Germany Trip: February 14 - 28, 2006
Feb.14
I got up at 5:30 am in order to make it to the airport on time. I finished packing, ate the last of my Bulgarian yogurt and bread, and took out the trash. I was at the station by 6:30. I was early, and I felt good about it. That was until trains scheduled to arrive never did, and an announcement came over the PA. I didn’t know what happened but all trains - regardless of direction - had been stopped. When the train I was supposed to catch didn’t come, I was worried. The announcement threw me into what I call a calm panic. I called Mari, asking for advice. I had to either go to Yokohama or Shibuya in order to get to Narita, but both are only accessible by one train line where we live. Since the trains were not running, I would either have to go by bus or taxi. I don’t know the bus system and I’ve never rode in a taxi here either, which had a long queue. At some point I think I started crying because I didn’t know what to do and Mari wasn’t sure what the best plan of action was.
This is when I met Sofia - who I still need to thank in a more proper manner than saying “thanks!” and email.
Sofia is half Japanese, half Swedish. She works for Ikea while living here in Hiyoshi. It turns out she was also on her way to Narita. We even had the same flight. Can we say freaky but cool? Since she speaks Japanese fluently, and has had more experience in traveling around, she found out that the reason the trains stopped was because of…an accident. A person trying to throw himself or herself in front of the train kind of accident. I’m not positive if that’s what it was but the accident was large enough to stop all trains for 40 minutes. That normally isn’t a technical problem, I think.
In order to make our flight, we hopped into a taxi (when one was free) and got off at a station before Yokohama. At Yokohama, Sofia was able to get our train tickets to Narita switched and we got on the next express for the airport. While waiting, she called the desk for our flight and explained our situation. The staff got my tickets from the travel agency I bought mine from and said they would wait for us.
Since we missed our previous trains, we didn’t have seats reserved for us. So we basically stood in the baggage space and talked. Around 10 we arrived at Narita, which was a whole hour later than we were supposed to be there. Thanks to Sofia’s call we were still allowed to check in, and made it to the gate in time for boarding. I also have to thank our luck with meeting the right people. Our taxi driver looked out for us, not for his business. He told us to get off at the station before Yokohama so we could get there faster. The JR lady understood our issue and only made me pay for the transfer from Shibuya to Shinagawa instead of making both of us buy new tickets. We had the staff on our side because we called ahead of time to explain ourselves.
The flight to Amsterdam was on time, and we arrived a little early. During the flight I watched “Wallace and Gromit: Night of the Were-Rabbit” and a Japanese film called “The Gift.” For the most part, I catnapped. I was awake for the meals, and I even went back to the galley once to ask for some water and a snack. I think…I think I look like a kid, or sound like one…or something. The stewardess gave me candy and was very kind about it but it seemed like she was talking to a child…but maybe I’m just a big kid. My head began to hurt at some point.
Eating meals on the plane reminded me of Kuitan. XD
Amsterdam’s airport is huge, and very cool. I never explored it but the place is like it’s own small town, with a museum, a hotel, and various shops. I never got to explore it since my layovers were very short. When I went through security, I was body searched. It tickled, and let’s say it sure felt weird to have a Dutch woman run her fingers underneath my bra to make sure I hadn’t concealed any knives in there. My breasts are deadly weapons you know.*snerk*
The flight to Berlin might have been a little late but was uneventful. I think I decided that I liked European men (looks-wise) compared to Japanese men. But now that I am back in Japan, I think I just like certain facial shapes and proportions, which are probably more Western in nature because that’s what I grew up with and is what I am.
German customs, if that’s what it was, was probably the most lax customs and security ever that I had to go through. That’s not saying you can get away with crap in Germany, but the guards just kind of waved me through when I tried to show them my passport. I really wanted a stamp from Germany in my passport. =(
But the best part of arriving in Germany was being greeted by a little paper sign that reads “Obi-Jess” in lence’s hands. XD Her dad was with her and with my welcome hug I received a chocolate bar! (Which I still haven’t eaten - yes I am a sentimental person!) Berlin looked…beautiful at night to me and I still think it does. I was…excited to be in Europe, to be where a lot of Western history has happened, to be in one of my ancestral lands. And I was loopy with time zones. XD We went grocery shopping, and seeing a Western grocery store made me even loopier and useless in decision-making. XD
My first German meal was döner, which actually comes from Turkey I think. Well it was good anyway. X3 Lence’s house is the coolest house ever.
Feb. 15
We slept in I think for a while. XD It was nice to sleep in. German breakfast is to my liking. It’s simple and it’s just enough to get you going. Plus honey in hot milk is the greatest drink ever. We went to several shopping malls in Berlin that lence knew. I bought a pair of jeans at the one closest to her house since I needed new pants. XD German trains - local ones - amuse me! They have these buttons you have to push to get off, you can even open the doors while the train is still moving a bit before it stops! Lence bought some DVDs, which we watched. XD (Not all at once mind you.) We had gelato and a bratwurst and some juice while we were out. When we got back home, we watched “Evolution” and “Michael Collins.” I must note this is the first time I wrote in my physical journal about lence being cute (as in she induces me to squee silently) and wanting to take her home and keep her. =X I also saw cute babies and puppies. XD
Feb. 16
I figured out we had been sleeping for 12 hours each night that I was there so far. XD We stayed in and watched movies all day. We watched “The Island” and two German parody movies, which were hilarious even if I couldn’t understand them 100% of the time. I also got to see lence’s baby pictures (one of which I want scanned because it is so so cute). Her mother made us spaghetti for dinner. I also attempted to learn how to count in German…but I think I can only count to ten. Her parents wished we had gone out. XD;;
Feb. 17
After breakfast, we went sightseeing around Berlin. We saw the Brandenburger Tor, a war memorial dedicated to the Soviet soldiers that died (erected by the Soviet Union when it occupied East Berlin), and we walked…a very long way to see the Siegessäule. At the Seigessäule, we saw a small exhibit on its history (which had a bit of German history in it as well) and we climbed up it. Stairs…many stairs. I thought I would die from being a fat ass but here I am. It was about…60 meters we climbed. You had a good view of Berlin from the top of it though. We walked back to a closer train station, stopping to partake in Burger King. Oh I missed Burger King…they have GREAT brownies.
After that, we purchased the train tickets we would need to travel around Germany. At home we watched the news, looked at all the Star Wars doujinshi I had brought to show her, I read the Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan comics Dark Horse published a few years ago, and then we had dinner! Ok German food rocks. More than Japanese food, and yes it’s because I am a white girl. Potatoes, broccoli in hollandaise sauce, and schnitzel. BAM. It was great.
Once dinner was over we watched “Van Hellsing.” Which is a good movie despite what I heard. We then prepared for our one-week adventure and went to bed.
Feb. 18
Everyone was up by 8 am and we all ate breakfast together. I think I miss having someone cook for me because it tastes so much better than when I make eggs. Her father commented on how I hold my utensils and I’ve decided it’s just an American thing. XD;; We all left for Dresden, which was a nice ride in the car with nice music.
In Dresden, lence and I stayed with her great aunt. She is a nice woman, who is very kind. I realized at this time that there are still a lot of words or phrases that sound like English in German - more than mouse or apple, but things like what is that/this?
Teatime, which we had early, was nice. XD Fruity tea, cakes, oh it was yummy. Lence’s parents left to go off somewhere and we went to see a large section of town made up of old buildings and museums. I never got the name of the area but the tram stop was called Synagoge for you know a Jewish temple that was right there. XD;; It was all very lovely. *__* Of course we had to have a snack and peeked into museum shops. X3 We even went to a small mall on the way back home, where lence bought some of the Turkish candy she likes. XD The weather was on and off with the sunshine and rain.
We had dinner with her great aunt, and watched TV and “The Ninth Gate” in German. But I kept falling asleep on the movie so we went to sleep after it was over. XD
Feb. 19
Now this was a more…traditional? German breakfast. I mean eggs in eggcups! I suck at those kinds of eggs but they were good! We watched the special on polar bears that Ewan McGregor did in German. XD;;
Later, we visited a castle that was in the same area that all the other old buildings were. It had an armory and an art gallery, which were fascinating and beautiful. At the café inside we had some really good sandwiches.
At her great aunt’s we watched more TV and “George of the Jungle” in German. Oh I love that movie. It’s so…so stupid. XD
Feb. 20
We got up early in order to catch our train to Nuremberg, which we arrived in around 3:30. We had an adventure trying to find the youth hostel but we found it. It was inside part of an old fort I think…or town wall or something. We had Chinese food for dinner, which is good, a bit truer to China then some US restaurants. We had odd room mates who I think weren’t very fond of us. =/ lence bought these almonds that are like...baked in sugar or roasted in sugar or something. They taste great. *___*
Feb. 21
Early rising for a complimentary breakfast. -_-; Hostel beds are worse than dorm beds.
Hurrah for odd dreams. After we checked out of our rooms we visited Kaiserburg, a castle that has been around since…the Middle Ages I believe. It was very interesting and I like castles. XD
On our way to the train station I had a crepe while being jabbered at by a toddler. X3 (lence rolled her eyes at me for jabbering back.) Our train to Munich was late so we had time to eat lunch. Lence went to the station’s bookstore to get a map and she did, but she also got Star Wars comics. XD We got free drinks for having to wait for the train though.
Munich has a large train station that is a bit confusing. The youth hostel was easier to find this time. As for sight seeing…we sort of hung around the Sendlingerplatz area, which had a few churches I believe (or I suppose cathedrals are better words for them). We did a lot of window shopping (and some snacking). I bought postcards (which I did at every city by the way) and wooden coasters, because they were pretty. There was one item we dubbed the Bavarian Jackalope but I didn’t take its picture. It was like a bunny, with long teeth, eagle wings, and deer antlers. It comes in the night, stealing your lederhosen, sucking the blood of your children, and ruining your beer stock. A truly vicious creature.
I also bought hair ties in a vain attempt to control my hair, and as usual I failed for my hair never obeys me these days. Lence found the sample lipsticks…and put one on me. It was a nice color…until it turned neon pink when you tried to wash it off. Did I mention it was waterproof? XD;; There was also a potential for a football riot since a game was going on that night and the police were out. A bit scary.
We also made up Star Wars jokes. XD After we took showers (for we did stay clean thank you very much) we went out to eat dinner. We decided on a nice (but expensive) Thai restaurant. It was worth it and they had a 6-year-old lobster named Karl. He was HUGE.
Our room at the hostel was huge. It could hold…20 girls easily. But there were only four of us. The pillows were better and the beds might have been too. There was a second door to the room, which lence blocked with a bed at night because we couldn’t open it but we had no idea where it went. I thought it was cute but I don’t blame her, if I wasn’t so…dense I would have blocked it too out of fear of being murdered or whatnot.
Feb.22
This was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I had because we had very noisy and rather inconsiderate roommates. The problem was they were at one end of the room and we were at the other so with all that empty space, any noise they made carried.
The breakfast at this hostel was the best but the staff at the front desk was rather mean. We were soon on our way to Fussen. I noted at this time that Germany has a lot of manga translated. They are…years ahead of the US. If only I read German…but at least I read Japanese? Lence is a bit taller than me. XD
Once we arrived in Fussen we found the youth hostel, and then went back to the station to get on a bus to take us to Neuswanstein, or at least the little town area, which leads to the castle.
Now, I don’t know if I ever explained this on LJ or not, but I had the impulse to go visit this castle. I saw a little booth on Germany at the Keio school festival in November, and they had the castle featured. So I decided to ask lence if I could come see her over break and we go visit the castle and well there you are. That is why I went to Germany.
We took a horse carriage the mile up into the mountains it takes to get to the castle. I took a lot of pictures of the outside of the castle because you couldn’t take pictures inside. There were many tourists. The castle…was lavish and exquisite and most definitely conceived by a mad King. I bought some postcards and a book about the castle. We walked the mile back down into the valley since there were no more carriages. XD
We had dinner in a nice Bavarian restaurant. We almost went to see the Ludwig 2 musical but in the end it wasn’t going to work out and we just went back to the youth hostel. There were many children…and not the cute kind. Our room…had no keys. Normally you got keys that they would reimburse you for later, but not at this hostel! However, our roommates were perfect. April, a Canadian girl, and Juri from good old Fukuokaken! (Yes there was Japanese conversation and befriendment!)
Feb. 23
Noisy children and adults = an interesting night of sleep. Breakfast was...was blaaah. This hostel had the easiest checkout though. We bought some snacks for our long train ride back to Berlin. We hung out in a touristy store for a bit, playing with the music boxes. XD
We had a layover at Augsburg, so we had lunch at Burger King, and walked around a strip mall. We enjoyed the pet store, which had a bunch of silly but cute birds!
The rest of our journey back to Berlin was spent talking, playing hangman, and trying to ignore the screaming children, though a few toddlers were very fond of staring at lence. XD
Her parents picked us up in Berlin and we had dinner at home. Some kind of fish served cold but it’s good! We unpacked, resettled, and went to bed in a good bed!
Feb. 24
For some reason I didn’t sleep that well - getting readjusted I suppose. We did some sightseeing with her father. We went to Bernauer Straße where you could see some of what remains of the Berlin Wall and a small museum exhibit dedicated to it (the people who died trying to cross it, how it was erected, etc.) We then went to the Berlin TV Tower! We went up…300something meters in the air, and you could see all of Berlin, it was beautiful. We then had a lunch break before we visited the Charlottenburger Schloß, which is a palace styled after the one at Versailles. As we drove around Berlin, lence’s dad would point things out and explain their history or importance to me.
We later went out to do karaoke with lence’s friends Katherine and Melly (who are sisters). It was a lot of fun! XD And we all had McDonald’s for dinner ahahahha.
Feb. 25
The one day lence was awake before I was. XD I got my hair cut, which means it’s just a bit shorter and has a section I can braid. Yes, like a Jedi, but let’s just say I suck at it and it often ends up NOT braided. I bought a messenger bag, which is the brother of lence’s messenger bag. XD I need to stick a huge cloth flower on it like all the hip Japanese girls do. =3
Dinner was goulash - the best goulash I have ever had. There was also red cabbage and potatoes. XD We watched three movies: Kinsey, Rob Roy, and the newest live action Peter Pan. I liked them all.
Feb. 26
I woke up first this day! I looked at lence’s Art of Star Wars books. We also watched…two out of six of the movies (not in order ahahaha). We had casserole for dinner but the German pancakes were the best. I really like those.
Feb. 27
I am good at waking up before people. XD We ran some last minute errands for me and tried to find ponchos worth buying but were unsuccessful. I had my taste of German beer and well…I prefer the stronger after dinner shots they gave me to be honest. XD We watched “Return of the Jedi” and “Big Trouble.”
Feb. 28
And up at 5:30 am again! I slept…badly. Very badly. We were on time to the airport, but my flight had been canceled so the company rebooked me and gave me a voucher for snacks. Instead of spending four hours in Amsterdam, I was spending them in Berlin, which was find with me because that meant I could stay with lence longer.
The flight from Amsterdam to Narita was delayed an hour, so I was lonely with my thoughts of wanting to return to being care free in Germany with lence.
I spent the flight back sleeping, awake for only meals and necessary bathroom trips. I did watch “The Corpse Bride” though. It’s not a bad movie but it could have been so much more.
It snowed quite often during my travels, and did I mention I was in Germany for Carnival? XD