vagabond years

Kiel for the third time

2009-04-30T11:27:00.005+02:00

One day before labor day I went to Kiel for the third time. After my second round interview Fabian showed me around the city a bit and we also went to see the beach! :).

You can see the whole album on facebook (picasa hot linking fails so often, I resent to use it...):
[KIEL for the 3rd time ALBUM]
I also visited Hamburg one month before that but Phil (see Colonge post) has the photos and since he's in Thailand working as a model now I guess I will never get the photos. Oh, well...

You can see the photos of first visit to Kiel here:

[KIEL@picasa]

And here's a selection of the best from last time:

Viva Colonia

2009-03-07T13:26:00.014+01:00

20th - 22nd February I was in Cologne (Köln) w/ the Canadians. And yes, it was Carnival! Not one of the special Carnival days but still the city was one big party (see video below).
On the first evening (when the girls were still in Berlin) Phil and I enjoyed some Ethiopian (finger)food, yumyum

Is there anything better than going out for a great meal??!

(This was in a Korean restaurant in Berlin. I'm not in the photo cos I took it... obviously...)

But back to Cologne!

Never have I seen so many Pfannkuchen in my life... And no, dear people they're NOT "Berliner" - for all you non-Germans: I'm talking about jam-filled German donuts that we eat during carnival ^^. Apparently they're called "Berliner" everywhere in Germany except for Berlin.

^ not so funny for me as a Berliner :P ;)

Speaking of which. When I was taking a photo of one huuuuuge "mountain" of Pfannkuchen, a man behind me said to his wife "Look at her, she's taking a photo of the Berliner."
Maybe he thought I didn't understand German, maybe he really thought taking photos of food was something weird (pardon me??), either way: I turned around and said:

"That are not Berliner, they're Pfannkuchen. :)"
(I think he didn't get it, it should imply that I'm from Berlin, well whatever...)

Here's the shot:

It was extremely difficult to get a typical Cologne beer (Kölsch) in the supermarket even in the afternoon!! Also the champagne was all gone. All that was left was non-alcoholic beer, beers from other areas and weird mixes like Cappucino-Beer *yuck*. Prove for the "Biernotstand":

We also met Nicole, a friend of mine who's doing her phd in Berlin but is originally from the Cologen area.

I got the tiger gloves in Korea, they're "normal" gloves for kids! Unfortunately, I lost them in Cologne :(

I finally found a way to show you most of the (thousands...) of photos I like to take :P. I made a slideshow (plus two short videos at the end) and uploaded it to youtube. If you have an account there, please comment/rate :)

The editing might not be the best, I apologize.

Here's one personal photo, I know you wanted to see those.

my t-shirt was a b-day present from Bert!
(yey for (too expensive) George Gina & Lucy bags...)

And I like this photo: my two Canadian (ok, one German-Canadian-...<-- NOT talking about Emily here hehe) friends having Reibekuchen w/ Apfelmus

That's all for now, folks!
I plan to post the rest of my photos/experiences in Korea soon (?). Did you really think it stopped at Busan?!
Until then: take care :)

Best Wishes from the Beeeeach

2008-11-25T10:17:00.005+01:00

Taejongdae Park near (?) Busan. The nice bus driver recommended a route for me (despite my crappy Korean :P).

Busan Part 2

2008-11-25T09:57:00.006+01:00

went w/ Julia to a "Latino" Bar where there were African masks at the wall and American sports themed table decoration. Oooo-kaaaay... The waiter was very eager to talk English to us...

When taking the taxi back after we missed the last subway by about 5mins (duh), we had some difficulties explaining the driver where we wanted to go since we didn't speak Busan dialect. (On a side note: I find Busan dialect to be really funny... sort of melodious in a weird way and hard to understand). When he finally understood our destination [동서 ], he repeated it fiercly in Busan dialect pronounciation [동스!!!!], correcting us stupid foreigners ;).

One of Busan's most famous spots is the Jagalchi Fish Market, some selected photos and a short video (nothing for vegetarians or even carnivores with a weak heart: FULL OF GORE!)

Though Busan Tower is not as stylish as Seoul Tower, it still allows a beautiful view over the city:
(I recommend to click on the photos or you won't see the ships!!)

On my way to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery...

... unfortunately I was too late and they were closed already :P so here's a photo of a photo of the cemetery...

On my way back a nice ajuhshi asked me whether I was from Seoul (err no, Germany) and despite my horrible Korean abilities chatted with me all the way to the subway station, asking me things like "At what age do people marry in Germany?"
Something like this would never happen in Seoul. Some people like it, some don't and prefer to be left alone.

Busan Part One

2008-11-08T02:57:00.006+01:00

Visited a friend from TU Berlin Taekwondo, Julia, who is currently doing a master's in biotechnology at a university in Busan (thanks again for letting me camp on your (heated) floor!! :) ). Busan (or Pusan to match the pronounciation better) is South Korea's 2nd largest city and a harbour (and seafood) city, close to Japan.
In the subway, the stations are announced first in Korean, then in English (as in Seoul) and the main stations are additionally announced in Japanese and finally Chinese. The signs are also written in all four languages.

I will post some more photos of Busan at another time, first some photos from the seeeea :D

Gwangalli Beach and the bridge (that changes its colour)

C'est moi at the harbour

Haeundae Beach

(funny "no smoking" sign in the back)

I stayed 3-4 days in Busan, so more photos to come!

Cut it off brutally!!

2008-11-07T02:48:00.002+01:00

Met my cousin in Myeongdong (명동) to go to the hairdresser and the "Nail Shop", afterwards we met one of our uncles for some Japanese Shabu Shabu. The hairdresser included a short neck massage and the nail shop a short hand massage. *sigh*, I wish the service was like this in Germany...
Not sure how much the nail service was cos my cousin treated me but heck, who has so much time?? First they cut off the excessive skin from the nail area, then they use several other layers of I-don't-know-what, then the vernice, more layers, then you get to dry the nails under some kind of nail dryer thingy for about 20 min. But even after this time I wasn't able to even slightly touch my nails (like when getting something from my inside my bag) for the next 45mins! The vernice was already ruined... Also I can't use chopsticks w/o touching my nails :(.
Here are some photos of my cousin, me (w/ the new haircut) and the shabu shabu!

14th November

"Ein Bild fuer die Goetter!" - wasn't able to take a good photo of these scenes w/o coming off as a total stalker... so use your imagination.
Friday afternoon in the Coex Mall in a game center: two schoolgirls (in uniform) and a business man (in a suit and tie) brutally splattering monsters with machine guns. You should have seen the (virtual blood) and the two school girls with the guns kehehe...

Seoul Tower / Wonju

2008-10-27T11:22:00.001+01:00

I'm skipping some photos of Seoul Sightseeing Tours with my uncle and will include selected photos in themed photo albums later on (so stay tuned *hehe*).
For now I will share photos of Seoul Tower (Namsan) that were taken on October 27th (Mon).

The sight from the tower is truely worth a photo! (or two or three or...)

Couples like to spend time up here.

So far away from Berlin! :)

The Tower!!

Went to my mom's sister in Wonju (29th Oct - 30th...), since there are no special things to see in Wonju, some photos of us :P

Little bit of this an' that, Churches and Abundance

2008-10-22T03:35:00.012+02:00

22nd October

another dam in Jeollabukdo

somewhere in the mountains in Jeollabukdo

Ewhwa Women's University has an integrated modern shopping mall that features - besides a rather big book store - several fast food restaurants, a hair dresser, an optician,...
Ewhwa is the most expensive women's university in Seoul and is surrounded by lots of girly stores selling clothes, make-up, ... there are a lot of caf? and body shop-like shops. A true women's paradise! (They even have a small IKEA)

26th October, near Seoul (outskirt)
One of the biggest modern churches in Korea (there are churches EVERYwhere*)
"Soon Bogeum Full Gospel Church"
from the outside

from the inside

Manga-esque Jesus as a different type of saviour: a screensaver :P

And for the safety (?) at home: PIN-based appartment door locks, no key needed (just don't let anyone observe you while entering the code/house...)

The "mothership" in Yeoido (Yeoido, might post more about Yeoido some other time)

Please put your donations here (right on the other side there's a bank machine ATM ;) )

* Churches are among the things you can find practically anywhere (at least at every other middle-sized street), normally they are situated in normal rooms, sometimes they have their own building.
Other things that you will find anywhere and in abundance:

Noraebang (Karaoke Bar),
PC Bang (Internet Caf? mostly used for LAN and online games),
Convenience Store (like 7 Eleven, for the Germans: this is a little shop that has a little bit of everything and is open 24/7),
Shigdang (a simple restaurant),
people selling food or goods in the streets (preferably socks/stockings or shoes) at low prices,
Budangsang (real estate agency) & Hair Dresser,
Yag Gug (pharmacy, mostly selling funny traditional Korean medicine in colourful small bottles that tastes like soda),
Cell phone shop,
Optician

really I wonder who buys all these glasses and contact lenses??!
Also there are a lot of (clean!) public toilets, drink vending machines but very few waste baskets - still Seoul is very clean and very little trash lies around. I wonder how that works...

Geumsansa - Buddhist Monastary of the Golden Mountain

2008-10-20T14:54:00.007+02:00

Geumsansa - Buddhist Monastary of the Golden Mountain

Wooden Gate near Geumsansa

Geumsansa Complex

One of the four gates leading to Geumsansa

healing moutain water...

and erm... healing lemonade??

(By the way, I don't know what a Pocari is but I don't think I want to drink its sweat :-S. First I thought it was a misspelling of "sweet" but in fact the Korean transcription also reads like "sweat" not like "sweet"...)

Buddhist bell

huge Buddhas

dawn, a stupa, and one of Korea's National Treasures, namely n?25 (Geumsansa 5cheung seoktap)

beautiful traditional roof

National treasure no.62, Geumsansa Mireukjeon

the Great Hall from the outside...

... and the inside

another house

Fun with Water

2008-10-18T12:32:00.000+02:00

Actually we wanted to go to a Jjimjilbang, a Korean sort of sauna or public bath, a man from my mother's childhood offered to bring us there by car. Before he brought us to the Jjimjilbang in Gimje, however, the showed us around The Byeokgolje Museum of Agricultural Culture. Byeokgolje being a historical water reservoir in the Gimje Area; Gimje is the next biggest city near my granny's village and know as the city of rice for the area's famous fertility.

There's a myth about a woman - Danya - who fell in love with a civil engineer who had to calm down a terrible dragon. I didn't quite get it. Whatever, here are some photos:

Needless to say after a thorough visit of the Byeokgolje complex (we had just missed the Horizon Festival that had been held there :( ), we only got to the Jjimjilbang rather late. The fee was 5000 Won (roughly 3€), we bought some beauty articles of which we only used the shampoo in the washing area. Then there were three warm/hot pools (36캜, 42캜 and 46캜). 36캜 seemed a bit cool for me, 42캜 is the temperature I prefer my baths to be (but hadn't taken a bath in over half a year, only showers), yet, 46캜 was a bit too much for me to bear over extended time. The women who did stay longer came out with red skin :P. There were two sauna rooms, one was over 50캜 and the other one seemed to be even hotter w/ cold water you could splash over yourself yeeha! There was a cool pool (for after saunaing I guess?) and a mild pool with water massage STRAHL. For 13000 Won each, we treated ourselves to the luxury of getting scrubbed with Korean WASCHLAPPEN, which took about 20 mins or so. My skin never felt so good!!!
But it wouldn't be Korea if there wasn't more entertainment involved. In the changing area there was a TV where the ladies could see the latest episode of their favourite Korean soap opera, there were snacks and drinks sold, in the next floor there was a relaxation area w/ more snacks, another huge TV (Korean TV industry excels in big, flat screens), a restaurant, an internet caf? sauna rooms (orange shorts and t-shirts for women and green ones men were given to you on entrance), mats and cushions to lie on and having a nap and massage chairs. Very efficient 10 mins of massage for only 1000 Won (about 0.60€). I bought two obligatory seasoned cooked eggs and drinks. There's the possibility to stay overnight, too!
We had to get the last bus back to the village, though. Yet, we didn't know where the right bus station was. Asking people didn't help much and only made us run around the area back and forth. Eventually a man who had previously sent us the wrong direction called the bus company with his cell phone and told us to get a cab to catch the last bus. We did. For only 1800 Won got to our bus (of course the taxi driver went especially slowly so that we would miss the bus). When we got to the bus, the bus driver just bickered (???) at us, but he did with every one who got on, obviously he was in a bad mood, but the way the bickered at anyone was just funny.
When we got back home, totally and perfectly clean and scrubbed, it felt as if we had had an adventure!

24h Jjimjilbang and Sauna

Shimpo Harbor and the Stray Cat Vagabond

2008-10-17T09:51:00.004+02:00

Overlooking the countryside
A promise of lasting love at the platform...

Near Seokchi Village there is Shimpo Harbour (Shimpo Hang).

Fresh seafood.

Seokchi Village
I found three frogs in my granny's apple tree!

I still wonder what frogs are doing in an apple tree?! besides just hanging out ;)
This little vagabond comes to hide between the kimchi pots in our backyard.

Apparently a Mischling (mongrel) like me.
I don't know where this little vagabond found this dried squid but it hopelessly failed at chewing it (and it *is* quite tough)...

... so I gave him/her some fish

Timidly looking from behind the kimchi pots vagabond.

(Why do I feel like my buddy B. will feel like giving me a cat for X-Mas/b-day/... again after reading this post?...)

Some creatures just need to run freely.

Country Life kehehe

2008-10-15T10:28:00.005+02:00

After some speed-sightseeing of Seoul's most favourite markets (I'll post photos some other time), I went to Jeollabuk-do, South Korea's South-West to my granny's village Seokchi. My granny lives in a traditional Korean house (which is in no condition to be shown on the internet, however...) where my mom and her six siblings grew up and at her age of 80 still lives of farming. Fortunately, technology makes the rice harvest more convenient nowadays but many other works are just as tedious as back then.
Fresh fruits, vegetables and golden fields of rice!
Korean grapes taste very different from European grapes, though I think I know this taste from German Kirmes (kandierte Weintrauben).

We're close to the sea here.
A little crab that wasn't too timid to observe us from inside of his house.
Eventhough Buddhism is the traditional religion of Korea, the recent trend is for free churches to spread. Some older Catholic churches also exist.

No offense, but I think the traditional pagodas have more style... :P
Near Seokchi Village, there is the Buddhist Manghae temple (Manghaesa).

17th October

Manghaesa

A little house next to Manghaesa.

Inside of the temple

Outside the temple

A Buddhist bell overlooking the sea.

A Buddhist toilet house :)

(The Lotus is the Buddhist symbol.)

Hongdae & Chuncheon - Korea's Lake Country

2008-10-11T13:54:00.005+02:00

The neighbourhood of Hongik University (a major Korean Art Uni), "Hongdae", is "one of the favourite hangouts for trendy young people in Seoul. Rock, techno, hip hop, and jazz enthusiasts gather in the restaurants, cafes and bars to enjoy this lively atmosphere."

It was also the place where my best friend D. - who is currently in Seoul at the Goethe Institut - wanted to meet me. Along some Nachos we had a new (?) speciality: what looks like an innocent large bottle of juice is in fact Kiwi flavoured Soju (Korean liquor). We emptied this bottle and another one with Grape flavour. I drank the last glasses in a hurry because we had to get the last subway around 11:30 pm (this is what sucks about Seoul, just as about Tokyo from what I heard...). I must admit my head didn't appreciate it much :P.

The obligatory traffic jam at the weekend outwards of Seoul didn't keep one of my uncles and his buddy from taking me to Chuncheon. His friend wanted to show his gratitude towards me for being able to use my room in the past (I don't remember, I must have been a kiddo back then) in Berlin for when he was working at the Gruene Woche.

Soyang Lake: And again the following line holds true "Wenn ich den See seh, brauch ich kein Meer mehr"...
The Lake - sometimes called and inland sea - (why does this all sounds so familiar? ;) - resulted by the building of Soyang dam in 1973.

Near Soyang Dam - one of Asia's largest dams - it's a bit touristy, with lots of ladies selling food, snacks, merchandise,...

I like how this photo turned out:

Before returning home I wanted to see a Buddhist temple I had seen on a tourist map of Chuncheon. My uncle's friend agreed and we set out to find it - in vain. After endless paths through the mountains (more and more approaching North Korea) we turned back when it got dark. I was already feeling sick. Eating Dak Galbi, a speciality of the region, was a must. Chuncheon Dak Galbi, "Chicken Ribs", is made of seasoned boneless chicken, vegetables, noodles, sweet potato, rice cakes (Ddok) and other ingredients that are pan-fried on a large steel pan at the table. After finishing the chicken, one can take the remaining sauce and vegetables and fry them up with rice. A bowl of cold maguksu (buckwheat noddle dish) is served along with all of it.

My Soul is Home or Seoul is my Home

2008-10-10T07:05:00.003+02:00

When the plane came down to Korea, I was sighing... 15 years have passed since I last came here. I was only 11 yrs old back then.
Landed savely and alone (... that's another story :( ) at Incheon Airport where two of my uncles were there to welcome me. One of them I hadn't seen in 15 years.

We went to Seoul by car which took quite a while and I was rather calm, my heart only started flutterling when I saw town, the busy streets, all the colourful signs... Seoul is huge. 10 million inhabitants in the main city and a lot more when you count in the surrounding areas. Where I am now (near Madeul subway station) and where yet another of my uncles lives take 1.5 h by subway. It will probably not cost more than 2000 Won, though, to get there, i.e. about 1.20EUR (would probably cost 8.80EUR in Munich...).
Walked about the city near Madeul in a wonderful late summer day. I had only brought my boots b/c I wanted to buy sneakers (or probably another pair of taekwondo shoes hehe) in Korea. Ppl must have thought I was crazy to wear them in such weather...

By the way... I had this white so-called milk spot (milia/Milien) in my face for the last years and since it was right under my right eye, I thought of it as a tear. I know this sounds kitschy...

Anyways, ... while sitting in the car in Seoul, I had the sudden urge to scratch it and it just came off after all this time, normally you're supposed to see a doctor or a cosmetologist for it, but yesterday it just came off in Seoul.
Maybe it was a tear that grew with my longing (saudade/Sehnsucht) for Korea and when I came to Korea, that longing was extinguished.
hehe

Enough of the kitsch, some photos!

Seoul is full of these apartments, my uncle's in Madeul is house no. 1301, I hope I will find my way back...
By the way, my cousin is preparing for university entry exams and comes back home at 11 pm, leaving home at 7.30 am...

Ther are several mountains in Seoul.

typical case of TMI (too much information ;) )

And this ain't even the city center

weeheee, accessories on sale! (1000Won = 60 EUR cent)

hmmmm, street shops, food everywhere

Speaking of food... I think I will burst any time soon. My uncle wants the best for me and so I have to eat all the time :p.
In Korea, breakfast is a normal warm meal so today I ate a warm meal at 7.30 am with 1.5 cups of rice (I ate half a cup then my uncle exchanged the cup with a new one that had hot rice...) and at 11.30 am I had lunch (Korean vegetable pan cake), though I wasn't hungry at all. This morning I was still stuffed with yesterday's meals and feasts...

You'll read of me should I not burst...
Tonight I'm seeing my best friend who's been in Seoul for 2 months already. We're probably going out w/ friends of hers. :)

"wherever you go, go with all your heart"

2008-10-07T19:57:00.006+02:00

Confucius said

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Tomorrow I'm flying to South Korea for 7 weeks after I haven't been there in 15 (!) years. In the past half year I travelled quite a bit (not as much as other ppl but enough for me...).

Red dotted lines are the routes I took by train, blue dotted lines are routes I took by ferry, orange dash-dot lines are plane routes and green dashed routes are car routes.
Red dots mark the places I have been to (in the list, clicking them will lead you to a Wikipedia explanation).

In Southern Germany (Baden-Württemberg & Bavaria):
Lake Constance Area: Friedrichshafen, Meersburg, Konstanz/Constance
Switzerland: Kreuzlingen
Bavaria: Lindau at Lake Constance, Munich, Donauwörth
Austria: Hochhäderich Mountain
Baden-Württemberg: Ulm, Aulendorf, Stuttgart, Esslingen
Northern Germany: Berlin, Kiel
others: Oslo (Norway), tomorrow I will fly to Seoul(Korea) via Helsinki(Finland)

most travelled routes:

Berlin <--> Friedrichshafen 3 x return by train
Friedrichshafen <--> Konstanz: 1 x by ferry, 1 x car + ferry from Meersburg, 1 x by car, all return
Berlin <--> Munich by plane return; Friedrichshafen <--> Munich return by car; from Berlin to Friedrichshafen via Munich by train one-way
Friedrichshafen <--> Stuttgart; from Friedrichshafen to Esslingen via Stuttgart & Ulm return
train station where I changed the most: Ulm

"...as they flicker then die..."

2008-09-15T22:34:00.002+02:00

Every star has a season, a moment, a reason to be.
We may watch with regret as they flicker then die,
But at least for one second we bathed in the light
Of their passing, the memory still lasting.

Gloria Estefan "Your Picture"

"Amor de Ping e Pong"

Bruno lyrics

back from Oslo

2008-09-13T22:19:00.005+02:00

So I'm back from Kiel and Oslo...
i took about 345 photos most of which you can find here (click the title in [...]):

[Kiel, Germany]

[Oslo City]

[ferries and Scandinavian sea]

[Oslo Park]

Holmenkollen (diese komische Skischanze, die abgerissen werden soll)

[museums] (viking ships etc.)

[Hotel Thon Opera]

[Opera Oslo]

A frikkin beer in Oslo costs 5,50€ - 8€ WTF!!
but I just spent 11€ altogether.
2€ for three postcards and 9€ for a "Norwegian Prince" including tip (see ferry photos).
Oslo is beautiful, but very expensive.

I ate so much on the ferry and in the hotel, though. Buffet and a luxurious meal w/ soup, duck and mango whatnot dessert (and a chocolate cube that was complicated to eat).
Norwegian food: salmon (yummy!!!!) and prawns... *drool*

The ferry was hilariously luxurious and when I got in, I thought I was in a fancy shopping center. Turned out to be rather boring when you don't want to spend extra money...
I got a cabin for myself when the other four girls had to share one (two girls per cabin). Well, can't divide 5 by 2 w/o odds!

It's weird, I was away 5 days and when I got back to Friedrichshafen, I already felt like a stranger. I think I get used to new situations too easily.
I don't think I mind sleeping in hotel rooms :P.

I also liked Kiel. I can totally feel the East-Frisian/Northern German in me ;)

a farewell

2008-08-28T21:29:00.000+02:00

Friedrichshafen at Night

Farewell Stammtisch in [Beach Club]

i know, i know, the flash was too bright...

a fountain!

(took the photo for S.)

the last one's my favourite :)

I will miss you, guys!! S2

---

a video I took the Sunday after, Lake Constance before the rain

es ist vorbei bye-bye Junimond

2008-08-24T19:13:00.005+02:00

Last party for the students.

everyone loves Julian!

"true love only exist between men"

didn't have as much fun as it looks... :(
aber man muss ja den Schein bewahren.

Lindau

2008-08-23T18:56:00.000+02:00

Went to Lindau w/ Felix and Sebi and had an expensive Pizza in a pizzeria w/ unfriendly waiters.
It is an island city on the Bavarian side of Lake Constance

Freizeitstress

2008-08-17T18:37:00.001+02:00

"Freizeitstress"

Friday: Billiard...

and [Lukullum] ([reviews])

yummy!

Saturday: Club "Zirkuss" (cirkiss) in Friedrichshafen

Matthew (Great Britain) & Ronny (Wildau)

[Zirkuss]: average age: 14 BUT Becks 1€, RedBull/Desperados; 1,50€...

Technorama

2008-08-10T18:05:00.000+02:00

Went to Technorama w/ Sergej, Tobi and Terrence.
Tobi, Terrence and I went from Friedrichshafen to Meersburg where we took the ferry to Constance and then Sergej took us to Winterthur in Switzerland.

Had to park Tobi's car in Meersburg which was quite expensive. On the parking there was this sad sheep.

[Technorama] was fun! I just wish we had been there earlier so that we could have spent more time in it.

There was a mind game: the one relaxing the most (thinking less), won!

Sergej always won but then we found out the electrodes on the left side were broken...

Things I want for my living room, kehehehe

Konstanzer Seenacht

2008-08-09T17:45:00.000+02:00

Seenacht in Constance.

Sebi drove us (Chris, Svenja, Stefan and me) there not w/o getting lost on the way. Met René, Tommy and others there. Was quite expensive... 12€ when buying in advance, 15€ when buying the ticket there and still 10€ after the fireworks.
There were fireworks from German side (Constance) and from Swiss side (Kreuzlingen), though we must admit that the Swiss one was the better one!

The whole city was totally crowded and we had troubles finding a parking lot. Afterall it was easy to find back cos I had been in Constance before and remembered the area a bit.
There were several stages and we went to see the SWR3 show.

trophy photos

Ate cotton candy w/ Sebi. Yumyum, like in childhood times...

Berlin Interlude

2008-08-02T17:15:00.001+02:00

Little prolonged weekend in Berlin, lots to do.
I ate a hell of a lot, my mom made great meals and we also went out for lunch at [Ishin], very yummy. The kind of restaurants I miss here in Friedrichshafen. Also met my friends for some drinks and some weird event at Uni.

Went to the cinema w/ Robert to see Kungfu Panda in English!
And went to an exhibition on bionics w/ all of them - T-man was the only one who got to see the 2nd floor within the opening hours, though...

Some robots (me loves robots)

like this photo ^

Kung Fu Panda trailer in Brazilian and European Portuguese

Korean and Mongolian Music@FN Kulturufer

2008-07-27T01:17:00.006+02:00

Kulturufer in Friedrichshafen (culture shore)

http://kulturufer.de/ It lasts more than a week. I wanted to see what kind of events there'd be tonight and I found this

Traditionelle Klänge aus Korea und der Mongolei
Die Stücke von Samul Nori (Spiel der vier Dinge) basieren auf traditioneller koreanischer Perkussionsmusik. Es sind archaische, wuchtig pulsierende Klänge mit Trommeln und Gongs mit mitreißendem Groove, der seinesgleichen sucht.
Enkh Jargal spielt die Morin Khoor (Pferdegeige), auf der er die alten Melodien der mongolischen Hofmusik intoniert. Seine Stimme reicht über fünf Oktaven, vom abgrundtiefen Schamanengesang (Kharhira) bis zum Obertongesang (Xöömi) ohne jede Attitüde und esoterisches Beiwerk, einfach als Wunder der Natur.

I love Korean [Samulnori] and I had never seen Mongolian [overtone singing] live!

I really enjoyed it. Made me want to go to Asia more... made me crave kim-chee, too *lol*

The audience loved it, too. They didn't stop clapping their hands and cheering. There were two encores. The Koreans and the Mongolian (he spoke German very well, the Koreans came directly from Korea) played together, too.
I filmed the 2nd encore (Zugabe, scroll down), it was all a jam (Improvisation).

Enkh Jargal, the Mongolian singer, was funny. Once one could hear a sirene outside and he started imitating it w/ overtone singing. He rapped once, too (see jam as well). Since the only German phrase the Korean leader of the group, King Ju Hong, could say was "Danke schön" (thank you very much), Enkh Jargal during the jam (see video below) started rapping "Danke schön", animating the Koreans to rap that, too.

People buying CDs after the show

Seehasenfest

2008-07-12T01:09:00.001+02:00

12/07/08 Seehasenfest (Lake Rabbit Festival)

Funfair and lots of beer.
On Saturday there was fireworks.

And a glas that I got me hehe...

It says "Seehasenbier/Friedrichshafen/Meckatzer"

BMW, Munich

2008-07-07T00:26:00.000+02:00

*********************************************************************
On 07/07 we visited BMW in Munich, no photos from the guided tour (top secret). I liked the automation robots the most. They were the coolest!
Our tour guide was from North Germany and he had problems pronouncing "engineer" in German. He said "Injenjör" instead. That was quite funny. Reminds me of my granny (also from North Germany) who says "yeans, yob" instead of "jeans, job".

Before BMW we went to the famous Munich Hofbräuhaus. I didn't find it to be anything special. And the waiters were very unfriendly.

Some selected photos of that day

Hofbräuhaus

Munich

BMW in Munich

Heiiiiiiidi, Heidi, Deine Welt sind die Berge

2008-07-05T00:13:00.000+02:00

On July the 5th we went hiking and climbed [Mountain Hochhäderich], in Allgäu Alpes.

It was great fun!!

(Click Photos to enlarge)

knights dinner

2008-07-02T23:44:00.000+02:00

In Aulendorf (beyond Ravensburg, seen from Friedrichshafen) we had a knights dinner. Though called "Ritteressen" in German we didn't get to eat any knights... but we had to eat w/ our bare hands (and a knife). We even had a bard who talked like in the old times. Some guests also had to interact in little games. There was a big bread, a soup and lots of meat.

Thou shall see in the photos

intermezzo

2008-06-21T12:19:00.002+02:00

the view from my attic room

and this comic that T. showed me:

how very true...

Internationales Stadtfest FN

2008-06-15T22:42:00.001+02:00

So I missed Carneval of Cultures in Berlin this year but Friedrichshafen made it up to me

June 15th 2008: International Festival in Friedrichshafen

I even ate Portuguese food and drank Portuguese beer!! That made me the happiest.

Some pictures and videos to share w/ you guys.

I still find the soccer field outfit hilarious!

Brazilian Samba

Turkish dance

Best coffee ever!

Kurdischer Tanz

Latinas represent!

My landlord in the fair trade shop

Constance

2008-05-31T21:20:00.005+02:00

So finally on May 31st I took the ferry Katamaran with Eduardo (an intern from Brazil) to Constance. I liked Constance so much more than Friedrichshafen :(, the city is so cute, I love the small alleys, reminds me of [Portugal]...
Though I must say I like the esplanade better in Friedrichshafen (FN) but there's more life (and shops...) in Constance (KN).
We took the Katamaran in the afternoon and returned at night. It's very comfortable in the ferry, but it also costs 9€ one-way...

I can't be arsed to choose and edit my photos, so here goes:

[Photos Constance]

enjoy!

things to do when alone

2008-05-24T22:39:00.007+02:00

i had planned to take the ferry to [Constance] today but when i got up in the morning the weather (yesterday: sunny) was kinda greyish. i spent the noon sluggishly, wrote half a covering letter and sent a 'career'-related e-mail. in the afternoon i wanted to call my dad from a calling shop (or whatever you call these things) after i hadn't called him up for the last half yr. (not my fault, there are only 3h 6 days a week that i can reach him by phone - of course during my working hours).

later i had an ice coffee at the promenade, the weather was sweltry (schwül).
at the weekends i like to sit in a café and read a (work-related) book.

^ the book i'm currently reading (besides some other books...) and the new [purse] that i bought yesterday for 16,90€

after the caffeine and the inspiring book i felt the urge to hurry back home and start writing/organizing but on my way back i bumped into a mop of people.

Fair of the Month:

[Klassikwelt am See] (Oldtimer Show)

There were no cars on the streets yet, though, and I had enough time to go back home and get my camera with which i filmed a bit

(My first YouTube Upload!!)

After a while i got tired and there were rumors that the show would last until 9 p.m. Damn, i didn't want to stand there another one and a half hours so i went home to make dinner and eat. At 8 p.m. I went back to see the rest of the show (hadn't seen any airplanes) but ppl were just going home.

When i went back home i felt like exploring the neighbourhood. i had taken my landlord's bike again (feeling a bit guilty about that), he's on holidays (again) and my own bike that i bought from Chris was a bit... uhm... weird atm. Something's wrong w/ the drive chain... And since i'm a total bike noob i need someone (my landlord??) to have a look at it and FIX it...

after a while the neighbourhood wasn't enough and i went further until an "adventure park" in [Immenstaad] - that i didn't find (i saw a soccer field though and a forest).
i think the distance (one-way) is at least 9 km.

on my way back i had to stop to take a shot of this beautiful sight... the mountains in the distance...
(click to enlarge)

(Switzerland)

i fell in love w/ the bike... but it's already taken *sob*. (same as w/ the men, eh)

from the nursery to the attic

2008-05-22T21:08:00.011+02:00

Chris, the American exchange student at the [Zeppelin University], went back to the United States (for ten days, then he will go to Taiwan for an internship), that means I could finally move into the room I'm actually renting. Bye-bye, Kinderzimmer! I prefer my attic room eventhough it's smaller.

Let me share some photos of my room

^ bed and "sofa"
(I call the cushion on the floor my sofa)

apparently enough space for aaaaall my stuff!

Since the viper was only borrowed from my landlord, I bought Chris' bike, blanket and soap for 55€. After his departure, though, I saw he left some more things he couldn't take w/ him. I found water (Volvic), juice, body creme, more blankets, a lock for the bike (already got one), a hell of a lota q-tips, a lighter, some cents, stamps, a shoebox (the Converse one, I use it to put in items), ketchup, a beer (Corona) and... two boxershorts one of which is a leopard boxershort... I kid you not.

Last Monday the students organization at the company had a barbecue at the Canoe Club , unfortunately not enough ppl wanted to take part in the [dragon boat] competition but I think my office will have one in July or so.
The barbecue was yummy. We were supposed to bring our own "Wecken", that's the local term here for "Brötchen" (bun, bread roll). I nearly said "Schrippen" though when I bought them cos the Fin (see below) and I talked about the different words in German dialects for it. I had never heard "Wecken" before, I only knew "Semmeln" (Bavarian).
Anyways, I think the "Wecken" here are much better (and on top of it cheaper) than then "Schrippen" in Berlin.

The last thing I will post for today is a photo of a big 'Männerfreundschaft'
mechanical engineering student from Braunschweig and the half-Finnish (half-German) intern from my division

aaaw, how romantic, the two at the lake
The Fin called me a paparazz'i' and the Braunschweiger said I was affiliated w/ the Mossad for taking this exclusive photo...

will probably post again soon. Today's a holiday here in BaWü and I have tomorrow off, too. I spent more than 2h writing a covering letter. Tomorrow I will have my picture taken and go shop for 'business clothes', or...?
I'm all alone at home, Chris is gone, my German flatmate is in Heidelberg (his home) and my landlord is visiting his brother somewhere near Stuttgart. So it's only me and the daddy longlegs (Weberknecht).

2008-05-18T10:22:00.009+02:00

the weather got cooler here, Berlin's much sunnier at the moment.
feels a lot like Oporto now... rain, a big mass of water that - covered by the fog - seems to be a sea. Speaking of water... Lake Constance is too clean! The fishes don't find enough nutrients. Proof:

Afterall I couldn't go to Bern the last weekend (Pentecost), next week will be a short week, too. Work: Mon-Wed, then Thursday "Fronleichnam" (Corpus Christi), Fri I'm obliged to take a day off, then Sat-Sun normal weekend... Summa sumarum 3 days of work and 4 days off. And I didn't find a place to go to, all the youth hostel beds are already taken. I even thought about going to other places in Germany (northwards) but it's all 60€ one-way w/ bahncard. So I think I will just stay here again and get some work done *sigh*. Aaah, I'm waisting all the long extended weekends *sob*.
Baden-Württemberg has approximately 5 days more holidays than Berlin.

Quote of the week:
(click to enlarge)

Das Land auf der anderen Seite kenne ich nicht.
Es ist ein Märchenland.
Ich kann alles hineinträumen.
"The country on the other side, I don't know it.
It's a fairyland.
I can dream anything into it."

Switzerland and Austria will have to wait...
I might take the "fairy" to Constance, though. (haha, nice pun...)

I already got to know a lot of other students and saw the best student locations in Friedrichshafen: the [Beach Club], a bar directly at the water and the students bar [Belushi] (Es gibt einen kostenlosen Kicker!!).
Too bad (?) I don't like "Hefeweizen", I see myself drinking "Seeradler" all the time now cos... the other option would be to drink Beck's (yuck)... also since I have to go home by bike afterwards... it's better like this!, often I just drink a [Rivella]([rivella.de]), which is a drink from Switzerland containing LactoSerum, similarly to Calpico/Calpis from Japan in case anyone knows that one.

Swabain Youtube Vid of the Week:

Star Wars in Swabian

fighting the viper

2008-05-07T21:23:00.007+02:00

telephoning so much (flat rate!) and working a lot, too (9h + breaks = 10h) I don't even have time to spam my friends w/ a newsletter, let alone keep you guys posted on here.

I wanted to share a photo of the bike my landlord lent me:

hot design, eh?...
I have to admit it took me a day or two to get used to it. The saddle's still kinda painful.

I definetly have to post some beautiful photos of Friedrichshafen asap but for now, the quote of the week:

Wenn ich um den See fahre, fällt mir auf, dass ich gehörig im Ausland bin.
"When I go around the lake I realize that I'm very much abroad." - how true... (but more next time)

And to keep you people entertained until the next blog entry
tadaaaa, the Swabian youtube vid of the week:
Die Hard 4.0 in Swabian (Stirb langsam 4.0 auf Schwäbisch)

the foreboding

2008-05-03T11:27:00.004+02:00

back in Berlin there were already signs...

Milk from Lake Constance (Bodensee). Seen in a shop on the platform of Berlin subway station "Zoologischer Garten" (U9)

"Nett hier. Aber waren Sie schon mal in Baden-Württemberg?" - "It's quite nice here. But have you ever been to Baden-Württemberg?"

The Vagabond (by Air)

2008-04-13T00:40:00.004+02:00

I found those lyrics by Air "The Vagabond" and integrated them into the blogger skin courtesy of SEE CREDITS in the sidebar.

Listen to the song on youTube: [The Vagabond]

Golden waves
In all directions
I could lose my soul right here
Colour lights
On the runway
Makes a stranger feel unchained

I'm running after time and I miss the sunshine
Summer days will come happiness will be mine
I'm lost in my words I don't know where I'm going
I do the best I can not to worry about things

I feel loose
I feel haggard
Don't know what I'm looking for
Something true
Something lovely
That will make me feel alive

I'm running after time and I miss the sunshine
Summer days will come happiness will be mine
I'm lost in my words I don't know where I'm going
I do the best I can not to worry about things

Like a vagabond through the distance
Looking for a song to sing
A song that lasts all night
And for the rest of our lives

credit: seekylrics.com