Am Mittwochs, wir tragen Rosa!

So today is October 3rd. It's not only my brother's birthday (viel glück zum Geburtstag again if you're reading this!) but it's National Mean Girls Quote Day because of this clip, so everyone should be celebrating!


 Ah, it's funny. I meant to start writing this blog entry an hour ago but somehow I got distracted by looking up tours of Italy.

Yes, that's right, I'm still backpacking through Italy for fall break. I leave on Saturday morning. It's going to be rough. It's going to be tough. It's going to be absolutely amazing! I'm still not so keen of telling the internet exactly where I'm going, and since I'm very mysterious, I will continue to say as little as possible about my upcoming trip. All that I know is that I'm really excited...and stressed! Planning things is so hard. Don't even talk to me about getting there That is going to be the longest night of my life. In short, I leave for the first leg of the trip around 1am and get there at 8am. And you know me, I'm the biggest worrywart ever, so I'm going to be freaking out that I'm going to be late the whole time.

I do actually have a question for you, blog readers. I don't really know who reads this blog but I've almost got 500 pageviews so I assume it's more than just the few people who talk to me about it. And you can feel free to comment anonymously below. My question is, should I book tours in advance or wait? Because Rick Steves, famous travel writer and my eventual best friend, is shockingly not that specific. He makes it seem like you can get tickets for tours on the day you go there, but I don't know if things fill up. Plus, these Italian websites are not so helpful. I do have at least one day where I have booked tours in advance, but they seem to be reasonably expensive, so I don't know if I can find cheaper ones when I go local. Like obviously I want to go to the Colosseum (oh no, I've said too much!) but must I book it in advance?? I'm also worried about the English situation there. I don't know ANY Italian and I doubt I can pick up an English-to-Italian phrasebook in Germany so that'll be interesting. So please, friends and strangers and late-night Googlers, give me any advice you've got about Italy and I will reward you with some Gelato. Maybe.

PS, whenever I think of Italy nowadays, my film-snob self thinks of this scene.


I know you can't tell but the whole village is happy that she doesn't have to go to jail because she's pregnant. Ah, Italy.

So, my mind is totally absorbed in this Italy stuff, that I've almost forgotten I'm still in Germany.

The last time I blogged I told you I was going to go to the Heidelberg Fall Fest on Saturday...and I did! I'm glad I went to Oktoberfest the previous weekend, because the Fall Fest just gave me a feeling of contentment. Basically I went through the crowded streets with my friends Brad and Michele. First we checked out the flea market, which was certainly interesting. I didn't get any super cool trinkets, because most everything was too big for me to keep...besides children's toys. Also I'd have no idea what to do with some of the things, ie plates and strange forks. But I did get two things that weren't weird: the first Harry Potter book in German to help me learn and then a Ringo Starr documentary-type thing, just because it existed. I know, I was being an ugly American, but I've sort of accepted this label.

Anyway, the rest of the fest was a bunch of bands playing and food vendors and me drinking Neur Wein. I also got a waffle with apple sauce, so it was pretty much a success. It was just a lively, fun atmosphere and the weather was perfect. I'm definitely glad I got to witness it.

I basically spent the rest of the weekend being lazy and studying for the DSH, that hardcore German proficiency exam I was telling you about. And yeah, it was hardcore. It's almost like the SATs, except it's all in German and you don't get points for writing your name. So we had a reading section, grammar section, a break, a listening section, and a writing section. I find out tomorrow morning if I passed, and if I did, I will have to take the oral exam. Thankfully, I am 90% sure I did not pass. Hanne Heckman, the lady in charge of the AJY program, has told us multiple times that the results aren't terribly important. They're mainly for guiding us in the direction of which courses we want to take here.

And yes, I did want to do well, but upon attempting the reading section, I kind of gave up all hope. It was an article about some scientist doing some sort of study or experiment that made other scientists mad. And it wasn't like the reading comprehension stuff I've done at Stonehill, where you can look at the question and find the answer almost verbatim in the text. No, I had no idea what was happening. The general sense I got from the article probably wasn't even right. I'll be interested in reading it someday to find out what it was about. And then the grammar. It's not even like they tell you what you're supposed to do for the sentences, you're just supposed to reconstruct them yourself. Don't even get me started. I knew it was going to be in this format, but it was still difficult. And during the break, well, thank goodness I had some emergency Oreos on hand because I seriously needed a pick-me-up. I wasn't the only one. No one in AJY had any idea what had just occurred. That was comforting: I wasn't the only clueless American. And you know, the pressure was off. I knew there was nothing I could have done to prepare any better for the test than anything I did. Even though the listening and writing parts were a bit easier, I am certain I did not pass. And you know what? I'm okay with it. I'm just not ready yet. Two years of German has simply not been enough.

On the bright side, that night was a lot of fun. A few of us went shopping and I ended up getting a jacket...finally! Then I ate a Turkish Vegetarian Schawarma while hanging out with some friends. We headed to Taylor's place (which, of course, is right next to my place!) where most of the AJY crew were partying. It was a lot of fun, but then everyone wanted to go to bars at around midnight. Seeing as it was only a Monday, I knew there was no way I'd be able to get back, so I just decided to go to sleep at home. For some reason I can't stay up late anymore. I'm getting old.

Anyway, yesterday we had our last AJY excursion to a town called Speyer. It was nice, because we climbed this really tall tower and got a great view of everything. We also went inside a couple of churches, most notably Speyer Cathedral, which was huuuuge. The city was founded by the Romans, so there was a lot of Roman architecture going on. And, a surprising amount of Italian restaurants. But for lunch, we just grabbed sandwiches and went on a very long hunt for the perfect bakery. After way too much walking, I got a donut that was shaped like a pretzel, and it was delicious. I get happy just thinking about it. That's probably weird. Well, after touring the cathedral and a Jewish ritual bath, we took a trip down to the River Rhine. It was such a beautiful day and everything was just so...so...wunderschön! A bunch of people took naps on the riverbank, and I just lay back and relaxed. It was truly a lovely day. But, I'm glad it was the last of our AJY excursions, because I really can't take the all-German tours. I don't ever know what's going on. But hey, that's what Wikipedia is for, right?

And then, finally, today happened. It is Der Tag der Deutschen Freiheit, aka German Unity Day, which is supposed to be a celebration of the day that the Berlin Wall came down. Well, it certainly didn't feel like a celebration. Some people with German friends told me that Germans celebrate this holiday rather somberly because they are not exactly proud of their nation's history. I found that to be pretty depressing, but it doesn't surprise me considering I haven't heard any traces of partying all day. Everything's just closed. Actually, some people were posting on Facebook that there was a Nazi rally at the Heidelberg train station, and there was a protest against them and everything. I think that's pretty scary stuff. I didn't witness anything firsthand but I heard there were a bunch of police and helicopters. Thankfully most people there were against the skinhead movement. So this whole Neo-Nazi thing is obviously a few deranged minorities causing trouble, but it really is sad that it exists at all.

So, yeah, I spent most of this day off trying to plan for my trip and playing video games like a true American. Tomorrow I find out if I have to take the oral exam. If not, then vacation officially starts! I will have to sleep as much as possible because I know there are some sleepless travel nights ahead. I will hopefully blog again Friday night before I go, but I'll probably just be a mess of nerves. Don't worry about me though, I know it'll be worth it.

But hey, check my Shutterfly 'cause the AJY Excursions and Heidelberg! albums have new pictures (not of me, sorry...my friend Selma has a digital SLR and I'm just waiting for her to upload everything to Facebook, but she has sooo many pictures that it will take forever!) and please comment if you have any Italy advice or travel advice in general.

 And for all you Mean Girls fans...I figure this blog post oughta go full circle back to Italy.