Andreas Mankel said:

Hi Sharon, stopping by the Wabash website every once in a while has become a habit of mine. Today I happened to read the blog you wrote about last year's interns, and was pleased to see that the German ones, both past and present, seem to have grown on you especially ;)

Though Bernd and I were at Wabash in different years, we got to know each other through the college and still shoot each other e-mails on a regular basis. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, we took the car down to Freiburg to see Brock Johnson, who has been studying there since February. We spent a great weekend sightseeing in the city, riding out into the Black Forest (though we couldn't talk Brock into buying a cuckoo clock) and watching the Soccer World Cup while enjoying a beer or two (under-21-year-old Brock couldn't believe his luck when he was not only allowed to order, but also to touch and drink alcohol in public...).

Though our 2-month semester break started last week and it's hot and sunny outside, I'm sitting in the Paderborn library working on my end-of-studies paper (~ MA thesis). The starting shot was fired last Monday, and the thesis is to be handed in by the end of October. So, no summer vacation this year, except for a one-week summer seminar in Austria next month.

I hope all is well in good ol' Wabash (ok, I read about the carpeting... good luck with that)!?!

Please say hi to your family, Brian, Greg, John, and all the others.

Best wishes, Andreas

P.S.: Here's some pics I shot in Freiburg.