In March I had the opportunity to spend four days in Marburg, Germany visiting our progra
m. I wanted to tell you a little about my trip and show you some of the photos I took of Marburg and our students.
I arrived in Marburg by train and was very excited to see the Landgrave Castle as I approached Marburg. The castle really is visible from many locations in town and is the landmark for Marburg.
It was a short walk from the train station to the lovely pension where I stayed (Pension Mueller is in a great location and very reasonably priced!). We walked by the Elizabethkirche (Church of St. Elizabeth), a lovely gothic cathedral on the way to the pension.
Getting around Marburg was very easy, both on foot and by bus. The students take the bus daily from their residence halls to school and into town. They have learned quickly to navigate the bus system and with their free transportation passes make good use of public transportation!
I spent one morning walking around Marburg, exploring the lower portion of town. The city is built up on a hill with steep streets and stairs (lots and lots of stairs). In the lower part of town, there is a commercial center, houses and shops, university buildings, and the Lahn River.
I attended the German conversation course that the Abroadco students take along with other students in the program. That day the lower level German speakers were playing a game, creating a fairy tale from cards they were dealt. It was a lot of fun listening to them develop sentences based on the cards in their hands and how creative they can be! We all learned many new words in
German. Although I hadn't had German for more than 20 years I enjoyed picking out words I did understand and learning some new ones.
One fun thing was that our first ever Abroadco student in Marburg was back visiting at the same time I was there. It was great to hear from Lance about the impact his semester abroad has had on his life. Since his semester, he took time to travel around Europe and North Africa, transferred schools and changed his major.
One evening the Abroadco students, Klaas (resident director) and I went to dinner. We had a long climb up several flights of steep stairs to a restaurant next to the Landgrave Castle. The view from there is tremendous - even at night when all you can see are the lights of the city below. It's a fabulous sight! Spending time with the Abroadco students was a real treat. Although we work closely with our students, we don't often get to meet them in person. I have to say, although I may be prejudiced, that this is a great group! They were so much fun t
o be with, I wish I could have spent more time with them.
One afternoon while I was there we had a guided tour of Ober Marburg (the upper part of the city). You can either walk up or take an elevator to get up to the upper part of the city. I took the elevator since I had never before just taken an elevator from one part of a city to the next. We met at the old university and then explored the winding streets, historic buildings, and scenic vistas.
I spent some time talking with the students about the program and about Marburg. The students all commented on how academically demanding the program is, but said they were enjoying their classes. They are definitely learning a
lot. The students who had gone to Marburg without any German had picked up quite a bit. And considering that English is not spoken by most shopkeepers in town, they really have to use their German! They have fallen in love with Marburg itself and enjoy exploring the city and finding new places to eat. All the students told me how much they like Klaas, how helpful he is, and what a good teacher he is
(Klaas teaches the German
Culture class and the lower level German conversation class).
So this was my trip to Marburg. Although it rained quite a bit while I was (it was March in Germany after all), we did have some nice sunny weather as well. This is one city I definitely want to go visit again!