(no subject)
I'm already in the habit of infrequent updates after announcing a triumph of a return. Maybe that's a bit like "Mission Accomplished". I finished up class this week. Had a bit of a celebration last night which included a group of Ukrainian, Russian, Irish and German people coming into my room at 2:30am and pulling me out of bed to drink a cup of real Irish tea in the kitchen.
Christmas is coming up, and I'm on my way to Dresden tomorrow to spend it with Anja's family. Anja is one of my very good friends here, she spent about a year and a half studying in the States, so she's got the empathy going on like whoa. It's going to be a long drive, and we're not leaving until 10pm tomorrow. I believe that puts us in Dresden somewhere between 2-4am. Oh well, I'm not driving. There's a ride sharing site here called 'Mitfahrgelegenheit' where you can see who is going where, and how much space they have. I'm excited about Dresden. Meeting Anja's family and experiencing a real German Weihnachten. I definitely miss my family and friends at this time of year, but it's a lot easier to handle because I'm in a good situation here. I have good friends, and I'm learning so much, it's all worth it.
One of the cool things here in Germany during Christmas is the Weihnachts Markt. It's a Christmas market that is almost reminiscent of Saturday Market. Every town has one and vendors set up booths with international food, hats, music, gifts and most importantly Gluehwein. Gluehwein is spiced red wine heated up and served with a shot of Amaretto added. It is absolutely delicious and warms the innards on cold nights, which have been frequent. It's been staying between -5 and 4 degrees Celsius. Brrr.
I took a trip to Esslingen last Friday for a meeting with the other recipients of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Stipendium, and it was pretty cool. The most interesting part of the day was the afternoon where we took tours of the city. I opted to take the underground tour which took us to a few different underground spots in Esslingen. A couple wine cellars (lame) but also an old holding tank for the city's water system and the remains of an old church underneath it's more modern contemporary. I'll put some pictures up soon. The Weihnachts Markt in Esslingen was way cool too. It was a bit small, but it had a better feel than the others I've visited. They had people, in character and costume, set up with booths where you can play midieval games. You could throw an axe, shoot a bow an arrow, there was one where you have eggs sitting on the tops of stumps and you have to toss a stone and crush the eggs to win. It was a trip.
Went snowboarding in Austria this past Sunday. It was cool, but the snow was shit. It was the third day of sun without any fresh snow. It had ice glazed over the top and I had to fight to dig an edge in to turn. Needless to say, I fell a lot and wound up with a patch of ice burn on my knee through my pants. I met a guy from South Africa on the train ride over there and he was heading the same direction, so we wound up riding together, which was better than going solo.
I've got some shopping to do, so I'm wrapping it up for now. If I have access, I'll make an update from Dresden. Tschuess!
Christmas is coming up, and I'm on my way to Dresden tomorrow to spend it with Anja's family. Anja is one of my very good friends here, she spent about a year and a half studying in the States, so she's got the empathy going on like whoa. It's going to be a long drive, and we're not leaving until 10pm tomorrow. I believe that puts us in Dresden somewhere between 2-4am. Oh well, I'm not driving. There's a ride sharing site here called 'Mitfahrgelegenheit' where you can see who is going where, and how much space they have. I'm excited about Dresden. Meeting Anja's family and experiencing a real German Weihnachten. I definitely miss my family and friends at this time of year, but it's a lot easier to handle because I'm in a good situation here. I have good friends, and I'm learning so much, it's all worth it.
One of the cool things here in Germany during Christmas is the Weihnachts Markt. It's a Christmas market that is almost reminiscent of Saturday Market. Every town has one and vendors set up booths with international food, hats, music, gifts and most importantly Gluehwein. Gluehwein is spiced red wine heated up and served with a shot of Amaretto added. It is absolutely delicious and warms the innards on cold nights, which have been frequent. It's been staying between -5 and 4 degrees Celsius. Brrr.
I took a trip to Esslingen last Friday for a meeting with the other recipients of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Stipendium, and it was pretty cool. The most interesting part of the day was the afternoon where we took tours of the city. I opted to take the underground tour which took us to a few different underground spots in Esslingen. A couple wine cellars (lame) but also an old holding tank for the city's water system and the remains of an old church underneath it's more modern contemporary. I'll put some pictures up soon. The Weihnachts Markt in Esslingen was way cool too. It was a bit small, but it had a better feel than the others I've visited. They had people, in character and costume, set up with booths where you can play midieval games. You could throw an axe, shoot a bow an arrow, there was one where you have eggs sitting on the tops of stumps and you have to toss a stone and crush the eggs to win. It was a trip.
Went snowboarding in Austria this past Sunday. It was cool, but the snow was shit. It was the third day of sun without any fresh snow. It had ice glazed over the top and I had to fight to dig an edge in to turn. Needless to say, I fell a lot and wound up with a patch of ice burn on my knee through my pants. I met a guy from South Africa on the train ride over there and he was heading the same direction, so we wound up riding together, which was better than going solo.
I've got some shopping to do, so I'm wrapping it up for now. If I have access, I'll make an update from Dresden. Tschuess!