DAAD Trip to Ulm

So, it has been a while since I've posted about what I've been up to (or at least it feels like it has been a while for me). The truth is that I've been keeping pretty busy since I got back from my trip to Northern Germany. The lovely DAAD had a meeting for all the scholarship holders from the Baden-Württemberg region (which is where Tübingen is) and for the the people from Saarland (which is just to the west of Baden-Württemberg). This meeting was to take place in Ulm.

Yes, Ulm. The wonderful city with that really high church tower.

Now, I had already been to Ulm... so I wasn't too excited to go, as it was not any place new to me. Also, if this meeting was to be anything like the one in Bonn (Bonn: somewhat smelly and unattractive), then I wasn't feeling it.

The trip started on Friday and went until Sunday. Hannah and I had to be at the bus station at about 7:00 in the morning or something ridiculously early for us semester-break-loving-bums. We left from Hannah's and waited for the bus. And we waited. And we waited. Let me tell you all something about German punctuality. It's a myth. It's one of those things that you hear about Germans, possibly just to scare Americans into being on time. Not quite sure, but as the time kept on ticking away, Hannah and I were wondering if there was a certain time in which we could say that they were too late, and then we could go back to bed. Unfortunately, when we set this time, the bus showed up with three minutes to spare. So, we got on the bus and made our way to Ulm.

The hotel was really nice, except for the elevators. There were only three elevators for the entire fifteen floor building, you had to use your room key to access your floor (which means that you couldn't go to any other floors), and their were no stairs for guests to use outside of emergencies. But besides the elevators, the hotel was very nice. In the rooms, as Hannah pointed out to me, they even had one of those things that washes your bum. Yes. I did not get a picture of it, however. And, no, I did not use it. But the whole concept of it amazed me.

So every day we would basically do the same thing in the mornings. We would get up and have breakfast, which was delightful, and then we would head by bus to the University where we would attend lectures until lunch. After lunch, it was either more lectures, or on Saturday we took a tour around Ulm. The tour this time, unlike the tour that our German course teachers gave us, was very informative and interesting. I actually learned everything about Ulm that I probably should have learned the last time around. The only down side to the tour was that we had one or two people, one in particular, that asked about twenty questions at every place that we stopped. At one point, all the other tour groups that were behind us actually passed us up, because he had to ask all his questions right at the beginning of the tour. It was pretty frustrating.

After the tour, we had some free time to bum around the city. Hannah, Yanalte, and I decided that we would go to the smoothie place that our tutor from our German course took us last time we were in Ulm. When we walked up to the smoothie place, there she was! She looked at us and you could tell she was wondering where she knew us from. Finally it clicked, and she just looked like, "I can't believe it". It felt like a Casablanca moment. "Of all the smoothie joints, in all the towns, in all the world... those Americans walked into mine"... That's what I like to imagine was going through her head as we walked into that smoothie joint! :)

After all our time in the old city of Ulm, we had to head back to the hotel so that we could be transported to dinner. Dinner on Saturday was held at an old factory. I took pictures here, because it was really cool. The food was really good, as it was all weekend. And the upside, it was all free! As traveling had taken its toll on our bank accounts, we were looking forward to the free food for the weekend! After dinner, they had music and dancing... Their very own Diskothek. After dinner, we watched the dancers for a while, but Hannah was sick, and we were both exhausted so we didn't stay to dance the night away, as we did have to wake up early the next morning. As I said, I did get some pictures, and even a video of our favorite dancer. I named him Stripey, for his shirt. He had some moves!

They had tables set up inside the factory.

There were cars all around the tables!

Took this just before all the dancers got out on the floor.

 It may be too dark to see, but I had to try to put it up. This guy just danced like there was no tomorrow. Made me happy.

So after the Diskothek, we had only breakfast on Sunday morning before heading back to Tübingen. Before we got on the bus, however, they asked us to fill out an evaluation form. On the form they asked us how the trip was, and if it met our expectations. I wrote on there that I had no expectations, as Bonn wasn't exactly the best meeting, but that it was a great meeting. I am glad that I got to go on this trip, and of course that I got this scholarship. Thanks DAAD!