new years less suck than last year

So I don't know if you all remember complaining about how my new years sucked last year - to be honest all I can currently remember is the title.

This year I was in berlin and it was certainly not like anything I have ever experienced. So we decided like probably a million people to go to the brandenburger tor. We were told by our tour guide earlier today that it would be good to head there for about 8 so that's what we did, and like usual we walked there, and sure enough arrived on time. It was the strangest walk and as expected police were there trying to control the crowd. It was unfortunate because our hotel was located on the wrong side of the Tor. This meant that we had to walk probably an extra half hour around the entire crowd just to walk back to where we wanted to be.

We eventually went downstream to a spot that we thought we be adequate. Then we realized we'd have to wait for 3 hours and fifteen minutes for midnight. My mother who's body has suffered from the miles of walking we have done has suffered a little and she was feeling the strain. After some grumbles from all parties involved it was decided we would attempt to walk down to a place we originally came from to try and gain better vision into where the fireworks would come from. The walk back was certainly interesting and it's a really good thing I can control my anger because there were a few that needed a good shoulder check. It's our fault for going to wrong way. Oh - also I must say...I don't know who the music was but I only really enjoyed one band. I was hoping for to see the scorpians but they never came on.

As we were coming out of the gates we were made aware that there would be no re-entering and they meant business. There were lots of people around that were getting rejected at the gate. We made our way back to one of the main streets on the way to potsdamer platz and it just went crazy.

I should now inform you that on new years day fireworks are in fact legal. This is something that germans clearly took advantage of. On the small street just randomly in one of the squares so many people were setting them off. Then a flare here and there, one of those that just sprays sparkles or one that just bangs. It was a little un-nearving because I was worried about getting hit by something.

That fear was elevated greater once we hit the main street. Not only was I barely able to move, the amount of fireworks being set off was increased ten-fold. There was one point where someone decided it would be a fantastic idea to set of a flare within the crowd. All I could think was how easily this could go astray.

We kept on walking however and along the journey back to the hotel saw so much garbage everywhere, both bottles and exploded fireworks.

It was clear at this point that leaving early was not a poor choice. It was just so chaotic and I was worried about being hit by something. Give me a break it's my first time there.

When we got back to around a block in front of our hotel we encountered this group of people setting off fireworks so we decided to watch. This escalated to everywhere around us on this main road was setting off fireworks. My estimation is that there were 30 different groups within eyesight.

Then at midnight the Tor lights started to go off. We were lucky that we were able to see them from where we were (just barely) because it was laughable that one group had been going on longer than them and ended after as well.

It's also funny how at home they take so many safety precautions and here EVERYONE especially children are getting in on the action. To be honest the first thing I thought about was riots in the middle east where everyone is just running but no one really has any idea what's going on and there's just noise everywhere.

It was also just so strange because for me I think about the destruction and damage that was done in Berlin during the second world war and the fact that 90% of the city was destroyed and they have these fireworks that sound similar to bombs going off all over the city. It is a steady stream of sound and to think during the war it was anything like that was nuts because that's not you enjoying something pretty - that's you fighting for your life.

I wish that I could have actually recorded everything because this entry really doesn't give enough justice to the insanity of silvester.

european adventures (part I)

So I'm posting now so that I can get this update off my shoulders, but I know that it's going to be published in two days. But here are something tidbits from the first part of my trip...

So on the way there I was getting onto the train in Köln with my bitchpack and I guess I seemed a little bit frazzled and I had my seat all picked out and I realize the bitchpack won't fit on the shelf above me so I go a little further down to get more room and as I'm about to lift it I realize one of the straps is stuck in the seat so I pull and pull - in fact I pull so much that I am sweating and have to take off my scarf and jacket because I'm sweating so badly. Eventually after everyone tries I give up and the guy sitting in one of the seats who has been watching this whole thing go down for about 8 minutes hands me a pocket knife so I can cut the strap. Thanks...that would have been great about 8 minutes ago when I asked people if they had a knife!

Amsterdam we went to the Ajax experience. It seems that the europeans love to shove marketing down your throat so that fans can get really excited about it and everyone else can gain the mentality that the product is supreme. It was kind of fun though. We got to go a some virtual drill simulations which actually worked out better than I expected.

We walked through the red light district on christmas day.

It didn't seem very christmassy there though. Like in north america everything seems very over saturated, but here you would not have been able to tell otherwise.

I'm very happy because in Amsterdam my mother noticed how everyone stares at me!! My dad thinks I must look like a european celebrity - clearly that's not true

I climbed the dom cathedral in Köln - the worst part was being in the bell tower when it rung - I was scared more from the anticipation of being scared! We went out for Kölsch after which is the local specialty - I may even go as far as saying it's one of the best beers I've ever had. Then accompanied with dinner I had schweinerhaxen, or pig's knuckle. It was SOO big, and really fatty, and extra tasty!

bitch-pack

So I don't know why or how this bright idea came along but it just is that way. I guess it's from discussions with friends and other things. But anyways, I got a backpack for my time in Germany. It's pretty sweet because it has a daypack that I can take off which has been convenient thrice.

But if I have to wear my backpack to long I get soo sour. Because I don't know what my living situation is going to be like after 3 weeks from now I need to have enough clothes so that they are available once I start work. I also had to keep my bags that I left at school from being to heavy or over packed. My point being, my backpack is so heavy and such a struggle to put on.

So when I travel with my parents my patience level drops below zero, especially because I'm generally pretty smart when it comes to travelling, and my dad seems to have this need to constantly butt heads with me. I guess it's just part of the relationship. My mom just likes to stay out of it. But I just want to bite everyone's head off when I am wearing that backpack. It just puts my in the worst mood ever. I feel bad for people that need to be around me because I'm just such an awful person. It's even worse because I realize how terrible I am and I don't want to be that mean, but it just comes out so naturally.

I think that judging by how much I do try to repress my anger, I am going to explode one day!

weird update

so in regards to the post that just happened.

One part of the story I forgot to mention is that I left the interview with the other girl that was looking for a house as well and we walked nearly the whole way downtown and then she caught the tram.

She spoke german to me the whole time - and talk she did. It makes me fear how poor my german speaking abilities are. I sound so primitive.

But that didn't stop her and I liked her a lot - she was very nice!

And after she left I was thinking man, I should have got her number so I would have another contact once I got here but I thought of it to late.

No

fate brought us back together, because she is totally sitting in starbucks right now!!!

So I got her name and he shall become facebook friends.

homeless?

So I'm going to put off again telling you what I'm actually doing in Germany. Well a little bit

So last week I complained about the fact that I got invited to someone's place to check it out and right before I got there he told me it was rented - that is after I had already travelled an hour....

So I found another place and I was so excited because they sent me a message saying that we could meet today. So I arrived at the house, about 3 minutes early which according to my cool schedule that's alright with me. So I get in and they are all just laughing away and they all introduce themselves, and the conversation is all in german and they progress to english so I can understand. There's this other girl that I don't really get introduced to and it takes me about half this 'interview' to realize that this is a group interview and she is looking at living at the house as well...damn.

I hate being in competitions against other people because I'm very concerned with my first impression because it seems to be a bit of a hit or miss situation. Some people like me and others are not so excited. I'm ok if people don't like me, but I am aware that I'm a little bit strange as well.

It's just frustrating trying to find a house right now - luckily I have a place to crash that isn't underneath a bridge. I'm trying out couch surfing...so that should be interesting.

I'm now at starbucks because our hotel doesn't have internet...what kind of nice hotel in the 21st century doesn't have internet...not even with a cabel!

So I need to now find a place to live...and then change my ticket...

I just need  to remember that it's all worth it!

By the way just got to encounter a fun little situation in which this family came upstairs in the starbucks and clearly couldn't find a place to sit and naturally I'm going to sit anywhere there's a place free and so I'm at a table for three...I don't care. There is just enough room for my computer and maybe another mug, they were not impressed that I didn't move.

Just let me write my blog!

what up with that

So I'm going to share another of my 3 million pet peeves....

why is it soo exciting when something has the same name as someone you know. Like there is something called Schmidt lebkuchen in Germany - no big deal. Do I want to take a picture...no not really.

Like there are at least a million people in the world called danielle, if I see something with my name on it I'm not going to go crazy. Maybe if my name was a little bit more rare I might..

I think it's just something that everyone needs to chill out about.

It's not some weird lucky coincidence.

I thought I was a nice person.... part 2

So in the previous post I discussed how things didn't work out for me on monday.

Yesterday I write my final exam and finally I got a response from the tens of broken german emails I've been sending in regards to finding a place to live. He says to text him and it is concluded that I want to take the place because it's within my price range and a reasonable location. It is decided I will come wednesday to visit the place and get things arranged I guess. I also said clearly, or so I thought, in my texts that as long as it was furnished I would take the room.

So yesterday after writing just a horrible exam I made the hour long train ride up to Darmstadt to check out this place. As I make my final transfer and am sitting on the train about ten minutes from my destination I get a text from this guy saying the room has just been rented.

Are you serious?!

I wasted soo much time and energy to come here, said that I wanted the room and you give me no warning.

I totally understand things from his point of view though. He doesn't care about other people, he just wants to get his room rented. Realistically he doesn't owe me anything.

Of course I immediatly email my parents and I got this response from my dad

" So sorry to hear that.

Unfortunate that he is without honour."

What a fantastic response - and it's true.

But it just seems like that's the German way of life, judging from these last two interactions.

And I've learned that people just don't want me to ever celebrate being finished exams.

I thought I was a nice person....

You know how they say shitty things happen to good people, or that God sets out challenges that we are able to face.

I guess I must be a good person - and that God must really love me (obvs...)

Twice in one week this time. So as you may or may not know, I'm travelling for the next three weeks around Germany, Holland and a little bit of Austria with my parents. I am one of those people that has way to many clothes and the fact that I'm going to be living here for the next four months after my trip means that I need a substantial wardrobe because I'm the kind of person that needs a lot of variety in my wardrobe. This also poses a great challenge for packing what I want to leave behind for the next three weeks but that's a whole other story.

So anyways - I have to leave these forsaken clothes behind somewhere and so within the first few weeks of me being here I asked my German roommate if it was possible that I could leave it with her...no problem she says. So there were two times this semester already where she has done a major flake out and just been completely inconsiderate in leaving me behind and not letting me know important information. This was time number three and she moved to another apartment last wednesday because our area is so far from everything and if I was staying here longer I would consider doing the same thing. So I had talked to her on the day she was moving out about when would be a good time. She said she was leaving on monday evening or possibly tuesday so I said I'd text her to ask when a good time would be to come over. ..

So monday rolls around and I have an exam at 10:30 that morning so that's my one concern. Afterwards I send her a text to find out when I should come. Meanwhile on sunday I (sylvia) packed up all my stuff so that I could go when I needed to. Not everything was packed, but nearly everything. So then monday at 3:00 pm I get a text saying that she's leaving in an hour. That is not nearly enough time or warning. It just makes me mad because she knew that I needed to rely on her for this, and I felt like I was getting screwed because there was no way I could make it in time.

Luckily we know more people that live in Mannheim - so I made an emergency call, and my bag has a safe home for the christmas break!

I'll let you go get a beer so you can join along in my drinking away my pain...and the continuation of the story will happen next

exams

As per usual, I am writing exams until one of the very last days. Do I ever get a break....twice I have - but not this year.

During exams facebook always drives me crazy because there are an added amount of useless, uninspired, non-entertaining updates. And 87.35% of them have something to do with either procrastinating, hating exams, or giving us a status update on how many days until their next exam or how many exams they have completed.

No one gives a shit about your exams. Like obviously you don't like exams....no person does. Not once have I ever been like, 'yeah, this exam is awesome - I had so much writing it'. No I'd rather stay at home and watch an entire season of top chef instead of studying. That's not weird - that's normal.

But every person in university seems to think that they are the first person not to study for an exam. Dumb people - we all avoid studying like the plague...except Germans, they study a lot!

characters

Are there some people in your life that you feel with everything that they do, it just seems so perfect - like they something and you're like 'that is so you!'

The greatest thing about people is when they do something so unexpected but it so perfectly suits their character.

I have one of my old teachers child as a facebook friend and often she updates her status with funny anecdotes from her parents (my mother works with hers as well, so I know the family just a little bit) and I find them just the funniest thing in the world.

It's so great when someone is able to make that kind of impact on your life and you just get so naturally attracted to them (in a sort of magnetic way) because you want to hear everything they say because their brain nuggets are golden!

Do you have any of these people in your life?

I think that even when you get to know your friends really well this is interesting.

Here's a story. My friend/roommate sylvia loves disney. While we've been in europe she and becky went to paris and of course went to disneyland in paris, which I'm sure for them was a dream come true. Now her obsession (and along with becky's less, but still wonderful disney-desire) they shelled out the euros for the fine french cuisine served at the princess restaurant, or whatever it's called. During this dinner the princesses walk around with their princess so that you can 'meet them' and have pictures taken - all part of the experience. Sylvia's addiction and her character went so far as to have a picture with the prince.

This is a picture that I actually edited and gave to her in a frame for christmas, which she loved by the way. But the fact that she actually went as far as to have this picture taken is just so typical to her character. But it's just surprising because you don't expect to see many pictures of this. Actually according the the actor playing the prince - it's not that rare. I just love when people don't hold back from conventional norms and live out their true instincts!

Leaving

It's my last week here....I'm scared.

I don't know why. I guess maybe the fact that I'm starting a new job in a month and I have still not yet found a place to live...oh yeah, and I'm going to be travelling around europe the three weeks prior to this. You all will get the lucky experience of me rubbing in the fun experiences of my parents visit.

But after that....I'm alone. For the first time in my life I'm literally going to have no one. I'm going to have to do absolutely everything myself. In another language. I'm excited for the fact that I'm going to be able to improve my language skills, and especially being able to work here. This is an opportunity that very few people get. It's really scary to think about. I know I can do it though.

I really like myself and I'm very proud of the independence that I have and my ability not to worry about things. I think that my drive will be important during my internship because I'm going to be getting paid dirt. One of the reasons that I am having such a difficult time finding a place to live is because finding a place within my price range is turning out very difficult. The biggest thing is that people want someone who is going to be living there longer than 4 months. I get that, it saves them trouble down the road.

I also realize that with insurance costs that I will need to live on less than 100 euros a month. Let's just say that's a lot of pasta. Cheapness may be the best diet I've ever had.

I've been inspired however by kate lanphear who is the style director at elle magazine. I read somewhere that when she was young she lived out her dream by interning in london - living the whole time in a hostel and eating bread with peanut butter everyday. If that's what it takes I'm willing to do it. My goal here is to make contacts and better prepare myself for jobs further down the road. Being multilingual will open a lot of other doors for me as well (or so I hope) and I know that I want to come back here one day.

I think the saddest thing is that my first day of work is on my birthday. My first birthday that I will ever be by myself. I'm going to have the best attitude though. I'm going to really appreciate the opportunity that I have, and the fact that I will have just spent an amazing three weeks with my mother and father.

real food

I think that I'm going to have really week teeth at some point in my life.

Living on my own as most adults, means I have to cook for myself...that is, if I want to survive, which yes, I do.

For the last four years I haven't had a strong desire to engage in any extensive culinary adventures. I honestly don't mind cooking. I have pretty diverse tastes so that makes picking food to cook pretty easy because I have a wider range of things that I enjoy. This year a lot of my diet consisted of soup and sandwiches. We don't have an oven and I never realized how much I love ovens. I miss oven fries and chicken fingers (even though I know how unhealthy they are). I just have no strong desire to cook fabulous meals because I really hate cleaning up. Especially when there is no dishwasher either. My biggest enemy is that I just don't want to make the mess. I haven't become sick of these foods yet so I'm just going to ride this out as long as I can!

But the fact that I am always eating like really soft foods, I'm going to lose all my jaw strength. I'm worried that I'll just not be able to eat steak. The past four years I rarely ever cook things that I have to cut on my own, and I have pretty uninspired cutting skills - like when I have to cut something on my plate. It's spoon city for me.

I hope my teeth don't fall out because I just am not challenging them enough.

Hmm, maybe time for a bowl of yogurt? It's to bad all the milk products are just so fantastic here!

first world problems?

So todays post inspiration comes from a very odd place...

This morning at around 5:17 my body decided that despite the fact I stayed up until 1:00 am watching old episodes of top chef just deserts it was a fine time to be awake. The worst thing for me is in the middle of the night when you have to pee and you just don't want to get out of bed. I used my better judgement and got up and 'did my thing' and got back to my room only to realize that there was no chance of me falling back asleep for a while.

So like a normal person I watched a little bit more top chef and realized that sleep certainly wasn't going to come. I knew it was going to come later which was going to take away from my study time so I reviewed through my notes a little bit. It was during this study period that I heard this screaming and I was like 'no d, it's like 5 in the morning, you are tired and hearing things.' I even went as far as to look outside, but I saw nothing.

This reminds me of a study that was conducted a number of years ago in which researches played a recording of a crying baby in an apartment building and no one came to check to see if there was anything wrong. I thought that I was going to be that person who falls into the 'heartless' category.

I was also freaking out a little bit because recently in our apartment someone came and knocked on the door to ask if we had seen anything suspicious happening because someone had kicked down the front door of her apartment and her room was unlocked - so they went in and stole her computer and other electronics and her keys.

My first thought was....this girl is getting raped.

When you watch scary movies, or at least when I do, I always get mad at the main character because they always have to go investigate, which always leads to something terrible and I always think, why would anyone go investigate. I didn't want to join that demographic as well and decided that it must have been me just imagining in my somewhat sleep.

So I went with my instincts and chose not to investigate because there were no other suspicious noises. Well that's not totally true...I did hear some knocking sounds, but I said - nope not my problem.

So I killed a little bit more time and eventually fell asleep for about an hour and ten minutes. I would have slept longer, except for the fact that the maid, whom we haven't seen in weeks decided to come and clean at 7:40. Now I don't mind the fact that the maid cleans....really it's better than me doing it - but the problem is, our maid doesn't clean. I would describe her technique more as tossing water onto the floor and rubbing it around. To be honest I don't even know if she uses any cleaning products. I'm the worst cleaner of all time and I could do a better job than her. When syls mom was here, she watched the maid clean and this lady used the same cloth to clean the toilet as she did the sink. That's gross. And she always leaves the floor a sticky mess. But the worst...the very worst part is that she is so damn loud. It's ok if it's any time after say...8:30 because that's reasonable working hours in Germany. But if it is before this time - I'm not amused.

This morning she was doing an above average job at keeping the volume at a motivational level, as in - you shouldn't be sleeping, get up and study. All the crashing and banging, in my opinion does not make you clean any better. When you mop there is no need to throw the mop as hard as you can at my door.

This loudness has always been an issue with these maids but I just deal with it because I appreciate the job they do for me, but today I had enough. I came into the kitchen and in some broken german tried to tell her to shut it...she looked at me like she'd never heard broken german in her life. I was pissed - but now I had to be awake so I came a little bit later (after she'd left, if she was still there I would have sat in the kitchen and glared) and made water. Then I heard that the window was open a little and it sounded like a scream and I was like...that makes sense, I'm not crazy and I found a great sense of relief.

I then came into the kitchen a while later for the second cup of coffee and the other girls were up by this time. Syl came and discussed with me this sound that we had heard. She was aware of the screaming as well, and had the same immediate reaction. Then she heard someone laugh...so I had no idea what happened. I still don't have any further incentive to investigate.

I don't know why I needed such a long post for such a mundane story. You're welcome if you used this to procrastinate from studying.

puppies for everyone

If you don't like puppies - don't ever read this blog again because I don't like you.

It's no secret that I would like a pet. Preferably a puppy but a cat wouldn't be bad either. Thinking about my future I've realized that if my parents are going to make me pay rent, I'm obviously not going to want to stay there that long. Well played mom and dad....

So anyways, when I first got to Germany I definitely realized that a lot of people here have dogs. I think a significantly higher amount of people and this just fuelled my desire to get one even more. I have been begging for a cat at home because they will be needing less attention, but a dog would be preferable. My mother often gets emails of cute cat videos or pictures that I find on the internet, but it does not look promising. So I guess when I move out I'm going to want an animal. The trouble is - I don't have any clue how I would do with training them.

The dogs here in Germany are amazingly trained. Like don't even bother with a leash because they are so calm and tame and just like hanging out. I can't even count the number of times I've just walked passed a dog that isn't on a leash and they don't even look at me. At home I like seeing stray animals because then maybe they'll follow me home and I can keep it.

Once a this happened to me. There was a dog just hanging out on the sidewalk - this little black and white thing. And brave me checked his tags and made him follow me home. It was from really close by and we returned it right away. I remember their house smelled like smokers which is the worst house smell ever.

I've also chosen not to find the cutest pictures of puppies on the internet because I'm already procrastinating my studying for the exam I have today.

eyebrows again

So if you are in university/college you realize that there are a lot of things that you will do not to study.

Yesterday it came down to sylvia deciding that I should have eyebrows. For those of you that know me well - there's not very much there. It's very sparsely populated - however the hair that is there is quite blonde. Sadly I didn't take a picture.

The worst part of the whole experience was having one streak and getting a finger pointed straight in my face and getting laughed at. I told her she would do great at torturing war prisoners....giving them all makeovers

So after the 'makeover' experience ended I skyped with my father, and one of the goals was to make my eyebrows really thick and he called me groucho marx. Then when I put on my nerd glasses it looks even worse. I do regret now not taking a picture.

Also the other day I was bored and I did take a picture. So pretty much I did all my makeup but without any eye makeup. It is so strange how you look without. Like completely different person. I felt a little bit high fashion - but then I realized I don't weigh 68 pounds and the illusion went away.

The most awesome game (I just woke up)

so I literally just woke up seconds ago from a dream where I created the coolest game ever and I wanted to write it down before lal the thoughts go away.

So this isn't an ordinary game - it's like a game that has to be played over a course of like a year. It's only to be played with your closest friends. This will just be sort of an outline because obviously I can't work out all the details immediately. I just woke up!

So the object of the game is to get the most points. This is done by having a meeting with the players every week. During these meetings there are different games and tasks that will be played all in an effort to learn points. Throughout the evening you can earn and ose points through team games, individual challenges and there can be points lost because of specific rules that make no sense. Like during these evenings - for example. one night a rule can be no words that have to do with milk products, so you can't talk about cheese or anything. The rules are all clearly non-sensical and rules will be drawn on the hour, as well as each night will have a few pre-established rules set out by the creators. Wagers can also be made during individual challenges. If you do not complete your challenge, you can wager to complete the challenge. However, if you fail - you must have a punishment that needs to be completed throughout that months. This punishment can be having to lick your way through 16 jawbreakers or motivate 3 people to walk a total of 40 miles (piggybacking is allowed).

Ok I'm starting to wake up a little bit now, but man this game sounds so so intense. And should be played with a group of 12 or so people. But how cool would it be to just live in a year with such an epic game. Drinking is obviously included. One day it would be amazing to just plan everything out but I don't think I have enough cool ideas for any of this.

Nearly as epic as Chardee McDennis!