Hallo! Wie geht es dir? In Deutschland, alles ist klar. Wir haben zu viel schnee aber jetzt is mehr regen. So… mit nur 6 monaten hier noch, Ich schreibe dich auf mein laetzte monaten in Osnabrueck…. Sehr laenge ist dieses eintrag… aber, hier es er

Auf englisch jetzt:

So long it has been since I have written, and for this I must apologize… much has happened, and I will share of it all! Where to begin… I think I will start with the events that lead up to thanksgiving.

So, As many of you know, Carin is in her final year of bachelors school here in germany, and many of her friends have already finished. So I made journey to Erfurt to be with Carin on the day of her friends graduation. The night of the graduation is a grand “ball”. For this ball I had to buy a suit, which was an adventure in its self filled with many lengthy paths towards another suit which looked just right, but didn’t fit or the perfect pants, but no shoes to match. I already hate shopping for cloths, but I REALLY  hate shopping for clothes in Germany. Anyways, So I got the suit (which I also needed for my internship application photos) and then carin and I made our way to the graduation ceremony. You may be asking yourself “Zach, is there one word that can describe this event?”, and to you, my response is YES! That word? Boring… ‘nuff said! Fast forward to the ball afterwards… Live band, DJ, champagne, good times with good friends. Alittle bit of drama, but I’ve come to the conclusion that any time a large group of Germany people get together in a setting which involves alcohol (which is all the time), One should prepare themselves for drama…. Or maybe its just the women, lord knows that every guy on the planet knows how they can be. So we made it through the night alive and prepared ourselves for the journey back to Osnabrueck. I used my powers of persuasion to convince Carin that she should come back to Osna with me and celebrate Thanksgiving like a real American… with to much food and football. Train right back was good, minus are change in Dortmund… Once again Dortmund proved to my least favorite city in all of Europe.

We finally made it back to Osnabrueck and were greeted by the flooding rains… so sick of rain… Some of the minuscule events that followed included shopping for Christmas decorations (more to come), Carin coming to my german class with me, the beginning of my English lessons at starbucks (heck, I cant think of a better place to have an English lesson than in starbucks ;] ) and shopping for some other doo-dads.

One of the things we bought to decorate my apartment was a real life gingerbread house ‘do it yourself’ kit! We built it using the parts that came, melted white chocolate, and icing. Now, I’m no architect, but this house came together extremely nice… even had a little white chocolate ‘snow’ man out back.  Check out the pictures in my photo gallery

Onward… So our next big event was buying everything for thanksgiving. For those who don’t know, we had planned a big thanks giving meal with all of the American students whom we knew from school.  This even started out with every one bringing their favorite dish and us all enjoying our feast together! Plans began in late October, but as time went by, the list of food items grew smaller and smaller haha… what a surprise! But in the end, every one came through and it was a great evening of food and fun with friends from both the North American Continent (Canada included) and other countries. Afterwards we all went to a big party at school and danced the night and the calories away! On a side note, I had to spend 10 damn euros on a taxi to take carin and I back to my apartment… thieves…. Two days after this event, Carin went home, and I was left all alone with nothing but the gallons of rain to comfort me

One of the Wednesdays that followed Thanksgiving, a bass guitar legend named TM Stevens gave a concert/ workshop at the FH. This guy could jam! He had played with every one including Miles davis and several other big names. He was also from America, so after the concert, I went up and introduced my self to him. The next thing I know He, his manager, some of the other music students, and myself are all gathered around a table at a local restaurant having a beer together. I got to talking to his manager about what I was going here in Osnabrueck, what I had done in the states, What I wanted to do in the future, and so on and so forth. We what do you know it, but the manager says that he has a studio and for me to send him some of my information and he might have a job for me! Man am I really glad that I  went and had a beer with these guys! (on a further note, I did send the guy my stuff, but never heard from him again… owell, my luck proved better at getting other jobs ;) more to come!!).

The very next day I had to wake up at 5am to head towards Erfurt for Carin’s family reunion… you can imagine how thrilled I was at this idea… I had only met Carin’s immediate family at this point and was more than nervous about meeting the rest… having a very limited Germany vocabulary, I was scared that there was going to be one member of her family who had a problem with that. Well I worried over nothing. The whole trip was extremely pleasant! We spent the weekend in this big house in the mountains that had a sauna and everything… very cool… even went to some castle that had some king who is apparently frozen in stone in some cave some where haha…. Oyea, during this weekend was the beginning of the snow. Blizzard like for me, but no one else seemed to notice it.

A few important events that occurred in the following weeks: One of my friends from the music department is the lead sing in a popular underground rock band here in germany named “boozed”. He invited me to one of there concerts and put me on the VIP list (which means that I didn’t have to pay the 20 euro entrance fee and I got to go into all the restricted access areas). These guys could rock! One of the best concerts I have been to in a long time. Had a great time listening to them and also the Johnny Cash cover band that had come all the way vom den USA! Great music…. I was also introduced to a local studio owner named Matze (pronounced ‘Matt’- ‘tsa’). Matze and I hit it off well and he invited me to come hang out with him at his studio once I returned from xmas break.

Also, my German class was invited to our teachers house to make german cookies… the other folks in my german class are very… interesting…

Now we fast forward to the train ride towards Dresden. I was suppose to come on Monday night, but due to heavy snow, all trains were delayed 3 hours, so I just went home and woke up early the next day to get there on time.  This particular train ride was the best I had experienced yet! Two ICE trains (the Rols Royce of trains) and I had a table to myself the whole way.  Had a great time in Dresden, home cooked food, easy access laundry, fun with Carin, her family, and friends. Christmas was extremely different but good! The Burschyks had a real tree and instead of lights that you plug into the wall, they had real candles. We opened presents on Christmas eve before dinner and then after dinner we headed of to catholic church. This was the first time I had ever experienced a Catholic service and im not sure I understood what happened… very cult like, if you ask me… to each their own!

The next day we played board games (I beat every one in a whopping round of monopoly!). That evening we went to a theatrical event, which I didn’t understand a single thing that happened… All I know is that their was this guy and he married a puppet, but then decided he didn’t want to do theater any more so he had the puppet killed… or something…

Move traveling with Carin! We went to some city, that had some Schloss (castle), with some famous Kirche (church). Don’t ask me names, because I don’t know… how ever I do have photos!! Go look  

Pressing onward towards new years eve!
For those who don’t know, I have a friend in the states named Freddie (we went to school at LaGrange together). Freddies mom lives and Germany and so he came over to visit her from Christmas. Carin and I decided to go visit him over New years in Hamburg, and boy am I glad we made that decision ;)

We had to drive 4 hours in the blizzards on the auto bahn, but once we FINALLY made it there, we enjoyed hangout at freddies house for a little while before we headed out to party hardy! We started out by going to one of freddies friends house, named Mo, where we had dinner (racklett… this small oven you set on the table and then take a small trey and put things like meat, cheese, veggies into the trey and then back in the small oven and let everything melt). Listened to some music, played video games, watched “Dinner for one” which is apparently a tradition for most German people (it was this movie about this a rich widow whom is very lonely and had an dinner with a bunch of imaginary people. The butler has to fill all the glasses and then must go around and cheers the widow for the guest and then drink the glass… after three rounds the butler is skunk drunk!) Next we start making our way to our first party of the evening… the streets are already starting to be lit up by all the fireworks. So we take trains to this sketchy little house in the middle of Hamburg and begin to partake in this party which turned into a krunk fest haha… I would love to write more about the events that took place at this party, but my grand mother reads this journal ;)   right before midnight, every one at the party walked out into the street right infront of the house to ring in 2010. At the stroke of midnight, I could have sworn it was day! Fireworks shot up from every where… it was truly a beautiful sight, and I was glad to be spending it with Freddie and Carin.  After the fireworks spectacular, we party for alittle more before eventually taking a taxi to the Redlight District… again, I would love to write more about the events that took place, but I love my grandmother to much! I will say that this was by FAR the best new years eve I have ever taken part in. the next day, was also good… we had a fantastic breakfast, said our goodbyes, and then carin and I made our way back to Dresden… Still snowing….

Not much happened the rest of the time I was in Dresden, but on my way back to Osnabrueck, Das Wundebar DB showed their true colors once again and took me on a horrific journey through out Germany.

January has been filled with parties and spending time with my new friends. Also I’ve hung out with Matze at his incredible studio a few times. He showed me several cool tricks which I cant wait to try out once I get back in a studio! I was also informed by one of my teachers that he was able to get me an interview for a paid internship at a studio in osnabrueck.  I was really excited about this, but a few days after my teacher told me about this interview, I got a call from the radio station in Erfurt. They want to have an interview with me also! From everything I know about how the internship process in Germany works, if some one wants to have an interview with you then that generally means they are extremely interested. For all of you that don’t know what I am talking about, I had applied along time ago for a Morning Show Production internship in Erfurt. Just like with my scholarship to actually come to Germany, it wasn’t until the very last second that I found out that I had gotten the internship   I have an interview at the radiostation on January 29th .

Just had my interview at the studio in Osnabrueck earlier today and I nailed it. Guy offered me the job, and this would be a fantastic internship. The engineer is extremely talented and the studio stays busy all the time. I told him that I would definitely like to have it, but that I wanted to see if I got the gig in Erfurt first. After I explained that I had to apartment in Osnabrueck after the 28th of January, he understood.

I currently sit on a train to Erfurt, it is 10:30pm, and I have been left with a lot of thinking. I can not believe that I have been in germany for 6 months already… this time has flown by! Not all of it has been enjoyable, but every single second has been a fantastic growing experience. I can now say that I have a friend in 30 different countries all over the world!  To all my new friends who are reading this, Thanks for a great time! I will miss every single one of you and hope to see you again one day.

I have already packed up most stuff in my apartment, I am taking two heavy suitcases full of stuff to Carins apartment now. The reality that I have to move hit me as I was undecorating my apartment. My first half of my adventure is over, but that means that the second half is just beginning ;)   

Heres to all the good memories!

“Wir Feiern die ganze nacht!”



bis zum naechsten eintrag!
Liebe gruesse
Zach!

P.S.
For those of you who like to send me letters and what not, I will have a different address starting January 28th.

Zachary Watts
c/o Carin Burschyk
Liebknechtstrasse 63
D - 99085 Erfurt

Hope all is well in the states!!

And so it stands that I have been in Germany for one month, and oh man what a month it has been! Since the last time we have spoken, I have been to Bremen, Potsdam, Berlin, back to Dresden, and All over Osnabrueck. I had to find a Mac store, was with out my computer for a whole week (believe me, its tough), I have thrown several parties at my apartment which have all been rediculous and crazy, met the cops, I completed my langauge course, got to play two shows, and have had to say goodbye to many of my friends whom I have just met and will probably never see again. I feel as though I have done as much in this one month as I have done in my entire life! But allow me to start from the beginning and explain all of which I have just spoken.


Hallo von Deutchland!

So my trip to Bremen happened three weekends ago. I was quite excited about this trip for several reasons; one of which was that it was my first opportunity to ride a real train... and call me a kid if you wish, but I have always wanted to ride one one. Lets just put it this way, Thomas made it seem much more fun. And as for Bremen its self, well it was interesting. I am not going to say that it was the most exciting thing that I have ever done in my life, the weather would be rainy for 15 minutes, then the sun would be out for 10, then it would rain for 30 min, then 2 hours of sun, and so on and so forth, but how many people can say that they have been to a real monk monistary where monks still live! Now, thanks to my trip, I can say that i have.  This is also the place where famous "Becks Beer" is brewed. you can check out my photo gallery for pictures of this trip

the following is one which I will remember for my entire time in Germany. Carin came down to visit me on Wednesday and along with all of her many cloths and personal items, she brought my much needed bank card. Now I can finally buy food :)  The following day, I through one hell of a party. Pretty much every one in the entire language course was crammed into my apartment for a night of antics and shenanigans! Music was played, laughs were shared, fun was had by all. And now thanks to this party, I am finally "That Guy whom every one wishes to be". lucky me... around 5:00, once ever one left, i had the opportunity to clean up every ones mess which the must have assumed I wanted. Owell, no one every said being "That Guy" was a walk in the park. At least here I can take all the bottles and stuff back and get money for them. Oh! I forgot to mention that earlier that day, mein computer ging kaputt (my computer broke). Don't know what it was, but luckily (thanks to the team efforts of Dr. Turner, my dad, and Carin's mom) I was able to get it fixed in Osnabrueck and didnt have to spend a single euro on it. All it cost me was a week away from anything related to the USA. Carin stayed the weekend and we had a fantastic time with each other. We didn't really do much, just hung out, but I think that just as much fun can be had at home as it can at six flags... you just need the right company and the right beverages haha!

So the following week was my last week in the language course. It was filled with last bits of learning, and the last few parties and good times I would share with my new friends before most of them would leave either for home, or for the Universities in which they would be studying at. On Thursday, We had an international evening where every one brought food from their home countries and we all ate. This gave me one more reason for which I was proud to be an American. What food did I bring you might ask? I brought some tasty tunes for all to hear, and hear they did. I prepared two pieces and after that I was demanded to play more and I,  being the generous person I am, Obliged to their wishes. On a more serious note, we did all have a good time. After every one got bored of being at the international night, I decided that it would be a good idea to do another party at my house... every one else thought so too! So all 50+ people that were there boarded a bus and headed to my apartment. The bus ride there was almost as much fun as the party was! My people took up more than half the bus and every time an outsider got on the bus, we would all cheer and sing and invite them to come with us (a few of them actually did!). Once we got to my apartment we continued the good time. Unfotunatly, all good things must come to an end and I guess that around 1:30, Die Polizei thought that we had had enough fun. Owell... that just means less crap for me to clean up the next day.

The following day was language course graduation... what a waste of time! I appreciated all that the teachers and every one planned, but it seemed alittle much for a one month course. there were speeches and presentations and I played again and then handing out of certificates... the whole thing lasted almost 3 hours... I dont think my high school graduation lasted that long...

That night another girl from the course through a party at her house. This was much nicer than my aparment because my apartment is so small, and I dont have to clean up her house ha! well the party was nice, until her boyfriend decided he would rather sleep and kicked every one out for being to loud... later on I found out that he thought it was going to be a quiet dinner with only the girls class... not the entire course having a party... so after that we all wend to a  beer garden and continued the party.  which was fun, but the following morning I didnt think it was such a good idea....

and so we reach the beginning of the Berlin trip:

We were to be at the bus stop at 7:45 am on Friday, September 11 to board the bus for Potsdam and then Berlin. I had decided the night before that it would be better for me to just wake up early on Friday and pack instead of doing it earlier. Well I did set my alarm for 6:00, but I forgot to turn it on and so I just got REALLY REALLY lucky when I woke up at 7:30. What a panic! I had 15 minutes to be at place which would take me 20 minutes to arrive at by foot and I had not packed yet... I thought quick and through a bunch of stuff in my bag and hit the street. Then I returned to my room because I had forgot something, then hit the street again, running as fast as I could until I finally arrived, out of breath and disoriented by the early morning air, at the bus stop. Turns out the bus wouldn't be there for another 30 min. I'm really glad I was so worried.... well after a while we were finally on this double decker bus headed to our destination... dang that bus was small, and the trip was lllllooooonnnnggg... I did get to use my visa card FINALLY at a little gas station on the way (it works mom and dad so dont worry... the only problem is that the only place that seems to take it is gas stations). After a few more hours on the bus, we finally arrived potsdam and after 3 hours of touring the gardens and such we were on our way to Berlin. We were staying in a youth hostile in which I had four room mates. One room mate was from America (Lance... We had become very good friends over the trip). He spoke fluent German and of course english. Another room mate was from France, he spoke french, broken english, and broken german... my other room mate was russian... he spoke only russian and german. I am acctually thankful for this, because it gave me the oportunity to allow me to see how much German I had learned... All though much of my grammer was wrong and I couldnt say everything I wanted, I knew enought o communicate almost fully with him and I in return could understand his responses... I took spanish for two years and couldnt even dream of that! anyways, on friday night, lance, sergy (the russian guy), carin, some of carins friends, and my self all went to a bar, had a few drinks, then went home. The bar we went to was an American themed "diner" and the only american drink they had was Bud Wiser, except it was the kind that is brewed in the Chec republic.... what does that say about American beer... So saturday rolled around and it was time for the bus tour. We rode around on a bus for a few hours and saw the new Holocaust monument, check point charlie, a piece of the Berlin wall, some government buildings, and some other historical points in Berlin. Sunday, Carin, Lance, and myself went out and did nothing and it was fantastic! we ate lunch at BK, then had starbucks, then had ice cream and walked back in the rain... then took a nap :) 

this brings us up to yesterday

Early monday morning, my roommates and I woke up around 5 to say goodbye to Sergy. He had to be at the airport at 6 to go back to russia... Sergy will be missed, and all though we didnt speak a single word of english to each other, I consider him a good friend. At 9:45, I had to meet carin for us to head back to Dresden for the week, so around 9, I packed all my stuff, had a few heartfelt goodbyes with some people that I wont see again when I returned to Osna, and then got on the subway to meet her. and thus ends my time in Berlin... Berlin is a place with much history, many tourist traps, and not much else... plus there is this smell that kind of wanders around and if you arnt careful to avoid it, can possibly make you sick. At least now I can say that I have been :)

This past month has been one that I will never forget. The language course, including all that I have learned and all the friends I have made, will remain something like a treasure to me and I will always be grateful for it.

Liebe Gruesse,
Tschuess
- Zach

P.S.
I had a meeting with my academic advisor and the music school here is FANTASTIC!! I start in two weeks and I absolutely can not wait to start! this is the school which I have always always always wanted to be a student at, I just didnt know it

there are also tons and tons and tons of new pictures up for your viewing pleasure :)

Hallo! Guten Tag!

Wow! What a day this has been… Well for all of you who didn’t know, today was the day I moved into my new apartment in Osnabrueck. The day started out very early, for we had to get to Osna. by 1:30 (this was the time my care taker was going to meet me outside my new apartment to give me my key, show me around, etc.).  We woke up at 6:45 (blah!!), got showered, dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and we were on the road by 8:00. A little later than what we were hoping for, but still with plenty of time to get where we were going…. This was my first time to be riding the famous (or infamous) autobahn. For the people out there that have been under a rock their whole life and don’t know what the autobahn is, it is a system of roads (much like interstates) that run through Germany. The reason these roads are so wonderful is because there are many sections in which the speed limit is unlimited! You can imagine my thrill and excitement when I asked Carin how fast we were going at one point and she said 160 (after I got all excited she said that was in Kilometers not miles… we were really only going 100 mph…. boo). Anyways it was still fun to be on the “autobahn” simply because of what it stands for, being allowed to go as fast or as slow as you want (there were more people going fast than slow ha). One very interesting thing that I also noticed about Germany and the farmland in this country is the absurd number of windmills that are scattered across the lands. I swear that I must have seen at least 500 windmills in the 4-hour drive between Dresden and Osna.  On a side note, we ate at McDonalds for lunch. This is something that I wanted to do simply to be able to see and experience the fast-food joints in Germany and the US. Let me tell you, the burgers were about the same, but the fries were not so good. They lacked any salt and tasted as though they were baked and not fried. Whatever… another thing that pissed me off was the half sized kitty cup they gave me as a medium coke. Owell… I guess the portion sizes and the amount of fat in our diet is just one more reason to love (or hate) the states I guess… after a long time of driving, we finally made it to Osnabrueck…. Another thirty minutes later (this is including the 20 minutes we were lost), we found my apartment! Carin and I had arrived a few minutes early so we walked around, found a park, which is located almost directly behind my place, and then headed back. By the time we got back, my caretaker was waiting for us outside. He should us the downstairs floor first (where the laundry room is located), then led us up to the second floor to where my apartment is located. Of all the apartments I have lived in, this is definitely the poorest. It has an incredibly small kitchenette and living room area, a hall with three rooms and a bathroom. As for my room, it was similar to my previous room at LaGrange, minus the carpeted floors. The only positive thing about this apartment is not only the large apartment balcony, but also that I have my own private balcony that overlooks the street. I guess this isn’t TERRIBLE…. Well except for the bathroom. I wanna puke every time I think that I will have to use this restroom for six months. And my bed is really really REALLY small…. At least it’s a free place to live and I don’t have to share my room ha… always try to look at the positive things right? Anyways… the next thing that I did was meet up with my student helper and the rest of the SIP students (SIP is the name of the scholarship I am over here on) in the Osna city center and go get my week bus pass (my student ID doesn’t start working until September 1^st) and then to go get my student health insurance set up. That didn’t take long, we just had to review the application for health insurance as a group because it was in German. After that we all said our good byes and went our separate ways (we had plans of meeting up later tonight as a group to go out and have some fun). I had all intentions of being awesome and riding a bus by myself to get back to my apartment, but this didn’t seem to work out to well. I missed the first bus which would take me back, then tried to walk, got lost in the numerous streets, FINALLY found my way back to the bus stop, then had to wait 20 min till the next bus came around…. If only I could simply ask some one for directions… alas, I could ask, but would not understand their reply. After I finally made it back, Carin and I went to the Marktkauf (German equivalent of a Wal-Mart) and did a little grocery/ other crap that I needed shopping. Left there, came back to the apt., ate dinner, got ready, and went out on the town to meet up with every one… to bad we were 30 min late getting to the meeting point. As I guessed, there was no one there, so we just sorta walked around, looking like lost tourists. It was dark and late and I was thinking to myself “if this were Georgia and I was doing this exact same thing in a part of town that looked like this, I would probably be dead and robbed by now”, but when I told carin this same thing, she looked surprised and said that people in Germany don’t do this type thing. Yea right, I’m sorry, but I think that I am gonna go buy a really big knife tomorrow and just carry it around with me… you know, just in case… ha…. Soon we found a restaurant and sat down to have a drink. We enjoyed each other and chatted for a while then headed back to my place. This is pretty much the end of my story for today… other than it was steaming in my room when I tried to sleep…. God I miss air conditioning….

 

 

P.S.

If any one wants my address to you know… send me a letter or something, I am gonna post it on tomorrows journal, so make sure to check it!!

also, I am aware that I skipped tag neun, there was just nothing worth writing about. All I did basically was pack

 

Liebe Grüße

tschüss,

- Zach