Learning Things in Altenberg

Most of this week I spent at a mandatory orientation required by the-prestigious-organization-funding-my-year-in-Germany. Haus Altenberg is an old convent that has been converted to a kind of convention center. Here’s a photo of Altenberg taken from the inside cloister.

Because of the religious nature of the space there were some very specific rules. One was that the front gate would be closed and locked every night at 9:45 pm. If you were outside, too bad. Another thing was that bells were rung every morning at 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30 – about ten minutes of ringing each time (of varying tempos and volumes – I think there was an actual bell ringer up there taking care of that job.) After the first morning I actually ended up liking all the ringing. My first night here a few of us threw a Frisbee around in the courtyard. Everyone cringed every time the disc hit the old stone, although I guess the cathedral has seen worse.

It might be in bad taste to note that the-prestigious-organization-funding-my-year-in-Germany is, in fact, somewhat disorganized. During one particularly memorable speech, a prestigious individual seemed unaware that he needed to speak directly into the microphone. His speech was obviously unplanned, and went something like this: “mumble-mumble -be sure to- mumble mumble mumble –bummed around Europe- mumble mumble –an apt sports metaphor- mumble mumble.” After speaking, he fell asleep. I only mention this because it made me think that anyone reading this could have done a better job than this guy, and still could, if that’s something you aspire to.

All in all, orientation ended up being pretty good. I met some fun people, and learned a few things. It’s good though to be back in Minden, where I can go outside at 10 p.m. if I want. Here’s another photo of the cathedral, this time from the outside: