Winter has settled into Münsterland, maybe a bit quicker than I would have liked, but there it is. Germany has gotten quite a bit of snow over the last couple of days and we even got some here in Münster last night, so I used to opportunity to take some pretty pictures, which you can take a look at below.
I'm already quite busy with grad school but I do like it so far and I've also been trying to stay involved in other activities, such as Model United Nations here in Münster and learning a bit of Dutch for fun. I have Fridays free, which makes for a good reading day before the weekend gets rolling. Wednesday is my most intense day with 8 hours of classes straight. German universities don't always spell everything out for you like American ones do and German bureaucracy is quite the dragon to slay, but I'm learning the ins and outs and I think things will work out for the best. The economic crisis has definitely had an impact on my ability to finance my education but things seem to be okay so far and I'm still hunting down other options.
I also recently took a trip to Manchester, England to visit Patrick (His blog is in German) and to check out the town. It was a great weekend and we were there during Halloween and ran around with a lot of really nice foreign exchange students and Patrick's roomie. It's amazing how different England is from Germany. Manchester was definitely at the heart of the industrial revolution and everywhere you look you can see remnants of it. Some of it is sort of sad because you can see the relatively high rate of unemployment but at the same time they're rebuilding and remodeling the city constantly. I found the people to be very friendly there though and their accent is a real treat to say the least.
I may have mentioned it in another blog entry, but I've started to work at a local restaurant here in Münster to support myself while I study. It's called Wolters II and it's located right in the old quarter of the city. I have to say that I really do enjoy working there. The team is friendly and I feel like I've gotten to know a few of them pretty well over the last few months. It's also been the ultimate test of my German language abilities, as I have to communicate quickly and effectively with staff and customers, hold lots of info in my head at once and adapt quickly to different situations with different customers. It was a baptism by fire but I've come out on top and it's given me a lot of confidence.
I've been working a lot on the weekends, saving up money for my trip back to the States in December! I have to say that I'm awfully excited about that and it should be a lot of fun to see friends and family again.
Well that's the exciting news in a nutshell. Once again, I'll try to blog more regularly, which will entail less reading in one sitting!
A nice picture of the bar at Wolters II.
The front entrance.
The cathedral in the snow.
The palace and a German snowball fight.
Artsy fartsy at the Manchester Airport.
German, American, Spaniard, Englishman, Dane.
The gate to Manchester's Chinatown.
Take care friends! Hope to see you back in the States soon!
1 comment:
Well Hello Brent,
It is so nice to see your post, although I am late in reading it. Love the pic's you took. Sounds like life is keeping you hopping. Good to know you are enjoying your job. It looks so beautiful there, but you must know you are missed here. We have been busy with the boys and grandbabies. We all got together here for New Years. OH...and your right I hope your post more often so we can read how you are doing. Glad to hear you made it home for the Holidays, I know your Mom and Dad look forward to seeing you boys. So try to pace yourself and take care. Hope everything turns out the way you would like. Miss ya and Love Ya as always.
Aunt Penny
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