The second eventful week in the Texas A&M Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning Program 2010 has passed.
Take a look at impressions from group's field trips (Cologne, Schloss Dyck, Insel Hombroich u.a.) and activities summarized in the weekly report.
Written by Tim Burdiak
Participant LMU Engineering Program 2010
On Thursday the 16th of September the LMU Engineering Program began its trip to Amsterdam and Bruges. After a delayed morning departure (sorry everyone...) we were on our way. After being forced to climb up and down three stories of the steepest staircases I’ve ever been on to get to our rooms we met outside to begin our tours.
The first day consisted of a cruise through the famous canal system of Amsterdam, an audio tour of the famous Van Gogh museum and a group dinner serving such good beef stew it made me feel bad for the vegetarians at my table that couldn’t help us try to finish the extremely large amount of food in front of us. We were then woken up early Friday morning to visit the famous Anne Frank House. After walking through the whole house, we hopped back on the bus for another two hour bus ride to check out the Dutch Delta Works which is the name for the dams, sluices, locks, dikes, levies, and storm surge barriers that the Dutch spent thirty years building to protect their country (which is mostly under sea level) from the catastrophe of a storm washing the ocean across their country.
Another two hours later we arrived in the city of Bruges in Belgium. We spent the night in our hotel, which was a boat on a canal, and spent the next morning on a scenic bike ride around Bruges and to the surrounding city of Damme. After spending some time in arguably the most beautiful city I’ve ever been in and trying a few of the cultural necessities of Belgium including waffles and chocolate our trip was complete and we headed home to Bonn.
Overall, the trip went better than I could have possibly imagined and all of the tours really brought everything that these two cities had to offer.
Written by Jordan Bunger
Participant New Europe Program Fall 2010
Oh du wunderschöne Loreley - New Europe Students to Explore the Upper Middle Rhine Valley
An early morning bus from Bonn to Bacharach. Heads start to drop into the cushion of the seat. 2 hours later, 30 minutes from Bacharach, heads begin to move upwards and eyes make their way out the window as we entered the rural country leading into the Rhine. Casually epic roads led us through the mountains to the river. The bus, a 50 person charter, was forced to make its way down these winding roads, the driver 100% confident of his skill set, nonchalantly leads us safely through the narrow route, comfortability that only comes with years of experience.
Our stay in Bacharach was peaceful. No hustle and bustle of city life, solitary individuals finding refuge in an old fashioned port town. Our time spent here was brief, only 45 minutes, but everyone experienced an unexpected sense of comfortability within its boundaries. From the Bacharach port, we all boarded the cruise ship, heading north towards Braubach. The scenery along the Rhine was beautiful, everyone occasionally looking up from conversation to appreciate the surroundings, realizing how lucky we were to be there at that particular moment.
We passed well nigh 10 castles, strategically perched on the hillsides overlooking the Rhine, each keeping a close eye on its respective port town, and a statue commemorating the tale of a beautiful singing woman named Loreley, who captured the imagination of shipmen, causing them to crash into the nearby cliff sides. Just past the Loreley, we made a stop to pick up a forgotten passenger, a poor man who missed the morning bus.
From there, we made our way to Braubach. Desperate for nutrition, we were guided by the lead of Viktoria and Arno to a local restaurant five minutes walk from the water, Braubacher Marktstuben. The food was great, with a selection of either Jagerschnitzel, pasta, or an entre sized salad. Once the food arrived in front of our eyes, silence immediately took hold of the room. After lunch, we were led on a mission up the hill to the Marksburg castle where we were given a guided tour and taught about everything from the evolution of armory to ancient methods of law and order.
On the bus ride home, only 8 hours after departing from Bonn, conversation was at a standstill as all 44 students were either asleep or in the process of nodding off. While a tiresome day trip, every single review was one of exceeding approval and the memories will remain alive in the countless pictures taken by all participants.
written by Lyndon LeUnes
Pützchens Markt is held every year on the second weekend of September.
It is hard to believe that an event thats story dates back to 1367 A.D. would still be celebrated by around 1 million people annually. This is definitely still the case here in the Bonn-Beuel-Pützchen area of Germany, which is the location of the famous Pützchens Markt.
Pützchens Markt was first celebrated by Pilgrims after the death of the abbess Adelaide. She was the abbess of the neighboring monastery Vilich. Her prayers are believed to have brought and end to a time of a scarceness of water. The story says that after a prayer session the abbess thrusted her crosier into the ground and water began to spray out. A well was put at the spot that provided water and healing powers for the town people, as well as the Pilgrims. Today, many people still believe that the water has a healing power, and on (http://www.puetzchens-markt-webcam.de/) this statement was written: “Scientific investigations resulted in that aluminous water of the "Puetzchen" is able to relieve eye-diseases.” Obviously, the miracle of the Pützchen is one to be celebrated, and that is why the town people in the 14th century started the Pützchens Markt. It first started out as sellers selling their merchandise out of tents set up in the middle of town. As the years went on, the event turned into more of a festival and expanded to many traders, circus performers, and entertainers that brought in many people to experience this event.
The 2010 Pützchens Markt is obviously a lot different looking than the way Putzchens Markt looked when it first was created. This year the fairground had around 4.5 kilometers of walkway, and took up a space of around 80,000 square meters. There were around 550 businesses in attendance with their own tents. Businesses included all kinds of German food stores,(bakeries, sweets, butchers, restaurants) Breweries, (Bönnsch, Kölsch, Paulaner, etc) and many other miscellaneous specialty stores. One of the main differences the fair has nowadays that it didnt have when it started, are the rides. There were more than 30 rides and entertainment shows. All of them were very impressive, but two seemed to stick out a little more than others. First, the Doppellooping "Teststrecke" was most likely a main attraction. It is the largest mobile double looping roller coaster in Europe. This was the debut for this ride and many people rode it for the cheap price of €4.50. The other ride that seemed to stand out a little more than others was the Europa Ferris Wheel. It is the tallest in the world of its kind, and is always a main attraction at Pützchens Markt.
People from all over come to experience this great festival in the Rhineland. It was definitely a great way to experience the German culture as an American. I feel lucky that myself, and the students that are currently studying at the AIB got to experience this spectacular event.
The Texas A&M Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning Program 2010, led by Professor Changshan Huang, arrived in Bonn on August 29. In cooperation with the city of Bonn, the 27 students will work on a project dealing with the design of Bonn's Rhine River promenade, which will be presented at the end of the program in early December.
This project work is supported by many cultural and course-related field trips as well as intensive classroom instruction. Other highlights of the program will be the group's involvement in the PLAN10 Academy in Cologne (September 24 - October 1) and excursions to Berlin and Paris.
Take a look at what has happened in week 1 of the program in the first weekly report:
On Friday the 3rd of September the AIB held its first annual AIB Soccer Cup at the Hofgarten.
The Cup consisted of 65 players split into 8 teams. The teams were made up of a mixture of students from the four programs that are studying at the AIB at the moment. The programs include Loyola Marymount Film, Loyola Marymount Engineering, Loyola Marymount New Europe Program, and a landscape program from Texas A&M University.
The tournament's first round games were played "round robin" style with the 8 teams split into 2 brackets of 4 teams each. The top two teams from each bracket moved onto the semifinal round.
After the semifinal games the two winning teams moved onto the finals (Team Awesome vs. Team 2 Better Than You). Team Awesome was Victorious with a final score of 2-0, which made them the first champions ever of the AIB Soccer Cup. The next day, all of the teams were awarded with certificates at the AIB Welcome Party BBQ. A trophy was also awarded that day to the champions.
Take a look at some photos on the AIB's Facebook Page... and don't forget to add us!
Written by Tamara Bruketta
Participant New Europe Program Fall 2010
An evening full of music, food, good company and yes even some dancing; the AIB welcome party was an evening to remember for all in attendance! With 300 participants in all, including students and host families it was an excellent chance to mingle and get some delicious food!
The evening began with a few brief speech from AIB Managing Director, Dr. Rainer Zäck, and even a special presentation by the Deputy Mayor of the City of Bonn, Angelica Kappel. Ms. Kappel gave everyone a short history and welcome into the culture of Bonn and its inhabitants. After which the group proceeded to let the party begin with drinks and appetizers including a delicious juice bar for all to enjoy. The atmosphere was incredible as host families met other host families and students met the families of their fellow peers. Even though there has been a shortage of good weather in Bonn for the past few days we were lucky to have flawless weather and the have the event outside in the garden area which buzzed with friendly conversations, introductions, and vast efforts to overcome language barriers.
Included in the event were students from each program taking place here in Bonn, Germany. As an introduction to all of these programs each group did a short presentation representing their time here in Germany. First up was the LMU Film Program who gave everybody a quick lesson on the functions of their favorite object, which they will be seeing a lot of here in Germany: the camera. There are a total of 17 students in the LMU film program that will be residing here in Bonn until they each head off to begin their documentaries in their city of choice all led by the accompanying LMU faculty Professor Art Namura. Next up was the LMU Engineering students. 16 students in total led by Professor Jeremy Pal who performed a short skit about the benefits of good engineering using the illustrious story of the three little pigs. Followed by this was a performance from the Texas A&M Architectural Design students, 27 in total led by Professor Changshan Huang, who gave everybody a little taste of their school spirit with some traditional Texas A&M football game cheers. Last, but definitely not least was the LMU New Europe Program, 44 students in total and led by Professor John Reilly, performing a short sketch presented by two representatives about the “Do's and Don'ts” of Europe and Los Angeles. After all of the skits were finished, the night resumed with even more delicious food, and some live music performed by a cover band made up of a few of the host parents.
In all, the evening was a complete success! Everything, weather included, went off without a hitch and all involved had an excellent time dancing, laughing, being merry and enjoying each others company. It was an terrific beginning to what is sure to be a terrific semester here in Bonn...
Written by Sean Krimmel
It’s hard to believe I had so much fun in a three-lane village named Monreal in the region of Eifel. The picturesque German town with pointed roofs and stone bridges rested beneath the shadow of a medieval tower, which I like to call the Eifel tower – that’s not the real name so don’t quote me on it.
The trip started with a bus ride accompanied by another group also studying abroad from LMU, the engineers. A friendly crowd, I spoke with them for most of the ride, which ended at a surprise mass in a German cathedral in a breathtaking town called Maria Laach. It was an uplifting experience hearing the Gregorian chants of the Benedictine monks as we all praised the lord together. It’s nice to know that I can be on the other side of the world and still be welcomed into the Catholic community. After the mass we were given a small tour of the church. The guide pointed out a carving of the Devil near the entrance and in the carving he held a piece of parchment. Rumor had it that when one enters through the archway the Devil starts scribbling down all the sins of that person. It was no surprise that when I walked through his hand grew tired.
In conclusion, I had the classes, a cathedral tour, a late night hike with torches, great historic scenic views, and even a house-made cheese tasting supplied by the owners of our manor that was built in the 1800's. This Eifel excursion was just one of the many unforgettable experiences that I have endured so far. I can't wait to see what else this European adventure has in store for me.
