Adventures In Germany

Currently in Marburg, Germany and documenting my adventures!

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Being in Marburg really puts a perspective on just how over-indulgent America is… I never want to go back. 

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The nonsense that is Spagetti Ice cream [Spagetti Eis] and chocolate sundae

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Musings on Germany - 5

The German word for popular is Beliebt. They were Bieber fans before Bieber existed.

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12. Juni 2014

First off Happy Birthday Steve!   Now on to the show!   Woke up late but managed to do morning routine all the same. I still got to the bus 5 minutes early! On the bus I did the homework I hadn't managed to do the night before [like 1.5 exercises out of 10] and then played LoZ. Got to school hung out with David and classmates. David wondered if he should switch to Patrick's class. I was very opposed to the idea but I knew he would be happier being in a classroom where it wasn't entirely Brazilians who had the bad habit of talking in Portuguese every time they didn't understand something. So finally I told him he should do it, if anything they say no. So he sent off a message.     We found out we would have another Test tomorrow, which was when I realized that this is ending my second week in Marburg. How have I been here for 12 days? It doesn't feel like it for sure. Class was a bit strange as we spent the entire time preparing for the test. At the end there were seemingly disjointed examples but Herr M. knows what he's doing.   On the first pause I ate my pudding cup and talked to David as he ate his sandwich. All was good. The second break Davud told me that the person he had sent the message to hadn't gotten back to him but the teacher suddenly became only German speaking. Apparently anytime some student tried speaking in Portuguese she sushed them. Probably not a coincidence.     After class David and I made our way to RP to meet Herr Genau Wombo von Marburg [Patrick, I made up the new name for him after a funny fb conversation last night] and grab food. Some of his classmates extended an invitation to the Mensa so we decided to go for the second day in the row. The food was good but a bit weird today. But it's cheap so I can't really complain! Also it was around 200% better than a great day at the caf, so I'll let you take weird for what it's worth.   Then there was an invitation extended to a nearby coffee shop and we went along eager to see a new place. It was quaint and inside was tiny, but they had lots of outdoor space to make up for it. We sat inside for some reason [I think all the tables outside were filled] at a barish area that looked onto the patio area.   I worked on Tödliche Spiele while everyone else did their homework. We occasionally stopped and talked to Patrick's friends from class. David talked history for a bit with one of them. But as far as I can tell he and I share no interests but he seems really nice!   David and I departed from the coffee shop and made our way to my house. I had asked permission for him to come over for dinner and was met with a resounding yes. But when we got home, only Liam was there. Herr Fritz was out and about. So David finished up his homework and I goofed off on the internet. We watched one episode of Blue Exorcist and then Herr Fritz was back for good and began making dinner.   Kat and Meg made an appearance soon after. Kat had been with a friend who had been in California for a year and Meg was with a friend doing homework. They were both very pleased to meet David. After that wonderful smells started coming from the kitchen. It honestly smelled like grits for a brief second and I was terribly confused. Turned out it was curry rice. Curry rice exists and it will probably be the only way I make rice from now on!  Herr F, Kat, David and I all spoke while Kat took over making dinner. Unfortunately it was all in German. On paper I excel but orally I suck. My vocabulary isn't big enough yet so I have to ask how to say every 3rd word. Plus I still don't know all the Grammer rules yet, so that makes my speech awkward.  But the family helps and doesn't laugh when I mess up so it's good for practice!   Dinner was excellent as always and the conversation was better. David seemed to really enjoy himself and Kat and Meg seemed to like him. For dessert we had yogurt then everyone was off doing their own thing. David and I cleared the table and I put the dishes and silver wear in the dish washer. We sat back on the couch and he explained some grammar things I was having trouble with [because I never learned them]. Soon it was time for him to go and I walked him to the bus stop. We arrived just as the bus did so I would say everything was timed perfectly!     I got back home, showered, packed my bag for tomorrow and wrote this up and it's 10.38 so time for bed.   Goodnight and sweet dreams all!

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So my camera was left on and took this photo, from Heidelberg.

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ASOIAF series in Germany

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Ice cream, cool cat we saw and petted, picture of a bike with neat wagon, and cool stuff from in front of the comic store front

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11 Juni 2014

Today I woke up on time! Actually more than on time, I woke up early! I had time to actually organize my room and tidy up a bit. Then I ate breakfast with the family which was bread and jam per usual. After breakfast I asked for a Tupperware container to store some bread, the cheese I purchased yesterday and some cherries I picked up on the way home. Then we all left. Herr Fritz offered me a ride but I declined. I knew the bus would drop me off just around the corner but his drop off point was about 3 blocks away. With the gloomy clouds over head I didn’t take my chances. I donned my yellow rain coat and walked to the bus station.  Only a few drops here and there though. I arrived at the bus stop 5 minutes early, but the bus driver was kind and let me on. Typically they don’t as this is their break time, so I was sure to express my gratitude.  

The bus ride was surprisingly hot and cramped for such a rainy day. I attempted to do the homework but I only had gotten one of the two exercises done before I gave up and just watched the rain fall down on the world.

I got to S&W seven minutes early, enough time to drop off my things and talk to David for a bit. Then I went into the classroom and we began discussing a comic that Leo had pulled up on his ipad. It resulted in the class learning how to tell someone to be quite and a very not so nice way [think F bomb]. We also discussed the weather outside and different words for the word storm. Class went on and I felt that I didn’t miss much yesterday. I picked up everything with ease.

During the breaks David and I nibbled on our snacks and talked. The day ended with a few pages of homework to be done and a very happy Libby. David and I walked to the bus station, checked the times for the buses and waited for the next bus to RP [Rudolphplaß new abbreviation because my phone is a butt and still doesn’t recognize it as a real word] where we would meet Patrick.

After a few minutes we spotted him and decided what to do with our day. Which happened to be figuring out the Mensa for reals this time. It took a bit to figure out the card situation but now I had my own student card! The food at the mensa was tasty and cheap. 3.50€ for a giant plate of food and a side. I told the guys that they would have to roll me out of there if we ever wanted to leave. So yes we will be going back :]

After the Mensa I still wanted ice cream but I knew we would have to walk around first to make some room. So David decided that now would be a good time to look for a hat. So the search began. We went to the Oberstadt and searched to no avail. We did meet a super cool cat that was chilling near some ruins that Davud wanted to check out. Then we went to a comic shop that had an impressive Manga collection but only Tradebacks [A bunch if issues of a comic sold together in book form] so I didn’t get anything. Next we went to the book store across the way and looked around. There we saw the A Song of Ice and Fire series in all of its 10 part glory.  I decided to get The Hunger Games but the German version Die Tribute von Panem: Tödliche Spiele! I figured it would be a good idea to fully immerse myself in the language as much as possible, well expect for these entries and the times where my vocabulary isn’t big enough to express my ideas.

We then got ice cream but fancy ice cream this time, really I just wanted to try one of the fancy looking ice cream sundaes that people are always eating. David and I split a chocolate chocolate chocolate sundae and Patrick got the strawberry kind. David also got a beer that was spicy, like cinnamon and clove. Everything was delicious. My bus was going to be there soon so we paid the bill and went to the stop. They waited with me to pass the 9 minutes before the bus would be there. Around 2 minutes before my bus arrived David and Patrick went off adventuring and I was left alone to think about the day. The 2 and 3 arrived at the same time, but I chose the less crowded and down hill walk of the 3. The bus ride was uneventful, I passed out for a little bit, waking up 2 stops from being home. I had noticed earlier that most of the gloomy weather had went away but left it’s mid 20s temps.

I got home and began to write this journal and have been talking to Meg and playing with the dog on and off. Oh and I started laundry! Yay clean clothes! I’ve actually been trying to do laundry for a few days now, but there has always been some thing drying on the racks, but now it’s my turn, mwaahahahahahahaha.

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I have completed washing and hangijg up my laundry to dry! I have also posted all the pictures and entries that I’ve missed. Meg and I have hung out while she watched YouTube videos. Herr Fritz should be home with Liam soon and then we will eat dinner. Now to do German Homework then hopefully start Tödliche Spiele! Have a lovely day everyone!

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Chinese food and David

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10 Juni 2014

Due to not getting in until 2 and not going to bed until 3 because I felt super gross and needed to shower , I overslept my alarms. I woke up fully rested at 11.35 too late to go to class. But I did get geared up and ready to go by 12.18 and went to meet up with David. We caught the next bus to Rudolphplaß and waited a bit for Jolley. I had messaged him over FB to meet us there but he didn't see it until he got home. [Later I found out he had looked for us out the window but we weren't there. At that point we were probably either on the way or had given up and were eating lunch at the Asian restaurant.]    For lunch we each had a giant plate of fried noodles with veggies and chicken that left us feeling super full. After we finished we went over to the Media Mart to look for a mini fridge for David. Unfortunately such a thing does not exist but we did find a refrigerated cooler thing. It won't keep it super cold but it will keep cheese and yogurt well enough.   But we made a mistake. We didn't by the wall plug for the cooler and it only worked via car plug! A quick trip back found the right device and we were good to go. Next we hit up Tegut and I got some yogurt, spiderman pudding and cheese. David bought some tiny sausages, cheese, yogurt, soup and fruit. He doesn't have a family who will cook for him. So I'm glad that he will be set for the rest of the week.   Afterwards we parted ways and he waddled off with his cooler to just catch his bus home. I was stuck waiting for 15 or so minutes until my next bus arrived. The more I was outside the hot I became and finally I gave up and bought a drink from the nearby bakery. Finally the bus came but I was left on the standing room only section. It stayed that way for 3/4 of the trip until finally enough people had gotten off and I snagged a seat. Getting off that toaster was beautiful, it was nice to get some breeze on my back. Then I heard a familiar voice and saw Kat talking with some friends. She saw me and introduced her friends to me. We walked home together talking about her weekend. She apparently had a good time and I'm glad. Everyone deserves a good birthday weekend!   We got home and I goofed around on the couch then helped Meg with her English homework after she returned home from her clarinet lesson [she confessed that she wants to drop clarinet and pick up hip hop dancing, as she can't do anything with clarinet but she would be more active with dancing]. Then dinner came and it was tasty, some sort of pork with spices and what not with a side of pasta with mushroom sauce. Who'd of thought in a million years that I would enjoy a meal like this!   After dinner more English then bed. I was super tired but by the time I actually got into bed my mind went a millions miles an hour. So I read until I fell asleep.  

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Heidelberg - Sailor Moon chalk art, weird store front, cool church, David being sassy, new friend

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Heidekberg - Museum of German Medicine within the castle and a giant cask, I mean it had to be 2 stories tall.

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Heidelberg Castle

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Heidelberg - Bridge, David being sweaty and food!

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Heidelberg

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9 Juni 2014 - I am Disappoint

We went to Heidelberg. It was poorly organized and my feet are killing me from all the extra walking in giant circles. We walked up a giant hill and saw all of Heidelberg, saw some tower having to do with Bismarck.  walked down the hill on steps. Walked over a bridge with some cool statues. Ate lunch, it was tasty [also PSA I can officially eat pork now, I've been experiment for a while but it was the first time I had a full dish and no bad side effects!]. David and i both got bratwurst but I got potato salad and he got sauerkraut on the side and we shared. We had time after lunch so we toured the nearby church and it wasn't anything grandious. It did have the German eagle watching down from one of the domed ceilings so that was cool. After lunch we walked some more to the castle and goofed off their. David and I find it funny how none of the castles we've been to have any sort of history surrounding them. We should have left with the group going home then, but we were too late to catch them. Instead we wandered around Heidelberg for another 2 hours doing nothing significant. Honestly I would have rather gone with just David and Patrick. We're pretty good at figuring things out, except trains but we could have asked about that. Sorry I don't have more to say I was just really disappointed in the lack of organization and the fact that I almost missed the last bus home.   But if anything Heidelberg is gorgeous and just like a fairytale town.

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8 Juni 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND MAN HAPPY RETURNS TO THE BEST DAD EVER <\p>

Holy cap today was freakishly hot. Like in the mid 30s. Thankfully I had worn shorts and a tee shirt, stupidly I did not pack a bathing suit.

I left the house around 10.45 and made my way back down to the bus 2 stop. Sundays and holidays have a schedule all their own so I was waiting quite a bit before my bus came. Did I mention it was hot because it was. Thankfully not southern hot where you’re swimming in the air but a decent midsummer heat not expected for June. I finally got to Werda around 12.20, 20 minutes after the agreed upon time but you can’t help but be on the buses schedule.

Tomorrow [Monday] is the trip to Heidelberg, David lives closer than I aka I wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get to the bus station at 7.15. So I was going to spend the night in one of his spare beds [he has 3 beds in his apartment, 3!] and depart from their. In the mean time we were going to hang out and wander around Marburg. This was a bad idea.

First getting to David’s house is a pain. It’s just straight up hills. Not my nice spread apart hills where you walk 300 meters between hills, no, all uphill. Blahhhhhh. It’s also unbelievably hot so the mixture of my legs complaining and the rest of my body burning up, it makes the journey hellish. We get to David’s house after an eternity and are introduced to Frau H. I don’t know what I was expecting, but she wasn’t it. She was very sweet but kind of brash. I learned she had a few children, one of which was also named David but they are way older than us. The tree of us go upstairs and hang out. I take a nap and the boys read their books. Then we watch watch a bit of German television.  

Finally despite my protests that only McDonald’s would be open, the boys want to go to town. I was frustrated that Davud wasn’t listening and even more knowing that once we left the house we’d have to go up those dreadful hills again. So I kind of gave attitude and told them I didn’t care where we went. Surprisingly there were a few bakeries open so I was able to grab a roll for dinner later and a sweet. The McDonald’s was open and we tried the American cuisine. I got a veggie burger and it was decent. The boys said their food tasted like it did at home. With that we departed to David’s house. Patrick split off from us then, opting to go to his home instead. We got off at a different stop than the one we had said we would meet at earlier meaning that the climb was a little easier but not much. We got to the house and watched a little bit of Blue Exorcist, did homework and failed at eating dinner.

David’s apartment has a kitchen area but none of the common things you might find in one, like a fridge or stove top or even basic things like cutlery or dishware. But it does have 3 different electric kettles and a microwave so we made do. For dinner we had a cup of instant mashed potatoes and the bread I had bought earlier. The potatoes had a bottom layer of bread crumbs but it was difficult to get them with the potatoes on the bread, so at the end we were eating straight breadcrumbs. It was interesting and garlicky.

After dinner we read then got ready for bed. It was 10.30 by the time we finally went to sleep and all was good.