Here Comes Trouble

I'm pretty amazed at how many times my best friend Gabby and I have been able to see each other over our semester abroad in the Netherlands for her and Germany for me. I believe we managed to see each other 4 times which is more than we see each other in the States during a typical semester. She arrived in Germany the day after our Thanksgiving meal. It was weird showing someone "my" city. I've toured many cities on this trip following someone else but this time it was my turn. Good thing Bonn's not terribly big. It made me think about how much of a "local" I've become. She came at the perfect time because Bonn had set up it's own Christmas market as well as multitudes of Christmas markets throughout the area. I really enjoyed her visit because it was fun to introduce her to the new friends I have made while on this adventure. We basically did the same thing both days she visited. I took her to my favorite restaurant: Vapiano, my favorite nightspot: Schwarzlicht, and we slept in way too long; a typical weekend in the life of Tim DeRodeff. It was a really good stress reliever before the weeks to come: finals.

Thanksgiving: California Dreamin'

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. Throughout the country families come together and proclaim to each other what they are thankful for. Turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy are devoured and traditionally many families spend the evening watching the big game on TV. This holiday does not exist in Germany.

I've never been away from home during Thanksgiving so I didn't know how I'd feel being in Germany. I had class the morning of Thanksgiving, and then at 4:30 I had a meeting with the UN for my internship. During the afternoon I took the time to run a few errands. It was really different being able to go into any store I wanted and shop on Thanksgiving day. At home only a few stores are open and not for that many hours.

I never really felt homesick here until Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family, and I really truly missed mine. Our meeting with the UN didn't go quite as planned which only added to the frustration but at 6:00pm our Academy prepared a Thanksgiving potluck for us that we all attended. Any homesick feelings I had were erased eating dinner with all of the people I have become close with during this experience. There was everything from turkey to deviled eggs to guacamole which wasn't that weird to me because Nonna always makes it even if it is Thanksgiving.

After dinner a few of us went to a bar in Bonn called Flowers. It's the hippie bar in the area. It was a lot of fun because they were playing a lot of old hits that we were all singing along too. I made the bartender/DJ play ABBA and the crowd really approved. I could relate to every lyric of California Dreamin' so I had to sing my little heart out. It's funny but being in this bar brought me closer to America than I thought I would be on Thanksgiving.

When London Calls, You Must Answer

I knew I had to take the opportunity to visit London while I was here. LMU has a study abroad program in London so I knew that I wouldn't have to find anywhere to stay for the weekend; all I needed to do was book a ticket over there. I'm going to use this entry to talk about traveling/public transportation in Europe. Don't get me wrong, all of Europe is light years ahead of us in terms of public transportation systems. The problem is, is that you have to allot so much more time in your travels. At home, you just take someone in the airport and drop them off. It's easy. It's direct. To get to the Cologne-Bonn airport, I first had to take the metro to the bus that would take me to the airport. However for some reason or other the bus that I was going to take came and left 5 minutes early so I had to wait another half of an hour for the next one. I left about 4 hours before my flight but barely made the original time it was going to fly out. Luckily the flight was delayed because of the weather. Once I got into London-Stansted I had to take a bus into the city center. This took another hour and a half until I could meet up with my friend and then take another metro, sorry "the tube," to the station where her flat is. Estimated Travel Time: 6 hours. The good thing was the time difference in London which gave me back a temporary hour of my life.

It's always worth it though. Driving into London at night was gorgeous. I couldn't wait to explore during the day. I met up with Holly at Victoria Station and we took the metro to her flat at South Kensington. It was only about 10:30pm which gave us enough time to get ready to go out. So I dropped my stuff off and got ready to go out on the town. The bar Holly wanted to go to didn't look that fun to her so we went to another bar up the street. I figured out that this would be an expensive weekend after I paid the entry: 10 pounds. It was a lot of fun though. I thought it funny how different the Londoners were from the Germans. In speech obviously, but in personality and attitude as well. Being in London reminded me of being in New York. The people there are classy, and they know it.

In every country I go, I try my best to attempt the respective language of the country I'm in. In Germany it's obviously German, in Paris it was the little bit of French I know to get me by, in Switzerland it was pretty much any language I wanted, i didn't even try in Prague, but in London it was English!!! It was funny though because I was still apprehensive when I'd order for fear that the clerk might not be able to understand me if I spoke English. My mind was still in Germany. It was refreshing though to understand people without having to actively listen to them. Actually, that's not true- sometimes people had too thick of an English accent for me to understand. Anyway, clubs in London close a lot sooner than they do in Germany so we made it home around 3am.

The next day was for sightseeing. We walked all over town and saw all of the major sights: Big Ben, Parliament, the London Bridge, the Eye etc. Then Holly took me to all of the big stores on Oxford Street. It was Saturday so everyone and their mum was out spending their hard earned pounds. The first store Holly wanted to show me was Harrod's, a department store akin to Neiman Marcus, but way more intense. We stayed on the bottom floor but even that was enough to get an idea of this place. Each room had a theme. A Perfume Room, a Luxury Goods Room, an Egyptian Room? Then we went into the food rooms. There was a room simply devoted to poultry, one fruits and vegetables, another coffees and teas. My favorite was the candy room obviously. I told Holly to escort me out as quickly as possible because it probably wasn't a good idea for me to stay in there. We walked into a different room and they were having some sort of James Bond-themed fashion show. There was no defined runway, so the models would just sort of designate a path to enter their "stage" on and people just made a path for them. It was really ridiculous and equally as funny. After Harrod's we went to "Top Shop" a clothing store I had wanted to go to for a while. It was humongous and I would have bought some stuff had there not been so many people in it; I got a little overwhelmed.

That night we went out again. It was a lot of fun but again, clubs in London close way too early for me. The next day we sort of lazed about around the house. Coincidentally a friend of mine from high school was living in the flat above Holly's so I got the chance to see her for the first time since high school and talked to her for about a half of an hour. It never ceases to surprise me how small the world is sometimes. We walked around a little bit closer to the flat and I was surprised to find that stores were actually open on Sundays. Germany is 50% Protestant, the other 50% being Catholic, so virtually nothing is open on Sundays save for restaurants; Germans love eating. I also was suprised to find very American stores in London. Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, TJ Maxx (although in London it's TK Maxx). I even saw a Costco as I was making my way to the London-Stansted Airport. I could live in London but I think I'm getting such a different and possibly more challenging cultural experience living in Deutschland.

The next morning we went to see Buckhingham Palace and a few other touristy things before Holly had class, it was a Monday after all. So I spent the afternoon on the computer and packing before I had to make my way to the airport for my 7:30pm flight. Again I almost missed it because it took me almost 2 hours to get to the airport on the bus but I made it and fortunately got to sit by one of my friends who was also flying back from London.

I know I want to live and work in Europe somewhere for awhile. London would clearly be the easiest option because everyone speaks English. There is also so much to do in the city, and with such ease. The museums are free, there are countless numbers of plays in the West End, and most importantly there are a lot of places to shop. I had a really good time in London and although I only spent 3 days there, it was enough to make me want to return.

All of my pictures are available to view at Picasa.

11-12-08

It's such a nice day out today which makes me hate the people walking around and enjoying the sun outside while I'm stuck in here in Elementary German II learning about the different verb cases. It's not as though I can feign listening to the lesson. There are only 2 other people in the class so it's difficult to find someone to hide behind. I'd rather be walking around Bonn. Even though it's still November, it's starting to feel like Christmas (a Californian one at least). The air is quite nippy (colder than California actually) and many streets have already started to set up Christmas lights. The leaves have already changed colors, many of which have already fallen to the ground. My hair's getting long but I'm afraid that if I cut it, I might freeze to death. I have grown to love the familiarity of Bonn. I love traveling but I love staying here more. As I sit here taking notes about how to go from Nominativ to Akusativ cases I think about how dramatically different my life is from just a year ago. Different friends, different experiences, completely different location. It makes me think about how quickly life changes. Sometimes quickly out of nowhere, other times with a little more foresight. I once pushed a friend in the ocean to illustrate this concept. This experience however, has definitely pushed me into the figurative ocean of life. I'm thankful for this. It'll be difficult to go back. But that's life.

KARNEVAL!!!!

I've got to hand it to the Germans for knowing how to party. Karneval first takes place on 11/11 with the awakening of some gnome and then in February, the season ends with an even bigger celebration to mark the beginning of the Lenten season as well as the burning of the gnome (weird). All of the sins committed during Karneval are burned along with him. It was my twin neighbors' 21st so it definitely added to the celebration. We were told that people wear crazy costumes to Karneval but were a little apprehensive after the relatively small showing in Bonn for Halloween. However, Karneval was almost at the very top of our list of things to do while in Bonn so we all woke up early (around 9:30am), dressed up, and took the 10:32am train from Bonn to Cologne. We were kind of unsure where to go until we saw large crowds of costumed people walking in the same general direction and then decided to follow them. For what Germans lack in Halloween they make up in Karneval. The streets of Cologne were packed with silly Germans in even sillier costumes- Minnie Mouse, doctors with IVs full of beer, some guy was even a kissing booth which I thought was the smartest costume I saw all day.

When Germans party, they like to start early, as I noticed earlier on this year at Oktoberfest. We got to the Hauptbahnhof at about 10:20AM and ther were already people drinking bottles of beer, wine, and even hard alcohol for some. Once we got to Cologne we sort of just made our way to this area where they had set up a large screen showing the concert that was going on elsewhere in Cologne and just people watched initially. We danced in the middle of the crowd to German music that we couldn't understand for awhile but had more fun just looking at all of the crazy outfits. It was actually really funny because the police kept carding my friend Sam who was carrying around alcohol. It made her day because she had turned 21 that day and the police asked for her ID like 3 different times. Of course we had to take pictures with them. Luckily the German police have a good sense of humor.

After we had had our fill at people watching we decided to walk around and see what else Karneval had to offer. The bars were all open and crowded; advertising discounted drinks. We attempted to go into one but the bouncer told us that mostly people were in there so we decided to look elsewhere. We were walking down and street and heard thumping music (my cue to enter). We went in through a random opening in the street where we found a dj in the back. At first she has playing German music but then I think she noticed that we were Americans I decided to cater to our needs. It was really fun but really strange at the same time. We literally walked in through an opening in the street to a room full of dancing Germans and a bar to the side. We were in there for about an hour or 2 and then my friends got a little bit too hot and tired so we moved out from there.














It was still light when we stepped outside, although it was evident that night was quickly approaching. We went back to the screen area which was far less crowded than it had been in the morning and danced in front of it. I got hungry so I got Danish? ice cream that was super good and super cheap. It was pretty much the first thing I had eaten all day. After eating my ice cream, my friends decided that it was time to go home. At 5:30pm it had already been quite the day. I'm really glad I got to go. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences in Bonn so far!

Prague

I actually didn't know how I felt about heading to Central Europe. Compared to Western Europe I thought the hole area would be a lot more unsafe and unkept. After coming back though I consider Prague to be one of my favorite destinations thus far.

We were told have our rooms ready for check out by 10:30 and our train for Prague left later on in the afternoon so a few of us decided to go into town again. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Germany, "Vapiano" and then walked around the Sony Experience in Potsdammer Platz. We had a train to catch so we to the metro back to our hotel and met up with the rest of our group. We got to Berlin Central Station a little early so we had time to shop for souveniers and get snacks for the train ride to Prague. It was a really fun train ride because we had chips and dip and movies on our iPods and the like.

It didn't seem to take that long to get into Prague. We got to the Hotel at around 10pm and got our room keys and everything situated. I was one of the first one to get my keys so me and a few other people got into the elevator to go up to our rooms. It got stuck. We were there for about a half of an hour while everyone else was eating there welcome dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was fine until it started to get hot inside with the radiating body heat of 5 people in an enclosed space. The worst part of it was that it was my friend Conrad's birthday and he was spending it trapped in an elevator waiting for help. When we were finally rescued we were greeted with hamburgers at the hotel restaurant and an itenerary of what we'd be doing in the city as well as a map so we'd know how to get around. I wanted to go out after dinner but there was really no point because I didn't really know the city all that well and it was already pretty late so I just stayed in and went to bed.

The next day we had a walking tour of Prague in the morning. Prague is really interesting architecturally because almost all of it is original as opposed to Germany after being bombed in WWII. I really love Baroque architecture and I definitely got my fill in Prague. Prague is really small in comparison to Berlin so we pretty much saw all of it within our 2 hour tour. I really enjoyed walking through Old Town as well as the Jewish Quarter. After our tour we had quite a bit open for free time before we were supposed to meet for the Opera. I don't really remember what I did in that free time but it was probably shopping. Prague's currency is the Czech Crown and the exchange rate is roughly 25 Crowns to 1 Euro which was really confusing for a lot of us but I felt really wealthy carrying 500 crowns at a time even though that's really not a lot at all.

After free time, we dressed up for the opera and met in the lobby. As our group we made our way to the center of town to watch "The Magic Flute" which actually was in German. I'm glad they had the English translation on the screen above though because I would have had no idea what was going on. I'm a Theatre Major so obviously I enjoy things like these but I was most surprised to find that a number of my peers did as well. We had heard and seen that the largest club in Central Europe (5 stories) was in Prague. Since we were all dressed up we figured that this would be a good opportunity for all of us to go out together. We had a few drinks at a bar in town before and then made our way to the 5 story club. It was so much fun. We actually spent most of our time on the 70s/80s music floor. It was a nice change listening to bands like ABBA, the Bee Gees, and other old people music (just kidding). The combination of our attire, the atmosphere, and the music made us all feel like we were at a wedding reception. It was a lot of fun because every person on our trip (20 of us) went out to this club. I had to be dragged out unwillingly at 4am.

The next day we had more free time. That equates to shopping time for me and I found a really cheap jacket at H&M which is the perfect purchase because it is starting to get colder here. We walked around town for a bit and then had another group dinner, this time at a traditional Czech Restaurant where they served my friend an entire duck. I got a really good "Pfeffer Steak." One of my friends who's in the London program at LMU happened to be in Prague the same weekend as me so I made time after dinner to visit her. She was sick so I didn't get to see much of her during the weekend which was a bummer but I'll be staying with her when I go to London so I wasn't too sad.

We went out to the club again but this time spent our focus on the music we usually listen to: Hip Hop and rap. Each floor was decorated to reflect the genre and it was funny to see that the Hip Hop floor was all grafittied out. It cracks me up to see Europe's perception of America sometimes. It's kind of dangerous when Hollywood is your frame of reference for American culture. I think we left a bit earlier that night. The Czech food did a number on my stomach so I left a little more willingly this time and we had to take a bus to the airport in the morning so we all had to be packed and ready before then. It was of course sunny the day we left. I was begging for good weather the entire week but to no avail. The sun did make for a good hour plane ride back to Bonn though. Once again I was happy to be home in my own bed with the familiarity of Bonn. Travelling is tiring!

Again if you want to see more pictures go to www.picasaweb.google.com/tderodeff

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany so it was always a definite place of interest on my list when I decided to study abroad in Deutschland. We left for Berlin on a Monday. I woke up at around 7am and made my way to the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) where Ture, our program director, was waiting for us. I thought Berlin would take longer to get to but it seemed that we arrived after only a short nap on my part. Once we got into the capital city we made our way to the hotel: "Hotel 4 You(th)." We checked in, surveyed our rooms, and made our way down to the streets to look for a snack before our next event. The next thing planned on our schedule was a bus tour through Berlin. Our tour guide for the evening was Andrew who had spent some time in New York so he had quite an interesting accent. We visited all of the touristy places in Berlin such as the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. I really enjoyed all of this. The only problem was that it was very overcast in Berlin and we started the tour a little late in the evening (around 4) and it startes to get dark around 5 here so I was forced to take many pictures in bad weather and at night. However I really enjoyed seeing the various landmarks in Berlin. I gound it crazy to think that only 20 years ago this was still a divided city. After our tour a few of us got some dinner and went to bed. We were tired and it was only day 1.

On our second day in Berlin we had a walking tour of the Kreuzberg area of Berlin scheduled for us. I really really liked Kreuzberg because it was super urban and artsy but our tour guide started in the most unsafe part of the area and the drug deal a few of us witnessed going on behind us was a bit unnerving. Kreuzberg had really interesting street art and we went into this music school that had art all over its walls inside. I really wanted to go to the East Side Gallery but we didn't have time on our tour. The music school was really inspiring though. I could have stayed there for days.

After our tour of Kreuzberg we went to the Museum of Jewish history and although it was very interesting, our tour guide wasn't very good so I kind of had to look at things on my own. After the museum we went back to the hotel and just hung out a little before our group dinner. We ate at this fantastic traditional pizzeria not too far from our hotel and then came back and began to get ready for our big night at the election party hosted by the US Embassy.

We actually almost didn't get into the affair. We got there at around midnight and there was a relatively long ling out front. The bouncers were telling us that there were too many people inside and that they weren't letting anyone else in. We waited in line in defiance (largely on my part) and were determined to get in. Thankfully a lot of elderly people deemed it time to go to bed so we took there spots inside. Even though we missed the interview portion of the night I'm really glad we got to go in because it was definitely a historic night and I was really happy to be somewhere special. Inside, the party is in full effect. On the first floor was a large video screen with a map of the Unites States and the various projected Blue and Red states. It was actually a really eerie feeling looking at this map of my country standing in Berlin. Upstairs was the food and open bar. It was really funny actually because this was obviously a party about America but the food that was available was mostly traditional German food like Pretzels and Currywurst. I wasn't complaining though. There were several discussion panels but no one was really paying attention to them because music was playing and we were all looking to the various television screens they had set up around the venue to keep up on the results of each state. I had one glass of wine and that led to many more because the waiters would come around and if they saw an empty glass they would just pour some more in. They also had several computers with internet access and a large screen that was set up with Skype so I called my mom but the screen wasn't set up with headphones so I had no idea what she was saying back to me. We left the party after we were satisfied with the way things were turning out (around 4am) and headed back to the hotel to get about 3 hours of sleep before we had to be up the next day.

I woke up to the news that Barack Obama would be the 44th President of the United States of America. He was all over the German television stations they had available in the lobby of our hotel. It was a good morning. After breakfast we made our way about 40 minutes outside of the city center to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. If the setting wasn't bleak enough, the weather certainly enhanced the experience. It was very cold and windy and overcast which I actually really enjoyed because it helped me to get a small taste of what it may have actually been like to have been here; cold, alone; almost starving. However I got to leave after a couple hours instead of being forced to live there for years. I'm glad that they give tours of places like these so that it never ever happens again but after a couple hours I was ready to leave. It was getting to be too heavy of an experience for me.

When we got back to the hotel most of us slept. 3 hours is definitely not enough time to function fully. After a few hours of sleep I was ready to go again and got a bite to eat and then tried to decide with my friends what we would be doing that night. The night ended up being a big mess with everyone separating. However my friend Paola and I found our way to a club (typical) that was like a converted train depot. It was a lot of fun and although we had a difficult time getting back to our hotel it was worth it. I couldn't visit Berlin without experiencing at least one club! It was our last night there afterall because the next day we would be heading to Prague!

Election Day

I'D like to say something about how proud I am of our country right now. President Obama captivated my attention and the attention of many others from the beginning. The night he spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was it for me. I knew there was something special about this young African American senator from Illinois. When he announced his campaign for presidency I was ecstatic. When he garnered enough support to win the primaries I was even more ecstatic. I knew it would be a lot of hard work but that we could get this man to be our next president. We needed to. Flash forward a few months later and I'm in Berlin at a part hosted by the US Embassy watching our first ever African American president be elected. It was a completely surreal experience watching the events of my home country unfrold from thousands of miles away.

I think there's a lot to be said of President Obama's election. Clearly our country has come a long way since the days of slavery and the civil rights movement. It's weird to think that my mother, who really isn't that old at all watched the riots and police brutality on TV as well as the election of Obama in the same lifetime. That's not to say that we don't have a long way to go but I know this election gives hope to many many people of all races, genders, and sexual orientations. When I was younger my mom told me that when I grew up I could be anything I wanted. After seeing Denzel and Halle win the Academy Award the same year and now Obama become president it's something I look forward wholeheartedly to telling my kids as well. Ok. I can step down from the soap box now.

Halloween

WE really didn't know how Halloween would work out with the Germans. Germans have a lot of weird holidays but it didn't seem as though Halloween was one of them. We heard that people in Bonn didn't really dress up but we wouldn't have any of that so a few of us decided that the costumes must be brought out. I was a nerd...as a costume. It was fun but I waited to get to the Academy before I changed into my costume as a way to avoid funny looks in the subway and throughout the streets of Bonn.

We all signed up to go to a football (soccer) game with our university on Halloween so after all classes were over we hopped in the bus- a few of us still costumed out, and made our way to the game. I found it very entertaining hearing my friends yell and really get into the game. It was exciting and our home team killed it's opponent 3-0.

After the game, it was still fairly early, and a Friday, so a number of us decided to go out dancing which is always fine with me...even if I was still in costume. In the club there were a few Germans dressed up but not anything like the states. I began to miss the trick-or-treating and silly costumes and free candy, however this longing would be subdued a couple of weeks later at Karneval...

Reflection

My life has changed so dramatically since I've been here. I intern at the UN and on Tuesday night I'm going to be interviewed by Deutsche Telekom in Berlin about the election. I leave for Berlin and Prague for a week tomorrow morning and can't wait to see what kind of trouble I can get into.

My pictures from Switzerland are on my picasa for your viewing pleasure.

21 in the 21st Century

The week after our excursion was a good time to rest from both our excursion as well as in preparation for midterms the following week. On Friday we went to a handball game in Cologne which was actually really entertaining. On Saturday, a few of us went back to Cologne and I didn't get home until 7:00 the next morning (if the music doesn't stop I won't either). Then, unfortunately, it was time for midterms. I had 3 during the week...2 of which were on my birthday. Not only did I have 2 midterms on my birthday but a full schedule as well. I spent the entire day from 8:45am to about 8:45pm doing some sort of class activity. (I mean, I got to go to a palace in the morning and was at the UN in the afternoon interning, but it was still class) I didn't think anyone would be up for going out after class to celebrate my 21st. Fortunately (and unsurprisingly knowing my friends) everyone was and I spent the entire night bar/club hopping with my friends. It was a lot of fun and it worked out because had I been at home in California, it would have been more difficult to go out because I'm older than most of my friends who are still 19 and 20. Over here it was really easy for all of us to go out together. About half of our program (something around 20 kids!) celebrated with me. I'm really fortunate to have found such a large group of friends I get along with really well and who also care about me enough to celebrate my special day with me even if it was during a week of midterms!

Epilogue

I really enjoyed our first excursion. I felt like we were in a band or something; spending the day in one place, then hopping on the bus and ending up in a completely different country. By the end however, I was ready to get back to Bonn. I missed its familiarity. I missed my room and my own bed. My "home." I can maneuver my way around Bonn pretty easily now and being away made me miss how I can just hop on the subway without really thinking about where I'm going. I've also become fairly familiar with the language. I really missed semi-being able to understand what people are saying to me. It's funny how only after a couple of months Bonn is home to me. I guess home really is where the heart is.

Paris Part 2: Paris, Je T'aime

On Thursday, the 9th we left the city temporarily to go to Vaux le Vicomte which is a palace that was apparently a model for Versailles. It was ok. The views from the gardens were gorgeous, but that's really all it had to offer. Oh, and it's where Eva Longoria and Troy Parker got married too. We got back into the city, got some lunch and then made our way to Monmarte and finally down to the Moulin Rouge. After that, we were given some free time. I tried to take a nap again but when there are people to talk to, that doesn't usually work out for me. So I didn't sleep and then met up with everyone so that we could get on the boat for our cruise of the Seine. It was a lot of fun. Paris is utterly breathtaking at night. After the cruise, a few of us me up with my friend Paola's ex-roomie who lives in Paris. She took us to an amazing club that was 1. free, 2. had a live dj, and 3. was playing electro all night. Needless to say I was in heaven. I didn't want to leave but all good things must come to an end, especially when you have to be up and ready by 9:00 the next morning.

The next day we went to the Musee D'Orsay which was cool but I was really tired from the previous night and had already been there before so I got over it really quickly. After the museum it was time for those heading back to Bonn to depart. So we said goodbye to them and got some lunch. Before we left for our excursion, my friend Natalia and I decided that we wanted to check out EuroDisney in Paris so after lunch we made our way to our hotel. It was terrible. I'm going to leave it at that. The next day we made our trip to EuroDisney! It was a lot smaller and not as magical as the park in Anaheim of course but it was a lot of fun regardless. It was funny because it was Disney but everything was slightly European about the park. For instance, smoking is allowed throughout the park which is alarming, but I guess not so much at the same time. Also most of the rides are spoken in both French and in English. I think European kids are much more into thrills than American ones because the rides at EuroDisney were way more intense than the Disneyland ones...especially for me. After our day at Disney, Natalia and I met up with our friends Katie and Courtney at the Eiffel Tower. We sort of just walked around, ate at a really good restaurant and called it a night. Natalia and I were tired from our long day and had to take the train back to Bonn really early in the morning. Overall I'd say our excursion was quite successful albeit exhausting. To make it worse we had to start preparing for midterms. Sometimes I forget I'm here to go to school!!!




P.S. Don't forget you can visit http://picasaweb.google.com/tderodeff to view all of my pictures from Paris as well as my other travels!

Paris Part 1: Je suis en Paris!

PARIS is (and I think always will be) my favorite city in all my travels. When I was 17, I fell in love with the city, and 3 years later my love continues to grow. I was really excited when I found out that we'd be spending the majority of our excursion in "The City of Love."

From Reims we got into Paris at around 2:30pm and checked into our hotel. There we met our tour guide, Julianne and then took the metro to Fat Tire Bike Tours where we began our bike tour through the streets of Paris. I have never thought I was going to die on a bike more times in my life than I did that day. I'm not really sure what the rules are in Paris but in America we're not really ones to bike through oncoming traffic at will. The other thing that made it difficult was the fact that there were 20+ of us to keep track of an dsome of us clearly had more experience with bikes than others. Furthermore, it decided to rain on us so it cut the tour a little short. Don't get me wrong through all of my griping though, I actually thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Even though I had seen all of the sights we saw, I think being on a bike gave me a fresh perspective. To be perfectly honest, I think I felt more Parisian bicycling through the city. I just had to forget the 20 of my peers trekking along behind me.

Paris is an architectural masterpiece and I wanted to take more in, however the did not permit it so we returned our bikes and made our way to the restaurant where we'd be having dinner. We assembled into this tiny restaurant our program had booked for us, so we were the only ones eating there which was pretty cool. They try and take us to restaurants with cultural significance so the one we were at tonight was a creperie. In France, crepes are an all day thing- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have no problem with this. I had a crepe with cheese, potatoes, cream, and ham for dinner. It was really good but super filling. Of course I had to save room for dessert though. I ordered a crepe with strawberry jam. Yum. Once again, it reminded me of being home on Sunday mornings when my mom would make my sister and I crepes with jam. It was a nice way to end the day and it was only day number 1.
On day 2, we took a walking tour of the Louvre which was cool but I'd already seen most of the works our tour guide was pointing out. I really wanted to go off and explore on my own. The Louvre is massaive, and there is so much I've yet to see. It just gives me all the more reason to return someday. After the Louvre, we took a walking tour of the Latin Quarter which I was really excited about because it was a part of Paris I had never seen before. I really liked it. It was very bohemian and certainly a lot different than everything else we had seen thus far. Afterwards my plan was to take a nap but that didn't really go as planned so I got a bite to eat and (because we thought we were late) raced with my friends to the Eiffel Tower, our meeting point for the night. Once there, our group made our way up the Tower and took lots of pictures together. I'd already been up before 3 years ago but it was definitely a new experience with the new group. On top of the Eiffel Tower I couldn't help but to think a) how lucky I am to have this experience and b) how glad I am to be with such a great group of people. I'm a very lucky boy.

Days 2 & 3: Brussels and Reims

The next morning we were told to be in the lobby of our hotel at around 7:45 am so that we could make our way into Brussels. We got into Brussels at around noon and were told that we'd be having free time on our own to figure out lunch. Off course I bee-lined for the infamous Belgian waffles and it was a really good choice because eating it literally made me feel as though I had died and gone to heaven. I now know the meaning of that colloquialism thanks to Belgium.

After finishing my delicious waffle it was time to go to Parliament of the European Union which is partly housed in Brussels. We were given a short little information session on how the European Union is governed and the different parts of their government. I was surprised at how little I knew about the government of the European Union (the only question I could answer was that there are 27 countries within the Union) and at how little my fellow class mates knew as well. It's a shame that we don't learn more about Europe in our schools because all of us found the lecture we were given very interesting.

After the lecture, we were invited into one of the meeting rooms of parliament where they were setting up for a discussion on concerns about the environment. We were invited to stay and listen but of course we had to move on. I really wanted to stay and listen to learn first-hand of Europe's take on our global climate crisis and their prospective solutions but I had to be satisfied with simply the new knowledge I'd taken away from the visit.

After the European Union it was time for us to get back on the bus and head to Reims, a city in northern France. Our bus driver got a little lost so we got there quite late and ate dinner at "Hippopotamus" a restaurant I would have to equate with France's version of an "Applebee's." After dinner we took initiative and decided to explore Reims. Reims is relatively small and all we really wanted to find were clubs so it wasn't that difficult. We found one on the same street as our hotel so it was super convenient. It was like 11:30 pm when we went in so literally we were the only ones there which was fine with me because there were lights and music which is all I need. We went out to get more of our friends and when we came back we decided to partake in the karaoke that was going on on the second floor. Everyone was karaoke-ing in french and taking themselves way too seriously and I got really tired of it so my friend Katie and I decided to sing "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. We really brought the house down and afterward a French man in leather pants who I saw sing before came up to me and started speaking to me in French. All I could make out was "très bien!" and gave me a thumbs up so I'm assuming that he told me that I did a really good job.

The next day we had a relatively late meeting time in the morning (9:30 am) and made our way to the Champagne Pommery Winery because apparently Reims is famous for it's Champagne. The tour was far from what I had expected. Apparently this Winery also doubles as an art gallery so there were various works of art throughout the factory. For instance one room looked sort of like the inside of the barn and had really nice electric guitars and speakers in it but also little birds who apparently play the guitars from time to time. In another room there was a cross that lit up and looked like a series of flourescent lights reminiscent of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and if you looked up to the ceiling there was a picture of Jesus but as an alien. It was pretty trippy for a champagne factory. The tour was pretty cool and informational and at the end we all got to taste the champagne we'd learned about. It was a lot of fun but of course we had to leave so that we could go back to our hotel gather our things and make our way to Paris!

Day 1: Amsterdam

I'm really glad that I got to go to Amsterdam the weekend before we went as a group because when we got there the weather was miserable. I barely have any pictures because i spent the majority of my time trying to keep my umbrella from going inside-out.

We travelled by bus from Bonn to Amsterdam and got there at around noon. We checked in at the hotel and then were given some free time before we were told to meet up at the central station so that we could take a canal cruise located nearby. It was kind of worthless because it was raining so all of the windows were shut and no one could really take good pictures but we were tired and wet so we were happy to be in a place that was dry and where we could sit and rest.

After the canal cruise we walked to a little cafe where we had chocolate, coffee, and tea to warm us up. Then we went to the Anne Frank House where we were given the history by one of the novices. Personally I really enjoyed the museum. I remember reading the biography over and over when I was younger and it was incredibly surreal being inside the building where the events of the biography actually took place. An interesting thing about the museum is that it is barely furnished. There are only pictures on the walls to indicate what the rooms looked like at the time the families were living there in hiding. I thought that this created so much more of a presence than having the furniture actually inside the museum. It was so stark, so vacant. Sort of like a prison cell, which is most likely what the Frank family felt they were in as they hid from the Gestapo. The museum also had a cool exhibit on civil rights. On a big screen they projected highly controversial current events and questioned whether or not our "inalienable" rights should ever be surrendered in a given situation and then they had the audience privately vote. It was interesting to see the results of the group and I was quite surprised by some of the results as well. I found these questions really important to ask and thought that the Anne Frank House was a really relevant place to hold this exhibit.

After the Anne Frank House we split up and I decided to go back to the hotel so that I could chill for a little bit before dinner. Dinner in a word was uitstekend (excellent in Dutch). We went to this little restaurant where the walls were covered in pictures of mothers (I think it had something to do with the restaurant's name)
The food was amazing. The best part was they kept bringing more and more out. There was potatoes and meat and apple sauce and cooked pears and sweet potato fries and I could go on and on but I'm getting hungry right now just thinking about it. The funny thing about it was that it tasted almost exactly like the way my mom prepares meat (last time I checked she isn't Dutch? I could be wrong though). So basically I felt like I was getting a home cooked meal. We didn't do too much after dinner because we were tired and it was wet and the next day we had to leave for Brussels in the morning.

Whirl-Wind Tour

So I just got back from a week-long trip to Amsterdam, Brussels, Reims, and Paris. It was a lot of fun but exhausting to say the least. A lot was jam packed into our little adventure so it makes the most sense to me to create a separate entry for each location.

The Netherlands

Germany is great and all but I really wanted to get out of the country so I rang up my best friend Gabby and told her that I needed to come visit her in the Netherlands. Gabby is studying abroad in Utrecht which is only a short distance from Amsterdam and about a 3 hour train ride from me. So I booked my train and left for the weekend.

I thought that The Netherlands would be really similar to Germany being that they are neighboring countries. It's not. I would to describe it as being Canada and Germany the US. The Netherlands is much smaller and obviously has a lot less rules than Germany. I got off of the bus and I'm pretty sure I saw more people riding bikes than I did walking. I got in at night so I couldn't really see any of the buildings around me but I could definitely feel the difference in atmosphere between the 2 countries.
I met up with Gabby at her quaint university and at around 12:30am we decided to go out dancing. Everyone rides their bike in the Netherlands so before I came Gabby rented me a bike so that we could ride around. So at 12:30 we rode our bikes to a club where me met up with some of her friends. It was fun riding my bike but I gained a new respect for the reliable subway system in Germany. After we had our fill of music and dancing we rode home and slept for a long time.

The next day we decided to go into Amsterdam. Gabby said that it would be better if we waited until mid-day to go because we'd be too tired if we spent the entire day there. We went to the train station booked a ticket and were in Amsterdam about a half of an hour later.

Amsterdam is an interesting city. Pretty much everything is legal there but it's no proverbial Sodom and Ghomorra. It's very clean and, like most of Europe, the people walking around are very fashionable. We tried to stray away from the typical tourist things to do because I told Gabby that I'd be coming back with my school in about a week and we'd probably be doing those kind of things so we leisurely walked through the city and took a canal tour. It was nice because I know when I go this weekend we'll be doing non-stop stuff.

After dinner Gabby wanted to take me to the Red Light District and then dancing (not in the same place). So we had a nice pizza dinner and then walked around the Red Light District for a bit and then went out dancing.
It seems like everywhere we go we meet Americans because in the club we met this girl from USC studying at the University of Amsterdam who happened to know a close friend of mine. The more I travel the more I feel the world is actually a lot smaller than I had originally thought.

We didn't get back to Utrecht until about 4am so we slept in again the next day. Gabby really hadn't been home in a lot of weeks so we spent a nice day riding our bikes around her city. Even in Utrecht they have canals so it was a welcome change from Germany, but again I like being home and was ready to use those good ol' subways so I left once again for Deutschland. Tomorrow I go back to Amsterdam and it will be interesting to see how different my experience is this weekend from the last.

P.S. I have a number of photo albums on picasa web. The url is: www.picasaweb.google.com/tderodeff for your viewing pleasure!

OKTOBERFEST!!!!!!

So we decided to go to Oktoberfest a little last minute. Many people plan the event out months or even an entire year ahead. We, however, finalized our plans about a week before. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't entirely sure whether or not I really wanted to go to the fest because I didn't really know what to expect.

Let me just say I'm glad I decided to go.

Because we're young and dumb, we decided to book a night train so that we'd get to Munich at 7 in the morning and then we'd be able to party at Oktoberfest all day. So we took the midnight train from Bonn to Munich and slept on the train. We got to our hotel in Munich at about 7:30 and got ready for the day. We took a taxi to the actual grounds of Oktoberfest and waited outside of the Paulaner tent with hoards of others. Once they opened up the doors it was a mad rush to find a table. After about 20 minutes of no success, we finally found a table and sat with 2 german girls and 4 Texans dressed in lederhosen (I know right?).

They don't actually tap the kegs until 12pm so we had to wait about 2 and a half hours to actually get our first beers. The beers came just in time too because we were all tired from traveling and ready to start this party. Finally the tent livened up, people started to yell and stand on tables and music started playing; it was time to tap the keg. After a 30 second countdown in German (which I was very proud to be able to do) the party began and the beer was brought out in droves. I have no idea how the waiters and waitresses were able to carry 10 beers 1 liter each to each table but it was surely a sight to be seen.

After the first beers were brought out, we had reached the point of no return. More live German music was played, people continued to dance on tables and the day just got crazier and crazier. Women were walking around with breathalyzers so that people could find out their blood alcohol content and even get a certificate to show off their high score. It was seriously one of the most fun places I had ever been to; after people started to dance on the tables I knew I wouldn't have a problem fitting in.

We pretty much partied in the tent all day and in the evening walked all around outside looking at the carnival rides. After we were done walking around we decided to go back into another tent (the other Paulaner one) and see what it was like. This time we found a table with some Italians and proceeded to dance on these tables as well. Each of the tents have a different feel and even though this tent was owned by the same owner as the one we were at earlier, it definitely seemed more American. The singers in this tent were definitely German but played a more classic American playlist with songs like "Proud Mary" and "No Woman No Cry" we obviously enjoyed this very much but got tired out really quickly and left for our hotel at around 10pm.

The next day was a little bit more relaxed. We just walked around and looked at all of the tent. Gabby and I had been talking about the Hippodrome for months so we went in and decided to take a look around. The tent is known for being super exclusive but somehow we got in and were seated by a hostess. It was fun but I was happy that we had spent the previous day in the Paulaner tent. After the Hippodrome, we walked around and met up with some friends who were also at Oktoberfest outside the Lowenbrau Tent. It seemed as though we picked the interntational tent because there were so many people from other countries surrounding us. We sat in between some Australians and a few Englishmen. Finally it was time to head back to Bonn. We took another night train and returned to Bonn at around 5 in the morning. Luckily I had no class all day and was able to sleep and reflect on what an awesome time I had and how lucky I am to be able to experience all this!