Lernin Meself Scouse, Part Two

Okay, so when I last wrote you all I had described my trip to Liverpool and the extent to which the English, as a nation, drink. In part two, I bring you:

Christmas-Eve Eve

On the 23rd I went to lunch with Caroline and her family. This was the first opportunity I'd really had to meet them, seeing as how my first night there (the 22nd) was spent staying out late. So, on the 23rd we all grab a taxi and head into the main part of Liverpool for lunch at a restaurant called Panoramic. It was up on the 34th floor of this building, the tallest building for miles around, and it had an amazing panoramic view of the city and the river that flows through it (the Mersey). The food was that kind that you only see in nice restaurants, where half the point is how creatively it comes arranged on the plate. I had some creatively arranged pasta with little orange squiggles of sauce and tiny perfect cubes of what I think was mango, followed by a mini tower of christmas-pudding-flavored ice cream with crunchy decorations. There was also an appetizer, but the details on that have been lost in the back of my brain. It was all delicious, and Caro's family was wonderful.

Christmas Eve

I went out on the town with Caroline and her friends. We went to this student bar called The Brook House, which was absolutely packed with people. We had some drinks and chatted. People came up and chatted with us. Some of them were friends; others were strangers. One guy hears me talking and says, "Hey, are you American?" And I, not being able to pull off any accent other than my own, say "yep." He gets a ginormous kick out of this and proceeds to talk my ear off in the thickest scouse (Liverpool) accent I've ever heard. I have to stop him every five seconds and go, "What did you say? Pardon? What?" He gets an ever bigger kick out of this.

So, yeah, I watched the clock turn over to Christmas Day in a bar in Liverpool, surrounded by new friends whose language I don't always understand.

Christmas

I had Christmas Day proper with Caroline's immediate family. We all got up at 8:00 a.m. because Caroline's younger brother couldn't wait any longer. Sitting in the living room in my pajamas, I was just enjoying watching people open presents and being, to a certain extent, part of the family. I was looking at all the little piles of presents and thinking of how Christmas morning goes at home. This was really getting me down, so it was good that I had other people around.

I'm sitting there, watching people open presents, and Caroline's mom says, "Raychel, aren't you going to open yours?" I was like, "whuh ....?" I look over and there's a little pile of presents, just for me! They thought of me! How wonderful is that? I was thrilled. So, like a little kid, I'm going to list to you every neato thing I got for Christmas: I got a scarf, matching gloves, perfume, a makeup bag, lotion, a nail buffer thingie, a day planner, a box of post-it-type notes that matches the planner, and a book from Caroline called "Lern Yerself Scouse". I even got a gift from a an American friend of Caroline's dad's - Barack Obama's book, Dreams from My Father. How nice are people? So freakin' nice! Hooray!

Christmas Day was ended with an awesome dinner, comparable to our Thanksgiving dinners at home. Roast beef, turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, sprouts, little meat things wrapped in bacon, more veggies, more meat .... jeez, I can't even remember what all we had. But I do remember having Christmas pudding for dessert, which is probably the best English dessert ever.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, otherwise known as Get Out Of The House Day. You can get out of the house to go shopping, visit friends, or go out on the town and party. Guess which one I did.

Getting Lost

I went out shopping with Caroline, her younger brother, and her boyfriend. After a while I got a map and split off on my own to see the town some. We all agreed to meet at John Lewis' (a store) at 4:15 to drive back home. On my trip around town I saw The Cavern (where the Beatles played in Liverpool), a cool bombed out church, St. George's Hall, and the Walker Art Museum. On my way back to meet my people, I asked for directions. But when I follow the directions I end up at a place called Lewis', NOT John Lewis'. So now it's almost 4:15 and I've gotta find my ride. I get directions to the real John Lewis' and am off running. But when I get there, I don't see them. My cell phone is dead, and it has all their phone numbers in it so I can't even use a payphone to call them. I don't know Caroline's address, so I can't take a bus or a taxi. I'm lost and stuck in Liverpool, and I don't have money for a hotel. Great. I'm freaking out, standing there and trying to come up with a plan, for about 20 minutes. Then, miraculously, I just happen to turn around and spy Caroline's boyfriend. Saved!

I now carry phone numbers and addresses on paper with me everywhere.

Nights On The Town

So, you've heard about some of my nights on the town, but here are a few funny notes from those times:

I went out on New Year's Eve with the girls. We hit a couple of clubs and eventually settled on Heebie Jeebies, a big multi-story club with a live band outside. I had my jacket with me and decided to set it down behind a booth with some other jackets. It'll be fine, I thought. End of the night comes and what do I find? No jacket. Who wants to say "I told you so" first?

Also on New Year's Eve: I was talking to this guy outside, watching the band set up, and I noticed that he kept looking at his watch. I ask him if he's waiting for friends and he says no, the guys he came with are over across the bar there. We keep the conversation going and, when he jumps in to fill a lull in the conversation, I realize why he keeps looking at his watch: it's almost midnight! Is he trying to keep me talking and with him until midnight? I kinda laughed out loud at this 'cause ... well, I thought it was funny. I wondered what he was thinking. "Just ten more minutes of talking and then we get to kiss .... ten ... more ... minutes ..." Funny times. So I waited until midnight, gave him a kiss, and went back to my girls.

On another night, I met a French/Turkish guy in a club who pretty much asked me to marry him after only seeing me across the club and talking to me for a few minutes in halting English. I was flattered at his offers to kiss my hand, take me home, marry him, etc., but I declined them. I do, however, give him my phone number, thinking -- hey, I'm probably never going to see this guy again so what's the harm. He says he's just going to see where his friends are and he'll be right back. I say, okay I'll wait here. But my friends come by and tell me that they're leaving. Which means I've gotta go too. I leave without saying goodbye to my multicultural beau, but I'm okay with that. Several days later, at a different club, I see him again. He looks all mad that I haven't been answering his calls. "But my phone is dead!" I say. He insists that we meet again before I leave for Germany. I demur. He persists. I say I'm going to the bathroom and get up. Then I sneak outside for a smoke. Who follows me out before I've even taken my first drag? My most ardent and tiresome suitor. Now, I don't mind people being admiring. In fact, I'm flattered. But this guy was way too intense for me. I finally tell him, sure, I'll meet you. Let's meet here at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. Okay? Okay. Great. Except that I have no intention of being there. Oh, Overly Admiring Club Guys. Why do you make me lie to you?

Oh, and on the last night we went out in England I made a DIY cocktail dress out of a long skirt, a hair ribbon, and a brooch. It looked great! Go me, making new fashion out of dowdy duds!

Lernin Meself Scouse, and Other Adventures

'lo all! I'm in Liverpool, celebrating Christmas. Here's a brief recap of my trip, part one:

Getting There

So, to get to where I am now I had to 1) take a train to Bremen, 2) fly from Bremen to Manchester, and 3) drive from Manchester to Liverpool. I'm like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles ... except without the John Candy. So, I'm on the first leg of this trip, the train from Braunschweig to Bremen. I have bought my ticket with the 50% discount that I get with the BahnCard 50 that I bought back in September. Only I don't technically have the card; I have the voucher saying that I've bought the card, but my actual card never arrived in the mail. However, I've used the voucher before and it's worked just like the card. So I get on the train, thinking everything's all good. Around Hannover the ticket taker comes to me. He says, "Ticket please (in German)." I say, "Here you are, my good sir (in German)." He looks at my voucher and says, "This is no longer alwkrhejkhfdjsbcfdsrt (in German)." Now, I don't know what alwkrhejkhfdjsbcfdsrt means in German, but I get the gist of it. My voucher no longer vouches. Wish I had figured that out sooner. So, what do I do? Well, the ticket taker suggested that I get off at the next station and buy a full-price ticket. Strongly suggested. As in, saw me to the door of the train at Hannover and watched me get off the train. Wow. So I had to spend half of the cash I had on me to buy another ticket. Bum deal.

Once I got to Bremen, though, it was smooth sailing - er, flying. I flew with RyanAir, which is super cheap because they cut out pretty much every extraneous thing they can. No free in-flight snack. Flights to only a limited number of places. Awful advertisements for little trinkets over the intercom during the flight. But the people were nice and they were speaking English, so I was happy.

Caroline and her guy picked me up from the airport Manchester and we drove to her house in Liverpool. That was my first taste of England: listening to people talk with foreign accents, watching people drive on the wrong side of the road, and eating prawn cocktail-flavored potato chips. Yum yum!

So, as soon as we get home we pretty much turn right around and leave again. Where, you ask, are we going? To the pub! I really like England, but English people can drink more than any collective people I've ever known - and I've been to Germany. I've been here since the 22nd, and do you know what my time has been spent doing? I'll break it down for ya:

Dec. 22: Arrive. Beers at The Brookhouse, followed by more beers at Bumper.
Dec. 23: Wine and lunch at the Panoramic. Beers at Cain's brewery. Cocktails and beer at a Christmas party at The Flute.
Dec. 24: A beer and wine at home. Christmas Eve party - much beer - at The Brookhouse.
Dec. 25: Christmas. Presents, wine, and dinner.
Dec. 26: Boxing Day. Cocktails, beers, a cider, and more at Hannah's, The Peacock, Lago, and Heebie Jeebies. Whew.
Dec. 27: Coffee. Lots. And. Lots. Of. Coffee.

And now today! There is actually much more to say about these individual days, but I'm going to put that all in another post. 'Till then -- ta, lovelies!

xoxo, (which is what all the English people keep putting in their texts to me. That's hugs and kisses, right? What if I just want the hugs? Can I just have "ooo"?)
-Raychel

Quick Note

Hey all,

Just sending a quick note to let you know that I've made it to Liverpool. I'm doing alright, spending the holiday with my friend and her family. A bigger update will come later, but I just wanna say love you, miss you, and Merry Christmas!

xoxo,

-Raychel

The People Thatcha Meet

I meet some interesting people here in Braunschweig. It happens all the time. I just go outside, speak English, and -bam!- someone starts talking to me. Sometimes this turns out well and sometimes it turns out, well ...

So I'm out at my local pub the other night with Caroline. We're doing the whole have a beer and chat thing. This guy standing with a group six feet away glances back over his shoulder when he hears us speaking English and then decides to come over and talk to us. We're like, "Oh no" because what usually happens after someone comes over is this:

1. They ask "Where are you from?"
2. They ask "What are you doing here in Braunschweig?"
3. They invite themselves over to our table.
   

The inviting themselves over is not always necessarily bad, but I'd say more often than not it leads to 1) English lessons, 2) crazy people showing us pictures of ALL of their cats, or 3) a good hitting-on by a man old enough to be my father. I was not up for any of these. However, the guys who came over turned out to be awesome. They were like, "Hi, we're just three gay guys out on the town. Do you want to dance?" And then we danced. Not like ghetto-danced. Like danced danced. With proper form and stuff. This one guy showed me pictures of his boyfriend in Amsterdam and another, after learning that we're teachers, called up some other English-speaking teachers to hang out. The guys were so friendly, spoke great English (in addition to, of course, German), and were definitely not hitting on us. I had a wonderful time, probably the best Tuesday night I've had in Braunschweig.

Cut to tonight. I'm with my roommate at home and she says, "Hey could you do me a favor tonight? I met this guy named Joe who only speaks English and I wanted to invite him over for coffee. Can you translate for a while? I think he's American." So, I'm like, hey cool. No worries. So he's supposed to arrive at 8:00. But at 7:30 there's a buzz from downstairs. I let the buzzer person in and it's Joe - with a friend. Turns out, Joe also brought a translator, named KC (short for some very long name that I can't remember). They're super early, and Nadine is kinda freaking out. She's like, "Can you make some coffee and entertain a bit while I help my daughter with her homework and get ready?" Sure. No worries. So I'm making with the hostess duties (in my pajamas; I was also not prepared). Turns out Joe and KC are from Zimbabwe and Nigeria, respectively, but are here in Braunschweig to work. They like football and a couple of American TV shows that I like and oh yeah KC is seriously in love with me from the moment he meets me. We step outside for a moment to have a smoke and he starts laying on the smooth talk. He says I'm beautiful, a princess, well-built, nice, funny, and probably a good dancer. Within 30 minutes of knowing me. He wants me to sit on his lap on the balcony. He wants me to stay with him. He wants me to spend Christmas with him. He says that a woman needs a man in her life to make her happy, and that he knew that HE was the man for me. Within 30 minutes of knowing me. I tried gracefully to say no, thank you, and extricate myself from the awkward situation that had moved itself from the balcony into the kitchen. He was totally not getting it. So I made up a fake date that I simply had to be at at 9:30, texted Caroline from the bathroom with my "This is an emergency, I need a fake date. Coffee in 20?" text, and beat it out of there. True, I left my roomie without a translator, but I think she'll understand.

Oh, the people that you meet here. I have stories, people. BUCKETS of stories.

Merry, Merry!

I went to the Post-Bank-Depot today (what's a PostBankDepot? See this earlier post.) and sent off all but one of my Christmas gifts. So, Mom, you've got a package coming for the family; Marcy, you've got a package coming for my Norman peeps; and Eli, if you read this, you've got a card and choco coming. Ambie, I'm still working on sending yours, but I don't have an addy. E-mail it to me, por favor? Also, the stuff I sent is supposed to take about two weeks to get there, so I'm afraid this is going to be a New Year's gift instead of a Christmas gift. At any rate, stuff is coming!

Also, I booked my flight to England today. One of my friends invited me to stay with her family for the Christmas break so I wouldn't be all alone in Germany. Most awesome of her. So I'll be hanging around Liverpool and Manchester from the 23rd of December 'till the 5th of January. There will be many pictures and stories to accompany the trip. I may try to make it to London, but that's looking like a pretty expensive trip in and of itself, so it'll prolly hafta wait. Speaking of expensive, my flights were priced really weird. From Bremen to Manchester cost £26 (about $40), but from Manchester to Bremen cost €100 (about $133). HUGE diff there. What gives?

That's the short of it today. Later, gators!

Oh, wait, speaking of gators .... OU is totally gonna own this BCS Championship game. Sorry Miami, but you're going doooooowwwn! Ungh! ... ahem. Seriously, though. January 8th. It's coming. A national championship for my Sooners. Of course, it happens when I leave the country. Frak.

OMG Care Packages!!!

Hey all,

I've gotten three - count 'em, THREE! - care packages since coming to Germany. That's awesome! First came the one from Mom with much needed electronics cables and good-smelling favorite t-shirts and gloves. Then came the one from Marcy and company with books, CDs, DVDs, Mad-Libs, and (don't ask why) underwear. This box of goodies has been eating up a lot of my free time lately, as I tend to devour media as soon as I get it. And last, but certainly not least, I got a lovely Christmas care package from Dad, Rachael, and the gang with a card, a paint-it-yourself nutcracker, smelly-good incense, and thermal underhosen for keeping warm. I was so happy to get all of the care packages, but I'ma talk about this last one since it was the most recent.

So, the package came on Wednesday. After I opened it I immediately started playing with the stuff inside. I put up my card from Madeline, put on my thermals, and sat down to paint me a nutcracker. The thermals are awesome, btw - I've got a long shirt, pants, and really thick socks. They're so freakin warm that I can wear them like pajamas. Am, in fact, wearing them like pajamas. As we speak - er, as I write - I'm sitting at the kitchen table, listening to SomaFM and blogging it up in my thermal p.j.'s. I look kind of like a mountain climber at base camp, but I feel good. So, I painted my nutcracker's hat red and lit my incense and had myself a merry little Christmas. And then, not one day later, I get a card in the mail from the fam. It's our Thanksgiving picture! Usually, the pic includes all of us who are there at Thanksgiving and I was kind of sad because I thought I wouldn't be in it this year. But, lo, what was in this Thanksgiving photo but a screenshot of me on a laptop with the rest of the family! I was a part of the family! A disembodied head on a computer part of the family. :-)

Aaanywho, the gifts are all wonderful and I wanted to thank yous guys for sending them. The clothes are being worn, the books read, the CDs listened to, the false eyelashed worn, and the nutcrackers painted. Pics will follow. Thanks guys! Getting things from you makes me feel like you're all here with me, lame as that sounds. But even more clingy, it lets me know that I'm not forgotten, which (as it turns out) is a big fear of mine. Thanks again, lovelies. Merry Pre-Christmas!

Moar Photoz!!1!

For your perusal, I have collected photos from the farthest reaches of exotic Braunschweig. Enjoy!

Churches, Cloisters, and Cathedrals, vol. III: Marvin's church, St. Martini, and Pete's place, the Kemenate, which is not a church but which is still old and cool.

Heidelberg: my trip to Heidelberg over Halloween weekend.

Weihnachtsmarkt: the Christmas market in Braunschweig and the people who frequent it.

Wandern: I've updated this section.

I've also posted videos: Here's one of the Christmas market ....

And here's one of my room, in case you haven't seen it:




And last, but not least, here's me jumping on a trampoline in a park around Braunschweig ...

Stolen from FB: 16 Things About Me

This is a little chain note I stole from my Facebook account called .....

16 Things About Me:

Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a note with 16 random things, shortcomings, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. You have to tag the person who tagged you (since this isn't Facebook, I'm not tagging anyone).

Here we go ...... *drum roll*

1. I went to a pentecostal holiness church for, like, the first decade of my life.
2. I went skydiving for my 20th birthday. Jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet.
3. I was engaged once but didn't get married.
4. I memorized the alphabet backwards at age 6 and the Greek alphabet at age 9 ... because why not?
5. I took second place in forms and and one-step sparring in my division at this year's ATA Taekwondo World Championships. That makes me the second-most-deadly noob between the ages of 18 and 29 to be found doing taekwondo in 2008.
6. I can speak German and English. Woo!
7. I have eight siblings, including step-brothers and step-sisters.
8. I used to model ceramic corsets at art shows.
9. I have an unreasonable fear of needles. The one time I went to OBI to donate blood, I nearly fainted after looking at the needle going into my arm.
10. I want to be everything when I grow up. I can't be just one thing, and I'm afraid that choosing one path will make me miss out on all the others.
11. I google people. I google me all the time. I've probably googled you.
12. I have a real chip on my shoulder about borrowing money from people. I have no problem loaning it out (assuming I know the person's someone who'll make good on their debt), but it physically causes me pain to have to ask people for help.
13. My first ever job was in a Michael's craft store.
14. I'm really proud of who I am as a person, and I don't think that's a problem.
15. I have been known to, now and again, embellish the stories I tell to people. My friends kindly call these tall tales "right hand true stories". I don't think this is a problem either.
16. I don't want kids. Like, EVER.

Well, there you have it! Stayed tuned for more randomness and the Braunschweig News At One.

Raychel's Life, the CliffNotes Version

Hey all! I'm not dead! I've just been very, very lazy with updating my blog. I'll try to make up for it this week by posting lots of little new updates, things like:

• My planned Christmas in Liverpool
• Why I want to be a cop
• Christmastime in Braunschweig and why we need it in the U.S.
• Weird English slang that has popped up in my vocabulary
• Pictures of me pretending I don't know I'm taking a picture of myself
• ....and much, much more!

For the meantime, know that I'm safe and cold here in Germany. Much love!

A Quick Note On Quiz Night

I went to The Wild Geese the other night for a quiz night with some friends. Quiz Night is when you team up with a couple of other people and get an answer sheet on which you write the answers to 20 questions asked by two emcees. (Why two? Because it's all done in English and in German -- bilingual fun!) The questions range from math word problems to "Name This American President". It's not a race against time kind of quiz night, but more of a take-it-easy, have a beer and then answer a question kind of night. And I loves it. Yes, I does. I had an absolute blast racking my brain with questions like "Was Jimmy Carter bald?" and "What IS the capital of Bolivia?" (half of you will go wiki the answer to this right now; the other half will just look down in the comments section to see if someone else has already found the answer). The winner of this quiz night gets a 30 Euro gift certificate to the pub. This is incentive enough for me. But then again, I get really competitive over little things, so they probably could have told me that the prize was a half-eaten sour apple lollipop and I still would be there every Tuesday night.

And I don't even like sour apple.