It was no secret that missing Christmas at home was going to be hard on me. I may talk a big game about how much I hate Christmas (and the way it's done in America is largely offensive to my sensibilities) however in reality it's one of my favorite holidays.
After finding out that I wasn't going home for Christmas Astrid invited me to celebrate Christmas with her family. Klaus, her husband, also invited me the next day not really being aware that Astrid had done it as well. With two invitations I decided that it was better than staying alone in my apartment so I accepted graciously.
Germany has been under a lot of stress lately from a fairly unrelenting blizzard, quite unusual for this part of the world and at this time of the year. I joked with Astrid that I bring bad winters with me wherever I go. I'm getting used to them now I guess. I relish the cold these days, oftentimes sleeping with little or no heat in my room. I can't really breath warm air. But I digress, my main point is that travel between cities in Germany is rather difficult at the moment. There was some concern that I wouldn't make it in.
These concerns proved baseless (quite a jump there) and soon I was sitting on a comfy couch playing banjo and trying desperately to keep a very enthusiastic five year old from leaving the living room and discovering her mother wrapping presents. I managed to use my banjo as a gate and attempted to convince her that it wasn't me keeping her from leaving, but that the banjo itself. She didn't quite buy it, but whatever no five year old can get past me you know?
Church was pretty interesting, it was all in German and truth be told it was a lot better than what I'm used to.
After Church we waited (im)patiently for the Christkind to come and give us our presents. That sentence seems kind of cutesy, but really how else am I supposed to describe a five year old waiting to open her presents? You try and take the joy out of that tiny little body squirming and pleading to be let into the living room to see what she's gotten from Christkind (who brings the presents in Germany).
Anyway the Christkind seemed to satisfy everyone. I got a 6 pack of Belgian beer (3 of which are alreday gone, though I accidentally broke one of the bottles) plus a case of generic beer from all over Europe. I'm actually pretty excited for this. As many of you know I detest the material aspects of Christmas BUT I always appreciate a thoughtful gift. Beer is pretty much always a good bet, especially when it's stuff I don't get all the time. It reminded me of home in a good way.
Dinner followed at around 10 or so, it was duck. There's been an awful lot of duck in my life as of late (I got kicked out of an all you can eat buffet that served a lot of duck) and I don't see this as a bad thing.
Speaking of home Nathan is here, he brought me a bottle of Devine Reserve 10. He is a wonderful and amazing human being. We plan to share it at the end of our journey here in Germany. We head out to Köln tomorrow, then to Berlin and Dresden. At the end of everything I want to try a team entry of our collective experience, in part to alleviate my annoyance at blogging, but also to give all 3 of us (his girlfriend is also here) an equal voice. It promises to be an epic adventure. I'll try and keep you guys posted.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Nathan and Rebecca are coming
Nathan over at L'histoire de sa vie is coming to visit with his girlfriend Rebecca. It's going to be fun. There will be no guest blogging from him, because that would be pointless.
I'll update about my Christmas adventures in Germany a little bit later.
I'll update about my Christmas adventures in Germany a little bit later.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Glühwein
John drinks Glühwein, John likes Glühwein.
srsly
Christmas is way better here in Germany than in the US. Granted it's still pretty far away, but Christmas here seems to be way more about family than about presents. I've talked to Germans about this and they said the one holiday they would never miss under any circumstance would be Christmas because it would mean they are away from their families. As someone who only gets to see his family a couple of times a year I can really appreciate this sentiment. It's usually such a pain for me to go home that I'd rather just forgo presents altogether in favor of a good meal and quality time with the family. This would include the drinking of cocoa, milk punch, eggnog etc and the wearing of festive sweaters. Also of course A Charlie Brown would be shown, as well as a Christmas Story. These are the things I like most about American Christmas.
I like German Christmas because there is Lebkuchen, everywhere. Literally everywhere. Also Glühwein, and chocolate.
srsly
srsly
Christmas is way better here in Germany than in the US. Granted it's still pretty far away, but Christmas here seems to be way more about family than about presents. I've talked to Germans about this and they said the one holiday they would never miss under any circumstance would be Christmas because it would mean they are away from their families. As someone who only gets to see his family a couple of times a year I can really appreciate this sentiment. It's usually such a pain for me to go home that I'd rather just forgo presents altogether in favor of a good meal and quality time with the family. This would include the drinking of cocoa, milk punch, eggnog etc and the wearing of festive sweaters. Also of course A Charlie Brown would be shown, as well as a Christmas Story. These are the things I like most about American Christmas.
I like German Christmas because there is Lebkuchen, everywhere. Literally everywhere. Also Glühwein, and chocolate.
srsly
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
continued
So you should probably start with the previous post if you're just picking up on this now. I have a tendency to get lost in unimportant details and sometimes lose patience with it myself even.
Anyway as midnight reared its ugly head (we were actually taking it easy because the previous night required the use of a taxi to get home, and none of us quite remembers how we found a taxi) the Brits noticed that it was my birthday and decided to sing. This was the first of at least 5 different Happy Birthday songs I would be forced to endure throughout the next week. This one was actually quite charming because they sang it in the Stadtbahn station with fake German accents (that were pretty dead on, though I guess we can all do them now) and then I remember hugs happening. They're actually nice people once you get to know them.
Anyway my birthday itself was rather boring afterward. In the morning a Scottish girl kissed me on the eye, or that happened later. I don't remember which one. She also slapped me two nights prior to illustrate her ability to do so. I don't understand either.
For some reason the tour of the Altstadt happened on the last day of our time in Düsseldorf. What made the whole thing even stranger was that they only took us through places we had already been, either on our own or because we were taken there previously. None of it made much sense.
Traveled home, nothing exciting happened. I got invited to an awesome Thanksgiving dinner.
So there's this German-American organization in Münster (and I guess in Germany) which hosts things on American holidays so that ex-pats and Germans who have spent time in America can get together and get a little slice of home/remember their time abroad. The meal itself was actually delicious, it was a potluck in an old German barn. They had not one but two huge Turkeys that were actually quite tasty and I made some garlic mashed potatoes that I saw the Americans devour ravenously but the Germans not really touch. I thought it was pretty good anyway.
Then came the line dancing, which I thought was the greatest thing ever until I saw the square dancing.
Germans dancing is by far my favorite thing to watch. I feel bad for making fun of them, but they do it too so I guess it's ok.
Anyway they shuffled aimlessly around the floor while the caller kept mispronouncing "Dos-i-do", it was pretty special. I was beside myself, really and truly.
The strangest part of the evening was losing in the trivia contest about American history. We lost to a bunch of old Germans who were in America during the '60s and 70's. They called themselves, rather prophetically I might add, "The Winners" and actually didn't beat the Amis by all that much.
At some point I also saw a production of the Christmas Carol and stayed up till 4 at some dance club. It was pretty boring.
Also I drank a lot of glühwein, and will continue to do so until they stop selling it to me.
Anyway as midnight reared its ugly head (we were actually taking it easy because the previous night required the use of a taxi to get home, and none of us quite remembers how we found a taxi) the Brits noticed that it was my birthday and decided to sing. This was the first of at least 5 different Happy Birthday songs I would be forced to endure throughout the next week. This one was actually quite charming because they sang it in the Stadtbahn station with fake German accents (that were pretty dead on, though I guess we can all do them now) and then I remember hugs happening. They're actually nice people once you get to know them.
Anyway my birthday itself was rather boring afterward. In the morning a Scottish girl kissed me on the eye, or that happened later. I don't remember which one. She also slapped me two nights prior to illustrate her ability to do so. I don't understand either.
For some reason the tour of the Altstadt happened on the last day of our time in Düsseldorf. What made the whole thing even stranger was that they only took us through places we had already been, either on our own or because we were taken there previously. None of it made much sense.
Traveled home, nothing exciting happened. I got invited to an awesome Thanksgiving dinner.
So there's this German-American organization in Münster (and I guess in Germany) which hosts things on American holidays so that ex-pats and Germans who have spent time in America can get together and get a little slice of home/remember their time abroad. The meal itself was actually delicious, it was a potluck in an old German barn. They had not one but two huge Turkeys that were actually quite tasty and I made some garlic mashed potatoes that I saw the Americans devour ravenously but the Germans not really touch. I thought it was pretty good anyway.
Then came the line dancing, which I thought was the greatest thing ever until I saw the square dancing.
Germans dancing is by far my favorite thing to watch. I feel bad for making fun of them, but they do it too so I guess it's ok.
Anyway they shuffled aimlessly around the floor while the caller kept mispronouncing "Dos-i-do", it was pretty special. I was beside myself, really and truly.
The strangest part of the evening was losing in the trivia contest about American history. We lost to a bunch of old Germans who were in America during the '60s and 70's. They called themselves, rather prophetically I might add, "The Winners" and actually didn't beat the Amis by all that much.
At some point I also saw a production of the Christmas Carol and stayed up till 4 at some dance club. It was pretty boring.
Also I drank a lot of glühwein, and will continue to do so until they stop selling it to me.
Düsseldorf/Birthday/Thanksgiving/Glühwein
Oy vey. So at the moment it's -10˚C (14˚F) here in Münster, which means jacket time. Thankfully my grandmother made a generous birthday donation so I could afford something nice (because I'm an idiot who doesn't think he needs to bring his jacket to Germany). I still need to buy gloves (apparently I forgot those too, oh well) and maybe even a new hat (well hats are the one thing I buy whether I actually need them or not). At last the Germans will stop asking me, "Aren't you cold? It's almost x degrees outside, you Americans are crazy." I made that last part up, but you get my point. Every time a European asks you a question, the anti-American sentiment is implicit. I kid of course, over the past couple of weeks I've met Germans who love America, Americans and English.
What? You mean you found German people to hang out with?
yeah, I kind of did.
Anyway before I get to that, we should probably go over some of the things I've been doing since it's been a while.
So NRW likes to treat it's FSAs (Fremdsprachassisstant) with some mad respect, which means for 10 euro we all got to go to Düsseldorf for a couple of days last week. Astute readers will note that my birthday was also last week. The two things will come together quite nicely as the story progresses.
Anyway I made friends with a fellow American traveling the same way. We chatted about the ups and downs of the FSA life etc. Fast forward, Düsseldorf, arguing with Brits about the best way to get to the Hostel, checking in, meeting two dudes who are pretty awesome and shared our room with us.
Seriously, Aly and James were both pretty cool guys. James especially, though I don't know what became of him in the end.
They took us to the Landsregierung building, which is the capital building for Nordrhein-Westfalen. The tour was hardly a tour, and mostly Germans waxing poetic about the symbolism of the state government. For some reason the most west German state of all the west German states feels the need to overemphasize the connection between transparency and democracy in their government buildings. We got to meet the minister of schools for all of NRW, which is pretty cool when you consider that most people will never meet their state's school minister. She let us ask her questions and even though I didn't ask her anything I felt as if I had grilled her hard with my mind. She was a worthy opponent, but she was no match for my perceived American toughness.
Afterward a bunch of us gathered at the Weihnachtsmarkt for Glühwein and good company. Christmas in Germany is way better than in America, mostly because people get excited for things like Glühwein, good company and pastries rather than whatever piece of plastic we're expected to purchase for one another. Also Christmas carols play a very small role, small enough that they can be drowned out with Glühwein.
Glühwein is spiced wine, it's very good.
Anyway the first night ended with jovial drinking and watching Sunderland-Everton. The Brits behaved rather poorly and therefore we avoided them (excluding James, who was just as disgusted as we were).
The night ended at a rather rocking pub where the beer flowed freely and the staff seemed to really like us.
Next morning= no fun.
We toured the Ruhrmuseum which is located in an old coal mine. The building itself was way more interesting to me than the tour, and I wished I'd skipped it to go exploring. I'm a huge fan of abandoned industrial landscapes apparently.
From there we moved to a mall that was predictably terrible and way too American. I still don't understand why we were there. It was just outside of a building that had the largest replica of the moon in the world. It was quite impressive, but ultimately pointless I would say.
The day wasn't over however, we needed to stumble around an old steel factory in the dark. While it was cool to go wondering, it was really stupid in the dark.
Anyway it was cold and I wanted to head back to Düsseldorf to get something to eat and maybe watch Champions League.
I will continue this story when I regain interest in telling it.
What? You mean you found German people to hang out with?
yeah, I kind of did.
Anyway before I get to that, we should probably go over some of the things I've been doing since it's been a while.
So NRW likes to treat it's FSAs (Fremdsprachassisstant) with some mad respect, which means for 10 euro we all got to go to Düsseldorf for a couple of days last week. Astute readers will note that my birthday was also last week. The two things will come together quite nicely as the story progresses.
Anyway I made friends with a fellow American traveling the same way. We chatted about the ups and downs of the FSA life etc. Fast forward, Düsseldorf, arguing with Brits about the best way to get to the Hostel, checking in, meeting two dudes who are pretty awesome and shared our room with us.
Seriously, Aly and James were both pretty cool guys. James especially, though I don't know what became of him in the end.
They took us to the Landsregierung building, which is the capital building for Nordrhein-Westfalen. The tour was hardly a tour, and mostly Germans waxing poetic about the symbolism of the state government. For some reason the most west German state of all the west German states feels the need to overemphasize the connection between transparency and democracy in their government buildings. We got to meet the minister of schools for all of NRW, which is pretty cool when you consider that most people will never meet their state's school minister. She let us ask her questions and even though I didn't ask her anything I felt as if I had grilled her hard with my mind. She was a worthy opponent, but she was no match for my perceived American toughness.
Afterward a bunch of us gathered at the Weihnachtsmarkt for Glühwein and good company. Christmas in Germany is way better than in America, mostly because people get excited for things like Glühwein, good company and pastries rather than whatever piece of plastic we're expected to purchase for one another. Also Christmas carols play a very small role, small enough that they can be drowned out with Glühwein.
Glühwein is spiced wine, it's very good.
Anyway the first night ended with jovial drinking and watching Sunderland-Everton. The Brits behaved rather poorly and therefore we avoided them (excluding James, who was just as disgusted as we were).
The night ended at a rather rocking pub where the beer flowed freely and the staff seemed to really like us.
Next morning= no fun.
We toured the Ruhrmuseum which is located in an old coal mine. The building itself was way more interesting to me than the tour, and I wished I'd skipped it to go exploring. I'm a huge fan of abandoned industrial landscapes apparently.
From there we moved to a mall that was predictably terrible and way too American. I still don't understand why we were there. It was just outside of a building that had the largest replica of the moon in the world. It was quite impressive, but ultimately pointless I would say.
The day wasn't over however, we needed to stumble around an old steel factory in the dark. While it was cool to go wondering, it was really stupid in the dark.
Anyway it was cold and I wanted to head back to Düsseldorf to get something to eat and maybe watch Champions League.
I will continue this story when I regain interest in telling it.
Friday, November 19, 2010
lunch
Lunch today was at a factory that either makes paper, or makes the parts that are used to make paper, or both. I'm fairly certain it was both actually. Fairly certain.
Anyway it was bratwurst, slathered in spiced ketchup (currywurst, essentially) served with a tiny portion of cabbage and a generous portion of pommes frites. You were asked to add your own mayo/curry powder.
If anyone was looking for a typically German meal, that is also very very unhealthy, this is it.
Tonight I'm going back to that jazz club I frequent. I'm hoping to see someone there that I've seen before. It hasn't happened yet. I've only been there 3 times.
Anyway it was bratwurst, slathered in spiced ketchup (currywurst, essentially) served with a tiny portion of cabbage and a generous portion of pommes frites. You were asked to add your own mayo/curry powder.
If anyone was looking for a typically German meal, that is also very very unhealthy, this is it.
Tonight I'm going back to that jazz club I frequent. I'm hoping to see someone there that I've seen before. It hasn't happened yet. I've only been there 3 times.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Berlin
So I've got this tradition of only updating about things a week after they happened.
This is due to a number of reasons:
1. I am lazy
2. I have trouble remembering that I have a blog
3. I really, sincerely, hate blogging.
Not that that last point will affect my diligence, but just to let you people know the sacrifices I make to satisfy my loyal and patient readers. I understand that being able to live and work in Germany is a privilege and that I should be respectful of those living vicariously through me via the reading of my blog. However none of this changes the fact that blogging is essentially a chore, no matter how I look at it.
That aside, it is with great jubilation and excitement that I report to you on my experiences in that most beautiful (not physically) of cities, Berlin.
My good friend Nathan Kallus and I hadn't seen each other in about 2 years (3 if you count incorrectly) and since he's working in Copenhagen till January, I thought it would be a good idea if the two of us got to meet up in a suitably hip place. Berlin, being the hippest point in all of Europe (and possibly the world), was unquestionably the perfect meeting point. We played Skype tag for a couple of weeks before finally deciding on the first weekend in November as an appropriate time.
So with the arrangements made Nathan and I each headed for Berlin that weekend only to realize that neither of us had bothered to find a place to sleep in Berlin. Granted this wasn't actually a sudden realization, more of a talk we only decided to have at the very last minute. Luckily, since Berlin is the greatest city on Earth we found accommodation at a suitably hip hostel deep in the heart of Kreuzberg (the hippest district in all of Berlin). With our worries about sleeping abated, we immediately sought after a cold beer in Berlin's legendarily seedy bar scene. We eventually ended up at a great little bar, simply titled 'Bar', kind of like that place in Neukölln that's just called "Ä" but the drinks were more reasonable.
Afterwards we crashed, but not before talking to this chick from London who informed us that Bob Dylan's memoirs made her want to radically changer her life. Also after 6 days in Berlin she decided that she really wanted to move there. Nathan thought she was annoying, I didn't really have an opinion.
Saturday we walked around Mitte and Treptow. I showed Nathan my favorite Soviet Monument (you should all see it!) in Treptower park. He was impressed by its scope and even admitted to feeling some sympathy for the Soviet troops it commemorates.
The rest of the day can be summed up as, "Nathan we've already been at this store for half an hour and you haven't found anything that you like here, can we go now?" or, "No, I'm tired of translating every single thing that you see in front of you. Just look at the picture or use context clues or something." or finally, "Nathan this place has awful döner, trust me I've eaten here before. Fine you can go in and get one, but you're going to hate it. No, don't listen to me, I just studied here for 4,5 months and spent a lot of that time in this area trying to find a good cheap lunch." Actually the day wasn't that bad, it was nice to walk around and catch up. By now I'm used to people judging me for speaking English in public, but in Berlin that doesn't really mean anything. I would venture to guess that a large portion of Berlin's population speaks very little to no German so whatever.
Dinner was at a nice, trendy Vietnamese place that had really good food, and not just for Europe either, but like really good Vietnamese food. It was spicy and flavorful and everything.
Saturday night was crazy. I met up with my friend Jöran (we met at Grinnell) and he and his friends treated me to a night of Berlin partying, which ended at about 6 in the morning. I woke up at 10 and didn't feel too hot. That's not too atypical for Berlin though, so there you go.
Nathan and I had agreed to spend Sunday at the various flea markets in Prenzlauer Berg, because they give you a good sense of Berlin and because apparently Nathan likes stupid junk. I bought a book and a bowl of pea soup. It helped with my headache, so did the water. Also the good Döner I bought at the last minute.
Anyway Berlin has seen some major changes since I was last there. Not the least of which (mostly the only one I noticed) is that (R)ostkreuz exists no more. Ostkreuz was an old station on the Ringbahn (the line that circles the entire city) that still existed in its original 1920s form, so much so that locals named in Rostkreuz (which means rust crossing). Granted, the station desperately needed some work, but it definitely had a lot of old Berlin charm. It was also an important symbol of East Berlin, one of the precious few still remaining. Apparently, just a month after I left, they tore the whole thing down and rebuilt it to conform to the bland modern style of most German train stations. Jöran tells me they want to set it up as a major intercity train station, because Ostbahnhof, Hauptbahnhof, Gesundbrunne, Südkreuz and Zoologischer Bahnhof are apparently not enough. Also I'm not sure if there are more or less than that, but there is definitely enough.
So in summation, I still really love Berlin. I would love to live there someday. Under ideal circumstances I would spend the rest of my twenties and at least half of my thirties there. It would be like living in New York, except better. The cosplayers I saw at Alex when I first got in, did nothing to hamper my mood as I emerged victoriously at Eberswalder to order that hilariously constructed hot dog.
Anyway I'm getting tired and not making a lot of sense.
This is due to a number of reasons:
1. I am lazy
2. I have trouble remembering that I have a blog
3. I really, sincerely, hate blogging.
Not that that last point will affect my diligence, but just to let you people know the sacrifices I make to satisfy my loyal and patient readers. I understand that being able to live and work in Germany is a privilege and that I should be respectful of those living vicariously through me via the reading of my blog. However none of this changes the fact that blogging is essentially a chore, no matter how I look at it.
That aside, it is with great jubilation and excitement that I report to you on my experiences in that most beautiful (not physically) of cities, Berlin.
My good friend Nathan Kallus and I hadn't seen each other in about 2 years (3 if you count incorrectly) and since he's working in Copenhagen till January, I thought it would be a good idea if the two of us got to meet up in a suitably hip place. Berlin, being the hippest point in all of Europe (and possibly the world), was unquestionably the perfect meeting point. We played Skype tag for a couple of weeks before finally deciding on the first weekend in November as an appropriate time.
So with the arrangements made Nathan and I each headed for Berlin that weekend only to realize that neither of us had bothered to find a place to sleep in Berlin. Granted this wasn't actually a sudden realization, more of a talk we only decided to have at the very last minute. Luckily, since Berlin is the greatest city on Earth we found accommodation at a suitably hip hostel deep in the heart of Kreuzberg (the hippest district in all of Berlin). With our worries about sleeping abated, we immediately sought after a cold beer in Berlin's legendarily seedy bar scene. We eventually ended up at a great little bar, simply titled 'Bar', kind of like that place in Neukölln that's just called "Ä" but the drinks were more reasonable.
Afterwards we crashed, but not before talking to this chick from London who informed us that Bob Dylan's memoirs made her want to radically changer her life. Also after 6 days in Berlin she decided that she really wanted to move there. Nathan thought she was annoying, I didn't really have an opinion.
Saturday we walked around Mitte and Treptow. I showed Nathan my favorite Soviet Monument (you should all see it!) in Treptower park. He was impressed by its scope and even admitted to feeling some sympathy for the Soviet troops it commemorates.
The rest of the day can be summed up as, "Nathan we've already been at this store for half an hour and you haven't found anything that you like here, can we go now?" or, "No, I'm tired of translating every single thing that you see in front of you. Just look at the picture or use context clues or something." or finally, "Nathan this place has awful döner, trust me I've eaten here before. Fine you can go in and get one, but you're going to hate it. No, don't listen to me, I just studied here for 4,5 months and spent a lot of that time in this area trying to find a good cheap lunch." Actually the day wasn't that bad, it was nice to walk around and catch up. By now I'm used to people judging me for speaking English in public, but in Berlin that doesn't really mean anything. I would venture to guess that a large portion of Berlin's population speaks very little to no German so whatever.
Dinner was at a nice, trendy Vietnamese place that had really good food, and not just for Europe either, but like really good Vietnamese food. It was spicy and flavorful and everything.
Saturday night was crazy. I met up with my friend Jöran (we met at Grinnell) and he and his friends treated me to a night of Berlin partying, which ended at about 6 in the morning. I woke up at 10 and didn't feel too hot. That's not too atypical for Berlin though, so there you go.
Nathan and I had agreed to spend Sunday at the various flea markets in Prenzlauer Berg, because they give you a good sense of Berlin and because apparently Nathan likes stupid junk. I bought a book and a bowl of pea soup. It helped with my headache, so did the water. Also the good Döner I bought at the last minute.
Anyway Berlin has seen some major changes since I was last there. Not the least of which (mostly the only one I noticed) is that (R)ostkreuz exists no more. Ostkreuz was an old station on the Ringbahn (the line that circles the entire city) that still existed in its original 1920s form, so much so that locals named in Rostkreuz (which means rust crossing). Granted, the station desperately needed some work, but it definitely had a lot of old Berlin charm. It was also an important symbol of East Berlin, one of the precious few still remaining. Apparently, just a month after I left, they tore the whole thing down and rebuilt it to conform to the bland modern style of most German train stations. Jöran tells me they want to set it up as a major intercity train station, because Ostbahnhof, Hauptbahnhof, Gesundbrunne, Südkreuz and Zoologischer Bahnhof are apparently not enough. Also I'm not sure if there are more or less than that, but there is definitely enough.
So in summation, I still really love Berlin. I would love to live there someday. Under ideal circumstances I would spend the rest of my twenties and at least half of my thirties there. It would be like living in New York, except better. The cosplayers I saw at Alex when I first got in, did nothing to hamper my mood as I emerged victoriously at Eberswalder to order that hilariously constructed hot dog.
Anyway I'm getting tired and not making a lot of sense.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Berlin happened...
And I'm still kaputt from last night/this morning (stayed out till 6, true Berliner style) but I'll update again.
Note that I've basically done the Berlin thing before over at Ich steh auf Berlin! (warning: some entries are very not appropriate for either minors or people who would like to maintain a positive image of me. please read accordingly) so there won't be too much new information.
One thing I will say is that I got to hang out with some Berliners for the first time in a long time and it felt really good. Really really good. Also Kreuzberg is clearly my spiritual home or whatever.
Note that I've basically done the Berlin thing before over at Ich steh auf Berlin! (warning: some entries are very not appropriate for either minors or people who would like to maintain a positive image of me. please read accordingly) so there won't be too much new information.
One thing I will say is that I got to hang out with some Berliners for the first time in a long time and it felt really good. Really really good. Also Kreuzberg is clearly my spiritual home or whatever.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
!
So today was my day off (I get one a week because my 12 hour work week is otherwise so hectic that I would probably go crazy from the stress otherwise. I kid of course, but in all fairness having the day off to run errands is pretty nice. Though I say that and the only thing I thing I was even remotely successful in today was getting my lamp to work (it was plugged into a dead socket on this shitty surge protector that is somehow attached to the wall so I can't throw it out). If you count eating lunch at the Mensa and putting money on my card then I guess I did that too. I failed to find the proper bulb at Karstadt to replace my burnt out one, I'm guessing I'll have to buy it on the internet like I do everything else.
However, there was one cool thing about today that has nothing to do with productivity:
Sheep!
An artist set up shop at the park an Aasee today with an exhibition about world peace. The subtitle to the exhibition was (translated) "All the same, but all important" I don't remember how it connects to world peace other than we should respect each other for being the same or something? My art history skills are clearly atrophying with my time away from college, also never having taken one outside of high school.
Also I'm seeing KK Null on Saturday, you guys probably don't know who that is!
Anyway, I'm still debating whether or not to stay up for the series. It doesn't seem like a smart thing to do, especially because I have to get up pretty much at the end of the game. Oh well.
However, there was one cool thing about today that has nothing to do with productivity:
An artist set up shop at the park an Aasee today with an exhibition about world peace. The subtitle to the exhibition was (translated) "All the same, but all important" I don't remember how it connects to world peace other than we should respect each other for being the same or something? My art history skills are clearly atrophying with my time away from college, also never having taken one outside of high school.
Also I'm seeing KK Null on Saturday, you guys probably don't know who that is!
Anyway, I'm still debating whether or not to stay up for the series. It doesn't seem like a smart thing to do, especially because I have to get up pretty much at the end of the game. Oh well.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Hamburg! (More than a week after the fact, and very very long)
So I gotta apologize I guess. I've had the past two weeks off and I've done diddley squat with my time (well that's not true, it's just that you really don't need to hear about the time I transferred money into my German account and the guy was kind of snooty about it), with the exception of going to Hamburg, one of Germany's 3 city states.
Anyway, now that we can all forgive one another (if you were better readers you'd comment more, hint hint wink wink nod nod I don't really care) I've got the German language dub of Law and order on the TV (muted because I can't concentrate when people are talking) and some Charles Mingus on the iTunes (he is the best blogging music. Not many people know this, but he deliberately composed some of his most famous tunes to facilitate blogging and in the process invented the form) so let's get to it.
First some background: I have two weeks off for Herbstferien, which is more than Grinnell gave me for fall break. I still didn't get to go home (no hard feelings) but I did get to have time off for the venerable Grinnell drinking tradition of 10/10. 10/10 is a magical holiday celebrating the reception of our first paychecks, some dudes birthday, Jerry Orbach holding that gun on screen as I type this, and above all campus unity, both at home and abroad (abroad being loosely defined as off-campus, or the rest of the world). Every year on the closest Saturday to 10/10 we Grinnellians gather and celebrate one another, and this year it was even more special because the holiday falls on 10/10/10 (which is actually a Sunday but the party only starts on Saturday, it keeps going). Clearly something special was in order, so I hit up my friend Christine, who is Fulbrighting over in a small town outside of Kiel, to see what was up. She said there would be a small gathering of Grinnellians (her and an alum friend of ours named Hilary plus this other girl who is cool named Lauren) in Hamburg, a city I have never been to but that is only an hour away by train. Seriously it was pretty convenient, also the tickets were only 20 euro.
ANYWAY
We have the scene set, Hamburg, Grinnellians, Lauren, Germans looking at us funny for speaking English.
So I rolled in around noon and noticed that Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (the central station) is a pretty big place. I wandered around looking for my party when I stumbled across a guy dressed as Mario. Apparently it's Mario's 25th birthday (I'm only 3 years younger than Mario, weird). I got excited, like every 22 year old young adult who is secretly still an 11 year old boy but doesn't have access to video games, and took a couple of pictures with my phone. While I was waiting by the Mario for everyone to show up (it seemed like a natural focal point) some drunk homeless guy yelled from above that he loved Mario, though he called him Mattheus or however you spell the Matthew in German so I'm not sure exactly who he was yelling at. He came down later and gave the guy a hug. It was after this that Christine showed up and we preceded to wander aimlessly around the station looking for Lauren. We eventually found her and moved to the U-bahn where I bravely led us in the wrong direction on the U-bahn, instructed everyone to get off on the wrong stop then boldly waited 4 or 5 minutes for the next train to come that was already going in the direction we were going.
I should mention that we didn't really have a very clear idea of where we where going. We just knew that we wanted to see boats.
We eventually did find one after like 20 minutes of riding the U-3, which is a great way to see the city by the way. Christine noticed that there was a huge boat, the Rickmer Rickmers, about sitting right outside the station and we decided to get off and check it out. Fun fact, she knew a bunch about boats so the it was way more enjoyable!
Afterward I think we got lost for a little bit before ending up in St. Pauli, which is the alternative district in Hamburg. It's home to the infamous Reeperbahn district (red-light district) as well as the football team FC St. Pauli. It's also the location of some cool old churches and a statue of a guy we are pretty sure is Bismark. I'll post pictures later on my picassa account and you'll see what I'm talking about.
From St. Pauli we wondered over to the beautiful old Rathaus, where important decisions regarding the city are made by elected officials. Again I'll post pictures elsewhere to show you what that's like. We scrounged up some dinner over at an EDEKA (grocery store) and bought some drinks to bide our time till the sun set and we could start drinking. I called Hilary to make sure she knew that we were in Hamburg and when she asked me what we had planned for the next couple of hours I got really confused and had to hand the phone off. I wish I could attribute that to alcohol, but I can't.
Anyway we eventually make our way over to the "cool" part of town where all the young people hang and there is much joviality. From here on out we just kind of drank and set at bars, that being the thing to do around there. Hilary showed up and we actually got to move inside where it was warm for a change. We ended up at a cafe that had turned off it's coffee machine so they refused to serve us any coffee but they didn't ask us to leave (Europe doesn't make sense sometimes, though I guess we still bought beer there) so we chilled till about 2 when Hilary asked us if we wanted to head over to the Reeperbahn to check out the freak show (my collective term for the things that we saw there).
I've got to say, not being a customer of red-light districts, nor really knowing much about them, I was really underwhelmed by what I saw. The Reeperbahn is essentially a trashier, more low rent version of Bourbon street, where people expend a lot of effort to get you to come into their clubs and spend 6-, euro on beer and look at women with no clothes on. What WAS entertaining were the people frolicking around at 3 in the morning in Hamburg.
By the way we also didn't have a place to sleep for the night, so we were just going to rough it till Sunday.
Anyway at around 4:30 in the morning we realized there really wasn't anything else to see and we were all cold. Lauren's solution was the best, go to the McDonald's where they wouldn't care that we weren't buying anything, there was coffee, they had a bathroom, and it was warm. We holed up there for a couple of hours and watched the FreakShow pour in and out. Some guy asked me the standard question that all Germans like to ask people from Texas, "You like George Bush" being mildly intoxicated and quite tired I told him in very frank language that I did not and to please tell everyone else to stop asking. I think he got the picture.
We waited in the McDonald's for about 2,5 hours, I regaled Hilary with the Cheerio Joke (she slept through the end) and in general had a good time marveling at how the Europeans have elevated American trash culture to high end cuisine without actually making the food any better. Finally 06:30 rolled around, which meant we could head over to the Fischmarkt for breakfast.
The Fischmarkt is a Sunday tradition in Hamburg, it's a truly wonderful experience. You wake up extra early, or stay up all night, and you go to a giant hall where you buy fish and drink beer for breakfast. Adding to the already festive atmosphere are live bands performing truly terrible covers of American and German pop songs. Needless to say watching the rise over the Elbe as I ate fish, drank beer and did a shot at Grinnell midnight (there is a campus wide shot at midnight) made staying up all night and camping out at the McDonald's worthwhile.
The fish market itself is also really impressive. They've got fresh fish everywhere, but also vegetables and craft goods and junky souvenirs. Everything and I mean everything, is sold with flair. The people are friendly and though the crowds are actually surprisingly large, I didn't run into the kind of traffic problems I generally run into at other open air markets. Hilary led us all around the fish market then slowly back to the Ricker Rickmers, where we got back on the U-bahn and eventually parted ways with Hilary who had to go back to work.
The rest of the day was spent consuming caffeine and trying to stay warm. I honestly don't think we did anything spectacular during the day. We found our hostel for the night (a really nice, clean place that was only 12 euro!) and Lauren and I took short naps. Feeling refreshed and alive again we headed out to the ferry which runs up and down the Elbe. I took a bunch of pictures of the sun setting, which dramatically outlined the city scape and industry blah blah blah. Truth be told it really was an impressive site, but that one hour nap had only really just made me more tired. At this point it was a continuing struggle to stay awake. We found a nice cafe that would serve us food and drinks and around 10:30 somehow found the energy to crawl into bed for blissfully calm night's rest.
I woke up early because check out was early and I didn't want to miss my train. I said goodbye to Christine and Lauren (who headed out to Berlin, I didn't go because I was tired of traveling) and made my way back home. A Russian girl asked me a whole bunch of questions about the train station that I didn't know how to answer, and thus my adventure in Hamburg came to an end.
Sorry this entry was so long. Maybe there were a couple of sections that could be shortened or excised entirely, I'll leave that for the internet to decide.
Bis Später, y'all.
Anyway, now that we can all forgive one another (if you were better readers you'd comment more, hint hint wink wink nod nod I don't really care) I've got the German language dub of Law and order on the TV (muted because I can't concentrate when people are talking) and some Charles Mingus on the iTunes (he is the best blogging music. Not many people know this, but he deliberately composed some of his most famous tunes to facilitate blogging and in the process invented the form) so let's get to it.
First some background: I have two weeks off for Herbstferien, which is more than Grinnell gave me for fall break. I still didn't get to go home (no hard feelings) but I did get to have time off for the venerable Grinnell drinking tradition of 10/10. 10/10 is a magical holiday celebrating the reception of our first paychecks, some dudes birthday, Jerry Orbach holding that gun on screen as I type this, and above all campus unity, both at home and abroad (abroad being loosely defined as off-campus, or the rest of the world). Every year on the closest Saturday to 10/10 we Grinnellians gather and celebrate one another, and this year it was even more special because the holiday falls on 10/10/10 (which is actually a Sunday but the party only starts on Saturday, it keeps going). Clearly something special was in order, so I hit up my friend Christine, who is Fulbrighting over in a small town outside of Kiel, to see what was up. She said there would be a small gathering of Grinnellians (her and an alum friend of ours named Hilary plus this other girl who is cool named Lauren) in Hamburg, a city I have never been to but that is only an hour away by train. Seriously it was pretty convenient, also the tickets were only 20 euro.
ANYWAY
We have the scene set, Hamburg, Grinnellians, Lauren, Germans looking at us funny for speaking English.
So I rolled in around noon and noticed that Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (the central station) is a pretty big place. I wandered around looking for my party when I stumbled across a guy dressed as Mario. Apparently it's Mario's 25th birthday (I'm only 3 years younger than Mario, weird). I got excited, like every 22 year old young adult who is secretly still an 11 year old boy but doesn't have access to video games, and took a couple of pictures with my phone. While I was waiting by the Mario for everyone to show up (it seemed like a natural focal point) some drunk homeless guy yelled from above that he loved Mario, though he called him Mattheus or however you spell the Matthew in German so I'm not sure exactly who he was yelling at. He came down later and gave the guy a hug. It was after this that Christine showed up and we preceded to wander aimlessly around the station looking for Lauren. We eventually found her and moved to the U-bahn where I bravely led us in the wrong direction on the U-bahn, instructed everyone to get off on the wrong stop then boldly waited 4 or 5 minutes for the next train to come that was already going in the direction we were going.
I should mention that we didn't really have a very clear idea of where we where going. We just knew that we wanted to see boats.
We eventually did find one after like 20 minutes of riding the U-3, which is a great way to see the city by the way. Christine noticed that there was a huge boat, the Rickmer Rickmers, about sitting right outside the station and we decided to get off and check it out. Fun fact, she knew a bunch about boats so the it was way more enjoyable!
Afterward I think we got lost for a little bit before ending up in St. Pauli, which is the alternative district in Hamburg. It's home to the infamous Reeperbahn district (red-light district) as well as the football team FC St. Pauli. It's also the location of some cool old churches and a statue of a guy we are pretty sure is Bismark. I'll post pictures later on my picassa account and you'll see what I'm talking about.
From St. Pauli we wondered over to the beautiful old Rathaus, where important decisions regarding the city are made by elected officials. Again I'll post pictures elsewhere to show you what that's like. We scrounged up some dinner over at an EDEKA (grocery store) and bought some drinks to bide our time till the sun set and we could start drinking. I called Hilary to make sure she knew that we were in Hamburg and when she asked me what we had planned for the next couple of hours I got really confused and had to hand the phone off. I wish I could attribute that to alcohol, but I can't.
Anyway we eventually make our way over to the "cool" part of town where all the young people hang and there is much joviality. From here on out we just kind of drank and set at bars, that being the thing to do around there. Hilary showed up and we actually got to move inside where it was warm for a change. We ended up at a cafe that had turned off it's coffee machine so they refused to serve us any coffee but they didn't ask us to leave (Europe doesn't make sense sometimes, though I guess we still bought beer there) so we chilled till about 2 when Hilary asked us if we wanted to head over to the Reeperbahn to check out the freak show (my collective term for the things that we saw there).
I've got to say, not being a customer of red-light districts, nor really knowing much about them, I was really underwhelmed by what I saw. The Reeperbahn is essentially a trashier, more low rent version of Bourbon street, where people expend a lot of effort to get you to come into their clubs and spend 6-, euro on beer and look at women with no clothes on. What WAS entertaining were the people frolicking around at 3 in the morning in Hamburg.
By the way we also didn't have a place to sleep for the night, so we were just going to rough it till Sunday.
Anyway at around 4:30 in the morning we realized there really wasn't anything else to see and we were all cold. Lauren's solution was the best, go to the McDonald's where they wouldn't care that we weren't buying anything, there was coffee, they had a bathroom, and it was warm. We holed up there for a couple of hours and watched the FreakShow pour in and out. Some guy asked me the standard question that all Germans like to ask people from Texas, "You like George Bush" being mildly intoxicated and quite tired I told him in very frank language that I did not and to please tell everyone else to stop asking. I think he got the picture.
We waited in the McDonald's for about 2,5 hours, I regaled Hilary with the Cheerio Joke (she slept through the end) and in general had a good time marveling at how the Europeans have elevated American trash culture to high end cuisine without actually making the food any better. Finally 06:30 rolled around, which meant we could head over to the Fischmarkt for breakfast.
The Fischmarkt is a Sunday tradition in Hamburg, it's a truly wonderful experience. You wake up extra early, or stay up all night, and you go to a giant hall where you buy fish and drink beer for breakfast. Adding to the already festive atmosphere are live bands performing truly terrible covers of American and German pop songs. Needless to say watching the rise over the Elbe as I ate fish, drank beer and did a shot at Grinnell midnight (there is a campus wide shot at midnight) made staying up all night and camping out at the McDonald's worthwhile.
The fish market itself is also really impressive. They've got fresh fish everywhere, but also vegetables and craft goods and junky souvenirs. Everything and I mean everything, is sold with flair. The people are friendly and though the crowds are actually surprisingly large, I didn't run into the kind of traffic problems I generally run into at other open air markets. Hilary led us all around the fish market then slowly back to the Ricker Rickmers, where we got back on the U-bahn and eventually parted ways with Hilary who had to go back to work.
The rest of the day was spent consuming caffeine and trying to stay warm. I honestly don't think we did anything spectacular during the day. We found our hostel for the night (a really nice, clean place that was only 12 euro!) and Lauren and I took short naps. Feeling refreshed and alive again we headed out to the ferry which runs up and down the Elbe. I took a bunch of pictures of the sun setting, which dramatically outlined the city scape and industry blah blah blah. Truth be told it really was an impressive site, but that one hour nap had only really just made me more tired. At this point it was a continuing struggle to stay awake. We found a nice cafe that would serve us food and drinks and around 10:30 somehow found the energy to crawl into bed for blissfully calm night's rest.
I woke up early because check out was early and I didn't want to miss my train. I said goodbye to Christine and Lauren (who headed out to Berlin, I didn't go because I was tired of traveling) and made my way back home. A Russian girl asked me a whole bunch of questions about the train station that I didn't know how to answer, and thus my adventure in Hamburg came to an end.
Sorry this entry was so long. Maybe there were a couple of sections that could be shortened or excised entirely, I'll leave that for the internet to decide.
Bis Später, y'all.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Hamburg
will update tomorrow
should have updated sooner, but will make a better report either tomorrow or during the second week of my vacation
or I will visit Bremen. Not sure yet.
I'm posting later. Probably not going to visit Bremen. Am considering visiting Utrecht. Seems nicer.
should have updated sooner, but will make a better report either tomorrow or during the second week of my vacation
or I will visit Bremen. Not sure yet.
I'm posting later. Probably not going to visit Bremen. Am considering visiting Utrecht. Seems nicer.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Düsseldorf!
So one of the perks of living in in NRW is that the US consulate here is small enough that they can email you and invite you to come in and enjoy free cookies and beverages while they explain that they basically love you forever and please sign up for this program where we pay you to go to schools in NRW and talk to German students about what life in America is like (easy money!).
So yeah yesterday I was in Düsseldorf for the day doing exactly that, the consulate there invited all the Fulbright ETAs in NRW to come and essentially meet the important people at the US consulate in Düsseldorf because that is essentially what they are there for.
Anyway I'm supposed to be working on a translation of an internship packet for the school, but I'm having trouble focusing because translation is boring and requires a lot of energy. Instead I'll briefly inform you of two things:
1. Düsseldorf, the city that never sleeps (though I wasn't really there at night so who knows)
2. This insane game I saw played on Sunday that I forgot about till now (weirdly).
1. Düsseldorf
So yeah, I was only here a couple of hours, but I did manage to take some pictures!
The meeting itself was only 2,5 hours long, and since there was zero indication in the email as to how long it would be I gave myself a generous 6 hours in Düsseldorf because I do like to explore. Afterwards they gave us a bunch of swag (including Twain's semi-famous essay, That Awful German Language) PLUS 3 poster sized American flags, because one clearly is not enough. I plan to add them to my walls such that they can never be removed. I want all following tenants to understand who lived here at one point.
I walked through the Altstadt after the meeting, I didn't take any pictures because once you've seen one Altstadt you've seen basically all of them. However, given that my knowledge of German geography is very poor I forgot that Düsseldorf essentially sits on a long stretch of the Rhine, so I sat out and watched the sun set for a while,
Yeah, it's pretty spectacular, photos can't capture it etc. this picture may not seem like much to you (I was actually trying to get the wall to unfold into the river, I'm a pretty bad photographer) but that's because you can't really take a lot of interesting pictures of a river. The Rhine has to be seen to be appreciated, also there were sheep:
I have no idea who was watching the sheep, but they were definitely making sure the grass along the Rhine doesn't grow too much.
So after a while I decided that just sitting along the Rhine wasn't enough, and that my favorite past time in Germany has always been to appreciate the scenery with beer and some kind of food. Unfortunately the first grocery store I walked into was an ALDI, which if you don't know is the bargain bin of the bargain grocery stores in Germany. I've never found anything I need at an ALDI and like an idiot I always forget that until after I've entered the store and it's too late for me to duck out (German stores have dedicated entrances and exits, and the only exit is through the cash register) so I figured well crap I'll just pick up a crappy beer and some chips or something and it'll be fine. No, I somehow managed to find the one grocery store in all of Germany that somehow doesn't sell beer. It sells wine, but not beer. Seeing as I was essentially trapped until I bought something, I picked up a cheap can of peanuts and moved onto a REWE, which was quite nice. Thus my dinner was an Altbier (one of the few ales you can get in Germany) and a can of peanuts. The peanuts were a little disappointing, but then they came from ALDI so I don't know what I was expecting. I'm guessing the Altbier would have been better had it been cold, but everything is cheaper warm in Germany.
Anyway I sat, drank, ate and watched the Rhine go by. It was pretty cool. My trip home was fairly uneventful, which was nice because due to a mistaken impression that tickets purchased online can be printed out at the Münster Hbf I had to run from the internet cafe across the street to the platform on my way to Düsseldorf. The Regiobahns are slow, but you really can't beat the price.
Anyway part 2:
Radball (Bike Ball)
A brief overview:
So on Sunday as I mentioned previously, there was a big bike race in Münsterland that ended at the Schloss. At the festival that took place afterwards there was a giant demo area where various aspects of biking could be shown off. By chance I happened to catch the final minutes of Radball (Bikeball) which is essentially soccer, but played on bikes.
Now I earlier referred to this sport as insane, let me explain why.
The game itself is not fast paced, the playing field is barely the size of my apartment which basically means it's impossible to get any kind of momentum going. What makes it insane is that at no time are you allowed to exit your bicycle, that would result in a penalty. Instead you have to use your bicycle to kick the ball into the opponents goal. Your bike has no gears, no brakes and you really can't sit down either. The game is structured so that each team has an opportunity to attack the goal, while the other team must defend. This means that you as an attacker have to somehow maneuver a tiny ball through two guys on bikes who are allowed to ram into you to stop you from shooting, and to shoot you essentially have to throw your balance completely off and hit with your wheel.
Nobody was wearing a helmet obviously.
It was good fun.
Anyway I need to work on this translation. This entry went on longer than I wanted it to go.
So yeah yesterday I was in Düsseldorf for the day doing exactly that, the consulate there invited all the Fulbright ETAs in NRW to come and essentially meet the important people at the US consulate in Düsseldorf because that is essentially what they are there for.
Anyway I'm supposed to be working on a translation of an internship packet for the school, but I'm having trouble focusing because translation is boring and requires a lot of energy. Instead I'll briefly inform you of two things:
1. Düsseldorf, the city that never sleeps (though I wasn't really there at night so who knows)
2. This insane game I saw played on Sunday that I forgot about till now (weirdly).
1. Düsseldorf
So yeah, I was only here a couple of hours, but I did manage to take some pictures!
The meeting itself was only 2,5 hours long, and since there was zero indication in the email as to how long it would be I gave myself a generous 6 hours in Düsseldorf because I do like to explore. Afterwards they gave us a bunch of swag (including Twain's semi-famous essay, That Awful German Language) PLUS 3 poster sized American flags, because one clearly is not enough. I plan to add them to my walls such that they can never be removed. I want all following tenants to understand who lived here at one point.
I walked through the Altstadt after the meeting, I didn't take any pictures because once you've seen one Altstadt you've seen basically all of them. However, given that my knowledge of German geography is very poor I forgot that Düsseldorf essentially sits on a long stretch of the Rhine, so I sat out and watched the sun set for a while,
Yeah, it's pretty spectacular, photos can't capture it etc. this picture may not seem like much to you (I was actually trying to get the wall to unfold into the river, I'm a pretty bad photographer) but that's because you can't really take a lot of interesting pictures of a river. The Rhine has to be seen to be appreciated, also there were sheep:
I have no idea who was watching the sheep, but they were definitely making sure the grass along the Rhine doesn't grow too much.
So after a while I decided that just sitting along the Rhine wasn't enough, and that my favorite past time in Germany has always been to appreciate the scenery with beer and some kind of food. Unfortunately the first grocery store I walked into was an ALDI, which if you don't know is the bargain bin of the bargain grocery stores in Germany. I've never found anything I need at an ALDI and like an idiot I always forget that until after I've entered the store and it's too late for me to duck out (German stores have dedicated entrances and exits, and the only exit is through the cash register) so I figured well crap I'll just pick up a crappy beer and some chips or something and it'll be fine. No, I somehow managed to find the one grocery store in all of Germany that somehow doesn't sell beer. It sells wine, but not beer. Seeing as I was essentially trapped until I bought something, I picked up a cheap can of peanuts and moved onto a REWE, which was quite nice. Thus my dinner was an Altbier (one of the few ales you can get in Germany) and a can of peanuts. The peanuts were a little disappointing, but then they came from ALDI so I don't know what I was expecting. I'm guessing the Altbier would have been better had it been cold, but everything is cheaper warm in Germany.
Anyway I sat, drank, ate and watched the Rhine go by. It was pretty cool. My trip home was fairly uneventful, which was nice because due to a mistaken impression that tickets purchased online can be printed out at the Münster Hbf I had to run from the internet cafe across the street to the platform on my way to Düsseldorf. The Regiobahns are slow, but you really can't beat the price.
Anyway part 2:
Radball (Bike Ball)
A brief overview:
So on Sunday as I mentioned previously, there was a big bike race in Münsterland that ended at the Schloss. At the festival that took place afterwards there was a giant demo area where various aspects of biking could be shown off. By chance I happened to catch the final minutes of Radball (Bikeball) which is essentially soccer, but played on bikes.
Now I earlier referred to this sport as insane, let me explain why.
The game itself is not fast paced, the playing field is barely the size of my apartment which basically means it's impossible to get any kind of momentum going. What makes it insane is that at no time are you allowed to exit your bicycle, that would result in a penalty. Instead you have to use your bicycle to kick the ball into the opponents goal. Your bike has no gears, no brakes and you really can't sit down either. The game is structured so that each team has an opportunity to attack the goal, while the other team must defend. This means that you as an attacker have to somehow maneuver a tiny ball through two guys on bikes who are allowed to ram into you to stop you from shooting, and to shoot you essentially have to throw your balance completely off and hit with your wheel.
Nobody was wearing a helmet obviously.
It was good fun.
Anyway I need to work on this translation. This entry went on longer than I wanted it to go.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Another week?
So we've gotten another roommate here, his name is Max. He seems nice. He immediately figured out my foreignness (John just isn't a common name here) but did not figure that I wasn't from England. I guess us real 'mericans are real scarce 'round these parts. Seriously though, I had a student in one of my classes ask me what part of England I was from after hearing my accent. I'm not making fun of her (I would never make fun of my students, at least not for trying to speak English) but it was just weird that she couldn't tell is all.
I was supposed to see Despicable Me (hilariously translated here as Ich-Einfach Unverbersserlich) yesterday with some people, but I got a call on Friday (which I answered in German) that we would instead go on Tuesday, a Kinotag or discounted day) because, "You and I can't just throw money away John,". I think I've found a new friend, or at least someone to hang out with. He's cheap, just like me!
Oh man, Television is sounding so good right now, that's the band not the TV. I have one of those by the way, but it only works if I put it up on a chair right next to my door. There are no antennas here, just cables, and the cable to my room only extends to the door frame...
It's not like there's anything on anyway.
Speaking of TV and I how I'm not watching it (the internet is my television, please) today was and is a beautiful day. There was this huge bike race in Münsterland that finished off by the Schloss (it's this big Schloss in the middle of the city) so I went to check out the carnival afterward. It was pretty cool actually, they had standard German fare food (brats, currywurst, pommes etc) as well as Pott's Beer, which is now my favorite beer. They brew beer not far from Münster and both their Pilsner and Kellerbiers are amazing. Not so much an assault on the senses but instead a gentle restructuring into their proper place. Totally excellent beer that comes in unfortunately small packages and is pretty expensive. Oh well, at least I've still got Köstritzer.
I get the next two days off from work, well I get every Monday off, but since the students are doing mid-terms this week I don't really have to show up for class. Wednesday I also don't have any class because the students are on Praktikum, but my school is having a grill thing so I'm definitely going to check that out. Thursday I think I have to go back to work, Friday I definitely do. After that I get two weeks off! I'm already headed off to Hamburg to celebrate 10/10/10 with some Grinnellians (and a fellow Fulbrighter) for the weekend. I was going to go to Berlin but I think that fell through (I won't mention any names but my travel partner's name rhymes with Mathan Mallus) so instead I think I might go to France. I have a Bahncard which lets me travel on the cheap (and for which I only payed half price!) so I can sort of travel freely nowadays. I'm pretty excited about the next couple of weeks for me.
I promise at some point I'll get off my lazy ass and take pictures. And post them, and that they won't just be stolen from the internet like the last one.
Also my body craves meat. That's sort of apropos of nothing so just ignore it.
I was supposed to see Despicable Me (hilariously translated here as Ich-Einfach Unverbersserlich) yesterday with some people, but I got a call on Friday (which I answered in German) that we would instead go on Tuesday, a Kinotag or discounted day) because, "You and I can't just throw money away John,". I think I've found a new friend, or at least someone to hang out with. He's cheap, just like me!
Oh man, Television is sounding so good right now, that's the band not the TV. I have one of those by the way, but it only works if I put it up on a chair right next to my door. There are no antennas here, just cables, and the cable to my room only extends to the door frame...
It's not like there's anything on anyway.
Speaking of TV and I how I'm not watching it (the internet is my television, please) today was and is a beautiful day. There was this huge bike race in Münsterland that finished off by the Schloss (it's this big Schloss in the middle of the city) so I went to check out the carnival afterward. It was pretty cool actually, they had standard German fare food (brats, currywurst, pommes etc) as well as Pott's Beer, which is now my favorite beer. They brew beer not far from Münster and both their Pilsner and Kellerbiers are amazing. Not so much an assault on the senses but instead a gentle restructuring into their proper place. Totally excellent beer that comes in unfortunately small packages and is pretty expensive. Oh well, at least I've still got Köstritzer.
I get the next two days off from work, well I get every Monday off, but since the students are doing mid-terms this week I don't really have to show up for class. Wednesday I also don't have any class because the students are on Praktikum, but my school is having a grill thing so I'm definitely going to check that out. Thursday I think I have to go back to work, Friday I definitely do. After that I get two weeks off! I'm already headed off to Hamburg to celebrate 10/10/10 with some Grinnellians (and a fellow Fulbrighter) for the weekend. I was going to go to Berlin but I think that fell through (I won't mention any names but my travel partner's name rhymes with Mathan Mallus) so instead I think I might go to France. I have a Bahncard which lets me travel on the cheap (and for which I only payed half price!) so I can sort of travel freely nowadays. I'm pretty excited about the next couple of weeks for me.
I promise at some point I'll get off my lazy ass and take pictures. And post them, and that they won't just be stolen from the internet like the last one.
Also my body craves meat. That's sort of apropos of nothing so just ignore it.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Yeah that was a week ago
So much has happened to me in a week.
So last time when I said I was meeting a former president of Germany, what I meant was sit in the general vicinity of and not be important enough to be acknowledged by. Still though, it was a pretty amazing experience for only my 3rd week in the country. RvW is 90 years old, but you'd never know if from the jokes he was telling and the way he carried himself generally. I think if I make it to 90 years old I'm going to demand some school host me so I can demand that students speak up and slow down when they ask me questions. It seems like fun.
Also everyone figured out I speak German because I saw through the entire presentation without any effort.
I'm slowly making friends!
So basically I didn't take any pictures of anything because I'm probably the worst blogger ever.
Oh yeah I went to the Netherlands on Saturday with Astrid and family. They gave me the typical Holland experience, which involves eating delicious fried foods, drinking Grolsch (which is the first pilsner I've had in a while that I've liked) and walking around a fish market. The fish market was actually a larger flea market type deal, but the fish was the best part. Apparently the dutch fry everything, than stay thin because they ride their bikes everywhere.
That reminds me, I need to pump up the jams on the air in my tires. I need to start appreciating the scenery at a much faster pace. Also before you ask, no I don't have a very dignified looking bike, but it was cheap and better than having to find one on my own.
Also while we were in the Netherlands (Entschede I believe it's called), we saw a boy scout jamboree/scout fair kind of thing! There were dudes (and dudettes) playing leaf blower soccer, making campfires, building structures out of wood that serve no other purpose but to stand up on their own power. What was interesting was that at every age level there seemed to be a good mix of boys and girls and there didn't seem to be any problems (BAM I just political all over BSA's ass, even though they've allowed girls since like I was in 5th grade). I'm sure my father would have appreciated the scenery a little better than I cared to.
The Netherlands is a pretty great place, the food is amazing, the people are very nice and most people speak either German or English. The best part is that I'm only an hour away or so from the border, so I can go whenever I please!
Also potatoes go rotten pretty quick here, either that or I forgot when I bought those potatoes. In any case I ran out of food yesterday...
need to buy a fridge pretty soon here.
anyway going to sign off now but first this story, woke up early to go to the Ausländeramt (alien services) to see if Berlin has finally answered back about whether or not I'm a criminal (I'm not) that committed any crimes in Berlin (I haven't). Well they haven't gotten back to Münster yet, which makes this 3 times I've tried for my Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Hopefully the fourth time will be the charm.
I really need to plan these things out better, but I'm probably not going to.
So last time when I said I was meeting a former president of Germany, what I meant was sit in the general vicinity of and not be important enough to be acknowledged by. Still though, it was a pretty amazing experience for only my 3rd week in the country. RvW is 90 years old, but you'd never know if from the jokes he was telling and the way he carried himself generally. I think if I make it to 90 years old I'm going to demand some school host me so I can demand that students speak up and slow down when they ask me questions. It seems like fun.
Also everyone figured out I speak German because I saw through the entire presentation without any effort.
I'm slowly making friends!
So basically I didn't take any pictures of anything because I'm probably the worst blogger ever.
Oh yeah I went to the Netherlands on Saturday with Astrid and family. They gave me the typical Holland experience, which involves eating delicious fried foods, drinking Grolsch (which is the first pilsner I've had in a while that I've liked) and walking around a fish market. The fish market was actually a larger flea market type deal, but the fish was the best part. Apparently the dutch fry everything, than stay thin because they ride their bikes everywhere.
That reminds me, I need to pump up the jams on the air in my tires. I need to start appreciating the scenery at a much faster pace. Also before you ask, no I don't have a very dignified looking bike, but it was cheap and better than having to find one on my own.
Also while we were in the Netherlands (Entschede I believe it's called), we saw a boy scout jamboree/scout fair kind of thing! There were dudes (and dudettes) playing leaf blower soccer, making campfires, building structures out of wood that serve no other purpose but to stand up on their own power. What was interesting was that at every age level there seemed to be a good mix of boys and girls and there didn't seem to be any problems (BAM I just political all over BSA's ass, even though they've allowed girls since like I was in 5th grade). I'm sure my father would have appreciated the scenery a little better than I cared to.
The Netherlands is a pretty great place, the food is amazing, the people are very nice and most people speak either German or English. The best part is that I'm only an hour away or so from the border, so I can go whenever I please!
Also potatoes go rotten pretty quick here, either that or I forgot when I bought those potatoes. In any case I ran out of food yesterday...
need to buy a fridge pretty soon here.
anyway going to sign off now but first this story, woke up early to go to the Ausländeramt (alien services) to see if Berlin has finally answered back about whether or not I'm a criminal (I'm not) that committed any crimes in Berlin (I haven't). Well they haven't gotten back to Münster yet, which makes this 3 times I've tried for my Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Hopefully the fourth time will be the charm.
I really need to plan these things out better, but I'm probably not going to.
Monday, September 20, 2010
I don't know exactly what this might mean, but somehow today definitely feels especially like a Kraftwerk kind of day.
It wasn't a bad day by any means, I don't really have very many of those anymore. I was kind of frustrated that I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. I have stuff to mail, people to email etc.
My technology in American mini-project is coming along nicely though, so many of my friends have responded to my inquiry and I continue to receive responses! It's nice when people come through for you.
Anyway I'm making stirfry, because it's cheap and I can sort of ignore it while I type this. As mentioned previously I can really only do one thing at a time on my stove, so I had to make the stir fry first and the rice next. I probably should have reversed that order, but whatever.
Today I "auditioned" for a part in the musical number my school is performing for Richard von Weizsäcker, who is visiting on Wednesday. I didn't make it because I don't know how to play C#minor on a banjo. I'm not even sure it's possible to do that in G. I'm sure you can. Oh well.
I am apparently expected to dress up in a suit (I don't have a suit) and make conversation in English. We shall see how it goes. If you don't know who RvW is you should probably check up on your German history in Wikipedia. He was a president of the BRD, which isn't quite the chancellor but it's still pretty damn important. He was also the mayor of Berlin at one point I believe, possibly of West Berlin. He's also the school's namesake and apparently takes great pride in it.
Listen I don't see any of you guys getting to meet a frickin president. Well I guess meet is a pretty loose term, I'll definitely get to see him with my eyes. Maybe also shake his hand, who knows.
Today was a really pretty day in Lüdinghausen. I took the opportunity to do some exploring along one of the three rivers that runs through the city. The school has a nice little path that runs right by it and leads along the river to the pedestrian zone in town. It was a pretty perfect vision of small town Germany, just saying.
Haven't really tried any new beers recently, though I did discover this liqueur that comes in bottles that very strongly resemble Mudder's Milk.
I have absolutely no idea what kind of liqueur it is. I'll probably buy some at some point and taste it. I couldn't find a picture of the Mudder's milk bottles but you guys should probably already know what they look like. If you don't, watch Firefly and you'll figure it out. If you still can't figure it out than I really don't know what to tell you. Other than I'm pretty bad at blogging if I'm trying to start fights with people who are just trying to see what's up with me in Germany.
Anyway I'll update as soon as I meet RvW, or at the very least a little bit afterward.
It wasn't a bad day by any means, I don't really have very many of those anymore. I was kind of frustrated that I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. I have stuff to mail, people to email etc.
My technology in American mini-project is coming along nicely though, so many of my friends have responded to my inquiry and I continue to receive responses! It's nice when people come through for you.
Anyway I'm making stirfry, because it's cheap and I can sort of ignore it while I type this. As mentioned previously I can really only do one thing at a time on my stove, so I had to make the stir fry first and the rice next. I probably should have reversed that order, but whatever.
Today I "auditioned" for a part in the musical number my school is performing for Richard von Weizsäcker, who is visiting on Wednesday. I didn't make it because I don't know how to play C#minor on a banjo. I'm not even sure it's possible to do that in G. I'm sure you can. Oh well.
I am apparently expected to dress up in a suit (I don't have a suit) and make conversation in English. We shall see how it goes. If you don't know who RvW is you should probably check up on your German history in Wikipedia. He was a president of the BRD, which isn't quite the chancellor but it's still pretty damn important. He was also the mayor of Berlin at one point I believe, possibly of West Berlin. He's also the school's namesake and apparently takes great pride in it.
Listen I don't see any of you guys getting to meet a frickin president. Well I guess meet is a pretty loose term, I'll definitely get to see him with my eyes. Maybe also shake his hand, who knows.
Today was a really pretty day in Lüdinghausen. I took the opportunity to do some exploring along one of the three rivers that runs through the city. The school has a nice little path that runs right by it and leads along the river to the pedestrian zone in town. It was a pretty perfect vision of small town Germany, just saying.
Haven't really tried any new beers recently, though I did discover this liqueur that comes in bottles that very strongly resemble Mudder's Milk.
I have absolutely no idea what kind of liqueur it is. I'll probably buy some at some point and taste it. I couldn't find a picture of the Mudder's milk bottles but you guys should probably already know what they look like. If you don't, watch Firefly and you'll figure it out. If you still can't figure it out than I really don't know what to tell you. Other than I'm pretty bad at blogging if I'm trying to start fights with people who are just trying to see what's up with me in Germany.
Anyway I'll update as soon as I meet RvW, or at the very least a little bit afterward.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
2nd post! (I'm consistent)
So at the chiding of my parents, and in the spirit of my cousin, The Left Coast Contessa, I'll do ONE entry on what I'm currently eating. Mostly because my set up here is kind of minimal and it's pretty boring what I can do right now seeing as I have to eat all of what I make (no waste/storage possibility here) and I have to pair down everything to one pan. I for one see it as an interesting challenge for the moment. I would really like to upgrade the kitchen somehow, but I know that that really isn't possible. At the very least I would love a fridge to store leftovers in for later...
Anyway, for lunch today I had currywurst mit pommes mayo so naturally the order of the day was for a healthy dinner. I immediately went to the internet (because I'm resourceful like that) and found something satisfactorily quick and basic. I say basic because I don't know if I can get a lot of the stuff most recipes call for, and in any case I always try to budget my trips to the grocery store to under 10 euro if possible, though at the beginning this is almost impossible because I need so much stuff.
Anyway here's the finished product, I didn't really follow the recipe other than to dump quantities of things listed into a pan and hope for the best. There is a ton of cayenne pepper in there BECAUSE GOD HELP ME I NEED SOME CAPSICUM.
As you can see from the generally reddish color (I'm not really cut out for food writing alright, give me a break) there were definitely some tomatoes in the mix, as well as some other vegetables. Given the huge quantity of potatoes I purchased the other day you would probably expect some potatoes to be contained within the curry. You would be wrong. Yes, despite my intent to find creative and multifaceted uses for this humble root, I've as of yet only cut them into little pieces, slather them in curry ketchup and eat them. Yesterday I didn't even cook them enough!
Here's a picture of my kitchen set up, so you know what I'm dealing with.
That's basically it. I'm gonna get pretty fancy though, it could be really fun to work through the frustration of essentially only being able to use one burner at a time (my other two pots won't fit on the heating pad at the same time as the pan).
I also have a toaster oven, that I plan on using as a regular oven. It's actually not very exciting.
Anyway, my curry is getting cold, and this pilsner I'm drinking ain't getting any colder. They suggested a white wine, but I figure a pilsner is basically the same thing?
Anyway, for lunch today I had currywurst mit pommes mayo so naturally the order of the day was for a healthy dinner. I immediately went to the internet (because I'm resourceful like that) and found something satisfactorily quick and basic. I say basic because I don't know if I can get a lot of the stuff most recipes call for, and in any case I always try to budget my trips to the grocery store to under 10 euro if possible, though at the beginning this is almost impossible because I need so much stuff.
Anyway here's the finished product, I didn't really follow the recipe other than to dump quantities of things listed into a pan and hope for the best. There is a ton of cayenne pepper in there BECAUSE GOD HELP ME I NEED SOME CAPSICUM.
As you can see from the generally reddish color (I'm not really cut out for food writing alright, give me a break) there were definitely some tomatoes in the mix, as well as some other vegetables. Given the huge quantity of potatoes I purchased the other day you would probably expect some potatoes to be contained within the curry. You would be wrong. Yes, despite my intent to find creative and multifaceted uses for this humble root, I've as of yet only cut them into little pieces, slather them in curry ketchup and eat them. Yesterday I didn't even cook them enough!
Here's a picture of my kitchen set up, so you know what I'm dealing with.
That's basically it. I'm gonna get pretty fancy though, it could be really fun to work through the frustration of essentially only being able to use one burner at a time (my other two pots won't fit on the heating pad at the same time as the pan).
I also have a toaster oven, that I plan on using as a regular oven. It's actually not very exciting.
Anyway, my curry is getting cold, and this pilsner I'm drinking ain't getting any colder. They suggested a white wine, but I figure a pilsner is basically the same thing?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
No, not like the cheese
Muenster cheese is apparently an American invention guys, sorry.
Anyway I've been in Germany for like 2 weeks now (not even!) and already so much has happened to me. I've been in at least 4 different cities, all in one state (not counting Frankfurt, but no one ever does) over a period of roughly a week and a half. My normal schedule involves commuting between Münster, where I live, and Lüdinghausen, where I work. I started my trip in Köln, where some guy from Senegal (by way of France) offered me his necklace in exchange for my sunglasses and now I can't find the necklace. Fun fact, he was probably going to try and rob me but I was too smart for him.
And for those of you who think me racist, let me tell you, this guy was definitely a drug dealer who tried to offer me some of his wares for free and had already expressed a great interest in relieving me of my banjo. I don't know what that guy was up to, but I'm sure it wasn't entirely legal.
Anyway, Köln is a beautiful city, in parts. Kölsch is a pretty delicious variety of beer, though it can become tiresome on the pallet. Pilsners as always have left me wanting more, and Köstritzer remains my one and only true love.
My room is pretty alright, it didn't really come with a kitchen per se, more of a hot plate and a sink. But my colleagues have been downright wonderful and been so generous I now have some semblance of a working kitchen. Seriously, I definitely got an amazing placement for a school. I can't tell you how generous and welcoming they have been to me. As much as these first couple weeks in Germany are going to cost me (I don't get paid till October, yikes!) I know that they would have cost so much more without the help of my school. More on that later though, I guess I need to take care of some other things first.
First and foremost (and I'll put this up under my title as well) the opinions expressed in my blog are solely my own unless otherwise marked and do not in any way represent the opinions of Fulbright or the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst (PAD) or their affiliates. Please do not confuse my opinions with theirs.
Second, there is a 7 hour difference (most likely, though if you're on the west coast it's more) between you and me. My posts will probably show up as weird times to you, don't worry I am probably getting enough sleep. I only have to work 12 hours a week so I don't think I'll be burning the midnight oil all that often.
Third, my parents and their friends (as well as maybe even some of my colleagues) will probably read this blog, so let's keep everything safe for work guys. I know the largest burden will fall on me, but I'd rather not have to explain to my mother why my idiot friends are idiots. Just send me an email when you want to swear up a storm at someone (seriously I love those emails).
Anyway this has gone on long enough, I'll try and remember all the stuff that's happened to me since I got here like 2 weeks (1.5 week?) ago and post that later.
To tide you over, here is an anecdote from yesterday, my first (or second?) day of work:
So Astrid is like my head teacher I guess, and yesterday I came in to school to sit in on a class. Before class started Astrid told me that we would be eating lunch at her house after class. Apparently they try to do this once a week with the English assistants (of which I guess I'm the only one?) so basically I get a free meal made in a real kitchen at least once a week. I think this is a pretty good deal.
Anyway, lunch was nice. I got speak German and generally be a good house guest. After lunch Astrid and I worked out my work schedule (I have crazy irregular hours throughout the week) and afterward she prodded me to look at her son's new bass guitar. Her son Ben just started learning and already has an Ibanez (apparently they got a good deal on it). I spent the rest of the afternoon alternatively playing bass and teaching in German. It was a pretty rewarding experience. Afterward I got to ride home through cornfields. It was soothing and wonderful in the way only cornfields can be. It's amazing how much more urban Lüdinghausen feels than Grinnell. It's a similarly rural community but it's a lot bigger (25,000 as opposed to 10). It might just be the difference in population size, but I think it's more than that. Granted I've not spent a whole lot of time in Lüdinghausen so I don't know how obsessed they are with farming, and Iowans are kind of a different species of person altogether. We shall see I guess.
Anyway I'm off to watch Bayern v. Roma. I hope they both lose. Just like I hoped both Werder Bremen and Tottenham Hotspur would win. I guess that would mean they have to tie at 0-0?
whatevs.
Anyway I've been in Germany for like 2 weeks now (not even!) and already so much has happened to me. I've been in at least 4 different cities, all in one state (not counting Frankfurt, but no one ever does) over a period of roughly a week and a half. My normal schedule involves commuting between Münster, where I live, and Lüdinghausen, where I work. I started my trip in Köln, where some guy from Senegal (by way of France) offered me his necklace in exchange for my sunglasses and now I can't find the necklace. Fun fact, he was probably going to try and rob me but I was too smart for him.
And for those of you who think me racist, let me tell you, this guy was definitely a drug dealer who tried to offer me some of his wares for free and had already expressed a great interest in relieving me of my banjo. I don't know what that guy was up to, but I'm sure it wasn't entirely legal.
Anyway, Köln is a beautiful city, in parts. Kölsch is a pretty delicious variety of beer, though it can become tiresome on the pallet. Pilsners as always have left me wanting more, and Köstritzer remains my one and only true love.
My room is pretty alright, it didn't really come with a kitchen per se, more of a hot plate and a sink. But my colleagues have been downright wonderful and been so generous I now have some semblance of a working kitchen. Seriously, I definitely got an amazing placement for a school. I can't tell you how generous and welcoming they have been to me. As much as these first couple weeks in Germany are going to cost me (I don't get paid till October, yikes!) I know that they would have cost so much more without the help of my school. More on that later though, I guess I need to take care of some other things first.
First and foremost (and I'll put this up under my title as well) the opinions expressed in my blog are solely my own unless otherwise marked and do not in any way represent the opinions of Fulbright or the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst (PAD) or their affiliates. Please do not confuse my opinions with theirs.
Second, there is a 7 hour difference (most likely, though if you're on the west coast it's more) between you and me. My posts will probably show up as weird times to you, don't worry I am probably getting enough sleep. I only have to work 12 hours a week so I don't think I'll be burning the midnight oil all that often.
Third, my parents and their friends (as well as maybe even some of my colleagues) will probably read this blog, so let's keep everything safe for work guys. I know the largest burden will fall on me, but I'd rather not have to explain to my mother why my idiot friends are idiots. Just send me an email when you want to swear up a storm at someone (seriously I love those emails).
Anyway this has gone on long enough, I'll try and remember all the stuff that's happened to me since I got here like 2 weeks (1.5 week?) ago and post that later.
To tide you over, here is an anecdote from yesterday, my first (or second?) day of work:
So Astrid is like my head teacher I guess, and yesterday I came in to school to sit in on a class. Before class started Astrid told me that we would be eating lunch at her house after class. Apparently they try to do this once a week with the English assistants (of which I guess I'm the only one?) so basically I get a free meal made in a real kitchen at least once a week. I think this is a pretty good deal.
Anyway, lunch was nice. I got speak German and generally be a good house guest. After lunch Astrid and I worked out my work schedule (I have crazy irregular hours throughout the week) and afterward she prodded me to look at her son's new bass guitar. Her son Ben just started learning and already has an Ibanez (apparently they got a good deal on it). I spent the rest of the afternoon alternatively playing bass and teaching in German. It was a pretty rewarding experience. Afterward I got to ride home through cornfields. It was soothing and wonderful in the way only cornfields can be. It's amazing how much more urban Lüdinghausen feels than Grinnell. It's a similarly rural community but it's a lot bigger (25,000 as opposed to 10). It might just be the difference in population size, but I think it's more than that. Granted I've not spent a whole lot of time in Lüdinghausen so I don't know how obsessed they are with farming, and Iowans are kind of a different species of person altogether. We shall see I guess.
Anyway I'm off to watch Bayern v. Roma. I hope they both lose. Just like I hoped both Werder Bremen and Tottenham Hotspur would win. I guess that would mean they have to tie at 0-0?
whatevs.
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