Salzburg

On Wednesday, 23. Sept, the language students (all 4 of us Americans and our Italian teacher-in-training) went to Salzburg. It was pretty much a full day event: fortunately, Salzburg is about 1.5 hr away by train.

We checked out a castle and fountains of Hellbrunn--and got wet in the process. Next, we went to the center and up to the fortress overlooking Salzburg. After having our fill of the fortress (and anything else educational, really), we decided to go back to the center and just go around (window) shopping.

Two guys (Ray and Clay) decided to go back to Hellbrunn and see the gazebo from "Sound of Music" (we didn't see it when we were there and had to leave to leave quite soon). While those 2 guys did that, The other 2 (Fiammetta and Brent) and I went downtown. Brent and I got to check out the house where Mozart was born. I would've gone to the house where he lived (just at the other side of the river) only I was too tired and hungry to go.

At the appointed time, we took a bus back to the train station and ate at a kebab. After a nice change from sandwiches, we boarded our train and got back to school in time for Abendessen (evening meal = supper/dinner).

Alright, enough narrative, let's see the pictures:

The sign is pretty self-explanatory.

Brent taking on the new kind of "map": the kind that gives the "You are here" sign a more literal meaning.

Some of the statues in the garden. A great candidate for playing with the different settings.

I'm on a garden in the middle of a pond.

And to think there were people seated on some of those benches. . .

Ah, now to the various fountains.

An interesting little town that actually does something.

Our guide. He was an evil person. Here he is, in the act, of turning on the water at the perfect times when his group was passing by.

Ok, now back to the city. Does this place look familiar?

Pegasus flying towards the fortress.

Crossing the river that divides the New city from the Old city.

There was some sort of fair going on that weekend (missed what is was about) and we couldn't resist this one ride:

It was so fun (and so hard to get the shot)!

Up on the top of the fortress, over looking the city.

A slightly wider view of Salzburg.

It was at the exit. I can be ADD at times.


Oh yeah, there was a street artist who was selling this kind of painting. They looked really nice! Too bad I don't have the money for it. Oh well, that's where the next-best-thing comes in: take a picture of it!

Chiemsee

This Sunday (20. Sept.), the Sprachschul went to Chiemsee and saw King Ludwig II's castle on Herreninsel (Lord's/Man's Island). This was the same king of Bavaria who started Neuschwantstein. . . and like Neuschwanstein, it remains unfinished.

All 5 of us (which included the teacher) took the 2hr train ride (2 stops included) to Prien am Chiemsee and walked about 10-15 minutes to the port. There, we road in a boat to Herreninsel. There are about 3 or 4 islands in this lake, but Herrenisel is the most popular and impressive. We had a great time taking pictures outside the castle, but couldn't take any inside 'cause we were forbidden to do so. The castle has to rip tourists off some way. . . as though they didn't have enough methods.

Anywho, that was only Sunday, there are 2 other trips we took during the week and 1 more coming up this weekend. Let me show you my pictures from Chiemsee.

Raymond (left) and Clay. Ray was given the task to update Bogi's English webpage. The 1st job is to introduce the current language students to anyone who visits the English website. Looks like the interview is getting very exciting.

The youngest of the language students: Brent. He didn't want his picture taken at the moment. Tough. :-P

Our ride is in the left. The boat in the middle is bringing tourists back to land. These boats can get quite full!

Behold, the castle King Ludwig II built as a memorial to the King Louis XIV of France, (aka. the Sun King). For those of you who have been to Versaille, this is a copy, only slightly bigger. This was done on purpose.

Latona Fountain.

Yours truly in front of Latona Fountain.

Fiammetta, posing in front of the fountain (the umbrella really did get wet!).

Ray posing as part of the fountain.

We're coming up to the castle!

Another fountain. I believe this is "Fame" and the other one across from it is "Fortune".

We're at the door. The wonders that await us inside. . .

I like playing with edit settings everyonce in a while.

Here's another wonder.

Ah, outside, on the other side of the bush wall, we see another king and his domain.

As we leave, let's take one last look at the castle.

Well, sorry to say that I need to go right now. Don't know when I'll be able to post my pictures from the 2 other trips, but I know it won't be Sunday, 'cause we're all going on another trip! Anywho, please be patient. I will get all this info to you in a timely manner. :-)

Shew, is it still the 1st week of classes? It feels as though we should be in the 3rd week by now. Alright, well today is the 1st day that the Bibo (library) is open. Of course, I couldn't let the chance go by without taking advantage of it. So, I'm gonna put up some pictures of a few things that are different:

Exhibit A: The Sportplatz beside the guys' dorm

Very practical: basketball, tennis, and football (soccer) in the same place.


Exhibit B: The new Mensa (cafe)

A different angle

Sorry, gotta go again. I've got a quiz tomorrow, the Bibo is closing in a bit, and I'm slightly hungry. Later!

Shock, utter shock: I’m here in Bogenhofen and I am in utter shock.

I left Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 9) from Philadelphia @ 16:10 and stopped in Chicago and London before I made it to Munich @ 16:35-ish Thursday afternoon (Sept. 10). After praising God that all my luggage made it to Munich with me, I was picked up and taken to Bogi. As we drove in to the campus, I felt utter shock.
I’m back… I’m actually back in Bogi… whoa… These were the sum of my thoughts. I couldn’t believe I was back. I’d reverie about it and yearn for it, but I never really thought I was going to accomplish this.
Normally, when someone goes abroad, it’s for 1 year and 1 year only. Financial means are beyond providing more than 1 year—if able to provide a year at all! Most college students are anxious to graduate as soon as possible or just have a different set of priorities. God has blessed me with the opportunity to go once and for me to return for a second time. God is amazing.

Well, there are a few changes to the scene. First of all, the language school is made up of a grand total of 4 students... including yours truly. I'm pretty much the only one in the Intermediate/Advanced level, so I'll be reviewing while the other 3 guys are learning. I think I'm gonna take up French while I'm here. I need it for grad school, and there isn't much else they're having me do, so yeah.

The second is the place and the people. They are building a new and bigger cafeteria/administration building. It's gonna have all the offices of all the teachers and a computer lab as well. It's weird to came back and see the academy freshmen from last time about to graduate this year. Same with the Theo. students. I knew it was gonna happen, it's just different to see it and live it.

Well, I don't have much time right now. This is the first time I've been able to go online since I got here on Thursday, and I dunno when the next time will be. Internet is not something I can depend on for the time being. Until next time, this will have to suffice.

Intro.

Well, here I am, setting up a new blog for my next year-long overseas adventure. I will be back in Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen for the '09-'10 year. The objective is to better my German in time for grad school--and for personal enrichment.

Even though I have already spent 1 year in Bogi (the school's nickname) and have a clear idea of what to expect, this will be much different than the previous year. New classes, new people, new circumstances in general: just like when one goes back to school after summer break... only with a 3-year gap between "Year 1" and "Year 2". Fun times.

I'll be using this blog the same way I used the other one I had for my 1st year: in order to keep anyone who is curious informed about my state of being. I'll be posting more pictures than anything else. Feel free to leave comments and questions. It's comforting to know someone is look at my blog.