is the result.

While the sun was shining it made our classroom really bipolar. There was a storm one night and it blew the windows in our classroom open and tore the some of the blinds down. The part where its sunny is beyond hot, and everyone else usually still wears jackets. Mainly in our class it has been Nicole and I sitting right in the sun. We have a perfect little system down. Its nice for while, then we start complaining to each other and making jokes about it being so hot. Then we get our half hour class break and repeat. The past few days everyone has been really tired and falling asleep, or at least not fully focused. But I now know I can't draw ISU's campus very well in my work book, or explain it to Nicole well.

After our culture class on Friday, I went to the store with Justin. We went to Edeka, a store hidden in an alley almost. Got some cheap pizza, 3 for 2,50 Euros, and came back. ---> That is me feeling like a hobo. I only have one plate and Justin was using it, so I ate out of a pan, using my spatula to cut it.

Later on Friday, we went to Südhaus, one of the favorites, if not the favorite, for some of us. We packed around 12 people or so into this table under a stairwell, and were there till about 3.30. Jonathan, Steve, Desa, Robyn, and I went to Döner, well three of them did, then decided to call it a night. After negotiating some we got a taxi back to the dorf. Just when we were going to go to our rooms Steve goes, "Wanna hang out more?" I ended up in Jon's room till almost 8 with him, Steve, and Robyn. Slept two hours, then we went and started Saturday.

According to Joe Canada, it is now mustache March, and he is super happy for it. Among the returners there is one other Joe. We call him Joe Omaha, or Jomaha. Joe Canada spent a long time convincing as many people as possible to not shave mustaches. Jomaha said he might do it, and three hours later was clean shaven. For the past few days when those two are together, its hours of jokes, each one new and more creative than the last. Wow, look at that guy, he's cool, probably because of his mustache. The best was we met a guy who helped us at the beginning get settled. He walks in with a fantastic mustache. Jomaha looks and sighs and hangs his head as Joe C points to the "Sign from God".

Here is Robyn, Steph, and Desa, trying to rock mustaches.

Fencing!

<---- Here is the view from my classroom I promised. Thats the castle there on top. The river is below, it was super high and fast the other day. Lots of the sidewalks and parks were closed and completely flooded.

We have now started our history and culture course. I think its awesome. The teacher is a very awesome guy. Klaas Kunst. He is a professor of conflict studies, maybe why I like him so much. He has this rule about cell phones, if yours goes off, you bring candy the next day. As soon as he says this, Joe Canada calls someone in the front row. His phone was on silent though, but he turned around and glared. Of course today in class I checked my phone, it said silent, as I am putting it away it rings. Apparently these 5 Euro Nokia phones are not perfect. It was even good ol' Fritz calling. So he showed me this little store where to get cheap candy thats still good.

More importantly though, I finally found one of the fencing clubs! I am so happy. My legs hurt, but its a good hurt. I got there a little late, thanks confusing old streets. To get there I have to take this bus to an old stop that no one else uses I think. Then walk up this winding back staircase. After following this cobblestone street and going behind another building I found it.

Trying to do some warm ups were fun. One guy would yell a command and everyone would follow, then I would go. I think I have some of it figured out now though. then came free fencing. I won the first two and the last one lost by one point, but five years vs a year and a half. I will take it, and I am still pretty rusty.

To top the night off though was the walk back. To get to a working bus stop at that time of night I walked through the Oberstadt, all the way though. The lights were perfect on the little old houses and shops and cobblestone. It really was relaxing. There were just enough people out to make it interesting, but not enough to ruin it. Carrying my fencing kinda made it not fun though. Its a little heavy.

---> Fritz and I kickin back in our kitchen. We were gonna make more pasta, but could not find sauce. Nutella and toast was good instead though.

(I am taking requests on anything anyone wants to hear about in the next enteries.)