BACKPACKING!!!!!

Ok so after getting some advice from trusted and experienced friends, I got to chatting with Nikki, a new friend I've met through the Münster program. We decided to book a hostel in Bremen for two nights!! We're going to be backpackers! Stuff gets crowded in the summer so we both booked in advance. I saved $2 with my ISIC card I wrote about previously (the booking fee). We'll be staying in a 6 bed mixed dorm room... how crazy is that! It is 22 Euros per night. We're leaving Münster next Friday around 3:30 or 4 and its only a bit more than one hour away. The plan is to stay the night Friday, explore the city by foot and bus all day Saturday, stay the night again and go back on the train Sunday, but we might hop off the train here and there just to explore some different cities...

I added a link to the site I used to book the hostel... and here's a floorplan!




I am so excited I just can't stand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I FINALLY Packed my Suitcase...

Dear Friends and Family,

I am finally packed and ready to go... had a little scare this morning as we searched one of the attics for my suitcase and it wasn't there! We checked the other one, though, and we found it. I spent about and hour or two packing... I think I did a pretty good job. I'm bringing several pairs of shorts and three pairs of pants, and enough shirts to last me a bit more than a week. Those packing cubes sure are nifty... everything is so neat and tidy. Let's hope TSA doesn't decide to have a hay day in my suitcase!! I think I will have to move a couple more things out of my big bag and put it into my carry-on so it's not too heavy... I was almost done packing and it weighed 49.4 pounds... it's surely like 51 or 52 lbs now... we'll see how it goes. WAIT! I just looked on the website and it says if your stay exceeds 29 days (mine is 35) you can take 30kg (66lbs!)... So I am safe! I'll print this just in case, though!

I added a link to the right of the page (on the blog) to the Google picture application, Picasa. I think I'll post them on Facebook, too, but just in case someone's reading this w/o Facebook, they can click this link.

So I think that's it... other than the weather in Germany is gorgeous right now...in Münster, it's 71 degrees!


Love,
Caitlin

Tick, Tock....

Nope, still haven't packed yet... I REALLY need to get on that, don't I? I just hate packing... We had the going-away get together last night and it was a lot of fun! I am really going to miss you guys...

I have to say it, tomorrow it is going to feel soooo good to NOT get up at 6am and put on scrubs... I'm going to get up at like 7:30 then go to SPINNING at 9am... it should be a really difficult class, the instructor is pretty tough... I neeeeeeeeeed to work out!!

And then I will PACK... Tuesday I am having lunch with my grandma and Wednesday I am supposed to be getting a manicure with my Oma but I think that won't work... I want to get a pedicure before I leave!!

Then Thursday will be the final day of prep before leaving... Friday is it, guys, wowowowow... crazy stuff. I hope I don't forget anything.


Caitlin

Anxiety

To my wonderful friends,

It's going to be really hard to leave, I think. I still feel like my trip is months away, because I'm so used to it actually being so far away. I can hardly believe that this time next Saturday I will be on an airplane bound for Germany. I have been having some downright great times with several of my friends lately, and I'm continuing in the next week to make more plans. Doing so, I fear, will make it all the more difficult to leave.

I must say, however, I can't be more excited. I also can't imagine myself traveling around Germany, either... that will be wild and crazy, I'm sure.

There are only a few things left I need to do...

1. get a plug adapter
2. clean my room
3. find a few little gifts for my host family
4. PACK

I hate getting up the nerve and will to pack a bag for a long trip, I REALLY, REALLY hate it. Once I get into it, though, it becomes kind of a fun thing for me. Hopefully this time it will unravel as such. The challenge will be to pack as light as possible with the most versatility... I'm going to drive to my dog's vet to weigh my bag on the scale before I go, ha ha... juuust to make sure it doesn't weigh too much. I think it can only weigh 50lbs... yikes. I decided only to bring travel bottles of shampoo and stuff because it weighs less. And I will be wearing my heaviest pair of shoes. We'll see how it goes. Come to think of it, I don't even know where my suitcase is. Hmm... I should get on that.

Almost gone,
Caitlin

I'm Getting GUTSY...

So I thought I'd never do it, and I finally did. I called my guest family. As much as I didn't want to, as much as I kicked and screamed... I called them. It was 9pm over there when I called today around 3pm, and my host mum was at home. It was such a great conversation! Sixteen full minutes of German! Apparently, she doesn't check her email very often at all, and her daughter is away on some island (?) and may not have access to an internet cafe.

What a relief to have finally made contact. She (Heike, pronounced Hi-kuh) will pick me up from the Bahnhof when I arrive in Münster 2 weeks from Sunday (their time). I am currently working out using my calling card. Looks like it will cost about 51 cents per minute to call home, and 58 cents per minute to call the family from a payphone... I realize this makes little sense.

I'm just trying to work out all these kinks so I can have a smooth trip! I made a travel calendar so I can plan out when I will use my rail pass and when not.

Well that's it for now... until next time, folks!!

Liebe Grüße,
Caiti

17 More Days to Go...

My faithful readers, it's time for an update!

Firstly, the clock is ticking! There are only 17 more days until my first trip. I can't believe next week I'll be saying to myself "I'm leaving for Germany NEXT WEEK." WOW that will sound WILD and at the same time send me into this crazy panic that I haven't packed yet...

Preparations abound. A lot of stuff has happened. I finally got my stupid SIM card but they sent me the wrong one and Mom spent $42 to send to back overnight, when the whole thing cost $50. I mean it's not my money but I still hate for her to have spent it... it wasn't even my fault they sent me the wrong one... anyway so I decided not to get a card here beforehand after all. I'll wait 'til I get there and I'll get the Aldi-Talk one from the Aldi supermarket, for 20 Euros. I can call locally with that for 14cents/min and to other Aldi-talk customers for .04cents/min. Kerstin will have Aldi-Talk too so I can call her! Yay!

I signed up for Skype over the weekend, Mom and I ordered webcams and headsets, ha ha... we each got one so I can take one along with me. At least then it won't be as bad... I know it'll make me want to hug her more, though. It's gonna be tough being away...

OH YEAH, made a semi-large purchase today... I got a German RailPass. It's good for unlimited travel on any train in Germany for 10 days within a single month. It cost $286 including shipping of the pass. I decided I was going to take the train to Munich, and I checked the price and one single trip there and back costs the same as the 10 day RailPass... so I decided to buy it since I'm already planning a trip at least to Koblenz to meet Kerstin and her family there. As we say in Germany, "Es lohnt sich!" or "It's worth it!"

I used my new curling iron over the weekend, it worked great, except the cord is über short... oh well, it'll have to do. I sold my non-dual-voltage Salon hairdryer for $30 through FaceBook and I am SOOOO close to selling my laptop it's not even funny... it's up for sale for $400 and I've had two serious inquiries today alone! I really hope to sell it before I go away!

Well I think that's it for now. I'll try not to let so much time pass by before I post again.

Love and Schokolade,
Caiti

High Voltage... Can't Shake the Shock!!

Ha ha, the title is a song from Linkin Park from forever ago, lol...

I decided instead of buying a $50 converter for my curling iron and blow dryer, I would buy a new curling iron and blow dryer with dual-voltage capabilities... for $12 and $14. Ha ha... It kinda bugs me that my $100 Rusk professional curling iron doesn't have dual voltage!! (Dual voltage means it will work in high voltage countries). If you look on the appliance you'll see something engraved in the plastic that says something like this : 120v 50Hz. If it only says 120v then it is NOT dual voltage... the new appliances I bought today say this: 120/240v 50/60hz and then lists the wattage. My new blow dryer is super cute... the handle folds under! Another thing about the curling iron I got today, for $12 I got dual voltage, automatic shut off within 60 minutes in case I forget to turn it off (I've left my,Rusk iron on ALL day on many occasions because $100 doesn't buy that feature I guess!!) ceramic, and a heat shield so I don't have to wait for it to cool down to pack it. YAAAAAAAY so now I can plug it into my universal surge protector with no problems and no need for a converter (which aren't meant for heating devices anyway).

The SIM card folks FedEx'd my SIM card today so I'll be getting my new phone number to you guys shortly... wow, crazy, I'm going to have a German phone number!!!