Scotland

Hello! It's been two weeks exactly. I hope everyone's doing well.




First of all, today is Christian's 23rd birthday, so yay! I tried to make him some brownies from a mix that I bought at Kaufland (the grocery store), but the directions were all in German and I thought I knew what I was doing... anyway, we ended up with some pretty rubbery brownies.

Saturday, June 20th, Christian and I went to Edinburgh in Scotland. There's an airline which is pretty much bare bones with which you can get really great-priced tickets from Germany to the U.K. We each paid about 60 euros each for our roundtrip. Scotland was definitely much more than I really expected. I've wanted to visit for a long time, to just be there and observe the culture a little, but I was amazed at how different the architecture is. Almost all of the buildings in Edinburgh are made of blocks of stone, and much of the design looks like it's left over from several hundred years ago. The city was extremely busy, and every hotel and hostel we called was totally booked for the night, I couldn't believe it. At one point, I thought with some seriousness that we might be sleeping on a park bench that night.

Finally we went to the tourist information center as a last resort. It turns out that's where the employees pretty much find and book an available room for you. We got to stay in a really neat old guesthouse, looking like it was made in the early 1900's and run by a really helpful Indian man with an interesting mixture of an Indian and Scottish accent. It was so cute, and for the money we paid for it, I was amazed at the great accomodation we had. It was about a 20-30 minute walk from the Einbugh city center, but I appreciated being able to retreat away from the constant crowdedness of the city and staying somewhere where we were two of what seemed to be very few, if any other, tourists.

That first night, we ate at a Chinese restuarant (and it seems that Chinese food is indeed different in every country you eat it in), and then ran across the street in the rain to a cozy pub to absorb some local culture. Other than a high definition flat screen hanging from the ceiling in one corner, the pub was just as you might imagine an old Scottish bar to be. Almost all of it, the ceiling, the floor, the stools, the walls, the bar, was aged but beautifully carved wood. In some darker corners and against one of the walls there were large bench seats apolstered with old red velvet. Brass chandeliers lit the place, along with electric cadelabras along the walls.

The bar tenders were pretty friendly and it became clear pretty quickly that a lot of the people we were sitting next to were most likely locals as they were given a drink before they even had to order. We talked briefly with one or two of them and with the bar tenders, occasionally watching the soccer game on the TV before finally deciding to call it a night after about two hours or so.

The next morning we rose a little early, had our breakfast down in the dining room of the guesthouse and then decided to climb the giant hill on the edge of the city. It took about an hour to get to the top, and a lot of huffing and puffing on my part, but the view at the top was worth it. You could see everything, the sea, all the houses, the castle, it was really nice. Then after lunch, we went to Edinburgh castle and the Royal Mile (the streets just outside the castle). The castle itself was, of course, impressive because it was nearly all intact and looked almost new. This is due to the fact they continue to restore it. This is where the British Honours (the sceptor and crown) are held, along with a short museum about the history behind them.

When we looked for something to do that night, Christian suggested we go see "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" since he knew I really wanted to see it. It was really really cool to see that movie in the U.K. It was like the movie could have taken place right down some of the small neighborhoods we had seen, and Hogwarts castle could have been the one we just visited. I know my geekiness is coming out, but you're reading MY blog, now aren't you? :)

The following day we took the train to St. Andrews, a much smaller and seaside-esque town along the Scottish coast. It was beautiful there. There's something wonderful about visiting the sea, especially when you haven't in a long time, and the rugged coastline was really amazing. St. Andrews is where golf was invented, and is also home to the ruins of what used to be the second largest cathedral in Europe, built nearly 1,000 years ago.

The first day, we saw the two main sights there was to see in St. Andrews as far as history, the ruins of the castle and the cathedral. The castle was interesting, but a little bit of a mystery seeing as almost every plaque describing each room or area contained phrases like "this room was probably used for..." or "this area could have been for..." or "this structure was most likely a..." haha, it was pretty funny after awhile. They seemed to know about as much about it as I did. Worth it for the scenery though. Something eery about ruins, as I stepped down a crumbling staircase, I imagined the booted feet of medieval soldiers running up the same stairs as the castle was attacked (which it was on two occasions). It's hard to fully picture what the castle once looked like when it as intact though.

The cathedral was massive, even in ruin. The only things that really remained were the front and back facade, a tower, and part of the cathedral wall. Along the ground, you could see in the grass where the stones in the foundation outlined where the originial structure once stood in whole. Ever since its first completion, which took 200 hundred years, it had been under attack in war and also suffered several disasterous architectural flaws.

We stayed in a little bed and breakfast called "Abbey Cottage", again something that looked like it belonged in an old British fairytale, with it's stone walls and huge garden. Our room was a comfy, country-decorated twin with a big window looking out into the garden and a stand up shower IN the bedroom. That was pretty interesting, haha. The next morning was our last in Scotland and we ate a big Scottish breakfast with the other renters in the dining room. It was cool to talk to some Scottish people at breakfast, though I could hardly understand one of them, she talked so fast with the strongest accent I'd heard thusfar.

This last day we mostly walked through the city and walked for about an hour or two along the nearly deserted beach, jeans rolled up, shoes off, and feet in the water. Totally relaxing, even though both of us were kind of weighed down with our backpacks (we backpacked the entire time in Scotland, which offered a lot of freedom for us to move around wherever we wanted, when we wanted). We went to the old St. Andrew's golf course, one of the first golf clubs ever established in about the 1740's or so.

Finally, we took the train back to Edinburgh, bought some souvineers and then headed back home to Gera.

Thus ends another exciting adventure abroad! Soon, I'll post about the trip we took to the Rhineland. Til then, take care!

In Leipzig Once Again

Hey everyone,

Leipzig and Gera are going to be the main places I'll be dividing my time until Christian and I move into our apartment in Berlin, since he has an apartment here and his family lives in Gera. Christian's family lives in a little village called Otticha, and it's got the charm of a place that's not over-run with modern things. As a result, they don't have the fastest internet connection and so I usually won't be posting on here while we're in Otticha. Christian and I just spent from last Thursday until yesterday (Monday) there and thus, the silence. It's good though, you're kind of forced to relax there, such is the hospitality of his family. I guess being from Fort Wayne, though, I do appreciate being in a bigger city like Leipzig. I really like hearing people in the street outside the window and the sound of cars passing in the street.

Though you can find little phrases of English here and there, it is a little bit of an adjustment being in a country where you mostly don't understand what people are talking about -- in everyday conversation, people tend to talk fast or mumble, just as in every language, I suppose-- Granted, when I sit down and hear Christian talking or friends speaking German, I can understand a little better since I'm more familiar with the sound of their voice and words and expression. It's like the scene in "The Thirteenth Warrior" with Antonio Bandaras where he is a foreign soldier camping with Nordic soldiers. It shows him over the course of a night learning the language (which, granted is impossible, but Hollywood can do it). He's listening to their speech and hears what sounds like gibberish, then one word will jump out in English. Then another, then several words surrounded by gibberish. Like little familiar flags jumping out of nowhere. It really is like that, but only if I really listen.

Often, if I sit somewhere too long I end up falling asleep. I feel tired a lot, and I remember feeling this way almost the entire stay of last year's visit. Some of it was jet lag I'm sure, however, when there's a lot of interaction or even a lot of movement over the city, it really is exhausting my brain. I've taken for granted simply understanding the passing conversations I hear in the street, and especially the ones directed right at me. I always knew in the US that wherever I saw a sign or an advertisement I would be able to read it without even thinking about it. Now it's all a puzzle, every word, every sign, everyday. And all the working it out in my head... well, I guess I can accept how tired it makes me, though I do feel sort of guilty napping in the middle of the day sometimes.

When we went to a mall in Gera, there was an Anti-Nazi march going on in the street. The radio said there were about 1,000 protesters altogether. There was a lot of yelling "Nazis, Nazis! Raus! Raus!" Nazis, out. Apparently it was a Nazi music festival going on in Germany that they were protesting. They had a banner at the front of the line that said "Kein Platz Fuer Nazis" No Place for Nazis. We watched the parade go by and toward the end were loads of people dressed all in black and basically just looking really angry. Christian said these were the extremist, sometimes violent, anti-Nazi people. I understand that you can passionately believe in cause, but their trying to fight an intolerance with intolerance? I suppose there are people like that everywhere.

I recorded some of the march and one of the marchers gave me a nasty look and flipped me off. I got pretty offended but Christian said he was probably thinking I might have been a Nazi supporter. He said that sometimes Nazis will record or take pictures of people participating in those kind of demonstrations and put them on a 'black list' on Nazi websites. He used to take part in those demonstrations when he was younger and used to be on a list. The tensions there are really high, and it seems there is a lot of hatred from both groups.

On a lighter note, I went to a really cool birthday party for a man in Otticha who turned 50. He was the friendliest guy and he invited the entire village to his home and his garden to enjoy food (a whole pig on a spit) and drinks. There was a little girl of about 11 named Paula who is learning English. I think she was excited to meet a native speaker because she showed me all her schoolbooks and we talked for about an hour and a half. She brought out a German teen magazine and was asking me if I knew any of the celebrities in it, like Zac Effron and people from Twilight, lol. She asked if everyone in the US is rich (her mom wasn't happy about that) and she said she wanted to live there so bad because she wants to live in a villa, have lots of nice clothes, and have a lot of money. I tried to tell her it's not really like that, but why destroy her somewhat positive stereotypes about the US while she can still have them? She spoke to me in a pretty interesting mix of German and English, and I responded in German to the best of my ability. I was actually surprised how well we communicated in the other's language. I guess I need to be less shy about using German in front of adults, but with a kid who was really interested in me being an American, it was just a lot easier to talk to her, lol.

That party was a seriously good time. The crowd consisted mostly of people over the age of 40, but they seemed to really have a good sense of humor, pretty easy going, and really enjoying themselves. There was some 'disko' kind of music like YMCA and thrown in were also a couple Katy Perry songs and Lady Gaga. I really enjoyed seeing some of the people dance, although there wasn't a whole lot of room. Even Christian and I danced a little bit. I did a little Macarena and they even played it so we could all do it. Haha. I was taught how to chacha by Paula and Christian was forced into dancing by a severe fifty-something retired dance teacher. Good party.

Another interesting thing, we were walking in the city and we passed by a pet shop, in the window were cages and in one there was a chipmunk jumping around on little hamster toys and going crazy. They actually were selling chipmunks as household pets, lol. I guess they might be a little rare here, but I told Christian we have those things running around everywhere in Indiana.

Things you also don't really see here (that I know of): squirrels (they have loads of hedgehogs instead) and raccoons.

Ok, that's enough for now. I gotta get a shower and then start some ironing. Talk to you soon!

PS - if you want to see more photos, I'm uploading them on Photobucket. Here's the LINK

Ich Habe in Deutschland Angekommen

Hey everyone,

I forgot to mention that later Tuesday night as I was looking for my gate in Chicago O'Hare, I am almost certain I saw Viggo Mortensen. Since it was late, there weren't very many people anywhere, so the few people that came along were naturally ones that I glanced at. Well, I thought from farther away, "He kinda looks like Viggo Mortensen." Then he got closer and closer and finally he was almost a foot away and it just HAD to be him. (I didn't really consider that I was staring, but he was looking at me too, which helped me figure out it was him).
I thought about stammering out something but he had already passed and I guess I get kind of shy. Not to mention, he didn't look like he was in the mood to talk to anyone. Anyway, that was pretty cool. I found this pic of him dated last week and his hair was almost exactly that length and color. If it wasn't him, man, I bet that guy gets a lot of LOTR fans after him.

I noticed this visit that Germans really have a tendency to stare. Sometimes just feel it when I walk by. I guess I don't normally dress in the way that girls here dress (I've been told before that people can immediately tell that I'm American, though I have no idea how!), but we were just walking down the street and just glancing at people, I felt like they were staring. I asked Christian if that is common and he said yeah, especially in smaller towns... though I didn't experience it as much as I did last night in Berlin. I felt like I had something on my shirt, or on my face.




On another note, while I was in London, I was killing time in a duty-free shop and they had a huge display of "Crunchie" packages, with mini Crunchie candy bars inside. Crunchie is my absolute favorite candy ever. It's made with seafoam toffee in the middle, man it's great. The only place I could get it was World Market, and about a year ago, they stopped getting them, then World Market closed a couple months ago. But hurrah! I purchased a package (not cheaply! 6 pounds, roughly 12 USD) and am happily enjoying them from time to time. Gotta make em last!

Heathrow Airport

pic of Heathrow

Finally sitting down after madness, MADNESS! I almost got on the wrong plane to London when I was in Chicago. I guess I would have ended up in the same place, AND on time for my original connecting flight to Berlin (my real flight was delayed an hour). Overall, the plane was British Airways Boeing 747 airbus. It was probably the fanciest plane I've been on, it was pretty nice. They even had parts on the head piece of the seat that keep your head from flopping down on your chest, so guess who got some sleep! ME. That almost never happens. The man next to me was really nice, however, he had some serious Indian food breath, and he yawned a lot, unfortunately. I kept my face turned deliberately toward the window most of the time to avoid it. I offered him chewing gum a few times... I don't think he took the hint. Either that or he's a sadist.

So we got off the plane and went through passport control here in London and then we waited in a LONG line again to get into the international terminal through security. Finally I got up to put my stuff in the bins, got my liquids in a plastic baggie, and my laptop out for xray, and the guy in front of me talking to the security people starts sprouting expletives out of his mouth like daisies in May. Apparently he wanted to take a large bottle of opened perfume in his carry-on and they said no. I thought everyone knew the whole 100ml/ 3oz rule for liquids. Apparently the bottle cost him $500. Why anyone would ever pay that much to smell a certain way, I'll never know. I thought he was going to lose it big time, because they told him they had to confiscate it. Then he wanted to have them pour out the perfume so he could keep the bottle... I don't know. That must have had some serious sentimental value.

After several more minutes, I go through the walk-through x-ray and set it off. Then I felt really bad for the woman who had to pad me down. I had just come from a hot airplane, with loads of other sweaty people, carrying my laptop and my hand luggage, and wearing a hoodie. I was damp. Oh well, I think I didn't stink. I put on extra deodorant before leaving the flight and used my baby wipes on my face and arms. Still, if I was her, I would still be a lil repulsed. But hey, she wasn't wearing gloves, sooo...

Ok, I'm gonna end it now cause now my body temp has dropped and I'm really cold. Gotta russle my sweater out of my bag. Gonna be in Berlin in approximately 4 1/2 hours.

Talk to you soon. :)

Morgen ('Tomorrow' auf Deutsch)

Tomorrow is the day I head out on my adventure! I go from being excited to being melancholy all the time now. I am excited to see Christian and my friends again, but I'm actually already a little homesick. I know it's only for a semester, 6 months, but I've never been away from my parents or home for longer than about 3 weeks. The longest I've been away from my brother is about 2 weeks. It's going to be weird leaving the Fort for so long. To actually miss the fall? Insanity. But then again, I'm not dropping off the face of the earth, and I supposed the changing of the seasons will happen in Germany too. Not to mention, I'll be trying to make some memories and experiences while I'm there.

Already, I've said goodbye to my grandparents. I almost got teary eyed there... I just hope nothing happens to them while I'm gone. I think that would be the worst. Something happening to someone here and me not being able to be there. Tomorrow, when I say goodbye to my family at the airport, well, I'm preparing for emotions all around.

Since my flight leaves at 8:20pm, my family and I and Kristy are going out to eat beforehand in the town close to FWA. That will be nice, I think. Sort of a long goodbye :) My last home-cooked meal was real American steak with corn on the cob and watermelon. It was great. Whew, I think I'm going to miss Mom's home cooking. That's something I'll be looking forward to when I get back, having some home cooked Christmas food. Mmmm.

Ok, I still have to do one load of laundry and then double check/ even out my bags so they don't exceed the weight limit. I think I've done better at leaving stuff here than I initially thought I would... but one of those bags is pretty dang heavy.

All the visa stuff is taken care of... but I still have to figure out how the heck I'm gonna get my computer in my carry-on! I don't have a laptop sleeve and my case is full briefcase sized. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I'll update soon. Take care. :)

Couples Not Good Flatmates?

So, Christian has been looking online at dozens of available rooms in Berlin. We decided that we're going to be most likely using a flat-share. This means that there are several rooms (2-5 i guess) and everyone in that apartment shares a kitchen and a bathroom. Sounds like a dorm to me.

Anyway, he's been trying to get into contact with several of the people who have advertised their free space, and been getting rejected because I guess a lot of people aren't open to a couple moving in. After another prospect turned us down, Christian told me, "He kinda said that we'd always be the couple to the 'outside world' and not two individual members of the apartment." At this point I decided that we probably didn't want to live with a crazy person anyway. Seriously, though, what is that supposed to mean? Christian says some people are really picky about who moves in, "i guess many people here cherish flat shares for their tolerant, interesting and what not notion..." A couple moving in threatens to "throw off the natural atmosphere of the flat-share" (another note from Crazy Pants).

Oh well, Christian managed to set up two appointments with people not threatened by our "couple-ishness" for us to see the apartments as soon as I arrive in Berlin. Here's hoping.