Bodensee
Bodensee, Lake Constance in English, is so beautiful. It is located in southern Germany and borders with Austria and Switzerland as well. Last weekend I had the chance to go check it out with my Rotaract friends, and the whole weekend was great. There is a relatively new club down in Friedrichshafen, a big town on the lake, and they had an official celebration of the establishment of the club over the weekend. It was a last minute trip for me, and i'm so glad that it all worked out.
I met my friends Friday at 7 in Ludwigsburg and we carpooled in two cars down there. The drive is about 2.5-3 hours, so we got there just in time to catch the last little bit of the welcome party that night. At about 3 we finally arrived at the turnhalle where we were sleeping. It was a big gymnasium with mats on the floor all over, so we just brough sleeping bags to sleep on the floor. The next day we got up for breakfast and a day filled with activities. My friends were doing sailing the whole day, but since i signed up late, i did some sailing in the morning and then went to an art foundation in the afternoon. The sailing was great. We were on the lake for 2 hours, and it was sooooo beautiful. It was way better than i was expecting. The water was so green/turqoise, and it's surrounded by beautiful mountains. There were tons of sail boats around, because it is used for drinking water, there are very strict regulations about who can go on the lake, so basicall no motor boats are allowed. This make for such a peaceful experience and it was lovely! I made friends with the four other people on the boat, and we had lunch afterwards before going to the art place. The art foundation was ok, but it was all modern art/structures, and we had 20 minutes to look around followed by a couple of hours of discussion and explanation with the director... that part wasn't so great for me because it was all in German, but i guess i got some of it. After a nap in the afternoon I was ready to go for the rest of the night.
Saturday night was the big dinner/ball, which was great.
The invataion said 'black tie' and i was thinking ok something a little nicer, but didn't really take it literally. My logic was, well we are all 20-somethings, who really had a ball gown in their closet? But they do!!! I would say 3/4 of the girls were in what we would consider a prom dress! I was shocked, but luckily, the girls i was with, were under the same impression as myself, so we were all dressed the same... i guess that's why I fit in with these friends :-) Anyhow, the dinner was held in a local castle, renovated for events, right on the lake. It was beautiful and picturesque, in short amazing. There was a champagne reception before hand, and after each corse of the meal, there was a 6 guy accapella group that performed for us. The night was a great way to cap off the whole weekend. Sunday morning there was a tasty brunch before we left, and it all couldn't have been better.
So... the conversation was in German the whole weekend... I still am really not that great with it. One on one, i think i can do a lot better, but when it's all group conversation, it's a lot harder to follow. They were nice and talked in enlgish to me sometimes too... it all worked out, but it just made me realize that i can get by, but my personality doen't really come out as much in situations like that. I am pretty removed from things, and it just makes for a totally different experience. Oh well, it was still so fun!
picts at: http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2145867&l=0b4ce&id=3206990
I met my friends Friday at 7 in Ludwigsburg and we carpooled in two cars down there. The drive is about 2.5-3 hours, so we got there just in time to catch the last little bit of the welcome party that night. At about 3 we finally arrived at the turnhalle where we were sleeping. It was a big gymnasium with mats on the floor all over, so we just brough sleeping bags to sleep on the floor. The next day we got up for breakfast and a day filled with activities. My friends were doing sailing the whole day, but since i signed up late, i did some sailing in the morning and then went to an art foundation in the afternoon. The sailing was great. We were on the lake for 2 hours, and it was sooooo beautiful. It was way better than i was expecting. The water was so green/turqoise, and it's surrounded by beautiful mountains. There were tons of sail boats around, because it is used for drinking water, there are very strict regulations about who can go on the lake, so basicall no motor boats are allowed. This make for such a peaceful experience and it was lovely! I made friends with the four other people on the boat, and we had lunch afterwards before going to the art place. The art foundation was ok, but it was all modern art/structures, and we had 20 minutes to look around followed by a couple of hours of discussion and explanation with the director... that part wasn't so great for me because it was all in German, but i guess i got some of it. After a nap in the afternoon I was ready to go for the rest of the night.Saturday night was the big dinner/ball, which was great.
The invataion said 'black tie' and i was thinking ok something a little nicer, but didn't really take it literally. My logic was, well we are all 20-somethings, who really had a ball gown in their closet? But they do!!! I would say 3/4 of the girls were in what we would consider a prom dress! I was shocked, but luckily, the girls i was with, were under the same impression as myself, so we were all dressed the same... i guess that's why I fit in with these friends :-) Anyhow, the dinner was held in a local castle, renovated for events, right on the lake. It was beautiful and picturesque, in short amazing. There was a champagne reception before hand, and after each corse of the meal, there was a 6 guy accapella group that performed for us. The night was a great way to cap off the whole weekend. Sunday morning there was a tasty brunch before we left, and it all couldn't have been better.
So... the conversation was in German the whole weekend... I still am really not that great with it. One on one, i think i can do a lot better, but when it's all group conversation, it's a lot harder to follow. They were nice and talked in enlgish to me sometimes too... it all worked out, but it just made me realize that i can get by, but my personality doen't really come out as much in situations like that. I am pretty removed from things, and it just makes for a totally different experience. Oh well, it was still so fun!picts at: http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2145867&l=0b4ce&id=3206990
posted by emily at 9:42 AM
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