Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Home Again
I never really did finish my blog, so I guess now is a good time. That last Friday I ended up going into the city to see off Jess and Christine. They were leaving from Frankfurt on Saturday morning. I met up with Jakob and Paul and we waited with them and Christine's host family before they left. We exchanged some tears and goodbyes. It was sad :-( After seeing them off we went to a Kiosk and bought some beers. We went to the park on the Rhine and drank the night away. It was freezing! When we all though we were going to freeze to death we walked to a restaurant and had some beer there. We were all feeling pretty good I must say! Then we decided to take the Bahn to Barbarossaplatz to get McDonald's but we ended up on the wrong one and went to Aachnerstrasse. We picked up a cab there and went back to Barbarossaplatz, and from there we decided to call it a night. I had to say goodbye to Paul there because he was leaving the next day too. That was really sad. I went home that night, and the next day I got stuff ready to leave and I watched some soccer with my family. My host dad made Gyros and Lauren came over to eat cuz her host mom sucked and left her that weekend. We hung out with my family and drank mulled wine. We had a great time. When Lauren left I went out with my host brother Timo, his girlfriend Mascha, and my host sister Yvonne. I realized that in all these months of blogging I never told you my host families names. My host dad was Udo, my host mom was Iris, and I had another host brother named Stefano too. So there you have it! That's their names! Anyways, I went out with the three of them, and we met up with Jakob. We went to a Koelsch bar in Heumarkt first. It was so cute! I wish I would have known about it sooner! After that we went to a cuba bar in Zulpicherplatz and hung out the rest of the night. After lots of beer and some tequila I was having a great night. Jakob had his first tequila ever! I said goodbye to him that night, which was sad also. I hate all these goodbyes. We had such a fun night. I really wish I could go back and savor this night with my host siblings...we really had a blast. I love them all so much! I was looking at the pictures today and just missing them all. Sunday I was really depressed. I just didn't want to leave. The reality had really set in. I went to the mall with Yvonne, but I just kept thinking about how it was all over. I really had a miserable Sunday. I spent the rest of the night packing. Monday I went into the city and did the rest of my Christmas shopping. I found the Harley store after much searching, and then went to the Christmas markets in Neumarkt and the Dom. I also walked through Altermarkt and Heumarkt, but the place was just packed with tourists. I went home that night and hung out with the family the rest of the time. We all watched movies and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep so I stayed up and watched Enemy of the State in German with Timo until late. I really didn't get any sleep that night. Tuesday morning I mostly spent crying. I was so depressed. I was sort of excited to come home and see everyone but mostly I was just depressed. I sobbed when Yvonne went to work. I sobbed when Stefano went to school. I sobbed when I pet the dogs. I sobbed when I had to say goodbye to Timo. I sobbed when I had to say goodbye to Iris. I sobbed when Udo dropped me off at the bahn. I just cried a lot. I really couldn't stop. The people on the bahn must have thought I was crazy because I had these big orange suitcases and I was just crying like a crazy person. When I was waiting for the train, a lady came up to me and asked me in German if I could help her friend find a luggage trolley at the airport, she was from Sri Lanka and only spoke English. Luckily for her I am American and speak English quite well. I helped her friend get her luggage on the train. It turns out her name was Sister Helen and she was a Sri Lankan nun on her way home from a year long mission in Germany and the UK. I helped her find a trolley when we got to Frankfurt and together we tried to find the check in counters in the Frankfurt airport. We got lost twice and took an elevator to baggage claim by accident. Eventually we found our way and she blessed me :-) She was so sweet. I finally made it to my gate, and boarded the flight. The flight was long and miserable. Relatively smooth but almost 10 hours due to high winds. When I finally got to Philly my knees were killing me. I got my bags and immediately turned on the cell phone that hadn't seen service since August 19th. I proceeded to receive around 800 messages which I deleted without even reading. It wasn't worth it. The guy in Customs turned out to be a Pittsburgher and he waved me right on through after a couple of cracks about how Philly is the shitty side of PA. The next flight went really smoothly, and I made it home in time to find my mom, dad, and bobby waiting for me. I was really excited to see them and I couldn't help but go pulling out presents in the airport. When I got home, I was eating pierogies within 15 minutes, and drinking German beer. I tried on my Dirndl for Kathi, and since I got home 2 weeks ago I don't think I've shut up once about my trip to Germany. I'm lucky to live in an age where I can talk to people and see their faces on my computer. I was able to see my host sister and host mom the day before Christmas Eve on skype, and Yvonne even brought the dogs in to see me. I've talked to Stefano and Mascha in facebook and Timo in e-mail. I really loved my family and I really hope we can stay in touch. I don't plan on staying away from Cologne for too long though. As soon as I can find a job there, I'm out! I really miss the city. Over the course of 4 months I felt something there that I've only ever felt in Pittsburgh. Cologne is definitely a place that I can consider home. The people there and the vibe, it's unreal. It's just like here. They have their songs and their sports and they're so damn proud. It's really something I can relate to. And I loved speaking German everyday. I love German so much - transferring to W&J and continuing with it was the best decision I ever made. After 3 years of not taking it, I figured that I'd never speak it again. I'm so glad that's not the case...I enjoy it so much. Truly, learning this language has given me the opportunity to enjoy the best 4 months of my life. How many 22 year olds have had the experiences I have? I'm so lucky! Oktoberfest, the Berlin Wall anniversary, Greece, Japan, 11/11, NFL in London, Thermal baths in Budapest, seeing Paris...these are the coolest things I've ever done. Hell, just one of those things is usually cooler than what most people have done in their entire lives! I just feel so lucky to have been able to experience those things. I know that I was given a great opportunity and I used it to my advantage. I took away much more than I thought I could. My original plan was to see Oktoberfest, Amsterdam, and Paris. My original plan was to pick 3 things that I had to do, because doing more was unrealistic. Instead I got to go to Oktoberfest, Amsterdam, Berlin twice, Paris, London, Athens, Mykonos, Vienna, and Budapest. That's CRAZZZZY! Not to mention starting my trip in Prague! Unbelievable. All the while I made 14 new American friends, got to know my amazing host family, and made friends with other Germans as well. It was fantastic. What a crazy new outlook I have on life. 4 months later and I'm surely a new person. I've grown up, absolutely, but I've also learned the good and bad in my own country and in others. I've learned to live independently, without relying on my boyfriend to bring me diet pepsi's and happy meals while I wait on rich jewelry customers. I lived without my family for the first time in my life. 4 months surrounded by a country and people who I didn't know. I feel pretty badass I must say. And I'd do it again Spring Semester if I had the money! Now I just have to work on readjusting to life back home...it's definitely been an adjustment. It seems like everything is different at work. I'm driving all over the place again and not walking anywhere. I'm getting used to having a boyfriend again and hanging out with him all the time. It's not easy. It's still a process. I miss my life overseas though. I really want to make it happen again soon.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Last Friday
Hi everyone -
I'm down to 4 more days in Germany...I'm really bummed, but hopefully I can make the last 4 count. The last week just basically consisted of a lot of studying and a lot of paper writing. I had a lot of stuff due this week. I stayed home during the weekend and got stuff done. Saturday night I hung out with my host sister and watched Germany's Got Talent which was fun. On Tuesday we were finally done with our finals, because we aren't in the Polysci class that had a final on Wednesday. To celebrate, me lauren and brittney met up with our new friends Jasmin, Irene, and Nora. They go to the Schiller Gymnasium right next to Elisabeth von Thüringen Gymnasium where our classes are. We went to a shisha bar then kinda hung out around Zülpicherplatz and Barbarossaplatz. Wednesday night we had our farewell party. We met at Frank, our program directors, house and we drank a lot of beer and had a jolly old time. After that we went to the Capitol and I ate some REALLY good tortellini and we drank more beer. As evidence by the pictures on my camera, we had a really fun night. It was nice to have all 15 of us together for a change. Yesterday we all met in Rudolfplatz for lunch, and afterwards we met our Schiller Gymnasium friends at the Cafe near the school for coffee. It was really sad to go to the cafe for the last time, and Maria who owns it gave us free coffee. Last night we went to a pool hall called Der Stiefel for a drink and then ended the night at Kim Phuc. Unfortunately I wasn't hungry at all so I didn't eat anything. Oh we also went to the Opera on Sunday which I though I was going to hate, but I actually ended up liking it. It was hard to understand because the parts that were in German they obviously didn't put the words up on a screen, but there were parts in French where they did have the words up in German so I could read that. It was interesting. I think my finals went pretty well but I'll know better next week I guess!
I'm down to 4 more days in Germany...I'm really bummed, but hopefully I can make the last 4 count. The last week just basically consisted of a lot of studying and a lot of paper writing. I had a lot of stuff due this week. I stayed home during the weekend and got stuff done. Saturday night I hung out with my host sister and watched Germany's Got Talent which was fun. On Tuesday we were finally done with our finals, because we aren't in the Polysci class that had a final on Wednesday. To celebrate, me lauren and brittney met up with our new friends Jasmin, Irene, and Nora. They go to the Schiller Gymnasium right next to Elisabeth von Thüringen Gymnasium where our classes are. We went to a shisha bar then kinda hung out around Zülpicherplatz and Barbarossaplatz. Wednesday night we had our farewell party. We met at Frank, our program directors, house and we drank a lot of beer and had a jolly old time. After that we went to the Capitol and I ate some REALLY good tortellini and we drank more beer. As evidence by the pictures on my camera, we had a really fun night. It was nice to have all 15 of us together for a change. Yesterday we all met in Rudolfplatz for lunch, and afterwards we met our Schiller Gymnasium friends at the Cafe near the school for coffee. It was really sad to go to the cafe for the last time, and Maria who owns it gave us free coffee. Last night we went to a pool hall called Der Stiefel for a drink and then ended the night at Kim Phuc. Unfortunately I wasn't hungry at all so I didn't eat anything. Oh we also went to the Opera on Sunday which I though I was going to hate, but I actually ended up liking it. It was hard to understand because the parts that were in German they obviously didn't put the words up on a screen, but there were parts in French where they did have the words up in German so I could read that. It was interesting. I think my finals went pretty well but I'll know better next week I guess!
Friday, December 4, 2009
11 days and Finals approaching
Ughhh so I know I've been terrible about blogging the past 2 weeks but things are winding down and are a little crazy. We've actually been doing things after class so I haven't been home very much. So I left off 2 Sundays ago. I have to think about what all I actually did in that time period. Hmmm...
Maybe I'll skip over the weekday stuff. Although the Christmas Markets did open up last week and that was a lot of fun. We have done a lot of Christmas Market browsing in the last 2 weeks. We've been to the Markets in Rudolfplatz, Neumarkt, Heumarkt, the Dom, and Altermarkt. My favorite is Heumarkt and Altermarkt...they're kinda connected and really pretty. And there's an ice rink. Maybe I'll do that today? Who knows :-) They're all really nice though.
Last Thursday we all got together and had Thanksgiving dinner. They had a massive turkey which was DEEEELICIOUS definitely one of the best turkeys I've ever had. Stuffing was great, mashed potatoes and gravy were great, the cranberry sauce was the chunky kind so I didn't even try it, and there was apple torte instead of apple pie and no pumkin pie anywhere. But that's okay! The idea of pumpkin pie really freaks Germans out...this coming from the country where they eat pumpkin soup haha. We had a great time at dinner, everyone except for our professor Laurel who went back the US for Thanksgiving. We took a lot of great pictures and had a wonderful time! After dinner, Me, Paul, Hoss, and Jakob decided to try and find a brewery in Barbarossaplatz but we ended up getting lost and walking though a semi-shady part of Heumarkt. We hung out in Heumarkt for a while and then went home.
Friday I spent the day packing and getting ready to go to Budapest and we caught our flight there around 6:30 or 7. Budapest was really cool I must say. We stayed at a hostel called the Big Fish hostel. It was only $12-$15 per night! I can't believe how inexpensive Budapest was. I made it through an entire weekend - hostel included - on 50 euro. Unreal! Not to mention our flight there was only 45 euro round trip! Budapest was fantastic...I could actually eat in restaurants instead of living of dinner rolls from a supermarket. I really liked it there and I'd love to go back. Budapest is renowned for it's Thermal spas and trust me - they did not dissappoint! So anyways, we got to Budapest sometime after 8 and we went and found our hostel. We got all checked in, got our beds set up, and got a map, and decided to go grab some food and a drink. There was a little bar right down the street from our place so we decided to go there. We ate some goulash which was pretty good but a little spicy, and we drank some beer. By the time we were done eating and stuff it was already almost midnight so we decided to go back to the hostel and go to bed to get ready for the next day.
Saturday we woke up and got ready, then got out the door around 11. By noon we had eaten lunch at the most high tech McDonald's I've ever seen, and we were on a bus towards the castle. We got to the castle and walked around. It was more like a palace, and it was nice but at this point we've all seen much nicer castles. We decided to have a coffee in the cafe and take advantage of the free toilet situation. After walking around there we went to the Fisherman's Bastion. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be but I know it's some kind of monument. It's huge and gorgeous with towers all over the place. I really liked it. Right next to it is the St. Mathias church which, along with most important sights in Europe, was covered in scaffolding. From there we walked down to the Danube and got some pictures of the gorgeous Parliament building. At this point I was soaking wet and also cold. Luckily about 15 minutes later the sun was out. We walked over the Chain bridge and along the river on the otherside to the Parliament building. We passed the shoe memorial for the Holocaust victims that were shot into the Danube between '44 and '45. It was really a moving memorial. After walking the river we went and saw St. Stephans Basillica - probably the most gorgeous church I've ever been in. It was decorated on the inside with dark red and green marble and had gold accents. I really liked it. We walked from there over to the Christmas markets which were packed and expensive. We didn't stay there long. We then walked back towards our hostel stopping for a halusky dinner and another free toilet. We took a nap at the hostel and got ready to go out to this Rockabilly bar that we found online. The bar was so cool, although they seem to think that "Confederate" is synonymous with "American"...something that we just had to ignore and laugh off as foreign ignorance. The bar was a lot of fun, I really like Rockabilly and they played a lot of songs that we knew. We met 2 hungarian boys and played foosball with them. We found out that they were 18 years old, and we were legally drinking with them in a bar. We laughed about this. They were nice guys and taught us some Hungarian words that we all promptly forgot.
Sunday was our relaxation day. We checked out of the hostel and they let us keep our backpacks and stuff there. We went and checked out a cool synagogue, and then had lunch at a Doner place. After lunch we went to this thermal bath that I can't pronounce, but it was HUGE and so pretty. Basically it was a giant thermal swimming pool in the courtyard of this huge european building. In the building were a bunch more thermal baths and saunas everywhere. We did a light therapy sauna that was really cool and relaxing. I really liked this place, and I wish we could have stayed longer. I'd love to go to Budapest again just to do the spa stuff. The best part of the Thermal baths was that is was less than 40 degrees outside but the water was over 100 degrees. So we could run around in winter weather outside in our swimsuits! The water felt amazing, but once you got out it was FREEEEEZING! I thought my feet were gonna freeze to the ground a couple of times. It was so much fun though. After the baths we went and ate some dough thing that was really good, then went back to the Christmas markets for a little. We caught our flight back home around 8 PM.
Monday I was really tired, understandably, but I made it through the day. I went with Nick and had lunch at Kim Phuc which was fantasmic as usual. Tuesday we had a girls night, so after class I stayed in the city. I went and got some stuff at the bookstore and went to starbuck's to read the German In Touch Weekly. Then I went over to the Dom and went to the Art library there to do some research for my art history paper due next week. I found some good stuff, unfortunately I have to do some translating because I couldn't find any sources in English. No big deal though, I got the gist of everything I was reading. From there I walked to Friesenplatz and ran into Emily at the Starbuck's there. I had another coffee and waited for the girls to show up. Girls night was Me, Emily, Ashley, Alex, Jess, Christine, and Lauren and we met up with our professors Ulli and Laurel. We went to an Indian restaurant, which was my first time eating Indian food. It was pretty good, but definitely a little different. I liked it nonetheless! We had a great time at dinner - I'm gonna miss these girls!
Wednesday was our last day of History and Special topics before finals next week. I hate my history class and it was brutal getting through the last one. I've never been so lost in a class in my entire life. Oh well. Thank god it's almost over. After class I went to the Christmas markets with Paul and had a couple of beers to celebrate never having to read an abstract historical idealogy text ever again. I went home took a nap, and hung out with my host family the rest of the night after that.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. It was our last day of classes! We finally went to that brewery in Barbarossaplatz that we had been looking for a week before. 11 of us went, and we drank 2 beer towers! A beer tower is basically a tower full of beer with a tap attached to it. It was amazing. 6 liters in all. After the brewery we went home and I took a nap and had dinner. Then we met at Nick's house and had a couple of drinks before we went to where everybody knows our name - the Capitol. We ate some pizza and pasta and then we went to Kim Phuc for the people that didn't want capitol food. We had a really fun night full of laughs :-) Today I have no school or anything so I'm gonna try and get stuff done for my final papers and start some studying.
Maybe I'll skip over the weekday stuff. Although the Christmas Markets did open up last week and that was a lot of fun. We have done a lot of Christmas Market browsing in the last 2 weeks. We've been to the Markets in Rudolfplatz, Neumarkt, Heumarkt, the Dom, and Altermarkt. My favorite is Heumarkt and Altermarkt...they're kinda connected and really pretty. And there's an ice rink. Maybe I'll do that today? Who knows :-) They're all really nice though.
Last Thursday we all got together and had Thanksgiving dinner. They had a massive turkey which was DEEEELICIOUS definitely one of the best turkeys I've ever had. Stuffing was great, mashed potatoes and gravy were great, the cranberry sauce was the chunky kind so I didn't even try it, and there was apple torte instead of apple pie and no pumkin pie anywhere. But that's okay! The idea of pumpkin pie really freaks Germans out...this coming from the country where they eat pumpkin soup haha. We had a great time at dinner, everyone except for our professor Laurel who went back the US for Thanksgiving. We took a lot of great pictures and had a wonderful time! After dinner, Me, Paul, Hoss, and Jakob decided to try and find a brewery in Barbarossaplatz but we ended up getting lost and walking though a semi-shady part of Heumarkt. We hung out in Heumarkt for a while and then went home.
Friday I spent the day packing and getting ready to go to Budapest and we caught our flight there around 6:30 or 7. Budapest was really cool I must say. We stayed at a hostel called the Big Fish hostel. It was only $12-$15 per night! I can't believe how inexpensive Budapest was. I made it through an entire weekend - hostel included - on 50 euro. Unreal! Not to mention our flight there was only 45 euro round trip! Budapest was fantastic...I could actually eat in restaurants instead of living of dinner rolls from a supermarket. I really liked it there and I'd love to go back. Budapest is renowned for it's Thermal spas and trust me - they did not dissappoint! So anyways, we got to Budapest sometime after 8 and we went and found our hostel. We got all checked in, got our beds set up, and got a map, and decided to go grab some food and a drink. There was a little bar right down the street from our place so we decided to go there. We ate some goulash which was pretty good but a little spicy, and we drank some beer. By the time we were done eating and stuff it was already almost midnight so we decided to go back to the hostel and go to bed to get ready for the next day.
Saturday we woke up and got ready, then got out the door around 11. By noon we had eaten lunch at the most high tech McDonald's I've ever seen, and we were on a bus towards the castle. We got to the castle and walked around. It was more like a palace, and it was nice but at this point we've all seen much nicer castles. We decided to have a coffee in the cafe and take advantage of the free toilet situation. After walking around there we went to the Fisherman's Bastion. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be but I know it's some kind of monument. It's huge and gorgeous with towers all over the place. I really liked it. Right next to it is the St. Mathias church which, along with most important sights in Europe, was covered in scaffolding. From there we walked down to the Danube and got some pictures of the gorgeous Parliament building. At this point I was soaking wet and also cold. Luckily about 15 minutes later the sun was out. We walked over the Chain bridge and along the river on the otherside to the Parliament building. We passed the shoe memorial for the Holocaust victims that were shot into the Danube between '44 and '45. It was really a moving memorial. After walking the river we went and saw St. Stephans Basillica - probably the most gorgeous church I've ever been in. It was decorated on the inside with dark red and green marble and had gold accents. I really liked it. We walked from there over to the Christmas markets which were packed and expensive. We didn't stay there long. We then walked back towards our hostel stopping for a halusky dinner and another free toilet. We took a nap at the hostel and got ready to go out to this Rockabilly bar that we found online. The bar was so cool, although they seem to think that "Confederate" is synonymous with "American"...something that we just had to ignore and laugh off as foreign ignorance. The bar was a lot of fun, I really like Rockabilly and they played a lot of songs that we knew. We met 2 hungarian boys and played foosball with them. We found out that they were 18 years old, and we were legally drinking with them in a bar. We laughed about this. They were nice guys and taught us some Hungarian words that we all promptly forgot.
Sunday was our relaxation day. We checked out of the hostel and they let us keep our backpacks and stuff there. We went and checked out a cool synagogue, and then had lunch at a Doner place. After lunch we went to this thermal bath that I can't pronounce, but it was HUGE and so pretty. Basically it was a giant thermal swimming pool in the courtyard of this huge european building. In the building were a bunch more thermal baths and saunas everywhere. We did a light therapy sauna that was really cool and relaxing. I really liked this place, and I wish we could have stayed longer. I'd love to go to Budapest again just to do the spa stuff. The best part of the Thermal baths was that is was less than 40 degrees outside but the water was over 100 degrees. So we could run around in winter weather outside in our swimsuits! The water felt amazing, but once you got out it was FREEEEEZING! I thought my feet were gonna freeze to the ground a couple of times. It was so much fun though. After the baths we went and ate some dough thing that was really good, then went back to the Christmas markets for a little. We caught our flight back home around 8 PM.
Monday I was really tired, understandably, but I made it through the day. I went with Nick and had lunch at Kim Phuc which was fantasmic as usual. Tuesday we had a girls night, so after class I stayed in the city. I went and got some stuff at the bookstore and went to starbuck's to read the German In Touch Weekly. Then I went over to the Dom and went to the Art library there to do some research for my art history paper due next week. I found some good stuff, unfortunately I have to do some translating because I couldn't find any sources in English. No big deal though, I got the gist of everything I was reading. From there I walked to Friesenplatz and ran into Emily at the Starbuck's there. I had another coffee and waited for the girls to show up. Girls night was Me, Emily, Ashley, Alex, Jess, Christine, and Lauren and we met up with our professors Ulli and Laurel. We went to an Indian restaurant, which was my first time eating Indian food. It was pretty good, but definitely a little different. I liked it nonetheless! We had a great time at dinner - I'm gonna miss these girls!
Wednesday was our last day of History and Special topics before finals next week. I hate my history class and it was brutal getting through the last one. I've never been so lost in a class in my entire life. Oh well. Thank god it's almost over. After class I went to the Christmas markets with Paul and had a couple of beers to celebrate never having to read an abstract historical idealogy text ever again. I went home took a nap, and hung out with my host family the rest of the night after that.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. It was our last day of classes! We finally went to that brewery in Barbarossaplatz that we had been looking for a week before. 11 of us went, and we drank 2 beer towers! A beer tower is basically a tower full of beer with a tap attached to it. It was amazing. 6 liters in all. After the brewery we went home and I took a nap and had dinner. Then we met at Nick's house and had a couple of drinks before we went to where everybody knows our name - the Capitol. We ate some pizza and pasta and then we went to Kim Phuc for the people that didn't want capitol food. We had a really fun night full of laughs :-) Today I have no school or anything so I'm gonna try and get stuff done for my final papers and start some studying.
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