3rd Sunday

Last night I arrived back from my short study tour. It was a busy trip, but good trip.

On Thursday morning we left bright and early from Copenhagen. My group was composed of all the students in my 10:05 European Union course, and there were about 30 of us. From Copenhagen we traveled to Rodby, Denmark and took a ferry from there to Germany.

The ferry ride was quick, 45 minutes. It was a beautiful day so I stood on the deck for a while. From the ferry we took our bus, we traveled on the same rented bus the whole time, to Lubeck which was about and hour and a half away.

I slept most of the time, though when I was awake there were great views. The country

side of Germany is similar to Denmark's. There were lovely views and plenty of windmills. The first thing we did when we got to Denmark is went to lunch at Schiffergesellschaft, a restaurant which is over 600 years old. It was a nice place, traditional German cuisine, so heavy but good. The carrots there were delicious.

After that we went to the Willy Brandt Museum. Willy Brant was the former mayor of West Berlin, born in Lubeck. He was outspoken against the Nazi regime, so he was exiled to Sweden for a number of years. The museum was

in the home he was born in and was quite interesting. Outside garden they had managed to get a piece of the Berlin Wall.

The photo on the left in the wall that faced East Berlin and the one on the right is the wall that faced West Berlin.

After our museum tour we wondered around the town for a bit. Lubeck is a small, cozy town. Next we checked into our hotel. They assigned us rooms, which was good because we got to know different people in our class. Before the trip I didn't know too many people; it's a lecture class so we just listen and leave. Now I know most of the class, so that will make class and the week in Brussels more lively. (We saw this dog in Lubeck--he's massive!)

I went for a run with the intern, DIS staffer, and another student. Then I met up with a group from the class and we sat outside enjoying the good weather. The next morning we headed to Hamburg where we had lunch and had a lecture from Hamburg's European Affairs Committee.

They seemto schedule lectures right after we eat, which does not bode well for me. I had the 'turkey affect' --aka full and content-- so I was pinching myself to stay awake at the beginning of it. I did, however, perk right up when the different party members began to speak. There are over four major parties in Germany, and they don't see eye to eye on anything. When we had a Q&A session, I didn't laugh, but was fighting it. There was a man from one party and a woman from another who not only would interrupt each other, but would make faces and roll their eyes when the other was speaking. They disagreed on everything, even when it was a basic structural question. They keep making jabs at each other about the other's spending habits/platforms. It was very amusing. If that is how they behave when they are trying to get along, I can only imagine how they are when it comes down to voting.

After that session we had a tour of the Parliament building. It is large; they boasted that they have 3 more rooms than Buckingham Palace. I feel like there was a black cloud over the history of city; the palace was occupied by Hitler when he installed a mock-democracy there. The rooms were ornate, but I didn't fully enjoy it.

The tour lasted for an hour, at which time we were released into the city. I went with friend to hunt down a soccer/football jersey for my darling brother. I would estimate that it took between 45 to an hour to find a store that had them (mind you I went in around 5

stores and asked countless people). When I finally found a store I had to figure out which was the national team's jersey. The whole experience made me feel like i was on an episode of the amazing race,wondering around clueless in a foreign city.

From Hamburg we traveled to Sonderborg, a town in southern Denmark. We stayed at hostel, my first experience staying in one. I don't know what I was expecting, but the hostel was fine. I brought my own sheets, kept the window open, and slept well. In the morning we had a lecture at the University of Southern Denmark on German-Danish boarder relations,a trip to the battle field which was Danish version of Gettysburg, then headed back to Copenhagen, stopping at an art and crafts museum called Trapholt. The location of the museum was stunning, the exhibits were alright. There was an exhibit of chairs, some which were stained and looked like something I played in growing up. There were some cool ones though.

When we got back on the bus our intern and DIS staffer gave us water, chocolate, and beer for

the rest of the ride. I had the water, saved the rest, and took a nap.

Today I am catching up on my work, going for a run, then bed early!