why i haven´t been blogging

I´d like to blame why I haven´t written a blog in three weeks on the fact that my computer died on me. However, this tragic event only happened last Wednesday, which still doesn´t explain the other two weeks.Anyway, I´m now at the internet bar \cafe\casino where I accidentally put too much money into the computer so I thought I could write a blog. Since Budapest I´ve done a ton of things but only a handful of them are worth writing about. Amsterdam was last weekend. The trip was awesome, but way too short. We easily spent more time on the train than we actually did in Amsterdam. With that being said, I didn´t get a great feel for the city. It was really interesting though to see legal prostitution and legal marijuana. Everywhere. The other really cool thing that I did was go to Colmar (a city in France that was only about two hours away from me) to see the tour de france finish. That was such an amazing experience. I got to stand about 10m away from the finish line in the front row. It rained all day, so standing there wasn´t always the most fun, but I met some really awesome people and obviously, I got to see the tour. So awesome. Lots of other things have happened, but they´re all seeming to blend together. I feel like things are starting to slow down here seeing as most of us leave on Friday. I´m sure this week will be lots of fun though :)

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Budapest

Without a doubt, this past weekend has been amazing. The trip was an adventure right from the start when at 7:30 we found out that our train didn't leave at 10:30 like we thought it did, but rather at 8:30. We were given about 20 minutes to pack all of our stuff and head on over to the train station. This was an especially difficult task for me because I spent the entire afternoon sleeping because I had a terrible headache. Once we got to Stutgart we had to take a taxi to the train station because it was too late for the strassenbahn. Our ride was hilarious and the driver even told us where to get beer 24 hours a day incase we got bored sleeping in the airport. We arrived at the airport around 1 a.m. and found a sweet spot with some benches that we could sleep on. The flughafen schlafen (airport sleeping) went a lot better than I thought it would. Inevitably, I would wake up every so often to the click click click sound of a suitcase rolling against the tile floor, but other than that it was well worth the wonderful price of 0 euro. The flight left at 9:30 and by noon, we were in our hostel in Budapest! We stayed at "Tiger Tim's Place", which was operated by people who speak english. The place was awesome and they even took us out at night. We also met a lot of cool people there as well.  After we got settled in, we spent the rest of the day walking around and at the house of terror museum. There was also a neo nazi riot that day. Believe it or not, we actually even had a dialog with a fascist. Saturday night we went out to a couple bars that were fun, but fairly uneventful. On Sunday we spent a good portion of the day at the bath house, which is basically a place with a TON of pools, hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, etc. It was a much needed day of relaxation. That night we hung around the hostel and drank some absinthe. I love that stuff because 1. I can get so drunk off of so little, and 2. I speak fantastic German after drinking it. Too bad it is not legal in the states. Monday was a day of sightseeing and walking and then getting on the plane back to Stutgart. The flight was short, but we were a bit scared for our lives on the landing because we felt like Indiana Jones was flying the plane. Discount airlines=untrained pilots? Maybe. The journey back didn't take quite as long and this time we didn't sleep in the airport. Instead, we slept on the McPatio in the Karlsruhe train station while we were waiting for our connecting train. We got back at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and I managed to sleep through all of my roommates alarms and miss some class. Overall, a great weekend. I'm so glad that we ended up in Budapest. It is a place that I would never book a trip to, but I ended up loving it so much. I'll definitely go back!

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we be chillin' at the holiday inn

I went to Munich this weekend with Cassandra and it was amazing. The trip got off to a rocky start when we realized an hour into our train ride that we weren't on the right train. The mistake only cost us an hour though and we were able to get to Munich fairly easily after that. We definitely thought we were doomed for another "Paris Weekend". Once we got there we checked into the hotel and were so happy to find that we had nice big beds, flat screen tv, and most importantly, A SHOWER! The best part though: free bike rentals! We stayed at the hotel for about 10 minutes and then took the bikes downtown. The ride took way longer than it should have but was absolutely beautiful riding through this giant park. Once we got downtown we walked around and then found a place to eat dinner which was schnitzel of course. I feel like german cuisine consists only of schnitzel (meat), bratwurst (sausage), and spaetzel (egg noodles). I might be getting sick of it... Anyway, after dinner we went to the legendary Hofbrau house. Our plan was to ask someone that already had a table if we could join them, seeing as it is nearly impossible to find a table in that place. We ended up sitting at a table with a bunch of engineers from some college in Indiana. Our time there was awesome, and it was great to meet some new people. After that we decided that it was time for some hard alcohol and went to a latino bar that was absolutely packed.  This was probably my least favorite part of the night because my rum and coke was 15 euros (>20 george washingtons). Unfortunately, I was unaware of this until it was in my sweet little hands and I had no choice but to hand over the cash. Learning experience: don't order drinks before you know how much they cost.  Needless to say, we only had one drink and then proceeded on the drunk bike ride back to the hotel. This was quite the adventure since 1. we were drunk and 2. we didn't know where we were going. I think I might be lucky to be alive...  About every 200 yards we would run into some people and ask them where to go. The plan worked out fantastically until we came to the big park (now pitch black) that we rode through in the beginning. No way we were going through that! While we were pondering the next option, an older man rode by and asked us if we needed help. Luckily, we were able to pretend that we were sober and talk to this man who so graciously led us back to the street our hotel was on.  Last night really restored my faith in humanity and made me realize that there are actually still nice people out there. We met so many people last night and every single one of them was so willing to help us out. It was definitely the best night in Germany thus far. 

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another day in germany

I'm writing this entry per request of the lovely Miss Elizabeth Kinder who wanted to know what I do every day here in Freiburg. Described below is a typical weekday.

7:15 a.m.- Wake up to soothing Asian sounds that are not from Angus' cell phone, but rather my Chinese roommate's sweet alarm clock. Usually this is a difficult task and is immediately followed  by coffee making. 

8:00 a.m.- Walk to class. If I was too lazy to make a sandwich (or forgot to buy bread to make a sandwich on) then the walk is complemented with a stop at the bakery where I will usually buy a chocolate filled croissant. 

8:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.- Class which can sometimes be very boring. When it's boring, I tend to think about things other than German. For example: I decided upon cool colors to paint my apartment the other day. Most of the time though, this is just 4 hours of German learning fun. Right.

1:00 p.m.-  This time is usually filled with a mixture of different activities. After class I'll either go get lunch in the city or go back to the guesthouse and make something myself. Then, assuming the weather is good, I'll either go running or biking. If the weather is not good, I usually sit around and wait for it to get better.  I also usually get gelato during this time. However, today I calculated how much I've spent on ice cream since I've been here and the amount is alarming. So, that activity might soon be getting cut out of my daily routine. 

~7 p.m. - Dinner time. The first week or so everyone was really enthusiastic about cooking dinner but now we're all just lazy. There are a few places that we frequently go out to when we're too lazy to cook. 1) The Chicken Place- Yeah, they sell chickens, but usually everyone gets pizza or bratwurst there. 2) The Pasta Palace- from 6-730 every night you can get a whole pasta meal for 1 euro 90 cents! Or I'll just stay in and make a sandwich.

9:00 p.m.- Some nights we'll go out to a bar. Every Tuesday we go to a great place which I just recently found out used to be a morgue. I'm slightly turned off from it now, but will still continue to go because I can get drunk there for about 4 euros. Other nights we'll just hang around the guest house.

10:00 p.m.- Unfortunately, this is often when I start my homework. 

12:00 a.m.- Bed time.

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happy easter?

It is undoubtedly evident that I'm missing the lack of ice cold drinks here in Germany. While I was cruising the aisles of the grocery store I noticed that they don't refrigerate eggs here. So not only can you not get a cold drink, but now you can't get cold eggs?!

Luckily these might make up for the lack of refrigeration:

Easter eggs all year long!

Not cold.

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The Paris Adventure

I definitely learned a lot of things this weekend. For starters, before you leave for a trip, it is important to check for more things other than just your passport. My friend Cassandra and I went to Paris and while we were on the train there, realized we left all the directions to the hotel we were staying in back at the guest house. We also had no idea what the hotel was called. Luckily, I managed to remember the subway stop, and we stumbled upon a sketchy, sketchy internet cafe. To make matters worse, Cassandra couldn't access her e-mail to get the reservation, so this turned into a google search until we found the hotel that looked familiar.  Once we figured that all out, we got to the hotel, and then promptly left to go to the louvre. That was definitely the best part of the trip! After that, we had dinner at this great restaurant that gave you free olives. Just my place. Once we got back to the hotel we decided to take showers. Great idea, right? Wrong. The shower didn't work so we had to "shower" in the faucet. On Saturday, we spent the morning seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee. We tried to rent some bikes but had some credit card trouble. In the afternoon we decided to bite the bullet and pay the 10 euros we didn't want to pay to reserve a seat on the high speed train. No such luck. The lady there said that all of the trains were full, then she somehow managed to find an open train that left at 8 am on Sunday that was basically a tour de europe. The thing took 7 hours and went all the way up to Brussels, and then back down to Southern Germany. The worst part: it wasn't 10 euros, it was 32. We decided to make the best out of the crappy situation though and spend the day in Koeln, where our connection was, and get on a train later in the day. Once we got the train fiasco straightened out, we went to Notre Dame. After that we had coffee in the "Quasimodo Cafe" where we got money stolen from us by the waiter while we were counting it out for the bill. The french are so nice. Once we were done in that area, we had dinner at the worst pasta place ever. It was basically the McDonalds of pasta and was pretty friggen terrible. To conclude the day, we went and saw the Eiffel Tower at night and watched it sparkle. What a day. It was really fun being in Paris, despite all the things that went wrong. However, I think it's definitely one of those things you do once and then you're good.

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France

Today 11 of us went to Strasbourg, France for the day. It was my first time in France and definitely a good one! Strasbourg os located pretty close to the German border so I thought that it would not feel too different from Germany. However, I was quite surprised! The architecture there was so different and everything was incredibly elaborate. While we were there we saw the Cathedral Notre Dame Strasbourg, which was amazing. Other than that we pretty much just walked around the city, ate lunch, and drank beer. It was a challenge to figure out what language to speak there because I don't know a word of French. I wonder if it is better to speak German since it is so close to Germany, or if it is better to speak English since well, everyone knows English. Who knows.

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where's all the ice?

I am undoubtedly a lover of ice cubes and more specifically, iced coffee. I knew before I came to Germany for the summer, I would have a hard time finding this delicious drink. My friend Justin from my German classes at UNH has been here a little longer than I have and gave me some decent advice on finding iced coffee. Here are the options with my analysis:

1. McCafe 

No self-respecting coffee lover would ever be caught dead there

Conclusion: Out.

2. Starbucks 

Evil corporation

Conclusion: No way.

3. "Cafe Fredo" from Aspekt (a local coffee shop)

Good coffee, but you get only three ice cubes in the whole drink.

Conclusion: Unsatisfying.

4. Self-made 

This method works quite well, until it comes time for the best part: the ice cubes. My mini "Kuhlschrank" is not capable of freezing anything. 

Conclusion: Not possible.

5. Hot Coffee 

Not refreshing.

Conclusion: Unfortunately, the best option.

So a week ago, I made this fantastic 10 euro investment at Ikea, and have been making coffee with it every morning and trying to get used to life without ice cubes. 

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This pretty much sums up the weather for the past week in Freiburg:

Tomorrow is a holiday so there are no classes. I believe tonight is the first night that we're REALLY going out. For the past week, we've been going to bars and coming home around midnight because we're all too tired and apathetic. Tonight, we dance. This weekend I'm making a day trip to France and hopefully will do some more hiking on Sunday. Let's just hope the weather is good! I booked a "mystery trip" a few days ago and found out that I'm going to Budapest in the first weekend in July! The deal was that you pay 50 euros and you don't know what destination you're going to. Budapest works! 

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a strange night

It all started when we went out to dinner. We found a great place with awesome food and music that was pretty inexpensive. The fun doesn't stop there though. In Germany, bachelor parties are a pretty big deal. They also involve the groom dressing up in an animal costume. What I was unaware of though were the tasks that these guys had to complete throughout the night. 

this guy had to measure 11 meters of boobs

After dinner a bunch of people decided to go to some concert. I decided to go and check it out, no one really knew what it was but I wasn't doing much else so I went anyway. Apparently no one knew where they were going, but eventually we ended up at our destination, which was here:

A voting party. Average age: 54. 

Not exactly anyone's idea of a good time, so we quickly got out of there and went to the beer garden. That was a little better than hanging out with old people and discussing german politics. 

 

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that's what she said!

                                "Eat me how you want"

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but for now we are young

I feel like I have barely had time to breath since I left the U.S. A nice thing about Germany though is that life is seemingly much slower and relaxed than the east coast. I've been incredibly busy since I have a arrived here so I haven't been able to fully enjoy the laid back atmosphere, but I am sure that the time will come. On Tuesday, which I guess was yesterday, I moved into my room here and met my roommate who is from China. I had met some people earlier in the day while I was taking tests and finding out all I need to know about the course and we managed to meet up later in the night and go out. It's great to have a group of friends here and everyone is wicked enthusiastic to explore Germany and possibly some other countries as well. Eurotrip. Being the cyclist that I am, I have already found myself a nice 50 euro "road bike" and plan on going for some good rides once I am more settled in here. Today we had class for the first time and it went as well as a 4.5 hour class that you go to every day could go. We get out of class at one which is really nice because it doesn't take up your whole day. After class we all went out for drinks and then bought food to cook for dinner. Hopefully I will get better at cooking this summer and not have any embarrassing encounters with smoke alarms next year. Tonight was pretty chill; I don't think I'm quite used to the time difference yet, so it was nice to stay in. Now it's almost 11, and I am definitely ready for bed. Guten Nacht.

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germany at last

I have finally arrived here at my friend Inga's apartment in Freiburg. My flight was good since I managed to sleep through most of it. It was the perfect morning to fly into Europe and I saw the Eiffel tower and the alps from the plane! I have, however, developed a strong hatred for the train system in Zurich. I started out by trading some dollars for swiss francs so I could buy a train ticket to get from the airport to the main train station. When I asked how many francs I would need, the lady told me way more than I actually needed and then before I knew it, I was holding a 5.60 franc "iced coffee" in my hands in an attempt to get rid of them. (That's probably equal to 6 or 7 dollars) So I finally get my ticket, then realize how insanely confusing it is to find out where you actually need to be. I asked a bunch of people and then finally one pointed me in the right direction. The funny thing about this is that once I was actually on the train, I had germans asking me what to do. Hey, I can barely speak German, there's no way I can figure out these trains. Once I got to the main train station I bought my ticket to Freiburg. Once I left the ticket window, I realized that the ticket had no time or track number on it. So then I had to go to a different window in order to acquire the information necessary for me to actually get on a train. Go figure. Before I got on the train, I tried to give my friend Inga a call but the end result was me not knowing how to dial a country code on a pay phone and thus, not being able to place the call. Add pay phones in Zurich to my list of things I don't like. The train ride was beautiful. It went through the country side and mountains were in view everywhere. I got to Freiburg and met up with Inga at the train station and then we took what is like a trolley to her apartment. Now I'm just enjoying some down time at the apartment and will probably go out later!

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another suitcase in another hall

Home? Maybe. It's hard to say what place I'm actually calling home right now. I spent the past few days packing up and moving from Durham to Newmarket and now I'm back in Portland for the week before I head off to Europe. Although I love Portland, it really doesn't feel like "home" anymore. Right now I'm just here waiting for what's coming next. Germany! Everyone keeps asking me about my trip, and the more questions I am asked, the more I realize I have close to no idea what I'm getting myself into. Here's what I do know: I'm flying from Boston to Zurich on May 31st, 9:45 p.m. I will then get off the plane and try to figure out how to get to Germany via train. Once I'm in Freiburg I'm going to stay with my friend Inga for a night and she's going to show me around a bit. The next day I will move into the mystery location where I will be residing for 8 weeks. Then I will start the class that I will go to many hours a day for many weeks. What am I going to do in class, you ask? Beats me. I do wish I knew a little more about the program, but I guess that this will just add to the adventure. Time to pack!

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