being comfortable

Two things quick before I go again:
Last night I had the stereotypical German dinner. It consisted of Knodel (which is some kind of bread thing, kinda like a dumpling), bratwurst, and sauerkraut. And even though I don't like sauerkraut, I ate it anyway, because it would be rude to not.

The second thing is that I wish I could always wear jeans, a t-shirt, my hair in braids, and a cap. That is what I am wearing right now, and it reminded me that I love this look, the typical American look. It looks good on me.

Kites are not dragons

This past weekend I celebrated Kite Fest! Here is the back story: Drache means dragon and kite in German. So, I thought I was going to a dragon fest. Yes, that doesn't make any sense, but I was unaware that the tournament I attended was part of a full international festival. Anyway, it was kite fest, and I was a bit disappointed, but the weekend was still fun.


We had beautiful weather, which was great, because two weeks prior we had terrible weather at a tournament. Everyone who was there was walking around in shorts and a t-shirt. The tournament didn't start until noon, which meant we didn't have to leave until Saturday morning. The tournament was also a hat tournament, which means you don't go with a team, but sign up individually. My team was called "Ridgeback" and we were pretty terrible. The teams weren't distributed terribly equally, my team had more women than any other team. At first we were all a little unsure about each other, but throughout the weekend we were all joking around with each other. At the end of the day on Sunday, when we were done playing, five of us were all sitting together to watch the "All Star" game.

And because we got done around 1pm, we also got to walk around a bit of the international kite fest, and it was amazing. There were more kites in one area than I have ever seen. The colors were amazing, and they were everywhere.

And finally, here is the beautiful sunset I saw while riding my bike home from Steffi's house.

my art is good enough, I like it

One reason I dislike speaking English in public places in Germany, is because I feel like the people around me think I can't speak German, that I am just another American. Tonight I met up with a group of very cultural people. Greifswald offered a night called "Culture Night" which in theory seemed really cool, but we found there wasn't really that much to do, but it ended up being a really fun night. I was spending the evening with Steffi and her work colleagues. All people she works with from the physics institute. The reason we were speaking English with one another was because in our group we had one American (me), two Germans, one Hungarian, one Mexican, one French girl, and one girl from Chile. We decided that spending time with one another was enough of a cultural night, but we did do some of the activities. At first I was a bit nervous, because I didn't know anyone besides Steffi, but the group was really great, because of the diversity, no one knew one other person all that great, which made for a fun evening. During th evening, we went to a natural museum, made our own art, sat outside of a church and had dinner, went to a pub, made plans to do karaoke together, and I made a bet with one of them. It was a really pleasant evening and the ride home was good, I learned about chaos theory physics, which of course I didn't understand, but was still interested in learning.

And now I have to get to bed, tomorrow (err, today) I am going to Potsdam for a hat tournament, meaning you sign up, then they pick out of a hat who is going to be on what teams.

And I am going to push my glasses up a little higher

Today was a great day! The sun was out almost the whole day, and I was busy the whole day. The reason I am a huge nerd right now (and all the time) is because I just got back from watching Star Wars (in German) and the book I am currently reading is Harry Potter.

The day started out at 7.45 when Carsta (my mentor teacher) picked me up. This week is project week, so we visited her students at different companies throughout the city. We were originally going to do that today and tomorrow, but we were able to get it all done in one day. It was really nice meeting the students one at a time. The funniest thing that happened to me today was that one of her students is doing his internship at the Max Planck Institute for physics. Fun, the only friend I have here in Greifswald works there, but it is a pretty large building. She said he was working in plasma physics, and that sounded strangely familiar. We met with the student and then the professor as he was walking in. He invited us up to the offices. When we were walking down the hallway, I saw Steffi making herself a cup of tea! We were both so confused and then started laughing. She invited me to see her office, and I met someone else that she worked with. What are the odds?

So Carsta and I drove around all day, she ran into about six or seven people that she knows, maybe more. When were done, we sat in the city center and had some ice cream, well, she did, I had Sekt (sparkling wine) with strawberry cream in it. Lovely! After the day, I came back here, napped and watched scrubs until about 7.30, when I headed back out to the catholic student center (St. Joseph's). Daniel, one of the guys I met last week, asked why I bolted from church on Sunday, and I said because I am dumb. Again, we had dinner and chatted some. Then talked about the upcoming semester, I attempted to make a few jokes, they fell flat (like my jokes normally do) BUT I was able to be awkward and funny, so in the end, everyone laughed! And then we watched Star Wars. And now I am going to read some Harry Potter before bed.

when it is windy, I am riding my bike against it

Today, I biked around Greifswald for about five hours. It was really windy and I went back and forth across the city. It started with me riding to my bank, which takes about two minutes. The reason I had to go to my bank was because when I attempted to log into my account on-line on Saturday, it wouldn't let me. So I went in, and explained my situation. The guy who I think was the boss of the branch brought me into the office and was going to show me how to do it. And then he ran into a problem. It was not letting him in either, so he called whoever he needed to call and I guess they never really registered me or something. Then someone did that, but it still wasn't working. He then compared the TAN number that I had with the one they had on file for me, I guess they were completely different. So I had to get a new set of numbers and wait about five minutes. Finally, everything worked out fine.

Then I cycled over to Media Markt (their version of Best Buy) to see if I could get my camera fixed by them. I explained my situation to one of the women at the service counter, and she kept saying they couldn't honor my warranty from the states, and I kept trying to tell her I just needed it fixed, and then a receipt to send in. Finally, she understood what I was asking, and then had someone else help me. This guy was really great, and we were all ready to go. I would have to pay a fee to have it looked at, fine, do you take Visa? nope.

So I had to cycle across town to go to the bank, but I had to get across town anyway to bring in my last bit of paperwork for my scholarship. Handed that in, went to the bank, and walked around the city center for a while. The ride to the town center was long, I got a little lost, and the wind was against me. So I was taking my time and relaxing. Then I got back on my bike and went back. When I got there, the guy was ready to help, and just wanted to make sure that my camera really was broken. He put the battery back in, and, what do you know, the camera turned on! It was quite embarrassing, and I know how to put the battery in my camera, and I fully charged it as well. I was actually quite happy to have it working, because I have missed it over the past two weeks, and now I know I can bring it to Media Markt. After this finding, I bought myself a new pillow which I am extremely excited to try out tonight.

Then I rode home, and Katy was by her computer, which was wonderful, because we could then talk for about a half hour, not longer because I was meeting Steffi and some other girls for Frisbee at 6.30. I got back on my bike and rode back across town and taught someone how to throw a frisbee. Afterwards, three of us went to the restaurant next to the beach and ordered hot chocolate and laughed about cultural differences. It was a long, tiring, but good day.

Speaking German makes me tired

This past weekend was quite up and down. Saturday I found myself surrounded by a family and laughing all day. I spent the whole day with my mentor teacher and her family. She and her eight year old son picked me up. He is adorable (the son), as soon as I got into the car, he started asking em questions and telling me about himself. He would start talking really fast at points, and I would just nod my head and laugh where it seemed good. I ate lunch and dinner at their place. For lunch we had a very typical German meal, with schnitzel, potatoes and vegetables. And for dessert we had yogurt. Then we took a hike in the woods, and the dog came as well! As we were on our way out, the family stopped and saw that there were a whole bunch of mushrooms growing wild in a field of Christmas trees. I guess they know their mushrooms, because these were the kind you could fry up and eat! So we picked a basket full and got our hands dirty from the dirt.

After we got back, we had the traditional coffee and cake around four pm. There is a part of me that wishes I could drink coffee, it just seems so adult. But I really have tried. The family has another son who is about thirteen, and we played soccer in the backyard, which brought on much laughter, especially after the dad joined my team. And for dinner, we grilled, yum! After dinner, the sons and I played a game, because the youngest practically begged to watch a movie, but he would have to head to bed in the middle of it. When I left, I promised I would come back.

Then Sunday was filled with pretty much nothing. I went to church in the morning. The church was almost packed, there happened to be a baptism. It was really fun to join in on the sacrament. It made me sad when almost no one joined in on the baptismal vows. It was also quite surprising to see that the child was well over one-year-old, maybe they just wait in Germany. After church I saw some people I met on Wednesday. One of the guys saw me and waved. A wave that says, "Hey, come on over." I waved back and then just left. A second after I did that, I realized how stupid that was, but I felt so stupid that I couldn't just turn around and say hi. So spent the day reading and watching TV. Next time I will be bolder, because I am a bold, adventurous person (I have to remind myself that pretty much every day).

I don't have either

JD: Do you think it's out of line to take my best friend here out to dinner? I mean, this is like the end of an era. We've always been known as Turk and JD. Like when we were in college, it was always, "When are Turk and JD getting here?" And then in med school, most people were like, "When are Turk and JD getting here?"
Turk: We didn't have a car.

After going into town today, I have come to the conclusion that everyone in my city either has a kid or a dog. Now, I knew that a lot of Germans had dogs, they bring them everywhere! They bring them in stores, in the semi-mall, sometimes there is a picture of a dog outside of store telling the owners the dog has to stay out. I haven't ever really come across that in America, unless it was a beach or a park. Right, so if not a dog, then a kid! Maybe Tuebingen was really different, and maybe because a lot of the students aren't here yet, but every young couple appears to have a small child with them. And, a lot of times you see them riding on a bike with their parent, but not in a child seat, buckled in with a helmet. No, in a seat right in front of the adult, not buckled in, no helmet! Every time I see this, I want to stop the adult on the bike and ask them about this situation.

watch out, it's a long one!

Ok, I will be better. Over the past two weeks I have been busy, and also not busy. As a quick sum up of what I did:
Saturday Sept. 1- Slept in, then lounged around for a while, long enough so that by the time I went into the city to do a little sight seeing, everything was closed. If I thought stores closed early in Tübingen, I was wrong. It isn't terrible, but could be better. Everything closed around 4.30pm, which is nice for the store owners, but what about lazy young adults like myself?

Sunday- went to Cologne. Took a car-sharing trip there, it took longer than I had expected so I didn't get into the hostel until around 10.30, but since I had a cell phone, and I had been corresponding with another Fulbrighter, we were all right. I met up with her and three other people she had met, it was lovely walking around the city at night. We went to a karaoke bar, but by the time I submitted my song (You Drive me Crazy by Brittney Spears), they were all booked up. Of course they didn't tell us this and we just sat and watched drunk Germans make fools out of themselves.

Monday- Zoo! We went to the zoo, and it was fun, until I got really sad realizing how sad it was for the animals that were in the cages. Yeah, I know that is where they keep them, but it still sucks for them. Later in the day all the Fulbrighters came together and we headed off for the conference. I met up with Katy, which was wonderful, and met her fellow WashU alum is also here this year, and two other Tübingeners, and ran into even more while we were there. I met a lot of people, it became really tiring to sit down and ask the same questions over and over again. Most people gave up after day one. The conference lasted until Thursday. Wednesday night, two other Tübingeners were part of the talent show. We did a little bit of improv, and it was great! Everyone said so, we had a great crowd, which makes a huge difference. It was fun because we had never worked together before and I didn't have to lead the scenes. I kinda felt like a celebrity afterwards. Then we all left for our own cities, except I head down to Tübingen!

Thursday- I stayed with Kelly and Daniel, and we chatted about different things, mostly German, that aggravated us, and laughed a lot together. They seem to be doing really great, which, of course, I am happy about. She is always a great hostess. If I come to visit after October, they will even have an extra room. That night I met up with the new Valpo kids in town. That was really fun, until a German guy came up to us and decided to tell us how felt out American politics. It was not exactly the nicest way to put things, and eventually I said we were already late for an appointment. I took them to a great pub where we sat and drank our beers, Jen her Kiba, and talked and laughed some more. They all say they want to come visit, but it is far for them.

Friday- breakfast/lunch with Kelly, lots of talking with Kelly, then catching the train to Reutlingen, where I met up with Andrea! Hooray! It was great, great to see her and Dan, and also great to have something other than the wedding to talk about. We seem to get into step with each other faster and faster, maybe it is the seeing each other only a few weeks apart, I have really been appreciating that. We went on a shoe hunt, and both got a pair of new shoes. Hers were a little cheaper than mine.

Saturday/Sunday- tournament in Stuttgart. I played with Frankfurt, they aren't the best team, but they have fun. It was frustrating for me, but April continued to explain to me that they just started training with a real coach, and working towards something. We took 19th place, hey, not so bad for nationals, right? Well, there were 21 teams in total. The party was a bit lame, felt a lot like high school, or I guess now I can compare it to fraternity parties. It is weird feeling older than I am because most Germans are students until they are about 25, but right now I am not a student, nor am I working towards my career goal (which I am still seeking).

Sunday night- back to Reutlingen! I don't think the excitement about seeing Andrea and Dan will wear off this year. Monday morning I took the train all the way back to Greifswald. It was a long ride, but a good, relaxing one. It was the first time I really enjoyed being on the train. Of course my muscles were really sore by that time, and my feet hurt, so sitting was wonderful. I just listened to my iPod (yay, God!), and the time went by.

Tuesday- I was supposed to start at school, but my teacher had a lesson she was filling in for, and it all kinda got muddeled up. She then said it would be best for me to register with the city and start the Visa process. This took far longer than I had expected. In Tübingen, it took all of 30 minutes, but here there was a big line, and registering and getting a Visa were two different things. And I am not even done, because they have to check with Tübingen to make sure of whatever.

Today- Actually started school! But I just sat in the back and listened to the lesson, quite boring, not what I was expecting. Maybe it is too much to ask for, to be the main attraction, at least for one day. But this is what other assistants said happened to them, they were asked many questions. I think tomorrow will be better, I am with my mentor teacher, and I explained that I wanted to be more interactive. Then after some sitting around in my room watching Scrubs, I rode into town again. Bought Harry Potter in German, a cook book, and a TV guide and then went to the Catholic student center, where on Wednesday nights they get together and hang out. I was really nervous when I got there, but the students made me feel really comfortable. They made Käse Spätzle, which I am always in the mood for, and just talked and laughed together. It was nice, being with about six other people, all who will just speak German with you. Maybe it was the being around that much German, but I got really tired, and was the first to leave. But they are all on break right now, and I have work tomorrow. Speaking of, it is pretty late.

I promise more of a daily/social commentary. I always think of good things to blog about, but then I never do, so it becomes boring such as this entry. Next time, it will be shorter and cleverer.