Berlin: Day 3, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, and Lexi!!

Hal-lo! (With a musical lilt :-)

Sei Bereit für ein langes Post! (Get ready for a long post!)

Berlin: Day 3 (July 20)

We didn't really do much today since we were all pretty exhausted, but we did manage to get to the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), which is the tallest tower in all of Europe at 1,207 feet. My ears actually popped on the elevator ride up!!

 

We also went to KaDeWe or Kaufhaus des Westens (Shopping Center of the West), which is so super huge, and also where I found this...

THE AMERICAN FOOD SECTION!!! All of our beloved favorites were represented...all the sugary cereals, Jello, boxed cake mix, Pop Tarts, marshmallow fluff, Reese's Cups, Coffee Mate, pancake mix, Jif, beef jerky...you name it, it was probably there in some form or another. I also found this:

Remember from that earlier blog post that I was so fascinated by the fact that you can't find seemingly staple ingredients here in Germany? I found them here, and at an exorbitant price, but now I can make my Swiss Chicken Casserole!! These two together would cost, what, $3 or so in the US? 14€!! That's about $15. I was shocked, but I still bought them! Making a special American recipe for my host family, who has done so incredibly much for me, is worth whatever cost. 

Our ride home on the 21st was long as heck but uneventful. I listened to music the entire time, slept maybe only 45 minutes, and generally watched the countryside roll by. For the majority of the time, I actually brainstormed a bit for the novel I'm writing and had some really great ideas, so that's very exciting.

 

July 22: Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, und Lexi!

I've mentioned before that there are some incredibly beautiful things around here: the adorable, quaint, and colorful German villages (like the one I'm living in!) and the unending patchworks of idyllic farmland come quickly to mind. However, this region is also known for castles and mountains. Lots of castles all over creation and lots of mountains (the Alps) in the southernmost part of Bavaria. I've only seen a couple, but the few I have so far were fascinating and beautiful in their own right. These two, however, were magnificent. 

Susi, Lisa, and I first visited Hohenschwangau, built in the 1830's, which with its striking vibrant yellow color was quite a sight. These castles are both nestled in the mountains and within walking distance of each other, so you can see one from the other against the backdrop of the Alps. Simply amazing. 

 You can see the other castle behind me!!

The inside was also incredibly lavishly decorated, but we weren't allowed to take pictures and the ones from Google are meh after having seen them in person.

I honestly thought that there would be exponentially more tourists, but surprisingly enough, there were far, far fewer than we expected. Still, there was every language and country imaginable represented, one second Spanish, the next Russian, five minutes later Italian...but by-and-large Asian bus tour groups. Fun fact: two Chinese tourists went missing near these castles about a week or so ago and they still haven't been found. How one gets potentially fatally lost in the throngs of people around the castles and in the town underneath them without anybody noticing is a complete mystery.

The much better-known white one is Neuschwanstein, one of the most famous castles and symbols of Germany across the world. If I'm being perfectly honest, I actually liked the smaller and lesser-known Hohenschangau better. Because the royal family actually lived there, everything was completed, true-to-period, used, and extensively decorated. Neuschwanstein, in comparison, was never completed, so only a small fraction of the building is as lavish as our tour, or so we were told. Despite this, it was still unbelievable and crazy, crazy beautiful. You also couldn't take pictures inside :-(. 

 The view from out a window in the castle

Now, you're probably wondering why I don't have several hundred photos of this stunning castle's exterior up close when with every other highlight I have at least two or three. One reason is that the bridge overlooking the castle is closed for repairs, so all the best angles from afar were impossible to get to. The other reason...well, have I a story for you. I may or may not have lost my phone for about ten-ish minutes. And finding it did nothing to help with my pictures. 

(This photo contains a clue as to why I don't have any pictures... :-)

After our tour, Lisa, Susi, and I were all hungry, and on the way to the cafe in the castle, I stopped to take a bunch of beautiful pictures (Am I overusing the word beautiful? No, no, I'm not. It can never do this place justice :-) then joined Lisa and Susi in the cafe. We ordered some cake and chit-chatted and I showed them some of the photos I took. Both of their phones were dead, so I was the designated photographer. When it came time to leave, I hesitated and asked if we actually leave our dishes on the table or if there was a bin for dirty dishes and trash nearby. They said to just leave them.

We stopped in one restroom on the way out, then decided it was too busy. I had remembered that there was another restroom downstairs near the exit, and that one was much quieter. We finished and went to leave and Susi had her ticket in hand ready to scan-out and I called them over to take a couple more photos from an out-of-the-way window overlooking the mountains and Hohenschangau. When I went for my phone, I couldn't find it. I started to panic and think where I could have left it, but couldn't think straight I was so upset with myself.

Susi and I first looked in the second bathroom, while Lisa waited outside. A lady was waiting to use the restroom, and since I remembered very clearly which stall I had used, I wanted to make sure if it would be alright if I popped in and looked. I asked her in German if she spoke English, knowing that of all times, now is when my German would fail me, and she didn't seem to hear. I then asked in English, and I got a very confused no. Ooooookay, now what?

Susi tried to explain in German, which got us even more confused looks, then I tried to mime with a sprinkling of English what I needed. Finally, the stall I had used opened and she went inside, but I, still freaking out and praying that my phone was inside, ended up pushing the door open past her and looking, which got her kind of agitated. I would be if I were her! I tried my best to thank her profusely and apologize but it didn't seem to work and my phone wasn't there anyways, so we rushed back out. 

We then went to the other bathroom upstairs, the busy first one, and this time, it was nearly empty. I was almost certain I wouldn't have left it in here, but nevertheless I double-checked. By this point, I was thinking that the cafe was the most likely place I would have left it. I began to simultaneously fear the worst and hope for the best, as the cafe was very busy and the chances that somebody would have found it were high. The chances of said people turning in said phone? No idea.

Susi and I went back out on the balcony where I had taken the first beautiful photos and Lisa went into the cafe. I knew I had had my phone in the cafe, however, and I was ready to tear the place upside-down. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be seen anywhere near our table. Somebody found it. Getting shakier by the minute, Susi and I went back out into the hallway next to the cafe to look for Lisa, and she ran out with my phone! I hate to admit I nearly cried, but I nearly cried with relief. I jumped up and gave her a huge hug and literally kissed my phone.

She told me she had asked the cashier if anybody had found a phone and sure enough, there it was. Simple as that. I had left it on the table when I had hesitated to ask if we should leave the plates or find a bin for them. I'm still mad at myself, but it all could have ended much, much worse. We returned to the out-of-the-way window and I took the pictures I had wanted: ones with the rain in the distance and clouds and Hohenschwangau underneath. These pictures:

If I hadn't spotted the window and wanted to take pictures, there's no telling when I would have realized that I had lost my phone. We could have already left the ticket area with no way of getting back inside, and then what? *Shudder* I was so close to being royally screwed. 

We went outside and I wanted to take a bunch of really pretty pictures of the outside of castle Neuschwanstein. However, at that moment, the sky fell. Back to this picture...

You see that behind the left-most tower? That, my friends, is a literal wall of rain, approximately 30-45 seconds before the storm hit us.

It started pouring like nothing else I had ever experienced, practically hailing, and everybody screamed and ran for cover: the exit tunnel. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room, we we were left out in the rain. We debated what to do, and since we were already soaked, we decided to make a run for it. Now, normally, one would expect a minute or two walk to the car. Not here.

The castle sits at the top of an extremely long, steep road that takes about 15-20 minutes to walk up at a slow-medium pace. We'd have to get all the way down it, probably about 10 minutes down, then about 5ish more minutes to the car. It was raining so hard the overflowed drainage began creating raging torrents on the side of the path and we could barely see. My glasses were all but useless and the rain stung as it hit, but we were giggling like fools the entire time. I could barely see Susi behind me and Lisa in front of me, and we were practically swimming instead of running. The thunder echoed off the mountains, making it even louder and scarier, and lightning would strike nearby every couple minutes, making it more and more dangerous.

We finally reached the car, and were so wet everything squished. We only had two blankets and a few neon orange emergency/safety vests from the emergency kit in the back, so we basically stripped, donned the safety vests as shirts, sat on the blankets to try to protect the seats, and cranked the heat on the highest setting to try to get dry-ish and warmer faster. 

It was about an hour-and-a-half ride home, and we were laughing almost the entire time at the fact that we're wearing safety vests as shirts and just ran down a mountain in a blinding thunderstorm. We were the only ones who ran, probably because we were crazy to have done so. When we finally entered their neighborhood, we were planning on just wrapping ourselves with the blankets and running inside and right upstairs to change. When we pulled around the corner onto their street, however, Nina's boyfriend was over! I'm not sure who yelled "OH SHIT!!" first, Susi or Lisa :-) 

Luckily, he wasn't around, and we all ran inside giggling like fools. Thomas, who was only aware that we had been held up by rain, had no idea we had even left the castle, let alone run for it, because both Lisa and Susi's phones were dead and there was no WiFi for me to message him. Needless to say, he was a little surprised when we all ran out in safety vests and blankets soaking wet. There were a lot of jokes made about this being a "new fashion" and all in all, it was an interesting experience to say the least.

After all this excitement, there was still more to come! I finished taking a shower and changing, and then Thomas and I went to go pick up Lexi from the train station. I had to wear another pair of Susi's shoes because mine were literally wring-able they were so wet. It was still raining, so Thomas stayed under an overhang and I waited for the train on the platform clutching an umbrella and shaking with excitement.

Finally, the train came, and I couldn't find Lexi at first, but when we saw each other, we almost ran towards each other and hugged. It was absolutely fantastic. We drove back home, had dinner, watched a movie, and talked a ton. We've been speaking through email and Skype for three years and four months, and this the the first time we've ever met in person! I already couldn't be more grateful to my host family, but inviting Lexi to stay for two nights is well above and beyond anybody's expectations. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

July 23: More Lexi :-)

We slept late the next day and had the whole day together to chat and enjoy each other's company. Thomas, Susi, Lisa, Lexi and I also revisited the Mindelburg, Mindelheim's own super cool castle, with Lexi .

We got to go up in the tower this time, and I got some awesome pictures. We also got some cake at the restaurant nearby and it was all a lot of fun. Later that evening, made dinner,  chatted more, and Paulina and Sophie also came and slept over. Also fun, Lisa's grandmother had somehow found some incredibly awesome flavors of chips, so we got to try all of them while watching a funny German dating show called Take Me Out. I discovered that I absolutely LOVE Roasted Chicken Lays :-) and after sampling the rest (Sweet Thai Chili, Spice, and BBQ, which I had no interest in), I ended up being the only one eating chicken chips! 

July 24: Lexi left >_<

Too soon, Lexi had to leave. I'm already sure that I'm coming back to Germany, and she's sure that she wants to visit me in America, so hopefully, we'll see each other in whichever country again soon! Until then, we'll continue emailing and Skyping, and that'll have to do for now. 

It's sad to think that my adventure in Germany is already almost over, that tomorrow's my last full day, and that soon, emails and the occasional Skype with my host family will have to suffice. Just when I'm really becoming immersed in the language, getting to know my way around their kitchen, town, and German culture, and finally starting to get Thomas' witty jokes without translation or explanation, I feel like the rug is being ripped out from under me. 

Nevertheless, my whole life has changed as of July 5 when I left. Spending this time in Germany has only strengthened my interest in the German language and culture, and I'm absolutely without question certain that whatever I do in the future, it must require speaking/understanding German! The thought of losing this language after all the effort I've put into it is nigh unbearable.

There's nothing like the feeling of not having to think about speaking in another language. There's a certain magic in having such an important, interesting, intangible skill that nobody would ever guess at unless I told them or surprised them by playing a German song and singing along :-) It's unbelievable to me that I've spoken almost completely auf Detusch for 18 days now, and now it comes almost easily. I still, however, have a long way to go.

I'm constantly aware I'm making mistakes, but now they're easier to spot and correct. It's easier to guess at which preposition is correct and navigate the wonderful world of German compound words (with which the number of words in this language is virtually unlimited). I'm retaining more new words easier and easier every day, whereas before I needed to really think about memorizing them. I still need to improve my grammar and remember all the genders of all the nouns a bit better, but 98% of the time it doesn't seem like my mistakes do anything to impede understanding. Even this, my biggest challenge in German, is improving with listening to my host family speak and my asking how to say things properly.

It'll be weird and actually kind of upsetting to go back to speaking only English all the time. I'd rather continue to struggle a bit in German, keep making countless mistakes, and improve like crazy than return to the security of my mother tongue, especially now when it seems like such a shame to disrupt the amazing progress I'm making.

Today, for instance, Lisa and I visited her Aunt Sabine and her friend Megan (!), who both live in London. Sabine moved to the UK about 25 years ago and speaks both English and German, but Megan only speaks English. So, I spoke only a little German to Sabine because she wanted to hear how it was going, and to Lisa when she didn't know how to explain in English, and almost entirely English otherwise. Granted, we did talk for a long time, but I usually talk a lot, and my jaw doesn't normally ache! 

After so long with 90% German (in Berlin, for instance), suddenly a long conversation all in English made me realize just how differently the muscles in my mouth and face have to move to produce the sounds in German. I finally experienced for myself the difference between the German trilling "r" sound (yes, German has a trilling "r" sound, even I didn't know that before this trip :-) and the American hard "errrrr" sound and how much that affects the way words are pronounced. I realized how much tighter everything has to be spoken in English and just what big of a difference in Sprachmelodie (intonation, but literally language melody, the rhythm and meter of a language when spoken at a normal pace) there is between the two. My jaw still hurts now at 9:20pm, and that was maybe 1:00!

Despite all this, I'm sure I'll be able to maintain my German and continue to reinforce all that I've learned here at home by actually paying more attention to the gender of words by writing them down after looking them up, practicing with grammar by writing sentences with some of the new words I've learned, and other random things like reading the news in German. I move into Ohio State only three days after Lisa leaves and class begins two days later, so it's not like I'll have to wait long to be able to use my German in class either. 

That's the crazy, life-changing part I mentioned earlier. This trip and bringing Lisa back to the States with me is life-changing alone, but I realized as I was packing and cleaning my room before I left for Germany that my life will never be the "normal" it was for me ever again. I wouldn't sleep in my own bed for the next six weeks, then only three days, then not for possibly months. Three days after Lisa leaves, my whole world changes all over again with going to college. 

For most college freshmen, their lives change on move-in day. My life at home as I have known it ended the morning of July 5. Sure, I'll be living at home, but I'll be in another room and with all my stuff displaced or prepped for college, and with Lisa there, all sense of routine will be kind of different. I'm excited, though. I think being away from everything I've ever known here has prepared me for facing a completely new way of life in college, which now, doesn't seem all that far off or quite so scary.

I can honestly say that this whole experience has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. 

Liebe Grüße,

Deine Megan