Well, folks, here we go: Swine flu has reached Germany.
This morning, there was a case confirmed by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's leading health institute. The case, luckily, is in Regensburg, north of Munich, which is about a 4.5 hour drive from where I am living in Trier.
Still gotta say, this stuff makes me nervous. Here's hoping that it goes away fast and without too much more illness and chaos.
Keep washing your hands!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Spring is in the air...
Isn't it nice to finally have spring weather again? It's such an uplifting feeling...
Two days ago, my friend Mario contacted me, saying, "Hey, let's grill on Thursday! Help me organize this!"
Thus, in about an hour, we created a simple Facebook event inviting all the exchange students and our friends in Trier to a night of grilling on the university. We invited roughly 200 people altogether - around 40 people RSVPd - and were excited to see who would show up.
Thursday night rolled around, and a few of us met to run to the nearest grocery store and get our supplies. I suggested buying a grill to share, as we only had a little campfire pit - and, of course, I ended up paying 25€ out of the 30€ for it. I wasn't too fazed, though, as I love grilling and was ok with owning one.
The night was a ridiculous success; at one point, I counted 60 people milling around outside, and Mario swears there were around 100 who showed up. Everyone just enjoyed themselves, grilling their own food, having a couple of beers and talking. At the end of the night, a lot of people helped me clean up the HUGE mess we'd made, most chipped in 1-2€ apiece, so that the grill ended up costing me only 5€ personally, and I gathered enough beer bottles (which are worth a deposit back here) to make at least 15€!
At some point, I recall talking with someone who had gone home for the semester break. I said at first, "You are so lucky to have spent time with all of your family!" After which I looked around and realized, "But this," gesturing to the gathered crowd, most of whom I knew, the others I now know, "This is also our family."
Two days ago, my friend Mario contacted me, saying, "Hey, let's grill on Thursday! Help me organize this!"
Thus, in about an hour, we created a simple Facebook event inviting all the exchange students and our friends in Trier to a night of grilling on the university. We invited roughly 200 people altogether - around 40 people RSVPd - and were excited to see who would show up.
Thursday night rolled around, and a few of us met to run to the nearest grocery store and get our supplies. I suggested buying a grill to share, as we only had a little campfire pit - and, of course, I ended up paying 25€ out of the 30€ for it. I wasn't too fazed, though, as I love grilling and was ok with owning one.
The night was a ridiculous success; at one point, I counted 60 people milling around outside, and Mario swears there were around 100 who showed up. Everyone just enjoyed themselves, grilling their own food, having a couple of beers and talking. At the end of the night, a lot of people helped me clean up the HUGE mess we'd made, most chipped in 1-2€ apiece, so that the grill ended up costing me only 5€ personally, and I gathered enough beer bottles (which are worth a deposit back here) to make at least 15€!
At some point, I recall talking with someone who had gone home for the semester break. I said at first, "You are so lucky to have spent time with all of your family!" After which I looked around and realized, "But this," gesturing to the gathered crowd, most of whom I knew, the others I now know, "This is also our family."
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Once upon a time, Amanda went to Brussels and Amsterdam...
So, since I've been a drag and haven't kept this thing as up-to-date as I would've liked, I will now take all of you on a journey back in time, to a weekend in November.
I've spent a ton of time traveling and have decided, whether you like it or not, to post a little recap of what I've done since the last real update. Maybe this is more for myself than you readers, but either way, I hope you take some enjoyment out of it.
Way back last November, I boarded a train with 10 other crazy Erasmus students and a German tutor for an adventure weekend of two nights in Brussels, Belgium and two nights in Amsterdam, Holland. While I had heard that Brussels in way boring and Amsterdam is totally awesome, dude, I and my friends found things quite the opposite.
We had a wonderful two nights in Brussels in the shadiest hostel room in which I have ever stayed. Six of us packed into a top-floor room with a fairly neat balcony view of some church, six broken-down beds, a leaning wardrobe, a party shower, and an oh-shit toilet room (with two stalls, mind you). Let me explain.
The hostel was decently nice in the lower rooms, but this top-floor room was really something to be admired. Upon first entry, it seemed pretty dingy, but sleepable. Further inspection, however, revealed the party shower: a room containing three showers with absolutely zero separation between them, and even better... connected to the room containing the two sinks with absolutely nothing in between. I.E., if someone was taking a shower and actually wanted privacy, no one could use the sinks. May I also mention that the door separating this whole debacle from the main room was a broken sheet of panels? Oh, and only two of the three showers sort of worked, making the party shower a bit obsolete. Alas.
This was nothing, however, compared to the toilet room. It was aptly dubbed the "oh-shit" room (or, truly, more frequently, the "oh-F---!" room) after the first person opened the door to use the toilet. It smelled a bit like musty toilet, no big deal... until the fan was turned on. Instead of clearing the air, the fan made the room absolutely unbearable. Breathe at your own risk unbearable. Let me add that the fan came on automatically with the light. Therefore, the rest of our stay there, the room (both the toilet room and the sleeping room, yippee!) got worse and worse smelling with every use, and it was always a gambling decision: pee without lights and maybe breathe, or be able to see the toilet but possibly pass out? Choose wisely.
Other than our amusing hostel situation, Brussels turned out to be a ton of fun! Most of Brussels has been rebuilt over the years, particularly since its intitution as symbolic capitol of the European Union, but there is one square of historic buildings that was all decked out in Christmas spirit that was particularly beautiful. I and a few friends also spent time wandering around the city one day while the other lazy group took the bus tour and found some beautiful views and streets. Additionally, one of the coolest pubs I've ever been to, Delirium Café, is in Brussels. This pub is featured in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most beers on tap at one time, 2004! Let me tell you, Kriek, a cherry-flavored Belgian specialty, is quite tasty.
On to Amsterdam... Yeah, Amsterdam is overrated.
Highlights:
- eating gnarly Chinese food out of a take-out box and stopping later that night in front of an outdoor art installation featuring Andy-Warhol-esque faces with variously-filled-in speech bubbles atop. I parked right in front of one proclaiming, "WHAM!", and proceeded to produce the largest pile of vomit I have ever seen in my life. My friend, Anne, stood next to me, rubbing my back the whole time, later explaining how in awe she was at "how much vomit came out of such a small person!"
- seeing the awesome canals - Amsterdam is known as "the Venice of the North."
- the absolutely massive amounts of bicycles. Truly a bicycle paradise. They covered every surface possible. Plus, the three-story bike-only parking ramp at the train station is really worth seeing.
- Red Light District was amusing, but really only worth seeing once.
- a cool, friendly, homey hostel in which I got to use my German with our Swiss-German roommate and my limited Spanish with the Spanish couple we also were rooming with.
- the open-air street corner urinals that people actually use. Icky.
- being there on the last legal day of selling psychadelic mushrooms. Yeah, personally, I didn't really care, but I guess it was a historic day, and this may be cool to some people.
Really, the only reason I'd go back would be to see the Anne Frank house, which I missed out on. Other than that, Rotterdam and other parts of the Netherlands are much more appealing to me.
Overall, though, the trip was a great experience, particularly Brussels. :)
I've spent a ton of time traveling and have decided, whether you like it or not, to post a little recap of what I've done since the last real update. Maybe this is more for myself than you readers, but either way, I hope you take some enjoyment out of it.
Way back last November, I boarded a train with 10 other crazy Erasmus students and a German tutor for an adventure weekend of two nights in Brussels, Belgium and two nights in Amsterdam, Holland. While I had heard that Brussels in way boring and Amsterdam is totally awesome, dude, I and my friends found things quite the opposite.
We had a wonderful two nights in Brussels in the shadiest hostel room in which I have ever stayed. Six of us packed into a top-floor room with a fairly neat balcony view of some church, six broken-down beds, a leaning wardrobe, a party shower, and an oh-shit toilet room (with two stalls, mind you). Let me explain.
The hostel was decently nice in the lower rooms, but this top-floor room was really something to be admired. Upon first entry, it seemed pretty dingy, but sleepable. Further inspection, however, revealed the party shower: a room containing three showers with absolutely zero separation between them, and even better... connected to the room containing the two sinks with absolutely nothing in between. I.E., if someone was taking a shower and actually wanted privacy, no one could use the sinks. May I also mention that the door separating this whole debacle from the main room was a broken sheet of panels? Oh, and only two of the three showers sort of worked, making the party shower a bit obsolete. Alas.
This was nothing, however, compared to the toilet room. It was aptly dubbed the "oh-shit" room (or, truly, more frequently, the "oh-F---!" room) after the first person opened the door to use the toilet. It smelled a bit like musty toilet, no big deal... until the fan was turned on. Instead of clearing the air, the fan made the room absolutely unbearable. Breathe at your own risk unbearable. Let me add that the fan came on automatically with the light. Therefore, the rest of our stay there, the room (both the toilet room and the sleeping room, yippee!) got worse and worse smelling with every use, and it was always a gambling decision: pee without lights and maybe breathe, or be able to see the toilet but possibly pass out? Choose wisely.
Other than our amusing hostel situation, Brussels turned out to be a ton of fun! Most of Brussels has been rebuilt over the years, particularly since its intitution as symbolic capitol of the European Union, but there is one square of historic buildings that was all decked out in Christmas spirit that was particularly beautiful. I and a few friends also spent time wandering around the city one day while the other lazy group took the bus tour and found some beautiful views and streets. Additionally, one of the coolest pubs I've ever been to, Delirium Café, is in Brussels. This pub is featured in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most beers on tap at one time, 2004! Let me tell you, Kriek, a cherry-flavored Belgian specialty, is quite tasty.
On to Amsterdam... Yeah, Amsterdam is overrated.
Highlights:
- eating gnarly Chinese food out of a take-out box and stopping later that night in front of an outdoor art installation featuring Andy-Warhol-esque faces with variously-filled-in speech bubbles atop. I parked right in front of one proclaiming, "WHAM!", and proceeded to produce the largest pile of vomit I have ever seen in my life. My friend, Anne, stood next to me, rubbing my back the whole time, later explaining how in awe she was at "how much vomit came out of such a small person!"
- seeing the awesome canals - Amsterdam is known as "the Venice of the North."
- the absolutely massive amounts of bicycles. Truly a bicycle paradise. They covered every surface possible. Plus, the three-story bike-only parking ramp at the train station is really worth seeing.
- Red Light District was amusing, but really only worth seeing once.
- a cool, friendly, homey hostel in which I got to use my German with our Swiss-German roommate and my limited Spanish with the Spanish couple we also were rooming with.
- the open-air street corner urinals that people actually use. Icky.
- being there on the last legal day of selling psychadelic mushrooms. Yeah, personally, I didn't really care, but I guess it was a historic day, and this may be cool to some people.
Really, the only reason I'd go back would be to see the Anne Frank house, which I missed out on. Other than that, Rotterdam and other parts of the Netherlands are much more appealing to me.
Overall, though, the trip was a great experience, particularly Brussels. :)
Six Fours!
So, just had to share with you that I'll be spending a week in Six Four on the French Riviera during the first week of June.
Good thing I bought that new swimsuit in Budapest the weekend I wasn't able to go to the Turkish baths! (Apparently Easter weekend is some big holiday or something...)
Good thing I bought that new swimsuit in Budapest the weekend I wasn't able to go to the Turkish baths! (Apparently Easter weekend is some big holiday or something...)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I'm baaaack.
Hey guys. Not even going to apologize. You'll just have to deal with backlogged stories. :)
Life's been crazy, but wonderful. At the same time, it's good to be back in Trier after about two solid months of nonstop traveling. (Seriously, I'm pretty sure the greatest block of time I've spent in my apartment was roughly 4 days since Valentine's Day.) People have been searching me out, trying to convince me to go out, meeting for coffee and mindless MTV and tea times. I feel like I really have a circle here, a group of friends who care and miss me when I'm gone. This is only going to make it harder to leave...
Weatheris was finally nicer, warm and sunny, the farmers are selling their produce in the Hauptmarkt again, classes are kicking off, and I have the lovely additions of microwave, toaster oven, television, and SNES in my apartment. (Thanks, people moving back home, rummage garbage, and boyfriend!)
So, here's the start of (hopefully) regular posts again. Thanks, loyal readers, for sticking with me and giving me crap about my long lapse. This is for you guys.
Life's been crazy, but wonderful. At the same time, it's good to be back in Trier after about two solid months of nonstop traveling. (Seriously, I'm pretty sure the greatest block of time I've spent in my apartment was roughly 4 days since Valentine's Day.) People have been searching me out, trying to convince me to go out, meeting for coffee and mindless MTV and tea times. I feel like I really have a circle here, a group of friends who care and miss me when I'm gone. This is only going to make it harder to leave...
Weather
So, here's the start of (hopefully) regular posts again. Thanks, loyal readers, for sticking with me and giving me crap about my long lapse. This is for you guys.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)