Sunday, December 23, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, December 21, 2007
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...
And here's a picture of the quilt you all helped in making (I've had request to post a picture).... so requested granted...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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 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....)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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 #%^##!$%^@$%$@!~, I should take it off the stove," decided that the better idea would be to continue cooking it for another twenty minutes. Our entire apartment smells like a fisherman's backside.
... the gypsy that robbed Radim in Mallorca. (She sold him a flower, gave him change, and picked his pocket all at the same time while Francois and Katrena watched.)
... Rilo Kiley (Jenny Lewis).
... the writers of "Grey's Anatomy"... well, most of the time, but not always. "Seriously!"
... how disgusting my roommates are. Yesterday I put an end to the five day toilet paper strike (that's right... there was a strike... everyone was refusing to buy toilet paper. Luckily I had some I'd hoarded in my room) by buying toilet paper and attaching a note expressing my attitude toward hygiene (it's a good thing).
... how EXTREMELY disgusting my roommates are. Today I smelled something strange when I woke up from my nap. A quick scan through my olfactory told me I was smelling burnt fish. (My roommates are infamous for leaving fish in the kitchen (on the counter) for two or three days at a time). Anyway, I went to the kitchen to check and sitting on the stove is a pot with boiling rice. On top of the pan is a place with a large fish head on it, and some other (mid-section?) piece of fish. The fish was clearly cooked... OVER cooked... but just the same, thirty seconds after I enter the kitchen, so does my fish cooking roommate who instead of going, "Wow, this smells like total #%^##!$%^@$%$@!~, 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!"
Sunday, December 9, 2007
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).
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...
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...
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