But that isn't news.
ANYWAY. My birthday happened. And I won't write about that because if you weren't there, THAT IS WHAT YOU GET. And my trip to Geneva was long and mostly boring, so I'll forget that too. So I'll just post about Michelle coming because we did exciting stuff? Okay.
Michelle got here Friday and I picked her up from the train station and it was SO NICE to see her and it was like we had never been apart. Except for the giant hug. But whatever. Anyway, so Michelle came with me back to my dorm but not before I made her run super fun errands with me.
Anyway, we came back, relaxed, Skyped with Wing, and ate dinner that one of my friends made. Delicious. So we did that and then went into town to go to the bar my friends and I frequent, El Bolero. They have happy hour from 6:30 until close so obviously bonus jonas. Anyways, we had drinks and then went back and slept. Saturday was much more interesting, I promise.
Saturday we woke up, went to the Muenstermarkt and saw the inside of the Muenster, which was really cool. I hadn't been inside so it was nice to experience it. We got wursts, saw all the goods, and went back to my room for a minute because like a dummy I got ketchup on my white shirt. Then we went back out and explored Freiburg, which is really only interesting if you can actually see it. So come visit me and you will get to see Freiburg. But we did get to experience some stuff even I hadn't seen, which is fun. Then we got so-so food for dinner and went back to my friend Cassidy's room and watched the classic film "What a Girl Wants" starring Amanda Bynes. So good. Then we went to bed and woke up and Michelle left and it was SAD.
Anyway, that was the weekend I had with Michelle. Which doesn't sound very interesting when I've typed it out, but it was fun, I swear.
ANYWHO, I'm off to Riga, Stockholm, and London next week, so I won't be back until next Friday night. So try not to miss me too much, and remember I am still accepting any and all birthday presents. LATER DAYZ.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
I'm Behind...
So, Amsterdam has come and gone, just as Michelle has. But I'll start with Amsterdam:
Sean and I left Freiburg late Thursday night to take a direct night train to Amsterdam. Since we only had reclining seats, and sleeping on trains is uncomfortable in any way (even on the sleeper beds) we woke up fairly tired the next morning. Since we couldn't check-in at the hotel until two, we left our stuff in a locker at the station. The first thing we did was try to buy 72-hour transportation passes (the hourly transport passes were way handy and paid for themselves) and since I owed Sean money for the train tickets, I was going to buy his pass, so the sum was 31 euros. I put in a 20, and then it wouldn't let me put in a 10 euro bill, so I put in a 2 euro coin. It still wouldn't accept the money, so an employee came over and cancelled the transaction. Then it only gave me 2 euros back. When we tried to tell him what happened (that it basically stole 20 euros from me) he didn't seem that concerned and told me to talk to the main office. Since I live in the real world where people don't just believe that they owe you 20 euros that their machine ate, I knew it would be futile to a) even try and b) speak english because I don't know Dutch. So then I cried and Sean tried to make me feel better but TWENTY EUROS COME ON. I had also just been told by my mom not to just be spending money willy nilly so I felt even more guilty and texted her. She told me that "wasn't what she meant" but then told me I wasn't a spend-thrift so she really just made me feel worse. OH WELL. We spent the rest of the day wandering around with me in a semi-bad mood until we left to go to the hotel.
Getting to the hotel was another challenge. We never really got accurate directions, and I almost got trapped at an Amsterdam metro station (it wouldn't let me swipe out!) and then we finally got to our hotel, which while much cheaper than any other location we had found, was waaaay out near the airport. And then the guy tried to give us a different room that was different than the one promised on our reservation but being my father's daughter I glared him down and wasn't going to take that shit after the machine bested me that morning. By the time we got to our room, it was about 4:30 so we passed out and took a nap. Almost three hours later, I woke up panicking because it was pitch black outside already. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was only 7:20. So we went to eat and figured out what to do the next day.
The next morning we got a late start but whatcha gonna do. We got lunch, and stood in an incredibly long line to see the Van Gogh Museum. It moved fairly quickly so no biggie, and there we made our second wise money-saving purchase of the Museumkaart. For 20 year olds, it's 24 euro, valid for a year, and paid for itself in the two days we used it. SO WORTH IT if you are planning on going to 3+ museums in Amsterdam/the Netherlands in general. We saw some great art, ran into some fellow IES people also spending their weekend in Amsterdam, and then I got us lost. Terribly. I am the WORST. I felt guilty but of course Sean was nice so he didn't say anything about my terrible sense of direction when I am in an unfamiliar city. We got to the Anne Frank House (where our Museumkaart was also accepted!) and stood in line and got to be one of the last groups of people let in. We were a little rushed at the end, but I found the museum really moving. However, have I ever mentioned that I hate people? I really do. They are pretty terrible as a species. When at the house of a girl whose life knew more pain than most people today will ever experience, you FOLLOW THE RULES PUT FORTH BY THE CARETAKERS. You also shouldn't take your four-year-old who will act his age (rightly so) and not be able to understand what is going on. However, a four-year-old doesn't belong in the Anne Frank House in the first place, and should act his age somewhere else. Then dinner and back to the hotel for sleeps, etc.
The next morning, we had to pack up and check out, and once again left a little late but LIFE. Then Sean humored me and we went to the NEMO Museum on the reccommendation of our friend Mina, who is a genius and multiple other positive adjectives. It's a science museum for kids (read: AWESOME) and we got to explore a little bit. The best parts were the neuro part, the DNA/genetics, and the PUBERTY part. Also the sex exhibit which was only for older people? But I mean clearly any SCIENCE museum that uses the term "knob" in an exhibit as a euphemism for "penis" is most excellent. I will share stories by request. Then we left, I got us more lost (It was not my weekend, I guess? Not terrible, but not in my top 10) and we went to the Rijksmuseum. Which was also really cool. It's currently being remodeled but they've chosen really cool stuff to leave on exhibit. The first floor was pretty much all Dutch history, which is insanely interesting and makes me want to know a lot more. The second floor was Dutch masters, where I saw a painting of my boyfriend (google images Gerard Bicker for a visual, sadly he wasn't on a postcard) and I learned that I wasn't a huge fan of Rembrandt, but I still love Vermeer. Then I got three postcards (one was free!) and as soon as I paid the guy was like "GET THE FUCK OUT, THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED BITCHES" so once again we left the museum just in time. Then we went and waited for our train.
The train was fine, except when I finally got to sleep (for like two hours, my own fault) Sean was like "the train isn't stopping in Freiburg." This wouldn't be a problem except Freiburg was printed on our ticket, the sign inside the train, and along the OUTSIDE OF THE TRAIN. Apparently there was construction on the tracks and they didn't find out until too late so DeutscheBahn thought that the best thing to do was NOT TELL US. We got off at Basel and luckily got a free ticket back to Freiburg but really it just added an unnecessary hour to our trip home.
And that was Amsterdam. Sorry it was so long. I know Wing doesn't like that. But I promise my other posts will be shorter.
Sean and I left Freiburg late Thursday night to take a direct night train to Amsterdam. Since we only had reclining seats, and sleeping on trains is uncomfortable in any way (even on the sleeper beds) we woke up fairly tired the next morning. Since we couldn't check-in at the hotel until two, we left our stuff in a locker at the station. The first thing we did was try to buy 72-hour transportation passes (the hourly transport passes were way handy and paid for themselves) and since I owed Sean money for the train tickets, I was going to buy his pass, so the sum was 31 euros. I put in a 20, and then it wouldn't let me put in a 10 euro bill, so I put in a 2 euro coin. It still wouldn't accept the money, so an employee came over and cancelled the transaction. Then it only gave me 2 euros back. When we tried to tell him what happened (that it basically stole 20 euros from me) he didn't seem that concerned and told me to talk to the main office. Since I live in the real world where people don't just believe that they owe you 20 euros that their machine ate, I knew it would be futile to a) even try and b) speak english because I don't know Dutch. So then I cried and Sean tried to make me feel better but TWENTY EUROS COME ON. I had also just been told by my mom not to just be spending money willy nilly so I felt even more guilty and texted her. She told me that "wasn't what she meant" but then told me I wasn't a spend-thrift so she really just made me feel worse. OH WELL. We spent the rest of the day wandering around with me in a semi-bad mood until we left to go to the hotel.
Getting to the hotel was another challenge. We never really got accurate directions, and I almost got trapped at an Amsterdam metro station (it wouldn't let me swipe out!) and then we finally got to our hotel, which while much cheaper than any other location we had found, was waaaay out near the airport. And then the guy tried to give us a different room that was different than the one promised on our reservation but being my father's daughter I glared him down and wasn't going to take that shit after the machine bested me that morning. By the time we got to our room, it was about 4:30 so we passed out and took a nap. Almost three hours later, I woke up panicking because it was pitch black outside already. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was only 7:20. So we went to eat and figured out what to do the next day.
The next morning we got a late start but whatcha gonna do. We got lunch, and stood in an incredibly long line to see the Van Gogh Museum. It moved fairly quickly so no biggie, and there we made our second wise money-saving purchase of the Museumkaart. For 20 year olds, it's 24 euro, valid for a year, and paid for itself in the two days we used it. SO WORTH IT if you are planning on going to 3+ museums in Amsterdam/the Netherlands in general. We saw some great art, ran into some fellow IES people also spending their weekend in Amsterdam, and then I got us lost. Terribly. I am the WORST. I felt guilty but of course Sean was nice so he didn't say anything about my terrible sense of direction when I am in an unfamiliar city. We got to the Anne Frank House (where our Museumkaart was also accepted!) and stood in line and got to be one of the last groups of people let in. We were a little rushed at the end, but I found the museum really moving. However, have I ever mentioned that I hate people? I really do. They are pretty terrible as a species. When at the house of a girl whose life knew more pain than most people today will ever experience, you FOLLOW THE RULES PUT FORTH BY THE CARETAKERS. You also shouldn't take your four-year-old who will act his age (rightly so) and not be able to understand what is going on. However, a four-year-old doesn't belong in the Anne Frank House in the first place, and should act his age somewhere else. Then dinner and back to the hotel for sleeps, etc.
The next morning, we had to pack up and check out, and once again left a little late but LIFE. Then Sean humored me and we went to the NEMO Museum on the reccommendation of our friend Mina, who is a genius and multiple other positive adjectives. It's a science museum for kids (read: AWESOME) and we got to explore a little bit. The best parts were the neuro part, the DNA/genetics, and the PUBERTY part. Also the sex exhibit which was only for older people? But I mean clearly any SCIENCE museum that uses the term "knob" in an exhibit as a euphemism for "penis" is most excellent. I will share stories by request. Then we left, I got us more lost (It was not my weekend, I guess? Not terrible, but not in my top 10) and we went to the Rijksmuseum. Which was also really cool. It's currently being remodeled but they've chosen really cool stuff to leave on exhibit. The first floor was pretty much all Dutch history, which is insanely interesting and makes me want to know a lot more. The second floor was Dutch masters, where I saw a painting of my boyfriend (google images Gerard Bicker for a visual, sadly he wasn't on a postcard) and I learned that I wasn't a huge fan of Rembrandt, but I still love Vermeer. Then I got three postcards (one was free!) and as soon as I paid the guy was like "GET THE FUCK OUT, THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED BITCHES" so once again we left the museum just in time. Then we went and waited for our train.
The train was fine, except when I finally got to sleep (for like two hours, my own fault) Sean was like "the train isn't stopping in Freiburg." This wouldn't be a problem except Freiburg was printed on our ticket, the sign inside the train, and along the OUTSIDE OF THE TRAIN. Apparently there was construction on the tracks and they didn't find out until too late so DeutscheBahn thought that the best thing to do was NOT TELL US. We got off at Basel and luckily got a free ticket back to Freiburg but really it just added an unnecessary hour to our trip home.
And that was Amsterdam. Sorry it was so long. I know Wing doesn't like that. But I promise my other posts will be shorter.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
WAMP WAMPsterdam
First off, I'm glad I got you sucka fools to react re: calling out Michelle. My plan worked perfectly! And by plan I mean, WHY DOESN'T ANYONE PAY ATTENTION TO MEEEEE?
Anyways, finished my two midterms, and now I am off to Amsterdam this weekend with Sean! Hooray for long weekends and Anne Frank and tulips! Also marijuana.
However, my roommates have once again struck with the passive aggressive note but I DON'T CARE! Also, I had to clean the bathroom, which I am totally awesome at because that was one of the closing duties for cashiers at Staples so HELLO I am basically a professional bathroom cleaner. It would have been nice if they had told me what exactly they wanted me to do because there's a mop in there but no evidence of anyone ever using it, plus fuck mopping.
But now I am off to do last-minute things like pack, shower, and charge up my jams. When I get back I'll be sure to let you guys know how everything went (Not really. You will not get to know everything.).
P.S. Almost one week until Michelle gets here! And almost two weeks until my BIRTHDAAAAY! I expect gifts, letters, packages, gold bullion, etc. from everyone. My address, you ask?
Colleen "the Amazing" O'Bannon
c/o IES Abroad EU Center
Werthmanstrasse 11
79098 Freiburg im Breisgau
GERMANY
Use plz.
Anyways, finished my two midterms, and now I am off to Amsterdam this weekend with Sean! Hooray for long weekends and Anne Frank and tulips! Also marijuana.
However, my roommates have once again struck with the passive aggressive note but I DON'T CARE! Also, I had to clean the bathroom, which I am totally awesome at because that was one of the closing duties for cashiers at Staples so HELLO I am basically a professional bathroom cleaner. It would have been nice if they had told me what exactly they wanted me to do because there's a mop in there but no evidence of anyone ever using it, plus fuck mopping.
But now I am off to do last-minute things like pack, shower, and charge up my jams. When I get back I'll be sure to let you guys know how everything went (Not really. You will not get to know everything.).
P.S. Almost one week until Michelle gets here! And almost two weeks until my BIRTHDAAAAY! I expect gifts, letters, packages, gold bullion, etc. from everyone. My address, you ask?
Colleen "the Amazing" O'Bannon
c/o IES Abroad EU Center
Werthmanstrasse 11
79098 Freiburg im Breisgau
GERMANY
Use plz.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
MY LIFE IS SO INTERESTING
Hey guys. And by guys, I mean I clearly have more than one reader. And by I clearly have more than one reader, I mean HI MICHELLE!
So last week I was gone. I went to Luxembourg (for a day), and then was in Brussels and Paris for the rest of the week. So let's blog it out. Tabloid shortness style.
Luxembourg: We were only there for like five hours, but while we were there it was really nice. We only had an hour to ourselves but there was a beautiful ravine that was nice to look at. The rest of the time we were there we were in a meeting at the European Court of Justice which was BORING. And I was exhausted so I might have fallen asleep. Maybe. Definitely. Anyway, Luxembourg was nice plus I mean it's a new country to me so bonus Jonas, I guess.
Brussels: Is it weird that I don't really have an opinion on Brussels? Pretty much all of my time there was spent inside buildings at meetings so I never got a feel for it. But what I saw seemed nice. Definitely a place I would be interested in going back to. But I'd want to go back to see all of Belgium. However, their famous statue of a little boy peeing, Mannekin Pis, was a huge disappointment.
Paris: I love Paris. I don't think anything could change that. Whether it be personal issues or having to listen to French diplomats be total tools, I can't not love the City of Light. The first night we were there, we got some cheap wine, cheese, and baguettes and watched the Eiffel Tower. It glitters on the hour and is SO BEAUTIFUL. Plus we got to see Sacre-Coeur and had the BEST DINNER OF ALL TIME (OF ALL TIME!) on the Ile St. Louis. So delicious. So even though I might have spent a large chunk crying, my friend Mina got pickpocketed, and I almost screamed at a French diplomat out of sheer rage, it was still a great time.
Plus the weather was nice.
Life is good here.
So last week I was gone. I went to Luxembourg (for a day), and then was in Brussels and Paris for the rest of the week. So let's blog it out. Tabloid shortness style.
Luxembourg: We were only there for like five hours, but while we were there it was really nice. We only had an hour to ourselves but there was a beautiful ravine that was nice to look at. The rest of the time we were there we were in a meeting at the European Court of Justice which was BORING. And I was exhausted so I might have fallen asleep. Maybe. Definitely. Anyway, Luxembourg was nice plus I mean it's a new country to me so bonus Jonas, I guess.
Brussels: Is it weird that I don't really have an opinion on Brussels? Pretty much all of my time there was spent inside buildings at meetings so I never got a feel for it. But what I saw seemed nice. Definitely a place I would be interested in going back to. But I'd want to go back to see all of Belgium. However, their famous statue of a little boy peeing, Mannekin Pis, was a huge disappointment.
Paris: I love Paris. I don't think anything could change that. Whether it be personal issues or having to listen to French diplomats be total tools, I can't not love the City of Light. The first night we were there, we got some cheap wine, cheese, and baguettes and watched the Eiffel Tower. It glitters on the hour and is SO BEAUTIFUL. Plus we got to see Sacre-Coeur and had the BEST DINNER OF ALL TIME (OF ALL TIME!) on the Ile St. Louis. So delicious. So even though I might have spent a large chunk crying, my friend Mina got pickpocketed, and I almost screamed at a French diplomat out of sheer rage, it was still a great time.
Plus the weather was nice.
Life is good here.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Oh herro.
Hey to my legions of fans and readers.
I am back, safe and sound from Luxembourg/Brussels/Paris.
I will blog about it once I catch up on TV. Really.
P.S. Replacement sweater arrived. Not quite the same, but I'll survive.
I am back, safe and sound from Luxembourg/Brussels/Paris.
I will blog about it once I catch up on TV. Really.
P.S. Replacement sweater arrived. Not quite the same, but I'll survive.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Wamp wamp.
Off to Luxembourg for the day, then onto Brussels and Paris. I am pretty pumped to take the allegedly near-empty Metro in Paris (OMG TERROR etc) and also be back in a beautiful city I sort of know.
I'll tell you all about it when I return. BLOGGING!
P.S. I really want more thuggin' pictures like the one featured below. Keep your fingers crossed.
I'll tell you all about it when I return. BLOGGING!
P.S. I really want more thuggin' pictures like the one featured below. Keep your fingers crossed.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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