Travel Photo...Thursday?

Now that my homework and other obligations are piling up, and I no longer have fall break to look forward to, I'm getting kind of nostalgic for some things about my semester in Germany. Mostly, how much easier the academics were. But also the numerous wine tastings paid for by IES.


Too bad my current studies don't include paid-for field trips to wineries. Isn't it still an important cultural experience?

soccer wrap-up

Ok, so I know I said I'd post every day this week, I really did write this post yesterday and was about to post it when my computer battery died. I was up on my 7-foot-tall bunk bed, and it takes a lot to get me to climb down this ladder once I've climbed up to go to bed. So there's my inadequate excuse.

I realized that I never posted any pictures from my various Euro2008-watching experiences. A couple good reasons: right before I was going to take pictures of the projected-on-a-sheet-in-my-kitchen viewing parties I dropped my camera in the toilet, I forgot my camera at the party in Berlin where I watched the finale, I'm lazy sometimes.

But here are a few pictures that don't adequately convey the Fußballfieber.


Public viewing at a local park


Crowds of people celebrating after Germany made it into the final.


So many German flags and painted faces...it's always kind of surprising to see these kinds of patriotic displays in Germany, since flag-waving-nationalism is understandably not common. But it really is nice to see everyone rallying around something positive...even if the celebrations kept me up at night and they went on to lose to Spain. Certainly an exciting time to be studying in Germany.

Rocks and trees

Sächsische Schweitz (Saxon Switzerland), near Dresden, Germany
October, 2006
Taken during a 19km hike ending in the Czech Republic, in the region known as Bohemian Switzerland.