Back from the Wild Blue Yonder - Munich

So I'm back, with somewhere approaching 1000 pictures from Munich, Vienna, and Bratislava.

Wow.

Speaking of pictures (and videos), I'm in the process of uploading everything onto my Facebook account. I'll post the links to that once a good part of it's all done. To be honest, it's going to take a while. Anyways, let's get down to business.

***

Where have I been in the past week? Munich, Vienna, and Bratislava. Was it fun? Oh yes yes yes.

I got to test out my new travel pack for this trip and, let me tell you, it works great. 7 days worth of clothes, shoes, formal wear, and an assortment of school supplies and accessories all fit neatly into its confines. The pack itself separates into a smaller day pack, which was invaluable during the trip.

We all got onto the train at Berlin Hauptbahnhof last Friday, squeezed ourselves and our luggage into the seats and compartments, and set off on our 6 hour ride to Munich with one thought in common (so I believe): Oktoberfest starts tomorrow. That's right; we were in Munich during the opening weekend of Oktoberfest. I'll give you a moment to stop screaming, Ian.

Alright. Let's get back to it.
The ride was pretty quick, all things considered, and I got to see a whole lot of the German countryside. Germany is truly beautiful. I don't know what it is, but seeing landscapes from a train lends a certain romantic quality to them (I'm talking classical Romanticism, not Kiss-Kiss-Lovey-Dovey Romance). That's just me, though.

We hurried to the hostel in Munich, and then everyone dispersed just as quickly. There was a city to see, and we still had the better part of an afternoon. A few of us went to Marianplatz, and began a small sightseeing tour of our own, specifically of a handful of churches each in a different style of architecture (Renaissance, Gothic, etc). Hijinks ensue. I couldn't help but wonder if I had been to any of the places that we went that day on my family's European Vacation all those years ago. Munich is a beautiful city, and it's a damn shame that it took 12 years for me to honestly remember that fact.

September 22nd was a big day. We left the hostel around 9 or 10, intent on spending the middle of the day at the Big O. First, though, there was shopping to be done. A lot of girls in the program bought Dirndls, while most of the guys bought plaid shirts (or the full Lederhosen, if they could stomach the 200+ Euro price tag); basically, festive garb all around. Despite this preparation, we were not ready for what we encountered at the Fest.

The population of Munich swells from its normal size of about 2 million to somewhere between 8 and 10 million when Oktoberfest hits. The fairgrounds are absolutely gigantic; we walked for maybe half an hour or forty-five minutes, and probably only covered an 8th of the entire area. There are several gigantic Festhalle that dominate the landscape, with smaller foodstands and shops that line the wide paths in between. There was also a roller coaster, giant slide, and other assorted carnival rides. Here's the kicker: you can't get beer at Oktoberfest unless you are sitting outside or inside a Festhalle. Our group split up while we walked around the grounds, and my fragment had the fortune to meet up with Libby and Phil, another pair of confused Americans who wanted nothing more than to sit down and have something to drink. Both of them had come to Munich on a day trip from a nearby military base (although neither of them looked like they were in the military); they're originally from Missouri. They're real nice people, and I'm glad that we bumped into them. As a side note, it's always a little weird when I bump into an American in Germany, since it's not always readily apparent. I mean, it's not like Americans and Germans look totally different.

Anyways, we walked around for a while, and finally decided to wait in line for a shot at getting inside a Festhalle. We managed to get in with about 45 minutes to spare before the historical tour that afternoon. The Hall was packed to the gills, and everyone was either dancing, singing, or drinking. Waitresses pushed through the crowds carrying 10 or even 15 liter glasses of beer (the only way it is served at Oktoberfest), sometimes using whistles to clear the way. There was no way that we could sit down, but we were in luck. As we watched a woman climb up onto the bandstand and begin her impromptu position as conductor, a random drunken Italian thrust his Mass ('measure' - Beer) into Heather's hands, and told her that it was a shame that she didn't have anything to drink. We passed the Mass around, so although we didn't get to stay, we didn't miss out on a taste of the full experience. Never underestimate the power of the pretty girl. Bidding the Italians farewell, we made our way to the tour.

I'll say it again. Munich is a Beautiful City. The tour made its way through the historical center of Munich, and ended with some old buildings that the Nazis had built for their own purposes (like Hitler's Munich offices). We even got to see the location of the 'Beer Hall Putsch' of March 1923. I'm not really here to tell you the tour, but I will relate one highlight. We went to St. Petersdom (Peter's Cathedral, which is really beautiful by the way) during the tour, and we got to see "the Devil's Footprint." Legend has it that when the cathedral was being built, the architect solicited the Devil's help, which would only be given if the Devil could not see any windows when he inspected the cathedral after a certain period of time (he'd help, if it looked crappy). On the day of the inspection, the architect had the Devil stand in such a spot that he could not see any of the windows, due to the columns being in the way. Furious at being made to help construct the cathedral, the Devil stomped his foot, creating the impression that remains. The tour guide asked my to put my foot in the print before I knew any of this - it fit almost perfectly. Strange world, huh? No regrets about the tour (it was nearly 3 hours), although this was the start of a series of painful days for my feet.

That night, a few of us went out to a bar, and then to a mall that had been converted into one big dance hall that night. Fun times indeed. Ask me about the passed out guy in the Burger King getting 'helped out' by his friends.

***

The next day, we watched the opening parade of Oktoberfest, with representatives from all parts of Germany in their traditional dress. It was awesome, but it did make getting to Oktoberfest afterwards mighty difficult. We did manage to get a table outside one of the tents, though, so everything worked out fine. Through the course of the 2-3 hours that we were there, I drank 2 liters of Festbier. Just as clarification, the recipe for the beer was decided 4 or 5 years in advance, so it's a high quality, smooth beer. You can really just drink it like water, which is bad, because it also has a higher alcohol content than normal beer. Needless to say, I was done after that.

There was a tour of the Residenz, a royal apartment and symbol of Bavaria, but there were extenuating circumstances beyond what I had to drink that prevented me from attending. I'm not going to go into graphic detail, but this last week was really the head of a lot of built up frustration and stress between people. I was a little bit busy feeling like the loneliest person in the world to go on a tour (although I did try to get there), and it was a lucky break for me that I ran into some of the other people from the program that were in our Oktoberfest group. It would have been bad news if I had been left alone. I'll leave it at that.

The four hour train ride to Vienna the next day was fine, although the cabin that we were in was like an oven. I'll close this entry off with a cautionary tale.

One of my roommates in the hostel, Josh, had left the door open a crack while he and another roomie, Matt, were napping the first day in Munich. They thought that they were being courteous to Danny, the other roomie, and Myself, so that we wouldn't have to use the key to get in. Bad idea. Josh wakes up to find this 6'2"+ guy standing in the room rummaging through his stuff. Confused, Josh isn't quick enough to stop the guy from running out the front of the hostel Josh isn't that big, so it's not like he could have forced the guy), although he does manage to stop the guy outside (while wearing only boxers). He gets the guy to come back to the room, and wait while he checks his stuff. Nothing is missing; not his passport, not his wallet. Matt is too groggy to realize what's going on, really. The guy leaves after dubiously answering what he was doing in the hostel (and the room), and that's when Josh realizes that his phone is gone (although where the guy had it stashed was a mystery to everyone). Not an hour later, Josh is taking a shower, and he sees a very familiar hand creep through the door (which wasn't locked). The guy, caught again, answers that he was "looking for girls." Yeah. Matt and Josh bring him to the front desk, but they just send him away because he doesn't have a room key (which gave you permission to be in the hostel). The guy never comes back after this, but I think you can see my point.

That's all for now. I've got work to do for school tomorrow, but the second half of the trip should be up here tomorrow night.

Good night, all.

Munich and Vienna (and Bratislava too)

This Friday we're leaving for our weeklong trip to Munich and Vienna, and a day trip to Bratislava. I will not be bringing my laptop with me, as I have decided that it would be too much of a hassle. I' probably make one more post before we go early on Friday, but I just thought that I'd give fair warning.

Right now I'm killing some time before my first meeting with my tandem partner, Ali. Later tonight is another Stammtisch.

Last night, I watched All Quiet On the Western Front at my home with a couple other students. It's probably one of the most depressing movies ever made, and I think I have a good amount of experience with depressing movies.

See you later.

Beauty School Dropout

This last weekend, I got my hair cut short, some jeans, and couple of shirts. Add some hair gel in there too. The sum of it all is that I look totally European,which is a good thing. I'll get some pictures in here soon, but everyone has said that the hair looks good (which it does), so get your hopes up now, so you can be delightfully disappointed later.

We leave for Munich Friday morning. I might go to a concert on Friday - Architecture in Helsinki!

This semester is going by so fast, it's not even funny.

Camp Iwannagohome

Yesterday we went to Sachsenhausen. For those of you who don't know the name, it was the first concentration camp to be constructed by the Nazis, in March 1933. It was an hour long train ride to get there, but I don't think that it was time wasted.

When we got there, the sky was cloudy and gray; appropriate for the subject matter. I'm not going to give you the Virtual Tour, but needless to say, studying this history versus actually being there are two completely different things. I walked around alone, mostly, which I think was for the best. Being at the camp didn't have me in the most talkative of moods. I couldn't bring myself to go inside the infirmary barracks, either. I may have even cried, if you can believe that.

There's not too much to say about what transpired at the camp, I think, so I'll leave it at that.

***
Afterwards, I thought about heading to get that picture of Flava Flave, but it was too far out of the way. Tonight, I'm going to the concert of a band I don't know the name of, butit has been described to me as a "Rock-pop-sort of thing." It'll probably be a good time, regardless.
I'm mostly over my cold now, too.

See you later.

Wonderland

This one'll be short, since I'm heading to bed. Today was pretty uneventful, except that I saw a ballet production of Alice in Wonderland at the Komische Oper for 12 Euros. For reals. It was fantastic, trippy, and everything that I might want in a ballet/performance. Ask about the pla

For tomorrow's excursion we're all going to camp.

Not the good kind, either.

Let's play catch-up

Good news everyone! I've got internet access at home and at school, so I'll be able to read emails comments, and the like more often. I'll probably still only be updating from home, since I don't really like to hang out at the program building more than I have to.

Bad news is, I'm sick with some European virus that resembles the common cold. I think I'll call it the Common European Cold. Yeah, that'll do nicely.

I'm about two weeks behind on this thing, so I'll try and keep this brief and informative. Again, pictures and videos will appear when I can find a way to get them loaded all at once.

Things that I have done:

Two Sundays ago I went to the Zoologischer Garten (the West Berlin Zoo) and saw, of all critters, Knut! If you don't know the story, Knut is a polar bear that was abandoned by his mother. The zookeepers have cared for him since he was a baby, and he has become a major attraction in the city (more or less the mascot, really). He's not as as small as he used to be, but he's still cute as hell.
The other polar bears...well, let's jsut say that captivity has not been kind to some of them. One of the bears was doing this 'dance' where he would move forwards a few steps, stop, and then move backwards while swaying his head back and forth. Wash, rinse, repeat. OCD bear was something of a downer.
Later that day the group of us went to a flea market at the Mauerpark (Wall Park - the Wall went right through it), which was pretty cool. I bought a blue Steinkrug for 10 euro - far less than you'll find anywhere else in Berlin.

***

Classes started last week on Monday. I'm taking Beginner 2 German (which is challenging, as the class is administered almost entirely in German), German cinema before 1945 (fun), Berlin: History Memory, Literature (interesting), and Contemporary Germany in a European Perspective (interesting and current). All of the courses offered require us to go out out into the city for independent projects of one kind or another, so we get exposure whether we want it or not.

Aside from classes, other offerings from the program include the Stammtisch (which are informal meetings at bars and cafes where we can speak German with Germans, and they can speak English with...Americans), free tickets to a selection operas, concerts, and football matches (real football, not the stupid American kind), and the Tandem program.
The tandem program (which I have signed up for) pairs students like myself with German students, and we then meet at least once a week to improve language skills (German and English). I haven't met with my partner yet, but I hope that it's productive and useful for both of us.

***

On Fridays, there's usually a mandatory excursion for the entire program. Last week we went to Potsdam to see San Souccie, Frederick the Great's summer palace, and Cecilienhof, another palace and the site of the Potsdam conference following World War II.
San Souccie was beautiful, to say the least. Sadly, I have no pictures of the interior, since they need revenue from the gift shop (no joke) to keep the palace maintained. I do have extensive photos of the grounds, though. Imagine a vineyard spread over six tiered terraces, and you have one small corner of the grounds. The grapes were tasty, too. My favorite room of the palace: the music room.

Cecilienhof also had a ban against interior photos, but that was because there were some copyright issues raised by surviving members of the original royal family. From the tour, I learned that Josef Stalin was something a prankster (giving the smoking room as an office to Truman, who hated cigarettes, giving Churchill a narrow chair and a painting of a Saint Bernard that bore an uncanny resemblance to him). What a petty jerk. The building itself has been used as a hotel for several decades now, interestingly enough.

Potsdam on its own is quite beautiful, and we lucked out on the weather for the day. There are loads of small shops and monuments that I'd love to go back and see some other day.

***

Last Friday I went out to a club with a bunch of people from the program. It was pretty awesome, although I think the 2 and half feet of smoke hanging in the air contributed to the current state of my health. Last sunday, I went to the Tiergarten (lit. Animal Garden, a large park in the middle of the city) and climbed the Siegesaule (Victory Tower, umlaut missing), and got a great view of the city. Aftert that I went to a couple of flea markets and bought myself a black wool fedora-looking hat. Sadly, it's half a size too big, so it needs to get tightened a little before I can wear it without worrying that the wind will carry it off.

I'm heading to bed now. There'll be a little bit more tomorrow.

Good night.

A Series of Tubes, part 1

Things have been crazy hectic here for the first few days, and I still don't have regular internet access. I'm sitting in the program building stealing bandwidth from 'Motorola,' because I can't access the FU network yet. I thought Germans were supposed to be efficient. This update is going to be broken up over a couple of posts, since there's a lot of stuff I want to put in here. Anyways, on with the show.

My host family is ridiculously nice. Dorothee and Tom Lennert are helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. just this last Friday, Tom told me stories about living with the Berlin Wall, and then we watched a video on the fall of the Wall. It was wicked interesting (something I've noticed - I say wicked a lot more here than I do in the States. Maybe it makes me feel more American). Both Tom and Dorothee speak excellent English, which is helpful, since I speak poor German. I'm staying in their youngest son Felix's room, which is twice as large as mine at home (or any dorm), and has a gigantic loft bed which is nice and comfortable. I haven't gotten much sleep though.

During these orientation days, they organized a ton of stuff for us. On Thursday, there was an excursion to a bar in the Kreuzberg district (not all of us), Hannibal, so we could get to know the city a bit better. It was really fun, and I got a chance to talk with some of the other students. Hannibal is already a sure thing for all of us. By the way, German beer is far and beyond any beer in the US. Some of us went out walking around afterwards. I wish I had my camera with me, because who did I see painted on a fire station mural, but Flava Flave. Yeah.

On Friday, the whole group went on a boat tour of the Spree, narrrated by Dr. Dirk Verheyen, the director of the program. He's a cool guy. I've got pictures, but Flickr won't let me upload all of them, though. I'm working on that though. We went northeast on the river, and went by loads of refurbished Soviet industries. We also went by the Reichstag, the Berlinerdom (Cathedral), and other offices and monuments. It was all pretty interesting. What was even more interesting, though, was the graffiti that lines the walls, bridges, and buildings that went along the Spree. There are some seriously talented people in Berlin. Part of the Wall was also visible from the boat, so I took some video of it. That'll be uploaded later.

Saturday, there was a tour of the historical center of Berlin, on Unter den Linden and the Museen Insel (Museum Island; It's exactly what it sounds like) with narration by Dirk. We saw the Brandenburgertor (the Brandenburg Gate), the Deutchses Historiches Museen (German History Museum), and Humboldt University, to name a few. Again - interesting stuff, lots of pictures, no way to upload them all without lots of free time. There were some refurbished Nazi buildings on the tour also. Goebbels' office was turned into the offices for the Department of Labor, and Hitler's Bunker (where he committed suicide), was turned into a parking lot. Hitler's office? You can get peking duck there now. The last part of the tour was through the Holocaust Memorial. Which was far less...solemn than I would have liked.

After the tour, Alex, another student, and myself went to a flea market back on the Insel. It's a different atmosphere then in other shops and markets I've been in. Generally, if you don't ask about something, the vendor is content to let you browse. It's far less aggressive, on the whole.

I'm going to cut this one off now, but I'll update this post and the following ones with pictures when I have the time.