(Not So) New German Girl: Nine Months Down, Three to Go

March 20th marked the nine month “anniversary” of my arrival to Munich. And on this date, last year, March 28, 2010 I started this blog – Diary of An American Au Pair slash New German Girl. It’s been one year since that first post and nine months since I first arrived and guess what? I’m not so new anymore!

How can I explain to you just how much my life has changed over the last nine months? You’ve been reading this blog (I hope) so you have an idea of how far I’ve come and the things that I’ve seen but how could I really explain it to you in words? I’m not even so sure that I can do that for myself. What I do know, is that the girl that I was when I left California is not the same girl that will return in June. I have changed, my life has changed, and my eyes are wide open. I may not have seen very much of the world but what I have here – I absolutely love and to be quite honest, I wouldn’t ask for a do-over even if you paid me.

The months leading up to my German adventure were busy, busy, busy. Of course I had Germany on my mind but I was so preoccupied. I was trying to finish my Capstone and was looking forward to my college graduation. I was organizing all of my material possessions, moving out of my apartment, walking away from my numerous jobs and co-workers, saying good bye to friends and loved ones, and preparing myself for the unknown. When I first arrived, after nearly 13 hours of travel with swollen feet and a weary smile, it didn’t feel that different. I couldn’t understand how to get through the airport, not because of the language – everything was written in both English and Deutsch – but because Franz Joseph Strauss airport is a ridiculous mess of signs and signals and moving sidewalks. Eventually, I found a taxi in some shady back corner and I gave my address to the driver and although he barely understood me – I was hopeless back then – he managed to finally understand and we were driving away. My adventure was right in front of me. It was about to begin.

The Last of the Sunshine Days, Oceanless Beaches, Pizza and Poker, and A Lazy Day Trip to the Alps

There’s something to be said about a beautiful summer day in Munich. While my host-family played at the lake near their vacation home in Kitzbühel, Austria this past weekend I enjoyed one glorious day of summer weather here in the city. Thursday was my first official day off since they departed on Wednesday evening and I definitely took advantage of my free time and the golden sunshine. I’ve recently discovered that I love riding my bike through the city so I definitely did that on Thursday and went from my house in Schwabing to Marienplatz which took me all of 20 minutes. I had my German lessons going on my iPod so anyone that passed me surely witnessed that I was talking to myself in German verbs and phrases. Ha. I stopped at the post office to mail off some post cards (look out California!) and then carried on into the city where I wandered around looking for playing cards for Friday’s pizza and poker night. I got distracted by H&M and walked out with some new clothes and a cheap pair of earrings. Damn you, H&M. I eventually found playing cards at Muller in the kinderwerk section for 2,99 EUR. Totally worth it. They’re so shiny and beautiful. Also, I managed to find the coolest dirndl store ever – that has my size. I am so getting one of these soon, even if I have to put it on the credit card.

Later in the day I made the bike trek again but with Jessica. We were wandering around Marienplatz and decided to surprise Harry at his apartment since we were in the ‘neighborhood.’ Which is pretty much the whole of central Munich. If you live anywhere near Marienplatz, you’re fair game for a surprise visit. He was a good sport about it and gave us food. Thanks, Harry! The three of us then went to Beach 38 for a ToyTown meet-up which is probably the weirdest bar in Munich. It’s a bar with beach volleyball –indoor and out – and it’s covered in sand and other beachy looking things. But there isn’t any water. Anywhere. And the bar is located near Ostbanhof in an industrial neighborhood. It’s a poor excuse for a beach. Haha.

Friday it was rainy and depressing and I stayed inside for most of the day. Minus the 45-minute excursion I made out to Ungererstrasse to drop of Jessica’s bike for her and visit the supermarket. Our friendly neighborhood bike fixer man lowered her seat and straightened her handle bars all for free and so I didn’t have to leave it there and could actually ride it home. In the supermarket I got pizzas and Cornflakes (we were out!) and was amazed that the handsome stock boy that worked there kept smiling at me (like, he really smiled) every time I walked by him (I’ll admit it, I started doing it on purpose after a while, haha). This was amazing to me because I was still wearing Thursday night’s make-up, my pajamas, Uggs, and a half-ass ponytail. And I was soaked from traveling in the rain. Classy, isn’t it?

Friday evening my friends came over to the house for a pizza and poker night. Which was successful on the pizza part but the poker kind of fell flat. In the end, we ended up in the living room watching Sex and the City episodes. It was a good night and I like being the hostess with the mostess (as Clare calls me). My favorite picture of the night:

Me and Eric, who is fast becoming one of my bestest friends here in Munich.
We even pinky promised to be BFFs. I absolutely adore him. Obviously.

 

Saturday was rainy again. So I stayed inside. Again. Until about 3 o’clock when I decided to ride my bike to the Munich Readery. It was the perfect excursion. The weather was feeling very much like fall – crisp and just a tid nippley. :) I had my scarf on and my big, monster headphones and I just rode my bike. I successfully completed my first try at riding with traffic (no room on the sidewalks nor was their a bike path) and it was scary as hell. Next time I won’t wear my headphones. Later in the day, I met up with Clare at about 7 and we went to Jaeger’s for happy hour beers. Which, we’ve discovered, have gone up in price from 3 EUR to 4 EUR for a Mass. Chris was already there so the three of us just drank beer and waited for everyone else to show up. Eric graced us with his presence and then later Fi, Laura, Catherine, and Catherine’s boyfriend and his friends arrived. We got a big table and our corner of the table got busy quoting Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, and other random one-liners. We went to Euro’s Hostel afterwards for even cheaper beers and a better atmosphere. Met a lot of interesting people that night. Stayed out much, much later than I intended to seeing as I was journeying to Garmisch early in the morning on Sunday and needless to say, I fell asleep on the train a few times.

My Sunday trip to Garmisch was the perfect getaway. Even though I felt sick all day (and not hung over sick, give me some credit) it was still a great day. I have family friend who lives there so it’s an incredible blessing to have a little bit of home so close by. She is the mother of one of my dearest and nearest friends and professional contacts back home and she’s incredibly wonderful. She picked me up at the train station and took me to the American commissary (she works for the U.S. military) and I was able to get the things that I’d been missing: Ranch dressing, bagels, cheddar cheese, Cap’n Crunch Berries, regular Coca Cola, Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion chips, Cheez-Its. I scored the mother load. Germany just got a little bit better! I almost got Lucky Charms but I knew that could be disastrous. If I have one box, I’m going to want 12. Maybe next time.

After the commissary we had lunch at her adorable little apartment. We made weisswurst (white sausage) with kartoffelsalat (potato salad) and brot (bread). And just talked and talked. About California, about how much we both love the entire Burns-Riddoch family, about my job and the Frau and the girls, about her life as an au pair in Vermont in 1959 (she still visits the family she cared for!), and I practiced my German on her. After lunch we went on a walk to the ski jumps which were used during the Olympics and which will be used again in February for the 2011 Alpine something or other. 100,000+ people will be coming into Garmisch to watch the skiing events! We rode the gondolas up to the top of the mountain because I wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t up for hiking. And it was so beautiful! I couldn’t believe that I forgot my camera. We were surrounded by the Alps – Austria on one side, Germany on the other – and were breathing some righteously awesome mountain air. We stopped at the mountain restaurant and just enjoyed the sunshine and the people, the mountains, the green grass, and trees. Something we also didn’t do but should have (I hated my body and brain and muscles for this…) was hike through the partnachklamm – a gorgeous ravine through the mountains where you walk along the flowing river that comes down from Zugspitze.

Partnachklamm

Ski jumps

The restaurant at the top of the mountain where we were chillin’. Amazing, isn’ it?

I didn’t take those pictures because I FORGOT MY CAMERA. Did hell just freeze over? I think somebody should check.

Anyway, we rode the gondolas back down the mountain and walked back to her house. Both of us ended up passing out for at least 30 minutes. And then I had to catch my train – goodies in hand and ready for a date with this blog and my bed. I was still feeling really crappy when I got home but I managed to make myself some dinner and surprisingly – I felt better after that.  It was such a great day. I was so grateful to get out of the city and slow down. And spending time with Kathe (that’s her name, by the way) was lovely. It was so great to have a little bit of home so close to me. Her family is so important to me and I love them so much so it’s nice to know that I have good neighbors and a lot of love nearby! I can’t wait to go back to visit her, hopefully when Tante Susie comes in September! But I’m definitely going to organize a weekend hiking trip this fall – maybe for October. Can’t wait to go back to the mountains and with my camera this time! And I’m going to get my body ready for this trip, too. None of this sickness and riding gondolas crap! I’m proper hiking.

Now I am back in Munich – ready for another week with die zweillinge. And more goodness with my friends. But a lot of leaving is going on this week – friends that I have grown really close to and will be very sad to say goodbye to. Right now, I refuse to think about this and will go to bed. Guten nacht!

Shout Out to the City, Epic Misadventures, and Kindergarten Van Gogh’s

It’s been exactly two months since I arrived in Munich. It’s gone by so fast and I’m afraid that time isn’t about to slow down either. Maybe in winter when the weather is cold and depressing and nothing exciting is happening, I’ll have a chance to catch my breath. For now, life in Munich is fast and crazy but so incredible. I love this city so much. I honestly don’t know how many times I can say that. Everyone keeps telling me that I won’t want to leave. I’m afraid they might be right. I’m feeling like I could become a permanent fixture around here – not this house, per se, but in the city. I couldn’t be an au pair forever but maybe an English teacher or work in a kindergarten or something.  I’m seriously considering it.

I love the history, the architecture, the people, the culture, the language, the food. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t enjoy – unless I’m feeling hormonal and moody but that’s not very often. Usually the blue skies come back and the city makes me fall in love with it all over again. There’s still so much that I have left to see, too. It can only get better and that’s what amazes me so much. Everyday I tell myself how lucky I am to be here, how smart I was to take this opportunity. I wish that I could share this experience with everyone who isn’t here but since I can’t do that, I hope this blog does suffice. I know that I spend a lot of time talking about how great it is and blah blah blah but, honestly, it’s something you really have to experience to truly understand. Like the kirches of Munich. They can’t really be explained through words or photographs. You have to stand inside them and experience their majesty first hand before you can understand just how beautiful they really are. I’m so grateful to have your attention and I hope you’ll keep reading, even if I can’t aptly describe how incredible this experience is. I will continue to try!

Theaterkirche. Just trying to illustrate my point.
It’s beautiful but you can’t really know until you’re inside.

 
Theaterkirche

The last few days have been incredibly blog worthy. I already let you in on my clumsiness and how I cut my finger – that wasn’t fun. It’s still healing, slowly but surely and I keep a close eye on my razor these days. It’s actually kind of a scary object now. I’m slightly afraid of it. I’ve been hesitant to use it which is a new feeling. It’s like the time when I had the nightmare about the large dog that had killed and was feasting on my mother’s dead body – I was afraid of dogs for about a month. Fortunately, the prospect of unshaved legs keeps my fears from overcoming hygiene and social norms. The clumsiness, I’m afraid, has not disappeared. I spent the weekend convincing new friends of my clumsiness and proving it multiple times. Falling up stairs, tripping on city sidewalks and cobble stone, running into things. Quite the graceful ballerina, this one. Aside from my problems with gravitation pull, I’ve been doing really well.

Thursday night I went out to the usual ToyTown 20-somethings meet-up. It had been decided that we’d all meet at The Cocktail House which was a great idea because that place has an incredible selection of cocktails, as it should. I spent the evening making new friends – which ToyTown is really good for – and sweating to death in the non-air conditioned bar. But I did have a Midori Sour which reminded me of Wednesday nights in California at the Mucky Duck with Lauren, Molly, and Kathryn. It was bright green and looked like something a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle would drink to power up. Cowabunga, dude! At the end of the night, Jessica and I, and new friend Harry, went to McDonald’s which seems to the be the new tradition for ending every drunken night here in Munich. I can’t tell you how many times Jess and I have gone to McD’s for french fries and veggie burgers after downing a few beers. Thursday was a success.

Harry, me, Chris, & Clare at the Cocktail House 

On Friday, Helen and I had a dinner party and invited friends over for beer, wine, and kaser spätzle. It was delicious and so much fun. Maybe too much.  We all got drunk and went to Kultfabrik which was, in my opinion, a definite fail. I’ve decided that Kultfrabrik is dirty and sleezy and I don’t prefer going there so much anymore. After spending most of the night in an overcrowded bar being groped and molested by every drunk guy within a five foot radius, I grabbed my drunk friend, Zainab, and dragged her home. I was drunk before but an hour long journey through train stations and the dark streets of Munich really sobers a girl. Gives her time to realize how ridiculous she is on multiple beers and shots of Jaegermeister. I’m not the most debonair drunk girl. I say stupid things, embarrass myself, and ultimately, screw myself over. Maybe all my past “PSAs” were not so far out of left field. Let’s just say that this week, I’m choosing to take it easy on beer for a while. Practice some self control now because Lord knows, when Oktoberfest comes around that self control will be so far out the window you won’t even be able to see it anymore. Ha.

Saturday was kind of a lazy day. I did laundry which took FOREVER. German wash and dry machines are ridiculous. I hadn’t planned to go out – I’d had a bit of a bad night on Friday and was turned off from ever drinking ever again – but Jessica and Eli convinced me to go out to a German BBQ with them. Eli’s friend Andy knew the people who were hosting it so we traveled clear to the other side of town and hung out in this adorable German apartment with about 10 or so 20-something Germans. We didn’t socialize much but they did give us free beer, which was nice.  After the BBQ, we met Helen and Zainab at Jaeger’s Youth Hostel for cheap beer. Which turned into a night of wandering around the streets of Munich with some guys from the Netherlands, looking for a club that would let us in. Eventually, a few of us just returned back to Jaeger’s. Like always. I eventually left and went home, tired of the same old scene. At 6 in the morning, Helen and friends returned and Charne, our charming South African friend, climbed into bed beside me, drindl and all. Made for an interesting morning.

I got up early to meet a group of friends at Hauptbanhof for our Neuschwanstein castle adventure. Ten of us ended up going on the trip and after a failed attempt to make the train, we hung around until we could catch the next train. Eventually, we arrived in Füssen, Germany only to be greeted by pouring rain. Which pretty much came down off and on all day. We didn’t end up touring the inside of Neuschawnstein because the tours were all booked up but we did go to Ludwig’s smaller castle, Hohenschwangau. I thought it was more impressive from the outside – it doesn’t really look all that authentic inside because of light switches and electricity and tour guides. But I enjoyed it anyway. After the castle tour, we ventured up the mountain to the big castle and toured the outside and the inner courtyard. The castle is BEAUTIFUL. It was used as the model for Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland, too. So even though it was my first castle experience, I’d seen it a hundred times before. Ha. Also, the castle is seen in the best flying car movie ever, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Eli, Harry, and I made a split decision to sneak in the back entrance and so we did a reverse tour of the castle up until the point when the tour guides started giving us dirty looks. It was cool though – seeing everything inside. After we made it back down to the ground, we trekked up the mountain a bit more to see the castle from Marienbrücke. Which is this rickety little bridge with an incredible view.

Neuschwanstein

Courtyard of Neuschwanstein

 
View of the valley from the trail to Marienbrücke

Neuschwanstein from Marienbrücke

Neuschwanstein

Me, Harry, and Eli on the Marienbrücke*

Once we made it down from the castle and were back in the village, things started to get a little chaotic. We missed the last bus simply because we didn’t know that it was the last bus and there weren’t anymore coming, despite what the time table says on the schedule at the bus station. Bavaria has this fascination with lazy Sundays, apparently. So, after waiting for over an hour for the missing bus and consequently missing the 8 o’clock train back to Munich – we ended up getting taxis back to Füssen to wait in the city to make the 10 o’clock train. After a pizza and bier dinner, we headed to the train station only to find out from a train conductor that the train would be an hour late. This is what he told us. So, we wandered back into the city to find a bar to pass the time. Nothing was open, of course, so we went back to the train station around 10:40 only to find that all of the tourists who had been there before were gone. Everyone was gone. After questioning a local taxi driver, we found out that the connecting train to Munich was going to be late. So, we were officially stranded in Füssen, the ultimate tourist trap. The taxi driver directed us toward a Füssen youth hostel. “Just follow the train tracks,” he said. Oh thanks. We almost got run over by the last incoming train. After wandering through the dark streets of Füssen, we found the hostel. And it was all booked up. So we had to beg our way into their good graces and they agreed to let us stay in their family room for 50 EUR. We each paid about 7 EUR and had a place to sleep – mattresses on the floor. A Sunday night sleep over and the promise of a 5:30 am train the following morning. After a 4:30 am wake-up, we trekked back to the train station and made the 5:10 am train (thank God we didn’t bank on the 5:30 am time!) and were back in Munich by 7:30 am. I walked in the door for work at 8:01. Nicely done.

Miss your train to Munich? No big deal! *

 
Make-shift hostel experience*

Even though it was chaotic and unorganized and ridiculously unlucky, our trip to Neuschwanstein was a success. In my opinion, anyway. I was having fun the entire time. I bonded with new and old friends and I can’t find a single thing about the day to complain about. The best part about it – I hadn’t had anything to drink. It was clean, sober fun. The best kind, apparently.

Eric, Clare, Harry, me, Tomas, Eli, and Jess.
Weary travelers. Misadventure complete.**

This weekend was, quote possibly, one of the best I’ve had so far in Germany. Minus the embarassing drunk behavior, of course. That’s pretty normal for me. Ha. Unfortunately, most of the people who went on this trip are leaving at the end of the summer because they’re on summer placements doing internships and what not so I will have to say goodbye to some really good friends. Jess is staying until December and returning in March so I’ll have to live for three months without her. Sad face. But Eric (whose blog you should definitely check out because we’re living in Munich together at the same time, woo!) will be here for the rest of the year so at least one of my fellow Füssen misadventurers will be around continuously.

Tonight (being Tuesday night) I was invited to Tomas’ leaving dinner but, unfortunately, I do not think that I will be attending. I had to babysit tonight and since Helen showed up early from wherever she was, we did a joint au pair babysitting night. Vee and Eenie had their way with us and it’s official, after their artwork, neither Helen nor I will be going out tonight.

Helen was supposed to be… something. And I was supposed to be a cat.
We’ve got some Van Gogh’s on our hands here.

 

And that’s the end of this one. Finally.

* I definitely stole these pictures from Harry’s Facebook because his Nikon is infinitely better than mine.

** I definitely stole this one from Clare. Thanks, Clare bear!

A Crippled Lazy Life, Cheese Balls, and Solitary Felines

My life has been marginally pathetic over the last week. Mostly because I am crippled and have no money. I haven’t been leaving the house much during the day, mostly because I sleep until 12:30 or 1 and I’m too lazy to stop doing that. And I can’t walk very well. It gets better everyday but sometimes, I’d rather just lay in bed and read or sleep. And because it’s just so damn hot. The summer weather in Munich is killing me. It’s somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees almost everyday and I am sweating all the time. It’s gross. And it doesn’t help that my bedroom is on the third floor and everybody knows that heat rises. The last few nights I’ve just laid in my bed, my skin feeling sticky and hot, and my body just super uncomfortable. I need a fan. Fortunately today, it’s much cooler since it’s been raining and plans to continue raining. Which is fine by me. The sun can always come back later. Maybe when I have my stitches out and can actually go in the pool again.

The girls have been going to the pool almost everyday. Sometimes I take them, sometimes I don’t. But since I haven’t been able to go in the water I’ve been taking pictures of them. The Frau asked me to make them each a scrapbook that covers the year of their life that I am with them so I figured I better get started on my collections. I’ve been taking A LOT of pictures. I can only imagine what my collection will look like at the end of my year here.

We ended up finding my keys. Remember how I wrote about losing them at the pool?  They had them at the cafe of the sports club where the swimming pool is located. Right where I knew they would be. Disaster averted. We don’t have to change the locks to the entire house at my expense. All is well. Helen told me a story about a host-mom who said that they would have to change the house locks and buy the car a new engine (????) after her au-pair lost her set of keys at Octoberfest. Dang.

One of the best things about my au pair job is that I cook everyday. Granted, I’m not making a lot of different kinds of food but I’m learning. I’m finding that I actually like it and it’s fun. And I’m good at it! German food is interesting. I make a lot of potatoes and bratwurst. Mostly just pasta and salad. But I love the random weird stuff that they have here.

This is my favorite.
A ball of mozzarella cheese in a bag of water.
You drain the water, of course.
And then serve.
It’s delicious, seriously, I could eat the whole ball.

I’m still enjoying the night life of Munich, as always. I absolutely love going out in this city. It never disappoints. Except when I end up in the hospital. But that’s my own fault. Anyway, I really, really love this city. Pretty much every Thursday I’ve been going out to ToyTown meet-ups. This will be the first week that I don’t. One of Jessica’s friends is in town visiting so we’re showing him around and that doesn’t include Toy Town. We met up with him at a biergarten the other night and took him to get drinks at a really cheap hostel bar and then we went clubbing. We’re going to take him to the Hofbrauhaus and then show him some more of the crazy city life, I imagine. And I just hobble along behind them until I’m a bit buzzed because after a few drinks, I actually walk like a normal person. Haha. I know this probably isn’t the best part about Germany, but I don’t get hungover. I have yet to really regret a night out. At least one night every weekend, sometimes two, I manage to get myself home, completely drunk. I make my UBahn transfers, I get off at the right stop, I unlock my bike and ride it home. And then I pass out in my bed and wake up without a second thought to the previous night’s festivities. People keep telling me that it’s probably because German bier doesn’t have all the crap in it like American beer does. I am going to miss German bier when I go home. :(

And now for some random pictures to wrap it up. I need to add more pictures to my Facebook. I’ve been slacking on that. Sorry Facebook friends!

Chinesischer Turm in the fading daylight

The only cat in Munich, Germany. I see him/her every once in a while.
Seriously though… this is the only one. I have yet to see another.

 
The summer version of myself. I’m changing colors!

Oh, and For All the Other Stuff I Forgot About

Slicing my foot open wasn’t the only interesting thing that happened to me this past week. I actually did a lot of fun things, believe it or not, and THEN I stepped on glass and rendered myself useless for at least three or four more days. Which is okay because I fully intend to read at least two more books, sleep a lot, watch a movie or two, and not spend any money, seeing as I don’t have any. Thursday, I get paid and it will be glorious to have money again. Until then, I will remain crippled. But my job duties prevail. Today I must take the twinners to the pool but I can’t go in. Cruel and unusual punishment, isn’t it?

Anyway, last Wednesday I left off saying that I was going off with some friends to watch the Germany VS Spain football/soccer game at the Olympia stadium. Well, we went and it was FUN. Even though they lost. This place is MASSIVE. It seats 20,000 and it wasn’t anywhere near to being full but it was still incredible to see that many fans go out to support their football team on a giant television. Americans don’t do that kind of thing. We sit in our living rooms with cheese balls, Tostito pizza rolls, seven layer bean dips, 18 packs of PBR, and Cheetos and watch from the comfort of our living room. Maybe if it was a real match, we’d get off our asses, leave our living rooms, and go watch… but not for a giant TV screen. Deutschland fans are one of a kind.

Me and Lauren, rockin’ our spirit

Fans in mass

Watching from our seats

Inside the UBahn after the game. Pure madness.

This, my friends, was one of the experiences of my time here in Munich that I am so grateful to be a part of. It’s a story that I will never forget and I can only imagine how much better it would have been in Germany had actually WON. Oh well, they went on to take 3rd place on Saturday night so GO DEUTSCHLAND! I am forever a football/soccer fan. World Cup is so much fun to watch. Hopefully I can be in Europe every time that it happens. That would be a fun tradition to begin. Three 1/2 weeks every four years for a World Cup vacation. Who’s in?

On Thursday I did the regular schedule all day. Morning with the family and then I went back to bed for a few hours (oops) and then went into the Englischer Garten and just relaxed in the sun and shade.

    

Thursday evening I met up with some friends at night to go to the Toy Town meet-up, which had been scheduled for Augustiner Keller biergarten. Navigating the SBahn and UBahn stops is easy now so that wasn’t a problem. I was a little bit late, mostly because I’d had to work right up until 8 pm but I was able to meet Lauren and Catherine at the right spot. We managed to find the biergarten after heading in the wrong direction only once but once we got there, everyone just magically found each other and all was well. We had some bier (ein Maß, of course) and then started rocking out to the German rock band that was playing at the front of the garden. They played a lot of cover songs in English and we had so much fun dancing on tables and rocking out to the weird German music. After the biergarten, we collectively wandered off to a gay bar called Die Bank, where all the TT-goers always want to go. I’m not sure exactly how many of them are actually gay but I’ve been there twice now. But it was fun. We had a good, German time – drinking bier, taking shots, and sitting on really comfortable couches.

It still impresses me that I can drink these, even after a month of being here.

German band!

The girls at Die Bank

I learned a valuable lesson that Thursday night: don’t forget that the UBahn stops running after 1 am on weekdays. If I can manage to remember this, I will never again spend 16 EUR on a taxi. Either that, or carry around the night bus schedule. Save myself some money, geez.

Friday was kind of a lazy day. I was a little burnt out from the night before so I chose to stay in for most of the day. Read my book, didn’t really do much. Every once in a while, this is just what I need. Friday evening I had planned to stay in but when Jessica called me, I made up my mind that I would, in fact, go out with her but after traveling towards her place for 30 minutes, I ended up getting a call from the Frau. She thought that I would be staying in tonight so she had made up her mind to go out so she wanted me to come home. She was nice enough about it but it was kind of annoying. I ended up going back home and I watched a movie and went to bed. No big deal.

Saturday was HOT. I went to the Englischer Garten with Catherine, one of my newest friends here, and we laid in the sun for about 30 minutes before we decided it was just too damn hot. We ended up going into the shade and sat out in the gardens until about 4:30 before Jessica showed up and we went into town. We had dinner at Pizza Hut which, SURPRISE!, tastes just like Pizza Hut in the states. I was under some grand illusion that all the chain restaurants will taste different here in Europe but they’re all pretty much the same. Except McDonald’s – it tastes infinitely better here. Catherine and I want to go to the Hard Rock Cafe soon. I love their food.

 Delicious.

Saturday night we went out on the town and I managed to buy all my drinks before so I didn’t spend a bunch of money at the bars. I got three bottles of Augustiner for under 5 EUR, a mini bottle of Jagermeister for 2,49 EUR and a can of Red Bull. Overall, I didn’t spend more than 8 EUR. Which is something I should do more often. Although now that I read back on that, that’s an awful lot of alcohol for one night. No wonder I ended up in the hospital at 4 am. Geez.

You can imagine what I did on Sunday.

Honestly, I slept all day. People kept calling me to go to the Englischer Gartens but there was no way I was going to be able to do that. I was in so much pain. I just laid in bed and either slept, watched a movie, read my book, or spent time online. It was nice though because I needed the rest, my body was trying to catch up from the traumatic event. 

Now I’m just trying to keep my stitches clean and out of the water so that I can get them removed without any infections or problems next week. Actually, 12 days. So, on July 23. Wow… that’s so far from now. Anyway, I’m going to try to  take it easy until then. Which means I’ll probably just be sleeping a lot and will finish 1-2 books between now and then. Both of those outcomes is okay with me.

I never knew that I would have to leave college to get some really good sleep!

Sunshine, Swimming Pools, and Lazy Days

So, far this au pair thing is pretty cool. I spent most of Monday afternoon lazing about in the Englischer Gartens. I rode my bike from the house to one of the lawns and set up camp under a shady tree. Half in the shade, half out. I brought a book, my crossword puzzles, and some snacks. And I just laid out and enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air. I tried to tan but most everyone knows my body isn’t very receptive to kind coloring. Usually I just burn red. But that didn’t happen either. Slow goes it, I guess! After doing this all day, I returned back to the house for work and was quickly barreled out of the house to go to the pool with the Frau and Die Kinder.

The pool is part of the BayernLB Sportarena, kind of like a members-only sports club. Technically I wasn’t allowed to be there seeing as I’m not a member but they snuck me in. The girls and I went swimming for almost three hours. It was glorious. I love swimming pools and water, especially on hot muggy days which is pretty much every day here. It was funny being at the pool because NO ONE spoke English and all of the families or kid surrounding us stared me all crazy whenever I talked and played with Die Kinder. I got a few points and some second glances. And it was pretty much just moms and their small children. I think I saw one dad there. Just one. And all of the little kids were running around naked. Well, not all of them but compared to the number of nakie kids at an American swimming pool, it was a lot.

Later in the evening, after I’d put the girls to sleep, Helen helped me fix my bed! Well, she kind of helped. Mostly she just laughed at my misfortune and doubted it’s hold but together, we managed to make it work. Here are a series of pictures showing our good efforts:

 
To celebrate our hard work I borrowed the DVD player from the Frau and Helen and I laid around in my room and watched a movie. On Tuesday, I went out to lunch with a fellow au pair (also named Heather) that I had met through  Toy Town and we kind of just wandered through the city and enjoyed the warm weather and Munich’s best flavors from a delicious gelateria. It was nice to have someone to spend time with during the day seeing as I’m usually off by myself adventuring and seeing the sights. She was also very helpful in the ordering of food. Although I’m getting better at it everyday! She also showed me where there is an English-only book store. Also, after accidentally buying a huge bottle of sparkling water, I’ve decided that the Germans are crazy and sparkling water is GROSS. But Heather was right when she advised me to drink some anyway. My hands and feet were all bloated again from the weather and it was comforting to actually hydrate myself. Overall, the outing was a success. I look forward to spending more time with her, especially since she’s leaving at the end of the summer.

Last night (Tuesday), I decided to go to the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) biergartens to meet up with some people from Toy Town but, unfortunately, I couldn’t find them. I didn’t have any credit left on my phone and there were a million people there. So I just waited by the bus stop for Jessica and when she showed up, we got some bier, pommes, and meat and went to town. They give you these huge pitchers of bier – just for one person! Needless to say, I got drunk. Who wouldn’t after drinking ONE LITER of bier? Fortunately, I was sober enough to be able to ride my bike home (sort of difficult, my light kept turning off) and pass out in my bed about an hour later.

Ein maß weißbier!

Today is Wednesday and as of this week and last, I’ve officially dubbed Mittwoch my lazy day. I went for a half-ass jog through the Englischer Garten, did my laundry, hung it out to dry (oh, how I miss dryer sheets), cleaned and organized my room, worked on writing and addressing my pile of postcards, and ran an errand to the store down the street. It was such a small errand but such a cool experience. None of the ladies there speak English so I just had to show them my list and squeeze my fingers together and say, “Little Deutsche.”  I don’t know why I didn’t just say, “EEK SPRECKA KINE DOY-TCH!” Ha. I’m getting really good at that one! But I was able to get the three things that I needed – coffee, fresh parsley, and garlic powder. Now I can make parmesean noodles for the girls for dinner and the Frau can have her coffee. Job well done.

I know that I should feel bad for wasting a sunny day inside but I don’t. It’s so hot and humid and I didn’t get paid until about 2 this afternoon, anyway, so it really doesn’t bother me. Plus, I have so many more days to explore and adventure and enjoy this city so I don’t regret my decision at all. Beside, every once in a while it just feels good to stop going and sit down for a day.

Oh, and you know what I forgot? This morning I woke up at 6:30 am to the sound of thunder outside my window. Loud, angry thunder that seemed to shake the skies. And the rain, torrents of rain. Hot, humid, muggy rain. Even though I fell back asleep, it was a great sound to wake up to. I wasn’t even annoyed.

For the rest of the week, I am ready for anything. Babysitting tonight, Toy Town tomorrow, BBQs and more babysitting over the weekend. Another Deutschland football game. Going out with Helen and meeting some of her friends (finally!). Even though the last two weeks have gone by so quickly, I can’t wait to enjoy the rest. I absolutely love being here. Have I said that lately?

Oh, I have? Well, it’s true. :)

Now for the end of this post, enjoy some more pictures:

 Weiner Schnitzel, boiled potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a salad. Oh, and bier.

Marienplatz in the fading daylight.

 A weird Michael Jackson shrine in the city.

 Postcards

 Joshua Heather Orange (J-Ho) and Veva: the comforts of home, all the way in Germany

New German Girl enjoying a sunshine Saturday

Au Pair “Work,” the Love of Children, and Other New and Interesting Things

Thank God for weekends. I feel like this week has been so long!

My first full week was jam packed with actual “work.” Or at least the equivalent of what work is for an au pair – babysitting, making dinner, cleaning up after kids, digging weeds out of a sandbox, filling up mini pools with water, constructing child size nylon tents, coloring, drawing fifteen different versions of Mickey Mouse, reading Curious George ten times, pigtail braids, picking up slugs off the floor, going to tennis lessons and putting clean laundry away. Yet, despite all of this, three nights of babysitting and complete focus on my duties and responsibilities, I still feel as if I haven’t done enough. It’s very hard trying to please the Frau, I can’t read her very well. I always feel like she’s accusing me of something. I know that this probably isn’t the case but either way, it’s really frustrating.

I know that German mother’s are very different from the one’s in the US so it’s hard not to feel as if she loathes everything that I do. Did I put the dishes back in the right spot? Did I make the mashed potatoes wrong? Did I give Eenie too much cereal? If this were my job in California, say working as an au pair for the Butler’s, a previous family that I used to babysit for, would I feel this way? Most days I feel like I’m imposing, even though she wants me there. I just feel as if I’m not meeting her expectations, whatever they may be. She never really went over any rules with me, she just tells me that I’m doing them wrong as they are broken. Like last weekend when I brought two girlfriends over to the house so that we could get out of the rain, she came down on me for not asking permission. Which is a viable request, I understand, but I just assumed that because Helen was the one relaying all the rules and expectations to me, that they stood for me as well. Apparently not. It’s a learning process. I am, by no means, trying to make it seem as if I hate it here because I don’t. Not at all. But part of the experience is learning from the bad parts, too. Some days are better than others.

The best part of this week’s “intense” work schedule is that I’ve gotten so much closer to the girls as a result. They love me more and more everyday. It’s not hard to win over five year olds but, regardless, I feel good that I’ve managed to make some progress. Both of the girls are so different from each other, Vee is much more mischievous and rebellious and she takes more risks. Eenie is much quieter (in relation to her sister, anyway) and is sweeter on me than Vee. She holds my hand and sits close to me and is always asking me questions. I have my moments with Vee too, but in different ways. Yesterday Vee wanted her nails painted so we had a little manicure session and then I sat with her so she wouldn’t get nail polish all over the furniture. They both lean on me when I read them books, one on either side of me, and it’s the smallest, most quiet, and appreciated moment. I store it away and it makes me smile. I love to feel the quiet affection of children, it’s such an innocent feeling. It makes me feel very strong and protective of them. I fall in love with every moment like this and I know how much deeper that will grow as time goes on.

On Wednesday I went with the family to the girls’ tennis lesson. It was held at the “country club” or the equivalent of what that stands for in America. Private courts, private membership, etc. I didn’t much more than sit in the grass and wait for some kind of direction. I’m not really sure why I was supposed to be there. I didn’t serve much purpose other than holding a bag and a restless hand. I played “futbol” with Eenie for a little while at the end but other than that, I was fairly useless. I was relieved to find that an American family had congregated behind me and they were playing and conversing in the only language that I can fully understand. Later, I learned that they had just spent a year in Monterey as the father was stationed at DLI for German language courses. It’s really cool how small the world really is. On Thursday night I met a girl from Milwaukee that loves Hanson. This subject came up because I was drunk enough to confess that Milwaukee reminded me of them (I've been sitting here too long by a man from Milwaukee) and she said, “I love them too!” Again, such a small world!

Hearing this family behind me was such a comfort because you don’t realize how much you appreciate your home language until you no longer hear it anymore. Pretty much everywhere that I go, I have absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about. I can usually guess the topic of conversation based on the venue or a few choice words that I can make out but most of the time, I have no clue. I’m immersing myself within it, though, which is a good thing. I have no choice but to understand it. It’s almost like it’s needed for survival. During the day, when I am out exploring by myself, all I want to do is go into little Munich cafes or biergartens and order the delicious looking food but I never do because I have no idea what any of it is. I can’t read the menus and I have no clue if the person working there speaks English. And if they don’t, how will I get my order out to them? It’s really frustrating but it’s something I’ll get used to. For now, I’ve just been going out for traditional food and bier when I’m with someone who speaks German or at least is familiar with the food menus. Eventually, I’ll understand and I’ll be much more comfortable in the city. But right now, it’s really overwhelming!

I was very homesick yesterday – mostly I think this was because I’d been stuck inside the house for most of the week and was getting a little stir crazy. I had no choice but to hang out on Facebook and look at the pictures of home that are plastered all over my walls. I was also very tired from a late Thursday night – I’d went out for ToyTown again and Jessica and I hit the town with high spirits. Which equals cheap Vodka from her refrigerator and Paulaner beer that we were able to take out onto the streets, seeing as open container and drunk in public laws don’t exist here.

I got home that night around 1 am and was passed out before 2. But after waking up at 8 to get the girls ready for school, I went right back to bed around 10 and slept until 1. Therefore, I was seriously dragging all day. I don’t function very well on cat naps. I was able to bike through the Englischer Gartens on Thursday afternoon though, and it was beautiful and so romantic. I love it there. My favorite pictures:

  Biergartens

 

Before I’d went into the Gartens, I’d spent about four hours doing official paperwork stuff with the Frau. We waited forever at the registration offices to get my visa finalized and my residence papers verified. I was so grateful that I took my book. I managed to finish it and have since started another. I like being here, if only for all of the literature I will be consuming.

Today is the start to a beautiful weekend here in Munich. At the current moment in time, I am waiting for Jessica to arrive so that we can take the bikes into the Englischer Gartens and picnic. Bier, cheese, and whatever else. It’s the perfect start to a beautiful day. The weekend should be full of excitement seeing as the USA plays in the World Cup tonight and Deutschland plays tomorrow. Lots of partying and celebrating (hopefully!). And I do love to celebrate!