Leipzig

Yesterday we took out first field trip to one of the major German cities, called Leipzig. Following the hour and a half bus ride through corn fields and wind mill farms, we arrived in what we know modern Germany to be. Leipzig is a mixture of old and new. One minute you will be passing the train tracks of one of the world’s most advanced transportation systems, and the next you will be inside of a building older than America itself. Pretty sweet feeling, I would say. We started out the day by going on a small tour through the city. We went inside two churches, one of which Bach had used as a home base for orchestrating his masterpieces.  We had a few hours of free time after that, and you can imagine that we all hit up H&M first thing. Once I had bought a pair of pink low rise-converse type shoes I headed off with a few other kids from my program for lunch. We ended up in a Vietnamese Restaurant, which I know is ironic considering it was our first German meal outside the Monastery, but it was completely worth it! I had glass noodles mixed with lots of veggies and lemon sauce, along with a crisp glass of sparkling water. We had plenty of time to walk around and simply feel the vibe of the town. Street players gathered crowds in the streets, and kids played in water fountains lining the side walk. It was a happy, modern, and cheery place to be. I wouldn’t mind being placed in Leipzig at all. And yes, that means still no host family! Let’s hope it comes this week J The last thing we did with our free time was go to an old famous coffee shop.  It is known for an elephant picture painted on the outside of the building. I ordered iced coffee, and to my surprise, they actually put ice cream instead of ice in, like a root beer float with coffee. Delicious! Germans don’t really use ice, and they don’t have a word for it either. If you say ice, they will think you are talking about ice cream.  The last thing we did for the day was go on a tour that showed the history of modern Germany. I found this really interesting because we were able to see both the outlook and lifestyle of people in and around the Berlin Wall. It is amazing to think that Germany has made so much progress to become a high tech, liberal, and modern society in such a short amount of time. If there is one thing we can learn from the Germans, I believe it would be to have an open mind for reform. They have changed their country so much for the better, and I believe that they have put a lot of thought into the way their laws operate.