Aachen in a Nut Shell

Aachen was awesome and the family was so incredible! I was picked up at the train station by Ursula (the mom) and when I went to their house I was warmly greeted by Dietmar (the dad), and Simon (the son). I helped Ursula make dinner and after a small incident with the salad dressing measuring cup (read- balsamic vinegar all over the floor) we had a really lovely meal. Simon then took me to meet up with Nick (the daughter) at a pub in Aachen. Her friends were really super nice. I really liked them. But here's the thing- out of 8- only 2 knew she was a girl. Which makes me what to ask things like: um.. which public toliet do you use? But I just couldn't bring myself to ask. We hung out and had a great time.

Friday was May 1st which is like our labor day- but with more alcohol. :D I walked around the city with Nick, and her friends Ester and Moe. We walked through the park, to the Cathedral, Town Hall, and stopped to have a beer by some old Roman ruins. Later we hung out in Moe's garden, drank more beer, then played foosball. (we determined I was a jinx and whoever's team I was placed on was bound to lose.) I ate dinner with the family then played some more foosball. Then went on a walk with Nick and Moe.

Saturday I walked into the city with Ursula in the morning, then I was left on my own to explore. I found a miniture for my collection, and bought pressies for my helpful hosts. :D I walked back to the house and (extremely tiredly)- crawled into bed for a nap. After my nap I went for a motorcycle ride with Dietmar through the Netherlands, into Belgium. We visited Ursula at her horse show practice. She and her sweet horse Travli ( I think I spelled that wrong) are participating in a horseshow where handicapped kids get to ride the horses and put on a show. It looked really cool. Afterwards Dietmar and I climbed back on the bike and winded our way through Belgium back to Germany. It was a gorgeous day. I would like to point out though- that I've never ridden a motorcycle like this before. And there was a time when I was looking into the back of Dietmar's shiny dark red helmet and seeing the reflection of my eyes staring back at me. I remember thinking: "Hmmm so this is what petrified terror looks like. hm." But really, he was a really great driver- I think this issue has more to do with the inexperienced passanger. :-) After the ride I met up with Nick again and we went to a friend of her's b-day party. It was really fun. I taught all the Germans how to play beer pong. (Very educational). :D And at 4am I dragged myself home. :D

Sunday I woke up early because I wanted to eat breakfast with the family and hand out pressies before Ursula drove me back to the train station so I could get back to Dusseldorf and ride back home with Dorothee and the girls. All and all- a great trip.

Okay, I know this post magically appeared as being posted Monday- but that's because I want to add other posts with cool info I learned. :D

Opinions Needed

So I have good news and bad news.

Good News: I have survived my first week of 6:45am morning starts and 7:45am classes. I've learned a lot and really surprised people when I got excited over having homework and tests. I'm just happy to have a teacher who actually wants to teach and expects me to learn. :D

Bad News: My parents are whipped. I'm so hurt, that I bawled today. Straight out sobbed like a little kid and still hours later my eyes are swollen. So I don't care if they think I'm airing dirty laundry I want some outside perspectives. So I ask everyone to chime in. Please. My parents and older brother and his girlfriend are all coming to Europe at the beginning of May. They are going to Sardinia. My brother told my parents that I couldn't get time off. (which is not true) and he told them that I was not allowed to go (allowed!?!). He doesn't want to see me. Five months I've been in Europe since I left home after the holidays. Five months and my one and only brother does not want to see me. What makes this worse- is that my parents are going along with him. Not once have I excluded him. Not once. The fact that my parents would pick him blatently over me- to exclude me when they say that want to do a annual europe trip as a family- this being the first one I suppose- is awful. It's as though I'm not even apart of the family.

This morning I called my parents ecstatic that I had found a fabulous rate from Stuttgart to Sardinia. I was actually jumping up and down with excitement. I called my parents (woke them up actually) because I needed to book the fare before it was taken. Thinking that since I had this great fare that I could join. I could borrow the family's sleeping bag- it's under my bed anyways. But no. I'm not allowed to come. Not an idea which stems from my parents. But rather- one that stems from my brother.

Tell me what you think. I want your opinion.

(Don't get me wrong- my parents will visit me- but the week after they spend a week with Toby and Nikki)

Updates Abound

I can happliy report that the guy, Patrice, I met last... well, I guess it was a week ago last Wednesday... well, he's not a weirdo. He's a sweetie and I'm meeting up with him again today. Guy thinks he can beat me on N64. Ha! He's going down.

In other news, I am working like mad on my Descartes paper- yep, it's still not done, I'm a dumbass and I have limited time to finish. But I'm going to get the SOB done, that's fo' sure.

Other than those two things there's not a lot happening here. My parents are preparing to come visit me in May. They want me to plan the whole trip- which I can totally do. However they need to let me know where they want to go. (this is key) because otherwise it's not easy to plan. Maybe I should just book everything and let them be surprised. That would be nice yes? ;)

Time Flies when You're having fun!

Jessica left today to go back home after having spent the week with me in Germany. I have to say that it was super awesome that she got to come all this way to hang out with little ole me. Oh and there might have been the whole "Europe" draw but really, I'm just way more interesting than all of Europe combined. (Hey! Stop rolling your eyes. It could be true.)

But seriously, Jess and I had a great time. We started off with two days in Stuttgart, then on to Neuschwanstein then on to Munich where we spent two days before traveling to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and finally back to Stuttgart yesterday. *bends over in half taking deep breaths* So yeah, just a little crazy. Lucky for me I don't have to do the whole trip there and back and the family is gone til Saturday so I get time to recover. Between writing three papers and trying to get the movie from this weekend put together it should be very relaxing. *rolls eyes* Anyways, that's what's going on with me. Sooo... yeah. Thanks for reading!

Barcelona was okay. I wasn't actually that impressed. No wait, correction. Sangrada Familia impressed me, but the city itself did not, nor did the people. Most of whom were very rude about me not knowing any Spanish. Worse than that, I didn't know Catalan which is what they speak in that area- even if I didn't know Spanish, it is barely tolerated there. Which makes being a tourist very difficult.

Worse than that though, is that I stayed in a hostal, and while I've normally had good experiences from this, this time I had a roommate who took over the room and when she lost her battery charger she began to go through my things trying to find it. That and the fact that she picked up my bra from my suitcase and made exclaimations of astonishment over the size did not win her any points with me. I mean, really- how rude.

But here is my top 5 favorite things that I did like about Barcelona.

1. Sangrada Familia- truly amazing church that they have been working on forever. Gaudi really out did himself. It's not expected to be finished for another 50 years.

2. La Boqueria- an outdoor market which had everything from fresh fruit juices of EVERY kind, bags of snails, skinned rabbits with white eyes staring scarily eeriely at me, fresh fruit and veggies. It was really amazing. I was even able to get fresh cooked food that was native to the Barcelona area.

3. Barceloneta- A beach that I strolled along, collecting seashells and stones. I did stay out of the water this time. I learned my lesson in Sicily.

4. Gelato- heeheehee

5. Las Ramblas- A street lined with stores and filled with sidewalk performers, flower stands, artists, and fold-up pet stores selling fish, rabbits, mice, birds, chickens and supplies.

Let's sum it all up

Well, I've nearly been back in Germany for a week, so I figure I need to start back up with my blogging my experiences. I haven't yet put up pictures, so I need to get that done at some point. But first, let's hit the highlights:

1.) Okay, well, the flights sucked, I didn't get in until last Wednesday. Now you may be asking "wait, weren't you supposed to get back Tuesday?" Well, yes. I was supposed to fly from KC to Chicago to Frankfurt then take a train to Stuttgart. But... the weather was really bad in Chicago and was causing all sorts of problems so the guy at the ticket counter booked me through Dulles. Long story short- I got to Dulles- the plane was broken- stayed at Sheraton over night- out 24 hours later- in Frankfurt guy in KC had changed train ticket to plane ticket for last leg of journey and you can't do that- got run around for five hours- eventually landed on a train back to Stuttgart where the sight of Dorothee waiting for me was a wonderful sight to behold.

2.) The gifts I brought back for everyone have been a huge hit! This makes me happy. Now the girls can't wait to have bathtime with the new colored crayon soap I got them, Paula never lets go of her stuffed snowman, Carola pours over the Sweet Valley Kids books (though only the pictures at this point), neighbors were thrilled with the cupcake and circutboard Converse shoes for their twins, and Dorothee pronounced that I will have Alex's undying love for the sheerly obsurd amount of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing I brought back with me. So all in all a job well done.

3.) Bitchy Canadian showed her claws again the yesterday at Ballet- evidently she asked Dorothee at Ballet when I was gone "What? No more nanny?" Dorothee told her I had gone home for the holidays. And she just couldn't imagine why I would want to do that. (Evidently no one in Canada loves her and she's hiding out in Germany because she doesn't have a choice). Ugh.

4.) Cool thing. The girls attacked me when they saw me again for the first time. All I heard was the fast patter of little feet then a small pause then I was knocked to the floor by a full body slam. (okay, I'm exaggerating, but it's not far off.)

5.) Yeah, events are out of order in this count up (count down?) but I'm lazy and I'm not going to re-do it. So there! *sticks tounge out*

6.) I went with Irena into Stuttgart today, which was cool. We went to this fancy-schmancy department store. While there she asked me if I would like to get a store credit card. And as I looked around at the signs on the wall declaring that this store had brands like "Hugo Boss", "Juicy Couture" and "Ralph Lauren Polo", I looked back at her and explained that while someday that would be nice to drop the money the way she does, and that while some day it's in my future plans to be able to have a reason to get a credit card to a place that sells 329 Euro hippy dresses (I looked) and has jeans on sale for 169 Euros, My bank account is currently only stocked towards Target and thrift store -and even that is pushing it. I'm the kind of gal who is thrilled with H&M and C&A (normal department stores with "normal" prices") But thanks for asking.

I'm comin' Home

Nuff Said. See you tomorrow.

Spontanety is the spice of life- Use liberally.

Sicily was a trip beyond my wildest expectations. From just before the plane was to set down on the island of Sicily, my trip began to stand on it's head. Orignally I had planned to go to Palermo and just hang out, shop, go to the beach and see the sights. But all that changed.

The storm which had been raging for quite some time in Palermo still hadn't quieted and the plane which was scheduled to go to Palermo just before us, had been re-routed to Catatina- which is on the other side of the island. The turbulance was horrible and it was because of this that I heard the couple behind me speaking with American accents. I struck up a conversation with them and it turns out - long story short- that they are friends of one of my friends. Strange how small the world is really. So Andy and Erin invited me to come with them. Their plan was to take the 3 1/2 hour train from Palermo to Milazzo that afternoon, then stay at a b&b that night. Getting up early the next day to take the ferry which would take then to the island of Vulcano which has an inactive Volcano on it. So that's just what I did. The photos are currently loaded onto flickr, and I'm working on the video. Enjoy! I know I did. :)

All the news fit to print

I'm back from Vienna. I flew there Friday afternoon and came back this morning. It was great fun. I really enjoyed it. Soon I will be posting pictures, probably tomorrow since it takes a day to upload them.

Here's what I saw:

Naschmarkt

Schloss Schoenbrunn

Stephansdom

Hundertwasserhaus

Spanische Hofreitschule

Hofburg

Wien Operhaus

Mozarthaus

And many random parts of town as I became lost. :)

That's about it. I was really tired each night and my feet were killing me. I'm just happy that this time when I took the plane to my destination I didn't have as much trouble getting back. (Thank God!)

FYI- If I don't have your address, I won't send postcards. If you send me your post address I will then decide how much I like you, then I may or may not send a postcard.

Bis Spaeter!

Oh, and one more note, as of today I have been in Germany for 5 months. Phew, and Dad didn't think I would make it this long. Well, I'm not in danger of missing him TOO much. Because even from the other side of the ocean he still has the ability to annoy the heck out of me. Cheers!

Cologne and Düsseldorf

Hello Uberbloggen readers and Greetings from Düsseldorf.

Last week was fairly uneventful, the only interesting part being that since the girls are currently on summer vacation, I get them full days. Which I suppose is more than fair seeing as I just had three weeks without the kids. Woo Hoo! Some huge pluses that have occured since they returned include:

* Kids missed me so much that they are now no longer trying to test me at every turn. Which I have to say was getting VERY old. VERY fast.

*No longer alone in the house. During the days I like to be alone in the house, however, come nighttime I'm not quite as thrilled. Although I know the neighbors, the neighborhood, and know that the area is very safe-- I have simply seen too many scary movies and the beings that actually scare me run more along the lines of Samara from "The Ring". So I was happy to have my nighttime people there.

* Dorothee was not upset about the burnt lawn, or the temporarialy lost key. Phew. So I was able to stop fretting over that.

I had to be back from Dresden by Friday because on Saturday the girls were flower girls in a wedding. They were really cute.

Interesting Fact Time!!!

When Germans get married they have to have two ceremonies, a civil one and a church one. They also have a separation between church and state that is more pronounced than the one in America. But I found it to be very interesting that in their weddings it is highly unusual to have all the jobs in the weddings that we have in America. For instance, the girls being flower girls was unusual. Normally they don't have the brides maids, maid of honor, best man, ring bearer, or flower girls. What really disappoints me is that there was no real procession of the father walking down the aisle with his daughter and giving her to her future husband. That's my favorite part. In the wedding I saw the bride and groom walked in together behind the priest. BORING!!!

The plan for this past weekend went like this: I rode north with Dorothee and the girls on Friday and they dropped me off in Cologne. Then they headed on to Dusseldorf. I spent the weekend bumming around Cologne and then Monday took the train the 30 minutes to Dusseldorf. Dorothee picked me up outside of the Main train station and we went to pick the girls up at her in laws, then continued to her parents. Where I currently am.

So much happened while in Cologne that to write it all would be exhausting, so I'm going to have to put the video together and do it that way. I figure if a picture is worth a thousand words, than a video is going to be much more valuable to my time.

I do however what to add two things:

Dumbass, If it's evening, or nighttime, and you see a woman walking down the street, seemingly alone. And you ask her if she is in the city alone. Why on Earth do you possibly think that she would say yes? Is it perhaps the ancient German way of discovering stupid vunerable women. (Neither of which am I.)

Can't get away from the Mormons, even in Germany. I get tired of people trying to convert me. When all I really want is for you to leave me alone, while you go worship the god of your choice and I worship mine. I figured I could get rid of the pest by stating that I can't speak German (cough cough). Unfortunately I soon found out that that wouldn't work since the sorry SOB had evidently followed me from America. Damn it.