germany: round 2.: i've got photos.

on friday at work, i proofed a presentation about sustainability that will be given in english. (tu kaiserslautern is having a four week course taught in english.) it is difficult to proofread when you don't know much about the content. so it was nice that it helped me learn a bit about some german practices. if i was confused about something, i would ask swantje (the girl giving the presentation), and she would explain it to me in german. then we would figure out the best way to say it in english. sometimes i feel that i'm doing well with german, but then there are also moments where i feel like i understand 7% of what is going on and just make up the rest based on body language and hand gestures.

yesterday, i went running, grocery shopping, and exploring. it felt that 50% of the people i heard in town were american. this is the closest town to ramstein (which i'm pretty sure is the largest american military base outside of america), so that is the reason for all the americans. occasionally i feel irritated that i'm in germany and hearing so much english, but then i remember i'm part of that problem. i also discovered that if i stay in this town every weekend, i will lose my mind. so, i'm looking into planning some smaller trips that are a few hours away. i'm thinking trier (oldest city in germany), essen (to see the red dot design awards museum), and ulm (to see a famous cathedral). also, i talked with nate, a friend from richmond who i know through my roommates, and he will be in germany in july. i was planning to send postcards from here - since this is where i will spend the majority of the summer - but i don't think they even make them for this place. it seems kaiserslautern's one claim to international fame is that they hosted some games during the 2006 world cup. kaiserslautern is a bit more hilly than heidelberg, and it seems there aren't so many bike riders here, but still more than most american towns.

the campus of tu kaiserslautern is located on the edge of the city, and i also live here. (i've quickly discovered that i miss having a bike!) very few other people live on campus, although there are a few dorms nearby. because of this, the place is almost completed deserted on the weekend. considering they have such a reputation for planning, i find some difficulty in understanding why things are the way they are. it seems there are about 10,000 students here, and a lot of them are male because it is a technical university. they have things such as math, physics, chemistry, biology, architecture, and planning. the one place where i tend to see A LOT of students is the mensa (cafeteria). guess that is to be expected :).

the weather has been really nice this weekend, and i could even wear shorts! i took campus photos today, and i've been working on editing a paper for a friend. nothing too terrible exciting.

city map. blue is the uni campus. yellow is downtown.

uni campus map. blue is my house. orange is the mensa. green are the buildings where i work. the bottom green one is the EA and the top right green is the lehrstuhl.