A Taste of Wellesley

Last night Wellesley's Professor Paul Wink came to Jacobs to visit us! He took the other Wellesley students and me to a beautiful, delicious restaurant called Havenhaus. We talked about our experiences at Jacobs so far, as well as about life in general. He was very helpful in answering all our questions about future plans, graduate school, and our current research projects. It has been so wonderful being abroad, but I think the other girls and I needed a little taste of that Wellesley comfort. We needed our "Wendy" moment...and some delicious ice cream:

                                                          Ein Eispizza

Thank you, Professor Wink! =)

Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

Yesterday, though very interesting historically, was also quite sad. My German Politics and Culture class took a trip to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. We learned about the history of the camp, the layout, and we took a guided tour around part of it. It was very sad to approach the landmarks marking the sites of mass grave burials and the old barracks where people starved and died. Unlike the camps in the East (namely, Poland), Bergen-Belsen (near Hanover) was a concentration camp, not a death camp. However, death was an everyday occurrence in the camp. People died everyday from starvation, weakness, and disease. Typhoid was rampant. In fact, Bergen-Belsen is the final resting place for Anne Frank and her sister Margot (both of whom died of typhoid in March 1945 before liberation by the British). In the main camp museum, there was a section dedicated to Anne. I watched a video on women who survived the camp and had been friends with Anne during their period of time spent there. It was interesting to hear about Anne beyond the information found in her diary.

Besides the guided tour and museum experience, I also watched a video on the actual footage of the camp from the 1940s. It was very hard to bear after a while, so I left. It just goes to show you the absolute atrocities human beings are capable of doing to other human beings. The imagery from the video was incredibly graphic, but I am glad I watched what I did while I was actually at the camp. It felt so real (because it was) and I felt more connected to what I was learning because I was actually there.

I didn't take too many pictures because I didn't want to be disrespectful, but here are a few:

                                                    The main entrance to the camp

                                                         Class presentation on the camp layout

                                                          Walking to the memorial stones

These stones were marked at the time of the camp for a specific barracks. Prisoners would write the name and year of the deceased on the bricks of the barracks where they were housed. It represents that despite the anguish and sadness prevalent, the victims were able to hold onto some aspects of unity and love for each other.

Fun Updates

Today I am meeting with my psychology research adviser to go over the finer details of the project I will be working on this semester. More details are to come, but I am very excited about this research project. It deals with analyzing asymmetrical facial expressions (which are chimetric) and studying the lateral hemispheric brain activity. We are more specifically looking at emotional processing and recognition. I know this is quite a tremendous opportunity for me, and I will be learning a lot this semester!

This past Saturday I went to Hamburg with a group of friends. I really was not there long enough to go into depth about the trip, but I did see some quite beautiful churches and the Hamburg Rathaus. The courtyard behind the Rathaus is magnificently breathtaking:

 

I do need to go back to Hamburg another day- there is just so much to do there. At one point my friend Jeff and I got a bit lost on Reeperbahn, which is the main street in the Red Light District of Hamburg. That was slightly terrifying and interesting. Thank God I wasn't there later at night! Later on though we ended up finding a great cafe in Beatles Platz (the Beatles played in this area of Hamburg often when they were becoming famous) and I got to have this:

                                         It was even more delicious than it looks

Yesterday my floor in the "college" I live in ("college" = residence hall) took a floor picture. Half the floor didn't show up, but it ended up being a fun/goofy time. And my roommate Barbara and I finally got a picture together! :)

Today is Monday which means another crazy week of classes! It's going to be busy, but I have another interesting trip coming up this Saturday...

Excursion to Helgoland

Hi Everyone,

I know I haven't written in a while- last week was the first week that classes began. There was a lot of running around and organizing to be done, but in a couple of weeks I think I will be in the swing of things. This week is the first "real" week of classes, right before the add/drop period.

Over the weekend I went on an excursion to the German island Helgoland (also known as Heligoland). It is an island 31 miles off the coast of Germany in the North Sea. Wellesley was incredible by paying for the entire trip! Thank you! It was one of the excursion trips part of the "German Politics and Culture Course" for the Visiting/Exchange students.

We left for Helgoland very early Friday morning. Our first stop was in Bremerhaven, where we took the ferry to Helgoland. The ferry ride was 3 hours long- I wished it was shorter because I got terrible seasickness. The weather was bad and the waves were choppy, so the ferry was rocking constantly...I don't even want to think about it- that's how nauseous I was. However, once we finally reached the island I felt much better. The air in Helgoland was so fresh- you actually wanted to breathe in as much air as you could.

Helgoland has a rich history and is known for its gorgeous red cliffs. It is a quiet island and there aren't any cars. The islanders make their living through their little shops, shipping ports, and tourism. This was the view outside my hostel window:

                                              A good morning indeed! Or, as the locals say, "Moin!"

Here is a little piece of history to share: During WWII, Helgoland was bombed by the British on April 18, 1945. 6700 tons of bombs were dropped on this little island in under 2 hours, forever changing the island's shape. Some parts of the island look like moon craters as a result of the bombings. As a result, the locals were forced to seek refuge and ultimately evacuate. This was one of the largest non-nuclear detonations in history. Our group was lucky enough to be able to explore the WWII bunkers- they were very creepy!

 

 Could you imagine living down here while bombs were going off above your head?! I don't think I could have...

As I mentioned before, Helgoland has some gorgeous red cliffs. The most famous is Lange Anna, which split from the mainland. The view from the top of the cliffs is breathtaking. The North Sea surrounds the island, and from way up high you can make out the crystal clear water and endless sky.

...just wow. On Saturday we took a little boat ride to Helgoland's other island, Düne Süd. This smaller island is known for its beaches and seal population! I was so excited that I got to observe seals for a few hours...and relax on the beaches. We had such great weather!! I felt like I was in Heaven. Being a psychology major, Abraham Maslow would certainly acknowledge that I had a peak experience and am well on my way to self-actualizing :)

 

 There were some beautiful rocks to collect along the shore lines too. Helgoland is also known for its large amber content, so I definitely kept an eye out for any amber. Unfortunately I didn't find any, but everything was so pretty in its own way that I didn't mind at all.

Admiring beaches and cliffs were not the only activities on the island. Helgoland has lots of little restaurants and shops. Almost every shop had TONS of candy and chocolate. I found one store that had a jar of Nutella the size of my head!

                                                          ......I wasn't kidding. It cost 40 euros.

I had a wonderful time in Helgoland. When else during my life would I have the opportunity to spend a few days on a secluded German island? I was surrounded by gorgeous gardens and wild grasses, natural wildlife, and berries you can eat right from the bushes. I learned so much about the island's history and unique culture. I plan on coming back one day...and watching the sunset again from the top of a cliff.

A Beautiful Day in Vegesack and Downtown Bremen

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. I began my day with a group of students exploring the nearby city of Vegesack, near Jacobs University. We took the bus (with our student semester ticket- transportation is free!!) into Vegesack, and I was immediately struck with the simple beauty of the town. There were outdoor markets, cobblestone streets, a bakery on every corner...there were also quaint little shops and houses painted blue, yellow, and pink. Here is a picture:

The city of Vegesack is also home to a giant mall where I had my first German ice cream! It was delicious and properly portioned (one small scoop is the usual), which made me realize how much ice cream I must be over-consuming in the U.S.

As the group of students and I strolled around the city, we came across a small port. Vegesack is home to many small shipping boats, and we even passed a large sea vessel on which a beautiful wedding was taking place. Appropriately, there are also a number of gardens and small playgrounds lining the water. Everything was stunning.

I ended up talking to two of the girls in my group for quite a bit, so we decided to head to downtown Bremen together to explore and get some sushi! German sushi tastes just like the sushi you would find in the U.S., except less salty and more fresh (then again, we are right on the water). We took the train from Jacobs to downtown Bremen and immediately found a great sushi restaurant. Afterwards, we had another ice cream! Then it was time to walk around the streets and get our picture with the famous Bremen town musicians!

 

A funny thing happened as we approached the Bremen town musician statue (yes, the musicians are indeed a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster). As I was walking past a white market tent, leftover rain water from the top of the tent spilled all over me and I was DRENCHED! So in the picture you see above...my hair is completely matted and my pink shirt under my sweater was sopping. Thank God it was warm and sunny and I dried pretty quickly. We then spent a great deal of time in the Marktplatz admiring the churches and the city's main buildings. Here are some pictures I took of how beautiful they are:

I also took a picture with Bremen's great protector, Roland! He was constructed in 1404 as a paladin of the First Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne.

After we were being typical tourists, the girls and I found a great department store and did some last minute shopping for bedroom items, bath needs, and school supplies. We were getting pretty exhausted by this point and decided to head back home to Jacobs. It was a long day, and if I learned one thing, it's this: there is so much more of the city to explore....I hope I have the time to see as much as I can in this backyard city of mine. :)