PS:

HAPPY NONDENOMINATIONAL HOLIDAYS

In case I die in the Alps...

Francois (France), Okan (Turkey), Sam (Alabama), and I are going (by car) on vacation together over the holiday break.

Fran's driving... I'm a little worried... we're driving through the Alps... it's winter... and I get car sick...

Here's what we're going to do if we don't die in the Alps:

December 22nd:
Depart Dortmund at 4 a.m. and head to France. Visit wine cave.
December 22nd (later):
Arrive in Milan, Italy (after surviving the Alps).
December 25th:
Arrive in Venice, Italy. Celebrate the birth of Christ... most likely with pizza and a water-taxi.
December 27th:
Arrive in Vienna, Austria. Find "Sound of Music" postcard for Sam's grandma.
December 30th:
Arrive in Prague, Czech Republic. Celebrate the New Year and enjoy the dollar to CZK exchange rate.
January 2nd:
Arrive in Dresden. Return to Germany and experience Dresden's emergance, "as a cultural, political, and economic centre in the eastern part of Germany" since the reunification in 1990.
January 4th: Return to Dortmund.

My Family Quilt - Thanks for the mail

Thanks for all the birthday, Christmas, Dear-Andi-I-miss-you-lots-mail... it's all greatly appreciated.

And here's a picture of the quilt you all helped in making (I've had request to post a picture).... so requested granted...

I think I solved the roommate problem!

I think I solved, or at least partially fixed, my roommate problem.

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier...

PASTRIES!

I baked the other day... I bake much better than I speak German... anyway.... blueberries and and cream cheese in flaky pasty shell with pretty edges. I gave said pastry treat to each of my roommates (the two that were home anyway... the two that generally ignore me or yell at me) and today... one of them spoke to me... NICELY!

Now I feel bad about spitting in her pastry.

Just kidding... I don't feel bad.

(What I mean to say is that I didn't spit in her pastry....)

I'm impressed by...

... the marzipan industry's amazing ability to shape ground almonds, sugar, and eggs whites into just about anything. Pigs, potatoes,... whatever.

... how disgusting my roommates are. Yesterday I put an end to the five day toilet paper strike (that's right... there was a strike... everyone was refusing to buy toilet paper. Luckily I had some I'd hoarded in my room) by buying toilet paper and attaching a note expressing my attitude toward hygiene (it's a good thing).

... how EXTREMELY disgusting my roommates are. Today I smelled something strange when I woke up from my nap. A quick scan through my olfactory told me I was smelling burnt fish. (My roommates are infamous for leaving fish in the kitchen (on the counter) for two or three days at a time). Anyway, I went to the kitchen to check and sitting on the stove is a pot with boiling rice. On top of the pan is a place with a large fish head on it, and some other (mid-section?) piece of fish. The fish was clearly cooked... OVER cooked... but just the same, thirty seconds after I enter the kitchen, so does my fish cooking roommate who instead of going, "Wow, this smells like total #%^##!$%^@$%$@!~, I should take it off the stove," decided that the better idea would be to continue cooking it for another twenty minutes. Our entire apartment smells like a fisherman's backside.

... the gypsy that robbed Radim in Mallorca. (She sold him a flower, gave him change, and picked his pocket all at the same time while Francois and Katrena watched.)

... Rilo Kiley (Jenny Lewis).

... the writers of "Grey's Anatomy"... well, most of the time, but not always. "Seriously!"

Christmas Market/Weihnachtsmarkt

Keeping it brief (after the monstrous post I just made)... and because I'm pretty much a Grinch when it comes to the holiday season...

Dortmund has a Christmas Market... lots of stands selling various goodies... mainly food... warm candied nuts, cheeses, schnitzels, doofy looking heart shaped cookie necklaces, and let's not forget Glühwein (warm sweet wine). On Friday nights, with weather permitting (which is never, but the Germans seemed to have developed an immunity to bad weather called "the scarf"), the place pretty much turns into a large outdoor bar with nomadic patrons. Below are 1) A picture taken near Reinoldikirche and 2) a picture of Dortmund's Christmas tree (actually, it's like 1200 trees stuck together to make one huge tree).

The WEEK of my Birthday (Nov 19th - 25th)

Turning twenty-one is Germany is like kissing your sister, or so I thought.

As most of you know, the drinking laws in Germany differ greatly from those in the States (sixteen for beer and wine, eighteen for anything with more kick). The worst part about not being of legal drinking age for me while I was at home was that all of my friends were.

Of course I knew before I came that things would be drastically different here. I also realized that by the time I would turn twenty-one I would have been in the country for almost three months. That being said, I was kind of preparing myself for an anti-climatic twenty-first by treating myself to a week of doing nothing but what I wanted.

Monday, November 19th:

I do three things every Monday; I teach from 9 - 2 p.m., I spend three hours at a grad course, and then, rather deservingly I feel, I go to Eastend (the student bar in my building) talk about my day and drink a tequila sunrise (and sometimes, it even has tequila in it.... long story).

What I did this Monday: I taught from 9 - 2 p.m. I ate Chinese food. I got on a train, skipped my grad course, went to Bonn, saw Beethoven's childhood home, ate dinner at a famous brewery and drank a famous Bonnsch beer. (Apparently they only make and sell this beer at this specific restaurant/brewery.) Then I hopped on the subway and went to Bad Godesberg and had baklava under the ruins of a castle that was destroyed to prevent Bad Godesberg from ever being occupied again (so I was told) : http://www.godesberg.de/godesberg/stadtrundgang/bild.php?bild=inne/13 . Then I got back on the train, went back to Dortmund, went to Eastend, talked about my day and had a tequila sunrise.

(This trip/dinner/birthday present courtesy of Dan and Laurn Giesey)

Tuesday the 20th - Thursday the 22rd:

More of me skipping classes... and shopping. H&M had a great sale... I couldn't resist.

Friday, November 23rd:

One thing I should have mentioned is that Sam and I decided it was 100% necessary that we bring Thanksgiving to Germany and to the other exchange students. Soooo... in typical American style (meaning completely overzealous) we decided that we were going to host a Thanksgiving dinner for fifty people... even though neither of us have ever cooked an entire Thanksgiving on our own, let alone in another country. So, from 10 a.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday I cooked two turkeys, made cranberry sauce and eleven casseroles with Sam's help.

Saturday, November 24th:

We celebrated Thanksgiving today and it went fairly smooth. People seemed to enjoy themselves.

So....
2 Turkeys and Gravy
1 batch of homemade cranberry sauce
3 Green Bean Casseroles
3 Potato Casseroles
1 Bowl of Stuffing
1 Pan of Southern Dressing
1 Corn Casserole
2 Pans of Sweet Potatoes
3 Dozen Deviled Eggs
2 Pumpkin Pies
1 Mixed Berry Pie
1 Chocolate Loaf
(Pies and Loaf generously provided by the lovely Leila, IA Caroline, AL and Isidro, AL)

After dinner we made plans to go to Prisma to celebrate my birthday at midnight. David Barbour (Scotland) surprised me with cake, candles, and a song before we left. Vilppu (Finland) brought me a bottle of port wine back from his recent trip to Portugal. Dan (Pittsburgh) gave me crackers (long story), a bottle of Rotkäppchen, and a Mai Tai the size of my head. Sam (Alabama) also gave me crackers and bought me a Pina Colada at Prisma. Francois (France) and Laila's (Iowa) gift to me was a round of tequila shots at midnight. Radim (Czech Republic), who is apparently my only friend here who didn't' want to get me drunk, gave me a Halloween postcard, house shoes/slippers, and pink rubber gloves for washing the dishes. Three of the Turkish girls, Sevgi, Iszgi, and Bahar gave me an "evil eye" (I can't remember the actual name of it) but it's an eye that's suppossed to ward off bad luck and apparently it's especially useful for people with blue eyes since those with blue eyes are supposed to have worse luck than everyone else (yay me).


After Midnight (the 25th): The Part I Hesitate to Write About

Prisma is by all means a normal club... and clubs, as a business, use certain gimmicks to make money such as holding special events in order to encourage greater attendance. Well... this was one of those nights. Near the entrance to one of the dance floors were two strippers... one of which was from Seattle (and no, I'm not posting their picture as I did with the scary people in latex). But hey... here's a picture of Radim and I... Radim's nearly the perfect man... he doesn't speak English or German,... basically he just walks around looking pretty saying, "ohhhh... schön" (oh... pretty) or "Du bist so schön" (You are so pretty)... luckily Laila's been teaching him both German and English.... so he only knows how to say nice things to women. On the other hand, he calls me Madonna... which I assume is either a reference to the virgin Mary or the cone-bra-wearing Queen of pop...


... oh, and later that night David got arrested for calling the police wankers... something I feel really pushed my party up to that next level of awesome... good food, good friends, dancing, strippers, and an arrest...

To My Wonderful Family... even Freddie...

The quilt that mom made with all of your names and squares arrived on Friday afternoon. It's absolutely wonderful... I was so surprised. Thank you all so much!

Last Saturday, November 3rd

Milja's boyfriend was in town this weekend... so we went to a club (excuse me, a "disco"... I hate that word). This is a picture of myself and two other lovely Prisma patrons. Notice the whip and chain I'm holding. Unfortunately, you can't see the stilts that Lars (I like to call him Lars) was using or the rather interesting protrusion in his latex suit.


Dear Mom,
Don't show Grandma Feenstra.

Dear Grandma Dee,
Don't show grandpa.

Dear Kori,
Don't get any ideas... but show Laurel!

TAN = Damage

As most you know, I have a very strict no tanning policy. I wear spf 30-55 everyday, my sunglasses cover half of my face, and I am terrified of wrinkles. I eat a lot of tomatoes and tomato products because I've read that lycopene has numerous anti-aging and skin care benefits. I try to sleep on my back (even though I prefer my stomach) because it's better not to put any extra pressure on delicate facial skin (Readers Digest, Fall 2005). In high school I decided that seventeen was a good age to start fighting the aging process...
>>>>>FAST>FORWARD>>>>>
Relevant Fact: The drinking age (for beer) in Germany is sixteen. You must be eighteen to purchase "spirits."
>>>>>FAST>FORWARD>>>>>
Dortmund, Germany. One month before my 21 st birthday.
I tried to buy alcohol.
I got carded. Carded! IN GERMANY!


For more information about the relationship between lycopene and tomatoes:
http://www.cancer.prostate-help.org/calycop.htm

For a nifty chart of various country's drinking age:
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html

For basic information about drinking in Germany:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2226609,00.html?maca=en-tagesschau_englisch-335-rdf-mp

For a picture of Connan O'Brien and Finnish President Tarja Halonen
http://www.shanatinglipton.com/blog/uploads/separated.jpg

http://www.smartskincare.com/treatments/topical/lycopene.html

Last Monday: Hauptschule

October 29th, 2007

Last Monday I went with my adviser, Sibylle, to Lützowstraße Hauptschule where I'll be teaching English. Basically I'll be assisting five classes on Monday and one class every other Wednesday in pronunciation, comprehension, and everything else that goes with learning a language. To be quite honest I'm not entirely for sure what I'm suppossed to be doing at this point as last week was basically a meet and greet with the classes.
I'm working with one class of sixth graders, two groups of freshmen, and two groups of sophomores/juniors... I think? Last week was a bit hectic, but all in all I think I'll be working with about seventy students. The school itself was interesting, as I was told it was going to be "sooo different." Hauptschule is basically high school, it's just a different kind of high school. A lot of the students there have some migration background but for a better explanation see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauptschule (Ya that's right, I'm citing Wikipedia... deal with it). Basically, it's just not a very good school. It's not in a bad neighborhood, but it's the equivalent of what you'd find in one.

Just the same, I'll let you know more tomorrow.

Class Update

TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25th
This is primarily a lecture/theory course, and although the professor asks questions, students don't seem to be required to participate (at least not from what I've observed in most classes). Moving on, Dr. Roters was discussing a language method that at one point was very common and was also very similar to what Pavlov did with his hound. She was explaining why this didn't work and how it created automated responses and that the speakers weren't able to produce the language for themselves, only respond to a preconditioned stimulus. Anyway, this is the example she gave:

Dr. Roters: "Now one reason this theory doesn't work is because the language learner isn't able to answer spontaneous questions. Maybe some of you," (there are about fifty people in this class), "have traveled or studied abroad in the United States, and if you have you've surely been to a grocery store. Of course you expect to stand in line, show them your things and then they'll tell you the amount, but what else do they ask?" No one says anything, we sit there, we wait and then she continues, "They ask 'debit or credit'. Now who can tell me the difference between debit or credit." Again, no one says anything... but I know this one :) .

Me: "Debit is money you have in your checking account and credit is money you don't have."

Dr. Roters: "Exactly, and if you ever purchase anything, nearly anything, in the United States you'll be asked this question." She pauses and looks at me sitting in the very back next to the two guys reading a magazine and then continues to say, "And I can tell by your accent that you've spent some time abroad. How long were in you in the United States?"

And I, with a very straight face reply: "Oh about twenty years."

It was at this point forty-nine faces turned to look and laugh as Dr. Roters face flushed.

Dr. Roters: "Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have known."

The next two minutes consisted of, "Oh, we have an American in class... let's all point and ask questions about American Pie and other U.S. teen movies that must be factual!"

Sometimes being an American is like being the bearded lady at a carnival. No one really wants to pay to see it, because it's just not that interesting, but if happens by you... you may as well get your kicks in.


IDEALISMUS UND EMPIRISMUS: DIENSTAG, 30 OKTOBER
I spent the an entire ninety-minute class period writing a single page on what I assume were the logical connections made by Hegel in his philosophical progression from logic (Logik) to nature (Natur), and finally nature to spirit (Geist)... in German. I had a German student read it after I was through, she said there were a lot of mistakes in it, but also that it was understandable. This was a vast improvement from the week before where my greatest classroom accomplishment included sleeping upright.

Today a Picture, Tomorrow a Post

Classes... eins, zwei,... zehn? Wie ungefähr acht?

Classes I'm taking to learn more German:
*Grammatik (Grammar)
*Deutsch für Studium und Alltag (German for Studying and Everyday Life)
*Ausspracheschulung (Pronunciation)
*Konversation (Conversation)

Classes I'm taking in German:
*Idealismus und Empirismus (Idealism and Imperialism)

Graduate Courses I'm taking in English:
*Post Human Bodies: Men, Women and Machines in Literature, Film and Music Video (This course is a cross between English and philosophy, needless to say, I love it.)
*The World's Eye: Ralph Waldo Emerson (This course, as far as I can tell, deals with Transcendentalism, Kant's influence on Emerson, and Emerson's influence on American thought and culture.... Emerson was said to have written our "Intellectual Declaration of Independence.")

Additional Courses:
* Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language (Focusing on theory and method primarily while incorporating a few historical perspectives to see exactly how politics have influenced how we teach.)

Courses I was going to take but dropped for one reason or another:
*Cross Cultural Voices: German & American Literature (I was less than impressed by the sub-par grad student who, from what I could see, was using the class as supplemental research for her dissertation.)
*Honors Seminar: Translating the Poetry of June Jordan (I guess this is an invitation only course, and having been invited I'm a little upset with myself for turning it down. On the other hand, I don't know if I'm ready to translate poetry [actually I know I'm not] and by not taking it, it keeps my Wednesday evenings free.)

... more on this later (I have to go get my laundry)...

Crackers and Cigarettes

October 23rd 7:45 a.m. - Dortmund, Germany

I'm awake. I don't have class until noon, and I didn't go to bed until four.

Why? So I can buy a roast... so later tonight... my friends won't have to eat deep fat fried schnitzel sh*t or some other unidentified swine product.

Why? Because some part of me must really care about these people if I'm waking up this early (I'd rather go to the dentist than wake up early). After all, it was suggested last night by a chain smoking non-food eating friend of mine that I should just say screw it. He said, "If I had to get up that early to go pick up a roast for dinner I'd sleep in and just serve crackers and cigarettes."

So I lost my purse...

To make a long story short...

David was in Scotland for a week.
I missed David.
I unexpectedly met him at the train station.
I got excited.
I left my purse on the train.
I got my purse back.
The end.

Luckily, some kind wonderful soul took my purse (with my drivers license, school ID, insurance card, two visa bank cards, my German bank card, and library card... which believe it or not has been vital to my survival here...) and brought it to the train station's lost and found office. I was shocked. Amazed. Dumbfounded. Astonished. Flabbergasted.

Anyway, having decided that today was my lucky day I decided to celebrate with a nice stiff glass of... water. (Hi Mom.)


Like the good people on NETV alway say, "Fun's not hard with a library card!"

Please Send Slippers?

Apparently, my flat-mates find it very odd that I don't wear house shoes/slippers when I'm at home.



But I'll be damned...

Thank You IKEA

BIG NEWS: Today, October 9th 2007, I unpacked and put away the rest of my clothes.

I also got Harold a girlfriend, a Hedera Helix (commonly the English Ivy), whom I have named Maude. I also got a castanospermum australe sapling (Australian chestnut). Right now it's about sixteen inches tall but I guess it will eventually be about 18 meters (59 feet) tall and produce poisonous fruit. Gwendolyn went with me and we decided that Finnius was a good name for it seeing as it was the 86th most popular boys name in Australia in 2005. On an unequally exciting note, I also picked up a lamp, some hangers, a window shade, an extra duvet, and tweezers. I know, it's exciting stuff living abroad... try to contain yourself.

Speaking of containing yourself, I spoke with my mother today... for those few of you who haven't met Deb...


This is us... and I miss her....


... and yes Sam... my mother has children of the corn eyes...

Vilppu

Should be doing his laundry (or perhaps learning to smile) instead of reading this blog. ;)

Actual Blog Subject(s): Yesterday; the last day of our language course, breath mints, and Harold.

Yesterday was the last day of our language course; thank you baby Jesus! I'd rather go to the dentist for three an a half hours every morning than go through that again. You may be in pain after you leave, but at least the dentist gives you a prize or a new toothbrush or something. I just spent the last four weeks of my life learning about breakfast in different countries. Ok, so I admit there was a little more to it than that but if you were to ask me to list the five most vivid things that I remember about the last four weeks of class it would be as follows:

#1 - Breakfast
#2 - Mrs. Robinson/Oedipus Complexes
#3 - Adjective Endings
#4 - A Complete Lack of Professionalism and
#5 - Package

Yesterday evening we all went to Limericks for a while and then to Hachenay (this is spelled wrong). The male Finn's (Vilppu and Jarkko) decided to introduce us to "Fisherman's Friend" which as far as I'm concerned is LETHAL. Basically you take a bottle of vodka and drop a package and a half of this "Fisherman's" breath mint into it. Then you let it sit and dissolve for about twenty-four hours. The result is a muddy coffee colored vodka that tastes like a Hall's cough drop. On the other hand, it doesn't burn or taste like hairspray. There, I think that's enough alcohol education for my friends and family.

Last, but certainly not least, Harold. Harold is a cactus. I bought him a few days ago. My room needed some additional life.

Deutsche Bahn On Strike... Again

I guess the German train system is calling (yet again) for a national strike which will be in full effect tomorrow. Suzanne had to wait for an hour to get a train today (usually one comes about every ten minutes). Tomorrow is the official start day of the strike though, so it's expected to be much worse. I guess the Bahn workers were upset about the 10% raise they received (they were lobbying for a 30% raise).

Münster Yesterday, Today an Emergency Contact

A decent sized group of the internationals went to Münster yesterday although we were missing several due to conflicting interests. Some of the students from Poland and Turkey went to Munich for Oktoberfest, Layla (from Iowa) went to Berlin for a few days and then planned to go camping (leave it to the Iowans to come to Europe to camp), and my friend Tammy (also from Iowa) decided at the beginning of this summer that she wanted to do something unusual, something tourists don't do, so she's running the Berlin marathon this weekend. I guess she trained for it this summer and had ran long distance when she was in high school... but ya. I guess I just don't know what to say about that except, "Go Tammy!" (Which translates into: You couldn't pay me to run a marathon). I definitely support her though, in fact, I support her sooo much that I'm her emergency contact. Special. I know.

It's at this point you're wondering why I've spent the last paragraph talking about people who didn't go to Münster instead of Münster. Well... because Münster sucked. The city wasn't bad, and there's definitely a lot worth seeing there... but it rained for a good twenty hours yesterday. Not pleasant. In addition to that I missed my train and had to wait for another one. So I sat outside in the cold and the rain for thirty minutes before I even left Dortmund, then I called Sam when I got there to see where she and the other were, and then it really got messy. They were at "the" church. Well, I went to two and a half (one ended up being just a really pretty, really tall, clock tower) churches before I got to "the" church. The bonus was that I saw far more than a lot of the others did.

A basic summary of my day in Münster:
Get off train. Call Sam. Go to A church. Call Sam. Take pictures of A church. Call Sam. Go to what looks like A church. Realize it's not a church. Call Sam. Get poked with old mans umbrella. Call Sam. Go to A church. Decide that this ones pretty, so take more pictures. Call Sam. Interrupt tourist group by making a loud annoyed phone call to Sam. Find ANOTHER church. Realize it's THE church and find Sam. Go inside, take pictures, walk around church and talk to Sam about her devotion and unwavering belief in science. Go to lunch with Gwendolyn, Sam, Marine, and Vilppu. Plan the rest of the day around the availability of restrooms. Meet up with Kamil and his German friend ____? who lives in Münster. Go to Münster City Museum. See everyone else (as it's a dry, warm and free place to be. Go out for coffee. Go back to train station. Miss train by 3 seconds. Get another thirty-five minutes later. Sit next to a group of ten year old German girls who can't help but stare at you when you speak because in between the Finish guy, the French girl, and the two American girls your with none of them can tell which English speaker is which. Decide Pig Latin is a better alternative.

TAMMY JUST CALLED:
She finished the marathon, all 42 km (26 miles). She said she wishes she would have trained longer and harder (she took the last three weeks off) but she said she feels fine and is going to try to catch an earlier train back since she's starting to get tired (surprise).

Well anyway... that was my non-eventful day in Münster. I do have pictures of the churches though and I'll be sure to post them within the week.

*Side note* Anyone with Skype should shoot me an e-mail letting me know their user ID.

Köln (Have I mentioned that I now have internet?)

Saturday, September 23rd:

I took the train to Köln today and it was AMAZING. Unfortunately I can't share my personal pictures with you at this time (because of the internet limit) but;

http://www.stanton.co.nz/oe/GERMANY/KolnDom.JPG

will take you to a nice night shot of where I was. The large building in the background is the Kölner Dom (Officially: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria). We actually climbed the stairs up to the bell tower, and then even further up to the very top. Also in that picture is the Rhein River where we sat and ate dinner and watched the sunset. Previous to dinner we (friends and I) went to the Ludwig Museum of Art where I saw several Andy Warhols (including his multi-colored Marilyn Monroe's), over 40 Picasso paintings, sketches, and sculptures, as well as some pieces by Salvidor Dali and Matisse.

Taken from Wikipedia (I can't believe I just cited Wikipedia):

"The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, being one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark, described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius".[1] Cologne Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. For four years, 1880-84, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument followed by the Eiffel Tower. It has the second-tallest church spires, only surpassed by the single spire of Ulm Cathedral, completed ten years later in 1890. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest facade of any church in the world.

The quire of Cologne Cathedral, measured between the piers, also holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1, exceeding even Beauvais Cathedral which has a slightly higher vault. [2]

Construction of the Gothic church began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete – a period of over six hundred years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall. [3]"

For more info and pictures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral

I HAVE INTERNET (Second Week)

In a nutshell this week was good and bad.

Saturday, September 15th - I went to Düsseldorf with a group of friends, walked along the Rhein and had lunch in this nice little restaurant Corey-the-Kansan knew. It was a surprisingly beautiful day (the first week I was here it was COLD and it RAINED A LOT). Düsseldorf is (from what I was told) the fashion capitol of Germany (Yes Natalie, I'm already planning to take you there when you come to visit) and has several couture/major designer stores.

This is the only day I really remember distinctively from this week. But here are the highlights (& lowlights):

+Dinner club was born. A group of friends and I've formed a dinner club were we all buy groceries and cook dinner together at a different persons flat each night. Basically what it's amounted to is me cooking dinner for 8-9 people in a different kitchen each night. Honestly it's a pretty good deal though because I love to cook and it's REALLY cheap to do in comparison to eating out or even buying single serving meals. Not to mention the food's a lot better. Usually it cost each of us 2 Euro ($2.80 USD) for a full meal. Tonight I'm making Shepherds Pie, Toss Salad mit Tomate und Gurken und Krauter Dressing, Bread (from the Bakery), and hot Potato Skin Chips beforehand. Not a bad meal for the price. Last night we had chicken breast wrapped in a strip of bacon with string cut green and red bell peppers, carrots, and celery sauted in white wine.

+Going to Düsseldorf of course.

-I found out that Dortmund students have a limit on their internet (it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard... seriously) which means I may have problems putting pictures up. What I think I'm going to do is every once in a while go into the StadtCentrum (city center) and just go to an internet cafe and upload there. I guess if you go over your limit here (which is quite low) not only do they not warn you when you're getting close, but they shut off your internet for the rest of the month.

-I learned a lot about German administrative practices... and they're horrible! Office hours do exist, just oddly. For instance, one office I know if open three days a week for three hours a day and the times are different each day. Most of the offices are actually like this I guess. It makes getting anything done nearly impossible. Even the bank is this way, and as I've mentioned before, the country damn near shuts down on Sundays.

I HAVE INTERENT! (First Week)

Here's a brief look at the first week I spent in Germany minus some of the gory details. I managed to keep up with this every day, but as you'll notice in the next few posts that will hopefully catch you up to date, I didn't journal everyday. Needless so say, they're far more abbreviated.


POST #1: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: My “Warm” Reception

Originally I had written about four pages for this entry alone, but on Monday my perception of the country drastically changed. So instead of the windy rant I’d originally intended to post I’ve instead elected to provide this brief time line with some minimal explanation.

Friday, 10:45 a.m. – Fly out of OMA to ATL, then from ATL to DUS.
Saturday, 9:50 a.m. – Arrive in Dortmund
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – Arrive at student apartment; briefly meet one of three girls I’ll share the apartment with.

And since everything in Germany closes early – regardless of the day –but especially on weekends I spent the next two days hermitting in my room hoping my one present roommate would share her food with me. Over the course of the weekend [Saturday morning-Monday afternoon] I had three eggs, one piece of bread, and three cooked cups of rice. Those of you who know me and know how much I like to eat know that I was starving… because that’s something I’d generally eat for a meal [minus some of the rice of course]… normally I wouldn’t even try to make that last forty-eight hours. Needless to say my first few days here were rather miserable and lonely. In fact, the most human contact I had was with Abide (Ah-bee-day), my roommate, which largely consisted of bilingual miscommunication and charades for no more than thirty minutes a day. Other than that, I was alone.
This brings us to Monday morning…

POST #2: Monday

At about nine this morning I went to the initial meeting point for the American students before we all went to our pre-class orientation. I’ve never been so excited to see strangers. There are a few Americans here – all with varying degrees of knowledge of the German language. For instance, some Alabama school just joined the ISEP network so they sent six of their students to the same school and none of them have had any German. I repeat, NONE. (They’re screwed) Then there are those who’ve literally been taking courses for nine or ten years.

Fast Forward – Everyone took a language placement test and multiple tours of Dortmund’s very large campus.

In the end they divided us up into three groups based on ability and I was placed in the second group… which was pleasantly surprising. Like I said, they administered a test to everyone with consisted of a few personal questions, a partner interview section which was later used to gauge our speaking ability, and then a short essay portion. I guess I just though I’d be in the first level considering how much German I’ve had, but I must be doing somewhat better than I thought. (More on this later)

POST #3: Tuesday – Thursday
In a nutshell I’ve been going to class and to “tutorial” (tutorial in short is a mandatory program that they set up nearly everyday after lunch where they parade us around the city as tourists – fannypack optional). It’s kind of funny right now, because we have a good deal of homework for the class we’re taking, then we have these damn tutorial things (which last forever) and our professors and the people in the international affairs department people keep asking us how we like the pubs and where we went out last night and then look surprised (shocked even) when we (the majority of the Americans) explain that A. We did homework and went to bed and or B. We don’t drink. (That’s right, I’m not the only one here… in fact two of the first people I really met, Gwyndolyn and Cory, also Americans, don’t drink. Cory doesn’t drink at all, he’s thirty and he’s never touched a drop in his life. Gwyndolyn’s twenty-two and drinks the same way I do; once in a blue moon she’ll have a glass of wine.) But as I was saying, they seem rather surprised… but in our defense (as raunchy, impolite, alcohol crazed American students) we’re insanely tired. They do A LOT of walking here... I’d say I walk at least five miles a day from place to place. Not like get up from your chair walk to the other room walking, like walk from 16th & G to 27th & A to 18th & Washington to 10th & O. walking. I walk twenty-five minutes to class (walking fast) then ten to lunch, then twenty back to my place, then fifteen to the campus train station. There’s a lot of walking done here…

POST #4: Friday

I’m playing hookie today. Why you ask? Because I learned a new German word this week, "durchfall," oder auf Englisch; diarrhea.

No Internet... YET...

So I'm quite frustrated (I write from a public computer) because I don't have internet in my room yet. I was told Wednesday (last), which is turning into Monday or Tuesday. I have been writing though, so you'll all have plenty to read in a few days...

Til then, miss you all... well, most of you... ;)

"Dortmund Doubles"

I received an e-mail from Angela Märtin, a member of staff on the American Studies
Department and the coordinator of the "Dortmund Double“ program, yesterday. Basically "Dortmund Doubles" is a program that Dortmund has for their international students that matches those who are studying abroad there with students from Dortmund who are interested in inter-cultural exchange (i.e. these student either have spent or will spend time aboard in the future). The goal of the program is to help students have a smooth transition onto the campus by showing us around, introducing you to friends, taking to you places off campus, etc. In addition, during the first few weeks (before actual classes start on October 15th) they've organized a lot of common activities for the exchange students (about 2,000 of us from what I understand) such as parties and trips.

My Passport

A few days ago mom complained that I hadn't made any updates in a while. I told her that I hadn't left yet, and therefore had nothing to write about Germany. She suggested I let you all know that I "finally" go my passport. "Finally" is in quotations because of the amount of time it took me to get it. Recently, as I'm sure most of you have heard, the US passport office has been a complete and total mess. Horror stories of people waiting months upon month for thier passports and having to cancel vacations have been in heavy circulation. In fact, it's also been said that even those who shell out the extra cash to have thier passport expedited are still waiting nearly two months. My passport, on the other hand, took six days.

Mom was really upset about this though. According to my inside source (Kori) mom was hoping that my passport wouldn't come in time and that I'd have to stay home. Then she contemplated "losing" it... then she gave it to me in hopes that I would lose it for her, and now, word in the livingroom is that she's crossing her fingers and hoping that I change my mind.

Talk to you all soon,... time left remaining until Germany: 18 days, 8 hours

Campustransport

Translation: Campus Transportation

Wesleyan is a "complete" campus. What I mean to say is that there is no "East Campus" like UNL or a "Nord Campus" and "Sud Campus" like Dortmund has. This makes it extremely convenient for me to get from class to another, as I'm almost positive you could walk from one corner of campus to the other in about five minutes. Dortmund, on the other hand, has two campus that are approximately 1.1 km (0.7 miles) apart. While that's not a terribly far distance, it's still longer than any walk you'll take on Wesleyan's campus. In finding this out, I also found out that Dortmund campus has a monorail system that connects the two campuses.

Below is a picture of the H-bahn route.


The H-Bahn located at the University of Dortmund, Germany, is an automatically controlled suspended monorail system in Germany. It carries more than 5,000 passangers per day. On May 2, 1984 this facility opened as the first system of this kind in Germany. It is integrated into the public transport networks of the city of Dortmund and the tariff union VRR of the Rhein-Ruhr district. The H-Bahn track length is approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) long with two lines operating monday to friday from 6.26 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. Line 1 connects the district of Eichlinghofen with the science park with transfer stations "Campus Süd" and "Do-Universität S" every ten minutes. The coordinated time tables of the monorail and urban railway offer optimal connections to Düsseldorf International Airport and Dortmund central station. Line 2 connects the two university campuses in a five-minute cycle. The main route between "Campus Süd" and the branch to the station "Technologiezentrum" is used by both lines. With a minimum frequency of 40 seconds there are 36 scheduled runs per hour. (Excerpt taken from http://www.h-bahn.info/en/index.php)

I'm going to Dormund

Title Translation: I'm going to Dortmund!

Today I received confirmation of my placement at Universitat Dortmund. The details are still a little sketchy, but right now it's looking like I'll leave on September 8th, 2007 and return July 31st, 2008... nearly eleven full months later.

Dates I know for sure:

• Pre-exchange language courses are from September 10th - October 5th.
• Orientation and Registration are on October 9th.
• Fall classes begin October 15th.
• Fall classes end on February 8th.
• Christmas break is from December 24th - January 6th (this I find odd).
• I have a semester break from February 11th - April 6th (this I love).
• Spring classes begin on April 7th.
• Spring classes end on July 18th.
• The last day I'll have campus housing July 31st.

What I know about housing:

• I'll be living on or near campus.
• I have my own room.
• And I'll be sharing my bathroom with 2-6 people (last year I shared my bathroom with 41 other girls... this'll be a peice of cake... although I've been told by other exchange students that bathrooms/washrooms aren't really seperated by sex in Europe).

Things I really should do:

• Get a passport.
• Get a plane ticket.
• Get a job (where I work more than one day a week).

Where am I going?

Title translation: Where am I going?

In roughly six months I'll be boarding a plane to Germany, where I'll live for nine months.

Concerns I have:

• I've never lived abroad before.
• I'm going entirely by myself (this is both exciting and terrifying).
• I don't know where exactly in Germany I'll be living.
• My German is complete shit.

Why I'm writing a blog:

• I have a large family, and this is so much easier than e-mailing them.
• Personal use (writing material, incase I suffer some sort of short or long term memory loss, for general shits'n'giggles, etc.).