Erasmus year reflections, Teil 1: Meissen.

I may not meet many of the requirements for Best Language Student the World Has Ever Seen, but I can certainly put a big tick in the Wanderlust box. I'm currently swimming around in the dregs of my Erasmus year in Germany and my biggest regret is that I didn't travel anywhere near as much as I'd have liked to (and that my German is still pretty shocking, but I can deal with that). I don't quite know how I managed to pilfer away almost £4000 of free money on top of my full student loan, but I did! Tom had a bit of a rough year on his placement and it ended up costing him almost a grand just to escape from that so that didn't help too much, but the main reason was probably that I just can't keep my hands to myself every time I visit H&M. Anyway, I digress. To help me get back into the swing of blogging (and not feel too depressed that the amazing experience is over) I've decided to compile a little account of all the places I have managed to visit during my Erasmus year. I'll post a little bit about each city in every post and try and include as many photos as I can! Sorry they're so tragic, my little point and shoot does get a 10/10 for effort...

September 2010: Meißen

This was always going to be the one with the most pictures seeing as it was the first place in Germany I saw in the light of day after I landed in Berlin. Tom had already been living there for a week when I joined him and he did a placement out there until March. To say it was turbulent would probably be something of an understatement. You see, Meissen is in Saxony and is a part of the former DDR and you can really tell. The city is gorgeous, but there isn't a great deal to do unless you want to take an hour train journey to Dresden (costing 11€ return) and very few young people because the economy has struggled to keep up with the former West Germany since the reunification. So he was stuck there internet-and-friend-less after I left in October. It was a damn struggle to keep our relationship going during that time, but Meissen is still the place I'm fondest of.

Luckily it was still summer whilst I was there and we were new to the city and also the country so it was nice to be able to spend the days exploring and practising the language. The cultural difference did shock me a little. I'm fully aware that British girls tend to leave little to the imagination when dressing, but vest tops or skirts without tights were a total no-go if you didn't want disapproving stares and overt gossiping. I'm very used to blending in in Britain, but everything about me seemed to scream 'foreigner' and the attention made me feel a little uncomfortable. Still, it was nice to be able to throw on my scruffiest clothes for an amble to the Eiscafe without being judged too severely.

We ate far too much ice cream whilst we were there. Eiscafes are such a big part of German culture and even now, eleven months later the novelty still hasn't worn off. We did take it a little too far though, nomming our way through a beaker of icecream every single day when we really should have just been eating a scoop. Not good for my bank balance or my waistline! But in a city famous for its porcelain, vineyards and notorious flooding, there wasn't a great deal else to do. Many evenings strolling up Albrechtsburg (shown in the photos) ensured that all the icecream didn't make me too much of a podge!

I had a brilliant time during my stay, but sadly this doesn't seem to have translated too well in my writing. But I honestly didn't do a great deal, it was just a nice little break spent with my boyfriend after a summer apart. It was also the perfect end to the summer before having to get used to the university routine again and I think I saw the most drastic improvement in my German in those four short weeks than in the ten months I lived in Bayreuth as a student. My writing skills still leave a lot to be desired and I'm actually a little bit sad that I can't do such a beautiful city the justice it deserves. If you ever find yourself anywhere near Dresden, Meissen is well worth a day trip!

I do hope my account of my time in Meissen wasn't too dull. I'll make a post about Dresden next time and my tales will hopefully be a little more animating!

Bis bald!