The Leipzig semester has been a long time coming. Some of the students on this trip have been waiting three years in order for it to finally happen. And now, at long last the away semester to Leipzig has finally taken place. Thirteen students and one Dr O’Keefe have spent a whole week in Germany and this is what they’ve been doing.
This picture was taken at Dulles Airport before the class took their international flight. The trip was an overnight flight that took about nine and a half hours to complete (and no one managed to sleep more than four hours). The flight landed in the early morning in Frankfurt (roughly 2:00 am for our students who had a six hour time zone jump to contend with). The building behind them is a historic Frankfurt cafĂ© that serves wonderful burgers. The students had a smaller flight to Leipzig, but also a nine hour layover in Frankfurt. The class used the time to go on a walking tour of the historic city and see the brilliant architecture as well as getting their first taste of German culture. By the time they arrived in Leipzig proper some of the students had been awake for over 30 hours. They were glad to finally be taken to their apartment building. The image above is the interior courtyard of their apartments. Look at all the plants! And the rooms are as beautiful inside as without. Each apartment is a loft with two bedrooms on the upper floor. Pictured above is the living room for one apartment (the one I, your friendly neighborhood blogger live in). The large windows open entirely, allowing the music from a nearby venue to filter in. As part of their introduction to Leipzig the crew went to the second oldest tavern in Europe! It’s also the place in which the play Faust was originally imagined. Afterwards, the class went on another walking tour, this time of Leipzig. This one was considerably more engaging as the majority of the students had slept in the past 24 hours. They visited one of the many Trade Fair buildings constructed in Leipzig. The city is known for it’s historical trade fairs where merchants and artisans would come from all around the country in order to show off their goods and make sales. Another place seen was the church that serves as the final resting place for Johann Sebastian Bach. While not a Leipzig native, Bach did spend a good period of his life inside Leipzig’s walls teaching music and serving on the city council. He was not famous in life, and was buried in a pauper’s grave outside the city, but was exhumed later and laid to rest in front of the altar pictured above This clocktower is a part of the town hall, a massive building actually made by combining two buildings. It stands in front of the city square, a place where market is held every Tuesday and Friday. Come September the Christmas market will also be held there. This is the class at the Leipzig library. While the operations of the library have changed significantly because of COVID, the students will still be expected to make use of it for their studies While living in Germany is fun, none of us are really good at speaking German. This is the beginners level German class after their first day of school in a new country. Slightly less hopeless, this is the advanced German class. The students were split into two based on their current knowledge of the German language, not the number of peace signs they have. And there you have it. The first week of the Leipzig program is off to a good start. The students are settling in and seeing the sights. Look forward to more updates and more pictures of German cities. If you or a friend are interested in a similar program, or maybe a Mayterm abroad contact the Study Abroad offices to see if there are any programs right for you. That’s all for now.
Auf Widersehen!
