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Hamburg Travel Blogs

Background: As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.

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By Edison Wildcats
July 8th 2008

Bergedorf and PICS

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

reflection

Today we took a great trip to the nearby town of Bergedorf. While there, we toured a castle, walked through the woods, stopped to play a bit, smapled the fare at a local street market, and thew kids shopped to their hearts content. We left in a sort of Seattle rain, more of a mist really. By the time we stepped off of the train in Bergedorf, it had stopped. We first stopped at a very old church for a look around at the old architecture and painting inside. After that, when we popped up to the castle, it was already [View Full Entry]

By Edison Wildcats
July 7th 2008

Students Weekend Stories Part 1

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Here are some of the accounts written by our students of their weekend with their host families. I will post more as I get them, but this should be a good start. I just thought it would be fun for you to be able to see what all of the kids are up to over here. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Over the weekend I did a lot of swimming. On Saturday we went swimming for six hours at ,,Die Insel'' with Shelby and Maren. On Sunday we went to the Baltic Sea with Shelby and Maren. When we got there we went swimming at [View Full Entry]

By Edison Wildcats
July 6th 2008

Weekend Pics

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Alster1

I spent the majority of the weekend in the downtown area as all of our kids are out and about with their host families. On Saturday, I made my way via S-Bahn to the city center. I spent the day scouting points for our "Amazing Race" and viewing the sights. It was a very warm day, and I spent a lot of time on foot in between stints public transportation, which is EXCELLENT here in Hamburg. I made my way by train, on the tube, by bus and by water taxi, which is all covered on one 5 Euro ticket! Today [View Full Entry]

By Edison Wildcats
July 4th 2008

Museum, St. Michaels Tower, and Labor Camp

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Bismark

What a couple of days! Thursday we toured a museum that detailed the history of Hamburg. From its beginnings as a small settlement through its rise to prominance as a trading mecca. From pirates to nearly burning down in 1842, to a city of 2 million people today. The docent did her best to give the tour in english, and for that we were all grateful! After the guided tour, we walked a couple of blocks to the church of St. Michael, where we climbed the tower for excellent views of the city. It was a very hot and humid day, [View Full Entry]

By Edison Wildcats
July 2nd 2008

What A Day! And Pics!

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

It was yet another great day here today! We met as a group this morning and discussed how things were going with their families and at school. It sounds like things are really going well! We heard lots of fun stories from home and trips that they have been on around Hamburg already. Funny and interesting stories abound! After our meeting, the kids went to class with their partner or attended an English class with Ms. Herder and I in order to help some younger German students with their English language skills. Then it was off on a walk to the [View Full Entry]

By muckelchen
July 1st 2008

hamburg-calgary

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

heute, 1.juli 2008!!!!! so, heute gehts es dann zum dritten mal wieder über den grossen teich in richtung westen.die nächsten zwei einhalb monate werde ich dann in der sonne auf der terrasse sitzen und ,mit füssen im wassereimer den menschlichen körper in und auswendig lernen.ausserdem bleibt es dann ja abzuwarten und auszuprobieren, wie denn das kanadische leben n a c h 3 wochen dasein so ist, und vor allem wie denn d [View Full Entry]

By Edison Wildcats
July 1st 2008

In

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Hey there, This is just a short message to let you all know that we are here and safe. The kids are doing brilliantly! Everyone is in high spirits with great smiles! I will post much more later today and will include pictures as well. -Ben [View Full Entry]

By JSchneyer
June 29th 2008

Hamburg Sentiment: A Semester in Review

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Hey all, So as I begin my last week in Hamburg, I am experiencing a vast array of emotions. A huge part of me is extremely excited to go home, but of course a feeling has crept up on my over the past week, the feeling that I know I will miss this place tremendously. We talked about re-entry shock, the opposite of culture shock, in my intercultural interaction class, and knowing me, I will probably be privileged enough to experience it. This entry will probably jump around a lot, because of all that is running through my head at the [View Full Entry]

By Renan
June 24th 2008

Deutschland: Kiel and Hamburg

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Boats in Kiel

I arrived in Kiel on the northern coast of Germany (on the coast of the Baltic sea) on June 21 in the mid afternoon. The train from Copenhagen took about five and a half hours, but went very fast due to the very good book I was reading, "Unweaving the Rainbow" by Richard Dawkins. When I arrived in Kiel I was greeted at the train station by my friend Janine who i studied with at Penn State last year. She lives and studies in Kiel, a town of about 250,000 with a lot of students. My trip fortuitously coincided with a [View Full Entry]

By JSchneyer
June 22nd 2008

Finals

Europe » Germany » District of Hamburg » Hamburg

Hey all, Well, tomorrow begins my last week of classes, and it still feels like I will never get to go home. I'm not looking forward to finals at all... for many reasons. I guess I never really got used to the University system over here. Classes once a week, Professors canceling classes left and right, and I never feel sufficiently prepared whether I go to class or not- for most of my classes. My human resources class, where my teacher doesn't speak any English (and it's supposed to be an English class) feels like a lost cause to me right [View Full Entry]

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