Tomorrow is Bastille Day which should be pretty exciting. There's a free ballet at the Opera house that I'm going to try and see and I'm also going to go to the Pompidou, which I still haven't done. Then on Saturday morning at six am I leave for the airport. Hooray!

Back when I was in Berlin I went to the German History museum and I was behind this father with his two daughters (who looked to be about nine and eleven) and he was explaining all about World War II. The younger daughter looked confused and disinterested until she saw a flag with a swatstika on it and said, "oh, you mean the guys Indiana Jones was fighting!"

Then when I was in Amsterdam I was at a gift shop and there was this family there and the daughter who was about thirteen said to her mom while holding a baseball hat with pictures of marijuana leaves on it, "I don't understand why they have so many things here with palm trees on them, I haven't seen any palm trees here at all!" The mother then carefully explained to her the various facets of marijuana.

Kids really do say the darndest things....

The M.C. Escher museum was really cool. They had a lot of his works and they also had this virtual reality thing where you could walk through an M.C. Escher drawing, just like David Bowie does in Labyrinth. If you're ever in the Hague, you should definitely go.

I've been having a nice time in Utrecht. This past weekend was free museum weekend which was nice, so yesterday I went to three different museums. The Utrecht Centraal Museum was pretty cool. It's the big art museum here. I also went to a religious art museum and the Aboriginal Art Museum, which was kind of boring. Today all the museums are closed so I'll do some shopping I guess? This afternoon I have to take a train back to Amsterdam and then a train to Paris!

Last night was the final game in the World Cup. After Germany lost I decided to root for France (mainly because I had been there and I've never been to Italy). The game itself was kind of boring, but there was this really awesome part where this French guy headbutted this Italian guy in the chest. It was so funny! They kept replaying it over and over again.

My train ride from Berlin to Amsterdam went fine, although Germany lost to Italy while I was on the train which made me sad. I was really rooting for Germany, but they got really far so I'm glad. I got into Amsterdam and went to my hostel which was a bit of an adventure in itself, since the train stop I was supposed to get off at didn't exist. Unfortunately the directions the hostel gave me were all wrong so I was schlepping around Amsterdam at 11:30 at night with all my luggage looking for the hostel but luckily I ran into some people who were also staying in the hostel, so they showed me where it was. I went to check in at the hostel and the woman at the desk was about half way through checking me in when she got a phone call and she proceeded to sit and talk to her friend on the phone for ten minutes while I was just standing there. She finally finished and told me my room was up the stairs and to the left. I walked all the way down the hall and it wasn't there, so I tried the hallway to the right and there it was. I didn't realize until the next morning when I woke up that there was only one very small window in the room and it was barred over. I tried to waggle the bars a bit but they wouldn't move. I went back to reception and told them that was a fire hazard and asked if I could be moved to a different room that wasn't a fire hazard. They did, which was nice. Anyway, after that I walked around Amsterdam a lot and decided I wasn't really a fan. Amsterdam is a lot like Allston except with canals and smoking pot is legal there so people don't have to hide it. There were eighty gajillion college students there and they were all dumb and loud (just like those pesky BU kids), and there were trams that almost kept running over the people on bicycles (also just like Allston). Amsterdam was also crazy expensive (apples cost ninety cents!) so I left and went to the Hague (or den Haag as the locals call it) to visit my friend Andrew who's from Boston but currently lives here. I had planned on coming out here and then going back to Amsterdam but instead I'm going to go to Utrecht (the city not the art supply store-- oh, and by the way, it's pronounced oo-trecht, not yew-trecht, as they say at the art supply store). Hostels there are half as much as is everything else. I'll stay there for two nights and then I have to go back to Amsterdam to get on a train to Paris! I'm excited to go back there. The big things I want to do are the Pompidou (which is the Modern Art museum), Versailles and the Louvre. I've got four days, so I think I'll be able to.

Did you know in the Hague there's an Escher Museum? I think I'm going to go!

From what I can tell everything in Amsterdam is very expensive, so I´m not sure how often I´ll be able to use the internet or update. But I´m sure I´ll tell you all about it!

<3

Last Sunday I went to the beach again. I've gotten surprisingly tan for spending a summer in Northern Germany. Who would have thought?

I've been in Berlin since Monday, but today's been my first day without travelling with thirty people. While with the big group we took a big walking tour, went on a relaxing boat ride on the Spree (which was a bit too relaxing, I guess, since I fell asleep!), saw an opera (La Boheme! It was in Italian with German subtitles on a small screen on top of the stage. I was impressed how much of the subtitles I could understand with only five weeks of German), and saw the Brazil-Ghana game on a big screen (in Berlin, not Hamburg) which was very exciting, but I guess it was just too exciting for me since I --wait for it-- fell asleep. My friends took pictures. I'll try to put them up here.

I got to my hostel yesterday. I'm in a room with seven other people, but it's pretty big, so it's not really a problem. I got there last night at 9:30 and four people were already there and they were all sleeping. I tried being as quiet as I could, but I had to dig through my bags to find my pajamas and my toothbrush and all the various things I needed before bed. I did some reading and fell asleep around 10:30. I woke up this morning around 9 and they were all still sleeping! I didn't want to wake them up, so I stayed in bed until 11 or so reading. I got tired of that, so I got up and got dressed and went out on the town! I visited the German History Museum which was really interesting. I did some walking around, then went back to my hostel. It's really nice having a hostel so close to the center of the city, 'cos it means I can walk everywhere. I took a nap, then I went to watch the game. Now I'm here!

Oh, I almost forgot! Yesterday I went with some friends from the program to the Pergamon Museum. They have the Ishtar Gate as well as lots of Greek and Roman Art. We didn't have a lot of time to spend there, so I'll probably go back. I've been getting into most Museums for free with my old Met ID, which has been awfully nice. Then we all went out for Thai food-- it was sooo good! And the place is right near my hostel, so I'll definitely go back!

I aced my German Culture final!

As for my German language class, my lowest grade has been a 96, so I think I'll do fine in that class.

In my Comparitive Public History class, my final project was a tour of the local museum, so I did really well on that as well.

I still don't know how I did for the Spring Semester at MassArt though. I hear they sent out the grades, but mine hasn't been sent to my forwarding address. Oh well.

I've pretty much finalized my plans for the rest of my trip, with the exception of where I'm staying once I get to Amsterdam (which will be on July 4th). I happened upon another really good deal (!) for train fare to Paris from Amsterdam, so I'll be leaving for Paris on July 10th. After looking at a million different hostels, I booked myself into the same one that I stayed in last time. The reviews for it on hostelworld.com aren't that great, but I didn't think it was bad at all. It was a little far from the center of town, but after living in Forest Hills for three years I've gotten used to commuting, and use my valuable train riding time for people watching. There are all kinds of interesting people to watch in Paris! The only part of my trip I haven't figured out is where I'm staying in Amsterdam. Hostels there are more expensive than the ones in both Paris and Berlin (which really surprises me), but I have a (distant) relative who lives there who I can hopefully stay with. Otherwise, got any recommendations for hostels in Amsterdam?

This weekend is the Lüneburg Staadtfest, which is pretty much a giant carnival in downtown. It looks like it's going to be really fun!?!

Today I booked my train ticket from Berlin to Amsterdam! The program I'm with is taking a field trip to Berlin at the end of June, and that's when the program ends, so I'll spend a few days in Berlin and then on the fourth of July, go to Amsterdam on the train for only 29€! Isn't that exciting! I still haven't figured out how or when I'm getting back to Paris, which I fly out of on the 15th, but I've got a while yet!

As I'm sure you're all aware, Germany has a lot of cultural differences that I've noticed since I got here. Some things are better than they are in the States, and some are worse. One thing that sucks is the windows; none of them have screens on them! It's such a pain. The windows here aren't at all like the ones in the States. Instead of opening up and down, they open out, like doors. I like having the windows in my apartment open, but bugs always get in, what with the lack of screens-- and this isn't just in my apartment. It's all over Germany. Another thing that I didn't know before I came here is that you always have to bring bags with you when you go shopping to places like the grocery store or the pharmacy. They don't give you bags, you either have to have some with you or they usually have some boxes left over from stocking the shelves that you can use. This especially sucks, because I usually use plastic bags instead of garbage bags, but I can't really do that here since they don't have any. Another odd thing about Germany is that they're really into recycling, which I had no idea about. All homes and public trash cans are divided into about five different sections for each different type of garbage, and it's very confusing. There are things about Germany that are better though. One thing is bread, the bread here has been really great. My preferred variety is Weltmeister Brot, which is a whole grain bread with poppy and sesame seeds on top, flax seeds inside and sunflower seeds on the bottom. It's a seed bonanza! Also, all the grocery stores here stock at least five different kinds of Nutella. There's the original brand, and then there are all kinds of other brands that I've never heard of. Another thing that's really awesome about Germany is the train system. It really puts Amtrak to shame. Oh, and something else that I've noticed that I think is nice; retail employees sit down when ringing up transactions. In all the grocery stores and pharmacies and things, the employees get to sit, which doesn't really affect me at all, but I think it must be nice for them.

Something that I think is funny here is the name of the main toilet paper brand. Happy End. And no, that's not just a funny translation, that's what it's actually called! A funny translation would be Pizza Hut. It's called Pizza Hut here too, but technically it translates to 'Pizza Hat' which I find quite amusing.

Right now it's 1:30, it's a beautiful day out, I'm done with my classes for the day and I'm going to head into town to see if the cute boy at the video store wants to go out for ice cream!

Möchtest du ein Eis mit mir?

In other news, tonight I'm going into Hamburg to see a play based on Goethe's (which is pronounced Goo-ta, apparently) Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers (or the Sorrows of Young Werther). It should be fun. Then this weekend, I'm going with a bunch of people down to Heidelberg, which is in Southern Germany, so I can, among other things, buy a dirndl. (This site has some good examples of them if you're not familiar with my current obsession: www.oldworldvillage.net/hei_ladies.html) They don't really have them where I am because it's Northern Germany, but I was told that they're all over Southern Germany so I should be all set. There are also lots of castles and Medieval buildings and museums and such. The other nice thing about this weekend it's Pentecost on Monday, and Germans love their holidays, so there's no school (and therefore a three day weekend).

Hooray!

Dear Gwen,
We are sorry: due to renovations, the interior of St. Michael's Church will not be open for viewing until November 2006.

It is possible to visit the cathedral (UNESCO world heritage) or St. Andrews, St., market square, old wooden houses.

Kind regards
tourist information Hildesheim

Gabriele Klimek

Damn!

Thursday was Ascension Day, and everything was closed and we didn't have school, so a lot of people from my program went to Lübeck, which is where the marzipan factory and museum are (check it out at www.marzipan.com). Except they were all going there to go to bars (which apparently are open on Ascension Day. Oh, it's also Father's Day in Germany that day) not to go to the marzipan factory. I thought that it would be fun to go with everybody on the train, and then go to the marzipan factory myelf, but I wasn't sure if they'd be open, so I sent them an e-mail. They replied with:

Dear Sir/Madam,

no we are not open on Thursday 25 May.

With kindest regards

Linda Roie
J.G. Niederegger GmbH & Co. KG
Zeißstraße 1 - 7, D - 23560 Luebeck

Foiled again!

I ended up staying in town and met up with a bunch of people for lunch. We climbed up the water tower and then looked inside a couple of churches. The churches here are from around the fourteenth century, so they're really beautiful, and really old. One of the nice things about Lüneburg is that it wasn't bombed during The War, so there's all this really nice medieval architecture hanging around.

The only problem with Lüneburg is that everything (except bars of course) closes around six or eight o'clock, which kind of sucks. The bus system here is amazing though. In Boston, you go to a bus stop and they have a schedule posted (sometimes) with what time the bus leaves the first station, the time it gets to a station in the middle of the route, and the time it reaches its destination. If you're not at one of those places, you have to guesstimate what time the bus is going to show up. However, it doesn't really matter what time the schedule says the bus is going to show up, since they really don't follow the schedule at all. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has waited for the 39 (a pretty major bus route) for forty-five minutes on a weekday around five pm, only to have three busses come at once. But not in Lüneburg! The Germans are so efficient that they have at each bus stop what time the bus is coming to *that* bus stop. And! It shows up *exactly* on time. The schedule says the bus is coming at 12:52? It's there at exactly 12:52 and not a minute before (or even after!). It's amazing. Boston should really take some notes.

The other big news is that today is John Wayne's Birthday!

Please celebrate accordingly.

Oh, and these pictures were taken by one of the students in my program. Check 'em out!

http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j137/ktwtennis7/

Omigod, and guess what I found out is nearby?!? Hildesheim! You know, the church with the doors that I made a replica of out of Swedish Fish? I'm hopefully going there on Sunday! Man, what with seeing the Island of the Grande Jatte AND the Hildesheim Doors, this may just be the best Summer ever.

Right now I'm in the middle of trying to figure out the two weeks I have off between when I finish the program here, and when I have to be back in Paris to fly back to New York on the 15th of July. I have lots of different places I could go, but I think my itinerary is going to look something like this: There's a trip to Berlin through my program that I'm going on which ends on the 29th of June. SO, I'll hang out in Berlin until the 2nd of July, then I'll go down to Frankfurt, where the Eels are playing a concert and I would really like to see them, since I'll be missing their New York and Boston tours this Summer since I'll be here, and I missed their tour last Summer as well. I'll hang out in Frankfurt until the fifth of July, then I'll hop on over to Amsterdam until the 10th, where I hear they have some pretty neat comic book stores. Then I'll go back to Paris for a few days, including the 14th of July which is Bastille Day! It's supposed to be a lot of fun. On the 15th, I fly back to the states. Whew, it's a lot of travelling, but I think I can handle it.

I started my classes yesterday, and they're going pretty well. I'm taking German, Comparitive Public History (which from the description made it seem as if it had something to do with museums) and German Culture. So far, in German I can ask you your name, where you're from, and how you are feeling (as well as answer all those questions back to you). AND I can conjugate basic verbs. Oh, and I can count to one-hundred. I wonder what useful things I'll learn how to say next?!?

But before I left, with the help of one of my art history professors, Joanne Lukitsh, I was able to find the Island of the Grande Jatte, aka, the island where Georges Seurat painted his famous painting, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte." I went and took about a million pictures and walked all around the island. I've decided that once all my loans from grad school are paid off (ha ha) and I'm independently wealthy (ha ha ha) I'm going to summer on that island. It has apartments on it and everything. It's a little bit far away from the city, but I wouldn't mind, because it's incredibly beautiful, and quite scenic.

After spending some time at the park I made my way to Gare du Norde, the train station in Paris, where I boarded my train to Hambürg. I had a cabin that I shared with this very nice German girl named Alexandra. We stayed up late talking and reading. We were going to watch "Ally McBeal" which she had on her laptop, but we fell asleep. It was just like a real slumber party!

I got off the train in Hambürg and got on the train to Lüneburg, which was only about twenty minutes. I met up with Wiebke, the German girl who the program set me up with as kind of a study buddy, and she showed me around town and the campus a bit. Later on we're going out to lunch and then I get to see my apartment. Hooray!

Right now I'm in the computer lab on campus. I definitely like the keyboards in Germany more than the ones in France. In France the letters were all over the place, but here it's almost exactly the same, except instead of QWERTY in QWERTZ. Oh, and look at all the letters I can type without having to press alt: ü ö ä ß

Those crazy Germans! What will they think of next?