Motion Picture Soundtrack
Tomorrow is my last day of class for the week, and then a whole weekend. I am so excited for the morning I can wake up and know that I don't have to spend the next four hours in a prolonged headache.
I have been feeling better today, which is a blessing because yesterday wasn't so good. This afternoon was the first one of this past week where I haven't felt I had to rush home to do work. After class we met downtown to go to an exhibition in the old Universitaet Bibliothek (university library). It was on Gutingi, which is the name of the 10th century village that eventually blossomed into beautiful Goettingen. Goettingen has been more beautiful as of late, if only because today one could actually see the sun.
In an effort to be optimistic about this rough patch, let me share something completely inconsequential that really excited me about living in Germany: Here in Goettingen we don't have skunks or raccoons (at least, to my knowledge). Instead, our trashcan scavengers are hedgehogs. Hedgehogs! The cute let-me-just-pick-you-up-and-put-you-in-my-pocket kind. I freaked out the first time I saw one.
And now I am just going to include random bits I've written over the past week and a half so they don't just get forgotten about. Excuse the lack of coherence.
One of the first things I noticed when I moved here were door handles and the way doors open. I kept thinking, es macht keine Sinne! I think I've finally gotten the hang of it, but I still get surprised now and then. I can't even explain how its different, because now that I live here I can't remember what its like at home. All the same, it needs to be noted that that was one of my most common observations within those first few days.
The next big thing for me were scents. Everything here smells different from anything I've ever smelt before, and though I can no longer notice (I really could only notice the first two days, after that I got used to it and could no longer recognize it), I really remember it being shockingly different. Its like my hall has its own distinct scent (somewhere between tobacco, laundry and mustiness), as does this part of town, as does downtown... and all the food, people, etc etc etc.
The people I interact with here the most are the people I already knew coming here (fellow UCSCers). I don't think its because we all at least knew of one another when we came here (we all had German classes together at some point), but rather they are just the people I click with the best. There are still a good number of people new to me in the program here that I like, but even on the first day I definitely noticed how Americans can get the reputation for being brash, obnoxious and sometimes just... unlikeable.
saturday: went out into the country on the EAP bus (went to the anniversary of a salt mine, german miners singing songs outfitted in black uniforms, went to a little place off the Autobahn that just has a bunch of miniature replicas of the most famous castles and estates in Germany... really random and sort of creepy), exhaustion hit its peak, better now. that night jacky and i had our first real meal in a few days (my god how satisfying), and then met up with a bunch of people at Thanner's (traditional-looking pub). From there Emily (also from SC), Rita, Jacky and I hit Savoy once more. We got there 11:30 ish and for a bit I was worried, because when we had gone on Wednesday the club had been absolutely packed and when we arrived on Saturday there were a good amount of people there but no one was dancing. All we had to do was order drinks and wait it out, because within an hour the place was jammed. Music selections were once again strange (too much latin, and then all of a sudden an Elvis song?), got to know Emily a bit better, and went up by the pole and danced with her just because hey, why not. It was got really ridiculous when a bunch of (American) oldies came on, and the german girls who had been dancing up by the poles all night were somehow trying to sex that up. I don't care what you look like or how well you can move, there is no way that you can grind to something that was crooned over 50 years ago.
sunday: first really free day. woke up to go grocery shopping with jacky (turns out the sign that had said the store would be open for just a few hours on sunday morning was for the baeckeri inside the grocery store, not the actual grocery store itself... yeah, nothing is open here on sundays), went to eat, napped, hung out with Rita, Steven and Jacky (watched pirates episodes of sex and the city!). Really glad I am getting along with some of the people here at least, ironic that the people I am getting along with best are people from my own school that I already sort of knew. had my first experience ordering pizza, and with our delivery order we actually ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio. I know it kind of goes againist the not spending money on things idea, but it was just too funny of an idea to pass up. pizza and wine.
And... thats about all I had already at least jotted down. Another thought that just came to me is that everything here is dubbed, so tonight while Jacky and I were doing homework in her floor's "living room," I watched half an episode of Scrubs dubbed in German. We couldn't get any of the jokes, but we were laughing all the same just because its so strange to hear weird German voices substituted for the actors you feel you know so well.
I finally got my bike fixed(?), and Jacky bought hers off the side of the street while we were on our way downtown today. So, we had our first excursion this evening to the Pennymarkt (discount grocery store of sorts). I haven't ridden a bike for years, and this one looks a little rickety... but hopefully I'll manage. It was free, except for the 12 Euro I had to pay to get it fixed from when it was just sort of given to me. Jacky and I are planning on riding to class in the morning... luckily Kreuzbegring has a bike lane. And oh Goodness in Heaven, I forgot to mention that I finally found some bottled water today that was by some miracle of Abraham not carbonated. Praise be!
I have been feeling better today, which is a blessing because yesterday wasn't so good. This afternoon was the first one of this past week where I haven't felt I had to rush home to do work. After class we met downtown to go to an exhibition in the old Universitaet Bibliothek (university library). It was on Gutingi, which is the name of the 10th century village that eventually blossomed into beautiful Goettingen. Goettingen has been more beautiful as of late, if only because today one could actually see the sun.
In an effort to be optimistic about this rough patch, let me share something completely inconsequential that really excited me about living in Germany: Here in Goettingen we don't have skunks or raccoons (at least, to my knowledge). Instead, our trashcan scavengers are hedgehogs. Hedgehogs! The cute let-me-just-pick-you-up-and-put-you-in-my-pocket kind. I freaked out the first time I saw one.
And now I am just going to include random bits I've written over the past week and a half so they don't just get forgotten about. Excuse the lack of coherence.
One of the first things I noticed when I moved here were door handles and the way doors open. I kept thinking, es macht keine Sinne! I think I've finally gotten the hang of it, but I still get surprised now and then. I can't even explain how its different, because now that I live here I can't remember what its like at home. All the same, it needs to be noted that that was one of my most common observations within those first few days.
The next big thing for me were scents. Everything here smells different from anything I've ever smelt before, and though I can no longer notice (I really could only notice the first two days, after that I got used to it and could no longer recognize it), I really remember it being shockingly different. Its like my hall has its own distinct scent (somewhere between tobacco, laundry and mustiness), as does this part of town, as does downtown... and all the food, people, etc etc etc.
The people I interact with here the most are the people I already knew coming here (fellow UCSCers). I don't think its because we all at least knew of one another when we came here (we all had German classes together at some point), but rather they are just the people I click with the best. There are still a good number of people new to me in the program here that I like, but even on the first day I definitely noticed how Americans can get the reputation for being brash, obnoxious and sometimes just... unlikeable.
saturday: went out into the country on the EAP bus (went to the anniversary of a salt mine, german miners singing songs outfitted in black uniforms, went to a little place off the Autobahn that just has a bunch of miniature replicas of the most famous castles and estates in Germany... really random and sort of creepy), exhaustion hit its peak, better now. that night jacky and i had our first real meal in a few days (my god how satisfying), and then met up with a bunch of people at Thanner's (traditional-looking pub). From there Emily (also from SC), Rita, Jacky and I hit Savoy once more. We got there 11:30 ish and for a bit I was worried, because when we had gone on Wednesday the club had been absolutely packed and when we arrived on Saturday there were a good amount of people there but no one was dancing. All we had to do was order drinks and wait it out, because within an hour the place was jammed. Music selections were once again strange (too much latin, and then all of a sudden an Elvis song?), got to know Emily a bit better, and went up by the pole and danced with her just because hey, why not. It was got really ridiculous when a bunch of (American) oldies came on, and the german girls who had been dancing up by the poles all night were somehow trying to sex that up. I don't care what you look like or how well you can move, there is no way that you can grind to something that was crooned over 50 years ago.
sunday: first really free day. woke up to go grocery shopping with jacky (turns out the sign that had said the store would be open for just a few hours on sunday morning was for the baeckeri inside the grocery store, not the actual grocery store itself... yeah, nothing is open here on sundays), went to eat, napped, hung out with Rita, Steven and Jacky (watched pirates episodes of sex and the city!). Really glad I am getting along with some of the people here at least, ironic that the people I am getting along with best are people from my own school that I already sort of knew. had my first experience ordering pizza, and with our delivery order we actually ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio. I know it kind of goes againist the not spending money on things idea, but it was just too funny of an idea to pass up. pizza and wine.
And... thats about all I had already at least jotted down. Another thought that just came to me is that everything here is dubbed, so tonight while Jacky and I were doing homework in her floor's "living room," I watched half an episode of Scrubs dubbed in German. We couldn't get any of the jokes, but we were laughing all the same just because its so strange to hear weird German voices substituted for the actors you feel you know so well.
I finally got my bike fixed(?), and Jacky bought hers off the side of the street while we were on our way downtown today. So, we had our first excursion this evening to the Pennymarkt (discount grocery store of sorts). I haven't ridden a bike for years, and this one looks a little rickety... but hopefully I'll manage. It was free, except for the 12 Euro I had to pay to get it fixed from when it was just sort of given to me. Jacky and I are planning on riding to class in the morning... luckily Kreuzbegring has a bike lane. And oh Goodness in Heaven, I forgot to mention that I finally found some bottled water today that was by some miracle of Abraham not carbonated. Praise be!
posted by Meredesu at 8:14 AM
1 Comments:
Hedgehogs
-addie
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