Well, a bit has been happening this past couple weeks! I haven't always taken my camera with me and taken pictures, and that has possibly been part of the reason why this post is so tardy...I know how much people love the pictures! However, I have been informed by a quite reliable source that the pictures are indeed not a necessity, (especially if a shortage of them results in a shortage of blog entries) and that my readers are much deeper than that and enjoy a little bit of unillustrated prose here and there as well! That being said, my last excuse is now off the table and I will have to start trying my hardest to write weekly as I promised way back in the beginning of this whole thing. Wow! The beginning. It's been only/already almost 3 months that I have been in Germany. Some days it feels like an "only" is the best word for the situation and other days an "already" fills the blank much more accurately.
On the subject of time, it is getting to be that time of year again. Weihnachts!!!! Germany is well known for its Christmas spirit and you can already see seasonal decorations going up around town. In the Festplatz (festival square) the stands for the Herbst Markt have been taken down and replaced with the stands and proper ornamentation for the Weihnachts Markt that will be opening up in about 5 days and be going for close to a month, until the 23rd of December.
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| This is the main street area of Würzburg, no Scrooges here! |
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| The entrance sign to the Weihnachts Markt |
Now to the talk of classes. I don't have time to go over how each one is going, so I will just stick to one that has been going unarguably well: German World Culture and Heritage. This is a class taught by Dr. Süß, pronounced Suess and meaning "sweet", fully in English (no, we haven't asked him whether he likes Green Eggs and Ham yet, but it will potentially happen). Anyway, his class is very interesting and you learn all about the many different German Historical Heritage Sites, but that is not what I would like to talk to you about. Dr. Süß also leads a few excursions out into the German world each semestre and one which I recently partook in was a visit to, tour of, and sampling at the local brewery. The local brewery is called Würzburger Hofbräu, also the name of the primary beer produced there, and is quite impressive to see. For a 5 euro fee we were able to take a tour of the facility, learn a little about how the beer was produced, and then at the end kick back a little and sample 2 beers of choice from the seven or so which they brew there. I tried one pils and then one dark wheat beer. Both were satisfactory. All German beers seem to be great, and I think that stems in a huge way from the fact that beer has a deep history here and the Germans (particularly the Bavarians) have an old, rich beer culture. Germany has had its Beer Purity Law, stating the 4 ingredients which are allowed in beer as well as other guidelines which must be followed while brewing, since the 1600's. Impressive, I can prost to that!
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| The facility. If I remember correctly each one of those silo like units holds about 20,000 L of beer while it is fermenting. |
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| I never thought that I would ever see a light beer in Germany...maybe people are right about the world ending in December |
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| Just an interesting car I saw on the street |
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| We decided that this sign means "Emergency exit this direction" and not "Go through this door and you will be killed" |
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| This truck is equipped with 2 taps as well, in case of an emergency where quick consumption is necessary |
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| Just the backyard of the brewery |
Well, I hope all those Americans out there had a happy Thanksgiving and ate a little extra for me! Meanwhile, I was over here giving thanks for my Würzburger Hofbräu! Happy holidays (I think it is legal to say it now that Thanksgiving is over) and I will be in contact again soon!
