Feliz Natal! Rio wrap up!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! I'm not in Brazil anymore, in fact I'm about as polar opposite as you can get from Brazil! I'm at my Uncle's Mountain House riding out a snow/ice storm! Nevertheless, I want to write a blog about the highlights of our time in Rio.

Monday is when we arrived in Rio and settled into our Hotel, the Windsor Martinique. It was located RIGHT on the Copacabana beach, so naturally we headed there immediately. Later that evening, we headed to Mercado Popular da Uruguaiana to do some partying. Supposedly there was Samba dancing going on somewhere on the premises but it was essentially a crowded street party and I couldn't stray too far from the Caipirinha stand. We had a lot of fun, despite the harrowing journey we had to make to get there. We met a couple of Brazilians that spoke English (a pretty rare find), a German who sounded Australian, and these two sleezy Parisian dudes. One of them was wearing a Ninja Turtle T-shirt. They were both rather memorable.

The next morning everyone woke up (slowly), headed down to the lobby for some complementary breakfast, and then set out for the Marina da Gloria. We took a boat tour around the coast and harbors of Rio. It was really awesome and relaxing. We listened to Brazilian music and soaked up some sun. We even had a group picture photobombed by a Chinese man. Excellent. After the boat ride we walked around the city and went lotsa places. Churches, banks, libraries, the usual sight-seeish stuff. Then we headed back to the hotel for some R&R.

Wednesday started with a trip through the Market. We tried our best to blend in, but a group of 11 Gringos walking around is rather... conspicuous. We were making our way to the Centro de Operaçoes Rio. This place is supposedly the "command center" and we were going to get some inside info about how Rio is gearing up from the Olympics. When we arrived to the place we weren't even allowed to go in because there was a dress code that we didn't know about. Apparently no one is allowed to wear shorts or sandals in Brazilian Government buildings - who knew! Even though that aspect of the day was a flop, we recovered and still managed to do some pretty cool stuff. We took a hot and sketchy train to the Complexo do Alemao which is this sky tram system that takes passengers over a huge Favela (slum). It was an interesting set up - like the Brazilians were like "hey tourists come see how our poor people live!". It was cool, but weird. I must say though, compared to the slums I've seen in India, the Brazilians have it good. Electricity, dish television, and water tanks on the roofs of their tottering cinderblock homes. After the sky ride, a group of us headed to the Escadaria de Selaron some famous tiled steps. The steps have tiles from all over the world! There was a tile from Ohio right next to a tile from Lima, Peru (this is significant because Jordan and I's roomie Janet is from Peru!). Also, there was a tile from WUPPERTAL! I couldn't believe it! It was incredible. The steps led up to an incredible view of the city.

Thursday we rode the Bondinho de Pao de Acucar up to the Sugar Loaf! Sugar Loaf is this giant rock formation that looks like a loaf of bread... kinda. We rode up these huge high speed gondola things that can hold like 70 people at a time. The view from the top was awesome - so many good views everywhere you go in Rio. Also, there was a huge group of German tourists up there, so I got to eavesdrop on a tour auf Deutsch. It made me happy! Later that day we went to lots of garden type places Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro and Parque Lage. I saw wild(ish) monkeys way up in the tops of trees! They were cute! We had a sweet dinner along the lake that consisted of beef, beans, and rice - surprise surprise.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for. I bet everyone was wondering when we were going to take the Trem do Corcovado to see Cristo Redentor (the giant Jesus). I'll be the first one to say it wasn't that cool. The tram ride up was cooler than the statue itself. Once you got to the top it was SO HOT and super crowded. Also, you were like right under the statue so there wasn't really an awesome view of it. But, like I've said before, there were plenty of cool views of the whole city! Later that evening we went to Lapa, the HUGE party district. It's entrance is marked with these big arches that were once the aqueducts of the city. There was a massive party in the street and all the surrounding buildings were big clubs. I only lasted a little while at Lapa because we had stuffed ourselves with another huge meal of beef, beans, and rice. Even just seeing Lapa was enough of an experience for me!

Our last day in Rio was strictly R&R. I beached for a bit before retreating back into the shade to nap and lounge. I also hit up the hotel pool and did a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. Our Rio adventures were everything I had hoped for - the perfect mix of tourist destinations and relaxation. I left the city feeling accomplished with our adventures, and even got a tinsy weensy tan in the process. I can safely say that I'll visit Rio again for the World Cup or the Olympics since I've already got my visa! Until then, até logo!

Took a train through the jungle, didn't see any monkeys

The Brazilian adventures continue! Saturday we had free time in the morning, so after a wild night at the Schwartzwald Jordan and I happily slept in. Then in the afternoon we went to the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON). Niemeyer was a very famous Brazilian architect that designed many well-known modern buildings. He’s the guy that completely redesigned Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Google it, it looks all crazy and futuristic.

The MON was designed by Niemeyer himself, so it was a really cool space. The building was cleanly designed and used a lot of reinforced concrete construction. (Oooooh somebody’s studying Civil Engineering…) The museum itself had a lot of cool modern art exhibits. My favorite was a pop art installation by Frida Kahlo. I usually don’t like museums (they make me sleepy) but this one was pretty rad! What’s even weirder is Niemeyer died on Dec 5^th – right before we came to Brazil! The guy was super old, over a hundred, but still designing buildings! Such a champ.

After MON, we all headed back to the city Centrum. There was a Christmas street vendor market type thing right next to our hotel that was complete with a multi cultural food stand place, so Jordan and I grabbed food there for dinner. I had some less than stellar Pierogies… I had high hopes because I heard there were a lot of Polish immigrants in Curitiba, but I was sadly disappointed. Then, Jordan and I got chocolate covered strawberries on a stick. Such a win – and for only $R 3.50  (a little less than $2). Take that Godiva! Later that night we went out to a bar in the historical district. We chilled out on their patio, drank beers, and ate a plate of cheese. No seriously, we ordered this dish because the only word we recognized was queijo (cheese) and it was literally just a platter of cheese cubes. No complaints here. We even ordered another one.

Sunday was a big excursion day. We took a scenic train to the city of Morretes. The disorderly clustery Brazilian train station made me want to pull my hair out. Damn my affinity for German trains and their efficiency! Now when I say scenic train ride, I mean scenic. I’m talkin’ a train that’s max speed is 30km/h, through the tropical jungle, in the mountains. It was an EXPERIENCE. The train was not air conditioned frustratingly slow - we weren’t even getting a breeze! It took us about 4 hours to go Morretes even though it's only about 60km from Curitiba. Luckily the crazy beautiful views of the mountains and jungle made it all worth it. We saw breathtaking sights, wild blue hydrangeas, and even the occasional waterfall! However we didn’t see any monkeys, which was deeply saddening. The jungle looked like something straight outta Tarzan so you’d think you would see a monkey or two.

Once we got to Morretes we bee-lined it to our lunch destination.  This city is famous for their traditional Brazilian meal featuring meat, fish, and more meat. The first item they brought out was a super slow cooked beef reminiscent of Chipotle’s Barbacoa. (It’s been 7 days since my last burrito, but who’s counting). Then they brought out fried fish, baked fish, fried shrimp, baked shrimp, shrimp balls, and mussels. It was SO delicious! Then we moseyed around the little city and I bought some souvenirs. The city was very interesting… it seems so reliant on the trainloads of people that arrive at noon and leave at 4pm. Kinda bizarre. We were on the slow train for a total of 8 hours that day, but that lunch meal was worth it! That night we stayed in and listened to a choral Christmas performance by adorable Brazilian children.

And that brings me to Monday – the day we flew to Rio de Janeiro! I’ll pick up from there soon, but what I can tell you now is the sand at the Copacabana is super soft, the city is a little stinky, and Brazilian bikinis show off your whole butt! Until next post!

Churrascaria: Where champions are made

This country is awesome. I've been having so much fun eating, drinking, and playing my way through Curitiba. We've eaten like kings and queens and seen many of the sweet sites Curitiba has to offer!

My last post was from Wednesday evening when we first arrived at the hotel. We had just met up with Kyle, and thank GOODNESS we did because we would have really struggled without him. Plus, he's simply amazing so that's nice too. Our Brazilian TA, Ana, gave us a restaurant suggestion for dinner, so we went to Maredo - a restaurant claiming to have "the best burger in the world". While it was delicious, I still prefer Terry's in Cincy. What was amazing at Maredo was their Caipirinha! Caipirinha is a traditional Brazilian drink with cachaça (sugar cane rum), sugar and lime. OMG it is FANTASTIC. Like a Marg, BUT BETTER. I think I'm in love. Dinner was great, the company was better, and the Caipirinha was THE best. Really, it's that good.

Thursday we toured around Curitiba on one of those double decker tour busses. It was a little pricey, but a great way to see the city! Our first stop was the Botanic Gardens. The greenhouse of the gardens is a really cool structure. We walked around and enjoyed the warm weather for a bit before heading to our next destination - the Curitiba University for the Environment. It's a great environmental school built with all reclaimed materials in an old quarry. There's a really cool pathway made out of old telephone poles. Also, we saw a black swan! Natalie! Then we visited the Tanguá Park which is another example of urban space being re-utilized. It had a great view of the city and we could see lavish mansions right next to shack-like houses. Interesting juxtaposition. Our last stop was a TV tower that had INCREDIBLE views of this sprawling city. The amount of high rise apartment buildings is insane! Later that evening we went out for dinner at this Italian restaurant called Spaghetto. The food was AMAZING. We've been eating so well here in Curitiba!

Friday we visited the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) - a partner University with the Niehoff Studio. The professor at UFPR is a friend of Professor Russell and used to teach our TA Ana. It was interesting seeing how different the University is here. It's a public institution, and they have so little money that they couldn't even afford toilet paper. Kinda weird! We ate at the University dining hall and it was also very different. Most notably, they had a hand washing station right as you entered the cafeteria area - very smart! Afterward, we had a short break at the hotel, so naturally I napped. Then later we went out for dinner at a Churrascaria aka a Brazilian steak house.

First of all, let me say that this was the most awesome eating experience I've ever had in my life. And, I like to eat so I've had quite a few glorious eating experiences. This was unlike anything I had ever done before! SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD. So here's the deal... It was about an hour wait to get into the restaurant. During that time I drank a couple of Xingus (my fav Brazilian beer). Then, we get seated and are told we should go to the buffet in the middle of the restaurant. Here's where they try and trick you! They want you to fill up on yummy salads and snackies so you eat less delectable meat. But I wasn't so easily fooled! I was able to nom on the buffet food and also slam incredibly hard on the meats. There are people that just walk around with various kinds of meats on skewers and they shave them off onto your plate. OMGOMGOMG best meat ever. They had it all - steak, filet, pork, beef, even chicken hearts! I wasn't brave enough to try one, but Jordan did! My favorite meats were the filet and the pork thing. So savory! And the beers just kept flowing. OOH ALSO, there was this magical Brazilian cheese thing that was grilled and melty but also still pretty solid. Like I said, magical. And oh so delicious! So I stuffed my face with excessive amounts of food and then ended my eating experience with a fried banana covered in chocolate. Like I said, champions are made at the Churrascaria.

After the Churrascaria a couple of us went out to Schwartzwald - a German bar! It was super Bavarian style so Remo and I were quite in our element. We chatted in German all night and drank beer out of little mugs. We ordered Submarinos which were beers with a shot of Jägermeister in them... kinda gross but we got to keep the little shot glasses as a souvenir so that was cool. Sorry that this post is so text heavy. I've been having trouble charging my camera batteries so I've been slacking in the photo department. Hopefully I'll go back and add some pictures later. Until next post, ciao ciao!

Olá Brasil!

I'm here! On a new continent! In Curitiba, Brazil! In our hotel room! With free internet! Joy!

I've only been in this country for a few hours, but I can already tell I'm going to like it here. All the people I've encountered have been super friendly and the temperature is simply wonderous. The city is massive and sprawling and reminiscent of India. The buildings look very similar to those I've seen in India, and the juxtaposition between nicer and slummier neighborhoods is just alike. I'm sleep deprived and starving and luckily the group is meeting in the lobby in 20 mins for dinner. Speaking of meeting up - WE FOUND KYLE! My friend Kyle is living in Sao Paulo and he came to meet up with us in Curitiba. I was nervous about how we would actually find each other but wouldn't ya know it - our hotel rooms are RIGHT next to each other! How perfect!

Brazil?!

I'm sitting at the Cincinnati airport waiting to board a plane to Dallas, where there I will hop on a plane to Brazil. I'm a part of the Observing the City Honors Seminar that includes a 12 day stint in beautiful Brazil. For those of you who forget how hemispheres work... it's summer down there so this December trip is going to be quite fabulous. I'm excited to visit a part of the world that I've never been to before - South America is a new continent for me. Our itinerary is filled with people watching, observing the urban spaces, investigating their public transportation schemes, hitting the beaches, and of course eating. I'm not sure how much internet acces I'll have... but I'll try to do a couple posts while I'm in Brazil. Until then, Até logo!

Ich vermisse Deutschland

It's been over 2 months since I've been back from Germany. I miss it a lot. 

Italian Adventures: Rome and Venice

One week ago I was sitting in the Venice airport preparing to fly back to Köln, Germany. Today, I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport preparing to fly to Bangalore, India. To say my life this past week has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. I'll go more into detail in another post, but for now I want to jot down my memories of Rome and Venice before they get too far in the past!

My last day of work, Tuesday Aug 14th, was also my birthday. However, I didn't do much raucous celebrating because I had to be up early the next day to hop on a plane to Rome. My flight to Rome was nice and short and I got to see aerial views of the Alps, not too shabby. I arrived in Rome about 6 hours earlier than my travel companion Shane. I wandered the streets with my backpack and discovered how damn HOT it is in Rome. Phew! I also accidentally found the Colosseum. That was cool. Then I finally met up with Shane after some confusion with our hostel situation. We had booked one hostel with Hostelworld, but when we got there they were closed for renovations so we were moved to a hostel a couple of blocks away. The hostel we ended up in was fantastic and we met some great people! Our first night in Rome consisted of wandering the streets with our new Canadian friends and drinking the most delicious wine I've ever had!

Look what I accidentally found!

Oh hey. 

Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum

Hostel madness.

Thursday we spent the whole day wandering around the city. Shane, the Canadians Vic and Heather, and myself set off toward the Vatican City early in the morning. We only got a little lost on the way, and it wasn’t bad because getting lost included finding the Pantheon.  It’s remarkable how something so old can still be so intact! Eventually we made it to the Vatican, only to find out that it was closed because of some sort of religious holiday… or restoration work… Regardless, we were a little discouraged but headed back across the city to the Colosseum. On our way we found some incredible gelato (the best I had in Italy!). The Colosseum was awesome. Absolutely awesome. As a Civil Engineering student I think I might have a greater appreciation for structures that have truly stood the test of time. The Colosseum is one of these structures. It’s massive and sturdy, and it really makes you wonder how people were capable of designing and building something like this so long ago. The only struggle with the Colosseum was that it was SO HOT, and shade was minimal. After all the walking and sightseeing we did that day, we treated ourselves to a nap before our hostel’s free spaghetti and disco party. Oh yes, spaghetti and disco do go well together. That night we met a lot of awesome people at our hostel and sort of found ourselves leading an unofficial pub crawl of about 20 people. Absolute chaos.

Oh hey Pantheon!

Awesome Piazza and Fountain on the way to the Vatican.

Off duty Gladiators.

St. Peter's off in the distance!

The best gelato ever. Ever.

Made it to the Colosseum! 

Insanely cool!

You'd think after 22 years of gingerdom, I'd know better...

On Friday we woke up again with the mission of seeing the Vatican. The day before we paid up for advance tickets that let us skip waiting in line at the Vatican museum.  Still, even with being able to skip the line, we still had a lot of waiting and herding that came along with the Vatican Museum. I couldn’t believe how many people they funnel through that museum every day. There were so many beautiful tapestries, paintings, and sculptures but no way to see them all with the hoards of people. At times I got very frustrated with the crowds, but seeing the Sistine Chapel made the trip worth it. I even had to buy a knee covering skirt in order to enter the chapel, but it was still worth it. Probably something I’ll never want to do again, but I’m glad I did it when I did. After the Vatican Museum, Shane and I walked around St. Peter’s Square for a bit before heading to Palatine Hill. Our ticket from the Colosseum they day before also got us into the Palatine Hill area which included the old Roman Forum. It was a lot of cool ruins and also a lot of walking around in the hot sun. After another long day of walking we treated ourselves to another nap before the hostel’s free cocktails and disco party. Like I said, we had an awesome hostel. That evening we went out again with a big group of hostel people and had a blast.

Totally frowned upon pic. But look at Genesis!

The most interesting and delicious pizza I've ever had.

The view from Palatine Hill! 

Hostel friends!

Saturday we woke up and checked out of our hostel. We set out to see some more sights before hopping on our train to Venice. Shane and I walked to Piazza di Popolo, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps before setting out. The Trevi Fountain was truly beautiful, and we got there early enough that there weren’t very many people there yet! I was very proud of our last minute Roman sightseeing with our backpacks in tow.

Shane and I at the Trevi Fountain!

Me on the Spanish Steps!

Our train ride to Venice was about 3.5 hours and upon arrival we bought a map and our Rolling Venice passes. With these passes we got 72 hours of travel on the Venice water taxis for 18 euros. We water taxied to our hostel and on the way got a brilliant taste of Venice’s beauty. The canals and houses are a magical sight to behold. Our hostel wasn’t as nice as our Rome hostel, but the man who runs the Venice hostel cares a lot about his customers. He made great suggestions about what to do and see and introduced us to another hostel visitor from Poland. After finishing check in, Shane, our new friend Karina, and I walked all around Venice. We had a great time making our way through the winding “roads” of Venice. I say “roads” because there really aren’t any cars on Venice. We made our way to Piazza San Marco and then back to the hostel relatively early because we had a long day!

Piazza San Marco! 

Masks everywhere!

On Sunday we got up early and headed to the beaches of Lido, an island near the main Venice Island. The beach was a very relaxing and… interesting experience. There were tons of urchins trying to sell us crappy sunglasses, and there were also locals tanned to a crisp. It’s safe to say that I was the palest person on the beach, and I had to apply sunscreen about every half hour. Shane and I stayed on the beach for the morning and most of the afternoon, and when the sun started to get way too hot we packed up and headed back to the main island. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering more around Venice. We even found the old Ghetto! Venice is home to the first ever ghetto, and the term was even formed there. It’s home to the Jewish population, and many Jewish people still live there today. That evening we hung out in the Margarita Square where our hostel is located. We met some other people from our hostel; two Americans from Louisville (small world!) who study film and just got done working in broadcasting for the Olympics, and a Belgian guy named Jef that biked, yes BIKED, all the way from Belgium to Venice (took him about a week biking all day long!).

Rockin' the paleness on Lido!

On the Ponte di Rialto!

Monday was our last day in Venice, and we still had a lot that we wanted to see. We took the water taxi to the island of Murano, which is famous for glass blowing. We say a live glass blowing demonstration and got to walk through lots of shops and admire the glass creations. After Murano, we water taxied to Burano, another small island near Venice. Burano is known for lace making and all the houses are painted brightly with different colors. It was an awesome sight to behold! We also found a great pizza joint and had some delicious pizza for lunch! After eating it was time for us to head back to Venice and check out of the hostel. Then we took a miserable, AC-less, bus ride to the airport and before we knew it we were flying back to Germany.

Awesome blown glass creation on Murano!

Great pizza on Burano!

Beautiful Burano houses!

This Italy trip was everything that I wanted it to be and more. I saw everything that I had dreamed of seeing, and met tons of cool people along the way. It was equal parts exhausting and relaxing, and there was never a dull moment. I ate and drank like a queen and got to see the legacies of old emperors. Italy was a perfect way to end my time in Europe, and a great inspiration for future visits. There is so much more that I want to see in Italy, so I’m sure I will be back someday!

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Yes, that's right, I just wished myself happy bday auf Deutsch on my own blog. I can't help it! I am just so excited because not only does today mark my 22nd year on the planet, but it is also my last day of work! Also, tomorrow I jet off to Rome to meet up with fellow ICPer Shane where we will adventure around for a few days before heading to Venice for a couple more days. It's my last big trip before I head back to the states - which is in 8 days by the way. Incredible how fast five months fly by! Ahh!

So birthdays in Germany are a little different than they are in the USA. Parties aren't thrown by friends for the birthday girl/boy... the birthday girl/boy throws the party for their friends. I'm not having a party, but I did bake a cake last night (carrot cake of course, and I hope it tastes as good as it smelled) and carried it all the way to work. At work people just come into my office and wish me well and eat some of my cake and are on their merry way. No fanfare, no fuss, just good efficient happy birthday wishing. It's the German way.

Copenhagen!

This past weekend Michelle and I met up in glorious Copenhagen, Denmark! I flew with Air Berlin and experienced ridiculous delays in my Berlin layover. We sat on the runway for about 2 hours without moving! The flight from Berlin to Copenhagen is only 40 minutes! It was just simply ridiculous. I finally got to Copenhagen about 2 hours behind schedule, all the currency exchanges were closed at the airport, and naturally I got lost on my way to the hostel. Michelle thought I died, but I eventually made it, and we even found our other ICPers Zack and Dylan. Our hostel was so awesome and located right in the heart of the night life. After my stressful travels it was only fitting that we hit the town, and so we did!

Saturday morning we woke and at 11:00 headed to another one of Sandeman's free walking tours.  I can't recommend these tours enough - always highly entertaining and quite affordable. We had a great British tour guide named Simon and he was in full support of Michelle and I enjoying Carlsberg on our tour. I'm really going to miss socially acceptable public day drinking, it's just grand. During our tour we saw the Danish Royal Palace, the picturesque Nyhavn harbor, Danish Parliament, and much more! We enjoyed our tour guide so much that we bought tickets to the Pub Crawl that Sandemans puts on. After the tour, we followed our noses and sought out some delicious Indian food. After we ate ourselves into a food coma, we took a little nappy nap before the pub crawl. When we woke up we met the other people in our room, an Aussie named Zach, two Austrians whose names I forget, and the unforgettable Benny from Germany. He had the most hilarious German accent whenever he spoke English, and he humored us and helped us speak auf Deutsch. We couldn't convince our new hostel friends to pub crawl with us, but it was ok because we met back up with Zack and Dylan and made plenty of new friends. We met a group of girls from Switzerland, and awesome chick from Sweden, and people from all over the place!

Drankin' and tourin'

Power Island

Copenhagen :)

Fast-forward to Sunday. Michelle, Zach, Benny and I decided to check out the free state of Christiania, a neighborhood commune in Copenhagen that has their own laws and it basically just a crazy place. Weed is pretty legal there, and by pretty legal I mean I saw one of those giant bricks of weed like you see in the movies. The place was insane, and so dirty. After we had our fill of squalor, we headed back to our sweet hostel and napped on these awesome couch/bed things. Then Benny convinced Michelle and I to accompany him to Tivoli Gardens. The park opened on August 15, 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world. It was a money pit, and not very exciting, but it was rather cute. I think I'm just spoiled from Cedar Point, best amusement park in the world! Still, Tivoli was adorable as was the entire city of Copenhagen. I think the best part of the weekend was meeting all sorts of people from all over the world. I'm really going to miss that when I'm back in the states, which is in 16 days but who's counting? Also, did I mention that Shane and I booked flights and we're going to Rome and Venice as a final hurrah? ADVENTURES!

The crazy couch bed things.

Adorable lil Tivoli

Greenservations 8: Schrebergärten

It seems to me like 'Urban Farming' and 'Urban Gardening' is becoming all the rage in the states lately. I personally love the idea. Re-purposing unused urban space to grow food has a myriad of environmental benefits. Urban gardens are a better use of space. They can replace unused lots or buildings that are causing unnatural run off. Eating food from an urban garden also reduces the carbon footprint of the food because the transportation from origin to plate is significantly decreased. Plus, getting outside and gardening  every once in a while is good for you!

The Germans realized these environmental and health needs around the time of industrialization and urbanization. Large amounts of people were moving off their rural farms into the city to work. Around the mid 1800s, a doctor named Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber was writing publications that dealt with the subject of children's health and social consequences of urbanization during the Industrial Revolution. He is credited with starting the "Schreber Movement" which emphasized the importance of fresh air and appreciation of nature. This movement also started organized allotment gardening, or Schrebergärten.

I was pretty confused when I saw my first Schrebergärten. They kind of look like a mini neighborhood with little huts for houses. It is pretty rare for Germans to have a house with a yard since a majority of people live in apartments. My roomies informed me that the little plots of land are passed down through the generations, and it's pretty hard to get one! They have also told me that living in your Schrebergarten hut is frowned upon, but throwing parties in your Schrebergarten is encouraged. A little party/chill spot that provides you with health benefits and sustainable agriculture? The Germans know whats up.

I've turned into the quiet girl

I've always been a talkative person. I like to have conversations, I don't like to argue. I'm the kind of person that can have a nice chat with almost anyone. Heck, I was voted "Most Outgoing" by my peers in high school.

But here in Germany, I've turned into the quiet girl. I blame this on the fact that I am currently at the frustrating point in language learning where I can understand the gist of what people are saying, but I just can't think of a gramatically correct response quick enough. Rather than speaking incorrectly, I usually just don't speak at all. I usually just nod along, peppering in a ja genau here and there.

This frustrates me. I want people to get to know me but I don't know how to do this without talking to people. I feel like my co-workers think that I'm an anti-social mute, which, if you know me, could not be further from the truth. I also like to think that I have a pretty good sense of humor, but I have no clue how to show it to people over here. My German skills aren't strong enough to tell jokes or use sarcasm (do Germans even use sarcasm?). I feel like it's been months and no one over here really knows the real me because well, I've turned into the quiet girl.

Today is August 1st which means that I've got a mere 3 weeks left in Germany. I can't believe that 5 months is almost up! I am really REALLY bummed that my ICP year got shafted with the semester conversion, thus cutting our time abroad short.  Not only do I feel like I'm not going to have my German speaking breakthrough, but I'm also missing Oktoberfest. I mean c'mon that's just cruel.

As you can tell, I'm feeling very frustrated today. RAWR. However I'm also really excited because this weekend Michelle and I are meeting up in Copenhagen! Also, I finally bought tickets for my final travels. Shane (another ICP guy) and I are going to travel to Rome and Venice before finally heading back to the states. Prepare for the fastest 3 weeks ever! Bis später!

So I've been meaning to get around to a post like this...

A couple days ago, Michelle posted a link on her blog.  I found this link highly entertaining and very spot on, and since I had been meaning to made a list of cultural observations on my own... well this one is just so all encompassing and contained so many things that I was planning on saying I'm just going to pick out my favorites my favorites and adapt them to my experiences.  Deal? Deal.

My spin on the 'What I Know About Germans' list...

6) Their babies are particularly beautiful - And their babies all speak better German than me. Very frustrating. 

13) They speak English better than most English people I know - Especially my roomie Franzi, she is an English Lit major and has better English grammar than I do.

21) Germans simply do not understand thongs/flip flops/jandals as viable footwear. Even when it’s warm and sunny. And a boot is impractical, or too warm for the feet to be comfortable. They will stare, bewildered, at thonged feet and quietly wonder if the wearer is mad - I wear sandals to work a lot.  I like my feet to breathe.  Almost every day someone makes a comment about my Sandalen. I think this is especially bizarre because Germany is home to Birkenstocks, the mother of all sandals!  But apparently Birkenstocks are just "house shoes".  When I told people how much Birkenstocks sell for in the USA they laughed! They're only about 40 euros here!

24) Germans are always prepared for the rain - This is no joke. It rains ALL THE TIME here. Sadly I lost my rain jacket so I've been really soggy lately.

27) German clubs routinely remind the world of the universality of 90s pop - And not just 90's pop, but all sorts of the most random music imaginable.  Some of my favorite randoms include "You're the One That I Want", weird techno mixes of "Country Roads", and about every N*SYNC and BSB song imaginable. It's wonderful!

32) Germans don’t tend to jay-walk. And they judge those who do - I really struggle with this one. Especially if it's raining and I'm standing rainjacketless in the rain.

52) Germans seem to really enjoy How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and crime fiction - This is so true and just cracks me uppp!

53) They love their dogs. Often their dogs catch the bus with them and sometimes their dogs even dine with them in restaurants - Speaking of German dogs... I'm not allowed to pet them and it makes me really sad. Germans are very particular about their pets and according to Franzi they don't even like it when you make googly-eyes at their dogs, let alone touch them!

67) Germany loves a public holiday. Bavaria in particular - Thank goodness for this because it has afforded me lots of opportunities to travel! Wheeee!

87) Germans can’t queue. Full stop, the end. They don’t know how, they have no interest in trying. This is the one time Germans embrace a lack of system and what happens when a queue is called for is the unfortunate culmination of Germanic forcefulness and uncertainty in the face of a system-less world. Take, for example, what happens in a supermarket when another check out line opens. Instead of calmly indicating the person at the top of the queue, yet to unload their basket onto the conveyor belt, should head up the new checkout line, there is this mad dash like a scattered flock of sheep, and your standing in the original queue becomes completely irrelevant. If you are fast enough, you can theoretically come from well behind and end up getting served before the person five people in front of you, who has been patiently waiting for 10 minutes. And no one thinks anything of it - This is THE MOST frustrating thing. Ever.

88) Germans can open a beer bottle with anything. The couch, a coffee mug, a banana. Body parts. It’s like they all secretly take a class at school when they’re eleven, in preparation for a life time of beer consumption. Next time you are with a German, hide the bottle opener and casually hand them your beer. They will flick off the top using a toothpick as if it is the most normal thing in the world - This is THE COOLEST thing. Ever. I'm trying to learn but the one time I tried with a lighter I cut my finger. Oww.

96) Germans love Spargel. They love Spargel and anything to do with Spargel, like Spargel peelers and Spargel steamers and Spargel platters. Forget Christmas or Easter or any other notable markers, the German year revolves around Spargelsaison - Sadly, I'm not a fan of the creepy whitish asparagus.

So there you have it, my take on the 'What I Know About Germans' list!  Look forward to a couple more culture posts like this before I leave.  Less than a month here in Germany - I can't believe it!