Marcelo's Blocker Blog 2023

  When I first arrived Freiburg, one of the first things that I did was signing up to "das Fitnessstudio". Little I knew that after an entire semester, I never realized there was an amazing park just a couple meters behind it. I always heard people mentioning Seepark, but I never went there. Not until a little before my last week here in Freiburg. Through the contact my professor of Finance gave to me to play Fußball at the "schule sporthalle" on Mondays, the same group of players invited me to play in Seepark.  Seepark, located in district Betzenhausen is a big park with an artificial lake were people go to have picnics, walk, bike, or any relaxing activity with friends or mascots. When I first arrived to the park, I was really happy because that day was supposed to rain. To my surprise, the day was beautiful and I had the chance to see a full park mit viele Leute. For a second I remembered meine Lieblingsfilm "The pursuit of happiness" when William Smith...

Easter is a catholic tradition celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For easter in Freiburg, Germany, I had the chance through my german class to visit die "Museum Natur und Mensch". I was excited to get my german homework done and also for the kids that would be enjoying easter german celebrations and traditions. The museum had a free entrance and it was full with children. I think me and my friend were the only young adults there with the exception of the kids' parents.  I was fortunate to see Vom Ei zum Küken exhibition were kids would enjoy seeing how chicks live and interact in a little but interactive environment. While me and my friend were in the exhibition, we asked how old were das "küken", and there were some that were born in that same week! The kids were all happy about the chicks little noises and how they ran from one place to another. Kids and parents also have fun mit Ostereir Bemalen, Shoko-Osterhasen essen, und Ostereir s...

My main expectations surrounding my study abroad experience were to make long lasting relationships with Germans and Americans in my program, and also to take advantage of what my study abroad program had to offer. Having just arrived from my course related trips to Budapest and Rome, I have been able to retrospectively think about my living situation and all the cultural differences I have experienced. When I first arrived here, I was excited to embrace a new culture with new rituals on a daily life. As I have lived for two months with Germans in a "Studentenwohnung", I had become aware of a lot of different practices of how German students live their lives.  The culture of these Studentenwohnung is appreciative of students and their space. Vauban, Stussie, and Stuhlinger, the one I live at, are the main student residencies here in Freiburg. All of them have student bar spaces open during the week of classes and they usually get pretty busy. In fact, if you are acquainted wi...