and don't you feel like coming home? (or, the last half of my Germany documentation)

FORWARD: I totally got bad about keeping up with this. So forgive the dates and everything being all screwy. Or the lack of description lol.

15 July 2009

"Dang. I am so behind on this."

That is the phrase I just uttered to myself.

There are several days which I need to update about, including the cruise down the Rhine and our trip to Paris!

The first thing I really need to update about is the Rhine Cruise. It was, of course, picturesque and fabulous. The Rhine itself is a very beautiful river - but you SHOULD know that. We went a museum about the bridge that allowed the allies to enter Germany during WWII and then we went to the town of Linz. Linz is really pretty, but most notably (in my book) is home to the best street musician I have ever seen sitting under a bridge playing the violin!

All in all, a rather picturesque vision of Germany on that day.

The next thing I would love to update you about is our trip to PARIS. (Love!) Now, on my life to do list "spend more time in Paris" was there, which I mentally crossed off and added "spended even MORE time in Paris!" because I love it that much. It would be really lovely to actually be able to spend more time relaxing there though instead of having to see all the big monuments.

On the first day (Thursday), we got up pretty early and headed down to the tourist station. Here we got our rail passes (Paris has the best metro system ever), maps, figured out what we wanted to do, etc. Then we hopped on the metro (did I mention how freaking awesome the metro is?) and went to the Sacre Couer Basilica. Which was beautiful, of course. On the way up we noticed a lot of vendors selling little Eiffel Tower keychains, and little light up statues of the Eiffel Tower, etc. At this point, these men meant nothing to us, but they would soon become a huge part of our Parisian lives! However, on the way back down, we were BOMBARDED by a group of men from what I can only guess was Africa who mauled us, tied strings around Caroline and my fingers, proceeded to make a bracelet and then charged us a ridiculous amount. I ended up talking him out of the ten euro he wanted from me to just give him five and ran, but somehow they convinced poor Caroline I gave him eight so she gave him eight! Sigh. I'm out five euro... but it's a moderately good story, I suppose!

After that we hopped back on the metro (bomb!) and then we stopped by for literally maybe five minutes to take a picture of the Moulin Rouge. Haha. No lie, five minutes.

THEN We located the Paris Opera House. Now, this was an incredible experience! It was GORGEOUS for one thing, only four euro entrance fee to poke around, and there is so much history there! Incredible. Pictures to come, of course.

After that, we found the Musee D'Orsay and spent the afternoon getting lost in the works of art. I really enjoyed the Degas that was there, and I do always love museums. =)

The next day - we got up and had to check out of our first hotel. Then we went to Notre Dame (carrying all our things) Also beautiful. Outside of the cathedral there are gyspy beggar women everywhere that will ask you if you speak English (they prey on American tourists!) and then hold up a card that basically will tell you they're starving, etc. Now, this would be sad if only one of them did it, but since they seem to be a coalition. Seriously - at one point we saw them congregating in the streets. COALITION.

But really - the depravity of homelessness in Paris was just heartbreaking.

Well after the Notre Dame, we found a little cafe where we went for crepes. This is the part of the story where Caroline had a smackdown with a French waiter. I mean, WWF style. Just kidding. But there was a little tiff over the tip! Haha. It was actually a little scary but we got out of it.

Then we spent the day just hanging out. We strolled down the Champs Elysee. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower that night. Now - ironically we were all speaking in British dialect (since we thought it would get us better service haha) and we met some Americans who thought we WERE British. We talked to them for awhile too! Hah!

The view from atop the Eiffel Tower is incredible. I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared going on the way up, but it turned out alright in the end. In fact, it was incred! The lights of the city are gorgeous at night.

The next day was the day we spent at the Louvre. MY GOD THAT MUSEUM IS HUGE. We all split up in the morning when we got there and met up one more time and then met up when we were done. I was kind of moody all day, so it was lucky we were split up. However, I did get cheered up by this one thought - I realized how much HISTORY I was standing in. Not just the history of art but the history of HUMANITY. It was really an incredible realization. Sometimes I think I just get so excited to know that I'm a part of this huge long story that just keeps on going. Incredible.

"and then the surrealists said, 'no I'm melting!'" - Kate.

22 July 2009

I am literally the worst at logging things ever. Let's see - what have I done since I got back from Paris? A whole lot is what!

Well, we had an entire week of class for one thing. We went to go see a Variety show/Cabaret in Cologne too. It was interesting, but I felt like it was just a small community theatre thing. But at the same time - that's interesting to me because that's where I myself am at in life right now - community theatre. So that was pretty cool.

But the big thing that we did was that this past weekend we all went to Berlin. Well, I would say that we took the train to Berlin but in reality, THEY took a train to Berlin and I took a different train (or two trains...) to Berlin.

What had actually happened was that I got on the wrong train and went to Dusseldorf instead. Yes, you read that right. I got on the wrong train and went to Dusseldorf instead. WHAT? Luckily, I met up with them in the train station and we made it to the show on time.

Qi was really excellent! It was basically like Cirque du Soleil with... ice and a pool and chandaleir and... Germans. Haha. It was really good though!

I loved Berlin! We took an awesome free tour, and it was just so interesting with all the history about Berlin. They architecture there is also to die for. Though, I think I feel that way because it was just so effective. Things like the Jewish Museum or the Holocaust Memorial are just so damn effective.

We also went on a pub crawl in Berlin. too much fun!

27 July 2009

Happy Birthday Brian and Jamie!

"Hi I'm Mrs. Caroline Alt-Delete!" (pause) "But my husband's name would be Control and I don't know if I'd like that..."
- Caroline

ADDED AFTER I GOT HOME:

Well, after the weekend in Berlin we had yet another week of class, but on Thursday we (the theatre five and Kate) headed up to Ghent for the street theatre festival there. It was actually pretty awesome. There was a puppet show thing that was pretty cool, but what I really loved was this circus act we saw called "ComeBack". It was pretty awesome, no lie!

That night though was an adventure. We went to go find our hostel, but when we got the address we could not locate anything that looked like a hostel. We went back to the Marriot where Kate was staying and then we were in formed by the concierge that our hostel was in fact... on a boat. WHAT?! Haha, so we ended up staying on a boat hostel in Ghent. Pretty cool, but also pretty confusing.

And then the next day when we woke up, Caleb and I headed off to Brussels. I can't lie and say that this wasn't totally my favorite weekend of the trip. Essentially, we just wandered around the city, ate some tasty Thai food, discussed our new life plan for hours (I even came to accept it as reality for a little while hah.), ate in many parks, and read to eachother. It really was a lovely, relaxing weekend. (Oh, we also stayed at the Best Western - best part!)

And then we had finals (which went well) and I came home.

And here I am. I have so many mixed feelings about being home. Like, I'm happy. I'm happy to be able to use my phone again, to be able to talk to my friends, use the internet (without much difficulty), and to be in the south where everyone speaks to me in English, but there are a few things I miss: doner kebab! 70 cent ice cream, trains, spending my time with Caleb (that's just true. I miss him.), my new friends (especially Danielle!), the excitement of just BEING in Europe, being able to legally order alcoholic beverages.

Ah, but school starts back soon. So we shall see where my next adventure takes me. I'm pretty content with my life right now, truth be told, and I'm just hoping it lasts into the semester. I'm excited about assistant teaching tap class, auditioning for the spring (I just have a really good feeling! if nothing comes of it, then c'est la vie, but I just really feel good), directing class (I know it'll be hard work, but I'm still pumped!), getting back to acting class, and just getting back to working on theatre things in general. I'm excited to see my friends, to go to parties, and to have my entire shoe collection in my grasp again!

=) So that's that. Love you kids.

how I learned to just smile and nod. (or, a week's worth of Germany log)

29 June 2009

Today was our first day of classes here in Germany. Let me say this first - our classroom? It's beautiful. It's the sun room in the "secret garden" (as I call it) here at the Adam-Stegerwald Haus. It's so bright and fresh and when you open the windows, it's nice and cool.

Did I mention that we don't actually have air conditioning? But that's alright, because it's not nearly as fucking hot as it is in Georgia.

My first class went well - I had to do a persentation but it was all good, you know! Phew! One down, four to go! Lunch was so tasty, as usual. I am literally obsessed with the food here at the Adam-Stegerwald Haus. It is so delicious at all meals! Especially breakfast! They always have Nutella and rolls and kiwi! So delicious! They actually apparently thought we didn't like the food here because we didn't eat very much and weren't as loud in comparison to other American student groups... they were concerned that we weren't being as goche and obnoxious and fat as Americans usually are? Strange! At either rate, I am moderately obsessed with the food here.

Then I had my second class. It also went really well! I'm excited about learning all this stuff, but I am worried about the amount of work. We are going on a lot of fun field trips though.

After lunch we had a meeting about the rail pass situation. Basically because we are too old we can't get the student passes, but the situation is going to work out. After that, I went to the grocery store, Kaiser's! What was really exciting about that was that I used my basic German phrases and I totally blended in with all the regular customers! I was super proud of myself, but I think when I went outside and was like "GUESS WHAT?!" I totally gave myself away.

I think that the Germans have a lot of ideas that Americans could benefit from. Like for instance - you have to go to the grocery store. You can walk there, for one thing. Everything is closer together, so they don't have to drive everywhere. When you get there, everything is so fresh. Things are only packaged so that they last for two or three days and then you come back. Not only that, but when you go to check out, you use a reusable bag. They don't automatically bag it for you either. They just assume you HAve your own reusable bag - and if you want to use a plastic bag you have to BUY one. And then you come back a few days later. I just think it's a valid way of doing things that would probably work so much better than driving to Walmart and shopping for the next month...

After dinner (which was also served to us by the delicious Adam-Stegerwald Haus!), we decided to hike up the Dracken Fels (Dragon Mountain!). Now, I didn't really comprehend what a real chore this was going to be. My hips are STILL feeling the hike up the mountain. But in the end - it was definitely worth it. We ended up all the way at the top and the view was incredible. Literally, I felt like I almost could not breathe. It was gorgeous, the mist over the Rheine settled in and it was just gorgeous. The hike down was easier, and we found where the public pool is - yay!

After that, we went for ice cream and I had something called "Speghetti Nutella", which is basically ice cream put through a speghetti maker that makes it look like speghetti and coated in Nutella for sauce! SO GOOD.

And now I plan on going to sleep early because we're headed in to Cologne tomorrow for a field trip to see a cathedral and a museum.

KORI-ISMS FOR THE DAY:
"My poor little coca-cola heart!"
"Well maybe they ran out of walls!"
"You look like a health nut... I look like a drug addict!"

30 June 2009

Today, I will just say - was incredible. Now I hate to admit that when Kate originally said we'd be touring a Cathedral and visiting a museum today I thought it might be moderately lame. But let's be real - it was totally awesome.

We started our morning off by taking the train into Koln (Which I will refer to as Cologne for English purposes... since it apparently has two versions of the name, haha.) and Shane and I had a little sing and dance along with my Zune on the train!

Here is another thing I think the Germans do a lot better than Americans - public transportation! JUST SAYING. The train is boss. It's better for the environment, and in general cheaper than having to buy gas all the time. But yeah, the train system is so well developed and so accessible! I really think that we should take a few looks at this stuff in our systems in America, you know?

I'm really into European society right now. I mean, the only thing I really don't like is my total inability to speak German! Haha, I try with my small phrases and I can blend in fairly well, but I think I would seriously move here if I was fluent, haha. Dr. Smith said I blend in with Europeans the way I dress too! I originally tried to tone down my clothing choices to come here, but as it turns out, I blend in on my own! Haha, amazing.

Well back to today's wonderous adventures! We went to the Cathedral this morning in Cologne. IT WAS LIKE A FREAKING MONOLITH. Seriously. It was huge! It was really impressive because it was built over like the past seven hundred years due to lack of funds, etc. Ironically, it was actually finally completed by Protestants - they thought the Gothic design was definitively German (even though it was actually French) so they wanted to finish it for a monument to the German nation, basically. Interesting right? I thought so. The windows were incredible and it contains what are supposedly the relics from the Magi who worshipped at the birth of Jesus. INSANE. I mean, it was so beautiful I could barely handle it.

After that, we went to McDonald's for lunch. Surprisingly, I felt a lot of anxiety while at McDonald's. I was worried about ordering in German (and I should have been! That poor man understood about 1/3 of what I said to him! I tried a little German and I think it helped, and he did actually get my order right, but I think it even stressed HIM out. Haha.) But yeah, we had German McDonald's, where you can apparently get beer (HAH!), but I just had a coke =)

After lunch, we went to the Wallraf das Museum (or for a later reference, the Wallraf). INCREDIBLE. The first exhibit featured medieval art, and I made my way all the way up through some more modern impressionism. I really wish I could have seen more of the musuem. HIGHLIGHTS: Seeing some of Durer's work (who I just did a presentation on yesterday!), seeing a freaking REMBRANDT!, seeing Monet, Degas, and Van Gogh. Seriously, it was abso-freaking-lutely incredible. You could literally see where these people whose names are household terms brushed their paints against the canvas. I don't know, it was overwhelmingly incredible as an experience. I just could not really even begin to comprehend how much of a mind-fuck it was! I was so happy. =)

Then we came back on the train and went out for dinner at an Italian restaraunt! It was super tasty and we stopped for a 70 cent ice cream cone on the way back to the hotel. Perfection!

ps. I think I might literally be addicted to Nutella. HELP!

01 July 2009

KATE-ISMS FOR THE DAY:
"I actually have ankles... instead of just trunks!"

03 July 2009

So I am back in my room at the Adam-Stegerwald Haus here in Konigswinter, Germany. But while that sounds like much of my Germany log - it hasn't been true for the past fourty eight hours or so. We took our first little weekend excursion to duh dun dun... AMSTERDAM!

Which I must say, was pretty cool. Stressful at times, confusing at times, but cool. Here are some highlights:

The morning we left we found out that in order for our Eurail passes to be valid, we had to stand in a line in Cologne to get them stamped. NOW, you may feel like this is common sense, but we were actually told otherwise at one point. We actually risked riding the train to Cologne without any sort of ticket or rail pass whatsoever. But we did actually make it. However, our layover was only about 22 minutes long. It took about 5 minutes to find the counter to get it validated, and all the lines were ludicrously long, and needless to mention, the workers were going at a ridiculously European pace (no offense, Europe - you guys just tend to leisurely do things!). Hah. Well, we ended up RUNNING and catching our train to Amsterdam by literally like 30 seconds before it started going.

Because we reserved our seats in advance, we got a really badass COMPARTMENT (wow!). Just thought that was worth noting.

We ended up going to the Van Gogh museum once we actually got to Amsterdam (yes, we were super losers and went to a million (a million being three) museums. no we did not smoke pot. haha!). The museum was incredible and I bought a couple of post card prints to commemorate =)

After that we went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was decidedly American. In fact, I feel like Amsterdam is somewhat American. Like some strange hybrid of America and Europe. They'd probably be totally offended, the citizens of Amsterdam I mean, if they read this, but it's true. A lot of people there speak English and I feel like they capitalize on the fact that Americans eat everything up about their city.

But that being said, I really loved it. The city itself is gorgeous with all the canals running through it, its filled with history, and the shopping district? Can I just piss myself please? Haha, just kidding. I wouldn't piss myself, but I would like freak out about those amazing Marc Jacobs shoes I passed up!

MOVING ON. We played on a playground for a little while and fun was had for all ages!

Caleb, Kori, and Caroline went back to the hotel and Shane and I went in search for Coke. We ended up seeing a really cool break dance performance that we totally weren't expecting too.

Me, Kori, Shane, and Caroline all slept on a double bed. FUN. Haha, needless to say I'm grateful to have my own bed again. Even if it's just for a few nights until we head to Paris.

This morning, we woke up at the ass crack of dawn to go to the Anne Frank House. We originally wanted to buy tickets online so we could go in at a scheduled time, because the line can get SO LONG for the museum, but we came up with a plan to get there an hour before the museum opened (at eight, but we actually got there at seven forty five and were second in line!) so we could get in without the line-age into the day.

Okay, I knew it was going to be an emotional visit to the Anne Frank House. Like, that's obvious. But walking through the Secret Annex was actually so surreal. The pictures that Anne put on the wall are still there, and it's just so crazy to put yourself physically in a place that always seems so imaginary. There was a quote on the wall in the museum that I can't remember exactly what was said or who said it, but it was something to the extent of this: The reason that we all identify specifically with the sufferings of only Anne Frank is because she is only one person. If we truly tried to intake all the sufferings of the millions of men and women who suffered in the Holocaust, then we would not be able to survive it. I really think that it was an interesting, and totally true sentiment. At either rate, it was an incredible and very worthwhile experience. Making something totally unfathomable like the Holocaust totally and completely tangible is so utterly earth shaking.

Well. On another note, we did actually walk to the red light district. And yes, we saw a whore in the window. It was... interesting? Well, it actually just smelled like piss and I felt bad for the girl. We went during the day, so there were mostly tourists, so she was pretty much just getting oggled by a bunch of people who were just baffled by the concept of prostitution. Poor whore.

After that we went to the Rijksmuseum, which is just basically a big Dutch Art museum. We saw some of the works of Rembrandt and of Vermeer though! INCRED. Seriously. Haha.

After that, we had some of the most delicious Italian food that I have ever had in my life, then we had a traditional waffle! So very tasty! I am always so happy when I have good food!

Then we just hung out for awhile and went to hop on our next train!

We made it safely, phew! BUT. Once our train got to Dusseldorf, it was supposed to stop at Cologne next. There was first a fifteen minute delay in a town outside Dusseldorf and then they stopped the whole train in Dusseldorf and we had to find a DIFFERENT train. (Needless to say, this was very difficult because all announcements were made in German and then a very short translation to English that doesn't really even resemble English...) We did actually make it though. Thank God! It was really stressful. I didn't know what we would actually do if we were stuck in Dusseldorf. C'est la vie! We just did not have luck with our trains the whole trip!

But we did actually make it back, thank goodness. And I'm about to turn in. I'm meeting my mom's old best friend and her daughter tomorrow. Let's hope it's not hella awkward!

AMSTERDAMISMS:
"European hobos have got it SO GOOD!" - Caroline
"It ain't redic... to love the Netherlands!" - Caroline

"I'm so excited about passing the whore house again!"
"Why? So you can get a whore and lay in bed and have a good conversation?"
- Shane, then me.

Kori putting Shane's pens in the "right order".

Caroline waving the Netherlands flag and yelling.

4 July 2009

Happy Independence Day? I guess not. Since I'm in Germany, I won't be celebrating the birth of my nation, but I guess that's alright, considering the cirumstances. At least I am not celebrating for good reason.

Though I do wish I could have fried chicken. I think its the one thing I really crave more than anything - fried chicken. I am, in fact, very homesick for the entire concept of southern food. While German food is exquisite, nothing (and I really mean nothing) compares to southern food to me. Sigh, I guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks. C'est la vie!

So today was an interesting day for my Germany log. I went with Shane today to meet my mom's best childhood friend, Annette, and her family. It was actually really fun. At first I was terrified that it was going to be really awkward, especially because when she picked us up, she said she knew very little Enlish! AH! But she knew more English than she gave herself credit for, I think. And actually, they told us that they liked being able to practice on us. haha. I think by the end of day they were quite tired of working so hard to communicate though. Haha.

Well here is what we did: We drove to her house and ate some waffles for a snack with her daughter and husband (Hannah and Marcus). Then, when her older daughter, Judith, came home we all went with two of Judith's friends to Hellenthaal reserve.

The Hellenthaal reserve is apparently the oldest reserve in the world. Tres interesante. There were reindeer, eight million different birds of prey, sheep and goats, bunnies, horses, donkeys, and strangely enough, even ants were on display (are they foreign here? I need to find out.)! There was a bird show that was very interesting and I even took a picture with an eagle on my arm - fun times! After that, we all went to Schleiden, where my mom grew up.

After taking some pictures of the town, we took the Autobahn back to Cologne. OMG. SO FAST. SO JEALOUS. Just saying.

We ended up going to dinner at Beer Garden and it was so tasty. =) And then I came back to Konigswinter for the night.

Shane and I are going back into Cologne via train for the "Love Parade"/Gay Pride/"Saint Christopher's Street Day"... It should prove to be interesting. They say it's an excuse for people to get sloshed and act crazy. HM!

Fun moments of miscommunication:
"I too!"
"Now, they are in prison." (referencing the birds in captivity)

Love.

5 July 2009

Today was certainly an interesting day here in Germany. Back in May, during Fly Over Land, Shane asked me if I would attend the Pride parade in Cologne with him. I, of course, agreed. It was today.

Now, this parade (which has several different names: Pride Parade, Cologne Pride, The Love Parade (my favorite!), and Christopher Street Day) was everything you'd expect it to be.

Which pretty much means it was redic!

There were of course, a bazillion homosexuals everywhere. Lots of drag queens, lots of people in leather. There was actually even an incredibly NAKED girl who just sort of... was naked. I didn't really know how to react, to be honest. The parade was incredibly long, and for one of the first times since I've been here, I was not happy to report that I was not hot. It was super hot today, actually. I got some fun free stuff like a condom/lube packet! HAHA. Love it.

There was a lot of really unacceptable fashion out there today! Leather should not be worn as a clothing item other than a jacket, your belt, shoes, bag, or wallet. The following are unacceptable as leather clothing items: pants, hot pants, bras, shirts, collars, LEASHES (though I do not think these really count as clothing items - they sort of just appeared as such today).

After that we had some Pizza Hut where we had a PITCHER OF COKE. This sounds ridiculous to be so excited about, but here in Europe, there is no such thing as a free refill. Plus, I had been standing around for almost three hours in the heat. Delicious coke!

We also walked up and down the street and Shane bought some stuff like this cute magnet with a puppy on it for him and Joe that said "family", a present for the travel agent, and some cute new sunglasses. I'm trying to not spend any money, and I think my free condom counted as a souvenir enough. HAH!

Afterwards, I ate some icecream with Lee, Samuel, Byron, and Danielle and then I had some Turkish food for dinner with Ben. I also hung out with Leah and Emily for a really long time and just chit chatted! It was in general, a really good day.

Actually, a really good weekend. I just feel like I DID so much. It was insane. I'm pretty psyched for next weekend in Paris though. Hooray!

Love.