Freiburg

The mandatory orientation at Freiburg was a bittersweet experience for me. Everyone travels to the main station separate and from there you travel as a group to the cottage in the Black Forest, unless you’re the group from Tübingen that was imprisoned on a train for seven and a half hours instead of two and half. 

We purchased the Baden-Würrtemberg Group ticket which allows unlimited travel for one day. There were five of us, so the ticket cost 38 Euro for all of us (22 Euro + 4 Euro per person after the initial buyer). We had intended to take the 12.06pm train from Tübingen and thus would have to miss the second half of our course and the excursion. If you have to miss class for mandatory meetings or for bureaucratic ones (the office you need to go to is only open until 11.30 for example) just tell your teacher. They are very understanding of these things.

While in class, we received calls saying that due to construction, our only hope of getting there on time would be the 11.17am train. We did not receive that message until our 10.30am break. Since there things we had to get done before we left that we intended to do during this break, we missed the train. We took the 12.06pm train after all and might have even made it on time if not for an accident on the tracks outside a station that we needed to go through. After countless re-routes, we arrived at 8pm at the cottage. Though this train ride was horrible, it could not be helped and it did give us Tübingen UMass students time to bond and possibly lose any sanity we had. 

I will say, the UMass program was very helpful during our travel issues. They kept in constant contact and even got a taxi to get us from the train station since we were so late. Food was ready for us when we arrived and everyone was friendly and sympathetic. We ate, learned what we were doing during the orientation, and then went upstairs to hang out before bed.

The next day, we went for a hike. Definitely bring winter boots and a heavy jacket. It is cold there. Silke and Regine led the way and were very knowledgable of the history of the forest and the statues we saw. It was a wonderful experience, full of kodak moments and near death experiences (I am very clumsy). When we went back to the cottage, we met with Silke or Regine and discussed course selection, requirements, and any questions we had. They were very knowledgeable of my major requirements, what courses could count towards my major, which courses were actually interesting, and the difficulty of the courses. Later that night we watched a movie, the Reader, which was amazing. 

The final day, we left as a group and trekked to the bus station. We took a bus to the train station, then a short train to Freiburg, then the train to Tübingen. The train ride back was quick and though we had a slight mix up in trains (took an ICE/IC train which the Baden-Württemberg card does not cover) we managed to get home quickly. 

Though the initial train ride slightly ruined the magic of the Black Forest, the UMass orientation was very helpful, fun, and relaxing. I got to meet many wonderful people and learn more about German culture and social norms.