Another Picture

This is Imperia, she is a statue of a whore holding the king in one hand and the pope in the other. It's a rather prominent symbol here in Konstanz. You see Konstanz was the site of something important papal dealings back in the day (1400s or something), so this statues says something about the power prostitutes (and women in general) had over both the church and crown.

A Picture

I'm not sure why I felt like sharing this today, but here is a picture of my University. This was taken from the roof of my dormitory. The picture is from September, which is why there are leaves on the trees. Maybe I'll post more random photos in the future, maybe.

Think of the tourists!

I saw this shop in Hamburg a few weeks back. I know they're just German surnames, but I think they should have found a third name and thrown it in the middle. Or maybe they could have gone with initials.

Mardi Gras German Style

Thursday saw the beginning of Mardi Gras, which is a big holiday in this region of Germany. They call it Faschnact (or Fastnacht, depending upon where you come from), but it has a lot of the same qualities as what you expect from Mardi Gras elsewhere. It has parades, costumes and bands in the streets and bars performing typical Mardi Gras-esque music. The whole thing is a sight to behold. I’ve got some night photos here, I’ll try to get some shots from the day time before it ends on Wednesday. So here are some shots from Faschnacht in Konstanz.

I don't know how to describe this.

A small street band.



A float, although it was stationary.

Video from the Rally.

This is a short video I took at the rally on Saturday. I kept it short because these guys were more or less playing a loop. I think they were from some organization called Bund.

Class trip to Berlin

I visited Berlin for the first time this weekend. One of my classes was doing research on behalf of Columbia University so we were given a University subsidized trip to Berlin. The whole experience was a real whirlwind. We left Konstanz around 6:30 Friday night and arrived in Berlin around 7 the next morning. It was my first time traveling such a great distance by train, and that was half the fun. We stayed in a sleeper car. My room was myself and 5 other guys from class. Lets just say we didn't get much sleep and that the cleaning service had quite a few bottles to pick up in the morning. We arrived in Berlin so early that we couldn't find anywhere to get breakfast, so we wandered around until about 9 when places started to serve. After which I got to explore the city until 2pm. The city is great, it is covered in the best graffiti I've ever seen.

The Rally itself was in relation to Climate Change. I was more interested in getting the research done and having free time to really pay much attention to the causes at hand. It was just nice following the rally and seeing the sights of Berlin.

That night I went out with a couple of friends to bars and clubs. Before coming to Europe I never went to clubs, but since I've been here I've been to clubs in Zürich and Berlin and I love them. They are nothing like I expected. I could go just to listen to the djs they are so talented, they actually play music and don't just spin records. One of the guys I was with is a bit of a mess. He is 24, balding, tends to look dirty and is always disheveled. The first club we went to refused to allow him in, which meant that the other guy and myself had to go with him, not because the club didn't want us, but because we couldn't leave a man behind. The next club we barely got into because of him. We figured we should just stay there and avoid risking this guys getting us denied in the future.

We didn't sleep. We got back to the hostel at 8am, and had to catch a 9:40 train home. The train ride lasted 10 hours. We covered almost the entire country. If you want to see what my route looked like get our your atlas and connect the cities: Berlin-> change in Hannover-> pauses in Frankfurt & Offenburg ->change in Baden-Baden ->Konstanz. It was hellish. It didn't help that Germany is just one gigantic plain. The country is beautiful but boring, the only true highlight is the Black Forest, but we got there at sunset and missed most of it. I'm flying next time.

It's True.

I always thought it was a stereotype, but it is in fact true. Americans are loud. I am loud. I am really loud. I could direct ships I'm so loud. And back home? Well I'm quite. In fact I'm so loud, I have trouble hearing Germans speak. They all look like they are just mouthing at me. I have no idea how they communicate. Anyway, I've been trying to not yell so much, but it is tough. Thats the way I talk.

Pointless.

It is 1:50am, and I'm supposed to be writing a paper that is due tomorrow at 10am. But, I need to take a break, so here are some things about Germany that annoy the hell out of me.

-They LOVE the song "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams. I've heard this in nearly every bar, club and party I've been too. There are far too many dance remixes of this song for the universe to still be held together. At least I now know how to get a party started next time all my guests are German.

-Mullets are more popular here than in the American south and Canadian hinter lands combined. But, they are a bit fancier here. They are often times dyed a color contrasting the rest of the head.

-There is no such thing as spicy food. Nowhere. It doesn't matter what the sign/ menu tells you, your food will not be spicy. It might be spicy by German standards, but spicy by German standards is like being talented by Bryan Adams standards.

-The music stores here suck. I've been looking for the new Ryan Adams ep, and all I can find are Bryan Adams albums. Why do they love him so much? I also cannot find the new Sigur Rós DVD, and the new double ep costs me about $30USD.

-Stores are all closed on Sunday.

-Stores are usually closed between 6-8 every other day of the week.

-The buses stop running before the bars close (all the better to get out of there before they play "Summer of 69" one more time).

-Shampoo smells like ass.

-Beer is super cheap. No, thats a good thing, forget this.

-You cannot buy a steak anywhere, but you can get all the breaded and fried pork your heart could desire. And don't forget to put lemon juice on it!!! Lemon??

-Did I mentioned they LOOOVVVVEEEE Bryan Adams. I swear if he knew how much he was loved here, he could totally be the new Führer.

Homesick

Psych!

I love this place. BUT, there are a few things I miss. Like the MFing Red Sox. They are int he ALCS and looking like they have a chance to go all the way. I truly miss baseball, and American football. Soccer is like hockey, it needs to be seen live to be enjoyed. I just cannot watch these sports on TV. Fortunatly the Rugby World Cup is currently in action and Rugby is great to watch on TV. I've managed to catch a few matches so far. As fun as it is to watch I would prefer to be watching the Pats destroy the NFL with their supreme awesomeness. If the Sox make the WS I may be headed down to Zürich to see if I can find a bar playing the games, which will be expensive, it costs 26CHF for a one way ticket.

Other than American sports ther isn't much I miss. Beer is cheap, coffee is delicious (I'll never enjoy Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks again), food is cheap, water is oddly expensive and always carbonated, and the people are all extremely nice.

Cargasm Weekend.

My dorm has the worst Internet connection I've ever experienced. It has failed to work at least half the time I've been here. That's close to 15 days of inactivity. I promise to try and update when my Internet works.

Tomorrow I'm taking a train up to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes-Benz museum. I cannot wait, I came to Germany, more or less, to look at car pr0n every time I walk out the door. I'll be spending the night, and then on Friday I'll be checking out the Porsche museum. I'm not sure, but there maybe also be a factory tour involved with the Porsche museum, I'll let you know the next time my Internet works. I'm sure I'll be taking a boatload of photos there. I have two 2GB memory cards, if any museum could give me cause to fill these, it would be these museums.

As I've now told you twice, my Internet sucks. That isn't all that sucks around this place. I live in a place that is most often described as a prison, although Gulag and Soviet apartment block are thrown around almost as frequently. It is a 40ish year old concrete building with failing kitchens and bathrooms. The university had intended to raze the places a few years ago, but they haven't yet found a replacement plan that was economical. My shower constantly is emanating a scent more often associated with a septic tanks than showers. I share a kitchen with 11 other people, two of which happen to be African (Cameroon to be exact). And although they are really nice people, they cook constantly, and it stinks. Yesterday the kitchen smelled like someone had spilt around 3 gallons of sardine juices all over the place, and then defecated on it. The laundry room doesn't really work. The washing machines wash, but they don't rinse. After a 50 minutes wash cycle you have soaking wet, soapy clothes. Then it comes time to dry them, and the dryers don't work. Well, they work, just not properly. One of the dryers spins, but doesn't heat up. The other dryer heats up, but doesn't spin. Either way your clothes are f•cked. You can see the method I used for drying my clothes right here. Sonnenbühl OST Ghetto Laundry. There are two things that I love about my residence.
1: Is the Vag-ball; it is a piece of modern art that looks like a giant ball of metal vaginas. This picture isn't the greatest. It was taken from 7 stories up, I'll try to get a better photo for a future blog post.
2: Look at this view.
Those are the alps if you were wondering. I have more photos, some that are better, but I'm saving those for a possible dedicated post.

Despite the dismal living conditions I love it here in Konstanz. The city is beautiful, and full of history. If you do a quick query on wikipedia you can read all about the city for yourself.

After my Cargasmic trip to Stuttgart I hope to post more. Tschüß

Still Alive

I've been so busy here the last few weeks. I didn't get internet until last Thursday, and then it cut out on me over the weekend due to a fire. It was fixed on Tuesday, but keeps cutting out on me. Last Friday I went to the local Oktoberfest here in Konstanz. And, tomorrow I will be attending Oktoberfest in Munich. The weekend before last I went to a Weinfest (wine festival) across the lake in Meersburg.

I'll fill you in on more info when I get the time. I've been so busy and the internet is so slow here that I've been reluctant to upload any photos. I want to share where I live with the world, or at least the 3 people that read this blog.

Godspeed Me!

This is my last post from the US of A for a very long time. Next time I post, it will be from Germany. I've been going crazy getting ready for this trip, and right now it looks like I will be going just as crazy when I get there. If you don't here from me for a while, it is simply because I am busy beyond belief. I will try to post something about my new residence as soon as I possibly can. I've got a plane to catch in about 17hours, so I am going to finish packing.


I'll see you on the other side.

I'm sorry.

I leave for Germany on Sunday, so I've been very busy getting everything in order for my trip. I probably would still be leaving all my devoted reader(s?) waiting if it hadn't been for this.March sent me a link for the new MONO DVD, and what did I notice almost immediately? ME, and Gabriel in NYC!! Thats us in the red circle, I'm the dude running his hand through his hair, and she is the girl standing in front of me with a boys name.

I don't have time for a real post right now, but I'll let you be jealous in the mean time.

Taxes, Travel & Jury Duty.

Nothing pisses me off like the government wasting tax dollars on frivolous things, unless its me they're wasting money. And things get even better when they're not my tax dollars being wasted, but rather Dieter & Gunter's Euros being wasted on me. That's right, the oh so precise Germans are giving me free money. Yay. I'm getting 1500euro from the state Baden-Württemburg.

Speaking of Germany, I booked my flight yesterday and I will be departing on the evening of September 2nd. I won't be coming back until May, and then only for a 4 day weekend.

I had Jury Duty yesterday, and although I only was there 4 hours it was the most soul sucking experience in recent memory. As the bumper stickers say, "Never Again."