Thursday, March 26, 2009
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!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, March 6, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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?)
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?)
Monday, March 2, 2009
I'm a "Yes Man"
As I was standing in line at the Thalia bookstore here in Mannheim, there was a lady a few people ahead of me who decided she wanted her book wrapped up. Now, I wasn't in a rush or anything, but I did think to myself as I was waiting there that there must be a more efficient way to get a book wrapped instead of holding up an entire line at the bookstore. I just thought that maybe it was somewhat of an inconvenience to others in the line. Of course it only took a minute or two, so it really wasn't that big of a deal, but I'm not much of a fan of waiting anymore than I have to.Anyway, the line eventually started moving again and before too long it was my turn at the checkout. So, went up to the checkout lady and said, "Hallo", to which she respond "Hallo" along with some other words that I really could not catch. However, being the 'intelligent' person that I am (aka: not wanting to sound dumb for not speaking German) I simply assumed (and reasonably so in my opinion) that she asked if I found everything I wanted or something along those lines. Either way, I assumed it was a question to which "Ja" was an appropriate answer. Well, it turns out "Ja" wasn't the appropriate answer... unless of course I was planning on giving someone a paperback copy of The Bourne Supremacy as a birthday gift.
I lost my heart in Heidelberg...
Since the last time I wrote, lots has gone down in Germany. Castles have been seen, stairs have been climbed, wine has been drank, drunk, whatever lol If you have not seen my facebook albums, or read the Journal e-mail updates, let me fill you in. We took a trip to Heidelberg and it was more quaint and more lovely than I could have ever imagined. Old cobblestone streets, old destroyed castles and stairs, many stairs. It was like I jumped into a postcard -it was that picturesque.
So March 1 is considered the beginning of spring in these parts, and it sure felt like spring,14 degrees! One of our friends here is Russian. She told us of a tradition that is held on March 1st. Its a day to symbolize the beginning of spring and the end of winter, what a wonderful reason to celebrate! It is called Maslenitsa, "Maslo" meaning "butter". It is a holiday in Russia, and the whole day they eat..Pancakes! They can be topped with sour cream, jam, ground beef or butter. So we decided to celebrate this day as well!! Also, they make a doll, and burn it. I know, I know a little violent, but the doll symbolizes winter, and I know you'd burn it too lol So Ronnie and I set out on our journey to find, only the best ingredients for our pancake extravaganza. So we got our friends and together we made the best pancakes this side of Germany! We ate them with Strawberry jam and ice cream. mmmm so, those of you who want to take part in a different tradition, why not fry up a few flapajacks and burn an old cabbage patch kid and bring on the tulips!!
