Well, this week has been pretty chill which is why i havent written much. I was not partying or drinking, but studying for my midterms here. Yea, GASP, I know, Josh studying whoever would have guessed it big shocker etc etc.
I went to a Go tournament here in Freiburg which was nice. I got 1st place as well and got a nice T-Shirt and free beer (the tournament was held at a BEER GARDEN. Is Germany great or WHAT?!!??!)
Anyway, not too much happened. I tried to be frugal this week, since I'm going to definitely be buying a lot of stuff in Turkey.
Oh that's right, did I mention that? I'm leaving for Sarajevo, Zagreb, Istanbul, and Ankara over the next two weeks
im gonna be taking some great photos and videos and gifts but i may be off the blogging and cell phone radar so don't worry about me i'm fine.
See ya!!
Josh
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Commenting on Iran
For those of you that don't know, Iran is having a huge thing going on right now. The people are really pissed off that their votes weren't counted (they claim) and have taken to the streets in the hundreds of thousands, at least.
Being a numbers guy, I took a quick look at the statistical evidence to see if there was any merit to the protestors claims. According to the official Government results, Ahmedinejad won by about 63-32 over his reformist rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
The protestors obviously thought different, so I did some number crunching:
Apparnetly, Mir-Hossein Mousavi isnt exactly a Persian, but a minority called Azeri Turk. In his home district, it's almost entirely Azeri Turk, and in the history of Iranian elections nobody has ever lost their own home district.
Not only did Mousavi lose among Azeri Turks, he lost his home district. This would be equivalent to Obama losing the vote in Chicago, or losing the African-American vote nationwide. It is simply unrealistic to this that this is plausible. Thus, I throw my hat in with those who believe that the election was a total sham.
Like most repressive governments, the Iranian government has sharply curtailed what media outlets could publish, restricted journalists, and essentially censored most information. But this didnt stop the Iranian people...
Like never before, they've been using YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. to get their message out. The Huffington Post actually has an incredible LiveBlog with updates by the minute. Make sure to go to their last page to start with to get everything thats been done during the course of the protests.
Now, to get into the blogging program that IES offers, I had to write a creative writing piece. Take a look at what I wrote it on, ironically enough, but here it is word for word from a month ago:
Am I prescient or what hehe. When I apply for some sort of International Relations job, Iäm so going to show them that I wrote this only month before it started becoming reality.
Being a numbers guy, I took a quick look at the statistical evidence to see if there was any merit to the protestors claims. According to the official Government results, Ahmedinejad won by about 63-32 over his reformist rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
The protestors obviously thought different, so I did some number crunching:
Apparnetly, Mir-Hossein Mousavi isnt exactly a Persian, but a minority called Azeri Turk. In his home district, it's almost entirely Azeri Turk, and in the history of Iranian elections nobody has ever lost their own home district.
Not only did Mousavi lose among Azeri Turks, he lost his home district. This would be equivalent to Obama losing the vote in Chicago, or losing the African-American vote nationwide. It is simply unrealistic to this that this is plausible. Thus, I throw my hat in with those who believe that the election was a total sham.
Like most repressive governments, the Iranian government has sharply curtailed what media outlets could publish, restricted journalists, and essentially censored most information. But this didnt stop the Iranian people...
Like never before, they've been using YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. to get their message out. The Huffington Post actually has an incredible LiveBlog with updates by the minute. Make sure to go to their last page to start with to get everything thats been done during the course of the protests.
Now, to get into the blogging program that IES offers, I had to write a creative writing piece. Take a look at what I wrote it on, ironically enough, but here it is word for word from a month ago:
The Internet, especially blogging, will soon become the greatest tool for the spread of Democracy the world has ever seen. A powerful statement, I know, but I truly believe it will become reality. As soon as I understood how blogging worked, my imagination soared with the possibilities. Blogging is like no communication medium ever invented before it. The entry requirements are about $80/yr and an Internet-ready computer. In no other time of human history has mass communication been available at so little cost to so many people. The "little guy" can finally be heard.
We are seeing incredible growth being made before our eyes. Think about life a dozen years ago in 1997. Could anyone imagine what's going on today with the Internet? A perfect example, and the primary focus of this piece, is Twitter, a "micro-blogging" service that's taken the US [and many other countries] by storm. Essentially, it allows you to make tiny blog posts [140 characters, text-message sized] that are then forwarded to anyone that chooses to "follow" you, either to their computer or their cell phone. They in turn can forward it to their "followers", and if the information is important, it will obviously spread like wildfire. This allows one person to have a bigger voice than a gigantic network like CNN. Let's take a look at what real-world accomplishments Twitter has made occur in it's few short years of existence:
Firstly, Twitter has immensely helped to cure Malaria. In the recent race to 1 million followers, both Ashton Kutcher and CNN pledged to donate 10,000 nets if they won and 1,000 nets if they lost. A friendly competition to get the most friends became a superb avenue for fighting a vicious disease. Furthermore, other celebrities joined in and donated their own 10,000 nets. For all we know, Twitter might destroy the scourge that is malaria once and for all.
Secondly, protesters have used Twitter to great effect against authoritarian governments. In countries ranging from Georgia to Moldova, where many of the young people are unhappy with the government, they used Twitter to communicate the times and dates of protests, and were able to turn out impressive crowds.
Finally, it allows the rich, powerful, and/or famous/political people to circumvent the classic model of having a spokesman and the media, and directly communicate with their fans or constituents. Politicians in Washington have taken to Twitter en masse. While many of them have posted some pretty silly "Tweets" from their cell phones, it's also been used as a way to communicate with their constituents directly, allowing for people to get to know their representatives on a more personal level. For actors and other famous people, they can post exactly what they want, and circumvent the horror of the tabloids to tell their fans what they're up to.
These are just the accomplishments in a few short years. Let's think about the future...In under a minute, Twitter allows you to communicate with people across the world. Facebook already has over 200 million users and is still growing quickly. There is no reason why Twitter can't obtain an even larger following, as Internet access grows worldwide. Dictators will have a hard time keeping genocide under wraps when any person can yell about it to the world. I see a far brighter future in store for the world, so long as we don't nuke ourselves or destroy the planet with global warming first.
Am I prescient or what hehe. When I apply for some sort of International Relations job, Iäm so going to show them that I wrote this only month before it started becoming reality.
Monday, June 15, 2009
June 11-15 - Onward to Florence!!
Day 12-17 - To Italia!! (Florence, baby!)
Hey everyone, sorry my post was delayed so much. It was a bit of a crazy trip as I'll describe below and I'm dealing with a bunch of other stuff as well (midterm on Thursday).
So, we decided this time to go to Florence, Italy, as I described in my last post. I waited till the last second for my Eurail pass to come, but they totally screwed it up and it didn't come in time, so i had to buy a regular ticket at the last minute. I had to go on a train to Italy separate from the rest of my group (although on the way back we were together).
Obviously, international train travel when i don't speak the language and by myself on an overnight train was NOT exactly my cup of tea. But oh boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into...
So, we decided to do overnight trains to save a night on hotel rooms. Right when i was about to leave in the evening, my backpack bottom broke. As I was already running a bit close, I hurriedly put my stuff in my other backpack and ran out the door.
I made it to the train on time (thankfully!). It was a sleeping train, and I found out I had a "ticket" but not a "reservation". Apparently the guy at the travel agent where I reserved my ticket made a terrible mistake. With just a "ticket", I could stand in the train halls, but I had no seat to sleep or sit on.
This was going to be an EIGHT HOUR TRAIN RIDE, OVERNIGHT, so this REALLY didn't appeal to me, especially since that ticket alone cost me 93 euros, and the reservation was only an extra 5 had that stupid guy not forgotten to put it on there.
So, what to do? Stand for 8 hours overnight? **** no!! I played the "helpless American" card with one of the important-looking train people. He thankfully was a very kind man and gave me a seat number. I was in a relatively small compartment with 5 other people, but that was fine.
So I sit down, relieved to have a seat, and drift off to sleep...
A few hours later...
Suddenly I hear a voice coming closer and I go into that half-awake/half-asleep state. Oh, I thought, he was checking passports. We must have crossed the national border from Germany into Switzerland on the way to Italy.
Then, my mind turned totally inward for a second. And a revelation moment that I will remember for the rest of my life occurred... Time itself literally froze... I could see air particles in front of me.
In my mind's eye, I was racing back to my room, inside, into the hidden inside compartment of my busted backpack i had left behind since it broke, and there in my mind's eye... I saw... my passport.
Oh. Shit. (Iim not even going to censor it, it was that bad)
Oh, I was awake. Cappuccino, caffeine, stimulants, they got nothing on the sudden burst of adrenaline racing through my body. I ripped open the new backpack like wildfire, and... as I feared, no passport. To briefly describe my emotional state:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!11
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*breathes deeply*
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHH AHHHHHH AHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH!!! I WAS DOING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WITHOUT A PASSPORT!! AHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHH!! THEY WERE COMING AROUND TO CHECK THEM THIS INSTANT! AHHHHHHHHH!! **** **** **** **** **** ****!!! ****!!
This all occurred in me head in about a 10 second period. Had my bladder been full...who knows what would have happened. These guys looked like the Swiss Guard and I was scared ****less they were going to either throw me off the train or take me to Swiss authorities.
So they came into our compartment and asked me for my passport. I stumbled, mumbled, and just about everything I could think of short of bowing down and begging forgiveness. I tried to play the "foolish American" card.
They gave me this dirty look and asked for my drivers license. They grunted "American, eh? If we were in your country, wouldn't we need a passport?". "Yes", I mumbled.
Then one of them went on his phone, probably to his superior, and talked for like 10 minutes in Swiss. Quite possibly one of the longest 10 minutes of my life...
They gave me back my drivers license, and to my relief one of them just scolded me. Let me tell you: I. Love. Being. A. U.S. Citizen. Seriously, if I was from any other non-European country without a passport, I think they would have detained me or thrown me off.
Don't think I'm just saying that, either. On the way back through Italy, the Swiss guards checked one person on our entire section. I guess they were running low on time. However, it seemed oddly suspicious that the one person they checked was clearly from North Africa.
Not only did they check her passport, they scanned it in a special machine they brought, put it up to the light, use a special magnifying glass to check it's authenticity, and searched through the pages to see where she had been. They also asked her multiple questions about where she was going and staying and for how long.
So, back to the story: With color slowly returning to my body and the feeling coming back to my legs, I went back to sleep...
And was woken up 10 minutes later. Apparently the Swiss were pretty thorough, this time they sent in a dog to sniff around, apparently for Cocaine. It found none and I tried to go back to sleep...but to no avail.
15 minutes LATER, another dog came in, this time we were told it was a marijuana-sniffing dog. I thought it would just sniff and leave, but then suddenly it started digging in and attacking one of the guy's suitcases in our compartment.
The guard took it, and sure enough, in the front compartment where the dog sniffed there was this tiny piece of a blunt left (really small).
He was unceremoniously taken off the train by two very large guards and taken to the police station to be reported. I learned from his friends that he was released, but had to buy a whole new train ticket and got no refund.
So to recap:
Forgetting passport during International travel: Harsh scolding
Tiny piece of blunt: thrown of train and fingerprinted at police station.
WHEW what an adventure!! I switched trains a few times along the way but nothing else important really happened. When I got to Florence, I was there a few hours later than everyone else in my group so i was on my own to find the Hostel we were staying at, Plus Florence.
Alright, I had wrote earlier I thought Germany had messed up streets, right? Oh no, not even close. They don't even stand a chance. Italy's roads are some of the most screwed up things I've ever seen. Ever. Seriously. They are TINY, cramped, the sidewalks are almost non-existent, and on either sides you have aging buildings that need paint jobs.
Oh, and they LOVE motorcycles. Not like, not enjoy, LOVE motorcycles. I think I saw more motorcycles than cars. Speaking of cars, did you know that single person cars existed? Yea, one person cars. THese things were 3-wheeled tiny machines that no self-respecting American would be caught dead in, but they were there too.
Nevertheless, I managed to find it alright. I was tired (lack of sleep), angry, frustrated, and a whole range of other emotions. I had gotten there at 11AM, and all I wanted was sleep.
But my troubles weren't over yet, oooohhhhh no.... I couldn't get sleep. You know what they asked for at the hostel to check in? MY PASSPORT! Yea, I know, right?
I had my incredibly heavy bag, and at they said that a faxed copy was unacceptable that they needed the real thing in front of them to document. I had a friend back in Freiburg who could have rushed my passport to me with shipping, and I would have recieved it in the next morning. But this wasn't good enough for the hostel people...they REFUSED to check me in without a passport in front of me...
I REALLY didn't want to spend the night sleeping like a homeless person, so then I had a brilliant idea: The US Consulate of Florence!! Their JOB was to help out incredibly stupid Americans like me who get in these situations, right?
I asked for a map and the location of the US Consulate, and I was off. Unfortunately, it was a 30 minute walk away!! I had my giant hiking backpack and tired beyond belief, but I set out...
Needless to say, I got completely lost on Italy's absurd streets (did I mention I REALLY didn't like Italy's streets?). I finally found the general area I was going, but i still couldn't find the US embassy.
The time was 12:15 PM, and I had just found out that Consulate's close at 12:30PM. As for why they close so ****ing early, is anyone's guess. So I'm scrambling as fast as I can to find it before they close, and you know what flag I see? Not the US one, but the next best thing:
The British flag!!! I was saved!! Someone who spoke English who could at least point me in the right direction. Hail the motherland! I was right! They were very friendly to me there, and they told me where to go. In case anyone questions it, oh yea, the Brits got our backs, no doubt about it.
So it's 12:25PM right now and I'm RUNNING flat-out, tired out of my mind, with a giant hiking backpack through Florence to the US Consulate. Just as the guy is about to lock the door, I reach him.
He told me that they'd closed up shop, and I told him my Hostel problem. Let me tell you something: I. LOVE. BEING. A. US. CITIZEN. SO. MUCH. I really have so much love for my country right now.
After checking my driver's license, he called the Hostel for me, informed them of the situation, and said that he had convinced them to allow a faxed or printed copy. YES!!
So I call my Mom a few hours later, and she goes through her own struggles to get me my backup passport copy relatively intact (seriously, it loses a lot of quality when you scan it).
But we did it, and I checked in. WHEW!! What an adventure, and that was just getting to Florence. Florence was pretty fun I have to admit. We saw the "Duomo", and loads of other MASSIVE churches.
I climbed some incredibly tall towers, and got lost on 4 separate occasions wandering the cramped roads of Italy. I must have seen more pasta and pizza stores lined up then anywhere else in my life. Oh, and I saw two homeless guys yelling at each other really loudly. One of them picked up a wine bottle and I got the **** out of there real fast.
But it was pretty fun. I got to see the sun set from this incredible vista overlooking all of Florence, truly a sight to behold. I also bought some excellent gifts for some family and friends back home, hope you like them :)
Apparently, Italy has NO IDEA how to run a decent train service. We were 25 minutes late, which caused us to miss ALL of our connecting trains through Switzerland and Germany so we had to constantly reschedule. We literally had TWELVE HOURS of travel on the way back, not at all pleasant.
Anyway, not much happened on the 15th. We were all really tired. I wrote a note on my door asking "did you remember your passport today". Oh, and my EURAIL PASS FINALLY ARRIVED HOORAY!!
See all of you later!!
Josh
Hey everyone, sorry my post was delayed so much. It was a bit of a crazy trip as I'll describe below and I'm dealing with a bunch of other stuff as well (midterm on Thursday).
So, we decided this time to go to Florence, Italy, as I described in my last post. I waited till the last second for my Eurail pass to come, but they totally screwed it up and it didn't come in time, so i had to buy a regular ticket at the last minute. I had to go on a train to Italy separate from the rest of my group (although on the way back we were together).
Obviously, international train travel when i don't speak the language and by myself on an overnight train was NOT exactly my cup of tea. But oh boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into...
So, we decided to do overnight trains to save a night on hotel rooms. Right when i was about to leave in the evening, my backpack bottom broke. As I was already running a bit close, I hurriedly put my stuff in my other backpack and ran out the door.
I made it to the train on time (thankfully!). It was a sleeping train, and I found out I had a "ticket" but not a "reservation". Apparently the guy at the travel agent where I reserved my ticket made a terrible mistake. With just a "ticket", I could stand in the train halls, but I had no seat to sleep or sit on.
This was going to be an EIGHT HOUR TRAIN RIDE, OVERNIGHT, so this REALLY didn't appeal to me, especially since that ticket alone cost me 93 euros, and the reservation was only an extra 5 had that stupid guy not forgotten to put it on there.
So, what to do? Stand for 8 hours overnight? **** no!! I played the "helpless American" card with one of the important-looking train people. He thankfully was a very kind man and gave me a seat number. I was in a relatively small compartment with 5 other people, but that was fine.
So I sit down, relieved to have a seat, and drift off to sleep...
A few hours later...
Suddenly I hear a voice coming closer and I go into that half-awake/half-asleep state. Oh, I thought, he was checking passports. We must have crossed the national border from Germany into Switzerland on the way to Italy.
Then, my mind turned totally inward for a second. And a revelation moment that I will remember for the rest of my life occurred... Time itself literally froze... I could see air particles in front of me.
In my mind's eye, I was racing back to my room, inside, into the hidden inside compartment of my busted backpack i had left behind since it broke, and there in my mind's eye... I saw... my passport.
Oh. Shit. (Iim not even going to censor it, it was that bad)
Oh, I was awake. Cappuccino, caffeine, stimulants, they got nothing on the sudden burst of adrenaline racing through my body. I ripped open the new backpack like wildfire, and... as I feared, no passport. To briefly describe my emotional state:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!11
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
*breathes deeply*
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHH AHHHHHH AHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHH!!! I WAS DOING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WITHOUT A PASSPORT!! AHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHH!! THEY WERE COMING AROUND TO CHECK THEM THIS INSTANT! AHHHHHHHHH!! **** **** **** **** **** ****!!! ****!!
This all occurred in me head in about a 10 second period. Had my bladder been full...who knows what would have happened. These guys looked like the Swiss Guard and I was scared ****less they were going to either throw me off the train or take me to Swiss authorities.
So they came into our compartment and asked me for my passport. I stumbled, mumbled, and just about everything I could think of short of bowing down and begging forgiveness. I tried to play the "foolish American" card.
They gave me this dirty look and asked for my drivers license. They grunted "American, eh? If we were in your country, wouldn't we need a passport?". "Yes", I mumbled.
Then one of them went on his phone, probably to his superior, and talked for like 10 minutes in Swiss. Quite possibly one of the longest 10 minutes of my life...
They gave me back my drivers license, and to my relief one of them just scolded me. Let me tell you: I. Love. Being. A. U.S. Citizen. Seriously, if I was from any other non-European country without a passport, I think they would have detained me or thrown me off.
Don't think I'm just saying that, either. On the way back through Italy, the Swiss guards checked one person on our entire section. I guess they were running low on time. However, it seemed oddly suspicious that the one person they checked was clearly from North Africa.
Not only did they check her passport, they scanned it in a special machine they brought, put it up to the light, use a special magnifying glass to check it's authenticity, and searched through the pages to see where she had been. They also asked her multiple questions about where she was going and staying and for how long.
So, back to the story: With color slowly returning to my body and the feeling coming back to my legs, I went back to sleep...
And was woken up 10 minutes later. Apparently the Swiss were pretty thorough, this time they sent in a dog to sniff around, apparently for Cocaine. It found none and I tried to go back to sleep...but to no avail.
15 minutes LATER, another dog came in, this time we were told it was a marijuana-sniffing dog. I thought it would just sniff and leave, but then suddenly it started digging in and attacking one of the guy's suitcases in our compartment.
The guard took it, and sure enough, in the front compartment where the dog sniffed there was this tiny piece of a blunt left (really small).
He was unceremoniously taken off the train by two very large guards and taken to the police station to be reported. I learned from his friends that he was released, but had to buy a whole new train ticket and got no refund.
So to recap:
Forgetting passport during International travel: Harsh scolding
Tiny piece of blunt: thrown of train and fingerprinted at police station.
WHEW what an adventure!! I switched trains a few times along the way but nothing else important really happened. When I got to Florence, I was there a few hours later than everyone else in my group so i was on my own to find the Hostel we were staying at, Plus Florence.
Alright, I had wrote earlier I thought Germany had messed up streets, right? Oh no, not even close. They don't even stand a chance. Italy's roads are some of the most screwed up things I've ever seen. Ever. Seriously. They are TINY, cramped, the sidewalks are almost non-existent, and on either sides you have aging buildings that need paint jobs.
Oh, and they LOVE motorcycles. Not like, not enjoy, LOVE motorcycles. I think I saw more motorcycles than cars. Speaking of cars, did you know that single person cars existed? Yea, one person cars. THese things were 3-wheeled tiny machines that no self-respecting American would be caught dead in, but they were there too.
Nevertheless, I managed to find it alright. I was tired (lack of sleep), angry, frustrated, and a whole range of other emotions. I had gotten there at 11AM, and all I wanted was sleep.
But my troubles weren't over yet, oooohhhhh no.... I couldn't get sleep. You know what they asked for at the hostel to check in? MY PASSPORT! Yea, I know, right?
I had my incredibly heavy bag, and at they said that a faxed copy was unacceptable that they needed the real thing in front of them to document. I had a friend back in Freiburg who could have rushed my passport to me with shipping, and I would have recieved it in the next morning. But this wasn't good enough for the hostel people...they REFUSED to check me in without a passport in front of me...
I REALLY didn't want to spend the night sleeping like a homeless person, so then I had a brilliant idea: The US Consulate of Florence!! Their JOB was to help out incredibly stupid Americans like me who get in these situations, right?
I asked for a map and the location of the US Consulate, and I was off. Unfortunately, it was a 30 minute walk away!! I had my giant hiking backpack and tired beyond belief, but I set out...
Needless to say, I got completely lost on Italy's absurd streets (did I mention I REALLY didn't like Italy's streets?). I finally found the general area I was going, but i still couldn't find the US embassy.
The time was 12:15 PM, and I had just found out that Consulate's close at 12:30PM. As for why they close so ****ing early, is anyone's guess. So I'm scrambling as fast as I can to find it before they close, and you know what flag I see? Not the US one, but the next best thing:
The British flag!!! I was saved!! Someone who spoke English who could at least point me in the right direction. Hail the motherland! I was right! They were very friendly to me there, and they told me where to go. In case anyone questions it, oh yea, the Brits got our backs, no doubt about it.
So it's 12:25PM right now and I'm RUNNING flat-out, tired out of my mind, with a giant hiking backpack through Florence to the US Consulate. Just as the guy is about to lock the door, I reach him.
He told me that they'd closed up shop, and I told him my Hostel problem. Let me tell you something: I. LOVE. BEING. A. US. CITIZEN. SO. MUCH. I really have so much love for my country right now.
After checking my driver's license, he called the Hostel for me, informed them of the situation, and said that he had convinced them to allow a faxed or printed copy. YES!!
So I call my Mom a few hours later, and she goes through her own struggles to get me my backup passport copy relatively intact (seriously, it loses a lot of quality when you scan it).
But we did it, and I checked in. WHEW!! What an adventure, and that was just getting to Florence. Florence was pretty fun I have to admit. We saw the "Duomo", and loads of other MASSIVE churches.
I climbed some incredibly tall towers, and got lost on 4 separate occasions wandering the cramped roads of Italy. I must have seen more pasta and pizza stores lined up then anywhere else in my life. Oh, and I saw two homeless guys yelling at each other really loudly. One of them picked up a wine bottle and I got the **** out of there real fast.
But it was pretty fun. I got to see the sun set from this incredible vista overlooking all of Florence, truly a sight to behold. I also bought some excellent gifts for some family and friends back home, hope you like them :)
Apparently, Italy has NO IDEA how to run a decent train service. We were 25 minutes late, which caused us to miss ALL of our connecting trains through Switzerland and Germany so we had to constantly reschedule. We literally had TWELVE HOURS of travel on the way back, not at all pleasant.
Anyway, not much happened on the 15th. We were all really tired. I wrote a note on my door asking "did you remember your passport today". Oh, and my EURAIL PASS FINALLY ARRIVED HOORAY!!
See all of you later!!
Josh
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
June 8-10
Day 14-16 - Party, baby!
Today was a bit of a party few days. There is a place called "the morgue". During WWII it literally was a morgue, but now it's simply a party area for college students in the area. I know, sounds creepy, and it's underground, but they've really turned it into somehwhere cool.
I want to K-I-L-L the people from Eurail. I paid an extra 25 euros to get super speed shipping and NOOOOOOO it's STILL NOT HERE. So (sorry mom) I had to put my 4-day trip on the credit card.
But it's not like I'm paying money i wouldnt have to anyway. Now my Eurail pass will last the entire time my parents are up here so they won't have to pay a thing for my transportation going to Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Luxemborg, the Netherlands, or Switzerland. Had I used my Eurail pass for this 4-day trip it probably wouldn't have lasted the entire two weeks.
So on the 9th I found a place that advertised a free 1-liter coke with any meal. Since I've already complained about how expensive (BUT SO GOOD, THANK YOU SUGAR AND CURSE CORN SYRUP!!) the coke is here i jumped on it. For your knowledge, by the way, I actually read the sign IN GERMAN, so you you should all be very impressed with me ;)
It's no wonder they could give a free coke, their FOOD WAS SO AWFUL AGGHHHHHH!!! Really, it was the soggiest shnitzel (sp?) I've ever had.
I'm going to be off the radar until Sunday, so mom don't worry about me ;) I'm going to... Florence, Italy for a 4-day weekend, go me!! I can't wait to see all the fun sites, it's going to be an incredible experience I'm sure. I have no idea what exactly I want to see, but I'm getting a map and I'm sure there are some tours and gift shops in English, right? Who knows, maybe the Italians accept Visa...Germany is horrible at it.
Mom, get yourself a Eurail pass nice and early so you don't have to deal with any of the crap I'm going through, it's a really cost effective way to travel.
I'm really pissed about all of the blocked websites in Germany. Hulu is blocked, for example. As are many news video sites. The reason, you may ask? Well, the German government didn't block them, the site owners blocked all access in Germany. Apparently, their advertisers that they put in these video streams are based in the US and don't want to advertise to Germans who can't buy their products. Since these news sites (and Hulu) don't want to waste any more money than they have to, they simply decided to block all access to countries where it wasn't profitable for advertisers.
Yea, the recession sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, I herad Obama's Egypt speech and thought it was pretty good. I'm hopeful he can make some progress, but we'll see, there are endless obstacles in the way.
Also in the news...Italy's Berlusconi is HILARIOUS. So funny..., Iran is having an election in 2 days. Hopefully the psycho Ahmedinejad (sp? - oh wait i dont care) will be thrown out of office, I don't care who replaces him just ANYONE ELSE. Apparently Iranian youth are extremely against Ahmedinejad, so let's hope so.
See ya'll later. Oh, and I still haven't found Katlyn a gift yet (though I do have Misters Feinman and Trager selected, I think they'll enjoy them immensely).
Today was a bit of a party few days. There is a place called "the morgue". During WWII it literally was a morgue, but now it's simply a party area for college students in the area. I know, sounds creepy, and it's underground, but they've really turned it into somehwhere cool.
I want to K-I-L-L the people from Eurail. I paid an extra 25 euros to get super speed shipping and NOOOOOOO it's STILL NOT HERE. So (sorry mom) I had to put my 4-day trip on the credit card.
But it's not like I'm paying money i wouldnt have to anyway. Now my Eurail pass will last the entire time my parents are up here so they won't have to pay a thing for my transportation going to Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Luxemborg, the Netherlands, or Switzerland. Had I used my Eurail pass for this 4-day trip it probably wouldn't have lasted the entire two weeks.
So on the 9th I found a place that advertised a free 1-liter coke with any meal. Since I've already complained about how expensive (BUT SO GOOD, THANK YOU SUGAR AND CURSE CORN SYRUP!!) the coke is here i jumped on it. For your knowledge, by the way, I actually read the sign IN GERMAN, so you you should all be very impressed with me ;)
It's no wonder they could give a free coke, their FOOD WAS SO AWFUL AGGHHHHHH!!! Really, it was the soggiest shnitzel (sp?) I've ever had.
I'm going to be off the radar until Sunday, so mom don't worry about me ;) I'm going to... Florence, Italy for a 4-day weekend, go me!! I can't wait to see all the fun sites, it's going to be an incredible experience I'm sure. I have no idea what exactly I want to see, but I'm getting a map and I'm sure there are some tours and gift shops in English, right? Who knows, maybe the Italians accept Visa...Germany is horrible at it.
Mom, get yourself a Eurail pass nice and early so you don't have to deal with any of the crap I'm going through, it's a really cost effective way to travel.
I'm really pissed about all of the blocked websites in Germany. Hulu is blocked, for example. As are many news video sites. The reason, you may ask? Well, the German government didn't block them, the site owners blocked all access in Germany. Apparently, their advertisers that they put in these video streams are based in the US and don't want to advertise to Germans who can't buy their products. Since these news sites (and Hulu) don't want to waste any more money than they have to, they simply decided to block all access to countries where it wasn't profitable for advertisers.
Yea, the recession sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, I herad Obama's Egypt speech and thought it was pretty good. I'm hopeful he can make some progress, but we'll see, there are endless obstacles in the way.
Also in the news...Italy's Berlusconi is HILARIOUS. So funny..., Iran is having an election in 2 days. Hopefully the psycho Ahmedinejad (sp? - oh wait i dont care) will be thrown out of office, I don't care who replaces him just ANYONE ELSE. Apparently Iranian youth are extremely against Ahmedinejad, so let's hope so.
See ya'll later. Oh, and I still haven't found Katlyn a gift yet (though I do have Misters Feinman and Trager selected, I think they'll enjoy them immensely).
Sunday, June 7, 2009
June 4-7 - My Trip To...Munich!!
Day 10-13, Prep + Munich
First off, some bad news: I wasn't able to go to Basel yet :( We decided to cancel our trip because the trains weren't going at the times we needed. But it's alright, I'll make sure to head their later.
Anyway, my Eurail pass arrived LATE (and here I payed an extra 20 euros for expedited delivery). So, I was pretty depressed since I wouldn't be able to go to Straussborg, but luckily another group going to Munich had a spot open, so i jumped at the chance!
No Eurail pass wasn't a problem; we were going to do the backpacker's way: regional train hopping. We switched trains 4 times each way, but the train fare was only 23 euros so that can't be beat.
I must say running from train to train was fun. When we finally got there, it was pretty rainy. Oh, and we decided to stay in a hostel. No, not a hotel, not a motel. Those were far too expensive. For those that don't know, a hostel is essentially packing 14 people into bunk beds in a relatively small room with 2 bathrooms.
I had never stayed in a hostel before, but I thought it would be a pretty fun experience to try out. I made sure to lock everything in my personal locker (you never know, right?, and the first night was a breeze. We woke up bright and early, and headed out to the Marianplaz.
Let me tell you: Munich is the COOLEST CITY ON THE PLANET!! Obviously, it hosts Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world, but it also has such an amazing history. We took a tour all around, including finding the most famous beer hall in the world, the legendary Hofbrauhaus, a place older than Christopher Columbus (LITERALLY). Oh, and i mean come on, it has it's own VOMITORIUM!! Really, that's what it's called!! There are few things on the planet hotter than Bavarian women in full costume carrying 10 Liters of beer to our table.
Oh, and check out this church (sorry for the poor quality, took it on my iPhone):
We also learned some details of the Holocaust from a Munich perspective. The Nazi party was essentially based in Munich, so obviously they tried to be as ruthless as possible when dealing with the Jews.
Only 81 Jews survived out of over 8,000 in the city. In 2006, the Jewish community of Munich was large enough to rebuild a very large Synagogue. I know that the outside looks a bit ugly, but inside is one of the most beautiful synagogues I've ever seen, both for the symbolic message it sends and it's sheer beauty.
Beyond that, of course, was the BEER!! SO MUCH BEER!! EVERYWHERE!! Apparently, Munich set up their first standards for what could go into beer in the 1500's (Wolfgang I think?), far before anyone else. During the late 1800's, they had cow festivals every year and drank wine. However, they decided that it was too expensive to continue doing that, so they instead decided to change it for the more profitable beer. For years after the beer festivals would get larger and larger, and Oktoberfest was born!! Munich's size of 1.4 million grows to 5.3 million for that period of time.
Another story: back in the day, only the nobles were allowed to have Wheat Beer. Then one of the Kings of Munich decided that he wanted to sell it to the people. So he set out two declarations: First, that only HE could brew and sell wheat beer, and second, that he had gathered a group of top scientists together (this is the 1600's I think) and they concluded that for men 8 Liters of beer per day was healthy and for women 7 Liters (literally true!!).
You would think that would make everyone fat, but they got so drunk that they thought it made everyone else more hot ;) Of course, those two policies were totally unrelated I'm sure.
They also have this holy grail of beer. It has all the beer recipes from the major brewers of Munich, and it had 4 keys. All keys must be inserted simultaneously to open it, but they're apparently lost. Legend has it Budweiser is on a worldwide mission searching for the keys. Every year at the end of May they have a church ceremony honoring this grail (I saw the ACTUAL grail, it's really just a wooden case and it's over 500 years old)
They have 16% (?!?) volume beer which i find absolutely incredible, and is the highest potency beer on the planet i think. I don't think i can ever drink Budweiser again...it's officially "piss water" in my book. Seriously, this beer is so much better.
Our guide Ricky told us a funny story about a guy from Alabama who was a big drinker. He bragged to Ricky that he could down 15 beers in a sitting, unlike Ricky who could only down 6.
Ricky challenged him, and the poor kid curled up in a corner after 4 beers...Munich beer is STRONG!! Anyway, enough about beer (although did I mention it was really good in Munich??). The rest of the trip involved visiting the sites, all sorts of huge churches and the synagogue, as well as taking this great tour around the city. But the most memorable experience didn't occur till later that night...
I also met English-speakers of all varieties on the tour which was so cool! I met a Canadian, Australian, a Scottish couple, Brits, and of course a Deep South American (that's an accent!). So many accents trying to speak the same language, but it sounded so weird to anyone watching i guess that we were able to fully understand one another. English is such a cool language.
Here's the story that I'll remember for quite a while... So we needed to stay in Munich for a second night at the hostel. We got back around midnight and we all got to sleep pretty quick. Remember, this is a hostel so there are far more people than simply the 5 of us who went together. At around 3 AM I was awoken by an...odd noise.
The blog is PG-13, so I'll only put in some subtle innuendo... Let's just say that the bunkbed next to mine was very clearly lacking in WD-40, in all the wrong ways. Being groggy, I confusedly looked around for the source of the noise that woke me...yea, site I never want to see again. Really, to do it in a public hostel was nothing short of insulting. And the guy wasn't even staying in the hostel.
So I'm the closest bed to them (they covered the opening *mostly* with a blanket, how thoughtful...), and it goes on for a good 45 minutes, all the while me hearing things that I really didn't want to hear and wishing I had a giant thing of WD-40 and earmuffs.
If I wasn't scared that the guy would pop my face in, I would have just yelled my ass off at them. I couldn't fall asleep so I just read a book, all the while this WD-40-induced sound (and others, unfortunately...) continued.
Now I have an all-new one for the great game "Never have I ever..." lol.
There goes my sanity and 45 minutes of sleep that night...When the rest of my friends in the hostel found out they were cracking up to no end (they were separated by a door so they didn't wake up from it.
Anyway, I'm back in Freiburg now. Gotta do my homework, shower, and head to bed, so talk to you all later!! Still searching for the perfect gift for Katlyn :) I considered this outfit from Munich, but it was too expensive ;)
First off, some bad news: I wasn't able to go to Basel yet :( We decided to cancel our trip because the trains weren't going at the times we needed. But it's alright, I'll make sure to head their later.
Anyway, my Eurail pass arrived LATE (and here I payed an extra 20 euros for expedited delivery). So, I was pretty depressed since I wouldn't be able to go to Straussborg, but luckily another group going to Munich had a spot open, so i jumped at the chance!
No Eurail pass wasn't a problem; we were going to do the backpacker's way: regional train hopping. We switched trains 4 times each way, but the train fare was only 23 euros so that can't be beat.
I must say running from train to train was fun. When we finally got there, it was pretty rainy. Oh, and we decided to stay in a hostel. No, not a hotel, not a motel. Those were far too expensive. For those that don't know, a hostel is essentially packing 14 people into bunk beds in a relatively small room with 2 bathrooms.
I had never stayed in a hostel before, but I thought it would be a pretty fun experience to try out. I made sure to lock everything in my personal locker (you never know, right?, and the first night was a breeze. We woke up bright and early, and headed out to the Marianplaz.
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Let me tell you: Munich is the COOLEST CITY ON THE PLANET!! Obviously, it hosts Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival in the world, but it also has such an amazing history. We took a tour all around, including finding the most famous beer hall in the world, the legendary Hofbrauhaus, a place older than Christopher Columbus (LITERALLY). Oh, and i mean come on, it has it's own VOMITORIUM!! Really, that's what it's called!! There are few things on the planet hotter than Bavarian women in full costume carrying 10 Liters of beer to our table.
Oh, and check out this church (sorry for the poor quality, took it on my iPhone):
We also learned some details of the Holocaust from a Munich perspective. The Nazi party was essentially based in Munich, so obviously they tried to be as ruthless as possible when dealing with the Jews.
Only 81 Jews survived out of over 8,000 in the city. In 2006, the Jewish community of Munich was large enough to rebuild a very large Synagogue. I know that the outside looks a bit ugly, but inside is one of the most beautiful synagogues I've ever seen, both for the symbolic message it sends and it's sheer beauty.
Beyond that, of course, was the BEER!! SO MUCH BEER!! EVERYWHERE!! Apparently, Munich set up their first standards for what could go into beer in the 1500's (Wolfgang I think?), far before anyone else. During the late 1800's, they had cow festivals every year and drank wine. However, they decided that it was too expensive to continue doing that, so they instead decided to change it for the more profitable beer. For years after the beer festivals would get larger and larger, and Oktoberfest was born!! Munich's size of 1.4 million grows to 5.3 million for that period of time.
Another story: back in the day, only the nobles were allowed to have Wheat Beer. Then one of the Kings of Munich decided that he wanted to sell it to the people. So he set out two declarations: First, that only HE could brew and sell wheat beer, and second, that he had gathered a group of top scientists together (this is the 1600's I think) and they concluded that for men 8 Liters of beer per day was healthy and for women 7 Liters (literally true!!).
You would think that would make everyone fat, but they got so drunk that they thought it made everyone else more hot ;) Of course, those two policies were totally unrelated I'm sure.
They also have this holy grail of beer. It has all the beer recipes from the major brewers of Munich, and it had 4 keys. All keys must be inserted simultaneously to open it, but they're apparently lost. Legend has it Budweiser is on a worldwide mission searching for the keys. Every year at the end of May they have a church ceremony honoring this grail (I saw the ACTUAL grail, it's really just a wooden case and it's over 500 years old)
They have 16% (?!?) volume beer which i find absolutely incredible, and is the highest potency beer on the planet i think. I don't think i can ever drink Budweiser again...it's officially "piss water" in my book. Seriously, this beer is so much better.
Our guide Ricky told us a funny story about a guy from Alabama who was a big drinker. He bragged to Ricky that he could down 15 beers in a sitting, unlike Ricky who could only down 6.
Ricky challenged him, and the poor kid curled up in a corner after 4 beers...Munich beer is STRONG!! Anyway, enough about beer (although did I mention it was really good in Munich??). The rest of the trip involved visiting the sites, all sorts of huge churches and the synagogue, as well as taking this great tour around the city. But the most memorable experience didn't occur till later that night...
I also met English-speakers of all varieties on the tour which was so cool! I met a Canadian, Australian, a Scottish couple, Brits, and of course a Deep South American (that's an accent!). So many accents trying to speak the same language, but it sounded so weird to anyone watching i guess that we were able to fully understand one another. English is such a cool language.
Here's the story that I'll remember for quite a while... So we needed to stay in Munich for a second night at the hostel. We got back around midnight and we all got to sleep pretty quick. Remember, this is a hostel so there are far more people than simply the 5 of us who went together. At around 3 AM I was awoken by an...odd noise.
The blog is PG-13, so I'll only put in some subtle innuendo... Let's just say that the bunkbed next to mine was very clearly lacking in WD-40, in all the wrong ways. Being groggy, I confusedly looked around for the source of the noise that woke me...yea, site I never want to see again. Really, to do it in a public hostel was nothing short of insulting. And the guy wasn't even staying in the hostel.
So I'm the closest bed to them (they covered the opening *mostly* with a blanket, how thoughtful...), and it goes on for a good 45 minutes, all the while me hearing things that I really didn't want to hear and wishing I had a giant thing of WD-40 and earmuffs.
If I wasn't scared that the guy would pop my face in, I would have just yelled my ass off at them. I couldn't fall asleep so I just read a book, all the while this WD-40-induced sound (and others, unfortunately...) continued.
Now I have an all-new one for the great game "Never have I ever..." lol.
There goes my sanity and 45 minutes of sleep that night...When the rest of my friends in the hostel found out they were cracking up to no end (they were separated by a door so they didn't wake up from it.
Anyway, I'm back in Freiburg now. Gotta do my homework, shower, and head to bed, so talk to you all later!! Still searching for the perfect gift for Katlyn :) I considered this outfit from Munich, but it was too expensive ;)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
OMG WIRELESS INTERNET!!
Day 9, June 3rd
Today, something incredible happened: I got wireless internet! I made sure to bring a spare wireless router from home (and an extra plug converter), but like so many other shoddily made products it requires different current amounts than Germany gives it. Thus, it wouldn't work.
So, I spent hours searching through every electronics store in Freiburg until I found it: a current adapter, which allows my router to work. However, the current adapter was 40 euros, which I found absurd.
I found a German wireless router that cost only 20 euros (I know, right?) so I figured that would be the better option. So today, FINALLY, I can happily say that I have a wireless network!! I can finally surf the web and download new iPhone Apps *sob*, it's so nice. Also, the ability to walk anywhere in my building using the Internet is fantastic. And you can never give enough credit to the incredible power of port forwarding.
Besides that, I've another item to add to the now-famous list of "I Can't Believe I Forgot That!": My digital camera battery charger!! I was taking this really nice video today and wouldn't you know it, the camera died. I went back to my room to charge it, and oh crap, I had no charger!!
None of the electronics stores sold Sanyo digital video cameras/chargers, so I thought i was screwed. Then i remembered the incredible power of the Internet, mainly eBay. I found a German vendor on eBay who was selling the charger I needed for only 5 euros and free shipping, so i jumped on that pretty quick. I'll have video up in a jiffy!
Prices in this country are really screwed up...
Tiny glass of coke: 2 euros
Ice Cream: 1 euro
Wireless-G Router: 20 euros (in the US they're at least $40)
Also, funny experience on the tram: so Germans from what I've seen are a quiet people just about anywhere, compared to Americans. Some Americans perceive it as being less friendly (they really don't smile as much as Americans, I've noticed, it's actually true), but I think it's more cultural difference than lack of happiness or something.
Anyway, so I was on the tram with a friend and we saw this German guy who was singing on the tram. Not especially loudly, but I'd never seen a German speak on the tram save for his/her cell phone or to a friend, so this was quite the occasion.
After a few minutes he noticed my friend and I, and saw that we were obviously not German. He spoke only some broken English but immediately started a conversation with us, a first for us.
"English?", he asked. "No, American", said Ben. "Ah, American!", he laughs. "Barack Obama, eh?" he said with a smile on his face. Ben and I start cracking up. "Surprised me!", he said, then he exited off the tram.
Other Germans were clearly giving him looks like he was insane, but Ben and I were cracking up for quite a while. The funniest guy I've met so far in Germany, and everyone thinks he's crazy. Just goes to show you the cultural differences, I guess. Also, that you can't judge an entire people by a stereotypes, as this guy clearly fit no stereotype I had ever heard for Germans.
In health related issues, there seems to be an ongoing competition with my body right now, and I don't know what will win out: On the one hand, we have German food and beer. The food is DELICIOUS but not especially healthy, and the beer...mmmmm...sooooo good.
On the other hand, we have the excessive exercise requirements every day. I easily walk 20x times the distance each day I did in the US; you literally have to walk everywhere if there's not a tram going to the location you want to. Going to lunch every day is a hike even. We'll see what happens, who knows what my weight will be when I get back to the US.
In other news, I've been searching the whole **** city for a newspaper shop that sells the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times international publication. Today, I finally found a place with it that's close by, so more superb news. Otherwise, we're still learning about the various complex relationship that the Balkans have to Western Europe. I really haven't studied the Balkans region much before so it's really interesting to learn about it's deep historical roots and also the genocide and human rights abuses that went on in the area.
In more other news, Obama is supposed to make a speech in Germany soon! I wish I had the day off, I'd so go see him, but he's far away in Hamburg I think. Oh well...
Finally, I'm heading to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow for an afternoon. The tram goes directly there and it's only like 20 minutes away from where I am now so I figure why not, right? It's free anyway. Over the weekend I think I might go to Strasbourg, France, which should be pretty fun. With any luck my EuroRail pass will have arrived by then.
I'd post a picture and video, but oh yea, my battery died and I am charger-less. Till next time, peeps!
Today, something incredible happened: I got wireless internet! I made sure to bring a spare wireless router from home (and an extra plug converter), but like so many other shoddily made products it requires different current amounts than Germany gives it. Thus, it wouldn't work.
So, I spent hours searching through every electronics store in Freiburg until I found it: a current adapter, which allows my router to work. However, the current adapter was 40 euros, which I found absurd.
I found a German wireless router that cost only 20 euros (I know, right?) so I figured that would be the better option. So today, FINALLY, I can happily say that I have a wireless network!! I can finally surf the web and download new iPhone Apps *sob*, it's so nice. Also, the ability to walk anywhere in my building using the Internet is fantastic. And you can never give enough credit to the incredible power of port forwarding.
Besides that, I've another item to add to the now-famous list of "I Can't Believe I Forgot That!": My digital camera battery charger!! I was taking this really nice video today and wouldn't you know it, the camera died. I went back to my room to charge it, and oh crap, I had no charger!!
None of the electronics stores sold Sanyo digital video cameras/chargers, so I thought i was screwed. Then i remembered the incredible power of the Internet, mainly eBay. I found a German vendor on eBay who was selling the charger I needed for only 5 euros and free shipping, so i jumped on that pretty quick. I'll have video up in a jiffy!
Prices in this country are really screwed up...
Tiny glass of coke: 2 euros
Ice Cream: 1 euro
Wireless-G Router: 20 euros (in the US they're at least $40)
Also, funny experience on the tram: so Germans from what I've seen are a quiet people just about anywhere, compared to Americans. Some Americans perceive it as being less friendly (they really don't smile as much as Americans, I've noticed, it's actually true), but I think it's more cultural difference than lack of happiness or something.
Anyway, so I was on the tram with a friend and we saw this German guy who was singing on the tram. Not especially loudly, but I'd never seen a German speak on the tram save for his/her cell phone or to a friend, so this was quite the occasion.
After a few minutes he noticed my friend and I, and saw that we were obviously not German. He spoke only some broken English but immediately started a conversation with us, a first for us.
"English?", he asked. "No, American", said Ben. "Ah, American!", he laughs. "Barack Obama, eh?" he said with a smile on his face. Ben and I start cracking up. "Surprised me!", he said, then he exited off the tram.
Other Germans were clearly giving him looks like he was insane, but Ben and I were cracking up for quite a while. The funniest guy I've met so far in Germany, and everyone thinks he's crazy. Just goes to show you the cultural differences, I guess. Also, that you can't judge an entire people by a stereotypes, as this guy clearly fit no stereotype I had ever heard for Germans.
In health related issues, there seems to be an ongoing competition with my body right now, and I don't know what will win out: On the one hand, we have German food and beer. The food is DELICIOUS but not especially healthy, and the beer...mmmmm...sooooo good.
On the other hand, we have the excessive exercise requirements every day. I easily walk 20x times the distance each day I did in the US; you literally have to walk everywhere if there's not a tram going to the location you want to. Going to lunch every day is a hike even. We'll see what happens, who knows what my weight will be when I get back to the US.
In other news, I've been searching the whole **** city for a newspaper shop that sells the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times international publication. Today, I finally found a place with it that's close by, so more superb news. Otherwise, we're still learning about the various complex relationship that the Balkans have to Western Europe. I really haven't studied the Balkans region much before so it's really interesting to learn about it's deep historical roots and also the genocide and human rights abuses that went on in the area.
In more other news, Obama is supposed to make a speech in Germany soon! I wish I had the day off, I'd so go see him, but he's far away in Hamburg I think. Oh well...
Finally, I'm heading to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow for an afternoon. The tram goes directly there and it's only like 20 minutes away from where I am now so I figure why not, right? It's free anyway. Over the weekend I think I might go to Strasbourg, France, which should be pretty fun. With any luck my EuroRail pass will have arrived by then.
I'd post a picture and video, but oh yea, my battery died and I am charger-less. Till next time, peeps!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Mmmm....Wine...
Day 8, June 2nd
Today was pretty interesting, actually. Morning classes were alright; we're currently learning the fundamentals of the European Union. They really like the word "council" in naming stuff. Apparently there are three different bodies within the EU that are considered Councils.
I'm also learning some more German, which is good. I conducted my first transaction at a store entirely in German today, which I think is spectacular.
After class was when the day really got fun, though. Micheal and I had heard that there were many local wineries in Freiburg, and that there was a store that only sold local Freiburg wine. Being a relative novice in the world of wine (as compared to Beer), we decided to check out what they had.
The people in there were incredibly nice (and spoke English!). They gave us a few free samples of some of the better wines they sold, and we decided to split a bottle of delicious locally made white wine for 11 euros (the "euro" symbol doesn't work on Blogspot...)
After that, we explored the town for some nice bread, cheese, and chocolate to eat with the wine. We got some incredible 75% pure dark chocolate, some great Brie cheese, and of course a baguette. Then we decided to head back to the park to go and have our delicious wine-bread-cheese-chocolate meal.
On the way back through the Farmers Market, we noticed a *distinctive smell* that any college student is well aware of. Certainly audacious to say the very least out in public like that. Then again, Freiburg is called by some the "California of Germany". If you don't understand what I'm talking about, then it's for the better since this is a PG-13 blog :)
In the evening, I planned to go out to a local club, which should have been nice, but was unfortunately stopped by me missing the **** little *** **** elephant **** interplanetary **** **** stupid train again (portions redacted). In fairness, this time I didn't oversleep, but instead thought we were meeting at the wrong train. Yea yea, go laugh, and then shut ur pie holes, you jerks ;)
I also have some fun plans coming up this week. I found out that my monthly rail pass goes straight into Basel, Switzerland. Thus, on Thursday I intend to visit Switzerland with a few people just for the day, which should be pretty fun. Gotta look up some fun stuff to do.
On the weekend, I'm considering going to Straussborg, which I've heard is simply beautiful. Thank you, EuroRail Pass (hopefully coming in the mail Thursday thanks to rush shipping!!)
P.S. For those of you that play Go and are reading this, apparently KGS don't work where I live. It just refuses to connect at all. I have absolutely no idea why this should be but it's pretty frustrating. Any ideas?
Today was pretty interesting, actually. Morning classes were alright; we're currently learning the fundamentals of the European Union. They really like the word "council" in naming stuff. Apparently there are three different bodies within the EU that are considered Councils.
I'm also learning some more German, which is good. I conducted my first transaction at a store entirely in German today, which I think is spectacular.
After class was when the day really got fun, though. Micheal and I had heard that there were many local wineries in Freiburg, and that there was a store that only sold local Freiburg wine. Being a relative novice in the world of wine (as compared to Beer), we decided to check out what they had.
The people in there were incredibly nice (and spoke English!). They gave us a few free samples of some of the better wines they sold, and we decided to split a bottle of delicious locally made white wine for 11 euros (the "euro" symbol doesn't work on Blogspot...)
After that, we explored the town for some nice bread, cheese, and chocolate to eat with the wine. We got some incredible 75% pure dark chocolate, some great Brie cheese, and of course a baguette. Then we decided to head back to the park to go and have our delicious wine-bread-cheese-chocolate meal.
On the way back through the Farmers Market, we noticed a *distinctive smell* that any college student is well aware of. Certainly audacious to say the very least out in public like that. Then again, Freiburg is called by some the "California of Germany". If you don't understand what I'm talking about, then it's for the better since this is a PG-13 blog :)
In the evening, I planned to go out to a local club, which should have been nice, but was unfortunately stopped by me missing the **** little *** **** elephant **** interplanetary **** **** stupid train again (portions redacted). In fairness, this time I didn't oversleep, but instead thought we were meeting at the wrong train. Yea yea, go laugh, and then shut ur pie holes, you jerks ;)
I also have some fun plans coming up this week. I found out that my monthly rail pass goes straight into Basel, Switzerland. Thus, on Thursday I intend to visit Switzerland with a few people just for the day, which should be pretty fun. Gotta look up some fun stuff to do.
On the weekend, I'm considering going to Straussborg, which I've heard is simply beautiful. Thank you, EuroRail Pass (hopefully coming in the mail Thursday thanks to rush shipping!!)
P.S. For those of you that play Go and are reading this, apparently KGS don't work where I live. It just refuses to connect at all. I have absolutely no idea why this should be but it's pretty frustrating. Any ideas?
Monday, June 1, 2009
June Begins
Day 7, June 1st
Today was a pretty fun day. It was some sort of holiday so we had no classes. Anyway, we decided to go out to mini golf and explore some more beer gardens, which was certainly pretty fun.
Thankfully, my monthlong RailPass activated today so I no longer have to waste 5 euros a day riding the stupid tram to school. Also, I learned that it's a good idea to ALWAYS have a ticket on you... not having a ticket led to bad consequences today.
Apparently 2 people in our group thought it would be fine to play the laws of statistical probabilities and not buy a tram ticket. About 1 in every 50 tram rides (from what I'm told), a ticket-checker walks around the tram and fines people 40 euros if they don't have a valid ticket.
Well, wouldn't you know it, today was the day the ticket-checker came and they both got fined. Whew! Thankfully, I have a ticket so all is well in the world.
In the evening I went to play Go again, which was quite fun. I walked 4 km to get there, which was certainly an interesting journey. Tomorrow I'm going to ask how to take the tram to get there next time now that I have a month long ticket, since it took me about 45 minutes to walk there. Had quite a bit of fun, and I hope to continue such fun throughout my stay here in Germany.
I'm slowly learning German, believe it or not. Immersion really does work, apparently. I can now say "Please", "Hello", "Goodbye", "Where Is?", "Beer", "Welcome", "How Much", and count from 1 to 12. Additionally, I'm finally learning how to pronounce this language...let me tell you, not easy.
They also call English a Germanic language for a reason, there are a LOT of similarities between English and German. While verbs are generally pretty different, nouns and pronouns are surprisingly similar. I'm glad I chose Germany for my stay. Anyway, got class SO EARLY tomorrow morning (8:30 AM). Stay tuned next time, ya'll!!
Today was a pretty fun day. It was some sort of holiday so we had no classes. Anyway, we decided to go out to mini golf and explore some more beer gardens, which was certainly pretty fun.
Thankfully, my monthlong RailPass activated today so I no longer have to waste 5 euros a day riding the stupid tram to school. Also, I learned that it's a good idea to ALWAYS have a ticket on you... not having a ticket led to bad consequences today.
Apparently 2 people in our group thought it would be fine to play the laws of statistical probabilities and not buy a tram ticket. About 1 in every 50 tram rides (from what I'm told), a ticket-checker walks around the tram and fines people 40 euros if they don't have a valid ticket.
Well, wouldn't you know it, today was the day the ticket-checker came and they both got fined. Whew! Thankfully, I have a ticket so all is well in the world.
In the evening I went to play Go again, which was quite fun. I walked 4 km to get there, which was certainly an interesting journey. Tomorrow I'm going to ask how to take the tram to get there next time now that I have a month long ticket, since it took me about 45 minutes to walk there. Had quite a bit of fun, and I hope to continue such fun throughout my stay here in Germany.
I'm slowly learning German, believe it or not. Immersion really does work, apparently. I can now say "Please", "Hello", "Goodbye", "Where Is?", "Beer", "Welcome", "How Much", and count from 1 to 12. Additionally, I'm finally learning how to pronounce this language...let me tell you, not easy.
They also call English a Germanic language for a reason, there are a LOT of similarities between English and German. While verbs are generally pretty different, nouns and pronouns are surprisingly similar. I'm glad I chose Germany for my stay. Anyway, got class SO EARLY tomorrow morning (8:30 AM). Stay tuned next time, ya'll!!
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