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"Staying abroad" on the continent
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By BRIAN CAREY
A city of startling contrasts and
mellow beauty, Munich was the
ideal location for a semester of study
in Germany. The center Altstadt
portion of the city provided culture
centers, shopping arcades, and ped
estrian zones, while the perimeters
of the city furnished students with
the politics and excitement of
Schwabing and the memories of
Dachau.
After five exciting days in Paris,
the city of lights and lovers, the 32
assorted students and teachers made
the ten-hour trek to Munich on a
soon-to-be-all-too-familiar train.
What a greeting the city had in
store! Overcast skies and a miser
able drizzle didn't dampen spirits
however and the search for our
temporary parents was engaged
with enthusiasm. The students
were to live with selected families
in Munich and its suburbs.
When the matches (and mis
matches) were finally made, the
group split off to see where they
would be housed for the next 3> l A
months.
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"What a greeting
the city
had in store!"
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Students soon discovered that
transportation was to be no problem;
the übiquitous subways, trams, and
buses can deliver a person to virtually
any street corner in the city. With
this discovery, a few more were
made, among them where everyone
else lived and how to get there.
The first group tour of the city
came the following day. With the
rain still falling, Karl Fischer of
the Columbus-Americar Gesell
schaft (a group that tost , rman-
American relations and wFs of great
help) led the group on the ' 'church
tour" of Munich. This entailed
hopping from dry church to dry
church while talking about what
was famous (and wet) on the out
side
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"... Oktoberfest
combined a county fair
and a beer festival "
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Over the next three months the
group was able to sample many
more of Munich's sights.
Beautiful October weather
brought afternoons of teaching
Germans frisbee in sunny English
type gardens. Crips September
evenings were occupied by cruising
Ludwigstrasse, the artery of the
student section that throbbed with
the lifebiood of bars, cafes, and jazz
joints.
What lay outside Munich was
even more stupendous than
what was contained within. The
frequent group activities included
climbing the rugged paths and
rocky summit of Brunstein in the
Alexandriaplatz in East Berlin is the site ot a huge televi; ion tower and many
modern structures. This exhibition center housed a Bertol L. .ht exhibition while a
the group was in Berlin.
Bavarian Alps and exploring t
autumn hues and Cinderella casi
of Neuschwannstein, built by m
King Ludwig 11.
The beginning of each week w
spent amassing skills in Studit
Munich, our classroom building
Schwabing. Formal classes offer
were three levels of German, Opei
and philosophy, all taught by Ma
and Carroll Feagins, and Germ
history and political science cours
taught in English by two Germ
teachers.
Several independent stui
courses had been pre-arranged
students. These included studies
math history, German flora, Ren
ssance art, german literature, and
European imperialism.
As the antithesis too, and some
times ironic companion of, the
book-learning of the classroom, the
group enjoyed an outing and several
private ventures to the Oktoberfest.
A harvest festival celebrating the
bountifulness and hard work of
the previous year, Oktoberfest
combined a county fair and beer
festival with the neon and hustle of
an amusement park. These three
V f LL B-XTJH
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Beautitui gardens behind Schloss Nympenburg in Munich provide a peaceful " t,
setting for many activities. The palace itself is rumoured to still be the residence Brueut 9mi|h
of a mad princess. f~
weeks of fun and relaxation were to
be missed later in the program.
The museums, art galleries, and
visual entertainment of Munich
offered a diverse mixture of
culture. Students regularly attend
ed operas, ballets, art exhibitions,
rock concerts, and orchestra
recitals, and the whole group went
to the production of Mozart's
''The Magic Flute.''
Munich's location in the center
of Europe came as an expected boon
to students. Places as different as
the Alps of Switzerland and the
deserts of Morocco, the ruins of
Rome and Greece and the canals
of Venice and Amsterdam,
received at least a perfunctory
glance, and usually were investigated
intensely.
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"The group s week
seminar to Berlin was
especially interesting."
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The group's week seminar to
Berlin was especially interesting.
Touring West Berlin by bus, one
was constantly intrigued by the
bombed ruins and modern edifices,
and always reminded of' 'the East''
by the pervading presence of the
Wall.
Walking down Kurfurstdendam,
touring the Reichstage, or enjoying
the world-famous zoo, the group
devoured Wesr Berlin. They spent
one entire day touring East Berlin.
Hundreds of fascinating places
and a myriad of activities deserve
further description. Andechs, the
Thanksgiving dinner, Stars and
Stripes Forever, the dollar decline,
and the Christkindlmarkt revive
many memories. The group
mastered the German style of living
and overcame the language barrier,
but all too soon the 3'/2 months
were over.
There will be no more Purple
Palaces, no more Wagner, and no
more Weissbier. The group won't
"assemble at Karolinenplatz;"
"meet at Marienplatz," or "party
at Riebesells" any longer.
xaooooooooocjaoooo*
"... All too soon
the 3 y* months
were over."
But the group came back a little
more cultured, a lot more educated,
and ein bischen exhausted, compli
ments of the Munich Seminar
Abro- Thank you, Munich, and
hello, *.S.A.!
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