There's a lot of talk out there about how now is a bad time to travel as an American, because of our government and our reputation as ignorant people. People are so quick to slap on a Canadian flag patch on their bag, before boarding the plane.
That couldn't be more wrong. One should try to hide what they are, really it's only the geographical location one happens to be born in. Nor should an American think that it is a bad time to travel abroad. In fact, it is just the opposite. The fact is, the bar has been set so low, a baby could crawl over it. Yeah, maybe when you first let someone know that you are an American they will assume the worst (most don't). However, it doesn't take much to impress them and change their view of you, and then maybe even their view towards Americans as a whole. In reality, people do base stereotypes of a society on very few encounters or more pathetically-on hearsay.
I have found language to be a very simple way of impressing and also just learning a little about the world around you and not only from an American perspective. But about language, as an American one doesn't have to know much of another language, they just have to try. But nobody is impressed if a German, or anyone else for that matter, is speaking English. Of course they can. It's English.
Really when it comes down to it, don't act like the "ugly american" people expect you to be and nobody will give you trouble. I promise it's not that hard. So I just thought I would share that.
While I'm venting, and sort of on the topic of languages. One thing that bugs me in German is when I hear English words that have a different meaning in German. I'm sure more example will come to me later, but one I can give is "handy", which is a cell phone. Then one can't imagine it would be a different word in English. Understandably, but what dumbass thought of the word in the first place. But then I realized that we have plenty of words like that in English. Like "salsa", it means sauce in Spanish or "gelato" in Italian, it took me a while to realize that it simply means "ice cream", nothing specific. We specify general terms. These things could bug Spanish or Italians. But only the fussy ones like me of course.
I promise I will write about my life soon. It's just that Rebecca and I were talking about these things the other day, so I was thinking about it and I though I'd write about it.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
This blog needs to be modified-any suggestions?
I am now writing from the same laptop in a new room, in a new house, in a new family, in a new town, and even a new country (this country being Switzerland). Which is great, however, the title of this blog doesn't really fit. So please tell me what to do about that. I hope this incoherance doesn't keep you from reading.
So let's get to the point and roll another j-. Never mind-song. Once again I have too much to write about. It always happens.
I left Schowalters on the 30th of January. The Saturday before I spent the day shopping with Mirjam and went to see Bee Movie. So that was some good quality time together before I left. That Sunday in church Sonja made me say something to the church. She didn't tell me before which was probably for the better. Public speaking is one thing-but in German...ehhh. O well. Egal. In youth group they did a little going away thing!! So sweet. Well I will put a picture. They even made me a picture book. Awww. The day I left I had a little "kaffee und kuchen" going away thing which turned out really well. I was very pleased. Unfortunatly I didn't plan my time well (story of my life) and I kind of left my room a mess. Which I don't think Schowalters were too happy about, well they wrote me and told me. So I just want to say to them Es tut mir sehr sehr leid!!! I do feel very bad about that. oops. Anyway so then the next week was spent a lot en route.
Wednesday I traveled overnight to Listal where I met Jessica and dropped my huge suitcase off. That worked out really well. Then...I went to Basel airport and hopped on a plane to London. So I went to London. I stayed part of the time with Kate and Ben. Ausralian friends I met at the Hofbrauhaus. I know that sounds slightly ridiculous but it's not. Just have to change your thinking. *cough mom. I sightsaw a lot by myself but then did some with Kate and Ben which was a lot of fun. I even went out with her coworkers and talked after lunch with kate and her boss. Three of the nights I then stayed at the mennonite centre in London. There's a lot to see in that city-like infinite things to do. It drains your money though, i'll tell you what.
A week later I took the plane to Dortmund, then from there I went to the Midterm conference at Thomashof. I thoughoully enjoyed my time there. It nicely organized-i think. Well...okay we went to an opera which I don't really like. But I'm glad I went because I think in order to acheive a "cultured" status one has to see at least one opera. We had a few formal discussion things about culture and stuff which to me is always an interesting topic.
Monday morning I said goodbye to the other trainees and we were all sent off to our new placements. Now I've been here for almost a week. I really like it so far. But it has only been a week. I love my host family so far, although they don't speak ANY english. So communication is not always the best, but I can tell it won't really matter. Except that my host dad Andre is one of those people that knows a lot and like to talk a lot and fast and with a swiss german accent. It's good practice for me, but he has to know that I'm not really understanding everything and I just nod and smile. I'm noticing things here that I missed at Schowalters but didn't really know I was missing, which is good. For example, being nearer to other trainees, good public transportation, and having more of a nanny job than just cleaning. Sarah, the 12 year old with down syndrom has been at camp since I got here so that will be different dynamics when she is here. But I love Simon, the 5 year old who I spent a lot of time this week with. He's incredibly cute. Like how he says "amerita" not amerika. But this week is not a normal week in this canton. While everywhere else in the world mardis gras/faschings/carnival whatever you call it is over. Here it is the monday, tuesday, and wednesday after ash wednesday and here it's called "fasnacht". Everyday there are parades and musik and such. So those three days we went to parardes. It's definatly a unique experience that I didn't even know I would get to experience. The parades consists of marching bands all wearing masks with some theme and then wagons with people also in costumes that give out candy, flowers, oranges and some random things like little toys, tester products, and really random things like leeks, carrots, and potatoes. Really they are more willing to give to kids. But my host mom, Elke and I still left with full bags. The other thing is that the throw out confetti and tons and tons of it. I've never seen so much in my entire life. They even sometimes grab you and rub it in your hair. It was really quite the experience.
This morning I went shopping in Germany, (because its cheaper and we're only 25 minutes away) with Debbie, an intermenno comitee person who also lives nearby. Later we're going to Andre's mom's house and between then, well I've been doing this.
note: i don't know why the spell check isn't working but its not.
So let's get to the point and roll another j-. Never mind-song. Once again I have too much to write about. It always happens.
I left Schowalters on the 30th of January. The Saturday before I spent the day shopping with Mirjam and went to see Bee Movie. So that was some good quality time together before I left. That Sunday in church Sonja made me say something to the church. She didn't tell me before which was probably for the better. Public speaking is one thing-but in German...ehhh. O well. Egal. In youth group they did a little going away thing!! So sweet. Well I will put a picture. They even made me a picture book. Awww. The day I left I had a little "kaffee und kuchen" going away thing which turned out really well. I was very pleased. Unfortunatly I didn't plan my time well (story of my life) and I kind of left my room a mess. Which I don't think Schowalters were too happy about, well they wrote me and told me. So I just want to say to them Es tut mir sehr sehr leid!!! I do feel very bad about that. oops. Anyway so then the next week was spent a lot en route.
Wednesday I traveled overnight to Listal where I met Jessica and dropped my huge suitcase off. That worked out really well. Then...I went to Basel airport and hopped on a plane to London. So I went to London. I stayed part of the time with Kate and Ben. Ausralian friends I met at the Hofbrauhaus. I know that sounds slightly ridiculous but it's not. Just have to change your thinking. *cough mom. I sightsaw a lot by myself but then did some with Kate and Ben which was a lot of fun. I even went out with her coworkers and talked after lunch with kate and her boss. Three of the nights I then stayed at the mennonite centre in London. There's a lot to see in that city-like infinite things to do. It drains your money though, i'll tell you what.
A week later I took the plane to Dortmund, then from there I went to the Midterm conference at Thomashof. I thoughoully enjoyed my time there. It nicely organized-i think. Well...okay we went to an opera which I don't really like. But I'm glad I went because I think in order to acheive a "cultured" status one has to see at least one opera. We had a few formal discussion things about culture and stuff which to me is always an interesting topic.
Monday morning I said goodbye to the other trainees and we were all sent off to our new placements. Now I've been here for almost a week. I really like it so far. But it has only been a week. I love my host family so far, although they don't speak ANY english. So communication is not always the best, but I can tell it won't really matter. Except that my host dad Andre is one of those people that knows a lot and like to talk a lot and fast and with a swiss german accent. It's good practice for me, but he has to know that I'm not really understanding everything and I just nod and smile. I'm noticing things here that I missed at Schowalters but didn't really know I was missing, which is good. For example, being nearer to other trainees, good public transportation, and having more of a nanny job than just cleaning. Sarah, the 12 year old with down syndrom has been at camp since I got here so that will be different dynamics when she is here. But I love Simon, the 5 year old who I spent a lot of time this week with. He's incredibly cute. Like how he says "amerita" not amerika. But this week is not a normal week in this canton. While everywhere else in the world mardis gras/faschings/carnival whatever you call it is over. Here it is the monday, tuesday, and wednesday after ash wednesday and here it's called "fasnacht". Everyday there are parades and musik and such. So those three days we went to parardes. It's definatly a unique experience that I didn't even know I would get to experience. The parades consists of marching bands all wearing masks with some theme and then wagons with people also in costumes that give out candy, flowers, oranges and some random things like little toys, tester products, and really random things like leeks, carrots, and potatoes. Really they are more willing to give to kids. But my host mom, Elke and I still left with full bags. The other thing is that the throw out confetti and tons and tons of it. I've never seen so much in my entire life. They even sometimes grab you and rub it in your hair. It was really quite the experience.
This morning I went shopping in Germany, (because its cheaper and we're only 25 minutes away) with Debbie, an intermenno comitee person who also lives nearby. Later we're going to Andre's mom's house and between then, well I've been doing this.
note: i don't know why the spell check isn't working but its not.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Back to School
Saturday night I went to the birthday party of Nils from the youth group here (also hes Sarahs brother.) Most of the youth group was there. It was pretty good. Although social things such as this one are when I wish most that my German was better. Sometimes I find my self a little bored and left out and constantly thinking how much better it would be I could understand all that's said. I did manage to stay up till 4:00 before I called it a night. Most slept overnight and even managed to make it to church, where we sang.
I went home with Sarah because my car was still at their house and spent the afternoon there. I will miss the youth group here especially Katarina and Sarah. Sarah is going to Paraguay this summer for a year with CD (the german version of mcc). Before Germany I never knew or heard anything about that country. Now I want to go. I hear so much about it here from the Mennonites and also because Schowalters have farm workers from there. I didn't even know about the german mennonite thing there. LMH has taught me so well.
Monday I went to school. However, it was not my normal German lessons. I went to school with Sarah. She asked me to do a short presentation in her English class about my life in america. (The main reason she asked me was to spite her teacher, who she thinks doesn't know English all that well. And since I am pro teacher-spiting I agreed.) The teacher also wanted me to talk politics and the presidential elections so I did. I tried to explain and I also gave my personal opinions on things to the class. Of course this was all in English :) I was really happy about being able to spend the school day with Sarah. I love seeing how the school here is. They stay the whole day with the same people and the teachers move around. Except in biology, where they did move to a different classroom. I couldn't help but think that my high school experience could have been better if school got out at 13:00 and we were aloud to off campus too.
I went home with Sarah because my car was still at their house and spent the afternoon there. I will miss the youth group here especially Katarina and Sarah. Sarah is going to Paraguay this summer for a year with CD (the german version of mcc). Before Germany I never knew or heard anything about that country. Now I want to go. I hear so much about it here from the Mennonites and also because Schowalters have farm workers from there. I didn't even know about the german mennonite thing there. LMH has taught me so well.
Monday I went to school. However, it was not my normal German lessons. I went to school with Sarah. She asked me to do a short presentation in her English class about my life in america. (The main reason she asked me was to spite her teacher, who she thinks doesn't know English all that well. And since I am pro teacher-spiting I agreed.) The teacher also wanted me to talk politics and the presidential elections so I did. I tried to explain and I also gave my personal opinions on things to the class. Of course this was all in English :) I was really happy about being able to spend the school day with Sarah. I love seeing how the school here is. They stay the whole day with the same people and the teachers move around. Except in biology, where they did move to a different classroom. I couldn't help but think that my high school experience could have been better if school got out at 13:00 and we were aloud to off campus too.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Too much to write about.
I have kept putting this of and putting it off only because I thought there was too much to explain. Of course that doesn't make any sense but it's only human. Now I am supposed somehow put into one blog post around 1 months worth (Unfortunately these days happened to be very busy and about as eventful as my life gets, which isn't all that. And filled with highs and lows.)
So perhaps I shall work my way backwards with this one.
I only now have a month left at the Schwalters and in Germany for that matter. The time has gone so fast. I am not yet feeling sadness about leaving, although I have no doubt it will come. However, I am feeling the pressure that comes at the end of something, to accomplish everything that you had hoped to in the time you have.
This weekend I went to youth group. I was able to follow the conversation basically the entire time, as there was no bible study. We sang, went around the room and shared about ourselves, and the majority of the time was spend debating whether we could sing a song in church the next Sunday or if everyone would be to tired or hungover from one boys birthday party Saturday night. That is one conversation that just wouldn't hear at james street youth group. ha. Saturday I worked. The work day seemed to drag on. Sunday night I went to Sarahs to watch a movie. I love my movie nights there.
The work week went pretty smoothly. When I get irritated or tired with my work I just have to remind myself that I don't have it much longer here and I should be positive.
Monday I had some issues to work out with Sonja involving a few misunderstandings, and vacation timing. I won't go into details cause I don't feel like it but it was tough for me and things are good now. Although I should talk to her again soon.
The three days after new years I worked at Ruths because Schowalters were on holidays. For new years I decided last minute to go Enkenbach and meet with 3 other trainees. This turned out to be a good time with them. And luckily I was already over the stomach virus that I came down with on the second day of Christmas.
Christmas-Weihnachten was quite an enjoyable time for me here. I spent it with the Schowalter side of the family, who all came to Dorndorf for the holiday. We ate nice meals together and opened a lot of presents Christmas Eve. That evening, as well as the morning of the 26th (the second day of Christmas, we went the Church services. Christmas day we actually went out to eat.
My days before Christmas were very far from my routine of going to the mall every other day and whatnot. It worked out the Danica came to visit from the 16th to the 23rd of December. I had the best time with her. Also it made my birthday a very good one. For my birthday, Monday, Danica went to German class with me in the morning. That afternoon we had cake and coffee with the family(also celebrating Opas birthday). That was nice. Then that night we went to Munich and celebrated there and stayed overnight there. Tuesday night we left for Amsterdam and stayed there for the rest of our time together. I had so much fun.
This brings me back to about 30 days ago. And I really need a shower so I'm going to stop and take one.
So perhaps I shall work my way backwards with this one.
I only now have a month left at the Schwalters and in Germany for that matter. The time has gone so fast. I am not yet feeling sadness about leaving, although I have no doubt it will come. However, I am feeling the pressure that comes at the end of something, to accomplish everything that you had hoped to in the time you have.
This weekend I went to youth group. I was able to follow the conversation basically the entire time, as there was no bible study. We sang, went around the room and shared about ourselves, and the majority of the time was spend debating whether we could sing a song in church the next Sunday or if everyone would be to tired or hungover from one boys birthday party Saturday night. That is one conversation that just wouldn't hear at james street youth group. ha. Saturday I worked. The work day seemed to drag on. Sunday night I went to Sarahs to watch a movie. I love my movie nights there.
The work week went pretty smoothly. When I get irritated or tired with my work I just have to remind myself that I don't have it much longer here and I should be positive.
Monday I had some issues to work out with Sonja involving a few misunderstandings, and vacation timing. I won't go into details cause I don't feel like it but it was tough for me and things are good now. Although I should talk to her again soon.
The three days after new years I worked at Ruths because Schowalters were on holidays. For new years I decided last minute to go Enkenbach and meet with 3 other trainees. This turned out to be a good time with them. And luckily I was already over the stomach virus that I came down with on the second day of Christmas.
Christmas-Weihnachten was quite an enjoyable time for me here. I spent it with the Schowalter side of the family, who all came to Dorndorf for the holiday. We ate nice meals together and opened a lot of presents Christmas Eve. That evening, as well as the morning of the 26th (the second day of Christmas, we went the Church services. Christmas day we actually went out to eat.
My days before Christmas were very far from my routine of going to the mall every other day and whatnot. It worked out the Danica came to visit from the 16th to the 23rd of December. I had the best time with her. Also it made my birthday a very good one. For my birthday, Monday, Danica went to German class with me in the morning. That afternoon we had cake and coffee with the family(also celebrating Opas birthday). That was nice. Then that night we went to Munich and celebrated there and stayed overnight there. Tuesday night we left for Amsterdam and stayed there for the rest of our time together. I had so much fun.
This brings me back to about 30 days ago. And I really need a shower so I'm going to stop and take one.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
"I want to talk to you before you leave for the weekend."
....said Sonja on Thursday while baking our Christmas cookies. And actually she said it in German. But in any language those words always make me a little anxious. However, she only wanted to talk about how things were going for me.
Thursday night I sat down in the leaving room with Sonja and Rolf. They asked me what I thought about my experience here so far and how I felt. I didn't really know how to respond to such a broad question. I said overall really liked here then tried to get into specifics of matters. They proceeded to tell me how they felt since that was really what I needed to know so I could know how to respond. They observed several points about me that they had questions about. First of all was that sometimes I looked sad or upset while working and they were concerned about that. I think I figured out that my facial expressions don't always reflect how I'm feeling. I think when I'm not smiling I just look upset or angry. I've been told so before. Maybe if I am upset it is something else going on or that perhaps I am sometimes frustrated with the work itself, but that is kept to a minimum.
They also thought that sometimes I looked like I was in my own little world and I don't live in the moment. I had to think about that and was a little surprised over this observation especially because I do feel that I'm soaking things in here. I do tend to space out and distance myself sometimes since I feel like sometimes I should give them space and as comfortable as I do feel with them I guess there is still a part of me that is unsure of how much I should involve myself in their lives. The second reason for this is because of the language. It's hard to always try to listen to the conversation when I am only picking up half of it. It often much easier to just not pay attention altogether. And what can I say-I'm a daydreamer. I think they don't completely understand how that is with the language and tuning out of it sometimes. I work very hard at trying to listen and learn but I need a break sometime from German. We were able to talk about all of this and I'm really happy that we had the talk. I learned a lot about myself that I could only get from another person's observation. It's not as if things were bad before but now I feel much better about my work and my relationship with them and feel much more comfortable knowing where I stand with them. I also told Sonja and Rolf that they have to tell me next time they think I'm too much "in my own world."
Thursday night we had this talk and Friday night I left for Hamburg. I decided to use the rest of my Eurail pass to meet with 4 other trainees who were going there mainly for a concert Saturday night. It was an enjoyable weekend with the others at the concert, as well as seeing the other sights of the city such as the Harbour, Weinachtmarkts (Christmas Markets), and the infamous Reeperbahn.
Yesterday and today's work was pretty tiresome as far as work is concerned. We are getting the extra rooms cleaned for Christmas and the family that is coming then. This house has tons of space. Not only do they have a whole 2 bedroom apartment between their house and the parents house, but they have an attic with 4 beds as well as a huge basement with a room-a room that hadn't been slept in or cleaned for 10 years. Needless to mention, there was a lot of dust which was not cool for the allergies. But I must say it looks really good now. Monday, Sonja's brother dropped off his 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter to stay here for the next ten days. I enjoy them being around, makes things a little more interesting.
Thursday night I sat down in the leaving room with Sonja and Rolf. They asked me what I thought about my experience here so far and how I felt. I didn't really know how to respond to such a broad question. I said overall really liked here then tried to get into specifics of matters. They proceeded to tell me how they felt since that was really what I needed to know so I could know how to respond. They observed several points about me that they had questions about. First of all was that sometimes I looked sad or upset while working and they were concerned about that. I think I figured out that my facial expressions don't always reflect how I'm feeling. I think when I'm not smiling I just look upset or angry. I've been told so before. Maybe if I am upset it is something else going on or that perhaps I am sometimes frustrated with the work itself, but that is kept to a minimum.
They also thought that sometimes I looked like I was in my own little world and I don't live in the moment. I had to think about that and was a little surprised over this observation especially because I do feel that I'm soaking things in here. I do tend to space out and distance myself sometimes since I feel like sometimes I should give them space and as comfortable as I do feel with them I guess there is still a part of me that is unsure of how much I should involve myself in their lives. The second reason for this is because of the language. It's hard to always try to listen to the conversation when I am only picking up half of it. It often much easier to just not pay attention altogether. And what can I say-I'm a daydreamer. I think they don't completely understand how that is with the language and tuning out of it sometimes. I work very hard at trying to listen and learn but I need a break sometime from German. We were able to talk about all of this and I'm really happy that we had the talk. I learned a lot about myself that I could only get from another person's observation. It's not as if things were bad before but now I feel much better about my work and my relationship with them and feel much more comfortable knowing where I stand with them. I also told Sonja and Rolf that they have to tell me next time they think I'm too much "in my own world."
Thursday night we had this talk and Friday night I left for Hamburg. I decided to use the rest of my Eurail pass to meet with 4 other trainees who were going there mainly for a concert Saturday night. It was an enjoyable weekend with the others at the concert, as well as seeing the other sights of the city such as the Harbour, Weinachtmarkts (Christmas Markets), and the infamous Reeperbahn.
Yesterday and today's work was pretty tiresome as far as work is concerned. We are getting the extra rooms cleaned for Christmas and the family that is coming then. This house has tons of space. Not only do they have a whole 2 bedroom apartment between their house and the parents house, but they have an attic with 4 beds as well as a huge basement with a room-a room that hadn't been slept in or cleaned for 10 years. Needless to mention, there was a lot of dust which was not cool for the allergies. But I must say it looks really good now. Monday, Sonja's brother dropped off his 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter to stay here for the next ten days. I enjoy them being around, makes things a little more interesting.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
I know...I know...It has been too long.
I'm sorry to all my many thousands of faithful blog readers, yea ok...mom and dad plus a few. It has been almost a month. I promise it won't happen again. Also another note: I changed the setting so ANYONE can leave comments. So any questions or comments are greatly appreciated! Do not hesitate!
So.... (they say that a lot here in Germany)
So. This past weekend I went to the Czech Republic. It was a place I really wanted to go to. I've never been so far East. I was determined not to go to Prague, since that is where everyone goes. But I ended up there nevertheless. My journey started at midnight when I was picked up by my ride, arranged by a carpooling website. The trains were striking plus the guy on the train back from Italy screwed me over so that I only had 3 days of travel left on my Eurail pass. Yes it sounds a little strange hitching a ride with a complete stranger-but the arrangement worked out well and it is cheaper than a train and I was picked up at the house and dropped off in front of the hostel in Prague at 3:30 am. They told me the hostel was booked but I lucked out because someone never showed up. So I headed off to my room. In this full hostel there was one person sleeping in a room of eleven beds.
The next I headed off to the Museum of Communism. A place which I had heard about before I went and vowed to myself to go to if I ever went to Prague. In the afternoon I took a touristic bus with an audio guide to provide the history and details of the sights I was seeing. Then rest of the time was spent walking, shopping, and looking by myself.
I made it back to the hostel around 7 pm. In my room I met a girl from Slovakia,Lucia, her brother and her Spanish boyfriend. We joined the rest of the hostel crowd hanging out in the lobby. I love meeting people from everywhere. I talked a lot with a guy from Dartmouth U spending a semester in Rome and a German so I could use my German which is otherwise pretty useless in Prague. Around 9 I tagged along with Lucia to a club where she was meeting her cousin who is living in the city. That night was hip hop night, so I got to hear Slovakian rap. I enjoyed the night. I don't know about Czech people but the Slovakians I met were really chill. And 20 years ago they were one in the same, so they were practically locals. The Spanish was cool too and he said I pronounced "joder" good so I haven't lost all of the little Spanish I knew. I've been a lot of places now, but the Spanish culture and people have got to be on the top of my list :)
The next day I took the train to Cheb. I could take a train from there to Nuernberg at 7 so I went earlier so I could see something besides Prague. But unfortunately, like Germany, there isn't much to see on a Sunday since everything is closed. I arrived in Cheb around 2 and I was really hungry. I decided to go to a restaurant I saw in the train station. I wanted to try their dumplings and sauce that I saw was a popular food in the country. I pointed to what the guy in front of me ordered. If I based my opinion of Czech food solely on that dish, I would say that the country has the WORST food I have ever tasted! I won't though. However, if that is how their food normally tastes, then the Czechs are 100 percent justified in their heavy consumption of beer. The dumplings were weird and hard and I wish I was exaggerating when I say the sauce tasted like stomach acids. I would have killed for McDonalds after that. But as luck would have it there were absolutely zero fast food chains to be found in Cheb. I spent my time there looking around in a grocery store and a large amount of time reading in the train station, which actually turns out not to be such a strange place to hang out in that town; old men were in the corner playing cards, while young men were rolling joints. I took my train home without a hitch.
This was the first trip by myself, I'm pretty sure in my entire life. Part of me does not like to do such a thing alone. But I was determined to do it anyway and I'm glad I did. I think its healthy.
So that was my weekend in the Czech Republic.
Wednesday was a school holiday for the kids and Rolf and Sonja were away at some seminar thing for 3 days. I only had to clean the upstairs and then in the afternoon we went to the waterpark with the grandparents. The kids spent a lot more time in front of the TV when the parents were away for these days. Thursday and Friday I went to Ruths. Friday I went to youth group and then went with Katarina, her sister Julia, and the 2 youth leaders to a pub in Ingolstadt. We sat with a group from the Baptist church. Most of the time I was bored because I don't know what is going on. However, these people from the Baptist church were at times entertaining...strange...in a good/funny way strange, but nevertheless strange. Friday night ended up being just about the most interesting thing from the weekend. Saturday I was terribly bored. I did a few things with the girls-we went for a bike ride, played UNO for like 10 min. until the girls decided they would rather watch tv. In the afternoon, 2 of Mirjam's friends were over. She wanted me to bake chocolate chip cookies with them and while they were baking we played trivial pursuit. In the evening I felt irritated since I wasted a Saturday. If I'm not busy I want to work so I can have an extra weekday off. I didn't work. On top of that, the kids were being fussy with each other. The annoyance carried into today slightly. But I did talk to Danica on the phone, to plan our trip before Christmas which I am super excited about. So that was a positive point along with a few others so the weekend didn't leave me completly insane.
So.... (they say that a lot here in Germany)
So. This past weekend I went to the Czech Republic. It was a place I really wanted to go to. I've never been so far East. I was determined not to go to Prague, since that is where everyone goes. But I ended up there nevertheless. My journey started at midnight when I was picked up by my ride, arranged by a carpooling website. The trains were striking plus the guy on the train back from Italy screwed me over so that I only had 3 days of travel left on my Eurail pass. Yes it sounds a little strange hitching a ride with a complete stranger-but the arrangement worked out well and it is cheaper than a train and I was picked up at the house and dropped off in front of the hostel in Prague at 3:30 am. They told me the hostel was booked but I lucked out because someone never showed up. So I headed off to my room. In this full hostel there was one person sleeping in a room of eleven beds.
The next I headed off to the Museum of Communism. A place which I had heard about before I went and vowed to myself to go to if I ever went to Prague. In the afternoon I took a touristic bus with an audio guide to provide the history and details of the sights I was seeing. Then rest of the time was spent walking, shopping, and looking by myself.
I made it back to the hostel around 7 pm. In my room I met a girl from Slovakia,Lucia, her brother and her Spanish boyfriend. We joined the rest of the hostel crowd hanging out in the lobby. I love meeting people from everywhere. I talked a lot with a guy from Dartmouth U spending a semester in Rome and a German so I could use my German which is otherwise pretty useless in Prague. Around 9 I tagged along with Lucia to a club where she was meeting her cousin who is living in the city. That night was hip hop night, so I got to hear Slovakian rap. I enjoyed the night. I don't know about Czech people but the Slovakians I met were really chill. And 20 years ago they were one in the same, so they were practically locals. The Spanish was cool too and he said I pronounced "joder" good so I haven't lost all of the little Spanish I knew. I've been a lot of places now, but the Spanish culture and people have got to be on the top of my list :)
The next day I took the train to Cheb. I could take a train from there to Nuernberg at 7 so I went earlier so I could see something besides Prague. But unfortunately, like Germany, there isn't much to see on a Sunday since everything is closed. I arrived in Cheb around 2 and I was really hungry. I decided to go to a restaurant I saw in the train station. I wanted to try their dumplings and sauce that I saw was a popular food in the country. I pointed to what the guy in front of me ordered. If I based my opinion of Czech food solely on that dish, I would say that the country has the WORST food I have ever tasted! I won't though. However, if that is how their food normally tastes, then the Czechs are 100 percent justified in their heavy consumption of beer. The dumplings were weird and hard and I wish I was exaggerating when I say the sauce tasted like stomach acids. I would have killed for McDonalds after that. But as luck would have it there were absolutely zero fast food chains to be found in Cheb. I spent my time there looking around in a grocery store and a large amount of time reading in the train station, which actually turns out not to be such a strange place to hang out in that town; old men were in the corner playing cards, while young men were rolling joints. I took my train home without a hitch.
This was the first trip by myself, I'm pretty sure in my entire life. Part of me does not like to do such a thing alone. But I was determined to do it anyway and I'm glad I did. I think its healthy.
So that was my weekend in the Czech Republic.
Wednesday was a school holiday for the kids and Rolf and Sonja were away at some seminar thing for 3 days. I only had to clean the upstairs and then in the afternoon we went to the waterpark with the grandparents. The kids spent a lot more time in front of the TV when the parents were away for these days. Thursday and Friday I went to Ruths. Friday I went to youth group and then went with Katarina, her sister Julia, and the 2 youth leaders to a pub in Ingolstadt. We sat with a group from the Baptist church. Most of the time I was bored because I don't know what is going on. However, these people from the Baptist church were at times entertaining...strange...in a good/funny way strange, but nevertheless strange. Friday night ended up being just about the most interesting thing from the weekend. Saturday I was terribly bored. I did a few things with the girls-we went for a bike ride, played UNO for like 10 min. until the girls decided they would rather watch tv. In the afternoon, 2 of Mirjam's friends were over. She wanted me to bake chocolate chip cookies with them and while they were baking we played trivial pursuit. In the evening I felt irritated since I wasted a Saturday. If I'm not busy I want to work so I can have an extra weekday off. I didn't work. On top of that, the kids were being fussy with each other. The annoyance carried into today slightly. But I did talk to Danica on the phone, to plan our trip before Christmas which I am super excited about. So that was a positive point along with a few others so the weekend didn't leave me completly insane.
Friday, November 2, 2007
In Die Stadt
Yesterday I went with my host family to München for the day. We took the 8:30 train. Practically every shop in the city was closed for the holiday which kind of sucked. But then again if it weren't for the holiday we wouldn't be there. So I can't complain.
The morning was spent seeing sights by foot-Marienplatz and going to the St. Peters Cathedral tower. Then we took a touristica bus. We ate lunch we had packed on the bus before it went anywhere then we got a nice spoken guide of the sights we were seeing. We went to the Olympic Park where coincidentally the European Mtv Music Awards were being held that night. Unfortunately we didn't run into any stars. haha. Then we stopped to see the surfing in the English Gardens. If you didn't know there a river with fake waves and surfers. I think it's pretty sweet. Everywhere we went in the afternoon was with the Sbahn or Ubahn. It was a little ridiculous as I'm pretty sure we could have gotten to places just as easily on foot. I asked Hanna what her favorite part of the day was and she said the trains-kinda funny.
As our time winded down, Sonja and Rolf knew I wanted to go to the Hofbrauhaus. And they wanted coffee. The kids however really wanted fast food for supper and were begging thier parents to go there. Toby said to me, "You can get beer in Denkendorf, but we want to go McDonalds!" hhmmm....world-famous beer hall or mcdonalds-seriously. Kind of remindes me of my own brother... Luckily we were able to go the Hofbrauhaus and then to the Burger King at the train station before heading back. I really enjoyed spending the day there with my family.
Today I spent the day cleaning the upstairs and the downstairs. I also cleaned my room which really needed it. I always love a clean room so I'm not sure how it always goes back to being dirty...
Lately when I'm on the computer for a while I get this really bad pain in my shoulder and I have it now so I'm going to stop.
The morning was spent seeing sights by foot-Marienplatz and going to the St. Peters Cathedral tower. Then we took a touristica bus. We ate lunch we had packed on the bus before it went anywhere then we got a nice spoken guide of the sights we were seeing. We went to the Olympic Park where coincidentally the European Mtv Music Awards were being held that night. Unfortunately we didn't run into any stars. haha. Then we stopped to see the surfing in the English Gardens. If you didn't know there a river with fake waves and surfers. I think it's pretty sweet. Everywhere we went in the afternoon was with the Sbahn or Ubahn. It was a little ridiculous as I'm pretty sure we could have gotten to places just as easily on foot. I asked Hanna what her favorite part of the day was and she said the trains-kinda funny.
As our time winded down, Sonja and Rolf knew I wanted to go to the Hofbrauhaus. And they wanted coffee. The kids however really wanted fast food for supper and were begging thier parents to go there. Toby said to me, "You can get beer in Denkendorf, but we want to go McDonalds!" hhmmm....world-famous beer hall or mcdonalds-seriously. Kind of remindes me of my own brother... Luckily we were able to go the Hofbrauhaus and then to the Burger King at the train station before heading back. I really enjoyed spending the day there with my family.
Today I spent the day cleaning the upstairs and the downstairs. I also cleaned my room which really needed it. I always love a clean room so I'm not sure how it always goes back to being dirty...
Lately when I'm on the computer for a while I get this really bad pain in my shoulder and I have it now so I'm going to stop.
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