keeping a carpet thats so thick on the floor
I've spent the majority of the day sitting in the backyard of one of the ILP professors, watching our German teachers tap kegs, and trying to resemble a somewhat intelligble person in conversation with one of them. Today was the last day of ILP. Class met at 10am instead of 9, and Herr Beilein passed back our Abschlusspruefungen (finals) that we took yesterday. I think comparitively I did somewhat poorly (2+), and because of the stupid mistakes I made I sort of felt down about it for awhile. Its still a rather decent grade, but it just reenforces the idea I've kept this whole summer about my place in the class. (The German grading system goes from 1-6, 6 being completely unsatisfactory) I did have a good chat with Beilein, though, and if I can manage it I think I want to take the class for which he is doing a tutorial. The class is on Thomas Mann, and is taught by supposedly one of the best lecturers in Germany. I am not sure yet how many courses I will be required to take here, and generally I think I want them to be as easy as possible, and Thomas Mann in no way seems easy to me... but I love Beilein and I think it would do me good to keep in contact with an intelligent German academic. So I guess we'll see. The Grillparty (as bbq's here are called) was rather a success, and I sat for about three hours straight eating meat and bread and drinking juice. Beilein made some side remark about a German's idea of fun: bread, meat and beer. It was too sunny out for beer.
And speaking of beer- the plans for the next two weeks. I had originally thought that our vacation would begin with a trip to Muenchen (Munich) to take in the sights at Oktoberfest, but after some thoughtful planning, it appeared to be too expensive to go to Munich and then to Budapest. So in two days Jacky and I are hopping on an 11 and a half hour train to Budapest. Jacky has a friend studying in Budapest, but due to the communication problems that seem to thrive ever so well here, he is not going to be there when we are. So... we are currently hoping that his roommate will let us crash in his half of the apartment. We were planning on staying in Budapest for a few days, the length of our stay depending on how much we like the city, how easy (and worthwhile) it is to get out of the city and see other parts of Hungary, and how antsy we are to get a move on to our other destinations. As aforementioned, after Budapest we will be hopping a train to Bratislava, stay there a few days, then move on to Vienna. The length of our stay there depends on how much time we've spent in Hungary and Slovakia, but Tony might meet up with us in Vienna, and it would be fun to have someone else with us for a bit, so hopefully that works out. After Vienna its another train to our final Eastern European destination, Prague. I have a Korean friend who was born in Romania (who we ran into in the train station the other day), and he said that you can see everything there is to see in Prague in two hours... but I'm thinking we're going to need more than that. We defintely have to be there by October 5th, though, because that night we are taking a (late) flight out of Prague to London Gatwick airport. I still haven't been able to get in contact with Colina, but I am hoping there is some chance we will be able to make it back up to Birmingham that night, or if not, if she knows of somewhere in London we can stay. Scottie, who is my sole London contact, will be in Spain when we arrive, and this my friends is just one example of why you should make plans ahead of time. But I honestly haven't had the time or energy to make all of these arrangements until class was wrapping up... so what can you do. Hopefully this hope isn't too blind.
I did all my laundry this afternoon, and got some money out of the bank (but here I am a little unsure- I know I can change money in whatever cities I'll be in, but I am not sure exactly how much I should be bringing...). I'm back early from the bars because I feel a second wave of a cold coming on, and there is no room in my life to be sick right now. Tomorrow I need to pack... which should be interesting, because I'm relatively clueless. I don't know if a journal that family members read is the best place to say this, but I think its a little ridiculous that I am about to leave for two weeks to run around on a continent I barely know. Jacky has been to Europe before, but always with her parents, and I really don't have a clue how all of this is supposed to work. In a way its all very romantic, but in another very real sense I'm sort of like, hm, shouldn't I know more about this? But everyone seems to think its all very easy, traipsing around Europe, and I know both Jacky and I are two sensible human beans. I think between the two of us we are relatively adept at finding our way around places (except Hamburg, ugh), and I know the basics: take trains, sleep in youth hostels, keep our valuables close and always in sight, eat, forgive one another for being cranky, etc. This last one I'm only a tad worried about, just because Jacky and I really haven't been friends for all that long. We've known each other for a long time, but it wasn't until we came to Germany that we ever really talked. But in another way we know one another better than other people that some could call good friends- just because of the sort of experiences that we have gone through together, and that we really have spent a staggering amount of time with one another the last month and a half. I know myself well enough that I know it is probably going to be a real struggle at times to keep myself from just flipping out- I think one of the most important things for me to do on this trip is to eat relatively often. If I can eat then at least I'll have the energy to keep going when my legs feel like they are going to snap off. I've definitely already had that feeling here in Germany, the first couple of weeks we were here before we had bikes and we had to walk EVERYWHERE and it took SO LONG- that got to be difficult. I think its probably good I am only traveling with one other person, because the more people you have the more compromises you have to make. I am just worried we are going to get sick of one another. Then again, we have spent the better part of 7 weeks together, so maybe I will surprise myself and turn out to be a better friend than I imagine. At the very least things should freshen up when we get to England and I'll get to see Colina and Scottie. I am also a little worried about money... one of the reasons Eastern Europe was so appealing is that supposedly everything is cheaper there. I am also worried about being out of a German-speaking country for two weeks. The plan is to still study and read a bit in the train, and maybe even converse with Jacky (esp if we are anywhere that has anti-Ami sentiment), but I am afraid I am going to lose a lot just by not being around Deutsch all the time.
Last weekend I did the first bit of traveling that I've really done on my own (that is, that wasn't an EAP sponsered excursion). On Sunday we went on the EAP bus to Kassel, but on Saturday a group of us went to Hamburg. Hamburg is a very big, exciting city, but I just didn't have it in me to enjoy it for all that it was worth. I definitely want to go back sometime when I am not sleep deprived and sick. It was four hours there and four hours back, so we really only had about six hours in the city, at least two of which were taken up at this random Korean restaurant that had been the goal of the trip for some of the folks in our group. I feel sort of out of the loop by not having any asian blood or connection about me. The best I can do is, "My sister was born in Japan!", but a comment like that never really goes anywhere. There are two Japanese girls in the EAP group here (Tomoko and Kai), Tina is Korean-American, Tony is Korean-American, Jacky's dad is Korean, Keinst is Chinese-American... and Steven dated a Chinese girl. Also two people I've met that I hope I become good friends with are two Koreans, June from Seoul and Se from Romania. Everytime I run into them, I am taken aback by how nice and generous they are. They are friends with Tony so hopefully that means I won't lose contact.
An exciting snippet from the day in Hamburg was when Jacky and I went into a Diesel store in the ritzy shopping quarter. I've never been in a Diesel store, and eventhough we looked ragged from traveling and walking all day, I drug Jacky in just to see what it was like. It was a good thing that I did because lo and behold I saw my first real live GERMAN POP STARS. "Tokyo Hotel" are these two German 15 year old boys (and they aren't Asian, the name really has nothing to do with anything as far as I can tell) who I had first heard about two days before when Steven did a presentation on the German teenybopper magazine Bravo. They were lounging in the corner while some man was showing them clothes. It was ridiculous that we saw them, and Jacky wanted me to take a picture, but for some reason I just felt bad about it so I didn't. I still have the story, though.
So this was a really terrible retelling of last weekend, but overall it was one of the most exhausting grouping of days I've had in a long time (and for this summer, that is actually saying a lot). Maybe it happened to give me a forewarning of the next two weeks, we'll see. I'd talk more about the cities I went to, Hamburg and Kassel, but I'd be pretty much saying the same thing over again. Everywhere I've been in Germany is beautiful. It gets to the point where you wonder when you should stop taking pictures of the beautiful landscape because you already have 100 pictures of beautiful German landscape.
As always, more to say, but sleep is now taking precedence.
And speaking of beer- the plans for the next two weeks. I had originally thought that our vacation would begin with a trip to Muenchen (Munich) to take in the sights at Oktoberfest, but after some thoughtful planning, it appeared to be too expensive to go to Munich and then to Budapest. So in two days Jacky and I are hopping on an 11 and a half hour train to Budapest. Jacky has a friend studying in Budapest, but due to the communication problems that seem to thrive ever so well here, he is not going to be there when we are. So... we are currently hoping that his roommate will let us crash in his half of the apartment. We were planning on staying in Budapest for a few days, the length of our stay depending on how much we like the city, how easy (and worthwhile) it is to get out of the city and see other parts of Hungary, and how antsy we are to get a move on to our other destinations. As aforementioned, after Budapest we will be hopping a train to Bratislava, stay there a few days, then move on to Vienna. The length of our stay there depends on how much time we've spent in Hungary and Slovakia, but Tony might meet up with us in Vienna, and it would be fun to have someone else with us for a bit, so hopefully that works out. After Vienna its another train to our final Eastern European destination, Prague. I have a Korean friend who was born in Romania (who we ran into in the train station the other day), and he said that you can see everything there is to see in Prague in two hours... but I'm thinking we're going to need more than that. We defintely have to be there by October 5th, though, because that night we are taking a (late) flight out of Prague to London Gatwick airport. I still haven't been able to get in contact with Colina, but I am hoping there is some chance we will be able to make it back up to Birmingham that night, or if not, if she knows of somewhere in London we can stay. Scottie, who is my sole London contact, will be in Spain when we arrive, and this my friends is just one example of why you should make plans ahead of time. But I honestly haven't had the time or energy to make all of these arrangements until class was wrapping up... so what can you do. Hopefully this hope isn't too blind.
I did all my laundry this afternoon, and got some money out of the bank (but here I am a little unsure- I know I can change money in whatever cities I'll be in, but I am not sure exactly how much I should be bringing...). I'm back early from the bars because I feel a second wave of a cold coming on, and there is no room in my life to be sick right now. Tomorrow I need to pack... which should be interesting, because I'm relatively clueless. I don't know if a journal that family members read is the best place to say this, but I think its a little ridiculous that I am about to leave for two weeks to run around on a continent I barely know. Jacky has been to Europe before, but always with her parents, and I really don't have a clue how all of this is supposed to work. In a way its all very romantic, but in another very real sense I'm sort of like, hm, shouldn't I know more about this? But everyone seems to think its all very easy, traipsing around Europe, and I know both Jacky and I are two sensible human beans. I think between the two of us we are relatively adept at finding our way around places (except Hamburg, ugh), and I know the basics: take trains, sleep in youth hostels, keep our valuables close and always in sight, eat, forgive one another for being cranky, etc. This last one I'm only a tad worried about, just because Jacky and I really haven't been friends for all that long. We've known each other for a long time, but it wasn't until we came to Germany that we ever really talked. But in another way we know one another better than other people that some could call good friends- just because of the sort of experiences that we have gone through together, and that we really have spent a staggering amount of time with one another the last month and a half. I know myself well enough that I know it is probably going to be a real struggle at times to keep myself from just flipping out- I think one of the most important things for me to do on this trip is to eat relatively often. If I can eat then at least I'll have the energy to keep going when my legs feel like they are going to snap off. I've definitely already had that feeling here in Germany, the first couple of weeks we were here before we had bikes and we had to walk EVERYWHERE and it took SO LONG- that got to be difficult. I think its probably good I am only traveling with one other person, because the more people you have the more compromises you have to make. I am just worried we are going to get sick of one another. Then again, we have spent the better part of 7 weeks together, so maybe I will surprise myself and turn out to be a better friend than I imagine. At the very least things should freshen up when we get to England and I'll get to see Colina and Scottie. I am also a little worried about money... one of the reasons Eastern Europe was so appealing is that supposedly everything is cheaper there. I am also worried about being out of a German-speaking country for two weeks. The plan is to still study and read a bit in the train, and maybe even converse with Jacky (esp if we are anywhere that has anti-Ami sentiment), but I am afraid I am going to lose a lot just by not being around Deutsch all the time.
Last weekend I did the first bit of traveling that I've really done on my own (that is, that wasn't an EAP sponsered excursion). On Sunday we went on the EAP bus to Kassel, but on Saturday a group of us went to Hamburg. Hamburg is a very big, exciting city, but I just didn't have it in me to enjoy it for all that it was worth. I definitely want to go back sometime when I am not sleep deprived and sick. It was four hours there and four hours back, so we really only had about six hours in the city, at least two of which were taken up at this random Korean restaurant that had been the goal of the trip for some of the folks in our group. I feel sort of out of the loop by not having any asian blood or connection about me. The best I can do is, "My sister was born in Japan!", but a comment like that never really goes anywhere. There are two Japanese girls in the EAP group here (Tomoko and Kai), Tina is Korean-American, Tony is Korean-American, Jacky's dad is Korean, Keinst is Chinese-American... and Steven dated a Chinese girl. Also two people I've met that I hope I become good friends with are two Koreans, June from Seoul and Se from Romania. Everytime I run into them, I am taken aback by how nice and generous they are. They are friends with Tony so hopefully that means I won't lose contact.
An exciting snippet from the day in Hamburg was when Jacky and I went into a Diesel store in the ritzy shopping quarter. I've never been in a Diesel store, and eventhough we looked ragged from traveling and walking all day, I drug Jacky in just to see what it was like. It was a good thing that I did because lo and behold I saw my first real live GERMAN POP STARS. "Tokyo Hotel" are these two German 15 year old boys (and they aren't Asian, the name really has nothing to do with anything as far as I can tell) who I had first heard about two days before when Steven did a presentation on the German teenybopper magazine Bravo. They were lounging in the corner while some man was showing them clothes. It was ridiculous that we saw them, and Jacky wanted me to take a picture, but for some reason I just felt bad about it so I didn't. I still have the story, though.
So this was a really terrible retelling of last weekend, but overall it was one of the most exhausting grouping of days I've had in a long time (and for this summer, that is actually saying a lot). Maybe it happened to give me a forewarning of the next two weeks, we'll see. I'd talk more about the cities I went to, Hamburg and Kassel, but I'd be pretty much saying the same thing over again. Everywhere I've been in Germany is beautiful. It gets to the point where you wonder when you should stop taking pictures of the beautiful landscape because you already have 100 pictures of beautiful German landscape.
As always, more to say, but sleep is now taking precedence.
posted by Meredesu at 9:36 AM
4 Comments:
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Hello love, sorry I have been out of touch... you with your class wrapping up and your trip, you're probably busy too, but between being sick / moving in / starting school I hadn't read your blog in awhile and was feeling out-of-touch. I hope we can catch up again soon; I really miss you a lot and want to see all your pictures. :-)
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