leaving deutschland.

while i was dreading it's arrival, all things must come to an end, and i eventually had to say "tschuss" to deutschland. i woke up early (by my standards) on saturday morning and got ready and ate breakfast. around 9am, johannes and i ventured out to take care of my last-minute shopping, which included buying two loaves of rye bread (one for me and one for richard), as much kölsch as my suitcase could fit, and about 20 euros worth of candy for my friends. then it was back to pack up my belongings (which took some negotiation between my suitcase and myself) and johannes the hero carried my excessively-heavy suitcase down the winding flights of stairs to the ground level. and before long, we were off!

we caught a train to the central station, and then had to find our platform to catch another train to head out to the airport. we made record time, and johannes was quite impressed with his planning, as he made all the connections with more than enough time. and then suddenly we found ourselves at the köln/bonn airport. once at the ticket counter, the kind lady working upgraded my flights, giving me window seats and (unbeknownst to me) putting me in business class for my united flight from boston to san francisco. seriously, how rad. for the record, i love lufthansa (excepting the temporarily-missing suitcase incident). once checked in, we met up with björn, who has been my last.fm friend for quite some time and lives in düsseldorf. previous attempts to hang out during my stay were unsuccessful, so he drove all the way to the airport to meet me - how sweet! at this point, johannes and i said our goodbyes, as he was heading off to the suburbs to take care of things. i still had nearly two hours before my flight left, so björn bought me coffee and we sat and chatted for awhile, until the time came when he had to walk me to the security checkpoint. we said our goodbyes, and i was on my own for a long journey home.

my flight to munich was quick and painless, but i did find myself crying a bit as we landed at the airport. i had such a great time in germany, but i was also emotionally exhausted because of all it took for me to get there and what it meant for me - the years of friendship building up to it, the courage i had to muster to instigate such a trip, the fantastic time i had, the accomplishment of doing the whole thing on my own and for myself, and the sadness of leaving behind such a good friend, as well as a country that i kind of fell in love with. and not only that, but i had most of my trip back ahead of me - a nearly-nine-hour-flight to boston, a 12-hour layover, and a six-hour-flight back to california, followed by a whole day of activities and bbqs once i arrived. but that part of the journey is a story all unto itself...

last full day in germany.

my last complete day in germany was relatively low-key, but it turned out to be exactly perfect. after enjoying breakfast together, i got around to some reading and journaling while johannes took care of some stuff of his own. we reconvened for lunch, after which i had tentative plans to check out neighboring düsseldorf. however, johannes decided to join me for the afternoon, and instead of venturing to the rival city, we headed out to a part of köln that we hadn't yet explored.

first off, we made yet another trip to the post office so i could mail my remaining postcards (the ones i'd picked up in holland), and then continued on. the weather was gorgeous and it was super nice to just be able to leisurely walk around and talk, and not have to deal with the mess of trains and people in a hurry. johannes took me to yet another park - this one being the one where he most often goes on his runs. we ventured through and continued down more quiet streets until we reached a war memorial in the southern part of the city, which was near to the rhine.

the memorial was atop an old fort, which appears to have been taken over by teenagers in the area and serves as a hangout, a la the stomping grounds of rufio and the lost boys. for awhile we just sat and looked around, enjoying the clear blue sky and amazing temperature. then we walked a short distance to a local cafe for afternoon coffee and cake (which is one of johannes' favourite things to do) as well as people-watching (which is one of my favourite things to do).

when we finished, we continued our walk through a bizarre area of town with a whole (unexplained) system of overhead pipes. while talking, we somehow got onto the topic of video games. johannes shared his favourite adventure games with me, and once we found ourselves back at his place, he showed me videos of some of them. highlights include the freelance police and one that a friend of his created for school. but before we arrived, we happened upon the most appropriate building: johanneshaus! well...not really all that appropriate, as further research reveals that it's kind of like a halfway house. but hell, i thought it was kind of cool, at least for a photo op.

once back, the next item on the agenda was making a mixtape. seeing as how it was via a mixtape forum of sorts that the two of us initially met some six years ago, it made sense that we make a mixtape together. after throwing thematic ideas around, johannes eventually dug up a tape cover and declared that we were going to choose songs that the artwork made us think of. after a couple of false starts and a few hours, we had our tape. so the two of us did a "test run" together while johannes prepared a delicious dinner for us, which we enjoyed alongside a bottle of bogle.

for my last night, the agenda was left open for whatever i wanted to do, but the idea of wine and a movie - in this case, "grindhouse: planet terror" - sounded better than a night on the town, so that's just what we did. all in all, a near-perfect day, tainted only by the fact that the trip was almost over.

side trip to holland.

while my original plan didn't include going outside of germany, i jumped at the opportunity to spend an afternoon in holland, the land of my people. not only did my maternal ancestors emigrate from the netherlands to canada years and years ago, but we still have family in and around leiden and amsterdam, and while my parents have visited the country, i still hadn't.

so at 8am on thursday, we were up and getting ready to take the train to the suburbs to meet with johannes' mother. our original plan was to visit his younger brother, kaspar, in maastritcht (where he attends university), but it was a holiday so kaspar was back in town for a friend's birthday. still, doris wanted to do some potential shopping, so it was off to holland we went!

we piled into the golf and johannes (resident doctor) set about to fixing the tape deck (and was successful, which meant we got to listen to mixtapes and not the radio)! in about an hour's time we crossed the border and arrived in the city. we parked in front of kaspar's flat so we could see where he lives, and then headed through town toward the river to cross to the side with the central area, which i suppose can be classified as the downtown. the whole city features very modern, light, architecture but with a lot of brick and stone, which gave it an ancient, white-washed sort of feel.

we crossed the maas river and walked through town, until we came upon an outdoor restaurant, where we sat and enjoyed the beautiful weather and ate lunch. once done, we continued and walked all over, passing a mill, some cafes, university buildings, and three churches (two catholic and one protestant, i believe). the city streets themselves were cobblestone-like and reminded me of "oliver twist" or something of the sort.

after we had worn ourselves out by window shopping and checking out a flea market in the town square, we stopped at the grand theater cafe and had afternoon coffee and some cake, which was both pleasant and relaxing. then we slowly made our way back to the car. on the way, i snapped a picture of a congregation of bicycles. i can't imagine how to even beginning finding one's bike!

continuing on, we crossed back over to the other side of town via a different bridge, and doris demanded we use the time for a photo opportunity. so at johannes' suggestion, we flashed our west side (best side) signs, cause in case you didn't know, johannes is straight-up nwacore, no joke.

then it was back to germany. we were dropped off at the train station and headed back into town, where johannes made banana pancakes for dinner!! delicious! we rounded out the night with some white bavarian beer and watched "choke" together, and then it was off to bed.

bundeshauptstadt ohne nennenswertes nachtleben.

on wednesday (i know, i know, i'm horrible at updating) we mailed off my postcards (a grand total of nearly 25) and then ventured out of town to neighboring bonn (home of haribo, the candy manufacturer!), which is about a 20 minute train ride away.

upon arriving, we headed directly to the birthplace of ludwig van beethoven, a site that was a must-see on my list. we entered the house, which has been converted into a museum that houses all sorts of writings, pictures, scores and instruments from beethoven's life. although his family only lived in the house for the first few years of his life before moving to another home within the city, the house (and one adjoining it) were purchased and preserved.

the tour itself was self-guided and not the most interesting or enthralling, but still something i definitely wanted/needed to see (although, truth be told, i am more of a bach fan than anything when it comes to german composers). the house was also creaky as can be (as johannes said, no wonder they moved!) and it housed two of beethoven's pianos, which i would have touched (kind of like when my father touched the rosetta stone at the british museum) were it not for someone in the room watching my every move. in the adjoining house was a computer lab with all kinds of beethoven-related activities...following along with copies of the original scores was pretty awesome but also crazy difficult.

when we were done with the tour, we were met by johannes' cousin, anna, and her boyfriend matthias. the four of us then wandered through a town square of sorts, which was absolutely beautiful, full of buildings with stunning design and architecture. the town hall in particular reminded me of rococo kind of style. kind of cool to note is i saw someone with a new trust t-shirt. random! anyway, we all got ice cream (i had blueberry...mmm!) and then ventured down to a grassy area just next to the rhine, where we sat on a blanket and talked. the weather was perfect for afternoon vegging.

before long, anna had to head to class, so we walked with her, and i was blown away by how gorgeous the university was, particularly when compared to the buildings at university of köln. apparently, the school used to be a castle that was built for some prince of sorts. talk about awesome. we said our goodbyes and anna told us if we walked about 900 meters further we'd run into said castle. so off we went.

now köln is an awesome city, but bonn is simply just so beautiful, with many homes and buildings preserved quite well...it appears as though destruction from the war was rather minimal in the area. i could totally see myself living there, and the walk down to the castle was serene as can be. the courtyard of the castle had cars (faculty?) which was kind of silly to see, but still very cool. we didn't look at it for long though, as we had to make it back to catch our train back.

once back, we stopped at the store to get food for our bbq later that evening. all i really wanted was corn, but got potatoes as a back-up, just in case we couldn't find corn. as luck would have it, there were ears of it available at maybe the third or fourth store we went in. we went back to the house and johannes had a snack while i took a shower, and then it was time to head out. so we stopped at the store to pick up more beer (beck's for j - mühlen kölsch for me) and headed back out to nico's place.

what followed next was perhaps the most genuine german experience i could have hoped for. i suddenly found myself in the company of five or six german fellows who were bbqing meat, drinking beer and finding themselves united over the love of the game - football. or, soccer to us americans. yes, yes, it was the uefa final, and ukraine played germany. unfortunately, the country we were rooting for lost (2-1), but they put up a good fight for sure.

more importantly, we all had a fantastic time, and much prosting (yes, i made up a verb) was had by all. post-game, we listened to the sweet tunes of die fantastischen vier before it was time to head back, in order to catch the last train. so i paused for a quick snapshot with our gracious host (nico, the aforementioned superhuman) and then it was back to the city. and twenty minutes and some beers later, we arrived back in barbarossaplatz - happy, drunk and sleepy. so it was off to bed in preparation of an early rising the next morning. suffice to say, i slept like a baby.

a day of heights.

tuesday was a day of reaching new heights, literally. we took a train down to a new part of town i hadn't seen before, close to the zoo, where we caught the seilbahn, which is a cableway that takes you across the rhine river in boxes...i don't even know the name in english, but they used to have them at disneyland (spanning the park) and also running the length of the santa cruz boardwalk.

the view from above was absolutely impressive, and we could see the whole city, many of the bridges and the gorgeous sight of rheinpark, which runs along the riverfront on the other side of town (which johannes refers to as the "uncivilized" side). the most hilarious part of all is that the seilbahn goes over the claudius therme (a spa/bath of sorts) with a section that is freikörperkultur (or fkk, aka nudists) so if you look down below during your descent into the park, your eyes will be met with the sight of many many naked old exhibitionists.

once on the other side, we ventured through the park, which is full of flowers, plants and trees, and a fantastic view across to the other side (which is supposedly the best part of this side of köln!). along the waterfront there is also a small lot of sand, and for the sum of four euros, one is able to lay in loungers, listen to techno-y music and tan! there is even a disco ball overhead. wtf. so euro!

our walk along the riverfront eventually led to a bridge that all the trains (national and regional) pass over on the way to the main city center station. lining the bridge are padlocks with names of lovers etched into them. interesting trend - like the nodern-day carving of initials into a tree. there's also quite a bit of graffiti, which is pretty standard fare in the city. each side of the bridge is also flanked with four regal statues of some kaiser of sorts on his horse.

we made our way back to kölner dom, and began our ascent to the top, a whole winding, exhausting 532 steps, which takes you 97,25 meters into the sky, which is quite high. but luckily, the view is worthwhile, albeit shielded by a chain-link fence. johannes remarked how cool it is to see things from an aerial view and realize how much empty and open space there really is below - something you don't notice when you're walking among it.

after checking out the view, we made our way down and back to johannes' house for lunch, after which i took a nap and he headed to the university for a lecture on anesthesia, followed by a run (although that was cut short by the surprise onslaught of rain). so we had dinner and then spent the rest of the evening completing the music exchange!

not many pictures today.

i've been admittedly slacking on picture-taking but i just would much rather experience things than simply document.

that aside, yesterday was a nice relaxing day. in the afternoon, after a lunch of a pasta i have never had before, we headed out on a mission to find postcards, and after searching through four or so stores, were able to find enough. we also went to the main university campus, which is a bit of a sore site, to be honest.

johannes bought us some ice cream while we were postcard-shopping, and then we made our way back to his place, where i spent the afternoon writing and addressing said postcards. after dinner, we continued with the music exchange, until i went to bed around 11:30, and slept for nearly 10 hours, which was quite nice, but also didn't feel like enough.

in a bit we're going to do more walking around, and then johannes has a meeting at the university, so i might take a nap, or perhaps do some exploring on my own.

weekend update.

on saturday morning, we rode on the bus (super fun!) to the medical facilities at the university where johannes used to study. he gave me a tour of the campus and showed me where he used to have classes, as well as the old dormitory where he lived for a few years. then we continued our walk to a giant park with trails and a lake and even an enclosed area with all sorts of animals (goats, deer, sheep, et cetera). it was quite nice and i enjoyed spending time in serene surroundings, since - aside from the "greenbelt" - köln is very much trains and cars and bicycles and such.

back at the house that afternoon, i was able to get some reading done (finished a book by marquez and another by hornby) thus allowing me to delve further into my book about germany, from which i am learning quite a bit. for example, nutcrackers and garden gnomes are both german inventions. additionally, germany stole the melody for its national anthem (a song written by haydn) from austria, and the first two verses of it are too nationalistic, so singing anything but the third verse is illegal in the country. also of particular interest and relevance to me: köln is considered a party city, and it also houses the largest brothel in the country. fancy that!

saturday afternoon was spent trading movies between the two of us, until we caught a train out to the surburbs for a date with johannes' friend and i got my first experience of a german house (multi-level). we met up with nico (who is an archeologist and apparantely superhuman) and another friend whose name i don't quite remember (who is a landscape contracter and has been to santa rosa before!) and drank beer and watched the eurovision song contest, which is the most awful piece of entertainment i have ever experienced. but it was quite funny, even if germany did rank 20 out of 25 (not so impressive). after the competition ended, we watched some soccer highlights and other such things on youtube, before heading out to catch our train.

it was relatively late (and i was relatively drunk) when we returned, so i immediately crashed, only to wake up sunday morning with my first german hangover! but it wasn't so bad, all in all, as it was just a slight annoying headache for part of the day.

i spent most of the afternoon reading my book, with the exception of a few hours during which we poured over and traded music. around 6, johannes woke me from a short nap i had taken and we headed back to the suburbs (this time a couple stops further) to go to his parents' house. more specifically, we found ourselves in köln-sürth. from the train station to the house is a pretty and quiet walk, and the house itself is very modern in design and impressive in its interior.

johannes' mother, doris, cooked us a dinner of potatoes, german asparagus with a cream sauce (delicious!), chicken (which of course i didn't have) and salad (something which is served after the rest of the meal, as per minkus family tradition). it was delicious, and complimented quite nicely by french and italian red wine (and some austrian white wine, which i didn't get around to trying). dessert was a strawberry tart of sorts along with coffee, as well as some pineapple and orange. johannes' sister, marie, also joined us for dinner, and she is absolutely adorable; i am quite fond of her.

after some time, we left to catch our train, and ended up missing it by maybe 30 seconds, but another one was on its way soon after, so we had to bide our time at the station for a short while until it came through. but the wait wasn't too terrible and before long we were back home. i stayed up a bit and read, and awoke fairly early this morning - something about the sun coming in the window in the morning has set me on a fairly regular sleep schedule.

not sure what adventures today holds, so i had best go find out...

p.s. i've got j. saying "fail" all the time. FTW.

so i've been busy...

...too busy experiencing german life to email or post blogs, and for that, i apologize. it just leaves me with a lot of catching up to do.

so friday... we first began the day by going to an electronics store to get a converter, as the one i had is compatible in some parts of europe, but not germany. along the way, we were caught in a downpour of sorts, so we waited it out under the bridge until it had let up a bit. we also looked in a few record stores and kept walking until we ended up heading down to st. peter's cathedral and going inside. i realize the citizens of köln are probably or possibly not all that interested in seeing it for it is certainly, by now, rather commonplace to them, but i was overwhelmed and amazed to be in a place with such history and beauty. construction of the cathedral began in 1248, and wasn't completed for hundreds of years, and is constantly undergoing renovation and such. most recent was the addition of a new stained glass window, which features colourful pixels throughout.

and don't get me started on the organ, which is absolutely astounding! i only wish i could hear it played. but perhaps the highlight of the whole thing is the bones (or what's left of the bones) of the three kings (you know, the ones of orient) which are housed in gold shrine-like "boxes" in the cathedral (clearly, my descriptive prowess fails me). i had no idea, but i guess that's sort of the motivating factor for people to visit. so awesome! we also happened upon a crazy person talking to himself and johannes wanted to make fun of him, but i was a bit upset because i won't tolerate others talking bad about my teammates!!

next, we saw some museums housed around the cathedral, then walked along the marina and river front, all the way to the schokoladen museum! according to johannes, it is a bit boring, so we just went inside and looked at all the various types of chocolate available. we continued our walk until we reached a train stop, of which one direction would take us to the suburbs and the other, which would take us back to our resting place.

we got back and had some time to wind down, so we had dinner and then began the pillaging of my hard drive over a couple beers. before too long, it was time to head

down to another venue, stereo wonderland, (across the street from the one the previous night) to see darren hayman from hefner. the bar was small and intimate, but quite nice, and it was my first time seeing darren or hearing any of his music really, but i loved it. he's quite a natural entertainer (and i'm glad he spoke english otherwise i would have missed a large part of the concert experience, i fear).

after the show ended, we walked back and wound down the day watching "serenity" which is an altogether interesting and peculiar movie. then off to bed to prepare for our next day.

first day!

two awesome things happened this morning. one: i awoke to find my suitcase sitting outside my bedroom door. hooray for clean clothes and such. two: i walked into the kitchen to find a bag of gummibärchen on the table. ftw. needless to say, i'm in a relatively good mood.

yesterday morning, we took to exploring the city, walking about until we reached the city museum. we went in and spent an hour or two learning about the history of köln and seeing all sorts of interesting things. it was a great, quirky introduction to staying here. next was lunch...turkish pizza...which is kind of amazing. i had my first taste of cheese in weeks and it was delicious, although my stomach has been upset with me for eating dairy again, so i'm trying to avoid it when possible.

after lunch we came back to johannes' place, and he did a fine job procrastinating on doing real work :) while i did reading, caught up on my journal, and took an incredibly delightful nap. i spent most of the evening doing crossword puzzles, and spent some time chatting with his roommate, eva, over her dinner. then we had dinner and headed outside. it was sprinkling a bit, but i don't mind; i'll take that over the heatwave set to hit the north bay this weekend.

we walked down to the blue shell, a bar/venue that was celebrating its 30th anniversary with a cover band, silk rabbits, performing. it was equals parts fun and amusing, and the crowd was a particularly eclectic mix of people, which made for some good teamage...speaking of which, johannes is (so far) kicking my ass at the your team game.

i have also been learning useful german phrases... "prost" (a german version of "cheers"), "ranzig" (similar to how i would use the term "janky"), and arguably the most important phrase, "zwei kölsch" (for ordering beer).

after the show, we walked back and watched some videos on youtube and finally i got to see some pictures from johannes' trip to southeast asia. totally awesome, but the squemish person in me is uncertain if i'd want to visit a place rampant with snakes and leeches and strange/bizarre/giant bugs. still, intriguing pictures and stories nonetheless.

tonight's plan is to go out see darren hayman, the former singer of hefner...i have never heard his solo music before last night, so it should be rad. we have also been invited by eva to join her in eating quiche that she is preparing tonight. in the meantime, i might be doing some solo exploring while j. gets work done.

i was telling johannes earlier that i am so accostomed to what europe is like, based off movies and such, and it has turned out to be exactly what i expected here in germany... and it feels almost as if i am watching it or experiencing it in an out-of-body sort of way. hard to explain, but the energy here is very fresh and very real.

unrelated, thanks to everyone who has sent me text messages; now that i have my phone charger i can read them all. it is nice to wake up to so many nice messages from everyone, and rest assured, i am having an excellent time, although i miss you all (and especially team catfish).

german keyboards are weird.

i am in germany! after 18 hours of travel and 26 hours of less-than-substantial sleep, i have arrived.

the night before my departure was spent bike riding with elia and richard, drinking tall cans under the freeway, playing pool in downtown petaluma, and staying up far too late. in short, quintessential life activities that i will miss while i am gone, almost as much as i already miss my cats. additionally, since i am fresh off detox, i discovered i'm a bit of a lightweight drinker, which is super ftw. the next day, we went down to san francisco and met up with steve and avi for lunch at herbivore, during which we managed to consume tons of delicious food and piss off some hippie couple with our tales of scandal.

i was dropped off at the airport an hour-and-a-half before my flight, and travel was mostly smooth (excepting the maze that is lax and confusion over boarding flights in munich). my international flight was not fully booked so the accommodations were relaxing. my vegan meals were awesome, and i drank a ton of orange juice on the airplane (something like a glass every 20-30 minutes), but unfortunately, i did not sleep well and actually had an adverse reaction of sorts (meaning i got airsick after breakfast) to the codeine i had taken to induce sleep. other than that though, i arrived alive and on-time last night, between 830 and 900.

unfortunately, somewhere between los angeles and munich, or perhaps between munich and cologne, my suitcase was misplaced. when it didn't come through the baggage claim area, i spoke to the baggage attendant (who in turn, did not speak much english, leaving me feeling slightly helpless) and he instructed me to go to lost and found. luckily i had johannes with me to do the talking, since my german skills are severely lacking (and by that i mean i can say "thank you" "goodbye" "do you speak german?" "cinnamon" "junkhead" and "i am from california"). a claim was filed, i was given an emergency overnight kit of essentials, and will hear from the airline when (not if, right j?) my bag is found. seriously, fml. in the meantime, i am playing the how-many-hours-straight-can-i-wear-the-same-set-of-clothes game (and winning) and trying not to think of all the items i have potentially lost.

wardrobe malfunction aside, johannes is awesome, like seriously pretty much how i expected he would be, only with a better/cuter accent. once we dealt with the luggage debacle, we went to the train station and headed into cologne (or köln... or cöln... or koeln... or ???) which is the fourth-largest city in the country, with more than 1 million inhabitants. off the bat, it seems to be very clean and modern and safe-feeling. in short, i love it.

we got off the train in what i can only imagine is considered downtownish, and walking out of the train station were met with the sight of st. peter's cathedral, which is tallgorgeousintimidatingetcetera. the beauty of it (and the city in general) is absolutely staggering, especially coming from such a "young" country and visiting a place full of so much established history and culture, it really is kind of surreal (and by that, i mean the kind of surreal lacking any sort of negative connotation). and then, our first stop was to grab some kölsch, which is way better than the american incarnations i have tried of it.

we walked to his place, and stayed up a few hours listening to music and talking. spending time with johannes feels quite natural to me (and should, given he has been rather instrumental in my life for so many years). he gave me birthday presents (seriously, how sweet!) which includes a book about germany that i am intent on reading in its entirety in the next few days. then off to bed around 1am or 2am. i thought i would sleep super late, but ended up waking at 9am, which is good, as it appears i don't seem to be affected all that much by jet-lag.

i updated my journal over a breakfast of müsli, coffee and orange juice. and now we are off to walk about town and perhaps visit some museums and such.

flight confirmation.

i received my flight confirmation in my email today, which means it's all pretty much set in stone. for those interested in my traveling details, here they are:

UNITED flight 423
boeing 737-500
depart from san francisco (sfo) at 6:03 p.m. on may 12
arrive in los angeles (lax) at 7:30 p.m. on may 12

LUFTHANSA flight 453
airbus a340-600
depart from los angeles (lax) at 9:15 p.m. on may 12
arrive in munich (muc) at 5:35 p.m. on may 13

LUFTHANSA flight 1276
airbus a319
depart from munich (muc) at 7:25 p.m. on may 13
arrive in cologne (cgn) at 8:30 p.m. on may 13

if any of you are like my dad, you might want to track my flight and see where i am at any given moment. for you, we have:
http://www.flightaware.com
http://www.flightstats.com
http://www.flightview.com

one week!

it's officially wednesday, so that means i can officially say that i leave for germany in exactly one week. the whole thing is quite surreal, and while i'm emotionally prepared beyond belief, the actual packing-and-having-everything-together bit is lacking, although i'm not too worried about pulling it together at the last minute (just my style).

besides, things are beginning to fall perfectly into place. my new "world mobile" phone arrived in the mail, so i'll be able call people should i need to, but more importantly, i can still send and receive text messages, which (as anyone who knows me well) is like my lifeline to...well...life. i'm stocked up on books from the library so i can be somewhat productive on my flight, and i even have a new journal in which to document my trip (something which will be a bit more personal and introspective than this blog, i'm assuming) as well as store addresses for postcards sent back home (if you want one, send me your information).

now it's just a matter of packing, which is a list consisting of: clothes, shoes, itinerary, passport, money, gifts, converter, toilitries, my external harddrive... it sounds a lot less complicated than it really is. i just hope i don't forget anything.

the dos and the don'ts.

in addition to reading up on websites, i've been talking with friends about the customs and culture of germany, trying to find out what i should be advised of before my trip. a few things i uncovered, that may or may not be exaggerated:

-eye contact is of utmost importance, even more so than in the states. required even.

-punctuality is negotiable to an extent. never be early, but you can be up to 15 minutes late (this is actually great for me, as i'm notoriously late to everything).

-while eating, there are all sorts of fork/knife/spoon rules, but most prominent seems to be the rule of having hands on the table/in view, and not in one's lap.

-being invited into someone's home is an honor - bringing a gift is considered a nice gesture, but if you bring wine, bring italian or french, as german wine is considered an insult. (or better yet, bring a few bottles of sonoma wine in your suitcase.)

-small talk doesn't fly in german culture. when you ask someone how they're doing, expect an honest answer. in fact, germans are generally outspoken and forward about thoughts and opinions, and don't avoid stating such to spare feelings.

anything important i'm missing? any of these things that are totally incorrect?

learning a new language.

german is not an easy language to speak, and i am learning this the most difficult of ways. although i've had an interest in studying german for more than a decade, it is the upcoming trip that has shot me into gear. however, with such a short amount of time to prepare, i am failing so hard at learning anything substantial. i believe fully in immersion, but listening to german phrases (mind you, phrases that normal people don't even say on a regular basis) on tape and cd doesn't really stick in my head, so i've pretty much given up hope, for now (although i'm hoping to finagle room in my schedule this fall to take an introductory german course in the midst of all my graduate school work).

anyway, it's not that i'm worried about not understanding people or being understood; i'm told most germans speak english (well) and i'll have a german speaker at hand should i encounter someone who doesn't, but aside from feeling like that asshole american who doesn't speak the language, i feel like i'm missing part of the cultural experience. unfortunately, not much can be done, although i'm going to give the "learn german by music" cd a fair chance before submitting myself to complete failure. otherwise, my handy german-english dictionary will have to suffice.

it's a reality!

i just purchased my plane ticket to germany and needless to say, i'm super stoked. not to say i wasn't before, but it feels a bit more real and final since i actually have the tickets in my hand (and i mean that in the most virtual of senses). i'll be leaving san francisco on may 12 and coming back on may 24. my primary destination will be cologne and i've already begun compiling a list of places i want to go and things i want to see, although to be honest, i will probably be entirely happy just spending time with johannes and going the places he takes me. so if you see me around in the next few weeks and i can't stop smiling, this is probably the reason why.