final chapter..
well, its now time for my final entry while im over in germany. not that i wont miss it, but i am ready to go home. my 17 days of roaming around germany, getting lost and screwed over in london, and just having a blast have come to an end. while yes, i am happy to go home, i think i will actually miss being over here. peter and gabi have been great. peter has taken soo much time out of his days to take me and nicc to very interesting places that are very far away and i thank him soo much for that. gabi, god bless the house wife, has never failed to provide fresh, home-cooked meals morning, noon, and night. my stomach thanks her. but yes, to wrap up this entry i will make a small list of comparisons that ive made between germany and the great states. but first, lets talk about my weekend (alright all you lazy people, this may be another long entry so bare with me or leave now).
saturday peter took nicc, stefan, and i up to würzburg, a nice town with lots of shopping centers and home of the residence. that was the main attraction there, the residence. its a house belonging to an old pope from way back in the day. it was cool, lots of gold and pretty things...but it also made me hate the catholic religion even more. its a religion based off greed. in the old days, the money would go to making the church better but now days they just pocket it all which is gay.
later that night, peter took me and nicc to a disco that was about 45 minutes away. nicc said it was crap but, compared to the clubs back in the states, i thought this sucker kicked ass. in the first two hours, it was basically just a lot of people standing around drinkin which was boring but after that it got really fun. nicc didnt like it cause normally he goes with a bunch of people that he knows and this was the first time hes had to find everybody. we ended up finding iris (the girl from the bus to the opera) and a friend of hers which was cool cause we danced "with" them for a while. then off to get some drinks at which point we lost iris and her friend but that was ok. lisa and her friend...ozzgü were there so that wasnt bad. i was glad that a lot of people from school ended up being there cause seein as that there wasnt school on friday, i didnt get a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people. well, we hung out and danced for a few more hours, a wee bit with lisa and the rest with iris and her friend and then we made our rounds to say goodbye. i got many hugs and handshakes (didnt know i made such an impression) and then peter took us back home. today, we went to a monistary and had this really dark beer that the monks dirnk when they faste(?). it was some of the best beer i think ive ever had. then we went to a small bar in boxtal and had some more stark beer and then we came back here. so my last days were spent drinking and partying...not a bad way to go out.
now im completely packed and ready for the flight but it sucks cause peter and gabi wont let nicc miss school to come to the airport with me. so now, i have to wake up early to say goodbye to my best bud before he heads off to school. very sad. but yes, time for my list.
1)they drive very weird over here. instead of the speed limit being what you do, its taken as more of a recommendation. if you feel like going faster, so be it.
2)from what ive seen, german dating is very strange. even the slightest bit of niceness can be taken as hitting on somebody. when you are asked on a date, its also taken not just as a date but more like a boyfriend girlfriend thing. yet when you sleep with somebody, it means almost nothing at all...its just casual. sounds like they need to get some things straightend out over here.
3)no matter how many times i see it or take part in it, the "underage" drinking is still odd to see. i will never again be at a party and see 16-18 year olds drinking and getting drunk off their ass without having to worry about where to run when the cops show up.
4)at 16 you are allowed to drink beer but not hard liquor. at 18 you are allowed to drink anything. also at 18, you get your drivers license. why on earth would you give somebody the privliage to drink hard liquor and drive all in the same year. they must like the high drunk driving percentages amoungst teens.
5)while yes, germany is somewhat of a free counrty, the government sucks. pretty much 2/3 of everything goes back to the government. buisnesses get screwed, people get screwed, its pretty much screwage everywhere. also, if you are a citizen of germany and want to go on a trip, you have to basically get permission from the government. you have to tell them where you are going, how long you will be there, what you are planning on doing there, why you want to go there, how much money you are bringing with you, how many days you are taking off work for the trip, and exactly how long you will be gone. and you must do all this in order to get permission to buy your plane ticket. the reason me and nicc were able to just hop on a plane to london on a whim was cause we are american and ive learned being an american pretty much lets you do whatever the fuck you want to do.
6)ferienghiet (spelt horribly wrong) and celcius. it is almost impossible to have a conversation about the weather (believe me, i had a lot of those conversations) without one of the people being a college professor. i am able to somewhat calculate the difference but i hate doing it cause it brings all talk to a hault. nobody over here even understands ferienghiet so whenever i talk about weather, it sucks.
7)everybody has been taught english since 5th or 6th grade. does anybody actually want to speak it...no. ive said this many a time before but i will say it again. they can understand what im saying if i talk slow but im not much of a slow talker. yes, ive picked up small, helpful words here and there but nothing that would allow me to carry on a conversation in german. if you find somebody that speaks english pretty well, it takes some convincing to get them to actually speak it. i think they are afraid of talking to somebody whos main language is english in english. like im going to go off cause they cant remember a word here and there...i just want to talk!
well, that about covers it. my trip is coming to an end and in less than 24 hours i will be back at home, sitting in my own house talking face to face with my girlfriend and people i care about. if i could bring nicc back with me, i would in a heart beat. he is my best friend. i love the guy to death. there is almost nobody else on the face of the earth i would have made this trip for and there IS nobody i would have wanted to go through the london experience with besides him. he has 3 months till hes back home and when i get back, im counting down the days. nicc, i love you and i wish you the best for the rest of your stay over here. enjoy it to the fullest for opporunities like this rarely come twice. im going to miss you even more over the next three months but youve made my trip all the better. when you get home, its going to be the best thing ever. all the plans weve made, all the talks weve had, everything....we will be able to do again. life is going to be good to us. life already has been. God brought you into my life, i believe, to make me a better person and you have. God brought me into your life to show you how to have fun, color outside the lines every now and then. im eternally greatful and i hope that when we are 45, we will be on our neighboring porches, brandishing our shot guns while waiting for younger versions of us to get home with our daughters. love you man and thanks for the memories, and those yet to come.
love,
ryan
saturday peter took nicc, stefan, and i up to würzburg, a nice town with lots of shopping centers and home of the residence. that was the main attraction there, the residence. its a house belonging to an old pope from way back in the day. it was cool, lots of gold and pretty things...but it also made me hate the catholic religion even more. its a religion based off greed. in the old days, the money would go to making the church better but now days they just pocket it all which is gay.
later that night, peter took me and nicc to a disco that was about 45 minutes away. nicc said it was crap but, compared to the clubs back in the states, i thought this sucker kicked ass. in the first two hours, it was basically just a lot of people standing around drinkin which was boring but after that it got really fun. nicc didnt like it cause normally he goes with a bunch of people that he knows and this was the first time hes had to find everybody. we ended up finding iris (the girl from the bus to the opera) and a friend of hers which was cool cause we danced "with" them for a while. then off to get some drinks at which point we lost iris and her friend but that was ok. lisa and her friend...ozzgü were there so that wasnt bad. i was glad that a lot of people from school ended up being there cause seein as that there wasnt school on friday, i didnt get a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people. well, we hung out and danced for a few more hours, a wee bit with lisa and the rest with iris and her friend and then we made our rounds to say goodbye. i got many hugs and handshakes (didnt know i made such an impression) and then peter took us back home. today, we went to a monistary and had this really dark beer that the monks dirnk when they faste(?). it was some of the best beer i think ive ever had. then we went to a small bar in boxtal and had some more stark beer and then we came back here. so my last days were spent drinking and partying...not a bad way to go out.
now im completely packed and ready for the flight but it sucks cause peter and gabi wont let nicc miss school to come to the airport with me. so now, i have to wake up early to say goodbye to my best bud before he heads off to school. very sad. but yes, time for my list.
1)they drive very weird over here. instead of the speed limit being what you do, its taken as more of a recommendation. if you feel like going faster, so be it.
2)from what ive seen, german dating is very strange. even the slightest bit of niceness can be taken as hitting on somebody. when you are asked on a date, its also taken not just as a date but more like a boyfriend girlfriend thing. yet when you sleep with somebody, it means almost nothing at all...its just casual. sounds like they need to get some things straightend out over here.
3)no matter how many times i see it or take part in it, the "underage" drinking is still odd to see. i will never again be at a party and see 16-18 year olds drinking and getting drunk off their ass without having to worry about where to run when the cops show up.
4)at 16 you are allowed to drink beer but not hard liquor. at 18 you are allowed to drink anything. also at 18, you get your drivers license. why on earth would you give somebody the privliage to drink hard liquor and drive all in the same year. they must like the high drunk driving percentages amoungst teens.
5)while yes, germany is somewhat of a free counrty, the government sucks. pretty much 2/3 of everything goes back to the government. buisnesses get screwed, people get screwed, its pretty much screwage everywhere. also, if you are a citizen of germany and want to go on a trip, you have to basically get permission from the government. you have to tell them where you are going, how long you will be there, what you are planning on doing there, why you want to go there, how much money you are bringing with you, how many days you are taking off work for the trip, and exactly how long you will be gone. and you must do all this in order to get permission to buy your plane ticket. the reason me and nicc were able to just hop on a plane to london on a whim was cause we are american and ive learned being an american pretty much lets you do whatever the fuck you want to do.
6)ferienghiet (spelt horribly wrong) and celcius. it is almost impossible to have a conversation about the weather (believe me, i had a lot of those conversations) without one of the people being a college professor. i am able to somewhat calculate the difference but i hate doing it cause it brings all talk to a hault. nobody over here even understands ferienghiet so whenever i talk about weather, it sucks.
7)everybody has been taught english since 5th or 6th grade. does anybody actually want to speak it...no. ive said this many a time before but i will say it again. they can understand what im saying if i talk slow but im not much of a slow talker. yes, ive picked up small, helpful words here and there but nothing that would allow me to carry on a conversation in german. if you find somebody that speaks english pretty well, it takes some convincing to get them to actually speak it. i think they are afraid of talking to somebody whos main language is english in english. like im going to go off cause they cant remember a word here and there...i just want to talk!
well, that about covers it. my trip is coming to an end and in less than 24 hours i will be back at home, sitting in my own house talking face to face with my girlfriend and people i care about. if i could bring nicc back with me, i would in a heart beat. he is my best friend. i love the guy to death. there is almost nobody else on the face of the earth i would have made this trip for and there IS nobody i would have wanted to go through the london experience with besides him. he has 3 months till hes back home and when i get back, im counting down the days. nicc, i love you and i wish you the best for the rest of your stay over here. enjoy it to the fullest for opporunities like this rarely come twice. im going to miss you even more over the next three months but youve made my trip all the better. when you get home, its going to be the best thing ever. all the plans weve made, all the talks weve had, everything....we will be able to do again. life is going to be good to us. life already has been. God brought you into my life, i believe, to make me a better person and you have. God brought me into your life to show you how to have fun, color outside the lines every now and then. im eternally greatful and i hope that when we are 45, we will be on our neighboring porches, brandishing our shot guns while waiting for younger versions of us to get home with our daughters. love you man and thanks for the memories, and those yet to come.
love,
ryan