Jet lag has me really messed up. Last night, we went to sleep around 11 after watching a few episodes of the show Fringe (had never seen it before). I woke up around 4 AM, and could not sleep for the life of me. Rather than read or do something productive, I just laid there, hoping to fall back asleep.
I woke up again around 2 PM to the sound of a repair man fixing water pipes in the house. Eating chili for breakfast was not something I had ever done before, but then again, neither was waking up at 2 PM...
Today our task was preparing for Prague, and that we did! My favorite stop was at Mobel Martin, an enormous store somewhat comparable to IKEA. There, we bought duvet covers and sheets (mom, I almost got red, white, and blue ones that said Camp David on them with the Presidential Seal).
On the way to a quick peek inside where Karen's husband, Gary, works, we went to a German McDonald's and I had a delicious McDouble (just like home). Ramstein (where he works) is an enormous military post in Germany, complete with its own mall. The mall was incredible, and by the time we were leaving, it was snowing.
Seeing snow in the country and on the roofs made me very excited for being in Prague, except that the cold weather tends to be a bit more cold than I had anticipated.
Tomorrow, we are wrapping things up in Wattenheim. We plan to head to see the Rhine river, and some of the castles near the town. While I am sad that our time in Germany is wrapping up, I am getting so excited for what Prague has to offer.
Only a few more days until I meet my new roommates, and I actually have to start going to school. I am not sure when I will be able to post again, but hopefully it wont be too long.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Heidelberg
Yesterday, after waking up around noon, we had a breakfast of blueberry pancakes and pineapple. I think Im in heaven.
We put on our warm clothes and packed into the car for the hour long trip to Heidelberg to visit the castle and see the old town. The castle was beautiful, but a fragment of what it had been due to British bombing. Inside the castle, we say different sized wine casks. One of which took up an entire room! Hillary and I walked over the cask, which was almost 30 feet high.
In a main hall, we had an afternoon snack of hot spiced wine (Gluwhein) (a red wine that tasted more like apple cider than wine) and bretzels (Real German Pretzel). With some food in our stomachs, we marched down the 400 or so steps from the castle toward the town.
As we walked through the town, we window shopped a bit, getting a good feel of what it was like to be in a German town. We stopped for dinner and had schwien hocks (pork hocks). The meat was so tender it fell right off the bone. My meal had dumplings (another first). To drink, we tried this sparkling apple juice (very lightly carbonated, non-alcoholic). Overall, the meal was incredible.
My inner Bavarian is definitely coming out. I love the meat and potato meals we have had so far, and am not sure how I am going to re-adjust to eating food in the States.
We put on our warm clothes and packed into the car for the hour long trip to Heidelberg to visit the castle and see the old town. The castle was beautiful, but a fragment of what it had been due to British bombing. Inside the castle, we say different sized wine casks. One of which took up an entire room! Hillary and I walked over the cask, which was almost 30 feet high.
In a main hall, we had an afternoon snack of hot spiced wine (Gluwhein) (a red wine that tasted more like apple cider than wine) and bretzels (Real German Pretzel). With some food in our stomachs, we marched down the 400 or so steps from the castle toward the town.
As we walked through the town, we window shopped a bit, getting a good feel of what it was like to be in a German town. We stopped for dinner and had schwien hocks (pork hocks). The meat was so tender it fell right off the bone. My meal had dumplings (another first). To drink, we tried this sparkling apple juice (very lightly carbonated, non-alcoholic). Overall, the meal was incredible.
My inner Bavarian is definitely coming out. I love the meat and potato meals we have had so far, and am not sure how I am going to re-adjust to eating food in the States.
Frankfurt Flight/ Drive to Wattenheim
The flight to Frankfurt was a breeze. Only an hour long, and I just read (and slept, apparently) the whole time.
After grabbing our luggage off the carousel, Hillary and I passed through immigration, and met up with Hillary's (great) Aunt Karen. We packed the trunk of the car and drove the 55 minutes to their home in Wattenheim, Germany.
Even in the dark, you could tell how beautiful it was, and you could definitely get the sense that it was cold outside.
We got in around 9 PM, got a tour of their amazing European home, and passed out. I slept for 15 hours (9 to 12) because of all of the jet lag. It felt so nice to be able to lay down and spread out, catching up on sleep and getting biologically adjusted has not been the easiest.
After grabbing our luggage off the carousel, Hillary and I passed through immigration, and met up with Hillary's (great) Aunt Karen. We packed the trunk of the car and drove the 55 minutes to their home in Wattenheim, Germany.
Even in the dark, you could tell how beautiful it was, and you could definitely get the sense that it was cold outside.
We got in around 9 PM, got a tour of their amazing European home, and passed out. I slept for 15 hours (9 to 12) because of all of the jet lag. It felt so nice to be able to lay down and spread out, catching up on sleep and getting biologically adjusted has not been the easiest.
Flight to Heathrow/ Stay in London
Comfortably seated in row 52 of the huge 747 Boeing to Heathrow, Hillary and I settled in for our 10 hour flight. We had great plans to watch Moneyball on the entertainment system to kill some of the time, but our entertainment system was down for the entire flight! The only thing we could watch was the moving map with facts about the flight... which became more than a little monotonous after the first hour or so.
I spent most of my time reading Slaughterhouse Five and listening to music. I slept for maybe two hours on the flight, in about ten minute intervals. For dinner, I got chicken curry and Hillary had what looked like lasagna. Because the flight was international, we were offered a choice of red or white wine at no expense. I chose the red, Hillary chose the white. Both tasted awful, and we could not get more than a sip down.
We landed at about 11 AM, going through immigration, and then heading back up stairs toward the departures. While we were very tempted to go in to the city, the fastest we could have gotten there would have been in 30 minutes for 20 GBP. Instead of blowing our money and time for a quick tour, we decided to postpone our London exploration until we could get our money's worth.
Passing through security again, we walked through the enormous terminal owned by British Airways. I had lunch at a bagel place, which named all of its menu items after places in New York... I had swiss cheese and lettuce on my sandwich, and even ate an orange with the meal (Parents, be proud).
After my lunch, we sat in a common terminal while Hillary drank Starbucks and napped. After people watching some very interesting people, we were finally assigned our terminal. As soon as we got there, it was time to board the plane again for Frankfurt am-Main.
I spent most of my time reading Slaughterhouse Five and listening to music. I slept for maybe two hours on the flight, in about ten minute intervals. For dinner, I got chicken curry and Hillary had what looked like lasagna. Because the flight was international, we were offered a choice of red or white wine at no expense. I chose the red, Hillary chose the white. Both tasted awful, and we could not get more than a sip down.
We landed at about 11 AM, going through immigration, and then heading back up stairs toward the departures. While we were very tempted to go in to the city, the fastest we could have gotten there would have been in 30 minutes for 20 GBP. Instead of blowing our money and time for a quick tour, we decided to postpone our London exploration until we could get our money's worth.
Passing through security again, we walked through the enormous terminal owned by British Airways. I had lunch at a bagel place, which named all of its menu items after places in New York... I had swiss cheese and lettuce on my sandwich, and even ate an orange with the meal (Parents, be proud).
After my lunch, we sat in a common terminal while Hillary drank Starbucks and napped. After people watching some very interesting people, we were finally assigned our terminal. As soon as we got there, it was time to board the plane again for Frankfurt am-Main.
SanFrancisco / Lamorinda
I realize this post is WAY overdue, but this is the first time I have had both time and internet connectivity to write in the blog.
Got on the plane the other day (January 25) to fly to Oakland to meet up with Hillary and stay with her family in the Lamorinda valley. While we were there for that Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday, I feel like time flew by way too fast.
Our first day in the area, we drove into San Francisco and ate lunch at this cool pizza restaurant called Pizzeria Delfina. This was not a typical pizza place, and I already felt like I was expanding my horizons with trying new food. We finished lunch and walked down the street to get ice cream at the Bi-Rite creamery. I had some brown sugar ice cream that was really sweet and really good. After walking around a bit, we got back in the car and headed over the Bay Bridge through Treasure Island (not a joke) and back toward Hillary's house.
We took a scenic drive through Berkeley's campus and over Grizzly Point, where we had some amazing, albeit a little foggy, views of the city and surrounding areas.
Next, we picked up Hillary's little sister, Lucy (7) from school and headed to the church. I do not really remember the rest of the events of the night, except that we watched American Idol, and played with the Foss's dog, Cody.
Thursday was an amazing day of driving through Napa Valley through wine country. We visited California's Old Faithful Geyser at Calistoga. On the way back, we had lunch at Taylor's Refresher (Now Gott's) and I had an amazing burger with avocado and jalapenos and salsa (Dad, you would have loved it).
We stopped off at Yountville (a small town on the road with beautiful architecture), before heading home to Orinda. That night, Hillary's grandparents (Dad's mom and dad) came in for dinner. I got to play some basketball with Sam (12), and we practiced dunking. Lucy also joined us for a bit before we ate a great steak and chicken dinner. Mom and Dad- I tried bell peppers. I liked them. That night we spent more time with the family playing with Lucy and Cody while we watched American Idol again.
The next morning was leaving day, so we packed up (Hillary needed a bit of help), and headed to breakfast at a cool place called Chow in Lafayette. Around noon we headed out to the airport, getting through security by around 2:30. Our flight departed around 4:15, so I had time to spend some American cash by grabbing a last meal and a Gatorade.
Got on the plane the other day (January 25) to fly to Oakland to meet up with Hillary and stay with her family in the Lamorinda valley. While we were there for that Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday, I feel like time flew by way too fast.
Our first day in the area, we drove into San Francisco and ate lunch at this cool pizza restaurant called Pizzeria Delfina. This was not a typical pizza place, and I already felt like I was expanding my horizons with trying new food. We finished lunch and walked down the street to get ice cream at the Bi-Rite creamery. I had some brown sugar ice cream that was really sweet and really good. After walking around a bit, we got back in the car and headed over the Bay Bridge through Treasure Island (not a joke) and back toward Hillary's house.
We took a scenic drive through Berkeley's campus and over Grizzly Point, where we had some amazing, albeit a little foggy, views of the city and surrounding areas.
Next, we picked up Hillary's little sister, Lucy (7) from school and headed to the church. I do not really remember the rest of the events of the night, except that we watched American Idol, and played with the Foss's dog, Cody.
Thursday was an amazing day of driving through Napa Valley through wine country. We visited California's Old Faithful Geyser at Calistoga. On the way back, we had lunch at Taylor's Refresher (Now Gott's) and I had an amazing burger with avocado and jalapenos and salsa (Dad, you would have loved it).
We stopped off at Yountville (a small town on the road with beautiful architecture), before heading home to Orinda. That night, Hillary's grandparents (Dad's mom and dad) came in for dinner. I got to play some basketball with Sam (12), and we practiced dunking. Lucy also joined us for a bit before we ate a great steak and chicken dinner. Mom and Dad- I tried bell peppers. I liked them. That night we spent more time with the family playing with Lucy and Cody while we watched American Idol again.
The next morning was leaving day, so we packed up (Hillary needed a bit of help), and headed to breakfast at a cool place called Chow in Lafayette. Around noon we headed out to the airport, getting through security by around 2:30. Our flight departed around 4:15, so I had time to spend some American cash by grabbing a last meal and a Gatorade.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Getting Ready
I'm laying in bed, forcing myself to write this post for my mother before I watch some football, feeling more excited than I have ever been in my life.
You see, in three very short days, I will be starting a four month journey to Prague to study at Anglo-American University, and I could not be more ready to leave.
Along the way, I will stop in San Francisco to meet up with one of my best friends from Chapman, Hillary, who coincidentally also chose to study abroad in Prague. After a few days in San Francisco, we will fly together to Frankfurt, Germany to meet up with Hillary's aunt, who lives in Heidelberg. We get to spend almost a week in Heidelberg adjusting to the time change and starting our epic journey abroad, before driving to Prague.
With such little time left, I feel like I should be rushing around trying to pack things up or finalize plans. The only problem is, I was packed a week ago, and plans have been finalized for over one month. The realization that it is time for me to get out of here occurred yesterday. Sitting in bed for almost the entire day, I read an entire book because I had nothing left to do in Orange except day dream about my trip.
Aside from writing this blog to avoid weekly emails to a mix of people, this blog will serve as a public journal of my culture shock, experiences, and side trips to as many countries and cities as possible.
If anyone following this has any recommendations of things to see, places to go, or stuff to do, please comment to let me know!
That's all for now folks.
Sbohem.
You see, in three very short days, I will be starting a four month journey to Prague to study at Anglo-American University, and I could not be more ready to leave.
Along the way, I will stop in San Francisco to meet up with one of my best friends from Chapman, Hillary, who coincidentally also chose to study abroad in Prague. After a few days in San Francisco, we will fly together to Frankfurt, Germany to meet up with Hillary's aunt, who lives in Heidelberg. We get to spend almost a week in Heidelberg adjusting to the time change and starting our epic journey abroad, before driving to Prague.
With such little time left, I feel like I should be rushing around trying to pack things up or finalize plans. The only problem is, I was packed a week ago, and plans have been finalized for over one month. The realization that it is time for me to get out of here occurred yesterday. Sitting in bed for almost the entire day, I read an entire book because I had nothing left to do in Orange except day dream about my trip.
Aside from writing this blog to avoid weekly emails to a mix of people, this blog will serve as a public journal of my culture shock, experiences, and side trips to as many countries and cities as possible.
If anyone following this has any recommendations of things to see, places to go, or stuff to do, please comment to let me know!
That's all for now folks.
Sbohem.
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