wash that

I ran out of shower gel, so today I got some "dusch das" which literally means "wash that" or "shower that". Sassy! Needless to say I am much more excited about shower gel than I should be, but I've been laughing at my roommates' versions of "wash that" for awhile now. Witali has it in the scent "hot move". hahaha. Better go test it out! The big annual Spanish party is tonight! We are good friends with a large group of Spaniards so it will be a good time. I love the spirit of the Spanish. They are really welcoming, fun people who just love life :)

Dreams are my reality

So 3 or 4 weeks have gone by and I have been too busy to write, update photos etc. Surely I live in dreamland. You know you're living the life when you always have so much to share you feel behind on sharing your adventures when only days have past. Every other day there is something exciting to look forward too. The past 4 weekends I have visited 4 different cities. Prague, Zurich, Berlin, Nürnberg. Here goes...



Prague

Prague is quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been too.

A few weekends ago Laura and Alicia (from Columbus) stopped in Darmstadt to kick off their quick Euro tour. After picking them up at the airport we went to the Ratzkeller for happy hour where they met a bunch of our friends. We also introduced them into the cheap meal known as the doner kabap. Found in little stands everywhere, but we have recently found what I am sure must be the best one in Darmstadt. Laura, Alicia, Joanna (OSU Industrial design), Holly (Aus), Amanda and I then took a night train to Prague. When we arrived we had some trouble getting in contact with the lady who was renting her vacation apartment to us. Our friend Pavel, from Prague, saved the day. When we called he told us exactly from our location how to get to the A+ hostel where his friend worked. It ended up working out for the best. All 6 of us got our own room and we were walking distance from everything.

Prague is just enchanting everywhere you turn. Highlights include:
The view of the city at dusk from the top of the Astronomical Clock tower. The breathtaking view of the castle and city from Charles Bridge. Dancing to the live music with a fun stranger on the bridge. "Getting weird" on Alicia's birthday. This of course included hanging out with 30 irishmen. There had to be at least 3 for each of us and they divided and conquered systematically.

Prague was amazing. Beautiful city and tons of laughs with the girls.



Zürich

Amanda, Grace and I all visited Katie in Zürich for the weekend. She's interning at Designalltag for the quarter. Katie played tour guide all weekend. It's always great to see the OSU design kids. It's nice to catch up and just refreshing to see good friends.

Amanda and I had trouble both getting to and from Zürich. Our mitfahrgelegenheit fell through on the way there. This is a carpool where people put their name on a website when they are going somewhere and you can ride with them for 20 euro. It sounded adventurous! We ended up having to take a train because there was a train strike so we couldn't meet the mitfahr on time. When we got into Basel and switched trains to Zürich, we immediately knew we were in Switzerland. A few Swiss boys sat by us and they were friendly and just all around jolly! We were not in Germany! :P We finally got there at 1:30am then took a 40 min hike/night tour to Katie's rotary house. The next day Katie and her Swiss friend Patrick showed us around. We saw the Museum Für Gestaltung, the Swiss National Museum and the view of Zürich from several different locations which usually included riding cute little trams up a hill. We also ate plenty of chocolate.. experience the culture :) Honey chocolate, pistachio chocolate.... Later we had a little Thanksgiving dinner with Katie's housemates from all over the world. The one from Canada ran the event, and for the others it was their first time. It's always so sweet how excited people are to celebrate our holiday. The next day we found a playground over looking Zürich and did some swinging :) Then we had afternoon Swiss raclette. This is a social meal similar to fondue. There are several trays under a grill in which you each melt a block of cheese. Veggies, meat and whatever your heart desires goes on top. Then the melted cheese is poured over your veggies/meat. mmmm delicious! Later that night Amanda and I hung out with Katie at the Designalltag studio and did some homework. (Hopkins: Zürich) The Mitfahr (same one as before) ended up not getting back to us... so we had to stay the night again. Being stuck in Zürich isn't so bad, especially when you have somewhere to stay :) The next day we found a new Mitfahr and finally got home to Darmstadt. Christian, our ride, a cute, young architect was very nice. It was kind of weird being in a car again.

Overall great weekend. I really liked Zürich. The city has this lively spirit. People are always out and about. and of course cheese, chocolate, mountains...

**new pictures under Prague, Zürich and Weihnachtsmarkt (the xmas market pics I've been taking for my photo class)
Berlin, Nürnberg, around Darmstadt—Coming soon!

Tschüss!

Alles gut.

>>Bram wearing his new festive hat at the xmas market<<

Today is a good day. It's sunny in Germany! We found the winter red wine ritter sport chocolate at Plus on the way home from class. Delish! The winter edition of everything is popping up everywhere here.. chocolate, soup, wine, tea, markets.. it's so festive! Today the Christmas market in Darmstadt opened. A bunch of us went to check it out. There are all these adorable wooden huts all lit up in the center. I had candied nuts, Glühwein (mulled, spiced wine) and a sausage.

Class was really great today too. I think Amanda and I both had and a ha! moment as we finally understood everyones' concepts. The past couple of weeks were a little confusing, but today everyone had more work finished to show. Also our professor really made an effort to speak to us in English to make sure we understood each one and asked for our opinions. Some of the concepts were really interesting. One guy is designing packaging for tobacco. (It's popular to get the bags of tobacco and roll your own cigarettes here, but if you want them pre-rolled, our school cafe sells them! ha) Anyway, he created a snapping pouch in black with a white dot pattern. When you open the flap, the pouch is abstractly the shape of lungs and the dots symbolize the "bubbles" in your lungs. After using this pouch for awhile it will eventually start to wear. The white bubble pattern will begin to get dirty symbolizing the effects of tobacco on your lungs. –Cool! but my favorite part is always seeing him leaving with a cigarette behind his ear when we have a break. haha. My presentation also went well. I'm starting to feel good about my concept 1 for hot cocoa packaging and am beginning concept 2. Concept 1 revolves around the idea of gemütlich. As I explained before, it's the feeling word unique to the German language roughly meaning cosiness and cheerfulness. Two packets are connected by a string (like mittens). The tactile feel will be the contrast of flocked (fuzzy) graphics on cold translucent paper. The contents are poured in to the two cups, then the packets can be used as coasters. Because they are connected by string it encourages the users to get cosy. I'll put up pictures as I the production progresses.

Updates on my last 3 weekends of travel to Prague, Zürich and Berlin coming soon!

Tschüss!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Time to be a cheesecake as David called me last night.

Thanksgiving this year could not be at a better time to reflect on all that I have to be thankful for. First I would like to give thanks for my wonderful family which I'm unable to spend the holiday with. I realized I have not been home for Thanksgiving in 4 years now. I miss them everyday in Ohio, but being in Germany has made it even more difficult to keep in touch. During the week or 2 I'm able to spend with them here or there I'm always reminded what I am missing out on while I am away. My little siblings are all growing up so fast! I miss my silly sisterly moments with Kayla, Nic's humor, Cody's dorkiness, Taylor's inability to be quiet :). I miss you Mom and Jon. Thank you for your continuous support in all that my heart desires. Dad, Grandma, Duskie, Dale, Ryan and Ranie. I love you all :)

Aside from my family, my biggest thanks this year is the opportunity I have been given to live and study in Germany. With 3 months down, 1 month to go, the end to this dream that is Erasmus seems more real than ever. Laura came to visit us from Würzburg the other night and said Do you feel like you are reflecting on life all the time here? Do you feel like you are sentimental all the time? We agreed that everyday we are filled with pure joy, so much we might even burst. It's a dream land we are living in here. Filled with the most amazing, interesting new friends from around the world, new cultures, new experiences. I'm am so thankful for this opportunity. It truly been an amazing experience that I will never forget and always be thankful for.

Because I have so much to be thankful for this year, I have decided to have not 1 but 2 Thanksgiving dinners :P. Yesterday Amanda, Jo and I all cooked Thanksgiving dinner for several of our Erasmus friends and my flatmates. America is a new country with less history and traditions than the countries surrounding us now, but I think Thanksgiving is a very nice meaningful tradition. It was so sweet last night how enthusiastic everyone was to just be there sharing our tradition with us. A grand total of 22 eager feasters crammed into my little flat!

Amanda, Jo and I spent the whole day preparing. Finding the appropriate ingredients and tools is tricky in another country, so everything was created from scratch. Amanda and I baked the most beautiful apple pie. Jo made 2 pumpkin pies and homemade whip cream. We also had applesauce, mash potatoes, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, turkey breasts (we thought attempting a whole turkey may be a bit much), and stuffing. Our lovely guests supplied us all with plenty of wine and desserts. Everyone loved the food. We were so proud of our work. (Mom I hope you are impressed!)

We had told Bram that before we eat we go around and say what we are thankful for, so he prepared a whole speech! It was very sweet. He said we should realize how lucky we are for our happiness, health and the friendships surrounding us. At the end we said:

"goce de su comida… (espana)
bon appetit (vive la france)
smakelijk eten (belgium/holland)
guten appetite (germany)
have a delicious meal (USA!)

and let’s say all together now: PROST!!!"

By the end of the night nothing was left over and everyone was stuffed. It was a good night spent with good friends. Several even stayed after to help clean!

Tomorrow I head to Berlin to celebrate Thanksgiving again with all of the OSU design students living in Europe. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all. It will no doubt be a good time. Updates on my recent travels to Prague and Zürich coming soon! 

Tschüss!

geography lesson

The other night we were hanging out in Exil when we decided a geography lesson would be appropriate.
Belgium by Bram

Spain by Julio


USA by Jo, Amanda and I

Newfound German love.

Schnitzel and Glühwein.

Naturally, grilled cheese Monday has been replaced with schnitzel Monday. I must say, schnitzel is really starting to grow on me. Every Monday at Exil, the bar in our student complex, we make the choice between 10 different types of schnitzel. To add to the fun, our friend Holly is usually working which means I get 2 biscuits with my cappuccino instead of 1. Before the schnitzel extravaganza tonight, the 6 design students, our student advisor, Linnea, and our Prof. advisor, Philippin, all went out for a drink. After critiquing the menu, we discussed how classes were going. Philippin asked how our design schools differ from Hochschule Darmstadt. The biggest difference is that we are given less guidance and encouraged to be more experimental at H da. Which is why I found it interesting that Philippin said he thought Hochschule should be even more open. He explained how schools in England are this way. Anyway, I had glühwein, which I have fallen madly in love with since my flatmates introduced me. Glühwein, a traditional German winter/Christmas drink, is a tasty, warm blend of mulled red wine and spices. It's like the deliciousness of wine meets the cosiness of hot cocoa. This combination sums up everything I could ever want in a drink. :P

Nikole in Marburg, Germany

Nikole in Marburg, Germany
Originally uploaded by atlaswoof

I am happy to be here.

For more of Katie's marvelous photos from our trip to Marburg click the "atlaswoof" link.