I need to write. Writing is expression, writing is art, and writing is healthy. But most of all, I need to start writing because my memory is absolute crap! And I've realized lately how much I have changed; how much the past years of my life have affected me. I can't believe how many beautiful and ugly things I have seen in the past two years, and how much growing up I have had to do. So in a nutshell, I would really like to be able to have a way to look back on these experiences. This also seems like a great way for my friends and family to be able to check in on me every so often since I am still away from home, and tend not to talk about all the crazy stuff that's been happening in my life unless directly asked.
So I begin!
For this first entry, I think I would just like to recap my experiences in Europe. München (Munich) is awesome - but it took me a long time to appreciate it. Something that I think is really cool because it has been a constant new discovery and kept me on my toes. I also love the Bavarian culture, and I'm so grateful to have lived in the heart of bavaria. When I'm around true Bavarians I am always laughing...there is always some strange new word to learn in the Bavarian dialect, or some crazy tradition to participate in. My neighbors have been really great and have supported me the entire (and sometimes rocky!) time I have been learning Deutsch (German). What a crazy language...and for those of you who I haven't talked to, the Bavarian dialect is really quite different from standard 'Hochdeutsch'. Most northern Germans have a hard time or cannot understand Bavarians. However, I'm getting tired of living in the country, and cosmopolitan München is just a 30 minute train (or car...but gas is so expensive!) ride away but it's just not doing it for me. I want to live in München and be closer to my friends, be closer to all of the crazy events, and just experience a more city-centered lifestyle! However, I'm still learning things from staying here...important things too, but it can be frustrating.
Well now that you have an idea of where I am now, I'm trying to think of a way to frame my Europe recap. Maybe just a month by month deal? Let's try that.
January: I arrived on the 1st which seemed rather metaphorical....brand new start. It was after a teary goodbye at Old Chicago with all of the yard house kids. It was really sweet...Mike didn't charge me a thing which was cool too...I should have had more than two beers! I met with Rissa, Heidi, and Sarah the day of my departure at Yard House and we had a nice lunch (courtesy of Yard Bucks). Then I said goodbye, and drove my poor car one last time back home. Poor Betsy (my car) was totaled just 2 weeks earlier by a plow truck on the way to Adam's house with Kayla. By this time, she was definitely limping on the roads too! Anyway - After a very very long plane trip with a layover in Frankfurt, and sitting next to a very large, very smelly man, I landed in München nervous as could be. Matthias picked me up with the kids, Robin and Emily, from the airport and we drove back to the house. They made me a really nice 'Herzlichen Wilkommen Sean' sign, which I would really like to take back with me, but it's rather large and is made of wood. I think the kids were impressed by my cello case which is the blue/green of a 1950's fridge. We came to the house, (I was so impressed with Holzkirchen and the little German charm to the buildings as we drove through) and it was snowing, the christmas tree was out...just very cozy. I felt comfortable right away. All I can really remember from the first week was Jet Lag. I was tired by 6PM every night! Really annoying...but we went to Tegernsee which is a really beautiful lake nearby close to some mountains. We went sledding German style (which I guess is more of a tobaggan) on one of the mountains there. It was really great...however, I broke my sled! Oh no! Of course, my family is great and they didn't care. The kids still joke with me about it though...It was a great way to break the ice with the kids, and get to know each other. As far as language went, I could barely speak or understand anything. Really amazing how far I have come! I also met Kathi and Ralph who were really nice. 'Welcome in Germany!' We set of a few fireworks one of the nights, and I also got to drive the smart car around a bit, which I loved.
February: Was getting a lot more settled in, and getting used to everything. I visited Bad Tölz, a really nice town about 10 minutes away, and started to be a little more independant. Fasching is a big holiday here which you typically celebrate in costume. It's almost like Halloween but spread out a lot longer. We took our first ski trip with Conrad, and his girlfriend. Not very far away is Söll ski resort in Österreich (Austria). We went there, and had a good time. I'm sure it was very amusing for everyone seeing me try to get my snowboarding legs back. It was just a small trip, but nice practice for our actual vacation to Italy. We went to a town in northern Italy called San Cassiano for 5 days (it was a lot of skiing...). We stayed at a great hotel called 'Luch d'a P'cei' or something similar to that. Our village was located in the former area of Germany so everyone in this part of Italy can still speak good German. It was fun to hear Italian everywhere...such a fun language. There is also a strange mixed dialect in this area which was interesting to hear. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel every morning, followed by skiing. Then we would break for lunch at a ski hut, and ski some more until we would come home for showers. Then at night we would walk into the village and get some dinner. All of this was in the fabulous Dolomite mountains. The ski resort we were at is actually the largest single resort in the world and is made up of 10 individual resorts that are all connected. Our resort was 'alta badia' but the entire resort is called 'Super Dolimiti'. Really awesome place.
March: I believe it was in March that I made my first visit to Molly in Regensburg and became more acquainted with München as well. I began hanging out with Alena who became a really great friend of mine from Prague. I was lucky to be friends with such a cool girl...and also lucky because we could only communicate in German. It helped so much, and was awesome practice...it really was because of her that I got my 'german legs'. Regensburg is an extremely gorgeous city that was made rich through the salt trade. My dorm in college was called SHIP 'Smith Hall International Program' and I had a friend that was studying in this town, so I decided to come visit. Turns out there were 3 SHIP kids studying in Regensburg and on my first visit I met up with them all and Molly gave me a really nice tour of the city. We went out that night, and I caught my train back at 12...I also met Sara, someone I would end up becoming really good friends with and would travel with a lot. The first visit to Regensburg was really nice, and opened my eyes to a lot of cool things, and I met some really great people. I think I ended up going to Regensburg to visit probably about 5 times. As a matter of fact, I'll be going this weekend to see Sara and Molly one last time before they leave. Really looking forward to it, as it is always really great. (I think I've said 'Regensburg is really great' about 18 times already...haha, sorry!) I visited Schloss Herrenchiemsee on Lake Chiemsee with Matthias, Robi, and Emi. It was really gorgeous and is modelled after Versailles. The flyer said that Herrenchiemsee is actually 'more ornate' than Versailles. I couldn't believe it until I actually visited Versailles (probably the world's biggest tourist freak-zone of all time).
I visited Salzburg, Austria in March with Sara and Thekla. I met them in München and we drove down (about an hour and a half) to Salzburg. We were there for St. Patricks day actually, so out of necessity we had a Guiness in an Irish pub there. What a hysterically funny trip that was. We had the best time together. Have you ever heard of a funiculator? Well, we sure hadn't and it turns out it's not a sexual term but rather an interesting tram-device that goes up a mountain.
It was also in March that Sara, Molly, and I made a very random, last-minute trip to Copenhagen, Denmark! It was a really cool trip.
April:
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