(no subject)
As I sit in my room, listening to German hip-hop, finishing off a bag of tortilla chips, I find myself mistyping letters on every other word. I finally fucking have internet, meaning a computer in my room with a good old American keyboard. I like to think of myself as someone who doesn't need many posessions, but God do I need internet access. No more waiting in lines at the library, which is open 10/6 (as opposed to 24/7), and no more paying at internet cafes while 12 year old German kids smoke and scream in my ear.
I am so happy.
My family came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving. Overall, it went well. I mean, they had a good time, whereas I was left exhausted and relieved of most of my desire to be in St. Louis on Christmas. I was very nervous about the whole trip. Two days before they arrived, I spoke with my dad who told me, "I think this whole thing is a bad idea." I also recieved an email from my sister, telling me she wanted to spend time with her Berliner friend. She planned to either skip out on our first day together, or invite him to go to Prague with us (a trip meant to be just the two of us). I told her I was not comfortable going to Prague with this 30-something stranger. She retorted with claims of inclusiveness and hospitality. A small email fight ensued, and I too started to think the whole thing was a bad idea.
Saturday and Sunday I spent 9 hours each day on trains, picking up siblings and parents arriving on different flights, and leading them to Berlin. Saturday night Gwen's Berliner friend drove us around town in his Porsche, pointing out the sights. He took us to a Viennese coffee house for dinner and paid for all of our meals. Listening to him continually chide me for being a vegetarian, and trying not to stare at his glass eye, I feel I earned it. We went to some fantastic bars. I went to bed at 2 and got up at 4 the next day to board the train.
Monday we were finally all together in our East Berlin, graffiti-marked apartment. We stayed in a great place, but the weather was incredibly shitty and everyone suffering jet-lag. We locked ourselves out of the apartment. I attempted to lead them around Berlin. We made it to the Reichstag, a nice lunch, an exhibit and a Wall museum. By the end of the day, everyone was ready for non-group time. I took a train back to Dortmund to attend a class on Tuesday, planning to see them again Wednesday afternoon.
Thanksgiving was to be at my Aunt's, on the opposite side of the country. They were planning to rent a car and drive there, but had no directions, nor internet access or phone to contact my aunt. One quick call from the rental agency, and a few hours of my aunt and I waiting literally on the side of the road, we successfully met up. My aunt deemed it a miracle.
I am a planner. Especially after having lived in Europe for a few months, I understand even moreso now the necessity of planning ahead, booking places to sleep, having good directions, knowing train times, etc. My family chose to not partake in any of this, yet still had no problems the entire week. I am simply fucking amazed. Everyone in my family is very level-headed, but chose to think irrationally in nearly every situation. My mother took out 1500 euros (over $2000) and carried this cash around with her. Yet she also managed to find some Deutschmarks, replaced five years ago by the euro, and managed to find a business which would accept this as currency.
I have much more to write...
I am so happy.
My family came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving. Overall, it went well. I mean, they had a good time, whereas I was left exhausted and relieved of most of my desire to be in St. Louis on Christmas. I was very nervous about the whole trip. Two days before they arrived, I spoke with my dad who told me, "I think this whole thing is a bad idea." I also recieved an email from my sister, telling me she wanted to spend time with her Berliner friend. She planned to either skip out on our first day together, or invite him to go to Prague with us (a trip meant to be just the two of us). I told her I was not comfortable going to Prague with this 30-something stranger. She retorted with claims of inclusiveness and hospitality. A small email fight ensued, and I too started to think the whole thing was a bad idea.
Saturday and Sunday I spent 9 hours each day on trains, picking up siblings and parents arriving on different flights, and leading them to Berlin. Saturday night Gwen's Berliner friend drove us around town in his Porsche, pointing out the sights. He took us to a Viennese coffee house for dinner and paid for all of our meals. Listening to him continually chide me for being a vegetarian, and trying not to stare at his glass eye, I feel I earned it. We went to some fantastic bars. I went to bed at 2 and got up at 4 the next day to board the train.
Monday we were finally all together in our East Berlin, graffiti-marked apartment. We stayed in a great place, but the weather was incredibly shitty and everyone suffering jet-lag. We locked ourselves out of the apartment. I attempted to lead them around Berlin. We made it to the Reichstag, a nice lunch, an exhibit and a Wall museum. By the end of the day, everyone was ready for non-group time. I took a train back to Dortmund to attend a class on Tuesday, planning to see them again Wednesday afternoon.
Thanksgiving was to be at my Aunt's, on the opposite side of the country. They were planning to rent a car and drive there, but had no directions, nor internet access or phone to contact my aunt. One quick call from the rental agency, and a few hours of my aunt and I waiting literally on the side of the road, we successfully met up. My aunt deemed it a miracle.
I am a planner. Especially after having lived in Europe for a few months, I understand even moreso now the necessity of planning ahead, booking places to sleep, having good directions, knowing train times, etc. My family chose to not partake in any of this, yet still had no problems the entire week. I am simply fucking amazed. Everyone in my family is very level-headed, but chose to think irrationally in nearly every situation. My mother took out 1500 euros (over $2000) and carried this cash around with her. Yet she also managed to find some Deutschmarks, replaced five years ago by the euro, and managed to find a business which would accept this as currency.
I have much more to write...