Prost!

Croatian: Part Two

2008-11-16T20:41:00.019Z

I admit that Thursday night and about half of Friday I was feeling rather tentative and apprehensive. Sure, I had gotten used to not really understanding what was being said at the beginning of this semester, but least before I could pick up a few words at the beginning and at least get a hint of what was going on. Croatian sounds so completely foreign, the sounds and pronunciations seemed impossible. Lucky for me though, I had already developed the patience needed for someone who comprehends nothing.
Marin and had a strained conversation on the way from the train station to his home in Mala Buna, which is about twenty minutes away. My apprehension added to the already difficult communication. My nerves were soothed, thankfully, by his welcome demeanor, and I started too feel a bit more at ease. On the way back to his house, I found out that he had been waiting for me at the train station for four hours. I had no idea that we were going to even meet on Thursday, so I was stunned! He said he had gone to the hostel, to see if I had already gotten there, and had even tried to call my cell phone number. Of course, he thought it was an American cell phone, so he used the American calling code, instead of the German one, so he never got through.
When we got to his house, (which is rather large, but it would have to be considering he lives with his parents and his sister) everyone was still awake and waiting for me, minus the children. Marin's mother and his wife came out to the car to give me hugs, and I was not under any circumstances allowed to carry my own bag. Mind you, it was only a backpack. I was slightly overwhelmed, but very pleased. It seemed like a scene out of a movie, but then most of this experience felt rather like that. They took me inside and sat me down at the kitchen table, and tried to get me to eat. I was hungry at this point, having only taken a little bit of food with me on the train. I believe I had turkey and fried potatoes. I can never say no to potatoes!! The whole time I was eating, Marin's mother stood by to refill my glass with juice, should it become empty, while his father sat next to me, and patted me on the back every so often. I still think it was pretty funny that we would talk to me and look at me with expectation as though I might understand a bit of what he was saying. I wish I could have. It really would have been nice to talk to him. Even after I was full, Marin's mother tried to get me to eat more, but finally I convinced her I was stuffed and Marin took me to the upstairs floor of the house, where he, his wife, and children live. They already had a new pair of slippers waiting for me, so that I would be more comfortable in the house. Marin lead me to his daughter Marina's room, where I would be sleeping, as there was an extra bed. Marina looked peaceful in her bed, so we didn't bother her. We went into Ivan's room next, and Marin tried to rouse him for a minute, but he would have none of it. Luckily, he didn't seem to get as cranky as Sam does when someone tries to wake him up!! Then we peaked in on Martina.
Marin asked me if I would like to take a shower before I went to bed, and I was happy for that, as I was feeling kind of grubby. They had set a terry clothe bathrobe out for me as well, which was especially nice I thought.
But oh, this showering business was rather interesting. There wasn't actually a shower, but only a bathtub in the bathroom. Not only that, but instead of having a shower head mounted on the wall, it was connected to the main faucet. The tub was lacking a curtain or doors. This is seems to be fairly common in Europe, as I've heard from the rest of my classmates here in Germany, but so far I hadn't experienced this. So I prepared myself for a quick, crouching "shower". Rinse, turn the water off, wash, turn the water back on, rinse. When I was finished, I had lost a little bit of feeling in my legs, as I had been sitting on them, Japanese tea style. It's also worth mentioning that every bathroom I was in while in Croatia, was also the laundry room. I suppose the water hook ups are just placed in the same room. Here is a picture I found on the net, this pretty much sums it up. At least I'm only 5 feet tall, I bet this dude is at least 6 feet!
It was probably close to one or two am at that point, so I said "laka noche". You will never believe it, but I actually got up at 8 am on Friday! I have to say I was pretty proud. I was excited to meet the kids while they were awake. Unfortunately, by the time I had woken up, Ivan was already at kindergarten. I met Martina, who is two, and as cute as she could be, and Marina, who is 6 I believe, who seems to be a precious little girl. Of course I fell in love with them both instantly. I'm very glad I came with gifts, because this really helped them warm up to me. I gave Marina her white stuffed pony. I thought that Martina was a bit younger than she actually was, so I had bought her something a bit too young, but she seemed to still like it. Haba is a popular German toy company, and I bought her a cute little apple that the sections peel away, and inside there is a caterpillar with a rattle inside it. She still seemed to like it. She amused her self with it later on by trying to put things in the apple that would not fit...
Breakfast was interesting. I can't recall what the name of it was, but we had some sort of porridge, that tasted like it might have had corn in it. It was very rich, and didn't taste like anything I had ever had before. There was also something to put on top of it, which looked like some kind of oil with some kind of nut in it. It tasted VERY buttery and rich, but not a typical butter flavor. It probably wasn't butter, but that's the only flavor I can really compare it to. There was also bread, cheese, and salami, which also seems to be typical European breakfast food.
It took a little bit to get the two girls into some clothes suitable for going out, and then we headed out to the car. It was of course a stick shift, as is every car in Europe. We dropped off Stephaja ( I think that's how it's spelled.. Marin's wife) and Martina at the grocery store and then headed into Zagreb. It takes about about 20 minutes to get there, but it seemed to pass fairly quickly. We went and picked up Marin's dad from his office (he is an electrician) Then we stopped and parked somewhere, and walked to another building, where we caught a ride with someone who I think works with Marin's dad. The only thing I could figure out, was that they wouldn't be able to find a parking space or it would be too expensive where we were going, so we had someone drop us off. They didn't explain it, and at the time I didn't really think to ask.
We were taken to the upper part of old Zagreb, which I think is a bit of a "hike" to get up there...very hilly I suppose. And it was raining and icky so I was not going to say no to a free ride! First we went to what I think was the old courthouse. There was a small art exhibit that we looked at for a little bit, and that was pretty interesting. It looked like silk that had been kind of tie dyed, almost, except there was a definitive image to it rather than just shapes. It was pretty interesting. We headed up to the next level of the building and saw where some of the government meetings were held. One room had the strangest interior decorating I have ever seen in my life. It was kind of cool, but honestly it was kind of scary. Not like, wow that's so hideous it's scary. It actually kind of scared me...it made me think of alien abductions or something. And I used to have a huge thing about aliens when I was little.. so yeah.
Then we went in an older room that was more of what I would have thought of as a court room. We took some pictures of course. We looked outside the old glass windows that were so old that it distorted the view and saw the Church of St Mark. It is remarkable because of it's tile roof bearing the coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia, Savonia, and Zagreb. We would have gone inside, but it was under repair, so we couldn't. Surprise, surprise. You can't go anywhere in Europe without seeing some scaffolding. You may as well just expect it. Speaking of which though, some of my friends went to Neuschwanstein castle (which is what almost all the Disney castles were based on) and it was totally covered in scaffolding and some kind of protective plastic or something. So I was lucky, because when I went, it was completely refurbishing free!
We peeked inside some other churches, but most of them were closed for the day. Then we went to what I believe was a special building for the Mayor of Zagreb. He wasn't there, but a very nice woman who could speak pretty good English met us to give us a tour. I think maybe she is the mayor's assistant or something like that. Turns out, most people will never see this building, so it was really special that I got too. Trying to impress the American, huh? Well, it worked! The interior of the building was very very Baroque. I know a lot of people think it's over done and gawdy, but I liked it. I especially liked the light teal damask wall paper. And the red Australian ( or maybe it was Austrian.. but I don't think so) turtle shell table. Very expensive. It also looked like there were some huge Ming vases. Or they were just Chinese, but they were impressive. Unfortunately, I still didn't quite understand just what the building was for exactly, but my brief understanding was that this is where they bring cultural ambassadors to impress them and schmooze, I guess. So you normally have to be a pretty important person to go here. Guess that makes me important, eh?
At the end of the tour, the woman took us into the mayor's ( I think) office, where there were four glasses of juice waiting for us. Europeans REALLY like their juice, as far as I can tell. She also had a few souvenirs for me. A "virtual postcard" that has a special DVD that has maps and sights of Zagreb" and one of the Gingerbread heart necklaces Zagreb is famous for. It's not really made of gingerbread at all, but I suppose it was originally. It's a bright red heart with white "frosting" decorating it. Here is a photo to give you an idea. I have a TON of them now though, so don't worry!!

Next we stopped to get out of the dismal weather and get a bite to eat. Marin's father stayed behind to get us a table while Marin and Marina went with me to look in a souvenir shop. I think everything was overpriced, but that didn't stop me. I bought a decent amount, and it is probably very touristy stuff, but who cares. I try to shy away from the souvenir shops in Germany, but I knew I wouldn't be here long enough to really find the good stuff, so I looked around here. I was actually pretty pleased with what they had, but then, I haven't seen 1,000 other stores just like it, like I have in Germany. I really had no idea how much I was spending, and I still don't, but whatever. It was worth it. I got some neat stuff!! I'm still hoping I can go back before I come back to the states, and maybe then I'll have more of a chance to find the little off the beaten path shops.
The three of us headed back to the little cafe and sat outside, under a veranda, thankfully. The food got there very quickly, and it reminded me a bit of gyros, only without the cucumber sauce. The meat was on a skewer, and I'm not entirely sure what kind of meat it was. There was also a fluffy and delicious pita pocket type thing, and onions. Just plain, uncooked onions. It's a good thing I like onions.. maybe it's in my blood!! I've always liked super hot onions :) Not so good for the breath though.
Next, we headed down to the lower part of town, and visited the largest cathedral in Zagreb, I believe. My art history is really failing me, because on the outside, it looked Gothic, but on the inside, slightly Byzantine. Or maybe everything in Zagreb is just influenced by Byzantine artwork. I say it looked Byzantine because there was a lot of gold everywhere, and it was to dark looking to be Baroque. The blue ceiling was decorated with gold stars, which made me think of something I have seen before in class, but can't really recall. It was an impressive cathedral. At the main alter it looked as though there was a recreation of a tomb of some sort of bishop or something. There were pews all around it where one could pray, and Marin's father and I did so. I had to cut my prayer of thanksgiving short though, becaus my eyes started to well up, and I had to blink quickly to keep the tears from spilling over. I felt very overwhelmed, lucky, and happy to be there, and I didn't want to try and explain that the tears were from happiness. Since it was just Marin's father and I at that point, I thought that he would get worried and think something was wrong.
Next we went to another very decorated building on our way back to the car. Inside was a small exhibit of artwork and photographs from different theatre pieces. A lot of set design sketches, and some paintings and well. It was really interesting. There was some stuff from some Shakespeare plays, and from Bertolt Brecht as well. Those were the only two playwrights that I remember recognizing. We walked by a pretty park on the way here, that was filled with birch trees, I think. At least they had white bark that I equate with birch trees, but the trunks were a bit thicker than I think birch trees normally are. The rich colors of the leaves set against the stark white of the trunks was really stunning, and I'm afraid the pictures don't do them any justice.
We walked through the underground part that runs through most train stations I've been through in Europe, which are usually like mini malls. Marin's father really wanted to buy me a pair of boots. Expensive leather boots. Since I really didn't understand the conversion rate that well, and I had no idea how much they really were, I politely turned him down. I would have felt guilty, but I do admit, I kind of wanted to say yes! It was hard saying no several times too, ha. When we finally got back to the car, I was a bit happy. I was still feeling a bit anxious, for inexplicable reasons. When I got back, I felt quite a bit better. I was a bit tired, as I really hadn't slept that well on the train, and didn't have my normal 12 hours (haha, just kidding...kind of) of sleep. It doesn't take much to make me tired though..as I'm sure you're all well aware of. They gave me a new pair of jogging pants to wear because the bottoms of my jeans were soaking wet. Marin's mother also took my shoes and stuck them in the oven, so they wouldn't be wet. I found out then that they have a wood burning stove on their first floor! It was adorable.
Of course, they made me eat a ridiculous amount. For lunch we had strukli, which is kind of like a dumpling pocket filled with some sort cheese. There was the obligatory salami and cheese, and there was also some breaded turkey. They looked like little turkey fingers... those were yummy. The richness of the strukli was again overwhelming to me. I didn't think it was a bad taste, just nothing I had ever tried before. Marin's mother especially tried to get me to eat way more than was possible for me.

After lunch, I was able to meet Ivan, since he had been at school all day. It turns out that the little cowboy figurine I had gotten was a perfect fit; Marin told me that Ivan has been asking him for a horse. Ivan was more interested in showing off and doing his Tae Kwon Do moves that he's learned. Marina got in a bit on this too, and then even little Martina was trying to do kicks. Mostly she just walked up to Marin and kicked him in the shins. He took it rather well though, I think. The rest of the day, she would walk up to different members of the family, wait for them to stick their hand out, and then try to reach her kick high enough to touch it. Her stubby little uncoordinated legs were just too adorable. All three kids vied for my attention the rest of the day as well. If I showed interest in one, the other two were soon trying to get in my direct line of sight and steal the show. Ivan of course was also trying to be the little boy that he is and pretend that he also didn't want my attention at the same time. It was pretty funny.

Also, after lunch, was when the real waterworks hit. First, Marin got out his notebook filled with all the emails that he had written back and forth from my dad, and then there were also a few from my mom, my aunt Linda, and my other aunt Melinda. He also had photos of our whole family, lots of old Easter photos, photos of Linda's grandchildren, photos of Marks three little girls. I had to point out a few people that he couldn't remember, (such as Jill's son Drew...he's getting huge now! I can't believe he's driving. I remember when I used to read animal books to him on Grandma's couch and he'd be wearing little footy pajamas. I suppose that makes me old too though...) I think he also thought that a picture dad had sent of Sam wrestling was a picture of dad when he was young.
Then Marin's dad when to get something. He came back with all the letters that had been written back and forth between Dad's grandmother Louisa, and her cousin that stayed in Croatia. There were lots of photos and Christmas cards. Even though it was all written in Croatian, and I of course couldn't understand what they said at all, it did not take long for the tears to come pouring out of my eyes. I was afraid it would be a little embarrassing, but it turns out the just took it in stride. Marin's father sat next to me and patted my back, but that happened before the waterworks came, so it didn't really make me feel uncomfortable. It just felt very surreal.. and I can't really describe it at all. But there I was, sitting at the table, tears sliding down my face. The kids looked at me with interest, but I'm not sure they really understood what was going on.
After I had some time to get over my crying outburst, we kind of just spent some time together at the house. Ana and I were to meet her cousin Ivica (pronounced Ivitsa) and go to a little restaurant down the street. The restaurant is owned by Bacurins as well, and I'm assuming they are cousins of Marin. They live just a few houses down. I think it was maybe grandpa's uncle who had bought a large area of land and then divided it between the Bacurins, so a lot of the Bacurins live very near each other.
Ivica came and picked us up in his car a little while later, which would have been completely unnecessary if it weren't for the rain. The owners of the restaurant came and sat with us for a little while, but neither spoke English, so I had to translate through Ivica and Ana. Ivica's English was really very good, although he thought it wasn't. Ana's English was also good, but I think her biggest hindrance was her embarrassment and reluctance. I can definitely relate to that though! Luckily I've finally gotten over that when I speak German.
Then, the mother of the owner of the restaurant came to sit down and meet me as well. It turns out that she had lived in München for thirty years, so that was extremely helpful!! It was even a bit easier to get my point across when I could speak to her in German. Earlier I had been trying to describe my parent's occupations, but I think that Ivica and Ana hadn't quite understood me, so later, when I told this woman ( is it bad that I don't remember her name? Actually, I don't think so..they had me meet SO MANY people..) what my parents do in German, then she translated in Croatian and then they understood. I feel a little bad because I think we kind of dominated the conversation with our German, but at least she was sure to translate. It made me feel on much more even ground to be able to speak with her, with a little more understanding than some of the other conversations I had had so far. She was very sweet, and I told her the story of how I misunderstood my hostgrandma on the day I was supposed to go for lunch. She told me just to tell grandma, I don't understand!! It was funny, I liked her a lot. She also later told me that if I wanted to come back to Zagreb, she would come and meet me in München, and then ride the bus back with me!!
Eventually it got rather late though, and we headed back to Marin's house. The kids were just finishing up their baths, and I sat on the floor and played Legos with Martina while Marina and Ivan were washing up. Martina occupied herself by stacking the lego blocks on my legs. She looked so adorable in her little jammies with her still slightly damp hair. Soon it was time for bed though, and I was happy for it. It was a long day.

Croatia: Part One

2008-11-12T13:08:00.001Z

It's going to be hard to summarize my trip up in a few paragraphs ( or more than a few, I suppose). I think I could probably write a book about it. In fact, who is stopping me? Maybe I will. But not today ;). I realized though that part of my character hangs on the fact that I take a bit of time to make a decision. I like to hem and haw over things, but then once I finally make up my mind, I tend to see it through. Sometimes I'll try something out, before making the decision, and then decide it's not for me. I took some time making up my mind on going to Croatia or not. Part of it had to do with the unstable communications. Part of it was feeling unsure whether I would be welcome or not. Not so much welcome, but whether I would be able to be made time for. I didn't really want to intrude. I can't believe I worried over something so silly.
The first part of my week should not be excluded, even though it wasn't spent in Croatia. The few days I had just to relax were wonderful as well. I read, I slept, I paid attention the election, and I went for bike rides. Bike rides along the Donau have turned out to be one of my favourite things about Germany. But enough about Germany, I'm sure you are all very anxious to here about my trip.
Honestly, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing in general. Buying the ticket loomed in my mind like a big ordeal. But honestly, approaching a desk always tends to make me slightly nervous, and doing it in another language only makes it worse. That was actually pretty simple. It was a good start for the trip, I think.
I woke up on Thursday with plenty of time to get myself ready for the trip. But as always, I tend to find something to dawdle over. It usually tends to be the internet.. Big surprise. I wasn't late to the train station though, but I could have been a bit earlier. I found my platform to Munich, where I would make my only train change. The train from Munich arrived in Regensburg about 10 minutes. It wasn't a very encouraging beginning. The train arrived in Munich a little more than 10 minutes late as well, and surprise, surprise, I missed my connecting train. I had to go to the Munich trainstation desk and as about which train I could take to get to Zagreb. This of course was a bit of an ordeal as well, with the slight language barrier. I know my German has gotten ten times better than when I first got here, but I can't help but get nervous when I have to speak to someone official. This is my biggest downfall. I would probably be fine if it weren't for the nerves. We eventually understood each other and the lady at the desk gave me a print out of the next train I should take. She told me I should take a train from Munich to Salzburg, Austria, and then from there to Zagreb. I would have to wait about three hours though.
With that in mind, I went to grab myself a quick doner kebap, my favourite German fast food. It's actually Turkish though, as far as I have been told, and is very similar to the Gyro. Actually, I can't find the difference. But doner kebaps are always on hand in Germany, and for that I am very thankful. I also stopped by the Press & Bucher, a book store. Lucky for me, as the Munich trainstation is rather international, they also carry books in English. Of course, since it's a trainstation store, their selection is rather limited. I picked out the new best seller, Twilight, which is a series aimed for teen girls, about a vampire. I had heard that it was the next Harry Potter, and that the new Harry Potter movie had been delayed because of the fact that the film version of Twilight was scheduled to come out at the same time. So I thought, why not, and picked it up. It definitely kept me busy during the 8 hour train ride (one way..), for which I am very grateful. However, I was really not that impressed. I got pretty sick of hearing how achingly beautiful the vampire boy was, after, oh, about the twenty-second time, only five pages into the book. It still had it's marits.
The ride there was enjoyable enough. Lucky for me, I paid attention to the arrivals board, and realized that there was an earlier train to Salzburg than the lady had told me. Of course, instead of waiting three hours in Munich, I would have to wait two hours in Munich, and then one hour in Salzburg, but the break up seemed a little bit easier to consume. The ride to Salzburg was rather beautiful. It took several hours to actually see any of the alps, and then the gradually got higher and higher. I also just recently figured out what the "tiny houses" I have been seeing so often are. Because Germans tend to have such small yards, especially when they live in aparments, there are large plots of land divided up for Germans to have a small spot of land to grow a small garden. These small plots also have very small garden sheds. As I flew by the landscape, I saw many adorable old ladies puttering around in their little garden plots. Even their clothing looked like something that could only exist 40 or 50 years ago. I also saw plenty of livestock. Sheep, cows, horses, you name it. I was especially amused by the sheep, and I even saw a few sheep herders.
The later it got, the more I became disenchanted with the ride of course. By about 5 or so pm, it started to get dark, and I could no longer look out the window as a source of amusement. And I still had another 6 hours to go. I slept some, but I don't tend to sleep on the train that well. All in all, it was a relatively normal train ride. As we went through Slovenia and then into Croatia, the border patrol checked IDs and passports. Relatively simple.
Finally I got to the Zagreb train station. I believe I will put a lot more faith in my intuition from now on. As soon as I got of the train, I saw Marin. I had only seen a few pictures of him, but I immediately thought it was him. Then my logic decided to rule out and tell me that it couldn't be him, as we had agreed to meet on Saturday. I wandered around the station a bit, trying to find an ATM to withdraw from my bank account into the local currency. I couldn't find it at first, and tried to ask a lady at a newspaper stand. Of course, she didn't know any English. I pulled out my debit card and pointed to it and she said "Cash?". Ah. The universal language. I got some money, and walked outside to see if I could find the bus stop, which I was supposed to be taking to my youth hostel. As it was past midnight....the buses had stopped running. I noticed a taxi parked outside, but without a driver inside. I started to try and find the cab driver, but that nagging feeling I had expierenced earlier won out, and I curiously walked back to where I thought I had saw Marin. He was walking around near the platform, and it looked like he was waiting for someone. I thought for a minute, and eventually we neared each other, and I stopped and looked at him. Eventually it dawned on us, and we realized who the other was. I will probably never forget that moment, as he embraced me immediately as if we had known each other forever. Intuition is a much more powerful thing than I ever realized.

2008-11-02T22:55:00.001Z

If anyone happens to remember what my blog from my last trip to Germany was called, or the url, or anything...I'd really appreciate it if you could remind me!!

Domspatzen

2008-10-29T22:21:00.003Z

Wednesday was of course our excursion day. I didn't write about last week's, because honestly, it wasn't that fun. We stayed in Regensburg, and went on a tour of the old court house and a Jewish ghetto that had been built over. I did have a really great lunch at an Italian restaurant that day though. This Wednesday was pretty cool. You've probably heard of the Vienna Boy's Choir, but it turns out, Regensburg has a pretty reputable choir as well. It's called the DomSpatzen, which means Cathedral Sparrows. I can't remember what age they said they start out, but they had boys that were as old as 18-19. The German school system is quite a bit different, so students don't go to college until they are about 20.
I think orange must be the school's color, because when we got inside the admin office, the floors were all orange, and several of the secretaries were wearing orange. Or else it was just a really strange coincidence, but we all remarked on it. When we got there, we were kind of in between classes, so we met some of the teachers in the teacher's lounge. One of the teachers, or maybe it was the headmaster, was really excited, and kept wanting to take pictures with us. It was pretty funny. The point of this visit was for us to speak with the students, as they are required to take English. We waited in the teachers lounge for a bit to be assigned to a teacher to go with. A female teacher walked into the lounge and asked us who would like to go with her. She told us she had grade 13, and that the boys were around 18. She also told us that they had specifically asked her to bring girls. (It's an all boys school) Another girl and myself offered to join almost in unison. I thought it would be funny to see how they would act. I was afraid they would be typical highschoolers and do nothing but joke around. They did at first, of course, but they actually were interested in asking us questions. Another one of the groups was not so lucky and got a group of trouble makers that weren't too interested. They asked a couple of silly questions, that I don't really remember, because they were mostly talking amongst themselves at first until their teacher said, "Come on boys, we talked about this yesterday...and you had a lot of good questions to ask". They finally settled down a bit, and I think one of the first questions asked was why we started to take German. We introduced ourselves, it was Kate,Ted, and myself, and told them our majors. They asked a lot of questions about the elections, and one kid in particular was really interested in Michael Moore's movies. I felt kind of bad because he seemed to be really into them, and wanted to talk about them, but none of us had really seen any of them. I think Ted had seen bowling for Columbine. One rather funny moment was when one stupid asked us what we thought of Obama, and the three of us agreed we were for him, and Ted said that he loves Obama. Apparently you can't say you love something in Germany unless you really mean it....because all the boys started to snicker. I explained to them that Americans say they love everything from their new pair of shoes to ice cream...but they kept laughing anyway. Typical boys. I asked them what they thought of as the typical American stereotype, and strangely enough, they really didn't hit us too hard. They all laughed when I asked the question, but the wouldn't really say anything too negative, I was impressed. I'm sure they had plenty of things to say!! And I thought Germans were really honest!! They asked us the same question, and I told them that a lot of my friends at school said I should be prepared because Germans are always mad, and everything they say sounds angry. I have to admit, from the exposure we get to the German language, I completely concur. Once you here it in everyday setting, and realize how infrequently you really hear anyone yelling, German is actually a much softer and subtler language than I had originally thought.
Sidenote...We were talking about movie dubs...and one of our professors, who is fairly young, said something like, when movies are translated into German, it just looses the punch of the English language. He said something about a bad guy in a movie being confronted by the good guy, by saying "MR Smith!!" Apparently he doesn't think "Herr Smith" sounds anywhere as strong as it does in English. Which is funny, because probably all Americans think Herr sounds much more strict and rigid. Anyway..
The first group of boys were pretty cool. One guy was really into music and asked a lot of questions about bands and stuff. It was pretty cool though, because he had been to the states, and had actually been to St Louis...wow?! How is that possible. Kate is also from St Louis. Normally though, if a German has been to the States the have been to : Florida, New York, or California. Always. He asked us about Blueberry Hill, which is a cool bar in St Louis! He said he wanted to get in, but couldn't, as he was underage.
I wish I could remember more of the questions that were asked with the first group, but at some points, it got to be more of a discussion in general than questions and answers. The class ended for this group of boys, so the three of us headed back to the teachers lounge. We finished up before most of the others, so we went to another class. This time, it was a male teacher, and he told us he would be taking us to a group of..I think 5th graders. Most of them looked a tad younger than Sam though.
First, the teacher handed back the student's tests that they had taken a few days before. It was kind of strange to me though, because they were all pretty open about what grades they had gotten. It was funny to see them interacting in this way though...looking at each other's tests, some of them looked a bit disappointed, some of them looked pleasantly surprised.
Then the teacher asked us to come to the head of the class and we introduced ourselves again. He used our last names as a teaching method to show his students how diverse the US is. Ted and Kate's last names are both German, which he knew right away of course, and I had to explain to them that my last name is Croatian. He thought this was pretty cool.
Again, the first question one of the kids posed was what we thought about Obama. It was really strange to me to see how interested these kids are in our elections, and it was even more shocking when McCain's running mate got brought up, and one boy actually knew what her name was!! Of course, this was also the boy that asked us if it was the Lehmen Brother's fault that our economy is the way it is right now. At least, I think that's what he asked, because his English was a bit broken, but considering they had only been taking English for a year, I was really impressed. Hell, kids in the states don't know who the Lehmen Brother's are!!!! I Think he must have some very aware, and loquacious parents. That's awesome though. We got into a bit of a discussion about the economy, and I feel bad because I wonder how much they understood. At one point I felt like we were talking more to the teacher. I don't remember exactly how it got brought up, but he started to ask about our economical situation, and loans got brought up. Ted tried to explain the mortgage loan crisis, and credit rates got brought into the conversation. It was really funny though, because the teacher was like, "No, no, I don't think you understand the question. I'm not asking about credit. I'm talking about loans. Here, you have to have 30% cash to back up the loan you are asking for, otherwise you won't get it. Is it 30% in the States too?" I was like..no, no YOU don't understand. That's why we're in the mess that we are!! And I explained to him that in a lot of cases, the loans that were given out were given to people who couldn't actually afford them and that is why they are all falling through. Somehow though, I think he still didn't quite get it. But then....neither do we. It's hard to believe we're in the mess that we are in.
There were of course some sillier questions as well. One boy asked us what was bad about the States, and the three of us just looked at each other like..........................uh? I tried to think of a simple way to ask him to ask a more specific question, so he rephrased the question, "What do you not like about America". The teacher laughed and said, you need to ask them something like, What type of foods do you not like in America, or what do you not like about the media, or something like that. Another kid asked us what was easier to do in the States than it is in Germany. We were all kind of lost on that question too. Then, somehow we got onto crime in the states, and I told them how in some neighborhoods in St Louis, it's a bad idea to stop at stop lights or stop signs. My host mom told me how they had gone on vacation for a few days and had forgotten to lock the door..so. yeah. I don't know if they just live in a good neighboor hood, but that's kind of how these kids reacted to my statement as well.
I really enjoyed talking to the younger kids...they were really funny. A guy in one of the other groups told me about some of the questions his group asked. He said one boy asked him what airline he flew in on, and he told them Lufthansa, which is a German airline, and they all cheered. He was so confused...as am I. I can't imagine a group of Americans getting cheering for Delta or something. He told the kids he was from Columbus, Oh, and one of them asked him if Route 54 goes through Columbus. There were a lot of really funny questions though, I wish I could remember them all.
There were some sillier questions too though.
We finished up with this class and then headed back to the teacher's lounge. We were then treated to a choir rehearsal for a very young group of boys. They sounded really good, but the teacher was very precise and stopped every few seconds to critique them. It was kind of funny to see the exaggerated faces they have to make to create the right sound with their vocal chords, but then I've never been too musically inclined. I'm sure my cousin Natalie (woo, shout out to my GURL!) knows exactly what I'm talking about. They were learning a piece of music in Latin, and I was pretty impressed.
We talked to the music teacher for a little while after the class was over, and we found out that a lot of boys come from all over Europe to study here, and that it's the only school in Germany that is both a boarding school and a regular school. The students who come from very far away live on campus. She told us that the boys are required to wear special indoor shoes, and that if they wear them outside, they have to pay 1 Euro, and that it normally only happens once!! We also found out that they students have a one year hiatus, during puberty, where they only study, while their voice changes. This excursion day was quite a bit shorter than every other one we've had so far, and we were finished around lunch time. We all decided we had had enough of Schweinehaxe and Reiberknödle and we wanted something NORMAL. So where did we go?? A Chinese restaurant. How Ironic. Their buffet was no where as big as even the smallest buffet in America. There wasn't as much to choose from, but it was very good. No crab rangoon though!! I got a terrible craving for Mandarin Garden, and then Allison and I argued over which Chinese restaurant was the best in Evansville. I don't know if I've mentioned that or not. Allison went to Sig School and is several years younger than me, so I wouldn't have ever really met her, but we know a lot of the same people. She goes to Murray State now though, but it will be nice to have someone to hang out with in E'ville again!!

Minor disaster

2008-10-28T12:24:00.002Z

I've gotten pretty adjusted to getting where I need to go by bike. At first, I was really intimidated by riding in traffic. It's not a problem for me anymore, in fact, I find it exhilarating. Riding a bike in the rain has turned out to be a problem in and of itself. On my way to school, I rode with one hand on the handlebars, my other hand holding the hood of my raincoat over my head. Surprisingly enough, that was not when disaster struck.
I went to the mall after school to look for something for Fabian's birthday which is on Thursday. As I started to brake, I put my foot out to help skid myself to a stop. Didn't work so well. It was so slick that I ended up slipping and falling on my ass, in front of the mall, in front of quite a few people. Well..what else was there for me to do but laugh it off? Strangely enough I actually cracked through a German's stoicism and someone came over to my rescue. All I could do was say between laughing at my self. "Nein, nein, danke, Ich bin Ordnung". That should mean I'm okay. Lets hope!

Still trying to fill in the blanks...

2008-10-27T20:11:00.003Z

It's getting to be that time of year, folks. Midterms. Luckily they are a bit spaced out, for me anyway. Last week, I gave a 10 minute presentation, in German of course, over a 1920s German playwright, Bertolt Brecht. I think I did pretty well, but I haven't gotten a grade back on it. Then, that evening, I was able to go to his musical, Der Dreigroshenoper , The Three Penny Opera, with my host parents. It has been a bit reinterpreted for the times, aside from the dialog, so that was actually difficult given it was language from the 1920s, and they were singing. So I didn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I could understand enough from the action of the play. I really enjoyed it, but the rest of my class went to see it on Thursday, and I don't think any of them really did. I thought it was really cool, but a bit risque.
On Wednesday, we took two tours of Regensburg, but honestly, I wasn't really that into them. I'm not sure why...Allison and I went to this delicious Italian restaurant during our lunch break though, and that was great! It was great to having something other than brats and schnitzel.
On Thursday, we had an oral test with our conversation prof, which, of course, was a conversation. We had to come up with a topic to talk about. Since I had already talked about Bertolt Brecht, I figured I'd reuse it, and I could talk about the play that I had gotten to see. I got a 100% on this, so hopefully I did almost as good on the other speech..

More than a week late: Wednesday's Trip to München

2008-10-26T23:15:00.000Z

If you've ever seen, read, or heard anything about München, you've probably heard of Marienplatz. It is the hot spot, and it's most well known for the Glockenspiel. The Glockenspiel is a set of bells, complete with marionettes, set on one of the spires of the München courthouse, or Rathaus. The verb raten means to advise, so there you have it. Every day it chimes at 11 am, and gives a short reenactment of two popular 16th century stories. One of the stories has to do with a Duke's marriage, and the knight joust went on to celebrate the marriage. Everyone cheers when the two knights cross paths. The other story harks back to the days of the plague. The plague really struck München pretty hard, as did the war. There are virtually no older buildings in München because everything was so bombed out, but they rebuilt over the older buildings, since they didn't have enough money to completely start over. München is definitely not one of the prettiest cities in Germany, because of the fact that everything is fairly modern. In all honesty, I think I prefer the quaint, cuteness of Regensburg. It was interesting to be here again, period, and I thought about my visit with Ray and Ben. I think I had more fun with Ray and Ben, but I might have learned more this time. I also remember where I had my first Fanta, in München, which is actually very close to this courthouse.
We ended up taking a tour with this strange tour guide. She had an interesting accent, and really liked to roll her "r"s. She was weird, but I think I understood her well enough. She took us by some strange stores, but I think maybe the stores pay her tour guide company to advertise for them. That would be my guess. She took us to this lingerie store, where you could buy "pretty little somethings". It was just awkward. None of us knew why we were there. She also took us by this gelatto shop, and told us it was the best in the city, but I wasn't that impressed. I can't really describe why she was weird, but everyone thought so. We ended our tour at a Baroque church, and we were all glad to be rid of her. Even Orlando.
The outside of the church was a bright yellow,
and really Baroque, with lots of curves and swerves. I thought it was really pretty from the outside, but you would never guess what it looks like from the inside. Our guide told us before she left that it's known as the creepy baby church, or something like that, because all the sculptures inside have the proportions of a baby. She was right. It was odd, but I liked it. Normally Baroque churches have lots and lots of gold on the inside, but this one didn't. It was all completely white, I think something to do with the fact that the church was built in thanksgiving that some Duke or something finally had a child. Which is why everything looks like a baby. I thought was really pretty and different, despite the strange babies. A lot of people don't like Baroque art, because it's pretty over the top and a bit gaudy with all the gold, but I kind of appreciate it. The architects paid a lot of attention to light sources and made sure to put lots of windows near objects that they wanted to illuminate, to create an emphasis. They'd do this with a statue of one of the holy family, or a the patron saint of the church, for example. They still did this, but it was just a lot different since it was all white.

After the baby church, we all went to the HofBrau Haus for lunch. The München HFB is pretty famous, and we were excited to go there, even thought there is one in Regensburg, too. Well, we were all very disappointed by our visit. First off, we had a horrible waiter. After waiting for at least ten minutes before anyone even came to our table, our waiter walked by and literally threw some English menus down at us, even though we already had several German ones on our table. None of us needed the English menu. It took him forever to take any of our orders, and then we waited a lot time to pay as well. The food and the beer also wasn't that great. Even Orlando was really mad at the waiter. He told us the best beer was at the Augustiner brauerei, so we'll have to go there later I suppose. And then, Allison and I were looking for the bathroom, and we asked a waitress, and rather than saying anything she just stuck out her arm, palm open, and pointed in the general direction. All without saying a word. Germans are just weird sometimes. For example, if you are trying to go into a building, and someone else is exiting, people almost never do the courteous thing and let the other person go first. Someone always barges through. I just find it odd, and a tad annoying. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a man open a door for a woman, or even help her put on a her coat. Those are just standard occurrences in the US, but that never seems to happen here.
The next part of the trip has been one of my favorite things we've done so far. We went to an exhibit over the influence of Europe over Walt Disney's work. I had never really thought about it, but whenever you talk to an American, they will say that pictures of Europe look like a fairy tale. Well, now I really understand why. Almost all of our experience with fairy tales has been dictated by Walt Disney, and he strove towards the beauty of the European landscape. It was really interseting to see other artwork that Disney took influence from. There were three works there that really just made my mouth drop open. Here's one most of you probably haven't heard of, but there is a artist named Piranesi that MC Escher also took a lot of influence from. I had just studied Piranesi last semester, so this was pretty cool for me. MC Escher is the guy who did all the tangram artwork.
Here is a work by Piranesi..I don't think this is the exact one that was on display, but I think it is a very similar study.

And here on the left is MC Escher, maybe you'll recognize it.

Next, I saw this, which I didn't previously known the painter's name, John, Grimshaw, but had seen his work many times on notecards. This photo is not very good, but the painting was absolutely stunning. It encapsulated everything that it should in regards to a fairy. The paint literally sparkled. It was breathtaking.

But then, as I was walking past some other paintings in the room with the above, I noticed a painting in the next room that literally made my jaw drop. I didn't even bother with the rest of the stuff in the room I was already in. Lets just say, John William Waterhouse is kind of a big deal to me. I was in awe. I still can't believe I got to see one of his paintings. This photograph does it no justice. I stood in front of it for a good ten minutes. It was fabulous!

There was also some work by Edward Burnes-Jones, which I was excited about, but apparently I was just too in awe over the aforementioned, because I can't remember what it was. :) All in all though, it was a pretty great trip!

Suspense makes the heart grow fonder.

2008-10-22T21:44:00.003+01:00

So I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles for the latest installment of my adventures abroad. They haven't been quite that adventurous (well okay, maybe a little), but it has been a bit busy. Last Tuesday was of course my birthday, which was a whole lot of fun, and one I will remember for the rest of my life.
The day started out of course rather normally, and I was quickly assimilated to the stand German birthday greeting. Alles gute zum Geburtstag which is "all, or everything good on your birthday. I think this is a typical Bayrish, because I think I remember learning it differently, however, I don't remember what it was. Most of my professors were very nice and greeted me this way, and then later, since my host dad left for work before I did, he greeted me with a hearty handshake and the same phrase. School was normal, other than that my Literature class sang Happy Birthday in German, which is just Zum Geburtstag viel Gluck sung repeatedly, I think.
When I got home, I helped my host mom make the lasagna and the apple strudel that we would be having for my birthday meal. Since there were ten people coming in addition to my family and myself, we had a lot to make!! Renate is a really good cook, and I think that her mother ran some sort of catering service or something, which is where she learned to cook. We did have a bit of problems separating the layers after boiling them. Lasagna isn't really the easiest thing to cook. We also made a veggie lasagna because one of the guys on the trip is Muslim, but actually, I forgot he can eat ground beef, just not pork. Whoops. I think there are a couple of picky eaters anyway though, so it was okay. I had some of the veggie lasagna as well and it was wonderful!! Fabian and Werner even helped make the lasagna, although Fabian more so that Werner. I believe Werner is terrified of the kitchen. He tried to separate the lasagna layers though. It was quite a bit of fun though, and a good way to spend time with the family and get to know them. My family should cook together!! Well, my dad and I made eggrolls before right before I left, and that was fun!
Then we made the apple strudel. The dough, or teig had already been made my Renate, so we just needed to cut up the apples from the apple trees outside, and then roll out the dough. We mixed the apples with chopped almonds mandeln, rum, sugar zucker, and raisins rosinen. I don't normally like raisins, but it was good! But then, I normally don't like mushrooms "Pilz, not to be confused with Pils, the type of beer", but I have started to like them here!! They're yum! Renate showed me how to roll out the dough, but the first time didn't work so well, so she showed me that I needed to roll out and the put pressure on the rolling pin. The second time worked well! We laid the dough on a kitchen towel, sprinkled the apple mixture, and then used the towel to roll up the dough and then put it on a pan. Fabian helped a bit with this as well.
After that, I went to go get ready for everyone to come, which involved showering, and getting gussied up. Luckily it doesn't take me too long. After I got ready I went back downstairs to wait on my guests, and saw the crates of beer that had been bought for the party. There were three crates of beer with about 16 bottles each.. Hell, Dunkle, and Hell-Weisse..a lot of beer! Everyone got here, although one of the girls some problems getting here, and even Orlando, one the directors came. His girlfriend Leonie, one of the other directors, wanted to come, but couldn't because she was working on her thesis, and the other one, Andi, was sick. One of the highlights of the night was when I discovered the huge beer mug that the family has with a picture of the present pope with his hands outstretched over the city of Regensburg. I need to take a picture of it. Talk about a pimp cup..
We all had a lot of fun, and it was loud and boisterous (but not too much so) and I think everyone really had a good time. My host family gave me a black scarf, some red gloves (to match my new red coat), and a head massager thing. My friends Bo and Allison gave me a french manicure kit, which I've been having fun with, and Leonie and Orlando gave me this cute little beer mug with a picture of Regensburg on it. Little, as in the size of a shot glass, so its really funny! It was my birthday, so I had a bit more to drink than normal, I think four beers, and by the end of the night I was pretty happy. Renate and I talked for quite some time as we cleaned up after everyone had left. The best part was when we were loading the dishwasher Geshirspull machinae, and there wasn't enough room. I couldn't think of what else to say, so I ended up saying something like, the dish washer doesn't have enough seating places, sitzplatz. She knew what I meant though, and we had a good laugh over it.
But it still isn't as funny as her saying, "I become a soda!" instead of "I receive a soda" at a restaurant once in the States. The verb for to receive in German is bekommen...so it makes sense.
I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, I was too busy having fun. The day after, we went to München, for our week excursion, but I'll have to write about that later.

Boat trip!

2008-10-13T15:33:00.008+01:00

Yesterday was quite a bit of fun. I got up early, for a Sunday, I think about 9 or 10 am. Yes, that is early for me. I can't remember what I did in the morning, so it must not have been too important. I had plans set for Sunday though, and I didn't want to rush out the door, so I mad sure to be up and ready.
The group met at the bus stop near the train station, and then we took the bus a ways out. Bo and David's host parents have some sort of access to a boat, so they offered to take us all out on it. It is a fairly small boat, but it was a lot of fun. At the beginning of the day, the weather was pretty dismal, but eventually it turned out nice. We were on the boat for a couple of hours, and went up and down the Donau. We were able to take some great pictures of Walhalla, which I was really excited about. The host parents were really nice, other than the fact that they are apparently hippies and have neither TV nor internet. Whatever. I can understand TV, but internet seems a little out there too me. They were cool nonetheless. Micheala, the host mom, made some sort of baked good that looked like biscotti when you take it out of the oven, but it wasn't hard. It was quite tasty. She also brought lots of little sample sized Ritter Sport chocolate, some lemon cookies, some drinks, and some Haribo gummies. The drinks and the gummies were a bit odd. One of the drinks was some sort of sports drink that was cherry-lemon- and something else flavored. I decided that was a bit much for me. The gummies were also strange...a lot of them looked like licorice, and a lot of them also looked like marzipan. I'm not too fond of either, but I did try a gummie that looked like a berry. It was okay.

Havin fun isn't hard. When you've got a boat.

Fog and the Forbidden Forest

2008-10-12T11:26:00.009+01:00

Wednesday was our field trip day again. I'm late uploading this, but whatev. I always am. Consider yourself privileged.
The trip by train really didn't take very long at all, which is extraordinary. It usually takes us at least an hour. And it didn't even take that. We had maybe thirty minutes by train and then twenty minutes by bus. So not bad at all. Somehow I deleted all my music off my Ipod, but not the games, so there you have it.
The first part of the trip involved a hike, which I really enjoyed.
I thought I was in the Forbidden forest!! The hike took some time, but I enjoyed it. There were crazy looking mushrooms growing everywhere. Apparently it's kind of a big deal to go out into the forest to collect fresh mushrooms for dinner, but that would make me a bit nervous. So we were actually up in the mountains a bit here, which I of course enjoyed. It made me think of NC and of course I wanted to go back. Another girl on the trip worked at a camp too, so we shared some camp stories. I ended up talking to Leonie for quite a while about the art classes that are offered at Regensburg Uni, and that I might be able to be a guest. That would be really neat, but I think that I might have some schedule conflicts. I also asked her about her expereience in the States. She studied near Boston, and wanted to stay longer, but ran out of funds. I told her about camp, and that they often hire foreigners.
We eventually got to what we were hiking towards, which was Befreiungshalle near Kelheim. The fog really obstructed our view. I took a picture but ended up deleting it. Since we couldn't really see the building, we took a group picture with the fog. We were only a few hundred meters away, and we really couldn't see it at all. I thought it was awesome though, and an interesting story to tell. It would have been nice to be able to see the view from the top of the building...but it was still really great. The inside was really cool as well. There were an awful lot of stairs though. It seems to be a recurring theme. We did a bit more hiking, and I took a few more cool pictures of the fog.
After that we took a boat across this tiny portion of the Donau to get to the monastery. They make their own beer there! I thought we'd get a tour or something, but we didn't. We ate lunch at the monastery, and I had some tasty lamb ravioli, but it didn't taste much like lamb. I had another dark beer, which I liked a lot. I tried the boch, but the alcohol content is something insane, and I didn't want to be ridiculous for the rest of the trip.
Next, we went to the monastery church in all of it's Barocked out glory. I didn't know I liked Baroque art. It was pretty awesome, for being such a tiny church, especially since it looked so small and unassuming on the outside. Inside. Wow. The thing that was really strange to me though, was that there was only one depiction of Jesus. A woman started singing some sort of hymn in latin, which was unexpected, but cool. We also did a bit of walking around the place afterwards. Actually, we found a really beautiful spot, and we basked in the sun for a while. That was the best. Everyone got really quiet and we just enjoyed the moment. It was amazing. We got back to the bus with the little boat we came in on, but took it for about 20 minutes this time. I got some really amazing pictures of the Donau, and Befreiungshalle. Which was good, since the fog

covered most of it before.

3, 2, 1, Contact

2008-10-07T22:52:00.002+01:00

So I mentioned earlier that making friends here seems difficult. I think I forgot to mention why. Our very first day here, the directors explained to us the difference between coconuts and peaches. Coconuts have a hard outershell, but are soft and mushy on the outside. Peaches are opposite. Of course this was a metaphor for Germans vs Americans. Germans are the coconuts. So after this introduction, things because a little more daunting.
Today, however, I made an attempt with the German world of students. IT is very common to sit at a table with people you don't know in the school cafeteria. I ate without the rest of the KIIS group, so I made myself comfortable. Shortly after, a group of guys sat down next to me. Now, let me just say that getting food at the Mensa is something like Russian roulette. A week or so ago, they had something labeled as "American Schnitzel". I honestly didn't know there was such a thing. And if there was, I certainly didn't think it would be covered in a gravy that had corn and beans. Moving on. Today, I got what I thought was some sort of pasta with vegetables and sauerkraut. Well, it wasn't pasta, so I attempted to ask the guys sitting next to me what it was. The guy sitting directly next to me gave me a side long glance and said nothing. The guy opposite me asked me if I spoke French, which was actually pretty cool, and better than him thinking I'm American, I think. He gave me a very brief description, and that was that. No other conversation. It was some kind of potato thing, any how.

Funny Little Things

2008-10-07T22:25:00.005+01:00

I need to remember to write these things down. They are priceless.

So I prefer ice cream in bowls, instead of a cone, but I can never remember the word for cup. When we went to München for Oktoberfest, I overheard part of a discussion my hostmom was having with some friends as we were riding on the train. I was kind of half asleep, but I heard the word "becher", which I remembered means bowl. So I woke up and said, Becher, that means bowl right? My hostmom started to chuckle, and said, well it's complicated. Apparently I had missed the rest of the conversation, because they were talking about EierBecher, or egg cups. But not the kind for breakfast. Apparently that's what Germans call a jock strap. It was interesting.

Also, I almost wrote a second ago that we were driving the train, rather than riding it, because there is really only one German verb for riding/driving a car, train, bus, or bicycle.

Today I explained to my host mom and host sister what going commando, or "free balling it" means. They were really surprised anyone would do that, other than Brittney Spears, of course.. Or Lindsay Lohan. Or Paris Hilton. Yes. They mentioned all three of them.

A week or so ago, we realized that a very large spider had made a web on one of the windows. Isabella and I looked at it with some trepidation, and she asked me what the English word for web was. She nodded her head, and then a few seconds later, a look of recognition came across her face, and she said.."OH! WWW!! I get it now!" (As in the internet..) It was pretty priceless.

Also, Germans never wear white socks. I think it's considered tacky here. I can personally validate this, as I don't think I've seen a single white sock in the house, except for mine. Also, wearing socks with ballet flats, sandels, etc, is perfectly fine.

Another Gorgeous Day

2008-10-05T17:28:00.003+01:00

The weather was absolutely perfect today. Too bad it wasn't on Friday, when we went to Augsburg. None of us really enjoyed that trip. Friday was a holiday, which was why we went then instead of Wednesday. That way we wouldn't have two free days last week. None of us were that pleased about that considering all the other students had the day off. Eh.
This weekend Renate was gone... I THINK to a Yoga retreat, but you know, I never can tell. That is I never can tell if I really understand. There's a good chance that's what she was doing though. So Werner cooked. One night neither Fabian nor Isabella ate, so it was just he and I, and he told me he hates to cook, it makes him nervous (or something), and everyone complains about his cooking and doesn't eat it. Considering we were the only ones eating that night..well..yeah. I thought it was fine! It was grilled fish, rice, and steamed broccoli. I mean, it wasn't gourmet or anything, but I'm not complaining!! I don't have to cook!
The family seems to like to go out for lunch on Sunday, we have every Sunday so far. Fabian didn't come with us though, because I guess he put off his homework until today. Isabella, Werner, and I went to a restaurant out in the country. It was a really gorgeous drive, and I believe we went on the AutoBahn. It took us maybe 15 minutes to get there. I had this ridiculously huge piece of pork leg. It's called Schweinshaxe. Actually, I just looked that up in my German dictionary, and it says that that means pork knuckle. I guess maybe I just don't know what a pork knuckle looks like. Either way, it was quite tasty, and it came with Reiderknödle (Potato dumplings) and was smothered in gravy. It was funny though, because Werner and I ordered the same thing, except his came with soup and desert and my pork knuckle thing was about twice as big as his. I should have traded, but then again, I don't think he finished his either. Isabella and I decided we should get some ice cream. However, the kind I wanted came with egg liqueur on top...which is not so appetizing. I successfully ordered my ice cream sans egg liqueur in German..and I got a standing ovation from Werner. Well, I think that has been the first time anyone has told me that my German is "getting always better" which is the direct translation. So to me, that was as good as an applause.
After we ate, the three of us went to this woodland preserve thing and took a short hike. I'm telling you what, Germans are into outdoor recreation. I know that I would have not been particularly excited about going hiking on a Sunday afternoon when I was 16, but Isabella was really perky. Maybe she's just really good natured and I was a horrid teenager. Well, I already know the answer to the later... :) There was an interesting little kiddie play ground, with a bunch of musical instruments made out of wood. Isabella and I got really into them. I think we could have formed a band..
We came home from that around 3 or 4 pm, and at first I thought about laying down for a bit. I still had a headache from the night before. I really think German beer must be quite a bit stronger. I only had three beers, and it was over the course of several hours. Speaking of which, Allison, Bo, Kevin, and I met up with some Erasmus students. Erasmus is the typical study abroad program for Europe. Bo had met one of them on campus a few days ago when she was asking for directions. The girl of course knew at once he wasn't from here, and asked him where he was from and they struck up a conversation. There were about 20 or so of them. As far as I can tell, they've only been here a few days. I talked to a Hungarian girl that as really cool, and either she's only going to be here for a few days, or she's only been here for a few days. I hope she's staying for the full semester, because she was pretty cool. I also talked to a Czechoslovakian girl, and I'm pretty glad I struck up a conversation with her because it turns out, she didn't really know anyone in the group she was with either. At first I was intimidated by all those people, but a little beer will do you wonders!! So, you know, it has it's pros and cons.. We ended up going to a disco afterwards, which was surprisingly fun. I stayed out later than I should have though.
Luckily, I didn't stay up too late so that I couldn't enjoy Sunday. I went for another bike ride along the Donau, and you should be jealous. Fall is absolutely gorgeous here. I think it's fast becoming my favorite season. Next time I go, I'll have to remember to bring my camera with me. I can't explain how happy this evening made me though. It was beyond gorgeous. I sat by the river for a bit as well, contemplating the people that passed me, and thinking about how lucky I am to be here. I honestly wonder if maybe I enjoy these type of moments more than anything else..

What??

2008-10-02T08:49:00.002+01:00

There is a bathroom in the alcove where you take off your shoes and jackets in our house. A few days ago, as I was heading out for the day, I attempted to take a pit stop. I'm pretty sure Fabian tried to dispose of his cereal in the toilette. It was really strange..

What am I learning?

2008-09-30T22:39:00.003+01:00

So what I repeatedly heard from people encouraging me to go on this trip was, "It'll be life changing! You'll learn so much about yourself!" So what have I learned about myself? Well, so far, I know that I need a lot of time to myself. Why? Because after so long, I want to strangle people. I'm frustrated with myself though, and I wonder why I get so frustrated with people? I try and make excuses like, "Well, they are a lot younger than you are, you are at a different frame of mind," Well, maybe so, but I'm afraid that's just the excuse I make for myself. I have friends here, but I can only take them for so long before they start waining pretty thin on me. I've asked myself, "Is this normal for me?" Well, it's hard to say. There are 9 people that I am spending the majority of my time here with. I suppose it's logical that I would get really sick of them. However, I spend a lot of my time with the same people while I'm at home. On the other hand, I suppose I pick that lot of people myself. I know most logical leap would be that I should start trying to make friends outside of the group. Well, right now, that's looking like a pretty big leap. I don't have a lot of confidence in speaking German, and top that onto your normal lack of confidence and it does seem a bit more overwhelming. Well, yes, that's where the learning is supposed to come in. That's where you are just supposed to grow a pair and make some changes. Well, we'll see. But damn it, sometimes I feel like busting some ass and taking some names...

Mondays aren't always so bad.

2008-09-29T14:05:00.016+01:00

My hostmom and host sister are downstairs in the kitchen together singing, but I'm not sure what it is. It's pretty cute, I have to say.
Yesterday was better though. I went out with my hostfamily again, but we went by car. We went to Walhalla, which is a neoclassical piece of architecture on the Donau, which was modeled after one of the Greek pantheons... I think there were more than one anyway :) I was really excited about this, since I had studied about it last semester. I'm going to have to take the pictures to my prof when I get home. Isabella and Fabian were not too excited about this though..apparently they go all they time with school. I can't remember what it was that Renate was asking him, but Fabian just repeating ,"no", over and over. He wasn't insolent about it though..just a typical 12 year old! It was funny though. It was a really gorgeous day, so there were a lot of people outside, sitting on the steps. It seemed to be a pretty popular meeting place. Not a lot of people actually inside though, I guess, as you have to pay. I really enjoyed going inside. There are a bunch of busts of famous artists of Germany...composers, writers, inventors, poets, painters, kings, etc..It was really pretty inside.
After that we went to this Nepali Buddhist temple that was a short drive from Walhalla. Today was the last day of the season for it to be open, so there were quite a few people there. It was gorgeous, but I had a hard time believing I was still in Germany. Apparently the temple originated in Nepal, was deconstructed and brought to some other city in Germany, and then bought by a guy who lived in this area, and then reconstructed. I have no idea how they would even do that with something so large. There was also a zen garden complete with Bonsai trees. It was really peaceful, and I really enjoyed it. We all had a really good time there, and I'm glad I got to go with them. They had a pond full of koi, and I explained to them how one of my friends is deathly afraid of fish...actually, I got a little worried too, because they had stones to cross the pond with, and it made me a bit anxious. The rocks were kind of slick..There were lots of really gorgeous Buddhist statues as well. The whole family spent a few minutes trying to get the hand gesture, and there was a bit of arguing, but it was all in good fun. The hands of the statue actually looked a bit odd and out of proportion, so that was probably the biggest culprit. It was a really nice day, over all, and I think we all really had fun, despite what Fabian might say!

Oktoberfest and Salzburg

2008-09-25T21:50:00.003+01:00

I am a bit late on writing about Oktoberfest, as we went last Sunday. There actually ended up being quite a lot of us that went. My host mother, Renate, and host sister Isabella went along, as well as Kevin's host parents, Elyse's host parents, and then Bo and Allison. It was a pretty large group. After we got off the train to München, we had to walk for a bit, and then we got to the Oktoberfest parade mostly this involved lots of wagons from different breweries pulled by cart horses, with lots of drunk/drinking people on board. But of course, everyone was wearing Dirndle and Lederhosen, so that was really nice. There were also a lot of marching bands. I really liked this, but it was a LONG parade, and after a while, it was kind of the same stuff over and over. I was ready to actually go into the fairgrounds. I say fairgrounds, because that's all Oktoberfest really is. A glorified state fair, with lots of alcohol and fewer animals. There are horses, but that's about it. As it turns out, none of us actually drank at Oktoberfest. Each of the different breweries has a beer hall that you can go into, and it's neat because they all are decorated elaborately on the outside, I guess in an attempt to draw you in of course. My favourite was the Löwen Bräu hall, because it had a big mechanical lion (löwen means lion...) with a beer stein, that would rumble "Lowen brau every few minutes.( Remember that a w is pronounced as a v though... I wish I could have gotten my camera to record with sound).
They are very strict about getting into these beer halls. First you have to order a drink outside in there deck area, or maybe more than one, I don't know. They won't let you in unless they know they're going to make money off of you. They don't want tourists in wandering around, mostly because it is already so ridiculously crowded.
There were so many different stands for souvenirs, food, and glazed nuts, it was crazy. My favorite stands were for the Lebkuchenherz, which are basically just the gingerbread cookies in the shape of a heart, with words in frosting, and a string so you can wear it around your neck. They say things like "I love you", or "You're the only one for me" and you give them to your sweetheart. So there are lots of girls in dirndle with lebkuchenherz around their necks. As we were wandering around we got some glazed nuts; Renate got sugared almonds, and I got hazelnuts. I am REALLY going to miss hazelnut when I go home!! They were really tasty. Then Renate talked me into eating this big Leberkässe sandwhich, which is neither liver or cheese, but really looks like a thick piece of bologna. It was scary looking, but it actually wasn't bad! They eat it with sweet mustard. I would probably eat it again...That pretty much sums up Oktoberfest though. It was fun, but it is incredibly crowded and we got seperated from each other and didn't find each other until about an hour or so later when we met at a restaurant for dinner. Renate and Isa had tried to stop to buy a Lebkuchenherz, and we didn't see them again for a while!! I just followed the main group though, I sure as heck was not getting lost in there with all those drunks!!
Yesterday was our excursion day for the week, and we went to Salzburg. I can't begin to describe how this city makes me feel. It's just a powerful feeling. I'm in love with the city. I have to say though, that this time around wasn't as fun, because I couldn't get ANYONE to sing with me. I really tried. No one was interested. And no one was interested in running through the veranda thing. I was NOT happy about that. I did really put my foot down and headed over to the main gate of Mirabell gardens ala SOM, when everyone walked off. I didn't care. I wanted my picture damnit! It turns out that everyone made it there eventually though, so I didn't have a lot to worry about.
At first, we spent a lot of time just wandering around the city. There was mini Oktober fest going on, but I have had about all I can take from Oktober fest. It was fun, but it wasn't all its cracked up to be. We were given some money to go and check out some museums, but pretty much no one used their money to go to a museum. I did, however!! The two heads of the group, Leonie and Orlando, wanted to go to the Museum of Modern Art, and I thought that sounded like a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, but I think it was a bit too futurist for them :) The only display on exhibit was about "The Art of Sound" which had a lot of Dada and Futurist art. There were lots of sculptural pieces, that you could push a button for and it would make a noise. Lots of them were sirens. I can understand why Leonie was a bit overwhelmed by all the noise, but I thought it was incredibly cool. Not my choice of art, but still very interesting none the less. One of my favorite pieces was a sculpture that had been a performance piece..I can't remember who the artist was, but the guy pounded a bunch of nails into the piano and then painted it white. I especially liked the placard that had some info about the piece..it said that when the artist had performed this piece, he went into it knowing he would have to go and continue to pound every single last nail in without stopping in order to have the effect he wanted. The audience was of course stunned. I would have actually have liked to see that. I was really excited, because I was able to see the Man Ray print, L' Violon D'Ingres. It's interesting because he named the print for the Neoclassical painter, Jean Ingres, who was well known for his repetitious "bather" paintings. He kind of got a bad wrap for it...kind of a one hit wonder. So the back of this woman in the photo makes sense. That is my vague recollection of learning about this..
anyway. But really, my favourite part was the kid's room. They had a lot of noise maker things. They had this really interesting rocking chair that had strings on the side like a harp, and when you sat in the chair, the wood of made the noise reverberate very loudly, and you could hear it much better. It was really neat, but I wish they would have had strings of different keys.. one side was all one note, and the other side was all of a different note. Another thing they had that I really enjoyed was this pinball like wooden box, that was on springs and you could move around. There were a few metal balls inside the box, and there were different things the ball could interact with to make a different noise. My favorite part was the music box though. They had a bunch of little crank handle music boxes, and some pieces of paper with the music scale on it, and some hole punches. You could punch holes into the paper and then crank it through to hear your own composition. And then you could turn the paper over and get something even more different! It was really neat.
We really didn't get to stay in the museum for very long, we only had forty-five minutes. After that, we met up with the rest of the group to go up in the HohenSalzburg Festung, which is the fortress up on the hill. I was excited about this because we decided not to go the last time I was there. I didn't really go through the museum inside the fortress much though. Originally I was with Bo, Allison, and Kevin, but I tend to wander off sometimes, so I just checked it out on my own. I took a long of really neat pictures, and I've been trying to edit them a bit in photoshop to create depth of field and such. I'm liking how they turned out so far. Even though the weather was a bit icky, it ended up that it made for some really interesting pictures. We stayed at the fortress for an hour maybe and they took the traincar back down (that only takes a few minutes). Then we all went out for dinner.

Heute ist Freitag

2008-09-19T15:53:00.004+01:00

Now it feels like things have flip flopped a bit. Comprehension in my classes seems to be getting easier, but understanding every day language is still hard. I think the vocabulary in class is quite a bit smaller, just because it seems like words we use in class are words I can remember studying. I suppose the vocabulary used in everyday life is just ... much broader. Also, I can look up a word in my dictionary, and then the same word is usually repeated in class. I still feel very out of touch with what is going on around me though. I wish I could communicate better. And then of course, my friend Allison came over to my host family's house yesterday, and she can talk up a storm in German, and it makes me feel stupid. Later, when I was helping my host mom, Renate, cook dinner, she said something like, Allison has been taking German for a while, yes? I know she wasn't trying to make me feel bad, and she even apologized as soon as she saw the look on my face, but man did it make me feel stupid. Well, not stupid, but just frustrated that I can't communicate so clearly. I know I'm not stupid, obviously, I just haven't studied as long. It doesn't make it any less frustrating though..
I went shopping again today, because I needed some black socks. I brought some with me, but it turns out that they didn't match. One thing I am really am missing is cheap, comprehensive stores you can find in America, like Walmart, or Target. As far as I can tell, you have to go to a specialty shop to really find what you want. Kaufland is somewhat comprehensive, but their selection is not so wide, so for example, if you want school supplies, you have to go to a paperstore; if you want running pants, you have to go to a sport store.... etc. I suppose that this is not completely true...but man! It sure would be nice to just be able to go to Target and get everything I need!!! Shoes, clothes, school supplies...etc.
But interestingly enough, I went to a bookstore (wow...I actually started to type out the German word for book, buch, and for a minute there I couldn't remember how to spell it in English...) and I found some really cheap dvds. I found Kiki's Delivery Service in German! I'm really excited to watch it. In German it's called "Kiki's kleiner Lieferservice" which is really just Kiki's little deliverys ervice, so not a whole lot of difference.. Speaking of Kiki's Delivery Service, yesterday while in Nürnberg, I saw a bunch of signs that made me think of Kiki!

Stammtisch und Nürnberg

2008-09-18T19:15:00.007+01:00

Since we have our excursion day on Wednesday, we all go out for stammtisch on Tuesdsay night. Stammtisch means something like to meet at the table; in other words, the whole group goes out for drinks. Even our three directors went, which I think makes it even more fun. I really like them a lot, and it is nice for me as well because I enjoy a more mature crowd at times. Its nice to talk about more serious things sometimes.. Anyway. Bo won an award from last stammtisch, because he was the one who found the most bars and got the right quesstions, as I explained a week or so ago. They gave him a little certificate, it was pretty funny. I had some really good dark beer, which I really enjoyed, but then after the first place, we went to another bar that was kind of in a basement. The atmosphere was neat; they had those cool circular chinese paper laterns (which seem to be very popular here. I have one in my bedroom, and I've seen them in other houses as well!) Unfortunately though, I ordered this stupid drink called Diva, which tasted something like grapefruit and vodka. It was horrid! Here's the thing though; I know now why there aren't so many DUI problems in Europe; it's not because they necessarily handle their alcohol better, but because public transportation is so great! No one ever needs to drive!! Anyhow. I ended up regretting it the next day, as we all had to meet at the train station the next morning at nine for Nürnberg, and I suffered from a bad headache for most of the day. I was a bit on the cranky side. :( So I had better take it easy next time!
Nürnberg was beautiful though! It took us about an hour to get there by train, which was an enjoyable ride. Again, public transport is amazing. It was pretty cold yesterday though, and I had a scarf, a sweater, and a light jacket on. Colder than it would be at home anyway. Our first view of Nürnberg was pretty exciting. You can see this to the left. I know how awful this sounds, but I don't think I ever really heard what exactly this was. We walked around for a while on our way to Albrecht Dürer's house. For those of you art history ignorant people, he was a famous painter/printer. We saw a lot of cute shops, and one of my favorite things I saw was this adorable little bakery that made the cutest little deserts!
This one is even more adorable! Unfortunately, I really didn't take any pictures at the Albrecht Durer house. It was neat though, because they had a woman as the historical impersonator playing Albrecht's wife, and she was our tour guide. Let me just say, she was JUST as convincing as Benjamin Franklin, in the office. Thankfully though, she didn't develop any crushes on any of use. Unfortunately, I was one of the two that didn't really understand what she was saying. This lack of understanding is REALLY starting to wear thin on me, especially since it seems that everyone else is leaps and bounds ahead of me. And yet, I never seem to have time to get a lot of "extra" studying in, to try and learn some verbs and vocab that I've forgotten. I understood a good portion of it, but still, I was pretty frustrated, which added to my sour mood. And then, to make things even better, after the Durer house we went to the "Nazi Hall of Fame", as Kevin, my neighbor put it. It made me laugh, and I think that he was just trying to lighten the mood after such a sobering experience. Instead of being a museum focusing on the victims and terrors of the Holocaust, this museum was really more geared towards the rise and fall of the Nazi's. Of course, it had to include information about the concentration camps and such, but that was not it's focal point. It included a lot of information on things such as the Nazi Youth, and different sects of the Nazi party. Thank goodness we were able to use the little headsets, so I could understand this time. What was even better though, was that it was simply narrating the placards on the wall, which were in German. I thought that this was a pretty good way to learn some German! I wish I would have taken my camera inside though, because it turns out the building used for this museum was originally a Nazi rally ground, but you don't really realize this until the end of the exhibit, when you are able to walk outside on this platform over the rally ground. It is an overwhelming experience, and unfortunately I don't have pictures of it. I would advise googling it. After this, we were all pretty tired and hungry, and we decided to stay in Nürnberg a little bit longer. The group split in half, with only a few of us going with Leonie and Orlando. But in the end, we all ended up eating in the same restaurant! It was pretty funny actually, that we all ended up there! I really enjoy getting to talk to Leonie and Orlando though. Orlando had actually thought about becoming a graphic designer as well, but it sounds like getting into any kind of art school here is quite difficult. Now, he works in theater, which he seems to enjoy very well.
After we ate, we headed back to the train station, and we all welcomed the hour long ride home, as we were all quite tired. So tired in fact, that we all joked about the idea of sleeping at the train station for the night! It was a good day overall, though. And of course, as always, if you'd like to see more of my photos, you can look at my photo albums on facebook. There were way to many photos to upload here!!

Out with the family

2008-09-15T20:13:00.003+01:00

Normally, shops and stores are not open in Germany on Sunday. However, yesterday was a special day, as school starts back for most students tomorrow. Because of this, everything was open. Sunday is usually when the family spends time together and does things like ride bikes or go on walks. Not that they aren't always riding bikes anyway. So all five of us got out the bikes and rode into town. It was a pretty enjoyable ride, but it was slightly cold outside, so when riding the bike it was even a bit worse. Riding bikes on the street makes me slightly nervous, as the roads are so narrow, but I know I shouldn't worry too much because hitting a pedestrian and/or bike rider here is a huge offense. I think they said that in addition to getting a huge fine, I think your license may also be taken away permanently. Or maybe just for a really long time..not sure on that one. Despite this, I still felt intimidated.
We all headed out to a beer garden type place that had a typical Bavarian menu. My host dad and host sister both order weinerschnitzle, which is basically a big breaded piece of pork. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen!! After asking for a bit of advice, I decided to order this prime rib type thing ( I can't remember what it was called), with a side of Reiderknödle (that's probably misspelled), which is a potato ball. The potato ball is made up of both cooked and uncooked potatoes, and it is kind of tacky and sticky. All of this was covered in the juices from the meat. It was very very very very good, and I would definitely order it again. The Reiderknödle wasn't actually as good as I had anticipated, so maybe I'll get something else. Renate, Werner, and I all had beer, of course. Riding the bike afterwards did not sound like such a great idea..
Next we went to the old courthouse, where they have a wine fountain. I believe they said it goes back to when King Ludwig was on the throne, and this fountain was used for special occasions, I think only once a year. Now, the Regensburgers can still enjoy wine from the fountain once a year. So we were fairly lucky to have been able to take part in this!

After this, Kevin, Eva & Carl (Kevin's host parents), Renate, and I went to the historical museum. Regensburg was established sometime during the Roman empire, I believe, and there is still an archway standing from this era. There were a lot of really interesting tombstones, jewelery, pottery, etc, to look at. Werner, Isa, and Fabian went home, as Isa and Fabian have both been to the museum many times with their schools. There is a coffee shop inside the museum as well, and afterwards, (we really only had an hour to look around before the museum closed), Renate, Eva, and I sat down for some coffee. I had an amaretto cafe late or something to that extent, and Renate had the same minus the amaretto. Eva didn't have anything because caffeine keeps her up. I should have done the same, but thankfully I managed to fall asleep!

I like this commercial

2008-09-14T22:37:00.002+01:00

So I took a little break from homework to check out the boobtube..and I saw a cute commercial. And now you can watch it!

Der Regensburger Dom

2008-09-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we went on a city tour of Regensburg, which was really neat, but now I have blisters. Wednesdays we have off so that we can go on trips and excusions. Next week we will go to Nüremburg, which should be really awesome too.

For the first part of the tour, we went to the workshop of the Regensburg cathedral. Renovations have been going on their for quite some time, do to deterioration from acid rain and such. That was most probably my favourite part. There was a younger girl working in there, who had her masters. I couldn't quite catch what she was saying, but I later had someone explain it to me. Apparently she had to go through a LOT to be working in there. Hmm. Maybe I'll know what to write my Fulbright proposal for?
Then we walked around the cathedral a bit and we were able to see where an excavation was being done. Apparently, some centuries ago, a new part of the cathedral was built, and it must have been built on top of a cemetary. Only just recently they were able to find these bones, and they could be anyone! They said it looks like a man, a woman, and a baby. It was kind of sad really, but very interesting!!

Anyhow, we were really lucky, and went on a special tour of the cathedral. Most people don't
get to go on the tour we went on, where you get to go up in the towers and look down. The tour guide had to unlock a special little door and then we all went up. It looked like it should have been a winding staircase, only there weren't any stairs built!! It went up and up forever, and we were all getting really tired. I was able to get some really great pictures of the city though, from the tower windows. Here is a picture of the Regensburg bridge, which I believe is even older than the St Charles bridge in Prague. This one is nice, but not nearly as cool, because there aren't street artists and such on this bridge. They told us several stories about this bridge, but I only half understood them. Something about that in the mideval century, no one was allowed to fight or duel on the bridge, and anyone who did would have their head chopped off! And then there was something else about the devil trying to destroy the bridge by lifting it up from below, but all he did was raise it.

It was kind of a pain to walk up all the spiral staircases, and everything, and get all the way to the top, but i was worth it. The posts in the upper part are all original wood, and the architects had designed a special ventilation system that keeps air flowng throughout the entire church, which has helped to preserved the wood. They showed us this special elevator thing, and you open it up and it goes all the way down to the floor of the church. They warned us to be careful of taking pictures because if we dropped anything, it would kill whomever it hit!! There was a big wheel that was used to bring the pulley up and down, and they said it took a couple of people to work it. Obviously, you can see how big it is!!

And here are two of my closest classmats, Bozhidar, or Bo, as we call him, and Allison. Allison is from Evansville as well!! Who would have thought?!
Well, I took a LOT of pictures of this trip, and it takes a while for them to load and format, so if you want to see them all, check them out on facebook. I'm about to upload them now!

Excaliber City!

2008-09-10T07:39:00.000+01:00

Many of you have probably heard about the famed Excaliber City, that Ray, Ben, and I came upon while driving from Vienna to Prague. Last night, we all visited a few bars, and I brought it up to see if some of the local Germans had ever heard of it. I couldn't quite remember the name, so I googled it, and THANK GOD...I found it. It was described as a "tax free mini Las Vegas". I'm thinking I should insist that we all go and visit it in all of it's Glory! Ray didn't want to go last time....but now I need to make it my first priority to visit it!!!!!!!!

An Early Start

2008-09-09T17:47:00.000+01:00

I thought I had to be at class today at 8:30, but it turns out I don't have class until 10:15, so I have a little bit of extra time. I will probably leave for university in about twenty minutes I guess. I woke up after having a strange dream this morning, around five, and it took me a while to go back to sleep. Then I woke up for class at seven, took a shower, got dressed and such, and had some breakfast. Again, bread with butter and this time, orange marmalade. I also had a macchiato. I think I called it something else yesterday, but today, after thinking about it, I think that is technically what it is. I know this from working at the Starbucks in the dining hall at school occasionally. I really liked working there, it was kind of fun being a barrista! Anyway, macchiato means to mark the foam, I believe. So first you put in the hot, foamy milk, and then you put in the coffee. Usually I guess it is espresso though. I went out for a walk, and took some pictures of the neighborhood.
Here is the entrance to our house. It's pretty, I think. Martinweg nummer 9. Weg just means way, basically. I can't remember if it is Renate or Werner's mother, but she lives right next door. I talked to her for a bit, but she doesn't know any English at all, so it makes it a little difficult. I think she told me that she was going to go into the city to meet an old school friend for breakfast. Either that, or she already had. And that she was going to go the park, I believe. It's really neat that they live next door, I think. They kind of share a garden together, and there is small pen in the grandmother's yard that the guinea pig and the bunny stay in sometimes. Usually the bunny is in the garage, where they keep their bikes. The guinea pig mostly stays in the house, but goes outside sometimes too. The bunny is much bigger than the guinea pig, and is in charge. I think the bunny kept trying to bite the guinea pig! It was pretty funny. So I went into the shed/garage to play with Willi, the bunny for a little bit. They used to have another bunny, I can't remember what his name is, but it died. :( Poor bunny.
He is very fidgety though, which I guess is normal for bunnies. He was a bit skittish when I tried to pet him, but if I put my hand out, he would kind of butt it/nuzzle it with his nose. It was a bit more forceful than a nuzzle though. I think he wanted to be scratched on the head, but I'm not too familiar with bunnies. But he was being cutesy! I love him, so far. I hope he never bites me.

I took a few pictures of some of the neighbor houses as well, and a few pictures of the recycling bins. Germans really know what they are doing here with recycling, as I'm sure you can guess!

This means, stop! Exit free!, literally. They are on most of the gates outside the neighborhood houses. I think it just means don't come in.. Maybe. I'll have to ask.

And here are the apples from the apple trees.

And the backyard. Behind those balls is rock that is a little fountain! It's really cute! Ok, well, I need to head of to class. More, later, maybe!

What a good day

2008-09-08T23:04:00.000+01:00

What can I say? Today was a very good day. Very busy, but very good. I woke around seven this morning to get ready. I had some bread and jam for breakfast along with what was basically a Cafe Americano...or coffee with steamed, foamy milk. My family has a coffee press, which is nice. I talked to my guestfather, Werner, for a bit as we ate, and then Kevin, who lives across the street from me, knocked on the door. Werner gave me a bottle of water to take, but of course it is carbonated water, as that is all they really drink if they drink water. I don't really like it, but I am going to have to get used to it. You can get still water, but you have to ask for "Stihlwasser" or Leigewasser. I think that's how it's spelled..or even said, but it means tap water. One thing we all have to get used to is the Bayerish, or Bavarian slang. It is very different than what we have all learned, which is HochDeutsch, or High German. For example, a lot of the articles are different from what we have learned. So if we learned Die Butter, for butter, here it might be Der Butter. I can't remember what the article. For any of you that have never taken a Fremdsprache, or foreign language, the article is bascially "the", but each word is designated male, female, or neuter. I have noticed that my guestfather often says, "He must do this", but the article should be it in English. For example, when we were trying to set up my computer for the internet, he spoke English. When he referred to the diaologue box, he used the article he, instead of it. I don't know if that makes much sense, but I think it should if you are familiar with foreign langauge. Anyway, such a digression. Well, here is another thought. I know this sounds silly, as I have only been here todays, but I am finding that it is sometimes difficult for me to think of a word in English, sometimes even commonly used words. I think maybe, since my brain works creatively, (which I can't remember if that is left, or right brain dominated) that maybe that is just the way my brain works. It just has a hard time trying to work both ways. I don't know if that makes sense either, and I know it sounds crazy because I have barely been here at all. Today, I think I made a lot of progress though. Yesterday was very hard, but today I am finding that I am able to comprehend and even speak much more. So I am very hopeful now! Ok..moving on.

So the ten people on the trip were to meet at the Albertstrasse (Strasse means street) bus stop so we could all take the bus together. Leonie and Orlando (two of the heads of the trip) met us there, and helped us get to the University. Kevin and I won't have to take the bus though, and walking to the bus was actually silly for us, because it is back tracking. We live very close to the university. We met up with the rest of the group there, and I met two new members who we weren't able to meet at the trainstation. Bozhidar, or Bo, who is from Bulgaria, but goes to school in the states, and Allison, who goes to Murray, but is actually from Evansville! Later, as we all filled out our registration forms, we found this out.

So we all made it to the university and we went to the classroom where we will have class. They will all pretty much be in the same classroom, because we are the only ten students taking these classes, as they are directed just for us! It actually will be quite nice I think. Today is Elyse's 21 birthday, so they had a cake waiting for her in the classroom. It was really nice! Oh, and they gave her this tiny Bavarian shot glass, that has a little spout that you drink from. Then we got our student ID cards, went over some schedules and student codes. And then we got our cards for the Mensa, or the cafeteria, but most of them didnt' work! Another head of the trip, Andi, had to have them worked out for us. After we went over those things, we went to eat in the Mensa. I got some kind of meat in a gravy, with rice. It was pretty good, but Orlando and Leonie warned us that the food in the Mensa can be quite bad, which isn't that different from Ball State. I also had a Fanta with lunch. WOOHOO!

We took a tour of campus, mostly to buildings we will never again visit, as all our classes are in the same place! Also, for the German registration, we have to have special biometric passport photos. I tried to have one taken at home, but apparently it wouldn't work. Leave it to the Germans to be strict on that, right? Well there are photobooths all over the place here, kind of like those sticker booths in the mall, where you can take the photo. Several of us had to take photos, and that was quite the experience!! Oh, another funny thing we all found out..Ted, another guy on the trip, mentioned that at first he had been very confused by some of the signs posted over the doors. The word ausgang means exit, but the signs have NOT in front of it, so it's NOTAUSGANG. Ted thought that this was a combination of German and English..so of course he was confused that over all the exit doors there would be a sign that says "not exit" But it turns ou that NOTAUSGANG means emergency exit. We all laughed about it for quite a while!

After the tour, we headed back to the bus station. Bo mentioned that he thought we should be going on the opposite bus to go home, as we were getting back on the bus we had came on to get where we were...does that make sense? Ok, anyway. So Orlando was very evasive. We rode the bus for a little while, and Kate mentioned, "Oh, I know where we are! We're near my house!" Elyse and Kate live very close to each other as well, but Elyse had not noticed where we were..haha. So it turned out we all went to Elyse's guestfamily house for a birthday party for her. Their house was very pretty! It was very funny, because Elyse's family doesn't really know any English. The mother's favourite thing to do is to make everyone eat way more than they can, so they had made about five different kinds of cakes, (a bundtcake, which seems to be common, an applecake, and some kind of berryroll) and there were two tables set, each with huge plates of cookies! The tables were set very nicely! It was so much fun, actually! We talked a lot, and had a lot of fun. Andi came later, and Elyse's mom gave him a plate with a piece of each cake, so he was very overwhelmed. She also made each of us have at least two pieces of cake, and would NOT take no for an answer! Also, the guestfather likes the Eagles a lot, and he had a live DVD playing on their tv. Also, we noticed a painting of him and his son, and he was wearing an Eagles tshirt! They also have a cat, which I played with a bit, and I am very jealous. We stayed there for a bit, and then a few of us went in Andi's car to go to the mall to get a few things. Allison and Kevin needed some notebooks and pins, and I needed some facewash, as the Germans confiscated mine in the Munich airport! Shopping was quite an experience. First we went to Kaufland (Kaufen means to shop..I think you can get the rest..) It reminded me a bit of a dollar general, in some ways, but it had two levels; with the top being things like householdy items, and the bottom was grocery and then some other items like cleaning supplies, cat food, and bath items. I was really amused because every so often the loud speaker would blare this little jingle, but all it said was "Kaaaaufen" in a female, singsongy voice. I laughed to myself, imagining being in Walmart, and only hearing "Shooooppping!!" Another funny point of interest. I was trying to get the german word for facewash, so I could know what to look for. Well, the word for face is gesicht. So face wash is somethig like Gesichtwasser, or facewater. But the word or history is geschishte (sp? I know how to say it though..) I am more familiar with the word for history, so I ended up saying I needed to get some "historywater". Needless to say, everyone teased me about that for quite a while! Anway, there were so many different types of face wash, and I really couldn't tell which to get. Luckily the ingredients are listed the same here as in America, because I am algeric to certain ingredients. I ended up just squirting out a bit to find a gel like substance that had the scrubby things. Sorry to the males reading this, I'm sure you're lost. Anyway. I also bought a waterbottle, but I had to go to a sports store for that. I really had a lot of fun shopping, which is unusual, but it was something very new! I mostly tried to do everything on my own, but Leonie was there to help. She was very helpful...but I did kind of just want to do it by trial and error, and I think I paid the cashier ok, because she didn't look at me weird or anything! I'm sure she knew I was foreign though..I could always tell if someone was when I worked at the grocery store. The four of us who went ot the shopping center ended up splitting up to go to seperate stores. Leonie wanted to make sure we could get home okay, and I assured here I knew, even though I wasn't really too sure. I took the roundabout way, but I made it! I was nervous about it, but I made it! I know mom will be mad to hear it, but guess what, you can't do anything. haha! But I was really proud of myself. I knew I was headed in the right direction though, because Renate pointed out to me that all the streets around ours are named after famous composers, so that really helped!!

I made it home fine, to find Fabian outside with his friends, doing skateboard things. We all sat down for dinner together, and the had made these apple pancake things, that we poured vanilla pudding over. I suppose they eat a lot of apple recipes, as they have the apple trees outside. We also had some bread, with meat and cheese. Here you don't always make a sandwhich, and sometimes just eat it openface. We had ementaller cheese, and brie. I liked both quite a bit. Werner, Renate, and I had some wine, and they let Isabella have some too, even though she isn't old enough. Or maybe, she just isn't old enough to order it in public? I thought the drinking age was 16, but I'm not sure. Or I think her birthday is coming up, and she is almost 16. I get a bit confused :)!! We actually had a really good conversation, mostly in German. I really only understand bits and pieces so far, but that is a lot better than before, and it is enough mostly to get the gist. Anything I really didn't understand, they just tried to explain in English. Then, after dinner, Renate, Isabella, and I watched "Memoirs of a Geisha", which in Germany is just called "Die Geisha". It was in German, but we put the english subtitles on, which I think helped me learn a lot, actually! We did this a lot in German classes, but I don't think I ever really paid enough attention to the German to really learn anything, but this time I thought it was really helpful. I really enjoyed watching the movie with them, and Isabella is super sweet!

I have to say it again, it was a really good day, and all I could think of was how happy I am that I came. I know there will probably be some tougher days, but for now, alles ist gut!

Mein kopf schmerzen!

2008-09-08T02:09:00.000+01:00

It’s technically been only twenty four hours since I left home, but it certainly feels longer than that. I can’t believe how disoriented I feel! I don’t remember feeling so out of it as soon as I got off the plane the last time I went to Europe. Well, I wasn’t exactly bombarded with as much I suppose. To use the word “bombard” seems awfully negative, but that is pretty much how I felt. Minus the negativity.
The flight was crazy. On again off again, I felt like I was in some dramatic relationship with the airplane. Luckily, I ended up being on the same flight as Elyse, another girl from KIIS, for the whole way. We didn’t sit next to each other, but we were able to find our connections together, which was a huge help! The Philly connection wasn’t so bad, and even the Frankfurt to Munich flight wasn’t either. Getting around in the Munich airport was a bit harder than I expected! Of course, it could have been because I was slightly comatose. Well, I’m getting ahead of myself! I’m leaving out the most important part. AIRFOOD!
It wasn’t that bad actually. Some kind of chicken casserole, with rice and cheese, and then some bread, a salad, and a little piece of carrot cake. But even better than the airfood was in flight movie! You’ll never guess…I was able to keep up with my Office fix, because I got to watch TWO episodes of the Office. Hey now, don’t roll your eyes. It’s probably the last I’ll see of it for a long, long time. I also tried to watch some of the new Indiana Jones movie, but we landed before I finished it. It was not so great, and it seemed like all you ever saw was Indy’s back anyway…(hmm… I wonder why?) I don’t remember the other movies as being so hokey, but then I suppose it has been a while. I was able to sleep on the plane for a bit, but I couldn’t say how long it was for. Since I left my phone at home, I was out of touch with time completely.
As I said before though, it’s a good thing Elyse and I were there together. When we got off the exit (AUSFAHRT…HAHAHAHA), we asked a man where to go next. Of course he told us in German. When we walked away Elyse said, yeah I have no idea what he just said. Which made me feel good, because I didn’t know either. We kind of thought he said something about two floors, and it turned out he must have, because that’s how many we walked up! The crazy part came once we got off this escalator, and we got to this section where you could turn left or right. Only the right was an staff only exit out onto the runway, and the left was a wall. We stood there for a minute dumbfounded until another guy walked up, into the wall, and like magic, it parted! That really was the craziest looking automatic door I’ve seen.
So luckily we were both able to collect our luggage relatively easily, and then we trollied our luggage on out and met the other members of our group. We waited a bit for someone else’s flight to get in, and then made our way to the bus stop. We all looked like a bunch of idiots, with our crazy amount of bags, struggling to get onto the “accordion bus”. Actually I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but if it isn’t, it should be. It’s basically two busses combined, end to end, and in the center is this accordion like section so that it can go easily around turns. Well, guess who got stuck in the middle of the bus loaded down with luggage? Not to mention the fact that the walls are constantly moving, part of the inner platform of the accordion is circular and pivots around as well to make turns. Let’s just say accordion buses make for an awkward, yet interesting ride. We got off the bus and started heading for the train. We walked down a flight of steps…my bag clunk, clunk, clunking all the way down. That thing was fifty pounds, plus I had a backpack and my laptop bag, so there was no way I was lifting it! Then we turned a corner, and more stairs!!
Only this time, it was up! I felt like I had climbed a mountain once I got up those stairs. Then we had about an hour train ride from Munich to Regensburg. Our families met us at the train station. My new mom and dad met me there! It was exciting, yet slightly awkward. But I liked it. And then we got in their minivan like vehicle, which had an empty soda bottle and some paper towels in the back to keep me company. That sounds kind of harsh, but I only am adding the detail because it made me feel a little bit more like home! That’s weird.. I know. Anyhow.
So we arrived at their house, which is absolutely adorable. It’s narrow and tall; three stories tall. First floor is the kitchen, and a family room, second floor has two bedrooms, and the third floor has two bedrooms. Again, I’m not saying this to be harsh, but more as an anthropologist might do. I did take an anthropology. I was kind of surprised that it is a bit small..but you know what, I think it’s actually the perfect size! The kitchen wasn’t even as big as mine in my apartment, but it really made me sit there and think…why the heck do we need these ridiculously large houses when people get on just fine without them? All their furniture is very cute and stylish….kind of Ikea-ish. So I met the family, Renate, who is an architect, Werner, who I think is a teacher or professor, Fabian, who is 12 and likes to skateboard. However I didn’t get to meet Isabella! She is just getting over a traumatic experience! She has been on vacation in France, and aparentally the curbs are quite taller than the ones here in Regensburg, and she had a nasty blow out. She lost some of her teeth!! I feel so badly for her, she’s going to have to get plastic ones put in I think! I ALWAYS have bad dreams where I’m losing my teeth, so seriously, that would be my worst nightmare. That had to be really rough though..and I can only imagine the pain. Poor thing. I’m looking forward to meeting her, but I hope she isn’t banged up too badly. Battle wounds, I guess.
I also got to meet Willi , the bunny, and the guinea pig. I can’t remember his name. We had supper on their patio in the garden, and I had some quality bonding time with the little critters after dinner. At first they didn’t want to have anything to do with me, but I started to feed them some clover, and they changed their minds a bit. The rabbit is totally the boss. It cracked me up…and I didn’t know guinea pigs made noises! They make the funniest, cutest little grunts! So those guys WILL be my friends, whether they like it or not.
After I met the pets, Renate took me on a bike tour of a lot of the city. That was probably my favorite part of the day. It’s no wonder no one is fat in Europe..because everyone walks or rides their bikes. It’s crazy. I knew that it was going to be like that, but until you really experience it, it doesn’t really come across I guess. I don’t know if I’ll get to borrow Isabella’s bike often, (chances are I might, since she had that catastrophe. I doubt she’ll be radfahren for a while.) but I really would like to. It was a lot of fun. Renate took pity on me and spoke English. They probably all think I’m dumb and didn’t ever really take any German, but whatever. I’ll get it eventually, just not today. I did try some though! She took me to a café and we had Eis Kaffee. It was pretty tasty…and we talked for quite a while, and had a lot of fun. She took me around and showed me the downtown area. It was the most amazing thing, all cobblestone courts, and in some places you aren’t even allowed to ride a bike, much less a car. It looked like something out of a story book. We came back here and I took a shower and put away my things. Then I headed downstairs to see what Werner and Fabian were up to. (Renate had gone out for the night to visit friends) I had a light dinner and then watched a little bit of the Matrix with Werner and Fabian, and now I’m here writing my blog. I haven’t set up an internet connection yet, so I’ll post this tomorrow. Perhaps you will get two posts in one day!
Tschush!