Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher. Yes that is an actual word.

I spent this past weekend with my Bavarian friend in her family home situated on the lush green land that is Bavaria. And I couldn’t help but get the feeling that her family literally personified Germany for me so I thought I’d write a little about my time there. As well as learning that an Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher is the tool you use for taking the top off of your boiled egg (my love for this gutteral, overly precise language grows every day) – I experienced many new things.

From the cow outside the house with the bell around its neck who wouldn’t sit still the whole night to being served a basket of bread (pretzels, cheese rolls..you name it) with every single meal.. it was an experience. And I am slowly becoming OK with the combination of carbs and..more carbs. Not so much OK with being kept up all night by a large cow who has to wear a bell incase it wanders up into the Alps and gets lost.

(Kuh is the German word for cow. And it is pronounced koo – just like how the Scots say cow. I notice hundreds more links between Scots and German all the time and I will probably write a blog post on that in the future for all you etymology enthusiasts.)

I know I keep harping on about the whole ‘Germans and their directness’ thing, but I think my British self still isn’t quite used to it. When they answered their house telephone, they just picked up the phone and barked ‘Wolf” into the mouthpiece (Wolf being the family’s second name!) Not even a Hallo. I would have personally found it quite terrifying to be on the other side of the receiver. Side note – the family call themselves the Wolfsrudel which translates to the Wolf Pack. How cool is that?

Amazing Autumn colours on our walk on Saturday.

The weekend was lovely and the beautiful weather provided us with an amazing display of colours. Every morning her little brother proudly wore his Bayern Munich Tshirt as he sat scribbing away trying to make sense of his English homework (one girl, two shes?) and we set off to embark on some outdoor activites, as the Germans love to do, such as hiking and walking around a lake. Her little sister who is 16 attended a club in the nearest town on the Friday night and I couldn’t help but think how weird that seems to me – with the age for clubbing being 18 in the UK. Her Mum expressed her dissapproval on the lower age limit for drinking but I’m not so sure.

Our little house in the Garden for the weekend. Many cows outside.

I didn’t have much phone signal out in the countryside but it was nice – when you finally get to put your phone down and only have the people in front of you to talk to. However this was very tiring – and at the end of a whole weekend of speaking and thinking non-stop German, I lost the ability to speak English. For example I tried to construct a sentence in English when I got back and ended up saying ‘because I the toilet need’. For all you grammar geeks out there (oh.. just me then?) the Germans put their infinitive verb to the end of the sentence after a subordonating conjunction like ‘because’.

It was also nice to not have a phone all the time because this meant I did not have to get reminded constantly through Twitter and Facebook that I was missing out on Guy Fawkes back home! I surely can’t have been the only one who didn’t click that I’d miss out because Bonfire night is obviously only a British thing.. actually let’s be honest, I probably was. Embarrassing.

Neuschwanstein castle.

There have been countless more events in the past week or two – from an unexploded WW2 bomb having been found near the University and no body thinking it was a big deal to someone stealing the Arbeit Macht Frei gate at Dachau concentration camp (blog about my experience at the camp can be found if you scroll down the homepage a bit!)

And as I saw on the train back to Munich (which was exactly like the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter with cabins and everything..yes I was delighted) I couldn’t help but be shocked by that typical ‘time is going too fast!’ feeling. It just felt like the day before I had sat on the train going to the girl’s house.

I have also discovered that the childhood curiosity of discovering new things and exploring different places most definitely does not go away just because you’re a so-called adult. I went to watch the Bavarian Orchestra perform today in the Residenz and at one point the conductor stopped the music, turned round out of the blue and said to the audience – ‘find a connection to the music and just stop, and feel and experience everything you hear.’ And that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with everything before my time is up.

Watching the Bavarian Orchestra in the beautiful Residenz.

The weeks are just whizzing by with only 5 weeks before Christmas and I can’t do anything to slow down time but I do know that I am definitely being challenged – and becoming more aware of myself. I would never say that dreaded clichéd phrase that I am ‘finding myself’ because I don’t think life is about finding yourself at all – it is about making yourself. Doing the things that you choose to do and that you love so that you can build yourself into a better person every day.

Tip of the day: never buy a stool the same colour as your carpet. As it will camouflage into the carpet. And you will fall and cry and not be able to walk up stairs for 1 week (and counting).

Those rare moments of peace

The 10k walk along Starnberger See’s shore was wonderfully quiet. With only the mountains and the trees for company, we were as close to nowhere as I have ever been. But it turned out that this nowhere of a place was more of a place than anywhere I’ve ever been.

It was so refreshingly quiet. But when I thought about it, it wasn’t really quiet at all– the sounds of birds and the water and the wind rustling through the leaves in the trees were very loud. I feel like when we think of quiet places we don’t count these natural sounds as being, well, noisy.  They’re a good type of noise.

We were away from all distractions. Everyone knows that in this every modern world, this is a rare occurrence. Hardly ever are we just totally alone with our thoughts. The only times I can think of that fall under this category are that point when you’ve lain down and turned off the lights and are trying to fall asleep; or in the shower, once you’ve finished shampooing and whatever else – and you’re totally alone with your thoughts and nothing to distract. Even then I’ll start to read the back of shampoo bottles (that’s when I know it’s time to get out.) I think that with such short attention spans in this fast-paced world we are incapable of not being distracted until we are forced to do so. But anyway, my point is that these moments when we are truly alone with only our ideas and feelings are rare – and precious.

I went to Starnberger See because this is where King Ludwig of Bavaria (the Fairy Tale King/ Märchenkönig) died on the 13^th of June 1886. I have followed his life history around Bavaria and visited his castles where he lived and therefore I thought it only right to visit his last place. No one knows for sure how the mad King died – whether it was self-inflicted or otherwise. Wherever I travel in Germany – it is absolutely awash with a thick history.

This place was no exception. Just being here and being immersed in its history is to be reminded all the time that there were people before me. And that there will be people after me. And to them I will be the ‘before’. It fills me with a growing responsibility to try everyday to do things right so that those who come to this world later can enjoy it the same way that we do today.

…However I don’t feel quite up to that responsibility yet as I can’t even remember my student card when I go to Uni. This may not seem too problematic to someone who does not live in Munich BUT your student card acts as your train ticket. For 2 months I have never been ticket checked but the one day I forget my student card, I get ticket checked. In Germany, the ticket controllers are dressed in normal clothes and just whip out a badge as soon as the train doors shut and you have to show them your ticket. So when the nice looking man sat next to me suddenly demanded my ticket – you can imagine my horror. I now have trust issues. It was certainly a scary experience and made for a fitting Halloween anyway.On top of this my wifi has been down this week – a true modern day horror story.

But despite these types of negative things – I feel as if there is no better healing power than sitting and listening to the water. This sound was something I have certainly missed living in a landlocked city and coming from an Island where I’m never more than a few miles from the shore. So now I feel more than ready to let October go, and November.. Let’s see what you got!

How is it the 3rd of November and still this warm?!

Wenn dir das Leben eine Zitrone gibt…

Mach Lemonade daraus.. oder frag nach Salz und Tequila?

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade… or ask for salt and tequila?

So there have been more trials and troubles for me this week. From cracking my uninsured iPhone screen whilst leaving the Apple shop (ridiculous I know), to getting served Earl Grey tea passed off as normal black tea (why do Germans not drink normal tea?!), to getting caught dancing in my room to ‘Come on Eileen’ due to a misplaced mirror in my room being angled in such a way that my neighbour has full view of my bedroom from her balcony. Can I be blamed though? The song is a true Ohrwurm (ear worm – how the Germans brilliantly describe a catchy tune..).  With an ever growing to do list and a very unhealthy ‘stuff to do’ vs ‘time left to do stuff’ ratio, life is most certainly giving me lemons.

Anyway, I’ve already said in prior blog posts that on Sunday all the shops are closed.  On the signs in the windows of the shops’ opening hours it doesn’t just say ‘geschlossen’ or ‘closed’ next to the word Sunday.. it says ‘Ruhetag’ which literally translates to ‘day of peace.’  I love this German outlook on the day off.

So, on Sunday it was 24 degrees and we therefore decided to take the long trip to hike up to the the so-nicknamed ‘Eagle’s Nest’ just outside of Berchtesgaden. The journey included train strikes, a good few wrong turnings, trekking through private property with scary Bavarian farm owners, plenty of Google mapping and a lot of guessing – but we did in fact make it to the top of the 1,834m high mountain. The view was stunning – you get a real 360 degree view over Austria and Germany: Berchtesgaden, Salzburg and Königsee.. I think that the idea was that Hitler could have a full view of the ‘Vaterland.’

At the top there is das Kehlsteinhaus. This beer garden/resteraunt was orginally a 50^th birthday present for Adolph Hitler in 1939 and it was to be his retreat. Hitler loved this area and even built his own home lower down the slope. The beer garden is so peaceful and idyllic. Its difficult to compare this unspoiled, peaceful landscape with the evil atrocities that Hitler brought upon Europe during his time of power. Whilst we sat at the top chatting happily with a beer and a Schnitzel, it was strange to think that perhaps Hitler had once done the same.

Me looking rather dishevelled at the top after a long journey.

But I do not think that this amazing mountain and area should continue to be associated with Hitler and the many awful plans he hatched here. It really is an area of complete beauty and deserves to be known for this.

das Kehsteinhaus. Hitler’s retreat in the mountains.

The week also ended nicely including a trip to the top of St. Peter’s Kirche and a visit to an ice cream parlour Verrückte Eis (crazy ice cream) that served flavours such as Champagne and Beer (however I did get served lychee tea when I asked for a cup of tea… LYCHEE flavour! Come on Germans, you need Tetley’s).

View of Munich from the top of St Peter’s Kirche. Had to climb 306 steps to reach the rickety platform on top and my fear of heights took over just after I got this snap.

SO  I’m still hoping for a change in luck when it comes to the frequency of my stressful situations. However as Autumn hits you in the face here due to all the trees, you really can’t but help but feel the change that Autumn brings about. The leaves are now a rusty brown, the air is now crisp and colder (very cold in fact – I’m currently waiting on a care package shoe box from home full of winter goodies including some ‘Handschuh’ – hand shoes. Yes, that does mean gloves. I really do love this language sometimes.) Change is definitely necessary – without it we’d be stuck with the sweaty summer forever … or in my case with bad luck forever. I’m hoping you carry me along with you Autumn and I can experience some of your change too.

The town hall earlier this week on a cold but sunny Autumn day.

On Immune Systems and Stressful Situations

(I’ve added a few more pictures from my camera than normal into this post! Click on them to make them bigger if you want to see them in more detail.)

The stress levels have been up this week. From trying to cook mince, tatties and veg with only two pans, paying the extortionate sum of 3 euros for a small packet of pine nuts, accidently crossing the road on a red man (illegal in this country) to rollerblading on some dangerously slippy leaves – it has not been easy. So we visited Thalkirche Tierpark (Zoo). This zoo was seriously cool – from the clever design of the enclosures making you feel like there was nothing between you and a lion to the funky beer gardens. I decided to enter the bat cave – big mistake. There were bats everywhere, flying in your face and everything, it was carnage. I made a quick exit.

Thalkirche Zoo – no zoom used on this picture, you are actually that close to the lion.

Having a chat with a baboon – just before he turned round and showed us his colourful bum

An elephant shrew. Aka the cutest little thing in the world.

Anteater up close.

The leaves make it dangerous to rollerblade but on the plus side they are also making it very pretty around here. Especially for someone who comes from a no-tree island.  This was taken in the Englisher Garten.

The Isar River looking pretty in Autumn one night last week.

When I got home I watched the news and learned that the first Ebola patient had died in Leipzig. I had just visited Wolfsburg the week before to visit the Autostadt (very cool place) and we had driven past Leipzig. At this point I was already applying the hand sanitizer and worrying when I decided to google ‘Ebola’. Huge mistake. Turns out a major carrier of the disease is bats. Obviously I immediately started to feel ill. I have been assured that I should be OK, however I couldn’t help but move seats on the UBahn today when a man was sneezing near me.

I decided to ditch the daily pilgrimage to the bakery for a pretzel (and yes they have actual pretzel vending machines here – mind blown) and chose instead to eat some fruit and veg. The courgettes are especially fresh here. Time to boost up the immune system I think.

Oh and I also entered a maths lecture by accident this morning and had to endure the walk of shame right from the back to make a swift exit after 10 minutes. I sit at the back not because I am a badman, but because I do not want anyone to be able to read my jumbled half-English half-German notes and therefore have my cover blown as the year-abroad kid.

However, there is nothing quite like the arrival of a 4 day weekend (Fridays and Mondays off) to cheer a stressed-out student up. That and the discovery that all the fitness classes run by the council are completely free if you’re under 21 – how amazing is that? I do need to firstly overcome my lazy ‘Innerer Schweinhund’ (inner pig dog – yet another untranslatable but beautiful German phrase) before lacing up my running shoes. Maybe I’m just suffering from the ‘wow this is new, everything is better’ year abroad student mindset but right now I really think the Germans have things sussed a little bit better than we do.

Just one last leaves picture – sorry – I can’t help myself! I could stare at these colours all day