It was really difficult to look back at the past three weeks and try to summarize them. On the one hand, everything runs together in one giant blur, but on the other, it feels like I’ve already been in Marburg for a year.

I guess I should voice my biggest complaint and my main excuse for taking so long to post an entry.  My dorm has no internet, and I’ve only had sporadic internet access since I arrived in Marburg.  People buy modems for their dorm rooms and share the wireless with other people, but right now my building is virtually empty because most of the full-time German students are on break and won’t move back into the dorms until the beginning of April.  Hopefully I can get some internet access then.

As for the city itself, it looks like it came out of a fairy tale (which is fitting, since the Grimm Brothers studied in Marburg!). Whenever I got into the Oberstadt, or Upper City, I feel like I’ve stepped back in time. Aside from the modern street signs and the occasional car or bus, it looks like it’s been virtually unchanged for 300 years, right down to the crooked timber-framed buildings and rickety mechanical rooster on top of the Rathaus that crows every hour on the hour.

Travelling is pretty convenient right now. With my student card, I can use the rail network to travel around the state of Hessen for free, and starting April 1^st I can travel to select cities outside of Hessen. Frankfurt is only an hour away by rail and very easy to reach, and my exchange group took a trip to Wiesbaden last week. This past Sunday, I visited Kassel with friends, and we’re planning a day trip to Mainz for this weekend.

I’ve been taking a language course intended to reinforce my German, and that lasts until next week.  It’s been fairly useful, but my one complaint is we aren’t focusing on grammar very much, which is my weakest link right now, because I haven’t taken a grammar-intensive German course since the spring semester of 2010.  Still, I’ve learned some useful vocabulary and they’re also helping us get settled in Marburg.

I’m going to sum up the three trips I’ve taken around Hessen so far, but the pictures will probably do them a bit more justice.  My group for the Orientation Program went to Frankfurt on March 6^th and intended to tour around the city a bit but stumbled on the Karneval celebration instead.  The parade was a lot of fun to watch, but we did get some sightseeing in as well.  Frankfurt has some nice old architecture near the city center but is overall very modern, with towering skyscrapers and a bustling shopping center.

On March 16^th, our language course hosted a trip to Wiesbaden, Hessen’s state capital. We got to see the Hessian parliament and took a tour around the city’s Markplatz, which is beautiful.  Wiesbaden also boasts more than 60 hot water springs, which can be found all over the city and are safe to drink from, although I tried some and it tasted horrible.  Wiesbaden was once a cultural center of Germany, and a towering Wilhemine-era casino and the gorgeous Staatheater are at the heart of a large park there.

Then, this last Sunday, March 20^th, I went on what ended up being and adventure in Kassel with some friends. We got off at the wrong station (Kassel has 2) and ended up in a very shady part of the city. Thanks to a German-speaking friend we managed to high-tail it out of there and managed to make it to the city’s main market area, but most of the shops were closed (as are most stores and restaurants; I’ve noticed that Germany pretty much shuts down on Sundays).  Kassel was mostly destroyed after the war, so it has a very modern look and lacks most of the quainter, older architecture of Marburg and Wiesbaden.  After an out-dated guide book took as to a museum that has been closed since 2008, we finally decided to take a tram up to Kassel’s main attraction: the Wilhelmsh�he Park.  The park is full of meandering paths and gardens, with a palace on one end and a towering monument of Hercules on the other.  We trekked all the way up to the base of the monument and the view was absolutely incredible.  We’re planning on going back in June when the waterfalls and fountains are running.

Well, that’s pretty much the past 3 weeks in summation. Hopefully I will be able to post more regularly once I get a decent internet connection. 

Location: Marburg, Germany