Wiederholen sie bitte?

Caught ya!

2011-10-15T21:04:00.001+02:00

I hope you feel really guilty for googling me and finding a blog from my junior year of college.

What does that say about you? :P

Off to Köln/Altenberg...

2009-09-07T10:04:00.002+02:00

Ok... so I haven't been posting. So as Kevin Reiman's license plate once read:

Whooopps. Or something to that extent which referred to the high school girls basketball team. (Mom will remember.)

Anyway... Fulbright conference in Köln...

I'll be there until the evening of the 10th, something like that, and will arrive later in the evening in Berlin that same day. I probably won't have an internet connection for a while but I'll be sure to log some typing time (i.e. save some entries that I can readily post once I'm connected again).

Briefly, things are going about as I expected they would.

More about everything next week.

Brace Yourself, I'm Going To Be Dramatic...

2009-08-28T13:20:00.002+02:00

My computer broke fifteen minutes ago but luckily I know just enough Finnish (swear words) that I was able to use Vilppu's laptop to get online and blog about this...

To add to the situation I can't seem to get the sound to turn on on this darned thing which means I can't even call anyone to complain. Ugh.

Placement: Richard Grundschule, Neukölln - Berlin, Germany

2009-08-24T08:10:00.002+02:00

About two months ago I received my teaching placement and today I'm finally going to post it. (Clearly I'm running a little behind schedule).

Richard Grundschule is an elementary school that, as per their Pädagogisch-inhaltliches Profil, focuses on the development of language.

Since I haven't actually been there yet there's not a whole lot else I can tell you. The following is the address to the school webiste:

http://www.richard-grundschule.cidsnet.de/

Updates: Germany and Otherwise

2009-06-25T00:35:00.002+02:00

Germany:

I'm still waiting to find out which school I'll be teaching in which means that I'm still waiting to find an apartment. Hopefully I'll find out something within the next three weeks.

Here:

I started a new job. I work in "risk mitigation" for an insurance company. It's really boring but I'm learning a lot about mortgages and various types of insurance which I assume will be helpful in the future.

I moved... like ya do...

Tammy, a friend from Iowa whom I met in Germany, came to visit last weekend and Chelsea, a friend from Wesleyan who is soon leaving us for the über selective writing program in Iowa City, was also in town all last week. Good times...

Lauren (from Jersey), my future Berlin roommate, is in Izmir, Turkey right now and I'm extremely jealous because I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska talking about escrow accounts and whether or not a fire policy covers a tree falling onto your house. (It does.)

Departure Date

2009-06-09T07:36:00.003+02:00

I booked my tickets to Germany today.

I'll fly out of Omaha on August 26th and arrive bright and early on the morning of the 27th in Düsseldorf. From Düsseldorf I'll head 37 kilometers northwest to Essen to see Vilppu (Finland), who is working at the university there for the summer, and hopefully Francois (France). Francois came to Dortmund to study abroad in the fall of 2007 (the same time I did) and liked it so much he never left. It's really not all that bad, Fran graduated at the end of the year and got an engineering job in Dortmund. Shortly, he'll be moving to the United States (Virgina, I think?) to work for a firm here for a few years so I'm hoping I catch him while he's still in Dortmund.

After my mini-Dortmunder reunion I was supposed to go to Frankfurt to see Julain, the orphaned German exchange student that I found cold and alone on Wesleyan's campus last fall (by orphaned I mean he didn't have an I-Pal/campus guide and I "adopted" him. See the original post.) Unfortunately, Julian will be knee deep in exams so I probably won't see him until October at the earliest. On the brighter side, it'll give me more time to visit with Marcel, "my German son" who studied abroad at Wesleyan this past school year and studied at the same university that I did when I was in Germany the first time around.

Next on the agenda is a four day conference in Köln from September 7th - 10th. After that lets out I'll get on a train and head across the country to Berlin, my soon to be home.

Speaking of my future home, dwelling... box... I'm hoping I can find something as nice as this lovely piece of real estate that I found in the Portland, Oregon area:

I think my roommate and I will have to take turns being home though...

Erika and her Saturn

2009-05-25T08:33:00.002+02:00

Fulbright Placement

2009-05-13T01:27:00.008+02:00

So maybe you know, maybe you don't, but I'm going back to Germany for another year.

Last time I lived in Dortmund. (See handy-dandy map below.)

Today I received a notification from the Fulbright Kommision that I've been placed in Berlin.

Now because this is a blog and you can't see my face or hear my tone I'm going to use HTML text blah-blah-blah-something or other and a picture or two in order to express myself properly.

I'm going to Berlin!

BERLIN!

The Last 6 Months in Review

2009-05-13T00:51:00.004+02:00

November, I've decided, is my second least favorite month of the year, February prevailing. Fall begins to fade into winter, Christmas season forces itself upon us, and it get's cold.

December was a busy month but I had a lot of fun, too. All of the exchange students from first semester were still here and my finals weren't too horrible (at least not in comparison to the current situation).

January escapes me. I don't really remember January... I believe it sucked. Julian (aus Deutschland) had went home, Tara was getting deported (not really but kind of) back to Ireland, and the Estonians were long gone. Second semester started with a crash instead of the traditional "bang" and...

Boom, that brings us to February, my least favorite month. February is a cramped, sad little month. The weather sucks, no one actually like Valentines Day, Groundhogs Day (once my favorite holiday) is a joke (which is why it was my favorite), and most people seem to be suffering from some sort of post-holiday depression. I find this especially true among university student populations who had a nice five to six week break from living in shared 10 x 10 box, ate something other than cafeteria/fast food, and now find themselves back in the box with the same shitty food working long hours and late nights.

There may have been a dance in March. I think there was. I believe March is when Wesleyan holds their "Formal" (i.e. a prom with booze). This year was the first time I elected to go... and one time was enough.

April was a marathon. No, a triathlon. I ran, I swam, I biked... not really. April was really intense though. You know when you're waiting in line to board a roller coaster and you stand there in the hot sun for what feels like hours next to two screaming kids barely tall enough to meet the height requirement and a big fat smelly guy who sweats a lot and keeps bumping into you and thereby branding you with his oder? And you know how when you finally get up to the shaded portion of the line right before you board that you're always like one person away from actually getting on the darn thing? And you know how then you realize you really need to pee but you've already been waiting in line for the better part of your natrual life and suddenly you're consumed with indecision? And then you know how when you finally say, "screw it, I'm getting on this roller coaster!" and you start to buckle yourself in and the cars lurch forward and start to make what seems like a completely ridiculous set of unsafe noises in thier asent and you realize this was really bad idea? And then when your car finally starts to break at the peak you're given two options: throw your hands up and scream or simultaneaously pee and puke. That was April for me. I'm not sure what I did, but it seems to be working out ok...

A Message to Sarah Palin

2008-10-20T20:31:00.003+02:00

And we're off..

2008-09-02T03:02:00.003+02:00

School has officially begun which means that I have fifteen other things to do that take priority over blogging about it so here's a real quick update:

I start my new job on September 5th.
Jack just had his three month check-up and is 17.5 lbs.
I'm taking twelve credit hours this semester and attempting to get some work done on my senior thesis.
The two Germans boys I adopted (one's my I-pal, the other was a stray we found on campus) are readily adjusting to Lincoln. Lately my spare time has consisted of helping them read aerosol deodorant labels so they actually buy deodorant and not just body spray.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment... you'll know more when I do.

Cupcake

2008-08-21T06:49:00.004+02:00

Oh yes, and I got a new car a few weeks ago... her name is Cupcake.

Kylee, my six-year-old niece, helped me pick it out. It's cute, it's little, and twelve years newer than my last car.

I <3 Cupcake.

A new year begins...

2008-08-21T06:33:00.002+02:00

... academically speaking this coming Monday.

This is, if all goes according to plan, my last year at Wesleyan and I'm currently in the process of trying to make some huge, potentially life altering decisions. It's not fun. It's kind of exciting, but mainly, it's terrifying.

In other news.... my I-Pal got here yesterday. His name is Marcel Wolke and he's from Dortmund Germany. We met while I was still there and he's at Wesleyan for the fall semester. My job is to show him around Lincoln and Wesleyan, help him get through classes and general abroad adjustments that he'll need to make. Yesterday and today we got a lot accomplished... cell phone, dorm room, groceries, housing contract, visa stuff, and a bunch of other administrative type things. In addition to Marcel I've temporarily adopted another German exchange student (his I-pal was away last week and unable to join us today) named Julian. Basically I'm doing my best to ensure that their transition to Wesleyan and the necessary paperwork that accompanies it all is easier than mine was to Dortmund.

I'll write again soon!

(I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier now that I'll be getting on an actual schedule again.)

Jack

2008-07-29T00:26:00.003+02:00

Jack is the new puppy.

He's a 9 week old Weimaraner with a silver coat and blue eyes. His likes are pooping, eating, tennis balls, things that squeak, napping on me or with my favorite blanket, and attacking house plants and door springs (you know, those things that go "bong" that keep the door/doorknob from putting a hole in the wall behind it). His dislikes include kennel time, being told no, and stairs.

Pictures are coming soon.

I'm home!

2008-07-25T04:49:00.002+02:00

... and I'm exhausted. Still.

Instead of jet lag I just got kinda sick. The A's (asthma and allergies) again so I'm drinking alka seltzer like it's going out of style. Anyway... I am home... I still have the same cell phone number and e-mail so give me a call if you're in Lincoln or simply if you feel like chatting. I'm not doing any paid work right now (i.e. I'm unemployed) but I am working. I have a lot of paperwork/administrative things that I have to do before school starts up again. In addition I'm looking at grad schools and options I may or may not have after graduation and trying to get my transcripts from Germany... which would expedite half of what I have to do.

Again... (or perhaps for the first time if I haven't seen you yet) I'm glad to be home.

T - 24 hours

2008-07-20T16:27:00.002+02:00

Soon enough I'll be on a plane...

... and this time it'll be a plane home. Crazy, huh?

Just a few tidbits...

2008-07-16T14:51:00.004+02:00

I come home in less than a week thereby proving Josh wrong. (He made some offhand comment to mom about the fact that I'd bought a one-way ticket and following it with , "You remember what happened to Uncle Bruce?"... I guess "Uncle Bruce?" took a trip to Europe to "look around" and came home 25 years later. Sounds like a cool guy.)
I will have spent 329 days in Germany (or at least out of the U.S.)
I've decided to keep my blog. I don't know how many of my close friends and family members actually read this, but what I do know is that without the blog Aunt Julie could not live through me vicariously. I don't want to take that away from her.
Another reason I'd decided to keep updating this thing is because I'm seriously considering graduate school. The downside is that there really aren't any programs that interest me in the U.S. central time zone. Which is my ultra-nice way of saying TOO MUCH CORN! Kidding! You can never have enough corn... or cows... or tractors, silos, grain bins, barbed wire, men in overhauls, trucks with gun racks, or politically incorrect mascot names (Go Indians! I mean, Miners! Seriously people?). Anyway, I love the Midwest and it will always be "home"... but it probably won't always coincide with my address.

You should read this...

2008-07-14T01:29:00.001+02:00

Here's another article about the "Rabbit Ripper"...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1033701/Rabbit-ripper-Ruhr-leaves-German-detectives-baffled-spate-beheaded-pet-bunnies.html

Speaking of bunnies...

2008-07-14T01:25:00.001+02:00

... here's a picture of mine.

Crunch Time

2008-07-14T00:58:00.002+02:00

It's past midnight here, making it Monday, meaning that I have exactly a week left before I start the trek home. I was trying to make a list of all the things I have to do (administratively speaking) before I go... and it's overwhelming. For the last few years I've had to move immediately after finals were over, but this is the first time that I'll be moving to a different continent immediately after.

___________________

I've been here for close to a year now and am happy to report that I continue to learn new things. Yesterday I heard German rap for the first time. With lyrics like, "bring den Tune zuruck" and "spiel den Shit nochmal" I must say it's pretty similar to American rap... just goofier because it's sprinkled with English words. I also learned the word for goblet this morning (which is every bit as useful as hearing German rap... oh well).

Changing subjects...

Tammy and baked cookies today and then fed them to birds. You know, helping the hungry.
One of my houseplants blew out of my window and into my apartment (my fluffy three that's a bout four feet tall) about two weeks ago. It's pot broke and my solution was just to sit it in another pot. So far I haven't replaced any of the dirt but I continue to water it... which of course just washes away whatever dirt was left sticking to the roots. Surprisingly, the thing's never looked better.
There's a 2,500 Euro reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of the "Rabbit Ripper." For the last year someone in my area has been killing pet rabbits in Dortmund and Witten by decapitation. Apparently this individual is also draining all of the blood from the rabbit taking it with them... at least they're not finding it at the scene. Check it out (the article, not the headless bunnies)... ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7494184.stm ) The article states 30, but I read forty from another source..

So I'm packing...

2008-07-08T03:31:00.002+02:00

It's 3:35 a.m. right now and I'm packing. Here's what I've decided...

I want to become a minimalist.

I went to the post office to weigh one of my suitcases today and was shocked to find out that it was 59 pounds... which believe it or not is 11 pounds lighter than it was when I originally packed it a year ago (I've been throwing shoes away). My second suitcase (which I've just packed) is lighter than first (which is encouraging)... unfortunately I keep finding shoes.

See you all soon

Error

2008-07-01T01:19:00.003+02:00

I was going to upload some pictures... but apparently blogspot's not allowing that today.

Is Iowa the new New Orleans?

2008-06-17T18:36:00.009+02:00

What happened in New Orleans a few years ago is terribly unfortunate; lives were figuratively and literally lost, and if my blog were popular at the "general public" level I'm sure I'd get a lot of hate mail regarding the title of this entry. But rest easy, I'm not making fun of the situation in New Orleans or in Iowa... I'm making fun of religious zealots... because who doesn't love a good bible-beater-beating? (Considering my audience I'll probably get more hate mail from that lovely little tidbit of alliteration more than anything else... but carrying on...)

I was pondering aloud this past weekend with a friend of mine here who's actually from Iowa. In fact, there are three University of Iowa students in Dortmund at present (Tammy, Laila, and Lissy). Anyway, my thought was this: "I wonder how long it will be until some religious group or televangelist comes forward and describes Iowa as another 'Sodom and Gomorrah' that needed to be 'wiped clean' and 'saved through the grace of the Lord'?"

Basically I'm waiting for a conservative nut-job to fall from his or her fundamentalist tree and smack their little shell on the pavement below, emptying their nutty contents for all the passing world to see. The only reason I bring this up is because I find it helpful to vent my dissatisfaction to friends and family... and because I find this sort of "religious reckoning" absolutely appalling. Although I've never been a fan of the popular, "If he brings you to it, he'll get you through it," Christian key chain mantra, labeling natural events and disasters that are for the most part the result of simple, albeit destructive, weather patterns as "acts of God" meant to, "punish the sinner," for, "their evil wickedness and immoral actions" feels a little extreme. So it's legal to gamble in Iowa... is that really reason to flood and destroy more than 400 city blocks? Even thought I'm by no means a proponent of gambling, I still say no.

Of course I'm in Germany and I really have no idea if any cashews or pecans have come forth yet. In fact, I hope my preemptive-rant (I'm calling it a preemptive-rant at this point because I don't know if it has happened, or even if it will happen) is completely uncalled for in the case of Iowa. On the other hand I would like to note that the people responsible for the religious propaganda and condemnation that surrounded the hurricane that effected New Orleans will, by mandate of their own beliefs, burn in hell for all eternity. Why? Because true Christians know that God is the only arbiter come judgment day and that trying to assume the position or duties of the Lord is a more than sizable offense. (Which in turn makes me a hypocrite since I'm judging those who judged, but then again, I don't claim to be a "true" anything.)

Phew... well I feel better.

And in all reality I should. In fact, I shouldn't even be worrying about what Reverend Tithe, Pastor Eve L. Sinner , or Father Call-Our-800-Number-Now could potentially propagandize Iowa for since gay marriage was recently made legal in California.

I'm sure they're all busy fund-raising for a cure for gay.

More about snails...

2008-06-09T22:37:00.003+02:00

Another class... last week... talking about snails... here's the convo...

This took place in German, but for your convenience and mine... it's now in English.

Dr. Martin: It used to be possible to make a very broad doctoral thesis, but now, everything is very specialized since everything has already been covered in the broader sense. Now we have theses over things like... I don't know... "Why can't snails fly?"
Tijmen the Dutch Guy: What's a 'Schnecke?' (Snail)
Andrea: (Drawing a picture of a snail on her notebook) This is a snail.
Tijmen the Dutch Guy: Ooooooh. (continues playing racing games on his cell phone)
Dr. Martin: Snails like beer.
All students: Ooooook. (nod heads)
Dr. Martin: If you put out some beer in your backyard, all the nearby snails will come and gather around the beer.
Andrea: I thought that only worked with men?

Another funny/interesting conversation I had recently... not about snails... but beer...

The scene: two eight year old boys drawing pictures when I overhear them talking about Krombacher and Veltins (two beer brands).

Andrea: Krombacher? What?
Little Boy: It's delicious.
Andrea: And how old are you?
Little Boy: Eight.
(I stand there in my usual "I'm-too-shocked-to-say-anything" stance because I'm pretty sure he's serious.)
Little Boy: Yep, I drink the whole beer. It's good stuff.
Other Little Boy: I like Veltins better.

It should be noted that both little boys were drawing pictures of crates of beer. This was for a project I did for a literature class on how children interpret literature... it wasn't really what I expected... but I guess that's the point of doing research.

"At times I make up words." - Mary Daly, radical feminist and my personal hero

2008-06-09T21:35:00.003+02:00

I generally don't make up too many words, but I do confuse them quite frequently. Most people will tell you that this is quite common, especially when learning a "sister" language like German. Today was an excellent example.

When talking about geographic minorities, in comparison to ethnic minorities, in Germany someone brought up Zigeuner, gypsies, as a geographic minority and Dr. Martin said something along the lines of:

"Es gibt nicht eine Menge Zigeuner in Deutschland, also versuchen wir, sie zu schützen."

Excuse any errors I may have made there (not that many of my readers speak German, but still). Anyway, basically he said, "There aren't that many gypsies in Germany and we [the German people] want to protect them."

QUICK GERMAN LESSON (and something necessary to understanding the comedy of this situation):

Cognates are words that are similar in both languages.
Example: Kultur, Baby, Bier, Karotte und Auto (respectively: culture, baby, beer, carrot, and car. It should also be noted that I'm not really sure if car is considered a cognate or not, but just the same, it's one of those words that if you know English you can probably figure out what "auto" means in German).
The verb to protect is schützen in German.
Schützen is phonetically similar to saying "Shoots-sen".
Go ahead, try to say "Shoots-sen"... it sounds like it looks... shoot, right?

Yes. I am. Moving on now...

When Dr. Martin said, "Es gibt nicht eine Menge Zigeuner in Deutschland, also versuchen wir, sie zu schützen," or "There aren't that many gypsies in Germany and we [the German people] want to protect them," I mistook the verb schützen for a cognate and personally translated it as:

There aren't that many gypsies in Germany and and we [the German people] want to shoot them.

Obviously, I was incorrect. Luckily for me this was by no means the worst mistake I've made when learning the German language. It's the third.

Runner-up dates back to last semester, the morning after the shooting that occurred in Westroads Mall in Omaha, during a Konversation course when we were talking about current events in our home areas. (It's now that I should quickly note that foreigners, more specifically Europeans, seem to have a odd fascination/highly enjoy talking about or criticizing the United States and it's history of school/public shootings. In addition, a school shooting attempt had been recently foiled in Köln, which is near Dortmund and in the coming weeks, Finland would experience it's first school shooting in like twenty years, not to mention it's most deadly). That being said, I was trying to explain what had happened, and not knowing the verb for "shooting", quickly looked it up in my handy-dandy electronic dictionary. The verb was "Schießen"... pronounced phonetically as, "She's-Zen," because in German the second vowel (in this case is the 'e' highlighted in green) is pronounced, rather than the 'i' like it would be in English. Anyway, I was trying to tell them that there was a large shooting in Omaha, Nebraka but instead I pronounced the 'i' instead of the 'e' which changed my verb from shooting to shitting and ultimately changed my sentence into, "There was a large shitting in Omaha, Nebraska." People laughed, I was embarrassed.... end of story.

The Grand Champion of language goof ups goes to the same verb. This happened at the beginning of this semester (early April) during a Literature, Culture, and Language course. We were reading William Tell aloud in class when I was asked to read. More specifically, I was asked to read the part where Mr. Tell shoots the apple off his sons head. I made the exact same mistake I'd made before and said that, "He shit the apple off his head," instead of shooting it off his head.

Well here they are, my top three language goof-ups. If you're not satisfied, have no fear, tomorrows another day and inevitably another dozen or so chances for me to butcher the German language.

Snail Week

2008-06-05T23:25:00.004+02:00

I'm thinking about getting my TEFL certification (teaching English as a foreign language). I have the experience, but now I'd have the credentials as well which would actually "mean something" in the eyes of society (i.e. various applications). That, and I really enjoy it. The basic class certification starts at $325 (60 hour class) and goes up to $470 (120 hour class). In all truth, I'd like to get the full 120-hour certification since it'd be more complete (not to mention more useful),... but I think that will all depend on funds.

Mom, Scott, and Neila came home from Florida today. I called when they got home only to be cut short by the arrival of the grandkids. If only I were cute, little, and still in preschool... or maybe I could just run around with my mouth open trying to bite one of my siblings (because they do an awful lot of that, too).

It was "Snail Week" at Ostenberg Grundshule this week. I arrived on Monday morning only to find all of the kids running around outside looking for snails and picking grass (Germany has monstrous snails... at least way bigger than anything I ever captured as a kid). Later, after the habitats had been set up, we read from their science book about Schneckekinder (snail babies)... i.e. where baby snails come from. It was then that I realized how much of a prude I am (perhaps the correct term is actually 'puritanical American'). In the biology book, there was a picture of two snails mid-coitus. Of course they're snails - which are roughly 0.0127 points above being asexual - but this was a book for six and seven year olds... and in my "advanced age" I was thought to myself, "When I was your age, we didn't talk about sex in school! And when we did it was purely speculation!" (Thank you public schools for denying your students sex ed. and thank you Christian schools for denying sex entirely [note the sarcasm])
Anyway, this was a fleeting moment of conservative "Oh my!" until I turned the pages to a future chapter with a two page spread titled: "Mädchen oder Junge?" (Girl or Boy?) They were cartoons... but the first page pictured a back view of two naked and rather androgynous children. The text said something about not being able to tell the difference from the back whereas the next page had a front view of both anatomically correct children. In addition, just in case you failed to notice, there were oh-so-conveniently pointing arrows to, you guessed it, a penis and a vagina. I nearly fell off my chair.
The worst part of this whole experience is not that there was animated nudity in these books, it was that I was disappointed in myself for being so shocked by these pictures. You see I realized that I truly am a product of the United States school system, and not that that's completely failed me yet, but obviously the 'nudity-phobe' culture from which I emerged has had a lasting effect. In addition, I felt completely unworthy of calling myself liberal.

On a final note, I've almost completed the hour requirement for my internship. (This is good news.)

Hopefully within coming weeks I'll have something a bit more interesting to write about than snail sex... but just so you don't leave without learning anything... snails lay sixty eggs at a time. Spread the word.

56

2008-05-25T17:06:00.003+02:00

Olfactory receptors, in humans, are categorized in 56 families.
The word "Yeah" is sung 56 times in both R.E.M.'s song "Man on the Moon" and Nirvana's, "Lithium".
Fifty-six is also the number of consecutive games where Joe DiMaggio had a base hit in 1941.
Fifty-six also represents the number of men who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.
It is also the code for international direct dial phone calls to Chile.
Fifty-six is atomic number for barium.
And... fifty-six is the number of days in which I'll be back in the U.S.

Spiderman 3

2008-05-22T22:24:00.002+02:00

I finally watched Spiderman 3 today. So let me say just one thing...

You suck Topher Grace.

Topher should have just stayed that skinny stoned white-kid sitting on the couch in his parent's basement on "That 70's Show" because that's basically who he plays in the movie... except whinier and more pathetic (I know! I know! I had no idea that was possible either!).

I am the little dog...

2008-05-19T01:50:00.002+02:00

... and Germany is the big dog.

Nothing's Happening

2008-05-11T01:49:00.004+02:00

I'm doing a lot of studying... and the bunnies who live outside my apartment just had another litter. That's about it.

What are you guys up to?

14 Olives for the Low Price of $4.66

2008-05-03T16:10:00.004+02:00

That's right, I'm blogging about olives... my life is just that exciting right now.

Tom and I went to the "nice" grocery store down today and the guy who was guarding the "free" samples all but literally twisted my arm into buying some olives. I bought some sort of large variety (about the size of small plastic Easter egg) that were coated in fresh herbs and garlic and stuffed with almonds. They're delicious. As a "gift" he also allowed me to eat one of the shrimp and gave me a smaller container with about twelve regular sized olives that are spiced (with chili's) and stuffed with the most scrumptious chili gelatin I've ever had.

What I'm saying is that I payed nearly five dollars American for olives. For beautiful, ripe, firm green olives and I actually feel that it was worth it. For those of you who don't remember, this is quit a change for me, the girl who used to eat canned black olives after wearing them on the tips of her fingers... of course I was five, it was thanksgiving, and you all weren't watching the "kids table" very carefully...

Thomas Weisskopf

2008-05-02T11:17:00.003+02:00

Tom was an exchange student at Elmwood-Murdock Jr./Sr. high school when I was a freshman in high school at Weeping Water. His host family was pretty involved in one of the Weeping Water churches though and that's how we go to know each other.

On to the point... I haven't seen Tom in six years (we've talked on and off though) but he's coming to visit for the weekend. Also, in a crazy, twisted, it's-a-small-world-after-all sorta way there's another American girl studying in Dortmund this semester who studied in Tom's hometown when she was in high school.

Gustav Klimt, "The Kiss"

2008-04-11T15:51:00.006+02:00

I have a poster of Klimt's "The Kiss" hanging in my room... the wrong way. Instead of hanging it vertically, I've hung it horizontally. It's been hanging wrong (no matter where I lived) for as long as I've had the poster (I think I got it in November). Some people notice, some people don't. I generally tell everyone that I've seen it displayed in various stores/places both ways... mainly to see what they say. A friend of mine called it a "bold choice" and later she told me that she liked that I hung it horizontally. I'm waiting, somewhat anxiously, for someone to come over and tell me what an idiot I am, to criticize my education, and mock me openly in my own apartment.

This is the intended view:

I realize I'm offending art students and Klimt admirers everywhere... but it fills the space on my wall and I rather like it "wrong"...

I've found hanging it this way can be a real conversation starter. I've also found that people who take the interpretation of art too seriously tend to ignore what's truly aesthetic about a piece; color, texture, complex lines, etc. (of course this is just my opinion). To clarify, I don't think that what is in the picture and how it's seen from a certain angle should determine the sum total of it's value. In fact, I feel that since Klimt's "The Kiss" can be hung incorrectly yet still maintain "sense" in one's mind only adds to it's beauty. Not that I think art necessarily needs to make sense... in fact, the only thing art really needs to do is appeal to someone.

It's because of this I'm seriously considering hanging the ten Van Gogh posters I have taped up around the place either upside down or sideways....

... just kidding.

And one more thing...

2008-04-06T19:26:00.002+02:00

I just referred to an earlier post that promised extensions on the following subjects:

My trip to Nijmegen √ check
The New Place √ check
Das Große Kinder Lexikon
The Death of my Trees
New Arrivals
Why Germans don't make Friends Easily and
The Ridiculousness that is Currywurst

To tie up the loose ends:

Das Große Kinder Lexikon is a book that I recently purchased. It's an encyclopedia geared towards the 8-14 crowd. I bought it in hope of improving my German reading level (to that of an eight-year-old). I also bought it to learn more about Germany, thinking that the articles titled "Hauptstadt" (Capital) and "Denkmal" (Monument) would have interesting things pertaining to the country in which I'm studying... instead, I got an article about Washington D.C. and Mount Rushmore.

One of my Australian Chestnut trees died in the move... both of my pine trees died... and my English Ivy looks like it was ran over. My cactus and two remaining Chestnut trees are doing just fine though. (I realize this is all terribly boring... but you have to keep in mind that I've been jobless and school-less for the last two months... something that hasn't happened since I was five. I hardly know what to do with myself.)

As far as new arrivals go I'm of course referring to the new exchange students, many of which I've met. Another Iowan joins us while I remain the sole Nebraskan. Five more students from New York are here along with another student from Ohio. There also seem to be several students from Italy and Spain, a few from Hungary, a Finn, a Brazilian, a Swede, two Ottomans, and a girl from Mexico. I'm sure I'm missing a great deal of the group in my list, such as the girl from ? whose name no one seems to be able to agree on.

Under the heading, "Why Germans don't make friends easily," one need only to come to Germany to understand that statement. I think I was particularly frustrated with the culture at the time, but just so we're clear, I'll provide with the following example:
A few weeks ago I went to meet a friend of mine at a cafe/coffee shop that can only be described as "the norm." I came in, sat down, opened the menu, made a decision, and proceeded to flag down the waiter who was all but a table away and slightly staring. When I attempted to give him my order he instructed me to go to the counter and order there. (It's now the appropriate time to note that I'd been to this cafe at least four times previously, and although I've become quite accustomed to the poor customer service in Europe, knew damn well that waiters still took food orders.) Just the same, I went the counter and ordered from the barista who very matter of factly told me to go sit down and order from the waiter. Shortly after Laila arrived and I explained what had just happened. She then approached the counter and received nearly the same treatment. The only difference being that the barista first laughed at her before telling Laila to go sit down.
On a side cultural note, Germans are also horrible Que'ers. They couldn't form a line if paid to do so. A trip to the bakery or the grocery store should be viewed as an event where elbow pads are not only suggested, but necessary. I've seen respectable looking women cut in front of and nudge each other for the chance to order their chosen loaf or pastry before the other.
Ok... I'm done ranting...

Ahhh... finally, the ridiculousness that is currywurst. This is again more of a cultural comment, but an amusing one rather than a critical one. For those of you who've traveled to Germany, you know that currywurst stands are every bit as common as Starbucks and McDonalds. You then also know what currywurst is and have been equally as unimpressed as I and many others have been. Most Germans (and I've been told Berliners in particular) will tell you that currywurst is the best food ever invented and, "was created right here in (insert wherever it is the German who's telling you this is from)".
So what is currywurst then? Cut up chunks of hot dog drowned in ketchup with curry powder mixed in eaten on a tissue thin plate with an impossibly small platic fork which admittedly is at least half of the "currywurst experience." That's right, the food you ate when you were five is such a national treasure here that there's dispute as to who invented it, where and how.
*You can't see me right now, but I'm rolling my eyes.

Post About Posts

2008-04-06T17:29:00.004+02:00

As I'm sure you've noticed, my blog has went from hopelessly stagnant to completely over active in the last twenty-four hours. That being said I encourage you to review the last few posts so as not to miss any of the pictures I used precious internet uploading.

New Posts:

Nijmegen: The Oldest Town in the Netherlands
My New Place
"First day of school! First day of school!" exclaimed Nemo.
Palma, Mallorca (Spain)

Nijmegen: The Oldest Town in the Netherlands

2008-04-06T16:59:00.012+02:00

As I promised in an earlier post, here are some pictures of Nijmegen. Nijmegen is an extremely quaint little city about (excuse the haughty, wanna-be high school writer, emo kid description) three and a half hours away from the bleak urban gray that is Dortmund.

(For some reason, using the words "bleak" and "gray" in such close proximity, for me personally, seems as though the writer is not only "trying too hard," but failing entirely at a creative description... i.e. it's too generic. Unfortunately, bleak and gray are the only ways in which someone can presently describe Dortmund, Germany; the only city I've ever seen actively fail changing seasons.)

For what I'm sure is unnecessary clarification: I should have studied here (see below):

And last, but not least, is my friend Laila pointing to what appeared to be dried blood on the seat next to her on the "boarder train" that goes from Germany to the Netherlands.

Yes, eww is right.

My New Place

2008-04-06T16:42:00.013+02:00

Here's a brief tour of my new apartment:

My day bed:

My fleece -blankie "upholstered" hand me down couch:
Desk/Shelf/Work Station/"Media" Center:
Closet and kitchen entrance:
Stove and sink with a pot of spinach, tomato, mushroom, and onion crepe filing:
Kitchen counter and coat-rack:
Restroom:
Shower:

These are pictures taken from one of my windows... the weather was truly Nebraskan (i.e. indecisive) for a few days...

In the morning....
Two hours later...
Later still...

"First Day of School! First Day of School!" exclaimed Nemo.

2008-04-06T16:31:00.002+02:00

Tomorrow's the first day of summer semester. Here's what I'm taking:

*Leseverstehen
*Studierende der Geisteswissenschaftlichen
*Landeskunde - Politik und Gesellschaft
*Literature, Kultur, und Sprache
*Kinder - und Jundendliteratur: Lesen & Verstehen
*Kreativs Schreiben
*Translation
*Wissenschaftliche Kommunikation (fächerübergreifend)

I'm also going to be teaching again, this time in an elementary school, for credits towards my German senior internship.

Palma, Mallorca (Spain)

2008-04-05T21:50:00.014+02:00

Mallorca is a little island off the coast of Spain, belonging to Spain, only completely "Germanized."

Avery and I recently went there for a week.

Here are some pictures...

I moved!

2008-03-05T00:59:00.002+01:00

... and find myself yet again without internet.

Coming soon...

My trip to Nijmegen
The New Place
Das Große Kinder Lexikon
The Death of my Trees
New Arrivals
Why Germans don't make Friends Easily and
The Ridiculousness that is Currywurst

I'm moving!

2008-02-20T13:46:00.002+01:00

This morning I received an e-mail saying that as of March 1st I'll be able to move into a single apartment on campus. The location is better and it's not too far from where I'm living now so the move shouldn't be too horrible. It's even within walking distance of the school I'm thinking about teaching at for my internship during the spring semester (which doesn't start until April).

Avery (Sunday and Departure Information)

2008-02-17T23:04:00.002+01:00

Today was beautiful.

Despite the fact that it was Sunday we still had a rather eventful day. We went out to eat and on Avery's insistence arrived a little over an hour and a half BEFORE the restaurant opened. In other words... we walked around for a good while, but like I said, today was a beautiful.

On an even less exciting note, Avery leaves Dortmund tomorrow at 8:37 via ICE to Frankfurt where his flight will leave.

Avery (This Weekend)

2008-02-16T10:34:00.003+01:00

Friday, February 15th:
Today we ran various errands for people at home - loved ones, co-workers, etcetera - in Dortmund.

Saturday, February 16th:
Originally we were going to venture out of the country today but since Avery's still sleeping and it's nearly eleven... I think we'll probably go somewhere a little closer... but we'll let you know.

Avery (Whereabouts and Actions Update)

2008-02-15T12:05:00.004+01:00

Monday, February 11th:
Avery and I went to Bonn, the former capitol of West Germany, for the day. Bonn is also home to the birthplace of Beethoven and the Brauhaus Bönnsch (for details please refer to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6nnsch_%28beer%29 ) where we had dinner. Later in the evening we ventured to the Bad Godesberg portion of Bonn and went to the Godesberg Ruins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Godesburg_2_db.jpg). We also visited this church: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bonn_Muenster.jpg) and rode past this building: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Posttower_Bonn_001.jpg) which is the German postal center. On more time... we went to Bonn and saw things (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/General_view_over_bonn.jpg).

Tuesday, February 12th:
Dortmund City Center

Wednesday, February 13th:
We went out to lunch and it was a disaster. Avery was given an English menu (which is sometimes translated oddly) and ordered what he thought was a piece of fried fish on bread with a side order of onion rings. What came out was a very pungent whole fish (from a can) on a piece of black bread with raw onion "rings" on top.

Thursday, February 14th:
Avery and I went to Westfallenpark today in search of some stump that his boss has a picture of on her desk. We didn't find it... but we did take pictures with wooden hippos and enter into a brawl with some local geese. Avery also took a picture "meditating" which I can't wait photo shop and turn into a Christmas card.

Friday, February 15th:
TBA...

Avery

2008-02-10T13:28:00.000+01:00

Avery's here from the 8th to the 18th.

Friday: Avery's train arrived SEVEN HOURS after it was supposed to due to A) Flight changes and B) the competence level of the Deutsche Bahn

Yesterday we went to Köln (Cologne) for the day.

Today is Sunday. Nothing happens on Sunday. Ave' may lose it... he said something about being used to forty decibels of sound and then started swearing about some sort of strawberry cereal dust... I think all the cereal's getting to him.

Tomorrow is currently TBA, but I'm guessing we'll go somewhere.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2008-02-01T02:13:00.000+01:00

I've never seen that movie... but here's what's going on in Dortmund:

Finals are next week (February 4th - 8th). I'm less than excited.
I'm not particularly keen on the idea of doing my internship at the school I'm currently teaching for, so I may be making a switch to another school if at all possible.
Avery will be here on the 8th.
I think I want to learn to ski.
I miss root beer.
Basket's birthday is coming up, she'll be seven(teen) and apparently she looks older than I do the majority of the time. Right now I could care less, but when we're in our forties... (you can't see me right now but I'm making a thumbs up).
I'm currently attempting to write a short story in German... it's about a platypus and his ugly duck friend... I'll let you know how it turns out.
"My" German language skills continue to be a grammatical train wreck whenever I attempt to speak. The sound I believe is equivalent to nails on a chalk board. My vocabulary is slowly growing. Last week I learned the word for platypus (das Schnabeltier)... something I feel is essential... as well as der Kalkstein (Limestone), Wasser führende Schicht (Aquifer), and zwittrig (Androgynous).
It's currently raining.

Toilet Paper Strike: Day 38

2008-01-25T00:36:00.000+01:00

As a policy, I always try see the best in people... and in the case of my roommates, there's not a whole lot to see.

So far:

Fish has been left on the counter multiple times for 2-3 days at a time
Nearly every pan has at one point had something grow in it
When they're not leaving random dinner rolls in the oven or on the counter (generally for a few days at a time) they're leaving meat in there. Apparently no one told them that oven's don't work the same way refrigerators do when it comes to keeping cooked meat safely edible.
I've found tampon wrappers IN the shower...
Next to two disposable razors full of pubic hair (the tampon wrapper was left in the soap dish for three days, the razors for over a week).
One roommate insists upon cleaning her muddy shoes with the kitchen hand towel... only so she can hang the towel back on the rack.
And the list goes on...

All in all... when they're not pissing me off by being utterly disgusting... they're just flat out pissing me off. To make a long, complicated, bilingual story short... we've been on a toilet paper strike for thirty-eight days (by my rough estimate). It started about a week before I went on vacation (which was two weeks) and since then... it's been a BYOTP affair. I know this because I often times forget a roll in there only to have it wipe the asses of the very people who are shitting on me.

I know what you're thinking though... "Well who's supposed to get the toilet paper?"
- Toilet paper, paper towels, baking paper, aluminum foil, trash bags, sponges, dish soap, and other cleaning supplies are supposed to be paid for from the "fund" (i.e. the blue plastic Tupperware thing that sits next to the spice rack). The idea is that every month each of us is supposed to put in 5 Euro ($7.36) to keep supplies at a satisfactory level. >>Fast Forward>> I quit putting money in there because no one else was, we were always out of things, and what's the point of putting money in a jar that I'll have to take out three minutes later to buy X house supply with?

Moving on... or rather back....

Last night, Julia - who thinks she's my mother (which is ridiculous because I like my mom) - physically kept me from leaving the apartment and taking out the trash. It was then that I decided I was though. Final straw. Game over. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. I'm either moving out... or I'm going to start listening to rock music.... really, really LOUD rock music... which I'm sure is against "Mother Julia's" rules.

"Mother Julia's" *KNOWN* Rules:

No more than one friend over at a time on a school night, for no longer than one hour and no later than 7:30 p.m.
I should also ask permission for the previous stated situation...
On weekends I'm allowed to have two (count'um, TWO) friends over as long as:

it's ok with the other roommates
they aren't planning on having anyone else over
and if my friends (all two of them) leave by 10 p.m.

All doors will be closed according to the weekly demonstration given by "Mother Julia" (thus far she's shown every person in our apartment the proper way to shut a door... what she doesn't realize is that AFTER she gives said demonstration we all slam the doors on purpose).
ALWAYS wear house shoes. Abide can cook in her underwear... but damn it I MUST wear shoes. (I didn't do this one time and they physically put shoes on me.)

There are a few other rules too but they're a little foggier... something like "thou shalt not shower more than once a week" and "thou shalt only refrigerate uncovered stinky foods that you intend to spill inside the fridge"... but I think they apply more to her.

Why I love children...

2008-01-14T23:32:00.001+01:00

I was on the subway this afternoon when two small boys (about six or seven) sat down in front of me. Their conversation was fairly normal for small boys... looking out the window, pointing to the Fußball stadium, etc. until one of the boys started saying, "Scheiße" every other word (Scheiße = shit). "Scheiße this," and, "Scheiße that," he said. Apparently, in the world of a seven-year-old, "Alles Scheiße." Anyway, his friend didn't seem to agree because halfway through his rant his friend looked at him and said, "Du redest zuviel" (You talk too much).

My Trip: Has Been Blogged!

2008-01-07T03:02:00.000+01:00

(See index to navigate to earlier destinations in the trip as the pictures take up quite a bit of room... just so no one (mom) misses anything.)

UPDATE: Has finally been blogged about...

Dresden, Germany

2008-01-07T03:01:00.000+01:00

Originally we were going to stay in Dresden for two or three days depending on how we felt. As it turns out, we only felt like staying there for the afternoon.

It was a long trip that ended with this: ^

The ass of a Ford Fiesta with a very "states-like" plate (NYC) and a ridiculous window sticker.

Prague, Czech Republic

2008-01-07T03:00:00.001+01:00

This is Prague.

Prague is very pretty.

This is me in Prague.

This is a strip club I accidentally visited. It was one of the more uncomfortable moments of my life. (Good mothers everywhere are gasping...)

This is a "Good Mother" (vodka, amaretto, and a straw).

And this is our bar tab... (in CZK... don't panic).

Me - dancing unattractively - but having a darn good time.

Okan and I (No, I'm not sniffing him...).

This is a homeless man in Prague who got drunk and passed out in the middle the "war zone" and woke up when some people nearly set him on fire via firework. Apparently in Prague they don't shoot the fireworks into the air as much as they shoot them into crowds of people.
(New Years in Prague is amazing... and absolutely CRAZY!)

This is an unattractive squinting picture of me by a boat.

This the statue outside of the hostel we stayed in. I liked it, so I took a picture.

And this is me being lazy and not really writing anything at all about the most amazing city I've ever been to.

Vienna, Austria

2008-01-07T02:58:00.000+01:00

Ohhhhh Vienna...
Where the weather's frigid cold, internet cafes are cheap, and beer is ordered by the meter...

I'm gunna be honest... not a lot was accomplished in Vienna. We saw some things... castle-blah-blah-covered-in-ice and church-of-I-can't-feel-my-aaah-face... you know, general stuff. I did however purchase a new coat and my first pair of "sock-pants"... both of which were essential in surviving Vienna.

More Altitude

2008-01-07T02:56:00.000+01:00

Venice, Italy

2008-01-07T02:55:00.000+01:00

Is beautiful! See...

We celebrated Christmas (American Christmas... French Christmas was in Milan...) in Venice. Sam and I celebrated together one night and the next night the four of us went out to dinner at a restaurant next to the Rialto Bridge.

This is the Rialto Bridge:

Here's a photo of the inside of two Gondolas... the epitome of Venice tourism.

The second day that we were in Venice we went to the top of some tower (that I unfortunately cannot remember the name of) to see the city from above. I have several more pictures taken from the tower but I chose this one because you can kind of see the mountains through the fog (there's a lot of fog in Venice, but luckily we had really nice weather while we were there).

Milan, Italy

2008-01-07T02:54:00.001+01:00

Milan, Italy; one of the great shopping capitals of the world.

Andrea Duntz; shopping enthusiast.

Total Amount of money spent while shopping in Milan: 17 Euro ($24.94)... on postcards and stamps (stamps are ridiculously priced at $1.47 a piece).

What I'm saying, and my mother can attest to this, is that it's truly amazing - an act of god if you will - that I didn't buy a single article of clothing. I'd planned on buying a coat here (I needed a new coat... see Vienna for further details) so was rather disappointed that I was unable to find anything in the only city that I'd actually planned to shop in.

Other than my complete dismay over the shopping situation IN MILAN?!??! (of all places... seriously....) it was alright. Our hotel was next to one of the major shopping streets (grrr...) so the location was good (but useless).

Of course we went to the Duomo (Duomo is Italian for Dom. Dom is German for cathedral. Cathedral is English... so this is where my explanation ends) and also to Sforza Castle (Castello Sforezesco - http://www.milanocastello.it/ing/lungaRestaurato.html) - both of which were very nice.

The picture below is of part of the Duomo. I was standing in front of the Duomo taking a picture of an adjacent building when a man came up to me and grabbed my wrist. Long story short:

Stinky ugly guy comes, grabs my wrist. I pull away. Stinky ugly guy grabs my wrist again. Stinky ugly guy puts something in my hand. "Something" is actually seeds. I realize this the same time a flock of pigeons do. For the next three minutes thirty-so pigeons gave me bird flu. Then stinky ugly guy tried to charge me for it (10 Euro = $14.67). I gave him 40 cents ( = $0.59) and pretended that I didn't understand English.

As I walked away another man approached me with a handful of string, he called them bracelets, and offered to sell me one for, "Only one Euro!" I again pretended not to be able to speak English and it was at this point that he said, "Italiano? Español? Français?" He speaks four languages and he's selling pieces of string next to stinky ugly guy.

The Alps

2008-01-07T02:53:00.001+01:00

... were beautiful and apparently not deadly.

To my fellow carsickness-suffers:
Before traveling through the Alps there are a few things one should take into consideration.

High altitude
Winding roads
Tunnels

... all of which (at least personally) induce nausea. I suggest Dramamine (the less drowsy formula should still knock you out or at least help you make it through tunnels, one of which is 17 kilometers long with endless lights passing at warp-speed... I get a little sick just thinking about it). The only thing I've found to be worse than the above mentioned agitators are stick shifts and roundabouts... together, they're fatal (at least for your cars upholstery).

Strasbourg, France

2008-01-07T02:51:00.000+01:00

To make a long story in bad English very short... Francois (resident Frenchman and driver) thought it necessary that we make a stop in France. Not because Strasbourg is a beautiful city... not because it was relatively on the way... but because he insisted upon having French wine. All in all we didn't spend very long in Strasbourg, just long enough to visit the Christmas market and see the city center.

PS:

2007-12-23T00:40:00.002+01:00

HAPPY NONDENOMINATIONAL HOLIDAYS

In case I die in the Alps...

2007-12-23T00:19:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-21T14:52:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-12-12T18:05:00.000+01:00

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...

2007-12-11T18:41:00.000+01:00

... 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

2007-12-09T20:01:00.000+01:00

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)

2007-12-09T17:00:00.000+01:00

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...

2007-11-13T22:08:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-06T02:32:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-05T00:53:00.001+01:00

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

2007-11-05T00:03:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-04T19:21:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-28T18:32:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-26T12:55:00.001+02:00

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

2007-10-23T08:18:00.000+02:00

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...

2007-10-16T01:55:00.000+02:00

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?

2007-10-10T01:02:00.001+02:00

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

2007-10-09T02:26:00.000+02:00

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

2007-10-06T17:43:00.001+02:00

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

2007-10-04T15:40:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-30T16:00:00.000+02:00

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?)

2007-09-26T16:47:00.000+02:00

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)

2007-09-26T16:20:00.000+02:00

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)

2007-09-26T16:13:00.000+02:00

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...

2007-09-16T02:03:00.000+02:00

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"

2007-08-29T07:07:00.000+02:00

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

2007-08-20T09:31:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-21T22:02:00.000+02:00

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

2007-03-06T03:07:00.001+01:00

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?

2007-03-03T04:00:00.000+01:00

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.).