So I'm terrible at updating this thing, forgive me! I'll probably end up glossing over some of the two weeks that have passed, but that's just a reason for you all to ask me questions when I come home! :)
Our chemistry exam went well enough, of course I made silly mistakes and could've done better as per my usual academic performance. The rest of that week is a blur of being relieved that my exam was done. We had a really nice weekend at home, I did laundry and cleaned my room (still looking for a vacuum though). I meant to do some kitchen stuff but I still haven't gotten around to it. The main event of the weekend was making chili, which was a multi-hour process. I bought a kilo of ground beef, and we added red onions, white onions, yellow and orange pepper, and maybe some other stuff. I just used some tomato sauce I knew I liked and found something I thought was tomato paste (it was! my German must be getting better...). We made it Saturday day and let it simmer until dinner. Then we ate chili for most of Sunday and Monday. I really liked staying in, and I'm excited to that this weekend.
The next week was just regular classes, as per the normal. I've started to keep a journal to remember the specific days, and it really helps. Thursday night we left again for Munich, but this time with longer plans.
Of course we decided to be cheap and have a four hour layover at a random train station (from 12:00 AM to 4:00 AM), and I have decided I am never doing that EVER AGAIN. Sleeping on the ground is awful, sleeping in the cold is not restful, and doing both is painful on a level I cannot describe. At least we were all together, I suppose. Anyhow, we got into Munich at about 9:45 and went to the hostel. We checked in and all that jazz and got food. We went back to the train station to get a train to Fussen to see the Neuschwanstein castle (DISNEY CASTLE!). The train ride is about two hours and the southern German country side looks SUSPICIOUSLY like southern Indiana. We got to Fussen and walked around a very cute German town and ate a nice lunch. Then we took a bus up to Schwangau, the town at the base of the castle.
We were considering a horse carriage ride up to the castle, but it was very expensive, we're young, and I actually hate horses, so that decision wasn't too difficult. The walk up really provided some great opportunities for pictures, which are going to be on my photobucket by the time I post this HOPEFULLY. The foliage was just breathtaking, and the castle really is a fairytale. We took an audio tour of the castle, which is about 35 minutes long. It was very crowded, but still beautiful. The inside is so lavishly decorated. I think Americans have a hard time realizing just how wealthy the European royalty was until you are confronted with it face to face. Everything is gold, silver, satin, jewels. We found a cool bridge that gave us a great vantage point for taking pictures of the castle, then went back home. The train ride home was delayed about a half hour, which felt like forever.
When we got back some people went out, but I was very tired from the horrible train station "sleep" so I stayed in. On Saturday we woke up and ate breakfast at the hostel. Then we went on a three hour walking tour of Munich. Of course I forgot my camera, but it was rainy and cold anyway. The tour was super interesting though and we had a great tour guide. Then we went back to the hostel, ate a quick lunch, and went to the Bayern game. The soccer game was amazing and so much fun. We stood for the whole game and cheered and they won 3-0, so it was just a good time. The pictures and videos are on photobucket and they do a better job of showing the enthusiasm of the crowd.
After the game we went to the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's oldest and most famous beer hall. It is very touristy, but still very fun with the Bavarian band and the waitresses in dindrl and waiters in lederhosen. We went back home after the Hofbrauhaus, and ended up sleeping pretty late on Sunday. Our train left at noon, so we didn't have too much more time to run around Munich. I can't decide whether I like Munich or Berlin better! I definitely want to go back to both, I feel like we only got a glance of each city.
This week (about two hours ago) I had my German midterm and another organic chemistry exam. Next week I have a bio exam on Monday, so I'm spending the week in the library, writing posts and uploading pictures as procrastination. For now, I am going to go home and make dinner for myself and my friend and maybe call a friend or two before I sleep. I have lab and class tomorrow, so I have to be well prepared.
Here's the link to my Munich pictures on photobucket!
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z254/rusher116/Studying%20Abroad/Munich%20Round%20II/?start=40
Tschuss!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Oktoberfest
So I'm going to write a shorter post about just this weekend, because I want to tell you all of my shenanigans before I forget about Oktoberfest, but I do have an organic exam tomorrow.
So the weekend started out on Thursday at 10:00 PM. We went to the train station and caught our train at 10:30, and rode for about two hours to Leipzig. We had a five hour layover in Leipzig, so we ate a large amount of McDonald's food and tried to stay warm. We all did fall asleep, but not at the same time so we were able to keep our seats in McDonald's. I read a little bit of my book (Black Hawk Down), which was really good. Then our train came in at 5:00 AM, and we got on a four hour ride from Leipzig to Munich. We got into Munich at 9:45, and went to the bank and the bathroom and all that stuff.
Next we walked toward the festival by following all the people in dirndl and lederhosen. I must say, lederhosen are strangely attractive on some people. We walked all around the festival. It really reminded me of the state fair, but with large beer tents in the middle. We went on a very cool roller coaster, and I missed Six Flags and wanted to go to Cedar Point. Then we were hungry, so we went to a beer tent.
The beer was really expensive, but quite delicious. I also had a really good pretzel. We had a lot of fun just listening in the beer tent, listening to the little polka band play on the platform. Be sure to check out the pictures on my photobucket, they look like postcards! Then we went back outside and wandered around and met a lot of people in the festival. We saw some of our other group, and generally had fun.
Then it was about ten thirty and the festival was shutting down. We decided to get something to eat at a small place until about 11:30, then went to wait in the train station until 5:00 AM again. It was very cold in the train station, so we all snuggled together. We saw a group of people that had brought a tent (so smart!). We got back into Dresden at 11:30 AM on Saturday, and I slept most of Saturday away to recover and be warm.
Sunday was laundry, phone calls, and studying day, and today is final-cram-oh-my-goodness-first-organic-test day (and we have our first lab tomorrow, which the timing really pisses me off). I'll let you know how the exam goes, but I need to get back to work!
So the weekend started out on Thursday at 10:00 PM. We went to the train station and caught our train at 10:30, and rode for about two hours to Leipzig. We had a five hour layover in Leipzig, so we ate a large amount of McDonald's food and tried to stay warm. We all did fall asleep, but not at the same time so we were able to keep our seats in McDonald's. I read a little bit of my book (Black Hawk Down), which was really good. Then our train came in at 5:00 AM, and we got on a four hour ride from Leipzig to Munich. We got into Munich at 9:45, and went to the bank and the bathroom and all that stuff.
Next we walked toward the festival by following all the people in dirndl and lederhosen. I must say, lederhosen are strangely attractive on some people. We walked all around the festival. It really reminded me of the state fair, but with large beer tents in the middle. We went on a very cool roller coaster, and I missed Six Flags and wanted to go to Cedar Point. Then we were hungry, so we went to a beer tent.
The beer was really expensive, but quite delicious. I also had a really good pretzel. We had a lot of fun just listening in the beer tent, listening to the little polka band play on the platform. Be sure to check out the pictures on my photobucket, they look like postcards! Then we went back outside and wandered around and met a lot of people in the festival. We saw some of our other group, and generally had fun.
Then it was about ten thirty and the festival was shutting down. We decided to get something to eat at a small place until about 11:30, then went to wait in the train station until 5:00 AM again. It was very cold in the train station, so we all snuggled together. We saw a group of people that had brought a tent (so smart!). We got back into Dresden at 11:30 AM on Saturday, and I slept most of Saturday away to recover and be warm.
Sunday was laundry, phone calls, and studying day, and today is final-cram-oh-my-goodness-first-organic-test day (and we have our first lab tomorrow, which the timing really pisses me off). I'll let you know how the exam goes, but I need to get back to work!
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