Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts

1comment
, , , , ,

art on brick & mortar

Street art, done well, can be highly fascinating. Saw some pretty epic pieces of art (and yeah, some graffiti too) this summer, so I figured I'd share some of those discoveries here:  
Spotted this one on my first night in Paris, not long after arriving. It was pouring rain, nearing eleven o'clock and a little sketchy in the dark as I got my first exposure to Paris (& France, for that matter), but I had to snap a photo (huddled under an umbrella, trying to keep my iPhone dry) when I saw this. 
Found this one in London, England with S & A. The Beatles! The Queen! A red double decker bus! Very British. Banksy
This, too, was spotted in London. This is located beside a tunnel/walkway; saw it on my last day in London on my way to the Tate Modern.
Also London. Found this one while I was just wandering around; can't remember the exact location, but I think it's near Tavistock Square.
Karate tofu! No ideas about the context for this, but hey, tofu is delicious! Bonn, Germany.
What is the plan? Encountered this one with C, J, K & M after a picnic.
Bonn really plays up the whole Beethoven thing (seeing as how it's his birthplace and all - although rumor has it the guy wasn't exactly fond of the place...)
This one's from last year, actually, spotted in Toronto while on an art store/bubble tea expedition with A, E, N & S.

It's actually kind of insane the amount of art there is near train tracks and the U-bahn. Some of the stuff on the barricades looks like it might've been fairly dangerous to put up, really. And there are a lot of really cool pieces near train stations that I wasn't able to snap photos of from the moving train. I've heard that there are some pretty awesome works in Berlin, but alas, wasn't able to make it out to east Germany this time around. Hopefully next time!

Have you spotted any really awesome street art recently? Where?

2comments
, , , , ,

Lull Before London

In the period between getting back from Maastricht & Aachen and going to London, UK, there was a lull of sorts where I stayed in town for two consecutive weekends. Work was fairly busy, but the weekends were fairly relaxed and consisted of just chilling with E & M, C & J, and a bunch of other UN interns. Snapped a couple of photos during those two weeks, so I'll let those do most of the talking instead:
Grabbed dinner with E & M one night at Madame Negla - as promised by E, these sandwiches were super good! You can't really tell from the photo, but there were green peas in it as well.  
The decor of the place was a little...disturbing though. It was really pink and sort of decorated like the inside of a little girl's bedroom or something. We also got eis and hot chocolate afterwards (not at the same time, of course) and they got much amusement of teaching me "Das ist das Haus vom Nikolaus."  
Watched the Germany vs. Greece match of the Euro Cup with C & J. Everyone looks calmly seated here ^, but whenever Germany scored, and especially when Germany won, there was lots of rambunctious celebrating. It was especially intense after the game - we're talking people climbing on traffic lights, traffic jams, honking horns, car rocking... Definitely awesome to experience being a part of the crowd.

Met a bunch of other UN interns at an international event, and as it turned out, a bunch of them were also going to the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. It was certainly an impressive conference. I think the final stats had something like over 2,000 attendees from over 100 countries.  
Lots of interesting sessions on a plethora of topics ranging from media to education to fashion to tourism and beyond. Speakers were impressive and quite varied as well - for example, there was the CEO of Frankfurt book fair, the deputy editor-in-chief for ELLE Vietnam, a past Indonesian president... 

One of the sessions I sat in on, "Fair Trade Fashion: Education for Sustainable Consumption," featured TUDO BOM, a fair trade fashion line made in Brasil and Paris - and a month later, I walked by a TUDO BOM store by chance in Paris. Crazy stuff! 

One of the other girls attending that session was also tweeting it (since it is a media conference and all), and I thought her name sounded familiar - as it turns out, it was because we'd corresponded by e-mail in the lead up to NAMUN. Small world, right? 
While the days were packed with plenary sessions, the evenings were a lot more lax. Day 1 was a boat trip, day 2 was a reception at the Bundeskuntshalle (which I'd been to previously), and day 3 was a reception at Deustche Welle. Hey, as an intern/student, not going to turn down free (good!) food ;) 
Apparently the party doesn't stop at college-level conferences - it was kind of cool to see all these journalists and activists rocking out on the boat to live music. (The cover artists were all really good too!) 
Next stop: London!

4comments
, , , ,

missing liebe Deutschland like mad already

It's been a week since I left Germany; hardly feels real. It's funny - this summer has been entirely surreal. On the one hand, it just doesn't seem like real life (being an expat, living on a foreign continent alone, freedom to travel and basically do whatever), but at the same time, it's more real life (40 hour work week, commuting, living on one's own) than normal life (which at this point is school, I suppose). It's certainly been a summer of contrasts. 

On some levels, it hasn't fully sunk in yet that I'm back in Canada now. Logging into CouchSurfing the other night, I was almost surprised to see the location change. I think I've officially caught the travel bug; can't seem to stop fantasizing about where I could go next summer, or whether I can squeeze in a trip somewhere during the winter break. 

A couple of personal projects that I'm hoping to make significant progress on this month, but alas they haven't proceeded nearly as far as I would've liked so far. The hours of each day seem to creep by at an entirely different pace here. 

Missing the people, the culture, the nature...heck, I even kind of miss the taste of the water, the consistency of the Nutella, the frischkäse... Also really missing the prospect of possibility that comes with living in a foreign place, the feeling that something extraordinary and unexpected could happen at any time, the knowledge that different things and experiences are readily available for discovering. 

^ Photo taken on the tarmac at CGN (Cologne-Bonn), pre-departure for Amsterdam. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon line. That, in conjunction with a 4am taxi ride with head-banging techno music being blasted as we raced down the autobahn at like 140 km/h, barely able to see 15 feet ahead in the dark, seemed like a fitting send-off. 

So much for recapping things in order. Will try to backtrack and recount some more of this summer's adventures throughout the course of this month though! Let's make August a worthy last month of summer break. 

2comments
, , , , , , ,

some reflections

"Something has changed within me, something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep - it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!"
- Wicked, Defying Gravity
A little overwhelmed and unsure how to feel right now. Had my last day at the office today. The last couple of months have been entirely surreal, to say the least. Was it really only four months ago that I was musing whether [the events of this summer] is real life? Three and a half months ago that there was much uncertainty? And less than three days later, filled with resolve?

Three months ago, moving to a foreign continent by myself, to a country whose language I didn't speak, was the hardest thing I'd had to do yet. Now, it feels like leaving this beautiful place is just as difficult, if not more so. I think I've really fallen in love with this country. It's been an absolutely phenomenal experience. 

I remember leaving work on either my second or third day, sometime past 6pm, and realizing as I walked to the bus stop that I was truly happy and satisfied with work. I'd hoped that the feeling would be sustained - and it has been. Today, I left at around the same time as that day, feeling the same passion and enjoyment. It's a bit bittersweet to be leaving, and I find myself almost a little reluctant to be doing so. The work was great, and the people were even greater. I'm really going to miss everyone. 

Three months ago, I'd never been to Europe before, nor had I traveled to another country - much less another continent - by myself. Three months ago, I hadn't really lived on my own or cooked for myself before (let's face it - residence = 3 meals/day provided, cleaning lady once a week, friends 24/7... that's not really independence). Now I've done all that, plus navigated 5 countries on weekend trips. The dichotomy is kind of astounding. This summer has seen an insane amount of 'first's. 

I'd arrived as a curious 19 year old, wide eyed and naive. I'm leaving as an even more curious 20 year old, still kind of lost and wide eyed, but maybe a little less naive (hopefully). I've been fairly fortunate this summer. At the mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation session, J warned us about the curve - of starting out at a high and super excited about being in a new place, and then hitting the depression low. My second last night in Canada, I said to M that I was fully expecting to fall down the hardest I've ever fallen before, but if I was able to get back up, well. S had mentioned the lows he'd experienced last summer in Geneva. 

And sure, not every moment was sunshine and butterflies, but luckily, even the lowest moment wasn't that low, relative to other experiences. The worst that happened this summer was probably losing a toenail due to subungual hematoma and getting an infection on the same toe (needed antibiotic/corticosteroids) and having to cancel trips to Berlin and Basel+Munich as a result. But at the end of the day, #firstworldproblems.

Hopefully this is only the first of many travels. Falling in love with new places, it's kind of inevitable that leaving to continue on to the next big adventure will be bittersweet. But hey, I'll take it. 

Here's to more phenomenal experiences and incredible sights and remarkable people! I'm beyond excited. 

2comments
, , , , , , ,

Completing the Trifecta: Maastricht + Aachen

Considering the close proximity and interlocking between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, it seemed fitting that my next weekend trip (June 9th & 10th) encompassed Maastricht (for all you poli sci junkies, where the Maastricht Treaty was signed), and Aachen. The Maas River (above) is pretty spectacular, spanned by a number of bridges. Started Saturday off by taking the train to Aachen, then a bus to Maastricht. H gave me a tour of the city, which is fairly small, but quaint and cute.  
Technically it is a university town as well, but the place seems to lean towards the calmer, quieter side. There were also animals in the middle of the city! Peacocks, birds, deer, donkey, sheep... There were a couple animals that were funny but majestic looking, and I got pretty excited, all "wow, that's a really cool animal! What is it?" sort of deal, to which H replied, "those are goats." Yeahhh...living in the city isn't exactly conducive to animal recognition skills, I suppose haha.  
Maastricht is a really place - water, parks, animals... Basically really calm and peaceful. I suppose when you're young and a student, it could get a little boring, but I would imagine later on in life, it'd be the kind of place I'd want to go to get away from the city bustle for a weekend. (Although if they plopped some places like that ^ downtown, I'd totally go there to chill.)

There's a lot of historic stuff too, churches, cathedrals, parts of the old city gate that're still standing... Probably climbed more turret/cyclical stairs in Maastricht alone than everywhere else I've visited so far this summer combined.  
Case in point: we went up these turret stairs in this church by the center square - which was kind of taxing, actually, since the steps are uneven stone and the space is pretty cramped. It took ages to get up (and then back down), but it wasn't actually all that high up (still super windy though!). It was really cool because from up there you could literally see 360 degrees - and therefore all three countries (Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands). 
I got really excited about seeing these Dutch clogs too. I remember a good decade or so ago, we went to Ottawa for Victoria Day and there were tons of Dutch tulips and clogs. Back then, it seemed more like a concept than anything else, the idea of Holland far, far away. But now, here I was, holding Dutch clogs, in the Netherlands. Kind of odd trying to reconcile your childhood self with your... in-transition-between-childhood-and-adulthood self. 

Caught the first half of the Netherlands-Denmark game (Euro Cup 2012) with H and some of his friends, 2 Dutch guys and another guy from Manchester. They were all pretty chill, and pretty funny with the translations on the commentary (since I don't know Dutch). And it was interesting to note the cultural differences in  perspective too!

Then I caught the bus back to Aachen, met up with S, and we went to watch the Germany-Portugal game. (It's kind of insane, to have been in the Netherlands while they played, and then back in Germany while they played as well :O Things like that don't really happen in North America, since everything's so much more spread out...) It was great to see Germany win! 
Getting back after the game was...a bit of a trial. S forgot his keys, so we essentially had to break into his flat. #CouchSurfingAdventures haha. Checked out a really cool bar/pub sort of place, which S described as having a "living room atmosphere" (think couches, dim lighting, vintage knickknacks...), with dancing in the basement (but they were playing polka music or something).  
Spent Sunday wandering the city, checking out art galleries/museums, the university, that sort of thing. Also had the biggest dollop of eis for the cheapest price so far this summer while in Aachen (more stracciatella :) 
Certainly interesting to check out some smaller places, see some of the ordinary, less-touristy aspects of these countries. 

(Should really start blogging while more awake - I feel like the last couple of entries have all been poorly-written, incoherent messes. Ah well...) Also - a few weeks ago I saw a blog post about seeing the Alps in Bavaria, but it was some hidden spot that isn't widely advertised to tourists because the locals want it kept secret to keep it from being over-run. The post was accompanied by beautiful photos of mountains and lakes. Trying to find this post, but can't remember where I saw it... Long shot, but does this ring a bell for anyone/direct me to the blog?

3comments
, , , , , ,

speed-cap: Belgium Day 3 & boat trip

Going to speed-recap the last couple of weeks in the next couple of posts, and hopefully get everything up to London (last weekend) hashed before leaving for Paris. So - third day in Belgium didn't carry the same urgency to see things, as I was still in Brussels. Somehow managed to get lost trying to find a church I'd walked by with P the night before. (In the process, had a really awkward encounter. I mean, getting hit on in Europe - except in Germany, apparently - is kind of inevitable, and sometimes it's really bizarre, but this one really took the cake for creepiness.) And the church wasn't even open.

Finally made it out to the Palace of Justice. Unfortunately a part of it was under renovation, and it wasn't open (since this was a holiday Monday). Still pretty cool though!
How magnificent is the sky? ^ Super hot weather the three days I was there, and the sky was so blue and clear it was unreal. (You can see the trail from an aircraft having recently taken off too!) The whole bumming around alone thing is... kind of lonely, to be honest, and it definitely sinks in more with time. You see things and think of who would also enjoy them, or have comments about sights that you'd make to particular people...but there's nobody else there. I spent a decent amount of time just chilling in parks that day too. 

Being a student of political science, of course I had to check out the politics-related, European Union, European Parliament, etc. stuff. Wandered into Cinquantenaire Park (as a result of semi-going-where-the-wind-blows and semi-got-lost). Lots of people sprawled out on the grass, tanning, reading, chilling...super peaceful and nice. Tried speculoos ice cream (ordered en français, bien sûr!)
So Av. John F. Kennedy leads up to this ^, and I want to take a photo. There's a couple in the way, and finally they move; I get my camera out and up, ready to snap one. They look at me, holding the camera. Then they pounce in front of it and started making out. I don't even know. (Saw a lot of couples in Belgium, actually.)

Also hit up Parc de Bruxelles, Parc Léopold, chilled by the water, got lost on the way to the Parliamentarium, swung by the Palais Royal... And then it was back to Germany for me. (Crazy enough, a girl who'd been on the same train on the way there was again on the same train coming back.) Alas, didn't get to everything this time around (e.g. missed out on the Atomium), but there's always next time!
I was pretty boring the weekend after that. Stayed in town thinking I would get lots of life-admin stuff done, but it mostly just disintegrated into sleep, watching videos and doing not much of anything. Grabbed coffee with J, who's from Finland, on Sunday.
Friday afternoon we had a retreat at work. Decided by vote, we went on a boat trip down the Rhine, checked out a tiny village called Unkel (which turned out to be really tiny - we'd walked the entire main area in like ten minutes), came back, and grabbed dinner at Tuscolo. The pizza was massive - bigger than my face! So yummy. Didn't partake in the wine though, as I was setting off for the Netherlands the next morning :)

0comment
, , , , , ,

local shenanigans

So behind on so many administrative things, just thinking about catching up is a little intimidating. Haven't been doing the best with recapping either...but I don't want to go too out of order. But here's week 3 (starting May 19th). Some of the memories already feel like they're receding into the past, pushed aside by new ones.

Taking a number of factors into consideration, I ended up deciding to stick around in town. On Saturday, I checked out the Flohmarkt (basically a gigantic flea market - they happen once a month in the summer and people from all around the region come with wares). It was certainly very interesting to experience. There were definitely thousands of people in attendance. Yet somehow, surrounded by so many people, it was one of the loneliest I've felt since getting here. Probably because English wasn't nearly understood by as many people here. A combination of close proximity to big crowds and seemingly insurmountable language barriers leads to a weird feeling of being surrounded but isolated. 

Nevertheless, it was a pretty cool experience. Things sold ranged from typical garage sale wares (think childhood toys, vintage clothes, old junk) to antique treasures (Polaroids, old cameras, type writers) to boho clothing to hand made crafts (jewelry, carvings, African statues, wooden utensils). All in all, it was pretty cool - kind of like seeing living German history on a more personal level. I would've really liked to have picked up a type writer, but it just isn't realistic to do so. 
Grabbed one of those German sausage + round bun things for a snack and then settled down by the water. Somehow, lying there in the grass among the ants and goose poo, was kind of nice and peaceful. (It really was better than it sounds haha.) The sky was a phenomenal gradient of blue; the photo barely does it justice.

But anyway, picked up some bio gurken and headed back. On the U-bahn, saw a couple stations advertising Ménage à trois - and what do you know, the next day was the last for the display! So of course I had to head over to the Bundeskuntshalle on Sunday.
Ménage à trois featured collaborations between and collections of three New Yorker artists - Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francesco Clemente. (I know, the irony of a Canadian seeing American artwork in Germany...) I'll admit - when I first got there, I kind of felt like a poseur, trying to decipher these pieces of art work like a pseudo-connoisseur, and failing miserably. (Elusive teachings from high school art weren't really effective.) But I really got into it after a while - there's something about the artwork and the atmosphere that really draws you in. 

Andy Warhol's iconic pop art was amazing, as can be expected. Basquiat had some pretty cool stuff. And I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking some of Clemente's pieces. There were a number of collaborative pieces that were great as well. Especially liked 'Handball' and 'Origin of Cotton'. Also checked out the Romy Schneider exhibit since I was already there anyway, and that was fairly fascinating as well. 
Had a couple transportation fails that week. For example, while not really paying attention (or expecting other buses to go through the stop) somehow managed to get on the wrong bus and ended up some place new... adventure! There was also one night where I was supposed to go check out a WG (flat-share) at 7:30, and possibly another one at 8:30, but somehow, writing down the addresses in a rush that morning, I managed to reverse them.

So basically I showed up at the 8:30 that I was maybe-going-to-drop-by-maybe-not at 7:30, only realizing my mistake upon arrival. And considering they were about 3km apart, there was no way to get to the other. *sigh* The people at the supposed-to-be-8:30 were all pretty nice. One thing one of the guys said kind of resonated - we were talking about furniture (and basically just the necessities of bed, desk & chair) and how living abroad, you learn to settle for a lot less and lower your standards. Which I suppose is true - and maybe not a bad thing.

^ This post reads like a fumbling mess. Whatever, it's 2 in the morning, time to crash. G'night!

8comments
, , , , ,

Cologne, Urbanization & German Romance

Week two recap time! About to fall asleep sitting up though, so bear with me if it's a little incoherent. So last Saturday (the 12th) I ended up going to Cologne (still in the North Rhine-Westphalia region) and spent the day with N, one of the other interns, and her boyfriend K. They were absolutely lovely hosts, and I got a great tour and learned loads about this area, Germany, Mexico...
As soon as you exit the Cologne Hauptbahnhof, you're immediately overwhelmed by the sight of the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), a massive Roman Catholic church dating back from the 13th century. The dichotomy between the prominent structures (the station and the cathedral) right beside each other, one modern and high tech and the other Medieval and historic is kind of rad. Erosion, weather and time are obviously inevitable forces acting on it, so it's basically constantly undergoing renovation. It still looks amazing, but apparently a lot of the exterior isn't actually remnant of the Middle Ages. 
From the outside the cathedral is very dark and imposing looking - massive and intimidating, sure - but not particularly welcoming. It just kind of looks grey. From the inside though, it's another story. Huge panels of stained glass filter the light to a soft glow. Lit candles, ancient tapestries and numerous pews inhabit the interior. In a restricted access area is a shrine said to contain the remains of the Three Kings/Three Wise Men. Wikipedia says it's a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts approximately 20,000 visitors a day. 
The weather in this entire area has been really insane the last week, effectively alternating through the course of basically four seasons in the span of an hour. It'll literally switch from massive downpour to perfect sunny day within minutes - and because the office is in a high rise building with a view of the entire city, we can literally watch the weather come in and differentiate between parts of the city that are sunny/stormy. N said it hailed in Cologne one morning.  
The Rhine meanders in graceful curves, looping its way through the region, but it's not super wide. There are a number of bridges that span the river. We trekked onto a large on in Cologne, where the fence blocking the pedestrian traffic from mechanic is literally covered by locks.

So apparently it's a thing - especially when people get married - to get a lock, have your names and the date engraved or carved, lock it to a bridge, then each take one of the two keys and throw it into the Rhine. The concept of a locked bond in which you've thrown away the key takes on a literal meaning here (and apparently there are such bridges in Italy as well?) The Germans may not have a reputation for romance, but they seem plenty romantic in actuality...

Heart-shaped doodads are readily available, PDA is commonplace, and there are a number of intriguing courtship rituals. May 1st, May Day, is a sort of celebration of the arrival of Spring. Young lads who've got a crush on someone will go and decorate a May Day tree outside her house with colorful ribbons and maybe her name. There are two potential outcomes: 1) she accepts the invitation and they go on a date or 2) she declines and her father buys her rejected admirer a drink. Win-win situation? This year's a Leap Year so apparently the girls got to confess their crushes like this too. On Saturdays you see a lot of bachelor/bachelorette parties around town as well. 
Some famous Germans ^. Statues are larger than life - some of them look like they have bullet holes in them, but who knows. K basically put Cologne as a city that's very free-spirited. Could kind of see that, from the hours spent there. For linner (dunch?) we actually ended up getting Lebanese food from a cute little place. On N's suggestion, I got Halloumi. I'm not always the most adventurous eater when it comes to trying new food, but this was actually amazing - it's basically fried goat cheese in a pita wrap with vegetables (and sauce?) (I've tried looking for it here, but to no avail yet.) The cash register at this place was insane - it was some vintage thing that was 150 years old and you had to crank it and the numbers would display!
We walked around for a bit, seeing Old Market, New Market, beer gardens (biergarten)... There was also a massive multi-level store with sports/outdoorsy ware that was pretty next level. On the bottom floor, there was a diving pool where people were taking scuba diving lessons. There was a hiking patch where you could test shoes, and a storm room which could simulate rain/wind so that coats could be tested as well. Takes "try before you buy" to an extreme. 
They recently found some remains from the 15th century just under the surface of the city, so the area around the Cologne Rathaus is currently undergoing archaeological excavation. It's speculated that many goldsmiths worked in the building, back in the day. We finished off the day by getting some Früh Kölsch (at the brewery?) - it's a multi-level building with a conveyor belt system and barrels of beer. 
Attended a panel discussion on urbanization Tuesday night, which was highly fascinating. The panelists had very diverse backgrounds, and a lot of interesting ideas were exchanged. It was also neat to see how a panel runs in German culture - slight nuances differ from North American (although it could be attributed to the style of this particular moderator for all I know). The catering for the reception was pretty good as well - there was Dom Kölsch, hors d'oeuvres/open-faced sandwich things, & some sort of peppermint strawberry thing for desert. 

All in all, it's been another week of fascinating exposure to German living. Cheers!

3comments
, , , , , ,

week one recap

Crazy to think that I've been here in Deutschland for a little over a week now. Alas, I haven't been doing very well on keeping up with recording everything (or taking photos for that matter - e.g. the other day I saw a cluster of like 15 people riding on Segways while waiting for the bus and didn't think to take a photo. I mean, I have an iPhone - no excuses! I'll try to do better from now on.) But anyway - I'll just recap week one for now (so until Friday the 11th). 

Started the internship on Monday. It's been great so far - I'd kind of expected to maybe go through orientation, get eased in - but we just jumped right in! The people are great, the material is interesting, everything about it is pretty awesome right now. 
Been doing a bit of wandering around in the city core/area around the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) after work lately. Saw these Berliners and immediately thought of the times S relayed that story about how JFK once said, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Bought 5 of these babies. (They had Amerikaners too hehe)
I'm kind of weird when it comes to birthdays. I'm big on maturity and independence, but at the same time, I'm not in a hurry to grow up. This was a big one, the 2-0, two decades. Looking back, I seriously wonder - what have I really accomplished in these past twenty years? What have I done with my life so far, what am I doing with it now, what do I want to do with it? I think about the magnitude of the world and feel insignificant in comparison. 

Turning 20 was anti-climatic, but I suppose I was kind of expecting that. (If anything, moving to Europe by myself a couple days prior was the bigger milestone in terms of growing up; an arbitrary day, artificially calculated by humans, felt simply lesser in comparison.) Woke up not really thinking about it, stayed at work until 6:30pm, pretty meh. Snapped this photo of some graffiti near the bus stop after work - "Consume, Be Silent, Die." 

I walk by this every week day, and it really makes me wonder. Who left it there? What does it mean? What did [the artist] intend it to mean? And I can't help but speculate. Is it a referral to society, how we're silent consumers who do what we're told, leading complacent lives that inevitably end in death? Is it a critique of the human life? Is it a command for what to do? Is it meant to be satirical, implicitly urging people to raise their voices and live? I have no idea - but I really do hope there's something more to life than that.  
Maybe there's a little too thinking that goes on when you move to a foreign city by yourself without knowing anyone there. But is there such a thing as too much self-reflection when we live bustling 21st-century lives? Or do we simply delude ourselves into thinking that our lives have meaning when we're really just caught up in the monotony of the artificial, trivial, seemingly significant events, day in, day out? At the end of it all, maybe our existences are pretty banal.
This sounds kind of depressing so far, but I don't mean it to be - I actually am enjoying being here so far. The buildings are very historic and pretty breathtaking, the people have been pretty nice so far, on the whole, and seeing the entire city laid out from the canteen of the top level of the skyscraper is fairly shattering. 

It's only been a week, but so much has already changed. How much more will paradigms shift over the weeks to come?  
This entire experience is about being willing to try new things, perhaps jump in head first, eyes wide open, in ways that I may not otherwise. So since I'm considering maybe doing some CouchSurfing later this summer, I figured I'd go to the local CS meet-up on Friday. Met up with E (who was a total sweetheart) about half an hour beforehand, and we headed over to La Victoria, a relatively new pub, together.

There was live country music (in English)! Eventually we all ended up in the back room because the music was pretty loud and eventually there were a lot of us (maybe around 15 people?) It's kind of amazing the sorts of random lifechats it's possible to have with complete strangers!
First German beer! On E's recommendation, I got a Peters Kölsch, which is local to this region. (About 15 seconds later, I opened it wrong and sprayed myself in the face a little - tried to surreptitiously wipe my forehead - graceful, I know. E was kind enough not to laugh at me, but an hour later she did advise me to open it facing the other direction next time to avoid the spray haha). Met a lot of interesting people for sure - a lot of locals, a couple well-traveled people. There was a Polish woman who'd been from Vancouver to PEI. A German man who'd lived in the US, another who'd lived in the UK, and many more who've traveled lots. Definitely great to meet and chat with such a diverse range of people!

Barely caught the bus back (as in I sprinted; the bus started moving; door finally opened - phew. In a week, I've seen numerous people literally hit the open door button only to have the bus/tram drive away without them.) In addition to stores closing really early (and staying closed on Sundays), public transportation also stops running just past midnight. 

All in all, a fascinating first week here :)

Powered by Blogger.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...