Munchen Part 2

After settling in the hotel, we decided to head out as a group to explore the city. Most specifically the good old glockenspiel. We walked for what felt like forever until we got to this area with tons of shopping! After winding through the shops we found it, and just in time for the performance!

If you've never seen a video of the glockenspiel, here's a YouTube video! I tried taking my own video, but this things is really long and it was sucking down my battery like no one's business. I figured someone has to have a video of it, and sure enough! Thanks YouTube! :)

After watching the clock sound we split off in different directions to do some shopping and exploring. I found this awesome apron for Andrew. I just couldn't pass it up! (Plus in London I got him and King Henry VIII apron. I figure this was now our new tradition.) I also scored a magnet, 2 shirts, a hoodie, and some postcards. Here's some picture highlights of my day in Munich:

1. We climbed to the top of yet ANOTHER church (St. Peter's). This one was much harder for me. The stairs were open slats and that made all the difference. I felt like an old lady because I had to stop several times because I was dizzy. The view at the top made it all worth it though, and I was glad I decided to do it!

I love this picture because you can see the guy's camera

2. Street vendors are the best, and for a small tip they will get you an awesome photo. :)

Took forever because my friend couldn't figure out how to work my camera! 

3. The Market in Munich was full of all kinds of goodies. I seriously debated trying to take some sausage home with me.

In the Marketplace

4. St Peter's chuch in Munich was stunning on the inside. There were all kinds of beautiful things, only after I walked past it did someone tell me the jewled bones were real. EEK! Majorly creepy, but it was truly a beautiful church...

5. As we walked in a group we had to stop at the famous Brew House in Munich. I only peeked inside, but it was cool! We made a quick stop to the gift shop where Maurice got some nice collectibles, and got out of the tourist trap ASAP.

Image taken from Google

6. The best part of my day was definitely the time spent with my classmates. Up until this point we were all so busy trying to meet German friends and bonding with our buddies. Now that we were staying together it was very easy to be friends. Maurice is from Dallas so we bonded quite easily. We both laughed as our Minnesota classmates would stop to talk with panhandlers and we just kept on walkin. We both also tried in vain to teach them Yankees how to stroll. We were often seen in the back of the pack complaining about all the walking. :)

Some of my Classmates, and prof!

7. I almost forgot, but for lunch I had this delicious pretzel souffle. YUM!

The best part of it all was a fabulous late night chat with Ann and Kelly my roommates. I really do look up to them as professionals in the field of Tech Comm and now as friends. They offered some great encouragement and support that night. I feel lucky to have met them. I also blogged about the relationship of my classmates the next day for our school blog. You can read it here. 

Munchen Part 3 - Meeting the Parents!

Munich was a blast for several reasons. It was the ending to our trip, all of the presentations and industry visit were over. Now was the time that we could be tourists and friends and just enjoy the big city. For me this was the beginning of my tourist adventure. On day 2 in Munich we changed hotels...remember my Cocoon hotel?? And we were all splitting off to enjoy our own fun.

Some of the guys decided to take a train out to the concentration camp Dachau. I had seriously debated whether or not I wanted to do this from the beginning. I ultimately decided that while I do someday want to visit a concentration camp, this just wasn't the trip to do it. Instead this was the day I was meeting up with my parents! We set a meet up time and place. (Noon at the glockenspiel of course!) And I headed out all on my own to meet them in the busiest center of Munich. I  camped out at the restaurant directly across from the glockenspiel and did the awkward German dance of sitting at communal tables.

Cool view from my table.

An hour past our meeting time, I looked across the restaurant and saw a US Air force hat weaving it's way through the crowd. After 5 months of missing my parents, we were reunited. My daddy paid for my beer and french fries and we were headed out for our own Munich adventure!

My mom and I in front of the glockenspiel

True to my usual format, here are the highlights!

1. Shopping

Trying on a dirdle

2. The English Garden

My parents are just too cute!

3. Boating! My dad still claims that this messed his shoulder up...but he was a great sport and took us around the lake.

On a boat! 

4. Group dinner at the largest Bier Garten in Munich! I can't tell you how many people told us that my Mom and I look alike! All of my classmates had really nice things to say about me to my rents. Thanks guys!

I think that's the most I've ever seen my mother drink!

After our delicious dinner, I left with my classmates and my parents made their way back to their own hotel. I enjoyed my trek home with a few special highlights:

1. Lego machine in the train station

THEY HAVE LEGO MACHINES! 

2. Independent Ann taking off no matter who was following her. Somehow she ditched us in our indecision and hopped on an escalator taking her to the wrong train! We found her eventually...


It was a fun day in Munich with the promise of another Waggoner family European adventure starting after breakfast the next day. I know I've said it a lot, but this group of classmates and my prof was amazing. I'm so grateful I had this opportunity. I still hope to meet up with Maurice in Dallas someday!

How do we improve our relationship with HsKA?

Well reader, I know I've been blogging a lot about my trip to Germany last summer from my personal perspective, but I bet you didn't know that I was blogging about it for school as well. MSU Mankato’s Technical Communication program has a blog called Bridges, and it is supported by one of my favorite professors Dr. Lee Tesdell.

If you remember from my previous posts, the class was unique and appealing to me because the students met for an entire semester to prepare for the trip to Germany in the summer. I've done a study abroad before, as I'm sure you remember dear reader...but this one was special in that we had the opportunity to bond with our German counterparts beforehand. All of our research wasn't nearly as meaningful as the trip itself in understanding how the education systems are different.

 My biggest revelation came in my blog A Case for More Software Application. But don't worry; I'll paraphrase for you here. I realized that the stress in Germany, especially at HsKA is on application. They are learning how to use the software that is currently being used in the field. In my own education at Minnesota State University, Mankato I was learning more theory. Don't worry it wasn't as impractical as it sounds....they taught me the basics of how to write tech docs and what questions to consider for my audience. The idea is that no matter what tool, I would know how to do my job, even if I had to learn the actual software.

These two education approaches have their own benefits and downfalls, and it was a truly neat witness firsthand the way that their Educational system works. The problem however is that while Dr. Tesdell did everything he could to encourage the HsKA students to study abroad with us....the credits just don't translate. Our first Tech Comm. exchange student Julian Hocker learned that first hand when he did a semester with us, and received no credit for his degree in Germany. How then can we encourage this globally networked learning environment with HsKA if it sets back students in their educational goals? How do we show them that it truly is worth their time to come and visit us?

I think the answer was in the very trip that we took just last summer. We were a group of full time workers, husbands and wives with children, and even grandparents who didn't have time to dedicate an entire semester to learning abroad. While the students in Germany are much more traditional 20 year old full time students, this type of summer trip would be just as beneficial. 

We were shown so much hospitality with amazing industry visits, host families, and the chance to attend a few classes. In my opinion the best way to keep this relationship alive is to alternate every summer taking trip to Germany then to Minnesota; playing guest and then host. In this way we can really start showing students the benefits of learning abroad, and convince the administrations that there is worth in the type of learning that comes of such collaboration. Who knows....maybe someday we can make it so that a full semester abroad will result in credits at both institutions. 

I know that I found so much benefit in my trip to Germany. I was so impressed with the industry visits and the hospitality of the German students....I would love to see that continued and extended to our German friends here in the US. 

Munchen -Part 1

Did you know that Munich is not really called Munich in German? Apparently they call it Munchen, and us English speakers changed it to Munich. Weird.

Munich was the last part of our trip after leaving behind all of our new friends in Karlsruhe. This meant that we were no longer staying with our buddies, but staying in hotel rooms with our classmates. This proved to be a bit of an awkward situation with our small group, and the European hotel rooms.

The first night we stayed at a hotel in Munich called Cocoon. It was a strange 70's style hotel with a theme around....you guessed it, cocoons. Now obviously (at least I hope it's obvious) I wasn't alive in the 70's so I'm going off of total speculation here, but the green and orange shag carpets and egg chairs made for an interesting blast from the past. The hotel itself was curious, but coming down to breakfast and hearing the 70's music blaring really made it like a trip through the twilight zone.

Here are some pictures of the hotel, and our room:

The lobby of the hotel

The tv stand had a mirror on the back and could rotate. 

I took a very nice nap in this chair. 

My classmate Darin in one of the egg chairs in the lobby.

What made the situation so awkward was that our group was small and uneven. There were only three of us girls total, so we had to share a room. This room had a cot, and a queen size bed. (Remember back in my overview how I explained that we had never met before...) The bed situation wasn't too difficult to navigate, but the bathroom situation was a bit more awkward. The bathroom had no real door. There was a sliding door that either covered the toilet or the shower. So to step in or out of the shower...you were totally exposed. AWKWARD. 

Toilet with the sliding door.

Thankfully I stayed with some amazing ladies and we worked out the situation with little discomfort. However, we were the lucky ones. The boys were stuck in rooms meant for only 2 people. And one student had to share with our professor. (This is a little less weird in that most of us are older non-traditional students. So it's not like there was some CRAZY age gap. However a nameless source did confide that the prof snored quite loudly through the night. AWKWARD!) The 2 people rooms had a similar bathroom set up with one exception....the sliding door was glass. Now that is one awkward situation I am glad I didn't have to navigate! 

So the first part of our adventure in Munich was our crazy 70's Cocoon hotel. It was quite an adventure, and we haven't even gotten to the city yet! 

Zugspitze!

On the first day with my parents we packed up and left Munich for Garmish in my parents rental car. I was super excited that they were bring their car because I thought I could knock off one of my Bucket list items -- to drive on the autobahn of course! But alas, those Europeans still like their manual transmissions. So it looks like before I can cross that one off, I'm going to have to get around to that other Bucket list item learning to drive a stick shift.

The Zugspitze!

Before we even stopped at the hotel our first tourist attraction was the Zugspitze. We navigated our way from the bahnhof to the train that would take us to a cable car, that would take us to the highest point in the German Alps. I wasn't too impressed with this brilliant idea my parents had....after all I live in Utah, mountains aren't exactly new. Boy, was I wrong! This was my favorite part of the trip, second only to our time in Rothenburg.

First of all, I just have to share this adorable picture of my parents. My mom decided that she needed to use her newly bought hiking poles....let me just tell you there was absolutely no hiking involved. haha But she did look like a super cute skier.

So I think the best way to explain the experience is to take you on a ride!

First you take a nice scenic train ride. 

Then you take a short walk...

 

 And board the cable car! 

Once you hit the top, a snowball is a must! 

The cross marks the highest point in the German Alps. 

So there were a few things against us on this trip. The melting snow made it so that we couldn't actually do the hike to the golden marker at the highest point. And the visibility was not so great either. The picture above was taken at just the right moment, because for most of our lunch we couldn't even see it!  But looking at the photographs of the men who built this museum, having amazing discussions with my parents over cake and coffee, and watching my dad throw snowballs over the ledge made it one of my favorite stops on our trip. (Not to mention I got a killer red wool beanie, which I proceeded to wear for the duration of my trip!)

Strasbourg, France

We arrived in Karlsruhe on Saturday, and spent a very long day meeting people, seeing the campus, and attending the KSC soccer game. (More on that later, I promise!) We finally had a free day on Sunday, and Julian Hocker, a German student who studied as a foreign exchange student at my school, offered to take a group of us to Strasbourg for the day.

Karlsruhe is very close to the France border, so it was only a short train ride over to Strasbourg. And hey, who wouldn't want to add another country to their travel list?! I was on board, although unfortunately my host Felicitas wasn't able to come. She did take me feed me breakfast and get me to the train station on time. 

Me, Kelly, and Fer waiting for the train to Strasbourg. 

There were three of us US students, and our tour guide Julian that made the adventure to France. And it was a fun group because it was so small. Unfortunately, I left my camera sitting on Felicitas' bed. So I was totally at the mercy of my friends to take some pictures of me and for me. Thankfully, Julian is an amateur photographer. His pictures came out amazing! So in keeping with tradition, I will highlight my trip for you below! 

The train station was really cool from the outside. It was a giant glass dome, so we wander outside to be wowed by the the buildings, but turned around to be surprised by the modern architecture we just walked out of! 

The main square of the city. We often joked that Strasbourg was more like a German city in France. The buildings all reminded me of a small German village, and you could definitely see that in the main square. There was also a totally random carousel in the middle of a busy round about. It was pretty cool. 

Notre Dame of Strasbourg - I'm sure you remember my post on Paris, and how much I loved Notre Dame! Well I didn't realize that there are a couple of Notre Dames, and one of them is crunched up against the buildings in Strasbourg. It was like a smaller version of the one in Paris, and it was pretty incredible.

  

Climbing to the top of the church - for just a few euros you can climb to the top of the church and get a fabulous view of the city! I'll admit, this trek just about killed me. I felt like a old lady, but it was totally worth the view at the top. You can even sign a book, which of course, I did. So next time you're there, flip back to May 2013 and you'll find me. ;)

View from the top!

This is right before Julian kicked his lens cap and it fell outside the railing and down to the ground.

Modern with the old - One of the coolest things about Europe is finding modern art or architecture in the middle of these old buildings. We found this really cool fountain while we were wandering around. 

The Rhine in Strasbourg runs right between some buildings. We got some great pictures of the buildings and the river. 

The food. We indulged in plenty of French pastries, but everyone told us we need to have Flammkuchen. I was told that this is a typical dish of Strasbourgh...though this is the German word for it. In french it's something like flambee and it's very much like a super thin pizza.

Strasbourg was my first sight-seeing day, and it was a lot of fun. I was itching to try out my French, but honestly more people spoke German. All in all I think Strasbourg can be described as a little German town in France. And hopefully that doesn't offend anyone! :)

Neuschwanstein: More than Just the Disney Castle

When I told my parents that I was coming to Germany, and we worked out a plan to do our own trip afterward they asked me what I wanted to do. I told them that I didn't really care, I just wanted to relax and go along for the ride. Well, except for one thing. I had to see the Disney castle.

Ok, ok, make fun of me, but it's probably Germany's biggest attraction. All because of some guy named Walt Disney who copied it's structure for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland.

While the Disney thing was appealing, what really intrigued me about seeing Neuschwanstein was it's creator, commonly known as Mad King Ludwig. So I was really excited to take our little tour of the castle and hopefully buy some historical books on the King who built it.

My parents within the castle walls.

Unfortunately, just like Disneyland it was really expensive and had it's fair share of disappointments. Namely:

1. The hike to get to this place sucks. I'm not kidding, it's a steep walk from the parking and shopping in town. It's not too terribly long, but for this kid who had just spent a week walking all over Europe, my poor little calves were dying. Did I mention it was raining?
2. There are only like 10 rooms that are finished. Neuschwanstien was never completed. King Ludwig was declared insane, taken to Munich, and then died before he could finish the castle. The tour is incredibly short. I mean, don't get me wrong...some of the things you see are impressive and gorgeous....but there just isn't a lot of it. 
3. The so-called English speaking tour is incomprehensible. Our tour guide's German accent was really thick, and her voice didn't really carry. Couple that with a crying baby, and it was pretty frustrating. (We found out later that the tour guides are all just volunteers.)

So while the tour was kind of a bust, there were some fun highlights from the trip as a whole:

• Learning my mom is a beast. Remember that awful hike I told you about? Yeah, she left me and my dad in her dust and didn't turn back. haha I think a lot of people assume that my mom is kind of weak, but she always surprises me with her feats of strength both physically and emotionally.

• The horse drawn carriage ride down. So after a crappy hike up, we decided to just pay to take the horses down. And it was fun! Especially seeing all the people struggling to go up hill. haha

• The gift shop didn't disappoint. I told you all I wanted was to learn more about King Ludwig, and in the gift shop I found this awesome coffee table book. The history of Mad Kind Ludwig is an interesting one. He made his people pretty angry with his spending on all of his castles. (Neuswanstien was one of about 5 that he built for fun.) His advisers had him declared insane, and took him back to Bavaria's capitol, Munich. On his second night there, he took a walk with his doctor (you know, the one who declared him insane and had him removed from the throne) and they were later discovered dead in about 3 ft. of water, completely clothed, and with some signs of a fight. We still don't know exactly what happened.

• Hearing stories about when my parents lived in Germany.  There is a really beautiful waterfall just behind the castle, and you can see that there is a bridge in the mountains. This called Queen Mary's bridge, or Marienbruke. This is a great place to see the waterfall, and get an awesome picture of the castle. Apparently back in the day, this Bridge was wood, and didn't have the steel enforced railings and beams that it does now. So it was plastered with signs warning that death was a possibility if you were to fall. 

The Marienbruke bridge

Back when my dad was stationed in Germany, my mom's parents came to visit them. They decided to take the to Neuschwanstein as a highlight of their visit. My dad, being the adventurous soul that he is, took one look at the bridge and the Warning possibility of death sign and took off. Now I never met my grandpa, he died before I was born. But apparently he decided that he too wanted to be adventurous that day and took off after my dad. This of course freaked my grandma out, and it didn't help things when my dad returned alone. The way my dad tells it, my grandma was just sure that grandpa had fallen to his death and it was all my dad's fault. (Of course he returned a several minutes later and all was forgiven, but those few minutes of panic are one my dad will never forget!)

My mom and I on the Marienbruke bridge