SHUT UP!

I found my favorite generic cereal I used to buy in Italy...SO EXCITED! Choco Croco here I come!

To my surprise I'm really enjoying my front desk position.  Edelweiss is unlike the other two hotels I've worked for.  Guests rarely complain, there are few maintenance issues, prices reflect military rank so they are actually fair, and everyone is more worried about doing things right rather than rushing the guest on their way.  Another great thing about Edelweiss is that the front desk doesn't answer the phone.  That is the responsibility of the operator and the vacation planning center (I will start working in both of those sections soon too).  It's genius! You can actually assist the guest without a phone constantly ringing in the background.  One strange thing I've noticed is that none of the employees seem to have any sort of customer service training that is standard to our hotel.  We don't have scripted things to say when greeting guests or dealing with issues.  With Crowne Plaza and Hyatt we had precise things we were supposed to say in certain situations so that all guests received the same service.  I don't know if I exactly agree with the script, but it does keep the atmosphere professional.  It's been a real relief working in a position I'm familiar with too.  Despite all of the new military lingo and different procedures I'm very comfortable with my responsibilities.
I hate to say it, but all of the facebook updates about welcome week and Bloomington are making me miss this time of year...a lot.  I'm so jealous of everyone who gets to experience Btown right now! I just have to remind myself that my surroundings are also something to be jealous of  :)

Definitely No Betty Crocker

Eibsee

Being an Edelweiss employee has a lot of advantages when it comes to seeing Garmisch and the surrounding areas.  Unfortunately, it is based on a first come first serve basis and guests always are in front of staff when booking.   Thursday I was wait listed for a delightful cheese factory tour.  I was excited to say the least, but after walking the 40 minutes to the lodge I was informed that today was not my lucky day.  Although I was a little frustrated and disappointed a couple girls and I decided to make a trip to a nearby town to visit Lake Eibsee instead.  After figuring out the bus system and upsetting more than a few passengers at the amount of time it took to count our change we were on our way.  I should have been visiting mountain lakes my whole life because it was absolutely gorgeous!  There were mountains surrounding us on every side and we could see the cable cars leading up to the top of the Zugspitze, the tallest point in Germany. I've never seen water so clear and clean.  Unlike lakes at home there was no litter...anywhere!  We rented a paddle boat and began our exploring.  After paddling for a while I decided to jump in and cool off.  Of course I didn't take into consideration that the water was around 55 degrees.  That was the quickest swim I've ever had! After going into hypothermic shock I tried to get back on the paddle boat with no success.  I finally boarded after sliding in on my stomach (picture a penguin sliding on it's belly onto the ice...that's me.) Haha the old men on the dock really got a kick out of that one.
I've found myself a local German lad, Matthias (pronounced Mat-ay-hiss).  He's a young gun that likes to smoke his cigs and drink his jager.  Don't worry, family.  He's just a resource of the community that I'm using for good information and a free bike.  It's really interesting to talk to him and compare the differences between the U.S and Germany.  When discussing the drinking age he was in shock that you had to be 21 to legally drink.  His first question was "What are you supposed to do between birth and 21 years of age?!" It's quite a challenge to have a conversation with him that doesn't involve hand signals and drawing on napkins, so hopefully my English expertise is a benefit.  On my day off we took an impromptu hike to the Partnachklamm Gorge.  Despite the rain and my horrible choice of shoe (still fighting the blisters from that 5 mile walk) it was an amazing sight!  You hike on a narrow passage carved into the side of the mountain with the river gushing below.  There is green moss growing overheard and a light mist in the air that makes the long walk chilly, but worth it for the view.  For 3 Euro it's definitely a must see!
One thing that I'm not impressed with is the communal kitchen in the Abrams.  You must provide your own cookware, dish soap, utensils, etc.  Luckily, it's right across the hall from my room, but with limited cooking supplies (one pot and plastic silverware) we've been reduced to cooking soup and if it's a special night, macaroni and cheese.  PB&J's were the go to last week, but I'm already tired of them.  We're going to need to invest in some kitchen items before too long or I'll need to take out a loan so I can indulge on all of the great dining options Garmisch has to offer.  Speaking of going out to eat, I had the best Italian the other night!  It really made me miss Torino and the ease of the Italian language.  Visiting my old stomping grounds is now on the ever growing list of to-do's.
Ciao for now!

Gelato On The Sidewalk

Today was a big day.  I broke down and bought a handy (aka cell phone).  Although I was really enjoying the freedom of not having a phone and it is definitely possible to get by without one, I thought it was time to make myself available to the world.  Handys are great here.  No contracts, no salesperson, and very inexpensive.  Well, if you make your purchase at the grocery store like I did.  My number is too long to remember and the phone looks older than our first "family" cell phone.  I haven't brought myself to turn it on yet, but when I do I have a feeling it will take me more than a couple minutes to change the language setting from German to English.
I can't see myself being disappointed by anything in Garmisch.  The bars have no closing time, the people are overly nice, and the scenery is beautiful.  Danielle (the roommate, who by the way is awesome!) and I went on a nice little date to The Lodge where we were both surprised by the side dish I received with my tomato and mozzarella sandwich.  Doritos!  Not just any Doritos either, they were cooler ranch!  But our first disappointment occurred shortly after dinner when we decided to go into town for gelato.  Danielle's scoop of gelato slid right off of her cone onto the perfect sidewalk of Garmisch.  It was tragic, but luckily she and the gelato boy shared a moment of bad translation.  Several smiles later she got her new ice cream...free of charge!  Leave it up to the cute high school gelato boy to turn our sad story around.  
Getting settled into the dorm lifestyle hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.  It is loud and it is inconvenient, but at the same time a lot of fun.  I feel like I'm a freshman at IU all over again!   Another great roommate (shout out to Kassy) and many of my friends a quick walk down the hall make it really easy to find something to do anytime of the day.  Our housing complex, the Abrams, used to be an old German military hospital aka Nazi central.  Most of it has been renovated, but some walls still have creepy murals depicting strange things from men in their underwear to a weird goat creature.  I would describe them better if I could...pictures soon to come.  Our bare walls and badly arranged furniture make the room seem temporary, but hopefully over the next 13 months we can make this place feel a little bit more like home.  I did just hang a calendar by the door...one step closer!

Ishmael's Grandma

You wouldn't believe what I spotted today.  An old lady...with a beard.  Straight Kingpin style!  She may have been sporting her 5 o'clock shadow, but she was in great physical shape.  The amount of old people who are active is amazing.  No wonder they can drink all that full flavored beer and still stay thin.  Every necessity is literally a short bike ride or walk away and they take advantage of that.  I honestly have not seen an overweight person, well an overweight person who was German.  On base and at the resort you can find plenty of seam splitting Americans.  Hopefully someday we can adapt a similar lifestyle and still allow ourselves to consume large amounts of alcohol like we love to do.  They also have an extensive recycling program and no plastic bags.  It's like shopping at Bloomingfoods!
Today was an in-process today.  Meaning we had to be put into "the system".  Fingerprints, military ID's, background checks, and endless signatures.  Having a government job has a lot of perks, but getting to those perks takes a lot of red tape and paperwork.  Thank goodness I'm nearly on the tail end of it all...one more extensive background check and I'm done!  Good news though, I'm getting paid to sit around and sign my name.  Glad to hear your tax dollars are hard at work?
Tomorrow starts the real job.  I'm starting to think I'm destined to be a Front Office worker for the rest of my life.  I can't seem to stray from the front desk!  As much as I love smiling, the front desk can get exhausting and repetitive (haha which job isn't?).  Hopefully after my 90 day probationary period I'll have the opportunity to apply for a new position.  Anyone who really knows me has a good idea of my feelings towards rugrats, but surprisingly, I'm thinking a job in the "Just For Kids" program would be a lot of fun.  Maybe I'm being crazy.
I went grocery shopping today and bought Ramen Noodles, soup, pretzels, and humus.  Livin' the life!  The grocery store on base has all American items so it was refreshing to understand what I was buying.  In the future I think I will frequent the downtown Aldi or local groceries.  It really surprises me how many places don't accept credit cards, in Italy it was never an issue.  Speaking of money issues, at Peaches, the local bar, they have "Dollar Night" on Tuesdays where you can use American money to buy everything.  It was so funny watching the bartender struggle to count the money and try to make change.  Haha It was a relief to not be the stupid one for once!

A little preview of my gingerbread house land!

Fat Man in a Little Coat

I've arrived safe and sound to the wonderful Garmisch!  Think of the most stereotypical German village and you're picturing it.  I honestly cannot wait to see this place around Christmas, it will be a little real life gingerbread house collection!   My flight wasn't too bad, but the man sitting next to me was.  I'll explain to you just how awesome this guy was (sarcasm?).  First of all, he's huge.  He's in half of my seat and has the nerve to joke about how lucky I am that this crazy looking old man didn't sit on the other side of me.  Haha seriously fat black man in a little coat?  I would trade you in for that crazy man in a heartbeat.  Ok, then he's one of those types that stares at everything you are doing....I'm sure he was so well versed on my iPod's playlists by the end of the flight that he could recite all of my favorite songs. On the bright side, he only woke me up several times as he rapped silently to himself along with his mp3 player.  Ohhhh traveling!
Getting to the resort took about an hour and a half from Munich.  Surprisingly, the landscape was Indianaesque, minus the big mountains in the distance.  My driver was an ex military guy who has worked at the resort for the past 2 years.  He wasn't big on conversation, so I'm looking forward to actually getting a chance to talk to some other residents about their experiences.  After a quick tour of the housing facility I was taken to my room so I could unpack and relax.  Me being the graceful person that I am I sliced my finger open on my key trying to unlock the door.  At least I didn't choke on a skittle in front of my boss again...gotta love first impressions!
Two other new girls and I walked around the city and did a little exploring shortly after arriving.  I had my first schnitzel!  I really need to work on my German though.  I think the waitress was tired of me saying "danke" during every interaction we had.  

P.S. My roommate just walked in.  She's from Ball State and she's a vegetarian.  Signs of lame up-tightness?  No offense to my fellow Muncie friends, but I would have preferred an IU girl.  I Hope she doesn't mind our fridge stocked with hot dogs and bologna...gotta save those dolla dolla bills! 

The Final Countdown

24 hours until my departure to Deutschland.
I have a massive hangover and a sparkling unicorn on my chest...what happened last night?!?  The Nazi vs. Jew going away party was a shit show and I loved it!  Leave it up to Amy to throw yet another hamsliced party featuring cheese puffs and keg beer....mmmmmmm my favorites!
Bringing myself to face "the packing room" today is going to be a difficult task to say the least.  I still haven't finished loading up my suitcase that will inevitably weigh more than 50 lbs and I'm overwhelmed at the thought of trying to plan what I could possibly need for the next 13 months.  Hopefully I don't underpack like I did for Italy...I sure did get good use out of those white tees that summer.

More overwhelming than packing is having to say goodbye to all of the friends who have become family to me over the years.  After leaving Amy's house this morning it really sunk in that I won't be seeing most of them for over a year.  Moving on and becoming a real adult is not something I've been looking forward to, the college lifestyle has been too good to me and I hate to let it go.  Four years ago I never thought my time at IU would actually come to an end.  Now that the era is winding down I'm getting nostalgic and depressed about it.  You better believe that I'll be the annoying alum well into my 40's at Sports stealing shot glasses and ordering breadsticks.
Ricky Shaw (yeeeeeah) was an unexpected sad goodbye.  Who woulda thought that that fool would grow on me so quickly?  Hey, they say you'll find it when you're not looking...thanks a lot, overused cliche.  Anyway, enough being sad. BUT I do want to let all of my friends know how much I appreciate them.  Even Allyson who I'm sure will find a way to wake me up from my daily naps in Germany :)
With my final hours counting down I am beyond excited....Here we go!!