#weeksix

1 - Back to Bonn, finishing the Haus der Geschichte (plot twist: I didn't)

Not that it is encouraged, but technically there is nothing stopping you, or in this case me, from taking a bus to Aachen Rothe Erde station and catching a train to Bonn. As I promised myself, I went back to Bonn to finish seeing the Haus der Geschichte museum. This time I jumped straight to the 1960s section and tried to move through everything a bit faster. The coolest part is that there is even an area where they let you try on authentic clothes preserved from the 70s. I found a whole jacket and jeans outfit that really vibed with me. Another cool item is a pair of Monopoly sets displayed side by side: one sold legally in West Germany, and one secretly hand printed and illegally produced in East Germany, since Monopoly was banned there for its "capitalist characteristics" and considered extremely "counterrevolutionary," yet people still loved playing it anyway. There was also a fan's handmade merch for the Rolling Stones, a band that was likewise banned in East Germany.

Then in the 80s and 90s there was another memorable comparison. West Germany was living in abundance, with TV networks, live broadcast game shows, and even hosting the Olympics (despite losing the football match against East Germany). In contrast, East Germany had the Stasi secret police and surveillance everywhere, genuinely like a real life 1984. Yet as a wave of liberalization swept across Europe in the late 80s, communist and authoritarian regimes began falling one after another, including Poland's Solidarity movement breaking the communist monopoly on power, Hungary opening its borders to the West, and the Velvet Revolution toppling the government in Czechoslovakia, all while Gorbachev was pushing reformist policies in Moscow. East Germany, however, as a satellite state, was ironically far more faithful to communist ideology than even its own patron, the USSR, and actually distanced itself from the rest of the Eastern Bloc as the other socialist states collapsed one by one. Eventually, though, the will of millions of people could not be suppressed, and as hundreds of thousands tore down the Berlin Wall, it was all over, and freedom once again reigned over a unified Germany. Not everyone was so fortunate, though. While Romanians also won their freedom in 1989, in China the CCP brutally crushed calls for democracy and carried out the Tiananmen Massacre, and refuse to listen to the will of the people even when condemned by the international community. Still, seeing this part of the exhibition gave me real hope, and I think it would give hope to anyone around the world still living under oppression without democracy, freedom, or basic human rights.

I did not manage to finish the museum since it closes at 6 PM, so next time I will go back to see Germany post unification, from the 1990s up to today.

2 - Japanischer Garten

Later we took a really nice train to Rheinauenpark, a big composite green space near Bonn. Bonn truly feels like a major city, given that it is the former capital of Germany, and it is genuinely magnificent, with infrastructure so advanced it still does not feel outdated even decades later.

The Japanese Garden inside Bonn's Rheinauenpark was opened on April 27, 1979, as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Show). The garden was beautiful, and I got to practice my German talking with two brothers testing out their vintage Japanese film camera there, as well as a girl from Bonn University who was painting the garden. We left to get some Japanese ramen near Bonn Hauptbahnhof. At the ramen shop, our waitress was a German girl studying at Bonn University, and when she asked whether we wanted to order in German or English, I jokingly said Japanese. It turned out she actually studies Japanese and is almost fluent, so I ended up ordering for all three of us in Japanese. A pleasant surprise to end a fantastic day in Bonn.

Btw the park also overlooks the UN building across the pond, and I also went to Beethoven square and memorial, and theres also a huge Beethoven bust in the lego store at Bonn.

3 - Forschungszentrum Jülich

We took a 40mins bus to Forschungszentrum Jülich, one of the largest interdisciplinary research centers in Europe, founded in 1956 and now home to thousands of scientists working across fields ranging from neuroscience and materials science to energy research and high performance computing. The campus is enormous, almost like its own small city, and it houses some of Europe's most cutting edge computing infrastructure, including Europe's most powerful supercomputer, a cluster of quantum computers, and Germany's own sovereign AI initiative. We went inside the room housing one of the supercomputers and also got to see the new JUPITER supercomputer, currently the 4th most powerful in the world.

4 - Rursee trip

We took a bus to Jugendherberge DJH Simmerath-Rurberg and spent the afternoon exploring a fenced off lake beach area. The sun was lovely and we swam around for a while. Later that afternoon there was an RWTH Olympics where we played a bunch of fun activities as a team, though sadly our team did not win anything. In the evening there was a DJ party since my roommate had brought along a DJ set, and we ended the night watching a movie together. The hostel environment was really nice, though my only complaint is how hot it gets without AC. The next day we woke up early, walked a short while, and took a bus to Woffelsbach, a town on another part of Rursee. There is a lot of RV camping there and the whole area felt like a holiday beach, full of German families enjoying the weather. In the morning we just sat in the sun and relaxed, then I walked with some friends to have lunch at Woffelsbacher Imbiss Rursee, a wonderful restaurant where we sat out on the terrace, though there is also an indoor section with angular glass windows. The women running the place were incredibly kind and friendly, and they even have an unofficial menu of special dishes based on what they like to cook for themselves. The Köchin's name is Anke. She recommended I try Bohnenstampf, a Rhineland local specialty and a true old Rhein classic, and I loved it. I also had Fassbrause, a drink made locally in the Rhein Ruhr area. (Don't ask why I was wearing a UMich School of Nursing shirt, lol.)

After lunch we went out on a small pedal boat onto the lake and had Aperol Spritz while floating around. We were all exhausted afterward, so I fell asleep on the bus ride home.

Next week is going to be tough. It is the internal deadline for producing the first model for my research project, and there is also a midterm exam for German class, which I have somehow forgotten to do every single homework assignment for. Until next time!!

Yuqi SUN

Department of Robotics, Robotics

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Computer Science

Hello Fellow Travelers,

I guess we’re all in a bit of uncharted water now... Still, I’ve always felt the best way to deal with something scary is to face it in smaller more manageable pieces. Everything seems so much easier to achieve in mini goals. 

So, we will attempt normalcy, even in the face of adversity. Fortunately, Dear Travelers, one of my first favorite designs happened this week. It was an experiment in different brushes as well as my first real merge of my creative storytelling and my attempts at art.

Salve! This week has been full of fun adventures so I will just jump right into them! 

CIS Cooking Class

First off, CIS hosted a cooking class at the Nonna Flora Cooking School right here in Sorrento which was so much fun, and actually turned out to be some of the best food I’ve had so far while being here. We started off by learning how to make tiramisu using their family recipe which does not include eggs like a traditional recipe calls for. After we assembled them we set them in the fridge to chill and started on making homemade pasta. We all made our own dough and kneaded the dough until it was smooth, and then had some aperitivos (mini appetizers) while we waited for our dough to rest. Afterwards we got to shape our dough and then they cooked all of our pasta together and made this amazing eggplant and cheese sauce which was genuinely to die for. Finally we got to taste the tiramisu we made, which was so good I might even try to make it again once I return home!

The tiramisu and pasta we made!

Bagni Regina Giovanna 

Another activity I embarked on was hiking to the Bagni Regina Giovanna which is about 45 minutes away from Sant’Anna to go cliff jumping. It genuinely felt like a hidden cove–it was so beautiful and had such a gorgeous view of the water and coast line. There is not really a sandy beach area, but there are a lot of flat rocky areas where you can set your things while you go for a swim or just lie down and enjoy the scenery. Sant’Anna also hosts an event where they go through the hike with you to get there, but I was not able to attend due to class so a friend and I went when we had a free day. I would definitely recommend setting aside time to visit this area because it was honestly one of my favorite days spent in Sorrento. 

The cove part was so relaxing, and then we jumped from the rocks on the right which is just through the opening you can see in the first photo

Starting Session 2 and Discussing Housing

Along with the start of the second session here at Sant’Anna there have been plenty of new faces around! Getting to know them and talk about my time here so far has given me such a profound perspective on my growth since arriving here. Seeing them navigate through all the challenges I too dealt with when I first arrived like figuring out the best ways to travel or finding the best local restaurants and gelaterias has made me realize how much Sorrento truly feels like home now. 

While I am on the topic, I figured this would be a good time to talk about my housing experience. Now when you commit to studying abroad through this program, you have to pick from 3 different housing options. First, there are the dorms directly in Sant’Anna which is what I chose, second there is the Villa, and lastly there are the shared apartments.

Since I have only experienced the dorms, I will talk about that first. There are singles, doubles, and triples here and I believe you can select a preference when you make your housing decision online. My room is a double, but all the rooms are essentially set up the same. My roommate and I both have our own beds, desks, and closets, and then we share a mini fridge and an attached bathroom. Our room also overlooks the gardens with a nice patio, but the rooms on the other side overlook the water. Included in the dorms are several common areas both inside and out, as well as a shared kitchen space. There are also washers and dryers that cost 4-5 euro each per load which can get kind of pricey, but you can also hang dry your clothes which is extremely common here. All in all I have loved living in the dorms since they provide everything you really need and it's such a great way to meet other people, especially those who attend other universities.

The room and amazing balcony view!

As for the Villa, it is about a 15-20 minute walk from Sant’Anna (and I will warn it is not the most fun walk in the beating hot sun but it's not that bad). It is owned by a couple who takes care of everything there which is nice, and I have heard nothing but good things about them. It has its own pool and they provide dinner a few times every week which is nice. You are given a certain number of dinners you can “opt in for” which roughly accounts for 3 dinners per week and you are provided breakfast every morning. For other meals/nights you have to eat out because they do not have a communal kitchen so keep that in mind when budgeting since eating out frequently can be costly. Room setups also vary they all seem nice and I haven't heard any complaints about it.

Then for the apartments, it really is a mixed bag. Most of them have 4 people living in each one. Many have shared bedrooms and common areas, but I have also heard that some of them vary on bathroom arrangements (ensuite or shared). Additionally, they are scattered all around Sorrento so the commute to Sant’Anna is different for each one, but they are all still walkable so don't worry about that. Some of them are located above local businesses and many are next to other units with actual locals who live there full time. All the apartments I have heard of have a full kitchen and access to a washer, although most do not have dryers.

Although I do not know a ton about the villa and apartment living options, I hope this gives you a better idea of what each one is like, especially since they all have different costs (for the housing itself, and things like groceries or laundry).

Venice

Now, onto this weekend's travels! This past Friday I flew from Naples to Venice to meet a friend of mine from UM who is studying abroad in Rome which was exciting! Now I will say compared to a lot of the other big cities in Italy, this trip felt a lot more relaxed. There isn’t a ton of things to see when it comes to monuments or tourist attractions, it is more so just the city itself. That is not to say there isn’t a main piazza because there is, but I think my favorite part was just walking around with no specific destination. Getting to see all of the random streets and bridges over the water was such a fun experience. Everywhere you looked was so picturesque, and there are so many hidden gems to find when it comes to bakeries, restaurants, small shops, and more.

The Rialto Bridge and Cafe Florian

St. Mark's Square and Basilica and Doge's Palace

I also went on a gondola ride which I will admit is pretty expensive, but if you get a group of people together to split it is not nearly as bad. They usually can hold up to 5 people, and the price is capped by the city at 90 euros per boat as a flat fee. Getting to see the city from the water was really enjoyable, and it's so iconic that you almost have to ride a gondola at least once if you are going to visit Venice.

Gondola ride! -featuring our amazing gondolier

Now I went for 2 days so the first was just walking around and taking in the city, but the second day I took a boat tour to Murano, Burano, and Torcello which was only 25 euro and it lasted about 5 hours. Murano is known for glass blowing so as soon as we got off the boat we got to a glass blowing demonstration which was such a cool thing to witness, and then we walked around for a little bit. There is not a ton to do there, but I definitely enjoyed my visit. Torcello was the most naturey which was a nice change of pace from all the busy cities. There was a church which you could go in for 5 euros, but most people (including myself) took this time to get a bite to eat and breathe in the fresh air. Finally for Burano, they are known for lace, and primarily their beautifully colored buildings. This was definitely my favorite island and it had the most things to do. There was a decent sized downtown with lots of shops and restaurants, but it was also just fun to walk around and look at all the colors you were surrounded by.

Glass blowing demonstration at Murano (left), Torcello (middle), and all the colors of Burano (right)!

Other than that, I will advise you to bring bug spray because all the water is a lovely breeding ground for mosquitoes, and equip yourself with the knowledge that during high tide some of the streets become slightly flooded and it will smell as though you are right next to a sewer if you get my drift. Also make sure you pay the tourist fee (5-10 euros) to get into the city or fill out the exemption form if you are staying overnight in the city.

I hope you enjoyed learning of this past week's adventures, and I look forward to even more updates next week! We are going on our first physics field trip, attending more Sant’Anna events, and then heading to Barcelona, Spain over the weekend which I am beyond excited for–so see you next week!

Ava Sillars

Data Science Engineering

On Monday night, I went to a delicious restaurant and had spicy tofu, rice, and potato noodles. It was so good, and came from a restaurant called 黃蠵干饭食堂, downtown near the Bund.

Later, we learned anchient chinese rubbing (ta_pian) which is a technique for printing images onto thin paper. This was an activity as a part of the class that I am taking called intro to Chinese culture, but was also open to everyone in the program.

This week, we also took a trip to the indoor skiing mountain in downtown Shanghai, which had a beautiful castle and scenery outside. After we went inside, the temperature changed dramatically, instantly changing from over 90 degrees f to below freezing. It had multiple floors, from easy, to medium, to hard. The final floor even had chairlifts and a black diamond level difficulty slope. It only had 3 routes, but it was very fun and unique I strongly recommend anyone visiting Shanghai to try it out.

After the skiing experience, we visiting Hangzhou as a part of the group tour led by the program. First, we visited the lake, where, although it was quite rainy, it was still really cool to see and beautiful.

Afterwards, we visited a beautiful green mountain area near the west lake scenic spot. It was where they make and grow famous Hangzhou tea leaves, and we got to hike all the way to the top of the mountain, past a small village where I also got to buy some tea.

We saw a really fat cat, hiked more through a forest on the top of the tea mountains, and were able to look down on an absolutely stunning view, it didn't even feel like we were in the same country.

We then stayed at a really luxurious hotel, and stayed the night. When we woke up the next day, I ate a quick breakfast at the hotel, then went to our next activity. Unfortunately it was not rainy anymore, and was much hotter, but that ended up being for the best because it allowed us to experience Hangzhou while it was sunny, which was pretty nice when we visited the lake.

During the end of the trip, I bought some bread from a shop in Hangzhou which was some of the most tasty bread I've ever had. Then, we got on the bus ride back to Shanghai to finish off the week.

In the end, week 6 was another absolutely amazing week. Every week here has been exciting and it's so fun exploring new places and discovering new things while traveling China. It has been a life changing experience that I would 10/10 do again.

Thanks for following so far! And see you next week.

Connor Madriago

Mechanical Engineering

- Louis Rare Pair Fest -

/// Week Six Roundup ///

✦ Baking Memories by @haztobegood

[T, 2k, Louis/Jack Cochrane (The Snuts), fic post]

After a long day of songwriting, Jack convinces Louis to bake mince pies together.

✦ Jump! by @reminiscingintherain

[M, 15k, Louis/Tommy Longhurst (Only the Poets), fic post]

Who stands behind a lectern?

A man (or woman) of great wisdom who is sharing his wisdom with others.

The young men who stand before this book become men of greater wisdom. The book must be read at a table and the elevation represents a sense of greater power for good.

The stand is also representative of a sheet music stand often found in music and reflects the theme of the publication

I want to create an experience. It’s not just another book on the shelf but a tactile experience which will intrigue young men to pick this one up and actually read the content.