Ouch! How stupid!

The past few days have simply flown by. It is hard to remember everything I've done, but I will try...

I went to Cologne on Thursday. Our program director here, Hartwig, is one of a small group of official, certified tour guides of the Cathedral there. He is so proud to be from Cologne, as are the rest of its native residents.

It truly is beautiful. The entire Dom is a work of art. The stained glass, organs, paintings, and statues are breathtaking.


Then comes the task of climbing to the top. There are some 500 steps, about 4/5 of them are in a single spiral staircase you must climb. There are tiny windows all the way up, so you can see every so often how high you really are. Once you're done with the spiral stair case (the way up AND down I might add, so you sometimes need to be a traffic cop with people trying to descend) there is another set of metal stairs, and then yet another metal spiral staircase. Once I exited the stone spiral, I saw the first set of metal ones, and said, "You've gotta be shittin' me." Little did I know that there was a woman sitting there with her 13-year-old daughter (or so) and they started laughing hysterically. I was serious though... going up is really a pain... It is more than worth it though, as anything difficult is. The view is amazing, and you can see for miles.

Going down is no piece of cake either. First, rather than go down the metal stairs, you have to descend using a teeny-tiny stone one. That one is scary, because the spiral is sharp, and the stairs are really, really small.

After that, we got to taste more typical German bakery treats. We did this also last time we were in Cologne. This time it was much better in my opinion, as I don't really like cooked fruit. There was a lemon cake, and a pretzel type thing covered in nuts and chocolate. I don't remember exactly all of the names... but the BEST thing I had was some kind of plum dumpling. Not too much fruit, but it kind of was like a pound cake, with a plum fruit glaze. I want to have more of them.

(WHOA! Off topic, but weird! John Stewart has a Daily Show type show on CNN International... but it comes with a disclaimer! It explains that the show is a news parody, its opinions aren't thought to be true, and its reporters are not actual reporters... He is hilarious on this show... dunno how different it is than in America... but he curses a lot more... surprisingly it is censored.)

Then, yesterday, we watched a hilarious German TV show in class called Türkisch für Anfänger (Turkish for Beginners). It parodies and shows problems between the Germans and the Turkish immigrants. A German woman with two kids, buys a house with and moves in with a Turkish man and his two kids. We only watched the first two episodes, but it was hilarious and I want to see more. The episode titles mimic the Friends style; for Friends, "The one where..." In this show they say, "Die, in der ich meine Freiheit verliere," or, "The one where I lose my freedom."

Last night we had a party/barbecue in a park in honor of one of our kid's host sister who is going to Ecuador for two months. She also works at our school, the AIB. She didn't come though... dunno why, I guess something came up, but the party was still very much fun. We were in the middle of a field with trees, woods, bushes. It was very secluded and it was a good time. I fell down though, coming back from going to the bathroom... there was a ditch... my hands are scraped.

Tonight I am going to hear the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn Orchester. I am so excited! There are going to be two oboe concerti, one of which I have played before!!!

Was hast du gerade gesagt?!

Germany is a good time. The ice cream is second only to Italy's (of course). All of the places downtown offer one medium-sized scoop on a cone for .70€. It is a nice treat after a meal. I am hooked on the mocha (mokka) flavor at this one place right next to the main train and bus station called Da Vinci.

Today (Tuesday) we went to the firetruck and ambulance dispatch center. It is pretty much like an American one I guess. There are only three for the whole city of Bonn though... not sure how that works... Titusville has at least three and is smaller... but whatever. In Germany, many are just volunteer firefighters. Few are full-time and paid, but it is enough, of course, to man the force. Since Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990, the station and emergency equipment is still extensive. Many diplomats still live here, and the city is still important enough to have more emergency equipment than normal, including a bunker dispatch center, small hospital and more trucks/equipment underground. I went up on one of the truck's ladder in a cherry picking basket looking thing. It rises 23 meters into the air, I think... maybe a little higher. That converts to about 75 feet (again, or more). Either way, it was high. It was scary going up, but once you're up there and it stops moving it is fine, and you can see all of Bonn.

My host mother thinks it's hilarious that I never dislike the food. Truth be told, it is always very good. Tonight was the first night she cooked; the other nights it's been my host father. So, she told me today, "Ah, ok, so today will be the first time you say no, because I cooked." Of course, it was very good, but when asked if I liked it, my host brother Dennis yelled, "Nein!" before I could answer.

I hope I gain some weight. I hate being so obviously skinny. Not too much... I know, be careful what you wish for.

Today in German class we talked about how Germany is almost like the United States of Europe. It is "Multikulti," or multicultural. Most of the immigrants are from other European nations, and came sometime in the past fifty years, or sometime before the World Wars. They include Greeks, Italians, Poles, and other Slaves. Theoretically, I should look like a large portion of the population. However, here in Bonn, most of the immigrants are either Poles, such as my host mom and her good friend, a elementary school teacher now here in Bonn, or they are Turkish. The Turkish are often in some places treated like second class citizens. They were invited to work after the War and many, many have stayed, and still come today. It is why the döner I wrote about earlier is so popular here. It really has been adopted by the Germans, unlike most of the Turkish people themselves.

I bought a facewash yesterday, and a stick deodorant. However, the deodorant is just like using a roll-on anyway... it feels like one after I put it on... I dunno what the point is of having it be in stick form... I probably will experiment with another when I run out of this one.

Tomorrow, our lesson will include all of the classes coming together! Easy day for our class I hope. And, our homework is due a day later as a result, so I am hopefully going to force myself into bed early as a result.

I am really happy to be here, but at the same time I wish I were going to college. It will be a little bit of a drag to have to go back to a high-school type situation, even for those four short months... College will come soon enough though, and I truly love it here so far.

I think as soon as I get my Bonn citizenship papers and can go to the library... and actually use it I am going to read HP books. Duh.

For more pictures, see my Facebook!

Why can't I sit down?!

SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HARRY POTTER 6 YET OR HAVEN'T READ IT AND STILL WANT TO SEE IT SHOULDN'T READ THIS BLOG. PLOT DETAILS ARE DISCUSSED! (So very sorry again, Zach...)

On Saturday night, all of a sudden, at about 8:00 PM, I lost the ability to bend my knees without experiencing extreme pain. Thankfully, now, the pain is going, almost 10 hours later. But it came on so suddenly, it really was strange. It is definitely related to biking for 26 miles on Thursday... but it was weird that I felt fine Friday and most of Saturday... I went to my cousin yet again for medical advice, just in case... but of course it was normal.

I went to Beethoven's birth place a few days ago. That was really special. I love that everywhere in Europe is a historical playground. His house is tucked in the modern day marketplace. I saw a lock of his hair!!! It was awesome! Apparently, since his hair was so famous, when he died, the people came and cut a piece of his hair to take home, and the museum has a piece of it.

I saw the Uni Orchester again. They played the Planets suite again. It was better I think. They played Mercury slow as death again. I am pretty sure that their bass trombonist likes to come to concerts either stoned or drunk. He almost missed the beginning of Mars. The concert mistress, and the first cellist both like to come in a split second before the rest of the orchestra. And, not to toot my own horn *PUN :D* but I can play better than their English hornist. Other than that, it was very good. They played the Jupiter hymn section almost perfectly. I loved it.

Our group went shopping at Haribo's outlet store. (By the way, I just tried to spell the word "store" like so, "stoor." Twice.) For 4.40€ I bought 600 grams of gummy bears, 250 grams of sour gummies and a coffee mug. :-D

Saturday night we all went together to see HP6. It really was awesome. Ginny Weasley can't act her way out of a shoe box, and some of the dialogue was a tiny bit cheesy sometimes. However, the effects are great, and Hermonie and Ron (Emma and Rupert) are really great! Harry (Daniel) can be iffy sometimes, but is usually great. Everytime I watch a HP film it makes me want to marry Emma Watson... or at least some similar British girl. I think I dreamt about her last night... again.

Anyhow, it is sad that the HP saga is ALMOST over. Now Dumbledore is really dead... and it made me sad to see it happen. The first thing on my list of books to read while re-learning English next year are HPs 5 - 7... or all of them... it depends on what my summer is like.

I want to see Brüno, and I think our group is going to have a movie night and watch Borat together. It is hilarious.

Pictures are up on Facebook. Haven't taken any of my house yet. They'll come soon.

High-five!

I love my host family's coffee machine. It is very high-tech and is crazy cool. It takes in the raw materials; coffee beans and water, and produces great coffee a cup at a time. It has a huge water tank and it has a display telling you when it is going to clean itself, when it needs water, when it needs more beans, and so on. It has three settings, mild, normal, and strong. I haven't tried the hardcore settings yet... But I will soon.

German soda is good. It tastes more natural, and more than likely, if it is lemon or orange soda, there is juice in it.

On Tuesday our group visited a trash plant and a trash burning facility. It really was interesting, and is smart, but at the same time it is beyond boring. Trash sorting is very important here, as is recycling, reusing, and reducing waste. Bonn has no landfill. There are some old ones, but sometimes they burn the trash from there and reduce the size of them. The ash is used as road support. The steam produced is used as energy.

There is a student cafeteria not far from our school for Uni students. You can get an okay meal with a drink for about 4.00€ on average; sometimes it is cheaper. Today, for example, I spent only 3.30€.

We went on a bike tour from Bonn to a town called Remagen. It was the site of a very important WWII battle towards the end of the war. The Nazis were destroying bridges over the Rhein to try and slow the advancing American and Allied forces. The bridge was captured before it could be destroyed, however, due to damages, fell ten days later, and was never rebuilt. The ride there is 20 kilometers, which is about 12 miles. I rode there, and back, so all in all I rode 24 miles on the bicycle yesterday. I am not sore, but I am actually very tired now, more than 24 hours after the ride finished. It was a very good time. There is a bike road that goes straight there, along the Rhein. It is beautiful at some spots. The ice cream there was amazing, and we ate at an authentic Italian restaurant on the river. The bike I had was pretty crappy, but I picked it because the seat looked/felt the most comfortable.

Tomorrow I am going to see Harry Potter 6!!! I am so excited. So many people have said it is very good.

I finally have my camera cord!! In my next post I will show you all my room and a little bit of Bonn.

Döner, döner, döner...

I just finished eating two döners, each of which cost 1.50€. They are basically a Greek gyro, but with out tzatziki... I guess. I dunno, it is different. It has lamb, cabbage, lettuce and other things, sometimes corn (in the lettuce) and tomato. They are really good. Two of them will make you full.

We watched a video today after lunch called The Bridge at Remagen. Tomorrow we have a bike tour to go see this bridge. It was the sight of an important battle in WWII and was not destroyed by the Nazis... only to fall ten days after being seized by American troops due to damages.

After dinner I am going to hear the Uni Orchestra again, this time with the whole group. The Orchestra is playing the planets again... I am so excited to hear it in an actual hall.

I really wish I had an oboe... I need to get one soon. I would practice all the time, but I don't have one yet.

German class is getting harder and harder. I hope I am getting better. Of course I am progressing, but sometimes I feel just so overwhelmed with remembering how to speak German that I just blank out. Other times I know exactly what to say and how to say it and feel great. It will come though; I am expecting too much out of myself having only been here a week and a half.

Titusville should build a better public transportation system... I'd use it. But the Lynx bus... or whatever it is... Space Coast Area Transit? Anyhow, it is unreliable and no one knows when it even comes... or where it is going...

That's pretty much it for today. I have been writing music like a beast, but some of it is no good. It's currently my only creative outlet, since I cannot/won't sing really loud in the house because there are always people here, and, again, I have no oboe. Played frisbee for about a half hour... I can't wait to actually play some Ultimate!!!

The Bringer of Jollity

Yesterday I had the great honor of hearing the Bonn Universität Orchester during the Bonn Uni Kulturfestival. Little did I know that our group is going to hear the Orchestra all together this Wednesday evening. They played the entire Planets suite... and they will be playing the same thing when we go to hear them, along with a bassoon concerto. I can't wait to hear them play in a real hall.

The performance was very good. There were some problems... some were very surprising. The horns missed their entrance at the beginning of Mars. Then the Orchestra took Mercury very, very slow. Perhaps this is common and I am ignorant of it... Then in Jupiter, the English horn ate it on one of his/her solos. Other than that it was very enjoyable.

Ok, here goes my first discussion about German life and awesome things here.

There are dogs everywhere. People here love their dogs and take them everywhere. There are dogs on the buses, trains, in supermarkets and restaurants. I love dogs.

Our school is so cool. It is very laid back and the teaching methods really help everyone learn. It is very similar to going to the Institute in X-Men I would assume. There is a main head of the school, several teachers, and others who work here making sure everything goes smoothly. The building we study in is very old; I'm not sure how old, but around 200 I think.

Toilets have two buttons. One is bigger and one is smaller. If you need only a little bit of water to wash away what's in there, then you, of course push the smaller one. If you need more, faster water, you push the larger button. You get the picture.

The weather is sporatic here, similar to Florida, with one exception; it gets cold. It is really crazy. It gets really hot, and then that afternoon it may or may not rain. Then it will rain for like three or four more days. During this time, it drops like 20°... It was about 55° here for the past three days. With a jacket, the weather is awesome! When I would forget it... I was really cold after so much warm weather. That being said, I am excited for winter.

I am on my way to Beethovenhaus in a few minutes. It is so cool to be in such a historical city. I have been touring places for over a month now, since I am also fresh off of my European trip... so sometimes seeing yet another museum can be a drag, but I am excited for this one!

Can't wait to put pictures up!

Oh, what a night!

So! Yesterday was such a blast!

Today is the birthday of a program kid from Melbourne named Austin. So, yesterday we celebrated. He had everyone over his house first for food and soda and things. Basically we just sat around and chatted until it was time to head back to Bonn to go to the club.

I ran with another participant, Elena, back to her house so she could change and be able to get into the club, as the clubs sometimes have strict dress codes.

This one was pretty chill though. It was small, at the peak (at least... the peak soon before I left) there were probably 70 people in there... I would guess. The music, of course, was all good, and very loud. They would make crazy mixes of songs; one time mixing "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," and "Beautiful Girls."

The clubs here are very different... from what I hear, as I've never been to one in the US. But here, it is perfectly normal for people to stand by themselves and dance. It is much more about individual dancing than grinding or "American" dancing.

I left the club with two friends at about 1:10. I was absolutely starving for some reason, so I got McDonald's fries... The (k)night bus came at about 1:30 and I got home at 2:00... the (k)night bus takes forever... It really was such a good time though.

I can't wait until I have my cord here so I can put up pictures.

Thus far...

So! Here goes nothing... I am here in Bonn, Germany having a wonderful time. I am going to write, briefly as possible what has happened so far.

The journey started when I arrived in Washington D.C. on June 30th. I was with the first group of people to arrive; there were five of us. We met with Sue, the program coordinator on the American side, and Hartwig, the coordinator here in Germany. Soon after everyone on the program was finally all together. We then started our first of many meetings discussing German culture, how to be good guests/family members, and what to do should problems arise.

Lunch and dinner was provided all of these days, and we found out that we will receive spending/lunch money from the program during our stay here in Bonn, periodically. Not only that, we receive money back from the program for things we have to buy. I am not exactly sure what items are on the refund list, but it was explained like this: If I have to buy another suit for my internship, then I can, at the end of the month, send the receipt back to Hartwig with a form, and I will receive a refund.

I feel so lucky to be here studying! Anyhow, before long we arrived in Frankfurt Airport and drove to Bonn to meet our hosts. My hosts are really great! I am so happy to be here. I live in a flat with four bedrooms. I live with my host parents, and two of their kids. One of the older ones lives across the hall, and another one lives with his girlfriend, either in the same building or one very close, as they are here pretty often to shower, eat, or do whatever else. They are funny, and are always talking, eating, drinking coffee, smoking, and laughing. Thankfully I was raised around smokers so it doesn't bother me at all, but if someone had never been around cigarette smokers before and then moved here, they'd be very shocked.

I am in the highest of the three German levels available at the AIB (Akademie für Internationale Bildung or the Academy for International Education). It is pretty difficult, but not impossible. We speak only German and must ask questions in German too, words we don't know are almost always defined in German, and even with each other, in class, German must be used. My teacher is really great. She's nice and pretty funny. She isn't very stern, but she doesn't let mistakes go. This is great, but it may prove to be frustrating later.

After these lessons we always have some type of field trip. We went to Monschau, and went to a mustard mill, and went summer bobsledding. There is a music festival there in August and I'd LOVE to go see die Zauberflöte, but the tickets are kind of expensive, so I'm not sure if I'm going yet or not... Also we get to see the Bonn Uni Orchestra play a concert, and tomorrow, 12.7.2009, during the current Campus Kultur Bonn Universität Kulturfestival, the same orchestra is playing all of the Planets!! I am so there... We have also been to Cologne, on two tours of Bonn, met one of the mayors, and been to a post-WWII historical museum, where we learned how German rose from the destruction and uncertainty of the end of the war, and is now prospering.

Yesterday we had a belated Fourth of July party... since that was our first full day in America, they wanted us to wait to have our welcome party, so we could instead spend our first day in Monschau. It was fun, we played frisbee in the parking lot, and then played musical chairs after we ate. There was plenty of food, beer, soda, and music. Afterward I went with three other program kids to play frisbee in the BIG open field in front of the University... right now though, the stage for the Graduation and the Kulturfestival is taking up most of it, but the sides are still more than large enough for four people to play around.

Sorry this was so long, but this was a week's worth of writing... the others will be shorter, I promise! Next time, I'll write also about the things that make Germany awesome! Lulz.