Feuerzangenbowlen and the Flu

Yes, I like alliteration.

Wow that was the longest lapse so far I think. Crap! It's not so much that I don't have time to write but that I don't have much to say... shame on you Brenna! There is ALWAYS something to say.

Ahhh... yes. I know. Must keep that above thought in mind. OK let me just try and remember what has happened this past... month almost? Wow. I was really slacking.

First off: London. My visit to the United Kingdom (first time ever) was really fun, albeit a little too short. It was great to see Leanne, my college roomie, whom I haven't seen since she came to visit me in Vienna almost two years ago. It was her birthday, so it was really fun to be there with her and her boyfriend to celebrate that. It was weird to go to London from Germany, because suddenly everyone is speaking English again and when I open my mouth I almost have to remind myself to ask my question in English. That, I suppose, is a good thing. What I still couldn't get over, even by the time I left, was that people drove on the wrong side of the road. You read about it, hear about it, see it in movies, but it is still SO weird to see it in action. I don't think I would ever be comfortable driving around London. Or anywhere in Europe and the UK for that matter. Or anywhere else except the U.S. And often I am not comfortable driving there either. Why am I still talking about this. Driving is scary. There.

Ok, so... I got to see most of the sights I wanted to: Big Ben, the London Eye, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey, etc. But we didn't make it to the Tower of London or to King's Cross. Boo hoo. (You know why I wanted to go to King's Cross... that's right, Platform 9 and 3/4.) But I did get to see the Temple Church (from The DaVinci Code,) although it was closed and we couldn't go in. And it seriously took us like two hours to find it, Dan Brown wasn't kidding when he described it as hard to locate...

But I saw and rode the double-decker buses, stepped in a red phone booth, witnessed the changing of the guards, and was told to Mind the Gap. And I saw Leannie. So it was a good trip.

I have posted pictures of this trip here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065508&l=6d356&id=23500703.

When I got back, mostly my weeks have consisted of rehearsing with my choir for our debut performance for a big Christmas party on the 13th. I also met with friends, went shopping and found a church I like to go to on Sundays.

The choir I am in went caroling at the Christkindlmärkte around town, as well as stopping in a few pubs as well. That was really fun, especially when people sang along and applauded. We even got free Glühwein for our performance. Toll!


The Christmas party hat Spaß gemacht, but it was hard to sing over the more than a hundred people talking to one another. But everyone thanked us and the orchestra for our carols, and said we all did a really good job. And the party was a blast all around.

Shortly after, however, (and I felt it coming on but could not miss out on the party) I got the flu. And it probably didn't help that Mark, the choir and orchestra conductor had the flu at the party. But I was sick basically from Monday until... well, I am still not 100 percent. But it's good I got sick now and not during actual Christmas!! But still... not fun...

And as for the job thing, I am definitely starting my position with Focus Magazine on January 12, 10 a.m. Focus is the third-largest news magazine in all of Germany, and I am going to be working within the Modernes Leben (Modern Living) department. I am still not quite sure what I will be doing for them, but hopefully it will be a great experience and I know I will learn a lot.

My upcoming plans consist of spending more time at the Christkindlmärkte, eating dinner with Helmut, Lisa, Peter and their neighbors on Sunday, and seeing my friends.


Ahhh wait, to explain what Feuerzangenbowlen are... and thus my alliterative headline... Feuerzangenbowle is a traditional German alcoholic drink, and one can find them in abundance within Munich's Christmas markets (Christkindlmärkte oder Weihnachtsmärkte). The name translates literally as "fire-tongs punch." It basically consists of mulled wine (Glühwein) in a bowl, which is topped with a cube of sugar soaked in rum and then set on fire, which melts and carmelizes the sugar until it mixes with the wine. Yummmmmmmm.

Honestly, I will REALLY try to update more often. New Year's Resolution, right?

And Happy Birthday, to me.

Ausgezeichnet!!!

Hurray!!!!

Ok I just wrote a long e-mail to friends and family, and sorry, I'm pretty much going to cut and paste... I don't feel like writing it all again... I am an excellent journalist that way.

First off, what I have been up to: This last week (Wednesday to Sunday), I was in Berlin for the Berlin Capital Program, which was to introduce a group of journalists from the states to the media in Germany. The Young American Journalists (my group) were only invited to attend the last three days of the program (which I found to be kind of a bummer) but it was very interesting and worthwhile all the same. The group that attended was a spectacular mixture of journalists from all around the country, some working for big companies like ABC and MTV and others still attending school. It was fun, and the mission of learning more about German media—from radio to television to newspapers—was achieved.

I attended Thanksgiving Dinner last night with a group of Munich Fulbrighters, and it was fun and delicious, but I missed being around family. I think it was the first time in my life not to be with family for Thanksgiving. But, I am leaving for London on Thursday to visit my college roommate Leanne, who now works for Reuters there. :0 )
I have never been so it will be awesome!!! I just hope it's not toooo cold... it is definitely Winter here...


And now for the best news. It seems as if the German media very much like to keep applications for about two months and then they all enjoy calling the applicant on the same day and offering them a job. While I was in Berlin, I got an e-mail from the managing editor of Munich Found, a monthly English-magazine here in Munich asking me if I would like to come in for an interview when I returned to Munich. I of course said yes! Then, upon returning to Munich, I found in my inbox that Fulbright had been in contact with Hubert Burda Media (a huge publishing company here) about the possibilities of an internship there as well. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, Fulbright just kept telling me to expect a call, so I just waited.

Today I had an interview with Munich Found, and she really liked me and said she would let me know very soon about the position. Then, when I got home, I got a call from a man working for Focus Magazine (the 3rd largest weekly news magazine in Germany) also offering me an internship!!! (When it rains, it pours for me... this I have discovered.)

www.focus.de (I'm sorry it's in German, but you get the idea!)

So now I am definitely starting my position with Focus on January 12, and if I also definitely get a position at Munich Found, I will try and see if I can do both or if I can perhaps begin at Munich Found after I have been at Focus for a while. I am extremely excited, especially about Focus because it is a very large and prestigious publication here, combining both news and features into a well-read magazine. The circulation is around 750,000 per week! Awesome.

SO YAY! I did it. Now I just have to see if there is a way to get my foot in both doors...

Wir werden sehen... aber trotzdem es freut mich sehr!

Wo sind alle die Sterne am Himmel?

Hello all.

Before I provide my normales update, (you know, I am a little sorry about all the Denglish, but really I'm not sorry because I find it amusing), I have to rant a bit about something that is bothering me.

Wo sind alle die Sterne am Himmel???

There are no stars here in Munich. Well I'm sure there are, you just can't see them. See, that's what I don't like about big cities. And that is what I REALLY miss about New Mexico and Montana. But mostly New Mexico. You can see the stars clearer there than anywhere in the world I think. A sky so speckled with tiny glimmering lights that it feels like you shouldn't ever look away. Because who would ever look away from such a truly awesome sight.

No, can't see that here. Maybe if I made a weekend trek to the Alps I will be able to see the sky better there. I wish I could go camping. A little late for that I think...

So anyway... let's see. What has been happening...

The Election Results Party was really awesome. I showed up with a press pass at about 8 p.m., had some Goulaschsuppe mit Brot, chatted with this nice girl, Susan, who has been living in Munich for about a year and a half. The atmosphere was wonderful and when it was announced that Obama had it in the bag, I don't think I've ever heard such loud cheering before in my life. It was SUCH a happy occasion! And it was just an illuminating experience to be smack dab in the center of such a historical event. (Well, it might have been a tad more exciting to have been at Grant Park, but this I couldn't achieve. So I settled. And it was a good settlement!)

I put up pictures of this event and you can find them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064064&l=548d9&id=23500703.

I also wrote a story about it all, but I couldn't find anyone who wanted to pick it up. (Ain't that just the story of my life right now...) But maybe I will put it up here. It wasn't one of my best... I am out of practice! Which means I really need to get a job now before all the practice I got at The New Mexico Free Press is rendered useless.

Which brings me to my next point: This past weekend I went to the Fulbright Welcome Meeting that was held in Frankfurt am Mainz. I met a lot of really cool/intelligent/knowledgeable/nice people, spoke German almost the entire time, attended a few fairly useful and thought-provoking workshops and acquired what will hopefully be non-dead-end media contacts. I decided to attend very last minute, after a spot in Florian's (who is the head of the Munich Fulbright Alumni group) carpool opened up, and after I also knew I had many people with whom I could stay with in Frankfurt. I ended up staying with most of the Munich Fulbright group at Anne's house, a residence of Frankfurt and a psychology student.

So yes, this was fun, except for the mini heart attacks I had while driving in Florian's car as he bounded down the Autobahn, swerving in and out of cars and stopping so suddenly behind the people in front of him. Man, Germans are crazy drivers. But somehow I still think they know more about driving and are better drivers than Americans. You just have to be one with a strong stomach to learn this fact.

Oh yes, I have posted photos of this meeting here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064066&l=72bad&id=23500703.

But you will be glad to know that I got many things accomplished these past week or two.

For one, I got my Aufenthaltserlebnis. Look how pretty it is!!! Took me all of three hours to get it, and I even thought that was pretty fast. Of course it didn't go smoothly. The girl who checked me in left out the "Noel" when she wrote out the registration, so the woman at the Kasse first made me wait 20 minutes before she decided to tell me I had to go back and have her write the "correct" name. But oh well. It could have been a LOT worse. At least I had all of my stuff. So then, while I was there, I went on over to the MVV office and used my Studentenausweis to get my discount for the public transit system. Pretty sweet actually, knocked off about €12 off my monthly price. Which is nice.

Then, on Monday, I got a call from the Hubert Burda Media Verlag saying they had received my information but that we had sent it to the wrong place. But then the woman politely informed me that she would pass it along to the human resources department and see if they couldn't find a spot for me within one of their magazines. (Burda publishes 262 magazines worldwide—including Elle, Glamour, Vanity, Vogue, etc.) So that would be lovely but I am trying not to get my hopes up.

I walked down the street a ways today to the Kommunikationswissenschaft buildings of LMU (which is the subject they assigned me to—communications studies) and I had a nice chat with the head of the program there (who was much friendlier than I thought he'd be) and he basically said if I didn't get on with Burda Media that he was sure they could find something for me.

So that's a start. A big start.

Now I am just hoping that this Berlin Capital Program I must attend next week will also be a help. I am a bit upset about it because the commission makes hotel reservations for myself and Stephanie (she is the journalist living in Frankfurt) for half of the program. Then they say if we want to stay for the whole thing, we have to do it at our own expense. But that is unfair I think because the grantees living in Berlin—of which there are four—don't have to pay anything at all and can attend the full program if they wish. And I just received the schedule and there is a seminar I am very interested in going to but it takes place before I will arrive in Berlin. And I wish I had known this because I might have made my reservations for different days. But Fulbright urges you to do everything far in advance. And I understand. But still, it's frustrating. And a little unfair I think.

BUT, things are looking up, I am hopeful and all I wish now is that the sun would stay out and the rain would never come.

And perhaps a glimpse of some stars.

A Grand New Plan

So I have decided on something.

I am no longer going to spend my time here worrying and being frustrated. If I keep going on like that, I will waste my entire time here. If German media outlets don't think I am good enough for them, then they are missing out. And I will continue to KNOW that something great will come out of this, whether I end up working where I want to work or finding time to write what I think and feel and believe. Either way, I'll find out who I really am and what I want.

And I think, ultimately, that is why I am here.

So no more wasting time worrying if I am doing the right thing each day. No more oh no should I have sent that letter a day earlier or oh poo I don't think I registered with that office correctly or I can't forget to terminate my Bahn Card on time or I can't believe I didn't find out about that seminar and now it's too late to go.

Ten months. I have been here for two. And all I have done is worry. Worry whether I am doing all that I can do and exactly what I am supposed to do. Worry that I am not worthy to be here. Worry that Fulbright thinks they made a mistake in giving me this opportunity.

But I have never before doubted myself, and I am not about to start. At least I know that when I set my mind on something, I will accomplish it. It may take a while, but I will do it. That is a trait I am lucky to have. So that's it. I am done worrying. Whatever happens, happens.

I am so lucky.

And it's my job to take in every second while I am here and enjoy it to the fullest. And discover why I think it is I am here. And how to use my time here in a way that will be most advantageous TO ME. I am done worrying about what other people think. I know I am smart, I know I will do something with my life and I know I deserve to be here. Now all I have to do is figure out how to show it.

It will all come together. This is still the beginning.

Ok, now that I have written down my anti-worrying plan, (kind of for my own benefit), I am also going to include an update. Lately I have been still finalizing German bureaucracy stuff (I still have yet to get my residence permit, and I have to go this week but I am dreading it so much that I keep putting it off... my friend told me it took her the entire day, or at least the entire time the office was open. Not to mention I will probably have to go about two or three times before I actually might have all of the correct documents in order to get the damn thing.)

I have been e-mailing Fulbright about the status of my job applications as well as the status of my reimbursement for my travels. But no response. And apparently, they don't like getting too many e-mails... so...

This week is actually pretty busy. Today I met with my friend Charlotte and she looked over my papers for the KVR (where I have to get the permit) and decided she thought I had everything I needed. Ah you guessed it, she was the one that spent the whole day there obtaining this little green piece of paper, and it was third times the charm for her as well.

I think Germany really believes in the saying "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Lesson learned, thanks.

Tomorrow I am braving the Kreisverwaltungsreferat and then I have my first real press opportunity. That's right. I am going to the Election Results Party that has been organized by the Democrats Abroad Chapter here in Munich. I will write something on it, but basically I am really excited I got to go. Once I found out the event, registration for it was also closed so I had to pull the journalist card. But I am really glad I did. I think it will also be a great opportunity to meet people, and it will be a great event nonetheless.

Wednesday I have an appointment to meet with the international director for Kommunikationswissenschaft (which is the subject I was assigned to for the University), and hopefully he might also have some suggestions for me. Then Wednesday night is when I play soccer with the Munich Rovers girl's team.

Thursday I have a choir rehearsal (we are going to sing carols for a Christmas concert), but the rest of the day is fairly open.

And I am still trying to decide if I should venture to Frankfurt this weekend for a Fulbright alumni meeting. I can't decide if the material presented will be worth my time and my money, especially since es gibt ein ganz Unterschied zwischen mein Fulbright und andere Fulbrights. So I am still working on that one.

YAY! Busy week! Plus — Lisa and I just made plans today to spend all of Monday next week baking Christmas cookies.


I think cookies are key in dissolving worry.

The Next JFK

Nine days and counting. Nine days, and the United States will elect the country’s next president. But Americans aren’t the only ones waiting with breath that is bated.
Here in Germany, almost everyone I meet blatantly asks me about the upcoming election once they find out I am American. They inform me that Germany tends to be Democratic — as if I already didn’t know — and again and again they voice how popular Barack Obama is in their country and in Europe as a whole.
Obama’s status in Europe — and in Germany in particular — stretches much further beyond his opposition to the Iraq war, which has always been a point of contention for Europeans. His desire to strengthen ties between America and Europe by calling for a renewed partnership has sparked a trend within the local news agencies to begin dubbing Obama as the next John F. Kennedy, saying that his hope and optimism — revealed particularly in his speeches — are reminiscent of the nation’s 35th president.
“The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand,” Obama said earlier this summer to a crowd of more than 200,000 at the Tiergarten in Berlin. “The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.”
These comparisons between the Illinois senator and the famous young president aren’t kept under wraps either. Several mediums in Germany have expressed this common view: The Berliner Morgenpost has published the headline, "The New Kennedy;" the tabloid Bild went with, "This Black American Has Become the New Kennedy!" and an editorial in the Frankfurter Rundschau reached even further back into history and read: "Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama."
This fascination with Barack Obama can be tied to Europe’s many years of disenchantment with the Bush administration, said Christian Hacke, a political science professor at Bonn University during an interview for Cologne, Germany’s Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Hope for a new policy, and one much more based on international cooperation, is huge, he said.
Germans are less impressed with Obama’s Republican rival John McCain, who stated in an interview for the BBC that while his opposition was in Europe for his world tour, he would continue to focus on issues concerning the U.S.
"I'd love to give a speech in Germany but I'd much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for president," McCain said in the interview.
Perhaps it is this campaign tactic that has left McCain with fewer German supporters, (or perhaps they are still upset about the incident that took place during a town hall meeting in Des Moines, Iowa where McCain referred to Germany’s leader as “President Putin of Germany,”) but one thing is for sure: this group of Europeans is putting all of their dreams for international reconciliation in this charismatic presidential hopeful.
“Germans have a deep appreciation for romanticism and even beyond that — sentimentalism. This romantic leaning is what opened Germans' hearts to Kennedy. Just the way Obama's promise to unify the country and lead it to a new greatness is opening the hearts of Americans for him,” Hacke said.
So when gracing the voting booth next Tuesday, ask yourself, would you rather have the next JFK or another George W. Bush?

Nose to the Grindstone

Man this blog thing is harder than I thought it would be... who knew...

So Kate is gone now, she flew back to New Mexico last Thursday. I am sad. And now I really have to concentrate on getting a job! I still am not one hundred percent sure exactly what I want to do, but I can't spend any more time thinking about it. I just have to get out there, see what happens, and see how I like the outcome. Scary.

But why am I feeling so frustrated? I should be so happy that I am here, which I am, but I am feeling like I am not accomplishing what I set out to accomplish. I know it's early on—I have only been here for six weeks (but again, that's kind of a long time), and I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. Hopefully this is normal. And I really hope I can do what I want to do. Which is... what exactly? Not sure yet. Dah. Frustrating. But it will get better, I am sure of it. (Hopefully...) Wow. There were a lot of "hopes" and "feelings" in that little paragraph.

So before Katelyn left, we ventured to the Netherlands (her boyfriend has family there and said we should check it out.) It was an experience, mostly because of how different is was from Germany. It's amazing how places so close together can vary so vastly. People in Amsterdam do not look at you. Ever. It is like you are invisible. This was very weird to me because German people not only look at you, they stare. And they don't care if you see them staring. They don't look away. But things in Holland are much cheaper than in Munich, so that was a plus. Long story short, Kate and I stayed on a cute little houseboat named the Vita Nova, that had very good breakfast and very small—teeny, tiny actually—rooms and beds. But it was a really awesome place to stay, and an experience in itself.

We went to the Anne Frank house, which was my favorite part of the trip. It was just unbelievable to be standing in the house where that family stayed and being in the middle of history. What got me most was when I was looking at the pictures Anne herself had put up in her room and knowing that they were the same images she saw everyday for two years, until that anonymous caller ratted the family out and they were discovered. Seriously. Such an unbelievable place to see.

We also got to go to the Van Gogh museum, which I thought was very exciting since I love him and his work but it did end up depressing me. He worked his whole, sad life trying to sell a painting and never succeeded, and then ended up killing himself. Poor guy. If only he knew now how famous he has become.

We took a day to rest after coming back to Munich, and then we ventured to Füssen and then onto Schwangau to see Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau—both castles that the Bavarian royal family had built. The tours of both castles were very interesting and I learned much about Maximilian and Ludwig II, whose mysterious death really interests me... But Schwangau is such a charming and cozy town, and the weather was gorgeous and all the leaves were falling and all the colors were changing. Ohhhhh it was soooo nice. (I will post pictures as soon as I am done writing this post, I swear!!! And I am writing this sentence in here just to ensure that I do it!)

But the way back from Füssen... well, that's a different story all in itself. And seriously, to make a long story short as I don't want to drag it out the way I have done so many times telling the story—Katelyn and I were not aware that the last bus left from Schwangau to Füssen Bahnhof at 7:30 pm, so we were taking our sweet time, stopping for ice cream and coffee and the whole bit. So when we discovered this unfriendly little tidbit, we had to march across the street to a closing restaurant where the woman told us she would call us a cab that should cost about 6 euro. Ended up costing us 11. But hey, at least we were at the train station, right? No. We later found out that the train coming was going to be 25 minutes late, after we had already waited 35 minutes, and when we boarded the train, we then discovered it wasn't leaving for another hour. So it was 10:30 by the time it left. We left Schwangau at 8 pm. But that isn't the worst of it. When we got to our transfer station at 11:45, another voice came on the intercom and informed us that this train would be 20 minutes late. Great. By this time I am worrying that we won't make it back to München Hauptbahnhof in time to catch the last U-Bahn of the night. We got back into Munich at 1:15 AM, rushed to catch the U-Bahn (which also sat idle at the station for a good ten minutes before it left—and yes, it was the last U-Bahn of the night.)

So we left Schwangau at 8 p.m. and didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. And that is very interesting because German trains are almost never late. They are known for having the most punctual transportation system ever. But not this night. And poor Katelyn will be left with that impression of the German transit system. Oh and this also sucked because it was Katelyn's last night here, as she was leaving the next morning, and that was not the most fun last night. Boo.

But the day in Schwangau was nice. Very nice.

So what I have been doing these past few days is trying to locate the names of people in their respective departments so that I can figure out whom to address my cover letters to. So fun.

But recently I also went on a swimming pool search and found out that Munich kind of has an obsession for swimming pools and saunas, which is awesome. I spent most of yesterday at the Dantebad (especially in their crazy whirlpool) but I probably won't be going back there because the entrance fee was €6.70. Sheesh! I will try Olympiabad next time I give it a go.

Tomorrow I am meeting my friend Hillary in the morning and we are going—with her friends who are visiting from Missouri—to Dachau. Let the history, and more depression, ensue.

Tschüssi!

Ballet, Bon-Bons and Beautiful Weather... Finally

AGAIN I have lapsed in my duties to this blog... Dahhhh it is very hard to keep up.

Well... since my last post, Katelyn and I have done many things, including visiting several of Munich's churches—the Frauenkriche and the Theatinerkirche to name a few. We climbed up to the top of the Frauenkirche tower and saw all of Munich from up above. It was gorgeous. We also visited the Residenz, where all the royals of Bavaria and the kings and dukes lived.

We have also graced the halls of the Pinothek der Moderne (the modern art museum) and the Kunsthalle, where we saw a really cool exhibit about Walt Disney. We saw these exhibits whilst we were sick, hence the bon-bons title. (I wanted to keep the alliteration, you see.) My friend Hillary was sick, and unfortunately passed it to me, and I passed it to Katelyn. Now we both cough all the time, but I think we are recovering, and thank God it didn't last very long. (Knock on wood.)

Last night we attended a ballet—A Cinderella Story—at the Staatsoper, and it was lovely and nice, except for that we had seats on the very right hand side so we couldn't see all of the stage, and therefore not the whole picture. But the music was really pretty and so was the dancing, so it was an experience nonetheless.

Oh. And during the mornings of the past three days, I could be found sitting in a chair at the International Office at the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität... trying to matriculate.

The first time, I waiting with my number for two hours before I was called, only to be told that the form Fulbright had given me for my health insurance was not valid somehow and that I had to go down to the Mensa to the Techniker Krankenkassse office and get them to write me a confirmation saying I was, indeed, insured. So after trying to find that office for a while, I stood in line there for a half and hour, had a nice complicated chat with the bloke there before he finally ended up agreeing to write me the dang confirmation I needed for matriculation.

So, I trekked back to the Uni, and they accepted that paper but then said it was now too late to see the woman who could register me, and that I would need to come back tomorrow.

So the next day, I waited with my number for THREE hours, and when they called my number I finally thought I was going to be over and done with the whole process, only to be told that the name the bloke at TK had written on the form was not mine. He had read my forms from Fulbright too fast and had written down one of the commission's staff members' name down instead. So guess what? I had to go back and get another one, but I would again have to come back the next day because it would be too late again to register as the office would be closed by the time I got back.

Anyone who saw my face after that little adventure and as I stomped off to the TK to get another stupid health confirmation immediately stepped out of my way. Probably to their best interest because my head was probably looking like it was going to explode. Or that I was going to make someone else's head explode. In short—I was SO frustrated with this whole situation that tears of anger were welling up in my scrunched up and glaring eyes.

So today, I got up at 7 and was at the office before they opened, and I was the first one they called in. And FINALLY all my paperwork was correct and they registered me. My GOD that was seriously one of the most frustrating and time-consuming processes ever. HFaigeowjagpejnrptjwajoyrwryw. Sorry. Still feeling the effects of it even though it is, at last, taken care of.

YAY.

Now we are getting ready to go to Schloss Nymphenburg to see the grounds and also to go to the Mensch und Natur Museum (the natural history museum!!!). And tomorrow we are taking the train to Füssen to see Schloss Neuschwanstein, Kind Ludwig's famous fairytale castle (also seen in Sleeping Beauty). And the weather has finally turned from rain to sunshine. So I hope that stays, at least for a little bit...

I will post pictures of many things when I get back!!!

Catching Up

So I have recently been called a slacker... and I do apologize for not writing more diligently.

I have been busy! But I also have had time to write, and for not doing so, I apologize.

Last week I had orientation in Berlin, took the 6 hour train ride into town, checked into the Myer's Hotel Berlin that Fulbright previously arranged, took a nap and met the 5 other Fulbright journalist and the head of the German Fulbright Kommission—Reiner Rohr—for dinner. Things went well—I got to learn about the other journalist's projects and hear where they were working. Some of them had arrived in Germany long before I did, and had already begun their positions as guest journalists for publication ranging from Die Welt to a magazine called The Ex Berliner.

But I wasn't the only one who hadn't begun quite yet. Another woman had just arrived in Berlin that day, as she was coming from her friend's wedding which was held in Santa Fe (which I enjoyed talking about), and another girl had come in on a train from the language course in Marburg. And a man lives in Berlin, so I did feel that he had quite the advantage.

But I have to admit I felt a little out of place. A lot of the people kept referring to the fact that I had been assigned to Munich (a city I absolutely love) and I almost felt an arrogance in the fact that 4 out of the 6 of us were assigned to work in Berlin. (One is living in Frankfurt.) And although Fulbright said I could move to another city if I so desired, I am excited to see what I will be able to learn from Munich and what role this city will play in my future. And I can't wait to show the other journalists what I get out of this experience.

But all in all, orientation was ok, but I felt as though it was a little unnecessary. A lot of the information they gave me I already knew about, and it is such a long trip out and back, but I did meet new and interesting people and made some contacts that I am sure will be helpful throughout this whole experience. And, it was wonderful to be back in Berlin again, and just the sites of where I was—even the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station—brought memories of my trip there last year flooding back.

So. After orientation, my friend Katelyn from New Mexico flew in to see me. She will be here for three weeks, and her visit is awesome because it's nice to have a familiar face around while trying to get everything in line and settled, and her company provides a nice break on the side. I know it's early to have a friend visit, but when we planned her trip way back when I discovered I had received my Fulbright, we decided it would be better for her to come out at the beginning before I had delved too deep into my guest journalist position, and well, she is in between jobs right now too, so we both felt like it was the perfect time.

She arrived on Wednesday, and it's already been a pretty crazy week. We ventured out to the Augustiner Bräu the night she arrived, ate some Schnitzel and met some very nice Canadian couples—two older men whose wives were exhausted from Oktoberfest and back at the hotel and their very friendly and nice sister. We all talked about politics for a while, as well as the great contributions of Canada to the entertainment industry (one of the men tried to convince us that Arnold Schwarzenegger was Canadian... ha) and just had a lot of laughs and fun. It was a pretty good first night.

Thursday night we went out to dinner with my friend Hillary, who is moving to Pennsburg tomorrow, at a nice little Italian restaurant, the name of which, I am not kidding, was Al Pacino. Can't make this stuff up.

Then Friday, we braved the all mighty and insane Oktoberfest. Hillary was supposed to come with us but she got very sick all of the sudden, so Kate and I went by ourselves—both clad in our Dirndls. It was Wahnsinn, but we had the fun time we knew we would have, and we are going to go again, this time with Hillary too if we can swing it. (I will post pictures of this as soon as I can, but we took them with Kate's camera and she forgot her computer connector, so we will have to take my camera this next time.)

Today was lazy... we went food shopping at the local market but just missed out buying fresh bread from the bakery... for which now we'll have to wait until Monday to buy. But the weather here was very nice today, we actually saw some sun, and we took advantage by strolling in the Englischer Garten and stopping by the Chinesischer Turm Biergarten and sampling some Currywurst.

This week I have to concentrate on correctly matriculating at the Uni, which has been frustrating me for some time now, and further exploring the media outlet options I have here in Munich.

I will try and write more frequently! Bis dann!

A Dirndl-ie Day

So yesterday was one of the most eventful days I have had in Munich. I went Dirndl shopping with a friend I met at the U.S. Consulate General meeting, and did we make a day of it!

One can't be living in Munich during Oktoberfest and not own any Tracht. So I had to get one. And it is the cutest one ever. And the way I see it, I will have a Halloween costume for all the years to come!

So Hillary and I went to Wies'n Tracht & Mehr on Talstraße, spent about two hours inside with every other girl and woman in Munich, and left with our very own Dirndls in our bags—mine a blue one with white detail and a dark pink apron, Hillary with a black one with red detail and a red apron. Sooooo cute.

After that, we wondered around the Ostbahnhof area, bought an OK Döner Kebab, (I have so had better), then went to Hillary's to take pictures in our newly acquired Wiesn Tracht. Then we changed and took the U-Bahn to Sendlinger Tor to meet up with some people I found through a group of English-speakers living in Germany. (I know it's not good to hang out with English speakers when you are in a foreign country, but at the beginning when you are so new and lonely, it's not a bad plan...)

So the rest of the night was spent talking to people from Ireland, the UK, Germany... Hillary and I were the only Americans. Ha.

It was a pretty good day.

Zu Ihrer information...

I've put up photos of the English Garden, some sights around the Marienplatz and also of my newly decorated bedroom (which feels so much like my own now,) on the slideshows to the right.

Bis später!

The Willow Tree

Wow I haven't written in a while. Sorry about that. I haven't been too busy, necessarily, I guess I just haven't felt inspired. But today I was.

Today I went on a two-hour jog in the Englischer Garten (not because I meant it to be this long, but because I got lost and accidently made a circle around the lake... which wasn't really a bad thing.) But by the time my trek had ended, I was back near the entrance to Prinzregentenstraße—the nearest garden entrance to where I live—and decided to sit down under a willow tree, dip my feet into the river, watch as the surfers rode the waves to my left... and I eventually got lost in the flow of the emerald water.

This is something I love more than many things—watching water. I was listening to the Celtic song, "Overture,"—a song I love so much it will be played at my funeral—and I watched as the rapid waves gathered up around my pale feet, seeming to be attracted to their warmth in the way that their splashes onto the side of the bank seemed to increase the moment my feet submerged into the frigid depths. But I didn't take my feet out. I let them flit to and fro with the current until they turned a deep red, and then I thought it time to let them feel the warmth of the fall air yet again.

What added to this moment though, was the way the air moved through the trees as I looked up at them. Gently swaying, back and forth, back and forth, as if to say I ought to have no cares in the world. Do you ever experience moments like that? Where it's like the time and place you are in is meant only for you and you alone?

That's what I felt today. That river and that willow tree were my sanctuary. Not necessarily a place in which I needed to seek solace, but I one I discovered with accidental intent, that left me with the impression that if I ever needed a place to escape, I had found it.

Einbißchen einsam

So I have already discovered one thing about myself. (I kind of already knew this about myself, but two days here and I am positively sure of it.)

I am a total social butterfly.

I hate not knowing anyone here my age, and I just wonder around the streets on my own. Yes I know I know, it is VERY early in the trip and I am sure I will meet people down the road, but it's so hard here now because I am comparing this trip to last year's trip to Vienna, where I had ten other students with me who were all in the same boat. And I LOVED that group of people.

But here, I am truly on my own. Which I knew was the condition. But still, it's tough when all you want to do is talk to people and have some friends. And I am not shy, I am outgoing, but it's tough to just go up to people on the street and start talking to them. Especially in another language.

Things will get better, I know. Right now it's just a point of frustration. And one that I hope goes away sooner than later...

Triftstrasse 9

I'm here!!!

And may I say that the trip was one of the best ever. Things couldn't have been more simple.

I woke up at the right time, got ready, we made it to the airport with an hour to spare, both my suitcases were underweight and I wasn't charged for anything, I said goodbye to my mom both sentimentally and sadly, my sister met me in Denver and we chatted—our last chat for who knows how long (*tear*)—my flight to Munich was calm and I actually got some sleep, and we were about a half an hour early into the airport.

The knot in my stomach was there throughout the whole thing, but the moment I saw the sun rising over Munich, bright and glittering in pinks and golds above the misty clouds, the excitement bubbled up through me, starting at the pit of my stomach and spreading up my body like fire until it brought tears to my eyes.

I love it here.

The red-capped houses are interspersed with dark greens of the trees and the rolling hills covered with grass. It was raining when I got off the train. Later my cab driver told me that I brought the rain with me, chuckling after he said this.

Getting my luggage was easy too—as I always fear they will lose my stuff and then where will I be—but no, they both came out before nearly everyone else's, one right after the other. The hardest part was lugging all of my stuff out of the airport, but even this wasn't so bad. A man asked "taxi?"
"Ja."
"Right out on the side."
His fellow cab drivers laughed as they corrected his English. "It's right outside!"
The only part of my trip that was out of sorts, and even this is a very nice way of saying it because I think it has scarred me for life a little bit, happened during my cab ride.

My driver was driving fast, as they always do, and not really talking to me, so I was busying myself by looking out at the window at what will become my familiar surroundings. We had entered a highway lined with trees that overlooked a park, and all of the sudden I decide to look out of the windshield to the road before us.

A black dog was bounding happily toward the car, not showing any sign of vearing out of the way. The driver hesitated, tried to avoid it, but there was a car on our left. I gasp. Thud. "Oh nein," I say as I cover my eyes and then my ears. I began to feel sick to my stomach, and not in a good way. I have never hit so much as a squirrel with my car. My cab driver sputters "ich könnte nichts machen," and I very sadly say "ich weiss..." It's hard not to cry over this. And I really really wish it hadn't happened.

That was horrible. And so sad! And I hope it wasn't an omen or something. Poor pup. But when we reach our destination, Triftstrasse 9—my new home—the driver acts as if nothing has happened and bids me farewell after I pay for my 57-Euro cab ride.

I ring the bell. Twice. Three times. Oh no, she isn't home. Then I figured out I had to hold down the button and speak. "Hallo? Lisa?"

And my journey to my new home was over. My suitcases barely fit inside the elevator, but alles klappt und jetzt bin ich in München.

I unpacked, and was happy to see that I still had tons of space... very happy.

Then I slept for about 7 hours, which I don't think was very smart... but I couldn't help it. It was even a feat because every few seconds a Strassenbahn drives by, the German ambulance sounds or cars honk below. And one can hear the continuous ringing of the bells of the nearby Catholic church.

But in no way am I complaining. I can't get enough of it.

Now I am gazing out my window, to the man holding his baby on his balcony outside... what should I do tomorrow... walk around and take in this wondrous place.

But first I think I should try to get some sleep, just to get me on German time if nothing else. Gute nacht.

'Twas The Night Before Leaving And All Through The House...

There are grumpy moods, anxious stomachs and mutterings of "it's gonna be fine," "you're gonna be great," amongst the disarray.

I will be fine. Hopefully I will be great.

It is all so surreal to me, it still doesn't even feel like this is my last night in America. For a very long time. But there is excitement there, buried under the anxiety. Excitement that I know will burst out of me the moment I step off of the plane, if not before.

A friend told me to write down what I am feeling at this moment, not to be sentimental, but so that I have a good gauge of where I came from and where I am at the moment. This way, I can see how much I grow.

So I will try and encapsulate my feelings at this moment, if that is indeed what she was meaning for me to do.

I am nervous. There is a feeling in my stomach that squeezes tightly whenever I think of leaving. It's definitely not to say that I am not looking forward to going—that is not the case whatsoever—it's just such a big change, and I will be away from everyone who cares about me and loves me for such a long time. But this feeling is also a feeling of knowing that my life is going to change forever, and I am sure it will be an experience that will be like none other, and that will give me an invaluable part of my life that I won't be able to live again.

So I must keep in mind to absolutely cherish every second and not take anything for granted.

As for what I want to accomplish: I think I still have to ponder this deeper. Other grantees have their ideas set out before them in the form of projects or theses, but this is not something I have an absolute desire to do. What do I want to do? I don't know. I want to travel, I want to talk to people, I want do as much as I possibly can. But this is problematic. I still need to find a way to narrow it down. Working for Reuters or CNN would be cool, but hard news isn't my favorite and I don't just want to be another face in the crowd. But everyone has to start somewhere, hey?

I am hoping my mind will clear up once I am settled in, and everyone keeps telling me it will.

Until that happens, I hope that my journey there goes as well as it possibly can.

Please oh please.

Eagerly but nervously preparing

It's Tuesday.I leave for Munich on Saturday morning.The most horrendous task of all still awaits me. Packing. And not packing my entire life. Which is very hard for me.

So I am procrastinating. The best way to avoid doing anything. I am super excited, but I also can't shake the feeling that I have messed something up, will forget something or that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

But I must be doing something right, or I wouldn't have been given this opportunity. Ten months in my favorite country isn't even really that long... hopefully it will be enough to accomplish everything I want to. Which is everything. I have been trying to pinpoint exactly what I want out of this experience, but it's too hard for me to define.

I want to see everything, talk to everyone, take pictures of everything and write about all of it. Too broad? Yep, I know.

I figure things will sort themselves out once I am over there—drinking a Maß in one of the biergartens, strolling around the Englischer Garten or trekking around the Marienplatz.

But right now I am trying to take in the last of what New Mexico has to offer—the sunsets, the rain and relaxation (even though my time for relaxation should be over).

Four more days and the time will come to say goodbye... but a grand new adventure awaits.