Being back here at the Grigat's house has reminded me of many things. They are the little things that you remember only after you have been away from a place for a while. I'm going to try to remember as many as I can and list them here now.
The first thing that comes to mind is the smell. Not the smell of Germany or the countryside, but the smell of the house. Every house has its own smell, and this house has several that are particular to it. The guest bedroom where I'm staying has its own smell, the bottom floor of the house has its own smell as well. They aren't bad smells, just different... different enough that I can't actually name the smells, and different enough to have a direct link to my memory. It's like the smell that tells you that you are home. This place is very much my home while I'm in Germany, or at least the place I come home to. I've known the Grigats now for close to 14 years, and whenever I'm in Germany, they are the parents I visit. Andreas lived with my family for 1 year, and I've spent close to that through the intervening years living with him and his parents.
I'm trying to think of the other little differences that were so apparent to me a few days ago... but now I can't seem to think of any more of them. Maybe if I sleep on these thoughts they will come back to me in the morning?
In other news... German is coming back to me quickly. I've been surprised how much I can understand... practically everything here in Brandenburg. Unfortunately, it's been so long since I've spoken German that my tongue and mouth don't want to form the words correctly. There are a few vowel sounds that English just doesn't have, like all of the letters with umlauts, and there are a few consonants and consonant combinations that take practice as well. The 'r' here is rolled in the back of the mouth, quite unlike a Spanish 'r,' and to pronounce Schwetschkawasser was impossible for me yesterday. Try it. Shvet-shka. But, today I was able to say it pretty well. Anyway, the point of my surprise really is I can't believe how much German I'm understanding, but how difficult it is for me to form sentences and pronounce the words.
Oh, one of the big differences... the time change, otherwise known as jet lag. There's a 7 hour difference... which means when it's time to go to bed here, it's only 3 pm at home; time to get up, it's midnight; and so on. And just because you start to build a rhythm to the new time with sleeping and waking, it doesn't mean your body understands it. I wake up at 1 am every night starving, because my stomach thinks it's 6 pm dinner time. This is strange, let me tell you.
Alright, that's all I can think of for now. Have a lovely (day, evening, whatever).
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Traveling
The really amazing thing about being someone who loves to travel is realizing how much you actually hate to travel after 8 hours in the same small, uncomfortable seat on the same plane flying over the same ocean. The novelty of flying over Greenland and Iceland wears off very quickly, and for all I loved visiting Sweden on my two previous trips to Stockholm, all I wanted while changing planes in Arlanda airport was for everyone to quit speaking Swedish and allow me to sleep.
Altogether, I spent about 21 hours straight traveling Saturday and Sunday. I was up rather late the night before, packing my worldly possessions into boxes and moving out of the apartment I had been living in for almost a year, and packing my two suitcases that are supposed to contain everything I'd need for the next two years. I got about 5 hours of sleep heading into Saturday morning. Up at 7 a.m., at my sister's by 8, and left for the airport by 9. We got there a little before 11 a.m., and I started to check my bags in and get my ticket. The fact that I had to sit on my second suitcase the night before to get it to close should have been a good indication that I had packed too much in it... but I didn't think much about it at the time, I had just wanted to be done and get some sleep. As it turns out... checked luggage may weigh only 50 lbs. to avoid a $200 fee. Over 70 lbs. the fee jumps to $400. My second suitcase weighed in at a little over 71 lbs. Funnily enough, when the lady asked me if my bags were 50 lbs. or less I picked up the first one and curled it. I said, "Yep, that one's good." since I knew I couldn't curl more than 50 lbs. She looked at me funny, but when I tried to curl the second one and said, "Ah crap, this one is too heavy." She then pointed out there was a scale 2 feet from where I was curling my luggage. Turned out I was right, 44 pounds for the first bag, 71 for the second. I then took it aside and had to unpack 20 pounds of crap. The lady gave me a plastic bag to put the "extra" stuff in. It was harder than I thought to get rid of 20 lbs. of clothes. I have traveled internationally several times and never been over on the baggage, so this was a new experience for me. 20 minutes later, after going through everything in public, I weighed my bags in at 49.5 pounds, and 50.5 pounds respectively. I also got 2 carry-on items... and though the rules say you may only pack 16 pounds in them... I'm pretty sure I got away with about 40 pounds.
I got through security, and settled in to wait for my flights. First flight was Kansas City to Chicago, took about an hour and a half. I had plenty of room, and sat next to a guy from the Netherlands who was flying to Amsterdam to defend his thesis. We talked a bit, he was in Kansas to visit his sister who was doing a year exchange there. I think he left Kansas underwhelmed, but he was polite about it. I don't blame him, the Midwest isn't very exciting compared to international traveling in Europe... I can only get so excited about cows, corn, or sunflowers as far as the eye can see, so I don't hold it against anyone else when they aren't giddy in my home region. I told him I was going to Germany to study Linguistics, and he admitted that he spoke some German, and that he had been to Germany several times. I asked what he thought, and he said he liked West Germany, as he had been to Cologne several times, but that he wasn't a fan of East Germany, as the yearly conferences he had been attending in Cologne had been moved to Leipzig. I stated that it was amazing to me that even 20 years after the reunification, there were still great differences between former East and West Germany. He agreed, and proceeded to tell me about Leipzig and East Germany... Leipzig is a place I've spent a few weeks on a few occasions. As he was telling me about shrines to Hitler with flowers and such that he had seen there, I mentioned this little fact that I had been to Leipzig, to which he replied, "Yeah, yeah, the city is fine... but if you have to get gas outside the city..." and he proceeded to tell me how dangerous and scary it was. At this point, I decided I was done talking to him. I understand there is probably some lingering resentment from the invasion of Holland in WWII, and it's probably stronger in small towns like where Martijn is from, but this felt a lot like a guy pissing on my foot and telling me it was raining. I can't say for sure that he didn't see the things he said he saw, but I think it very unlikely.
Let me backtrack a bit... right after we took off from KC, as the plane was climbing and they started to pressurize the cabin, my right ear wouldn't pop. The pressure built until I thought my ear would explode, but of course it never did, I simply became dizzy. I thought the plane was turning, though in reality it was flying straight, my dizzy head was spinning. I tried looking out the window, and yawning, and every other trick I could think of for dizziness or a pressurized ear; nothing worked. I started to get sick to my stomach, and I realized that when I opened my eyes it looked like the plane was doing barrel rolls. All I could do was sit and close my eyes... finally my ear popped, painfully, after which it burned for a while... but within 5 minutes the would had stopped spinning. So it was at least halfway through the flight that I was able to relax and talk to the guy next to me.
I made it through Chicago without too much trouble... if you don't count the 4 times they put my computer backpack through security. In case you have ever wondered... they don't like it when you have 2 computers, 4 external hard drives, or various other things packed in your carry-on. They especially don't like it when you have a circuit board (motherboard to my desktop computer) bubble wrapped in your luggage and about 20 batteries in the pouches.
After that, I made it on board my second flight, Chicago to Sweden. The first couple of hours were fine, but after dinner, I wanted to sleep. The entire cabin shut off their lights, and got quiet, and tried to sleep. But not the woman behind me... her reading light was on the entire trip, which meant it shined on me for most of the trip. Also, she must have had a lot to say, because she spoke in Swedish the entire time. 245 people on the flight, and the one behind me is the only one that didn't want to sleep. So, I didn't get any sleep. Well, my brain didn't, after 3 hours my butt fell asleep... the kind of burning numb sleep it gets from sitting too long in one position.
Made it to Arlanda airport in Stockholm, where I saw a fairytale play-place for children. I was tired, grumpy, and probably more than a little angry... but it was the perfect thing to see. I liked it enough that I stopped, dug out my camera from my over-packed carry-on, and took pictures. It even put a smile on my face. It's those little moments when you realize the world is an okay place that I love.
Made it to Berlin, Andreas was late and my flight was early. I stood by the taxis outside for a while, but eventually went back inside to try to find a pay phone to call him. As I was walking to exchange my money, I saw him at another desk, asking the guy to page me in the airport. I snuck up behind him and tried to hit him with my suitcase... but he turned around too soon. We packed his car with my things, and left for Gusow, where his parents live and where I stay to get over my jet lag... they're my family when I'm in Germany. Meanwhile... Andy got lost in Berlin, so the 1 1/2 hour trip to Gusow turned into 2 1/2 hours. I was starving meanwhile, having only had one airplane meal in 24 hours, so we stopped to get some genuine German food... a Doener. :D
It was good, and we eventually made it to Gusow. And here I am now, a few days later, writing this and trying to get used to being 7 hours in the future.
Altogether, I spent about 21 hours straight traveling Saturday and Sunday. I was up rather late the night before, packing my worldly possessions into boxes and moving out of the apartment I had been living in for almost a year, and packing my two suitcases that are supposed to contain everything I'd need for the next two years. I got about 5 hours of sleep heading into Saturday morning. Up at 7 a.m., at my sister's by 8, and left for the airport by 9. We got there a little before 11 a.m., and I started to check my bags in and get my ticket. The fact that I had to sit on my second suitcase the night before to get it to close should have been a good indication that I had packed too much in it... but I didn't think much about it at the time, I had just wanted to be done and get some sleep. As it turns out... checked luggage may weigh only 50 lbs. to avoid a $200 fee. Over 70 lbs. the fee jumps to $400. My second suitcase weighed in at a little over 71 lbs. Funnily enough, when the lady asked me if my bags were 50 lbs. or less I picked up the first one and curled it. I said, "Yep, that one's good." since I knew I couldn't curl more than 50 lbs. She looked at me funny, but when I tried to curl the second one and said, "Ah crap, this one is too heavy." She then pointed out there was a scale 2 feet from where I was curling my luggage. Turned out I was right, 44 pounds for the first bag, 71 for the second. I then took it aside and had to unpack 20 pounds of crap. The lady gave me a plastic bag to put the "extra" stuff in. It was harder than I thought to get rid of 20 lbs. of clothes. I have traveled internationally several times and never been over on the baggage, so this was a new experience for me. 20 minutes later, after going through everything in public, I weighed my bags in at 49.5 pounds, and 50.5 pounds respectively. I also got 2 carry-on items... and though the rules say you may only pack 16 pounds in them... I'm pretty sure I got away with about 40 pounds.
I got through security, and settled in to wait for my flights. First flight was Kansas City to Chicago, took about an hour and a half. I had plenty of room, and sat next to a guy from the Netherlands who was flying to Amsterdam to defend his thesis. We talked a bit, he was in Kansas to visit his sister who was doing a year exchange there. I think he left Kansas underwhelmed, but he was polite about it. I don't blame him, the Midwest isn't very exciting compared to international traveling in Europe... I can only get so excited about cows, corn, or sunflowers as far as the eye can see, so I don't hold it against anyone else when they aren't giddy in my home region. I told him I was going to Germany to study Linguistics, and he admitted that he spoke some German, and that he had been to Germany several times. I asked what he thought, and he said he liked West Germany, as he had been to Cologne several times, but that he wasn't a fan of East Germany, as the yearly conferences he had been attending in Cologne had been moved to Leipzig. I stated that it was amazing to me that even 20 years after the reunification, there were still great differences between former East and West Germany. He agreed, and proceeded to tell me about Leipzig and East Germany... Leipzig is a place I've spent a few weeks on a few occasions. As he was telling me about shrines to Hitler with flowers and such that he had seen there, I mentioned this little fact that I had been to Leipzig, to which he replied, "Yeah, yeah, the city is fine... but if you have to get gas outside the city..." and he proceeded to tell me how dangerous and scary it was. At this point, I decided I was done talking to him. I understand there is probably some lingering resentment from the invasion of Holland in WWII, and it's probably stronger in small towns like where Martijn is from, but this felt a lot like a guy pissing on my foot and telling me it was raining. I can't say for sure that he didn't see the things he said he saw, but I think it very unlikely.
Let me backtrack a bit... right after we took off from KC, as the plane was climbing and they started to pressurize the cabin, my right ear wouldn't pop. The pressure built until I thought my ear would explode, but of course it never did, I simply became dizzy. I thought the plane was turning, though in reality it was flying straight, my dizzy head was spinning. I tried looking out the window, and yawning, and every other trick I could think of for dizziness or a pressurized ear; nothing worked. I started to get sick to my stomach, and I realized that when I opened my eyes it looked like the plane was doing barrel rolls. All I could do was sit and close my eyes... finally my ear popped, painfully, after which it burned for a while... but within 5 minutes the would had stopped spinning. So it was at least halfway through the flight that I was able to relax and talk to the guy next to me.
I made it through Chicago without too much trouble... if you don't count the 4 times they put my computer backpack through security. In case you have ever wondered... they don't like it when you have 2 computers, 4 external hard drives, or various other things packed in your carry-on. They especially don't like it when you have a circuit board (motherboard to my desktop computer) bubble wrapped in your luggage and about 20 batteries in the pouches.
After that, I made it on board my second flight, Chicago to Sweden. The first couple of hours were fine, but after dinner, I wanted to sleep. The entire cabin shut off their lights, and got quiet, and tried to sleep. But not the woman behind me... her reading light was on the entire trip, which meant it shined on me for most of the trip. Also, she must have had a lot to say, because she spoke in Swedish the entire time. 245 people on the flight, and the one behind me is the only one that didn't want to sleep. So, I didn't get any sleep. Well, my brain didn't, after 3 hours my butt fell asleep... the kind of burning numb sleep it gets from sitting too long in one position.
Made it to Arlanda airport in Stockholm, where I saw a fairytale play-place for children. I was tired, grumpy, and probably more than a little angry... but it was the perfect thing to see. I liked it enough that I stopped, dug out my camera from my over-packed carry-on, and took pictures. It even put a smile on my face. It's those little moments when you realize the world is an okay place that I love.
Made it to Berlin, Andreas was late and my flight was early. I stood by the taxis outside for a while, but eventually went back inside to try to find a pay phone to call him. As I was walking to exchange my money, I saw him at another desk, asking the guy to page me in the airport. I snuck up behind him and tried to hit him with my suitcase... but he turned around too soon. We packed his car with my things, and left for Gusow, where his parents live and where I stay to get over my jet lag... they're my family when I'm in Germany. Meanwhile... Andy got lost in Berlin, so the 1 1/2 hour trip to Gusow turned into 2 1/2 hours. I was starving meanwhile, having only had one airplane meal in 24 hours, so we stopped to get some genuine German food... a Doener. :D
It was good, and we eventually made it to Gusow. And here I am now, a few days later, writing this and trying to get used to being 7 hours in the future.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Just another blog about another guy in another country
Thought I would write this to keep track of my stories and experiences, and to let anyone interested know where I am, and what I'm doing. I'm in the process of moving from Warrensburg to Freiburg, hence, the name. I'm traveling a bit the first couple weeks here to visit freinds and practice my German, so it'll probably be more exciting now, and a little less rampant later when I've settled down in Freiburg. Enjoy!
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