School Update

It is a funny thing how things just happen sometimes. For instance, last week I was going to finally decide between the three classes. The translation class canceled for one reason or another. The English class was also canceled because the professor was stuck in London at the time and ended up having to follow the crowd as they swarmed onto the buses and trains. So I only had one of the classes last week. I am pretty sure that I am going to go with the two harder classes.

In other news, we went to Quedlinburg last week. I also went to Halberstadt on the way back, but that is less important. Quedlinburg has all kinds of old houses that go back centuries. I think that the twelfth century might be about as old as it gets, but I cannot remember. I took some pictures, and they are on facebook, but I feel as though the camera fails to capture the most important part of the city. If you are not friends with me on facebook (somehow?), let me know and I can put them up here.

Because everything is so old and has been unchanged since construction, all of the streets are narrow and curvy. Watching the cars try to maneuver around was pretty entertaining. As you walk down the street, you are surrounded by three and four story buildings that curve around and meander without purpose. I can't think of a place in the USA that I have been to that has a similar feel. All that being said, you kind of get bored with it after a while. That is similar to seeing old churches here. At the beginning, I was really enthralled by all of the churches around town. Now, it seems kind of boring and regular. They all of similar looking, so it gets boring after awhile. We did get to tour an old church and castle in Quedlinburg, which was interesting, but not terribly so. I definitely enjoyed it, but nothing earth-shattering happened.

That is basically my feeling of Halberstadt. Some of us decided to go there on the way back and do a little walking around. It was pretty small and didn't have a whole lot that was terribly interesting. Since it was Saturday afternoon, most of the things were closed. We did get to walk around the cathedral, which was pretty interesting. I definitely enjoyed walking around the town and seeing new things, but nothing really jumped out and made itself terribly memorable. Ideally, all of my posts would be a length this length, but that seems unlikely. Next weekend is Walpurgisnacht followed by another excursion to Naumburg which involves canoeing on the Saale River and visiting the Nietzsche Museum that is there. I am pretty excited. More to follow when it happens.