Journey into Mystery

UT students blogging about their study abroad adventures. Exciting stories to follow.

[withonestep]

So yesterday my friend Becky decided that I was going to start watching Supernatural. So we watch the first episode and I check fb because I'm trying to coordinate plans for later that day with Chase. And Brandon messages me asking if I'm still going to Rothenburg with him a day early to stay at his German's friend's house and I had assumed this was no longer a thing since he hadn't mentioned it for two weeks. But I still wanted to go. So i panicked because the train we were taking was going to leave in 2 hours and I hadn't packed and just. It was a thing.

So Brandon and I went to Rothenburg to stay with his friend and I ended up getting super drunk because we went to this party in the middle of nowhere thing and at first we bought vodka red bulls in little respectable glasses (and then I drank something mixed with Jaeger that this one German that I had literally just met that very instant handed to me) and then another new acquaintance came up with a huge Mass (basically a liter but maybe larger) bier glass and i was like "good we're on beer now im freaking ready for beer" but brandon took a gulp and looked at me and told me it was vodka redbull. Between about 8 people we split three mass vodka red bulls. It was crazy. And I showed these Germans my license and they freaked out when they learned I was from Hawaii and texted my full name to each other so they could add me on facebook. Which they did today.

This morning when I woke up I'm pretty sure I was still drunk and experienced myself developing a hangover. We went on a long tour of Rothenburg and its a beautiful city and you should all go. And i bought a little sword.

Oh and its 3:47 and I have to wake up at 6:30 because we're going on another excursion tomorrow and then the world cup fucking final is tomorrow night and my sister comes in the minute it starts and i have so much homework and ughh. and this is potentially the last time I will have to myself until August 8. Which is weird.

Anyway. Life Choices. sleep jetzt. <3

[withonestep]

Practically nothing in this post is about studying abroad.

So yesterday I admitted to Brandon that I kind of like him and we had the basic "oh im flattered, but" talk. which was fine. and at least that's over and i can prove to all of my friends that its not going to work.

on the other hand. i totally have feelings for Chase. which sucks. mostly because I think he's attracted to me. And so I need to find someone else to have feelings for like. Right now.

Also we went to a wine tasting in this beautiful 900 year old wine cellar and tried 8 wines (so we all had 4 whole glasses) and so we were all pretty tipsy by the end of it. it was the first time michael or audrey have been drunk and austin was definitely drunk which was funny but also like "austin. please stop poking me in the sides. thank you."

ooh and becky may be developing a crush on robert which i am so excited abouttttttttt. but will probably fade in the next three days but stilllllll. and matt and amelia are SO close to being a thing and im so excited about it and ahhhhhhhh. oh and inga was so tipsy yesterday that she almost kissed me and acknowledged it outloud and said it was awkward and it was super adorable and yay.

en route to that conversation with brandon (most of which happened over fb message) he started asking me about rachel and how i could tell that she is not interested in dee. so ill hopefully find some opportunity to actually have that conversation with brandon so that he can see that im not feeling weird about anything. the weirdest thing about that is that im not sure if he gets that i dont really have those feelings for him anymore. ... which he probably doesnt. so. thisll be interesting.

oh and becky is coming over soon to force me to watch supernatural. so i guess this is a new chapter in my fandom life that i never wanted to have. but i have no choice. itll be fun im sure. maybe.

my sisters coming on sunday practically the moment the world cup starts which is kind of annoying but at least we'll get to watch most of it with like 1000 germans. so that'll be great. if she cheers for Argentina im gonna kill her.

im a little nervous that we'll fight a lot and im nervous about the sleeping situations because my bed is really small and the floor is really hard. but we'll see how it goes i guess.

i hope you all are having wonderful less-dramatic summers than i am.

<3

[withonestep]

Me: How much do I hate you right now? By which I mean how amazing was London?

Chase: You hate me more than anything ever. You hate me so much we're not even friends.

[withonestep]

Things I Need to Remember but have been bad about recording

Accidentally hitchhiking from a Nun up a mountain to a church where I made flower carpets and became a member of Schoenstatt

Kind of befriending a random German and Michelle freaking out and stopping a guy from jumping off of the old Main bridge and then writing our initials and the fact that we saved someone's life on a lock and locking it to said bridge.

Six people sitting in a hotel room snapchatting each other and making fun of the people sitting on the balcony getting drunk and talking about how immature we were. #SLUT

How freaking beautiful Lauterbrunnen is and how badly I want to strap myself to a parachute and run off a mountain there.

Michael dancing to Hips Don't Lie while standing on his seat in a train compartment

Accidentally shocking myself on an electric fence meant to keep cows from roaming wherever they want

Staying up until 7am because I thought watching the sunrise from the fortress would be a good idea (which it was at 530 when the sun rose but became increasingly more annoying the longer it took to eat and get home)

Being followed by goats on a hill with a chapel on it in Austria

[withonestep]

Me: How much do I hate you right now? By which I mean how amazing was London?

Chase: You hate me more than anything ever. You hate me so much we're not even friends.

[withonestep]

This is how one of my friends describes our night last night... I think the only liberty he's taking is saying "brandon's bf" but is he taking that liberty we just dont knowww....

We met drunkards on a bus and you [Brandon] nailed the improv convo with some stranger on the phone. We went to Bombe where a really drunk girl kept running in to people, Brandon's bf didn't introduce us to anyone because of the 24/7 throwback music, and all the German people were "impenetrable". Then we bounced to put a lock on a bridge where Michelle gave us an incorrect crash course in Bavarian history which led to a real Bavarian chilling with us. Then he and Brandon saved some guy's life who was going to jump off a bridge which only served to delay the bridge lock reading "The day we saved a guys life M^2(K+H)" Then we caught a bus after being again approached by drunkards. I ptfo on the bus then Brandon and I met ANOTHER German who was adamant that our German was great. She lives in our Stadtteil. Then I assume we went to sleep after checking our Facebooks.

[withonestep]

Dr. Hake: I think your generation is the Flip Flop generation.

Everyone else: Nope. That's just Malia.

[withonestep]

Birthday Update

They threw me a surprise party.

Chase and Robert convinced me that they were going to buy me lunch at a cafe and so I met them at Robert's dorm and Robert led me in and his room was empty and his curtains were drawn and he says "I think Chase is in the back..." and we just lock eye contact because I know something is up but I assume it's three boys in the backyard with a cake.

But it's 25 people who have decorated everything with chalk. And who bought me chocolate, a beer stein, and a Catholic bible in German.

I'm pretty sure these are the greatest people on earth.

Most of them have signed my bible, which was purchased by the "Jew Crew", apparently, and I think it will be my most treasured possession from this trip, even if I never get good enough to really read it.  (Chase wrote "To Malia, The Queen of Love and Beauty. Happy Birthday." He is everything I want in life. Also Brandon signed with his Hebrew name like I can't even.) 

I took several selfies wearing Chase's helm that looks like a bulldog while holding my stein. And we played soccer. And it was just perfection.

And then we got kicked out by the Hausmeister at 5pm because we were too loud apparently and so I went to mass with Austin and Audrey and then went and had dinner with Chase, Robert, Chad, and Emily. And I got to talk to my parents. And then Chase, Robert and I talked about Game of Thrones and religion and just. This is incredible. This day. The best day.

June birthdays are the best.

Love you all.

[withonestep]

Watching a countdown to your birthday is really exhilarating, even it exists to countdown to the beginning of the England/Italy game and just happens to be counting down to your birthday.

Watching it in a room full of near strangers who can all speak a language you struggle intensely at as well as your own language near perfectly is something else entirely.

Especially when they all start singing Happy Birthday as soon as the countdown ends, without even making a big deal about it.

Germans are the best.

So I started my 22nd birthday by watching England lose (boo) and talking with several Deutschebros (as I have decided to call them) about various differences between the US and Germany and English and German and stuff. And also, of course, the World Cup.

It was awesome.

They made me take a large gulp of jaeger because it was my birthday :)

We stayed up until 4:30 in the morning. The sky was already getting brighter and we climbed up to the top of a tower at a castle in Rothenfels that we were staying at with our literature class. It was super beautiful at night and it was crazy that I was in a super old tower in Germany with Germans and just. It was surreal.

And today some of my American friends are going to treat me to lunch and whatever else they have planned (you never know with Ameribros). It should be wonderful.

I hope you all have as nice of a day as I have had so far.

[withonestep]

Yesterday I played soccer with some of the people in my group, and I felt like I was 10 years old again. I just wanted to sprint everywhere and kick the ball super hard and just run. a lot. It was odd. I wish I felt like that all the time.

I suppose it was tension relieving... I want to swim laps for an hour or something. If only there were free pools close to me... and I had a one-piece and goggles.

Today my plan is to get my hair cut by a Spanish chick, go to British girl's goodbye party, and hopefully make it back up to watch some of the World Cup at Brandon's dorm... Should be a party.

Oh and hopefully Michelle (from Ireland) and I will write our names in sharpie on the lock I brought and lock it to the bridge because we've been talking about it for the past three days but I've never had a sharpie with me. So. That's a thing.

It'll be nice when my life kind of returns to normal and/or I actually sit in my room for a bit and sleep.

[withonestep]

So a week ago some of my friends met this British girl through a mutual friend (UT is huge, okay?) and I officially met her on Thursday at a dorm bar thing. And I've spent the past two days hanging out with her because shes trying to do a bunch of shit before she leaves Germany for good on Friday.

But it's insane. because we JUST met. and like, me and a few of the other boys in my group are hanging out with her and her Irish friend who is super great all the time.

At first I thought our relationship was more of a "you're friends with these boys and i like my power over them and you're kind of a side-kick" and it might be a little of that, but i think she just thinks im cool for some reason i dont fully understand and its great. like. she just really enjoys people.

And im sad she's leaving. It's mind-boggling how quickly things change here.

Anyway, we're going to the pool and clubbing tomorrow and then something on thursday night and maybe something wednesday because yolo and idevenk. Life is insane.

I hope you are all well. I miss you. :)

[withonestep]

So I have a crush on a non-practicing Jew frat boy from New York who is majoring in advertising, looks incredibly good in lederhosen, can actually speak German well, asked me what it feels like sleeping on my boobs, told me and two other friends what happened when he went and saw a sex show in Prague with the other boys, asked if he could refer to the three of us as "Brandon's Angels", had me go shopping with him to help him find summer wear, and made me (basically) cry while describing the deaths of characters from Lost in full detail.  Oh and he's not turning 21 until September 23.

[withonestep]

I went to Prague this weekend.

Apparently "Prague" in Czech is "Praha", which I will never cease to find hilarious. Also, hello in Czech is something like "Ahoy!" which is also hilarious. Czech is great.

It was strange how similar to Germany everything was, and yet how different. There were large, beautiful buildings everywhere and the roads were paved with cobblestone, but the cobblestones were uprooted in many areas and the buildings often had green domes instead of large spires.  The food too was similar, meat and potatoes/bread, but slightly different types of meat and potatoes and bread. It was delicious.

We all decided by the end of the trip that we missed "home" and wanted to go back to Wurzburg. (Unfortunately, one of my friends didnt quite make it because he had forgotten his passport and had to stay 2 extra nights to wait for the US Consulate to open so he could get a replacement.)

We walked so much around Prague that I thought my calves were going to clench up forever in protest. We also drank a lot of beer in Prague. I learned much more about some of the people in my program than I ever wanted to. And I bought a lovely pocketwatch.

I bought a pot and some noodles so now I can make something in my dorm room which is lovely. But today I realized I don't have a bowl. So I need to purchase that. I just ate out of the pot. 

Also, a slang word in German is "geil" which means horny and apparently it can be used to describe basically anything in a similar way to "sick" or "radical" or "cool" and now i want to use it all the time but never want to use it again because its the weirdest saying of all time.

Sometimes it seems like I've been here forever. But I know I'll be leaving soon and that makes me very sad. 

My sister is coming to visit in the middle of July. We're going to go to Munich and Rome together and possible Salzburg and Zurich as well. It should be an incredible time.

I'm two episodes behind in Game of Thrones now because the unblocker for hbo go is the slowest thing on earth. Tumblr has become a nightmare.

[withonestep]

Things I Miss about the U.S.: TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 

WHY ARE THERE NONE HERE

I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO DIE EVERY TIME I CROSS THE STREET

UGH

[withonestep]

I shaved my husband's head today.

My Awakening husband. On the floor of my dorm room. With an electric razor. I think I did a good job? It was kind of stressful but hopefully I did it well.

Before that we walked up this huge hill to a beautiful church. And on the way there we stopped and sat on a bench and talked about Awakening for what felt like an hour, which was great, even if most of his suggestions are a little too late to implement. I really need to sit down and write all of my ideas into a journal or something...

Anyway, this was the bench.

I know. Germany is INCREDIBLE.

So then we looked around the super pretty church and started talking about various organizations at the UCC and then he bought an electric razor and we went back to my dorm and I shaved his head. It was a thing.

I can check that off my bucket list, I guess. (Was that even on my bucket list?)

So this Sunday I was trying to get to mass but I missed my bus by like a minute and decided to walk. And I ended up on the wrong overpass that led me to a neighborhood far away from everything. And I was forced to walk in these creepy subway-esque pedestrian things, one of which said "Are You Lost?" in English graffiti on the wall. Talk about terrifying. But somehow managed to find my way back and walk into mass just as it was starting. #mphc

Also I'm going to Prague tomorrow for most of the weekend and am basically going to follow people around because YOLO?

And then Speaker applications are due and ahhhhhhhh.

Also all I eat is doener all the time and I need to cave and buy a pot and some pasta so I can eat something else. Anything else.

Before I go, here's a fun picture from the day.

<3 y'all.

[withonestep]

I might be convincing the waiter at this Italian restaurant that I actually speak German based on saying "ja" or "nein" to context clues. #success?

[withonestep]

You know you're back in China when the taxi driver is smoking in the car, does not have seat belts, is swerving in and out of traffic, and you are 95% sure you're going to die.