The cheapest way to get to Prague (or anywhere, I guess) is to hitchhike. I’ve done so twice so far with Miki. He advises against my going alone, for safety reasons. And I agree with him for linguistic reasons. I think I could get myself into the Czech Republic, but seeing as I can only say “My name is Maggie. I’m an American.” and “I live in Berlin.” I don’t think that would really help me get to Prague. Miki has hitchhiked almost every time since the weather got nice to Berlin and back. The only thing is that it takes an indeterminate amount of time, so if you have some place to be that evening, chances are high you might not make it. Miki has a lot of luck alone on Weekdays. He usually goes with truckers. The two times we’ve gone together have been on a Friday that was a German public holiday and a Sunday. Neither of which are the best choices since most of the people traveling already have full cars. So we receive a lot of the “I would take you, but I have no room” shrug and gesture to the back of the car. Regardless, on both occasions we ended up at our destination at the end of the day, and I thought they were both pretty pleasant experiences.
Of course I say that now. However, hitchhiking requires a lot of patience. It’s a philosophy that requires patience, faith, and trust. So says Miki. This past Sunday we stood for almost two hours in Berlin before finding a ride just 50 km down the road. But that first ride is all you need to prove yourselves a trustworthy trekker, because in our new spot, it was obvious someone had to have dropped up off there in a car. We found the next ride within 10 minutes. Here are some helpful hints to keep in mind if you ever wish to hitchhike around Germany. Yes, I know, I’ve only done it twice, so I have no credibility, but most of this is information from Miki.
1. Use signs so it is clear where you are headed. This eliminates unnecessary stopping which could annoy the drivers as well as you, since it gets your hopes up.
2. Stand somewhere where it is easy for cars to pull over and stop, or where they are already stopped (like a gas station or rest stop).
3. Shave. This one doesn’t really apply to me, but in general, look nice. They have to trust you too.
4. When you get a ride, follow the lead of the driver and other people in the car. If they want to start a conversation, have a conversation. If they just want to drive in peace and listen to the radio, keep to yourself. But don’t fall asleep. (Okay, so I broke this when driving from Dresden to Prague on Sunday, but only because it was like one of those sun ovens we cooked pizza in in girl scouts in the backseat. And Miki was in the front seat having a conversation with the driver in Czech.)
5. Know where you want to go. Sometimes people offer their own ideas, and that’s great. But you should still have some idea of where you want to go, and make sure they are going past that before you get in the car.
On both occasions, the first ride was a married couple. The first time I almost didn’t spot him since he was just gesturing us over from the gas station while he was pumping gas with gloves on. But it was a nice quiet ride and they ended up giving us a box of Rittersport chocolates. They took us to the last gas station before Dresden, which also happens to be the last gas station in Germany on the highway to Prague. We found that out with the next couple who offered us a ride. I think he was German and she was Romanian. They were awesome and obviously just liked adventure. They lived in Dresden, but offered to stay on the highway to Prague and take us to the next gas station. They specifically cleared out their backseat for us, which had been filled with lots of lumber, and gave us beer. She kept saying that they would go with us to Prague, if it weren’t for the fact that they hadn’t fed their cat. And her reaction when they accidentally ended up in the Czech Republic was hilarious. The final leg of that journey was on a bus full on 6 or 7 year old soccer players. They were just starting a movie too, and about 10 or 15 minutes into the drive, someone changed the subtitles to English.
This Sunday was a little less exciting, but it didn’t take nearly as long. (We stood in the first gas station in the Czech Republic for an obscene amount of time the first time we went. We got on the soccer bus at 10 or 10:30pm. So like I said, you can’t make same-day plans.) The first couple was nice, but the ride was short. The next guy was the most interesting. He took us to the last gas station before Dresden. He was coming from a poker tournament in Berlin in which he placed third. He was Austrian but lived in Dresden. He’s been to Las Vegas 27 times. He knew Pennsylvania because he flies into Philly and takes a train to Atlantic City. He loves Las Vegas so much, he flew his wife there to marry her in the little white chapel (I pretended to know what that was). The last guy was the Czech who talked to Miki the whole time while I slept. But he seemed nice. He had an ostrich egg in the back seat which I almost sat on. Perhaps I should add that to the list. Don’t sit on someone’s ostrich egg; you might break it. Luckily the egg was not harmed.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Spellcheck Generation
I edited my last post so it now contains the correct spelling of the word ladder and well as the word soap in place of soup. Seeing as I figured there was soap in the house so I had no qualms touching a dead mouse. I was not planning to make soup out of it, nor use soup to distract the cat. But those were good ideas, Mom.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Litti jagt
Sometimes, when Monika and Dieter go out of town, if they are leaving really early in the morning, they ask me to come over the night before so Litti is doesn't get stressed out when he wakes up in the morning and no one is there. I wouldn't want to traumatize the poor cat, and it really makes no difference to me so of I oblige.
First of all, there has been a change in the way Litti goes outside. Recently, there was a letter posted in Monika and Dieter's apartment to all cat owners. It stated that all cats were to remain inside and not in the garden. This does not stop Monika and Dieter. So now, they wait until dark, and only put the cat ladder down from balcony for long enough for Litti to climb down. Then it goes back inside (and the lights can come on again). Then in a half an hour or so, the cat comes back.
The last time I came over the night before, I was watching TV with Monika while we waited for Litti to come back inside for the night. It was getting late; late enough for an 'Erotic Thriller' to come on TV. Erotic Thrill means a scary movie that involves really really graphic sex scenes. This one in particular was from the US, called Killing Me Softly, and it stared the same guy who played Martin Luther in the movie Luther. So that was a little awkward. But anyway, Monika made a joke about how Litti was probably out hunting mice, and that's way he's taking so long. I laughed, and went back to awkwardly watching Martin Luther break some more commandments.
Fast forward to the next evening. Since it was dark, Litti was allowed outside and I was upstairs on the computer gchatting to Miki. I went down to check outside, and found Litti looking up at me, patiently waiting for the ladder to be lowered so he could climb inside. Nothing out of the ordinary here. I returned to the computer room and continued my conversation. Then Litti started meowing. He probably just quickly got something to eat and now wants to go outside. Well it was late, and I was planning to go to bed soon, so I just ignored the noise. But the little bugger was persistent, and I finally went downstairs to play with Litti using one of the many cat toys. He likes that too and will probably be happy with just that. So I go downstairs, and there he is sitting regally, like a lion. I swear, he was smiling proudly and at his feet was a dead mouse. Luckily it was dead because I was in no mood to chase a mouse around the house. So I pet him and said what a good boy he was from bringing me a mouse, and he seemed very content.
Well it was late, and I figured they have soap in their house, so I thought 'what's the harm?' and picked up the dead mouse by the tail to dispose of the poor creature. That is not a smart thing to do in front of the cat that just killed it. I had lifted it maybe two inches off the floor when Litte batted it out of my hand and immediately drew it close to his body, keeping it from me. 'Come on', I tried again to get the mouse. This only prompted him to start chewing on it. I know it's just a mouse, but hearing the crunch of bones while watching something eat is really disgusting.
I went to the kitchen to investigate what could be useful in this situation. I settled on a napkin and a ziplock bag. Upon return to the carnivorous animal, I decided to direct my attention to the cat, and ignore the mouse. I began petting Litti and he soon stopping gnawing and turned slightly away from the now ripped open carcass. I got out a cat toy to get him even farther away, and while he was distracted, I threw the napkin over the mouse. Now it was out of sight from the beast. I wasn't sure how keen of a sense of smell the old cat had, but I took my chances. I ended or play session and stood to go nonchalantly, hoping Litti would do the same. Success! He went to this water dish. So I easily scooped up the napkin-mouse combination with my ziplock bag glove and deposited it in the trash can. Germans separate their trash quite a bit, and I was tempted to put it into the bio container. But I decided on the general Restmüll.
It's a jungle out there.
First of all, there has been a change in the way Litti goes outside. Recently, there was a letter posted in Monika and Dieter's apartment to all cat owners. It stated that all cats were to remain inside and not in the garden. This does not stop Monika and Dieter. So now, they wait until dark, and only put the cat ladder down from balcony for long enough for Litti to climb down. Then it goes back inside (and the lights can come on again). Then in a half an hour or so, the cat comes back.
The last time I came over the night before, I was watching TV with Monika while we waited for Litti to come back inside for the night. It was getting late; late enough for an 'Erotic Thriller' to come on TV. Erotic Thrill means a scary movie that involves really really graphic sex scenes. This one in particular was from the US, called Killing Me Softly, and it stared the same guy who played Martin Luther in the movie Luther. So that was a little awkward. But anyway, Monika made a joke about how Litti was probably out hunting mice, and that's way he's taking so long. I laughed, and went back to awkwardly watching Martin Luther break some more commandments.
Fast forward to the next evening. Since it was dark, Litti was allowed outside and I was upstairs on the computer gchatting to Miki. I went down to check outside, and found Litti looking up at me, patiently waiting for the ladder to be lowered so he could climb inside. Nothing out of the ordinary here. I returned to the computer room and continued my conversation. Then Litti started meowing. He probably just quickly got something to eat and now wants to go outside. Well it was late, and I was planning to go to bed soon, so I just ignored the noise. But the little bugger was persistent, and I finally went downstairs to play with Litti using one of the many cat toys. He likes that too and will probably be happy with just that. So I go downstairs, and there he is sitting regally, like a lion. I swear, he was smiling proudly and at his feet was a dead mouse. Luckily it was dead because I was in no mood to chase a mouse around the house. So I pet him and said what a good boy he was from bringing me a mouse, and he seemed very content.
Well it was late, and I figured they have soap in their house, so I thought 'what's the harm?' and picked up the dead mouse by the tail to dispose of the poor creature. That is not a smart thing to do in front of the cat that just killed it. I had lifted it maybe two inches off the floor when Litte batted it out of my hand and immediately drew it close to his body, keeping it from me. 'Come on', I tried again to get the mouse. This only prompted him to start chewing on it. I know it's just a mouse, but hearing the crunch of bones while watching something eat is really disgusting.
I went to the kitchen to investigate what could be useful in this situation. I settled on a napkin and a ziplock bag. Upon return to the carnivorous animal, I decided to direct my attention to the cat, and ignore the mouse. I began petting Litti and he soon stopping gnawing and turned slightly away from the now ripped open carcass. I got out a cat toy to get him even farther away, and while he was distracted, I threw the napkin over the mouse. Now it was out of sight from the beast. I wasn't sure how keen of a sense of smell the old cat had, but I took my chances. I ended or play session and stood to go nonchalantly, hoping Litti would do the same. Success! He went to this water dish. So I easily scooped up the napkin-mouse combination with my ziplock bag glove and deposited it in the trash can. Germans separate their trash quite a bit, and I was tempted to put it into the bio container. But I decided on the general Restmüll.
It's a jungle out there.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
mein neues Fahrrad
Reason number 97 to love Miki: he got me a new bike.
Well actually I guess his dad did. And by new bike, I mean it's one of their old ones that no one uses anymore. But regardless, Miki brought it to me from Prague via train the week that my parents were here. He was really nervous about meeting my parents, and I was really frustrated that we were running late to dinner with Monika and Dieter especially since Dieter was waiting with the car. So it didn't make the best first impression of the quality of our relationship on my parents, but he passed the test nonetheless (I hope).
But this bike is new to me, and let me tell you, it puts me in a whole new league when I bike to work in the mornings. This bike has 18 speeds. That's 17 more than my old bike. Unfortunately, the seat is regular sized, so I no longer have the luxury of the old lady giant comfortable seat. That took some getting used to. And there's no basket, so I have to wear my bag, which results in sweaty back on days when it's hot. I think I'll start attaching it to the flat thing on the back (does that have a name?).
All sorts of people bike around Berlin. Not too many wear helmets though. And as I mentioned before, thanks to Miki, I wear my helmet everyday. Before, I fit in the category of overly cautious leisurely biker, since my bike had one speed, an old lady seat, and a basket. I couldn't really bike that fast, but I still had my helmet.
Now I'm running with the big dogs. On my first morning out with the new 18 speeder, I found myself in the midst of an unofficial urban bike race. Not ever having a bike with different speed options in the city before, I wasn't mindful of the stop light strategy. Successful urban bikers know to down shift into a lower gear while approaching a red light to increase the starting velocity once the light turns green again. These berliners are hard-core. They try to pass each other like mad. This unofficial bike race I stumbled upon was pretty well representative of the biker-types out there. Our contestants were:
The business man (wearing a business suit and a bicycle helmet)
The man in full spandex armor.
The half armored man wearing the spandex biking shorts but just a normal sweatshirt.
Me, the casually dressed young adult.
And finally the woman in her 30-40s with her purse in her basket and only one speed, yet pedaling like mad to keep up with the pack.
It was especially crazy do the construction we were biking through as well. And it's even more like a race because the traffic lights in Germany turn yellow before they turn green as well as before they turn red (fun fact!). I can't remember who pulled ahead first. I think it was half spandex man. Another thing I've learned about myself in the past month is that I don't like taking biking to work that seriously. So now when the pack comes, I just hang back and let them use their stop light strategy to its fullest potential.
Well actually I guess his dad did. And by new bike, I mean it's one of their old ones that no one uses anymore. But regardless, Miki brought it to me from Prague via train the week that my parents were here. He was really nervous about meeting my parents, and I was really frustrated that we were running late to dinner with Monika and Dieter especially since Dieter was waiting with the car. So it didn't make the best first impression of the quality of our relationship on my parents, but he passed the test nonetheless (I hope).
But this bike is new to me, and let me tell you, it puts me in a whole new league when I bike to work in the mornings. This bike has 18 speeds. That's 17 more than my old bike. Unfortunately, the seat is regular sized, so I no longer have the luxury of the old lady giant comfortable seat. That took some getting used to. And there's no basket, so I have to wear my bag, which results in sweaty back on days when it's hot. I think I'll start attaching it to the flat thing on the back (does that have a name?).
All sorts of people bike around Berlin. Not too many wear helmets though. And as I mentioned before, thanks to Miki, I wear my helmet everyday. Before, I fit in the category of overly cautious leisurely biker, since my bike had one speed, an old lady seat, and a basket. I couldn't really bike that fast, but I still had my helmet.
Now I'm running with the big dogs. On my first morning out with the new 18 speeder, I found myself in the midst of an unofficial urban bike race. Not ever having a bike with different speed options in the city before, I wasn't mindful of the stop light strategy. Successful urban bikers know to down shift into a lower gear while approaching a red light to increase the starting velocity once the light turns green again. These berliners are hard-core. They try to pass each other like mad. This unofficial bike race I stumbled upon was pretty well representative of the biker-types out there. Our contestants were:
The business man (wearing a business suit and a bicycle helmet)
The man in full spandex armor.
The half armored man wearing the spandex biking shorts but just a normal sweatshirt.
Me, the casually dressed young adult.
And finally the woman in her 30-40s with her purse in her basket and only one speed, yet pedaling like mad to keep up with the pack.
It was especially crazy do the construction we were biking through as well. And it's even more like a race because the traffic lights in Germany turn yellow before they turn green as well as before they turn red (fun fact!). I can't remember who pulled ahead first. I think it was half spandex man. Another thing I've learned about myself in the past month is that I don't like taking biking to work that seriously. So now when the pack comes, I just hang back and let them use their stop light strategy to its fullest potential.
der Besuch meiner Eltern
My parents' visit has come and gone. It was an interesting experience. Homesickness seems to hit me hard every 3 to 4 months (whether I admit it to myself or not). Seeing as it had been 5 months since I had been to states and 3 months since I had seen anyone I know from there, I was very ready to see my parents. So that aspect was very nice. But it was a very interesting time for me for several reasons:
1. I live a pretty solitary existence here and like to not stand out as American, or really any foreigner for that matter. That's really impossible to do with my mom (no offense Mom).
2. This is the first time I was ever out of the country with my parents. I have been to Germany 3 times in the past 7 years so am pretty used to things looking European. The last time my parents were in Europe was like 30 years ago. I didn't think of how much more of a culture shock it would be for them. (not that anything 'shocking' happened)
3. I was sort of hosting them, but at the same time they wanted to find their own way around and do their own thing and let me work and do what I needed to do. So this was also the first vacation I've ever been on with my parents where I was in the lead.
I didn't consider any of these things ahead of time, which lead to my getting kind of annoyed, and not finding some things as funny or entertaining, and my feeling a bit exhausted. In hindsight, I felt bad for the low tolerance I had and how unprepared I was at times. I really wanted to plan a good visit and some of the stuff I didn't have time for or I didn't research enough ahead of time. Thinking back now I wish I had been more laid back. My parents sure were, and they enjoyed themselves tremendously. I didn't realize how much of a perfectionist I am. I mean, I was definitely one in high school. But in college I had so much on my plate that I was just happy to get things done. And now I don't care too much about PBDE's and intern work is pretty tedious, so I just kind of do my thing, I'll admit, sometimes half-heartedly. As I told my parents, I'm learning a lot about myself this year Granted some things are a bit superficial like I could eat pizza for just about every meal, and I could never be a vegan because I like cheese too much, other things are deeper, like when I really care about something I put a lot of time and energy into it and am a total perfectionist (i.e. my parents visit, from the past: the Marching 97, and from very recently: helping plan Mel's Bachelorette Party) and I'm way more of a family person than I ever realized before. I miss being with my parents more than anything even when I get annoyed at my mom after like two days for asking lots of questions (again, no offense).
This was deeper than I expected. I hope you brought your floaties.
1. I live a pretty solitary existence here and like to not stand out as American, or really any foreigner for that matter. That's really impossible to do with my mom (no offense Mom).
2. This is the first time I was ever out of the country with my parents. I have been to Germany 3 times in the past 7 years so am pretty used to things looking European. The last time my parents were in Europe was like 30 years ago. I didn't think of how much more of a culture shock it would be for them. (not that anything 'shocking' happened)
3. I was sort of hosting them, but at the same time they wanted to find their own way around and do their own thing and let me work and do what I needed to do. So this was also the first vacation I've ever been on with my parents where I was in the lead.
I didn't consider any of these things ahead of time, which lead to my getting kind of annoyed, and not finding some things as funny or entertaining, and my feeling a bit exhausted. In hindsight, I felt bad for the low tolerance I had and how unprepared I was at times. I really wanted to plan a good visit and some of the stuff I didn't have time for or I didn't research enough ahead of time. Thinking back now I wish I had been more laid back. My parents sure were, and they enjoyed themselves tremendously. I didn't realize how much of a perfectionist I am. I mean, I was definitely one in high school. But in college I had so much on my plate that I was just happy to get things done. And now I don't care too much about PBDE's and intern work is pretty tedious, so I just kind of do my thing, I'll admit, sometimes half-heartedly. As I told my parents, I'm learning a lot about myself this year Granted some things are a bit superficial like I could eat pizza for just about every meal, and I could never be a vegan because I like cheese too much, other things are deeper, like when I really care about something I put a lot of time and energy into it and am a total perfectionist (i.e. my parents visit, from the past: the Marching 97, and from very recently: helping plan Mel's Bachelorette Party) and I'm way more of a family person than I ever realized before. I miss being with my parents more than anything even when I get annoyed at my mom after like two days for asking lots of questions (again, no offense).
This was deeper than I expected. I hope you brought your floaties.
Entschuldigung
I have a backlog of topics I wish to write about (in my head) and will try to procrastinate less on silly things like facebook and google reader and more on sharing interesting stories from my life. I was going to go chronologically but instead will go in the order that I think of them/am inspired to put down on 'paper'.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Visitors
My parents arrived safely, though a bit delayed yesterday morning. They got bumped to the first class (or whatever politically correct terminology they're using nowadays - Business economy?) so they were well rested and very full upon arrival. Since the seats recline like lazy boys and they give you a 4 course meal. Today is their first day on their own. The test will be whether or not they make it here for lunch.
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