A Very Busy Fortnight

Wow, I can’t remember ever having two consecutive weekends which were as good as the past two!

I spent my second weekend in Heidelberg, where the conference for all 300 of the RISE participants was being held. Its official purpose was to give us all the details about studying in Germany after our undergraduate degrees, but ultimately it was more about meeting all the other people staying in Germany over the summer and getting to plan some of the following weekends with them. After being surrounded by Germans for much of the week, it was nice to hear some native English speakers again, but with most of the people there being Americans, it was common to be faced by one or more the following:  “How often do you meet the Queen?” “Do you really say ‘blimey’?” and “Oh my god, I can’t believe you have afternoon tea!”, rapidly followed by an awful imitation of a British accent!

The city itself has a lot of history, much of it centred around its ancient university, with the best panoramas coming from on top of the castle. There were many other events from my few days in Helidelberg including:
- the amazing firework display over the Old Bridge
- watching Germany win the world cup 3rd place match in a public viewing with some other RISErs and being the most lively people there (the Germans were all depressed after they got knocked out)
- getting a tour of BASF, the chemical company and being shocked by how little actual chemistry they do with almost everything being done by robots

For my third weekend, I travelled west over the border, spending the weekend in Belgium with a friend in Aachen. We spent Friday and Saturday nights in a youth hostel in Bruges. Despite thinking I had become immune to being wowed by old buildings after living in Oxford for two years, I have to admit that Bruges is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. However, the city’s popularity with tourists came at a bit of a price; every shop is either a chocolate shop or a souvenir shop and most places are too expensive to eat in, but this didn’t really matter when we were only there for one day. After spending so long with Americans and Germans, my ears immediately picked up the sounds of other British accents while climbing up to the top of the belltower, where we met some English students and joined up with them for the rest of the day to explore the city. Making friends and exploring the city simulataneously made the whole experience so much more memorable and fun.

We also visited Ghent, which felt like a lot nicer place to live as it had atmosphere and history but a good deal more than just tourists. There was a big festival going on at the time which made Ghent more of a colorful, lively place than Bruges. And finally, we visited Brussels, which was actually much better than I expected (even the tourist map made it sound ugly and boring).

Overall, when compared to Germany, the one thing that stands out is the far superior food. After the sloppy Aachen food which seems to consist entirely of schnitzels, fries and doner kebaps, it was good to see some nice food again; sandwiches, pasta, and vegetables, as well as the delicious waffles and chocolates.

So both involved old, pretty buildings, sun and lots of beer. However, the best thing about both was getting the chance to meet so many new people from all over the world and to make lots of new friends – the tourist attractions don’t matter nearly as much as the people you are with.