Megan in Ireland - v. 2.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-11-12: crazy Germany Well, I'm back in Canada now, but there are two or maybe three last entries that I want to get down. First of all, my trip to Germany. Warren and I planned to go to Germany to visit Sarah and Anke in Dortmund, but at the last minute, Warren couldn't get a visa to enter the country. (Screw the nationalist state system!) So, I went on my own. I flew from Dublin to London and slept overnight on the floor in the airport. This was cold and uncomfortable. Didn't get much sleep as 25 or so drunk Scots in kilts and everything showed up, and made my hallway their party zone. Then I flew from London to Dusseldorf-Niederhein. I was hoping that someone could pick me up there, but that didn't work out. So, the first thing I did was to miss the bus I was supposed to take. This is the point where I realised that I don't know a word of German, and I don't know where I am, but I knew I had to get to my friend's place. It took roughly 5 hours and 6 trains and a taxi to get to the right town. I was so tired by then. Then Sarah arrived to pick me up, looking absolutely gorgeous as usual. I got back to the Dorschu's home, which is beautiful and has beautiful gardens too. I got to stay in Sarah's room. It is really cool to see how people's lives are at home after you become so close to them at Glencree. So, Sarah had left me a really nice welcome note, which was fun to read. That night we went to the disco with Sarah and Anke's girls. That was really fun too. We danced until late and then went home. One cool thing about Germany - everyone but the driver can drink in the car! The next morning, we woke up late (sleeping in is good), and then we went for kebaps (not sure of the spelling there)downtown. It is like a meat, salad, cheese thing in a pita kind of. So good though! Then we went shopping where I got a great skirt at the Kleidermarkt. There is so many punk stores in Dortmund! This is the day when it was made very apparent to me that in Germany they drink a lot of sparkling water. Like every time they drink water. So, I asked for water and the McDonald's expecting regular water, and I take a big drink because I'm thirsty, and it burns my mouth off. Sarah and Anke thought that this was pretty funny. That evening, we were tired, so we got a movie. Sarah and Anke fell asleep before it was over, so I watched it on my own. The next day, we went back to Dortmund city centre, and the contrast to Saturday was amazing! Everything is closed on Sunday, so there were barely any people compared to Saturday in the streets. We walked around and took pictures of the town. Then we went to the museum which was really cool to see. Everything was in German, so my trust translators helped me out. Then we went back to Sarah and Anke's house where Sarah cooked schnitzel which was like meat with fried mushrooms and onions, and some potatoes, and vegies. Sarah and Anke tell me that this is a real traditional German dish. Wow! Then we drove to see some castle ruins and a memorial near their home. Then we went to meet the famous Matze, Sarah's boyfriend. His band was practising in their jam shack. It was really cool to be a part of that. Then we went to a sports bar to meet up with some of his friends. The next day both Sarah and Anke had school, so I went with Anke to her university. I got to go on the internet for like two hours, and I got a lot of stuff cleared up. Then I went with her to one of her English classes, where I was her secret weapon (as a native English speaker) in the small group work. We went into Dortmund city centre then and had some Chinese food, which was great. Then we met up with Sarah and one of their friends for drinks and a self-directed pub crawl. We went to an American chain first, and then a cool avant-garde kind of place with great atmosphere, and last to a place I picked which looked like a traditional German pub. Here the waitress told Sarah she would get a cold from showing too much cleavage. I think it was a pub for old people. Then we went home and I posed for some body paint for Anke. The next day, I took a thousand trains again and ended up back in Dublin where Warren met me at the airport (Yay!). He had gone to Galway for a few days and had a great time there. It was snowing for the first time at Glencree since I'd been there. It was kinda cool, but I preferred the sun from summer. It was so good to see my Warren again. The trip gave me a chance to think about a lot of stuff. By the end, I still hadn't figured out why I was going home to Canada, but I had some ideas. So, it was great to see Sarah and Anke and I will miss them so much. Hopefully there will be visits soon! Sarah said maybe April... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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