gah!

this could not have been on a more appropriate week.

epic fail...

So apparently American culture really is taking over the world. I have gotten used to seeing mcdonalds and burger kings and subways all over the place. I have gotten used to the Yankees hats that everyone thinks just means NYC. I have laughed at English words that have become part of the German vocabulary: “hast du das online gefunden?” It’s become old hat now. I was not prepared, however, today, in my 9th grade class, when, while working in a group project, one of my students, in the midst of a convo in German, dropped the epic fail. Really. As in: “hast dud as gesehen? Was er gemacht hat war ne total epic fail.” My jaw actually dropped before I cracked up mid-class. I had to ask the kid where he had heard that, and whether people here said that now. Apparently so. I cannot WAIT to here the epic fail bomb dropped in other conversations with my friends. I will make fun of them mercilessly.
In other news, happy almost Halloween!! (how has October flown by so quickly?!?!?! AAAHH!! Aidan is here, doing well, and still apt hunting. I’m back at school this week, and I’ll start my new schedule next week. Yay!
Hope you’re all doin good!

-seany

Hamburg Foodfest!

So, on my second day of fall break, today, I headed up to Hamburg with a few friends to go to the northern Germany organic food expo. Ooh yes… woke up this morning at 545, after a few minutes of sleep, and headed up to the lovely city-state of Hamburg, where, shock of all shocks, the sun was SHINING!! It NEVER shines in Hamburg! It was pretty cool… we went into the convention center, got our pretty nametags and swagbags, and headed in! it was pretty much heaven. Except for the vegan stuff. Let me just say: ew. I normally avoid vegan things like the plague, probably because I believe that vegans carry the plague, and that they also can’t taste anything, which is why they choose to be vegan. (sorry, readers who are vegan, no offense intended, but I happen to think that that is a poor life choice. Also, don’t be offended if I put on rubber gloves before I shake your hand… I do that to some other people as well.) I ran away from the vegan foodhawkers, but was tricked once! They cheated, and actually looked like they had eaten real food! So, I tried a vegan blueberry muffin for the first (and last) time ever. Lets just say, (and, oh god am I gonna get shit for this) that there was no bluffin with this muffin… I took a single bite, and lets just say my face didn’t know whether it wanted to shrivel up in disgust, or explode with vomit. Needless to say, I thanked the vegan decepticon nicely, and spit my mouthful into the nearest available receptacle. I will never, ever, ever give up meat and meat products. ever. Other than that, the food was amazing… got to try lots of different organic chocolates, cheeses, coffees, wines,(!) fruits, veggies, and various and sundry other lovely things… On the way there, I got my fill of foodie conversation, and on the way back, I got to talk abt international politics and econ, which was lovely.. all in all, a fantastic day. Now, back to the rest of my fall break :D
-seany

lions and tigers and germ(an)s, oh my!

So, it’s my third week at the new school, and I’m starting to get the feel of the place/the students. Although this school/the students are very different from last year, they’re both beginning to warm to me. At first all the kids were nervous and quiet, (some still are) but I took the opportunity of teaching most of them by myself in order to show them a little bit more about me, my sense of humor, and other crazy things about me. Today I brought some fun youtube videos to class, in order to show political satire, so I showed some Colbert Report and some SNL from the election last year. While it was above most of the kids heads, some of them got it right off the bat (YAY!) and then I explained it to the rest of them. They’re slowly starting to realize that I’m more than just another boring teacher standing in front of the class and lecturing! W00t!
This week will actually be the first week I will have had all my classes, so we’ll see how meeting the new kids goes tomorrow! I’ve been plugging my extra-curricular stuff to the teachers and the older students a lot, so hopefully, once that starts, we’ll have lots of participation. In other news, the other ETA will be arriving at some point this week, to work at my old school… hopefully we can work on some of the community stuff together, and expand on what Karen and I did last year…
Not so much news about me personally… been pretty good, plodding along, apu. I’ve so far avoided the swine flu, even though I’m surrounded by teacup humans filled with germs. Hand sanitizer is a wonderful thing! There have been a lot of kids sick already, and I’m trying to avoid touching them at all. :X
Anyways, have a great week, everyone!!
-seany:o)

ps, you've got to admit, that's the best post title EVER!

auf deutsch!!

Today I had my first choir rehearsal at OHG, my old school. It was really nice to go back and see some old faces, and be welcomed back. After an entire year of listening to Germans sing songs in English, (just imagine bohemian rhapsody or Michael Jackson with a German accent!) we’re finally singing songs in German!! Only 2 of them, but still, it’s awesome… One of my old students leaned over to me and goes “you should sing this song with the worst American accent you possibly can, just so we know what you go through on a weekly basis!” I was sorely tempted, but it’s hard enough singing in German without intentionally sounding crap, so I stuck with my natural accent. Maybe for the performance next month the strong Ami accent will come out :D happy almost weekend, everyone!!
-s

case of the mondays on a tuesday.

So, I just started my second actual week of teaching, and in true German fashion, half of my classes for the week have been canceled. It’s "klassenfahrt" week, which means that lots of the classes and the teachers are away on school trips, so I’m either teaching alone, or classes have just been canceled. Now, normally, my schedule isn’t that intense: I work 5 hours on Tuesday, 4 hours on weds, and 3 on Friday. This week: 5 today, none tomorrow, and 1 on Friday. Out of a total of 12 hours that I normally work, I’m now working 6. Lots of free time is great, but there’s NOBODY HERE. I’ve been reading a lot, and playing by (not with!) myself outside. So far, I’m really enjoying the new school, and most of the kids and teachers are enthusiastic, but it’s again difficult to break into an already established micro-society, so I’m still very much an outsider… at least my German is much better than last year’s, so at least now I can converse with anyone who chooses to say hi! Nothing else really new to report, except that I made some bomb-ass pasta last night involving lots of veggies and home-made pesto sauce…

oh germany, i love you...

you come up with such interesting activities:

back in germany!

So, I’ve been in Göttingen a week! For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, the short and sweet story is that I suddenly was supposed to be at my school, unbeknownst to me, and so I had to rush the end of my summer, pack hurriedly, and get on a plane over here! I’m at a new Gymnasium now, the Hainberg gymnasium, which is just west of the city center, and a really pretty building. It is only the upper levels of school, so it starts at 9th grade (YAY!!) which means I’m only teaching older kids, which is just fine by me! The English teachers have been really welcoming and nice, and so now I’m juggling attempting to iron out my schedule for the semester. Other than that, I’ve been busy settling back into my apartment, organizing my life, and getting stuff done that needs to get done like: make my bike functional, get my visa(s), get school supplies, etc… It’s been beautiful weather here though, which has really helped/hindered my progress, as all I really want to do is go play in the sun and warmth! Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 91 degrees, so I’m not particularly excited about that, but it is also my second day off this week, so maybe I’ll go for a bike ride to somewhere cooler… we’ll see!
Hope everyone ELSE is having a great summer
-seany

summer so far!

Hey guys, sorry its been forever since I’ve written… I don’t even know if anyone reads this anymore. I’m back stateside, at home in MD for the time being, and have really enjoyed being home. The weather has been typically hot and humid, and its taken some getting used to, for sure, but having the beach there is a welcome break from the oppressive heat. I FINALLY heard where my placement for next year is, and, thankfully, I get to go back to Göttingen!! They switched schools on me, I’ll now be working at Hainberg Gymasium in downtown, but I get to keep my apartment, and still get to run the stammtisch, and other fun activities I had been able to do this past year. They also asked me to come back to Germany early, so that I could lead the orientation of this year’s FSAs, which will be interesting… thankfully, that also means I get to meet all the new kids, and make a new couch-surfing network!!! Yay! So, I’m heading back to Göttingen on or around sept 10th, and will then resume being a teaching assistant after the orientation, which runs from the 14th to the 17th. It’ll be so nice to head back, not having to worry about finding a new apartment, or moving, or anything… I can just take the train, walk a couple blocks, and hop into my bed! Makes the second year SO much more relaxing/less stressful! Now, let’s see… this summer, I’ve basically been hanging out at home, helping mama make some improvements to the house and the yard. I tried to find a job when I first got home, but there was basically nothing available, so I’ve spent most of my time on the beach, or baking. There’s also no internet at home, so I’ve been catching up on a lot of reading (moreso than I did in Germany!) It’s been a really nice and relaxing summer so far, and I’ve actually gotten quite a bit done around the house, but there’s still a ton to do… I’ve been working on designing a rainwater collection system for the house, so we can irrigate our garden, as well as staking out and clearing out a new fence-line to surround the property. My dad REALLY wants to have a legit garden, and is thwarted constantly by all the deer and squirrels, so the fence will keep out mother nature’s pests… hopefully… we’ll see! I’ve also been baking pretty much every day, now that I have a functional oven, and a fully stocked kitchen. I’ve been making bread, cakes, and random experimental things. Since mama and I are the only ones around during the week, we’ve both put on a little weight (yay!) because of the near-constant carb-loading. This makes me happy. Mama not so much. First things she said to me when she saw me: Ew, look at your hair! And: My god, have you been eating at all?!! So, we’ve improved on both of those issues since I’ve been home. Winter IS coming, and I need my insulation layer to help keep me warm!!
So, let’s see… the rest of the summer actually has a plan!! I’m meeting up with the girls from BC in new jersey next weekend, followed by a week in upstate NY with sara, before I’m her wedding date to one of her friend’s weedings. She promised me I could be outrageous. I can’t wait. Following that, I’m planning on a trip out to boston/the cape to visit peeps there, and then driving home with aidan, during which we will stop in NYC for a few days to play. Hopefully this will all actually work. (crosses fingers) My cell phone is back, it’s the same number it was before I left, so feel free to contact me, if you want to meet up, or if you’re interested in meeting me somewhere during my trip.
Hope all is well with everyone!! Greetings from the beach :D

-seany

why doesn't anyone take europe's music scene seriously??

here's why:
Germany's Eurovision contestant:



...and that wasn't even the worst(dressed) one!!!
norway, which won, was a strange combination of fiddler on the roof, and a mentally deficient,shit-eating-grinning harry potter. enjoy:



I hope you have enjoyed our lesson on european music today. homework for tonight: bleach out your ears, possibly also your eyes and brain.

should I stay or should I go?

Hey! Sorry its been a while, I’ve been uncharacteristically busy this past week. First off, I just heard that I got an extension on my grant from PAD, so that means that I have the chance to stay somewhere in Niedersachsen for another year. That does not mean, however, that I’ll be in or around Göttingen, unfortunately. They’re gonna place me again, and one of my teachers, who works with PAD told me they tend not to have FSAs in the same school twice, which kinda sucks… I’m really hoping that I get to stay here, or, at least, around here! I like my school, some of my kids, my apartment, and the town… I wanna stay here!!! However, if they assign me to a little village in the middle of nowhere, I think it’d better serve me to move back to the states and start with my real life. I’ll hear by mid-june where they’re going to place me, so I have to wait till then to make my decision.
In other fun news, an American pub just opened up in town, and I’ve been hanging out there with Karen, and a few other Expats. They have fun things like Reese’s and pancakes. I told them I’d love to come help them perfect their menu, and mess around in the kitchen a little bit, so I’ve been doing that with a lot of my spare time this past week. It’s been really nice to be in a professional(ish) kitchen again, and have the whole array of tools and fun things that go along with that! So yes, I’ve been cooking and baking my ass off for the past week, and, today, got home, made some lovely beef-guinness stew (the bar owner had to get rid of the Guinness keg, and gave me the last 2 liters!!) It turned out really well, and since it’s a lovely day outside, what better way for me to spend it in the kitchen!?!? Banana bread is in the oven now, and It’s making my apartment smell lovely.
Speaking of lovely weather, it’s supposed to be mid-70’s and sunny all this week. I can’t wait!! Karen and I are planning on picnic-ing later on this week, and I’m prolly gonna sunburn my ass off. Hope everyone is doing well!!
-seany

is this the real life? or is this just fantasy?

So yes, I don’t think that I have a real job. I also don’t know how German students learn anything. Basically, I have the easiest schedule in the world, and lets face it, I don’t do much, professionally. I have a 3-day weekend every week, and I work 12 hours per week. Not exactly time consuming, or using a ton of brainpower. So, in addition to the long vacations, I also have classes cancelled on me all the time, which would be enjoyable if I knew about them before I showed up at school, and if I actually had something else with which to fill up my time. So today, I was talking with the head of the English dept, and she mentions to me casually that there aren’t any classes on weds and thurs this week, due to the fact that the graduating seniors have their oral exams both of these days. Lets count now: Sean’s workweek this week: 2 days. (all of 6 hours total) Sean’s upcoming weekend this week: 5 days. The following week is full, and then I have another 5 day weekend because of Pentecost. Not that I’m ever going to complain about too much free time, but… jeez! When do these kids learn!?!?
In other news, this past weekend was a BLAST! I performed at a huge gala event thingy in the city this weekend called “Pop Meets Classic,” which is apparently a huge annual event. I sang with the choir from my school, a few fun classical pieces, and then we sang some lovely German and American pop songs (just imagine hearing “man in the mirror” with a German accent!!) if you can’t imagine it, please scroll down to the “polkaface” video below. Thanks. I had a great time fooling around onstage, and hanging out backstage with a bunch of the local musicians, and kids from my school. They seemed to be fascinated by the fact that I’m a teacher, but I’m also a real person!! It was nice bursting their happy little pre-conceived notions about teachers, and how they’re supposed to live outside school (apparently not at all!) I got a bunch more kids interested in studying abroad, and coming to stammtisch, so hopefully that’ll translate into something actual. I also offered to help anyone who needed help with applications or advice on studying abroad, and shared some of my experiences with living around the world and the states. It was, to me, the perfect example of what I’m here for- to represent my culture in a non-classroom setting, and show the Germans something other than the simpsons and desperate housewives. All in all, great weekend! Ended up last night going out with a few of them to the pub, where I ran into a couple other friends, and had a blast that ran far too late into today. It was definitely naptime this afternoon!

rock it out with some germans!

I'm glad I have friends that send me fun videos. enjoy!

I wasn't sure weather to call this one pokergesicht, or polka face.

oh yeah, and...

to those of you without access to facebook, I'm posting the pics from my vacation as we speak. It might take a while, because I have to use craptop to do it, but they will all be up soon!! hope you enjoy them!

where was i?!?!

so pissed i miss this while in london!!

English is a foreign language.

So over the past three weeks, Karen and I have encountered more language barriers than either of us ever have here in Germany. Most of the time, it was pretty funny, sometimes, annoying, but it was usually pretty quickly cleared up. I saved some of my favorite quotes, for my own enjoyment, and also to pass them along. Here are a few:

This one has more to do with the fact that apparently I can't hear anything, but still pretty fun.
Whitney: “Have you heard of Chopshop? It’s a tranny clothing store.”
Sean:(blank stare, snickers) “…that’s an appropriate name…”
What was actually asked: “Have you heard of topshop? It’s a trendy clothing store”

This one I enjoyed just because.
“Let’s get it on!” -Philip (a German), attempting to encourage us to go out to another pub.
Sean: (incredulous eyes, blatant laughter)

this one is one of the more typical ones we encountered. It took a good 90 seconds before we could understand each other.
Sean: “Do you have a map of the town?”
Store clerk in Lake District: “Pardon? I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
Sean (in loud, special English): “A MAP. OF THE TOWN”
Clerk: (blank stare)

another fun one.
Philip: “You really stroked me off!” –trying to tell one of his friends that he had beaten him by some huge margin in Guitar Hero

Some of them don't count, because they're by Germans or Americans, but it was still really funny to encounter language barriers in a place that supposedly speaks the same language you do.

last easter break post

aaw, back home. sad that vacation is over, but glad that I'm back to real life. My brain, my liver, my pancreas, and my wallet are all glad that I can start my regular routine again.

Weds, Apr. 15- Nenagh, Kilkenny
Today might have been one of the most fun days of my life. Em and Karen and I started off the day by sleeping in, and then settling down to an amazing breakfast that Mrs. Geaney set out. At around noonish, we drove down to Kilkennny, which is apparently where our family is from, and wandered around for a few hours. The way there was un, in that the directions we had were in direct conflict with a construction site, and road closings, when we asked one of the construction guys how to get to Kilkenny, he gave us a paragraph of oral directions, then laughed, and said “Welcome to Ireland, its an adventure! You’ll find where you want to be eventually!” We did make it, and it was an adventure, and actually also really pretty along the way. Karen and Emily helped me navigate by waking up from their naps to yell LEFT or RIGHT. Helpful. We went to Kilkenny castle, which was really pretty, and then wandered around the medieval town for a bit, taking pictures, and visiting Blackstone Abbey. We headed back up to Nenagh, had some true Irish dinner, Bacon and cabbage, and then headed to the local pub, which plays traditional music. The pub, Paddy Rohans, was tiny and comfortable. The girls who were still there came by, and our party eventually filled up the entire back room (which is half of the pub.) Caoimhe’s dad came out to the pub too, and joined in the drinking and singing, and it was “great craic,” as they say here. The owner of the pub, coincidentally named paddy Rohan, came down, and partied with us, and we partook in a Paddy Rohan tradition of making it Karen’s birthday. Paddy Rohan came out with his signature birthday platter, which consists of slices of cheddar cheese with birthday candles in them, and jelly fruit slices. We sang Karen happy birthday, and danced, and she got to blow out her candles. After that, Paddy hung out with us, and we had some great conversations and songs and dances, (of which there is video, the girls teaching Karen and Emily how to jig!) and Paddy ended up talking to me about America, Maryland, and politics, which ended up with us singing the national anthem and waving a miniature American flag around. He asked me where my family was from, and I eventually told him Kilkenny. Paddy also took me aside, gave me a present of Irish orange marmalade, and wrote me a note on the envelope, which states: “To Sean Brennan, of Maryland and Kilkenny, from Paddy Rohan of Nenagh, County Tipperary Greetings from the Emerald Isle” Needless to say, its getting framed. We ended up closing down the bar at 330 in the morning, and Caoimhe, her dad, Karen, Em, and I all ended up staggering home at about 4.

Thurs, Apr. 16- Driving to Dublin, Dublin
We all woke up around noonish, only slightly worse for wear, had some breakfast/lunch, and packed up the silver hornet. We figured we had plenty of time to make the two hour drive into Dublin, to have the car back by 5, but we neglected to take into account the terrible directions we had, and Dublin traffic, which apparently is the equivalent of trying to get from one side of Manhattan to the other at 5 pm. We asked for directions, called the rental car office, and eventually, after almost 2 hours of driving in lost circles, (stop and go traffic, of course,) we got the car into the office at 4:55. We met up with Karen, another Fulbrighter who is in Dublin, and took the train back to her house, made dinner, had some drinks, and then passed out.

Fri, Apr. 17- Dublin
This morning was a little cloudy, but we got up early, and headed into the downtown area with the plan for the day in hand. We started off going to Trinity College, and went into the library to see the Book of Kells, which was amazing, and incredibly intricate, as well as the exhibit about bookmaking and the history of the Book of Kells. After that, it was after noon, so we headed to the old Jameson Brewery for the tour. We went through the tour, and Emily got selected to be a taste tester, which meant she got even MORE whisky than the rest of us, which actually worked out well, because she doesn’t like whisky, so she shared all of her samples with Karen and me! While there, we met an American family, who was in Ireland for a family reunion. Towards the end of the tour, after the tasting, they assembled for a picture, and called themselves the Brennan clan. My eyes got pretty big, and I told them I was one too. Apparently their family is from Galway, so we might be related, (and probably are,) but who knows for sure. After that, we stumbled over to Brazen Head, the oldest Pub in Dublin, which has apparently been there since 1198. We had some great bangers and mash, and then headed off to the Guinness storehouse, otherwise known as heaven. The tour itself was fun for me, because I love Guinness, but I suspect the girls didn’t have as much fun as I did. At the end, we all got free pints, which meant more drinking for me, being that Emily also does not like Guinness. I also got to finish Karen’s pint, and then I buzzed my way back to other Karen’s house to hang out and cook dinner. We had decided to have a “night out,” so we headed out to a club/pub around 11, where we met one of Karen’s friends Dustin, and hung out for a bit, had a few pints, and then made our way to a club to do a little dancing. The music was strange, and the club was packed, but it was fun going out and relaxing a little bit. Plus, I got to get my dance on, which is always fun for me, and probably amusing to everyone around me. We got home pretty late, and I’m about to pass out. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, and it makes me sad.

Sat, Apr. 18- Dublin
Today was absolutely gorgeous, it was sunny and warm in Dublin, and everyone was outside, enjoying it. The group of us, the Karens, Emily, and I, walked around downtown, in St. Stephen’s Greene, and Grafton street, a big shopping/outdoorsy area. We wandered around downtown for a bit, looking for various things, and then went café hopping. We ended up in two great little cafés, one panera-type place, and then another one called butler’s chocolates, which, coincidentally, makes chocolate. We hung out and had some great (and very funny) conversations, before deciding to head back to Karen’s to relax, and for us to start packing to go home. Lesigh. I had plans to meet up with Aibhistin, one of my old friends from BC, who now lives in Dublin, but he ended up getting in late, so we went out to a pub instead. We started off at a nice little pub, caught up on life a bit, and then went to a club, and met up with a couple of his other friends, all of whom were really nice. Before I knew it, it was 4am, and I had to head back to Karen’s, in order to grab my stuff, and head out the door at 5 to catch my plane back to Göttingen. Needless to say, got on the plane and passed out.

Dingle, Cork, Blarney, Nenagh

Mon, Apr. 13- Dingle Peninsula
This morning, I woke up early, walked down into the city, and picked up the car we’re going to be renting till Thursday. It is a lovely 4-door Toyota Yaris, which I immediately nicknamed “the silver hornet.” It took a little while to get used to driving on the left side of the road, and also, shifting gears with my left hand, but so far, no accidents or problems. I have the girls remind me at intersections to make wide right turns, just so I don’t forget! We drove down to the Dingle peninsula, arriving in the town of Dingle around 1pm, and then drove down to the point. There is a road along the head of the peninsula that reminds me very much of driving through the Italian alps (queue: music from the opening of the original Italian job.) Karen and Emily and I stopped as often as we could to take pictures of the amazing scenery and cliffs along the head of the peninsula, and still managed not to get into any wrecks, even though the road was barely a lane wide, and it was two-way traffic!! Thank god the silver hornet is tiny!! We made our way back out to Tralee, a town inland from the peninsula, and found a hostel to crash at there. The hostel was this really cool old Victorian house, with giant rooms, and we passed out early, me from exhaustion after driving for 8 hours, the girls, exhausted from napping while I drove… my phone ran out of minutes.

Tues, Apr. 14- Blarney, Cork, Nenagh
Woke up relatively early this morning. (I had to coax Karen out of bed with the whisper: “free breakfast!” ,which helped a lot!) After that, we headed down the wrong side of the road towards Cork and Blarney. We arrived around noon, after navigating the often difficult and windy roads, and made our way towards the Blarney castle, and got to kiss the blarney stone! Thankfully, the man at the top of the castle had disinfectant spray right next to where he was sitting, so I hope I didn’t catch lip crabs or something! After that, we had a quick lunch on the road, (read: Sean spilling his lunch all over himself) and arrived in Cork at 1:03. I know it was 1:03 because the tourist office closes from 1-2, and we missed it by only 3 minutes. Being that none of us had any clue what there was to do in Cork, we meandered around for 45 mins, trying to find a parking spot, before finding a garage to park in. Then, we wandered around towards the info office, got a map, and then wandered around downtown for about two hours. When we had had enough aimless wandering, we got back into TSH, and headed up towards Nenagh, which took some navigating through Cork traffic, and impossible road signs that direct you in circles! (thanks cork, you suck!) Now, to further complicate this issue, my UK cell phone, which I bought in Scotland, had run out of minutes the previous evening. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to “top up” my phone anywhere, being that this is a civilized country, but it turns out that no, T-Mobile does not exist at all in Ireland. In fact, they have never even heard of it. As I asked around, I got stared at like I was mentally deficient, before finally coming to grips with the fact that the only way I had of contacting the people we’re sleeping with tonight was: 1) out of minutes, and 2) out of battery power. Lovely. Thankfully, I also have 2 OTHER cell phones with me, so we got in touch with Caoimhe, and met up with her in Nenagh. Her mom made us an amazing dinner, and then we went out with most of the other girls from the Yacht Club last summer. It seems like so long ago, but really only yesterday that we all hung out, but we got to catch up, exchange stories, and share laughs over a few pints at one of their favorite local hangouts.

There is a plan for tomorrow, but I have no idea what it is! now, its bedtime!
ps, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEAGAN!!! you're old now!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!! you're old now too.

easter in galway!

Sat, Apr 11- Galway!
today was a fun mixture of leisure and pain. First of all, we all got to sleep in, which was lovely! I didn’t sleep well, because I woke up with severe stomach pain around 4am. Afterwards, went back to sleep, felt ok. When we finally made it into town, we had a full Irish breakfast, which no one finished. Afterwards, we wandered around town, while I was struck again with stomach pain. After a bit of nausea and vomiting, I wandered around in a bit of nausea and pain for a few hours, slowing down Karen’s greatbig planned tour of galway. I finally started feeling better after buying some pepto, and then went to a nice pub for dinner, before heading back to the hotel, and passing out.

Sun, Apr 12- Cliffs of Moher, Happy Easter!
Today was amazing. The weather was warmish and actually sunny, and we had reserved seats on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is a limestone wasteland, basically, and has really cool geological thingies. After that, we spent an hour on the cliffs, took some great pics, and fell asleep on the bus back. When we got back to Galway, we wandered around in search of dinner, before settling on a fun place on the river, where I had some great pizza with Serrano ham and goat cheese. Tomorrow, we’re renting a car, and heading down to the Dingle peninsula!! Hopefully I can manage to drive on the wrong side of the road, while shifting with my left hand. If there aren’t any more blogs after this, you know I didn’t manage to do it.

Belfast, bus trip

Thurs, Apr. 9- Belfast
Woke up this morning at 4:30, and got on the road. We caught the tube to take the bus to catch the plane, and everything worked out wonderfully well, for a change. After less than 4 hours of sleep, I’m a bit exhausted, but we spent most of the day exploring Belfast. It’s a fun little city, but there is a huge divide between the newer developments, like malls, expo centers, etc… and the old parts of town, which are still a little seedy and “gangsta,” as Karen calls it. Karen and I walked out to H&W shipyards, where the Titanic was built, which took abt 90 minutes. Karen described it as “fun,” which should tell you a lot about Karen. It was overcast and really windy, and therefore, also a bit chilly. Karen and I took some pics, read about the shipyard and the ships they built, and then hopped into a café for some needed internal heating, followed by my insistence that we take the bus back to the city center. We wandered through the mall that’s here, and Karen tried on some fun outfits. I’ve decided that, in addition to my lederhosen, my other “German” costume is going to be the tightest pair of jeans I can find, the tightest t-shirt I can find, with a brightly colored skintight cardigan overtop, paired with some outrageously pointy dress shoes. Preferably all of these parts in many different fluorescent colors. After that, we met up with Melissa, my cousin, who is getting her masters in Belfast. We went out to dinner, and then went pub hopping. I haven’t seen her in almost 15 years, so it was great catching up, or, rather, getting to know her as an adult.

Fri, Apr. 10- Giant’s Causeway, Bus
This morning, Karen and I got up ungodly early, and hopped on a bus to the Giant’s Causeway. It’s on the north coast of northern Ireland, and is a really amazing natural phenomena where there is an entire stretch of cliffs and beach made up of octagonal pillars of rock. Got some great pictures, even though it was rainy, the sun finally came out, and I even got a pic or two of a rainbow over the Causeway! Then, we hopped on a bus for the next 11 hours, and made our way down to Galway. Ireland really is lovely, but one thing they really need to work on is roads. This country has no main roads. You drive in two-lane twisty country paths from one side to the other, and a trip that SHOULD take a few hours takes all day. Should be fun driving it though! We got in, took a cab to our hotel, and met Emily Todd here. She’s one of Karen and my friends from BC, who is gonna be traveling with us this week. Yay! Tomorrow, we’re going to explore, mebbe go to the cliffs of moher, and then experience some galway nightlife. Should be a lovely time.
happy easter weekend!

London, Bath, HENGE OF STONE!!!

Tues, Apr. 7- Stonehenge and Bath
Woke up ongodly early this morning, and headed off on a train to Stonehenge!! (IT'S A HENGE OF STONE!!!) Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere, basically, but it’s really amazing to walk around, and see in real scale. It’s unbelievably huge, and to think its been there for thousands of years is crazy. I got some great pictures around the henge (which means hanging in some old language,) and also took some goofy shots, of course. We then headed off to Bath, which, coincidentally, was named after a bath! It’s a really old hot spring that people have lived around for centuries, and has a really cute city built around it now. We met up with Elaine and Tyler, and had dinner there, after wandering around for a while. We went on a tour of the ancient roman bath, which was really cool, and quite extensive. My camera suffered from some sort of malfunction where it got to 63 pictures, and then told me that my memory was full. The 4 gigs of memory were def not full, so I didn’t get to take pictures for most of the afternoon… thankfully, I got Stonehenge and the baths!

Weds, Apr. 8-London- Let’s get it on!
Today was great, Karen and I woke up early, went down to Kensington, and met Ariel for breakfast at her house (which I cooked, of course.) I made some pancakes with strawberries, bananas, and chocolate chunks! They were quite yummy, and really filling. After that, we rode the tube to the bus station, to buy tickets for tomorrow, to take us to the airport, and then attempted to leave London for Cardiff. Turns out London loves us a lot, or the tube hates us. We waited for almost an hour for ANY train to come through the station, before deciding that, even if we left now, we’d have less than an hour in Cardiff and caerphilly before having to come back, and, at 40 pounds, that’s not worth it! So, instead, we got organized for the trip tomorrow, did some quick laundry, and made contact with people in Ireland, to prepare them for our arrival. Since it was a gorgeous sunny day, we also booked tickets for the London Eye, which is a HUGE ferris wheel over the Thames river, which provides great views of the city. We wandered into town, grabbed some fish and chips, and then hit up the eye. It takes about 30 minutes to go all the way around, and I got some great pics of London, and the parliament and big ben in particular. Afterwards, I contacted my friend Philip, who studied abroad at BC, and is now living in London, and we went out to meet him and some of his German friends in Wimbledon, and spoke German, and drank for a few hours, just relaxing nicely, and catching up on life. It is now bedtime, as it is almost 1, and I have to be up at 430 to catch a train to catch a bus to catch a plane. Yay travel!

one more blocblog! this one is exciting!! (or something)

Thurs, Apr. 2- Liverpool
This particular entry is entitled: Japanese Beatles and white spandex.
It will become apparent why later. So today, Karen and I explored Liverpool, which is actually a really cool city. It’s modern and old at the same time, and pretty fun. There are little neighborhoods, kinda like in Boston, where very different types of people live, and there are all different sorts of entertainment and music venues of all shapes and sizes all over the city. Its also got a ton of history, and pride in that history, and in the city itself, is pretty apparent in most of the people we saw. We started off the day exploring along the coastline, on the piers, and went through the Beatles story exhibit, which was really neat. It took about two hours to walk through how the Beatles came to exist, where the individual band members came from, and how they’ve become an intricate part of what Liverpool is. We then went to the famous Cavern club, which the Beatles made famous by playing there a ridiculous number of times, and took some fun pics, before grabbing lunch, and checking emails, etc… We then went back up to Helen and Jude’s, and cooked some dinner, before heading back to the cavern to see a beatles coverband, which was Karen’s dream Liverpool experience. We got into the club, and there was a guy playing guitar and singing Beatles songs, which was nice, we sang along, and then the official act came on. It was four Japanese guys, probably about my age, who spoke little to no English. Karen was a little shocked that we were being treated to the Japanese beatles, and barely managed to suppress her outrage. Turns out, they were just the intermediate act, so it wasn’t a HUGE disappointment, musically. (the japanese band was actually pretty good…) While there, we also got a great chance to people-watch, one of my favorite activities. Karen and I noticed, at the same time, a group of ladies walk into the club, dressed up very nicely. Somewhat short of prom attire, but still quite formal. The group averaged probably somewhere in the mid- to late- 50’s. The last woman to walk in sent Karen and my mind almost immediately into shock and appallment. She was wearing what can only be described as a white spandex unitard that had been severely attacked by ruffles in all the wrong spots. Karen now swears that she will have any amount of plastic surgery necessary to keep all her bits in their right places, and I’ve decided to go gay.

Fri, Apr.3- Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford
This morning was ungodly. Sometime before the sun rose, Karen and I were up, and on the train, headed to Shakespeare’s hometown. With all of our luggage in tow (on backs,) we walked from the train station to the tourist information center, which, with fun British logic, are on completely opposite sides of the town. Fun times. We then deposited our baggage, and walked around the actually quite pretty little English village for a few hours, before hiking back to the tourist center, and then hiking to the train station for Oxford. We got to Oxford a little while later, once again crossed the entire length of the town to find the tourist info center, again deposited our bags, and again walked around the town. Although there are about 5 million universities in Oxford, they’re apparently all closed to the public, so we got some great pictures of most of the universities outer walls, but are unfortunately not smart or British enough to enter the sacred campusi. (campuses?) We wandered down to the Oxford castle, which is really cool. It’s been renovated, and now encompasses a market/mall type thingy, which includes a krispy kreme!! YAY! Sean got his hot donut fix for the day. So much better after that. We then got on the train to London, and arranged to meet Elaine near her house, but had complications on the tube (of course,) where one of the girls in our train car was having a seizure, and so we had to vacate, and ended up taking the bus. Successfully found Elaine, went out to the neighborhood pub, and then passed out.

Sat, Apr. 4- London
First day in London was a sausagefest. We walked over to the London bridge, which, honestly, is fairly boring, and unpretty. Wandered down the Thames to the tower bridge, which is much prettier, and took lots of pictures on the perfectly clear, warm, sunny day. The weather here really has been amazing… we’ve really lucked out as far as weather goes while being here in the UK! We walked around the tower, and then met Ariel, a friend from BC near the Borough market, where we went for lunch, and spent almost 3 hours eating and talking about life. They had a whole variety of all different kinds of food and food products from all over the world, but Karen and I decided that we missed Germany, so we went with Bratwurst with sauerkraut. Mmmmm. This was the first part of the sausagefest. We then continued our walk along the river, past the Globe theater, the Tate modern, and finally, to the eye. The line was outrageously long, so we decided to put that ride on hold till tomorrow. Ariel was meeting one of her friends at the British Film Institute for an independent film, and invited us along. The film we saw, which was part of the Lesbian and Gay film festival, ended up being very odd and interesting, but good. Karen and Ariel were two of four women in the theater. This was the second part of the sausagefest. The film itself was the third part of the sausagefest, and I’m going to leave that to your own personal interpretation, while keeping this blog PG-13. We then went to a pub, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up, and generally having a great time. Tomorrow, we’re going to ride the eye, see big ben, the parliament, and Westminster abbey for church. Other than that, we’re just going to explore!

Sun, Apr. 5- London
This morning, Karen and I decided to go to Westminster Abbey for palm Sunday mass. It was gorgeous inside, and full of sarcophagi, which was neat. I got to see the coronation chair behind the high altar, and the tombs of Isaac Newton, amongst a ton of others. The mass itself lasted about 50 million years, but was still pretty cool. Afterwards, we met up with Ariel, and wandered around the town for the day, taking pictures, and exploring after Ariel pointed us in the right direction. We went from Sloane square to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and then ended up in Soho for dinner, which was Indian and lovely.

Mon, Apr. 6- London
This morning, we met up with my friend Wish from LA, who is here visiting some of her other friends, took some more pics, and explored some more. She knows a whole bunch of fun little neighborhoods that she took us around in, and we got to see a whole other side of London. We tried to go for High Tea at a really posh store near Leicester Square, but they required reservations (and it was 40 pounds per person, OUCH!) so we went to a little café, and had tea and cake for muchmuch cheaper. We then met up with her friend Morgan, who lives and works here, and hit up a couple stores, trying to find some souvenirs, and then hit up a couple really good pubs. One of them had homemade chocolate truffle stout, which was amazing! We then headed back to his place to sample his quite amazing collection of whiskeys, whiskys, and bourbons. Mmmmmm. Tomorrow: Stonehenge and Bath! YAY!

bloc post- sorry!!!

hey guys, sorry, i haven't been able to connect my lappy to the internet, so i've been saving my blogs, and here is the blocblog post. read it if you have lots of free time.

Sat, March 28- Edinburgh
Today was exhausting, for no apparent reason. I slept reasonably ok in our dorm-style hostel, and actually slept in until about 9, a tribute to just how tired I was from the previous two days. Woke up, took a shower, and went down to breakfast. Karen and I decided to go on a guided tour through Edinburgh, and so we left to go to that. On the way there, I stopped at a cell phone store to see if there was any way to switch my second cell phone over to a UK number. They told me no, but a SIM card is free, so I bought myself some minutes, and got a card. Turns out T-mobile isn’t really international, because my German cell wouldn’t take the UK card. Instead of paying the 15 pounds it would cost to unlock the German cell, I bought a 9 pound prepaid cell. Sean’s cellphone count: 3. Why am I dragging 3 cell phones around?!?! So rude. In any case, the sales guy was very helpful and very Scottish, which means: we couldn’t understand what the other was saying most of the time. We stared at each other with blank stares while the other talked. Then, after we got that all squared away, Karen and I headed off to the tour. The tour was about 4 and a half hours long, outside most of the time, in the 30 degree weather, plus 20-30 mph winds. I didn’t take too many pictures during the tour because sean-sicle fingers don’t point or click very well. After the tour was over, Karen and I headed to a restaurant we saw on the tour, called “oink,” and got some fantastic pulled pork sandwiches. Mmmm…. After that, we headed to the “Scotch Whisky Experience,” and got the process of scotch making explained to us, before we got to taste it for ourselves. Warms you right up, lemme tell you… these Scots sure know what they’re doing. After that, we met up with Vroni, a mutual friend, and hung out for a bit, before Karen jetted off to say hi to god. After mass, we grabbed a quick bite to eat (at pizza hut, where apparently you can reserve tables for Easter Sunday!!!) We then wandered around the city after the sun set, and walked up to the castle, to get night pictures of Edinburgh. There was a film crew at the castle, so i took some pics of the castle from the outside, with the bare-sliver of a moon behind it, before suddenly the film crew and the crowd started counting down, and when they hit zero (or, shortly thereafter,) the castle went completely dark. Apparently all of the famous sites in the UK went dark for an hour tonight, to signify something with the G20 conference going on in London next week. (during which time we’ll be in London, oh joy!) We didn’t walk into the castle, because we would probably get lost and die. Ended up attempting to look for a quiet pub for a pint or two, but because of a soccer game (Scotland against Norway,) all the pubs were packed with screaming fans. No dice. Made it back to the hostel, had a drink at the bar here (after wandering around most of the downtown area trying to find said pub.)
Miles walked since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 25, not including incline.
Calories eaten since arriving in Edinburgh: somewhere around 250,000.
Joints in pain since arriving in Edinburgh: all of the ones that move.
Number of times Karen has gotten us lost: every time she has the map.
Number of times Sean has almost gotten hit by a bus/car/bike because he looked the wrong way before jaywalking: somewhere around 10,000.
So far, so good!

Sun, March 29- St. Andrews
Today, Karen and I decided to go up to St. Andrews, which is a really old historic port city north of Edinburgh. It is home to a really old cathedral ruin, and accompanying cloister. It is also apparently the Mecca of golf. We hopped on a train north, took a nap for an hour, and then got to the city. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud visible for most of it, and so I deluded myself into thinking that since it was sunny, it must also be warm. Thankfully, I wasn’t completely wrong. Although warm in the sunlight, the wind brought quite a chill to the air, so it was a battle to find a protected, yet still sunny spot to sit down and enjoy. We wandered around the town, visiting the castle ruins, the cathedral ruins, the old graveyard, and the harbor. We then wandered down one of the main drags in the city, and eventually made it to St. Andrews Links, which is one of the best golf courses in the world. (yippee?) Stopped for some fish and chips along the harbor for lunch, and then after the golf tour, stopped for some afternoon tea in the sun. It was really quite lovely, and the town was very quaint. St. Andrews is also home to a ridiculously old university. There was a memorial to one of the first martyrs of Lutheranism, who was a student at the Uni, who had been executed in 1420. Strange to think that people were arguing over religion before America was discovered. (is that self-centered thinking??) After that, we headed back to Edinburgh, where we met up with Vroni and James, some mutual friends, with whom we’re gonna be staying for the next couple days, had dinner, and a great conversation, before finally deciding to settle down to bed. Tomorrow will be either the highlands, Stirling castle, or something, but there will definitely be hiking and pictures involved. Stay tuned!

Mon, March 30 Stirling
Today we went out to Sterling. On the way out, on the train, Karen and I both decided to write out our postcards, and were discussing what we were writing when the couple across from us asked us where we were from. Turns out, its an American and his English girlfriend, and we quickly got acquainted, and learned that they, too were going to Sterling. We toured around the castle together, and had lunch, before splitting up, and going to do our own things. We exchanged phone numbers as she is from Liverpool, and offered us a place to crash, and he’s going to be in Belfast about the same time we are, and offered to come around with us. Sterling itself was really pretty, an old town with a castle on top of the mountain it’s built on, surrounded by battlements and all the fun castle-y things. It was the childhood home of Mary, Queen of Scots, which is pretty cool. We got to explore the grounds and play around a little bit, running around on the grass, exploring the old kitchens, and going into a tapestry studio, where this lady was weaving a GIGANTIC tapestry in the old style. It apparently will take 10 years to finish. I would never ever ever have the patience… After we wandered around the town, Karen and I headed up to the William Wallace memorial. One of the big battles he fought against the British was right outside the town, so they’re very proud of him, and there are statues everywhere. The memorial is on top of a bluff outside of the town, and offered a great view of the surrounding valley as well. We wandered around town a bit more, had a coffee/carrot cake break, and then hopped on the train to go back to Edinburgh. We met up with one of the teachers from Karen’s school who studied here for dinner, and went to “the bad ass” for some haggis. Its pretty good, for those of you that haven’t tried it yet, I def recommend it. Afterwards, we headed over to a pub where they were playing some great music, and had a pint before heading back to Vroni and James’. Now, is bedtime. Tomorrow, we’re going to tour the cathedral in Edinburgh, then head off to Glasgow for the day.
Tues, March 31- Glasgow
So today was definitely more misadventure than food. Karen and I started out visiting St. Giles Cathedral with Vroni, and touring around. She gave us a great tour of all the little things that we normally wouldn’t have noticed, and we got to explore a little bit. The thistle chapel off the side of the cathedral was amazing, and so intricate. Its hard to believe it was built in only 2 years… After that, we headed to Glasgow, and were excited to explore a new city. We got off the train, found the tourist center, bought an entirely useless map, and then set off to explore everything that looked interesting. What should’ve been a 2 hour tour ended up taking about 6. After our first stop, the barras market, we headed towards the Glasgow cathedral, only to have to go about 2 miles out of the way because one intersection has been completely blocked off. We eventually made it to the cathedral, after much accidental exploring through some not-so-great regions of Glasgow, and wandered around that cathedral for a bit as well, taking pictures. After that, we went to the performance center, of which we could see absolutely nothing, then, to Willows Tea room, which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Glaswegian. It was a gorgeous little shop, and so we had some tea and scones (Karen,) and a caramel shortcake (me, obviously….) After that, we headed back to the train station, slightly annoyed with Glasgow, after previous misadventures, and only being able to find one bank that we could use, with a broken ATM outside, and no till inside. Lovely. We had to kill 90 minutes before we could use our train tickets back to Edinburgh, so we stopped at the local borders, and I picked up some books, and we did a little borrowed researching on the lake district, which is where we’re headed tomorrow. We made it back to Edinburgh and met up with Vroni and James, and two of their friends for dinner in the Grassmarket, before going out for a pint at ------Bells, and then heading home to organize and pack everything in.
Weds Apr. 1- Lake District
Woke up this morning at 6, and headed off to the Haymarket train station to catch our ungodly early train to Windermere. We arrived at Windermere at around 930, and the sun was just starting to peek through the clouds. After asking the info people where to go, and where we could leave our stuff, we climbed up a little hill behind the town that provides excellent views of the lake, and the surrounding countryside. After that, Karen and I walked down to Bowness, in order to catch a ferry up to ------- . When we got there, we grabbed some lunch at a café (I had a venison/black pudding burger… so good!) and then headed off to explore the town, and surrounding nature. We came across the ruined foundations of an ancient Roman fort at the top of the lake, which I found really cool, and Karen probably thought was boring as hell, I’ll have to ask her opinion on them. We followed one of the tributary rivers up into the hills and mountains surrounding the lake, and almost made it to one of the waterfalls, before having to turn around and head back, to make the last ferry. We got back to Windermere around 6 pm, and bought some quick food to eat on the train, and hopped the train to Liverpool. Got in here around 9, and went to find “the Cathedral,” which is where our friend Helen lives. Turns out, in Liverpool, there are two cathedrals. We went to the wrong one first. Thankfully, they’re not too far away from each other, so we eventually found Helen, and are crashing in her amazing apartment just off the cathedral grounds. It has a great view of both the cathedral, and of the city beneath it. Tomorrow is going to be beatlemania for Karen, and it’ll also be pretty exciting for me, as long as Karen doesn’t cry. She has been warned that I will abandon her on the streets if I see hero-worship tears. More on that tomorrow, most likely.

Edinburgh!!

Fri, March 27- Edinburgh
Today has been crazy and amazing at the same time. I woke up at 4:25 this morning, in order to get on a train at 5, to head to Bremen, to catch a flight to Edinburgh. Needless to say, Sean did not get enough sleep. At all. Karen and I made the train, and attempted to sleep all the way to Bremen, with little success, at least, on my part. We got to Bremen, got on our ryanair flight, and took off. When we got to Edinburgh airport, there wasn’t much around. The airport is kinda in the middle of nowhere, so we took a bus into downtown. On the way, we passed out Hostel, which is right downtown, perfect! We got into the central area of Edinburgh, found the tourist office, and got some maps of the city, as well as some info packets on what’s going on. We went to the hostel, checked in, and put our rather heavy bags into our lockers, before heading back out to explore. We had a nice lunch at a place called “Standing Order,” which is a giant bar, and has great, cheap food. We then decided to climb “Arthur’s Seat” which is one of the hills right near downtown. We hiked along the ridgeline, took some amazing pictures of the scenery and ourselves, and then decided we might as well go for the summit. As we approached it, it started raining sideways. The wind had been blowing pretty hard most of the way up, but towards the very top, it was really intense, basically, I could lean into the wind, and it would keep me upright. (pictures as proof will be posted soon). We got to the top, took pics, and then headed back down. On the way down, it started to rain a bit more heavily, but nothing serious. We walked back into the city, through the Prince Gardens, which were gorgeous and green. I’m planning on going back there tomorrow after our official tour to take pictures of the flowers for Meagan. I also found her the perfect house, and took pics of that as well… At the hostel, we met a few other kids, got talking to them, and ended up going to the bar downstairs with them for happy hour. Two of them are from Dublin, one is from New Zealand somewhere. They were all pretty fun, and I had a fun time hanging out with them. Karen and I then headed out to grab some dinner: authentic fish & chips, of course… No deep-fried mars bar this time, but I will get there. The grease overload was too much as it was. Had a fun reaction to said dinner, and the roof of my mouth then peeled off. Yummy! Edinburgh is beautiful and fun, so far, and I can’t wait to explore more of it officially tomorrow!

sunny!

YAY! today it's sunny and warm outside! 50 degrees!! has spring decided to show up? nope... snow in the forecast on friday.
Yesterday was a really fun/interesting day. I couldn’t go down to Frankfurt with Julian and Martin and Rac to drop Rac off at the airport, because I had to teach two classes yesterday morning by myself. (gulp) I had to teach one of my 6th grade classes, who tend to be screaming monsters, but they actually behaved themselves! At least, comparatively… They apologized to me for being screaming demons last week, and even brought me chocolate, which was a surprise… I then went on to teach one of my favorite 11th grade classes. All the kids write and understand English perfectly, but refuse to talk out loud, in English, in class. I like them because they all have fun senses of humor, and some character, but they don’t talk, at all!! Its very difficult to teach at them when there’s no reaction. I had them working in small groups, on “the Giver,” and when they had to talk, two of the groups actually did rock/paper/scissors to see who had to stand up and say anything. Any attempt on my part to involved them in a discussion was futile, so I spent most of the 45 minutes talking at them, and watching them stare at their own desks. Not great for someone who’s losing his voice… oh well! After that, I had a 6th grade class that was a little rowdy, and a 5th that’s awesome and fun, and then I went home. Hung out at home for a bit, then went grocery shopping (it was sunny and 45ish yesterday!!) and then came home, cooked dinner REALLY fast, and then ran off to stammtisch with Karen. Stamm was fun, a new kid came for the first time. He had spent a year in Maine, and his English was really good. After that, came home, ate some more, and Karen and I watched a soccer game with Julian. When it was over, we decided it was time to FINALLY watch the end of 28 days later. I told Karen to tell me if it got too scary, and we could turn it off. An hour later, movie was over, and Karen was curled up into a ball on my couch, her entire body covered by one of my blankets muttering “we need to watch something else” and “oh my god” over and over again. So, I entertained her with some mindless spoof comedy flick, and then sent her safely home. I’m quite proud of her for getting through it, I must say..
Today, my first class, an 8, had an exam, so I don’t have to go in for it, so I got to sleep in, and my next class is at 12:20. Then, I’m free again.
OOH, question for any film geeks: I’m reading “the giver” with my 11th grade class. Do you know of any movies that I could show to them that have anything to do with it, just so I can get them maybe a little bit more interested or involved?? Karen suggested “Pleasantville” to show the color thingy… any others?? Thx!

Ich hab 'ne zwiebel auf mein Kopf, ich bin ein Döner...

So, this past weekend, Karen and I ventured out to Köln for Karneval. Its one of the big cities that people go to in Germany to celebrate, kinda like N.O. for mardi gras. It was ridiculous, and a lot of fun. We met up with Eileen, and also with Mathias, who was the only German exchange student at BC last year. Mathias is from around Köln, and so he knew his way around, and where to go for the best parties. We arrived Friday evening, put on our costumes, (I wore my lederhosen, of course! My costume was a German) and went out to a couple bars to sing/dance/drink/celebrate. It ended up being a fantastic night, that lasted until after 5am. Made it back to the hotel, passed out for a few hours, got some food, and then had some sauna/pool recovery time. It was at this point, that we might’ve had our most hilarious (for me) and embarrassing (for Karen and Eileen) experience. The three of us were downstairs in the pool room, getting ready to hop in, and saw that some other guys were there, swimming, etc… being that its Europe, and they have no qualms abt nudity, several of the guys were walking around with towels on… slung over their shoulders… Karen and Eileen decided at this point that it would be better to get into the sauna, rather than face the overabundance of wurst. So, we made our way to the sauna, got comfortable, and were talking, when two guys came in, set their towels on the benches, and sat down, ohne alle. I hadn’ really thought about European sauna etiquette, but I had kinda expected the nudity. Karen and Eileen had not. They spent the next 5 minutes in the sauna making direct eye contact with me. It was very difficult for me not to crack up, but I somehow did. Eventually, we left the sauna, and got in the pool and relaxed, no problem. Later that day, went back out, to a different part of Köln, after meeting Mathias for coffee. We headed down towards the Rhein river bank, where lots of restaurants and bars are, and wandered around, barhopping, and finding food. Met up later on with Nate and Paul, other BC fulbrighters, and continued on our quest to fulfill the Karneval fantasy.
I left fairly early on Sunday, because I was meeting Charlotte and Michael back in Göttingen. The first train was delayed, the second pulled over by the police, and by that time I’d been on a train for 4 hours, and had gone a grand total of possibly 100 kilometers. Not typical German train efficiency. I ended up running to catch an ICE, and made it back to Göttingen just in time to meet them. I showed them around the city, we went out for dinner, and then to a bar to catch up and hang out. They’ll be here till weds, and so I’m hoping I can show them a good time while they’re here… we’ll see…
Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, have a great mardi gras/ashweds/thing!

-seany

ooh ooh, euro!

if you can understand it, you get where I'm at. if not, enjoy some euro techno! and, learn some German, while you're at it!

bruised

So, this week, Sean had his first bicycle accident. Well, serious bike accident. The previous ones have mostly been me laughing at Karen, as she falls off her bike, or hits a stationary object. This week has been a bit snowy and wet and cold, so the roads have been an ice slick. I was on my way to school Tuesday, after it had snowed about an inch or 2. I was in a bit of a hurry, because I was running late, APU, and so as I was riding through the tunnel on my way to school, I sped up a bit, knowing that the ground was clear of ice and snow. What I didn’t think about was the intersection at the other end of the tunnel, and that there might be ice there. Whoops. So, just as I’m getting to the end of the tunnel, a car pulls out and stops right in the bike lane. (his car covered the entire sidewalk, I really had nowhere to go.) So I slam on my brakes, (does one slam on handbrakes?!?!) only to realize that my wheels are completely stopped, and I’m still moving forward, spraying ice and slush everywhere. I tried to turn, (“get in the lane” as my father would say…) but only ended up completely sideways, going in the same direction, at a SLIGHTLY decreased speed. I slammed into the passenger side of this guy’s car probably doing between 15 and 20 MPH. I stayed upright on my bike, so it was a full-on body slam. The guy got out of his car, and apologized to me for being in the bike lane, asked me if I was ok, and if I needed to go to the hospital, or if he could give me a lift anywhere. I told him I was fine, thanks anyways, and continued on my way (after he backed his car up out of the bike lane!) My right side was a little sore for the next couple days, mostly when I was riding my bike, but I didn’t think anything of it. Until this morning, when I woke up, after sleeping on my right side, and almost couldn’t move my hip. My muscles were tight, and really sore, and I didn’t know what to make of it, so I looked in the mirror, and noticed, for the first time, that I am bruised from my ribs down to my knee. Its starting to fade now, but it must’ve been a doozy yesterday and weds. Good thing I never look in the mirror except to shave…
So yes, that is what’s been going on in my life this week, oh, except that on weds, Julian had his very last law exam ever- his oral exam for his specialty. We met him afterwards, at 2pm, with beer, and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening/night/morning drinking and celebrating with him. I ended up passing out relatively early (1am) because I had work the next morning, but woke up to find our living/dining room and kitchen COVERED in beer bottles. We all had an awesome time though, and Julian certainly had a great last hurrah before entering the real world.

Happy almost valentines day, if you’re into that sorta thing….

-seany:o)

new german word!

So, last night at Stammtisch, karen and i were sitting in the pub, hanging out with the kids, talking about random things, and Karen brought up the fact that she's afraid to go to the barber's because she's not sure how to ask for what she wants. (I share a similar fear, we will get to this!) So she asked one of our kids how to ask for a little trim off the ends, and was told how to order it. They then started talking abt me and the mane i have going on at the moment, and i expressed similar fears to karen's. Being that Germans tend to have "interesting" hairstyles, i was worried that i'd end up with a multicolored haircut with different-length chunks all over my head, or a mullet. I got several quizzical brows after that comment, and they told me i had to clarify "mullet." So, i described it to them, and the entire table cracked up. They don't have one word for it, in typical german fashion, so, instead, it is called "vorne-kurz, hinten-lang," or VOKUHILA. <--new german word. literally translated, this means: short front, long back, or: business in the front, party in the back!

so yes, new german word for the day.

enjoy!

-s

hi everyone,
sorry it's taken SO LONG to post pictures, but I'm finally getting around the picasa bugs, and posting! if you head over to the picasa acct, (link on the right) you can see some of the thousands of pictures from christmas break that we all took. hope you enjoy!


-seany

concert!

oh yeah, AND this is who i'm going to see on feb 22nd at Pier2 in Bremen:



YAY!

friday rambling

Yesterday was awesome. This week is the last of this semester, and so my new schedule starts next week (on weds, mon and tues are holidays!) Instead of having a schedule handed to me, Ulla, my supervisor, handed me a list of teachers that has requested me, and when their classes were, and asked me if I had time to make my own schedule. Do I ever?!!? So, I get to make my own schedule, which is sweet… In addition to that, yesterday, Philipp took the last part of his bar exam, and in German tradition, a bunch of his friends met him outside the building at 1 in the afternoon with beer, and we stood outside in the freezing cold for an hour or so, drinking and celebrating with him. I got to meet a bunch more of Julian and Philipp’s group of friends, and they’re all really fun and easygoing. Had some great conversations with pretty much all of them about everything imaginable, and go to practice much more of my real (not academic) German. We continued celebrating throughout the afternoon, switching venues several times, watching a rugby match and a handball match, and finally going to see Rac’s play for his theater class, which was… interesting. We ended the night at the Irish pub, which is always a great way to end things. Karen had joined us about midway through the festivities, and also seemed to be having a great time. After the play, and before Irish pub, I made a stop at döner king, and I had quite possibly the best döner of my life. I don’t think I shut up about it for at least 30 mins. Sorry Karen.
This weekend, we’re planning on doing a little touristing. Since we have Monday and Tuesday off as well, (YAY 5 DAY WEEKEND!) we’re gonna head up to northern Niedersachsen, and visit some of the cities we haven’t seen yet. I’m also planning on hitting up Hamburg again, because I love it. One of Karen and my friends from BC is coming up for the weekend, (she’s teaching at a boarding school in southern Germany) and she’s gonna come with and see all that lovely Niedersachsen has to offer!
I’m still undecided about what I want to do next year. I’ve gotten advice from all sides about whether to extend, stay here for school, go back to the states to find a job, or go back to the states for school. I’m going to re-apply for a second year here, just to keep my options open. Thankfully my school has expressed an interest in keeping me a second year! I’ve also taken Karen’s advice to start doing more research every day into my options, to better inform myself, and to stave off anxiety attacks at 3am about failing in life. So far, its worked wonders, and I’ve been sleeping soundly.
I’ve had a stupid sinus infection for the past week or so, and its finally starting to really get a deep hold on my brain, so today’s chores start with going to the pharmacy for some hardcore decongestants, and some sinus meds. Then I really really need to buy food, because I’m down to potatoes, onions, rice, and milk (and lots of each, thanks papa!) I also need to go buy a new inner tube for my bike, UGH! Apparently the one I got last week is defective or stupid, because it refuses to hold air when it dips below freezing. Which it does here. Regularly. Such a pain! At least I can get my back wheel off, unlike Karen! Makes changing out tires/inner tubes a little easier…
K, sorry, this has dragged on long enough, and I’m rambling. Have a great Friday, everyone!

-seany

happy monday!

So, I've realized that I'm almost completely unqualified for my job here. Aside from the fact that I've spoken english for the majority of my life, I still cannot tell a german why the hell you need to break a paragraph-long sentence into separate ones, other than the fact that it "sounds terrible." I almost feel bad for these kids, having to try to understand why it is they need to do the things I tell them, with little to no explanation. whoops! I've realized this after having a slight life-crisis at the convenient time of 3 am today, when I was supposed to be sleeping. It started off as a realization that my German still isn't anywhere near as good as I want it to be, followed by me wondering if I'd rather spend a second year here, improving my german, or actually get started on my real life, and possibly start thinking about what I want to do with it. I'm basically right in the time where I need to decide what I want to do with my life, and how I need to go about doing it. granted, my German is pretty damn good, especially considering I'm not a native speaker, but... what exactly is it going to do for me later in life? ugh!! so, I'm juggling a few options in my mind: 1) stay here a second year, perfect my german, and then move back to the states to do...... (?) 2) Apply to culinary schools here in europe, (germany or france) complete that here, then come back to the states, get a job in a restaurant/bakery, start to pay off my $60K in student loans (thanks BC!) 3) come back to the states, go to culinary school, prolly CIA either in NY or CA, while working to pay off said student loans, before finally getting a job. 4) come back to the states, attempt to find a "real" job which will help pay off student loans, while going to culinary school at night/in spare time. so yeah, those are kinda my options at the moment. any suggestions from anyone? comments always appreciated...
in other news, Karen and I finally got her TV hooked up to her DVD player, and watched a movie this afternoon... that was my accomplishment for the day. school today was relatively normal; I got to dissect Obama's inaugural address with my 13th graders, which was a lot of fun, seeing how much of the subtext they understood (not much of it) other than that, not really much new going on.. had a nice relaxing weekend, read alot, and hung out. Tomorrow we're gonna show "supersize me" to the kids, instead of having Stammtisch, and we'll talk about how the fast food culture of america has really spread out, and actually been blown WAY out of proportion (most of my kids would assume that its the norm for americans to eat that much mcdonalds :x)
ok, now I'm rambling... have a great week, everyone!

-seany

if youtube had been around when i was a child:

this would've been me:

Happy Thursday!
So basically, it has been a combination of awesome and awful week. First off, I’ve had a lovely migraine that’s been coming and going in varying intensities all week. Pretty much all of my classes this week were a lot of fun, I got to play around with my kids, and they got to see a little bit more of my personality. (migraines tend to make me slightly more sarcastic…) I got to talk about the election, and the inauguration, and got to lead some pretty cool discussions. The afternoons were mostly spent cowering in bed or the bathroom with a cold wet towel wrapped around my head. I missed stammtisch on Tuesday because I spent the majority of the afternoon yacking, and didn’t think it’d be a good idea to leave my little cave. I watched Obama swear in online, and watched his speech, and then passed promptly back out. I also had fun bike misadventures this week, and so I ended up spending more time and money (neither of which are plentiful) than I wanted to, attempting to get it back to operating status… Other than that, the week has been kinda un-eventful. (I think… but then again, in my drugged out stupor, another war could’ve broken out, and I still wouldn’t have noticed…) Julian is taking one of his final bar exams today, and Philipp is taking the actual bar exam this week and next, so we’re going to go out tonight to celebrate a little bit. No plans for this weekend yet, but, who knows how that will develop! Have a great rest of the week, kids!


OH!! yesterday, while still under insomnia from Imitrex, i discovered a fantiastic website that allows you to make obama-style icons of yourself, so i made a few funny ones:


I felt a little elvis-y... my hair was doing crazy stuff anyways, so the sneer comes automatically :D



...just having fun with my webcam, as per usual...

late update...

Hi guys, sorry it’s been a while since I updated. Life has been pretty crazy the past few weeks! The entire family came to Göttingen, and got to spend a few (freezing) days running around my neighborhood, and exploring what there is to do here. On weds, the 7th, Meghan and Mariah came to visit, and stayed for a week. It was amazing to see them again, I can’t believe it had been almost 9 months since the last time I’d seen them! The family left Friday morning to go back to Munich, and flew home safely on Saturday. The girls and I got to play around my apartment, which FINALLY warmed up, and then spent the weekend in Berlin, also freezing our butts off. We had Karen with us to show us around her favorite city in the world, and so we had an awesome tour of the city, as well as an entire history of every single building we saw! Hehe… It was my first trip to Berlin ever, and it def won’t be my last… it seems like a really fun city, and I can’t wait to go back! The following week, we laid pretty low, aside from going out a few nights with my roommate, and Meghan and Mariah went on a quick day trip up to Hannover to explore. They left that Thursday, leaving me with an entirely empty apartment, and a lot of fun pics… (thanks, Meghan!) Last weekend was fairly uneventful, I stayed in and was antisocial for most of it, balancing out the previously hyper-social month.
In fun news, the stove/oven is fixed, so I can cook again *YAY!* I got to expand Meghan and Mariah’s culinary experiences while they were here, (HA) and have been cooking up a storm since then. While the fam was here with a car, I made papa take me on a mass grocery-hauling run, and picked up a ton of big things that are a pain to walk/carry on a bike home. I got a 15 kilo bag of potatoes, and a 15 kilo bag of onions. The onions are not QUITE half gone, but with plans to make French onion soup over the weekend, they will be soon. Any ideas/recipes for potatoes would also be greatly appreciated. I TRIED to make a Spanish tortilla for the girls, only to discover that neither of them like eggs… echt schade!
The next few weeks will probably be uneventful as well, with the exception of the first weekend of feb. I have feb 2nd and 3rd off, which means: sean has a 5 day weekend, followed by a 2 day week. I’m not sure what I’m gonna be doing that weekend, but Karen wants to go visit Matthias, which I’m down with, as I haven’t been down to Aachen yet to visit him (whoops!) we’ll see how that goes…

oh yeah, and happy inauguration!! YAY!!!!

stay healthy and warm, y'all!

-seany

Second Christmas Break Blog

Hey everyone, I hope you had an awesome New Year's Eve!! I yet again have a quick internet connection, so i'm uploading more daily updates combined into one big post.

enjoy!


Weds, Dec 31st
New Year’s Eve, in Spain! We spent most of the day lounging around, eating, and wandering outside a bit. We went to the royal palace, and saw the old downtown area. That evening, Daniel ran a 10K, and so we went downtown to watch him pass by. There were something like 40,000 participants, and many of them dressed up in fun costumes for the race. I got some great pictures of the sprinting smurfs, a running case of beer, plenty of Scotsmen, and lots of other very inventive costumes. We then walked back to the apartment, through the streets of Madrid, which had been cleared of car traffic for the race (very eerie). After that, we headed down to Abuela’s (Hope’s mom- Abuela= grandma in Spanish). She treated us incredibly well, and filled us beyond what I thought humanly possible with food. She had roasted an entire suckling pig, and we ate pretty much the whole thing. At midnight, the Spanish tradition is to eat 12 grapes in the 12 seconds after midnight, and if you succeed, you’ll have good luck for the rest of the year. I, of course, succeeded (I have a large mouth). By 2:30, pretty much everyone was beat, and couldn’t eat another bite, so we hit the hay.


Thurs, Jan 1st
I personally slept in until about 1. I was not, however, the last one up! Still full from the previous meal, I skipped breakfast and lunch. We had been invited by Abuela to one of her favorite restaurants in the outskirts of Madrid, so, we all got dressed up, and met the entire family out at this restaurant. The food there was also fantastic, although no one could eat very much. Afterwards, we went out for coffee at this HUGE restaurant in the area, which used to be in Franco’s personal hunting grounds, so now its surrounded by a huge nature reserve with lots of deer and wild boars, which walk right up to the fence. Went home afterwards, and packed.

Fri, Jan 2nd
Got up early, (8) packed up BUP, and got on the road to France. It took almost 10 hours to get up to southwest France. There, we met up with some old friends, who used to be our neighbors in MD, and who’s kids have become my little sisters. We got in late, had a fantastic late dinner, and a really nice reunion. (the girls are all grown up now, it makes me feel really old...)

Sat, Jan 3rd
Got to sleep in a little, had a nice breakfast, and then went out into the back yard to clear out the bushes and trees. The Ras’ live in a huge old farmhouse that they’ve restored, and still have a lot of yard, so, after sitting in BUP all the previous day, it felt really nice to be outside, and active. I also got to play with fire, which always makes me happy. I didn’t really make a New Year’s resolution, but I figured, if I had made one to be more active in 2009, I had already done my entire resolution just on Saturday. Stayed up for a late dinner (and s’mores,) and got to bed late.

Sun, Jan 4th
Slept in a little, groaned my way outta bed (I was much sorer than I thought,) and made my way downstairs. We decided to go out to a couple little old French towns in the area to be tourists. It was nice and cold, so we bundled up, and wandered around, and got some great pics.

I'll be home either the 5th or the 6th, and will most likely be able to post pictures then, although I am going to try to post them now... we'll see..

-seany