Snow hates me and I hate it as well...

After having a great two days visiting Ari I wake up and guess what is outside? I bet you can guess from my title... Yes everyone snow. It started to snow last night when we were out and it started to stick over night. I was in Karlsruhe aka the warmest city in Germany. On Christmas when I was up I'm Hamburg freezing in the snow/ice it was 20 degrees C here which is about 70 degrees F. So of course when I come to the warmest city it snows. Snow just follows me around. Don't get me wrong snow makes everything super pretty, but I prefer to not have to be out in it and to be able to enjoy from inside being warm. 

Okay rant over!

Like I said I visited Ari in Karlsruhe. It's the city she is studying in and now lives and works. I arrived on Thursday the 10th at about noon. I was so tired from not sleeping too much the  night before in Munich. I didn't want to sleep because it was the end of my class and trip. When I got there Ari magically appeared exactly at my train's door. It was weird how she was right at the exact wagon I was in. We then headed to her apartment and settled in. Ari had to go to class for 3 hours so I decided to stay at home and sleep instead of going to school with her and using the Internet. Ari is in the middle of moving right now because her roommate has to move back home so her roommate thought it was so nice to turn her Internet off before she moved out. I figured I could live two days without Internet. I wasn't too worried. The only thing I'm worried about right now is how many emails and Facebook notifications I'm going to have when I get to Berlin. So I planned on just sleeping for an hour or so and then getting up, but I ended up sleeping for the whole 3 hours. It felt great. It kind if threw my body for a loop because it wasn't used to so much sleep. Ari and I then got ready and headed to dinner. We met up with one if her friends from work, Astra, and went to Vapiano. It's my favorite restaurant that I used to eat at I'm Berlin all the time with Darcy. It has great pizza and pasta. Since I hadn't eaten anything all day it was the best choice! We then walked around the city a bit ten headed to the shots bar where Ari works. It was a rare occasion where almost all of her co-workers were there except for one and the boss. It was cool to put faces to the names of the stories Ari had told me. We had a lot of fun because for a Thursday the place was pretty much empty. It was basically a few regulars and the workers all hanging out. The workers decide on Thursdays that they should dress up funny. I'm not exactly sure what the theme ended up being, but it seemed like a mix between cross dressing, bright colors and the 80s. We stayed until about 1 and then headed back to Ari's place. Her co-workers were going to a club, but I was tired and Ari had class early in the morning as well. I slept in while Ari went to class. I woke up then took a shower and got ready for the day. I turned the tv to watch all the funny shows on. I love the different tv shows here that are like half reality TV half soap opera like. I then proceeded to organize my whole entire suitcase. After traveling for a while and not always having a lot of time to pack up it was good to do that. When Ari came back we watched a bit more tv then went out shopping. We first went to this place called Primarkt. It's as amazing deals!! I had to keep thinking to myself that I don't have a lot of room in my suitcase, so I couldn't buy too much, but I really wanted to! They had shirts for like 3 euros and scarfs for 2 euros and such. I ended up just getting a pair of work out capris for 6 euros, two pairs of gloves for 50 cents, 5 pair of socks for 2 euros, and a pair if black and gold (MIZ!) tights for 2 euros. It was great! Ari and I walked around to find a Diechmans so she could look to see if they had a pair of shoes that I had gotten in Munich. The first one didn't have them. We were getting hungry, so Ari took me to her other favorite place to eat. It was a Spanish restaurant that had amazing Tapas. It was soo good! We had one that was a tomato paste with bread, a chicken with a fruity sauce, potatoes with cheese and a spicy seasoning, and then grilled vegetables. Ari and I then walked around some more and ended up in a mall. We had to kill some time because people were looking at her apartment, and we couldn't be there during that time. We found another Diechmans and found the shoes in her size. It's great because now she and I can match and think about each other even when we're not with each other. The apartment tours ended earlier than expected so at 8 we were able to go back to her apartment. Our original plan was to meet up with Eva and Joe ( both AFSers that were in MO the same year Ari was). We were suppose to meet them at 10 pm. We didn't know where we were going to meet so we just headed to Ari's bar to wait for them. At about 10:30 we got a text from Eva saying she wasn't feeling well, so her and Joe weren't coming anymore. Ari and I were a little bit aggravated, but we shook it off and just hung out at her bar for a while. It was pretty crowded and it took a while to find a place to sit, but we finally did in the back room. I met some more if the regulars Ari had talked about and it was fun. We then ran into one of Astra's friends and his friend from Kottbus which is really close to Berlin. Elena, the sister I had lived with in Berlin in my In between family, studies there. We hung out a bit more with them at the bar then headed to the clubs. They were a lot older and wanted to go into one club. When we got there we found out that you have to be 23 to get in. Since Ari and I both were not 23 they wouldn't let us in. We went to Creed instead. The guy from Kottbus almost wasn't let in because he was wearing tennis shoes.  It was probably the smallest club I had ever been in, but I love to dance so I didn't care much. They played pretty good music and I just love to dance. It's why I love socials for the sorority so much. I love to dance. I really so miss dance class. I'm really thinking I'm going to get the tiger x pass again so I can go to the dance classes again because if how much I miss dancing on a regular basis. So after the club and dancing a bunch we headed home and went to bed. I woke at about 11 and got my whole suitcase packed. It was a lot easier to close this time because of the organizing I did the day before. Then we headed to the train. I had originally planned to take a train to Mannheim and then switch trains to go to Berlin that left at 13:00, but we got to the train station early so I was able to take an earlier train to Mannheim. That was nice because I had more time to change trains then.  I'm now on my train heading to Berlin ostbahnhof. I can't wait to see my family! I have no clue when the next time Ill see them will be. My biggest hope is that I don't cry this time. I know I'm always crying there because I'm happy or confused, but this time my goal is not to cry until I'm on my way home, or not at all. We'll see how that works out. It's now 2:20 and I arrive in Berlin at 6:30. I'm happy bout the long train ride because of being able to catch up on my blog. 

It's 6:20 and I'm almost to ostbahnhof where ill be picked up by my aunt. The same aunt that picked me up on the first day I met my family. I don't know why but I've gotten super nervous all of the sudden. I talked to my sister on the phone and idk if its nerves or excitement. Probably both ... I don't understand what is happening but oh well I'm goin to take it as excitement :) 

thoughts and such

After the university if I don't find anyone in the US.  I'm moving to Germany because the Germans love American girls. Sure it's probably just the oh she's foreign thing and thats attractive to everyone anywhere, but I don't think thats a bad thing. I cant even count the number of times I heard wow I love you... Are you sure you won't live here in Germany. Come on stay here in Germany, you don't need to go back to the US to finnish your university. In 4 years I really do want to live here... If i cant find a job then im coming to Germany and waitress or something. People say the Germans are hard people that are very stern, but I haven't come across that very often. I normally find people that want to get to know you and ask many questions.  

One Thing I love about Germany: ladies first... It always used and I love it. I love having the door held open for me or my luggage carried or my ticket checked first or my food served first or my beer served first... Chivalry is not dead. It's just not in the US as much. It's still used in Germany though. I really don't like it when people pay for my things, but I don't argue about it anymore. 

Last day before departure

On the last day we had our last company visit. We went to a textile company, but not only was it a te stile company it was a technical textile company. It was really cool to see the different textiles they made out of horse hair as well as the innovative things they have done. They are currently working on putting heaters in the textiles so when someone is a wearing a suit jacket they don't have to wear a jacket as well. They see in the future a inside pocket where a business man can set their cell phone in to charge. After the visit Cody, Taylor and I went shopping to find our last minute souvenirs. I went looking for a new pair of boots because the non heeled boots I have have become very worn since I've been wearing ten in all kinds of weather and walking everywhere in two cities, but I ended up finding a cool pair of tennis shoes instead. They were gray and had stitching in the side that looked like the American flag. Even though I love Germany a lot I will always be an American. I will never change that. I may possibly live in other countries in the future and I call other countries home as well, but I will always be an American citizen. That night as our last night in Munich we just enjoyed each others company after having our full class dinner. It was a lot of fun. We stayed up until Taylor had to get on her train at 4 am.  On Thursday when I left for my train and was boarded it was the only time I had teared up on my whole trip. Normally ill tear up each time I leave a group of people because I never know when the next time ill see them will be. I teared up though for the first time leaving Munich. I believe it's because it was a facing of reality. For two weeks I spent the majority of my time with these people and that was the end. I got to know these people so much better than I had ever thought was possible in just a two week period of time.  Im pretty sure we all grew in some way shape or form.  We were all changed by meeting each other and traveling together. We had a great time together but who knows what is going to happen we all get back to Columbia. Everyone says they'll keep in touch and hang out, but as I have learned from AFS everyone usually ends up getting busy in their everyday/normal life and just going back to normal with everyone just being a great memory. As I write this now a couple days later I do not cry. Because one shouldn't cry because its over, but one should smile because it happened. (Thanks Dr. Seuss) 

Tuesday in Munich

Tuesday was another late start day. We didn't have our company visit until about 2:30. We got up early checked in and then headed to the Olympic park. We walked around there for a while. It was a neat park. We didn't go into the tower or even head to the BMW museum that I had originally wanted to do. The park was just so nice and the weather just as great that we just walked around. We then headed back.

Throughout the week in Munich I was picking up Süddeutsche Zeitung newspapers and reading through them in preparation for this company visit. I figured its be the best way to do my research in the company. Cody and I read it while we waited in the lobby and on the bus. I loved reading it because there was so much in there. I was really excited for this company visit. When we arrived in typical bavarian German fashion we were provided with Water, juice, and pretzels. Then we headed into a room where we heard a presentation about the company. This presentation was one if the best out of all the companies. When they talked about their advertising I was so impressed. They are very innovative. They had all different kind if textures and shiny and velvet materials all over their ads. This were not typical ads, but it was definitely some of their most interesting ads. My mind was blown. We had time after wards to grab more to eat and drink, so Cody Taylor and I took full advantage of being able to talk with a CEO and a board director in training about the company. I was so impressed by this company. They loved that Cody and I had read the newspaper before and mentioned their articles and brought them up in conversation as well. Since we were ahead of schedule and printing didn't start until 6 pm we were lead upstairs into their sky lounge. We got up there right at sunset. It was beautiful. It was my absolute favorite view I had had from any place up high. We could literally see the whole city from this floor. I took a ton of pictures and then just looked out while enjoying the view. I though Prague was beautiful, but I have literally never seen a prettier city than Munich at night. Maybe it was biases towards Germany, but the view was absolutely breath taking. We then headed down to the printing factory at about 6 to see the process. We found out that at the printing factory they print not only the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, but also Spiegel and der Bild which are a a popular magazine and tabloid newspaper in Germany. Seeing the printing process of the company was awesome! I left that company visit with such a positive outlook on it. The goal of the newspaper is to be the only newspaper that a person has to read, and I must say they have very thoroughly reached this goal. Before entering the company and just reading the newspaper I compared it to the New York Times. Come to find out that the Newspaper actually has a deal with NYT that every Friday a section of NYT is included in the Süddeutsche Zeitung and that they also compare them selves to NYT. This was by far the best company visit that we went on. I couldn't of been any happier. 

Afterwards Cody, Brittnae ( a student manager), and myself all went out to eat at a vegetarian restaurant. Cody is vegetarian and Brittnae and I both love vegetarian food. (If it wasn't for chicken and fish id be a vegetarian for sure. ) it was good and was exactly what I needed after a long day and lots of sleepless nights from hanging out with everyone and getting to know them all very well. 

Revisiting Dachau 8 years later

Our group woke up early to check in early as well so we could be on the train by 828. We were all tired, but knew it was going to be worth it. We got to the station to buy our tickets and headed to the train. We took a regional train so it took half the time to get there. Being there was surreal. I had the same eerie feeling walking around as I did the first time. The things I remembered from the first time was the bunkers the people slept in and one part of the museum. I remember reading about the different deathly science experiments that were performed. I feel like this time we saw a lot more. I saw the jail cell that the 'special prisoners'  and the crematorium. That's not anything that I remembered so it was really cool to see. Walking through the museum I started to think maybe I hadn't remembered it right because I hadn't seen the medical experiments. But then right at the end I found it. I find it odd that the one thing I really remember from 8 years ago is seeing that display. 

We decided to head back early, but we missed the bus we had hoped to get, so we has to wait about 20 minutes. When we got on the bus it turned into a complete adventure. On the way to the train station a car started to back out in front of the bus and the bus had to slam on the breaks. After I watched us almost slam into a car I all the sudden heard a huge thump. An older lady had fallen on the ground and was slammed into the front of the bus. The bus was immediately turned off. It took the lady a good five minutes to get up even when someone was trying to pick her up. It was such an interesting experience being able to see. I loved being able to compare the two situations. I was not happy that the lady was hurt but it was definitely  an experience that allowed me to compare the situation between the US and Germany. 

We were all really scared that we were not going to make it back in time for the company visit, so we tried to call a student manager, but the number we had was wrong so we ended up emailing our student manager. Not making it back in time for a company visit would have been very bad. Missing a company visit without being excused results in dismissal from the program and wing sent home. That was nothing any of us wanted to deal with. Luckily we made or back in time. We even had time to grab lunch really quickly while eating for the train we had passed. This day we went to visit Ayerger beer factory. It was a pretty neat place. It was a super small brewery, but the experience was interesting. I found it really cool that the brewery is actually completely automated. It's essentially ran by computers only. The only time people have to come in is if the system isn't working. The tour wasn't super fascinating in the fact that it was another tourist company visit, but it was intern eating and one could tell the guide was happy to do his job. 

Sunday

The next day we also had free, but it was a Sunday. Sundays are the worst free days to have in Germany because everything is closed. It's no fun, but Taylor and I made the best of it. We walked pretty much all over the place. Where ever our hearts took us we walked. We found some very beautiful churches and a gate I had never seen in Munich. It was a peaceful day and was definitely needed after just going and going for a good week or so. Once our group of four met up again we decided to grab dinner. We walked around everyone and couldn't find much open, so we ended up at a Pizza Hut. Crazy I know we go all the way to Germany to eat Pizza Hut, But it turned out great! It was like a fancy Italian restraint, but with great prices. Couldn't have asked for anything better. We then decided to go back to the Hofbrahaus. Taylor and Bobbie hasn't gone the night before and I wanted to see it again to see if it was better.... It was definitely better. We had a lot more fun and I loved the people I was with! We called it an early night since we had a company visit the next day and we wanted to do something before that. 

First free day in Munich

We got up for check in and made a plan on Facebook letting everyone know If they wanted to tour the stain with us that we were leaving at noon. After check in our group headed to Marienplatz. We got a group day pass which was really handy. For up to 5 people we could travel in a group all day until 6 am for only 10,60. So we split it between four people and it was cheaper that way for sure. At the Marienplatz we went into the largest book store in the area. It was 6 stories tall. We ended up spending our whole time there and were even running late to get back to the hotel to meet up with the group. When we got to the hotel everyone was about to leave and we proceeded to get to te train station to buy all the train tickets. Of course traveling in a big group I should of planned for more time. Some people didn't have Euros yet an that was kind if a problem. It left pretty late and I was worried we weren't going to make it to the stadium on time. The website said there is only one English tour a day at 1 pm. We got to the desk at 1:03 and I was a little bit freaked out, but luckily once we got there for some reason the website was not up to date and the tour was at 2 pm. I was so relieved. I told the front desk that we had 18 people and that we were going to pay separate. He didn't really like that idea and said it's be better if we all just had one person pay and then we pay him. One of the guys on the trip said as long as everyone had cash he was fine with it. So he was nice enough to put everything on his credit card. We also included in paying him the fee he'd get. So in the end he came out pretty well and didn't have to take any euros out if the bank. Going on the tour was Awesome!! I want to see a game there at some point in my life. It's right up there on my bucket list with seeing the German national team play as well as a world cup game. I was like a little kid in a candy shop seeing everything, since I have recently started following FC Bayern. Some may say oh you're just a bandwagon fan, but really my favorite team is the german national team and over half of that team plays for FCB. Plus it is easy to follow FCB in the US where it is harder to follow other soccer teams there. After the tour we headed left the group and went back to Marienplatz. Since we ran out of time at the book store before we went back and spent another 3 hours there. Since the majority of the group I hung out with spoke German it was really cool to go through everything. It's also nice that they had an English section so Taylor didn't feel too left out. We then grabbed something to eat. Bobbie and Taylor disappeared for a while, so Cody and I went with a huge group to the Hofbrahaus. We stayed for a little bit and then headed back to the hotel where we found Taylor. We headed out to a club. It was a lot of fun to dance. We just kin f stumbled around and found the place. It turned out to be known as the best set of clubs in Munich. The club we hung out in had two different dance floors along with upstairs in both of them. The lights and music were amazing. The lights just added to the enjoyment of dancing. 

6:15!???

6:15 in the morning is always too early for college students. Luckily I had packed the night before so all I had to do was roll out of bed throw clothes on and head downstairs with suitcase in hand. Almost everyone was on time, but there is always someone who's alarm didn't go off. I felt really bad for them because being hurried to get on the bus is never a fun thing. Once everyone was on the bus we headed to Škoda. We had our company visit there, and it was probably the most disappointing one of them all. It really was just like a tour that anyone can take even by just walking into the building. It was cool to see the cars and what not, but I didn't learn anything or hear anything that pertained to the business besides the history if the company and the car. Škoda started out as a bicycle company and then they switched to motor bikes and then cars as the technology developed. This was all stuff I had learned from researching the company the night before. I found a little kid website that had a talking dog that introduced Škoda and it was just simply sweet. After the disappointing tour we started our journey on the way to Munich. I was so excited. I was ready to go back to Germany. Germany has become another comfort zone for me. Not only the US now, but Germany as well. The bus ride was pretty long, but it wasn't too bad. We watched two different batman movies and I slept quiet a bit. We stopped at McDonalds right before we entered Germany where everyone proceeded to spend the rest of their Czech money. I was watching the signs as we were heading to Munich. I decided I love traveling by kilometers more than miles because they go down a lot faster which is nice. When we got into Munich I knew we were there because of the Alliance stadium. I saw it from far away and waited with my camera to take a picture. I took one, but it some how got deleted. When we reached our hotel it was about 6 pm. Bobbie, Cody, Taylor, and I checked in and headed right across the street to Rewe, a grocery store, to start saving money. When we got back we started doing research to plan our night and the next day. We decided to go tour Alliance stadium on Saturday and then head to a bar. The bar ended up being pretty bad so we went home early. The research did not work out in our favor this time. We went home early and got a bit lost. So we just took the subway to our hotel because it was nicely located right at the hauptbahnhof of Munich. 

First company visits

We got up and headed straight to the company visits super early in the morning. We first headed to moser crystal. It was a 2 hour bus ride where almost every person passed out on the way there. The company visit was alright. It was really awesome to see the glass being blown. The visit overall was a bit disappointing. I was expecting actually being able to talk to the guide and find out about the company and business aspects where as we just kind if saw the production and didn't really learn much about the company. 

We then headed Karlovy Vary a city in the area to grab lunch. We really only had time grab lunch, but I wish I could of seen more if the city. The lesser touristic areas are more fun to see in my opinion. I feel like I'm able to see more of the real world then. 

We then headed to Witte automotive parts company. This was an amazing  tour. It's defiantly a company I'd like to look into interning or even working for. It's a super fast paced company that was really Interesting. I'm not a super fan of one type of car, but I loved that they mass produce parts of all different cars. They produce 99% percent if the parts for Volvo, the new LED hatchback for Ford and many others. They keep enough parts for three days production. My faith was restored in the company visits once we were done with that visit. It was exactly what I was expecting from the visits. 

As soon as we got back we had about 30 minutes until we left for our dinner with our class. The meal was really Interesting. I had the vegetarian option because the other was pork. It was pasta and salmon (yes the vegetarian option had meat in it lol). The pork option was literally a huge pork knuckle. This thing was the size of a person's head. It's normally a meal for about two or three people but there was some people who finished the whole thing. For desert we had applestrueddle. 

That night we all wanted to call it a night early because we had to leave by 615 the next morning, but we walked the streets one last time to enjoy Prague as one it the most beautiful cities in the world. 

January 2nd

After stay out really late hanging with the Germans we were all pretty tired. We all walked down to the Dali museum and looked in there. It was a really cool exhibit. Then we grabbed lunch and then walked around the city. It was nice to just take in the city and see what else Prague had to offer. We went into a shopping center to look around. I really liked looking around to see the differences. It was really hard to find many between German shopping centers and the one in Prague. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to relax and grab a little bit more food and to work on our homework. At about 10 pm we decided to walk around the streets. It was great! Prague is such a beautiful city, but at night it's even better. For lack of a better word I'd say its magical. We headed back early so we could go to sleep and be ready for the next day since we had to be ready to leave by 8:15

New Year's Day...everything is closed

Our plan for the day included going shopping and then going grocery shopping and a few other things. What ende up happening is we ended up only being able To go grocery shopping. We headed to JZP the metro stop. I really like that area. It was nice to not be in the crowded area of Prague. We then walked around and ended up going closer to the tower with the baby statues on it and realized that the babies in there were exactly the same as the ones in the city we found the day before. Bar codes face and all. We then saw the Jewish cemetery and a monument. Walking around was great. We then headed back and hung out t the hotel since everything as basically closed. We decided to go out again since we spent the majority of the day laying around the hotel. We started at golden tree again an it was fun. There we met a group if Germans that were a lot of fun. Taylor and I danced with them and it was just so much fun I wish I could hang out with them again. We ended up going to the five story club with them. I didn't mind at all because they paid for us to get in as well as our jackets. We ende up losing them throughout the night and then ended up finding them at the end if the night. Most people said to not go to this club because its just a club that is packed with tourists, but I have to say it was a ton of fun! One of my favorite clubs I've ever visited. I think it also helped that it was New Year's Day and most people were probably recovering from the night before so it wasn't exactly too crowded everywhere, but it was just a lot of fun. 

Side note: one if the days we went to the communist museum. It was pretty cool in the way that there were videos that showed videos of all the protests that happened on wenselas square. It really reminded me if the DDR museum in Berlin that Darcy and I had gone to. Which is why I really loved the videos. It was just different and humbling to watch. 

31.01.12

In the morning we all got up to check in. We bought day metro passes to help us get around as well . Then we headed off to the church where the infant if Prague is.  As we walked over there we saw some statues of babies that when we got closer the statues had no faces. It looked like each had a bar code on their faces. We finally stumbled across the church and went inside. We weren't sure at first it was the right church but then we saw the infant of Prague. it was so cool! Going into the museum to see all the different outfits it had worn was great! We saw the past outfit that were all gifts to the church. The outfits were so ornate and just awesome to look at all the handwork that went into them. 

On the way to find the church we passed a really pretty green area and decided to head over to it. We realized it was the walk way to Petrin tower, also known as the mini Eiffel Tower of Prague. It sits up a top a hill and has a great view of the city. We climbed all the way up and ran into everyone in our class up in the tower. After that we headed over to a more residential area of Prague. There we found a grocery store and a street market where we bought some food to save some money and to try new things. There we saw the tv tower that has the babies crawling up them. They looked really similar to the baby statues we had seen before. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for New Year's Eve. Our group started out as about 4 of us and then by the time 10pm rolled around there were 8 of us meeting in the lobby. 

The day we went to the castle we walked through a park that had a great view of the city. We decided to go back to the area to being in the new year. We all headed up there and it was a lot of fun. I've never seen a more beautiful display of fireworks in my life. There were fireworks in every way one looked. The best part is that the fireworks weren't even official or put on by the city. It was all individual groups shooting fireworks off. The city of Prague only shoots off their fireworks on New Year's Day night.  This was the best thing we ever did. The next day everyone was complaining about how crowded it was and where we were there was barely any one around. We had a blast and a Great view of the city! Afterwards Cody and I headed to club to ppl watch. It was a lot of fun

I talked to this guy who told me his name was Juan and that he came from French. (Yes that is not a typo he said he was from French) I corrected him and had a weird feeling that something wasn't right. His accent just didn't seem like a French man. A couple minutes later his friends came up and started speaking Italian. I just started dying of laughter! 

Some song came on and was just super degrading to women and the next thing I knew I was being pushed by this older guy on purpose. I looked at him trying to figure out why he was doing that and all he said because its the song. Needless to say I was not happy. I'm not a very violent person, but I wanted to punch him so badly. I never found anyone else more rude before. 

Besides that it was an extremely great night! New Years was a great day!