I'm back...and better than ever?

Well, gang, that's right. I'm back in Germany. Except this time I am in the fine Bundesland of Hessen in the lovely banking city that is Frankfurt. As many of you know, I am about to start a new job and being a real person. (Ha! That's a joke.)

In any case, I have been here for a few days now. Thus far things have been rather uneventful. My apartment is to put it nicely not the best, but I have 4 very cool housemates from all over Europe and one from Australia, so that's pretty neat. Oh, yeah, also one day the front door to the building got stuck and we were locked in for a few hours. So that was really fun and eventful.

But beyond that, things have been pretty chill here. I have hit up a few bars with said cool housemates and just got myself moved in and settled (praise be IKEA and its cheap furnishings). 

So yeah, that's about what I have got for now. I hope you all are ready for more adventures, because dear blog readers, I am back in Deutschland!

Auf Wiederseh'n

I wanted to write about Norway. And trust me, I did really have intentions about writing a nice blog post about the cabin, the ocean, the hiking, the weird naked statue park, but I don't think I can now. I am home now, and basically the only thing that on my mind is that the whole thing is over. So we're just gonna put up this picture and suffice it to say that Norway was incredible. 

But now the nonsense that is coming home. Instead of flying direct from Oslo to home in Wisconsin, I spent about 20 some odd hours in Boston, which allowed me to drop off a butt-ton of stuff and see a bunch of my friends, which was super nice. Then I flew home to an ambush from a large part of my family. 

Now all this is hunky-dory and whatever, and it's great seeing the family. But I already miss Germany and Europe. Fun fact: it's possible to be homesick for a recycling system. Also it weird not walking everywhere, and even more weird not hearing German everywhere. But the weirdest thing is that now it feels like the entire thing never happened, almost like I never left. I look through pictures from the past few months and it all kind of seems like a dream. And I think that that's the hardest part of cope with. 

Now with that, this is my last blog post. I don't know what I am doing with my life after I graduate, so who know's maybe there shall be another Germany blog. But until then, I shall say (in a super cheesy fashion) auf wiederseh'n.

Square Backpacks, the Gelber Sack, and Döner Kebabs

Things I have learned in and about Germany and Europe

1. The Germans are not always punktlich—but they do like everyone thinking they are.

2. The Deutsche Bahn does not always run on time. In fact, when it does, it's a very lovely surprise.

3. It's true: Germans like rules.

4. A döner kebab is the single greatest bit of drunk food on the planet. Anyone that tells you otherwise hasn't been introduced to döner's magical ways. 

5. Swedes refuse to sit next to someone they don't know on any form of public transit.

6. Every single German basement has been/still is a dungeon. It's a running theory I have.

7. Not every one group of Americans is terribly obnoxious and loud. Not every one group of Europeans is quiet and sophisticated.

8. Oktoberfest is the exact tourist trap you imagined it to be. Canstatter Volksfest is far better.

9. Käsespätzle is life-changing.

10. Svensken älskar fisk.

11. Germans are, by and large, very direct and (as an American) it's simultaneously off-putting and awesome.

12. Wifi doesn't exist in nearly as many places here (read: in Germany) as it does in the States. And that fact is completely and utterly liberating.

13. Everything fizzes.

14. Not all European sushi is bad. (As I had previously thought...but I am still staying away from Irish sushi.)

15. They have SBR in Sweden.

16. Jokes and memes about German recycling are hilarious.

17. Spanish Time is an observable physical phenomena, and therefore can be scientifically examined and ultimately proven. 

18. Some foods that don't exist in Germany: soft brown sugar, chocolate chips, canned pumpkin 

19. Some food that don't exist in America: pre-packaged Maultaschen, Spätzle, etc., Feldsalat

20. The concept of "text me when you get home" gets a few laughs here. ("What's gonna happen to you?" "...I might fall into the Neckar?" "Because that's the only possible thing that could happen in Tübingen.")

21. They sell fireworks in grocery stores (but only just before New Years).

22. Some unusual things in Germany are square (backpacks, yogurt containers).

23. Germans are kitchen-oriented.

24. Not all European trains are created equal.

25. Eurovision is ridiculous in the best way possible.

26. The love one has for their dirndl knows no bounds.

27. The German Stare

28. There are few things more satisfying than cracking open a Ritter Sport.

29. In Germany, you will get stared a at for wearing gym clothes in public. Even if you are 100m away from a gym.

30. It seems that the entirety of Germany (or at least Tübingen) colludes on what type of clothing is socially acceptable for any given day. That's the only reason that I can think of when I see everyone wearing jackets in 80°F weather and skirts and sun dresses in 55°F weather.

31. Russian horses say 'eee-go-go.' 

32. The German word for 'projector' is 'Beamer,' and I love it.

33. There is (only oneeeee kind of) shitty German beer, and das heißt Oettinger.

34. German political parties hand out condoms at Pride.

35. Good Mexican food (in my very amateur Yankee opinion) does exist in Germany.

36. The WM is the best reason to see Germans go crazy.

37. In Norway you can buy ham and cheese in a tube. It's shockingly not as horrible as it sounds.

38. You will be homesick for German recycling.

39. Europe is wonderful, and I want to go back.

How lucky am I...

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." –Winnie the Pooh

So disclaimer: I had intended upon writing this post in Tübingen, but then my Hausmeister locked me out of my room which meant no internet and thereby no blog post. So now you have a goodbye Tübingen post from Gjerdrum, Norway (but more on traveling to Norway adventures later–and trust me, it has been an adventure). 

I guess I shall start with the biggest things. I went to Christoph Street Day (the German equivalent of Pride) on Saturday with two of my Vivat Lingua coworkers, Yasmine and a friend of one of my coworkers, which was super fun. Fun fact: German political parties hand out (throw out, really) condoms at CSD. I have a condom from the SPD and another from the FPD. We also went to a good and decently priced Mexican place. It was the greatest thing ever. Then on Sunday, Vivat Lingua English Team took an 18km bike ride to Mössingen to go and have proper English tea at a coworkers home/see the rake museum that she has in her basement. Weird, I know. But also awesome. My English coworkers had some fun joking about culturing the Americans. We then went and played Pit Pat, which is a combination of pool and mini golf, and drank beer. Then Sunday night ended with all you can eat sushi with Laura, Hannah, and Gonzalo. 

Beyond that, there weren't any particular events to discuss. Instead it was more of a whirlwind of packing and hanging out with friends. Cleaning my room was possibly one of the weirdest things. As you can see from the picture, it went from being full of stuff to being a completely empty echoey space with all of my stuff packed into 4 suitcases. (I did it!) 

But then there was saying goodbye to all of my friends. It's weird to think that I won't see all of these guys in the near future. To spare everyone, I won't go into all the sappy shit, because it's just sad. But suffice to say I am going to miss all of my friends in Tübingen both German and international alike. 

I don't think the full gravity of the situation has hit yet, however. Since I am just in Norway, it kind of feels like I am going to just go back to Tübingen like always. I think the flight back to Boston next Thursday is going to be a rather emotional experience, because that is when everything will truly end. 

But for the next week, I get to regale you all with stories from Norway. Y'all should really look forward to that. There has already been a serious amount of ridiculousness. Get excited. 

Doing American stuff

Weil sie Freunde sind

Hey dudes. So I officially finished all of my finals last Wednesday night. Well, sort of. I still might have a paper due on Halloween, but I'm not 100% sure if I have to do it. Because–as always–I'm a little clueless. But anyways, this  means a series of goodbyes, frantically checking things off a growing to-do list, and–of course–parties. The last part has been pretty fun thus far.


Max came up from Ravensburg on Friday night  after my day at the Freibad and on a Stockerkahn (read: becoming rather sunburned). We went to a party in Prinz Karl, and pretty much every human I know it Tübingen was there. It was awesome to see him one last time before I leave this fine country of his, but what was also super great was that my two Maxes finally got to meet each other. It kind of felt like everything coming together. This party was also pretty fun for all the flunky ball playing and an interesting conversation I had with a rather condescending Dane about Friedrich Nietzsche. Which may not sound fun. But then you must consider it's me that we're talking about here. 

Then on Saturday Max and I drove back to Ravensburg to meet his parents and best friend, Mark. But Max didn't know that, as it was a surprise for his birthday. The look on his face when he found out was priceless. It was particularly funny, because getting him to actually get out of Tübingen was a bit of a struggle–I couldn't think of a single good reason that I had to be in Ravensburg at 4. 

But yeah, we spent the rest of the weekend eating and hanging out with his friends and family and seeing Ravensburg stuff, which seems to pretty much mean a series of towers. 

Which now leaves me to the less fun stuff. Everything is ending, like really truly ending. I ex-matriculated from the Uni-Tübingen today, which I guess mostly just means that I paid my 3€ worth of library fines. (It was two days, Tübingen! Two days!) And I still have to do things like close my bank account, de-register with the country, and pack. On top of that, I keep on saying goodbye to people that I may never see again–something which hits you kind of hard. 

So yeahs, that's about my life right now: goodbyes and to-do lists. But I am also looking forward to going to Norway in a week. That shall be a fjord-filled adventure.

Die Krise, Continued

And yesterday it officially began, the whole saying goodbye to people (maybe forever) thing. I know there's Facebook and all that, and that I can come back maybe–hopefully–but it's still weird. The knowledge that everything is ending and quickly. It makes each second I spend writing this stupid paper seem like kind of a waste–but hey, at least everyone else has finals too. 

Theodor left on Thursday to go back to Norway. That was the first one, which was only made slightly better by the fact that I will see him in Oslo in a few weeks. But then there was Unterwegs. Yesterday was the Ende des Jahres Awards Show, which was a couple hours of laughs, food, photo booths, dancing ridiculously, air bands, and fun. Speaking of laughs, here's the link to possibly the funniest thing that I have heard in a month. It's an Unterweg-s made radio drama, called Freiwillig. (Sorry, bros, it's auf Deutsch.) It's about fictitious volunteer firemen in Tübingen, and I don't think I am overstating it when I say it's nothing short of hilarious. But again, in German. Motivation for learning German, yeah! However, at the end of this wonderful event, there were goodbyes. The Unterwegs Team is going back to the States for the next six weeks. So I had to say (vielleicht permanent) goodbyes. That was hard.

It is so hard to leave–until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world. –John Green

John Green is a very smart man, but I don't know if he's correct on this one. I don't know if stepping on that bus to the Stuttgarter Flughafen will be "the easiest goddamned thing in the world." But one thing's for sure, I'm in the "it is so hard" part right now.

Der Anfang der Abschlusskrise

So, in case you don't read German, the title means roughly "the beginning of the end-crisis." Which is the phase that I am going through right now. It's a weird, slow, stressed-out, and sappy phenomenon. Slow because it's been coming for a long time, reminders here and there of my inevitable departure from this fine town. Stressed-out because of both the school things (klausurs, hausarbeits, figuring out my thesis, lolerskates) and general real-human things (taking to my Hausmeister, going to the Bürgeramt to un-become a German resident) that I need to do. And finally sappy because that's how I have been lately. 

The past few days have consisted of trying to study for my klausur (exam) on Tuesday (and not really succeeding), and the reason that I have not really been succeeding is due to my wonderful friends. As you may have noticed (either because you barbecued and lit off a bunch of fireworks or you have a calendar), the fourth of July was on Friday. This, of course, warranted much celebration amongst us crazy Tübingen folks, and not just the Americans. 

A few of my friends and I hosted a day long extravaganza that included an apple pie breakfast, games in the park, grilling, and a bonfire with fireworks in the Französisches Viertel. This was possibly one of my favorites nights here in Tübingen. As you might remember from a post I wrote all the way back in September, I have been to this campsite once before, at the very beginning of my time here with the Tufts kids. Coming back with so many of my friends to grill, hang out, sing songs, and light off fireworks made this whole sappy-things-coming-full-circle-thing kind of go into hyper-drive. That combined with the fact that people are starting to leave early as this week. Yup, that's right, this week, I can't believe it.

But this wasn't the only reason I was feeling sappy and sentimental. This weekend was also the weekend that a bunch of old Deutsch Kompaktlers came back from their disparate parts of Europe. Olav, Olivia, Klara, Anna, and Louise all rejoined for the festivities, and that made this weekend even that much more wonderful. 

Oh, and on top of that, Germany beat France 1-0, and the Neckarbrücke was shut down due to an overwhelming crowd of crazy Fußball fans. Have I mentioned how great it is to be in Europe for these shenanigans? 

But in any case, it is for all these reasons, the crazy wonderful friends that I have here that I am finding this leaving thing so hard. Some of the semester kids say that they are ready to go home. "I'm homesick. I have been away for so long." "I want food with flavor!" "A semester is almost too long for me." When these kids say these things to me, I cannot help but simply give them a blank stare. I cannot imagine not waking up in Tübingen-WG. I cannot imagine leaving and not knowing the next time that I will be back in Tübingen. Or if I will ever be back in Tübingen. 

I'm being overdramatic, I know, but these are the things that keep running through my mind. I have been here 312 days, and they are starting to feel like a dream. A really kick-ass, wonderful, German-filled dream. And if I am being honest, I am not ready to wake up.