Keeping this one short. Today is Halloween, which really doesn't seem to be celebrated here in Europe. Well, at least the people here were looking at me like I was insane.
My parents had sent me a "get well" gift-Hello Kitty fitted with a crutch and cast. For those who don't know I kind of got obsessed with Hello Kitty the month before I left and ended up with pajama bottoms with the cats on them. What it came down to was I had to choose a costume and I was torn between American tourist or Hello Kitty.
While making lunch today I was playing with the aluminum foil and decided I could make a headband and ears...it looked ridiculous! Perfect. My friend made a collar which actually ended up fitting extremely well. So there it was, Hello Kitty.
Then we decided to make an event for everyone and that we'd surprise our director for Trick or Treat...boy were we treated. He answered the door in his boxers. Yes, our director was standing there in all his glory. And he talked for a good ten minutes before deciding "I should put clothes on now." Needless to say: Best. Halloween. Ever! His kid was like wow, that's an awesome costume, and his dad's like, that is not a costume, that IS a cast. Too funny.
We ended up eating all sorts of goodies, and we had some good talks. We finally headed out from our "short visit"-almost 3 hours later. We hit a bar, but we were all pretty worn out and decided to go home after a drink. It was a good night overall. Perfect day for Halloween-all misty out! I'll try to update you all on more soon, but this is our hell week, so it may be a bit.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Irish Pubs
Last night I was convinced to go out by my fellow grad buddies. We ended up at an Irish Pub where no one spoke German(including the waiters). I thought that was really weird. But I had a few Guinness (fresh-yum!) and we had a great night of laughter...haven't laughed that hard in awhile! The one guy is actually an undergrad, but he's 30, and has placed higher in some classes than the grads, so we consider him one of us lol. Anyways, he bought us girls some roses from this poor guy who was trying so hard to sell them. And as soon as he bought them Cynthia broke hers over his head, literally. Below is a picture of the result.
Oh and before I forget, I think I've mentioned to a few of you how I think the construction here seems really dangerous. The guys work without hardhats most of the time. I noticed the other day they were lifting stuff with a crane over peoples' heads that were just walking along their way. They don't do like a pulley system back home, instead if they need a piece of wood up top, there's a person on every level handing it up. Oh, and they drink on their breaks. Not such a huge deal here, but still, makes me wonder. Need proof? Here's a bottle of wine a few guys finished off at lunch the other day:
Oh and before I forget, I think I've mentioned to a few of you how I think the construction here seems really dangerous. The guys work without hardhats most of the time. I noticed the other day they were lifting stuff with a crane over peoples' heads that were just walking along their way. They don't do like a pulley system back home, instead if they need a piece of wood up top, there's a person on every level handing it up. Oh, and they drink on their breaks. Not such a huge deal here, but still, makes me wonder. Need proof? Here's a bottle of wine a few guys finished off at lunch the other day:
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
22 days
Till the shots end, and I have two feet. Not that anyone's counting. I missed my doctor's appointment today, so we will try for that again tomorrow.
Finally got to go grocery shopping today! Found rolls for my nutella, green beans, orange juice (because I'm the only one in this group who hasn't been sick...yet), chocolate milk (because they didn't understand my description of hot chocolate), coke, milk rice, bananas, peach haribo gummies (so good!), rice, and various other things. It was quite the experience trying to hold the basket while wheeling my chair...
It was supposed to rain tomorrow, so glad its not going to! It rained a TON on Monday. Needless to say, I had to wear a trash bag on my leg all day.
OH! I love the cleaning ladies here by the way. We get our stuff changed out every two weeks, so today I come home to new sheets with my pajamas all folded up nice, and my tiger hanging out on my pillow. Almost forgot, yeah, they put a box of duplo bars there! That's what I get for making friends with the staff :)
Not much to say, other than a lot of homework. A lot. A lot actually undermines the amount of homework we have to do. Goodbye life!
We leave for Vienna in two weeks (its only for the weekend). Can't wait to see what the city has to offer. And I might get to meet up with a girl I met through a friend which would be pretty cool. Anyways, that's it for now. Time for more homework...!
Finally got to go grocery shopping today! Found rolls for my nutella, green beans, orange juice (because I'm the only one in this group who hasn't been sick...yet), chocolate milk (because they didn't understand my description of hot chocolate), coke, milk rice, bananas, peach haribo gummies (so good!), rice, and various other things. It was quite the experience trying to hold the basket while wheeling my chair...
It was supposed to rain tomorrow, so glad its not going to! It rained a TON on Monday. Needless to say, I had to wear a trash bag on my leg all day.
OH! I love the cleaning ladies here by the way. We get our stuff changed out every two weeks, so today I come home to new sheets with my pajamas all folded up nice, and my tiger hanging out on my pillow. Almost forgot, yeah, they put a box of duplo bars there! That's what I get for making friends with the staff :)
Not much to say, other than a lot of homework. A lot. A lot actually undermines the amount of homework we have to do. Goodbye life!
We leave for Vienna in two weeks (its only for the weekend). Can't wait to see what the city has to offer. And I might get to meet up with a girl I met through a friend which would be pretty cool. Anyways, that's it for now. Time for more homework...!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
First week is up!
Wow, what a week it has been! So many new experiences, and plenty more ahead. I've learned a lot being "handicapped", and its not nearly as fun and games as some people make it out to be. Europe is not handicap accessible, but I am making it work! Thankfully, Cynthia has been extremely helpful. She's pushes me all over the place, and gives me my injections (eeek!). 28 days till the cast is off, not that I'm counting or anything.
This guy Brian, pushed me to the hospital earlier this week, and I told him he could leave since I didn't know how long it would take. The lady said an hour, and after examining the room with like more than 50 people in there, I thought to myself, no way...I'll be here forever. Well in an hour I had seen a doctor, had the temporary cast off, and my foot x-rayed and was waiting for my real cast. It was crazy! I honestly felt like I was in an assembly line. They call your name, you go in one of two doors. There sits a panel of three doctors, a nurse, and someone taking notes. They get right down to it, "when did you do it", "how did you do it", "where did you do it", etc. They went to take my temporary cast off, and they were completely confused by the Ace bandages. It was funny watching them try to take it off. Finally the one nurse was going to cut it off, and I was like, here, this is how you do it. They found it "komisch". I'm not sure if that's good or bad? Anyways, time to get x-ray. A guy comes in pushes you down the hall (like 3 doors down) and you wait for your name again. They helped me up on the table, and unlike home where they put each x-ray "sheet" under the part being x-rayed, the "sheet" is like built into the table already, so they just turn you how they need you, and finish up. Back in the wheelchair, and back down the hallway to the same doctors. Ok, your leg is broken, we are going to do this, this, and this, and oh by the way, you need an injection everyday...starting now. At this point I lose it and start crying, and they decided to wait until someone could come be with me. The doctor kept laughing, he's like why are you terrified, you're so funny. I kept saying, I don't know what to expect, this is all new! Anyways, they took me over to get the cast, and halfway through that process the doctor comes in and said, we have to give this to you NOW (the injection), and doesn't even give me a chance to think about it. lol I started yelling, "es brennt, es brennt!" (it burns), and they kept saying "es ist normal" (it is normal). Anyways, injections for a month...yeah, not a favorite. Thankfully Cynthia, the other grad student in the building does them for me. And she stays pretty entertained by my antics.
School-wise I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, which I expected, but doing a grad program in another language just seems like a much different level than I had expected. Even our intro to grad studies is in German! And that seems like it will be the hardest class too...
I had my first dumur yesterday, its like a doner kebap only its in a burrito, and its bigger. I keep forgetting to eat...I think the shots are making me eat less. Anyways, extremely good dumur! Best thing I've had to eat yet. We also went out to have a drink with another guy, Scott, in our program. We ended up at the bar right across the street from our dorm. The beer was sooo good. It was just such a beautiful evening!
Speaking of weather, it has been extremely BEAUTIFUL here! 70s at daytime, a bit chilly at night-light jacket weather. Unfortunately tomorrow that is supposed to break, and we will be having intensive rain from what it sounds like. Needless to say, I will be staying in because wearing a trash bag on my foot outside of the comforts of my shower (to keep the cast dry), does not seem fun at all!
I can't wait to update you all again! Stay tuned :)
This guy Brian, pushed me to the hospital earlier this week, and I told him he could leave since I didn't know how long it would take. The lady said an hour, and after examining the room with like more than 50 people in there, I thought to myself, no way...I'll be here forever. Well in an hour I had seen a doctor, had the temporary cast off, and my foot x-rayed and was waiting for my real cast. It was crazy! I honestly felt like I was in an assembly line. They call your name, you go in one of two doors. There sits a panel of three doctors, a nurse, and someone taking notes. They get right down to it, "when did you do it", "how did you do it", "where did you do it", etc. They went to take my temporary cast off, and they were completely confused by the Ace bandages. It was funny watching them try to take it off. Finally the one nurse was going to cut it off, and I was like, here, this is how you do it. They found it "komisch". I'm not sure if that's good or bad? Anyways, time to get x-ray. A guy comes in pushes you down the hall (like 3 doors down) and you wait for your name again. They helped me up on the table, and unlike home where they put each x-ray "sheet" under the part being x-rayed, the "sheet" is like built into the table already, so they just turn you how they need you, and finish up. Back in the wheelchair, and back down the hallway to the same doctors. Ok, your leg is broken, we are going to do this, this, and this, and oh by the way, you need an injection everyday...starting now. At this point I lose it and start crying, and they decided to wait until someone could come be with me. The doctor kept laughing, he's like why are you terrified, you're so funny. I kept saying, I don't know what to expect, this is all new! Anyways, they took me over to get the cast, and halfway through that process the doctor comes in and said, we have to give this to you NOW (the injection), and doesn't even give me a chance to think about it. lol I started yelling, "es brennt, es brennt!" (it burns), and they kept saying "es ist normal" (it is normal). Anyways, injections for a month...yeah, not a favorite. Thankfully Cynthia, the other grad student in the building does them for me. And she stays pretty entertained by my antics.
School-wise I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, which I expected, but doing a grad program in another language just seems like a much different level than I had expected. Even our intro to grad studies is in German! And that seems like it will be the hardest class too...
I had my first dumur yesterday, its like a doner kebap only its in a burrito, and its bigger. I keep forgetting to eat...I think the shots are making me eat less. Anyways, extremely good dumur! Best thing I've had to eat yet. We also went out to have a drink with another guy, Scott, in our program. We ended up at the bar right across the street from our dorm. The beer was sooo good. It was just such a beautiful evening!
Speaking of weather, it has been extremely BEAUTIFUL here! 70s at daytime, a bit chilly at night-light jacket weather. Unfortunately tomorrow that is supposed to break, and we will be having intensive rain from what it sounds like. Needless to say, I will be staying in because wearing a trash bag on my foot outside of the comforts of my shower (to keep the cast dry), does not seem fun at all!
I can't wait to update you all again! Stay tuned :)
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