Hello faithful readers,
Here are the new pictures:
Discovering Koblenz by foot Part 2 (new pics @ end)
Climbing the Mountain
I went to visit Dr. Martin today to chat a bit about the translation class. I feel pretty good about the class... he recommends this gigantic dictionary from PONS that just came out this April, but its 60€... it must be gold or something, lol... well, I didn't buy that one, not just because of the price but because I honestly don't think I'll need a huge one... I got the smaller PONS specifically for college students, for 30€, which is still a nice chunk of change, but at least it won't take up as much space on the way back home next year, and its HALF the price of the huge one. Super. Still waiting on that Collocations dictionary... kind of irritating...
Today I am going to attempt seven "miles" of exercise, as I am participating in Boot Camp with the Walk Club... so, ahead of me today is 7 miles of walking, 10 pushups, 50 crunches, 64 oz of water or more, and 5 servings of fruit/veggies. Can I do it? YES I CAN!! Tomorrow is more boot camp.
Tonight is the party for us exchange students, we're gonna take the bus cuz its too danged cold to walk, lol. Perhaps later this afternoon I'll go to the store to find a little something to bring to the party... or just walk to the little store down the road, I don't feel like taking the time to ride the bus into town since I have a mega workout ahead of me... then again I need some more fruit and veggies for tomorrow's bootcamp. We'll see!
Have a blessed day,
Caitlin
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Cardboard Bath Towels, Mountains to Climb, and New Friends to Climb it with!
Hello all!
I realize it has been *GASP* two days since I last posted an entry. Some of you may be getting a little nervous, and thus, taking that to heart, here I am to calm your anxiety.
I have to remember where I left off... ah yes, it was Sunday night last I really posted. Yes... ok so, I think I went grocery shopping on the bike... it was really cold! First I went to Aldi to get some trash bags and some juice... beforehand I had just been taking the entire little trashcan out to dump it... but Aldi has 40 little trash bags with handles on them for ,65. So I got some of those. I went to Rewe to get some EVOO but, alas, it was way to expensive for my likings and since I was only going to cook w/ it, I went back to Aldi and got the regular stuff. I did get some brown rice and sweet/sour sauce at Rewe (which was DELICIOUS by the way).
The rest of the afternoon I didn't do a whole lot, I worked out and got ready for the get-together for the new people at 6pm... so I got all ready and went to the lounge to see that only 5 people were gathered at the door. Little did we know we would eventually all become friends! Actually it's a little too soon to say that, but I wanted to make it dramatic. Just a bit. We sat and talked for a while then decided to go our separate ways, then meet back at 8:30 to play cards. So I went back and made dinner and came back. I learned how to play Phase 10! In German! I think it's an excellent way to learn new vocab! We played for two hours till the game was over and I got second place (never got to phase 10, but I got to phase 9!)... we took a short break and 2 of our group of 6 didn't come back... so it was four girls hanging out and we just chatted about all sorts of things. To make a long story short I ended up talking about my workout DVDs and I am excited to report that we are going to start a fitness club for our building! We'll be meeting 3x a week for anywhere between 45 and 90 minutes of exercise. Winter is coming soon and gyms are expensive and require motivation, I think if we offer this we can really serve the others in the building that want to get in/stay in shape over the winter.
So... Tuesday I slept in, I think, then went to meet 3 of my 4 FSAs to go meet Bettina Holstein-Alter in the Auslandsamt on Campus. We waited 5x as long as we were actually in there. I just introduced myself and that was it, lol... anyway so then I went and got a cafeteria card, although I've yet to put money on it because I prefer to eat at home. But you can eat really really cheap in our cafeteria... you get soup, a main dish + 1 side + a dessert or fruit for 1,70 ($2.41)... so it's cheap, but at Aldi I can get a loaf of bread, mustard, and some ham for that much that'll last me more than a week. So I still would rather bring my own lunch or go home and eat. I mean, I live right across the street!
I think I went to the grocery store again on Tuesday, and I was there for a long time, lol. Basically I'm just comparing prices and stuff. Anyway I had a pretty bad headache all day Tuesday that is, until I decided to work out in spite of it, and wouldn't you know that my headache was gone during my workout! No pain killer works like good ol' exercise. I washed my jeans and some towels yesterday... today they were dry already but stiff and dry as cardboard... I now understand why Gaby's towels are like they are... man. How unsoft. I think it might even hurt my skin a little when I dry. I'm just a wimp, lol.
Ok I should say the names of the people I met on Monday night... Laura (ain't seen nor heard from her since the card game, she's pretty quiet...added me on StudiVZ though), Niko (guy), Sarah, Carolin, and Christine. Christine and Carolin have known each other a long time and are gone for the weekend. I've gotten to know Sarah the most so far. Last night we watched A Knight's Tale in English. It was fun.
I invited Sarah and Niko to lunch at my "pad" today; we had sandwiches and ice cream, lol... since I only have one chair, we sat on my furniture. It worked perfectly! It was such a nice lunch. Niko washed my dishes for me, and Sarah dried them. Then we went walking. We found a drugstore right close to where we live (super duper, and no hills to climb on a bike), a cafe, a pizza place, and a place to buy drinks...here they have beverage stores where you can buy just things to drink. Anywhere from liquor, soda, water, tea, juice you name it, they have it. So that was neat. The only thing I wish there was was a grocery store closer!! I mean it takes like less than 10 minutes to go to Aldi on my bike, and 7 minutes to the city center on the bus, but then I end up waiting for the bus for a while next to an old lady that either smells of B.O. or is puffing away right into my face. Ugh.
Well I'm not sure if any of you remember the pics of the view from my window where I zoom in on a tower thingy up on the mountain... well, we climbed the mountain today to see it! Up on the mountain you can see everything! It is amazing. We can see both rivers, the fortress, our building, the university, everything! There's a little old-school playground, benches, and some bonfire spots along the way. We discussed getting together a picnic or some things to cook over a fire sometime. I think that'd be fun! I took some pics that I'll post tomorrow.
So far I really like this city. I LOVED climbing today (don't worry it was a paved trail!) And we weren't going to get lost, either, there were signs to the thinger anyway. The thinger was, by the way, actually not a tower. It was a tall memorial made from stone, commemorating fallen and survived heroes from the four wars that had occurred in Germany thus far (lol). I only wish we'd have gone up the mountain yesterday or the day before, as today was so cloudy and even rained for the first time since I've been here :-(. It was also rather cold. I did work up a bit of a sweat on the way up though, causing me to remove my jacket!
Tomorrow I'm going to participate in a tour of the city! I guess I already did that, but hey, I don't have anything else to do. Plus the guy giving the tour is kinda cute ;-)
Well I guess that is about it for now, this took me forever to post because it took me forever to remember two days ago!! That's why I post daily, people, DAILY!
Caitlin
I realize it has been *GASP* two days since I last posted an entry. Some of you may be getting a little nervous, and thus, taking that to heart, here I am to calm your anxiety.
I have to remember where I left off... ah yes, it was Sunday night last I really posted. Yes... ok so, I think I went grocery shopping on the bike... it was really cold! First I went to Aldi to get some trash bags and some juice... beforehand I had just been taking the entire little trashcan out to dump it... but Aldi has 40 little trash bags with handles on them for ,65. So I got some of those. I went to Rewe to get some EVOO but, alas, it was way to expensive for my likings and since I was only going to cook w/ it, I went back to Aldi and got the regular stuff. I did get some brown rice and sweet/sour sauce at Rewe (which was DELICIOUS by the way).
The rest of the afternoon I didn't do a whole lot, I worked out and got ready for the get-together for the new people at 6pm... so I got all ready and went to the lounge to see that only 5 people were gathered at the door. Little did we know we would eventually all become friends! Actually it's a little too soon to say that, but I wanted to make it dramatic. Just a bit. We sat and talked for a while then decided to go our separate ways, then meet back at 8:30 to play cards. So I went back and made dinner and came back. I learned how to play Phase 10! In German! I think it's an excellent way to learn new vocab! We played for two hours till the game was over and I got second place (never got to phase 10, but I got to phase 9!)... we took a short break and 2 of our group of 6 didn't come back... so it was four girls hanging out and we just chatted about all sorts of things. To make a long story short I ended up talking about my workout DVDs and I am excited to report that we are going to start a fitness club for our building! We'll be meeting 3x a week for anywhere between 45 and 90 minutes of exercise. Winter is coming soon and gyms are expensive and require motivation, I think if we offer this we can really serve the others in the building that want to get in/stay in shape over the winter.
So... Tuesday I slept in, I think, then went to meet 3 of my 4 FSAs to go meet Bettina Holstein-Alter in the Auslandsamt on Campus. We waited 5x as long as we were actually in there. I just introduced myself and that was it, lol... anyway so then I went and got a cafeteria card, although I've yet to put money on it because I prefer to eat at home. But you can eat really really cheap in our cafeteria... you get soup, a main dish + 1 side + a dessert or fruit for 1,70 ($2.41)... so it's cheap, but at Aldi I can get a loaf of bread, mustard, and some ham for that much that'll last me more than a week. So I still would rather bring my own lunch or go home and eat. I mean, I live right across the street!
I think I went to the grocery store again on Tuesday, and I was there for a long time, lol. Basically I'm just comparing prices and stuff. Anyway I had a pretty bad headache all day Tuesday that is, until I decided to work out in spite of it, and wouldn't you know that my headache was gone during my workout! No pain killer works like good ol' exercise. I washed my jeans and some towels yesterday... today they were dry already but stiff and dry as cardboard... I now understand why Gaby's towels are like they are... man. How unsoft. I think it might even hurt my skin a little when I dry. I'm just a wimp, lol.
Ok I should say the names of the people I met on Monday night... Laura (ain't seen nor heard from her since the card game, she's pretty quiet...added me on StudiVZ though), Niko (guy), Sarah, Carolin, and Christine. Christine and Carolin have known each other a long time and are gone for the weekend. I've gotten to know Sarah the most so far. Last night we watched A Knight's Tale in English. It was fun.
I invited Sarah and Niko to lunch at my "pad" today; we had sandwiches and ice cream, lol... since I only have one chair, we sat on my furniture. It worked perfectly! It was such a nice lunch. Niko washed my dishes for me, and Sarah dried them. Then we went walking. We found a drugstore right close to where we live (super duper, and no hills to climb on a bike), a cafe, a pizza place, and a place to buy drinks...here they have beverage stores where you can buy just things to drink. Anywhere from liquor, soda, water, tea, juice you name it, they have it. So that was neat. The only thing I wish there was was a grocery store closer!! I mean it takes like less than 10 minutes to go to Aldi on my bike, and 7 minutes to the city center on the bus, but then I end up waiting for the bus for a while next to an old lady that either smells of B.O. or is puffing away right into my face. Ugh.
Well I'm not sure if any of you remember the pics of the view from my window where I zoom in on a tower thingy up on the mountain... well, we climbed the mountain today to see it! Up on the mountain you can see everything! It is amazing. We can see both rivers, the fortress, our building, the university, everything! There's a little old-school playground, benches, and some bonfire spots along the way. We discussed getting together a picnic or some things to cook over a fire sometime. I think that'd be fun! I took some pics that I'll post tomorrow.
So far I really like this city. I LOVED climbing today (don't worry it was a paved trail!) And we weren't going to get lost, either, there were signs to the thinger anyway. The thinger was, by the way, actually not a tower. It was a tall memorial made from stone, commemorating fallen and survived heroes from the four wars that had occurred in Germany thus far (lol). I only wish we'd have gone up the mountain yesterday or the day before, as today was so cloudy and even rained for the first time since I've been here :-(. It was also rather cold. I did work up a bit of a sweat on the way up though, causing me to remove my jacket!
Tomorrow I'm going to participate in a tour of the city! I guess I already did that, but hey, I don't have anything else to do. Plus the guy giving the tour is kinda cute ;-)
Well I guess that is about it for now, this took me forever to post because it took me forever to remember two days ago!! That's why I post daily, people, DAILY!
Caitlin
Monday, October 15, 2007
New Pictures...
I'm popping in to let you all know that I have uploaded some new pictures. Here are the albums:
New pictures added to:
My Apartment
My Life in Koblenz
BRAND NEW Albums:
Discovering Koblenz by Foot
Discovering Koblenz by Foot (Part 2)
Wow I can't believe I took almost 100 pictures while out yesterday. Thank technology for digital cameras!
Happy viewing,
Caitlin
New pictures added to:
My Apartment
My Life in Koblenz
BRAND NEW Albums:
Discovering Koblenz by Foot
Discovering Koblenz by Foot (Part 2)
Wow I can't believe I took almost 100 pictures while out yesterday. Thank technology for digital cameras!
Happy viewing,
Caitlin
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Hedgehogs, Sleeping, and Seeing the City...by foot!
GOOD EVENING!
Well I skipped a day of blogging. I did that so I wouldn't get too nutty about it.
Yesterday I slept in till 10, then read the rest of the Nicholas Sparks book, The Choice. I tell ya what, Nicholas Sparks really takes you on a ride this time!! I got out of bed when I finished the book then rode my bike to Aldi to get some food... $11 later I am home again. It is amazing how much food you can get there for the price!
The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and putting away laundry. When I came home I noticed how the shelf in the shower had fallen down AGAIN and the little bottle of facewash had cracked open, and there was 3 oz of my good facewash all over the shower floor. ARGH stuff like that makes me mad. There is still face wash all over the floor in the shower; it's not like I can get it all up at once. Whatever.
Sonja picked me up to go to the carnival at 8:15... while I was waiting, I saw a hedgehog scurry across the street! I wasn't sure what it was at first, so I walked over and saw it going through the grass. As I approached, it got scared and ducked its little head into the grass and didn't move for like 5 minutes. It eventually took its head up a bit so I could take some pictures of it, lol. How cute.
Sonja's friend Christian drove to Mayen to the Lukasmarkt... it was like a mini Octoberfest, seriously. Everything was just as expensive. We just walked through it and left. Sonja got some coconut almonds and they were amazing!! The regular almonds were awesome, too. I was getting kind of irritated after a while, because both Sonja and Christian were using me to practice their English... that is, when I spoke in German, they would simply answer in English. Then they would ask and say things to me in English, and even talk to each other in English!! AHHH I tried to tell them nicely, look, how would you feel if you came to the USA and all I wanted to do was speak German with you. They said they would have liked it. But it was starting to get on my nerves. Sure, English is easier, but I didn't come all this way to speak it to Germans, for heaven's sake.
After the carnival we went to one of their friend's house, where he had made a bunch of Greek style food in remembrance of his vacation, or so it seemed. All we did the entire time was look at pictures, literally hundreds, maybe up to 1000 or more pictures, from their numerous vacations. Talk about feeling out of the loop. We stayed and looked at pictures until 1:30 in the stinking morning. Sonja doesn't speak loudly or clearly, so whenever she did speak to me in German I always had to ask her to repeat herself. I made a mental note to myself to try to stick to people who will be polite and respectful of my wish to learn German, not help them learn English. I just thought that was so rude. And I'm a nice person so of course I didn't start yelling and screaming, but I really thought it was so impolite. I compared hanging out with them to hanging out with Melanie and her friends, and the latter was so much better in comparison. I can see myself spending the most time with them, at least so far! Classes and such haven't started yet, so I haven't met too many people...
Today I slept in until like 11, since I didn't go to bed till 2:30 or so... I made breakfast with my brave little toaster... Bauernbrot toasted, with spreadable cheese + salami. YUM it was delicious. I also had a piece of regular toast w/ Nutella. I am pretty proud of myself, I've had that Nutella for almost a month now, I guess, and there are 20 servings in the container, at least according to the label, and I still have 2/3 of the jar left. That must mean my MNPC (Mission for Nutella Portion Control) is successful so far!! AWESOME!
After breakfast I went outside. The weather today is PERFECT. It was 59 for the high. I didn't even need a jacket. I took my iPod for my Jesus music, crossed the big bridge by my house and walked alllllll the way along the Moselle till it met the Rhine at the big monument for Kaiser Wilhelm and the Deutsches Eck. I sat and journaled for a while then was on my way. I meandered around a bit, found some cool stuff and museums in the Altstadt (need to go back there!) and went inside an old church. Those places are scary!! It was so cool to see all the old architecture, it's so wild to know that these places have been here soooo long!! The city of Koblenz is 1000 years old, by the way. I took a ton of pictures along my way; I'll be posting those tomorrow morning once I can get to the lab on campus.
Museums in the Altstadt are open on Sunday; I think I'm going to go there next Sunday. I think it'd be a great thing to do on a Sunday. Then I think I'll take my bike, since by foot it is sooo far! By the time I got home it had been 3 hours and 15 minutes since I left. What a workout! I was sooo tired, not just from the sheer distance but from the hills and stairs and rocky surfaces. It was fun, though, a good break from the routine. A GREAT way to spend a Sunday. I listened to a David Miller message on Affecting Others Around You... that was a good one.
So now I am sitting here in shorts and a sports bra just chillin. I am really beat!! I may start a new book today. This time I might start one of my German ones...
Oh yeah, yesterday I also picked classes for the semester. Looks like I will be taking two serious ones, meaning, I will attempt to obtain credit, and one all in German that I will simply attend with no intention to receive credit (meaning no tests!!). Translation 1 seems like it is going to be a TON of work, but my schedule seems to be light enough that the work can get knocked out in one solid afternoon a week. Here's what my schedule looks like:
Monday: Intercultural Communication 10am-12pm
Tuesday: Werbecommunication 2pm-4pm
Wednesday: NOTHING
Thursday: Translation 1: 10am -12pm
Friday: NOTHING
I could probably just dedicate Thursday afternoons to nothing but doing the work for Translation, and that'd be that. Then I can be free to travel or play around all weekend =D. I am really hoping to meet some people this week who want to travel. I'll finally get to meet some more people in an organized setting this week, as things are starting to pick up as the semester begin draws closer. So I am definitely excited about that. So far, I only have Rome in the works as far as travel goes, and that won't be until March. I definitely want to take some day and/or weekend trips in between.
That's all for now, folks, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Caitlin
Well I skipped a day of blogging. I did that so I wouldn't get too nutty about it.
Yesterday I slept in till 10, then read the rest of the Nicholas Sparks book, The Choice. I tell ya what, Nicholas Sparks really takes you on a ride this time!! I got out of bed when I finished the book then rode my bike to Aldi to get some food... $11 later I am home again. It is amazing how much food you can get there for the price!
The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and putting away laundry. When I came home I noticed how the shelf in the shower had fallen down AGAIN and the little bottle of facewash had cracked open, and there was 3 oz of my good facewash all over the shower floor. ARGH stuff like that makes me mad. There is still face wash all over the floor in the shower; it's not like I can get it all up at once. Whatever.
Sonja picked me up to go to the carnival at 8:15... while I was waiting, I saw a hedgehog scurry across the street! I wasn't sure what it was at first, so I walked over and saw it going through the grass. As I approached, it got scared and ducked its little head into the grass and didn't move for like 5 minutes. It eventually took its head up a bit so I could take some pictures of it, lol. How cute.
Sonja's friend Christian drove to Mayen to the Lukasmarkt... it was like a mini Octoberfest, seriously. Everything was just as expensive. We just walked through it and left. Sonja got some coconut almonds and they were amazing!! The regular almonds were awesome, too. I was getting kind of irritated after a while, because both Sonja and Christian were using me to practice their English... that is, when I spoke in German, they would simply answer in English. Then they would ask and say things to me in English, and even talk to each other in English!! AHHH I tried to tell them nicely, look, how would you feel if you came to the USA and all I wanted to do was speak German with you. They said they would have liked it. But it was starting to get on my nerves. Sure, English is easier, but I didn't come all this way to speak it to Germans, for heaven's sake.
After the carnival we went to one of their friend's house, where he had made a bunch of Greek style food in remembrance of his vacation, or so it seemed. All we did the entire time was look at pictures, literally hundreds, maybe up to 1000 or more pictures, from their numerous vacations. Talk about feeling out of the loop. We stayed and looked at pictures until 1:30 in the stinking morning. Sonja doesn't speak loudly or clearly, so whenever she did speak to me in German I always had to ask her to repeat herself. I made a mental note to myself to try to stick to people who will be polite and respectful of my wish to learn German, not help them learn English. I just thought that was so rude. And I'm a nice person so of course I didn't start yelling and screaming, but I really thought it was so impolite. I compared hanging out with them to hanging out with Melanie and her friends, and the latter was so much better in comparison. I can see myself spending the most time with them, at least so far! Classes and such haven't started yet, so I haven't met too many people...
Today I slept in until like 11, since I didn't go to bed till 2:30 or so... I made breakfast with my brave little toaster... Bauernbrot toasted, with spreadable cheese + salami. YUM it was delicious. I also had a piece of regular toast w/ Nutella. I am pretty proud of myself, I've had that Nutella for almost a month now, I guess, and there are 20 servings in the container, at least according to the label, and I still have 2/3 of the jar left. That must mean my MNPC (Mission for Nutella Portion Control) is successful so far!! AWESOME!
After breakfast I went outside. The weather today is PERFECT. It was 59 for the high. I didn't even need a jacket. I took my iPod for my Jesus music, crossed the big bridge by my house and walked alllllll the way along the Moselle till it met the Rhine at the big monument for Kaiser Wilhelm and the Deutsches Eck. I sat and journaled for a while then was on my way. I meandered around a bit, found some cool stuff and museums in the Altstadt (need to go back there!) and went inside an old church. Those places are scary!! It was so cool to see all the old architecture, it's so wild to know that these places have been here soooo long!! The city of Koblenz is 1000 years old, by the way. I took a ton of pictures along my way; I'll be posting those tomorrow morning once I can get to the lab on campus.
Museums in the Altstadt are open on Sunday; I think I'm going to go there next Sunday. I think it'd be a great thing to do on a Sunday. Then I think I'll take my bike, since by foot it is sooo far! By the time I got home it had been 3 hours and 15 minutes since I left. What a workout! I was sooo tired, not just from the sheer distance but from the hills and stairs and rocky surfaces. It was fun, though, a good break from the routine. A GREAT way to spend a Sunday. I listened to a David Miller message on Affecting Others Around You... that was a good one.
So now I am sitting here in shorts and a sports bra just chillin. I am really beat!! I may start a new book today. This time I might start one of my German ones...
Oh yeah, yesterday I also picked classes for the semester. Looks like I will be taking two serious ones, meaning, I will attempt to obtain credit, and one all in German that I will simply attend with no intention to receive credit (meaning no tests!!). Translation 1 seems like it is going to be a TON of work, but my schedule seems to be light enough that the work can get knocked out in one solid afternoon a week. Here's what my schedule looks like:
Monday: Intercultural Communication 10am-12pm
Tuesday: Werbecommunication 2pm-4pm
Wednesday: NOTHING
Thursday: Translation 1: 10am -12pm
Friday: NOTHING
I could probably just dedicate Thursday afternoons to nothing but doing the work for Translation, and that'd be that. Then I can be free to travel or play around all weekend =D. I am really hoping to meet some people this week who want to travel. I'll finally get to meet some more people in an organized setting this week, as things are starting to pick up as the semester begin draws closer. So I am definitely excited about that. So far, I only have Rome in the works as far as travel goes, and that won't be until March. I definitely want to take some day and/or weekend trips in between.
That's all for now, folks, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Caitlin
Friday, October 12, 2007
Slow Starts, Laundry, and Conditioner (that is smaller than the matching shampoo)
Hello folks,
I am writing to you this evening from the comfort of my own cozy room *shuts window because it is currently 55 degrees outside!!*
Had a slow start this morning. I think I turned off my alarm in my sleep. So I got up at 8:40, and had planned to get the bus at 9:25, but didn't factor in my morning routine at ALL... so long story short I miss the bus at 10:25 and had to wait till 10:55, putting me at the Ordnungsamt at 11:00am. An hour before it closed. There were only people in there waiting for the person I needed to see, of course, and I waited an hour until the place closed and the line had barely moved, in which case the other people who worked there tried to take some of the work load. So I never got to see the person I needed to see, but I got my residence permit...50 euros later. I have to come back in March to renew it, because Jody at the University only gave us the confirmation until March, even though he also made one for the summer semester as well. He must have forgotten... but, because of this, I have to go back in March to renew and pay 30E more, whereas if he had NOT forgotten, I'd only have to pay that first 50E and not come back. Damn. I'll say it, DAMN. Ticks me off.
BUT, as I discussed with my Walk Club team members today, I did not save 13 of my 20 years to be a miser of the money... I saved to do something plum awesome. And this is it. I saved for all such mishaps, emergencies, splurges, living expenses, gifts to send home to Mom and Pop and Sissy, and maybe even Christmas decorations. Not to be stingy or complaining about where my money goes. Certainly one must be smart about it, but not to the point of being angry about something one cannot change!... For example, I can't change that Jody made that mistake, and Koblenz won't give me a break, I'm sure of it. Germans just aren't like that.
So after the Ordnungsamt I went to the "mall" which is called the Loehr Center. I caught the bus perfect timing, the next one was gonna come in like 30 minutes. That would've been lame. I went to Globus, the biggest store in town besides IKEA, and looked around. I found paper holder thing that I'd been looking for for about $1.50 and a super duper deal on Schwarzkopf shampoo and conditioner... instead of 1,45 at dm Markt and other places, it was only 77 cents each, 12c more than the dm store brand AND 100 ml more per bottle. What irks me about German shampoo and conditioner is that there is always at least 100ml less in the conditioner bottle than in the shampoo. WHY??! Ha ha... I just washed my hair twice with the new shampoo today for kicks, that way I don't run out of conditioner faster. I could just use less conditioner, I guess... lol
I went home and worked out, today's walks were the WATP Express 3 Mile Advanced Walk + 1 Mile Booster... it was awesome! I used the stretchie band + the water weights for an extra boost and some strength training. Then I made the BEST lunch ever. I don't know why I don't have this much luck making my own food at home in Florida, lol. I had stopped by the bakery on the way home and got a poppy seed roll... I spread low fat buttery spread stuff (ALDI!) and some garlic powder on one side, added some chicken, leftover tomato sauce, and low fat cheese (ALDI!) and microwaved it... it was the most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten!
After my (much needed) shower, I took my clothes to the laundry room upstairs... forgot the detergent, so I had to come back, lol. I changed the language on the machine just to be safe, lol. I followed the directions and started the laundry. The cycle lasts 58 minutes, soooo long. It was clean when I came back, needless to say, and it smells sooo nice now in my room, like clean laundry! I hung it on my new laundry rack. Love that thing! I only have to use it 5 times to make it worth my 5 euros spent = those 5 euros were saved NOT paying to use the dryer :-)
I organized all my papers with paper clips and put them in the new paper tray. Looks nice and neat in here now! Maybe I'll take some pictures...
Tomorrow I will ride my bike or walk someplace. It's my day off from rigorous exercise, but I just want to stay active. Tomorrow I am also set to go to the carnival with Sonja. She is in Venice until tomorrow morning, but then she'll get in touch to let me know when we're going. I'm excited!!
Anyway that's the news, thanks for tuning in.
Caitlin
I am writing to you this evening from the comfort of my own cozy room *shuts window because it is currently 55 degrees outside!!*
Had a slow start this morning. I think I turned off my alarm in my sleep. So I got up at 8:40, and had planned to get the bus at 9:25, but didn't factor in my morning routine at ALL... so long story short I miss the bus at 10:25 and had to wait till 10:55, putting me at the Ordnungsamt at 11:00am. An hour before it closed. There were only people in there waiting for the person I needed to see, of course, and I waited an hour until the place closed and the line had barely moved, in which case the other people who worked there tried to take some of the work load. So I never got to see the person I needed to see, but I got my residence permit...50 euros later. I have to come back in March to renew it, because Jody at the University only gave us the confirmation until March, even though he also made one for the summer semester as well. He must have forgotten... but, because of this, I have to go back in March to renew and pay 30E more, whereas if he had NOT forgotten, I'd only have to pay that first 50E and not come back. Damn. I'll say it, DAMN. Ticks me off.
BUT, as I discussed with my Walk Club team members today, I did not save 13 of my 20 years to be a miser of the money... I saved to do something plum awesome. And this is it. I saved for all such mishaps, emergencies, splurges, living expenses, gifts to send home to Mom and Pop and Sissy, and maybe even Christmas decorations. Not to be stingy or complaining about where my money goes. Certainly one must be smart about it, but not to the point of being angry about something one cannot change!... For example, I can't change that Jody made that mistake, and Koblenz won't give me a break, I'm sure of it. Germans just aren't like that.
So after the Ordnungsamt I went to the "mall" which is called the Loehr Center. I caught the bus perfect timing, the next one was gonna come in like 30 minutes. That would've been lame. I went to Globus, the biggest store in town besides IKEA, and looked around. I found paper holder thing that I'd been looking for for about $1.50 and a super duper deal on Schwarzkopf shampoo and conditioner... instead of 1,45 at dm Markt and other places, it was only 77 cents each, 12c more than the dm store brand AND 100 ml more per bottle. What irks me about German shampoo and conditioner is that there is always at least 100ml less in the conditioner bottle than in the shampoo. WHY??! Ha ha... I just washed my hair twice with the new shampoo today for kicks, that way I don't run out of conditioner faster. I could just use less conditioner, I guess... lol
I went home and worked out, today's walks were the WATP Express 3 Mile Advanced Walk + 1 Mile Booster... it was awesome! I used the stretchie band + the water weights for an extra boost and some strength training. Then I made the BEST lunch ever. I don't know why I don't have this much luck making my own food at home in Florida, lol. I had stopped by the bakery on the way home and got a poppy seed roll... I spread low fat buttery spread stuff (ALDI!) and some garlic powder on one side, added some chicken, leftover tomato sauce, and low fat cheese (ALDI!) and microwaved it... it was the most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten!
After my (much needed) shower, I took my clothes to the laundry room upstairs... forgot the detergent, so I had to come back, lol. I changed the language on the machine just to be safe, lol. I followed the directions and started the laundry. The cycle lasts 58 minutes, soooo long. It was clean when I came back, needless to say, and it smells sooo nice now in my room, like clean laundry! I hung it on my new laundry rack. Love that thing! I only have to use it 5 times to make it worth my 5 euros spent = those 5 euros were saved NOT paying to use the dryer :-)
I organized all my papers with paper clips and put them in the new paper tray. Looks nice and neat in here now! Maybe I'll take some pictures...
Tomorrow I will ride my bike or walk someplace. It's my day off from rigorous exercise, but I just want to stay active. Tomorrow I am also set to go to the carnival with Sonja. She is in Venice until tomorrow morning, but then she'll get in touch to let me know when we're going. I'm excited!!
Anyway that's the news, thanks for tuning in.
Caitlin
Thursday, October 11, 2007
First Evening Out + Thrilling Thursday
Hey everyone!!
Well I finally got my computer ID to work here on campus, so now I am in the computer lab working on getting my pics and videos uploaded to facebook. Here are the albums I added or added to today...
Ingolstadt several new ones
München
My Life in Koblenz a few new ones.
My Apartment ALL NEW
Fun with New Friends ALL NEW
For those with Facebook, there are also new videos posted on my profile.
Yay! I took a few today while out with Kathrin, but that'll have to wait til next time I am here... which may be as early as tomorrow. Heck, its not like its far.
Today I met Kathrin and we went to get a laundry rack, found one real quick for just 5€! Exactly what I needed. There was one for 10€ at IKEA but not nearly as sturdy as the one at Globus. We both noted today that although there are quite a few bargains at IKEA, they can also be pretty expensive. I returned some leftover curtains I had at home for 4€ then we went to eat, I had Swedish meatballs and potatoes... but I got the small portion for 1€ less :-) love to save money and calories simultaneously. Ain't nothin' better!! We walked through IKEA and then got the same cool ice cream cones as I had last time we went. I filmed it, I'll upload that video soon as well. OH we also went to the train station and I bought the super günstig Bahn Card 50... I am still tickled pink as to the good deal that is! I got the temporary one and they took my picture to send me the permanent one.
We went to the school and I got my ID laminated for 25 cents, got my library card activated, and fixed my computer account... tomorrow looks sort of busy as well, I think I will go to the Ordnungsamt to pick up my residence permit, then I'll take it to the bank so they can copy it for my records...
Just thinking out loud. Overall it's been a productive day. I am going to go back to my room and work out before dinner, which definitely won't be much tonight since I ate those meatballs today. You give and take to stay fit, I suppose. And that's one of my goals. I also gotta work on writing in my journal! I get so caught up with the blog I forget the journal. The journal is mainly for expressing thoughts, feelings, prayers, thanks, etc., and stuff ya'll would probably raise an eyebrow at, ha ha :-)
Caitlin
Well I finally got my computer ID to work here on campus, so now I am in the computer lab working on getting my pics and videos uploaded to facebook. Here are the albums I added or added to today...
Ingolstadt several new ones
München
My Life in Koblenz a few new ones.
My Apartment ALL NEW
Fun with New Friends ALL NEW
For those with Facebook, there are also new videos posted on my profile.
Yay! I took a few today while out with Kathrin, but that'll have to wait til next time I am here... which may be as early as tomorrow. Heck, its not like its far.
Today I met Kathrin and we went to get a laundry rack, found one real quick for just 5€! Exactly what I needed. There was one for 10€ at IKEA but not nearly as sturdy as the one at Globus. We both noted today that although there are quite a few bargains at IKEA, they can also be pretty expensive. I returned some leftover curtains I had at home for 4€ then we went to eat, I had Swedish meatballs and potatoes... but I got the small portion for 1€ less :-) love to save money and calories simultaneously. Ain't nothin' better!! We walked through IKEA and then got the same cool ice cream cones as I had last time we went. I filmed it, I'll upload that video soon as well. OH we also went to the train station and I bought the super günstig Bahn Card 50... I am still tickled pink as to the good deal that is! I got the temporary one and they took my picture to send me the permanent one.
We went to the school and I got my ID laminated for 25 cents, got my library card activated, and fixed my computer account... tomorrow looks sort of busy as well, I think I will go to the Ordnungsamt to pick up my residence permit, then I'll take it to the bank so they can copy it for my records...
Just thinking out loud. Overall it's been a productive day. I am going to go back to my room and work out before dinner, which definitely won't be much tonight since I ate those meatballs today. You give and take to stay fit, I suppose. And that's one of my goals. I also gotta work on writing in my journal! I get so caught up with the blog I forget the journal. The journal is mainly for expressing thoughts, feelings, prayers, thanks, etc., and stuff ya'll would probably raise an eyebrow at, ha ha :-)
Caitlin
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Wonderful Wednesday
Hi everyone, it's me again...
I got up at 8:20am this morning and checked my mail, then I worked out for 75 minutes right here in my room! It was great; I did 5 miles. Today I cooked the rest of my chicken so it wouldn't go bad, and made some more of the same Uncle Ben's rice as last night because I want to get rid of it, it makes my entire refrigerator smell like it, lol... I think today I had the pan too hot or I was cooking the chicken too long (it tasted fine), but I am very surprised I didn't set off the fire alarm, lol... I think my little kitchen is cute and very functional, but a LITTLE more space would be nice!!
I registered at the school successfully today, and I went and signed up for the computer thing, so I can use the computers in the labs now... and I got a university email address, however I can't log in for some reason... if I can't log in still tomorrow, I'll go and ask the dude in the little office why! Maybe I mistyped the password both times, lol. Or maybe it takes a while to load into the system? We'll see. I got a library card, I need to copy my registration confirmation before the library will allow me to check things out... so I can do that soon. The guy from the Ordnungsamt called and let me know that whatever it is that I was waiting for (not sure) is finished, and I am scheduled to pick it up on Friday.
A lot of you have heard me talk about a girl named Melanie, she lives here in AdHW too, and a couple of months back wrote me an email that she wanted to be friends and we'd be talking ever since. Welllll she arrived in Koblenz this morning and was at the library studying for English with a friend of hers, Wiebke, and came by a bit ago. Tonight I'm going with them to a little house party, where I will get to try some new food, it is called Raclette... it is something with cheese, and potatoes, I think, and ham? In a little pan. Can't wait! They are both sooo nice and I'm so excited to be making friends.
Tomorrow I hope to be getting together with Kathrin, I miss her!!! So Kathrin if you are reading this, call me and let me know your schedule! I'll probably work out in the morning like today, then head on over to the school to the computer lab to upload the rest of my pictures. Last night I ordered the Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English; it is a book required for the translation courses here at the University. Really there are 4 required books, 4 of which are dictionaries, but since I'm a native speaker I only was recommended a bilingual dictionary and the collocations one. I don't know if I'm going to even buy the bilingual one; the online dictionary is pretty comprehensive... but we'll see, its like $11 online...
Well that's whats going on today, I am stoked about "going out" with new friends tonight. These are the types of things that really make this experience fun!!
Caitlin
I got up at 8:20am this morning and checked my mail, then I worked out for 75 minutes right here in my room! It was great; I did 5 miles. Today I cooked the rest of my chicken so it wouldn't go bad, and made some more of the same Uncle Ben's rice as last night because I want to get rid of it, it makes my entire refrigerator smell like it, lol... I think today I had the pan too hot or I was cooking the chicken too long (it tasted fine), but I am very surprised I didn't set off the fire alarm, lol... I think my little kitchen is cute and very functional, but a LITTLE more space would be nice!!
I registered at the school successfully today, and I went and signed up for the computer thing, so I can use the computers in the labs now... and I got a university email address, however I can't log in for some reason... if I can't log in still tomorrow, I'll go and ask the dude in the little office why! Maybe I mistyped the password both times, lol. Or maybe it takes a while to load into the system? We'll see. I got a library card, I need to copy my registration confirmation before the library will allow me to check things out... so I can do that soon. The guy from the Ordnungsamt called and let me know that whatever it is that I was waiting for (not sure) is finished, and I am scheduled to pick it up on Friday.
A lot of you have heard me talk about a girl named Melanie, she lives here in AdHW too, and a couple of months back wrote me an email that she wanted to be friends and we'd be talking ever since. Welllll she arrived in Koblenz this morning and was at the library studying for English with a friend of hers, Wiebke, and came by a bit ago. Tonight I'm going with them to a little house party, where I will get to try some new food, it is called Raclette... it is something with cheese, and potatoes, I think, and ham? In a little pan. Can't wait! They are both sooo nice and I'm so excited to be making friends.
Tomorrow I hope to be getting together with Kathrin, I miss her!!! So Kathrin if you are reading this, call me and let me know your schedule! I'll probably work out in the morning like today, then head on over to the school to the computer lab to upload the rest of my pictures. Last night I ordered the Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English; it is a book required for the translation courses here at the University. Really there are 4 required books, 4 of which are dictionaries, but since I'm a native speaker I only was recommended a bilingual dictionary and the collocations one. I don't know if I'm going to even buy the bilingual one; the online dictionary is pretty comprehensive... but we'll see, its like $11 online...
Well that's whats going on today, I am stoked about "going out" with new friends tonight. These are the types of things that really make this experience fun!!
Caitlin
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