Ten Tidbits

AND! She’s back! Okay, so I like my blog and I reserve the right to change my mind, so here I am. I haven’t given up on this thing yet.

Since posting my last entry, I have been trying to figure out why exactly I feel disconnected from my blog, and I guess it is because I feel like people expect me to say something hugely profound or spectacular. As though I am traveling vicariously for everyone I know and there is this weight upon me to say something really momentous and blow (KABOOM!) the minds of my friends and family. It is all in my head, of course, and as a result, I’ve freaked myself out by placing way too much unnecessary pressure on little ol’ me.

So, I hereby give myself permission to talk basics and I bring you ten tidbits.

1. At each of the three grocery stores in closest proximity to my apartment, the eggs are not refrigerated. Therefore, I had a very difficult time finding them the first couple of times. I do not understand this, or rather, why American stores must refrigerate their eggs and the German ones do not. I have yet to Google myself out of this confusion. (Dear Shawn, will you figure this out for me and post it in the comments? Thanks. You rock. Oh, what? You don’t want homework? Don’t lie. You love the Google.)

2. Two of those stores also sell individual eggs. You need one egg? Sure, kein Problem! I like this.

3. Stolpersteine. Once someone points them out to you and you know what they are, you see them pretty often. “This is a difficult topic,” says Captain Obvious.

4. I live very close to the Stadtpark, and it is so cool! I ran the perimeter today (almost—stupid ITB making me want to cut my leg off) and discovered there are no less than 5 drink stands throughout the park where you can get all sorts of liquid refreshments, with or without the booze.

5. Oh, they have pretty huge outdoor concerts there in the summer, I guess. So, the drink stands make a bit more sense in that context.

6. The Planetarium is also there. I have yet to go there, but have thee no fear, go there I will.

7. I have yet to go to several places actually. I have been hibernating when I am not working, trying to save more money than I spend. It is a good time of the year for that sort of behavior.

8. The few Germans I’ve discussed spinach with think it is disgusting when consumed raw. I have seen spinach sold raw at exactly one store. Everywhere else it comes frozen. My standard green smoothie recipe now has a kale base.

9. When you exit the bus or train, you typically have to press a button of some sort to open the door. If no one is exiting or boarding a particular car at a station, the doors of said car do not automatically open. I like this, except if the car smells and could use the ventilation.

10. I have only been on one train car that smelled. From the look and smell of it, someone had spilled an entire beer on the floor. My (ridiculously fantastic) friend Anna says that there are signs (which I have yet to see) that ask you to please not bring smelly things on the train out of courtesy for your fellow passengers. I like this.

Okay, that is good. Perhaps I’ll do a bit of redesigning of this silly blog to liven up the place.

Peace.

No Excuse

I can't explain the silence. I have no excuse. I am online everyday and I have a lot to say, but I sort of feel like maybe I am done blogging. It just feels like another thing I have to do and I don't really enjoy it anymore. I guess I just I don't feel connected to it.

Anyway, if I am inspired, I will write. For now, I am inexcusably silent.

Peace,
mj

p.s. The cheese here is really good.

Wow.

Jellyfish will rule the world.

Wacky, Crazy Deutschland

So I was planning on posting a follow-up to my last post, but I am too scatter-brained to do that. Instead, I'd like to share the following things:

1) I was granted a 6-month visa today with the option to renew. WOOHOO!

2) German governmental agencies confuse the shit out of me, but I have found that a smile goes a long way, even here.

3) Today, I saw a woman comfortably riding a bike in stilettos. You go, girl.

4) Minutes prior, I saw a woman riding a bike with a kid in front of her, and a baby behind her. Wowzers, gadget! All I could think of was how awful it would be if the lot of them crashed. It was kind of neat, regardless.

5) I opened a checking and savings account this afternoon. As part of the process, the bank dude took apart the telephone my employer lent me. He needed the serial number and some identification information from the battery. Weird. That shit is lost in translation.

6) My roommate leaves the windows open all the time, to air the apartment out. It is driving me bat-shit crazy. I understand that it is good to air out the place, but ALL DAY?! In the dead of WINTER? NO, not good. We will be discussing this soon.

Anyway, that's all I got at the moment.

Peace out.

Arrival, Part I

I have writer’s block. It seems ridiculous to me that I haven’t written one million blog entries since I arrived in Deutschland 8 days ago, but alas, it is true. I have given this silence quite a bit of thought and have decided that there is simply too much to say, so I was sort of opting to say nothing at all. Much easier that way.

In hopes of getting the words rolling and the blogs coming, I am just going to start slow. So here is how it all went down, part one.

After a lot of planning, packing and crying, I left Boston on January 6th and headed to New York for two days. My original flight was cancelled at some point last autumn, so when I went to rebook the ticket, every itinerary was going to route me through New York, but for like, a gazillion dollars. I was like, screw that, I can get to New York for 15 bones on the Fung Wah or Lucky Star, so I figured I’d just do that and save myself some cash. Then, Jet Blue, being the awesome company they are, randomly gave me a $50 flight voucher for some silly reason, and I was like, screw taking the bus to NYC, I’ll just fly! I figured it would be nice to have a couple of days in NYC, still in the States, full of laughter, fabulous friends and good food. I was correct. Plus, it was really nice to spend my last two days NOT packing and running around like a crazy person. I was able to simply enjoy the time and ease on out.

The flight over was peaceful and I slept the majority of it. I have been blessed with the ability to sleep in pretty much any situation, regardless of my comfort level. Truly a gift. It’s like my superpower. That, and my ability to hibernate for hours on end. I’m like Super Sleep Girl or some shit. Slumber Woman.

I landed in Frankfurt on a layover and had to scramble to find my gate and get through customs in time to make my connection. I hit the first ATM I could find, because I was not able to find a water fountain in the terminal to refill my water bottle, and had to purchase a bottle. The Germans seem to think tap water is not exactly fit for consumption, but I’m not quite sure on this yet. They do dig their mineral water, no pun intended.

So yeah, hit the Geldautomat, got me some Euros and wasser and got ready to board my next flight. Flying over the country was beautiful—lots of hills and snow and sunlight, and a whole lot of “Holy crap, that’s Germany!!!” going on in my head.

My AMAZING friend Anna greeted me in Hamburg with a sandwich, some Apfelschorle and lots of sweets. Very kind of her.

The worst part of the entire journey was when I attempted to maneuver one of my gigantic suitcases and my carry-on bag onto the escalator. The carry-on contained my brand-spanking-new laptop and as I got on the escalator, it fell off the large suitcase and literally bounced, BOUNCED, down the entire thing. BOUNCED. I howled in laptop pain, anticipating the worst, but it was and is fine. A miracle.

I calmed down and we hopped on the train, which warrants an entire post, and headed to my apartment so I could shower and see the new place.

I think that is a good start, peeps. More soon.

Hope you are all well,
mj

Quitting My Quit Meter

As I have mentioned before, I've got a Quit Meter installed on my computer to track my progress with quitting smoking. I'm about to transfer all of my important data off my PC and onto my new MacBook (yippee!), so I'm going to shut down the meter, but I thought I'd give one last update from it.

As of right now, it has been 2 years, 1 week and 6 days since my last cigarette. I've saved approximately $2,933 and I've not smoked 11,173 cigarettes. That's a whole lot of smokes and a lot of time. Every single one takes roughly 5 minutes, right? It's good to be reminded that I've spent all that time otherwise. Wow. Man, that makes me happy.

But I still want one. How fucked up is that?

T Minus 31 Days

I'll be in Germany in 31 days. 31 DAYS! Holy crap!!!!!

A Decision Is Made

About a month ago, I decided I was not going to Germany. I was very overwhelmed. The economy seemed to be tanking, my job seemed much too precious to voluntarily abandon, and I got really, really scared—terrified, actually.

I was so deeply freaked out that I started covering my tracks, erasing the evidence that I had even been considering going in the first place. I was petrified that one of my coworkers would somehow stumble upon this blog one day and find out I had been planning on quitting and doing this stupid thing—moving abroad during an economic crisis—and I would have to explain myself. I regretfully erased several blog entries detailing my plans, my fears, and my growing excitement.

The self-censorship really bums me out, since I’ve decided to go for it after all. I am still really scared, but I’ve realized that I can’t control the economy. I can only control my own decisions. This may not be the right time for this adventure in terms of the economic climate, but it is the best time to explore this opportunity in my own personal timeline. And money is just money. You can’t take it with you.

So, I gave my notice at work last week and my coworkers have been incredibly supportive and kind. I never imagined they’d be so excited for me, and I feel hugely relieved to no longer be harboring secrets from them. Not talking about my plans was exhausting and I’m so glad I can be open and honest now.

So yeah, that’s the deal. Wish me luck, intrawebz.

Oh, and Shawn, CORN NUTS. Oh!!!! Also, can I just say how freaking thrilled I am that I don’t have to go to Germany and explain the decision to elect John McCain?

THRILLED.

"Title"

Enjoy “this” link to this blog. “Ha.”

Flux

Howdy, folks. Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’m feeling very, very confused right now. I need to take some time to seriously reevaluate my priorities. Once I get my head on straight, I’ll write more. Or, you’ll just continue to get crappy, nonsensical posts from me.

In the meantime, I think this is a great idea.

Peace.

Oh, and vote Obama!

An Experiment in Blogging

Shawn, of Eat! Drink! Snack! fame, has informed me that he gets a lot of visitors to his site who are specifically out hunting the interwebs for information about caliente corn nuts.

Now, I don’t know anything about corn nuts. I don’t think I’ve ever even had a nut of the corn variety. So if you’ve arrived here because you are searching for information about corn nuts, you’ve come to wrong place, but welcome! This is my blog! Stay a while. Read some stuff about beautiful frisbee boys, near-death train experiences, or potentially disastrous ideas.

Good luck and god speed, corn nut hunters.

P.S. Shawn, did that get your goat?

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

And I do not feel fine.