Damn you, Harry Potter!

That's right-damn you, Harry Potter!

Jen hadn't seen the 6th HP movie yet and really wanted to, and there was one final screening in English at the cinema here today at 11 am. So we wake up at the butt crack of dawn (930 am-that's really early for us unemployed folk!) to get ready.

But, all of our racing was for naught, as we went to the wrong theater. What, you mean the right one is only 1 stop away? Run!

(A midget tried to put the moves on us as we scurried to the station. Sorry, but NO, tiny man, no way!)

It's on this street? Ack, where? Let's ask this lady....dammit, it's the other way, run!!!

There it is! I even scaled a brick wall to get there, no lie. But it was a small one.

And we rush to the door.....

Just to read the sign that says "special screening of Harry Potter has been cancelled"

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

But not all was lost. We learned the body language required for letting Germans know that we speak English (pictured above-nevermind, I deleted them after uploading them to facebook-I suck), and had some delicious food at a cute little cafe near Munchner Freiheit. Mmm.

Then back to Guillermo's house of anger and despair for apartment hunting. And Jen is on a date with a German giant right now-go Jen! No giant is safe lol!

The drama

Oy, where to begin!

Let me give some background first...I haven't liked Guillermo for a while. I was optimistic at the beginning, all excited about living here and all it entailed. Then as I learned more about him and dealt with him more it soured fast.

He's a creepy SOB. Like, he's a trenchcoat away from flashing little girls in playgrounds creepy. He had told Jen all these stories about all the girls he's rented to, and how he had hooked up with them. Which, by the way, EWWWWW!!! Guillermo (aka Gagermo and Gargamel) is 47ish, no taller than me, stooped over, bad teeth, stank ass, unattractive and always wears the same clothes. He's no prime piece of meat like the hot Germans that are everywhere here.

Yadda yadda yadda, Jen and I start talking about moving out together. She's an awesome person, so that would be a blast. We'd tentatively started looking at places, then last week Gagermo got all drunk and pissed off and is kicking me out. He's currently mad at everyone.

So Jen and I have been looking (I'm supposed to be out on 10/2, although he still hasn't told me the date). Jen told him on Saturday that she would be leaving also. We had gone out for ice cream with Claudia that day, and when we got back she told him. Claudia told us later that Guillermo was bitching about how Jen would be moving in with me (even though she didn't tell him that) and questioning Claudia about what she knew. She doesn't like him either, so she didn't tell him anything.

Which makes him even madder.

So, that night is when Jen and I go to see all the penis...err, the spa. ;) when we come back home around midnight, the first thing I notice when I walk in my room is that it smells strongly of cigarette smoke in there. I mention it to Jen, hers smelled a bit, too, but she's stuck between 2 smokers so it's not too odd.

The next morning in the kitchen she tells me something strange...when she woke up, she noticed that there was a cigarette butt wedged in between two of the slats. A marlboro. Which is what Guillermo smokes. Which means....that that fucker was in her room! And mine too, explaining the smell! And this butt was really wedged in there, too. So he strolls in to make lunch and Jen asks him about it. Immediately he bursts into this loud, nervous laugh. Then he goes off on this bullshit story of how he was on the balcony and flicked the cigarette butt off, but a gust of wind came along and must have blown it into the blinds. Riiiiiiiiight. I have heard some crazy things in my day, but that takes it. This *magic* wind not only whipped the cigarette butt into the blinds with enough force to penetrate them, but held the thick metal blinds open and wedged the cigarette butt in there. As Jen said to Guillermo "it must be a miracle of science, because that is impossible". He is such a lying sack of shit!!

And then, the next day, the cigarette butt is gone. Jen didn't move it. Which means, you guessed it, that jackass went in her room AGAIN and took it out! Which is also illegal-just because he's our landlord doesn't give him the right to go in when he pleases.

Oh, it gets even better...Jen realized today that she's missing 100 euros. Which we both believe that Gagermo stole. He knows he has to give me my caution back, and that he will have almost no one renting next month, plus, it's just one more way to abuse her because she won't give him what he wants. He's pathetic.

So we are both booby-trapping our doors at this point. The next few days will be rough!

Naked time

So, on Saturday, Jen and I were feeling super stressed out....then decided it was time for a spa day.

Spas are very popular out here. Any town with the name Bad (Bad Tolz, Badem-Wurttemberg, Bad-Bad) have natural springs and stuff. But Jen found one online about an hour from us, Therme-Erding, in a town called Altenerding.

Of course we got lost trying to find the place-the signs sucked-but the nicest bus driver in the history of bus drivers helped us out. We were wandering around, obviously lost...and the bus driver stopped the bus in the middle of the street and called us over to ask where we were headed, then gave us a ride to the station where we could jump on the next bus to Therme-Erding. That bus driver, runner up to nicest bus driver ever, got us there and even called to us when we got to the stop. They were awesome!

And OMG the spa....OMG is all I can say!

It was naked bodies as far as the eye could see. The locker rooms are co-ed, but the showers aren't (umm k), and everything else is co-ed. People from 16 to at least 60+. We were 2 of maybe 6 people out of the 300ish people in there in bathing suits. And....we could not stop looking at penis. Yes, I admit it. We have reached a new level of people/penis watching. Big penis, little penis, old penis, young penis. Floppy penis, perky penis, hairy penis, smooth penis. Jen and I were pointing out penises of interest all night.

Enough about penis...

The spa itself is absolutely gorgeous. Pools, steam rooms, saunas, springs, different meditation rooms (and penis)...it was incredible. We were there for 3 hours, and we barely saw a third of what is there. We plan to go again for a whole day, which is only 5 euros more than what we paid for 3 hours.

We did not know until after, though, that there are no bathing suits allowed. Its all naked, all the time. We got told 3 times we needed to be naked by the patrons there, which was totally awkward. We just thought that some parts were naked, not everything. Well, the kids section is not naked, but in the over 16 parts, it's a steamy, naked festival.

Oh god, best part....there is a restaurant in there...and half the people in there were naked. Eating naked! Like, no big deal, penis bouncing by, muff wandering around, eating a nice meal. I was shocked. I still am.

I did enjoy an ice cream cone while watching penis. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, huh?

Oh, and so I don't forget another cool part, our taxi driver was awesome. We told hi we had to go to the S-Bahn station, and he knew the timetable, and knew we only had a few minutes to spare...and that mofo stepped on the gas like a madman! Loved it! We were flying around the parking lot, I swear we were on 2 tires around the roundabout, but we got there in time. He was sehr gut.

Got home, had taco/nachos (thanks, Mom!) and crashed hard.

But when we got home, my room smelled like cigarette smoke...to be continued...

Leopoldstrasse

Yes, they're all sideways...I can't rotate them on my phone. I apologize in advance for any neck pain.

This street is really cool...this is kind of the artists' quarter, and the statue of the walking man is its' main attraction. There were people selling art on the streets the weekend I was there (September 6th)

It's time...

For photo catch-up. The next few blogs will be short and have pics. I gotta get some these off of my phone's memory! It's slowing it down :(

The Isar River

Is lovely, isn't it? Families strolling, dogs swimming, a guy fishing...so damn idyllic!

It was nice eating at a cafe on the banks...very pleasant. Gotta love Europe!

Don't blog angry!

You can obviously tell that I did not proofread the last blog. I swear I'm not stupid. I really do know proper spelling and grammar. So...a lesson to all: don't blog angry.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the lovely people at "Don't Piss Vesta Off, Incorporated."

The Weis'n, and why I hate Chilean men

So here's what is currently going on in my little world...

I've been to the Wies'n (the local name for Oktoberfest, don't know if I've mentioned that before) for the last 3 day straight. It's addicting!! At the risk of sounding like some tree-huggin' hippie, the energy there is just incredible. Everyone is smiling and laughing and happy- rare for the Germans- and singing and dancing and having a great time. Everyone is your friend at Oktoberfest. On Tuesday, as soon as we sat down, we were toasting and doing snuff with our seatmates. Today, even though the tent was busy, we had guys (of course) inviting us to sit with them. When I wandered off, some cute dude in lederhosen was there, kissing my cheek and holding my hand, walking around with me. Martin from Augsburg, and he was pissed drunk. It was funny.

(A note about German men here...when they're sober, they are very stoic and somber. No smiles, no talking to strangers, no touching. God forbid you try to flirt with a German that has no beer in his system-it scares the hell out of them. They really cut loose at Oktoberfest)

If you have never been to Oktoberfest in Munich, for chrissakes, go!! Even if you don't like beer, there is something there for everyone. Today I enjoyed a half meter of bratwurst. Yesterday I bought some hot sugared almonds. Day before that I had chocolate covered strawberries on a stick. There are rides, and places to eat and fantastic people-watching. Seriously-go!

Ok, moving on...

It's no secret that I can't stand my landlord, Guillermo. He's a creepy, womanizing douchebag. Jen has told me before that he has told her a number of disquieting things, such as his preference to rent only to women, and also a number of stories of how he has then slept with these women. He's tried to get her to sleep with him, too. He gives us both the heebie-jeebies.

So, this last week, things have been progressively been going downhill. He has refused to buy more toilet paper. He is no longer taking the garbage out. It's literally like a landfill in the garbage room. Little flies are everywhere and it smells like rotting ass in there. So, a few days ago, I bring the big garbage bag from my room, about 3/4s full out to the garbage room, and we start using that for trash. Which is now overflowing and all over the floor again.

Now Jen and I have been talking about and rooming together. Thank god we had already done research, cause earlier today Gagermo (his new name) told the Columbian to tell me that I had to leave. He speaks Spanish and not enough German and no English, so he can't tell me himself (bs). She goes to Jen's room to ask if I'm there, then asks her to tell me. Yadda yadda yadda, I'd like to throw Gagermo off the balcony. I'm sure it's because I am not the type of girl he likes for his harem, and he is also kicking Marco out, because his studly ass doesn't fit in his little fantasy world either. So Jen and I are looking for a new place to live effective 10/1. This should be interesting.

Holy crap, this might be the longest blog yet! Til next time!

Oktoberfest

Is totally insane!!! Jen and I went last night to check it out, and OMG it was craziness. We started in the Augustiner tent, which seriously has the best beer in the world. I actually drank my whole liter of beer there! First one ever!!

Then we went out for chocolate covered strawberries on a stick, which were incredible. Some old German guy bought them for us, then tagged along with us to the Hofbrau tent and bought us another beer, which we shared.

We ditched him just as the Wies'n was closing down, so we did the hostel bar crawl til 1:30 then headed home. We had a blast!!!

Random memories of the night (in semi chronological order):

*dancing in the aisles at Augustiner while trying to find a table with some cute drunk guy.
*snuff? Sure, let's have some. (It's just tobacco)
*are those sperm shots?
*Jen tearing up slips of paper to write her number on for cute guys and storing them in her dirndl
*sweet and tiny hands? Um, thanks?
*milch bar! Lol
*dancing on the benches at the Hofbrau tent
*"can you feel that?" "Um, no..."
*falling off the bench and knocking everyone's beers over. I'm pure class!
*Jen almost falling on her ass on the way to Hackerbrucke...slippery shoes, riiiight ;)
*another beer? Don't mind if I do!
*the totally adorable guy at the bar with the same phone as me, chatting it up-Donner, I think his name was
*gummi bears!!
*we got rejected by tiny arm? Wtf?!?
*seeing that same adorable guy Donner everywhere until we went to Karlsplatz Stachus
*waving at the random guy who was checking us out, who ended coming back up the escalator and thru the station to follow us, but...
*him then getting cockblocked when we met with 2 German guys who kissed our foreheads and plans to marry Jen
*the club is closed?!? What is wrong with these people, it's only 1 am!
*completely pissed drunk French guys in lederhosen that wanted cheeseburgers
*cheeseburger down!
*that guy has a nice ass...oh god, it's a woman in lederhosen!
*cute but beyond drunk dude asleep at Sendlinger Tor surrounded by caution tape

Good times!!

Groceries

As I sit eating my (very late) breakfast I start thinking about grocery shopping. Because I went on Thursday...made another quick trip on Friday...and now I have to go AGAIN. I have never shopped for so many groceries before!! You can only buy as much as you can carry home, so there's no big 2 week shopping sprees.
So, in consideration of grocery shopping, here's some interesting price comparisons...

***Lettuce...more expensive here almost double the price.
***Milk...cheaper here (there's actually farmers bitching about the low prices of milk)
***Bread...more expensive here. The store nearest me sells them as half loaves, at approx $1.50 each.
***Hamburger...way more expensive here! More than double the price. But...
***Pork...cheaper. A lot cheaper. However...
***Roasted chickens...way more expensive. Again, almost double.
***Eggs...$6 a dozen. No lie. Again only sold as a half dozen.
***Real butter...cheaper. And delicious!
***Coke...more expensive. And you have to pay deposits on the bottles.
***Bottled water...more expensive. Again with deposits on the bottles.
***Beer...dirt cheap! $1 for a 40! We can see what they like to drink here lol!
***Chips...more expensive, but only slightly.
***Pasta...the same
***Mexican food makings...holy jesus, like triple the price, at least! The price of taco shells, even just tortillas, is nuts.
***Cheddar cheese...pshaw! If you can find it, it's hella expensive. They have, almost exclusively, white cheeses here, which can be pretty cheap though

That's all I can think of for now. Needless to say, even eating cheap, I'm spending at least $60 a week to eat. That's a lot for one person.

The healing process

It's no secret that part of the reason-hell, the catalyst, actually-that I pulled up stakes and left home is because of the robbery.

It shouldn't be surprising that that event had a major impact on me. I should feel safe at home, not just where I sleep at night but the area, my environment, my city. When you lose that, or, in my case, it gets taken from you abruptly, it is not easy to get back. But it IS worth it.

I've been out at night twice this week, both with company and without, and I feel safe. I am, of course, cautious and more vigilant than usual, but still, I feel safe. There are enough people out and enough apartments on the street that I feel good about it. So I'm going out again tonight. It's Friday, and that little Irish bar was loud and fun and packed with English speakers, which is a bonus. And it's not far from a couple U-Bahn stations.

Speaking of the stations...there was a murder at one of the S-Bahn stations a few days ago...some teenagers were punking some younger kids for money, and an older guy stepped in to get them to stop. The teenagers beat him to death. All for 15 euros.

Jedenfalls (anyhow), they were caught. It has brought to light the need for more video cameras at the stops, and testing of the emergency systems there (there are buttons labeled "Notruf", which means "distress call", in every station).

A shame that someone has to die before these types of things are brought up and acted on. Some things are the same no matter where you go.

Humorous U and S Bahn station names

Harthaus

Tutzing

Laim

Daglfing

Poing

Frottmaning

Harras

Siemenswerke

Icking

McDonalds

Yadda yadda yadda...I'm hanging out in the McDonalds in the Hauptbahnhof for the next few hours, and I have some observations I'd like to share.

#1...McDonalds always comes through. Just when it felt like my leg bones were going to bust through the bottom of my feet, it appeared, shimmering like an oasis in the gray desert that is Munich's central station.
#2...and it's open 24/7. That is really goddamn rare in Munich. It's like a friend that never lets you down.

#3...I had seen their "farmkartoffeln" online and fell in love. McDonalds in Germany offer potato wedges with sour cream, and oh sweet baby jesus are they tasty! The best 2,19€ I've ever spent. I say this...sour cream FTW!

#4...my coke came without ice. What. The. Hell?!? Who serves a soft drink in a fast food restaurant without ice? These Germans are crazy! The only piece (literally, 1 cube) of ice I've found in Germany was in a wine spritzer at the street fair last weekend.

Overall though...if I may coin a phrase... "Ich liebe es" (I'm lovin' it!) Lol ;)
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I don't know...

...why, but the political poster by the Lehel tram stop made me laugh so hard. It was just a picture of the candidate with a Hitler mustache drawn on.

...why I am going to interview for his job. I hate kids, I don't want to be a babysitter. I probably won't do well in the interview. What the hell can that consist of, anyways? But maybe I should be positive, the baby could be adorable and the mom will want to throw 100€ bills at me. LOL!!

...what to do next month. I don't want to live in Guillermo's home anymore. I already thought he was gross, but last night was the kicker. Like I want to hear him putting the moves on someone- ewww. Stupid girl. Thank god they didn't have sex, there would have been puke all over my room.

...why I do the things I do sometimes. Ah well, it'll make for good stories!

Progress

^ Cool painting by Adriaen Brouwer ^

Yes, I've made some!!

I went out to the Alte Pinakothek today, which is an art museum for older works, like 400 year old paintings-wow. Admission on Sundays (it's actually open on Sundays!) is only 1€, which is really cool because usually it's about 6 or 7€ to get in. Homegirl almost died walking up the stairs to the galleries though! It's at least 6 flights of stairs, maybe more. I took a picture, but I'll have to add that later. I spent a few hours there, saw some really cool paintings, a couple of which I actually want to read more about. One of them is above-it looks like the same character was used in a series of paintings, always getting his ass kicked for something. It's intriguing.

Anyways, about my progress... On the way back home for food-a glass of OJ doesn't provide too much energy-an older lady started talking to me at the U-Bahn station. I did the usual "I'm sorry, my German isn't good" line, so she slowed down and tried to say it simply for me (older people usually speak no English), and OMFG we actually had a little conversation! She was trying to get to the Ostbahnhof and didn't know which train to take. I was able to help her get on the right train :) ahhh, I'm getting it a little bit! Still struggling, but that was nice.

In other news...someone (!!!) is now stealing my soap! I take my shower today and notice the lid isn't closed right, which is odd cause I always close them. So I use my soap and pay attention to how much I used. I go to the bathroom at 3 am and notice the bottle has moved, so I check it....and the level of soap is significantly lower! Wtf!! So now soap and toothpaste have to hide in my room. And unless it is a dude using my pink waterlily flavored soap, I know it is the Columbian chick!! Arrrrrgh!!

Well, I should be getting my laptop battery today (a thousand thanks to my awesome mom for making that happen-love ya!!) so there should be pictures and all that again with these blogs. And hopefully a job, too!

Peace!

Prefatory matters

So I think it's awesome that the Germans have a pre-party for Oktoberfest called the Weis'n Warmup. Weis'n is the local name for Oktoberfest-it's held at Theresienweise (Theresa's meadows), hence Weis'n. Anyways...that's not where I was tonight lol, although I thought it was.

There was another street party going on! I'm not sure what it was called, my friend showed me the pamphlet though. It was on Leopoldstrasse where the walking man statue is. And man oh man, did I see some interesting shit tonight!!

Firstly, on the way there...this group of people in dirndls got on the U-Bahn. All men. Wearing full on traditional costume for women. They all had wigs and makeup, whole 9 yards. I don't think they were guys doing it as a goof, I think they were drag queens. Because their makeup was fantastic!! No dude that doesn't have practice could've achieved that look.

Anyways, I get there and start wandering around...its almost midnight so it's really winding down, but the drunken revelry still continued.

Next, while Gal got us drinks (first piece of ice I've seen since I've been in Germany, btw, in some kind of mixed wine drink) there was this guy who got up and laid out on a table. I thought at first he was just resting, then some random dude came up and half mounted him and started to hump him. And oh how his friends laughed. They were both cute, of course.

I saw I dunno how many cataclysmically drunk people I saw stumbling and lurching down the street. I saw a couple of guys sleeping sitting down, totally passed out drunk. Good times!

This street festival thing is still going on tomorrow night, so I'll head down there tomorrow again so I can catch more of the fun.

Ahhh, I can't wait for Oktoberfest!!

(Btw, you win a box of cookies if you get the title reference-no cheating!)

I just saw my first German tranny...

...And it made me realize why German women aren't attractive.

It was really difficult to tell whether it was a man or a woman-it took me 3 U-Bahn stops to figure it out. Seriously, this was a tough one. She was wearing lipstick, but that doesn't mean squat, really. Big, curly old lady hair. Jeans and a sweater. (Man) boobs. At least 6'2. Walked like a man. That was the kicker.

I digress...why German women aren't attractive: #1-no boobs. 99% of the women here are flat-chested. All the heaving bosoms you see on TV are made of carefully crafted clothes and pads. #2-they don't ever smile. Personally, I feel that a smile makes someone look more attractive. Maybe that's just my opinion, but still. And #3-the women and men have the same features. But what's attractive on the men is homely looking on the women. That's why the tranny was so hard to spot.

Women with hot bodies are a dime a dozen here. Beautiful women are really rare.

Just a random thought :)

Seriously

It may be hard to read the sign, but I wanted to show how cities around the world mess with tourists and even their own residents.

This is the street sign for my street. In the space of 100m (ooh, I'm so Euro now lol, with my meters) the street has 3 different names. 3. That's totally unnecessary. The first street that actually intersects with Naupliastrasse is Akeleistrasse. Then, 20m later, the street widens a bit, 10-15 feet, and becomes not just a street, but apparently a square, and hence is renamed Wornbrunner Platz. And that is ok for maybe 20 more meters until it narrows again and becomes my street, Immergrunstrasse.
That is why, when trying to find the place my first day here, I had to bother some poor old man with my butchered German. Which, in hindsight, really isn't that bad. My accent is bad, but I'm understandable. Their accent is bad, too. Damn Bavarians.

Well, I'm off to check out their mall today. I think there's only one, so this should be interesting. After that, I dunno. I haven't spent a damn dime the last few days, so tonight I get to go out and do something. Just not sure what yet :)

Oh god...

I was sitting behind the most horrifying stench today. I never knew an old lady could smell that bad! If I hadn't seen her turn her head towards me (in disdain, might I mention) when I flopped around in my seat to find the source of the...odor, I might have thought she was dead. Because that is certainly how she smelled.

My search for Elisabethplatz ended up a bust. Couldn't find the damn place. So now I'm back on the U1 heading towards Sendlinger Tor to wander around there. Medieval stuff there, as I hear it. More churches. There are a ton of old ass churches here! But they're pretty :)

Jen told me where to find the mall, so I think I'll head out there tomorrow. I am in desperate need of shoes. Should be fun to wander around anyways. Next week we're going to do the BMW Plant tour together-girly stuff lol! She's really nice...I'm glad she's here to jibba jabba with.

Okn here and I don't know where the hell I'm going. Time to wander aimlessly!

Hmph

So...there was the situation with the missing Coke. Obviously, I live in a shared apartment. Which means a shared fridge. This does not, however, mean shared food. So I went to Tengelmanns on Monday and bought a 2 liter of Coke. Cause I love me some Coke. Yesterday, after getting back from bouncing around town, I want some Coke....not unreasonable, I don't think. I pull the bottle out..and find that some MOFO has taken half of my Coke! Cracked open my brand new bottle and drank half of it. Who does that?!? But whatever...I can deal. I understand that the siren song of Coke is hard to deny.

But that is not all...oh, not all. For the last few days I had a suspicion that someone was using my toothpaste. Again, shared shower, not shared supplies. But the toothpaste would be in a different position, or something would be moved...mind you, my stuff is behind the curtain, not readily visible. You have to look for it. So yesterday after showering, I folded the toothpaste tube under and put it down in a specific place. I go to get in the shower today, and whaddya know...toothpaste has been moved! Sneaky bastards!!

I believe that the toothpaste thief and the Coke thief are one in the same. I *think* it's this lady that came in after me, from Columbia. I know Jen wouldn't touch it, and Marco has his own stuff out there. I don't know how to prove my theory though.

Speaking of Marco...that dude has got to start wearing some clothes! I can't have him wandering around in his boxer briefs-I get distracted. He came in for breakfast today while I was cooking my potato pancakes (damn good, btw) and I seriously almost bit him. Seriously.

So uploading pictures is being a bitch!

I've tried 4 times to (unsuccessfully) upload pictures via email. I'm about to give up. I've got some really cool ones, too, so that really bugs me. I'll keep trying, just a little bit later. I don't want to get any more frustrated lol!

Today...not doing much. I have to do laundry, and the washing machine has what is, quite possibly, the tiniest basket ever. I don't even know if my towel will fit in there by itself. And I get the joy of hanging my clothes to dry on the "waschestande", which is basically a wire rack. I miss having a dryer!! And I don't much care for having my unmentionables (oh yeah, I mentioned them) hanging out for all to see.

And I cleaned my room. It's so small that any type of mess makes it look like a pigsty, so it has to be ship shape.

Maybe I'll go out later tonight. I could really use a drink.

Housekeeping

I've never been anywhere before where getting outside felt compulsory. As much as I want to just laze around today, it's just too damn pretty to stay inside. So I'm going to go laze around at a park and feed ducks :-)

It's hard to believe that I haven't even been here for a week yet. Wow. I think when you go somewhere as a tourist you feel rushed to experience as much a possible in a short period of time. But moving...you want to get to know your city as quickly as possible still, but it's different. I really want to just get down to business and get back into a routine.

I emailed one guy about a job at a pub here (the only one I could do without a resume) and haven't heard back yet. *sigh* I'll keep trying though. It is so incredibly boring not having a job!!! And limiting, too.

I'll start putting the pictures up from the last few days. Not like I have much else to do today lol!

Ass, leather and traditional costume

I need to address a few things that I have noticed while wandering the streets of Munich...

Firstly...as a whole, the German people aren't smelly. They've come a long way since those "no deodorant" days. But damn, there are some exceptions to that rule! At least once a day, sometimes more, I come across some stank ass person. And it's not that can-you-believe-how-hot-and-humid-it-is sweaty smell...no, it is something far worse. It smells like moist and rotting ass. Like, haven't scrubbed your crack in weeks stench. It's...really, no words can convey how bad it is, but horrifying comes closest. And the only thing worse than being downwind of that stank is being stuck on the U-Bahn with them. I'm surprised the Geneva Convention hasn't addressed that by now.

Moving on. This is just random, but I see someone wearing leather pants at least once a day. I know that leather pants are warm, and Munich gets cold...but it's September, people. It's autumn. You're just asking for death ass by doing that.

Last but not least...I don't know if it's because Oktoberfest is approaching or what, but I see at least 1 person every day (usually more) wearing traditional costume- lederhosen or dirndl. It usually looks like someone is just going about their day, not like it's being worn for any special event. The guide books say it's rare to see someone in traditional dress, but they are wrong. I think it's cool, though.

Ok, back to my book now (I am seriously so bored with no work to do. I'm quickly running out of ways to keep myself entertained).

Here's the deal

I'm kinda stuck. No battery for the laptop is gonna happen, so...ok, I'm ok with that. It sucks big time, but hell, things could be worse.

Be that as it may...I am still going to post pics and that stuff, just in many, tiny blogs.

OMFG a bee just flew into my room!!

...

Ok, gone now. *whew* I've never been stung, but I sure as hell don't want to get stung now and find out I'm allergic. That would suck massively.

Ok, done now. On to my book for a bit then a quick walk to the store. Best opening line of a book ever: "Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick."

Das ist alles.

So I'm kinda stuck...

I was playing online with my phone last night, looking for jobs, and I found 4 possibilities, ranging from part time maid to business English teacher. Yay, right? Not so much...

Excited about those opportunities, I go to the Apple store today for a new battery. 139€. Ugh. Which right now I can't afford-hell, that's half my rent!

So I can't email my resume without my computer, which I can't fix until I have an extra 139€ laying around, which I can't afford until I get a job. It's a big ol' heinous circle. FML.

But I'm trying to figure a way around it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed right now.

Also, no laptop means email blogs. Which is fine, but I'm taking a gazillion pics that I can't offload anywhere. So again, we'll see.

But, I stumbled across the Hugendubel, a 4 story bookstore that carries-gasp- English books! So I'm now the proud owner of The Shining. I am SO happy to have something to read!!

I'm sitting at the Weisses Brauhaus right now, enjoying my radler (beer and lemonade, actually not bad) as I put my keen and penetrating mind (lol)to the situation at hand.

Scheisse!

Sundays suck

That's right-I said it! Sundays in Munich suck. Damn near everything is closed, so any store or area that you might possibly purchase something at is like a ghost town. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

I started at the BMW Museum, which I knew was 2 very important things: open and free. It was surprisingly cool, and there were a lot of interactive exhibits to play with fuel cells and crap like that. The cars and motorcycles were out, and that was cool. You can actually order your BMW there, and the plant is right next door. I'm considering doing the plant tour in the next few weeks.

(I would normally insert pics here, but I'm still bitter about the laptop battery situation, so you'll have to wait. I'll update with more pics later)

Then I strolled over to the Olympiapark and just wandered around there. My new nickname should be The Walking Chick, cause that's all I do nowadays. I walk for hours and hours. Also, I counted stairs today...6 flights, and that was with taking the escalator quite a bit. Ja, buns and thighs!

I went to Marienplatz after that because I remember a big bookstore over there, and homegirl is hurtin' for some reading material. But wait...it's Sunday and nothing is frigging open! Even Viktualienmarkt, which was insanely busy yesterday, was dead. That was creepy, seeing all the empty stalls. And the usually bustling Marienplatz just had a few stragglers wandering around. Needless to say, the Apple store was also closed, hence I am emailing this in again and there are no pics. *sigh*

Then home...didn't do much. But as I made dinner my roomie Jen came in and we chatted for a while. She's super nice, and in a similar situation as I am. She has friends here and she offered to introduce me, so I won't be as lonely. Hooray! It's so good to be able to talk to someone in my own language again.

Anyways, hopefully I can get a new battery tomorrow and get pictures on here again.

Das ist alles fur heute nacht, leute!
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Bitte zuruck bleiben

I hear that every time the U-Bahn doors close. It means "please stay back". I'm picking up little things like that, which make me happy. When I get irritated with myself for not learning German faster, that's the sort of thing that I need to remember.

Anyways, my laptop battery is dead (not bad after 3 years), so I'm emailing this blog in. The only bad thing about that is pictures are hard to place. But we'll see :-) I'm hoping the Apple store is open today so I can get a new battery.

On deck for today is the BMW Museum and a stroll down Leopoldstrasse. Maybe tonight if I don't sleep 16 hours again (ok, I didn't sleep the entire time...just most of it) I'll check out a bar and see what "nightlife" is like out here. On a Sunday night. I'm sure it'll be hot lol!
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Updates

Updates will be on hold for a bit....battery issues with the computer :-( I'll do some email updates though!

Really?

Tiniest yogurt ever. 

Seriously, it's the size of my thumb.

It's a tease.

But this, combined with 2 peaches and some "nutella & go" is my breakfast. 

I'm sooo gonna lose weight here!

Playing Tourist

Luckily, it stopped raining as I headed out today.  My first destination was the Deutsches Museum, which is a big science museum. 

I was really interested in (dork alert!) the magnified human cell that you could walk through.  Which is the ONLY thing I couldn't find!  Seriously, this place is massive.  It had a lot of interesting stuff in it, but most of the displays were in German and I couldn't understand much of it.  They had a lot of interactive exhibits as well, which was cool, but again, mostly I was clueless as to what was going on.  One in particular was a chemical reaction, and it had a picture of a nose, so I sniffed it.  Bad idea.  I had apparently made pure ammonia in the exhibit and sniffed it.  Why would that be an exhibit?!? Couldn't it have been something that smelled yummy?  I think they were just trying to torment us non-German speakers. 

But anyways, I got some cool pictures there...for your viewing pleasure...

These 2 are my favorite from that set..

Before and after the museum, which is on the Isar River,  I wandered there and got some more pretty pictures. It's so cool to have little green areas pretty much every where you go.  It's really relaxing.  And the Isar River is very nice-it's brown, but clear if that makes any sense.  It's running water, and there are willow trees drooping in to the water, and ducks and all that.  Someone had tossed a couple loaves of bread in for the ducks, so it was fun watching them chase after the bread, which was making a run for it courtesy of the current.  Here's some Isar River/surrounding area action:

 

Enough of the museum.  After that I made my way to the Englischer Garten, but I had to wander through Hofgarten first (see what I mean? Gartens everywhere!)  I got totally lost in the Englischer Garten, but it was cool because I came across some stuff I hadn't seen before, like the pond in front of the Japanese Tea Garden: 

and I came across these dudes surfing (!) on the river that runs through the Englischer Garten as well. There were 3 guys total, only 1 was any good.  The oldest one kept wiping out-like c'mon, it's a 2 foot wave!

 <--That guy had an awesome body, btw ;-)

I eventually found my way out of there via the Chinesischer Turm, which I had been to before.  I needed a break after 3 straight hours of walking, so I sat and had a snack.  It's so nice to sit out there, even though I almost fell off my bench when I got up (fat girl on the very end, like a horrible, horrible see-saw). 

See how purty?

Anyways, I hopped on the first random bus I could find and took a 44 minute ride across town to a nearby U-Bahn station where I could hop on the U1 back to Mangfallplatz.  I need to ride the bus more often- it's a good way to see the city.

Didn't end up at Haxnbauer as I originally thought, but I had a craving for meat in a bad way.  There's a little biergarten/gasthaus at the end of my street by the U-Bahn entrance, and they had a sign for "Spare ribs, Große Portion!"...how could I say no? So I had their spare ribs and some röstkartoffeln (roasted potatoes- good lord, they were good!) and it was yummy.  Germans can't do bbq sauce worth a damn though- it was a cognac and pepper sauce, not like we have back home. 

Not sure what to tomorrow yet....maybe go check out the Perlacher Forst, or ride random buses around again.  I have to stop thinking like a tourist, but I can't help it.  We'll see what happens!

Roomies

So I finally "met" my other 2 roommates this morning-Jen and Marco. 

Jen is a Canadian student (speaks English, hooray!) who word on the street says is quite sociable.  I ran in to her in the kitchen while I was making breakfast this morning.  It was quick, though, I think she's sick and was just in for a drink.

Marco....oh Marco.  As I was leaving the bathroom after taking a shower, he was headed in.  With just his underwear on.  Short, curly dark hair.  Nice ass.  He's German but speaks some English, too.  All we had time for was good morning.  Anyways, he was a nice surprise this morning :-)

It is still raining! It has been raining for hours! 

Can you see that?!? Seriously!  And it's not that pussy Vegas rain, it's real rain.  So today is all about being inside...I think I'll head to the Deutsches Museum, then maybe Haxnbauer for linner.  Haxnbauer apparently has "huge portions for meat lovers"....aah, you had me at huge lol!

Time to *attempt* to dry my hair.  Bye!

Too early!

Woke up at 5:30 this morning. 5:30. That's horrible. It was pitch black outside still, although it had stopped raining (it rained pretty much all night). It was one of those things where my brain was awake, but my body was still tired. Damn stairs. So now that I've exhausted all there is to do when awake early, I'm on here with some more pics to post.

I mentioned the little park near my house yesterday...well, I didn't get a chance to hang out there (again, damn rain) but I did wander through. There are some swing sets and stuff, but mostly it's open, and really pretty. It does remind me, though, of a place that you would find dead bodies at. It's not creepy at all, but just because of the foliage and all the little hiding places. OK, ignore that, on to the pictures...



See what I mean about the foliage?



I loved this big open part.



Obligatory picture of me....ignore the heinous humidity hair. And again, prime body-hiding area behind me.

That's all for now. Not sure what I'll get up to later today, other than some more sleep. Tschüss!

Utility

Today was all about errands. I realized that I had forgotten some pretty basic stuff, like soap and deodorant (very, very important when it's humid lol), and I had no towel. I have 140 pairs of socks, but no towel. Whatever. So I wandered out to Mangfallplatz and found the supermarket (they have 2 floors here, it's weird) called Tengelmann's. I also got some "nutella & go" and peaches. Breakfast of champions right there! I didn't understand a damn word that the cashier said to me in there-my german is not holding up. So my job for the next few weeks at least is to do some serious studying. I digress...

Went back to the room, dropped my groceries off and headed out to Marienplatz for the Apple store (I also brought the wrong plug for my laptop-I blame stress) but wandered around a bit out there. I passed, no lie, 6 meat shops in a row. Sausage and all kinds of glorious roasted meat...it smelled fantastic! Viktualienmarkt is awesome. I found Peterskirche (Alte Peter to the locals) and wandered in there, too-so pretty!


Not very ostentatious from the outside.


I spent the .50 Euro and lit a little candle in there :-)


Smoky from incense...it's a working church, just old. Hence Alte Peter (alte meaning old).

I happened to walk out of the church right at noon, which is when the clock in the Neues Rathaus goes off and the glockenspiel starts to play. Everyone in the square just stopped to watch it-it was very cool.


Yes, it started to rain shortly after, too.

But I kept going, found my Apple store and new plug (hooray), and a department store for towels and my sweet new hairdryer. It was raining in earnest at this point, so I decided to head back home. I hit up a sandwich place in the U-Bahn station and had a salami sandwich-mmm. I ate about half of it before I realized there were pickles on it. Still tasty though.

Here's some pics from my walk home...



Immergrünstraße means "always green street". Pretty, huh?

There's a playground and a little park about 50 yards from my door-I'm thinking of heading out there after doing some more grocery shopping and having a meal out there, and do some studying. It's too nice outside to be inside for too long!

I'm off for now. I'm missing my friends and family back home, so I need to actually do something so I don't sit and think about it too much. Later!

I made it!

Took me 2 hours to get from the airport to my new place...2 long, sweaty, bruised-up hours. It should have been easier to find the place, but apparently Munich is like Vegas in that they loooove to rename streets periodically. But, it's still not far at all from the U-Bahn station, which is awesome.
The main guy that owns the place, Guillermo, is hard to talk to, but only because he speaks only German and Spanish. It's going to be hard to not get frustrated when I can't understand someone, or they don't understand me. But it's not like I have anything else to do right now other than play tourist and learn German, so that's what I'm going to do :-)
My room is tiny, but it holds all my crap and I shouldn't have a problem being here for a bit. Here are some pics of my (messy) room...

and my beautiful view...

I'm off to go shower now, and start my day. Guten Tag!

It should be a law that Hugh Jackman always wear a wifebeater

Cause damn, does he look good in one! The flight from Memphis to Amsterdam had the best entertainment selection EVA! You could watch Watchmen, Wolverine, Terminator, the Hangover...seriously. And it had games like Bejeweled (my personal fave), Reversi and solitaire. Since my lame ass is unable to sleep on a plane, that is awesome.

On the S-Bahn now from the airport heading towards my new digs. Pics and more to follow once I get a nap and a shower. I am frigging exhausted!

Memphis

Ooh, the flight leaving Vegas sucked! It was windy, so takeoff was a little scary and turbulent. Best part though...the pilot doing his little welcome to the plane speech: "We've reached our *bump* cruising altitude of *bump* 35,000 *bump* feet, should be *bump bump bump* smooth sailing from here on out" *DROP* Bahahaha!

The landing was great though!

Now I'm enjoying some bbq pulled pork in Memphis...yeeeah, baby! Good stuff, man!

My mom asked me if I thought they sold weed in the Amsterdam airport, so now I'm curious. Wouldn't that make life hard on the drug sniffing dogs at customs?

Here I go

So...I'm here at the airport, *almost* ready for my 17 hour trek across the globe. I got through security with few issues (damn overweight bag), but Mom and Jess were there to help me shuffle my stuff between bags. It's gonna be hilarious to see me drag my stuff on the U-Bahn and to my new home.

Goodbyes were emotional, as I knew they would be. The tears that have been threatening the last few days finally came, and I'm sure there will be more. It is so, so difficult to say goodbye. Even though I know I'm going to have a great time, still...it's hard (that's what she said-lol).

We begin boarding in a minute, and my first flight to Memphis isn't too long. I then go from Memphis to Amsterdam, then to Munich. Munich should be cold and rainy when I get there...yay. What a welcome :-(

I'll check in later. I need to focus on the journey and keeping my sanity for right now.

And I'm hungry. Damn!

The night before...

So I leave home tomorrow to what will be my new home for the foreseeable future. I'm a crazy mixture of excited, terrified, anxious and just plain old panicky. Bags are packed (thanks, Kitten!), plans are made, ties are severed. No going back now. It's hard to accept that in less than 12 hours I will be leaving the city I grew up in, the friends that have always supported me and the family I cherish. All to go to a city that I spent 4 days in, 3 months ago.

I have to remember though, that if I didn't take the chance now, I probably never would. I would regret all my life not taking the chance, even if it means failing miserably.

But...I'm not going to think about that. I'm going to stay positive.

I'm just not positive that I'll be able to sleep tonight. Gute Nacht :-)