TUM

Here are some pictures of the TUM campus at Garching.  

Crossing things off our Germany-Bucket-List and climbing on top of these grassy concrete structures

On another school-related note, I now know enough German to talk about food! I can ask people things at the grocery store and I can even say prices! And, of course, I know how to tell people that they have beautiful hands.

Neuschwanstein

Sunday was the trip I had been looking forward to most since I got our schedule - we took a trip to Neuschwanstein.  We took a 2.5 hour train ride from Munich, and then a 10 minute bus ride to the town.  The town was full of tourists, it is definitely a huge attraction.  There are two big castles - a white one and a yellow one.  We only visited the white one, but here is a picture of the yellow one.

King Ludwig II's parents' castle

 The hike up to the white castle took about 30 minutes.  We also walked out to a rather questionable bridge to get a better view of the castle.  The view was amazing.  We also had a guided tour of the castle, but unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside.  It was an exquisite sight.

King Ludwig II's castle

Amazing view of the Alps

ZTA crown at a castle

View of the castle from the bridge

Friends at Neuschwanstein :)

In the next two hours we had before going back to Munich, we played in the little lake.  There was a pipe that went out into the water, so we were dancing, playing games, falling in, and having fun.  Nothing like a good view of the Alps with friends in Germany.

Deutsches Museum

Sometimes I forget that this trip is supposed to be educational as well as cultural and fun. This post is to document a few of the Nano-related things I have been doing.

Last Friday was the end of the lab week.  My lab project was called Magnetotransport.  My group consisted of me, my lab partner Elsbeth, and our tutor Steffi.  We learned about making semiconductors and nanowires, and got to visit our tutor's lab to do an experiment.  Then on Friday, each lab group presented their project to everyone in the program.  Presentations weren't until 2:00, so a few of us went out for a traditional Bavarian breakfast - Weißwurst.  This is what Weißwurst looks like:

I was not a fan, though it was better with the mustard.  After breakfast, we completed our quest to find soccer player posters! Unfortunately, the store was out of Gomez posters, but we were still able to get Müller posters.  Then we headed over to TUM for everyone's presentations.  It was really interesting to learn about what everyone did over the week.

Friday evening was the next soccer game - Germany vs. Greece.  The whole group went to one of the most famous Beer Gardens to watch it - Hirschgarten.  It is the biggest beer garden in Bavaria.  Germany won 4-2! After the game, we went Salsa dancing, which was so much fun :)

On Saturday, we had a cultural visit to the Deutsches Museum - the world's largest museum of technology and science.  We had a guided tour of the Nano exhibit.  The museum was very interesting and very interactive.  Then we explored a little more and saw boats, airplanes, a mine exhibit that was like walking through a mine, and the physics room, which had so many gizmos to play with and was very entertaining.

The entrance to the Deutsches Museum

A cool clock on the outside of the museum

Adventures in Marienplatz

Last Thursday was a fantastic day.  We started the morning by finding a faster way to walk to the train station.  Then, I didn't fall asleep in Nano class.  After lunch, a few of us played a game of frisbee :)  We had lab after that, but Elsbeth and I finished our presentation quickly, so we had the whole afternoon and evening to check things off our Germany list.

First, we arrived in Marienplatz just as the Glockenspiel started playing at 5:00.  First, the figures of the little children would dance around the king and queen, and two knights were jousting.  One knight "knocks" the other knight off his horse.  Then a second level of dancers start moving.  It's definitely a sight to see once, but it's not too exciting to watch it everyday.

After, we finally got to do some shopping in Marienplatz! We started by trying on some traditional German dresses, a dirndl.

Then we began our quest for Gomez posters.  We didn't find any posters, but we did find some awesome soccer player scarves!

As we were finishing our shopping, a live string quintet was playing in the square.  We stopped to listen for awhile, and they were really good.  Then Elsbeth and I made our way to Sausalitos, a Mexican restaurant that we have been wanting to try for awhile.  The food was amazing, and we ordered so much that we needed two tables to fit it all.  Also, apparently burgers, fries, and chicken wings are traditional Mexican foods, since they are part of the Mexican platter.

Disclaimer: I did not drink that entire liter

After that, we met up with the group at the Hofbrauhaus Beer Garden to watch a soccer game.  It was a fun evening.  When I got back, I got to skype Meg and Solange, and then skype my parents to wish my dad a happy birthday!

Casual Palace Visit Before Class

We didn't have lab until 2:00 today, so what better way to spend the morning than visiting the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich?  

Front of the palace.  There is a pond in front of where this picture was taken.  The palace is huge! 

This is the backyard, which extends very far back.  The front area is lined with statues, and there is a little pond and fountain at the end of the walkway.

One of the statues holding some gold lightning bolts

Then we went inside the palace.  The foyer was gorgeous.  It was definitely my favorite room.

Beautiful chandelier and ceiling

This is the room where Ludwig II was born.

The Gallery of Beauties

It was definitely a morning well-spent.

Deutschland, Deutschland!

Our latest group excursion was a public viewing of the Denmark vs. Germany game at the Olympic Stadium.  We weren't at the actual soccer game - we were at the stadium watching the game on a giant tv screen, which was still a lot of fun.  We started by buying lots of Deutschland gear at the train station and dressing accordingly.   The walk through Olympiapark to the stadium was beautiful!

Elsbeth, Matt, Me, and Claire before the Denmark vs. Germany game!

Walk through Olympiapark

View from our seats in the stadium.  Giant tv in the center. BMW building in the distance.  

This stadium is so cool!

Some of the group

All of the beer came in a Winnercup :)

Deutschland players at the beginning of the game.

My name was all over the stadium!

The game was really fun! I've never watched soccer so intensely before I came to Germany.  Everyone went crazy whenever Germany scored.  All of the Germans had a few cheers, but since we didn't know them, we just yelled random words.  We also got to cheer for our favorite soccer player - Mario Gomez (More on him later).  Germany won 2-1. Deutschland, Deutschland!!

There is a giant indoor slide at TUM

There is a 3-story slide in the center of this building on the TUM campus. 

Going down the slide?

Check!

(Unfortunately, the first time I put the carpet upside down and got stuck halfway down the slide hehehe.  The second time went much better :) and it was lots of fun!)

Excursion to Ammersee

Saturday was our first cultural excursion to Ammersee.  We went to a small town about a 45-minute train ride from Munich.  It was a very nice, hot, sunny day, which apparently is rare here.  We started the afternoon with a 1-hour hike to the top of a hill.  The hiking trail was very nice and reminded me of Starved Rock.  At the top of the will was a monastery.  The monastery, like all churches in Europe, was beautiful.  We got to look inside while a service was going on, so I couldn't take any pictures.

There was also an amazing view of the Germany countryside.  If you look closely, you can see the Alps in the distance.

 After eating lunch in the Bier Garten, we hiked back down and walked to Ammersee.  Claire and I brought our swimsuits, so we jumped into the lake, which was incredibly refreshing on a hot day.  Then everyone went our for ice cream.  The ice cream parlor served some of the most elaborate sundaes I have ever seen.

After coming home for the evening, a few of us went to the Greek restaurant next to our dorm, sat in the Bier Garten, and watched the soccer game.  The Bier Garten is very nice - there are Christmas lights hanging from the trees and there is a nice atmosphere.  It even stays light out until past 9:30 here.  It was a perfect German evening.

"Hoy es viernes" in Olympiapark, Munich

This was my first Friday in Munich, and, of course, I had to continue the tradition of wearing our AP Spanish shirts all over the world.  We didn't have too much scheduled for the day, just German class for 3 hours in the morning and a barbecue in the evening.  So, for the afternoon, the whole group went to Olympiapark to play soccer.  It was a beautiful, hot day.  I didn't get to see too much of the park, but we'll be going back today for a public viewing of the Denmark vs. Germany game.

Interesting fact about Olympiapark: All of the ruins from the war were collected here, and they are what make up all of the hills of the park.

Highlights

In this post, I will just mention the main things that happened in the last few days.  I'm still not quite caught up on sleep from the time change.

Wednesday - Took the train to Garching for our first Nanotechnology class.  Most of the lecture was review from the prerequisite course.  Ate lunch at the Mensa - had a macaroni-and-cheese dish that was pretty good.  Took the train from the Garching campus to the downtown campus, which takes about an hour.  Passed our mascot - a beat up soccer ball named Olga - around on the train.  Had 2 hours of German class.  Went bowling with the whole group. Ordered my first legal beer! Walked around Munich. Ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Went to bed.

Thursday - 8:00am grocery shopping! Got the essentials - plastic plates, silverware, sponges, towel, rug, chocolate chip muffins, raspberries, mango drink, shopping bag.  Used my German to talk to the cashier. :) Took the train to Garching for 2.5 hours of Nano class.  Almost fell asleep during Nano class, but played frisbee with the group during the break.  Ate lunch at the Mensa - grilled chicken.  Figured out how to use the machine that gives you money for turning in plastic bottles.  Played frisbee while waiting for the train.  Took the train to German class. Played hangman in German.  Went shopping and bought a new shower curtain!!!! Walked around Munich for a long time.  Ate at a yummy Italian restaurant and spoke to the waiters in Italian.  Walked around the beautiful Englischer Garten.  Chased ducks around.  Took the train home. Finished German homework. Bed.

**Thursday was also the first day that it didn't rain!

Mein Name ist Jessica. Wie ist dein Name?

Yesterday morning, I had my first German class.  It was a fun first day, asking everyone's name over and over again in German.  Then we played a game where we each got a card with a German word on it, and we had to try to pronounce the word.  The first class was very short, and afterwards, we had our official welcome session and TUM campus tour.  We ate lunch at the student cafeteria - the "Mensa" - and got a taste of German dining hall food.  I tried a rice mixture that tasted like Ramen.  Some food was good, some was ok.  In the cafeteria, there is a machine that gives you money back for every plastic bottle you recycle.

After lunch, it was time for our bike tour of Munich.  One of the first places we visited was St. Peter's Church.  St. Peter's church was badly damaged in the bombings of WWII, and was rebuilt in the years following.  The interior of the church was beautiful.

Another site we visited was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Then, we saw Theatinerkirche, another famous church that was damaged during the war.  Unfortunately, we only got to view the church from under and archway because it started downpouring in the middle of the tour.

 As we were waiting for the rain to stop, our tour guide told a few stories about German history during in World War II.  The square at which this church is located was the site of one of Hitler's first attacks, which ended in a bloodbath.  There's so much history in Munich it's amazing.  So much of this beautiful city was destroyed and reconstructed to look how it did in the past.  It's so strange to think that these streets and buildings were where a lot of important events took place.

Unfortunately, we could not finish our tour because of the rain.  The afternoon was relaxing, just went back to our rooms and got the internet set up.  Claire, Matt, Andrew, and I went to a Greek restaurant by our dorms for dinner.  Even though not speaking German is not a problem here, ordering food can still be difficult sometimes.

Willkommen in Deutschland

It's official - I'm finally in Germany! I arrived here yesterday morning and have had barely a few minutes to sit down since.  After a taking a 9 hour plane ride, 2 trains, and a bus, my group and I made it to our dorm -
Heidemannstraße. I am in a single apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.  Overall, the 
room is pretty nice, though the bathroom could be improved.  

After dropping off our stuff, the 4 other students who are at my dorm and I went to eat and explore Munich.  We found some good sandwiches and walked around a bit, then relaxed on a lawn until it was time to meet the rest of our group.  The lawn we found was surrounded by two museums and one impressive archway.

Finally, we arrived at the university and met everyone on the program.  There are about 20 people total.  We had dinner at a famous German restaurant, Hofbräuhaus, and enjoyed some German food, music, and dancing.  

Traditional German band playing music throughout dinner

One form of dancing/entertainment was this man snapping a whip back and forth across the floor.

The dinner was very good, and it was fun meeting everyone on the program.  After that, it was time for bed 
after a long day of traveling.