Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag!, Harry Potter, The Incoming Christmas Season, and Other November Events

So much has been happening in my German world lately and, without any real excuses other than my laziness slash writer’s block, I have been neglecting a proper update of this blog. I am sorry for that and I hope that this super, super long post will suffice as a proper apology.

November is in full swing here in Munich and a lot has been going on. I don’t think that I need to admit that I love November, though - I always have. Not only is it my birthday month but it’s also got Thanksgiving and long-anticipated new movie releases. And it’s kind of like a pre-game for Christmas, too – as the holiday spirit starts showing up in store windows and on the radio waves and the weather starts to change for the worse. Here in Munich it’s been a bit of a different experience, of course. The weather has been kind of indecisive about it’s honest intentions. A few weekends ago we had gorgeous, warm t-shirt weather and so we made sure to take advantage of the good day and we spent half of the day at Olympiapark playing football (or watching, in mine and Catherine’s case) and enjoying the sun and warm weather. We also caught a beautiful sunset – which, so far – has been the best part of the sun now setting at 4:45 pm everyday. Unfortunately, that warm weekend weather has passed and we’re back to rain and frigid cold and frosty mornings. The weather forecast calls for snow this week. Fun.

Last week I went to the opening of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 1 and it was every bit the amazing movie that I expected it to be. Of course, I’m always a critic of the book-to-movie adaptation so I was skeptical but, to be honest, they did a really good job of keeping the basic plot line in order and the movie turned out fabulous. It’s not the first time that HP has released in November, that’s half of the reason why I like November so much – long awaited movies usually make their debut. Last year (and the year before) I had Twilight releases and about 5 years ago, I had HP and the Goblet of Fire, three years before that was Chamber of Secrets and when I turned 15, I had Sorcerer’s Stone. I don’t know what’s going to happen when all of these movies are done and are no longer being released. Hopefully something amazing takes their place or I just grow up a little bit more to let it go. Ha.

My birthday just passed and I had a Munich-style celebration. It was actually a bit of a birthday weekend, seeing as Helen’s birthday was on Friday, so we celebrated birthdays from Thursday to Sunday. Thursday was a messy accident and I hadn’t planned on anything getting too crazy but we ended up moving on to a second bar after the first bar turned on the lights and shouted last call and we all ended up going home somewhere around 4 in the morning. So, happy birthday to you, Helen! On Friday we went out again for her “real” celebration and we started at our age old favorite, Jaeger’s Hostel where Cris treated us to free birthday shots in Helen’s honor. After Jaeger’s we danced all night at Neuraum night club before Lauren, Helen, and I decided that we’d had enough and we wanted to go home. With way too much money spent and our attitudes and enthusiasm going down the crapper, we caught a cab to Helen’s place and the three of us snuggled in her bed before Lauren and I headed to our respective residences at 7:30 in the morning. Saturday was spent sleeping it off – I managed 3 1/2  hours – and then that evening, we celebrated my birthday at Peaches bar in our tracht wear – Bavarian style! We got two Zombies (the second with a birthday discount!) and managed to stay at that particular bar until 1 am before we tried to find a worthy club and then failed. But it was all right, seeing as we’d had a rough couple of nights, and I was more than happy to head home and crash in my bed. Birthday party success! On Sunday, my girlfriends and I wandered aimlessly around Munich doing everything and nothing (read: eating everything in sight, keeping warm in pizzerias and coffee shops, ogling Christmas window displays, watching ice skating in Karlsplatz, and eating ice cream at McDonalds) and the day ended with cocktails and dinner at Roxy cafe on Leopoldstrasse. It was a lovely, wonderful birthday and I was (and still remain to be!) so grateful to have so many wonderful friends to share it with me. Danke schon, my lovelies!

Wing, Fio, and me at Roxy

My birthday hat?

Also, something I should mention about my birthday… as a gift, some of my friends bought me a ticket to see one of my favorite bands, Angus & Julia Stone, as they passed through Munich on the 14th and the concert was wonderful. I absolutely loved every minute of it and my ever so delightful company! They are such wonderful performers and their music is even more incredible when it’s live. I highly recommend that you check them out and I can help! Here’s a video that I took from the show of their performance of  “For You” which is one of my favorite tracks off of Down the Way. Enjoy!

Now that I’m officially 24 and my birthday is done and over, it’d be only normal for me to start thinking about Thanksgiving and getting all geared up for that. Unfortunately, the holiday will not be as traditional as usual because I’m not in the United States and because Thanksgiving is an American holiday. My friends and I are going to try to host our own international Thanksgiving dinner in celebration of the true holiday but with a bit of a foreign twist to it. Everyone can bring whatever kind of food they want and we have a Thanksgiving buffet, probably sans turkey but with a lot of other fun and interesting stuff. Of course, I’m going to miss my family this year – Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I will really be aching for my family this week. Hopefully it will pass without too much anguish and I’ll be okay until Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, Munich is ready for the holidays – officially. The Christkindlmarkt starts on Saturday and their already preparing Marienplatz for the big show. Basically, the market runs from November 28th until Christmas Eve and it’s just a big fancy market of Christmas vendors and pretty lights and eventually, snowy Christmas scenes. I’m really excited for it to start though – it’s something new and exciting and I love Christmas time so it’s the perfect venue to get into the spirit of the season. The Tollwood winter festival is starting up on Wednesday too and runs until December 31st. It’s a Christmas folk festival, much like the market but in a different place. Ha. And, of course, all of the stores in the city are putting up their Christmas displays and they’re especially delightful – probably just because I’m in a new country and it’s more exciting than being at the Del Monte mall or Cannery Row. Needless to say, I am super excited for the Christmas season to come in, full swing. And maybe I’m kind of, a little bit looking forward to the snow. A little bit…

Creepy Christmas puppets…

Gross.

   Putting up the massive Christmas tree in Marienplatz

Ice skating at Karlsplatz

Get your toasty, warm Christmas snacks – Gluhwein indeed!

In closing, I should say that I have about 5 zillion blank postcards that I need to send out, many of which are long overdue. So, if you’d like a post card – let me know. No promises though! I’m quite lazy and going to the post office takes a lot of effort. But I will try. ;)

The Politics of Blogging, Birthday Parties, Hiking the Bavarian Alps, and Yet Another Friendly PSA

It’s been a while since I blogged. And yes, I realize how nerdy it sounds for me to say that and, at my own expense, I fully embrace the nerdiness within me. It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning here in Munich and I’m stuck inside doing laundry and vacuuming. But I’m listening to iTunes on shuffle - Radiohead at the moment (Videotape is a hauntingly beautiful song) - and enjoying ice cold water. Which, believe it or not, is really a blessing because nowhere in Germany do they provide ice with their beverages. This is why I make my own ice water by using the freezer. Efficient, isn’t it?

Things have been great here in Deutschland but is that much of a surprise? I have yet to feel like I made the wrong decision by coming here. I’m actually starting to think that my whole life has led up to this experience. Is that thought too grandiose? It’s amazing. I don’t know how many times I could say that.  It’s all true. Even if I don’t end staying here in Germany, I am never going to forget or turn my back on the memories and friendships that I’ve made here. I am so blessed!

This past week was busy. Well, kind of. Okay, not really. I think it’s a joke to say that the life of the au pair is “busy.” At least the life of this au pair. I always get crap from my other well established au pair friends because apparently, my au pair job is a joke and they are much worse off than I am. If you say so!  The only reason I hint at the fact that my week was only a little bit but kind of not really busy is because Die Kinder had their birthday on the 31st. So, in this household it was a busy event. The Frau really put herself out planning for this one. Considering she told me about it in January when I was still in California and had yet to wrap my mind around the fact that I was even going to Germany, let alone hanging out with German twins on their 6th birthday. And now the moment’s past and it’s crazy to me to think that the things I once imagined are now actually happening.

Anyway, back to the story. Die Kinder turned 6 and in Germany that’s pretty important because it’s the age when they leave kindergarten (which is different than in the states) and go to elementary school. The girls finish kinderhaus on August 14th and start elementary school on September 14th. So, they celebrated their rite of passage in style. On Saturday morning (their actual birthday) the Frau had their grandparents (Oma and Opa) come over for breakfast and presents. I attended this event and mostly just sat there while they all talked in German. Which is pretty much all that I do in this house when the family’s all together but hey, immersion is the fastest way to learn a new language, right?

The party planning was split up between Saturday and Monday. Their friends came over on Monday after kinderhaus for a real celebration. Helen and I both helped out with the party which was mostly just cake, snacks, games, and chaos. And a lot of German kids. I couldn’t communicate with about 85% of the kids but it was okay because all I had to do was dance around and point at stuff and they usually figured it out. Nana was freaking out for most of the party – not sure about what – but the poor girl was really going nuts. Her whole head/face turns bright red and she screams and cries and kicks and hits at her mother and drags her around. She does this quite often – I was just sad to see that she let her own bad attitude ruin her birthday party. Poor kid. She needs a chill pill. I tell her that all the time and the Frau looks at me like I’m crazy. She’s probably thinking, “She wants to medicate my children?!” Ha.

Me and Helen with Nana and Ina. Au Pair spectacular!

Overall, the party was a success. It went from 3:30 until about 7 or so. After that, Helen, the Frau, and I sat in the kitchen and drank champagne. And the Frau gave us each 50 EUR for helping. Woo! I love free money. The stupidest presents that they got: unicycles. Logic is still lost on this one. After the party, I went out with some friends for bier because let’s face it, nothing takes away the stress of a chaotic birthday party like some good German spirits. 

I guess that’s a good transition for me to comment on my drinking habits as of lately. I already wrote a little PSA in a past entry and a few people apologized for leading me to believe that they were nagging me or judging my behaviors. But for others, apparently that wasn’t enough. It is true that I have been doing a lot of ‘partying’ here in Munich if you were me - a 23-year-old college graduate experiencing Europe for the first time in the brewing capital of the world – wouldn’t you be doing the same thing? The only reason it seems as if all that I do is go out and drink is because on Facebook, most of my photographic documentation occurs during these nights out. I don’t take pictures of the nights when I’m in reading 100 pages of whatever book I’m currently enjoying or when I’m sitting at my computer for hours at a time, obsessing over Facebook, or Skyping with my best friends and family members. I don’t take pictures of myself playing War or Crazy Eights with 6 year olds. I don’t take pictures of myself making dinner.

Yes, I will admit that I haven’t been getting out to see the sights as often as I could have but that’s mostly just because it’s been raining and because I’m lazy. Hey, at least I can admit to it. Plus, I keep going by the thought that I’ll be here for a year. What’s the rush? Sure, it’s summer time but it’s hot as balls in Munich and that doesn’t make me want to wander around outside with a camera strapped on. But, I promise, I won’t die of alcohol poisoning. I may do some stupid things like end up in the hospital with stitches, kiss way too many boys, get lost and walk home at 3 am, or stay out in the rain all night. But seriously, I’m okay. You are my friends and family and you love me, I get that and I totally appreciate and understand your concern but when I get to the point that I feel you should be worried about me, you’ll know it. So let me live my life the way that I feel like living it. I promise that I won’t pass judgment on you for the things that you choose to do either. I’d hate to have to start creating privacy controls on Facebook so that everyone will stop commenting on my drunken photography. Let’s not make it come to that. I love you, I swear!

Anyway…. I hate that I had to do that AGAIN but, whatever. It’s done and I won’t say it again. I have so much more to write. Why does it feel like this entry is ridiculously long? Whatever. It’s my blog. I just wanted to say that I went to Garmisch this past weekend and it was awesome. I hadn’t traveled out of Munich yet (not including Starnberg) so it was so nice to get out. I went with Helen, Laura, and Sara and we got a Bayern ticket and took the train. The weather was perfect, the Alps were gorgeous, the hiking was great, the day was a success. I got eaten alive by horse flies which sucks now because I’m covered in itchy bug bites but it was so worth it. I can’t wait to go back to Garmisch to see Kathe (family friend).

Hitting the trails

The epitome of German charm.

I love my camera.

 

This weekend’s upcoming trip to Hamburg has been canceled, seeing as all of us are poor. But I’ve substituted the lost trip for a day trip to the Neuschanwanstein castle. Hopefully the planning works out and we can get enough people to go. So far so good!

Not my picture but it very well could be  by next week! :)