I think I am getting the hang of all these German computer commands. I figured out the ' and I don't have to look when I want to use the y!
Let's see, I think I left off on Monday. After I logged off I checked out the grocery store across the street. The groceries are so cheap here! Everything I bought was under 1€, including most the beers. Snagged a bottle of wine here later. After breakfast we played around in the Tiergarten, and made it to Stauffenbergstraße to see the memorial. We came back and took a nap, and that totally wiped me out! David and Billy had to drag me out of bed to get some food, then after dinner we headed back to Jägerklause.
Tuesday we took a bit of a breather. Woke up and had the hostel 'breakfast', which is basically bread, meat, eggs, and coffee or oj. We had to switch rooms that day too. We went to move our stuff after breakfast and our room keys were deactivated after 11am, so we had to go back and forth trying to get our stuff out. I had to borrow a locker key too, since I had lost mine and all my stuff was stored in there. So now instead of being on the bottom floor, we are on the very top. That's a lot of stairs to climb, but I like this room much more. Much brighter and nicer layout.
We hung out and talked most of the day, then headed out to eat at Steak House San Diego! Couldn't deciper what a lof of the menu was offering, luckily they had english menus as well. Apparently I had my eye on the ostrich steak. They also had kangaroo and wild boar meat, but we were too chicken to try any of them.
When we got back to the room it had filled up with roommmates. There's a girl from Australia, a guy from Japan and a guy from Bremmen. Daniel from Bremmen works at a cinema there and is covering Berlinale. He gets to meet a lot of the actors who show up for the movie premiers. We stayed in last night and a drank the bottle of wine.
It snowed here in Berlin today! I've been to the snow quite a few times, but have never actually witnesssed it falling. Sehr kühl!
We got up early to make it to Mittenwalde in good time. It was a long train ride to König, but we passed by a lot of cool buildings and some small towns outside of Berlin. Königs Wusterhausen is a cute little town. As we were going down the main street we came across a discount store and bought new hats, gloves and scarves for really cheap. 5€! They were a big help because it was a cooooold walk. We stopped for the coffee flavored water and curry fries in Shenkendorf. Despite the cold, we still made it from Berlin to KW, and then walked 8km to Mittenwalde. We were cold and tired when we got there so we stopped for food at a hotel/restaurant. We walked around a bit, but nobody was out and we were already tired, so we found a bus back to Königs Wusterhausen. I wish the weather had been better so we could have explored more. We hardly saw any of Mittenwalde and from what I've looked up, there's pleanty more to be seen.
As soon as we got back I passed out until midnight. I woke up as some of the roommates were coming in to bed, came and got a coffee, and I've been down on the computer since. It's now 2:30am. My sleep is going to be so messed up when I get back home.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
This might look like a mess?
how can people fly overseas so often! the guy in front of me had his seat allll the way back, the lady behind me kept kicking my seat, the person next to me kept trying to lay on me, and i wasnt allowed to look out my window for a good part of the flight.
ive been haveing a good time here so far. we have done a lot of walking and i am now regretting my choice of walking shoes. i think im going to buy some new ones today.our hostel is pretty nice. not as nice as it looked online, but nicer than i thought it was when we first arrived. this building was once a jewish girls school and is pretty creepy... the floors creak when you walk and not all of the halls have lights in them.
friday was our first real day here, and we explored most of kreuzberg. Lots of street art and some cool parks. we were so tired after walking around all day and came back to the hostel for a nap before we went out for the night. we ended up in some bar full of punks called jägerklause.
saturday i convinced the guys to use the train, so we rode the u-bahn to the more popular areas. we checked out alexanderplatz and postdamerplatz and museum island. berlinale was happening at postdammerplatz, we have yet to see any movies though. we had lunch at a place called cancun, which we all thought was kind of hilarious... we come 5 thousand miles from california to germany and end up at a mexican food restaurant. went back to the hostel for a nap then went out again. we decided to check out this place called 8mm on schönhauser allee. its was small and stuffy, but they had cool movies projecting on the wall. it became really crowded pretty soon and all the smoke became hard to stand, so we left. i had heard about white trash fast food before, so we checked it out since we were right down the street. its a restaurant/club/tattoo parlor. i think the tattoo parlor just opened because they were doing free tattoos. after getting drinks we headed out onto the dance floor. after about 15 minutes i noticed someone on stage with the djs singing a long to the music, so i headed closer... it was peaches! she was the guest dj that night. i was in the very front and danced my ass off until 4 in the morning, it was awesome.
sunday i woke not feeling too well for some reason and would have been content just sleeping all day. instead i was dragged out of bed to grab something to eat, and we headed back to the neighborhood those bars we were at the night before are in. i lost the key to my hostel locker and billy lost his passport. we had a few hours to kill until the bars opened so we got breakfast/lunch/dinner at some italian restaurant. we still had hours to kill, so we walked down the street and hung out at this little hookah bar called marrakesh. the hookah was only 5€ so we hung out there for a few hours waiting for those bars to open again. we left around 830 and the bars still werent open so we went to one that was. it was this cute little 60s-80s bar with bees and cows hanging from the ceiling. before heading back to the hostel we ended up finding the passport, but no key. there goes 10 euros!
today is monday and i woke up probably around 3 or 4 for some unknown reason. i satyed in bed hoping to fall asleep, but ended up at the internet area instead. the "sun" came up about a half hour ago. its been raining and it keeps getting colder. i havent been too cold in the clothes i brought, but when that icy wind hits my face i want to wrap my scarf around my head.
we had some new company in our room last night, 3 guys. sometime after i woke up this morning, one of them got up and dropped the lower half of his clothing and walked out into the hall like that to use the bathroom. after he came back and fell back asleep i decided to finally get up. the z and the y on this keyboard are switched, some keys i am use to are missing, there are new ones in german too. it took me a while to log onto myspace because there is no shift key and i coulnt figure out how to make the @ appear. i finally got google to english nd figured it out.david is finally awake and were going to get breakfast. im still in my jammies and a coat, and now people are showing up to use the computers so i guess its time to head out. never figured out the apostrophe key.
ive been haveing a good time here so far. we have done a lot of walking and i am now regretting my choice of walking shoes. i think im going to buy some new ones today.our hostel is pretty nice. not as nice as it looked online, but nicer than i thought it was when we first arrived. this building was once a jewish girls school and is pretty creepy... the floors creak when you walk and not all of the halls have lights in them.
friday was our first real day here, and we explored most of kreuzberg. Lots of street art and some cool parks. we were so tired after walking around all day and came back to the hostel for a nap before we went out for the night. we ended up in some bar full of punks called jägerklause.
saturday i convinced the guys to use the train, so we rode the u-bahn to the more popular areas. we checked out alexanderplatz and postdamerplatz and museum island. berlinale was happening at postdammerplatz, we have yet to see any movies though. we had lunch at a place called cancun, which we all thought was kind of hilarious... we come 5 thousand miles from california to germany and end up at a mexican food restaurant. went back to the hostel for a nap then went out again. we decided to check out this place called 8mm on schönhauser allee. its was small and stuffy, but they had cool movies projecting on the wall. it became really crowded pretty soon and all the smoke became hard to stand, so we left. i had heard about white trash fast food before, so we checked it out since we were right down the street. its a restaurant/club/tattoo parlor. i think the tattoo parlor just opened because they were doing free tattoos. after getting drinks we headed out onto the dance floor. after about 15 minutes i noticed someone on stage with the djs singing a long to the music, so i headed closer... it was peaches! she was the guest dj that night. i was in the very front and danced my ass off until 4 in the morning, it was awesome.
sunday i woke not feeling too well for some reason and would have been content just sleeping all day. instead i was dragged out of bed to grab something to eat, and we headed back to the neighborhood those bars we were at the night before are in. i lost the key to my hostel locker and billy lost his passport. we had a few hours to kill until the bars opened so we got breakfast/lunch/dinner at some italian restaurant. we still had hours to kill, so we walked down the street and hung out at this little hookah bar called marrakesh. the hookah was only 5€ so we hung out there for a few hours waiting for those bars to open again. we left around 830 and the bars still werent open so we went to one that was. it was this cute little 60s-80s bar with bees and cows hanging from the ceiling. before heading back to the hostel we ended up finding the passport, but no key. there goes 10 euros!
today is monday and i woke up probably around 3 or 4 for some unknown reason. i satyed in bed hoping to fall asleep, but ended up at the internet area instead. the "sun" came up about a half hour ago. its been raining and it keeps getting colder. i havent been too cold in the clothes i brought, but when that icy wind hits my face i want to wrap my scarf around my head.
we had some new company in our room last night, 3 guys. sometime after i woke up this morning, one of them got up and dropped the lower half of his clothing and walked out into the hall like that to use the bathroom. after he came back and fell back asleep i decided to finally get up. the z and the y on this keyboard are switched, some keys i am use to are missing, there are new ones in german too. it took me a while to log onto myspace because there is no shift key and i coulnt figure out how to make the @ appear. i finally got google to english nd figured it out.david is finally awake and were going to get breakfast. im still in my jammies and a coat, and now people are showing up to use the computers so i guess its time to head out. never figured out the apostrophe key.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
What a year so far.
Sunday before I left work I was given a phone number to call, by my supervisor Cynthia, that was a mandatory conference call for all employees.
It was apparently a mandatory conference call for all Home Depot EXPO, Home Depot Design Center and all Home Depot YardBIRDS employees to let them know their stores we being shut down in the next few months. They're shutting down 41 stores, and all the other regular box stores in my area are in a hiring freeze. Not that they could accommodate all 7,000 employees they just leg go at regular Home Depot stores anyhow.
David also got laid off today, but it's not such a big deal for him since he's in a union that will hunt for a job for him.
So now we are talking about moving. Allison is going to move back in with her parents to save money and pay her dad back. David could move back in with his mother, not that he needs to. I don't have the option to move back home unfortunately. My mom said there is no room for me. So that left David and I looking at Studios, or the possibility of me also moving into his mom's house.
They reason why I'm looking to move rather than find another job is I'm thinking I'll go back to school. I'll find a part time job, there are a lot of places around here that are hiring, just not full time like I had wanted... but if I start back at DVC I'll only need a part time job. David said he's willing to pay the rent if we move somewhere under $1,000(so, a studio), and I am going to school.
On the brighter side, I'm leaving for Germany next Wednesday! People at work keep asking me if I'm still going... heck ya! So far all I'm having to pay is 100€ for my stay in the Hostel.
Things could be a lot worse.
It was apparently a mandatory conference call for all Home Depot EXPO, Home Depot Design Center and all Home Depot YardBIRDS employees to let them know their stores we being shut down in the next few months. They're shutting down 41 stores, and all the other regular box stores in my area are in a hiring freeze. Not that they could accommodate all 7,000 employees they just leg go at regular Home Depot stores anyhow.
David also got laid off today, but it's not such a big deal for him since he's in a union that will hunt for a job for him.
So now we are talking about moving. Allison is going to move back in with her parents to save money and pay her dad back. David could move back in with his mother, not that he needs to. I don't have the option to move back home unfortunately. My mom said there is no room for me. So that left David and I looking at Studios, or the possibility of me also moving into his mom's house.
They reason why I'm looking to move rather than find another job is I'm thinking I'll go back to school. I'll find a part time job, there are a lot of places around here that are hiring, just not full time like I had wanted... but if I start back at DVC I'll only need a part time job. David said he's willing to pay the rent if we move somewhere under $1,000(so, a studio), and I am going to school.
On the brighter side, I'm leaving for Germany next Wednesday! People at work keep asking me if I'm still going... heck ya! So far all I'm having to pay is 100€ for my stay in the Hostel.
Things could be a lot worse.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Next month, February 4th, I will be on my way to Germany! I payed to have a quickly expedited passport on Friday and we bought our plane tickets yesterday. We'll be flying non-stop from San Francisco to Berlin on Lufthansa.
This is my first time out of the country! I'm so excited!
This is my first time out of the country! I'm so excited!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving
Yesterday I had my family over to my place for Thanksgiving. This is my second year hosting the holiday's for my family and preparing most of the food. I made Maple Glazed Carrots, Pecan baked Brussel Sprouts, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, and Hard Cider Gravy(Thanks Martha!). Mom cooked the Turkey.
I like to entertain and have parties for my friends, but it's not the same when I have my family over. As soon as they got here with the turkey, it was chaos in my 5'x6' kitchen, and a rush to get all the food on the table while it was still hot. Then we ate, had dessert, mom helped with the dished while dad took half the boys home, and then she left with my grandma shortly after. They were here for maybe... an hour?! No visiting afterward or anything. I had even made a cute little sitting room full of TREATS to lure everyone in. Why did I go through so much trouble? I'll have to find a way to trick them into staying longer on Christmas I guess.
I wish the holidays were the way they were when I was a kid. Everyone gathered at grandma's house, they visited with each other, ate together, and then visited some more. I hate this eat and run stuff.
^My Teeny-tiny Kitchen^
^My Dining Room, which is normally my Living Room.^
^My Sitting Area, sans treats, which is normally my Dining Room.^
^Myself, as of a few moments ago.^
I like to entertain and have parties for my friends, but it's not the same when I have my family over. As soon as they got here with the turkey, it was chaos in my 5'x6' kitchen, and a rush to get all the food on the table while it was still hot. Then we ate, had dessert, mom helped with the dished while dad took half the boys home, and then she left with my grandma shortly after. They were here for maybe... an hour?! No visiting afterward or anything. I had even made a cute little sitting room full of TREATS to lure everyone in. Why did I go through so much trouble? I'll have to find a way to trick them into staying longer on Christmas I guess.
I wish the holidays were the way they were when I was a kid. Everyone gathered at grandma's house, they visited with each other, ate together, and then visited some more. I hate this eat and run stuff.
^My Teeny-tiny Kitchen^
^My Dining Room, which is normally my Living Room.^
^My Sitting Area, sans treats, which is normally my Dining Room.^^Myself, as of a few moments ago.^Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Pet Troubles
Seems I just can't get a break these days. The last two years have been nothing but financial stress and worry for me. Things have been calm the last few months, but I would not be surprised if I broke my leg or my car exploded tomorrow with the way things have been going.
Paddington has always been my "special" cat, having a bum leg and being the runt that she is. Blair on the other hand, the super cat who was so big and smart and healthy... just ended up costing a fortune! Three times his bladder had to be unblocked before I finally agreed to the surgery, totally over $7,000 this year. He had to wear his cone for about two months before I finally felt comfortable removing it, but I'm still afraid he'll irritate himself and end up blocked again. I really do not have any more money, and if that happens he'll have to be put down. What a horrible thing to have to do after putting so much into... A CAT. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because he's, "just a cat".
This on top of my other bills stressing me out! The cats we owned while I was growing up were never this big of a hassle. I guess I just thought I'd get some cats, they'd be cats and I'd be me, the end.
Enough whining about them, here's some cute pictures of the buggers instead.
One Eyed Willie
Paddington
Blair
Paddington has always been my "special" cat, having a bum leg and being the runt that she is. Blair on the other hand, the super cat who was so big and smart and healthy... just ended up costing a fortune! Three times his bladder had to be unblocked before I finally agreed to the surgery, totally over $7,000 this year. He had to wear his cone for about two months before I finally felt comfortable removing it, but I'm still afraid he'll irritate himself and end up blocked again. I really do not have any more money, and if that happens he'll have to be put down. What a horrible thing to have to do after putting so much into... A CAT. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because he's, "just a cat".
This on top of my other bills stressing me out! The cats we owned while I was growing up were never this big of a hassle. I guess I just thought I'd get some cats, they'd be cats and I'd be me, the end.
Enough whining about them, here's some cute pictures of the buggers instead.
One Eyed WilliePaddingtonBlair
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