End of Winter Break / Skiing for the first time

Hi everyone,

I want to start off by saying that I find it really strange that so many people that I know are studying abroad or already did this semester, yet none are doing the entire academic year like I am. How can you get the full experience in just 4-6 months? It's somewhat sentimental seeing quotes like, "I will be in Paris in 17 days!!" or "OMG Madrid tomorrow" but at some point it's also annoying...stop cluttering up my facebook news feed...

I know it's exciting, but get a grip on reality....

Now for actual substance:

I'm bored in Literature again right now and there is about 30 minutes left. I thought I would give you a nice written update this time.

So, I spent 10 days in Munich for Christmas, as I explained. I stayed with Max 2 and his family, eating non-stop for 3 days from the 24th - 26th. By the end, I was actually sick of food. (Okay, that is a lie)

I hung out with Max 1 one afternoon in downtown Munich, and I went to his house a few days later to see his family (my first host family). Downtown, we hit up another of his signature "hipster" cafes. It was a dark place with no two pieces of furniture alike and a TV that displayed a fire. Cozy. We talked about music and school and Vienna, where he is studying.

Like I said, a few days later I went to his house and I talked with his parents for a few hours. That's when the fatigue hit in. I realized it takes a lot of effort to speak and sustain a conversation in German. Lots of thinking to find the words to say. I was exhausted afterward.

A few days after that, I was back on the train to Freiburg, but this time it was even more complicated than my adventure there.

It is important to purchase a bicycle if you are living in Freiburg, if you want to go out at night. I got one while in Munich and had to transport it back. This. Was. Hell.
The first leg of the trip was fine. I locked the bike up in the special compartment for it and enjoyed my train from Munich to Karlsruhe. I had to change trains while carrying my overpacked bag, heavy backpack and bicycle.

There was no special compartment for a bicycle on the next train. There is an open room where you have your bike and/or other luggage with you, but this train was completely full, not to mention it stops every 5-10 minutes along the way.  I was blocking an exit with my bike, so I had to get out with it when the doors opened on my side. Not fun

Once I got to Offenburg, I had to change trains again. Changing trains means getting off one, changing platforms by staircase then finding another place on the next train. Normally, a very easy task. With a Fahrrad and two bags, it's painful. I only had 5 minutes to get on my 3rd train of the day, but I found it and had no trouble finding a spot and a seat.

As I arrived in Freiburg, I had a decision to make: Should I ride my bike with all my bags with me or should I lock it up, take the Straßen-bahn, put my bags up, then come back for the bike? I chose the latter, sort of. One important piece of information I let out was that the bike had a flat tire. Riding it back was no longer possible.

Once I put my bags away, I went back an hour later and walked the flat-tired bicycle all the way home. About 30 minutes. I have since then fixed it up.

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A few days after being back, I called up Tobias and asked if he wanted to go skiing. Unfortunately for him, I had never done it before. It's a good thing his a patient person.

Woke up on the early side and met him at the central train station after fetching some moneys from the bank. We just made the train with a few minutes to spare. An hour later we arrived at our destination, Falkau, a tiny little village with a good skiing mountain. I rented skis, stocks and shoes and we walked over to the lift area.

Tobias taught me some basics: how to stop, how to walk, how to change directions, how to fall and most importantly, how to get up (let's just say I mastered the art of getting back up after all the practice I got).

I took to the bunny slope (as a first timer, this is acceptable) and proceeded to fall a lot. After about 8-10 runs on it, I wasn't falling anymore. It only took a few hours, but I made real progress. By the end of the day, he had convinced me to go on an actual run.

FAIL


I fell an ungodly number of times. It was fun, but terrible. It was fun, like I just said, but at one point, both of my skis fell off the shoes and it took 10 minutes to get them back on because of the slope we were on. Eventually I got to the bottom, but I was done.


Tobias went on another run, then we called it a day. Luckily for y'all, I have some video evidence of me falling on my ass, followed by some more pictures of me on the ground.

Going to the top of the kiddie hill

Down for the count

Success!!

(If you didn't catch the video of me falling in the link above, here it is again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skvb_QbKrdE)

The rest of my week was me recovering and avoiding sitting on my newly acquired bruises. School started back up on Monday. A few more weeks left of this semester, then it is time to travel!

Speaking of which, I am taking a two week trip to Luxembourg, Brussels, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt with one of my best friends, Zach, who will be studying abroad in Israel next semester. He has a blog as well, called: The National Tour. Definitely check it out

Until next time,

Adam