Mr. National’s Travel Blog

Yesterday was also a day for Luneburg’s Bayerisches Oktoberfest. Theresa and I set out around 8:45 after resting from the Hamburg trip. The first stop was the carnival games. I know that I’ll never win anything worth while, but it’s fun to play. The game I chose was a pull-tab type game that gave out points. Apparently, there are enough points in there to be able to win a 19″ LCD TV. Yeah, right. 5 Euros got me a whoping 60 points. Instead of trading them in for 2 pencils or a little Dora the Explorer notepad, I gave them to one of the little girls playing. I think she could’ve used the notepad more than I could.

Next mission was to score a Nutella crepe. I’ve never had Nutella before, but Theresa insisted I needed to try one. For those who have not been fortunate enough to have it, Nutella is a hazelnut-based sweet spread that tastes a lot like chocolate. So we finally found a place that had them. I went a step futher and got a bananna and Nutella crepe. Pretty amazing.

Short walk later we found our way into the major beer tent. We started with ein Mass of Lowenbrau and found our way to some free seats up by the main band. Theresa promptly made friends with a German guy sitting next to us. Never got his name, just referred to him as “Her German”. He would constantly inform her of the weirdest stuff that sounded like he just pulled it out of his ass. Apparently, in Munich, Italians are crazy. Needed to know that. Plus, he would randomly switch between English and German. I think he was too drunk to realize it. They all were. They even had to call the Deutsche Rotes Kreuz to help one of his friends. She was practically in a coma.

It’s really fun to see Germans letting go and partying. They’re usually so reserved, but put them in a beer tent, give them some beers and music and they become party animals. An interesting fact I found out is that they love the song “Country Road, Take Me Home”. And, as with most English songs that they played, they only knew the words to the chorus and would mumbel the rest.

We later found a couple other students and merged tables with them. Thanks to the previous 3.5 liters of beer, I joined the rest of the tent in standing on the benches singing, toasting, and dancing. I don’t know if you can call what I did dancing, but I’ll call it that. After ordering my fourth liter, I started to feel it and not in a good way. On a previous round, I accidentally ordered the wrong thing, and ended up with a half liter of some sweet beer. It definitely was not sweet in a good way, but I ended up pounding it like a champ. I don’t know why, I know that I should stay away from sweet alcohol, but I drink it anyways. Theresa was ready to go, so we headed out. We just made it off the grounds before I decided to decorate the ground with some of the beer and crepe I had ingested earlier. Made me feel a little better. After puking and several attempts by Theresa to just sleep along the sidewalk, we made it back to our housing around 2:00 a.m. For once I was ok with everything being closed today, which gave me the excuse to sleep until 1 p.m. without guilt…

Yesterday was a USAC sponsored trip to Hamburg. I’ve been there before, in 2003, and my view still hasn’t changed. Not impressed at all with the city. After the 34 minute, standing room only, train ride, we started the first leg by visiting the main shopping avenue of Mönckebergstaße, the Alster lake, and the neo-Renaissance style Rathaus (home of the city’s parliament and senate). I think the Rathaus was the best part of trip.

So last night was the pub crawl for the university exchange students. It was pretty fun. After school, I wondered around Am Sande and ran into Katie and Jillian. After that we just snowballed into a group of 10-12 fellow USAC students. That’s what I love about Luneburg. It has the stores and facilities of a large city, but it’s small enough that you run into people that you know, all the time.So we stopped by Chilli, Luneburg’s best doner place, before heading to the crawl’s starting point at 8pm, Malzer’s. After meandering down a very steep and narrow staircase, we made our way into the cellar for a “Get to Know You” session. I’m guessing they stuck us in the cellar to keep the 60 rowdy college students from disturbing the other guests. Anyways, after a couple beers, we broke up into groups and each headed towards our own path. Luneburg is supposed to have the most pubs/inhabitant ratio in Germany, and second in Europe after Madrid, Spain, so there were plenty to choose from.

Next stop was Hausbar, a lounge type bar with extremely comfortable couches, a foosball table, great beer specials, and best of all, 50 cent shots! Our German buddy Sebastian, who was our guide on the crawl, explained that Wednesday nights were the nights for students to go out, where Friday and Saturday were for the working class, which explains the 50 cent shots. Interesting choice, considering waking up at 7 am for classes Thursday isn’t the easiest thing after staying out til 3 am drinking. To make the stop even better, just before we left, a guy from the bar and me beat Sebastian and Jillian in foosball and made them crawl under the table. I’ve never been good at foosball, so it gave me an accomplished feeling that brightened up my night even more.

The Old Dubliner was the next stop on our crawl. It was nice, because I noticed it the first night here, and have passed it many times, but never ventured in. Now I’m disappointed I hadn’t taken advantage of it before. After negotiating with the bouncer at the front door, we were able to get in for just a euro/person cover charge. Once inside, it was quite interesting. The pub has a patio over hanging the river, which unfortunately, was full. We went back inside just as karaoke was starting. Now, I’m not normally one for embarassing myself in front of dozens of other people, but for some reason, last night I had no problems with it. After several failed attempts to get one of the girls to do a duet with me, I finally convinced several people to go up with me. Derek, for whatever reason, HAD to sing “Sweet Caroline”, so that was the song we went with. I think we were by far the worst group up there that night, but it was still fun. Embarassing enough to say, I was even singing along with the people singing “Lucky” by Briney Spears, which Brittani promptly called me on. I think that was more embarassing than singing in front of dozens of people.

We finished up at September for another student deal, 12″ midnight pizzas for 2,50 Euros. We ended up meeting up with all the other groups from Malzer’s. The pizzas were pretty good, but I’m not sure if it really is good, or like White Castle which is only good when you’re drunk. Either way, it hit the spot. About 2am we figured it was time to get going. Theresa and I chose to walk back instead of taking a taxi. Well, she wanted to and I’m too big of a softy to complain. It was worth it though. I’m glad we did. We had a nice talk about our travel experiences and ambitions. It’s nice to meet people who have the same passion towards traveling as me. She’s even thinking about joining me on my trip to Morocco after school. Always a bonus to have a travel buddy.

I just realized it’s been several days since my last post, so I thought I’d do an update.  I started school on Monday.  I have language classes M-F, 9:00 – 12:00, then my German Culture class Tues. and Thurs. 2:30 – 3:50.  My culture class will be extremely easy, the language classes are pretty easy too.  My professor tried moving me up a level, but I refused.  Right now it’s an easy A.  I should be trying to learn as much as possible, but that will mean more time studying and less time traveling and drinking beer. 

I bought a phone the other day.  I was going to give my testicals a break from the constant radiation from the cell phone in my pocket, but I decided against it.  It’s just too hard to get a hold of people here without one.  I’m not quite sure why, but I got it through T-Mobile.  That was the first store I went into.  I had planned to shop around, but got pulled in by the hot sales chick that helped me.  I didn’t stand a chance of getting away.  The phone is kind of cheap and my plan sucks, but incoming calls are free, so if you want to call me, e-mail me for the number.  I plan on going to Hamburg this weekend, so I can start calling some of you when I get a phone card there.

Just because a bunch of people have asked me for them, I started taking pictures.  I went the first couple days without taking any just so I could take in the city through my eyes and not through a camera lens.  Even now I forget I should be taking pictures.  But I do have some and I will be posting them soon.  Not now because I have to take a nap before the pub crawl tonight, but soon.  For future posts some words maybe links to pictures.  And I’ve already posted some of my accomodations in a previous post.  Time for a nap.

So today was Sunday.  Everything was closed.  The only things that were open were doner kebab shops and cafes, thank God!  I guess that’s all you really need when it comes down to it.  Doners and a place to drink beer outside.  Anyways, the buses didn’t start until 1:00, so I laid around my apartment until it was time to leave for the second part of orientation.  During the orientation, they handed out prizes for the teams who finished in the top 3 for the scavenger hunt.  Our group won travel umbrellas.  Very handy, but I already have one.  I always get prizes when I travel abroad, and they’re always in trivia games.  Last time I traveled, it was a $20 bar tab in Edinburgh and a hat, keychains, and other beer merchandise in Berlin.  I wonder what else I’ll win on this trip.  We had another 4 boring hours, and then, since none of the other USAC students wanted to, I headed back to Am Sande for a doner, Am Markt for a beer and people watching, and then onto St. Michaeliskirche for the Bachwoche (Bach week). 

Today was Bach und Beethoven.  It was pretty nice.  One of the female soloists sounded like what I think the Lorely would’ve sounded like.  I was very impressed, and the accoustics of the church helped too.  The guys weren’t all that great though.  Whole thing lasted about two hours.  I like Bach and Beethoven, but two straight hours was a little too much. 

Afterwards, I walked the 2 1/2 mile walk to my apartment again.  I really need a cell phone.  Apparently, Luneburg has a taxi service that runs after 9pm that will pick you up (might have to wait 30 min. after calling), and will take you to anywhere in Luneburg for 2,80 Euros.  I’ll definitely have to take advantage of that.  I like the excersise, but it’s really boring.  Especially at night.

 God.  School starts tomorrow…

So today was orientation for Leuphana Universitat, and I usually enjoy orientations. They usually give some good info, but this orientation was quite boring. It started out nice, with a gourmet breakfast buffet and a little scavenger hunt around the town, but then we had to deal with 3 hours of filling out visa applications. The worse part was that it should’ve only taken 20 minutes tops. I guess it was too difficult for some people to tell the difference between Vorname (first name) and Familienname (last name). People needed explaining three or four times on every form. Geburtsdatum (birthdate) was another one. How many times do people have to explain it to you before you remember it??? Three hours of my time wasted. I should’ve been down on the river having some beers…Something I did find interesting was the German recycling and energy conservation efforts. They spent more time talking about how to conserve energy than they did on how not to trash the rooms. Everything from taking 5 minute showers, to bundling up before going to sleep (instead of using the heater), to having five different recycling bins (plastics and aluminums, old paper, glass, compost, and other garbage). Apparently it’s a science figuring out which bin certain things go in. I kinda wish the US did more of this. Maybe we wouldn’t be so dependent on foreign nations for our energy…

One of the first things that I’ve noticed about Luneburg, is the huge population of bees.  I’ve seen more bees in the last 3 days then the last 3 years in the States.  And, for those that don’t know me, I’m allergic to bees.  Well, I was when I was little.  I was told that you can grow out of an allergy to bees, but I’d rather not find out.  Especially since I don’t think that my health insurance has kicked in yet.  Everytime I see one I think of the Halloween in ’87 when I was stung and woke up all swollen and couldn’t breath.   Not very fun. 

So I was sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Am Markt having a beer, when bees started moving in for it.  I initially started swatting at them, but when I almost spilled my beer, I decided I had to be cool.  Plus I didn’t want everyone staring at me while I flailed my arms around like a little girl trying to swat a bee.   So I started very slowly swat them away, when one landed on my arm.  I didn’t want it to sting me, so I just sat there hoping that it would fly away.  Instead, it started humping away at my arm while I sat there stunned.  Didn’t have its stinger out, just sat there humping my arm for a good minute before flying away.  Anyway, needless to say, that was one of the most horrific moments abroad and I just had to get it off my chest.  I feel better now.  Now I can’t wait for winter so all these little bastards die off…

So I’m finally in Germany. I arrived yesterday after 25 hours of airports, train stations, planes, trains, and buses. Everything was fine except for a two hour delay on my Philly to Frankfurt flight, which made me late for my other connecting flight, train, and buses. Plus I was unable to get a hold of Natalia, so she was wondering where I was for two hours. She was great though. Got me to my student accomodations, which were better than expected. I have a terrace, desk, closet, and shelves. It is better than a bed in a small, rectangular, jail cell of a room that I had imagined. And, out of 4 available rooms, two are unoccupied. Hopefully it stays that way. My flatmate Fredrich is pretty cool. He’s given me some pretty good tips for Luneburg. The only issue that I have is that they expected some chick named Mandy instead of me, so I get to deal with pink sheets for the next couple days. Lovely.  Could be worse.  I saw a post on Facebook from one of the other students in the program.  Apparently, his accomodations are on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of town.  Sucks to be him.

Some pictures of my room: 1, 2, 3, 4

I walked around Luneburg today to get a feel for the town. It’s very beautiful and has a medieval feel to it. I walked around the downtown, checked out the extremely small campus, and checked out some of the shops. In my excitement to get to the airport, I forgot my hat and my Mach 3 razor. I was unfortunately unable to find a replacement hat or a razor for less than 12€. I’ll tweeze out all my hair before I spend over $17 for a razor. After a couple hours of that I took in a couple beers in Am Markt while people watching. I’ve tried to do all the required things to deal with jetlag, but drinking beer is one thing I just couldn’t do. And that is the reason that I am about to fall asleep at 8pm…

Dear God!! I’m exhausted this morning! Huge difference from the excitement I felt yesterday morning, and I have my Sugar Free Rockstars to thank. In trying to work as much as possible before Friday, and getting everything organized for my trip, I’ve noticed I’ve gradually worked my way up to 4 or 5 Rockstars a day. They’re like crack! I was finally able to fall asleep last night around 3am, just in time to get a whopping 3 hours of sleep before getting up for another 12 hour workday. And now I’m cracking open another Rockstar to keep myself awake for work. The vicious cycle continues… At least until I leave.

A co-worker asked why I don’t just stop drinking them. Obviously she’s never been under the influence of a daily intake of over 600mg of caffeine. Oh no, I’m saving the fun of skull splitting, caffeine withdrawl headaches for when I leave. Mix that in with the inevitable jetlag, seven hour time difference, and lack of sleep, and I’m going to be having a GREAT first couple of days! So, if you hear of an American student in Germany who was found dead in his apartment from overdosing on aspirin next week, that’s me…

I awoke this morning to the realization that I have less than a week until I’m in Germany!

My heart started racing at the thoughts of all the pretzels, beer, castles, wurst, and beautiful Frauleins that I’ve been missing out on for the last grueling 407 days. In those 407 days I’ve driven half way across the country and back, studied full time in Las Vegas, partied in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, eaten everything imaginable on a stick at Minnesota’s state fair, but there is is always a desire for international travel, and more specifically, to return to my beloved Germany. And in less than a week we will once again be reunited, and the excitement builds with every item I cram into my backpack.

It also marks the 3 day mark until I get to quit my job. While I do enjoy my job, quitting is the last major event before I leave, so it cannot come soon enough. Even with all my excitement, it still seems like a dream, and quitting always makes it feel more real. It takes every ounce of strength and determination in my body to resist the urge to quit now. Fortunately for my boss, I really need the extra money because the dollar is in such bad shape. I’m already losing almost 30% of my fund just in the exchange rate, and find my self wishing for every cent (+1 cent against the euro = 128 Euros added to my fund).

I’ve been asked several times where I plan on going while I’m over there, so I figured I’d answer that here. It has been said that the best way to ruin your travel plans, is to make them. So I’m keeping my travel plans loose. While school will keep me occupied during most of the weekdays, and pubs the weeknights, the weekends are fair game.  I bought 4 months worth of unlimited Eurail passes, so I really have unlimited access to its 20 member countries. The only real plans I have are to pound my liver into submission during the opening days at Oktoberfest and wandering around in Morocco after school at the end of December. I also want get to Istanbul during this trip. Maybe during my four day Thanksgiving weekend…