Submitted by Keegan McKelligan on the 2024 Winter LLCU program in Leipzig, Germany…
After the end of the first week, I finally began to feel comfortable with life here in Leipzig. I had gotten the general geography of the city, and I had memorized a few of the key trams (called Straßenbahn) and where they went. Because of this, throughout the week I loved Leipzig more and more as my feelings of stress when trying to go places have disappeared throughout my acclimation. I now no longer need to look at Google Maps as I track down what train I need to ride and if it’s going to get there in time, which certainly makes living here much easier. Classes have also become better, as I have connected more with my professors and the other students, and therefore class is less nerve wracking and more personal, which has helped me learn better. Of course we also continued our out-of-class excursions throughout this week, and all of them were amazing. We started with a trip to the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, which is basically an event house, holding things like concerts and whatnot. There we saw an orchestral performance from the amazing musicians of Leipzig. Prior to the event, I was somewhat worried that I would be
bored, as I am not much of a classical music person, however by the end of the performance I have a newfound appreciation of the genre. It was an amazing performance with a ton of raw emotion behind it that left me feeling moved, and of course it was in a beautiful concert hall. After that, we saw another, more holier, musical event. This time it was the boys of the Thomanerchor, a world-renowned boys choir at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. As a Catholic, this was an amazing experience. I was in a beautiful Church listening to beautiful music from the extremely talented boys, some even were only 9! It really made me respect them, and Thomaskirche as a whole. Lastly, we stayed overnight in Dresden, a well-known city for its destruction and reconstruction. In Dresden, we saw many of the most popular buildings and sights, almost all of which had been destroyed by the end of the second World War. It was an interesting experience to see some of these buildings because some of them were originally 400 years old, but had been completely reduced to rubble, and then rebuilt as soon as 20 years ago. Many of the restored buildings used pieces of the old, such as the Frauenkirche which has distinctive dark spots from where old stones were used. Seeing this truly makes you realize just how important history truly is to us as people, and that many do not want to see historical buildings disappear, so much so that they are willing to donate to reconstruction costs. Of course, while we were in Dresden overnight, the students and I experienced the nightlife that Dresden has to offer, which puts Newark, Delaware completely to shame. The clubs that Germany has to offer as a whole are on another level from any different country, and are a necessity to see at least once in your life. (Submitted on January 15, 2024)