Student Reports: Ludwigsburg

Cori Rapp

Ludwigsburg is a pretty nice town, though small (for German standards at least.) But there's a lot to do. Downtown is a nice area and there are little shops and cafes and bakeries and so on and it is fun to walk around. The Marktplatz is quite large and there is a market there three times a week. They sell all sorts of things: fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses, meats, homemade pasta and sauces, flowers, trinkets and gadgets and so on. It's really quite nice. There are also some really great movie theatres. The only Film Academy in Baden-Württemburg is in Ludwigsburg so there are opportunities to see student films as well as most American films (dubbed in German) and all sorts of really great European films that never even make it to the States. One of the theaters also serves as a venue for concerts and plays. And if you ever get bored in Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart is only 20 minutes away by S-Bahn.

There are three palaces in Ludwigsburg. One, the Residenzschloß is the second largest palace in Europe after Versailles in France. The Jagd- und Lustschloß is located in Favoritepark, which is a huge foresty park right across the street from the Residenzschloß. And the Seeschloß Montrepos is a little palace located right on a little lake.

The Studentendorf is located right on the other side of the train tracks to the PH. The student housing in Ludwigsburg is nothing like the dorms in the US. It is more similar to a 4-bedroom apartment that you share with 3 other students. You get your own room and share the kitchen, bathroom and living space. The bedrooms are already furnished but the kitchen utensils and furniture outside your bedroom all depend on your roommates. The students are either students at the PH or the FH (Fachhochschule) and sometimes they go to the university in Stuttgart. There is a student bar located in the middle of all the buildings and there are a lot of student-sponsored parties during the week.

Daniel Richmond

I hate advice. I hate giving advice and at some level I hate getting advice, even though I often begrudgingly heed it. Thereby, I guess I can separate all advice regarding traveling and studying abroad into two neat little convenient categories: 1) Necessary advising about logistical matters and 2) Bland rantings about where the best bagel shop in the whole wide world is or where the closest, tidiest Porto-Potty is when you visit Oktoberfest on the third day after the first rain . As for the first form of advice regarding paperwork (visas, insurance, passports etc) and logistical, sensible matters, I always tend to pay careful consideration, namely because I lack all sense of proprietary necessity with respect to practical matters. I rely heavily on those that tell me when things are due, how they are to be filled out, and what I need to do with them.

The second form of advice tends to be more of sharing experiences rather than advice, and at some level seems to serve more some rudimentary necessity for the espouser than the listener. More often I believe this kind of knowledge can be easily and more enjoyably accessed through ones own personal experience rather than anothers personal and seemingly abstract anecdotes. Its the difference between the slide show and the actual experience: Nothing compares to the exaltation of being there.

The way I see it, no one can tell me or imply to me what I should expect or should do with regard to such a personal experience as my studying abroad for a year. No one really knows the answers to the questions Ill face while abroad because I havent experienced them yet; and why should I be so interested in what another person has done or seen when I can invent my own tale outside of the experiences of another, thereby discovering things for myself and new things about myself. Then again, Im also a Philosophy/ Art major and were prone to the over aggrandizement of individual experience rather than casual, acceptance of the experience of others, as well as overly glib writings about nothing of importance to most.

Therefore, I really dont know what I can say without seeming exasperatingly ebullient with praise about my experiences in Germany and Ludwigsburg. And the trouble with seeming overly doting with acclamation is that people tend to assign cliché value to others personal experiences without realizing the reality that lies behind the words. If I were to describe my experiences of the Kapelle that we visited outside of Tübingen or the Weihnacht Markt in Stuttgart, or the enormous Schloss in Ludwigsburg or the magnificent view overlooking Freiburg, all these words would seem only pale to your actually experiencing these places for yourself. And to recommend someone to experience these things denies the individual the individual experience of surprise of finding these things out on their own.

And if in the end I must give advice, it would only be in how one might approach things and not what one must do. Discover new things by letting yourself get lost. Smile as you say it when you dont know how to say it correctly. Speak the language daily, even with other Americans. Laugh at yourself, often. Be open to the idea that there are other ways of doing the same thing. America is not the only country in the world. You can not justify everything that goes on in your country nor can you argue a stereotype when the other is not willing to listen. Be gracious. Remember that to most people you represent your country and that is a burden that should not be carried lightly.