Real Germans, Homework, and a verdammtes System.

Immediately upon the return from Prague I realized that I have almost no time left to study for my finals. So this last week was spent taking care of everything possible to clear my schedule and "to Do's" for just studying.

Fortunately, there were a few breaks where I actually hung out with real Germans. I know it's not a big deal, they're somewhat like Americans but with a different language...but it's such a relief and so much excitement just to solely speak in German here in Germany, finally! (Granted my German still has a lot of errors, but it's better than doing everything in English). And...the more I hang out with the friends from Prague, the more real Germans I meet!

The title summarizes all that I've been busied with this week. Homework. I'll get that system in a moment. The only thing not included was a long jog Viktor and I ran. He normally trains for 1/2 marathons and said I should go jogging with him. So we meet Saturday at 7:00 a.m. (yeah, Saturday. I thought 7 a.m. didn't exist on Saturday--maybe that's just becuase I forgot since I haven't seen in since 1999.) Hearing him earlier in the week say that any jog under 1 hour is just not worth it, I decided to train all week, just for this jog. Fortunately the pace was much better than what I normally take, but we ran approx 10 KM and for 58 minutes. I didn't know I could even stand up for that long, let alone run.

Now for this system. The University Library is officially among the worst in the world. The whole school complains that they don't get enough funding so they need this "Study Fee" (Tuition) of ONLY $500 a semester. (I just want to scream --"QUIT WHINING!") But their entire University is so beaurocratic that nothing can be accomplished without the proper stamp, that you get from the one specific person, who is in the that other building, who only has office hours each monday morning from 8-8:30 and every 5th Thursday of the month from 12:00-1:00.

This anger has been rooted since I first had to check out a book. Now it escalated when I wanted to study at home. The business library ONLY let's you check out books on Friday night and then they have to be back by 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. (In case someone wants to use it. But forget the fact that there are already 4copies of each edition. They ALL have to be back). So I comply, and I got to the Business library at 8:50 a.m. and returned my book and started studying. (Trying to get through 13 chapters today). I work until 8:00 p.m. (when the bloody thing closes--I miss 24 hour libraries, or at least open 'til Midnight). And I ask if I can take the book home tonight and then bring it back tomorrow morning before 9:00 a.m. NO. I have to first prove I am a Diplom student in Business to the one manager who isn't around and then get the one special stamp on my little green card....THEN I can take the book home. Because if the guy at the gate could lose his job if he lets me take the book home. (Yes, they have a single entrance that is GUARDED to make sure no book comes in or goes out.) He kept asking if I understood and Yeah, I understood all the German, I didn't understand ANY of the rationale behind it.
If they complain about having too little money, then WHY do they so many employees who sit on their bums to watch people walk in and out, when they could allocate all these personell expenses to a book replacement fund, which probably wouldn't even be necessary. Oh not to mention that when I check a book out for the weekend, I have to write my name, address, phone number, book details, and sign for it on a piece of paper. Nothing centralized, nothing computerized. Beurocratic inefficiency.

Ask me what it takes to print a single piece of paper at the Library, that'll be the next story with
-account access
-wire transfers
-printing stations
-password verifications and even more.

Later Days,
Rick

Excursion Nach Prague

back from Pfingsten and attempting to study and assemble this German life. I spent the week in classes and recovering from the long trip.
But after finally posting all the adventures from Pfingstenpause, I thought I'd be ready to rejoin normal society and be a studious student--not yet. More fun to have...


Toni Ingenthron, the exchange student from Worthington (my home town) currently studying in Crailsheim, Germany, sent me a spur-of-the-moment message saying she was free for the weekend so I invited her to Freiburg. Thursday afternoon she arrived and I took her around the main parts of Freiburg, despite the blasted rain. The evening was spent with friends at the StuSie dorms as we had dinner together--Mike made lasagna and Marta brought Belgian chocolates.
Then crash til Friday. Early Friday morning Emma and I ran to Kaufland--which we didn't know until now actually existed--and bought tons of cheap food. Finally a place with everything in one grocery store. Then we ran back, picked up Toni, caught the Train, and Emma, Toni, Essi, and I rode to Triberg to see Germany's largest waterfall (pictured here). Oddly enough the city was only 1/2 hour away by car, but because no lines run East & West, only N-S we had to go 1hour 40 minutes to get there--one way.
Friday night, out of randomness and because Toni was here, we had everyone over to the Vauban to my apartment to hang out. Unfortunately they all left to catch the last tram back home.
Then Saturday was an early morning in order for Toni to catch the 5 hour train back to Crailsheim. It's actually only 2 1/2 hours away by car, but all lines run N-S, so you can only get there in a round-about way.

After seeing Toni off, I needed to start studying, but what do I do instead? I committed to finishing the book I started "Atlas Shrugged". I was 1/2 way through and thought I could finish it in a long sitting--mind you the book is 1,186 pages long. So Sunday, Monday, Tuesday evening and late night were consumed reading this book. It's totally worth it because the Library of Congress deems it the 2nd most influential book in American History, next to the bible. But, yes, it does take a long time to get through. But I had a nice break celebrating Becky's Birthday--a friend that lives across the sidewalk.

Wednesday was a long day of classes and rushed by Alastair's 21st birthday that night. Pirate themed and wow was he a well-dressed pirate. Unfortunately I had to leave early to catch the bus at midnight to go to Prague with the International Club.

After a 14 hour bus ride, and finally arriving at 2:30 p.m.

So we settled into our hotel rooms and met up for a collective lunch. I had recognized two of the group members from my Portfolio analysis course and met them right away. Victor & Philipp, both Germans...finally real GERMAN friends. Also, there were two girls from Australia--Ella & Kara, and two from Canada--Shiza & Laura. The Canadians didn't speak any German, so it was much harder to hang out collectively together because at any point there was someone who didn't fully understand what was being said.

The first 1 1/2 days (Thursday & Friday) were spent on a long tour around the city. Offered in both German & English, the tours were each 3 hours (total 6 hr) and showed a lot of old stuff. The photo here is of me and Nadja (also GERMAN!) on the observation platform of the tower resembling the Eiffel tower. Prague had an ausstellung (display or fair) similar to, but after the one in Paris and built this tall tower for a nice view of the city.

Our excursion included shopping in the city (which was no cheaper than anywhere else) and eating a lot--the food was really cheap. A huge meal cost $4 (or 3 Euros). Also we hung out at the hotel, took a cruise ride along the Moldau (the river pictured below), tried out some great cafes around the city, and of course saw a lot of old stuff.

Here, Philipp and I stand on the Charles Bridge (Charles Brueke) overlooking the Moldau and the length of the city.

But no trip would be complete without a visit to

my number one tourist destination--Ernst & Young. Located just outside of the tourist-plagued city center, E & Y was across from a long park, down the street from the "Dancing Buildings" (a building complex with a twisted architecture) and a block away from the Moldau.

Finally, we drove back to Freiburg--this time only taking 7 1/2 hours (we had to go through Austria to get into the country because of some technicalities with the Chinese students needing Visa's). All in all, Prague was a pleasant city, but the experience was amazing because I finally met REAL Freiburg Germans and can only look forward to studying, hanging out, jogging, and potentially traveling with these new acquaintances. Until next time with (probably fewer) new adventures...

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part XI

Monday
Check out of Hostel. Buy lunch at bakery and open my book again for a good read. Off to Checkpoint Charlie which was so touristy and only mildly entertaining. Then I walked back along the remaining wall to Potsdamer Platz, further up to the Holocaust Memorial and the TierGarten (animal garden) for more reading. Back through the Brandenburger Tor to find a coffee shop on the strip (Haagen Daas) where I read again.

I then met Jenna and Tom for some ½ price German-made Mexican food—a fajita made by someone who has never been to Mexico.
After our early dinner I rush off to the airport to catch my flight back to Basel. But then time slowly passes as I miss the first bus to the train station. Then the next train running back to Freiburg was at 11:24 so I had to wait for 1 ½ hours at the station followed by a 40 minute train ride (which were both good opportunities for reading), to arrive at Freiburg in time for the last tram at 12:28 and then finally home by 1 a.m.


My trip is over. I had class the next day at 8:00 a.m. while holding plenty of good memories from a trip up north. Fun places, new people, and an experience to remember.

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part X

Sunday
To try to make up for last night, I went out to a bakery and grabbed German pastries for the girls for breakfast. We dine and discuss salaries and I discover that Sweden is a middle-class economy; no one is poor and likewise no one is particularly rich. Next I deliver the bad news that it’s Germany and all shopping stores are closed. I head to the Haupt Bahn Hof (central Train station) to meet Rachel, and part ways with the Swedes ½ way there.
Rachel and I catch the tram to Potsdam, first visiting the Lady of Luck (seen left), the Rathaus (courthouse and city hall), and then next to the REAL Brandenburger Tor. Lunch on the pedestrian street and a short visit to the hanging rhinoceros; walk through park and see Fredrick the Great’s summer castle with lots of grape vines for always fresh fruit. We climb up another castle and are scolded by the old German who watches the stairs for not minding the red light. Off to the huge dual castle, of course covered by paper for renovation/restoration. Back to the city with a stop at a snack shop for cake, ignoring the mean server-lady, then again off to a snack shop to grab items to eat by the lake. We sit down and enjoy watching the waves flow by and the crane lifting the little Metro car onto a ferry for some unknown reason. We continue along the shore with moderate success to get back to the train station. There I check my e-mail and discover 96 new messages which amount, in majority, to my Facebook Birthday messages.

That evening we met for dinner at Hackescher Markt. Val, a friend of my Freiburg friend staying in the same hostel, came with for the start. We had terrible luck at the first restaurant as we waited for 15 minutes until no server showed up and I had to rush into finally try and grab our drinks. We said our goodbyes before the last tram at 1:20 a.m. after the bar close at midnight. My 5 minute walk back was quite amusing as I discovered that legal prostitutes hang around Oranienburgerstrasse and two of whom started to approach me from the other side of the street. I couldn't clearly see them because they were 30 feet away and I didn’t have my glasses, but only later while talking to my roommate back home did he tell me they were wearing corsets and carrying money pouches on their waists.

What a splendid ending to an evening...And for the final day of travels...

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part IX

Saturday
I meet Jenna in Nollendorf platz for the ginormous Saturday morning market crowding the entire market square. We buy some Strawberries and some Chinese noodles for lunch and head off to Potsdamer Platz for a sight of the remaining Mauer (wall), the business area of town, and the impressive Sony Center. Next to the Gedächtnis Kirche (a ½ destroyed church standing from WWII).

Shortly thereafter I return to my hostel and meet two new roommates, two Swedish girls my age, Annie and Carolin who were beginning their one month travels around Europe. We chat and decide to go together to the shopping district of the city near Ka-De-We (a department store that apparently celebrated its 100th B-Day on June 1st). We find cheap dinner at a buffet. Unfortunately the area was very pricey and the girls opted to dine out, pushing off shopping until the next day, Sunday. After our first drink we realized there were no cheap places so we head back near our hostel for Oranienburgerstrasse where there are lines of restaurants. The first bar tried for a real international flair, which was ruined by the loud football game in the background. Here the girls tried their first German beer. Next bar was Japanese, then an Indian bar where Annie and I had the strongest Coffee to make it out to the disco that night.

Next foreshadows our adventure. We follow a text message from Jenna to go to this German Disco in East Berlin called “Matrix”. We just make it there at midnight, trying to beat the deadline for no cover charge but are too late. We wait in line like an actual club; we pay a 6 Euro cover charge, and then try to find a good dance floor but our options were limited to old, hard-beating hip-hop or epileptic techno. Jenna and Tom seemed to be enjoying the hip-hop as we found them dancing together in an elevated cage. We decide to leave at 1:15 a.m. and head back to the train station. We hop on to start our train adventure; wrong direction, hop off, wrong direction, hop off, etc. etc. In total we took 8 different trains for 2 ½ hours until 3:45 a.m. when we could have just spent 14 minutes to get from the club to our hostel. What an adventure.

Where else but Berlin. Wait, wait...there's more coming soon in Potsdam...

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part VIII

Friday
My 20th Birthday. What more need I say? I arrived in Berlin at 6:30 a.m. after a 7 hour bus ride from Copenhagen repetitively interrupted by climbing out onto the ferry, waking up for border control, and struggling to sleep on a bumpy bus. After checking in at my hostel I start to see the city. Yet everything was still closed, so I passed by the “Museuminsel”, an island of museums including Parthenon museum. Next to the Reichstag, the German building of parliament and discover that I can travel up to the dome on the top of the building so I slip in line, wait behind what seemed like 100 French junior high schoolers and finally at the top saw a panoramic view of the city and read of the history of the building. Also, on the way up I passed by an Fire elevator with the inscription “LON-102-RL03” and found it coincidental that it had the first three letter of my last name, my initials, and my favorite number. Whoa…conspiracy theory?? Nah, just me being boring.
Next past the Kanzleramt building, see protest for environmental actions. Down to Brandenburger Tor, this was somewhat disappointing as it seems merely a relic of the past. Walk through “Unter den Linden” and grab Nachos and a beer at an outdoor café. Continuing on I pass the Berliner Dom (cathedral), and hike along the river viewing the various bars and clubs, including one that actually made it’s own beach, full with cabanas and sun chairs. Upon returning to my hostel, I open the door to my room to find not only a Freiburger, but a friend of mine from Freiburg University. We hadn’t crossed paths in almost 2 months and now where do we run into one another but by staying in the same room in Berlin. So chat and again, nap for 4 hours until 7 p.m.
Waking up to find food (quite reminiscent of Copenhagen), I walk down Oranienburgerstrasse with restaurants lining the streets waiting for me to make my choice. I settle for one in Hackescher Mark and order a 32 inch pizza, read my book, and brush off the condescending waiter who implies I am miserable at German.
The whole point of rushing with dinner was to meet my friends back at my hostel to go out for my birthday with Jenna Duesterhoeft, Tom Dobberke, and their friends from their study abroad program (IES). We sit around the hostel for a while, then move on to Prenzlauerberg area, located in East Berlin and maintaining a low-cost appeal. But on the way we head to the tram and notice almost 150 people piling out of a bar as part of a pub crawl. Standing on the sidewalk we hear one of those pub crawlers shouting Jenna’s name and who does it turn out to be but an acquaintance from the Carlson School; Pat Gaddy the former President of Alpha Kappa Psi ran into us in Berlin.
We are out on the for a while. Jenna and I run out for a moment to get a Döner—an American’s substitute for late-night burritos. The night winds down at about 3 a.m., I walk back to the subway with Jenna and Tom and head home for what was a great 20th birthday.

More on Berlin...

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part VII

(So the photo was taken the day before, but look, it says "Ole" as a first name, that means I'm in Sweden! I just had to take a photo thinking of Grandpa Fawcett and all the Ole & Lena Jokes)

Thursday
Start the morning looking for a Starbucks as a Frappaccino was the current craving. Settling for their Starbucks-substitute, I sat in the café and read for 1 ½ hours. Now off to the harbor to see “The Little Mermaid”, a metallic statue of a mermaid perched on a boulder overlooking the incoming bay, where I also saw four business-dressed professionals who turned out to be bankers in treasury and capital markets from the United Kingdom. Still I debate what the better sight was, the mermaid or the businessmen…
The walk back included the new opera house and the queen’s castle. Returning to city center with book in hand, I grabbed some freshly-made, very sweet rhubarb ice cream (a recommendation from the “Use it” office) and read along the canal. Moving to the Legislative Garden to continue, I heard loud noise off in the distance. It turned out to be a protest against elementary school budget cuts. I asked a red-haired girl about my age, Tina, and she explained the situation while chatting about herself and her life as a preschool teacher in Copenhagen training to be a Midwife. Depart through town and see acappella group (24 people) that were just singing. I stayed for a bit until they started Justin Timberlake songs in 4-part harmony. Now I had to kill time until my bus at 11:00 p.m. So I found another café and read more of Atlas Shrugged. Then I grabbed a Carlsberg beer from 7-11 to try Scandinavian beer; sat in the courthouse platz and said goodbye to Copenhagen. Then departed to Berlin and chatted with a Polish student, Martin, who just finished his study in Copenhagen and was going home for good.

Back in Germany with more stories,

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part VI

Wednesday
Nell Curtis and Paul Ekman, friends from Carlson, have been traveling around Europe for two weeks before beginning their internships back in Milwaukee, so we arranged to cross paths in Copenhagen. Arriving at our meeting point at 9:00 a.m. I wait without realizing the agreed upon meeting time was actually 9:30. For that ½ hour I was so nervous something changed or happened that I wouldn’t see them at all. We walked through the pedestrian street, tried following Paul’s poor sense of direction to a restaurant that we never found, but ended seeing Nyhaven (row of old, colorful houses and restaurants on the port), Guiness World Records Museum (that's the tallest man in history, left), some statues of trash in the Courthouse yard, and landed for lunch at the Hard Rock Café. Paul urged that lunch was “on him” until he realized from me how bad the exchange rate was…what a funny reaction.
After lunch we rush back to the train station so Nell and Paul can catch their connection to the airport and fly home to Wisconsin. And then I went out to find the “Use It” office (a tourist office for students) to use internet and resolve some SAFA and other matters. Next, why not find Ernst & Young? But I never would have realized that it was 40 minutes away by foot, close to nothing but a bad neighborhood where the only advantage that the receptionist could tell me was there were plenty of parking spaces. However, I checked it off my list and fortunately found a grocery store on the way back where I picked up cheap goods for the next few meals.
Next to take up some time I checked out a history museum and then took a long walk back to the hostel for another 3 hour nap. And to remain in the room. This night's roommates were the German and Japanese guy again plus this really weird, and fat Spaniard who sat only in his whitey-tighty’s on his bed staring at the others in the room. The worst was that his fat rolled over his underpants so that they were almost hidden. Only a momentary glance was enough to scar and scare one. He speaks poor English and poor German but finally covered himself with his blanket and went to sleep.

Now for the last day in Copenhagen,
Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part V

Tuesday

Parting ways, Sven continued along the Swedish coast up to Stockholm while I initially thought I’d stay in Malmö for the day then bus over to Copenhagen. Fortunately another roommate, John, asked if I was going to Copenhagen and offered a ride with his friend and him. Having a very flexible schedule, I changed my plans and first went with John and Alla to a REAL, Authentic, Swedish IKEA—in Sweden. (John and Alla had traveled since January and went, literally, around the world. They shared great stories about following the Cherry blossoms in Japan or fearing for their lives in the back of a maniac taxi driver in Egypt.

So we drove over the bridge to Denmark and parted ways at my hostel.

I decide to stroll around, visit the parliament building with a terribly disappointing courtyard, a much more pleasant garden, and the Royal Library (a.k.a. the Black Diamond). Grabbing a bite at the library’s café, I head back to nap. Unlike in the U.S. where I can control my naps to 20 minutes, European naps overtake me for 4 hours, like in Copenhagen. The only reason I woke up was to find food (what a primal afternoon; hike, sleep, food/eat) and I found the main pedestrian street, grabbed a Sharawah Kyllan (like a German Döner Kebab), picked up a Mountain Dew at the 7-11, and then continued to be sorely disappointed by the European interpretation of American pop.
Early to bed, I start writing my notes and then am interrupted when meeting my roommates; 2 from New York, 1 from Cornell (but London this semester), 2 from Brisbon Australia (but teaching in London), 1 from Japan, and 1 from Freiburg. Til Tomorrow,

Later Days,

Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to Vacation) Part IV

Sunday
(This photo was taken at Skansen outdoor museum. I find it funny, because there are lilacs and bleeding hearts in the photo, both of which are also hardy in Minnesota weather. Since everyone understands Sweden for being cold, what does this mean about Minnesota?)

Last day in Stockholm. After the last night being so late, we didn’t wake up until around 10:00, which was the check out time. So we leave for lunch at a Sushi Bar that Ben & Christine found. They love sushi, like I love pork. I end up ordering something random to find out it’s just cucumbers in rice. Dang it.
We part ways, never knowing if we’ll see each other again. I head out to train station to board for Malmö, located in the Southwest corner of Sweden directly across from Copenhagen, Denmark. After boarding the train, I realize that my seat doesn’t exist—the ticket is fully valid, but the seats go to #80 and I have #83. So I sit in another train car and happen to meet a great girl, Irena, with whom I had a fantastic chat for almost 4 hours from Stockholm to her stop. She is a Polish Swede, who works for the Navy and commutes every weekend.
The best was the inside joke of a market square (a platz) that was the skirt of a cow (like the female cow in the Mickey Mouse cartoons), but purple like the Milka Milk Chocolate cow, who gets up and runs off. But the bell that’s around her neck rings when she runs away, so all the shops around there hear it and change their signs accordingly.
Finally arrive in Malmö and head to hostel, grab dinner, meet my roommates. One is an old Ukrainian and the other is a young man from Bavaria, Germany.

Monday
Sven, the Bavarian who works as a prison guard in Kempten and is 28 years old, and I decide to hang out in the city together. First walking to the North Harbor we follow the shore to see the “Turning Torso”, Sweden’s tallest building. Further along is all park and shoreline, but looking into the sea we unfortunately can’t see Copenhagen and/or the bridge due to the day’s fog.
Coming back to the city we grab lunch at an Imbiss (a stand in the platz selling fast simple foods) in front of the courthouse. Afterwards we check the harbor again, but the fog hadn’t lifted. Next on the list of sights to see we find Gustav Adolf’s Platz, their largest Park (Pildamsparken), the Stadium, and then what we thought was the University (turns out it was simply a hospital). Walking north from the southern part of the city, we pass about four more sights to see and check them off the list. Ending at the river, we rent a paddleboat for an hour to zip around the river running through and around the city. Making it in 40 minutes, the last 20 minutes was a soothing float along the path. To my surprise, one block from where we met the boats we find Ernst & Young’s Malmö office.
Back to the hostel for restaurant recommendations, we head to the first place that ended up taking up 15 minutes of waiting just to get a menu—scratch that. Next is a self-service restaurant where we grabbed steaks in a melted herbal butter sauce. After dinner and a discussion on the court systems in Germany we look for another bar to grab a beer but most were closed (already at 11:00 p.m.). Finally we come across Lila’s Torg where there were a dozen bars still open around one central square.
Heading back to the hostel to call it a day, I realized the entire day was spent speaking German because, surprisingly, my German was better than his English (that’s a first for me). And at the end of the day, we saw 32 of the 34 “sights to see” in Malmö.

Pfinstenpause (an excuse to vacation) Part III

David (med student from Duke now at University California San Diego that was on grad trip before residency in Connecticut studying cancer) and I went to City hall, couldn’t go up because it was closed for renovations (last year someone jumped off).

So we went to Old town (Gamla Stad) and saw the smallest alley (3 ft wide) and the smallest statue in Stockholm. Put hand on statue's head and make a wish. Next as leaving island, we see a royal band approaching—we were just in time for the change of guards ceremony.

We part. I go to the observation deck and buy fruit in the market below. Next buy my ticket to Malmö. Still worried about housing in Malmo and Ticket to Berlin. Also have to take care of SAFA, while on vacation.
Efforts to get to Skansen. Tram out to there and like in D.C. I’m the idiot deciding to take the stalled escalator up from 2 floors (or 3) down. Over 150 steps of climbing and exhausted to find out that I exited just 1 block from where I started. Walk along coast to meet bus to Skansen. Arrive and start the fun.

Gerry & I (Carl Linneaus) went through the park. Good view of city, some fun animals. Head back and run into David (from California) & Christine (from Canada). Decide to go out. David & I run and buy soup and sauce for dinner with free pasta in hostel. (Huge *cheap* dinner). We then went to Pirates of Caribbean in an amazing theater with curtains over the screen from the draped one that scrolls down to the red velvet which open to the screen, not to forget the balconies decorated in crimson linens and stitched artwork. Then we went back to hostel and met up with Ben & Christine. Left apartment at 1:30, grab some pop from 7/11. Made more pasta at 3 a.m. Climb down fire escape at 4 a.m for fun. Chat until 6 a.m.

Since it was already the next day, we'll move on to the next post to finish Stockholm.

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to vacation) Part 2

Start with a Swedish breakfast in hotel, and upon leaving discover that my Palm Pilot died at one point during the trip up. 11 days to go and no palm to use. This contained appointment details, Ernst & Young locations, contact information, my German Dictionary, and some music to play if bored. Dead. (I can only hope it’s batteries and not water). Walk around, literally aimlessly. Find Ernst & Young, cross that off list of things to do, try ATM to take out cash and nearly have heart attack. Transaction failed and no cash came out, but it said that 1500 crowns was taken out of account—ahhh! (but I checked later and it was okay).
Sweden doesn’t take bottles back like Germany. You sell it, you should buy it back! Gamla Stan (Old Town), saw palace with purple and yellow flowers—Vikings Colors. Kept thinking “if I jump the fence, is that guard going to stab me? Ended up on wrong side of island bridge so I went to the southern city and not the part where I was staying. So I went to McDonald’s, sorry no McSalmon like a friend mentioned. 4 people in the day asked me for directions or thought I was Swedish! 4—cool. Next off to Carlaplan.
(and if anyone can tell me WHY I have multiple chins in this photo...? I could blame it on the german Wurst and Chocolate, but really, am I gaining weight?)


Thought I would find a big park, but just big field. I’ve seen THOSE before. Walk and find
private party at museum-- whoops, not for me.












See big lake, much better. Map says Nobel Park is close, so I’ll go see. Come to bridge ½ km past park and realize I never saw it. Doesn’t exist. Took bus back to random town square—wow great place.
Two deaf women were on the bus signing. They met up with their husbands and they signed too, thought Julie would appreciat that. I bought Swedish candy (cost more than my lunch), read in the park by the library. Checked into hostel. Met roommates and wend to Thai dinner with them (2 from Italy) Met other roommates from Canada—travelers through Europe for 3 months. Went to bed at midnight and was first one in room. (Sleep was at like 2 a.m. b/c I was talking to everyone one by one as they came back.)

(soon these blogs will be a bit more comprehensible and more reasonable in length. Not yet).

Later Days,
Rick

Pfingstenpause (an excuse to vacation) Part 1

Wake up at 3:30 a.m. (after 2:30 in bed). Train from central station to Basel. Then taxi to catch my flight—33 Euros to find out there was a direct bus! Helen, friend from Freiburg, told me so. She, coincidentally, was on the same flight to Hamburg.
Arrive in Hamburg at 8:30. Get to Ernst & young by 9:30. Irem, guide for morning ( told her I was studying in Freiburg so she said “oh, well then, we can certainly do this all in German.”
Hamburg EY office is Huge, gorgeous, and has natural lighting in every office. So 2 hours of Q & A, tour, (slightly awkward around other staff since my German stinks)
I walk through the area around E&Y, it’s quite residential, but then there’s this huge market lining the street. Ends at a large cathedral. Continue 2 blocks and arrive at a splendid park on the shore of the Alster River. Also see this John Deere in the park. Didn't they existed outside of Rural Minnesota--Dad may appreciate this. Noticing the time, I rush back to catch all the trams. I stored my at the airports. I had to go all the way back then back to central train station to catch the bus. I hate RyanAir. We flew from “Hamburg” to “Stockholm” but neither actual airports were witin 1 hour driving distance. There’s more $ gone on a bus. Next is the cool part. I arrive in Sweden (no one checked my passport) and got the bus. That bus ride was great because I started a German conversation with the woman next to me (Teacher from around Hamburg with brothers North of Stockholm, daughter near Stuttgart who just got a job offer!) I could see at points the look of her struggling to understand me, but a whole hour.
Then came the hardest part. I’m at the train terminal, can’t read the signs, don’t know where to go, almost literally lost. BUT, I used my resources, bought a train ticket (good for 3 days), used a map, got to a stop, followed the map and ended up at a hostel. No availability. Next hotel; nothing. Next said nothing, but has ONE room so I took it immediately. It costs as much in one night as 2 at the other hostel, but its comfort and my worry is over. So after a shower, I reserved hostels for the remainder of my stay, bought some dinner, and sit in front of a fountain in a castle square as I write this. What a good day—long; good.

Next comes Stockholm...
Later Days,
Rick