Reflections from California

Well… for the first time in over a year, this blog update comes to you from the great state of California. I am home, I have arrived, and I am alive. Despite having to travel on a bum foot, I made it across three countries (Germany, Canada, and the US), the Atlantic ocean, and am only six hours away from reuniting with my mom in San Luis Obispo. I am writing this to you from the cabin of an Amtrak train where just ten minutes ago, my dearest friend Lauren, put me on a train at the infamous Union Station in Los Angeles. She picked me up the night before at LAX and together, with her lovely German boyfriend, Basti (Queue inside joke: “Put ze baby on my butt!”), we went to In-N-Out where I had a worthy “welcome home” meal – a Double Double with mustard, no sauce, In-N-Out’s delicious crispy french fries, and a not-so-good American Coke (I miss Germany’s version!).

And yeah… I’m home. Wow. I haven’t really had a moment to myself to sit back and think about what that means to me. It’s weird though and I’m sure it will feel this way for days. During the eleven hour plane ride all I could focus on was whether or not my foot was going to explode due to cabin pressure. I couldn’t really focus on my inevitable to descent to American soil. At the airport, all I could think about was how stupid Lauren and I had been for not exchanging better contact details – I hoped she would find me. And find me she did! And once we were together, all I could think about was In-N-Out and how happy I was to see her again. And to hear Basti’s unmistakable Bavarian accent – I might as well have still been there. And then, it kind of started to hit me as I iced my foot and watched Kate Plus 8 and Cake Boss and ate delicious ice cream sandwiches from the comfort of Lauren’s blessedly massive couch.

“This is the first American TV on actual TV that I’ve watched in over a year!” I exclaimed, as the realization of my return started to set in. And, in my opinion, TLC  was a worthy channel to initiate my return to American media. (I love that channel! If it had been 19 Kids and Counting, I would have been in heaven!) And then – all of a sudden – I was tired. It hit me that back in Munich, it was pushing 4 am and I’d slept a total of 2 hours during my travels. I needed to go to bed. So, I took a shower (I missed you stationary shower heads!) and then crashed. Sleep was easy – I passed out right away. But staying asleep was the tricky part. I woke up about three or four times over the course of my eight hour night and kept checking the clock. 12:42, 2:34, 3:45. In Munich, it would have been late morning to mid afternoon. In fact, I went to bed in California at about the same time that I would have woken up in Munich to start a regular work day.

When I did wake up, at 5:45, it was to the sound of the Harry Potter theme song on my Verizon cell phone – a phone that I hadn’t been able to use for a over a year. My ankle was throbbing – I hadn’t felt that much pain in the thing since the morning before I went to have the injury diagnosed. I quickly swallowed an IBU 600 (I love prescription strength drugs!) and readied myself for the rest of the day – my final travels through California. (Kind of.) Lauren fed me toast and orange juice and Basti loaded my suitcases into the car and then we were on our way – and not with a moment to spare. We arrived at Union Station within 20 minutes of my train’s departure. I checked in, checked my bags (which would arrive in San Luis Obispo on a later train), and then we got a go cart to drive me to the platform. As a result, our goodbye was kind of muddled but I know I’ll see her again soon. That’s the beauty of having friends that live in California. You’ll always reunite.

And now… here I am. Riding in a four-seater with my foot elevated and an electrical outlet to my right – rightfully blogging, something I feel I haven’t done properly in weeks. But, strangely enough, it’s still all so surreal. I don’t think it’s really hit me quite yet. Even as the train passes through the ghetto of Los Angeles and winds it way through Glendale, Burbank, Northridge, and Camarillo – all places that I’ve been through and seen a thousand times – it stills feel so foreign to me. Maybe it’s because my heart really is lost in Bavaria. Eventually it will find it’s way back to California but for now, it’s still in Germany and although I am very happy and excited to get back to my life here, I really miss the year of my life that I just left behind.

I don’t even know if I could put into words how much that year of my life meant to me. Being in Germany changed me – at first, it was a rough and emotional change but then it turned around and I learned a lot about my past situations and turned my regrets into opportunities of renewal. I learned from everything that happened to me while I was in Germany and I know that my entire experience changed me into a person who is so completely different from when I first left to start my adventure.

I met so many incredible people on my journey – friends that I will have and cherish for the rest of my life. Soulmates, sisters, brothers, lovers. I met each and every one for a specific reason and they all came into my life because they were supposed to be there. Who would I have been if I had not met them? What kind of an experience would I have had if they had not been there? Through the long nights of binge drinking, club dancing, gossiping, debauchery, fighting, and whatever else we got into we sealed our own fates. We will never forget those moments that we shared. We built our lives around each other and those people and the memories that we made together will forever shape me. To each and every one of you, from June of last year until just last week, you are forever in my heart and I love you so much. Thank you for being there with me and sharing the year with me.

Of course, I went to Germany to work but it ended up being nothing more than background noise to my entire adventure. I love the girls and I will miss them – of course, in the same way that I miss and love any other children that have come and gone from my life. They were great girls – so smart and sharp, full of sunshine and so sweet. They had their moments, like any normal child would, but for the most part, they were well-adjusted and strong little girls. They will have some rough years ahead of them, no doubt, but it is my hope that they will overcome and grow into beautiful, strong, and respectful young women. Hopefully I can visit them again throughout the years and keep up with them. I’d hate to lose touch with them. Their mother, however crazy she was and however difficult she made my life at times, will never be forgotten. Infamously – of course, but I am grateful for the chance that she gave me to come into her family and take part in her culture and be a part of the city. I never felt like she was a mother figure to me but to be fair, she didn’t really try very hard sometimes. Haha. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the opportunity that she gave me. I wish her the best with her future au pairs and hope that she realizes soon that she doesn’t really need one and could save herself a lot of money every year on that realization. Haha.

Being a part of Germany was an incredible experience for me. I’d never been to Europe before I started this adventure. I’d never really traveled anywhere or done anything very remarkable with my life. Well, except for my summer camp counselor adventure but these two experiences wouldn’t exist without the other so… I take that back. My summer camp adventure was the first remarkable thing that I’d ever done and, even though I didn’t know it then, it changed my life. Germany changed my life. I keep saying that and I’m not really backing it up with any evidence, am I?

Being in Germany taught me a lot about myself and helped me discover parts of my heart and soul that I didn’t even know I had. I went through a lot of emotions while I was in Germany. I was hurt and battered by a lot of men and I made a lot of stupid decisions, usually while I was drunk, but I learned a lesson every time. Sometimes I repeated the same stupid mistakes and hated myself for it but in the end, I came to realize that I wouldn’t get anything of life if I didn’t have those mistakes to learn from. I didn’t go looking for them, of course, but when they happened – I tried not to beat myself up about it. Life will, most definitely, change now that I am home but the life that I had in Germany was worth living. I will forever be a different person because of the things that I experienced while I was there. For the rest of my life I will always have those “one year in Germany” stories to tell every new person that I meet and I’ll always have that interesting edge over the less traveled and more stationary people that I meet. Gives me something to look forward to as I go out into the world and introduce myself to new people and new opportunities.

I can’t really identify with how it feels to be home. I think those words will come over the next few weeks and months as I get settled into my life again. Right now, I am happy to be home but I am missing Germany. In a few weeks, I will probably be bored of home and crying for Germany. And then something will come up – I’ll start my new job or I’ll meet a sweet, handsome new boy – and I’ll love California again and Germany will be just a fleeting thought. It will come and go and fluctuate as my life changes. All that I can do now is remain grateful and appreciative for the year that I spent in Germany and know that nothing I do, from here on out, will ever compare to the adventure that I just experienced.

And do I dare quote and improvise Rihanna lyrics? Somehow, given the year of my life and the amount of Rihanna that I listened to, danced to at clubs, and sang karaoke too, it seems appropriate (and not to mention the amount of times that it rained while I was in Munich). She’s kind of become synonymous with my time in Germany, anyway.

Germany, you had my heart
And we’ll never be worlds apart

Blahblahblah.
You can stand under my umbrella.

No? It doesn’t work? Haha. Oh well. Germany, I will miss you. Thank you for everything. You have my heart. Forever.

30 Days

Today is May 20th. I leave Germany in exactly one month.  That’s 30 days, 20 hours, 19 minutes, and 32 seconds until my flight takes off from Frank Joseph Strauss on Monday, 20 June 2011 at 10:30ish in the morning. I have been in Munich for 11 months – 339 days – and since then my entire life has been changed. I don’t know how to put it into words what this experience has done to change me but I just feel it. I’ve learned so much about myself since I first arrived here. I’m going home next month, an entirely different person than when I first left. At the core of me, I am essentially the same but all at once, I am entirely different. How can I go back to my old life and live again after experiencing something like this? It feels as if there is nothing else other than Munich yet I know that is not true. This is just what my life is right now and I love it. I love my life right now more than I’ve ever loved it before. I hope that love and appreciation stays with me as I travel home. I can’t wait to share this experience with everyone back home but, at the same time, I’m going to ache for it with every story that I tell.

Oh geez. I can do this. 30 days to enjoy the last of this experience. 30 wonderful wunderbar days!

A Final Weekend at Fruhlingsfest, Late Nights, Impending Endings, Employment Prospects, and the Joy of Being an Au Pair

This past weekend I went for a second round at Fruhlingsfest and I had so much fun. Beer festivals are one of the things that I will miss the most about Munich. And there are a lot of things that I will miss but beer festivals are definitely up there at the top of the list. I like it much better than Oktoberfest because there are less people and more available tables, faster service, etc etc. We had a table right up front, center stage to the band that played all night long. We danced and sang along and had a merry time, right up until they closed and kicked us all out. And I practiced great self control. It was my pay day and I only bought two beers. Instead of five like I did the previous weekend. After the festival, a few of us braved the rain and decided to go clubbing. We ended up at Cord, a club that plays some great indie music and even though I paid 6 EUR for the cover, I only stayed about an hour or so before I left to catch the last train home. I was ridiculously tired from all of the dancing that I had been doing that day. I made it home by 2:30, soaking wet and cold, took a long, late night bath, and then went to bed close to 4 am. The night before that, I'd stayed up until about the same time, drunk off of Friday the 13th festivities and two or so bottles of wine. Last night, on Sunday, I stayed out with friends at a shisha bar until 2 a.m. I definitely need to make this week one of early nights and catch up a bit. I'm starting to feel ill from only sleeping 4 to 5 hours every night. Personal challenge accepted! Unless I have plans (aka Shamrock's karaoke) I will be in bed at 10:30 and lights out by 11 most nights this week. Haha. We'll see how well this goes!

Happy German girl at the festival!

They had these lit up while they played “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash

Full Monty show on the Augustiner stage!

Q62, Shisha bar!

Paul taught me this trick and Cris tagged me in this photo. Thanks Cris!

Yesterday (the 15th) was the one-month mark to the end of my au pair contract. On June 15th, I am officially done being an au pair and I will be set free for five final says in Munich, unemployed and with approximately 225 EUR in hand. My friends and I have planned an epic going away slash birthday party for a collective few of us and that happens two days before I board my plane back to California. It will be a great party and I'll probably have a few drunken cries through most of it. I don't have a lot of pocket money (thanks Rome!) for the remainder of my time here so I'm limited in what I can do for the rest of my time here but I'm hoping to go to Berlin in June to visit my friend Alison and then she'll come to Munich and visit me here. It'll be good to see her before I leave, too, since she's become my best friend from the days working as a camp counselor. I have a lot of things to organize, too, as far as packing is concerned. I want to get rid of a lot of it - so many of my clothes got ruined by the damn washer and dryer and the shitty hard water in Germany so I'm going to throw most of them away. It still feels like I'll never get it all home again. Ah! I can't believe I have to leave this place... it feels impossible. It reminds me of the quote from Eat, Pray, Love:

“The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying;
the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving.”

I want to go home – God, do I want that. I miss my mom and I want to meet the dog that she bought to fill the void in her heart after I left. I don’t want to live with this family anymore – or any family, for that matter. I want to spent five hours in Target. I want to take peoples of people in Wal-Mart. I want to buy crossaints and muffins and pizza at Costco. I want to go to all my favorite college bars with my friends from home. I want to lay on the beach for eight hour straight. I want to see my nephews and my sister, Christy. I want to visit my family in Montana. I want to sit down and tell my grandma all about my year abroad. I want to drive around in my car for hours and hours and turn the music up really loud and roll all the windows down. I want to get my hair cut and colored and get a manicure and pedicure and have my eyebrows waxed. I want to have a wallet full of American bills and I want to pay tax again and use my debit card everywhere I go. I want to be a California girl again.

But I want to be a German girl, too. I want to stay in Munich. I want everyone that I love in Munich to stay here too. I want to sit at a shisha bar for six hours and laugh and gossip and take pictures. I want to go to beer festivals every season and dance to music that I can’t understand but love anyway. I want to spend every sunny Saturday in the English Gardens drinking beer and catching a Frisbee and singing along to Florian’s ukulele. I want to sing karaoke at Shamrock’s every Tuesday night. I want to eat Bavarian food and have sausages and leberkase available to me on every corner. I want to buy Bayern tickets and take trains to random German towns all over Bavaria. I want to drink Augustiner every day. I want to be German forever.

I’m completely torn between the two places. In the end, I am going home, that is just the way that it is and I am okay with that. but I am going to miss Munich so much. Not only will I miss all of the wonderful friends that I’ve made here but I’m going to miss the city and the culture, the food, the memories that I had while I was living here. Hell, I might even miss the kids. Haha. It’s all coming to end so much faster than I would like. I am going to be so sad to leave here. It really does feel impossible.

But, the good news is that I have a job lined up at home that I am 98% decided upon. Between the eight families that have contacted me about working for them, only two of them have really done any follow through. I’ve been discussing offers and options, back and forth, between both of them and I think that I am decided on the one that I want. They’ve offered me the better package and the most information concerning schedules, salaries, benefits, expectations, etc, etc. Plus, the one that I want is more reasonable as far as finances are concerned and it gives me more room to rebuild my life and get back on my feet. Also, it would mean that I would be living with my mom in Morro Bay and that I wouldn’t be going back to Monterey. I’ve been thinking about living there and in the end it’s more practical for me to live with my mom for the next phase of my life and then I can work towards moving back to Monterey with better financial results. Anyway, the job is great and if I decide to take it, I’ll give more details about it but for now, we’ll just leave it in a state of indecision. I should know by the end of the week what choice I will make once they give me official offers or employment that I can either turn down or accept. I will let you know, dear readers!

Speaking of being a nanny (or something of the sort), I had a lot of fun with the girls this past Friday while I was babysitting. We went to a playground after they came home from school and we played in the sunshine and put flowers in our hair. I’ve been teaching myself how to braid so I invented this whole new hairstyle on the spot and the girls each ended up with a super cool head of hair. Au pair Hezzah for the win!

My little cuties

Super Nanny At Your Service

(Since Blogger has been acting like a freak for the last day or so and deleted this post, I am putting it up again. Danke.)

I have been a nanny/babysitter/au-pair/what-have-you for ten years now. Since I was 14, people have been paying me to take care of their children. And, if you ask any of them, I do a damn good job. I have ten year olds that want to be my friend on Facebook because they list me in their Top 5 best friends. I have nine year olds who beg their parents to take me on their family vacations just because they will miss me too much when they’re gone. It’s a rough life, really. But somebody has to do it. And it might as well be me.

Some people think I’m crazy for wanting to go into yet another nanny position after the year that I’ve spent with the Frau and her two delightful children (okay, they really are cute some of the time!). And with a college degree and with my credentials, shouldn’t I want to have a career? Yeah, probably. And someday, I’ll do that. First, I want to go back to school and get even more credentials and make myself even more desirable and educated. But, while I’m making that plan, I’m going to keep nannying. And you know why? Because I like to do it, I love working with kids, and it’s really good money with great personal reward. So, with that being said, as I began job hunting for employment in California over the last few weeks, you better believe that I put out some nanny ads between my hometown, Morro Bay, and my dream-town, Monterey.

And damn, I’ve never had so many hits! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight families have emailed me over the last week and a half, admitting their interest. I have sent my resume to all seven of them and have done extensive follow through with three. Two years ago when I was playing this same game, back when I was still in college and had never worked abroad, and was working solely off of local care experience, I got about two hits – one of which I ended up taking (out of reluctance at first, because of salary, but it ended up being the most heart-rewarding nanny job I’ve had thus far). A degree in education and a year abroad have definitely improved my standing as a potential nanny and I feel that I have the right credentials and experiences to be a big game player in the competitive nanny race that seems to grip central coast California. That makes me feel good because I have earned that standing.

I am very excited to have a job already set up when I return home. I didn’t want to have to deal with jet lag, visiting friends and family, reverse culture shock, possible depression (I will miss Munich so much!), and lack of money all while I was also searching for a job. It takes a huge load off of my shoulders to know that I am on that path and that my transition back into my California life will not be as stressful as I’d first thought it might be. You may not agree with me when I say that I am using my degree and my education when I work as a nanny but, trust me, I am. When you’ve studied child development as thoroughly as I have, parents like that and they want you for that reason. And I get real world practice and observation of the things that I studied. Therefore, I don’t feel like my working as a nanny for a few more years is a waste of my time or my degree.

It’s fulfilling and it’s what I want to do, it’s where my heart is when I think of work. It’s the most rewarding thing that I could do for myself and for a family in need. So, here’s to the final weeks of my job search, I hope it ends as well as it has begun!

Garmisch, Again and the Blessed Comfort of Family in a Far Away Place

This blog can’t keep up with real life! I am not giving it any justice. I have so many things I want to write about and then I find that I have all the time in the world to write it down but I just… don’t. I get distracted. I get going on StumbleUpon. I start  chatting on FB. I pick up my book. I clean my bathroom. Seriously. I scrub the toilet instead. It’s pathetic. Anyway, I’m going to start with my recent trip down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where I visited my Quasi-Mom, Christina, and my German Oma, Kathe for the weekend.

In case you missed the memo the first few times that I talked about it  – everyone in Christina’s family is pretty much mine, too. Neither one of us would have ever guessed that back in the fall of 2007, when she hired me to work at her candle store, that 3 1/2 years later, I would be hanging out with every member of her family in their motherland. I worked for Christina as both a candle store employee and as the babysitter for her adorable grand-daughter, Andrea, up until the summer of last year and became extremely close to her in the process. Christina and her husband, Barrie, have been like surrogate parents to me while I was living away from home and going to school and they have gone out of their way most of the time to take care of me. (Thank you for all of the tire changes, broken car door repairs, and home-cooked meals!) They’re wonderful! Christina’s older sister, Susie, I met through the family (she visited me in Munich during Oktoberfest!) as well and their mother, Kathe, who I met whenever she was staying in California and then, formally, after I’d found out that I would be going to Germany. More recently, I’ve become friends with Christina’s son, Dustin, as well, because he visited Munich back in February. I feel like he’s my big brother now, I love it! And, of course, there’s Drea in there, too. I’m her “Hairy” and I find myself missing her, too! Needless to say, I have been incredibly blessed with the comforts and consolation of family while I’ve been here in Europe and I couldn’t imagine how my experience here would have been different had that touch of familiarity been absent.

With that being said, Kathe lives here in Bavaria, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, so I have been visiting her a lot since I’ve arrived here in Germany. I now have pictures of Garmisch through the seasons. It’s been really cool, this little town is so beautiful and it has so much stuff to do and look at. This time around, however, I went there to see Christina who I hadn’t seen since I’d left California last June. Kathe and Christina picked me up at my house, met my host-mom and the girls, and then we drove from Munich to G-Pa, which was about an hour’s drive. It was nice to catch up with her gossip a little bit, which we’re soooo good at. When we got to Garmisch, we stopped first at the commissary, since Kathe works for the Army. I stocked up on American goodies – macaroni and cheese, blueberry bagels, Ranch dressing, French’s mustard, an industrial size bottle of Treseme conditioner, Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. Oh man, I love cheating on German culture sometimes! After our shopping excursion, Christina and I went into the heart of the city and had a delicious Bavarian dinner – schnitzel for everyone (I ate mine and half of hers! D’oh!) – and we had beers and walked home. It was a beautiful twilight!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen after dark

Back at Kathe’s house we had a Skype video call with Barrie, Dustin, and Andrea and we all got an earful from that little chatterbox. She is getting so big and is talking so much since the last time that I saw her and I couldn’t stop laughing at the cute things that just came out of her mouth. It’ll be nice to play with her again – I hope she’s missing me! It was nice to see Barrie and Dustin, too, of course. We all went to bed after that and woke up slowly in the morning. After breakfast Christina and I decided to go to Ludwig’s Schloss Linderhof. I’ve been to nearly all of King Ludwig’s castles now! I feel accomplished. Linderhof was beautiful – and it’s the only castle that he ever fully completed (and it’s one of the smallest!). He didn’t even finish the Disney castle. Linderhof comes with Ludwig’s grotto and so that was really interesting to see. It’s the largest man-made cave in Europe, by the way. It was raining and it was a bit cold but I enjoyed the scenery and the castle itself and Christina and I had fun just hanging out, the two of us.

Mountain scenery from the path to Linderhof
I absolutely love this country! How can I ever leave?!

Schloss Linderhof

The view from the front side of Linderhof

Me with Neptune’s fountain

Painting in the grotto where Ludwig present Wagner’s opera

The castle, down below

We finished touring Linderhof and were back in G-Pa by 3 o’clock so we decided to walk into the city and check out the street market that was going on. The walk to the city is picturesque and there is a little field with about six sheep in it and they wear cow bells on their necks so you always know if they’re coming. We would stop and talk to them, pet them, and feed them dandelions. They were adorable! The market itself was so cute – very small town German and just adorable. And so many good aromas coming from all that delicious food. Christina and I ended up eating the 1/2 meter bratwursts and taste testing all kinds of yummy foods. It was a good way to pass through the afternoon and once we return home – we made a plan to send me back to Munich and Christina took me to the train station. We said our good-byes and then I settled in for the 90 minute train ride back into the city. I read my book the entire time (I’m in love with Lisa Gardner’s thrillers!) and snacked on all of my guilty pleasure American food the whole time!

Ultimately, it was a great weekend in Garmisch and I had so much fun with Christina – I really had missed her a lot and I can’t wait to spend more time with her once I’m back in California NEXT MONTH. Geez. It’s gone by so fast. Holy cow.

Next up on my blog-frenzy-agenda…

• The joys of spring and all that it brings – beer festivals, warm weather, sunburns, hay fever, bugs, an over abundance of work, and all kinds of other stuff.
• My job hunt back in California and how awesome I am as the future Mary Poppins.
• Books, books, books… and my GoodReads.com literary goal!
• Resuming my “52 Things in Munich” bucket list – I’m so behind!
• My thoughts and reflections on the last six weeks of the best year of my life. Can I even put it into words?!

This (not so) new German girl is finding out that
home really is where the heart is.

“Spring Break” in Cologne: Part I

On Friday, March 11th I traveled to Cologne for a weekend trip with my friend, Fionnuala, which was my first official inter-German travel adventure. I've been to various places within Bavaria (thank you Bayern ticket!) but this was my first trip away from Munich to another major German city. Fio's childhood and university friend, Katherine, (who'd I met for Fio's birthday in October) lives and works in Cologne so we made the trip to visit her and see the city through the eyes of a worthy "resident."

Fio and I boarded our plane in Munich around 11:30 and endured an oh-so grueling flight (50 minutes!) to northwest Germany. We landed in Cologne around 12:30 and then found our way from the airport to the city via S-Bahn. Our first stop, Cologne Hauptbahnhof and the famous Dom cathedral to meet Katherine.

Frustrations & Misunderstandings, Attack of the Cluster Flies, Return Flights, and the Root of All Evil

It would be an understatement to say that I’ve spent the last few days in kind of  a funk. I’ve been all off center – dreading days spent with my au pair family, resenting my host-mom, missing home and wanting to go back – and, as a result, have been acting very much the part of a recluse and staying well contained within the four walls of my attic bedroom. I think that most of this had to do with the fact that I was stressed out about money stuff (what else is new?!) and that I was having that horrible monthly affliction known to and cursed by most, if not all, woman (and probably men, too).

Things around the house have been somewhat stressed. Relations with my host-mom have made me a little stressed but that’s to be expected when you’re dealing with cultural differences and misunderstandings and especially so since I’m living in this woman’s house and have to go by her rules. Pretty normal au pair concerns, I suppose. There’s a lot of stuff that bothers me but it’s not very professional or moral of me to complain about my employer on a public blog. It’s human, normal, expected to have complaints but… you know, unprofessional. I’ve thought about this a lot lately and I really wouldn’t want a potential job (or this job, even!) jeopardized because a future prospective employer was concerned that I might bad mouth them on my blog. I suppose I should just try to talk to her about it but I don’t even know where to start! So, I’ll try to cut the her some slack and if you’re in my real life posse or if you’re my Skype or Facebook friend, consider yourself blessed (or not!) when I use you as a vessel for venting my frustrations.

Anyway, on to bigger and better things. Or not. There is a cluster fly infestation in my ceiling. On a daily basis I vacuum up about 40 flies. I swear they’re all just flying around inside my vacuum bag having an annoying pest party. Cluster flies (I Googled them!) don’t really do anything other than come in through your window and roof on warm winter days and then hang out on your sunny window panes, they’re not really bothering me but they’re just GROSS. They’re doing this activity in the hallway just outside my room by the stairs so I have to walk by them a million times a day. And at night, they all die and RIP on the floor so when it’s dark and I’m not thinking about them, I step on little fly carcasses. Nobody should have to do that. Hopefully they’ll leave. But I don’t think they will. It’s a winter thing. Hopefully we can get an exterminator up in here and flush them out.

I’ve added a new skill set to my resume: gardener. On Monday and Tuesday I spent a few hours raking leaves and bagging them. It wasn’t so bad because I had my iPod and good playlists but it’s just annoying because I’m going to have to do it at least twice more because fall isn’t over just yet. I should have raked all of the leaves into one big pile and jumped into it but I wasn’t feeling very young at heart, I guess. Hopefully we get a really windy day and all the leaves fall off the trees at one time. But then what would I have to take pictures of? Naked trees, I guess!

In future news, I bought my return ticket to California yesterday. $530 for a June 20th return to Los Angeles. Five days after my contract ends and three days before my au pair visa expires. It would be really nice to be able to travel the world after my au pair gig or even live in Munich and live some cool and fancy European lifestyle but, if the last four months are any indication of my financial status and worries for the coming eight months, then I’m in no position to extend my stay. I really need to head home and get my shit together. I have student loans and credit cards and personal IOUs to attend to. I need to work on a car loan and saving up for an apartment. I guess I just need a real life? Hey, everybody has to start somewhere and I’m glad I did this before I tried to take on reality. Because now that I’ve actually done it, it is more likely that I will return. And even if I don’t, then at least I did it and here I am and I’m going to enjoy it as best as I can and live my fancy au pair life to its highest potential. Starting with a practical budget and a bit of a semi-prohibition lifestyle. Less beer = more money. Because if I’m not drinking but still going clubbing with my friends, I’m only paying for the cover charge and not an additional 10 EUR for some overpriced drinks. I can do it. I swear. I will.

Money, money, money. You are the root of all evil. Without horribly suffocating my everyday experiences here, I also need to save money and budget for my (maybe!) birthday trip to Italy next month, my winter trip to England for the New Year, Lauren’s visit to Munich in early January, a higher level language course in February, a two week Eurotrip (I’m thinking Ireland, Scotland, France, and Belgium!) in the spring, and, of course, the constant budgeting of credit card and medical bill payments and my 44 EUR train ticket every month. Oy vey! Wish me luck.

To relieve stress (and it’s been working!) I’ve been going on jogs and walks nearly everyday this week. Every morning at 8:15 I put on my coat and my gloves and turn on my iPod and I venture into the English Gardens. I try to keep a consistent jog to walk ratio by jogging through every other song but some days I just don’t have the energy and I jog the beginning and end of the adventure and walk through the middle. Haha. My favorite part about these morning walk/jogs (wogs!) are the dogs. Dogs are plentiful here in Munich and especially so in the English Gardens. And they are incredibly well behaved. Hardly any dogs walk on leashes and they never bark or run up to you. They’re incredible. Today I witnessed two dogs who thought they were man enough to carry sticks five times their size as they walked along with their owners. And one dog, a Newfoundland, I believe, was walking behind me with his human as I headed home and he was just la-di-da walking along with this MASSIVE stick in his mouth as if it were just another day in the life. Ha. It was so cute. I’ve never wanted a dog so bad until I lived here and when I can afford and take care of one, I’m definitely getting on and then turning to German methods of dog training for its proper upbringing. Haha.

Speaking of animals… here’s the only picture I can provide in this blog entry today, coming to you from last Friday. Eric was petsitting some cool cats (not people, Brittany! ha) and this feline dude got to share my wine with me. Actually, no. We didn’t give him any. But obviously he was interested.

 

And that’s all, folks!

Just kidding. I just wanted to shout out to my darling girl, Chelsea (aka CHESTY!), for always answering the phone when I call her at 3 in the morning. My time, not hers. I really appreciate your company from 3 hundred million miles away. I love you!

Money Is the True “Sturm und Drang” of This Experience

Due to all of the financial drama that I’ve been dealing with lately, I’ve officially made the decision to return to California next summer. There had been lofty talk of me staying here in Munich and living a fancy European life but I have so many financial obligations back in the States that I have no choice but to return and sort them out. I have credit cards, one that I pay and one that mom pays, which totals to about $7,000 and a dental bill that is somewhere around $1,200. When I first arrived to Germany, I was paying them off with my graduation money (bummer!) but since that’s run out, I tried to resort to my au pair money but that fell through due to outrageous bank transfer fees. So now I’m begging both of my parents to help me out until I can figure out how to do it on my own from all the way over here. It makes me feel really irresponsible and stupid for not having a definite plan but I’m really grateful for their help, wherever and whenever they can give it. Right now, I’m dealing with monthly payments of about $180 and come November, my student loan payments ($41,000 total!) will start up. So I need to call them and put them in forbearance. Not that I have any idea how to do that…

So, in total, at (almost) 24 years old I am nearly $50,000 in debt. Damn. Being a grown up is hard to get used to. I guess I won’t officially be a grown up until I’m done with my European vacation from reality. That’s what next summer will be then… a fast track back to reality and a crap load of catching up. Fortunately, I have my mama and a home to go back to that is virtually rent free (give or take some compromising) so that I can rebuild my credit score, get a job, and work my way back to independence.

The hardest part about planning to go back home right now is figuring out when to return and buying the plane ticket. Because I only bought a one way ticket to begin with, I now have to buy a return ticket and I’ve been having trouble finding anything under $900. Fortunately, Air Berlin has gone online with their cheap ticket prices and I’ve been able to find Thursday departures for $660. Which is pretty good considering. Unfortunately, I can only leave on a Thursday. There are Monday flights for $700 as well but we’ll see if prices go down over the next few months. (And where is the money for this plane ticket going to come from? I have no idea. Hopefully the Frau, if I’m lucky.) My contract with the family is over on June 15th and my au pair visa expires on June 23rd so I figure I can return home just before July and celebrate the 4th with my friends and family. It’d be nice to travel and see other parts of Europe (hopefully I’ll do that before summer comes around) but I don’t know how much money I’ll have or what my situation will be. It’s smartest for me to just buy my plane ticket now and work my life around my departure. Anyway, I plan to do a two week Eurotrip in the spring, so hopefully I’ll have had my fill of traveling. By then, I think I’ll be ready to go home come the end of June.

So, to all my friends and family members back in California… I’ll see you in 8 months! And to everyone who resides here in Germany or England or wherever… I have the rest of my life to come back and I promise you that I will! If I’ve done it once, I have no reason not to do it again. Don’t worry. My life has only just begun.

500 Photo Weekend, Leaving Things, and Oktoberfest Beginnings

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!

Me, Harry, Eric, Jessica, and Clare

Cheesy.

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!

Those Passing Feelings, Circus Kind, Mozzarella at McDonald’s, and a Kind (Or Not) Suggestion

Things are so good here in Deutschland. My life is amazing and everyday I wake up feeling so incredibly blessed to be alive and experiencing this. I am in love with Germany. And I haven’t even left Munich yet. I can only imagine what I have yet to see and not only in this country but others as well. I wish that I would stop letting myself get so hung up on money and just do it. I’m trying to be responsible with the debt that I’ve left in the States but a huge part of me just wants to default on everything and stop caring. I want to enjoy my time here, one hundred percent and worrying about money keeps me from doing that. I need to figure it out because before too long, I’m going to go crazy.

I miss home sometimes. But not as much as I thought I would when I first left. When I was on the bus to LAX on my day of departure, back in June, my dad called me to wish me safe travels and to make sure that I’d made all of my buses and connections. And then he asked if he could pray for me and, of course, I obliged because I’d be crazy to turn down prayer. I may not be as religious as I once was but I know that the good Lord listens to those who talk to him and if someone wants to call out to Him on my behalf, I will not mess that up. Anyway, as he was praying for me I just started crying because even though I wasn’t even out of California yet, I already missed everything. I missed my parents, my friends, my brother, my step-mom, my new baby niece, my best friend, my old room mate’s cat, In-N-Out, my grandma, Monterey, the ocean… I think he sensed that I was upset and he calmed me down, told me to just have fun and enjoy myself and be strong, etc, etc. And let me know that everything and everyone would be waiting for me when I came home. And I took a deep breath and then I was okay. I haven’t felt that paralyzing feeling since. Of course, there are bad days when the pictures on my walls make me ache for the people and things that I’ve left at home but it passes in time. I know that what I’m doing here is so important to my path of self discovery and even though I miss home and home misses me, it’s still home. It’s always going to be waiting for me. So, to those of you who have been flooding my Facebook and email with love and longing, I promise you that I miss you, too. Never think that I don’t. And I love you. And I’m so glad that you’re sharing this adventure with me, if even from a distant continent.

Last week was a doozy… okay, not really. The girls were taking part in a local children’s circus last week so our schedule was a bit more frantic than it usually is. All the kids performing go to some kind of circus school. Or something. The girls know someone who goes to the circus school so, therefore, they got to be in the show. They did it last summer too, playing the same role. They run around in circles dressed up as butterflies with glitter on their faces.

Running around as butterflies.

Eenie was having a good time.

Anyway, the circus schedule paired with my bum foot made for an interesting week. The Frau took them most days so my work was cut out for me. Which was good because my foot’s been giving me trouble. My last update stated that I had went to get my stitches removed by a friend’s host-mom who is a doctor. Unfortunately, the stitches didn’t entirely work so the top layer of my skin was still wide open. On Friday I went by her office and she put Steri Strips over the cut and gave me a handful of more strips and some heavy duty band-aids. After I visited there, I ventured back into the city to find a salon that I’d made an appointment at and had my eyebrows shaped. Finally. They were starting to take over my face. And then I went home and slept from 11:30 until almost 3. It was glorious. Friday evening, I babysat the girls. We played War (which they LOVE) and I taught them how to play Solitaire and they’re really good at it, too.

On Saturday I took the girls to the circus because the Frau had a hair appointment. And it was pouring rain the whole time. The circus location is outdoors but the actual show is inside a giant circus tent. But the girls had to get changed and ready in the rain. There were tent covers, for the most part, but we were all miserable. I’d already seen the show on Thursday so it was nothing new to me. I just sat in the corner and tried not to look so miserable. At the end, the Frau picked us up and bought me a weiner mit simmel. Yum. We went back to the house to meet the Frau’s friend because I was going to be babysitting for her. Her son, Julius, is 8-months-old and such a cutie. Vee is really good with him and loves him. Eenie couldn’t have cared less. She told me he had to stay outside. Haha. The baby was easy until I tried to put him down and he just cried and cried. His mom had to come back and put him down and even that was hard for her. Eventually, he passed out and she went back to her party. I stayed in the living with him until almost midnight. Around ten it started pouring rain and the fireworks at Tollwood went off for about 40 minutes straight. Nothing woke that kid up. And I gained 50 EUR for it! Woo! Which I already spent…

How does one spend 50 EUR in ONE DAY? Let me tell you.

15 EUR for two tickets to Eclipse – I owed Jessica some money for various things: a bier or two and a 6 EUR cab ride to the hospital. So I bought her movie ticket.
8,50 EUR for small Coke, sour apple rings, and a ginormous bag of popcorn – When one has not eaten breakfast or lunch, one must improvise. Oh, and soda in Germany doesn’t come with ice (GROSS!) and their popcorn doesn’t have butter (because it will break the bag) or salt (because it’s actually kettle corn. Germany is so weird.
7,50 EUR for a Chinese food dinner and a tiny bier – Delicious.
6 EUR for two liters of bier at Jaeger’s hostel – Self explanatory.
2,90 EUR for a pilsner at a different hostel

And then I lost track of what I was spending because I was too drunk to remember. But that’s nearly 40 EUR right there. We did end up at the McDonald’s in Hauptbanhof where I bought mozarella sticks which are DELICIOUS. American McDonald’s, take a page of Europe’s book – get some cheese sticks on your menu! They’re great. And when I got home this morning, all I had in my wallet were a few 2 EUR coins and some random change. Strange how fast that happens. It’s hard to save money when you’re drunk. But which also brings me back to the point I made at the beginning – I don’t want to save money when I could be running around drunk and wasting money! But I’m drunk in Munich wasting money so it’s infinitely better. Besides, it’s not really a waste if you’re having fun. :)

Oh, that reminds me – I’m drinking bier in Munich and a lot of it. Bavaria is one of the brewing capitals of the world. I am not going to stop drinking bier. I promise you that I won’t become an alcoholic. But yes, I might end up in the hospital and have a wound that won’t heal. And I’ll waste my money on ridiculous things. I won’t lose weight, in fact, I’ll probably start looking pregnant if I don’t already. So, please stop suggesting to me that I stop drinking bier. Too many people in the States, mostly just family members, have commented on this. I know you are concerned for me but I am fine. I will learn my lessons. They will be my own. And if they have to be hard, I’ll deal with it. I make my own mistakes. So far, I have really good friends, a reliable train schedule, and I know my way home. I’m doing well and the bier drinking will continue. I am preparing myself for Oktoberfest. Wait until then to worry about me. Danke!

5 Am at Kultfabrik, Kinder Music, Yellow Mustard, and Vampire Love Sagas

It’s been almost a week since I last updated but it feels like a lot longer. Which is weird because time goes by so incredibly fast here. I’ve been here for five weeks already and each week goes by faster than the one before it. Take, for example, the fact that today is Wednesday and I feel like it was just last Wednesday. Does that sound stupid? Does it make sense? Ha. Probably not.

No need to explain why the past week was a blur. I’m in Germany. I’m doing crazy stuff and living a crazy life. Everything is new, everything is different. Why would it be boring? Granted, I do sleep a lot more than I ever did in California and I have absolutely nothing on my agenda. I pretty much just read (working on books 5 and 6 simultaneously), write (letters, blogs, fiction, etc), Facebook, watch Everwood on DVD (so good!), and go out with friends. Oh, and sometimes I work.

I wouldn’t say that I’ve been busy, just active. On Thursday night I went out with my girlfriends and we enjoyed some good German bier, as usual. I’m getting really good at this whole, Munich night life thing, save the problem that I keep missing the last train on weeknights. Helen and I had to pay for a taxi on Thursday night. And on Sunday night, we walked 1.5 hours at 1:30 in the morning to get home. You’d think I would learn my lesson on this one but I haven’t. Not yet. On Friday night I went out with Jessica and her cousin. He was visiting from his army base somewhere in Germany and he’d brought a bunch of friends with him. Overall, the night was a disaster, at least the parts where we had to hang out with the immature, obnoxious army boys. But I did enjoy dancing at clubs in Kultfabrik until 5 am and running in the pouring rain with my friend Ken to get cheeseburgers from the Turkish food stands. Plus, I met the coolest group of Irish guys ever. I really do love Munich nights.

On Saturday I slowed down a bit. After sleeping from only 6 am until about 8:30ish and getting myself home from Jessica’s apartment around 10, I showered, put my pajamas on and curled up in my bed. It was only right. I slept from about 11:30 until almost 4 and then went out into the world again. My friend Catherine and I went to see Eclipse (you know, the Twilight movie?) and oh my God, it was INCREDIBLE. It was my favorite movie thus far which is only to be expected since it was my favorite book as well. I actually liked Bella in this movie which is more than I can say for the first two films. And plus, there was a whole lot of half naked Jacob in this movie. And that is something I definitely agreed with. After the movie, Catherine and I went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and I had the most delicious hamburger and french fries. Oh, and bier. Of course. It was like home but better because it still had a bit of German style. Like sweet pickles instead of dill. But there was French’s Yellow Mustard on the table and I about had a heart attack of delight. I wanted to steal it. It was pouring rain throughout all of this and it didn’t help that Catherine and I got lost looking for the restaurant. Ha. So we were soaked by the time we got there. After dinner, we went our separate ways and went home. Even though it was a pretty low key Saturday, it was exactly what I needed.

Eclipse at Cinema, the English theater in Munich

Sunday was much of the same. Not a lot going on. I met up with Jessica and we wandered around Munich for a while, checking out the gay pride event in Marienplatz and then randomly stumbled across a Japanfest in the English Gardens. We found this little vendor that sold these AMAZING cheesecakes, oh Lord, they were SO delicious. Way better than in the states. In the evening, after I’d gone home (my feet hurt!), Helen invited me to go out with her and some friends and, of course, we had a lot of bier and that’s when Helen and I ended up walking home. Aside from Friday, it was a great weekend.

Life in the house has been fairly uneventful. The Frau hasn’t been too bad. She still confuses me sometimes with her expectations but it’s nothing to cry home about. Although on Friday I had a rough day. I was with the girls for 8 hours. Good Lord, that’s a long time. And the Frau was there the whole time, too. They had a music recital in the evening so at 1, when they came home from kinderhaus she wanted them to rest. I tried to get them to watch a movie but they didn’t want to (“It’s too long!” Nana said) but  just watched TV for 2 1/2 hours instead. It was a rather pointless afternoon seeing as all that I did was sit with them and read my book.  I went with the Frau to their recital which was so cute. Boring but cute. I had no idea what was going on seeing as it was all in German but they were happy to have me there anyway.

 
After the recital, we went to the sports club to have dinner. I had half a roasted chicken (I forget what it’s called in German) and pommes frits (my favorite!). And then I had to hobble back to the house to get the girls swim suits and bring them back. And then I had to sit at the pool with them in the hot sun for 45 minutes. And when we got home, I had to try to get them to go to bed. Eenie, of course, was sucked into the TV like always. And she wouldn’t budge. And I was so frustrated, I had to go into the kitchen and try not to cry. Eight hours! That was a lot more than I was used to. Eventually, the Frau let me go and then I released my frustrations with bier and club dancing, as previously mentioned.

I don’t mean to complain. I mean, I have every right to but I won’t. Sure, being an au pair has it’s downsides but it’s really not that bad. I have more free time than I know what to do with and my job’s actually not that hard. Besides, I elected to go to the music recital. I didn’t have to. Anyway, I really do like being an au pair. And I’m so blessed to have this opportunity. So don’t think that I’m ungrateful because I’m not. It’s really great getting to know the girls more and more everyday. It’s been a slow process but we’re getting used to each other every day. I’ve been teaching them new games and songs and I love reading to them, even though they know all the books by heart already. And I love going to the pool with them. I just can’t wait until I can jump in again!

Which reminds me, I get my stitches out tomorrow. A fellow au-pair friend of mine is working for a doctor lady and she’s graciously agreed to take them out for me tomorrow morning. I’m going to go over to their house and it’ll be quick and easy. Finally! This thing has been a pain in the ass… er, foot.

This week the girls are taking part in a local neighborhood circus next week, which is set up down the street. It’s a bunch of kids from a circus school putting on a show of acrobatics, balancing, rope walking and stuff like that. Eenie and Vee have cousins in the school so they get to be pretty butterflies and run around in circles. I haven’t been yet – I’m taking them to rehearsals tomorrow. They have shows Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night and I think I’m going to all three. Either as a guest or as a chaperone, not quite sure. And I have to babysit on Saturday night so Friday is the only night that I get to go out this weekend. Which is fine by me. I wore myself out last week!

I hope that I can start traveling soon. I haven’t been very good at budgeting or saving my money and so I haven’t really been thinking about traveling, mostly about how to live off of 70 EUR for a week and a half. It’s actually not that hard, to be honest. I’m just used to my frivolous spending habits of California and so I always think I’m going to be screwed. But really, I don’t buy anything more than a water bottle here or a snack there. And that’s usually only 3 or 4 EUR total. So I’m okay. For now. Hopefully I’ll have some friends visiting me in August and we can go to Austria or something. Haven’t really decided where yet!

That’s all from me now. I have some laundry to finish and some cleaning to be done. Oh, Wednesdays how I loathe thee. Sigh.

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!