KillahKyla: you scaring my family away with your gayness
KillahKyla: AWESOMe
girriffic666: its like my super power
girriffic666: of gayness
I love you, Jacob.
8.9.04
lean back, lean back...
That's what SHE said. y'know, it always takes me about a week to stop wanting to say that after I hang out with Jeff a lot. I never say it here. But around Jeff, it's every 10 minutes. AT LEAST.
I was supposed to go shopping with my brother a few hours ago. but instead, he decided to bake a pizza we had lying around, and bam - we ended up not going anywhere. Surprised? anyone surprised? I thought not. But there's still a possibility that we might - he's pretty determined to buy some long-sleeve t-shirts to cover up some weird fungus that is festering on his bicep.
Let's see, what am I up to these days. Work, updating a website for my father, more work, occasionally having time to sit at home and do nothing before I go back to work again. I really don't mind being at the office, but it IS monotony, and that is never a good thing. I spend my free time trying to get my room back in order and ready to move back up to Seattle in... hmm, I guess it's only 15 days now. Wanted to have a garage sale this weekend, but cancelled it on account of my second cousin getting married on Saturday and then helping Manzanita move on Sunday. Needless to say, I never hang out with anybody anymore. Did go to Esmereldo's birthday party on Sunday night, which was entertaining. It was a replay of Manzanita and Batman's joint birthday party, except 2 years later and the faces were all different. Kinda creepy. Plus, I missed the pinatas both times, which is a crying shame, because they were all made to look like the faces of the honored kid and were really cool. But I saw the Mickey Mouse cake with tin foil piercings and bloodshot eyes, and a joint sticking out of his mouth. And I took pictures. AWESOME.
Anyway, can't wait to get my social life back at the U. Only two more weeks.
Next weekend (9/18) I will be at the UCLA/UW game. Was thinking about going to the UW/USC game in LA in late October, but decided against it because 1. football tickets are too expensive and 2. it would only be a 2-day trip, which wouldn't be worth the frequent flyer miles. So, will plan to do it another time. Spring break, perhaps?
Pizza time.
That's what SHE said. y'know, it always takes me about a week to stop wanting to say that after I hang out with Jeff a lot. I never say it here. But around Jeff, it's every 10 minutes. AT LEAST.
I was supposed to go shopping with my brother a few hours ago. but instead, he decided to bake a pizza we had lying around, and bam - we ended up not going anywhere. Surprised? anyone surprised? I thought not. But there's still a possibility that we might - he's pretty determined to buy some long-sleeve t-shirts to cover up some weird fungus that is festering on his bicep.
Let's see, what am I up to these days. Work, updating a website for my father, more work, occasionally having time to sit at home and do nothing before I go back to work again. I really don't mind being at the office, but it IS monotony, and that is never a good thing. I spend my free time trying to get my room back in order and ready to move back up to Seattle in... hmm, I guess it's only 15 days now. Wanted to have a garage sale this weekend, but cancelled it on account of my second cousin getting married on Saturday and then helping Manzanita move on Sunday. Needless to say, I never hang out with anybody anymore. Did go to Esmereldo's birthday party on Sunday night, which was entertaining. It was a replay of Manzanita and Batman's joint birthday party, except 2 years later and the faces were all different. Kinda creepy. Plus, I missed the pinatas both times, which is a crying shame, because they were all made to look like the faces of the honored kid and were really cool. But I saw the Mickey Mouse cake with tin foil piercings and bloodshot eyes, and a joint sticking out of his mouth. And I took pictures. AWESOME.
Anyway, can't wait to get my social life back at the U. Only two more weeks.
Next weekend (9/18) I will be at the UCLA/UW game. Was thinking about going to the UW/USC game in LA in late October, but decided against it because 1. football tickets are too expensive and 2. it would only be a 2-day trip, which wouldn't be worth the frequent flyer miles. So, will plan to do it another time. Spring break, perhaps?
Pizza time.
1.9.04
New eMail exchange between Jeff and Kyla regarding previous post:
(Jeff in Bold, Kyla in Italics)
Also, Kyla's new blog makes Jeff a sad panda :-( Try to relate to me, in your own words, the points of that drivel without reducing it to catchy slogans (war for oil, secretive administration, etc.). I heard he took time at his father's funeral to bash Bush...
Oh, come on. I just put that in my blog because I thought it was well-written. He's really a good writer, that Ron.
Well written? So was Mein Kampf.
Special thanks to my personal Friendly Neighborhood Conservative.
(Jeff in Bold, Kyla in Italics)
Also, Kyla's new blog makes Jeff a sad panda :-( Try to relate to me, in your own words, the points of that drivel without reducing it to catchy slogans (war for oil, secretive administration, etc.). I heard he took time at his father's funeral to bash Bush...
Oh, come on. I just put that in my blog because I thought it was well-written. He's really a good writer, that Ron.
Well written? So was Mein Kampf.
Special thanks to my personal Friendly Neighborhood Conservative.
31.8.04
The far-right wing of the country—nearly one third of us by some estimates—continues to regard all who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid (liberals, rationalists, Europeans, et cetera) as agents of Satan.Bush could show up on video canoodling with Paris Hilton and still bank their vote. Right-wing talking heads continue painting anyone who fails to genuflect deeply enough as a "hater," and therefore a nut job, probably a crypto-Islamist car bomber. But these protestations have taken on a hysterical, almost comically desperate tone. It's one thing to get trashed by Michael Moore. But when Nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos.
Ron Reagan, The Case Against George W. Bush
Ron Reagan, The Case Against George W. Bush
29.8.04
hey.
just got back from a friend's wedding today. It was crazy... well, besides the fact that there was a decidedly large age gap between the bride and the groom... she was the first of us to go. how can we already be that age, where people are choosing and marrying their life partners... insanity. and she was only the first. she looked so beautiful, and somewhat grown up, but we could still see the young high-school student in her... the girl with so much ahead of her, so much that she was willing to sacrifice for something that will hopefully turn out to be even better. We can only hope.
Aside from that, I got to see some old CHS kids that I haven't heard from in quite some time. That was mostly a good thing... and in the cases where it wasn't, we simply didn't talk beyond a short "hi, how're you." Plus, a few UWers from the 'Couv' who were fun to have along for the ride... fun to dance with and catch up with, at any rate. Overall it was a fun time, a pretty wedding held in a pretty place with beautiful weather and a beautiful bride. Plus a cemetery on the other side of the road, but we will ignore that. it wasn't very "auspicious." (I heard that word at least 3 times from the lady who performed the ceremony. I think it was the only word over 2 syllables that she knew. people like that shouldn't be allowed to talk...)
just got back from a friend's wedding today. It was crazy... well, besides the fact that there was a decidedly large age gap between the bride and the groom... she was the first of us to go. how can we already be that age, where people are choosing and marrying their life partners... insanity. and she was only the first. she looked so beautiful, and somewhat grown up, but we could still see the young high-school student in her... the girl with so much ahead of her, so much that she was willing to sacrifice for something that will hopefully turn out to be even better. We can only hope.
Aside from that, I got to see some old CHS kids that I haven't heard from in quite some time. That was mostly a good thing... and in the cases where it wasn't, we simply didn't talk beyond a short "hi, how're you." Plus, a few UWers from the 'Couv' who were fun to have along for the ride... fun to dance with and catch up with, at any rate. Overall it was a fun time, a pretty wedding held in a pretty place with beautiful weather and a beautiful bride. Plus a cemetery on the other side of the road, but we will ignore that. it wasn't very "auspicious." (I heard that word at least 3 times from the lady who performed the ceremony. I think it was the only word over 2 syllables that she knew. people like that shouldn't be allowed to talk...)
27.8.04
OH MY GOODNESS my father is driving me CRAZY. I SWEAR I will never live another entire summer in Olympia.
Okay, calm down. It's fine. You're overreacting to something that's not that big of a deal. This is temporary, it will pass.
STILL though. Do I really have to spend my summers being bossed around both as an underling as a daughter? Tcha. No way... I want more freedom than this.
but I really have it good. I don't have to pay rent, I can get hours or days off if I really need them, I can come and go whenever I please as long as my dad doesn't get woken up, I'm allowed to take road trips or shop or go swimming or do anything I can think of.
still though...
Okay, calm down. It's fine. You're overreacting to something that's not that big of a deal. This is temporary, it will pass.
STILL though. Do I really have to spend my summers being bossed around both as an underling as a daughter? Tcha. No way... I want more freedom than this.
but I really have it good. I don't have to pay rent, I can get hours or days off if I really need them, I can come and go whenever I please as long as my dad doesn't get woken up, I'm allowed to take road trips or shop or go swimming or do anything I can think of.
still though...
Been back for almost 4 days now. Weird how it works... I really slid right back into the swing of things pretty quickly. I wouldn't say I've been experiencing "culture shock"... but there are a few things that come to mind:
1) I miss the good food in Germany. Every store had inexpensive, fresh food for you to buy. There is no broetchen here... I tried to bring a piece of Germany home with me by bringing Nutella. But this morning I tried to find something I could spread my Nutella on, and there wasn't anything! I finally had to settle for a piece of toast. Then at the store a few nights ago, I looked for Campari tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes were there, but the mozzarella - the kind sold in the little bags with a lot of moisture inside - was nowhere to be found!!! dar. So I had to settle for "low-moisture" mozzarella, and it just wasn't the same.
2) I'm used to typing on the German keyboard, where the "y" and the "z" are switched, and the various symbols are switched around. My name frequently is typed out initially as "Kzla". Cute.
3) The language thing... it's so nice to understand and be understood 99% of the time. I can tell you, that wasn't the percentage I was maintaining in Germany. I now have a lot more confidence when calling people I don't know, because at least I know they will probably be native English speakers, and that is comforting. So this is a postive culture change.
I had a better 3rd point, but I forgot it so I had to replace it with something weak.
Anyway, so being home has been fun. I got to see Batman and ... um I forgot what nickname I had for him, but yeah, I guess I'll call him Robin, because they pretty much go together. For example, we loaded Batman's car last night, and today they are leaving for school, since they both go to the Claremont colleges. But I did get to hang out with them a good deal... yesterday I went to lunch with Batman and Manzinita. We really had a rollicking good time, and I was 45 minutes late in getting back to work, but it was fine.
More later.
1) I miss the good food in Germany. Every store had inexpensive, fresh food for you to buy. There is no broetchen here... I tried to bring a piece of Germany home with me by bringing Nutella. But this morning I tried to find something I could spread my Nutella on, and there wasn't anything! I finally had to settle for a piece of toast. Then at the store a few nights ago, I looked for Campari tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes were there, but the mozzarella - the kind sold in the little bags with a lot of moisture inside - was nowhere to be found!!! dar. So I had to settle for "low-moisture" mozzarella, and it just wasn't the same.
2) I'm used to typing on the German keyboard, where the "y" and the "z" are switched, and the various symbols are switched around. My name frequently is typed out initially as "Kzla". Cute.
3) The language thing... it's so nice to understand and be understood 99% of the time. I can tell you, that wasn't the percentage I was maintaining in Germany. I now have a lot more confidence when calling people I don't know, because at least I know they will probably be native English speakers, and that is comforting. So this is a postive culture change.
I had a better 3rd point, but I forgot it so I had to replace it with something weak.
Anyway, so being home has been fun. I got to see Batman and ... um I forgot what nickname I had for him, but yeah, I guess I'll call him Robin, because they pretty much go together. For example, we loaded Batman's car last night, and today they are leaving for school, since they both go to the Claremont colleges. But I did get to hang out with them a good deal... yesterday I went to lunch with Batman and Manzinita. We really had a rollicking good time, and I was 45 minutes late in getting back to work, but it was fine.
More later.
20.8.04
Hannover Aktion!
So. Pferd Mädchen arrived on Wednesday. It was great getting to see her again. I was incredibly excited, not to mentioned surprised, when my host parents told me about her arrival... hmm, did I write about that already? anyway. I couldn't remember the last time i had talked to her, much less seen her, so it really was a pleasant surprise. the family has been busy, with the parents having mucho arbeit at the office and the kids starting school again. (I know it seems early for that, but the Germans get lots more breaks during the school year than we do. And not wimpy '3-day-weekend' breaks, either... nice week or 2-week-long things.) So we've had time to hang out and see some of the area by ourselves. Yesterday we went to Celle, which is a sweet little town a bit north of Isernhagen (where our host family lives). We did some shopping and ate. Today we ate with our host parents at this wonderful breakfast buffet in downtown Hannover near Kröpke. I haven't wanted to eat since because we had soooo much great food. (this is strange for me since it is already a quarter past 5!! Usually I think a lot more about food...) Then they took us to a Picasso exhibit at the Sprengel Museum, which was really cool. So many pretty pictures... unfortunately no really famous ones, like Guernica, but still really impressive. Then Pferd Mädchen (who I will now refer to as PM) and I went CD shopping to buy all the cool German music that isn't 'erhältlich' in the States. I got the Silbermond album (they're a lot like Evanescence), the new single 'Troy' from the Phantastischen Vier, and the Dragonstea Din Tei song, if only to remind me of this entire summer (it was all over the radio, along with those two songs from Eamon and Frankie). Of course, I left with yet another Die Ärtze CD. This one is from 2000 and has a cool blue case which is fuzzy. weird band. I restrained myself from buying their DVDs because of the price... but they have no country code, and when am I ever going to be in Germany again??? AND their new DVD comes out Monday, the day I leave. Hopefully I can stop by some store and pick it up before I catch my flight out. It would have been even better to go to one of their concerts. Last week they played in Salzburg, and this week they are taking a break. I am SOOO jealous of the certain Asian kid who went to see them in concert in June. ARRRGH.
Anyway. Oh, and PM and I randomly stumbled across a international youth conference. they were holding some kind of fair and had 85 different countries represented by booths with food samples. The Canadians were nice and gave me a flag, and one of the Brits handed me a candy bar and kindly told me what was going on. the Swiss made me try fondue, and then when I said 'schmeckt alkoholisch', it was then that they told me about the white wine in it. I made sure the bread was on the fork really well, because PM says if your bread drops in the pot, you have to kiss the person on my left. I didn't know who the person was on my left, but chances are I wouldn't wanna kiss whoever it was.
So. Leaving on a jet plane on Monday. I know I will miss Germany in particular and Europe in general, but for now I am just glad to be going home to see my family. and my friends, of course. Stay posted for sad withdrawal posts. _wink_
don't know when I'll be back again
So. Pferd Mädchen arrived on Wednesday. It was great getting to see her again. I was incredibly excited, not to mentioned surprised, when my host parents told me about her arrival... hmm, did I write about that already? anyway. I couldn't remember the last time i had talked to her, much less seen her, so it really was a pleasant surprise. the family has been busy, with the parents having mucho arbeit at the office and the kids starting school again. (I know it seems early for that, but the Germans get lots more breaks during the school year than we do. And not wimpy '3-day-weekend' breaks, either... nice week or 2-week-long things.) So we've had time to hang out and see some of the area by ourselves. Yesterday we went to Celle, which is a sweet little town a bit north of Isernhagen (where our host family lives). We did some shopping and ate. Today we ate with our host parents at this wonderful breakfast buffet in downtown Hannover near Kröpke. I haven't wanted to eat since because we had soooo much great food. (this is strange for me since it is already a quarter past 5!! Usually I think a lot more about food...) Then they took us to a Picasso exhibit at the Sprengel Museum, which was really cool. So many pretty pictures... unfortunately no really famous ones, like Guernica, but still really impressive. Then Pferd Mädchen (who I will now refer to as PM) and I went CD shopping to buy all the cool German music that isn't 'erhältlich' in the States. I got the Silbermond album (they're a lot like Evanescence), the new single 'Troy' from the Phantastischen Vier, and the Dragonstea Din Tei song, if only to remind me of this entire summer (it was all over the radio, along with those two songs from Eamon and Frankie). Of course, I left with yet another Die Ärtze CD. This one is from 2000 and has a cool blue case which is fuzzy. weird band. I restrained myself from buying their DVDs because of the price... but they have no country code, and when am I ever going to be in Germany again??? AND their new DVD comes out Monday, the day I leave. Hopefully I can stop by some store and pick it up before I catch my flight out. It would have been even better to go to one of their concerts. Last week they played in Salzburg, and this week they are taking a break. I am SOOO jealous of the certain Asian kid who went to see them in concert in June. ARRRGH.
Anyway. Oh, and PM and I randomly stumbled across a international youth conference. they were holding some kind of fair and had 85 different countries represented by booths with food samples. The Canadians were nice and gave me a flag, and one of the Brits handed me a candy bar and kindly told me what was going on. the Swiss made me try fondue, and then when I said 'schmeckt alkoholisch', it was then that they told me about the white wine in it. I made sure the bread was on the fork really well, because PM says if your bread drops in the pot, you have to kiss the person on my left. I didn't know who the person was on my left, but chances are I wouldn't wanna kiss whoever it was.
So. Leaving on a jet plane on Monday. I know I will miss Germany in particular and Europe in general, but for now I am just glad to be going home to see my family. and my friends, of course. Stay posted for sad withdrawal posts. _wink_
don't know when I'll be back again
16.8.04
so.
Back in Hannover. Can't say I wasn't glad to see it again. Especially the part where I rolled into Isernhagen and my host parents were there on the platform to greet me. My trip is finally winding down... only a week more and I will be back in Olympia. This is perfect... I want to spend another week learning and practicing German and hanging out with my host family, and I need more time anyway to get my stuff together and pack and buy enough souveniers to bring home. But on the other hand ('andererseits'), I really don't think I'll last much longer without seeing my family. I love them so much! and my sister sends me the cutest darn emails. Prolly a little too hyper, honey!! Anyway. And things have changed at home even in these few short months... the truck is being traded in for a new one, and Dad has started plans for building a new house out by TESC. Plus the new office is currently being built, and and and... crazy. Anyway, can't wait to see the Olympia crowd, hopefully before they all go back to school. Just one more week... and it's just right. now, time to shop!
bis demnächst!
Back in Hannover. Can't say I wasn't glad to see it again. Especially the part where I rolled into Isernhagen and my host parents were there on the platform to greet me. My trip is finally winding down... only a week more and I will be back in Olympia. This is perfect... I want to spend another week learning and practicing German and hanging out with my host family, and I need more time anyway to get my stuff together and pack and buy enough souveniers to bring home. But on the other hand ('andererseits'), I really don't think I'll last much longer without seeing my family. I love them so much! and my sister sends me the cutest darn emails. Prolly a little too hyper, honey!! Anyway. And things have changed at home even in these few short months... the truck is being traded in for a new one, and Dad has started plans for building a new house out by TESC. Plus the new office is currently being built, and and and... crazy. Anyway, can't wait to see the Olympia crowd, hopefully before they all go back to school. Just one more week... and it's just right. now, time to shop!
bis demnächst!
11.8.04
hmm. where were we last time I wrote? I think Vienna.... well, we were in Munich after that, and now we are in Stuttgart. (That's not entirely accurate... we stayed mostly in small towns about a half-hour outside of the big cities. But anyway.) Friday we will leave for Ballingen, and then Sunday (August 15th) I will be back in Hannover. I don't really feel like writing a whole lot right now, so I'll just leave y'all with this little message from an email I recently received:
my dad just handed me a gin a tonic today with the words "son, if you want to be an intellectual, you had better learn to drink these." works for me.
awesome.
my dad just handed me a gin a tonic today with the words "son, if you want to be an intellectual, you had better learn to drink these." works for me.
awesome.
1.8.04
jeff and i are in Vienna, Austria now... went to see Bellevedere castle today, and went to an orchestra concert last night which was obviously tourist-geared, and played only Strauss and Mozart because they were Austrian, but it was still good and lots of fun. we also went to a really cool 'Schatzkammer' (treasary) place which has all these relics, both ecclesiastical and secular, including one of the nails that held christ to the cross!!! crazy. Anyway, we have to leave tomorrow, unfortunatly, but we'll be heading back to Germany, which will be sweet. i'll post more about Zürich, Switzerland (we were there between our time in Paris and Vienna) and then the rest of my trip later.
26.7.04
here we are in Paris. I like it here all right... the language barrier kinda frustrates me, but it's my fault for coming to Paris and not knowing much French. I've got the important phrases down now, though.... like 'bonjour', 'bonsoir', 'sie-vous plait', 'je ne sais pas', 'je ne parl pas francais', 'merci', and 'au revior'. 'Je ne parl pas francais' comes in especially handy when a random guy at the landromat starts talking to you to ask you for something involving fabric softener (as far as I could tell) or at an internet cafe asking you how to print out something from the computer. (Both of these happened to me. I can't figure it out - perhaps the French are friendlier than the Germans? Because nobody in Germany ever did this type of thing.)
Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Zurich, which is too bad, because Paris has a lot to offer. (Not bad that we're going to Switzerland - just bad that we have to leave Paris...) We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower (of course), and Versailles, to name a few. It was all fun to see, noting of course that every place we go is crawling with tourists, unfortunately, and that statement includes the Metro (subway), which is overcrowded and piping hot most of the day, and then stops running at 1:00 AM. This is crap, because in Germany the subway cars are big, you can almost always find a seat, they are fast, efficient, and punctual, they run until 3 AM and all night on the weekends, and you can buy a day pass instead of individual tickets for EACH TRIP. blah. stupid French.
Anyway. Time to take off... later gators.
Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Zurich, which is too bad, because Paris has a lot to offer. (Not bad that we're going to Switzerland - just bad that we have to leave Paris...) We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower (of course), and Versailles, to name a few. It was all fun to see, noting of course that every place we go is crawling with tourists, unfortunately, and that statement includes the Metro (subway), which is overcrowded and piping hot most of the day, and then stops running at 1:00 AM. This is crap, because in Germany the subway cars are big, you can almost always find a seat, they are fast, efficient, and punctual, they run until 3 AM and all night on the weekends, and you can buy a day pass instead of individual tickets for EACH TRIP. blah. stupid French.
Anyway. Time to take off... later gators.
17.7.04
just a quick blog entry and I'm on my way.
Been living it up here in Berlin... been here since Wednesday and man is it cool. So much interesting and important historical stuff... we went to the Reichstag (German equivalent of the White House) two days ago, and then yesterday we walked down the East Side Gallerie (the longest piece of the Berlin Wall still standing in Berlin) and saw the Topographie des Terrors, which is a series of pictures chronocoling (sp?) Hitler's rise to power, the Third Reich and its victims, supportors and opposers, and then the collapse and the following division of Germany and so on. Good times. We also ate at a restaurant which, much to our delight, was called 'Kaiser-Sosse Cafe'. Very down-to-earth and somewhat Bohemian. I didn't take pictures of it but we might go back to do just that. Today we'll spend our last full day in Berlin hanging out, seeing the Olympic Stadium and whatever else we feel like doing. But I must be off now, so... more later. Sometime. I promise.
Been living it up here in Berlin... been here since Wednesday and man is it cool. So much interesting and important historical stuff... we went to the Reichstag (German equivalent of the White House) two days ago, and then yesterday we walked down the East Side Gallerie (the longest piece of the Berlin Wall still standing in Berlin) and saw the Topographie des Terrors, which is a series of pictures chronocoling (sp?) Hitler's rise to power, the Third Reich and its victims, supportors and opposers, and then the collapse and the following division of Germany and so on. Good times. We also ate at a restaurant which, much to our delight, was called 'Kaiser-Sosse Cafe'. Very down-to-earth and somewhat Bohemian. I didn't take pictures of it but we might go back to do just that. Today we'll spend our last full day in Berlin hanging out, seeing the Olympic Stadium and whatever else we feel like doing. But I must be off now, so... more later. Sometime. I promise.
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