What's Next?

Returning to Garmisch was difficult for me this time.  I left all of the most important people to me along with any means of easy communication with them and returned to a weekend of grave shifts.  Not only do I only see a few hours of daylight when I work these shifts, I don't have the opportunity to do anything fun or spend any time with my friends.  I was slightly depressed and wishing I could be back home where things were a little bit easier.  Now that my graves are over I've snapped out of my mini depression and feel one hundred times better.  Of course I still miss my friends and family at home, but now I at least have my every day activities and schedule back where I can be a functioning member of Abrams society.
I've recently decided to switch rooms to live with another girl who works at the front desk.  The biggest perk to this new room is that the new roommate, Whitney, lives with her German boyfriend in his flat in Garmisch, so I will basically have my own room, complete with a balcony.  The downside to all of this positive news is that I have to move out of this room and go through my first divorce.  Danielle and I have acquired everything in the room together, either by splitting the costs or making deals with departing employees to get free goods.  Surprisingly, she has been very understanding about the whole "split" and I hope that good attitude transfers when moving day comes and we have to decide who gets what.  My biggest fear is losing the coffee pot.  Wish me luck.
My job search is still up in the air.  A couple days ago I found an English teaching job in Freiburg for a very well known language instruction company, Berlitz.  I'm eager to apply, but before I can do anything I have to rewrite my resume to the European format, which is called a CV or Curriculum Vitae.  This news sent my head whirling.  As soon as I accepted this job I discarded all notions of my life after the end of my contract and haven't even considered looking at my resume, let alone updating it.  To add to the overwhelming pressure of making my perfect CV there are a hand full of other documents I have to fill out and then if by chance I do get the job I am able to apply for my visa.  So many questions and so many papers to fill out.  I haven't abandoned hope on the au pair business though.  It would certainly make my life a lot easier to just move into someone's house and not have to worry about finding a flat, but au pairs don't make the best money either.  There are way too many things to consider.  For now I'll just drink my coffee and worry about my upcoming separation.

Burger Nation

There is so much for me to comment on so forigve me while I go through the motions of our ten day American extravaganza that included four states and countless hours in the GA.  The timeline might be a bit scrambled - even though I just returned last night my mind is a little jumbled.

#1 Voted Burger

The second visit to the states was much better than my first go round.  Not only did I not see the inside of a hospital, I was able to share my American life with Marcel.  I'm pretty sure he was impressed by the larger than life size of our vehicles, fridges, and personalities.  Maybe impressed isn't the right word, but he did enjoy it.  One of the biggest differences he noticed was how everyone talks to one another whether they have any connection or not.  We are an informal culture based on fake interactions of hellos, half smiles, and how are yous.  Marcel and Alex both agreed that in Germany you wouldn't stop and have a superficial conversation with the person next to you in line at the store.  They may have been out of their element but both guys certainly did impress me with their ability to take in something a little different than what they are used to.  And yes, I'm talking about the beer.  They embraced Budweiser for the first couple days, but once they discovered that Aldi sold German beer (at a reasonable price) that became their go to.  During a fire at Jordan's Marcel opted to have a  Bud Light and the concern on Alex' face was noteworthy.  He was worried he had lost Marcel to the world of light beer.  Next time he'll have his priorities straight.  Another staple of the trip was the burger.  Over the days I lost track of how many burgers the guys ate.  Between fast food and the real burger joints we visited their numbers were really up there.  Don't worry, I got the final decision and their favorite goes to Redamaks with Nicks in Bloomington at a close second.  If the food didn't win over Marcel, I'm not sure what did.  My favorite comment he made was in reference to the chili cheese fries at Redamaks - they were really "special" to him.  Either way, we ate way too much. 

Kassy's apartment before going out

St. Louis was a sixteen hour adventure.  Due to traffic and accidents we spent a better part of the day traveling.  Once we arrived we didn't have much time to do more than say a quick hello to the legendary Keith Keys and drop our bags in the room.  The Arch was our first stop.  We debated on going to the top, but in all reality it is doubtful they'll be in St. Louis again so it was a no brainer.  We rode the little egg up and took in the views of the river and the city.  The Arch really is a beautiful monument, I'm glad we took the time to enjoy it.  After our touristy moment we walked to a nearby pub for much needed food and drinks while we watched Dirk struggle during the Maverick's/Heat game.  We walked back to the hotel in the cooling night to find a little cheese and cracker platter sent up to our room - not quite VIP status, but it's a step in the right direction.  I still can't get over how miserable St. Louis is during the summer.  I don't know how I made it those couple weeks with broken AC in the top floor apartment.

Peering out of the Arch window

Luckily, we spent the next day in the air conditioned Galleria Mall so the Germans could get in some shopping.  They were amazed at the price of just about everything.  On top of cheaper prices the Euro is stronger than the dollar so they were getting a double whammy deal.  I really envied them with the exchange rate in their favor.  It makes me wonder when will I get my monetary break...

Oinks in New Buffalo

   Bloomington was the highlight of the trip for me.  The city has so many positive memories associated with it, I can't help but be happy when my mind wanders there.  This visit was no exception.  It was a thin slice of my entire last summer; lounging around with Kassy and Randy all day then hitting it hard at night at some of our favorite bars.  The 15 cent beer special blew Marcel and Alex away.  They couldn't believe it was possible to do that and they did take advantage of it.  During the day Randy and I gave a campus driving tour to the foreigners and ended it with some shopping on Kirkwood and a long island with the infamous Kilroys breadsticks.  A nap followed shortly after, of course.  That night we went to Nicks for dinner, the Maverick's game, and to play Sink the Biz, an IU tradition.  Before we left Nicks to continue our night elsewhere some students started the Who? Who? Who? Hoosiers! cheer at Nicks.  It was the perfect example of University spirit for Marcel and Alex.  University is so different in Germany, it doesn't appear to have the same social aspect as American college.  So, the rest of the night was more fun than we could handle.  Randy buffaloed me several times, I iced him in the most awesome way possible, and Marcel swept the foosball table (I think he actually only played one game).  Oh, and I forgot the international dart game - my fellow citizens failed me while Germany took away the W (!!!CORRECTION!!!! USA won the game.  Oops!).  The following morning we had big plans to get breakfast at Runcible Spoon, but sleep was priority and we managed to stop at Dagwoods on our way out of town.  Another half day was spent in the car headed towards northern Indiana for a cookout at Dad's.

Our first visit with Dad occurred on Sunday; a day after our arrival.  Seeing Dad was great, although I wish I could have had a lot more time with him.  Marcel was nervous for the big meeting with Bret and Dad and despite his worrying, he did an awesome job and they loved him.  Dad's recovery still amazes and impresses me.  Sometimes I think he has even more energy than he did before the accident.  He kept us laughing the whole visit and managed to feed Alex half of his steak and shrimp lunch at Christo's.  I'll say it again, I'm a lucky girl.

Snapshot at the wedding

A quick walk out to the lighthouse in Michigan City

Saturday night we had the big Miller-Dhoore wedding.  Katey was the first of the girls to get married and I actually got a little choked up watching the ceremony.  She looked absolutely beautiful.  I was disappointed I couldn't be in the wedding.  I've been waiting to give that speech since 7th grade, but with the last minute decision to even attend the wedding I completely understand and was just happy to be a part of her special day.  We ate, drank, and danced right through the reception and somehow found ourselves at The Still for the nightcap where I saw more people than I had hoped to.  Marcel and Alex got the real feel for our townie bar and I'm pretty sure they had a great time viewing some of the fine people of the greater New Carlisle area.  Marcel loved it and commented that it was just like Wal-Mart.  He got a good viewing of some of the fine specimens that frequent Wal-Mart and I recently introduced him to peopleofwalmart.com.  I think he's found a new hobby.

Amy and I playing at the bean

Monday wad dedicated to a quick view of Chicago and a Cubs game.  We woke up way too early to catch the train. When an east bound train passed through they laughed and stared for a bit.   I should have warned the guys that the Southshore is nothing like the train system in Germany.  Chicago was a new thing for both Alex and Marcel.  There are just not cities like that in Europe so they were easily overwhelmed and impressed by the tall buildings.  We first visited the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) which now has a glass bottom observation deck that lets you walk out of the building a few feet.  It was a really cool experience to stand and look down 103 stories beneath your feet.  We made sure to get a foot pic and moved on to our next stop, Giordanos for the famous stuffed pizza.  Again, the guys laughed at the look and size of the pizza, but they loved it and ate every last bite.  We did some more touristy action which included the bean and Navy Pier.  Before we knew it it was time to head to Wrigleyville for the game.  We made the smart decision to wait until rush hour to take the taxi, so it took us about a half hour to go not far at all and we arrived just as the game was starting.  Allyson and Tara met us there along with Marcel's friend, Kevin, that he met while working at the Goethe institute.  Seeing as how they had never watched or been to a baseball game I was really looking forward to explaining the rules to the guys, but Kevin took that role - boys will be boys.

Cubs Game

The trip was way too short.  The travel back to Germany wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be, but jet lag really did take it's toll.  I just have a weekend of graves and hopefully after that my schedule will be back to normal.  I don't know when I'll see Marcel again, but I'm sure it won't be soon enough.
So it's back to the daily Edelweiss grind.....

P.S. I miss Mom.

Confessional

With all I've got on my mind these days I'm finding it awfully hard to sleep.  I'm excited and in super plan mode for the trip back to the states.  Not only am I anxious to show the guys a really good time, I cannot wait to be back in St. Louis and Bloomington for some short visits with the cities I love - and to see all of the Btown lifers, of course.  I'm also beyond ready to visit with the family.  I've never missed home quite like I have in the past couple weeks.  It's been on my mind more recently than it had been in the first nine months I was here.  It was a difficult three weeks to spend in Indiana, but it put me so much closer to all of the great people in my life and now spending time with them sounds absolutely perfect.  So, I have finally admitted it.  I miss home.

I recently discovered that I had exhausted all of my accrued leave time.  Reeeeally exhausted it.  Like, I'm in the negatives.  I had to get "special permission" to even come home this time and after submitting a couple leave requests for trips later in the summer I found out they would continually get denied until I had accrued enough to make up for my debt and then some.  That news really hurt all of my travel plans and sets me back quite a bit.  There is so much I want to see and do that will just have to wait.  On the bright side, I can still take short three to four days trips, I just have to make sure they fall on two pay periods.  I called Marcel and explained the news to him with my best whiny voice and his first response was "Is it ok if I laugh?".  He basically told me it wasn't the end of the world that I have to wait a couple months to take big trips.  I guess he's right, but I still want to complain about it.  Also some really sad news since I've returned, Andrew and Richard, two of my really good friends here, were fired and will also be departing Germany within the next week.  It all started with a stolen Indian statue from one of the local bars.  After a little run in with the military police the boys returned it and shared a laugh with the bar that it was stolen from.  About a month later they were both called into HR and told their contracts were being terminated.  No explanation, just done.  It's obvious why they are being sent home, but at the same time it doesn't seem quite fair.  The goodbyes will definitely be hard.

With only a couple days until the flight home I'm reeling with excitement and preparation. After Marcel arrives tomorrow I think my anxiousness will drop a few notches though.  It's been far too long.  Unfortunately, I have to work while he's here.  I attempted to get someone to cover some shifts, but I actually really need to work as many hours as possible to get back on track.  Blah to responsibility.  Come Friday night at 7pm I will be a free woman for eleven days.  Midwest, here we come.

'Merica.

Supersize Me

Being back in Garmisch feels amazing.  It was definitely time to come back.  Dad was doing great, I had exhausted my monetary resources, and I was tired of driving the vantastic.  I needed some physical movement in my life.  Even though Dad was progressing quickly I had trouble saying goodbye to him on Sunday night.  I found myself wanting to stay longer and longer.  I was postponing the inevitable despite laundry and packing to be done before my morning flight.  It was hard to say goodbye, but knowing that I can see him in 3 weeks made it a little more bearable.  I hate to know that I am missing out on his recovery (and jokes).

The luster of my return trip in June faded while I was home for the past 3 weeks though.  I had more of Northern Indiana than I cared to receive.  Don't get me wrong, I love home, my family, and my friends, but I have gotten accustomed to a different lifestyle, and although this lifestyle isn't always perfect, it's what I prefer at the moment.  I missed my bike, I hated driving, I rarely walked, everyone moved on to bigger and better things, I ate too much fast food, and I realized (again) how fat we can really be.  I was at McDonalds, I'll admit, getting my dollar menu fix, when I noticed there was not one person in the entire store that was fit or just slightly overweight - they were all obese.  The children and the adults all looked like they could be contestants on The Biggest Loser.  I don't blame it on them either, well, kind of.  I understand food is expensive and unfortunately, the fast food industry makes it very easy to eat cheap at the cost of your health.

Ok, enough of that.  While I was home I was lucky enough to spend a huge amount of time with my siblings.  I always knew I could count on Deborah to help me out or be there if I needed her.  It's too bad that it took Dad's accident to bring Deb and I closer, but I'm glad that it did.  There was also an ungodly amount of inside jokes that developed between Bret and I during the two hour commute to and from the hospital.  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time.  In the previous post I said I was lucky to have two awesome dads.  I'm also extremely lucky to have such a great brother and sister. And did I mention all of my friends and family?  Thanks to all of you for being so supportive while we were all struggling.

So, being back here has been a relief even though I'm missing my family big time.  Being in the same time zone as Marcel has also been so much more convenient.  Talk about a headache trying to coordinate calls between both of our schedules.  I think my next big purchase will be a smart phone with an actual plan, not prepaid, so that I can have a Skype connection.  We'll see.  I had my first shift last night which ran an extra 45 minutes and I felt completely lost with all of the updates I had missed while I was on leave, but it was really okay.  It feels good to be back and I'm looking forward to the next couple weeks of the usual Edelweiss nonsense.

Baby, I'm back! Al Pacino!

I had a severe tongue lashing from Randy a few nights ago in response to my lack of blogging.  He explained that he doesn't like asking the overused "Sooo, what have you been up to?" and prefers to just know what is going on in my life so he can go straight to jokes.  Always with the jokes, that one.  With a promise not to disappoint him with my newest update I am drawing a serious blank and will take the random route.

Before arriving stateside I had the pleasure of meeting Marcel's family.  Boy let me tell you, hand signals and facial expressions sure do go a long way.   Even though there were more than a few awkward interactions with his parents, who don't speak English, the weekend was great and I can definitely say I would like to return for some more real time German fun.  I also was able to meet some of his other friends and managed to not embarrass myself...until the bike ride home.  I have already met some of Marcel’s friends, but on this night I was meeting THE best friend, Marcel, or Marcel the great, as I call him.  The three of us rode bikes to another friend’s house where we barbecued and drank beer into the late night hours.  On the ride home I was trying my hardest to focus and not let off how intoxicated I really was.  In a moment of weakness, aka laughing, I lost control, nailed a curb, and found myself lying on the sidewalk fighting off two Marcels trying to help me up.  Of course I insisted that I was ok and made them get back on their bikes and ride home.  I think my ego was more hurt than my cut hands or knees.  We got plenty of laughs from it the next morning and Marcel has yet another reason to make fun of his crazy American girlfriend.  The visit was short and sweet.  The flight out of Hannover on Sunday morning approached much quicker than I hoped.  I not only was dreading leaving Marcel, but dreading having to face what was going on at home. 

I have never had to deal with anything significant while away from home.  Hearing the news of Dad's accident was crushing.  It was easily the hardest week of my life.  Communication was difficult and being away from my iPod or computer left me anxious that I would miss something important.  Every text or incoming call on Skype terrified me, but I got through it, and with the awesome support and constant updates from my sister the week quickly came to an end and I was on the airplane headed towards beautiful Indiana before I knew it.  When deciding when to book my flight I wrestled with what day to leave.  Of course I wanted to see Marcel and I'm really happy with myself for waiting until Sunday, even when all I wanted was my Mom's hug and Bret's jokes.  Marcel's comfort and assurance really helped me prepare myself for what was to come.  Having lost one of my Dads four years ago, I was not ready to lose another and feared the worst. 

But here we are today.  Dad just checked into the rehab hospital and will start his intensive recovery tomorrow.  It's amazing how much has happened in the last twenty-two days.  He's come so far in just the last three; I can't imagine what he'll do over the next couple weeks.  As soon as that breathing tube was out he was cracking jokes and had the whole burn unit pulling for him.  Today one of the occupational therapists was in tears when she found out they were discharging him already.  He's an ornery one, but you can't help but love him.  His attitude and work ethic are impressive.  I'm pretty sure he can do anything he puts his mind to.  I'm just worried for those poor nurses.....

I'm a lucky girl to have had the opportunity to grow up with these two amazing men in my life.  I miss Ed more than ever, but I'm so thankful that Dad and I can share so much more together.  I love you, Daddio.

Seven more days in Indiana.  What will I do?  Seeing Kassy is next on my list!  I was lucky enough to spend a great Saturday night with Allyson, Amy, Katy, Kurt, and Tim at Vegas Baby.  Things got a little out of hand, per usual, and I had quite the little hangover on Sunday morning.  Nothing a little macaroni and cheese breakfast won't cure though.  It was so amazing to spend some time with my friends.  I've missed them way too much.  Now we just have the visit in June to anticipate.  The two Germs will make the trip a little more interesting and I'm really looking forward to their reactions to American life. 

That's all for now. 

Cheese Please

My short stint in Freiburg was not only an amazing getaway, but another reminder of how ready I am for the next section of my life.  I really do love my job and if it weren't for the previously mentioned unsatisfactory housing they provide us with extending would be an easier decision.  One of my bosses stopped me the other day and told me that they want me to stay and all I need to do is send an e-mail and an extension would be in the works, so it's an option.  This is really flattering and something to consider, but I definitely want to be closer to Marcel and on to a new set of challenges.  Welp, I have some time to figure things out.  I have a feeling September is going to be here sooner rather than later and I'll have to decide the next year of my life.  I think I liked it better when I just had to decide which classes to register for each semester and the rest was cake.  Oh how I miss Bloomington.

So Freiburg was short but sweet.  I managed to stay up for just over 24 hours between my grave shift and my commute to "the nicest city in Germany".  Surprisingly I was quite pleasant after Marcel picked me up at the train station.  He wanted to get a coffee and the thought of yet another cup of the stuff was not appealing so we got an afternoon beer and enjoyed the sun outside of a cafe.  I did need some sleep and only allowed myself a 45 minute nap when we got back to his flat.  He's too good to me. He gave me an extra 15 minutes and a great homemade dinner of spinach and cheese stuffed cannelloni.  You should have seen us attempting to use a pastry bag to fill the noodles, we resembled toddlers playing with Play-Doh.  By the time the filling was gone we were covered in the stuff and laughing at how ridiculous of an idea the pastry bag was.  Dinner was delicious.  I then slept.

The next days were full of our usual coffee stops and a trip to the zoo.  Freiburg doesn't really have a zoo so we substituted with the nature park outside of the city that had all sorts of fun farm animals.  Marcel had his first close encounter with a goat and frantically asked me over and over if it was ok.  I managed to snap a good 15 pictures of this little billy goat scratching his newly incoming horns on Marcel's arm.  The scenario brought me back to when Bill and Cathy (the two goats "I had to have", named after my grandparents, of course) had the 3 little guys on the day of Mom's Mary Kay party.  Thinking of Lucky standing on the kitchen counter and peeing all over the place while being watched by 10 women still makes me laugh.  I was so lucky to grow up on the farm and have the opportunity to witness so many neat things that many people won't see in their lifetime.  So anyway, coffee, zoo's, and now cheese, are Marcel and I's favorite things.  We stopped at a small cafe on the way home for another cup of coffee and a snack.  An appetizer plate of cheese arrived minutes after he went inside to order and it was fantastic.  My stomach wasn't happy with my choice to gorge on more milk product than is necessary in a week period and I made sure to tell Marcel I wouldn't be eating cheese for a while.  Don't worry though, at dinner I totally forgot my cheese boycott and ordered the quatro formaggi pizza.  He just laughed and said "Ohhh Yen" and went on to help himself to a bite.  Most of the trip is a blur, but I have Easter weekend in Bielefeld to meet the family to look forward to.  I'm sure I'll create some lasting memories during my stay.  Mostly awkward and embarrassing, I'm sure, but those are always the best.

Lindsey and her parents left Garmisch this morning.  I was so glad they decided to stop in for a couple days to see me.  It's always nice to see people from home.  I was really eager on Sunday while I was waiting for the phone call from Lindsey saying that they had arrived.  I called Mom to share my excitement and let her know how much I missed her. I think it was the idea of having parental figures around that got me so worked up.  It's like in college when a friend's parents visit everyone is engulfed in a flurry of anticipation.  You get to relax and have a little bit of home with you, even if it's not your own.  A short tour of Garmisch was given, we sampled my most frequented restaurants and pubs, and even made a day out of Lake Eibsee and the Zugspitze.  I had a fun time showing them around Garmisch and getting in some quality time with fellow Northern Indiana-ers.  It was sad to see them go and I really hope I will have more visitors soon. In other Garmisch related news, Christina's return has been great.  Her room is huge, roommate nice, and they have acquired an attractive floral velvet couch that I can't get enough of.  Now we just need to plan our first trip together and all will be back to normal.  It was hard enough for us to remain alive during our short stays in Munich, I can only imagine the trouble that will arise while traveling outside of Bavaria.

Backseat Driving

"Fixing" the van.

Florence came and went. It was more fun than I anticipated and the countless stories will bore anyone who wasn't there to experience it first hand.  Something I must share though is how much fun it is to turn a regular nine passenger van into a giggle fest between five 20 something girls.  We took the middle row of seats in the van and turned them around (We = Corinne and I coerced Andrew and Richard to do it) so that we could get maximum play time during the drive.  I felt bad for the boys who were up front navigating and being the adults, but it felt awfully good to just drink my beer and be carefree for the entire car ride there.   On the way to Florence we stopped at an Army base in Vicenza where a Taco Bell was conveniently located and this is also where we all ate ourselves into a food coma.  I wanted to order everything on that menu.  Don't worry, I limited myself to 2 items and a drink.  As excited as I was to eat it, it wasn't as great as I had built it up to be.  I think the most disappointing thing was the missing Lipton raspberry iced tea.  This is by far the best thing Tbell has to offer and one of my must haves.  I even used to stop at Tbell on my drive home from Bloomington and order one medium raspberry iced tea to go.  Yet another thing I'm going to have to do while back in Indiana.  Ok, so back to Florence.  Another great part of the trip was when a spilled water bottle left a tampon box damaged which left the tampons in a pile on the hostel floor.  As many times as we told Andrew that they weren't string cheese he kept falling for the disguise.  Maybe we should have put them away, or Andrew should have consumed a little less of the Italian wine. 

Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

It's a toss up.  Anyway, we ate, we drank, we partied, we wined, we dined, we impersonated those darn silly Italians to no end, and yada, yada, yada it was a great trip with the usual great people.  Being back in Italy also felt really good, although I didn't remember any of the Italian I had scraped together from my summer in Torino.  It was pretty nonexistent then, so I wasn't surprised that it didn't come rushing back to me.  I did fall back in love with the skinny streets lined with gelato shops and pizzerias.  It's hard to say if I like Germany or Italy better.  It's like Mom used to say to Bret and I when we'd start the "who do you love more" debate, I love them both the same, but different.  Germany is the perfect little child who is neat, punctual, level headed, and despite this over practicality, an amazingly fun time.  Oh, and concerned about the environment, of course.   While Italy is the one with clothes scattered haphazardly around his room, a three day old bowl of cereal perched on the night stand, and a backlog of chores to be completed.  Somehow you can't help but love her anyway. I suppose Germany does hold an extra special place in my heart, but you can't let the favorite child know that.

Rest stop fun.

I've been running and trying to work out on a regular basis.  Surprisingly, I've really stuck with it this time and actually look forward to my work outs.  The other morning I was stirred from my slumber by the usual drunken talking in the hallway and couldn't get back to sleep, so I found myself in the gym at 5am watching MTV while starting up my run on the treadmill.  A couple minutes later, Neil, the recruiter for Edelweiss strolls in and we chat for a minute about how funny it is that I'm awake so early.  We then focus on our own workouts and zone each other out.  Several minutes later the music video cuts to a commercial.  It's not just any commercial though.  It's one where you text a specific number and get naked pictures or whatever else those ads promise in return for your first born child.  Except in Europe these commercials are a little bit more provocative.  Ok, they are full on porn.  After the first one played I was elated to see it come to an end.  Then another one came on, and another one, then they began playing on repeat.  Neil and I both pretended it wasn't happening and continued on. Luckily, I had my earphones in and couldn't hear the commentary, but I knew he could hear it and that's all that mattered.  5am, alone in the gym with a 55 year old Irish man, watching porn.  Easily one of the most awkward and embarrassing moments of my life.  When the music videos returned I sighed with relief.  But wait, there's more!  The ads returned within 5 minutes and we were back to both awkwardly pretending they weren't on TV.  I could have just stopped the treadmill and changed the channel but for some reason that seemed even worse than enduring the humiliation of watching porn with the man who hired me.  

I'm in the middle of another bout of grave shifts.  After my last one on Saturday night I will be heading to Munich to get a share ride to Freiburg to visit Marcel.  The long nights are much more bearable knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I will be traveling on next to no sleep, but it's well worth it to see Marcel for a couple days and to get away from the Abrams.  I'm not claiming to be an adult, nor do I ever want to, but I'm not cut out to live in dorm style housing anymore.  I like my privacy and I need it.  The Abrams are quite possibly the loudest place in the world with no place to escape to be on your own.  It's really not that bad, I just miss The Hamptons where I had a choice if I wanted to spend time with my roommates or not.  It was so easy to just close my door and shut them out for a couple hours while I got in some me time.  Only six more months of being a freshman in college.  Speaking of the end of my contract, I think it is well known that I won't be returning to the states right away.  My fate isn't quite determined yet, but I am keeping an eye open for other job opportunities in Germany.  I will keep the masses posted if anything significant happens.

If you plan to live in a foreign country for a year, it's inevitable that you will need to prepare yourself for the social and cultural differences, i.e. the commercials.   Who would think that a German gynecologist visit could be that different from an American one?  Not me.  Picture the most awkward experience of your life.  And that's what it is like to see the gynecologist in Germany.  I'll spare the details for individual conversations, but until then I just cant decide which is worse; the German gyno, or watching porn with the man who hired me.   Yet another one of life's unanswered questions.

My favorite statue of all time, Perseus.

The one and only.

SPRING!

The weather in Garmisch was gorgeous today.  I couldn't help but wander outside every couple hours to run these so called errands that I had.  It was even nice enough to take my old wine stained sheet out to the courtyard for some lazy grass reading/iPod listening.  Even though it was a little wet, I soaked up the sun and re-energized for my 3 day work week and upcoming trip to Florence.  My doubts about taking the Florence trip for Corinne's birthday are slowly fading.  As the departure date approaches I'm getting more and more excited.  Andrew and I made a pact that we will bring a cooler with snacks and sandwiches so we can cut on food costs.  Will we actually use the savings cooler?  Not sure, but it's a good idea.

So, back to SPRING.  It's here and I love it.

Last week I utilized the handy man down the hall and had him give my bike a tune up.  I don't know how I went so long riding it the way that it was.  It's like an entirely new bike.  Now I just need him to reinstall my mud flap so that I can cruise the mean streets of Garmisch when it rains too.  This is kind of nerdy of me, but I can't wait to have some real money so I can purchase a really nice bike.  And by really nice, I mean a couple hundred dollars worth of nice.

I forgot to mention my flight dates in my earlier blog.  Marcel and I will be arriving in Chicago on June 4th and flying back to Germany on the 14th.  10 days of Indiana/Illinois bliss.  There are so many things I want to do and see.  I already know there won't be enough time.  I hate to say it, but I might have to cut out my daily naps....

Z or Zed?

 Due to the recent purchase of two round trip tickets to Chicago O'hare, money is at a steep decline.  It definitely has nothing to do with the two trips that I've taken this month or the upcoming two I have planned.  I don't think I have ever worried this much about money and it is entirely my fault.  Thank god I don't have any regular bills and that I have a forgiving Mom who will let my loan payments trickle in slower than planned.

Honorary Hoosier.  I've taught him well.

For Corinne's birthday a large and in charge van has been rented.  We will be taking said van to Italy where we will spend some time in Florence sampling the wine and being nuisances to the locals.  As the trip approaches I slightly regret agreeing to go on it. For money reasons, again.  But I know that, as always, it will be an unforgettable trip full of mistakes, laughs, and Andrew blacking out.

In friend news, we recently lost another of our fellow Abramites to family illness.  Our good friend Sean packed up his bags, well drunkenly threw his dirty clothes into a suitcase at 4am, and headed to the Munich airport to move back to the states.  His Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the outcome is not in his favor.  It's a rude awakening when things happen back in the real world.  You sometimes get caught up in the moment and forget about your friends and family and how fragile everything really is.  After Christina lost her Mom it was an insight for all of us that the world doesn't stop just because we're playing overseas.  BUT on a happier note, Christina will be back on the 28th!  I am beyond excited for her return, but a little apprehensive.  A lot has changed since she has been here and I'm nervous she won't be in love with Edelweiss and the Abrams like she was before.  For starters, her job at Alpine has been given up, so it is entirely possible that she will be relocated to housekeeping or custodial.  Cross your fingers that this doesn't happen.  To think positive, she will have a new roommate that hopefully won't suck nearly as bad as her last.  Overall, I'm excited to go to Antica Roma, our favorite Italian place, drink a Weiss bier, and catch up on everything we've missed over the last months.  Well, and to make dirty jokes and laugh at how immature we are.  I miss her!!

Hotel Creep Show

Marcel and I had a lovely little trip to Prague planned last weekend.  It was rudely canceled due to a sucky insurance policy that Avis has.  Apparently they don't allow you to drive their rental cars into the Czech Republic because it's too "dangerous" and you have to pay for any damages or stolen vehicles. Yada, yada, yada, Marcel and I don't have 20,000 Euro to pay for a new vehicle so we kept our business local and drove to Heidelberg.  It's interesting how different we are.  I instantly though "Oh well, let's risk it" and he instantly thought "NO WAY".  Those darn Germans and their practicality.  Heidelberg is about a 3 hour drive and as hard I tried I couldn't stay awake.  As soon as the GPS had a significant amount of kilometers until our next turn I put the seat back and took a little snooze.  I may not be the best navigator, but I did buy iced animal crackers and Oreos for our car snacks and I think that more than makes up for it.  We had no place to rest our hats, so we did a little online research and found a cheap hotel in the industrial district.  I think I became a little sketchy when the man who checked us in told us it was 60 for one night.  Marcel responded with "online it says it's 50" and then the old man goes "Ooooh ok, yeah 50 is ok too".  Even though I could have sworn the creepy hotel guy had cameras in the room and someone coming in the middle of the night to kidnap us, it wasn't so bad.  It gave us something to laugh about over the next few days and is definitely something I'll always remember.  The following day we stayed outside of the city in a cute guest house.  We've already decided we will be returning to this place.  Although I had no idea what was going on the entire time, Marcel absolutely loved the owners.  If I ever own a guest house that is exactly how I would like to run it.  Laid back and insanely nice.  The surprising thing is they never took down any of our information and when we tried to pay when we first arrived the woman just told us that she would see us again and we could figure it out then.  We had an amazing dinner there and got to sleep in the next day and have a private breakfast in the dining room.  The food was cheap and the beer was cheaper.  We had our own drinks up in the room but kept talking ourselves into just one more beer because we hardly ever see it at this price.  After breakfast we headed back into Heidelberg to tour the zoo.  If you ask me, this is always a good choice.  Fairly inexpensive and a guaranteed good time, we've decided we will go to the zoo in every city we visit.

Car Snack Extraordinaire

Schloss Heidelberg

Quality Photo taken by Punjabi

Raccoon.  Not to be confused with red panda.

Did that 8 year old just whistle at us?

Who: Corinne and I

What: 48 hours of fiesta
Where: Malaga, Spain
When: Feb 22-24
Why:  Why not?

With the endless onslaught of snow, Corinne and I decided to escape to the beaches of Spain and forget our cold troubles.  It was a whirlwind trip that ended far too soon and left me longing for a quick return to the coast of Spain so I could enjoy the sand and sangria yet again.  The trip began with our beloved Sean driving us to the airport in Memmingen (Munich West Airport - actually about an hour outside of Munich) in our short term rental car.  Public transportation is the preferred method, but with an early flight and trains starting at 5am it was impossible to make it to the airport in time.  Luckily, our round trip flight was a mere $50, so we didn't mind parting with a few extra dollars.  We made the departing flight without any struggles and even had time for a quick "goodbye Germany" beer in the terminal.  On empty stomachs we said a tipsy auf wiedersehen, G-town and headed to seventy degree Malaga.

We had our usual moments of being lost and confused trying to find our hostel when a young American girl stopped us and asked where we were headed.  She was from North Carolina and in Malaga teaching English.  She took the time to show us some of her favorite restaurants, our hostel, the night hot spots, and her flat where we had planned to meet up later to play beer pong and flippy cup.  We can never really escape our American ways.  After setting down our bags we basically ran out of the hostel in search of food.  A long morning of travel left us starving so we were ready to get our tapas on at a nearby local favorite.  The waiter knew zero English and that definitely added to the fun of the experience.  We ordered what we thought was a cheese dip with bread and chicken tapas.  About 10 minutes later our server arrives with a plate of chicken wings, a basket of bread, and mozzarella slices....where did we go wrong?!  Obviously, our Spanish was a little more rusty than we had thought and we couldn't help but hysterically laugh at ourselves for about 5 minutes.  We then ordered a bottle of wine and several other things off of the menu.  Our next choices were better and we left the restaurant full and happy and on our way to the beach.  Later in the night we hit up a bar that was having a bluegrass inspired band and cheap cervesas.  On the way out of the hostel we ventured down a wrong street and before we knew it we were on unmarked roads with graffiti, suspicious cars, and cat calling porch sitters.  This was my first time in Europe that I have ever felt unsafe and it was a real eye opener.  I had the feeling that any moment someone was going to slink out of a dark alley or doorway and take my belongings or even worse, hurt us.  We discussed why turning around was not an option and both kept silent about the bad situation we were in and marched forward in hopes of finding a busy street with people on it. It was only after we emerged into a more populated pedestrian area that we sighed in relief and relayed to each other all of the horrible scenarios that were playing through our heads.  After that we vowed to double check the map before we started walking.  Thankfully, I left Spain unscathed and with a little more awareness of my fragility in foreign countries.  WHEW.  The bar, ZZ Bar, or as Corinne likes to call it after several cervezas, ZZ Top, had a really fun atmosphere and the band was absolutely awesome.  To ease our nerves from our frightening walk, we took two shots of tequila immediately upon arriving. Cliche, but also a great idea.  The band was more than entertaining - check out this link I found on Youtube of their performance from that night.  I'm pretty sure whoever took that video was standing right next to me.  Our walk home was just as fun with more giggles than I'd care to share with the rest of the world. Upon our arrival at the hostel we made ourselves sit in the common area until we had calmed down to the point where we weren't bursting into laughter every thirty seconds.  And this is not an exaggeration.

Day two was great.  We got in lots of shopping with the rationalization that we were spending very little on travel expenses and then spent the rest of the afternoon laying on the beach.  Words can't describe how much I needed some good time in the sun.  I felt so relaxed and recharged, it was just what I needed to face the never ending winter of mountain town.  We successfully only did one toursity thing during the trip and even that was done halfheartedly.  While the sun was going down we hiked up a itty bitty mountain where some moorish ruins settled and took pictures of the coast and glowing city.

We wanted the trip to end with a bang, and with a 6:30am flight we decided the only way to do this was to stay up all night.  This is better in theory than in practice.  Although we had a great last night in Spain, we were regretting our decision the entire travel day.  Especially when we had to sprint through the airport because the gate check informed us that the agent who originally checked us in made a mistake and WE had to correct it...10 minutes before our gate closed, of course.  Still drunk and running to the absolute farthest possible destination from our gate at 5am was the last thing we thought we would be doing and we made sure to complain about it as we thought we would nearly die.  Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but we weren't happy.  Six hours later we were back in Garmisch neatly tucked into our beds sleeping off our night of party machen.

Something important I should note.....During our party machen on the last night Corinne and I were approached by a group of young Spaniards accompanied by an older British couple.  The couple explained that they were teaching the 20 somethings in an intensive English course that consisted of them all living together doing every day tasks for an extended period of time, so that they could learn English in an informal setting that was more appropriate to them.  They were all very nice, but Corinne and I both shared a look of apprehension when they continuously offered us drinks and probed us with questions about why we were in Europe and what we did at our jobs.  We make it a point to never mention that we work for the U.S. military so we answered their questions in a round about way and continued on with the conversation.  I feel very bad saying this because they were all very nice and never did anything to make me think differently, but I had a very uneasy feeling the entire time we were with them.  After about a half hour of light conversation they asked us to move on to the next bar with them.  We politely declined explaining that we were leaving in about ten minutes to collect our bags and head to the airport.  My suspicions were confirmed when they looked disappointed and offered to drive us to the airport because it was "on the way" to the next bar (the airport in Malaga is far from the city out in the middle of no where).  They then became insistent that we continue our night with them.  Corinne and I shared the look again and made a speedy exit.  Although it wasn't a scary situation, it definitely caused me to feel anxious and alerted me to the fact that you can't trust everyone.  From the wise mouth of Dave Martin - Always trust your gut.

I failed to mention the overly aggressive nature of Spanish men.  If you have low self confidence Spain is the place to go.  No matter what you're wearing or how you look these men will make kissing noises at you, whistle, sing, make suggestive comments (in English and Spanish), and make you feel all around uncomfortable.  In the beginning we found this pretty amusing, but by the end of day two it was just annoying.  Even the youngins playing in the park found it necessary to follow in their elder's steps.  Hence the blog title.