Late Pictures:

At the Berlin Aquarium with a scary eel

Awesome vegetarian dinner in Prague


View of Bratislava from a lookout tower


Caves in Budapest


View from our hotel in Kusadasi; so pretty!


Pretty water off the coast of Antalya


Blue Mosque in Istanbul


Kitty sleeping at one of the stands at the Grand Bazaar


Cammy's father's wedding at the Temple of Artemis in Kusadasi

My trip to Norway was really cool! (As I mentioned earlier.) I got to stay for with Tilly (my friend from Norway, who I met when she stayed with our family for an exchange program)and her family on their farm in Sveio, which is about half an hour from Haugesund, the nearest larger town.
I got to see baby lambs being born (two sets of triplets! And one of them was named after me!), take Tilly's sister's dog, Tinka out for walks (I am dog-starved), and play this funny card game called Munchkin (it's American; anyone heard of it?). I also got to meet the entire awesome Rossehaug family, and eat delicious home-cooked meals for the first time since Christmas. What more could I ask for?

Unfortunately, I cannot post pics of Norway for the time being, since my digital camera is broken and I had to use a stupid disposable one. So once I use up the roll of film and get it developed...you will see some pics! And yes Tilly, I will definitely find a way to share them with you. Is over the internet good?

Pics from the earlier Eurotrip will be posted soon, I swear! (I actually posted most of the good ones on Facebook already, but I'll still post some up here for the fam.)

It is sunny and warm-ish outside, and I have so many productive things I could be doing, such as planning my schedule for next semester, which starts in exactly a week, or getting exercise...but no. It is 2pm, I am still in my pajamas, and I am looking at pictures on Facebook as well as reading my friends' blogs.
WHY, internet? Sometimes I think I'd get about 5x as much stuff done if i had no internet connection in my room.

But I am back from a great trip to Norway! And I will post more info and other random news/pictures when I am feeling less lazy!

Ah, my sister, the born entertainer. Or strange child, depending on how you look at it.



(Video shot by her best friend, Danielle.)

And I triumphantly return to blogger yet again, after three weeks of harrowing adventure.
Do I have to sum up the trip? Ok, I'll try in a very lazy, brief way:
[Later note: Ok, maybe it's not so brief.]

Cammy arrives March 10: Woo hoo! Haven't seen her for 8 months!! Show her around Goettingen for a few days, despite the huge snow fall that is perfectly timed for the day before we leave.

Berlin: Lug our suitcases through the snow all the way to the train station, get to Berlin in the afternoon (it's only 2 hours away). Cold, cold weather and snow. First evening, visit the aquarium with big fish! And crocodiles! Second day, really depressing but interesting self-guided tour along the old Berlin wall. (Thanks for the guidebook, Dylan, we used it like crazy on this trip!) Met the most OBNOXIOUS Canadian girls in our hostel room--Cammy and I were definitely proud to be Americans in comparison.

Prague: Still really cold, crappy weather. Took a bus and walking tour, which was pretty cool, but full of old people who walked really slow, so we basically froze during the walking part, since we had to go so slooowwwly! Found an awesome all-vegetarian restaurant that night, then went out to a bar afterwards that had great live jazz (traditional stuff).

Bratislava: Decided to go to this city at the last minute, since it's between Prague and Budapest, in the country of Slovakia. A very tiny city in comparison to Prague and Berlin; you can walk everywhere. But a very cozy, friendly feeling. The sun came out for the first time, even though it was still chilly! We went to lots of random little museums to pass the time: a clock museum, a really tiny art museum, a weaponry museum with a lookout area (that was the best part). On St. Patrick's day, we went to the Irish Pub in Bratislava and ran into a group of about 30 Irish guys having a stag party for one of their friends. It was fun until they wouldn't let us leave...luckily they were the typical skinny, harmless Irish guys. No match for us!

Budapest: My favorite city on our solo trip (before we joined the tour). Sunny, warm, SO MUCH TO DO! We ended up staying 4 nights, since we had so much we wanted to fit in. Tours of caves, thermal baths, Communist museum, wine tasting...it was definitely a great city. Found another awesome vegetarian restaurant on our last night there. Badly-translated English was also fun to look for. Our favorite item on a menu was "poppyseed dumps."

Turkey: Too much to describe! We stayed in Izmir by ourselves, then travelled to Kusadasi where we met the tour that Cammy's dad was on, then traveled to Antalya and finally Istanbul, all within nine days. SUCH an awesome place. If you stay near the coast the weather feels like Hawaii, but obviously with a totally different culture, with Mosques everywhere and bazaars and men yelling at you all the time, since it's obvious anywhere you go that you're a tourist. Cammy's dad got married to his fiancee, Kathy, at the Temple of Artemis, which is one of the seven wonders of the world! A very pretty and small ceremony. And we saw a total solar eclipse! It was SO COOL! But pretty much one of those things that you don't understand how cool it is until you see one yourself. I definitely have to see another one before I die!

And that's the trip in a nutshell! Got up at 5am to fly out of Istanbul into Frankfurt yesterday morning, and now here I am! School starts on the 18th (I LOVE vacation time in Europe), so I will actually be heading to Norway for five days pretty soon! But if it makes people feel any better, I won't really have any money left when I get back!

I will try to post pics--but I have so many, it's gonna be hard to narrow them down!

Ok, quick update: Cammy is here!! Since yesterday, when she got in at the crack of 8:30 am. It's been great seeing her, as usual. But tomorrow we are off for quite a trip: Berlin, Prague, Budapest, perhaps Croatia, and then Turkey!

Wish us luck! Hopefully no lost wallets, tickets, or broken bones! Should be fun!!!!

Things seem to be going a bit slow in Chile....
A conversation with Dylan:

BuckoGal (10:24 PM): so have you heard any new music recently?
BuckoGal (10:24 PM): or any news in general?
Macho Man110973 (10:25 PM): nothing significant
Macho Man110973 (10:25 PM): but I found this cool looking nut on the street today and I was just trying to open it by cracking it underneath the leg of my chair
Macho Man110973 (10:26 PM): but instead of opening it, the pressure flung it across the room and under my bed somewhere
Macho Man110973 (10:26 PM): it was kinda cool

Just wanted to share! Who knew that back in the day Brad Pitt could have easily passed for a woman? I think it's mostly because of the shirt.

Good times last night. Biked in really heavy snow with my friend Keinst to Cartoon, a restaurant that has 3-euro pasta dishes on Sunday nights. We met up with Eileen there, and by coincidence also met up with friends Steven and Tim. We sat at the restaurant until about 10:30, and then went outside to see a pretty good layer of fresh snow covering everything. Steven made a little snowman (which a drunk guy later knocked over, lol), and Tim and Eileen made a big snowman, except it ended up being a snow-monkey, due to the simian facial features.
We then played a rousing game of snow dodgeball, and then walked up into the pretty park behind us, attempting to throw snowballs into the lake below.
I think this is the first time I've actually "played" in the snow since coming to Germany--it was a lot of fun! The only part that sucked was biking back with wet gloves...I seriously started wondering how long it took for frostbite to set in because my fingers hurt so much!

Four jobs I've had
1. intern at Epson
2. karate instructor
3. pet-sitter
4. Epson intern...again!

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Strictly Ballroom
2. Moulin Rouge
3. The Best of Will Ferrell
4. Conan's 10th Anniversary Special (yeah, the last two aren't tech. movies)

Four places I've lived
1. Monrovia
2. Davis
3. Germany
4. Japan

Four TV shows I love(d)
1. Buffy
2. Six Feet Under
3. Inspector Gadget
4. Looney Tunes

Four highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of
1. Lost
2. West Wing
3. I don't know what else is highly regarded! I don't think the O.C. or Laguna Beach is....

Four places I've vacationed
1. Hawaii
2. Montana
3. Thailand
4. Vancouver

Four of my favorite dishes
1. pad thai
2. anything Indian
3. bean and cheese burrito from Food Time (I really miss cheap Mexican food)
4. Artichokes!

Four sites I visit daily
1. My blog (what a narcissist)
2. facebook
3. most of my friends' blogs
4. Candy Cane children (woo White Stripes!)

Four places I'd rather be right now
1. Southern Italy
2. Turkey with Cammy
3. Hawaii
4. Monrovia (But just to see my fambly)

So it was fun twice. Three times. Maybe even a fourth time. But now, I have to admit it, I am getting a little sick of this snow! It's predicted all this week for Göttingen. And it sucks, because it's enough to make me want to stay inside, but not enough to be exciting anymore. It's usually just enough to be slushy and slippery for a few days.

It looked like this at about 2pm:


Then I look out the window again at 3pm:


Pretty, yes. But a pain in the butt, haha. The Russian guy on my floor asked me if I thought I'd ever like to come back to Germany after I finish school. Bad time to ask. I just don't think I could handle these winters EVERY YEAR! But I might change my mind after a year back in CA. Who knows?

I am SO bored. All I do is eat, sleep, and watch movies or Six Feet Under. And I'm almost done with season 3, and they don't have season 4 or 5 at the video store here! What will I do?!

Pictures from Rome! (In very un-chronological order!)

The Colosseum at night

Me and Viv in our hostel--it actually looks kind of cozy in this picture!

A "gladiator" talking to a policeman

Pompei: weak attempt to climb the ruins

Pompei: We thought the holes were toilets. We later figured out they were cooking areas.

A park in the area.

The Fontana di Trevi--the first day of (warm!) sunshine made it look really pretty

Hope ya'll like!

I am back from Rome! It was a good trip, barring a few small problems (super-crappy hostel, my friend Jen's wallet getting stolen on the last night we were there).
We were there for seven days, so we basically had enough time to see everything we wanted to, as well as make a day trip down to Napoli and see Pompei, which is about 2 hours away from Rome. Before I left, I really only had heard about the Colosseum and the Fontana di Trevi (the big famous fountain--didn't know what it was called until I got there). So it was really cool to find out about all of these other famous, amazing things! Like Vatican City! Totally forgot that was in Rome. . . oops. I guess it's ok since I'm not Catholic, right?
Photos will be posted soon!

In other news, I watched TWO movies yesterday (already making great use of my time back): Cry Baby and When Harry Met Sally. Let's just say that I understand why I'd never heard of Cry Baby, despite the fact that Johnny Depp is in it--it's a really lame, low-budget spoof of Grease. But When Harry Met Sally was great--it's one of those rare examples of films that are so famous and hyped up, yet still really funny and well-done! Glad I finally saw it, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Note: If you want to see some pics from Amsterdam, check out my photo album on Facebook!
I'm off to Rome--catch ya later!

I am in love with Mutts, so here's a pic for the day:

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

ps-I just wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes! I got so many on facebook, it was overwhelming! I mean, it's facebook, but it still makes me feel special, what can I say? I went out to dinner with a small group of people for my actual birthday, which was delicious, and then Janelle and Vivian made even more tasty brownies for me.

I have great friends!

I am a new fan of the author Tom Robbins. I just finished my first book by him, Jitterbug Perfume, and I really liked it. He writes in a very descriptive, yet totally unromantic, un-cheesy style, and I often feel the need to underline random sentences in his book. The opening lines, for example:

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious. "

As you can tell, Robbins has a very random, unique writing style. I highly recommend his book!

ps-I'm 21 today! But it's not such a big deal, since the drinking age in Germany is basically 10 years old.

I'm back from Amsterdam! It was a lot of fun--the city is gorgeous, the people all speak perfect English and are very personable, they have bikes EVERYWHERE (go Davis!), beautiful old buildings, and canals! The canals were the best part--very European!

We saw the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum (prounounced somewhat like "Rykes" museum--it's the national museum of the Netherlands), Anne Frank's house (a really good museum, btw), the Heineken "Experience" (basically a huge ad for the company, but quite entertaining), and on the last day we fed CRAZY seagulls at Vondelpark, a big park on the outskirts of the city!

The only bad thing about the trip? I got really used to speaking English for some reason...so even though it was only 4 days long, I came back and today said "Thank you" to someone working at a store! Of course I wanted to hit myself--I don't think I've ever done that yet, since "danke" is freakin' the easiest word ever to remember, and you use it all the time! But whatever--I'm going to Rome in a couple days, so the German's gonna be pushed even further back in my brain!

I'll post some pics from amsterdam soon!

Random stuff

I have found an actual use for the beer "stein" stolen from Oktobefest!

Glorius, no?

And then I got a birthday card from my family today (they're on the ball!), a card they apparently bought while visiting me in Germany. I had to laugh at my dad's usual pseudo-German. This is probably funny to anyone who knows even a little German!

MY FINALS ARE DONE!!!

Party tonight to say goodbye to all the "Ami" kids who are going back home, and to celebrate the end of the semester! Yay!
Monday: Amsterdam!

Is this cool or what? I can totally see my cousin Mason growing up into someone who looks like (or is as talented and cool as) Beck! I noticed the resemblance between them today:

You want to know one of my pet peeves, other than shoes on the bed? Of course you do. It's when a big group of people take a picture together (usually girls), and then when looking at the picture, someone says, "Look how hot we are!" or "What a bunch of hotties!" or something like that. I guess the phrase is supposed to be interpreted as something positive and upbeat, but to me it just sounds conceited and desperate. I mean, you might think you and your friends are hot, but can't you just keep it to yourself or let someone else say it?

Ok, that's the end of my rant.

I love Cammy. And I get to see her in a little over a month!

Here are some pics of my awesome German buddy, Ulf. He's 26, and basically the equivalent of a grad student at Göttingen. It just kind of sucks because he never has time to do anything with me! We've only met about three times since December. His English is also practically perfect, which always throws me off--he barely has an accent!

Anyway, these are some pics he sent me of him snowboarding on Friday. Too bad it's hard to tell exactly what he looks like! (He actually looks remarkably like Ben Folds. Coincidence? I think not....)

Hey Hannah, I copied your awesome "Funny Quote of the Day." I hope you don't mind!

You know the "Headlines" section they have on Jay Leno, where they read funny random newspaper articles and ads etc. ? Well I read them quite a lot when I'm bored, and I found this one worthy of posting:

This was run in a local newspaper one week:



And then the following week:

As Jay Leno said, " 'Our sincere apology?!' But he was thrilled with the first one!"

I find myself making really weird typos here in Germany. I guess it has to do with your brain functioning differently than it does back home, with reading and writing mainly in a foreign language, and thinking in the native language while trying to speak in the foreign language; it's really interesting, to say the least.
But isn't it weird, for example, that I meant to write "luckily" at the end of the previous post, and instead wrote "locally"? Where does it come from?

PS-Here's a totally unrelated, but interesting and funny opinion article from the LA Times about why we shouldn't support our troops.

One final down, two to go! I'm kind of sad that my easiest final was first. Now I have to actually start studying. But it's probably a good thing. Just let me watch these two episodes of Six Feet Under and then I'll start, I swear....

But it snowed yesterday! Probably the most snow that I've seen this year! Anyone else tried biking in the snow? It's quite a challenge. Something like trying to ride a wild horse (or at least how I'd imagine it would be)--the bike tries to steer itself, and you have to keep a tight hold on the handle bars and mumble calming words, and maybe you won't be thrown off. I had a few close calls, but locally no actual spills.

Here's the view from my window this morning.

Attention all Davis people that read my blog!

I don't know if you've already discovered this site, but it's really funny if you go to Davis: Overheard in Cowtown

The site consists of funny things that people have overheard on campus, which are posted on this blog!

Some examples I found quite entertaining:

Guy: If I weren't in this major I would have gone to art school.
Girl: Really?? Me too!
Guy: Oh cool. My favorite art is stuff like Dali--
[blank look]
--you know, the guy with the melting clocks?
Girl: Oh I don't know him. I like stuff like.. well do you know [indistinct mumble of a name]?
Guy: No. I don't really know that many artists..

-on Unitrans

---------------

Professor: The Germans have a different way of looking at breakfast displays, and therefore a different way of looking at the world.

-German class in Olson

-------------------

Guy 1: I made the best sandwich this morning. I was so excited to eat it!
Guy 2: Sure seems like it!! What kind was it?
Guy 1: Ementhaler, honey roasted turkey and mayo!
Guy2: Wow, that DOES sound really exciting!!

-On the Quad

My newest TV addiction: Six Feet Under. I've only seen the first two episodes. . .but it's like watching a super-long movie, it's so well done!

Today I played basketball for a couple hours with the Germans who live in Cindy's building. It was a lot of fun, but I definitely felt like I was back in elementary school, in the sense that no one was very good, and there really wasn't any strategy/skill involved at all! The game basically consisted of running helter-skelter back and forth across the court, double-dribbling and travelling and all! That might sound kind of mean, but as Dylan put it (he watched them play last week), "They play basketball the way Americans play soccer. It's just not their sport."

And all the better for me to join them, since I really have no basketball skills either! Yay!

How is it possible that my cell phone bill this month was 20 euroes cheaper than usual, after I used it several times in Scottland? I thought there were going to be killer roaming fees!

There seems to be only one explanation: It's a miracle!

Here are some pics from the last two weeks. I would post some from Christmas with my family, but I didn't take any with my camera, and my Mom is sending them to me now!
So I will post some from after that time:

Dylan and I hiked up to the Bismarckturm (built in honor of Otto von Bismarck, who lived in Goettingen back in the day). It was a gorgeous cold winter day.

Our one trip out of the city, where we went to Bremen. Cold and pretty as well!

Flash forward a week: Yesterday, on Friday, we went to Luebeck and saw Ice World: Koenigreich der Tiere! The Animal Kingdom! Woo hoo! Ice and snow sculptures in North Germany! It was FREEZING inside (and pretty cold outside too), basically felt like we were walking around in a freezer, which I guess makes sense. This is a huge woolly mammoth (doesn't look that big, but it was) that we saw right when we walked in.

My favorite sculpture: The dung beetles!

Thomas Mann's house is also in Luebeck (it's where he grew up), now it's called the Buddenbrooks house, after his most famous novel, so of course we had to stop by and take a picture.

And last but not least:

I dyed my hair today! It's just kind of a dark reddish-brown. Nothing too extreme. But now my whole room smells like hair dye, and I don't want to open a window because it's too cold....

Best of all, it gives me an excuse to shamelessly post pictures of myself!

And now for pretending to study for finals!

Just goes to show ya . . . never say never.

We read the most horrible story for Thomas Mann this week. It's called Tobias Mindernickel, and it's about this guy (Tobias Mindernickel) that nobody likes, and who has no friends, and hardly ever leaves his house because he doesn't want to be made fun of.

One day he decides to get a dog, probably to keep him company. But he doesn't like the fact that the dog doesn't obey his every command, and he beats the dog for whenever he misbehaves, and he always hates it when the dog is really happy. One day the dog accidentally jumps on a sharp knife, and gets wounded, and Tobias becomes immediately very happy and sympathetic, because now the dog finally understands "the pain of the world." He loves nursing the dog back to health.

At the end of the story, the dog gets better, and Mindernickel can't stand to see the dog so happy again, so when the dog starts running around the room, Tobias stabs the dog, and accidentally kills it. Then he realizes what he's done and starts crying. The End.


Isn't that a twisted story? The only good thing about it, I guess, is that you can tell from the way the story's written that Thomas Mann liked dogs, because he describes the dog so realistically. So at least it's clear that the reader is supposed to sympathize with the dog, and not the man!

Your Superhero Persona by couplandesque
Your Name
Superhero Name	The Armadillo
Super Power	Irresistable Sexuality
Enemy	Martha Stewart
Mode Of Transportation	Skateboard
Weapon	Attack Gerbils
Quiz created with MemeGen!

I don't think that most people would associate the word "armadillo" with "irresistable sexuality," but hey--I could go for that! Especially the attack gerbils part.

When I get older I want to save all my old clothes and put them in the attic, so that when my kids become teenagers they can dig them all out again, and be like, "Whoa! Mom, you were so cool! Can I wear this?" And I'll be like, "Yeah."

Oh man, it feels like forever since I've posted.

Since I last truly updated:
1. I went to Scotland (Edinburgh and Moffat) and London (and Munich for a day) with my family, who also had time to see Göttingen for a couple days as well (they liked it, I was happy to find out). Took Leah out clubbing at Savoy, a great place to get the true "euro"(-trash?) vibe.

2. Dylan came to visit (the day after my parents left) for ten days, up until today, which is why I have not posted. We didn't do a whole bunch, since I'm finishing up the semester, but we did manage to make a day trip up to Bremen (ie Bremen Town Musicians city), which was really pretty, and of course it had the awesome statue of all the animals. It was really nice to see Dylan, and I'm very sad to be all by myself now.

Other random thing(s):
-Watched The Graduate twice in one day; obviously I really like that movie. I love Dustin Hoffman's character.
-Right now I feel so out of touch with my friends back in the US. I need to work on this "communication" thing!

So now I have to get back to speaking German again, haha. I must admit, it was nice having an excuse not to. But I literally have only three weeks of class left until the two-month semester break, so I guess that will keep me somewhat "entertained" with studying until it's finally time to travel! Again!

My friend Jacky is funny.

BuckoGal (7:35 AM): have you done the Freud reading yet?
MutantTropicalia (7:36 AM): i will in a matter of moments
BuckoGal (7:37 AM): haha
MutantTropicalia (7:37 AM): is it "der traum ist einer wunscherfuehlung?" (7:37
BuckoGal (7:37 AM): i think so
BuckoGal (7:37 AM): i just found it in the book
BuckoGal (7:37 AM): haven't started it yet
MutantTropicalia (7:37 AM): well i only see two things with freud
BuckoGal (7:37 AM): it has a pretty picture tho
MutantTropicalia (7:37 AM): hahaha
BuckoGal (7:38 AM): so i guess i'll read it
MutantTropicalia (7:39 AM): oh kate, your logic is that of the winged nightingale, swift and forward with beady eyes of thunder

I'm off! A quick nap, and then catching a taxi to the train station at 5:15 am!

Ich wunsche euch alle eine FROHLICHE WEIHNACHTEN und auch einen
GUTEN RUTSCH!
(a Merry Christmas and a good "slide" into the New Year!)

Until 2006!

I spend way too much time on this site.
Warning: do not go on this site late at night like me, and then read all of the emotional rescue stories or memorials about the dogs that have died. . .it is a bad idea! But if you want to see LOTS of cute dogs, like this one:



Then I highly recommend it!

Oh, and for cat lovers (which I am as well), there's Catster!

I just found out that the Baja classes I took over the summer two years ago doesn't count towards GE credits at Davis. WHY?!? Why don't I think of making sure of these things sooner?!?!?

So when I get back, in order to graduate, I'll have to take about three of four ling. classes, who knows how many German (hopefully not too many), one upper division lit class, and TWO science/engineering GE classes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Sucks with a capital "S". But at least I can probaby get into nutrition and health or something super-easy, since I have first pass priority registration.

PS-over Christmas break I'm reading the story of Moses, as written by Thomas Mann. Pretty interesting! Except whenever I can't quite understand what I'm reading, I keep thinking back to the plot of Prince of Egypt. So far the two stories aren't that similar.

I watched another movie tonight, since I have so much time on my hands.

LA Confidential--SO MUCH better than Ghost, lol. It's one of the few cop-shooting-gangster-bad-guys movies that I really liked. Probably because it actually had an interesting story and interesting characters along with the movie, which is pretty rare!

The only drawback--I totally didn't get the plot twists. I guess I'm just not used to movies that make you think that much, lol. So will somebody please go see it and give me a very, very detailed plot summary? I'll give you 5 bucks. . . .

Tonight I watched the movie Ghost, which I borrowed from Cindy because it's the last movie of hers that I haven't seen yet. The following rant probably may not be of much interest to you, whether you've seen the movie or not, just to warn you.

The movie Ghost is just an excellent example of the typical American movie themes, and it drives me crazy. The main character, played by Patrick Swayze (who cannot act, he should have just stuck to Dirty Dancing), gets shot by a mugger at the beginning of the film. He stays on Earth basically to save his girlfriend from getting murdered and of course at the same time get revenge (a much too common theme in these Hollywood-types of movies. Come on, who needs revenge? It's pointless). So in the process of protecting his girl, he causes the (somewhat accidental) death of both of the guys planning the murder, and they both go to hell. But once everything's taken care of, Patrick Swayze goes to Heaven. Wait, he just caused the death of two men, and he gets to go to Heaven? It just makes no sense! The only part I liked was Whoopi Goldberg, even though she played a very stereotypical role.

Sometimes I get cranky and decide to take movies very personally. This is an example of one of those times.

So I have two days to decide if I want to move to Berlin to study for my second semester, instead of staying here in Göttingen for the whole year.

Pros of moving:
Meet new people, way more stuff to do, experience of living in an enormous city (it's like NYC)

Cons of moving:
What if I don't make new friends, hard to find own living arrangement, moving all my crap, getting adjusted to whole new school and city

So it seems like there are more cons, which is why I'm kind of thinking of just letting the deadline pass by and not worrying about it...but does anyone else have a strong feeling about this? Ha ha, I'm just not sure! And I'd like to hear what people think.

PS-it's snowing outside! Like HARDCORE! It's been snowing since I woke up, and it's so exciting!!

PPS-my hair smells like cigarettes. That's the annoying thing in Germany (probably all of Europe, or maybe just everywhere other than Californa, lol), you take a shower before a party, but what's the point, because then you get back and all your clothes and your skin and your hair smell like cigarette smoke! But what can ya do.
We had a Xmas party in my dorm last night, and I ended up staying there until the party ended, at 5:30 am! I don't think I've ever done that before. But it was a good way to start the break, which will be extremely boring until I fly out to Scottland on Xmas Eve. Until then, I have a week in which EVERYONE will be gone!

Classes are done for break! Yay! But it sucks here, because the semester doesn't end until after Xmas break. So before break ends I have to (cuz I know you're all very interested in this):

1. Read a "short" story by Thomas Mann that's 69 pages
2. Read a novella, Der Sandmann, that's 77 pages
3. Write an essay on what I think "European culture" is (does such a thing even exist?)
4. Read a short essay by Freud about the meaning of dreams
5. Figure out what I'm going to say for a presentation on Karl Kraus (yeah, I don't know who he is either)

AND buy presents for my family before I leave on Xmas Eve! I guess it could be worse. But I'm gonna have to put my nose to the...mill wheel? Grind stone? Something like that, if I want to be able to relax when my fambly comes.

So this is random....
For one of my lectures this week I'm reading the original novella, Traumnovelle, that the movie Eyes Wide Shut is based on. Who knew that film was actually based on something?

Other pieces of news:
-I saw Chronicles of Narnia on Thursday--it was alright. The special effects weren't actually that good in my opinion, outside of the talking animals (but that's the only part that really matters anyway!). And YAY for ASLAN! He was definitely the coolest character, just as he should be. But talk about obvious allegories. It's interesting to think about how you read these books as a kid and have no idea what the story's referencing.

-My bike has a flat tire. Hopefully it will get repaired tomorrow by the Bike Man (aka Dietmar) tomorrow, since it sucks to walk. Everything takes about twice as long.

-One aspect of German culture I will never like: Germans have NO CONCEPT WHATSOEVER of lines. As in waiting in line. They just don't do it. I was at a Christmas party last night, and I had to wait half an hour in a huge throng of people all trying to push to the front, like at a rock concert or something, just so I could get my jacket from coat-check! There was even a girl in a wheelchair next to me, politely asking if people could let her through, and everyone pretty much ignored her. It was out of control, and you really had to fight if you ever wanted to get to the front. This isn't the first time I've experienced this. What is this, people?? Isn't Germany generally considered a civilized society?? That's all about that. Cammy already had to hear this rant on the phone, haha.

And that is all that I can think of now. Except that I am SO EXCITED about CHRISTMAS! I get to see my FAMILY! CAN YOU FEEL MY EXCITEMENT?

Apparently my parents are actually sending some copies of this pic out as a Xmas card:



The painting in the background is a pretty crappy self-portrait I did of myself back in freshman year Beginning Painting. It makes me laugh though. Why do they get to do a funny card the one year that I'm gone?

Amusing experience:

Having virtually your entire German as a Foreign Language class, including the teacher, burst out laughing when they hear that the voting age in the US is 18, but the drinking age is 21.

It is pretty funny when you think about it.

I don't know if people in the US watched this show or not, but apparently there was a special comedy show on TBS about global warming, and for one of the skits, Will Ferrell reprised his famous role as W. Bush making a public service announcement.
The clip's a little long, but I guarantee it's amusing!
Ferrell as the W

I'm going to Berlin tomorrow! So excited! It's my second time, but last time was definitely the tourist experience, whereas this time, hopefully it will be a little more, uh, "underground"? I don't know the right word for that. But yeah. I'm taking a train all by myself (first time), to stay for a couple nights with my friend Tony (Banando, for those of you that know him)! That's right, another member of the Monrovia Clan that chose to flee to Germany this year!

Should be fun--i just hope I don't regret all the work I have to do when I get back! (Don't think about it...don't think about it....)

My friend Keinst introduced me to (ie showed me pictures of) possibly the hottest Japanese actor I've seen, Takeshi Kaneshiro. He was in House of Flying Daggers, and though I heard the movie wasn't that good...I'm seriously thinking about seeing it now!

Endlich! Thanksgiving photos!

The American students had a special dinner on Thursday night at the Mensa (the cafeteria here). I was a little skeptical, since I've eaten at the Mensa during the day, and the food there is definitely nothing to write home about. But they actually worked hard on this meal, I could tell! There was a first course of salad, with lots of yummy fresh vegetables, and then the second course was turkey of course, along with all vegetarian sides: corn, REAL mashed potatoes, green beans, and some squash dish which was really yummy.

And the best part of the night? It snowed that night! We were all dressed up in our dresses and suits, but it didn't matter--the Californians were too excited about the snow to care about how cold it was! The Germans were probably all watching and shaking their heads.

The group

The centerpieces that I helped design! Haha, we call it a "modern" look

Me being excited (and hyper) about Thanksgiving

Our Sears family portrait (yes, they already had a Xmas tree up in the Mensa!)

My German teacher Herr Beilein, learning to play thumbwars. If you knew him, you would understand how hilarious this was. Herr Beilein is like the most stereotypical German--he's got a really dry sense of humor, and he's very quiet and intimidating in a lot of ways. But obviously still cool enough to try thumb wars!

SNOW!!!!

View from my window the next morning.

Next up: Christmas! :)

Twenty years of spending Thanksgiving with my family, and this year I'm breaking the tradition. I miss them, but at least I'll get to see them for the "big" holiday--Christmas!

Excerpt from an email from my dad today (need I say more?):

Hi, Kate!

Are you OK?

Please say you are OK.

Pretty please!

You know we want to hear it!

To tell the truth,

Having you overseas

At the holiday

Nearly makes me

Krazy!

See? I even

Goofed up

In spelling a

Very simple word.

It's

Not a good sign.

Goodness! --

Why, I just saw that if you read the first letters of the lines above, they happen to contain a secret message just for you! Can you figure it out? I bet you can if you try! What a funny coincidence!

Whaddya wanna bet that Angelina Jolie's adopted son, Maddox, is going to grow up and write some tell-all memoirs book about how crazy she was?
Just a random thought.

Ah the joys of having two presentations over with...and Thanksgiving tomorrow! Or the closest thing to it, anyway--the cafeteria at the school is cooking dinner for us tomorrow night. It'll be interesting to see how they make a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner! Especially for the vegeterians...should be interesting, I'm trying not to be too worried about it. :)

And along with the See's chocolates, my mom sent me the CD's that I missed, since I didn't have the brilliance to copy all my CDs onto my iTunes. So now I'm listening to Big Boi and Dre Present..., which I never thought I'd miss so much! Hehe. But hey, I need variety....

And now, in honor of my free time tonight, and the fact that it is way too cold for me to go outside tonight (no bar tonight for me, thanks!), I will now do a survey.

Feel free to stop reading now. :)
I deleted all the questions I thought were lame/clichéd

---------------
1. Your name spelled backward? llirruB etaK (that was really hard to do, lol)

2. Last incoming call on your phone? Cindy

3. Who sent you the last text message in your inbox? Haha I deleted it...don't remember. Probably Cindy or
Janelle

4. What's your favorite restaurant? Well, in Germany I like the "Cuban" restaurant a lot...in the US, basically ANY good ethnic food sounds good right now--maybe the Thai restaurant on Myrtle Ave. or the Udupi Palace in Little India, or Taqueria Guadalejara in Davis...I could go on.

5.Last time you swam in a pool? Probably in San Clemente during the summer

6. Have you ever been in a school play? I was in the school musical! Guys and Dolls and Joseph, good times

7. How many kids do you want? An even number...probably two

8. Type of music you dislike most? Probably either gangster rap or pop country.

9. Are you registered to vote? Yesiree Bob!

10. Do you have cable? At my parent's house, but not in Germany or Davis

11. Have you ever ridden on a mo-ped? No. Is a vespa a moped? Because I want one!

12. Ever made a prank phone call? Probably in fourth or fifth grade

13. Best friends? Yes! I believe in those! :)

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? I would go sky diving, but bungee jumping looks pretty dangerous to me

15. Furthest place you ever traveled? Probably Japan or Thailand, in terms of how long the flight was

16. Do you have a garden? haha i have fake plastic grass and one real potted plant in front of my window

17. What's your favorite comic strip? I have two: Calvin and Hobbes and Mutts

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Please don't make me go through the whole song in my head! I'm pretty sure I do.

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? In the past month? Seen some pretty crappy movies...nothing profound for sure. But Harry Potter IV was definitely good times!

21. Favorite pizza toppings? Cheese, feta, garlic, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts

22. Chips or popcorn? They're both pretty nasty--chips are better tho

23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? don't really EVER wear lipstick!

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? I didn't know you could

27. Who were the last people you went out to dinner with? What qualifies as "out to dinner?" I went to McDonald's with Vivian and Janelle last Sunday to get ice cream, which was basically my dinner, haha

28. Favorite type chocolate bar? See's Chocolate! And I really like Milka chocolate bars, and Ritter Sport.

29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? 2004

31. Have you ever won a trophy? Back during my karate days! We got second place in team kata, for anyone that knows what that means! haha

32. Are you a good cook? NO, as I have discovered since moving to Germany and having to cook pretty much everything from scratch

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? One of my many points of pride

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? my mom

43. Did you have a lot of hair as a young kid? Um...I think I had a normal amount, haha. I wasn't bald, at least!

44. What message is on your answering machine? A really boring one where I sound pissed off/bored because I recorded it at about 3am

45. Where would you like to go right now? Well, I don't think I'd like to go home to Monrovia, surprisingly. I guess I'd like to either go to Davis or just somewhere else in Europe, like maybe somewhere warm, like southern Italy or France!

46. What was the name of you first pet? Awww...Myra

My mom sent me a box of See's!! I asked for it for Christmas, but she sent it to me over the weekend! You have no idea how excited I was. They can say all they want about German chocolate, but nothing compares to See's. Especially shipped specially in a box all the way from the US, from your mommy! :)

Sometimes all I do on the weekends is sit in front of my computer and woooorrrrrrkkkkkk....
At least that's what it feels like.

Saw my first movie in the theater tonight: Harry Potter IV, in German!
I've never been a big fan of the movies, but I have to say, this one was really good, in terms of how well it made the book's plot work as a cohesive, involving film in its own right. I don't think I could sit through it again, because it felt REALLY long, but at the same time, I was really involved in the story.

And the special effects were amazing! The Quidditch tournament, and all of the Tri-wizard competitions, were really cool. AND I was able to follow it surprisingly well in German! Definitely glad I saw it.

[add: And Ralph Fiennes played Lord Voldemort! What?!]

We had a "Flur Essen," or floor dinner tonight with my hallmates. It was actually pretty fun. Not amazingly exciting, but considering that it was 9 of us that just happened to all live in the same hall eating pizza (that I helped make from scratch! wow!) and playing a board game together, it was pretty fun.
We played this game called "Activity" (I love the name), and it was basically like a lame version of Cranium--you have to either draw the word, act it out, or explain it verbally. I was really lucky, because both times that it was my turn, I got really easy words, so it wasn't stressful. My team still lost, but at least it wasn't because of me, haha!

And now I should got to sleep. Aargh, I'm getting (am?) sick. It's so annoying!
Oh, I have a question for anyone that knows anything about this kind of stuff (bio majors, perhaps?):
I bought these multi-vitamin pills which I later realized are meant for people over 50 years old. Should I think twice before taking these pills? Or do you think it won't make much of a difference? It seemed like it just had more of everything in it, as compared to other vitamin pills. But since I just started taking them and woke up today feeling kind of ill....

And the weather finally (kind of unfortunately) feels like winter here! They actually predicted snow for today, but sadly we didn't get that novelty, and instead got really cold rain!

I just checked the weather report: Today the high was 5 degrees Celsius (isn't that about 40 degrees F?) , and it's supposed to snow next week! How EXCITING!!

I think this is funny; according to my dictionary, the German translation of "the middle of nowhere" is "Wo sich Fuchs und Hase Gute Nacht sagen."

That literally means, "Where the fox and rabbit say goodnight." I guess it's like a place where only the wild animals live. Isn't that cool?

Two random posts/thoughts:

-Cammy's team won again! Hooray! They're one of the "Sweet 16," and moving on to the third round! Everyone cross your fingers for them this Saturday!

-My family is the best family ever! I talked with them for the first time in two weeks, and it was just so nice to hear everyone's voice. Especially my dad's, when he told me that he would send me $400 dollars for the rest of the month, even when I just asked for another $100! That's real love.
And my mom cried apparently, after I talked with her on the phone, because she missed me so much. I'm glad I wasn't there, or else I'm sure I would have started crying too. But I get to see them all at Christmas, which is just around the corner!!

CONGRATULATIONS to my best friend Cammy, whose soccer team at Dickinson made it to NCAA level (national level), which is awesome in itself--but not only that, they also won their first game today, making their team the first team EVER in Dickinson history to make it past the first round in the NCAA's! So they're pretty freakin' GOOD!

Good luck in the next game, Cammy, and remember: you're always a winner in my heart! :)

“When I was 7 or 8 I went canoeing with my folks and I hung a plastic dinosaur over the lip of the canoe so that it could swim in the river, as miniature plastic dinosaurs are wont to do, naturally. Anyway, soon the current became too much for my weak grip to handle and the dinosaur flew from my fingers to a watery grave. This was far too much drama for my poor mind to comprehend and the incident ruined the rest of my day. No amount of "We can get you a new one" would ameliorate my bewildered and heartbroken soul.
After all, I had a strong emotional attachment to that dinosaur of uncertain lineage—indeed it wasn't even a proper Triceratops or Stegasaurus, instead it was some hybrid of the two that I don't think ever existed. Nevertheless, that toy was mine and we had taken baths together!
He came from China, or at least that's where he was born, and I don't care how many million brothers and sisters he had, THAT one was the one I wanted. I almost wondered why my Dad hadn't jumped in the river to rescue him. In fact I nearly considered asking him to do so, pronto.”

A deeply-moving anecdote Dylan sent to me in an email recently—I hope everyone else finds it as entertaining as I did!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Life as I know it is rapidly collapsing around me. What's going on? Where have all the morals gone? Has true poetry ceased to exist? Can you handle my infinite nature?

Ok, I stole that last line from a movie. But seriously, a crisis has occurred. My all-time favorite band, The White Stripes, has signed on to do a commercial for COCA COLA.

Says Jack White: "I've been offered the opportunity to write a song in a way which interests me as a songwriter."

WHATEVER, Jack. There are no excuses for your behavior. I always thought you were cool because you were AGAINST hawking lame commerical products just to get some cash. . . what happened?

I will NEVER get over this. *

*Well, maybe I will. Give me a week or two.

We had an American breakfast today for the first time in over three months! Michele, Vivian, and Cindy cooked fried eggs, fried tomatos, pancakes, French toast, bacon (ew), and hash browns for all of us! I have to say, even though I think German breakfasts are awesome, this was definitely a delicious change!

And so begins the procrastination....
Halloween photos (a little late, ich weiss)!


Me and Meredith as fellow hippies


Me and Will, who was basically dressed as white trash.


Cindy was a dominatrix, whip and all--our personas for the night kind of clashed


No recollection of what we're laughing about here (I wasn't drunk), but maybe it's at Stephen's costume--he was a self-proclaimed "gay FBI agent from the 50's."

Yes, I'm in all the pictures. What can I say? I'm my biggest fan. But it was a good Halloween weekend--I dressed up as a hippy, and I got a cute dress out of the deal, and I even got candy on Halloween day, thanks to Michele, who bought candy and brought it to everyone's room in a kind of reverse trick-or-treating fashion.

And today, to top off an exciting week, I had to clean the communal showers! Haha, I even volunteered to do it (stupid!). Actually it wasn't that bad at all, it just took over two hours, since it was only me and this girl Helene, who luckily is really nice and tolerant of my broken German, so we bonded over our favorite music and movies. Even though we don't really like the same movies and music at all, lol. Her favorite group is A-Ha! and one of her favorite movies is Top Gun...but it's alright, we can still be friends.

Ok, it's time for me to do some last-minute reading before a weekend full of READING! That's right, I have 4-day weekends now! Woo-hoo! Too bad I have enough reading to fill up every day for the rest of this semester....

Gute Nacht!

One more thing: Dylan was a banana for Halloween! So funny! I wish I could say I'm posting this pic to embarrass him, but I don't think Dylan gets embarrassed that easily!

Ouch! Jack White is sixth on a list of the top ten most egotistical celebrities, according to Teen People. He's not egotistical...he's just misunderstood!