So, yeah, I know, it's been a while. I've been busy! I've had class for two weeks and no internet in my room, and I've been doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Let me tell you about more of my travels.
So last time you heard from me, I'd just had a busy day in London. My friend Rachael and I get up Friday morning and catch a bus from London to Essex, where my friend Colleen is studying. The bus ride isn't bad, although we're both disgusting because we forgot to bring shower shoes to the hostel and hadn't showered in a few days. As soon as we arrive, Colleen runs out to greet us and we run towards her in slow motion as dramatic music plays. It's all very epic.
The University of Essex is located on the outskirts of the city of Colchester, which is northeast of London. The university is sorta... drab-looking. It's surrounded by what I can only call the moors of England, and the buildings aren't very attractive looking. Colleen walks us to her building, which is a towering dorm of black stone that looks more like a something from the Lord of the Rings or the Communist bloc than a dorm. We take the elevator (man I hate stairs these days) to the 5th floor and are greeted in the kitchen by a gaggle of crazy brits. The drabness of the buildings is easily made up by the personalities of the people, and, after the best shower I've ever taken, we head to the local grocery with some of Colleen's friends.
Though I am always fascinated by grocery stores, and would love to tell you about the subtle and not-so-subtle differences of all the groceries I've been to, I will only tell you that the grocery stores in England do give you free bags (unlike in Germany, if you've been paying attention). Still, we'd walked there, so we load up our backpacks and try to buy as little as possible. We head back to the dorm and make ourselves pizza for dinner. Here, everyone seems to cook food instead of going out to eat, probably since it's cheaper and since town is far off. Essex is almost like a little town in and of itself. All the classes and dorms are there, so the students don't have to use the buses (and don't unless they go into town). There's a diner, a little grocery with the basics, a rec center with a rock climbing wall, etc, etc. And, most importantly, it has a bar with 3 floors where there always seems to be something going on.
So we hear tell of some parties going on later, but the big event on campus is at said university bar. A DJ named Tim Westwood is playing, and everyone seems to have the same opinion of him– he's a wanker. Apparently he's a popular radio DJ that a lot of people (at least the ones Colleen knows) hate. So, naturally, I'm interested to see why they hate him so much, and when it's determined that there's not much else to do, we decide to go see him. Yes!
We start off at the 0 level bar, where we get a few drinks. I get a few sugar British specialties (Snakebite, Cider and Black) and they are delicious. But of course it is soon time to dance, so we check our coats and stand outside in line for the bar downstairs. There we see Tim Westwood's touring van, which is sponsored by Durex and has written in obnoxious lettering "Tim Westwood says: Strap it up before you slap it up." Er... Yeah. Apparently this isn't a common phrase or anything in England, it's just Tim Westwood being classy.
So we go inside, get a few drinks and attempt to dance. The fifty-something year old Westwood is doing his thing, which is actually pretty horrible. He plays about 1/3 of a song and immediately changes it to another 1/3 of a different song, all the while speaking like a teenager that just discovered cursing. After about 15 minutes and Tim's question, "How many girls out there tonight have a clean pussy?" we decide to leave. Even without the constant onslaught of moronic comments the music changed too often to even be danceable. So we leave, do a bit more drinking (naturally), and go to bed.
The next day is Valentine's day. Colleen, Rachael, and I decide to hit up the town during the afternoon. We go to the castle, wander the parks around it (which are quite nice) and tour this old house-turned-museum. I've got pictures of all that, so I'll post them soon. The park closes at like 5:30 or something, so we spend the rest of the evening walking through the city, which is pretty neat. We stop at a few shops and search for the creepiest place to have dinner. We finally decide on a restaurant named Clowns, which, naturally, is filled with tons of circus memorabilia. It was kind of ridiculous, but we had a lovely Valentine's day barbeque dinner there.
The big buzz on campus that night is the Traffic Light Party, where you wear red if you're taken, green if you're available, and yellow if you're available but not a slut. Just kidding, people who wore green, you're not sluts! I don't have any of those colors, anyway, so I wear black. It is in the same place as the Tim Westwood set and much more fun. We dance until 3am. Good times. A lot of the music that was played was American pop and rap music, which I found interesting. In fact, pretty much everywhere that I've gone in Europe I've been surprised at how much American music I hear. It's obviously not all they listen to, but it's got a big presence over here.
Anyhow, on Sunday Rachael goes back to Nottingham because she has school the next day. Luckily for her, someone had found her wallet and returned it to her with all things intact! Hurray for things working out! I'm leaving on Monday, so Colleen and I decide that the best possible activity for Sunday is rock climbing! Way more fun than stairs! Colleen has friends on the rock climbing team who've offered to show us the ropes (HAHAHAA!!), so we check it out. It's fun, but I can only take so much exercise. The rest of the day is pretty chill. We make dinner and check out a few things around campus, including the paternoster elevator in the library. I've made a really stupid video for your viewing pleasure, so check that out if you want to ride the elevator with me and Colleen.
We finish off the night by watching a movie with Colleen's flatmates. In the middle of the movie (at about 1am or so), someone decides that it would be hilarious to pull the fire alarm. Reluctantly we walk downstairs, but about halfway down the alarm stops, so we can go back up. We watch about 10 minutes more of the movie, and then the fire alarm goes off AGAIN. This time we have to stand outside for at least 30 minutes in the cold. Of course, this is the perfect opportunity for me to get a picture of all the friends I've made!!! So be sure to check out the picture of everyone waiting outside at 1am!
Anyway, we finish the movie and head to bed. It's been a long weekend. I manage to squeeze a few hours of sleep in, and then Colleen walks me to the bus stop at like 6am. England's a pretty legit place, and it's been awesome to see old friends and make some kickass new ones. Also, it's nice being in a place where I know the damn language. We bid our adieus, and I head off on a bus to London-Stansted airport, where I'll fly to Salzburg next.
Well, that's it for now. Soon you'll get the story of my 5 days in Salzburg, and then I guess I can tell you more about life in Marburg. I really like it here, despite there not being internet in my room. Speaking of room, you'll also get a video tour of my room! How exciting!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
London and other bits of England
Hey all!
I'm chillin' here in good ole London town. I've been here for two days, and it's been quite the adventure. So let's get started, shall we?
So my plane finally took off from Paris and I arrived at Nottingham on Tuesday without too much hassle. You know, just the usual hassle of figuring out where the bus stop is and where to go. I found the right one pretty easily and met up with my friend Rachael Moreau in the middle of Nottingham. By the time I got there it was fairly late at night, so I just picked up a sandwich at a Tesco (British grocery store) and we headed back to her place at the University of Nottingham.
She's got a pretty big room in one of the dorms. It's much bigger than any dorm room I've ever seen, and it's pretty cool. It's stocked with old wooden furniture that looks as if it's been there since the 1800s or something, which includes a nice boudoir and a table. She's also got a sink and a big ol' bed and probably something else, but I don't remember entirely. It's all very old and traditional-college looking, and she's got a nice view of some giant field. The dorm has a bar, which apparently isn't super popular, I guess because it's too easy. In any case, there are 17 different dorm halls, and each has a bar. There's a pub crawl that goes to all 17 bars. That sounds like a night that ends by worshipping the porcelain throne if I've ever heard of one.
Anyway, I got a bit of a tour the next morning (which included sneaking into and out of their library, which requires a student ID card to get in and out– I'm SUCH a badass, I know!) and saw a few buildings. It's a huuuuuuuge campus with lots of giant fields and such. We got some food to munch on during the trip to London, got some lunch at this nice place in the city, and then got on a bus headed to this place called London. I think you've likely heard of it? The bus ride was comfy and easy and before we knew it, we were in good ol' London. I should note that I've been to London once before, thanks to my wonderful dad and family! Thanks, Dad!
Well, right when we arrive, Rachael checks her purse and realizes that her wallet is missing, which, of course, prompts an epic "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" We head off on this ridiculous wild goose chase that involves talking to at least 10 people who quickly redirect us to another person to talk to, and end up looking on the bus for the wallet. No luck there, so we try the lost and found and all kinds of dumb things like that, and still have no luck.
So, to begin our tour of London, we first visit the police station! Yay! Our welcome committee is a crusty bitch of a woman who works the front desk and seems to have little interest in actually being useful in any way. We have to wait for some guy to report losing his passport and some slightly insane-looking lady who's rambling on something about her kid and her ex-husband and custody and I don't really know. She was crazy and I'm sure it'll all result in some stupid lawsuit involving pleading insanity and lots of crying and yelling, and then they'll probably turn it into a Lifetime movie. Finally it is our turn and Rachael gets the phone number to the bus station in Nottingham. After playing the poor, lost American girl card and saying please a lot, Rachael gets El Grumpola to let us use their phone. Her face is a symphony of frowns and discouraging gazes, but we use their precious phone to call the station and receive news that they have not found any wallets. Sad face. We leave Frownzilla and the police station and decide to head to the hostel that we have booked and deal with it from there.
Rachael's pretty upset, of course, but I'm so smooth and on top of things that her nerves are eased. I awkwardly try to tell some jokes and fail, but she remembers how muscular and good-looking I am and soon everything is back to normal. We are adventurers on an epic journey, and this is but a tiny pitfall in the course of travel. It's all very poetic and wonderful. We buy passes to the Underground (the London subway system– ten points to whoever can tell me the name of the Paris subway system without looking back!) and find our hostel pretty easily. We're staying at this place that we booked called The Generator. We arrive and are relieved that it is legit.
There are two locations of the Generator– one in London and one in Berlin. We're staying at the one in London, obviously, and it's really cool. It's tucked away in what seems to be a residential-ish area of London (near Russell Square, for those who've been). It's got all this yellow and blue kinda modern industrial cool decoration, and it's a pretty neat little place. There's a little travel stand that sells basic snacks and things a traveling person might need, and there are rooms to eat and chill in. There's wireless internet you can buy and computers you can use, and there's a little restaurant/cafeteria that has food. Oh, and there's also a bar with cheap drinks for patrons of the hostel. This place is huge– I think the capacity is around 800. It's not expensive to stay, and Rachael and I are sleeping in a 6 person room for 2 days. It was like 30 pounds ($42ish) total for the both of us. Really cheap when you consider it's London! Dang, yo. The beds are comfortable and there are lockers to lock your stuff in. We've felt totally safe, as there are security guards out all night that only let people with room cards into the area. All in all, this is a totally legit place. We hit the jackpot. If you're every traveling in London and need a place to stay, The Generator is a good choice. It's pretty close to a lot of interesting places in the city, and it's close to the Underground.
I get internet access and Rachael gets her credit card canceled. Luckily there were no new charges on her card, so hopefully it wasn't stolen. (It still hasn't turned up yet, though). We have cheep beer to relax and then run to a little place on the corner for dinner. Quick note about British food: it is horribly bland. Luckily there is a lot of ethnic food here, and it's usually pretty good. Rachael got fish and chips, which wasn't bad at this place, and I got a chicken kabob sandwich. Victory! We're not too interested in partying it up tonight, so we find a really quaint pub near the hostel to have a drink at. Rachael is in much better spirits now that we've got her stuff settled, so we have a really nice time there. The pubs here close at like 12 or so, so we head back pretty early and get some sleep for our big day tomorrow.
The next day (Thursday, btw) is so much better! We get up and go on a free tour of London that we found out about at the hostel. It's run by theater students and professionals who don't have anything to do during the day, and they get paid solely by tips. In any case, they're trained and give lots of details about all the histories and stories related to all the buildings we visit. Plus they're theatre people, so it's well-delivered and they don't forget their lines. It was a really nice overview of town, and we met a few other interesting travelers along the way. After the tour, we grab a quick lunch at McDonald's (their McD's are so much NICER than the ones here!) and do a bit more walking around the city. I show Rachael some places I remember from last time, and we have a great time walking around. I took a lot of pictures, so I'll put them up soon and you can take a little trip through London yourself.
We decide that we should check out the theatre scene while we're here, so we buy some discounted tickets to the musical Billy Elliott (music written by Sir Elton John! Yea!). We're tired from all the walking, though, so we head back to the hostel to change and relax a bit. Once again, our location is great and we find a great Indian restaurant for dinner right nearby where we're staying. We hightail it over to the Victoria Palace Theater and sit in our back-row seats, which really weren't that bad. Neither of us know anything about the show we're seeing, so we have our fingers crossed.
The show was ASTOUNDING. Seriously! I was expecting it to be pretty good, but it absolutely blew me away. The story is about some kid named Billy Elliott growing up in a mining town who wants to be a ballet dancer. It was phenomenal! The music was amazing, and the dancing was just absolutely ridiculous. The main character was this 12 year old kid, and he was doing all of this ridiculous stuff on stage. London's a huge theatre place, so everything about the show was top notch– the lighting, the costumes, the choreography, the set, the singing, the acting, the sound quality, all of it. They had me laughing my ass off at parts and damn near crying at others (er, I mean, Rachael was close to crying. I'm really manly and stoic, don't worry). By the end of the show, Rachael and I were in high spirits. It was the perfect way to spend the night.
We were planning on goin' clubbin', but we didn't have time to figure out where to go or how to get home later, so we decided against it. After a long day of walking and when you have plans to travel the next day, it's kinda hard to get the motivation to go out sometimes. We walked around and got a bit to eat at some shop in Leicester Square, then managed to wander into Chinatown (yea! ten explorer points for me!) We got some drinks back at the hostel bar, and chilled a bit.
And that's where I am now, folks. Thought I'd try to get this all down before I forget it. I left out a few details here and there, but you know. I can fill those in later. Plus I need to have some stories to tell in person!
Tomorrow we leave to go to Colchester to visit my friend Colleen, who goes to University of Essex. There's a wonderful story about how we booked a bus to the wrong city, but I'll have to tell that one later.
I am having absolutely the best time traveling around! I'm getting pretty good at getting around, and though it's still a pain to have to figure out the cheapest (but not too time-consuming) way to get around, I'm getting a lot better at it. I've done a lot of traveling before with my family, but when you have to do it on your own, it's a lot different. I like it. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you want to call me the Traveling Champ, I won't argue!
Hope you're enjoying these posts! I love hearing from you all, and I've been trying to get back to you when I can, but it's hard sometimes. Hope all is well at home; don't worry about me!
I'm chillin' here in good ole London town. I've been here for two days, and it's been quite the adventure. So let's get started, shall we?
So my plane finally took off from Paris and I arrived at Nottingham on Tuesday without too much hassle. You know, just the usual hassle of figuring out where the bus stop is and where to go. I found the right one pretty easily and met up with my friend Rachael Moreau in the middle of Nottingham. By the time I got there it was fairly late at night, so I just picked up a sandwich at a Tesco (British grocery store) and we headed back to her place at the University of Nottingham.
She's got a pretty big room in one of the dorms. It's much bigger than any dorm room I've ever seen, and it's pretty cool. It's stocked with old wooden furniture that looks as if it's been there since the 1800s or something, which includes a nice boudoir and a table. She's also got a sink and a big ol' bed and probably something else, but I don't remember entirely. It's all very old and traditional-college looking, and she's got a nice view of some giant field. The dorm has a bar, which apparently isn't super popular, I guess because it's too easy. In any case, there are 17 different dorm halls, and each has a bar. There's a pub crawl that goes to all 17 bars. That sounds like a night that ends by worshipping the porcelain throne if I've ever heard of one.
Anyway, I got a bit of a tour the next morning (which included sneaking into and out of their library, which requires a student ID card to get in and out– I'm SUCH a badass, I know!) and saw a few buildings. It's a huuuuuuuge campus with lots of giant fields and such. We got some food to munch on during the trip to London, got some lunch at this nice place in the city, and then got on a bus headed to this place called London. I think you've likely heard of it? The bus ride was comfy and easy and before we knew it, we were in good ol' London. I should note that I've been to London once before, thanks to my wonderful dad and family! Thanks, Dad!
Well, right when we arrive, Rachael checks her purse and realizes that her wallet is missing, which, of course, prompts an epic "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" We head off on this ridiculous wild goose chase that involves talking to at least 10 people who quickly redirect us to another person to talk to, and end up looking on the bus for the wallet. No luck there, so we try the lost and found and all kinds of dumb things like that, and still have no luck.
So, to begin our tour of London, we first visit the police station! Yay! Our welcome committee is a crusty bitch of a woman who works the front desk and seems to have little interest in actually being useful in any way. We have to wait for some guy to report losing his passport and some slightly insane-looking lady who's rambling on something about her kid and her ex-husband and custody and I don't really know. She was crazy and I'm sure it'll all result in some stupid lawsuit involving pleading insanity and lots of crying and yelling, and then they'll probably turn it into a Lifetime movie. Finally it is our turn and Rachael gets the phone number to the bus station in Nottingham. After playing the poor, lost American girl card and saying please a lot, Rachael gets El Grumpola to let us use their phone. Her face is a symphony of frowns and discouraging gazes, but we use their precious phone to call the station and receive news that they have not found any wallets. Sad face. We leave Frownzilla and the police station and decide to head to the hostel that we have booked and deal with it from there.
Rachael's pretty upset, of course, but I'm so smooth and on top of things that her nerves are eased. I awkwardly try to tell some jokes and fail, but she remembers how muscular and good-looking I am and soon everything is back to normal. We are adventurers on an epic journey, and this is but a tiny pitfall in the course of travel. It's all very poetic and wonderful. We buy passes to the Underground (the London subway system– ten points to whoever can tell me the name of the Paris subway system without looking back!) and find our hostel pretty easily. We're staying at this place that we booked called The Generator. We arrive and are relieved that it is legit.
There are two locations of the Generator– one in London and one in Berlin. We're staying at the one in London, obviously, and it's really cool. It's tucked away in what seems to be a residential-ish area of London (near Russell Square, for those who've been). It's got all this yellow and blue kinda modern industrial cool decoration, and it's a pretty neat little place. There's a little travel stand that sells basic snacks and things a traveling person might need, and there are rooms to eat and chill in. There's wireless internet you can buy and computers you can use, and there's a little restaurant/cafeteria that has food. Oh, and there's also a bar with cheap drinks for patrons of the hostel. This place is huge– I think the capacity is around 800. It's not expensive to stay, and Rachael and I are sleeping in a 6 person room for 2 days. It was like 30 pounds ($42ish) total for the both of us. Really cheap when you consider it's London! Dang, yo. The beds are comfortable and there are lockers to lock your stuff in. We've felt totally safe, as there are security guards out all night that only let people with room cards into the area. All in all, this is a totally legit place. We hit the jackpot. If you're every traveling in London and need a place to stay, The Generator is a good choice. It's pretty close to a lot of interesting places in the city, and it's close to the Underground.
I get internet access and Rachael gets her credit card canceled. Luckily there were no new charges on her card, so hopefully it wasn't stolen. (It still hasn't turned up yet, though). We have cheep beer to relax and then run to a little place on the corner for dinner. Quick note about British food: it is horribly bland. Luckily there is a lot of ethnic food here, and it's usually pretty good. Rachael got fish and chips, which wasn't bad at this place, and I got a chicken kabob sandwich. Victory! We're not too interested in partying it up tonight, so we find a really quaint pub near the hostel to have a drink at. Rachael is in much better spirits now that we've got her stuff settled, so we have a really nice time there. The pubs here close at like 12 or so, so we head back pretty early and get some sleep for our big day tomorrow.
The next day (Thursday, btw) is so much better! We get up and go on a free tour of London that we found out about at the hostel. It's run by theater students and professionals who don't have anything to do during the day, and they get paid solely by tips. In any case, they're trained and give lots of details about all the histories and stories related to all the buildings we visit. Plus they're theatre people, so it's well-delivered and they don't forget their lines. It was a really nice overview of town, and we met a few other interesting travelers along the way. After the tour, we grab a quick lunch at McDonald's (their McD's are so much NICER than the ones here!) and do a bit more walking around the city. I show Rachael some places I remember from last time, and we have a great time walking around. I took a lot of pictures, so I'll put them up soon and you can take a little trip through London yourself.
We decide that we should check out the theatre scene while we're here, so we buy some discounted tickets to the musical Billy Elliott (music written by Sir Elton John! Yea!). We're tired from all the walking, though, so we head back to the hostel to change and relax a bit. Once again, our location is great and we find a great Indian restaurant for dinner right nearby where we're staying. We hightail it over to the Victoria Palace Theater and sit in our back-row seats, which really weren't that bad. Neither of us know anything about the show we're seeing, so we have our fingers crossed.
The show was ASTOUNDING. Seriously! I was expecting it to be pretty good, but it absolutely blew me away. The story is about some kid named Billy Elliott growing up in a mining town who wants to be a ballet dancer. It was phenomenal! The music was amazing, and the dancing was just absolutely ridiculous. The main character was this 12 year old kid, and he was doing all of this ridiculous stuff on stage. London's a huge theatre place, so everything about the show was top notch– the lighting, the costumes, the choreography, the set, the singing, the acting, the sound quality, all of it. They had me laughing my ass off at parts and damn near crying at others (er, I mean, Rachael was close to crying. I'm really manly and stoic, don't worry). By the end of the show, Rachael and I were in high spirits. It was the perfect way to spend the night.
We were planning on goin' clubbin', but we didn't have time to figure out where to go or how to get home later, so we decided against it. After a long day of walking and when you have plans to travel the next day, it's kinda hard to get the motivation to go out sometimes. We walked around and got a bit to eat at some shop in Leicester Square, then managed to wander into Chinatown (yea! ten explorer points for me!) We got some drinks back at the hostel bar, and chilled a bit.
And that's where I am now, folks. Thought I'd try to get this all down before I forget it. I left out a few details here and there, but you know. I can fill those in later. Plus I need to have some stories to tell in person!
Tomorrow we leave to go to Colchester to visit my friend Colleen, who goes to University of Essex. There's a wonderful story about how we booked a bus to the wrong city, but I'll have to tell that one later.
I am having absolutely the best time traveling around! I'm getting pretty good at getting around, and though it's still a pain to have to figure out the cheapest (but not too time-consuming) way to get around, I'm getting a lot better at it. I've done a lot of traveling before with my family, but when you have to do it on your own, it's a lot different. I like it. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if you want to call me the Traveling Champ, I won't argue!
Hope you're enjoying these posts! I love hearing from you all, and I've been trying to get back to you when I can, but it's hard sometimes. Hope all is well at home; don't worry about me!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Paris pictures!
With no further ado, here are my pictures from Paris! Click on them to make them much bigger.
Au Revoir, Paris!
Or at least I'm trying to say goodbye. Right now I'm sitting in the airport waiting on a flight. I got up at 6am in order to make a 9:45am flight, and got here just to find out it was cancelled. Apparently the weather is awful enough to delay most flights and cancel the rest. The travel gods of course made sure that my flight was cancelled, so I'm stuck here until 8pm when I can finally make my hour-long flight to England. Hopefully. I guess that just gives me time to tell you wonderful stories about my stay in Paris.
So let's see, where to begin? I arrived here on Friday after a very comfortable train ride. I've got the trains down now. Ain't no big thang. My friend Rachel Gregory was there to meet me, thankfully, and we made our way back to her place via the Metro (Paris' subway system). If you've been on a subway system before, you pretty much know what to expect. Pretty easy and safe transport for a reasonable price, and it's pretty necessary as Paris is such a big city. I won't ramble on much about the Metro, but know that it is quite useful.
Rachel is studying art in Paris (she's from Baton Rouge and usually goes to Tulane, but she's studying in Paris for a year) and she stays in a little one room apartment on the seventh floor of some building. It's really not big at all, but it works. There's a shower in the room and a toilet in the hall, and a window that opens out into the courtyard of her building. No loud outside noises by her window, which is nice. She's done a lot with the little space she has, and it's functional. It's pretty much your stereotypical tiny French apartment.
Anyway, I got into Paris in the late afternoon, so there wasn't much time to do anything besides eat and drink. We went to a little falafel place in the Jewish section that Rachel likes (she's a vegetarian) and met up with her other friend Rachael, so that my stories could be extremely confusing! Rachael also goes to Tulane, though the two Rach'es didn't meet until Paris, strangely. Anyway, after that we went out for some drinks. Drinking in Paris is really expensive. Scratch that, everything in Paris is really expensive. We went to a really kickass bar until our eyelids starting drooping, and then called it a night.
Ok I won't tell the whole boring story of everything I did in the order that I did it, but I'll hit the highlights. During my stay I managed to hit up two museums, the Louvre and the Museé D'Orsay. I'm just not gonna worry about all the spelling because I'm sure I'm gonna spell everything wrong. I saw some cool Impressionist paintings (including some killer Van Gogh), a neat exhibit on the Chat Noir Theatre (look it up on wikipedia), and a bunch of other stuff including the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. Turns out the Louvre is ridiculously huge. I had no idea. Rachel said if you looked at every item in the Louvre for only 5 seconds, it would take you 10 years to look at the entire thing (and that's not counting the changing exhibits!) That kinda sounds like BS, but after being lost in Egyptian Relics section for an hour and a half (while walking pretty much constantly) you start to realize it's probably true. So, yeah, thumbs up to those crazy Parisians for having a bunch of crap.
One other thing, the Mona Lisa? Yeah, that thing is tiny. I didn't even get close to it because there were probably about 200 people in the room trying to look at it. I guess it's pretty thug, though.
We did a lot of walking around seeing stuff in Paris. Rachel knows her way around pretty well, and she made sure that we saw all of the famous sights and pretty areas. It rained a bit and snowed one day, so the weather threw a wrench in some of our plans, but we still managed to see most of the sights. Chances are if you name some famous Paris thing, we at least passed by it and Rachel told me the significance of it. I didn't go to the actual Eiffel tower itself, because there's not much to actually see there besides tourists. You can see it from pretty much everywhere, though, which is cool.
Saturday night we got cous cous at some place, and Sunday night we went to a dinner party with some British people she knew from school. British people are crazy. Apparently they don't use the word "shitty", but instead just "shit". For example:
American: "I felt shitty last night, so I stayed home and watched a shitty movie on TV."
British: "I felt shit last night, so I stayed home and watched a shit movie on the telly."
See, I'm learning so much over here! Also, for those with sensitive ears, excuse my French. And pardon my pun! HO HO YEAAA I'M STILL HILARIOUS!!!
Apparently in Paris everything ever shuts down on Sunday, so we actually spent a good portion of the day trying to find a grocery store that was open. We went to 4 or 5 different areas before we found a place that was open (even though some of them were supposed to be open on Sunday, argh). Still, Sunday was a good time to walk around the city, so I got some good pictures (with baguettes).
On Monday night, we went to this restaurant that was highly recommended (read: forced to go to by constant reminding, pleading, and then death threats) by a friend of mine called Le Coude Fou. I still don't know what the hell that means, but I think it means something like "best food ever– no joke". They had an extreme wine selection and an extremely confusing French menu (luckily they had an English translation for doofuses like us), but it was easily the best meal I've had in several months. I got a Boudin salad (weird, I know, but wowza good) and some rabbit with I think blue cheese sauce. Oh mannnnnnnnnnnnnn. The two Rach'es split a salmon dish with mint and basil sauce (wooaaaaaahhhhhhhh) and a goat cheese salad (ahasdfhdkjahfsdkhfaf). Everything was ridiculously good. We ate tons of bread and drank really good wine and had a most wunderbar time! It was the perfect end to my stay in Paris, so Rene and Josh, thank you for the most excellent dinner! And if you're ever in Paris, dear reader, do yourself a favor and take a trip to Le Coude Fou for awesome French cuisine. You won't regret it (unless you suck).
Okay, I guess that's it for Paris stories for now. Let's take a moment to have a quick Rachel review session so you aren't too confused.
Rachel Gregory is my friend from Baton Rouge who I stayed with in Paris. (Thanks, Rachel, I had fun!)
Rachael Granberry is her friend who is also studying in Paris. (It was nice to meet you! Come visit in Germany!)
Rachael Moreau is my friend from Baton Rouge who I am visiting in England as soon as this stupid plane leaves. (See you soon OMG!)
Rachael Moreau is staying Nottingham, England, and I think we're gonna hang out there for a day or so when I get there. I don't know, really.
Nottingham is in north/central England, I think. Anyway, we're gonna head down to London/Sussex and hang out with London/Colleen. I think. Actually I really have very little idea what is actually going on. I'm just trying get through one step at a time. I'll keep you posted.
I have plenty of Paris pictures ready to be uploaded with hilarious and informative comments, so GET SO EXCITED.
Well, I'm off to walk in circles around the airport until I get so bored I fake fainting to try to get a free bottle of water out of these stingy Frenchman! (2 Euro for a water!? I don't THINK so!)
P.S. Some people mentioned that get lost when I mention prices in Euros. Currently the exchange rate is $1.30 to 1 Euro. So every time I spend 10 Euro here, it's about $13 in the US. I'll try to remember to include US prices when I mention money from now on!
So let's see, where to begin? I arrived here on Friday after a very comfortable train ride. I've got the trains down now. Ain't no big thang. My friend Rachel Gregory was there to meet me, thankfully, and we made our way back to her place via the Metro (Paris' subway system). If you've been on a subway system before, you pretty much know what to expect. Pretty easy and safe transport for a reasonable price, and it's pretty necessary as Paris is such a big city. I won't ramble on much about the Metro, but know that it is quite useful.
Rachel is studying art in Paris (she's from Baton Rouge and usually goes to Tulane, but she's studying in Paris for a year) and she stays in a little one room apartment on the seventh floor of some building. It's really not big at all, but it works. There's a shower in the room and a toilet in the hall, and a window that opens out into the courtyard of her building. No loud outside noises by her window, which is nice. She's done a lot with the little space she has, and it's functional. It's pretty much your stereotypical tiny French apartment.
Anyway, I got into Paris in the late afternoon, so there wasn't much time to do anything besides eat and drink. We went to a little falafel place in the Jewish section that Rachel likes (she's a vegetarian) and met up with her other friend Rachael, so that my stories could be extremely confusing! Rachael also goes to Tulane, though the two Rach'es didn't meet until Paris, strangely. Anyway, after that we went out for some drinks. Drinking in Paris is really expensive. Scratch that, everything in Paris is really expensive. We went to a really kickass bar until our eyelids starting drooping, and then called it a night.
Ok I won't tell the whole boring story of everything I did in the order that I did it, but I'll hit the highlights. During my stay I managed to hit up two museums, the Louvre and the Museé D'Orsay. I'm just not gonna worry about all the spelling because I'm sure I'm gonna spell everything wrong. I saw some cool Impressionist paintings (including some killer Van Gogh), a neat exhibit on the Chat Noir Theatre (look it up on wikipedia), and a bunch of other stuff including the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. Turns out the Louvre is ridiculously huge. I had no idea. Rachel said if you looked at every item in the Louvre for only 5 seconds, it would take you 10 years to look at the entire thing (and that's not counting the changing exhibits!) That kinda sounds like BS, but after being lost in Egyptian Relics section for an hour and a half (while walking pretty much constantly) you start to realize it's probably true. So, yeah, thumbs up to those crazy Parisians for having a bunch of crap.
One other thing, the Mona Lisa? Yeah, that thing is tiny. I didn't even get close to it because there were probably about 200 people in the room trying to look at it. I guess it's pretty thug, though.
We did a lot of walking around seeing stuff in Paris. Rachel knows her way around pretty well, and she made sure that we saw all of the famous sights and pretty areas. It rained a bit and snowed one day, so the weather threw a wrench in some of our plans, but we still managed to see most of the sights. Chances are if you name some famous Paris thing, we at least passed by it and Rachel told me the significance of it. I didn't go to the actual Eiffel tower itself, because there's not much to actually see there besides tourists. You can see it from pretty much everywhere, though, which is cool.
Saturday night we got cous cous at some place, and Sunday night we went to a dinner party with some British people she knew from school. British people are crazy. Apparently they don't use the word "shitty", but instead just "shit". For example:
American: "I felt shitty last night, so I stayed home and watched a shitty movie on TV."
British: "I felt shit last night, so I stayed home and watched a shit movie on the telly."
See, I'm learning so much over here! Also, for those with sensitive ears, excuse my French. And pardon my pun! HO HO YEAAA I'M STILL HILARIOUS!!!
Apparently in Paris everything ever shuts down on Sunday, so we actually spent a good portion of the day trying to find a grocery store that was open. We went to 4 or 5 different areas before we found a place that was open (even though some of them were supposed to be open on Sunday, argh). Still, Sunday was a good time to walk around the city, so I got some good pictures (with baguettes).
On Monday night, we went to this restaurant that was highly recommended (read: forced to go to by constant reminding, pleading, and then death threats) by a friend of mine called Le Coude Fou. I still don't know what the hell that means, but I think it means something like "best food ever– no joke". They had an extreme wine selection and an extremely confusing French menu (luckily they had an English translation for doofuses like us), but it was easily the best meal I've had in several months. I got a Boudin salad (weird, I know, but wowza good) and some rabbit with I think blue cheese sauce. Oh mannnnnnnnnnnnnn. The two Rach'es split a salmon dish with mint and basil sauce (wooaaaaaahhhhhhhh) and a goat cheese salad (ahasdfhdkjahfsdkhfaf). Everything was ridiculously good. We ate tons of bread and drank really good wine and had a most wunderbar time! It was the perfect end to my stay in Paris, so Rene and Josh, thank you for the most excellent dinner! And if you're ever in Paris, dear reader, do yourself a favor and take a trip to Le Coude Fou for awesome French cuisine. You won't regret it (unless you suck).
Okay, I guess that's it for Paris stories for now. Let's take a moment to have a quick Rachel review session so you aren't too confused.
Rachel Gregory is my friend from Baton Rouge who I stayed with in Paris. (Thanks, Rachel, I had fun!)
Rachael Granberry is her friend who is also studying in Paris. (It was nice to meet you! Come visit in Germany!)
Rachael Moreau is my friend from Baton Rouge who I am visiting in England as soon as this stupid plane leaves. (See you soon OMG!)
Rachael Moreau is staying Nottingham, England, and I think we're gonna hang out there for a day or so when I get there. I don't know, really.
Nottingham is in north/central England, I think. Anyway, we're gonna head down to London/Sussex and hang out with London/Colleen. I think. Actually I really have very little idea what is actually going on. I'm just trying get through one step at a time. I'll keep you posted.
I have plenty of Paris pictures ready to be uploaded with hilarious and informative comments, so GET SO EXCITED.
Well, I'm off to walk in circles around the airport until I get so bored I fake fainting to try to get a free bottle of water out of these stingy Frenchman! (2 Euro for a water!? I don't THINK so!)
P.S. Some people mentioned that get lost when I mention prices in Euros. Currently the exchange rate is $1.30 to 1 Euro. So every time I spend 10 Euro here, it's about $13 in the US. I'll try to remember to include US prices when I mention money from now on!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Karaoke and Döner
Hey er'rbody,
Just sitting on a train headed from Frankfurt to Paris right now. I gotta say, this place ain't too bad looking. Right now I'm passing through some fields. It looks like the great plains or something. Earlier it was more woodsy and very hilly. I wish I knew more about the geography so I could tell you what I'm actually passing through.
I wanted to talk a little bit about a few more things in Marburg before I forget to talk about them. Last night I went out to this place called Mexicali for karaoke night. Aren't you excited about this story? I know you are. So Mexicali is indeed a Mexican place, which I was surprised to see, and I was naturally skeptical about the food. Turns out the food was actually pretty damn good! I was surprised. I don't know if you'd call it authentic Mexican, but it was authentic good.
Anyway, karaoke started at 10, but we got there at about 8:30 because it's that popular. Yeah, really. We get to the door and the cover is 2 Euros to get in or 3 Euros to get in with ein Bier. The doorman asks us if we have a reservation because, yes, karaoke night is really that popular. Germans must love karaoke or something. So we sit down and get a bit to eat and wait the hour and a half for the karaoke to start. Some other of my friends show up and are unable to get a table at first and must stand. Eventually we find out that some reservation was a no show and get another table across the room.
(Someone just walked past me on the train with a handful of beers)
So yes, the karaoke starts, and yes, it is as awesome as you might think. Pretty much all the songs that were sung were American pop songs– anything you'd expect to hear at a karaoke night in America, only sung with AMAZING German accents! Some people were better than others (one girl nailed this Whitney Houston song), but there were some truly amazing renditions with super thick accents. I don't think I could even begin to describe how beautiful it is to hear Elvis sung with a thick German accent, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
So we leave a little past midnight (all entirely sober, of course), and we all know what we must do next. Quick history lesson: after WWII, many Turkish people moved to Germany to help rebuild the country. As a result, there's a large population of Turks here, and they brought their awesome food along! I had been introduced to the Döner by a friend a few days prior, and I was quickly informed that it is the best drunk food ever. And what luck! The Döner place stays open until extremely late!
A Döner is similar to a Gyros, but a little different. It's a square piece of pita with some sort of rotissary meat (I think turkey or beef), cabbage, onions, peppers, tomatoes, yogurt, and a few other things piled on top. Then you kinda... fold it up... and struggle to not get it all over your face as you eat it. Needless to say, it's amazing. So we walked to one of the Döner stands and get us some. The guy behind the counter asks how spicy I want it, and my eyes light up as I tell him extremely spicy. He looks skeptical, and I tell him I'm from Louisiana and we love spicy food. I don't think he really knew where Louisiana was, but he loaded it up with some sort of spice for me. I take off the tomatoes and take a bite, and it is way spicy and way delicious. I nod my approval, and the Döner-man smiles. Yes!
Unfortunately, a German girl with us decided to eat one of my unwanted tomato slices, not realizing that the hot spice is all over it. Her eyes get huge when it hits her tongue, and the fire in her mouth turns to rage at me. "That is too spicy! It's not good, it's just painful!" I smile and say, "Yeah, but now I can breathe again." Oh man, I am hilarious.
That's about it for the evening. We caught the bus and I went home to pack for my Paris trip. And the rest is history!
So I've been to a few bars now, and had some really good beers. I don't think I've had a bad beer yet, and I doubt I will. The cheapest place I've been is the student bar (I think it's called Schwartzweiss, but I need to double check on the spelling), where the beers are like 1.30 Euro for a pint. The real bars are a bit more expensive, but they have stuff on tap, and the prices are still decent. I went to a hookah bar the other night where they play all these arabic dance music videos. The video quality is pretty bad, though, so I think they bootlegged them and burned them to a DVD. Awesome!
Ok, I'm just rambling now, and I'm about 15 minutes from Paris, so I'm gonna stop this insanity. Au revoir for now!
(P.S. I made it to Paris. It's awesome! More later!)
Your travel guide,
Nick
Just sitting on a train headed from Frankfurt to Paris right now. I gotta say, this place ain't too bad looking. Right now I'm passing through some fields. It looks like the great plains or something. Earlier it was more woodsy and very hilly. I wish I knew more about the geography so I could tell you what I'm actually passing through.
I wanted to talk a little bit about a few more things in Marburg before I forget to talk about them. Last night I went out to this place called Mexicali for karaoke night. Aren't you excited about this story? I know you are. So Mexicali is indeed a Mexican place, which I was surprised to see, and I was naturally skeptical about the food. Turns out the food was actually pretty damn good! I was surprised. I don't know if you'd call it authentic Mexican, but it was authentic good.
Anyway, karaoke started at 10, but we got there at about 8:30 because it's that popular. Yeah, really. We get to the door and the cover is 2 Euros to get in or 3 Euros to get in with ein Bier. The doorman asks us if we have a reservation because, yes, karaoke night is really that popular. Germans must love karaoke or something. So we sit down and get a bit to eat and wait the hour and a half for the karaoke to start. Some other of my friends show up and are unable to get a table at first and must stand. Eventually we find out that some reservation was a no show and get another table across the room.
(Someone just walked past me on the train with a handful of beers)
So yes, the karaoke starts, and yes, it is as awesome as you might think. Pretty much all the songs that were sung were American pop songs– anything you'd expect to hear at a karaoke night in America, only sung with AMAZING German accents! Some people were better than others (one girl nailed this Whitney Houston song), but there were some truly amazing renditions with super thick accents. I don't think I could even begin to describe how beautiful it is to hear Elvis sung with a thick German accent, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
So we leave a little past midnight (all entirely sober, of course), and we all know what we must do next. Quick history lesson: after WWII, many Turkish people moved to Germany to help rebuild the country. As a result, there's a large population of Turks here, and they brought their awesome food along! I had been introduced to the Döner by a friend a few days prior, and I was quickly informed that it is the best drunk food ever. And what luck! The Döner place stays open until extremely late!
A Döner is similar to a Gyros, but a little different. It's a square piece of pita with some sort of rotissary meat (I think turkey or beef), cabbage, onions, peppers, tomatoes, yogurt, and a few other things piled on top. Then you kinda... fold it up... and struggle to not get it all over your face as you eat it. Needless to say, it's amazing. So we walked to one of the Döner stands and get us some. The guy behind the counter asks how spicy I want it, and my eyes light up as I tell him extremely spicy. He looks skeptical, and I tell him I'm from Louisiana and we love spicy food. I don't think he really knew where Louisiana was, but he loaded it up with some sort of spice for me. I take off the tomatoes and take a bite, and it is way spicy and way delicious. I nod my approval, and the Döner-man smiles. Yes!
Unfortunately, a German girl with us decided to eat one of my unwanted tomato slices, not realizing that the hot spice is all over it. Her eyes get huge when it hits her tongue, and the fire in her mouth turns to rage at me. "That is too spicy! It's not good, it's just painful!" I smile and say, "Yeah, but now I can breathe again." Oh man, I am hilarious.
That's about it for the evening. We caught the bus and I went home to pack for my Paris trip. And the rest is history!
So I've been to a few bars now, and had some really good beers. I don't think I've had a bad beer yet, and I doubt I will. The cheapest place I've been is the student bar (I think it's called Schwartzweiss, but I need to double check on the spelling), where the beers are like 1.30 Euro for a pint. The real bars are a bit more expensive, but they have stuff on tap, and the prices are still decent. I went to a hookah bar the other night where they play all these arabic dance music videos. The video quality is pretty bad, though, so I think they bootlegged them and burned them to a DVD. Awesome!
Ok, I'm just rambling now, and I'm about 15 minutes from Paris, so I'm gonna stop this insanity. Au revoir for now!
(P.S. I made it to Paris. It's awesome! More later!)
Your travel guide,
Nick
A Quick Tour
Guten Tag! Actually, it's funny, I don't think I've heard that more than a handful of times here. Most people just say "hallo." It works!
I've been in Marburg 4 days, and I'm leaving for Paris today (Friday). I don't know when I'll have internet access, so this might be a day or two outdated when you read it. Anyway, Marburg is pretty killer, so let me tell you a bit about it.
It's located on the river Lahn, which isn't some huge roaring Mississippi River, but it's nice nonetheless. From what I can tell, about half of the city is on each side of the river, but I'm not really sure. In any case, it's not a huge place, but it's definitely not as small as I thought it would be. There are a lot of bars and such, and I was surprised to hear people who have been here for a semester already talk about bars they haven't been to and would like to. Considering how often a lot of those people go out, I guess there are quite a few places around. I'm not complaining.
Right now I'm staying in David's dorm, which is in Wehrda. I think Wehrda kinda functions like a suburb of Marburg, though it's not a suburb at all. It's a little ways from the main part of the city, and if you didn't know better you'd think it was part of Marburg itself. I'm guessing in the olden days they were small independent towns and grew into each other. In any case, Wehrda seems to be mostly residential, and those who live there work in Marburg. There are a few little bakeries and restaurants, but it's mostly houses and the like. Coming from Marburg, Wehrda goes uphill (What? Land goes UP sometimes!?!?). I don't know how far, as I haven't been to the other side of it, but I know there are some woods and trails farther up as well. I'll have to check that out one day.
The dorm I'm staying in is really cool. It's comprised of 3 or 4 floors and a basement, with maybe 20 or so people on each floor. There are 4 buildings, I think. Anyway, when you walk in one of them, you walk into a little lobby with mailboxes and glass doors. You need a key to get further, or you can buzz a person's room by pressing a button with their name on it. I've been in a room a few times when someone buzzed in, and it's a horrid sound that could wake the dead. Everyone in the room jumps out of their seat as if someone just jumped out of a corner screaming. It's like a doorbell from hell. But it works, and the person can open the lobby door from the hall. I guess this is all standard fare apartment kinda stuff, but there's nothing like this in Baton Rouge, where land is aplenty.
Anyhow, once you get past the lobby one way or another, there's a stairwell in the middle! Surprising! On each floor there are doors to the left and right that you need a key to get into, and they lead into the halls where the rooms are. There are two halls on each floor, connected by the Teeküche [kitchen]. The kitchen is pretty legit, and people DEFINITELY use it. There's fridge space for everyone who lives there, and there are also cabinets for each person with a lock. Add 8 stove burners, an oven, a sink, plenty of counter space, and 2 tables and you're good to go. Most of the kitchens I've been in have a sofa, a toaster, and something to heat up water for tea or coffee (I have no idea why they have different stuff). I've been hanging with the people here in the kitchens a lot. It seems that it's pretty common for people to cook, and we've been sharing cooking duties every night for dinner. It's also interesting to see people come in and cook dishes from their home cultures (I've seen curries, asian foods, and pastas). There are a LOT of different kinds of people here.
The rooms are nice, as well. Standard fare: a bed, a chair or two, a table or two, a lamp, a walk-in closet, a window, some shelves, etc. You also get your own SINK, which is a total bonus! No toilet, but that's ok. The rooms are pretty spacious, surprisingly, though David's is cluttered with my suitcases and clothes right now. There's a little heater thingy for when it's cold, and the window opens for when it's hot. Added bonus: you can use the windowsill as a refrigerator! Au natural, baby. The bed's even comfortable. All in all, the rooms are good. I give them a thumbs up.
There's a community (unisex, OMG) Klo [bathroom] on each side of the floor. Each one has two stalls and a urinal, and each of these has its own door so no one gets to watch you go. The urinals are really high up, by the way. I don't know what children or midgets do here. I guess they use the stalls. There's a sink in the bathroom, too, but there's no soap by it... so I guess unless you bring soap with you every time you go to the bathroom, it's kinda useless. You can just wash your hands in your room– AND GET GERMS ALL OVER THE DOOR HANDLES IN THE PROCESS MUAHAHA
Sorry, I think I need more sleep. Also worth a mention is die Dusche [the shower]. Yeah, actually, it's really not that exciting, it's just a shower. But there's only 1 on each side of the floor, and the hot water stops at 2am. The end.
So that just about ends the tour. The other day I walked "around the block", which took about 20 minutes, and I took some pictures of the general local scenery. There are also a few pictures of the dorm buildings, too, though I haven't taken any of the inside yet. Don't wanna be too creepy. "Oh don't mind me, just taking pictures of the bathrooms!" Anyway, here's what I have so far: http://picasaweb.google.com/kakeeman/WillkommenInMarburg?authkey=H6B3MjWnl90&feat=directlink
Wunderbar! Hope all is well back home. I can't imagine the worry and panic that ensued after my leaving. It's okay, you guys! You can make it without me for a little while. Just relax.
Tschüß!
Nick
I've been in Marburg 4 days, and I'm leaving for Paris today (Friday). I don't know when I'll have internet access, so this might be a day or two outdated when you read it. Anyway, Marburg is pretty killer, so let me tell you a bit about it.
It's located on the river Lahn, which isn't some huge roaring Mississippi River, but it's nice nonetheless. From what I can tell, about half of the city is on each side of the river, but I'm not really sure. In any case, it's not a huge place, but it's definitely not as small as I thought it would be. There are a lot of bars and such, and I was surprised to hear people who have been here for a semester already talk about bars they haven't been to and would like to. Considering how often a lot of those people go out, I guess there are quite a few places around. I'm not complaining.
Right now I'm staying in David's dorm, which is in Wehrda. I think Wehrda kinda functions like a suburb of Marburg, though it's not a suburb at all. It's a little ways from the main part of the city, and if you didn't know better you'd think it was part of Marburg itself. I'm guessing in the olden days they were small independent towns and grew into each other. In any case, Wehrda seems to be mostly residential, and those who live there work in Marburg. There are a few little bakeries and restaurants, but it's mostly houses and the like. Coming from Marburg, Wehrda goes uphill (What? Land goes UP sometimes!?!?). I don't know how far, as I haven't been to the other side of it, but I know there are some woods and trails farther up as well. I'll have to check that out one day.
The dorm I'm staying in is really cool. It's comprised of 3 or 4 floors and a basement, with maybe 20 or so people on each floor. There are 4 buildings, I think. Anyway, when you walk in one of them, you walk into a little lobby with mailboxes and glass doors. You need a key to get further, or you can buzz a person's room by pressing a button with their name on it. I've been in a room a few times when someone buzzed in, and it's a horrid sound that could wake the dead. Everyone in the room jumps out of their seat as if someone just jumped out of a corner screaming. It's like a doorbell from hell. But it works, and the person can open the lobby door from the hall. I guess this is all standard fare apartment kinda stuff, but there's nothing like this in Baton Rouge, where land is aplenty.
Anyhow, once you get past the lobby one way or another, there's a stairwell in the middle! Surprising! On each floor there are doors to the left and right that you need a key to get into, and they lead into the halls where the rooms are. There are two halls on each floor, connected by the Teeküche [kitchen]. The kitchen is pretty legit, and people DEFINITELY use it. There's fridge space for everyone who lives there, and there are also cabinets for each person with a lock. Add 8 stove burners, an oven, a sink, plenty of counter space, and 2 tables and you're good to go. Most of the kitchens I've been in have a sofa, a toaster, and something to heat up water for tea or coffee (I have no idea why they have different stuff). I've been hanging with the people here in the kitchens a lot. It seems that it's pretty common for people to cook, and we've been sharing cooking duties every night for dinner. It's also interesting to see people come in and cook dishes from their home cultures (I've seen curries, asian foods, and pastas). There are a LOT of different kinds of people here.
The rooms are nice, as well. Standard fare: a bed, a chair or two, a table or two, a lamp, a walk-in closet, a window, some shelves, etc. You also get your own SINK, which is a total bonus! No toilet, but that's ok. The rooms are pretty spacious, surprisingly, though David's is cluttered with my suitcases and clothes right now. There's a little heater thingy for when it's cold, and the window opens for when it's hot. Added bonus: you can use the windowsill as a refrigerator! Au natural, baby. The bed's even comfortable. All in all, the rooms are good. I give them a thumbs up.
There's a community (unisex, OMG) Klo [bathroom] on each side of the floor. Each one has two stalls and a urinal, and each of these has its own door so no one gets to watch you go. The urinals are really high up, by the way. I don't know what children or midgets do here. I guess they use the stalls. There's a sink in the bathroom, too, but there's no soap by it... so I guess unless you bring soap with you every time you go to the bathroom, it's kinda useless. You can just wash your hands in your room– AND GET GERMS ALL OVER THE DOOR HANDLES IN THE PROCESS MUAHAHA
Sorry, I think I need more sleep. Also worth a mention is die Dusche [the shower]. Yeah, actually, it's really not that exciting, it's just a shower. But there's only 1 on each side of the floor, and the hot water stops at 2am. The end.
So that just about ends the tour. The other day I walked "around the block", which took about 20 minutes, and I took some pictures of the general local scenery. There are also a few pictures of the dorm buildings, too, though I haven't taken any of the inside yet. Don't wanna be too creepy. "Oh don't mind me, just taking pictures of the bathrooms!" Anyway, here's what I have so far: http://picasaweb.google.com/kakeeman/WillkommenInMarburg?authkey=H6B3MjWnl90&feat=directlink
Wunderbar! Hope all is well back home. I can't imagine the worry and panic that ensued after my leaving. It's okay, you guys! You can make it without me for a little while. Just relax.
Tschüß!
Nick
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Hallo!
I am sorry that it has taken me this long to post. I got here 3 days ago and I don't have my own internet connection yet.
So my flights were fine; no major hiccups. 1 hour to Dallas, 3 hours in the airport, then 9 hours to Frankfurt. The last part wasn't much fun, as I didn't get much sleep. So I arrived in Germany with all my stuff (backpack, laptop bag, 2 big ol' suitcases) and somehow managed to drag it all the way from the airport to the Bahnhof Reisezentrum (train station ticket center). I got a ticket to the place where I'm staying, Marburg, and immediately ran down to the platform to find the train I needed to catch.
Now, I needed to catch 2 trains; one to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and another from there to the Marburg Hauptbahnhof. The first was more like a subway or metro train, and it was about 8AM at this point, so yeah. Rush hour. I barely manage to pull all my junk onto the train when it arrives, and by now there's standing room only. Somehow I end up in the very middle near the doors, and I have nothing to hold onto as the train starts and stops to move. Being tired + tons of bags + standing with little to balance me and the bags + being entirely surrounded by tons of silent Germans + not really knowing if you're on the right train = scary. I almost fell onto some old lady at one point. It was great.
I get off the train at the right place (of course I wasn't entirely sure at the time) and hightail it to the regional trains, as I have 10 minutes to catch the next train. I run to the platform indicated on the ticket and again drag my billions of bags up onto the train (there's no ramp or anything). Like many European trains, there's a section with enclosed rooms and a main section with more general seating. Once I've interrogated a confused-looking teenager about whether I am on the correct train in broken German, I shuffle sideways down the hallway by the enclosed rooms since my bags were too wide to roll through it. So I finally sit down to worry whether I'm on the right train for 30 minutes. The train manager dude comes by and checks my ticket and it seems I'm all in the clear, though the guy sitting next to me wasn't and an argument ensued across me.
So I'm finally done with the trains, which involves a lot more shuffling and bag dragging that I won't go into, and I make it to the Marburg Hauptbahnhof! Yay! And then I remember that I have no idea where to go. Oh. I look around for the friend of David who was going to meet me, and, of course, there is no one. The next fifteen minutes are spent trying to figure out how to use a German payphone, which includes, but is not limited to: how to put money in, whether it actually works at all, how to get the "1" key to work so I can dial the number correctly, which part of the number is the country code, which part of the number is the area code, and whether I need to dial either of these numbers. I end up asking some person at the Reisezentrum how to dial the number I have, and she explains that I don't need the area code, but I do need to dial a 0 first. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
I finally get in touch David's friend Jess, and she tells me she's on her way and will meet me in about 20 minutes. There's a bakery and a newsstand that could potentially occupy my attention while I wait, but I'm so tired that I just sit on the front steps and stare out into the traffic. The first pictures I have from Germany are indeed from this vantage point, and I'll post those soon so you can see what I saw.
Anyway, that's my exciting travel story. In retrospect, it's kinda funny and awesome, but at the time it was pretty scary. I was pretty sure for a while that I was heading out into the German countryside to end up in some small town in the middle of nowhere where no one speaks English. But all's good.
So how is it here? I love it! (Oh yeah, quick note: David is my friend from LSU who has already been here in Germany for a semester. Right now he's out traveling and I'm staying in his room) David's friends are all really nice and helpful, and they've been showing me the ropes. I'm starting to find my way around more, and I got the bus system down pat. The buses here are super efficient and really easy to use. No car, no problem.
Things I have learned:
Apparently Texas is known for its pizza. In the frozen pizza section of the grocery store, there is Hawaiian, Texas, Salami, and Western pizza, just to name a few. I didn't buy any, of course, but it's funny.
Alcohol is incredibly cheap. Seriously. A 6 pack of awesome beer is 3.50€, which is $4.50. Yes. Even the hard liquor is cheap (around 6 to 10€).
Pfand. Whenever you buy bottles of pretty much anything, you're charged a few cents extra. However, if you bring the bottles back, you get the money back (and usually you just use it for your next purchase). It's a nice way to get people to recycle. Anyway, this is mostly for grocery stores, but there's a bar in the student dorms that also charges a Pfand. One girl I met says that she actually makes money when she drinks there because she collects all the bottles that other people leave around and returns them to get free drinks. Then she keeps all the extra bottles for next time. Thrifty!
That's about it for now. I'll try to get pictures up and more updates soon. :-)
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