I realize that its been a while that Ive sent a fun story or two from Austria, but now I think that I've had sufficient time to build up some good material for my loyal (maybe even anxious? readers back home... right.
Seeing as how I'm coming home in only a mere 3 weeks, you can imagine how excited I am. Of course, that also means that I've had to pack in some last-minute Euro-traveling before hopping the planes back to the States, at which point it will be a bit late to regret never having not going to places like Prague, which are only so far away as the equivalent of driving across WA state (5 hours away by bus). And, of course, I would so dreadfully regret not going back to Zurich and seeing friends from age 5 before leaving here (one of the main purposes of coming to Europe in the first place). So I'm leaving for Zurich tomorrow morning for a 5-day weekend. Not bad, eh? I have a feeling that will turn out similar to how it did last time.. if not worse ( i.e. watching the beautiful Swiss sun rise over the Zurisee (lake Zurich) from my bar stool).
As you may have seen (if you have taken a look at my recent pictures), I did make it to Prague 2 weekends ago, and to our satisfaction, it was just as beautiful as everyone ranted ("Prague is sooo beautiful!") I had never experienced so many gorgeous castles clustered in one 'down town' area, as if they just popped up behind you to taunt you. I'm pretty sure at least one of them whispered behind me, "sucks that you don't get to live here, doesn't it?" Very beautiful it was, indeed, but at this point in my excursion abroad, I'm ready to see the Cascades and Olympics in the distance saying "welcome home". After all, I can give you an exact account of what we had to eat while staying there:
(Arrival) Night 1: Buffalo Bills Tex Mex (Burrito)
Day 2, Lunch: KFC
Dinner: Buffalo Bills Tex Mex (Spicy Stir Fry)
Day 3, Lunch: KFC
(Departure) Dinner: Subway (Turkey club)
Very cultural, eh? Yeah, whateve. We were craving burritos, and KFC was cheap and everywhere in sight... oh, and subway was convenient for the bus ride home.
OK, so I have to tell you about a few of my most memorable/funny/annoying things about Vienna:
#1. Have you ever heard a group of German speakers sing happy birthday? I think this one falls into all 3 of the for-mentioned categories. It a goes a little something like this: "Happy Buersday du you, Happy Buersday du you. Happy Buerday lieber Hans. Happy Buersday du you". Now sing that with 50 other people in your best Arnold accents, and maybe you can see why you want to scream, "BirTHHHHday!!!! Its BirTHHHHday!". I asked why they do this, and apparently, while almost all of these 50 can say "BirTHday" in regular speech, it is considered frowned upon to sing it the correct way, as your thought to think yourself better than others if you do so. So that's a fun Austrian fact for you.
#2. This one's just annoying: Due to the lack of grass in the city, many people find it unnecessary to purposefully go in search of it while taking their dogs out for a walk. As a result, you may just find a fun surprise on the bottom of your shoe if your not staring at the sidewalk all the time... last night I got 2 fun surprises!!
#3. And to even the bad out with the good, I have to give 'major props' to the Viennese public transportation system. You can get anywhere in the city without a car in a matter of 20 minutes max, using the U-Bahns (underground trains), S-Bahns (trams), Buses, or Night buses. And all of that only costs €45 per month! What a deal, eh? I think I will probably miss that most out anything here. I am certainly not looking forward to metro when I get back.
In other exciting news, that package that has been traveling across the world for 2 months finally made it safe and sound back to my dads house in Bellevue!! So while I didn't get the pleasure of wearing those clothes here, at least they're not gone forever! YAY! And my mommy comes to visit me in 2 weeks! Double YAY! Man this is exciting.
Well, I will leave you with all of my life updates, with hopes of hearing some of your own. Only 3 weeks to go! Tripple YAY!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Vienna: 0°C
Hello Hello!
I know that its been over a month since I've written, but the motivation and material has finally come. Yesterday we received our first day of snow here in Vienna. I was pleasantly surprised to find it blowing with the wind outside of our classroom window, that the rest of my German exercises in classes included snow or snowmen in one way or another-- it helped that we were doing grammar that related to things that make us happy... or what we want to do in the future ( i.e. make snowmen). Because I have yet to receive my box of winter goodies (gloves, jacket, etc) from home, I went next door and bought a pair of fleece gloves. It was very exciting to see everyone so bundled up in the beginning of November. I think the snow caught everyone by surprise (based on the warm, fall weather we have been having recently), as hinted to me by the sudden influx of winter shoppers. They seemed to have the same idea as me, because the stores were absolutely packed all day. To accomodate this fun new twist on things, I had to buy spandex pants and a headband to keep me warm during rugby practice last night... now if only I could wear gloves in this sport. But it honestly wasn't too bad when running around (and not standing still, holding tackling pads for 10 min. at a time). Speaking of rugby, I am going to Hungary on for the day on Sunday for a game... funny how it is so convenient to play a game in another country instead of at our home field because its cheaper, but that's Europe!
I was so excited about the snow yesterday, that I wrote a little journal entry about it in German (basically what I already told you):
11/2/06
Heute haben wir der erste Schneefall des Winters gehabt. Der 2. November. Nie hab ich so bald in dem Jahr Schnee gesehen. Ich hab Handschuhe gekauft, gleich nach meiner Deutschklasse: Grüne, vliese Handschuhe, zu passen mit meinem Herbst-farbigen Kleidern. Ich kann nicht auf den ersten großen Schneefall warten, wenn die ganze Stadt weiß wäre; Wenn die Leute eilige haben, zu sofort drinnen gehen. Jedoch ich auf der Wind warten (der schlectest Teil Winters). Ohen Wind wäre der Winter perfekt.
Translation:
Today we had the first snowfall of the winter. The second of November. Never have I seen snow so early in the year. I bought gloves right after German class: green, fleece gloves, to match my fall-colored clothes. I can't wait for the first big snowfall, when all of the streets are covered in white, when everybody is in such a hurry to get inside. I can, however, wait for the wind (the worst part of winter). Without wind, winter would be perfect.
I bought my first German novel about a week ago, Schiffbruch mit Tiger, or in Life of Pi as called in English. I figured it would be a good challenge, but not too much of one, since I've read the English version a couple of times already, and have it here with me to refer to. Writing in German, for me, can be frustrating, because the structures of the languages are so different. My problem is that I write or speak in German as I would in English, which makes my study of German much more difficult than it needs to be... but I know that that's only natural, and will change with time and practice.
As far as work goes, I think that I'm learning the most about myself as I teach English. It is no doubt true that 'patience is a virtue', and I think that applies to effective teaching more than anything. I do think that I've improved in my ability to explain or give understandable definitions for foreign words, though. The kid that I mainly tutor (who's 17), just had an English test on Monday, so I think he finds out soon how he did on it-- I gave him lessons both Saturday and Sunday to prep him, and really hope he did well.
My job at the bar is going well too. I worked last on Halloween, and was the only one of the staff to dress up. I raided my friend Mo's closet, and found a goldmine of Halloween costumes, including a Formula 1 race car driver outfit, a sailor costume, baseball and football uniforms, and my favorite, his army clothes. I chose the latter, not thinking about the crap that I was bound to get from my boss: "Oh, so we have the American here to invade another country...". I should have seen it coming, but was obviously blinded by my fond liking of camo-gear and face paint when choosing my costume.
The other day I decided to take tourist pictures of Vienna. As you may know, this year is Mozart year here, are you can pretty much find anything you want relating to Mozart. Around every major tourist attraction, you will find at least 5 guys (sometimes girls too) dressed up in their finest Mozart outfits, being the best Mozarts they can be... they're actually there to sell opera and symphony tickets, but we'll just ignore that. Im sorry that I didnt take pictures of them earlier (before the fridged temperatures hit), because now they cover a lot of their outfits with Mozart jackets. On a good day you can even see them wearing the wigs too-- Im just hoping that those will become replacements for modern day hats. My friend Gwen from Vancouver has been collecting newspaper clippings, random mozart stuff, etc. that are typical of Vienna, and sending them home to friends. In light of that idea, I decided to go around and take pictures of all things Vienna as I walked around, to give you all an idea of what I see everyday. I posted the new pictures at http://washington.facebook.com/photos.php?id=10700857&l=560be so hopefully you'll get a chance to see what my life here is like (briefly). I definitely still need to make a point to take more pictures.
You are all amazing and I miss you now more than ever. If you get a chance, please write me an update (about the weather or your life.. whatever you feel appropriate). In the meantime, I'll be brainstorming up new material...
I know that its been over a month since I've written, but the motivation and material has finally come. Yesterday we received our first day of snow here in Vienna. I was pleasantly surprised to find it blowing with the wind outside of our classroom window, that the rest of my German exercises in classes included snow or snowmen in one way or another-- it helped that we were doing grammar that related to things that make us happy... or what we want to do in the future ( i.e. make snowmen). Because I have yet to receive my box of winter goodies (gloves, jacket, etc) from home, I went next door and bought a pair of fleece gloves. It was very exciting to see everyone so bundled up in the beginning of November. I think the snow caught everyone by surprise (based on the warm, fall weather we have been having recently), as hinted to me by the sudden influx of winter shoppers. They seemed to have the same idea as me, because the stores were absolutely packed all day. To accomodate this fun new twist on things, I had to buy spandex pants and a headband to keep me warm during rugby practice last night... now if only I could wear gloves in this sport. But it honestly wasn't too bad when running around (and not standing still, holding tackling pads for 10 min. at a time). Speaking of rugby, I am going to Hungary on for the day on Sunday for a game... funny how it is so convenient to play a game in another country instead of at our home field because its cheaper, but that's Europe!
I was so excited about the snow yesterday, that I wrote a little journal entry about it in German (basically what I already told you):
11/2/06
Heute haben wir der erste Schneefall des Winters gehabt. Der 2. November. Nie hab ich so bald in dem Jahr Schnee gesehen. Ich hab Handschuhe gekauft, gleich nach meiner Deutschklasse: Grüne, vliese Handschuhe, zu passen mit meinem Herbst-farbigen Kleidern. Ich kann nicht auf den ersten großen Schneefall warten, wenn die ganze Stadt weiß wäre; Wenn die Leute eilige haben, zu sofort drinnen gehen. Jedoch ich auf der Wind warten (der schlectest Teil Winters). Ohen Wind wäre der Winter perfekt.
Translation:
Today we had the first snowfall of the winter. The second of November. Never have I seen snow so early in the year. I bought gloves right after German class: green, fleece gloves, to match my fall-colored clothes. I can't wait for the first big snowfall, when all of the streets are covered in white, when everybody is in such a hurry to get inside. I can, however, wait for the wind (the worst part of winter). Without wind, winter would be perfect.
I bought my first German novel about a week ago, Schiffbruch mit Tiger, or in Life of Pi as called in English. I figured it would be a good challenge, but not too much of one, since I've read the English version a couple of times already, and have it here with me to refer to. Writing in German, for me, can be frustrating, because the structures of the languages are so different. My problem is that I write or speak in German as I would in English, which makes my study of German much more difficult than it needs to be... but I know that that's only natural, and will change with time and practice.
As far as work goes, I think that I'm learning the most about myself as I teach English. It is no doubt true that 'patience is a virtue', and I think that applies to effective teaching more than anything. I do think that I've improved in my ability to explain or give understandable definitions for foreign words, though. The kid that I mainly tutor (who's 17), just had an English test on Monday, so I think he finds out soon how he did on it-- I gave him lessons both Saturday and Sunday to prep him, and really hope he did well.
My job at the bar is going well too. I worked last on Halloween, and was the only one of the staff to dress up. I raided my friend Mo's closet, and found a goldmine of Halloween costumes, including a Formula 1 race car driver outfit, a sailor costume, baseball and football uniforms, and my favorite, his army clothes. I chose the latter, not thinking about the crap that I was bound to get from my boss: "Oh, so we have the American here to invade another country...". I should have seen it coming, but was obviously blinded by my fond liking of camo-gear and face paint when choosing my costume.
The other day I decided to take tourist pictures of Vienna. As you may know, this year is Mozart year here, are you can pretty much find anything you want relating to Mozart. Around every major tourist attraction, you will find at least 5 guys (sometimes girls too) dressed up in their finest Mozart outfits, being the best Mozarts they can be... they're actually there to sell opera and symphony tickets, but we'll just ignore that. Im sorry that I didnt take pictures of them earlier (before the fridged temperatures hit), because now they cover a lot of their outfits with Mozart jackets. On a good day you can even see them wearing the wigs too-- Im just hoping that those will become replacements for modern day hats. My friend Gwen from Vancouver has been collecting newspaper clippings, random mozart stuff, etc. that are typical of Vienna, and sending them home to friends. In light of that idea, I decided to go around and take pictures of all things Vienna as I walked around, to give you all an idea of what I see everyday. I posted the new pictures at http://washington.facebook.com/photos.php?id=10700857&l=560be so hopefully you'll get a chance to see what my life here is like (briefly). I definitely still need to make a point to take more pictures.
You are all amazing and I miss you now more than ever. If you get a chance, please write me an update (about the weather or your life.. whatever you feel appropriate). In the meantime, I'll be brainstorming up new material...
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Ireland: The Craziest Place on Earth
I said that I would elaborate further on the splendor of our favorite non-UK country, Ireland. How to start, how to start?
And now, for the tailes of Ireland:
The people of Dublin, while some of the nicest I have ever met, are also the most entertaining. They made the city come alive with culture and pschotic affairs.
My hostel, serving as a cheaper, and often last resort option for backpackers and foreign workers alike, actually kept me in the city longer than I originally planned on staying. Each day (or night) convinced me to stay another day longer, until my intended one-night visit turned into five.
Surprisingly it was not the broken water heater (fixed 3-4 times per day), the seamingly unchanged douvet and pillow covers, nor the toilets in full view of the cornering bedroom and courtyard that kept me re-checking in every day at 11am. It wasnt even the reception guy who began talking to me in a baby voice while tickling my stomach once taking a liking to me.
The people I hung around with from the hostel were the entertainment I seaked and watched for 5 days. I think I was the odd man out as the lone backpacker, as the rest were all there on work visas, in search of a job and a less sketchy place to rest their heads.
We didnt even bother with formalities and the inevitable fate of forgotten first names and inquiries of origin, and thus mixed the two together to form extremely ideal hostel nicknames: Melbi, Aussie, Swedie, Rhodie, and Seattle we became. These four were not the main sources of entertainment, but rather the people I could interact sanely with and enjoy the insanity of other hostel dwellers and locals alike. They were, of course, lots of fun, but by no means like the others we encountered, who I could just put in a box and watch for hours on end.
Characters like the Swedish horse jockey who woke up with a beer in-hand at 9am and ready for his breakfast pint at 10. I was introduced to him by Rhodie (from Rhode Island) and Swedie (the other Swedish guy from Malmö) while watching Spongebob in galic on the TV in the hostel common room. They invited me to tag along in search of a place that served both coffee and beer for breakfast. I had 2 euros left, so I figured I would get a coffee if cheap enough. Three hours later, we were propperly fed thanks to the Jockeys generosity and never-ending cash wad. We listened to his rediculous stories, one after the other and got our kicks. For example: "I once fell asleep in Sweden and woke up in Madrid". How thats possible, I have no idea, but in no way surprising for this guy. I responded with "Thats like a 3 day train ride, and you dont remember how you got there?" He nodded, shrugged, smiled, and then seemed somewhat entertained by the story himself, as if he had never really though about why that would be out of the ordinary. I think my brother would have loved this guy.
Following a couple nights wandering in the Temple Bar area, watching a street performing band rock and crazy 15-16 year old girls drinking and dancing to them at midnight on a school night (and wondering where their parents were), I finally hopped the train to Galway to see the familiar face of my friend Vanessa, aka "Boots".
It was in Galway that the meaning of "walking" and "rain" and "walking in the rain for 30 minutes everywhere" became known. Vanessa wasnt lying when she said "word to the wise: bring an umbrella". Being a proud Seattlite, I ignored her wise words and wound up with wet shoes, wet clothes, and wet coats to go along with those fun walks in the rain.
Vanessa brought me the her apartment in Corrib Village, student housing for first year and study abroad students. Surrounding her appartment (complete with one girl from Italy, one from the Netherlands, one from Germany, a complete dish set (minus the collander), and a couch-filled TV lounge) were mostly other foreign student, including one from Bellevue! Like this trip has revealed to me before: Small, small world.
Once again I scored in the "awesome host/hostess" department, because not once was Vanessa anything but that. And being the social butterfly that she is, even had a birthday party lined up for us for the night! We walked there (30 min), sang happy birthday, played cards, and gave the birthday boy our fabulous gag gift of storebrand, generic label (Tesco), cheap as cheap can get, Whisky with matching Cola. I didnt go near it.
The next day we took a bus tour to Callamara, and while it was long, it was filled with gorgeous lakes, fields, castles, and a sleezy old bus driver that had crushes on us. hehehe... he even gave Vanessa his number incase she ever "needed a ride anywhere". Afterall, he did win the only prize for "best tourbus driver in 2003, 2004, AND 2005"! Or so we heard 3 times in a row like everything else on the trip... including his singalongs to his favorite Irish songs over the intercom. No doubt we were entertained on that trip!
Oh, and I got my first day of class out of the was at Vanessas "Service Management" class. I was so excited because I missed school so much, that I took noted and everything! I know... Im a nerd. Now I just wait for my school to start on the 2nd of October, and then Ill be set!
And now, for the tailes of Ireland:
The people of Dublin, while some of the nicest I have ever met, are also the most entertaining. They made the city come alive with culture and pschotic affairs.
My hostel, serving as a cheaper, and often last resort option for backpackers and foreign workers alike, actually kept me in the city longer than I originally planned on staying. Each day (or night) convinced me to stay another day longer, until my intended one-night visit turned into five.
Surprisingly it was not the broken water heater (fixed 3-4 times per day), the seamingly unchanged douvet and pillow covers, nor the toilets in full view of the cornering bedroom and courtyard that kept me re-checking in every day at 11am. It wasnt even the reception guy who began talking to me in a baby voice while tickling my stomach once taking a liking to me.
The people I hung around with from the hostel were the entertainment I seaked and watched for 5 days. I think I was the odd man out as the lone backpacker, as the rest were all there on work visas, in search of a job and a less sketchy place to rest their heads.
We didnt even bother with formalities and the inevitable fate of forgotten first names and inquiries of origin, and thus mixed the two together to form extremely ideal hostel nicknames: Melbi, Aussie, Swedie, Rhodie, and Seattle we became. These four were not the main sources of entertainment, but rather the people I could interact sanely with and enjoy the insanity of other hostel dwellers and locals alike. They were, of course, lots of fun, but by no means like the others we encountered, who I could just put in a box and watch for hours on end.
Characters like the Swedish horse jockey who woke up with a beer in-hand at 9am and ready for his breakfast pint at 10. I was introduced to him by Rhodie (from Rhode Island) and Swedie (the other Swedish guy from Malmö) while watching Spongebob in galic on the TV in the hostel common room. They invited me to tag along in search of a place that served both coffee and beer for breakfast. I had 2 euros left, so I figured I would get a coffee if cheap enough. Three hours later, we were propperly fed thanks to the Jockeys generosity and never-ending cash wad. We listened to his rediculous stories, one after the other and got our kicks. For example: "I once fell asleep in Sweden and woke up in Madrid". How thats possible, I have no idea, but in no way surprising for this guy. I responded with "Thats like a 3 day train ride, and you dont remember how you got there?" He nodded, shrugged, smiled, and then seemed somewhat entertained by the story himself, as if he had never really though about why that would be out of the ordinary. I think my brother would have loved this guy.
Following a couple nights wandering in the Temple Bar area, watching a street performing band rock and crazy 15-16 year old girls drinking and dancing to them at midnight on a school night (and wondering where their parents were), I finally hopped the train to Galway to see the familiar face of my friend Vanessa, aka "Boots".
It was in Galway that the meaning of "walking" and "rain" and "walking in the rain for 30 minutes everywhere" became known. Vanessa wasnt lying when she said "word to the wise: bring an umbrella". Being a proud Seattlite, I ignored her wise words and wound up with wet shoes, wet clothes, and wet coats to go along with those fun walks in the rain.
Vanessa brought me the her apartment in Corrib Village, student housing for first year and study abroad students. Surrounding her appartment (complete with one girl from Italy, one from the Netherlands, one from Germany, a complete dish set (minus the collander), and a couch-filled TV lounge) were mostly other foreign student, including one from Bellevue! Like this trip has revealed to me before: Small, small world.
Once again I scored in the "awesome host/hostess" department, because not once was Vanessa anything but that. And being the social butterfly that she is, even had a birthday party lined up for us for the night! We walked there (30 min), sang happy birthday, played cards, and gave the birthday boy our fabulous gag gift of storebrand, generic label (Tesco), cheap as cheap can get, Whisky with matching Cola. I didnt go near it.
The next day we took a bus tour to Callamara, and while it was long, it was filled with gorgeous lakes, fields, castles, and a sleezy old bus driver that had crushes on us. hehehe... he even gave Vanessa his number incase she ever "needed a ride anywhere". Afterall, he did win the only prize for "best tourbus driver in 2003, 2004, AND 2005"! Or so we heard 3 times in a row like everything else on the trip... including his singalongs to his favorite Irish songs over the intercom. No doubt we were entertained on that trip!
Oh, and I got my first day of class out of the was at Vanessas "Service Management" class. I was so excited because I missed school so much, that I took noted and everything! I know... Im a nerd. Now I just wait for my school to start on the 2nd of October, and then Ill be set!
New Friends and Camping Kitchens
Howdy all!
Life on the road has definitely picked up since I last wrote. I am somewhat back-dated on all of my emails, so I think I'll skim over the last few weeks (excluding this week) briefly.
From Germany Patrick and I headed east in search of cheap prices and (hopefully) sun. We only ended up spending about 6 hours in Budapest, 3 hours in a Hungarian bath house (i.e. lots of fun, different temp. pools and saunas) and 3 hours walking around and waiting for our train out of there. Although Patrick had a whole trip around Romania planned out, complete with about a week of seeing castle after castle and camping for free everywhere (sounds fun, huh?), he finally got with it and bailed that plan for Croatia. We arrived in Split to be welcomed by about 15-20 ladies holding up signs advertising their available room(s) for rent and you guessed it: rain. We were so bummed out that we simply booked a bus ticket down to Dubrovnik (in the very southern tip of Croatia), one of the sunniest places on earth. Turns out that patience was a virtue that neither of us had, and we got slapped in the face by that fact when the sun broke through the clouds the moment we hopped on the bus.
The same bunch of women (well, not literally the same women, but the same kind) greeted us once again in Dubrovnik, and we turned down one after another due to sheer poverty... and wanting to camp. Our timing was absolutely amazing, because the moment we got off the metro bus by the campsite, we found 2 other couples our age going there as well. It so turned out that situations like this are the perfect opportunities to make insta-friends ("Fresh out of the packet!"), and the six of us saw quite a bit of each other over the next five days... especially around dinner time when we were all pooling our resources to make dinner... over our coal 'stove'. The first night's dinner was a bit rocky (frozen fish sticks and sliced potatoes) but soon got better over the next few nights. One night we even finished dinner off with an apple strudel! Now that’s what I call camping.
Anyway, we left Dubrovnik with one of the couples, Nick and Pip, ending up in Venice the next day with LOTS of passport stamps (we asked at each border control stop... and made the whole bus wait. hehehe). The first night in venice will probably be one of the most memorable from the trip. You see, after taking out pizza to go and we sat around the corner with a water-front view (if you've ever been to venice, you'll know that every corner has a water-front view) and became scenery for the passing-bye gondolas, personal speed boats, and water taxis. Then we proceeded to pull an ultimate poor backpackers move, in the most ideal place for doing it. We slept on the street. It turned out that the alleyway perpendicular to the pizza place that we ate at was perfect for it. It was a dead end alley with an narrow passage way that blocked us from view of people on the other street. Only one group of people walked by us after parking their boat at the end of the alley, and we simply pretended to be asleep already to avoid confrontation. The rest of our 3 day stay in Venice was spectacular as well, and we even got to see the annual gondola races!
After Venice we popped back up to Berlin to visit the family we stayed with before. It was then that Patrick and I split ways; he went up to Stockholm again before flying home, and I went west to Brussels. Or at least with the intention of going to Brussels... after I slept through my stop and wound up in Paris... again. Never again do I want to go there. I have seen the likes of Paris' train stations WAY too much for comfort.
Long, boring story short, I am now in Dublin for the one-night-turned-five-nights stay. I have to say. If you are at all into people watching, this is the place for you. I’ll elaborate later.
Life on the road has definitely picked up since I last wrote. I am somewhat back-dated on all of my emails, so I think I'll skim over the last few weeks (excluding this week) briefly.
From Germany Patrick and I headed east in search of cheap prices and (hopefully) sun. We only ended up spending about 6 hours in Budapest, 3 hours in a Hungarian bath house (i.e. lots of fun, different temp. pools and saunas) and 3 hours walking around and waiting for our train out of there. Although Patrick had a whole trip around Romania planned out, complete with about a week of seeing castle after castle and camping for free everywhere (sounds fun, huh?), he finally got with it and bailed that plan for Croatia. We arrived in Split to be welcomed by about 15-20 ladies holding up signs advertising their available room(s) for rent and you guessed it: rain. We were so bummed out that we simply booked a bus ticket down to Dubrovnik (in the very southern tip of Croatia), one of the sunniest places on earth. Turns out that patience was a virtue that neither of us had, and we got slapped in the face by that fact when the sun broke through the clouds the moment we hopped on the bus.
The same bunch of women (well, not literally the same women, but the same kind) greeted us once again in Dubrovnik, and we turned down one after another due to sheer poverty... and wanting to camp. Our timing was absolutely amazing, because the moment we got off the metro bus by the campsite, we found 2 other couples our age going there as well. It so turned out that situations like this are the perfect opportunities to make insta-friends ("Fresh out of the packet!"), and the six of us saw quite a bit of each other over the next five days... especially around dinner time when we were all pooling our resources to make dinner... over our coal 'stove'. The first night's dinner was a bit rocky (frozen fish sticks and sliced potatoes) but soon got better over the next few nights. One night we even finished dinner off with an apple strudel! Now that’s what I call camping.
Anyway, we left Dubrovnik with one of the couples, Nick and Pip, ending up in Venice the next day with LOTS of passport stamps (we asked at each border control stop... and made the whole bus wait. hehehe). The first night in venice will probably be one of the most memorable from the trip. You see, after taking out pizza to go and we sat around the corner with a water-front view (if you've ever been to venice, you'll know that every corner has a water-front view) and became scenery for the passing-bye gondolas, personal speed boats, and water taxis. Then we proceeded to pull an ultimate poor backpackers move, in the most ideal place for doing it. We slept on the street. It turned out that the alleyway perpendicular to the pizza place that we ate at was perfect for it. It was a dead end alley with an narrow passage way that blocked us from view of people on the other street. Only one group of people walked by us after parking their boat at the end of the alley, and we simply pretended to be asleep already to avoid confrontation. The rest of our 3 day stay in Venice was spectacular as well, and we even got to see the annual gondola races!
After Venice we popped back up to Berlin to visit the family we stayed with before. It was then that Patrick and I split ways; he went up to Stockholm again before flying home, and I went west to Brussels. Or at least with the intention of going to Brussels... after I slept through my stop and wound up in Paris... again. Never again do I want to go there. I have seen the likes of Paris' train stations WAY too much for comfort.
Long, boring story short, I am now in Dublin for the one-night-turned-five-nights stay. I have to say. If you are at all into people watching, this is the place for you. I’ll elaborate later.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Never-ending Sun
Written June 29th, 2006
I briefly wanted to let you know of my current status and location. Firstly, the more I see, the more I want to see, and the longer I want to see it. I can't wait for the rest of our journey, and am considering traveling the US or south america after I graduate... more of a challenge than Europe. We're in stockholm right now and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's like the beauty of seattle times 30! We're going up to the Fjords in Norway tomorrow to see the 24 hours of light, and I suspect it will be quite spectacular. Right now stockholm has 20 hours of light. Last night we stayed up until about 1:30 AM after going for a long walk. It's pretty amazing being able to watch the sun set and rise in the same sitting. "darkness" hits between 10pm and 2am.
I also wanted to say that I'm sorry I havent been able to call or write, the internet has been quite a problem recently... Patrick usually bums wireless internet off of his neighbors up here, and it seems that the regular victim has left for the summer. We're heading to germany after Norway, and I suspect that there will be more accessable internet there. I'll post some blogs once I get more consistent access.
I briefly wanted to let you know of my current status and location. Firstly, the more I see, the more I want to see, and the longer I want to see it. I can't wait for the rest of our journey, and am considering traveling the US or south america after I graduate... more of a challenge than Europe. We're in stockholm right now and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! It's like the beauty of seattle times 30! We're going up to the Fjords in Norway tomorrow to see the 24 hours of light, and I suspect it will be quite spectacular. Right now stockholm has 20 hours of light. Last night we stayed up until about 1:30 AM after going for a long walk. It's pretty amazing being able to watch the sun set and rise in the same sitting. "darkness" hits between 10pm and 2am.
I also wanted to say that I'm sorry I havent been able to call or write, the internet has been quite a problem recently... Patrick usually bums wireless internet off of his neighbors up here, and it seems that the regular victim has left for the summer. We're heading to germany after Norway, and I suspect that there will be more accessable internet there. I'll post some blogs once I get more consistent access.
Torro!
Written July 16th, 2006
Hola mi amigos! I am in San Sebastian, Spain right now, ready to depart for Nice and Italy in about 4 hours. I would say this is one of the most beautiful and lively places we´ve visited yet. Of course, it is spain, so liveliness is to be expected. The beaches here are amazing, and the surfing just a bit too difficult to catch a wave. We did try, though. And failed. And got kicked around by some pretty narly waves. And then traded our surf boards in for body boards. It was fun, though, and if my lip didnt still hurt and my knee werent all scraped up, I´d probably do it again if we had time. Nights so far have consisted of following a drum group down the street and dancing along side with the funny old men, and looking for seemingly non-existant salsa clubs that the guys wouldnt have to pay for. Oh yes, and a game of truth or dare (aka dare) on the boardwalk with strangers. Example dare: run up to a strange man and sing "I will always love you". Fortunately the girl on that guys arm didnt pummle anybody.
We have been traveling with a girl named Kristen (from Florida) for the past few days, who we met at the subway station in Barcelona (while lost and looking for the train station). She was on her way to San Sebastian, but was easily persuaded to hop of the train early for Pamplona and running of the bulls. Even though I told you, Dad, that I wasnt going to run - and wasnt planning on running - having two other girls to run with made it a quick decision. I didnt prepare for it, seeing as how I wasnt planning on running, so I didnt quite have the propper attire for the running (white pants, white shirt, and a red scarf and saché). Surprise, surprise! I improvised in quite a novel way according to tradition. My outfit consisted of a white skirt (practically unheard of for this run), a white tank top, and running shoes. If your wondering about the actual run, the closest we got to the bulls was about 3 feet, and we were probably the safest you could be for actually being within the fence with the bulls. But thats all Im telling you unless you ask. Oh- and nobody we knew got hurt, so you can relax and exhale now (not that you were holding your breath to start with). I would say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far. Experience of a lifetime, hands down.
Thats all I have for you right now, but please email me if you want to know more! I would love to hear about what youve been doing!
Hola mi amigos! I am in San Sebastian, Spain right now, ready to depart for Nice and Italy in about 4 hours. I would say this is one of the most beautiful and lively places we´ve visited yet. Of course, it is spain, so liveliness is to be expected. The beaches here are amazing, and the surfing just a bit too difficult to catch a wave. We did try, though. And failed. And got kicked around by some pretty narly waves. And then traded our surf boards in for body boards. It was fun, though, and if my lip didnt still hurt and my knee werent all scraped up, I´d probably do it again if we had time. Nights so far have consisted of following a drum group down the street and dancing along side with the funny old men, and looking for seemingly non-existant salsa clubs that the guys wouldnt have to pay for. Oh yes, and a game of truth or dare (aka dare) on the boardwalk with strangers. Example dare: run up to a strange man and sing "I will always love you". Fortunately the girl on that guys arm didnt pummle anybody.
We have been traveling with a girl named Kristen (from Florida) for the past few days, who we met at the subway station in Barcelona (while lost and looking for the train station). She was on her way to San Sebastian, but was easily persuaded to hop of the train early for Pamplona and running of the bulls. Even though I told you, Dad, that I wasnt going to run - and wasnt planning on running - having two other girls to run with made it a quick decision. I didnt prepare for it, seeing as how I wasnt planning on running, so I didnt quite have the propper attire for the running (white pants, white shirt, and a red scarf and saché). Surprise, surprise! I improvised in quite a novel way according to tradition. My outfit consisted of a white skirt (practically unheard of for this run), a white tank top, and running shoes. If your wondering about the actual run, the closest we got to the bulls was about 3 feet, and we were probably the safest you could be for actually being within the fence with the bulls. But thats all Im telling you unless you ask. Oh- and nobody we knew got hurt, so you can relax and exhale now (not that you were holding your breath to start with). I would say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life thus far. Experience of a lifetime, hands down.
Thats all I have for you right now, but please email me if you want to know more! I would love to hear about what youve been doing!
Life is random and familiar
Written July 26th
I am, indeed alive and doing well here in Italy! The past few days of entertainment have made me laugh. They consisted of seeing my friend Brandon from high school randomly in Cinque terre at the train station- I only spotted him by the Sammamish duffle bag he was toting around, which, of course, caught me by total surprise. We went to the beach for 7 hours in Monterossa (one of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre), at dinner at the hostel, and then slept in the basement of an elderly Italian couple. We then took a train to Milan at which point Patrick and I decided to takea little break from eachother to avoid murdering eachother. He headed off to greece early, and Brandon and I went into the suburbs of Milan to watch my friends softball game. 30 minutes of being lost in Milan, 3 cheesburgers, one small fry, 3 poppers at McDonalds, and 2.5 km of walking with all of our stuff on later, we arrived at the fiield for the last 20 minutes of the game. We got a free place to stay on their floor and I took an actual BATH for the first time this trip! I am now just outside the train station in Milan about to go to Ancona to catch a 21 hour ferry ride to Greece. Oh and the ferry has a pool, which I am very excited about.These days a 21 hour ferry ride sounds like cake. Much has changed in that department since I left home.
I am, indeed alive and doing well here in Italy! The past few days of entertainment have made me laugh. They consisted of seeing my friend Brandon from high school randomly in Cinque terre at the train station- I only spotted him by the Sammamish duffle bag he was toting around, which, of course, caught me by total surprise. We went to the beach for 7 hours in Monterossa (one of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre), at dinner at the hostel, and then slept in the basement of an elderly Italian couple. We then took a train to Milan at which point Patrick and I decided to takea little break from eachother to avoid murdering eachother. He headed off to greece early, and Brandon and I went into the suburbs of Milan to watch my friends softball game. 30 minutes of being lost in Milan, 3 cheesburgers, one small fry, 3 poppers at McDonalds, and 2.5 km of walking with all of our stuff on later, we arrived at the fiield for the last 20 minutes of the game. We got a free place to stay on their floor and I took an actual BATH for the first time this trip! I am now just outside the train station in Milan about to go to Ancona to catch a 21 hour ferry ride to Greece. Oh and the ferry has a pool, which I am very excited about.These days a 21 hour ferry ride sounds like cake. Much has changed in that department since I left home.
Greece: Oy veh!
Written July 29th
Wow has it been an exciting turn of events. Last night was the first in 5 that I had actually slept in a bed, and it was glorious. After sleeping in the train station in Ancona, Italy and getting kicked off the floor, we made our way to the ferry docks to buy tickets to Patras, Greece. The 21 hour ferry wasnt so bad, even though we only had deck tickets and had to sleep on benches. I got a nice 5 minute swim in at the pool on the ferry before feeling uncomfortable enough to get out and continue to be gawked at by the creepy Greek men. The ferry ride was beautiful and I finished the book A Movable feast by Hemingway in almost a day. Traveling with someone who likes to read has gotten in me in the mood to do the same, and I have already finished two books now and started on a third, On the Road. It also helps that he has about 4 english books in his bag, so I can just swap one out when Im done with the last.
After ariving in Patras, we hopped a train to Corinth (on the way to Athens)- or so we thought. And so the train said. Only it was not going to Corinth. It was headed towards Kalamata, the opposite way that we needed to go. We only found this out until we were just about at Kalamata, and the Train conductor told us to get off of the train and catch a bus before even reaching Kalamata. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Greece with another couple that was lost on the way to Athens, and all we could seem to do was get more lost. The other couple from Romania somehow caught all of us a ride to an even smaller town to catch a different bus straight to Athens. The man who drove us was increadibly nice and happened to live in Chicago for a little while, so his english was good enough to get by. Get by with tourists that is-- in the middle of Greece. We arrived at a corner in the middle of a greek highway, holding a store with wine and cooked pig. They also sold bus tickets. Brandon and I were told that our Eurail passes would work on the buses too, so we didnt buy tickets. It turns out that our Eurail passes didnt work, and we had to spent 15 euros each on bus tickets- about 6 euros cheaper than what the couple payed at the store. It seems that the market enjoyed giving the "special price for travelers who dont speak greek" quite often, as we also got ripped off on a slab of meat.
It was 9:30pm by the time we arrived in athens, and we had no other choice to stay the night. The Romanian couple was also quite nice, and just as lost as us, so we decided to look for a cheap room together and split the cost. Anything to avoid getting ripped off again, we ignored the taxis and caught the bus to the train station. We were all on a budget, so we searched for the sketchy looking hotels, with no fancy lights and no fancy signs, and succeeded with a hostel room for 50 euros. It even incuded breakfast (if you can call it that for an egg and a few pieces of bread).
After finding out that the ferry tickets to crete are about 35 euros each way, i think that Im just going to stay on the mainland until I have to be in Zurich by the 8th, and then head to Crete after that. Who knows what will happen, though. Clearly the unpredictablility is unpredictable.
Wow has it been an exciting turn of events. Last night was the first in 5 that I had actually slept in a bed, and it was glorious. After sleeping in the train station in Ancona, Italy and getting kicked off the floor, we made our way to the ferry docks to buy tickets to Patras, Greece. The 21 hour ferry wasnt so bad, even though we only had deck tickets and had to sleep on benches. I got a nice 5 minute swim in at the pool on the ferry before feeling uncomfortable enough to get out and continue to be gawked at by the creepy Greek men. The ferry ride was beautiful and I finished the book A Movable feast by Hemingway in almost a day. Traveling with someone who likes to read has gotten in me in the mood to do the same, and I have already finished two books now and started on a third, On the Road. It also helps that he has about 4 english books in his bag, so I can just swap one out when Im done with the last.
After ariving in Patras, we hopped a train to Corinth (on the way to Athens)- or so we thought. And so the train said. Only it was not going to Corinth. It was headed towards Kalamata, the opposite way that we needed to go. We only found this out until we were just about at Kalamata, and the Train conductor told us to get off of the train and catch a bus before even reaching Kalamata. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Greece with another couple that was lost on the way to Athens, and all we could seem to do was get more lost. The other couple from Romania somehow caught all of us a ride to an even smaller town to catch a different bus straight to Athens. The man who drove us was increadibly nice and happened to live in Chicago for a little while, so his english was good enough to get by. Get by with tourists that is-- in the middle of Greece. We arrived at a corner in the middle of a greek highway, holding a store with wine and cooked pig. They also sold bus tickets. Brandon and I were told that our Eurail passes would work on the buses too, so we didnt buy tickets. It turns out that our Eurail passes didnt work, and we had to spent 15 euros each on bus tickets- about 6 euros cheaper than what the couple payed at the store. It seems that the market enjoyed giving the "special price for travelers who dont speak greek" quite often, as we also got ripped off on a slab of meat.
It was 9:30pm by the time we arrived in athens, and we had no other choice to stay the night. The Romanian couple was also quite nice, and just as lost as us, so we decided to look for a cheap room together and split the cost. Anything to avoid getting ripped off again, we ignored the taxis and caught the bus to the train station. We were all on a budget, so we searched for the sketchy looking hotels, with no fancy lights and no fancy signs, and succeeded with a hostel room for 50 euros. It even incuded breakfast (if you can call it that for an egg and a few pieces of bread).
After finding out that the ferry tickets to crete are about 35 euros each way, i think that Im just going to stay on the mainland until I have to be in Zurich by the 8th, and then head to Crete after that. Who knows what will happen, though. Clearly the unpredictablility is unpredictable.
Zurich Recap
Written August 25, 2006
So... I left off in Munich. Next stop was Zurich (or more specifically,> Stäfa), my former home of 5 years, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There we thoroughly enjoyed all of the things that had been missing on our trip: fine food, fine wine, fine parties, fine sleep. And more fine sleep. After being warmly welcomed into the home of our old neighbor and family friends, Bruno and Ruth, all we could do was stare off of their balcony at what must have been one of the best views in Stäfa, overlooking the Zeurisee (lake Zurich) and Luzern-- or what Bruno called "the sink" of the area (behind the "cold coast"), as they apparently take all the rain away from the "gold coast", when we were staying. I cant help to wonder whether the US referrs to Seattle as "the sink" as well. Regarless, we still experienced rain, and still went swimming in it... and then sprinted back to our unsheltered clothes in time enough that they were not completely soaked yet.
Of course, a trip to Switzerland is not a trip to Switzerland if you havn't seen the Alps. After seeing those babies I was almost convinced that I was> not living anywhere else in the world ever again. Only problem is that one I am not a farmer, and two I am not a billionaire. So, unless I learn how to speak flawless swiss german and somehow manage to get a job up there, I dont see that happenning anywhere in the near future.
We were also fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the Zurich street parade, a once a year event drawing millions of partiers from around Europe in their most outrageous clothing to dance for hours in the street, fore and behind semi trucks towing trailers full of more dancing people, including a trailer for the local strip club. It would be a lye to say that people weren't excited about that one... One of Bruno's coleagues from Florida invited us to come along to their annual street parade party, hosted in their 4 or 5 star hotel, and catered by their personal waiter, who flawlessly made a point to keep our champaign glasses full and to keep food on our plates at all times. Of course, parties lasted until all hours of the night, even including one at the train station (which, of course, I went to as well). The night I spent with my old childhood friend, Daniella, and her friends. I even met a swiss guy who was attending UW in the fall! Imagine the odds of that, will ya? And so, I went about my duty as a husky and informed him of cheers, rules, etc. Can't leave a guy hanging around Seattle with an umbrella and looking like a foreigner... Once again, I must continue later. Need to go eat lunch at the student caffeteria here in Karlsruh, Germany! Bet you've never heard of it, have you? Thats what I thought. Me neither before we came here. Maybe Ill continue this later today, maybe when we get to Romania (tomorrow or the next day) where internet (and the cost of living) is DIRT cheap. Yay for being poor and stinky!
So... I left off in Munich. Next stop was Zurich (or more specifically,> Stäfa), my former home of 5 years, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There we thoroughly enjoyed all of the things that had been missing on our trip: fine food, fine wine, fine parties, fine sleep. And more fine sleep. After being warmly welcomed into the home of our old neighbor and family friends, Bruno and Ruth, all we could do was stare off of their balcony at what must have been one of the best views in Stäfa, overlooking the Zeurisee (lake Zurich) and Luzern-- or what Bruno called "the sink" of the area (behind the "cold coast"), as they apparently take all the rain away from the "gold coast", when we were staying. I cant help to wonder whether the US referrs to Seattle as "the sink" as well. Regarless, we still experienced rain, and still went swimming in it... and then sprinted back to our unsheltered clothes in time enough that they were not completely soaked yet.
Of course, a trip to Switzerland is not a trip to Switzerland if you havn't seen the Alps. After seeing those babies I was almost convinced that I was> not living anywhere else in the world ever again. Only problem is that one I am not a farmer, and two I am not a billionaire. So, unless I learn how to speak flawless swiss german and somehow manage to get a job up there, I dont see that happenning anywhere in the near future.
We were also fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the Zurich street parade, a once a year event drawing millions of partiers from around Europe in their most outrageous clothing to dance for hours in the street, fore and behind semi trucks towing trailers full of more dancing people, including a trailer for the local strip club. It would be a lye to say that people weren't excited about that one... One of Bruno's coleagues from Florida invited us to come along to their annual street parade party, hosted in their 4 or 5 star hotel, and catered by their personal waiter, who flawlessly made a point to keep our champaign glasses full and to keep food on our plates at all times. Of course, parties lasted until all hours of the night, even including one at the train station (which, of course, I went to as well). The night I spent with my old childhood friend, Daniella, and her friends. I even met a swiss guy who was attending UW in the fall! Imagine the odds of that, will ya? And so, I went about my duty as a husky and informed him of cheers, rules, etc. Can't leave a guy hanging around Seattle with an umbrella and looking like a foreigner... Once again, I must continue later. Need to go eat lunch at the student caffeteria here in Karlsruh, Germany! Bet you've never heard of it, have you? Thats what I thought. Me neither before we came here. Maybe Ill continue this later today, maybe when we get to Romania (tomorrow or the next day) where internet (and the cost of living) is DIRT cheap. Yay for being poor and stinky!
Memoirs from 10 weeks in...
Written Sept 4th, 2006
Zurich was the last of luxury that we have seen, and probably will see for a long, long time. Let me explain. We departed Zurich on August 13th in search of the sun that we had been sadly missing for over 2 weeks. Because we are, of course, the smartest two travelers around, we darted off to the south, Barcelona more specifically, in a wild goose chase to reunite with the tans that we had lost along with the sun. Our vanity seemed to overpower our wits, however, as we failed to even check a weather report before leaving. So, of course, we wound up in Barcelona around 15 or so hours later to find nothing else but the same bad weather we left the day before. Unmotivated to even walk around the town again without so much as the reward of a warm, sunny beach with crystal blue waters, I failed to step outside the train station before departing again, this time north to France to avoid the expensive Spanish reservartion fees.
About 3 days later we finally settled in Paris for two nights (one of which being in the train station), after spending one night camped out in a random field near the French-Spanish border, and stopping briefly (and I mean very briefly) in Bordeaux before realizing our lack of a city map and after realizing our laziness to find one or ask directions to the hostel. Trains at least kept us warm and out of the rain. Plus they helped us break our record of longest period traveling straight.
Paris was expensive this time around, and this fact was made very, very apparent to us once we realized that neither of us has any money to our name. We walked around Paris for a day and sat outside the Louvre for 3 hours while deciding that we hated being tourists and hitting the road again. The only reason we had any direction was because we finally got in contact with one of Patrick's friends from Stockholm, Benny, who invited us to come stay with him on his family's farm in the Black Forest area of Germany. Hope was restored in us as we moved east toward free accomodation and a friendly face.
I was forced to practice my German while there, as Benny's family spoke no English. His mom showered us with kindness, as she cooked us authentic German meals (as it seems all Germans do so well) and baked 2 cakes a day. She spoke German slowly enough for me to understand, and at times spoke to Patrick before turning around and realizing that it was Patrick, the only non-German speaker in the house, and laughing it away.
Zurich was the last of luxury that we have seen, and probably will see for a long, long time. Let me explain. We departed Zurich on August 13th in search of the sun that we had been sadly missing for over 2 weeks. Because we are, of course, the smartest two travelers around, we darted off to the south, Barcelona more specifically, in a wild goose chase to reunite with the tans that we had lost along with the sun. Our vanity seemed to overpower our wits, however, as we failed to even check a weather report before leaving. So, of course, we wound up in Barcelona around 15 or so hours later to find nothing else but the same bad weather we left the day before. Unmotivated to even walk around the town again without so much as the reward of a warm, sunny beach with crystal blue waters, I failed to step outside the train station before departing again, this time north to France to avoid the expensive Spanish reservartion fees.
About 3 days later we finally settled in Paris for two nights (one of which being in the train station), after spending one night camped out in a random field near the French-Spanish border, and stopping briefly (and I mean very briefly) in Bordeaux before realizing our lack of a city map and after realizing our laziness to find one or ask directions to the hostel. Trains at least kept us warm and out of the rain. Plus they helped us break our record of longest period traveling straight.
Paris was expensive this time around, and this fact was made very, very apparent to us once we realized that neither of us has any money to our name. We walked around Paris for a day and sat outside the Louvre for 3 hours while deciding that we hated being tourists and hitting the road again. The only reason we had any direction was because we finally got in contact with one of Patrick's friends from Stockholm, Benny, who invited us to come stay with him on his family's farm in the Black Forest area of Germany. Hope was restored in us as we moved east toward free accomodation and a friendly face.
I was forced to practice my German while there, as Benny's family spoke no English. His mom showered us with kindness, as she cooked us authentic German meals (as it seems all Germans do so well) and baked 2 cakes a day. She spoke German slowly enough for me to understand, and at times spoke to Patrick before turning around and realizing that it was Patrick, the only non-German speaker in the house, and laughing it away.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Welt Meisterschaft 2006
I doubt there is anything like being in Berlin during the World Cup Finals, or "Welt Meisterschaft" as the Germans call it. We opted to stay at the house during the Germany game against Portugal on Saturday, and it was probably a good thing- seeing as how the streets were probably completely immobile and beers cost 3 euros per small glass. Not to mention that the whole city is covered in red, black, and gold... no matter if Germany is playing or not.
Back to the finals... we went to Alexanderplatz to watch the game on a large screen with about 2,000 other people, and quite a match it was. Although I insisted earlier that I don't usually take sides at these games and watch them for their beauty, my usual position was altered once I decided that Italy would win. After all, the Italian fans were outranked 5:1 where we were. So, I whistled and yelled and cheered for Italy, and was correct in my prediction of the World Cup champion. Also correct were my predictions that France would score first and that nobody would score in the 30 minutes of penalty time. Of course, I made incorrect predicitions too, of which I will leave out for the sake of my pride.
Prior to our trip downtown, we were given a historical tour of Potsdam, a city just outside of Berlin where the great leaders of WWII and the anti-Hitler coallition met. I must say, History feels a lot more tangible, and in turn interesting, when you're standing in the meeting room of Roosevelt (and eventually Truman), Churchill, Stahlen, and other big names.
We also visited the summer house of Albert Einstein and the building in which he formed the Theory of Relativity. Although the tour of the house was in German, we had supplementary books and Claudia's translations to keep us occupied and interested. Better than the 4 Euro nap- I mean boat tour- that we took the previous day, consisting of monotone German narration and expensive ice cream (which of course I bought anyway).
And so, we had a day with the greats of both today and yeterday. Not bad if you ask me.
Back to the finals... we went to Alexanderplatz to watch the game on a large screen with about 2,000 other people, and quite a match it was. Although I insisted earlier that I don't usually take sides at these games and watch them for their beauty, my usual position was altered once I decided that Italy would win. After all, the Italian fans were outranked 5:1 where we were. So, I whistled and yelled and cheered for Italy, and was correct in my prediction of the World Cup champion. Also correct were my predictions that France would score first and that nobody would score in the 30 minutes of penalty time. Of course, I made incorrect predicitions too, of which I will leave out for the sake of my pride.
Prior to our trip downtown, we were given a historical tour of Potsdam, a city just outside of Berlin where the great leaders of WWII and the anti-Hitler coallition met. I must say, History feels a lot more tangible, and in turn interesting, when you're standing in the meeting room of Roosevelt (and eventually Truman), Churchill, Stahlen, and other big names.
We also visited the summer house of Albert Einstein and the building in which he formed the Theory of Relativity. Although the tour of the house was in German, we had supplementary books and Claudia's translations to keep us occupied and interested. Better than the 4 Euro nap- I mean boat tour- that we took the previous day, consisting of monotone German narration and expensive ice cream (which of course I bought anyway).
And so, we had a day with the greats of both today and yeterday. Not bad if you ask me.
Friday, July 07, 2006
At This Rate, You'de Better Pray That I'm Ever Coming Home!
I know that I am far from keeping my friends and family informed of my travels thus far, so I will do my best at attempting to catch everyone up, while I sit in a beautiful suburban home of Berlin. I will start at the most recent part of our trip, 12:48 am on Saturday, July 8th. My mother's birthday.
7/6- present. Berlin, Germany.
I dodge misquitos to avoid tacking another point for them on the board, seeing as how I'm already losing 10-0. Berlin is amazing. I think the best parts so far have been the beer, the Fußball (soccer), the wursts, and the Gelatto Cafe at Potzdamer Platz. In that order. Oh yes. And the confidence boost I have received from the family that we are staying with regarding my primitive German speaking abilities. Unfortunately I feel like giving up each time a store clerk does not understand me. However, neither Patrick nor Daniel speak, nor are willing to learn or speak, and German, so "making a fool of one's self in foreign german-speaking countries" is on my list of chores for the trip.
We went to the "Fan Mile" for the World Cup, where mega-sized Toshiba screens hang and supposidly a million Germans gather for their home teams games. So it will be in about 20 hours when Germany plays England for 3rd and 4th place. We stumbled upon it today while wandering Berlin, looking for the Brandenburg Gate and found that it was blocked off. So we entered from the actual entrance and learned that Wycleff Jean, Sean Paul, and others would be performing there at 6pm for free. It was 2pm at this point, and we were more than willing to wait in the 95 degree plus weather, humidity included. So, we wandered some more, ate, and bought t-shirts as witness to our existence in this football-inspired mayhem.
And then it rained. The thunderstorm we caught wind of earlier (no pun intended) reared its dark and warm wet head as we stood 2 rows back from the front of the stage. Soon enough our clothes were litterally dripping in harmony with the rest of the crowd... and the stage. The concert was cancelled after an hour once we were all well and wet, despite the German's statements that Germans don't care about the rain and thunder, and that the show would indeed go on. And so, we ran to the U-bahn as dry people gasped at us from undercover. The only thing that we worried about were our passports and Eurail passes in the money belt... under patricks soaking shorts... of which I still do not know the status. I'm curious, but busy. On with the story.
7/5. Zürich, Switzerland.
You may be wondering why only one day appears on the aforementioned date in our travels to Switzerland. This is where the joys of a Eurail pass come in. After we had just about enough of Hamburg (which I will mention next), we decided to find a train which would take long enough for a good sleep and a good day trip. After all, we had to be in Berlin the next day to meet Claudia (our host there).
We decided upon Zürich after very little debate, which you may know got me quite excited. After almost 15 years I would get to see the town that I vaguely remember, yet have fond memories of from the 5 years my family spent there. We arrived, dropped our bags off in lockers, and immediately hit the local train for Stäfa. Of course, I had no idea how to get from the train station in Stäfa to Geimoss Straße (the street we live on), so I used my broken mixture of swiss german and hochdeutch (regular german) to find our way, and I knew that I was in the right place from the moment I saw kindergarteners walking home for lunch with their fluorescent orange crossing vests on (just as I had in years past).
The street and surrounding areas was just as I remembered, but smaller (naturally). I saw the same garden, the same appartment, the same playground, with only slight adjustments down the street. They added a high school.
I then found my way to my Kindergarten from the appartment by memory, even to my old classroom. Wow was that a trip. It was as if nothing had changed besides the teachers (mine wasnt there any longer). Little backpacks still hung from the same racks with shoes below, and my imagined images of the classroom behind the door was confirmed by another teacher nearby.
It was, however, just a day trip and a place that we would revisit for longer periods in a month, so we parted the most beautiful view any of us had ever seen and continued on our way back to Zürich for an unexpected, but well needed, swim in the Zürichsee... in my underwear. It was wonderful.
7/1-7/4. Hamburg, Germany.
This lag of the trip was split into two locations of Hamburg. The first, 'Instant Sleep' hostel in the center of town, which came with high recommendations by the Lets Go Europe travel book, a relatively rude staff, and mildly cheap internet... when you dont pay for half of it. The first day went something like this: Check in, shower, go to the market, make the best damn Minestrone Soup know to man (surprisingly), go to the beach bar across the street and attempt to watch the Germany game throught the glare on the TV, go back to the hostel, take a 14 hour nap. Yes, you heard right. A sleep intended only for a brief period consisting of all of us in all of our clothes above our sheets which turned into a hearty sleep and groggy awakening.
The next morning was a Sunday, and I had hoped to find an anglican church to go to in Hamburg. With no success at finding one anywhere nearby, I settled for one only two S-bahn stops away, which turned out to be the most well- know historical church in Hamburg: Michaeliskirche. While the service was completely in german, I enjoyed it as it was quite similar to the episcopal services I'm used to. In fact, I have no idea what denomination this church is. All I know is that the pastor/priest wore one of those giant white collars around his neck. But seriously the most surprising thing about the the church, this collar was one of those that you have only seen in baroquean paintings. The ones that look like a big, circular white fan. I have no idea what it's called, but it was crazy!
On saturday we traveled to a campground that we found in a travel book called Campingplaty Blankenese. It took about an hour and a half to get to with train, bus and foot, but it was well worth it... at least at first.
We stumbled upon this absolutely gorgeous beach along the Elbe River, and then proceeded to trip into our swimsuits and the water. Sunscreen was mistakenly not on my list of things to do, evidenced by a nice pink chest later that night. We talked about how nice it would be to sleep on the beach, wake up with the sun, and spend yet another full day laxidazically lounging, tanning, and swimming. Sounds good right? What we didn't talk about, however, nor did we predict, was that flocks of bugs that also seemed to enjoy the beach at night.
coming soon:
-Stockholm
-Copenhagen
-Amsterdam
-London
-Paris
-London (again)
7/6- present. Berlin, Germany.
I dodge misquitos to avoid tacking another point for them on the board, seeing as how I'm already losing 10-0. Berlin is amazing. I think the best parts so far have been the beer, the Fußball (soccer), the wursts, and the Gelatto Cafe at Potzdamer Platz. In that order. Oh yes. And the confidence boost I have received from the family that we are staying with regarding my primitive German speaking abilities. Unfortunately I feel like giving up each time a store clerk does not understand me. However, neither Patrick nor Daniel speak, nor are willing to learn or speak, and German, so "making a fool of one's self in foreign german-speaking countries" is on my list of chores for the trip.
We went to the "Fan Mile" for the World Cup, where mega-sized Toshiba screens hang and supposidly a million Germans gather for their home teams games. So it will be in about 20 hours when Germany plays England for 3rd and 4th place. We stumbled upon it today while wandering Berlin, looking for the Brandenburg Gate and found that it was blocked off. So we entered from the actual entrance and learned that Wycleff Jean, Sean Paul, and others would be performing there at 6pm for free. It was 2pm at this point, and we were more than willing to wait in the 95 degree plus weather, humidity included. So, we wandered some more, ate, and bought t-shirts as witness to our existence in this football-inspired mayhem.
And then it rained. The thunderstorm we caught wind of earlier (no pun intended) reared its dark and warm wet head as we stood 2 rows back from the front of the stage. Soon enough our clothes were litterally dripping in harmony with the rest of the crowd... and the stage. The concert was cancelled after an hour once we were all well and wet, despite the German's statements that Germans don't care about the rain and thunder, and that the show would indeed go on. And so, we ran to the U-bahn as dry people gasped at us from undercover. The only thing that we worried about were our passports and Eurail passes in the money belt... under patricks soaking shorts... of which I still do not know the status. I'm curious, but busy. On with the story.
7/5. Zürich, Switzerland.
You may be wondering why only one day appears on the aforementioned date in our travels to Switzerland. This is where the joys of a Eurail pass come in. After we had just about enough of Hamburg (which I will mention next), we decided to find a train which would take long enough for a good sleep and a good day trip. After all, we had to be in Berlin the next day to meet Claudia (our host there).
We decided upon Zürich after very little debate, which you may know got me quite excited. After almost 15 years I would get to see the town that I vaguely remember, yet have fond memories of from the 5 years my family spent there. We arrived, dropped our bags off in lockers, and immediately hit the local train for Stäfa. Of course, I had no idea how to get from the train station in Stäfa to Geimoss Straße (the street we live on), so I used my broken mixture of swiss german and hochdeutch (regular german) to find our way, and I knew that I was in the right place from the moment I saw kindergarteners walking home for lunch with their fluorescent orange crossing vests on (just as I had in years past).
The street and surrounding areas was just as I remembered, but smaller (naturally). I saw the same garden, the same appartment, the same playground, with only slight adjustments down the street. They added a high school.
I then found my way to my Kindergarten from the appartment by memory, even to my old classroom. Wow was that a trip. It was as if nothing had changed besides the teachers (mine wasnt there any longer). Little backpacks still hung from the same racks with shoes below, and my imagined images of the classroom behind the door was confirmed by another teacher nearby.
It was, however, just a day trip and a place that we would revisit for longer periods in a month, so we parted the most beautiful view any of us had ever seen and continued on our way back to Zürich for an unexpected, but well needed, swim in the Zürichsee... in my underwear. It was wonderful.
7/1-7/4. Hamburg, Germany.
This lag of the trip was split into two locations of Hamburg. The first, 'Instant Sleep' hostel in the center of town, which came with high recommendations by the Lets Go Europe travel book, a relatively rude staff, and mildly cheap internet... when you dont pay for half of it. The first day went something like this: Check in, shower, go to the market, make the best damn Minestrone Soup know to man (surprisingly), go to the beach bar across the street and attempt to watch the Germany game throught the glare on the TV, go back to the hostel, take a 14 hour nap. Yes, you heard right. A sleep intended only for a brief period consisting of all of us in all of our clothes above our sheets which turned into a hearty sleep and groggy awakening.
The next morning was a Sunday, and I had hoped to find an anglican church to go to in Hamburg. With no success at finding one anywhere nearby, I settled for one only two S-bahn stops away, which turned out to be the most well- know historical church in Hamburg: Michaeliskirche. While the service was completely in german, I enjoyed it as it was quite similar to the episcopal services I'm used to. In fact, I have no idea what denomination this church is. All I know is that the pastor/priest wore one of those giant white collars around his neck. But seriously the most surprising thing about the the church, this collar was one of those that you have only seen in baroquean paintings. The ones that look like a big, circular white fan. I have no idea what it's called, but it was crazy!
On saturday we traveled to a campground that we found in a travel book called Campingplaty Blankenese. It took about an hour and a half to get to with train, bus and foot, but it was well worth it... at least at first.
We stumbled upon this absolutely gorgeous beach along the Elbe River, and then proceeded to trip into our swimsuits and the water. Sunscreen was mistakenly not on my list of things to do, evidenced by a nice pink chest later that night. We talked about how nice it would be to sleep on the beach, wake up with the sun, and spend yet another full day laxidazically lounging, tanning, and swimming. Sounds good right? What we didn't talk about, however, nor did we predict, was that flocks of bugs that also seemed to enjoy the beach at night.
coming soon:
-Stockholm
-Copenhagen
-Amsterdam
-London
-Paris
-London (again)
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Theology en Route
I find it hard to establish my opinion and beliefs on the bible, and thus Christianity. In one sense, I want to take the entire bible as truth, as the word of god, but at the same time I feel that I have to be skeptical about my interpretations of the bible and how I read it. It really bothers me to think that my opinions are based strictly on convincing arguments of others, because usually good arguments are one-sided and ignorant to a second or even third side of the issue. I want all of this knowledge about the characters of the bible, the history, and the context so that I may make my own decisions about controversial topics. The problem, I think, is that no matter how much knowledge I have, I will really never know for sure. And thus lies the most mystical and at the same time torturous characteristic about Christianity arises- the mystery of God. What little we actually know about God, and what little we can conclude about God. Maybe I just need to get out of the mindset of details (i.e. sins to avoid, etc), but those guide the bigger picture. They exemplify how to love, etc. So instead of taking the bible word-for-word, maybe I should take it concept-for-concept. Things I do know about God’s will for us: 1. The golden rule: Love your neighbor as yourself and love god with all your heart, mind and soul. 2. Don’t judge others 3. Forgive 4. Pray 5. Have faith and hope 6. Repent. The details follow along with rules in Paul’s letters.
My problem lies with the concept of Jesus’ death and resurrection. I believe that Jesus was sent by God and that he was the fulfillment of God’s prophesy. I have faith that there is a God, and that God will forgive me my sins, and that he will guide me. However, I am not convinced about a heaven, or more, and afterlife. What is the point of my faith without the goal of an afterlife? I think that my strong faith that God exists along with the belief that the bible is a book of wisdom for how to live life to the fullest (as god intended) drives me to do the will of God. It gives me a purpose in life (or more of a hypothetical purpose at this point) and general means for fulfilling that purpose. I believe that I am here for a reason; I influence the world in a unique way. Sure, there may be many other people with the same personality and goals as me, but each of us influences our direct world differently, and thus our indirect world as a whole. As the bible says, we all serve as different parts of the body- the body as a whole wouldn’t function as well if any of the parts were missing.
I think that any person (in any religion) that believes in God and believes in and acts on the main concepts of what Jesus preached (i.e. Faith, hope, love, etc) is just as admirable and OK by God as Christians. Often, however, Christianity gives people a means for self-reflection and self-betterment.
Anyway, just a few thoughts for the second day of lent. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear thoughts, opinions, beliefs, whatever!
My problem lies with the concept of Jesus’ death and resurrection. I believe that Jesus was sent by God and that he was the fulfillment of God’s prophesy. I have faith that there is a God, and that God will forgive me my sins, and that he will guide me. However, I am not convinced about a heaven, or more, and afterlife. What is the point of my faith without the goal of an afterlife? I think that my strong faith that God exists along with the belief that the bible is a book of wisdom for how to live life to the fullest (as god intended) drives me to do the will of God. It gives me a purpose in life (or more of a hypothetical purpose at this point) and general means for fulfilling that purpose. I believe that I am here for a reason; I influence the world in a unique way. Sure, there may be many other people with the same personality and goals as me, but each of us influences our direct world differently, and thus our indirect world as a whole. As the bible says, we all serve as different parts of the body- the body as a whole wouldn’t function as well if any of the parts were missing.
I think that any person (in any religion) that believes in God and believes in and acts on the main concepts of what Jesus preached (i.e. Faith, hope, love, etc) is just as admirable and OK by God as Christians. Often, however, Christianity gives people a means for self-reflection and self-betterment.
Anyway, just a few thoughts for the second day of lent. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear thoughts, opinions, beliefs, whatever!
Friday, January 27, 2006
My Life According to Books and Stereotyping
Today was just funny. I haven't had a funny day that I wanted to write about for a while (obviously).
So on the way home from bio office hours (AKA life resuscitation hours) I saw a kid on the bus, who is obviously in high school. I saw him yesterday, and he drew my attention then too. You see, this kid is the epitome of Seattle. He could probably-- actually definitely go anywhere in the world and provide and accurate depiction of what a 'Satellite' looks like. This kid looked so Seattle, I could probably make an accurate guess as to what his political views are, how much organic food he consumes, and that he can, indeed, read (considering we are the most literate city in the country). You may be wondering what he was wearing that was so telling of his seattleness. The first thing that struck me was his Timbuk2 messenger bag- not that this is extraordinarily defining of Seattle, but riding the bus 2-4 times a day definitely has an impact on how much I see them- not to mention that they are all at least 3 different colors so they naturally stand out more than normal backpacks.** I was also keyed in by the really nice rainjacket he was wearing- you know the ones with the water-proof zippers.** I mean really- it wasn't even raining today. Give him another point for wearing a rain jacket as a normal part of his wardrobe. Finally, he was carrying a big 3-ring binder. The significance of this? Well, he had a pretty big bag, so he was most likely making room something else. My guess: his Nalgene bottle, recycling bag (for the papers he didn't want to throw away), lunch sack filled with decomposable remnants of his lunch, ipod, trailmix, and traveler coffee mug (note that there wasn't an or at the end of that sentece). That sounds about right. Now all this kid needs to do is officially get into UW- that shouldn't be a problem though, considering his high school is probably a direct filter in. mmm. stereotyping is fun... especially when half of what I've said pertains to me too.
**Note: Any Northface items will also suffice for these categorizations as well
Preceding these fun thoughts, came a defining moment for me. After class I went to go eat at 'The Rotunda' (the caffeteria in the Health Sciences building) basically because it is right next to Hitchcock (the Biology building) and I needed to eat before Bio office hours. Coincidentally, my friend Kelsea was doing just about the same thing. To cut to the point, her friend Ben (who works in the health sciences library) came up to us while we were eating, and told us about the 'free books' shelf in the library which had recently been filled. When we got to it, we did nothing but dig through a good-sized collection of anatomy, histology, and neurobiology textbooks from approximately 1986 (with a few from the 90's) and giggle about excited we were about landing on this gold mine... and then giggling some more about how big of dorks we were for being so excited about something like this in the first place... time elapsed: 10 min, 36 sec... so clearly these textbooks are far too awesome to not get distracted by, so I'm going to end this post in disss... oh-- sorry. disstrac......
So on the way home from bio office hours (AKA life resuscitation hours) I saw a kid on the bus, who is obviously in high school. I saw him yesterday, and he drew my attention then too. You see, this kid is the epitome of Seattle. He could probably-- actually definitely go anywhere in the world and provide and accurate depiction of what a 'Satellite' looks like. This kid looked so Seattle, I could probably make an accurate guess as to what his political views are, how much organic food he consumes, and that he can, indeed, read (considering we are the most literate city in the country). You may be wondering what he was wearing that was so telling of his seattleness. The first thing that struck me was his Timbuk2 messenger bag- not that this is extraordinarily defining of Seattle, but riding the bus 2-4 times a day definitely has an impact on how much I see them- not to mention that they are all at least 3 different colors so they naturally stand out more than normal backpacks.** I was also keyed in by the really nice rainjacket he was wearing- you know the ones with the water-proof zippers.** I mean really- it wasn't even raining today. Give him another point for wearing a rain jacket as a normal part of his wardrobe. Finally, he was carrying a big 3-ring binder. The significance of this? Well, he had a pretty big bag, so he was most likely making room something else. My guess: his Nalgene bottle, recycling bag (for the papers he didn't want to throw away), lunch sack filled with decomposable remnants of his lunch, ipod, trailmix, and traveler coffee mug (note that there wasn't an or at the end of that sentece). That sounds about right. Now all this kid needs to do is officially get into UW- that shouldn't be a problem though, considering his high school is probably a direct filter in. mmm. stereotyping is fun... especially when half of what I've said pertains to me too.
**Note: Any Northface items will also suffice for these categorizations as well
Preceding these fun thoughts, came a defining moment for me. After class I went to go eat at 'The Rotunda' (the caffeteria in the Health Sciences building) basically because it is right next to Hitchcock (the Biology building) and I needed to eat before Bio office hours. Coincidentally, my friend Kelsea was doing just about the same thing. To cut to the point, her friend Ben (who works in the health sciences library) came up to us while we were eating, and told us about the 'free books' shelf in the library which had recently been filled. When we got to it, we did nothing but dig through a good-sized collection of anatomy, histology, and neurobiology textbooks from approximately 1986 (with a few from the 90's) and giggle about excited we were about landing on this gold mine... and then giggling some more about how big of dorks we were for being so excited about something like this in the first place... time elapsed: 10 min, 36 sec... so clearly these textbooks are far too awesome to not get distracted by, so I'm going to end this post in disss... oh-- sorry. disstrac......
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