More of What I Learned in Europe

The hills in Scotland really are covered in Heather

Make sure you don’t leave your iPod on by accident, the train rides are long

When they say long flights make your feet swell, they mean it!

Take advantage of laundry facilities whenever you get the chance

It is probably suspicious to go around at one in the morning and knock on the door of every bed and breakfast in Stratford-upon-Avon … do not be without a reservation

First class does not always mean deluxe accommodations … es preferente?!?

Overnight trains to Berlin are basically awesome

Do not be alarmed to hear a compartment companion singing John Denver

Dirty Dancing was in theaters when the Berlin Wall came down … oh wait, I already knew that!

Schlotzky’s Deli is a holy place … it has a fountain pop machine with refills!

That dude on the billboard for the American Sector in Berlin is just an actor

Take advantage of everything that comes free with your Eurail pass, like boat rides on Lake Zurich

There is no sight quite like the Alps … or the Scottish Highlands

It actually isn’t annoying to be woken from your nap by the bagpipes playing at the castle right out your window, it is, however, annoying to not be able to resume your nap as a nun talks to you for hours

Afternoon naps really can turn into all-night slumbers

Europe is all about the student discount

No foto!

Do NOT go near the poser gladiators outside the Colosseum unless you wish to be groped, kissed, and basically robbed

Rugby = man mess

Men may mistake you for being from Britain if you are caught watching a Rugby match

Make sure that if your hostel room locks from the outside, that you have a key to get out

Find people with luggage to get you a free ride up the ginormous hill to your hostel

Don’t take the short-cut, take the way you know won’t get you lost

Who cares if Pirates of the Caribbean is in Italian? Hello, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom

It is quite hilarious hearing Chow Yun Fat saying ‘Prego’

Despite not knowing a smidgeon of Italian, it is easy to understand when they shout ‘fire!’ and ‘marry me’

Stranded in Stratford

This was a short excerpt of my trip that I wrote and submitted to STA Travel, where it won a spot in the newsletter and got me a travel voucher ;-)

After an incredible month of backpacking Europe, my best friend Alex and I left London to visit Shakespeare’s home, Stratford-upon-Avon, after making a pit-stop in Oxford, as we had forgotten the day before to stop in at the Eagle and Child bar that Tolkien, Lewis, and other Inklings frequented.

We had big plans – we were going to see the second-to-last showing of King Lear starring Ian McKellen, a hero of ours, at the Royal Shakespeare Company. On the way, I called to see if there were tickets available. As the lady told me they were sold out, the sinking feeling of disappointment spread. (I was told later that they were sold out in October… this was July.) However, she then told me about the ‘queue,’ where people who couldn’t make the showing could give their tickets back to the theater to sell. Excitedly, I asked her when we should get in the queue … she said ‘now.’ We were still at least two hours away…

Through some miracle, we got tickets. Not just any tickets, front row. In the small Shakespearean theater, when you sat in the front row, you couldn’t cross your legs because your knees touched the stage. When the actors were on stage, we could have touched them as they walked by. It was amazing being in the presence of such gifted, famous actors … plus, we saw Ian McKellen naked. I will never look at Gandalf the same way.

One thing we forgot to do … check the train timetable. The last train left three hours ago. Stranded. In Stratford-upon-Avon, tiny town full of bed-and-breakfasts all reserved months in advance… places that don’t open their doors at midnight. After wandering for hours, we enlisted the help of a night porter. He called the Holiday Inn, who claimed they were sold out due to a conference. But we thought, hey, it’s a Holiday Inn, they have a lobby with some couches we could crash on – as it was actually a really cold night and we weren’t prepared to park-bench it. In the end, the concierge, ready to kick us out upon seeing us settling in on the couches, told us he had a room available. Grateful not to sleep in the cold, we checked in … to a 200 pound a night room… We look back on this experience with laughter and the phrase ‘Of course.’

Germany

What you've always wanted to know about Germany ... or what I'm able to tell you about Germany that you may not know:

Germany produces more than 5,000 varieties of beer.

After Irish, Germans are the second biggest consumers of beer in the world. The average beer consumption of the country is 119 liters per person per year.

In World War II, the German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet.

Football is the most popular sport in Germany and ‘The German Football Association’ is the largest association of its kind in the world.

Adolf Hitler was one of the people that was responsible in the creation of the Volkswagen Beetle.

Germany is one of the few countries of the world where Holocaust Denial has been declared as a crime.

The name Vaseline is a combination of the German word for water, wasser, and the Greek word for olive oil, elaion.

World's most colorful caves (as per Guinness Book of Records), Fairy Grottoes, are in Germany.

Germany was the first European country to establish a system for health insurance for its workers in 1888.

The Federal states that comprise Germany are: Baden-Wuerttemberg (capital: Stuttgart), Bavaria (capital: Munich), Berlin (3.45), Brandenburg (capital: Potsdam), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (capital: Wiesbaden), Lower Saxony (capital: Hanover), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (capital:Schwerin), North Rhine-Westphalia (capital: Duesseldorf), Rhineland-Palatinate (capital: Mainz),Saarland (capital: Saarbruecken), Saxony (capital: Dresden), Saxony-Anhalt (capital: Magdeburg), Schleswig-Holstein (capital: Kiel), Thuringia (capital: Erfurt).

The first Oktoberfest actually began as a wedding celebration for Crown Prince Luitpold I and Princess Theressa of Bavaria on October 17, 1810. A large meadow in Munich was taken over as the royal reception site and featured a horse race, music, dancing, singing -- and lots and lots of beer drinking. (That's my birthday!!)



http://www.alltrivia.net/facts/germany.htm
http://german.about.com/library/bltrivia_index.htm
http://www.chiff.com/beer/oktoberfest.htm
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-germany-1207.html
http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/02/

The Coolest Job

So
I've probably got the coolest job I could imagine of in teaching ... granted, it is only a month long, but it still rocks.
Okay, I am an on-set teacher/tutor for this 11-year-old boy and at times 6-year-old girl in the movie Miss January with Kim Cattrall and Brian Dennehy (am I going to actually SEE them?!?!?! AMAZING).
I also look out for his general welfare. Make sure he doesn't get filmed for more than 5 hours, doesn't work more than 9 hours btw the hours of 6 am (yuckkk) and 10:30 pm, gets half hour breaks every 5 hours... I can totally do this. Gotta make sure the producer doesn't put him in any dangerous shots, ya know, cars on fire and the like. PS speaking of producers, the line producer, psh, I am totally lucky, is awesome so far. I wish I could think of a better word for awesome, but my vocab isn't up to par right now. He was so nice when I met with him, and we were joking around. It was easy and fun, so as of right now, I really don't have any job stress. Well, except that I will have to find another one in a month.
By the way, I don't know if you caught this, but I get to be on the set. For the film. Behind the scenes... of a MOVIE. A REAL movie, how COOL is that!? And catered lunch, so cool.
Sigh, this is a job I actually cannot wait to start. How amazing would it be if it led to something? I would move to California in a heartbeat if I had a job doing this! I know, Christina, keep dreaming right?
Well, whoever dreamt I would get to do this?