Weihnachtsmaerkte

Yesterday, Emma, Nayeon and I hit the Christmas markets. Yay! We the one at the Rathaus, the Pavillion, and the Fleet Insel, but not the Moenkeburgerstrasse.




Santa, Angel and I. She had to make him take the picture. I don't think he really wanted to! Where's your holiday spirit, Santa?

Look at all the nice decorations.

Mmmm, sausage! What would a Christmas Market be without lots of sausages?

This pic is of the delightful Christmas goodies that are very traditional.

This is at the Rathaus (town hall).

The three of us drinking Gluehwein, what else? : )

I sent pics to people via email, so if you didn't get them and want them, please email me.

Happy Friday!!!

I was quite ambitious this morning, and Melanie and I walked around the Alster. Six miles! It took us just under two hours, but was really nice. Now I'm off to Arabic (which I never seem to study for!) and then it's time to meet Emma and Neyom and FINALLY get to see the Christmas markets! Oh yeah!

My eyes are still dilated. lol. Dear goodness.

I really enjoyed the walk this morning. Even though it rained on us. lol.

Monica will be here in THREE WEEKS!!! Not that I'm excited or anything. ; )

Miss you all! : )

Dilated

They dilated my eyes at 4 pm yesterday, and it is 8:30 am now. I am still completely dilated. How am I supposed to function well today? I'm calling them once they open to ask why I am still dilated. Isn't that a bit weird? Why do I go to German doctors?


* * * * * * * *
It's a few hours later and I called the office. The lady said with some people that is normal, and it could take A FEW DAYS until the eyes return to normal. So I've been wearing sunglasses. Goodness gracious.

: (

I spent four hours at the hospital today, and they did tons of tests on my eyes. I also saw a couple of doctors, and while at first they had said I wouldn't be seeing the main doc, apparently I was too complicated of a case and they went ahead and brought him in.

His bottom line was no more surgery, period. Only glasses or contacts. He said if it had been the weaker eye that had had these problems, then it would have been ok and my brain would have just adjusted, but since the dominant eye is the bad one now, it is too difficult. He also thought my left eye was a bit weak (not 20/20) but honestly I don't care because it is good enough.

I wasn't happy with his diagnosis. Plus, they couldn't write a prescription then, and said I have to wait and go back again next Thursday, then it will take another week or so to get the glasses. Dear goodness, I just want to be able to see well! Argh.

So I was pretty depressed and came home and didn't go to the Latin America evening. I emailed Monica and her wonderful rational self cheered me up a bit. He's not the only doctor, and the American docs are better and more advanced, and he is the THIRD doc I've seen recently, so I shouldn't take it as set in stone. Still, I'm just going to hang in my room tonight and get over my bumming. Then I can be all cheery again tomorrow.

I get to stay!

I got my visa this morning! Yay! I really wasn't sure she was going to give it to me. They always get confused/frustrated that I've been here so many times and have multiple visas. She made sure to put a big black "no longer valid" stamp on each and every other visa I'd been given. lol. She insisted I leave her all my papers, passport, etc. and go sit in the hall. 20 minutes later she called me back in and handed everything back, along with a visa in my passport. All right! Of course, I almost missed her calling my name the first time because she was really far down the hallway and she said my name completely like a German, and I didn't understand that was me until the second or third time she called. lol.

But all is well now that I'm allowed to stay. I think I've completed all my official tasks.

Tomorrow is the visit to the eye doctor in a hospital waaaaay up north.

And now it's time to get back to working on my Referats, and I have class from 2-6 tonight. I want to take my bike, but man it's cold! I already biked several miles today in the freezing weather and I heard we might get snow/freezing rain later. Do I really want to be out in that? Hmmmmm, mal schauen!

Tschau! : )

No visa for you!

I didn't get the visa today. Sadness. Apparently I had to already have "registered" with the city, of which I was unawares. So instead I went to another office and registered. I also had to get new pictures taken, because as of this month they've changed their rules and you have to have only your head in the picture (which makes it huge!) and it has to be bigger, and you can't smile. So all those pics we made at home are no longer valid in this country! Schade.

I'm headed back to try again tomorrow, but I'm still missing one paper and I'm not sure if I'll get the visa or not. Goodness gracious.

Guess I best be getting some work done! Juhu.

: )

Stadtpark

These are all pics of the Stadtpark (city park) that Melanie and I visited this afternoon. There is lots of green space, trees, water, trails, cafes, playgrounds, etc. Even a few places to place almost life-sized chess! I love that! I'll have to go do that one day. And I included a pic of a sign that I liked. : )

It was a good day, I got out a bit, walked around, saw somewhere new, had some lovely cake and coffee, and then worked for hours on my intercultural misunderstandings presentation. I tell you, it's a whole other story in German. Much harder. I have a bit of a rough draft down, but I think I'll need to work quite a bit on it still. I am giving it a week from next Saturday, when I have my next Block Seminar.

Yesterday's Block Seminar went all. We did lots of group work and interesting activities, and we sat in a circle with candles in the middle when we discussed. Funny, but kind of cool. I was definitely beat when I got home, however.

Tomorrow I go to apply for my visa. Yay!

Oh yeah, we have lots of fruit flies here inside and they are always flying around your face, and one just flew up my nose. Wow, I really didn't appreciate that!

I am teachable! Yay!

Arabic went much better today. I admit, I didn't really study it much (or at all) during the week, but today's class started to make a lot more sense. We went over the alphabet more, and I am starting to understand how it works. I don't know which sounds go with which squiggles yet, but at least I understanding how there are four different writings of each consonant and how the letters connect in words, and how some aren't allowed to connect. lol. It's way different than any other language I've learned before, which makes it very challenging and interesting.

I have a Block Seminar this weekend, which means I will be in class tomorrow from just before ten until five. Allllll day. I have three (no wait, I think four) of these, for three different classes, because they feel the regularly allotted time is not enough for the seminars. Personally, I don't see the point in wasting my weekends, but alas, I suppose I ought to try and pass a few of the classes I'm taking!

Tonight I'm going to a movie. And it is in ENGLISH with German subtitles. A new friend of mine, Melanie, spent a year in Iowa and Dad and I met her while grocery shopping. She is quite nice and just finished a 520-page Master's thesis and needs a night out on the town. So we're going for drinks and a movie to celebrate. Sounds like occasion enough to me!

I had my creative writing class yesterday and it was good. I wasn't very creative, but I did write a ton in the time allowed and I think it is excellent practice.

I'm taking a break from reading about all the ways different cultures can come to misunderstandings. I have a Referat about Intercultural Misunderstandings. And while the article the teacher provided me with had more to do with that topic in the setting of intercultural research, I find that a bit boring so I'm going ot broaden the topic a bit. : )

It was warm again today, 45 degrees! But really windy.

I can't believe I have class tomorrow. Ugh.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Toilet Expo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7107277.stm

I can't get it to copy and paste. But what is it with Asia and toilet expos?

Happy Turkey Day!!!

I realize it's not Thanksgiving here, but somewhere in the world, the wonderful US of A to be exact, it IS! I wish I could be there celebrating as well, but that would be one heck of a travel for some turkey and great company!

So to all of you who are celebrating today, enjoy the holiday, eat some great Thanksgiving food for me, and Happy Turkey Day!

And as always, in my tradition of the holiday, I like everyone to go around and say what they are thankful for. So, if you wouldn't mind, when you comment, please leave as many things you are thankful for as you would like.

A short list of mine: family, friends, health, opportunities (like Uni and studying abroad!), being born in the U.S., and so many more. But most of all, the amazing people in my life. I am definitely grateful for you.

Foreigner

I went to the Piasta Cafe tonight. It's at the International House near campus and is for foreign students, and there's free drinks and food. So I met some new people, drank tea, and ate some traditional Hamburger food that one of the Germans said he can't eat anymore because he has seen it prepared. We asked that he not tell us, as we were eating it, and I know some other traditional food from the area that makes me sick just thinking of it. So best not to know. Tasted good, however.

The guy who said that is a German who provided the live music for the evening. I told him he sang in English without an accent. He said he can hear my accent, and I interrupted with, yes, you can tell I speak English natively. To which he replied, no, I meant your southern German accent. Oh. Um, right. I have been told that before. He thought it was funny, the mixture of American and southern German.

I also met a fun Russian girl. Megan, do you remember all the Eastern European/Russian people we knew in Tueb? Now, not to stereotype, but is it me, or are they just a heck of a lot of fun?! I wish I were more fun like that! I don't know why Tatyana started talking to me, but I'm really glad she did! Maybe I really do have some of that Polish descent in me!

Job

I've applied for a job as a proofreader at the Uni. It is only a few hours a week and not much pay, but it would make me feel at ease with my newfound tea/coffee habit. I would like to go for tea and not worry that I'm spending too much. So we will see if they take me on or not. It is just reading scientific/technical works and making sure grammar and punctuation is correct, and they want a native speaker.

It's cold here. I just missed the train, then I just missed the bus. I decided to walk aways because it was so cold and it would take awhile for the bus to come, but by the time I had reached a few stops down the line I realized I was walking pretty quickly and it was time to find a place to shelter myself from the wind and try not to freeze until the bus made its round.

I've started researching and working on my presentations, more of which I hope to accomplish tomorrow.

In just a few days all of the Christmas markets will be up! Yay!

Chicken

I felt like a big chicken tonight.

Andrew and I ventured over to Altona for a salsa lesson. Once we found the studio (after a bit of wandering around) it was a good lesson. He hasn't really danced salsa before and wants to learn, but we are starting with the very basics. So it was a bit difficult. But he was a trooper, and made a real effort. We stayed to watch some of the next class, which happened to be quite advanced. There was a guy who didn't have a partner and Andrew said I should go ask because I wanted to so badly, but I just couldn't muster up the courage. I waited too long to ask.

Last night when Emma, Luc and I went salsa dancing, I did ask some people, however. Some said yes, and two said they were taking a break and would ask me later, and did not. Ouch. Guess I just need to ask more people.

But the dancing isn't the only area where I feel like I'm faltering. I should be writing. Really writing. I want to, I can feel it's there and I am ready to, and yet, nothing. No real excuse. I finally have time and am in an inspiring place. Maybe I just need to stop being such a chicken and go for it. No one's going to do it for me.

It seems like we all have these dreams and we sit around dreaming them, but who actually actively and passionately goes after them? Dreams are all good and well, but I'd rather be living them than daydreaming. The beauty of choice.

Und danke, Lexi, dass du mir auf Deutsch geschrieben hast! Das hat mich aber so gefreut, ich kann's nicht sagen! Bitte, mach's weiter.

Luc's Visit

Here are some pics from Luc's visit this weekend. The first one is me and the harbor near the Speicherstadt area, where there used to be and still is much trade. Lots of nice brick buildings, but I'm facing the area towards town so you can't see them! lol.






This is the ferry boat that we took up the Elbe. It's just like a bus, except it's on water! Very cool. There are even Haltestellen (like bus stops) for it along the water. I laughed so hard.

See? It even has a digital sign on it like the busses, which tells you where it is going and where it stops. And what it's number is so you can check the timetable. How efficient.

This was the first night Luc was here and we tried to eat at Sausalitos because they have delicious fajitas, but as usual, it was all "reserved", although about ten tables were completely empty. And the service was appalling, so we found this nice Meditarrean place (after being told Dos Amigos was also "reserved". Argh.).

Here you can see us waiting for the U3. Ahhh, public transportation.

And finally another picture of us entering the Speicherstadt on one of the lovely bridges. I like this one because it's pedestrians only, and it's all this old wood pieced together and it's a bit long. Very cool.

Later on last night, Emma and Luc went to a party of a friend of Emma's, so Chris and I met up with Eric and Niyon (sp? I don't spell Korean well...). We tried a couple of places there were full, and ended up in St. Pauli and the Reperbahn area unintentionally. Chris and Emma aren't really fans of the area, but the rest of us hadn't seen it (or so I thought!) so we strolled down for a few minutes.

The place was packed! This large street, wall to wall with people. Bright lights everywhere. And lots of hookers. But, they looked all clean and wore lots of clothing, like big coats. (probably because it's freezing out?). And I realized that Dad and I had actually walked down this street after getting my new nose ring, and we hadn't even known it was the Reperbahn! lol.

We got some Turkish food (mmmmm!), then headed back to the U-Bahn because it was quite late. And there were soooooooo many people getting off the train at that stop and the trains were packed. More packed than rushhour. Unbelieveable! I made it back to the main train station, came up through an entrance I'd never seen before, got a bit lost, then found my way. And as I was headed on my way, I saw my bus come around the corner. Knowing it wouldn't come again for awhile and it was already 1:30 in the morning, I did what any good German would do and removed my hat, held onto my purse, and ran like mad. I made the bus. Oh yeah.

Tonight we are considering trying to get tickets to the Lion King. It playls year-round here, all translated into German. What were they thinking?! How can you honestly enjoy Hakuna Matata in German? How does one translate it? I'm appalled. And willing to stand outside and try to obtain very cheap tickets last minute.

Girls' Weekend!

Lucy is in town and she and Emma are on their way over to get me, and we're all heading down to the city center to look around and hopefully get some coffee and something chocolately!

I went to see about my visa yesterday, but you have to make an appt between 8-12 Mon through Thurs. So I will wait til Monday and call. But I'm making progress!

I missed my Creative Writing class yesterday. I swear I was in the right room, but no one showed up. And then I was tired, cold and hungry so I just said forget it and hopped on my bike and headed home.

I love having a landline here! I called Thomas and surprised him. He was busy grading, always the good teacher.

This first month has really flown by! I can't believe it's midway through November already. I feel like I really need to get a move on with my studies.

It's getting dark outside and I think it's going to pour soon. Am definitely taking the umbrella with me!

Thank you Mary, for all of the letters you send! I really love getting them. : D Good luck to Ben with the SWAT tryout. Let me know if he makes it!

I think Arabic is going to kick my butt. Yikes.

Pics from the pool hall

You can't really see much of the pool hall here, but it had a cool lounge area, a small reading area with a bookshelf, a cafe like area, and all kinds of cool and funny designs. We were playing next to a french outhouse toilet thing that obviously could still work. There are two floors to the place and we were on the top floor. The food was horrendous. Wow. Talk about disgusting. But cool place.

First Snow

It snowed! I was on my way back to Uni yesterday and some darker clouds rolled in and I was just praying I would make it to campus before the downpour. But then, as I was driving my bike in the street like a crazy German, I felt wetness on my face and looked down at my big black coat. However, there were little pieces of sleet/icey rain mix sitting on it. Much more fun than rain! You get less wet.

Then, after my tandem partner meeting, I was walking with Camille and I looked up at a light and there were nice sized snowflakes falling. I made us stop to admire the first snowfall of the year. It didn't accumulate at all, but it was quite nice to see. However, riding your bike in the literally freezing weather is a bit chilly. Whew!

I made it to the Piasta meeting a bit late (info for international students) and while I didn't need to know about the student fees, I did meet some other Americans. There's Luz from Peru, Wallace from the south of Brazil, Maurizio from Colombia, and Julia, who is also from Colombia. They were all headed back to the train, but I had my bike, so I said bye and went to the wc before leaving. However, when I came back upstairs I thought I heard them outside the main door. I walked out and one of them grabbed my arm and said, "come on! Wallace wants to sing us a song and we're going to let him outside." They'd been waiting. Oh! Very nice.

So we step out into the freezing weather, and stand in a circle as Wallace sings us a traditional song from southern Brazil. It was a really beautiful song, though I didn't understand a word. It sounded almost like a lullaby. Everytime he sang a large white cloud come out since it was so cold. But it was really great to listen to. When we were done being serenaded, we parted ways and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again next Wednesday evening.

Tuesday night Andrew and I went salsa dancing. He has had some dancing in the past, but it's been awhile. We tried to make it to the beginner class but didn't, so we jumped in in the intermediate one. Lol. Talk about trying to keep up! We didn't do so well, but it was fun trying. I still don't know many of the people in the salsa scene here, but I suppose the only way to get to know them is plunge in head first, go dancing, and talk to people.

I've still not applied for my visa. Maybe next week?

Lift Off

Ladies and gentlemen we have lift off! Dad got his visa and passport returned today, so I stuck him on a train to Frankfurt to catch a flight to Dubai. I can't remember if he's making a pitstop in Cairo, but either way, it'll be an exciting trip. They couldn't change his flight in Dubai on the phone, b/c, as the man put it, "you aren't here". Well, as Vati would say, what's the duh-factor on that one? The could be why he's calling....?

As of right now he is still on the train, his flight leaves Frankfurt at 12:05 in the morning, and he's hoping to be in Kabul by Wednesday afternoon. Fingers crossed!

It was great having Dad here, but now I've got to get some studying done! I have some Referats coming up, readings to do, and haven't even started on my thesis.

I had my first belly dancing class today. Very interesting. We started with some yoga to warm up. Oh wait, I forgot. I know the Germans are all comfortable with their bodies and whatnot, but I didn't realize that we'd all just change into our gym clothes right there in the room in front of everyone. Right. Mom, remember when you asked me, why do you have to have cute underwear? Who's going to see it? Well, apparently, my entire belly dancing class will. And if that's not fun enough, the teacher comes around and fixes you if you're out of position. Apparently my bum and stomach were off, b/c she just grabbed ahold and moved me! lol. It's quite amusing when one is "broadening one's horizons".

And it's definitely time to vacuum up the spiders again. Darn things.

Tschuess!n : )

Stuck in Germany

Dad's visa and passport have yet to arrive. We are hoping they come in today's mail so we can get him on a train to Frankfurt and get a ticket to Dubai, then change his flight to Kabul. He had to cancel his flight yesterday b/c it was too expensive to change. But he should be able to get a reasonable flight out of Frankfurt (about 4 hours south of here by train). It all just depends on when the package arrives. If not, we'll have to call the Afghan embassy in DC to get a tracking number and find out exactly when it should be here.

So for now, Dad is stuck here in Germany, unable to leave and go back to work. I like having him here, but I don't want him to get in trouble at work. Ahhh, the joys of traveling and unexpected adventures!

Uh-Oh

We have a bit of a problem, and that is that Dad's visa and passport did not come in the mail yet. They should have been here Friday or yesterday, but no. His flight is out today, and of course no mail comes. He will have to change hotels, flights, and see if he doesn't get in too much trouble for missing work. Because obviously he can't leave the country, nor can he enter Afghanistan. Oh dear. Let the fun begin.