There & Back Again

That was Sunday, the rest of the week was equally fun-filled :D Also school-filled, but you know how that goes D:

21.9.10

On Tuesday I went to Oktoberfest, this time for realz. We went after class, donned our Tracht (lederhosen and dirndln) and took the place by STORM. We went on the swing ride! Which was perfect. But then we split up in an attempt to find a table. My group wound up at the bier garden of Löwenbräu: supposedly the worst brewery in Munich. But you know what, the worst they have here is better than anything back home!

RIDES N BEER

Dirndl und Lederhosen!

Been on this bad boy twice :B

Augustine beer tent! Always this packed. Always.

 

Another beer tent :B

We had a great time, and the quote of the night was:

Kevin: It’s not just a Ma∂!
Kat:..It’s a lifestyle!

Kevin, Mallory and Kathleen

I love this one so it goes twice. :B

Nightfall

And the madness begins. 

I think we made about 100 toasts that night:
To bad toasts! To Simon! To Germany! To shitty nicknames! Etc…

Simon drinking like a champ. 

We made friends with some Americans from Florida at the table behind us. They hung out with the whole night, bought us a round of beer, I got a new hat out of the deal..(It wasn’t stealing, he knew I had it!) They were all hilarious and it was fun to just meet new people for a night.

Jack und ich, Jack is not one of the floridians.

+ Hannah, also from ze program.

“Ein Prosit, ein Prosit der Gemutlichkeit!”

The Floridians

That is now my hat :D

DAAAAAVE!

Not my turtle :< 

There’s no excuse for this, really.

We were there until they closed the place down, then reluctantly left to return to our homework. (Whoops.) I was given a couple invites to return home with one of my new friends, and also some randos on the subway…But Mama Kat goes home with no one! Not from Oktoberfest. That’s just not classy D: I doubt my real Mama would approve…On Wednesday was our Regensburg trip, so after 3 Maß, it was bedtime. I stumbled into bed (literally) and awoke far too early and drank my weight in water. Then was off to Regensburg!

23.9.10
Thursday we went back to Oktoberfest, this time to meet up with Johanna and her friends (which have slowly become my friends, maybe? Not quite sure, ha!) We met them at Löwenbräu again (our new local haunt, hahaha) and they had two tables with enough room for us to squeeze into. :D There were some people from our program already there, as well as one of the Americans I met off the subway one day. Coincidental! Leo was there was well, and his hair was braided—-people come in through the tents and gardens selling food, shirts, stupid trinkets, fotos, and apparently hair braiding as well. It was quite funny looking. :P I sat at the other table, however, and chatted with Germans and an Austrian. Although my German is basic and best, its so much fun to be able to stumble through a full conversation, even if its an uphill battle. I feel so good after ward J

The guys were going to go on rides, and invited me along! So four of them, Simon, Martin, Andy, Leo and myself went and rode the giant rollercoaster with like five loops :D It was awesome! We then went on another one called Cyber Space, and it was terrifying. I spent most of the time chatting with Leo, and he was quite cool and funny and awkward. My type, unfortunately. :P We went back to the tent, and spent the rest of the evening wandering around, dancing together, drinking, laughing, hand-holding and hugging. Afterward, once we were back at StuSta, I suggested he help me with my homework (because once again Kat had hwk to do..) and he did! ‘Twas quite nice and fun.

Outside in the biergarten

Leo und ich :)

Kevin, Devin und ich—-shenanigans.  

How we spent a fair amount of time :D

Thoroughly beered

27.9.10
Monday: I went to Oktoberfest again, SURPRISE! We have a mentor program here, with German students from the LMU, and one of them was able to get us a table in the Augustine Bier Selt because her mother works there. WOO! So I couldn’t pass up going, even if it was only a Monday…When we first got there it was a little awkward, because all first meetings with Germans are awkward. :P But once the Maß started coming, all was well! By the end of it we were dancing on the tables, Prosting EVERYTHING, and generally making a big ol’ ruckus. It was awesome. The Germans warmed up and were really cool and funny. I accidently ordered a second Maß, not sure how that happened, but y’know…I didn’t wear my dirndl this time :< but it was still fun! It was so loud though..I arrived there at around 5 and didn’t leave til 9 or so…Woops! And of course had class the next day ;) I LOVE OKTOBERFEST! We ended the night with a ride called Magic. It was seriously lifechanging.

MAß!

THE SAME MAß!

Augustine!

Dancing on tables, how we do.

This looks pained. It was really quite delicious. I think I was laughing.

Dancin’

28.9.10
Yesterday, Tuesday: I think this may be my last time at Oktoberfest. Last night we went after class, all of us with dirndl’s wearin’ ‘em. :D We had to wander around for quite a while, couldn’t find a table, then found one  at the Pshorr hall and met up with folks, but it was crowded, and they were only holding the seats for a while. We bought some drinks, but only stayed long enough to finish them. Then we went to Löwenbräu because we heard our friends were there, too. But…then it started raining :< So, instead of trying to get into the tents, as they were starting to close once they get too full, we went on rides! We went on the rollercoaster again, and the one called Magic again :DD and finally the swings. The swings were terrifying this time around, because everything was black and kind of foggy, the wind was blasting, the rain was pouring, and I couldn’t feel my body afterward, baaahha. But it was awesome, and I met a cool Australian girl.

Inside the Pschorr tent!

Just another day in the life of Kat Heinrichs.

WOO!

MAGIC!!!! This ride changed my life.

Their’s too.

SO MAGICAL!

They magical view.

The next ride!

And then, we went home. It was chaotic but oodles of fun. ….Then my night turned out terribly, but it wasn’t Wies’n related, so I’ll save that for another post.

I LOVE OKTOBERFEST! Its basically Disneyland for adults. :D AKA PERFECTION. 

That was the first bit of German I learned Freshman year in high school :D I think it has served me well, no? Hello, meine Suße! Ich vermisse euch sehr viel, aber ich bin nur seit 4 Wochen gekommen, und es schon fühlt so wie ein Jahr. Verrückt, nein?

I’ve been terrible with keeping this blog updated the past week. Its been a supremely busy couple of days. Last sunday was the OKTOBERFEST PARADE! I wore my dirndl and it was fabulous. I saw lots of horses, men in leather pants and heard more brass instruments than I know what to do with. The damn thing lasted 3 hours, however, so I peaced out after 2. I can only handle so much. SO MUCH. But it was still glorious and oh so German. It was also on Ludwigstraße, which is a  lovely street built by Ludwig I back in ze day. We had a great spot, although it was freezing…(Its been getting quite cold. I’m going to need to go an a serious coat n boot hunt when I come back from Berlin!…I GO TO BERLIN ON SATURDAY!) I went with Monica, Mallory, Madeline, and two Pauls. (German Paul and Cal Poly Paul)

Mama’s got a new Dirndl!

The ladiez. Sorry it’s blurry, a mother took it ;)

Bike!

An army of Lederhosen-clad men just for meeee!

Bretzln tosser

Band across the street!

Mounties!

Acrobats!

Puppeteering is kind of a big deal.

In München steht…

Ein Hofbräuhaus…

Oan, zwoa, drei, G’SOFFA! 

Yep. Bull.

King ludwig came!!!!111

Mini Neuschwanstein

..Men in a bath..?

I took a lot more pictures, but they’re just of more Beer wagons, horses and children in costume :P

Hallo hallo meine Lieblings! 

I know my address now and have successfully received mail! so, now it’s time to send it out to the masses. :B (Don’t worry, I have a stack of postcards just waiting to be sent out. Give me a week or two!)

Kat Heinrichs

Grasmeierstraße 19

Zimmer 148

80805 München

Deutschland

I hope you’re all alive and well, preferably both. :D

Bussi,

Kat

Hellos Freunde und Freundinen von mir!

It hath been a while, hasn’t it? I can assure you that laziness hasn’t been the culprit in my blogging break, but rather this country called Deutschland. (and a tiny little thing called school..) Today I stayed home sick from class because when I tried to roll out of bed at 6 I felt like I was made out of lead and rubber at the same time—-aka, probs not so hot. I was also a wee bit fevery, but I don’t actually have a fever at the moment. I slept for 8 more hours, then lazed around and did homework. I feel better, sleep helped, and have a slight cough but nothing drastic. Tomorrow Mama’s got a test, so I’ll be back at schoolsies…yay. So wish me luck with tomorrow and testing my brain knowledge. Lets recap, shall we?!

12.9.10 Dinner at Christel’s
Our language group went to our instructor’s house and made a typical Bayerisch dinner :D I cleaned about a million mushrooms, played with cats, dollhouses and a piano, and ate until I could eat no more. We had Pilze and Knödel (mushrooms, sauce and potato dumplings) Salat, Kürbissuppe (pumpkin soup), Zwetchgendatchí (plum cake). ‘Twas excelente. ..Then I went home and slaved away on an essay. Which I got a B on :D

I had a testy-test on Tuesday of that week, and also earned meself a B, woooo! I’m not entirely failing :D

15.9.10 KÖNIGSCHLÖSSER!
This day was excellent. And I mean excellent (not the kind of excellent someone says in response to a swell idea, like “Excellent observation Watson!” but the kind that is really erm..excelling..and…stuff..) I saw three Baroque churches, went inside two castles, and eyed another from afar. We got on the bus at 7:15 and drove out into the country, about an hour outside of Munich. It was the country all right. Rolling green hills, mountains, picturesque little houses and cows. SO MANY COWS! :D And they all wore bells so you could hear ‘em clang-clanging in the distance. Outr first stop was Weiskirche, and it was beautiful. However, when we arrived, they were giving a sermon in English….It was weird and unappreciated. I walked around the grounds for a while, befriended the wildlife, and was momentarily inspired by the lengths some people go for their faith (then I became jaded and cynical once more, but y’know, it was a passing emotion.)

Wieskirche

I liked the flag

Gorgeous, no?

Inside

 

 Oh look, tis me in Bavaria!

It really looks like this!

Cow sign :B

J chillin’ on a fence 

COWS!

Next stop was NEUSCHWANSTEIN! About an hour or so away from Weiskirche. You know, NEUSCHWANSTEIN?! The castle Walt Disney based the Cinderella castle off of? Yeah. THAT ONE. It was epic. Unfortunately, we had to literally climb up a mountain to reach the top. A big mountain, that took forever. But was swell. Those who were lazy and wanted to shell out a couple euros could take horse-drawn carriages up the path, but then they’d have no pride. D: When I got to the top, we had time to wander the grounds, lookit things and such before our guided tour of the inside began. I got me a Fanta (which tastes like heaven over yonder, btw.) and climbed another, mini-mountain to the Marienbrücke, which is a very old, very cool bridge with a lovely view of the entire castle. 

See that white lump on the hilside? THATSIT!

The one we didn’t visit.

Goin’ upz.

Just a mini waterfall, NBD

I made a cat friend!

SEE?!

The view from tthe base of the castle

NEUSCHWANSTEIN! 

View from the path to the bridge. Also that’s the lake we ate by.

Hello, Schloss.

View from the bridge! ‘Twas epic :)

J chillin’ in nature again.

Castleeee

So epic.

Lakeside 

Inside the castle we weren’t allowed to take pictures, which was total balls, but the images are safely plastered in my brain. I was reminded of why I want a castle so desperately :D King Ludy was an odd duck, but had a very nice taste in castles. Except for all the damn swans everywhere. And the Wagner obsession…you get the idea. After the tour we had a picnic by a lake, and it was lovely. A few brave souls decided to take a dip in the alpine waters, but I kept meself dry and happy. Our next stop was Castle Linderhof.

Linderhof

And I :B

Everyone needs gold statues.

O rly?!

Giant grounds.

Inside ze grotto!

Imustlivehere. 

By this point, everyone was fading fast. We all managed to snooze on the bus, but were rudely awoken when we arrived. However, Linderhof is EVEN COOLER than Nueschwanstein, at least in my opinon. Its basically a mini Versaille that Ludy made as an homage to the Sun King. It was absolutely lovely, and I want to live there forever and ever and ever. This is where the famous Wagner Grotto thing is, which is a manmade grotto where Ludy would go for (even more) alone time, and host private operas. Its basically phantom of the opera. Basically. After trekking around Linderhof (and climbing more mountains) we saddled the bus once more and trudged to our final stop of the day: Ettal. Etall is a monastery (and now also hosts a high school) and is very nie and Baroque. When we arrived, the monks were inside doing their singing thang, and it was quite cool. I think everyone should listen  to a choir of monks now and again. We were at Ettal for a bit, then decided to peace out. But before we did…Ralf, our program leader, bout everyone some schnapps made by monks! So, naturally, we all drank out schnapps, then headed back to the bus feeling a little more rejuvenated.. We got back around 8 30, and parted ways.

Ettal

Within

See the monks?!

And then comes schnapps time!

You know how I roll.

Classy 

16.9.10 Dirndl Day
After class on Thursday, some friends and I went on an excursion to find us some dirndl, you know, the classic garb of Bavarian ladies. :D I was a smidge unsuccessful, but that was okay, because that night, we had our first Stammtisch! Stamm means regular, and tisch is table, which equals the regulars’ table at a restaurant. We met up around 8 for drinks and foods with our professors. It was jolly good fun, and I was there until 10.30 :D The night ended, once more, with a round of peach liquor purchased by our dear friend Ralf.

17.9.10
Our instructor for our grammar class was out sick on Friday, so we were given half the day off, wooo! My friend Madeline and I didn’t want to go back home, so instead we went downtown and went shopping :B I know youre all shocked and amazed, that I, Kat Heinrichs, wanted to go shopping….I bought a new dress. Heee. We also went to a café and ate some sandwhiches, then parted ways. After class let out, for the second time of the day, I went back to a Second Hand store that I’d seen the other day, and bought myself a dirndl :D Its looovely. That night I went over to my friend Kelsey’s house with Madeline and we made pasta, drank wine coolers and played cards. Att 10 there was a party for Johanna’s friend, so naturally we all went ;D It was a blast, though coincidentally about 5 guys from Cal Poly were there. Weird, but cool. And even more odd, none of them actually speak German! So I spent the night partitioning my time between the two languages. To my delight, the fellow that has caught my eye was there! But he spent the eve hanging out with another lady from my program…But, I was not too upset, or upset at all, really. Ha! I was momentartily kidnapped by some randos, but I was on high alert for “Stranger Danger” so all was okay. When he asked to shut the door, I knew it was time for Kat to peace out…And by peace out I mean go back down the hall and rejoin the party :D By then, the group had grown much smaller, but was still going strong. Leo came in and he and I talked for a great while, which was quite neat :B ..Somehow “a great while” turned into 5 am..Hahahahaha woops. …We dipped out and he walked me halfway home and parted ways. I stumbled back to bed and snoozed until 1 in the afternoon on Saturday :D Good work, Kat! It was my first real German party, and it was quite swell. Although intense. …

09.09.2010 Thursday was less frantic at the institute. I had my morning German classes, went to lunch at the Mensa (cafeteria) then finished up the day with Munich history and a conversation group. Es war gut :) We were let out before 3 (!!) which was the earliest I’d left class, so I felt sooo free! Naturally I wanted to stay in the city longer, so Sarah and I ventured on a mission to find shower shoes for me, and towels for her. My list of needed objects is still in the works, but shower shoes were at the tip top. We went to a department store called Karstadt and it was amazing. I knew I loved European department stores, but I’d forgotten how much :D It was 4 stories tall and full of amazingness. There was a lady handing out free samples of champagne, chocolate and coupons. Best lady ever? I think so. I fell ridiculously classy sipping my champagne and lusting over expensive clothing…But I was good and only bought the shoes :D Afterward we headed back to Stusta. Johanna had sent us an email about a dinner for Americans in one of the houses, that all of us should/could attend, so I went with my friend Monika. It sounded like a great idea at the time, but in theory was a bit..interesting.

We met outside her house and walked over to the other one together. However, we realized we needed a key to enter the building, and therefore were locked out and looking a bit dumb. We were distressed for a moment, but then rang the room of one of our fellow LCers. He didn’t answer, so we rang again, then laughed amongst ourselves and flailed around a bit. We could hear someone in the kitchen cooking, and made a bit more ruckus in case they’d let us in. Welp, he came to the door—-in an apron—and hesitantly opened it, with a very questionable expression. We tried not to giggle even more, but that wasn’t happening as we felt like complete dolts. He asked who we were looking for, we told him, he told us where to find him, then we awkwardly scurried upstairs, only to break out into laughter once we reached the second floor. You see, I was immediately in love with this boy, and he, he immediately pegged us a loons. Jared, who we were looking for, wasn’t there, so instead we went to Lauren’s room, who also lives in that building. She let us in, and I’m pretty sure apron-boy came upstairs for something, so we dashed into her room to go unseen. More laughter ensued as Monika and I retold our very awkward encounter. Turns out, the dinner he was making was for the American meeting thingie. Ha…Perfect, no? 

We all then went back downstairs and made small talk with dinner-maker, whose name is Leo (Leonhart !!!) A girl from France joined us, and we all sat in the common room and chatted with one another. It was so awkward. I’ve never felt so awkward in my life. Ahhh…When dinner was ready, another fellow from the Czech Republic joined us, and we ate. Tom, from our group, also came by. I think he’s already friends with Leo. And Leo is friends with Johanna. Eventually more people came, including a girl from Georgia, and Austrian, and two more from Bayern. I went over there around 8 and stayed until 11. When more people arrived it became more fun, yet my level of comprehension decreased rapidly. Not only were they speaking quickly, and all slang-y, but they also spoke Bayerisch half the time. Which is not easy, let me tell you D: But it was grand, and I was happy :B I came back late to do my homework, with a heart full of love for a boy named after lions. (…and by love I mean I find him ridiculously attractive. We really didn’t talk to one another about anything, except drivers licences and other random whatsits. …He has long dark blonde hair. :) )

10.09.2010 Because I stayed up so late doing hwk on Thursday, I was dead on Friday. Somehow I plundered through classes but it was roughsies. Sarah and I went to lunch at a sandwich and pasta place, which was delicious and cheap :D yaaay! Then we had more class but new ones, this time. First we had our Interkultureler Dialogue with Ralf (the head of the program) and then Leben in München with Bärbel. The class with Ralf is mostly about our views on what it means to be German or American, and exploring what we think and maybe changing our thoughts by then end of the semester. We talked about stereotypes, how we see ourselves, and how Germans might see us. Interesting, but because this group is a mixture of the levels (A, B and C) its a bit tougher for me. Leben in München is all about finding out whats cool and available in Munich :D I’m excited for it. We’ll have a project in that class on varying topics, and I’m excited. (Oh, I also have to give a presentation next Thursday on something for my Sprachkurs. Balls.)

We were let out before 3 again, so this time Sarah and I went wandering around Marienplatz, which is where the Rathaus and Frauenkirche is. It was a Friday afternoon and everyone and their Lederhosen wearing brother was there. There was some sort of festival going on, with live music and temporary beer gardens. It was sweet. I saw several men in Lederhosen and it made my day :B We just roamed about and stumbled upon some quite cool—and expensive—things. So far I’ve seen about 6 Porsches. …I envy their drivers. D: On our jaunt, we came across a really fancy shopping center, with expensive clothes and things in every window. It was glorious. My eyes were in heaven. We also found one of the coolest police stations ever.

A random square with typical buildings.

 

The other side of the street. A little less typical.

 
:D

SO CUTE AM I RIGHT?!

 
Part of the really cool mall

The amount of bikes in this city is mind-boggling.

Ludwigstraße

Cool and ominous police station!
\

The infamous Glockenspiel.

See? hella peeps.

Accapella whatsits.

More Rathaus. Not filled with rats…I hope.

Beer garden in an outdoor market.

Later than night, we went out to dinner and had more adventures, but I’ll deal with that update later. Yes, I will perpetually be behind, but tonight I’m going to make a Bayerisch dinner at my language instructor’s house :D so I have to go get readies! Bis Später! 

Golly, it feels like I’ve been here forever. Literally, forever. Now that doesn’t mean I know my way around or can do more than stare blankly anytime anyone asks me a question, but! time does seem to move oddly in these parts. This may have been the absolute longest week of my life D: Not that I’m complaining, exactly…well, maybe a teensy hint of complaint. (I definitely wanted to complain when a baby was sobbing somewhere in my building. Not cool, sobbing baby, not cool.) Anyway, my mind has the consistency of a poorly fried egg at the moment, so bear with me if I’m not as blindingly witty as usual  ;D Cut me some slack, eh?! I’ll start where I left off, and fill you in from here. Apologies for the wall of text and pictures to follow. D:

Here’s where I take classes for September!

Gorgeous, no? Its more of a green in person, but my ISO was off and it was supes cloudy. But, this is where I fill my head with knowledge!

The entryway

My favorite dino friend :B

Lookit his teefz!! :BBB

SEA COW

Bear :D

Ancient moose?

 

On ze way out

 
Just the neighborhood, no big deal. ;) 

08.09.2010  May have been the longest day of all time. I went to class as usual, did my grammar thing, had funsies, ate lunch at a small cafe, had more class, then began a series of boring, yet necessary outings. First we went to the University (one of the buildings) and were shown how to set up out email accounts, where to check out books, found a cool Euro coinstar thingie, then went off to destination number two. We then trudged to an U-bahn stop, where we (22 of us) had to get passport photos for our visa. This took half my life away. After at least 45 minutes, we then went to the Bank to set up our fancy dancy German bank accounts. Again, all 22 of us had to go through ropes, so I lost about seven million braincells. But now I’m theoretically the owner of an account with Deutsche Bank! I was finally able to exchange some of my cash into Euros, woo! Some friends and I were finished at the bank by around 4, so we decided to go for a bit of a wander around the area. We went to a bookstore to buy our grammar books for class, went to a school supply store—I oggled the pens without shame. I don’t know why but there’s something so glorious about new pens…But I restrained myself and didn’t buy any. PRAISE ME. I went with Sarah and Madeline, and Sarah wanted to head back home while Madeline and I wanted to wander around for a bit more. We went up and down Shellinhgstraße and found cool shops, lots of food and a grocery store. We bought some pastries, beer, then decided to head back home when it began to rain a bit. I got back to my room, lazed around, ate my dinner, talked to Megan then went to bedsies. I’m permanantly tired here, but its okay. The Vorsemester is supposed to be a rigorous jerk, so hopefully come October I’ll have more time to breathe.

Gestern - Yesterday - 07.09.2010

..Was my first day at the Lewis and Clark Institute. Although it may have been the longest day of my life, it was super fun (most of the time) HERE WE GO:

• 8:00: The group met Johanna at the U-Bahn station so we could all go together (as I’m writing this my mind is translating it into German/trying to at least. so cool!) to where our classes will be held for the next four weeks. We took the subway from Studentenstadt to Königsplatz, which is the area that its in. The Institute is only a short walk from the subway station and happens to be in one of the Technical Institute buildings of the University (LMU) and it has a Paleontology and Geology museum within~ THERE ARE DINOSAURS IN THE FOYER! You have no idea how elated I was to discover everyday I would be learning in the presence of DINOSAURS. DINOSAURS!!!! AHHH. I can’t wrap my head around how awesome this was. 
• From about 9 until 10:30 we had to fill out form, after form, after form. This took hours in reality, and years emotionally. I may never recover from such a task, but I’ll do my best to mend this boredom-induced wounds. And let me tell you, German addresses are weird and it will take me ages to figure it out. AGES.—okay, maybe like one more week. But still! Then we finally finished and everyone rejoyced with much enthusiasm. 
• 10:30-11:30: Then Ralf Saborrasch, our program director, spoke with us about the program, giving a little inspirational spiel about his first time studying in America. He made a funny anecdote about he when in the US, he hated kids. Not because he finds them stupidly sticky or anything, but because they could speak better English than him, blabbering away with their mothers in the supermarket while he could only say “Hello, my name is Ralf.” :D He’s a very funny and nice fellow, but he speaks so quickly! I got the gist of what he said, but details will be forever lost on me.  You know, considering he said everything auf Deutsch. Alles sind immer auf Deutsch ahhhh!!
• 11:50-13:00: Lunch happened after this, and included buying a card that will allow me to eat in any of the University cafeterias throughout the city. Which is super cool! but meant that I had to spend more of my precious, precious monies D: I wish the Euro wasn’t real—everything is so expensive with it! I miss the Deutschmark :< so do the Germans, methinks. Anywho, we ate in quite a large cafeteria, called the Mensa. Everything is served a la cart, and is put on your cool little tray. I would have taken pictures, but the thought escaped me and i was too hungry. I had Currywurst, Kartoffeln salat, and Ratatouille  (that wasn’t very tasty.) and mineral water, like a true European. While we were eating, I had time to oggle a random German boy with long blonde hair :D *sigh* I don’t know what it is about this place, but so many fellows have nice long hair in nice happy ponytails! …and I can’t help but admire them and fall in love from afar :>
• 13:00-14:00: But following Ralf-time, we moved onto Münchenkunde, which is basically everything Munich, from history to current culture. It’s taught by our instructor Christel, who is about 5 ft tall, 60 years old and hilarious. She’s so vivacious and full of energy. She also speaks so quickly that my head spins, but she’s so nice that I’m not intimidated by my inability to understand, just kind of annoyed. :D I basically learned there were three ways cities came about in Germany: Nummer 1: The Romans occupied the area, creating a military city, then rolling out and leaving everyone behind to continue about their business.
  2. Kings went on grand tours, stopping in these areas, hanging out for a while, then rolled out and left people there.
  3. It was a sweet location for trade, had natural resources, and allowed people to gather on their own. <— This one is for Munich, and is why the city is only (AHAHAH) ~850 years old. ((At least I think that’s what I learned about founding cities in Germany…) I also learned that the word  München comes from a latin phrase meaning “by the monks.” Yaaay. 
  The first lesson was very interesting, but I began to tune out when anticipation for our Fahrrad Tour and a lack of understanding began to overtake me. Again, I got the gist of what was said, but specific words and sentences were completely lost on me :D But I was not alone, so that’s cool. Kein Problem!
• 14:00-16:00: This was the absolute best part of the day. See that thing called a ‘Fahrrad Tour’ I just mentioned? That means bike tour, which means Kat (myself) and 10 other fellows mounted some bikes with Johanna and Christel, and went about on a informational tour of the city! I road a bike in a big fat city and didn’t die! I’m not gonna lie, i was super nervous about this endeavor, having only ridden my bike on the bike lazy streets of Haggin Oaks in Bakersfield. City bikers mean business! But, as it turns out, Munich is perfect for biking and everyone does it. (Christel bikes 12km to school every day, and 12 back!) In Munich, most of the sidewalks are accompanied by a bike path right next to them, so you only have to go on the street sometimes. And even then cars give the bikes the right of way most of the time, and I didn’t see anyone get run over :D (there Laura did bike into a bush and Sarah slipped in the wet gravel…) We went all about the city, and even though it began to rain partway through, it was beautiful and full of awesomeness. Munich continues to surprise me and I just want to roam the streets poking around everywhere. This venture also prompted me to want to own a bike of my own here, so this weekend I plan on going to the flea market (Floh Markt) and getting one :DDD We went through the Englische Garten as part of our tour, and it was so gorgeous and green and perfect. And you know what I saw there?! People surfing on the Isar River! It was crazy! I’d read and heard about it, but it was so different seeing it in person. These kids were crazy, but awesome. I didn’t take a picture of it, but maybe next time. Here’s one from Google :D
  

  

  
  Yay river surfing!

• 

  
  My trusty bike friend
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  Where royalty once roamed.
  

  

  
  Their sweet garden. 
  

  

  
  Bike tiiime.
  

  

  
  A monument to die Weiße Rose, the student Nazi rebellion group started at the LMU (my new university) with an inscription from the original flyers they made. The stones on top have been placed over the years by the university’s Jewish students.
  

  

  
  Me and a bike!! and my friend Laura. :D
• 17:00-18:00: After the bike ride, which took about 2 hours or so, we were allowed to go back home. On the way, we stopped at the grocery store and I bought more food: Musli with chocolate bits, bread, a chocolate bar, banana chips, apple chips, and a mango juice :D I haven’t figured out which fridge to use downstairs, and don’t have any real utensils for cooking, so complicated eats will have to wait. But, I’ve only been here for 5 days, so I’m cutting myself some slack. (besides, I still have my tomatoes and apples! Thats fresh food, right?..)
  

  

  
  LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!  Cat chocolate! ..not for cats, but for people who like cats?…Idk. FOR ME?! This is why I’m supposed to be here :>
  

  

  
  My purchases.
   

  

  
  For Alissa, because I thought she’d approve of Banana chips in any language.
• 18:00-21:00I ate then went to bed :D

My body hurts. ((I’ll tell you why in my next  post)) But my mind and spirits are happy. The past two days have been great, and today was especially awesome! Although my eyeballs feel like they’re made of Jell-o, I’m going to fill you readers in on what has happened so far, because actually, a lot has gone on :D (I’m surprised myself!)

06/09/2010 - Gestern - Yesterday

I woke up at the sinfully late hour of 12:30, but I blame this on the fact that I’d also woken up at 4:48 for God knows what reason. Whatever the reason, it was a terrible one. I lolled about in my bed or tried to be productive for an hour or so, then I gave up and just hid under my covers. When it started to get light—a very bad sign—I remembered there was one of those stupid eyemasks lying around here somewhere. So I used it, and I snoozed :B When I finally rolled out of bed, I went to help my friend Sarah unpack. She was one of the last to arrive, and was coming from Mexico. She had even more things left in her dorm room than I did! ((Did I mention how much stuff was left here?! LOTS. Three bottles of alcohol, hangers, all sorts of hair care and bath products, desk supplies, school supplies, plates, a drying rack, and extra clothes rack and a star lantern! among other things)) I could only hand being in the chaos that was her room for about  an hour or so, soo I returned to my room to bumble about. 

As I was approaching my room, mentally humming a little tune from an off-bradoway show about whales no doubt, i noticed something rather odd….MY DOOR WAS WIDE OPEN! had I forgotten to lock it?! (the doors lock twice, you have to keep turning it and turning it and making all kinds of noise…) But no, I hadn’t forgotten to lock it, and I wasn’t losing my mind. No, as I entered my room very cautiously I came across a strange sight: A MAN ON MY DESK PAINTING THE OUTSIDE WINDOW FRAME! …I swear, this only happens to me!

AHHH EIN MANN

When I realized he wasn’t a burglar/rapist/lost child, I retreated behind my bookshelf and hid by my vanity for a good five minutes. And sneakily (or not so sneakily, who knows..) took a photo of him. Then I got over it, decided to stay, and sat on my bed and listened to music and such. He left, but once he was gone, I realized there was a damn wasp in my room! Balls. It was stupidly clinging to the window, and the nice man told me not to open it for a while…so I was stuck with a new roommate. To pass the time and ignore said wasp friend, I took pictures of my room and what I’d done with the place for now. See?

Hallway

Enter at own risk

From within

My personal sink

Wardrobe!

Desk with things ex-tenant left behind

Then, whilst I was killing time waiting for dinner (I lead an exciting life, no?) the woman across the hall introduced herself. Her name is Sydney (I think but pronounced: Soo-den-y) she was followed by her two small girls. Here in StudentenStadt, its not just for students, but anyone willing to live really cheaply, because Munich is a very expensive place. So there are family apartments in each building, one per floor. One girl looked about 7, and the other 5 or 4. The 7 year old asked me my name, then asked me why more door was open. I didn’t really know what to say, but she kept repeating the question, until her mom replied, “For fresh air!” and I added “And to meet new people.” (all auf Deutsch) Apparently this was something new for the kid. Whilst this conversation was going on, the younger girl bolted into my room, found my laptop playing music, and put her ear up against it, whilst practically laying on my bed. I had suppress laughter as the mother called her over, and her sister berated her. The encounter boosted my spirits, and made me feel less alone in this building :>

Then I went to my friend Chris’ dorm, and we went to another friend’s dorm and met up to make pasta, which was an adventure in and of itself. Luckily, Laura’s kitchen was equipped with all things necessary to make ze foods. I brought the wine left in my room and we had that was well :D Chris brought honey and bread to make it a downright feast!

Chris kocht!

Spaghetti sauce in a box within the pasta box…

Sarah, after a day of flying

Laura! this was her kitchen. She has a newer house than me :<

Sarah und Ich. I HAVE FRIENDS NOW!

Me n ma bowl

View from her floor!

Mmm real food!

First full meal in Germany :>

Then, we parted ways for about a half hour and everyone met up at one of the bars/eateries on campus. (I say campus, but no learning goes on here! just livin’. However it really is a student city, with around 2,500 people here) It was the first time the entire group had been together, and at first it was a wee bit awks, it got better and I got to meet a lot of cool people on my program :B We also spoke German for most of it, which boosted my confidence and made me feel less incompetent :D Always a good feeling. We hung out for about 3 hours, and I had a Strongbow—oh how I’d missed cider! Believe it or not, I’ve yet to have a German beer here. The time will come, I have to be ready. Around 10:30 I headed back to my room, put on my pajamas, killed time and went to bed to ready myself for the BIG DAY Tuesday. And believe me, it was a big day!

Forgive me if the next block of blathering is unintelligible, as I don’t think I’ve quite adjusted to what I’ve gotten myself into. What exactly have I gotten myself into!? AHHH! I’ve only been in this country for 23 hours and already I’m wondering what the hell I’m doing here. And yet already I’ve been asked for directions. At least someone things I’m supposed to be here ;)

The flight over wasn’t abysmal, however as usual sleep evaded me and I spent my time peering out the window, watching movies (An Education, part of Bright Star and three episodes of Dhani Tackles the Globe) and wiggling about incessantly, no doubt annoying my neighbor. Whatevz, this is me caring. Oh look, I’m not caring! :D When I landed in London and got through customs, I momentarily panicked that I’d done something wrong, and that my bags needed to be -rechecked at Heathrow. After scurrying around for a bit and pestering the Lufthansa lady twice, I was assured they were scheduled to simply follow me to Munich. With that crisis averted, I had time to wander around aimlessly until my gate opened. Not knowing which gate is mine makes me nervous, and I don’t particularly like being nervous. But after scribbling in my journal a bit (a nice passerby said she liked my doodle :B) my gate was announced and I trucked over, waited then boarded. 

This flight was only 1.5 hours long, and deboarding and gathering my things was quite easy. It felt strange to be in a new airport, surrounded by everything German, and yet it still didn’t feel like I was there to stay. Going through customs got my nerves in motion again as the man asked me if I spoke German, and i replied “A little” (in German) and so continued out conversation. IN GERMAN! That was the first time my mouth and mind had had to work together in a foreign language in over four months. It was a slight struggle, but I powered through, and only didn’t know what his last question was and replied “Nein” and that wasn’t offensive/illegal and so he let me go :) I had a hunch it was about a visa, but lord knows. When I finally entered the main terminal (after a series of very creepy frosted glass automatic doors) Johanna was waiting for me with a big fatty sign depicting pretzels, beer and love :D I think I had a look of fear and panic written on my face because she was laughing while hugging me… We chatted, caught up and made out way to another terminal to pick up another girl from Oregon who was arriving around the same time I was. When we got her (Laura) we then took the shuttle to the U-bahn then the U-bahn to StudentenStadt (where I live). On the ride over Johanna gave us Capri Suns (which is a GERMAN brand! they were apple flavored.) and a boatload of information that will take me weeks to retain. *frazzled* 

Once at StuSta (StudentenStadt) we were shown our respective rooms, allowed some time to recoop, then Laura and I planned to go to the grocery store for much needed foodstuffs. And since stores are closed on Sundays, this was necessary D: As it turned out, about six others from the program came with us and we made a little adventure out of it. I say adventure because 1. the store didn’t take Visa and 2. I forgot to tell Visa I’m peacing out, so I couldn’t get monies from the ATM 3. silly Kat didn’t exchange money at the airport.  Thankfully Laura let me borrow from her, so I will not starve over the next two days :) After that, well we’ll see…(Just kidding! I’m calling Visa today and opening a bank account on Tuesday. DON’T FRET, PARENTS.) With food in hand, we returned to the dorms, split up and I frantically organized some more. It didn’t really hit me that I was here until then, until I stopped moving and had time to realize I’m in a foreign country, with barely passable German, no cat and surrounded by strangers…

But I didn’t sulk for long, and instead went to bed with Herman (my whale). We fell asleep listening to the not-so-toothing sounds of house/techno coming from somewhere in the building. Luckily, I was too exhausted to care :D

So now you all know I’m alive! not sobbing uncontrollably in my room! and having eaten at least one meal :D Next post will be of my room, once I put my drying rack away (its big and the towel is pink and not worth viewing)