Winter semester over, I'm making travel plans München, Deustchland

Finally, the semester is over. Sprachkurs A did not improve in the last few months; in fact, I'm pretty sure I got dumber this semester, as far as grammar and vocabulary go. On the plus-side, this means that I have all the more reason to drop into Sprachkurs B....oh man.

Otherwise, my classes were alright - my "group project" for Landeskunde ended up as my individual project, as my two other group members dropped the course. So, our project on the German jail system turned into my project on Turkish students in the German school system. Obtaining and carrying out the interviews necessary for this project was a terrifying process as I (1) hate talking on the phone and (2) am positively terrified of using German over the phone or in person with anyone who can actually speak the language. So yeah, that was fun. But I finished the project and actually ended up being pretty satisfied with the work, research, and results.... and if I never have to try to request anything via the telephone in German, it will be too soon.

My Lyrik class was amazing. A lot of the students in the class didn't like the professor (and I'll admit, the style in which she ran the class is one that you either love or hate), but I loved the course. The class consisted of memorizing, translating, and analyzing poetry, as well as a midterm paper (topic: The archetype of the poet and of utopia). Over the course of the semester, we studied poems from Schiller, Goethe, Hölderlin, Rilke, Celan, and Schüller. Rilke was probably my favorite, as we read "Die Erste Elegie", but I liked Celan and Schiller a lot as well. I will have to add the comment that "Die Erste Elegie" is not really a poem in the most typical sense of the word. It is enjambed prose, lacking both rhyme and meter, with very long lines (of varying length), and a total of 95 lines in the work. In other words, it was basically a creative essay, and absolutely ridiculous to memorize. But then, if not for the endless amounts of poetry to memorize, how else would I use my time on the U-Bahn?

I dropped my Argentinian film class early on - the professor was flaky and always late to class (if he showed up at all). It became obvious in the first few weeks that (a) we would not cover anywhere near the amount of material suggested, given that we did not have much class time with a professor present, and (b) that I would not be able to keep motivation for a class with such a disorganized professor, regardless of the fact that it was taught in my preferred language.

My linguistics class was therefore my only LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität) course in the semester, and it was a hard one (by LMU standards). I have to rant slightly about the German system for classes... The entire grade for the course is based upon one test or referat (paper/presentation). So, if you do poorly on the final, you do poorly in the class. Also, as there is no intermediate work or quiz, it is quite difficult to tell how well you grasp the material until the last day of the course - after 3 months of studying and attendance and notes and work. I did well enough in this course that I don't have to drop it, but had I done poorly, I would have been very annoyed to have spent so much time just to have the class credit (and effort) essentially nullified by the one graded item of the semester. Gah. Never again to Germanistic Linguistics courses. Morphology and syntax are wonderful, but semantics and pragmatic (added in the last week of classes, by the way) depend greatly on a more subtle (dare I say native speaker's) understanding of the language. An understanding I neither have nor expect to possess in the next semester.

Anyway, the semester's done. I now have time to relax (i.e. sleep, knit, read) and travel. I was in London last weekend and will depart for the rest of Europe in the beginning of March/end of February. The approximate itinerary for the 5 weeks of travel can be found here.

And then when I come back in early April, I'll start selecting classes for the summer semester. So far I know I'll be taking the Theater (Literature) course from LC, as well as Sprachkurs (oh please, let it be Sprachkurs B). Other than that, I'm looking for classes at LMU, most likely a history/art history course, a Spanish-speaking course (if I can find a competent professor), and maybe another literature course - possibly one in German lit. and one in English/American lit.. Oh, I'm excited already! ^_^

Travel Schedule:

(With Jay):
01.03: Budapest, Hungary
2.03: Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
03.03: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
04.03: Istanbul, Turkey
05.03: Sofia, Bulgaria
06.03-07.03: Athens, Greece
07.03: Patras, Greece
08.03-09.03: Rome, Italy
10.03: Pompeii, Italy and Naples, Italy
11.03: Venice, Italy
12.03: Ljubljana, Slovenia
13.03: Florence, Italy
14.03: Geneva, Switzerland
14.03-16.03: Paris, France

(With Grandma):
16.03-17.03: Paris, France
18.03-19.03: Strasbourg, France
20.03-21.03: Bayeux, France
22.03-23.03: La Rochelle, France
24.03-26.03: Segovia, Spain
27.03-28.03: Merida, Spain

(With Jay):
29.03: Barcelona, Spain
30.03: Toledo, Spain
31.03: Córdoba, Spain
01.04: Valencia, Spain
02.04: Sevilla, Spain
03.04: Tangier, Morocco
04.04: Asilah, Morocco
05.04: Fes, Morocco
06.04: Marrakesh, Morocco
07.04: Agadir, Morocco; Return to Munich

Stop Screaming Children...London, England

...or similarly obnoxious airport irritants. Am currently at Stansted... 5 hours prior to my flight's departure with a strong headache and a large cup of hot chocolate. Probably not beneficial, but I can't be arsed to care at this particular juncture. Correction: hot mud. No taste of chocolate, and rather powdery texture. Had to brave Large Man Hanging Jacket On Stool and Italian Neighbor Who Needs Much Leg Room in order to get 2 packets of brown sugar to dump into the cup. As such, they have not succeeded in bringing the chocolate out of hiding. Have contemplated requesting that the lovely employees of Caffé Espresso deploy a search party, but fear such efforts would be in vain. According to the signs and larger-than-life advertisements, however, this is "Hot Chocolate - Italian Style." I had not been aware that Italians made hot chocolate without the presence or approval of any actual chocolate. I have, however, been corrected and shall query said Italians upon my trip to Firenze.

All in all, I feel I'm ready to leave the land of endless-legged miniskirts, though it is in favor of the land of oversized-beer. Schade. I like how every time I see the restaurant chain "O'neills", I must pause to consider whether it is pronounced "O'neels" or "O'niles". Oh Deutsch, was hast du mir getan? Oh no. British survey woman. Look busy - hurry. Perhaps another go at coaxing chocolate out via brown sugar bait? No, I'd have to pass her and then she'd ask me to answer questions. Oooh, ceiling. Concentrate. Contemplate.

Table next to me has been deserted with an almost-full glass and 3-4 open packets of sugar. Perhaps its former occupant was also trying to coax out the chocolate. Excessively Efficient Waiter just relocated the chair across from me onto my foot - a 3 inch change, but clearly my foot was in the wrong. As a foreigner, I can hardly feign awareness of proper pedi-protocol in such scenarios. As an obstinate American, however, I relocated my foot to its original location, displacing the overly-assertive chair. Awaiting the move of Excessively Efficient Waiter.

...

Well, my attempts at a nap in the quieter section of the airport were thwarted by 2 slovakians and a MachineGunCackleress, all of whom had decided to play a do-you-know-this-word game in German and English, every round followed by a hearty round of MGC from the blonde. Head pounding and nap clearly out of the question, I relocated. Am still hours too early to check in for my flight (3 hours to take-off), I find myself in a mass of chairs, luggage, and passengers in the lobby (if you can call it that) of the airport. Want quiet. Want shower. Want bed, and want advil. I wouldn't turn down my computer or a round of ice cream, either. Shall I pass the time by burning my mouth out with some habanero beef jerky? Oh, I think I shall.

Day ThreeLondon, England

Jim left early this morning - I miss him a lot, and I also miss home - mainly Jules and my family in Berkeley, but also Lewis and Clark, and of course a little bit of Chile as well. Seeing Jim reminded me of how short my time with my family was this last summer - only a month between arriving from Chile and departing for Germany.

On my own for the day, I went to the National Gallery and St. James' Park. In the Gallery, my favorite paintings were probably those by Turner, da Vinci, lorain, and Rubens. There was also an interesting temporary gallery of a photographer who used famous paintings as inspiration, but formed the scene in a current-day setting in New York, with alterations to adjust for the times or for the commentary he wanted to make about New York. A very intriguing exhibit.

Additionally, I got a night view of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye. Tomorrow I plan to go to Convent Garden Market and possibly to the Dali Museum prior to heading to the airport.

Day TwoLondon, England

Today Jim (my dad) and I went to the London Eye, the giant ferris-wheel from which one can see over the city. It provided some nice views of the river. Then we walked by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, but this time in daylight, as we saw both last night as well. Unfortunately, we missed visiting hours for both. We were also unsuccessful at getting tickets to any play on short notice on a Saturday night.

We just got back from an English lunch - not my favorite cuisine, it turns out. Mushed peas are rather disorienting in color and fish and chips are amazingly bland. Additionally, our [American] waitress was an absolute bitch and it was like pulling teeth to get any service from her. On another note, I finished Oryx and Crake (great book) and went down to the bookstore around the block to get a new book. It was small and quiet, and mainly catered to Wicca/mythology books. I ended up purchasing a readable biography on Catherine de Medici, which seems interesting so far. The lady working at the bookstore commented "Enjoy... in a gruesome way." So I'm not sure what I got into with this pick. Long book, though.

My knees are hurting a lot though - I really need to bring tiger balm/ace bandages next time I travel, but I'm pleasantly noting that my ridiculously light packing (a small day pack) has been perfect thus far. Anyway, a quick nap seems in order, and later we will hopefully be going to see a comedy show (or else a movie) before dinner... A play of Mary Poppins, actually - Jim just called to inform me.

Day OneLondon, England

I should start by saying that my right hand is still cramped and hard to use from my Lyrik test, so I'm writing slowly... Last night when my plane got in and I took the Stansted Express to Liverpool St., the underground was closed. A really nice man there explained how to use the buses to get to Holborn. Unfortunately, I didn't know the area well enough to recognize where to get off, so instead of bugging the driver more, I made a guess... And got off a bit east of Holburn Circus, which was not very close to my hotel. I walked the rest of the way and arrived at about 1:30 am. Shower and bed followed.

Jules called at around 8 am, but I was too tired to talk. I ended up getting up at around 10:30 and walked down towards the Thames. I followed it to St. Paul's and then to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge before crossing at London Bridge and walking back along the southern bank. I got a snack (lamb and mint spring roll) at a market just southwest of London Bridge (by Southwark Cathedral) - it was delicious. I'm now sitting in a cafe a few blocks from the hotel, and just finished an amazing hot chocolate - it had unsweetened cocoa powder on top of the whipped cream, which added a nice bitter complement to the sweet drink. It's about 15:15 and I'm not sure when my dad's going to arrive, so I'm just hanging out here and reading/writing. The music here reminds me of Maggie's and of Home (I like how I just unintentionally capitalized "home")... Norah Jones, jazz, slowish latin music...

I'm really excited to see Jim. I'm also excited to check out the pictures I took today. Okay, back to Oryx and Crake.

PlaneOn the Way to London, England

Okay...what?! EasyJet is crazy. Boarding by group translated into "everyone shove a lot", then there was a problem so we all waited in the hallway of the departure gate, then lo - not a plane, but a bus. What, we're going to drive? What the point of priority boarding is, if you make group A stuck at the edges of the bus so that when it drops everyone off at the plane the first people to board are the members of group D... No one knows. These crazy people who were sitting across from me in the airport lobby - a guy who seems surgically attached to his cell phone and a woman apparently formed from melting plastic and sequins - are sitting next to me, it seems. Oh man. Nap or travel plans... hm, we shall see.

Age, Opportunities, Time, AccomplishmentsMünchen, Deutschland

I just turned 21 in Germany. I watched the clock change. Should I feel different? Should I be at a bar? I'm in my room, curled up in the corner on pillows and blankets, feeling reflective. I do feel old; often, in fact. Mainly I feel old when I pause to consider it. When I'm in motion, I'm not really old... Nor young, I suppose - more ageless. Time doesn't effect you unless you sit still and let it. Or rather, you only notice it when you are still. But time passes, regardless of your state of motion --opportunities come and go; have I made use of the ones that have come my way? What have I accomplished, what have I done, effected? How well have I matured myself thus far? How well have I expanded?

I don't want to doubt myself, my actions, the outcomes -- I want to be able to look at myself and at where I am and what I am doing and believe, wholeheartedly, that I'm on the right track. I suppose that's the idea behind fate -- making oneself irresponsible for how he/she turns out. I want to excel, to push myself further, and yet, at the same time, I want to allow myself some more slack. I want to let myself relax, take a break, and have it be perfectly okay. A constant contentment with myself, no matter whether I'm pushing limits or taking it easy. I'll have to work on that, I suppose.

Happy birthday, Jessie.