In an effort to keep some continuity across the months that have passed since my last posting, I’ll begin with German language learning as the catalyst for my DABR disappearance.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever made my motives for being in Germany completely clear, but half the reason I wanted to undertake this language immersion/acquisition project here is that I used to teach English as a Second Language. It always seemed interesting and fun to me that my students had the opportunity to be completely surrounded by foreign language—I wanted to know how their brains and ears felt, totally inundated as they were with the unfamiliar.
As it turns out, it *is* fun and interesting, but also somewhat exhausting, all-consuming, and really hard. (I know that I’ve described this before so I won’t bore you with it again.)
Anyway, my intensive German language classes came to an end on February 28th, at which point I was pretty eager to get out of classroom. I was feeling liberated! Feeling a little something called Zugzwang—one of those amazing German words for which we have no English equivalent—that is, “compulsion to move.” So naturally I started booking tickets—both plane and train, S-Bahn and I.C.E.—ASAP.
So I’ve been on the road, so to speak. And traveling without a computer and with limited access to the internet, it’s obviously been way too long since I’ve had a chance to update the blog!
But the past several weeks have been really great and I can’t wait to write posts on everything I’ve had a chance to see. For now I’ll just leave you with the itinerary:
First, my friend Ian and I went to the Czech Republic. We spent most of our time in Prague, but also made a day trip to a town called Kutna Hora.
Second, I couldn’t get enough of Eastern Europe—it’s really interesting, I think, and so I made an impulse decision when I got back from Prague and booked a flight to Romania. There I traveled by myself, spending a week split between the capital city of Bucharest and a town in Transylvania called Sibiu.
Then, a sort of sad intermission: Romania is a very interesting place and, of all the places I went, it may be the one I’m most excited to write about. But as a vegetarian I admit that I had a pretty hard time there finding food I could eat. (To give you an idea, I noticed that pig’s brain was being offered as a main course on a number of menus.) So somehow I got my first and, I think, the most resilient case of food poisoning on planet earth; after returning to Heidelberg from Romania (where I more or less couldn’t eat for the last 3 days of my visit), I had to spend an unfortunate 3 more days in bed recuperating on a diet of white rice and Matzo.
Then: Matt and I took a train with our friend Colin to Vienna;
From Vienna, Matt and I continued on to Budapest.
We came back to warm, beautiful weather in Heidelberg. Spring had definitely arrived! But again I only had a few days to pause and do laundry before getting back on a train.
This last trip took me to Milan, where I attended a wedding. The visit was less sightseeing and more socializing, which was a nice change of pace; I got to catch up with old friends from college and meet some really awesome people for the first time.
I’ve been back for less than a week and, I’m a little sorry to say, I have no more trips planned! My visa to be in Germany is nearing its end and I’m starting to plan my return to the US.
Anyway, more about that later—please check DABR over the next few weeks if you’re interested in reading the details of any of the above :)
I hope you’ve all stayed well over the past several weeks and that you’re enjoying the weather, where ever you are—happy springtime, everyone!
