Deutsche Begruessung
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.29.10 under Uncategorized
Heimweh and product recognition
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.27.10 under Uncategorized
Edited for my mother’s clarification.
A lot (this does not mean all of it) of my homesickness comes from not being able to find products or clothing from manufacturers that I know are effing awesome and comfortable to wear (Born shoes, I’m looking at you).
If you continue reading you will also see that I miss my family.
So I decided to go into Hamburg once I heard there was an Urban Outfitters. I went for a totally radical pair of boots. Once I got there, it was like “OMFG BRAND RECOGNITION!” There was a Starbucks, actually multiples. There was an H&M, a Ecco store, Bose store, Burger King, Lush, etc. There are these legit shopping strips in Germany, not very much sprawl like America so everything tends to be clustered which is nice for the shopping.
I set out along Spitalerstrasse towards the H&M with the big girl’s section and their section was larger than the one in Frankfurt. I did not try anything on because I decided I should get to Urban Outfitters for those boots instead. I find Urban Outfitters after a minor ordeal of 5 streets turning into 1 and GAH WHY ARE THESE NOT MORE CLEARLY LABELED AND. . .
No boots in my size. I have been denied entrance into the gates of boot heaven, in part due to the fact that it’s summer and also due to my wide calves and picky tastes. So I picked up my ball and got the hell off the German consumer playground. I have had 100 Euros set aside for new shoes burning a hole in my pocket for almost two weeks. TWO WEEKS. I know I am picky but my god, if I walk into Macy’s or Dillard’s I am usually able to find a pair in an instant.
The qualifications: Cute, comfortable, dark brown, ankle or higher boot. That seems easy, but it’s not.
So on the way back to the Hauptbahnhof I walked past a Lush. I was not going to go in. Then I decided “eff it, I need soap and cleanser and moisturizer anyway” and I spent 26 euro which I never would have spent at home. I then treated myself to Burgerking because I was seriously jonesing for some good ol’ American food.
I am torn between thinking I want to stay here and Au Pair and going back to America to my little fluffy balls of love and my family. I am a free agent, but I don’t feel so free because no matter how I frame it I’m an American and I miss where I was raised and I miss my family and I miss Lane Bryant and The Gap and Born Shoes and In and Out and not being almost killed by a bicyclists because no one in America rides bikes like these Germans do.
But my mom is sending me a package of more clothes plus shoes and hopefully redvines so I should be able to hold out another week.
I really enjoyed my German Cinema class but a 10 page paper for a 1 credit course seems excessive. . .
Also Advanced German is only ok. Some of the subjects are deceptively easy but the grammar exercises are light thus far. GRAMMAR WOMAN, I NEED A GRAMMAR BOOTCAMP.
Read about my brilliance, plz
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.26.10 under Uncategorized
I have the perfect way to solve the traveling and travel money dilemma. I am going to couchsurf! And this is where I imagine my mother’s shocked and disgusted expression. Couchsurfing solves my money issue for sure. This way I can guarantee that I do not go hungry while still being able to travel. WIN.
Anyway the internet on campus is out and I hate to be chilling in the campus lab, so away I go.
You’re in Europe, what do you expect?
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.25.10 under Uncategorized
Almost all the flatmates were gone for the Pentecost 3 day weekend. They came back yesterday.
Last night there was a knock on my door. It was Emmanuel. He was actually very friendly, and invited me me to the kitchen for beers and TV. I did not drink a beer (I actually ate 42 points on WW yesterday, and no beer for me) but I hung out. He corrected my German which I appreciated, and he spoke German to me. So did Dominic. Sometimes it was English, so we’re helping each other out.
I learned words:
Weberknect
is the only one that is standing out in my head. But anyway.
Here I was thinking I had the raddest roommates ever when out of nowhere, Emmanuel busted out a cigarette. And another. And another. And another.
Did USAC even READ my housing form? Right there where I checked “YES I MIND LIVING WITH A SMOKER WTF”
So I like everyone a lot, but I dislike the smoking. He only smokes in the kitchen and it doesn’t smell too terribly but ugh.
Offend everyone and go to USAC today and be like “Hey I need to move out NOW” or tolerate it for an entire 3 months. They don’t eat my food, I don’t eat theirs, they are very clean. . . but smoking offends my American sensibilities.
Hello?
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.24.10 under Uncategorized
My mom has not e-mailed me since Friday. I am worried she is dead. I expected her to be chained to the computer eagerly awaiting any contact from me.
She wanted an itinerary of my time here, so I guess I want one of her time in Reno. This way I will know where she is always and why she has not e-mailed me back.
But I totally miss her, which is why I’m upset she has not e-mailed me back.
I have a jacket.
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.22.10 under Uncategorized
I have a jacket, conditioner, shampoo, a washcloth, razors, and shaving gel. I do not have a working phone, but I have a phone. It was like 30 euro, which seems like a huge effing waste right about now because I can’t get the damn thing to work. The sim chip is in, the sim chip asks for a number, I give the pin on the back of the card the chip came in, and it does not work.
I also do not have any long sleeved t-shirts or pants.
I am tired, frustrated, and hungry so now I am going to wait for my roommate to get off the phone so he can help me with my stupid phone if he even can. 
Well that was quite the past 24 hours
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.21.10 under Uncategorized
My buddy Dorien, her friend Anne, her boyfriend Lukas (I think that’s his name) and Dorien’s dog Haio picked me up at the train station yesterday. They were all very nice.
Maybe Lukas has a car, so he drove us to my room which is literally right on campus by the cafeteria. That’s nice too.
They dropped me off at my room, which was not. I think my jaw literally dropped. There were spiderwebs everywhere, some with spiders in them. You all know how much I love spiders. I decided I did not want to deal with them right away, so I asked Anne and Dorien and Dominic and Natalia (two of my roommates) how late Aldi was open so I could go grocery shopping. It turns out that PennyMarkt replaced the Aldi near campus, but they are open later than Aldi so rock on to that.
I was on my way there when I heard someone yell my name. It was Dorien and Anne. They sad that they decided to invite me to dinner because they did not want me to sit alone in my room and they thought it would be fun. It actually was a lot of fun! As soon as I get a chance I will invite them over and cook dinner for them. I do not know what to cook. Any suggestions? They don’t eat a lot of meat. . .
They brought me back home and I made my bed, or at least I tried to. The sheets that were left on the bed were STANKY. They smelled like Spencer’s room, so STANKY.
I looked in the wardrobe for the other set I was supposed to have, only to find that I was missing a duvet cover and the sheet that I was given had holes in it and was ripped (w.t.f). I wrote a pissed e-mail to housing, but it was near midnight so nothing could be done about it.
Today was the tour around the town at 10:00. It was a lame tour because it was a scavenger hunt. It’s more interactive than being told what is what, but it was lame because the questions sucked.
After that it was 6 hours of hell. At 12 we got lunch. At 1:00 maybe we broke for orientation. We were done with Part 1 at 6:30. I got my new sheets and headed to Am Sande with some cool people to buy cell phones, but nothing was open because it was after 7. Oh yeah, that. . .
So I ate Turkish food instead and got change to finally do my laundry.
I am now trying to budget my account. I have approximately $1000 left and I am worried I will overspend.
I decided I would give myself 25 euro (200 euro total) a week for groceries when I was here at school, and 200 euro for Austria, and 250 euro for my travels around Germany. That is 650 euro, and I assumed 1.30 as the conversion rate, which is high but better to play it safe. That is $845. This, plus the $334 worth of bills I have to pay, puts me at $1179.
I will have to do some adjusting.
And now, before and after pictures of my room! I cleaned it after the Am Sande stint, and rearranged. I tried to hide the hideous painting. It sort of worked.
fug clown
cobwebs in plain sight
But give me two hours and the room will be damn well clean and organized when I am done. There is not a visible cobweb in sight, and I vacuumed behind the dresser, the couch, and the bookshelf.
I moved the bed. . .
and I moved the desk and the couch and the bookshelf. now I have a little movie viewing/study area
I’m no neat-freak, so when something is dirty by my standards. . .
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.20.10 under Uncategorized
On Wednesday night some new hostel roommates rolled in. I spent a good deal of time with Lee Ann of Toronto. Who does not love those Canadians? We went out for some dinner, neither of us had eaten lunch. She got in to Frankfurt around 3:00 and I actually slept through lunch. Shopping is exhausting!
We went to a “traditional” place in Sachsenhausen with Apfelwein. We ordered a Frankfurt sampler platter, which was a lot of food. I do mean that. I was impressed until I got to what I guess was blood sausage. W.T.F. Dislike.
After that we went to an Irish pub near the hostel. While we were there, two irish dudes swooped down upon us and bought us drinks. They had a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt on their way to Singapore. Hahah. Anyway! I tried Caipirinha, which was ok. And I had a hefeweizen.
On our way (Just Lee Ann and I) back to the hostel, we walked by a shisha bar and the consensus was “eh, why the hell not.” I threw that “eh” in because she’s Canadian and it’s a national characteristic. Just kidding.
Anyway, we did the shisha thing and got back to the hostel and slept.
Once again I was up at 5:15. It was raining hard and the sound of that woke me up. I would have liked to sleep in but instead I got up and showered and got ready and went downstairs at 6:30, chatted with Andrea on Facebook, and had breakfast at 7:00.
Lee Ann and I checked out at 9:30, and wandered around Frankfurt. It was.. . Ok. The weather is making me hate this place. I need a jacket. We saw the Altstadt and Roemerberg and that was that. We went back to Zeil, which is the hugest shopping drag. I looked at the shoes I was eyeing yesterday, only in a 41. I am under the impression that a US 10 is EUR 42, but apparently it is a 41. Once I figured that out I bought them. I am going to wear them around my room in Lueneburg to make sure I like them well enough to keep them. I like the style, but are they comfortable? They also aren’t black, they are a faded navy. I am looking at them now, and I can’t decided what to do.
Now that I am in Lueneburg, I will fill you all in tomorrow. Let me just say that I am UNHAPPY INDEED with my room arrangement.
wie komme ich an der s-bahn?
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.19.10 under Uncategorized
The comp station at this hostel is janky and expensive but i only had one euro cent piece which bought me 30 mins of internet. blog without caps time!
i had a terrible ordeal due to shitty hostel directions. i was going to pay a cabby to bring me here but he told me it was too expensive and pointed me to a bus. there is no such thing as too expensive when you want a shower and a nap, but i eventually found the s-bahn info and said that i needed to get here and i thanked the dude profusely for his help. it only took me an hour and a half after landing to get where i needed to be - and it should have taken like 45 mins tops.
last night i learned that obnoxious little kids sound the same in both french and german and that when someone is running and jumping in the room next to yours, adults in any country wont supervise the little turds and tell them to be quiet.
and now to find a deutsche bank and an h&m. i forgot my umbrella and need a jacket.
eta: umbrella, yes. jacket no. also my black flats were killing me after two hours. Once I get to lüneburg I need to find better shoes. i could have done that here BUT I am the pickiest freaking shoe shopper ever. nothing I wanted in black. Nothing. Or I did, but they only had a 41 which does not fit my feet tyvm.
Things to ship home because they are that bad:
- Owl dress
- Black t-back dress
- black flats
Also I asked craig to make it so people can comment
Hyped up on Starburst
[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.17.10 under Uncategorized
I caved and brought my laptop so I am able bring you, my faithful readers, pointless updates.
While in Reno waiting at the gate, I noticed an older man reading a German newspaper. When he was done reading, I asked him (in English) if he was going to Frankfurt from S.F. He said he was going to Munich, then asked where I was going. I told him I was going to Lueneburg and he knew the heide. He asked me why I was going and I said to study German.
We then started speaking in German and the brain cells that contain all the latent knowledge are slowly coming back to life. He dropped some verbs I did not know, but I got the idea. I just had to pay VERY close attention.
Dude speaks like 3 languages fluently (German, English, Spanish), and when he was in school they studied Greek and Latin too. He speaks a little bit of French and Italian. He told me once I got to Lueneburg, it would be “schnell.”
I hope so!
Also: The food around the C gates at Reno-Tahoe sucks. That was the most expensive and disgusting sandwich I have eaten. I should have waited until I landed in S.F.
Due to my father’s generosity I am hanging out in the first class lounge and their food spread is AMAZING.