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Trips & Activities
One of the benefits of studying abroad with BCA is the excursions and activities that are offered to the students throughout the semester. These are included in the program fee.
These activities vary each semester since the resident director makes an effort to accommodate the wishes and needs of each individual group. Some “traditional” activities and study tours that you will probably experience on the program includ:
- Excursions to Berlin (see the video on this page),
- Verdun (France),
- Stadtallendorf, Maribor (Slovenia) and
- Strasbourg.
Activities range from:
- hiking to the Frauenbergruine,
- Grillen im Sommer (German style barbeque!),
- bike riding to the Rapunzel tower and
- a few video nights in the winter, which always goes hand-in-hand with an unforgettably good meal cooked by the resident director’s wife, Dzhulietta, whose culinary skills enjoy somewhat of a legendary status with BCA Marburg alumni.
Student Experiences
Silvester "New Year's Eve" Tradition
Student Name: Kelsey Yoncha, Messiah College, Year Student 2007-2008
Organization: Collegium Philippinu
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Description: While studying in Marburg, I got to spend New Year's Eve with several of the Germans that I lived with in the Schloss. We had a typical celebration of the holiday. Around 8 each night, several of us went upstairs to eat around a big table. We each had our own hot plate and melted cheese, ham, corn, tomatoes, peppers and several other foods together.
As the evening progressed we participated in a German tradition called Bleigiessen. Each person received a small piece of lead and a spoon. One by one everyone melted their piece of lead over a candle. Once the lead was in liquid form, each person threw it into a pot of coldwater. After the lead formed a new shape in the cold water, it was taken out and everyone came up with their idea of what the new shape was. Whatever shape you had supposedly told your fortune for the new year. My shape was eine Nixe, which means mermaid. This apparently meant that I was going to have "a secret love affair" that year. As soon as midnight arrived everyone filled their glasses with champagne, ran outside into a chaotic scene with fireworks exploding all around, and walked around hugging everyone they came in contact with saying, "ein gutes neues Jahr."
International Hauskreis
Student Name: Alex Becker, Messiah College, Year Student 2007-2008
Organization: International Hauskreis
Contact Information: Christus Treff, Barfüßerstr. 18 (www.christus-treff-marburg.de)
Description: I met students from all over the world: China, Cameroon, Peru, Turkey, Georgia, Egypt, and – of course – Germany and was immediately accepted into this group of 5-10 people who met each week to read the Bible, discuss the passage, and pray together. The group focused on learning difficult German words and concepts by reading Scripture passages. We also had a chance to get to know each other and had ‘nation nights,’ where students from a particular nation would prepare traditional foods and then give a presentation on their country.
The students of IK helped me to cope with the new culture and language of Germany. They were good contacts, and I am grateful to this day for their assistance and their friendship; some of my best memories in Germany were formed with this group of people. They were my window into German life.
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