I’ve got my toes in the Mediterannean water…

…toes in the sand, not a worry in the world, nothing cold in my hand, life was good that day.



    
 

A few teaser pics from Crete. Proof that my toes really were in the Mediterranean
water (taken Saturday evening) and proof that life really was good that day (taken Sunday morning by Ana).



Yet again I find myself wondering how another month has gone by so fast. I know I sound like broken record, but it’s true that things just keep going by more and more quickly, and it’s scary. My life is like one of those defect Toyota cars that kept going even when the driver tried to put on the brakes—it's happening so quickly, and I just can’t seem to slow it down. But it’s a good kind of out-of-control. I don’t ever want this year to be recalled.

 

This month I traveled to the Greek island of Crete where I spent five blissful days being unerreichbar (unreachable) with my good friend Ana. Summer semester began the day after our return to Munich, and after a few chaotic weeks of finalizing my schedule here while simultaneously picking out and registering for classes at UNH in the fall, I finally feel like everything is in order. I went to Frühlingsfest twice, hiked at Tegernsee, and have been simply been enjoying the lovely weather we've had recently.

 

The trip to Crete was a bit different than expected. We had checked out the weather report in advance and knew it might be not-so-nice the first few days. What we weren't expecting though, was that the weather would the strangest weather that a member of the hotel staff had ever seen in the 20-30 years that he had been working there. There was basically a huge storm that lasted for about three days: the wind was powerful, the waves were huge and thus swimming was prohibited on the beach, and it rained and  there was thunder. Saturday the sun came out for good though and we enjoyed the sun until we had to leave to go home.

 

The journey there was slightly stressful, but went well overall. We had a layover in Athens, home to what is probably the most poorly designed airport I have ever been in, and we had to go through security there for a second time. I'm still not sure if this was supposed to happen--Maybe we followed the signs of the labyrinth-like airport and ended up in the wrong place somehow. Or maybe it was just that we really did have to go through a second time. Regardless, it was stressful and annoying. I had to chug the one Liter of Munich water I had so thoughtfully filled up in the Munich airport, knowing the water in Greece might not be good. Perhaps the greater loss though was this: I had to throw away the unopened  juice box I had received on  the previous flight, since it was over 100mL. Somehow, I managed to avoid throwing a temper tantrum. Getting to the hotel after arriving at the airport in Iraklion using Greek public transportation was a little tricky, and I was on edge (literally on the edge of my seat) the whole bus ride to our hotel—I didn’t really relish the idea of missing our stop and ending up in some remote corner of the island of Crete. Yet again, my worries were umsonst (for nothing), and as it turns out, the bus driver had  correctly understood what stop we wanted when we got on, and stopped at our stop, and signaled us to get off.



Our humble abode in Crete

When we got to the hotel to check in, we were informed that the hotel had given us a free upgrade from the double room we had booked to one of their bungalows. Perks of traveling on the off-season, I suppose. We also were given codes for the Wi-Fi, but pretended we didn’t have them the whole time. Why, your ask? Well, the number one goal of the trip was complete relaxation and Erholung (recovery), and I think we all know it’s nearly impossible to achieve such goals when one is bombarded with a steady stream of emails and Facebook notifications. (Okay, okay, I don’t get that many Facebook notifications. But still.)
 So, what did we do to occupy ourselves without internet, you might ask? Here’s what the days generally consisted of: eating creamy Greek yogurt, banana chips, honey for breakfast while enjoying for the first time, in a long time, cups of non-instant coffee; attempting to read a book (though my short attention span prohibited me from getting very far--I was in Crete, how could I possibly stare at words on a page!?); journaling in front of the huge window overlooking the ocean; hunting down places to eat lunch outside of the hotel; napping (I'm usually bad at napping, but it sure was easy to do in Crete); watching “silly” German TV shows on a channel similar to the US’s TLC (think wedding shows, etc., in German); eating Greek salads with lots of Feta cheese and Greek olives at the hotel for dinner; and often, going to bed before 10pm. Yep, it was bliss. We did venture out into the city of Iraklion on one of the days to curb the cabin fever, where I got a Gyro sandwich, made friends with a stray dog (well, Ana did—I’m not much of an animal person, especially when I’m eating), and got sprayed by crazy, powerful waves at the harbor where we checked out the Venetian fortress. When we were waiting for the bus to go back to the hotel, I thought I heard gun shots, and of course ducked for cover. Good thing Ana is a bit more logical than I am and told me not to worry—if something really were wrong, everyone else would be running. Touché, Ana, Touché. It turns out that cars backfire a lot there, so those explosions we heard were just cars. I still jumped every time I heard the noise after that though, despite the explanation.

On the last morning, the day the weather was the best of the whole trip, we sat on the beach and I swam in the Mediterranean! At first, I was only going to dip my toes in. Then it was just my hair. But who was I kidding—I love the water. I skipped back to our bungalow (really though, it was an awkward walk/jog similar to the one I often did so frequently on my way to the bus stop in high school when I feared I would miss the bus), I changed into my bathing suit, and once one the beach, ran into the water. It was so refreshing, and now I can say with pride: "I swam in the Mediterranean!" There was still a red flag up, which meant no swimming, but the water was calm, and I think they had just forgotten to change it. I still felt like a rebel.

The whole trip was very memorable. Here are a few pictures to help paint a picture of it:


Ana and I at the harbor in Iraklion. Those huge waves are not normal, just for the record.

 

Descriptive English translation on menu:
"big white beans." It was a delicious
hearty soup, perfect for the rainy weather.
 

Greek-style pizza on Saturday.
Yum.

Gyro in Iraklion. I gave our
 little doggie friend a bite at the end.



View from the beach, pre-storm (Thursday).
This should be pictured in the dictionary next to the word "foreboding."

View from the beach, post-storm (Sunday morning). I think I like this one better.




Christy and I both got (each other) the little gingerbread
hearts. Hers says Kuß mich, mine says Schatzi

This weekend is the final weekend of Frühlingsfest, another three-week beer festival in Munich. It's basically a slightly disappointing smaller version of Oktoberfest that happens in the Spring. There are only two beer tents, as compared to the fourteen at Oktoberfest, but hey, there’s still a good atmosphere, Maßes of beer to be had, and live music in the tents to dance on the benches to, so I can't complain. And of course, I can never pass up an opportunity to wear my dirndl. I went on weeknights rather than on the weekends, since it's much less touristy and there is actually room to sit down in the tents. The first Tuesday I went, FC Bayern-München was playing, so the soccer game was being projected on a big screen in the front of the tent, and this past Tuesday, I went  with my program for Bavarian-American friendship day. We had a table reserved for us and also got free pretzels (if that doesn’t say friendship, I don’t know what does). 

Last Saturday, I went to Tegernsee for a hike with some people from my program. We were planning to eat at the restaurant at the top of the mountain—my only motivation—when we got up there, but it was closed. I was not amused. In fact, I was crushed. It was a feeling similar to when I had to throw away my unopened juice box at airport security in Athens.  Luckily, I had snacks with me, and perhaps it worked out for the best that is was closed. Once we were back in town, we found the Tegernsee Bräustuberl, a restaurant that had recently been added to my “must do before leaving Munich” list, where we had traditional Bavarian food for lunch and, appropriately, Tegernsee beer. Tegernsee is easily my favorite beer here, so drinking a Tegernsee next to the Tegernsee after seeing it from above was pretty special. After getting some ice cream, we hopped on the train and made our way back to Munich. The journey back to Munich was long (3 hours!), but parts of it were filled with delirious, exhaustion-induced laughter, so the time passed relatively quickly. Good people, good views, good food, and good laughs: it was a good day.

 

Katie, Christy, and I at the top. In the background: Tegernsee
(What do you call an apple when you eat it in the Alps? An ALPple!)

It says Tegernsee Hell (Tegernsee Light) at the
bottom of the glass—so cool! 



It’s all fun and games here, right? Often, but not always. The academics are still present, I promise. This semester I am taking four classes: a lecture at LMU called Umweltmanagement (Environmental Management); a seminar at LMU called Neue Weltliteratur oder Literatur der Globalisierung? Mehr- und transkulturelle Literatur in Deutschland (New World-Literature or Literature of Globalization? Pluricultural and Transcultural Literature in Germany); a German language course at JYM; and an Art History/Art in Munich course at JYM.

 

All my classes are going well for the most part, though I’m still too scared to participate in the seminar class, because I’m intimidated by the German students and self-conscious of my non-native German. I was dying to say something last class—I felt like a bubble ready to burst—but was too shy. I’m determined to participate next class though, and I know I can do it. But I also know my heart will be racing the moment I raise my hand in the air. It already is, just thinking about it.

 

I already gave a presentation in the art history course about Munich’s Frauenkirche, a church that has been in Munich since the 1400s. I gave the presentation right outside of the church—not a bad backdrop. It's so cool to be in a city with so much history that goes so far back. As an American, I’m used to things being dated from the 1800s on. Here though, that is definitely not the case. What better place is there to learn about art history than a place where there is so much of it? Anyways, I'm really looking forward to learning more about art history in the context of Munich in that class over the next few months.  

Naja. I think that about covers the month of April. Remember that lovely weather I mentioned before? Well, it's raining today, and it's supposed to rain for the next many days. But I'm okay with it, because I get a lot more work done when it's not sunny. Also, all the stores are closed today, since it's May 1st (Tag der Arbeit). I think it's fair to say (*read in the raspy, overly cheery voice of Elmo*), this blog post is brought to you by rainy weather and the all-too-frequent German holidays! Bye-Bye!