So it's been quite awhile since I last updated this lovely little blog of mine. Hmmmm, where to start? First of all, time is just flying by. I only have two and 1/2 more weeks here before part 2 of 3 of my European adventure begins (this would be traveling to fun places before going to Vienna). Ridiculous. Part of me is really dreading this because the sooner I leave Gottingen, the sooner I have to leave Europe in general. This just seems like Bad News Bears to me. Anyways, I've taken some pretty sweet trips so far, so I guess I'll update all of you faithful readers on that.
Three weeks ago I went to Berlin with something like 12 other people from the Institut. It. Was. A. Blast. I only have two regrets. I wish we didn't pay a ridiculous amount of money to get into a club that played weird music (though it was an experience and I can say I went to a super snazzy club in Germany's capital) and I wish we were a little more organized with our time. Other than that, it was pretty sweet. We went on a bike tour of the city that lasted something like 5 hours (it went a little over, but it was so worth it). We got to see all of the sights (Brandenburger Bridge, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, lots of cool churches, Platz where Hitler burned books in the 30's, etc.) and even stopped at a beer garden for lunch. I would highly recommend doing this bike tour (called Fat Tire if you're interested) if you're ever in Berlin (it's also in English which is something positive for most people reading this). Then we went got dinner (I had schnitzel) walked around the city for awhile and went to the snazzy club. Oh by the way, the cool thing about this club was that it was at the top of a skyscraper and you could go on the roof where there were all of these couches built into the floor. Really cool, really expensive, but still really strange music. On Sunday we walked around the city some more and did the touristy shopping, etc. Then we went to Unter den Linden (Under the Lime Trees, which is the Champs-Elysees of Berlin and lots of important speeches take place there). Also as a little history lesson, the Adlon hotel on this street, was where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony. So... Germany was playing England this day, so we went to the public viewing in Unter den Linden. We were there really early and all fading really fast, so Liz and I went to take a nap in the Tiergarten (big park in Berlin). Once the game started, we all met up at Starbucks because we all knew where it was and were in great need of caffeine. I know. I went to Starbucks in a foreign country. Waste, I know. Though it was interesting to see the difference in Starbucks in America and Germany (it wasn't really that different it juts makes me feel better about myself to say this... though the coffee was a bit better). Anyways, we decided that it was just too hot and we were too exhausted to watch the rest of the game, so we had the great idea to go visit the Reichstag (congress building) which was just down the street. We figured that there wouldn't be many tourists there because they'd all be watching the game. We were right. The line was fairly short, so we were able to get in there after only waiting for 20 minutes or so. Not too shabby for what the usual wait is. We made an audio tour of the building and were able to all around the city which was really cool. I noticed that there were lots of green roofs in the surrounding area which made me love Germany even more. Also the Reichstag buiding is very environmentally friendly. They have all of these mirrors that reflect the sunlight into the rooms below so that they do not have to use so much energy to light it. Also, they have lots of solar panels on the roof. Ohh Germany, how I love you and your green thinking. One quick note. The night before, we were trying to tour the Reichstag building before it closed but got there too late. It was then that this guy and his buddies came up and tried to get my friend Michelle's attention by touching her on the shoulder. She yelled "oh my gosh you scared the crap out of me" (in English) and then the guy said "English, Deutsch?", so we said Deutsch. Then he starts rattling off in German about how he needs money to find his son, so he would let us take a picture of him in his weird lime green onesie that was barely covering him at all for ten Euros. We said, "Nein, danke" and then he got down on his knees and begged/might have even proposed? It was very strange, and I'm pretty sure that he was doing it as some sort of initiation into the equivalent of a German frat. Quite odd, but still worth mentioning. I guess it goes to show that hazing can happen anywhere (or maybe just drunkenness). Who knows? Anyways, back to Sunday. After we went to the Reichstag building Germany had already won the game. We were able to watch the Germans go crazy Unter den Linden and join in the cheering for a bit. I must say though, I enjoy Fussball games in Goettingen much more than Berlin because it's so much smaller. There's only one place to go so everyone goes to the little goose girl and cheers for hours. In Berlin people go all over the place and it's not quite as exciting. This is only my opinion though. We just might not have known where to go. After that, we went to the memorial for murdered Jews during the Holocaust (big change of scene) and got Berliner Weisse at a cafe. This is a special/possibly traditional drink of Berlin thanks to the French immigrants. Beer was too bitter for their French taste, so they added syrup to it to make it sweeter. You can get it in green or red. Exciting. Also, Currywurst is another Berlin specialty, so I ate that too. That's about it for the Berlin trip. Wow this is going to be a really long post. My bad.
Now on to Weimar! I took a day trip to Weimar with my class last Thursday. It was also quite lovely. There's so much history there, I really liked it. Unlike Berlin, it had very traditional architecture. Berlin has been blown up so many times, they tend to rebuild things to whatever the "in" style is at the time. While we were there we were able to see where the famous artist Lucas Cranach was buried as well as Schiller and Goethe's wife. We were also able to see some of Cranach's original works and some prime examples of Roman and Baroque architecture (thank you Dr. McAllister for teaching me about all of these things so that I can appreciate them). We saw Goethe's house as well as his Gardenhouse. Also there was this little place on the way to Goethe's Gardenhouse that really reminded me of the Shire. There was this little old man playing a violin of what looked like could be a Hobbit hole. There was also a river running by which Molly and I got in for a bit (my Georgia self was not used to water that temperature, so I wasn't in there for long). Altogether, it was a really nice trip. Saw a few sights, ate a Thurringen Wurst (specialty for Weimar) and got some ice cream (as per usual).
Now for Hamburg. Just a word of advice. When you plan on traveling to a cool new city, do not stay out into the wee hours of the morning dancing with friends the night before. Poor life choices, but totally worth it. I'm not going to lie. In Hamburg we did A LOT of unnecessary walking. I was under the impression that one of my friends had already made a reservation at a hostel beforehand... I was wrong. We searched for a little too long trying to find a hostel, but we finally found a cheap one not too far outside of town, that wasn't that sketchy. Probably not the best planned trip, but still fun. Hamburg is a really cool city with lots of culture and awesome architecture. It's a huge port and there are rivers running through it everywhere. It's kind of what I would imagine the German version of Venice to be. Absolutely beautiful. Pictures can't do it justice. Actually, we didn't really do that much, except hang out in the city. Didn't really do the touristy thing except for a boat ride around the city, but it was nice to just kind of experience the atmosphere of the city. Some people might not have liked it, but I really did. We watched the game against Argentina (pwn pwn pwn) and then went to... McDonalds actually. I know. Two foreign failures in one blog post. First Starbucks, now McDonalds. But now I can say I ate a hamburger in Hamburg... kind of cool, right? I also ate fish the next day to make up for it (Hamburg is a big port so the seafood is pretty good). McDonalds is actually very different in Germany. You can buy beer there and they have some awesome pastries in the McCafe. Also when I asked for Leitungswasser (tap water) the guy gave me the craziest look in the world and said, "to drink??" That is just something that they do not do in Germany, or at least Hamburg. I haven't really gotten such strong reactions in Goettingen, but maybe the water is not so good there? Well, I drank it anyways. I'm still okay and am 1,50 Euros richer, so I will consider it a success. Another success- the waiter at this restaurant we went to later gave me a free glass of the best wine I've ever had (pwn). Those are the highlights for Hamburg.
Though all of these cities are awesome, I am really, really glad that I chose to come to Goettingen. It's just the right size- not too big, not too small. I think if I had gone to Berlin or Hamburg it would have been a little overwhelming for my first time in Germany. Weimar would have been sweet too, but I think that Goettingen is much prettier. I just love it here. It's perfect.
I was also lucky enough to celebrate my 20th birthday while I was here. I had several people sing to me (not my favorite because I do not like all that attention on me at once), and received some presents in the form of food and drink. Quite nice. We played Ultimate after class (I hurt my ankle again, but it was totally worth it). Then we barbecued outside before/during the Germany game. Unfortunately, Germany lost because that stupid Paul the Octopus chose the wrong bag of food and Mueller couldn't play. That put a damper on the day. But then we went out to a club and danced until the wee hours of the morning. It was amazing. I had a great time.
Though I am still absolutely loving it here, I now I have 5 reasons (as opposed to the three before) to return to the US (the number of reasons to stay still greatly outnumber these though).
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Mexican Food
4. Normal Washers and Dryers
5. Air Conditioning
Because I'm sure my mother would greatly appreciate this (she has given me at least a 20 minute lecture and lengthy email about how terrible her laundry experiences have been in Germany), I am going to tell you about my not-so-terrible experience with German washers and dryers. It's really not so bad, just slightly frustrating. First of all, you have to have the exact coin to be able to do laundry- 1 euro coin to wash or 20 cent coins to dry. You can't build up to 1 euro with smaller coins. Just a little obnoxious at times. Also, those dryers do not dry. I put my clothes in for 35 minutes (thinking that they would only be a little damp when they came out), and they were still sopping. That is when my bookshelves turned into hanging racks because I did not have another 20 euro cent coin to put them back into the dryer (though I had at least 8 10 cent coins). Not a terrible experience at all, just frustrating enough to make me miss the good ole washers at Wake (this is saying something). It is very likely though, that all of my laundry skills are just getting lost in translation. The other ties to the US, I feel are self-explanatory.
I think that is definitely enough for now. This was an incredibly lengthy post, but maybe that makes up for the fact that I haven't written one in so long. It is time for me to make some lunch, possibly go to this sweet lake near here, and then watch Spain become Weltmeister (much to my disappointment... must eat Eis to console).
Spaeter Gater,
Lauren
