Thursday, December 24, 2009

Really, Germany?

Here, there are Christmas Markets all over the place, starting from the last weekend of November and lasting until either the day before Christmas eve or Christmas eve itself. The biggest one is in Nuremberg, and I wanted to see it before it shut down. So a few friends and I decided to hit it up on Christmas Eve morning. It's only open until two in the afternoon Christmas Eve, so we decided to take the early train and get there when it opened. We woke up to meet at 6:10 and caught the 7:04 train from the Munich Main Station.


The ticket we used was a Bavaria Ticket. On weekdays it's good from 9 in the morning until 3 the next morning, but on weekends and holidays it's good from when the day begins at midnight the night before. Now, where I am in Germany, Christmas Eve is celebrated as the biggest Holiday of the year-- more important than Christmas. So we were a little surprised when we got our ticket checked halfway there and were told that it wasn't valid. I asked what we should do, and she said we had to pay 31.50 each for the fare from Munich to Nuremburg. Since the ticket was going to be valid in less than an hour and it was obviously a misunderstanding, I asked if we could just de-board and get back on when it was valid. She said we could, if we pay the partial fare from Munich to where we were. Since it was a lose-lose situation, we paid the 31.50. Then the train changed route and arrived in Nuremburg late.


So when we finally got to the Christmas market I drank two glasses of Glühwein with shots in them. Didn't make me happy, but made me forget the pain. Well, sort of. . . until it started raining. . .


Worst Christmas Eve ever!!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Do I have a twisted sense of Humor?

This is fairly unrelated to the rest of the blog, but somehow I started talking about the book Lolita, and my friend Ana said that she had seen the movie (by Kubrick). I was real excited-- 'Wasn't it great?' I said, 'wasn't it hilarious?' and she gave me one of the weirdest looks she's given me so far and said, 'No!'.


She thinks it's a tragic love story, I think it's hilarious. Does anyone else who's seen it have anything to say?


PS Another thing I think is hilarious is garfieldminusgarfield.net. I showed it to her and laughed out loud at several of the strips. She laughed too, quietly, and afterwards admitted she was only laughing because I was.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

My Job

For all those I talk to on a day to day basis, please ignore this note, as you've probably heard everything contained within more than once.


For those who don't live in Germany with me, I figured that it's been a while since my last blog post, and since nothing too interesting has happened lately, I'd talk about my internship.


That's right. I have an internship. In Germany. Be impressed.


Or not, because I'm basically an office girl. I work for a small Sprachschule in Munich, and do all the things that they need me to do. Eventually, that might mean doing creative things like writing newsletters, making language activities, and even teaching classes, but as of yet, the other intern that works there has been conveniently present whenever anything that requires a brain needs to be done, and I am left to make copies.


It's really okay with me, though. My boss/superviser is cool, as well as all the other people who work there. I also have now officially had three jobs, which means that I can now fill out all three blanks on job applications. And I get to practice my German a little (but only a little, since it's a Sprachschule and therefore everyone who works there is at least fluent in English and German).


I had a change in duties, though, since the Christmas season started. For the last three times I worked, I did nothing but stuff envelopes with the Christmas letters and flyers. No wait, that's not exactly true-- I stamped the envelopes, too.


My favorite part about my job, though, are the little perks. If I had known before they'd hired me that I was going to get access to so many cool things, I would have wet my pants in excitement. You see, there's an espresso machine at my work. I love espresso, but I always feel guilty buying expensive coffee drinks. So when I work, I always get to drink a latte or two. 


But that's not all-- there's also a fridge filled with mineral water, both still and sparkly! That I get to drink as much of as I like! And a cupboard filled with chocolate. I don't know if I'm supposed to eat the chocolate, but I usually eat a piece or two anyway.


Well, I have to leave now and go to Prague (traveling around Europe is also a part of my day-to-day life, suckas) so I will write more after the weekend. If you were ever wondering, though, what it's like to be me... now you know a little better.


Bis später!


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