So I've been taking a Standards dance class for the last few weeks. It includes:
Jive
Salsa
Disco Fox
Cha-Cha-Cha (or is it just Cha-Cha? I never knew)
Foxtrot
Waltz (fast & slow)
There might be one that I forgot, but that's about it. It's a fun class, but very slow. It's a big group of kids, though, so I can understand why they need to proceed slowly.
Today I also started a four-week Swing class. That's really cool, and it's a much smaller group. It's definitely a better way to learn. BUT I have a predicament! I need a partner! Today I danced with a lady who's husband was sick- we got along very well- but for the next three weeks I need a partner. Problem is, nobody is free on Wednesdays. Plus, whoever I do find will need to learn everything from the beginning. That won't be so hard, but still... we'll see what happens.
Have a nice Wednesday, everyone!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A German Haircut
So this was like a badass haircut.
First things first, I've never had an hour-and-a-half long haircut before. Ever. In Germany, in the USA, in my basement- ever. Until today.
Anyway, I got to the studio at 5- the girl was waiting for me (I had called ahead). She took my coat and sat me right down, and then offered me something to drink. That's standard here- every time I go to the friseur I'm offered coffee, water, or tea. I think that's kind of cool- we should have drinks in our haircutteries, too.
The girl (Sarah) proceeded to rinse, shampoo, and then condition my hair with TWO different conditioners. So much conditioner habe ich noch nie gesehen! Then after she dried it off, she put some more stuff in my hair! I asked what it was, she replied bluntly "Haar Wasser". Hair water? What's that supposed to mean?
It's not very important what hair water is, though, because once the hair water was in she gave me a scalp massage for a good twenty minutes. I guess she has to show a good head-massage on her test this week too, but whatever the case was, I'm not complaining. I've never had a head-message in a haircuttery in the US, either.
After that was done she proceeded to cut my hair. I think she did a good job, but she sure took a long time. When that was finished, the hair-master of the salon came and looked over the work, evened a few things out, gave her approval, and went on her way.
Sarah told me that if I wanted, I could come back in a few weeks and get another free haircut.
In any case, I'd say I lucked out. Mia has given her tentative approval, Hannes declares my haircut "ganz witzig", and I'm happy with it. Success!
First things first, I've never had an hour-and-a-half long haircut before. Ever. In Germany, in the USA, in my basement- ever. Until today.
Anyway, I got to the studio at 5- the girl was waiting for me (I had called ahead). She took my coat and sat me right down, and then offered me something to drink. That's standard here- every time I go to the friseur I'm offered coffee, water, or tea. I think that's kind of cool- we should have drinks in our haircutteries, too.
The girl (Sarah) proceeded to rinse, shampoo, and then condition my hair with TWO different conditioners. So much conditioner habe ich noch nie gesehen! Then after she dried it off, she put some more stuff in my hair! I asked what it was, she replied bluntly "Haar Wasser". Hair water? What's that supposed to mean?
It's not very important what hair water is, though, because once the hair water was in she gave me a scalp massage for a good twenty minutes. I guess she has to show a good head-massage on her test this week too, but whatever the case was, I'm not complaining. I've never had a head-message in a haircuttery in the US, either.
After that was done she proceeded to cut my hair. I think she did a good job, but she sure took a long time. When that was finished, the hair-master of the salon came and looked over the work, evened a few things out, gave her approval, and went on her way.
Sarah told me that if I wanted, I could come back in a few weeks and get another free haircut.
In any case, I'd say I lucked out. Mia has given her tentative approval, Hannes declares my haircut "ganz witzig", and I'm happy with it. Success!
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Haircut Yet-To-Come
Hello!
After school today I went into Luebeck to get my phone fixed (I crushed it under my hip while ice skating Saturday). That wasn't very exciting, though. What was exciting was afterward: as I was walking to the bus station, I began to wonder if I should just go ahead and get my haircut- I had been planning on getting it cut for a while, I had some money in my pocket and some time to kill, and I was already in the city... I just didn't really want to spend the money. I had hoped that Alena would cut my hair by the midstay camp two weeks ago, but we ran out of time, and I had to go home hairy-headed. Anyway, as I pondered over whether or not to go zum Friseur, a girl came up to me. She explained that she was a hair-styling student and had her final test on Friday, and wanted to get some practice in before then. She proceeded to ask if I wanted a free haircut- I said yes- and then she gave me her name and the address of her studio, and told me to come in tomorrow.
How cool is that? Sometimes life just works. Hoorah!
After school today I went into Luebeck to get my phone fixed (I crushed it under my hip while ice skating Saturday). That wasn't very exciting, though. What was exciting was afterward: as I was walking to the bus station, I began to wonder if I should just go ahead and get my haircut- I had been planning on getting it cut for a while, I had some money in my pocket and some time to kill, and I was already in the city... I just didn't really want to spend the money. I had hoped that Alena would cut my hair by the midstay camp two weeks ago, but we ran out of time, and I had to go home hairy-headed. Anyway, as I pondered over whether or not to go zum Friseur, a girl came up to me. She explained that she was a hair-styling student and had her final test on Friday, and wanted to get some practice in before then. She proceeded to ask if I wanted a free haircut- I said yes- and then she gave me her name and the address of her studio, and told me to come in tomorrow.
How cool is that? Sometimes life just works. Hoorah!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Vermissen
Things I Miss:
-Salsa
-Toaster Oven
-Triggor
-Driving around in Sean's car doing absolutely nothing
-Tortilla chips
-My Mezz
-That velvet jacket I had
-The Salvation Army
-The Fantastic Four
-Jazz Combo/Concert Band/Band Trips
-Working
-The Mobil
-The workroom
-Driving
-The fan over our stove
-Ties
-My family & friends
Things I'll Miss Once I'm Back in the US
-Bread
-Broetchen
-The piano
-Busses
-Beer
-Karlchen (sometimes. Sometimes he's just a pain.)
-Decken (super-blankets!)
-Gouda
-German cake
-Bigband
-My family & friends
-German windows & frische Luft!
-Bio-
-Woodburning-ovens
-German
-1- and 2- euro pieces
-Diskos
-Salsa
-Toaster Oven
-Triggor
-Driving around in Sean's car doing absolutely nothing
-Tortilla chips
-My Mezz
-That velvet jacket I had
-The Salvation Army
-The Fantastic Four
-Jazz Combo/Concert Band/Band Trips
-Working
-The Mobil
-The workroom
-Driving
-The fan over our stove
-Ties
-My family & friends
Things I'll Miss Once I'm Back in the US
-Bread
-Broetchen
-The piano
-Busses
-Beer
-Karlchen (sometimes. Sometimes he's just a pain.)
-Decken (super-blankets!)
-Gouda
-German cake
-Bigband
-My family & friends
-German windows & frische Luft!
-Bio-
-Woodburning-ovens
-German
-1- and 2- euro pieces
-Diskos
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Haiku Garden...
Caused in part by the snowflakes drifting past the window, vectors in Math dissolved into a lovely haiku dialog. Anna Rosa accompanied me in my drifting thoughts. Here's what our crumpled notes said:
Ein neue Eiszeit
Eisbaeren in den Strassen
Luebeck's Wetter sucks.
Luebeck is ugly
and I can't do maths
wanna go away
Ich will Gras, Voegel,
Sonne, Meer, und weissen Strand.
Wo ist der Fruehling?
Ich weiss es auch nicht.
Es ist Maerz und es schneit noch!
Das ist so haesslich!
Suchen wir mal, ja?
Vielleicht hat er sich versteckt.
Fliegen wir suedlich!
I wish everyone sunny skies and a warm day!
Tim
Ein neue Eiszeit
Eisbaeren in den Strassen
Luebeck's Wetter sucks.
Luebeck is ugly
and I can't do maths
wanna go away
Ich will Gras, Voegel,
Sonne, Meer, und weissen Strand.
Wo ist der Fruehling?
Ich weiss es auch nicht.
Es ist Maerz und es schneit noch!
Das ist so haesslich!
Suchen wir mal, ja?
Vielleicht hat er sich versteckt.
Fliegen wir suedlich!
I wish everyone sunny skies and a warm day!
Tim
Money in the Deutschland
Anonymous left a comment on my blog a bit ago- he asked:
I am interested in becoming an exchange student in Germany myself, and I've got a question you might be able to answer.
How are you handling your money? As in, are you using traveler checks, an ATM card, a debit card...?
For anyone who's interested in becoming an exchange student, this is a good question- that's why I'm answering this in a post, and not just the comments. I'd like to apologize for waiting so long to answer this, though. Sorry Mr. Anonymous!
In any case, I opened up an ATM account in the US, and put my mother's name on it as well. This way, I can access my money from (pretty much) any ATM in Germany, and my mother can transfer money from my savings account into that account as necessary. ATM's give you good enough exchange rates, and if you have a nice bank they have low or no fees. I would recommend this option.
American credit cards won't get you far in Germany- all Germans have an EZ card. I'm not sure what it stands for, but in any case it's a little different. Expect to have to withdraw cash from ATMs and then pay with it- even for big purchases.
Nobody uses checks in Germany. Don't bring them. You'll get laughed at.
Also: Germany is really expensive. In addition to the exchange rate, food is expensive, transportation can be expensive, traveling is definitely expensive, and clothing is very very expensive. Plus, you begin to pick up costs that you may not have covered in the US- a good exercise is to keep track of everything you pay for in the US for a month (and everything your parents pay for you) and then multiply that by 1.5 or so. That's probably about right.
I think.
Anyway, save up enough money beforehand that you have more than you need, not less!
I am interested in becoming an exchange student in Germany myself, and I've got a question you might be able to answer.
How are you handling your money? As in, are you using traveler checks, an ATM card, a debit card...?
For anyone who's interested in becoming an exchange student, this is a good question- that's why I'm answering this in a post, and not just the comments. I'd like to apologize for waiting so long to answer this, though. Sorry Mr. Anonymous!
In any case, I opened up an ATM account in the US, and put my mother's name on it as well. This way, I can access my money from (pretty much) any ATM in Germany, and my mother can transfer money from my savings account into that account as necessary. ATM's give you good enough exchange rates, and if you have a nice bank they have low or no fees. I would recommend this option.
American credit cards won't get you far in Germany- all Germans have an EZ card. I'm not sure what it stands for, but in any case it's a little different. Expect to have to withdraw cash from ATMs and then pay with it- even for big purchases.
Nobody uses checks in Germany. Don't bring them. You'll get laughed at.
Also: Germany is really expensive. In addition to the exchange rate, food is expensive, transportation can be expensive, traveling is definitely expensive, and clothing is very very expensive. Plus, you begin to pick up costs that you may not have covered in the US- a good exercise is to keep track of everything you pay for in the US for a month (and everything your parents pay for you) and then multiply that by 1.5 or so. That's probably about right.
I think.
Anyway, save up enough money beforehand that you have more than you need, not less!
Monday, March 1, 2010
le Skiurlaub
Good morning, America! Good evening, Deutschland!
Yesterday I got back from my Midstay Camp, but that's not what I'm talking about in this post. I'm going to ask you all to backtrack deep into the Ides of February.
One more of the dozens of cool things about the Waldorfschule is that it has a February vacation. Nobody in Schleswig-Holstein (my state) has a February vacation. Waldorf just kicks ass.
Anyway, after school on Friday we drove down to Munich. That's a loooong drive. We started around 5:00 pm, got to Wurzeburg and picked up Sinja around 2:00, and finally ended up in Munich around 5:00 am. I think. At that point I was pretty out of it.
In Muenchen we hooked up with Christian, Ina, and their kids, Oskar and Olivia, and then eventually finished our drive together to Lenggries.
We lived in this cute little cottage for the week. It was out of the way of everything; it was literally in the middle of the woods on the base of the mountain. You did need to drive from there to the slopes, but it wasn't more than a ten minute drive. It was a very nice location.
The skiing was good! There were two sides of the mountain, 34 km of pistes, and 18 lifts, including a gondola. Plus it was a mountain in the Alps- regardless of whether it was good or bad, it is, being able to say "I've been skiing in the Alps" is instant cred.
I spent most of the time skiing with the Sinja. That was really fun- even after she realized I have zero ski technique, we still skiied all the little wooded trails and mogul trails and tight little passages we could find. We found some pretty cool shortcuts between different parts of the mountain, and I think I've become a better skiier. I still have zero technique, but that's okay.
Sinja left on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I rented a snowboard for the day. I didn't have enough money to take a real lesson, but I asked a few people to help me out, and (for the most part) everyone lent me ten or twenty minutes to teach me something new. By the end of the day I could get down the bunny hill, but not too much more. I'm glad I tried, though- I've always wondered about that.
Evening were spent in our Cottage- we were something like 20 people; Lotta brought Ruth along, Mia brought Greta, Sinja war dabei, Hannes's friend Konstantin and his whole family was there (including an Amerikanerin au pair), Christian and Ina's family was there, the Baake horde, and some friends of Ina's... it was a real party. We played Maxchen (without drinking), doppelkopf, and did a lot of reading. Very relaxing!
Here are some photos of stuff!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
