Today's song of the day is a German song that none of you have ever heard before.
Went to school (on the bus so I was all early), waited around and waited around and, in a very familiar situation, absolutely no sign of my German class appeared. Kept waiting until I saw people I recognized and was fairly certain were in my class leaving school, so I left. Most productive day of school ever (this is very frustrating).
Got back on bus and used all that extra time in Niederkassel waiting for the next bus to find some chapstick and buy a snack at the bakery (chocolate filled crossaint, mmmmmm). And made it home by 11:30 and used all this wonderful extra time to start pulling together college applications (aren't I so on top of things?). Having printed out everyone's supplements, I'm trying to find out if I can do the interviews that certain schools want and if I have to fill out these silly "international applicant" forms.
And I'm also wandering around Hampshire's site because I love it, and here are some clues that I'm a future Hampshire student, according to current Hampsters (the ones that are way way too close to the truth)
*When given an assignment, you approach the teacher to ask if you can do it in a different, more creative way. (I have never turned in an essay on the assigned topic. . . my essay on Frankenstein was about Dada)
*You seem to create space for yourself – and yet often take refuge in your own solitude.
*You tend to turn mandatory assignments into a personal quest for TRUTH. (this annoys all of my teachers, because I can't simply do the assignment- I have to grow from it)
*You consistently find ways to incorporate your “non academic” interests into your academics. (see: Frankenstein and Dada, every other paper I've ever written)
*When asked for a book recommendation, you are able to rattle off the names of several recent reads.
*You want to make a difference. You want to change the world. Starting with yourself.
*You are willing to take risks – to make new friends, to get your voice heard, to do what you think needs to be done.
*You always carry a book, notebook, drawing pad, or laptop with you. Everywhere. Just in case. (when do I NOT have my sketchbook?)
*You make up new words. You get people to actually use these words. (Have you used pouvre yet? I'm not living in an English-speaking country, so I don't get this chance)
*You really seem to “get” that life is bigger than a GPA. Bigger than college even. This is all just a tool to learn how to live a good life. (This is why my GPA isn't so perfect and it doesn't bother me at all)
I am going to visit Mary today, and then I am going to play mandolin!
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
It's the Cream of the Fight
Song of the day goes to Survivor with their beloved power ballad "Eye of the Tiger." I highly recommend it with history homework.
Did not want to get out of bed this morning, knowing I had a full, challenging day of school ahead of me, and seeing how dark it was outside (rainy, too, although I didn't know that). Somehow I made it, and took the bus, for which my aching legs thank me. Two periods of Philosophy and I might still be understanding Kant (I didn't print out a translation, and I don't want to) and we slacked off at the end and I studied Italian. I got to read my paper in Econ and felt all weird still because it was really really good and everyone else is trying to learn how to write a good paper and I don't like having that distance between my ability and my classmates'. Art and I turned in my paper and painting and my art teacher was all impressed that I wrote in German (yay) and I hope she'll approve of my efforts- I have ultimately decided that my painting isn't all that bad, but I still do better with other media. And then more studying of Italian while other people finished up their art projects and then Pause and then the scary Italian exam. . . or so I thought. Went to the classroom, waited, no one appeared. Waited. Looked at Vertretungsplan, which uses some code that I don't entirely understand to note when classes are not happening. Saw nothing that resembled information on my Italain class. Went back to classroom. No one. Called host mom, decided might as well go home. I'm still worried about this, but I'm sure it'll be okay. Can't do anything until after fall break, anyway. So got home on the bus without too much trouble (this construction in Niederkassel is so terrible, though, it is driving me insane) and had some lunch and piddled around with some history stuff and printed out my Hampshire supplement so I can start thinking about it (I am also starting to try to put together my Common App personal statement, and that is harder because it is supposed to be less than 500 words) and there is something that I want to ask you about, although I'm not sure if I'm allowed. Hampshire, in addition to asking all the right questions, wants to know what words my friends, parents, and teachers would use to describe. So, friends, parents, teachers: come out of hiding! Think of words that you associate with me- they don't have to be big or special (I have to come up with words for myself, too) and I promise that floccinaucinihilipilification has nothing to do with my personality! Remember that my entire future happiness and success rests upon these words, but don't feel too much pressure. The application is due December 1.
Mary has reminded me that it is now exactly 2 months since I left Chesterfield for the great big world. It feels like longer, but I only have 8 months left. That's weird to think about.
Addendum 9 pm:
I'm feeling a little school-based culture shock, I must admit. I think this whole Italian thing today brought a lot of things I've been feeling but haven't noticed forward- I'm realizing that there's this whole unspoken language to school that I just don't know here. . . no one ever bothered to explain the Vertretungsplan to me, for example, so I'm still not sure I can read it- other people tell me when we don't have class, but with Italian, I don't see the people in my class outside of class, so I'm not certain they'd let me know. It's the kind of thing Germans don't think about because they've always had it, but we don't have anything like it in America and I don't understand it. I think I've missed out on a lot of the introduction to the school because I know German so well- people aren't bothering to stop and explain things to me because they assume I follow. I know I should ask about stuff, but mostly I don't think about it- I show up to class and I try to pay attention and I go home and people normally tell me things, but when they don't, it kind of sucks. And then there are times when I feel like nobody knows what to do with me anyway- my teachers kept asking if I was taking the Klausurs too, and I didn't know, and then they just let it drop, so I just kind of show up and do it and hope that things fall into place. Nobody has bothered to explain how grades here work, and that worries me, too. We never turn things in, and I'm not to the point that I can be answering questions in my classes, and my teachers basically just let me sit there and try to follow along and they ignore me because they have a real class that needs to prepare for the Abitur and that's more important. But what can they grade me on? Showing up? Nodding? I know it doesn't matter at all what grades I get, but I'd like to feel like I have some sort of control over it, and some sort of previous knowledge of what's going on. I'm getting frustrated with not being able to do anything in class, too- I pour all of my effort into Econ because I understand it, but then I'm still not really doing much work because they never assign any and even when I understand all the words the teachers or assignments say, I still don't understand what they want. Last week, my history teacher looked at me and asked me a question that I completely understood, but I had no idea what answer she wanted. This happens constantly- teachers are always saying things that have everyone else's hands shooting up, and I can't even begin to understand what the apparently obvious conclusion was supposed to be. And that makes me doubt myself even when I do know the answer. I'm sort of mad at myself for not taking an easy fact-based class like math so I could learn to participate, but I hate math classes. I tried so hard this evening to think of some way I could make school better, but there are no better classes to take. College stuff is starting to show up and I'm getting excited again about the classes I can be taking next year, and it justs make me feel so much worse about school here, where I'm just this sort of silent observer.
Did not want to get out of bed this morning, knowing I had a full, challenging day of school ahead of me, and seeing how dark it was outside (rainy, too, although I didn't know that). Somehow I made it, and took the bus, for which my aching legs thank me. Two periods of Philosophy and I might still be understanding Kant (I didn't print out a translation, and I don't want to) and we slacked off at the end and I studied Italian. I got to read my paper in Econ and felt all weird still because it was really really good and everyone else is trying to learn how to write a good paper and I don't like having that distance between my ability and my classmates'. Art and I turned in my paper and painting and my art teacher was all impressed that I wrote in German (yay) and I hope she'll approve of my efforts- I have ultimately decided that my painting isn't all that bad, but I still do better with other media. And then more studying of Italian while other people finished up their art projects and then Pause and then the scary Italian exam. . . or so I thought. Went to the classroom, waited, no one appeared. Waited. Looked at Vertretungsplan, which uses some code that I don't entirely understand to note when classes are not happening. Saw nothing that resembled information on my Italain class. Went back to classroom. No one. Called host mom, decided might as well go home. I'm still worried about this, but I'm sure it'll be okay. Can't do anything until after fall break, anyway. So got home on the bus without too much trouble (this construction in Niederkassel is so terrible, though, it is driving me insane) and had some lunch and piddled around with some history stuff and printed out my Hampshire supplement so I can start thinking about it (I am also starting to try to put together my Common App personal statement, and that is harder because it is supposed to be less than 500 words) and there is something that I want to ask you about, although I'm not sure if I'm allowed. Hampshire, in addition to asking all the right questions, wants to know what words my friends, parents, and teachers would use to describe. So, friends, parents, teachers: come out of hiding! Think of words that you associate with me- they don't have to be big or special (I have to come up with words for myself, too) and I promise that floccinaucinihilipilification has nothing to do with my personality! Remember that my entire future happiness and success rests upon these words, but don't feel too much pressure. The application is due December 1.
Mary has reminded me that it is now exactly 2 months since I left Chesterfield for the great big world. It feels like longer, but I only have 8 months left. That's weird to think about.
Addendum 9 pm:
I'm feeling a little school-based culture shock, I must admit. I think this whole Italian thing today brought a lot of things I've been feeling but haven't noticed forward- I'm realizing that there's this whole unspoken language to school that I just don't know here. . . no one ever bothered to explain the Vertretungsplan to me, for example, so I'm still not sure I can read it- other people tell me when we don't have class, but with Italian, I don't see the people in my class outside of class, so I'm not certain they'd let me know. It's the kind of thing Germans don't think about because they've always had it, but we don't have anything like it in America and I don't understand it. I think I've missed out on a lot of the introduction to the school because I know German so well- people aren't bothering to stop and explain things to me because they assume I follow. I know I should ask about stuff, but mostly I don't think about it- I show up to class and I try to pay attention and I go home and people normally tell me things, but when they don't, it kind of sucks. And then there are times when I feel like nobody knows what to do with me anyway- my teachers kept asking if I was taking the Klausurs too, and I didn't know, and then they just let it drop, so I just kind of show up and do it and hope that things fall into place. Nobody has bothered to explain how grades here work, and that worries me, too. We never turn things in, and I'm not to the point that I can be answering questions in my classes, and my teachers basically just let me sit there and try to follow along and they ignore me because they have a real class that needs to prepare for the Abitur and that's more important. But what can they grade me on? Showing up? Nodding? I know it doesn't matter at all what grades I get, but I'd like to feel like I have some sort of control over it, and some sort of previous knowledge of what's going on. I'm getting frustrated with not being able to do anything in class, too- I pour all of my effort into Econ because I understand it, but then I'm still not really doing much work because they never assign any and even when I understand all the words the teachers or assignments say, I still don't understand what they want. Last week, my history teacher looked at me and asked me a question that I completely understood, but I had no idea what answer she wanted. This happens constantly- teachers are always saying things that have everyone else's hands shooting up, and I can't even begin to understand what the apparently obvious conclusion was supposed to be. And that makes me doubt myself even when I do know the answer. I'm sort of mad at myself for not taking an easy fact-based class like math so I could learn to participate, but I hate math classes. I tried so hard this evening to think of some way I could make school better, but there are no better classes to take. College stuff is starting to show up and I'm getting excited again about the classes I can be taking next year, and it justs make me feel so much worse about school here, where I'm just this sort of silent observer.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I Won't Put my Hands Up and Surrender
Picking the song of the day was tough today- I had a couple options, but I've chosen Dido's "White Flag" because it is pretty and seemed somehow appropriate for today.
So I slept until 8:45 and lazed around all morning until 11, when I got on my bike and actually had to fight the wind on the way to school (this is a bad thing). Philosophy is still making sense (yay) and German was a complete waste of my time (discussing how to do the Facharbeit, the big research paper everyone else has to do). And fought the wind (actually less than usual) all the way home, where lunch was nice, warm goulash that made me feel better. And I got a big shiny viewbook from Mt Holyoke today (and a free journal- score!) so I locked myself in my room to let it convince me that all-girls schools are actually an okay thing (over 50% of Mt Holyoke's students weren't looking for an all-girls school, and had reservations about the whole all-girls thing). I've decided that the Pioneer Valley would make me pretty happy (Hampshire's another of the 5 schools in the region, and it is my first choice) and I'd like to live there. Maybe it is not Köln, but it is Northampton and Amherst and mountains and free buses and that is kind of similar. My reveries were interrupted by Sport, which was playing on a trapeze today (eep!). I don't have the arm strength for the trapeze, and it is high up and scary, but I tried and I don't think I want to do it again. Better than volleyball, though.
Got home at 6:30 (yuck) and started into my big mound of homework- I have an Italian exam tomorrow and I am not at all prepared but I made flashcards and I think I remember how to conjugate the verbs (it is complex) and otherwise I am hoping for the best. Then I had to write a short little paper about my painting that turned out pretty well, and I am about to print off some Kant thing for Philosophy, although I am fairly certain I understand the German bit that we discussed in class and I want to maybe try to continue without the English, just to see if I can. Fortunately, my SoWi paper is done, although I'm not 100% certain that it has a strong thesis, but it is so pretty that I do not want to change it at all.
I have 6 periods tomorrow, one after the other. I got really used to holes in my schedule. I am terrified of my Italian exam. I'd better go keep studying, then.
So I slept until 8:45 and lazed around all morning until 11, when I got on my bike and actually had to fight the wind on the way to school (this is a bad thing). Philosophy is still making sense (yay) and German was a complete waste of my time (discussing how to do the Facharbeit, the big research paper everyone else has to do). And fought the wind (actually less than usual) all the way home, where lunch was nice, warm goulash that made me feel better. And I got a big shiny viewbook from Mt Holyoke today (and a free journal- score!) so I locked myself in my room to let it convince me that all-girls schools are actually an okay thing (over 50% of Mt Holyoke's students weren't looking for an all-girls school, and had reservations about the whole all-girls thing). I've decided that the Pioneer Valley would make me pretty happy (Hampshire's another of the 5 schools in the region, and it is my first choice) and I'd like to live there. Maybe it is not Köln, but it is Northampton and Amherst and mountains and free buses and that is kind of similar. My reveries were interrupted by Sport, which was playing on a trapeze today (eep!). I don't have the arm strength for the trapeze, and it is high up and scary, but I tried and I don't think I want to do it again. Better than volleyball, though.
Got home at 6:30 (yuck) and started into my big mound of homework- I have an Italian exam tomorrow and I am not at all prepared but I made flashcards and I think I remember how to conjugate the verbs (it is complex) and otherwise I am hoping for the best. Then I had to write a short little paper about my painting that turned out pretty well, and I am about to print off some Kant thing for Philosophy, although I am fairly certain I understand the German bit that we discussed in class and I want to maybe try to continue without the English, just to see if I can. Fortunately, my SoWi paper is done, although I'm not 100% certain that it has a strong thesis, but it is so pretty that I do not want to change it at all.
I have 6 periods tomorrow, one after the other. I got really used to holes in my schedule. I am terrified of my Italian exam. I'd better go keep studying, then.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Or a Bright Orange Pair of Pants
Billy Joel takes the song of the day trophy for 27 September with a song that you all know, and that actually gets played on American radio, too.
Today was one of those days when I decided that I would simply not sit still. . . so I got up at 6:30 and got myself all ready in a quiet house because Anna and Verena were starting school later today and Elke accidentally overslept. Hopped on the bike and made the half-hour trek to school (I have worked out that it is probably something like 2.5-3 miles) and went to history and tried really hard to understand the Crusades. Then I got back on my bike and rode home against the wind and hung out for an hour because I had free periods. At 11, back on the bike to go back to school for art, where I finished my painting (it ended up very orange, completely unintended, but definitely a subconcious thing because I'm in an orange mood today) and then another free period wherein, instead of being sensible and sitting on a bench to study Italian vocab, I got back on my bike and went exploring. Sure enough, nothing but farm fields in every direction. Made it back for Italian and pizza and in the middle of all this there were phone calls and text messages to Mary to try to work out meeting up in Köln, although all our plans eventually fell apart. Back on the bike after Italian for one last terribly hard ride home (I spent something like 2 and a half hours on my bike today) against the strongest wind I have ever known and then immediately to the bus stop to go to Wahn to get on a train and go to Köln. Went to a German mall, which the Germans find terribly exciting, and bought chocolate brown and pumpkin orange clothing at H&M. Did you know that H&M sorts their clothes by color family, so that you don't have to find a cute skirt and wander around trying to find a shirt that will match? This is because H&M's style is layer-based, meaning they keep all the mix-and-match layer items together. I like layers, so H&M remains my favorite store. Went in some others that seemed like poorly accomplished H&M ripoffs with bad taste in music, had a Bratwurst and some fries, got back on train and then on bus and made it home. After showing off new clothes to host family, I finally sat down and took my shoes off and relaxed with a glass of Fanta (blood orange Fanta).
I don't have to leave for school until 11 tomorrow. Jealous?
Don't forget to try to name my dinosaur!
Today was one of those days when I decided that I would simply not sit still. . . so I got up at 6:30 and got myself all ready in a quiet house because Anna and Verena were starting school later today and Elke accidentally overslept. Hopped on the bike and made the half-hour trek to school (I have worked out that it is probably something like 2.5-3 miles) and went to history and tried really hard to understand the Crusades. Then I got back on my bike and rode home against the wind and hung out for an hour because I had free periods. At 11, back on the bike to go back to school for art, where I finished my painting (it ended up very orange, completely unintended, but definitely a subconcious thing because I'm in an orange mood today) and then another free period wherein, instead of being sensible and sitting on a bench to study Italian vocab, I got back on my bike and went exploring. Sure enough, nothing but farm fields in every direction. Made it back for Italian and pizza and in the middle of all this there were phone calls and text messages to Mary to try to work out meeting up in Köln, although all our plans eventually fell apart. Back on the bike after Italian for one last terribly hard ride home (I spent something like 2 and a half hours on my bike today) against the strongest wind I have ever known and then immediately to the bus stop to go to Wahn to get on a train and go to Köln. Went to a German mall, which the Germans find terribly exciting, and bought chocolate brown and pumpkin orange clothing at H&M. Did you know that H&M sorts their clothes by color family, so that you don't have to find a cute skirt and wander around trying to find a shirt that will match? This is because H&M's style is layer-based, meaning they keep all the mix-and-match layer items together. I like layers, so H&M remains my favorite store. Went in some others that seemed like poorly accomplished H&M ripoffs with bad taste in music, had a Bratwurst and some fries, got back on train and then on bus and made it home. After showing off new clothes to host family, I finally sat down and took my shoes off and relaxed with a glass of Fanta (blood orange Fanta).
I don't have to leave for school until 11 tomorrow. Jealous?
Don't forget to try to name my dinosaur!
Monday, September 26, 2005
Walk Like an Egyptian
Ay-oh-ay-oh Ay-oh-ay
German radio is really full of surprises. Awesome 80's surprises.
Finally had Econ again, and, sure enough, Germans do not, in fact, turn in essays. Even in a class of 9, they just have 2 or 3 people read theirs out loud, critique the essays (I so do not have the attention span to focus on someone's essay enough to identify the thesis afterwards, and English is my native language), and then move on. I'm bummed because. . . wait. . . stopped for lunch (pasta, so yummy). . . what was I talking about? SoWi paper! Mine was actually really good and had some cool ideas in it and everything. . . we're supposed to finesse our structure for Thursday, though, so maybe I'll read mine then. It's weird- in all my other classes, I don't want to talk because I'm afraid I'll sound dumb, and in SoWi I don't want to talk because I don't want to be some super-genius, when I really just have an unfair advantage of knowing English. Anyway, I learned how to order in a restaurant in Italian today, and we're discussing the Crusades in history in way more detail than I expected, so I need to do a little extra reading to catch up- at least I'm getting a better European perspective on European history like I wanted.
It's so windy today, which meant that I once again had to fight all the way home on my bike- at least it wasn't go the same direction as the terrible hill, so I got a pretty nice coast off of that, but there were still long stretches where I was going straight into this wind and where I hated myself for deciding to ride my bike to school today. However, 1 hour on bike, including half an hour of increased difficulty due to wind, means I've exercised today and can maybe recover from a junk-food filled weekend and feel less guilty about these piles of candies that I have received for being older. (You seriously do not want to know how much German chocolate is covering my desk at the moment. Seriously.)
Speaking of candy, I have an adorable pink dinosaur of the Brontosaurus type that is now living on my bike key keychain and it needs a name and maybe you need chocolate! Bill P and Mary R are not allowed to participate because they have already won other contests(also Mary: we need to get ourselves together soon because I owe you chocolate and you owe me a trip to H&M because I need to spend birthday money!)
Question: is James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" playing on the radio in the US? It is the song of the month, in case you've forgotten, and it is majorly popular and current here and I am curious if any of my New World readers are familiar with it.
German radio is really full of surprises. Awesome 80's surprises.
Finally had Econ again, and, sure enough, Germans do not, in fact, turn in essays. Even in a class of 9, they just have 2 or 3 people read theirs out loud, critique the essays (I so do not have the attention span to focus on someone's essay enough to identify the thesis afterwards, and English is my native language), and then move on. I'm bummed because. . . wait. . . stopped for lunch (pasta, so yummy). . . what was I talking about? SoWi paper! Mine was actually really good and had some cool ideas in it and everything. . . we're supposed to finesse our structure for Thursday, though, so maybe I'll read mine then. It's weird- in all my other classes, I don't want to talk because I'm afraid I'll sound dumb, and in SoWi I don't want to talk because I don't want to be some super-genius, when I really just have an unfair advantage of knowing English. Anyway, I learned how to order in a restaurant in Italian today, and we're discussing the Crusades in history in way more detail than I expected, so I need to do a little extra reading to catch up- at least I'm getting a better European perspective on European history like I wanted.
It's so windy today, which meant that I once again had to fight all the way home on my bike- at least it wasn't go the same direction as the terrible hill, so I got a pretty nice coast off of that, but there were still long stretches where I was going straight into this wind and where I hated myself for deciding to ride my bike to school today. However, 1 hour on bike, including half an hour of increased difficulty due to wind, means I've exercised today and can maybe recover from a junk-food filled weekend and feel less guilty about these piles of candies that I have received for being older. (You seriously do not want to know how much German chocolate is covering my desk at the moment. Seriously.)
Speaking of candy, I have an adorable pink dinosaur of the Brontosaurus type that is now living on my bike key keychain and it needs a name and maybe you need chocolate! Bill P and Mary R are not allowed to participate because they have already won other contests(also Mary: we need to get ourselves together soon because I owe you chocolate and you owe me a trip to H&M because I need to spend birthday money!)
Question: is James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" playing on the radio in the US? It is the song of the month, in case you've forgotten, and it is majorly popular and current here and I am curious if any of my New World readers are familiar with it.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
'Cause it's Thriller, Thriller Night
Song of the day, heard on the way to Niederkassel's Kirmes. Yesterday's song was "True Colors" (they're beautiful like a rainbow).
So I come home Friday after Sport and we clean out the shed and clean out the shed and finally get the thing empty and then the Fourth of July explodes inside it- flags everywhere, and these crazy latern things and random Louisiana-retro-theme postcards on a wall and tables and a fridge full of beer and Anna and Verena really like to wash windows (weeeeiiiird) and Allyson got a little lost during one of her 4 train switches and was an hour late but we managed to get her and bring her home and we ordered pizza and talked until 4 in the morning because it is so so SO nice to talk to someone (in English) who understands how weird television is and shares your worries about the lack of grades at school and can laugh about the silly songs they play on the radio. We managed to get up by noon on Saturday and then we had to hurry a little because Casey came a little after 1 and we get her home and there's more excited talking and English and then comes the adventure: making an American cake. We didn't have baking soda because I could not convince my host mom that it is actually a necessary ingredient and German pharmacies aren't open on Saturdays. And I had thought that I had measuring cups because, when I was trying to explain the concept to my host mom, she said "Oh yeah, I have those." She meant that she had coffee cups, which are of course in no way the same. So we found some conversions to grams on the internet but it's actually impossible to convert volume (cup) to mass (gram) so we ended up just guessing and I think we put waaay too much cocoa in (oops) and it was crazy but fun and our cake didn't rise and the pan was too big, so we made two layers that were the equivalent of two cakes and put them together and frosted them with our frosting that was very successful (meaning delicious). Threw the cake in the fridge and started pulling together things to make hot dogs and hamburgers and cutting tomatoes and whatnot and then the Germans start showing up and we head out to the shed and listen to music and talk and wait for the people who were late (and who managed to get lost in Uckendorf, which takes a lot of skill) and we ate and drank and partied. Casey and Allyson got the Germans to sing to me, which was great, and the cake tasted like a super-super rich brownie and all the Germans loved it and I thought it was great but tons of chocolate+beer=super super mellow me (I know this is the opposite of the intended effect, don't ask me to explain it). So as the night got later I got all quiet and let Allyson and Casey and Mirya and Julia and Stefan and Toby and Nina and whoever do all the talking and we wrapped up around midnight and slid into bed around 1 all super-super tired (remember that I was up until 4 am the night before). Slept until noon and then we had to really really hurry because Casey's train came at 12:48. Just barely managed to get her there on time and then waited 15 minutes for Allyson's train to come and sent her off and I went to the farm for some Harvest-Thank-Fest that involved some sort of parade in which people give out apples and wine and candy and then end up at the usual German meat-and-beer fest and hang out. We didn't hang out long because we wanted to get back to Niederkassel's Kirmes, which was actually of decent size (and has been annoying me this week by blocking most of what I want to get to in Niederkassel) and we hung out there for a while and then came back and a big group of people came over to finish off the hamburgers and there was some sort of honey-rum thing floating around that was pretty good and has made my belly very happy. And I get to sleep in tomorrow because it is Monday and I don't have to go to school until 3rd period, when I will finally have econ again, and I can finally turn in this paper that I am sort of proud of, except that I'm not sure that Germans turn in papers after they write them.
This was a good weekend.
So I come home Friday after Sport and we clean out the shed and clean out the shed and finally get the thing empty and then the Fourth of July explodes inside it- flags everywhere, and these crazy latern things and random Louisiana-retro-theme postcards on a wall and tables and a fridge full of beer and Anna and Verena really like to wash windows (weeeeiiiird) and Allyson got a little lost during one of her 4 train switches and was an hour late but we managed to get her and bring her home and we ordered pizza and talked until 4 in the morning because it is so so SO nice to talk to someone (in English) who understands how weird television is and shares your worries about the lack of grades at school and can laugh about the silly songs they play on the radio. We managed to get up by noon on Saturday and then we had to hurry a little because Casey came a little after 1 and we get her home and there's more excited talking and English and then comes the adventure: making an American cake. We didn't have baking soda because I could not convince my host mom that it is actually a necessary ingredient and German pharmacies aren't open on Saturdays. And I had thought that I had measuring cups because, when I was trying to explain the concept to my host mom, she said "Oh yeah, I have those." She meant that she had coffee cups, which are of course in no way the same. So we found some conversions to grams on the internet but it's actually impossible to convert volume (cup) to mass (gram) so we ended up just guessing and I think we put waaay too much cocoa in (oops) and it was crazy but fun and our cake didn't rise and the pan was too big, so we made two layers that were the equivalent of two cakes and put them together and frosted them with our frosting that was very successful (meaning delicious). Threw the cake in the fridge and started pulling together things to make hot dogs and hamburgers and cutting tomatoes and whatnot and then the Germans start showing up and we head out to the shed and listen to music and talk and wait for the people who were late (and who managed to get lost in Uckendorf, which takes a lot of skill) and we ate and drank and partied. Casey and Allyson got the Germans to sing to me, which was great, and the cake tasted like a super-super rich brownie and all the Germans loved it and I thought it was great but tons of chocolate+beer=super super mellow me (I know this is the opposite of the intended effect, don't ask me to explain it). So as the night got later I got all quiet and let Allyson and Casey and Mirya and Julia and Stefan and Toby and Nina and whoever do all the talking and we wrapped up around midnight and slid into bed around 1 all super-super tired (remember that I was up until 4 am the night before). Slept until noon and then we had to really really hurry because Casey's train came at 12:48. Just barely managed to get her there on time and then waited 15 minutes for Allyson's train to come and sent her off and I went to the farm for some Harvest-Thank-Fest that involved some sort of parade in which people give out apples and wine and candy and then end up at the usual German meat-and-beer fest and hang out. We didn't hang out long because we wanted to get back to Niederkassel's Kirmes, which was actually of decent size (and has been annoying me this week by blocking most of what I want to get to in Niederkassel) and we hung out there for a while and then came back and a big group of people came over to finish off the hamburgers and there was some sort of honey-rum thing floating around that was pretty good and has made my belly very happy. And I get to sleep in tomorrow because it is Monday and I don't have to go to school until 3rd period, when I will finally have econ again, and I can finally turn in this paper that I am sort of proud of, except that I'm not sure that Germans turn in papers after they write them.
This was a good weekend.
Friday, September 23, 2005
And I'm Walking On Sunshine
Is the song of the day, brought to you by the radio at breakfast this morning (and a few other mornings, it is yet another beloved song here).
How many days in a row can I name my posts after song lyrics?
So German today was Klausur day, which means something along the lines of exam, except the entire exam consisted of writing one (rather short) essay analyzing one poem. I guess these essays are graded hard, AP-style, because otherwise this is just way too easy. And I wrote my little essay right along with them and analyzed the baroque sonnet and proved that I can define a sonnet in detail (do you know what an Alexandriner is?) and that I can analyze poetry in GERMAN. Poetry from 1663, when people spoke weird old-style language. I am pretty proud of myself, but I haven't seen the grade yet.
Riding my bike is really nice, but there's always this really nasty headwind on the very last stretch of road before Uckendorf. The one stretch of road that has a really huge hill. I hate this wind- I have to work twice as hard to even move, and when I could normally get enough speed going down the giant hill to get me halfway home without pedalling, I instead get to coast along at a relatively slow pace down the hill and, if I'm lucky, maybe 10-15 yards thereafter. And then its back to working all super-hard to pedal against the wind, only to turn the corner onto my street where there are houses blocking the wind and I am going in a different direction, and my bike suddenly flies as if all my grunting were just show.
Lunch smells yummy. . . Verena and Anna better get home soon because I want to eat it.
How many days in a row can I name my posts after song lyrics?
So German today was Klausur day, which means something along the lines of exam, except the entire exam consisted of writing one (rather short) essay analyzing one poem. I guess these essays are graded hard, AP-style, because otherwise this is just way too easy. And I wrote my little essay right along with them and analyzed the baroque sonnet and proved that I can define a sonnet in detail (do you know what an Alexandriner is?) and that I can analyze poetry in GERMAN. Poetry from 1663, when people spoke weird old-style language. I am pretty proud of myself, but I haven't seen the grade yet.
Riding my bike is really nice, but there's always this really nasty headwind on the very last stretch of road before Uckendorf. The one stretch of road that has a really huge hill. I hate this wind- I have to work twice as hard to even move, and when I could normally get enough speed going down the giant hill to get me halfway home without pedalling, I instead get to coast along at a relatively slow pace down the hill and, if I'm lucky, maybe 10-15 yards thereafter. And then its back to working all super-hard to pedal against the wind, only to turn the corner onto my street where there are houses blocking the wind and I am going in a different direction, and my bike suddenly flies as if all my grunting were just show.
Lunch smells yummy. . . Verena and Anna better get home soon because I want to eat it.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Birthday Panda Just Can't Catch a Break
He's about to drive into a lake
Birthday Panda just can't understand
Why it's so hard to find in all the land
A birthday party
Of course, the party's not until Saturday, so Birthday Panda has some time. He has nearly missed some delicious cake (and a vocabulary-learning opportunity, d.h. I finally figured out that Johannesbeeren are cranberries because they were in my cake!) that greeted me at breakfast this morning. Those of you worried for my health should know that my actual breakfast, post-candle-blowing-out, was toast with eggs and bacon, open-face sammich style. And then it was off to school where everyone was full of hugs and good wishes because Germans are awesome people. Also, maybe related to being older, I have finally figured out what a categorial imperative is and how it is different from a hypothetical imperative AND I can explain both in not one but TWO languages (guess which ones)! So Philo was pretty good, and I should note that there is this strange stuffed wooly mammoth in Frau Zimmerman's room that is our Philo class mascot and that it makes early mornings with Kant a little easier to deal with. Still no Econ, which makes me sad because I really want to turn in this essay, if only because I want to find out if Germans actually turn in essays or not- I've worked on 5 or 6 short little 3/4 page essays since I've been here and the German teacher method of checking these homework assignments is having 4 or 5 people read theirs aloud, and I'd really rather turn something in because then I could prove better that I am following the class, just with a pause for translation (this pause is shortening, by the way). I could of course give the teacher my paper anyway, but I'm waiting to figure out normal German school protocol, and how we get grades if we never turn anything in (I know this answer, and I don't like it at all). What was I talking about? Oh! I had art and we talked about some painting that claimed to be Dada but wasn't at all and then I realized that it was Berlin Dada and I'm a Zurich purist and the painting was still pretty cool, and I'm definitely not yet able to analyze art in any language, in addition to being morally against it (although Kant tells me that this is not a moral situation, but I don't agree with his work either, although I understand it now). 2 periods of Italian is always too long, but I managed and I am starting to retain some Italian vocabulary but German is really not the language to learn Italian in at all, I must admit. Easy Italian words like "funghi" are really hard to remember when presented with the German word "Pilz" (I'm not 100% certain I even picked the right German word there). I'm still really good at counting, though.
Birthdays are nice because the neighbors come over with sweets and presents and you listen to birthday music and the weather is beautiful and you start knitting a belt and it's weird because Germans don't sing the happy birthday song but I can deal. And you don't have homework on your birthday and you go to the big huge Sam's Club style German supermarket and you run all through the food section trying to find the ingredients for an American cookout, and explain to your host mom what goes on a hamburger, and the concept of pickles, and that there are good reasons why German supermarkets don't have American beer, and I haven't yet told you that there is a Statue of Liberty in my backyard, but there is. And I have to go to the pharmacy to buy baking soda and Allyson is coming tomorrow and then Casey is coming and then all the Germans (okay, more like 10 or 11) are coming over and I have to make them little maps so they can find my house even though Uckendorf is about as big as a large neighborhood, maybe smaller.
Anyone who wants to call me and sing the happy birthday song is more than welcome to. Angela is ahead of the game because she sent me a singing card with a really awesome song. I only listened to birthday-themed music today. Somehow this blog is focusing more and more on what kind of music I'm listening to.
Maybe I shouldn't write blogs at 11 at night.
Birthday Panda just can't understand
Why it's so hard to find in all the land
A birthday party
Of course, the party's not until Saturday, so Birthday Panda has some time. He has nearly missed some delicious cake (and a vocabulary-learning opportunity, d.h. I finally figured out that Johannesbeeren are cranberries because they were in my cake!) that greeted me at breakfast this morning. Those of you worried for my health should know that my actual breakfast, post-candle-blowing-out, was toast with eggs and bacon, open-face sammich style. And then it was off to school where everyone was full of hugs and good wishes because Germans are awesome people. Also, maybe related to being older, I have finally figured out what a categorial imperative is and how it is different from a hypothetical imperative AND I can explain both in not one but TWO languages (guess which ones)! So Philo was pretty good, and I should note that there is this strange stuffed wooly mammoth in Frau Zimmerman's room that is our Philo class mascot and that it makes early mornings with Kant a little easier to deal with. Still no Econ, which makes me sad because I really want to turn in this essay, if only because I want to find out if Germans actually turn in essays or not- I've worked on 5 or 6 short little 3/4 page essays since I've been here and the German teacher method of checking these homework assignments is having 4 or 5 people read theirs aloud, and I'd really rather turn something in because then I could prove better that I am following the class, just with a pause for translation (this pause is shortening, by the way). I could of course give the teacher my paper anyway, but I'm waiting to figure out normal German school protocol, and how we get grades if we never turn anything in (I know this answer, and I don't like it at all). What was I talking about? Oh! I had art and we talked about some painting that claimed to be Dada but wasn't at all and then I realized that it was Berlin Dada and I'm a Zurich purist and the painting was still pretty cool, and I'm definitely not yet able to analyze art in any language, in addition to being morally against it (although Kant tells me that this is not a moral situation, but I don't agree with his work either, although I understand it now). 2 periods of Italian is always too long, but I managed and I am starting to retain some Italian vocabulary but German is really not the language to learn Italian in at all, I must admit. Easy Italian words like "funghi" are really hard to remember when presented with the German word "Pilz" (I'm not 100% certain I even picked the right German word there). I'm still really good at counting, though.
Birthdays are nice because the neighbors come over with sweets and presents and you listen to birthday music and the weather is beautiful and you start knitting a belt and it's weird because Germans don't sing the happy birthday song but I can deal. And you don't have homework on your birthday and you go to the big huge Sam's Club style German supermarket and you run all through the food section trying to find the ingredients for an American cookout, and explain to your host mom what goes on a hamburger, and the concept of pickles, and that there are good reasons why German supermarkets don't have American beer, and I haven't yet told you that there is a Statue of Liberty in my backyard, but there is. And I have to go to the pharmacy to buy baking soda and Allyson is coming tomorrow and then Casey is coming and then all the Germans (okay, more like 10 or 11) are coming over and I have to make them little maps so they can find my house even though Uckendorf is about as big as a large neighborhood, maybe smaller.
Anyone who wants to call me and sing the happy birthday song is more than welcome to. Angela is ahead of the game because she sent me a singing card with a really awesome song. I only listened to birthday-themed music today. Somehow this blog is focusing more and more on what kind of music I'm listening to.
Maybe I shouldn't write blogs at 11 at night.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Dib a Da Ba Do Bop
German radio made me the happiest person ever at 2:30 this afternoon by playing Mmm Bop. There was dancing and singing like a very silly person, I must admit. It's just something about hearing Hanson when you turn on the radio as you sit down to do your Philo homework (and of course all the focus for the homework disappears).
I rode my bike to school this morning and I am working on finding more excuses to do that, because I enjoy it, and I don't have to wait around forever for the bus. It's especially nice when I can leave the house at 11 to ride my bike, rather than 7. I'm not 100% certain that I can count my 2 periods as a day of school, but Philo was way more boring than usual and German was actually really interesting (now that we've stopped reading this terrible Evening poem and moved onto an actually interesting sonnet about how beauty fades that ties so nicely into Dorian Gray that I want to write an essay and maybe I will) and I understood everything and can speak with some authority about the prosody of sonnets in German. I don't know what practical purpose this has, but it's a pretty cool skill to have. More bicycling and then fish sticks and work on a picture for Anna and I was late to Sport (oops) but dancing is so much fun and I wish we would ride bikes on Friday but dancing is nice, too, and we get to dance for the camera this time. And more drawering and some work on Italian (I need to work harder on Italian, I am being a bad Italian student even though I am doing all of my homework) and I'm sleepy and I have to get up early again tomorrow and I need a shower.
Tomorrow I will be an adult. I am going to try to bake a bilingual cake on Saturday, which means reading a recipe in English and trying to explain it to my host mother in German. I have to remember to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius. I'm not certain that baking soda exists in Germany, and I don't know if this is a problem.
Tomorrow I will be 18.
I rode my bike to school this morning and I am working on finding more excuses to do that, because I enjoy it, and I don't have to wait around forever for the bus. It's especially nice when I can leave the house at 11 to ride my bike, rather than 7. I'm not 100% certain that I can count my 2 periods as a day of school, but Philo was way more boring than usual and German was actually really interesting (now that we've stopped reading this terrible Evening poem and moved onto an actually interesting sonnet about how beauty fades that ties so nicely into Dorian Gray that I want to write an essay and maybe I will) and I understood everything and can speak with some authority about the prosody of sonnets in German. I don't know what practical purpose this has, but it's a pretty cool skill to have. More bicycling and then fish sticks and work on a picture for Anna and I was late to Sport (oops) but dancing is so much fun and I wish we would ride bikes on Friday but dancing is nice, too, and we get to dance for the camera this time. And more drawering and some work on Italian (I need to work harder on Italian, I am being a bad Italian student even though I am doing all of my homework) and I'm sleepy and I have to get up early again tomorrow and I need a shower.
Tomorrow I will be an adult. I am going to try to bake a bilingual cake on Saturday, which means reading a recipe in English and trying to explain it to my host mother in German. I have to remember to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius. I'm not certain that baking soda exists in Germany, and I don't know if this is a problem.
Tomorrow I will be 18.
Vamonos!
Dora the Explorer in German.
Of course, the fact that Dora is Hispanic is lost on the Germans, and she throws in random English words instead of Spanish.
Germany's new song of the moment: The Beautiful South's "Song for Whoever." Oh, these Germans and their radio. (But I do love it from the bottom of my pencil case.)
I have an hour until I have to get on my bike and go to school for my 2 classes. Maybe I should go wash my hair and get dressed. . . .
Of course, the fact that Dora is Hispanic is lost on the Germans, and she throws in random English words instead of Spanish.
Germany's new song of the moment: The Beautiful South's "Song for Whoever." Oh, these Germans and their radio. (But I do love it from the bottom of my pencil case.)
I have an hour until I have to get on my bike and go to school for my 2 classes. Maybe I should go wash my hair and get dressed. . . .
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
It's Like Rain
Getting out of bed on Tuesday mornings is still the hardest thing I ever have to do. I will never ever get used to it.
German radio seems to think that Alanis Morisette's "Ironic" is THE song of the moment- I swear I have heard it at breakfast every day for the past week. According to the DJ this morning, this song has "the prettiest lyrics." This is pretty much proof that Germans don't understand English as well as they think they do.
Leading to my next point: the things they tell you at orientation are lies. Germans do not speak English to Americans- they use it about as much as the average American uses French, which means that they trot out the phrase or two they remember from high school and then try not to use too much Platt, which is not actually a language. Germans also are not all that interested in discussing politics- the only political discussions I've had are in class as part of the curriculum. I barely even talked about the election (it is now Tuesday and they still don't know who their Chancellor will be, by the way*), although I've discussed American geography a ton. I started to make a list of all the things from the handbook that are so untrue, but then I decided I should pay attention in history class and still had no idea what the teacher was talking about today (I don't think my classmates did, either, which is mildly comforting). Had my last English class before fall break and talked about affirmative action (yawn) and the American dream (there was actually a mildly interesting text and now I have to read political speeches sometime during the next 3 weeks). Art and I still don't trust my painting abilities. Free period: did my Italian homework, avoided fifth graders with no control over their soccer ball (American school is light-years ahead of German in the concept of keeping fifth and twelfth graders separate), napped on the bench and decided that the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood 1" is the song of the day (sorry, Alanis and German radio, but you have 10000 spoons and I need a knife) and then had pizza and Italian and took forever to get home because bus connections suck.
I am planning a party for Saturday because I will be 18 in two days! You are all invited, but most of you are across the ocean so here is what you must do: at approximately 2 pm Eastern, eat some cake. Turn on music and rock out. Party down on your side of the ocean while we party here. Take pictures and we will compare at a later date. If you feel weird celebrating without me there, make a sock puppet.
I am sleeping in tomorrow until it is warm, and then I am going to go crazy from trying to understand Kant.
*Emily just reminded me that the talk over coalitions has made me giggle a lot while watching the news. See, each party has a color- Social Democrats are red, Christian Democrats are black, Left is dark red, Green is, well, green, and FDP (I forget what this stands for, but I think they're sort of like Libertarians) is yellow. So the three main potential coalitions are as follows:
Red-Black: the "Grand Coaltion" of the 2 big parties (this is not a creative name)
Traffic light: Red, Yellow, Green Parties
Jamaica: Black, Yellow, Green Parties
Although I am not certain that I like this whole parliamentary system (I used to think that proportional representation was a good idea, but now I yearn for simpler elections, like America in 2000), I really want a system that allows me to nickname my government after other countries. (I am conflicted because I don't want the Jamaica coalition in power, but I want to be able to cheer for Jamaica because it is so much fun to say in German.)
German radio seems to think that Alanis Morisette's "Ironic" is THE song of the moment- I swear I have heard it at breakfast every day for the past week. According to the DJ this morning, this song has "the prettiest lyrics." This is pretty much proof that Germans don't understand English as well as they think they do.
Leading to my next point: the things they tell you at orientation are lies. Germans do not speak English to Americans- they use it about as much as the average American uses French, which means that they trot out the phrase or two they remember from high school and then try not to use too much Platt, which is not actually a language. Germans also are not all that interested in discussing politics- the only political discussions I've had are in class as part of the curriculum. I barely even talked about the election (it is now Tuesday and they still don't know who their Chancellor will be, by the way*), although I've discussed American geography a ton. I started to make a list of all the things from the handbook that are so untrue, but then I decided I should pay attention in history class and still had no idea what the teacher was talking about today (I don't think my classmates did, either, which is mildly comforting). Had my last English class before fall break and talked about affirmative action (yawn) and the American dream (there was actually a mildly interesting text and now I have to read political speeches sometime during the next 3 weeks). Art and I still don't trust my painting abilities. Free period: did my Italian homework, avoided fifth graders with no control over their soccer ball (American school is light-years ahead of German in the concept of keeping fifth and twelfth graders separate), napped on the bench and decided that the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood 1" is the song of the day (sorry, Alanis and German radio, but you have 10000 spoons and I need a knife) and then had pizza and Italian and took forever to get home because bus connections suck.
I am planning a party for Saturday because I will be 18 in two days! You are all invited, but most of you are across the ocean so here is what you must do: at approximately 2 pm Eastern, eat some cake. Turn on music and rock out. Party down on your side of the ocean while we party here. Take pictures and we will compare at a later date. If you feel weird celebrating without me there, make a sock puppet.
I am sleeping in tomorrow until it is warm, and then I am going to go crazy from trying to understand Kant.
*Emily just reminded me that the talk over coalitions has made me giggle a lot while watching the news. See, each party has a color- Social Democrats are red, Christian Democrats are black, Left is dark red, Green is, well, green, and FDP (I forget what this stands for, but I think they're sort of like Libertarians) is yellow. So the three main potential coalitions are as follows:
Red-Black: the "Grand Coaltion" of the 2 big parties (this is not a creative name)
Traffic light: Red, Yellow, Green Parties
Jamaica: Black, Yellow, Green Parties
Although I am not certain that I like this whole parliamentary system (I used to think that proportional representation was a good idea, but now I yearn for simpler elections, like America in 2000), I really want a system that allows me to nickname my government after other countries. (I am conflicted because I don't want the Jamaica coalition in power, but I want to be able to cheer for Jamaica because it is so much fun to say in German.)
Monday, September 19, 2005
I Hope You Don't Mind That I Put Down in Words
Mondays are nice because I get to sleep in until 8, but on brisk (this is me being optimistic about the cold) fall mornings getting out of bed is the last thing I want to do. Made it to the bus stop way too early anyway (never a good thing when it is cold) but my new Arcade Fire CD kept my ears warm with delicious sounds (everything that all those people have said about Funeral was right) and I have figured out that it takes me 6-7 minutes to walk to the bus stop when I am walking at normal pace on a cold morning. Of course my connection in Wahn decided to wait until the last minute to pull up, leaving me huddled under the bus shelter for a full 20 minutes (because Wahn is the start of this bus's route, it'll usually pull up 5-10 minutes early and let me and whoever else is there get on and wait until 9:15 to leave). I wasn't too angry when I felt how warm the bus was, though, and stayed on an extra stop (I have two options when going to school) to enjoy the warmth a little while longer, and also because the longer walk from the second stop uses up more time so I don't have to wait around too long before the Pause starts. I wandered through the gates just as my CD finished, only to see Borcaurd (this is among the most awesome German names ever) leaving on his bicycle, and he told me ever-so-kindly that we didn't have Econ today, just announced this morning. Econ is my 3rd and 4th period on Mondays, and it meant that I had 2 more free periods and could still, quite concievably, be at home in my warm, soft bed. Nina was already out braving the cold and we bought some hot chocolate and then other people started trickling out as their classes ended (should I mention that German teachers usually end class a few minutes before the bell, and you get to leave then instead of waiting?) and Katrin and Nadine were all happy about not having Econ, and I was simply glad that I could go to Nadine's house during this huge chunk of free time I'd been given. As the Pause ended, we headed off and it wasn't too long of a walk and walks are nice because they keep us warm. We watched Moulin Rouge, which is such a fun fun movie and means that Your Song is today's earworm (And you can tell everybody that this is your song, it may be quite simple but now that it's done, I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is now you're in the world). Walking back to school, the sun was starting to warm things up and I went to Italian and discovered that I know the numbers really well but it does not help to win Bingo if they never call the ones on your card. History bored me out of my mind- I know all the stuff that we're talking about, and in better detail, but the language isn't there to let me explain it all fancy and by the time I screw up my courage to raise my hand anyway the teacher is trying to pry an answer out of someone else or has given up and told us precisely what I was about to say. One of these days I am going to astound them with my understanding of Islam and its relation to the medieval Christian Kingdoms, once I figure out what all these historical figure's German names are and how to translate divine right of kings and the like.
I better wrap up because Verena wants me to use my knowledge of computers to install a game for her upstairs- cheers to wading through InstallWizard in German.
I better wrap up because Verena wants me to use my knowledge of computers to install a game for her upstairs- cheers to wading through InstallWizard in German.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Is This Burning?
You know it will be a good day when the very first song that you hear on the radio is the Bangles' "Eternal Flame." Of course it remained an earworm for the rest of the day, but that is not a bad thing. For reasons that I will never know, I woke up singing the Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" this morning. In an odd bookend phenomenom, that was precisely the song playing as I got out of Verena's dad's car tonight coming home from dancing (details down below).
I have written an optimistic paper about economic growth and environmental degredation.
The German election process, or at least the media covering it, is very confusing. I thought the parliamentary system made sense, but that was a lie. Nobody knows which party is actually going to control the country for the next few years, and it is 7 in the evening on election day (meaning the polls have been closed for an hour). There are pie charts and percentages and if I understand right the CDU has the highest percentage but then, based on the coalitions the news is showing, the SPD ends up with more by combining with either the FDP or the Left and Green parties, meaning that Schröder would remain Chancellor. . . CNN tells me that if Merkel becomes Chancellor, she has to form a coalition with Schröder's SPD, and that has me beyond confused. Two party systems are so much easier to understand.
It seems that there is a random festival every weekend- there was some church festival thing in Uckendorf today which mainly means that everyone from Uckendorf goes and hangs out in the square by the church and drinks beer and eats sausage and sort of discusses the election, but not really (whoever said that Germans like to talk politics apparently met other Germans than the ones I know). I also got a tour of Uckendorf's Catholic Church, which is tiny but has some old statues and pretty cool stained glass windows.
I went dancing tonight. It was amazing- boys and girls and music and ballroom dancing and so much fun! Nothing like this would happen in America- teenagers, including boys (not quite 50-50 but pretty close) totally willingly doing the jive and cha-cha and foxtrot and rumba and there were some people who were really really good and I was stunned. I can manage the cha-cha pretty well and Katrin taught me the rumba tonight (which is nearly exactly like the cha-cha anyway) and there were people there I didn't expect to see- this really nice guy from my Italian class, Tim and the girl who sits beside him in Philosophy, then Anika and that other girl from my Sport class who are really good dancers, then of course Nadine and Verena and Katrin who were with me, and Nadine's boyfriend. . . all these people dancing and they actually considered it a rather light turnout and said there would probably be a lot more people next time. I totally want to learn how to do these dances really well so that I can join in more (also because of cute German boys who dance well).
Coming home was pretty cool, too- Verena's dad drove us and it was really great to get in the car and not once explain to him that I was an exchange student- just direct him to Uckendorf and my house and it made me feel so at home here, like I really am a part of this country and the culture. I had a similar moment earlier today when Hans-Josef and Elke went to vote- Anna and Verena (host sister, not friend from school) and I were waiting and the poll workers were asking them how long until they'd be 18 and then they asked me and I said in 4 days and they said it was bad luck that I just missed the vote and then I had to explain that I'm not actually a German- it makes me feel really good that people don't know immediately, especially when I successfully have a conversation with them (which doesn't always happen in places like stores where people also assume that I'm German). I can't describe how great it feels to call this other country home, and to have it accept me so quickly and completely- I'm just on the biggest emotional high right now, and it's not the first time since I've been here- I wish I could convey it better, and I know my fellow exchange students know what I'm talking about, but the rest of you are just going to have to be a little left out on this one. Suffice to say that I can't imagine life being much better than it is right now.
I have written an optimistic paper about economic growth and environmental degredation.
The German election process, or at least the media covering it, is very confusing. I thought the parliamentary system made sense, but that was a lie. Nobody knows which party is actually going to control the country for the next few years, and it is 7 in the evening on election day (meaning the polls have been closed for an hour). There are pie charts and percentages and if I understand right the CDU has the highest percentage but then, based on the coalitions the news is showing, the SPD ends up with more by combining with either the FDP or the Left and Green parties, meaning that Schröder would remain Chancellor. . . CNN tells me that if Merkel becomes Chancellor, she has to form a coalition with Schröder's SPD, and that has me beyond confused. Two party systems are so much easier to understand.
It seems that there is a random festival every weekend- there was some church festival thing in Uckendorf today which mainly means that everyone from Uckendorf goes and hangs out in the square by the church and drinks beer and eats sausage and sort of discusses the election, but not really (whoever said that Germans like to talk politics apparently met other Germans than the ones I know). I also got a tour of Uckendorf's Catholic Church, which is tiny but has some old statues and pretty cool stained glass windows.
I went dancing tonight. It was amazing- boys and girls and music and ballroom dancing and so much fun! Nothing like this would happen in America- teenagers, including boys (not quite 50-50 but pretty close) totally willingly doing the jive and cha-cha and foxtrot and rumba and there were some people who were really really good and I was stunned. I can manage the cha-cha pretty well and Katrin taught me the rumba tonight (which is nearly exactly like the cha-cha anyway) and there were people there I didn't expect to see- this really nice guy from my Italian class, Tim and the girl who sits beside him in Philosophy, then Anika and that other girl from my Sport class who are really good dancers, then of course Nadine and Verena and Katrin who were with me, and Nadine's boyfriend. . . all these people dancing and they actually considered it a rather light turnout and said there would probably be a lot more people next time. I totally want to learn how to do these dances really well so that I can join in more (also because of cute German boys who dance well).
Coming home was pretty cool, too- Verena's dad drove us and it was really great to get in the car and not once explain to him that I was an exchange student- just direct him to Uckendorf and my house and it made me feel so at home here, like I really am a part of this country and the culture. I had a similar moment earlier today when Hans-Josef and Elke went to vote- Anna and Verena (host sister, not friend from school) and I were waiting and the poll workers were asking them how long until they'd be 18 and then they asked me and I said in 4 days and they said it was bad luck that I just missed the vote and then I had to explain that I'm not actually a German- it makes me feel really good that people don't know immediately, especially when I successfully have a conversation with them (which doesn't always happen in places like stores where people also assume that I'm German). I can't describe how great it feels to call this other country home, and to have it accept me so quickly and completely- I'm just on the biggest emotional high right now, and it's not the first time since I've been here- I wish I could convey it better, and I know my fellow exchange students know what I'm talking about, but the rest of you are just going to have to be a little left out on this one. Suffice to say that I can't imagine life being much better than it is right now.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
I Heart Köln
Today was a day for going out and being social with real live Germans!
So once I figured out that there are pretty much no buses out of Uckendorf on Saturdays (who planned that?) I managed to get myself to Porz anyway via car and train/streetcar/that thing that's like the subway but above ground. I met Nina in Porz (I also managed to find her house all by myself from the train station, of which I am proud) and we hopped on the street train and went to Cologne, henceforth known as Köln. We visited this really really awesome modern art museum because modern art is the best and it was HUGE and we wandered for 2 or 3 hours and maybe saw half of it and I totally wanna go back with a camera and more free time. We left because we were hungry and we went to KFC (those happen to also be the initials of Köln Football Club, whose fans were wandering the streets today in their team scarves preparing for the big game that apparently happened this evening) and I noticed that all fast food is expensive here: I got a Twister Wrap and a very small fry (think McDonald's Happy Meal size) and a small soda and it cost me €5, which is a little over $6. Also European KFC french fries are the skinny kind. It was delicious in any case and we made our way to Starbucks where we waited forever for Nadine and Katrin and Verena and we sort of watched some street performers and I saw a statue of a woman tricking some dwarves into falling down the stairs and then Nadine and Katrin and Verena showed up but they hadn't eaten so we went to McDonald's where it was almost impossible to find a table and they ate and then we wandered through the Kölner Dom (as it happens, you can see the art museum in that picture, too- it's the curvy thing on the left) and then we went back to Starbucks where we comandeered a couch and talked forever and I had my very first Starbucks beverage ever (some strawberry frappacino thing) and we talked and talked and talked until we decided to leave and then we went to some music store and I bought an Arcade Fire CD and we went to the train station and it was cold but then the street train came and we went back to Nina's house, where we listened to music and hung out and played some silly board game because silly board games are fun. Katrin's dad came to pick us all up at 9 and after dropping Nadine and Verena off, we went to Katrin's house where I had dinner (chicken again but it was delicious) and then I came back here to Uckendorf.
Being social results in plans for the future! There is a dance thing tomorrow that I am going to, and (AND!) Katrin plays guitar with a mandolin orchestra (what!) and they are meeting Friday and I am probably going to play with them and I'm pretty excited about that because I miss playing, although my fingers will not be too excited now that my calluses are 100% gone.
('Mercan readers with endless time and curiousity and a wish to compare my experience to others may want to check out some of the new blogs added down in that long linky list)
So once I figured out that there are pretty much no buses out of Uckendorf on Saturdays (who planned that?) I managed to get myself to Porz anyway via car and train/streetcar/that thing that's like the subway but above ground. I met Nina in Porz (I also managed to find her house all by myself from the train station, of which I am proud) and we hopped on the street train and went to Cologne, henceforth known as Köln. We visited this really really awesome modern art museum because modern art is the best and it was HUGE and we wandered for 2 or 3 hours and maybe saw half of it and I totally wanna go back with a camera and more free time. We left because we were hungry and we went to KFC (those happen to also be the initials of Köln Football Club, whose fans were wandering the streets today in their team scarves preparing for the big game that apparently happened this evening) and I noticed that all fast food is expensive here: I got a Twister Wrap and a very small fry (think McDonald's Happy Meal size) and a small soda and it cost me €5, which is a little over $6. Also European KFC french fries are the skinny kind. It was delicious in any case and we made our way to Starbucks where we waited forever for Nadine and Katrin and Verena and we sort of watched some street performers and I saw a statue of a woman tricking some dwarves into falling down the stairs and then Nadine and Katrin and Verena showed up but they hadn't eaten so we went to McDonald's where it was almost impossible to find a table and they ate and then we wandered through the Kölner Dom (as it happens, you can see the art museum in that picture, too- it's the curvy thing on the left) and then we went back to Starbucks where we comandeered a couch and talked forever and I had my very first Starbucks beverage ever (some strawberry frappacino thing) and we talked and talked and talked until we decided to leave and then we went to some music store and I bought an Arcade Fire CD and we went to the train station and it was cold but then the street train came and we went back to Nina's house, where we listened to music and hung out and played some silly board game because silly board games are fun. Katrin's dad came to pick us all up at 9 and after dropping Nadine and Verena off, we went to Katrin's house where I had dinner (chicken again but it was delicious) and then I came back here to Uckendorf.
Being social results in plans for the future! There is a dance thing tomorrow that I am going to, and (AND!) Katrin plays guitar with a mandolin orchestra (what!) and they are meeting Friday and I am probably going to play with them and I'm pretty excited about that because I miss playing, although my fingers will not be too excited now that my calluses are 100% gone.
('Mercan readers with endless time and curiousity and a wish to compare my experience to others may want to check out some of the new blogs added down in that long linky list)
Friday, September 16, 2005
It is Friday and the Weather is Weird
End post.
No, wait, I've done things! Ummmmm. . .
I went to school, and I came home. Wednesday I went back to school after I came home, and then I came home again. I've been watching an awful lot of CNN and conspiring with the internet to read newspapers again, so now I also know what is going on in the world.
Adventures? Well, I went off wandering today during my 2 free periods before Sport (there are probably reasons I shouldn't go off wandering by myself in a foreign country, but it is fun so I don't care) even though it was cold and wettish out (it is all sunny and warm now and I'm a little mad at the weather for ruining our bike ride plan) and I found some really normal farm fields and a couple of people walking their dogs. Still waiting to go around a corner one day and find the coolest store or exciting hang-out place ever.
Also there are exciting things happening inside my brain! In case you didn't know, I'm (very very slowly) working my way through The Picture of Dorian Gray in German and it just so happens that half of the stuff we talk about at school relates- there are things that fit nicely into Kant (normally I rather disagree with Kant and hate reading him, but now there are connections that make it all exciting) and then it also relates to these poems that we are reading in German (today, end of the 4th week of school, we finally added a second and third poem to our curriculum. I cannot describe how boring 4 weeks of discussing one poem was). The other half of the things I'm learning about at school tie really nicely into the concept of poverty and environmentalism and racism which just happens to be majorly current and there are always really great stories on CNN about those topics and great editorials that I can read and then when I go to school I look all smart and aware because I can talk about current issues. . . plus those happen to be in my English-language classes, which makes it easier. The only class that isn't having awesome connections is Italian, but that's okay.
Today is the day of parenthetical comments (also of strange and annoying earworms).
No, wait, I've done things! Ummmmm. . .
I went to school, and I came home. Wednesday I went back to school after I came home, and then I came home again. I've been watching an awful lot of CNN and conspiring with the internet to read newspapers again, so now I also know what is going on in the world.
Adventures? Well, I went off wandering today during my 2 free periods before Sport (there are probably reasons I shouldn't go off wandering by myself in a foreign country, but it is fun so I don't care) even though it was cold and wettish out (it is all sunny and warm now and I'm a little mad at the weather for ruining our bike ride plan) and I found some really normal farm fields and a couple of people walking their dogs. Still waiting to go around a corner one day and find the coolest store or exciting hang-out place ever.
Also there are exciting things happening inside my brain! In case you didn't know, I'm (very very slowly) working my way through The Picture of Dorian Gray in German and it just so happens that half of the stuff we talk about at school relates- there are things that fit nicely into Kant (normally I rather disagree with Kant and hate reading him, but now there are connections that make it all exciting) and then it also relates to these poems that we are reading in German (today, end of the 4th week of school, we finally added a second and third poem to our curriculum. I cannot describe how boring 4 weeks of discussing one poem was). The other half of the things I'm learning about at school tie really nicely into the concept of poverty and environmentalism and racism which just happens to be majorly current and there are always really great stories on CNN about those topics and great editorials that I can read and then when I go to school I look all smart and aware because I can talk about current issues. . . plus those happen to be in my English-language classes, which makes it easier. The only class that isn't having awesome connections is Italian, but that's okay.
Today is the day of parenthetical comments (also of strange and annoying earworms).
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Looking at Plane Tickets?
In case you've been planning a trip to Europe sometime soon, I should let you know that I have January 1-9 and April 10-21 off of school, in addition to Karneval-related free time around the last weekend of February (a fine time to check out local traditions).
I really like leaving school at 9:30. I would like it more if a bus came to Lülsdorf between 9:45 and 11.
I really like leaving school at 9:30. I would like it more if a bus came to Lülsdorf between 9:45 and 11.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
A Few Things For Thought
Based on my discussions with classmates, Germans seem to think that most of the looting going on post-Katrina involved people stealing guns from grocery stores, all of which keep them in stock and in great quantities. They aren't as concerned about the race issue, but instead simply assume that all Americans are violent and will take any opportunity to cause such mayhem. The riots in Ireland have not been mentioned at all.
(I am of course painting with an incredibly broad brush and most Germans are more intelligent than this, but this opinion is very much prevalent and not one that I'm picking up from the media, but maybe I'm watching the wrong channels.)
To prove that we aren't a whole lot better, CNN's coverage of Germany's election:
-started the story at a Berlin bar, where seperate taps have been created to allow patrons to "vote with their throats"
-included the reporter bicycling past some very old looking barns while speaking about the latest poll results
-the other reporter, for some reason, is making extensive use of German trains to cover the election, and this was a major point of his story
I still love CNN international, but sometimes it is a little strange.
(I am of course painting with an incredibly broad brush and most Germans are more intelligent than this, but this opinion is very much prevalent and not one that I'm picking up from the media, but maybe I'm watching the wrong channels.)
To prove that we aren't a whole lot better, CNN's coverage of Germany's election:
-started the story at a Berlin bar, where seperate taps have been created to allow patrons to "vote with their throats"
-included the reporter bicycling past some very old looking barns while speaking about the latest poll results
-the other reporter, for some reason, is making extensive use of German trains to cover the election, and this was a major point of his story
I still love CNN international, but sometimes it is a little strange.
I Have Done Arcane Things to My Hair
Post number 70!
Chronological order is best, so I'll get to the hair thing last. . .
Last night Elke had one of those parties where a salesman comes and tries to, you know, sell things. It was fancy mattresses, and we got a free fancy pillow and fancy blanket out of the deal, and I found out that we are all apparently sleeping on giant mildew colonies if our mattresses are older than 5 years old. Yuck.
Getting up on Tuesday mornings still sucks, even if I woke up so completely at 3 and went to find some Ace (citrus and carrot juice- yummy!) because my cold was really bothering me. The alarm going off 3 and a half hours later of course interrupted a pretty interesting dream in its most fascinating part, and my phone is waaaaay too chipper in the morning. Made it out the door, hoping that wet hair + cold + waiting at bus stop wouldn't make me feel worse- threw on a hat anyway and I still need to get one of those light weight scarves that all the Germans have. Made it through the double block of history (this is never easy) and we discussed Houston in English (I disappointed my teacher by having no actual first-hand knowledge of Houston, or Texas in general) and I painted in art, which I haven't done for years, and I'm not 100% certain the world is enriched by me painting again. . . half-napped on a bench in my free period listening to Fiona Apple, ate pizza in Italian class (I also learned how to talk about people's jobs), had all sorts of adventures on the bus ride home (which took over an hour, by the way). Home at 4:30, it was haircut time! Our hairdresser comes to the house, and, as Elke was getting her hair dyed, we decided that it would be fun for me to get highlights, so I did. And then there was cutting and blow drying and my hair is all different now and I'm glad because I wanted a change. There are already pictures, and I might just decide I love you enough to show them to you.
I only have 2 classes at school tomorrow- 1st and 2nd period English and 10th and 11th period Dance. I would rather be able to sleep in, but going to school for 2 periods and then coming home is awesome, too.
Song of the Day: "Safety Dance" by Men in Hats
Chronological order is best, so I'll get to the hair thing last. . .
Last night Elke had one of those parties where a salesman comes and tries to, you know, sell things. It was fancy mattresses, and we got a free fancy pillow and fancy blanket out of the deal, and I found out that we are all apparently sleeping on giant mildew colonies if our mattresses are older than 5 years old. Yuck.
Getting up on Tuesday mornings still sucks, even if I woke up so completely at 3 and went to find some Ace (citrus and carrot juice- yummy!) because my cold was really bothering me. The alarm going off 3 and a half hours later of course interrupted a pretty interesting dream in its most fascinating part, and my phone is waaaaay too chipper in the morning. Made it out the door, hoping that wet hair + cold + waiting at bus stop wouldn't make me feel worse- threw on a hat anyway and I still need to get one of those light weight scarves that all the Germans have. Made it through the double block of history (this is never easy) and we discussed Houston in English (I disappointed my teacher by having no actual first-hand knowledge of Houston, or Texas in general) and I painted in art, which I haven't done for years, and I'm not 100% certain the world is enriched by me painting again. . . half-napped on a bench in my free period listening to Fiona Apple, ate pizza in Italian class (I also learned how to talk about people's jobs), had all sorts of adventures on the bus ride home (which took over an hour, by the way). Home at 4:30, it was haircut time! Our hairdresser comes to the house, and, as Elke was getting her hair dyed, we decided that it would be fun for me to get highlights, so I did. And then there was cutting and blow drying and my hair is all different now and I'm glad because I wanted a change. There are already pictures, and I might just decide I love you enough to show them to you.
I only have 2 classes at school tomorrow- 1st and 2nd period English and 10th and 11th period Dance. I would rather be able to sleep in, but going to school for 2 periods and then coming home is awesome, too.
Song of the Day: "Safety Dance" by Men in Hats
Monday, September 12, 2005
Lazy Rainy Cows
Summing up my weekend in three words.
Friday: rode bike to school, which means I don't have to leave the house until 9 and I was still way too early because bikes with gears go faster than bikes without (there's a complex story involving visiting multiple people, taking their bikes, trying their bikes out, switching parts from one bike to another, etc that leads to me finally having a bike that I'm fairly certain I can ride for a year). Friday night we went up to Oma and Opa for some cousin's birthday party. . . mostly I hung out and held the kitten, which made me happy in ways that only kittens can (should I mention that I've been really really wanting to hold a kitten for about a week now?) and actually understood the strange mix of Platt and normal German that was being spoken around me and then I played with glow bracelets when it got dark (I made a rainbow chain necklace that was very very pretty). Also there were cows. Smelly cows.
Saturday: slept in later than I care to admit, did homework, relaxed, watched tv. Ate delicious beef rouladen (I'm not sure the word translates- take a 1 cm or so thick cut of beef, cook, roll up with bacon and pickles and maybe onions and cover in gravy and it is probably more complex than this, but it tastes quite good).
Sunday: managed to get up before noon, had Nutella and peanut butter sammich for breakfast, which confused host family (they still do not entirely understand peanut butter, and my jar is nearly empty), went to big animal show/farmer festival thing in the mist. I have a cold, so I wasn't all that enthusiastic about standing in the wet coldish (I swear it was in the 80s F Friday and I was complaining about the heat- what happened?) watching the little cousins do a dog show, except with cows instead of dogs. I have discovered that I have no interest in being a dairy farmer or otherwise having anything more to do with cows in my life except maybe! driving past them on the road. There were also goats and horses and ponies and actual dogs, but we did not watch them (for which I am grateful) and instead ate french fries (with mayo, it is the least healthy and most delicious junk food ever) and cotton candy and wandered through a goat cheese factory and watched some evil geese (this is redundant) attack some turkeys and watched some old ladies sewing puppets out of rabbit fur (this made me really sad) and watched German children carve jack-o-laterns out of season (Germans apparently don't understand that the appropriate time for pumpkins is October) and it was wet but I got to use my really awesome H&M umbrella for the first time. Came back and ate plum cake with the other Oma and watched tv (I'm getting really really used to watching dubbed American movies on tv- I tell myself that this is me getting a handle on both cultures) and drew another picture for my wall (I am getting it nicely covered and homey feeling) and slept.
Today: slept til 8, rode the bus in the rain, wished a bus would come later because I don't like getting to school at 9:20 when my first class starts at 9:55, learned about economic growth and how to introduce people from other countries in Italian and Islamic history (still boring), came home.
Also! I have decided to close off the naming of the fish, and Mary wins with the names Teal and Pearl, which, following the important rules of naming and branding, are short and evocative and distinctive and easy to remember. Pick your chocolate bar, Mary, and now I have to come visit you because I have to bring you a present (and I owe you 25 cents).
The song of the month is "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt (Germans really love this song at the moment- I don't know if it's getting as much radio play in the US or not). The song of the day is Joshua Kadison's "Picture Postcards from LA." I am enjoying both of these songs thanks to Germany's awesome radio.
Friday: rode bike to school, which means I don't have to leave the house until 9 and I was still way too early because bikes with gears go faster than bikes without (there's a complex story involving visiting multiple people, taking their bikes, trying their bikes out, switching parts from one bike to another, etc that leads to me finally having a bike that I'm fairly certain I can ride for a year). Friday night we went up to Oma and Opa for some cousin's birthday party. . . mostly I hung out and held the kitten, which made me happy in ways that only kittens can (should I mention that I've been really really wanting to hold a kitten for about a week now?) and actually understood the strange mix of Platt and normal German that was being spoken around me and then I played with glow bracelets when it got dark (I made a rainbow chain necklace that was very very pretty). Also there were cows. Smelly cows.
Saturday: slept in later than I care to admit, did homework, relaxed, watched tv. Ate delicious beef rouladen (I'm not sure the word translates- take a 1 cm or so thick cut of beef, cook, roll up with bacon and pickles and maybe onions and cover in gravy and it is probably more complex than this, but it tastes quite good).
Sunday: managed to get up before noon, had Nutella and peanut butter sammich for breakfast, which confused host family (they still do not entirely understand peanut butter, and my jar is nearly empty), went to big animal show/farmer festival thing in the mist. I have a cold, so I wasn't all that enthusiastic about standing in the wet coldish (I swear it was in the 80s F Friday and I was complaining about the heat- what happened?) watching the little cousins do a dog show, except with cows instead of dogs. I have discovered that I have no interest in being a dairy farmer or otherwise having anything more to do with cows in my life except maybe! driving past them on the road. There were also goats and horses and ponies and actual dogs, but we did not watch them (for which I am grateful) and instead ate french fries (with mayo, it is the least healthy and most delicious junk food ever) and cotton candy and wandered through a goat cheese factory and watched some evil geese (this is redundant) attack some turkeys and watched some old ladies sewing puppets out of rabbit fur (this made me really sad) and watched German children carve jack-o-laterns out of season (Germans apparently don't understand that the appropriate time for pumpkins is October) and it was wet but I got to use my really awesome H&M umbrella for the first time. Came back and ate plum cake with the other Oma and watched tv (I'm getting really really used to watching dubbed American movies on tv- I tell myself that this is me getting a handle on both cultures) and drew another picture for my wall (I am getting it nicely covered and homey feeling) and slept.
Today: slept til 8, rode the bus in the rain, wished a bus would come later because I don't like getting to school at 9:20 when my first class starts at 9:55, learned about economic growth and how to introduce people from other countries in Italian and Islamic history (still boring), came home.
Also! I have decided to close off the naming of the fish, and Mary wins with the names Teal and Pearl, which, following the important rules of naming and branding, are short and evocative and distinctive and easy to remember. Pick your chocolate bar, Mary, and now I have to come visit you because I have to bring you a present (and I owe you 25 cents).
The song of the month is "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt (Germans really love this song at the moment- I don't know if it's getting as much radio play in the US or not). The song of the day is Joshua Kadison's "Picture Postcards from LA." I am enjoying both of these songs thanks to Germany's awesome radio.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
The Notify List
I've been getting reports that some people are having issues joining my Notify List, and this has me mildly concerned- of course plenty of you have had no trouble, but I'm going to run down the way things are supposed to happen to see if we can pinpoint the issue:
You type your e-mail address into the little box down there on the left and click on "join". This directs you to a screen that says you're almost on my list, and that a confirmation e-mail is being sent to you. This is where I'm guessing people are having problems- these e-mails may very well be blocked due to some sort of spam filter- try turning your filter off or telling it to accept e-mails from confirm@notifylist.com (that's the address that will send you the confirmation e-mail, all future e-mails come from my address oneseventy@gmail.com). When you get the e-mail, there will be a link in it for you to click. This will direct you to a page telling you that you're on the list and you will get another confirmation e-mail that includes instructions for how to get off the list, should you ever decide that e-mails from me are not fun.
If you're still having issues, send me an e-mail (oneseventy@gmail.com) and we'll see if we can figure this thing out.
If you're interested in reading older e-mails that you may have missed, drop me a line and I'll hook you up.
You type your e-mail address into the little box down there on the left and click on "join". This directs you to a screen that says you're almost on my list, and that a confirmation e-mail is being sent to you. This is where I'm guessing people are having problems- these e-mails may very well be blocked due to some sort of spam filter- try turning your filter off or telling it to accept e-mails from confirm@notifylist.com (that's the address that will send you the confirmation e-mail, all future e-mails come from my address oneseventy@gmail.com). When you get the e-mail, there will be a link in it for you to click. This will direct you to a page telling you that you're on the list and you will get another confirmation e-mail that includes instructions for how to get off the list, should you ever decide that e-mails from me are not fun.
If you're still having issues, send me an e-mail (oneseventy@gmail.com) and we'll see if we can figure this thing out.
If you're interested in reading older e-mails that you may have missed, drop me a line and I'll hook you up.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
"So How'd You Meet?" "Beer Bottle."
Awesome find of the day: Vplusfreunds.
Situation: I'm chilling on the patio at the end of Verena's party, drinking a beer, talking to whatever random parents have come to pick up their children, relaxing. Look at the label on the bottle mainly out of habit, a little boredom, the usual thing. But then I notice a little logo in the corner and the request to pull the label off. Underneath I find the funniest thing since "here puked Goethe." Personal ads on the back of beer labels. Mine was for some fine young man by the name of Thomas, 23 years old and living in Bonn. Anna and I immediately decided that he was the man for me. His ad even said (translated): "I'm looking for: you, because you are open and I always have fun getting to know new people!" Later, as I was taking empty bottles in, I noticed another pull label (not every bottle has one for some reason). My second option is Maik, age 26, living in Diepholz, motto (not translated) "I am what I drink."
I'm not actually certain what kind of person would actually meet someone through a beer bottle, but in case you don't believe that such a thing exists, point your mouse to www.vplusfriends.de and see for yourself.
This is going on the big list of why Germany is cooler than other places.
Situation: I'm chilling on the patio at the end of Verena's party, drinking a beer, talking to whatever random parents have come to pick up their children, relaxing. Look at the label on the bottle mainly out of habit, a little boredom, the usual thing. But then I notice a little logo in the corner and the request to pull the label off. Underneath I find the funniest thing since "here puked Goethe." Personal ads on the back of beer labels. Mine was for some fine young man by the name of Thomas, 23 years old and living in Bonn. Anna and I immediately decided that he was the man for me. His ad even said (translated): "I'm looking for: you, because you are open and I always have fun getting to know new people!" Later, as I was taking empty bottles in, I noticed another pull label (not every bottle has one for some reason). My second option is Maik, age 26, living in Diepholz, motto (not translated) "I am what I drink."
I'm not actually certain what kind of person would actually meet someone through a beer bottle, but in case you don't believe that such a thing exists, point your mouse to www.vplusfriends.de and see for yourself.
This is going on the big list of why Germany is cooler than other places.
I think I almost understand Kant!
Even in German. . . when I'm not getting lost in his super long crazy German sentences. Literal translation of the sentence-paragraph that gave me such a headache yesterday (because headaches are more fun when you can share them):
"Power, riches, honor, even health and the general well-being and contentment with ones condition under the name of happiness inspire pride and through that often also presumption, where not a good will there is, that the influence of these on the mind and herewith also the whole principle of acting rectifies and completely suitable makes; not to mention, that a rational impartial spectator even at the sight of an unbroken prosperity of a being, that no trait of a pure and good will adorns, never a pleasure have can, and so the good will the indispensible condition even the worth happy to be to constitute seems."
Now consider that I had to look up every third word and you can imagine why I went and found a real translation of this thing so I could do my homework last night. (In the translation, the above turned into 3 sentences).
Went to a theater group last night and it was awesome- they read through the first 2 acts of their upcoming play (Tarzan Inclusive) and it was so so so funny and the people were so awesome and I was out until 10:30 so I'm rather sleepy today. I'm excited about this theater, thing, though. Too bad there's not a local church youth group. . .
School: philosophy for 2 periods, but it wasn't too bad because I think I actually get Kant (or I did until I looked at tonight's homework, but I'll be okay) and there was this really awesome picture that we're discussing and I'm going to have to show you guys sometime and we should talk about it because there are a lot of great concepts that we could come up with. Social studies then, and I've decided that econ wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, and I can get really excited about this class because it's in English so I can really participate. Art was fun, too- we discussed more theory today but I love sitting around and talking about paintings and the like, so it made me happy. 2 periods of Italian seemed awfully long, but I'm learning a new language! I still need to go pick up my Italian book, actually. . .
It's Verena's birthday today so there are something like 12 10 year olds coming over in 15 minutes, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Wish me luck, because Kant has already made my poor head ache. I swear I'm understanding him, though, and that's pretty fun.
"Power, riches, honor, even health and the general well-being and contentment with ones condition under the name of happiness inspire pride and through that often also presumption, where not a good will there is, that the influence of these on the mind and herewith also the whole principle of acting rectifies and completely suitable makes; not to mention, that a rational impartial spectator even at the sight of an unbroken prosperity of a being, that no trait of a pure and good will adorns, never a pleasure have can, and so the good will the indispensible condition even the worth happy to be to constitute seems."
Now consider that I had to look up every third word and you can imagine why I went and found a real translation of this thing so I could do my homework last night. (In the translation, the above turned into 3 sentences).
Went to a theater group last night and it was awesome- they read through the first 2 acts of their upcoming play (Tarzan Inclusive) and it was so so so funny and the people were so awesome and I was out until 10:30 so I'm rather sleepy today. I'm excited about this theater, thing, though. Too bad there's not a local church youth group. . .
School: philosophy for 2 periods, but it wasn't too bad because I think I actually get Kant (or I did until I looked at tonight's homework, but I'll be okay) and there was this really awesome picture that we're discussing and I'm going to have to show you guys sometime and we should talk about it because there are a lot of great concepts that we could come up with. Social studies then, and I've decided that econ wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, and I can get really excited about this class because it's in English so I can really participate. Art was fun, too- we discussed more theory today but I love sitting around and talking about paintings and the like, so it made me happy. 2 periods of Italian seemed awfully long, but I'm learning a new language! I still need to go pick up my Italian book, actually. . .
It's Verena's birthday today so there are something like 12 10 year olds coming over in 15 minutes, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Wish me luck, because Kant has already made my poor head ache. I swear I'm understanding him, though, and that's pretty fun.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
I Believe I Believe I Believe I Believe I Believe
That this Chris Isaak CD (Forever Blue) is pretty awesome, and that "I Believe" is the song of the day.
Rode the bus today, of which I am glad, because it is way too hot to be doing the whole bicycle thing. Germans don't understand the concept of air conditioning, by the way, and it hit at least 35 today, so school was rather sweaty at times. English for 2 periods and then free for 2 more- went to Julia's house and hung out and had something that tasted like chocolate oatmeal and was delicious, then back to school. Philosophy and I understood next to nothing and then some class meeting that meant I didn't have German (this is a good thing) and then bus home and Chris Isaak. Lunch was delicious and started to try to understand my philo homework while helping Anna with her math (man prime factorization was fun- do you remember those days?) and then it was time to go back to school for gym, where we did the cha-cha, which I love, although it would have been more fun if we had boys to dance with. Back home on the bus (more waiting and more Chris Isaak) and yoghurt and I gave up even trying to read Kant in the original language and found a translation and now I'm going to go read that. . . I'm not sure that Kant is my friend. . . his German is certainly annoying to try to read.
I am going to check out a theater club tonight- maybe this will be a fun thing to do with myself!
Rode the bus today, of which I am glad, because it is way too hot to be doing the whole bicycle thing. Germans don't understand the concept of air conditioning, by the way, and it hit at least 35 today, so school was rather sweaty at times. English for 2 periods and then free for 2 more- went to Julia's house and hung out and had something that tasted like chocolate oatmeal and was delicious, then back to school. Philosophy and I understood next to nothing and then some class meeting that meant I didn't have German (this is a good thing) and then bus home and Chris Isaak. Lunch was delicious and started to try to understand my philo homework while helping Anna with her math (man prime factorization was fun- do you remember those days?) and then it was time to go back to school for gym, where we did the cha-cha, which I love, although it would have been more fun if we had boys to dance with. Back home on the bus (more waiting and more Chris Isaak) and yoghurt and I gave up even trying to read Kant in the original language and found a translation and now I'm going to go read that. . . I'm not sure that Kant is my friend. . . his German is certainly annoying to try to read.
I am going to check out a theater club tonight- maybe this will be a fun thing to do with myself!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
I Hate Tuesdays
But they're pretty cool, because I am still in Germany.
Tuesdays are bad because I have to wake up at 6:30, and that is never fun. Somehow I still managed to make myself look cheerful in my Robotania t-shirt and a pair of shorts I've worn maybe 3 or 4 days now without washing, German style. Rode the bike to school for the first time, and it was a lot farther than I figured and I am more out of bicycling shape than I thought and going up the stairs to history was the last thing I wanted to do (points against Tuesday). History in and of itself isn't always a happy class because it is hard, but today we were doing things that were major review for me and I was mostly bored. . . I do now have a copy of the Apostles Creed in German, and the 10 Commandments, and random parts of the Quran, so that's sort of cool. Pause and then English, which is more fun and included adorable German use of English "scandalicious." Also lots of talking about Tupac, which I know you wish you were doing in your English class. Pause again and then Art and I'm working on a big cartoony picture of being lonely in the city and it's awesome. Free period in which I lay on a bench and listened to Chris Isaak and looked at the trees. Then Italian, in which we ordered pizza and I learned how to ask people for their phone numbers, which will certainly lead to fun Italian adventures. And I'm looking into a theater group and I'm going to go call Nina shortly to hang out. This means that I am making friends.
Tuesdays are bad because I have to wake up at 6:30, and that is never fun. Somehow I still managed to make myself look cheerful in my Robotania t-shirt and a pair of shorts I've worn maybe 3 or 4 days now without washing, German style. Rode the bike to school for the first time, and it was a lot farther than I figured and I am more out of bicycling shape than I thought and going up the stairs to history was the last thing I wanted to do (points against Tuesday). History in and of itself isn't always a happy class because it is hard, but today we were doing things that were major review for me and I was mostly bored. . . I do now have a copy of the Apostles Creed in German, and the 10 Commandments, and random parts of the Quran, so that's sort of cool. Pause and then English, which is more fun and included adorable German use of English "scandalicious." Also lots of talking about Tupac, which I know you wish you were doing in your English class. Pause again and then Art and I'm working on a big cartoony picture of being lonely in the city and it's awesome. Free period in which I lay on a bench and listened to Chris Isaak and looked at the trees. Then Italian, in which we ordered pizza and I learned how to ask people for their phone numbers, which will certainly lead to fun Italian adventures. And I'm looking into a theater group and I'm going to go call Nina shortly to hang out. This means that I am making friends.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Just Another Manic Monday
(and now you have the Bangles stuck in your head, too)
I just got back from wandering from house to house trick or treat style, except that instead of a bag full of candy I ended up with a bike that has no kickstand, except maybe I'll be going back later tonight and ditching the standless bike for one that has a kickstand but no gear shift. . . villages are great for hand-me-downs. We are wondering if I could also get a car in this fashion.
Weekends. . .
Saturday: had something like 35 people over for a cookout because we didn't going rowing. . . it was crazy and small children are just like the French and German cookouts are awesome because they just put this big circular grill over a campfire and throw a bunch of brats and pig steaks on and then there's potatoes and bread and awesome pasta salad and I think Dr Atkins is rolling in his grave. . . of course there's also dessert and that means really amazing homemade puddings and mousse and some sort of berry dish. . . and then there's just sitting around and talking and drinking while it gets dark, and then settling around the campfire and continuing to talk and drink and there were fireworks in the distance and I don't think I've been to a Labor Day party nearly as good in the States, and this wasn't even for Labor Day.
I slept in way too late on Sunday (I swear I didn't even drink that much) and somehow still managed to look really adorable and got in Hans-Josef's sister's boyfriend's convertible and went to HaJo's parents' house where there was amazing German cake (which is absolutely no relation to American cake and I love them both) and lots of Platt, which is a very confusing language, and (another) Kirmes and I went in a really old little castle thing that was all amazing and is still privately owned but we halfway know the people who live there and will maybe go back and get a better tour sometime. . . mostly I spent Sunday looking pretty and not understanding Platt and then came home and watched tv until too late but that's okay because I didn't have to get up until 8 this morning. And I managed to get all the way to school on the bus from Uckendorf even though there was traffic and I was so afraid I would miss my connection but I didn't. And I had my first Italian class and I can maybe count to 20 in Italian now, which makes I think 10 languages that I've ever learned numbers in and can maybe even still count with. And I get to practice my Italian in October because we're going to Italy during fall break- how cool is it that I start learning a language and get a chance to visit the country so quickly? I am also a little bit frustrated by the gap between hearing and understanding with my German classes- I totally could be contributing to history if I could understand what was going on and get my thoughts put together in German a little bit faster. Grrr. I don't even like Islamic history, either. Tomorrow I am probably riding my bike to school (once I figure out which bike is going to be mine) and then we are getting pizza in Italian because we are cool like that. I know you are very jealous.
Didn't make it to the post office today, but probably will tomorrow with the bicycle.
I just got back from wandering from house to house trick or treat style, except that instead of a bag full of candy I ended up with a bike that has no kickstand, except maybe I'll be going back later tonight and ditching the standless bike for one that has a kickstand but no gear shift. . . villages are great for hand-me-downs. We are wondering if I could also get a car in this fashion.
Weekends. . .
Saturday: had something like 35 people over for a cookout because we didn't going rowing. . . it was crazy and small children are just like the French and German cookouts are awesome because they just put this big circular grill over a campfire and throw a bunch of brats and pig steaks on and then there's potatoes and bread and awesome pasta salad and I think Dr Atkins is rolling in his grave. . . of course there's also dessert and that means really amazing homemade puddings and mousse and some sort of berry dish. . . and then there's just sitting around and talking and drinking while it gets dark, and then settling around the campfire and continuing to talk and drink and there were fireworks in the distance and I don't think I've been to a Labor Day party nearly as good in the States, and this wasn't even for Labor Day.
I slept in way too late on Sunday (I swear I didn't even drink that much) and somehow still managed to look really adorable and got in Hans-Josef's sister's boyfriend's convertible and went to HaJo's parents' house where there was amazing German cake (which is absolutely no relation to American cake and I love them both) and lots of Platt, which is a very confusing language, and (another) Kirmes and I went in a really old little castle thing that was all amazing and is still privately owned but we halfway know the people who live there and will maybe go back and get a better tour sometime. . . mostly I spent Sunday looking pretty and not understanding Platt and then came home and watched tv until too late but that's okay because I didn't have to get up until 8 this morning. And I managed to get all the way to school on the bus from Uckendorf even though there was traffic and I was so afraid I would miss my connection but I didn't. And I had my first Italian class and I can maybe count to 20 in Italian now, which makes I think 10 languages that I've ever learned numbers in and can maybe even still count with. And I get to practice my Italian in October because we're going to Italy during fall break- how cool is it that I start learning a language and get a chance to visit the country so quickly? I am also a little bit frustrated by the gap between hearing and understanding with my German classes- I totally could be contributing to history if I could understand what was going on and get my thoughts put together in German a little bit faster. Grrr. I don't even like Islamic history, either. Tomorrow I am probably riding my bike to school (once I figure out which bike is going to be mine) and then we are getting pizza in Italian because we are cool like that. I know you are very jealous.
Didn't make it to the post office today, but probably will tomorrow with the bicycle.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Hilarious Differences Between the Countries
Mary and I went on an adventure to Bonn yesterday (including more fun with public transportation, also 5 year old twins) and had fun of the anecdotal, must-post-on-blog style.
German escalators include signs that say "ride at your own risk." I am still trying to figure out exactly what kind of person would be endangered by an escalator. In my experience, they involve simply standing still and waiting until you reach your destination, then getting off. Mary and I saw a little boy who couldn't stay in his seat on the bus, and we imagined that he would have trouble with escalators.
Mr. Music is probably my favorite non-H&M store now, and here are a few of the great cds we found there (but did not buy):
60 National Anthems- according to the list on the back of the cd, it actually includes 59.
Gregorian Chant versions of Elton John and ABBA's greatest hits
Mix CDs for such occasions as Morning Coffee, Riding the Bus, and Late Night Lounge
We also felt inadequetaly metal in the heavy metal basement, so we left it quickly.
We spent too much time and maybe too much money (but probably not) in H&M and I bought a skirt and socks and an umbrella and I think I want to just go buy all my own birthday presents at H&M because it is the best store ever.
We ate at Pizza Hut because it was there and we sat and talked forever and were mildly unsure about German cafe ettiquette (like why it takes the waiter almost an hour to bring your check after taking your plates) and Mary was adorable when she tried to ask the waiter why he was speaking English and it came out as "Warum sprichst du Englisch mit us?" and stumbly and so cute and I love Mary to death- I swear you will learn German soon, my friend!
We just barely missed the one bus to get back to Troisdorf and had to wait 20 minutes for the next so we went to the U-Bahn station and played on the rolling ramp things that are probably more dangerous than escalators but have less scary warning labels ("attention: danger of slipping"). We then got on our bus and got back to Troisdorf and I rode back to Niederkassel in the dark by myself and almost got lost but then I didn't and I was okay.
I bought postcards and there will be happy mail on its way sometime soon (next time I get to the post office).
German escalators include signs that say "ride at your own risk." I am still trying to figure out exactly what kind of person would be endangered by an escalator. In my experience, they involve simply standing still and waiting until you reach your destination, then getting off. Mary and I saw a little boy who couldn't stay in his seat on the bus, and we imagined that he would have trouble with escalators.
Mr. Music is probably my favorite non-H&M store now, and here are a few of the great cds we found there (but did not buy):
60 National Anthems- according to the list on the back of the cd, it actually includes 59.
Gregorian Chant versions of Elton John and ABBA's greatest hits
Mix CDs for such occasions as Morning Coffee, Riding the Bus, and Late Night Lounge
We also felt inadequetaly metal in the heavy metal basement, so we left it quickly.
We spent too much time and maybe too much money (but probably not) in H&M and I bought a skirt and socks and an umbrella and I think I want to just go buy all my own birthday presents at H&M because it is the best store ever.
We ate at Pizza Hut because it was there and we sat and talked forever and were mildly unsure about German cafe ettiquette (like why it takes the waiter almost an hour to bring your check after taking your plates) and Mary was adorable when she tried to ask the waiter why he was speaking English and it came out as "Warum sprichst du Englisch mit us?" and stumbly and so cute and I love Mary to death- I swear you will learn German soon, my friend!
We just barely missed the one bus to get back to Troisdorf and had to wait 20 minutes for the next so we went to the U-Bahn station and played on the rolling ramp things that are probably more dangerous than escalators but have less scary warning labels ("attention: danger of slipping"). We then got on our bus and got back to Troisdorf and I rode back to Niederkassel in the dark by myself and almost got lost but then I didn't and I was okay.
I bought postcards and there will be happy mail on its way sometime soon (next time I get to the post office).
Friday, September 02, 2005
Ever Get The Feeling
That absolutely everything about life is perfect and you could fly or dance around for hours or just lay on your bed and giggle and giggle and giggle?
That was last night, and I don't have the slightest clue why- just out of the blue bliss.
I did watch a pretty good German movie, and the bliss hit immediately thereafter. I doubt anyone in the US will ever manage to see this particular made-for-tv movie, but it was awesome and is called Seventeen-Mädchen sind die besseren Jungs.
I have one class at school today, from 11:50-12:35.
That was last night, and I don't have the slightest clue why- just out of the blue bliss.
I did watch a pretty good German movie, and the bliss hit immediately thereafter. I doubt anyone in the US will ever manage to see this particular made-for-tv movie, but it was awesome and is called Seventeen-Mädchen sind die besseren Jungs.
I have one class at school today, from 11:50-12:35.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Contests Are Fun!
Well, due to the fact that I am no longer receiving ideas, I am closing off the quest to discover a meaning for pouvre and letting Billy P take the prize with his definition:
'"I'm on my way to being an 80's-style drive-it pouvre" is obviously a pick-up line and means something akin to I write 80's soundtracks to film noir adaptations of Oscar Wilde essays.'
I promise he does not win just for knowing my subconcious so well (I very may well have already dreamt of this film noir adaptation of an Oscar Wilde essay, but that is another story).
Flavors are found here for all of you to drool over.
Of course I want to bring lots of people chocolate bars, so I have a new contest! I have these cute little fishies that live in my handy and I think that they should have names, but I don't know what to call them. There are 2 of them, and best suggestion gets used and wins a Milka bar! They have become very special to me as they keep me company while I wait for the bus, so these names are very important.
'"I'm on my way to being an 80's-style drive-it pouvre" is obviously a pick-up line and means something akin to I write 80's soundtracks to film noir adaptations of Oscar Wilde essays.'
I promise he does not win just for knowing my subconcious so well (I very may well have already dreamt of this film noir adaptation of an Oscar Wilde essay, but that is another story).
Flavors are found here for all of you to drool over.
Of course I want to bring lots of people chocolate bars, so I have a new contest! I have these cute little fishies that live in my handy and I think that they should have names, but I don't know what to call them. There are 2 of them, and best suggestion gets used and wins a Milka bar! They have become very special to me as they keep me company while I wait for the bus, so these names are very important.
BDR 2
That's the radio station I've been listening to, and I took an hour today to keep track of their playlist. My results:
At 10 am, they started off strong with the Police's "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" (one of my favorite songs). Then one of those long German commercial breaks and traffic and weather and news and then Ricky Martin's "Private Emotion" followed by Joe Cocker's "N'oubliez Jamais" then Lisa Stanfield's "If I Hadn't Got You," then some French song that I couldn't begin to understand. At 10:30 it was Madonna time, with "Nothing Really Matters." That led into James Blunt's "You're Beautiful," and then, somewhat jarringly, came Eddie Rabbitt's "I Love a Rainy Night." Of course, by now it was 10:45 and BDR 2 had to make sure they got their German song of the hour in, and I couldn't understand enough of it to figure out what it is called. Back to English with Charles and Eddie singing "Would I Lie To You" (unless it was the Jesse McCartney cover of the same song) and we wrapped up the hour with Pat Benatar and "We Belong Together."
Just try to get that kind of diversity from American radio.
In other news, a few fun anecdotes:
Cutest Use of English by a German Award goes to Jonas for "The Yankees defeated the Rednecks in the Civil War, freeing the slaves"
More Supermarket Details: Steaks and ribs come pre-marinated! My host mom asked me what we normally grill for cookouts, and when I said hot dogs and hamburgers, she was astounded. Then again, the idea of eating waffles for breakfast is equally astounding here (they are a dessert item in Germany).
At 10 am, they started off strong with the Police's "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" (one of my favorite songs). Then one of those long German commercial breaks and traffic and weather and news and then Ricky Martin's "Private Emotion" followed by Joe Cocker's "N'oubliez Jamais" then Lisa Stanfield's "If I Hadn't Got You," then some French song that I couldn't begin to understand. At 10:30 it was Madonna time, with "Nothing Really Matters." That led into James Blunt's "You're Beautiful," and then, somewhat jarringly, came Eddie Rabbitt's "I Love a Rainy Night." Of course, by now it was 10:45 and BDR 2 had to make sure they got their German song of the hour in, and I couldn't understand enough of it to figure out what it is called. Back to English with Charles and Eddie singing "Would I Lie To You" (unless it was the Jesse McCartney cover of the same song) and we wrapped up the hour with Pat Benatar and "We Belong Together."
Just try to get that kind of diversity from American radio.
In other news, a few fun anecdotes:
Cutest Use of English by a German Award goes to Jonas for "The Yankees defeated the Rednecks in the Civil War, freeing the slaves"
More Supermarket Details: Steaks and ribs come pre-marinated! My host mom asked me what we normally grill for cookouts, and when I said hot dogs and hamburgers, she was astounded. Then again, the idea of eating waffles for breakfast is equally astounding here (they are a dessert item in Germany).
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