Afghani Food

So Dad, is this what restaurants over there look like? Just kidding. But I did meet Andrew and Paul for lunch at this Afghani restaurant today. And I must say, the food is delicious! I should have taken a picture of the food as well. Maybe next time.

We met Paul through the Fulbright meetings. He is a professor who got to bring his family over here for several months while he writes a book. We all had a wonderful discussion about the military (he used to be a Ranger and was in the Gulf War), politics, people (especially in America) who are completely unaware of the wide world, religion, and all kinds of other fun things. It was a fabulous lunch!

He also told us about being stationed in Germany before and during the fall of the wall. He and his wife drove up to Berlin that day and took part of it, and almost didn't take the piece because it was big and heavy, but later were really glad they had! It is always so fascinating to hear about things like that, from people who remember what it was like to go from Western Germany to Eastern, then into West Berlin and into East Berlin. Wow.

Right before it I had my final exam, and while I think I didn't fail it, I don't think I passed with flying colors. It was a bit random, because we weren't told at all what would be on it or the structure, we just had to review the readings and notes for the semester. Oddly enough, one of the questions was a map of the world where I had to locate 1. Haiti, 2. Peru, 3. South Africa, 4. the Phillipines, 5. Bangladesh, and 6. Egypt. I felt like I was back in third grade. Only the sad part is I only knew half of them. And I had the Phillipines right at first, then scratched it out. Sadness. I knew Bangladesh bordered India, but I wasn't sure which one it was. Lol. So I guess my world geography needs some work.

Just one more Hausarbeit to write and then the work for this semester will be done. I still have classes next week, as well.

Did I mention that Eric and Nayoen invited us for some homemade Korean food on Saturday evening? I'm so excited! Mmmm.

All Better...whew!

I'm so relieved. I just spoke with the roomie and all is well. I told her how I felt, offended at being asked to leave so suddenly. I feel like I was being kicked out of my house. But she assured me it wasn't meant like that, it was just a question and of course I can stay b/c this is my place, too. Oh. Ok. Much better. Because my friends can't put me up. But good to know, and that the misunderstanding is cleared up!

Also, I was quite frustrated about the washing machine and just asked her when/if she was going to fix it. She said that it was having problems before, so she is waiting until she has enough money to buy a new one, so it will be awhile. That makes sense, I would do the same thing. I asked about reducing my rent by the amount it costs me to wash my clothes a month, and she said that is fine. So now I am super relieved and feel soooooo much better! I'm glad that is all cleared up, because it was really eating at me.

That means this weekend I can really start working on my next paper. Juhu. hee hee.

11 days. : D

Offended?

My roommate has asked me to leave the apartment this weekend so that her boyfriend can come stay. She has offered to cut some of the rent off of this month. Should I be offended?

Yes, I do have some friends here, but it's a bit much to ask to be put up for an entire weekend.

Furthermore, I have a big paper I need to be working on, which will be a bit difficult in someone else's place.

Hmmm. We will see. I have to admit, I am a bit shocked by her rather boldness about asking me to leave my own current residence. Your opinion?

Mileage

Megan is going to keep a running/walking mileage on her runner's blogsite, and after I totalled up my miles (walking) for January, I was quite surprised and wanted to share! So far this month I have walked 35 miles!!! I still have walks planned for the next two days, so I will add those on, too. If you want to check out Megan's runner site, there is a link on the righthand side of my blog. Great idea, Mary!

Chinese Snow

I got these pics from the BBC news online. If you've been following the news, you might have heard that China is experiencing a bit of a snow crisis at the moment. With the Chinese New Year approaching, many people are trying to get home, and with the sudden snow, railways and airports, etc. are shutting down. Power has become a problem. These two pics are of people using their umbrellas in the snow (just like Germans!) and those camping at a railway station.

I just thought that was an interesting current event and wanted to share.

up in the air

Dad said I might be going to Jamaica after all. It seems he can't really cancel the tickets. Uh oh. So what to do now? It won't be nearly as much fun without him, but wasting money isn't good either.

So we will see what happens.

As for me, I'm just working on Uni stuff. My first paper is 37 pages so far since I added some massive graphs. And I was afraid it would be too short! Ahhhh. I'm not even done with it, but hopefully it won't grow at all.

Everyone cross your fingers that Dad gets the vacation!

Mary, how is your knee?

Emma and I are planning a 6-mile walk for Wednesday.

That's about it for me. Megan's going to visit when I'm home. YAY! I can't wait! Two weeks!

So Sad

It's official. No Jamaica. Dad didn't get his vacation so that means no beach. No sunshine. I miss the sun so very much, the weather here is such crap. At least it will be nice to get home. I just wish that I could see Dad soon as well.

Emma and I walked another 1.5 hours, 5 miles today. In the drizzle and grayness. But it was good to get some exercise.

Actually Emma and I had a good weekend and this week I have a final.

Hope everyone is well.

15 days. Thank God.

Sauna

Last night Melanie and I spent the evening at the Meridian Spa (http://www.meridianspa.de/ you can click on pics) and it was so great and very relaxing! We did three different ones, though they have more than that. We did an eukalyptus one, then a really hot one that was 206 degrees Fahrenheit, (97C) where a staff member comes in and pours scented oil on the rocks and then waves a towel around and makes it really really really hot. They only do it for five minutes because the staff member would get tired and it's really extremely hot. The last one we did was supposed to be coconut, but it really didn't smell like it.

The place is absolutely beautiful, and you have a pool, various saunas, whirlpools, lounges inside and outside to relax in between saunas, an outside Japanese garden, and in the rest of the facility they have a workout area, restaurant, and salsa club on Friday nights. Very cool.

The only thing that was a bit odd if you're American or British is the fact that everyone is completely naked. So you're walking around naked, sitting in whirlpools and swimming with complete strangers. Now, I have been to a very small sauna in a hotel once in Berlin, but this is a very large one and it was quite full last night, so I have to say this was definitely a new experience for me! But it was definitely extremely relaxing and you feel so great and healthy afterwards! I love the heat since I never really get heat here unless I sit by my heater.

I'd love to have a membership at such a place, but it's way too expensive for a student. Still, it was great to try and maybe I can find a cheaper sauna when I get home....

Today I'm meeting up with one of my classes to go visit a mosque. And then Emma and I are cooking dinner since she has lots of vegies left and doesn't want them to go bad. Throw in some studying and you have my weekend!

Internationale Studierende

Emma and I walked, in the rain, around the Alster yesterday. We did the 6 miles in 1.5 hours. It's so much more fun working out with her!

Tonight is Pub Quiz. Last week we took second place, which was pretty cool. We got to share a box of chocolates as prize. The first place team got a bottle of whiskey, but they shared it with the whole bar.

Today I went to the Rathaus, the town hall. International students were invited for a presentation and then drink and get-to-know-you. It was quite nice. I wish I had taken my camera! It is so beautiful inside! The room we were in had tons of gold plating, very ornate decorations, very high ceilings and walls that were half-covered with murals of the harbor.

The message was really nice as well. Hamburg is trying to make the city more international and has upped the quota of foreign students and is also encouraging them to work and stay here, making laws easier for foreigners, etc. They really do provide so many services and are very encouraging in many ways. I know I always complain about things (honestly because it is funnier!) but in all reality they do make quite the effort. Tuebingen was also a city and uni where foreigners were impressively catered to. I liked how they talked about the future of Hamburg as an international metro area.

This city really is a gorgeous, vibrant place that I like better than the other places in Germany that I've lived. It's a big city with culture, international people, technology, 38,000 students, many universities, an alternative district, a red-light district!, amazing choices for food and art, the harbor, a river, beautiful architecture, and just a really alive feeling. I can see how people love it here.

In conclusion, I just wanted to say that I think it's really commendable how Germany is making such an effort to attract foreigners and make them feel welcome and adjusted here. I must admit I am thankful for all that people have done for me.

Microfinancing in German

I'm preparing for Exam Time, and tonight's lovely choice reading is microfinancing in poor countries, and how that can help to reduce poverty. Try reading that in German. Fun stuff boy howdy.

For fun I've borrowed Emma's book, The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford who writes for one of my favorite newspapers, The Financial Times. Dan, I thought you would appreciate that!

As far as hand-washing my laundry. Um, it doesn't smell so great and is still wet. So I will nix that plan from now on.

There was real sun today and I once again realized how much I desperately miss real sun on a daily basis. Or at least a weekly basis. It may be above freezing here (just barely) but I would take really cold with sun over this. Of course, the whole studying abroad thing is pretty darn cool, so I guess concessions will be made.

I had a very interesting class today (after a terribly boring one) where we discussed the deconstruction of gender and sexuality, and there was even some Foucault involved. Oh dear, how I dread reading Foucault! But it was such a lively discussion that we ran way over time and finally the prof had to make us stop. Lol!

Last night I met up with Chris and Emma and they invited me over for dinner. They cooked some delicious Indian food and I lounged on the sofa with a book like a bum. It was fabulous. I miss having a couch.

Oh, and today was definitely the most squished I've been in public transit so far! Coming home from Uni I took the Number 5, which everyone knows is the fullest bus around, and it has three cars, so the longest in the world as well, and it was packed. I squeezed in. Then several more people squeezed in. I was so packed in that I couldn't move and couldn't hold on to anything, but it didn't matter because I wasn't moving anyway. At that point I was really glad it was cold out and not hot, because then it would have been unbearably smelly. Ah, the little joys in life.

: )

Flashback to K-town

I just did laundry in the bathtub and am reminded of my time in Kaiserslautern. Granted, then I had a tiny bathroom with only a shower and did my laundry in the sink, but it's the same gist. I also remembered how much I dislike doing my laundry in the sink/tub. So maybe I won't do that very often. I guess it's back to the laundromat for me. Sadness.

Today was quite productive, however. Emma helped me work on my questionnaires for my thesis and we got a bunch accomplished. I also studied a bit for my final. There is a lot to do for Uni before I head back to the U.S. I think the next few weeks are going to fly by!

Elbe Walk

Today Chris, Emma and I took the train out to Blankenese, then we walked alongside the Elbe bank and beach all the way to Landungsbruecke, approx. 7.5 miles. It took us a few hours and was soooooooo much fun! We sang songs and danced as we walked, admired the beach, discussed capitalism, and had a great time. The area is absolutely beautiful! The rain let up for the afternoon so we didn't even get wet.

There are pics of the beach, Emma and I after walking through winding cobblestone paths down to the beach in Blankenese, me with the Old Swede (an old rock from the last ice age that they jokingly call their earlier immigrant), a sign that I think means don't jump off the waves? lol, and I tried to upload a short video of the water.

Now I'm at home on a Saturday night slaving away at my paper.

"Not the season"

I went to the hardware store and I asked a lady working there if they had any fly paper. She said no, "it's not the season". What the heck does that mean? Nothing ever dies here, so why isn't it always the season? I asked her if anywhere would have anything to kill bugs with. No. Lovely. So I tried another route. "Well then, what does one do when one has an infestation of flies in one's house?" I asked a bit irritated. Her answer? Put out water with honey or sugar in it. Are you serious?

So I came home a bit annoyed. Is it possible to make your own fly paper? I put out one bowl of honey water and one bowl of sugar water. So far, zero flies have been fooled. They do, however, continue to fly around my head. Oh joy.

Virus?

I woke up this morning not feeling stellar. My stomach feels similar to how it did Monday, like someone kicked me repeatedly. Hmmm. How is it possible that I felt so much better yesterday and not as great today? Did I miss something? Do I maybe have a virus? Doesn't this seem a bit odd to anyone else? Argh.

Enough of this. I refuse to be a lazy, sick bum today. I am venturing out for fly paper and groceries. Please, Lord, let there be fly paper! I know this country doesn't have much of anything in the way of killing insects (or anything for that matter) but I just can't take the swarming gnats anymore. I'd consider bug-bombing if that were possible here. Sadly, it's not. And my kill each one by hand method is failing. Hmmmm.

Much Better

So I think it was the flu. Not as violent as I usually get it, but today I woke up (after sleeping twelve hours) and felt much better. I made it to both my classes and am ready to have a very productive week. Yay!

Ugh

I think I have food poisoning. Or the flu. But I think it's food poisoning. That kind of throws my whole day off! I thought of still trying to make it to class, but I think that would be a bad decision. So I guess all my plans have to be canceled today and I will sit/lay at home like a lazy bum. Sadness. I hope everyone else is feeling well.

Almost Forgot!

Last night when we went out, Chris and Emma and I had to head way out west, and we were waiting for the bus. Finally Emma spotted it and we cheered, and then, suddenly, this van came out of nowhere and HIT THE BUS!!! We saw sparks and heard crunching sounds and then the bus and van pulled over. Everyone was ok, thankfully. But that meant we had to wait for the next bus. Sadness. It was quite the adventure to see an actual bus get into an accident. Who runs into a bus?

The Half

Ok, so my amazing friend and inspiration, Meegan, is once again at work. And her mother, as well. They are participating in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco in October. Megan will run it and Mary wants to walk/jog the half. I have decided that if I can get registered for it, I would also like to walk the half. Dad said that we will try to work it out so that we can spend the weekend in SF, and he will cheer us on! It would be my very first half-marathon, and it quite excites me! (and makes me a bit nervous, but mostly is just exciting).

I added Megan's Runner blog to my site on the right, if you want to check it out. It is a great run that raises money and awareness for women's health.

If anyone else wants to sign up and come along, please do so! It's a great cause and a great excuse to get out there and get in some excellent exercise!

Weekend Fun

Hello All!

I have to clarify, this last presentation was in English, not German. My other ones were in German, but my professor thought it would be an excellent learning experience for the class if I gave it in my mother tongue. I did not object. ; )

And if you want to see some baby pics from Val's cutie, you can go here: http://www1.snapfish.com/groups/loganmichaellopez/cobrandOid=1000

I also forgot to mention what happened to Andrew before we met up on Friday. He took the S-Bahn to the main train station, and as he got off he didn't see the big gap between the train and platform. He stepped right into it and was fell in halfway up his body! He had a couple of bottles of beer with him for the movie, and one was in his inner coat pocket. As he landed in between the train and platform, it smashed and luckily only his hand got cut. Also, he was able to pull himself out of the hole before the train continued on. Thank goodness! It was a pretty scary story. Funny, since he was ok, but also scary if you think about what could have happened. Yikes! And he smelled like beer all night.

Yesterday I went out with Chris and Emma. We went to the Schanze Viertel again and then to a really awesome Doener place with the craziest of decorations. We then went out west to an entertainment complex, where there was bowling, pool, food, movies, etc. We wanted to go bowling, but apparently you have to call several days in advance and reserve a lane. So we played pool. Eric and Joy (Korean friends of ours) met us there. Joy is a boy, and took his name from "Enjoy". They also have a friend who choose the name "Airbag". I kid you not. They all take English names, and I have no idea why, but this guy seriously wanted to be called Airbag. Oh, the fits of laughter that ensue!

Anyway, we played pool for awhile, and then the boys went up to pay, and the guy at the counter got really mad that Chris was taking awhile to count out the money and tried to get him to go outside and fight him! I about fell over. It was like being in a bad movie. I couldn't believe he really wanted to fight him. We just left.

We got to see Eric's place which is a great apartment. He cooked us up some kimchi, or Korean fermented cabbage, with rice and sausage. Mmmm! He also has a projecter instead of a tv, and it fills up the entire wall. Talk about cool!

Today Emma, Chris and I are planning on taking a walk since we didn't do much in the way of movement yesterday and since the sun is actually shining!!!!!! It might disappear at any moment, but my fingers are crossed that we have at least a few hours of it! Oh sun, how I've missed you!

Go Mary and Val!

Mary just passed her 100 mile walk/jog goal, and I just wanted to say a public congrats! That is really awesome!

And Val is going back to school to finish her degree, which I find simply AWESOME! I also forgot to put pics/a link on my blog for Val's gorgeous baby boy, so I will do that as soon as she resends me the info (me=bad friend!).

As for life here, I had my block seminar last night from 4-8 and gave my presentation. I felt I could have done a better job, the profs seemed to have liked it. I was a bit nervous because the girl in front of me got eaten alive. The harsher prof said it was the worst presentation he has heard this semester, as well as last semester. Ouch. It was painful. Luckily they thought mine was pretty good. Whew!

And now I just have two big papers and a test left for semester. Yay!

Last night Andrew and I went out to celebrate and saw a late movie, Berlin Am Meer, and then went to the Schanze Viertel and drank Bier until just after 3. We also ran through the streets (prior to having Bier), which was quite fun. It was a warm night here, about 50F, a temp we haven't seen in awhile. So that was my crazy celebration. It wasn't quite as wild as it sounds.

: )

Sariah is here!

Sam and James are now the proud parents of Sariah Eve Ransom, a beautiful little girl. On one hand it's so hard for me to think of them as parents (maybe because it means we're really growing up!) and on the other hand I know they are going to be some of the best parents ever, so it just seems natural. Either way, I can't wait to see the little girl myself next month. However, they already have some wonderful pics up online. If you want to see them, go to: http://www.ransomphotos.com/Galleries.aspx?id=Sariah%20Eve%20Ransom

Also, it is Sam's photography website. So if you live in the KC area and need a good photographer, you can always give Sammy a call.

I believe both baby and mother are doing quite well, which is always the most anyone can ask for. What an exciting time!

Making Nice with the Enemy

Megan, you're right, I always bother Dad to update and here I haven't updated in days! Mostly because I've been busy with my Referat. And going out. hee hee.

Sunday, Andrew and I went to an Ethiopian restaurant and ate with our hands and it was fabulous! (we also noticed an Afghani restaurant right near campus, which I have to go to sometime! Dad, I thought you'd appreciate that.) Then we saw Little Children. Weird. Odd. Twisted. Disturbing. Sort of reminded me of American Beauty.

Tuesday was the Fulbright Stammtisch. Quite nice. Met some interesting people.

Wednesday in between Referat workage, I met Melanie for lunch by the canal. Very lovely.

And today has been spent working on my Referat again. I am giving it tomorrow evening during our "Block Seminar" of four hours, hopefully not more! My professor is quite harsh and strict, so it will be interesting to see if he tears mine apart. I'm sure he will.

Oh! And last night Juan and I went salsa dancing at La Macumba. So much fun! I missed my KC salsa people, though. I can't wait to go dancing when I get home! (after I see people first, of course!)

This weekend I plan to work on papers and projects, start studying for a final, and Melanie and I are cooking dinner Saturday night. I want to get over to Andrew's finally to see his host family's dog! And he lives near a castle. Fun stuff.

As per the title of the blog, I have been having a serious gnat/fruit fly problem. There are so many in my room (and the apartment) and every time I sit at the computer they constantly fly around my head. I spend hours daily at the computer, so I am about done with this game. Auntie said trying to spray my plants with dish soap water, which I did, and I have taken the method of trying to kill each one I see, which doesn't always work. But since I have to luft daily, more come in.

My new and frightening method is to let the spiders live. I know, you're thinking, did I suddenly start reading someone else's blog? Kate HATES spiders. Yes, I am horribly terrified of them. And I would not, under normal circumstances, invite them into my room. But I have decided to let the now growing spiderwebs continue in my room. No vacuuming them up. I'm hoping they eat the darn gnats. We will see how long I can let it go because I can't sleep at night and have to rid my room of the creepy crawlies. If anyone else has any other advice, PLEASE give it.

Another fun development. So here we text people because calling is too expensive, and should you make the mistake of texting someone's landline, it calls you and in a monotonistic and robotic voice relays said message. Tonight I had the great joy of getting such a call from Emma's phone with both the expression "yo" and "yay" in it. I about fell over laughing. Needless to say, I listened to it more than once.

Sadly, there has been absolutely no progress in the washing machine saga. Angelina ran it once as a trial and water went all over the floor and that was it. Currently she can't afford a new one, but to my knowledge, she has yet to call a repairman. On the bright side, there was sun today. I can't tell you how overwhelmingly happy that made me! I'm really looking forward to my trip home in just one month! I can't wait to see everyone, enjoy the weather, and go salsa dancing!

Death of a Washing Machine

These pictures are of me removing my clothes from our washing machine, with, oh yes, CHOP STICKS. Seriously.

Angelina had already done two loads today and I went to do one, and I noticed tons of her washing powder in there. I just thought she had added too much. But really it hadn't gone down into the machine. So I started my load and waited. And waited. And finally it was taking so long and I checked and the knob hadn't moved and then I smelled smoke and something burning and Angelina touched the machine and it was burning hot. So we turned it off, waited til it was stopped and we opened it. And out came tons of smoke!

We waited awhile to rescue my clothes, but they were way hot so she handed me the chop sticks. Currently my clothes are sitting outside, cooling down. I will check on them soon to see if they are damaged. Hopefully I can get to a washing salon in the next few days. Oh my dear goodness. Look at the pictures above, you can actually see the smoke! Angelina had the brilliant idea to document it. Oh, what a story it makes!

Happy New Year!!!

Monica and I celebrated New Year's Eve with Melanie and Andrew. We went for Indian food and the restaurant was festively decorated, then we walked to Mel's and watched the countdown, drank champagne, ate Berliners (a German tradition I just learned about), and Melanie let us call home to wish a happy new year. The sky was crazy with fireworks from people doing them themselves, no official ones (since the reject man in charge of the official ones forgot to sign it on the right day and therefore no fireworks for Hamburg for the first time in decades!) We watched from Melanie's fifth floor apartment and pretty soon couldn't even see the street anymore because there was so much smoke! The next day the sidewalks and streets looked like someone had dumped a trash can all over them.

I'd never really been for sushi before, and since I live in a harbor city, Monica and I tried out a little sushi place. Quite fun! And sushi is much easier to eat with chopstix than Chinese food! (I know, some of you are thinking, how sheltered is she?!) I liked the sushi bar where the food just rolled on by and you could grab it. I'm so easily amused.

There is a lovely mosque about ten minutes from my house, so Monica and I walked down one day and got to look around inside. I liked the Christmas trees outside of it. : )