Busy B's

            For me, Sunday mornings and early afternoon = personal time. And boy do I always really need it! As much as I love it here, I never get alone time. There is always so much going on in this beautiful city! Plus, these Sunday hours give me time to update this ever-so-interesting ( ;-) ) blog.

            Since being here, I have come to many conclusions about Germany and the people within the country. One of these is that Germans just seem to Adore paper work and filling out forms. I never Knew so many forms existed in order to get a student visa! Plus, I’ve had to get my parents to send over notarized documents, two saying the same thing but in different ways. So silly.

            Let’s see, a couple short highlights of this week include the Rothaus brewery visit, the party themed American Parties, Reichenau, and Meersburg.

            The Rothaus brewery was really interesting: it looked like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, except for beer.

 

Wonder if I walked down this hall the door would be realllly little at the end ... 

The best part was the all-you-can-eat meat, bread, and beer after. I took full advantage of the meat and bread!

Surprise surprise, a couple of American guys (and an Australian who might as well be American) threw it. They did all the classic American college party games, (ex. Beer pong. Except, played with water in the cups and the accidental mistake of ordering the wrong size solo cups).

The next day, my friend Remy and I decided it was a wonderful day to stroll about a little island of the Bodensee called Reichenau. After receiving many confuddled directions, we finally walked along a long street/bridge connecting Konstanz and Reichenau.

The island was a cute, quaint place with a few gorgeous buildings, like a monastery, a church, etc.

            In the summer it was be more glorious because there is a vineyard and many huge flower gardens.

This was a beach on the opposite end of the island.

Remy on the beach.

 

A group of us also went to Meersburg, another cute little town/island on the Bodensee. While Reichenau was more rural, this one was more of a town like Konstanz, only a lot smaller. We toured a castle there, was a lady named Annette lived.

Bis Spaeter!!!

Schönes Fest

            I love where I live. Sometimes when I walk around, I cannot help but observe everything around me and narrate it in my head, as though I am writing. Today was one of those times. Everything I passed, everything I saw, became part of my inner journal.

            A cute little blue bird, perhaps 2.5-3 inches in size with a yellow belly (that description was for you, Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue), followed me brand by branch twittering delightedly for an entire block. I know the little fellow was excited because the last three days have been cloudy and rainy, but today, the day was awoken by a brilliantly bright sun.

            I strolled to the Altstadt, which is only about a 10-12 minute walk from my apartment, bought myself an ice cream cone, and parked myself on a sunny bench to people-watch. In not too long I began to realize I was in turn being watched … by two pigeons. They stood staring at me, their attention rapt. After a few more minutes, I decided to take a photo of my little buddies whom no doubt wanted my ice cream cone when a funny little old lady trotted up and threw some bread crumbs their way. “Schoenes Fest!” she happily wished them. The mood of the day is just upbeat. The sun has returned. J

            Anyhow, I took my camera along because I figured it was about time to show everyone more of the town in which I am residing. In Konstanz kann man sich nicht verirren, wenn man hier seit zwei oder mehr Tage ist. In other words, Konstanz is beautiful, but small. If one is here for two or more days, it is nearly impossible to get lost. Though little, it still packs a big punch. There is always tons to do, and in the Spring and Summer, even more (I have heard).

This is by the Bahnhof, LAGO, and the Altstadt.

Right by the Rhein 

The old man's best friend. 

Europahaus. This is where I live. It's a big ugly, but it was built in the 1960's or 70's, so what do you expect?

Looking towards the other side of town. 

An entrance into the Altstadt. The Altstadt include many stone pathed roads for walking, it is strewn with shops, and filled with many cute, secret alleys and gardens.

Sucker for Sunday

            What an interesting day today has been. On Sundays, most of Konstanz is a ghost town. A lot of shops and such, including the big one's like Aldi and Media Mart, are closed, not many people roam the streets, etc and so on. When Monica, a good friend of mine here, and I set out for a walk and a bakery, we had no clue we would stumble into a garage sale in the middle of the nicest mall around here.
            Only the Altstadt is alive and buzzing on a Sunday for the weekend tourists and thus, there we headed. With a need for a bathroom, and the only clean and available one we knew of in Lago (the big mall close to the Altstadt and Bahnhof AKA train station) we headed that way. We expected an empty mall because all of the shops within are closed on Mondays. What we found, however, was that huge garage-like sale I previsouly mentioned. Blankets strewn about with various toys and books and clothes. Throughout the entire mall several locations had grown little individual shops; a mini market!

            After walking around for a bit and satifying our hunger with a sandwich from the Bahnhof bakery, we settled in for a coffee, cappacino for me and a macchiato for Monica, in Aran. It's a goregously built large coffee shop with ice cream, pastries, and other various foods. This, I believe, will be one of several haunts for me.

Here is a bit of the inside. There are two large rooms connected by a couple entryways like this one.

            There are comfy tables and chairs strewn about and then what I will call "common tables." They are long, decorated tables in which several parties can sit without feeling awkward about being at the same table.

            Now that I've bored you with garage sales and tables, I bid you adieu.

Activities and Festivites

This past week has been full of class, non-stop activities, and errand running. Somehow, people convinced people to hang out a bit every night despite the exhaustion.

I'd say the best ones were a random Cuban dance club we stumbled upon, ice skating, and the volleyball tournament.

 Thursday night was going to be big ... kareokee! What's better than that in a foreign country? It turned out, however, that it was the one Thursday the pub (named Shamrock) was not having it's weekly bout of horrid, drunken singers. So, the 15-20 of us that showed up for it ambled through the Altstadt trying to decide what to do instead. After about 30 to 40 minutes of random wandering, someone decided we shoudl enter this hole-in-the-wall looking club called "Cuba." In we herded to an almost empty club. This, however, was perfect! There was a dance floor and several tables ripe for us to inhabit. And so, we spent the night dancing crazily with a crap DJ who pushed the smoke machine button a bit to often. A night that had threatened to turn sour instead turned very sweet. :)



            I saved the best for last, not only because it was the best but also because chronologically it happened last, haha. Saturday: the day of the big volleyball tournament. I'd talked it up all week. Eight classes of students learning German, eight teams. The big question, who had what it took to be the victors? Well, if it isn't obvious yet I shall tell you. The Eleganten Elephanten of course! AKA, my team.

After six straight hours of intense volleyball, many bruises, and sore arms, it came to a close.

The last game had a score of 28-26, Wind in die Harre coming close but no cigar.

Krazy Konstanz

Today was the first orientation day. Anddd it just happened to be Fastnacht, aka the craziest day of Karneval. This translates to the entire city, kids to the elderly, dressing up in crazy costumes and partying all over the city from around 7AM to late into the night.

            We arrived at Uni and there was a party going on in the cafeteria. Below is a picture of it.

I got my face painted like a tiger/lion in order to be in costume too!

            After we went through paper work, placement tests, etc and so on, we ventured into the city to witness the going ons. It was crazy and insane! I was given funny necklaces, a sunflower seedling to grow in my room, and chocolates by random people in costumes. It was an interesting and eventful day.

Here is a photo of the group with a few clowns on Fastnacht (imagine these guys as the whole city dressed up just as much and that was the day)

            A few other Americans and myself did manage to jump a bus that we didn’t know alternated routes and ride for two hours to the country and back. But hey, it was pretty at least!

I’m also including a couple more pictures.

Here is a picture of the some of the coolest trees (a friend teases me everytime we see these trees because I made such a big deal out of them. I've deemed them, "Knobby trees." That's what they are afterall.) that I’ve ever seen.

Here is a picture of Konstanz we took from a university courtyard.

Leave the land of the Swiss and enter the land of the University

Fruehstueck war lecker! Broet mit Kaese und Fleisch, Obst Salat, und Tee. J Ich habe mein Buech gelesen (during breakfast). OK, I’ll allow you to abort google translate and turn back to English.

            After breakfast, I took a walk around the immediate area. This part of town is obviously the international business/ where the elderly reside. That’s OK, it makes it safer. I wanted to take more pictures than I did; however, I decided that as a young, blonde girl on my own in a foreign place, it may not be a good idea to whip out my camera every two seconds. That’s a nice way to scream, “Hey! I’m not from here. Please, take advantage of me.”

            My favorite moment of the walk occurred as I passed a cute yellow house with a little balcony. I could hear someone playing a flute and it was beautiful and calming.

            I also bought a coffee. Not because I wanted it though, more because I felt like it was a good excuse to have a friendly transaction with German conversation. Man, I really am a loser, huh?

Later

            Yay! I didn’t have to pay for an expensive cab in order to return to the airport/train station. I asked the receptionist, in German, if there was a Bahn to get there, and surprise surprise, there was a station only 300 meters away! I navigated the complex station, and asked a random kind looking guy if I was in the right place. I must have looked a site with my hiking backpack, huge purse, and two big suitcases. He offered to help me and carried a suitcase onto the Bahn, through the next train station, to the ticket counter, and down to the next train headed toward Konstanz. What luck! It seems the Swiss, or at least the people I ran into, are friendly after all.

In this little adventure from my hotel room to the train to Konstanz, I got to have many nice German conversations. Hurray! And they were successful. They understood, I understood, and I got somewhere! I knew I could do this in Berlin, but that was two years ago so I was understandably a bit nervous that I had lost the Spraeche.

Later

            The train ride was beautiful. I got to see Switerland’s countryside. Upon arrival I was lucky enough to run into a bunch of other American abroad students with a couple German escorts. I went with them to Europahaus, and it’s a good thing too because with all that luggage it may have taken me a lifetime.

            My room is nice. Simple but enough.

After dropping off my bags, I set out on my own. After walking around forever trying to find a Mediamart or restaurant, I finally asked a friendly looking elderly lady and she pointed me in the right direction. I got to walk along the serene Rhein River on the way as well!

            And Konstanz as a city whole is a lot nicer to look at/I feel more at home here than Zurich.

            So now, for the first time since Sunday early afternoon, I once again have a cell phone and regular use of the internet! I can contact the world again J

The Process of Fleeing and the Arrival

The beginning of my trip turned itself unexpectedly in a rushed mess that included my poor father scrambling to pack my things into the car and also cutting short a luxurious stroll with my two sisters and mother.

            See, originally my flight had been delayed until 4:30 PM that day, which was utterly great for me because my hair was (and now still is) in bad need of a haircut. Now, my previous self thought, there will be time for Anne to trim it! No such luck. All of the sudden my father called my mother. All I had to go by was the muffled sounds of him freaking out from the phone and my mom’s semi-frantic reaction. It was noon, and the airport had transferred me to a 1:00 PM flight. The airport is a 30 minute drive, not to mention I was nowhere near the house. And so the chaos began. But, alas, I made it somehow and the journey continues. (perhaps it may have had something to do with my father speeding like a mad man into Steinmart’s parking lot. J I love him).

            So a plane flight and a connection later, I found myself flying over the Atlantic en route to Zurich. I sat next to a very nice businessman who it just so happens was a Michigan State alum! The next seven and half hours were filled with chatting, reading, and bouts of attempted sleep.

            Arrival was the scary part. At first it was fine. Switzerland, I observed, has the easiest customs I’ve ever gone through! They checked my passport, I didn’t have to fill out any forms, and then I walked through an entrance that read “Nothing to Claim” (only it said it in German).

            After I left, then I had no clue was I was doing. I walked to the Bahn (train) and realized I had no clue where my hotel was. And so I went back and asked a couple randomly chosen clerks. The first one looked at me like “Duh, the Bahn is downstairs. Go there. I’ve no clue where your Marriot is!” The second was a bit more helpful. I walked to where the hotel shuttles were and two men asked me which hotel and then, I got to have my first real German conversation of my abroad (well, one that did not include asking directions). We talked about the movie Titantic (so monumental I know).

            I rode to my hotel in a shuttle with a nice Turkish woman who grew up in Germany. Luckily, she spoke German with me instead of reducing me to someone who could only speak English. (It’s so frustrating when trying to get myself polished up on the language and people realize that and then only speak English with me). She was nice enough to stay speaking in German even when I fumbled over my words. She proceeded to tell me that Konstanz was “toll!” (super). She told me that in der Schweiz, the people aren’t so friendly to Auslaenders (foreigners, aka, what I am) but that in Germany (Konstanz included) they were much more open-minded and accepting.

            On arrival I had planned to drop off my luggage and go exploring. Unfortunately, outside my hotel didn’t look as friendly as other places I had seen in Zurich, and the thought of paying 22,50 CBF for another ride when I knew I had to do it tomorrow and buy a train ticket didn’t seem like such a smart idea. And so, I napped, read, tried to figure out the TV (a failed mission) and eventually thought I’d meander downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner. After perusing the menu, I decided paying 48 CBF for a meal didn’t sound appealing either. I went to the little store close by and bought a sandwich and water (still ridiculously expensive) and escaped back to my room to write and eat.

            If anyone saw me in this room they would have a great youtube video. It took me about 5 minutes of trying to turn on lights and rummaging around before I figured out that the lights do not work unless you put your hotel keycard in a slot. Smart, huh? That way the key can’t be misplaced in the room. If the lights are working, then you know exactly where that thing is! Also, the showers here are quite confusing. I got the tub facet on, but man, that shower head did Not want to spout out water! It took me even longer to finally work the shower than the lights. Sad story, but entertaining none-the-less … only because I did eventually figure it out, though. The excitement that I felt when that showerhead finally sprayed out water was measureable to a kid in a candy store!  

            Also, I bought yogurt, but I have no fridge, so the cartons now sit between the window and the window screen. It’s freezing outside, so that functions as a fridge, right? What a screwed up adventure just the hotel has been.

            End of story, failed Zurich adventure, or else, just a different type of adventure and learning experience than expected. Also, lesson learned: Zurich ist sehr teuer! (Zurich is very expensive).