Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Red Hot Chili Peppers!
Stadium Arcadium is a really good album. I'm surprised how 28 songs can all be so good. Usually there are some shit tracks on a CD.... but they're not on this one.
Sending things home, and leaving Germany!
So - I officially as of today have: 37 more days left in Sommersemester and in Germany. After that I have 28 days left in Europe. So I have (as of 21.6.06) 65 days left in Europe before I go home for good. But what I'm really sad/concerned about is the 37 days left in Germany with friends and everything. It's going to suck leaving everyone after such a great year of travelling and learning to not speak German. I am most likely going to go visit some people in the US/CAN/MEX sometime next year when I get a break, but who knows if thats going to happen.
And, with the 37 days left here in Stuttgart, I need to start thinking about what I am willing to carry for a month while on the road to Copenhagen for my flight, what I am willing to send home and not bring with me, and then throw/give away everything else that's not on either list. I don't want an empty room for a month, but if I don't do most of that now, then I will be screwed later on. I need to tell the careperson when to check out my room to get my deposit back, I need to cancel my bank account here in Germany, I need to cancel my internet, I need to cancel health insurance, I need to cancel my phone service, I need to unenroll from University, and I need to take all my finals, and I need to have a good time. 37 days.
And, with the 37 days left here in Stuttgart, I need to start thinking about what I am willing to carry for a month while on the road to Copenhagen for my flight, what I am willing to send home and not bring with me, and then throw/give away everything else that's not on either list. I don't want an empty room for a month, but if I don't do most of that now, then I will be screwed later on. I need to tell the careperson when to check out my room to get my deposit back, I need to cancel my bank account here in Germany, I need to cancel my internet, I need to cancel health insurance, I need to cancel my phone service, I need to unenroll from University, and I need to take all my finals, and I need to have a good time. 37 days.
Back from Amsterdam!
Hey,
So I went on a weekend trip to Amsterdam this past weekend.
We drove up there for 6 hours to get there Friday night. We partied a bit - the DUTCH (YEAH) won their game that day and so many people were in Orange, it was crazy.
Anyway, we couldn't find any place to stay at, so we slept in the car at 4am until around 11, and then went into town and went crazy. I'm not telling the details of that day but let's just say it was one of the coolest so far. ;). We went to an internet place to see if there was any accomodation for the night, and there wasn't. We chilled the rest of the day around Amsterdam and by 0:30 the next day we decided to head back to Stuttgart right away instead of sleeping in the car and then driving back.
All in all, it was a really fun trip that I can't say anything about on here.
So I went on a weekend trip to Amsterdam this past weekend.
We drove up there for 6 hours to get there Friday night. We partied a bit - the DUTCH (YEAH) won their game that day and so many people were in Orange, it was crazy.
Anyway, we couldn't find any place to stay at, so we slept in the car at 4am until around 11, and then went into town and went crazy. I'm not telling the details of that day but let's just say it was one of the coolest so far. ;). We went to an internet place to see if there was any accomodation for the night, and there wasn't. We chilled the rest of the day around Amsterdam and by 0:30 the next day we decided to head back to Stuttgart right away instead of sleeping in the car and then driving back.
All in all, it was a really fun trip that I can't say anything about on here.
Weltmeisterschaft 2006 (World Cup) in Germany!
So, The World Cup is going strong here in Germany. Tonight we are going to go to the center of town where they play all the games on big screens. It's going to be one of my favorite teams, the Dutch, vs. Argentina. It's supposedly the best matchup as far as skill so far here in the World Cup. GO DUTCH!
But on a more cultural note, a few of my friends and I have noticed that it's the first time that we actually have seen Germans flying their flag. Ever since world war II and even through reunification the Germans have grown up to be unnationalistic if thats a word. They are not proud to be German on the whole. So now with the World Cup in Germany and the German team doing well, we see a lot more pride for Germany and their country than we've seen this far. It's really nice to see.
I went to the Spain vs. Tunisia game the other day. It was amazing! Even though neither team really is my favorite, it was pretty cool to be dressed up cheering for a good team in the World Cup. Beer there was 3.50€ for a .33L cup. Outrageous.. and they only sold Budweiser. A .5L of Coke was 3.00€ Not much better.
Can't wait for the 3rd place match July 8th!
But on a more cultural note, a few of my friends and I have noticed that it's the first time that we actually have seen Germans flying their flag. Ever since world war II and even through reunification the Germans have grown up to be unnationalistic if thats a word. They are not proud to be German on the whole. So now with the World Cup in Germany and the German team doing well, we see a lot more pride for Germany and their country than we've seen this far. It's really nice to see.
I went to the Spain vs. Tunisia game the other day. It was amazing! Even though neither team really is my favorite, it was pretty cool to be dressed up cheering for a good team in the World Cup. Beer there was 3.50€ for a .33L cup. Outrageous.. and they only sold Budweiser. A .5L of Coke was 3.00€ Not much better.
Can't wait for the 3rd place match July 8th!
Budapest!
"Do you have anything to declare?"
"yes. Don't go to Budapest."
That's pretty much my summation of Budapest. First, the Hungarian language is so so strange. Like in Italian or Dutch or Portuguese I can sound out words and maybe get the meaning since i know English German and some French.... but not in this place. Not only that, but you have to go to McDonalds or an Irish Pub to get people who really speak english.
As for the sights.... there really isn't much to see. I took some pictures of some statues (East Europeans LOVE statues) - I might not even remember who they are of, but theyre in Gold.
They have a huge park there just filled with the removed statues of Communist leaders. I didn't go to it but I heard it was strange and exciting.
Also, I went to the bar everyday to watch the football games in the World Cup. Hungarian TV sucks so you have to go to a bar with Sky Sports or Eurosport to catch the games. Lots of English people there... kinda good but English people and alcohol .. wow.
"yes. Don't go to Budapest."
That's pretty much my summation of Budapest. First, the Hungarian language is so so strange. Like in Italian or Dutch or Portuguese I can sound out words and maybe get the meaning since i know English German and some French.... but not in this place. Not only that, but you have to go to McDonalds or an Irish Pub to get people who really speak english.
As for the sights.... there really isn't much to see. I took some pictures of some statues (East Europeans LOVE statues) - I might not even remember who they are of, but theyre in Gold.
They have a huge park there just filled with the removed statues of Communist leaders. I didn't go to it but I heard it was strange and exciting.
Also, I went to the bar everyday to watch the football games in the World Cup. Hungarian TV sucks so you have to go to a bar with Sky Sports or Eurosport to catch the games. Lots of English people there... kinda good but English people and alcohol .. wow.
Hungarian Border Police!
So, I went from Vienna to Budapest on a train. While on the train, we had to go through two border checks. One leaving Austria and the other entering Hungary. When we were leaving Austria, I got my passport checked and stamped as usual. There was this guy about 5 seats in front of me with some arab looking buddy. Anyhow, the Austrian border police didn't like them. They were checkin the passport over and over, brought a laptop and checked a lot of stuff... made him take everything out of his bag, along with the bottom liner, the sides and everything. Then they made his friend do the same. Then they finally stamped their passports.
As we crossed the border into Hungary, the Hungarian border police came on the train and the Austrians got off. Apparently the Austrians told the Hungarians about this guy, because they went directly to him, made him RE unpack all his stuff, hassled him for seriously 25 minutes while other border police came over.. They then took him away towards the front of the train and I never saw the guy again. WTF. Ive never seen that before!
As we crossed the border into Hungary, the Hungarian border police came on the train and the Austrians got off. Apparently the Austrians told the Hungarians about this guy, because they went directly to him, made him RE unpack all his stuff, hassled him for seriously 25 minutes while other border police came over.. They then took him away towards the front of the train and I never saw the guy again. WTF. Ive never seen that before!
Back from Austria!
Hey, finally updating again.
So I went to Vienna for the 6th-10th of June. I went alone for the first time on a trip and I liked it a lot. First of all, travelling alone is quite different. I think everyone who has done that can agree with that. In some aspects travelling alone is better. When you travel in groups there always has to be a consensus as to what to see, where to eat, what to eat, where to go out, when to wake up, etc. The larger the group the less stuff you get done with more people needing to decide what to do. When you travel alone, you can do what you want when you want and where you want. That aspect gefällt mir gut. ;). The flipside is that going out and dinner etc. is harder because you are alone. Along my trip in Austria I met some pretty cool guys from Nevada. They were there for their summer Europe trip out of college. We all went to watch the football game for the World Cup and went drinking, eating, and touring Vienna. So I think travelling alone is fun, but it also relies heavily on who you are in a dorm with/meet at the hostel, and what city you are in.
Vienna has a lot of very cool buildings. They are not even important buildings - but everywhere you go, the detail and workmanship put into everything is amazing. I have a lot of good pictures of Vienna at my webshots website. http://community.webshots.com/user/markrcpde
At times I could barely take all the art in Vienna. It's just way too much. I went to an art museum showing Austria's best artists..... now I know why I haven't heard of them.
So yeah - I was going to a bar with the Nevada buddies... and there were like only 5 people in that bar, and when we went in, they were all staring at us. Us 4 entering were looking at each other wondering who they were staring at and why. I ask the guys who they're staring at after about 10 seconds. They say... We're staring at you? Why are you such an asshole?
At this point im baffled beyond belief. So im like Wtf... why? And they say Why don't you say hi to us? We know you from class.... And then it finally hits me. These are friends of my brother from Atlanta. I explain it and they finally get it and then we all have a few good laughs/beers after that. Seriously... who meets their brother's friends from college that they've never met in Europe in a random bar one night in Vienna.
So I went to Vienna for the 6th-10th of June. I went alone for the first time on a trip and I liked it a lot. First of all, travelling alone is quite different. I think everyone who has done that can agree with that. In some aspects travelling alone is better. When you travel in groups there always has to be a consensus as to what to see, where to eat, what to eat, where to go out, when to wake up, etc. The larger the group the less stuff you get done with more people needing to decide what to do. When you travel alone, you can do what you want when you want and where you want. That aspect gefällt mir gut. ;). The flipside is that going out and dinner etc. is harder because you are alone. Along my trip in Austria I met some pretty cool guys from Nevada. They were there for their summer Europe trip out of college. We all went to watch the football game for the World Cup and went drinking, eating, and touring Vienna. So I think travelling alone is fun, but it also relies heavily on who you are in a dorm with/meet at the hostel, and what city you are in.
Vienna has a lot of very cool buildings. They are not even important buildings - but everywhere you go, the detail and workmanship put into everything is amazing. I have a lot of good pictures of Vienna at my webshots website. http://community.webshots.com/user/markrcpde
At times I could barely take all the art in Vienna. It's just way too much. I went to an art museum showing Austria's best artists..... now I know why I haven't heard of them.
So yeah - I was going to a bar with the Nevada buddies... and there were like only 5 people in that bar, and when we went in, they were all staring at us. Us 4 entering were looking at each other wondering who they were staring at and why. I ask the guys who they're staring at after about 10 seconds. They say... We're staring at you? Why are you such an asshole?
At this point im baffled beyond belief. So im like Wtf... why? And they say Why don't you say hi to us? We know you from class.... And then it finally hits me. These are friends of my brother from Atlanta. I explain it and they finally get it and then we all have a few good laughs/beers after that. Seriously... who meets their brother's friends from college that they've never met in Europe in a random bar one night in Vienna.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Ill be updating soon.
Ive been busy with school and stuff so I havent been updating the past few weeks.
As a reminder to myself, I will be getting stuff down like:
Austria trip
Hungary trip
Amsterdam trip
Fußball Weltmeisterschaft 06
Dutch Fans
Bret's friends
trying to send things home
39 more days until I leave Germany... :(
As a reminder to myself, I will be getting stuff down like:
Austria trip
Hungary trip
Amsterdam trip
Fußball Weltmeisterschaft 06
Dutch Fans
Bret's friends
trying to send things home
39 more days until I leave Germany... :(
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