17 May 2007
May Holidays!!
Here's one thing I love about Germany, Beer for Breakfast. it's traditional. really!
here's another thing i love about germany: religious holidays. i'm in Bavaria, which was a very catholic state back in the day and still is to some degree.
Here are the holidays I get off in the next few weeks:
May 1: Labor day.
May 17: Cristi Himmelfahrt - Christ's Ascension
May 28: Pfingsten - Pentecost
June 7: Fronleichnam - Feast of Corpus Christi - A celebration of the Blood and Love of Christ.
August 15: Mary's Ascension
I'm hardly working at all this month!
here's another thing i love about germany: religious holidays. i'm in Bavaria, which was a very catholic state back in the day and still is to some degree.
Here are the holidays I get off in the next few weeks:
May 1: Labor day.
May 17: Cristi Himmelfahrt - Christ's Ascension
May 28: Pfingsten - Pentecost
June 7: Fronleichnam - Feast of Corpus Christi - A celebration of the Blood and Love of Christ.
August 15: Mary's Ascension
I'm hardly working at all this month!
07 May 2007
april showers/may flowers
and here we are a month later..
I was really off-kilter after salzburg. I don't know what it was, I think I got tired out and had some kind of massive cognitive dissonance. Either way, I just couldn't make myself feel comfortable and happy again. so I spent a coupla weeks feeling crummy. really terrible, actually.
I was still going to work, though not super-productive, and I was still playing soccer (hoping some running around in the fresh air with new friends would help).
one day a pal I met through work invited me to a sweaty basement to hear a punk band play. suddenly, everything got better.
we walked to the show, had a coupla beers, and he introduced me to some of his friends. I hit it off especially well with one of them. since then, I've been more able to get my act together. I've been feeling more like myself.
I've been to a couple more shows, met some more of the nice german kids with the big tattoos and piercings in their faces, and it's going better. I've learned to eat weisswurst, the german breakfast sausage served with sweet coarse mustard, pretzels and beer.
I pulled the mountain bike down and started riding around the woods here. I almost cried I was so happy to find a trail.
the trail i found sort of dumped out into this field. i rode around some other bandito areas and then turned around and rode up this hill (below). i live just on the other side of the castle.
the descent to get back to my apt is suuuuuUUuper fast. there's a grade of 15% at one point. my new goal is to be able to climb up the backside of the hill on the trail without getting off my bike.
------------
this weekend I discovered that the rundown area of town is a more interesting part of the shopping district. there's a cool second hand boutique (so I don't have to wear the clothes everyone else is wearing), an asian grocery store, a used-bike shop, and some other small clothiers.
------------
I delved into the fascinating world of Tchibo - imagine if starbucks (similarly famous for selling coffee in bean and brewed forms) started selling underwear, bike parts, insurance, garden furniture, and kitchen utensils. it's a very strange store, and I'm fascinated. I bought some underwear at Tchibo the other day, but haven't tried the coffee yet.
------------
I learned about milk. you can buy milk in foil/paper tetra-paks off the shelf that will stay good for 3+ months unrefrigerated, or you can buy regular fresh milk out of the refrigerator at the grocery store.
------------
I'm getting lessons on language and everyday germlife from my new german friends. in return they get to see their homeland with fresh foreign eyes. kind of a cool tradeoff.
so here we are. it's going well. I'm getting my life back, it's got some new players and a different backdrop, but it looks and feels like my life again.
this week some folks from our Detroit office are coming to town, so there will be some english speaking and some beer drinking. I have a soccer game on Saturday, and am probably going to see a cave with stalactites/stalagmites on Sunday. :) it's going better.
I was really off-kilter after salzburg. I don't know what it was, I think I got tired out and had some kind of massive cognitive dissonance. Either way, I just couldn't make myself feel comfortable and happy again. so I spent a coupla weeks feeling crummy. really terrible, actually.
I was still going to work, though not super-productive, and I was still playing soccer (hoping some running around in the fresh air with new friends would help).
one day a pal I met through work invited me to a sweaty basement to hear a punk band play. suddenly, everything got better.
we walked to the show, had a coupla beers, and he introduced me to some of his friends. I hit it off especially well with one of them. since then, I've been more able to get my act together. I've been feeling more like myself.
I've been to a couple more shows, met some more of the nice german kids with the big tattoos and piercings in their faces, and it's going better. I've learned to eat weisswurst, the german breakfast sausage served with sweet coarse mustard, pretzels and beer.
I pulled the mountain bike down and started riding around the woods here. I almost cried I was so happy to find a trail.
the trail i found sort of dumped out into this field. i rode around some other bandito areas and then turned around and rode up this hill (below). i live just on the other side of the castle.
the descent to get back to my apt is suuuuuUUuper fast. there's a grade of 15% at one point. my new goal is to be able to climb up the backside of the hill on the trail without getting off my bike.
------------
this weekend I discovered that the rundown area of town is a more interesting part of the shopping district. there's a cool second hand boutique (so I don't have to wear the clothes everyone else is wearing), an asian grocery store, a used-bike shop, and some other small clothiers.
------------
I delved into the fascinating world of Tchibo - imagine if starbucks (similarly famous for selling coffee in bean and brewed forms) started selling underwear, bike parts, insurance, garden furniture, and kitchen utensils. it's a very strange store, and I'm fascinated. I bought some underwear at Tchibo the other day, but haven't tried the coffee yet.
------------
I learned about milk. you can buy milk in foil/paper tetra-paks off the shelf that will stay good for 3+ months unrefrigerated, or you can buy regular fresh milk out of the refrigerator at the grocery store.
------------
I'm getting lessons on language and everyday germlife from my new german friends. in return they get to see their homeland with fresh foreign eyes. kind of a cool tradeoff.
so here we are. it's going well. I'm getting my life back, it's got some new players and a different backdrop, but it looks and feels like my life again.
this week some folks from our Detroit office are coming to town, so there will be some english speaking and some beer drinking. I have a soccer game on Saturday, and am probably going to see a cave with stalactites/stalagmites on Sunday. :) it's going better.
