My Adventures in Deutschland

Laundry and Lattes

kmcconkie — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:58:38 +0000

I decided that it would be a good idea to do my laundry yesterday. I had done a lot of research for laundry mats in my area and looked around numerous times to find one. Unforunately, the closest one was about a 10 minute walk away. So, I loaded up my suitcase, lugged my suitcase down the four flights of stairs from my apartment and made my way to the laundry mat.

I have NEVER seen such a nice laundromat. It was more like a cafe that just happened to have a wall full of washers and dryers. It was actually quite anjoyable. I loaded up a couple washers, sat back, and enjoyed my book while have a drink. Part of me even wishes I had done laundry sooner just so I could go back again.

Hamburg

kmcconkie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:10:03 +0000

I went to Hamburg last weekend and it was absolutely wonderful. Here is a run-down of the weekend:

Friday- I met Janine (Josh’s friend from Hamburg who visited us a year and a half ago) in Bremen on Friday night and we went to her apartment. She is studying in Bremen and now lives there. We made pizzas at her apartment and then went over to her friend Jonas’. He was a really funny guy and we just sat around drinking and playing poker all night. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday- We got up early and went to Hamburg. We dropped our stuff off at Janine’s boyfriends house (which is kind of far outside Hamburg) and then headed into the city. We met up with a few of Josh’s old friends and walked around the city for awhile. After that we went to one of their favorite places for dinner, “Croques” which is just a HUGE toasted sub, but delicious nonetheless. After that we walked around a little bit more and then went to their favorite bar, Frau Müllers. Frau Müllers was a really cool bar and about eight more people met us there. We just sat around drinking and chatting until about midnight. Afterwards we headed to the Keitz, better known to some people as the Reeprbahn. There were so many crazy clubs and a TON of people walking around the streets. After walking through the whole street to make sure I saw everything we went back to a club. We danced until five in the morning.

Sunday: We left the club at 5 a.m. and everyone said I had to see the fish market. We walked to the fish market. It was HUGE – fish , fruit, bread, flowers….everything. A ton of people clearly from the night before were walking around eating raw fish sandwiches. We finally made it home around 7 a.m. and went to bed. Then we woke up in the morning and went to a few more tourist places, met Janine’s parents for drinks, and went to Janine’s favorite burger place in Hamburg (still nothing like an American cheeseburger). Then I jumped on the four hour train ride back to Bonn.

It was an amazing weekend and I wish I could have stayed in Hamburg longer. It is such a beautiful city. I’m off to Amsterdam this weekend, so expect an update soon!

Pride 2009

kmcconkie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:27:11 +0000

This weekend in Germany was Christopher Street Day; this is a celebration of the LGBT community. There were celebrations in numerous large German cities and the largest celebration is in Cologne, only a 20 minute train ride away!

The parade was on Sunday and we went to check it out. It was really interesting. There were drag queens all around and people dressed in fur, glitter, and anything you could imagine. It was amazing to see an entire city tranform to support the LGBT community.

RheinKultur

kmcconkie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:15:29 +0000

Saturday was RheinKultur. The biggest free entrance event in Germany. RheinKultur is set with four stages and 12 straight hours of music, all for free. Naturally, we had to check it out. We headed out for RheinKultur around 2 p.m. and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to walk there; it is approximately an hour + walk from my apartment to where we thought RheinKultur was located, but it turned out to be even further.

After many random stops in bookstores, kiosk’s, and benches along the Rhein and approximately 3 hours of walking we finally stumbled upon RheinKultur hidden in the back corner of the the Rheinnau Park. Then we proceeded to walk around to find the entrance which also seemed to be hidden. Even though it is free of charge, it is still a controlled environment to which you can’t bring anything in. Once we found the entrance we walked around to the stages and checked out the scene. It was definately a sight to see, something I am glad we went to. Unfortunately, by the time we got there is was 6 p.m. and we were all exhausted. We decided to leave around 7 p.m. to grab some dinner with the intention of coming back later and then never made it back. Instead we ended up buying some wine and hanging out at my apartment.

Champagne and Strawberries

kmcconkie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:07:49 +0000

Last night we braved the Rhine on our bicycles yet again. This time we headed south and packed a picnic. North on the Rhine is more industrial, but when you go south it is beautiful, there are numerous gravel/sand areas to dip your toes in the river and castles just seem to pop up out of the hills. The kinds of castles that remind you of Disney movies, to be exact.

We rode for about 10 kilometers, I would say. A good 40 minutes on bike from where I live and then sat down and had our picnic. I brought champagne and wine, the boys brought crousaints, strawberries, bananas, and chocolate. It was picture perfect and absolutely delicious! After polishing off our picnic we just sat and enjoyed the view of the hills, castles, and flowing river. It was a fantastic evening along the banks of the river.

Elevator Ettiquette

kmcconkie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:12:10 +0000

One thing I have noticed that is very different from the US here in Germany is elevator ettiquette. First of all, there aren’t very many elevators here in Germany, not really a very handicap accessible country. However, where I intern there are multiple elevators.

In the US, you get into an elevator, press your floor, stand back and wait. If there happens to be someone else in the elevator you may give an awkward smile, but a conversation is unlikely. It is almost an unspoken law and usually if you are in the elevator having a conversation with someone you know and a new rider enters you quiet, if not completely cease, your conversation.

In Germany, when people get onto an elevator they greet you and when they leave they say goodbye; as if you had just met for lunch. Some people even try to have a conversation with you which is really interesting for me considering my German isn’t really up to par. Also, if a group of people is having a conversation in the elevator and you enter the only pausing in their conversation will be to greet you and say goodbye.

It is interesting to me how a single mode of vertical transportation can be so different in another country.

Anmeldung

kmcconkie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:13:47 +0000

This morning I want to the Bundesstädt and did my Anmeldung. An Anmeldung is a form you must fill out to register to live. Whenever you move in Germany you must Anmeldung and then Unanmeldung when you leave. It is actually rather irritating. I was so nervous when I got there, knowing that this entire conversation was most likely going to be all in German and I probably wasn’t going to understand everything she was telling me. However, the woman was very patient with me and helped me fill out the parts I was confused about. It went much smoother than expected.

The Anmeldung also comes with a huge booklet of free tickets to museums, theaters, and a lot more in Bonn. So, now I can explore Bonn without spending lots of money! Hurray!

Old Navy Failed Me

kmcconkie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:32:19 +0000

Here I am sitting at my desk and that strap on my flip flop just breaks off. It is 9:26 a.m. I have 7 hours left of work, a meeting to go to, and a walk home. I have tried to repair my flip flop with tape. Hopefully it holds!

MMMmmmm…Fresh Fruit

kmcconkie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:19:11 +0000

The grocery store closest to my apartment in Bonn is definately not up to par. The produce always looks like it has already gone bad and their selection of meat and dairy products are pretty scarce. Needless to say, there isn’t a lot of variety. So, this afternoon after work I decided to go on a mission. I started walking with only one goal in mind, find a decent grocery store.

I walked in one huge circle where I would expect to find the most supermarkets and the only one I found was a Bio-Markt. This is all organic stuff, it tastes great, but is a little out of my college budget for the most part. So, I trudged on through the city center. Just when I was about to give up and go home I stumbled upon a HUGE farmer’s market. There were fresh fruits and vegetables for days! It was only one street from my house in the opposite direction I chose to walk previously. Go figure.

Now that I have found my fruit and vegetables I must find my meat and dairy; perhaps that will be tomorrow’s adventure!

Biking Along the Rhein

kmcconkie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:35:16 +0000

Yesterday afternoon was a cloudy boring day, that is until we decided to go for a bike ride. There is a bike trail that runs right along the Rhein for miles and miles; to be honest I have no idea where it actually ends, but I know it is long. We thought we were in for a casual bike right, but oh were we wrong. We had been riding our bikes for about an hour and a half when we stumbled upon a map. We had made it halfway to Cologne (which is 35 kilometers from Bonn, so about 21 or so miles). Naturally, we decided we couldn’t turn back now. So, on we went to Cologne after a short break with some wine and soaking our toes in the river.

Approximately 15 minutes down the trail we made a wrong turn and needed to go back. As I turned my bike around I got caught on a stick and tumbled over. The top of my foot got scraped up and one of my toes bent in ways I am almost certain it isn’t supposed to, but knowing Cologne was closer than Bonn we continued on our journey. We made it to Cologne from Bonn in about 3.5 hours. Once we got to Cologne we sat down and had dinner, then rode on to the Hauptbahnhof to catch a train home. We were successful in our journey and only possibly broke a toe in the process. I can barely walk to day, but it was all worth it. Perhaps another day we will ride there and back?