Liebküchen
I went to Oktoberfest, and I came back alive. Actually, I came back alive with a Stein. But, they're not called 'Steins' here. The proper name would be a 'Krug.' So, the next time you're at Oktoberfest, remember that little bit of info.

It was a fun time...kinda like a state fair...only beer halls and stuff instead of other things. The funny and non-suprising part of my day at Oktoberfest was the amount of non-germans I met there. I met a couple from Seattle, a couple of guys from Las Vegas, a couple of other guys from Maryland and a group of people from Italy. Who knew? I guess, I assumed that Germans would stay away from a thing like this. Or, perhaps Americans flock to the same type of sites.?.

I move on Thursday and my greatest concern is my luggage. I am taking a train for about 4 hours north and I didn't really feel like dragging my luggage from train platform to trainplatform, so I opted to ship my luggage. My program is reimbursing me for it, so it's not a matter of cost. It's more of a matter or how good my german language skills are. If the luggage gets there...in its entirity...then, perhaps my german isn't so crappy. You see, when one wants their luggage shipped, one has to give a native German speaker directions on how and where the luggage should go. So, on Thursday, let's all hope my suitcases end up in Mainz.

Karma Police arrest this man...
Ok, so I just wrote this whole posting and the computer froze. Plus, there is no Shift alt delete going on here...all I have is 'Strg', 'Alt' and 'Entf'...and aparently that's not the same. So, I had to restart the whole thing.

Anyway, I am going to München this Saturday. I don't know if I'm really the Oktoberfest type. I kinda wanted to stay as far away as possible, but...I'm going. For as long as I've been here (about two months or so), I haven't really been going out and drinking. I'm sure you're all deeply disappointed about that. But, I guess I'll be making it all up when I buy a krug (the big mugs you always see in Oktoberfest photos) which holds a liter. On this same note, my day has been kinda dragging on. Last night, the youngest girl in our group went out drinking and drank too much. She tried to go home, I guess, but got lost and the police ended up picking her up this morning and bringing her to the hospital. So, today at school, all of us Ami's (slang for Americans) got a stern talking to about it. A. It is not my fault for her irresponsible actions. If they knew anything about me, I am practically an old lady who stays at home and goes to bed early. B. We're not all best friends. We just met each other two months ago so, we don't really have that best friend bond going. No one is going to stop someone else from doing anything. C. At the same time, I feel bad and concerned over the whole situation. Oh well. It's done.

So, my dad is one of the funnier people I know. While I studied in London, my dad would send me a letter about once every two weeks. Inside the envelope would be two things. 1. a piece of paper with about 45 words written upon it (for example, 'hope you're having a good time.') 2. a cartoon cut out from the St. Paul paper. I'm sure you can see where this is going. On Monday I open up a letter from my dad which contains 3 (oh yes...3...count them 3...!) pieces of paper. The first is a letter. The second is a photo copy of about 5 comics from the St. Paul paper that are all about cats. The third is a clipping of a picture of a woman dangling from a building in Frankfurt by a bungee cord with the words 'So, is this how you and your friends 'hang out' in Germany? Ha. Ha.' hand written underneath. I laughed for an hour over this. My dad is like a satirical king. He should write a book. My dad.

The weather here is cold. We're talking about 60 degrees. It's warm enough not to wear a jacket. But, unconfortable enough to want to wear one.

Europeans walk a lot...
'Europeans walk a lot but so do stupid americans.' - Me

So, I was riding the bus with my roommate Andrea and she mentioned how Europeans tend to walk more and thus don't need to spend an hour at the gym because they got the equivalent of the exercise throughout the day. At that point she got off the bus, so I got off to...and we realized we jumped the gun and got off too early and had to walk further to get home.

So, this past Saturday I went to Zürich. It was a nice town, and I'd recommend people visit it. But, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I was picturing a city that was a little larger and luxurious. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice clean city...I was just thinking something more along the lines of London, not Minneapolis. The highlight of the day was the ice cream. I had the best Stracitella (chocolate chip, spelled incorrectly in not english) and Chocolate-Chocolate ice cream I've ever had in my life. If anything, go for the ice cream. It seriously gave me cravings to want to sit on a couch with a few of my best girl friends and watch Sex and the City on a Saturday night with a bottle of Bailey's and a burrito. Ok, maybe that's a little craving for things I miss at home...but, it was still good ice cream.

I'm hungary and my house is about an hour trip from here. So, sorry to cut this short but my stomach is calling...once again.

What do you call a person who speaks 3 languages?
What do you call a person who speaks 3 languages?
Trilingual
What do you call a person who speaks 2 languages?
Bilingual
What do you call a person who speaks 1 language?
American (If you're creative enough, you'll put 'monolingual' on your resume)

So, was ist los?

I was in Mainz and Saarbrucken this past weekend. I found out that I will live another Minnesotan in Mainz in a totally posh house. I'm pretty excited to move. We will share the third story of the house which has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a small kitchen. Can't complain...except for the three flights of stairs. But, I'm just thinking of that as my excercise plan.

Mainz is cool, it's really close to Frankfurt (Which has an international airport!)and is a big-small city. It kind of reminds me of Minneapolis-St. Paul. So, I feel totally at home.

Um, I am almost done reading the Di Vinci Code. Have you all read it? You should. It's just a good, easy read. I read almost all of it while I was on the train...trains this past weekend. The book just moves. I'll probably finish it tonight.

These past two days I've been feeling a cabin fever of sorts. It just all comes from living in such a small town and having to travel 30 minutes by train just to feel a little more free by seeing people and a larger city. And, seeing Switzerland from across Lake Constance isn't bad either!

My German language skills still suck...but, I can carry on a light conversation. And, I watch Sex in the City on Tuesday nights because it's all dubbed in German and I've already seen a lot of the regular episodes while I was in the US...so, I know what's going on. So, I consider it studying, not watching tv. Because I shouldn't have to concentrate so hard while watching tv...

Um, the Grocery store. So, I was at the grocery store last week with my roommate and this song comes on over the speakers and I think to myself..'I know these notes...why does this sound so familiar?' And, the song goes on and just as the singer starts up, I start singing along... What is it, you ask? It was the truly inspired musical group New Kids on the Block. (Thanks Alana-Larry for the remix cd! I attribute my immpeckable knowledge of the words to your contribution to my cd collection.) My roommate told me that if we were not in Germany and if the words were not in English, it would not be a cool situation and she would have walked away pretending not to know me. But, nonetheless, I went on singing. It's the little things in life, remember that!

I might venture to Zurich this weekend. If I do, you'll hear about it next week.

Til later!

MfG

Ghetto
So, for a few weeks now, I don't want to say I've been complaining, but I have made it known to some people that I live in a dorm-like situation. I live in a freshman dorm-like place, if you will. I have referred to it as the 'projects' or the 'ghetto'. Well, last night I learned that I actually do live in the ghetto. For real. Not kidding. During World War 2, my neighborhood was an actual ghetto where Jewish people would live before being sent to Dachau, a concentration camp.

Now, I feel like shit for my references. But, its over. I said it, and I've moved on. Now I'm completely facinated and taken back by what happened in my neighbourhood and the things that went down. I've talked to a few older people who have told me about being alive during WW2, but they've never gone into much detail about it. I mean, the stories sound similar to what my grandparents told me about living through WW2. Two problems exist for me now... 1. my german is crappy. I talk like a 5th grader...maybe. 2. i can't go around asking older folks about ww2. That's a big taboo thing for foreigners to do. So, I wait. That's about it. Perhaps when I go back to MN, I will have some time to do some research on how things went down in WW2 in southern Germany. Til then, I learn german.

I gotta tell you, my German still sucks, but it's better than when I first came. That's about all I can say. This week I moved up to another 'grade', if you will. So, it's like a semester of german classes I finished in 4 weeks.

This weekend I'm going to Mainz. First, I'm going to stay with Jenny and hang out, and hopefully see Christian and speak german. Then, I'll go and meet my host family I'll live with in Mainz for 10 months. And, register for school and so on. So, paperwork awaits me.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bureaucracy is a French word but the Germans have perfected it. Here's what I mean. When I got here, I had to register with the town of Radolfzell to get my visa. When I move to Mainz, I de-register and re-register in Mainz. I also got a bank account here in Radolfzell. I'm still waiting for my bank info, but once I get it, I have to send them a letter informing them that I will now be banking with their bank in Mainz. I also have to fill out paperwork at the university- acknowedging I'm a student...and so on. So, the amount of paperwork is rediculous. I have to re and de register for everything.