Brighter side

I just remembered, I did do something that made me happy today! I dangerously cut my own bangs and they didn't come out half bad! I also taught myself a new pretty braid to do in meh hair, that's being productive, right?



:)

whinebitchmoan.

Blech, monday.

My shins have been hurting from too much walking/jogging and I'm afraid of shin-splints.

Today while I was walking to class, a bird flew out from under a car into my leg.

My chicken from the Mensa was really tough at lunch and didn't sit in my stomach well.

I felt really tired all day.

While roller-blading to class, a car took a fast right-turn and we almost collided at the crosswalk (in my favor). He flipped me off.

I haven't been able to get any homework done for the last 3 hours. Instead of doing it, I wrote this blog.

Blech, monday.

I love me my Rents

Hello Reader. Sorry for the pause in blog entries. My parents came for my last two weeks of break and we were so busy with crazy adventures, I had no time to write. Now that life has returned to somewhat of a norm (hmm funny how normal Freiburg feels now, I like that) and I have sat down to crank out these tales, many there are.

They arrived on Tuesday, April 8^th at Zürich airport. They had some delays here and there, but I didn’t mind waiting with my amazing John Steinbeck book, East of Eden. I couldn’t stop smiling when they finally got out of security, mmm I love my mama and papa. We got our brand-new rental car (60km on it, later I’ll describe why we can’t have nice things) and we set out north to the town of Hüntwangen, near Eglisau and the Rhein river, to a childhood friend of my dad’s, Renate, and her family. That night I was surprised to discover that I can finally understand Swiss-German, a strong dialect of German, that always had escaped my ears before. I was so proud of myself that I think I scared this ability away for the rest of the trip because it was never as easy as our first night.

The rest of the week was filled with a trip to Freiburg to get the glasses I forgot at home (oops) on the twisty-turny roads through the Black Forest; a museum visit and dinner with the cousins, aunts and uncles; and soaking in the nearby Zürzach bathes. All was great, but my parents and I were eager to get out on the main event of our trip: Croatia – agreed on because we all wanted to go somewhere south with beaches.

On Friday, our big trip began. We plotted our route straight south through Switzerland. First through Zürich, then to Schwyz and along the Vierwaldstättersee. This area sparked an interesting lecture from my father about the ancient stories of Switzerland that started with three cantons (Uri, Schwyz und Unterwalden) banding together in the protection of the Alps. He retold my favorite story of William Tell and my mom and I were very captivated. Everyone was in great moods because for once my dad was rambling and we were enjoying it. :P

In the Alps my dad also told us of his adventures in military service (all Swiss boys must do military service at age 18/19). After this we entered the longest tunnel of my life, the Gotthart tunnel, that goes under the heart of the Alps, approximately 11 miles long. When we finally exited the tunnel, we were in the Italian part of Switzerland, ergo pizza lunchtime. We continued down this Italian foot until we entered Italy, traveled around Milano and began to get antsy to find a hotel for the night. We ventured off the highway to a small town named Desenzano on the Lake Grada. Our hotel had an incredibly friendly clerk and we ate leftover pizza and watched CNN until retiring. The next morning, Saturday, we decided to stroll through the town and it was sunny and it was nice and wonderful. We bought a Herald Tribune and head on our way to Croatia.

Then it happened. Maybe 10-15 minutes on the highway we got into a traffic jam. A camper reared ended us at top speeds and both cars caught on fire. My parents and I ran from the car, all that was saved my mom’s purse and my dad’s camera and wallet. All we could do was whimper as our car burned to the ground. We were near Verona, so after the paperwork was done, we taxied to the train station and took the next train back to Zürich. Shit happens right?

Side note: That day we bought another Herald Tribune at the train station, only to leave it in the bathroom. We bought yet another one in the Milano train station when transferring trains. We only mention this day, therefore, as the Day We Bought Three Herald Tribunes.

The following three days we picked up the pieces and got on with our vacation. We got another car (duh, gotta have dem wheels), got new contacts for me (my glasses flew off my face in the car and I was blinded) and got new clothes for everyone. On Tuesday, we went to Bern to get new passports. From Bern I think we felt a little more whole. My parents want to show me Lucerne, and we went to every funky little town in between. There was this one town called Fankhaus that cemented my mom’s saying, “You don’t need to go to Disneyland, go to Switzerland.” It was BIZARRE. Lucerne was very very pretty and we got the greatest old hotel where we drank wine and laughed the night away.

From there we went to visit my dad’s oldest brother again for coffee. The next day we were able to have dinner with my Godfather Hansueli (another childhood friend of my dad’s) and his lovely wife and daughters (one of whom, Sereina, is my absolute favorite).

On Friday we went to Freiburg and they found a cute hotel near my apartment. On the weekend, we took a spontaneous trip to Baden-Baden, to go to the bathes (luxurious-luxurious.) Everything that could go right did go right in Baden-Baden including friendly people, great meals, cheap wonderful hotels, and sun sun sun. On our way back to Freiburg, we took the scenic route through the Black Forest again and it was spectacular. Spring decided to go all out for our last European road trip together.


On Monday I went back to class and it was nice to come home afterschool to their hotel and tell them about my day and do my homework on the table like I used to do back in Seattle with them. They only stayed until Wednesday before heading back to Switzerland for the rest of the week. They fly home tomorrow. What a trip.

Birthdays relived, for my pleasure

I was about to go to bed tonight, when I started thinking of past birthdays. I've discovered it is SO hard to remember them. I find it wise to write down the stuff I do remember before I lose that too. Maybe when I'm back home in Seattle, I can look through pictures to fill in the blanks. Until then, here's what I know:

0: Even though my parents agreed not to ask the gender of me, my mom pulled a slick move and peeked at the nurse's charts. She saw a boy symbol and freaked at the prospect of having another trouble-making son. My father consoled her, and they agreed on the name "Nicholas Theo Schaad". Good thing I fooled them wrong, what a below-average name. Turns out, my mother saw the symbol for the 'last born child', way to go mom.

1st: My dad was apparently gone on a business trip and missed my birthday. He has apologized every birthday since then.

2-8: No real recollection. Though I think I remember running around screaming with other screaming children maybe age 4. And I think I remember getting the barbie or the "my little pony" of my dreams at multiple ages.

9: Had a party with school friends Suzuye, Nicole, Kayley, and others at the new house. I remember them sitting around the table while I blew out the candles on my angel-food cake with strawberries and ice cream... a birthday combo I've re-lived many-a-times.

9: Invited Jana, Jasmine and Lizzie, all neighborhood friends to a sleep over. When I wasn't in the room, Jana read my diary out loud to the other two. Thanks Jana.

10: I had one of the first ever boy-girl parties in our grade. We played kick-ball in the street and truth or dare in the basement. I'm pretty sure my elementary school popularity sky-rocketed.

11:/12:/13: God, this is hard to remember birthdays. Family event?

14: Birthday in Hawaii. This birthday Sebastian convinced my mom that I could get a kitty when we got back from Hawaii. That kitty is Gizmo.

15: Eh, family event?

16: I think my parents and I had fondue with the Chamberlains.

17: Another birthday in Hawaii. My birthday tends to land on spring break and we like going to Kauai = good match-up. This birthday we went on a beautiful along-the-coast walk, and then went out to dinner when I got upset at my mom's choices and was also missing my then-boyfriend Bryan. My mom and I got into an argument which now seems completely ridiculous... sounds like being 17, actually. My dad broke the ice by buying me a key-chain with almost my name on it. "Gene" is close enough, right? I still have that key-chain.

18: Byron gave me beautiful flowers and a bag of candy. We had a family dinner with G-ma. Nice night.

19: Had a small gathering with cake in my dorm room. The plan was to play capture-the-flag but everyone was still hung-over from my neighbor's party the previous night, her birthday is Apr. 6th, bummer. I did my geography symposium presentation that day.

20: On the train home from New York for spring break. That morning I went to the Seinfeld diner for breakfast. On the way back I read and napped. The woman sitting next to me treated me to dinner in the diner-car. It was low-key and perfect.

21: This morning I woke up, put on music and danced around my room a little bit. Then I went to my advising appointment with Mark to discuss this semester's classes. Alice and Chase were at the office, so we chatted as we picked out classes. Alice and I had lunch at the Mensa and then walked to the train station so I could by a ticket to Zurich to meet my parents tomorrow. We walked home, I read, napped. Listened to music, went on a long walk in my neighborhood (discovered there is a dojo and mini-golf quite close) and then did some laundry. Wanted to go to bed, then thought about writing this post. Writing this post. I didn't want to do anything tonight since I had a small BBQ last Saturday that was wonderful and I have to get up early tomorrow.

Favorite part of today:
train ticket man translated, filling out a form for me, "what is your birthday?"
"today"
*handshake*

mmmm, I absolutely loooooove birthdays!

Schönberg

Today I went on a very nice hike with my friend, Andrea. Now that the weather is finally warming up, my goal is to get outside more. We decided to hike up Schönberg, a decent size hill to the south of the city. We spoke some German with each other for a while to practice (since it has been getting rusty since break began) but after the conversation got deep and serious, aka boys and clothes, it switched back into English.

At the start of the year I went up Schönberg with Jim and he happened to take a picture of me by a sign. Since I'm such a fan of time-lapsed photos, I got Andrea to take another picture of me at the sign.

How many differences can YOU spot?

Redecorating Makes Me Happy

Today I redecorated my room. It was already pretty pretty, but my parents are visiting next week (yayyyy!!!) and I want them to be like "Wow." Plus there is something so refreshing about rearranging furniture, changing the pictures on the wall, and scrubbing the floor and shelves. I bought a wall tapestry type thing in London when I was there with Kat. I thought of it as a house warming present to myself when I move into my Madison apartment next Fall, but then decided it was silly to keep it wrapped up that long.

It was hard to get a good shot because my room is a little small:

Bed area (the Halloween lanterns are too cool to take down yet):

barcelona por favor

Last Wednesday, Seth and I set out for Barcelona, only an hour bus ride and 2-hour plane ride away. We were both excited, though for separate reasons. I couldn't wait to get out of the cold weather and learn about a country I had barely considered before the day we booked our flight; he wanted to expand his understanding of the Catalonia culture and history, as well as refresh his once-learned Spanish.

We both got what we asked for. The weather was a pleasant 60 degrees throughout our stay. The city greatly reminded me of San Francisco -- Mediterranean climate (duh), colorful houses, laid back inhabitants, early spring. It was amazing how fast my mood and spirits lifted. Frankly, I believe that the winter and cold suck.

Seth got all the culture and museums he could want, and he got me sucked into it too. The first museum we went to was a Joan Miró museum, filled with paintings from his early 20-year-old career to his final masterpieces. His paintings were very intricate and very influenced by the politics of the area, as well as the general feeling of Europe at the time. During the Spanish Civil War his paintings were much more darker; afterwards his work often incorporated the sky or stars, as if he wanted to look away from our troubled, war-ridden earth. I've never focused on an artist in such depth, but now as I am starting to appreciate art more, I agree it's important to understand the artist to gain a better understanding of their art. For example, my Seattle neighbor Todd explained to me once that Pollock's chaotic work isn't from splashing paint all over the canvas, rather carefully dripping each line. Suddenly then his work seemed so much more impressive.

We also visited the Catalonia-history museum. Wow. Columbus set out from Barcelona! And during the industrial revolution, the rest of Spain was uninterested in using steam powered machines or updating their technology, but Barcelona was. Their economy boomed. Then while Deutschland's Kaiser and his generals were dealing with their two front war in 1914, Spain didn't participate and had a type of glorious revolution centered in Barcelona. But then Franco took over and he forbid anyone to speak or learn Catalan (official language of Barcelona) and since his death in 1970s the Catalans have wanted independence from Spain... who knew?? ahem, I got a little carried away there, but trust me, fascinating history.

The last cultural impact I encountered was the architecture from Gaudi. When I was 13, I had this fantasy house that was out of this world. It would have many colors and mosaics and have curves instead of boring lines. Gaudi apparently knew exactly what I meant (61 years before I even existed) because he made the house for me:


Despite the close purse-snatching and often sore feet, the trip went beautifully and I was quite sad to leave. I now have a taste of Spain, and I liked it. A lot.

Terminology Applied

Last week, while Seth was in Prague (lucky sob) I babysat his printer. I had a paper to print out, as well as several scholarships, so I knew I would use it as well as pet it, feed it and tuck it into bed. When I first plugged it in, I received a whole lot of error messages filled with scary technical jargon. One would be turned off at this point, but equipped with my vast IT experience, I simply copied and pasted the message into Google, found many forums dealing with the same issue, followed the steps and voila! -- print baby print!

Of course, it helped to know such terms as port, driver, add, remove... but nevertheless it made me think that the key to being a pro in anything, is simply terminology. For example, football never interested me until I understood what the terms of the game meant.

This may seem like an obvious point, it is. And now I'm about to use this point to figure out the financial world, on stride to my financial independence. Say, what is the difference between a physical delivery option and a cash-settled option...? No really, tell me.

Freiburg girl goes to London... baby!

From Monday, February 25th to Friday, February 29th I took my first real European adventure to London, England to see what the fuss is really all about. The hardest part of the journey was getting to the airport in Frankfurt Hahn (an airport 100km from Frankfurt city) which required 3 trains and a bus = a four hour endeavor compared to the easy one hour flight to London. Luckily, I was travelling with a very plan-precise friend of mine also on the same program: Kat. Kat had our whole travel itinerary down to a T, while I sat pretty reading my strange rabbit fiction, Watership Down.

On Monday, our main goal was to get checked into our hostel, St. Christopher's. On their website, they advertised a cool bar/hangout area attached to the hostel to meet other travelers, when in reality it was a hostel attached to a loud bar... but who can really complain at under $15 a night. Kat and I had an occasional beer in the bar (at least we didn't have to bring our jackets and purses with us), but we were both into our books, so we mostly read and went to bed early.

Our hostel was located in a totally punk-alternative area of London called Camden (you might recognize this neighborhood, it was recently in world news for having a fire in one of its numerable markets.) The markets were so vast and contained so many cool treasures, we spent almost all Thursday walking around shopping. Many shops had wacky sex t-shirts and "f**k the man"/marijuana memorabilia, that we mostly walked around giggling.

Tuesday and Wednesday were our busy touristy days. In both mornings we went on free walking tours. The first was called "Royal London" led by a hilarious Australian guy who could crack every British joke in the book. We saw Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and so many other cool attractions. I really advise travelers to take tours of the cities you visit because 1. you can almost always find an English tour and 2. you'll see the city thoroughly and learn information about landmarks not usually found in guidebooks. For example, we learned that at Princess Diana's funeral, there was such a big turnout that only the royals could fit in Westminster Abbey and the general population sat on the grass outside watching the procession on big screens. A speaker inside the church made a comment against the Royal family, saying that they are only targeted against and are only turning into haughty celebrities. To this comment, the outside crowd started cheering. The applause was so loud that the Royals inside heard it and, oblivious to why the crowd outside was cheering, starting clapping along politely (the Brits are way too proper) and little did they know they were clapping against their own existence!

The second tour called the Old City of London was a historical tour led by another Australian, who knew almost too much British history. He showed us the famous Tour Bridge, the Tower of London, St. Paul's cathedral, London's wall street, Globe Theatre, and other fancy-dancy attractions. This was also a cool tour, but I, a little bored, had fun cracking corny jokes to Kat about British history (ex. "How bout that Boston Tea Party?...suckas!") as we went along.

(Kat and I apparently wearing the Tower Bridge)

After the tours on both days we had lunch and spent the afternoon in a museum (all were free!) We saw the controversial Greek Marbles from the Parthenon (the Greeks want 'em back), Monet, Picasso, Pollock, my new fav Joan Miro, and also the Rosetta Stone.

As a last personal note to our trip I have to say this: I love big cities. The diversity, the intelligence, the history. Technological advances, human rights movements, political activities. I always feel so rejuvenated going to a big city while others (including Kat) feel so exhausted. London was especially exciting for me 1. because everyone talks so silly, I could never get tired of it and 2. because its like grand New York but cleaner. This trip reminded me about my love for the city of Seattle and hey, I was in London, baby!

It rains in London, what? Parliament Tower and London Eye in the sunshine

Red onions/ red peppers with pasta

I also wanted to use this Blog to update on my cooking development. I might also add book and movie opinions when they strike me.

Wed, 2/20/08
Cooked red onions, added red peppers. Added some tomato sauce and salt and pepper for a very yummy sauce for my noodles.
The red peppers made the onions very sweet.

Map Thoughts

Lately I've had so many ideas for interactive maps I could make! Yesterday I dragged Seth on this path I found by the Waldorfschule where I normally have orchestra rehearsals. At the top (literally top, it was somewhat of a climb) we found a small church and cafe over looking the city. We followed the path further and discovered a very small old castle-looking structure! It is only open in summer, but who knew this thing was even here! I then thought it would be so neat to take pictures of secret locations in Freiburg I find this year and plot them on a map for future AYF students.

I think I could use google maps as a base map... ooo or maybe I could use google earth and make a 3D map. A fellow student last year (Laura) made her final Geography 575 project on google earth and I really liked it because it was so easy to picture the actual landscape where she did her research. Therefore I know it is possible, it would just be the task of researching how to do it properly.

This brings me to my latest fascination on how advanced and convenient websites are becoming. Facebook uses Flash to load pictures faster and write messages in easy pop down boxes. It is my dream one day to discover no more clunky websites. It absolutely drives me crazy when I go to a website and can't find what I'm looking for.

The first post of hopefully many

I like the idea of blogging. I've had several online journals and have greatly enjoyed updating them with my latest rants and raves. However the time always comes when I reread previous posts that I feel outraged at my previous beliefs or feel sheepish of saying too many details. "TMI" as my mom often puts it.

So to try to keep this blog for a longer period of time I've resolved to just not read old posts. And keep the conspiracies and college drunken mishaps to myself.

How's Germany? To sum up: great. I was asked yesterday whether I'm going to come home sporting Lederhosen and speak with verbs at the end of my sentences... it is a possibility... but just because I live in Germany, doesn't mean I'm transforming into a German. On the contrary! I've never read more American literature, listened to more American music, or discovered more about American culture in my previous 20 years put together. There is something about the distance from where one comes from, and the isolation of never truly fitting into another culture (sure immigrants are an exception, I'm more referring to year-long abroad students) that makes one truly grasp their national identity.

It also helps that I have way too much free time on my hands. I wish I could say I'm getting in SO much productivity but come on! I'm young and lazy! Luckily reading has been the most self-growing/learning activity I can do while still sitting on my bums. I'm so amazed how absolutely wonderful reading is... I know, it took me a while to figure it out.

It has also taught me that not having a TV makes me very creative in how to use my time. I've been crocheting, rollerblading, scrapbooking, listening to music, playing games with my german neighbors, walking around Freiburg. Now blogging! I would like to spend less time on this laptop, but baby steps first.

Anywho, traveling season is here (ich hab' ZWEI monaten semesterferien!), but first I must write my last essay on the philosopher Heidegger... in german... five pages... oy, I better get on that.