"Why is no one else dancing like this?"

Whew! It's been a long time! I guess I was super busy the whole time Kristen was here, and then I've had class every day this week, except yesterday when I went to Oktorberfest for the second time. A lot has happened, so maybe I will talk about Paris is this post, and then Munich, and then Vienna, then you'll be caught up :)

So, Paris. We arrived by train in Paris around 10:30pm. We searched and searched for our hostel until 1am. At this point, we decided to just go to a hotel. On the way to a hotel, we stumbled upon our hostel. Awesome. So, our hostel turned out to be the Hotel Rocroy, which sounds real fancy, but it's not. It was perfect though. Good price, we had our own room and bathroom, and it was close to the Gard du Nord, which is pretty central. We got settled in, and went out to find some food. The closest thing that was actually open was a really funny "American" restaurant. We shared some french fries, drank a beer, and realized just how expensive Paris was going to be. Not as expensive as Zurich, but it gets close. It's easier in Paris to go to a bakery and get a cheap croissant or something, but eating at any restaurant will put you back at least 15 euros, without a drink. And we went to the cheap ones. Cocktails are around 10 euros, and cappuccinos are around four.

Day one, we started with a little cafe. Crêpes and cappuccinos, and trying to figure out why it takes three hours to eat out. Moving on to Notre Dame, we ran into bird-men outside who invited us to feed the birds. Interesting fact about Paris: three things not always in the bathroom, 1. Toilet paper 2. Soap 3. Toilet seats. After feeding the birds, we went to a free bathroom (that was exciting) where there was no soap, so hot water, and no paper towels. That's ok, I just have pigeon on me...
Notre Dame was beautiful. You can never see enough beautiful churches, or scary gargoyles :)
After looking around the church, we headed out to the garden to walk around and write post cards. We stumbled upon a fake wedding photo shoot, so that was fun. This is Paris, fake wedding photo shoots happen all the time.
We started walking no where in particular, just along the Seine. Stumbled onto a little street fair featuring cuisine from another region in France. We bought a cute little bottle of wine, and some cheese bread, and sat on the river to eat. A curious French guy came and sat down and talked to us for probably two hours. He was really funny. Hey Jeremy! Over the course of our conversation, we learned that Jeremy doesn't work, because he doesn't want to live to work. So he "finds money on the street," whatever that means. Eventually we learn Jeremy is a writer, and when asked what he writes, he reply "my name." What's that Jeremy? You write your name? Turns out he does graffiti. How you make money from that, I am not sure. But Jeremy does. He can do anything.
Finally, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our Parisian night on the town. Our night started with pizza at a little cafe, which was pretty inexpensive! Pizza is always a good choice in Europe, I have found. It's cheap, from six euros in Friedrichshafen, to 10 in Paris. Then we searched around for a good disco-tech. Found one that was not much fun, then found another that was fun! Going out in Paris at night is expensive. Cocktails are around 10 euros each. Beer is around nine. We decided one night out was enough.

Day two, we slept in, and started our day with pizza at a cafe! Pizza and cappuccinos: breakfast of champions. We then headed to the Louvre. I was so stoked to see the Mona Lisa :p Luckily, I had been warned many times how anticlimactic that can be. Outside the Louvre, we found a little band with an inflatable couch, so we listened to them for a bit. They were singing about cereal and speeding tickets, but it was in French, so it was beautiful.
In the Louvre, we only had about two and a half hours, and it's huge. We picked what we knew we wanted to see and got started. Saw some naked statues, and a mote, and then the Mona Lisa! There were a lot of Asians. We headed outside and found a little kiosk cafe, and saw a double rainbow.
We left the Louvre to head for the Eiffel Tower. The plan was to climb the stairs to the top. We decided to walk there, because we could see it. We figured we would just follow it. That was a long walk. We walked for an hour or hour and a half in the chilly sprinkle rain, but it was fun. We saw some cute dogs, and some weird statues, and lots of pretty flowers. Finally got to the Eiffel Tower around seven, to find out the stairs close at six. The elevator was nine euros, and we were tired of spending money, so we just walked around and took a lot of pictures. The Eiffel Tower is just as beautiful from the ground. We watched the sunset, and then watched the lights on the tower come on. It was really beautiful.
Next, we looked for some dinner. We went to a little cafe, where the waiter was really rude to us because we were American, but we were in Paris, so you have to get that at least once. Got confused about how to order wine in Paris and ended up with a pretty large quantity for the two of us. We made friends with our Canadian table mates, and then headed back to the hotel. The plan was to leave the next morning and be back to Friedrichshafen by that night.

Day three, the train station was packed. We couldn't figure out how to get reservations from the ticket kiosk machine, so we decided we had to stand in the forever long line to talk to a real person. The real person was very nice, and told us there was no train until the night train at 8:20. That was a real bummer. We spent some time being upset about it, and then realized we had no choice. We reserved for that, and then went to take our bags back to the hotel. We had an extra day in Paris, and we would make the most of it. Kristen got to go to H&M and I got to go to Tiffany's. Tiffany's didn't like us, but H&M did. We found a little panini place that didn't set us back to much, so that was good, since the main reason for wanting to leave Paris was how expensive it was. Afterwards, we found a little park to sit in, and we watched some kids play soccer. We then headed back to the hotel, got our bags, and then went to the train station.

Train ride from hell: The screen said our track number would be announced at least 20 minutes before boarding, and at five minutes till, I knew something wasn't right. Then, our train time changed from 8:20 to 8:40. Uh oh... then it changed to 9:00. Finally, at ten to nine, we had a track number, and our train had arrived. We got on, and got going. We ended up in a compartment on the train with four other people and seats that didn't recline. It was also a train heading right for Munich, and Oktoberfest is happening, so it was the party train. Not a very good sleeping situation... About two hours into the ride, the train stopped. After about half an hour, we decided to investigate. People were outside hanging out, drinking beer. We were told a train in front of us had been involved in an incident with a person. This is train code for a train hit someone, so we will be here a while. We were in Champagne, France for three hours in the middle of the night. We were there long enough for the train to be first drained of beer, then of wine, then of liquor, then of champaign. Finally, we get going again. Two hours later, we stop again. This time, an announcement is made for any doctors on board to please come to car 220. Two hours later, we get going again. An announcement is made about being careful of something, but we couldn't here what we were supposed to be careful of. So, now we are six hours behind. We finally get to sleep, and wake up right before our stop in Ulm.
We made grabbed some breakfast, and hopped on the next train to Friedrichshafen. Finally home, we get a few hour sleep, and then headed to my university to try to get some homework done.

Nächste halt: Oktoberfest!

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Here are all of the pictures from Paris:
Paris!

Choo choo

This morning I woke up early to head into town. I took the ferry to Romanshorn, and met my very good friend Kristen. She came all the way from the U.S. to stay with me for 10 days.  I have been really homesick, so it is really great to have someone familiar here with me. We got to my flat around noon, and decided we would take the 3:30 train to Paris. We rushed, booked a room in Paris, and headed for the train station. Right now, we are on the train. She’s very tired, since she left yesterday on the plane, then got on the train in Zurich, the ferry in Romanshorn, then the train again in Friedrichshafen. I’m pretty tired from going to a small party at the university last night. I think she’s more tired than me though.

We should be in Paris in a little under an hour. We’re hoping to do a little bit of exploring tonight, then a lot of exploring tomorrow. We lucked out of booking a cheap hotel room, and then getting pretty good seat reservations on the train. I hope the rest of the trip goes this well, I will hopefully let you know tomorrow. J

Au revoir!

Preserve your memories, they're all that's left of you

So, Berlin: Day 1
There was some sort of street fair going on, so getting on and off the bus at the hostel was weird. I ended up just getting on an U-Bahn that just happened to go to the zoo, which is exactly where I wanted to go! I spent a good 15 minutes watching the elephants, and then about 10 watching the gorillas. It was raining, and I sort of got trapped in the primate house. I sat in there for probably an hour reading my book and watching the orangutans jump around. I was kinda bummed for a bit, because I came to Berlin without a coat/raincoat/umbrella/socks, but I got over it soon enough. My Toms are in bad shape, but I don't think it's anything a good wash couldn't fix! The sun came out, and it was perfect for walking around the zoo. I saw all the animals! Even the hippo! Ok, I didn't see the Kangaroos. I think they were sleeping or they escaped. I'm not sure.

After the zoo, I took a bus to the Guggenheim. I love the Guggenheim in New York, so naturally, I thought the Guggenheim in Germany would be equally exciting. Not so. They had an exhibit going on that was called "Once Upon a Time," and it was little videos made about different fairy tales. One was a woman walking on the moon, and another was of some Asians dancing around a factory with fairy wings on. I didn't stay long.
Next stop was the Memorial for Murder European Jews. A mouthful, and really put a damper on my mood. I actually did not know there was a museum under the monument. I looked all over for the monument, and finally found it. I walked all through it and around it, and it is really cool on it's own. As I was leaving, I noticed stairs going down under it to the museum. It was a really cool thing to see. It's so interesting to see the way the Holocaust is portrayed in Germany.
On the way back to my hostel, I stumbled upon some kind of Japan/Germany peace thing. I'm not sure what it was really, since they spoke in German and Japanese, and I don't know what the relationship between the two countries is like, but it was neat to watch.

Berlin: Day 2
I wanted to look at some of the Berlin castles, so I looked a few up online, wrote down the address' and took the bus into town. I did stop at the bakery on the way to the bus stop and picked up a berliner and a danish thing. I like the bakeries in Germany a lot. When I got into town, I found the two "palaces" I wanted to look at, and it turns out they had been turned into restaurants and businesses. So I couldn't look around in them. I think the people here wanted to move forward very badly at one point, and forget about the past. They didn't see the Berlin wall, or palaces as something they would one day see as their history, so they tore things down, or turned them into other things. I took a few pictures of the outsides of the buildings, but nothing really special.
Next, I went to the German history museum. This took me just about as long as the zoo the day before. There is a lot to German history. It's weird to start at the beginning of time, and it actually be big things from history. U.S. history would take many an hour or two to go through, but this was about thousands of years of history. Everything from the Celts migrating to the area, to kings, penny farthings, zeppelins, and Adolf History. It went all the way into 1994. So much has taken place in this country. I am a little jealous of their rich history.
After the museum, I hopped on the U-Bahn and headed to Mauer Park to see the Berlin Wall. I had no idea what to expect. I was thinking there would be this throng of tourists taking pictures and remembering, but I was so wrong. I walked up this huge hill, and came up on a huge wall covered by layers and layers of graffetti. People were sitting on benches, just hanging out and drinking beer. No one seemed to notice this giant piece of history right behind them. I tried to be inconspicuous and take some pictures, and then I got out of there.
I headed back to my hostel to find the street fair going on in full force. I dropped some things off, and headed out to have a crepe. I did, and it was delicious. I walked around for a bit, and then went back for an early night. I was just tired and ready to be back in Friedrichshafen.


Made it back home safely! I did not enjoy the ridiculous train ride... Was so glad to be in my own bed, even if the mattress is hard as a rock :)

So,  I have been trying real hard to post my pictures, but it's not working. I'm going to go ahead and post this without them, and then put them up in another post later. Nighty night!

Ich bin einen Berliner!

Ok, not really, but I am in Berlin for 3 days. I finally decided around noon today that I wanted to come here, so I packed my bag, booked a hostel, and got on the 12:35 bus to the train station. I got me a train ticket, and 6 hours later, Ich bin einen Berliner!
The train ride was ridiculous. It's pretty difficult not being fluent in German. Yeah, I can say things like "Mein Freund wünscht eine Kartoffel," and "wo ist die Hauptbahnhof?" but I can't really ask for help on the train or order food without pointing at the picture. I didn't understand the seat reservation thing, and that was a problem on one leg of the trip, because half of the people had them, and half didn't, and I had no idea how to know if a seat was reserved or not. I had a pretty embarrassing moment realizing I was in someone's seat, and trying to get my suitcase down from overhead on the overcrowded train, but then I found the cafe car and just spent four hours in there. It was fine from there on I guess. I had no trouble finding the bus when I got here, so that was good.
This hostel is a lot different than the one I stayed at in NYC, but I guess that is to be expected. It's really huge, and people are hanging out in the common area like it's their jobs. There are bikes to rent, and this place is huge!
I don't have any cool stories or anything for today, but I have big plans for tomorrow, so look out. I am going to the zoo!

Tschus!

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Here are all of the pictures from Berlin:
Part One
Part Two

der Tag von der Hölle

Not many things going on this week, on Sunday, I went to the beach. It was pretty different from our idea of a beach.

I started school on Monday. It's been an adventure so far. My class on Monday was from 1:30 to 7:00. We got out an hour early, woohoo. Thats the only class I have on Mondays, and I only have it through mid October, so that's good, but it is still next to impossible to pay attention for that long. Tuesday I had my German class at 8am, and then another class at the second campus at 9:45. I was pretty late after waiting for  the bus, and walking from the bus stop, and because I stopped to talk to this slug:

But the professor didn't seem to care. It's weird here that professors don't care when you come to class, and both of the papers I have due so far are due at the end of January. Thats one month after I come home. That's weird, right?

I decided to walk home from school, so I could see my goats. I had stopped at Kaufland to buy a can opener, and I also bought some flowers for my room, and the goats thought they were a snack for them. So cute, goats.

Wednesday is the most eventful day of this week, so far. And I hope there aren't any days more eventful. I thought I was over being homesick, but it just takes one really bad day, and you're crying in the laundry room while you fold your clothes.

First of all, my financial aid refund hasn't gone through, and I have been trying to figure it out since the beginning of the week. I finally got someone to talk to me today, and it turns out there was a missing piece of paper with some signatures, and I swear I turned it in before I left. Since I only have one class on Wednesdays, and it ends at 9:30, I had planned a trip for the rest of the week to go to Nuremberg and Berlin. I didn't really want to leave without money, so I waited around all day trying to get that situated. By the time it got figured out, it was 4pm here, and I still had to do my laundry.

I got everything together, all my dirty clothes, and my detergent, and as I was walking out the door, I was going to grab my phone and my kindle, but I figured I would just come back for it after I put my clothes in. As soon as the door shut, I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach and knew I had done something horrible. I left my keys on the table. I'm standing in the hallway with a basket of dirty clothes, a bottle of soap, and I'm wearing the most ridiculous laundry day outfit. I don't have my phone, or money, or ANYTHING. What more could happen on this most perfect of days? I went to my next door neighbor's door and knocked, praying she would be home. She was, and she called the housemaster for me. Things are looking up. He can be here at 8am tomorrow morning. Perkect!

My neighbor has two beds, and told me one was mine for the night. I am trying so hard not to cry at this point. It's four in the afternoon, absolutely everything is inside my locked apartment. It's going to be a very long night. I went and did my laundry downstairs, so that kept me occupied for a while. Later, we try to break into my room with a credit card, and fail. Finally, my neighbor calls a guy who comes up with a cut up coke bottle, slides it in the door, and three seconds later I am looking in my room. I could have kissed this guy, but it would have been weird. I was homeless in Germany for three and a half hours.

Writing this, I feel like the day wasn't as dramatic as it felt, but I promise, when it was happening, I thought there was nothing that could have been worse. Unless I wasn't wearing anything, that would have been pretty bad. My neighbor likes to cook, and she made potato soup while we were hanging out. I wish I could have eaten some, but my stomach was in knots.

But, I am in now, and tomorrow I am getting on a train. I hope. My wonderful boyfriend is going to take care of the stupid financial aid paperwork problem, by forging my signature for me. My laundry is done, and my place is relatively clean. Now I'm going to bed, and I'll sleep like a rock. I hope.

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Gute Nacht!