Luneburg

This is by far my favorite city that we have visited to date. The city is about the size of Bloomington, IL and has a university, so there are always lots of things going on around the city center. Plus, it is only a 30 minute train ride to Hamburg. The day we arrived, we had a rotary meeting in the evening where we gave our presentation. Torben, one of the members of the German GSE group, came to the meeting, so we had a chance to catch up with him.

 

The second day was our vocational day. I went to a middle school called Geschwister-Scholl and had the opportunity to observe a 10th grade class. The class put together presentations on the German education system and German culture and then I was able to present the same topics to them about American education and culture. It was a great interaction between me and the students and I learned a lot from them about the school systems in Germany. I also had the opportunity to observe a chemistry classroom, which was interesting as well. The room only had 3 water sources, so the students had to form large lab groups (8-9 students) to do the lab.

 

In the afternoon, I had some time to do some shopping and relax, and then in the evening we went on a city tour. First we visited the water tower, where we could climb to the top and get a view of the entire city. It was beautiful! It helped that we had mostly clear weather during our stay in Luneburg. After our city tour, we had dinner at a local brewery.

The third day, we had free time, which Lindsey and I used to do some more shopping. There was a very large Saturday market in the city center which was amazing! In the afternoon, we visited Amelinghausen where we did some hiking, met the Heath Queen (think similar to the 4H queen), and had a tour of the old grave sites there, as old as 5000 years. Quite amazing. From there we went to a large farm which now holds horses and is used as a vacation and hunting spot for travelers. Visitors staying at the farm can even bring their own horses with them. We then walked to the neighboring hunting lodge for dinner. After that, some of us (Debby and Tim) went to a high stand to observe local wildlife such as wild boars, deer, and bucks. The rest of us (Lindsey, Joe, and myself) stayed at the lodge to watch Germany beat Portugal in the European Soccer Championship. Some of the group then went to a discotheque, but I was exhausted so I headed home for the evening.

 

In the morning, I had an amazing opportunity to go to St. Michael's church and hear a 160 piece choir and orchestra play and sing Bach's Concerto in c (BWV 1060) and Kantate "DieElendenn sollen essen" (BWV 75). To hear Bach music in a church where Bach once sang, played, and composed is an experience that cannot be matched. Following the concert, it was back for lunch and then off to Celle, where the journey will continue!

 

Sara