Dusseldorf & Köln

On the weekend the international office organized a trip to Dusseldorf and Köln. It cost 40 euros for 3 days and 2 nights. We took a bus there it was almost 6 hours on the squishy bus with my neck hurting from trying to sleep. We first visited an old coal mine, it was nice but so so very cold >_< but I had some yummy fries and currywurst! We also visited a product design museum which was so fun and everything was so pretty! We then headed to our hostel in Dusseldorf, which was so nice it was almost like a hotel! We then walked over to the city center which was across a big windy bridge, it was a 20-30 minutes walk which wasn't so fun. But Dusseldorf has a street full of restaurants and bars, having a great nightlife. We had a yummy dinner which took a while to decide which restaurant and went to a karaoke bar =) arriving back at the hostel at 3.30 am

Breakfast was included and it was great, so much food that we packed a lunch from it! We had a quick morning tour of the city, again cold out of my mind that I couldn't concentrate. But saw the Frank Gehry buildings which were nice. Then the next day heading to Köln. We went to the big cathedral and climbed up the stairs, which were narrow, spiral and packed with people. Then a few of us went to the Ludwig museum of contemporary art. Then for some quick shopping in the city center, which had alot of stores! but so many people and things were not exceptionally cheap. At night we crossed the bridge again to have dinner. Where I had a huge plate of meat, fries and salad it was yummy! except sitting outside was kinda cold. But it was nice to be with my new friends here!

The next morning we headed to some foundation, I forgot the name already. The architecture was beautiful but it was kinda of boring. But we got some great photos. We then went to a planetarium, it was so cold in there, what kind of museum doesn't put heating inside? Then back to Weimar.

First two week of class

Its been two weeks of classes here. The first one was my project Distance Conversation, and its all about calligraphy. We are asked to collected our digital conversations and turn them into whatever we want without using a computer. Our prof is from the Netherlands so we only have class 3 weeks in the whole semester. But in those weeks its 5 days, for the whole day. The first week we practiced our calligraphy over and over again. My writing is so terrible =( We also created our own typeface but stamping objects with ink. Mine was made with a clothes pin =) it was super fun and im really happy with how it turned out!

I also have Brochure Brochure, one of my fachkurs. Im the only exchange student in the class of only 6 people. The prof doesn't speak much english too, so it has been very difficult, especially during discussions where i dont know whats going on and i cant contribute. We have to create a brochure for the photography department, nothing to experimental but it is still interesting to design with a budget.

I had to drop my portrait photography class because i didnt have the workshop. ugh its so annoying here, where one person tells you one thing and one tells you another. It was just a mess and very frustrating. But luckily I found another fachkurs to fill my schedule. It is some art class about the human body. We'll see how it goes next Wednesday!

I have also started german lessons again and its once a week from 9 - 12. I dont know how much I like the new teacher, he goes really fast and I feel like it is really hard >_< but here's the photo of my class from the intensive course back in September =)

Course Selection

This week I chose the courses that I will be taking at the Bauhaus for the first semester. We first looked at the courses offered on the website. There are three types classes: projects (20 credits), Fachkurs (6 credits) and workshops. Then on October 11th, the project classes were presented, and they were speaking in German of course, thankfully Breydon was there to help! Then the next day we go and fill out the yellow and blue sheets where we pick our top 3 choices of projects and fachkurs, then drop it into the box and wait. The next day the results are posted and you see what class you got into! 

At first I only got into one project and one fachkur, and I needed one more class. So I had to go and email a billion people and talk with the profs to let me in one. It was a mission and to be frank it was very difficult and frustrating. I am actually very scared for classes to start because my German is not strong at all and two of my classes are in German. It's all very overwhelming and intimidating...

But this semester I will be taking

1. Distance Conversation ( and the class is in English!)

2. Broschüre, Broschüre

3. Portrait + X ( a photography class that I am scared of because I'm not technically strong >_< )

4. Workshops (photography ones and hopefully screen printing and offset)

I ♥ Zwieblemarkt

Every year on the second weekend of October, Weimar has Zwieblemarkt (an onion festival) They were setting up on Thursday so after Berlin it was great to come back to such a big festival! There were booths all around town and best of all lots of FOOD and drinks! I ate so much, I had:

1. zwiebelkuchen: onion cake (not pictured above)

2. linseneintopf: lentil soup with bacon and sausage

3. lango: friend dough, I had mine with a garlic sauce, tomatoes and cheese (sooo gooooddd)

4. knoblauchbrot, garlic bread and I had mine with yogurt and chili sauce with corn and fried onions on top (so spicy but so good)

5. pork skewer with onions in a bun

6. schokolade bananen

7. rahmbrot: soft bread stuffed with lots of cheese and bacon (again sooo gooodd)

8. apfelmus crepe with cinnamon suger

There were lots of other things like warm wines, honey apple cider, little doughnuts, lots of meat and sausage etc. I wish i could try them all! There was live music and a popular item was the onion braid, they were so cute I had to buy one. I hope it lasts long enough to bring home during Christmas.

Berlin is Calling

After Rostock, Karoline and I went to Berlin! We took mitfahrgelegenheit, which is like carpooling. The ride there costed 15 euros with a guy named Stefan. We left Weimar at 1pm and got to our hostel (Heart of Gold Hostel) at about 5pm, unfortunately we had to share a room with 3 smelly guys from Argentina, and one kept snoring. Gross.

We walked around Freichstrasse then to Lafayette in Berlin (where i saw the nicest Chloe bag for 575 euros and pretty jackets) We then walked over to Potsdamer Platz and had dinner at the Sony Centre, with beautiful ARchitecture. I had a satisfying meal of ribs and wings! I feel like I haven't eaten proper meat here for a while then a Hagen Daz ice cream and brownie. SO GOOD. The hostel then recommended that we go to a little place called The Burger Club. It was like going to 4 parties in one night there was swing music, Jewish, Indian music etc! But nobody 'grinds' here everyone dances on their own but at the same time together haha its a little complicated to explain. We got back to the hostel around 3.30 am.

The next day we woke up at 8.30 am. We had a yummy filling breakfast and I also had a caramel milk steamer so good =) We went on a walking tour to see the sights at 10.30pm. We saw the some churches, museums, monuments etc. We got to see the Berlin wall and Charlie Checkpoint. The tour was supposed to end at 2pm, but by 2.30 the tour guide kept talking and we were hungry. We left the tour for some lunch and headed over to Alexander Platz for some shopping.

We took mitfahrgelegenheit back again for 13 euro, with Doreen who drove really fast. She dropped us off at Jena and unfortunately the train back to Weimar was an hour wait. But it was a fast trip, I really wish I had more time to see everything and actually go into a museum!

Trip to Rostock

On October 4th and 5th we went to a little town called Rostock, in the north of Germany. There was a promotion, for 20 euros you can take the train anywhere one way. We chose Rostock, because it was the furthest you can go for the price. We got to take the ICE trains which were fast and nice! The ride was about 6 hours. 

We stayed at Jellyfish hostel, which is nice. We walked around the harbour and went on a boat ride around the town with this old man. We then walked into the city center which was really cute. We then had dinner, which was fish with sesame, yummy!  We also went to a 'pirate' bar and played games afterward. The next day we had breakfast and walked around the town again. We went into a big church. We also went up this tower overlooking the town and had those fun narrow stairs!

Trip to Leipzig

 Am Samstag 2. Oktober wir sind zu Leipzig gefahren.

Last Saturday, October 2th, 2010, we went on a day trip to Leipzig. It was about 3 hours away by train ride. First we visited the cotton spinning mill which is now galleries. (just like the distillery district back in Toronto) So there was art, a cinema and we also went to a ceramics gallery and got to see how the artist works. The graffiti on the walls was also amazing! Then we went back on the train for about 30 minutes to the zentrum. There we did some shopping (there was h&m and Zara!) I was so in the shopping mood I bought a pair of paper bag waist line shorts, stripped tshirt and cargo button up, all things I have been wanting! Leipzig was a pretty big city which I like!