We've been closing monitoring a transit strike in Berlin this month. Berlin is the only place we don't have a rental car and of course the subway and bus drivers and maintenance workers went on strike! The drivers went back to work this week on a holiday operating schedule but the maintenance workers were still on strike. Today they decided that everyone will work over Easter weekend though so we should be okay for the most part. Thank goodness! After we leave Berlin they can feel free to fight for their cause.
Thanks Berlin BVG!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Phone Calls to Germany
Yesterday Matthias made a few calls to Germany to settle up some details. He also called home and talked to his Oma who asked him if I spoke German. Matthias told her I knew how to say a few phrases. She told him that she felt bad that she couldn't speak English. That totally floored me!! Of course it's totally understandable that she doesn't speak English!! Matthias told her it was fine and that we'd spend our time playing Yahtzee. Matthias supposedly told her that when we come back in December I'd be fluent in German. I seriously hope he was kidding!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Packing
I did a preliminary pack this weekend. It went better than I thought. I'm taking the same suitcase I took to Ecuador. Thank goodness we're planning to do laundry along the way. When? I have no clue. For this trip I'm taking an extra carry-on bag that will be mostly empty except for a gift for Matthias' Oma and electronics. That means I'll have PLENTY of room to bring things back!! Knowing Matthias he's likely to insist that my carry-on bag be filled with licorice and chocolate. We'll see how that negotiation goes. I'd at least like to sneak in some gummy bears and a postcard or two.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Germany - The German Language
Confusion - it's German!
The word for cookie is cake, the word for cake is kitchen, and the word for kitchen is cook.
The word for pan is lid.
The word for on is off.
Things have genders. I imagine it's 1900 and a room full of old men are sitting around discussing whether a word should be male, female, or neutral. It often works and I get the article in front of the word right. Sometimes the logic is slightly off. For example, a blouse is feminine (die Bluse) but a skirt is neutral (das Hemd). Why? Well women wear the skirt, but men love looking at women in skirts. All items in a kitchen are masculine but the kitchen itself is feminine. Why? Because men make the machines and women use them. UGH! Things don't have genders. They don't reproduce, they don't have organs. It makes no sense.
But some things are also funny to me (or at least I make them funny so I remember them):
a fork is die Gabel ( which makes me think of a turkey or people gobbling up their food)
the word for through (as in through the door) is durch - which sounds to me like someone running into a door
the word for train is Zug...which I say as "zug! zug!" to sound like a train whistle
The word for cookie is cake, the word for cake is kitchen, and the word for kitchen is cook.
The word for pan is lid.
The word for on is off.
Things have genders. I imagine it's 1900 and a room full of old men are sitting around discussing whether a word should be male, female, or neutral. It often works and I get the article in front of the word right. Sometimes the logic is slightly off. For example, a blouse is feminine (die Bluse) but a skirt is neutral (das Hemd). Why? Well women wear the skirt, but men love looking at women in skirts. All items in a kitchen are masculine but the kitchen itself is feminine. Why? Because men make the machines and women use them. UGH! Things don't have genders. They don't reproduce, they don't have organs. It makes no sense.
But some things are also funny to me (or at least I make them funny so I remember them):
a fork is die Gabel ( which makes me think of a turkey or people gobbling up their food)
the word for through (as in through the door) is durch - which sounds to me like someone running into a door
the word for train is Zug...which I say as "zug! zug!" to sound like a train whistle
Germany - Lists, Lists and more Lists
List #1 - Food that Eli must try while in Germany
List #2 - Food that we must buy in Germany
I don't maintain this list but it's a long list of chocolate and licorice for the most part plus a plot to try to bring back lots of the Milchschnitte (which to me sounds like a mess waiting to happen).
Coworkers found a link to a product you can order in Germany called "Cheeseburger in a Can" that was made for hikers. The review of it is that it's disgusting. They want me to buy it and bring it back anyway.
List #3 - Products to buy
the topper on the list includes a Eucerin shower, which Matthias is convinced will help my dry skin. The rest are a variety of products that Matthias uses and can't seem to find an American equivalent of.
List #4 - Fun stuff to buy
Cuckoo clock
Gnome
others I can't think of at the moment
List #5 - the Packing List
It's an ugly, ugly list. I refuse to type it. I have no clue how we're possibly getting there and back without breaking our backs carrying everything we need. I believe we plan to do laundry at one of the hostels about half-way through the trip which should help. See lists #2-4 above for the amount of space we need to leave for things we're bringing back (plus stuff Matthias is getting from storage at home).
- Milchshnitte - which sounds to me like "Milk Sh#@" yeah, can't wait (apparently it's the ice cream/chocolate bar Matthias looks for everywhere in the US and can't find)
- Maulwurfs Kuchen - well "maul" sounds like 'bad' to me and then there's Kitchen - something bad in the kitchen...awesome. (apparently it's also chocolate...okay, I'm in)
- Germany bakery - now that I can do
- Schokocrossies - it sounds sacriligious - Chocolate crosses...we tried to make them with limited success and they're not crosses they're crispies I guess, or something like that
- Nappo - no clue; reminds me of a hair product for some reason
- Applesauce - I've never had it before and can't wait to try it....hahaha...something about how it's different in Germany. I don't understand. Applesauce is mushed up apples, how can it possibly be that different?
List #2 - Food that we must buy in Germany
I don't maintain this list but it's a long list of chocolate and licorice for the most part plus a plot to try to bring back lots of the Milchschnitte (which to me sounds like a mess waiting to happen).
Coworkers found a link to a product you can order in Germany called "Cheeseburger in a Can" that was made for hikers. The review of it is that it's disgusting. They want me to buy it and bring it back anyway.
List #3 - Products to buy
the topper on the list includes a Eucerin shower, which Matthias is convinced will help my dry skin. The rest are a variety of products that Matthias uses and can't seem to find an American equivalent of.
List #4 - Fun stuff to buy
Cuckoo clock
Gnome
others I can't think of at the moment
List #5 - the Packing List
It's an ugly, ugly list. I refuse to type it. I have no clue how we're possibly getting there and back without breaking our backs carrying everything we need. I believe we plan to do laundry at one of the hostels about half-way through the trip which should help. See lists #2-4 above for the amount of space we need to leave for things we're bringing back (plus stuff Matthias is getting from storage at home).
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Germany 08 - The Big Plan
Planning for Germany had been quite the adventure. Basically, if you can imagine it in Germany then we're probably going there. Our apologies to the fine people of Frankfurt...it just didn't make the cut. Here's what we've got:
Yep, I'm exhausted just typing it!
So far we've got the list of places to visit, a place to sleep every night we're in Germany (often we're not the same place more than one or two nights), flights, and a rental car. Yep, we're driving! I've even got my international drivers license, which sounds fancy but is nothing more than a translation of my US license.
- Berlin - 4 days of sightseeing including the Reichstag, Zoo, Brandenburg Gate, Alexander Platz, Deutsches Technikmuseum, the new Bahnhof, Schloss Charlottenburg, Potsdamer Platz, and who knows what else
- Dresden - quick stop for sightseeing
- Nuremberg - Kaiserburg Castle
- Munich - Hobrauhaus, Marienplatz to see the giant Glockenspiel, the Residenz, Nymphenburg gardens
- Zugspitzeplatt - A day trip to the highest point in Germany
- Schloss Neuschwanstein - the Cinderella Castle
- Bodensee and the Black Forest - our day with German nature (and some cuckoo clocks)
- Heidelberg - a half day stop to see the castle and the sights
- Cologne - the cathedral, zoo, and the Rhine
- Bremen - a quick stop for lunch and the sights of the town square
- Northern Germany - visits with family, side trips to Flensburg and Sylt, cows
- Kiel - visits with family and friends
- Lubeck - viewing the sites of this beautiful old city
- Hamburg - a giant model train, some half-timbered houses
- Berlin - catch the flight back
Yep, I'm exhausted just typing it!
So far we've got the list of places to visit, a place to sleep every night we're in Germany (often we're not the same place more than one or two nights), flights, and a rental car. Yep, we're driving! I've even got my international drivers license, which sounds fancy but is nothing more than a translation of my US license.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Jan, Feb, Mar 07
Not much traveling going on right now, but LOTS of planning!!!
We're planning for Germany and in the negotiating stages for future vacations - an Alaska visit to see my friend Karla, hiking the Grand Canyon, and a second visit to Germany are on the list.
We're planning for Germany and in the negotiating stages for future vacations - an Alaska visit to see my friend Karla, hiking the Grand Canyon, and a second visit to Germany are on the list.
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