This was a few weeks ago, but

On the night of April 30th the official transition between winter and summer takes place in Germany and neighboring European countries. Walpurgisnacht is the name of the festival. One of my Profs recommended that we go to the Harz mountains (an hour and a half on the free train from Gö) so I high-tailed it to the mountains the next day to be ready for the traditional ceremony.
After getting off the bus in Wernigerode and missing the bus due to the lateness of DB. (YES Xingyi) (and I actually like SNCF and Trenitalia more) Sorry, a discussion between me and Xingyi. Anyway,

After hanging out in Wernigerode me and my friend waited for the bus to Schierke. Schierke is where it all started. It is the highest village in the Harz and the closest to the Brocken Mountain. If you recall from Faust….Yes, read it, the night of the witches on the Brocken with Faust and all that hublah takes place on the top of the Brocken Mountain on April 30th Walpurgisnacht.

The bus was completely full and at stops on the way to Schierke people were told they could not board and that they must wait for the next bus. Only the die hards go to Schierke btws!

It is really crazy! One lady yelled at the bus driver for a few minutes, exclaiming she had traveled Stundenlang to be in Schierke and now this happened!

I read online that some people coming to Schierke actually believe in Witchcraft and things, but I laughed it all off. Well, that was dumb.

People were dressed up as witches and devils everywhere and the village was hopping. A medieval fair was taking place, and the evening was ready for plenty of punk music, strong Harz alcohol for the cold (Feuerstein), Glühwein, and the acclaimed Hönigbier in the Harz mountains.

We decided to get Kuchen for later then climb the Brocken. Can’t party before a good hike, right!?? Basically no one was at the top of the Brocken. There was still plenty of snow and it was extremely misty. You could not see more than 5 feet in front of you. The scene felt like it was coming out of Goethe’s Faust itself, with the witches all around. Even the fog swiveled in a mystifying manner.

The party on the bottom was intense. The band at the end was amazing! They are called Cultus Ferox! It was a casserole of music! Some North German punk, rock, Scottish bagpipes on the scene, and a medieval fire dance in all in one song! Also some pretty cool creepy chants! Yeah, old Germans letting loose in quite the sight. The full on all out dance moves aren’t quite there, but I feel they are getting closer than during everyday life (you know the stop lights.) But they do not hold back in yelling slurs. Betrunkenes Deutsch is a third language though, that I have sadly, not mastered. Instead I started Italian!

Go to Schierke! Try for Walpurgisnacht! The village is so close to Göttingen, but it is like you are in a little, old, beautiful, forgotten world. Go there!

Here are some Fotos and Kuchen. The white one is called Brockentorte.

NOTE: the bakery in Schierke makes the Brockentorte better than their Schwarzwaldtorte. Higher quality ingredients maybe. I mean, the Schwarzwaldtorte had chocolate sprinkles, not fine Dark Chocolate shavings!! Disgraceful. (…Schwarzwald is still better than the Harz btw, (Yes Xingyi everything is a competition))

Hallo Leute!
It has been awhile, but I am back for the post. I am home in China for New Years having just finished the Semester last week!

Over Weihnachtsferien I was in Strasbourg, two days was enough, mind you. The dirty bathrooms and un-oderly manner of people crossing the streets on red lights was really too much for me. I was SOO happy to step back on that DB Train (with Pünktlichkeit, not like the French one) and be back in the Vaterland.

I spent a few days in the Alps, getting into some political disputes, mind you, not getting into that…..

Back in Regensburg, I prepared for Abschlusswoche, something I had to readjust to after CC. My Prüfungen all went well though, I rock.

–Back to the language issue, Chinese, English, and German ya know..the structure is all getting a bit better. It is still interesting though as a Poli Sci Major, ah…

Also, what it up with German men offering me cookies at Subway?? Don’t quite understand this culture..vielleicht it has something with Bayern zu tun.

Forgot to mention, I visited Alec in Göttingen for a weekend…It was fun, ya know, really good Kuchen, a strange party (Göttingen people are quite different, taking care of Alec that night you know (not a good sight). I also saw Barbora from CC (some of you probably know her as Myslim) It was typical Bara showing up out of the blue, but very nice to see her…Bye Bara, have fun in South Africa. 🙂

Well, now that I am in Changsha for Chinese New Year I have some pics. The food is great btw, but after being home for a few days, I miss Regensburg.

I guess you were right in Ane, Regensburg has become home in my heart.

Peace out CC !

The Herbstkurs has been going on for 3 weeks here and it has been such an exciting and tiring time. It has been great meeting students from all over the world. Göttingen is pretty easy to get a feel for, but I am sure there are a lot of hidden spots throughout the city. Today I went on a tour of Göttingen during the time of Nationalsozialismus which put a different spin into the city. University cities like Göttingen and Heidelberg were big targets of the party.

There are activities organized all the time during the Herbstkurs and it is very hard to feel that one has gotten anything accomplished. There are morning classes, afternoon special classes (literature, science, econ, etc), sports, Film nights, Cultural evenings, and of course exploring Göttingens nightlife…what kind of name is Savoy anyways..okay bad experience. Göttingen is becoming homey for me. The fall leaves are beautiful, but beware it is very cold. It has been below freezing the last two nights, and the humidity level here leaves you with a different feeling than the Colorado dry weather. Fun abends, long days and short nights are defining my time in Göttingen. Meeting such a diverse group of people, most being opinionated thank goodness is great! My German and English language skills both seem to be decreasing, but recuperation is coming.

To the Göttingen student next year: You will be exhausted dealing with the bureaucracy here. You are not alone, the two Amherst exchange students are going the same stuff. First, it takes forever Deutsche Bank to start your account, while Studentwerk is writing you letters saying that you need the account, and you cannot obtain a Studentenausweis because there is actually a 217 euro tuition (enrollment fee) you have to pay. It takes a few days then to get a real ausweis, where you can look up classes and try to figure out the ECTS credit system. For German Lit it is 5 for a Hausarbeit plus 2 for Protokoll I think, so it should be 7… There is so much more for me to figure out. There is a printing card, and some courses you cannot register for, others you can….

Just look at the positives of all this: Your friends are in the same boat, you can stroll downtown, enjoy the architecture here (very bourgeoise). The houses are huge and beautiful and the trees are very colorful. Also, the landscape around Göttingen is very beautiful. It is extremely hilly, with Weserbergland to the west and the Harz Mountains right near us to the east. It is great!!!

Will be back with more. There is one more week of the Herbstkurs and then I will whee the wind flows.