Ludwigsburg and Kreuzlingen

This week I didn't have too much going on, just some short trips! On Wednesday I went to Ludwigsburg, a suburb of Stuttgart, for my research. Ludwigsburg is home to the Deutsch-Franzoesisch Institut, or German-French Institute. It is a library devoted to the studies of Germany, France, and their relationship--full of books, periodicals, and a press archive. I was told it would be helpful to my research and it definitely was. I saw very clearly why my professors told me it was so important to learn German---if you know German, there are a lot more resources available to you than if you only speak English. Nearly everything in the Institute was written in either French or German. So for the last month I am here, I'm going to work really hard to make my German reading comprehension better before I go home!

Thursday Ulf and I went to Kreuzlingen, the Swiss town that Konstanz borders. After seeing it, I'm really glad I live in Konstanz! The town is not nearly as pretty, or as big, and obviously because it's Switzerland everything is more expensive. In KN a scoop of ice cream never costs more than 80 or 90 euro cents--in Kreuzlingen it was 2 francs and 50 cents for one scoop! Their harbor was nice, though--they had some pretty chairs and a tower you could climb to look out over the lake! I also learned some more about "die Daumen drucken", the German expression for "fingers crossed", that literally means "to press the thumb". Apparently the gesture for it is more like a closed fist, and Germans only cross their fingers when they are lying! haha. Context is very important for things like that, I guess.

I've been listening to some more of my German language course podcasts--they're getting interesting. One of them features an elf (ein cobalt) who honestly sounds exactly like Elmo. Every podcast also includes a "musical interlude" with what I'm pretty sure are only German/Austrian composers! So I guess it's cultural lessons, too.

I keep hearing about how it's really hot at home--well, in Konstanz it's been around 60-65 degrees and rainy most of the last two weeks. To me, perfect summer weather! Hope everyone at home is staying cool in the AC!

Plans for next week: thinking of taking a day trip to Heidelberg and Mannheim on Tuesday since the rain is supposed to stop, and Thursday night Alessia and I leave for our weekend in Berlin!

some German words I've learned recently:

jemanden zur Schnecke machen: literally means "to make someone into a snail". figuratively, means to embarrass or humiliate someone by yelling at them. Learned that one from reading Harry Potter.

ein cobalt: elf or goblin

der Fremde: stranger