GERMANS
They are 'egg shell people'. In other words, you have to get through the shell they are kind, generous and nice folks. But you have to get through that shell. Unfortunately, from the way I am dressed people seem to believe I am homeless. I guess the homeless people around here dress up pretty good. Sucktastic. You wouldn't believe the looks I get when I am trying to be polite and say "Excuse me, can you help me (I am looking for X)." I've started saying, "Where is the (subway) please?" instead so they don't tune me out or whatever.
A good example of this is when Pete and I went to a fairly upscale clothing store to get Pete a nice hat. The guy at the store waited for me to speak German to him for awhile then revealed he spoke English better than I.
GERMAN LANGUAGE
The range of my German language skills is rated anywhere from 'shitty' (Austin) to 'excellent' (Germans in Germany). I suspect they (the Germans) are being generous because everyone (younger generation) seems to speak English. I think they are just grateful I put in the effort. The need to actually learn to speak German (in Germany) has dropped substantially in the last twenty five years. The last time I was here, the attitude was more along the lines of "You are in Germany, you should speak German." It has shifted to "I am educated, of course I speak English." I still hold that if you want to get on with the natives (Germans) well, you need to make the effort to at least master a few of the simple phrases.
GERMANY
Despite the screaming idiots outside (they didn't bother Pete) we decided to renew the room. It was 90 euros (one night for two people) when I did so. I also checked on a price for a single person room, 50 euros. You save a bit of money traveling with a friend. Also, when you get your room and present a ticket at the bar, you get your choice of a free shot of: Teachers, whiskey, tequila and Jaeger. Liam the Tasmanian the bar tender does a good job. He is traveling around the world bar tending. It seems to me a good way to do it. I think it's kind of interesting the people you meet who are doing things like that out on the road. I admire anyone who is able to break the bonds of 'what normal people do' (school, work, death) to get some adventure.
If you are wanting to extend your stay in the same room you had previously, you may not be able to stay in the same room. It may have been booked to someone else for the next day. I didn't have that problem but if I did, I'm able to just walk to the next building and book there where I'm at. I still like the idea of staying a night to see how you like it however. If you are going to something with a high amount of people (however) like Oktoberfest you'll want to book it all at once.
Watching the young beer swilling hooligans that come to this hostel to party, I keep thinking 'why the fuck didn't you go to Amsterdam instead?' It is only 8 hours away by train or they could have flown there for approximately the same cost and gone completely out of their minds. Idiots.
Remember Thomas from Amsterdam? (No? Go back and read the Amsterdam blog stuff you lazy bastards.) We had talked to him there and agreed to meet him in Marienplatz (Munich old city square, big tourist spot) at noon. He was there spot on time while we were watching the Glockenspiel do it's little dance.
Edit courtesy of Pete! Before we went on (to the next paragraph) Thomas took us to have a traditional Bavarian food, 'white sausages' and showed us how to eat them. White sausages are served floating in hot water within a covered pot, presumably to keep them warm. You remove the sausage from the bowl with some sort of tongs. The knife is then used to slit the skin and you pull it off of the sausage rather like a condom. The sausage is then placed in the mouth followed by some 'bretzen' (piece of the giant pretzel). Sweet or spicy sauce can be added as well.
Thomas introduced us to his 'gay family' at - you guessed it a 'gay bar'. The owner is an Austrian named Wolfgang K. He's owned the bar for eighteen years. If you're in Munich and want to visit the 'fireman's bar' it's called Bar Zur Feuerwache, Blumenstr 21 a 80331 Munchen. Wolfgang gave Pete a membership card. I think he likes him.
ARMY BASE CHALLENGE
As those who know me pretty well, I use to work on a US Army base back in the early '90's. They closed it shortly after I left the army. They probably said "Well, if Logan isn't here any more, fuck it." That's my guess anywhere.
The internet had a hand drawn map someone put up. I talked to the nice hostel lady and she figured out which stop on the subway I needed to get based on that information.
While we were wandering around, both Pete and I felt an urgent need to visit the restroom. Possibly due to the wide variety of 'beer gardens' in the neighborhoods. [A beer will cost you about 4-5 euros. Anyone who tells you different doesn't know where to drink.] Some of the places we checked in claimed (lied) that they didn't have a restroom. We eventually found an Italian restaurant that let us use theirs. I put this part of the story in as it is foreshadowing. We found the base and wandered around with Logan making comments about how most of the things were different twenty five years ago (read as 'old man babbling'). The main building I use to work in has either vanished or they've gotten very good at hiding four story buildings. I also found the gate (still standing, built do last) that a buddy of mine lost his pinkie on when he tried to scale it to go visit a girl.
Then it was time to attempt to find 'the Greek restaurant'. It's about twenty meters square and two stories high, cunningly hidden in a residential area. We went around talking to various people who gave conflicting, contrary directions. We eventually came across a group of old men (who naturally only spoke German) but not only did they know the waiters name (Vacilli)and Christos (owner) but remembered the restaurant and gave us directions. Impressive. The building is still there, but it has been replaced with an Italian restaurant. Found it! The inside looks a lot more cluttered and smaller than it use to. Pete thinks it could be twenty five years of fond, selective memories. I suppose he could be right. For those interested, the former Greek restaurant address is Hohenschwangamhof 19.
At the restaurant, the lady who was waitressing was from Pula (Croatia). It is one of the countries I'm interested in going to and I remembered they had the sixth largest Roman Colosseum (still standing). She said she'd read the blog and drop me a something in the comments section when I'm getting ready to head there.
PRICES TO PRAGUE FROM GERMANY
If you take the Czech student bus at bad, fucked up times it's 35 euros + 8 euros for your second (or big bag). Read as 43 euros. If you take a German train, it ranges from 63 euros (which we got) up to 90 euros (all of the prices are per adult) depending on when you travel - different times of the day.
TRAVELERS TIPS
You want to store your toiletries in a clear bag for both TSA to root through as well as to easily find stuff. Rather than have some fancy zipper bag as I use to, use a zip lock freezer bag. Cheap and easy to replace.
Liquids, powders and such. Fucking put them in separate plastic bags or get ready to clean all of your shit and the interior of your bag/backpack.
Record 'white noise' on your MP3 player (whatever kind you like) just in case you need it. When the people are making noise and stuff you might want it to drown it out.
GRACE
“By "guts" I mean, grace under pressure” - Hemingway. Giving a shout out to a fellow traveler I met Grace N. She is traveling around by herself and has gone some places (on an American passport) I have hesitated to go. Like Egypt. Really recently. I wanted to send a shout out and say how much I admired that sort of guts. [And put in a quote that had both her name in it and something about guts - for the slow of thinking.]
Grace is doing her own version of 'round the world in 80 days' - but not like the lame movie. It sounds excellent and I hope she finds ways to keep traveling as long as she wants to.
WEIRD SHIT
Pete found something weird and wonderful. Good stuff.
WHERE NEXT?
Prague, bitches! Jana is going to meet up with us at the Prague train station (five hour ride, prices above) tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to my first 'please don't ass rape me for money' country.
Showing posts with label German. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
THREE AND A WAKEUP
VIOLENCE EXPORTED
I was reading a story that had some interesting things to say about one of America's biggest exports - violence. They are charging "group of five soldiers accused of killing innocent civilians out of pure bloodlust". This was discovered because - like stupid teenagers, "The soldiers then took photos of themselves grinning while standing over their victims as if posing with hunting trophies, as well as taking gruesome mementos including bones and severed fingers." "Reports have claimed the atmosphere after a killing was jubilant, with the soldiers in high spirits and excitedly regaling each other with their own versions of what had happened. In a sad irony, the soldiers were supposed to be carrying out the American strategy of counterinsurgency, or COIN, by protecting and befriending the Afghan population in the dangerous region around Kandahar." Well, I guess they misunderstood their mission. To cap it off, the actions of the 'kill team' were denounced as "...contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army..." This is another example of why the government will prefer to use private contractors instead of army troops - better deniability. Personally, I wouldn't have said these crimes were caused by bloodlust - they didn't occur while combat was going on. According to the article, the soldiers started it themselves. Hence, psychotic behavior rather than bloodlust.
Yes, even I think that's bad. Worse than the usual thing of going berserk with a BB gun because a special ended on your Taco Bell. For the record, unless real bullets were used, I don't call it a 'shootout'.
MIRROR BLINDS
Bert found out about these. They're marketing them for hunting but Bert mentioned that the military potential is also there.
TALK TALK TALK
Richard, Travis, Bert and I (Logan - the guy who writes this blog) were sitting around chatting. For your inspection, it is here.
A wide variety of topics were covered. It may (or may not) be of interest to others. I have entitled it 'Pre-Game Dump' - not after any RPG game but titled after the line in Van Wilder. It is confusing, but I'm sure you've already figured it out.
TIME LEFT
Not counting today (which is cleaning day) I have three days and a wake up. Not too long to go. It will be a long assed three days though. Pretty much my plan is to try to hit my favorite restaurants and talk to people that I've gotten to know here before I go. I feel that I've gotten to spend some good time with Travis and Bert before I left - and will get to spend a bit more as they are taking me to the airport. Good deal there for a last huzzah. I am planning on arriving a minimum of four hours before the flight as to give TSA a chance to root through my bags as well as give me plenty of time to repack them.
Other than that, no real plans.
GERMAN READERS
The blog apparently has a lot of people with German IP addresses reading it. We're planning on hitting Munich for sure, possibly other places but Munich for sure. If you're wanting to meet up with us in Munich, let me know. We'll see if we can coordinate a convenient place to meet for a beer or something.
MATT AND THE DEAD HOOKERS
Richard found this from Matt's first dictionary.
The story of Matt and the slaying of countless hookers does however have a dark side. Apparently, he has been banned from entering the Netherlands. In an interview with a government official who demanded anonymity (so he was not called a hooker and slain by Matt) the government official is quoted as saying "In Amsterdam, we have over 20,000 prostitutes. Having a crazed person coming and murdering them is not the sort of image we want to give people of the Netherlands."
Matt is quoted as saying "I don't see what the big deal is. They have so many - I mean, I would only be able to kill less than a hundred! If Charlie Sheen can go crazy I am surprised this is even newsworthy." When told that statement made no sense, he responded with a loud "Shaddup!" and went back to his beer drinking in preparation of stalking prostitutes.
So, for the readers of this blog, that means that sadly Matt will not get to accompany us on the Amsterdam portion of the trip. Whether he sues the Netherlands for infringing on his rights remains to be seen but the conservatives of the Netherlands are in favor of not only him having an extended visit but paying for that visit. We will keep you up to date on that news as it becomes available.
I was reading a story that had some interesting things to say about one of America's biggest exports - violence. They are charging "group of five soldiers accused of killing innocent civilians out of pure bloodlust". This was discovered because - like stupid teenagers, "The soldiers then took photos of themselves grinning while standing over their victims as if posing with hunting trophies, as well as taking gruesome mementos including bones and severed fingers." "Reports have claimed the atmosphere after a killing was jubilant, with the soldiers in high spirits and excitedly regaling each other with their own versions of what had happened. In a sad irony, the soldiers were supposed to be carrying out the American strategy of counterinsurgency, or COIN, by protecting and befriending the Afghan population in the dangerous region around Kandahar." Well, I guess they misunderstood their mission. To cap it off, the actions of the 'kill team' were denounced as "...contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army..." This is another example of why the government will prefer to use private contractors instead of army troops - better deniability. Personally, I wouldn't have said these crimes were caused by bloodlust - they didn't occur while combat was going on. According to the article, the soldiers started it themselves. Hence, psychotic behavior rather than bloodlust.
Yes, even I think that's bad. Worse than the usual thing of going berserk with a BB gun because a special ended on your Taco Bell. For the record, unless real bullets were used, I don't call it a 'shootout'.
MIRROR BLINDS
Bert found out about these. They're marketing them for hunting but Bert mentioned that the military potential is also there.
TALK TALK TALK
Richard, Travis, Bert and I (Logan - the guy who writes this blog) were sitting around chatting. For your inspection, it is here.
A wide variety of topics were covered. It may (or may not) be of interest to others. I have entitled it 'Pre-Game Dump' - not after any RPG game but titled after the line in Van Wilder. It is confusing, but I'm sure you've already figured it out.
TIME LEFT
Not counting today (which is cleaning day) I have three days and a wake up. Not too long to go. It will be a long assed three days though. Pretty much my plan is to try to hit my favorite restaurants and talk to people that I've gotten to know here before I go. I feel that I've gotten to spend some good time with Travis and Bert before I left - and will get to spend a bit more as they are taking me to the airport. Good deal there for a last huzzah. I am planning on arriving a minimum of four hours before the flight as to give TSA a chance to root through my bags as well as give me plenty of time to repack them.
Other than that, no real plans.
GERMAN READERS
The blog apparently has a lot of people with German IP addresses reading it. We're planning on hitting Munich for sure, possibly other places but Munich for sure. If you're wanting to meet up with us in Munich, let me know. We'll see if we can coordinate a convenient place to meet for a beer or something.
MATT AND THE DEAD HOOKERS
Richard found this from Matt's first dictionary.
The story of Matt and the slaying of countless hookers does however have a dark side. Apparently, he has been banned from entering the Netherlands. In an interview with a government official who demanded anonymity (so he was not called a hooker and slain by Matt) the government official is quoted as saying "In Amsterdam, we have over 20,000 prostitutes. Having a crazed person coming and murdering them is not the sort of image we want to give people of the Netherlands."
Matt is quoted as saying "I don't see what the big deal is. They have so many - I mean, I would only be able to kill less than a hundred! If Charlie Sheen can go crazy I am surprised this is even newsworthy." When told that statement made no sense, he responded with a loud "Shaddup!" and went back to his beer drinking in preparation of stalking prostitutes.
So, for the readers of this blog, that means that sadly Matt will not get to accompany us on the Amsterdam portion of the trip. Whether he sues the Netherlands for infringing on his rights remains to be seen but the conservatives of the Netherlands are in favor of not only him having an extended visit but paying for that visit. We will keep you up to date on that news as it becomes available.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
DEEP INTO THE HEART OF CHARLEY
Col. Kurtz: "I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor... and surviving."
That's been going through my mind, as of late.
GERMAN STAMMTISCH
In Germany, the 'stammtisch' is 'the usual table for the regulars'. Well, it actually has a lot more connotations with it than just that. Sometimes, it is on a special day for special reasons - like the 'philosophy stammtisch'. Other times, the locals eat there (as a group) so much that they put up a brass plaque that can not only denote the table as a 'stammtisch' but might even include the names of the regulars who eat/drink/hang out there. Another definition might be the 'high table'. If you are in a German speaking country and get invited to a 'stammtisch', this is seen as an honor. If you try to sit at a stammtisch - even if the rest of the place is packed and that table is the only empty one, look forward to being relocated.
Anyway, at one of the local eateries they have a German stammtisch (and apparently a French one as well) from 6 PM till whenever - usually 7 PM when a not very good musician takes the stage and attempts to drive off the customers. It worked on me.
Anyway, from talking to the various German speakers (all of whom spoke much better German than I did - sigh) I discovered that if they spoke simply I was able to follow about 40-50% of what they were saying. Not bad. If my other language skills (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish) were up to that level, I'd be pretty happy indeed about it. I've got some podcasts of those languages (well, not Chinese - I'm not that frigging slick) on my player ready to go. So, later I'll work on them. Probably after I get out of Germany.
They don't make any Czech podcasts (does nobody care?) so I'll work on picking up a few phrases when I'm there.
Studying a language when you're surrounded by people who speak it - and no English - is much easier. Any language.
THOUGHTS AFTER THE TOUR TRIP
I'm starting to think I should consider working my way down to Turkey after we get done with Prague and such. I was looking at the other countries and it seems that some are part of the dreaded 'Schengen Agreement' (which spells good things for most casual travelers and doom to a loafer like me) and others look like they're a huge pain in the ass. [In case you have missed previous mad rantings I've done about the 'Schengen Agreement', it allows you to go visa free into any of the countries that are in it. Most of Europe - for all intensive purposes - is one big country for this. After 3 months in this new, giant country it's 'get the fuck out of our big giant country' time and you've got to get out. That's where Turkey comes in. It (fortunately) is not in the 'Schengen Agreement' and doesn't seem to be too difficult to enter. Might be a little light bribery required, not sure.
Keep in mind, these are just speculative thoughts. One thing I'm going to be doing is talking to a lot of other travelers, police, embassies, whatever and finding out more information when I get my feet on the ground in these other countries. I just wanted to come up with a rough outline of 'what should I do'.
Hell, I might find the Czech Republic so inviting (and hopefully, cheap) that I stay there (and bug Jana - poor Jana) for awhile. I might be phoning her up from small outlying towns and saying "How do I say 'extra food for the fat man please'?" And other useful phrases. Who knows. Might end up having to make a last minute dash for Turkey and hope I don't get turned away from the border. That would be a bummer. But we'll see. It should be a fuck of a lot more interesting than sitting around my dust filled cold apartment bored out of my mind writing a blog.
INDIA
I was reading up on India and it looks as though they're offering an interesting deal. You can get a 10 year visa. Yes, TEN years. Apparently, you can go in - stay for 3 months, be out for two months and then go back in. On the same ten year visa. It's $150 but it might be worth it to kick around there for awhile to save a little bit of money up when I start working the Asia side. We'll have to see.
TWO NOTES ON THE BLOG
First, if I have anything negative to say about the country - and I'm in one of 'those' countries - you know what I mean - then I might have to wait until I leave it before giving it a negative review. Don't know. I'd hate to blog and then find out that their 'president elect for life and death to anyone who doesn't like it' is a fan and reads the blog. That would be socially awkward. As would the firing squad.
Second, if nobody hears from me for a couple months, it means I'm dead. And you know what that means - "AVENGE MY DEATH".
RE-WATCHING TOTAL RECALL
Fun movie with some good Schwarzenegger action. Happy times. Blocky cars, really big tracker units - very 1980's in feel but very nice with the special effects.
VALENTINE'S DAY
Well, for those who thought it was just a 'Hallmark Holiday', apparently this is not the case. It's been around for a long time. Apparently, it use to be a fertility festival. Go figure. I'm betting plenty of couples are practicing it on that day without even realizing it.
What a lot of people may not realize is that FEB 15th is just as big of holiday. I call it 'cheap candy they couldn't push the previous day on people who were too stupid to buy it before Valentines day'. So, get ready to go shopping on the 15th.
That's been going through my mind, as of late.
GERMAN STAMMTISCH
In Germany, the 'stammtisch' is 'the usual table for the regulars'. Well, it actually has a lot more connotations with it than just that. Sometimes, it is on a special day for special reasons - like the 'philosophy stammtisch'. Other times, the locals eat there (as a group) so much that they put up a brass plaque that can not only denote the table as a 'stammtisch' but might even include the names of the regulars who eat/drink/hang out there. Another definition might be the 'high table'. If you are in a German speaking country and get invited to a 'stammtisch', this is seen as an honor. If you try to sit at a stammtisch - even if the rest of the place is packed and that table is the only empty one, look forward to being relocated.
Anyway, at one of the local eateries they have a German stammtisch (and apparently a French one as well) from 6 PM till whenever - usually 7 PM when a not very good musician takes the stage and attempts to drive off the customers. It worked on me.
Anyway, from talking to the various German speakers (all of whom spoke much better German than I did - sigh) I discovered that if they spoke simply I was able to follow about 40-50% of what they were saying. Not bad. If my other language skills (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish) were up to that level, I'd be pretty happy indeed about it. I've got some podcasts of those languages (well, not Chinese - I'm not that frigging slick) on my player ready to go. So, later I'll work on them. Probably after I get out of Germany.
They don't make any Czech podcasts (does nobody care?) so I'll work on picking up a few phrases when I'm there.
Studying a language when you're surrounded by people who speak it - and no English - is much easier. Any language.
THOUGHTS AFTER THE TOUR TRIP
I'm starting to think I should consider working my way down to Turkey after we get done with Prague and such. I was looking at the other countries and it seems that some are part of the dreaded 'Schengen Agreement' (which spells good things for most casual travelers and doom to a loafer like me) and others look like they're a huge pain in the ass. [In case you have missed previous mad rantings I've done about the 'Schengen Agreement', it allows you to go visa free into any of the countries that are in it. Most of Europe - for all intensive purposes - is one big country for this. After 3 months in this new, giant country it's 'get the fuck out of our big giant country' time and you've got to get out. That's where Turkey comes in. It (fortunately) is not in the 'Schengen Agreement' and doesn't seem to be too difficult to enter. Might be a little light bribery required, not sure.
Keep in mind, these are just speculative thoughts. One thing I'm going to be doing is talking to a lot of other travelers, police, embassies, whatever and finding out more information when I get my feet on the ground in these other countries. I just wanted to come up with a rough outline of 'what should I do'.
Hell, I might find the Czech Republic so inviting (and hopefully, cheap) that I stay there (and bug Jana - poor Jana) for awhile. I might be phoning her up from small outlying towns and saying "How do I say 'extra food for the fat man please'?" And other useful phrases. Who knows. Might end up having to make a last minute dash for Turkey and hope I don't get turned away from the border. That would be a bummer. But we'll see. It should be a fuck of a lot more interesting than sitting around my dust filled cold apartment bored out of my mind writing a blog.
INDIA
I was reading up on India and it looks as though they're offering an interesting deal. You can get a 10 year visa. Yes, TEN years. Apparently, you can go in - stay for 3 months, be out for two months and then go back in. On the same ten year visa. It's $150 but it might be worth it to kick around there for awhile to save a little bit of money up when I start working the Asia side. We'll have to see.
TWO NOTES ON THE BLOG
First, if I have anything negative to say about the country - and I'm in one of 'those' countries - you know what I mean - then I might have to wait until I leave it before giving it a negative review. Don't know. I'd hate to blog and then find out that their 'president elect for life and death to anyone who doesn't like it' is a fan and reads the blog. That would be socially awkward. As would the firing squad.
Second, if nobody hears from me for a couple months, it means I'm dead. And you know what that means - "AVENGE MY DEATH".
RE-WATCHING TOTAL RECALL
Fun movie with some good Schwarzenegger action. Happy times. Blocky cars, really big tracker units - very 1980's in feel but very nice with the special effects.
VALENTINE'S DAY
Well, for those who thought it was just a 'Hallmark Holiday', apparently this is not the case. It's been around for a long time. Apparently, it use to be a fertility festival. Go figure. I'm betting plenty of couples are practicing it on that day without even realizing it.
What a lot of people may not realize is that FEB 15th is just as big of holiday. I call it 'cheap candy they couldn't push the previous day on people who were too stupid to buy it before Valentines day'. So, get ready to go shopping on the 15th.
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