What??

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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!