Ich lebe noch! I'm still alive!

Music: Surf Wax America by Weezer on pandora.com
Books: Dracula by Bram Stoker and Gotik by Suckale et al.
Mood: tiiiiired but accomplished!


Hey Everyone!

Believe it or not, I'm still alive! The first two weeks of the semester were of course busy as I became reacclimated to being a university student ( gasp ), which means that there was work to be done.

This semester I have three days of classes, but they're pretty full. Mondays I'll have Medieval Painting from 13.00-16.00 ( the next meeting for that class isn't for two more weeks ) and Wilhelminian Foreign Policy from 18.00-20.00.

Tuesday: Botany from 8-10 and European Union from 12-14
Wednesday: Nothing nichts zilch nada zip
Thursday: Botany from 9-10, History Tutorat 10-12 ( it begins fifteen after the hour and that's just enough time to bike from the botanical gardens to the main campus ), and European Union 14-16. My busiest day!
Friday: Nuttin'

With the exception of the first few days of classes, time has been well spent. I meet a lot with Beki to go over our Botany handout and dig around in the main library and the Biology Library for up-to-date textbooks that explain our sparse handout in detail ( whether in German or English, though the Biology Library seems to be dominated by English ). It's pretty time consuming, but productive.

I've also grown out of the awkward-foreigner-sitting-silently-in-the-corner stage. Consider that last semester I only had one "true" university course - my other courses were with other Americans from the program. This semester I have three university courses ( four if you count the History Tutorat ) and only one AYF course and therefore will be mostly immersed in the German-speaking world ( I do need to keep my head above the water to breath ). So far I've been able to actively contribute to group projects ( at least planning ). Hey, small steps.



Today I went to Basel, Switzerland, to see the Kunstmuseum or Art Museum. It was nice travelling on my own for once and besides, it was recommended that I go see collections of medieval paintings for my Art History course. Basel was a medieval art center, if that's the correct term, and thus there was a good amount of late medieval ( ! ) art. Early medieval? Zzzz. Gag me with a spoon. Late is where it's at. Whatever it is. I would have gone through a second time to make sure it was all in my head and indeed I did for some of the more prominent artists, but museums can really knock the energy out of you, no matter how interesting they are. I've been to enough museums and large cathedrals now that I can spot a small Gruenewald across two rooms in a heartbeat and I get geeked about seeing similarities between the portrayal of the Prince of the World in Strasbourg, Freiburg, and Basel.



They've also got a lot of works by Arnold Boecklin, whom I had never heard of, but whose works I really like. They've also got a lot of modern art, from sketches to completed works, from Picasso to van Gogh and Roy Lichtenstein ( I was too worn out and hungry to make it to see Lichtenstein's works ).

If you're ever in Basel, the Kunstmuseum is definitely the place to go. They're got a good amount of everything - Golden Age Dutch art, late medieval, modern, 17th-19th century sketches and pencils. Mostly paintings and other things you can hang on the wall, with a couple of sculptures to spice things up.

Low point of the day, though, was the waitress at the museum's cafe ( holy crap, 4 CHF for a cup of tea ) switching to English when I said "I'd like a coffee... er, I mean, a tea" ( in German ). Slip of the tongue! I can speak @*#*& German! It sorta put me in a bad mood. If she wants to practice her English, she can practice with the hordes of tourists who don't speak French or German. If someone begins speaking with you in German, it means they're probably confident that they can continue on in German. ::sigh:: Anyhow, so I forced myself to speak more German while I was there. I ran into two wandering apprentices near the Muenster and although I already know what they do and tradition and blah blah blah I played tourist and asked them questions for the sake of speaking.

Well, since I had arrived in Basel around 11AM and spent 2 hours at the art museum, I decided to wander around and see things I had seen last time I was in Basel. I saw the Muenster with new, enlightened eyes, the town hall, and crossed the Rhine a few times. I also wanted to go to the Culture Museum because it's free, but they were closed to prepare for a new exhibit. The Museum of Natural History also looked really neat ( I loved the one in Dublin ), but by that time I had 1CHF in my pocket and there wasn't a bank in sight to make an exchange ( yes, I realize they'll take Euros ), but I had already spent enough time indoors, spent enough money, and it was soooo lovely outside compared to the last time I was in Basel. So I walked around a bit more, then made my way back to Basel SBB trainstation and get back in Freiburg around 6PM.



One day I shall return to Basel and purchase everything at this store. Holy crap. Calligraphy heaven.