Nymphenburg Castle

As it closes in on the end of my second week here, I have quite a bit running through my mind. My time here is spent well, I have seen so many things and experienced as much as I could. It seems like I've been here far longer than I actually have but at the same time, these two weeks have flown by. Today was the end of the first week of classes at JYM. This morning we had class til 12:30 and were let out. I had the whole afternoon to myself. I decided I might as well do some sightseeing while I had the good weather and the time. My first stop was the grass outside the Alte Pinakothek which is an art museum. I sat there and read while some people I was hanging out with ate in the Mensa (it's like a cafeteria...that's pretty cheap). After we met up we went to schlecker and i finally got some hairspray!! woo hoo! Then we headed toward home. We had planned to ride bike (and I would run) to the Chinese Tower; however, my knee has been giving me some trouble. I'm kind of worried about it at this point because it's so close to the marathon and it hurts while I walk. We'll see how it reacts to my run tomorrow (i'm planning on going about 2 1/2 hours) so i'll take a dose of advil before I head out. Anyway, because my knee has been giving me some trouble and I can't avoid all the walking I have to do in the city, I decided we would just go see the Chinese Tower tomorrow afternoon instead.

So, instead of making our way the the Chinese Tower today, we headed to another must see in Munich...the Nymphenburg Castle. After a short nap, Clare and I headed out for the evening.

Once we were at the closest spot we could get to the castle by the U-bahn we headed out on foot. A lady I asked said it's quite the trip over there...about 45 minutes of walking. Luckily it didn't end up taking that long. We were by the bridge at least in 15 minutes. This castle is HUGE. It may not be the tallest one, but it sure is spread out over an enormous area. All we did pretty much was walk up to the

castle, looked inside to find that you

had to pay a price to go on a tour (which we didn't want to do), walked through a gate the the back garden, walked all around

there, and headed back for the U-bahn. On our way we did make a pit stop for some ice cream which was

delicious by the way! and we headed back.

This evening i came back and relaxed and had a plate of pasta. I was delicious!

on the search for a Dirndl

Wed morning was a great start to my day. I got up early, I went running for 6 miles, and I took my time getting ready for the day (which I have learned to absolutely love...sitting in front of my computer drinking black tea while finding out what all happened in the world when I was asleep and then finally putting myself together). While in class I talked to Miriam (another one of the girls in the program) and she and I talked about going shopping for a dirndl. For those of you who don't know what a dirndl is, I want you picture the German beer ladies carried 10 mass beers. Now keep in mind what they are wearing...the German traditional ladies dress. That is called a dirndl.

After class, Miriam and I did what we talked about and set out for finding some cheap (which is hard to come by here) dirndls that we could buy. Unfortuately I didn't have any luck but I had all day after class on Thursday to look.

This blog entry is turning out to be another very uneventful day, however I did get a chance to roam around Marienplatz while looking for the dirndl shops. I was at least outside getting some fresh air.

When I got home, I read and just enjoyed my own company. I made a very large plate of spaghetti for dinner and finally had my first bit of chocolate since coming here. I had a chance to talk to Zach, and finally about 1:00 in the morning my time.. I got to talk to mom and dad and Toni. (It was nice to see you guys). That was the end of my day.

Today (Thursday), I got ready a little bit earlier to head out on the search for a dirndl again. Before class we made it to one shop. I found nothing...so after class I went alone to the Vikualienmarkt and tried on a dirndl...it was successful! I now own a very cute black dirndl with a dark blue apron. Don't worry, pictures will be coming soon (after Saturday at oktoberfest) with me in my dirndl. How many people can actually say they have bought a real dirndl AND wore it to Oktoberfest. Not too many.

Just another day...

Today was quite uneventful. I had an unusually hard time getting out of bed this morning and took my time doing my homework, showering, getting ready for the day. Since my class doesn't start til 1:30 I was extremely lazy and didn't get out before then (don't worry, I didn't like it and it won't happen again). Once I get to class I gave my presentation and I thought I did a pretty good job with it. It's not like we're bring graded on this part of the semester; however, we did get our text results back and though i'm still in the top 3 of the class, I heard that by speaking out in class and doing well there we could possibly raise our score. So, I was extremely attentive and did my best keeping up with the discussion and talking in class.

After class I didn't really have much to do. I was going to go running through the English Garden to the Chinese tower with Clare riding my bike but that didn't work because of homework and stuff. I decided to go by myself before it got dark. To reward myself, I planned everything out to make schnitzel this evening (one of Germany's very famous meals). Everything worked out, Clare came over and we had dinner together. Afterwards we went to the Tribuehne (a bar/restaurant on campus) to have a drink and we had a long deep conversation...in German (you should be so impressed).

After that I came back up to my room and chatted a bit online to make myself tired. In a bit I'm going to read more of my book (the Shack) until I fall asleep.

Like I said, quite the uneventful day

Sunday/Monday

So, i've gotten a little behind in writing my blog and my intention is to catch up. Starting with Sunday morning... I woke up around 6:30 in the morning. A group of us were planning on meeting at 8:00am before gruenes Haus (the green building) which is the building I live in in Stustadt. Sunday, of course, was the famous (forever long) Oktoberfest parade and I didn't want to miss it. The group of us planned to meet Clare's friend Dominik at the Marienplatz (where the Glockenspiel is) and he would show us around a bit and then we could all go to the parade. When we arrived, we were more than an hour and a half early for the parade, so we had the chance to see a little more of the ins and outs of Marienplatz. Once back at the parade we had a hard time getting a good spot (because we spent a good time just looking at things such as the Frauenkirche (Women's Church) and everything on the way. We were there for the beginning of the parade and about 20 float things in we were starting to really notice how long it was going to be. When i was talking to them, i explained that if i remembered correctly from 3 years ago there would be about 60-61 floats. Two thirds of the way through we decided we had had enough and that standing there for another hour-hour and a half just wasn't a possibilty.

After taking a little break from the parade in a cute coffee shop off to the side, we made our way to the Viktualien Markt (Market on viktualien street). Upon walking to the little shops there we all starting to get hungry but noticed that on Sunday the Viktualien Markt was closed (Sundays

everything in Germany pretty much are closed). Afterward, we took our time and relaxed at the fish fountain in Munich. Our plan was to eventually hit the Oktoberfest Wies'n (the actual Oktoberfest) for a beer and head home.

Once in the Oktoberfest grounds, there were so many people that it was crazy!! They say Munich is supposed to normally be about 1,2 million people in the city...but with oktoberfest it almost

doubles in population. On Sunday I felt like they were trying to cram that extra 1.2 million on to the oktoberfest grounds and into the beer tents. Over 2 million liters of beer aredrank during Oktoberfest which makes sense for how many people go there.

We did go into a tent for a short while (Augistaner) but with the crowd and everything going on there we decided Sunday afternoon may not be the best time to find a spot and get a beer. Yes, I

was at Oktoberfest in a beer tent and did not drink a beer.. oh well.

Many of us were feeling quite claustrophobic with all the people so we decided to go sit by the statue of Bavaria. After hanging out on the grass and my short nap we left Oktoberfest. That afternoon I came back to my room and just relaxed. It was quite an eventful day.

Monday we were to wake up quite early and arrive at the place to register for being a temporary German (Munich) resident. It was an interesting process...We had to go in and talk to a person

declaring we wanted to be a resident and they enter your information in and stamp your form and you're done.

The lady who helped me and I talked a little bit about the last time I was in Germany and needed my address which thank goodness I remembered.

Once at JYM we were to find out the results for the exam we took...or so we were told. What they did instead was just split us in to two groups. Because I was put in the second group I had the rest of the morning free

.

We didn't have class till 1:30 which gave us time to go out and explore for about 4 hours. Some people in the group decided to walk (instead of take the train) to Marienplatz. It was a nice was because it was so beautiful out and we got to see a lot of Museums and other things on the way. Once

at Marienplatz we went into the entrance of the Ratskeller which is a

beautifully painted and probably very expensive restaurant. We took lots of pictures around the area and decided to go to the Viktualienmarkt (the market from the day before) and get a little bite to eat. I had my favorite, of course, a cheese pretzel (Kaesebreze) and the group split in two parts. A couple of us were interested in going to the top of the St. Peter's church which is the highest point you can go to in the Marienplatz and see everything. For students it only cost 1 Euro so we took advantage of that. It was SO gorgeous up there. We could see EVERYTHING including the Studentenstadt

(about a half an hour north of there with the train) and Oktoberfest which was south of there quite a ways. Climbing up there was a hassle, but

well worth the view. I can not wait to show my dad to the top of that.

From then on we just took our time looking around the city just exploring what all was there. We went in to many different

shops which was cool to

see what they had too. About an hour before our class was about to start, we were done...we didn't really have anything else to do. So, we went back to the JYM office and found a restaurant nearby and had a beer.Once back in JYM, my group (I believe the higher group of the two) discussed things such as newspaper articles and people in the newspaper. It was kind of a boring first day, but I did have some homework. I volunteered to be one of the first presenters in the class. What we had to do is find an article in the newspaper that we were interested that was related to Germany and give a little presentation about it. Afterward we are to have some questions that lead to a discussion. I ended the day talking to Zach and Siri on the webcam. It was so nice to see both of their faces.

Pfaffing

Finally today I got a chance to run. I've been extremely nervous over my first few days that I wouldn't find a good safe place to run and actually train for the marathon that Dad and I will be attempting to do on Oct. 11th. Fortunately (and i'm not kidding, I super lucked out with this) I live right next to the English Garden which is basically this huge forest area with foot paths spread out all over along with all these sightseeing places in the middle of it. So, this morning I set out (still not knowing exactly whether it was completely safe to be running so early by myself in the forest...but still I set out to run pretty much as far as I could in 2 hours. I set out as well to find certain things throughout the garden that are big sightseeing places in the garden. Because the paths to in all different directions and cross and the go over bridges and are just completely intertwined...I planned on not having a route, but better just running which ever way my little feet take me. I figured around an hour and 45 minutes I would try to find my way back...and I did just that. Sure, I had to turn around here and there but I definitely enjoyed not really knowing where I was going. I planned on just running and far south and north as I could go. Much to my surprise, there are actually two English Gardens...okay so there's just one but it is divided into north and south. I didn't know this till the end of my run...so most of the sightseeing things I wanted to see didn't get a chance to. I'm okay with what I saw and what I didn't i'm sure i'll see in the next couple of days or even next weekend.

Right after my run, I came back to my apartment and decided to call Suzi. Up till this point I had not seen or talked to Suzi at all and to finally call her was exciting. Luckily she hadn't yet left the house when I called and we had a chance to make plans for the day. I got myself ready as did she and I was lucky enough to have her come to my apartment and pick me up (along with Lorenza). The girls...are getting so much older! I can't believe it! Anyway, Suzi, Lorenza and I spent the day together. We went to the supermarket to get some food to have in my apartment as well as a plant and some candles and other household items. First we actually went to the Pizzeria (real Italian) for some lunch. It was surprising that the waiters remembered me from three years ago when I lived with Suzi. After that my day was pretty much spent relaxing with Suzi and Stella and Momo and Murphy the two rabbits and two birds.. I think she really loves

animals or something... (for those of you who know suzi). When I was there, Regina (my friend from before who had a baby, Joah) had a chance to stop over before she left on vacation. We got a chance to talk a little but about what's going on for both of us and we already have plans to hang out when she gets back from vacation. I also even tried calling my parents and neither of them were home to answer my call. I guess we'll try in a week. I was very fortunate for Suzi to bring me back to the Stustadt and help me make my apartment a little more person friendly. Although I have a good view, it's not one of the best apartments in the Stustadt. I've already kinda gotten

used to it so i don't mind it as much but having the plant in here as well as some candles and flowers Suzi picked out of her garden really makes it a lot better.

After I said goodbye to Suzi for the week, I went down to Clare's apartment to see if anything was going on. We ended up sitting in her apartment til now...12:45 in the morning just having a really good conversation (in German of course). T

Though my day wasn't too eventful, I enjoyed it very much. I had great conversations with Suzi and Claire, I actually had a chance to relax and enjoy it outside on the terrace and I have to say I am really looking forward to going back to Suzi's to see the family again.

Oktober-pest

Yesterday (Thursday) I didn't have the best of luck with my internet and wasn't able to write in my blog. Alex, a German who stopped by to bring me my cell phone, told me it was because the connector on my laptop doesn't hold the cord tight enough. Anyway, I'm not moving my computer and it seems to be working.

Yesterday with JYM we went on a tour around the inner part of Munich. This was after our wonderful lunch and the

Lowenbraue Restuarant. We started actually there which, interesting enough, is where Hitler gave a speech. I can now say that I have now stood approximately where Hitler did (not that it was actually one of my goals in the trip). On our tour we were shown many different theatres, art galleries, restaurants, bars etc... What they were trying to accomplish was to show us that there is another life out there than the commute between the StuStadt and the

JYM office. We also saw things like the brewery line,

Alte Pinakothek (where i've already been) as well as some very scenic streets.

After the tour we

were pretty much sent back to the StuStadt to pick up our packages. Almost every one of us had bought a package of things from one of the students in JYM last year. Because i'm only here for the semester I got a very small package including on

e box and a bucket with a swiffer-

like cleaning instrument. Some of the students bought large packages which where about 9 boxes. So, all the JYMers were down waiting for the packages to arrive at the exact time they were supposed to show up. Unfortunately they did not show up until 40 minutes later which was about 5 minutes after the rain.

We had to unload the truck and bring our boxes all to our rooms in the rain. We did have some shelter which we packed with boxes and as soon as the truck was empty people started taking their stuff. A couple of us hung back and watched the boxes while nobody was there. Luckily the process was very quick and pretty much easy (except for the heavy boxes) but everyone was kind to help each-other out. I have decided since I do not have much for the semester, I will be in my friend Clare's room using her toaster over and microwave and such.

We did get a chance to eat a little bit at the Tribuene which is a little restaurant on campus with really good Putenschnitzel and Bier! It was nice to actually have a good dinner. Afterward I talked to Zach for 15 minutes and then hung out with Clare and Nikki. When I finally made it back to my room, for some reason I was on a mission to organize all my shelves in my room.

Since then my room has looked a lot more organized and homey. It makes me feel like i'm not so

out of place here in Germany.

Today was quite interesting. At JYM we have 4 different diagnostic tests that we had to take. Each one lasting about an hour, which took up a very good part of our day. I was very happy to be done but still nervous to get my results. The system here has a ranking score...b1-c2. People who score at a b1/b2 level are not allowed to really study at the LUM (Ludwig-

Maximilians Universitaet) but rather take mostly German classes through JYM with the 3 professors there. I'm hoping to place at a c1 or higher which can put me in classes with fewer people, more attention and a lot more information. I feel confident in my test scores, but I still have that un-easyness.

After the test we got a little pep-talk about Oktoberfest which starts this weekend and we

were all on our merry ways. Nikki, Clare and I headed off for Karlsplatz to find a cable

for their

computers. After a bit of indecisiveness we decided to just go to Marienplatz where we knew we could find one. Marienplatz was filled...and i mean FILLED with tourists. Honestly it was hard to find a German who could tell us where the Saturn store was (Saturn is a big electrical appliance store). Weaving in and out of peole(hence why it isreferred to by Munichers and Oktober-pest) we easily found Saturn down the way and got a little bit to eat as the bells all started to chime. The Marionettes only dance twice a day so we couldn't see that but did have a good time playing the Ami/Detuscher game.

Clare and I ended up suggesting the same game at the same time. The object of it is to pick some random person out of a crowd and ask whether the other people think they are Americans or Germans before hearing them speak. I've learned to pick out so pretty good signs of Americans so far. Shoes are a big one, and pants are a also a very good indicator. Not to mention the fact that Americans are obnoxious. Any German can easily pick them out of a crowd.

The game was fun be we decided then to come back to the StuStadt to rest a little before our tour (yes, another fricken tour). The train ride was interesting. We were warned that about this time the tourists all come in for Oktoberfest and the trains are completely packed. On our tour we learned the ins and outs of the Studentenstadt but our tour-guide was so slow. Afterward I joined everybody for a beer and came back and am writing my blog at the moment.

It doesn't seem like i've only been here 4 days. I honestly feel like i've been here for at least two weeks or so. Luckily my German is improving the more I use it and think about it...but we'll have to see what Suzi says. I'm not exactly sure but I think we're planning on meeting sometime this weekend! After my trying to run as far as i can in 3 hours (or probably less depending on my youth for the day) I have all day to hang out with Suzi and the family. Sunday is the Oktoberfest parade and I don't want to miss that.

First day of JYM

As I wrote my blog yesterday, I'm not going to lie..I was a little sad. For me, the extrovert who relies on people and sometime has a hard time by herself...yesterday was a bit harsh. After meeting with Sommer Sherrit our academic program advisor I pretty much had no one to talk to for the rest of the day. Okay, so there was the guy at the store who helped me get a plug in for my computer. Anyway, I pretty much walked in to my apartment and said to myself "My God, what did I get myself into?" Being alone for that time was really hard on me and I was pretty homesick. But, I tried to stay positive and keep my chin up like my dad told me (yes dad, i do listen to you). I knew today would be a completely different day.

Yesterday, I wasn't feeling very well (probably the result of all my worrying)...so i made a poor decision and just didn't eat anything. I went to bed on a completely empty stomach..no lunch or supper (don't worry, I don't do this on a regular basis).

As i was trying to get some sleep, I was waking up pretty much every half hour or so. I went to bed at 9:00pm and planned to get up at 9:00 am thinking that would be enough for me to catch up. at about 5:00 in the morning I woke up from a terrible nightmare (I'm not

going to explain in detail because my dreams are weird anyway) that was pretty much exactly like a horror movie. I was so scared I didn't want to get out of bed for a bit. I did come online and talked to some people (thank you) and they made me feel better...Better all except for the fact that I now know that I can't use e

ither Pandora or Hulu to catch up on biggest loser or even have some

background music. Stupid! I did get a chance to get back to bed around 6:00am and slept till 9:00am. I then woke up and slowly got ready for the lunch meeting we had at JYM.

On my way to the JYM office (about a 30 minute ride on the u-bahn) I did run in to some English speaking students going the wrong way. I made a safe guess and bet they were with JYM as I had seen them at the Studentenstadt (student city-where my room is). I asked them if they were JYM and showed them the way to the office. When we got there they greeted us with Subway sandwiches and talked to us a bit about the program. JYM is the oldest program in Munich and one of the most famous ones as well. We talked about our schedule for the next three weeks and then they let us go. We were all done by about 1:30pm. I didn't exactly want to go back to my room just yet, so I asked another girl if she was interested in going for a little walk around the city...just to see some things.

So, Melissa and I walked to the Alte and Neue Pinakothek (art museums) as well as the

University. I realized everything's a lot closer than I thought. We had good conversations both in English and in German (always a plus to speak German in Germany). Afterwards, we took th

e train to the Karstadt (a department store) and got some stuff she needed. We even took a bit of a trip around that trainstop (Muenchener Freiheit).

We wandered off to a little street back some direction where there were really cute houses. We didn't go too far because we didn't want to actually get lost. We went back to the Studentenstadt and spent a little time in our rooms. Our plan was to take 45 minutes and then meet back in the center area of the Stustadt

(shortened version of the studentenstadt). From there we wandered around the Englischer Garten(English Garden- are you starting to see how simmilar German is to English?). Anyway, the English Garden is this huge wooded area where there are a couple of buildings, lots of open spaces for dogs to run and a crazy path that leads you through all of it. I have found a place to run! I seriously could just run around there for hours and get lost and then find my way home once I get close to the time that i'm done. Today it wasn't too busy with bikes and it was quite peaceful... and luckily it's safe. Yes, i'll be getting lost for 3 hours but they do have maps throughout the whole garden and I know the Police patrol the place. As we were walking, we had a police car drive by... that made me feel a little more comfortable. Don't worry though...i won't go at night. Tomorrow, just won't have time to run then..either that or i'll go in the morning...though it might still be dark when i'm allowed to.

After the English Garden excursion we met up with two girls sitting having lunch..or dinner. Nikki and Clare had gone to different places, so we talked about each of our trips. I found out that Clare and I both had a light out so I suggested we go to the store for a replacement. It was starting to get a little bit later but we headed out anyway. We stopped at Karstadt where i got my lightbulb, and went to check the Kaufhof and a different Karstadt for a lamp for Clare. She decided it might be better to just wait for the maintenance to fix the lightbulb for her in her bathroom. It saves some money. For now she'll just have to shower with the door open and the light outside on.

To top of the day, as we were coming back from "shopping" (which was at the Karlsplatz and I didn't have any time to take pictures so i'm going back sometime maybe tomorrow) we met up with some of the other JYM students and she and I got a drink. Yes, I finally had my first beer in Germany and she had a Spaetze! yay for Radlers (simmilar to Bud light lime...but not quite)!

Well, now i'm back here in my room getting ready for bed as tomorrow is going to be a big day!