German Man "Marries" his Cat

I've had some slightly more serious stuff on my mind, so naturally I will post about Germans and cats.

Read about the man/cat marriage here. Oh those crazy Germans. The story is mostly funny (someone, anyone, leave a p*ssy joke as a comment - you know you want to), but also a little sad, when you think about it.

Germany Photo

I was thinking about this photo, kind of randomly. I had a conversation about photography on the way to Chicago, and then got to play with Mere's camera at her cottage. For some reason, that made me think of this picture, taken in 2007 from the window on on my hostel in Dresden. I was waiting for Toby and Bridget to arrive, sitting on the ledge looking into the street, and trying to get a shot of the train passing. Eventually it worked.

Re-living the Trip - Part 1: Germany

We started the trip in Germany, visiting my friend Jayanti in Munich. I am still mildly obsessed with Germany, after going in 2007, so it was sweet to get to go back. (Photo credit: Jayanti. the one she's not it. Obvious credit: Hez).


When we first arrived, we were pretty jet lagged, and spent most of the time walking around the Englischer Garten about 100 feet at a time. After 100 feet, we'd sit for a while, before deciding to walk on....about 100 feet. zzzzz.

Jayanti made us dinner that night, and this time, we managed to make it to Pasing on the S-Bahn. (Instead of mistakenly taking a tram like I did in 2007. If it sounds stupid, Jeff did it too ;) ). Anyway, we had a beer and Jayanti's lovely food, and eventually collapsed in a heap.

Jayanti managed to get the day off the next day, so we could play in Munich. We walked around a lot (one of my favorite things to do while visiting cities), went for a traditional Germany breakfast and even hit up a beer garten. The weather was lovely, which rather helped. (Photo credit: Rookie. Naked statue credit: Germans).

The traditional German breakfast was hilarious and delicious. It was beer (an unfiltered kind with lots of nutrients), white sausage (check it out, floating in it's little pot, in the pic...surprisingly delicious) and pretzls. Beers for breakfast on vacation is a great idea. I got drunk. Actually, I think we all got a little drunk.

In the beergarten, Kristin and I split a radler, which was delicious. It's half beer and half lemonade. It was "the small one", but it seemed pretty giant to me. Jayanti explained the meaning of radler. It means "rider". Since it's half lemonade, it's the beer one could go for when they need their wits about them (i.e. playing sports or riding a bike). NOT drinking beer if you have something important to do is not an option. ;) (Beer genius credit: Germans).


We watched people surfing in the park in Munich. It's a little man-made wave, but it looked pretty cool. I liked the sign that says "surfing forbidden". (photo credit: Rookie).

Germany is supposed to be super gay-friendly, but this pic taken at the Viktualienmarkt suggests otherwise! ps. I had been the market once before, but couldn't remember it's name. I thought it was something like "virtual alien market". How embarrassing. Really it's Victorian Market in German...I think. (Photo credit: Rookie).

Munich

The trip has started, and we just spend some time hanging out in Munich with my friend Jayanti. Today was clearly a lot of fun, because it absolutely flew by. We went for traditional German breakfast, which consists of Weissbeir (spelling? big ass beers for breakfast), pretzls (I don't know what they are called in German) and I had weisswurst also. Weisswurst is a white sausage that comes floating, rather unappitizingly, in a big bowl of water. I'm pretty sure this because it's boiled, but I could be wrong. It was actually really yummy. There was also two types of mustard, a yellow mustard, and some sort of sweet local Bavarian mustard. I had some of each (I did have a pretzl and a half and 2 links of sausage to try it with). I liked both, but the sweet mustard was delicous.

After breakfast, we set off into Munich to wander around, slightly intoxicated. We went to an outdoor Market (Virtualienmarkt? That's not quite right, but close), watched the surfers (yes, there are surfers in Munich), and ended up going for more beer in the park in the afternoon. Actually, the second time we had Radler, or half beer half lemonade. It doesn't sound good, but it really is. I think I probably had Radler when I was in Germany in 2007, but I don't really remember. Jayanti was telling Kristin and I that Radler means rider (as in bike-rider). So Radler is the beer that you have if you need to ride a bike or play sports after. Not having a beer? Not an option. ;) I might have screwed up the translation, but that's the gyst.

I would include some pictures in the post, but I didn't bring the cable and the card-reader is not the right kind. No pictures for you. ;)

Tomorrow, it's on to Italy (we have another half day in Munich, or so). Auf Weidersehen.

Random and Getting Ready for Europe

Peak Power was pretty sweet tonight. Part of that was that I was feeling like ASS this weekend, and I felt normal at Peak Power. Normal + really tired from Peak Power > feeling like ASS, by a long shot. Also, my "I am the champions" were going as well as they ever have, which I was quite pleased with. It was technique, not strength, but it still felt great.

Other than that, I've been pretty busy getting ready for Europe and Pagenello. We leave WEDNESDAY! Holy schissen. I'm so stoked, and I can't believe how quickly this trip got here. I still feel like it's a few months away.

First off is Munich to see my good friend Jayanti. The last time I was in Germany was in October of 2007, and I absolutely loved it. I'm not going to lie, I'm really excited to go back.

Even the flight should be fun - I pick up Rookie in Toronto. ;)

Italy Plans Coming Together

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty stoked about going to Italy in April for Paganello. (Paganello is a frisbee tournament in Rimini, Italy). The tournament is pretty much shorted. Actually, there really wasn't anything to short, because our fearless leader Eva pretty much took care of everything. I will need to get sand socks, but that's a hell of a lot less effort than booking accomodations.

Anyway, really it's the rest of the trip that's starting to take shape. Kristin and I were talking yesterday about how REALLY we should be going for about 5 months. There are so many places that I want to see!

We have it narrowed to this: We're landing in Frankfurt and heading straight to Munich to see my good friend Jayanti. I'm pretty stoked to get to go back to Germany! I feel like my German came a long way, and then went right back where it came from. I'm studying again, and this trip is a very good motivator, although I'm sure I will not be where I want to (language-wise, not location-wise) by the time we leave.

After Germany, it's on to Italy, specifically Cinque Terre, Florence, Rimini and Venice! Then it's back to Frankfurt for a day, as we fly out for Canada that night. If you've been to Italy and have any recommendations, please let me know.

Harry Potter und der Stein Weisen

I'm sure I've mentioned this before - I'm reading Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (German edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
1 in German. Well, now I've been reading it for a lot longer. It's really slow going, because I translate with the English book either line by line or paragraph by paragraph. I've made it to Chapter 5, page 49 in the English Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone
and page 70 in the German book. At first, I was really surprised just how hard it was to read. I remember the first time I read the book (in English) it took maybe a day, and I've heard of people doing it a lot faster. I've been reading this one for a couple of months (admittedly off and on with a novel and books on the West Coast Trail). I think the first 10 pages took me a week. I feel like I'm making some real progress. I'm understanding more and more of the German, which makes the storey flow a lot more. Don't get me wrong, it's still very slow. Sometime I won't understand any words in a whole section, but most of the time I'm getting at least a few words. I'm even getting some sentences right. I usually try to read the German first and then the English, but sometimes I get tired and do it the other way around - much easier.

I'm also really enjoying the story. I remember almost scanning parts of the story the first time I read it, to advance the plot faster. The first one really is a kids book, so not that much happens. Because I'm forced to slow down, I'm appreciating both the story and details that I might not otherwise have noticed. I don't have anything specific. I think I've seen the movies enough that I've skipped a lot of the details of the book in my memory. The books are so rich with detail compared with the movies (don't get me wrong, still love the movies too).

Chapter 6, here I come.

Unrelated: I was going to do a write up of Saskatoon, but if you'd like to hear about that, read the Sills post on it at http://www.thesills.net/. Oh, and the hotel had a water slide. Funsies.

German Just Kills Me Sometimes

Sometimes German just kills me:

Lech mich an Arsch (slang) - "lick my backside"
Rumtrashen (slang) - "to party heavily"
aufbitchen (slang)- "to get tarted up for a party" (my favorite)

Delphinbabys - Dophlin babies
Muskelbepackten Armen - Muscular arms

Stuff like this is why I am still motivated to study. I keep running into German words that sound like they can't possibly be real. I'm 'reading' the first Harry Potter in German right now. When I say reading, I mean reading a line or two of the German book, then reading what it means in English (thanks for the tip Bridget!). There are words and the occasional sentences that I understand, but it's for the most part it's really very hard.

German and Frisbee Line Up

I decided to study a little German after I got home from frisbee tonight. The first sentance I opened my book too was, "Ich laufe schnell" - I run fast. Awesome. After posting that I never seem to blog and study in the same night, I do a blog about what I've just studied. I'm a hyprocrite.

New Favorite German Word

I learned a new German word tonight, and I'm going to make it my new favorite: geklopft. I'll use it in an example for you:

"How did the test go?"
"aweful! I geklopft."

Okay, I think it actually means 'knocked'. Say it a few times out loud - what fun. Better yet, shout it from a rooftop: GEKLOPFT!

Gute Idee

I learned something else in German today to go in my 'funsies' category. It's 'Gute Idee'. 'Gute Idee' makes me think of someone claiming to speak German, but really just speaking English with a horrible fake German accent. "Ve are go-ink to be learn-ink German now...dis it a gute idee". You may find me using this new one a lot, although it would be hard to top 'oopsa'.

Nellie had an exhibition game tonight against a team named Stealth. It was at the ever so humane time of 9:45. We play another game tomorrow at 7 PM. Tonight's game was a lot of fun. Nellie won 4-2 and I scored! Woo hoo. Ann Olsen set me up with a perfect pass, and scored two other goals herself. I was on a forward line with Hunter all night and we had some really good chances. Sue would have two, three, sometime as many as 8 people on her (we still tend to cluster) and all I had to do was yell "Hunter!" and she'd somehow find me with the puck. I really could have used to have caught a few more passes. I had several great passes sent my way this game. I did the hockey equivalent of dropping a lot of nice hucks. I'll do better tomorrow night.

Where the Hell is Everyone, and Why is the Cafe Closed?

If you like place names (or have a sense of humour), you might find this funny. Click the link and you will be drawn in by the title alone!

http://www1.spiegel.de/active/quiztool/fcgi/quiztool.fcgi?id=30671

Last German class I was having some issues with my translations. I got"We will meet at the cafe at midnight (Mitternacht)", instead of the real answer, "We will meet at the cafe this afternoon (Nachmittag)". This lead to my group trying to say "Where the hell is everyone and why is the cafe closed?" in German.

There is one guy in my German class who keeps asking really stupid question. Don't get me wrong, learning a language is hard. His stupid questions have nothing to do with the class itself. We were working on conjugating verbs, and this dude sticks his hand up, interrupts, and asks, "Do your Wal-marts over there have grocery stores?". Today he stops the class because he was confused on how a restaurant could serve fresh-squeezed orange juice. It had nothing to do with the translation at all. How the man became a lawyer is beyond me.

Ich mochte Deutsch lernen

Here are some germans words that I find funny, most because they are so obvious:
Die Krokodile, die Dusche, die Pizza, die Uniform, der Likor, der Stuhl.
Verbs: Fahrt, Hore, gehe, schicken
5:50 – saying ‘ten to six’ in German, the guy I was working with pronounced it ‘zen for sexs’.
I’m learning to say lots of useful things such as:
Ich schlafe mit Frauen. (I sleep with women.)
Was ist hinter die Elefant? (What is behind the elephant?)
Schwarz ist die neue rot. (Black is the new red.)
I’m sure Jayanti, Toby and Bridget must all be horrified with my pigeon german. Entshuldigung.

1rst German Class

Monday night is my new has-to-be-a-rest day. I'm hoping to keep it to one day of rest a week, but I'm not sure it will fly. I did 6 days this week, and by the hockey game last night, my legs were seriously done-zo. So I guess I'll have to see. As soon as I need a rest day in order to have quality workouts, I take one.

German class is from 6:30-9:30, which leaves very little time to exercise if you factor in the whole day job thing. The first class was good. I think I will get a lot of of it. I'm taking German Level Dumbass through Mt. Royal Continuing Ed.

This morning, Amanda finally got her Sesame Snap. While she was away traveling the world for 4 months, I saved all of the crumbs from my keyboard (and some from the toaster in the kitchen) and glued them into a fake Sesame Snap (in a real wrapper). I like to call Sesame Snaps 'bird food'. I'm not exactly a fan. KA-KAAHHH!!

Germany Blog Props and the Plastic Boyfriend

In case I didn't send you the link at work the other day, check out the Spiegel article titled, "Petra Looks Forward to Cozy Winter with Plastic Boyfriend":

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,517899,00.html

In case you don't recognize it, the Spiegel is the German newspaper that's in the movie, "In the Lives of Others (Das Leben Der Anderen)". It won the 2006 Foreign Language Film Oscar. I'd highly recommend it. It's the type of movie that teaches you something, entertains you, and makes you cry at the end even though you've seen it coming for an hour and a half. Well, okay, not really cry*. Thanks Toby for sending me the link to the Spiegel and Bridget and Jayanti for the movie recommendation. For more information about either fun in Germany (including a great blog about the France trip!), or Toby's rate of pee flow (seriously), check out http://bgbingermany.blogspot.com/. Jayanti's blog lives at
http://bavarianbuzz.blogspot.com/.

Postscript: In confirming the "facts" of this post, I found this sad article: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,496414,00.html about one of the actors in the movie.

Photos

Here are a couple more photos from my trip. The wood pile was on the way back to town after a hike near Baden Baden. The squash and the wine and grapes were in France.

Crazy Animals

Tonight's blog theme is crazy animals. Dog's seem to really enjoy biting me. I swear most people don't have this many dog-biting stories. There was Vernon and Drayton Valley (the dogs were successful), California (a good try) and now tonight. If you don't know the other stories, ask me some time. Tonight's was not all that exciting. I went jogging, I got bit by a dog. It hurt but didn't break the skin or anything. It did leave bite marks in my grey sweats. Shut up. The other ones were dirty.

On that theme, these sheep that I say in Baden Baden must have been drinking too much of that mineral water. Yikes.

Squeak My Toy

Since I didn't post any pictures while I was in Germany, I'm going to post and re-live over the next little while. Today's are a few pics from Karlsruhe. I was lost (well, a bit lost) when I took the pic of my own bike. Nothing a short break, a map and a nice Germany lady couldn't solve.

I bought a t-shirt in Berlin from the company who did my bike tour. It had their logo on the back and the slogan "squeak my toy" on the front. All of the bikes on the tour had big squeaky toys and bells. I didn't love the slogan, and really people squeaking and ringing there bells was kind of annoying, but I really liked the colour of the shirt, and the logo on the back was sweet. SOLD. When I was exiting the country in Frankfurt, I was wearing the shirt. Naturally - I was new, and therefore the cleanest peice of clothing that I had. The very nice Germany fellow stamping my password asked, "vas is 'squeek my toy?"......awkward (insert robot hands here).

Jetlag and Synthroid

I'm back home in Calgary and back at work today. Errrrrrrrg. I'm feeling pretty good, although I am getting little waves of jetlag. Jetlag is a weird thing. I feel like I might be hungry, or maybe forgetting something important. It reminds me a lot of being off my synthroid. The brainfog is similar, although it increases exponentially with the synthroid. The worst of my jetlag feels like being off synthroid for 3-4 days.

Dresden

When I first got to Dresden, I thought Ron was here. Ron Weasley, that is. That would be because Dresden didn't seem to have lights. It was so dark that I had to stand directly under streetlights in order to read the map. I found the place we were staying, which was run by a dude who I thought might axe murder me. Ö

Today we did the Heather-reads-lonely-planet walking tour of Dresden. There are loads of really cool old buildings here, and lots of history. Most of what I knew of Dresden before, I read in Slaughterhouse 5. It's pretty cool to see the real place.

This evening, we took a bunch of night photos of the city off a bridge.

....2 days later: Dresden's revenge was to kill the computer right then. Or maybe it was the guy who ran the hostel who I referred to as "the possible axe murderer". Yikes.