Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Note -
I'm headed to Leipzig in the morning, so I won't have internet connection until I get back. I'll write about all my adventures later!
dramaaaaaa
So, I just don't really think Clara Schumann was having an affair with Brahms. I mean, Robert Schumann went to court with her father for permission to marry her !? When she was only 17. And once they did get married, she had 9 kids with him! Do you really have time to cheat on your famous husband when you're also a composer & you have 9 midgets running around? NO. She was just friends with Brahms, he was the one in love with her. Its not her fault she was beautiful & talented. She's much too classy for that. Besides the whole Syphilis thing...
also, Tchaikovsky? I'd still be your friend. Who cares if you're gay.
also, Tchaikovsky? I'd still be your friend. Who cares if you're gay.
Monday, July 5, 2010
just curious :)
If you're reading this, maybe post a comment and tell me? Or Facebook message me? I have been told a few people are reading but I'm curious about who!
p.s. i'm dead tired but I went exploring tonight and got majorly lost... we walked probably over 3 miles in the rain and took a million wrong trains... Its a story i'll save for later :) :) :)
p.s. i'm dead tired but I went exploring tonight and got majorly lost... we walked probably over 3 miles in the rain and took a million wrong trains... Its a story i'll save for later :) :) :)
Netto Market-Discount
Its almost 2pm here, & I just got back from a tiny little trip to the grocery store on my own. (sorry mom)
Its the little things so far that have excited me the most. Like, ordering my own ice cream (eis) without anyone's help. Or getting a little lost in old town, but handling it and somehow not panicking. Or sleeping with the windows open. I've been watching the German birds, and I even like them better than American ones.
Going to the grocery store by myself really lit me up today:) I had my first Kinder-egg experience and PLEASE I'm begging you, to order some for yourself off Ebay asap. The chocolate here is just phenom. If we're the 'most powerful country in the world', then WHY can't we get our chocolate right?
There were 2 English girls behind me in line, & I spoke all German just to feel superior ;)
Also, I keep attempting to find 'stilles wasser' (still water with no carbonation), but I keep ending up with the crappy stuff! I don't understand how Germans drink it. Its terrible. So currently, I have 3 bottles of MINDERALWASSER and no good stuff. Wasser from the tap, it is.
Also, I walked back to my dorm in the rain. And I picked a flower & put it in my hair. I'm the happiest.
I'm off to the Zwinger museum for the afternoon, then I'm thinking about renting a bike for the evening... or maybe having a picnic on the bridge near old town... WHATVER the plan is, It WILL include another KinderEgg. And probably some Zitrone Eis. lots and lots of Eis.
tschus tschus!!
Its the little things so far that have excited me the most. Like, ordering my own ice cream (eis) without anyone's help. Or getting a little lost in old town, but handling it and somehow not panicking. Or sleeping with the windows open. I've been watching the German birds, and I even like them better than American ones.
Going to the grocery store by myself really lit me up today:) I had my first Kinder-egg experience and PLEASE I'm begging you, to order some for yourself off Ebay asap. The chocolate here is just phenom. If we're the 'most powerful country in the world', then WHY can't we get our chocolate right?
There were 2 English girls behind me in line, & I spoke all German just to feel superior ;)
Also, I keep attempting to find 'stilles wasser' (still water with no carbonation), but I keep ending up with the crappy stuff! I don't understand how Germans drink it. Its terrible. So currently, I have 3 bottles of MINDERALWASSER and no good stuff. Wasser from the tap, it is.
Also, I walked back to my dorm in the rain. And I picked a flower & put it in my hair. I'm the happiest.
I'm off to the Zwinger museum for the afternoon, then I'm thinking about renting a bike for the evening... or maybe having a picnic on the bridge near old town... WHATVER the plan is, It WILL include another KinderEgg. And probably some Zitrone Eis. lots and lots of Eis.
tschus tschus!!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Blogplatz.
Today was an adventure.
We had Turkish food for lunch, go figure. They are the largest immigrant group living here, and their food is stinkin’ good. So far I’ve had no sausage and not enough beer. Totally not what I expected?? but I’ve found a few things I think I’ll be missing back in the states. Tomorrow I’m going on a hunt for my favorite Magnum bar and NOTHING will get in my way.
We had our first lecture today at the Goethe institute, and I enjoyed every second. SURPRISE!!!!!!! I learned more about the Industrial Revolution and Beethoven and Chopin and I was reminded of how much I LOVE this Schubert piece and I want to sing it so bad!
Luckily we were dismissed early to get to the Hauptbahnhof to get a seat for the Germany/Argentina game. We found a spot near a hotel with a large group of older Germans outside, and once we got there, Deutschland was already up by one. [I used the bathroom here & was so proud I made it all the way there without a single English word] I was SO freaking excited to watch this game with Germans. They were clapping, screaming, singing fight songs, and the second goal someone spilled beer on my foot. PRICELESS. This place is crazy for their team and it made me feel like I was German too! There were highfives, cheers & I made a new south African/German friend who translated all the yelling for me. We won 4-0 and WE’RE IN THE SEMI-FINALS. This whole place has gone CRAZY. There were honking cars and horns blowing non-stop and every person walking by yelled something celebratory at me and I just yelled YA DEUSTCHLAND back. I get to watch 2 more games with these people, win or loose. And I want to see us beat the Netherlands real real bad. BUT if they won while I was here… I’d consider myself their good luck charm and never leave.
Which leads me to my next sorry-this-post-is-too-long point… remember how I said this place went nuts after the win? Well that included drunk/excited fans in the streets [with flags and horns and redblackyellow mowhawks and beer beer so much beer] Where the street cars that take me to OPERAS are. As soon as the time ran out for the game, we hopped a train to get to Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi [look it up right now it was flawless and I enjoyed every Italian second] but because of all the traffic, it skipped our stop & went right on to another that I’d never been to before. Did I mention I was on this train with 1 other girl who knew no German either? So we stayed calm, hopped the rails & managed to catch the next 8train to ‘Theatreplatz’ where the opera house is. EXCEPT NO WE DIDN’T. That train skipped our stop too. and so would every other train, we found out later. There were so many people in the streets we couldn’t get to the opera house without walking 3 blocks. It was 6:43. The Opera started at 7.
SO WE SPEED (sped?) WALKED. Through old town. I’m talking like in the Lizzie McGuire movie but I had no moped. I tripped over some cobblestones oh so gracefully & Dr. Jackson got directions in German but that didn’t help me, I was sweating and stressing and my calves were cramping… but finally we made it. We were the last people in the door. Then of course I had to use the bathroom, so I asked where it was in perfect German, only to be told in perfect German where it was so I STILL didn’t actually know. They were closing the doors. I had to wait 2 acts of an Italian opera to use the restroom but I LOVED Falstaff so it was worth it.
ALL THAT TO SAY – I loved today. I tried new food, learned about music, watched a Fußball game, RAN through cobblestone streets to see an Opera, met one of the cast members on the train home, and now I’m blogging from my balcony in 68 degrees.
Es war ein guter Tag. (i almost did that all by myself... only missed 1 word.)
We had Turkish food for lunch, go figure. They are the largest immigrant group living here, and their food is stinkin’ good. So far I’ve had no sausage and not enough beer. Totally not what I expected?? but I’ve found a few things I think I’ll be missing back in the states. Tomorrow I’m going on a hunt for my favorite Magnum bar and NOTHING will get in my way.
We had our first lecture today at the Goethe institute, and I enjoyed every second. SURPRISE!!!!!!! I learned more about the Industrial Revolution and Beethoven and Chopin and I was reminded of how much I LOVE this Schubert piece and I want to sing it so bad!
Luckily we were dismissed early to get to the Hauptbahnhof to get a seat for the Germany/Argentina game. We found a spot near a hotel with a large group of older Germans outside, and once we got there, Deutschland was already up by one. [I used the bathroom here & was so proud I made it all the way there without a single English word] I was SO freaking excited to watch this game with Germans. They were clapping, screaming, singing fight songs, and the second goal someone spilled beer on my foot. PRICELESS. This place is crazy for their team and it made me feel like I was German too! There were highfives, cheers & I made a new south African/German friend who translated all the yelling for me. We won 4-0 and WE’RE IN THE SEMI-FINALS. This whole place has gone CRAZY. There were honking cars and horns blowing non-stop and every person walking by yelled something celebratory at me and I just yelled YA DEUSTCHLAND back. I get to watch 2 more games with these people, win or loose. And I want to see us beat the Netherlands real real bad. BUT if they won while I was here… I’d consider myself their good luck charm and never leave.
Which leads me to my next sorry-this-post-is-too-long point… remember how I said this place went nuts after the win? Well that included drunk/excited fans in the streets [with flags and horns and redblackyellow mowhawks and beer beer so much beer] Where the street cars that take me to OPERAS are. As soon as the time ran out for the game, we hopped a train to get to Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi [look it up right now it was flawless and I enjoyed every Italian second] but because of all the traffic, it skipped our stop & went right on to another that I’d never been to before. Did I mention I was on this train with 1 other girl who knew no German either? So we stayed calm, hopped the rails & managed to catch the next 8train to ‘Theatreplatz’ where the opera house is. EXCEPT NO WE DIDN’T. That train skipped our stop too. and so would every other train, we found out later. There were so many people in the streets we couldn’t get to the opera house without walking 3 blocks. It was 6:43. The Opera started at 7.
SO WE SPEED (sped?) WALKED. Through old town. I’m talking like in the Lizzie McGuire movie but I had no moped. I tripped over some cobblestones oh so gracefully & Dr. Jackson got directions in German but that didn’t help me, I was sweating and stressing and my calves were cramping… but finally we made it. We were the last people in the door. Then of course I had to use the bathroom, so I asked where it was in perfect German, only to be told in perfect German where it was so I STILL didn’t actually know. They were closing the doors. I had to wait 2 acts of an Italian opera to use the restroom but I LOVED Falstaff so it was worth it.
ALL THAT TO SAY – I loved today. I tried new food, learned about music, watched a Fußball game, RAN through cobblestone streets to see an Opera, met one of the cast members on the train home, and now I’m blogging from my balcony in 68 degrees.
Es war ein guter Tag. (i almost did that all by myself... only missed 1 word.)
Friday, July 2, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
hallo.
a few things I've learned in my day & a half.
1- I'm terrible at pronouncing words. I know a few key phrases & I can understand others, but I'm so so bashful to say the words! Today it took me 30 seconds to grab the courage actually say 'ein stilles wasser bitte'
2 - Here, Americans seem to be known for 3 things. Being fat, being loud, and looking confused.
3 - Adding alcohol seems to make our American tendencies 235234 times more obvious.
4 - Smiling & nodding actually works! Today, I had a whole conversation with a student in the W.C. without saying a word. And she loved me! She patted me on the arm on the way out. I told her I liked her hair in German & she wouldn't shut up.
5 - GERMAN FOOD IS GOOD. I even had german 'chinese' food today, and the soy sauce is even better here!
6 - I'm an ice cruncher, but they don't do ice. I'm having a hard time with it.
7 - Americans are fat because we have no portion control!!! We eat 4 times as much as they do, easy. I'm eating like a German from now on.
8 - No air conditioning is the norm. I'm getting used to it, thanks to my €12 fan from IKEA.
9 - STAY OFF THE BIKE PATH.
9 - STAY OFF THE BIKE PATH.
in other news, this is the view from my window:)
So far we've eaten dinner at a Biergarten, gone to a grocery store, walked A TON, taken trains, gone to IKEA(!!!!), eaten the best ice cream i've ever had in my life... I'm loving it. I'm people watching mostly. Compared to these people, Americans are lazy and pretentious - this is my current observation.
[note] - the German word for travel is FAHRT... I'm not even mad about that.
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