Wow, what a great week! I’ll try to finish up this past week, so I can start writing about this upcoming one.

Now where was I? Oh, Sunday.

There was a larger group from my language class that was interesting in going to see the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Bavaria. So we decided to leave early, hopefully beating the crowd to get into the castle.

Unfortunately, 10:00 was too late. We had no tickets, and the line was at least half a kilometer long. So we saw everything that we could: everything but go inside the castle.

After the numerous selfies were taken, the group non-unanimously decided to hike up the Scwangau mountain. Now, this mountain is a part of the alps, and I doubted that anyone brought the appropriate hiking gear. It started out fun, but then the trek just dragged on and on.

The castles were extremely beautiful, and they became even more scenic the higher up we climbed. I brought my camera, and for some really good pictures of everything. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a computer that can read memory cards at the moment, so I’ll have to show these off later. Anyway, there was a girl in our group that was struggling with the hiking thing, both physically and emotionally. I decided to stay back to help her, and I was glad I did. I enjoyed talking to her and asking her questions about her research project.

We kept asking people hiking down the mountain how long it was to the top, and each time we asked, that number kept getting larger and larger. When we finally got to the top, the group was nowhere to be found. We eventually found a team that brought us back down the mountain, meet up with them at the bottom, and took the bus back to the train station. We decided to stop for Döner, which is some kind of Turkish food. Tasted like Gyros, if that narrows it down at all.

On the train, nearly everyone feel asleep. We were tired, but happy with what we accomplished. The hike lasted around 3 or 4 hours! But in the end, it was ask worth it!

Auf wiedersehen,

Tom Ziebro

My last entry ended with the club on Friday. Saturday I had a little trouble getting up at 7 in the morning. Turns out that German beer is a little more alcoholic than I thought. I grabbed my camera, and got on the U-bahn to meet a group of fellow classmates at the Hauptbahnhof for our trip to Dachau.

The train ride was surprisingly short; it was no more than an hour long. The train was packed, with very few empty seats. The bus ride was even worse, with people squeezed so close into the vehicle that I thought the doors might burst open if someone sneezed.

The overall feeling that I got from the concentration camp was eerily ominous. People sometimes describe that feeling when the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, and this was definitely that feeling. We walked into the gate with the inscription, “Arbeit macht frei”, which means, ” Work makes free(dom)”. We were able to walk through the barracks, the courtyards, the gas chambers, the crematoriums, and the monuments. It was really spooky at times, to imagine so many people passing through the doors.

I actually learned a ton from this tour. Dachau was actually the first concentration camp constructed, and it served as a model for the other camps. At first, the camp was designed to generally scare the public into submission. Any off-color joke or cartoon against the Nazi party would send you to Dachau for re-education. This meant torture and cruelty, but after the prisoners were sufficiently tormented, they were released into the public to encourage Nazi cooperation. If they didn’t, they were sent right back.

After the start of the Second World War, the camp was used to punish political opponents and prisoners of war. They were put to work under harsh conditions and were treated extremely unjustly. At this time, these prisoners were working on manufacturing materials for the war effort. As time went on, however, concentration camps went from being a prison, to a killing factory. Shootings and hangings came first, but it was quickly realized that poisonous gas and cremation were much faster methods of killing. Despite this, Dachau still relied on harsh conditions and diseases for killing the most people. Camps like Auswitz, for example, were constructed solely for the purpose of killing.

So today, the buildings and monuments stand as reminders for what evils lie within human beings, and a promise that these events won’t happen again. I took lots of photos.

We ended up staying for several hours. I’m starting to really like museums. I’m always interested in imagining what life was like then, and how fortunate I am to have been born at the right time and right place.

Guten Nacht!

Tom Ziebro

Such a fantastic weekend! I’m writing on Monday night, so I’m hoping I won’t miss too many of the details.

Friday was a typical class, and we were reminded that because we have Monday off, our classes next week would be extended by an hour. Not a big deal, I suppose.

After class, I decided to go jogging with two girls from class, at one of their host houses. I was amazed at how strict and inflexible my friend’s hostess was! She first yelled at my friend for not telling her we were coming, then scoffed at the fact that we didn’t take our shoes off. These are all legitimate claims, but this hostess did not speak English, so there was no way we could have known that these were her rules. We went for a short jog, then headed back to the train for a beer tour.

We ended up being a couple minutes late, but the tour guide didn’t seem to mind at all. He gave us a glass of Augustiner, and we pretty much chugged it down in a matter of seconds. Then, we made our way to the Oktoberfest Museum, where we learned all about the history and science of beer. Pretty interesting stuff.

After the talking, we made our way to the bar area, where we tried each of the different kinds of beer enjoyed in Munich. After the tastings, the tour group moved to a Hofbräuhaus, where we drank beer in traditional mugs, and ate Bavarian ordervs off of wooden platters. I’ll post a picture of that below.

The evening then transitioned into Phase 2, while a changed my clothes, and joined a smaller group to experience some of the night life in Munich. We searched for somewhere to go, by asking the locals and by using whatever information we could get from maps. We ended up at a decent “club”, where there was plenty of dancing and lights. Pretty fun scene, although I don’t have much to compare it to. I made sure to leave at a reasonable hour, because the next morning I was planning on visiting Dachau.

I’ll make sure to get caught up again. Sorry for the delay!

Gluten Nacht,

Tom Ziebro

Thursday, the sixth day of Germany, was more laid back than the previous days. Today was the first day that I used the U-bahn to get to class, and I was amazed at how much quicker I was able to travel. The trams move at a much slower pace, and have much more frequent stops. Rather than being late to class, I was actually early.

It was more of the same today. More number reviewing, and simple introductory phrases. Today she explained to us that since we have Monday off (for Pentecost), we would have our normal class time extended until 1:30. While I’m not a huge fan of more class, I do like that we have an extra day to do more sightseeing.

After class, I decided to check out one of the museums in Munich, called Deutsches Museum. They had a student discount, where both of us for in for 8€! A very good deal indeed. We were there for approximately four hours, and we both felt like that still was not nearly enough time. There were hundreds of exhibits, ranging from science and technology, to music and history, among other topics. The biggest downside was that most of the exhibit descriptions were written in German, and I’m very familiar with science-related words. I picked up another postcard as a souvenir, then hopped back on the U-bahn to get back to the train station.

It’s really too bad that Munich has been cold, wet, and dreary for so long. I feel like it’s such a charming city, that if it were nicer outside, there would be much more to do. Not that I’m complaining; I’m having lots of fun so far!

Tschüss!

Tom Ziebro

Ah, Tuesday. I was 25 minutes late to my language class, which is unlike me. I overslept my alarm, and the tram takes 45 minutes to get to class. I apologized to my teacher in German, and after she heard me, she didn’t seem very disappointed. We had a different teacher today, who I actually liked more than Monday’s teacher.

Monday we learned from a guy named Clement, or something like that. He was very quirky, and didn’t seem to take his teaching very seriously. Tuesday we had a lady who was very stereotypically German: plain, direct, and very serious. She spoke with us entirely in German, which kept me entertained while the class was learning how to ask questions. I realized that I had forgotten my book, and may night’s homework, but that turned out to not be quite as important as I thought.

After class, the Munich group decided to go to the local Hofbräuhaus, but I had already gone, the food was expensive, and the group was really large and disorganized. Instead, I decided to find the nearest Aldi, to purchase some groceries.

At this point in the day, it was raining pretty heavily, so I went home to first get my umbrella. I found Aldi on Wi-Fi, then headed straight there. Turns out that in Germany. Aldi is pretty much the same as in America, with the exception that everything is written in German, and there’s a slightly different selection. It was a little difficult to find what I wanted at first. Basically, I was looking for a source of protein that was lower in fat than the sausages I had been eating, and some good whole grain bread, and vegetables. Vegetables were not a problem, the bread was a little more difficult, and the protein was Missy difficult. See, I really don’t have the time or supplies to make involved meals, and most of the meat being sold was either raw, or had tons of preservatives. I really was just looking for frozen chicken, and I couldn’t find it. I eventually settled on frozen chicken wings and canned tuna fish, and headed home.

After this voyage, the combination of the rain, and my exhaustion led me to take a 2 hour nap. After waking up, it finally dawned on me that I hadn’t worked out in several days. Thus, I decided to don my running shoes and head to the local fitness studio. While there, I realized that in Germany, there is no free water: no drinking fountains. I talked with one of the guys in charge, and he said that I would need to purchase a month pass, or pay daily. It was 10€ per day, and I was only going to be here for another week or so. He said the first day was free, so I took advantage of this offer, and decided to never come back.

I came back rather late, to a dark house. I wrote Sunday and Monday’s entry, then hit the sack.

Today (Wednesday) was interesting as well. I was only 5 minutes late this time, but I had an excuse that my hostess talked to me quite a bit. I feel like I learn more German from her than I do from attending class. I made the mistake of wearing shorts, as it quickly became very cold. I felt like today I connected a little more with the people in my class. Ask of the sudden, I was more than just that guy that knew a little German.

It was during this class that I learned that the tram was not free, and that if I was caught without a transportation pass, I could be fined 40€. I decided to buy a transportation pass, which took a very long time. Apparently in Germany, public transportation unions can simply call a strike, and all those workers that are a part of the union simply do not show up to work. I finally got my ticket, and headed back to the school, only to find that the group had left! Being that I had free Wi-Fi at the school, I decided to stay and map out my next course of action. There was a walking tour of Munich at 3pm that I wanted to see, and it was around 1:30 or so.

I ended up running into my travel buddy, who told me that she was abandoned by the group, so we decided to travel to the Deutsches Museum, which is supposedly really interesting. We ended up getting there around 2:00, to realize that it closes at 5. Back to the Hauptbahnhof we went, to go on the tour.

I found this tour to be especially interesting, because it was about the Third Reich in Munich. Our tour guide was Scottish, and was very good at being concise. See, Munich was where the Nazi party was born, and Dachau was the first concentration camp, serving as a model for other camps. Many people think that the German people did nothing to try to stop the Nazis from gaining power, bit this tour proved the contrary. It was because Hitler was appointed chancellor, not because he was elected, that the Nazis rose to power. We learned that Hitler had a monument constructed, and required that everyone salute the statue, lest they be sent to a concentration camp. There were people that refused to salute this monument, and thus took a different path, and there’s a bronze pathway to those people that most their lives after they were discovered.

There was also a secret society known as the White Rose, which mainly consisted of medical students attending the University of Munich. This group nonviolently opposed Nazism, trying to inform the public to take the same course of action. Most of its leaders were beheaded.

While this was a dark and horrifying time in Munich history, it was interesting to note how they chose to rebuild their city. Rather than construct obvious large monuments for all to notice and recognize, Munich decided to be more indirect, and build tiny reminders into the architecture of the new city. Whether it be a certain position of a statute, or the color of a building stone, Munich is not proud of its darker history, nor will it ever forget.

Jetzt ist alles,

Tom Ziebro

Sunday was more interesting than Saturday. I told my hostess that I would get up at 9:00, so that I could find a church to go to, but I ended up oversleeping through my alarm, and was awake at 9:30. I felt kind of bad, because she provides breakfast to me, and had to wait for me. Then again, the friend I’m going to travel with told me that she slept until 3 in the afternoon! I think all of this is understandable, because I was so tired from not sleeping at the airport, or on the plane, or on the train, plus jet lag, combined for some serious sleep deprivation.

I first found where my German language schoolis, which is conveniently across the street from the train station. I decided to get to know that place, since I’ll need to use it again. While doing so, i came across a tour center, which gives waking tours and bike tours of the Munich area. I got a brochure, and planned a week of tours. I also found Deutsches Museum, where I bought a postcard. I walked more downtown, and explored several beautiful churches. The biggest and oldest church is called the Frauenkirche, and is located in the historic Marienplatz.

I met up with my friend when she finally woke up, and we got dinner at the Hofbräuhaus, which was for me sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut. Oh, and the beer was good too. My friend was getting a little tipsy, so I finished some of her drink. It was a little pricey for my taste, at 17 EUR, but it was good food.

That’s pretty much it for Sunday. Monday was my first day of school, and I was around 5 minutes late. I was able to explain myself to my instructor in German, but I quickly realized that this is a basic class, and I didn’t want to be removed from the class if they knew I could already speak the language. We’re truly starting from the basics, which really bores me, but I’m okay with it.

After class, I decided to organize a little  group of people to join us on our first tour. It was entitled, “A taste of Bavaria”, and included portions from each traditional Bavarian dish. Our tour guide was actually Italian, and she told us that Bavaria as a state is very different from the rest of Germany because of its Italian and French influence. We had weißwurst, obatzda, radishes, Bretzeln, and a couple other traditional dishes. This was at the Viktualienmarkt, which is a collection of old school shops. Afterward, we went back to Marienplatz to open a bank account, and check out the phones.

It was at this point in the day that I remembered that I was invited to a party by my hostess at 5:00. It was actually a birthday party, for her dog, Ela. She turned six years old. I thought it was going to be boring, but it was actually fun to chat up the locals with some Denglish. Afterward, my hostess had a little too much to drink, so I helped her clean up. She told me that one of the girls that I talked to was actually flirting with me. I had no idea! It’s hard enough to follow what people are saying, let alone understand those kinds of suttle cues.

While I would love to get caught up (today is Tuesday), I must go to bed, as it is almost 1 in the morning here.

Bis bald!

Tom Ziebro

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my blog that details my experience conducting research, studying abroad, and hopefully having a memorable time in Germany!

First, I’ll talk about how I became involved with this experience. At The Ohio State University, sophomores participating in the STEP program are given funding to experience something that they might not have otherwise experienced. I happened to stumble across the DAAD RISE program, and it turned out to be a perfect fit.

Turns out that DAAD is an organization that coordinates internships in Germany or for Germans, while RISE is the science and engineering portion. In a nutshell, students from universities in the US, UK, and Canada are given a stipend to conduct research at a German institution, under the direction of a graduate student. Of course, admission into the program is highly selective. I doubted that I would ever get in, but decided to apply anyway. When I received an email saying I was accepted, I nearly fell off my chair!

Thus, my planning process began March 2015. I was doing homework, studying, emailing, translating, negotiating, planning, guessing, researching, and somehow, finding time to eat and sleep. See, it’s one thing to study abroad, but it’s another thing to conduct research abroad. The day of my flight was the day I received all my paperwork and it couldn’t have been better timing.

My flight left the Cleveland-Hopkins Airport at 11:00 AM, with a 20-year old college kid that had never been on a plane, or ventured outside the US (except for Canada).

I arrived in New Jersey around noon, or shortly thereafter. My flight to Frankfurt left at 7:30. That was a seven hour layover! Goodness, I still don’t know how I managed to entertain myself. Watching and talking to people was helpful, I suppose. As a matter of fact, I had randomly struck up a conversation with a girl who was traveling to Berlin to live with her boyfriend that she met on a study abroad program via Cleveland State University. She was my first source of firsthand experience about Germany. While I had taken multiple years of German in high school, there were facts that I did not know, like how to pick a hostel, that I quickly learned from this person. Towards the end of our conversation, she even invited me to stay with them in Berlin! What a deal.

The plane ride from NJ to Frankfurt was at first okay, but after the fifth hour, things got a little unbearable. Again, I passed the time by chatting up the person beside me, who was traveling to Germany on a religious missions trip. We exchanged information as well. She was there with her friend from the University of Northern Florida. There was a German man sitting behind me that could not speak English, and it was interesting to speak with him auf Deutsch. While I tried sleeping on the plane, quarters were tight, and my oversized legs were not too keen on the person in front of me reclining. I arrived in Frankfurt around 9:30 AM, and waited for my travel buddy to arrive at 10:30 AM.

Coordinating our meeting place turned out to be really difficult, since she did not have cell phone service, and the airport was so large. Eventually, we found each other after an hour or so.

Now, it was time to buy a rail pass, to go from Frankfurt to Munich. We had the choice to take high speed rail, but I declined because the slower rail was much cheaper (€100+ vs. €26). The train ride was around six hours, with multiple transfers in between. We saw a lot of the countryside, which was similar in some respects, but different than what I’m accustomed to in the US. We arrived in Munich, where we then organized travel to our host families. My travel buddy had her host pick her up with her car, but I had to take the tram. This was a little scary at night, but it wasn’t too long of a ride.

I met my hostess that night, and she seems super nice and hospitable. She’s provided me everything I need here, and I’m very lucky to have found such a kind-hearted woman. She even invited me to a party tomorrow with her friends!

That brings us up to Sunday, which was today. Unfortunately, it is getting very late, and I will have to write more tomorrow. But feel free to leave comments!

Wiedersehen,

Tom Ziebro