Here's the best part:
Also, by popular request, a video of me:
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Mao Mao Mao Mao
So my host mother, Dorothee, just got back from a two week long trip in China. She brought me back a watch. When I saw it, I nearly lost it. This thing is so hilarious. Check this out:
Here's the best part:
Also, by popular request, a video of me:
Here's the best part:
Also, by popular request, a video of me:
Friday, October 26, 2007
Moving right along (to Amsterdam)
On my last day in Brussels, I walked around (big surprise there). I took a visit to the Atomium, constructed for the 1958 worlds fair. It's a giant steel model of an iron atom, with a museum about its construction inside. It also currently houses an exhibit about designer Willy Van Der Meeyre. I've got to say, some of his ideas, like a table that wraps around a sofa - pretty neat. Others....not so attractive. It was the 60s and 70s though, so I guess it'll have to slide.
After walking around town some more, I headed over to Moritz's apartment for dinner. Did I mention how nice this guy is? I got to meet his adorable 16 month old daughter Luna, and his 4 year old son, Lio. They were kind of scared of me at first, I think, since I don't even speak their first language (French, not that Luna speaks yet). By the time they had to go to bed though, I was tossing a balloon around with Lio and Luna, and helping Lio draw (and cut some cardboard - he's not allowed to use the big scissors). They're sweet kids. Fun fact, Lio speaks French, but also understands German (his father speaks in German to him). When he tries to speak German, though, he sometimes mixes in French words when he doesn't know the German words, which made it pretty challenging to understand him at times. Moritz and I, and later his girlfriend (wife?) Annabelle had some pleasant conversation, and then I went back to my hostel, and then to bed. Or so I thought.
Now, for the first two nights in Brussels, I was in a single room, but I moved to a 4 bed room for the last night. My roommates had finally arrived when I got back from Moritz's. Reggie, Willy, and...something. Let's go with Bobby. They had just started Lady in the Water on a portable DVD player, so I didn't go to bed just then. When the movie finished, Reggie probably said that he "knew the movie was tight, man, but..man. That shit is tight" about 4 or 6 times before bed. And then he said it another 4 or 6 the next morning. Ok, man. we all get it. It's tight.
Let's move on, though. It's going to take too long to relate everything about Amsterdam (because I'm a slowbie), so I'll keep this a bit shorter.
I got in to Amsterdam mid afternoon, and bought a metro ticket after walking the 5 minutes to my hostel, and then back to Central Station (I thought I should learn the surrounding streets). Right around my hostel were several sex shops, a porno theater, 'coffee shops,' and a fair assortment of people who would murmur 'cocaine, ecstacy' as you walked by. I've got to say, I wasn't expecting any of this, even though Amsterdam is supposed to be a liberal city (coke and X are still illegal). It probably had something to do with the fact that the city is so small, that all of this existed even though we were right in tourist central/downtown Amsterdam. *shrug* Whatever. I walked around the block, and planned my next couple of days. With luck, one of them would be spent on a bike. I note how cold it had gotten. Dinner was at this asian place called Nooch (who named it, Kevin Smith?). Although it was fairly expensive (it's on a main street in downtown), it was absolutely delicious (Pad Thai). I went to bed comparatively early that night after sitting in the in-hostel bar watching a football game (soccer). I think Barcelona won.
The next day, I hit up the Rijksmuseum (the Dutch history museum), and among other interesting things from the Golden Age, I got to see Rembrandt's 'Night Watch.' It was really amazing, of course, but there were many other worthy pieces of art, such as an enormous painting of a Swan (the interior ministry) defending her nest (Holland) from a Dog (Holland's enemies). I briefly considered heading to the Diamond Museum (and there were tons of diamond shops around, also, not that I was buying), but instead I wandered into a street market while on my way to the Heineken Brewery (now a museum). A small band was playing a very jazzy arrangement of the love theme from The Godfather. I dropped some change and gave the sax player a look that hopefully implied how much I was enjoying their music. As for the Brewery, the whole experience was somewhat hokey on the whole, with small rides like "Learn what it's like to be a bottle" and "Drive a horse carriage through Amsterdam." In the middle of, and at the end of the museum, there were bars where you could pass in color coded chips for frosty Heineken. It's a brilliant marketing scheme, of course - for who can resist recieving not one, not two, but three free beers and a free gift by the end of a museum tour. Not me, I guess.
The gift, by the way, is a bottle opener.
After the Brewery, I hit up Madame Tussaud's Wax museum. I yawned through the Dutch history (although the giant amalga-man, made from icons of Dutch culture, was...eye-catching, to say the least), and sighed at the Pirates of the Carribean cash-in (the woman guiding us through the strobe-lit, foggy corridor was appropriately 'piratey,' though - She made some children scream at the very least. The main attraction, of course, was the celebrity figures they had. There were models of everyone from Lenin to W. Bush, Clooney to Dame Edna, and, of course, Gandhi was there with Mandela. I took pictures of most of them, so when I get those up you can see who was there.
I hit up a cheese shop for some smoked Gouda, after wandering through a mall complex.
After all that, I went to the Torture museum. I'm sorry that I did, really. It was mostly to kill time before dinner, and it was cheap. I got some pictures of nasty looking implements, but it's nothing that can't be seen elsewhere.
Third day, I got up, and headed off to see the city some more. This was supposed to be my bike day, but the weather refused to cooperate. It had rained, and it was still a bit damp, and more than a little bit cold. Walking would have to suffice. I made my way slowly to the Versetzmuseum (Dutch Resistance during WWII), where I found an interesting and educational exhibit and some annoying British children. There was even a small piece on victory and liberation songs after the Allies broke the Nazi hold on the Netherlands.
I don't really know what to say about the rest of the day. Most of it was spent walking around the city again, with short stops to take pictures of things that caught my eye as I passed by. I did a little more shopping, and got a CD with a discount coupon from Madame Tussad's (Jurassic 5 LP). I took a short boat tour of the canals and harbors later in the day, but I eventually found myself reading at the Leidseplein before dinner. Afterwards, I ventured into "The American Book Center" for the 2nd time (the first I was just browsing), and bought World War Z. That about sums up the day. I'm pretty sure I was in bed around 10 or so.
Just a word on my hostel arrangement in Amsterdam. I was in an 8 bed room, which was full every night except the last. The street the windows faced was a busy side alley. Every night, there were two people who snored like they were doing their best impersonations of a couple of bullfrogs. There was this one girl who always turned the light on when she came into the room, and she was always one of the last people to go to bed. The beds and pillows? Sort of lumpy overall (one springs; the other, fluff). All of this meant that I never got to sleep before 11 or 12, and I woke up several times each night. I must have looked like crap, but I really never felt it. Strange world, right?
So on the last day, I got up, ate breakfast, packed my things, and headed off to catch my train. Now, you might remember me saying that I bought a metro ticket; look at how useful that was - I walked everywhere. Since I never stamped the ticket, I slipped it in the money slot on the ticket machine. Hopefully some other tourist or traveler will get some benefit out of - if they don't just toss it right away.
Over this past week I've grown a beard, although I'm not sure if I'll keep it past the week. Now, it might just be my imaignation, but I think the man checking passports as we crossed the boerd thought I was a terrorist or something, since I think I was the only person in the car that he asked whether "I had anything to declare." Who knows.
I did read approximately 250 pages in various books during the train ride (over half of that from World War Z - it's an amazing read).
So. In a nutshell, that was my trip.
Good night.
After walking around town some more, I headed over to Moritz's apartment for dinner. Did I mention how nice this guy is? I got to meet his adorable 16 month old daughter Luna, and his 4 year old son, Lio. They were kind of scared of me at first, I think, since I don't even speak their first language (French, not that Luna speaks yet). By the time they had to go to bed though, I was tossing a balloon around with Lio and Luna, and helping Lio draw (and cut some cardboard - he's not allowed to use the big scissors). They're sweet kids. Fun fact, Lio speaks French, but also understands German (his father speaks in German to him). When he tries to speak German, though, he sometimes mixes in French words when he doesn't know the German words, which made it pretty challenging to understand him at times. Moritz and I, and later his girlfriend (wife?) Annabelle had some pleasant conversation, and then I went back to my hostel, and then to bed. Or so I thought.
Now, for the first two nights in Brussels, I was in a single room, but I moved to a 4 bed room for the last night. My roommates had finally arrived when I got back from Moritz's. Reggie, Willy, and...something. Let's go with Bobby. They had just started Lady in the Water on a portable DVD player, so I didn't go to bed just then. When the movie finished, Reggie probably said that he "knew the movie was tight, man, but..man. That shit is tight" about 4 or 6 times before bed. And then he said it another 4 or 6 the next morning. Ok, man. we all get it. It's tight.
Let's move on, though. It's going to take too long to relate everything about Amsterdam (because I'm a slowbie), so I'll keep this a bit shorter.
I got in to Amsterdam mid afternoon, and bought a metro ticket after walking the 5 minutes to my hostel, and then back to Central Station (I thought I should learn the surrounding streets). Right around my hostel were several sex shops, a porno theater, 'coffee shops,' and a fair assortment of people who would murmur 'cocaine, ecstacy' as you walked by. I've got to say, I wasn't expecting any of this, even though Amsterdam is supposed to be a liberal city (coke and X are still illegal). It probably had something to do with the fact that the city is so small, that all of this existed even though we were right in tourist central/downtown Amsterdam. *shrug* Whatever. I walked around the block, and planned my next couple of days. With luck, one of them would be spent on a bike. I note how cold it had gotten. Dinner was at this asian place called Nooch (who named it, Kevin Smith?). Although it was fairly expensive (it's on a main street in downtown), it was absolutely delicious (Pad Thai). I went to bed comparatively early that night after sitting in the in-hostel bar watching a football game (soccer). I think Barcelona won.
The next day, I hit up the Rijksmuseum (the Dutch history museum), and among other interesting things from the Golden Age, I got to see Rembrandt's 'Night Watch.' It was really amazing, of course, but there were many other worthy pieces of art, such as an enormous painting of a Swan (the interior ministry) defending her nest (Holland) from a Dog (Holland's enemies). I briefly considered heading to the Diamond Museum (and there were tons of diamond shops around, also, not that I was buying), but instead I wandered into a street market while on my way to the Heineken Brewery (now a museum). A small band was playing a very jazzy arrangement of the love theme from The Godfather. I dropped some change and gave the sax player a look that hopefully implied how much I was enjoying their music. As for the Brewery, the whole experience was somewhat hokey on the whole, with small rides like "Learn what it's like to be a bottle" and "Drive a horse carriage through Amsterdam." In the middle of, and at the end of the museum, there were bars where you could pass in color coded chips for frosty Heineken. It's a brilliant marketing scheme, of course - for who can resist recieving not one, not two, but three free beers and a free gift by the end of a museum tour. Not me, I guess.
The gift, by the way, is a bottle opener.
After the Brewery, I hit up Madame Tussaud's Wax museum. I yawned through the Dutch history (although the giant amalga-man, made from icons of Dutch culture, was...eye-catching, to say the least), and sighed at the Pirates of the Carribean cash-in (the woman guiding us through the strobe-lit, foggy corridor was appropriately 'piratey,' though - She made some children scream at the very least. The main attraction, of course, was the celebrity figures they had. There were models of everyone from Lenin to W. Bush, Clooney to Dame Edna, and, of course, Gandhi was there with Mandela. I took pictures of most of them, so when I get those up you can see who was there.
I hit up a cheese shop for some smoked Gouda, after wandering through a mall complex.
After all that, I went to the Torture museum. I'm sorry that I did, really. It was mostly to kill time before dinner, and it was cheap. I got some pictures of nasty looking implements, but it's nothing that can't be seen elsewhere.
Third day, I got up, and headed off to see the city some more. This was supposed to be my bike day, but the weather refused to cooperate. It had rained, and it was still a bit damp, and more than a little bit cold. Walking would have to suffice. I made my way slowly to the Versetzmuseum (Dutch Resistance during WWII), where I found an interesting and educational exhibit and some annoying British children. There was even a small piece on victory and liberation songs after the Allies broke the Nazi hold on the Netherlands.
I don't really know what to say about the rest of the day. Most of it was spent walking around the city again, with short stops to take pictures of things that caught my eye as I passed by. I did a little more shopping, and got a CD with a discount coupon from Madame Tussad's (Jurassic 5 LP). I took a short boat tour of the canals and harbors later in the day, but I eventually found myself reading at the Leidseplein before dinner. Afterwards, I ventured into "The American Book Center" for the 2nd time (the first I was just browsing), and bought World War Z. That about sums up the day. I'm pretty sure I was in bed around 10 or so.
Just a word on my hostel arrangement in Amsterdam. I was in an 8 bed room, which was full every night except the last. The street the windows faced was a busy side alley. Every night, there were two people who snored like they were doing their best impersonations of a couple of bullfrogs. There was this one girl who always turned the light on when she came into the room, and she was always one of the last people to go to bed. The beds and pillows? Sort of lumpy overall (one springs; the other, fluff). All of this meant that I never got to sleep before 11 or 12, and I woke up several times each night. I must have looked like crap, but I really never felt it. Strange world, right?
So on the last day, I got up, ate breakfast, packed my things, and headed off to catch my train. Now, you might remember me saying that I bought a metro ticket; look at how useful that was - I walked everywhere. Since I never stamped the ticket, I slipped it in the money slot on the ticket machine. Hopefully some other tourist or traveler will get some benefit out of - if they don't just toss it right away.
Over this past week I've grown a beard, although I'm not sure if I'll keep it past the week. Now, it might just be my imaignation, but I think the man checking passports as we crossed the boerd thought I was a terrorist or something, since I think I was the only person in the car that he asked whether "I had anything to declare." Who knows.
I did read approximately 250 pages in various books during the train ride (over half of that from World War Z - it's an amazing read).
So. In a nutshell, that was my trip.
Good night.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A quick one
3 minutes left of internet.
The proportions of books that I want to read, should read, and have to read are all out of whack.
Anyways, I bought World War Z today.
I'll be back in Berlin tomorrow.
The proportions of books that I want to read, should read, and have to read are all out of whack.
Anyways, I bought World War Z today.
I'll be back in Berlin tomorrow.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
So the internet's not free, but it's pretty cheap. I've got about 45 minutes left right now.
I'd like to start this off with the crazy dream that I had last night, rather than anything that I've done in Brussels. That's how weird it was.
Of what I can remember (which is a remarkable amount, considering what usually happens to dreams upon waking), the dream began with me saving a girl my age from some seemingly random attacker. Little did I know that I had entered into something that I had no idea existed. As I found out, some evil spirit/demon/creature was hunting this girl (although I can't remember why). As I found out, this spirit possessed people. and then used their body to make its evil ambitions reality. The mechanics of it are pretty fuzzy, though. Anyways, by saving her I marked myself as the spirit's enemy as well. What follwed really hit upon a slew of movie cliches, including, but not limited to, a car chase on a winding dirt road through a hilly forest at high speed. This dream was so intense that when I punched the possessed person chasing us, I actually punched the air next to my bed (I woke up, briefly). The only part that I remember fairly well, aside from the car chase, is in a hotel room, one with a door to an adjoining room. Now, by this point, we had picked up another person fighting against the spirit. I think her name was Liz (although not any Liz that I know). She was in the adjoining room, and the Girl and myself were in the other room. Somehow, Liz gets possessed, and we end up having a fight to the death after she breaks through the door to get to us. I remember this really clearly, because I stabbed her in the heart with a pen. Yeah. It was pretty gruesome, as you can imagine.
Anyways, that was the start of my day today (What fun!). Now back to the beginning of my stay here in Brussels.
***
The first leg of my trip to Cologne was fairly awful. I was in a 6 passenger compartment - completely full - with two women who either wouldn't stop talking or wouldn't stop getting up. I barely slept for the 6 hours, and I was in a middle seat, so I couldn't even lean on anything. Interestingly, though, nobody came by to check tickets for that whole leg. I guess they didn't want to bother people so late at night (it was a ride from 00:30 to 6:56). I did get booted off the train in Aachen, though, which luckily is most of the way to Brussels. They didn't have much of a sense of humor about the whole business, and I wasn't trying to argue anything past "I've actually already paid." I had to buy a new ticket, and got into Brussels a whole hour or two later than planned.
After checking in at my hostel, I stowed my bags, and started walking. First, I hit a Turkish district - Doner Kebaps and Turkish Pizza as far as the eye can see. There wasn't much in the way of interesting sights, except for this one park I walked through on the way back. It was on a steep hill, adjacent to a school. The whole thing had a terraced feel to it, although it wasn't really designed as such. It also had one of those spinning platform things that are banned in the US, since they are so dangerous, making it far better than any US playground.
After that, I took a nap for a couple of hours and then went to meet Moritz, one of Tom and Dorothee's sons. He lives in Brussels, and works for a community organization trying to improve ties within the communtiy. He's a really nice guy. He invited my to a dinner held by his organization for their something-eth anniversary. Quiche, salad and bread -very french. Also, Belgian beer is amazing. There are 250 varieties made in Belgium, many originally made in monasteries. After dinner, there was a performance of Latin Jazz and Roma/Gypsy music. It was wicked good (pretty much everything good that you might associate with 'Latin', although I could have swore that I was listening to the Eagle's "Hotel Califormia" at some times. Then it was time for bed, since I had had about 6 hours of sleep in the past day.
Today, I had that crazy dream, and then I met Moritz for a small tour around the city. We wlaked through a sunday market, and then a flea market, where I bought a copper turtle serving dish (a copper dish shaped like a turtle). That's for you, mom and dad. We walked through the historical parts of the city, I took some pictures, and Moritz was an excellent guide.
After the tour, I went to the Belgian museum of Comic Book Art. I can't recommend this place enough. I must have spent 2 or 3 hours there, just looking at and reading the comics on display, and absorbing the whole experience. I bought a plush Milou (Snowy for all you American TinTin fans). The high point of the musem might have been the exhibit on sterotypes in Europe as seen in comics. The examples were all really funny, even if I couldn't read them all ( a testament to the art). Of particular interest was a British comic about Marie Antoinnette dodging out on her beheading, only to end up in as Anne Bolynne in a reenactment of her beheading. Yeah. There were also lots of comics about Tea Time from a French perspective, of course.
Not much to say after that. The weather is pretty cold, and it looks like it might start raining a bit.
That's all for now.
Keep reading for the conclusion to this week's shocking episode!
I'd like to start this off with the crazy dream that I had last night, rather than anything that I've done in Brussels. That's how weird it was.
Of what I can remember (which is a remarkable amount, considering what usually happens to dreams upon waking), the dream began with me saving a girl my age from some seemingly random attacker. Little did I know that I had entered into something that I had no idea existed. As I found out, some evil spirit/demon/creature was hunting this girl (although I can't remember why). As I found out, this spirit possessed people. and then used their body to make its evil ambitions reality. The mechanics of it are pretty fuzzy, though. Anyways, by saving her I marked myself as the spirit's enemy as well. What follwed really hit upon a slew of movie cliches, including, but not limited to, a car chase on a winding dirt road through a hilly forest at high speed. This dream was so intense that when I punched the possessed person chasing us, I actually punched the air next to my bed (I woke up, briefly). The only part that I remember fairly well, aside from the car chase, is in a hotel room, one with a door to an adjoining room. Now, by this point, we had picked up another person fighting against the spirit. I think her name was Liz (although not any Liz that I know). She was in the adjoining room, and the Girl and myself were in the other room. Somehow, Liz gets possessed, and we end up having a fight to the death after she breaks through the door to get to us. I remember this really clearly, because I stabbed her in the heart with a pen. Yeah. It was pretty gruesome, as you can imagine.
Anyways, that was the start of my day today (What fun!). Now back to the beginning of my stay here in Brussels.
***
The first leg of my trip to Cologne was fairly awful. I was in a 6 passenger compartment - completely full - with two women who either wouldn't stop talking or wouldn't stop getting up. I barely slept for the 6 hours, and I was in a middle seat, so I couldn't even lean on anything. Interestingly, though, nobody came by to check tickets for that whole leg. I guess they didn't want to bother people so late at night (it was a ride from 00:30 to 6:56). I did get booted off the train in Aachen, though, which luckily is most of the way to Brussels. They didn't have much of a sense of humor about the whole business, and I wasn't trying to argue anything past "I've actually already paid." I had to buy a new ticket, and got into Brussels a whole hour or two later than planned.
After checking in at my hostel, I stowed my bags, and started walking. First, I hit a Turkish district - Doner Kebaps and Turkish Pizza as far as the eye can see. There wasn't much in the way of interesting sights, except for this one park I walked through on the way back. It was on a steep hill, adjacent to a school. The whole thing had a terraced feel to it, although it wasn't really designed as such. It also had one of those spinning platform things that are banned in the US, since they are so dangerous, making it far better than any US playground.
After that, I took a nap for a couple of hours and then went to meet Moritz, one of Tom and Dorothee's sons. He lives in Brussels, and works for a community organization trying to improve ties within the communtiy. He's a really nice guy. He invited my to a dinner held by his organization for their something-eth anniversary. Quiche, salad and bread -very french. Also, Belgian beer is amazing. There are 250 varieties made in Belgium, many originally made in monasteries. After dinner, there was a performance of Latin Jazz and Roma/Gypsy music. It was wicked good (pretty much everything good that you might associate with 'Latin', although I could have swore that I was listening to the Eagle's "Hotel Califormia" at some times. Then it was time for bed, since I had had about 6 hours of sleep in the past day.
Today, I had that crazy dream, and then I met Moritz for a small tour around the city. We wlaked through a sunday market, and then a flea market, where I bought a copper turtle serving dish (a copper dish shaped like a turtle). That's for you, mom and dad. We walked through the historical parts of the city, I took some pictures, and Moritz was an excellent guide.
After the tour, I went to the Belgian museum of Comic Book Art. I can't recommend this place enough. I must have spent 2 or 3 hours there, just looking at and reading the comics on display, and absorbing the whole experience. I bought a plush Milou (Snowy for all you American TinTin fans). The high point of the musem might have been the exhibit on sterotypes in Europe as seen in comics. The examples were all really funny, even if I couldn't read them all ( a testament to the art). Of particular interest was a British comic about Marie Antoinnette dodging out on her beheading, only to end up in as Anne Bolynne in a reenactment of her beheading. Yeah. There were also lots of comics about Tea Time from a French perspective, of course.
Not much to say after that. The weather is pretty cold, and it looks like it might start raining a bit.
That's all for now.
Keep reading for the conclusion to this week's shocking episode!
Friday, October 19, 2007
One for the road
I'm leaving for Brussels in a couple of hours, so I thought I'd make a post before I go, for posterity more than anything.
I'll be in Brussels until the 23rd, when I'll get on a train (which I haven't booked yet) for Amsterdam, where I'll stay until the 26th. At that point, I'll get on another train which I haven't booked yet (although I thought I had), and get back to Berlin on the 27th, leaving a day and a half before the break ends.
I almost didn't have tickets, though, since Deutsche Bahn never sent them to me in 2-3 days (like they said they would), and apparently people like me can't book/print online tickets. I had assumed that I would get the tickets by today, but they never came, not even after I spent a few hours freaking out over the whole thing (although a package did come for Dorothee...). I also found out today that my tickets from Amsterdam to Berlin were never actually booked, because they didn't have the couchette that I requested, and wanted my confirmation that it was OK to put me in a seat. The email for that arrived Thursday night, but I didn't see it until today (not that it would have mattered, since the tickets wouldn't arrive in time anyways. The customer service guy that I got told me to buy new tickets and send the reciept that I have in for a refund, but Tom talked to the office again, so there's a new plan of action. And it's not 'go to the ticket center at the station and print my tickets out there.' No, for whatever reason, that's not possible.
I'm going to get on the train with my receipt, and hope that the conductor is smart enough to realize that I've paid and doesn't give me too much shit. If not, I pay the ticket price again, and send in the receipt for a refund.
This is some serious bullshit, and I think it's all because I'm a foreigner and don't have the appropriate card or whatever.
On the upside, my Hostel reservations turned out fine, by all appearances.
I'm going to make a final run-through of my pack and get some more money, so I'll wrap this up now. You might see some updates during my trip, though - both hostels have free internet access, I believe.
Guten Nacht.
Addendum: I recently found out that the first day for me to register courses for the Spring Semester is November 8th. That's hardly any time at all.
I'll be in Brussels until the 23rd, when I'll get on a train (which I haven't booked yet) for Amsterdam, where I'll stay until the 26th. At that point, I'll get on another train which I haven't booked yet (although I thought I had), and get back to Berlin on the 27th, leaving a day and a half before the break ends.
I almost didn't have tickets, though, since Deutsche Bahn never sent them to me in 2-3 days (like they said they would), and apparently people like me can't book/print online tickets. I had assumed that I would get the tickets by today, but they never came, not even after I spent a few hours freaking out over the whole thing (although a package did come for Dorothee...). I also found out today that my tickets from Amsterdam to Berlin were never actually booked, because they didn't have the couchette that I requested, and wanted my confirmation that it was OK to put me in a seat. The email for that arrived Thursday night, but I didn't see it until today (not that it would have mattered, since the tickets wouldn't arrive in time anyways. The customer service guy that I got told me to buy new tickets and send the reciept that I have in for a refund, but Tom talked to the office again, so there's a new plan of action. And it's not 'go to the ticket center at the station and print my tickets out there.' No, for whatever reason, that's not possible.
I'm going to get on the train with my receipt, and hope that the conductor is smart enough to realize that I've paid and doesn't give me too much shit. If not, I pay the ticket price again, and send in the receipt for a refund.
This is some serious bullshit, and I think it's all because I'm a foreigner and don't have the appropriate card or whatever.
On the upside, my Hostel reservations turned out fine, by all appearances.
I'm going to make a final run-through of my pack and get some more money, so I'll wrap this up now. You might see some updates during my trip, though - both hostels have free internet access, I believe.
Guten Nacht.
Addendum: I recently found out that the first day for me to register courses for the Spring Semester is November 8th. That's hardly any time at all.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A walk in the park
I went to the Tiergarten today, and walked around the four sections for a couple of hours. It was really nice, to say the least. Lots of water and trees, along with the standard green common areas. There were even places where you could get a rowboat. After walking around for a while I sat down and did a little bit of homework, which was pretty relaxing. It was a good afternoon all in all. Here are the pictures from today.
I've got my hostels booked for the break, and my transportation there is all set. I've got three days in each city; I think that should be enough time for each.
This evening, Tom and I went to a Greek restaurant for dinner, and I tried Ouzo for the first time.
It's like drinking licorice - that burns on the way down. Not my favorite drink. There was also a wine that tasted somewhat like tree sap. It was different - not bad or good.
Midterms are this week, which sucks.
I'm wicked tired right now, if you can't tell by my writing. Good night everyone.
I've got my hostels booked for the break, and my transportation there is all set. I've got three days in each city; I think that should be enough time for each.
This evening, Tom and I went to a Greek restaurant for dinner, and I tried Ouzo for the first time.
It's like drinking licorice - that burns on the way down. Not my favorite drink. There was also a wine that tasted somewhat like tree sap. It was different - not bad or good.
Midterms are this week, which sucks.
I'm wicked tired right now, if you can't tell by my writing. Good night everyone.
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