Luneberg

Luneberg is very similar to Champaign - around 70,000 people and a university town. A river runs through the downtown area and it's quite charming!

Got a run in this morning. Everyone sends me or takes me to a forest for the "soft surface."  While I'm sure it is lower impact, I'm not used to it and it's creating some aches and pains. Plus,my left foot falls asleep after a few miles. And it's also a little unsettling running in desserted forests!!!

I then visited Luneberg University and met with three different people who either fundraise for scholarships or administer them. The school is quite young and has about 7,000 students. The tuition per semester:  500€ ($625).  The fundraisers said that Germans typically don't like to give to scholarship programs since the government supports education so much....understandable!  The photo below is of a new building they are [maybe] erecting. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind - the same architect who designed Ground Zero. They are quite proud of it, but my host couple wonder if it will actually get built ($). I guess there is also controversy over how modern looking it is.

Tonight we had a guided walking tour of the town (pic of me on top of Luneberg) and another big meal. I stepped on a scale a few days ago and the number was significantly less than when I left the US. Never mind that it was in kilograms.

Tomorrow we get to do some hiking and wildlife observation. Then we head back to town for a public viewing of Germany's opening game in Euro 2012!!!!!! Sunday we transfer to Celle.

Tschus!