Dublin, Ireland

Hallo Leute,

Before I get to the Ireland information, I have a confession to make. I am an addict. 

I am addicted to buying animal print and animal patterned leggings. Seriously. I need to be stopped. I now have two pairs of the same cat leggings in different colors, a pair with elephants all over them and a silky leopard print pair(those aren't really the correct size, hoping I can exchange them...) UPDATE: exchanged them... they are apparently supposed to be high-waisted... totally weird.

Out of control.

Back to the regular scheduled programming:

Ireland:

I left for Dublin on Thursday morning, hooray for a short work week! The morning was less than pleasant, Nina and I had a little German Wine Wednesday, so I was up pretty late packing after that!
I took a few trains to get to the Flughafen(Airport) and then breezed through security and wandered around the duty-free shops. I got my fill of the tester products and left before buying all the things. I got a breakfast pretzel and was juggling my water bottle, phone and pretzel when they all started to fall... the pretzel was obviously the most important so I reached to save that first. Priorities. (my cat-like reflexes kicked in and I saved everything, no worries)

The flight attendant on the plane to Dublin had the BIGGEST sock bun I have ever seen(foreshadowing), so I couldn't stop staring at her head. Arrived at the Dublin airport and it was glorious. They had FREE WIFI. Being internet-less makes me soooo obsessed with wifi. I love it. wifi + adorable Irish accents all around me = glory. The bus I took to get to the city center also had free wifi. I love you Dublin.

Checked in to the hostel and all of the reception people knew who I was because of my billion emails I had sent them changing our reservation. It is hard booking for a group! Dropped my bags off in the luggage room and went to abra-kebab-ra for some food. Went back there 2.5 hours later when everyone else arrived.

I watched a movie in the basement and then once Amy, Ben, Aaron and Danny got to the hostel we wandered around Dublin a bit and then came back to wait for Sophie(she was delayed)

We went to look at the Tall Ships Thursday night. They were... tall.  We got some donuts and street food and then headed to the pub for some live music and Guinness/ciders.

Friday morning we went to the Guinness Storehouse, it was very similar to the Bourbon Trail. We learned how to pour our own Perfect Pint and then had some Guinness/veggie soup and delicious bread before heading back for a nap/ Sophie and Aaron went and looked at a church. After the nap we went and met at Penney's to look for more Tiger suits. They have changed the design and now the suits have a tiger head on top and a tail... the stomach area has a white circle thing happening though, so I think mine from last year is still better. I bought a new party purse and an excellent sock bun donut, I can't really figure out the best way to use it though, my hair keeps falling out... Friday night we went to a different pub and listened to the live music and the bartender was weird, Sophie and I stayed later than everyone else, because we didn't have to catch flights in the morning.

Saturday we wandered around Dublin and looked at stuff and did some shopping, H&M was closing soon though, so we weren't allowed to try anything on in the fitting rooms... that combined with the UK sizing on the tags made purchasing the correct size difficult... had to make some returns/exchanges... Hamburg H&M was not pleased with me. Went to the Temple Bar bar Saturday night for a little more live music and then headed back to the hostel early to prepare for our flights.

Sunday morning we headed to the airport at 4am... my flight was delayed 2 hours though because one of the flight attendants didn't show up. Lots of time spent in the duty free shops and sleeping on whatever semi-comfortable chairs I could find in the airport...

Finally got home and slept all day.

Last week...

Sneak peek Monday: Expendables 2. It was pretty funny... allllll of the action stars were in it so that was crazy to see them all interact and make fun of each other/themselves.

Tuesday: German class, that was HARD. I had missed Thursday's class to go to Dublin and I was soooooo far behind on Tuesday. By the end of the class I had sort of caught up, and everyone else was just as confused as I was, so that was nice.

Wednesday: Nina and I wandered around and did some shopping/ate delicious Vietnamese food.

Thursday:
work: prepared some things for the work party Friday night. We made bunting banners for our Intern Dolce Vita party, and that was a mistake, we made more for this work party...

German class, realized that everyone else has paid for 2 months, and I have only paid for 1... I guess they were all issued reminder payment slips, and I never got one... strange. I should probably ask about that tomorrow night, but maybe I will just wait until next week, skip month 2 and pay for month 3. Free German.

Friday: Work party celebrating 15 years of Landor Hamburg. The interesting thing there was that all of the past employees were invited... even if they were fired. During the day a few of us were in charge of blowing up(with helium, not our lungs) a billion balloons. We had a boy with 2500 balloons, but I think there was only enough helium to inflate 1000 of them. One burst on my arm and now there is a small scar. Balloon danger.

Saturday: I spent most of the day sleeping and then went to the store, bought some candy and milk and came home to do 5 hours of laundry while watching Sex and the City.

Sunday: went in to work at 11 to work on an After Effects animation project. Stayed until midnight.
I'm hoping I get really good at it and maybe can use After Effects to make something for my Capstone project... blegh, Capstone. I have no ideas for that. If anyone has any ideas for a project that I won't get tired of after 4 months, let me know. I need to brand it or something... and solve a problem... or something... maybe I should look that up.

Sneak Peek tonight! Here's hoping I don't fall asleep. Some people online think it will be the Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter movie. That could be okay.

Future things:

Parents are coming to Europe soon!!

hoping to get internet at home some time soon.

also need to be better at cleaning. Sorry roomies, I know I suck! I think this might be the week... Tomorrow night after German class = cleaning time.



-Michelle


Sorry this post kinda sucked and was disorganized and boring... I'm tired.

making progress

I think I am starting to become a slightly more real Hamburger. Although as soon as one thing starts to improve, I encounter another setback... but that's just how it is I guess.

Last night I got a BED! little victories. Ikea was a hot mess, as it always is. That section at the bottom with all the weird little things gets me every time. David(from work) and I took the train and a bus to Ikea and met Vani/Vany(I really should ask her how she spells that) outside. I was shopping for: bed frame, curtains, mirror, hooks, organizer thing for my makeup and things. I got all of those things plus some elk noodles(must-have). We managed to fit a twin bed frame, full/queen bedframe+mattress, 2 large mirrors, and a bunch of other little things into Vani's smallish car(smaller than Patrick) It was amazing, thanks Pops for the packing lessons on every trip.
We got all of the things back and David helped(did all of the work) to build my bed. Vani and I will try to tackle the roller blind later on, for now the fitted bedsheet I tucked into the window works, even if the light coming through the red sheet makes my room look like a brothel.

Here is my bed:

Isn't she beautiful? Hah. I'll get a picture of my room once I hang the roller blind curtain thing. It will be gorgeous.

The internet provider seems to be incompetent. Last week the man said he couldn't install the internet because he needed a 'special box'. So they sent another person on Tuesday, and apparently they didn't tell him about the 'special box' so he was totally unprepared. Maybe next week.

Going back in time, last weekend was great. Friday night I went out to get Vietnamese food with Nina(lives in Cincinnati, family from Germany originally) and her friend, it was delicious, must go back there. After that we met up with a few other work people and had some drinks outside, must take advantage of nice weather as it is SO rare. I had some German beer and then some Irish cider. PUMPED for Ireland in a few weeks. Saturday I walked around Sternschanze for a little bit and bought some spectacular shoes:

They were on sale. So versatile, I'm pretty sure they will go with everything.

Saturday night I met up with Xenia at her friend's apartment for bruschetta and cocktails before going out to the Reeperbahn where we met up with more people from work. The goal of the night was to stay out late enough to go to the Altona fish market which opens at 5:30am. It was a strugggggle. We made it there and I was too tired to take any pictures, so it doesn't even really count and I'll have to try again. Got home around 8am and slept allllllll day Sunday. Was supposed to meet work people to play pool and I'm pretty sure they thought I was dead.


My German classes seem to be helping. I feel like I understand more of what people are saying, but I can't think fast enough to string together the few words I know into a sentence. Morgen wrote a post about being the new 'quiet girl' and I think that applies to me here too. I go out to lunch with people and they are joking and laughing and I can sort of understand what they are saying and would love to contribute, but my German is just NOT good enough for wit and charm.

Tonight after my lesson I have to do some laundry so I have clothes and things to bring to Copenhagen, then I have to pack up my backpack, I am leaving straight from work tomorrow. So excited! I hope I get a passport stamp. Love those.

To do:
-hang curtain
-learn German
-plan more trips
-get face piercing or hip new haircut to fit in with the CROWDS of hipsters in the Schanze, I have never felt so bland. this website seems to have some great suggestions for how to be hip. Must learn some hip German lingo. Or I'll just buy some more outrageous clothing. I got paid, so now I feel like I am rolllllling in money. I'm not.

Okay, bye!

Miniatur Everything

I am currently eating some streuselschnecken.... can't decide if I like it. Maybe I will need to keep trying different ones. I have been working my way through all of the falafel places near my apartment. Last night the guy snuck some terrible beet like things into the wrap and RUINED everything. Will not be going back to that one. Plus he laughed at me when I tried to pronounce things in German. the number twelve/zwölf is impossible to say.

Well I accomplished nothing on my previous to do list... so there's that.

Morgen visited over the weekend, and I picked her up from the Hauptbahnhof and we headed back to my Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll themed work party.
...Fast Forward to Saturday...

We woke up and went to Mamalicious, an American style breakfast place around the corner from my apartment. Mama was really nice and we went back again on Sunday. Must learn her life story.
After that we went to the HafenCity and walked around there for a little bit. The area is all new construction and will essentially be a new little city inside Hamburg. The Elbphilharmonie, Symphony Hall, is supposed to be spectacular. Here is a photo of pretty much what it looks like now, and the future building. Apparently each window is custom made and unique. ***I didn't take these, I will upload my own photos once I have home internet.

After looking at the cool new buildings and playing tour guide, we went to the Miniatur Wunderland. That place is insane. There are soooooo many tiny details built in to each location. I'll make a separate post full of the Miniatur photos, but you can check out Morgen's post if you can't wait for me to get internet. After the overwhelming experience at the Wunderland, we went back to my place to nap. Afterwards we got up, made some guacamole, and watched Harry Potter. It was glorious.
Sunday we walked around Hamburg some more, went to the Rathaus and the Alster and stumbled across a gigantic triathlon. They had a large bleacher section to watch each person run past. Morgen and I were given free noisemaker things, those are LOUD. Not a good idea to give us those on a Sunday, what with the German quiet policy for Sunday. Oh well. Sorry fancy people in Jungfernstieg.

Morgen left around 5 and I went back to my apartment and tried to clean my room. I still need a bed, roomies both sleep with their mattresses on the floor, so they don't really understand why I want a bed frame. I think the floor mattress thing is starting to hurt my neck... Nicht gut. I also need curtains, I will try to get to Ikea tomorrow, but probably won't make it. It is pretty far away, I need to work on convincing Vani to drive.

Monday night Vani and I went to a Sneak Preview showing of a movie. I thought that meant an early look at whatever film, but apparently in Germany a sneak preview is a surprise movie. It was cool, the movie theater plays Sneak Previews every Monday in English, and the tickets sell out fast. Vani's friend had extra tickets, so that's how we got to go. Everyone was hoping for Batman, but we got to see Brave! It was so great, I may have been the only person who was excited though. The place auctions off used DVDs and throws free snacks into the audience after the very long previews. I think it is sold out for this Monday, but I will try to get a ticket for the next week. I love movies!

The rest of this week has been really busy at work. I have been working on a tequila box. More details to come next week after the design is printed. I was at work until 10:30 Tuesday night so I missed my German class. I made it there last night though, so all is well. Made a pact with another person in the class to email eachother class information if we miss one.

No plans yet for this weekend, I think I will wander around and look at stuff, and try to get to Ikea.

Also last night, Bente and I were coordinating morning bathroom schedules and she was asking me when I get up to shower. I told her I usually just shower at night. She looked at me so strangely and then told her boyfriend that I shower at night, only it came out sounding more like 'She strangles puppies in her spare time.' Apparently showering at night is not common here. Neither are bed frames. Or curtains.

I just realized that I haven't had home internet or curtains for over a month now... I spend a lot of time reading books and flashing people. It must be the German way.

This week has been the first week where it actually feels like summer. The Germans are going wild, the streets are constantly full of people... It is really spectacular. We have to take advantage of the sun and warmth, I think today is the last day of it... Tragic that I spent the whole week at work.

I'm thinking of starting a few new sections here with language things and other differences:
___

Language Barriers:

Bente and her BF struggle with the words for waking up in the morning.
'What time do you open tomorrow?'
'What time do you stand up in the morning?'

also it is apparently strange that I don't have a 'friend' at home. I was really confused when people first asked me if I had friends or a friend at home, I was insulted for a second, thinking they were asking if I was a sad loser freak at home, but then realized they meant more of a 'special friend'

'What, you don't have a friend? Is that normal? Do a lot of people not have a friend??' Um, yes. Single people exist. I'm fine.

My teeth are apparently blindingly white and this is noteworthy. I think they are getting not so white anymore, but I brought a few whitestrips so that should be fine. Roomies and their friends want me to have some whitestrips sent over from the US so they can have white teeth too.

___

Struggles:


Toilet paper is crazy here. I can't seem to find a middle ground between terrible, cheap 1-Ply and 5-Ply super thick cardboard paper. Malia found a good 3ish-Ply a few weeks ago, but she is on vacation now so I can't ask what brand it is.

Putting your name on the mailbox is crucial here. Addresses are grouped by building and not split into Apt 1, 2, 3, 4 so the only identifier for where the mail goes once it gets to the building is your name on the mailbox. So My tax ID was going to be mailed to Malia's and I had to figure out how to break in to her apt to write my name on the mailbox so the mailman wouldn't send my envelope back to the government. I asked the lady to send it to my work address, but she was very confused about that and just kept pointing at Malia'a address... I managed to get inside her building last night. I waited around outside for someone to come or go, and then finally pressed one of the buzzer things. Got it right on the first try! Someone was expecting a guest and instead got me. Sorry sir. Things to consider for my next stakeout: pee first, bring snacks.

I need some ziplock bags. I have only been able to find the twist tie sandwich bags...

Beer is mixed with sprite and other things here. I like it. But then, I used to mix red wine with Dr. Pepper, so I'm weird.

People wait for the green man to cross the street. Even if there are no cars. It pains me.

People do not move out of your way on the sidewalk. If someone is walking towards you it is like a game of sidewalk chicken. I have started to win. Score.

All of these are true.

forgot to go to lunch

Last post's to do list:

-bank account

-health insurance

-tax man

-wash clothes

-clean room

-bed frame

-curtains

-wall hooks

-wall shelves/something for makeup/toiletries in room

-hair cut

-learn german

-get some internet at home

-plan things to do this weekend with Morgen, sorry in advance if I suck at hosting guests!

the last three are in process....

_____

not too shabby.

Yesterday was a HUGE day. I woke up early to get to the registration place, then went and got my train ticket, then opened a bank account, then signed up for and attended my first German lesson, all while completing a full work day.  go me.

Today I went to the Tax place(Finanzamt) and tried to get my tax ID and tax bracket paperwork, I got one of the things and the other is getting mailed to Malia's... where I will hopefully be able to get it...

Tonight I should be able to do laundry with the token things, and the internet man is coming tomorrow! score.

Still working on the weekend plans, but roomie has a blow up bed thing for Morgen to sleep on, so thats pretty good planning so far.

The German lesson was interesting, the whole class is taught in German and it is cool to struggle through the words with people from all over. Russia, Bulgaria, France, America, Spain, Portugal, England and probably more... The class has 13 people. the teacher guy knows everything about every country. everything. sooooo I looked pretty dumb. I was able to answer his question about the Hauptstadt der USA, so that was good for me.

I have another lesson on Thursday, Donnerstag, so hopefully I will learn more.

Yesterday we covered, introducing yourself, saying where you are from, age, marital status, numbers and asking people how they are. Wie geht es deinem vater?  I think that is... 'How is  your father?' Es geht ihm gut. He is fine.

Sehr Deutsch.

alright... really wish someone in the office had told me everyone was leaving for lunch... going to be a hungry afternoon....

Tschüss,

Michelle