A Few Words Of Advice In A Time Of Crisis

So I innocently logged on to check the news at home as I do every morning and was horrified to find Ireland in the grips of a major crisis. No, not the financial crisis, this is much more terrifying. Much more sinister. It snowed.
Now for the last few days everyone at home has been watching with bated breath as our dear neighbors in Britain struggled to cope with this major upheaval in their lives. Well now dear friends it's your turn.

But Claire, I hear you cry, you deal not with our struggles. Well friend, I myself find myself in a similar position of fear and uncertainty. Why, as I gaze out my window the powdery white menace creeps ever closer.
It was that fear that pushed me into imparting these tips upon you so that if I become overwhelmed by the enemy you may escape and go on to live a full and enriched life.

• Stock up: Canned food is your new best friends. You have no idea when you'll be able to reach civilization once more.
• Hibernate: It may be the easiest way to ride out the storm
• Say goodbye to your loved ones
• If the unthinkable happens and you must leave the house. Layer. Set 16 layers as a minimum and work from there

  If you have managed to read this far then I will attempt to alleviate your fear,
if living in Germany has thought me one thing it's that a fall of snow doesn't have to end life as we know it.

A Gift From Me To You

So in a bid to be you know, kind and nice (I never said I could do it well) I've decided to introduce both of my regular readers to a few other Konstanz based blogs. Can't say I didn't make all your Christmas wishes come true.

Orla
Alice
Rhys
Phoebe

Now hopefully you won't notice when I'm being a lazy s*ite and haven't updated for a month. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas Everyone

So it's been month since my last Blog post and I know you've all been craving an update from Planet ERASMUS.
In the last month I've traveled, partied, and just generally had the craic. However I will be recounting these exploits in bullet-point format for 2 reasons.
1. Bullet-points get more views
2. I'm so lazy that even typing a small block of text eludes me.

So this is what I've learned:

• Zurich, though beautiful, will require you to take out a small loan to stay there for more than 5 hours.
• If you go out the night before a trip only 1/3 of participants will get up on time and will ultimately have to make a mad dash for the bus.
• Contrary to my previous opinion, Starbucks is awesome. (Starbucks English breakfast tea to be more specific.)
• I may never get the Alpaca I so desperately want.
• The German punctuality stereotype doesn't apply when it comes to rail travel.
• Rice isn't all that bad.
• A 2 liter bottle of wine deserves to be hugged.
• If you're at an international meeting of minds in a Greek bar be prepared to drop €100.
• Wine and hats go hand in hand.
• The Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt is pretty amazing and, most importantly, full of delicious food.
• The view from Nürnberg Castle is well worth the climb. 
• If it comes to a showdown between an DSLR camera and cobblestones the cobblestones will win. Every time.
• The combination of standing for an hour on a train and drunk people will make Rhys a little homicidal. 
• German in a Welsh accent can and will reduce me to tears.
• Drunk people are insanely entertaining at long as you don't engage them directly.
• After travelling for 8 hours there is no place nicer to be than your own bed.

Only a week after travelling to Nürnberg I traveled home. I guess I'm just a sucker for punishment as it was the single most stress-filled tear inducing trip I have ever taken. However as I sit in my bedroom on Christmas Eve typing this very blog post I know for a fact I would do it all over again to get home.

I wish each and every one of you a safe and Merry Christmas and I'll see you in the New Year for a whole host of new shenanigans. 

Stuttgart

So, not content with the spoils of Konstanz, last Thursday I decided to take it up a gear and have myself an adventure in Stuttgart. Now as excited as I was to get to there, had I had the option of going back to bed at 5am I would have gladly taken it. I have to stop going on trips that revolve around 7am buses as I'm sure the sound of me blundering around the apartment before dawn isn't something my flatmates enjoy waking up to.
Now my intention was to go back to sleep on the bus pretty much immediately, unfortunately not everyone agreed....initially. Don't worry, they eventually came around to my way of thinking. Upon arrival in Baden-Wurttemberg's  Hauptstadt we made our way to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. I had reached paradise, or at least a shiny highly polished version of paradise full of vintage roadsters....and the Pope-Mobile, so If you're wondering what to get me for Christmas.

(Photos courtesy of Rory and Rhys. I most definitely asked permission..)

The New Castle - Stuttgart

We emerged from the museum to a very cold and grey Stuttgart. The cold part became a major factor in the latter part of our day as we spent it wandering around the city. It wasn't so much a guided tour as 'oh that looks interesting lets look at that for a while'. We opted to have our wander narrated in German not because we wanted to challenge ourselves but because the translator was a lot like Google translate, she had the right idea but it wasn't quite decipherable. Her efforts were still appreciated.
I must say, even though you probably associate it more with industry Stuttgart is an incredibly beautiful city.

So there we are in the capital city of Baden-Wurttemberg with a hour and a half to ourselves to do whatever we wish, we can go see anything in the entire city! We spent it in Starbucks. Like I said, it was cold.

We did however manage to warm up considerably once we  got into the 'Landestag' or Parliament of Baden-Wurttemberg. We sat in on a discussion about care for the elderly and afterward got to speak with a man from the Green Party. I will be honest and admit that this is the point where I began to think about chips. It was this thought that kept me going on the 2 and a half hour journey home and just like children after a school tour we rounded the day off with a trip to McDonald's. All was well.

I Have Been Educated

Over the past two months I have learned a few things. None of which are of any academic use.

• Menthol tissues are amazing
• Old style alarm clocks, however useful, will shave years off your life
• All you have to do to stop someone climbing out a window is keep pressure on their sternum
• Alcohol is a powerful painkiller
• I enjoy being called 'poppet'
• 'Anything but clothes' parties in November are a terrible idea
• I rely on pizza to keep me alive far too much
• Tutorials will scare the living daylights out of you
• Satsumas are my new best friends
• Beer is far too cheap in Germany
• Bacon sandwiches have healing powers
• Whatever bacon can't fix tea can
• It's much easier that I had previously thought to do nothing with your day
• Eating potatos 6 days out of 7 is odd
• Jello shots are dangerous
• Never leave the house without a dictionary
• Chocolate is also far too cheap
• Erasmus friends will tell you if you need to sort your life out
• There really are no words to describe the madness

Homesickness

Until today I hadn't intended on writing a post on homesickness simply because it hasn't played a major role in my. as I've decided to call it 'Konstanz Life'. As I may have mentioned once...possibly twice.... I absolutely love it here. The place, the people, the socializing, the......ahem.....academics, everything. It's already one of the best experiences of my life and we're only 2 months in.

Now obviously it was a very different story before I got here. Even the thoughts of leaving was enough to have me a blubbering mess. (Soon the thoughts of going home will have a similar effect but that's a whole other post) Of course the first two weeks were pretty tough. During the day I held things together pretty well but once I closed my bedroom door I was pretty inconsolable, just ask my poor Mother.
My advice? Meet people.

For me it just started off with small talk with people in my class, general boring 'had we homework?' kind of stuff but this led to socializing and general funtimes. Soon homesickness wasn't an issue. Obviously I miss my family and friends (even though they tend to ignore me for FIFA 13 and Halo 4, you know who you are) and cannot wait for them to come and visit, but in my day to day activities I don't dwell on home.

So what got me thinking of home today you may ask? Well a handwritten letter is enough reason for someone to feel a little homesick, right?

I've As Much Chance Of Being A Spy As A Satsuma

So on Sunday I turned 20.
Pretty unremarkable I'm sure you'll agree and I wasn't expecting any major celebrations. Just a few drinks or something. Did my fellow ERASMUS students agree? Oh hell no!

They began their scheming. To a worrying degree. Facebook groups were formed, messages were exchanged and it was decided when everybody was going to go to town. Everything was running perfectly fine until this Gobs*ite right here decides to get the same bus. Now I saw nothing, absolutely nothing, but apparently I cut about 5 years off their lives. What can I say I'm nothing if I'm not COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS.

Now hindsight is a powerful tool. As I sit here typing this I have to ask myself how I didn't suspect anything. Everybody was acting incredibly strange. All morning. Alice's horrified expression when I arrived at the door being a prime example. Also being dragged out for a walk in the snow was slightly odd too, but it lead to some nice photos.

Upon arrival back at base this is what awaited me:

To say I was shocked and delighted is an understatement. Granted I can now never trust anyone again but it most definitely for the best of reasons. 

So thank you Orla, Kiara, Ivan, Rory, Ashton Alice, Katie, Wes Phoebe, Sean, Judith Rhys and anyone else who had a hand in this for giving me a Birthday I really won't forget in a hurry.