Germany DOES have peanut butter and microwaves

It's been such an exciting week in Trier for me, and it's only wednesday. I moved into my house on Sunday, and my roommates cooked an awesome dinner for me complete with spargles, crepes and hollandaise sauce :) mmmm. It's also stopped raining and the temperatures are picking up! I'm sitting with my windows wide open right now listening to the glockenspiel of the cathedral, and the people walking below chat over coffee and little kids screaming and playing. Typical..

views from out of my window

Yesterday was my first class (not counting the German class) and I had Type Design with Mr Hogan. Luckily He had already prefaced the project in the meeting we had with him on Monday, because when we showed up at 10, It was the hardest thing ever to stay awake and try to pay attention. Every now and then he would catch us up to speed and turn to the four of us and ask us what we thought about it—terrifying. I don't speak in class much at home and I would probably throw up if I had to here.. But he did give us a ten minute break where we ran across the street and grabbed our caffeine filled drinks of choice, and when we got back we got to watch a movie in English!

About America!

And it was sooooo embarassing!

The movie discussed the importance of the Eames' lounge chair, and the history and politics of the 50's—the era it was invented. No worries. I wrote down very important points the film made, and here we are:

1) America did not care about politics during the Cold War. They "went into a political amnesia" and instead focused on designing their cookie cutter homes with these lounge chairs and wearing wrinkle free dresses.

2) The lounge chair was perfect for watching media programs and drinking an ice cold Budweiser©.

3) "The Lounge Chairs price is as high as its leather is black."

4) America has "a culture as cool as its jazz" which was seen through the Eames inventions, and especially they're star: the Lounge Chair!

This film was so cheesy and hard to watch in a room full of German students who have probably not been to America yet. We all laughed when it first started—mostly out of awkwardness, but more importantly to let the kids know that we thought it was a little redicuclous. Also, I got real uncomfortable at one point when the British narrator was telling about the nazis and what was going on in Europe at the time. Oh well. Now we only have to come to small critique groups every other week so no more of that.. Our project is to choose a designed object (such as the Eames Lounge Chair) or we can

choose a Person/Artist and then design a logo for them using a typeface that we design. From those few letters used in their logo, we will design the rest of the alphabet for an almost complete Typeface! The two idea I'm going to start sketching with are the classic high wheel bicycles, and then Jose Fernando Borges, a Brazilian printmaker. I'll start sketching and then see which one I think has more potential, but I love the contrast of the bicycle with the thin and thick of lines, and the contrast in sizes seen with the wheels, and with Borges his wood block prints are very bold and playful, with lost of different textures and fun characters. We'll see...

Last night the neighbors from upstairs came over for a dinner party, an older couple in their 40s or so and I think perhaps the landlords. I had already known this woman as the "wine lady" who had frequently trapped my roommates upstairs drinking wine with her for hours so I was prepared when they walked in with 4 bottles for dinner. Vera once again cooked an awesome meal from her hometown in Bavaria, Ulm. She made Bubenspaetzle (meaning little boy penis haha, but they were inch long skinny gnocci that she shallow fried), Sauerkraut with pieces of ham (vegetarian-style for me!) and Apfelstrizie for dessert. And before dessert, the husband instructed me that a real German meal has to have schnapps in between the courses in order to be able to finish the meal. So after the group finished the 3 bottles of red wine, we all took a shot of pear schnapps (gross) and then followed it up with some apfelstrizie and white wine. I followed the group to tanja's room where the smokers could smoke, and we just talked and hung out until midnight. Or at least that's when I couldn't stand the smoke anymore..

It was fun to see people come out of their shell with their english speaking for me. It feels like it's getting easier for people when they start getting to know me and I guess begin caring about me and wanting me to actually take part in the conversations. More and more times in the night someone would turn to me to help translate what was just said, and at the end of the night much of the conversation was in english. It was so much fun trying to listen to funny stories, and traditions, and listen to old German bands, and even talk serious about religions for a bit. I may have lost a year from second hand smoke, but definitely worth it haha.

PANIC club

Last night was sooo fun! I made pizza with all Anja's roommates and danced the night away at Panic Club! When we first got to Trier we went to a restaurant called Astarix, and saw these "fetzig" (retro german way to say awesome) flyers for Panic Club, and picked one up to save. I saw them again when we dropped Jenn off with her 2 new guy roommates, Thomas and Beautiful Phillip, and it turns out that Panic Club was the next party that Phillip was DJing at. So last night was Panic Club, and before we went, Anja me and Jenn went to visit the next house Jenn will live in with 4 other guys, and talked and learned retro-German words like fetzig, souß and zouf boen!/ tanze boen!---all phonetic spelling of course. We just had to walk a block or so to get to panic club from her new flat, so we went, got our schtampe, checked out coats, and walked into the dance floor to a shout out louds song! It was so fun because I knew almost every song they played and even rocked out with jenn to "Love me love me! Say that youll love me fool me fool me! Go on and fool meee..." Awesome. We left around 5:15ish in the morning, and stopped at a kebab place before dropping Jenn off at her place.

When Anja and I got home, we went to the kitchen to eat some, and Timo—one of her roommates—came in shortly after and slightly intoxicated, and we ended up just talkin until about 6. My feet hurt soo bad, but I had such a good time, and learned a lot of german, and danced my feet off. The end.

guten tag!

Ah man, it was an adventure getting here to Trier finally! I rode on the plane with another classmate from Dallas, Anie, and we made it to London after watching 3 movies on the plane. She liked my idea to leave the airport and explore London over our long layover, but really we did not have as much time as we thought because apparently London traffic is the worst. Anyway we caught the Tube to Hyde Park Center and got to see some of the city on the ride. We walked through some parks and got to see buckingham palace and wandered around, got coffee, and stumbled upon a group lesson for roller-blading going on in the park. So awesome. The tube took 45 min to get to Hyde Park Center and we had to be at the airport 2hr prior to our next flight to Frankfurt, so we only had 1.5hr in London until we went back to meet up with Jarred at a pub in the airport for lunch. None of us were hungry because it was like 2 in the morning in the US, but Anie and I shared the fish n chips for novelty.

When we got to Frankfurt it was about 5 and they were in for going to Heidelberg first, so with help from many people we got our train tickets and boarded a full train and stood with out luggage for an hour next to the bathroom listening to people pee.. so far so good right? We ran to our next platform to get the Heidelberg train from Manheim and the same thing happened, but at least it was only 30 min. We got in late, and still had to figure out how to use the bus and find a place to sleep. What an adventure! We got to the hostel my dad had texted me directions too after riding the bus for 2 whole routes, and it turned out to be right next to a zoo! We could see the elephants right out of the window! We stayed in and had out first german beer and talked about everything that had happened in that one day that felt like 2.. then sleep FINALLY! except Anie didnt... darn jet lag

Next day we walked about 15/20 min to the city center (we had a good bearing of the city from our extensive ride on the bus the night before) and shopped at H&M where I got my "really german" jacket!! I'll post a picture later, but I'm so happy! We ate at an italian restaurant and then headed back to the jugendherberge to sleep more and walked right past the bears habitat at the zoo next door. Only in Germany I guess? That night we caught the bus again to the city center- no more walking for us that day- and we searched for the bar we read about, Destille, known for the big tree growing in the middle of it! It was small and we were there early i guess because it became packed around 10 because it was the bartenders birthday! I got free german cake that was delicious! A big group of marines had a good time trying to flirt with Anie and I and Jarred ended up making 15 euros at the end of the night for the change from all the drinks they made him go get.. I was dubbed mama bear and got us safely back to the hostel after running away from the pirates! (the marines tried not to give up their identity as marines and thought pirates would be more believable?) :)

I've been staying with anja in Trier, and am about to leave to go meet my future roommates and then off to the foreign student party with free bier! haha More stories tomorrow! Enjoy the update. Guten Abend

Missing Nashvegas Already

Today is my last day at United Way!!! I can't believe how fast time went by.. I have so much to look forward to and be excited about, so it hasn't really set in yet. My cowerkers took me out to lunch at the German town cafe! and got me some cheesecake! Tonight we're celebrating Cresson's 21st birthday starting at midnight since I wont be here for it on Saturday! I made homemade Sangria for her, and we are going to a breakfast place in the morning, too! Someplace called Funky Griddle or something..? I'm excited. And I have to pick up my free bubble tea from Fat Straw on the way to the airport. Me and the owner had a good 45 min chat while I waited for Britta to get out of class. Meeting people has been my favorite part about this trip. Here are some recap pictures of fun times here in Nashvegas. I'll miss it!

United Way Campaign Celebration

So I have to be at work tomorrow at 7 in the morning. It's a really big day for UW, and been talked about and planned for since before I came in January. Each year, the United Way puts on a big fancy luncheon to celebrate and award its donors, and the people who helped reach all the amounts needed for different campaigns. Last year, we fell short, though, and I love what the '08 celebration has morphed into. Its a non-luncheon, now, which is funny sounding, but also much more appropriate for the present economic climate. The people coming have paid the same amount for a plate of food they will not be receiving. The money will be going towards basic needs and the guests will be helping sort these basic needs to deliver to UW agencies. They're saving tons of money by not having the normal luncheon, which also helps, but I'm still amazed by how much politics goes into everything in such a large non-profit like United Way. Everyone is very careful to thank people who have donated anything towards the luncheon, not just because we really are grateful, but also because it seems to be very important that people know we didn't pay extra for these gifts. A bank had even offered to cover finger sandwiches, but the idea was respectfully declined because it would give the wrong idea once again.

Anyway, I'm excited to go to my first big United Way event, one week before I leave. This is also the even that will be showcasing all the videos I've been working on since I first started. Three of the seven that I made will be on loop at the event. Pretty excitinggg. But I'll be video taping the whole event and calling individuals out for more little interviews. I don't know how I became the United Way videographer, and I don't know If I'll ever continue in this field again, but It really has been awesome doing something outside my comfort bubble.

I watched a TED video towards the beginning of my nashville stint with Paula Scher looking at her portfolio in retrospect. "The best way to accomplish serious design, which I think we all have the opportunity to do, is to be totally and completely unqualified for the job." What Scher illustrated this theory with was the job that came to her in 2000, where a group of architects asked her to design inside of theaters with them. She talked a lot about how she had no idea what she was doing. Somehow this is inspiring, haha. Maybe, just because it's a relief to know that I don't always have to know everything. So even though these movies are a little rough, they were nothing what I'm used to, but a whole new outlet for creativity as well as a chance to hear wonderful stories about how people are changing their lives, and United Way is helping.

Here's just one of my videos for an example. I tried to keep them all consistent, for more of a "series" feel. So they are all set to the same music that i got from www.mobygratis.com

Also, here's a link to the rest of the videos on the United Way of Nashville's website! Click here.