Abrams Goggles

Lindsey landed in Chicago yesterday afternoon.  I wasn't feeling very homesick until I thought about all of my Bloomington friends reuniting while I'm still in Gtown living the hospitality dream.  I was texting with Kassy the other day about our usual shenanigans and it hit me that I haven't even talked to her on the phone since before I left.  It's hard enough to keep in touch with my family, let alone my friends.  The good side of all of this missing is that I have faith in the friendships that matter to me and I don't think daily phone calls/skyping is necessary to keep us going. BUT Mom, Bret, and Dave arrive in three days :) I'll be getting off of a grave shift several hours before they arrive, so we can all be exhausted together.  I think I am most excited to just sit around and have family time that requires me to do nothing.  I love the constant flow of activities, traveling, eating, drinking, talking, laughing, moving, doing, etc. that goes on around here, but it will be nice to have some down time.  I'm also looking forward to taking them to the Christmas market.  A good portion of my paycheck has been spent here on amazing German food and drink.  The feuerzangenbowle is my new favorite.  It's easy to see how money goes so quickly in the Christmas market, the hot drinks and delicious treats warm you up to the elements and allow you to stay longer.  A vicious cycle of amazingness.

The girls and I have come up with a term for how you begin to feel towards the opposite sex after being in Garmisch for a few months; Abrams Goggles.  Similar to drunk goggles, they skew your perception and make whoever you're looking at becomes more attractive, funnier, great story tellers, and awesome listeners.  I wouldn't say this term is 100% accurate, but I completely understand how it occurs.  The ratio of males to females here is about 3 to 10.  The good ones go fast and if they don't, they take advantage of the disproportion.  So after being here for a while working, living, and socializing with the same group of people you begin to see the guys that you would have never considered before as having potential to date.  Danielle and I also recently compared the whole Edelweiss operation to a series we began reading, The Hunger Games.  It is in a post apocalyptic North America where the people are divided up into 12 districts (ELR departments...front desk, gift shop, food & beverage, custodial, etc.) with each district becoming less desirable.  Then you have the Capitol (Marc Jansen, GM), who wants to remind the people that they will never be in control again so every year there is a fight to the death among chosen citizens known as the Hunger Games (Peaches on a Tuesday).  It really isn't that bad, but it strangely fits.
On a random sidenote, several days ago I missed the 5:30am shuttle and left about a quarter after six to walk to work in a heavy snowfall.  I made it about 200 meters before a massive snowplow pulled over and asked me "Edelweiss?" I confirmed and he waved for me to jump in. It never once crossed my mind that it wouldn't be safe, it's an old Bavarian!  I climbed the three steps up to get inside and the old German man and I attempted at our best broken conversation while he drove me to work.  As I pulled up to the resort the ponds guards were getting a good laugh out of it and commented on my very nice taxi.  If only I could run into this guy every morning.  He saved me a lot of time and energy because the 5:30 shuttle is meant for people scheduled at 6.  There is a definite lack of planning here.  The majority of people who ride this shuttle have to be to work at 7, but wake up earlier than usual so that they don't have to make the walk in the cold, dark, snowy morning.  Several people have mentioned bringing the 6:30 shuttle idea to Jansen, but I honestly can't see anything happening with it within my time here.  It's a pretty obvious idea and they aren't implementing it for some reason we are overlooking.  Snow tires for my bike it is.

NEWS FLASH

This just in.  I have received an e-mail confirming my suspicions of my early childhood adoption.  Bret has stepped forward and admitted to actually being the child found under the rock.
I can finally sleep easy.

Thank you, Michael.

I had one of those happier than ever, can't get enough of the day, smiling, walk home from work the other day.  Surprisingly, it was at 8am after a never ending solo night on a grave shift.  I was listening to the Kooks on my iPod and decided to take the long way home so that I could pass by the river and take in the cold dreary morning while those skinny English boys sang right to me.  I honestly don't think I've ever been this content and happy in my life.  Don't get me wrong, I've never been not happy, but this situation, these surroundings, and my outlook over the next years of my life are all things that make me smile on a daily basis.  Even today, when I'm kind of grumpy and having trouble making it out of bed, I feel glad to be here and thankful for this opportunity.  I do really miss my friends and family though.  Blackout Wednesday was a tough one for me because I knew all of my friends from home and from school were together doing something that I've been there for over the last couple years.  You know me, I just hate to miss out.

Carli and I braving the winds at the top of the Zugspitze

Yesterday was the day of days.  Woke up super early and got a free trip to the top of the Zugspitze for "training".  Unfortunately, there was zero visibility and the wind was so strong it took my breath away, but thankfully the post cards and souvenirs gave me a good idea of what I was supposed to be seeing from 3,000 meters high.  Although I was kinda miserable in the freezing temperatures I got a free lunch and got paid for four hours of work.  Once again, thank you Edelweiss.

I was supposed to head to the resort after to do a 3-11 operator shift.  And then it happened.  Another employee asked me to go to Krampus in Berchtesgaden with her, and then another employee offered to take my shift without me even asking.  I love when things work out like that with little or no preparation.  Although the day promised to be full of fun whippings, drinking, and good ol weird German folklore, the deutschebahn put a halt to it.  The departure list stated that our train would be delayed 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes, then it was canceled all together.  No one knew what was happening and we weren't given an explanation until later that there was a problem with the tracks up past a small city, Murnau.  We waited for the next train to only have the same outcome.  You could tell everyone was growing angry and the crowd was beginning to get larger and more restless.  We were promised buses to take us past the broken part of the track so we could continue our journey.  The first bus arrived and was mobbed by people trying to depart Garmisch.  We weren't one of the lucky ones and we waited for the next bus.  Five hours later we were in Munich and on our way to our connecting train, only to discover that if we got on this train we'd have to turn around and head back home as soon as we arrived to our final destination.  Of course, I was disappointed, but the beauty of it was that we met this hilarious little Austrian man who made the whole useless journey worthwhile.

 Michael kept us laughing the entire time by teaching us funny German phrases, telling us about his life, helicoptering a bottle of wine (I use this term thanks to Randy.  It's when you open a bottle and pass it around in a circle.  Miss ya bud), and telling "that's what she said" jokes.  Yes, he told a that's what she said joke.  Made my night.  When we were going our separate ways I told him I already missed him and even though I was partially joking, it was more of a serious statement.  This little nerd kept me entertained for 5 hours of a pointless journey.  He then invited us to visit him in Munich for a piano recital he was having at a performing arts university in January.  You better believe I'll be there.  SO anyway, we decide to stay in Munich for a couple hours to get dinner and walk around the Christmas market with the plan to take the last train home.  Our friend Tommy was insisting on using the bathroom and we still had a little bit of a walk before we made it to the restaurant so I pointed to an alley and told him to go there.  The girls and I are waiting for about ten minutes then the worry started to set in and we broke apart to look for him in the area.  After thirty minutes I knew something was wrong and saw a sign for the polizei (German police), so the girls and I walked up to the building and I confronted the man behind the glass.  I told him that my friend had stepped away to use the bathroom and didn't come back.  The officer looked back at his friends and shared a few words and we knew then that Tommy was in there.  You could tell they were holding back laughing while they were talking.  Moments later they were escorting Tommy out of the back office and asking for us to pay for his public urination ticket.  Tommy in his slight intoxication relieved himself in front of the polizei station.  A mistake I'm sure he won't make again and that we will never let him forget.  On our way out of the station I asked the officer if I could use the restroom there and added that I'm sure they wouldn't want any more problems for the night.  Luckily, he caught my joke, smiled, and led me to the bathroom.  The day didn't go as planned, but at least I got my first polizei experience out of the way with no tickets in my name.

What about santa's cookies? I suppose parents eat those too?

You know what sucks?  Riding my bike in the snow.  You know what sucks even more?  Losing one glove and wearing socks on my hands instead.  Did I mention this was in -9 C?

Tonight Danielle and I jump started our holiday cheer by putting together our very own cardboard Christmas tree complete with ornaments and a little red star, all cardboard as well.  Actually corrugated, but I don't need to get technical here.  We constructed the tree with the aid of gluhwein, snow caps, gummy bears, and Elf playing in the background.  The candy was for the gingerbread house we were going to put together next, but unfortunately Danielle forgot to purchase a very crucial ingredient, icing. So we put the candy to more practical use and just ate it.  The gingerbread house can wait.  Elf is easily one of my favorite Christmas movies.  Not because of the cute message it sends, but because Will Ferrel is hilarious and can really pull off those yellow tights.  I found myself laughing out loud at every other scene and waking up Danielle to ask her if she saw that.  How many movies can you say easily have that effect?  Even though Mom, Bret and Dave are coming, I feel like Christmas here would still be okay.  There are several secret Santas going on, many Christmas parties and countless friends who are also away from their families during the holidays.  As much as people like to think management is sub par here, they go way out of their way to make sure we feel at home and like a huge family.  A very big and weird family. 
You know what else sucks?  We haven't had internet in our room for over a week now.  Housing services claims "they're working on it".  I have trouble believing this.  Not only is it a huge inconvenience, it makes me feel so disconnected.  We get by with minimal cell phone use with the use of Facebook and Skype.  Without access to these it's a huge pain in the butt to find out what's happening in the Abrams.  I've been forced to actually walk to other rooms AND talk to people in person.  Disgusting, I know.  The inconvenience could be a blessing in disguise, but I sure do miss laying in bed and Facebooking to my heart's content.
I remember when I wasn't allowed to say "sucks".  When I started this post I wondered to myself if Mom would remember those late elementary days and be disappointed that I reverted back to my rebellious suck saying ways.  Don't tell her, but I secretly said sucks all the time with my friends.