Today I asked a six year old this question:
If you were a princess and you had a thousand servants to make you any food in the whole wide world, what would you want them to make for you?
And she answered: “Macaroni and pancakes.”
There are two things that I love about this answer. One, I’ve converted her to being a Mac & Cheese lover (is it really that hard?) and two, that is the most awesome combination ever.
It freaks me out how fast time goes by here. One day it’s a Tuesday and I’m meeting Eric at the Ubahn so we can go to Shamrocks and sing Beatles karaoke with Chris. Then, all of a sudden, it’s Tuesday again and I’m on stage at Shams singing I Will Survive with Fio. Wednesday is laundry day but I feel like I’m always doing laundry because it comes around so often. Someday, when I’m getting ready to leave this place, I’m going to write that I can’t believe how fast the entire year has gone by and these menial weeks will seem like nothing compared to that.
Unfortunately, this weekend was somewhat bittersweet, as, Harry, one of our close friends here, was leaving Munich and going back to England for school. I suppose for him it was more bittersweet than for us because he was looking forward to going home again but was reluctant to say goodbye to his life in Munich, too. I know this because we asked him this question at least five times. And I can definitely identify with that sentiment. Sometimes I miss home - A LOT – and although I’d love to go back, I would probably cry if I had to leave Munich. And that’s how I feel three months into this adventure – imagine how much harder it will be next summer when goodbyes are actually on the horizon. I am willing myself not to think about this. Unfortunately, the alternative is not much better because, still, dear friends are leaving Munich, one by one. Do I have any choice but to be sad about this? Within our little social circle here in Munich we’ve become very close and so all of these summer internship situations really suck because a lot of our good friends have either left already or will be gone by the end of the month and any absence in our group is definitely felt throughout. There are quite a few of us that are going to be here through until next summer but that does mean we won’t miss the others everyday.
Anyway… back to this weekend. We sent Harry off in style. We had a wild dinner party on Friday night – complete with the weirdest combination of food (pizza, at least 5 lbs of spaghetti, french fries, hashbrowns, and tofu) 20 bottles of Spaten, at least 10 bottles of wine, Kings Cup or “Ring of Fire” as some of us have affectionately renamed the drinking game, naked Greek playing cards, a dance party, and drunken conversation about the individual values and morals of sex. We definitely know how to party, don’t we? Haha. On Saturday we had a bit of a melancholy day but can you blame us? Harry, Eric, Catherine, and I went to the Dachau concentration camp memorial in the afternoon and in the evening, Laura, Fio, and I stayed in and made dinner and watched the Beatles movie, Help!, with German subtitles. On Sunday, we had a BBQ on the banks of the Isar river and grilled chicken and sausages, tomatoes, and sweet corn. We shared our BBQ space with a leathery, sunbathing, panties-clad old German-French man and his beggar of a Labrador. AFter the BBQ we went to Jaeger’s Hostel for one last Maß drinking adventure with Harry. We ended up playing “Ring of Fire” – twice? – and then decided that we wanted to go to Killian’s Irish pub for karaoke since Harry had never been with us to Shamrocks. We definitely had an incredible evening of drunken fun – complete with a strange new friend who made dinosaur impressions all night and kept yelling, “Jesus Christo!” in Spanish. On Monday night we had dinner at Harry’s apartment, one last get together, and just sat around talking and listening to music. (Sideshow Steve? Seasick Steve? We will miss your random music selection, Harry.) And then we said our final goodbyes and went on our way. You will be missed, Harry. Until next time!
This is completely unrelated to my social life but on Monday morning I took the girls to the Munich zoo, also known as the Tierpark Hellabrunn. It was a beautiful, sunshiney fall day in Munich and the three of us had so much fun. We were there from about 11 until 4 and we saw everything. This zoo has about 8,000 different monkeys, polar bears, bats, tigers, lions, elephants, brown bears, giraffes, rhinos, penguins, snakes, you name it. I’ll put up a separate post about it later but all I have to say is that the Munich zoo is badass. I am definitely going again soon.
(And between all of the parties and trips and nights out and the zoo – I took almost 500 pictures! That’s a record, even for me!)
You know what else is badass? Oktoberfest starts in 10 days! The Frau has given me 120 EUR to spend on a dirndl as an early birthday present and I am so stoked to have my official, authentic Bavarian beer drinking dress! Lauren and I tried some on the other day and I’ve picked out the perfect dress – we’re going back to buy it tomorrow! Pictures will be posted, I promise. I swear to God, I’m going to wear this dress every Halloween for the rest of my life. It’s that awesome. Plus, my friends and I are going to regularly have dirndl and lederhosen weekend nights so that will kick ass. And not only am I excited for the madness of 5 million extra people in Munich, 16 days worth of bier drinking and sexy drinking dresses but so many people are coming to celebrate with me!
A dear and near friend of mine, Susie, from Monterey is visiting her mom, Kathe, in Garmisch from the 11th to the 20th, I think, and so I’m really excited to see her and fest together! Kate, one of my best girlfriends from college, is passing through Munich during her European vacation with her best friend, Kari. They’ll be here on Sunday the 19th just for the night and we will rock that Sunday night so hard! From the 24th until the 28th my friend Alison, who is from England, will be here in Munich and that will be our super Oktoberfest weekend. Nothing will be off limits. I’ve tried convincing my friend Graeme, who lives in Scotland, to come visit for the festivities as well so hopefully that works out. He is, hands down, the most amusing drunk person you will ever meet. I haven’t seen Alison or Graeme since August 2008 so it will be nice to see them again. And hopefully, Helena will be here too! Get your plane ticket, girl! Also, Jordan, a friend of mine from Monterey who I worked with at My Museum will be here for the same weekend, visiting Oktoberfest from Milan, Italy where she is studying abroad. It’s going to be one hell of a party!
Now I’m back to having no money (except what I’ve budgeted for bills and will probably have to break into – budgeting FAIL) and am spending the day at home – the girls have had a play date since 10 am, two sisters Lena and Fannie, and I’ve pretty much been rendered useless in this situation. I did a lot of productive things though. I finally put my last name onto the mailbox so my mail will stop being turned away. The Frau and I made lunch for the six of us – white rice, lemon butter sauce, and fish – and then I vacuumed the kitchen. Now I will do laundry. The twins are going to the same girls house for a sleepover tonight so I’m done with the kids at 4. The Frau is having a Sex and the City dinner party (we love that show around here, okay?!) with her girlfriends so I imagine that I’ll be helping with that. I fully intend to stay in tonight and catch up on important things like postcard writing, sleeping, blogging, reading, and calling people in California.
I absolutely love my life. Have I said that much lately? I really do!
Happiness by Hurts
Thanks to the iTunes store and it’s excellent recommendation section, I’ve stumbled across a little UK band called, Hurts. They have given me some great music therapy over the last few days. I’ve been listening to them nonstop (in circulation with about five other albums by other equally as great artists). They remind me of Savage Garden but updated about 11 years. Their music is synthpop, kind of electronic, and Disco-ish. I don’t usually like this kind of music but it’s catchy – a good listen if you feel like blocking out the world and just hanging out with your iPod and your headphones.
A Book Like This by Angus & Julia Stone
I finally got my hands (ears, heart, soul) on this album thanks to a wonderful music fairy friend of mine and I am in love just as I knew I would be. I don’t have to gush to you about how much I love this band, you already know. I’m seeing them live in two months and I can’t wait.
Interpreting the Masters: A Tribute to Hall & Oates by The Bird and the Bee
I’ve been a long time fan of The Bird and the Bee (thanks, Lauren!) and was super stoked to see that they released an entire album of Hall & Oates songs. I’m a bit sad that You Make My Dreams Come wasn’t on there but hey, I’ll pick my battles. Because the other songs are awesome, especially Rich Girl and Maneater. I love listening to this album, even though the sound is much, much different than the other Bird and Bee albums.
Smoking Gun by Lady of the Sunshine
This band is Angus’ (of Angus and Julia Stone) side project but basically, the music sounds exactly the same as the music he makes with his sister. Therefore, it is equally as amazing and I am a dedicated listener. Most of the music is mellow and kind of emotional but it’s sexy and sultry, too. I like to listen to Lady of the Sunshine at night when I’m trying to fall asleep or when it’s raining outside. The plus side to this album and to Lady’s sound that makes it a bit different from Angus’ band with his sister is that it’s a bit more… rock and roll, kind of edgy. I’m impressed – I love it and will keep listening. Hopefully he’ll play some of this music at the show in November!
My blog has a new header. Pretty fancy, eh? I went back to the Photoshop skillz that I acquired when I used to spend half of my free time making webpages and designing layouts and other graphics and made a pretty new header for this blog o’mine. Enjoy!
As of today, it is officially September and here in Munich, fall has fell. I went out last weekend and could just feel the change, a bite in the air that made a scarf and a warm jacket absolutely necessary. Too bad I don’t have a warm jacket right now. Actually, I don’t have any warm clothes. I left them all at home in hopes that my mom could send them to me in mid September but it looks like I’m going to need them sooner than that. Honestly, all that I have at the moment are tank tops and wimpy t-shirts. My only backup are a few pairs of jeans and some warm hoodies. That’s it. I want my pea coat so badly right now. Ma? You’re on it!
The last time that I experienced honest to God real fall weather, I lived here:
I was 15 years old and a freshmen in high school – 8 years ago. Growing up, I remember one of my favorite things to do was rake leaves and jump into the piles that my siblings and I made in our front yard. We’d bury stuff in there and dive deep searching for them – Ninja Turtle action figures, GI Joes, Barbies or whatever else. And then in the end we’d stuff all the leaves into yard bags that looked like pumpkins and stack them in front of the house. My childhood best friend and I used to walk around our neighborhood in Missoula with rakes twice our size offering our $5/hour yard raking services. Some of the best hard labor of my life. Ha.
Needless to say, I absolutely love fall. The smell of it reminds me of school, of Halloween, of turkey and Thanksgiving, of mittens and scarves. Where I live in California, the weather doesn’t change into four distinct seasons. It’s more like 2 1/2. Summer, spring, and rain. The trees don’t burst into flames of unbelievably beautiful autumn colors. The air outside doesn’t suddenly feel crisp and clean. It’s hard to explain but you can just feel the coming of fall. I’ve missed that and I can’t wait to enjoy it here. I’m actually looking forward to the changing of all the seasons here. Even winter. But maybe check in with me again when winter is actually here. I might have changed my story.
The twins and I are back to our weekday routine. Card games, puzzles, painting, and movies. I’ve tried to suggest the zoo multiple times but it never ends up happening. Weather or lack of planning or tennis lessons. The girls have requested going to the Olympic tower but that fell. We need to get out of the house, out of the neighborhood, and out to see the city. Seriously, we just stay home all the time. It gets to be pretty boring. One of these days I’m just going to ask her if I can take them to Marienplatz or something for ice cream and a fancy lunch. At least it’s somewhere.
Coming up this week – the family is going away again, this time to Frankfurt and I am having another dinner party here at the house with a few friends. Not sure on the culinary theme yet. Some time this weekend, we’re going to Dachau which was the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany. I’m looking forward to seeing it but at the same time, I’m not. That’s really hard history to bare witness to, even 70 years later. Every movie or documentary that I’ve watched on concentration camps or the Holocaust (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, HELLO?!) has brought me to weeping tears so I can only imagine how this will affect me. To be standing right there knowing what happened all of those years ago… damn. It’ll be rough.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Kind of a pointless blog post, isn’t it? Haha. Never! Although, I did forget to say that I definitely think I am cheating with all of this “American” food that I’ve brought back from Garmisch. Today I made a grilled cheese sandwich with Kraft sharp cheddar and for the last three mornings, I’ve had a blueberry bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. I now put ranch dressing on my salad and yellow mustard on my sandwiches and eat it with my french fries. It’s kind of like I’m cheating on German culture or something. And getting fat again. Haha. Damn you, American food. I love you but I can’t wait until you’re gone again.
Now I’m really leaving. But first, a random picture of Munich because, to be honest, Neus Rathaus never gets old.
Oh, and P.S. - Yes, Harry you are my official photographer (at least when you’re capturing better pictures than I am and let’s face it, that’s a lot) and lots of kudos to Lauren Beckwith, a former Munich au pair who doesn’t even know me but still sent me a really nice Facebook message about how much she appreciates this blog and wants me to keep writing it. Don’t worry, so long as I’m still an au pair in Munich, I will! And keep reading!
It’s amazing how fast music can transport you back in time. I had my iTunes on shuffle and Keane’s track “Your Eyes Open” from the album Hopes and Fears came on and I felt like I was back in the 11th grade, working at Video Palace, and acting my age – seventeen. Needless to say, I turned off shuffle and listened to the rest of the album. Sometimes all you need is a little nostalgia.
I have plenty of it when it comes to music, especially from high school. I spent those four years moving between three schools, two states, and countless amounts of transitory friendships. Music was a good balance when my life was so chaotic. For this “edition” of Music Monday, I’m going back to high school and the music that I listened to during my ‘coming of age.’ Links will take you to an awesome music video from that particular album – usually my favorite track.
9th Grade
Age: 15
Location: Sentinel High School – Missoula, Montana
The Music
Avril Lavigne “Let Go”
Britney Spears “Britney”
Jimmy Eat World “Bleed American”
Michelle Branch “The Spirit Room”
New Found Glory “New Found Glory”
Relient K “Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek”
10th Grade
Age: 16
Location: The highways between western Montana and Los Angeles - Woodland Hills, California -Morro Bay, California
The Music
The All American Rejects “The All American Rejects”
The Ataris “So Long, Astoria”
Josie and the Pussycats Motion Picture Soundtrack
Maroon 5 “Songs About Jane”
Moulin Rouge Motion Picture Soundtrack
Norah Jones “Come Away With Me”
Simple Plan “No Helmet, No Pad… Just Balls”
Something Corporate “Leaving Through the Window”
11th Grade
Age: 17
Location: Morro Bay, California
The Music
Ben Jelen “Give It All Away”
Copeland “Beneath Medicine Tree”
Dashboard Confessional “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar” & “Swiss Army Romance”
Hanson “Underneath”
Jason Mraz “Waiting for My Rocket to Come”
John Mayer “Room for Squares”
Keane “Hopes and Fears”
Michelle Branch “Hotel Paper”
Rooney “Rooney”
Sarah McLachlan “Afterglow”
Something Corporate “North”
Sugarcult “Start Static” & “Palm Trees and Power Lines”
Switchfoot “The Beautiful Letdown”
Tyler Hilton “The Tracks Of”
Yellowcard “Ocean Avenue”
12th Grade
Age: 18
Location: Morro Bay, California
The Music
Coldplay “X&Y”
Dashboard Confessional “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most”
Death Cab for Cutie “Transatlanticism” & “Plans”
Garden State Motion Picture Soundtrack
Jack Johnson “Brushfire Fairytales,” “In Between Dreams” & “On and On”
Jimmy Eat World “Futures”
John Mayer “Heavier Things”
Keane “Under the Iron Sea”
Music from The OC: Mix 2
Snow Patrol “Final Straw”
The Thrills “Let’s Bottle Bohemia”
Zero 7 “Simple Things”
My music tastes definitely evolved as the years passed. I still listen to some of these bands – not many – but they’re all in my iTunes or in my hard drive somewhere. It was in 11th grade that my music tastes kind of morphed towards any and all music that was featured on The OC. I like to think that that show saved my music loving heart forever and opened my eyes to music that I really loved. It’s all down hill from there. Someday I’ll post what I listened to in college and the list will be even longer…
I’ve started a new book today. It is the 12th (?) book on the laundry list of books I’ve enjoyed (or will soon enjoy) since I arrived in Munich. (It might not be the twelfth book, actually – I’ve lost track.) It is a book that I’ve been wanting to read. And it’s received excellent reviews. I trust books with good reviews.
Excerpt from the first four paragraphs of the book, Little Bee, by Christopher Cleave:
Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. Everyone would be pleased to see me coming. Maybe I would visit with you for the weekend and then suddenly, because I am fickle like that, I would visit the man from the corner shop instead – but you would not be sad because you would be eating a cinnamon bun, or drinking a cold Coca-Cola from the can, and you would never think of me again. We would be happy, like lovers who met on holiday and forgot each other’s names.
A pound coin can go wherever it thinks it will be safest. It can cross desserts and oceans and leave the sound of gunfire and the bitter smell of burning thatch behind. When it feels warm and secure it will turn around and smile at you, the way my big sister Nkiruka use to smile at the men in our village in the short summer after she was a girl but before she was really a woman, and certainly before the evening my mother took her to a quiet place for a serious talk.
Of course a pound coin can be serious too. It can disguise itself as power, or property, and there is nothing more serious when you are a girl who has neither. You must try to catch the pound, and trap it in your pocket, so that it cannot reach a safe country unless it takes you with it. But a pound has all the tricks of a sorcerer. When pursued I have seen it shed its tail like a lizard so that you are left holding only pence. And when you finally to go seize it, the British pound can perform the greatest magic of all, and this is to transform itself into not one, but two, identical green American dollar bills. Your fingers will close on empty air, I am telling you.
How I would love to be a British pound. A pound is free to travel to safety, and we are free to watch it go. This is the human triumph. This is called globalization. A girl like me gets stopped at immigration, but a pound can leap the turnstiles, and dodge the tackles of those big men with their uniform caps, and jump straight into a waiting airport taxi. Where to, sir? Western civilization, my good man, and make it snappy. (Cleave, pp. 1-2)
Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t, doesn’t that excerpt make you want to devour this book? I am going to go do that right now.
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.
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!
It is, officially, the last full week of August. That means that summer is almost over. Back in California, most of my dearest friends have already gone back to school and are starting their fall semester. This time last year (and I checked up on the facts - Thanks Facebook!) I was at Molly and Lauren’s house playing beer pong and drinking wine and saying farewell to the end of summer and hello to my final year of college. I’d experienced my first ‘working’ summer – where I’d nannied straight through the week – two families! - and worked weekends at My Museum all so I could afford my $600 a month rent and utilities at my first ever, grown up apartment. I also tried to have a social life in which I got burned by a few boys, grew closer to my co-workers and met my new best friend (Stefany, I love you!), experienced the smoking death of my beloved Mazda on the side of Highway 101, and traded her in for a family hand-me-down slash fancy upgrade – the Dodge Stratus. Now that I’m here in Munich, it seems like all of these things were so far away but honestly, this was just last year. Even though the thought of maybe becoming an au pair had crossed my mind, I couldn’t picture myself where I am right now.
Back then, the summer of 2010 was three months of preparation for grad school, another summer living with Hanna, a job search in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, a really big reality check. How was I to know that grad school and a professional career would be put on a hold because of an international job offer or that Hanna would get married in November and move out to North Carolina with Jordan to live happily as a housewife after graduation? Fortunately, everything fell into place as if, all along, I was meant to be in Germany. I accepted the job in November and had six months to organize for the next year and a half of my life. I applied for and received my first passport. I graduated college in May. Hanna and I both had plans to move after graduation and our apartment lease ended at exactly the right time.
I spent those six months envisioning what my life would be like once I arrived in Munich and nothing could have prepared me for the reality. It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been here for three months – let alone that I’ve been thinking of this opportunity since last fall! I spent this past summer in a dream state, every morning waking up and wondering if this was really my life. I’m so glad that I took this opportunity – everyone has told me that I’m so smart to have chosen a year abroad and I know that they’re right. Yes, I feel as if I’m wasting my college degree – like I’ll forget everything that I learned while I’m out here chasing after children, drinking delicious German beer, and learning a new language. But I know that won’t happen. I may be a bit rusty on my child development theories or on the subject of linguistics but it never really goes away – plus, I don’t know what I want to do yet, not really. I’m not going to think too hard about it - none of this what am I doing with my life? nonsense. My life is exactly how it’s supposed to be – right here, right now. I’m not going to argue with that. What I am going to do is enjoy the last few fading weeks of warm weather before fall comes rushing in. The leaves are already falling from the trees. It’s been a long time since I experienced four seasons. But, please – winter – take your time. No need to rush.
In the three months that I’ve been in Munich, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I fit into this strange, new place. I’m learning alot about myself as a language learner. I’ve picked up so much German. I can say an entire introductory paragraph but I’m working on my pronunciation and accent!
Hallo. Mein Name ist Heather. Ich komme aus den U.S.A. Ich bin ein Au-Pair in Munch. Ich lerne Deutsch. Ich kann nicht sehr gut Deutsch sprechen. Ich verstehe ein bisschen Deutsch. Das ist alles.
I’ve also got my numbers down, one through one hundred (which helps when dealing with money in stores and restaurants). I can say please and thank you, different variations of hello and goodbye. I can ask how someone is doing (wie gehts?), where they are from (Woher kommen Sie?), and where they are at the current moment (wo bist du?). I can ask: what is this? (was ist das?) and I can add a lot of German vocabulary into English conversation, usually for the sake of the twins friend’s who don’t know very much English. I can order beers and drinks in various sizes (small = kleine, large = groß or gross) and in different styles/flavors (light = hell/helles, dark = dunkel) and some food menu items. I can ask for the bill (die rechnung). I can read train and most travel signs or I can understand the general idea of them, anyway. I can’t wait until I actually take a class and can speak the language with a bit of fluency!
My favorite discovery thus far has been the food and drink. My favorite delicacy here in Germany are the pommes frites (french fries). I know that’s such an American thing to say because America is all about french fries but you won’t understand until you’ve had your own plate of pommes. They’re delicious here – I think it’s the potatoes – but they’re golden yellow and full of sunshine and happiness. I absolutely adore them and find myself making my way through menus just to find meals that include them.
I also really love the German sausage. Oh, get your mind out of the dirt. Although the German men are quite lovely, the spice and variety of sausage and brats that they have here are delicious. Give me a bratwurst mit pommes and I am a happy girl. Other things that I’ve eaten and quite enjoyed:
To be honest, I love everything about Munich. I have yet to find something that I dislike. Maybe I’ll change my mind when I’m halfway through a freezing cold winter, possibly suffering with seasonal affective disorder (it used to happen to me every winter when I lived in Montana), and missing home for the holidays but for right now, alles ist gut. Especially since, I’ve been told recently by my sister-cousin, Christy, that I’m looking thinner which is always a nice thing to hear. That statement is supported by the fact that all of my pants are way too big for me now and they all fall down. I’m still not a supermodel and I’ve still got my beloved curves but hey, I’ll take a little unintended weight loss. It’s also bittersweet because even though I welcome the change, I can’t afford to buy smaller clothes so, hey, maybe wearing long johns under my jeans all winter will balance it out.
All that can be said now is that I love my life.
Every little bit of it.
When I first started writing this blog, I used to do this thing every Monday where I would post music that I like or that I’d been listening to – Music Mondays, see? And I did it for a few weeks and then kind of… stopped. And since I’m not going back to school, since I don’t have a real job, and my life is pretty much just hanging out with six year olds playing card games, swimming, and going on bike rides, and my social life exists at night and on weekends, I have nothing better to do than blog all the time, listen to music, and read a lot of books. So, I’m going to try to go back to this whole Music Monday thing. I’ve got iTunes on constantly and I’m listening to my iPod so much that the battery dies pretty much everyday. I’ve never listened to music as much as I have been since I’ve been here. And if you know me, that’s a pretty weighted statement because I love music. So, needless to say, this music on Monday thing will be super easy. Hopefully.
Since I arrived in Munich two months ago, I’ve been listening to a lot of different stuff but one play list that I tend to favor more than any other is my collection of tracks from Angus & Julia Stone. It’s been an especially soothing playlist for all of the rainy days that have been taking over Munich lately. I love to have their music in my headphones as I wander the streets of Munich – off to some adventure or social gathering. Or even just a bike ride through the Englischer Garten. This is one of my favorite songs off their album, Down the Way.
This next song, You’re the One That I Want, is another favorite of mine. It features Julia’s vocals which are kind of… different… but in a hauntingly beautiful kind of way. It’s a cover of a song from the musical, Grease, but it’s an infinitely better version, in my opinion. And a song that I’ve related to one or two… or maybe 10… times in my life. Ha.
Honestly, I could post Angus & Julia Stone videos all day. I absolutely adore them. But you should also listen to this and this and this. Thank you, Lauren, for giving them to me. I heart you eternally.
I just found out that they are playing in Munich on November 14th at Backstage Werk on Reitknechtstraße! Only a 30 minute Bahn adventure across the city! Now, I just need a concert buddy or two…
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