"The Study Abroad Blog": DE-What am I doing here?!

Indian Blog!

2009-07-21T05:36:00.005-07:00

Here is the link to my blog dedicated to India: taylorsindiansummer.wordpress.com
Hope to see you there!

Ind

2009-07-21T05:36:00.004-07:00

2009-07-21T05:36:00.003-07:00

2009-07-21T05:36:00.001-07:00

Blog-neogenesis

2009-06-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, what have I been up to lately? I guess I am doing this, because the people I usually have around are not here anymore (back at home).
Today I cleaned my sister's room and the bathroom. It was super exhausting and took most of the day. Every time I began to feel nauseous and defeated, I had to remind myself of my end goal. At the beginning, it was a disaster area: there were dirty clothes, trash, crumbs, and dirty dishes everywhere. Ah, now I can breathe a little easier.
I have also been too obsessed with Hot Fuzz lately. I watched the director's commentary and the bonus features today. It's so good! I also am really starting to like this singer named Faryl Smith. She's a 14-year-old singer from England. She sings this one song--actually a hymn--called "How Can I Keep From Singing". I especially like the line "No storm can shake my inmost calm/When to that rock I'm clinging". It's really an encouragement as my future becomes more and more hazy with MCAT and med school madness.
In other news, I need to make some goals so that I don't feel completely useless this summer. To do [short run]: finish my sittercity app, email Emily about teaching this summer, personal statement (waaay on the back burner). I'm also learning some Korean. So far, I've learned "Do you speak English?" I think I've already forgotten that, though.
Ah, beautiful music is such a blessing and such a breath of fresh air. I'm listening to "Shenandoah" right now.
"Oh Shenandoah, now I must leave you. Cross the wide Missouri."

Up in the middle of the night again

2008-12-12T19:50:00.001-08:00

Wow, talk about neglect. If this blog were my kid, I'd have been hauled off to social services long ago.
Anyway, I'm finally done with my internship!!! Yea!!! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but do you know what this means? It means no more waking up at 5:30 am. Ah. Ironically, I'm still up at 5:30, but that's another story. My last day of work was pretty good. A couple of interns and I were joking about how there's nothing to do. One of them was stamping the booklets for new babies, and she started stamping upside down, so the other intern graciously labeled the stamp "front" and "back". Yep, important work at the hospital. I also visited the gymnastics class for new mothers. An experience.
I was really very surprised at what happened when I left. First of all, the nurses gave me chocolate, which was a huge shock. I didn't even know they knew I worked there! It was fancy chocolate too. Then as I was walking out saying goodbye to every intern I passed, they would come up, try to give me a hug, and say "Good luck in America", whatever. I know it's not much, but the fact is that they recognized it was my last time there and really wanted to say farewell. It was so sweet.
Then it was off to finish my portfolio, which was a totally different hurdle. Our internship portfolios were supposed to be 30-40 pages in length about our experiences. Mine was in German and ended up at 26 pages, not counting the two-page bibliography. Whatev. I can totally see how humanities majors can get used to these. If you pace yourself, papers really aren't too terrifying. I've been working on this one for weeks. This week was the most stressful. I don't have Microsoft Word on my computer now, so I always have to go to the computer lab. Because they close at 9PM, I couldn't edit things last night and had to do it all last minute. Nerve-wracking.
Then, I had to give my internship presentation, which went well. I was praying so much that it would go well. After it did, I felt like giving God a high-five. Strange, I know, but still.
In other news, my voice/sinuses have been feeling funny lately. It's like I've had allergies for the longest time. I feel like I'm better, I sing, and I feel worse. When I sing, my voice feels really dry, no matter how much water I drink. Even though my voice teacher here said I was expelling too much air, and when I did things with her, they seemed to work, dry throat has never been a problem, no matter how badly I've sung. Plus, my high notes feel really, unnaturally strained/nonexistant and even my lower range feels funny. I'm not really singing now, but I hope this all gets better once I get to Boston. I'm really worried and hoping and praying this all goes away. I read this thing about this guy who sang while he had a cold and basically ruined his voice. I hope that doesn't happen to me! I know I shouldn't be, but I'm still so scared. Ah well, at least I get break from practicing.
What else is new? I saw Stockholm last weekend. It was okay. My hostel was really nice. For the price of a "3-bed room" my friends and I got two separate rooms, each with a double bed. Guess who got her own room? Stockholm itself was really rainy. I don't know, it just wasn't my favorite place to be. I didn't get to take the Pippi Longstocking Museum tour, because I got lost for an hour and only got there in time to see the gift shop. Swedish people were friendly, but I don't feel like I have a real connection with Sweden, as gorgeous as it is. My traveling companions might have also added to my impression. We just have very different ideas about how we like to travel, what our priorities are, and what we want to see. I just felt grumpy a lot of the weekend.
Anyway, plans for the next week. I have an exam on Monday, then the farewell dinner at an Indian restaurant! On Thursday and Friday, I'm going to Munich. I'm excited. Then, one more weekend, and I'm headed home.
Maybe I should try to go back to sleep.

I wish I could sleep better

2008-11-24T16:20:00.001-08:00

For the past two nights I've been waking up in the middle of the night and have had trouble getting back to sleep or have needed hours to fall asleep. Strange.
Anyway, today was the best day of work ever. There was a new guy there, and we got along pretty well. At first I was grumpy, because his being new meant I had to show him how to do everything. At breakfast, though, we got along pretty well, so that was nice. The nurses were also so friendly when they saw me working on my portfolio. They jumped at the chance to answer any questions and even offered to proofread it for me when I'm done. Yea!
In other news, I had the best weekend ever. I skyped, watched German TV, worked on my internship portfolio, and watched a classic Austrian movie called Sissi. It's the story of the Austrian Kaiserin Elizabeth. The weekend was sooooo nice and relaxing. It was even snowing. Alright, my arms are tired.

The Hills are Alive

2008-11-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

So Salzburg was pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
First of all, the view on the ride over there was pretty amazing. I had no idea that Saxony had so many gorgeous hills. It was also pretty sweet to take a fast, expensive ICE train for a change instead of having to stop in every other little town.
First impression of Salzburg was that it was eclectic. The buses were pretty old, ran infrequently, and nobody seemed to care. My friend and I also passed by a lot of random shops on our way to our guesthouse. Sadly, we missed the next bus to our guesthouse and had to take a taxi. It was up this huge hill, but other than that was pretty sweet. The lady in charge was really friendly and normal, and our room was--an actual room! Apparently, this lady just rents out rooms in her house. We had a CD player and stereo, a dresser, a TV, and a sink. What?! Breakfast was also included and only for 20 euros per night.
So we began our first day with the Sound of Music tour. This tour was actually a lot different than I expected it to be. We didn't get to see as many places as I thought we would, because some places we just legally couldn't enter. Still, we saw: the lake where the boat capsizes, the gazebo, the back of the house, the park where a lot of Do re mi was filmed (the steps, the fountain, that grassy tunnel they ran through), and the church where the wedding was filmed. The church was in a little town called Mondsee, which was gorgeous. I tried some pretty delicious apples strudel there. We also passed some other really gorgeous Austrian towns and scenery on the way up there, so that was worth it. In addition, our tour guide was hilarious.
What else: we saw Mozart's birthplace, though were too cheap to pay to go in, the lake, a fortress at which you could see all of Salzburg, the main Cathedral, and a beer hall. The beer hall was really friendly. I tried this sandwich called bosna. It's basically sausage. Oh yeah, and we saw this really strange play about the life of Herbert von Karajan. Seriously strange.
Yep, that's about it. My impressions of Salzburg/Austria: way more laid-back than Germany, which was a nice break. I just loved the scenery and the hills. I think it would be a nice place to live, though I would love to spend more time in the small towns. There really wasn't a whole lot to do in Salzburg itself. I was also really surprised I could understand Austrian German.
On another note, while in the Munich train station, I picked up a brochure about the city. I want to go! The tours look really interesting. Nurnberg was another city I passed by. It looked pretty gorgeous and weighted in history. We'll see where I end up. This Wednesday there's a holiday in Sachsen. I'm thinking of visiting a small Bavarian town that's not too far, but I hope it doesn't snow!

2008-11-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, I have a taste for a toffee cookie. Maybe I'll make a trip to McDonald's today. Oh, and a note: I can't actually open new windows on my computer, so please forgive me if I'm really slow with reading other peoples' blogs/commenting. I do catch up when I go to the library, though.

Anyway, so I've realized that studying abroad in a non-English-speaking country is just harder than studying in an English-speaking country. I think that's also why I've been so frustrated recently. For one thing, you can't almost instantly feel at home when you can barely communicate. Luckily, I've ben feeling a lot more optimistic lately. That's probably because I'm not sick anymore. Yea! Also, my internship is going well. Yesterday, I got to watch the doctors do baby examinations, and I got to watch as the nurses were checking the blood sugars of newborns. I still am considering teaching as an option over doing this for the rest of my life. I am also excited about planning fun things to do the rest of my time here. Next weekend is Salzburg! I am so ready!! The next week I think I'm going to see an opera (the tickets are really cheap here). The weekend after that--the weekend of the 21st--some people on my program are going to Hamburg. I'm not sure I'm up for that, though. I really don't want to do major traveling every weekend, because I'm just so exhausted on the weekends. Plus, I have to be at work at 7am on Monday. We'll see. The weekend after that is Thanksgiving, and after that I need to do work for my internship portfolio. Whew. Other than that, there's some time at the end of the program to travel. I'm actually considering going to Liepaja, Latvia, for a day or two to see a friend I haven't seen in a while. I definitely want to see Haarlem in the the Netherlands. The Corrie Ten Boom museum is there, and I really want to go ice skating in the Netherlands. The last place I need to go is Stockholm. Why? Tickets are cheap, and there's so much to see. High on my list are the Pippi Longstocking museum, the open-air museum, and maybe the opera. I'm still thinking of going back to the UK, but now I'm leaning towards not going back. Why? I've already been there a bunch of times and will probably be back. Plus, with my friend's work schedule, I'm not sure she'll be able to get much time off to do stuff (and other people I hung out with will probably have exams), especially if she's saving up time for Christmas.
In other news, I applied for a sort of host family. What that means is I just do stuff with them every once in a while, not that I live with them. Yesterday, I met them for the first time: a young couple and their 1.5-year-old daughter. It was great. They cooked dinner for me, and we talked to the while. The wife (who is teacher) even said I could come to her class some time to see what it's like. Yea!
Anyway, this is getting long and rambly, so I'll stop now.

2008-11-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

In recent news, the UK was not disappointing at all. Yeah, and I didn't go to Liverpool. Well, I still landed at that airport, but I actually visited Wales. The exact city was called Conwy, and it was so pretty! We visited a castle and the smallest house in Great Britain. We also had the best hot chocolate I've ever had--it had m&m's (well, actually smarties) in it. I also watched High School Musical--an obsession there. It was pretty bad, but still fun. I can't believe that of all of the kids Disney has to choose from, they couldn't pick kids who can sing or act.
Anyway, the food was also intense. My friend made a full Englsih breakfast, and I tried black pudding. We also made croissants and hot cocoa another time. Her housemate was freaked out, because the bread came out of a can. Oh, and I bought khakhi pants at the airport for 5 pounds. Yea! My friend also gave me her kettle, and I was able to get it through airport security. I wish I could have stayed longer. Traveling is so nice, because it makes living where I live more bearable.
Well, my hand's tired. That's all for now. Oh, and if you want to see pictures, go on facebook.

2008-10-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, but I have been swamped. The first two weeks of my internship have been super intense. On top of that classes have been wicked frustrating/confusion.

First off, I'll describe my internship. Basically, the hospital expected I'd be working 8 hours a day, 5 days of week. Nooooo. We got it down to 6 hours a day (I am only allowed to work 30 hours/week), but even that proved to be too much. By Friday I was sick and incredibly exhausted. I am still a little sick now. Somehow, we got it down to 18 hours/week, which is much more doable.
What do I do? Too much. I begin my day by organizing and handing out the breakfast trays to the patients. After that, there usually is not much to do, which is really the worst. I might check the flowers, take something to the lab, or watch another intern or nurse perform a procedure on a patient (gory!). Later, I'll hand out the lunch trays, and clean up the beds of the patients who've just checked out. It doesn't sound like a lot, but during a 6-hour shift, I'm on my feet for over 5 hours of it, and the fact that everything is in German is exhausting. Oh, and did I mention that, because my shift starts at 7 am, I need to wake up by 5:30 to be on time? Oooh, it's a lot.
Here, the intern system is different. Some of the interns are high-school age students who, after 4 years of this apprenticeship and after successfully passing an exam, automatically become nurses. Thus, the senior girls basically do the same things as the nurses. Then, there are interns like me who may be doing civil service or just want some more professional experience before moving on to the university.
Speaking of university, my classes so far have been a little dicey. I'm taking an ear-training music class, and, I guess, a German as a Foreign Language (DAF) class. At first, I was going to take a class about growing up in the GDR before I realized it was an upper-level seminar! Ah well. I also didn't understand most of what was going on in my second music class. Ergh.
So, yeah, that's it for now.

Travelin'

2008-10-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

First of all, my roommate has finally arrived. Sadly, I don't know her name yet. She arrived while I was in Amsterdam, left, and came back with her family to unpack yesterday while I was in Leipzig. She was asleep by about 9:45PM and was gone when I woke up today. She just stepped in for a second, dumped her stuff on her bed, said, "Bis dann" and was off. Maybe this evening.
Anyway, I'm realizing that German move-ins are pretty similar to American move-ins. The parents come, and the kids bring way too much stuff. I thought it was a lot that my roommate brought a coffeemaker, a hot water maker, her own set of dishes (including pots and pans), a full-length mirror, a boombox, and a toaster. However, the girl next door brought a huge TV, a guitar, a lot of shelves and trunk-looking things, lamps, etc. I didn't see everything. It'd be even cooler if she had brought a microwave for the kitchen. We don't have that yet.

But you didn't come here to read that!
1) Amsterdam
I was really surprised that Amsterdam was amazing. I want to come back and live there someday. This was the first city in which I really, really enjoyed the museums.
First things first: I arrived at 5 am at the sketchy Amstel station then had to transfer to the even sketchier Centraal station (read: no seats anywhere and everything was wet). I soon got on the tram to my hostel...in pitch dark at 6:45am. The hostel people were super friendly. I was actually staying in a Christian hostel where all of the people working there are Christian, and no drugs or alcohol are allowed. That was a real comfort to me, just because I was a girl traveling alone. Also, the food was good, and I could go hang out in the "cafe" and read their books if I didn't want to wander the streets alone. I might like to come work there someday.
a) Sights
The Anne Frank Museum was my first stop. Really cool to be there. I bought a German "Tagebuch".
Next, I visited the Amsterdam Historical Museum. The stuff about the ancient days was boring, but the more modern exhibits were really fabulous. The last museum was the Resistance museum about WWII. The audio tour was really informative. The only creepy thing was that the lights when out during the tour. They were explaining how someone was shot and then darkness. Ssssketchy.
The next day, I visited the Rembrandt and van Gogh museums with an Australian girl I met at the hostel. Those were also pretty cool, even though I'm not that big on art.
b) Food
The milk was sweeter in the Netherlands. I tried herring, and it was actually not bad. Tabitha and I also tried some meat croquettes, which tasted like fried stuffing. Erm, I also found some spicy Indian food, which was excellent by Dresden standards. Also, not crowded at all.
c) Other
I really enjoyed going to church in Amsterdam, because much more normal and relaxed than here, where I'm always dreading church. Also, I bought some medicine and regular deoderant that is unheard of in these parts.

2) Leipzig
Only a few hours here. I went with my RA to visit her (and my) friend who studies there. First I saw the Stasi museum, which was, of course, intense. Next, I went to the Bach museum, but didn't see much, because it's closed until next year. Instead, I visited the Thomaskirche and Bach's grave (creepy). By that time, I was too lazy to look for anything else, so I just wandered into random shops, including a British shop that sold rice krispy treats, and found really good McDonald's cookies. My RA, her friend, and I ate at this Asian place. I was just happy for any type of noodles. Afterwards, I had really good Australian ice cream. Yum.

Putzen ist schwer (cleaning is difficult)

2008-10-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

So I had to clean my suite-sy area for the newcomers, and it was quite an ordeal. I had planned to mop my bathroom and kitchen early in the morning. Not too difficult, huh? Not for a normal person, but for me the entire thing had to go awry. Basically, the water bucket was too heavy, it broke, and I dropped it. Water flooded my bathroom. I went to the Hausmeister to ask for help drying, and he just gave me another bucket and another rag. Hmmm. So I rolled up my pajama pants, put on my galoshes, and went to work. Whew.
I also have a new WG (suite)-mate, and she is really great! We spent an hour talking. Cools.

Yeah, I'm a little behind...

2008-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

So I thought it was time to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog. Except, instead of a day or two, I've been in Germany for about 6 weeks. Go figure. Better late than never, I guess.
What's new? I guess I must be somewhat settled in, because I just applied for my blog in German and almost lapsed into it while writing this entry. My room is wicked messy; those dust bunnies under my bed are getting way too comfortable. I'm going to have to name them soon. Erm, yeah, so I need to clean my room soon, because I'll have a new roommate this week. Even though the Hausmeister said I could expect her on the 1st, I feel it's possible she could arrive at any moment. Thus, I must be prepared. I at least started by cleaning out the fridge. I found something black and moldy, so I threw out the whole container.

Important Stuff: My Program Progress
I've been taking intensive German/culture for 5 weeks. This week is my last one. Basically, we talk about prepositions for 3.5 hours a day, although it looks like nothing's stuck. In culture class, we learn how Americans are oberflaechlich (superficial). Cools. Now I have to pick my university classes, figure out where I'm traveling for our break, and prepare for my internship. That's right, I'll be interning at a maternity ward for a max of 30 hours/week. You know you wish you were me.

Food
...is not my favorite subject here in Germany. Everything is so heavy and meaty and full of pork. Still, I have the best lunch everyday. Turkey and cheese on toast with a banana. So predictable, yet oh so satisfying.

The Living Situation
No, I do not live with a host family. Instead, I live in a suite-type thing where I share a kitchen/bathroom with 5 other people. The past few weeks the "we" has been just "me", but we'll see what happens when new people move in. When my toaster setting changes, I know the invasion will have begun. My RA's, by the way, are awesome. I always stop by their rooms to hang out, use their internet, and eat their food.

My Travels So Far
The big two have been Berlin and Prague. Berlin was too big and intense for me. Prague was okay. I met up with my Czech roommate. In the end, I think I just don't like to travel. Ah well.