day 33
the last several posts are new
i've been in germany for one whole month now.
today i plan to skip breakfast and go for a short ride then go to the computer lab and post all the stuff i have been typing for the last 5 days. then make dinner and go to sleep.
my rommate both snores and talks in his sleep. well its not actually talking its more humming/mouning. makes it hard to sleep well that and his weird sleeping hours. 3:00 am - 9:00 am and 3:00pm - 5:00 pm.
today te computer lab is open from 10:00 - 16:30 so i shold have plenty of time to do stuff. tomarrow the llab is open from 10-14 so i'll be kicked of by the time most of you wake up. i don't think i will have internet acces until the 4th of september so i'll have four days of stuff to take care of then.
i need to get a rail pass for vienna and get a copy of the nominative accusitive and dative ending chart from central website.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
day 32
day 32
i'm back in schwabisch hall.
uggghhhh.... i have so much stuff to go over. the backpack when its fully loaded reaks havoc on my shoulders it will take atlest 3 days before they feel right again.
ok i spent 59.01 euro papermoney on the trip (my log says i spent more but the money i counted here says otherwise) however i spent 151.77 euro on traintickets and the hostel. totaling 210.78 euro ($284.56) slightly more than expected. but then i did eat at a resurant almost every night. fyi the wiener schnitzel in fussen germany (just north of austrian boarder) is delicious if you have the means to try it i highly recoment it.
i decided to skip the german museum. it was raining and i didn't want to go to the train station let alone a museum that i din't know were it was and was atlest twice as far as the train station. so i went to dachau and saw the memorial they had audio guides so i got one of them. it was informative (not emotional babling) which i liked.
its 9 pm i'm going to bed
ok its tomarrow but i'm gonna write about today (yesterday). i woke up yesterday at 6:45. got dressed and took the sheets off my bad (you have to take the sheets off the bed and put them in the laundry hamper befroe check out) then i got all of my stuff out of my locker annd went down stairs for breakfast. i ate breads and rolls for about an hour then checked stuff onlline (i had extra minutes from the previous day). and then i checked out. i walked outside and it was raining not terably hard but it wasn't a drizzle either. it was then i desided not to go to the museum i didn't want to ride to the trainstation (about 1 km away) let alone the museum were i wasn't sure were it was and it was atlest 3km away. so i rode , walked and hingout under overhangs to the trainstaion. i was soaked by the time i got there. i bought my ticket to schwabisch hall (with a stop over in dachau. i thought i should really buy a ticket for my bike two. so i thought i did. the train to dachoe nobody checked my ticket. so i got off and looked at a map and thought about taking the bus. it wasn't raining at the time but i figured it would be raining latter (the forcast said it would rain harder latter in the day) so i looked for a maschine to buy a ticket for the buss but didn't find one. then the bus left. luckily i had found directions to the camp on line so i walked there about 2 - 3 km it was about the time i got there that my shoulders started to hurt. i was about to stop and take a break when i saw the audio tour check out place. so i got a tour and walked into the camp.
the words on the gate "arbiet macht frie"
after a while i realized i had spent nearly 2 hours there and the train on my schedual left in allittle more than an hour so i returned the audio tour and took a short break then walked back to the train station were i knew there was a mc donalds. when i got there i ordered a doulbe cheese burger and ate it then i went to the platform and waited (ussually when a train comes it has a picture on the side of the train evry care has a no smoking sign and the picture) i was looking for was a bike but i didn't see it so i got on an stood in the area between the cars and waited for about an hour and a half then the ticket guy came and asked for my ticket and the ticket for my bike i gave him my ticket and the ticket for my bike . he looked at the ticket for the bike and said no this is just for munich so he took out his tiny computer / pinter thing and printed off a bike ticket for me and charged me 4.50 euro then i got onto the next train put my bike in the corner and sat down then about 2 minutes letter (before the train left) a family of about 7-10 got on the train all with bikes my bike was buried. so i asked the father when he was getting off he said at ansbach i said gut me to. then right before the train stopped he started asking me questions and i didn't understand him so i just replied ich wiesse night (i don't know) then he started speaking english do you need to transfer trains here? i said yes so he had to orchestrat his family to help me get off first. which realy wasn't nessissary but i was greatfull. then i got on the train to schwabischhall hessental and went there then transfered to another train and went to schwabisch hall then i rode my bike to the grocery store. i was about to lock it up but then i realized i still had un opened pretzels in my bag and if they searched it i could go to jail or somthing so i rode back to the dorm droped off the bag and grabed the other and rode back to the store and bought some rice and tomatoe sauce. then rode back and made rice and tomatoe sauce for dinner. it was not that great. then i figured out the money for my trip and went to bed. apparently i beat the america group back here. iwouldn't be surprised if they were in prison or stranded on the side of the road.
well that all for yesterday now i'm gonna start on todays.
day 31
today i woke up at 6:45 got dressed grabed the stuff i needed and got out of the room. then i had breakfast which was al you could eat. but, i think i was more like all you could stand to eat. the orange juice was fresh squeezed which tastes weird it has an extra zing to it. and the only edible thing there was rolls (mostly stail) and bread and various jams and honey. then i rode to the train station bought a ticket and went to fussen on the way the ticketer checked my ticket and yelled at me for not haveing a ticket for my bike. i didn't know i needed one. when i got there i rode around the city got lost so i went back to the trainstation and asked the info guy which way the castles were he said that way and always straight. pointing away from the trainstattion i thanked him and road aboit 5 km to the castles i found the ticket office the line for neuschwanstien was long the line started outside the building and did two rooms like at disney world. but it wasn't effective because the walls were glass. the hohenschwangau castle line was directly to the same place but there was literally nobody there so i decided it was worth it to go with the shorter line. i arrived in at the ticket office at 11:40 and got to the castle at about 11:50 the tour started at 1:15 so i had a hour to wait. if i had gone with the neuschwwanstien castle the line would have taken a hour (atleast) then the walk up to the castle probably 20-30 minutes (big hills long distance) and the wait for my tour group to start would have been twice as long so i would still be there a week from now if i had gone with neuschwanstien.
the castle itself was not a castle it was a mansion which is still privatly owned by the royal family. it was basically turned into a mueseum. lots of gold and silver relics and other shiney things.
i'll post more on that latter
then i road back to the train station locked up my bike and walked into town and found a nice resturant i walked in sat down the waitress walked up and said was morchest du i said eine spisekarte bitte and she came back with an englisch menu and talked to me in english the rest of the time i was there. i had weiner schnitzel and frenchfries it was delicious.
then i went back to the trainstation bought a ticket at the mashine then walked inside and asked the info guy for a bike ticket it cost 4.50 euro then i waited for the train got on and this ticket guy didn't seems to care at all if i had the bike ticket or not. i've never had a problem before so i assume i don't need one and if they ask i'll start babbling in english at them..
when i got to munich i locked up my bike and walked around the trainstation looking for food i found a place that sold pretzels and sprite so i bought a pretzel and a sprite i wasn't to hungry i had lunner already (lunner = late lunch/early dinner) this was either a snack or second dinner. then i rode back to the hostel talked to mom and dad and now i'm in the room typing this now i'm gonna plan for tomarrow.
day 30
day 30
whoops i skipped a day.
today it is currently 6:30 in the morning i have an hour before my train leaves and i have to make my computer finish the spy/virus sweeps i started lastnight. i would like to defrag as well but i don't have time. when i post this i should be in munich and i should have seen most of the city. any way i'll add more then maybe.
i missed two of my trians today the first left before i got there (my train was 2 minutes late). so i waited an hour and got on the next one then i got the thee next station with plenty of time to spare i got to the platform and a freighttrain went crawling through so i checked the sation arrival thing and yeah the train was supose to arrive already. then i notice the platformed had changed from the hour before. so i ran to platform one and was confused because it was a different type of train and the conductor had just blown the whistle so i wasn't sure i i could board of not and the train went. so i waited for another hour and got on the train to munich and waited for 2 hours.
ok i got to munich just fine but the directions i required me to go on the tram/lightrail thing. i didn't realize how curvey the s-bahn system is here so i found a map and used that to figure out the location of the street. i was wrong but luckily i remembered the photo on line and saw the hostel on the way. so i came in (luckily they speak english) and got my room key. th room is actually two rooms my has 8 beds and the othere has 6 i guess. there is no ac so it is really hot. i'm gonna try to get on the internet now and talk to mom and dad. the hostel is kinda funny there is a price tag on almost everything. i explored the city i couldn't find the fraun kirche for a while it the tallest thing here but every thing else is just tall enough to hide it when you are on the ground.
i see a church in the diastance out my window i'm gonna check that out next. i have to get online to see what and were everything is in munich. i talked to mom and looked up my itinerary and i think i'm ready to go. my batteries going so i'm gonna stop for today unless i can get it charged.
have a great day
bbye
ok i went to all the places here in town
-the frauen kirche
the area in front of the church is so small that you can't get far enough a way to take a proper picture
-the octoberfest place (they are seting it up for october)
it was fairly un impresive it was like a carnival but instead of rides thay had beer tents. however i did see a greek style bbuilding in the back i think it was hephestus the god of going alittle to far.
-the english garten
it was pretty. but small. i think i prefer the kind of nature that is only found in nature (i.e. the mountain bike trail)
-st. paul church
the prettiest church in munich however less popular
-and almost every street in the inner city
the sidewalks are cobble stone but there is a paved potion going on the street side for bike and othere fast trafic.
tomarrow there is an english tour of dochau that is in english and costs 15 euro thats cheaper than what i could do it for. but it would be in the middle of my time in munich and i don't think i could do neschwanstien and hohengua and still make it back to schwabisch hall on time. however i found out that dachoe is on the way home so i could swing over there and then go home. on the last day. neuschwanstien is way south so i would have to do crazy stuff to make that work on the last day.
i'm not sure why but every town in germany has a church and they all are the same. you have the pretty towers in the front and the back is boring tile roof.
i'm not sure why but when ever i go to a place in germany somthing weird happens with my body. on the flight over to germany i got a bloody nose (but i have an excuss i was over a mile high at that point) then i had to pee realy bad between the airport and schwabisch hall. here i got diarea. so i used the bathroom here and went out to lunch. and BAM diarea again so i had to pay 1 euro to use the bathroom (actually it was 80 cents but i put the money in in the wrong order so it had to be 1 euro) and that was the end of that.
i ate burger king for dinner (the first time i have a carbonated beverage in over a month) it was so good to have american food again. then i walked back here and it is curently 8 o'clock
i am going to go to bed soon because i'm tired.
day 28
day 28
ok today so far i have gotten groceries for my trip again. i researched the price of rice i can get 4 125g instant rice packs for 1.50 euro so i'm gonna try to make stirfry ssomtime in the next month. i'm not sure howmuch rice that is but i think i should last me a while. the america group left some dirty dishes in the kitchen so i'm gonna clean that today aswell (our broom is missing grrrr.) i think i have every thing lined up for the trip to munich i just need to get on the train on time transfer properly and find the hostel before 3:00 then i have a choice of trains home but i'll explain that latter.
i'm gonna go for a bike ride today up to hessental and see if i ccan find the train station there if i can i will be able to save 2 euro on most of my excursions next month.
ok now for a detailed description of my trip to munich
on monday i will wake up at 6:00 AM and make a large amount of spagehitti for breakfast. then at 7:30 i will ride my bike to the train station and wait for my train to come. it should arrive at 7:49 then i will take the train to schwabish hall hessintal and transfer to another train going to ansbach then transfer to a train going to Treuchtlingen then tranfer to a train going to munich i should arrive at 11:33 then i will have to figure out which way to go to get to the hostel basicaly i plan to ride next to the S-bahn tracks as best i can until i get to the street mensioned in the directions then i will ride the rest of the way to the hostel and lock my bike to somthing and check in. then i will explore the city center and th english garten. and maybe ride around the city if i have time. then go to sleep (i might meet some intresting people in my room i'm sleeping in a room with up to 14 othere strangers luckily the hostel has a luggage locker so my stuff should be safe.)
the next day i will wake up early and eat alot of breakfast (theres a free buffet) then i will either ride my bike to neuschwanstien of take a train (depending on distance) i will tour both neuschwanstien and hohengau then come back to the hostel and maybe ride around the city. then go to sleep.
the third day i will wake up and eat a huge breakfast. then go to dochau and tour that then ride back and go to the german museum. then i should get back on the train by 2:30 pm to come back here that will only cost 36.30 euro or if i want to stay longer i can wait up until 5:39 thats the absolute lastest that i can get back to schwabisch hall on the same day (other wise i'll have to spend the night at a train station) however the latter ticket will cost 55 euro so i'll try my best fo be there at 2:30. (thats why i havn't bought my ticket home yet i'm not sure how much time i will need for the museum or for dochoe)
and thats how my trip will go.
i did some research into the courses at vienna today. it seems that i will have to take a placement test. again. and they will put me in a level and then put me into several classes ounce this is complete i will take the following classes at the following times
music in vienna mondays 16:00 - 18:30
liturature tuesdays 17:45 - 20:15
vienna seminar wensdays 10:00 - 12:00 oct 3,17,31 nov 14,28, dec 12, jan 9,16
german gramer and idomatics wensdays 16:30 - 19:00
austria course thursdays 17:45 - 20:15
i'm not sure how the placment test fits into all of this but i'll ask ruth
i think this placment test is also a way of measuring what level we would be at at central to ensure we studied at goethe. but they don't realy mension that at all any place.
i have noticed a huge jump in my spagehitti intake over the last few days although the meals at goethe wern't much they certainly were filling i can tell my budget for food in vienna will have to double at least.
i have worked out a rough regrestion of my spending for the next 5 months and i should be between 2200 and 3000 euro ($2970-$4050). so far i have withdrawn a total of 446.93 euro ($603.36) (i still have 190 some euro ($256) in my room which is included in this number. 446.93 euro is just the amount that i have taken out of the bank or creditcard) i expect that number to be cut into a forth next month. however the the first month in vienna should be about equivalent. and the numbers should decrese till the italy tour then they should shoot back up. and i shouldn't have to spend much more during the month of january.
it is incredably hard to balance my laptop on my lap so that the fan isn't blocked. you think they would put a blower fan in it to suck air in one side and blow it out the other but instead they have it suck in the back and blow out the bottom. the design is flawed.
since i havn't said anything about germany for a while i will type for a while about the way stuff works here (because i have nothing better to do)
the electrical out lets here are inset into the wall so to plug somthing in you need to have a plug then goes into the outlet and has two prongs on it to go into the holes. this is done for two reasons 1. if you inset the outlet into the wall it becomes harder for forgeign objects and fluids to get into the electrical parts of the outlet. 2. as some of you may remember jon ounce got a paper clip to go imbetween an extenstion cord and a plug and made the two prongs ark. with this plug there is no way for that to happen.
the doors here (atleeast interior doors) are shaped so that when you close the door there is a lip going slightly over the door frame instead of the door going entirly into the door frame like in america this may improve heating and cooling cost however that lip subtracts from the amount of door around the latch so i think it could be more easily kicked open.
the door locks here have key holes on both sides i think this is pretty cool it does two things 1. if sombody breaks into your house through your window they have to take every thing with them back out that window because they can't just unlock the door from the inside. second it assured you that you can't lock yourself out of your house. however the keys turn the wrong way if you want to get into the room you have to turn the key out away from the door frame and to lock the room you have to turn into the door frame.
the toilets here mosly have two ways of flushing (i'll let you figure out why) the first way uses less water and the second way uses more water they do this because water conservation is realy big over here. also the water dosn't spin in these toilets its like it gets sucked out really fast but no vortex.
the light switches almost all function like the one i installed in my room (a rocker switch) but it is half the size. also it you want to turn the lights on you puch the buttom down and if you want them off you push the buttom up. this is backwards from what we have in the usa.
traffic here seems to always drive on the right and the steering collum is on the left side just like in america.
however the cars them selves seem to have different lines than the american made cars.in america our cars mostly have smooth long curves. here the cars all seem to have short radious curves (i'm not sure but thats how i view it)
i have noticed all stoves here (atleast in private residence) have been electric this is probably because they don't want to be dependant on gas and also the towns here are so dense and old and the streets are so curvy and rough that if a fire were to break out buy the time the fire truck got here not only would the house be gone but the house five houses down would be gone to.
none of the rooms have vents but they all have windows and radiators i think this is because the houses were built well before central air was even though of. and it it easier to heat water and disperse it to the whole town than it is to put furnaces in ever building.
the windows here are brilliant. they all have a latch like a door handle if you turn it down and oull the window opens like the doors on back of the suburban or the side doors i guess to, but if you turn the latch up and pull the window upons like the back hatch on a pickup truck, and other windows work slightly differently but the same concept by moving the pins in hinges in and out you can control how the window opens. also they are double pain windows but the put an hinge on the inside of the window so you can open up the inside of the window for cleaning.
i hanv't seen this for real yet but there is a company that makes stoves and on this model of stove when you open the door you can slide it under the stove so you don't have to lean over the door to take say a pizza out of the oven.
on almost every roof they have snow fences that look like a tinny lader for a toy or somthing going allong the edge of the roof
all the roofs here are tile roofs however when a tile breaks they don't seem to care what color tile they put back up so you have some houses with black tile roofs with random pink tiles strewn through out and vise versa.
if you buy a pack of cigarettes her instead of having the label on the side that says "caution smoking may possibly be linked to lung cancer and might affect pregnancyes and may promote premature death" in tiny print. half of the front of the box says "SMOKING CAN MAKE YOU DEAD" its funn to read some of the labels while waiting at the super markt yet almost every one in germany still smokes. the first time i saw an advertisement for cigarets at the trainstation i thought it was anti-smoking propoganda but then i saw the packs at the supermarket and relized it was an advertiment and the second largest words on the poster were "smoking can make you dead" (in german of course).
also the media is a lot more lax about sexuality here it is common to see billboards with pictures of fruit with condoms on them and to see mostly naked women advertising strip clubs on the front page of newspapers.
the euro is a tricky currency to get down. in america anything bigger than a dollar is paper and green (with some exceptions i.e. the dollar coins, which don't count because nobody uses them) and change is every thing smaller than a dollar. however here in europe the euro comes in the following ways
1 cent coin
2 cent coin
5 cent coin
10 cent coin
20 cent coin
50 cent coin
1 euro coin
1 euro paper (hard to find)
2 euro coin
5 euro paper
10 euro paper
20 euro paper
50 euro paper
maybe bigger i don't know
but coins, which as an american i think are mostly worthless, have almost as much power as the paper money. infact at the super markt the money drawers are diferent they have one spot for 10 euro notes one spot for 5 euro notes and the rest is all coins. europeans must jingle alot more than americans.
comforters (like bedding) instead of being sown together like in america they have the basically what would be a comforter in america but it has a smooth faberic on the outside and a gigantic pillow case. the pillow case goes around the comforter so when you wash it you only wash the pillow case and you don't have to worry about messing up the stuffung.
i'm not sure whats going on but a guy with a buzz cut just moved into room 5 and a girl with a buzz cut seems to have just moved into room 7 it seems like they are dating but i thought yesterday that the arab guys were moving into room 7 i'm confused it should all become clear after i get back from my break and the othere americans have befriended them. yeah they are definatly dating.
well i think thats all for today i'm planning on making super now and thn maybe going to the store to get a sponge (our dish rag is discusting)
maybe a bike ride and definatly sleep. fom what i've heard the american group will be done with amsterdam on sunday and may or maynot come back here i'm assumming that we will get back at around the same time. but i'm not sure.
ok today so far i have gotten groceries for my trip again. i researched the price of rice i can get 4 125g instant rice packs for 1.50 euro so i'm gonna try to make stirfry ssomtime in the next month. i'm not sure howmuch rice that is but i think i should last me a while. the america group left some dirty dishes in the kitchen so i'm gonna clean that today aswell (our broom is missing grrrr.) i think i have every thing lined up for the trip to munich i just need to get on the train on time transfer properly and find the hostel before 3:00 then i have a choice of trains home but i'll explain that latter.
i'm gonna go for a bike ride today up to hessental and see if i ccan find the train station there if i can i will be able to save 2 euro on most of my excursions next month.
ok now for a detailed description of my trip to munich
on monday i will wake up at 6:00 AM and make a large amount of spagehitti for breakfast. then at 7:30 i will ride my bike to the train station and wait for my train to come. it should arrive at 7:49 then i will take the train to schwabish hall hessintal and transfer to another train going to ansbach then transfer to a train going to Treuchtlingen then tranfer to a train going to munich i should arrive at 11:33 then i will have to figure out which way to go to get to the hostel basicaly i plan to ride next to the S-bahn tracks as best i can until i get to the street mensioned in the directions then i will ride the rest of the way to the hostel and lock my bike to somthing and check in. then i will explore the city center and th english garten. and maybe ride around the city if i have time. then go to sleep (i might meet some intresting people in my room i'm sleeping in a room with up to 14 othere strangers luckily the hostel has a luggage locker so my stuff should be safe.)
the next day i will wake up early and eat alot of breakfast (theres a free buffet) then i will either ride my bike to neuschwanstien of take a train (depending on distance) i will tour both neuschwanstien and hohengau then come back to the hostel and maybe ride around the city. then go to sleep.
the third day i will wake up and eat a huge breakfast. then go to dochau and tour that then ride back and go to the german museum. then i should get back on the train by 2:30 pm to come back here that will only cost 36.30 euro or if i want to stay longer i can wait up until 5:39 thats the absolute lastest that i can get back to schwabisch hall on the same day (other wise i'll have to spend the night at a train station) however the latter ticket will cost 55 euro so i'll try my best fo be there at 2:30. (thats why i havn't bought my ticket home yet i'm not sure how much time i will need for the museum or for dochoe)
and thats how my trip will go.
i did some research into the courses at vienna today. it seems that i will have to take a placement test. again. and they will put me in a level and then put me into several classes ounce this is complete i will take the following classes at the following times
music in vienna mondays 16:00 - 18:30
liturature tuesdays 17:45 - 20:15
vienna seminar wensdays 10:00 - 12:00 oct 3,17,31 nov 14,28, dec 12, jan 9,16
german gramer and idomatics wensdays 16:30 - 19:00
austria course thursdays 17:45 - 20:15
i'm not sure how the placment test fits into all of this but i'll ask ruth
i think this placment test is also a way of measuring what level we would be at at central to ensure we studied at goethe. but they don't realy mension that at all any place.
i have noticed a huge jump in my spagehitti intake over the last few days although the meals at goethe wern't much they certainly were filling i can tell my budget for food in vienna will have to double at least.
i have worked out a rough regrestion of my spending for the next 5 months and i should be between 2200 and 3000 euro ($2970-$4050). so far i have withdrawn a total of 446.93 euro ($603.36) (i still have 190 some euro ($256) in my room which is included in this number. 446.93 euro is just the amount that i have taken out of the bank or creditcard) i expect that number to be cut into a forth next month. however the the first month in vienna should be about equivalent. and the numbers should decrese till the italy tour then they should shoot back up. and i shouldn't have to spend much more during the month of january.
it is incredably hard to balance my laptop on my lap so that the fan isn't blocked. you think they would put a blower fan in it to suck air in one side and blow it out the other but instead they have it suck in the back and blow out the bottom. the design is flawed.
since i havn't said anything about germany for a while i will type for a while about the way stuff works here (because i have nothing better to do)
the electrical out lets here are inset into the wall so to plug somthing in you need to have a plug then goes into the outlet and has two prongs on it to go into the holes. this is done for two reasons 1. if you inset the outlet into the wall it becomes harder for forgeign objects and fluids to get into the electrical parts of the outlet. 2. as some of you may remember jon ounce got a paper clip to go imbetween an extenstion cord and a plug and made the two prongs ark. with this plug there is no way for that to happen.
the doors here (atleeast interior doors) are shaped so that when you close the door there is a lip going slightly over the door frame instead of the door going entirly into the door frame like in america this may improve heating and cooling cost however that lip subtracts from the amount of door around the latch so i think it could be more easily kicked open.
the door locks here have key holes on both sides i think this is pretty cool it does two things 1. if sombody breaks into your house through your window they have to take every thing with them back out that window because they can't just unlock the door from the inside. second it assured you that you can't lock yourself out of your house. however the keys turn the wrong way if you want to get into the room you have to turn the key out away from the door frame and to lock the room you have to turn into the door frame.
the toilets here mosly have two ways of flushing (i'll let you figure out why) the first way uses less water and the second way uses more water they do this because water conservation is realy big over here. also the water dosn't spin in these toilets its like it gets sucked out really fast but no vortex.
the light switches almost all function like the one i installed in my room (a rocker switch) but it is half the size. also it you want to turn the lights on you puch the buttom down and if you want them off you push the buttom up. this is backwards from what we have in the usa.
traffic here seems to always drive on the right and the steering collum is on the left side just like in america.
however the cars them selves seem to have different lines than the american made cars.in america our cars mostly have smooth long curves. here the cars all seem to have short radious curves (i'm not sure but thats how i view it)
i have noticed all stoves here (atleast in private residence) have been electric this is probably because they don't want to be dependant on gas and also the towns here are so dense and old and the streets are so curvy and rough that if a fire were to break out buy the time the fire truck got here not only would the house be gone but the house five houses down would be gone to.
none of the rooms have vents but they all have windows and radiators i think this is because the houses were built well before central air was even though of. and it it easier to heat water and disperse it to the whole town than it is to put furnaces in ever building.
the windows here are brilliant. they all have a latch like a door handle if you turn it down and oull the window opens like the doors on back of the suburban or the side doors i guess to, but if you turn the latch up and pull the window upons like the back hatch on a pickup truck, and other windows work slightly differently but the same concept by moving the pins in hinges in and out you can control how the window opens. also they are double pain windows but the put an hinge on the inside of the window so you can open up the inside of the window for cleaning.
i hanv't seen this for real yet but there is a company that makes stoves and on this model of stove when you open the door you can slide it under the stove so you don't have to lean over the door to take say a pizza out of the oven.
on almost every roof they have snow fences that look like a tinny lader for a toy or somthing going allong the edge of the roof
all the roofs here are tile roofs however when a tile breaks they don't seem to care what color tile they put back up so you have some houses with black tile roofs with random pink tiles strewn through out and vise versa.
if you buy a pack of cigarettes her instead of having the label on the side that says "caution smoking may possibly be linked to lung cancer and might affect pregnancyes and may promote premature death" in tiny print. half of the front of the box says "SMOKING CAN MAKE YOU DEAD" its funn to read some of the labels while waiting at the super markt yet almost every one in germany still smokes. the first time i saw an advertisement for cigarets at the trainstation i thought it was anti-smoking propoganda but then i saw the packs at the supermarket and relized it was an advertiment and the second largest words on the poster were "smoking can make you dead" (in german of course).
also the media is a lot more lax about sexuality here it is common to see billboards with pictures of fruit with condoms on them and to see mostly naked women advertising strip clubs on the front page of newspapers.
the euro is a tricky currency to get down. in america anything bigger than a dollar is paper and green (with some exceptions i.e. the dollar coins, which don't count because nobody uses them) and change is every thing smaller than a dollar. however here in europe the euro comes in the following ways
1 cent coin
2 cent coin
5 cent coin
10 cent coin
20 cent coin
50 cent coin
1 euro coin
1 euro paper (hard to find)
2 euro coin
5 euro paper
10 euro paper
20 euro paper
50 euro paper
maybe bigger i don't know
but coins, which as an american i think are mostly worthless, have almost as much power as the paper money. infact at the super markt the money drawers are diferent they have one spot for 10 euro notes one spot for 5 euro notes and the rest is all coins. europeans must jingle alot more than americans.
comforters (like bedding) instead of being sown together like in america they have the basically what would be a comforter in america but it has a smooth faberic on the outside and a gigantic pillow case. the pillow case goes around the comforter so when you wash it you only wash the pillow case and you don't have to worry about messing up the stuffung.
i'm not sure whats going on but a guy with a buzz cut just moved into room 5 and a girl with a buzz cut seems to have just moved into room 7 it seems like they are dating but i thought yesterday that the arab guys were moving into room 7 i'm confused it should all become clear after i get back from my break and the othere americans have befriended them. yeah they are definatly dating.
well i think thats all for today i'm planning on making super now and thn maybe going to the store to get a sponge (our dish rag is discusting)
maybe a bike ride and definatly sleep. fom what i've heard the american group will be done with amsterdam on sunday and may or maynot come back here i'm assumming that we will get back at around the same time. but i'm not sure.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
day 27
day 27
Yesterday I went out to the super market and bought all of the food I need for the trip. I got 2 bags of pretzels rice cakes and waffles. I had the waffles for dinner they are terrable so I'm gonna find somthing else. I also went to the train station to buy my train ticket to munich I used my credit card it took 2 tries but it worked. I also withdrew money from my checking acount using a german atm. and booked the hostel and emailed ruth to tell her I would be in munich for 3 days.
Today I woke up and I was confused because it was 7:30 and the american group should have left at 5:00 in the morning but I heared voices but I couldn't understand them I figued it was because I had just woken up and could think german yet. So I got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to see the american group but nobody was there. so I started making pancakes and I saw two arab people walking out of the canadian girls room (she left on wensday). Apparently the goethe institute decided to move the arab people who are going to be here for 9 months (to complete 7 levels of german) into the canadian girls room. I don't like the arab group they are loud childish and look like they think it is the 80's in america. they are all wearing mullots and are wearing 80's like clothing, its disturbing.
today I hope to get online again and research
the times to leave munich to get back here
exact directions to the hostel from the train station
how much it cost to tour dochoe or if I can tour it at all.
In afew hours when it gets warm out I plan to go for a bike ride around the area.
I'll need to pack but I think I'll have to do that sunday.
I found out yesterday that joe is no longer going to central and miller transfered to another school. Then I realized all my close friends at central have either transfered or graduated. and ontop of that since miller transfered my single room in the bottom of firth has been taken by somebody else who will probably stay the whole year so the liklyhood of me getting my own room is rapidly decreasing. which means the violin making plan will need to be revised or thrown out entirly. my only real hope is that tim has his own room and that I can take it when he goes abroad next semester. but I think he has a room mate. I think if I have to have a room mate christa will work on getting me with someone that I already kinda know.
I am considering what I want to do when I get back to central do I want to go with the 20 meal plan, the 1 meal plan, or not get meal plan at all and feed myself. I'm not sure what would be cheaper. if I could feed myself with my work study money I could save mom and dad over $1000. but as I know I'm not very good at picking a variety of food to eat (i.e. spagehitti every night) I will need to raid moms recipe box and pick food based on that.
also I have to decide what I want to do about my independent study next semester patzia has said I could add a credit to one of my existing 200 lvl classes which gives me "modern thought" and "readings in aquinas" since readings in aquinas is a 300 lvl class (which basically means they added enough stuff to the 200 lvl class to make it 300 and add an extra credit to it) and it is taught by ray. I don't want to add an extra creit to it (ray is a loosy teacher). I think I would like to add a crdit to modern thought whch is taught by patzia (the better philosophy teacher) ussually adding a credit means writing a long paper (5 pages) which should take me no more than 2 weeks. and modern thought is probably more easy to write a paper in. I think i would like to do somthing on descartes. maybe somthing on his proof of god and his proof of his own existance and if the two are compatible or not. but I should take a look at the sylibus before I decide any thing.
I'm gonna be busy next semester I will have all the exit interview and graduation stuff and finding a career to do ontop of classes. life is gonna suck for the next two years. I'm not sure what the exit interview entails, and I'm not sure what to expect for graduation stuff any info any of you could offer would be helpfull.
I found an internet room at goethe that is open during most of the break. I went in there yesterday to talk to mom. I was confused why it was two separet rooms about the same size (8'x8') and why there were two large boxes on the floor that wouldn't move. eventually I figuered out that there was tile on the walls and that there were closed off water valves just above the boxes on the floor. I must have been a bathroom at one point. but why they would change a bathroom into a computer room is still confusing me. atleast I understand now why they only have the one bathroom down stairs for the whole building.
I was talking to james yesterday and he was happy, he asked me why is every thing better in germany? I replyied I don't know then he went into how since every one in america came from here you think it would be the place to be, but every thing is better here (in germany) and I replied yeah like the cost of food and gas. then he said yeah but vegtables are cheaper here and I said but meat is way more expensive. I don't think he has seen enough of america to realize how cool america actually is. he has spent most of his life in rural iowa. europe is all the same one over crowded city right next to another america every city is slightly different and out natural land marks are far more impresive. afew days ago james started prasing the randomness of the street systems here in europe and complaining about the grid system in america. he doesn't seem to understand that grids make more sence. I think he will learn that pretty rapidly one his car trip today.
well I've been typing for nearly an hour now and its only 9:30 I'm gonna stop for a while.
Yesterday I went out to the super market and bought all of the food I need for the trip. I got 2 bags of pretzels rice cakes and waffles. I had the waffles for dinner they are terrable so I'm gonna find somthing else. I also went to the train station to buy my train ticket to munich I used my credit card it took 2 tries but it worked. I also withdrew money from my checking acount using a german atm. and booked the hostel and emailed ruth to tell her I would be in munich for 3 days.
Today I woke up and I was confused because it was 7:30 and the american group should have left at 5:00 in the morning but I heared voices but I couldn't understand them I figued it was because I had just woken up and could think german yet. So I got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to see the american group but nobody was there. so I started making pancakes and I saw two arab people walking out of the canadian girls room (she left on wensday). Apparently the goethe institute decided to move the arab people who are going to be here for 9 months (to complete 7 levels of german) into the canadian girls room. I don't like the arab group they are loud childish and look like they think it is the 80's in america. they are all wearing mullots and are wearing 80's like clothing, its disturbing.
today I hope to get online again and research
the times to leave munich to get back here
exact directions to the hostel from the train station
how much it cost to tour dochoe or if I can tour it at all.
In afew hours when it gets warm out I plan to go for a bike ride around the area.
I'll need to pack but I think I'll have to do that sunday.
I found out yesterday that joe is no longer going to central and miller transfered to another school. Then I realized all my close friends at central have either transfered or graduated. and ontop of that since miller transfered my single room in the bottom of firth has been taken by somebody else who will probably stay the whole year so the liklyhood of me getting my own room is rapidly decreasing. which means the violin making plan will need to be revised or thrown out entirly. my only real hope is that tim has his own room and that I can take it when he goes abroad next semester. but I think he has a room mate. I think if I have to have a room mate christa will work on getting me with someone that I already kinda know.
I am considering what I want to do when I get back to central do I want to go with the 20 meal plan, the 1 meal plan, or not get meal plan at all and feed myself. I'm not sure what would be cheaper. if I could feed myself with my work study money I could save mom and dad over $1000. but as I know I'm not very good at picking a variety of food to eat (i.e. spagehitti every night) I will need to raid moms recipe box and pick food based on that.
also I have to decide what I want to do about my independent study next semester patzia has said I could add a credit to one of my existing 200 lvl classes which gives me "modern thought" and "readings in aquinas" since readings in aquinas is a 300 lvl class (which basically means they added enough stuff to the 200 lvl class to make it 300 and add an extra credit to it) and it is taught by ray. I don't want to add an extra creit to it (ray is a loosy teacher). I think I would like to add a crdit to modern thought whch is taught by patzia (the better philosophy teacher) ussually adding a credit means writing a long paper (5 pages) which should take me no more than 2 weeks. and modern thought is probably more easy to write a paper in. I think i would like to do somthing on descartes. maybe somthing on his proof of god and his proof of his own existance and if the two are compatible or not. but I should take a look at the sylibus before I decide any thing.
I'm gonna be busy next semester I will have all the exit interview and graduation stuff and finding a career to do ontop of classes. life is gonna suck for the next two years. I'm not sure what the exit interview entails, and I'm not sure what to expect for graduation stuff any info any of you could offer would be helpfull.
I found an internet room at goethe that is open during most of the break. I went in there yesterday to talk to mom. I was confused why it was two separet rooms about the same size (8'x8') and why there were two large boxes on the floor that wouldn't move. eventually I figuered out that there was tile on the walls and that there were closed off water valves just above the boxes on the floor. I must have been a bathroom at one point. but why they would change a bathroom into a computer room is still confusing me. atleast I understand now why they only have the one bathroom down stairs for the whole building.
I was talking to james yesterday and he was happy, he asked me why is every thing better in germany? I replyied I don't know then he went into how since every one in america came from here you think it would be the place to be, but every thing is better here (in germany) and I replied yeah like the cost of food and gas. then he said yeah but vegtables are cheaper here and I said but meat is way more expensive. I don't think he has seen enough of america to realize how cool america actually is. he has spent most of his life in rural iowa. europe is all the same one over crowded city right next to another america every city is slightly different and out natural land marks are far more impresive. afew days ago james started prasing the randomness of the street systems here in europe and complaining about the grid system in america. he doesn't seem to understand that grids make more sence. I think he will learn that pretty rapidly one his car trip today.
well I've been typing for nearly an hour now and its only 9:30 I'm gonna stop for a while.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
day 26
day 26
the american group is going to amsterdam on friday morning so i will have the kitchen and bathrooms to myself for the weekend
i plan to leave for munich on monday morning at 8:00 and arrive at 11:30 i have to check in to the hostel between then and 3:00 it looks like it shouldn't be to hard to find. i plan to explore the marion platz (town center) and the englisch garten for the rest of the day.
the next day i will wake up early and ride my bike to neuschwanstien and Hohenschwangau and spend the day in there. then i will ride back to the hostel and maybe ride around the city (it i have time)
the next day i will go to the german museum and walk through that. then i will ride my bike to dachoe concentration camp and tour that for a while then ride back to munich (or the nearest train station) and come back to schwabisch hall.
it turns out thtta the media center will be open normal hours from now to next friday so i should be able to post stuff. and during the munich trip i will get atleast 10 minutes of internet free and if the price is right i might get more. or i might find an unsecured network. either way i should remain connected.
since i will have access to a kitchen at the hostel i am bringing spagehitti with me so i cook up some of that. i wil also bring rice cakes, generic waffels (sealed should last forever) pretzels (they are dirt cheap here, actually dirt is pretty expensive here i guess thay are as expensive as dirt in america (not good dirt)) and maybe some fresh rolls for the first day or two.
since some information is hard to get online i'm just gonna play it by ear when i get there and make adjustments as nessissary.
the facilities team is being slow in getting back to me on my questions which means thay are reluctant to help me get a job in their field likly because they feel i should do somthing more with my degree. or they know that i can't get a job there and are putting off telling me.
while i am away mustafa will still have acces to my room and since i don't know him i naturally don't trust him so i think i'm gonna put most of my belongings back in the suit case and put it under my bed or in the closet to help remove temptation.
total the munich trip should be just under 200 euro.
over the week end i would like to get a map of the surounding area and ride to all the small town around schwabisch hall.
in one month i will be going to vienna the program wants to fly me there but i have a bike and my luggage is heavier than the flight will allow so i'm likly going to take the train. i'm not sure about the cost but it will likly b cheaper than getting the bike on the plane and paying for the extra weight. i'll have to talk to ruth to see if i can get a refund or not and i'll have to find out how much a train to vienna would cost.
today i have to
withdraw money from my checking acount.
research stuff
how to get to the hostel from the train station
how to ride to neuschwanstien
how to ride to neuschwanstien and hohengau
how to get to the german museum
book the hostel
buy train ticket(s)
and maybe buy food for the trip. (need geet done before sunday)
find out the cost for dachoe.
and talk to mom and dad
maybe research bread costs.
email ruth tell her i'm going to munich from the 27th to the 29th
the american group is going to amsterdam on friday morning so i will have the kitchen and bathrooms to myself for the weekend
i plan to leave for munich on monday morning at 8:00 and arrive at 11:30 i have to check in to the hostel between then and 3:00 it looks like it shouldn't be to hard to find. i plan to explore the marion platz (town center) and the englisch garten for the rest of the day.
the next day i will wake up early and ride my bike to neuschwanstien and Hohenschwangau and spend the day in there. then i will ride back to the hostel and maybe ride around the city (it i have time)
the next day i will go to the german museum and walk through that. then i will ride my bike to dachoe concentration camp and tour that for a while then ride back to munich (or the nearest train station) and come back to schwabisch hall.
it turns out thtta the media center will be open normal hours from now to next friday so i should be able to post stuff. and during the munich trip i will get atleast 10 minutes of internet free and if the price is right i might get more. or i might find an unsecured network. either way i should remain connected.
since i will have access to a kitchen at the hostel i am bringing spagehitti with me so i cook up some of that. i wil also bring rice cakes, generic waffels (sealed should last forever) pretzels (they are dirt cheap here, actually dirt is pretty expensive here i guess thay are as expensive as dirt in america (not good dirt)) and maybe some fresh rolls for the first day or two.
since some information is hard to get online i'm just gonna play it by ear when i get there and make adjustments as nessissary.
the facilities team is being slow in getting back to me on my questions which means thay are reluctant to help me get a job in their field likly because they feel i should do somthing more with my degree. or they know that i can't get a job there and are putting off telling me.
while i am away mustafa will still have acces to my room and since i don't know him i naturally don't trust him so i think i'm gonna put most of my belongings back in the suit case and put it under my bed or in the closet to help remove temptation.
total the munich trip should be just under 200 euro.
over the week end i would like to get a map of the surounding area and ride to all the small town around schwabisch hall.
in one month i will be going to vienna the program wants to fly me there but i have a bike and my luggage is heavier than the flight will allow so i'm likly going to take the train. i'm not sure about the cost but it will likly b cheaper than getting the bike on the plane and paying for the extra weight. i'll have to talk to ruth to see if i can get a refund or not and i'll have to find out how much a train to vienna would cost.
today i have to
withdraw money from my checking acount.
research stuff
how to get to the hostel from the train station
how to ride to neuschwanstien
how to ride to neuschwanstien and hohengau
how to get to the german museum
book the hostel
buy train ticket(s)
and maybe buy food for the trip. (need geet done before sunday)
find out the cost for dachoe.
and talk to mom and dad
maybe research bread costs.
email ruth tell her i'm going to munich from the 27th to the 29th
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