and her name is the Catt’s Meoww!
Check up on it!
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I’ve been dragging this out for a while, but all good things must come to an end. I’m back in America (and have been for quite a while…) but my heart is still in Europe. Mark my words: I will be back.
I’ve decided to end my blog with a picture of Marienplatz in Munich. Its really hard to decide, but I’m confident in my statement that the single greatest 24 hours of my European semester were at the famed and fantastic Oktoberfest in Munich on a warm and sunny day in early October. I am unable to articulate the epicness of this day, and I don’t want to: you need to go and discover it yourself.
So goodbye all. This has been a fun experiment and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed traveling (I highly doubt it).
Tchüß!
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Top 10 Things I’ll Miss About Europe
10. The abundance of art museums. I am sofa king cultured.
9. The hope that I will see Rick Steves filming his show every time I go anywhere.
8. European fashion is (for the most part) tasteful, inspiring, and classy as hell. The people buy things that fit perfectly and wear them with such swag and confidence that they can make even harem pants work.
7. The lack of a smartphone may sound like a hindrance but it was actually quite liberating. It was a welcome detox.
6. The fact that people take an interest in you if you’re American. From my experience, the Germans love Americans. They always are really interested in American culture (Spring Break, Charlie Sheen, frat parties) and are super friendly.
5. Deutsches Bier. Ein Kolsch bitte!
4. Reliable public transportation.
3. AMAZING, CHEAP, DELICIOUS FOOD (Döner, Bratwurst, Currywurst, anything at Mandu, the entire basement floor of Galleria, Vapi’s, ect).
2. The beautiful men. Every time I rode the ubahn I fell in love.
1. Traveling. I have learned so much about the world and about myself on the open road (or train tracks, or sky) and I will never forget the amazing things I’ve done, the famous places I’ve seen, and the fantastic and interesting people that I’ve met.
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Chillin in JFK with my big cold amazingly refreshing JAMBA JUICE (ITS BEEN TOO LONG) and wearing my F.C. Köln scarf! Viva Colonia forever!
Roughly 5 hours till I’m home!
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Back in the US of A
Roughly 20 hours of travel, 2 flights, 1 lost bag, and 50% of Middlesex later and I’m finally back in America, my country tis of thee.
The traveling was grueling. I got to Cologne/Bonn airport too early (I didn’t want to miss my flight so I got there 3 hours early… for a 1 hour domestic flight) and kept nodding off over my 9 Euro copy of American INstyle.
From CGN I flew to Berlin-Tegel, aka the world’s shittiest (excuse my French) airport. If the pentagonal shape of the airport wasn’t satanic enough of hint, this place also had 1 fast place to eat. And it was Burger King, the WORST American fast food of all. Additionally, I was forced to shell out 7 euro for a happy meal. Kill me now.
The flight from TXL to JFK was excruciating. Luckily, I scored a window seat, but unfortunately it was next to a man who resembled a Columbine shooter aged to 40, trench coat and all. It was a long flight, but homeboy next to me didn’t bring anything to do- no books, no headphones to enjoy the inflight entertainment (Monte Carlo, Midnight in Paris, a few old Friends). Consequently, Creeper decided to lean over and look at whatever I was doing. For 5 hours.
While I was pouring over Middlesex and coming to terms with Callie’s transformation from Callie into Cal, Creeper also was enlightened with the story of hermaphroditism on my Kindle. When I watched the movie, Creeper took the liberty upon himself to lean in, as if that extra three inches would somehow allow him access to the inner conch of my ear.
Needless to say I bolted when the flight emptied, opting to take the stairs 2 at a time instead of waiting on the escalator. At baggage claim my lesbian backpack was the first item to come sliding down the chute. I grabbed it, threw it on the ground, and anxiously waited for the mummy suitcase, hoping to get out of there before another Creeper sighting.
Bag after bag launched down the metal slide and rotated around the room. After 30 minutes, I began to panic. People ignored me because they saw that I already had one (big) (lesbian) bag, and assumed that I was just waiting for someone instead of something. Finally, I broke down and asked someone in a red Air Berlin vest.
Omar, the man in the vest, informed me that my bag was not in JFK. He said it was probably still at CGN or TXL and helped me fill out a claims form. The good news is that that means that I won’t have to check an extra (probably overweight) bag tomorrow! And I am going to get a refund for the fee I had to pay to check mummy bag with Air Berlin!
So I guess everything happens for a reason. It will all work out. Unless they lose my luggage. Hell no.
So now here I am sitting in the dining room of the Fairfield Inn Marriott in ghetto Queens. My room is big, theres a king size bed with normal pillows, and the TV is magnificent. I ordered a salad (my first in months) with shrimp and have had approximately 5 glasses of iced water. The last thing that I want to do is get on another plane, but at least its the last leg in my journey.
CALIFORNIA HERE I COME!
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RIP Uncle Huey, 1997-2011
A few days ago the world lost one of its greatest creatures: Chewbacca Catt kicked the bucket after an illustrious 14 years of cuteness and hilarity. He will be missed.
Here’s to all the times that he ran away from me when I changed clothes, all the times that he growled at me because I got too close to his stuffed animals (Puff the dragon and Quack the duck), and all the times that he fell down the stairs with a symphony of thuds and bumps.
You will be sorely missed. I hope that heaven has a pillow under the stairs for you where you can hide from everyone. RIP.
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Kunst
I have a modernism final tomorrow… in less than 12 hours I will be expected to know the title, artist, and date of lots of pictures that I don’t know yet. This class marks my first foray into art history, and I have to say my horizons have definitely been expanded. Prior to this class, I only considered “art” to be only big paintings with lots of people, preferably with a few hunting dogs thrown in there for good measure. I scoffed at modern art, and cantankerously saw it as something merely those “young whippersnappers were up to because of all the drugs and rock and roll.”
Consider me converted. I like abstract art, its use of color, and the action involved in creating a piece. Here are some of my favorites from this semester:
(this is also my way of studying…)
Jackson Polluck, Autumn Rythmn, 1950
George Braque, Houses a l’estaque, 1910
Lee Krasner, Noon, 1950
Franz Marc, Fighting Forms, 1914
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Bennett gives me dating advice #textsfrombennett
The funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
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Freaking Out
I don’t know if my sudden panic attack is a result of the fact that I have a management final tomorrow morning and have yet to fully study or that I’m leaving Bonn in 9 days. Either way I’m stressed and want the clock to slow the hell down.
Lately I’ve been soaking up all that Bonn has left to offer- Christmas markets, amazing restaurants (Vapianos and Cafe Blau are some discoveries of late) and the various night clubs that have a “ch” sound in them (Nachttisch, Carpe Nachtem, ect). Tonight is my last night “in” for awhile, seeing as I have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow night and I have to live it up on my last Wochenende in Europe.
It’s not that I don’t want to go home (watching “Pearl Harbor” yesterday on the 70th anniversary made me Toby Keith proud), it’s that I’m not ready to leave… if that makes any sense whatesoever. No matter how homesick I will get over these next 9 days I know that when I lift off from Cologne/Bonn Airport I will probably shed a tear that this amazing semester has come to an end.
I know it’s one of those things… the more time that goes by, the more epic the stories will become. Like a fine wine, these stories will age with grace, and after a while it will evolve into “that epic night in Stockholm when…” and “remember in Dublin when… CRAZY RIGHT?!” It’ll hurt to think that I’ll probably never have an experience like this ever again, but I wouldn’t trade the memories that I’ve made here and the amazing people that I’ve made my memories with for ANYTHING.
So with that I will conclude my insightful soliloquy about my dwindling time left abroad. Its time to shower, put on pjs, perhaps watch Modern Family, then make this final my bitch.
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I’ve Been
Neglecting my tumblr for a few days… #sorry. Finals are getting into full swing and I’m trying to enjoy all that Europe has left to offer. I spent the last weekend around Bonn, Cologne, and Bad Godesburg just hanging out with some amazing friends. I don’t want to leave yet.
So you know how I said I was reading that amazing book, “The Marriage Plot?” Well turns out it wasn’t so amazing. The worst ending of a book that I’ve ever had the misfortune of coming across. Save yourself the time and effort (god knows I put a lot of emotional effort into finding out what happened between Madeline, Mitchell, and Leonard) and DO NOT READ IT!
Speaking of terrible endings…
I watched “Like Crazy” today with Jackie. Good movie, but the ending was HORRIBLE. Like… the end of Sopranos bad. I thought that our unreliable live stream had cut out or something. We were left depressed, angry, and most of all, confused. SPOILER ALERT: I can’t even spoil the ending because EVEN I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!
So there’s a small update on my life. More to come soon! 2 finals down and 3 more to go!
