If these boots could talk, what a story they would tell

Well here they are. My old boots. They're worn and tattered-yet they are well educated world travelers. When they sat in the shop window 3 months ago, little did they know what kind of life they would lead. I know they are only a pair of cheap boots, but I've grown accustomed to the little darlings. They've been with me through exciting times, home sickness, great memories with friends and they've taken me everywhere I've wanted to go. I'm sad to say, Czech Republic was their last journey. There are holes in the bottom, the "pleather " is tearing away from the back and yes, I know the front does look like a mouth haha. They've walked the streets of the red light district, they've strolled along the cobblestone in Belgium, sprinted to the train in Cologne and Munich. The most dramatic of the memories were that of Prague. Us and all of our friends rented "boatcycles" or paddleboats as we Newfies call them. No life jacket, no problem. So we set sale! the big body of water was full of little yellow boatcycles, and us, paddling to our hearts content. Until we heard 2 ships coming sounding their horns. So, I started waving! How friendly these Czech people were. 2 seconds later it hit me. We're in their path, and boy were they clipping along. So Ronnie and I panicked (ok me more so) and got our legs moving to get out of the path of these oncoming ships. SCARY SCARY! So I know you know how it ends, we got away safe and sound, but it really was terrifying-yet exhilerating. I think my boots are to thank. A pair of flip flops would have flopped off the paddles, and a pair of heels would have cracked....not my boots, no siree, they saved us that day...and why not let them go out with a bang. So you still think, 8 euros/$12.67 CAD is too cheap to pay for a pair of boots? All I can say is the memories with them have been "priceless".

On The Streets Of Europe

In Newfoundland, a Porsche, Mercedes Benz or BMW is certainly worth a second glance. Some even a third or fourth. Here in Germany, if that were the case, you'd end up with a sore neck. Every other car here is a Mercedes or Beemer, and though they're still quite nice, I hardly ever notice them anymore. I still have a thing for Porsches, but even they seem a little more commonplace lately. The following list contains cars that I've seen (once) since being here, and they still certainly manage to get a second glance... along with a jaw drop and an awestruck gaze (alright, I'm not too sure if the models are the exact ones for some, but you'll get the picture):

• Maserati GranTurismo Coupe
  
  


• Ferrari F430 (count: 2)
  
  


• Porsche Carrera GT
  
  


• Audi R8
  
  


• Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder
  
  

Ich bin der Polizei

At least that's what the guy told me. Now, in general, I tend to be a skeptical person. Or, at least I try to be. However, at this particular time, I was a little more vulnerable to being a little naive. You see, the night didn't start off with a guy telling me he was a police officer. It started off with a search for a small carton of chocolate milk.

To make a long story short, the search for chocolate milk was unsuccessful after looking into two stores. However, in the second store, I managed to set off the alarm on the way in and on the way out. Both times, I went to a store clerk and I think they told me that it was ok. As I beeped on the way out, they seemed a little sketched out and really just wanted me to leave. I think that may have had to do with my big laptop bag on my back. Anyway, I just walked out, and well, beeped again of course. This time I just kept going.

And this is where the fun began. I headed towards the tram stop and some guy stopped me. This isn't unusual since people stop me all the time asking for a light or the time of day. So, I stopped and told him I couldn't speak German very well. I think that may have been my first mistake. He the proceeded to ask if I had a "Handy" which is a cellphone over here. I didn't have one, and I honestly told him so. Mistake number two. Of course, I probably would have said I didn't have one, even if I did. It was at this point the guy said to me, or so I translated it, "I am the police, you have to come with me." I didn't mention this before, but the guy was no more than 18 and I definitely had 20 lbs on him, so normally I would have said no and walked away. But after the alarm incident at the store just minutes before, I thought it might actually be possible. I'm not dumb though and asked for some ID. He produced what appeared to me to be a travel visa of sorts. Maybe that's what German police badges look like, I don't know.

So, I walked with him for a minute asking him in broken German where his police car was and if there were any other officers around that actually looked like officers. He just kept babbling on about something I didn't understand. Then he stopped and said "Come down here." It was a frigging dark alley. Like hell I was walking down a dark alley with a young punk claiming he was the police. So, I said "Nein!" and then told him that if he was really a police officer, we would go to a store and speak to a bilingual person and get them to translate. He didn't like that idea and started to accuse me of having cocaine and marijuana. Then he even said if I didn't come he would have to shoot me, as he made his fingers into a gun and even made the Pow Pow! sound. I had enough at this point, so I told him either he come with me to talk to someone or I was leaving. So, he gave up and said "Haha, I'm only joking man," patted me on the shoulder and walked away as if we were buddies now or something.

And that was that. I probably should have called the police, but I didn't have a handy, and to be honest, I didn't even know their number. I guess I could have gone somewhere and asked, but I had had enough of listening to broken English and speaking broken German. So, I just went home, bought a chocolate milk and also a beer at the store a few minutes from my house, and made it to the last football game (where I played in goal and got a shutout).

**I later heard over the news that it is becoming common for people over here to impersonate police officers in attempts to rob people, particularly tourists. Go figure.

England, Switzerland, Prague...Where oh where do we spend easter/my big 22 b-day?!

I know I know, it's not a hard decision to make. Any of these places would be amazing to see during spring break. If someone had to tell me last year I'd be spending my birthday in England, Switzerland or Prague, I would have handed them another drink lol When Ronnie first mentioned that he had 10 days off, and asked me where I would like to go, my imagination ran away with me. Where? Everywhere! At first, visions of tea tables set under a leafy canopy of chestnut trees, of hammocks, of dinner al fresco under the stars and girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes flooded my mind...england. Then I pictured us walking through buildings thousands of years old, taking in the history is Prague. Belgium, I imagined myself eating belgium chocolates...lol equally as enticing. Should be go to switzerland, and go snowboarding one day in the alps and the next day go to a beach. So many choices, but we'll make it to the other places eventually. We have been here for 2 months, only 12 weeks to go! So we better get moving. anyways, wherever we go , it'll be amazing, but I'm brushing up on my british..JUST IN CASE. Well I'm gone to get a spot of tea! Cheerio!

München or Munich

Last weekend, a few of our friends decided to take a trip to Munich, so MB and I figured we'd tag along. There are a number of ways for us to get to Munich, but we decided to go the most cost efficient route (aka: the longest). That meant we had to get up really early to catch the really early train so we'd still have a good part of the day left once we finally got to Munich 5 hours later. Of course that didn't even work out as planned. We missed one of our connecting trains, ended up spending a couple of hours in a random small town called Osterburken (I think), and didn't get to Munich until about 3 pm.

Once we made it, however, it was great. The hostel was much more than I expected. We even had a room to ourselves. Then we hit up a pizza joint, which was alright. Certainly no Pronto though. After having a bite to eat, we went to the BMW (pronounced bay-em-vay in Deutschland) museum. I couldn't wait for this and it didn't disappoint. The place was designed to be very futuristic with an interesting design that was organized by different design concepts of the vehicles. It was certainly really neat, however I found that I was much more interested in the engines than the cars themselves. But, that may be because it's only a matter of looking out the window to see a beemer here in Germany.

After that, we went to have a look out the TV tower. That was neat but the guys weren't allowed outside to get any really good pictures, so I didn't even bother going up. On the way, however, we ran across a Munich version of the Walk of Fame. There were quite a few famous molded hands that I recognized such as Metallica, Shania Twain, David Copperfield and Bryan Adams. Then, there were even more than I had never heard of, but it was still cool. MB was pretty excited that she put her hands in Shania's mold... she wasn't so excited though when her hands came out wet.

Once we had finished with all that, we headed on back to the hostel. I was ok with that because it had been a long day. Not that it was over though. Once we got back, there was a band playing in the bar downstairs. So, we went down there, had some beer and chilled out for a few hours before calling it a night.

The next day was another early rise. The guys were heading to the Dachau concentration camp. The girls weren't so interested, so they just stayed back and did their own thing (which included visiting some crazy royal residence or something). Dachau was fairly interesting. It didn't evoke any crazy emotions or anything that I thought it might since it was really just a lot of open space with some old buildings here and there. But reading some of the articles was a bit of a learning experience. I wouldn't consider it the highlight of my trip, but it was worth doing once.

The camp was a little outside the main part of the city, so once we got back we got some more food (I had my first döner) and then had a look at the old part of the city. There were some cool buildings and stuff, but I'm learning that all the 'cool' buildings kind of end up looking the same after a while... unless they're really something special. The best part about the old part of Munich for me was the guy who was rocking out Bon Jovi's Runaway on the accordian. He was definitely one of the best street performers I've ever seen.

And that was pretty much our trip. I'd love to go spend a few more days in Munich if I get a chance. Of course, I'd probably find a better way to get there because we ended up spending another hour in Osterburken on the way back. But, I guess there probably aren't too many people who can say they've spent three hours in Osterburken.

Here's a slideshow of some of our trip. I'll probably put some better pics in there later or at least on facebook when I'm not too lazy to look through all six or seven hundred of them.

To Pee or not to Pee...That is the Question

Hello Folks
I've rummaged in my purse for $0.50 change for a coffee, a parking meter and the vending machine. So here we are, roaming through Mannheim Central station buying tickets for our trip to Munich this weekend, when I have to go. I'm not talking "Oh, that's fine, I'll just wait until I get home" kind of go, I needed to go, bad. So we went in search of the bathroom facilities. Up ahead, we spotted this machine. How can I explain it. It's at the entrance of some shops, it's a metal rung and as each person pays, it lets one in at a time. Not knowing what kind of show/movie this could be I ran up to see. It was the bathroom. You had to pay to pee. I'm normally a very happy person, positive, and I rarely ever get angry (unless Ronnie is rushing me at the grocery store) hehe but this infuriated me. Imagine, you have to pee like a race horse, BUT you have to rummage in your big, hobo bag to find $0.50 change first. So there I was, doing a little "don't pee yet" dance while I got my change, I was rotted lol Bitterly I put my money in, and went through the gates to what I figured would be a paradise. Well a paradise $0.50 could buy lol No sir. Port-a-Potties. I kid you not, bright blue port-a-potties. Forcing a smile and still pee holding I braved it. what seemed like eternity later lol I went to wash my hands. I was taking my time, to get my money's worth, reading posters, waiting for the girl in front of me to let me at the sink. One would think, with $0.50/per person, we'd have a golden sink each, and chalices filled with wine to enjoy after you were finished. I turned on the water, and waited for it to warm up. Do you see where this is going?? You're right! It was only cold water! No lukewarm, no almost there, freezing cold. Thank Goodness I didn't need a service like..I don't know, an emergancy shower what the cost would be. So next time you have to pee, appreciate your fee free pee, AND be thankful that you stil have enough change afterwards to get a coffee/tea.

Rough, Tough & Dough

Since I'm going to be in Germany for five months and doing courses in German, it's obviously quite necessary for me to improve my German comprehension. Learning a new language is certainly not an easy thing, but, fortunately for German learners, once you learn how to pronounce a particular letter or group of letters, it will pretty much sound the same for every single word. For example 'ch' found in 'ich', 'mich', 'nicht' and any other word that 'ch' is found in, will always sound the same (it's a sound not found in English, but I'd put it somewhere between a 'k' sound and a 'sh' sound). A 'v' always kind of sounds kind of like an 'f' and a 'z' always sounds more like a 'tz'. Anyway, that's kind of weird to explain, but I hope you get my point.

English on the other hand, isn't so easy. I've always known this, but since it's my mother toungue, I've never really realized how difficult this can be for non-English speakers. That is until last Saturday. A bunch of us were sitting in the kitchen. Two native English speakers and a bunch of non-English speakers. At the time some of the non-English speakers were baking pies. So they were talking about what they were doing and from what I gathered, there was a load of 'duff' going into the pies. Now, I don't know much about baking pies, especially pies in foreign countries, so I didn't question what this 'duff' was going into their pies. Quite frankly, as long as it tasted good, I didn't care. So, this went on for a few minutes, until one of them asked MB what they should do with the leftover 'duff'. That's when it became evident that we had no idea what in the hell 'duff' was. I'm sure by now you've figured it out. It's funny how languages work.

(Does the word 'English' need to be capitalized all the time?)