David in Deutschland

Once upon a time...

2008-09-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

"die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung" - speed limit

So, I feel a bit like I'm in a fairy tale...it feels like I've been here forever, and I'm still astonished every time I look around at super old buildings and castles and tell myself, "I LIVE HERE?!" In reality, I've only been away from home for LESS than a month, but that seems ridiculous to me. I'm already forgetting English words left and right...it's easier than I thought. Things I say and think all the time, if I know how to say them in German, I DO, so whenever I need to say them in English, it's a bit awkward!

I'm waiting in the train station before our day-trip to Cologne, so hopefully I'll have some great pictures of that huge cathedral to show soon. The weather has been great, you know, cold and rainy, but that suits me just fine! Ray Bradbury weather!

So language classes are insanely hard, and I live 30 minutes north of town, but it's beautiful and I'll just upload some pictures for you to see about where I live! I haven't taken many pictures of the city, but I will.

I'll save the pictures of Cologne for later, just know that it was quite incredible. First, let me introduce you all to the part of town in which I live: Wehrda!

Down the road, across the river

The Lahn River not far from my dorm

German cemetary (none of them are THAT old; supposedly Germans only rent graves for like 25 years tops and then are cremated...or something like that, but it makes the cemetaries very nice)

Quaint buildings down the road

View out of my bedroom window

View from my window (the other direction)

View from my door

My dorm: Wehrda 13!

A couple we went on a hike into the mountains behind our neighborhood, so I will post those soon. First I will post the pictures of the Cologne Cathedral, but that is all for now...this has taken long enough to compile! Until then!

But sheesh, just as there are no speed limits on the Autobahn, life here has been insanely hecitc, classes super-fast-paced, and the society waits for no one. If you're not at the bus stop, you are going to be LEFT. Simple as that. A little difficult to deal with at first, but I'm just going to have to get used to the water a little.

Let's hope that happens QUICK.

Much love,

David

More coming soon...

2008-09-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

I promise. I have had little to NO internet access over the past week (just ask my parents!), but first thing tomorrow (after class) we're looking into getting some wireless out in Wehrda for us. But for now I sit on the steps of the train station and mooch....but it's about to rain so I'm gonna go.

Soon!

David in Česká Republika

2008-08-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

So, I apologize for the false advertising, but alas, I am not currently in Deutschland! I was there for about an hour and a half the other day, and from what I could see, they have very nice airports.

But onward! To Prague! What to say!

Right now Maggie and I are in this swanky little coffee/book shop relaxing, for once. The past few days have been a whirl of sightseeing, walking, tasting, walking, photographing, walking, climbing over language barriers, and walking. There is WAY too much to see; there is WAY too much to even take in, really. The architecture is stunning. I mean, Maggie and I are still pretty much convinced we're in the part of Six Flags that looks like a European city, but is nothing but plaster covering a roller coaster. And the whole time, people keep giving us Monopoly money! (Well, more like people keep taking it away...)

In all honesty, it's rather overwhelming: being surrounded by people you don't understand, surrounded by papers and signs you can't read, staying in a hostel, every time you go out to eat, it's at least a small fiasco...it just wears on you. But we were very lucky and were in a room with 5 amazing British kids about our age that we hung out with quite a bit, but they left today.

People speak English at least a little, for the most part. When you get outside the touristy areas (Maggie and I like to go outside the touristy areas), it's not so. There's been a few times that our waitress didn't speak a word of English. And beer really IS the cheapest thing on the menu! I didn't really believe it when I heard that before. I've had it a few times, but I'm getting a little tired of it.

BUT it is way too beautiful to describe...the buildings, the landscape, the people. I'll just have to let the pictures do the talking. (They'll be up shortly....this takes a while...)

OK, this is taking a ridiculous amount of time and effort, and I'm paying a whopping 1 korouna a minute for internet (it's not that much), so just click on this link and go look at all 234 pictures I've managed to take. And they uploaded not rotated, even though I already rotated them, and it takes far too long to do while I'm paying for internet, so I hope that's not too bothersome.

Pictures: http://s414.photobucket.com/albums/pp221/thedavidindeutschland/?start=0

Much love from Prague,

David