The World Beyond Schneverdingen....

Due to Project Week and Fall Break, I had three weeks where I didn't need to go to the school, so I decided to make like Dora, and get out and explore... (Warning....this is a really long post)

I started off my expedition by sailing (and by sailing I mean taking the Berlin Line Bus) to, you guessed it, Berlin.  In Berlin I got to reunite with one of my other best friends from Mexico, Johanna, and spend time with her, her roommates, and her other friends.  The city was absolutely incredible!  It is rich with history, much more diverse than the rest of Germany, and is filled with young people and exciting things to discover.

One of the highlights of my experience in the city was going on a walking tour with New Berlin Tours.  The company hires native English speakers to be the tour guides and I've actually looked into getting a work permit to work there.  They lead tours in Spanish and English, the tour highlights history and culture, and the tours are super laid back and filled with suggestive humor.  If that job doesn't have my name written all over it, then my grandma's name isn't Ethel.  However, as much as I'd like to stay in Germany longer, I already have my return plane ticket, getting a work visa for an American is harder than an igneous rock, and I think being home to visit grads schools, make it down to the Caribbean, etc. are important for next semester.

During my stay in Berlin, I made a quick trip to Prague.  Prague is probably the most beautiful city I have ever been in.  Unlike most of the cities in EU, it was hardly damaged during WWII.  I met some awesome Australians and Americans in my hostel, and also got to meet up with Zdenek and Katarina!  They are two of my friends from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who studied abroad at UNL for a year.  We went to the true, authentic Prague bars, and got to get caught up on life, and I asked them a lot of questions about Eastern Europe and the effects of communism.  It was fascinating and cooler than DQ to see friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years.
              
                                                                     

After passing nearly two weeks with Johanna and her kick a$$ roommates, I continued on a solo voyage with Mitfahrgelegenheit (an organized hitchhikig website essentially), down to Munich.  The guy I rode with took the Autobahn and drove 180 km/h the entire way (about 108 mph).  Needless to say, we made good time, and Munich was a beautiful city.  I made some cool friends in my hostel and explored the city, then I got up the next morning and went to Dachau Concentration Camp.  Dachau was extremely interesting, but also very depressing.  I'm glad I got to see a Concentration Camp, but it is definitely not an experience I want to have again soon.  Then, after Dachau, I went on another free walking tour.  I met a Nigerian and American girl from Atlanta on the tour, however, they left the tour early (because of the creepy American guy who kept talking to them (me)?...maybe, haha), but after those friends left, I started talking to a dude named Marius from Norway.  He was really cool, and after the tour we met up with his Norwegian friend for dinner and had a blast.  I learned a lot about Norway and got to share a lot about the United States.  I don't know why, but conversations like these put my brain on ecstasy (I mean that in a good, non spasming and hallucinating way).

From Munich, I took a night bus to Vienna, Austria.  Vienna was also beautiful and filled with old palaces, cool Architecture, etc.  Disappointingly, they had no free walking tour, but I did meet some cool German dudes at the bar inside my hostel.  They kept buying pitchers of beer and Jaeger Bombs.  Let's just say, they were a lot more impressed with my German speaking abilities, than my drinking skills.  I didn't even come close to keeping up.  But, once they left to go on a Pub Crawl, I met two other friends from Madrid.  I had a great conversation with them for several hours, and met other cool Spaniards as well.  All the chidos Spaniards I've met have made me excited for the possiblity of living in Spain next year to teach English.

From Vienna, I went to Budapest, and from Budapest to Krakow.  Both cities were really cool.  In Budapest I went on a communist walking tour.  I met three cool Americans and loved hearing about the tour guides experiences living under communism.  The way of life, the educational system, everything was so controlled and so fascinating.  It was also interesting to hear how communism has changed people's perspectives and still to this day effects politics, peoples attitudes, economics, etc.  In Krakow, I was so impressed with the positive attitude of the people.  Despite communism causing some major setbacks, the people were so optimistic and determined about their future.  I met a Polish American girl on my tour whose parents were active in Solidarity and got to hear a lot of interesting and powerful stories. 

Well I feel like there are a million interesting people and places that I met and saw that I'm leaving out.  But this post is already longer than 8th period on the Friday before Christmas Break....so I'll wrap things up.  All in all, my travels were wonderful!  Traveling alone afforded me the opportunity to make new friends on each bus, train, hostel, or tour I went on.  I learned a lot about all the countries I visited and also about the countries my new friends were from! 

For all of you still reading this long post, Germany is still going great!  My German skills are getting pretty good.  I follow almost all conversations really well, and am able to communicate my ideas fairly easily as well!  It's such a good feeling, since a month ago I literally understood nothing.

Tomorrow I'm visiting the Netherlands and going to see the town where my ancestors came from!

Thanks for reading.