The Great Return

For the second week of our two week fall break, I decided to return to my German roots: Forchheim. 

 

The two months I had been in Dortmund marked the longest I had ever been away from Forchheim since moving there in September 2010. So going back was a greatly-anticipated treat!  My return to Forchheim also saw the greatest reunion of Gemily since the Christmas 2010 split. 

Although the week went by all too quickly, I got to get in a little bit of all my favorite Forchheim things. I got to spend plenty of quality time back at Hotel Baptistella, playing cards with Gemma, visit friends in the city, enjoying some delightful (and appropriately-sized) Kellerbier, visit new places in Franken, and spend a day in my PJs watching TV (Bones...) and being completely lazy all day with Gemma. 

Our first order of business, actually, was to stock up on sustenance to get us through our ritual lazy day without ever having to leave the apartment (and yes, those are mini pizzas and mini breaded cheese bits in there. We like to keep it classy). 

If the excitement of it all wasn't enough, my week was topped off when my new winter jacket and purse were delivered on my last day. My excitement is clearly discernible here in my happy dance (hey, you'd be excited too if you got a 60€ Jacket and 15€ purse for a grand total of 28€, thank you internet sales!)

It was fantastic to be back and to get to see everyone, and I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get to go back again! 

Achin' for Aachen

What can I say, I'm a sucker for corny titles, especially those using alliteration. 

Aachen has been on my list of German cities to visit after hearing so much about it last year. Maybe it was just the people I hang out with, or maybe Aachen really is that popular, but this city I had never heard of before was suddenly becoming the destination to visit for many of my friends.

So when I found myself with a 2 week break from school and a ticket to get me anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen, I thought I would make the journey. 

And it was definitely worth it. 

Now, I've been to a lot of German cities, a lot of VERY German cities, and sometimes it can get a bit repetitive. Oh look, another castle. What an ornate cathedral you have in the middle of your city. Your market square is just so... open. It tends to lose it's excitement after a while.  But there was something about Aachen that I just found charming. The city center is connected by tiny pedestrian zone streets lined with an array of unique stores and restaurants. The cathedral and city hall stand out beautifully, yet still fit in perfectly. There is a gorgeous park leading to the spa of natural hot springs. 


All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Aachen, and could be easily persuaded to go back. I mean, just look at the place... 

Halloween - it's German for Halloween

Last night I got to experience one of my favorite American holidays in Germany. I was going to try to explain the glory that is the American Halloween, but I thought Mean Girls did it much better. 

Of course, Halloween isn't just for the Slutty Pumpkins of the world, a lot of people get very creative and witty - which is generally my favorite part. 

Halloween in Germany, however, is a fairly new phenomenon. And you can definitely tell it is 100% American import from movies and TV and what have you. Unlike Christmas and New Years that have their own German flare, Halloween is just a toned-down, American knock-off. It's like the equivalent of having Oktoberfest in the States. It gets the job done, but there's something that just isn't quite right. 

The most notable difference is, of course, that only about 20% of the people actually dress up. I was honestly surprised to see that many. I thought me and my puny devil horns would stick out like a sore thumb, but I fit in quite nicely among the zombies and demons. 

Which brings me to my next point. When Halloween made it across the Atlantic, it forgot to mention it wasn't just about being scary anymore. Sure, that's how it's supposed to be, but in reality people either go for the previously mentioned Mean Girls approach or a costume with some sort of witty commentary. Scary costumes, while obviously still accepted, are not at all the standard for an American Halloween. In Germany, however, it was scary or nothing. If you were nurse, you were a zombie nurse; if you were a puppet, you were a bloody puppet. I've never seen so much fake scars and blood on Halloween. 

But, I'm glad to see Halloween is slowly making it's way, and I definitely enjoyed my German Halloween!

And now it's off to Forchheim until Sunday! 

I'm just so lucky...

...to have a brother who sends me new headphones because of this post. 

And it was this generous act of kindness (and definitely not the repeated emails I kept getting after this post) that moved me to proclaim to the internet just how awesome my brother is! 

oh, and yes, we usually do have that holy glow behind us when we're in pictures. 

The happiest place on Earth

For this week and next week I am enjoying my first school holiday (that's Brit speak for vacation). My big endeavor for fall break is to head down to Forchheim next week for a few days. But until then I have a whole week of no commitments and a Semesterticket at my disposal (basically giving me free-reign to travel anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen for free). A winning combination, if I say so myself. 

After a lazy Monday, I decided to take advantage of my free time + free travel by spending my Tuesday at the happiest place I could think of. 

Oh internet people, how I wish I could explain my Ikea love to you. Perhaps it has to do with my love all things Swedish (Ikea, H&M, ABBA, Shahida, Ace of Base, that guy who wrote pretty much every hit pop song of the late 90's, meatballs, and the list goes on!). Maybe it's their unwavering trust in mankind to assemble any home furnishing in existence. Whatever it is, it makes me light up like a kid at Christmas when I see those giant yellow letters posted high on the bright blue building. 

So I spent a very delightful afternoon mentally furnishing my future home. And to top it all off, I had lunch for 1€. 

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Aachen, a city on the Belgian/Dutch/German border. We'll see how it compares to today's excitement. 

Marshmallows and Spray Cheese

Today while perusing the aisles of Rewe (a German grocery store), a familiar box caught my eye. There, in the middle of this regular German grocery store in the middle of Dortmund I found myself face to face with Pop Tarts. Real live Kellogg's brand Pop Tarts. For 7€, granted, but a sighting like this has never been made in your plain ol', run of the mill Rewe. 

 

After a solid 30 seconds of shock, I stepped back and took in the entire 7 foot display standing alone in the middle of the store. 

Sweet mother of over-priced American imports! 

 

It was an entire "American" themed shelf of some "classic" American foods. There I stood taking in all 6 shelves of BBQ Sauce, Peanut Butter, and Pop Tarts, wearing a stupid grin that probably said something like "why, yes, I am a crazy American rejoicing in the super-processed, disgustingly unnatural food of my homeland." And I'm not just talking American-themed foods made in Germany. These products were so American they had stickers translating ingredients and instructions into German. And there, sandwiched between the Marshmallows and spray cheese, I saw it. My weakness. 

Of course, I had to splurge and spend the 2.50€ for what is normally a $1 off-brand box of mac and cheese. But don't worry, since it wasn't the real blue-box Kraft favorite, it wasn't convincing enough to buy all that often. 

 

It was also good fun to see what kind of foods seemed quintessentially American enough for the Germans to make it on the list for this display. Among the previous mentioned products, you could also find legit maple syrup, Betty Crocker cake mix, microwave popcorn, Campbell's soup, Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix (with and without marshmallows, of course), some random candy bars I had never seen in my life, and so much more. All exorbitantly overpriced. 

 

Some things (read: the spray cheese) I got a good laugh out of, but you better believe I will be baking a Betty Crocker cake at some point in the very near future! 

drug habits.

If you know me very well, you know that I'm not a big medicine taker. It's not really because I have something against taking medicine, I just 1. don't get sick very often and 2. never seem to remember that some quick tylenol would be a great way to beat that headache.

The irony of me and my lack of drug use, of course, is that my sister, on the other hand, is a pharmacist. 

If ever I do find myself in need of drugs (or any other medical attention, really), I always consult the my pharmacist first. And for being on a completely different continent, you would not believe how many calls and emails I still put in on drug-related business. 

Being able to go over every little detail of the drugs I'm looking for makes days like today - my first ever trip to a German pharmacy - a little less stressful. 

Thank goodness for sisters that are pharmacists.