City Mouse vs. Country Mouse

Since the time I got here I have 'complained' about living in the country. But really, in the country: I see tractors all the time, agricultural fields surround my village on all sides, from which I am only a stones throw away. I have always thought I was a city mouse for sure. When I studied abroad in London, I relished in the city lifestyle: the fast pace, the public transport, the arts, the sounds, basically everything. And coming here and being stranded in Poppenweiler really didn't help the transition to things here. But I must say as I was coming home on the bus that night, that it's really not that bad. I still really don't like having to come home so early when I go out, just so I can catch the bus home. At the same time; however, I realized that I rather like coming home to a quiter community. It's not so bad being able to have the best of both worlds. Now that I think about it, that is why I liked living in Berkeley so much. I was able to frequent the city, and still have my life that was a little bit removed. While at the same time, still having restaurants and shops with in walking distance from my house. Though it would be nice to go out for a night on the town and be able to come home to sleep in my own bed. I will definitely still try my hand at city life at somepoint, hopefully London or San Francisco, and I definitely don't want to live in Poppenweiler any longer than I really have to. But it is nice to become content with what you have and realize that maybe I have a little country mouse in me too.

Fruhlingsfest

Germans love a good fest, as do I! And now that the weather is nicer, and spring is in full swing, it was due time for yet another of these amazing German traditions: the Fruhlingsfest in Stuttgart. Fruhling means spring in German, so the event is aptly named. It started on Saturday, and I went with the group of my British friends and it was oh so fun. We met in the beer garden in the Schloss Park in Stuttgart for a bite to eat before hand, then walked to the festivities. Again the regular things were there, rides, indulgent foods, games, and of course beer halls. We had a table reserved and a group of about 30+ of us parked our selves for a good round of drinking, chicken eating (the best rotisserie chicken ever) singing and dancing. It was great fun, as expected, and I loved every second of it. Now, I can hardly believe that I will leave for Barcelona in less than a week!! We have been planning that trip since before christmas and it is finally here :-)

leave your modesty at the door

So... i've been going to the gym now for a couple of months (not that i'm seeing the changes i'd hoped for, but that's not what this is about) and I have taken to showering there too after my workouts, for convenience sake. But I must say that the whole idea of nakedness there is totally open. The sauna, so i have heard, is no clothes and all genders, the changing rooms are divided by gender (they aren't that casual about things) but there are no changing rooms or shower stalls, it's all just kind of out in the open. This took a little getting used to, but if the other women aren't weird about it then why should I be? It was never really that big of a deal because mostly it's just me and one or two other women in the showers, but the other day was totally different... I was done working out at the same time that a class got out, and i was in there with like 7 other women, i think all the shower heads were taken. Just kinda a new experience for me, absolutely not a big deal for them, which i think is good, and it's just how people are brought up here. It's just a little strange to be showering next to one of the moms who I see every day at Ines's ballet class, oh germany!

my world has changed

The time is here my friends... I have WIRELESS INTERNET at my house here in Germany. I never thought I would see this day, nor be SO excited about it. A little sad I know, but really, to be able to use my own computer with internet is amazing. Just had to share my excitement :-)

happy easter

For Easter weekend I had two extra days off (easter friday and easter monday) and while normally I would have taken a 4 day holiday to go somewhere else on my own, it happens that this holiday falls between two huge vacations for me (my week long trip to Spain and trip to Barcelona for a bachelorette weekend) So given my lack of plans, I was very nicely invited to go with the family to their Hometown on Augsburg. It is a town on the way from Stuttgart to Munich, about 45 min west of munich. We started the weekend with our usual sit down breakfast, during which we all drew faces on the shells of our eaten eggs. This was a result of a bit of conversation, but in the spirit of decorating eggs durning easter we felt it was appropriate. So here they are from L to R: Tim, me, Sabine, Reimund, Ines:
After breakfast, we loaded up the car and drove to Augsburg. We went to a nearby lake, walked around, had lunch at a beer garden and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I walked with Reimund and the kids to Sabine´s mom´s house from there, so I could see somethings along the way. Augsburg has these canals running throught the city because it is basically on two rivers. Off on the river Lech, is this site for kayaking, and it is where the kayaking events were held for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Here is a pict of it, but you just have to imagine way more water flowing through over these rocks for a very intense kayaking experience. We saw some people practicing, and it was quite amazing to see them do these slolom courses both down stream and up.

On Saturday I went with Reimund, Tim and Reimund´s mom to Schloss Neuschwanstein, which is perhaps the most famous Castle in Germany. I have heard that it is what Walt Disney based his Disneyland castle on. It was a beautiful day, so we did a lot of walking around and walked up to the castle, and of course played tourist like the rest of the people. It is always so strange for me to go to places like that and hear other people speaking English, well to see other Americans. I always forget about them, and just live in my own little world there. We definitely experienced one fellow, who was the definition of the 'ugly American' 20-something guy, beer in hand at 3pm (which is totally normal for Germans done in the right fashion) swearing, talking loudly, complaining, all while walking up the hill to the castle.... Come on buddy, pull it together!!!! Anyhow, I had a great day despite all that. The castle has quite a story and it was well worth it to go on the tour. And, of course, here´s the pict:

Easter Sunday, they didn´t have a whole lot planned, so after breakfast I went on a nice walking tour of old town Augsburg. It´s a lovely old town, with some unique aspects for the time. The main street is really wide, and impressive, especially for a all the old farmers in the 14th century, when Augsburg was THE town to go to.

They also have a great city hall, with a Golden Room, pict below. As well as a huge church which is half Roman and half Gothic. Augsburg was originally a Roman town founded by Emperor Augustus. One other very interesting facility there is The Fuggerei. Fugger was the last name of one of the rulers of the town in the early days. And much ahead of his time, he created a little town with in Augsburg for poor people. There are apartments there, a church, park, communal water... and the idea is that someone could live there for sat 1 Deutsch Mark a year and the Fuggers would pay the rest. People still live there today, many of whom are older and have no family to live with, and cannot afford a lot of rent. After my time in town, I went with Sabine and Ines so Ines could see her Aunt´s horse, and we got to walk around the Augsburg University which Sabine attended and her dad taught for many years.

We left Augsburg on Monday evening after spending the day with Sabine´s Dad and his wife. It was so great to see where Sabine and Reimunds origins are, and the town they speak so fondly of. I had been meaning to go for some time, so I am really glad it all worked out. Just another aspect of German life I get to experience before I go.

Spain pictures

just found out that I can give out a link again to view pictures on facebook, and you don´t need to be a member, so here you go. There are two albums, enjoy!

http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124978&l=4109d&id=3206990

http://ucdavis.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124979&l=6b86c&id=3206990

lindsay comes to Germany!

So not more than two weeks after my trip to Spain, my friends Lindsay came to see me in Germany. It was a last minute vacation planned because basically the whole country of Spain takes a week long holiday for Easter called Semana Santa. Anyhow, between me and her other German friends, who she met while they were au pairs in Madrid, she had a lot of people to visit here. She got here Friday night and I was able to pick her up with the car (I am always looking for excuses to drive anywhere :-) . We grabbed a drink in Ludwigsburg before heading home and getting a good night´s sleep. Saturday morning we sat down for the normal breakfast with the family, which is SUPER different from how Lindsay does things with her host family, so I think she enjoyed seeing how my ways of things works. Saturday was kind of sloppy weather, but it was ok, because I had just planned for us to do a bit of shopping anyhow. We went into Stuttgart, and went down the main shopping street, and saw some things along the way. In the afternoon, we sat down for a traditional German coffee and cake. Then we headed back to my house to get ready for the night.

We met up with three of her friends for dinner and going out. They all came a little distance to see her, so it was great that we were all able to get together. We took her out for some Schwäbisch (area around Stuttgart) food, and then went to some bars and clubs. It was so much fun! We ended the night getting a ride home from her friends sister, but not before making an hour detour to take her friend home first, how nice of the sister! Anyhow, we got home around 4, so maybe the night bus would have been better, but at least this way we got to sleep on the ride home :-)

Sunday we had a last breakfast with the family before heading into Ludwigsburg for the day. We had much better weather and spent the first part of the day at the Ludwigsburg schloss (palace) and the gardens. It was so beautiful! The gardens have just been relanscaped and opend for the summer, so it great to walk around and see everything. After that we went into town for a little snack, and went to meet her friends. One of the girls just moved to Ludwigsburg, so it was very convenient. We just hung out for a little bit, then I took Lindsay and her friend to the Stuttgart train station, so they could meet their ride. She was headed off to a town near Munich until Wednesday, so it will be great to come all this way and see a little more of Germany!

It was a wonderful weekend, and it was so great to have Lindsay here. I loved being able to show her where I am and how different Germany is from Spain. It´s so funny that we are basically doing the same thing, yet doing it totally differently. I am now really excited to have my parents come too, so I can show them around too!! Just 5 more months, crazy!