München = Munich

After the excitement of the World Cup Final, the next week seemed very calm in comparison. I haven’t stayed up that late in a long time, and that’s ok with me. It was a great reason to do something different, but I am glad that isn’t a weekly occurrence. I find myself trying to type on my computer keyboard like it is a German keyboard. They have the “y” and “z” switched and to get an apostrophe you have to use the shift key. This is how well I am integrating here. The tales of my next week may seem pretty tame comparatively, but I’ll give it a go.

The super computer

The colorful super computer

On Tuesday, we all went on another tour. This one was to the 12^th fastest computer in the world. Which doesn’t mean much to me, but most of the boys were thoroughly impressed. We were shown what was used in their computers back in the mid 90s up to now. Again, didn’t make much sense to me, but the boys wanted to know it all and see it and touch it and everything. After that briefing, we were taken into the room where the computer was housed. It was more like a bunker than anything. The room was massive and loud and the walls were covered in metal. There were four big groups of computer towers in the room. The biggest one, the Cray, was the coolest. It is actually the computer that Varun and his partner Greg use to run their simulations for their projects. They spent quite a bit more time around the contraption than the rest of us did. It was probably 30 feet long, with two sides to it. The fronts of each little locker had graphics on them, making it visually appealing, although I’m not sure who for… There were also big metal pipes that looked like they belonged on an 18 wheeler and not a computer. A machine of that size requires quite a bit of cooling it seems. It was hard to hear what our guide was saying, but seeing everything was fun enough for me.

Everyone I talk to thinks I am crazy. And I probably am. But no amount of peer pressure will get to me buy an iPhone. Like I said to Varun and Marissa, I will only use one if it is bought for me. The point of my rambling is that in a year and a half, I have had four replacement phones, always the same model. Something just kept breaking with it. But I always go back to Windows because I actually really like the interface and how it connects to my Skydrive. (Can you tell that this is a well-practiced speech?) Anyway, I dropped my phone and broke it. After figuring out what to do next, it took me a while to remember that I take all my photos on my phone. So, now my pictures are either going to be not so clear or they will be from other people. Also, as soon as I get home, I will be purchasing another Windows phone. Not the same model, but I know where my allegiances lie.

The T's together again!

Parties and festivals and things here tend to start on Thursdays. This Thursday was no exception. Except that I was meeting someone at this festival and we had planned it that way. The festival was called the Hamburg Fish Market. It was an area full of fish vendors and fishy meals and beer and drinks and gelato in the middle of Stuttgart. The best part wasn’t the fish, although it was good. The best part was that I got to see Tasha. I have known this girl since I was 5. She was my first best friend, we were T & T, and she was freaking in Stuttgart. We discovered that, on her way back from a month in India, she was going to visit her family in Germany. The exact part of Germany I happened to be living in for the summer. So we met up. Which was very weird. And awesome. I got to meet part of her family and we all had fun talking and eating. And we can say that we casually met up in Germany over the summer. How many people can say that?

The next day was Friday, and that meant it was time for another trip. Marissa and I caught a bus to Munich while Varun took a train a few hours earlier. Unfortunately, both modes of transportation ended up being an hour late, so it was a pretty long night. We finally got to our destination at about 1230 in the morning. Lucky for us, I have a friend who lives in Munich and offered us a place to stay. When I was a sophomore in high school, my lacrosse team went undeafted. Part of that team was an exchange student from Germany. Her name was Franzi. She and I spent quite a bit of time together since we were both defensive players. When Franzi found out I was in Germany for the summer, she offered me a place to stay if I came to visit. We gladly accepted. And we are SO very glad we did. We had an awesome time. The weekend was actually perfect. Even naked old men and rain couldn’t change the perfection we experienced. We got to sleep on real beds in a real, incredibly wonderful house. We got to walk around a super cool city and basically it was just awesome. Let me tell you.

Church!

When we woke up on Saturday, it took us a very long time to get moving. When we did, we went to the main part of the city. We walked around all the streets and saw lots of shoppers. We got to see the Glockenspiel, which Camille and Megan and I tried to find last time we were in Munich. (Guys, we went in the wrong direction.) It was actually a really cool building. We went into a church and then climbed a tower that afforded some truly awesome pictures of the city. A two minute walk from the tower and we were at the Hofbrauhaus. After some very stereotypically touristy shopping in the gift shop, we sat down and ordered some drinks. Also very touristy of us. We sat and drank and chatted. When everyone had been properly carboloaded, we walked to the university. Unbeknownst to me, directly behind the university, where I had been before, was the English Gardens, with a river running through. This was a very hot day and a cool dip in the river sounded wonderful. When we got there, it was absolutely swarming with people. Most of them were half dressed and lounging. There were others playing games and others swimming in the river. I can attest to the fact that there were a few naked men around. And not the naked men that you want to see. Naked OLD men, who you don’t ever really want to see unclothed in any capacity. It was so European. We found some of Franzi’s friends and sat with them. We went to the river and I found that it was in fact ice cold. I stuck my feet in, splashed my face a little, and called it good. Marissa and Varun went all the way in and were carried downstream by the current. They came back  a few minutes later and were dry in no time. Next, we went to a party on campus. It was still pretty early in the day so it wasn’t very lively. Then we went one block over to an ice cream place. It was the weirdest ice cream store I have ever been to. It was Alice in Wonderland themed because the owner is called the Mad Ice Cream Maker. I saw him. He was wearing an 8 inch tall top hat. I got pretty normal flavors, but there were sausage flavors and other unexpected things. After such a treat, we went back to Franzi’s house to relax a bit.

The freezing river

We sat and napped for a while when we got back. At some point her friend  Felix came over. We went into her backyard and talked with some beers and champagne. At around 11, we left for the city. We we going out! The first place we tried to get into told us either to buy a 500 euro table or only the girls get in. The next place was much less elitist. We went in and danced the night away. They played some German songs, but the majority of them were in English. There were even some I knew. Fancy that. There were a lot of people but everyone was having fun and we really had no problems. It was weird not to be kicked out at 2 like in the US. When I asked Franzi when the clubs close in Germany, all she said was, “When there are no more people there.” Such a strange idea. We stayed until 3:30, when no more trains were running. Luckily, we found a cab that could fit 6, and we snatched it up. By the time we went to bed it was 4:30 in the morning. Which might explain why I got sick when we got back to Stuttgart.

The trio plus one

Sunday morning became Sunday afternoon before we woke up and got moving. Varun went on another short man journey to the concentration camp at Dachau and then to Nuremberg. Us girls went back to the English Gardens and ate at the Biergarten there. Marissa and I bought 25 euros worth of food and devoured it all in 10 minutes. Mercifully, it had begun to cloud over, so eating outside did not mean we ourselves were roasted. Eventually it rained, and we decided we were tired enough that going back to Franzi’s and watching a movie sounded like the best course of action. And that is exactly what we did. And it was wonderful. Our bus back home was on time, and we did not get stranded in the tain station for the second week in a row. All in all a very successful trip.

Franzi and I at the biergarten

It is strange how many connections I have in Germany. Whenever I said anything about my friends in Germany, Marissa and Varun would get confused about who I was talking about because I had so many friends in Germany this summer. One, I have known basically my whole life and can’t believe that even though our lives have diverged a great amount, we were still brought together on the other side of the world for a small amount of time. Another I haven’t seen in a long time and thought I never would again. When I did get to see her, it was so nice, especially since it was on her turf this time. Another friend is a new one, but one I am very glad I got to know. Basically, I just have good friends all over the world. Not a bad problem to have.

Every city I see in Germany makes me fall in love a little bit more. Munich was no exception. It will be very difficult to leave this place.

As always, my loves, thanks for reading.

Forever and always,

Taryn