Spring Break

Hi all,
So my last week and a half have been rather eventful - so here it goes.

Steph Gets Kicked out of College
Yes, it is official, I have been kicked out of college. Apparently it's easier than I thought it'd be. Now before anyone hyperventilates and does anything drastic (like calling my mother...), I will explain. Apparently, some time in November, a letter (probably in the same letter that told me I had to reapply for my room that I ignored...) was sent to me. It essentially said that even though it was months away, we should remember to pay our 77 euro semester fee in February. And apparently they don't believe in reminders or messing around. Soooooooo, a few days ago I got a letter in the mail containing my "ex-matriculation" papers. So I immediately freaked out very calmly talked to Eric about it. Apparently he'd gotten it too and all we had to do was transfer the money (never mind they had all our account money and automatically transfered out our insurance money every month...) and return the ex-matriculation paperwork. So I transfered the money this week and will see the lady tomorrow.

Chris Comes to Germany
Now, this was quite exciting for me. I could post on and on and on and on about it, but I'll try to just hit the high-lights. Chris had booked a non-stop flight, and he called once he was in the Frankfurt Airport and had found the train station inside. I figured that the rest should be easy. However, that morning I had woken up to pea-sized hail pelting my window (big Green Giant® variety size hail) and apparently a tree fell across the tracks - delaying his train one hour. But he made it. Sunday night I was supposed to make pizza for us, Eric and Claudia and two UND friends, Sarah and Andy. However, Sarah and Andy got caught smack dab in the middle of the Luthansa strike...so things did not go well for them. They showed up a day late (had to stay in a Frankfurt hotel) wearing the same clothes for 4 days. Their luggage finally arrived the 2 days before they left, which was only one, practically. But Andy got clean socks and Sarah got a new pair of "shorts" out of it. At any rate, they weren't particularly happy campers - and I can't blame them!

Chris also had a frustrating time with his bank, and I would not want to be the next Citi Bank (I think that's the type) employee he sees. However, most of the visit went smoothly - excepting Neuschwanstein. We tried to go one day, only to never have our connecting train show up from Munich to Fuessing. So we went to the Hofbrauhaus where Sarah and Chris got their first Maß of beer. Then we went to Dachau. It's hard to say "I really enjoyed visiting a concentration camp", but it was really good to see it again. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time in the Museum before it closed to see even close to all of it, but it had a very sobering effect. Did you know that "sombering" isn't a word? I just tried to use it...which is odd because you can say it was a sober/somber crowd. Anyways...

We also went to Sweeney Tod on Monday night since it was the English Movie. I was excited to see it, but I marvel now at my own stupidity. Somehow the fact that I knew that plot summary (a guy hacks up people and they get made into pie) didn't effect my reasoning to figure out - "Oh, hey Steph...this is a SCARY movie..." - so I didn't fully enjoy it, although I had a hand to hold at least.

We went to Nuernberg on Thursday and saw the castle (they only gave tours in German and the local dialect...) and had good wurst. We also took the slowest train ride home EVER. Usually it's a 45 minute ride, but we hit every village stop known to mankind...taking us a thrilling 1 hour and 45 minutes to get home. Our sign should've been the fact that the train was only 2 compartments long...yikes. One day Eric gave a mini-city tour (he's been gimping along since Monday...had his foot sliced open in the name of science) and another Chris and I did some biking to the point now known as "That Freakin' Large Bridge".

I must say I ate quite well this last week, with pizza, burgers, TONS of various wursts and more. We managed to ingest vast quantities of ice cream (Chris kept laughing at me when I kept suggesting we get some, and then was the one doing the suggesting after his first taste!) and also fell in love with Lara's Doener. Only the best...

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so yesterday afternoon we traveled to Frankfurt together (since his train left early in the morning and there's no train leaving early enough to get him there) and stayed a night at a hotel. As we walked the 4 short blocks to our hotel, Jake's (an apt mate) parting words - a totally off-hand comment meant as a joke-rang true: "You know, there's a lot of prostitutes in Frankfurt..." Not that he knew personally. We soon found ourselves in the heart of Frankfurt's very own little Red Light District. At first it was "Oh, well....would you look at that...gross." Soon we walked down a street with needles openly displayed; the crowning moment was seeing the guy with his pants off in the street rolling something to smoke. Yeah, I was a little out of my comfort zone...and DEFINITELY glad to have Chris there.

However, our hotel was decent. Not exactly feeling the desire to venture out again (and also glad that it was a Sunday and not a Friday or Saturday night) we decided to order out. So, I am VERY proud to say that I managed to order a pizza to be delivered all by myself. And sure, as you can see in the very light picture in the album above, they spelled my last name "Manzen", but they got the toppings right. I was so excited I literally jumped around for 2 minutes (to Chris's great amusement).

If you offer a German man a Beer...
He will give you an orange! (And an apple...). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyways, after I got Chris to the airport and we said our goodbyes, I had about 3.5 hours to burn until my train came - except I didn't. The train strike had re-started (it's been a horrible year for trains here...sigh), and I wanted to make sure my train wouldn't be affected. It wasn't, and the lady at the counter very helpfully offered to put me on the train leaving 2 hours earlier - so only just over an hour's wait. So, since my paper journal had been utterly neglected for the last 10 days, I settled down. I hopped on the train just fine and continued to scribble away for another 2 full hours. At a point about 1.5 hours into the trip an older German gentleman (around early 60's I'd guess) sat next to me, with his wife in the seat across.

We'd pretty much ignored each other - he was speaking in either Bavarian or Frankish (another unintelligible German dialect) and I was writing. However, once I stopped he asked me why there wasn't a title on my "Book" - in German. I responded that it was a Journal (luckily, it is the same word...although I was only guessing at the time). After a while, he was eating a meal. Mindful of the fact I had 3-4 beers in my bag (Chris wanted to bring them along and thought we'd both drink one or two...and we hadn't), I thought: "Hey, he's German...and what German man doesn't like beer?". So I asked him if he'd like one, saying that they were my boyfriend's and that I didn't like to drink beer. I don't think that's what HE heard, however.

He gave me this slightly-scandalized look, shook his head and said something about 20 year-olds (not sure exactly what...if he was implying he wasn't 20 or lamenting the 20 year olds of today's day). I mean it was only noon...but he was still eating. I think he thought I was going to drink one and so was offering him one - obviously he hadn't understood what I'd actually said. Anyhow, I pulled out my chocolate - which he said was good. I was staring out the window, a little confused, when *plop!* an apple is tossed into my lap. I was startled, and looked up - only to see him rummaging around in his bag and pulling out more stuff. The next item he pulled out was a lemon (which he thankfully put back) and then he took out an orange. Figuring he accidentally dropped the fruit in my lap - I offered it back to him. He declined, and then gave me the orange too!

Slightly bemused, I thanked him...but he wasn't done yet! Next, he said "Smoke?" (in German) while pantomiming the action for cigarettes (I hope...). At this point I'm completely lost to his meaning, and since I neither smoke, nor have a cigarette for him I just say no. He nods and says good. Apparently I am not beyond all hope...lol. Then his wife starts talking to him and I catch the phrases "English (as in he thought I was English, not American)...doesn't understand German". Which was pretty silly, because it all started because he didn't understand me and was speaking Bavarian/Frankish.
Sigh.

At any rate, it gave me something to secretly smile about as I obediently ate the apple and waited for the long ride to end.
So, that's it for now folks - enjoy the pictures (as soon as I remember how I did it last time!)
Steph

Denmark!

Hi all,
Well, I have been a busy, busy person. I guess I'll go in order and cover a bit before Denmark as well...so, starting with the most important event:

My First Official Grown-Up Concert
Or, not quite...So, loooooooooooooooooong story short, I facebook stalked someone and found out through his blog that his friend was in a band and low and behold that his band was playing in Munich in just over a month from when I discovered it. Better yet, they were fronting for "Plain White T's" ...better known as the "Hey There Delilah" guys. So, I found a concert, it was cheap. However, I didn't have anyone to go with. So I call up Eric and ask if he and Claudia would like to go. Second problem - the concert was February 14th...V-day. Claudia actually likes the band, but for whatever reason decided she wouldn't want to go, but Eric could. Eric said he'd go if I went to a hockey game with him. Fair enough. Later, Vaso from Greece decided she'd like to go, but unfortunately they were sold out. Fast forward to the 14th.

Eric is TIRED. He's trying to get a job as a tour guide and was up at 5 AM the morning of the 14th. We make the train and arrive in Munich about 2.5 hours before the concert. We decide to find the hall before we eat, and then I got us turned around. Also not helping that day was incredibly thick fog. Within an hour we'd trekked to the hall and had a meal at Burger King (the only restaurant we could find). We arrived outside the hall again about an hour and a half before the concert. We noticed one key thing. There were two age groups...screaming 14 year olds (mostly girls)...and their mothers. Yeah...about that "Grown-Up Concert"...Anyhow, we froze for a while and I smuggled Eric's camera in. Don't ask how. The upside of being in a remote hall and surrounded by gaggles of 14 year olds was that biology was working in my favor. They're short. So, we got great standing places (the ONLY type of places) about 15 feet back from the stage. A great view and out of the sweat-slinging range of the bands. Urk.

The opening bands - The Fold and The Spill Canvas - were both really good, although the singing to playing sound ratio wasn't very good. I was having a great time, although poor Eric had issues with the girl in front of him thinking that he was her boyfriend (who was to Eric's left) and she got a little overly...friendly. At any rate, The Plain White T's were AWESOME. The main singer is great and incredibly charismatic...talk about stage presence. We stayed until the last encore song, where I quickly introduced myself as the stalker of one of the band members from The Spill Canvas, who was thrilled to see another American (the guys spoke no German, and had a sign labeled "We Speak English!" over their merchandise...nice). Then we beat the crush and took the train back, arriving Regensburg at about 2 AM. It was a great night.
Denmark
So, onwards to Denmark! My traveling buddy was Kayla, a girl from the Colorado group. She'd done the smart (but expensive) path of buying a Eurail select pass and gotten a sleeping place. I'd done the cheap route, but managed to get lucky, only having one other guy in the compartment. For the first hour and a half I watched Entourage Season 2 on my computer (I'm seriously addicted) and he was writing something. Eventually, after writing for a while in my journal, I realized that the silence in the compartment was getting awkward. (Or perhaps had been all along...who knows..). So I said hi and opened the flood gates. The Guy...formally known as Peter, became my first Slovenian acquaintance (besides Theresa, but I'm sorry, you're not authentic enough for me : p ). So, I got a run down on Slovenia (since their separation from Yugoslavia) and I got to introduce him into the wonderful mess known as the "Democratic process". Honestly, I can say that being abroad has taught me more about my own government (or made me become more aware of it than ever before) and I actually managed to intelligently inform him on the primary process. Luckily (or tragically for him...), I had also just read the nytimes .com article on 'Super Delegates' so I enlightened him about that bewildering process as well. Eventually I got to sleep stretched out across all 3 seats...bliss.

Monday
Karin met Kayla and I at the station (after we got a little lost, ironically ending up at the Special Education building...) and we took the short walk back to her apartment. I met Karin about 5 years ago when she was the Rotary exchange student at Walker my Junior year of high school. She filled us up with Swedish bread for breakfast (AMAZING...I'm in love...)and got us set up in a tiny room she'd rented for us to sleep in. I had gotten out some Danish Kroner (they are in the EU, but decided not to be on the Euro). It was crazy to see the prices on things - the exchange rate is 1 Euro to 7.4 Danish Kroner. Karin then had to go to class and Kayla and I explored the downtown shopping area. We made spaghetti for dinner and decided to check out the HC Anderson (as Hans Christian Anderson is known in the US) museum the next day.

Tuesday
Karin decided to skip class, and so we went to the museum, which is partially comprised of HC's House. The museum is INCREDIBLY in-depth and we spent a good 3 hours there. Talk about a talented guy. He was known for telling his tales to his audience while doing a "cutting" - an intricate form of paper cutting that makes our paper snowflakes look like a 3 year old's work with safety scissors. I'm going to try to get a slideshow going with Denmark Pictures...you'll know them when you see them. Then I ate the most expensive lunch of my life - about 20 dollars for a mini-quiche, hot chocolate and splitting a side of "nachos" 3-ways. We also bought "Danishes" and ate them, so we could say we ate a Danish...cannibalism, surprisingly tasty. There's a slogan for you...I also found out that I can't pronounce Danish worth crap. Fortunately, no one can - so all the Danish learn Very Good English (and usually German as well). Karin said that Danish is like speaking German with a potato in your mouth, and it's true. There was JUST enough similarities to drive you nuts by thinking you actually understand something...to learn you have NO idea.

Wednesday
Kayla and I went to Copenhagen! It's MASSIVE and extremely expensive - the cafe's wanted 6 dollars for a cup of hot chocolate! (Needless to say we actually didn't eat anything all day, just snacked on chocolate - Kayla's as much of an addict as I am...). I became the designated map-holder and Kayla the photographer. We saw the palaces (the royalty wasn't in...no standard flying), a soaked up a few museums - I HIGHLY recommend the Danish Resistance Museum it was fascinating and free! - and of course saw the Little Mermaid. (For those who aren't HC Anderson buffs, he wrote the original "Little Mermaid" which ends much more tragically...she kills herself after the prince marries another woman (not the enchanted witch) and she can't bring herself to kill him so that she in turn can live...twisted). We eavesdropped on an English tour and found out that she's been beheaded several times and once was pulled entirely off the boulder she sits on - resulting in police discovering tourists posing in her place, quite the sight I'm sure. We went back home and Karin was awesome enough to have pizza hot and waiting for us!

Thursday
Kayla was leaving Thursday (the train I was on was full and she couldn't get a reservation) so we spent the morning sleeping in and doing a little shopping to get rid of our Kroners. Karin's afternoon class was canceled so we spent about 4 hours making dinner - sushi - a first for me. It's a fascinating process and we used shrimp and raw salmon. I found it surprisingly good, because I don't typically enjoy fish cooked, let alone raw. I would definitely eat it again and may try my hand at making it, now that I've seen it done. Kayla is a complete sushi buff and she was excited to see how it was actually made. We also had found some wine that we really liked, so although it clashed completely with the sushi we enjoyed it with our meal. We watched most of Wedding Crashers before we took Kayla to the station. Then Karin and I watched a few more movies and had a nice giggly girl's night. Yes, I know, but I can and do giggle on occasion...

Friday...aka the day that never ended...
Friday was pretty uneventful. Karin and I both packed up our stuff and experienced the most horrendous weather that a spring day in Denmark has to offer. It was ugly, windy, rainy weather that we tromped around in. I wish I could say we had a noble pursuit - but I will admit it was for nothing of the sort. Kayla had discovered that Denmark makes authentic Absinthe ( I know, I know mom, making you proud...) with wormwood and really wanted to try a small bottle. We didn't have time or the know-how to find the liquor shop so I promised her we'd search for a small bottle. Unfortunately they only had the large bottles and for 399 kroner (about...55 Euros or 70 dollars) and so not really an option. So we took a rain check because Karin got her small bottle in her hometown. So we bought chocolate instead. Mmmm.

Anyhow, Karin's train left at 6:05, so I was at the station about 2.3 hours early...and then my luck turned. Apparently, someone called in a bomb threat to a train station (no idea where, but in one of the other major cities) and so all the trains going through Copenhagen were delayed...mine for 2 hours and 39 minutes all told. Surprisingly, I took the news well - I had my computer, good swedish bread and water. Unfortunately, I really had to go to the bathroom. Equally unfortunate was that I had no Kroner left (except a full set of coins that I'd assembled for my dad...and, congrats dad, you won out over my bladder) to pay for the bathroom. I mean 2 Kroner isn't significant, it's about 50 cents, but I HATE paying for "public bathrooms" - even if they are pretty clean. So I held my bladder like a champ for 5 hours. I know...too much information.

By the time my train got to Nuernburg I was lucky I was awake. There were actually people in my compartment and so I slept poorly and my phone was dead = Steph has no way to know what time it was...plus the fact the train's time table was off. Anyhow, I luckily caught a train 15 minutes later to Regensburg and by 10 AM Monday morning I was sleeping in my bed.

Rugby!
So, Monday I woke up at 4 and drug myself up to shower. I turned my re-charged phone back on and found a text from Eric: "Murphy's -4 PM BE THERE!". Now, the fact that I was going to a bar at 4 (well, 5:15 by the time I got there) was a little off, but I figured there was a reason. I felt like crap, but food, 3 IB Profen and a liter of water can work wonders...So I walk into Murphy's and find out that there's an International Rugby tournament being broad casted. I went with option number 2 (option number one being to leave...quickly) and pestered Rob (British) and Niamh (Irish, who's brother's play) about everything about Rugby. It's a LOT less boring than American Football. And, to my pride, I now know what a "scrum" and "try" are and the scoring system. I hope that makes someone proud.

Anyhow, this has been the mother of all posts, so I'm going to put you all out of your misery...now.
Hope all is well,
Steph

Idiot

Hi all, time for another post...sigh.

Mortification
So, as you all have read, I tested last week in Karate. I debated with myself if I should even go tonight (a nap sounded SOOOO much better) but I eventually dragged myself to the Sport center. Since I had tested, I put on my yellow belt. I waited in the corridor and almost ended up leaving, because everyone was late. However, I really wished I would have. Turns out that my testing was FOR my WHITE belt. Who tests for a white belt??? Apparently, Shotokan does. How embarrassing...even my instructor had to try to hide his smile when he looked at me. Sigh. Then, to make matters worse, as I left a girl with a greenbelt ran out to me and told me that she has her old white belt - apparently most people were under the impression that I'd lost my white belt! No, I told her, I was simply an idiot. In a way, I could've saved face and just taken it - but they already think I'm kind of an idiot anyhow. Yup...

Sara's Story
Well, in order to make myself feel like I'm the only one who makes mistakes, I am now going to tell Sara's embarrassing story (misery loves company, so should also people in a foreign country). A few days/a week or so ago, Sara decided she had to bite the bullet, and go get a hair cut. She did her homework before hand - because all she wanted was a trim. So she used her paper dictionary, and confidently strode into the Salon and asked for a "Beschneidung". The stylist stared in what Sara took to be a slightly horrified and bemused manner. She went on to demonstrate how she only wanted the ends cut off. When she got back home, she used dict.leo.org to find out why the word hadn't worked. Well, she discovered that the word did indeed mean trim, in a manner. However, it carries the unfortunate connotation of - circumcision. See, now you've practically forgotten my story...

Finals
So, I am finally done with both my finals, and have only my paper for my English course to write. My Phonetics final disappointed me, because I had a brain freeze for the question part and didn't answer fast enough for her. The reading part, I was really nervous for and she even noticed and remarked on it. So, probably not a good sign. However, it for sure went better than my Texts class. I memorized all the little catch words, but I'm afraid that my lack of vocabulary will drag my grade down - although I hopefully still passed. On a note only slightly pertaining to finals, I enjoyed my first beer the other night. It's kinda a fake beer, however, as it's half pop and half beer. Baby steps people, baby steps. They'll make me a German yet...

Finally, before I sign off, I would like everyone to know that I finally received my ballot for the levy on Monday, and got it sent off on the same day. I didn't rush it, as I don't have 52 euros sitting around, but I did do it.
Hope everyone is well,
Steph
P.S. The words under the picture mean "The open bathrooms are closed" - somehow seemed to fit with tonight...

A quick note to End the month on...

Hi all,
So, we'll see if I can quickly write this post so it ends up in the month it belongs to!
Karate
Tonight was completely awesome! Not to mention a major adrenaline-kick and a little bit nerve-wracking. We had testing tonight in Karate - and I was going for my yellow belt (yet again...). This was a very different setup than what I am used to. In Shoryn Ru we accumulated hours and showed throughout training that we'd become competent in certain areas, in Kong Su Do we were loosely tested by our instructors and it included board-breaking. However, these guys go the full nine yards and had 2 important (I'm assuming, no one really bothered to tell me...lol) men from the German Shotokan karate association there to pass judgment. Luckily, the white belts went first, so it was over fairly quickly. I was a little nervous for two reasons. The first being that it was just a normal reaction to a new situation. The second was because of a "wardrobe malfunction" (thanks pop culture!). When I first returned back to Germany, the ties on the left side of my uniform (the under-tie side of my shirt) broke, leaving only one attached. Now, this had happened before, but it's really only the top tie that's important. Well, that decided to rip off tonight too. So I was basically praying that my slightly-too-small belt wouldn't slip or loosen at all. Fortunately, all went well...

My Nutella Fixation Continues...
Well, I must admit that I have been stretching my culinary muscles into rather odd creations. First came the peanutbutter nutella cookies (I made another batch...mmm), next came the grilled peanutbutter and nutella sandwich (mmm, melty!) and most recently I have altered the timeless American classic of ants on a log to "smeared ants on a log" (layer of peanutbutter between the celery and nutella...mmm, healthy? No.).

And Finally...The Embarrassing Story of the Month
So, last week at Karate I went Thursday night as well (I usually end up missing it due to other engagements or pure laziness). Afterwards, I was conversing with a girl named Tina and we were walking back to the changing rooms (remember, you have to go through the changing rooms to access the gyms). The rest of the karate class (all guys that night) were behind us. So, I was just about to step inside the outer door of the changing room when it was Flung open...revealing 4-5 half-dressed MEN. Without a word, I did a 180. Tina, who was a half-step behind me, continued another step forward and just as quickly did an about-face. The guys behind us all roared...We had almost just went into the guy's changing room! Now, since Tina and I don't always come on Thursdays but always on Tuesdays, we're used to being in the gym that's directly across from the girls' changing rooms. I'm also pretty sure that had the door not been flung open the guys behind us would have been content to let us blindly walk into a rather...awkward situation. So, as sorry as I am to have let you down (because I'm sure that would've made a MUCH better story), I found it embarrassing enough as it was.
Now, I'm going to beat the clock and post this quickly. The picture is of the documents I received in my Karate class.
Hope all is well...
Steph