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.
11.8.04
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.
4.7.04
do people not check their emails anymore? dar.
perhaps it's because of the time difference.
Blogs are such handy things to have. I can check in on all my friends and see if they're doing okay, and it doesn't force me to call each person. yay!
in other news, I went to Schützenfest for the second time this weekend. It's this LakeFair-type event, only about 3 times as big, and with cooler rides. Plus, most everyone speaks German, drinks beer and plays trombone. (well, less people do the latter activity.) There's a thing called a Lüttje Lage which is only found at Hannover's Schützenfest. It's basically a triple-shot of beer taken simultaneously with a tiny martini-glass-like thing of some type of alcohol. I was coerced by my host father into trying one yesterday, and it wasn't bad at all. The funny thing about it is that they sell them individually for 60 Euros a piece, and the next level is 11 for 6 E, and then 15 for 7.50. Germans are awesome.
We go to Würtzburg tomorrow, and we've already been to Köln, Kassel and Berlin (in chronological order). The rest of the group leaves on Wednesday - I'm so glad I get to stay another month and a half!!!
til later...
Das sind Dinge, von denen ich gar nichts wissen will
lass mich doch im Ruh', und texte mich nicht zu
Das sind Dinge, von denen ich keine Ahnung haben will.
Behalt den Kram für Dich - Es interessiert mich nicht!
Die Ärtze - Dinge Von Denen
perhaps it's because of the time difference.
Blogs are such handy things to have. I can check in on all my friends and see if they're doing okay, and it doesn't force me to call each person. yay!
in other news, I went to Schützenfest for the second time this weekend. It's this LakeFair-type event, only about 3 times as big, and with cooler rides. Plus, most everyone speaks German, drinks beer and plays trombone. (well, less people do the latter activity.) There's a thing called a Lüttje Lage which is only found at Hannover's Schützenfest. It's basically a triple-shot of beer taken simultaneously with a tiny martini-glass-like thing of some type of alcohol. I was coerced by my host father into trying one yesterday, and it wasn't bad at all. The funny thing about it is that they sell them individually for 60 Euros a piece, and the next level is 11 for 6 E, and then 15 for 7.50. Germans are awesome.
We go to Würtzburg tomorrow, and we've already been to Köln, Kassel and Berlin (in chronological order). The rest of the group leaves on Wednesday - I'm so glad I get to stay another month and a half!!!
til later...
Das sind Dinge, von denen ich gar nichts wissen will
lass mich doch im Ruh', und texte mich nicht zu
Das sind Dinge, von denen ich keine Ahnung haben will.
Behalt den Kram für Dich - Es interessiert mich nicht!
Die Ärtze - Dinge Von Denen
1.7.04
TICKET EXTENTION AND THE STUPIDITY OF LUFTHANSA UPDATE
My departure from Deutschland is now offically scheduled to be the 23rd of August. I will be back in Olympia sometime on the 24th (thought probably not as a fully functional human being, considering travel time and jet lag).
On Lufthansa: they are still stupid, but the friendly lady who helped me get a reasonable return date was über cool. Thank you much, my good woman.
My departure from Deutschland is now offically scheduled to be the 23rd of August. I will be back in Olympia sometime on the 24th (thought probably not as a fully functional human being, considering travel time and jet lag).
On Lufthansa: they are still stupid, but the friendly lady who helped me get a reasonable return date was über cool. Thank you much, my good woman.
28.6.04
hey there!
long time, no blog. This last week, I have been in Hanover, Germany, hanging out, getting to know the city, speaking German, all of this fun exchange-student stuff. the original plan was to stay in Germany until August 16th, but it looks now as if I am going to be staying until about mid-September, due to stupid airline restrictions in conjunction with my stupid student-fare ticket. Not that I'm complaining.. Germany rocks, and I've done more interesting stuff in this last week than I think I've done for a long time. Still, though... there are friends at home I want to see, a brother that I have to see off to college, and an old high school friend's wedding to attend. what to do, what to do... nothing but what the airline tells me to.
A word about public transportation in Germany: sweet mother of Pete, this stuff is good. The family I am staying with lives about 18 kilometers away from the heart of downtown, and there is a train every hour that gets me from here to there in just about 13 minutes. The station is less than a 10 minute walk from my house. From the Hauptbahnhof (main train station downtown), it's a short U- or Strassenbahn ride to school, and there is one of these every 3 to 5 minutes. Everyone uses this system, not just poor students and even poorer street bums: there are old ladies, blue and white collar workers, small school children who would NEVER be allowed to do this if they had American parents, and even housewives. It's much faster and more cost-efficient than driving a car. If we adopted such an efficient train and bus system, we could achíeve the same thing in America... but granted, there are a few things in our way, namely a) the way America is much more spread out, b) our faithful marriages to our SUVs, and c) Bush's devotion to making sure none of his buddies in the petroleum industry have to go without their annual new vacation house in the Bahamas. (yes, I have been reading too much Michael Moore.)
A few weeks more, and Jeff will be joining me in Europe, where we will be going to fun exotic cities such as Paris, Zürich, Vienna, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Munich. Then I will come back and spend another month in Hannover chilling out and having fun, hopefully.
Anyway, I don't want to spend too much more online time, and I am sick of using the German keyboard which has the 'z' switched with the 'y', and puts special symbols in weird places (i still can't find the 'at' symbol for email addresses). But macht's gut, everyone, and I'm sure you'll hear from me sometime soon. (Postcards are on their way.)
long time, no blog. This last week, I have been in Hanover, Germany, hanging out, getting to know the city, speaking German, all of this fun exchange-student stuff. the original plan was to stay in Germany until August 16th, but it looks now as if I am going to be staying until about mid-September, due to stupid airline restrictions in conjunction with my stupid student-fare ticket. Not that I'm complaining.. Germany rocks, and I've done more interesting stuff in this last week than I think I've done for a long time. Still, though... there are friends at home I want to see, a brother that I have to see off to college, and an old high school friend's wedding to attend. what to do, what to do... nothing but what the airline tells me to.
A word about public transportation in Germany: sweet mother of Pete, this stuff is good. The family I am staying with lives about 18 kilometers away from the heart of downtown, and there is a train every hour that gets me from here to there in just about 13 minutes. The station is less than a 10 minute walk from my house. From the Hauptbahnhof (main train station downtown), it's a short U- or Strassenbahn ride to school, and there is one of these every 3 to 5 minutes. Everyone uses this system, not just poor students and even poorer street bums: there are old ladies, blue and white collar workers, small school children who would NEVER be allowed to do this if they had American parents, and even housewives. It's much faster and more cost-efficient than driving a car. If we adopted such an efficient train and bus system, we could achíeve the same thing in America... but granted, there are a few things in our way, namely a) the way America is much more spread out, b) our faithful marriages to our SUVs, and c) Bush's devotion to making sure none of his buddies in the petroleum industry have to go without their annual new vacation house in the Bahamas. (yes, I have been reading too much Michael Moore.)
A few weeks more, and Jeff will be joining me in Europe, where we will be going to fun exotic cities such as Paris, Zürich, Vienna, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Munich. Then I will come back and spend another month in Hannover chilling out and having fun, hopefully.
Anyway, I don't want to spend too much more online time, and I am sick of using the German keyboard which has the 'z' switched with the 'y', and puts special symbols in weird places (i still can't find the 'at' symbol for email addresses). But macht's gut, everyone, and I'm sure you'll hear from me sometime soon. (Postcards are on their way.)
19.6.04
Recent email dialogue between me and Jeff:
Jeff's initial question:
Tell me if I should feel bad. I was at Mcdonalds for breakfast. And
my food cost 3.67, so I gave the guy 10.67. But he thought I gave him 20.67
and gave me 17.00 back. I was like "wtf?!?!?!". But I didn't say that. I
just took my change and left. Think about your answer. Be specific with your
examples. This is for a grade.
My response:
McDonald's is a huge corporation that can't possibly be hurt by the loss of
ten bucks and an egg mcmuffin. They hire undereducated people and exploit them
by paying them minimum wage and providing nigh-insufferable woring conditions;
by doing this, they are in a way just begging for a lawsuit. If I were you, I'd
feel proud that you caused so little a stir in the fast-food industry. Just be
glad you didn't get a chicken foot in your hash browns.
Jeff's rebuttal:
Partial credit. The question was not concering what kind of company McDonalds
is (McDonalds is a "tasty" company by the way). You failed to address the
question of my personal moral situation. Does what I did equal stealing? How
and why does it matter who I took the money from? If it is something to be
proud of, where do I draw the line? In this case it was $10, but should I have
accepted $100 extra change? $10000? Should I have reached behind the counter,
snatched as much cash as I could, and run? Suppose McDonalds was running an
audit and discovered that money was missing, and then held one of the
"undereducated" employees responsible, and then fired him. Being
undereducated, he is unable to find work anywhere else and can't afford to feed
his family. What about my personal principles? Even if nobody was hurt by me
taking $10, how does the fact that I took something that was not rightfully or
lawfully mine reflect on my chracter. What about my motives?
...
ha, haha.
Jeff's initial question:
Tell me if I should feel bad. I was at Mcdonalds for breakfast. And
my food cost 3.67, so I gave the guy 10.67. But he thought I gave him 20.67
and gave me 17.00 back. I was like "wtf?!?!?!". But I didn't say that. I
just took my change and left. Think about your answer. Be specific with your
examples. This is for a grade.
My response:
McDonald's is a huge corporation that can't possibly be hurt by the loss of
ten bucks and an egg mcmuffin. They hire undereducated people and exploit them
by paying them minimum wage and providing nigh-insufferable woring conditions;
by doing this, they are in a way just begging for a lawsuit. If I were you, I'd
feel proud that you caused so little a stir in the fast-food industry. Just be
glad you didn't get a chicken foot in your hash browns.
Jeff's rebuttal:
Partial credit. The question was not concering what kind of company McDonalds
is (McDonalds is a "tasty" company by the way). You failed to address the
question of my personal moral situation. Does what I did equal stealing? How
and why does it matter who I took the money from? If it is something to be
proud of, where do I draw the line? In this case it was $10, but should I have
accepted $100 extra change? $10000? Should I have reached behind the counter,
snatched as much cash as I could, and run? Suppose McDonalds was running an
audit and discovered that money was missing, and then held one of the
"undereducated" employees responsible, and then fired him. Being
undereducated, he is unable to find work anywhere else and can't afford to feed
his family. What about my personal principles? Even if nobody was hurt by me
taking $10, how does the fact that I took something that was not rightfully or
lawfully mine reflect on my chracter. What about my motives?
...
ha, haha.
15.6.04
I thought people stopped posting when they went to college. Now they have stopped since coming BACK from college. I'm beginning to believe that people have just plain abandoned their blogs.
I'll be leaving for Germany in 5 days and counting. Check back here for updates on the trip - hopefully they'll be in English.
I'll be leaving for Germany in 5 days and counting. Check back here for updates on the trip - hopefully they'll be in English.
11.6.04
10.6.04
7.6.04
SkiDawg111784: Well see...actually I don't personally know where it is...I have two friends that both know really specific clues, and I think with the three of us we should be able to find it real' quick....and tell mr. linnenkohl jr. that if he does "he's entering into a world of pain"...(actually....no...not really...I'll probably just be like wtf)....anyway...jb out
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