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!

I Think I’ll Go to the Seaside

I am back in California. After two weeks in Montana and one night in Monterey, this will be my last stop before I go abroad next week. And yes, I am stealing pictures of my hometown off of the Internet, rather than taking them myself. Lazy? I like to use the word, resourceful. But you have to admit, it’s a pretty good resting place for my last days in California, isn’t it? I am really going to miss these beaches, the ocean, the harbors, the smell of salt water and fish in the air. Ah.

As my mom and Neil are on their own little summer vacation (Alaskan cruise and visiting my long-lost grandfather in Washington) I am alone for six days with the two cats. And they’re about as lazy  as I am.

Dorie’s really getting into this whole packing thing. 

Lily’s not doing much of anything, really.
Except being princessy. 

For the first time since graduation, things are finally settling down. Ever since mid-May I felt like I’d been running around with an agenda and now… I don’t really have one.  My two week vacation in Montana was great - I’m so glad that I was able to go but it was rife with emotion. I learned so much about myself and my relationships with the people that I love.  It’s hard to come back from that without feeling a little frazzled. But they sure did send me off in style. My dad BBQ’d and my friends and family members came out to bid me farewell and to welcome Madisyn to the family as well. Double party!

I didn’t mind sharing!

BBQ’d ribs, chicken, Chinese salad, frog eye salad and baked beans.
Hell yes. 

After a long day of traveling, I spent one night in Monterey with my friends before I headed back to Morro Bay. It was so good seeing them again. I was a bit apprehensive about having to say goodbye again. Doing it once was hard enough but it was actually really good to see them again and have a proper good-bye.

Lunch date. <3

After visiting over a yummy lunch at Lalla Grille we said our good-byes and then Lauren and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and visiting with some family friends of ours. And then I headed back to Morro Bay. And although it sucks to be away from my friends when they’re just so close (only 2 hours away!) it’s really nice to have some time to myself… to be alone and just getting my head wrapped around this trip. I haven’t really had any time to think about it. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m excited or nervous and I can’t really say. I don’t know how I feel about it. I haven’t really had time to focus on it just yet. So I plan on doing that over the next few days!

But, really, how does one prepare for a year long trip? I know I’m going to forget something. And it will not be my passport. Ha.

I haven’t actually been doing any packing, to be honest. But I have gotten myself prepared in other areas. Like… for the long day of travel. I’ve spent most of last night and today converting some online movie files (via Sarah’s computer movie collection) to Quicktime so that I can watch them on my iPod. Movies include:

Clash of the Titans
Date Night
The Invention of Lying
How to Train Your Dragon
Youth in Revolt
Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging
The Crazies
Whip It
Away We Go

I’ve also cleaned up my iTunes and transfered old, unloved, and neglected music files over to my external hard drive so that I can fit aforementioned movies onto my iPod. In the process, I also gave my playlist collection a make-over and bought some new music since the 600+ songs I tried to copy from Lauren’s computer did want to transfer. I needed to compensate so I actually bought music to make myself feel better. My favorite buys of the day:

Hanson – Shout it Out
I don’t really feel the need to explain my first choice. If you know me at all, you're aware of the fact that I’ve been a Hanson fan since I was eleven and any time that they release a new album (today!) I am all over it. I’m not so much of a fan girl anymore but this album is pretty good. Although This Time Around will always be my favorite.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (Self-titled)
I found this album randomly through Amazon MP3s but the second that I listened to it, I loved it. The first track, alone, had me hooked. It’s powerful and fun and it just made me want to get up and dance. It’s a great album. You should check it out. 

And with that, I will leave you now. I am going to go start my dinner and continue watching the Law & Order SVU marathon that has been on ALL day. This is my favorite show. I don’t think you realize how happy I’ve been today.

:)

Oh, The Places I’m Going…

Normally, after more than a week without any updates, I would tell you that I am sorry for being somewhat removed from the blogosphere. This isn’t one of those apologies. Don’t think that I didn’t miss this because I did. I actually have a lot to blog about. I just haven’t had the time to sit down and do it. I’ve been busy.

Last Saturday, I graduated from college. The pay-off for five years of higher education.

After graduation, I had to say move out of my apartment and say good bye to most of the friends and loved ones that I’d accumulated over those five years. Because on Monday, I left for a two-day, 10-hour-stretch-driving, fast-food-eating, road trip across the Pacific Northwest (and saw stuff like this):

The destination: western Montana, my childhood home. I would be vacationing for about two weeks with my dad and step-mom and would be seeing my brother, best friend, and other various family members that I never get to see. (Because I live in California, see?) And since my Montana vacation inevitably ends and brings me back to California on June 6th, I have less than week from that date before I fly to Germany for a year. (Are you getting all of this? I know, it’s confusing.)

So… recap of how busy I’ve been (and will continue to be). Graduation. Move-out. Road trip. Montana. Back to California. Pack. Go to Germany. Blog-writing just didn’t fall into my plans. I’m kind of looking at future-business here, setting myself up for any future blog-absences I may have. Ha.

Anyway, I am writing to let you know that I did not forget about you, that I have not let go of myself, that I am no depressed, suicidal, or MIA. I am, in fact, very happy. I love my life. Yesterday, I saw my childhood-crush for the first time in 8 years (even though he’s married and has a super cute baby but we’ll get into that in a later post). My best friend and I have fallen into the same perfect, lovable relationship that we’ve had since we were 11. My little brother is grown up and smart and handsome and I’m so happy to see him. And I’m about to embark on the greatest adventure that I will ever have.

What could make my life any better?

Fantastic Wonderland, Farewell Work, and Hello Mini-Vacay

I think I’m in denial. I don’t want to leave Monterey. I mean, I do but I’m not ready. Actually, I am ready but I’m just… I don’t know. It has been so beautiful here in Monterey and the city has been transformed into this fantastic wonderland of blue skies, warm sunshine, and aquamarine oceans. I walked to work on Sunday and it was the best decision I ever made. It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy the beautiful day and walk along the water, taking in the scenery. I’m already missing it and I haven’t even left yet.

I can’t believe how fast time is going by though. Soon I will be leaving. I graduate in 19 days. I leave Monterey in 21. I head off to Montana with my dad on the 24th. I’ll be there for a few weeks and then it’s off to Germany on June 14th. In preparation for all of this, I’m trying to pack up my apartment, organize my life, get rid of my crap, plan my financials, do my homework, and still have enough energy and time left to try to enjoy these last few weeks with my friends.

I don’t want to think about how much I will miss them. The last five years have been the best of my life and I am so grateful for those who have shared them with me. Old friends and new, it’s going to be hard to leave everyone. And the kids that I’ve been caring for over the last few years. Fortunately, I was able to spend a few hours with Baby D on Saturday night but damn, I’m going to miss that little guy. Wouldn’t you?

Fortunately, my time is going to be pretty well spread over the next few weeks. I’m not working anymore. My last day at MyMuseum was on Sunday. Oh, yeah. I work(ed) at this really cool children’s museum in Monterey. And what good is a last day without a photo shoot? Thank you, Chesty for being my photographer.

I am going to miss the gossip at the front desk, kids peeing on the floor, cleaning the party room, ordering pizzas, and putting on the iPod after close. ‘Twas grand. But I’m not all the way done yet! I get to look forward to my going-away potluck at Chesty’s house. Woo!

Tomorrow I am going home to Morro Bay to visit mi madre for Mother’s Day. It’s going to be a nice little mini-vacation. Christy (my favorite cousin sister) and her kids are coming up to visit us and we’re going to play at the beach in the sunshine with my aunt and her kids. Should be fun. I need a little get-a-away before my final exam and Capstone deadline!