Strangeness

It is absolutely pouring rain. Of course my umbrella is at home.
This is a small list of strange things I have seen from the bus:
On the sidewalk, an Chinese man on a unicycle
Multiple cosmetic shops that specialize in permanent makeup
A man with a motorized four wheeler on the street ?? is this legal?

Foggy Monday

I stayed up too late last night, for no good reason except I am trying to finish this book that is starting to really annoy me. It is called AdrienMole and Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is supposed to be funny I just get irritated with him! He hasn't the guts to tell this girl no, so passively he ends up engaged to her somehow and she is such a dishrag! I want to ring her neck! So does he though. And also, he is in debt up to his ears and he continues to use the credit cards he gets in the mail. I am starting to feel no empathy for him! He is such an idiot! Plus he thinks Tony Blair is admirable and that going to war was a good idea. Maybe I should just put the book down. Why do I do this? I continue to read something that just makes me grit my teeth and stay up too late!! So, now I am annoyed&sleep deprived,on the grayest foggiest day of the year!

Geocache

Sat. night I went upstairs for a Birthday party for Barbara (my sister in-law). It was a really nice party with lots of food and good people. I chatted with a couple of their friends...one about the politics of the USA and our aging population (this is also relevent in Germany), also about the differences in the USA and Germany, how people live, where they live, and so on. I also learned about something new called Geocaching. I think I spelled it right. This is a new hobby that started in the USA and now is popular here. It is like going on a treasure hunt in the woods with a handheld GPS. The funny thing is that I clicked randomly on another blog just now and it was all about this topic. A woman who lives in California is a bit obsessed with this, but it is interesting. Check it out...http://miragee.blogspot.com The German man (Christoph) was saying that he can never get his kids to go on a hike with him, but now with this, they will go anywhere to find the cache. It usually contains some little toys for kids...It's funny that I would so randomly click on this blog because before last night I would have NO idea what the heck this woman was talking about.

It is Monday tomorrow. I will take the train from Gelsenkirchen to D-dorf in the morning.

My German is coming along, but slowly. I know more and also I see how far I have to go. I saw a bit of Susanna's homework and she is learning something similar to mine (past perfect tense verbs), although with many more words. I am sure I sound like a four year old when I talk.

I hope everyone is well at home.

The Market

This is a bread stand...next door was a delicious greek place with many olives and feta cheese and bread...The man started talking to me (Where are you from?) and kept giving me samples of food to try, it was all very tasty. He was Greek and nice. Even the meat looks good here....
There was one organic place to buy vegetables. This market also sold clothes and some Christmas decorations (cheesy santas).

Cookie Factory

Today I took the train to Markus' parent's house from D-dorf. I will stay for the weekend. It is so nice here. I have the feeling of coming home from after being away at college...bringing laundry and eating good food, satiating a bit of homesickness. I helped make cookies for the holidays. They are a traditional German cookie and a lot of work! Then, later I went out for a pizza dinner.

Tobias the baker...
The final product is two cookies sandwiched together with chocolate. Sehr gut!

Altbier of course.

This is the locally brewed extra special much hailed Altbier. The people of D-dorf really love this. It comes rushing out of wooden kegs as fast as the people drink it. It is a bit dark and bitter for my tongue but I do not dare tell them. Oh, one more thing. Evidently, there is a long standing rivalry between D-dorf and Koln (another city on the Rhine). They have a different beer there, and are equally as proud. So, if you order a Kolsch in D-dorf, they are likely to tell you to get lost...they might show you the door with a swift kick. I will go to a brewery next week so you will hear more about the beer later. Prost!

This one's for you, Grandma

This is the Rhine as seen from the above tower. Also, that is me as seen from the window of the above tower. This river has seen centuries of action. Grandma-this one is for you. I know how much you love heights. You would have been breathless up there (with a panic attack).

Castle am Rhine

This is a very old Schloss, although it was much bigger, only the tower is left. I went on a tour and there is a story that it is haunted by the ghost of the king that lived here. Evidently he threw a big party. Not just any party, this was probably the party of the century (300 years ago). It lasted 10 days and during this time, they had a fake 'war' dressing up and using real cannons firing to the other side of the Rhine which the castle overlooks. They also had many fireworks and I'm sure there was a clown or two. Anyway, as the story goes, the party put him over the edge with the bank and he had to sell everything and file bankruptcy. So, he went mad and locked himself in the tower of the castle for a week. He set fire to the furniture and threw it out the windows. Eventually, his wife took over ruling the land (resisting sexist comment here). But no one liked her and the people of the land wanted her gone. So, they cut holes in the roof and spied on her in bed. (Please bear in mind, I gathered the pieces of this story from a german tour guide, a person who spoke minimal English...I hope the translation is right...) So, still today there are documents of what the spies saw in the Queen's bed. They were hoping to find her with another man and then murder her for infidelity (crazy husband or not, she was still married)...turns out all she did in bed was sleep. But the people disliked her so much that they murdered her afterall. Then they turned the tower of the castle into a tourist trap and filled it with beautiful little model boats. It really is nice though.

St. Martin's Day

Yesterday I went to the Altstadt with the group to walk the streets with thousands of people (half of them being kids) to celbrate St. Martin's day. THis has something to do with a man on a horse and a begger and a guy from Russia. I think. I am not really sure, but the people all carry little lanterns that are quite special and they follow the men on horses through the street. It was quite festive with brass ensembles playing and people singing outloud. I thought it was a bit like a funeral procession but it didn't go over well when I suggested this. So, the funniest part when was the really pretty girls from Italy were walking backwards, taking a picture (they took many pictures) and they walked over a pile of horse dodo (we all know this word in German, the funnest swear word to say but can you spell it...). Anyway, I was Glüklich and missed the pile. It smelled terrible. It was quite funny, I thought. It was my first feeling of 'schadenfreude' actually experienced in Germany. Of course the Germans would have a word for this. At least no one was hurt.

Gray Day

I have a headache and the weather is dull so I will keep this short. We had a test today and I think I actually passed. This a good thing. Tonight I will go out with to join the town in celebrating St. Martin's Day. This is when people walk in the old city with torches at night. It sounds really nice. I have been a complete nerd all week, in bed by 9. Alas, tonight I will have a beer and celebrate my hard work. I am really enjoying this going to school again thing. Maybe I will consider going back to school for something. It is actually refreshing to have homework. Learning something new is super exciting. Maybe I am out of my mind...??

Mittwoch

The middle of the week comes so fast!

Hmm, today the blog page is totally in Japanese. All the buttons have these symobols for letters. Or is it Korean maybe. One never knows what one will get when sitting at a computer here. Isn't it bad enough that the keyboard has the Y in the wrong place and I can never find the question mark?? Ha! I found it. There are people from many places here. Evidently a clever one from Asia has tampered with the computer. Even German is better than this, I can deduce meaning with German. German is hard, sure, but at least English and German share the same alphabet. Try going from Japanese to German. Yikes. There are many students here from Asia. Amazing really.

I would like to offer out to world a big smile today. To all the people on the bus who do not smile at me. Yea you, I'm smiling at you! What is wrong with a little smile? Just a little one. Not too much, no grinning.
Unfortunately I am finding this to be a generally true stereotype of Germans. They smile at those they know and love. Not to strangers. Even nice strangers just trying to be nice. Oh well. I keep smiling.

Now onto the daily news. I have been watching a bit of TV. I try to watch the German stations, but honestly sometimes I just want to understand what the heck they are saying. Is that so wrong?? So, I watch CCN world. Which interestingly is different than that CNN in the USA. The riots in France are really bad, terrible how the people feel there and also what they do to their own neighborhoods. In a world full of immigrants it amazes me that they are still treated with such discrimination, and that there is so much unrest. I hope one day in a modern world being an immigrant will be 'cool' because it is really. Also, the US president (George W.) has some bad press (BIG surprise) in South America. Why doesn't he just stay in TX? People like him and no buildings will be burned down. Also, I had no idea Prince Charles and Camilla were into Organic farming? Since when is he an environmentalist? I had no idea. He still sort of dopey though. Oh well, not all princes can be charming.

OK, Enough of this.
Back to work, all of you, and me.

Toilets and baby politicians

This is my tiny bathroom which I have all to myself. It reminds me a lot of going camping. It's like a motorhome bathroom. There is even a skylight.




There is a series of bus stop photos that show aging babies. I find them quite creepy and their likeness to American politicians is scary.

Is this not what George W. looked like as a baby??

I am...

This is my only pic of me in D-dorf. Ich bin am Rhine.

moving up

Yesterday I moved from the absolute beginner class to level 3. It may be a bit too hard for me but I can fill in the gaps later, I hope. I am supposed to have a tutor tomorrow. There is more homework and it is better. But I have to remember to sit next to someone else. Yesterday and today I sat next to this guy "Jan" from Poland. He doesn't appear to understand much of what is going on or be interested in doing the exercises. We work in partners a lot. As much as I can tell he just fakes his way through it with the little German he does know. It's a little amusing unless you are his partner and actually care about doing the actual exercise.

Pictures finally!

This is my house. I live in the upstairs. It's just the tiniest cutest place ever.


This is the Rhine from the Altstadt. I went to the top of that space needle looking tower last Saturday. The view is quite spectacular.

Montag

Oh Mondays. They are the same in all places I think. The lazy gray day, the hard to get up in the morning day. Oh well. I spent the weekend in the Altstadt. It was really beautiful in the old city on the Rhine. The sun was out and so were all the people. The shops are all closed on Sundays so people are forced out onto the street to walk hand in hand or stop for a drink (of course the bars are open).

I saw a funny scene. A pigeon that had pecked a hole in a slice of bread and then ended up wearing the bread like a necklace. All the while, still eating at the bread around its neck. Edible Jewelry for birds. Hmmm.

TGIF

So, today is Friday finally. We had a little welcome lunch after class. It was amusing to talk to people, especially the from the beginner class. They don't speak German well and also not English well. So, it ends up being one miscommunication after another and then finally the thought is conveyed, or not. Ha. The wonders of language. I met a woman from Japan who comes to here to be married to her husband who is working here. So, she will live in Germany and is just beginning to learn the language. Last night I went out with the group and practiced some German over dinner and drinks. We used the bus and train and I think I figured out one route to go from my house to the Alt Stadt. This is the shopping-eating-dancing district. This is important. Yesterday I took a long walk around my house, which is really a beautiful neighborhood. There is a large community garden and they are all perfect little plots of land with gates and many flowers. Yesterday was full of sun. Now it is dull gray and it is raining. I think I will adventure a bit this afternoon and find some shopping or maybe eat something. My fridge has only eggs (only boiled-I have no stovetop), salami, cheese, bread and I bought some prezels and crackers that taste worse than terrible. I cannot even describe the crackers, like cardboard with oats. Tomorrow I will do a bit of sightseeing with the group. Bis später!

Popular deutschen Familiennamen

The most popular German last names
1. Müller (10%)
2. Schmidt
3. Fischer
4. Schneider
5. Meier

First day of School

So there! It is over, the first day of school. It was good. Actually easy for me. I am in the beginner class so there is some review in the beginning. There are a few in my class who are absolute beginners. They don't even know the numbers! My heart goes out to them for sure. Yikes. I don't know how they even get around here. I have much to learn but I thank God I can ask where the toilet is and where to get some beer! I haven't had any beer in Düsseldorf yet. I think tonight I will go out with the group so I can learn my way on the train to the Altstädt. This is evidently the most important district to know for fun. I could probably figure it out on my own but I will take the free knowledge with ease for now. I am the only American in my class. There are a few from China, one from Argentina and one from Poland and Greece and also one from Italy. The woman from Italy seems to be afraid to speak German. Das is nicht sehr gut. I want to tell her, let go! Let the funny sounds come out! Sprecht Deutsch! Oh well. Now I am done for the day.

This is my favorite picture of Markus (right). For obvious reasons he is the most adorable then and now. Today I am leaving the safety of his house and comfy bed to the more unpredictable world of Dusseldorf. No more breakfast waiting for me on the table with the wonderful chai tea.


This is the lovely community garden that you can actually own, so it's a bit different than ours.