Das DEUTSCHE Abenteuer!

MEGA Update

2010-06-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been a while. I'll admit it. A lot has been going on and between travels and an increase in the number of class hours I've been taking over at school, I've lost track of what was once a pretty well kept-up blog.

So the first thing that I can think of which has happened is that Kate and Marker came to visit! :) It was great to see both of them - We first met up in Cologne and spent a couple of days sampling the city's well-known Koelsch beer (a meter of beer was involved at one point during the trip). After visiting Cologne and making the mandatory stop at the Frueh brewery, we went south to Koblenz where we spent a couple days exploring the region and drinking some wine. We went to Bacharach (in-CREDIBLY difficult to pronounce in German...mostly I end up hacking and spitting if I try to say it) and climbed up to a castle and had some wine before taking a boat ride back to Koblenz (during which we drank more wine). We were about fifty years below the average age of the typical Koblenz tourist, but it was still tons of fun. :)

Marker & Kate at Frueh

Kate & I - The Rhine

One Whole Meter!

On our way back down from the Schloss at Bacharach!

Marker and I - the boat ride down the Rhine!

Shortly after Kate and Marker's visit I decided to take a quick trip to Innsbruck to visit my host family from Junior year. It was wonderful to see Erich, Elisabeth, Magda and Theresa...I was absolutely spoiled rotten and must have gained ten pounds from how much food I was fed! We basically spent the weekend driving around Tirol, eating, and we also went to a concert. It was fantastic. I had forgotten how breathtakingly beautiful that place is - I didn't appreciate it nearly enough when I was there.
In Mieming...near Innsbruck

Me & my host sisters

The Inn-River at night...gorgeous.

It was also nice to get a little escape from mega host family time, since Emily went down the same weekend to visit her brother who was then studying in Innsbruck and doing the same program I did when I was at ND. We went out with the students to StadtCafe, which I still cannot believe I had never been to! Lots of drunken Austrian students (and creepy middle-aged guys) grinding up against each other to techno...heh.

Emily & I at StadtCafe!

The third exciting thing that has happened (travel-wise) is my trip to jolly-old-England! My friend Sara and I scored 6-Euro (!!!) tickets from Bremen to Liverpool, so we decided to go visit our English friend Katie. The first night was spent frolicking in Liverpool - we went to the famous Cavern Club where the Beatles always played in their earlier days. It was SUPER cool because the entire night was filled with songs that everyone knew, so literally there wasn't a bad song in the set. That, and it was a really interesting mix of people. Basically a bunch of twenty-somethings, and people in our parents' generation.
There was this guy who opened for a group called the Mersey (sp?) Beatles - a Beatles tribute band which, I have to admit, were pretty legit. Well, he was a former member of the tribute band, so he was pretty good as well. He played for about an hour and then the Mersey Beatles played from like 10:30 until somewhere around 2am. We may have had more than a few rounds, so the end of the night was a bit fuzzy. It ended with us singing with a group of drunken Australian men (who were all about 35-40 years old), taking a picture with said Australian men outside of the bar at closing time, Sara tackling me to the ground in the street, and a drunken Burger King run. All in all, a stellar night if I do say so.

Katie & I - Cavern Club

The next day was spent shopping and wandering around the city before meeting up with Katie (she had Spanish classes all day), and heading off to her neck of the woods. She lives in the Cumbria region - kinda in the North and it's mostly made of very small towns and scattered small groupings of houses. I may have seen more sheep than people. We went out to dinner with her friends but were then happy to retire to Katie's house and make it an early night.

The next day we were given a tour of the Cumbria region by Katie and her boyfriend, Tom. The Lake District was absolutely gorgeous, and scattered with lots of...you guessed it - lakes. We went swimming despite the cold water, and I even joined Tom in one of his favorite activities - jumping from "stuff" into water. We went to this cliff and jumped into the river below. SUCH a rush, but I'll probably never do anything like that again. The evening ended with fish and chips and a trip to the local pub (literally, the pub consisted of a bunch of 65 year-old men and us reading trivia books to one another. heaven!)
Tom making the jump!

Sunday was spent being lazy and staying in our pajamas all day...it was just like being at home! Sara and I helped Katie make a traditional roasted leg of lamb with all the fixings, and we basically sat around and watched movies all day other than that.

The next day was spent in Manchester, where Katie had lived for a while before she moved to Germany. Sara and I once again spent the day shopping (Manchester has one of the biggest malls I've ever seen in my life. TIRING!) We were happy when Katie was able to join us after she finished her class, and we went to some of her favorite local bars. It was the perfect end to the trip, because we all had to part ways early the next morning.
Sara, Katie and I in Manchester

***SIDENOTE: I could not understand a word that most people said to me. I felt totally inept. I mean, this is supposed to be my language, for Pete's sake! I felt like if they had been speaking German I might have understood better....

Probably the last thing to report on is World Cup Mania, and how crazy Germans get about soccer. That, and how much I hate the damn Vuvuzelas - those stupid horns that fans blow throughout the ENTIRE GAME.
Okay, so as for Germans and their soccer obsession: I've never seen so many German flags in my life. And this is something relatively new. Apparently the first time that Germans really felt comfortable showing national pride and displaying flags was in 2006, when the German team went relatively far while hosting the FIFA World Cup. Whatever the case, the flags are everywhere now, and there are public viewings of the games all over the country. For example, when I went to Bochum to watch the US match last weekend, the Germany match was directly beforehand. I was on my way to meet some friends at a bar and literally could NOT make my way through the streets because it was PACKED full of soccer fans. It's kinda hard NOT to catch some of the Football-Fever here, and I've actually kinda gotten into it - especially because OUR boys have moved on to the next round!

Emily, Sara & Amanda - USA Soccer match watch at "Three Sixty" American bar in Bochum

Oh silly Amanda...

As far as the countdown goes, it's been whittled down to 5 days! Cannot believe it's under a week...ten months has lasted forever on one hand, but it's flown by on the other! It just sucks that I'm leaving now that the weather is good and now that I have some really good friends here - we now actually go OUT in Duelmen and go to BARS and can sit OUTSIDE! Literally, if you haven't experienced January and February in northern Germany you cannot imagine the amount of depression that's associated with it. I'd tell you how many hours of sunlight we had in the whole month of February, but it's too damn depressing.
That and now I actually feel somewhat accomplished because I've been given more hours at school...I'm the first English TA they've had in like 6 years, so they really didn't know what to do with me at the beginning. We've finally got a system worked out now, so it's a bit of a shame that I'm leaving now...oh well, at least I was given top marks in my end of the year review! :)

Nadin, me & Steffi at Steffi's for the Germany game watch

Stefan, me & Kai - celebrating the Germany win!

It's starting to set in that I'm going to be a student again next year - just got an email about signing up for courses, and I now officially have a UW email address! Excited and terrified! Football games....and term papers. I wonder if I even remember how to write a term paper.

Anyway, that about does it for the epic blog entry. My next post should be back in the US! (If I decide to keep this up, that is...) Well, here's hoping! See you stateside!

"Customer Service" in Germany

2010-05-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

So...Germans are efficient, right? MEH! Wrong. Not in every single situation. Take today's example: customer service. More specifically, internet company customer service.

Lately I've been going through exactly what I need to take care of before I move out - un-register myself at city hall, cancel my BahnCard, close my bank account...and cancel my internet service. This has turned out to be a bit of a chore.

I'm on a month-by-month contract, which is nice. No year-long commitments, flat rate. But getting service in the first place was a chore - I spent my first month in Germany without internet. It took about four weeks to get a technician to come hook it up (Totally normal, apparently. Can you imagine Comcast getting away with that in the States?), and another week for the second technician to come and fix what the FIRST technician effed up in the first place. Lovely.

Today, I spent easily an hour pouring over the company's website, trying to figure out when I needed to let them know that I want to cancel my subscription after June. Hmm...well, they used the most VAGUE wording ever...still not sure if I can cancel it UNTIL four weeks before the end of the month or FROM that time. Urgh. Fine, so the next natural step is to look for an email address that takes care of customer service, right?

WRONG.

There was no such email address. So much for customer service. Fine, then I guess I'll look up a phone number. After answering a bajillion questions about the nature of my inquiry, I was given a phone number. FINALLY. But no, it cannot be that simple. Of course in order to call the company for them to give information about the services which you are ALREADY PAYING FOR, you must pay a further 15 cents per minute to call their help-hotline. Thank goodness my wait time was low.

Get a hold of an employee and he asks for my personal information, my password, the whole bit. So surely he can just type into the computer that I want to end my contract after June, right?

WRONG.

He informs me that in order to terminate my service, I need to send a letter to the office in Hamburg. Really? Snail mail? Come on, Germans - aren't you supposed to be eco-friendly? Let's save some trees people (AND the postage which I will now have to pay in addition to calling your silly company to find out that I have to send this stupid letter in the first place. Of course you wouldn't include this simple information on your website because that would be too freaking sensible)! After a pause in the conversation I finally ask, "Um, und die Adresse waere..........?!" (Translation: Um, and the address would be....?!)

So in conclusion...note to Alice-Internet - take the five minutes to include this on your website:

"To cancel your contract, please send a letter to...."

Simple as that, people.

Abiturienten, Penguins and Half-marathons

2010-04-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Welp, a week has come and gone since spring break ended...actually, already into week two of post travel-mania. The time has been flying, which once again is both good and bad. Good in that I have only 70 days until I get to see friends and family again, bad in that I have only 70 days left here in Germany. It's like being on a roller coaster where the tops and bottoms are becoming increasingly further apart. "OH MY GOD I'LL BE HOME SOON!" followed by an equally explosive "OH MY GOD I MIGHT NEVER SEE MY GERMAN FRIENDS AGAIN!"

This air of feeling like the end of the school year is coming soon has been recently exaggerated by the fact that the 13th graders (Abiturienten) are taking their final tests this week (Abitur). They basically have to do well on these tests to get into college and to study the areas which they've been focusing on this year. What was surprising, however, is that the week before the Abitur the Abiturienten basically go bonkers. They had dress up days throughout the entire week, and culminated with a day of madness, squirt guns and noise makers on Friday. Picture this:

I arrive at school and hear all these whistles and horns and noise makers going off, and as I'm getting ready to enter the building I see a PARADE of Abiturienten marching right toward me armed with water pistols. My little feet haven't moved that fast in a long time. I quickly make my way to the teachers' lounge, but soon enough figured out that this wasn't safe ground either. As I'm talking with a teacher the Abiturienten march in singing some song and squirting people along the way. Kinda funny...some of the teachers were not quite as amused. Then later in one of my 8th grade classes the doors BURST open mid-class and here come the Abiturienten AGAIN, this time not being shy at all with their water pistols. The entire class was soaked and I managed to get shot smack dab in the face. One girl's notebook was so wet that it dripped when she picked it up - and since they all write in ink (not ball-point), all of their papers were destroyed. Really, Germany? Really? This madness went on all day, and when I finally thought it was over I heard the whistles and noisemakers on my walk home! I was about ready to make a mad dash into a shop when I saw the students ride by in the top of a double decker bus. Bizarre. And apparently we weren't the craziest place this year - a friend of mine said that the Abiturienten at her school actually chained the teachers into the teachers' lounge and started a party with the students in the main part of the building. They didn't let the teachers out again until the principal agreed to let the entire school out early. Question: Why did I not go to school in GERMANY?!

Now onto the penguins (and half-marathon, really). A bunch of the other English Teaching Assistants decided to run a half-marathon around the zoo in Muenster last weekend, so my friend Katie and I decided that we would be the moral support and cheer them on. The race was called the "Zoo" race, so we assumed that they'd be running through the zoo, so Katie and I spent the day looking at penguins, bears, tigers and giraffes whilst the others ended up running around the zoo. It was a perfect day - sunshine and all. We all then met up to go to a Biergarten after the race had ended. Good weekend, really!

Katie and her fave - the giraffe

Me and my friend George the parrot. Yeah, I gave him a name.

I heart penguins. For some reason I thought of the ND girls when taking this picture. Maybe it's because it would be totally easy to put word bubbles above each and make it a reenactment of a Finnie's scene at the bar. Maybe something like, "Hey, want to go in on a pitcher?" "Beer or Long Island?" "Scotty!!! Hey, Scotty!"

The girls after the race! Lynne, Sadie, Merianna, Emily, Sara and Sarah

Since I've returned from spring break I've actually received a decent amount of work to do. I think this is the part when the teachers freak because they realize I'm only here for two more months and they haven't really used me yet. Although the conversation club isn't working out (can't get the damn 12th graders motivated), I've been upping my teaching time in several of my 8th grade classes (starting to learn which teachers are prone to letting me do what I want rather than what is in the book), AND I've started tutoring a 5th grader three class hours per week. This has been great in keeping me busy - I get to put together the lessons by myself and get to teach on a consistent basis. That, and I actually feel like I'm making a difference! Yay! Today we went over the names for different food items in English and had a field trip to the grocery store to practice by having him find the items that I put on a shopping list. I'm thinking either animals or describing people as the next topic? Slash, trying to figure out how to put together a makeshift version of "Guess Who" on my own...any suggestions on how to do that?

Other than that looking forward to Kate and Marker coming to visit the first week of May!

This is Mallison, signing off.

Official Countdown: 70 days

I am too old for this/I can never live alone.

2010-04-14T13:43:00.001-07:00

Today I was bullied by a bumble bee. In my apartment. What the hell?!?

It managed to get in through my window since, duh, Germans don't believe in screens. Major flaw on their part with the design. So yes. I was making my bed when that dreaded buzzing sound hit my ears, and if any of you know me you know what happened next: I screeched and ran into the other room.
I had on a zip-up hoodie which I proceeded to zip up and tie the hood around my head. I then stood in my kitchen for about ten minutes psyching myself up to go back and get that damn bee out of my room, since it for some reason couldn't find its way back OUT the window from whence it came!
Literally had to make myself say out loud "I am and ADULT, this is MY APARTMENT!" and practically crawled in my room to open the window further. Then I retreated back to the kitchen, only to find out that little SOB was flying around the room now! You never know where they're going! Once it psyched me out and in my adrenaline-induced fleeing (eff fighting) I SOMEHOW managed to cut my big toe on the tile flooring in my kitchen. See - bugs ARE hazardous to my well-being. After about fifteen minutes of being exiled to my kitchen the bee found its way out the window. You can guess how often I'm going to be opening my windows midday around here...

ps - I soooooooo could have been Pluto during this whole chaotic mess!

One week, three countries...

2010-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

So...for the lack of having a journal in which to write the events of my Spring Break trip with Andie, Nikki and Kelsey, I've decided to write the whole kit and caboodle out here. Stick with me, and hopefully I won't bore you to death - I promise there are a couple laughs stuck in there now and again!

So...on Saturday the 3rd I flew down to Munich where I was supposed to meet the girls after their connecting flight in Madrid. As you could probably tell by the italicized "supposed," the meeting did not go as planned. The girls were stuck in Madrid due to missing their connecting flight, and rather than meeting them at noon they weren't able to get to the hostel until about 8:30pm that night. As soon as they had arrived and showered off the travel-stink, we didn't waste any time in experiencing some German culture. Of course you know what I'm talking about - we went to the Hofbraeuhaus. A round of liter-sized beers, a sausage sampler platter and some pretzels improved the night exponentially. After taking advantage of the free mini-beers at the hostel we made it an early night in preparation for the next day.

Andie and I at the Hofbraeuhaus

The next day we started off with the (three hour loooooong) free tour. Great tour, but long tour. At lunch I introduced the girls to the magnificence of the Doener Kebap - shaved meat, veggies and sauce packed into grilled flatbread. I was able to fully convert Andie, but the other two weren't completely sold - granted, not the best Doener I've ever had. I'll convert the other two yet! After hitting up the hostel for showers and nap-time we hit up Augustiner for dinner, which was definitely an experience.

Nikki, Kelsey and Andie at the Opera House in Munich

After being seated in one of the last available booths (it was Easter Sunday and the place was packed), we were served by a very frantic waiter who proceeded to clear the already set table, then re-set it again, throw down the menus on the table and frantically tell us (in an almost agitated tone) "Two minutes!" We then figured out that the area where we had been seated was supposed to have been occupied by a larger party which had canceled. This poor guy was then given about six tables which were all seated at about the same time. He gradually warmed up as
the night went on, and he quickly gave us our new catch phrase for the entire trip - "You know me!" He also had a fantastic reaction to the stereotypical annoying (and drunk) Americans at the table next to us. They were doing that game where you flip a pile of coasters in the air and try to catch them...let's just say it was getting out of hand. Coasters were flying everywhere and they had pulled the tablecloth away...our waiter dude came flying in with "What is this?!?" and quickly re-set the table. You tell them, Mr. Waiter! It really was a nicer restaurant, and not exactly the type of place for drunken frivolity. Fantastic food though, and Andie and I both found the Dunkles Bier (dark beer) to be quite tasty...

The following morning (Monday) was very very verrrrrrry early in order to catch our flight to Stockholm. Good-old RyanAir...cheap flights, shitty times & airport locations! I think we had to leave the hostel at about 5am in order to catch the 1.5 hour train ride to the airport outside of Munich. After arriving at a similarly small airport in East Jesus Stockholm, we eventually madeit to our hostel in the Gamla-Stan (old town) area of Stockholm. The Gamla-Stan area is basically an island, and our hostel was located right on the water - great location and it was nice to have a private four person room even if it smelled like there may or may not have been something decaying under our floorboards. It was a bit dreary that afternoon (luckily the only bit of rainy-esque weather that we encountered the entire trip!), so we decided to freshen up and head straight for food. The super awesome girl who worked at the front counter suggested that we eat at Kungshalle, which was basically a self-serve place with tons of international food chains so everyone was happy.
After dinner we made it to what was probably the highlight of Stockholm - the Absolut Ice Bar! I'd be as tempted as the next person to say that it was overrated, but truly - it was not! It was absolutely fantastic...before we went in these huge poncho-esque coats were thrown over us, which served not only to keep us warm but also to keep our clothes spill-proof. Genius! When wewent in we received our complementary free drink (read: shot or two with a bit of mixers thrown in)in a glass which was made of ice at the bar which, yes, was made of ice! We only had forty-five minutes total, but our feet were cold by the end of it and we had plenty of time to down some drinks and take some great pictures. We then rounded out the evening with a few drinks afterward...you know, for good measure!

Me and Andie at the Ice Bar in Stockholm

Glasses made of ice!

Tuesday was our big day exploring Stockholm, and we sooooo lucked out with the weather! We went on a boat tour of the city which was a bit chilly, but gorgeous, and got some great burgers for lunch. In the afternoon we went to the Vasamuseet, or Vasa Museum where they have a 17th century ship on display which sank on its maiden voyage and wasn't recovered until the 60s. We then had drinks at a cafe along the water and went to have a traditional Swedish dinner at "The Pelikan" - another recommendation from the fantastic hostel girl who never led us astray! Andie and I went with the Swedish meatballs, which of course were only called "meatballs" there...fantastic. Like, mouth-watering fantastic. The other two went with salmon...didn't say it out loud then, but Andie and I totally won as far as dinner-choices went. The evening once again ended in a bar - this time a jazz bar called "Stampen" which had some very tasty pear-flavored cider and great live music...

Waterfront area in Stockholm...boat tour!

Wednesday morning, once again thanks to RyanAir's inability to have a flight leave from a location within an hour of the city where it is "located," we left very early for our flight to Paris. After the long trip and being deprived of food during said trip, we checked into our hostel which was right at the foot of Sacre Coeur, my favorite place in Paris, grabbed quite possibly the best chicken sandwiches in the world (at least they seemed like it after not having eaten anything all morning), and we ate them on the hill in front of Sacre Coeur.
That evening we decided to go to the Latin Quarter near St. Michel to grab some great French cuisine. There's this whole street just lined with restaurants, so the waiters do their best to entice prospective customers. Our garcon began wooing us the minute we walked by - we got a table right by the front of the restaurant (which was open because the weather was gorgeous), and I don't think we've all been called beautiful so many times within five minutes. Kelsey even got a kiss on the cheek from our frisky waiter! Seriously, the food did NOT disappoint - best duck I've ever had in my LIFE! It's too bad that Andie had a cold and couldn't taste anything that night...at least she got her taste back by the last day in France!
This is when the night got interesting...we were supposed to go on a pub crawl, but for some reason it never met up at the meeting place! Therefore, we decided to go out exploring the French bars on our own. Piano bar? Why not! And this decision made all the difference. At first when we went into this bar, I wasn't so sure. It seemed a little pretentious, and I felt a bit out of place with the whole piano and the singer and everything. After a couple glasses of wine we were getting into the music and really started to enjoy ourselves. Then, these two older French men in business suits, about 75 years old and clearly done with a day of work, plop down at the table next to us and one proceeds to grab Andie's wine glass and stick his nose right in it. We were totally thrown off but had to burst out laughing, and we quickly learned that these two guys couldn't speak a WORD of English, and we couldn't speak a word of French. Great situation, no? Hilariously enough, we managed to become best buds with these guys buy the end of the night (I know I know...older guys flirting with four twenty-something American women. But hey, it was harmless...and we got free wine out of it!). After having made friends with the singer and these two guys, we decided to call it quits and head home. We'd all had more than enough wine, and when the guy sitting next to Andie dropped his wine glass on the floor we figured they were about done as well. Stellar night all in all - Who said the French aren't friendly?

Despite the large quantities of wine consumed the night before, we managed to wake up early on Thursday in order to see Paris in all its glory! First thing we did was hit up the Louvre right when it opened...we lasted about 1.5 hours there, but after that we were all pretty museumed-out. After leaving the Louvre we walked down the Champs de Elysee all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Desperately needing food we took the metro back to Montmartre (the area where we were staying at) and got some grub (ps - apparently in France when you order a hamburger you get a beef patty with a fried egg on top. Lesson learned). Then we did what I had been trying to do the last two times I was in Paris - a tour of the Montmartre area, which had previously (and still partially remains) the artist-center of Paris. Now it's a bit more expensive to live there, but for example the Place du Tetre still has painters and artists all over the place. On the tour we got to see Van Gogh's house, Picasso's house, and several places where the movie "Amelie" had been filmed.

We were then all in desperate need of a break - the others showered and napped, and I ran to the grocery store across the street to grab some wine, bread, cheese, water....I was feeling very French. We also had a terrace connected to our room with a view of the Sacre Coeur, so I played solitaire and enjoyed the view while the others napped. The evening was relatively calm as well - after visiting Place du Tetre and buying some paintings we had dinner and rounded out the night by drinking some wine in front of the Eiffel Tower, which, by the way, lights up and sparkles at night. Great way to end the night.Wine at the Eiffel Tower - Me and Kelsey

Nikki, Kelsey and I at Place du la Concorde

On our last real full day we had to scramble to fit in the other "musts" in Paris. We went back to the Eiffel Tower to take some daytime pics, went by Notre Dame, the gals did some serious souvenir shopping, and then we decided that it was only appropriate that our last real meal be a good one (unfortunately Nikki was sick for this meal, so she and Andie switched places as to who could taste it and who could not). We even decided to get some fondue in addition to our course meal. Hey, if you're going to do it then do it right! Wenn schon, denn schon.
Kelsey and I with our fondue

Andie, Nikki, Kelsey and I at the Eiffel Tower

Andie, Kelsey and Nikki at Notre Dame

As you can imagine, at this point we were all exhausted. We had just enough energy to grab some massive waters at the grocery store and get to the train which would take us back to Munich. Six hours of doing nothing but sitting was a welcome change of pace. We didn't get back to Munich until about 10pm so that left just enough time for a BK dinner, and then Andie, Kelsey and I ventured back out to find a Hofbraeuhaus mug which Andie wanted. We literally got to the Hofbraeuhaus FIVE minutes after the store had closed, so I ran across the street and finagled a couple of mugs from the rival (and locally adored) Augustinerbraeu. It's times like that when I am very happy that I'm able to speak German...

Not too much exciting from that point on - we all got about three hours of sleep total since the next morning was another early one. I went as far as the Munich airport with the girls and we said our goodbyes - it was a wonderful vacation and it was so great to see all of them and to share this experience. Now all I have to do is wait less than three months to see them again in the burg!

Random thoughts...

2010-03-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

So...this is going to be a random mish-mash of a blog entry, so brace yourself for it now. Fair warning.

First of all, I need to get some random thoughts out of the way that occurred to me on my 20 minute walk back from the train station today.

Random thought #1: Germans are way too attached to their winter coats. Today it was literally 65 degrees outside. However, about 90% of the Germans that I saw STILL had their winter coat on, and often times a scarf as well. And they weren't sweating...how is this physically possible??? I was trudging along with my heavy bags in a hoodie and the sweat was rolling. How is a coat necessitated in weather which college students in the US would greet with shorts, t-shirts and flip flops?!?

Random thought #2: I've definitely assimilated to the culture when I've become obsessed with having "frische Luft" or fresh air in the room at all times. German homes and many buildings don't really have a ventilation system, so they simply open the windows during the day (no screens, mind you) in order to let in the fresh air and let out the humidity in the room. This happens in both warm and VERY cold weather. At my Berlin conference this weekend I found myself dying for some frische Luft many times, and I was very upset by the fact that the window in our hotel room didn't open. Well done, Germans...well done.

Random thought #3: Also when making the trek back from the train station today, I realized that I've really settled in here (of course right before I'm getting ready to leave). I had this sense of coming back home after being in Berlin for a week, and I was genuinely excited about seeing my colleagues for our weekly viewing of Germany's Next Top Model...just as kitschy in Germany as it is in the US, if not more so.

It's a bit late to start in on the travel talk right now, so for now I'll say that Hamburg and Berlin were both fantastic trips, mostly because I found them to be a completely different experience from any other trips I've had within Germany. Definitely both very unique, and not what people would expect in Germany (one being more of a port city and the other such a myriad of many different cultures). I'll post some pictures as soon as I get the time to.

Hope this blog finds you, my avid readers, well!

Alles Gute.......tschuessi! :)

Some things are just universal...

2010-03-09T04:40:00.001-08:00

Since my arrival in Germany, I've gotten to know several of my colleagues at the school very well, and have reached a certain level of comfort with my position at the school. Through these relationships I've come to the conclusion, as cliche as it might be, that really - some things are universal.

Example #1: Next Top Model. Yes, the television show that is every woman's guilty pleasure in the United States is ALSO a guilty pleasure of women in Germany. I was recently invited to join a viewing group with some teachers that I work with - my friend Nadin came up to me and said (with a hint of embarrassment) that she and some of the other teachers made it a habit last year to get together and drink wine and bitch about how skinny all of the models are, much like she used to do with her friends when she was at the university. My instant reaction: "OH MY GOD I did the exact same thing with my friends all throughout college, I'd loooooooove to!!!!!!" She just laughed and said, "See, women all around the world really are the same." Well said, Nadin. Well said.

Example #2: Fifteen year old boys will always be the same blundering fools in every country. Well, at least they're the same in Germany as they are in the US. In one of my tenth grade classes they were doing group work today, and I was going around asking them if they had questions, asking them to read out their work. I get to the group of boys in the class - and you all know this group. Think they're too cool for school. And they laugh at EVERYTHING. Literally, everything.

Me: "So guys, let's hear your diary entry for number five."

Student A: *giggle giggle* "You should be reading YOURS!" *points to another, more laughter* "He should read it - his is very good I think"

Student B: "NEIN! will ich nicht...YOU do it!" *chuckle chuckle, shoves paper to other boy*

Student A: "But yours is SOOO good!"
Laughter explodes at this point. This goes on for another five minutes until finally, .....

Student C: "aach, du Arschloch...fine, I read it." *reads the text*

Me: "Good job, that sounded great. Seriously, was it that hard?"

Student A: "Oh, yeah, that was totally mine - I had wrote it!" *LAUGHTERRRRRRRR*

Example #3: All teachers talk about outside of school...is school. Trust me, I've grown up with two parents who are also teachers. I get to hear all about their classes, school politics, etc. I guess it's just part of unwinding at the end of the day. Then I come here, and I'm struggling to find a discussion that I can actually take part in. Thank God I've gotten to know some of the classes and a bunch of the students, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to follow a conversation in the teacher's lounge, OR in the bars when we go out! I mean, I suppose they have that all in common, but let's give it a rest, people!

I'm sure that there are more "universals" out there, but this will have to do for now. Maybe I'll keep a list and post again later.

Oh, and for those of you who I haven't freaked out to yet, I got into Georgetown (unbelievably)! Although it looks like the classes and prestige might have been a bit better, I don't think it will be the best fit for me personally. UW Madison has been very generous in their offer, and I definitely feel more of a personal connection to the culture on that campus. That, and let's face it - I'm a little overdue to be closer to home for a year or two :)

As for now, just trying to be patient and wait for my lovely visitors come April! This weekend my friend Charlie arrives Thursday, and he, my friend Emily and I are heading off to Hamburg for the weekend! Will post pictures and stories when I return to quaint little Duelmen!

Tschuessi,

Mary

Prepping for the Craziness of March & April

2010-03-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's now less than one month until my time here starts to go be REAL fast. In fact, next weekend my friend Charlie comes to visit and we'll be making a trip to Hamburg, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful (northern) German cities. The following weekend begins the conference in Berlin for the Fulbrighters, and then directly after that, spring break will begin in all its glory!

My time has lately been spent helping my spring break possy prepare for their first trip to Europe - that means writing many lists of what they need to take care of before they leave, what they should pack, what they should plan on expecting once they get here, and of course, making a list of useful phrases in the various languages we will encounter. These will include German, Swedish and French. When looking up French phrases, this Friends episode immediately came to mind...enjoy! (P.S. - Two things: have not heard back from Georgetown yet, AND...I have been watching far too many episodes of Friends.)

Things I do waaaaaaay more in Germany than stateside:

2010-03-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

1. Paint my nails. Wait, one's chipped? Gotta re-do them all!

2. Watching Friends....and any other television series I can get my hands on.

3. Blogging. Duh.

4. Facebooking...somehow it makes me feel more connected to what's going on at home. See, there IS a purpose for stalking!

5. Going through the Itunes store over and over again to best decide how to spend my remaining balance leftover from Christmas giftcards. Still haven't made a decision. Singin' in the Rain, or the Great Mouse Detective?!?

...the sooner I get a life, the better.

Yes, the waiting IS the hardest part...

2010-02-23T05:58:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I don't know how much all of you are caught up on my graduate school dilemma, so let me clue you in. Basically, I put all of my eggs in two metaphorical baskets - one being the Master's program for German at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the other being the Master's in German and European Studies (MAGES) at Georgetown. Two very different programs...and therefore I'm looking a a potentially difficult decision ahead of me.

I've been accepted at UW Madison, and all I have left to hear back from them is about my financial package - basically, will I get a TA position and will I actually end up getting paid to study there. It's a two year program, and I'd probably end up focusing on German literature of the 20th century. Pros: possible kick-ass financial support; close to home; close to Chi-town & close(r) to ND (football games, DUH!). Cons: not as diverse of a program as Georgetown's

I'm still waiting to hear back from Georgetown, and should hear back mid to late March. This program includes not only German courses, but also econ and political science courses. Plus, I'd have to learn another language as well (thinking Spanish or French at this point...). It'd be really intense, but then again - it's Georgetown. However, I'm not exactly expecting the same kind of financial support (read: bribery) that Wisconsin is offering me. Pros: more options with this degree; looks kick-ass on a resume; connections; obvi moving closer to Tacey and my cousin Libby and her husband Rob. Cons: far away from home (esp. after being away this year and junior year of college - which my mom has started hinting at. Wonder if it's a coincidence that she told me I could have the minivan if I go to UW...); I'd miss the Midwest; going even further into debt...

So yeah. Everyone I've talked to about this is kinda stumped as well. Although, this may end up not being a problem at all, since I haven't even heard back from Georgetown yet. Mal sehen...

This past weekend was good, albeit exhausting. Saturday I went on a two hour hike with some of the teachers at my school. Sounds lovely, right? MEH. I dunno, something in me just doesn't fancy a two hour walk through the muck and mud (oh, and sometimes ice...almost ate shit like three times). And yes, for about a 2o minute portion there were THORN BUSHES cutting across the..."path." And it snowed. It was really nice to talk to people, but really. We could have gone walking someplace else. The most interesting thing we saw was the back of a barn and some cows. A friend of mine asked me if Americans do hikes like this, and I think my reply was something along the lines of, "Yeah, but usually only in good weather. Like, not during winter." At least there was coffee and cake at the end. Made destroying my shoes seem a little more justified...(note to self: next time when going hiking with Germans wear lumberjack boots). A colleague asked me about it today, since he kinda heard that I wasn't exactly wild about the experience. Little bugger LAUGHED! And kept laughing. You do not laugh. NO. You were not there...

I got back to my apartment about six, ran out to get groceries for dinner, and as soon as I got back I was invited to go see a movie with one of the teachers I went hiking with. She, her boyfriend, and I went to see "Up in the Air." Really, a great movie. Not the most uplifting of movies, but one of those beautifully tragic movies that you think about for days after you saw it. Oh, and the soundtrack rocked as well. My only irk was the dubbed voice for George Clooney...but what're gonna do when you live in Deutschland. We went out for drinks after the movie, and I finally got back to the apartment around midnight. Definitely collapsed that night.

This weekend planning on some slam poetry and cheap beer with good friends :) Definitely looking forward to a night in Muenster. Will keep you all updated as to my graduate school decision-making process

Karneval in Koeln & Olfen

2010-02-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Karneval was everything that I expected and MORE. I have to pace myself - there's so much to say!

First of all, I went with a teacher from my school, Steffi, on Rosenmontag (this past Monday) for the parade in Cologne. She picked me up at 7.30am from my apartment (wasn't the happiest of campers at this point, but when I opened the door to greet a 30 year old woman dressed as Pippi Longstocking, my spirits improved). We drove to Recklinghausen, and then took the train from there to Cologne (about a 1.5 hour trip).

The trains on the way there were JAM PACKED, and I have to say that I felt a little under-costumed despite the neon-pink wig that Steffi gave me to wear and my face having red hearts painted all over it. There were so many people on the trains that you could barely move, and confetti was flying before we even got to the city. The conductor even came on over the loud speakers and told people to get off at the stop just outside the main station because the main train station was literally full of people. Did we get off there? Oh no, we decided to take a chance with the crowds.

AND WERE THERE CROWDS! I've never been around that many people at one point - apparently about 1.3 million people. People, literally of ALL AGES were dressed in the most outlandish costumes. Everything from middle aged men dressed in drag to vikings to witches to garden gnomes. Wigs, feather boas and oversized sunglasses were everywhere and people were blowing these cheap trumpet-like things (which I came to hate by the end of the day). It was definitely a sight to see - there were vendors selling cans of beer all along the streets on the walk to where the "Umzug" (parade) took place.

And let me tell you, I've never seen a parade quite like this. They threw TONS of candy, including whole chocolate bars (took one to the forehead - OUCH!), and the parade lasts about five hours. No joke. We were there for three hours, but seeing as we couldn't feel our feet we decided it was time to go. Finding our way back to the train station was an adventure in itself, especially considering it was on the OTHER side of the parade. About an hour later, we found the U-Bahn station where we had to go underground to get around the parade. So yeah, very very long day, but very very cool experience.

Today I went to Olfen, a smaller city outside of Duelmen, with a student teacher from my school. They were having the same kind of parade, but obviously on a smaller scale. The best part, I must say, was the company. She and I drove to Olfen right after school and met her parents and their friends, who had already set up camp on the side of the road and were waiting for the parade.

They weren't fooling around either - they had everything from a keg of Koelsch beer to one of those standing heating post things that they have at outdoor restaurants. And the costumes - fantastic. Pirates and clowns complete with face paint and everything! Her parents were hilarious, and kept insisting that I "have another beer!"..."try some of this Wurst, but you must have it with mustard!"..."do you want to do a vodka shot?!"..."you're out of beer - GET HER ANOTHER BEER!" Oy. After having had nothing to eat all day, I was in pretty good spirits by the time we left. I had also secured an invitation to her father's 60th birthday this June. Cannot WAIT!

Me and Steffi at Karneval!

One of the bands...typisch.

This is what you have to scream over and over if you're in COLOGNE for Karneval...in Duesseldorf, for example, you have to say something different.

This float was about the swine flu...thought it was pretty clever.

Steffi's wig became a bit unruly...

Poor Angela Merkel...not the most flattering depiction.

This picture was taken on the side of the parade OPPOSITE the train station. Took us a good hour to get to the other side.

Karneval

2010-02-12T07:08:00.001-08:00

Only in Germany would I see a child dressed up like a devil running around the grocery store today. Yes, it's time for Karneval. I really didn't know much about what that entailed until recently, so here are some of the main points for those of you who aren't familiar with it...

- Karneval started on Thursday at 11:11am, at which point people paint hearts on their cheeks and spraypaint their hair wild colors. Thursday is also "Weibernacht," which translates to something like "ladies' night." The women go crazy and pretty much get wasted that night. They take over town halls, and any men caught wearing a tie on this day run the risk of having it cut off with scissors (I may or may not have seen my principal being run down by female teachers at my school. Really, people - they go crazy.)

-Karneval lasts (at least) through Monday, and pretty much every night is a big party. Cologne is Karneval-central in the Rheinland area, and people wear costumes which we would associate more with halloween.

-Apparently the biggest day is Rosenmontag, the Monday of Karneval. I have yet to experience this, but I'm told that I need at least a wig and some face paint. I'm heading to Cologne for Rosenmontag with a couple teachers from my school, Steffi and Nadin. We'll see how that goes...I'll report back.

Other than the Karneval madness that's been going on, things have been pretty good! I got to see the other TAs last weekend, which ended up being a blast. (And yes, Emily and I represented ND by dominating at beer pong) Today I gave a presentation on American Tall Tales and Legends, which went SO well! The kids broke out into laughter when I told them about Johnny Appleseed (a guy who wears a pot for a hat is apparently funnier than I thought?), and loved the Disney cartoon examples that I showed them after reading some stories. Probably my best lesson plan yet (that means I'm improving, right?!). Spent all day yesterday making up some Valentines for my two 8th grade classes and doing lesson plans, and then tonight I'm going out with some of the student teachers from my school. Yessssssss it looks like I've finally gotten a life! :)

Spring Break Bonanza Countdown: 49 days

Motivation...about damn time!

2010-02-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

Well, those of you who talk to me on a fairly regular basis probably know that the past week or so hasn't exactly been the best week of my life. I spent the past weekend moping around my apartment and eating everything in sight, because I got the call that my parents had to put my dog down. Part of me knew it was coming, but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of it actually having happened. This came at the same time as receiving an acceptance letter, well - email really, for the German graduate program at UW Madison. Great news, but I wasn't in the best mindset to hear it.

After a less than stellar weekend, things are starting to look up and I'm starting to remember again why I am here. The past few weeks have been fairly uneventful for me, especially because we were nearing the end of the semester at my school. That meant lots of reviewing and testing and literally no opportunities for me to really take part in the lessons. Having had enough of sitting around doing nothing, I've sat down with the head of the English department and the results are great so far.

Rather than the 12 hours per week that I had scheduled last semester (and often times it ended up being less than that), it looks like I will be able to have 18 hours this coming semester! Granted, I lose my day off, BUT I never utilized it last semester. That, and only having two class hours on Fridays makes it easy for me to request a day off in the future...especially since I haven't missed a day yet. So yeah, after I reiterated over and over again that I had waaaaaaaay too much free time, I was given more hours AAAAAAAAAND (drum role, please)

.......it looks like I'm going to have two different class hours that I'll be able to plan for and lead BY MYSELF! HA! One will be for conversation & films, the other helping students prepare for the English oral examinations (get your mind out of the gutter) they take at the end of the year. I'm SO pumped and I really think that this will give me more of a sense of "belonging" at the school. I think the English department is thrilled as well...the head of the department told me today after going over class schedules that, "Hey, if you want more work, we'll find it for you!" In celebration, I went and bought a new set of colorful pens and a pen/pencil case at the bookstore. Yay for motivation!!!

Not only am I able to look forward to a larger role at the school, but I also have a wonderful weekend to look forward to! Friday night I head off to Muenster (the university city about 20 minutes away) to see "Romeo and Juliet" with some friends. I'll spend the night at a friend's there, and then we'll both go to the "American Party" held by a good friend of mine in Warendorf. All the English TAs in our group (and one Brit) are going to get together to kick some German butt at the best drinking games America has to offer - beer pong, flip cup, kings, and the like.

ANOTHER great thought I've been dwelling on today - it's T-minus two months until Andie, Nikki and Kelsey arrive for Spring Break in Munich, Paris and Stockholm. So. Pumped.

So yeah - things are looking up. Maybe it's just January that's the month for depression....? Let's hope February will be significantly better :)

Tschuessi!

Doldrums

2010-01-25T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it is official - I've hit the doldrums, and it looks like I'll be there until mid March, when the Berlin conference takes place. It also doesn't help that the end of the month has its challenges...specifically that I have to wait until the last day of the month to get paid for the upcoming month.

Tomorrow marks the end of a four-day weekend...one which I wasn't expecting to be quite honest. Last week I was informed that this Tuesday would be a conference day for the teachers, and that I'd have the day off. Since I already don't go in on Mondays, that means a four day weekend. Which, since I hadn't been given earlier notice about my time off, would be spent sitting in my apartment doing two things - 1. Starting, and nearly finishing, the TV series "How I Met your Mother", and 2. Watching all four of the movies in the X-men series. Never in my life have I cursed a four day weekend, but when you're already struggling to keep yourself busy in the first palce, having extra time off isn't exactly a blessing.

Luckily I have a couple things to look forward to in the near future. Next weekend should be spent with a friend of mine who is a student teacher, because she's finished an important step in her student teaching work (Unterrichtsbesuch, or U.B.). She's requested to have a night out on the town, in Duelmen...hah, and I was definitely excited about the chance to do anything social in my town. Then the weekend after that, the American TAs are getting together to have an "American party," complete with beer pong, flip cup, and various card games. The superbowl is the following day, so we're working on how to watch that as well.

Step by step I'm getting closer - 5 months to go! (To be quite honest though, I'm starting to realize that I'll end up missing stuff when I leave here as well - specifically people I've met) Hoping that I'll hear something back from Georgetown or Madison soon regarding graduate study, and will keep you updated on that. Hope you are all surviving January and the post-holidays slow-down. Wishing you the best and missing you all!

Back in the swing of things

2010-01-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well, about a week after I had arrived back in Germany, I finally got over my initial intense period of homesickness and jet-lag (complete with waking up at 3.30 in the morning and not being able to go to sleep until I was actually supposed to wake up). Needless to say, a big relief to be rid of both of them. The first weekend I was back, I actually got off of my butt and went to visit a friend of mine in nearby Muenster, which was a great distraction. Definitely was in better shape after a weekend out of the apartment and some company.

Another distraction which has been keeping me busy back at the apartment, has been planning for the up and coming Spring Break 2010 bonanza! As you might know, my cousin Andie and two of my best friends from high school, Nikki and Kelsey, are coming to Europe during the second week of my spring break - ie the first week of April. We'll be visiting Munich, Stockholm, and Paris together in that order. They don't have any experience with dealing with trains, hostels, budget airlines, etc, so that responsibility has fallen upon me. Luckily, I suffer from a lack of things to do. Needless to say, I've created a spreadsheet and as of today have finished all necessary travel and accommodation reservations (Including a hostel in Paris that overlooks Sacre Coeur...).

I only have one class hour on Thursdays, so today was the perfect day to get all of that organizing done. Now I've moved on to looking up entrance fees to different attractions, tour times, etc. We only get about 1.5 days in each city (because of travel time), so I want to make sure we get to see what we want to see. After class the day quickly became a "me day," which I must admit was pretty good for my mental health as well. I went walking around the city center because I had decided to allow myself to buy a new pair of shoes (comfy shoes for spring break, of course) because there would most likely be sales...and I was right. Sales EVERYWHERE! It took a lot of self-control not to spend some serious money, but I did treat myself to a "Nussecke" from the bakery on the way back to my apartment since I had saved 30% on my new sporty Esprit kicks (And no, Esprit didn't die at the end of the 80s in Europe like it did in the US...it's still thriving and popular). Fresh air, new shoes and a treat - YAY!

6 months to go...

2010-01-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

Well, after a hellish few days (yes, days) of traveling in order to get back to my apartment in Deutschland, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. No more big-time traveling to deal with...at least for another six months.

At first this seemed like a pretty daunting amount of time to be spent here...and a large amount of that time being spent alone in my apartment, catching up with American TV series. I've been here four months so far, but for some reason "six months" seems like such a longer amount of time...

However, after sitting down to think about it, the time should pass pretty quickly. I have not only ONE group of buds coming to visit in April for a week (Kelsey, Nikki and Andie), but also I have Kate and Durst who are planning to come sometime in May. So that leaves January, February and March as the doldrums which I need to get through. The cold, dark months during which seemingly nothing is supposed to be happening.

I know some of you want to remind me that yes, I do have friends, so this shouldn't be too bad. This is true, but my budget can only afford a certain amount of visits to Muenster and other cities, so these will have to be planned wisely to make the time fly by.

Anyway, enough of my debbie-downer talk. I've decided that this is merely a negative side-effect of having been home for two weeks and constantly being surrounded by people and always having something to do. If I had actually stayed home, this would have inevitably happened in good ole Galesburg as well!

Will do my best to be better about blogging during this second half of my time in Germany. I'll be taking any suggestions for topics, because I seem to have trouble coming up with ideas...

Liebe Gruesse,
Mary

Salzburg Christkindlmarkt

2009-12-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally hit the home stretch. Only two more days in Duelmen, and then on Friday I leave for Bochum to meet up with Emily. The next morning we take off at the crack of dawn to go to Duesseldorf and begin the long journey home! These last two days are going to go by far too slowly...

This past weekend Emily and I flew down to Salzburg, Austria to spend a few days reacquainting ourselves with the southern German-speaking area. It was freeeeezing cold since we were nearing the Alps and were dealing with a higher altitude than normal, but at the same time we got to see some snow for the first time this year. Not a bad trade off all in all.

We flew in on Saturday around noon and stayed until Monday evening, and pretty much explored the city inside and out. We went to all of the Christkindlmaerkte (what they call the Christmas markets in the south, rather than Weihnachtsmaerkte). We had our fair share of Gluehwein and big pretzels, and got a ton of Christmas shopping done at the same time.

Probably could have made it a two day trip, but we ended up filling our extra time at the end of the trip by seeing Disney's new movie "The Frog Prince" in German, which is surprisingly well dubbed. It was definitely nice to have a break from being outside in the cold winter weather.

Upon my return to Duelmen, I immediately had to begin mixing some sugar cookie dough for the following day. Keep in mind I didn't get back to my apartment until one in the morning, so that made for a very tired Mary at school on Tuesday. Cookie baking commenced at my friend Nina's house (she's one of the student teachers at my school). Matthias and Florian (two other student teachers) joined as well, but let's face it - they were primarily there to provide moral support and to serve as taste testers. Long story short - many many cookies, and a very tired Mary. The good news - they were crazy about the cut-out sugar cookies. All of the cookies will be making it to the Ref-tisch (student teacher table) tomorrow, so hopefully they will go over just as well there.

So yes, currently working on packing and trying to concentrate long enough to finish my lesson plans for Friday and to finish up my Wisconsin grad school app which is due on the 20th (!!!). Wish me luck...

I've included some pictures from Salzburg for your viewing pleasure - ich wuensche euch eine schoene Vorweihnachtszeit!!! :)

Center of the market at Residenzplatz

Emily and one of the large Brezen (pretzels) at the market. Think this one had almonds and marzipan...?

Lights in Getreidegasse - famous shopping street

Center of the market at Domplatz

So. many. nutcrackers.

These things are everywhere. They're smoking figures, and you basically put a cone of incense in their hiney and the smoke comes out their mouth.

View of the Festung (fortress)

Tree at Residenzplatz

Bridge across the Salzach River

SNOWWWWW!

View of the Festung from Mirabell gardens

Emily striking a pose next to Mozart...showcasing the Mozartkugeln

Emily and I at the Festung with a view of the city in the background

FIRE!

They had a marionette museum inside the Festung. No explanation needed for this picture.

View of the market at Domplatz from atop the Festung

Me and Emily at the Festung

One of the vendors who was selling tasty liquors

Ice skating with the help of my penguin friend

Proof that I can still ice skate after five years of not having done it.

Emily was better than me...

Never thought I'd see a disco ball behind the Mozart statue...

Pic of the ice rink where we skated - located at Mozartplatz

About a week left to go!

2009-12-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well, a week from now I'll be heading off to Bochum to stay at Emily's. We decided that we'd then take the train to the airport together the next morning, since our flights are about a half an hour apart in Duesseldorf (and her town is at the halfway point for me...looking forward to not having to leave my apartment at 3am to make the flight).

I'm definitely becoming uber-anxious at this point, but luckily there are some distractions so that I don't go completely insane. For example, my friend Sara came to visit yesterday and we went walking around at the Weihnachtsmarkt in my city. A little Gluehwine, some Schnitzel and good conversation were all in order.

Tomorrow Emily and I are flying out to spend the weekend in Salzburg!!! We're both really looking forward to that, since we've both had previous abroad experiences in the South. In fact, my whole first month abroad during my Junior year was spend in Salzburg, so luckily we won't have to worry about getting lost. That trip will distract us for a good three days, thank God! We're staying there two nights and will fly back on Monday (flying is surprisingly cheaper than taking the train down there) Here's a link to recent coverage of the market there:

http://www.partyreporter.at/Videos/29.11.08-Salzburger-Christkindlmarkt_1179

Next week should fly by relatively quickly as well. Tuesday I give a little presentation to one of my eighth grade classes on Christmas in the US, and then later that day I'm going to bake cookies with some of my student teacher friends. Looks like I'll need to brush up on my baking vocabulary...wonder what "rolling pin" is in German??? Then on Friday I'm doing another lesson plan for one of my tenth grade classes on peaceful protests in the US and the media's influence. Sounds kinda boring, but I'm thinking it should go pretty well. At the very least the lesson plan should keep me busy up until then.

At the moment I'm getting ready to go to dinner at one of the English teachers' houses, but decided to take some time to make a blog entry because it was requested that I entertain some friends while they're hard at work at their job :)

Also getting very excited about the New Year's Eve celebration that will be taking place in Chicago in a few short weeks!!! I'll have the good fortune of being able to see all of the people in the picture below (one of my personal favorites). The only way the plans could get better would be if T could join us, but alas she now has a real job that she has to get back to and will not be able to join us. Rest assured, T - you will be with us in spirit!

But yeah, there's the update so far. I'd write about more, but to be quite honest not too much has been happening. Will post some pictures from Salzburg when I get back on Monday, because they will most definitely be spectacular.

Liebe Gruesse aus Duelmen und bis bald!

Weihnachten in Deutschland

2009-12-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

So in case some of you aren't aware of it, Christmas is celebrated a little bit differently in Germany than in the United States. For this blog entry, I thought I'd try to enlighten you all a little bit...

First of all, they know about Santa Claus, or "der Weihnachtsmann" (the Christmas-man) in Germany, but he is far from the main representative of Christmas. It's true, in recent years Santa Claus (much like the one popularized through Coca Cola's advertisements) has caught on in Germany, and you do see him around at the Weihnachtsmaerkte (Christmas markets) and in the Christmas decoration sections at the supermarkets.
However, he is not known as the one to give presents, and is not the one whom is awaited on Christmas eve. For Germans, they await the coming of the "Christkind" or Christ child. Not only is this different, but the 25th is not the biggest day of celebration here - rather, the 24th is when the family celebrates the most (since this is when the Christkind comes).

They also have Sankt Nicholas Tag, which is when Saint Nicholas comes and puts treats in the shoes of good children while they are sleeping. This is not as big of a deal, obviously, but is still a part of the Christmas season!

Anyway, those are just a few tidbits about German Christmas traditions...hope you found them at least mildly interesting! The countdown is just about at two weeks now - getting pretty excited!

So THAT'S why I came here...

2009-11-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

All in all, this week has turned out a lot better than I thought it would. And honestly, I think that part of it was because I stopped trying to control many aspects and just decided to go with the flow. Hmm. May have to start doing this more often.

I've actually done a lot of activities with the kids this week, which has definitely made me feel like I'm actually doing something with myself. Definitely beats sitting in the corner and feeling very much like a walking/talking dictionary.

To start off the week I did presentations on American high school with the eighth graders, which was pretty funny. I think my favorite moment was when we had a discussion session at the end. I basically asked them if they liked American high schools, and what they specifically liked about it, what they would like to incorporate into German schools, etc. They immediately said that they loved how we have dances and sports teams, etc etc etc. It was then that I dropped the bomb on them: American high schoolers have homework every night, and (GASP!) that homework is graded. In Germany, teachers are very limited on the amount of homework that they can give, and it's never graded. I think I literally saw about 20 jaws drop instantly in front of me. I had to laugh out loud at that.......we play hard, but we work hard too.

Then came the Thanksgiving presentations/activities on Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday I started off with the 10th graders, and it went SO. WELL. I was thrilled. They absolutely ate up the turkey activity (pun intended), where I had them try to put the instructions of how to roast a turkey in order. Epic fail on their part, but they had a blast doing it!

It was on Wednesday night that I made the last minute decision to stop being such a hermit and catch the next train to Bochum, where my friend Emily lives. We went to the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) there, and had an absolute blast. The next day we once again made last minute plans and the two of us took the train from Bochum to Essen, where we met our friend Sara. There was another big Weihnachtsmarkt there, and we had a big dinner together since we all had to celebrate Thanksgiving away from home. I got home Thursday night oh-so-tired and broke, but oh-so-happy with life.

The week ended with my Thanksgiving presentation to the 5th graders, which I wasn't sure would go so well. Their vocabulary is pretty limited, so you can't do anything too intricate (read: interesting) with them. Probably the highlight of the week came when I taught them how to make hand-turkeys (you know, the kind that every one of us made at least fifty times in grade school by tracing around our hands). I drew one on the smartboard at the front of the class, and it was absolutely PRICELESS to see all their faces light up as if light bulbs had suddenly gone off in their heads - shouts of "OH, GEIIIIIIIIL!" (oh, cool!) came from everywhere and they scrambled to start drawing their turkeys. Best. Lesson. EVER.

Tomorrow I head off to Gladbeck for our big English TA Thanksgiving potluck...let's pray that the turkey works out. But yes - my mood is "spitze" right now, as they say in German. 21 days left until I come home, many activities planned to fill that time, and the only complaint I have is that I don't have an oven to make Christmas cookies. I guess that will have to wait until I get home!

Liebe Gruesse und bis bald,
Mary

Weihnachtsmaerkte/Christkindlmaerkte Pictures!

2009-11-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures from my spur of the moment decision to visit Bochum and Essen with the girls...enjoy!

At the entrance to the Bochum Weihnachtsmarkt

This brilliant spinny Christmas thingy...is also a bar. A BAR!

There was a flying Santa. He was on a cable, and stopped over the market to tell us the story of Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer. FYI - German version has angels instead of elves....

Bochum Weihnachtsmarkt

All I really wanted was sauerkraut...nice lady sold it to me for a euro. FANTASTISCH.

Emily was excited about her crepes. If you haven't realized it yet, there are a lot of food choices at these things.

Emily and her Pfannekuchen (pancakes...but fried.)

I tried a Dampfnudel. Big steamed bread/cake thing with vanilla sauce. Looks weird, tastes great.

Emily was excited about the size of the Essen Weihnachtsmarkt

At one of the Gluehwein stands, there were animatronic (SP?) people stirring the pot.

THE COKE TRUCKS WERE THERE! Sara was excited as I was...

"Nostalgic Toys" AWESOME.

Gluehwein!

Lights over the Weihnachtsmarkt in Essen

I am thankful for...

2009-11-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the season, some things that I am thankful for:

Family phone calls from across the ocean
My new Fulbright friends...best support group ever
Being placed at my school - the staff there, especially the Referendaren ("student teachers") have been soooooo understanding and supportive. After talking to other TA's I realized how lucky I was with how well they treat me at the CBG.
Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmaerkte) and Gluehwein - for helping me put off homesickness until I come home for Christmas
Skype's cheap rates - for giving me the ability to call people back stateside every once in a while

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Eenie meenie miney mo....

2009-11-24T12:38:00.000-08:00

So it's been nice to put off reality thus far...

Now I guess it's time to bite the bullet and make some decisions.

Options that are currently on the table include (but are not limited to):

Grad school AKA putting off reality for another two years (at LEAST)
Looking for a real job back stateside...who knows where.
Applying to teach for another year at my school here.
Applying for another teaching program in Germany.
???

Things I miss most since coming to Germany...

2009-11-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

My dogs. Let's face it - I'm hopeless without them.
Solo Cups...and American nights of beer-pong and flip cup.
Three words: Cheesy. Gordita. Crunch.
Halloween. That was a toughy this year.
Thanksgiving closely follows Halloween...they don't really do turkey here.
American TV. German humor is...well, different.
Being able to wear a t-shirt and a hoodie to the grocery store and not feel like a freak.
Salsa...they don't do spicy here.
American football...why are they so obsessed with soccer?!?
(Really this is since leaving college...but...) Random group dinner nights at CP - a little ziti, a lot of wine, and Mario Kart concluding with the standard trip to Finnie's.

Pictures - Barcelona

2009-11-23T13:51:00.001-08:00

Emily and I at the beach

My disappointment with the tiny fried fish served with its HEAD attached

The bus trip into Barcelona from the airport!

We conquered the beach.

View from our boat trip!

Another beach shot

Group dinner - paella - ICK.

Too many things with eyes in this dish for Amanda and I.

Sagrada Familia Church

Group shot - Amanda, me, Sara, Emily

Sunset...

Outside of the large open-air market

Emily and Sara were excited about the fried fishies. I was not.

Christmastime has officially begun...

2009-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official - Christmas has arrived in Germany, and it's here full-force.

Although the Christmas markets opened for the first time this past weekend, this has certainly not been the first sign of it approaching. In the US we are lucky enough to have some sort of division between seasons (even though we don't necessarily always stick with them). We have Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, and finally Christmas in December.

In Germany, however, both Halloween and Thanksgiving are non-existent. Therefore I've been seeing Christmas candies and decorations in the grocery stores for about a month now. (Yes, I bought Christmas lights, BUT they were purely for decoration purposes and weren't super Christmasy!) Even though I get pretty trigger happy when it comes to listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies, I really began to appreciate Thanksgiving simply for the fact that it packages the Christmas season up quite nicely.

So yes, Christmas has arrived and with any luck I'll be posting some pictures from Christmas markets soon (I'll be going to Dortmund the first weekend of December, and then down south to Salzburg for the second weekend).

The small group of us from the US has refused to forget about Thanksgiving, and we've organized a pot-luck style dinner this coming Saturday (cross your fingers that everything turns out okay...turkey and all). As you can imagine, Germans know absolutely nothing about Thanksgiving. I asked one of my tenth grade classes what they had heard about American Thanksgivings and all they could come up with was "Turkeys?" Needless to say, I'm giving them a presentation on Wednesday - I can't wait to see their reaction to the tradition of the president pardoning a turkey!

25 more days until I come back home, and it can't come quickly enough! I do enjoy my time here, but there's a heck of a lot of dead time to fill and not too much going on in my little town.

So sorry about the lack of posts, but I'll do my best to start punching them out more often!

Alles Gute und bis bald!

Long time, no post

2009-10-31T01:50:00.000-07:00

First and foremost - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Secondly, I apologize that I haven't been writing in here as often as I would've liked to. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with that in the near future!

For the time being however, I'd like to express my disappointment with the extent to which Halloween is celebrated here (or rather, the lack thereof)! In case you don't know, Germans (and most of Europe for that matter) don't celebrate Halloween - no trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, etc.
Yes, American culture is slowly spreading over as far as Halloween is concerned, but as of right now that only means that bars host Halloween parties, and you don't see many of the clever Halloween costumes that American college students are known for - rather, their costumes tend to stay on the dark/goth side - lots of black. The other type of costumes are worn here around Carneval time (more to come on that later).
I spent yesterday giving a presentation on Halloween to my fifth graders, and that reminded me of just how much I miss our traditions! (Needless to say, they LOVED it...although that might have had something to do with the fact that I brought in candy and made them yell "TRICK OR TREAT" at the top of their lungs) We did Halloween puzzles and games, and ended the class with some Halloween music (The Monster Mash, etc). It was great to see them so excited!
So today I'm off to visit my friend Emily in Bochum (a city about an hour away), and we're going to miss Halloween together by going shopping, carving pumpkins, making carmel apples, and watching Halloween movies.
To those of you back stateside, take advantage of our fantastic American traditions - I expect to see pictures of everyone's costumes!

One hell of a dry spell...

2009-10-05T09:52:00.001-07:00

So after about a month without internet, the wait is finally over.

After making several phone calls and having two different technicians visit my apartment, I am not officially connected to the internet. In the midst of my euphoria, I immediately set about opening a bottle of wine, finding a website to catch up on this season of Gossip Girl and Project Runway, and making myself an omelet, I now finally have the time to sit down and let you know that YES, I am still alive and well (Well, the two of you who consistently read this blog anyway).

I've settled into my apartment, which is about 5-7 minutes walking distance from the school that I teach at - Clemens-Brentano Gymnasium. The city is nice, but rather small (45,000 people). Although this is bigger than Galesburg (population-wise), there really isn't anything to do, especially when you take into account that I know nobody my age who lives here. Most of the younger teachers live in Muenster, which is about 20 minutes away by train. I've already met one of my teacher-friends there, and this weekend there will be a "social" night for all of the younger teachers. (I'm VERY much looking forward to a social Friday night)

Other than that, I met several other Americans who are also English teaching assistants in the area. We met at the orientation in Altenberg at the beginning of September and have been able to meet up several times since then. We are planning to do all of our traveling together, which includes a trip to Barcelona and Paris which will happen next week (during our Fall break).

Aaaaaand, honestly that pretty much catches you up on my situation here. Not too much going on - just a lot of red tape to get through initially, and trying to create a social life in my new surroundings. More updates to come in the future!

Getting Ready to Go!

2009-08-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

So as the big day approaches, my anxiety level steadily increases!

I'm all packed up, and praying that I won't be charged for an overweight bag...at this point, I'm leaving it up to the fine people at Lufthansa. I'd rather keep my 7 pounds of clothes than continue on worrying about whether or not I can survive on 2 pairs of jeans versus 3, thank you very much!

I take the train to Naperville tomorrow afternoon, and then hit the airport on Monday! If all goes well, I'll be in Duelmen as of 4pm local time on Tuesday!

I'll be living in an apartment which is connected with the family whom I'm renting it from. Pictures will be uploaded as soon as I get the chance to catch my breath and take a nice long shower (because who likes that "ick" feeling you get after traveling for 15 hours straight)!

New Posts

2009-08-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hey all - Just wanted to let you know that I'll be updating some posts that I had started in April of 2008 - they may not show up on the blog when you initially open it up, but they're listed in April 2008 along the right side of the page - they're the Venice and Amsterdam posts. Keep an eye out for them!

Packing Progress...Less than Two Weeks to go

2009-08-18T13:17:00.001-07:00

Progress? I think so...

Some Helpful German Phrases

2009-08-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

In preparing for a year abroad, it naturally follows that one should brush up on their foreign language skills. I mean, my German is pretty good, but admittedly rusty after being back stateside for a year! As I was sitting down to go over some key terms and phrases, I thought it might be entertaining to list some typical (along with some less-conventional) German phrases that might come in handy should any of you make it over to visit me!

Where is the bathroom?
Wo ist das WC?

Where is the train station?
Wo ist der Bahnhof?

I would like a beer.
Ich moechte ein Bier.

How much does it cost?
Wie viel kostet es?

Do you speak English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?

What would you recommend?
Was wuerden Sie empfehlen?

Some less conventional phrases (Going for a laugh here):

I hate this shitty weather.
Ich hasse dieses beschissene Wetter!

That baby is ugly as sin!
Das Baby ist haesslich wie die Nacht!

Holy shit!
Ach du heilige Scheisse!

I have such a hangover...
Ich habe SO einen grossen Kater.

Piss off!
Verpiss dich!

How to pack a year into two suitcases 101

2009-08-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

Seeing as I've successfully gone through this process before, you'd think that it would be a bit less daunting the second time around...FALSE.

Although I'm just in the starting stages, I'm already having flashbacks to my last departure for Europe - sitting in the back of the van with my two suitcases which have exploded their contents all over the cargo area, agonizing about whether or not I really REALLY needed that third pair of jeans and whether or not T-shirts would completely tag me as an American.

"These boots could be left here, but what if it snows? What if there's a flash flood - will these shoes be waterproof? Exactly how many shirts can I get by with without feeling like I'm wearing the same one every fourth day? Heels - practical? Wait, there's three square inches of space next to my socks! SCORE! Wait, do I have jeans in there?!? AAGH this is going to be overweight anyway!"

That being said, after many travels I've now gotten a basic system down:

1. ROLL EVERYTHING! I really have no idea WHY this method works, but for some reason it tends to conserve space. I was particularly skeptical about this rule, but it really does work (so long as you don't mind things getting wrinkled)

2. Stuffing socks inside shoes - This one worked out particularly well, especially considering I brought along my huge winter boots, which take up a ton of space by themselves

3. If it can be bought cheaply, I leave it at home - because really, space is golden when you're packing an entire year's wardrobe...I'd rather have a couple extra shirts than my favorite towel from home (which would probably end up being thrown away eventually anyway...)

4. I pack extras of my favorite toiletries because A - Who wants to use some sketchy German brand of deodorant? and B - Instant space for gifts on the way back! (Yeah - pays off to stay in touch with someone abroad, *cough cough*)

5. One pair of heels - MAX. Don't try to kid yourself - not. practical. (Cobblestone streets don't mix well with stilettos.)

We'll see if the second time around turns out as well as (if not better than) the first time. Any suggestions would be welcome, if either of my two (woo!) official followers have any... :)

ps - 22 days?! sheesh...

Anticipation

2009-07-31T21:02:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I'm about a month away from the beginning of my experience in Germany.

The next month will be filled with preparations and tying up loose-ends stateside - taking the GRE exam so that I can think about grad school, finishing my summer job, and slowly starting up with the ever-arduous packing process! (One year's worth of stuff in two suitcases? I'm bad enough packing for a weekend trip...) Oh well, time to get back into that mindset I suppose.

I just thought I should post something to make sure that it wasn't assumed that I had completely forgotten about the blog. Admittedly I ran short of time at the end of my junior year abroad and ended up skipping my posts on several topics - my trip to Amsterdam, Easter in Innsbruck, my university course taken with mostly German students, and I also regretfully skipped talking about my hostfamily altogether! Hopefully my free time in Germany will allow me to fill in some of these holes, and then to fill you in on my life there!

Keep an eye out for more posts around halfway through September - by then I should have settled in a bit in Duelmen!

Alles alles Gute,

Mary

(From Junior Year) Easter Break: Amsterdam...mostly PG!

2008-04-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam - easily one of the more laid-back trips that I went on during my year abroad. I went on this trip with my friend Al, and by this point in the year we had already had our fill of big museums and trying to cram in every last tourist activity possible. For Amsterdam, we decided to try out a different approach. We did do a couple of typical touristy things during our four day stay, but most of the time was spent soaking up the culture of the city and doing what you're really supposed to do on a vacation - relax!

Two things that we did take part in during our stay was a trip to Anne Frank's house (Anne Frank Huis) and then we took a free tour of the city (they make their only profits off of tips - if you travel to a big city in Europe, you should really look into it). The experience of going to the Anne Frank house was indescribable. It's hard to explain what you take away from it (a once-in-a-lifetime experience), and I'd really recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity.

The tour was great as well. We got to see all of the highlights of the city, as well as hear a few stories that we probably wouldn't have heard otherwise. History AND entertainment - what a combo! The tour guide himself was American, but he had really embraced the culture of Amsterdam. He summed up the city in a great way - he told us that people here are not necessarily all pot-smokers or sex addicts as one is prone to think (as ridiculous as it might sound). Their philosophy tends to be more along the lines of a "live and let live" outlook on life. They don't necessarily embrace prostitution or the use of marijuana, but at the same time they won't condemn someone for doing so. Judging from the livelihood of the city it seems to have worked for them at the very least economically!

Example of how the buildings in Amsterdam lean forward slightly. This was to keep cargo (which had to be hoisted to the attic due to lack of basement) from smashing into the side of the buildings as it was lifted from the canals

Amsterdam's narrowest house (the little red stripe there). This is because they used to be taxed by how wide your house was along the street.

Canal in Amsterdam

Baba - one of the many many coffeeshops

french fries with any kind of sauce imaginable!

The canals at night...

Front of the Anne Frank Huis

Anne Frank Huis

Bridge in Amsterdam - sooooooooo many bicycles.

More leaning buildings...

Sculpture re-creation of Rembrandt painting - The Nightwatch, I think?

Yet another coffeeshop...

No explanation needed?

And they sold waffles with frosting.

See the red lights? Can you guess which district?

Sex shop about two blocks from our hostel... (This makes this blog post PG-13 I think...)

(From Junior Year) Easter Break: Venice

2008-04-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

So as I was scanning my list of blog entries, I noticed the italicized "draft" next to a couple of posts - Venice, and Amsterdam. How could I possibly have forgotten to post them?! To remedy the situation, I'm posting them now (and experiencing a heavy dose of nostalgia!). I had only put in the pictures before, but I'll fill in the stories as best as I can along the way!

Where I last left off, my roommates Mariel, Hayley and I had started off our Easter Break trip through Italy and had spent a few days in Florence (which to this day remains one of my favorite two cities in Europe). After absolutely falling in love with Florence, we boarded the train for Venice. As trains usually do, the train to Venice ran late - Duh! We ended up having the looooongest layover EVER, which I think was in Bologna? Literally, we had to wait there for about three or four hours (which we hadn't really planned on) in order to get on the next train to Venice (Finding THAT out was a feat in itself, seeing as Italians have no sense of order what-so-ever! Well, at least not in comparison with any Austrian or German cities we have ever been to). Anyway, we FINALLY got to Venice about 11am and thus began our whirlwind trip through Venice.

Mariel with her lunch in Bologna

Not impressed with Bologna - "WE JUST WANT TO GET ON A TRAIN!"

Bridge on the Island of Murano

Once we got to Venice, we realized that maybe we should have scheduled more than a day trip to take it all in.

The city impressed me a lot more than I thought it would - I didn't expect to be blown away since you generally know what to expect when you go to Venice - canals and lots of them. The fact that we arrived there on a beautiful, sunny day made our first glace of the sparkling canals that much more impressive. And let me tell you - there is nothing like taking a ride on one of those boats! (We were even lucky enough to be out on the canals during the sunset - so picturesque!)

Rather than spending most of the day in the main part of the city, we took the vaparetto out to a couple of the larger islands surrounding Venice - Burano and Murano. We wanted to avoid any major crowds, and had read that many people miss out on this beautiful part of the area.

If you ever DO make it to Venice, I'd definitely keep the two islands in mind - Murano is where they create the world-famous Murano glass sculptures, jewelry, and various other items. The shop windows sparkle with the gorgeous (and equally expensive) creations of the local merchants. We loved not only this, but also the fact that there were not NEARLY as many tourists in Murano than in Venice itself.

After Murano, we took the next vaparetto ride out to Burano - the least populated area that we visited around Venice. Burano is a small fishing island outside of Venice that is world-famous for its lace. The shops here were VERY impressive as well (pretty much everything mildly authentic was out of my price range, but they were all pretty to look at!), and there were even less people on Burano than in Murano (probably because it took so long to get out there). This island was THE picture of Venice that people have in their minds. The houses were all painted beautiful colors, there was wash hanging on lines crossing over the canals, and unbelievably there were practically NO tourists there! Definitely the best decision we had made all day.

Mariel on the Vaparetto in Venice

Venice

Glass shop in Murano

Canal in Murano

Lace shops in Burano

Canal in Burano - SEE?!? In a word: picturesque.

Me in Burano

Sunset on the vaparetto back to Venice

Bridge of tears I think? Prisoners were led across it on their way to trial...

Gondola!

Paid way too much money for this wine...

Grand Canal

Mariel & Hayley with their Gelato

Grand Canal

One of my faves - moonlit canal in Venice

Venice

Grand Canal

Our first view of the city!

Me & Mariel on the vaparetto!

After coming back from Burano, it was already dark so we went to grab something to eat. After paying a bit too much for wine and grubbing out on some lasagna, we set out to find the train station. Once again, in true italian style, there was no logical way to go about it. There were (sometimes) TINY very non-legit looking signs posted along the dark (and sometimes sketchy) canals. It literally felt like we were in a labyrinth. We had no idea if we SHOULD trust these signs, but what other choice did we have? After a long long looooooong trip through Venice running across bridges and trying to dodge the million sellers of fake designer purses (A HUGE PROBLEM IN ITALY! This is one of the main reasons why we wanted to leave the main part of Venice city and go to the islands!!! Sometimes these sellers would LITERALLY block your way as you walked down the sidewalks), suddenly the train station appeared in front of us in all its grandeour! Two words came to mind: Thank. God.

Little did we know that we weren't out of the woods yet. We got on a train about three hours later, and hoped that the fact that reservations were "highly suggested" would not make a difference. Long story short, we were woken up about 2am by a rather frustrated conductor who allowed us to sit on fold-down seats in the hallway outside the compartments, since the train was in fact completely booked. Little to no sleep was achieved, but at least we made it back to Innsbruck!

Easter Break: Florence!

2008-04-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Firenze: Heaven on Earth!

If there was one city that could rival Dublin for my favorite in Europe, Florence would be it. I chose Florence as my first solo trip...not just in Europe, but really in my life. I absolutely fell in love with the city...it was like Paris in that there was SO much to do and it was SO beautiful and picturesque, but everything was very close together! I had learned the city inside and out by the end of my first day there...by the time I met up with my two roommates (Hayley and Mariel) the next day, I had it all figured out.

The train ride on the way there was definitely interesting as well...I had to put up with drunken Austrian teenage boys at 9am, then ended up having a conductor jabber at me in Italian (and ended up dishing out 23 Euro for getting on a nicer train than I was supposed to), but I MADE IT to Florence! Phew, that part was over. If I could make it through the train ride, I was home-free, right? ...WRONG!

As soon as I got off the train, the next step was to find my way to the hostel. "Okay, looking for (insert name) Street..." Definitely took me a half and hour or so to find the street I was looking for. All I have to say is that these street names need to stop CHANGING! Pick one, and stick with it. Let's not change the name every 50 meters because we FEEL like it! Sheesh.

Anyway, I'm finally on my way to my hotel. Suddenly, to my right appears the San Lorenzo Leather Market. This was not my last run-in with a leather market, but let me just sum it up that I walked away from those markets with a new purse and pair of sunglasses...and NO regrets! Haggling is one of my new favorite hobbies.

The hotel that I stayed at was a WONDERFUL surprise! Private room, private bath with a HOT shower, and free breakfast...all for 20 Euro per night. LOVELY! If you ever make it to Florence, look up Hotel Colorado. May not be high-class, but they're amazing!

I have to admit, the thought of being by myself was terrifying at first, but it really grew on me. I HAD to make decisions, and didn't have to constantly worry about making someone else happy. It was quite pleasant, actually. I wandered around the city with no particular goals, going past the Duomo, the Uffizi, and the Ponte Vecchio. I spent my time taking pictures, wandering through the markets and finally going through the Boboli Gardens (the one real goal I had that day). The whole experience was amazing...(I also was reminded of how magnificent gelato was...YUM!)

Ponte Veccio
San Lorenzo

Leather market at San Lorenzo

Duomo

By the Uffizi...

Fountain in the Piazza by the Uffizi

Another leather market!!!

By the Ponte Veccio

Boboli Gardens

View of Florence from the Boboli Gardens

Statue of Bacchus in the Boboli Gardens

GELATO in a shop on the Ponte Veccio

View from the Ponte Veccio

At the beginning of day 2, I headed out early to a fruit and veggie market and a flea market on the other side of the town. I KNOW that it is SO expected, but I grabbed some grapes and ate them as I leisurely strolled around the city. My roommates weren't due to meet me until later in the afternoon, so I had time to kill.

Fruit Market

I'll try to spare you most of the minute details, but basically as soon as my roommates made it in, we hit the ground running. The first night we went to the Duomo, to San Croce Church, and Via de' Tornabouni (the main shopping street) before grabbing some dinner at Il Cantinone...which in my opinion was a little overly priced. We ended the day as every day in Florence should end...with gelato! We went to Grom Gelateria, which has been agreed upon as the group favorite. (Walnut flavored gelato NEEDS to be introduced to the US...)

"The Gates of Paradise"

Ponte Veccio

Jewelry display window on the Ponte Veccio

The next day was even more jam-packed! We saw Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, Fra Angelico's multiple frescoes at San Marco, the San Lorenzo Basilica, Santa Maria Novella church, the Santa Maria Novella Parfumerie, and FINALLY had reservations at the Uffizi to end the day! The Uffizi was my favorite part - EVERY room held one masterpiece or another, and it was small enough where you weren't rushing around constantly. Michelangelo's David was also MUCH more impressive than I thought it would be. I've heard people describe it as an almost religious experience, and having been there I would totaly agree.

For dinner, we went to a self-service cafeteria, and it was AMAZING. If you ever go to Italy, I'd really recommend it...it's waaaaay cheaper that most restaurants, and I feel like you get more for your money this way. If you couldn't guess already, we ended the day once again with gelato...perfection!

Michelangelo's Tomb (in San Croce, I think?)

Ponte Veccio at night

Grom Gelateria

Mariel and I enjoying our gelato

Piazza Annunziata (I think?)

View of the Ponte Veccio from the Uffizi

Mariel and I at the Ponte Veccio

Hayley, me and Mariel on the Ponte Veccio

Hayley and I at San Marco

Mariel and I in our "monk-chairs" at San Marco

Hayley and I at San Lorenzo

Destination 4 - Bratislava

2008-04-25T05:41:00.001-07:00

It turned out that the cheapest way for us to return to Innsbruck from Dublin was via Bratislava. Definitely an EXPERIENCE. That being said, I wouldn't necessarily call it a "family vacation" destination. Or really an interesting destination at all for that matter. Probably the best experience I took from it was a glimpse as to how screwed up it still was from Communism, and the fact that everything here was dirt cheap.

We should have guessed what Bratislava would be like after we got on our plane. We flew with RyanAir - a very cheap discount airline, but hey, it did the job. Our entire flight was British men - either middle-aged or late teens/early twenties. Practically all of them were heading to Bratislava for stag parties or boys' weekends out. Bratislava has become popular for stag parties for several convenient reasons - #1 - cheap flights out of Great Britain. #2 - all there is to do in Bratislava is go out to clubs at night. #3 - alcohol is cheaaaaaap. #4 - there are apparently a lot of strip clubs. There you go. Mad and I were in for a bit of a surprise.

After our arrival, we made it to our hostel to find that we were sharing a room with 6 British guys in their mid 20s. GREAT. There was also a private party IN our hostel. Great - NO SLEEP. We were then woken up around 5am to our drunken roommates coming back from a night of partying.....they even tried to talk to us in their state, which I admit was pretty entertaining, "HEEEEEEY, ILLINOIS! How was youuuuuuur night?!?" Lord, the room stunk of sweaty boy and stale beer.

Mad and I decided to try to appreciate Bratislava for its culture, activities, etc, so we got an early start and left the hostel. Um, to our disappointment there was NOTHING to see. There was a small part of the old city that was in relatively good condition, but other than that there was a HUGE amount of disrepair. Buildings were practically falling down within 50 feet of a cathedral in which kings and queens of the Habsburg Family had been crowned. Not only this, but a highway was practically on its doorstep. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? The castle was practically empty, and the one museum we found in the old city was in my opinion VERY disappointing.

It was pretty sad, really. I realize that formerly communist countries were struggling, but I had no idea that it would be like this only one hour's train ride away from Vienna. I also found that the people that we ran into seemed a bit jaded. There was also a big separation between the generations, whereas in Ireland you saw 70 year-olds sitting in pubs drinking with 20 year-olds.

Area near the Cathedral
The Old City

Statue in the Old City

NO idea how to go about pronouncing that...

Dinner!

It was cold. It was windy. It was snowing.

Walking back from the Castle

Madelaine was a bit disappointed...

In the old city...

My new boyfriend...HA!

After all was said and done, it was a good experience in that we got a taste of what it's like for a country trying to rebuild. However, I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to visit it again...

Destination 3 - Dublin

2008-02-25T09:17:00.001-08:00

From the very beginning, Dublin charmed me in every way possible! A young, growing city at the same time retaining it's rich culture and heritage, Dublin has remained one of my two favorite cities in Europe. Along with the countless activities housed in this relatively small city, there were quite possibly the friendliest people I've run across in my travels. The perfect example was when Madelaine and I first made our way into the city from the airport. First, the bus driver went off of his route to drop us off closer to where our hostel was to be. Then, walking around Dublin at 10pm (and with no idea of how to get to our hostel) we happened to run across an American from Texas who had moved there. He walked us to the police station in order to get directions to our hostel! Once we got there, the policemen were unbelievably helpful (and not one bit annoyed that our American friend had been banging on the desk window for about five minutes). Without their kindness, it would have been a much longer night...

The next day we started off early (something which those of you who know how much I love to sleep may have a hard time believing...). First we explored the Talbot/Henry Street area where our hostel was, and made our way to the famous Ha' Penny Bridge (people used to be charged half a penny to cross it...now fortunately free! Hey, we're college students...we'll take what we can get!)

The first day was largely devoted to churches and tours. We started out with Christ Church, and upon seeing the 4 Euro entry fee, were a little hesitant (4 Euro to visit a church? REALLY?) However, once we got in we found it WELL worth the money. We were given a pamphlet with extensive explanations of pretty much every aspect of the church (including it's history, and how it had gone back and forth between Anglicanism and Catholicism), and it took us on a self-guided tour including the lower level. Much to my surprise, I also discovered that it was an Anglican-Episcopalian church!

Doors along Merrion Square. Story to come later...

Floor details in Christ Church depicting the "foxy friars"

Christ Church

After our visit to Christ Church, naturally made our way to St. Patrick's cathedral. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this church was the fact that there were so many artifacts and statues throughout the building. One of the best was the "Door of Reconciliation." The story goes that in a long, bloody fued between the houses of Ormond and Kildare, it came down to the Earl of Ormond taking refuge in the Chapter House. The Earl of Kildare wanted to end it peacefully, but the other did not believe him. In order to gain his trust, the Earl of Kildare cut a hole in the door and thrust his arm in to shake the Earl of Ormond's hand.

St. Patrick's

Stained Glass window in St. Patrick's Cathedral

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we made our way to Dublin Castle. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical about this part. Mad really wanted to see the state room tour, so I decided to go along with it. I am SO glad that I listened to her! It was much better than expected, and the tour guide was great. We even got to see the room where the Belfast talks took place (Yes, I'm a huge poli sci nerd!). We also got to see where the moat had been surrounding the castle (and still does). We were also told how Dublin got its name - from the gaelic term for "black pool."

Our tour guide in Dublin Castle...and the table where the Belfast talks took place!!! I wonder where Clinton sat...

One of the state rooms used for receptions (still in use, actually)

Original wall of the castle...with mortar made of animal blood and some other component, I can't really remember. This came from the Viking heritage of Ireland (where the red-heads come from...)

After walking by city hall following our tour of the castle, we needed a break. Where to go.....AH, YES! The Guinness Storehouse! The self-guided tour itself wasn't that impressive to tell you the truth...the building has about 7 floors, each with a different theme (advertising, the brewing process, etc). The first three or so were good, but then you could tell they were stretching it a bit.

Our FAVORITE floor was of course the top floow - the 360 Degree Bar! With the tour, you get a free pint of Guinness to be enjoyed in this awesome bar. Other than the elevator, you get a 360 degree view of Dublin while sipping a refreshing Guinness! Somehow Mad and I timed it out PERFECTLY, so we were there right around sunset. Definitely the perfect way to relax after a long day!

My fave advertisement in the tour...

360 Degree Bar

After grabbing a dinner of Fish & Chips (YUM!), we decided that we wanted to really experience Dublin. In the best way possible. If you haven't guessed already, that means going to a pub and hearing some live music. So began our quest to find the perfect pub...

Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. First we tried the famous Temple Bar area (which was definitely hopping), but so many of the pubs were 21 and over, so Mad couldn't get in (some were even 23 and over...what?!?) We kept walking and walking, trying to found one that felt right. We were about to give up, when we ran across "The Celt" which was conveniently about a block away from our hostel. As soon as we walked in the doors, it felt PERFECT! Live music every night, and it had a cozy/friendly feeling to it. We grabbed a pint and waited for the music to start.

The music itself was PHENOMENAL! People were singing along (um...including me) and some even got up and started dancing. If we hadn't planned on getting up so early the next morning, we could have very well stayed there all night!

Beautiful Dublin at night...

Mad at the Celt

Our Pub!!!

Early start the next morning = DEFINITE need for a strong cup of coffee. After accomplishing goal number one, we walked around Merrion Square, which was surrounded with doors painted bright colors. As promised earlier, here's the story behind them: They used to be painted black until one night a drunken man came back to the wrong house after a long night at the pubs. He actually got in bed with the wrong wife, and when the husband came home, he shot the imposter and killed him. Immediately thereafter the wives in the area painted their doors different colors to avoid another mistake...and there you go!

The square had a beautiful garden inside (St. Stephen's Green) with ponds, etc, and an Oscar Wilde memorial.

Seeing as it was St. Patrick's Day, we decided that we should celebrate it properly...by seeing St. Valentine's BONES! A bit dark, yes, but what do you expect from a single girl on Valentine's Day?!? Anyway, the relics were housed in Whitefriar Street Church, and we happened to grab a peek before services started.

St. Valentine's Relics

After checking out the relics, we went meandering around Dublin. We saw the Molly Malone Statue, the Bank of Ireland, Trinity College, and the Liffy River. The last two "academic" stops of the day for us were the National Museum and St. Michan's Church.

St. Michan's Church was probably one of the most bizarre experiences in ALL of my travels in Europe. First of all, our tour guide was a nut. No, REALLY. He must've been certifiably INSANE. Everyone in the tour was trying to stifle giggles as he went on with his sound effects and crypt-keeper-esque voice. The tour itself led us down into the crypts below the church, which are famous for the mummified bodies which are on display dating back from the crusades. They also included rebels who had been executed (hence our guide's sound effects of hangings, being quartered, etc. oh yeah, it was interesting...)

The WEIRDEST part of the tour was when the guide slid the gate away and said we could "shake hands" with the body if we wanted. WHAT?!? Apparently rubbing the finger of the crusader's body was considered good luck. At first we weren't sure if he was serious...oh yes. He WAS.

After St. Michan's, we decided that no trip to Dublin would be complete without a trip to the Jameson Distillery. I now have a new respect for Irish Whiskey. The tour here was MUCH more informative than the Whiskey Experience in Scotland and the Guinness Storehouse tour. It was also neat, in that at the end they did a taste-testing comparing American whiskey to Scotch Whisky to Irish Whiskey.

For dinner we actually went to the oldest pub in Ireland - "The Brazen Head." Good food, and it's always fun to say you've been there, BUT we decided that our allegiance was now with our pub "The Celt," so after dinner we walked along Grafton Street, grabbed a dessert for a treat (c'mon, it's Valentine's Day! Mad's boyfriend was stateside, and I don't have one...we definitely deserved it!)

To end the night, we hung out at "The Celt," and heard some more GREAT music! We also met a couple from Edinburgh who were visiting Dublin, and found out that their son had actually been a ski instructor in Innsbruck, and the wife was a German teacher and had studied in Vienna! Anyway, we talked with them pretty much all night and they even treated us to a couple beers...some of the nicest people I've met! (Although I'll admit, I was still having trouble understanding the Scottish accent...especially after a couple pints)

The Brazen Head - the oldest pub in Ireland

Mad enjoying the Spar sandwiches...YUM!

Me at the Jameson Distillery

Me "shaking hands" with the crusader at St. Michan's

Big still...

Taste-testing at Jameson

Me and my free whiskey...

Shopping center along Grafton Street

Ha' Penny Bridge

The Dublin Spire

For dumb tourists like us...since traffic goes backwards. Not going to lie, definitely needed this at times...haha

Me and Mad at the Guinness Storehouse

Me and my complimentary pint of Guinness in the 360 Degree Bar

Fish & Chips!

Me at The Celt

Live music at the Celt!

St. Stephen's Green...and my coffee. Crucial.

The Molly Malone Statue

Model of Viking Ship at the National Museum

As I said before, Dublin is one of my favorite cities! It's one of those cities where you immediately feel welcomed and at home in! I'd travel back there in a heartbeat...who knows, maybe I could move there after I graduate!

Destination 2 - Paris

2008-02-20T05:38:00.000-08:00

Just when we thought things couldn't get any better...we arrived in Paris! Even though I couldn't help but have rather high expectations from such a famous city, Paris didn't fail to impress me. A city with so much to offer, we barely fit in most of what we wanted to do within our two and a half days there!

After buying our Museum passes, figuring out the Metro system (in itself, a challenge), and FINALLY making it to our hostel - "Peace and Love Hostel" - we decided to that it would be best to get a good night's sleep...after some food. We ended up finding a small cafe about ten minute's walk from our hostel. This was our FIRST encounter with the French language...and thank God I could throw together a few awkward phrases in French. We walked in the door and tried talking to the bartender who spoke NO english whatsoever. He disappeared and about a minute later out comes the cook! In broken english he grabbed us a table and whipped out about five menus (all on standing chalk-boards?!?). I ended up asking what he would recommend for dinner, and got some WONDERFUL beef dish with potatoes which he assured me was "VERY French!" AWESOME. The cook even came out after we had started eating to make sure that we enjoyed our meal - oh the joy of eating in a small restaurant!
Probably the most important phrase that I learned was "Check, please!" I feel like in most restaurants, they won't bring it unless you ask for it. Seeing as pretty much NONE of the waiters whom we had spoke English, I feel like we would've been hanging around forever had I not luckily memorized this phrase...
Ok...this is going to be a lot of writing, so I'm going to try to break it down into two days. Day 1.

We started off pretty early - around 8am I believe - in order to get in as much as possible. Our first stop was Arch de Triumphe...that's when it really hit home that we were in Paris. After taking the tunnel (which went underneath all the traffic) that leads to it (a tip which I learned from close family friends who unfortunately were not aware of that fact...haha), we enjoyed our first real taste of Paris!

After that, we walked down Champs Elysees toward the Louvre. A bit longer of a walk than we bargained for, but at least we got to see a good amount of the city, AND we found a Starbucks along the way...crucial. The Louvre itself was absolutely HUGE. I've always heard that you can spend literally DAYS going through the collections, and now I can honestly say that that is NO exaggeration. It was hard enough to make our way from one wing to the other! We set priorities (thank God) and focused on painting and sculpture...didn't narrow it down THAT much, but it definitely helped.

Thoroughly exhausted...by about noon...we made our way to Ponts des Arts, a pedestrian bridge near the louvre. Then after paying WAY too much for a few slices of salami on a baguette, we broke down and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower - the weather was gorgeous, so we were trying to get in all the outdoor sites. The Eiffel Tower was definitely a great stop...not only is it effectively Paris' trademark symbol, but it also offers a GREAT view of the city! Al and I made our way to the top level - there are three separate levels that you can go to.

Following our Eiffel Tower experience, we walked over to Invalides and Napoleon's tomb. Definitely not what I was expecting...the tomb itself was HUGE. It was set down lower than the level that we were walking on, so that there was a sort of an open circle that you had to walk up to the edge of in order to see in the middle. Such a big tomb for such a little man...

To end our night, we walked to Boulevard St. Michel in the Latin Quarter - a district that had been primarily students, who for a while only spoke Latin. Hence, the Latin quarter. (Once again, a longer walk than we bargained for) After making our way past dozens of small book shops, we grabbed dinner at a cafe, and then called it a night - reeeeeelatively early...we even got teased by the bartender at our hostel (yes, the first floor is a bar) - "LAAAAADIES! It's Friday night...you had better be back downstairs!" Haha - not likely.

Our room in the hostel

Arch de Triumphe

and again...

Notice the tops of the cars from all the traffic in the background. Yep - tunnel it is!

Proof that we were up so early...Champs Elysees toward the Louvre

Place de la Concorde area

Venus de Milo!

One of my new favorite sculptures

To give you an idea of the scale of some of these paintings

Rubens room

Kinda want that hairdo...

The Louvre!

and again

At the top of the Eiffel Tower

Al and I at the Eiffel Tower

Napoleon's Tomb

And now...Day 2.

Once again, we had an early start. With our last full day in Paris ahead of us, we didn't want to miss out on ANYTHING! The first area we went to was Ile de la Cite - the island where Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle are located. Saint Chapelle is known for it's gorgeous stained glass windows, depicting over 1,000 scenes from the history of mankind. This turned out to be waaaay more impressive that I expected. Notre Dame was impressive as well, and we actually went up into the bell towers. We were able to see the Great Bell and the several gargoyles that decorate the building.

After the churches, it was museum time once again! We went to the Rodin museum first...even though it was pretty small, there was a lot to take in. Some sculptures included "The Thinker" and "The Kiss." It was definitely a nice change from the Louvre, where you were just completely overwhelmed.

Musee d'Orsay was next. This museum was my favorite, and is located in a renovated train station. Definitely a neat atmosphere. Once again, MUCH smaller than the louvre, and therefore much easier to navigate yourself in. Orsay is home to MANY famous impressionist works by Degas, Renoir and Monet. (Also Whistler's Mother?!?) As I said before, by far my favorite museum.

The last museum which we hit up was the Picasso Museum. In retrospect, it probably wouldn't be on my list had I known how much effort it would take to find it. (That, and I wasn't really a fan of the artwork displayed there) Still, fairly interesting - they DID have an impression of Picasso's right hand...and let me tell you, MUCH smaller than I would've thought. It was about the same size as Al's hand.

Our last stop (phew!) was Sacre Coeur in Monmartre. This is one area of town that I wish we would've planned in a bit more. If you have ANY sort of artsy streak in you, you should definitely plan on spending some quality time in Monmartre. Just walking through the streets around Sacre Coeur was an experience. A mixture of cafes and art vendors gives this area of the city a certain charm. When we made it to Sacre Coeur, people were lounging on the grass, enjoying a bottle of wine, and taking in the sunset...

We ended our last full day in Paris by (you guessed it) eating out, and relaxing over a glass of wine. Definitely the perfect way to end our time in Paris.

Stained glass in Saint Chapelle - not the best pic, but you get the idea

View from bell tower at Notre Dame

Notre Dame...

The Thinker

The Kiss

One of my favorite sculptures at the Rodin Museum

Renoir!!!!!!!!

Musee d'Orsay

Sacre Coeur at sunset

Our last dinner in Paris!

And finally...our hostel. In all its tackiness!

Destination 1 - Edinburgh

2008-02-19T04:43:00.001-08:00

We couldn't have picked a better place to start off with...Edinburgh went above and beyond any expectations that we had when arriving at the city. The city has an almost mythological presence to it, as you get your first glimpse of the castle towering over the city.

Al and I arrived in Edinburgh in the evening, and not exactly an ideal one. It was rainy and rather cold...much to our surprise, however, this was the only time we had to deal with rain during our entire vacation! After checking in at our hostel (in a 30 bed room, mind you), we went out and explored what we could. All in all a very relaxing night - we went to Deacon Brodie's Pub for dinner, which was recommended by one of our professors who lived in Edinburgh before moving to Innsbruck. After hearing horror stories about how awful british food is in general, we were THRILLED with our food...steak pie, and "Lumpy Bumpy" for dessert...couldn't tell you exactly what was in it, but it tasted like heaven (DESPITE the name)!

One of the famed "closes" in Edinburgh. Some are said to be haunted by victims of the plague.

On our only full day in Edinburgh, we did as much as we possibly could! The weather was awesome, so we were able to do a lot of outdoor activities, which was great. We started out the day at the Scotch-Whiskey experience - a rather corny explanation of how they make Scotch. Yes, it was a bit early, BUT we got half-price admission, a free dram of whisky, AND a Glencairn Glass as a souvenir.

After that, we explored High Street (The Royal Mile) during the daylight. When they say "High" street, they aren't kidding - it's a bit of a hike to get up there, with the castle at one end, and Holyrood house at the other.

Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Mile!

Barrel ride at the Scotch-Whisky Experience...wonderfully tacky. These things went about 1 mile an hour.

High Street!

and again...

After exploring, we headed up to the castle for the 1 o'clock gun...at 1pm sharp every day, they fire this cannon from Edinburgh Castle. This is a tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years, initially started as a way for people to set their clocks.

I have to tell a bit of a side story about this experience...when going to see the 1 o'clock gun, I went up by myself. Al didn't feel like paying the admission fee, so I headed up solo. As I stood with my camera, waiting for 1 to roll around, a little old man sauntered up next to me. There are times when you can just tell when someone is itching to start up a conversation, and this was one of these moments. Without any formal introduction, he goes into a lengthy description of his day-to-day life, the fact that his brother's birthday was the day before, and a complete history of the 1 o'clock gun! It was one of the neatest experiences of my life!

"You see, normally I come every day [he wasn't joking...he even had it timed out]...well, not on Mondays or Tuesdays...that's when I go to the laundrette and get my affairs in order. Yesterday was my brother's birthday, so I didn't make it then. He said that they were having a 21 gun salute FOR his birthday, but then later I came to find out that it was for the Queen, and not for him. You see that man getting ready to fire the gun? His name is Shannon, so they call him Shannon the Cannon! What d'ya think about that? The man who used to fire it every day died last November. Have you seen the new parliament building? Oh, it's just hideous!"

Just like that! No pauses to catch his breath...the man was a machine! This was probably my favorite part of visiting Edinburgh. After asking me where I was from, he told me that he had been to the US - San Francisco being his favorite city. I'll never forget what he said next - "There's only one city in the world more beautiful than San Francisco...you know where that is?" No, I replied. "Just look around you!" ...and this huge smile spread across his face. I had officially fallen in love with Edinburgh.

The Castle entrance

"Shannon the Cannon" and the 1 o'clock gun

My new friend took a picture for me!

Monmument along Princes Street

After our experience with the castle, we grabbed lunch and made our way to Calton Hill, via Princes Street. The Calton monument and an unfinished monument are located on top of the hill, and it offered a spectacular view.

View from Calton Hill

Unfinished monument

Calton Memorial

After that, we headed to the National Art Gallery, which was surprisingly free!!! Definitely worth making our way through...the impressionist paintings were probably my favorite (as usual!)

National Art Gallery

Typical Storefront window along the Royal Mile

After our loooooong day, we grabbed a big dinner on the Royal Mile, and then searched for a pub. We ran across "Half-Hangit Maggie's" which had student/backpacker discounts. The story behind the name is worth mentioning as well. Apparently it's named after a woman who had been sentanced to be hanged, and amazingly survived and recovered to full health. She was hanged in the square just outside the bar.

We grabbed a couple pints and wrote our postcards, doing our best to describe the magic of the city. The next day, we were heading off to Paris!

A pint of McEwan's at Half-Hangit Maggie's

Uniball

2008-02-18T08:49:00.001-08:00

So instead of studying on the weekend before finals...we went to the Uniball! (Well, we still studied...but took the Saturday off) Basically, the Uniball is a HUGE dance held at the end of the first semester of study. Most students of the university attend, along with prominent figures from the University and the city. Thousands of people attend every year, and it is seen as one of the highlights of the ball season in Innsbruck.

There were around 7 different dance rooms, each with its own theme. Some were pop music, jazz piano, latino, and waltz. (It was pretty expensive to attend, but they definitely did a good job of offering a lot of different options) 13 out of the 14 people in our group attended, and I think it's safe to say that we all had a good time.

Some people stay until it ends (around 4 am), and then go to breakfast afterwards. We didn't make it past 2...our feet couldn't handle any more dancing!

Me, Mad and Al...all dressed up!

All the girls!

My two roommates (Hayley & Mariel) and I

My Host sister, Magdalena, came along as well!

Me and Anthony - with one of his famous mixed drinks

Faschingsfeier!

2008-02-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Right around finals time, we were able to experience something quite unique...Faschingsfeier in Austria. Faschings is the time leading up to Fat Tuesday, and culminates on Faschingsdienstag - or Faschings Tuesday. In order to experience this tradition properly, Al, Madelaine and I went with Madelaine's host family to Axams, a village about a half-hour's drive outside of Innsbruck. We were told that it would be much more traditional than any festivities within the city.

We went into a local pub, met a few colleagues of Madelaine's host father, and grabbed some food and drinks while waiting for the festivities to begin. The three of us were on edge - not quite knowing what to expect, and not knowing when it would begin.

Suddenly men in wooden masks and wierd costumes came and banged on the window of the pub with pine branches, and accordion music suddenly hit our ears. Showtime...

The first ones in the door were the musicians playing traditional music. Then came the masked figures - they were wearing suits turned inside out and adorned with corn-husks. They immediately went to all the women in the bar and began to hit our shoulders with the pine branches, and proceeded to mess up our hair in the process. (Apparently this is supposed to guarantee fertility...) With a bunch of hoots, they grabbed dance partners and swung them in circles around the room. It all happened so fast, that the three of us were caught up in the moment - the music went faster and faster and when it FINALLY stopped, it is tradition to buy your masked dance partner a shot of schnapps in return for the dance.

Toto...we aren't in Illinois anymore.

The process repeated itself SEVERAL times throughout the evening - I think about six groups came through our pub, each different from the next. The masks and costumes changed with each passing group...needless to say, I've never seen anything like it in my life!

The first group...

Notice the masks, inside out suits, and corn-husks

Accordion player on top of our table...we decided to nickname him "Tom Cruise"

Madelaine dancing with one from the Viking group

Apparently our table was ideal to stand on top of...this accordion player was losing his socks.

Al being accosted...again!

The last group carried whips?!?

Hannenkamm in Kitzbühel

2008-02-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry that this has taken SUCH a very long time to get around to, but as you can imagine, things have been a bit hectic around here. Finals finished up at the end of January, and immediately following finals, we started our month-long break. Finally, I now have some time to update you all as to what exactly has been going on on this side of the world!

In January, Madelaine, Al and I decided (last minute) to go to an international skiiing competition held yearly in Kitzbuehel, Austria. Hannenkamm, the world ski cup, is somewhat comparable to the "Austrian Super bowl." About 30,000 people show up each of the three days of the competition, watch the events, and then many stay in the city to party it up that night.

We had to take the early train out, and made it there around 9.30 in the morning. As we walked through the city, we could see remnants from the parties held the night before...definitely looked like they had fun (and didn't have enough time to clean up either...)!

It was definitely a GREAT experience, and we were glad that we decided to throw caution to the wind and just take off (not really knowing exactly what to expect). It was so interesting to see so many nationalities brought together - personally, I've never been to such an international competition. We walked by groups of people with flags painted on their faces, as well as flags hoisted over their shoulders. We climed the rather steep hill to about halfway up the run. We had to dig into the snow/ice with our shoes in order to get decent footing (it was VERY steep - each of us nearly wiped-out about five times).

All in all, a great experience of the Austrian sports-scene!

Al and Madelaine on the train to Kitzbuehel...

Madelaine, me, and Al enjoying some Gluehwein to stay warm...

The end of the run...

and again....

U-S-A!!!!!!!!

Mad and I

Trying to get some good pics...AND not slide down the hill!

Mad and I

Sankt Nikolaus, das Christkind, und die Krampusse!

2007-12-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

Things are finally beginning to slow down in Innsbruck...at least as far as our classes go! Our midterms are over, and everyone is ready for a break. This will be my last post before I head back state-side to celebrate Christmas with the family (and I'm sure several of you are reading this right now)! I'll be flying out in nine days, and getting back to Galesburg the morning of the 18th. Trying not to think about the culture shock of hearing English around me once again, as well as the wicked effect of jet-lag. Regardless, it will be AWESOME to be home again! Taco Bell, access to a car, not having to pay 50 cents to use a public restroom...magnificent!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know about how completely different the Christmas traditions are here. To begin with, Santa Claus DOES NOT give the major gift-giving here. Rather, "Sankt Nikolaus," or Saint Nikolaus auf Englisch, comes on December 5th. He brings small presents, but isn't nearly as big of a figure as in the US.

ONE MAJOR DIFFERENCE! The Krampusse (pronounced CRAMM-pussa). Perhaps one of the scariest traditions I've ever heard of, these guys follow around Sankt Nikolaus. Their main purpose is to scare kids into being good. No joke. They go around Christkindlmarkts with whips and terrorize people - nothing serious of course, but they're a pretty big deal here. They're actually paid by businesses to do so. Surprisingly enough, they tend to target girls about my age. It's all in good fun, but when you see someone in a furry suit which resembles chewbacca, with a devil mask with huge horns and a giant cow bell attached to him, its a BIT intimidating.

So instead of Santa Claus, they have the "Christkind" or Christ-child bringing the children gifts. Also, they open their gifts on December 24th, and NOT on the 25th. The children here also don't necessarily think of the Christ-child as the same Christ who died on the cross. They tend not to make that connection until they are much older. This is what surprised me perhaps most of all. Baby Jesus brings the presents?!?

Well, here are some pictures of different events that I talked about, and ALSO from a trip that I took with my host family to Sterzing. It's located just across the border in Italy, in Suedtyrol - an area which is generally a mixture between Italian and Austrian culture. Definitely a lot of fun, and an absolutely beautiful town.

Sankt Nikolaus and a Krampuss.

Madelaine was lucky enough to be accosted by this Krampuss...haha

One of the giant Dolls in the Altstadt.

The Golden Roof and the Christmas Tree

CHRISTMAS TREE!!

Windows in a building coverted into an Adventskalendar - "Advent Calendar"

Sterzing Christmas Market

Teresa, Mariel, Me, and Magdalena at Sterzing

And finally...Sterzing again!

Christmas-Fever floods Innsbruck...

2007-11-19T05:51:00.000-08:00

As we head into perhaps the PRETTIEST time of year in Tyrol, it seems appropriate that I post about just how beautiful it is here.

For the past two weeks or so, small wooden buildings began popping up around the altstadt, and various "platz" areas around town. We immediately knew what was coming - with the end of November, come the Christkindlmarkts (Christmas markets)! This past weekend (on the 17th - 18th of November) the Christkindlmarkts finally opened! Streets which had been fairly open and slow-paced only a week ago are buzzing with activity...booths line the streets selling everything from roasted chestnuts to Gluehwein (mulled wine) to hand-made slippers to manger-scene figurines. The first night, there was even live music to entertain the shoppers.

I didn't even think it was possible, but Innsbruck has become even more enchanting than it was when I first arrived. The altstadt is COVERED with lights and dolls (um...HUGE ones) of fairytale characters, such as Snow White, etc. As if we weren't anxious enough for Christmas already!

The fact that it snowed not that long ago makes it that much prettier...the snow is still pretty much covering a good part of the mountains, and some areas around town still have a bit of snow that hasn't melted away just yet.

Entrance to the Christkindlmarkt in Marktplatz...the mountains make the perfect backdrop!

The first "real" snow of the year!

The mountains!

The Inn River...the altstadt is to the right

View from the Hofburg

The altstadt!!! Notice the chandelier lights!

The Christmas tree in front of the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof)

Goldenes Dachl, Christmas tree, the alps...what else can anyone want???

Maria Theresien Strasse with ornament lights!

One of the creepy fairytale dolls...don't know who this guy was supposed to be. But his eyes moved...

My first taste of Gluehwein! LOVED IT!

Christkindlmarkt in front of the Goldenes Dachl

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves...tyrol style!

Other than the Christkindlmarkts, we've been keeping ourselves busy getting ready for Thanksgiving on Thursday, semi-preparing ourselves for midterms, sharing Christmas music, and planning travel for February...on the docket (hopefully): Paris, Edinburgh, Florence, Rome, and Venice.

However, as for right now, I'm just excited to make it back to the States for Christmas! :)

Italia: Milano and Verona

2007-11-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! Well, I most definitely have something to write about in this post...thanks to All Saints Day, our group had a four-day weekend to do as we pleased. Of course, being centrally located in Europe, many of us took the opportunity to do some travelling to a nearby location. Two friends of mine (Al & Mad) and I decided to do a relaxing tour of Milan and Verona, which was, well...definitely an experience! Even though Innsbruck is SO very close to the Italian border, the cultures were most definitely different - sometimes drastically. However, we were able to cope with the new language, and had a blast along the way! :)

On the first day of our four-day weekend (Thursday), we boarded the train and made the 6 hour train ride to Milan. The train ride itself would have been reason enough to make the trip. Northern Italy was spectacular! Terraces of vineyards, now a wonderful rusty-fall colour, covered the landscape, and the snow-topped mountains created the most beautiful scenery one could hope for. I could hardly believe it when I glanced at Al & Mad who were dozing in the seats across from me.

Upon our arrival in Milan, we immediately set out to find our hostel. Although we had to take a bus to get there (about a 15 minute ride from the city center), it was a very cheap bus ride (1 Euro as compared to about 2 in Innsbruck) and most definitely worth it. The hostel (Bed & Bed Milan) was very clean, and better than one would expect for 20 euros a night...although we DID have to share two bathrooms with the entire hostel. Imagine, if you will, waiting outside the bathroom and hearing french on one side of the hall, and japanese on the other...yep - definitely not in Galesburg anymore.

After finishing that, we hopped on the bus and went for our first experience of downtown Milan!!! We got to Piazza Duomo (where the cathedral is located), and our breath was taken away. The buildings were so impressive, and the Piazza itself was huge.

The Galleria - an upscale shopping mall located at the Piazza Duomo

Al in front of the Duomo

Once we had finished there, we decided to explore and look for someplace to eat. We went along the main drag, which went between the Duomo and the Castle, now a museum. National geographic was displaying photos along the street, and people were trying to sell cheezy touristy items along the sidewalk. The street was lined with restaurants and cafes, however, we wanted to hold out for something a bit more cost-effective.

The National Geographic display leading down the street

However, that did NOT happen. We had been searching for about an hour for the church which holds Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the last supper, only to realize that tickets were sold out for the next two weeks - BIG bust. Lesson number one: don't plan trips only two days in advance!!! We ended up going to a cafe along the main drag (pictured below), which was good, however, we were left hungry after the meal. Well, at least we can say we did it, right???

Cafe located along main drag in Milan...where we ended up eating.

We ended up turning in early that night (after some gelato of course...), and resorted to watching the MTV European Music Awards - the ONLY thing in English on TV - and dreaming of a big pizza.

The next morning, we got an early start (after braving the hostel bathrooms), and made Castle Sforzesco our first stop. The museum was extremely impressive, including a room frescoed by da Vinci during the same time he painted the Last Supper, and a late sculpture of Michaelangelo's.

Fun story of the museum - a creepy security guard at the museum decided to flirt with us, and follow us throughout two rooms. Oh don't worry...he comes back into the story.

Castle Sforzesco - also a museum

Michaelangelo's sculpture

Mad, Al & I outside the castle

After the museum, we slowly made our way through the National Geographic display. THIS is when Mr. creep came back into the picture. He just happened to be on that street, and of course, decided to come chat with us again. We quickly ditched him, and moved on. While on that note - Italian men are unbelievable. Never have I ever been around men who behave in such a manner! I've never been looked up and down and been called beautiful so many times in my life. Let's just say that we were all glad to be back in Austria for this reason...haha.

Mad at the display

Following this, we decided to check out the Galleria. The building itself was gorgeous, and the shops were impressive as well. If there's one thing I can say about Milan, its that they can create a mean display window....

The Galleria

Display inside the Galleria

After the Galleria, we made our way to the Duomo. We finally went inside, and it was HUGE! The stained glass windows were probably my favorite part.......

Inside the Duomo

Prayer candles inside the Duomo

ME outside the Duomo!

After we had had enough of being accosted by men trying to sell us corn to feed the filthy pidgeons in the Piazza, we headed off to Monte Napoleone - Milan's famous street filled with designer stores. The stores included Dior, Prada, and Armani. The fashion itself was...interesting.

Display window - Dior

Coffee? Would you like any diamonds with that?

I'd wear those shoes...YEAH RIGHT!

The Duomo on our walk back

Luckily, we already had a pizza place staked out for dinner. We ended the day with some pizza and beer, and topped it all off with some gelato. Afterwards we headed off to the train station to move on to phase two - Verona!

A note about our travels to Verona...just because it was so bizarre. To begin with, we stayed with a friend of mine from high school, Lindsey Kerber, who was studying in Verona. Directions in hand, we left the Verona train station and figured out through broken English that we would have to take a bus. The bus ride was ODD. First of all, we ended up sitting across from two gay italian men, who were obviously drunk and insisted on grooming each other like a couple monkeys. Then, of course once we got to the Piazza, and were thoroughly confused as to where to go next, Lindsey's cell phone number didn't work. Lovely. We ended up taking about 2 hours to find her apartment...going about every which way around Verona. Having finally gotten to her apartment, we collapsed on her tile floor and called it a night.

The next day, however, was MUCH better! We started off the day by going to Piazza Erbe, which had an open air market and lots of good food vendors :)

Piazza Erbe

Vendors at Piazza Erbe

Mad & I enjoying our well-earned fruit cups

After taking our time there, we bit the bullet and went to Juliette's house. Seeing as it is a fictional house to begin with, we rejected the idea of going in, but DID take a look at the balcony. It was alright, but there were FAR too many people in a very small courtyard. Probably the coolest part about it was the entryway, which was COVERED with messages to Juliette...written by the many visitors. Technically, one can be fined a good sum of money for doing so, and people are supposed to write messages and slip them in a mailbox of sorts.

Juliette's balcony

Messages to Juliette...

Bridge in Verona

After that, we went back to Piazza Bra, pretty much at the center of the city. We then visited the Arena...AMAZING!

Outside of the Arena

Al & Mad in the Arena

me in the Arena

View from the top!

Bridge lit up at night!

After our long day around Verona, we headed back to Lindsey's apartment to cook dinner with her. It was wonderful to be able to catch up over pasta, veggies, and a couple bottles of wine. After the night before, we definitely could use a relaxing evening. (And of course, we had Gelato again...)

The next day, we headed out early after saying goodbye to Lindsey, and deposited our bags at the train station. After a quick Doener sandwich, we were ready once again to be super-tourists!

View from a bridge, right after visiting the cathedral in Verona

View from the other side...

After the cathedral, we made our way to the Roman theatre (the theatre itself wasnt impressive), but the museum which was attached had some awesome views.

Here are Mad and I being the epitomy of romanesque statues...

View from the top

After that, we went to gardens which had originally been created for a castle located in Verona. I've never seen ANYTHING like it!

The gardens

and again...

Me at the gardens

Piazza Bra

After our tour of Verona came to an end, we decided to do as the locals do - RELAX! We went back to Piazza Erbe, grabbed a table at a streetside cafe, and had a drink. This was perhaps one of my favorite parts of our trip. After people-watching for about a half hour, we grabbed a snack from the market, and slowly made our way back to the station.

As we boarded the train to head back to Innsbruck, our ears perked up as German was once again being used around us. This wonderful sense of familiarity swept over us, and Innsbruck suddenly felt very much like home. Italy was definitely a wonderful experience, and I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world...however, that being said - it's good to be back "home." :)

Innsbruck Pics - Home away from home!

2007-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Innsbruck, Austria

View from my window - yes, those are the alps!!!

My new school! UIBK

View of my Studentenheim from the outside...

Altstadt pic...

My two "Gastschwester" and I - Magdalaine & Theresa

The Inn River, following the first snow in the mountaints!!!

Only in Europe...

SNOW!!!!!!!

View from the bridge...

Snow, yet again! Apparently it's about a month earlier this year than it usually is...

Maria Theresian Strasse

Oktoberfest Fotos - YES, I was able to operate a camera - and more...

2007-10-22T14:50:00.001-07:00

Oktoberfest!!!

The parade starting off Oktoberfest in Munich

Nothing like a little Blasmusik...

HUGE...FREAKIN...HORSES!

Lebkuchen Hearts... "Mein Schatz!"

Oktoberfest at first glance...

SO...LUCKY to find seats! Charlie, Mad and I - able to have our first Festbier, courtesy of Augustiner Brewery!

Al showing how thoroughly thrilled she was. (Maybe her second Bier?)

Salzburg Etc pics - The Festung

View from inside the Festung...

Proof that I (finally) made it up there! Aaron, the faithful walking buddy took the pic...

Sunset from atop the Festung

BIG LOAVES OF BREAD sold by a vendor along the Salzach River

The DAFII class with our lovely professor, Frau Mueller

Budapest Pics

2007-10-22T13:58:00.001-07:00

Budapest!!!

Holy Cow...new language!

(Arrival at the Budapest station)
At the cathedral in Esztergom

Better view of the cathedral

Some of us outside the cathedral

View from the top...NEVER going up stairs like that again (I about had a panic attack), however, it WAS a spectacular view! (Slovakia is across the Danube)

The stairway going down the hill behind the cathedral

Anthony, Charlie and I in Esztergom

An example of the awesome architecture found on campus

Reminder that the campus used to be a Soviet camp until 1992...

More graffiti...

Inside the cathedral in Budapest

Building in Budapest

Bullet holes, from WWII

Jewish temple in Budapest; constructed like a mosque in order to avoid anti-semitism present at the time when it was built

Yum.

The two "Charlies" - one from the states, the other from Hungary

Mad and Al spending as many of our Forints as possible before leaving Hungary

Al, Mad and I's backpacks, whom we lovingly named "Theo, Gregory, and Billy"

Close quarters...the train compartment on the ride back to Salzburg

Vienna Pics

2007-10-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

Arrival in Innsbruck!!!

2007-10-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well, hard to believe it, but we’re finally in Innsbruck and pretty well settled in. We’ve braved Austrian washing machines, seen the “goldenes Dach,” found an ever-important reasonably priced hair dryer (a surprisingly difficult task), and are able to confidently navigate between Internationales and Rössl (the two student houses we’re living in). Everything is finally falling into place.

Following the whirlwind arrival to Innsbruck, the majority of the group took off on a trip to Krakow, Prague, Dresden, and Berlin. Two other girls and I stayed behind. (I did so intentionally – unfortunately the other two didn’t receive their rail passes in time, and ended up staying as well) Over the next 10 days, we explored the altstadt, learned it inside and out, and did the unthinkable for college students – cooked for ourselves! Usually some form of pasta and sautéed vegetables mixed together and jazzed up with whatever spices we could get our hands on, it turned out surprisingly well.

I live in Internationales, the newer of the two dorms that our program uses. There are three of us in our room…well, it would be much more appropriate to call it an apartment. There is a hallway connecting three separate bedrooms, and our own kitchen which the three of us share. My bedroom is ridiculously large! There is so much storage space and wall space, but 1. I have nothing to fill up the space, and 2. we aren’t allowed to attach anything to the walls. That in combination with the tiled floors makes for a very sterile-looking room. However, it’s seemed much homier since the two roommates have returned from traveling.

The rest of the group (except for one who traveled longer) came back on Sunday, to the wonderful surprise that the Irish had won that past Saturday. Thank god that streak is over! We celebrated properly by having a get-together in Internationales on the following Monday night.

Oktoberfest in Munich

2007-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

The trip to Oktoberfest was most definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There are definitely a few things one needs to know before going, but we just happened to be lucky enough to figure out how to have fun with minimal pre-planning!

Picture this if you will...boarding a train in Salzburg, and sitting across the aisle from three German men - who had already started drinking. Keep in mind that this was at 8.30 in the morning. At that point, we knew we were in for a treat. Upon our arrival in Munich at approximately 10.40, we were greeted by a station filled to the brim with people sporting lederhosen and drindles. For the first time in my life, I felt like I stuck out for wearing seemingly normal clothing. Even the younger people had traditional lederhosen and drindles on (albeit much shorter and bustier drindles).

As we exited the train station, we found that we wouldn't have to worry about the American faux-pas of drinking before noon. Effectively everyone over the age of fifteen had a bier in hand. (Often times accompanied by a large pretzel in the other hand) Not knowing exactly where we should be going, we did about the only thing we knew would work - follow the crowd. This led us to a main street, along which the parade went down. At this point, it became impossible to stay in our large group, so Al, Madelaine, Charlie and I broke off.

The Oktoberfest parade varies a bit from your typical American parades. Rather than tacky floats stuck in between groups of children attempting cartwheels and shriners zipping by in miniature cars, this parade consisted of oompah bands, horse-drawn carts (each designated to a different brewery) carrying kegs of bier, and horse drawn carts carrying people clad in (you guessed it) drindles and lederhosen. The carts, along with the horses, were lavishly decorated, and the people lucky enough to be carted around each had a bier in hand. I can't even tell you how many different carts went by...let's just say the parade lasted about a half-hour.

At the end of the parade, the crowd fell in line and followed. So what did we do? Followed the crowd, of course! (Being careful not to step in horse-droppings along the way...) After about 15 minutes, we came upon the glory that is Oktoberfest. When you first arrive, it seems like nothing more than a carnival of sorts. There were rides, various food stands, and these cute lebkuchen heart stands with messages written on them. Yep, just like any other carnival...until...you get to the bier tents. Holy lord, they were enormous. (Tents is not a great way to describe them - they're actually wooden structures that are re-built every year)

Much to our dismay, every one of these tents (and every biergarten) was full. Apparently there are about 100,000 seats, and we heard later that there were about 5 million people there when we went. (Maybe going on the opening day wasn't that bright of an idea...) The tricky part about Oktoberfest, is that in order to be served bier, you have to find a seat. NONE of the vendors sold bier. You can imagine how frustrated we were getting after about an hour of searching for a seat, as little old ladies were lugging around about 10 one-litre steins of fest-bier at a time. Finally, we decided to just hang around a biergarten, and hope to find a spot eventually.

We went to the Augustiner, seeing as it is a local favorite. (Who better to trust than the locals???) We did our best to avoid the Hofbrau tent, seeing as it is a stereotypical bier tent for Americans, New Zealanders, and other tourists (We even heard a German remark on that as we passed the tent). We had the unbelievable luck of coming up to a table just as another group was leaving. We awkwardly sat next to a group of five Germans, and were positive that we were receiving some rather annoyed looks. However, as soon as we started talking in German to them, the tone lightened up ENORMOUSLY. By the time we left, we were practically buddies. Not only were the four of us lucky enough to find seats, but the rest of our group was (despite all odds) able to grab the table next to us as another group left!

Of course, you must be wondering about fest-bier. Fest bier is brewed especially for Oktoberfest. Not only does it taste much better than regular bier, it has a much higher alcohol content as well. (Probably for the sake of the little women carrying the bier around...) After about a half-litre, we were all feeling pretty good. No wonder people can spend all day at these tables! By the time we got up to leave, we had each had two litres (definitely a good stopping point). We said goodbye to our new German friends (who had become even friendlier following another litre of bier) and miraculously found our way back to the train station - thanks to Charlie's sense of direction. We had a quick snack (Al was particularly thrilled that there was an ice cream stand) and hopped on the train.

As I said before - I would highly recommend Oktoberfest. It's an experience everyone should have. However, that being said, I wouldn't recommend going on the first weekend. Also, have enough patience to find a seat...the reward is worth the wait! :)

p.s. - once again, cannot upload pictures. Hopefully once I get the internet in my room, this will function a bit better!

Vienna & Budapest Outing

2007-09-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

So sorry that it has taken soooooooo very long to post again…with a report to write about our trip, a trip to Munich, and finals on TOP of that, it has been hard to find time! Now that I’m in Innsbruck finally, and have about 12 days to myself (the others went traveling), I have more than enough time to fill you all in on what has been going on J.
On Friday the 14th, we made our exciting whirlwind trip to Vienna and Budapest. (Brace yourself, this is a LONG, LONG post!)

Directly after class, we took our oversized backpacks (filled to the brim) and headed once again to the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (train station). We didn’t get into Vienna until about 8.30 that night, and when Guertler asked us whether we wanted to out for a drink together or go it alone, there was a resounding “JA!” for hitting the town with Gernot Guertler. He took us to a restaurant, whose owner he seemed to already know (a trend which has become more and more apparent…). The restaurant was great – definitely off the beaten path, and not overrun by tourists…well…until we got there. Herr Guertler and I bonded a bit as soon as he realized that I was a “beer woman.” Let’s just say I became the butt of a few jokes following that night J. After our drink with Guertler, he turned in the towel but the rest of us wanted to experience Vienna a bit more before bed. We had to search a bit for a non-sketchy café (after first walking into a bar in which there was a dog tied up in the back, and one of the owners was passed out). We did however find one, and had one more drink before resting up for the next day.

The following day, we woke up to our first Jugendherberge Frühstück (youth hostel breakfast), and at precisely 9.30 am we started our tour with the world-famous Gernot Guertler. For approximately three hours we went at Guertler speed (very…VERY quickly) throughout Vienna. The man has the map of Vienna memorized in his head, so needless to say, he knew all of the shortcuts. It was easy to see how Vienna had been the central point of the Holy Roman Empire, as went by the Rathaus, the Hofburg Theater, the national library, the opera house, and the University of Vienna (to name a few landmarks).
After our tour, we were free to explore Vienna on our own for a few hours before our gemeinsames Essen (dinner together). My friends Al, Madelaine and I decided to check out the Naschmarkt. This is basically a very crowded market, whose vendors stretch about a mile in length. The vendors cry to potential customers, and sell pretty much anything you could possibly want – fish, meat, cheese, fresh produce, spices, dried fruits, nuts, etc. It was also interesting to see the eastern influence as Kebap stands were mixed in among the others. One vendor was particularly vying for our attention, and started to sing a rap song in English to us…are we that obviously American?!?
After our leisurely walk through the Markt, we met up with some others from our group and went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The museum was AMAZING. The building itself was a work of art – every minute detail. The museum had impressive collections of Egyptian and Roman artifacts. On the second floor, every room was filled with paintings. Some of the more notable artists were Rembrant, Peter Paul Ruebens, Van Dyke, and Rafael. We spent about three hours in the museum, and I still felt like we hadn’t done it justice.
After our individual outings, we had dinner together (at another restaurant whose owner Guertler also knew). After eating as much as we could, a few went to the Opera house and were able to bum tickets off of those who left early, and the rest of us went directly back to the Jugendherberge to collapse.

The next day (Sunday the 16th ), we woke up early and boarded our next train at the Vienna Hauptbahnhof. It was about a four hour train ride to Budapest, and the train itself was actually different. Rather than the stereotypical European trains with compartments, the seats were open. As we crossed the border into Hungary, it was odd to see how much the stereotypes of Eastern Europe were fulfilled. Especially as we got closer to the city, older run-down buildings left over from the Soviet era were mixed with newer structures, VERY much influenced by western capitalistic culture.
When we got off the train in Budapest, we were (unexpectedly) greeted by our group of host students from Pazmany Peter Catholic University. They went all-out with a sign, and were extremely friendly. We then boarded a bus for our one-hour ride to Esztergom, and on the ride got to know our host students better. Their English was very good, and everyone got over being shy right away. Thank goodness their English was so good, because Hungarian is one of those languages in which one can be completely clueless. For example, we went to get some food at one point, looked at the menu, and had NO idea how to even pronounce anything on it, let alone what it was to begin with!
Once in Esztergom, we were given a tour (in German) of the Esztergom Basilica – the largest church in Hungary. It seemed to have popped up out of nowhere! The city itself wasn’t that impressive, but then suddenly you see this HUGE structure on top of a hill. It was a beautiful church, and overlooks the Danube. Directly on the other side of the Danube is Slovakia, and a bridge nearby (Maria Valeria bridge) was just built in 2001 to connect the two countries. (A few from our group actually walked over it) The basilica itself is host to a crypt and many religious artifacts, including relics and religious garb. After our tour, a few of us went to the top of the basilica. Retrospectively, a good decision. HOWEVER, one of the scariest experiences of my life! Imagine marble stairs about three feet wide (maximum) spiraling up hundreds of feet, very cramped, people coming DOWN those stairs as you are going UP, and hardly any windows. Yes, Mary was scared sh*tless. However, the view from the top was fabulous, and I have pictures to prove it!
After our time in Esztergom, we were shuttled back to the University’s campus. It’s located about 50 kilometers from Budapest, and the grounds themselves were used as a soviet military camp up until 1992. In fact, the building that a few of us stayed in used to be a prison. On our walk to the central part of campus, we passed several run-down soviet buildings before seeing several very impressive and very modern university buildings.
That night we were in for a special treat. Not only did they have a special authentic Hungarian dinner laid out for us, but there was also a folk music group AND a dance instructor! Incidentally he spoke no English other than “left, right, left, right…” and “one, two, three, four” but that was more than enough to get by! After dancing with our new Hungarian friends, we went out to a local bar with them. It was definitely an experience! Most of us tried this type of shot that is a favorite in Hungary – fruit flavored liquor with honey mixed in. We also learned that in Hungary, you aren’t supposed to clink your beer glasses – this is because after Hungary was taken over by Austrian forces, the Austrians apparently did so in celebration. Now, the only time when it is appropriate to do so, is if you say (doing my best with spelling…) “basomik Hino!” which means (roughly translated) “screw Hino!” who was the Austrian commander.
The next day was absolutely FILLED, so I’ll do my best to summarize it without being too long-winded. We started off with a lecture, and then had a tour of campus led by one of our favorite people – Laszlo, a prof at the Uni. He gave us some info about the architecture of the new buildings (incorporating nature), and then went into more detail about the soviet buildings around campus.
Immediately after our tour, we got on the train with Laszlo and went into Budapest. The following tour was about five hours long, but absolutely amazing. We were able to see some of the bigger landmarks like the parliament building, Saint Stephen’s Basilica, as well as the only Soviet memorial standing in its original spot. (The rest were moved out of the city) The reason that this memorial remained standing is because it didn’t support communism, but rather stood as a memorial for fallen soldiers. It was protected by a large fence, because apparently people would still try to damage it.
The great thing about Laszlo’s tour was that he also was able to point out a lot of the smaller details. For example, we were walking down a seemingly random street, and then he pointed out a bomb shelter door near the pavement. There was also still remnants of a white arrow that pointed down to it, so as to be able to find the door if there was a lot of rubble. He also told us how to tell the difference between which conflict bullet holes in the sides of buildings came from (either WWII, or the revolution in 1956).
After the tour, we met up with the Hungarian students in the city and went out for dinner before going to the bars. The bar we went to was perhaps the weirdest bar I have ever seen. You walk in through a seemingly random door, go through a couple sparsely furnished, run-down rooms, and emerge in a court-yard filled with picnic tables and lined on one side by a surprisingly nice bar. It was definitely a first.

Our last day in Hungary was fairly uneventful – we had to wake up early for two more lectures, and had to leave immediately afterwards to make the train on time. In our last half-hour in Budapest, we frantically tried to spend as many of our Forints (Hungarian Currency – it’s about 250 Forints to one Euro) as we could. We then said goodbye to our Hungarian friends after exchanging emails, and boarded the train for our 6-hour ride back to Salzburg…yes, all this happened within four days.

As soon as I can, I’ll post about Oktoberfest and arriving in Innsbruck!!!

ps - apologies for no pictures. for some reason the website isn't letting me post them. i'll try to do a post of just pictures sometime in the future...

Pope-Mania!!!

2007-09-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

So on our latest outing as a group...we actually went to see Pope Benedict in Vienna. It was originally a choice that the group had to make together (kind of an all-or nothing thing), so I consented, and I was definitely regretting the decision when I had to wake up at 4 in the morning on our ONE day off from classes that week...considering that 1. I'm not necessarily a fan of the guy, and 2. I'm not a Catholic, it didn't seem to make much sense to me at the time. However, everyone managed to drag themselves out of bed and do the 45 minute hike to the train station. (At Herr Guertler's speed, mind you, which is about twice as fast as my little legs can go) Btw - on our rather brisk walk to the train station, we passed a club that was STILL GOING from the night before. Yeah, it was THAT early.

Once on the train, several of us were immediately reminded of scenes from Harry Potter (yep, we're nerds) and started reciting lines from the movies. Needless to say, it was a great first experience with the European Railway system!

Once we arrived in Vienna, we had another brisk walk to the "Dom," or cathedral. It was definitely pooring outside for a good part of our walk - Mary didn't have a raincoat of course! Luckily Aaron was nice enough to share his umbrella for part of the walk!

Once we got near the Dom, IT WAS LIKE A CATHOLIC REVIVAL. They were handing out pope bread, pope water, pope ponchos, etc etc etc. There were screens outside because obviously there was no way that that many people would fit in one cathedral. The mass lasted about two hours, entirely in German, and then the pope made a brief appearance outside the dome. I honestly wasn't paying attention to a word he said, which was the case for most of the people around me - we were all scrambling to try and snap a photo while dodging other cameras in the air or the occasional kid hoisted on their parent's shoulders...

After the mass, we were allowed to go out on our own for about three hours. We were starving, so immediately went to a stand and got some Burenwurst and some Sturm to drink. BY THE WAY - Sturm. Everyone must try it at some point in their life. Its a type of white-wine-ish drink that hasn't been fermenting very long so it tastes very citrus-y and is as easy to drink as water.

Even though we knew very well that the next weekend Herr Guertler would be taking us on a tour of the city, we managed to take umpteen pictures of Vienna. It was such a beautiful city, and considering I'm obsessed with statues and such, it was good for me. I even got to take a picture with the man himself...Mozart!

So after a long and tiring day in Vienna (Wien), we somehow managed to make it back to our hotel, the Heffterhof, which we still regard as heaven on earth. (Even though the cleaning ladies STILL have not given us new tissues since we got here!!!) We immediately had to start on our homework for the following day, but it felt great to get off our feet.
Tonight we're studying feverishly for our weekly test tomorrow (Friday)..."wait, i thought plural accusative adjective endings were "e" only??? What does anhand mean again? GAH!", but at least we know that tomorrow evening we take off for yet ANOTHER trip! We head off to Vienna for a tour - Herr Guertler style (which means a lot of talking slowly in LOUD German, followed by a sprint to a new area with another loud quasi-speech - GOD I love the guy! If only everyone could have a Herr Guertler in their life!) and then on Saturday we go to Budapest to hear some lectures and party it up with some Hungarian students. We'll end up back at the Heffty on Tuesday evening (probably with some homework to do...) but hopefully another blog will come soon after our return :) Tschuss!

One week down...wait? only ONE WEEK???

2007-09-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

So as unbelievable as it seems, one of my four weeks in Salzburg ist vorbei (gone, for those of you who do not speak German)! It seems like I've been here ages, considering how much my understanding of German has improved! There have definitely been times when it has been frustrating, but the group (there are 14 of us from Notre Dame) is such an awesome and fun group of people.

Salzburg is a gorgeous city, even despite the fact that it has rained every day we have been here except for ONE, luckily the one in which we went on a walking tour of Salzburg. This pic is of Herr Guertler, doing his thing - he's a history professor and is also in charge of our program here.

The culture here has taken some getting used to, but it has been VERY educational. Austrians are extremely punctual, but once you get somewhere - dinner for instance - you tend to stay there for a while. I'm starting to think that they love nothing more than having dinner with friends, drinking wine, and talking for hours.

The hotel we're staying at is pretty much fabulous. Every day we have breakfast and lunch provided for us. Lunch just happens to be three courses every day (soup, entree, and dessert), and is better than anything I've ever eaten in my life. Not only that, but if I stand on my balcony, the Alps are visible if I glance to my left. Like last year's group told us, the Heffterhof hotel really IS heaven on earth!

As you probably could have guessed, the group has indeed made a few trips into the Altstadt to have a beer or two, and to further explore the city :) There is a brewery called the Augustiner Brauerei, which also has a Biergarten (we were able to do that on the ONE day without rain...). You pick either a half-litre or litre sized mug, wash it out, and then take it to get filled. Big surprise...I was the only girl who joined the litre club that day!!! In the hallways you can go and buy various things to eat - the most popular of course being the giant pretzels or "Brezen."

Oh...and we DO have class too! It's a bit difficult, but it should help quite a bit once we get to Innsbruck in October. There's a lot of writing to do, but hopefully it will be easier and easier to write...

That's about all the updates that I can think of for right now...we're going to see the Pope in Vienna on Sunday, the following weekend going to Vienna and Budapest, the weekend after that going to Oktoberfest, and then the weekend after THAT we move to Innsbruck and have 12 days free to travel! Needless to say, there will be much more to write about...

2007-08-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here goes nothing...

2007-08-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, all!
So after being told by a few people that I should ABSOLUTELY create a blog, I finally caved in! Hopefully, I'll be keeping this blog up to date as I study in Innsbruck, Austria for the entirety of the 2007-2008 academic year. Who knows...maybe I'll actually pick up some German while I'm there!