Neverending Internet Woes and an Excursion to Oslo

I have been capped. That is to say, my Internet has been capped, so its speed has been reduced to a snail's pace. Okay, maybe an Olympics-trained snail's pace, but the pace of a snail, nonetheless. I am mildly (read: very much somewhat) displeased, as I frequently take advantage of Skype's video chat function, but as Google chat and regular old email works, I will not be forced to burn Tchibo's headquarters to the ground. With my BRAIN.

I do, however, sometimes feel like this when I'd like to video chat, such as on a day like Mother's Day:

Not gonna lie. It took about two minutes to upload.

Fortunately, the capping lasts only until the 25th of May, so it's nothing horrible. Just irritating. Though, it does bring me back to the good old days when we had to rely on dial-up Internet.

...Wait. I hated dial-up.

RAGE.


My Trip to Oslo

Yes, the title does not lie! I am finally updating about my very fun trip to Oslo, Norway to visit my friend, Lizzi. For my official statement to the press, please click here.

For a bit of background information, Lizzi and I are former history majors from UAH, and we have been good friends since the spring of 2008, when we traveled to Germany as a part of a history class. Currently, she is studying at the University of Oslo, so she is an ex-pat such as myself. I owe a lot to Lizzi, as she very kindly introduced me to a couple of circles of her friends, who have since become very near and dear friends of mine (ahem, Haley, Archie, and Ryan, I'm looking at you). Through the past couple of years, we've gotten closer, and we've been here for each other through our respective relocation to Europe. So, imagine my excitement when we were able to schedule a visit.

Glee!

I arrived in Oslo Friday afternoon (April 23rd--SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTH[and, evidently, death]DAY--, since it has been awhile) after a very uneventful trip. As I spotted Lizzi coming to pick me up, we rushed to each other and exchanged dorky hugs, and we spent the afternoon catching up and talking about our experiences in Europe. I was glad to realize just why she likes Oslo so much; her friends surround her constantly, the city is calm and relaxed, and the scenery is breathtaking. After dinner and a fun night at Waldemar's, Lizzi's choice pub, we called it a night. The next day, of course, would be reserved for sightseeing and general awesomeness.

This is awesomeness. It also took me two minutes to upload, in case you were wondering.

This lovely shot was taken at Holmenkollen, which provides a stunning view of the fjord. After spending a bit of time admiring the view and looking at a pretty church, Lizzi, Lizzi's Dutch hallmate Tim, and I returned to the hustle and bustle of the city (for it was a-hustling and a-bustling, which is evidently quite uncommon on a Saturday) for lunch and a visit to Vigelandsparken.

"We're naked! And contributing to further phallic imagery."

The Vigelandsparken was very enjoyable, as it is a rather peaceful place. People come to laze about, and the tourists, of course, take silly photos of the naked statues, which is perfectly acceptable to me. That gets the Jen Seal of Approval.

After a romp in the naked statue park (yes, I will forever remember it as such; I can't help it that I have the maturity of a ten-year-old), the trio trekked to the harbor, whereupon we somehow got lost and found ourselves in Denmark. Or, it would have appeared so, as something was taking place that involved a very tall LEGO tower, Danish flags, and marathon runners. Oh, did I mention the marathon runners? They appear to be following me. Further proof: we bumped into them twice--not once, but twice--in the same day at places where we were trying to cross the streets. I would have mowed them down, but as I was in the presence of my friend and her hallmate, I aptly withheld my rage. Next time, marathon runners. Next time.

We ended the day with dinner at another one of Lizzi's friend's, Mike's, place (thank you again for the delicious dinner, Mike) and prepped for the next day's activities.

Sunday witnessed a very splendid breakfast provided by one Damon, yet another one of Lizzi's friends, and I spent the morning getting to know the rest of the group. We then went to the Norwegian Folk Museum, which was very interesting; masquerading as a university student, I partook in a free tour of the museum, and I've decided that I want my house to look like this:

Okay, it's a church, but it'd be a really cool house.

Afterward, we awaited the ferry back to the main part of the city, and just sitting around, suffering through Damon's photo-taking proved to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the day. It had cleared up a wee bit (it had been quite overcast all day, sadly), and so waiting by the water proved yet again to be a peaceful respite from all of my worries of the world.

Tim and Seidi, the posers.

Tim, Seidi, Lizzi, Damon, Gerda, and me. (Yanked from Damon--hope you don't mind.)

Monday, unfortunately, marked the end to my long weekend in Oslo, and it was sad to leave my dear friend and the city itself. It is somewhere I would definitely like to revisit one day, as I felt a certain kind of peace that even I can't quite describe or even pinpoint. The best aspect of this visit, though, was that I was able to see my dear friend, and it was an experience for the both of us to remember concerning our stay in Europe--and of our friendship in general. So, Lizzi, thank you for being a lovely hostess, extending the invitation in the first place, and introducing me to a place that has changed your life. See you back in Alabama.

Well, it would be silly not to post a photo of us in this post.

Another One of Those Gosh-Darn Pre-Trip Posts

Right. We were to Madrid. Yes, Madrid.

...In other news, I'm most likely going to Oslo tomorrow in order to visit a good friend of mine, Lizzi, for the weekend.

That's right. It's another one of those gosh-darn lovable pre-trip posts. Which means that any substantial updating about the previous trip I took may or may not be delayed (just like my flight--oooooooh, I went there. Wait; my flight may or may not be canceled). It depends on how bored I am tonight, really.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past week, you may have heard of a little volcano in Iceland creating a big stink because no one will pay attention to it. And if either my flight tomorrow or my return flight Monday is canceled, I will personally row my way to Iceland and punch that volcano right in its ashy nuts.

Yes. I went there.

If this were to occur (the cancellation part; not the punching), I suppose I'd rather the first flight be canceled, as that would prevent me from being stranded in Oslo and unable to go to work (and causing Lizzi, who has very considerately offered up the remaining space in her dorm, to board me for a longer period of time...er, right, Lizzi? ...Lizzi?). I have a feeling, though, that things will work out, as they have a tendency of doing in life. A cancellation to Oslo would simply mean that I'd have to reschedule, and one from Oslo would mean that I'd just have to wait a bit to go back to Celle. In the grand scope of things, it's really not that bad.

Speaking of Lizzi's hospitality, I'm going to give her a shout-out right here and now for extending an invitation to me and offering up her dorm space, along with catering me around the city and the places she so loves and cherishes. So, Lizzi, thank you for letting me share in that. And, you know, it'll be kind of super-awesome that I get to see my dear, INTENSE friend.

I usually have pre-trip nerves, and I do admittedly have some now. I have to be at the Hamburg airport (so, we meet again, Hamburg) about two hours before the flight, so I'll get to see firsthand how the construction at the Celle Bahnhof is coming along...and I know that the airport will be a mess, considering all of the flight cancellations within the past week (I'm looking at you, Iceland...and perhaps unnecessary airspace restrictions). And there could be the occurrence that I could be shunted aside for someone else to fly to Norway, if my plane is full and priority is given to stranded passengers. But, you know what? If that happens, well, I can spend a bit of time in Hamburg before heading back to Celle.

This will be one of, if not the, last international trips I'll take while living in Europe this go-round, and I'm a-okay with that. I love traveling, and I will continue doing so when I'm back in the States, but it's enough for right now. If I can, I'd like to see if I can visit my English relatives again, and I want to see more of Niedersachsen. In fact, my coworker, Elisabeth, has decided that we will go to a couple of places in Niedersachsen a couple of Wednesdays in June, which I look forward to. She frequently scolds me for going to all of these places abroad and not seeing what's here in my state, and I have to agree with her on that. And that will be rectified.

I also look forward to spending my time in Celle. It's a quirky town, yes, but I love it dearly. When the weather is continuously warm (which looks to be starting next week, yay!), I will spend my time in the field, in the Altstadt, at the school, and at Maryle's, enjoying the time spent here in my beloved town. It's a sweet respite for the busy life of a Fulbright scholar--the town in which one is placed.

Mistakes and the Police (Unrelated Topics, Mind You)

I would like to tell you a story. A story about getting lost on a bus line with which I should be familiar by now, and the repercussions of being a small, flustered ball of Jen. The characters: said flustered ball of Jen, marathon runners, and a middle-aged Russian bus driver.

The police belong to another story.


Lost

Yesterday, I had been invited to Maryle's place for lunch, tea, and some tweaking on our spring break travel plans (as our break starts Thursday). The buses don't run regularly on Sundays, but there are four times when they actually do. So, I took the first bus that drove to the Schloss, where I needed to switch buses in order to make it over to Maryle's neighborhood. Sounds elementary, right?

I didn't know about the marathon runners.

Because of the runners, whose path went around the Schloss, the usual bus rendezvous point had been blocked off, thus causing the buses to meet in another location: behind the Schloss. I was a little puzzled, but I wasn't worried; I simply asked the bus driver for line 5 if this was the bus that stopped at Eilensteg. I was told, "Yes." So, I boarded the bus, waiting for the time of departure.

As soon as we did start off, I knew I was going in the wrong direction. Bloody hell, I have no idea why this happens to me. Or why I let it happen.

Anyway, I walked up to the driver during the route, and made it clear that I had thought that this bus went to Eilensteg. Realizing the mistake, the driver told me to wait until the last stop, and we'd figure something out. This is when the flustered ball of Jen comes into play. It was just added stress to the already-high mountain of nerves I've had, lately.

So, what happened? I was treated to coffee and cake by a Russian bus driver during his half-hour break. One of the most awkward things that has happened during my stay here? Maybe. Why? Well, being told that I'm pretty is nice, along with how dark my eyes are, but considering the situation at hand... Yes, it makes for interesting stories later, but it remains an awkward situation. Other than that, though, we had a decent conversation, ranging from why I'm here to why he moved to Germany.

I was just glad when I did finally make it to Maryle's flat. And the pasta was sehr lecker.

Though the situation made me feel like an idiot and influenced the rest of my day, I do have a new-found appreciation for walking. Anywhere.


Another Story Regarding the Police

Ambiguous grammar makes titles funny.

I had forgotten to write about this particular anecdote in my previous blog posts, so it seems fitting that I add another strange story to this one. One night, while talking to one of my good friends back in Huntsville, I heard a knock at my door. I excused myself from the chat and cautiously looked down my stairs to see who it was. My visitor must have seen me, as he jovially shouted, "Keine Sorgen! Polizei!"

If you are a police officer, of course I'm going to worry.

I hurried to the door and opened it, wondering which crime they had finally charged me for. But, the officer just asked me if I had seen anything suspicious in the street from 6:00-10:00, and when I replied in the negative, he handed me a leaflet about the neighborhood watch and went on his way.

This would have been a lot less strange had he not stopped by at 10:40PM.

My life. What is it.

Leipzig and Dresden...and a very lazy journalist.

Oh, hey; I have an online journal.

As I look out of my bay window, I see the snowfall beginning anew. It's always a comforting sight: fat, lazy flakes slowly drifting down from the gray evening sky. I wonder how many more inches we'll have by tomorrow morning.

For, yes! We in Celle have quite a bit of snow. Being a Southerner, this is an unfamiliar sight, and I'm enjoying almost every minute of it. Of course, with beautiful snow comes freezing temperatures...and it's kind of hard right now to feel my cheeks.

But, yes! Online journal! Which means that I record events and stuff here! So, as some of you may remember, I had traveled with Maryle to Leipzig and Dresden for the New Year. I may add that this was quite a fun adventure. After riding on regional trains to which one actually can set his/her watch, Maryle and I spent a couple of hours in Leipzig, whereupon we visited the two churches that Bach frequented when he was the head homie of the city. Leipzig, by the way, is a rather musical city, as many composers (and poets, etc., for that matter) did frequent it. The churches themselves were impressive feats of architecture, but the most enjoyable aspect for me was just wandering around this very East German city (well, and finding a very Jen-sized door near the Thomaskirche, which shall be featured in an upcoming MOJ). It was actually refreshing seeing the Ampelmann crossing lights again, along with the very, very East German architecture, somewhat awkwardly working in conjunction with the older parts of the city that were either restored or there first. And though we were not there with any particular agenda, Leipzig is a city that I definitely wouldn't mind seeing again.

After mailing off a postcard from Leipzig (one of our top secret missions, you know), we set off to Dresden, where, upon meeting Maryle's college friend and current Dresden Fulbright scholar, Rachel, we three headed to Rachel's humble (and awesomely hospitable) abode. The night was spent getting to know Rachel a bit, along with setting up bedding and whatnot. I've discovered that I'm actually quite okay with residing in a stranger's place, but that may have been because Rachel seemed like a person I could trust with my well-being, if at least for three nights.

The next day, New Year's Eve, consisted of visiting the art museum, the Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister...which was, in all honesty, as crowded as an art museum can be. However, I did manage to see two works by Vermeer as well as Raphael's famous work with the little cupids (which is why they're all over Dresden souvenirs). Yes, this is me not being accurate. I will try to fix this later. Upon exiting the museum, I took to what I usually am wont to do: wandering. True, the wandering did not extend to anything too much further than the Frauenkirche (which does resemble a Dalmation, Maryle), but it did its job; I took an ungodly amount of photos of the beauty that is the Altstadt of Dresden. I also should probably post these said photos here, but...I'm...lazy. My apologies.

Upon reuniting with Maryle and Rachel after my brief wanderings (and listening to a rather good street trumpet player), we three trekked over to one of the cinemas to see Avatar in 3D...and dubbed in German. It's not a particularly Oscar-worthy film by far, but it was entertaining, at the very least, watching a pretty film in German. Never mind the thin plot. Plus, the 3D glasses? Pretty awesome. It is a pity that we had to give them up after the feature.

After our German cinematic experience (featuring an...American film), we three took the tram to Rachel's initial home-stay family (two sisters, Jeanette and Dana) for a New Year's Eve gathering. Though it was a bit awkward suddenly introducing ourselves to Germans our own age, it was incredibly nice spending the evening with Dana, Jeanette, and Jeanette's boyfriend, Frank. We played board games, drank champagne, and trekked to the mountain to watch the fireworks have a field day on the Dresden skyline. And I will tell you: everyone and his/her German dog owns and abuses fireworks here. It's...ridiculous and dangerous at the same time. But, upon midnight, we watched the spectacle from an almost-safe standpoint, hugging each other, saying "Happy New Year!" in both German and English, and playing relentlessly with silly string and sparklers. Barring a delayed tram at 2:30 in the morning, it was a fantastic way to start off 2010.

New Year's Day was also a rather fun time, though a lot more relaxed, seeing as we...slept in until about 1:30 in the afternoon. It had snowed that morning, so we three went about the Altstadt again, taking pictures of the snow. After having dinner at an Italian restaurant in the area of the Frauenkirche, we did call it an early night, but only to watch wonderfully bad German (and German-dubbed) television, including Cool Runnings in its not-quite entirety. After bidding farewell to Rachel in the morning, Maryle and I returned to good ol' Celle, and life has gotten back to as normal as it can be here.

For, yes, I started back to work this past Thursday, and by Friday I was pretty much back into routine. The first day passed without too much ado, seeing as 4b and 3a, though fond of me, aren't particularly loving. Friday, though, went much better in that regard, as little Anne-Marie, the adorable cherub of 2c, tackled me upon my entering the room. Additionally, when Lia and Michelle hugged me in the hall, Anne-Marie also had to join in...of course. But, it was what Lia said to me that clinched it: "Martha muss Sie sehen! (or: 'Martha must see you!')" And, rest assured, she did. Apart from having to be a substitute for the Philosophy AG with some problematic fourth graders, it was a good start to getting back to it. Go me.

Phew. I've finally come to the conclusion...of this post, anyway. I don't know what happened, but posting just got away from me. I will, however, be more diligent about my posting henceforth. 'Til next time, duckies (which actually may be very soon).

And Now, Your Moment of Jen - Special Edition!

A double feature of today's MOJ!

In case you didn't know, Bama beat Auburn in Friday's Iron Bowl.

The Crimson Tide and I say: You're welcome.

Typically, I never watch football, but a couple of things made this game important: 1.) a fan of the opposing team kept me updated about the game, peppered with the comments of a typical rivalry, through online chat, and 2.) it was special because it reminded me of home.

Additionally, this is how awesome my friends back in Huntsville are. During their Halloween party, they made a pumpkin version of me...and pointed sharp things at it.

My crazy friends say: You're welcome. Pumpkin Jen says: Ouch.

My Life is Good.

Really, it is. If I can say, "Oh, I'm not doing much today. I'm just going to hop on a train to Bremen," then I can't justifiably say that life is anything but good.

Hey, look! I've been mentioned in my department's blog! Take a look here: UAH History News.

This is going to be another one of those sectioned off posts, seeing as I have much to talk about: my travels to Hannover and Bremen over the course of two days. I will save some reflections about my stay overall for a post later today. So, stay tuned.

This is going to be a very long post.


Hannover

So, I took a trip with Maryle and her university friend, Sarah, to Hannover Tuesday. To give a bit of background, Sarah is traveling through Europe at this very moment, and she stopped by Celle to visit Maryle. In addition to this, I have two (actually, three, but we'll get to that) friends from the Fulbright orientation who live in Hannover, and we had been planning for awhile to meet up. So, it naturally made sense to have all of us meet in Hannover for a free tour of the pretty parts of the city.

And this is how the day went. (I'm not going to leave you hanging; it went very well.)

I arrived at the (rather dingy) Celle Bahnhof rather early, since I'm entirely too punctual when planning trips and whatnot. I called Maryle to notify her of my arrival, and she informed me that she and Sarah were on their way and would be at the station in twenty-five minutes. So, I waited around for that allotted amount of time and started wondering why they were late. I got a call from Maryle...and the poor women missed their bus. So, they literally power-walked to the station, which takes about roughly forty minutes from Maryle's place to this particular destination. We missed our desired train, but, as there are many trains that go through Celle to Hannover, we managed to catch a train not long after their Power Walk 2009.

Upon our arrival at Hannover, we set about finding our way to Ernst Augustus Platz, which is where my friend, Bill, had said he would meet us "unter dem Schwanz," or under the tail, of the Ernst Augustus statue. Notice that I said "he," as in one solitary person. I suppose you can imagine my surprise when not one, but three, people were there (after I had, you know, looked right at Sara and passed them). That's right; Bill, Sara (my roommate in Altenberg), and Patrick (another Fulbrighter whom I had passingly known at orientation) were our tour guides for the afternoon. This is rife with awesome.

So, we six travelers traipsed about Hannover, viewing mostly the Altstadt of the city, which, along with almost everything else in Hannover, had been reconstructed after World War II because of the British bombings. We toured the Marktkirche, viewed in a professional manner some mildly suggestive statues in the park bordering the Altstadt, procured some lunch at the Markthalle (an American-type mall), and ended our six-person tour at the Neues Rathaus. I received a really neat history lesson of Hannover from Bill at the Rathaus, with the four large models of the city on the courthouse's ground floor. The difference between the 1939 and the 1945 models is striking.

As I desired to go to the Niedersaesisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Maryle and Sarah split off from the group to go a-wandering, and my Hannoverian comrades walked with me to the art museum. On the way, my tour guides showed me the St.-Aegidienkirche, which had also been obliterated by British bombing. However, as a memorial, the church was left in shambles, which provides a stark contrast to the rest of the city. This was one of my favorite landmarks that my tour guides showed me. After going to the wrong museum, we found our way to my desired destination, and I left my benevolent friends in pursuit of high Aht.

Now, I must make a digression here because I love art museums. During my trip to Germany last year, my main activity was literally perusing art museums. "Hey, let's do fun stuff!" "No, I'd rather fill my lungs with the dust of dead people's masterpieces." I was not disappointed with Hannover's collection, though I will say that when the museum proudly proclaims to house such works as Monet, Botticelli, Rembrandt, and Rubens (and Renoir! A lovely surprise), it usually means that there is one of each, and not famous ones, at that. But, hey, I'm not complaining. There was also an impressive collection of Caspar David Friedrich and Max Liebermann. That was really cool.

(We're almost done here, kids.) Upon meeting Maryle and Sarah, we three, two Cellers and a world traveler, jaunted down to the Hannover "Oktoberfest," otherwise known as the German State Fair. It was amusing to view the different attractions, though the two most interesting ones involved a horrid airbrushed illustration of Chuck "WTF" Norris and a mechanized contraption that I dubbed the Child Molester Crocodile With the Beer Gut and the Long "Tail." So, after snapping a few photos of the oddities of Oktoberfest, our weary souls and our weary...soles returned to Celle for the night.

Since Hannover is a short jog from Celle, my adventures in this city are far from over, I imagine. However, this trip was a nice introduction to the city of the Georges.


Bremen

Ah, Bremen! So many adventures and misadventures! Bremen, I love you. Thursday!

Oh, you'll get the reference when you read the story.

The send off to Bremen went a lot more smoothly than to Hannover, since buses weren't early and trains were on time. The two and a half hours of travel passed uneventfully, and we arrived in Bremen around 11:40, giving us much time to go a-wandering about the city on a Wednesday, a day all of us had assumed would be a grand time for tours and whatnot.

Have I mentioned that things like tours are not offered on Wednesday, but on Thursday? I didn't? Well, imagine that.

Maryle, Sarah, and I had planned on taking the Beck's brewery tour. That was closed until Thursday. Then Maryle noticed that there was also a Mercendes-Benz tour. Hey, guess what? That was also closed until Thursday. So, we three, standing in the rain and wondering what to do (and laughing pretty much the entire time), headed over to the Bremen Altstadt with no particular agenda. This actually turned out to be a very nice time, with our own improvised tour of the flashy things that Bremen has to offer its tourists.

Marktplatz is a rather impressive center of a German Altstadt. Despite the constant rain, the layout and the attractions of Marktplatz were admittedly quite beautiful. We strolled about the Altes Rathaus, viewed the Roland statue, walked around inside the St. Petri Dom (one of my favorite cathedrals of my stay so far), found the famous Bremer Stadtmusikanten statue (smaller than I had anticipated, but really cool nonetheless), and wandered inside the Unser Lieben Frauen Kirche. At this point, we had lunch at the German fast food place called Nordsee, where Maryle retold the story of the Bremer Stadtmusikanten in the vivid way that only Maryle can. This is a good thing, by the way.

During the events mentioned above, we three naturally took photos. While Maryle was taking a picture of us, she said "Thursday!" instead of the standard "Cheese!" that has become ingrained in American culture. So, that is how a new catchphrase has entered into my life. However, it must be uttered only on Wednesday.

After lunch, we set off to find the Kunsthalle, an art museum that both Maryle and I had dearly wanted to view. So, as is the norm with travelers, we three trekked through a very beautiful park, the Wallanlagen, and stumbled upon the Theatersgarten, which is a memorial for the Theater that once stood there before its destruction in World War II. Then, we made our way to the Kunsthalle.

It was closed. For renovations. For two years.

I think this is when we realized that, in a fit of laughter, that we just needed a beer and to sit down and chat. So, upon our tour through Schnoor, the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century art/blacksmith/shopping district of Bremen, we sat down at a restaurant (with a closed kitchen, by the way) and had our Beck's.

I believe that, during the rest of our trip, we realized just how cool it was that we three had been traveling together for two days. As Sarah and I had talked about before our train to Bremen, we had known that we are incredibly lucky to be making our way through Europe at such a young age. But, I think Sarah summed it up quite nicely when she said, "Guys, thanks so much for being awesome and traveling with me these two days" as we walked up to a random Bremen windmill...because, really, I had a great time traveling with Maryle and Sarah, particularly on our misadventures in Bremen. So, upon bidding farewell to Sarah at her hostel, Maryle and I returned to Celle.

Celle, a town that has the crappiest bus schedule in the history of mankind. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say, Maryle and I managed to return to our homes.

Hannover and Bremen in two days. Who would have thought?

Baby Steps

REMEMBER, KIDS: DON'T LEAVE YOUR PASSPORT AT HOME.

EVER.

YES, THIS MERITS ALL CAPS.

No, nothing happened, but I realized that, upon waiting at the Zollamt after getting lost for twenty minutes prior to arrival, I did not have my passport on my person. I told myself to stay calm, and I did--which, as some of you may know, is a big step for me. I'm proud of myself. I have had a package waiting for me since Wednesday, and I had been dragging my feet about picking it up because I didn't know where the post office was. But, as I am supposedly taking a couple of day trips Tuesday and Wednesday, I knew that I needed to pick it up today. I looked at a map and realized that I could walk to the post office from the Franzoesischer Garten, so, with a stern face and a sterner determination, I set off (in a bad mood, but being an adult dictates that one needs to fulfill responsibility even in a bad mood).

Of course, I went the wrong way down the street, spotted a post office, realized that it re-opened at 14:00, and waited around for fifteen minutes until a gentleman informed me that I was at the wrong place. Then more wandering ensued for about ten more minutes until I reached the Zollamt (not being above asking a pair of tourists where it was located). I approached the counter and ran into more obstacles, since the nice man at this location informed me that I needed an invoice--but, being almost in tears at this point, since it had been a rather bad day, after all, does actually help. He let me open the package to see if it included an invoice and, lo and behold! there one was. So, in the end, I received my package.

After that little misadventure, I met Maryle and her friend, Sarah, at the Altstadt, wherein we trekked over to this really cute (it really is cute) tea shop named Tee Kanzlei. Upon my search for some strong Irish Breakfast tea (my favorite tea, by the way), we came across a middle-aged gentleman who turned out to be a New Yorker. Imagine that. He was a rather jovial fellow, bilingual, and evidently owns the shop and visits every year. He was, to say the least, very entertaining and seemed rather impressed that Maryle and I are actually living here in Celle. Random encounters make me content.

And, yes, I found my Irish Breakfast tea. I've just tasted it. It is a mouthful of lovely.

Tired, hungry, and a bit melancholy, I returned to my flat. Admittedly, I am in a better mood now, reflecting the day's events and taking in my small accomplishment of finding the Zollamt by myself (and finding my blasted passport, which was in my other bag). Baby steps.

I have more events to recount, such as Sunday's Verkaufsoffen, but for now I shall enjoy the rest of my tea and dream of better days. Or mental states, at least.

Home and...Home

It's still bittersweet, thinking of people back in Alabama. But, I suppose it's more a distant pang now, more of one of those random sharp pains in the side that hurts the most when one takes a deep breath. One never expects it, and it's over a moment later, but it always, always takes one by surprise. Friends advise me to get over it and to take advantage of being in Europe to travel and make new friends (I have even been ordered, by multiple people, to fall in love with and marry a German man, but I will not succumb to the pressure. Sorry.). Perhaps I deserve to be belittled, but I personally believe that a bit of homesickness every now and then is a positive thing. It makes me realize that I do care about people, even though I fully realize that close friendships rarely last, at least in my life.

Anyway, that's my spiel on that.

I believe my clothes are becoming loose. This may not be a good thing.

Anyway Part II, I taught today. It was neat. Well, okay, I didn't lead a class, but I did introduce the articles of clothing and play a game with the kiddies in 3a. It was a lot of fun. The game, of course, is quite simple: the leader (in this case, me) points to the pictures of clothing and states what they are, and the class repeats what she says. The leader is supposed to misspeak sometimes, and the students who repeat the wrong label must sit down. This continues until one person is standing. And, believe me, it worked. Lots of laughter, from both students and teachers.

Afterward, upon my return to the flat, I began to muse on my abilities as a teacher. I have known for awhile that I want to teach, but I have been determined to acquire the ever-godly Ph.D. in order to teach upper level college courses. I have always realized the importance of teaching grade school, particularly primary school, but I suppose I have also looked down on teaching those levels, since college seemed more prestigious and intellectually stimulating. I have associated primary school teachers with "motherly," which, for some reason, has received an admittedly negative stigma in society. I'm still solid in my desire to go to graduate school, but working with these children for three weeks has opened my eyes to how...adept these teachers are at their job and how awesome it is to mold these children's education. Primary school teachers deserve a lot more respect than credited.

Oh, I was interviewed yesterday. The local newspaper is going to publish an article on the Ganztagschule, and the reporter wanted to talk to me because I'm still determined to host an English reading hour one afternoon per week. I'm surprised at just how excited people are about my proposal.

Perhaps things are going right. Maybe I'm doing a good thing. I may just be as awesome as I joke I am.

Lazin' About on a Sunday Afternoon...

...and loving it, actually.

Back in Alabama, I hated being lazy on the weekend, despite the fact that I was most of the time. I suppose that, during the college semester, my weekends were devoted entirely to my studies...and, particularly during that last semester, weekends were draining. This past summer also saw me loathing laziness on the weekends, as the standard ennui of being a lethargic young adult kept growing on me like a...well, like a rather lethargic tumor. Of course, that was also because I was unemployed, had a degree, and spent my time with friends almost constantly because I knew I wouldn't be able to for ten months (which was nice). But, now that I have a job that requires me running after German kiddies--and in a language I hardly know, at that--, I find that being lazy on a Sunday is very pleasant. It's also an ample opportunity to drink far too much coffee and tea.

Let's travel into one of my digressions that was triggered because of my mention of tea. Every Saturday (and apparently every Wednesday), the Altstadt hosts a fresh market in the morning and early afternoon. This causes me much happiness, as one can purchase practically everything one needs for delicious sustenance for the week: cheese, meat, rolls, honey, jam, and...TEA. Like, loose tea. Like, leaves that have been dried from a home-grown plant tea. There's this one stand at the fresh market, Dudel Wuerzt, that sells spices and bags of tea at around 3.50 euros a pop, sometimes more expensive. Being the total tea dork that I am, I purchased a bag of peppermint and apple tea, respectively. I've never seen tea leaves look that fresh, but this is because I'm usually cheap and buy the tea bags (i.e., sawdust) or the Harney & Sons loose tea. Anyway, I tried the peppermint tea upon my return home after a jaunt in the Franzoesischer Garten, and...yum. This makes me happy.

Needless to say, these past two weekends have been rather nice, overall. Last Saturday brought about the visit of one Abby, a friend I had made at orientation. She lives in Wolfsburg, a new city a bit south from here. I was super-excited that she made a trip to Celle, and we had much fun stomping around the Altstadt, visiting the castle (der Schloss) and eating at an "American" restaurant, the Grand Canyon. Good schnitzel and beer there, ironically enough. This Friday, the other teaching assistant, Maryle, and I went a-shopping for shoes that proved unsuccessful, yet quite fun. Also, lunch at a particular Indian restaurant is only about 6.00 euros on Fridays.

Why am I mentioning the food? Oh, right. Because they're the only meals I've had that are nice and hot. I take care of myself so well. (I do, actually.)

It's still a bit surreal to be here and to be getting into a steady routine. To actually start having a "career" and a "real life" (though, I'm sure that both can and will be debated). To start wondering why in the world I didn't travel more in North America, especially since I have friends in very interesting parts of the world, like Montreal, Los Angeles, and Tampa. We'll see what I can do when I return... Right now, I need to see where I will go in the magical land of Germany and the rest of Europe.

One step at a time. Ready? Steady? Go!

Getting Settled

So. Kind of funny story.

I wake up this morning around 8:15. On Sundays, I'm supposed to be quiet until after 8:00, right? The house is still deathly silent. I tiptoe to the bathroom, do bathroom-y business, and flush the toilet.

Loud noise number one.

I then go back to the room, quietly shut the door, and begin to try to (silently) make some breakfast before getting ready for the day. So, I open a new box of cereal that I purchased at the grocer's the day before.

Loud noise number two.

After fighting (silently) with the plastic for a few minutes, I give up and have toast and jam. I open the drawer to retrieve a knife for the spreading of the said jam and then close the drawer. My hand slips. The drawer therefore kind of, sort of slams shut.

Loud noise number three.

I fail.

Okay, in all honesty, it didn't matter because I was being loud after the allotted quiet time. But still, I found it amusing.

So, to catch up, I'm now in my new living quarters in Celle. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Christiane and Siegi, who housed me for a couple of days before being allowed to enter the new place, which was (and still is...oh, it still is) being renovated. Nicest older couple ever. They helped me with so much. Okay, I'll stop being sickly sweet.

The flat is pretty awesome. It's small, and one bedroom (with a separate bath), and it has almost everything I need. All I need to do is purchase a hairdryer and perhaps an iron and board. The family Lierse is also very nice and accomodating, seeing as they invited me to eat with them for Mittagessen (beef, potato balls, and red cabbage, yum--I normally hate beef, but this was ganz gut) and to a concert where the son, who is twelve, played the piano. This afternoon, I also played in the backyard with Baroo, the dog, and Meerit, the daughter, who is seven. Meerit was a little shy at first, but by the end of the day she seemed to really like me.

So, yeah, renovations are still going on. Tjark (the father) finished the stairs and the light fixtures in the room today. I, um, can't really use my faucet or dishwasher, seeing as there is literally no plumbing. Also, I can't use the stove or the oven because they, er, don't work. I gathered that when I discovered paper and instructions in the oven. But, hey, the coffee maker works! Ah, coffee.

Germans are really talented with the piano. Just throwing that out there. I also live with a musical family. I feel strangely inadequate, and for the first time in years, I miss my clarinet.

Anyway, now I have peace and quiet. Tomorrow, I go to Klein Hehlen to talk with Katrin about my schedule. Then, I think Christiane and I will try to get my residence permit again (we're having a difficult time with that). This is the woman who also helped me get a bank account, showed me around the Altstadt, helped me with strange German groceries, and even took my dirty clothes to wash them over the weekend.

I don't know how I got here and became this lucky, but I have and did.