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Der Bodensee

Lindau is a German town and an island in the eastern part of the Lake Constance, or the Bodensee, as it is also called. The lake borders Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Over the weekend we stayed there with some friends of Mike's in a cute little bed and breakfast. The island was tiny, and all of the buildings were cute, with balconies up on the roofs.

Because I complained so much about the heat in Germany last week, it decided to do me a favor and start raining for our vacation. How lovely.

The first morning we decided to rent bicycles and ride a path that goes along the coast line. We were lucky with no rain most of that day and we rode all the way from Lindau to Rorschach, which I think was in Switzerland, which was just a little too long for me. I started to get cranky, so we rode a ferry back to Lindau.

On the next days we were going to ride the ferry to an island called Mainau, which is a garden island, but both days the ferry did not run for some reason. Then we wanted to go see the Zeppelin museum in Friederichshafen, but it was closed as well.

So we ultimately ended up doing a lot of relaxing, walking around, window shopping, and sitting outside cafes drinking espressos in the rain. It wasn't that bad, since anytime I go on vacation I seem to have sudden attacks of extreme fatigue and just want to sleep all day. I haven't decided if this is just a result of the travel or if it has to do with all of the German speaking wearing me out.

One thing that I notice even more since I got back from the U.S. is just how awful service is here in restaurants. I don't think the locals find it awful, so I guess I am just spoiled. But it was seriously annoying to sit in a restaurant and be ignored for atleast a half an hour, and to have to chase down your waiter to get a bill after you have been sitting finished forever. It makes me practically livid, because if I got service like that in the U.S. I would never go back. Maybe I just need to work on my patience.

We got back safely on Tuesday, even though the plane we were riding in was tiny and made me sick and frightened. We picked up our keys to our new apartment and went to check it out. The kitchen has still not been installed, and the power & internet weren't working, so we have just been slowly taking stuff over there. I hope we can move in after a week or so.

I got a little depressed while shopping for some things for our new apartment because in a year we will have to give or throw away all of this stuff. I really, really can't wait until I can have a home in a place where I can stay and accumulate tons of stuff, which is probably every girl's dream. I have less incentive to buy nice stuff for this apartment and make it look cute since I don't want to waste money on things I can't keep for long.

A lot of people have asked about wedding gifts since I announced the happy news. This is one of my dilemmas. I don't want people to buy me things that I will have to part ways with in a year! What is a girl to do?

Anyways, I am looking forward to moving in. The apartment is a lot bigger than I remembered and with so many big windows. I can't wait. And I think Penny will like being able to watch out the windows now that we live on the ground floor.

I have my German final exams on Monday & Tuesday which I am really dreading. I hate oral exams so much, and I am supposed to give a formal presentation for seven minutes with no notes. "HOW?" I ask. But then my class will be over and I don't know what I will do next. I need a hobby.

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Amerika

German newspaper commentators have launched a scathing attack on US President George W. Bush's record, saying he embodies "the arrogance of power" and has shattered the world's faith in America (Der Spiegel Artikel).

Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"In Germany, America is no longer seen as a country of individual liberty, as a reliable ally and definitely not as a model. There are a large number of justified accusations levelled at Bush's policies. They include dangerous naivete, lies and the sustained infringement of human rights.

"The memory of Bush will darken America's image in the world for years to come."

Another one of the many reasons you should all vote this fall.

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Arizona & Back

I got back from the U.S. on Sunday night. I have to say I was a little relieved to get back into my normal routines. It is no fun living out of a suitcase and having limited internet access for three weeks.

So, was the US everything I had been longing for? Yes and no. I had lots of fun shopping and eating, although many of the foods I used to love made me feel sick. I still know that I want to live in Chandler or Tempe, Arizona, but I wont be longing for the things I miss as badly now that I've had them recently and they weren't as amazing as I had built them up to be.

Sidenote: San Francisco to Frankfurt is a really long stinking time to be on an airline that doesn't serve free drinks!

I guess I can officially announce it here, since I finally sent out the announcements to my family: Mike and I are getting married this summer.

No date and no ceremony. We are still trying to work out all of the paperwork. When we do, we are just going down to the Whateveramt and getting a license. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on the date.

This weekend we are going to Lindau, which is an island on Lake Constance in Bavaria. We will be very close to all of the amazing fußball action (lucky me), so it will probably be a zoo. I don't have to watch the games to know the outcomes. On Sunday night when I got home from my flight and was exhausted and trying to sleep, I could hear that Germany had beat Poland 2:0 by all of the sounds of jubliation coming from my neighborhood.

It is really, really hot here. Not Phoenix hot. But atleast in Phoenix you know you have some refuge from the heat: in your car, in your home, in your office. But here, air conditioning is practically non-existent, so it is quite miserable in our apartment. I am hoping our new apartment on the ground floor will be a bit cooler.

We just found out that we will be able to move in next week! Very exciting. Only hitch is that the internet may take a while so we wont want to move in yet. I need to move now. My fuse is getting shorter and shorter.

This news about Saxony is a little worrisome. I haven't personally experienced any of these types, and hope that I don't have to while I am here.

And finally.....they are mailing out my diploma! Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Marketing. Woohoo! Whatever that means!

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Heute

Heute today

Things I did today...

These are all things I wouldn't have been able to do in Germany.

The flight was kind of long and miserable since I had to fly on a different plane than Mike. And we had a scare in Chicago because his flight arrived late and we were worried he wouldn't catch his third flight to Phoenix, but thankfully he did.

I got kind of cranky and upset in Chicago because Mike's plane was late and because I was sleep deprived and confused. In Chicago I had to pick up my baggage (which I thought was strange), change terminals, re-check my baggage, and then go back through security.

I really, really hate security. For some reason they make me feel like I'm guilty, having all of those people looking at me like that. Because of that, I don't wear any belt and I don't carry any liquids or a laptop, because I really just want to get through the stupid thing as fast as I can.

One employee seemed to sense my distaste for the process, and he smiled at me and apologized, saying "This is the last time we will bother you!". And I thought, "Yes, until I fly back in three weeks!"

When we got to Phoenix I just passed out at about 6pm. Because it was 3am in Germany and I had been awake for 43 hours.

I woke up at 4am, so a couple of hours later, Mike and I went to IHOP.

It was kind of surreal being in IHOP. The waitress was so friendly and extremely fast. We hadn't even sat down before she was asking us what we wanted to drink, and I excitedly ordered a water. Imagine that! Free water, with no bubbles in it!

After that, Mike and I went to Super Walmart, which was also strange seeing rows and rows of products I cannot usually buy. Mike let me drive, since I haven't driven in nine months. Apparently, it is like riding a bike.

We went shopping on Sunday, which would have been impossible in Germany. And we also got to see Iron Man, which was pretty entertaining for an action/super hero movie (those usually aren't my thing), and I got to eat buttery popcorn which made me sick to my stomach and got stuck in my wisdom tooth holes.

After that, we went to some cheap Mexican fast food joint and I got taquitos, and then we went swimming in the hotel pool. It is still crazy hot outside even though it is night.

Tomorrow I plan on shopping until I drop! And lucky me, there is a Saver's store right across the street from our hotel!

It's good to be back!

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Flugzeug

Flugzeug airplane

As you can see, I have had a lot of time on my hands lately. I decided to try to decoupage which is basically just a fancy name for cutting and pasting.

I bought the little wooden boxes and the frame, and some floral wrapping paper. I cut out the flowers and glued them onto the boxes and then painted them with glaze. The red one, I actually painted with nail polish because I had no paint, and it has sort of a vintage looking design on it that I also found at a store here. I don't know if they are that amazing, but I think they are cute, and plan on giving some of them away to my family. I also have dreams of one day selling crafted items on Etsy, which is a website where you can buy and sell crafted items.

I also took a walk around Dresden the other day. It was really warm and nice. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of day to take pictures of the Elbe Panorama because the sun was behind the buildings. But I still crossed the bridge and took pictures because I had walked all the way. You can see the Frauenkirche and the Royal Palace, among other buildings.

Tomorrow I will pack and hopefully keep myself occupied so I don't go crazy with boredom. We are going to go pick out our kitchen for our new apartment! Fun times. Next time I post, I will be in Arizona! But first I have a really long and lonely flight ahead of me. I hope there aren't too many delays and that all of my bags arrive!

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